As much as I enjoy paying for the right to view movies, it can get a little tough in Seoul where English movies, especially the non-big-budget ones, are hard to come by. So, like everyone else over here, I watch them on the Internet. While relaxing at home on my bed. Laying in the sunlight. It’s been a gray week in Seoul. Squinting at the screen. Video piraters are not known for a high-quality product.

An interuption here. I’ll never buy another pirated video, though. I purchased what I thought was all three Godfather movies from a street vendor. It contained two blank disks. I got the best one, number one, but I really, really wanted number two. What a waste of 10,000 won. I suppose it was the karma fairy exacting her penalty.

I watched Be Kind Rewind. At first I was a bit incredulous. But it got me in the scene where Mos Def and Jack Black attempt to reshoot Ghostbusters, including the famous (ok, to me) opening scene with the librarian. The movie touched on all those themes that white people love: (please see the blog www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com for clarification on this statement) gentrification, community involvment, and the corporate strong arm.

Watch it. For free or not. Perhaps we’ve entered a time when art can be free to the masses via a solid Internet connection. À la Radiohead. Of course, they already had a following. I don’t suppose this movement helps all you starving artists out there. But I should talk, my field (print reporting) is becoming obsolete because of Internet reporting and blogging. But that’s another story.

I’m falling in love with State Radio’s new album Year of the Crow. Check them out online at www.stateradio.com. They are intellectual. Angry. Punk. Sometimes acoustic. All you Dispatch fans will likey. My favorites: "The Story of Benjamin Darling" and "The Fall of the American Empire."

Becky Ann Bosshart