samsung galaxy s2

Silly + Legal = Sillegal.



I read these in the newspaper this morning. A survey of 4000 people was taken by a television show (which featured a legal drama program) to vote on the top 10 crazy laws in the UK. I assumed it was a UK television network, though the article wasn't clear. Anyway, here are the results:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27%)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down (7%)

3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)

4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned(5%)

5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter (4%)

6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4%)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (3.5%)

8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (3%)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour

10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)

I thought these were pretty funny. You've got to think carefully about #8. I cannot vouch for the truthfulness of these, so before you go hunting for a Scottish archer within the walls of York, please check with your UK legal advisor first. And whatever you do, don't die in Parliament while wearing a suit of armour!

I'm not one who usually oogles over cars, but I must make an exception in this case. Twice this year I have seen this Mercedes Benz driving on the road, and my eyes popped out! I've included a couple photos from the internet, but they don't do it justice. This car has such a radical look, when you see it contrasted with other cars on the highway it really stands out.





I have no idea if this is available all over the world or not. But keep your eyes out - if you see one there will be no mistaking it. If you are reminded of a crescent moon shape, that's the car. Oh - the model is the CLS-350.

To answer Young Stumbler #1's question recently, YES, the book on Einstein that I am reading is written by Walter Isaacson. I am really enjoying this book, but that may not be surprising since I often like biographies and books about history. Even if you are not an Engineer, Physicist, or Mathematician, this book is very enjoyable and interesting. At least through the first half of the book, which is as far as I've read.

What really surprises me is that Mr. Isaacson has made some of Einstein's concepts very clear to me. Apparently Einstein himself wrote several books aimed at the layman to explain his theories, and just the few quotes in this book really helped me. I was exposed to these theories in Physics classes at Engineering School, but I had a difficult time grasping their meaning. I only wish our teachers had taken just a few minutes to put these discoveries in their historical context, and present some of the very simple thought experiments that Einstein himself employed to explain these things. If my crusty and stubborn 45-year-old brain can still understand the theory of relativity, imagine how much more so my 20-year-old brain could have understood it.



Speaking of the aging process, I am embarassed to show my other reading material these days. I'm not embarassed about the book, but about the reading glasses that I must wear! Somehow I ended up with this very old book from my parents home MANY years ago, and decided to start reading it. The problem is, the print is SO SMALL! With great embarassment, I found a pair of cleap reading glasses and I must use them to read this book. In my defense, I don't use reading glasses for any other reading. For some reason, this particular edition has REALLY tiny printing.

I am going to join the trend here in Korea amongst celebrities - and admit that I was posing as a graduate of a university which I didn't attend! Well, I was only an impostor for one night, and I was a pretty bad impostor, since I openly admited being an impostor. And lest anyone get worked up, I really AM a university graduate, just from a better another engineering school.

During The Stumbling Parents' visit to Korea, I mentioned that we met with KA and MA, the visiting professor and his wife. In order to tell this story, I must further reveal that KA is a professor from Mississippi State University (MSU). As luck would have it, this week they had the first ever international MSU alumni chapter meeting here in Seoul, and KA invited me to come along! [ for my Korean friends, "XXX alumni" are people who graduated from XXX university - my dictionary calls them 졸업생들 ] We had expected it would be about a dozen men getting together for an official 30 minutes or less meeting, then adjourn to a Korean BBQ restaurant. Was I in for a surprise.

I arrived at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, which was my first time to visit this place. Wow, it was a huge hotel and really nice inside (I'm glad TSP didn't see this place, or they would have been disappointed with the Niagara Hotel). I realized this was going to be a big deal when they told us to go to a meeting room on the 36th floor of the hotel. There they had namecards for everyone (me included), and we were introduced to the MSU President and Alumni Director, both having traveled to Korea specially for this meeting! KA/MA brought WB, an American MSU graduate (not an imposter) who is teaching at a university in southern Korea, near where KA is teaching.

All of us westerners were seated together at one of the front tables while we listened to the speeches and ate dinner. I was further surprised when the speaker thanked me personally by name for attending the dinner, and then realized my name (along with the other Americans) was featured prominently in the evening's program! WB and I were thanked for "being active in Korea as the MSU alumni", and KA and MA were thanked "for being together at this place today". It was too much.

Here is KA and MA, pointing to my name in the evening's program:


Here is the MSU President giving his speech:


WB trying to put on his MSU baseball cap:


Trying to cram everyone into one big picture:


But no, there was more. After we were finally finished with speeches and dinner, the brought out presents to give to all the Americans attending the meeting! I will confess that I did admit the truth to the MSU president and alumni director - I am NOT an alumni from MSU, but rather I am a Rambling Wreck. However, I do have some connections to MSU. I have two family members who are alumni, the engineering director at my first company of 12 years was also an alumni, and my current company's president is an alumni (he's the one who introduced KA to me, since they were college friends many years ago).

Well, here is the nice gift bag I received:


Cufflink and Tie Clasp set:


Wallet and Belt set:


Here is the program cover from the evening:


And the non-Korean menu. It was delicious.


I was worried about eating duck jello. I expect my jello to be sweet. Once I got over the shock of jello tasting like meat, it was actually pretty good. The rest of the meal was first class. MA especially enjoyed it - she has been having a tough time adjusting to Korean food.

We finished up about 9pm, and my friend JI called me. Last night was his infrequent dinner out with fellow students from his English Academy. They often request that I join them so they can speak English with me, but I've only gone once or twice in the past 6 months. Since it was only a few subway stops away, along the way home, I stopped by for an hour or so and spoke English with a bunch of Koreans at a Chinese restaurant - how strange is that?



I told them my story about being an imposter at the MSU alumni meeting. These guys immediately reminded me about the recent scandals here in Korea which I mentioned at the start of this post. If the press catches me being an imposter, I will have no choice but to return these nice gifts. I don't mind returning the cuff links, since I don't have any French cuff shirts, nor the belt, since it is too small for me (or should I say my belly is too big for the belt). But I'd like to at least keep the tie clasp and the wallet... please....

Last night I met my friend JI and one of his buddies JM for dinner. JM suggested a fusion chicken restaurant, which sounded good until I heard that they tried to eat there previously but got lost and didn't find the place. We walked quite awhile, but eventually found it. My first impression was that the place was closed. The lighting was very dim. We sat down and ordered our food, and as I looked around I realized I was eating on the set of the TV show M*A*S*H. This place was decorated to look like an army camp. I was even more surprised when they brought our beers to use in metal canteen cups:



This cup is from the standard US Army WWII canteen (maybe Korean War, too). Back in the USA, I have one of these exact same canteens in the garage!



The place is called The Flying Chicken, but I can't quite connect the name to the decor. They have a website, but even knowing a little Korean I can't figure out how the website is related to the restaurant. There are no photos of food or menus that I can see. Strange.

When I went to buy a loaf of bread today, I noticed some bagels for sale. They had blueberry ones, but I don't really like blueberries. So instead I got a sweet potato bagel! It's not exactly our American sweet potato, but a similar one famous here in Korea. I'm planning to eat it for breakfast, but I don't have cream cheese. Either I'll eat it with jelly or melt some cheddar cheese on it.



Finally let me show this interesting fried snack that came with a place of french fries the other night. I thought it was a weird onion ring, but actually it was potato. Happy Potato.

A new restaurant opened up this week on the 1st floor of my building. It is called U9, and apparently is owned by the BHC and/or BBQ chicken restaurants (I don't understand the whole story). They serve Donkatsu (something we ate on The Stumbling Parents' visit) and Chobap. I don't understand the sushi / sashimi distinction very well, but I believe Korean Chobap is closest to sushi. It is slices of raw (or marinated or smoked?) fish served on top of small balls of rice. I had been craving this for a couple weeks now, and we never had a chance to try this during the trip. So tonight I had nothing to do so I went down to eat Chobap along with Einstein (I'm reading a super-thick biography of him). I didn't have my camera, so here's a photo I snitched from their website:



I didn't get too much read in Einstein, however. A nice old man came and sat down next to me. I recognize him as a resident in our building. He told me all about his international travels - he has family and business in Germany and USA, besides Korea. And he served in the Vietnam War in the Marines.

When I finished up, after I paid for my food, the owner gave me a box. She said it was a present. Later I figured out it was because it is a new store. When I got back home and opened it, it was a hand towel!



It was good. Next time I'll have to try the Donkatsu, although I think it is much less healthy than Chobap.

Oops - I forgot the best photo yet from TSP trip! In their hotel room, they had a luxurious bathtub, with whirlpool jets and bubble bath soap. Living in an officetel, I don't have a bathtub, and I was very jealous. Here is TSF soaking in the bubbles:



By the way, I think the second best photo from the trip was of the pumpkin duck food. Neither of these top two photos were taken by me - I need to work on my photography skills.