짖는 것은 무는 것만 못하다
bark-PART thing-TOPIC bite-PART thing-ONLY can’t-do
That which barks isn’t sufficient to bite.
“One’s bark is worse than one’s bite.” The ~만하다 ending means “is sufficient to” in one of my grammar books, so I decided that ~만 못하다 must mean “isn’t sufficient to” – but what I’m not confident about is how this works when attached to the periphrastic ~는 것 “that which ~”. I just kind of ignored that aspect in the second half of the sentence.
Speaking of bark worse than bite: my boss. Just sayin’.
Month: October 2012
Caveat: Ghanian Pop
If I ever went to Africa, Ghana is one of the countries that most interests me. I can’t really explain why – it’s partly related to my econo-geekery: Ghana is a remarkable economic success story, in many respects, in a region replete with disasters. That, in and of itself, is interesting. But as the culture grows more prosperous, it takes on the trappings of the globalized bourgeois everywhere. One aspect: pop music and videos.
I spent part of the afternoon yesterday watching Ghanian music videos. This behavior is inexplicable.
What I’m listening to right now.
Becca, “Daa Ke Daa.”
And meanwhile, reading Henry James. Why did I ever dislike this author?
Caveat: A Consequence of Evolutionary Success
The article at The Atlantic website begins with this striking observation: "More people die from suicide than from murder and war combined, throughout the world, every year." From there, the author, Brian Gabriel, develops the idea that depression may be a consequence of evolutionary success: which is to say, there is something positively adaptive about the genetics behind depression, related to both immune response and other, more behavioral results. Basically, if you're a member of hominid species that mostly dies of disease in youth, there may be an evolutionary advantage to reacting to stress by isolating yourself and sleeping all day.
This actually makes some sense. I'm not savvy enough to judge the bits about immune response – and I also seem to remember learning that depression actually lowers immune response – so I'm not sure how that works or what the interaction is.
Regardless, it's a very interesting, brief article.
Caveat: ♡copyheart (meant ironically)
… with a side-dish of irony.
About a week ago I posted a video by Nina Paley. That discovery led me to her website / blog. Her pet cause is the madness of current intellectual property laws – so she immediately won a place in my heart. A notable quote:
“What do religious fundamentalists and big media corporations have in common? They believe that they own culture.” – Nina Paley.
Her interest in and advocacy for alternatives to the copyright regimen we all suffer under arose because she made a professional feature-length movie by herself over a period of years, only to essentially be blocked by the fact that the movie relied on still-copyrighted music from the 1930s that she’d perhaps assumed was public domain. The movie itself is awesome. It’s called Sita Sings the Blues – you can get the full story at her relevant posts on her blog.
Her attention has lately turned to a reconceptualization of copyright that I find much more compelling than the fairly established “copyleft” associated with the free software movement: she calls it “♡copyheart.” It’s cool. I may even put a ♡copyheart at the bottom of my blog at some point.
Nobody owns culture. She made a song called “Copying is not theft.”
Actually, although I thought Paley did an artistic and masterful job with her sequences involving the 1930s music by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw, those weren’t my favorite tracks from the movie. My favorite musical track and video sequence was the part called “Agni Pariksha (Sita’s Fire),” which is accompanied by a song by Todd Michaelsen, sung by Reena Shah. It took me more than a little bit of googling to figure that out – it wasn’t immediately transparent on her various websites.
Here’s the thing – the irony, if you will: I decided I liked that Todd Michaelsen song enough that I “wanted” it. I sort of assumed that, given it was part of this copyheart-advocating artist, that I’d surely find it downloadable, somewhere, But I didn’t. Really, I didn’t. When I went to use one of the free youtube-to-mp3 conversion utilities, to “capture” the audio stream from the youtube video, I got this message:
Google doesn’t block the youtube copywidgets unless it’s getting takedown pressure from the copyright holder in question – this means that Todd Michaelsen or someone connected to him is specifically not allowing youtube users full access to the work.
That’s the irony – that the one song in Paley’s work that I decided I wanted, I couldn’t get. Paying for Michaelsen’s song was literally not an option – because of my nefarious South Korean IP address, getting the credit card checkout widget to work on US-based websites is sometimes unreliable, because US banking websites shove South Korean IP addresses into a “probably evil fraudsters” bucket along with most other “Asian-except-Japan” addresses; either that, or they force you to a Korean-language- and Korean-bank based site that then requires a Korean credit card. What’s often impossible is using a US credit card on a US site from South Korea. I really did intend to buy his “soundtrack” to Sita Sings the Blues.
Of course, I’m technically savvy enough that using other means to capture the song stream in question was pretty trivial. But still. I’m just sayin’.
What I’m listening to right now.
Todd Michaelson, Reena Shah, Laxmi Shah, “Agni Pariksha.”
Caveat: Cough-ka-cough
Reading Coleridge, and that Natsume novel about the cat.
I ate some chamchi jumokbap. Terrible headcold. Grr. Cough-ka-cough.
Interesting how when I'm sick, I always 'save' the worst of it for my weekends. I'm such a hopeless workaholic.
What I'm listening to right now.
Yeasayer, "Fingers Never Bleed."
Caveat: Life in the Kburbs
Kburbs are Korean suburbs.
I walked along a charming Ilsan side-street on an early fall day.
The trees are starting to change color. The Seven-11 is always open. The streets are neat and orderly.
Caveat: 어떤 사람에게는 좋은 것이 다른 사람에게는 싫은 것
어떤 사람에게는 좋은 것이
what-way-PART person-TO-TOPIC is-good-PART thing-SUBJ
다른 사람에게는 싫은 것
is-other-PART person-TO-TOPIC hate-PART thing
A thing good for one person [is] a thing hated by another person.
“One man’s meat is another’s poison.” And other proverbs in similar vein.
One of my most-liked students, who had quit Karma last year, has resumed at Karma this week. I’m so pleased.
Caveat: “dim white”
I wrote this englyn penfyr.
(Poem #6 on new numbering scheme)
the morning sky looked too cold, and dim white, my window's light like a fold of feeling, and it looked old.
I see these Welsh poetic forms as something offering the same brevity as haiku but more “native” to the Western – specifically Britannic – tradition, especially with their emphasis on rhyme, consonance and assonance.
Caveat: Get this child a psychologist, maybe
“Killer museum,” presented by a boy who goes by the English name John.
It’s a pretty interesting picture, though – a sort of “Richard Scarry does the Apocalypse” style.
Caveat: I woke up and was actually cold
The fall is finally arriving – I went to sleep with my windows open, and when I woke up, the air was chilly. Maybe 5 C or so.
I'm glad that Fall is arriving. I like summer in Korea because it is green and rainy for much of it – but I like the heat and humidity, less so.
I feel a bit frustrated with work. I sense implosional tendencies in the staffroom dynamic. These are making me uncomfortable. Meanwhile, I'm back to teaching the regular middle-schoolers. They can be frustrating sometimes, with their (externally) affectless approach to reality: I sometimes can't figure out if I'm getting through to them at all. And lately, there is a lot of talk of making the elementary side "harder" (or "hardcore") – which is exactly the direction I'm least happy in taking it, though I understand the rationale behind it, market-wise.
The big players in the hagwon biz are beginning a kind of price-war. They are thus undercutting the tuition of smaller players like Karma. Consequently, we have to differentiate in the market, and one option is to try to present ourselves as more "hardcore." Right? Personally, I think there's better options – e.g. become more "innovative" – but to be innovative, one needs to… er, um… innovate.
Caveat: corazón de vidrio
Muy extraña experiencia:
Estaba caminando de regreso a casa y salió en mi mp3player la canción “Heart of Glass” de Blondie. Pues, me puso a pensar en el cuento “El licenciado vidriera” de Cervantes – por el “corazón de vidrio,” por supuesto. “El licenciado vidriera” es el cuento corto cervantino que más me interesa – sin duda es el gérmen del Quijote.
El hombre, por un hechizo, contrae una locura:
… loco dela mas estraña locura, que entre las locuras hasta entonces se auia visto. Imaginose el desdichado, que era todo hecho de vidrio, y con esta imaginacion, quando alguno se llegaua a el, daua terribles vozes, pidiendo, y suplicando con palabras, y razones concertadas, que no se le acercassen, porque le quebrarian, que real, y verdaderamente el no era como los otros hombres, que todo era de vidrio de pies a cabeça. Para sacarle desta estraña imaginacion, muchos, sin atender a sus vozes, y rogatiuas arremetieron a el, y le abraçaron, diziendole, que aduirtiesse, y mirasse, como no se quebraua. Pero lo que se grangeaua en esto era, que el pobre se echaua en el suelo, dando mil gritos, y luego le tomaua vn desmayo, del qual no boluia en si en quatro horas: y quando boluia, era renouando las plegarias, y rogatiuas, de que otra vez no le llegassen. – Miguel de Cervantes, “El licenciado vidriera,” (1613).
Así la conexión entre la literatura española del siglo de oro y la música “disco” de los 1980.
Lo que estoy escuchando en este momento.
Blondie, “Heart of Glass.”
Lyrics.
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behindOnce I had a love and it was divine
Soon found out I was losing my mind
Seemed like the real thing but I was so blind
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behindIn between what I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine
Love is so confusing
There’s no peace of mind
If I fear I’m losing you it’s just no good
You teasing like you doOnce I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behindLost inside, adorable illusion
And I cannot hide
I’m the one you’re using
Please don’t push me aside
We coulda made it cruising, yeahYeah, riding high on love’s true bluish light
Ooh, ooh, whoa, oh
Ooh, ooh, whoa, oh
Ooh, ooh, whoa, oh
Ooh, ooh, whoa, ohOnce I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behindIn between what I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine
Love is so confusing
There’s no peace of mind
If I fear I’m losing you it’s just no good
You teasing like you do
Caveat: 좋은 일은 좋은 일로 보답을 받는 법
좋은 일은 좋은 일로 보답을 받는 법
good-PART work-TOPIC good-PART work-BY reward-OBJ receive-PART rule
The rule that a good deed receives a good reward through good work
“One good turn deserves another.” But I noticed this isn’t really a sentence – it’s a noun phrase centered on the noun 법 (rule) – it can also mean process. That’s something that’s striking about so many of these proverbs – they’re not grammatical sentences. This is true of English proverbs, too – e.g. “An eye for an eye” – there’s no verb, see? It can make them harder to figure out the translation.
If you’re feeling down, do something nice for someone.
Caveat: A Cure for Greed
Here is an eerie bit of performance art or something in that vein.
The Cure for Greed – The making of from Diddo on Vimeo.
For some reason, I think of William S. Burroughs.
Caveat: impressed by his rhodomontade
I have been reading a book, I Am a Cat, by Soseki Natsume. In translation, of course – I can’t read Japanese – I can barely remember my kana.
I came across a passage that featured the word rhodomontade, which I had never seen before.
Blacky [another cat], like all true braggarts, is somewhat weak in the head. As long as you purr and listen attentively, pretending to be impressed by his rhodomontade, he is a more or less manageable cat.
I had no idea what rhodomontade meant. I looked it up, and lo and behold, it’s from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (and the antecedant Orlando Innamorato by Boiardo). I supposedly read this work as part of my master’s degree program, and though I could talk about its cultural impact, I suspect I never really made it through the text – my ability in 16th century century Italian wasn’t the best, either – much less now.
When a translation features such an obscure word, it’s an indication of either a poor quality translation or a masterful one. Based on my progress so far through Aiko Ito and Graeme Wilson’s translation of Natsume’s novel (original 吾輩は猫である [Wagahai wa neko de aru]), I’m inclined to believe the latter. It’s an interesting picture of Meiji-era Japan – a period which has always fascinated me in any event.
Or l’alta fantasia, ch’un sentier solo non vuol ch’i’segua ognor, quindi mi guida, e mi ritorna ove il moresco stuolo assorda di rumor Francia e di grida, d’intorno il padiglione ove il figliuolo del re Troiano il santo Impero sfida, e Rodomonte audace se gli vanta arder Parigi e spianar Roma santa. – Orlando Furioso, Canto LXV.
Caveat: 자라 보고 놀란 가슴 솥뚜껑 보고 놀란다
자라 보고 놀란 가슴 솥뚜껑 보고 놀란다
turtle see-AND surprise-PRESPART heart kettle-lid see-AND surprises
A heart that is surprised by a turtle is surprised by a kettle lid.
“Once bitten, twice shy.” I could never have deduced this proverb’s English equivalent without the online translation being provided – I didn’t get the syntax, especially the fact that in this case the present participle ending on the first serial verb (“see and be surprised”) is doing duty as a relative clausifier – which is allowed of course.
Caveat: This Land Is Mine
Finally, I have come across a comprehensive yet brief synopsis of the last 5000 years in Palestine/Israel/Levant that really contextualizes the current conflict in historical terms.
This Land Is Mine from Nina Paley on Vimeo. A brief history of the land called Israel/Palestine/Canaan/the Levant.
Who’s-killing-who viewer’s guide here: https://blog.ninapaley.com/2012/10/01/this-land-is-mine/
It all underscores the essential inhumanity that lies behind all nationalisms and especially the cultural fantasies that fall under the rubric of revanchism.
Caveat: You set out each day / Never to arrive
What I'm listening to right now.
Dr Dog, "That Old Black Hole."
Lyrics:
I put on my clothes like a body guard
I put the dogs on patrol in my own back yard
I don't wanna fight but I'm constantly ready
And I don't rock the boat, but it's always unsteadyThere's an elephant in my head
And I tip toe around it
There are eggshells on the floor
Therefore I never touch the groundIt's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try,
You set out each day
Never to arriveI got my eyes on the prize
But it looks just like a mystery
And it all goes by on the lonesome trail to victory
I'm drawing in the blinds, I got my own four walls
And the show really starts once the curtain fallsTake this thorn from my side
Fix this chip on my shoulder
Time is racing with the clock
And I ain't getting any olderIt's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try.It's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try.It's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try,
You set out each day
Never to arriveI put on my finest thread
And I wrap up my body tight
With the sun in my eyes
I step into the nightLike the mystery in the dark
Oh, it's just another kind of lightI don't expect you to believe me
But everything is alright
I don't make rules for a living
I don't do tricks for a dimeI was born on a good day,
Deaf, dumb and blind.
Who am I to tell the truth?
I don't even know what it is.I don't know how to say it but I know that I can show you.
I don't know how to say it but I know that I can show you.I tie my boots up tight
And I head straight for bed
There's a pistol and a crystal
Underneath my pillowThere's a tender heart
Inside that ugly armadillo
"These are tears of joy,"
Cried the weeping willowThere's a spirit in the air
And there ain't no way around it
I was not prepared to lose it
On the moment that I found itIt's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try.It's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try.It's like that old black hole,
No matter how you try,
You set out each day
Never to arrive
Caveat: 시도하지 않으면 얻는 게 없다
시도하지 않으면 얻는 게 없다
attempt-PRENEG not-be-IF get-PRESPART NOMINALIZER there-is-not
If nothing is attempted [then] there is no getting.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” I was puzzled by the particle 게 for a long time, until finally I decided (perhaps correctly, perhaps not) that it was a contraction of 것이, which is a nominalizing particle (attached to the preceeding present participalized verb) with a subject case marker. The grammar was hard, but the meaning pretty obvious.
I’m going to gain nothing this weekend, because I’m venturing nothing. Bleah.
Caveat: Taking the Subway Across Mars from Manhattan to Shanghai
I'm not sure I like this video in every respect, but it's definitely interesting.
PLAN OF THE CITY from Joshua Frankel on Vimeo.
After I got home from work, I took a nap. A solid, deep-sleeping nap. That's almost unheard of, in my current lifestyle. Definitely a sign that I'm under the weather in some way. Grr.
Caveat: Sweetest Coma Again
The weather is starting to feel like fall. I have to work this morning. I'm feeling gloomy.
What I'm listening to right now.
LUNA SEA, "Sweetest Coma Again."
Uhm. Japanese rock.
Caveat: Anarchist Calisthenics
I am aware of a rather glaring contradiction or even hypocrisy in myself: I declare myself sympathetic to anarchism on the one hand, but on the other I'm a huge defender of rule-of-law for rule-of-law's sake. Without getting overly analytical, I'll merely observe that I ran across some thought-provoking notions in a recent semi-book-review at Bleeding Heart Libertarians, of a book by James C. Scott entitled Two Cheers for Anarchism. Most notably, I like the concept of "anarchist calisthenics" – the idea that we should seek out and break irrational laws merely to keep our libertarian selves in shape, so to speak. And yet… I resist it. I'm one of those people who sees some inherent good in obeying the law for its own sake, and it's one of the things that I point to as a success in South Korea – the transition, in the last several decades, to a (mostly) rule-of-law based society. So how can I resolve this paradox?
Caveat: 세 살 버릇 여든까지 간다
세 살 버릇 여든까지 간다
three year habit eighty-UNTIL goes
A three year habit goes up to eighty.
This means that old habits die hard. I’ve been struggling with trying to drop old habits (mental habits) and gain new, better habits. For example, I had a habit of trying do something with Korean proverbs in this blog, for a while, but then I lost that habit. So I’m trying to bring it back. It’s hard.
Caveat: now Denver is lonesome for her heroes
I didn't watch the debate between Obama and Romney, live. But, being the politics addict that I am, I have followed it through that innovative new medium called "live blogging." And the consensus seems to be that Obama blew it, and that Romney did quite well. I haven't formed an opinion, except to say that Obama likes to play the "adult in the room," which rarely plays well on TV. Romney, on the other hand, comes off as a patriarch high on meth – which might not be that inaccurate.
So far the best part was when Ta-Nehisi Coates, blogging at The Atlantic, quoted Alan Ginsburg. I feel compelled to do the same, though somewhat more at length:
…I had a vision or you had a vision or he had
a vision to find out Eternity,
who journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who
came back to Denver & waited in vain, who
watched over Denver & brooded & loned in
Denver and finally went away to find out the
Time, & now Denver is lonesome for her heroes,
who fell on their knees in hopeless cathedrals praying
for each other's salvation and light and breasts,
until the soul illuminated its hair for a second,
who crashed through their minds in jail waiting for
impossible criminals with golden heads and the
charm of reality in their hearts who sang sweet
blues to Alcatraz,
who retired to Mexico to cultivate a habit, or Rocky
Mount to tender Buddha or Tangiers to boys
or Southern Pacific to the black locomotive or
Harvard to Narcissus to Woodlawn to the
daisychain or grave,
who demanded sanity trials accusing the radio of hyp
notism & were left with their insanity & their
hands & a hung jury…
From his poem, "Howl." If you're not getting it, the segment of the poem is relevant because the debate was held in Denver.
Caveat: Not Really There
Just random drawing. For some reason, the title of this is “Not Really There.”
Caveat: 누워서 떡 먹기
누워서 떡 먹기
lie-down-SO rice-cake eat-GERUND
[It’s like] lying down and eating rice-cake (tteok).
This proverb or expression is similar to the English “piece of cake,” meaning something is very easily done: nothing is quite as easy as lying down and eating some tteok – Korean style rice cake.
Caveat: technology recapitulates ecology
A very hungry robot seeks its fortune in the world.
Flying Lotus – Putty Boy Strut (Until The Quiet Comes, new album out October 1st/2nd) from Warp Records on Vimeo.
Sometimes I think about that old (and somewhat discredited) maxim from biology: “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” This video makes me creatively paraphrase that maxim as: “technology recapitulates ecology.”
Caveat: Pathos
An 8 year old girl writes this in her "essay book" – a kind of weekly diary entry for intermediate students. I present it uncorrected.
Today my mom is angry. Because I make my mom is angry, my mom is very angry. My sister and I am scary. My mom is angry I cry. When my mom is angry she hit something. So sister and I am very scary. I think 'I didn't make my mom angry.' And I really promise I didn't make my mom angry. ㅠㅠ
Note that the use of the past tense "didn't make my mom angry" probably is meant to reflect a hoped-for state, as "I wish I hadn't made my mom angry," as it seems to sometimes be used in Korean.
I feel some pathos for the girl's situation.
What I'm listening to right now.
Parov Stelar, "My Inner Me (feat. Phoebe Hall)."
Caveat: Do not go gentle into that zombie plagued night
I awoke this morning from a dream about zombies. It was like I was inside a zombie movie, in the dream – and not a very good zombie movie, for all that.
What’s with zombies in my subconscious brain? I don’t actually watch zombie movies. I don’t enjoy them. I haven’t made it through a single episode of Walking Dead. I suppose I’m exposed to some degree of zombie thematics from my zombie-obsessed students, but … why did I have a zombie dream, last night? I wasn’t meditating on zombie-related material yesterday, or over the weekend.
When I woke up, I googled zombie poetry, and guess what I found: “zombie haiku.” This is most excellent, at least as a type of humor.
Here are some samples.
Zombie Haiku by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle
into that zombie plagued night.
And take the shotgun.Zombie Haiku by Edgar Allen Poe
Beside of the sea
I killed my Annabel Lee
because zombies do that.
I also found this rather entertaining short story by a guy named Isaac Marion.
Caveat: Qué tranquilidad violeta
EL POETA A CABALLO
¡Qué tranquilidad violeta,
por el sendero, a la tarde!
A caballo va el poeta…
¡Qué tranquilidad violeta!La dulce brisa del río,
olorosa a junco y agua,
le refresca el señorío…
La brisa leve del río…A caballo va el poeta…
¡Qué tranquilidad violeta!Y el corazón se le pierde,
doliente y embalsamado,
en la madreselva verde…
Y el corazón se le pierde…A caballo va el poeta…
¡Qué tranquilidad violeta!Se esté la orilla dorando…
El último pensamiento
del sol la deja soñando…
Se está la orilla dorando…¡Qué tranquilidad violeta,
por el sendero, a la tarde!
A caballo va el poeta…
¡Qué tranquilidad violeta!– Juan Ramón Jiménez
Siempre cuando leo a JRJ, pienso en el mejor profesor de mis estudios graduados, Ignacio López. Fue un verdadero maestro y profesor, y no sólo un académico.