Seogwipo is a convenient place to welcome Asia's Hallyuwood lovers, flocking in by entire charters (mainly from nearby Japan) through Jeju-do's main airport.
His Royal Lowness Yonsama managed to ruin the Governor's inauguration speech with his Liz Taylorish late arrival. Ponytailed and white gloved, Bae Yong Joon resembles more and more Michael Jackson. But Korea's lousiest actor doesn't need any plastic surgery : he just needs to put his copyrighted fake smile on, the one that make his fans faint and his jaws ache.
I may infuriate some of my readers from Uzbekistan or Japan, but Hallyu Expo in Asia is both the Graceland and shame of this country. A profitable exhibition certainly, but an anticultural event nonetheless. Once again*, Korean culture deserves (and has) much better ambassadors.
* see "Red blogule to Bae Yong June Airlines" (20050426) or "Blogule rouge à Bae Yong June - Vide Sidéral" (20050109)
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Seoul Village
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
20060517
Red blogule to Korea's hubs - meanwhile, in China...
While Busan, Incheon and several Seoul areas compete to become Asia's next hub, China plays "baduk" at a much larger level in order to host the future center of Korea.
Claiming Korea's cultural heritage is not enough. Even if their army of revisionist historians don't succeed in putting Koguryo on the Map of China, Beijing's strategic planners will use their multitudes to build a Great Wall of Korea on Chinese soil.
This future "Korean triangle" is meant to become even more powerful than Shanghai. The bay around Dalian being safe from freezing winters, it can compete with both Incheon and Busan and become the ideal spot for the future Eurasian railways terminals - no need to bother completing these silly inter-korean lines boys, we're taking care of everything from Motherland. Look, the "Bay of Korea" bathes our shores, we're not like those naughty Japanese imperialists who renamed the Sea of Korea "Sea of Japan" or worse, called Dokdo "Takeshima" as a tribute to their colonial craft (they say "bamboo island" comes from the shapes of the rocks but we all know how bamboo grows : Takeshima doesn't describe this dust on the sea but celebrates the first implantation of the Empire on a foreign soil).
China's building the ideal home for Koreans, leveraging on its strong local ethnic minority and intending to lure natives from the Korean Peninsula : either from the North (escaping from Hell), or from the South (escaping from a country with the World's lowest fertility rate, an insane education system and fewer opportunities in general) in a XXIst Century wild West gold rush (by the way, while we're at it, why not have some drafting sessions in LA's Koreatown as well ?). Thats a serious threat for a country whose most valuable assets are intangible or related to the very character of its population.
To make it even worse, the recent politico-military deal clinched between Japan and the US further precipitates Seoul in the welcoming arms of Beijing. And Korea can't find much disinterested support from its other giant neighbor Russia. Kofi Annan won't be of much help to Roh Moo-hyun for a better respect of fair play in the region. Korea needs to federate other Asian nations worried about China's and Japan's neo-imperialism, become a herald of cultural, economical and political diversity in the region... without angering Beijing too much because it can't afford it.
Korea can become a hub after all. But only if its major cities play as a team instead of competing with each other.
Claiming Korea's cultural heritage is not enough. Even if their army of revisionist historians don't succeed in putting Koguryo on the Map of China, Beijing's strategic planners will use their multitudes to build a Great Wall of Korea on Chinese soil.
This future "Korean triangle" is meant to become even more powerful than Shanghai. The bay around Dalian being safe from freezing winters, it can compete with both Incheon and Busan and become the ideal spot for the future Eurasian railways terminals - no need to bother completing these silly inter-korean lines boys, we're taking care of everything from Motherland. Look, the "Bay of Korea" bathes our shores, we're not like those naughty Japanese imperialists who renamed the Sea of Korea "Sea of Japan" or worse, called Dokdo "Takeshima" as a tribute to their colonial craft (they say "bamboo island" comes from the shapes of the rocks but we all know how bamboo grows : Takeshima doesn't describe this dust on the sea but celebrates the first implantation of the Empire on a foreign soil).
China's building the ideal home for Koreans, leveraging on its strong local ethnic minority and intending to lure natives from the Korean Peninsula : either from the North (escaping from Hell), or from the South (escaping from a country with the World's lowest fertility rate, an insane education system and fewer opportunities in general) in a XXIst Century wild West gold rush (by the way, while we're at it, why not have some drafting sessions in LA's Koreatown as well ?). Thats a serious threat for a country whose most valuable assets are intangible or related to the very character of its population.
To make it even worse, the recent politico-military deal clinched between Japan and the US further precipitates Seoul in the welcoming arms of Beijing. And Korea can't find much disinterested support from its other giant neighbor Russia. Kofi Annan won't be of much help to Roh Moo-hyun for a better respect of fair play in the region. Korea needs to federate other Asian nations worried about China's and Japan's neo-imperialism, become a herald of cultural, economical and political diversity in the region... without angering Beijing too much because it can't afford it.
Korea can become a hub after all. But only if its major cities play as a team instead of competing with each other.
20060419
Red blogule to "America Supports You"
Every now and then (when in Seoul), I tune to AFN Korea. Fifteen years ago, it was still called AFKN (Air Force Korea Network) and the proportion of news and personals related to the US bases in Korea would be much higher. BBQ at Camp Casey and that kind of stuff, any Korean resident could learn about the boys' lifestyle beyond what they could see from their own eyes (GIs leaving their Yongsan lairs only to cruise Itaewon's red light district). Back then, I would have my own pass to the Army base, a vast island of quietness in the heart of the city of traffic lights.
Now da boyz are about to leave the area and Korea to recover this precious land. A public park was already created back in 1993, and from the new and ugly (but for its contents) National Museum you can see what's left of the base. The Dragon Hill lodge is still there but there's not much greenery left, nor much space for breathing. I hope Korean developpers will make something nice out of this... (I think I may need a dream break Condi, is this possible ?)
Anyway... AFN Korea is now AFN Asia Pacific flavored with a few local insights. Instead of commercials, troops are still carpet bombed with Weapons of Mass Distraction (all major sports, series, games...), pearls of wisdom (don't pick your nose, brush your teeth and keep ready for war), morale lifting injections (you serve a great country, learn more about things that shaped Amerika in your public library), and Pentagon Propaganda.
"America Supports You" belongs to the last two categories. People from the street tell their love of what you guys are doin' and like in Sesame Street, they come in all shapes and colors because they are the American melting pot. Here, it's very easy being green, especially a green beret or a Vietnam vet, provided you support Rummy's doctrine with a smile on your face.
I don't know how the said troops react to these shorties. To me they sound like a compulsory long distance feelgood call, a sad farewell - thank you for taking the bullets overthere, we sure do appreciate what you do even if we don't quite get why you do it, but we're much better safe at home, thank you. I'll put a flag on my lawn right away to keep the bad luck outta my place - praise God my son is not among you.
The program is supposed to bring America closer to its military but it exposes how Dubya's Amerika is far away from its own troops. I tell you what Don : America doesn't support you.
Now da boyz are about to leave the area and Korea to recover this precious land. A public park was already created back in 1993, and from the new and ugly (but for its contents) National Museum you can see what's left of the base. The Dragon Hill lodge is still there but there's not much greenery left, nor much space for breathing. I hope Korean developpers will make something nice out of this... (I think I may need a dream break Condi, is this possible ?)
Anyway... AFN Korea is now AFN Asia Pacific flavored with a few local insights. Instead of commercials, troops are still carpet bombed with Weapons of Mass Distraction (all major sports, series, games...), pearls of wisdom (don't pick your nose, brush your teeth and keep ready for war), morale lifting injections (you serve a great country, learn more about things that shaped Amerika in your public library), and Pentagon Propaganda.
"America Supports You" belongs to the last two categories. People from the street tell their love of what you guys are doin' and like in Sesame Street, they come in all shapes and colors because they are the American melting pot. Here, it's very easy being green, especially a green beret or a Vietnam vet, provided you support Rummy's doctrine with a smile on your face.
I don't know how the said troops react to these shorties. To me they sound like a compulsory long distance feelgood call, a sad farewell - thank you for taking the bullets overthere, we sure do appreciate what you do even if we don't quite get why you do it, but we're much better safe at home, thank you. I'll put a flag on my lawn right away to keep the bad luck outta my place - praise God my son is not among you.
The program is supposed to bring America closer to its military but it exposes how Dubya's Amerika is far away from its own troops. I tell you what Don : America doesn't support you.
20051013
Red blogule to Dubya's Believe It or Not! museum in Bakersfield, CA
After Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Dubya's visit it or bust.
A new Bush museum will open in 2007 in the house 41 & 43 inhabited for 3 months back in 1949. The owner, a Republican, intends to add a reading center for kids in the backyard. No doubt the cornerstone of 43's Prez Library... that is, unless the College Station, TX based Bush The Elder's Presidential Library decides to keep "My Pet Goat".
The royal family enjoyed sunny California as well as Yankee New England : Bakersfield, CA hosts California State University and a few country clubs. Back then, Coast-to-Coast Dubya wasn't a newborn Texan yet but the Official Propaganda already unhearthed a couple of pictures of the young John Wayne lookalike dressed in a cow boy suit.
They're supposed to refurbish the place the way it was in the late forties. I suggest to spray some petrol around to make it even more realistic.
A new Bush museum will open in 2007 in the house 41 & 43 inhabited for 3 months back in 1949. The owner, a Republican, intends to add a reading center for kids in the backyard. No doubt the cornerstone of 43's Prez Library... that is, unless the College Station, TX based Bush The Elder's Presidential Library decides to keep "My Pet Goat".
The royal family enjoyed sunny California as well as Yankee New England : Bakersfield, CA hosts California State University and a few country clubs. Back then, Coast-to-Coast Dubya wasn't a newborn Texan yet but the Official Propaganda already unhearthed a couple of pictures of the young John Wayne lookalike dressed in a cow boy suit.
They're supposed to refurbish the place the way it was in the late forties. I suggest to spray some petrol around to make it even more realistic.
20050904
White blogule to "this is America"
My last visit to New Orleans was a business trip in the gloomy days before the invasion of Iraq. In the early hours of the morning, I would stroll the decaying streets of the city, empty but for the occasional hobo, wild cat or mad dog, thinking to myself no one is awake in this country. Each individual is living his own life and in an illusion of unity, the masses are blindly following a warmonger faking compassion and cynically heralding moral virtues. No one realizes the country is falling apart.
After that, I would come back for breakfast and then walk to the Ernst N. Morial Convention Center before the opening of the gates, crossing Tchoupitoulas under freeways obviously knitted by giant spiders on crack, wondering how such an urbanistic nonsense could deserve sounding like a memorial.
The other day, at the same angle, the TV would show people passing by corpses without even noticing. Up the 90, in the Superdome, women and kids would be raped in public. In other parts of the state cameras couldn't reach : chaos, anarchy, cannibalism, the collapse of the idea of society itself. And these words echoing on and on : "this is America, can you believe it ?".
Such things can happen anywhere anytime, but never at this scale. The saddest point is I'm not even surprised. Sad, yes. Because I love the US and have this special feeling for Louisiana and New Orleans. Not puke smelling Bourbon Street New Orleans but abandoned New Orleans, where long before Katrina came, ghost cities would pretend to exist in the present time.
Beyond the humanitarian tragedy, the realization of America's social collapse may leave even bitter marks.
After that, I would come back for breakfast and then walk to the Ernst N. Morial Convention Center before the opening of the gates, crossing Tchoupitoulas under freeways obviously knitted by giant spiders on crack, wondering how such an urbanistic nonsense could deserve sounding like a memorial.
The other day, at the same angle, the TV would show people passing by corpses without even noticing. Up the 90, in the Superdome, women and kids would be raped in public. In other parts of the state cameras couldn't reach : chaos, anarchy, cannibalism, the collapse of the idea of society itself. And these words echoing on and on : "this is America, can you believe it ?".
Such things can happen anywhere anytime, but never at this scale. The saddest point is I'm not even surprised. Sad, yes. Because I love the US and have this special feeling for Louisiana and New Orleans. Not puke smelling Bourbon Street New Orleans but abandoned New Orleans, where long before Katrina came, ghost cities would pretend to exist in the present time.
Beyond the humanitarian tragedy, the realization of America's social collapse may leave even bitter marks.
20050901
White blogule to Orhan Pamuk
So mentioning the genocide of the Armenians and the killings of Kurds is an insult to the Turkish nation and Orhan Pamuk should be jailed for telling the truth. The poor man was already cruising dangerous waters in his beautiful book "Snow", exposing fundamentalists and radical politicians from all sides in the same crude light, now Pamuk may turn out to be yet another victim of France's no to the EU constitution.
Because this nationalistic bravado represents the stupidest answer to the recent attacks from Erdogan's former friends. All charges should be dropped and if a trial were to take place, it should be about Turkey's troubled past.
And as far as the French are concerned, they can frown and denounce such a medieval censorship, but still have to answer for their own History.
Because this nationalistic bravado represents the stupidest answer to the recent attacks from Erdogan's former friends. All charges should be dropped and if a trial were to take place, it should be about Turkey's troubled past.
And as far as the French are concerned, they can frown and denounce such a medieval censorship, but still have to answer for their own History.
20050714
Red blogule to dognuments
Let's take a rather conservative figure : only 1% of all Parisian tourists experience the traditional visit of the city's dognuments. Considering the given fact that every bad experience is told to an average 20 people, this means about 10 million foreigners have either slipped on a dog's pooh or heard someone tell them about the ride.
Some say it's a lucky charm - hey, the most famous complaint turned an Italian hit into an Italian hit ("oh sole mio") - but I say we should get rid of them (the dog turds, not the Latin singers). Or at least curb the pace. Dog forbid, that would be a small step for man, but a giant leap for Parisians. Let's do it quick. Please step on it.
Some say it's a lucky charm - hey, the most famous complaint turned an Italian hit into an Italian hit ("oh sole mio") - but I say we should get rid of them (the dog turds, not the Latin singers). Or at least curb the pace. Dog forbid, that would be a small step for man, but a giant leap for Parisians. Let's do it quick. Please step on it.
20050427
Red blogule to Bae Yong June Airlines
Yonsama Grandeur ? Winter Sonata ? Korea Pride ? How about Secondhand Tico ? Instead of milking the Bae Yong-Jun cow, the KNTO (Kora National Tourism Organization) should move towards better vehicles and more perennial attractions. Wake up Korea ! How dare you want to be reknown for this scarf-wrapped excuse of an actor (Choi Min-Sik doesn't need scarves, but he is an actor) ? Can't you see this mirage is bound to crash, this "April Snow" is bound to melt ? Why not sponsor Dan Brown's next blockbuster so that the plot sits in Seoul while you're at it ? Don't waste time on fads and invest on the country's unique know how, what makes its culture so much tastier and spicier, even in the movie pictures industry.
20050327
White blogule to You
I started a joke... which started the world both laughing and crying. For over two years now, I've been hearing from some of you. You sent me encouragements and hate mails, sometimes pictures, links to your own blog / site, and even a couple of viruses. Students & researchers, soccer addicts & gimchi lovers, Reps & Dems, Christians & Buddhists, Muslims & Jews, moderates & extremists, even a negationist (portals have to be open and sometimes you do catch a cold). Oddly enough, you land from all 6 continents on my personal portal or on one of my blogs (blogules, blogules VF and mot-bile). Sometimes by accident, sometimes with enough masochism to come back more often than I refresh my sites.
Yet, not all of you dare feeding me back. Don't hesitate and go ahead !
Yet, not all of you dare feeding me back. Don't hesitate and go ahead !
20050107
Red blogule to Guggenheim - Ghost in a shell
Since the issue of "Guggenheim Economics" is raised (Newsweek 20041220), let me add that this franchise has the business model of a low cost carrier sponsored by minor league airports. But don't think economies of scale : the more outlets they open, the more dilluted the collections. The space and architecture makes for the cultural void and the original Guggenheim in New York now looks like a "ghost in a shell". Visiting Guggenheim Bilbao is quite an architectural experience but you're more marvelling at the craft of a software than the inspiration of an artist. And after the ride you realise you were lured into believing you actually met great works but hey, that's how the Planet Hollywood concept managed to sell for a little while. Stephane MOT
20050104
Red blogule to France - Papy blues
France, Europe and the World - papy blues ?
France will hold a referendum on the EU constitution this year. A "no" sure would make the news, but is there any way the country could get an identity back ?
Jacques Chirac has a knack for finding ways of putting his country back on the map, and the resistance to the American domination seems an inspirational source - from nuclear explosions in the Pacific Ocean (the rationale : some coral crushing is the price to pay in order not to depend on the US for some sensitive data crunching) to more glamourous fights (in favor of the "cultural diversity", against the Bush mob about Iraq).
Now it's time to define France and Europe a more subtle way. Both shouldn't exist simply as a negative or counterbalancing force to such superpowers as the US or China.
Up to now, the French have somehow succeeded in being instrumental in the creation and development of the European Union. This influence is now over, even if former president Giscard d'Estaing led the EU Constitution project in 2004. Even the golden seat at the UN (veto power can deter as efficiently as nukes) may soon become history.
So France welcomes this referendum as the main event of the year to come. A proof of its very existence. Discovering with stupor what it means to become Europe's "Belle Province" - a proud, scenic and original spot without much influence on its environment nor its own destiny.
France will hold a referendum on the EU constitution this year. A "no" sure would make the news, but is there any way the country could get an identity back ?
Jacques Chirac has a knack for finding ways of putting his country back on the map, and the resistance to the American domination seems an inspirational source - from nuclear explosions in the Pacific Ocean (the rationale : some coral crushing is the price to pay in order not to depend on the US for some sensitive data crunching) to more glamourous fights (in favor of the "cultural diversity", against the Bush mob about Iraq).
Now it's time to define France and Europe a more subtle way. Both shouldn't exist simply as a negative or counterbalancing force to such superpowers as the US or China.
Up to now, the French have somehow succeeded in being instrumental in the creation and development of the European Union. This influence is now over, even if former president Giscard d'Estaing led the EU Constitution project in 2004. Even the golden seat at the UN (veto power can deter as efficiently as nukes) may soon become history.
So France welcomes this referendum as the main event of the year to come. A proof of its very existence. Discovering with stupor what it means to become Europe's "Belle Province" - a proud, scenic and original spot without much influence on its environment nor its own destiny.
White blogule to cultural diversity - China is already on top
The US don't even realize it yet but they've already been overtaken by China. Forget the traditional measuring tools supposed to tell you what a superpower is (GDP, RBI... you name it). We're talking about the way a country's culture attracts people from all over the world. The US model is already dead and the Chinese one just finishing its warm up period.
This time, China won't try to overwhelm the region with its mandarin style rococco but peacefully let the world enjoy and spread the word about a second to none variety of cultures and ethnies... provided they get rid of their tradition of coating everything in a disneylike display of radical colors or in a tasteless MSG saturated sauce.
In the meanwhile, come enjoy beautiful Yunnan before mass tourism takes too much flavor out of it. Back from Kunming, Lijiang, Dali and Zhongdian.
This time, China won't try to overwhelm the region with its mandarin style rococco but peacefully let the world enjoy and spread the word about a second to none variety of cultures and ethnies... provided they get rid of their tradition of coating everything in a disneylike display of radical colors or in a tasteless MSG saturated sauce.
In the meanwhile, come enjoy beautiful Yunnan before mass tourism takes too much flavor out of it. Back from Kunming, Lijiang, Dali and Zhongdian.
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