R e – P e t e

In Korea

Hey guys! I’m in Korea right now for those that don’t know. The weather here is pretty bad because it’s monsoon season. That means it’s hot, it’s overcast (or raining) and it’s humid. Blech!

More specifically, I’m in Busan to see some family. It’s pretty cool to be back here. I’m surprised at all the urban development there has been. I don’t remember much of it from 8 years ago when we last came. All my relatives look pretty much the same except older.

I flew into the Inchon airport at Seoul which is the new international terminal built several years ago. It’s a pretty impressive airport. That was the extend of my stay in Seoul. I have to say that the women there look much better.

The other shocking thing is how much American culture has penetrated society here since I left. Last time I was here they had some western brands such as Calvin Klein, FILA and the infamous Playboy. There always seemed to be a bit of a lag between the korean society and american society (movies would come much later here, fashions here would match american fashions from the previous year, etc.). But things have really changed. Driving through Pusan I’ve seen everything including North Face, Popeye’s, and Kappa. I’m not sure if the style is exactly the same… my intuition tells me that it’s a bit different, but I’m still very surprised to see how globalized korea has become since I was last here. The most popular pizza place here is Pizza Hut!!

I’m very curious to see what Seoul is like. Pusan is the second largest city, but Seoul, the capital, probably is the most modernized of any city in Korea. I think the funniest image I’ve seen here are old grandmas (the type that walk hunched over) whipping out their polyphonic, camera-cell phones.

30 days

I’ve been out-of-touch lately. Nothing much to report except 1) had a cool house party with lots of fun people and 2) thought I had appendicitis but really just turned out to be a fluke-stomach thingy.

Last night I saw an interesting show called 30 days on cable. The guys and I had come back from Cha Cha Cha and we were busily channel surfing while still enjoying post-Sangria buzz. I recognized the guy from Supersize Me who is the host of this new show. It seems that the basic premise is that he “explores what life changing experiences are possible in 30 days.”

In the show I saw, him and his fiancee try to live off of minimum wage for 30 days. In the end, it seemed like it was all pretty hopeless. It really put things in perspective and it made me think of my parents when they first came to america back in the 70s. If I were ever that destitute, and lived in a situation like that I think I would turn to a life of crime.

In light of the rejection of the EU constitution by the french, it made me wonder how the people at the bottom rung of french society fare in a socialist system.

The Rich Get Richer

I read an interesting article today that says, to sum things up, that the rich get richer. Nothing new, right? Well I thought there were some interesting tidbits:

Millionaire Ranks Hit New High

http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/millionaire_1.html

• The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more rose 21% in 2004… There now are 7.5 million millionaire households in the U.S. …The study excluded the value of primary residences, but included second homes and other real estate.
• The studies suggest that despite falling wages for nonmanagement employees in 2004, the fortunes of those at the top continued to rise. .. They also tend to invest in higher-risk and potentially faster-growing investments, including hedge funds, private-equity funds and debt instruments.
• Reflecting their doubts about the future of the financial markets and the economy, the affluent continue to hold large amounts of cash. The Spectrem survey showed that 9% of their assets were in cash deposits.
• Households with net worth of $3 million or more garnered 34% of their wealth last year from investment gains, according to the Spectrem survey. Only 31% of their wealth last year came from compensation.
• The wealthy remain highly skeptical of financial advisers, given their stock-market losses in 2001 and the wave of scandals on Wall Street. Fully 30% of affluent investors make most of their financial decisions without the help of a professional … Only 10% let their advisers make all the decisions.
• In 2004, investors with total assets of more than $500,000 had 46% of their holdings in investible assets, such as stocks and bonds. Of the remainder, they held 21% in privately held businesses, 6% in insurance and annuities, 10% in their primary residence, 7% in other real estate, including second homes, and 10% in retirement plans.
• The richest investors kept more of their wealth in investments, as opposed to hard assets. Investors with total assets of more than $3 million had 49% of their holdings in investible assets. Investors with from $500,000 to $1 million had 29% in investible assets.

The thing I found interesting was that more money was made through the market than through hard assets like property.

Revenge of the Myth

(Spoiler warning!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET. STOP NOW!)

I saw Star Wars 3 today. I thought it was pretty good. In a way I was expecting more because it was hyped by everybody as being “sooo good”, even by those who did not like SW2. I did think it was better than Attack of the Clones, but not as much as I would’ve expected. The order of the first trilogy would have to be Revenge of the Sith > Attack of the Clones >> The Phantom Menace.

I did feel, though, that the ending of SW3 was a bit abrupt. All the loose ends were tied and whatnot but I still felt that it could’ve used a little more at the end. Specifically, Yoda tells Obi-Wan about a training/capability to talk to Qui-Gon and then it goes nowhere! What a disappointment. I was really looking forward to something more.

I felt that the Hayden Christensen (is that his name? I’m too lazy to check.) who plays Ani/Darth did a better job. I did read, though, that he was told by Lucas to withhold his dark side and come off as cold and stifled in SW2 so I’ll forgive him for that. He definitely seemed a more believable character in this one. The same can be said for Princess Amigdala who seemed completely asleep throughout 2.

I felt disappointed that Yoda gave up so quickly. I mean, yes, yes, I know that he’s supposed to end up on Dagoba, but I have such high respect for him. I mean he’s supposed to be like the shiznits of the Jedi’s and yet the dude can’t seem to win a fight to someone who possesses dark side powers (Count Dooku in SP2 and The Emperor in SP3). Given that Anakin beat Count Dooku, does that mean that Darth is superior to Yoda?

I liked how they showed how Darth ended up in the decrepit state he is in SP4, but it was kind of lame that Obi-Wan did just not bother finishing him off. I mean you chop off his legs, you watch his skin melt and hair burn but you don’t finish the job. What is UP with that?!

The space fight scenes are total eye candy and much appreciated. Plot-wise there was not much room for twists which is understandable. I liked how the story of Darth was told and how he turned to the dark side. I did wish there was a bit more complexity to it.

Overall, I liked it a lot. I wouldn’t mind if someone made an episode 7, 8, 9. I think it would be cool if someone else directed it, though.

Btw, I heard there’s going to be a TV show for Star Wars. My bets are that it’s going to suck big time. Big time.

The Comeback of Denim

I remember back in middle school when I got a pair of Silver Tab Levi’s which, at the time, cost upwards around $50. Boy did those jeans feel good. They felt good not only because of the “loose” style that I got but because the little insignia on the back said “Silver Tab.” I remember having a similar experience with some $70 Girbaud jeans on a freak day when my mom felt like spoiling me. Did my dad and brother freak out? Yeah. This is the luck of being the mak-neh (youngest child) of the family.

Since then, I’ve grown to be more mature (well.. just a bit). And now, if anything, I take more appreciation in a good sale than in expensive clothing. My favorite pants du jour are actually some button-fly cords I found on the sale rack at BR for $20 some-odd dollars.

Oh yeah, so where was I? Oh yes. The comeback of denim. Unless you’ve been living in a shell for the past several years, you’ve probably noticed the comeback of denim. I have nothing original to say here nor am I qualified to speak about the topic. But I was reading this article on NYTimes.com and found a very amusing excerpt:

“Some other obvious questions follow. What exactly are premium jeans? And why are they different from the millions of ordinary pairs sold all the time? How much of the premium denim phenomenon is hype and how much real value is there in obscure attributes like ring-spun denim, triple-needle stitching, bleach “whiskers,” or special treatments that abrade, distress and generally torture a pair of trousers until it has achieved just the right luxuriantly ratty patina of something that has been dragged behind a truck?”

Who Pays $600 for Jeans?