[CC] In Defense of Sci-Fi

My life has revolved solely around science fiction for the past few months, and it's been one of the most educational and enjoyable phases through which I have ever gone.  I'd have to say it started with a week or so in which at least a dozen Star Trek references were thrown at me in an academic setting; I felt inferior for not totally catching the references and therefore not being able to participate fully in discussions in which the reference came up, but I took this as a sign from the universe telling me to watch Star Trek.  As all things should be done, I started from the very very beginning and am still working my way through the Original Series.  But of course I couldn't just limit my exploration of this fascinating genre to one TV series.  I expanded out into books, short stories, movies and other TV shows recommended to me by fellow fans of Sci-Fi.  To this day, The Transall Saga - a book I read in fifth grade for a book report - is one of my favorite books of all time.  Combined with stories from H.P. Lovecraft (thanks to John and Josiah for the recommendation), Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the two sci-fi stories we read for this short story unit (Brave New World and Welcome to The Monkey House), I finally feel like I am building up a decent understanding for the sci-fi genre of literature.  I'm no expert by any means, but there's something to be said for a little dedication to the genre.

I've learned a few things about the purpose of the genre from observing themes and effects tied to each of the works I listed above.  I'm a strong believer in the concept of fiction being fact; what makes any kind of fiction worth reading (or writing in the first place) is taking realistic, modern life as we know it and blowing some of its aspects out of proportion.  By doing this, we are able to look at parts of the realistic world and either observe ourselves as we are currently, or we can project what we might be capable of in the future.  For example, there's an episode of Star Trek ("The Squire of Gothos") in which a man named Trelane is living alone on a planet and lives his life based on his complete infatuation with Napoleon.  At one point in the episode, he tells Captain Kirk that "humans are one of the few species who prey upon themselves."  This line hit me hard when I was watching the episode.  But take the situation in its full context: an alien who receives information from Earth 500 years after the history has happened traps a few humans and a vulcan on his planet where he dwells in solitude and plays the harpsichord all day. Complete and utter buffoonery, and yet we can take away a deeper understanding of very real human aspects-- our lack of remorse for killing members of our own species-- from this surface-level hogwash.  (PSA: if you want real military commentary from a sci-fi source, watch Battlestar Gallactica-- essentially a militarized Star Trek.)  

The two stories we read in class that touched on the topic of science did a particularly good job of mentioning the ethical aspect of science.  Having written papers on the ethics of cloning and biological terrorism, I'm no stranger to looking at the critical side of science that people are afraid to observe.  In class, a very interesting idea was brought up: what's the difference between science and ethics in relation to science.  This baffled me, as I kind of figured the two were relatively synonymous.  I still don't have a full comprehension of this distinction, but I'd say ethics surrounds the contribution (good or bad) of a scientific practice in relation to society or a community, while morality is more related to the soundness of science in relation to the individual.  This difference is seen in Huxley's Brave New World; the creation of many identical people is ethical in that society can benefit from it and it eases many concerns in the futuristic world, but it may not be moral in terms of how the individual is living out their life more like a robot than a human.  This is a topic that I will be actively looking out for when reading/watching science fiction material from now on. 

There's so much more to say about the validity and importance of sci-fi in literature, but this is a nice dosage for one day. 

[FW] The Best Day of My Life - One Year Later

In honor of a year passing since the best freakin' day of my life, here is a reflection on that day that will go down in history as the most dramatic and euphoric mixture of pure joy and grief that I have ever experienced.

A Concert of Epic Proportions: BAP Live on Earth in Chicago

One does not know the immense perfection of concert culture until one has seen a performance put on by a Korean boy band.  On April 19th, 2014, a Korean music group known around the globe as “BAP” graced the Midwest with a three-day stop on their two-week long Live on Earth U.S. Attack tour.  While this concert was known as their Chicago concert, it took place an hour outside of Chicago in Merrillville, Indiana, a cement-covered town that had obviously not even known the meaning of excitement until BAP paid a visit to their lovely Star Plaza Theatre.  If you have never had the pleasure of listening to Korean pop music before, you should know that BAP is a prime example of great mainstream K-Pop.  This six-member boy group is the complete package; each well-groomed boy is between the age of seventeen and twenty-three, and each plays their own specific role in the group.  Yongguk is the dramatic rapper while Junhong (better known as Zelo) is the charismatic rapper.  Daehyun is the power vocal while Youngjae is the softer vocal, and so on.  All six are amazing dancers and can somehow belt out their high-energy songs while performing intricate choreography without even missing a beat.  Keep in mind that this went on for a solid two hours and fifteen minutes, with a total of 25 songs on the repertoire.  There were no live instruments (besides the boys’ voices), but the high-energy tracks blasting out of the massive speakers were perfectly followed by the singing portion of the songs.  Even without the auto-tuning found in most music these days, their voices were flawless and the concert went off without a hitch.

        Based on the mere fact that almost 3,400 people of varying age, sex, race, and occupation came from around the country to stand in line outside the venue for (a maximum of twelve) hours to discuss how much they love BAP, it is pretty obvious that the group and its music tend to have a fairly strong impression on the people who enjoy their music.  As for the people at this concert specifically, the eardrum-puncturing shrieks of enjoyment throughout the entire concert (and even before any of the members even came on stage) were clear indications of how the music had an impact on the crowd.  With a thumping bass line and addictive melodies that stick in your mind like lint on new black pants, a lack of fist-pumping from every being in the crowd was out of the question (unless, of course, those certain beings were without arms to begin with).  I could have sworn that, at one point, I could feel my heart pounding to the beat of the songs blasting from the speakers to my left, as if the bass line were an iron fist gripping my heart and squeezing it in time with the music.

        I am sure that describing each piece from this particular concert would be enough material to complete a short novel, so I will choose the song with the performance that will stick in my mind forever, just slightly more so than every other song in the repertoire.  This song is titled “Warrior,” and happens to be the first song that BAP released upon their debut in Korea.  This sentimental factor made the whole performance that much more important to me and every other devoted fan in the crowd.  “Warrior” was composed by Kang Ji Won and Kim Ki Bum, who have written multiple wonderful songs for artists under the same music label as BAP.  The entire song is practically radiating angst and represents the inner rebellion of modern teenagers in one addictive track.  I could feel the nostalgia in the room (BAP’s debut was over two years ago and many of us have admired and followed their success from the very beginning) and I’m positive a few tears were shed over the realization of how far our boys have come.  The youngest member, Junhong (my favorite), has a rap that is faster than my internet connection; it was amazing to hear so many people in the crowd rap along with him.  The amount of time some fans put into learning a lighting fast rap in a foreign language is insane, but it was surreal to hear.  Overall, this song fit the group’s signature angsty, high-energy style and had everyone in the room singing along to all of the English parts and many of the Korean parts.  The only bad part of the song and performance was when it was over.

I am well-versed in what is expected of me at most concerts, but the culture and etiquette of K-Pop concerts is an entirely new story.  In terms of behavior, the crowd threw twice as much energy at the members of BAP as they threw at us.  Many K-Pop songs are tied to something called a “fanchant,” which is a specific map of where the crowd yells or sings along with the band members during each song, which can be found online and are all learned thoroughly before attending a concert.  BAP fanchants are special because the group has an official whistle, so most of the fanchants include specific points in the song at which everyone in the crowd blows their BAP whistle (assuming they have purchased one beforehand).  I get the sense that if the screeching fans in the crowd were to let up on the hollering by one decibel, the boys of BAP and their entire staff would think something is wrong, so the proper thing to do all throughout the concert was to test the limits of our vocal cords and eardrums.  There was one point, however, where the boys stopped to speak about the Sewol ferry sinking off the coast of Jeju Island in Korea.  At this time, everyone in the crowd quieted down and listened intently to what the boys had to say, visually and verbally showing them that we understood everything they had to say about the topic.  It was a solemn moment and we treated as such.  

Korean celebrities are known for their excellent manners, and BAP supported that cultural norm.  They all spoke respectfully and carefully when it came time to address the crowd.  Most of the members had excellent English, though I’m sure everyone in the crowd would have been content to hear them speak in any language.  When one member was speaking to the crowd, the other members stood attentively with their eyes focused on the crowd or on the member speaking, often holding their hands respectfully together in front of them.  In terms of preparation for the performance, I cannot begin to express how much I appreciate their hard work and dedication to putting on a great show.  BAP trains for weeks on end in vocals and choreography before they are even able to perform in public (let alone on an international tour), so every single dance step and high note was perfectly on point.  They could not have put on a better concert unless they had pulled each member of the crowd up on stage and given us each a smooch on the cheek.

I received a million times my money’s worth from BAP’s concert.  The energy in that room was so intense and electrifying; it was truly a feeling unlike any other.  The connection felt as if an invisible rope looped amongst the fans in the audience, the ends being held by the six beautiful members of BAP on stage.  Though my vocal cords were raw by the end of the night and my eardrums were in desperate need of a nap, I was not disappointed by a single aspect of the performance. Whether it be in Los Angeles, Busan, New York City, Seoul, Dallas, Daegu, or Merrillville, I would see BAP again at the drop of a dime.  Whether one is familiar with Korean pop music or not, one must understand that a BAP concert is one of epic proportions, to say the very least.  I just love them so much.

(Yes, this photo was taken from my spot in the 8th row.)

(My angel baby sugar muffins.)

[IR] JEKYLL JEKYLL HYDE JEKYLL HYDE HYDE JEKYLL

I received my Dover Thrift Edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the mail today.  I'm big into online shopping so I felt the usual rush of adrenaline I'm used to feeling when I see a perfectly packaged parcel patiently waiting for me.  The novel is actually shockingly brief, which means I'm already halfway through it less than 10 hours later.

I really don't have much to report on at this point.  I've been able to draw a lot of correlations between the books I read in Ms. Pyle's Gothic novels class last semester, so I'm thankful for that experience.  Our group did try to plan it this way; we wanted fantasy-level literature but the pre-twentieth century restriction made that difficult.  Kafka was too recently published and apparently H.G. Wells is not considered an author of literary merit (I'm really bitter about this), so the Gothic area was essentially our only option.  Frankenstein and Dracula were out of the question (as we had already read them), so R.L. Stevenson came to the rescue (cue the Jekyll and Hyde song from "Arthur").

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is much like Dracula in that it is almost entirely reported from an outside perspective-- outside being someone who is not the person of focus.  I've always loved this structure in literature, as great works like Peter Pan and the Sherlock Holmes stories use certain major characters simply as tools for probing interaction and creative narratives.  These are most often found in cases in which the main character is someone so sensitive, controversial or alternative that they cannot be questioned head-on.  Sherlock Holmes is a forensic genius who could not tell a story that a typical human could understand.  Frankenstein had to be written by the monster's creator and the creator's ship-sailing comrade, as the monster himself was far too scientifically advanced and socially primitive to be able to communicate with an audience.  Peter Pan is a child with terrible mood swings, shockingly short-term memory, and a general disinterest in anything remotely solemn and simply cannot communicate with Wendy (someone he is close to) let alone an audience.  While it would be very interesting to see this book written from Dr. Jekyll's perspective (which I think it might become later on), we are able to glean a lot of information from the outside perspectives of Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield, two dull men who are observant of Dr. Jekyll's situation (and therefore sneak the reader information) but are far too boring to be anything more than creative modes of generating a narrative.  This slow trickle of information creates an eerie effect that prevents a 55-page novel from only being a 12-page short story (as it would probably be if it were written from Dr. Jekyll's perspective).

Every moment I spend reading a traditionally-narrated book, I love to imagine the story being written from a different character's perspective.  A Handmaid's Tale written from Nick's perspective? Oliver Twist from The Artful Dodger or Nancy's point of view?  That's some money-making stuff right there.

[PR] Chosŏn Goes Wandering

Yi Sang-Hwa 이상화 
Morbid Season 병적계절 
translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé and Peter Lee 

Geese and swallows never meet, their ways never cross—why is that so sad to my mind? 
Clutching a leaf from which a cricket has fallen, I watch through the night.
Autumn seems to be a season for weeping lest sorrowful lives be separated. 

Is it time now for my endless thoughts, ceaseless dreams to subside one by one? 
Swarming winds that have lost their way like a widower rush into my boat, make it roll. 
Autumn seems to be a season when the doleful heart is so sick it runs wild. 

Behold the sky. A haggard cloud goes wandering. 
Behold the earth. Youthful Chosŏn goes wandering.

이상화 
병적계절(病的季節) 

기러기 제비가 서로 엇갈림이 보기에 이리도 설은가. 
귀뚜리 떨어진 나뭇잎을 부여잡고 긴 밤을 새네. 
가을은 애달픈 목숨이 나누어질까 울 시절인가 보다. 

가없는 생각 짬 모를 꿈이 그만 하나 둘 잦아지려는가. 
홀아비같이 헤매는 바람떼가 한 배 가득 구비치네. 
가을은 구슬픈 마음이 앓다 못해 날뛸 시절인가 보다. 

하늘을 보아라 야윈 구름이 떠돌아다니네. 
땅 위를 보아라 젊은 조선이 떠돌아다니네.

I gained an appreciation for Korean poetry when I was at Korean language and culture camp this summer.  I learned a lot about Kim Sowol, a poet whose poem 진달래꽃 "Azaleas" is INSANELY popular in Korea to this day.  I really wanted to do a Korean poem for my poetry project earlier this year, but Ms. Pyle made it clear that it would be better to do a poem in its original language, and I'm not quite that good at Korean yet.

I've often thought about how we interpret something as "sounding lovely" when it's in a different language.  It's much easier to identify the emotion in another language when it's expressed through music. For example, one of the first Korean songs I ever heard (listen to it here) definitely brought me to tears and I had no clue what the guy was saying.  Music is powerful stuff.  But think about it with traditional poetry or even books.  You can hear someone read a poem out loud and the words will send a chill down your spine; But what if you were to read that exact passage to someone who didn't know English? It's not likely to have a very powerful effect at all on them.  So how much of a language do you have to know before you can appreciate its finer forms?  Well, I read a lot of poetry in AP Spanish Lit and I've felt neutral towards most of it.  Maybe a few lines here and there have caused me think "dang, that's good," like a lot of English poetry does, but I think if I knew Spanish better those kinds of lines would be noticed more often.  

I like the poem included above because it's not at all like a traditional Korean poetry.  First off, it's not nearly as repetitive as a lot of old Korean poetry tends to be.  The only times when it is repetitive is in the last two lines, and this repetition affected me very positively.  This is also a creative way to compare two things without direct metaphors or similes; The haggard cloud and the Youthful Choson both go wandering, suggesting they are linked in a significant fashion.  The other non-traditional aspect of this poem is the long lines, which contrast with the typical 4 or so words per line in most Korean poems.  This is a much more conversational and approachable style that fits well with my taste.  

That should be enough analysis.  When I read it, I'm much more focused on analyzing the way in which it was translated from Korean to English, as that is something I would like to do in the future.  I'm especially intrigued by the fact that the English version has questions posed in the poem while the Korean version does not.  I wish I knew Korean well enough to understand why that is the case, as it seems like a fairly significant difference, don't you think?

Go read some poetry that was originally written in a non-English language. 

[CC] I Bought Her With My Money And My Yams

Why focus on the commentary on the human condition or the raw dynamics of each character in Chinua Achebe's book Things Fall Apart when you can be shocked by the amount of effort spent talking about yams?

"He was not a failure like Unoka.  He had a large barn full of yams" (6)

"'I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams'" (17)

"It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams" (19)

"I have cleared a farm but have no yams to sow" (21)

"But for a young man whose father had no yams, there was no other way" (22)

"The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown" (23)

These are just of a few of the references to yams that can be found in the first three chapters of Things Fall Apart.  So why are yams mentioned an ungodly amount of times?  According to my research, yams are economically important in that they are a major African export and almost a form of currency.  But along with this literal value, there is an incredible amount of abstract value in yams that earns it a festival at the beginning of the harvest season and many rituals by which the crop is surrounded.  It's understandable that such hype is built up around something that seems so trivial in the US when you consider how much of the Igbo people's lives depend on the abundance and quality of this crop.  Even if there's not enough for a cash crop (which would arguably not be entirely detrimental to the people), yams are a huge part of these people's diets.  When you have a limited source of meat, a lack of options for crops that grow in the dry climate, and a barn or two full of yams, you can bet your mama you'll be eating yams on the daily.


Have you ever eaten one of these highly acclaimed yams?  If your answer is "yes," I'll let you know right now that you're probably wrong.  Raw yams are virtually inaccessible in the US because the demand is relatively low, they have to be imported from dry areas like central Africa, and food companies know they can put sweet potatoes in a can and we'll take their word for the fact that it's a can of yams.  The USDA doesn't crack down too hard on this labeling system, but if you look closely at any can of "yams" in your local grocery store, you're bound to find the "sweet potatoes" on there somewhere.

So what's the difference? A whole plant species, that's the difference.  Yams are part of the lily family whole sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family.  They even look less alike than you'd probably imagine them to look.  There are white sweet potatoes in existence and orange yams, too, but the yams being referenced throughout the book are probably the big white ones with the dark, bark-like rind.  Not a handsome creature.  But a sweet potato would most likely not work well with the functions a yam is expected to have in Igbo areas.  The yam is tougher (allowing it to do well in dry soil and last longer in storage) and much starchier, making it fit for hearty meals like stew and yam fufu (or as Achebe calls it, "foo-foo").  I mean, could a root any less starchy than a bona fide yam stand up against the violent cooking that is fufu-making? Look here for some serious YAM ABUSE.  A sweet potato can't take that crap.

[IR] Florescent Lights Just Make The Darkness Brighter

Blog post title brought to you by: Ian's Quotes, a digital archive of solid quotes by Ian McKnight, documented by yours truly.

Over the last few weeks I've been slowly working my way through Never Let Me Go, a rather excellent book by the highly acclaimed Japanese-English author.  I think I expressed this in a recent post titled "Controlled Creativity (Talk About and Oxymoron)" that might as well have been titled "I Don't Know What The Heck Is Going on And It's Probably My Fault."  As a TL:DR, I expressed my frustration with the fact that I had made it a decent way into the book and still had no clue what the point of anything was.  Ishiguro is a great writer, don't get me wrong, but he seems to get cold feet every time he gets close to explaining what's going on in the story.  It's not even one of those stories where you can make an educated guess as to what the significance of something is and it might be something close to that estimation but much more extreme or, you know, whatever.  No.  I've been in the dark for chapters on end... until YESTERDAY!  

Throughout the book, these references to "donations" continue to be made.  We don't really know anything about them, just that lots of people give them, there's more than one donation and the main character is a carer for those who make donations.  The most frustrating thing? We have no frickin' clue what is being donated.  I like to guess about some things, but this concept of donations is so frequent and so vague that I just got irritated every time the author brought them up.  But! But but!  I just found out that they're donating organs! Woohoo!  I don't think this is a huge spoiler so calm down, I'm not ruining it.  So let's talk about organ harvesting.

There's this super scary thing called organ trafficking and it happens all over the place.  Like, everywhere.  A lot of times, people are so poor that they sell their organs on the black market.  Sometimes this pays really really well, but other times donors get terribly ripped off or, even worse, end up paying with their life or at least their health.  Even less fortunate people are kidnapped and have their organs forcibly removed.  Ugh.

When I think of live donations, I think of people donating one of their kidneys.  After all, you only need one healthy one to survive.  However, I just read on www.donorrecovery.org that you can also donate a lobe of your lung, parts of your intestine, parts of your liver, and your pancreas while you're still alive.  Crazy stuff man.  

So while I might be incredibly frustrated by the lack of information concerning these donations, the author has effectively prompted a physical reaction (mostly phantom organ aches) that allows me to connect with the characters more.  Maybe this was his plan all along, sneaky bugger.

[FW] So You've Been Commissioned to Make a Documentary on ~Anything~

A few days ago my lovely step sister was in town and she was eager to watch a movie before bed with the fam.  Due to her heightened intellectual preferences, she suggested a documentary.  Before I could sneak upstairs to watch some Star Trek (I have a tough time watching a movie if I'm not sitting in bed), I was stopped by the rest of my family and asked: "Hannah, if you could make a documentary about anything, what would your topic of choice be?"  What an intriguing question.  I couldn't believe I'd never thought of it before.  Nevertheless, it didn't take me long to identify my subject.

Now before you think to yourself "OH MY GOSH WHY DID I EVEN QUESTION IT, SHE'S OF COURSE GONNA DO A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT KOREA" just... hear me out on this one, it's really important.  The origin of my interest in Korea came from the country's massive pop music market, one of the biggest in the world, and for good reason.  Everything from the music and cinematography to the hairstyles and facial expressions are designed and analysed down to the atom.  EVERYTHING is synthetic.  One could even argue that personalities are designed to appeal to the widest, heavy-pocketed audience.  

At this point you're probably thinking: "Wow, how could someone enjoy something so incredibly fake?"  Well, weren't you listening? It's designed to be liked.  Korea has over 2 decades of experience with pop music and they know what sells better than anyone.  To this day, one of the first songs and groups that was created under the K-Pop category is recognized by anyone who has done an ounce of research on Korean pop music, this being "Candy" by H.O.T., an absolute classic.  It's like the Korean equivalent of N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" or Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again," but with WAAAAY worse outfits.


And so many of the guys from this era of Korean music own massively successful music labels today.  They know what's hot and how to sell it, there's no question about that.  However, they also know that sacrifices need to be made in order to push music and idols to their greatest potential, and this is where issues involving morality come in.  Too often do we see incredibly young recruits who are looking to follow their dreams of becoming a pop musician taking the hit for big labels just to move up on the charts.  It's no secret that teenage trainees, after enduring mercilessly meticulous recruitment events, are often put into small living spaces with many other trainees and with far from nutritious or abundant food (fans of established music groups are known for sending huge amounts of food to venues so they know that their idols are being fed).  It almost seems inhumane.  But the issues don't end when glory is achieved on the weekly music charts.  Music labels ban dating under any circumstances, which has led to K-Pop idols in their THIRTIES becoming involved in "scandals" that are really just dating rumors, but unauthorized nonetheless.

The greatest thing that makes K-Pop so renowned and enjoyable to experience is the visual perfection of it all.  Music videos are much more vital to a song than it is anywhere else in the world, so they have to be clean in choreography, lighting, sound, wardrobe, facial expression, hair and makeup. If you can get past the boys wearing eyeliner you're sure to be impressed by the aesthetic of it all. But Korean music labels know they can control more than just the lighting.  Plastic surgery is almost a given for anyone entering the K-Pop industry, especially for girls.  Western beauty ideals (double eyelids, wide eyes, v-shaped chin, etc.) have dominated standards for Korean idols and have had a huge impact on the health and image of almost everyone in that field.

Needless to say, there are so many things to be said about the blatant corruption of the Korean pop music industry and I would like to let my K-Pop-loving guard down in order to educate the world about the things being done to the idols that people around the world have come to love.  A need for this information to be spread is increasingly necessary as music labels are signing increasingly younger trainees (kids aged 13 or below that will endure years of musical training before they even see a stage). Hopefully by revealing the pressures that musicians are put under to sell their material the best they can, conditions can be improved in the K-Pop industry for idols and trainees of all ages.  

Also, on a more shallow note, I'd love having the chance to meet and interview the Korean musicians I've been admiring for years.  When I got a chance to see my favorite K-Pop group in concert (BAP) I asked the touring staff whether the boys were getting enough sleep.  They said that they were young and therefore always energetic, but I still worry about their health and whether there are paid well enough or not.

Side Note: a country that should get more attention in general is Japan.  Their music labels have been known to take female idols involved in "dating scandals" and send them out to a street to kneel and be publicly shamed.  Insanity: A famous example of Japanese public shaming.