Friday, March 31, 2006

Lady Liberty

In Mallipo beach in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, Korea, a replica of the statue of liberty greets U.S. Marines during a joint exercise with the Republic of Korea's military forces.

A further touch of strangeness is added by the fact the statue is part of a 'love hotel.' A love hotel is where couples go for an hour or so of 'relaxing' in a pirate room. I guess Hugh Hefner would approve of the visual metaphor for sexual freedom.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Good Eats

Enough of serious subjects, let us turn to fun and nostalgia: Googie design. This site has pictures of all the fun places we use to go to get a hamburger late at night after the double feature movie.

A classic example of Tike Googie from San Diego.

And, a place I often ate at Azar's Bob's Big in Denver.

Makes me hungry for a cheeseburger right now.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Not the Capitol of Music Anymore

I need a native of La-La Land to explain this story to me. There is a rumor that the Capitol Records building might be sold and become a condo. This has locals concerned, not because the building will be torn down or modified in anyway, just that it won't be used for music anymore--huh?

Does any person care that Sears is no longer occupying the Sears' Tower in Chicago, that the Wrigley gum company doesn't own Wrigley Field, that you can't buy pizza at the Leaning Tower of Pizza? So, what's the issue if a music company doesn't work in a certain building anymore?

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

New Age Physics

Bad news for those hoping to find the higher spiritual plane, it looks like even the goofy world of quantum physics can get by without new age wisdom:

...As Dr. Albert pointed out, Wigner framed the process in strict mathematical and probabilistic terms. "The desires and intentions of the observer had nothing to do with it," he said.

In other words, reality is out of our control. It's all atoms and the void....

From The New York Times

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Another Reason to Defect

As if things weren't bad enough in North Korea--crazed ruler, famine, etc.--now you can add horrible state approved songs:

SEOUL (Reuters) - For all those tired of silly love songs, how about the new North Korean hit tune, "A girl innovator dashing like a steed."

Many people in the communist state are singing songs glorifying the women revolutionaries helping to build the nation, official media reported Wednesday.

As well as the girl innovator song, popular airs include "Song of coast artillerywomen," "Girl silk-weavers of Nyongbyon" and "I am a front-line soldier's wife," the KCNA news agency reported on International Women's Day.

Songs promoting family values include "Love your wives" and "My mom who worries herself about her child."

"A lot of songs have been composed in the country in reflection of the pride and happy life of the women who are playing a great role in all fields of social life," KCNA said.

It was unclear whether the tunes have a beat that people can dance to.

Monday, March 06, 2006

An Army of One Tough Chick

This story of a young soldier from Camp Humphreys, Korea, reminds me of the Army I use to know. We had a bunch of young hard drinking, drinkers who seemed to spend most of their off duty time getting into fights with each other. It was right after the fall of South Viet Nam and the Army was in rather shakey condition at that time.

In addition, Detachment B, 516th Personnel Services Battalion, grew out of my old units back in the day when I was in the land of the morning calm (Korea). They were formerly known as the Military Personnel Center-Korea (MILPERCEN-K) and then the 8th Personnel Command (8th PERSCOM0. I'm glad to see the Adjutant General Corps is living up to its tradition of helping to keep the Military Police blotter full.

DISCLAIMER: I want to say that the current Army is a fine group and doing a fine job. It's hard to believe that such a superior fighting force has grown out of the wreckage of the 1970s.