Posts from the “Korea” Category

South Korea

Posted on April 29th, 2007

In case anyone’s wondering where I am, I’m currently in Seoul, South Korea for a short holiday before heading back to London next week. The journey here on Friday afternoon from Beijing unfortunately turned into a big nightmare – plane was delayed two hours (whilst sitting in it on the tarmac), upon landing discovered my phone doesn’t work in Korea (their telecoms networks are way ahead of ours!), i got off at the wrong bus stop so missed my friend (who had already been waiting for hours) and then to top it off I lost my credit card in a moment of being completely stressed out with the situation. Did I mention I only speak one word of Korean? It was not a fun…

Sheep Head (양머리)

Posted on January 15th, 2007

Never let it be said that I am not a trend setter in all aspects of life, in fact when it comes to clothes I consider my wardrobe to be the *hight* of fashion. With this in mind I decided to take a leaf out the latest in couture from South Korea: behold the Sheep Head (literal translation), otherwise known as the “Princess Leia towel doo”. For those who don’t speak Korean: Fold towel length-ways 3 times Fold the ends over themselves until secure Turn over and find opening Pull opening apart till head sized Place on head (your face may or may-not blur as show!) Walking down the street will never feel the same again, warm ears and a dry head are just…

I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok

Posted on November 8th, 2006

… is the unlikely title for Park Chan-wook’s next film about a mental patient who believes she is a robot (seriously). After his infamous revenge trilogy (Old Boy, SfLV) it certainly seems like a change of pace for the uncompromising director but considering the savage content of his prior work this should be a walk in the park! There are some obvious parallels to be drawn between Park Chan-wook and Quentin Tarantino who might be accused of putting style before substance and being overly exploitative but considering that film is a visual medium in the first place isn’t that part of the experience? I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve seen it but based what we’ve seen in the past it’s bound to be one to…

Seismic Reaction

Posted on October 9th, 2006

So Kim Jong-il dropped a bit of a bomb shell today (haha) with the underground detonation of a nuclear bomb in northern North Korea. Seems to me it can serve little purpose other than to wind the rest of the world up and brings it one step closer to an ugly confrontation. Although NK may be a rouge state there is something fascinating about how is manages to exist in the confides of such secrecy and isolation. It’s somewhere I’d love to visit before things inevitably change. On a somewhat lighter note the eccentric dictator still looks like “a nerdy, pompadoured, platform shoe-wearer who looks like something you’d put on the end of your child’s pencil.” –Jon Stewart HOWTO: Verify a Nuclear Test Blast

Renewable Linguistics

Posted on September 15th, 2006

There is no doubt that life is the transformation of solar energy, at its core, but this could soon be taking on a new meaning if we (the world) don’t get our act together over climate change. Obviously finding an alternative clean form of energy is key to our future, of which there are many possibilities – solar, wind, tidal, etc. Back in 1999 I designed and built a prototype wind turbine for individual use as part of a project for one of the A-Levels I was studying for at the time. Whilst this was never intended to change the world (!) I learned quite a bit about the technologies involved and their limitations, mainly being around conversion efficiency. Now seven years down the…

Mighty Memory

Posted on August 5th, 2005

Saw a link to this article on kottke.org and just had to forward it on: SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea’s Dear Leader Kim Jong-il never forgets a phone number, a cadre’s career or a line of computer code. According to an article posted on Tuesday on a Web site run by North Korea, Kim wakes up early every day for intensive memory training where he sits down and commits to his keen mind items such as the phone numbers of workers in his Stalinist state. “I remember all computer codes and telephones that workers are using now,” Kim was quoted as saying on the Web site “Uri-Min-jok-kiri“, or “Among our People.” … North Korean propaganda is ripe with the amazing achievements of its Dear…

Oldboy

Posted on March 14th, 2005

Although far-fetched and extreme, try to imagine this: You’re taken without reason one day. Held without reason in a single room. Locked up for 15 years with no human contact. The set free without reason. You have only 5 days to find out why. Sounds like a horrible nightmare but is the premise of Oldboy, a relatively new (2003) Korean film which I watched yesterday. It’s been likened to Kill Bill for its graphic violence and tale of bloody revenge yet in many respects couldn’t be more different. With its main character, Oh Dae-su, on the verge of insanity seeking revenge against mysterious captors it makes for a riveting two hours viewing. Quite how you get into the mind of someone who’s been kept…

Fool’s Map

Posted on August 12th, 2004

Stumbled across a cool little cartographic project yesterday called the “Fool’s world map“. It’s basically meant to represent the world as viewed by a ‘fool’ – if you know someone who thinks Disney Land is a state in America or that Atlantis actually exists then this is for them! Although very funny it’s actually quite scary to think that some people actually have a picture of the world in their mind not unlike what has been represented here. I imagine most of them are American. Even scarier is that fact that some people around the world, notably in places like North Korea, have very little idea of what going on outside their immediate place of residence at all.

Korea

Posted on July 17th, 2004

The DVD of “A Tale Of Two Sisters” (previously reviewed here) that I ordered from South Korea arrived today in perfect condition. Wonders never cease to amaze me how something can be shipped half way across the globe and still cost no more than it would to buy it on the high street (if it were available there). The version I have is the special 2-disc edition which includes a film cell in a numbered presentation card which I thought was particularly cool! Picture quality is perfect although you’ll need a NTSC capable region free player to watch it as it’s been encoded for use in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and parts of South East Asia only. Interestingly enough today also marked the launch…

Foreign Films on DVD

Posted on July 9th, 2004

Getting hold of foreign films (especially obscure ones) on DVD is nearly impossible on the high street, unless you have a specialist shop near you and even then they can be quite expensive. Although I usually only buy a DVD if I see a film I really like (whether it be in the cinema or by other means) I have found a number of useful online outlets which offer great value for money and have large selections of stuff you can’t get locally (in the UK that is). I’ve compiled a short list below of the good ones but always remember to purchase with discretion when buying online, especially from abroad, in general: 1) Only buy from reputable stores which have a solid track…

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