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Who'd ever heard of "Pyeongchang" (평창) before the news came out that it would host the Winter Olypmics? Nobody, I think. Not me. It's a small mountain place somewhere out there. Here is a billboard I saw about a year ago, while visiting Gapyeong (가평) (see post-15), near Chuncheon (춘천):  Billboard for 2018 Olympics / Spring 2013 / Chuncheon, South Korea
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Post-207: Seoul City Hall, 1961 vs. 2014 (Or, Why Does Seoul's New City Hall Look So Strange?)3/15/2014 General Park Chung-Hee's May 16th, 1961 coup d'etat was perhaps the single most important event in South Korean history since independence in 1948 (see also post-53 and post-54). General Park successfully seized control of Seoul in the pre-dawn hours. Victorious, he posed for photographs that very day in front of Seoul City Hall:  General Park Chung-Hee (in sunglasses) / May 1961 / In front of Seoul City Hall See the wooden doors in the back at left, in front of which five soldiers are standing? You can easily stand in front of these same doors, even 53 years later. These were the front doors to Seoul City Hall. Here it is today. See the same doors?  Seoul City Hall today (with new black glass building behind) That black building behind is the New City Hall (2008 to present). The front building, the former City Hall (1928-2008), is now a museum and/or library. The huge grassy area in front of both is frequently used for events.
But why did they make the New City Hall such a weird shape? Here is the "The Ballad of Forty Dollars". The song reminds me of the Iowa I knew in the 1990s, when I frequently visited there (my father's place of birth). Lyrics below. The tune, the lyrics, the "Americana"; all are appealing. I like that it tells a story. I just can't figure out "the moral of the story" (if any). Can you? The Ballad of Forty Dollars
The Osborne Brothers [1972] Well, the man who preached the funeral Said it really was a simple way to die Well, he laid down to rest one afternoon And never opened up his eyes They hired me and Fred and Joe To dig the grave and carry up some chairs |
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November 2018
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