Korea reaches an early end

In spite of the efforts of Korea's twelfth man (that would be the fans), Korea was whipped out of the 2006 World Cup by losing to Switzerland.

When it was all said and done, Korea finished with a record of 1-1-1. They didn't play badly in this tournament, but they showed that they aren't quite in the league of the Euro powers when it comes to talent and execution.

The sad part of it is that the partying has ended too soon here in Korea. As I've mentioned before, the experience of having been in Korea during the 2002 World Cup was one of the most thrilling times of my life. So much energy, so much euphoria anytime Korea played and won. We got that feeling once this time, after the Togo match, and people were pretty happy with the draw against France. But there was no joy in Korea-ville following the loss to Switzerland. And just like that, the atmosphere in Korea seems to have returned to normal.

If I pay further attention to the World Cup this time, I'll probably root for Australia. It'll be interesting if Hiddink can work his coaching magic with a third consecutive team at the World Cup.

Korea-France pre-game

In the hours before the Korea-France match, I spent the afternoon strolling through downtown Seoul. Here is the video clip.

World Cup Blog

For the next 4 weeks, the Brain of Phil will be the World Cup Blog. That's because World Cup euphoria has run amok around the world once again, no more so than here in Korea (okay, maybe more so in Germany).

The early games each day don't start until 10:00 pm our time, but that's fine since we finish work by that time. On Monday, I went with the boys to OB (a beer pub) to catch the Australia-Japan match. Koreans kind of care about Australia because Guus Hiddink is their coach (and he coached Korea in 2002). Furthermore, any time Japan loses at anything is considered a great moment for Koreans. So, the 3-1 outcome in favour of Australia caused joy in this country.

Last night was Korea's opening match against Togo. My co-workers and I ventured to the only place we could find with available seating, Hot Sun, a chicken and beer restaurant (damn!). In the end, Korea won the match 2-1 on goals by Lee Chun-soo and Ahn Jung-hwan, and the decibel level rose accordingly throughout the country after each score.

So the party has once again started. And even though I'm not into soccer all that much, the World Cup is a truly fantastic spectacle if you have a rooting interest. I learned that in 2002 here in Korea, and nobody would mind if a little of that old magic rubbed off on the 2006 edition of the World Cup.

Video: Party crashers at the 2002 World Cup

I have a whole bunch of home video I've shot over the past few years, but I haven't done anything with it until now. That's because it occurred to me that I could let Google video host it for me. So, here is some video taken at the 2002 World Cup in Korea.

The future: interactive, virtual

Links
2016: A Peek at Our Internet Future

Net nightclubs, virtual venues generate real dollars

Here are a couple links from recent days that have caught my eye. They look at the immediate future as well as the potential of the coming future, in terms of what life will be like in a world where we are always connected.

I especially find interesting the idea of fully interactive virtual worlds. There are many possible applications, from the educational (field trips to museums or historic sites), to the commercial (virtual shopping malls), to the seedy (virtual red-light districts). As computing power and bandwidth grow, complex 3D-modeled environments should become commonplace, and an avatar version of ourselves will be able to go wherever we like, and interact with whomever we choose. These will be the logical extension of today's social networking sites. It'll be the Sims, but it will be real people rather than computer characters moving through the world on our screen.