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!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Reverend Kushibo's Easter message

As one well-known blog lurker knows, I really did set out to go to church today. But as usual on Sundays, I just had too much work to do. Instead, I spent part of the day (while working) with one eye on a cable channel showing "Ben Hur." This movie came out in 1959, well before I was ever born, and I grew up knowing about it but never having watched it ("Casablanca" is another notable flick I have never seen). I finally got a chance to see it in a Korean theater when I was in college, and it was truly amazing, even though I was seeing it decades later.

In some ways, "Ben Hur" is sort of like "Passion of the Christ" meets "2 Fast 2 Furious," but it is still somewhat edifying. At the very least, the movie helped me feel not quite so bad about missing church today.

I'll try to go to church next week. Frankly, I think the pastor/priest at whatever religious institution I choose to attend next week will be thrilled to see someone help filling the pews the week after Easter, what with so many people only going to church on Christmas and today.

Anyway, Happy Easter. Remember what Jesus did, taking on the sins of all humanity, allowing you to act like a jerk for the rest of your life and still probably get into Heaven. But just in case there's a quota on forgivable sins, or just in case Christ gets tired of you taking advantage of Him, stop acting like a jackass, starting today.

UPDATE:
I did go to church today, as I said. How's that for credibility in the blogosphere? I went, sang the hymns under my breath, took Holy Communion, chatted with people, etc. It was nice being back in church.

1 comment:

Stefan EwingWednesday, April 19, 2006 11:35:00 PM
Kushibo:

Hope you had a joyful Easter.

You were asking on the Marmot's Hole about online Japanese dictionaries. I replied there, but it's going to get lost in the ongoing flamewar, so I'll post it here, too:

If you're looking for an online Korean-Japanese/Japanese-Korean dictionary, try the Naver dictionary. You can enter search terms in either language. For English-Japanese/Japanese-English, try Sanseido.

(Me, since I can only enter or read kanji—and then only with the Korean pronunciation, since I admit that I cannot read kana—I'd use a dictionary that used romaji, such as this one . It looks like it'd take a while to get used to the latter dictionary's interface, though....)
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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.