Something About SPAM

Until recently GMAIL, Google's free webmail service, has been add free. We knew they were coming, we just didn't know when. It's no big deal, really. I don't check my email to read the adds. Within the past week GMAIL has begun posting links at the top of the page that are relevant to the emails you receive. Keywords like "Christmas", "Canada" or "Korea" will bring about relevant links. What I find amusing is what happens when I check my SPAM folder. I do this occasionally as sometimes relevant mail slips through to this junk folder. Whenever I check my SPAM folder I now receive a link to a SPAM luncheon meat recipe. Today's link: SPAM SKILLET CASSEROLE . Yummy!

Something About Pizza

Having lived in Korea for almost three years I've become accustomed to their version of pizza. They are somewhat similar to Western style pizza's with the exception of using corn as a topping. At Pizza Hut the most famous pizza includes a crust lined with sweet potato. When I went to Pizza Hut with my High School class I found yet another strange topping for a pizza: accorns. I pretended to like it but it acually kind of gross.

Something About Condoleeza

Man, wouldn't it suck to be Condoleeza Rice? It seems as if 2005 has been a constant cycle of Rice saying one thing and Bush saying the exact opposite. Rice said that American soldiers don't torture prisoners. Bush said torture is a reasonable interrogation technique in certain cases. Rice said that there are no secret prisons in Europe. It's now becoming very likely that there are such prisons. And, most recently, Rice said that the American government does not spy on it's citizens. Well, Bush just admitted today that the government has in fact been spying on it's citizens since 2001. I have the feeling Rice will be going the way of Collin Powell in the near future.

Something About Christmas Past

Today I was reminiscing about past Christmas's. Of the 30 of them one seemed to jump out at me. I think I was about 7 years old and my grandparents bought me and my sister a Winnie the Pooh record player. My uncle Doug bought us "The Chipmunk's Christmas" album as well as a "Smurf's" album. At the time I think I was more excited about The Smurf's album. Little did I know that years later I wouldn't remember one song on the Smurf's album but would still remember every song from the Chipmunks album. Alllllviinnnnnnnn!

Something About Anniversaries

At the conclusion of the annual ASEAN meetings, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Southeast Asian leaders Tuesday he failed to understand why his Chinese counterpart refused a one on one meeting with him during the conference. It is ironic that the day Koizumi made these comments just happened to be the anniversary of the Nanjing massacre. It was 68 years ago today that the Japanese went into Nanjing, China, and, in a period of one month, killed an estimated 300,000 innocent Chinese and raped an estimated 20,000 women and children. South Korean and Chinese leaders have repeatedly asked Koizumi to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, a place that honors, among others, those responsible for the Massacre. I bet this anniversary never even crossed Koizumi's mind as he made his comments to the leaders. The U.S. seems so worried about China's military build up. I think I'd be more concerned about Japan's ambitions to reinstate it's military.

Something About Consistency

In my life I have two worlds: one in reality and one in TVland. Now, I realize reality is not always consistent, but I really do expect TVland to be. Joey Tribbiani is a resident of TVland. He used to live in New York with his gang of Friends but, as everyone grew older, he decided to move to Hollywood to better pursue his acting career. In reality, Matt Leblanc played a character on the sitcom "Friends." When Friends ran it's course, Matt moved his character to "Joey." Given that "Joey" is a spin off of "Friends", I expect some level of consistency between the two series. When I watched the first episode of Joey I knew something was wrong. Joey has a manager named Bobbie, played by Jennifer Coolidge. The problem with this is that Jennifer Coolidge played another character in Joey's life while he was still in New York. She played Amanda Buffamonteezi, Pheobe and Monica's annoying friend with the fake British accent. Given that her part in "Friends" was very small and confined to one episode I let it slide. For some reason or another, the people at "Joey" decided yet again to screw with TVland. A few years ago while still in New York, Joey got a role on Day's of Our Lives. At the time, Joey and Chandler were roommates. Joey feels that, with his new found stardom, he needs his own place. With Joey gone, Chandler needs to find a new roommate. He decides on Eddie Menuek , a psychotic character played by Adam Goldberg. Unlike the small role Jennifer Coolidge played on Friends, Adam had a fairly big role. He played Eddie in episode 217-219. On Thursday's episode of "Joey" Adam Goldberg appears yet again in Joey's life, not as Eddie but as Jimmy, Michael's dad. Seriously, there should be rules about this. You can't have an actor playing 2 separate characters in a sitcom. Yes, I know that "Friends" and "Joey" are two separate sitcoms, but, because "Joey" is a spinoff, the world he experienced in the first series should continue in the second. Take "Happy Day's" and "Joanie Loves Chachi" for example, the latter being a spin off. Let's pretend that when Joanie and Chachi move into their apartment they have a landlord played by Henry Winkler. That would have been stupid! Not all shows are inconsistent like "Joey." In TVland, Ray Barone has a friend named Doug Hefernan. In reality, Ray Romano played Ray on "Everybody Loves Raymond" while Kevin James plays Doug on "The King of Queens." Doug occasionally played one of Ray's friends on Ray's show. On a recent episode of "The King of Queens" Doug hangs out with Ray. In the episode Ray mentions his wife, Deborah, his kids and his parents. The conversation is consistent with what the viewers know about Ray's life in TVland. The people at NBC weren't always this inconsistent. In "Mad About You" there is a character named Ursula played by Lisa Kudrow. In this series she plays a waitress. In "Friends." Lisa plays Pheobe Buffay as well as her twin sister, Ursula. In episode 1-15 of "Friends," Jamie Buckman, played by Hunt, comes into Central Perk for a coffee. When she sees Phoebe she immediately recognizes her as Ursula:

JAMIE: What is this place?
FRAN: Look, you're cold, I have to pee, and there's a cup of coffee on the window. How bad could it be?
JAMIE: I think we have an answer.
FRAN: What's she doing here?
JAMIE: This could be God's way of telling us to eat at home.
FRAN: Think she got fired at Riff's?
JAMIE: No, no, no. We were there last night. She kept bringing swordfish. Are you gonna go--
FRAN: I'm gonna wait till after we order. It's her, right.
JAMIE: It looks like her. Um, excuse me.
PHOEBE: Yeah?
JAMIE: Hi, it's us.
PHOEBE: Right, and it's me.
JAMIE: So, so you're here too?
PHOEBE: Much as you are.
JAMIE: Your turn.
FRAN: We know what we want.
PHOEBE: Oh, that's good.
JAMIE: All we want is two cafe lattes.
FRAN: And some biscotti cookies.
PHOEBE: Good choice.
JAMIE: Definitely her.
FRAN: Yeah.

There you have it: consistency. If only the people at "Friends"had continued with it, TVland would be back to normal.

Something About Snow

I read the weather report about Nonsan everyday. I told me students on Friday to expect snow on Sunday. They didn't believe me; it hadn't snowed in Nonsan in years. Sure enough when I woke up Sunday morning there was snow. It's the first snowfall I've seen in almost 2 years.

Something About Dirt

I remember when I first laid eyes on a Korean elementary school. "Look at all that dirt!", I said to myself. The typical Korean elementary, middle and high school's have dirt playing fields. It really does make the schools look unappealing. The Korean government has decided to reward their students with a "gift" for studying so hard. They have announced that, by years end 2006, all public schools in Korea will be surrounded by fields of astroturf. They cite maintenance costs as reasons not to simply plant grass seed. I can see some downsides to this. First, the astroturf is likely to rip a child's clothes when fallen upon. Second, the balls are going to be bouncing all over the place. Third, most Korean boys have b.b. guns; when these b.b.'s hit the ground they will rebound like crazy, likely causing some injury. Just imagine snow on astroturf; these schools are going to have massive skating rinks!

Something About Guest Stars

What was up with all the guest stars on television this week? From the small amount of shows I watch I counted 3 stars in 3 different sitcoms. The first was in "How I Met Your Mother", which guest starred Danica McKellar as "Trudy". Danica played Winnie Cooper in "The Wonder Years." Next up was "According To Jim", which guest starred Linda Hamilton as Jim's ex girlfriend. Linda played Sarah Connor in Terminator 1 and 2. Finally we have "That 70's Show." Don Knotts guest starred as Fez's fantasy landlord. Don played Mr. Furrly in "Three's Company" and Barney Fife in "The Andy Griffith Show." Of all the guest appearances I think Don Knott's was the funniest.