Monday, March 18, 2024

At Ilsan Lake Park

 

I was taking pictures of this and that, including the carp under the bridge, when this guy poked his head out of the water and stared right at me, as if saying "Whoa dude, you could literally be my twin!"


Saturday, March 16, 2024

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Just A Cute Sweet Photo


of a little girl encountering a big bunny at Sinchon Station.


I can post them, you know.  No engaging in weird solipsistic psycho-soliloquy or looking for cosmic meaning in my Obsessive-Compulsive tendencies.  Just a cute shot.



Sunday, March 10, 2024

And Another Dramatic Shot

of a turbulent sky from the other day, with roiling clouds and a curiously regular, "die-cut" looking hole in their midst.






Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Sunday, March 3, 2024

An Angel And A Devil II


A rather more literal representation of the beings than in the last post with this title.






Related Post:  An Angel And A Devil 

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Some More Seoul Stairs











Child's Silhouette


I won't go into the specifics as to why -- not my intention to cause offense -- but I think it's rather obvious why I found this image disturbing.






Friday, March 1, 2024

Another "How Appropriate"















Related Post:  How Appropriate

Antelope Head


In a shop display window.  Curious how the "antelope's" head seems to continue the color and direction of the board under it, almost as if it were transparent or a color mimic.



Thursday, February 29, 2024

I Used To Smoke,

but then I discovered drinking.  Like this old sea chanty,"Captain Stratton's Fancy", has it, I don't really care whether it's red wine or white, Spanish or French -- and my favorite beer is whichever brand is cheap, cold and within reach at the moment.

"Captain Stratton's Fancy"

Oh, some are fond of red wine and some are fond of white,
And some are all for dancing by the pale moonlight,
But rum alone's the tipple and the heart's delight
Of the old, bold mate of Henry Morgan.

Oh, some are fond of Spanish wine and some are fond of French,
And some'll swallow tay and stuff fit only for a wench,
But I'm for right Jamaica till I roll beneath the bench,
Says the old, bold mate of Henry Morgan.

Oh, some are for the lily and some are for the rose,
But I am for the sugar cane that in Jamaica grows,
For it's that that makes the bonny drink to warm my copper nose,
Says the old, bold mate of Henry Morgan.

Oh, some are fond of fiddles and a song well sung
And some are all for music for to lilt upon the tongue,
But mouths were made for tankards and for sucking at the bung,
Says the old, bold mate of Henry Morgan.

Oh, some that's good and godly ones they hold that it's a sin
To troll the jolly bowl around and let the dollars spin,
But I'm for toleration and for drinking at an inn,
Says the old, bold mate of Henry Morgan.


 


Monday, February 26, 2024

Butterfly Effect

I wasn't going that way and didn't continue on to check the outcome, but I suppose eventually the interlocking pavers would have returned to their proper positions -- one or two places behind. 

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Yet More "Seen In A Seoul Alley"

I was in "explore" mode, just aimlessly wandering the mazelike alleyways of northern Seoul, back alleys that are barely wide enough for two people walking abreast, when I suddenly came across this rather ominous sight, suggestive of the Chateau d'If in The Count of Monte Cristo to all manner of torture-horror movies and everything in between.


Related Posts: SeoulAlley


Vanitas II

If you were around in Korea back in 2007, you may have heard of the TV drama The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, or just Coffee Prince for short.  It was a very popular series.  I was living in Los Angeles then and missed the original airing, but was able to watch it later on other platforms.  It was about HanGyeol, an irresponsible but likable playboy scion of a wealthy family whose grandmother finally gives him an ultimatum:  get a job and prove yourself, or else.

After some anxious brain-wracking he gets the bright idea to open a coffee shop near a women's university and staff it only with good-looking guys.  We are also introduced to EunChan, a poor tomboyish girl who gets mistaken for a guy all the time (albeit a handsome one).  The show revolved around the unlikely romance between the two of them, with HanGyeol, who thinks EunChan is a male, worrying about his attraction to her, thinking that he might be gay.

It so happened that I had an opportunity to visit Seoul the very next year, and I got to visit the actual cafe in the Hongdae neighborhood where they shot the series, in a sort of pilgrimage I guess.  The colorful sign proclaiming it "Coffee Prince" was there -- I guess they actually renamed the place permanently -- and it was decorated with multicolored lights outside and with props from the show and signed messages from the stars within.  Even the flower mural, whose production had been worked into the plot, was intact.  All in all, it looked to be doing fair business.

Well, guess what, all these years later, I just happened to pass by the place a little while ago, and man, was I surprised.  It was totally derelict, and to all appearances it had been that way for a long time.  It was practically a haunted house.  The gate was chained shut and the forecourt was completely covered with rotting leaves.  Vegetation had taken over the whole building and I'm certain no one's visited the property in years.  It was totally out of place, taking up space in a smart neighborhood full of businesses catering to young people.  I guess the flower mural must still be there on the wall inside, but I don't know about the handwritten messages.  Probably not.






Related Post:  Vanitas


Friday, February 23, 2024

"Downstream"

A glimpse of that melancholy "Ending of the Day" feeling.

Or perhaps remembering the "Last Evening of the World".




Almost As Soon As I Exited The Subway Station,

I was confronted with this sight.  I don't know how that looks to a pilot, but I think I might reconsider the choice of color anyway, just to be on the safe side...


Thursday, February 22, 2024

Le Petit Prince

There is an actual museum in Korea that's dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his poignant fairy tale about the Little Prince.



Related Post: Cool Tattoo