Borat's On Ice Reign of Terror

As if the football club wasn't woeful enough, Thailand has now reached a new high in ineptness in hockey at the Asia Winter Games, getting bombarded 52-1 against "powerhouse" Kazakhstan (to think what the score would've been had Nik Antropov been playing). While a loss of this nature might be a blow to a pipsqueak like Singapore, the Thais celebrated their two highlights (the other being when a defenseman bodychecked a linesman) and were delighted by the result.

While living in Bangkok during the 2002 World Cup I vowed to cheer for Thailand should they ever qualify for the tournament (at present their best bet is to hope that FIFA adds another hundred or so countries) and now I'm extending that support to the hockey team as well. Call me unpatriotic but I'd much rather root for Canadians who live in Thailand than Canadians who live in the States. But that's just me.

6:30 Blues

You know if I'm able to make it in at this time then anyone can. So where is everyone? They'll never forget what they've learned if they don't show up.

Catching up with HTML

So much for being glorified typewriters, I think I'm actually beginning to get the grasp of HTML - even if I still don't know what it stands for. My two week apprenticeship editing and writing stuff for Wikipedia has proven to be not quite the pointless venture I imagined it to be (to see just about the only thing I wrote that didn't either get mauled or deleted, click here).

As you might've noticed, I've jazzed up - pun very much intended - the bottom of this space. If you're at all interested, you can now read what professional critics think of most of my favourite books and music. Not wanting to appear to be quite the jazz snob that everyone knows I am, I've even added a few pop albums to the list and upped my cred immeasurably by including Augustus Pablo as well.

Wow, I put Roxy Music on a list to appear less snobby...there's a first.

"Stamina" Food: The Movie

Here it is. Naturally I don't care too much for the song (R 'n' B must die) but the images more than compensate. There's nothing so startling as seeing your food move around on your plate. I defy dog soup to be even half this extraordinary.

It's good for stamina, you know

(nb: there was supposed to be a YouTube video of some strange Korean foods in this spot but it seems to have been deleted when I tried editing it on my Blogspot account. I'll try to get another one up as soon as possible. A more technically adept individual could probably work it out but computers still are for me - to possibly misquote my old roommate Sean - just glorified typewriters)

The food here in Korea isn't quite up to the standards I enjoyed back in Thailand. Sometimes I wonder if it even manages to match Indonesia's modest, deep-fried fare. But it's certainly memorable. The above are but a fraction of the unique culinary treats I've indulged in.

- the utterly appalling beondegi - silkworm - with its foul flavour and gritty texture

- dried squid (the Korean name currently escapes me) which apparently most Westerners deplore because of the smell. Much like durian, I guess I'm not as sensitive towards its noxious funk

- sundae, a less sophisticated cousin of blood sausage

- jeon, a flat, sweet fish that Koreans often consume for dessert. Kristina actually likes it which must be down to all the herring she had to eat as a girl

But none of these comes close to what I'll be having next week if the plans I made last night come to fruition. My student Bruce has promised that he'll take me out for bosintang, better known in English as dog soup. Before you judge me, please let me state that I've come this far and I'll always regret it if I don't. Besides, I've heard enough comments about the Asian propensity for canine dining and now that I'm living in a country where it actually is practised (unlike, say, Indonesia where they supposedly eat catfish harvested from Jakarta's sewers and make grow Civet coffee but don't eat dog meat) it must be done. Plus, it's said to be good for "stamina" - a quality it shares with all of Korea's eccentric foodstuffs.

Taking on the Periodic Table

- Do you know what constellation that is?

- Orion.

- Wow! How did you know that?

It's always Orion. Barring the occasional school or Cub Scout Cubs field trip as a boy, I can't seem to recall why I've been quizzed on constellations so often. I don't even know what Orion looks like. Not that it matters much: it's always Orion.

So does this mean Tungsten is the Orion of the Periodic Table? If last night's quiz at the Canadian Buddy pub here in Bucheon is anything to go by then it would certainly seem so.

Science 101 was the evening's final topic and I knew I'd have to pull a few tricks out of my ass in order to stay within Fan Death's damn-near commanding lead. Question six asked the following:

"What element is number two on the Periodic Table?"

Thinking it had to be either Air, Water or Dirt (the "elements" I am most familiar with), Kristina and the Americans at the next table informed me that the correct answer was in fact Helium. I then proceeded to inform everyone that the only Periodic Table Fun Fact I carry around with me is that Tungsten is also known as Wolfram. Question seven:

"What is Tungsten's symbol on the Periodic Table?"

(Needless to say that part (b) of my Tungsten Trivial is that its symbol is W)

It's nice that these things can happen and brighten up a bit of a tough week and a mediocre third place finish in the Canadian Buddy Pub Quiz. Question 11:

"Mirach and Alpheratz are stars in what constellation?"

Maybe it isn't always Orion...

What, no Reckless?

I've just learned that the brilliant 33 1/3 series of music books has put out a call for submissions. Call this one of my crazy schemes but I'm determined to send off a proposal for their Valentine's Day deadline.

For the uninitiated, 33 1/3 are an ever-expanding series of books focusing on albums. They've shown a noble determination to shy away from the all-too-obvious and the frequently-written-about (Let it Be, rather than bloody Abbey Road, for example, or Meat is Murder instead of The Queen is Dead)

But what to pick? They have a one title per group or singer rule which means no Boy with the Arab Strap, Trust or Five Leaves Left. Thus, I am left with All is Dream, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, 13 and about five or six of XTC's albums to choose from (the betting is on English Settlement). I could also go on a limb and propose a jazz album, something the series still lacks. All hail Money Jungle!

Any suggestions you may have would be appreciated. Feel free to contact me with your own ideas if you too feel compelled to submit, though I'm not sure if they'll accept Fogarty's Cove.

7% and counting

I know it doesn't look like much but I'm still proud enough of my visited world to boast of it and paste the results here. Just imagine what it'll look like after I've been to Russia, the USA, China, Brazil and Australia - take that Cape Verde!

Try to live out Stalin's fantasies by painting the world as red as possible at the Visited Countires site. Be sure to check the comments section while you're at it and guffaw as people debate the status of Greenland as a country.

New Year's Message

To those of you where it's still 2006:

Stop living in the past!

Get with the times people!