Generally, I'm regressing. Or shall we say revisiting the past? Somewhere between here and sesame street tunes I remembered Einstuerzende Neubauten, Laibach, Nick Cave.....I'm talking about the old stuff here. And so I remembered my youth. And almost exactly 10 years ago (amazing) I bought Let Love in. I was getting my passport and I was all by myself in Munich for a few days. Because even before 9-11 getting an American passport in a foreign country was pretty difficult and involved travel to some embassy that was open from 8 am to 12pm and that only managed to accomodate 40% of the applicants. Once you're in a friendly guy with a machine gun welcomes you to America. Makes you feel like home, just like MacDonalds.
I remember talking to this homeless guy in front of the embassy who explained how it was impossible for him to work, because he had divorced his wife and 5 kids and if he made even a penny he'd be doomed.
But back to the music thing. Now I'm old and in Busan and listening to the same music. There is a verse that used to startle me where Nick Cave sings about "handsome apes with girlish eyes" and (taking a look around) it's amazing how all of a sudden it all makes sense. He must have been in Busan at some point.

Due to the absence of other movies at the local video store I saw Friend which apparently was a huge success in Korea. It certainly had the prettiest perspectives of Busan I've ever seen. And it was instructive for me: after seeing how the teachers here beat the shit out of their students here it's not surprising they seems a little braindamaged at times. A movie about loyalty and friendship and time......Not bad. Not great either. That's my verdict.

Saw Zatoichi. It was very entertaining, but what's up with all this homosexuality in contemporary Japanese cinema? Just remember Taboo. And to continue on the cinematic theme: I was alerted that Kill Bill Vol.2 will hit Korea this week. Since I saw part 1 I guess I should go. It somehow fits right in.

I am dentally disabled. Severely. This is the second dentist that refused me as a patient for fear of responsibility.....
After a day of successful procrastination (finally I made it to the postoffice, finally I paid those bills and I did laundry as well) I somehow pulled myself together and went to face my fate. He looked at my mouth and said he was not equipped to deal with a case like mine. He asked me to undergo nerve removal and rootcanals at a dental hospital as a longterm patient. If he were to work on me right away I might experience "severe pain". I suggested not doing anything for a few weeks, until the end of the semester. He said that was not advisable because without treatment I might also soon experience "severe pain". I inquired what he meant by "severe". He started by listing the final stages of liver cancer as the most severe pain there is. He had forgotten number two, but the "severe pain" I was about to experience seemed to be right up there.
We temporarily postponed the decision on how to proceed. But he suggested I better hurry up. But just in case, I hope they have demerol in Korea.

I decided to more closely investigate the music of Frank Zappa. After listening to "Bobby Brown" I found myself slightly troubled. My brother used to mention this song a lot and many things now make more sense.....

It just doesn't end. Slight improvement of my head/neck syptoms was followed by a gum infection so severe even a tooth decay veteran like me couldn't ignore it anymore. So between classes I went to the closest dentist. Who took an x-ray (????) and prescribed antibiotics and referred me to his colleague faaaaaar away. Because he was going on vacation and didn't want to deal with me. So I went to the faaaaar away dentist (who used to practice in India, I was told. That is a good thing, I suppose.) who also didn't feel like doing anything. He looked at my mouth and told me ha was going to cut away my gums. After the weekend.
I think Korean dentists earn their living the same way a lot of dentists all over the world do. By doing nothing. Postponing painful procedures until they cannot be postponed any longer is popular with clients and dentists alike. The dentist then charges for "checkup" and "consultation".
It also means going back to the faaaaaaar away dentist on Monday.