Did I ever tell you about that time I went to North Korea?
August 5, 2009 by Tellie
Filed under Featured Content, My Inner Kindlings
I was filled with joy when I heard about Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s release from North Korea. I may or may not have literally yelled “YES!” while I was walking through the mall shopping when I recieved the tweet from CNN about the great news.
As you all may know Korea, specifically South Korea, is just one of the many places I call home (If you didn’t know, you can read more about that here).You see, I know how it feels to be back on free land after stepping foot in North Korea. Yes I have been to North Korea. More than once. Maybe not for 5 months as in the case of the journalists, but the hour or so I have collectively spent there, with guns held up to my head, was enough for me.
North Korea is one of the hardest countries to legally step foot in. But if you know the right people and literally are willing to sign that you know you are putting your life in danger, and you realize you may never return, you can visit. Upon entering the rules are simple: Don’t laugh, don’t smile, no sudden movements, no jeans, no T-shirts, don’t talk to the guards on either side. And going there is just one of those things that make you more appreciative of living in a free country.
Here are some of the few pictures I took behind enemy lines in 2005, sorry for the poor quality:
Russians
When I went to North Korea for the first time, there were Russians visiting on the other side. We had to wait for them to leave before we could step foot in the "Blue House". The place where negotiations take place between North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. Half of the house is in North Korea, Half is in South Korea.
Jackson’s death almost takes the internet with him
June 26, 2009 by Tellie
Filed under Featured Content, Music, My Inner Kindlings
Jackson's death caused Twitter outages, as portrayed by Raul Orozco in this take on Twitter's fail whale
How many people does it take to break the Internet? one — if that one is Michael Jackson. Micheal Jackson’s untimely passing has been causing some whale-sized problems for a lot of websites.
Unsurprisingly, Twitter struggled as thousands of tweets came in about the devastating news. Reports of fail whales were high. While I didn’t get any fail whales, the tweets to my phone were delayed by hours. I finally texted “off” and then “on” at around 4pm and sometime between 2am and 8am the tweets went through and my cellphone was back in sync.
The site that first confirmed his death, TMZ, was down several times throughout the last 24 hours. Even google was struggling to keep up with the huge surge of searches in relation to Michael’s death, and yes I am partially responsible. I googled it. So what? I have no TV. Popular blog sites, such as Perez Hilton’s, experienced problems as well.
The CNN website, which also is my source of this information, faired well during the ordeal. Probably because they were the last to confirm his death, and they had many of their facts out of whack. Initially CNN reported that Jackson was alive but in a coma, only to affirm his death several hours after TMZ.
For a guy who had so many fans, Michael only told a select few people that he was very lonely despite being a global icon. Whether or not his criminal allegations were true, it seems many wanted to bring him down for his money and for their fifteen minutes of fame, and not just be a true friend. This is probably why he had a connection with kids who just enjoyed life and didn’t worry about fame and fortune. As much as he was liked, it’s sad to see that no one really loved him as much as he loved others.
RIP MJ.
