2018 Smartphone Photos

We stopped at McDonald's after New Year's. Not sure why we were armed.

The bright dot in the window is the moon, seen from my desk.

Someone left a loose bag of kitty litter outside my apartment. I was worried they'd blame the foreigner with cats.

I thought this was a historic first, "shit" on the front page, and even started writing an opinion piece about it. Then a day later the front page had me on it which kind of blocked me.

When I was in university I saw Dan Savage speak at a Canadian University Press conference, in which he said the newspaper business could be salvaged simply by printing a swear word on the front page. Not even with any kind of intent, just enough to scare off all the prudes. Then newspapers could better focus on serving the public. He did not see it coming that it would be conservatives who would become the champions of profanity, however.

Anyway, the bag of kitty litter got a big sticker on it, and stayed there a few more weeks. Nobody ever approached me about it, thankfully.

Found this, and I guess I have another addition for the K-Iceberg.

A view I don't think I've shared before, of the bathtub in the Trump Motel (not hotel).

I kind of wish I took some of these.

I posted this picture on Google Reviews and it got a ton of views.

A Hamburg Burger seems redundant to me.

Typing with his nose.

The lunar eclipse is somewhat visible on my phone.

Where does a marine sleep?

Anywhere he wants.

A few smartphone shots of Bamgol Village late in the removal process.

Even the nail house is gone.

A narrow path over the devastation.

I believe this is next to Nambu Terminal. Still there but I don't like climbing that style of fence.

Samsung Tower Palace in Dogok-dong, some of the richest real estate in Seoul.

And Gaepo Apartment nearby.

One of the little mini-malls these old apartment complexes always had.

I liked the handpainted maps.

A bit of a protest.

I went in further, another time.

These ones are also being demolished for remodeling.

A different kind of neighbourhood in the northern side of Seoul.

I don't remember where I found this but I didn't photograph it on my regular camera I think.

We found this book. It turned out to be not particularly rare.

Canada Olympic House at PyeongChang.

I can't remember what was happening here.

I think I found this in an abandoned building.

A somewhat Broke in Korea tattoo.

Ondol cat.

At a going away party for our former president.

A coffee stand named after my sister almost.

Seoullo 7017 one night.

Ilmin Museum of Art had an interesting exhibition.

This was the most interesting piece.

A scene in Hongdae.

This is the first love letter I got in Korea. I don't think I have the mix CD that came with it anymore, but it does sound like something I'd listen to now.

I believe I kept this issue of the Herald because they printed a photo of mine from the Slackers show.

Taken from my Korean punk zine collection.

Also from the collection.

Another.

Mizno did a lot of zines.

Here's me at a young age. I still remember that jacket fondly.

And my sister in Hawaii, impressed by a pineapple.

This was my cat, Daffy. She lived until at least 16, and died when I was around 14.

Here's a family picture. From the right is my paternal grandfather, Daffy, maternal grandmother, cousins, and aunt. Both cousins were with me in Korea in 1996 and one of them has since visited me twice.

GBN got a low score from Octopoulpe.

Someone left a toothbrush on the counter, right between the sinks and the paper towels where everyone will drip on it.

In a more extreme case, I used to have a boss who left his toothbrush directly under the soap holder.

An elegant dessert but it looks unhappy.

I liked the city skyline presented here and wanted to steal it for a cutout for one of my own columns.

Looking toward Yulgok Tunnel. I actually have had dreams about this scenery.

A huge mural to a guy who made a lot of noise and changed nothing.

A crane goes up at one of the seven wastelands<>.

Butt-touching.

An unpleasant name for a new restaurant.

Can't remember what dungeon this was in.

Cat yawn.

Stretching in the morning.

No idea how this happened.

Waiting for Kanghee before ascending this tower. I embargoed this gallery until after construction was done, then forgot until finding these phone pictures.

Odd enough sign.

A view from the mid-point.

Umbrella condoms, soon to be a thing of the past.

Okay.

A beggar came through the subway train and handed these out. Nobody else gave money so I followed teir example. This person seems to claim to be a hospital patient.

Millie is American and loves guns.

She even sleeps with a gun.

Trying to look wise.

Buster is having a bad day.

On his birthday, something bad happened and he got these frog eyes. I took him to the vet, but he just got scared and retracted his eyelids.

He stayed like this a few weeks, and I never figured out what was wrong.

Wrong gender, race, and probably not enough of a bigot, but sure.

After voting for mayor.

Buster in the garden.

I developed this growth on my tongue.

The oral surgeon had a pretty good cybersecurity system.

Not an overreaction at all.

Left with a scar.

A friend told me there was a burger place in Huam-dong, but by the time I found it, it seemed to have already closed. Fortunately later Bas Burger opened nearby.

Riding through Susaek New Town.

Tom and Yeri at the RASKB lost a son to cancer, and I took this picture on my way to the funeral.

From the making of this video.

She also appeared in the video.

I did some spying on the construction of a people-mover (not a funicular) over the HBC stairs.

One of my contributions in Crimson Sky.

An Underwood memorial hall I'd never seen before, somewhere in Hongdae.

It looked like they were building a beach on the sidewalk in front of my work.

Out on the roof.

Hiding among the paper recycling.

More cat typing.

So it's XXL but also slim fit.

Some gochujang I brought back from North Korea.

And some chemically-named chips that weren't so good.

This fish soup was great, but I made it wrong and wasted the spices.

My North Korean banknotes, which were given to me as change at the Pyongyang trade show.

A couple North Korean postcards, showing a North Korean space program?

Meeting up with Paul, who was with me on the trip.

A couple interesting buildings in Jongno area.

I found an Arlo Maverick sticker.

Buster helped me review CDs.

Jenny Woo arrives.

This jeon seemed to be flipping us off.

Sunset seen from my office.

A friend fell off a roof and lost his backpack.

There it is.

Trump depicted as a nazi puppet, in front of the US embassy.

A dog wearing hanbok.

I had planned to do an article about this hanbok designer who made clothes for animals, but somehow it fell through.

Buster looks outside.

Rescuing the bag.

And it had a signed Jenny Woo CD inside.

Lotteria made a bold choice to use this as its interior decoration, for many years.

Pistol-packing cat.

A closer look at the sign in front of the embassy.

Tents on display in Gwanghwamun.

One shot taken on Halloween at Hair of the Dog.

This leads to the secret bunker on Yeouido.

But this is the normal people entrance now. It was closed.

I think this was Seoul Dolmangchi playing.

This article in Chosun Ilbo helped save the RASKB.

Millie in bed.

One shot during our RASKB tour of Mullae.

They're small books. Still haven't read them.

This building underwent heavy renovation next to my office.

A property that's been well-hidden in Jeong-dong for whatever reason.

Samgyeopsal with Janghyup.

A circus lion trick.

Every kind of cookie I brought from North Korea tasted awful.

This boy likes typing. You can even see what he wrote.

I took this picture after this lecture.

Millie approves.

One night around 4am or 5am, the fire alarm went off. All these lights came on.

Looking down at the firetruck. Only me and one other guy even came out of our apartments.

Andre's was bigger.

Frozen on my rooftop.

Cleansia?

A dinner with some of the online contributors, plus much of the digital news staff.

Looking at it now, this has to be a joke.

Bob's Barbie is gone from this corner, sadly. It exist in other places, but this was the iconic spot.

Can't remember now.

A disturbingly predatory-looking picture of me with the cat at that bar by the train tracks in Yongsan.

Yeah, keep trying.

Good copyediting.

Bone Tunnel bones.