America’s Next Top Model

Last night I thought I would give the second episode of the new season of America’s Next Top Model a look see. I watched the first episode and wasn’t completely irritated, but this one didn’t even make it half way before I stopped watching.

At about the 30% mark they were bringing the girls up one at a time to critique their nude photos. The one girl, gorgeous face, walks up and stands there. They make a comment about her clothes and ask her to remove the skirt, leaving her with just a t-shirt and tights.

What made me gag whas their reactions to her body. Their WOWs and OOHs and AAHs for a girl that looked like she hadn’t had anything to eat in three months were ridiculous. The girl’s hip bones were showing, for Zeus’ Sake! I’ve seen Korean Pop Stars with more meat on their bodies!

Oh Boy.

Coffee and Work

Would you not agree that a coffee like this just makes your self study sessions more pleasurable?

Disclaimer version 2.0.1

I admit that my earlier posts were very often critical of Korea, but as time goes on I’m getting less and less critical. I am not saying Korean is getting better though. Like every other country Korea is what it is and I am learning to understand it. I have never had any illusions about this process. Korea is not the problem. I am. No matter where I go in the world I will have to get used to the place and understand it, and the more I understand it the more likely I am to fall in love with it.

Having said that, I will still use my blog as a way of expressing my current experiences in and thoughts about the country, and as ever those thoughts will basically be from a White Boertjie slash Western perspective.

If anything offends you so much that you feel you need to come punch me in the face, feel free to leave a comment. I will respond and if I feel what you say is justified, I will try my best to correct the situation.

Poladroids in Pretoria

It is not that I was lazy, no. I just didn't have anything to say or post. I didn't go looking for photographs this week, but I am going for an expedition on Sunday.

What I have been doing was uploading Poladroid conversions to Flickr. Here are my upload of photos from South Africa. There are still a few to go, but I suspect my next photos on the blog will be will be of Hongdae in Seoul.

 

Child in the Forest

I was listening to a podcast this weekend and the host was talking about the unintentional interpretations of photographs. He mentioned Wynn Bullock’s “Child in the Forrest”. He was saying how, fifty years ago people looked at the photo and described it as an innocent girl just lying in the forest with not a care in the world.

He went on to say that if you ask people now they are more likely to tell you the girl is dead, killed by a serial killer or something of the sort. When I looked photo up on the internet I had to agree. How times have changed.

I studies Psychology and Criminology and one of the things they taught us in Crim. is that the perception of crime can be as bad as the crime itself. In other words, despite what the numbers say, if people believe that crime levels are high, then it will be true enough for them to affect their daily lived dramatically.

Take this picture. I am sure that 50 years ago you were almost as likely to be kidnapped and murdered as you would be today, but with a higher population density, higher reporting of crime and more media coverage, it seems like crime is much higher than before. Per person, I don’t believe it is that much worse.

Let us look at South Africa. Despite the supposedly high crime rate, the only thing that has ever happened to me was that my bicycle was stolen, and that was twenty years ago. (I ignore forgotten wallets that were never returned.) Sure, we have a relatively high violent crime rate, but as a tourist, for example, you will be sheltered from that for the most part.

In Korea if FEELS like there is a very little crime, but when you start looking in to statistics and how they are compiled, you realize just how “bad” things really are. Many crimes don’t get reported, even thought the police were involved. That is a product of the culture. Many crimes are hidden by the victims because culturally they are ashamed or are even blamed for the crime. Many crimes are sorted privately. Despite all of this happening around us, we FEEL that it is safe here, and that makes life here so much more relaxed than South Africa, or even the USA from what I hear.

Water Palm.

What IS that?

You would not believe how small these things are. Water plants and creatures are weird.

Soft stuff.

Nemo.

The fist of the fish tank. I was forced to use the 100mm Macro which has a very shallow depth of field. It is not easy focusing with that when you are pressed up against the glass.

Oops.

Sorry about that. I forgot about this single flower image. Tomorrow will be a fish tank, no more BS.

Prambanan

I’m almost done with photo from my holiday. The next batch will be of a single little fish tank at Jakarta Airport and then it is on to Korea stuff.

This photo, however, is of Prambanan Temple close to Yogyakarta in Central Java.

Sunset Over Somewhere

One of the last things I saw out of the window when coming back to Korea

Cheap Side

Almost done with Indonesia, we are.

After visiting Prambanan Temple many people go to watch the traditional dance performance. At the venues there is a buffet available at 65000 Rupiah. By this time I was starting to get a bit tired of being taken to tourist places where they charge you prices like these. Sure, 65000 Rupiah is about 6500 won, not bad of a full mean, but in Indonesia that is not cheap, at all!

Because of the price, and because I was just not hungry, I decided to skip the buffet. My guide never ate with me. He would usually go get something cheap while I was busy doing other things, so while we were waiting he asked if it was OK if he went to get dinner. “Go? Out of here? Sure! Do they have something to drink, because I am parched?”

We ended up going to this little place about 2 minutes away from the performance area. You know those really dodgy, very cheap little places you get in the back streets of Korea? Those places that don’t seem capable of making anything other than ramyan? This looked like one of those.

My guide ended up buying me noodles, which I didn’t finish because, really, I wasn’t hungry. He also told me stories and interesting things about Indonesia which I would never have had the chance to hear before.

Don’t sit! You’ll mess up my display.

The room in one of the hotels in Indonesia where I stayed had a glass wall with natural light coming in from outside. It made for an interesting image.

I have one photo where you an see more of the reflection in the floor, but for this shot I would really have preferred a gray or some other dark carpet.

Poo Coffee

Civets eat the fruit of the coffee plants and then poops the beans out. Someone obviously collects this and makes coffee with it. As the sign says, this is the rarest, and maybe the most expensive coffee in the world. (I’m surprised there is any left with the Japanese so close by.)

I was really tempted to get a little pot, but decided I just didn’t have the time and wanted to explore the town a bit more.

Watch the Moo go by.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the better shot, but this Moo with the shiny black legs on the back of the motor cycle was priceless. God bless my new camera and the 30mm F1.4 lens. Sure, there is a bit of noise on the image, but with my previous camera I would never have been able to take clear photos with so little light.

Move the F*** away!

When you get to Jakarta’s international airport you find people sitting everywhere. They are just in the bloody way and makes moving with baggage the most frustrating thing you will do in a long time?

Before you can actually get to the check-in counters there are people checking your passport and booking. Why this weird thing? Because they have to keep these squatters away from the check in counters. We can’t very well have them just sit there, right there where people are trying to check in, can we? No we can’t!

In their defence, they might be on their way to Mecca which is often done in large groups. Many of the people who go there save for years and don’t really have the money to go sit comfortably in a coffee shop, bloody well out of my way.

Hong Kong Airport in Miniature

[Click to see the larger version]

Going to Indonesia I had a nice window seat and plenty of daylight. It was ideal for taking a high angle photo of Hong Kong Airport and creating a Tilt Shift Effect.

Hard Rock FM, Bandung, Indonesia.

I was stationary and in Bandung for only about 3 hours when I found myself on a radio station. What exactly do you answer to: “When you come home late at night and you are tired, what will turn you on?” 

My Friendly Tour Guide

Thought I’d start things off with an image from my recent trip to Indonesia. This is an old online friend of mine whom I had a chance to meet while I was there. I captured this image with the camera in my lap, pointing up at her, hoping for the best. It turned out much better than I could have hoped for.