Changing pants (caught in the act)

About two hours ago, walking into a building I come to very often, the guard/gentleman at the front of the building who answers questions was sitting in his underwear, in the middle of changing his pants. It almost seemed that he had started changing them, got distracted by something on TV, took a seat, said hello to me as I walked by, then finished putting on his pants...

He seemed nonchalant about me catching him in the act. Instead of judging it from my immediate "what the hell" response, I was thinking about it from his perspective.

"Hey, I needed to change my pants at that moment. If I do this at the bathroom, and someone comes in looking for help, then I will get criticized for not being there. If I change my pants at my desk, then yes, some foreigner may wonder 'what the hell?' Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

* * *

The editorial writers of the Korea Times spend too much time watching movies. They want big symbolic actions that mean nothing. And they'd like to have photos to demonstrate those big symbolic actions that mean nothing.

The latest example is the response to MERS:

All this explains why Park needs to stay around the anti-MERS headquarters at least until the end of this week when the worst is expected ― or hoped ― to be over. If the epidemic still rages on, the President ought to consider delaying her scheduled visit to the United States. Nothing could be more important than people's safety and lives. And the U.S. administration will understand because President Barack Obama has also put everything on hold in the past when there is a national emergency.

That's exactly what Hollywood directors would stage--have the president show up on the scene, barking out orders about what must be done, standing around looking serious as solemn music plays in the background, canceling visits to assure the public. And as for Obama? Yeah, he would put everything on hold--in one case, he even held a press conference about the beheading of an American shortly before heading to the golf course. Okay, okay, the beheading of an American isn't the kind of national emergency the Korea Times is referring to. And I'm also wrong because the president didn't get caught changing to his golf pants.

President Obama, playing golf shortly after holding a press conference.

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

Michael Vick ain't got nuthin on me!!!

After football player Michael Vick admitted that he had been running a dog-fighting business I wrote that he was an idiot. If he was going to engage in such activity he should have gone to Indonesia or somewhere else. He certainly had the money to do so at that time. If he knew then what he knows now then he would have spent $10 million to run his dogfighting ring in Manila. Today I did something that probably not even Michael Vick ever did: I ate dog meat. I never expected that I would do so. It is a bit scandalous because Koreans don't just kill the dogs and eat them. Rather, they will beat them to death while they are still alive. That allegedly is to get the adrenaline flowing which allegedly makes the meat more tender which allegedly improves a man's stamina. I had told a friend that I wanted to give it a try. But as we sat down to eat I said: "I want to try this but don't give me any details until after we are finished eating." It just looked like regular me...

2019-12-19 Interview with Japanese reporter

"The interview is the honeymoon, publication is the divorce." --Shinae Chun I had a GREAT and FUN interview today with a reporter from Japan. Let's hope publication will also be great! www.lovetnkr.og

Still writing (Korea Times, 2023-12-19)

Still writing by Casey Lartigue Jr. The Korea Times December 19, 2023 https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2023/12/626_365284.html

Back in America, 4 days and counting

I got back a few days ago, I'm still unpacking... Some of the highlights so far: * Friday morning I was in the audience for a CNN/The Root discussion about being Young and Black in America . As a veteran of so many of these Washington talking events I am less than enthusiastic about them these days. Still, I bumped into a few friends, some of whom are neither young nor black. The discussion seemed so 1980s, with the panelists trying to figure out how to politically empower young black people. I guess it was appropriate then that the head of the NAACP was there. His most irrelevant concern was about hate talk radio...or I guess Rush Limbaugh being on the air all these years explains the high level of black-on-black crime. 20 years later, how is the Stop the Violence movement working out? The highlight of this particular panel was running into old friend David Plotz, who is now editor of Salon Magazine. I don't think I've seen him since college but he recognized me. I forgot...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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