Area 51 shots

For any interested, here are some pics of our 14 week old alien.

Enjoy.

Looking towards 2007

Well, this is looking like it is going to be a fairly exciting year. I'm not big on the actual "New Years Eve" celebrations and all, but I do believe in goal setting, and this is as good a time as any to do it.

Family - I'm really looking forward to the arrival of our little monster. We still don't know the sex (and in Korea it is technically illegal to find out), so I'l have to stick with calling it and "it" for now. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at times, but for the most part I'm either excited or forgetful. That foregetfulness dissapears a little more each week with the rise of Joo's belly though.

*Of special note is my mom. The Doc's did not give her very good news a year ago, but now it seems that she's as tough as everyone expected. No slowin' her down.

Work - Well, I've finally got my company off the ground. PC GROUP is a Professional Consulting group based on Corporate Training (note: website may still be under construction). I've got a couple of good people working with me on this, and I'm looking forward to the flexibility it'll afford.

Hobbies - I haven't had time of late to play my usual games. City of Heroes is still my favorite, but I'm also looking forward to Lord of the Rings Online being launched.

Art wise, I've still got my Gallery on the go. It now has about 2000 visits per month! I've been trying to branch out into Inking and Coloring now too.

Movies/Shows - 2006 was kind of a dud for movies, but 2007 is looking like it might be the year of the Superhero. The Fantastic Four 2 (june) comes with the arrival of the Silver Surfer! Ghost Rider (Feb) also blazes onto the screen. Spider Man 3 (May) is the one to beat though. It looks like it'll be the best one yet. And, last but not least, The Simpsons Movie. (July)


Woops, how could I forget the very cool looking Transformers Movie. (July)

I'm also downloading (whenever they actually bother to air them) the following shows: Heroes, LOST, Desperate Housewives, Battlestar Galactica, and the much anticipates second season of ROME.

So there's my little update for the new year. I hope you all have a good one too, and feel free to comment (or add any cool up-coming movies) to this post.

My Baby (girl?)

Ok, as most of you have already gathered, Joo is pregnant and we are expecting our first child somewhere towards the end of June. So far, we've had lot's of fun discovering (new) cultural differences in relation to pregnancies as well as trying to figure out what kind of parents we're going to be.

Sometimes, I have to admit, it's pretty stressfull. But there are times when all those stresses just wash away.

One of those times is when I see the ultrasound of my little baby. So much raw emotion there... and so many dreams for the future.

For any interested -

She's the little white blob inside the little black blob - which is of course inside another white blob. Does that make any sense??

Oh, and I had a dream the other day that is was a girl. So, here I am writing it down. If I'm right, I guess we'll find out in 6 more months.

33 years old - and joining the ARMY!!

Ok, I'm pretty sure I'm technically too old to join the army, but that doesn't stop me from playing dress-up. Here is a pic from a shooting last month. The movie is called "The Meeting Place" and it is about a village that is torn apart by the Korean war. With the families separated by a fence, they make a network of tunnels to keep in touch - literally. My not-so-key position, was to yell at them at various points.

Not a bad day, but cold as heck on that mountain. Man, I don't know how anyone survived a war here.

Oh, and yeah, I just turned33 - yippee!

Downloading Movies

A few people have asked me how to download movies and such. While it is illegal in some countries, and in now way to I promote the practice, if you were considering how to do it, you just might want to visit the links below.

Download the program here.

And search for movies at torrentspy and ISO hunt and Mininova.

But remember, I didn't tell ya /wink

Yellow Fever

I'm not sure if you all have heard this term, but "Yellow Fever" is usually used to explain 'white people dating Asians'. Personally, I'm not big on the titles and such, but I have to say, this video is great. This guy took an interesting direction with this subject (humor) and made it great.

Too bad there wasn't more people who looked at it this way.

(not my usual post on here, but I thought it was funny as heck)

Spiderman 3

Ok, this year has been kind of a downer for movies, but with the trailer just released for the newest Spiderman movie, I'm gettin' giddy again.

I'm a little worried that this series may go the way of the X-Men (that they'll want to limit it to 3), but watcing that preview gives me hope.

Enjoy.

Malaysia - Perhantian Islands

I've been meaning to write this post up for a couple of weeks, but as always, right after vacation seems to be the busiest time (see last pic for a hint).

For those who do not know, or those who may have forgotten, Joo and I went to the Perhantian Islands in Malaysia for the first bit of October. We had a great time and saw some phenomenal things. It's some of those things that I'd like to show you..


The island itself was like many others we've been to. Nice beaches and great sunsets (see below). For the second half of our trip though the sunsets seemed to get a little less spectacular. Apparently October is burning season in many parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. Keep that in mind if you're looking for a lot of sun (pale boy Ed still managed to get a major burn though) .

Our bungalow was called Abdul's Chalet. I never did meet Abdul, but at $18 a night, I have to say he ran a fine place. One thing that was quite interesting about this section of beach was that we seemed to be really close to the animals. Every morning Monkeys would come down from the jungle and eat mangoes from the tree behind our place. Here's a pic of them hanging out with a baby.
We also had the pleasure of dozens of bats buzzing us during dinner time. I say pleasure not to sound sarcastic, but honest, without them, we'd of been eaten alive by mosquitoes!

In the trees in front of our place were a number of squirrels. Not normal ones mind you, but FLYING ones! I thought they were cute, but Joo didn't think much of them after one dropped a mango core right on her forehead (chuckle). Oh, and did I mention snakes? Yup, had those too!

Oh, before I leave the beach, I want to mention a bit more about the monkeys. Apparently, there are two types on this island. One troop of black ones (the "thinker" pictured below) and some grey ones. The grey ones are quite angry and we (kind of) got chased by one on a hike - SCARY!

Both Joo and I got our PADI Open Water certification on this trip. It took us about 3 days and $250 (each) but it was worth it. Joo was a little worried about the swimming test, but buy our 5th dive, she was doing great! (not counting her shocked expression in this shot)

I on the other hand was cool as a cucumber, just not as photogenic as one (it's hard to stay still and pose underwater!).

We saw a number of different fish on our dives. Everything from sea turtles to clown fish. Small Nurse sharks to giant puffers (below).

Some of the coolest stuff though was on our last dive. We dived what is called "the sugar wreck". It's a boat that sunk a few years back and is approx 20m down. It was dark and scary at times (strong current) so the shots may not seem like much, but times them by 100 and you get a picture of how cool it was.


Oh, and before I forget, one of the coolest things happened to us before we left the island. Apparently one of the locals was keeping a sea turtle and helping to feed it before releasing it. On our last day the turtle decided it had had enough and it headed for the water. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time, watching it struggle along the beach finally to spread it's wings into the sea. Simply stunning.

Here's me on a quick 2 day stopover in KL. Joo stayed on there for an extra few days (for a business conference) and I headed back to Seoul.

Oh, and remember WAAAY back at the beginning of this post I had mentioned something about some big news keeping me busy. Well, if you take a look at the photo below, I think you'll have a good guess at what it is *wink

My Mom's Visit

Well my mom is on the plane right now and I am heading off tomorrow for a quick vacation and I'm trying my best to write something up (and post some pictures) before I go so.... please forgive any run on sentences. ;)

Like all tourists are forced to, we brought her to the Korean Folk Village. Locals don't think much of it, but most tourists I know enjoy the visit. Here is my mom walking the dangerous bridge into the park ;)

And here we are standing in front of an entrance for some type of Governor's house. I really like this pic for some reason.

The village is quite cool and there are numerous places where you can just sit and unwind. Unfortunately for us, most of those places were filled with troops of little Kindergarten kids. Ah well, my mom thought they were cute, and we ended up finding our way into some quiet spots (mom and Joo below).

In this village are a lot of people working and volunteering, helping to add to the atmosphere. We watched a traditional wedding and saw some pretty cool performances. Below is a pic of an old guy writing up something for my mom (I can't remember what it said off hand) and a couple of performers.

I brought my mom to the DMZ. For those who do not know, it is the last remaining barrier of the Cold War (well, maybe not last... but close). It is considered the most fortified border on the planet... fun stuff eh?

Joo brought my mom out to her Aunt's house in the country. They had a ball out there (from what I hear - I was working), and all the neighbors are talking about that foreign woman now.

I really like this pic of my mom in the pepper field. Something seems young about her.

We went to Chung Deok Palace here in Seoul. It was actually my first time... and we took a lot of pics... but this is the only one I'm going to post here. I'm just too tired of loading these things up here.

This is the church Joo and I go *cough* get dragged* cough* to. It is reputed to be the largest church in the world. And at 800,000 members, I'm believe it.

We brought my mom to Meyong-dong, where Joo and I met.

We also went to NANTA - kind of a STOMP thing on with kitchen supplies.

And the last pic for today... this is one of her at the top of Namsan mountain, in the center of Seoul. Kind of a Rocky thing she's got going on here.

Over all, I'm tired of posting pics and I' running out of time (Heading to malaysia in 12 hours)... but it was an amazing trip and I'm glad she came over here and hung with us.

Love ya mom

Ed & Joo

Renaissance Man

Well, I know I haven't written anything on here in a long time... but I've meant to! Doesn't that count for something? I've honestly planned on writing something for awhile, but I just kept forgetting. Then, the other day I tried logging in and discovered that I had forgotten my password - obviously now I've remembered.

So, for my "return" I've decided to tell you that I have a new title "Renaissance Man"! I've had some odd things happen in my life of late (maybe why I haven't posted), and it's about time I told ya.

Work:

I have been continuing my free-lance work. The hours are fine and the demand is high. I'm trying to scult them a little so that I'm able to spend a little more time at home. Like most people realize at different points, it's all about the quality of life that matters.

Books:

I haven't been reading all that many books of late. In the last while I finished Freakonomics (quite good), Digital Characters (average), Canadian History (for dummies), and Korea Witness (not too bad).

Movies:

Snakes on a plane!! - it is what it is, a B movie.
X-Men 3 - Loved it.
Superman returns - not too bad.
Clerks 2 - like the Kevin Smith stuff.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend - I like superheroes and all... but not this.

Superheroes:

Lot's of movies out there but also some interesting comic books. Apparently Civil War is on, I'm trying to catch up on the Marvel stuff. Also, the Justice League had a kind of cool cartoon series that I downloaded. As well, as always, you can ckeck out my stuff here. http://juggertha.deviantart.com/

Wedding:

My buddies Aaron and Na Young got married last month... and I was the... presenter/minister/officiator. http://idiotscollective.blogspot.com/2006/07/seoul-nuptuals.html

Politics:

I'm hessitant to post up too much on this one, but I'm growing in my involvement with LiNK. http://www.linkglobal.org/ Last week I met Kang Chol Hwan of Aquariums of Pyongyang, the director of Yodok Story, the manager of Radio Free North Korea, and US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher.

Movies (again):

I was in a movie last month (post below this one) and the other night I got a call to be an extra in another. This one had no lines, but I got to hang out with some friends, meet some cool people, and make a bit of cash.

My wife was quite happy with one thing though, I met Daniel Henney. For those who might not know, he is the "Korean Brad Pit" and is adored by all here. I must say, that after meeting him and talking with him a bit, he's a cool enough guy. Just your average joe that made it big. And yes, for any of you Korean girls that are reading... he's a decent looking guy in person too. ;)

In the MOVIES!

That's right, you are now reading the blog of an almost-semi-close famous guy. I put my picture a few months ago up on an internet site for foreign workers here. A month ago I was called and i went down for an audition. It turns out they liked my look (or more likely I was the only one they could get) and I got the part.

The part though, was not the best one. Acting wise, I'm told it was quite good for a start. Character wise though, it was little lacking. I played an obnoxious US soldier that gets into an accident with a taxi and then proceeds to sexually harrass the taxi driver's wife AND get into a fight with him. All this while still trying to keep my cool Blue Magnum look on my face (bow down to Zoolander!).

I've since then heard wind of some other roles. Hmmm, let's hope that I find a nicer role though (or my wife is gonna' kill me).

Calgary trip - Summer 2006

Well, it took me a little while to load/save/upload all of these pictures, but I'm hoping it'll be worth it in the end. *that's a hint that you should leave a lot of comments.

I guess I'll start this off with our Banff trip. Years ago Joo's mom went to Epcot (sp?) Center in Florida and saw an exhibit of Banff there. She said that she had always remembered those miniature mountains. I thought it was about time we showed her the real thing. My bud Trish was our guide (she's been out there a billion times more than me). First we went hiking in Johnson Canyon.

It was great getting that fresh air back into my lungs. I had almost forgotten what clean air felt like. But it wasn't just the air, even the water amazed me. everything just seemed like it was put down that day for us.


And of course, with all that clean air... romance had to follow.

I looked like a foreigner getting all excited about the animals we saw. There were a number of deer, crows, squirrels, mountain goats, and chipmunks (I like this shot)

We ended up taking the Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain. I was not wanting to pay the $25 dollar fee but, I must admit, the view was worth it. I felt like I was on the top of canada in this shot.

I think Joo's parents were blown away by the view of *cough* expensive *cough* Banff. Joo's dad kept talking about (at 2900m) how he was at the highest point he's ever been in his life. {the tallest mountain in korea is 2200m I think}

We went to Heritage Park the next day and met up with my parents there. My mom seemed in fine health and although both her and Val weren't able to walk around the whole place, I'm sure they had a great time just seeing us running around.

As somone who had to go to Heritage Park as a kid (for school) I had never been a big fan of the place. As an adult though (and as a semi-foreigner) I now have a better appreciation for it. It's amazing the quality of building back then.

Here's my best imitation of a cowboy - I never did go in for wearing the hat.

And of course, no trip to Heritage Park is complete without a picture of a Mountie. If you notice, there's a paper bag hanging in all the doors. They said it keeps the wasps away because the wasps think that it is a rival nest - cool.

We stopped by the Harley dealership so my father in-law could check out his favorite model. I was hoping Rob would have his bike together and take him for a spin, but unfortunately his wife Mehgan (sp?) was due THAT WEEK and he was otherwise occupied (we were hoping they'd have it while we were there - no such luck).

I've always been a big fan of Zoos. Since I was a kid, the zoo was my idea of a perfect day out. This time though, it was better than ever. I'd hazard to say that this was my BEST trip to the zoo! Trish (and Mandy for a short time) brought us there and Trish's aunt and uncle (who work there) gave us a behind the scenes tour. It was amazing. We were able to go into almost any exhibit!

Here I am feeding (and doing my best goofy face towards) a giraffe. Man, look at that tongue! (that's Trish's very helpful aunt in the middle)

The hippopotamus were my favorite though. I had remebered hearing about how in Africa they thought that hippos sweat blood, but when I saw the red beads on their backs I was amazed. Touching it though was too cool (translation - sticky).

And the best was being able to touch this old boy's mouth. Man, to think that this animal causes more deaths in Africa than any other, and I've got my hand in it's mouth!

We ended up feeding some horse meat to the lions and petting a cute little bat. Oh and we were also able to visit our (allbeit far removed) cousins. These gorillas seemed passive enough but we were warned that if we were ever on the receiving end of their force, they'd break us without realizing.

Speaking of big gorillas, I was told of a story about my buddy Dan. He went to the zoo (wearing all black) and when he stepped near the gorrilla exhibit the large one charged the glass! A zookeeper near by told Dan to crouch down and look passive. I guess being a pro bodybuilder does not get you points in the wild. Here's Dan with his (and my) favorite toy.

Visiting Calgary was a lot about visiting people and... eating! When you visit, you must eat. And we ate a lot! man, those Canadian serving sizes are just monsterous.

Here's a pic of my and some buds after a dinner (missing a few people like Kurt and Jen in this shot). These guys, now that I look at it, are actually all old training partners of mine. Mike, Dahn, and Dan. Wow, so many years of training together. Funny how everyone is still in great shape (well, I'm working on it).

And, not to forget the one who is responsible for all this (my going to korea), Nancy! we were able to meet here for a nice lunch and then later for a korean meal (which was twice as much as it is here in Korea BTW).

We also had lunch with Mandy and Vic (newly married and expecting) and my bud Ryan (who is taking this pic). Great to see some old friends again - and new ones. mandy, Vic seems like a good catch, good job!

Time was a bit pressed this trip though. I didn't want to in-laws to get too bored, and sitting around only speaking in english felt like it did that. Far too many of our visits were just quick "drop in and say hello" types. As always though we were able to say hi to a very old (as in years known) friend and his wife, Marcus and Sharon.

We ended up having a BBQ on one of our last days in town with my pseudo-mom Joyce and her son Rob. It was good to see Rob again healthy and happy and enjoying his beautiful family. I know this shot is showing Angie, but geez why can't I remember all the kids names?? If I was on the ball though I would have e-mailed Nicole and got her to come too (sorry).

The in-laws (ok, mostly my father in-law) were all over every kid we saw. They were giving us STRONG hints that they are expecting grandchildren soon. And I'm sure my Mom would echo their sentiments. Hmmm, maybe I should be spending less time writing this blog and more time ...

There are so many people missing from these pics; Although we saw my Parents a number of times, for some reason we only have a few pics of them, Al (who seems to be doing great nowadays), Jes (who came from vancouver to see me!), Rob (who is stressed but will soon be a pappa), Dawne (who is also stressed), Kevin and Stacy (who just bought a great new house!!), and Dana (who I could not seem to hook up with on this trip). If I have left you out, leave a comment /wink

Most of all I need to thank two people for making this trip so much easier for us.

Mike - you lent us your house and gave so much more. Thanks man, you're a brother to me.
Trish - you took the week off and brought us laughing around Calgary and area. Couldn't of done half of it without 'cha, thanks.

Now if only I could get everyone to come to Korea...