It was a blog about my life and adventures as an expat in Seoul, South Korea. I've been back in the USA for over ten years. However, I still get alerts. I'll respond to comments and deep-six spam comments as needed.
I'm sorry folks, but I chose to actually watch the BET Awards last night.
Mistake! They pitched it as a tribute to MJ. It started that way and it definitely ended that way. However, during the bulk of the show they lost focus and it ended up being a moments of my life wasted.
Just because I know a lot of folks missed it or didn't set their DVRs for longer than three hours, here is dear Janet making a brief appearance to speak on her brother's death. Then Ne-yo and Jamie Foxx sing.
It looks like Twitter's current trending topics have some people on the alert and a bit apprehensive.
Check out this tweet. What's ridiculous is Foolish Julie here isn't alone by any stretch. It shows a complete disconnect with how Michael's death has impacted the black community. I don't watch the BET Awards and only did so because they said it was going to be a MJ tribute. Therefore, guess what? There was a huge number of people watching the show and and we talked about it as it happened.
But riddle me this? Even without that, why is it even an issue that black topics trend on the night of a major black awards show? I guess black folks aren't supposed to actually use the Internet.
Sorry, I have to just say it. These people are just stupid.
I'll always remember him best as a child because he was just a few years older than me.
Weird, as I just had a Six Feet Under marathon going the other day.
Tears have been shed, big time this week because we lost Farrah today too. What a horrible day.
For those like me who are in transit or in transition and are away from your record collections, check out this mix on Brooklyn's DJ Soul's blog mixed by DJ Jaycee: Remember MJ (part 1).
Here are two more mixes that DJ Jaycee made. These were played on his radio show on Sunday, June, 28th:
Both of the originals ones were done way before MJ died. For some reason, that makes them easier to listen to. Basically, they're shows of respect for his music while he was here rather than a desperate attempt to capitalize on this sad, sad tragedy. The other two by DJ Jaycee were tributes that were done after MJ passed, but my community needs to remember the range of MJ's work. Getting new mixes from someone who was smart enough to recongize MJ while he was living is great.
I'm writing pieces for the bpmw agency's fashion site WeAreTheMarket.com now. It's a website focused on men's fashion, which is really tons of fun to follow and write about. While most of what I write probably won't touch on what's going on in Seoul, this one does, so I'm sharing it here.
I got to write about the Prada Transformer's next event, a film festival. It sounds exciting, check it out. If I were still in Seoul, I'd definitely go. Tickets are free. You just need to reserve a ticket in advance. You can show up and hope there are extras but the process seems quite easy. Enjoy!
The Prada Transformer will open its second installation in a few days. The Transformer is a continuation of Prada's notable history of investment in the arts. It is a collaboration between Prada; AMO, the think-tank of the Office of Modern Architecture (OMA); and Rem Koolhass. The Transformer is a temporary art space which opened on April 25, 2009. It is in Seoul, South Korea next to 경희궁, Gyeonghui Palace. Special installations are scheduled along with a few special events. The Transformer has four configurations depending on the event happening inside: one for fashion, one for art, one for cinema and one for special events.
The Prada Transformer's second installation focuses on cinema. The installation is entitled the Flesh, Mind & Soul film festival is will run from June 27th through July 9th . 14 films chosen by Oscar-nominated director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and former New York Times film critic and media personality, Elvis Mitchell.
"Ordet" by Karl Dryer (1955)
"Las Year at Marienbad" by Alain Resnais (1961)
"I Am Cuba" by Mikhail Kalatozov (1964)
"Fists in the Pocket" by Marco Bellocchio (1965)
"Aguirre, the Wrath of God" by Werner Herzog (1972)
"Seasons of the Year" by Artavazd Peleshian (1975)
"Killer of Sheep" by Charles Burnett (1977)
"Padre Padrone" by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (1977)
"Yol" by Serif Gören (1982)
"Mother and Son" by Aleksandr Sokurov (1977)
"La Ciénaga" by Lucrecia Martel (2001)
"Silent Light by" Carlos Reygadas (2007)
"You, the Living" di Roy Andresson (2007)
"The Good, the Bad and the Weird" by Jiwoon Kim (2008)
These films will be shown one per day over the course of the two weeks. Each film will be shown three times a day in its native language along with Korean and English subtitles. The films span several decades and genres but all have inspired Iñárritu's film making. Many of these films have also never been shown in Seoul, so it's a great chance for people there to see them on the big screen.
The good news? Admission is free. You just have to book a ticket.
You can book online only if you are a South Korean citizen with a valid Korean ID number. Otherwise, email booking.transformer@prada.com or call +82 (0)2 737-4773 (dial the zero if you're calling from inside South Korea).
Most posts I write for WeAreTheMarket.com I'll post only on my Twitter feed and won't specifically repost it here. In fact, if you want to comment, take it over there. Comments are off for this one.
Being abroad means I was like "who is Charles Hamilton?" However, I did see a video of his maybe two weeks ago. It was one where he was interviewing a young female rapper/poet. He said a bit too much and she punched him. Ouch!
Well, this seems to be more than a one time occurrence, hence the video above. Therefore, based on this advice: ignore Charles Hamilton. Thanks ;)
I found this on the Web 2.0 Asia blog this morning: wetoku (Konglish. Korean-English, for "we talk").
Since I might start doing interviews again pretty soon, this would be a great way to do it. I wonder if you can also use it to record multiple users and also set it up to record podcasts? (I guess if it records sound, if you edit it, why not?) I have to try this one.
If you've followed my blog you know I'm a John Mayer fan. Click on the John Mayer tag, and you'll find a series of posts chronicling my love for this guy's music and wit (he's funny). Initially, I wasn't a fan. He broke big when I was abroad. And I was simply apathetic. It was when I heard "Who Did You Think I Was" by the John Mayer Trio (JM3) that I started paying attention.
I dig John Mayer's music, but it's when he's with the JM3 that I go batty ;) So check them out. They were on The Tonight Show and performed California Dreamin' this past Thursday. What an awesome welcome from Conan now that he's broadcasting from L.A.
When compared to the average person, I know a lot about it too. However, you can always learn more. When I heard about Internet Week NY, I knew I wouldn't be able to attend all of the events. Also, I didn't get tapped as one of Pepsico's IW crew, so I was on my own. There were a lot of events. But, when I heard about the Social Media Camp, I knew I had to make it to that one. It was a day full of learning, networking and socializing. For me, that always sounds like a lovely day and it was!
I registered as a volunteer. That got me in for free, but it was only $25 to register. For an all day event with multiple workshops on social media, that's a steal. Consultants on these topics charge a lot. Early Thursday morning I made the commute by train and bus from Philadelphia to NYC. I was in a rush to make sure I got on the first train into Philly because I was on the 6:30am bus to Manhattan. As a result, I forgot to slap some gauze on the wound that's doing its thing on my forehead. Instead, when I got to NYC, I picked up a box of antibacterial band-aids with the gaudiest big blue bandage ever. I figured a day hanging out with strangers was probably the best day to experiment. It was either a bandage or the carnage of a healing wound.
Here is the list from yesterday's camp:
Social Media 101 (10:15am) - Winthrop
Government Blogging and Twitter Advocacy (10:15am) - Starlight 1
Crafting a Social Media Press Release (10:15am) - Screening Room
Creating Digital identity (11:15am) - Winthrop
Wordpress as a Social Media Platform and how to develop content using Social Media (11:15am) - Starlight 1
Power of suggestion on Twitter (11:15am) - Screening Room
Lunch
Social Media tools (1:00pm) - Winthrop
Basics of Strategy in Social Media Marketing for Business (1:00pm) - Starlight 1
I’m here, Now + Location based services (1:00pm) - Starlight 2
Increasing Visibility through Social Media + SEO - Benefits of search (1:00pm) - Screening Room
Social Media for job searches (2:00pm) - Winthrop
Maximizing Social Media for e-commerce (2:00pm) - Starlight 1
Differences and similarities between Facebook and Twitter (2:00pm) - Starlight 2
Measurability (2:00pm) - Screening Room
Marketing through Social Media (3:00pm) - Winthrop
Integrating Social Media Marketing in your Marketing Plan + Kicking off & Increasing visibility for new Internet biz (3:00pm) - Starlight 1
How to run a business (3:00pm) - Starlight 2
Open (3:00pm) - Screening Room
Open Discussion (4:00pm) - Starlight 1
HTML Primer (4:00pm) - Starlight 2
The science of ReTweets on Twitter (4:00pm) - Screening Room
There were some things I knew. I know the basics, for sure, so I skipped basic info sessions and focused on marketing and PR.
Since I'm looking for work, I also went to the session about how to use social media in a job hunt. The last session was really interesting. The topic was retweets on Twitter. Dan Zarrella from Hubspot crunched some numbers that gave a bit of insight on how people are behaving on Twitter.
He had an equation that measured something. I plugged in the numbers and my number was 8.01. (I still don't know the significance of that, but I know it's 8.01!) Anyway, if you don't know what a retweet is, basically, it's when someone takes the tweet you sent out and sends it out again. The abbreviation is "RT", and it's all over Twitter.
Here is video from the end of the event. Yes, that's me in the session, note the gaudy blue bandage on my face. As they say, what happens in Vegas stays on the Internet! That's also true for just about everywhere else too ;)
I'm an L.A. native who lived in the Land of the Morning Calm, South Korea, for a bit too long. I had a great time while I was there. I have a B.A. and law degree, but I earned a master's in international studies at Ewha Womans University. It was then I discovered that I love writing, thanks to this blog, and the things that grew out of writing it. For those who need to know where Korea is located. Korea is a peninsula that is split into two countries (North Korea and South Korea). It's located in NE Asia between Japan and Taiwan. It's below the eastern coast of China and Russia.
I moved back from NYC in 2011. It was exciting but definitely challenging. I "made" it in NYC and well, as the song says.
I'm back in the SF Bay area now. I have led the charge organizing SFTech4Good Meetup since 2011 and working in the tech industry specializing in community management and customer advocacy.
Leave a comment to contact me. Remember you have to include your email for a reply. (I screen my comments, so I won't publish it to the world, don't worry.)
