Nick Harkaway’s The Gone-Away World is a truly excellent book, particularly for an extra-long duty day. When you’re not fatigue-drunk, he’s got an engaging style and wild wit. When you in fact are, the story perfectly matches the sense that nothing is provably real.
Out and about in Songtan the other day visiting a friend from college who through pure coincidence is also currently stationed in Korea, we saw a truck open on an anonymous corner near his apartment containing lots of stage gear: lights, reflectors, etc. It generated a moment’s curiosity, as there is no nearby theatre, but [...]
I went to Yongsan today for a dental appointment. While stuck in traffic, I came up with a song to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas. I’ll write the last verse; I’m sure you can infer the rest.
As I drove into Yongsan, what did I chance to see?
Twelve driver TVs,
eleven required u-turns,
ten tiny [...]
It’s a new year again, for my readers in Korea and Japan at least*. (新年あけましておめでとうございます!) For my family and most of my friends, it’ll be another half day or so. In moving here I’ve cheated over twelve hours from both 2009 and the decade it was a part of; I think most people will agree [...]
Avatar: visually very nice. It’s good to see that we’re past the Uncanny Valley. The story wasn’t anything special, but this film should be remembered for its innovations in CGI if for nothing else. I did wonder, though: where did Sigourney Weaver find a Stanford t-shirt sized for a creature ten feet tall?
Speaking of CGI, [...]
Should an ideal human language allow deception?
I say yes. What’s the point of language? To allow a speaker to induce a mental state in a listener. At its most basic level, this allows communication of basic concepts, plans, and facts. At more advanced levels, it can be used to induce emotions or to persuade. My [...]
Civilian Commercial:
Seoul Incheon: not actually very remarkable. It’s a big modern airport very much like many other big modern airports. It’s not ideally designed: it requires walking maybe 1500 meters from one end to the other, for military arrivals at least. Still, its linear design means it is at least simple. Also, free internet and [...]
The Army’s in Korea to support our great allies.
My comp’ny’s role is simple: drop some troopers from the skies,
And as a junior pilot I just keep the rotors high,
SO let’s all fly to Asia for the Army.
I’m wearing now the wings that took two years for me to rate.
A couple things were rough but overall [...]
It turns out to be surprisingly difficult to properly fly in formation. The big challenge is altitude control: you need to stay within about +- 10 feet of the altitude of the person ahead of you. If you go too low, you run into their downwash and get to deal with problems ranging from turbulence [...]
I keep putting off going to sleep. I think the idea is that this is the last hour of the last day of my vacation, and tomorrow I have to get up to an alarm and go to work and resume the daily grind. As it happens, I like my job; the daily grind really [...]