PixDix Sucks

In case you were wondering, PixDix sucks. PixDix is a truly awful place to buy electronics in Korea. From the customer service to the prices, PixDix fails on many levels.

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Autumn is a great time of year in Korea

Pil-dong, Seoul. At the base of Namsan.

Blogger Beware! New FTC rules go into effect December 1

I posted on my company blog about the potential impact of the FTC's new guidelines on third-party endorsers. Please give it a read, along with any other posts you find interesting (especially if you read Korean).

Korea's Green Growth (CNN Video)

Here's an interesting look at "green growth" in Koera. Why the quotes? Well, it's not entirely clear how green this actually is.

Anecdotally, I have heard a lot more people talking about the importance of environmentalism.

I dream therefore, what?

My dreams typically come out of real life. A few nights ago, for instance, I dreamed that the buildings across the street from me were being bombarded with North Korean rockets. Given that I live in Seoul and tensions on the peninsula are now as high as Kim Jong-il’s bouffant, my brain wasn’t taking a great leap to conjure this scenario. Ignore the fact that the rockets were flying slowly enough for me to see them clearly and that they were only a couple of meters long and the dream reaches the threshold of possibility, though not probability.

There are also dreams that are stranger, but fill a certain longing. There is no Wendy’s in Korea and I’ve more than once dreamed of visiting one. These dreams have ranged from the ordinary – driving across town and picking up a burger from the drive-thru window – to the absolutely absurd – visiting non-existent friends in Reykjavík and taking their spaceship to the city’s ice-stalagmite center, parking at Wendy’s and being astounded to find lutefisk on the menu.
Occasionally my dreams seem so real, yet so infeasible, that I wake up wondering if the convenience store ice cream cone that found its way into my stomach a couple hours before bed used psychotropic mushrooms as a flavor enhancer.

Last night I fell asleep and found that Metallica had invited me to become their new bassist. Little did it matter that I’ve neither listened to that band nor played bass since high school. I walked on stage, took my place under the lights and rocked the crowd. What’s more, I was playing the bass so well it was surprising to me, even in my dream.

So, what does it mean? Is it time to shed the suit and tie routine? Should I walk over to 낙원 at lunch time and pick up a new Yamaha BB 1500A?

To quote Cake’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle:

Aging black leather and hospital bills,
Tattoo removal and dozens of pills.
Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments,
But rock on completely with some brand new components.

Lots to think about, but no action to take. At least with my dreams there’s always an escape.

Step back or I'll shoot you with my ICBM!

Oh how the media loves a story about a reclusive, diva-like dictator with really big weapons. The South Korean media, just like the Japanese and international media, has been covering North Korea's missile launch from every angle - even the implausable ones.

A scientist actually said on Korean TV the other day that an ICBM in North Korea could be used against South Korea if fired at the proper trajectory. While he's technically correct, why even bring this up? It would never happen. Before you say that I'm discounting the remote possibility of North Korea launching an attack against the South, let me explain very simply: North Korea has much more effective weapons that it could use against the South.

That's right. Remember those mid-range SCUD missiles that Sadam blasted Kuwait with in the first Gulf War? North Korea has SCUDs too (of the Rodong variety, not the SCUD-D variety). Why on earth would Kim Jong-Il use the Daepodong-2 ICBM, with a range of thousands of kilometers and a reputation for fizzling out in stage two, to hit a target a few hundred kilometers away? Oh, and did I mention that SCUDs, being originally developed in the 1950s, are pretty cheap to make? Sunday's satellite launch missile test, on the other hand, is estimated to have cost half a billion dollars.


Why do I point this out? Well, mostly because a vast majority of the people spewing opinions about North Korea might as well be spewing opinions about Madeupland. They don't have a clue what they're talking about. There are people who have written books - thick books - that still don't get it.

If you want a realistic view of North Korea, I'd recommend reading Kim Il-Sung University graduate Andrei Lankov and North Korean literature expert B.R. Myers.

The New Apartment

to I've gotten a lot of questions from friends and family as to whether or not I actually moved into the new apartment I'd talked about. Well, yes. I have. Here are some pictures to prove it.


Living room


Living room - reverse angle


Kitchen


Bedroom


Balcony


Hallway... and bathroom

a moving list

13 boxes
3 suitcases
4 houseplants
dishes, which may or may not make it in their completeness
2 closets full of neatly hung shirts, suits, coats and other miscellanea
1 coffee table with folding legs
1 coffee maker, small
1 bed, fit for a queen
1 desk with a missing drawer front
1 office chair sans wheels
1 TV, just 1
1 curio
3 pillows
1 microwave
1 toaster oven
bathroom items, some too private to reveal
pictures
1 half-eaten bag of chicken nuggets
the small Christmas wreath I forgot to take off the door even though its now March

Obama's Elf

Excellent mondegreen. Laughed out loud.

Korean Unemployment - Government Needs to Act Quickly, Manage Public Perception

Yesterday I read an interesting research article about Korea's Green New Deal, published by the Samsung Economic Research Institute. (Link - Free registration required.) It provides a chart comparing Korea's official unemployment rate to the unemployment rates of other countries. Korea's statistics, like those in the U.S. only count people actively looking for jobs,

According to SERI, Korea's unemployment rate stayed steady at 3.2% from 2007 to 2008. Compare this to a rise from 4.7% to 6.7% in the U.S. or 8.6% to 13.4% in Spain.

It made me wonder how many people in Korea had simply given up looking for jobs and were thus not counted. Today the Chosun Ilbo reported this number to be 3.5 million people, or approximately 8.9% of Korea's working-age population. This makes Korea's total jobless rate about 12.1%. In the U.S., for the sake of comparison only, the number of people who've given up looking for work stands at just 2.1 million, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

I worry about how Korea's large jobless population will affect and be affected by the economic downturn. Family is largely the only social safety net in Korea and if enough people in the same family or region lose their jobs or see their wages cut, it could lead to far greater social unrest than Korea has experienced in many years. This summer's protests could dwarf last year's beef protests.

To prevent this, the government needs to act swiftly to enact programs, like the Green New Deal, which will not only create short-term jobs during the recession, but also improve infrastructure and technical capabilities, which are needed for long-term growth.

This is going to require a great deal of perception management by the government. The LMB administration has already made a major misstep by putting a plan to clean up rivers at the forefront of its initiatives. Detractors have been quick to accuse the administration of trying to use this as a catalyst to revive the now defunct canal project.

My advice is for the government to embark on a public relations campaign to inform the public about the greater cost of not taking action. Korea receives much of its rainfall during the summer, causing seasonal flooding and droughts. Small dams and better reservoirs could fix both of these problems, save money and provide additional recreation areas, which are quite lacking in the countryside.

The government should also promote more strongly other projects like adding green transportation options, which would not only reduce pollution but also save people from the extreme weekend traffic on Korea's highway network.

For this to be successful and for Korea to recover and move forward, opposition politicians are going to need to cooperate with the majority, no matter how much it hurts. Teachers will need to promote the ideas in their classrooms, rather than calling the current government a dictatorship. People will need to focus their energy on constructive endeavors and projects, rather than massive street protests. Labor unions will need to encourage members to continue doing productive work. And companies will need to adapt, investing in new growth areas and industries while keeping employees in place, even at the risk of smaller profit margins in the short term.

I guess we'll just have to watch and see what happens, fingers crossed.

I cooked this

Actually, I cooked three of them.

Marinated in olive oil with cumin, black pepper and a pinch of salt.
Cooked on a George Foreman Grill for about 10 minutes.