I think Edingburgh's Fringe festival is something you have to see yourself to really understand what it is like, but I will do my best to convey my experiences. First the setting: Edinburgh is a beautiful city, very old, and very Scottish. The castle on the edge of the cliff dominates the town. The whole city is made of stone and easily walkable. During the Fringe festival some streets are closed to traffic and street performers come out to play. Some are musicians, most are jugglers / circus stunt type stuff. Many are marginally skilled at best - if you've seen me juggle, I'm a couple months practice away from the lower tier of performers here. Also if you stop to see some guy's trick, you'll probably have to wait through 20 minutes of crowd coaxing build-up. Yet the highest qualities guys are really good, and regardless it creates a unique atmosphere for just walking down the street.
The indoors shows are the main reason to go to the Fringe. There are hundreds of fairly cheap (often free) shows going on all day long for a month, so below is the list of shows I saw along with brief commentary.
Outside of the entertainment I had a good time in Edinburough. I got to see my parents for the first time in over a year, and my aunt and uncle for the first time in several more. I got reintroduced to greasy western cuisine, and I was loving it. I stayed in a backpackers which was not so entertaining as my Japan ski lodge, but I did have the pleasure of sharing the room with a young Korean lass whom I was able to take out on the town and impress with my (childish) command of her native tongue.
1. Forgetable comedy show - on my first night, since I was alone and the show wasn't sold out, I was offered a free ticket (8 pound value) to a comedy show. The guy had jokes and songs but most were referencing British pop culture from the past year. So they mostly went over my head, but the crowd seemed to dig it.
2. "Freestyle Standup" - a free show featuring a couple different comics. These guys were pretty hilarious, and quite daring with dirty jokes directed at the audience.
3. Doug's one man show - this was a depressing experience. I went to the show because I needed to kill some time and it was free. I was shocked to find that altough the venue was a very classy looking pub, I was the only guy in attendance! I couldn't walk out at this point, and I still expected the best, but the guy was a train wreck. He did some one man sketches that mostly fell flat on the audience (of one)
4. Literary pub tour - Edinburough has been home to a vast array of wordsmiths from Robert Burns to Robert Louis Stevenson. The pub tour was hosted by actors playing an academic and a drunken sot who had a battle of wits using literary quotations and history to discuss the lifestyles and inspirations of Scotlands best writers. It was a lively exchange that took us through history and also plenty of Edinburough's best watering holes. A good mix of performance and down time to talk with my fellow tourgoers.
5. Richard Feynman is my Hero - a few scientifically influenced standups. Funny enough, although the venue was oppressivly hot.
6. Rebel Cell - This was one of the best shows I saw. The show was performed by a couple rappers. The premise was that in the near future England has become totalitarian - the govt has merged with the major corporations - one of the main characters is a figurehead of a rebelious movement. Whether or not the premise is cliched is a non-issue in the face of the tight lyrics these guys have constructed. They also display freestlye skills crafting rhymes from audience suggestions.
7. Some long form improv show - halfway decent improv. I don't have much to say about it, apart from to say it was a troupe only marginally less talented than various shows I've seen my brother perform in. If you're reading you should look into coming out one summer!
8. One-man drama - an interesting show, the man took us through the drama he faced being the son of a con-artist / compulsive liar of a mother. He seemlessly shifted between characters with abundant talent. I only wish he spent more time talking about his mother's many grifts instead of the heartbreak it caused his family.
9. Circe - This was a bunch of incredible gymnasts dancing interpretavely. They demonstrated poses requiring incredible strength, such as the man who let a woman dance upon his outstretched arms. It was a very impressive display
10. Topping and Butch - a duo of gay comedians. Very blue comedy, and very funny. Again some cultural references that went over my head, but enough timeless humor to keep me chuckling in the mean while.
11. Death of the Samurai - the last show I saw and maybe the strangest. The show was high octane! It was billed as a Japanese manga interpretation of a story inspired by Shakespeare. To give this production justice I would need an entire post for a review, so let me just say that the energy of the cast, costumes, soundtrack, and broken english / japanese dialog combined for an unforgetable and exhilirating time.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Scotland trip report Part I: Korean Prequel
Actually my vacation started a week before I left for Scotland. I spent one beatiful weekend on the beach on Namhae island, just a 90 min drive from home. I went with my Korean friends from town, and in fact may have been the only foreigner on the beach. It was so crowded! a majority of beachgoers got yellow innertubes to float on, and the ocean was like a bowl of cherrios. There was seriously a 1km long, 50m wide swath where you couldn't swim without bumping into someone. It was a fun day, we played in the surf, had a bbq on a portable gas grill, threw some frisbee and just enjoyed ourselves.
After a half week of rain and tennis (on alternate days) it was time to leave town. First stop Suwon, where another former Smaug teammate, Raj "The Bus", was in town on business. We donated some money to the military via poker, then got really drunk at a bar that served mixed drinks in galvanized tin buckets. It was good to be able to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in a few years.
Next day I was off to Seoul to start the day with a little frisbee. As always it was nice to let the plastic fly. I had to play barefoot because I didn't want to bring my cleats to Scotland, but the grass was luscious. It was hot and humid (had been all month) so I was really looking forward to wearing a sweater in Scotland the next week. That night we had a classic party night in Itaewon. In the back of my mind I knew this might be the last time I see a lot of my K frisbee friends, so I went all out and had a great time.
After a half week of rain and tennis (on alternate days) it was time to leave town. First stop Suwon, where another former Smaug teammate, Raj "The Bus", was in town on business. We donated some money to the military via poker, then got really drunk at a bar that served mixed drinks in galvanized tin buckets. It was good to be able to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in a few years.
Next day I was off to Seoul to start the day with a little frisbee. As always it was nice to let the plastic fly. I had to play barefoot because I didn't want to bring my cleats to Scotland, but the grass was luscious. It was hot and humid (had been all month) so I was really looking forward to wearing a sweater in Scotland the next week. That night we had a classic party night in Itaewon. In the back of my mind I knew this might be the last time I see a lot of my K frisbee friends, so I went all out and had a great time.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Cognitive dissonance
, or more particularly, the rationalization one does to oneself in order to reduce dissonance, is a pervasive and insidious mental bugbear. A good recent example is SC Gov Sanford reconciling the dissonance between his Christian belief that adultery is a sin (and that sinners should not be held in esteem) and his ambition / pride in being a political leader, with the comparison of himself to some biblical leader (was it Abraham, or David or ??) who is mandated to keep office despite his faults. Not all examples are so hilarious or obvious, but you should still search your own mind for instances of dissonance. I do so, but the problem is sometimes not recognizing that dissonance exists but rather determining which conclusions are genuine and which are mere rationalization.
When I was a grad student I was committed to finishing my PhD. I follow the credo of "finish what you started" and I was having a good life at the time, so there is no dissonance there, but I helped maintain my enthusiasm for math with the idea of being a career academic. Indeed, in my last year I applied for positions to continue my math career at top level post-doc/assnt prof. jobs. Was this job search the result of rebellion against the dissonance of having spent 6 years on a career path that I didn't really want to continue down for the long term? Having failed to land my dream job, and by now having had a bit of space and time to reflect on matter, I realize math was a worthwhile project, but ultimately not something I have enough passion for to do for the rest of my life. .. or is that conclusion just the result of the dissonance between my belief that I can do anything I really want yet did not get one of those top jobs?
That may remain an unsolved question, but I am fairly certain of the following: While I don't want to be a career English teacher in Korea, part of the reason I took this job was to reflect on such issues. Luckily, it's also a great place to live, and I think it would only continue to get better as I become more integrated into the culture, so I have no prejudice against coming back for another short term contract. But the job is not really challenging enough, and I can't convince myself that it is a noble or worthwhile enough endeavor to devote a significant portion of my life towards.
I struggled with different ways to express myself here, so I'll just state the plain facts for now: I've decided that to be happy a man needs to get something done, and to get something done a man needs a big picture, long term goal to devote himself to. There are several candidates for the next major worldwide crisis, I guess everyone who has the luxury of relative wealth and talent should pick one and devote himself to some long term preventative strategy. So I decided to work in the solar energy industry.
I have a decent background in materials science to start on this path, but might need additional training before I can find the position that's right for me. I've been searching for jobs to no avail these last couple months. If these trends continue after I return to America, there is a good chance my future plans will look like this - couple months jaunting around usa / SE asia; another semester teaching english in Korea; a year getting another degree at the European School of Solar Engineering in Sweden starting next August.
When I was a grad student I was committed to finishing my PhD. I follow the credo of "finish what you started" and I was having a good life at the time, so there is no dissonance there, but I helped maintain my enthusiasm for math with the idea of being a career academic. Indeed, in my last year I applied for positions to continue my math career at top level post-doc/assnt prof. jobs. Was this job search the result of rebellion against the dissonance of having spent 6 years on a career path that I didn't really want to continue down for the long term? Having failed to land my dream job, and by now having had a bit of space and time to reflect on matter, I realize math was a worthwhile project, but ultimately not something I have enough passion for to do for the rest of my life. .. or is that conclusion just the result of the dissonance between my belief that I can do anything I really want yet did not get one of those top jobs?
That may remain an unsolved question, but I am fairly certain of the following: While I don't want to be a career English teacher in Korea, part of the reason I took this job was to reflect on such issues. Luckily, it's also a great place to live, and I think it would only continue to get better as I become more integrated into the culture, so I have no prejudice against coming back for another short term contract. But the job is not really challenging enough, and I can't convince myself that it is a noble or worthwhile enough endeavor to devote a significant portion of my life towards.
I struggled with different ways to express myself here, so I'll just state the plain facts for now: I've decided that to be happy a man needs to get something done, and to get something done a man needs a big picture, long term goal to devote himself to. There are several candidates for the next major worldwide crisis, I guess everyone who has the luxury of relative wealth and talent should pick one and devote himself to some long term preventative strategy. So I decided to work in the solar energy industry.
I have a decent background in materials science to start on this path, but might need additional training before I can find the position that's right for me. I've been searching for jobs to no avail these last couple months. If these trends continue after I return to America, there is a good chance my future plans will look like this - couple months jaunting around usa / SE asia; another semester teaching english in Korea; a year getting another degree at the European School of Solar Engineering in Sweden starting next August.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Korean Miracle
This is the term used to describe Korea's remarkable transformation from being one of the world's poorest countries for a decade after their war to being one of the "Asian Tigers" a G20 nation. These days the country is so opulent that they run air conditioners at school at full blast with the doors and windows wide open. And the kids are getting fat ..
Well, we all like to make fun of the parents and grandparents who enjoy spinning yarns about how tough it was in their day. "I had to walk to school 2 miles in the snow, up hill both ways." "Every night for dinner we had a bowl of cold gravel, and then got whipped with the belt ... if we were lucky!" My own father talks about having to have pumped water from a well. but let me share some stories from my co-teachers who grew up in the 70's in Korea. One was so cronically hungry that her parents gave her booze to fill her stomach and put her to sleep as a 10 year old, and the other remembers an annual tradition from early spring when the winter stores were spent, but the new growth wasn't harvestable. Her parents would send her out to the forest with a sharp stone to peel and eat nutritious bark from the evergreen trees.
Stories like these gave me something to think about.
Well, we all like to make fun of the parents and grandparents who enjoy spinning yarns about how tough it was in their day. "I had to walk to school 2 miles in the snow, up hill both ways." "Every night for dinner we had a bowl of cold gravel, and then got whipped with the belt ... if we were lucky!" My own father talks about having to have pumped water from a well. but let me share some stories from my co-teachers who grew up in the 70's in Korea. One was so cronically hungry that her parents gave her booze to fill her stomach and put her to sleep as a 10 year old, and the other remembers an annual tradition from early spring when the winter stores were spent, but the new growth wasn't harvestable. Her parents would send her out to the forest with a sharp stone to peel and eat nutritious bark from the evergreen trees.
Stories like these gave me something to think about.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Daegu pub golf
A week and a half ago I went back to Daegu for Sean's going away party. A pub crawl wasn't good enough for him, so we had to play a round of pub golf. This consists of a pre-appointed drink in each of 9 different bars. Your score is the number of strokes (or sips) it takes to finish your drink. We visited some bars with unique specialities along the way. One was "billibowl" a combination of billiards and bowling - you shoot the pool ball down the alley towards miniature pins, it's pretty fun. The only drink I had a hard time finnishing in one chug was the ice beer. This is a regular pint of beer served in a mug of solid ice. The fun part is that after you finish you can throw the mug at a wall and possibly win a free beer if you hit a target. Overall it was a fun night.
Golf Champion
Yesterday I went to Bugok Country Club to cheer on my co-teachers son as he won the province's elementary student championship. This skinny 10 year old has a swing like butter, and smoked the competition shooting 75-73 from the red tees of a championship golf course nestled into the Korean mountains. He came within inches of holing out for eagle from 100 yards on the final hole, and beat his nearest competitor by over 10 strokes. Aparently he is about #10 in the nation for his age group.
I also saw the national high school girls champion play. She had a swagger about her that did not abate even as she accepted the 2nd place trophy having been beaten out by a middle school girl playing above her league.
I also saw the national high school girls champion play. She had a swagger about her that did not abate even as she accepted the 2nd place trophy having been beaten out by a middle school girl playing above her league.
Hadong Cool Summer
Korea likes to have short English slogans for public events or press campaigns, such as the tourism board adopting "Sparkling Korea", and my home town's "Cool Summer." Somehow this July seems to have been at least 5 degrees cooler than last year, I guess because it was so much more cloudy and rainy this year. But the rainy season seems to have ended, and just in time for a little festival we had last weekend.
Events included a critical mass style tour of the town on Saturday. A pack of 125 bicycles in a town of 40,000 is not a bad ratio - I suppose it is equivalent to LA having a 5,000 member ride. That night there was a concert headlining some Korean that my students went nuts over, followed by a pretty decent fireworks display. The highlight Sunday occured in a little pond (about 100 square meters of knee deep water) they had dug into the sandy beach. They dumped about 100 3-4 pound fish in there, then we all piled in and tried to catch them with our bare hands. Other events included beach soccer tournament, and jetski pulled tube-rides.
Events included a critical mass style tour of the town on Saturday. A pack of 125 bicycles in a town of 40,000 is not a bad ratio - I suppose it is equivalent to LA having a 5,000 member ride. That night there was a concert headlining some Korean that my students went nuts over, followed by a pretty decent fireworks display. The highlight Sunday occured in a little pond (about 100 square meters of knee deep water) they had dug into the sandy beach. They dumped about 100 3-4 pound fish in there, then we all piled in and tried to catch them with our bare hands. Other events included beach soccer tournament, and jetski pulled tube-rides.
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