say what

yea

Do they really eat marinated herring in Ukraine culture?

Photo

Night of the Hunter

That's a good movie.

24 Hour Theater

Last weekend had my actorial debut in Seoul. Had less than 12 hours to memorize my lines, no minor challenge since I sort of had the lead role in the play. This would also mark my first pantless production. Though in Bent I was topless, so those few people who managed to catch both plays could have a pretty good idea of what I look like nakie. Our play was called RinseCycle Romance and keeping with the spirit of 24 hour theater our writer wrote the play between 10pm and 4:30am within the same 24 hour period. In all there were 5 plays including Monica's showstopper "Gerbil Power" I'm a little suspicious of the writer of my play seeing as how she wrote me into my boxers after she met me and spent a lot of time taking photographs of me half nude on stage. Hmmm. What's a boy to do?

Birthday Pastels

Recently made birthday pastel portraits for two friends of mine. Mark Bell and Damien Holguin.

A Nara deer

A Nara deer
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

Dumbass deer walked right up to me. This place has got to be a deer hunter's paradise.

Snowman

Our snowman
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

I may be 290 years old now, but I'm still cool enough to make a snowman. Mon added the hair.

Japanese Gardens

Our new apartment
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

Even in bustling Tokyo we were able to escape to a few of the many tranquil meticulously designed Japanese gardens that always seemed like the experience of walking through a painting. Here I am pretending it is warm sunny day as I don the T-shirt and cheery smile. What you don't see cropped out of the foreground is a heavy winter coat I am eagerly dying to get back into.

Tanooki Suit Mario Bros 3

Kevin and the Tanuki
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

Mario 3 - The Tanooki suit. You had a tail and could fly, but could also turn into a statue to deflect fireballs. It was a helluva a suit. But a real Tanuki has a couple of things they don't sho you in Mario 3 and that is hugenormous testicles that actually drag on the ground. These little Tanooki statues were all over Kyoto greeting you with a bottle of whiskey, an innocent smile, and cahones bigger than your fists.

Thought deer were timid and gentle?

A deer butting Kevin's butt
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

Then you've never been to Nara, Japan where these sacred creatures have been eating out of the hands of tourists for decades. If they see you have any deer crackers on you and you aren't forthcoming you may even get a little bump as this overlyfriendly creature is demonstrating.

A-mazing Japan

A homeless man in Tokyo.
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

Occasionally as Mon and I tromped through the streets of Tokyo we would find ourselves a little lost. This was one such moment where at a 4 way intersection it seemed as if every road I looked down looked exactly the same - a ton of lights, a ton of Japanese people, and some buildings stretching out far far into the distance. We always eventually found our way, but it was damn cold that night and I was even considering taking a $200 taxi ride to my hotel. Of course for that price I might as well just go check into another hotel.

Copyright Infringement

Twins
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

I need a patent attorney. Someone has taken my image and is using it to sell hot dogs all over Tokyo. Don't have some rights to my own face? What kind of cut should I be getting here?

Nara, Japan

Kevin on his head
Originally uploaded by monica_brite

I heard when I was little that if you dug throught the Earth to Japan you'd end up upside down on the otherside of the Earth where everyone walks upside down, but I didn't believe it until I landed in Nara on me head.

Tokyo I Love thee

Howdy, I took 443 photos of Tokyo and lost them all because I hit the wrong button on my camera which is hilarious because its the same way I lost my Prague and Jamaica photos. Okay, maybe its not so hilarious and I should go buy a less finicky camera but I'm cheap and thankfully Monica's got a bajillion photos of theses cities. One of my fave things to do in Tokyo was to go to the hot ection of the vending machines there and buy a coffee drink. Funny thing is, we have them all over Korea too, but I never noticed them until I was in Tokyo.

I mainly noticed them because Tommy Lee Jones face was all over the machines promoting BOSS coffee. It almost looks as if he had the real LOST in TRANSLATION moment of being told to look intensely in the camera for a Japanese product. He looks very very intense. And at first I doubted that whatever they paid Tommy Lee Jones was worth it for their company especially if Lost in Tranz 2 million figure is accurate, but after I drank my 17th, or 18th BOSS coffee I figured they got a bargain.

somewhat violent relationship

Saturday January 26, 2008

Leeum Museum

A Void in Korean Art is the current special exhibit at the Leeum Museum. And no they aren't complaining about the lack of Korean art or the absent quality, but rather negative space. One of those situations where the translation makes sense, but kind of looks funny anyways. Suffice to say "Avoiding Korean Art" was low in foreigner turn out. The highlight of the attraction was a racquetball sized room whose walls and eilings were covered in grease. There were inflatable cusions that lined the floor that matched the color of the orangy yellowy grease. I lay in the room for about 20 mintes or so feeling like I was in a giant can of crisco. I couldn't resist touching the walls so that I could know for sure it was grease. Something about the Ender's Game book series reminded me of the room. 7,000 won for special exhibit. Near to Hangangjin subway stop.


On the Border

Monica, Annie, Ryan and I all headed out to On the Border last night in what we soon found out was the finest and most expensive in Mexican dining in Seoul. We were seated in a corner booth that could accomodate 12 people with a nice view of the bar which was lighted by a chandilier made out of old beer bottles in a tasteful and brilliant manner. Food arrived and plunked before us were Jalepeno poppers bigger than swollen tennis balls, Mushroom stuffed torpedo sized burritos, and Quesadillas that are as think as thick as your arm, oh and did I mention Margarita glass globes that could double as aquariums for a full grown catfish? Needless to say we ordered too much food and are still eating leftovers. The endless supply of freshly baked tortilla chips and salsa were a nice touch. If salsa aint your thing you can order a bathtub full of spicy jalepeno infused nacho cheese for a mere 6900 won.

A special Kudos to the staff. Our waiter "Huey" could be spotted sprinting back into the chip room as our bowl of chips were nearing distinction. All the waiters of which there were about 20 or so greet you with "Hola" and wish you farewell with "Beunos Dias, Muchos Gracias" The manager came buy to sprinkle us with coupons for our next visit to make us feel better about our astronomical bill. But to be fair it was just under 100,000 won for four people and we all ordered twice as much food as we needed. A bargain in NYC, but having grown accustomed to spendng 4 bucks for a low end meal and 12 bucks for a hgh end in Korea it was a bit of a yipers. Near Shincheon station, exit 4. Walk straight two minutes.

Doctor Fish

After walking out of On the Border massaging our bloated bellies we sauntered around until we found the Hongdae area just south of Shinchon. Meaning only to pop into one of the many bars that litter the congested streets full of 20-somethings and 20-wannabes, Serendipity smiled upon us when Monica spotted a color changing neon sign on the seventh floor of a building and there it was "Doctor Fish". Monica and I conspired to keep the mystery of what "Doctor Fish" is away from Annie and Ryan so that we might surprise them with it one night. They were extremely puzzled when our waitress began with, "So first, you have to clean your feet, and then you can go have them nibble your toes, and finally you clean your feet again with a little bit of oil"

At Doctor Fish you order a beer and a slice of cake and you get to dip your feet into a pool of water filled with fish that specialize in eating dead skin cells. I miagined a somewhat more relaxing experience that what happened but my compatriarts all said that I was way too sensitive and a total wimp. Not that it hurt at all, but the tickling drove me insane. I was able to leave me feet in the water the whole time though as long as I kicked off the fish every 20 seconds or so. Because of my agression toward the fish no more than 7 or 8 fish were ever chewing at my feet at the same time. However when I looked over at Monica's feet I would see a good 40 fish all taking little chomps of the top of her feet. We all experiecne a sensation of more sensitive feet after we stepped out of the water. The cake and beer were good as well and Annie and Ryan opted for tea which came in a kettle slightly smaller than my fist. Doctor Fish cafes can be found all over Seoul.