a quiet and yet busy week before the holiday weekend

This week has just flown by and, while I still have to teach my friday classes, I am hoping for a quietish day before my 3 day weekend. The week itself has been quiet, but really busy. Monday-Friday from 2-9 I'm at the office, but outside of those hours I've managed Monday night beers with Geoff, Wednesday night language class with HaeMi and Thursday night 2 hour walk/run. I guess keeping busy is the best way to kill a slow week.

The weekend, in contrast, is looking good. Saturday I'm just hanging around Sangin. I may do a trip in Daegu and I have to go to Gamsan at some point and get a new cable for my camera (so I can upload pictures). Sunday I plan to head up to Andong to see the mask festival and go to Deoson Seowon. Andong is one of the few cities in Gyeongsan-do that I haven't seen yet, and since it is a city rich in history, culture and cuisine it seems a long overdue trip. I may stay over and see more on Monday or I may head back Sunday night and go somewhere else on Monday, but I don't know.

Well off to work

Well when you're right 52 percent of the time you're wrong 48

why didn't you say that before?

Although to be fair I didn't even do that well. After the All-Star Game I predicted:

AL

East - Boston Red Sox
Central - Cleveland Indians
West - Texas Rangers
Wildcard - NY Yankees

NL -

East - Philadelphia Phillies
Central - St. Louis Cardinals
West - San Francisco Giants
Wildcard - Atlanta Braves


Here's how it finished

AL -

East - NY Yankees
Central - Detroit Tigers
West - Texas Rangers
Wildcard - Tampa Bay Rays

NL -

East - Philadelphia Phillies
Central - Milwaukee Brewers
West - Arizona Diamondbacks
Wildcard - St. Louis Cardinals


Well I got the AL west and NL east right, and I did say that the Yankees and Cardinals would make the playoffs. But other than that........


The big thing this year was just how wild the wildcard races were. In contrast to the rather boring divisional races the wildcards were a tale of two teams collapsing as Boston blew a 10 game lead (a new record) and Atlanta blew an 8.5 game lead to let Tampa and St. Louis catch them. In fact, both of them lost it on the last day of the season. I don't think anyone could have predicted that.

Also the rapid rise of Arizona, who were dead last in the NL west during the all-star break managed to climb five spots and remove San Francisco (last years champions) from the post season. I love the Diamondbacks but if you had told me that they'd be in October baseball 3 months ago I would have been somewhat skepitcal to say the least.


First lets look at who didn't make it.

Boston Red Sox. This is supposed to be a team that benefits from baseball's lack of a real salary cap. The best team in July and most of August went 6-28 in the last 6 weeks of the season, throwing away a four game AL east lead and a TEN game Wildcard lead. I can't even begin to explain it. There were a few injuries. Youkilis was out for the season and Veritek and Satalamaccia both battling minor injuries certainly didn't help, but 6 wins in September! I'll be interested to see who is there come next April.

Atlanta Braves. Another team that no salary cap is supposed to help. They blew an 8.5 game lead and are going home. To be honest I don't know enough about it to know what happened, I just know that they're out.

LA Angels. Chased it until the very end but just not good enough to keep up with their east coast counterparts. I still think they have a solid lineup and will continue to be a threat in years to come, but not this year.

San Francisco Giants. It's always sad when last years champions don't even make the playoffs and the thing is, they didn't play THAT badly. They just weren't able to win key games against Atlanta and Arizona and that alone separated them from the team last year that could. Also, I mean who the fuck saw Arizona coming?


Now who did make it:


The New York Yankees. Well what can you say here? A great team who was always going to make it. A combination of great offense, better than expected pitching and Major League baseball's failure to institute a hard salary cap got them their AL east title. While I have to admit I love watching the Yankees as a team, every year as the playoffs start I can't help but wonder how much different baseball would be if a hard salary cap had been introduced in 1994 as it was in the NHL. But money aside the Yankees have put together a good TEAM. I felt they were too old to compete with others in their division and while I think age will still play a factor down the line it won't this year apparently, as guys like Jeter are playing better than guys half their age.

Detriot Tigers. I picked Cleveland to win this division. I was wrong. I don't actually know much about the Tigers other than they quietly went about generating a solid record and crushing their division rivals. I'll be interested to watch them now (I haven't watched a game of theirs all season) and see what all the fuss is about.

Texas Rangers. Last years AL Champions are back for another run, and I am thrilled about it. Texas is a fun team to watch, even when they are beating my beloved Seattle Mariners in to the ground. Hitting, pitching and fielding all exciting and just enough power to cause some excitement late in the game. I don't see them repeating their AL success this year, but I'm glad they're in it.

Tampa Bay Rays. Well Boston handed them a playoff spot and they took it. That being said, in any other division in the AL they'd have won it cleanly. I don't know what to make of them, numbers say they will exit early but sometimes it's these teams that sneak in that end up doing amazing things (Colorado being the 2007 NL Champions).


Arizona Diamondbacks. I love this. Seriously, I want Arizona to take it all. I small market team with few of the resources of a New York or L.A based team gets in by playing better ball. None of the household names or prime time TV coverage but they get in anyway. No one could have seen this but I for one am happy.

Milwaukee Brewers. ^ same as above. I'll also note that this is a team I sorely underestimated. I picked St. Louis to win teh NL central because I couldn't fathom the Brewers doing it. Glad to be wrong.

Philadelphia Phillies. Well here is the best team in baseball. No other team has their starting rotation and batting lineup so set and so stacked. This is the team to beat this year, and I don't think any of the NL teams will. I'm excited to watch this team and think they're the team to bet on to win it all this year.

St. Louis Cardinals. Much like Tampa Bay this playoff slot was handed to them by the Braves, however unliek Tampa I doubt they'll do much with it. I like the Cards but they drew Philly. Stranger things have happened and I do love the upset, but seriously......


So here are the opening rounds and my picks:

AL:

New York Yankees vs. Detriot Tigers. Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers. Rays

NL:

Philadelphia Phillis vs. St. Louis Cardinals. Phillies
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Milwaukee Brewers. Diamondbacks (this is a choice from the heart, not from the head).


So if my playoff predictions are as good as my regular season picks we can expect a Detroit/St. Louis final :P

This weekend Major League Baseball will play it's 200,000th game.

Seriously.

Saturday nights Astros/Rockies game was the 200,000th game in MLB history. The history of baseball itself is interesting, as is the fact that it didn't replace cricket as the number one sport in America until the 1860's is, to say the least, unexpected in my books. The first professional game was between the Boston Red Caps (no relation to the Red Sox - actually they are the modern Atlanta Braves) and the Philadephia Athletics (no relation to the Oakland Athletics) in the National League (same National League that exists today). Actually it's fascinating to read how, even though it is considered the first professional league, how amateur it still was, with players doubling as umpires for other teams and only six of the eight teams completing the 70 game season. There were also tie games in this season (the only season where it was possible to have a tie). The only two teams from the 1876 season to exist today in any form are the Atlanta Braves (who were the afore mentioned Boston Red Caps from 1876 until 1912 when they became the Boston Braves, then moved to Milwaukee and then Atlanta) and the Chicago Cubs (who were the Chicago White Stockings until 1898 - you can imagine the uproar when the AL Chicago White Sox (who used White Stockings until 1920) took that name in 1900... and they've hated each other ever since). The 1876 Cincinnati Reds are no relation to the modern Cincinnati Reds, who took the name of the 1876 team, which disbanded in 1878, when they joined the NL in 1890.

Anyway, there's a lot more to read but it's an amazing history spanning, in one form or another, all the way back in to the 1840's. It's also amazing that the game has survived for 135 years, making it the oldest professional sport in the world (though cricket is the oldest recognized team sport). It also says something of the growth of the game that it started with a few small clubs in the northeast USA and yet it's 200,000th game was played in Houston, Texas against a team from Denver, Colorado. It's also amazing that professional teams exist in over a dozen countries in North and South America and east Asia.

I found it a fascinating read, and even if you're not a fan of the game it's amazing to see the development of professional sports in general. Enjoy.

a day at Geumosan

Saturday I woke up with no real plans and so decided to hop on the bus to Gumi and go to Geumosan. Geumosan is a mountain just west of Gumi famous for a waterfall, temples and a 1000 year old Goryo dynasty rock carving of the Buddha near the summit. It's labelled as Korean National Treasure number 490 (hey, it's in the top 500). I hopped on the bus at SeoDaegu at 11 and was in Gumi by 1145. I had lunch and grabbed a cab to the park entrance (5000 won.... I love Korea sometimes).

The mountain is 976 meters, but the rock carving is to the west of the park entrance and would take most of the day just to get to and thus not leave enough time to get back. With that in mind I opted to cheat and take the cable car the first 300 meters up and over to the right trail and to a temple and waterfall and hike from there. The first temple, Haeunsa, is small and not unlike many other temples in Korea except that is has a statue of Buddha in the Chinese style. However it's right at the top of the cable car so it's worth a look. The waterfall looks more like a garden hose stuck out of the 12th floor of an apartment building and turned on, but I was told that in the rainy season it's quite beautiful (the picture of it in July did look nice) though for anyone who's seen Niagara, Victoria or Angel falls I imagine it's a bit of an anti-climax. There is also a cave where a Shilla dynasty monk is said to have achieved enlightenment and so many people go there to visit the small shrine. It's a bit of effort and I couldn't believe that some people were taking their 70+ year old grandmother up there. I actually ended up helping a family who managed to get her up the cliff but couldn't get her down. She lowered herself using a rope and then I had to pick her up and place her down at the base. Safely she only weighed aboyt 80 lbs and all I had to do was turn and place her down (It was a 3 foot drop, so not much.......... unless you are 70+ years old). She seemed to love it, and I was happy to help, but I wonder what they would have done if I hadn't shown up. The other two girls with her, presumably her daughters, could barely pull their own weight up. Anyway, it was a fun story.

There is then a 2.2 km hike (read intensive slog) straight up the side of the mountain to Mae an Buddha, Yaaksam (temple) and the summit. The first 1.5 km are straight up. Like look up 80 degrees and march. Maybe the most intense stretch of hiking I have ever done. However, once at the end of it you are rewarded with spectacular views and a flat trail. The hike up also had a few nice spots to stop and relax and take in the view, and the trees kept the sun away for most of the hike, so it was easier going up in 25 degree shade.

However, I was a bit let down when, at the end of the 1.5 km death march you must make a choice. Left to Mae an Buddha or right to Yaaksam and the peak. Well since I had come to see the Mae an Buddha I opted for left. It was another 20 minutes before I came across it. I sat down to check it out and finish my water. For a good five minutes I had the place to myself and all I could hear were birds, bugs and the wind. Very zen. Then of course came the sound of a Korean hiking club. Conversation at 70 decibals, trot music playing and lots of yelling to take pictures of each other. Well my mood was killed so I walked back to the fork in the road. At the time I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time to get to the peak so I opted to head down (I probably would have but the cable car closed at 630 and I didn't want to walk down in the dark).

I managed 937 of 976 meters (well 637 as I cheated with the cable car :P) and while I didn't hit the summit (and thus truly conquer the mountain) I saw what I really went there to see. My camera cord is missing now but when I find it I will upload some pictures. Today (Sunday) I will sit and feel sore.

Ichiro Suzuki. Why he's still the best

Well it's no secret that Ichiro is not having his best season. In his previous 10 seasons he finished above .300 with over 50 RBI's and more stolen bases then I can count. He set the single season hit record in 2004 and has been, in my opinion, the best offensive ball player of this generation. This season, in contrast, he will finish around .275 with only 47 RBI's and the lowest number of stolen bases in his career. The RBI problem you can forgive because even with his lowest numbers ever he's still the best hitter on that team by a wide margin.

I digress.

My own opinion is that the Japanese have been making the most exciting ball players for the last five years (an opinion which does nothing to boost my popularity among Korean baseball fans). Contrast Ichiro, even today, with someone like David Ortiz. An All-Star this year and power hitter for the Red Sox. Ortiz can hit. My lord can he hit. He has power that can drive in runs in any ball park in the American league. But that's all he can do. He can't play position, he can't run/steal and he is very likely to pop up if he doesn't get it over the fence. Despite being able to do roughly 40% of his job he can hide away in the DH spot and be an all-star. No Japanese player can get away with that. Even the rare Japanese power hitter like Hideki Matsui can play well in the outfield on any given night. US players used to play for skill and a few of the older active players can still do it. Derek Jeter is still the best shortstop in the game and getting his 3000th hit earlier this year shows just what a great hitter he is as well. He's a great ball player. However, I have trouble thinking of young American, or even North American, players that that can be said of. Maybe Jacoby Ellsbury?  But the guys you always hear about: Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira. Power Power Power. In fact, Mark Teixeira is without a doubt the most overrated ball player around now. It amazes me that the Yankees keep him at all. I mean, when he's up just take all your fielders from the left field and move them over. Hell have everyone except your catcher and pitcher stand in right/centre field. If he doesn't hit it over the wall he doesn't have the skill to do anything else with it. He's also the worst team player of all time. He will go for that power swing even even at the risk of a double ot triple play just for an attempt at glory, and it's only cause he'll do it enough that it's tolerated.

Like Jeter, Ichiro plays the GAME well. He can hit. I mean, a .275 average isn't an all-star average but it's hardly a bad season. He can field better as well as any current all-star and at 37 he's still the fastest player in the game today. He's also a TEAM player. Remember in 2007 he COULD have left Seattle to become a household name playing in New York, Detroit, Philly or LA but opted to stay with the team that drafted him and has treated him right. He plays every aspect of the game well and does it with class. If he was in a city like New York or Chicago he'd be a household name mentioned in the same breath as Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter. Maybe he doesn't have another .300 season in him, but at .275 and those baseball instincts I'd still take him over Ortiz or Teixeira any day of the week.

Another Kpop post

Well as a follow up to the Kpop post I wrote last winter I thought I would do a follow up on the biggest songs of the last six months. Like it or not (and I have to admit I do) it's a big part of life here. The lyrics are always a bit weak, but that is because most Korean bands sell as many (if not more in som ecases) records in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan than they do in Korea. Therefore a catchy beat is more important than solid lyrics, which won't be understood in those places anyway.

The biggest songs include the afore mentioned Roly Poly by T-ara but there are, of course, a few more.

The biggest girl group in Korea is, without a doubt, 2NE1, who have given us both I am the Best and Can't Nobody which can be heard blasting out of most cell phone shops, hof's or used as ringtones.

Another one we got to hear everywhere was NU ABO by f(x). No idea what that is supposed to mean but it was, along with Bubble Pop by Hyuna, the hit of summer 2011 in Korea. Bubble Pop was very popular in the summer and teh video was played everywhere (can't imagine why......).

The fact that these are all girl groups is not just my personal preference, male groups in Korea are fewer in number than are the girls, and they are way less popular. Like they exist, but you won't hear it everywhere.

Though there was this cover of Insomnia by Wheesung from about a year ago that you can still hear.

Anyway, this is pop music over here. Enjoy :)

T-ara makes a comeback.

Top Korean pop group have made their "comeback" with this video. It's a throwback to Korea circa 1980 and a 12 minute version can be found somewhere (wonder what 1982 video they got that idea from?). Anyway, it's catchy enough (don't be a music snob, it is catchy) but what I love is that it is being labelled as a "comeback". Their last big (huge every cell phone store was blasting it for 3 months) hit bo peep is from December 2009 and I think they've had other stuff play since then. They do this a lot in Korean music, where a new album is a "comeback" album, especially if it's been more than 6-8 MONTHS since their last album. When I think comeback I think Bob Seger putting out an album in 1995 or Billy Idol putting out an album in 2006 (or sometime around then). Like 10-15 years after their peak. I'm not sure if it's just marketing or if Korea really is so 빨리빨리 that having 18 months between major releases is considered long enough to require a "comeback".

Anyway, walk by any phone store or in to and hof and you will hear this song.