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!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Daily Kor for December 5, 2009: Hang your head in shame

Kim Yuna, how could you?! You were our dream! And now you failed! And in Japan! We throw you in the Hwang Woosuk Memorial Trash Heap of History™. Now we must go back to worshipping foreign-born Hines Ward, who never fails.

Kim Yuna brings shame and despair to South Korea as she wins only second place at Grand Prix Final in Tokyo (Yonhap, Korea Times)
Senior Pyongyang central bank official acknowledges currency revaluation is aimed at weakening role of free markets and to strengthen "socialist principles and order in economic management" (AFP, Yonhap)
ROK government forecasts V-shaped rebound in 2010 fueled by exports (Korea Times)
Eastman Kodak to sell OLED (organic light-emitting diode) business to LG in deal that grants each company "broad access" to the other's patents (CNN, Reuters)
Two members of a South Korean smuggling ring arrested in Inchon while trying to export from China to the US tens of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit designer watches and bags (Yonhap, Joongang Daily)
Business and labor groups agree to postpone plan for multiple unions (Joongang Daily)
Reflecting efforts to improve relations with Washington, Pyongyang hagiography now claims Kim Jong-il was born in California's Yosemite Valley, beneath the towering Half Dome (AFP)

2 comments:

A Deal Or No DealSunday, December 06, 2009 3:23:00 AM
95씨, 김연아가 오늘 승리했읍니다.
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kushiboSunday, December 06, 2009 3:35:00 AM
I'll be sure to include it in today's update.
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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.

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.

Oh, and play nice. Please don’t make me regret this.

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.