Monday, April 20, 2009

Not the sharpest tool in the toolbox

The K-blogosphere is outraged — outraged, I say! — at the latest moralistic claptrap to come out of the Korea Times op-ed pages.

As I wrote at Brian's website, such people as Haydn complains about — man whores, essentially — really do exist. I'd like to think that people who are serious about their work far outnumber the people who came for whoring, but I don't think it comes anywhere near being the dominant personality type and to write about it in the KT is, well, mindless drivel. The KT needs to do a complete housecleaning and do away with the high school newspaper twaddle.

Upon further contemplation, though, it's really other things about this screed that bother me, including his admonishments to Koreans reading the KT not to become to Westernized (and by that he means Americanized). Yeah, I'm sure that message will really resonate with the English-speaking elite who can actually understand your codswallop.

I've lived in Korea off and on since I was a teenager, going back more than twenty years, so Mr Sennitt's complaints about Koreans "following the West" are quaint and cliché. (I once was acquainted with a Canadian who hated Korea because it was not like she imagined; in all seriousness she imagined Koreans would be running around in hanbok and living in thatched-roof houses. She chastised her students (who, I presume, didn't understand her all that well) for living in modern high-rises. "So, "D," you're complaint is that Korea's not one big folk village, eh?" "Yes. And what's wrong with that?"

Anyway, what bothers me more is when Australians like Mr Sennitt, New Zealanders, Irish, and especially the English go off about how Koreans (or Japanese) are trying to be American. Sure, the Starbucks Mr Sennitt rants about Koreans wanting to be seen with is American, but Koreans who want to hang out at Outback think it's Australian, so it's really not American that they're trying to be, but just modern stuff that they want to have. And for the most part, modern stuff is largely Western stuff. Sometimes, though, it's Japanese stuff, and increasingly it's Korean stuff, too. Get off the anti-American kick, jackass.

Oh, and while we're at it, choice words there equating homosexuality with social problems:
To make matters worse, family dysfunction, divorce, single-parent households, homosexuality, crime, drug use and other anti-social behavior are increasing in many western nations ― even Australia and Britain.
Gay people — even in Australia and the UK? Divorced people, too? Maybe they're getting divorced so they can be gay.

You know what, I have a sneakin' suspicion that this foray into high school journalism is all a ruse. The name Hayden Sennitt is just a bit too weird (particularly since it looks like it was spelled by a drunken Mancunian) and the Bible Thumper's screed is just a bit too touch-all-the-bases moralistic. And that email address — God's quasar — that's a red flag if ever there were one.

"But, Kushibo," you might protest, "his picture is there. He must be real."

Sure, that brickwall background... that could only be Korea. No, kids, the fact is that you could probably fake an identity-with-photograph quite easily by just downloading some photo on Facebook or elsewhere on the Interweb. Do you think these people had any idea I've used their visages in an attempt at humor?

So, yeah, I'm calling b.s. on this. I'm guessing someone out there is trying to take the piss out of finger-wagging Christians who have called him on his own bacchanalian debauchery while in the Land of Morning Calm on a teaching visa.

Oh, if the KT would just one day wake up and realize what a grossly unprofessional laughingstock their gazette really is.

16 comments:

  1. Well, he's real. If you haven't see I've linked to his blog in my post. And, one of his friends put my post on his facebook wall, so I clicked through and found his pictures. He's real.

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  2. Well, it could be an elaborate ruse. :(

    Sigh. I'd feel better knowing he was a mythical creation.

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  3. I would also feel better knowing that this was a joke. Sadly, I believe that's not the case.

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  4. Well, he might be real - but his sidebar says he likes writing fiction, doesn't it? Maybe he's experimenting with a new genre or something.

    What a wanker.

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  5. did you know in the west they have divorced people? and THE GAYS?! horror of horrors!

    i want to slap this guy in the face with my dick. is that gay?

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  6. Yeah, when I read it, I pretty much felt it was real, as amazing as it was. I have a pretty good feel for pranks and this one seemed real because it doesn't surprise me when you meet narrow minded individuals as "Haydn" (was the "e" purposely dropped? Scandinavian??). Anyways, it was very ironic for a westerner living in Korea and who is married to a Korean to write something like this. I guess he wants to be more Korean than the Koreans (I'm being sarcastic, btw).

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  7. This is the funniest thing I've seen for days.
    Talk about stirring up the ants nest.
    http://giraffepen.blogspot.com/2009/04/korean-wedding-singer.html#comments
    Quote "The groom is wearing hanbok, traditional Korean clothes. I love wearing hanbok, even the colourful gay looking stuff with the bright pink and sky blue :D It's my version of drag."

    And his blogname, 기린 만년필, means giraffe penis.
    Ha ha ha, laughing my fucking clit off.
    Finally I agree with you about something Jonathon.
    This guy has to be taking the piss.

    Could somebody please tell me the email address for letters to the editor of the Korean Herald, I have an itch I suddenly want to scratch

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  8. Hang on, isn't he too young to be gay?
    He says his father was gay, but aren't Catholic Priests not allowed to have children?
    Something doesn't make sense here...
    Also his wife looks like a late 30s church leftover, I'm thinking 15년 연하.
    Bet shes been through a bit of whoring and abortions in her time, not to mention the likely illicit relationship with the holy Reverend.

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  9. emily, you don't know me and I don't know you, so stop insinuating personal information about me that you think is true into your comments. You're put on notice: I will simply delete those comments and if it persists, ban you from my blog. I do not have the patience to correct inaccurate information you may have heard from somewhere else and even were you to get something right, I don't take kindly to direct references being used to strip away the relative anonymity from which I and others blog.

    "Kushibo" is merely an online handle and I suspect that even if "Emily" really is your legal name, you are not a monomonikered entity like Madonna, Sting, or Bono.

    Some people choose to use their real names and some don't. If I used my real name and loaded up this blog with direct references to my IRL world, I would not feel free to write frankly about ex-girlfriends who saddle me with caring for dogs they obtained on impulse, bosses who tried to push me to consume marijuana during an office celebration, or a former roommate who ran around the apartment naked and used to drop acid.

    The likes of Shinbone, Sonagi, all the Matt's without surnames, etc., may have their own reasons as well. So you're put on notice: If you continue to insert what you think is off-blog personal information about me, your comment will be deleted and if it persists you will be banned. That goes for anybody. I don't care to take the time to correct or point out inaccurate information and I don't want to leave it there and have people expect that it's true because I have not responded to it. You do not know me and I do not know you, so unless you're willing to come over to Honolulu so I can determine how legit or non-legit you actually are, stop acting like you know me.

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  10. It's a measure of my own naïvete, I suppose, that I did not know that 기린 만년필 was what emily said it was.

    At any rate, the sincerity of some of his posts on SSA (same-sex attraction; I had to look that one up) lend credibility to this background, but at the same time it smells like it's a big setup for someone eventually trying to discredit the whole "reformed gay" idea that certain fundamentalists have.

    And even if he is for real, he makes clear himself that this is by no means all Christians. He has issue with all those Christians who accept gays (which is a great many, perhaps even a majority, depending on the denomination).

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  11. full disclosure: i also comment on korea beat as 'chris', which is my christian name. my korean name is 승준!

    anyway, this motherfucker's blog is in comic sans and he's the white-in-korea equivalent of an uncle tom

    (i don't even know where i'm going with this, i just wanna be inflamatory like emily!)

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  12. I look forward to his next column on that whole interracial cougar thing.

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  13. He must be real. Not only does he have a blog, but some of the entries have links to videos. The man in the picture is the man in the videos.

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  14. Now this must be a piss-take. It has to be. Look at the e-mail address.

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  15. People googled my name, I am Hayden Sennitt. I'm sick to death of hearing about this prick. This guy's name is Haydn Sennitt. Spell his fucking name right, I don't want to be associated with this self-righteous pillock; don't tarnish my name with his ilk.

    Also, just look at this kid. The vain among you must immediately make a link between his narrow minded views and the gormless expression on his face. I'm no George Clooney, but I look better than this cretin..

    Adieu

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    Replies
    1. I'll go and correct the article (I only spelled it Hayden once), but I suspect Google will send those searching for "Haydn Sennitt" your way anyway.

      Maybe you should leave a comment in reply to this one saying something like, "I am Hayden Sennitt from [town, state/province] and I am definitely not the cretin from the Korea Times opinion piece."

      Delete

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