September 9, 2009 by Moonbears.org/ Kelly Frances McKenna ‘A BEARY GOOD TIME’

On September 5th, the Groove Magazine and Moonbears.org team made the trek to Pusan for our much anticipated Bear Fundraiser, featuring the ultra-cool and creatively linguistic band ‘Hajimama’. The event was held at ‘The Basement’, a well-known local haunt that is small in size but well frequented. It’s the sort of place where “everybody knows your name” and owner Liam Cullivan probably knows your drink too. Expect a warm welcome and (if you're lucky), a drink on the house for being a new-comer.

A great time was had by all and Moonbears.org would like to extend their thanks to the immensely sexy staff of The Basement, and the members of both ‘Cosmic Cosmics band’ and featured band Hajimama, for channelling their ‘inner fashion model’ to help us sell our fab T-shirts. Liam was kind enough to throw in a free drink to buyers. All proceeds for shirt sales will go to Moonbears.org and the “Save Miracle the Bear Fund".

If you’re in Pusan, be sure to stop at the Basement, located conveniently near PNU and about 20 minutes from the KTX. Well worth the 3 hour train ride from Seoul and you can look forward to waking up to a morning at the beach if you hurry…the warm weather is waning! Be sure to have a shot of Sambuca with Liam before you head home and enjoy the complimentary munchies and good company. Think of 'Cheers meets Korea' and you've got the atmosphere of 'The Basement" down; it's got that homey feeling with a great lineup of entertainers and plenty of local gossip, advice and camaraderie. The crowd is about half expat, half Korean and 100% friendly.

For more information about the plight of moonbears in Korea, please visit www.moobearsorg

To join Basement, the Shizzle on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=hajimama&init=quick#/group.php?gid=240...
 

After 3 years of bullshit in court, I am pleased to announce that today, I read the full verdict to my appeal which stated comprehensively that:

I WON MY COURT CASE.

Not partially,  not grudgingly, I FUCKING WON.

He has 15 days to appeal and is not expected to be granted an audience with the Supreme Court of Korea.

Yes, this was damn well worth it. If I'd lost, it would have been worth it. There was no wasting of time here.

The other day I was asked to define courage. Now, there are many contexts in which that word can be considered but for me, I saw a bridge in my mind.  I’m one of those artsy types who sees pictures before systems or sentences.

It was a rope style bridge and a "less than sturdy" one, swinging in the breeze over a chasm of coolness, covered with mist, riddled with rocky foundations, exotic foliage peaking out of the white haze.

There are people in this picture.

On one side of that chasm is a group of onlookers bearing sunscreen and sporting swimsuits. These are the "dreamers", the happy, comfortable people who gaze across that chasm and speculate about the other side but feel rather pleased about their cosy spot, warm in the sun, far from change that goes beyond the weather. There is nothing wrong with being part of that posse, and they dream good dreams and smile as people pass by. They throw nice parties. They often have lovely little homes and encyclopaedic knowledge of them. They know their neighbours well.

There is another group of uncertain beings who know that the bridge isn't likely to be stable. They know there may be a few ways to get across that sucker to see what the hell is on the other side, and know that this "discovery" would be a great thing, if only they were willing to ACCEPT that the act of such a discovery might result badly. Either way, it will lead to education “for someone”. In the process of speculating, the meet a few super cool people and feel fortunate to have had the chance, as these were people from strange and mysterious places.

Then, there are those walking the ropes timidly, swaying in the breeze, focussed on that crossing because a life spent gazing was a life spent wasted to them, and they WANT that discovery, they crave it, were born for it, they deserve it and want it done justice. Once in a while there is a crosser who runs quickly, laughing like a lunatic because the thrill of the chase was his "nirvana". They are the wildcards, and they are the ones whose futures vary too often to be written into a story such as this one. The knowlege that there is something 'there', is enough to convince them to never turn away from that bridge, or those like it.

Courage (in my little illusion)  is 2 things: Feeling at peace with the group you have chosen and pushing yourself to be all that you can be in that group of choice. C’mon, it takes balls to accept oneself. It also takes balls to risk a great deal for the sake of growth that may hurt.

A while back, an intern asked me if I was scared entering a new career at a senior level with no formal training. I smiled and told her I was absolutely terrified.