MLT Club Member Jürgen
MLT Club MemberForum Replies Created
-
Hi David,
thanks an interesting approach that I didn’t know. The whole thing sounds like dark matter to me. Music that has exactly the opposite polarity and when the two pieces of music collide in my head they neutralize each other. Cognitive dissonance. I personally don’t like that. I listened to “Here comes the sun.” For me a positive song that sounds happy and cheerful. The negative counterpart sounds exactly like what it implies: melancholic and ghostly. Where is George Harrison’s idea? As Jung suggested: composing new pieces of music in this way is an interesting idea. That sounds kinda cool, but it’s a shame to manipulate music that’s already been produced. The artists themselves should do this, not a stranger who doesn’t care about the idea behind the music. But in art there is actually no good and no bad: You have to like it.
-
Hi Jung,
yes, taking a taxi in Asia can be a good idea or hiring a driver and car directly. It’s still affordable there. Unthinkable here. You should just negotiate the price beforehand. The drivers usually only speak a little English if you don’t have a designated guide with you, but you can get from A to B safely. And you can also go on nice day trips. The driver drives to the destination, parks and waits in a relaxed manner until you get back and then you continue. Communication only works with a few sentences. Always fascinating. In Thailand, for example, the national road signs on the main roads are also shown in Latin script, but the fun ends on the side roads. No signage or only in Thai. Many tourists rent scooters there. It doesn’t cost much and you’re flexible. I can only advise against it. The roads are sometimes very bad. The locals know the potholes and drive in serpentine lines on some roads. And if an accident does occur, which is unfortunately not uncommon there, the passport will be confiscated until the question of guilt is clarified, which can take time.
How widespread is English in Korea? Certainly very good in Seoul, but in the rural areas?
Speaking of South Korea a very important topic occurred to me, one of my personal highlights of every trip to Asia: the food. To my shame, I still haven’t made it to a Korean restaurant (except many years ago in Düsseldorf). There is no one near here, except for the one that is unfortunately closed. Chinese restaurants are a dime a dozen here. Also Thais and Indians. Korean restaurants are in short supply. Japanese restaurants are easier to find. But when I watch the following video, a lot of it seems familiar to me (I wouldn’t try all of it, but many of the things look very delicious):
-
Happy birthday Jacki !!!
-
Rolling Quartz was formed as a five member rock group in August 2019. They were originally two separate bands, under the names “Rolling Girlz” and “Rose Quartz”, but they merged into a single group, merging their names to be “Rolling Quartz” . For the first year of their career, Rolling Quartz performed primarily in clubs, especially in the region of Seoul. It is an independent band that, like MLT, tries to market themselves without the help of the music industry and to create their music according to their own ideas.
-
Castles, palaces and churches always held a special fascination for me as a child. It was the ticket to a strange, fascinating and sometimes surreal world. So it’s no wonder that monasteries and temples in Asia hold a similar fascination for me. It is impressive what architectural masterpieces were achieved by people of the past. The many statues, ornaments and wood carvings, there is always something new to discover and one can only guess how much time and passion the craftsmen of the time spent on these works. Some a whole life.
Gyeongju is located in the south-eastern corner of South Korea, very close to the coastal city of Busan. Gyeongju is known as a museum without walls and was the residence of the Silla rulers for over 1000 years. In the city there are many archaeological sites from this period and many tombs and remains to discover. The city itself is said to have a very relaxed feel, with many parks, villages and cafés to relax in.
-
Jaurim my personal favorite band from South Korea. The group has been active in the music business for many years and cannot actually be pinned down to a specific genre. Pop, rock or even indie. I’ve now managed to order a CD of the band. It was a bit difficult to find a dealer who not only listed the CDs but could also deliver some of them.
-
Hi Jung,
thank you for the small selection of your favorite dishes. There are also some things in our cuisine that I don’t find particularly appetizing. Blood sausage is included. A regional specialty is “Himmel and Äd” (Heaven and Earth). Mashed potatoes, applesauce and fried blood sausage (the apple symbolizes heaven, the potato the earth). My mother cooked it every now and then, but my sister and I have successfully boycotted it each time. In the past, people couldn’t be so picky about their food choices. Sometimes there was only a little food and it was somehow used and a somewhat absurd meal was made from it. My maternal grandmother always cooked very fatty food. When she was young she lived in the countryside and the people there had to work hard. Accordingly, they also had a high calorie requirement.
In Cambodia, for example, there are fried tarantulas. You could buy them packed in bags everywhere. They should be delicious and serve as a snack, for example in front of the TV (instead of potato chips like we do). Crispy. I wouldn’t eat something like that, I’m not that hungry after all. 😄 But it’s all just a question of cultural habits. I think the biggest challenge for the Western palate are spicy dishes. I like spicy food, but it also has its limits. Skullburner, that’s how the dishes with radish sauce were called in the documentation above. I find that very apt. In Thailand I treat myself to a spicy papaya salad at least once. Very fruity with a slightly sweet and sour note, really tasty, but…: “Really, spicy?” asks the waitress. “Sure,” my masochistic self replies before I can argue. The salad is attractively arranged and looks very tasty. You can hardly see the small, crushed chili peppers and the first bite delivers what the name of the dish promises: here the cap is burning. I dab the sweat from my forehead and try to appear relaxed. “That’s how it has to be,” my masochistic self whispers. “Idiot,” I hiss back.
Another very nice pop ballad
-
Thank you Jung for the insight into your personal language experience. How are modern terms (e.g. from science and technology) integrated into the Korean language? In Germany, new German terms were coined to describe new technologies until the 80s or 90s. However, this was given up at some point and English technical terms are now predominantly used (at least in specific areas). The older generation sometimes has difficulties with this, for young people it is normal and unfortunately for them it seems to be popular to insert colloquial English terms into German sentences. That sounds somehow really scary.
The music of the Rolling Quartz sounds really good. They master their instruments and it’s fun to watch them play:
-
Well Tom and David,
that’s the reason why I travel as far as possible. I don’t have these communication difficulties there 😁.
Would Beethoven, Bach and Mozart have understood each other if they had spoken their respective dialects? Probably with great difficulty. The history of the different dialects in German-speaking countries is a full-length topic. It has something to do with the ancient Germanic tribes. There were many of them and somehow they all had their own language. There are said to be around 20 dialects in Germany today (I checked that now). It feels like there are more of them. Not counting Austria and Switzerland. In order to avoid this dilemma, the High German language was developed at some point. If we want to, we all speak standard German and understand each other, often with a funny accent. If someone who speaks a distinct dialect doesn’t want to be understood, then that’s just the way it is. It’s all a question of listening habits. There are regions that are still very proud of their dialect and maintain it. The whole thing has something to do with social identity, that’s how I see it. Ultimately, we are a confederation with 16 federal states and all of them have their own language habits. I don’t have to go to Austria or Switzerland to have communication problems. Here on the Lower Rhine there are still a few small towns where the older people speak so-called Platt. I do not get it. We are talking about a distance of around 20-30 kilometers. But these regional dialects are dying out. I understand Austrian quite well, Swiss German (Schwitzer Duitsch): no chance. But some Swiss want it that way.
David, “ich heiße” and “mein Name ist” are used interchangeably. „Ich heiße“ cannot be translated into English. “Mein Name ist” is a more formal introduction that you will use on official occasions. Tom is right, it originally says something about your social status and your origins, as you will usually say your first and last name. Many German surnames refer to professions (Müller, Weber, Schneider, Wagner) and in rarer cases they also provide information about your social origins („Mein Name ist Aragorn, Arathorns Sohn, Hochkönig von Arnor und Gondor”). The whole CV is in there. “Ich heiße” is a little less formal, but in my opinion less common. It says something about you as a person, rather than your status. If you want to take it easy, say: “Hallo, ich bin David.” Very common. If you correspond with Mona and Lisa, try using “Servus” instead of “Hello”. Maybe also “Griaß di”.
You see, Mark Twain was wrongly upset: German is not a complicated, illogical language. It’s all a matter of personal taste 😀.
PS: Although Mona and Lisa grew up near Vienna, they speak a different accent than for example Falco. Falco sings with a pronounced Viennese accent. He probably called it “exalted”. Mona and Lisa sound more Austrian to me.
There is (or was) a cultural program on German television called “Monalisa Magazin”. And what could be more natural than to present Mona & Lisa in Monalisa magazine? I don’t know if they have linked this video somwhere on their homepage. English subtitles can be switched on (settings – automatic translation – english).
-
Hi Jung,
thanks for the music video by „The Wondergirls“: that’s hilarious („Hello?!“). I love it when music groups don’t take themselves too seriously and still have a lot of fun making music videos. Let’s get funky.
I like doing the “Korea education”, Jung 😀. The French novelist Jules Verne was actually a lawyer and it is said that he hardly traveled. Nevertheless, he let his protagonist travel around the world in 80 days, dived 20,000 miles under the seas in the Nautilus and he sent his heroes flying over Africa in a balloon for five weeks. That has always fascinated me. So in my mind I travel to South Korea, as Jules Verne would have done. But seriously: I would like to see it once. Just like Japan. And if I only go there to fill my entire suitcase with music CDs.
-
Jung,
your younger sister seems to have a good taste in music. Isn’t she also a Depeche Mode fan? Another Jung? Of course you made me curious and I couldn’t resist googling. Sounds a bit like disco funk. Yeah, it’s stayin’ alive 😄
-
Tom, „armchair traveler“ I didn’t know that one yet, ha, ha 😀. Speaking of traveling and following along, this reminds me of my childhood days at the fairground. At some ferry shops there was a sign: „Junger Mann zum Mitreisen gesucht“ (“Young man wanted to travel with us” or something like that). I never really understood that as a child. It was worded so strangely. Today’s job advertisements no longer sound so romantic.
I think it’s very nice to discover new things together and as long as someone is reading this and listening to the music, I’m happy to say: „Junger Mann zum Mitreisen gesucht” (women too, of course). You are welcome Tom.
-
Hi Jung,
thank you for the detailed description of your personal impressions of Seoul. Seoul sounds like a very exciting place and based on your vivid description I can easily imagine what it could be like to be there. There are cities in this world that seem to be pulsating and breathing 24 hours a day. Almost like a living organism. And I can also understand that after a while you feel the need for a quieter and somehow more contemplative place. I feel the same way when I’ve visited big cities: for a while it’s very fascinating there and there’s a lot to experience and explore, but at some point you feel like you’ve seen everything and you’re looking forward to a little more tranquility again and silence. Time to leave again or perhaps enjoy nature and the wild beauty of a country.
When it comes to South Korea’s music scene, my research has certainly only scratched the tip of the iceberg. But I really liked what I found and heard. I love the young and fresh-looking charm of the music scene there. Even though there is certainly a powerful music industry behind it. But that’s just the way it is. When I compare the music scene there with ours, I have the feeling that the youth there is light years ahead of our youth. I like young, fresh music. I’m constantly looking for new music, but what I hear on the radio charts here is more depressive, self-righteous chatter. Best performed as rap. Many of the young musicians in our charts cannot play a single instrument. The music is canned, comes from the computer. The whole thing sounds so soulless. There are exceptions, but you really have to look for them. Of course, learning a musical instrument is strenuous, requires endurance and hard work. But the passion for playing music makes up for it all. It’s a shame when passion is missing and the only focus is on commercial success. This is the youth of a culture that is slowly saying goodbye to the world stage.
-
David, I know that nihilism has very negative connotations. Nihilism in the classic sense is a worldview that denies the validity of any system of being, knowledge, values and social order. However, when refined in a philosophical sense, for example by Nietzsche, it is more of a questioning of social values and socially defined morality. It serves to reach a meta level and from there to develop new ideas and approaches. A form of gaining knowledge, like in the song “Imagine”.
Maybe it would be better not to think in boxes at all and to put people in them. Each of us goes through different phases in life and is sometimes this and sometimes that. Ultimately, what matters is how we act and less what we once thought. Thoughts are free, but actions create responsibility towards yourself and those around you.
-
Hi Jung and David,
there are a few other ways to describe the glass and its filling level:
The Realist: “The glass is full. Half with air, half with water”
The Idealist: “There is definitely more for everyone”
The Oppurtinist: “The main thing is that I have enough to drink”
The Communist: “The water belongs to everyone”
The Capitalist: “I don’t care about the glass. Where is the bottle?”
The Sexist: “The glass doesn’t fill itself, babe”
The Nihilist: “The glass exists only as an idea”
I think John leaned more toward nihilism later in his career. “Sexie Sadie” / “Nowhere Man.” Maybe he had been disappointed by too many people at the time, or was keeping people at bay with irony and sarcasm (journalists, people who wanted to interfere in his life). Behind this there is often a sensitive, vulnerable personality that builds a wall around itself. Paul was more of an idealist and realist.