Hey Mr

According to the UK's Daily Star, Korean girl group (Not Japanese as the Daily Star would have you believe) Kara have been reported to have dedicated their song 'Mister' to Frank Lampard. India's ANI News Agency cleared up the mess with an explanation.

On the 7th of January, 'Quality' British tabloid, the Daily Star published a story titled "FRANK LAMPARD SCORES CHART TOPPING SINGLE IN SOUTH KOREA" and came with pictures and talked about how the lyrics that were superimposed over a live version of the video were about Lampard, Fabregas, Beckham and Ronaldo. The faux lyrics talked about the upcoming World Cup and someone called 'Fat Frank.'

According to The Star, that bastion of credible journalism, the song contains lyrics such as "In a glance you look in my eyes, my captain Cesc" and "Even though you left me for Madrid, I still love you Ronaldo" but moves onto Mr Lampard with the lyrics "Forget those two losers, Chelsea blue is the only one" but that is where the affection for Frank ends as they refer to him as "Cute, chubby Frank mister"

The song proves itself to be a hoax (and perpetrated by someone whose command of English isn't the finest and Frankly has some kind of multiple personality disorder) with the lyrics "Excited me when Cesc spats in Ballack's face. Typical for a dirty Arsenal, yah!" The fantasy lyrics end well for Frank however when they wish him well for the World Cup in the summer. Fantasy indeed!

The ANI coverage is much less misleading, stating that 'Mister' is a popular song that is regularly heard in clubs in Korea. The article (although titled ' KOREAN GIRL GROUP CALL LAMPARD CUTE AND FAT) exposes the false subtitles as being put there by netizens.

The original article in Korean, exposing this shoddy journalism, can be found here, the Daily Star article can be found here and the Yahoo music article that seems to have bought these lyrics hook, line and sinker and may have started all of this can be found here.

The cheeky subtitles can be seen on Dave Rumour's Yahoo page here and the original song, with accurate English subtitles is below for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Originally translated from the Korean by Christina M.

Scuppered by Snow

The snow may be causing havoc all over the UK, making roads treacherous and upending grannies but aside from all the little kiddies, who are off school and throwing snowballs until their frostbitten fingers give up, the snow also keeps the rabble and the riffraff indoors. And even when said ruffians decide to venture out to mug someone or attack a cash machine (ATMs) with an industrial saw, the snow comes to the rescue. 2 such buffoons were apprehended by police after the bizzies followed footprints in the snow from the shop, straight to the front door of a house a few streets away. Full story here and amazingly another example can be found here.

Snow 2, Idiots 0

Some Cool Pictures

A few satellite pictures from the MODIS Rapid Response System, developed to provide daily satellite images of the Earth's landmasses in near real time. True-color, photo-like imagery and false-color imagery are available within a few hours of being collected, making the system a valuable resource for organizations like the U.S. Forest Service and the international fire monitoring community, who use the images to track fires.

I Can Do Nunchuka!

I recently met an interesting man in a bar in Jeonju. Actually I often meet interesting people in Korea but this guy was particularly interesting. He was a Hapkido master and was drinking with a few of other Hapkido master friends. He also told me he was a master of the nunchuka and told me that videos of him could be found on YouTube by searching 'I can do nunchuka.'

I searched and found him doing all manner of crazy twirling type actions with nunchukas. There are 50 or so videos and if you want to learn how not to hit yourself in the testicles with a pair of nuchukas, he is the man for you. Have a look here.

Then, in a completely separate Internet foray I came across a Japanese man who is also adept at throwing the nunchukas around. And so in what appears to be the nexus of a series on Japanese people doing unorthodox things with deadly weapons (after the post which included a video of a baseball chopping samurai), I present another baseball related martial arts lesson, enjoy. But remember, don't try this at home or this might happen!

Stupid Things Seen on Facebook

Everyone who is on Facebook could surely come up with a huge list of stupid things they have seen on Facebook but I have resisted until now. The following is the smallest smattering of the seemingly infinite amount of numb skulls out there.

"We Will Not Pay To Use Facebook. We Are Gone If This Happens ►► INVITE ALL!" is a stupid group but when you look at the pictures and then the comments of the pictures you see the kind of people that we will be losing if Facebook should decide to start charging. Not a big loss I think you'll agree.

A large woman whose bra you can see through her shirt says "I will not pay and will remove every thing. Shame on you for wanting to make a buck" I hope she is referring to her content and not her clothes.

A guy called Patrick, of the above mentioned photo says "That's right..we shouldn't have to pay. great photo. would you like to be farmville neighbors?? add me" Which I think speaks for itself.

Someone called Noor (It's a name) commented on an obviously fake photograph highlighting possible Facebook charges (here)

"This is soo demented WTFFFF like srzzlyy Misspelling is 0.02 WTF? ND complaining bout facebook changes are $25 WTF these people srzly need their heads kicked in !!"

And the scariest thing is that this group has 105,396 members and counting.

This is a status I have borrowed from Facebook.

"goin' down to Chinatown" in reference to an upcoming trip to Beijing and someone she knows, probably a 'Facebook friend' commented

"Have a safe flight!! Watch out for homeless people with cardboard, they are likely to throw it at you as a distraction and then steal your wallet. Love youuu"

Now, unless I am mistaken, this friend, or this is the implication, has been mugged in Beijing by a homeless person, armed with only a piece of cardboard, which presumably said something like 'will do Tai chi for food.' Bizarre you say, well her wording of people suggests that it has happened more than once. That is some pretty bad luck or, as the case probably is, she has read a news article or watched a program on say, the Fox network entitled "When homeless Chinese beggars go BAD" and has decided to do the right thing and warn all his/her friends and family of the bands of Chinese beggars who go around mugging people with bits of cardboard.

Gotta love Facebook!

January 2010!

A little list of what's on in Korea this month has been collated by me from various resources for your reading delectation.

A few PDFs and/or links to various calendars first

• What's on in Busan, courtesy of Busan Haps
• 10 magazine's January events guide is here
• A PDF version of January's Daegu Pockets magazine is here
• And here is a PDF from the Visit Korea website

Korea4expats.com has this little list

• Muse, Thur 7 Jan 2010, Olympic Park
• Film Night, German Film-English Subtitles, Fri 08 Jan 2010,
• Hwacheon Trout Festival, 9-31 Jan 2010, Gangwon-do
• Strange Soup, 9-10 January 2010, Yeosu - Yeosu Civic Center
• Etoile Ballet Gala, 12-13 Jan 2010, Seoul Arts Center
• Strange Soup, 16-17 January 2010, Jeonju -Sori Arts Center
• Taebaek Snow Festival, 22-31 Jan 2010, Gangwon-do, korea
• Strange Soup, 23-24 January 2010, Changwon - Sungsan Art Hall
• Inje Ice Fishing Festival, 28-31 Jan 2010, Gangwon Province, Korea
• Winter Fam Tour to Jindo 4 Dog Lovers, Sat 30 Jan, RSVP Dec 09
• Charity Gala, Sat 30 Jan 2010, Grand Hyatt, Seoul
• Burns Supper, Sat 30 Jan 2010, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul
• Strange Soup, 30-31 Jan 2010, Daegu - Daegu Cultural Center
• Traditional Performances, Saturdays Jan-June 2010, Natl Folk Museu

From the official Korea tourism site there is

Taebaeksan Mountain Snow Festival

Period: 01-22-2010 ~ 01-31-2010

Region: Gangwon-do

Inje Icefish Festival

Period: 01-28-2010 ~ 01-31-2010

Region: Gangwon-do

2009 Seoul Festival of Light

Period: 12-19-2009 ~ 01-24-2010

Region: Seoul

Hwacheon Sancheoneo (Mountain Trout) Ice Festival

Period: 01-09-2010 ~ 01-31-2010

Region: Gangwon-do

Boseong Tea Fields Festival of Lights

When: December 11-January 31, 2010

Where: Boseong Tea Fields, Hoecheon-myeon, Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do Province

Pyeongchang Trout Festival

Period: 12-22-2009 ~ 01-31-2010

Region: Gangwon-do

Here is a page with these festivals and a few more for the winter period.

Chris in South Korea has this little list, which includes The Andy Warhol exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art, Monet to Picasso:masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the Hangaram Art Museum and Masterpieces of Italian Renaissance Frescoes at the Seoul Art Center. Even though there will be some crossover between posts, I think it's better to have a small overlap than to miss something!

And finally a little more crossing over, but once again, better to be safe that sorry. Matt Kelley's blog 'Discovering Korea' has a list of winter festivals in Korea, have a look here.

Sunrise in Yeosu

More pics on Flickr

Korean Films

I have recently embarked on a quest to watch as many Korean films as I can before my time here comes to an end. To that end I have started making a regular date at a DVD bang to watch at least one film a week. I have always had an interest in films and ever since I came to Korea I have had an interest in Korean films but have never really made any headway into the vast library of Korean films.

Better late than never I suppose.

Before I get into what I have watched recently, here are a few links that have helped me decide which films to watch as well as where to buy them and enter into lengthy discussions about every aspect of them, if you want to.

• The DVD shop at Seoul Selection is pretty good
• The English language pages of the Korean film archive are here
• Koreanfilm.org is here
• The personal blog of Tom Giammarco, a contributor to Koreanfilm.org and a resident of Jeonju is here
• The Korean Movie Database can found here,

In Jeonju, DVDs can be bought at Hot Tracks, underneath Kyobo bookshop and Tom recommended www.madmad.co.kr, but you will probably need a Korean friend to help you navigate the site an to use their ID to order things.

친구 (Friend) by 곽경택 is a 2001 film about three friends in the port city of Busan. It is semi autobiographical and the characters speak in a Busan dialect. It is a tale of tragedy and friendship and is very watchable indeed.

친절한 금자씨 (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) was next after I had already watched the smash hit 공동경비구역JSA by the same director. Park Chan Wook made this film as part of his vengeance trilogy and along with 올드보이 (Old Boy) and 복수는 나의 것 (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), there is indeed a lot of vengeance. 친절한 금자씨 is very in keeping with the theme of the trilogy and features a woman who has been wronged by a very bad man (I don't want to give too much of the plot away.) It is a very good film and deals with an issue that would test the resolve of even the most ardent pacifist and offers an insight into what prison life for women in Korea might be like. I think it's a very good film and will look forward to watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

It has been said that his films are too gory but there is very little actual gore, just the implication of gore. That is not to say there is no blood, there is plenty of it but there is very little graphic violence, the camera is used as an effective tool to make you think you are seeing something you really aren't. An interview with Park to talk about his career and his latest film can be found here.

The most recent film I have watched was 낮술 (Daytime Drinking). A black comedy about a young man who escapes from the city to pine over the loss of a girl. It has been compared to Sideways but is not nearly as good. The film is set almost entirely in the northern part of the country during winter and there are a few times when the ridiculousness of the scenario becomes funny, but they are few and far between. Over all I would recommend this instead of watching, say, rubbish Korean TV but there are better films. It moves slowly and never really gathers pace and there are moments when I may have considered fast forwarding had I been at home. Read into that what you will. Watch the trailer here and make your own mind up.

What's on this month?

Given my tardiness you may have already missed some of these festivals but here is a some info on what's on in November, collated from a few websites.

• What's on in Busan, courtesy of Busan Haps magazine
• 10 magazine's November events guide is here
• A PDF version of November's Daegu Pockets magazine is here
• And here is a PDF from the Visit Korea website as well as a few other events from a few other sources.

From Chris in South Korea there is

1st - 21st: The 9th Seoul Performing Arts Festival - continuing from October, the SPAF continues at eight venues across Seoul. The English website offers good information about where to go and how to get there - along with a breakdown of how much dance, drama, music, and images within each performance.

1st - 25th: The Seoul Grand Sale - for some reason English teachers aren't precisely the prime demographic, but check out the website, print off some online coupons, or pick up one of their coupon books at a tourist information centre.

5th - 8th: The opera Carmen comes to Seoul - Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre will perform along with the Korean Symphony Orchestra and the CBS Children's Chorus will appear. Break out the won, however - the cheap seats cost 50,000 won and go up to 250,000 won for the VIP seats. Check out the Seoul Arts Center for more information.

6th - 15th: The Choenamdan Bangeo Festival - if you've been meaning to check out Jeju-do, this festival celebrates the Bangeo fish. Don't miss the yeongwangmaji gut, an exorcism ceremony for the safety of fishermen and female divers. The official website is in Korean, but Visit Korea has some helpful information.

10th - 15th: Tango Seduction, Chungmu Art Hall. Look no further for a date-worthy evening of dancing. Tickets are 44,000-88,000 won; Call 02) 318-4304 for more.

11th: Opening Ceremony for the 'Visit Korea Year', after all. If you're wondering about the site,click here for a post about it. If you're interested, check out the Cheonggyecheon area from 7-9pm; the same area will feature the Seoul Lantern Festival from the 11th-15th.

11th: A wine class starts today and goes for 6 weeks, led by a wine consultant named Pierre Mettelin. It costs 90,000 won and is sponsored by the Seorae Global Village Center; call 02-2155-8915 or email tbn2@sba.seoul.kr.

11th - 15th: The 6th Gunsan International Migratory Bird Festival, held at Gunsan Migratory Bird Observatory in Jeollabuk-do. The English website offers plenty of information, but it's funny that the local festivals page doesn't list it... Try giving them a call at 063-453-7213.

14th-15th: If you don't do enough walking already, the Hi Seoul World Walking Festival will offer a chance for your legs to move like they were meant to. Choose from the 12km, 15km, or 30km course. Seoul Plaza & Hangang Park; 5,000 won, online registration required, but good luck on the Korean-only website. Why oh why does a WORLD WALKING FESTIVAL only get promoted in Korean? You can try calling (02) 544-2069 instead.

20th - 22nd: Paju Jangdan Soybean Festival - the standard formula for Korean food festivals applies well here: take a food Korea is proud of, add characters in a suit, and offer classes in how to make some various things from the chosen food. The English website has more specifics, and I know you're all just dying to try Korean soy beans.

26th - 29th: Speaking of food, the foodies will be coming out for the 4th annual Seoul International Fancy Food Festival AND The 8th Seoul Int’l Café Show 2009 at the COEX mall. 5,000 won gets you in, while these two websites are both in English, just in case you didn't know where the COEX mall is. A bonus: the Korean Barista Championship is supposed to be around the area.

From Korea 4 Expats there is

Exhibition by Sun-Im Koh and her SIWA Students, 28 Oct - 3 Nov

World Festival of National Theaters, 4 Sept to 4 Nov

Photographer Shin Mihe Exhibition, 23 Oct-18 Nov 2009

Seoul Grand Sale 2009 ends 25 November, Seoul

See Korea with the RAS, November 2009, Seoul & Around Korea

Seoul Performing Arts Festival - SPAF, 13 Oct. - 21 Nov

Korean Movies with English Subtitles, CINUS Myeong-dong & Gangnam

Photo Exhibition on Chile's Mapuche Tribe, to 10 Nov

Joseon Period Ceremony Scenes to 6 Dec 2009, National Museum of Korea

Groupe Novembre: Paris-Seoul, to 21 Nov 2009, Museum of Photography

In the Flower Garden to 15 Nov 2009, 63 Building Seoul

Exhibition - Swedish Footprint, 21 Oct to 7 Nov 2009, KFCC, Seoul

Oliver Raw - Korea on Foot - Photo Exhibition, 22 Oct-4 Nov

Making Kimchi for Charity, 10-11 Nov 2009, Yongsan, Seoul

St Andrew's Ball Scottish Dancing Practices, Wed 23 Sept-25 Nov

Performers Playground, Tuesdays to 11 Nov 2009, Itaewon

Opera on Film to July 2010 - La Boheme, Nov 2009, COEX Megabox

Opera Carmen, 5-8 Nov 2009, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul

Spring Awakening thru 10 Jan 2010, Yeonji-dong Seoul

RAS Tour to North Vietnam and Cambodia, 26-31 Dec 2009 RSVP by 6 Nov

Jazz Concert - Patricia Barber, Sat 7 Nov 2009, Goyan

Namsan Museum of Light Project to 31 Dec 2009, Seoul

Family Musical-Little Donkey, Sat 7 Nov 2009, Uijeongbu Arts Centre

Justice for North Korea Demonstration, every Saturday, Insa-dong

North Korean Human Rights March, Sat 7 Nov 2009, City Hall Area

Commonwealth Remembrance Service, Sun 8 Nov 2009, Anglican Cathedr...

RAS Lecture - Why North Korea is Such a Pest, Tues 10 Nov 2009

Suji's New York Deli Launching Party, Tuesday 10 Nov 2009

Wine Class, Wednesday 11 Nov - 16 Dec 2009, Seocho-gu, Seoul

Two Men's Autumn Story, Thurs 12 Nov 2009, Sejong Arts Center, Seoul

Beautiful 11am Concert, Thursday 12 Nov 2009, Seoul Art Center

Flea Market of Seorae Village, 14 Nov 2009, Seocho-gu, Seoul

JeongSeon Rail-Bike Tour, Sat 14 Nov 2009, Departure from Seoul

International Bazaar, Tues 17 Nov 2009, Grand Hilton Hotel, Seodae...

Hanna Chang Cello Recital, Fri 20 Nov 2009, Goyang Aram Nuri Arts ...

Germany As One:On Film-English Subtitles, Fri 20 Nov 2009

RAS Lecture: Korea Betrayed, Mon 23 Nov 2009, near Insa-dong, Seoul

Great Chefs Cooking Demo/Lunch, Tues 24 Nov 2009, Grand Hilton Hotel

Olle Trail Trek, Wed-Fri 25-27 Nov 2009, Jeju Island

Intl Youth Conference-North Korean Human Rights, Fri 27 Nov 09, Seoul

Jazz Saxaphonist Choi Kwang Chul Concert, Fri 27 Nov 2009

And from the official Korea tourism site there is

Seogwipo Bangeo Fish Festival

Period: 11-04-2009 ~ 11-08-2009

Region: Jeju-do

Ceramics Festival of Gimhae

Period: 10-27-2009 ~ 11-01-2009

Region: Gyeongsangnam-do

Gwangju Kimchi Culture Festival

Period: 10-23-2009 ~ 11-01-2009

Region: Gwangju

Paju Jangdan Soybean Festival

Period: 11-20-2009 ~ 11-22-2009

Region: Gyeonggi-do

Namdo Food Festival

Period: 10-29-2009 ~ 11-01-2009

Region: Jeollanam-do

Ganghwa Dolmen Culture Festival

Period: 11-14-2009 ~ 11-15-2009

Region: Incheon