Hot, hotter

It’s hot. Is it going to get hotter? (Report from Korea) #hotweather #climate #한국날씨 #더운날씨 #heat

YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/oSIXRy3Ps34?feature=share

North Korea

Kim Jong-un is the third member of the Kim family to serve as ruler. North Korea was established by Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, in 1948. 

#northkorea #kimjongun #kimfamily #northkoreanpolitics

Jangma 2

Jangma/ 장마 (Korean monsoon) in Seoul, part two 

#장마 #koreanclimate #jangma

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/dplMfKsqiY0?feature=share

Jangma rain

Jangma/ 장마 (Korean monsoon) in Seoul, part one #jangma #장마 #monsoon

https://youtube.com/shorts/WoeHENiCD3s?feature=share

Local and global climate change

 

Pay close attention to weather this summer.

FWIW, have gotten in habit of monitoring the local climate changes here in S Korea. For ex., Chronicles of Earthly Change

https://youtu.be/yDH0EGNv3gw

But local ecosystems require global context: Greening Korea: Korea and the Poles

https://youtu.be/ro_xAzx9k08

AI and Warfare

The rapid weaponization of AI and remote machinery is reshaping warfare, raising ethical and strategic concerns. In Ukraine, AI-driven drones and the Wolly gun turret, which auto-locks targets up to 1,000 meters, are being developed to counter Russian forces, leveraging low-cost components like Raspberry Pi. 

Russia employs Iranian Shahed-136 drones, less advanced but effective for terrorizing civilians, and is developing AI-enhanced drones with autonomous targeting. 

Israel was a pioneer in drone technology, and it is integrating this technology with AI. It leads in AI warfare, using AI-powered turrets in the West Bank and advanced targeting systems in Gaza, dubbed the “world’s first AI war” in 2021. 

Iran, a key drone supplier, advances its AI-capable arsenal, fueling regional arms races. These developments, costing thousands rather than millions, make lethal technology more accessible, risking proliferation to non-state actors like Hamas. Hamas in turn used drones (though not necessarily AI) in its October 7 attack.

The pace—accelerated by conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East—outstrips global regulatory efforts, with the UN struggling to establish norms. Critics warn of “killer robots” operating beyond human control, potentially escalating conflicts or enabling autonomous war. There is an urgent need for international frameworks to manage AI’s battlefield role.

Sound meditation

Minute Meditation: The Zen of Sound #meditation #soundscape #seoul

https://youtube.com/shorts/o3ELxob-vks?feature=share

Tea Festival

국제차문화대전

Insects’ World

 INSECTS’ WORLD

(or, Beware of Those With Boots)

The letters 

were threatening,

for the systems 

had won too much…

We assumed 

bad days would pass —.

But instead 

everyone was stuffed

in a van.

Insects' World- Baram CXL

https://youtu.be/INoBL09TNtY

Trump versus Musk

The feud between Trump and Musk: its background — questions about campaign finance laws 

#trumpmusk

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/3EPUxdIwqMc?feature=share

Korean climate and the Poles

Greening Korea: Korea and the Poles. 

Because the Earth is a gargantuan system, there are variations in seasonal change from one year to another. But one constant of climate change is warming at the Poles.

#koreanclimate #glacier

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/NRG4SnQVLxk?feature=share

Joni Ernst, medical cutbacks

“We’re all going to die”: Joni Ernst, Medicaid cuts, and care; parallels with Medicare cutbacks in Canada.

 #joni_ernst #medicaid #medicare #death #cutbacks #elderlycare

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/zjWs-SGdu9Y?feature=share

L’intelligence artificielle

L’impact d’intelligence artificielle sur les maisons d’éditions #intelligenceartificielle

https://youtube.com/shorts/DlthlwgAZ6c?feature=share

AI and the publishing industry

The impact of artificial intelligence on publishing houses #publishingindustry #ai

https://youtube.com/shorts/TL_1DD3Joe8?feature=share

BridgeText

BridgeText

A new form of publishing

Visit us on Facebook

Test 10

BridgeText

Test 9

BridgeText

Test 8

a new form of publishing

Test 7

a new form of publishing

Male brains, female brains and literary fiction

 From 2006, originally published in Litkicks:

Male Brains, Female Brains and Fictional Narrative

By Finn Harvor

September 22, 2006

People aren’t buying literary fiction, we are told. Male readers in particular aren’t buying it. The reasons given these days are sometimes based on what academics call “essentialist” explanations; in other words, these activities — or lack thereof — are the result of genes. Women, we are told in recent articles by Ian McEwan, Boris Johnson and others, are hard-wired to empathize and be interested in relationships. Men are more interested in practical issues and, that catch-all word, “facts”. Or, according to this line of thought, they are not interested in reading at all.

An interesting response to this argument was made recently by Lakshmi Chaudhry of In These Times. Chaudhry begins her piece by criticizing David Brooks of the NYT for stating that boys are reading less than girls because schools are teaching “feminized” books.

Chaudhry’s initial point is that Brooks was indulging in neo-conservative thinking. While allowing that there may be a cognitive — that is, genetic — explanation for different reading patterns among men and women, she emphasizes the importance of social conditioning:

“But in a culture infused with polarizing messages about gender, such small differences can be magnified into vast disparities. If the act of reading novels today seems more “girly” — because of female-dominated book clubs or a publishing industry increasingly geared toward its most loyal customers, i.e., women – then men are less likely to do so.”

In short, Chaudhry wants to emphasize the importance social attitudes play, and ends her article by declaring we “we may be headed back to the 19th century, when the novel was considered a low-status, frivolous pastime of ladies of leisure, unfit for real men.”

It needs underlining that this is not an outcome Chaudhry wishes for; in her piece, she suggests that we need to re-engage male readers, especially at the high school level. And this is true. But in her counter-argument to Brooks’ socio-conservative overgeneralizations, Chaudhry misses a crucial point (and also makes an inaccurate overgeneralization of her own: she claims that during the 19th Century, novels were derided as frivolous and the past-time of “ladies of leisure”. In fact, this was clearly untrue during the Victorian period). Before the mid-20th Century, the novel was narrative form. Or rather, it was narrative in its long, stylistically “real” form. As Michael Allen has pointed out, the novel had no competition as a form of narrative from non-print media. And this cultural milieu in which the printed word was paramount was a major factor in the novel’s success as an artistic medium.

The last sentence is key; for if that point at which culture and technology meet were to remain eternally static, it is unlikely the novel would be in danger, as Chaudhry claims, of losing its prestige as a centerpiece of culture if society became more sexist. And that, of course, is because technology does affect culture. Very much so, where the production of narrative is concerned. As a result, when we think of fiction we should not think of novels versus non-fiction books. We should think of novels and movies and TV shows versus non-fiction. For most of the movies and TV shows that are popular are still fictional in nature; they are made up. And their audiences, one presumes, are both male and female.

This is the mistake of the current debate over the fate of the novel: it does not include all fictional narratives in the same large group. It does not recognize that fiction – when defined to include fiction that exists in all media — is having zero trouble retaining its popularity amongst both sexes.

In short, there is no biological drive on the part of men to avoid fiction. Instead, there may (I repeat, may) be a biological drive on the part of men, generally speaking, to prefer image-based media to certain kinds of print-media. In other words, this drive may have no significant depressive effect on men’s overall amount of reading, but may incline them, as a group, to read factual material that can “compete” with the great temptation of images.

More clinical research will need to be done to understand these nuances between how male and female brains process cultural stimuli. (In fact, more research will need to be done in to the question of just what we mean when we use terms such as “male” and “female” brains.)

And, in the meantime, literary commentators attracted to this issue — which, after all, is not unimportant, since the perception that male and female readers buy different sorts of books is having a tremendous influence on the choices publishers are making these days — might do well to think a little more carefully about what we mean when we use terms like “literary fiction”. After all, literature is ultimately another word for good writing. And good writing exists in mediums outside print.

Gender and reading

Male brains, female brains &  fictional narrative #reading #readinghabits #publishingindustry #books

https://youtube.com/shorts/0OhuMZ7RIAM?feature=share

 

Cats and food

 

Cats! Food! What cats prefer versus what’s good for them #catfood #catnutrition #고양이

https://youtube.com/shorts/90VeamiB2Io?feature=share

Cats

Semi-feral cats in South Korea 

#feralcats #koreannature #시골생활  #시골고양이 #catfood

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/9QPz5T_E0uo?feature=share

Canada post-election

The Canadian election is over, but the US threat remains. What must we do to meet this challenge?

https://youtube.com/shorts/n4A0N7OrObY?feature=share

Market life

The Tongin Shijang is a traditional market in central Seoul. Adapting to changing consumer patterns is its biggest challenge.

Market Alive: Tongin Shijang

https://youtu.be/3sPMafkAPX8

Carney

Who is Mark Carney? (Part one)

#MarkCarney #cdnpoli #canadianelection2025 

YouTube:

https://youtu.be/K5zIoHki1Kc

New forms?

I recently came across a social media post in which a Canadian author (whose publishing house has a logo emblazoned with the Maple Leaf) was waxing enthusiastically about an American hospital drama on Netflix. Several of her followers — also Canadian, and also patriotically utilizing the Maple Leaf in their IDs — were similarly giddy about the Netflix series. Normally, nothing worth paying attention to about this; it’s common practice in anglophone Canada.

But … but … the threat to Canada’s sovereignty has not magically disappeared, even though the aggression of the threats has moderated somewhat. So what does the future hold? Where Canada’s sovereignty is concerned, nothing pleasant if Canadians don’t change — and in a very radical way — their habits of cultural consumption. English speaking Canada is a highly colonized zone. This leads to the bizarre spectacle of Canadians (like the author mentioned above) spending a lot of time online denouncing American neo-imperialism while simultaneously binge watching US pop culture. And there’s no point in going online oneself and pointing out to these people what they’re doing; emotionally, they’re like teenagers who want “freedom” while demanding an allowance.

So, since people don’t like being told they SHOULD watch or read or listen to certain cultural works (for example, Canadian), this means that the producers of Canadian culture need to think in new ways.

A few years ago, I established a micro press called BridgeText. One of its ideas is that we need more novels that are experienced as movie scripts are.

More here: Toward a New Literature

https://youtu.be/TTux0NcjCHc

And here: https://youtu.be/NALcaQ3QCYs?si=76rj7dAePOZRsZZT

*

Je suis récemment tombé sur une publication sur les réseaux sociaux dans laquelle une auteure canadienne (dont la maison d'édition arbore un logo arborant la feuille d'érable) s'extasiait sur une série américaine sur Netflix, mettant en scène un hôpital. Plusieurs de ses abonnés, eux aussi canadiens et utilisant la feuille d'érable par patriotisme, étaient tout aussi enthousiastes à propos de la série Netflix. Normalement, rien d'intéressant à ce sujet ; c'est une pratique courante au Canada anglophone.

Mais… mais… la menace à la souveraineté du Canada n'a pas disparu comme par magie, même si son agressivité s'est quelque peu atténuée. Alors, que nous réserve l'avenir ? En ce qui concerne la souveraineté du Canada, rien de réjouissant si les Canadiens ne changent pas – et de manière très radicale – leurs habitudes de consommation culturelle. Le Canada anglophone est une zone fortement colonisée. Cela donne lieu à l'étrange spectacle de Canadiens (comme l'auteure mentionnée plus haut) passant beaucoup de temps en ligne à dénoncer le néo-impérialisme américain tout en regardant des séries de culture populaire américaine. Et il est inutile d'aller soi-même en ligne et de montrer à ces gens ce qu'ils font ; Émotionnellement, ils sont comme des adolescents qui aspirent à la « liberté » tout en exigeant une allocation.

Ainsi, comme les gens n'aiment pas qu'on leur dise qu'ils DEVRAIENT regarder, lire ou écouter certaines œuvres culturelles (par exemple, canadiennes), cela signifie que les producteurs de culture canadienne doivent réfléchir différemment.

Il y a quelques années, j'ai fondé une micro-édition appelée BridgeText. L'une de ses idées est que nous avons besoin de plus de romans qui se vivent comme des scénarios de films.

Plus ici : Nouveau futur littéraire?

https://youtu.be/9muSm6LScHE

Does Canadian culture have a future?

 All these people — each and every one — are self perceived Canadian nationalists. And all of them are giddy over an American Netflix series. Normally, nothing worth paying attention to about this; it’s common practice in anglophone Canada.

But … but … the threat to Canada’s sovereignty has not magically disappeared, even though the aggression of the threats has moderated somewhat. So what does the future hold? Where Canada’s sovereignty is concerned, nothing pleasant if Canadians don’t change — and in a very radical way — their habits of cultural consumption.

However, people don’t like being told they SHOULD watch or read or listen to certain cultural works. It rankles, and seems scolding. That means that the producers of Canadian culture need to think in new ways.

A few years ago, I established a micro press called BridgeText. One of its ideas is that we need more novels that are experienced as movie scripts are.

More here: https://youtu.be/NALcaQ3QCYs?si=76rj7dAePOZRsZZT

And here: https://youtu.be/g40XxM8phDI?si=U690nbROcWeqZHth

Tous ces gens – chacun sans exception – se perçoivent comme des nationalistes canadiens. Et tous sont enthousiasmés par une série américaine sur Netflix. Normalement, rien d'intéressant à ce sujet ; c'est une pratique courante au Canada anglophone.

Mais… mais… la menace à la souveraineté du Canada n'a pas disparu comme par magie, même si son agressivité s'est quelque peu atténuée. Alors, que nous réserve l'avenir ? En ce qui concerne la souveraineté du Canada, rien de réjouissant si les Canadiens ne changent pas – et de manière très radicale – leurs habitudes de consommation culturelle.

Cependant, les gens n'aiment pas qu'on leur dise qu'ils DEVRAIENT regarder, lire ou écouter certaines œuvres culturelles. C'est critiquable et semble réprimandant. Cela signifie que les producteurs de culture canadienne doivent repenser leurs façons de penser.

Il y a quelques années, j'ai fondé une micro-édition appelée BridgeText. L'une de ses idées est que nous avons besoin de plus de romans qui se vivent comme des scénarios de films.

Plus ici : Nouveau futur littéraire?

https://youtu.be/9muSm6LScHE

Spring flowers two

How the patterns of blooming flowers are affected by micro geographies #ecology #springflowers #진달래

https://youtube.com/shorts/94_akRRuGOM?feature=share

Who is Mark Carney?

Who is Mark Carney? (Part one)

https://youtu.be/K5zIoHki1Kc

Cutting jobs two

What will be the effect of massive job cuts in the US federal govt? What will be the repercussions of making large numbers of employees jobless? 

Full video at YouTube: What will be the effect of massive job cuts in the US  govt? Good employees jobless. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/AXHiObm9gZs?feature=share

Cutting jobs

 

Massive job cuts with govt employees thrown out of work. Economic disaster to follow? #doge #trump

https://youtube.com/shorts/1iBakoN84hQ?feature=share

Mark Carney

Mark Carney, Mike Myers and what it means to be Canadian #markcarney #cdnpoli #canadianelection

https://youtube.com/shorts/t_yAFPqh99s?feature=share

Fine dust

Air pollution in Korea: How bad is it? #airquality #microscopicfinedust #미세먼지

https://youtube.com/shorts/Tg9UOWcOze8?feature=share

Temperature fluctuations

Big temperature fluctuations in S. Korea. How about where you live? 

#springweather #temperaturedrop

https://youtube.com/shorts/

Full video at YouTube: MrRgdUc3Wrc?feature=share

Spring flowers

Spring flowers are blooming earlier these days. Why?

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtu.be/wqoTX9JunyM

Development on Seoul

The Life Span of Apartments in Seoul. What development patterns tell us about wealth and income distribution.

#seoullife #gangbuk #apartmentlife #seoulhousing

Trump and MIC

 

Trump kills the military goose

This is the pattern. Trump’s inability to maintain alliances and his complete obliviousness to what he’s doing raise  questions about his reason.

More: he decimated his own military/industrial complex. He’s alienating entire political spectrum.

YouTube: youtu.be/TYg2I5GKey4

A Tale…

A Tale of Two Wintry Cities: Indicators of Climate Change in Toronto and Seoul

#Toronto #seoul #climatechange 

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtu.be/FlbbH-qM6Vo

Winter wear

How do you dress for winter? #outerwear #winterclothing #parka #toque #겨울옷 #vetements

https://youtube.com/shorts/GRJEW6RpWXM?feature=share

Qualities of Snow

What are the different qualities of snow? 

#snowfall #snowquality #winter #canada #hokkaido #korea

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Je0saSbPkSE?feature=share

Winter in Seoul and Toronto

Winter in two cities: Toronto and Seoul

 #winterweather #canadianwinter #koreanwinter #한국겨울 #캐나다

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/SPNPyz1PPBQ?feature=share

Outtakes from The Business Army

Pages and artwork from two versions of my historical novel about an attempt to engineer a fascist coup in 1930s America.

The novel comes in two versions: as a conventional text-only manuscript, and as an illustrated screenplay novel with “storyboard roughs” and “stills” based on archival photos. I’ve seen (and, once, produced) a lot of graphic novels in my time. But I’ve never seen an approach like this. Not sure why. It’s an idea that borrows from the brilliance of whoever invented the original screenplay format, yet it avoids one of the biggest pitfalls of movie production: the incredible pressure to make a profit and recover production costs, and therefore make “crowd pleasing” fictions.

The novel itself is based on real people and events, and tells the story of General Smedley Butler — a Marine who became a vocal critic of militarism and American imperialism — and his cat and mouse relationship with Gerald MacGuire, a small time bond salesman all too willing to act as an agent for much more powerful individuals.

If curious, more here: https://www.eclectica.org/v23n2/harvor.html

Here: The Business Army, part one

https://youtu.be/g2stGjrxL1Y

And here: The Business Army- Part One A - sep 10 12

https://youtu.be/7etqXWttH_,

 

Outtakes from Baram Writer

 Outtakes from a Baram Writer project 

The word baram is a transliteration of 바람, or wind.

The project started twelve years ago, with a very crude moviepoem rendered in MovieMaker on a wheezy second hand laptop. (If curious: Baram Writer

https://youtu.be/oPHzuqDuAec )

It’s been through several versions since then, the most recent here: Baram Writer (new version)

https://youtu.be/Oc9PS6vXd40 )

I’m trying to capture “fugitive sensations” in the project; the sorts of thoughts and emotions one has while walking with loved one in nature, and experiencing a mix of happiness and anxiety, the latter a recognized of the worlds “objective” — that is, savage — nature.

The photos and settings of this extended project are changing: the one in the foreground is a spot near Lake Ontario that has personal significance after the deaths of my brother, mother in law, father, maternal aunt, and mother. What is the connection between the living and the dead? Memory, obviously. But there seems to be something more too, and the austere seasons of autumn and winter connect rather directly to that something.

*

BARAM WRITER

EXT. SEOUL. WINTER. LATE AFTERNOON.

It’s a greyish day, and Mats feels a mixture of coldness and clammy, wet mildness through his clothing.

Then the temperature starts to drop…

Wind blows through trees, rustles dead leaves, makes branches sway in a creaking, slow dervish.

VO [male]: The wind has its own tone, its own feeling. It’s like … coldness, thinness.

It’s like hunger.

The wind has a body. The wind is someone.

Cat food redux

What’s the best cat food? The one they prefer? Or something else? #catfood #catshorts

https://youtube.com/shorts/xnsyFZh1g3s?feature=share

What’s a Canadian?

 

What does it mean to be Canadian? #canadianpolitics #canadian_identity #annexationthreat #canada

https://youtube.com/shorts/QmISYN1ZFz0?feature=share

When is a cat family too big?

When is a family of semi-feral cats too big? #cats #feralcats #countrycats #시골고양이

Semi feral cats

A family of cats/ 시골 고양이의 가족 #고양이가족 #ruralcats #countrycats #catfamily #semiferalcats #한국시골 #cats

https://youtube.com/shorts/3SkElDoD2fI?feature=share

Trump versus Canada

Which Cdn politician has the strength to fight Trump? #threatofannexation #annexation #trumptrudeau

Our parents’ cycles

The cycles of our parents’ lives.

#parentalcare #lifecycles

https://youtube.com/shorts/h49P-Gj57po?si=dLg_JtSaSNx84Acx

Quiet in the city

 

Quietness in a big city #quietness #seoul #meditation #도시생활

Urban nature

Stills from Instruments of Noise, Instruments of Evolution.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/zW8xfTisUOI?si=gdFAye_gfKf2RtaE

Nature in urban settings is a theme I keep returning to. This is one of the first projects I did on the theme. 

Seoul’s nature

Nature reserves in Seoul: Possible despite population  #seoul #tokyo #urbannature #서울공원 #cityparks

https://youtube.com/shorts/A91mqslYXw0?feature=share