BALANCE of CULTURE

Skaters in Pyongyang

Skateboarders in North Korea. Just crashing Kim il Sung's birthday party, no biggie!

[Via]

Last Artworks of Great Artists

Mondrian, Beuys, Rothko, Ader…just some of the artists included in this online exhibition that features the very last art works of these creative minds: End Piece.

LA Riots--20 years ago today

 

A barbaric week that has never been honestly discussed by our city leadership.

BoC Dérive: 27 April 2012

Online Dérive:

FOOTAGE: Nine infamous videos from the 1992 LA riots.

SCHADENFREUDE: Dark tourism, or thanatourism, is a growing trend for travelers.

PUBLIC: China has had a hard time persuading Tibetans to accept Panchen Lama as Beijing's official pick as the official face for Tibetan Buddhism in country.

EAT: PETA's "Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity" contest goes international.

IDIOT: This "Evil Equus" claims his dog's tragic death was an accident. Please take a look and sign this petition for some accountability.

PIX: The Instagram exodus continues since Facebook acquired the popular photo app. Luckily, there's Japan's superior Pick.

Time to Create Worlds in Mexico

Time to create worlds in Mexico…excited for this project!

Parisian Sugar Porn

Drool…visit Paris Patisseries for more delicious, sugary food porn, recipes, and life in Paris snaps!

Western Immappancy of Africa

It's so easy to misinterpret the relative sizes of countries, particularly since our Mercator projection maps tend to distort and exaggerate the size of first world states in the northern hemisphere--this condition is dubbed "immappancy" by GUI designer Kai Krause. His image below of the true size of Africa refutes what most Westerners think about the geography of a continent that most have never actually visited, despite their many opinions.

Puts so much of the region into perspective...

Remembering Saigu, the LA Riots

"I want to make it clear that we didn't open fire first," said David Joo, manager of the gun shop. "At that time, four police cars were there. Somebody started to shoot at us. The L.A.P.D. ran away in half a second. I never saw such a fast escape. I was pretty disappointed."

Defending the armed response of the Koreans, Mr. Rhyu said, "If it was your own business and your own property, would you be willing to trust it to someone else? We are glad the National Guard is here. They're good backup. But when our shops were burning we called the police every five minutes; no response."

--quotes from a 1992 NYT article on the Los Angeles riots.

 

It has been 20 years since the 1992 LA riots, or Saigu, as many Korean Americans refer to the date of 4/29. So many people are remembering the heinous crimes and behavior that occurred that fateful week. I do think that "race relations" in Los Angeles have improved for the most part, as most large cities have over the last decade, but a racial "shift" is probably more of an accurate term.

The old issue of Korean Americans v. African Americans is virtually nonexistent in Los Angeles proper, where the Latino and Hispanic community has established itself as a major group. Koreatown, in the heart of LA, may be dominated by Korean-American owned businesses, but the residential faction is majority Latino/Hispanic. In smaller US cities, however, some tensions remain between Asian and black communities--take Washington DC or Dallas, for example.

Riots always teach us about what's really going in communities. In terms of the LA riots, two things are clear: the LAPD simply cannot be trusted when clear danger is present in the public (in other words, they are scared of their own city), while Korean Americans have no fear in taking matters in to their own hands, literally, when it comes to their livelihood (probably shouldn't mess with them). I think we've learned so many things from 20 years ago, but these two factors stand out the most for me.

This week Korean Americans gathered in Los Angeles to remember the tragedies of the LA riots.

Journalist K.W. Lee, the "conscience" of the Korean American community in LA, has a moving piece on what the younger generations should realize from this tragedy even if we don't remember everything about it.

Funnest Kids Photos Ever by Cool Dad

Usually the entertainment factor of most childrens' photos are much more of a draw for their own parents and families, but these super cute and fun snaps by photographer Jason Lee are so awesome!

Jason Lee started out as a wedding photographer. But in 2006, his mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and could no longer risk too many visits with her cute--but often-sniffly--grandkids (doc's orders). So Lee started a blog where his mom could access little Kristin and Kayla's activities and personalities any time, most of the themes being the kids' ideas (notice there aren't any of those typically stiff, forced-looking portraits of children you still see so often for some reason!).

They are definitely two creative little gals! Some of my favorites:

Sure there's obviously some photoshop going on but really, when do you ever see childrens' portraits that haven't been retouched or redone in some little way? At least here, photoshop actually improves the themes by taking them to a much more creative and playful level. They really capture the kids personalities and are so personal to the family!

See more of Jason Lee's photography.

BoC Dérive: 20 April 2012

Props if you can identify this view in Ktown!  

Online Dérive:

HOPE: A Chinese official states that China will finally stop repatriating North Korean refugees after Pyongyang's rocket launch angered Beijing officials.

ROCKET: A US professor describes the sense of frustration in Pyongyang after his trip there following the failed rocket launch.

GATEWAY: Deposed Maldivian President Nasheed states that his country's coup has helped the spread of radical Islam.

TABLET: Apple's new iPads arrive in Korea today, but come with US frequency, not the speedier LTE connection that is standard in the country.

LA: 20 years after the LA riots, the Jewish Journal holds a heated roundtable with community stakeholders.

MUSIC: If you're in Los Angeles this weekend and not going to Coachella, you might be interested in Brokechella 2012.