If you live in Itaewon, this might be a totally normal weekend.

I don’t, however – in fact, I’m close to 1 1/2 hours away when you factor in waiting for the buses and such. For better or worse, the foreigner-friendly area serves as a special occasion sort of destination, not a place to party all weekend. Sometimes, though, you start out attending A, then hear about B, C, and D.

The Seoul Shakespeare Company is the same core of people as the Actors without Barders – just with a name that’s more likely to be understood the first time you hear it. This weekend’s event was a relaunching party to get their new name out, complete with business cards, t-shirts, and all the networking you can handle. The Berlin Bar served as an easy place to find – and oh yes, name-brand alcohol to drink with soft drinks or fruit drinks, that’s always nice.

While not every performer had a Shakespeare theme, Jennifer Waescher (above) got the crowd listening to her easy-listening style of music.

Before long, of course, it was time for Shakespeare! Michael Downey performed an excellent monologue with a proper accent.

Charles Jeong – a reminder that it’s not just the foreigners inspired by the master wordsmith.

Cael Anton and an eclectic mix of electric guitar, bucket, tambourine, and a looping machine. Despite being the only performer on-stage, he deftly created tracks on-the-fly, looped them, then started playing guitar. It’s been done before, but it’s a reminder of how many different applications technology can have – and a reminder not to pigeonhole someone as ‘just’ a one-dimensional creative person.

Between performers, I enjoyed the candlelight on a nearby table, and how the window seemingly carried the reflection out of the restaurant.

The show must go on, of course, and I went with some of the crowd to Roofers and the Total Assholes (AKA Total @ssholes). To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect when the high-energy octet took the stage – once the sound check was over, however, the energy got cranked up to 11.

Self-described as “Seoul’s only publicly traded epic party anthem ensemble”, the Total Assholes played a little bit of 80′s, 90′s, and stuff made popular this year as well. Both of the lead singers sang well both in either solo or duet mode.

Grace, AKA “Squeaky” on the sax – the other gentleman doubled as both guitarist and saxophonist.

Drummerman.

The bassist making it look easy.

For more on the Seoul Shakespeare Company, check out http://www.seoulshakespeare.com. For more on the Total Assholes, check out their Facebook page.

 

© Chris Backe – 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

 I went to chilbo class early this week for lunch.  I thought we were going out but it turns out we ate in.  Bibimbop along with two kinds of kimchi and other side dishes from Young-Soo's noodle shop.  She made it especially for us.  She was busy with the lunch crowd and their wasn't any room in her shop so we ate at Nan's.  Metal guy came too and he prepared the bibimbop for me by mixing the bowl and adding just enough sauce.  They are always afraid it will be too hot for me.  It was delicious.
 Next I worked on the jewelry box for my daughter which I will call the flower box.  Last week we enameled the backside of the copper squares.  This week we did the front.  She had me do it in a two tone color.  These are ready to be fired.
                                               Here is what they all looked like after firing.
 Next I had to trace the pattern on each square.  She had me use three different patterns.
                              This is what each square looked like after I traced the pattern on it. 
                                           This is how all the squares looked after tracing.
 Next I had to paint over the lines using black chilbo paint. Next week I start to fill in the flowers.  It's going to be beautiful.  My chilbo teacher, Nan, wants to me to become a certified teacher which requires me taking a written test and then a practical (demonstrating what I know) test.  She wanted me to find a translator for the test since it is in Korean.  I told her that all my Korean friends work during the week which is when the testing is done so no one would be available.  She understood but I'm not sure what she will do about it. 
Near my apartment a new dress shop has recently opened and I noticed this sign.  Finally, a store that sells more than just size 0.  I think it may have 2's and 4's, oh joy.

Recently I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff Lebow of the Korea Bridge. Thus I am now helping out with the Korea Bridge Summer Photo Contest. Being a past winner myself (winter 2004… I think) I know how fun it is to participate in more of a local contest than those that I have featured recently. For me, winning the contest gave me a boost in confidence to further push my photography and I know that it will help you as well.

The contest is looking for photos from this Summer (2011) and there are two categories; Korea and outside of Korea. Why? well if you have travelled around and got some great summer of shots from Thailand for example but not much from Korea… well we’ve got you covered. The contest is open to anyone living in Korea, minus the judging panel and pro photographers. So that means pretty much anyone can enter.

The prizes? They have some great stuff lined up! Here is an excerpt from their page:

Prizes:W75,000 Grand Prize, W50,000 People’s Choice (each category) +assorted prizes from some of our fine sponsors including Wolfhound Pub,  NiceMarket, Aile, & HQ

That’s pretty good for some shots that you took over the summer between summer camp and school or just hanging around your neighbourhood, right?

The Deadline: September 21st 2011

Submission: Photos will be submitted to the korea Bridge keep them small (5mb) so make sure your jpg’s are cranked down to about 72 dpi or something “web sized” Follow this link and scroll down for more instructions on how to submit.

What makes a good submission?

Well first start with the title “summer” What photos do you have the really give a sense of that “summer feeling”? If I see a shot of a beach with people splashing in the water, I think “hot summer days” If I see a random shot of a market on a street corner with out any focus or story, I have no idea what to think. So try and convey some sort of feeling,story or sense of with your shots. This could be the rain that seemed to never end or the hordes of people hitting Haundae for the beach festival. The key is to choose a photo taken during this summer that conveys SOMETHING. I am all for those shots of random people sleeping on the subway, but make it pop! Tell a story or find a decisive moment.

The other basic thing is to make sure that your photos are sharp and that you didn’t go overboard with the retouching in photoshop. The other thing to keep in mind is the basic composition i.e. Rule of thirds, Golden rule, leading lines etc. Sometimes all it will take is a small crop to improve the general composition or isolating the subject more. Also look for any distracting items that might be getting in the way. Try to crop them out if you can as you want your image to have a main focus and not be distracted by an out-of-focus tree branch.

Photos that are not good choices are photos of you and your friends partying on the beach or something like that. Save those for facebook because in reality, if you look at a travel magazines you don’t really see a lot of the drunken party shots with the red eyes and the harsh flash, right? Also, keep the self portraits as well. Those shots of you standing in front of a sand castle in Haeundae are really only cool to people who know you. If I don’t know you, then all I see is a dude in front of a temple or something like that.

Other shots that you might want to leave out are those poor attempts at “street photography”We are looking for shots that have a clear and decisive subject, not just a black and white shot of people standing at a street corner. Also, I know its bikini season in Korea but leave the “Perv Shots” in your private folder too. Unless it is photographically significant to the subject, just posting up a sneaky shot of a girl in a bikini or a dancing girl in front of the GS 25 mart won’t score you any points.

Lastly, you are given a max of 15 shots that you can submit. Please make sure that they are your best work. Take some time and talk to your friends to find out what shots they like. Choose the ones that seem popular that you are proud to say that they are your best work. If that means you only submit 2 photos, great! because it only takes 1 photo to win!