Sitting Out on the Memorial Union dock, 8:02 PM
I’m reading “This is Orson Welles”, a series of interviews with the filmmaker, and I glanced up and this scene caught my eye.
An absolutely gorgeous sunset from the Union patio, with Picnic Point in the distance.
Introducing Busker Busker!
Here’s an indie gem that I’ve gotten into the past couple of days. Their name is Busker Busker, and they’re a trio of talented artists who have been taking the industry by storm – and for good reason.
Check out some of their songs!
The Answer to the Hardest Logic Problem in Existence
A few weeks ago, I published a post under the title, “the hardest logic problem in existence”. I’ve gotten a lot of queries asking me about the solution, and it looks like I’ve kept everybody in the dark long enough – so here’s the answer, explained step by step.
If you missed the question, you can check it out here.
The answer is C.
Why?
Let’s read the question over carefully.
After a few moments’ silence, one of the boy raises his hand and correctly answers the question.
The key word, like I said in the hint, is “silence”. No one spoke for a few minutes.
Why is that important?
Let’s consider C’s position. He can see the boy in front of him – B – is wearing a white hat. He also knows that there are four boys in the room (although he doesn’t know that A is behind the wall – but it doesn’t really matter in the end).
So he assumes that there are two boys behind him (although there is only one – but, like I said, it doesn’t really matter as long as C realizes there is SOMEONE behind him).
C deduces thus:
If there is another boy behind him, he would have been able to see the hat colors of both B and C (himself).
If C had been wearing the same color as B, the boy standing behind C would have gotten the answer immediately.
However, the boy standing behind C (D in this case) did NOT say anything, so C deduced that he and B must have been wearing different hat colors.
Since B was wearing white, C must be wearing black.
Studying for Midterms…
Sorry I haven’t updated this blog recently…at this rate, I’ll be finishing my Life in Korea series sometime around 2015.
This is my current view…sitting on a couch in the far corner of the Law Library, one of my favorite places to study.
The Hardest Logic Problem in Existence
I came upon this logic problem via a friend in college. I struggled with it for about 30 minutes before I gave up and looked for the answer.
The question below is not a nonsense question, and neither does it have no answer. There is a logical, deductive solution – can you decipher the riddle?
Four boys are set up in a room as seen in the above picture.
They all know the following:
- there are four boys (including himself) in the room; and
- two of the boys are wearing white hats, and two of the boys are wearing black hats.
The boys do NOT know:
- which boys are wearing which hats; and
- which hat he himself is wearing.
The boys are not allowed to turn around, and neither are they allowed to see the color of their own hat by either taking it off or looking upward. They are not allowed to speak with each other.
There is a solid brick wall between boys A and B.
The following question is asked of the four boys:
- what color hat are you wearing?
After a few moments’ silence, one of the boys raises his hand and correctly answers the question.
Which boy answered the question right, and how?
Hint: silence…
Life In Korea: Jeju Island, Part II (제주도)
By sheer amazing coincidence, our vacation date coincided with the current promotions that had been going on to get Jeju Island selected as one of the “New Wonders of the World”. And South Korea, which is known for its amazing (and sometimes overwrought) patriotism, brought forth some of their biggest guns – K-pop idol groups – to promote their cause.
So it happened that one day, when we were sitting down at a seafood restaurant during our vacation, that the owner ahjumma mentioned in passing that SNSD and f(x) – two girl groups – will be having a concert in a few hours.
All plans were discarded, all activities cancelled – there was only one goal in my mind: to get to that concert.
As the following video will prove, I succeeded in my goal: I got to see the girls live and in person, and although it almost wasn’t worth it (hours in the stifling heat), I can proudly say that I had an amazing vacation.
You can see me at 0:15 in the below video (I’m in the black shirt, to the right of the guy wearing the maroon “Class of 2011″ shirt:
Pictures to follow soon…
It Snowed Yesterday!
We had our first snowfall last night, when I was asleep. Everything looks so beautiful.
K-Pop Music Reviews: New.F.O – Bounce
The year 2011 has seen a huge amount of fresh-faced rookie groups make their debut – although the cutthroat competition among the lower end of the seniority rankings has always been tough, it has never been as hard for a rookie group to gain a toehold among its competition as the past year, which has – literally – debuted dozens of rookies to fight it out for a sliver of the wealth that the K-Pop gold mine can award them.
The increased level of competition demands the very best from the get-go, and if and when you take a misstep, the punishment is harsh and swift. Too many rookie groups have started off their debut promotions with a wide-eyed wonder and a naïve belief in the process of fame and stardom, and have since vanished into the dustbin of history. Others have found success, whether by a miraculously popular debut single (A Pink, with “I Don’t Know”), sheer hard work (Dal Shabet, with their three – yes, three – releases this year), or by a unique concept or gimmick (Chocolat comes to mind).
As the most turbulent year in K-Pop wound down, we received word that yet another girl group would make their debut. They were called New. F.O (short for “New Five Order”) and we were promised that we would see a groundbreaking change in the fundamental way K-Pop operated.
Their parent company, EnterArts Entertainment (along with 6theory) seemed to have an infinite amount of confidence in their group – releasing a myriad number of teasers and banking on a viral concept with footage of the girls spontaneously creating a street party with their dancing and singing skills.
With all of that hype, it was nigh impossible to keep your eye away from the girls’ official debut song, “Bounce”, when it finally hit the airwaves.
The question lingering in the air was this: would they meet the enormous expectations that they had set for themselves? And would they have anything to differentiate themselves from the spate of other debuts and comebacks this year?
To prove their mettle against their competition, New.F.O needed something to make them stand out amongst their peers, a track that would say, “Hey, we’re young, we’re fresh, and we’re bringing something new to the table”. Especially at the end of the year, when the audience is starting to suffer from K-Pop overload, the need for something “new” – something that would make them stand up and take notice for the sheer virtue of how different it is – is even more important. In short, New.F.O would require a song that would both showcase their skills and offer up something enticing.
Unfortunately, “Bounce” was neither of those things.
The track itself is very reminiscent of a common style in recent K-Pop trends – bubbly electronica mixed with a repeating hook, interrupted every so often by a stylized rap that may or may not make sense in the song’s format. To put it more brusquely, “Bounce” offers nothing new to the ears, nothing to make us sit up and say “Hey, this is different”.
And in today’s cutthroat competition, where “different” matters more and more, it’s a shame that New.F.O chose to stick to what essentially amounts to the steak-and-potatoes version of K-pop music. “Bounce” isn’t a horrible song – it is very reminiscent of Stellar’s “Rocket Girl” with its repeated hook and up-and-down rap – but it’s a classic case of “coulda, shoulda, woulda”. New.F.O could’ve been so much more than what they are. They should’ve had a debut single that actually showcases what they were capable of doing. And they would’ve been much stronger with a proper debut.
The girls try to do the best with what they’ve got; even among the electronic sound, there are hints of their vocal capability, and the rapping is well-done in the confines that the track places on the girls. The girls’ intensity and their genuine enthusiasm for what they sing is also visible, and the song is saved by their sheer pigheadedness that seeks to create something out of nothing.
It’s clear that the girls have skills, and it’s also clear that, judging from their promotions, that they were expected to do something great. However, “Bounce” was a misstep in that it immediately negated all of the hype and the goodwill that they had garnered – if a restaurant says foie gras on their menu, you would expect a well-prepared steak, done correctly; you wouldn’t expect a steak that was foie gras only by name, and was an average American steak in every other sense of the word. There are unique aspects as to what makes foie gras one of the best steaks in the world – unfortunately, in the case of this particular steak, the restaurant’s quality-control team went only so far as to check if the menu description was correct, and ignored what actually went on in the kitchen.
With the talent that the girls undoubtedly possess, they could’ve done so much more for their debut single – could’ve garnered so much more positive attention for themselves – and it is a crying shame that their debut single chose to play it safe.
It’s much too early to close the book – many rookie groups start off with a horrible debut single, yet return stronger than ever. New.F.O is in the same boat – “Bounce” was, to not mince words, a failure in that it failed to showcase the girls’ skills and didn’t capture the attention of the fickle audience, both of which is of supreme importance for all rookies. However, this is not a game where one strike means that you’re out – it’s time for New.F.O to step on the plate and try again, and hopefully with their next try, they’ll finally have a chance to blow it out of the park.
2.5 stars out of 5.
Life In Korea: Jeju Island, Part I (제주도)
The sky is blue, the plane is ready – off to Jeju Island we go!
Jeju Island (제주도) is a self-governing province of South Korea, and lies south of the Korean peninsula itself. It is a volcanic island, dominated by Mt. Halla (1,950 m above sea level). The island measures 109 miles across at its widest point, and is home to a number of unique species of fauna and flora that distinguish the island from the mainland. It is also the site of several of the most breathtaking sights in the country, which has made it one of the top tourist sites in the country.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
The clear sky beckons - welcome to Jeju Island!
After getting our bags, it was only a short trip to our first destination...
The "Yongduam" (용두암), a rock shaped like a dragon looking out to sea, and Jeju Island's unofficial symbol. (No, this isn't it.)
Here it is!
Heading southwards towards the opposite side of the island, our next stop was the Saryeoni Forest Trail - a network of trails that cover much of inland Jeju, covering more than 15 kilometers in total!
It would've been a very relaxing, very enjoyable walk had it not been for South Korea's summer heat, with temperatures rising up to nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit during our stay.
But it was still a very calm, extremely peaceful trail. I've been told that you could literally walk the whole day and never run out of new paths to take.
In any case, we went back to the safety of our air-conditioned vehicles pretty quickly...
...towards our next destination, which would prove to be considerably cooler.
Welcome to the Manjanggul Lava Tube, one of the largest lava tubes in the world. At 7.4 kilometers long, it stretches for ages underneath Jeju Island's surface.
It was quite dark in there!
These photos really do not do justice to the scale of the whole thing. It's massive!
Breathtaking.
Stay tuned for even more amazing images from picturesque Jeju Island, coming up next.
