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!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Is there a doctor in the house?

Anyone want to save me half an hour or so on WebMD and give me some ideas what the hell that brown patch is on the side of Kim Jong-il's head?

I'd do it myself, but I'm not a doctor (though I play one on TV).

Maybe he agreed to this summit because he thought the President of Russia was Medvedev Doctor.

Okay, no more bad puns. I really want to know what's up with that. Did someone box his ears during an attempted coup that they're now trying to cover up, à la George W. Bush and the pretzel incident?

Is it the beginning of a goiter?

While we're at it, what do you suppose he's laughing at?

...

6 comments:

ChangmiThursday, August 25, 2011 5:01:00 PM
He's smiling because he's thinking, "Man, I can't wait until next year when we become a strong and prosperous nation! It's gonna be awesome."

I was wondering if you caught the Chosun Ilbo article about KCNA photoshopping KJI's face to obliterate the age spots. Any thoughts to share about that?
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kushiboThursday, August 25, 2011 6:34:00 PM
I saw that article and I think it's much ado about nothing. Given how ubiquitous photoshopping has been ever since we called it airbrushing, it's hardly earth-shattering news that a country where faith in the leader is crucially important would resort to reducing signs of aging.

Heck, back during the Great Depression and World War II, great pains were taken to make FDR look not wheelchair-bound.

Now what would be newsworthy is if it turns out that photos 2 and 4 were not of KJI but his double.
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AnonymousThursday, August 25, 2011 6:52:00 PM
On German television last night they had snippets of Kim speaking. It sounded slurred to me — like a stroke victim — but I don't speak Korean, so this is just an impression.
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kushiboFriday, August 26, 2011 6:38:00 AM
Anonymous, I have heard that there were videos out there with KJI making a speech, but I haven't had a chance to hear them yet. I'll probably blog on that after I do.

But yeah, for a lot of people who have had a stroke, slurred speech is a problem. It all depends on what part of the brain is affected and how badly. My father had a devastating stroke in 2006 (he's paralyzed) but his speech is okay.
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The Sanity InspectorFriday, August 26, 2011 12:26:00 PM
Looks like a humongous liver spot.
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kushiboFriday, August 26, 2011 2:05:00 PM
To match his humongous liver.
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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.