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, April 12, 2010

Daily Kor for April 12, 2010

This was about as close as I came to a news-free day, with virtually nothing new from the international new wires and papers. Must be spring.

ROK government warns South Korean citizens against travel to Bangkok after deadly clashes between protesters and Thai military (Bloomberg)

Japanese cameraman working for Reuters among the 21 dead in Thailand (Japan Times)

President Lee heads to Washington to attend inaugural summit on nuclear security (Yonhap)
South Korea opens medical center and job training facility near Bagram, Afghanistan (Yonhap)
Harvard-educated professor emeritus from KAIST to jointly head probe into sinking of Chonan (Yonhap, Joongang Daily)
Foreign investors purchase a net 6.26 trillion won in Korean bonds in March (Yonhap)
Archaeologists in South Kyŏngsang Province discover ancient Kojosŏn scribes used primitive stone keyboards (Yonhap)

4 comments:

John from DaejeonMonday, April 12, 2010 10:20:00 AM
This is some history that is bound to upset some, but the truth hurts.

1.9 million years of history
ReplyDelete
Replies
7Ø7Monday, April 12, 2010 12:10:00 PM
The keyboard thing made me laugh.
ReplyDelete
Replies
kushiboTuesday, April 13, 2010 2:45:00 AM
7Ø7, glad you liked that.
ReplyDelete
Replies
John from DaejeonTuesday, April 13, 2010 9:20:00 AM
If I needed a tablet PC, I think I'd take the openess of the "WePad" over Apple's closed-off version: German Tablet PC
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Share your thoughts, but please be kind and respectful. My mom reads this blog.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

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.