Skype

The other day, not to long into the previous week, I discovered Skype. It's an amazing tool that allows members to send messages. That's only the beginning. Skype also allows you to video conference with other members.

MSN Messenger is also capable of such things. The draw back about MSN is that it does not offer video conferencing for Mac users.

In the past, video conferencing has not been a priority. Mainly my lack of personal experience with web cams and video conferencing. This has all changed with the addition of Mac in my life. It has forced my adventureous spirit to try new softwares that have made my Mac experience enjoyable.

The biggest thing about Skype that hasn't been mentioned is the catch all benefits. Skype allows you to make calls to land lines and cell phones for a small nominal fee.

Technology is amazing.

The Magic Three

Three Things

Copy and paste this into your own notes, change the answers and Tag at least 10 or more of your friends including the one that sent this to you...

THREE NAMES I GO BY

1. Grey
2. Drunkin Puma
3. Grand Master Grey of the Multiverse

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE

1. Psychiatric Hospital
2. Sales
3. U.S. 2000 Cencus.

THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. Deerfield, IL
2. Ft. Bragg, NC
3. Conroe, TX

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH

1. Heroes
2. Lost
3. Law & Order

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN

1. Canada
2. Thailand
3. Korea

THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO

1. China
2. Amsterdam
3. Mus'ee d' Orsay, in Paris

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS

1. Spaghetti
2. A juicy hamburger preferably made in the states... not one of these immitations in Korea.
3. Ssam-Gyup-SSal (grilled pork strips).

THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE OWNED

1. puppy
2. kitten
3. fish

THREE FRIENDS WHO WILL REPLY

1. ?
2. ?
3. ?

THREE FAVORITE BANDS/ ARTISTS

1. MF Doom
2. Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
3. The Flaming Lips (More recent favorite)

THREE FAVORITE TEAMS TO WATCH

1. Cubs
2. U.S. National FIFA Team
3. DooSan Bears (Korean Baseball Team)

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS

1. Darjeerling Tea
2. Grande Americano
3. Gin w/Apple Juice

Winter in Korea

It's cold again here in Korea. The temperature barely breaks freezing point. It's been below zero for the majority of the week. It sucks.

A few more weeks and maybe the real groundhog will make it's presence felt with the beginning of Spring. I want to see the sprouting of new life. The green emerging from the dead. The colors of the cherry blossoms.

A few hundred years ago society was in a much different world. We all know and take so much of it for granted. Anthropologically speaking... we as humans are not made for 12 months of work. The early humans migrated with the animals. Eventually, early society learned to farm the land. Farming is not a year long occupation.

Animals have a cycle through the year and in some ways the human species should learn from our closest example of a bio-rhythm. Creation or the Earth as we know it... okay on this side or the Southern side of the hemisphere there is most definitely a cycle of rebirth... life and the eventual death. The seasons capture this so well and every Spring we are blessed with the reincarnation of that life again.

Where was my hibernation? Capitalism has stripped us of our natural human cycle and has made us slaves of the corporate machine. AH!

You can't live without it and you hate it when it crushes the joy of life into a compressed can of properly timed enjoyment.

On another note. The weekend previous to this the guys and I went out to the slopes to snowboard. It was definitely one of those canned enjoyments. Wish I could do it all winter without being burdened with work.

heelz - andre nickatina

What does your iPod say about your personality?

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes or iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. Answer all the questions in the comment box.


IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
God loves ugly - atmosphere

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
my opinion - mac mall

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
dogs and cats - andre nickatina

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
ain't no price on happiness - MF DOOM/metal samples

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
forgiven - ben harper

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
i shot the sheriff - bob marley & the wailers

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
is it any wonder? keane

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
genuine - adam oestmann

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
baggage handlers - busta rhymes + raekwon

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
baking soda in minnesota - andre nickatina

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
never dead - MF DOOM

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
play god - travis elliott

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
tale of two cities - the brakes

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
kingston - sean kingston

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
open mic nite 2 - MF DOOM

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
what is he thinking - the streets

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
elders bizzare - paperface

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
the garden - cut chemist

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
ebbtide - dj babu

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
crying like a church on monday - new radicals

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
schizophreniac - earthsuit

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
heelz - andre nickatina

Mr. Mafioso

The sudden weather change in Korea has people getting sick with a day cold. It hit me Thursday which was handled with medicine and an early nights rest. An early nights rest ended up being at 11 p.m. The cold or the body aching had subsided but my throat was sore.

On Friday I kept a scarf wrapped around my neck. It was not going to allow the cold to strip me of my night out. By the end of the night my voice was gone. It sounded like the old mafia movies. I was digging it. In my minds eye the voice was seductive to the ladies.

I ended up crashing at my buddies pad that night. We woke up about noon and ordered some McDonald burgers before I took off to meet Gib.

Gib decided to invest into an iPod Touch which is the coolest little gadget since laptops and pocket size organizers. In some ways it's a combination of a pocket organizer/laptop/mp3 player and anything else that you could even begin to imagine. Okay, maybe not a space ship or an underwater diving device but I'm almost positive you can play those games on it.

While Gib was shopping for an iPod I was searching for a new set of headphones. The previous headphone saw it's last use yesterday. It put in a good year or so worth of music to my ears and I'm grateful for that. However, the new Panasonic headphones I purchased is great.

Today, I speak with a whispery mafioso voice. It will not stop me from going out tonight.

You know what I mean?... Forget about it.

De-lurking Week/ Blog it Forward

It's not often that I win anything. It so happens that last week I was awarded a prize from among five. Cheers!

If you visit JenBun's blog you can get the detail to the win.

This is how it works. All you anonymous reader get to de-lurk yourselves and leave a comment. You can share your favorite alcoholic drink or just pop in to say hi. Anybody can get involved. This isn't just for the anonymous. The best part is that from among the commenter's I will choose 3 people to receive something uniquely Korean in the mail (Blog it Forward). In return I ask that the 3 winners Blog it Forward by sending an act of kindness without expectation of anything in return. I think the following quote sums it up best...

"[T]he exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in his/her turn, pass the kindness along and pay it forward in his/her own way. I agree to send something fun, inspiring or uplifting to three random commenter's. In turn, those three will post this information and pick 3 people they want to send something to and so on." (Adam)

You have till 11:59 P.M. Friday U.S. Pacific time. This should give all the North American folks the same amount of time as those out here in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Hope to hear from you all.

108. Worlds Collide:

I'm tired from being busy all day at work. Too busy to find time to continue with my goal. Goal number two. Blog for 31 consecutive days. I hope you don't mind another poem from the archives.

Which reminds me. I was thinking of doing a series called Ken Harry Yellow. A series of poems written in 2007. Anybody interested?

Kids are quite funny. I teach Korean kids who are barely able to speak any English. Some do speak better than others. The funny thing about teaching these kids is that they pick up the way you speak. They emulate whatever is said even trying to get the tone of voice.

There's this one kid in particular, Hennessy [not his real name]. He's watching me intently as I'm trying to get organized before teaching the lesson plan. It dawns on me that I've forgotten to bring something down from the office, 'shnaps'. As I'm walking out the door to run up to the office Hennessy is saying, 'shnaps'.

108. Worlds Collide

i look out from the world inside
in towards the world outside.
through space that takes time
to traverse from my world to yours.
in space our worlds collide
to make electrical impulses seem
more than random fire blazing
trails. magnetic pulls of centered
lives on important confessions
of relevant claims. of human
interest, splattered on matter.
the gray images of matter... all
presented from creation till now.
protons with electrons gathered
around the neurons of life. and we
say with opinions of morality
what is our likes and the rejection
of dislikes. it falls apart in the light.
levels of success fade into strivings
of inter-galactic strains of space.
all of wo[man] a rock in space, each of
whom contains a world inside
a micro version of macro space.

122. Potential Superhero

I found this cool picture of a superhero. Click on the picture to link to the artist, Michael Dougherty.

How many of us are fans of the T.V. series Heroes. In Korea it's impossible to catch the third season without downloading it via torrent downloads. Torrent downloads is a peer to peer sharing software that allows people like myself to view sought after T.V. series' that are impossible to find outside of the United States.

While waiting for my seventh episode to download I've been cruising the Multi-web looking for idea's to blog about. The idea came to me.

If you were a superhero what sort of super power would you have? I leave this question to you the reader.

As a superhero I would like the power of quick regeneration & healing.

A follow up question... What would be your cool superhero name?
Mr. Grey'ce pronounced Grace.

With that being said. I'd like to leave you with a doodle.

122. Potential Superhero:

Everybody wants to be a hero
Haven't met many people striving for zero
Although that could be humility
Or it could be the fear o...
Hmmm... The fear of?

Spotlights missing doesn't make us marginalized
It's a massive Multi-verse that's no surprise
The smaller things that are sometimes overlooked
Are more important than they appear in size
Oh... Do we still try

In our world of toys, gadgets to entertain
We lose our ability to imagine and use our brain
Not in all cases, don't mean to generalize
Just making a point, don't refrain
Everybody is born naked and given a name.

Visitors from the United States,

Saturday was long and lasted through the night, merging into Sunday afternoon.

Need rest. A lot of rest.

On a more exciting note concerning the Bloggers Block post:
One of my goals for 'grey image' is to attract visitors from all the states of the United States. I think that some of the territories should be included also, i.e. The Virgin Island Territories or Guam.

In order to accomplish Bloggers Block goal # four I've decided to do a roll call by state. If you are from the United States and would like to represent your state and it hasn't been announced in the comments area below please comment to this post with a reference of the state you are visiting 'grey image'. I thank you in advance for all your participation.