snapshots #22+23: guro-gu

pretty in orange and beige.

when you're feeling overwhelmed by seoul's urban revitalization projects, i suggest heading over to guro district, where dilapidated housing doesn't get razed and where freeways still stand in the middle of polluted stream beds. still makes for pretty, eh?

for better or worse, this ain't no cheonggyecheon.

delicious cool piss.

a chaser of choice while at a daejeon bar.

i'm not the first anglophone to enjoy this delicious plum juice, whose name sounds an awful lot like "cool piss."

thanks, shilla.

thanks to language barriers, the king and i prefer to communicate via espresso art.

a birthday is a great excuse to do the shilla lunch buffet, a 60,000-won ($48) date with painful gluttony. ma tum feels permanently stretched. happy birthday queen abby! xo

new book: portraits of half-closeted, half-korean, mexican pretenders

pardon the indulgence, but decent pix are getting harder to come by.

proving my point, this one by mike tauber is from 2006 or so. it was taken as part of a goofy picture book of people who were mixed race based on 2000 u.s. census-approved racial categories (that's right, you white half-latinos or chinee-bangladeshis don't count!). much like coffee table pictorials of albino africans or green-eyed chinee, there's something pretty 1990 about it... or maybe i've just got an especially acute case of hybrid malaise. who buys this book, anyway?

the book (available for preorder on amazon.com), came to my attention while on the impromptu jesusland tour last week. pops' wife's daughter, who is also featured, came on by and gave me the head's up.

sure they didn't get my permission to publish the pic, but i don't care. besides being reacquainted with my old boobs and a time and place when i could wear holed jeans in public (aka not seoul), it's funny to see how quickly i've become a super flamer. clearly, this photo was in the waning days of my mexican identity dynasty.

snapshot #21: pimatgol fare

yum.

in lieu of actual content, another pix.

a coupla weeks back, a new friend prospect and ate us some fried fish, bindaetddeok (빈대뗙) and some delicious makgeoli rice wine in pimatgol, a lil stretch of 600-year-old alley that's being rapidly destroyed. created to avoid the main drag, where commoners had to stop and prostrate themselves every time a fancy man rode on by, today's seoul apparently has no room for ugly and wonderful "avoid horse alley"s. r.i.p.

where am i?

where am i?

i love this photo and caption on today's nytimes homepage.

impromptu jesusland!

is impromptu jesusland better than no jesusland at all?

apparently i'm at that age when one's parents have catastrophic illness since i'm flying out in a few hours to help pops convalesce after an aneurysm/stroke. i don't know the difference yet. early signs suggest he had the good kind of good kind of stroke, which is... good. regardless of our ability/willingness to deal, perhaps nothing else ushers in middle age more than beginning the parent care biznass. that's why we're here, right? those of you in the priors, celebrate! those of you in the know (ms. californication), well... i dunno what to say.

i've been bizzy. (clearly)

i love japanese gay porn so much.

i imagine most aliens are tops. it's pretty toppy to leave your galaxy in search of new worlds to conquer.

gapers

owls are totally strange.

sure, we all hate twitter (iran notwithstanding) but i chuckled at this page, which popped up after i attempted to check the account of someone who subscribed to my never been updated account. both the initial line for all us gawkers (fancy that... twats are more likely to be TMI producers and consumers!!) and the lil indulgence memo at the bottom. the use of "juicy" ruined it tho. only mr kim can pass that.

the king is safe

college dorm?

speaking of the king, over the weekend i accompanied the fam to where manpup will be stationed for the better part of two years (who is this strange old man who keeps stalking our son?).

after 2 months and a day a carefully stage managed reunion was frustrating. phone and visiting privileges will start soon, which means a bittersweet end to the almost daily letter exchange, that while forced upon us, was special. maybe i should don a red and white checkered hankochief, flex a gun and help the war effort?

"little amurrika" was complete with lots of white and black people who were strangely polite to we korean hosts in passing. military ain't all bad. we ate us some grubbinz at the most authentically u.s.a. establishment i seen since moses lake. mmmm porterhouse chop with bbq sauce + 2 sides: baked potato no cheese and collared greens.

in other news, i'm taking some emotional cues from don draper of mad men, season 1.

komos, part 2

here are two recent articles i wrote about komos for the gaysian supersite, fridae.com. (and yes, i realize i've lost the ability to write coherently. yes, i'm worried.)

10 yrs of korea queer culture festival
your complete guide to koko trannies
(translations by the king!)

komos, part 1

it's that time of year again. i arrived at the 10th annual korea queer culture festival cranky and ready to have all of my korean homo pathologies confirmed. but then i saw the boys and girls of rateen, the korean teen queer group did their very naughty dancing on stage and the 50-something guy who looked just like any other cranky ajussi (middle aged man)... except for his bright red lipstick and 50-something boyfriend.

back in love.

a lil french, a lil harajuku, a lil amish... global korea!

this doesn't really make sense, but seems like it should!

a coupla homos representing one of korea's oldest gay men's groups, chingusai ("between friends")

prep

you gotta fight for your rights! (but please don't take my photo) a ubiquitous, frustrating and... i guess... understandable part of korean "pride" events is that most people don't want their pics captured.

[photo removed by request of someone on behalf of someone else on behalf of someone else else who thought those pictured probably wouldn't want to be identifiable. welcome to korea.]

restored my faith in (korean) homo humanity. founded 2 years prior by two homo teens, the 2,000 member strong youth queer group rateen is helping ensure the next generation of komos won't be as messed up in the head as the last!

i'd take buddhists over christians any day.

thanks, dad.

ok, time to get ready for part two: bootyshaking with the ladies at the pulse after party. wish my special man could come ㅜ ㅜ

let's make connections: a post on 2007 kqcf

snapshot #20: flying over gyeonggi province

fun in flight

filming for an arirang tv travel show included flying a ULM over some fields in gyeonggi province and over the west sea in anmyeondo. despite a horrible producer, it was fun.

new friends

my soldier

i'm quite green thumbed. at age 12 i co-founded a plant company and went solo the year after. the biz - the rolling bay company - sold seeds, daffodil bulbs and bedding plants to rich ladies around the puget sound (seattle area).

my three terrace planters bring me much joy. it's been challenging to adapt to seoul's wacky climate, but still fun. i just bought 6 tomato plants earlier this week. but to my horror, my plants are always infested with some kind of disgusting insect. i don't know if this is what happens when there's a general lack of greenery in an area or a petty god, but my plants are super buggy.

the real tragedy has been my korean pine. the gorgeous young thang looked marvelous last year, before a lacewing infestation almost killt it. as it sickened, entire branches had to be removed and a curious blanket of tiny grains formed beneath its boughs... turns out it was millions and millions of tiny caterpillar craps.

hate

these bastards are back again this year, but i've done my cruelest best to drown, crush, and cast them from my balcony. their screams bring me joy.

nasty

the other persistent foe are disgusting aphid colonies that ravage my chrysanthemums and, i'm so sorry to say, my pal pine. the little monsters park their teeth into the new growth and suck away at baby's life force. 

i'm loathe to use anything toxic to kill these pests, but the insecticidal soap i've been using is only mildly effective. consequently i have great appreciation for my two best friends (no, not whiskey and sim city. that was last year and didn't help). my friends are the chatty little finches who come by each morning to snack on the aphid's fat asses and a new sect of mormon ladybirds!

my chinese american ladybugs

i don't know their real names, so i've given them chinese american ones. while koko americans tend to be named after god things (aka esther, grace, jason), and japanese after... well, japanese names, the chinee seem to have a predilection for obscure, pompous british-ish names from the 19th century. why are they mormon? i don't know.

the second generation

the good news are these little yellow pods of ladybird eggs. i'm so happy for Amabel and her mystery inseminator. Audrey-Vivian also has a pod. but poor grand Vic may be barren. anyhow, i hope you'll join me in chronicling the lives of these pious chinee.

the seoul of design

here's a video of various design projects (including the previous post's bridge) seoul city has embarked on, via my kbs show, seoul scene.

snapshot #19: pretty bridge

summertime

i'm the worst blogger in the world.

anyhow, after two dry runs, on the third time i made my way down to the banpo bridge 'tis what i saw.

rip president roh

rip

on may 29 the state funeral for former president roh mu-hyun was held at gyeongbok palace in downtown seoul. after an aggressive, politically-tinged investigation into an alleged bribery scheme, mr. roh leaped from a cliff near his home in the korean countryside. in the days since, millions have paid their respects, including hundreds of thousands who came to the came to the area around city hall, donning yellow, the color from his 2003 presidential campaign.

one of many tribute altars.

in familiar korean fashion, mourners lamented their detachment, even disdain for the man while in office, but a collective grief has overtaken a nation now grateful for the self-described "idiot" president who brought true democracy and championed the causes of society's less fortunate. as a self-educated attorney (no college but passed the bar), he fought for the rights of abused student protestors. as president, he worked to improve relations with north korea and was just one of two south korean presidents who isn't described as being a dictator. many agree that the current president, lee myung-bak, is moving toward the bad ole days.

suicide is viewed differently here. i don't know enough about fmr president roh to offer a balanced critique of his presidency. in my first months here, i recall the heavy critique and embarrassment many voiced about it. but overnight, roh's image has been transformed into self-less hero. i've heard korean fathers say his suicide was a logical response to a husband and father who felt he could not protect his family, as the prosecution's probe widened to his wife and children. many others are fearful for the future of soko's young democracy.

this academic we interviewed blames herself for not protecting roh.

a couple of days earlier, my kbs co-host abby rhodes and i interviewed a few mourners for our show. listen here

jumpin rope wit jesus

no rope talent

just back from another of my occidental jesusland tours. the ill-timed trip was made possible by a speaking invite, which was rescinded last minute in very poor form. anyhow, popular hops were made in chicago, seattle and tokyo with a special stop in los angeles to see mr. brian, half-chinee and jericho (the latter pleased jesus very much). actually, the lovely company during the california stop salvaged an otherwise ill-fated trip. oh well, not all homecomings are sweet.

spring here

about damn time.

on monday the south korean army drafted the king. i'm a bit in the doldrums but keepin on here in ko-town.

exodus pix #4: germama

cooler here than how it really looks!

it's so painful. the more i recall my european travels the more i'm glad i'm no longer there. but germany was a (the?) highlight. i appreciated berlin's grit, and essen's manfriends. enough already. pics to follow.

oh, one more thing. i wrote a post on the korean diaspora in berlin on my korean travel blog. see it hurr.

the cologne cathedral and i are in love. i haven't seen anything as impressive of late. i don't even like god!

the crazier than thou tascheles building 'n grounds is trying really really hard to make a statement.

the cool part about staying in a hostel that was formerly part of the north korean embassy is the snapshots of the dear leader in his jump suits and chanel shades. i'm way too old to be staying in hostels.

this day o' domestic bliss at jonstoph haus seemed more appropriate than snapshots taken moments after i arrived, parked my ass on their chair, and we finished off more than one bottle of chivas. i still have an 8 inch scar on my arm from what followed.