Ruminations in Korea

I had no intention of commenting on anything to do with the Republican National Convention because political discussions never seem to go anywhere productive, and people from both political sides remain unchanged in their respective positions…unchanged that is except for being a little angrier and little more self-righteous. However, as I did with the Democratic National Convention, I decided to watch in on CSPAN. I was surprised to find myself deeply moved by what has taken place thus far on the first day of the convention.

Senator John McCain, of whom I am not a great fan, gave a very powerful and passionate speech about sacrifice, duty, responsibility for protecting our country, and allowing other people to taste the freedoms we enjoy, freedoms that are so precious that our sons, daughters, fathers and mothers are willing to sacrifice their lives so as to give others a taste of that freedom.

So it is, whether we wished it or not, that we have come to the test of our generation, to our rendezvous with destiny. And much is expected of us.

We are engaged in a hard struggle against a cruel and determined adversary. Our enemies have made clear the danger they pose to our security and the very essence of our culture: liberty.

Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war. Like all wars, this one will have its ups and downs. But we must fight. We must.

But there is no avoiding this war. We tried that, and our reluctance cost us dearly.

And while this war has many components, we can’t make victory on the battlefield harder to achieve so that our diplomacy is easier to conduct.

After years of failed diplomacy and limited military pressure to restrain Saddam Hussein, President Bush made the difficult decision to liberate Iraq.

Those who criticize that decision would have us believe that the choice was between a status quo that was well enough left alone and war. But there was no status quo to be left alone.

Our choice wasn’t between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Not our political opponents. And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe, my friends, … that Saddam’s Iraq was an oasis of peace, when in fact — when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children inside their walls.

Let us argue — let us argue our differences, but remember we are not enemies, but comrades in a war against a real enemy, and take courage from the knowledge that our military superiority is matched only by the superiority of our ideals and our unconquerable love for them.

Our adversaries are weaker than us in arms and men, but weaker still in causes. They fight to express — they fight to express a hatred for all that is good in humanity. We fight for love of freedom and justice, a love that is invincible.

Keep that faith. Keep your courage. Stick together. Stay strong. Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our president and fight.
We’re Americans. We’re Americans, and we’ll never surrender. They will.

Sen. McCain was followed by three women. One’s husband was part of the group that tried to take back controll of flight 93 that crashed in a field. Another’s brother was the pilot of the plane that went into the Pentagon and whose son is shipping out to Iraq in December. The other’s brother was a firefighter who’s brother was killed when the towers collapsed. Listening to these women describe their own love of their country and their loved ones’ love of their country and their sense of duty and sacrifice, caused me to choke up. They expressed their support for the current leadership of the country.

They were followed by a moment of silence and a rendtion of Amazing Grace that finished the job of choking me up and a few tears rolled down my cheeks.

Right now, Rudy Giuliani is speaking. Simply put, Rudy kicks ass! I used to not like the guy, but he is one hell of a speaker. Right now Giuliani is speaking about George Bush’s proven leadership and initiative on 9/11, Pres. Bush’s compassion for victims, the world’s tolerance of terrorism, the necessity of an offense against terrorism, and John Kerry’s lack of leadership and demostrated inclination to change his opinion 180 degrees numerous times on the same issue. He is expressing his gratefulness that Pres. Bush was president 9/11 and is president today to remove the threats to our nation and to bringing terrorists down.

And it was here in 2001, in the same lower Manhattan, that President George W. Bush stood amid the fallen towers of the World Trade Center, and he said to the barbaric terrorists who attacked us, “They will hear from us.”

Well, they heard from us.

They heard from us in Afghanistan and we removed the Taliban.

They heard from us in Iraq, and we ended Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror. And we put him where he belongs, in jail.

They heard from us in Libya, and without firing a shot Gadhafi abandoned his weapons of mass destruction.

We don’t have all the right ideas. [Democrats] don’t have all the wrong ideas.

But I do believe there are times in history when our ideas are more necessary and more important and critical, and this is one of those times when we are facing war and danger.

There are times when leadership is the most important.

Thank God that George Bush is our president, and thank God that Dick Cheney, a man with his experience and his knowledge and his strength and his background, is our vice president.

Terrorist acts became like a ticket to the international bargaining table. How else to explain Yasser Arafat winning the Nobel Peace Prize while he was supporting a plague of terrorism in the Middle East and undermining any chance of peace?

Before September 11, we were living with an unrealistic view of our world, much like observing Europe appease Hitler or trying to accommodate the Soviet Union through the use of mutually assured destruction.

President Bush decided that we could no longer be just on defense against global terrorism, we must also be on offense.

It doesn’t matter to him how he is demonized. It doesn’t matter what the media does to ridicule him or misinterpret him or defeat him.

They ridiculed Winston Churchill. They belittled Ronald Reagan. But like President Bush, they were optimists. Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present, and it’s set on a future of real peace and security.

Some call it stubbornness. I call it principled leadership.

President Bush has the courage of his convictions.

In choosing a president, we really don’t choose just a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or a liberal. We choose a leader.

And in times of war and danger, as we’re now in, Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision.

Certainly President Bush will keep us focused on that goal. When President Bush announced his commitment to ending global terrorism, he understood, I understood, we all understood that it was critical to remove the pillars of support for the global terrorist movement.

President Bush is the leader we need for the next four years because he can see beyond just today and tomorrow. He can see in the future. He has a vision of a peaceful Middle East and a safer world.

Even if you don’t like Republicans or what they stand for, listen to Rudy Giuliani’s speech. He is a great and powerful speaker.

One thing that has struck me so far about this conventio is the positive attitude of the people. There is no anger, hate-filled, sarcastic, anti-Democrat, anti-Kerry rhetoric. I was particularly impressed that Giuliani called for a round of applause to thank Kerry for his military service to the country.

Two notable event happened today:

1. I reached 80,000 hits at some point today. Although not spectacular after 10 months, it is much more than I ever anticipated getting in my entire lifetime. Thanks folks.

2. The KT ban on the typepad sites has apparently been lifted! Free at Last! Free at Last! Great God Almighty! Free at Last! Two months and five days after Korea went on a blog-blocking and site-smacking spree, I can now access my site and other typepad blogs without going through a proxy server! Thanks to Kimchigi for the heads up on this development. I would like to echo his thanks to all most of you who have continued to visit my site even with the added burden of having to go through a proxy server.

It had been ages since I had watched a movie in the movie theater (except for Shrek II). After watching Hellboy last Wednesday, I am in a movie mood.

The Bourne Supremacy

Last Thursday, the day after watching Hellboy, I watched The Bourne Supremacy. Jae, over at My Resonating Life, has a good review of the movie. The movie and the book have absolutely nothing in common…other than the title. That having been said, the movie was a good action film. The story was weak and thin, but the action was top notch, although somewhat repetitive.

I missed about 20 minutes in the middle of the film while fielding a telephone call from Andy of Flying Yangban fame. When I left, Jason Bourne had just finished pounding another agent and then strangling him to death. When I came back, Bourne was about to get in another deadly fight. I don’t know what I missed while I was out, but I will assume that there were maybe a few fights and a chase or two ending in a very narrow escape. Whatever happened, it didn’t affect the plot in the least. So, to summarize: The storyline sucked, but the fast-paced, adranaline-pumping action were worth the $5.50 for two hours of escapist fantasy.

Shilmido

The next day, Friday, I saw Shilmido. I must say that although I am not impressed with the vast majority of Korean cinema, Shilmido was a very good movie. This is the true story of a squad of 31 men trained to assassinate Kim Il Sung. Charlie over at KimchiGi made some comments about the movie and the true story that are very much worth reading.

The story is essentially the same as the 1967 blockbuster, The Dirty Dozen. In the Dirty Dozen, 12 convicted murderers are hand selected to be part of a secret, elite team to infiltrate Germany and assassinate Nazi officers. They are told that their sentences will be commuted if they succeed and if they screw up, the will be sent back to prison and/or executed.

In Shilmido, 31 people are hand selected from among prisoners on death row to be part of a secret, elite team to infiltrate North Korea and assassinate Kim Il Sung. They are told that they sentences will be commuted if they succeed and if they screw up, they will be sent back to prison and be executed. Capture or other failure was to end in suicide. The men were described as “human weapons”.

The 31 men trained on the island of Shilmido for three years. Their mission was cancelled at the last minute due to improving relations between North and South Korea. They were put on hold indefinitely. Their training stopped and eventually their food supply was cut off. They men learned that not only were they to be disbanded, they were to be destroyed. Seven men had died during the course of the training, which left 24 men. Before they could be wiped out by the government, they took over Shilmido in less than 10 minutes, leaving only 6 of the government soldiers on the island alive. They then swam from the island to Incheon, where they hijacked a bus and headed to Seoul toward the President’s residence at the Blue House. They fought soldiers along the way and had to change buses once (which was not in the movie). Then ended up in Seoul and a huge stand off with government forces.

This story was much more amazing and enthralling that the Dirty Dozen. If it were not a true story, it would be entirely unbelievable. Give that it was a true story, it makes the movie that much more engrossing. Get a hold of this DVD. I don’t know how good the English subtitles are, because I don’t need them or use them, but I would assume that they are satisfactory. Keep in mind, this is NOT a feel-good movie.

Hidalgo

I grew up outside of Logan, Utah in the small town of Nibley, nestled in a pristine Rocky Mountain valley in Nothern Utah, a place so stunningly beautiful that people like Joel from About Joel, who are unfortunately from the wrong side other side of Sardine Canyon, can only dream of living there. Being from out west, in the wide open spaces, it is hard for me not to enjoy a movie about horses, cowboys, and such. One day after seeing Shilmido, I was in DVD room with a combination pizza and a 1.5 liter bottle of diet coke watching Hidalgo.

Although the movie apparently got some bad reviews, I quite enjoyed the movie. Enjoyed it so much that I ordered the DVD first thing this morning. It should be arriving at my office tomorrow.

Hidalgo is another true story. Frank T. Hopkins was a pony express rider who later teamed up with Buffalo Bill’s show. He was arguably the greatest long distance endurance horse racer that ever lived. He even participated in a 3,000 mile endurance race across the Arabian Desert against Arabian Thoroughbreds in 1890 on his mustang named Hidalgo. The movie is the story of that race. Beautifully shot, the movie captures the spirit of the old west cowboy, and in particular Frank Hopkins. Viggo Mortensen provides some eye candy for the girls. Omar Shariff, looking every bit as majestic, stately, and good looking, and masculine as he did in Lawrence of Arabia, does a marvelous job as Sheikh Riyadh. Hidalgo is a very heartwarming story of a man and his love and devotion for horses and his Indian heritage.

I think all discussion on this particular topic has been exhausted. Everyone that cares about it, and even some of those that don’t care (like myself) seem to have made their decision as to how this matter should be resolved. Just to lay this matter to rest for me and the people that for whatever reason have nothing better to do in their lives at the moment than to read this, I present my final views on this (non)issue.

First, I think it is important and necessary to separate two aspects of the judging. There are elements that are part of the performance and subjective in that they are open to interpretation or may involve seeing or not seeing a certain element. These types of elements would include such things as whether an athletes knees buckled, whether she stepped out of bounds, did he drop the ball, and other such things.

There are also elements that are outside of the performance itself and are objectively identifiable and designed to ensure that the playing field is equal and fair for all parties. Such elements would include the start values, time on the clock, the height of various apparatus, the weight of the athletes, and similar elements.

In an ideal sporting world, no review of either of these types of elements would be allowed or even necessary. However, judges are only human. Thus, judges make errors. Then question should be, then, whether parties should be allowed to demand review and reconsideration of suspected mistakes involving any of the aforementioned elements, and if so, should the reviews and reconsiderations be without limit?

I do not think that reviews should ever be allowed for suspected, or even obvious mistakes in the judging or interpreting of subjective elements, unless there is at least strong evidence or a strong appearance of intentional wrongdoing on the part of the judges or referees. The possibility that things will be missed or bad calls will be made is part of the sport itself. It does not affect the overall fairness of the game even though they may effect the outcome of the game or event. If you allow reviews of these things, they could go on and on forever. Every little detail could be questioned and protested. Such things would quickly destroy the integrity of and interest in any sport subject to such reviews. It just can’t be allowed to happen.

As for the objective, quantifiable mistakes that create unfair situations, give one side an unfair advantage, create an unfair disadvantage, or in some other way interfere with the fairness and neutrality of the game. If judges or referees miscount the number of fouls on a player, the number of time outs available, gives incorrect start values, set the apparatus and wrong heights, deny time or give too much time, put someone in the wrong weight class, etc. the game itself is no longer fair and equal. These are errors that are easily avoided and destroy the integrity of the competition. Reviews and protests should be allowed for errors of such objective matters. That having been said, there are rules and regulations in place that limit the time for filing protests or appeals. These limits are necessary to prevent the disagreements from going on forever.

When applied to this situation. there are basically two things people are saying. Those that are on the side of giving gold to the Koreans are arguing that the start value was incorrect and he should be given the .10 that was deducted and given the gold medal along with it because his score would elevate him to first place. On the side that is against giving the Koreans gold, the main argument is that the Korean had one too many holds on the bar and he crouched a bit on the dismount so he should have been deducted .20 points, which means he wouldn’t have won the gold anyway.

To me, these are two separate and distinct categories of argument. The argument that the judges screwed up in not deducting points for having too many holds and a bad dismount are arguments of the subjective variety that should never be reviewed because they are subjectively analyzed and inherently subject to various interpretations.

On the other hand, the argument that the start value was .10 points low is no subject to interpretation. It is objectively verifiable. Also, it affected the equality and fairness of the event. The event was unfair to the Korean even before his performance began.Therefore, it is my firm opinion that the Koreans should be allowed to protest the scoring and demand that something be done, whether it is taking the medal from Hamm and giving it to the Korean or giving two golds, or whatever. However, and this is a very big “however” there are reasonable rules setting time limits for making protests and appeals, and the Korean team knew the deadline and chose to ignore it and not risk having the rest of their performance prejudiced by the protest. In other words, the Korean coach weighed his options and chose to wait until after the known deadline expired to make his protest.

Therefore, I fully agree with and support the Koreans right to protest the clearly unfair start value. I fully understand and appreciate the Koreans in their efforts to secure a second gold medal for their gymnast. I think it is quite generous and shows a great deal of decency and sportsmanship that they do not want Hamm to lose his medal. However, the Korean coach knew the deadline for filing protests and the consequences for not protesting before the deadline. Rules are there to regulate the sport and to provide structure, stability, and predictability to the medals process. After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that although it was initially unfair to be started at a lower start value than he should have been, the Korean coach immediately realized the error and knew the deadline, but he chose to ignore it. Thus, Korea had ample time to seek a review of the issue, but voluntarily chose not to seek the review until after deadline had expired. Although the judges were initially to blame for giving the wrong start value, but the rule makers know that the judges are all human and prone to making an occasional error, thus the rules provide a way for the error of humans to be rectified. However, ultimately, the coach is to blame for this because he consciously chose to ignore the process for rectifying the errors of the human judges and instead filed too late. Thus, I personally do not think that the Koreans should be given a separate gold medal. Rather, it should be explained as a horrible mistake by the coach, and the coach should bear full responsibility for consciously disregarding the known rules and procedures and purposefully filing lately.

That having been said, Hamm who started out as an innocent victim should understand the difference between the two arguments and accept that based on the objective errors he should not have been awarded the gold medal. Although I do not think he should be stripped of his medal, I believe that he should give it up. At this point, Hamm’s argument is that he is the champion because the Korean did not complain in time and that the Korean had too many holds, the latter argument can be discarded because it is a subjective argument in that it depends upon the perception of the judges and what they notice. When Hamm’s complaint is distilled to it’s basic form, we see that he is simply saying that the judges made a mistake but the Koreans protested too late so tough luck, Korea. While that may be true as far as the interpretation of the rules is concerned, it is bad form and sportsmanship for Hamm. Hamm will have to live the rest of his life telling stories to kids and grandkids about how he “earned” a gold medal because of a technicality, even though he should not really have won it. I strongly believe that Hamm should give up his gold medal voluntarily. I couldn’t live with myself if that was my situation. I would have to give the medal up..not necessarily to the Koreans. What to do with tthat decision lies with the olympic oficials.

Thus, my personalized views are that Korea should not get a second review and should not be awarded a second gold and the Korean coach is to blame….Howevemedalr Hamm should surrender the gold medal voluntarily. If he doesn’t and insists on keeping his unearned medal, then perhaps there could be a loophole in the rules that would allow the Koreans to insist on receiving the a similar medal that they did not really earn.

Perhaps, the ultimate solution for preserving the integrity of the games and alleviating these types of disputes to the fullest extent possible is to remove all games from the Olympics that cannot be settled with a tape measure, stopwatch, scoreboard, or a straight “You win or you lose” decision.

Saw Hellboy this evening! Great movie. Brilliant adaption of the Dark Horse Comic. Unfortunately as often happens in movies with sarcastic, non-physical, non-slapstick humor, I was the only one in the theater laughing at most of the humor.

Humor is just one of those things that is so hard to translate across languages and cultures. While several moments in the movie was laugh out loud funny to me, the Koreans in the audience laughed laughed exactly once…when a lone piece of broken glass fell oh Hellboy’s head a few moments after the rest of the window had fallen on him.

Even after 16 years, I don’t find much of Korean humor funny. I don’t see anything funny about the antics of the comedians in the “gag concerts.” I just stare at the TV dumbstruck and how everyone in attendance could be laughing at what is going on. Conversely, my Korean friends simply don’t get why I am rolling on the floor holding my ribs and gasping for air while watching things like Raising Arizona, Spinal Tap, and such.

Way back in the day, my Korean friends and I would have endless fun telling each other the funniest jokes we could think of and then laugh at the other person not finding the joke funny.

The difficulties inherent in translating humor cross culturally is one of the reasons I am constantly telling foreign clients not to start their presentations with jokes, not to try to be funny in their discussions, and to steer well clear of anything resembling sarcasm.

But, back to the point…The movie was a good 2-hour escape. Well worth the KRW 6,000. Effect were great, Ron Pearlman played the character amazingly straight, the rest of the cast was wonderful…including my secret girlfriend Selma Blair. I recommend it for people of all ages… There is quite a bit of violence, but the most vulgar word in the movie that I remember was the word “crap.”

Memorable line:

Abe Sapien: In five seconds she planted three eggs inside you.
Hellboy: And she didn’t even buy me a drink.

This topic is starting to wear thin. However, there are a few additional comments that I wanted to make before moving on.

First of all, in case you are wondering how gymnastics is scored. Yahoo provides a good, simple explanation.

Next, I want to address the status and actions of the various players in this mess.

Hamm: Innocent victim, but what about the character front? Hamm has said that he would give up the medal if asked: “If they decide I should give back the gold medal, then I will.” But, then again, Hamm also complains that anyone is questioning his gold. “I shouldn’t even be dealing with this…It would have been nice to not have to deal with it. I’m glad I’m able to clear the air here and make sure everyone in the U.S. understands that I’m not a silver medalist. I’m a gold medalist, and once the meet is over, it’s over.” I still say that he should voluntarily surrender his medal. I don’t know how he could look at it every day proudly tell his children and grandchildren how he managed to sneak out of the games with the gold medal because the judges made a huge mistake and no one caught it until too late. Come on, Hamm, give it up.

Judges: Screwed up. Shouldn’t have happened. But why, for the love of heaven, did the judging panel chairman have to be a American?

Korea’s Team: At this point, no one is disputing that the Korean gymnast, Yang, was given a wrong starting value of 9.9 instead of the 10.0 he should have started with. However, the Koreans should have protested before the beginning of the next round. Instead, they waited until after Yang screwed up the next event and fell to third place. The Korean team must bear part of the blame for not protesting at the appropriate time. The team is planning to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, the CAS has indicated that they are not going to take the case.

Korean Fans: As predicted, a few knuckleheads are trying to raise a ruckus. Their comments are making news in other countries, as evidenced by Yahoo news, which provides the following three quotes:

Pressian.com is calling for “a strong nationwide reaction to reclaim the gold medal that we have been robbed of.”

One Korean netizen writes, “Let’s flood the IOC web site with our protests, urging it to reverse the decision on the medals. We should ask IOC, ‘What makes it so afraid of the United States?’”

Another said, “I can’t understand why FIG cannot reverse its medal decision while acknowledging its mistake. The American athlete who won the gold should give up the medal voluntarily.”

Whatever the outcome, as pointed out in Yahoo news, “In the United States, Hamm’s gold, his reputation and his marketability will not be tarnished in the least by this affair. Americans probably won’t remember it beyond next week. South Koreans won’t forget it for a long time.”…or will NEVER forget it.

Lest anyone be concerned that Koreans have a monopoly on whining about gymnastics (deservedly or undeservedly) and blaming America for their loss, Ms. Khorkina from Russia is forwarding the original argument that she was robbed of the gold by the judges because she is Russian and not American. “I’m just furious,” Khorkina said. “I knew well in advance, even before I stepped on the stage for my first event, that I was going to lose…Everything was decided in advance. I had no illusions about this when the judges gave me 9.462 for the vault after conferring with one another at length. I practically did everything right, still they just set me up and fleeced me.”

When asked why she thought she was marked down, she said, “You better ask them. I think it’s because I’m from Russia, not from America!”

Knew in advance you were going to lose? Everything was decided in advance? Easy there, Khorkina, do you think your attitude may have had anything to do with it?

Also, on separate issue, do we want to start a discussion about why there have been NO media reports (that I have seen) here about the South Korean coach that was expelled from the games for slapping a 22-year old, 105 pound girl across the face for losing a match? It was enough to earn the Korean coach a dishonorable mention on the MSN Sports Whine of the Week.

BREAKING NEWS AS OF 19 MINUTES AGO.
Oh no, Ohno!

Ummm… Well… I guess Korea can go and bitch away to their heart’s content. In a classic case of The BOy Who Cried Wolf, the Koreans were right this time. It appears that a judging error did, indeed, rob Korea of the gymnastics gold medal.

I retract most of what I said yesterday and some of what I said earlier today. Yes. Filing the protest and claiming to be robbed was justified.

According to Yahoo, “A mistake in scoring of the all-around gymnastics final cost Yang Tae-young the gold that ended up going to Hamm, the International Gymnastics Federation said Saturday. The South Korean got the bronze instead.”

What was the mistake? The judges started with the wrongstart value: “Yang received a start value of 9.9 on parallel bars, a tenth lower than he got for the same routine in team qualifying and finals. After reviewing a tape of the all-around, FIG officials determined Yang should have been awarded a start value of 10. With the extra 0.10, he would have finished with 57.874 points and defeated Hamm by 0.051. ”

The results will stand because Korea did not protest before the end of the round.

Two things to deal with here: First, if I was Paul Hamm, I would give up my medal. I wouldn’t give it to the Korean, but I would give it up. I couldn’t look at it every day knowing that I got it on a judging screwup like the one that occurred.

Second, The true test of Korean athlete and citizen character will be how they handle the news. Will that simply say, “See we told you so,” and then move on, or will they keep whining and complain and screaming conspiracy theories. Unfortuately, I am afraid that the latter is more likely.

Why? because in an unfortunate turn of events, three judges were suspended as a result of the mistake “to protect the integrity of the FIG, the judges, and to be able to maintain and ensure the highest possible judging standard at the Olympic Games”. Who was suspended? Spain’s Benjamin Bango and Columbia’s Oscar Buitrago Reyes who were responsible for determining the start values. Also, the key figure, America’s George Beckstead, who was the panel chairman, and therefore had ultimate responsibility for all the judges.

Yup. That’s right. An American was in charge of the judging panel that made a mistake leading to a Korean being screwed out of a medal in favor of an American athlete. Great… THAT isn’t going to help smooth things over very much.

Let’s see how this plays out. Will Koreans handle it with grace and style? Will Hamm surrender his medal? I personally will not be holding my breath for either of them to happen.

This originally started out as a reply to a comment made by Jaemi to yesterday’s post. However, the reply got out of hand and developed into its own post.

Jaemi.

Perhaps you should invest a little time and effort into a reading comprehension course.

Yes I watched the gymnastics. So, whatever you were trying to imply by incorrectly suggesting/assuming that I didn’t is completely useless.

Although I have a little sister who was involved in gymnastics, had a friend in high school that was into gymnastics, and briefly dated a girl that tried out for the US olympic swim team, I have no idea how to judge or score gymnastics. As Zdunk said above, I “just marvel and am told the winners.”

I don’t think anyone DESERVES to win anything. You earn it, or sometimes you catch a lucky break. I don’t know if Hamm was scored too high, or if the Koreans were scored too low. Frankly, I don’t care. Really, I couldn’t care less. My point is not who should get the medals. I really really don’t care. My problem is with how Korean athletes and fans react to sporting events.

Again, what I care about is the way that a huge number of Koreans, including the athletes react. It is disgustingly poor sportsmanship for athletes to scowl, rip their medals off their necks, file protests, throw their nation’s flag on the ice, etc. And Koreans are also internationally known for being not just sore losers, but also sore winners, acting like childish jackasses when they “show up” an opponent. Korean fans sending death threats to athletes, crashing Olympic Committee internet servers, etc. is even more disgusting. In a brilliant article written by Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, he comments on this type of behavior present at the 2002 Olympics in my relative home town of Salt Lake City. His article features the ridiculous behavior of….you guessed it, the Koreans:

Yesterday the Russians threatened to pull out. The Koreans threatened to sue in federal court. By the time you read this, Carjackistan probably will have filed a protest over the judgment call that ice should be cold and hard.

First, brief perspective. All Olympics have been speckled with judgment errors. Ask the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team that was jobbed against Russia, or American boxer Roy Jones, who lost his 1988 gold medal to a South Korean who was as surprised as everyone else in Seoul. Examples from all nations and all Games are many.

I couldn’t help but notice that Mr. Thiel diplomatically avoided mentioning that a South Korean judge in the Roy Jones match was almost certainly bribed to be sympathetic to the Korean boxer and that strict regulations were put in place to prevent corruption in olympic boxing as a result.

As long as we are on the subject of protests, whining, boxing, and the 1988 Olympics, Should I mentioned the legendary bantamweight fight involving Byun Jong-il? (Yes, Jaemi, I watched that one too) Byun felt that the New Zealand referee unfairly deducted a point for Byun using his head. How did Byun react? Like a complete idiot. He sat on the mat in the ring for 67 minutes after losing. Byun gave up on his protest only after the organizers turned off the area lights and went home. (incidentally, the Koreans also protested the US television action of continuing to show the protest to its humorous end on world-wide TV) Byun’s episode wasn’t limited to the sit down protest. The referee was physically attacked and beaten up by the Korean trainers after the bout. As if that weren’t enough, participating in the beat down was one of the security guards assigned to protect the referee.

This isn’t without precedent. In the 1964 flyweight competition, South Korea’s Choh Dong Kih was disqualified in a second round bout against the Soviet fighter Stanislav Sorokin for holding his head too low. He sat in the ring in protest for 51 minutes.

Mr. Thiel then points out two aspects of the 2002 games that are equally applicable to the 2004 games:

The Internet and TV are now so pervasive that, instead of throwing a shoe at a bad call, people of many nations can complain directly to national organizing committees.

American success here at the Games, and influence generally, is, as always, resented.

What isn’t America’s fault these days? I challenge readers to find a single Korean that knows the referee in the Ohno incident was Australian and not American.

On the second point, we’ll be brief again. Nearly all of the complainants have politely skirted what they think is overwrought sympathy or boosterism for America that they believe influences judges and outcomes. But watch what happens when all are safely back home and not subject to insulting the host country to its face. Guaranteed, they will assert it was all America’s fault. But that point is familiar and frankly less interesting than the first point.

Although it may be less interesting to others, it seems to be the focus of many Korean fan’s lives. Koreans don’t wait until the get home. They are insta-whiners.

Mr. Thiel ends with a very appropriate conclusion.

The … Koreans did what ‘most all officials do under pressure — they grandstand and attempt to fix blame elsewhere.

The news conferences yesterday were attempts to show the folks back home that bygawd, they’re angry about bad calls too, and they’re in Salt Lake doing something about it.

The question is, will it get anywhere?

The likely answer is no.

The Koreans’ protest was rejected within hours by the ISU last night, a spokesman saying the decision of the referees was final. The Koreans still can sue, but the action seems ridiculous on its face, however justified their indignation might be.

So what yesterday amounted to was sound and fury signifying nothing.

Sure, they might sit out the closing ceremonies, but so what?

Still, the gestures, however empty, will nevertheless have a souring effect on a Games that on many fronts have gotten on splendidly.

Bad calls? You bet.

Welcome to sports.

Welcome to life.

One thing that far too many Korean fans and athletes seem unable to wrap their minds around is the fact that, in sports, bad calls go both ways. Sometimes you benefit from them. Sometimes they kick you in the head. From my experience, it seems to just about balance out in the end. Judges, referees, umpires, and other officials are not omnipresent, omniscient gods. They may miss things that cameras catch, they may think they see things that don’t really happen. But a bad call, particuarly in a multi-judge sport like gymnastics, is not a national insult, nor is it part of a conspiracy to elevate the US and single out poor, weak, helpless Korea and humiliate them before the eyes of the world.

Whether Koreans can accept the reality or not, sports are only sports, and Americans simply don’t care enough about olympic gymnastics (and I bet 90% of Americans had never heard of short-track skating until Koreans started acting like imbiciles) to go to the trouble of arranging the results. If it was pure sympathy on the part of the judges, blame the judges, not Hamm or the US. Better yet. blame your athletes for not doing .0012 better to ensure the win.

Regarding the protest, International Gymnastics Federation Spokesman, Phillipe Silacci said, “Judges can make mistakes. But it’s like football. They cannot change the score once the game is over.”

Korean gymnast Yang, who was allegedly robbed of the gold, said “What I want is justice and fairness in the judging.”

As long as Koreans are demanding fairness and justice in judging, and as Silacci brought up football, why weren’t Koreans protesting when Spain had a goal disallowed during its 2002 World Cup match with Korea when Morientes headed in from close range and the referee judged that the ball had gone out of play before being crossed in by Joaquin, when replays clearly showed that the ball had not gone out of bounds. Oh yeah… we don’t call for “justice and fairness” when bad calls benefit our side. Whining when bad calls go against us and winking and looking the other way when bad calls benefit us is sad, shameful, and hypocritical. Either protest everything good and bad, or shut up and accept what comes.

So…what to do about this alleged bad gymnastics call? Let it sit? Forget about it and hope for a lucky break next time? No. Yang’s coach has a better idea. “If we take a gold medal from Paul hamm, his heart will be broken, and my heart would also be broken by that. So, I think there should be two gold medals.”

Giving two gold medals, one to Hamm and one to Yang. Wouldn’t that be nice? Why quit there? Why not do as Mr. Thiel suggested in the opening paragraphs of his article two years ago and “just give gold medals to all at the Winter Olympics, and let’s go home early.” Well, if not everyone, just make sure all Korean athletes get gold medals so that we don’t have to listen to this crap every olympics.

I am so sick to death of the petty whining, bitching, and moaning that goes on in the Korean sports world. As I have said before, Korean athletes must dominate all. The mindset is that if you do not win gold, you have failed. If there is ever a questionable call, there is something wrong. Why? Simply because Koreans are the best and the only way a Korean could have lost is if someone cheated. Bullcrap!

At some point, Korea is just going to have to accept the fact that people in the US simply don’t give a rat’s ass about olympic sports, and certainly don’t care enough to bribe officials. In many cases, such as with the basketball team, many people in the US actively root against the US team.

Launching cyber attacks, issuing death threats, protesting, whining and taking things as a national insult should be a huge embarassment to this country. Accept the decision and get on with it. It’s a bunch of boys doing little jumps and banging their packages against pommel horse pommels. Get the hell over it!

Brian at Cathartidae has some good posts on this childish nonsense. As Brian said, “even if Hamm had nailed the most difficult routine known to man and then topped it off with 10 seconds of levitating above the judge’s table, Korean netizens would still cry foul and the Korean media would encourage such sentiment with its jingoistic, one-sided coverage.”

Stupid, stupid headlines and stories:

South Korea Files Protest over Gymnastics Score: Is anyone surprised? Apparently the International Federation of Gymnastics is ignoring the protest and only issued an “informal statement that official conclusion of the competition cannot be changed by protests.” Good. Don’t waste time on this crap.

Almost got gold: Hamm’s mistake on the vault was a candidate for a total of a one-point deduction: -0.1 for the legs coming apart, -0.2 for the unsteady landing, -0.2 for stepping out of lines, and -0.5 for falling down. Kim Sung-ho, the techniques committee chairman of Korea Gymnastics Association, said, “Hamm’s performance on the vault should not have been judged higher than 9.1.” SCOREBOARD, sore loosers!

South Koreans in Gymnastics Triumph:, an article by renouned sports authority, Brian Lee, started out on the right note stating how amazing it was that two Koreans got as high as they did. However, the article ended with the same whining by “some experts” such as Yeo Hong-cheol, silver medalist at the 1996 Barcelona Games: Who?

Paul Hamm is the 2nd Ohno! (Korean): is a collection of cyber bitching that doesn’t even need to be tranlasted. However, the comments to the article give me home in that the vast majority of them are mature, responsible, “get over it!” type responses. Are we seeing a shift in the mind of the Korean citizens? Has the petty whinging gone too far for some to stomach? We can only hope.

Right now, Pusan in on the tail end of Typhoon Maegi. It was a long night of high winds and heavy rains. The above picture was taken from my car on the way to work at aound 9:15 am today.

Click HERE and HERE for video shot near my house at around 9:00 this morning.

On a completely separate note, I discovered that there is a peach version of the flavored ice. It’s not as good as the blue ice, but it will do.

More ponderables….

1. Why is it that “honest,” “caring,” “compassionate,” Democrats…particularly those who run for high office feel the need to lie about things that can obviously and easily be checked? I won’t even get in to the weird stuff like “I never has sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky,” “I invented the internet,” “The move love story was written about me,” and such things.

A. Kerry as said that he didn’t use Botox last year. Any one with eyes can see that he did. Why lie?

B. Kerry has lied about whether he threw his Vietnam Medals over the White House fence: Why lie?

i)He said he threw his Vietnam medals over the White House fence.

ii)Then he said that he gave back 6, 7, 8, or 9 of his medals, including the Bronze and Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts and saying “Well, and above that, I gave back my others.”

iii)Then, In 1984, when running for the Senate against a World War II Air Force veteran, he claimed he had refused to do so after showing a reporter his medals and ribbons on display in his Back Bay apartment,and said the medals he was seen tossing, were those of a “veteran from Lincoln [Mass.], at his request.”

iv)Then, most recently, during his 1996 re-election campaign, he told the Globe that he only threw the ribbons pinned to his uniform. “Asked why he didn’t bring his own medals to throw since it was planned weeks in advance,” the Globe reported on Oct. 6, 1996, “Kerry said it was because he didn’t have time to go home [to New York] and get them.” The medals he was seen tossing, he claimed, belonged to *two* other veterans — the one from Lincoln and one from New York. “Kerry says he can’t remember their names.”

C. I really don’t want to talk about lying to get a silver star, that he personally nominated himeself for, for “The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission” when it appears that he actually shot a single fleeing, wounded, unarmed, teenage boy in the back.

D. Just last week saw him lie about where in was on Christmas 1968. in October 1979, Mr. Kerry said this: “I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real.” Then later, on the floor of the Senate on March 27, 1986, Sen. John Kerry issued this statement: “I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared - seared - in me.” He has told this lie about Christmas in Cambodia at least 50 times. However:

i) Nixon wasn’t president in 1968

ii) All living members of Kerry’s chain of command and three of the five people on his boat deny that they were ever in Cambodia.

iii) Khmer Rouge did basically nothing before 1970 and didn’t come into power until 1975.

iv) Kerry’s own Vietnam biography written by his hand-piced biographer places him 50 miles away from Cambodia on Christmas 1968.

iv) The latest part of the lie/cover up came last week when the explanation was, “Kerry went into Cambodian waters three or four times in January and February 1969 on clandestine missions. He had a run dropping off US Navy Seals, Green Berets and CIA guys.”

E. The most recent lie, and one of the strangest, in that it is so obviously false and so easy to check is the claim on August 13, 2004 on Kerry’s own, official website, that John Kerry is an Experienced Leader in the Intelligence Field ? John Kerry served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for 8 years and is the former Vice Chairman of the Committee. You’ll have to look at it from google’s cached site because part of that quote is no longer on Kerry’s site. Why is it no longer there? Because John Kerry was NEVER, EVER the Vice Chairman of the Committee! It was a flat out bald-faced lie…and they go caught. The sneaky part is, a senator with a similar name WAS Vice Chairman….BOB KERREY.

I have a couple of questions that have been bothering me recently…

1. Why is it that the chairman of the Uri Party is being pressured from all sides to step down because his father allegedly collaborated with the Japanese occupational forces before 1945 by serving the Japanase Army, but the daughter of one of the most oppressive, evil, torturing dictators in modern history, who was also trained by the Japanese Army, can be elected to head the Grand National Party and be the celebrated heir apparent to the next GNP presidential campaign?

2. What is so funny about seeing a foreigner on a motorcycle? After all, wasn’t it white, round-eyed, foreign devils that invented the damn things more than a hundred years ago. I think it should be all the foreigners in Korea who should be laughing when they see Koreans on motorcycles. I know I do when I see how silly some of them look in their tough-guy body armor and biker gear. After a year and a half of riding here in Korea, I am pretty fed up with hearing people cackle with laughter and point and stare as the foreigner rides by on his motorcycle.

There is a continuation in the works for my vacation story, but not just yet. Other things going on in my life. However, a few noteworthy and not so noteworthy events took place over the weekend.

I had to go to Seoul to take care of some business. While waiting to get on the KTX to Seoul, I went to the 7-11 to get something to drink. I picked up a bottle of ice fortified with vitamin C. Why?, because it was on sale. It was called “E-Bottle in English and Enerbottle in Korean. I am not hooked. It was really quite refreshing and tasty.

Whilst in Seoul, my brother came up from Pusan to join me for the weekend. I picked up a few guitar accessories in Insa Dong and then we went to Itaewon so I could show the bro a few places. We enjoyed the Friday night buffet at Usmania, a Pakistani restaurant.

The next stop was 3 Alley Pub. For non-drinkers, 3 Alley makes a really good iced tea. That was followed by introduction to several of my friends that seem to have take up nearly permanent residence in Seoul Pub, which makes a wicked can of Diet Coke, by the way.

We then went to the Bliss wine bar. It is predominantly a gay bar, but the owner is cool, the ambiance is great, the jazz music is wonderful, and they make a good virgin gin and tonic…..well…it’s actually just tonic…but whatever.

Then it was back to Seoul Pub for a bit. That was followed by a trip to XO, a black bar that is frequented mostly by Nigerians. We danced for about 30 seconds and then realized just how white and uncoordinated we were.

We took refuge in the Lime Light Club, which rather than the usually decent techno music appeared to be having a “bland, boring, old music” night.

By then end of the evening, which ended around 3:00 am, my brother, despite being solidly heterosexual (as far as I know) and having a rather cute girl on his arm, had been hit on by four different gay men. One gave him a double thumbs up and made suggestive eye movements. Another told him he was gorgeous and that he should avoid Gay Hill or he’d probably be raped. A third came up to him in Seoul Pub and told him that he should “drink faggot drinks and take care of himself”…whatever that means. A fourth displayed extreme interest while the bro was dancing a few feet away from the guy. I blame his freshly cut and highlighted hair and his flashy red Hawaiian shirt.

I slept for a bit and woke up at some stupid hour…I think it was around 4:00 am… and went out for a walk. I ran into a couple of Australian friends in a tiny little bar talking to three guys from the Iranian Embassy. There were also a few Canadians in the bar. Through a serious of coincidences, it was discovered that one of the Canadians was frequent commenter to this and other blogs, Zdunk (a.k.a. Duncan).

I woke up around 11:30, when the motel gave me a wake up “get out of here” call. We stumbled off to a Turkish restaurant next to the mosque for lunch with my dear friend Jane from Seoul Scene.

Sunday’s lesson was that we in American simply don’t know how to celebrate Independence Day. We have lame parades, barbeques, eat watermelon, and watch fireworks choreographed to Lee Greenwood tunes. Some Koreans know how to have fun….What says “we’re happy to be liberated” more than rioting? Our afternoon plans to hook up with another very dear friend, Jae from My Resonating Life, were crushed by the Liberation Day festivities by the Kyobo Bookstore. Roads for blocks around were sealed off and there were thousands of riot police blocking all roads. W e managed to get close enough to snap a few pictures from the back of the crowd, but it was well after our scheduled appointment time and shortly before running off to the train station for the trip back to Pusan.

On a side note, while watching the back of the demonstration, I ran into a guy who turned out to be from my hometown of Logan, Utah. We attended the same college and the same time and mostly in the same building. Such unlikely things actually happen to me quite frequently.

Anyway… on to the pictures….

And just some woman with really long hair…

While I catch up with all of my work and social obligations that have been neglected for the past 2 1/2 weeks, I will post a few thoughts on my vacation.

Guam…Day 1

Getting to Guam was not much of a problem. The flights from Pusan to Incheon and Incheon to Guam were nice and relaxing and uneventful. The adventure began shortly after leaving the airport.

Before going further, it is necessary to backtrack a bit. In an effort to save a few dollars, I did a rather intensive internet search of low-priced hotels. One hotel kept coming up on the various searches: the Tamuning Plaza Hotel.

There were good reviews of the place. It was such a good price that I decided to get the double room with a kitchenette. The total price was per night was a little over USD 60.

After going through the usual hassles at the immigration point, l called the hotel, and they dispatched a van to the airport. The ride to the hotel took about 10 minutes.

The hotel was a small, and simple. lt looked like just the sort of place that l really enjoy. The sort of place that gives you four walls, a ceiling, and a door that locks, without the unnecessarily expensive frills of the large hotels.

At just after 2:00 am, l took the stairs to the room and opened the door. In instantly wrote off the funky smell as being a hazard of a closed room in an extremely hot and muggy tropical island. However, the large cockroach that scurried across my path and under the kitchenette sink was a little harder to dismiss. Equally hard to dismiss was the belly-up cockroach corpse in front of the kitchenette cabinets. I did what I could at that particular moment in time; I blinked a few times, stepped into the room, and dropped my bags on the heavily stained carpet.

The three beds looked ok. One being too small, and another being already occupied by a few bugs, my choice of sleeping locations was narrowed to the soft, lopsided, lumpy, and slightly odd-smelling bed.

I next moved to the soft, lopsided, lumpy, and slightly odd-smelling sofa to see what was on the television. After reassembling the remote control and reinserting the batteries that had fallen out when I picked it up, I reveled in a few channels of news and other entertainment.

As I am not very fond of profuse sweating, I went to open the window. The gaping holes in both sides of the window screens precluded getting any fresh air into the room. I spent the next 5 minutes trying to get the air conditioner to turn on. It was difficult because I was having a hard time remembering back to the early 70’s when we had a very similar air conditioner. I gave up and called the front desk. The guy came and pushed a button that I had pushed about thirty-seven times to start the unit. I was struck by how closely the sound produced by the air conditioner resembled the sound of an old Cessna 182 that I used to fly in. It would have been OK if the air conditioning unit had produced anywhere near as much wind and/or less exhaust than the Cessna 182.

With mounting frustration I went to take a closer look at the kitchenette. I flicked on the light and kicked the roach corpse under the counter. I was staring at the place where the gas range should have been. Instead of the gas range, I was left to admire the collection of crumbs and other stuff on the counter.

Feeling particularly unenthusiastic about the place, I decided to jump in the shower, clean myself, and then sleep my cares away. The darkness of the bathroom was stabbed by the glare of the bare overhead bulb. The harsh light caused three very well-fed roaches to scurry for cover. I cursed several creative curses and opened the water valves. At this point, I was unfazed by the dullish red-brown water that came out of the shower head.

Immediately reassessing my priorities, I laid down on the lesser of the three evil beds and started browsing my guidebook for better places to stay. I settled on the Royal Orchid Hotel. It was $30 dollars more per night for solid beds, maid service, an ocean view, free breakfasts, in-house Tony Romas, spacious room, large bathroom with separate bath and shower facilities, and easy access to shopping and tourist areas. I made my reservations and began packing for my morning checkout and my planned move to the new hotel. I was following in the footsteps of George Jefferson and “movin’ on up to the East Side…”

For you traditionalists, in the immortal words of Gene Autry:

I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin’ the range once more
Totin’ my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin’ to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin’ the range once more
Totin’ my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin’ to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

For the younger crowd, In the immortal words of Aerosmith

I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again

Ridin’ into town alone
By the light of the moon
I’m looking for ole’ Sukie Jones
She crazy horse saloon
Barkeep gimme a drink
That’s when she caught my eye
She turned to give me a wink
That’d make a grown man cry

I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back

Umm…come easy, go easy
Alright ’til the rising sun
I’m calling all the shots tonight
I’m like a loaded gun
Peelin’ off my boots and chaps
I’m saddle sore
Four bits gets you time in the racks
I scream for more

Fools’ gold out of their mines
The girls are soaking wet
No tongue’s drier than mine
I’ll come when I get back

I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
I’m riding, I’m loading up my pistol
I’m riding, I really got a fistful
I’m riding, I’m shining up my saddle
I’m riding, this snake is gonna rattle

I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back

Ridin’ high
Ridin’ high
Ridin’ high already

For those with attitude, in the immortal words of Elton John:

I was justified when I was five
Raising cane, I spit in your eye
Times are changing, now the poor get fat
But the fever’s gonna catch you when the bitch gets back

Eat meat on friday that’s alright
Even like steak on a saturday night
I can bitch the best at your social do’s
I get high in the evening sniffing pots of glue

I’m a bitch, I’m a bitch
Oh the bitch is back
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact
I can bitch, I can bitch
`cause I’m better than you
It’s the way that I move
The things that I do

I entertain by picking brains
Sell my soul by dropping names
I don’t like those, my god, what’s that
Oh it’s full of nasty habits when the bitch gets back.