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 4, 2010

How did I miss this?

When I spent the better part of the summer on the US Mainland, mostly in California, how did I miss Pyongyang Express, the North Korean food truck piggybacking the Korean taco truck made popular by the Kogi Truck?

It was apparently a very, very involved viral marketing ploy of the folks trying to sell this video game so lovingly reviewed by The Marmot, in which North Korea, through a series of unlikely but not implausible events, takes over East Asia and then the US.

4 comments:

AnonymousMonday, October 04, 2010 5:25:00 AM
Norton detected a backdoor Trojan virus somewhere on or through your Google proxy feed. Hope you find and delete it so I can come back and read your blog.
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kushiboMonday, October 04, 2010 5:31:00 AM
I wouldn't have any idea how to find it or delete it. Though this is my own domain, it's all run through Blogger/Blogspot.

Can you pinpoint when you first noticed that? I might be able to use that to see if it is connected with a picture or something.
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theresaMonday, October 04, 2010 6:45:00 AM
I sent that photo of the truck to Joshua months ago and asked him if he thought it was real. He said he didn't know, but didn't want to post it and give them publicity- just in case. relieved it's fake. hilarious marketing- and marmot's comment "couldn't we let them keep san francisco?" i would normally be offended, since i grew up in the Bay Area and live in Oakland, but i gotta laugh. i get it.
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kushiboMonday, October 04, 2010 7:26:00 AM
I removed the game poster, which I had copied from TMH, to see if that is what's causing Norton to detect a backdoor Trojan virus. My caption asked, "Don't they realize that SanFran is already full of commies?"
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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.