Author: Peter

Photobucket in the News & Dead Links

July 7, 2017: Amazon, eBay Images Held to ‘Ransom’ by Photobucket

Well, Photobucket went just from free to $400 a year overnight with pretty much no notice, so if you see lots of dead photo links like the one below on this blog and my other sites, that’s why. I do hope to swap the dead links for live alternatives – and I just did that in a few posts – but it’s going to be a long, tedious, and arduous process, and I hate long, tedious, and arduous processes. Slow and steady wins the race, but it’s going to be a long, tedious, and arduous race. Thanks Photobucket.

July 2017 Fitness Diary!

Saturday, July 1: The month began with a weights session (lats, back, biceps, and calves) followed by a steep 22-minute treadmill session. I also walked about 12 kilometers as part of my new be-more-active-outside-the-gym initiative. (Cumulative Total: 22)

Sunday, July 2: Total rest day partly due to the rain.

Continue reading “July 2017 Fitness Diary!”

Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR)Prince Party Fundraiser!

I’m really excited and proud to be performing at and hosting a fundraising event for TNKR, an NGO I’ve been volunteering at for well over two years now. My band is playing; plus, the event provides me opportunity to perform with some of my many musical friends beyond my band mates. I’m also really appreciative of the fact Cherie Yang, winner of TNKR’s fifth speech contest, will be speaking at the event.

Continue reading “Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR)Prince Party Fundraiser!”

June 2017 Fitness Diary!

Thursday, June 1: I started the month with an 82-minute treadmill session. My original plan was for a short treadmill session and then an intense weights session, but the treadmill didn’t let me go. (Cumulative Total: 82)

Friday, June 2: Just an evening weights session: back, lats, biceps, calves, sides, abs, and lower back. Continue reading “June 2017 Fitness Diary!”

KBS TV Korea: Bring My Father Home

Mr. Hwang’s ongoing crusade to have his father, pictured above with a very young Mr. Hwang, released from North Korea some 50 years after his plane was hijacked by a North Korean sleeper agent was the focus of a KBS1 report that aired on Saturday May 13.

I spoke about my involvement with the NGO Teach North Korean Refugees and its efforts to help Mr. Hwang raise awareness of what is almost a forgotten crime. My contribution primarily involves the accompanying Bring My Father Home website and its English language blog which functions as an archive of related articles dating back to December 11, 1969, the day of the hijacking.

The 8-minute show can be viewed here, but as it’s a Korean site, Internet Explorer is the best browser to use. The video doesn’t play when viewed through Chrome.

2017 Reading Diary Part 2!

MAY TO AUGUST

I have been reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s latest, New York 2140, since March 25. Come May, I’m still reading it. The huge drop off in my daily reading isn’t due to the book, which I am enjoying. If I were to put it down to one cause, that would be “work”. On May 7, I just passed the half-way point, so I’m hoping that will result in a return to more normal reading speeds. I finally finished it during the final minutes of Tuesday May 16, some seven and a half weeks after starting it.

Continue reading “2017 Reading Diary Part 2!”

Korea’s Heavenly Mother in New Zealand

Thank you to Rosel from the Otago Daily Times for inviting me to contribute to her article on Korea’s Heavenly Mother and her cult’s activities in New Zealand. Rosel’s article is entitled “Korean Cult Recruiting in Dunedin“.

We spoke for about 25 minutes on the phone last week from 7:30 one morning. I’m not at my best then, so frankly, I’m glad just a couple of sentences made it into the piece. I’m more familiar with other Korean cults like JMS and Shinchoni, but I have been collecting bits and pieces about this cult off and on over the years. Here’s the part of my site dedicated to this cult.

May 2017 Fitness Diary!

Monday, May 1: I made it to the gym after a huge power nap in my office and despite a lingering, annoying cold. The nap did me good though, and I ended up completing a pretty impressive – by my standards – workout: lats, biceps, back, abs, lower back, and 68 treadmill minutes. Not a bad start to the month. (Cumulative Total: 68)

Tuesday, May 2: Seventy-four treadmill minutes, and unless I’m mistaken, that’s my nagging cold taken care of. (Cumulative Total: 142) Continue reading “May 2017 Fitness Diary!”