Day: August 26, 2004

Almost Friday

You’d think that because I had a short work week, I’d be more on the ball with work. Eh. Summ-summ-summertime…

And, of course, NY’ers fleeing town because of the upcoming Republican conventions. Eh. Weird photo in today’s Daily News (too bad I have no link for it) – it’s a photo of Victoria’s Secret with two armed male cops (and I mean armed, with their weapons on hand and helmets on their heads) ready and steady at the door; Daily News caption: “Victoria’s Secret at W. 34th St. and Sixth Ave. gets a no-frills security detail as authorities make presence known in midtown in advance of Republican National Convention.” Umm. Right. I’m real worried about the security of Victoria’s Secret. (well, ok, so it is located close to Madison Sq. Garden, but still, the photo looked odd and without the caption, you would think it was any Victoria’s Secret and would end up wondering about that pair of cops).

Sometimes I wonder if the differences between NYC and D.C. can be… exaggerated. Or maybe not. I can’t tell. This NY Times article by David Carr that I’m linking seems to portray the stereotypes – NY’ers as “snarling” boors (as Carr quotes Tucker Carlson, the political talking head on CNN) or sophisticates vs. the D.C.’ers as silly boy scouts or super serious G’men. “‘The contempt is mutual,'” a D.C. journalist says. (actually, I have no contempt for D.C.; there’s no love lost either, frankly, but contempt’s a little strong a word). Then, Carr says that Democratic standby, James Carville, observed “that the version of Washington that will be arriving in New York will hardly need directions. ‘Just about anybody in the Washington contingent is up here 10 or 12 times a year,” [Carville] said. ‘They are on the shuttle all the time. When you’re here, people stay up later, talk louder and eat more. Everybody likes to have fun.'” So glad to know that D.C.’er love the shuttle and can find that they do more in NYC. (well, no, not really; I mean, I feel that they can do as they please, so long as they don’t hurt people; live and let live, you know?).

So weird to think that once the Olympics are over, I can just change channels from NBC to PBS and just watch Convention stuff during the prime time hours. My non-stop (near non-stop anyway, since, again, I lack cable) massive-event tv isn’t going to stop. Gosh, I’m a junkie. I am SSW and I’m a tv marathon junkie. I’ll sit down now.

These NBC commercials for the upcoming “The Apprentice” (season 2) are scary. You get little clips of the latest contestants (West Point graduate; Wharton School grad (trying to impress The Donald, a Wharton alumnus?); nerd; geek; the usual eye candy men and women; argh…), plus everyone’s favorite The Donald, George, and Carolyn. And to think that this was once the network of Must-See-Tv (stuff like “Friends,” “Cheers,” “Seinfeld,” and “Cosby”…). But, I am getting real pumped by the NBC commercials for the new “Medical Investigations” show (it looks like an action-thriller loaded portrayal of the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s work) – the return of Neal McDonough on tv. Missed him from his “Boomtown” days. Missed his clear blue eyes and wacked out intensity. So he’s playing a raving scientist instead of a lawyer. Ok, I’ll go with it and see what happens.

Etc., etc., etc….

In at Incheon

Got in 20 minutes early into Incheon, South Korea, the first leg of this race around Southeast Asia.

Going to a foreign country, especially where English is not the primary language, heightens awareness in the same way that perhaps blindness or deafness forces one to depend on the rest of their senses.

Korean TV: They had broadcasts from the two major news outlets on screan, KBS and SBS. The KBS reporters all have email addresses where you can write to them at the end of the segment. However, they could have come up with better usernames than “ace” and “bird6777”.

The news spent a lot of time about the John Hamm/Korean gymnist gold metal controversy. The news fully put the blame on the federation and actually put Hamm in a good light. The other news was the ping pong gold that they won over the Chinese, which they spent more than 20 minutes doing play by plays of the last volley. This was in context with the current diplomatic tension between Korea and China over historical boundaries of the ancient Korean empire, where China is now in the diplomatic doghouse as compared to America.

The movie was “My Mother the Diver”, which was kind of wierd Korean soap opera having something to do with wild gingsing, and then the second half of the movie

There was this Korean chick which was somewhat nationality confused — she was wearing a Roots Canada cap with a Roots United Kingdom pink track suit. Cute.

Supper: miso soup, cured salmon bi bim bap, korean pickles, 210g of steamed white rice, Dole fruit gel cup, red wine, water, green tea.
Dinner/Breakfast: cod fish stewed with corn and potato, smoked salmon and potato salad, coffee cake cupcake, roll with butter, water, green tea.
This had to be the best meals I’ve ever had on a airline. Korean Air puts most of the money into the food, and not much into the drinks. I think that makes for a better compromise.

The only thing that really is bad (or good depending on how you see it) is the connection times are so bad. The nonogenerian Philipine couple that was sitting next to me have to wait until 10 AM for their connection.

OK, I have 5 minutes left on this kiosk, so here’s the route marker: go to Myong-dong, Seoul in downtown and find the oldest Western building.