Events

Yes, that's why you should buy this book: This is right up there with the (in)famous marketing of the same play in 1968, when movie posters proclaimed it "Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet."

My cousin and I, who have season tickets to Wrigley Field, went to the park on Thursday to see what other seats were available. Last season we were in section 518: After walking around a bit, we decided on a change of view, to Section 524: The seats are nearly equivalent, just rotated 90° to the south, and without the foul ball catcher between us and the pitcher's mound. We're not optimistic about the Cubs' chances this season, but we'll be there anyway. Opening day against the Phillies on April 5th.

The Illinois Supreme Court recently overturned the "Amazon tax" that caused the online retailer to drop all of their Illinois affiliates (like me) a couple years ago. Well, they brought the program back to Illinois, so The Daily Parker is once again an Amazon Associate. All that means is, when I link to books or content—like, for example, the Deadwood Blu-Ray box set—the link will include an ID that lets me take a piece of your purchase. This is the only way that I monetize the blog. Note, for example...

Wow, do I hate eastbound overnight flights. Wednesday I felt totally fine. I got up normally, went through a normal day, and felt pleased with myself for conquering jet lag. After picking up Parker, I went to Duke of Perth for a nice cheeseburger (I never eat American food while abroad if I can help it), had an Old Chub, and got home by 9:30. At this point, my body decided that since it was only noon (in Korea), there was no crashing need to go to bed. So it kept me up for another seven hours. I finally...

I'm back in Chicago, trying to determine what day it is (Wednesday, I think). Tuesday was very long—39 hours for me, if you go by the book—but the only way it makes sense to me is to think of it as two separate days. For instance, I think I started trying to get some sleep somewhere just east of Japan somewhere around 9pm local time, which would be 30 hours ago. Then I woke up somewhere just east of Sacramento about 24 hours ago. The evening and the morning of the first day, sort of. All right, so I had...

Oh, so this is the world's greatest airport. All right, I can go to aviation heaven now, and shop on the way. Don't get me wrong: less than 10 minutes after I checked in, I was through security and immigration. Kind of like at O'Hare the day I left, it turns out, but Incheon extends that efficiency to everyone, not just those of us who have gotten our Pre-Check clearances. And I do appreciate the "best shopping chance" advertised on the train, in the check-in area, on the escalators, and in the loo....

After going to the Korean history museum on Sunday, I went over to the War Memorial. This isn't entirely a memorial to the Korean War, though about half the building is devoted to it. The basement has artifacts and busts commemorating two millennia of wars on the peninsula. Outside the memorial building is an assortment of weapons from World War II onwards, including OH MY GOD THAT IS A B-52: A B-52 that children can climb on, apparently: They also have a Nike missile next to a SCUD, which was...

Now that I've slept on it, I see it's possible I was a wee cranky yesterday. After a good night's sleep, for instance, I realize I don't hate my Windows phone (but it does annoy me frequently). But also upon waking up I read Andrew Sullivan's reflections on visiting London he published a few hours ago. He wrote: Beneath the packed busy streets, there’s a quiet, low-level order that can become so familiar you lose sight of it. On the tube, for example, despite being crammed in like a container of skinny...

I have an HTC Windows 8X phone. I work for a Microsoft Partner, so this seemed like a good idea at the time. After nearly a year, I can report that I am tired of this phone and want to go back to Android. The one thing my phone does well is manage two Microsoft Exchange accounts. And it does Skydrive all right too. Those are Microsoft products, so Windows should handle them. I find the touch-screen waaay too sensitive. It can't determine what letter I want more than half the time, and its auto-correct...

(I promise, no more "Seoul" puns. Promise. Really. Swear.) Yesterday I started my shpatziring at the Seoul Museum of History. Now, if you know about my love maps, you can imagine what happened when I walked into this room: That is a 1:1500 scale model of the city. Every. Freaking. Building. With an electronic system that put a spotlight and a little CCTV camera on whatever point of interest you wanted to see. (Aside: Would it have killed them to do the electronic interface in multiple languages? Sheesh....