Something About Shopping

I was out and about on Saturday and had some interesting photo opportunities. This is a picture of a giant poster on the side of "E MART", a korean department store. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the Chinese New Year. The characters are wearing traditional korean dress called a "Hanbok."

I found a "Roots" store in Daejeon. Pretty funny, eh? Not bad sales, either.

On another note: This is a picture of my niece Julia. She is so cuuuuute!

Something About Freedom

Despite living on another continent I still keep up to date on Western news. During the past week all that I've read and heard is "Bla bla bla spread the freedom! Bla bla bla spread the freedom!" Seems Bushy wants to justify the Iraqi war by saying he simply wants to "spread freedom." Wow, that's quite a task! On their yearly report, Freedom House created a listing of what they consider free, not free, and partly free countries. They list a total of 49 countries that are "not free," 89 that are "free" and 55 countries that are "partly free." Man, that's a lot of freedom to spread! Somehow his way of spreading freedom includes thousands of innocent deaths. Canada of course was on the "free" list. Maybe it should have been on the "partly free" list. I was reading a transcript of Question Period (CTV Sunday's) and apparently Paul Martin has ordered all members of his cabinet to vote in favor of the Same Sex Bill. That's not what I would call freedom. Political analyzers speculate that if the vote fails it would be deemed as a non-confidence vote against Martin and could possibly spring an election. It has been deemed as impossible by the Liberals, but I still support Ralph Kleins' idea of a referendum on the issue.

Something About Birthdays

Tuesday was Venus's birthday. She's now 2 months old! She is such a good girl. Last night I was sleeping on my right side (as usual). Venus had her hind paws on the bed and stretched the rest of her body over my stomach. At the time I was dreaming. All as I remember about the dream was someone telling me "Don't let your cat do that! She wants to get into your womb!"

Something About Spitting In A Toilet

I've been searching Singapore on the web lately. Apparently there are fines for spitting on the ground and not flushing a public toilet. You can also be executed for drug trafficking. Yikes. What happens if you spit in the toilet and don't flush?

Something About Singapore

The Chinese New Year (Feb.8-10) is fast approaching and I am itching to get out of this Surprisingly cold country. I've decided to take a whirl wind tour of Singapore. By whirlwind I mean this:

Monday, February 7,2005
5:40 a.m.: Take train from Ganggyeong to Daejeon
6:51 a.m.: Take train from Daejeon to Busan
9:00 a.m.: Take bus from Busan Train Station to Busan Airport
11:00 a.m.:Fly from Busan to Tokyo
1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Roam around Tokyo Narita Airport
5:00 p.m.: Fly to Singapore
12:00 a.m.: Arrive Singapore

Thursday, February 10, 2005
6:00 a.m. : Fly from Singapore to Tokyo
1:00 p.m. - 5:00p.m. :Roam around Tokyo Narita Airport
5:00 p.m.: Fly to Busan
11:00 p.m. : Take train to Daejeon Station
2:00 a.m.-6:30 a.m. - sleep at Daejeon Station
6:30 a.m. : Take train to Ganggyeong.

Crazy you say? Well I'm paying next to nothing for the ticket. As you may remember when I flew home last summer my flight was delayed for 24 hours and I was given a Travel Coupon. With that coupon my flight to Singapore will cost me about 30 dollars Canadian. Sure I have to get a hotel for a few nights but it is still worth it. I'll keep you posted as to what I plan to do in Singapore as said plans come to me.

---> This song's for you, Dave Boyd!

Something About China

I finally have my pictures from China posted on the web. I wanted to do a good job of it but it was just taking too much time. This is a condensed version of what I wanted to do. The pictures don't have descriptions....I guess you'll just have to wait until I get home for me to explain them. Hope you enjoy. There is a "slide show" option with each album...I think that might be the best way to view them. I put a link to the pictures on the right hand side of my blog. Hope all is well with you and your families.

Something About Venus

As you may know I now have a 7 week old kitten named Venus. She's had a cold for a while now so I took her to the vet last week. Now, a week later, she is a regular kitty. She has gained a lot of wait and is a lot more active. Here are some pictures of "Dady's little girl." Man, they sure do grow up fast!

Something About Being Wrong

" The U.S. has disbanded its team that searched for weapons of mass destruction in post-war Iraq."
" Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction were cited by both the U.S. and Britain as the primary reason for the March 2003 invasion of the country and the overthrowing of Hussein's regime." Both quotes from ctv.ca

You might say "yah, Bush was wrong!" You'd be right. But actually, I'm talking about myself. I was wrong. In January and February 2003 I was making final preparations for my trip to Korea (one day of packing and many days of enjoying doing nothing). During that same time the U.S. was stepping up their charges against Iraq. I remember the day I watched Colin Powell address the United Nations. They had slides showing mobile weapons trucks that were apparently driving around Iraq so as to not be discovered. They had slides showing suspected WMD labs. They had "chatter" which was collected over that past year. And there was sincerity in Powels voice. "Go get 'em!" I said to myself. So, in March of that year, that's what they did. And at the time I was glad. Thing is, like everybody else, I don't like being lied to. I'm not saying Powell lied, but somewhere in the Bush administration there were false accusations being made. Someone was lying, or at least exaggerating. The number one reason (and, at the time, the ONLY reason given) for the United States going into Iraq was because they posed an immediate threat to the Western World through their possession of WMD. Now, two years later, the United States officially says there were no WMD in Iraq. The UN has said there haven't been WMD there since the Gulf War. Does this make you think? Say I go and beat up "Billy" because I thought he said something bad about me. Later it turns out Billy didn't say anything bad about me at all. The least I can do is apologize to him. It's not all bad, though. Now the U.S. has control of major oil supplies in the Middle East. Do you think they knew that would happen before they went to Iraq? Bush is dumb, but not that dumb.

Something About A Pat On The Back

Philanthropists Kroum and Eva Pindoff yesterday brought smiles and a "small" cheque pledging $5 million to the Canadian Red Cross for tsunami relief efforts. (Photo: Fred Thornhill, SUN)

I hummed and hahhed about making this post for some time. Most of you will say "Mike, you complain about everything!" I'm sorry, but if your going to make a large contribution like this, wouldn't you do it anonymously? Nothing like saying "Hey world! Look at us! We're rich! We are good people because we gave 5 million dollars to charity!" Maybe it's just me, but If I made that kind of contribution I wouldn't want my name to be known to anyone.

Something About Defense Lawyers

Man, it must suck to be a defense lawyer. Sure it's fine if you truly believe your client is innocent, but what if you and everyone else knows that your client is guilty? How do you defend them?

The Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal is back in the news as the perpetrators face up to the courts. Pictures surfaced last year of detainees suffering humiliation and abuse by the American guards at the prison. One of the pictures showed a guard standing beside a human pyramid of naked detainees. What does the defense lawyer have to say about this? "Cheerleaders all over America form pyramids." Wow, you can see he graduated from a top law school. In defense to guards putting a leash around some detainees: "a tether is a valid tool when dealing not only with prisoners but also with children. You've probably been at a mall or airport and seen children on tethers; they're not being abused." Pretty lame. But still, a defense lawyer has to do his or her job, even when they're trying to defend the guilty. It's in situations like this that it must really suck to be a defense lawyer. ->Read the entire article<-

Something About Trains

Today, like most Saturdays, I took a 40 minute train ride to Daejeon. As you can see from this picture, taking the train in Korea is a little different from taking the train in Canada. What you can't see is the 80 or so other soldiers that had yet to arrive. Yes, I know soldiers take the train in Canada, but their presence seems so much more evident here. What you can't see is the young faces on these men. I would estimate their average age to be about 18. Korean men must serve at least 2 years of active duty. This can include being a soldier, police man, post office worker or any other government job. On another note: it snowed today! While I didn't actually see the snow fall it's evidence was everywhere when I got back to the station. Better get out those brooms!

Something About The Pitts

Today I watched "Oceans Twelve" starring, among others, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis and Elliot Gould. It occurred to me that all of these actors at some time had appeared on the sitcom "Friends" (Elliot Gould playing "Jack Gellar"). My favorite episode with either of these actors has to be the thanksgiving episode where Brad Pitt comes to the apartment for dinner. Apparently Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) wasn't very nice to him in high school and he still has a grudge. I really thought that these two were a great Hollywood couple. Guess not. Friday it was reported they would separate after 4 years of marriage. Is any marriage safe in Hollywood? Entertainment Tonight must be having a hay day.

Something About PHI

Right now I'm reading The Davinci Code by Dan Brown. It's the story of Robert Langdon, a Professor of Religous Symbolism, and his task of solving a code involved with a murder in Paris. Enough said. On page 102 Langdon has a flashback to a class he taught on the use of "PHI". PHI, he tells his class, is the mathematical term for the number 1.618. According to Langdon the entire human body is made up of this mathematical phenomenon:

“Measure the distance from the tip of your head to the floor. Then divide that by the distance from your belly button to the floor. Guess what number you get.”
“Not PHI!” one of the jocks blurted out in disbelief.
“Yes, PHI,” Langdon replied. “One-point-six-one-eight. Want another example? Measure the distance from your shoulder to your fingertips, and then divide it by the distance from your elbow to your fingertips. PHI again. Another? Hip to floor divided by knee to floor. PHI again. Finger joints. Toes. Spinal divisions. PHI. PHI. PHI. My friends, each of you is a walking tribute to the Divine Proportion.”(p.102)

Langdon continues to tell his students how PHI can be found in animals as well as art work. Would an author make such bold statements if they were not true? I know the book is fiction but I would really like to know if this idea of PHI is legit. Here's where you come in. I don't have a tape measure so I can't perform the measurements myself. I thought it would be interesting if you readers did the measurements yourself and posted your results. If this idea of "PHI" is legitimate is shows that despite how different we think we are to one another, we are actually quite the same.

Something About Google

People who know me know I love Google. Plain and simple. Whenever I have a stupid mundane question, Google is there. Case in point:

On Monday and Tuesday I watch Seinfeld on T.V. . On Tuesday I watched episode 62: "The Handicap Spot." As I was kind of listening and kind of emailing at the same time, George's father "Frank" appeared on the show. Thing is, it wasn't Jerry Stiller. "Who on earth is that?" I really had to stop and think about what was going on. I've seen the episode countless times and I was definite that every time Jerry Stiller has played the part of Frank. Enter Google. By simply typing "Seinfeld Handicap Spot" I was able to get a complete synopsis of that particular episode. Turns out that shortly after taping the episode NBC hired Jerry Stiller to replace actor John Randolph as the part of Frank. The scenes with "Frank" were then re-shot with Jerry Stiller. What I found was that this only occurred in the United States. Overseas showings of the episode are the originals with John Randolph playing the part of "Frank." Interesting. Google can make anyone seem like they know what they are talking about.