Ian Korn Photo Industries

Spanish Commercials: Football, Monsters, Musicals, and the Battle of the Sexes

Ian — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:00:38 +0000

It may seem like a tontería to be posting about Spanish TV ads, but you know what, not everyone gets to see them. Particularly most of the people who are reading this blog… because you don’t live in Spain. So, want a taste of what we see in between shows on TV – that is, in the 20-minute breaks between shows on TV? Here are four of the better ones. I also promise it’ll be amusing…

(...)
Read the rest of Spanish Commercials: Football, Monsters, Musicals, and the Battle of the Sexes

Día de la Paz

Ian — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:41:16 +0000

On January 28th, schools across Spain celebrated Día de la Paz, or Peace Day. Perhaps its closest comparison in the United States is Martin Luther King Day, which occurs around the same time. Children focus on messages of anti-violence and anti-racism and celebrate with performances, readings, and a flotilla of white balloons. My school, CEPR Hermanos Carvajales, was no different. We were blessed with a sunny day for the celebrations and the whole school went out to the patio to enjoy them together. Some students read stories and poems. The first-graders danced to Michael Jackson’s “Black or White,” and then everyone sang and danced to his “Heal the World.” Here are some photos – and yes, these are my students. =)

(...)
Read the rest of Día de la Paz

An Upgrade and an Update

Ian — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:42:14 +0000

You may notice a few changes around here. I just finished a much-needed overhaul of the website to streamline everything.

Edit one: The site looks a lot better (I think, I hope) because I didn’t design this template.

Edit two: It works in Internet Explorer. Welcome, people stuck in the past!

Edit three: The blog is here to stay. Before, I was actually bouncing back and forth between two different WordPress installations. It was a mess. Now you can find everything photography related right here on the front page, and everything journal related on the Navbar above under “journal” or below the featured post.

Clearly, the site is not perfect yet. It never will be. But these are big steps in the right direction.

(...)
Read the rest of An Upgrade and an Update

Ronda

Ian — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:48:03 +0000

The first stop on my 20-day journey after my friends left me in Málaga was the town of Ronda, in the same province but about 100 km (62 mi) northwest. This ancient town is built on either side of a deep gorge named “El Tajo.” On one side lies the ancient Arab portion of the town, and on the other is the new, Spanish quarter. The center is dominated the Puente Nuevo, completed in 1793 and rising to 120 meters (394 ft) above the river below.

(...)
Read the rest of Ronda

Quick Notes

Ian — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:36:15 +0000

A few housekeeping notes that will be of interest to you:

My old laptop (that is, my 8-year-old Dell), the only computer I had here, has been officially declared dead. I’ve ordered a new one which should be here sometime near the start of March.
Thankfully, it was only a power issue, so I didn’t lose anything from the old computer. It’s now on my external hard drive. That means more pictures are on the way! Get excited.
I am not a CSS or HTML wizard. You may have noticed. Since I’ve launched this site it has decided to never work with Internet Explorer – or, rather, IE has decided to stop working with it. So, a perma-temp redesign is on the way. And if, for some magical reason, you are using IE and manage to read this, do yourself a favor and get a new browser. I recommend Mozilla Firefox.

That’s all. Have a great weekend everyone!

Spanish Music

Ian — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:19:29 +0000

El Guitarrista. Image by Landahlauts.

Last night Dan and I were treated to a live Sonic Youth concert on La 2. I doubt I will ever get to see them live, so it was pretty cool. I miss being able to go to shows and take photos…. Damn you economy! Anyhow, I realized that while I may be unable to post photos of my own (no, no word on the computer yet), I can still tell you about life here in Spain! And what aspect is more ever-present than music?

Remember how, a little while ago, I came up with this quote from John Hooper’s The New Spaniards:

“It is in the field of pop and rock that Spain lags. During nearly two decades of association with the country, I doubt if I have heard more than a half-a-dozen numbers I would want to listen to again, and hundreds – no, thousands – I would pay good money not to.”

Well, it’s still true. (Keeping in mind that I’m a music snob.) But since I’ve been here, I’m willing to say that there is actually some popular Spanish music that doesn’t grate on the ears quite so much.

(...)
Read the rest of Spanish Music

MLK Day: Letter From Birmingham Jail

Ian — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:00:28 +0000

Today is Martin Luther King Day. They don’t celebrate it here; in fact, many of them don’t know that it’s an actual holiday. I’ve prepared a few activities in English for the kids that are tangentially related, but only because they are preparing to celebrate their version of the holiday, Día de la Paz, on January 30th. So we’ll see what they know – and what they need to know that I can share with them. Should be interesting.

I know a lot of people haven’t really read or heard a lot of King’s writings or sermons or speeches apart from “I Have a Dream.” It’s sad, actually, because there is so much more that you’re missing out on. So I present here, in full, the text of his “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” the call to action for the Civil Rights Movement that he wrote while – surprise! – in jail. It’s a stunning indictment of the churches unwillingness to act that I think will resonate with anyone who reads it. And I think, particularly in light of Pat Robertson’s idiotic comments about Haiti, it’s worth it to remind ourselves that no, even though Obama is President, we still have a long way to go before racism is finally eradicated and everyone is equal.

The letter begins below the fold. Enjoy.

(...)
Read the rest of MLK Day: Letter From Birmingham Jail

Up La Peña

Ian — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:55:29 +0000

I had hoped to be posting some pictures of my holiday trip right about now, but, well, read my last post… Instead, I will bring you some photos of Martos I had waiting to be posted. It’s an apt subject, actually, because I’m tired of traveling and it’s nice to be home. (Ok, maybe it’s only temporary, but I really do like it here and I try to follow the motto of “Live where you are.”)

Dominating the skyline of the town, and indeed the nearby countryside, is a mountain named La Peña, which reaches 1,003 meters (about 3,290 feet) in height – and does so rather suddenly, as you can see. At the top are the remains of a Nasrid castle, and you can hike up and visit them. I’ve been up twice since we’ve moved here, and it is well worth the trip.

(...)
Read the rest of Up La Peña

News… Then Bad News

Ian — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:07:41 +0000

First of all… Gelukkig Niuewjaar, everyone! (That’s Happy New Year in Dutch.) I am done traveling and back home in snowy/rainy Martos. It’s nice to get back to something normal after being away for so long, no matter how awesome that vacation was. Much more to come on that, but it will take me quite some time to get to it.

Unfortunately, I do have some bad news: my computer has died, possibly permanently. I’m talking about the nearly eight-year-old Dell laptop that I’ve had since starting college. That was my computer here in Martos. Yes, it still worked fine, but it had it’s issues. Today, however, I turned it on only to find out that it didn’t turn on. Dan and I messed with it in every way we knew, and still nothing. So I’ve taken it to the computer repair place nearby and they’re going to check it out to see if they can do something with it. In typical Spanish fashion, it will take them two weeks to figure this out.

If they can fix it and if that repair doesn’t cost too much, I’ll be back to normal pretty quick. But if they can’t or it costs a few hundred euro, then you can forget that. I’ll take the contents of the hard drive and the memory and buy myself a notebook PC… which will have to ship from the US so I get all the right connections, keyboard, software and such.

So, for at least two weeks and an unknown future after that, I will be begging computer time from other people. This means fewer posts and probably a lot fewer photos. Sorry!

Graffiti in Europe is Always Better

Ian — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:00:57 +0000

(...)
Read the rest of Graffiti in Europe is Always Better