PLAY BALL! Baseball starts on Thursday!

My attitude towards my favorite sports is experiencing a bit of a sea change lately.  My love for the NFL has started to wan in recent years, and my excitement every year for opening day of the baseball season has grown.  My frustration with the NFL primarily stems from the fact that the Redskins have been so abysmal for so long with no real improvement in sight.  Add to that the labor issues plaguing the sport, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Since I REALLY started following baseball in 1994 (the year MLB's own labor issues cost the fans the World Series), interest in the game has grown exponentially every year.  I started following the Orioles when Cal Ripken Jr. was on his way to breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak, and then switched allegiances when the Expos moved to DC and became the Nationals.  Now you may ask how I can lose faith in football because of the Redskins when the Nationals suck just as bad?  Well, it's easy.  The Redskins lose and have been losing for a long time in very predictable ways, and it's simply pathetic.  The Nats, while they have had back to back 100 loss seasons are at least entertaining.  They never lose the same way twice!  Also, unlike the Redskins, the Nats over the past two seasons have made some moves that should greatly improve the team in the next few years to come.  They've pulled in a few quality veterans through free agency (Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche) and infused the team with young guys like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasbourg who should, if they live up to their potential, help the team turn around in the relatively near future.  Will the Nats be a contender this year?  Probably not.  But I think they have a shot at becoming a .500 team, which would be a vast improvement and instill hope into the hearts of even the most cynical Nats fan.

Anyway, I'm lookig forward to a fun season.  I bought the MLB season package, so I'll be able to watch all the games from opening day.  I'm also going to try to get in to Daejeon a couple times a month to see some Hanwha Eagles games.

GO NATS!

Song of the Day

TOUCH OF GREY
Grateful Dead

Must be getting early
Clocks are running late
Paint-by-number morning sky looks so phony
Dawn is breaking everywhere
Light a candle, curse the glare
Draw the curtains, I don't care, cuz
It's alright

I will get by
I will get by
I will get by
I will survive

I see you've got your fist out
Say your piece and get out
Yes I get the gist of it, but
It's alright

Sorry that you feel that way
The only there is to say:
Every silver lining's got a touch of grey

I will get by
I will get by
I will get by
I will survive

It's a lesson to me
The Ables and the Bakers and the Cs
The ABC's we all must face
Try to keep a little grace

It's a lesson to me
The Deltas and the East and the Freeze
The ABC's we all think of
And try to win a little love

I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears, but
It's alright

The Cow is giving kerosene
Kid can't read at seventeen
The words he knows are all obscene, but
It's alright

I will get by
I will get by
I will get by
I will survive

The shoe is on the hand that fits.
There's really nothing much to it
Whistle through your teeth and spit, cuz
It's alright

Oh well, a touch of grey
Kinda suits you anyway
And that was all I had to say,
And it's alright

I will get by
I will get by
I will get by
I will survive

We will get by
We will get by
We will get by
We will survive

We will get by
We will get by
We will get by
We will survive

IRON MAIDEN: Seoul, South Korea, March 10, 2011

I've been an Iron Maiden fan forever. However, they've been one of those bands that I always managed to miss when they came through whatever town I was living in at the time. There was always something: work, lack of money or transportation, work. Well, when the opportunity presented itself to see the boys in Seoul, I jumped at the chance. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait!

The oddest thing about the night was the fact that only about 1,500 people showed up for the show. For those of you unfamiliar with Maiden, this is a band that usually plays to packed stadiums, so I imagine it was a bit of a shock. It did lead to one of the more amusing quips from front man Bruce Dickenson who said, "Amazingly enough, this is our first time in South Korea. When we come back next time, call a few friends, eh?" Despite the small crowd, Iron Maiden showed themselves to be the consummate professionals they are and played just as hard as if they had been playing for 50,000 people.

They played a good mix of new stuff from the Final Frontier album as well as all time classic songs like "The Trooper" and "Number of the Beast". Dickenson introduced the song Blood Brothers by saying that being an Iron Maiden fans transcend the political, racial boundaries that divide so much of our world. He ended his spiel by saying, "I'm sure there are a couple of folks up there in Kim Jong Il Land right now going, 'FUCK! I'm missing Iron Maiden!'" Needless to say, that got a few laughs out of the crowd.

All in all, it was a great show, and I'm happy to say I can finally cross Iron Maiden of my list of must see bands.

UP THE IRONS!!!

For My Mom

She is the person who has always been and still is my "Bridge".

I'm still looking for my cork tree.



When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all

I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you

I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

Dan Snyder: "Well you're just a big ol' POOPYHEAD!"

It would seem that, in the face of fierce criticism of his ownership style and the Redskins continuing mediocrity on the field, Daniel Snyder, aka The Danny, has finally gone off the deep end. It appears that the final straw was a cover article by Dave McKenna, a long standing critic of Snyder, in the Washington City Paper: The Cranky Redskin Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder. The article lists The Danny's foibles since his take over of the Redskins. The Danny's reaction? He's suing the City Paper and it's parent organization for $2,000,000 for libel and slander. Apparently, our bedeviled owner doesn't take criticism particularly well.

Here's the problem that The Danny now faces: he's in the process of creating yet another PR crisis of EPIC proportions for himself. The fans despise him because he's taken a storied franchise and basically killed it. Dead. Don't get me wrong, the Redskins are financially doing extremely well, mostly from The Danny's willingness to gouge the fans for every penny he can get. It is Snyder's FOOTBALL decisions that have wreaked havoc on the team. He runs the team like he's a first time fantasy football guy. He seems to pick big names out of a hat and pay them exorbitant salaries regardless of whether or not they are past their prime (Deion Sanders, Jeff George, Bruce Smith, among others), good for the scheme, or simply of good character (Albert Haynesworth will haunt this team forever). Basically, the guy just doesn't have a clue. The Danny may have had his feathers ruffled a bit, but this lawsuit is only going to add fuel to an already sizeable conflagration. He's taken an article from last November that hardly anyone read and made it an article that now EVERYONE'S READ. The man is a genius.

Of course, not everyone hates The Danny. Fans of the Eagles, Giants, and Cowboys absolutely love him. Even fans in Detroit and Cinncinnati are singing his praises as the Redskins have provided them the last couple of years with a ray of sunshine in their otherwise dismal seasons.

Well Mr. Snyder, I hope your current campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Redskin faithfull bears fruit, and hopefully, that fruit won't fall off the tree and whack you on your big ass wooden head.

It's another year

Well, 2010 has gone into the books. I can't say it was my best year. I was frustrated by the necessity of coming back to Korea after attempting to find work in Taiwan. This of course set the year off on a bad footing. I got a job right away when I got back, but it wasn't exactly what I really wanted, and that added to the frustration. Then both the nationals and Redskins had horrible seasons, so even sports offered no relief. Then, of course, the real kicker was that I was seperated from Rebecca for great stretches of time. Not a recipe for a particularly entertaining year. However, the year did end on a pleasent note as I spent two weeks in Taiwan with Rebecca and came back to Korea rather refreshed (photos to follow).

2011 will be a mystery. I'm currently looking at several job offers that would be significant improvements on my current situation (in schedule and classes taught if not in salary), including one here at KNU. The best options at the moment are the KNU job and one at my old university Chungnam National University in Daejeon. Both jobs are very similar in pay and hours and are places I'm familiar with. The benefits of the CNU job are that it's located in Daejeon where the is a lot more to do (as opposed to Gongju), and I'd be living off campus. The benefits of the KNU job are that the vacation time is better and, although I have to live on campus, I don't have to pay ANY utility bills at all (plus avoid the hassle of moving). Hopefully I can get a concrete answer from one or the other sometime in the near future and have things settled before the year gets too old.

The trip to Taiwan was just what the doctor ordered at the time. I was slowly losing my mind as the semester came to a close and was greatly relieved to get away from KNU if only for a couple of weeks. Rebecca got a week off from work, so the first week was spent in Kenting, which is the southern most city in Taiwan. Kenting is a typical beach town full of restaurants, beachware "boutiques", and keen junk shops. Normally the weather in Taiwan this time of year is rather chilly and wet, but Rebecca and I lucked out and had spectacular weather throughout the trip. We did a bunch of sightseeing, at a lot of food, and generally had a good time. After Kenting, we stayed for a couple of days in Kaosuing, and then headed back to Taipei. Once we got to Taipei, Rebecca had to work, so I spent most of my days wandering around ofr hanging out at Carnegie's, catching up with some of the folks I met whan I was there before, and drinking beer. After she finished work, Rebecca and I would meet up to have diner and walk around the night markets or whatever neighborhood we happened to be in. All in all, it was a great trip, although too short by half.

All of the photos are from Kenting:

Our hotel.

Morning coffee.

Southern most 7-Eleven in Taiwan, lol.

The southern most point in Taiwan.

The Queen of Taiwan.

It was so windy on this hill I could barely hold the camera steady.

Wierd sand dune that apparently only happens in this one spot.

Master of the Universe!

Enjoying the wind, surf, and spray.

This place has an naturally burning methane pocket. The people are cooking sweet potatoes and corn to sell to the tourists.

Sunset on our final night in Kenting.