Wonderlands, Part Two

 
Hello, readers.

At the Sungkok Art Museum, from now until September 26th (or November 11th), there is an exhibition called, "Over the Rainbow, Parts One and Two." It is a celebration of multiculturalism by way of industrial pipes, black lights, spice labs, waltz rooms, white blobs named Amu (which means anybody in Korean), henna, and much more!

Well, maybe not that much. But it was cool.

Click the clicky thing for pictures and comments.

Wonderlands, Part One

Hello, readers.

Spent the night meeting new writer people. New in the sense that I had not met them, not in the sense that they were new to writing or to being people. Both, in fact, seemed more or less comfortable with being human*, and were graduates of Clarion, that purportedly mad wonderful six-week spec fic workshop that happens in San Diego and Seattle and usually, at some point, features water balloons.

Talk was had in Hongdae--at Cafe aA, and then Zen Hideway, and then Queen's Head. Zen Hideaway is a restaurant next to aA. It features very comfortable chairs, a terrace with fish, and food which is made, and served, with care. Queen's head is a micro-brewery that has decent beer (according to the new writer people who had it) and not bad coffee (according to me). There's also a room, of small and dusty circumstance, which, as was noted, inspires in one the feeling that plots ought to be hatched. It seemed appropriate.

The talk centered mostly on fiction and Korea. Authors and shows were bandied about and judged and wondered over. Unknown names were explained. The identity of M. Night Shymalan's last good film was debated. At one point, we toasted science.

It was one of those nights.

Alas, I took no pictures.

Instead, I've included unrelated pictures of art things.  The preceeding came from Insa Art Center in Insadong, a touristy, not so uncool, neighborhood of Seoul. After the break, there are a few more art things from an exhibition called Wonderland. The artist's name is An Eun Mi. Here work was shown, for a time, at Gallery Is in Insadong. It was strange.

Enjoy.

Zelen

Hello, readers.

If you ever find yourself in Seoul, eat at Zelen in Itaewon. It's run by Bulgarian brothers of such attractiveness that things are said about it. The restaurant is also a very nice green with green walls and green leafy bits and a statue of a mermaid in the center which is not green.

They serve food which also is pretty.

It tastes good, too.

They've opened another branch in Hannam-dong because of their being too awesome.

One of the brothers took our orders and was very thoughtful about whether any wheat might be in anything. We talked about this. In English. It was nice. Here's what the vegeterian moussaka looks like.

For more, go here or here.

Happy eating, readers.


ttfn.

Because My Sister Asked Me To

Hello, readers.

A review I wrote about a book called Stories is up at Strange Horizons.

Also, my sister asked me this weekend, "Why don't you post pictures of the cafes you're always at?"

So, the rest of this post, after the break, is for you, sister. The rest of you may look, too, if you'd like. Later, perhaps, I'll write up bits about each place. Until then, check out Alien's Day Out (a vegan in Seoul) for many and varied cafe postings. Her blog has been quite helpful in finding many places. That and this list.

On with the pictures...

Chungmuro Film Festival

Hello, readers.

Am currently, as often I am on Sunday, in aA cafe, cozily typing away while, across from me, a friend cozily types away on her own things. It's a kind of double coziness. Perhaps coziness squared. Nothing like cozies, though, which, frankly speaking, I don't really know what are except that they have something to do with tea.

Also, am currently regularly attending the Chungmuro Independent Film Festival in Seoul (Chiffs). It's a week-long festival spread across two theaters, Myeongdong CGV and the Lotte Cinema at AvenueL. The theaters are across the street from each other.  There are places in Seoul where theaters began to resemble Starbucks in that they are everywhere and serve under-sized, but not terribly over-priced, iced lattes.

The festival movies are divided into several sections, including, among others, Panorama (films from everywhere), Chungmuro Now (contemporary films from Korea), Cine Asia in Love (Wong-Kar Wai's first, As Tears Go By, is here. That should give you an idea), Cine Classics (the Alien series is the main focus), and the Creators (looks at architects, designers, and so forth).

Film Festivals and The Meaning of Life

Hello, readers.

I've begun watching The Mighty Boosh. My life has found meaning.

In other news, there are many film festivals in Seoul. Some of which are happening now, and some of which will be happening soon. (And one or two of which are already over but their posters were nifty).

Here are posters with clickable captions.

Seoul Art Cinema is cool. Cinevacances

SteamCute poster for Chungmuro International Film Festival

Science fiction festival at a science museum.

Hrm. Abstract snail people?

Small town. Cool fest. Over now.

Ooooh.

Happy filmicness, readers.

ttfn.

Where Have You Been?

Hello, readers.

You've asked an excellent question.

Here's your answer.

I went on a trip. It began on the east coast of Korea, in the town of Gangneung. I visited two beaches called Gyeongpo and Jeongdongjin. These beaches are famous for their sunrises because they are on the east coast and you know how it is with the east and sunrises. It was not disappointing. On my first morning in Gyeongpo (which is where I stayed), I woke up at 5:30 and went to the beach and swam as the sun rose. Eventually the lifeguards came and said it was too early to swim but it was already too late because I was swimming back to shore.

One woman kept dunking another woman in the ocean. I took pictures.

Other things in Gyeongpo include a Thomas Edison museum. I do not know why there is a Thomas Edison on the east coast of Korea, but there is. It was focused on the miraculousness of light, sound, and picture which Edison, with his light bulb, gramophone, and motion picture cameras, helped to make more conveniently and controllably miraculous. It was a fun museum. There was an exhibit of light fixtures from across the decades, including ones designed to impress people at museums and world fairs. An attendant flicked a switch and they went flashy. They also played really old sound canisters and gramophones, with records from the twenties and canisters from when they used canisters.

It exists.

One thing I learned was that it was smart to hang around when a Korean tour group came into an exhibit because usually the tour guide would flick a switch or play music.

Another thing there was a hall of TVs from the very first tubular wonder on up till the late 80s. This was very nostalgic and profound. TV has pretty much been the most important thing ever.

If you watch TVs long enough, the TVs will watch you.

And now let's try one of these breaky things. If you'd like to keep reading, click the breaky thing now.