Jeffrey Miller's Blog: Jeffrey Miller Writes, page 19
March 16, 2013
Lou’s Super Market — Oglesby, Illinois
I only mentioned it briefly in Ice Cream Headache, but Lou’s Super Market has a special place in the novella.
March 15, 2013
On the shelves at Hy-Vee
“Hey Honey, I’m going to the store. Do you need anything?”
“Pick up a gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, and a loaf of bread and let’s see, oh yes, a copy of Ice Cream Headache.
March 14, 2013
Vanilla Milkshake
Have you ever have one of those days when you just had to have something that you haven’t had in a long time?
Today was one of those days.
I had to go to the Korean Exchange Bank during my lunch hour, which is about a 20-minute walk from SolBridge. I could have taken a taxi, but I love walking and the weather today, a chilly 49 degrees was perfect.
After I finished up my banking, and freaking out at the US Dollar/Korean Won exchange rate ($1.00 = 1123 won; thanks a lot, North Korea, for scaring the bejesus out of everyone and f**king up the exchange rate) I decided to stop at Mickey D’s on the way back to school for lunch.
And it was just about when I was finished eating when I suddenly had this urge for a milkshake. Yeah, a vanilla milkshake just like the kind Billy has in Ice Cream Headache.
Of course, where I am going to find that kind of milkshake in Daejeon, not to mention Korea? That’s the problem with urges in Korea. They can’t always be assuaged.
That’s when you have to improvise. In this case, I ordered one at Mickey D’s. Not exactly the real thing, but for now it would do.
On the other hand, Ice Cream Headache is the real thing.
That’s what everyone has been telling me.
Korean Wax Figures
These wax figures are a little creepy to say the least.
The ones we can see all look like the same model was used. I’m guessing that’s supposed to be James Dean in the foreground (when I came to Korea in 1990 a fella could buy a brand of underwear named after him) and behind him, that looks like Michael Jackson, though the hat is reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau. Next to him, I’m guessing that’s supposed to be Leonardo di Caprio but I don’t know about the last one. It could either be Elvis or Evel Knievel.
Creepy. Very creepy.
On the other hand, imagine that the two Korean models were wax figures and that the others were real.
Now that would be very creepy.
(Photo via Choson Ilbo)
March 12, 2013
Now On Sale at Peru’s HyVee
I like what HyVee does: allowing local authors to sell one’s bo0ks at their stores. And now, people can buy Ice Cream Headache and War Remains, A Korean War Novel at the HyVee store in Peru, Illinois.
A few of my friends back in the Illinois Valley, including my best friend, Chris Vasquez, told me I should do this and that’s exactly what I have done. I sent a box of books to another friend, Billie Cassin, and she is going to be my go-between with HyVee. From this week, my books will be available at the Peru store.
Pretty cool, huh? It’s great that people, will browsing the books at HyVee will come across mine and perhaps buy it. Thanks to Anna Takahashi’s great cover design, Kris Wilke’s photograph and the blurb from the Boston Literary Magazine, people will most certainly notice it.
I might not be able to go home, but my books can.
Today HyVee. Tomorrow the world.
March 7, 2013
North Korea threatens nuclear strike on US
So much for Dennis Rodman’s basketball diplomacy.
North Korea on Thursday vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, amplifying its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by U.N. diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.
An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the headquarters of the aggressors” because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
You can read the rest of the story here. I hate to tell you, “I told you so,” but after Rodman’s TV appearance on ABC after he returned to the States, I blogged that in a few days North Korea would be back to their saber rattling, take this you Imperialist Dogs selves again. I’m telling you folks, there’s a method to their madness. There is a pattern. Besides, maybe Kim Jong-un thought Rodman was a little over-the-top on ABC.
About this method to their madness. They’ve pulled this same stunt whenever there’s a new sheriff in town, in this case a new president in the South. They’re just seeing what Park Guen-hye will do, whether or not she will flinch. It’s there SOP. A scary SOP to say the least, but one that has had a historical precedence. Additionally The Great Successor needs to validate his leadership. Unlike his grandfather, he doesn’t have any military experience. This is his way of proving that he’s a force to be reckoned with.
After all, as Dennis Rodman told the world, “he’s an awesome guy.”
March 4, 2013
Ice Cream Headache: Looking Good!
Whether you read it on your Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPhone, Android, Galaxy Tab…Ice Cream Headache looks good in any format on any tablet or phone.
The only way to find out is to try it out for size on the device or gadget which has made your life easier.
I have it on my iPad and it looks WAY cool!
March 3, 2013
Dennis Rodman in North Korea: The story that won’t go away
Dennis Rodman’s no elder statesman like former president Jimmy Carter or our ace in the hole/clutch diplomat Bill Richardson, but you wouldn’t think so with yet another story about his visit to North Korea and an appearance on ABC’s This Week. It’s the story that won’t go away and for Rodman, he hasn’t enjoyed this much press and attention since Michael, Scottie, and others went for their three-peat in 1998.
North Korea’s young leader has riled the U.S. with recent nuclear tests, but Kim Jong Un doesn’t really want war with the superpower, just a call from President Barack Obama to chat about their shared love of basketball, according to ersatz diplomat Dennis Rodman, the ex-NBA star just back from an improbable visit to the reclusive communist country.
Here’s the rest of the story.
Enjoy it while you can, Dennis. The next time North Korea threatens South Korea or the US (and they will, you can count on it) you will be old news. Try getting a spot on Letterman or Leno then to talk about your trip to North Korea.
March 2, 2013
Mr. Rodman, this way to debriefing
Probably not according to a news story via ABC:
Basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman may be the only American to have hugged, drank and laughed with North Korea’s bad boy Kim Jong Un, but the U.S. State Department said today it has no plans to debrief Rodman for any personal intel on the man who says he is targeting the U.S. with his nuclear arsenal.
Read the rest of the story here, but what I find interesting about this article is the mention of the Coca Cola can, something I pointed out the other day. Those kinds of Coke cans are how Coke is sold in South Korea, which probably means that it came via the black market. What’s also interesting is that the placement of the can allows us to see the English. As Arsenio Hall used to do on his show, “Things that make you go hmm….”
Well, now we can get back to normalcy here. This month US and South Korean forces will be having a joint military exercise, and as Pyongyang said last month, if this military exercise goes as planned, the US forces will face miserable destruction. What will Pyongyang do next?
One more note about Rodman’s visit to North Korea. Today, I went to get a pizza, and the manager of the Dominoes Pizza asked me what I thought about Rodman’s visit. I told him that I thought it was pretty strange and he agreed. A lot of people in the South, he told me, are treating it is amusing and a little bizarre.
March 1, 2013
Rodman: Kim Jong-un’s an awesome guy
One thing about Dennis Rodman, he never disappoints. Even when it comes to calling Kim Jong-un an “awesome guy.”
Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an “awesome guy” and said his father and grandfather were “great leaders.”
Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him.
At Pyongyang’s Sunan airport on his way to Beijing, Rodman said it was “amazing” that the North Koreans were “so honest.” He added that Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder, “were great leaders.”
“He’s proud, his country likes him — not like him, love him, love him,” Rodman said of Kim Jong Un. “Guess what, I love him. The guy’s really awesome.”
You can read the rest of the story here.
Once again, you just can’t make this stuff up.
