Leap Day

So this year is leap year, which means we get an extra day in February. So what will I do with this gift of 24 bonus hours? Probably waste it, just like any other day. Ugh. You know something's wrong when wasting time isn't even enjoyable anymore. I really need to catch up. Once I get started, the inertia will keep me going. But so much static friction....

Girl Genius!

Girl Genius is one of the webcomics I read regularly. Despite its rather bland title, it's well written and the art is cool. I must say, though, the female characters are so well-endowed as to be almost startling. It's drawn by Studio Foglio, which I believe is a husband-wife team, and they call their comic a "gaslamp fantasy"--which is basically SF as imagined by people from the Victorian era. There are lots of gadgets, machines and even robots, but nary an insulated copper wire or computer chip in sight. It's all black grease, gears and steam power. As the Foglios say in their FAQ: "Is it magic? Is it science? A little of both, I suppose–it's Mad Science."
It took until nearly the end of volume 1 for me to really get into it, but I eventually became pretty attached to the characters; especially sweet, scheming Gilgamesh Wulfenbach (great name, no?) and the Jägermonsters, whose accent is very fun. There's adventure, romance, family secrets, a travelling circus, mad scientists (with mad skillzz) and a whole lot of insane people in general.

And then there's the bonus of the main character's name:

from Girl Genius, by Phil & Kaja Foglio

Why, it's nice to see you too, Gil.

More about the Gate

Photo by Bang Ho Seok

The Korean National Treasure which burned down on Sunday is called "Soong-yeh-moon"--I'm ignoring all rules of romanization and even the phonetics is a bit iffy--also known as the South Gate (Nam-dae-moon). It was first built during the late 14th century, with additional construction in the 15th.

Photo by George Rose, 1904

Not only the southern entrance to the old city of Seoul, it had a sort of feng shui role to fight the fire energy of the mountain south of the city; which is why it was named as it was--using characters resembling fire--and the sign was written vertically, since flame burns upward.

from http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/bluekingkongsay/3253

The sign, though a bit damaged, was saved (a small bit of fortune, I suppose) as itself is a Treasure, said to have been penned by King Sejong's (the most revered king of Korea) older brother who was known for his calligraphy.
The Gate survived 600 years, through multiple battles with the invading Japanese, as well as the Korean War. And now, gone. Some people say a wail was heard from the Gate as it burned, and that it seemed to struggle to keep standing for as long as possible before finally succumbing to the flames. Probably all imagined by superstitious Asian people, but it shows how Koreans thought of its presence. Of course, there is enough data to rebuild it - but it wouldn't be the same. The Gate has already given up the ghost.

Photo courtesy of Yonhap News

I am so sad

National Treasure #1 of Korea (numbering arbitrary) has burned down. This is terrible. I started to cry when I saw the photo of its charred ruins, and heard that it could have been saved if better measures were taken early on.

Hmmm

I should really upload posts when I first write them. Otherwise, they sit for months, all drafty, and my blog never gets updated. But I have so many photos still to go through. Sigh.

I [heart] my new camera

I bought a new digital camera during the Boxing week sales. It's Canon Powershot A720 IS - it's not one of those really tiny cameras nor is it very professional. But it has a few more manual controls than my last digital camera, including shutter speed adjustment, which makes photo-taking much more fun, especially when it's getting sort of dark outside and the sky turns twilight blue (click the picture to see it larger):



I'll try to take better care of this camera.

Gingerbread House

Awesome! Thanks so much, Christine!


It looked too pretty to eat, so the house remained decorative for a while, until I had to babysit my nieces at home. At first, they were only eating the candy decoration and the sugar base. I told them they had to eat the cookie part and they complied, no problem. The gingerbread had an odd sort of sweetness - I'm guessing it's due to the molasses?

My older niece drew a picture (the two little fingers at the bottom are hers):


Yum, indeed.

11/11 is....

As all Canadians know, November 11th is Remembrance Day: a day to remember and give gratitude to the soldiers who fought in times of war (particularly the World Wars). But lest we forget, all sorts of things are celebrated on every day of the year, some more frivolous than others. South Koreans commemorate the sacrifices of its own soldiers in much warmer weather (June) and in November, decided to eat snacks. November 11th, ie. 11/11, is "Pepero Day" in Korea. Pepero is often called "Korean Pocky" but it's got thinner chocolate coating and skinnier than Pocky ('pepe' is an adverb meaning 'really skinny'). You're supposed to give Pepero to your sweetheart on this day (basically one more excuse to annoy single people). I believe it started in the 90's, and the company took this lovely marketing opportunity and ran with it.

Anyway, I sometimes feel odd about November 11th being both Remembrance Day and Pepero Day. Korean people will chat light-heartedly about Nov. 11th, but it just makes me think of poppies and moments of silence, you know? And as Remembrance Day approaches, I start craving Pepero.

So last year, I decided to commemorate(?) both days. I ate my Pepero, and then made poppies out of the package (I did not mean any disrespect by it). I made three different shapes:



Even as we eat tasty, crunchy, chocolate-covered snacks - we remember.