September 2002 Archives
For the past three days (Monday through Wednesday), I've been reporting for my first jury duty at the Superior Court of Santa Clara. Well, it was just for jury selection for a civil case regarding a disability insurance claim dispute, but it was quite an interesting and, I must say, educational experience.
The jury selection was over even before they had a chance to ask me questions (yeah, and that took three days!), but from the questions asked by both the judge and the counsels from both sides, it was clear what they were looking for in a juror. The most important question seems to be if a potential juror can be fair to both parties and just rely on the evidence and witnesses presented during the trial.
For example, there were some ailments involved with the case and the court wanted the prospective jurors to disregard whatever research they have done or knowledge they acquired before this trial and only rely on the material and testimonial evidence presented during the trial.
That made me wonder what this court system is trying to do. The system is, without a doubt, based on a very idealistic perspective. However, I don't think it is that naive to think that a person can completely disregard whatever they had for the trial. That's just not possible. What the system seems to be doing is to be reasonable and asking that one try to be one's very best and to be fair as much as one can (this reminds me of the Army motto). It seems this system recognizes the imperfection of being a human, but realizes that there probably isn't any better way and have trust in its people.
Frankly, at first when I was summoned for the jury duty, the first thing I thought of was how I can get out of it. I postponed it once, partly due to my house purchase and the move and partly due to the schedule at work. I've asked around for "advices" on how to get dismissed. :)
But after the whole jury selection process started, a part of me actually began to hope to be selected as a juror (although a possible 6-week trial seemed a bit too long)... That I wanted to see if I can be the best that I can be. :p I mean, this wasn't really due to any patriotism that I have for the U.S. of A. This was more about being a part of a system that puts its trust on people and making a contribution.
Yeah... It's not perfect, and I do have a bit of a problem deciding the reward amount for the punitive damages, but still the system is trusting its members to decide what the facts are from the evidence with the guidance of the judge with the knowledge of the law. It's asking, basically, for each member to be the best person (in part, at least, on the subject of "fairness") and be active (that is, make a decision). Even the mostly sarcastic person like me can be a sucker for human idealism. :)
One might argue this jury duty or the ballot participation of individual doesn't make much impact. Maybe not an immediate one. But I do believe that by participating one changes oneself, at least. And this will determine more firmly who we are, and will eventually influence those around us. However passive some of these processes may look, we are making a change (or a seed of changes) by participating.
Anyway, this experience made me think a bit. I sincerely hope that one day I would get selected and serve as a juror, and do my best.
This series, which I believe started with the 1999 release, has been quite interesting. This is a collection album of popular Korean songs re-interpreted by the current generation of indie bands. Some are very well done and may be argued to be even better than the originals (I liked Crow's rendition of BbiGeokBbiGeo and Fractal's version of Ggum).
One "trend" I noticed is that the "indie" (or underground) bands are getting diversified in their genres. It used to be mostly rock/punk-rock, but these days you will see more hip-hop and/or electronica fusions in their styles. It's probably now unfair to equate the indie music with the punk rock anymore (although still significant proportion of them are rock-based).
- Information
- Year: 2002
- Distributed by: Rock Records
- Tracks
- BbiGeokBbiGeok by Crow
- WuRiNeun by Slapdash
- BaeSinEui GyeJeol by Silent Eye
- Ddo DaReun JinSim by Rock Sinn
- Ggum (Low-level Format Edit) by Fractal
- DalPaengI by Prussian Blue
- GiBbeumI Doel GeosEul by BBF
- IlSangEuRoEui ChoDae by YNOT? (feat. Shin, HaeChul)
- GgungDdaRi SyaBaRa by Punch
- YeongWonHan ChinGu by Discotruck
- PungSeon by Gum
- Jal DwaesEo by Not 2B
- IlGobSaekGgal MuJiGae by Cuba
- HanBeonMan Deo by Maya (feat. G-Band)
- BbiGeokBbiGeok (Clean) by Crow
This was an email response I sent to my cousin, Ilho in Seoul.
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 18:48:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Younghong Cho To: Park Ilho Subject: Re: digital cam...First of all, thanks for the compliments. :)
Of course, you can! (A standard and mostly true answer. :p) My belief is that most of it is in the eyes of the photographer. As you must have learned from years of painting, techniques and tools are nice-to-have's, not necessities for artistic work (not that my photographs are anything close).
Given a decent camera (not the best nor the most expensive nor with biggest number of pixels), one can achieve a lot with some basic photography knowledges. I didn't know anything about photography before I bought my Canon PowerShot G1 (no longer in production, given the short life cycles of the digital gadgets). So, I went to a bookstore and looked through several books and bought one that had enough technical explanation (aperture, shutter speed, zoom, lenses, etc.) and some aesthetic guidance. I think this indeed helped me a lot.
My camera has limited (compared to SLRs) controls of the shutter speed and the aperture size. It mas a manual, an aperture-priority, and a shutter-speed-priority modes. I was a bit conscious about the decision to have those controls instead of just getting an "auto" mode camera.
Of course, this doesn't mean that you cannot get great pictures with just an auto camera. Yes, the specific technique you mentioned (the depth of field control) requires the control of aperture, but this is just a technique to "enhance" a particular aspect of your expression. I think the bigger part comes from training your eyes to recognize the moment and learning to get the scenes into the frame the right way.
The framing is probably the most difficult part. That is, deciding how to place the objects and scenes within the boundaries of the sensors (or the negatives) to capture some aesthetic structures and patterns that you saw, is something that will probably take me forever to learn to do it consistently.
This is why I like the "digital" photography. I can easily edit the framing "mistakes" with PhotoShop (and adjust color balance and contrasts). I sometimes think that I got much better using PhotoShop than taking pictures. :) I try not to do this: I try to get the right framing when I take the picture, but still I have a long way to go. Also, looking at other great photographs give you some guidance.
Anyway, take a lot of pictures and look at a lot of other people's work. If you really want to further your expressive experiments with photography, I'd recommend getting a camera with the manual exposure controls. A compact auto camera does have a benefit of easy to carry around, any time, anywhere (mine is a bit bulky).
Looking forward to seeing what you have captured.
Hong.
On Fri, 13 Sep 2002, Park Ilho wrote:
> I recently bought a digital camera: Sony's Cybershot P7(3.2mega pixel). I thought of carrying it on me, and taking picture wherever interested me. I might work on some of the pictures that come out alright and use it when I make my homepage, or I might use it if I begin drawing a Manga of my own. It would be of much use, when I need to draw backgrounds.
>
> I have seen some of your pictures on pbase.com. Looked like 'professional' work to me! I was wondering if I could take picture that look like your with my digital cam. What kind of model do you use? Is it possible to take pictures that look 'professional' with a digital cam like mine?...it's not manual, you know. Also, if it is possible, how do you get an effect like...the 'things'(one of your pictures on pbase) in which the object on the rear is clearly blurred so that you get maximum effect of distance between the two objects?
I've noticed that some underground artists do make it to the movies, mostly not "blockbusters". We've recently seen another example with lucid fall on "Bus Stop" (I also heard that 3rd line butterfly did something with a film or a TV serial). I guess for certain materials and styles, the more "pensive" underground "feel" works better.
Anyway, I haven't seen the movie, so I am not sure how to match up the music with the scenes or the characters, but it sounded definitely less "weird" than their separate releases.
EoEoBu Proejct is led by Jang, YoungGyu and Baek, HyeonJin (a.k.a. "EoEoBu").
- Information
- Year: 2002
- TitleK: "BokSuNeun NaEui Geot"
- Produced by: EoEoBu Project
- Distributed by: DreamBeat
- Tracks
- SapJil
- BangSongYong SaYeon
- YeolLin YeopGuRi
- BokSuNeun NaEui Geot
- HwangGeupHan SeulLoU MoSyeon
- NuRakDoen GyeongUmAk
- MuGeoUn SinBal
- Jeong
- JeongMalLo ISangHaDa
- SeorAkSan DoToRi Muk
- DdaDdeutHan MaUm
- SiSiHan Gae
- BokSuNeun NaEui Geot 2
- BokSuNeun NaEui Geot YeoGoPyeon
[EDIT] I don't know why I misspelled "vengeance" as "vengence". :p
This is a two-CD collection album from cavare sound, an independent label. I didn't know but I guess it has been 5 years since they started their "business".
The first CD seems to be new tracks while the second already-released ones. It's interesting to note that not all the independent, underground music in Korea isn't rock (metal or grunge or whatever) anymore. I think the proportion of "pure grunge"-type groups have come down significantly, giving ways to more widened tastes and genres (albeit them being mostly electronica and hip-hop).
I liked the first CD, especially, some of the electronica tracks (e.g., #1 and #8).
- Information
- Year: 2002
- TitleK: "AnNyeongHaSeYo KaBaReSaUnDeuIpNiDa"
- Produced by: lo-fi cavare sound
- Distributed by: Dreambeat
- CD1
- JangGiIbWonHwanJaEui Ggum by GaJeongYong PiANoReul WiHan PeuRoJekTeu
- NaEui KeDilLak by Oh! Brothers
- Drive Reggae by Busriders
- She Said by Plastic People
- I Want You by EunHeuiEui NoEul
- GoJaJil by Lee, SeongMun
- Junior's Theme by nouljune
- Advice of Bigbird by TAFKA Buddah
- IpDdeolEoJiNeunNeolbEunIpKeunKiNaMu by Fairbrother
- Lazy Day by the Ass
- GeuRimJaWaEui SanChaek by Tweedle Dumb
- JuMeokJwiGo IrEoSeo by Sweat [sic] Jane
- CD2
- NoRae 1 by Lee, SeongMun (from "LeeSeongMunEui BulMan")
- JiRuBagEul DolLyeoYo by BolBbalGan (from "JiRuBak RiMikSeuSyo")
- SilLiGeol by EunHeuiEui NoEul (from "Spring")
- BulgEun HaePaRiEui HaeByeon by Cocore (from "GoYeopJe")
- BokHwaSul by Merry Go Round (from "MeRiGoRaUnDeu")
- NeuRin SeoUl by GonChungSeuNimYunKi (from "GwanGwangSuWolLae")
- BeoBeul LaIPeu by EunHeuiEui NoEul (from "NoEulPop")
- Wednesday Night by Ladyfish (from "Grodesque [sic] Revolution")
- SunJeong by Oh! Brothers (from "MyeongRang TeuWiSeuTeu")
- Sunglass Fume by My Low Array (from "LO-FIGHT")
- Golden Boy by Witch Will (from "Trip on Havana")
Maybe it's just my vanity thing, but I like to check the web access logs to my site everyday. I've written several perl scripts to analyze the logs to see who's visiting and what they are looking at and where they are coming from.
I've noticed that these days most of the referred links are from search engines (Google being the most frequently used, not surprisingly). So, I added a tool to analyze what kind of query strings were used to get to my pages.
As expected, the most frequent words are "korea" and "korean" because I do maintain a page that lists korea-related websites that I deem interesting and used to manage a korean pop music site that I decided to fold.
However, there are a few things that catch my eyes often. I've looked at the logs for the past 7 days.
Some are just unrelated.
- Korean organized gang [none of my pages had anything to do with "gang", although it might have appeared in one of the romanticized Korean names]
- bird phobia [people should learn to use double quotation marks]
- cave people [well, my site's title has "cave" in it.]
- natsun [I think someone was looking for a German brand or company]
Some query phrases are unexpected.
- d.p.r of korea university [I do have a list of some North Korea-releated sites, but surprised that people actually do search for them]
- animated pictures [I have a few animated GIFs of myself waving in the main page]
- korean pop start "as one" [I think it's a Korean idol singing group or something]
- sarah kang / sudong chung / Eugene Jhong / jung-min ha / inverito keeyong / Eun-Jin Im [friends of mine, but who wants to know?]
- ryokan hiraiwa / 'Yuhara ryokan' [someone is planning to visit Kyoto.]
Just amusing.
- I haven't been myself these days according to friends [well, hope you feel better.]
- twath [is there such a word?]
- hong's cave [someone remembers my site's title!]
- flirting korean [hmm... does someone have a crush on a Korean?]
- pretty korean cartoons [okay...]
Another interesting thing is that some search engines update their database pretty quickly. I think Google and FAST have crawled most of the updated TWAtH pages. Especially, the Googlebots seem to visit the site almost everyday.
[Well, I decided to expand the "scope" or the categories of this page. I listen to music (mostly gayo) a lot, so this is also my "world," I guess.]
These have been in there for a while now, but these are what I listen to in my car if I am not listening to an NPR station.
I think I saw a music video for No Such Thing on MTV and it caught my ear. So, the next time I was at a CD store, I got one. I don't have any single CD of Dave Mathews Band (I know, I know), so I didn't know Mayer had a similar style, but I think Mayer is a bit more "catchy".
I generally liked his music writing talent, but his lyrics seem to show forced-ness or his lack of depth of experience. So, I tend to listen for his music and try to "ignore" the words for most of the songs.
I noticed that the second single was Your Body is a Wonderland, but I thought My Stupid Mouth (except for some lame lyrical phrases) or Neon would have been better. Maybe they wanted to change the tempo a bit, but I thought Wonderland was a very weak follow-up to No Such Thing.
I think this is a combo that may someday become something of a Pizzicato Five although their musical genres are different. Since NatSeonSaRamDeul don't seem to be releasing any more of their music, they has become my favorite band/group these days (Go Cho, Won Sun!!!).
Personally, this 3rd album had relatively weaker impact than the other two when I first listened to it. But almost none of the tracks on it are duds, in my opinion. The whole CD is something that I can sing my lungs out while cruising on a freeway, which I often do.
It's hard to pick favorites on this, but I have to start with Last Scene and RaDiOReul KeuGe KyeoGo.
THIS is truly a gem. Similar to one of my other obscure favorite, Lee, Ah Mi, she is relatively unknown. BUT the whole album is filled with a superb rock tracks.
From the way she looks, she seems to be in her early 20s, and she plays guitar, wrote most of the music and the words, and she has a powerful voice. A marketing sticker on the packaging said "Sheryl Crow of Korea" and I was a bit skeptical, but she does seem to have a bit of resemblance. However, I think she might become Lee, Eun Mee for the current generation. :p
It's a bit straining to my throat to sing along, but the tracks make me! :) I am a bit disappointed that I didn't see any of her songs on the list the last time I was at a NoRaeBang.
I liked the first track, AJik IReun SaeByeok, her rendition of Janis Joplin's Move Over and Return to Zero which had classical fun rock'n roll rhythms.
