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, June 24, 2010

The line-up

It's barely 4 pm here in OC and the usual suspects are already laying in wait at the Irvine Spectrum Apple Store for the iPhone 4.

There's a line for preorders and a line for instore sales. Kushibo will be in neither. He's here to figure out why iTunes keeps eating a few apps each time he tries (and fails) to backup his ancient iPhone 3G.

4 comments:

John from DaejeonThursday, June 24, 2010 11:47:00 AM
You should change that iphone label and come "out" of the closet. We all know that the "reel" line that you are in is in L.A.
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LastnameKimThursday, June 24, 2010 12:19:00 PM
Gosh...look at all those patient people...I guess some people don't have to go to work. I wonder if that affects the businesses that they're semi-blocking. At least it's not like those crazies who are camping out in front of movie theatres and not showering for days to see Eclipse.
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kushiboThursday, June 24, 2010 12:29:00 PM
Wow, John. That link... them's just crazy.

Nah, I can't get that excited about a Twilight movie. My ex looks like a thirty-year-old version of Bella, which freaks me out when I watch any flick she's in. Were it not for my niece and then another female someone wanting to see the first and then latest installments, respectively, I don't think I would have seen either.
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kushiboThursday, June 24, 2010 1:05:00 PM
LastnameKim wrote:
I wonder if that affects the businesses that they're semi-blocking.

I think, if anything, they probably give Planet Beauty a bit of business while they're in line.
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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.