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!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Korea news links for October 26, 2009: Sunday, Rudd-이 Sunday

And the slow weekend continues. President Lee is wrapping up his trip down south, Seoul Mayor Oh says he plans to keep his job if re-elected (so many 20th century buildings to gut, so little time), and wild boars are running rampant across the Republic, but not enough to make major headlines. So I'll just take some time on this sleepy Sunday morning (in the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone, we're like 47 hours behind everyone else) to just mess around with the Monster Island blog layout until it's completely unrecognizable.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon says he will not run for president in 2012, promises to complete his term if re-elected next year (Korea Times)
LATE-BREAKING NEWS: South Korean economy grows at fastest rate in seven years, fueling speculation that Bank of Korea will raise borrowing costs for the first time since the beginning of last year's financial meltdown (Bloomberg, WSJ)
Japan, South Korea, and China agree to to begin joint research by academic, government, and private-sector representatives to explore the possibility of forging a trilateral free-trade agreement (Japan Times)
ROK President Lee Myungbak meets with Australian PM ~~Paul~~ Kevin Rudd to discuss economic recovery and North Korean nuclear issue (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
Yŏnggwang nuclear power plant resumes operation (Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il orders stepped up silk production to give DPRK citizens quality clothing; Kushibo advises that this is not a joke headline (Korea Herald, Yonhap)
South Korean rail unions vote to go on strike for higher pay and improved work conditions (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
South Korea will reveal extent of corn aid to North Korea later in the week (Yonhap, Xinhua)
With just over two months left in 2009, government report warns that few computer systems are equipped to deal with the Y2.01K bug (Yonhap)

3 comments:

SUPER EAGLEMonday, October 26, 2009 7:34:00 AM
i unironically confuse paul rudd and kevin rudd's names all the time.

also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IcCVPWixn4 kim jong-il concerned himself with people's clothes.
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kushiboMonday, October 26, 2009 7:38:00 AM
I left that "Paul" in there not so much as a joke but because I had genuinely mistakenly put it in there when I first published this post.

I once asked an Australian friend what kind of self-respecting country elects a prime minister named Kevin?

She answered that the question did not apply based on two words: "elect" and "self-respecting."
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kushiboMonday, October 26, 2009 7:41:00 AM
I like the video, Shinbone. I may make a whole post out of it.
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Ask Kushibo.

My Google/Blogspot data shows that a lot of the 2 million people who have landed on my site (yes, that's the real number) are looking for cultural information on Korea (e.g., “When did Syngman Rhee die?” “What did the Indians bring to the first Chusŏk?’ etc., etc.), as well as practical or historical stuff.

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.

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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.