Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Pearls of witticism from 'Bo the Blogger: Kushibo's Korea blog... Kushibo-e Kibun... Now with Less kimchi, more nunchi. Random thoughts and commentary (and indiscernibly opaque humor) about selected social, political, economic, and health-related issues of the day affecting "foreans," Koreans, Korea and East Asia, along with the US, especially Hawaii, Orange County and the rest of California, plus anything else that is deemed worthy of discussion. Forza Corea!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Exhibit 62 why you shouldn't choose your cartoonist through contests involving submissions of box tops from Froot Loops packages

Kushibo is tired today. Be misanthropic for Kushibo in his stead.

But don't be stupid. The people who left comments at the Korea Times site were stupid. For starters, it appears one thinks the cartoonist is Korean. Not only is the cartoonist not in Korea, he's not even Korean. He's like a French guy living in Bangkok (heh heh heh... bang... kok).

And then there's this guy:

North Korea has no business in Internations Sporting Events. For one, they are a Menus to all Mankind. They are sub-human, full of filt, North Korean s should be ban from travel or the particpation in all World Sports.

"Menus to all Mankind"? Those menus would come in handy if you had some Twilight Zone-esque restaurant who specialized in serving man.

Kushibo is on a roll today: That's the second reference to black-and-white classic television I've made in the last six hours.

2 comments:

AnonymousTuesday, June 23, 2009 8:21:00 AM
It would have helped if he'd drawn the right Ronaldo though. The one who plays for Brazil doesn't have any hair. The one drawn looks like Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Portugal.
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kushiboTuesday, June 23, 2009 10:03:00 AM
I'll take you word for that. I know less about professional soccer than our kindergarten cartoonist does.
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Ask Kushibo.

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That got me thinking that, hey, I have a master’s degree in Korean studies and a minor in Japanese studies, I’ve lived in Seoul far longer than most foreans my age (whether they're kyopo or non-kyopo), I teach introductory courses on Korea and its cultural trappings and history, so why not offer a free service where I attempt to answer people’s questions, point them in the direction of where they can get them answered, and/or offer my regulars (that’s you!) a chance to take a stab at some of this stuff, too.

So if there’s something you’d like to know from a “contrarian scourge,” click on ASK KUSHIBO and just ask a succinct question in the comments section below.

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九十五大怪獣란? 쿠시보의 몬스터 아일랜드란?

Pearls of witticism from 'Bo the Blogger: Kushibo's Korea blog... Kushibo-e Kibun...
Now with Less kimchi, more nunchi. Random thoughts and commentary (and indiscernibly opaque humor) about selected social, political, economic, and health-related issues of the day affecting "foreans" ("foreigners" in Korea be they kyopo or non-kyopo), Koreans, Korea and East Asia, along with the US, especially Hawaii, Orange County, and the rest of California, plus anything else that is deemed worthy of discussion. Forza Corea!

* Monster Island (actually a peninsula)

The name of this blog comes from a line in "Lisa on Ice," a beloved episode of The Simpsons, perhaps my all-time favorite television show (even though for several seasons there, it really did suck). Lisa is imagining being sworn in as president, but at the last minute, it is discovered that she failed P.E. (physical education) and she is thus "sentenced to a lifetime of horror" on Monster Island. "Don't worry," the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court confides in her, "It's just a name."

Fast forward to Lisa and other prisoners running in panic through a tropical jungle, chased by Godzilla-like creatures, including a monster turtle and a monster firefly.

"He said it was just a name!" Lisa screams to the man next to her. While he, too, runs for his life, the unidentified man calmly says, "What he meant is that Monster Island is actually a peninsula."

Anyway, I thought in some ways that punchline summed up modern-day Korea in a nutshell. For many people—foreigners and Koreans—the ups and downs and everyday travails of the Republic of Korea make it as precarious as a Monster Island would be (and with the DMZ being the only land border, it really is like an island). But it actually is a peninsula. Okay, it made sense in my head.

So as you can see, despite the hits I get from people looking for Japanese tentacle porn, it has nothing to do with anything salacious as that.