Random Tidbits

• The bartender that trained me way back in the day at ol' Longhorn has moved on to bigger and better things. He has started a website that I find very interesting. Check out this video of what food looks like in heaven. Not bad production values chef Billy.
• We had our first snow in Seoul, so yeah it's cold. It was more of a rain snow, but I saw flakes none the less. Here is my question to you: Do Seoul's massive skyscraper's help reduce wind or make it worse? That is the million dollar question that keeps me up at night.
• The Rave

Well, I've done it. I finally had a big club experience. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be like. We got their too early at around 10:00, not a good thing when the cheapest drink on the menu is 7 dollars. The dance floor reminded me of a video game, namely Sims. Everyone was about evenly spaced, just dancing to the music the same way, and there was no interaction. Some people were looking at the DJ and some were looking at the guests coming into the club. It just looked awkward. By about 1:00 at night, it was hard to walk.

The funniest thing of the night came early. We were debating where we wanted to go in the club, when a Korean lady approached us. This club is loud, really loud. It is so loud that North Korea could drop nuke on Seoul, and I would not hear it. You could stand six inches away from me and yell in my ear, and I simply could not hear what you said. So this young lady walks up to Meg and starts yelling something. She then offers me her hand, and I shake it. She then yells, "You can dance on the speakers!" After she left, I looked at Meg and yelled, "Where are these speakers she's talking about?"

I am not going to lie, I was moderately interested in dancing on some big speakers. Meg just stared at me with a puzzled look, "What speakers? She said, she's here to help English Speakers!"

So, yeah it was loud. I had a buzzing in my ears for the next two days! The next morning I swore off big clubs. The 9th best DJ in the world, had opening acts, and didn't get on stage till like 2:30 am.* I didn't know DJ's had opening acts. Apparently, they're kind of a big deal. He came out, (should I reword that) and was good, but I can't tell if he was any better than the three spinners before him. Whatever. My ears hurt, my dancing shoes were broken, (due to this electronic dance pop garbage) and those seven dollar shots of tequila were settling in, so I decided to save my good dance moves for another day. We left around 4 a.m.

I felt like Dorthy just writing that sentence, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." Bars close before 2:30 back home, and things just start getting good at 2:30 here. Yes, I am a long ways from home.

The next day I woke up, as you can imagine, in a pretty grim state. I sauntered down to Meg's room only to find her gone, but she left me a note. She was gone to buy some boots for winter. I then flipped on the television. Here's the deal: we only get one channel in English. It's called AFN. It stands for the Armed Forces Network, if it isn't obvious enough for you, then it's for the military.

I have no idea how they pick the shows they do, but whatever they pick we're stuck with, because it's the only channel in English. Weekday afternoon's it's Judge Judy, Dr Phil, and soap operas. At night it's Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Craig I can't spell his last name. This particular morning I flipped on the tele to find Extreme Makeover Home Edition. And, wow, all I got to say is that show should come with a disclaimer: "All masculinity will be thrown out the window, while watching this show. Men, leave now the room now if your credibility could in anyway be jeopardized." or "Go to a dark place by yourself, and never talk about what happened."

So, and I blame my condition, a condition of ringing ears, hunger, grogginess, and a small headache. But that show got to me. This little girl had cancer, and her days were limited, but she was a fighter. She thought that she was going to beat it again for the second time. She also went to the hospital to help other children. She meant so much to her family, and her family and given up everything to help her battle cancer. So I'm watching this sensitive stuff early in the morning, and I battling not to lose it.

There are no other channels, so flipping the channel is not an option. Turning the TV off was an option, but I wanted to see that damn house finished. The emotional music cued and I welled up like Dick Vermiel. Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Armageddon are cemented in my do not watch list around other people, yet I have just disclosed this information to the ten people who read this thing.

• Poker Night

Last Tuesday was our first poker night. There were six people in my room all playing Texas Hold-em. After reading the table and its patrons, I knew that there were two good players, one novice, (me) and two newbies. It was a five dollar buy-in tournament, with an option to buy back in, and I managed to get second place in the tournament without having to buy back in. I was happy. The winner was going to pay for a cab to McDonald's. I went in my closet to grab a sweater. The sweater I pulled out was like two sizes to small, and it had a little hole on the arm. Apparently, just like a high maintenance woman, my sweater travelled very poorly, so I sold it to John for a Big Mac.

The best trade I ever made in my life! John ended up wearing the sweater to work the next day. Here is his story:
kids- Teacher did you get a new sweater?
John- Yes
kids- then why does it have a hole in it?
John- Well, I bought someone a big mac for it.

That's just funny.

• Meg and I saw the movie Taken. We went to it with out any reviews of the movie. In fact, we didn't even know what it was about period. We didn't have any expectations, so we were pleasantly surprised. Plus it's fun to make up your own opinions without any influence from others. I am going to try and see more movies this way.
• Meg got another side job offered to her. I'm starting to think I might be dating a star. A recruiter offered her the chance to tutor a Chief Operating Officer for LG. She will get paid like 40 dollars an hour while working two hours a week, if she chooses to accept. That will be her second side hustle.

I am sorry to hear that Cotton passed away. He was a good dog for many, many years.