Marmot Unplugged

If you’d like to put a “voice to the blog,” so to speak, Michael has posted his podcast interview with me over at Scribblings of the Metropolitician. Lots of discussion of Korea, blogging and other stuff, so give it a listen.

UPDATE: Do I really sound like Truman Capote?  Not that there’s anything wrong with sounding like Truman Capote…

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77 Comments

  1. Gravatar gbevers your flag
    Posted January 11, 2007 at 6:36 pm | Permalink

    Interesting, but I was disappointed that Robert was not asked his views on “Dokdo.”

  2. Gravatar railwaycharm your flag
    Posted January 11, 2007 at 9:05 pm | Permalink

    gbevers

    Defiant to the end…..

  3. Gravatar hardyandtiny your flag
    Posted January 11, 2007 at 10:31 pm | Permalink

    Dokdo?
    What about the chicks before he met his wife?

  4. Posted January 12, 2007 at 12:57 am | Permalink

    Slow, that is slow in one’s brain, and sticky wins the discussion. People with average or overage mindset will run out of the ring, tired of the illogic of anotherof lower brain, yelling http://www.tplayersclub.com/wavs/omygod.wav . And finally the winner is slow and sticky.
    All that occidentalism does is who’s-the-ass game.

  5. Posted January 12, 2007 at 1:07 am | Permalink

    Oh, I hear the sigh of Mr. Koehler.
    I hope Gerry will hear the sigh of Mr. Koehler too.

    Robert, it’s the life.

  6. Posted January 12, 2007 at 3:44 am | Permalink

    Sooo…does Marmot sound like Truman Capote or what?

  7. Posted January 12, 2007 at 4:26 am | Permalink

    I do believe the interview took in a cozy restaurant that I could also hear most of Korean conversations. Or Michael had a really good recorder.
    Anyway it was an interesting podcast and good to hear your view about Korea and blogging. Thanks.

  8. Posted January 12, 2007 at 6:49 am | Permalink

    At first I thought, “Wow! That Marmot sure can carry a tune!”

    But then I realized it was just the intro music.

  9. Posted January 12, 2007 at 8:18 am | Permalink

    bluejives—You know, I’d never thought to make that comparison, but listening to it again, I’m afraid you might be right. Just without the Southern accent.

    JiMong—We did the podcast interview at Cafe Yeon in Samcheong-dong, which is one of my favorite little hangouts.

  10. Gravatar Sonagi your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 8:44 am | Permalink

    Does anyone understand SubRosa’s comments?

  11. Posted January 12, 2007 at 8:53 am | Permalink

    Does anyone understand SubRosa’s comments?

    Allow me to translate:

    SubRosa thinks Gerry is beating a dead horse. He considers himself of relatively high intelligence and is therefore exasperated by Gerry’s insistence on introducing the topic of Dokdo into each and every thread. And he (SubRosa) expects Mr. Koehler to be exasperated as well.

    I humbly bow.

  12. Gravatar gbnhj your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:01 am | Permalink

    SubRosa shows a subtle, highly-refined understanding of Barry White. ‘Oh my God’, indeed.

    Guys, if you’re tired of your lower brain making all the decisions, just run out of that ring. Remember: ’slow and sticky’ is the winner.

  13. Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:26 am | Permalink

    Re. the update:

    Don’t kid yourself Mr. Marmot. There is plenty wrong with sounding like Truman Capote.

    You didn’t sound like him, though.

  14. Gravatar dogbertt your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:29 am | Permalink

    SubRosa, uhuru, whatever:

    Just stick to Korean, please. It’s OK.

    Don’t try to out-Baduk Baduk.

  15. Gravatar SomeguyinKorea your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:32 am | Permalink

    “Do I really sound like Truman Capote? Not that there’s anything wrong with sounding like Truman Capote”

    I’d worry if you start posting pictures of yourself in suggestive poses.

  16. Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:35 am | Permalink

    I’d worry if you start posting pictures of yourself in suggestive poses.

    For god’s sake…NO!

    This blog already does a good job of turning off female visitors.

    ba-dam-BAM!

  17. Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:39 am | Permalink

    The humanity…

  18. Gravatar mins0306 your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:42 am | Permalink

    Would have been nice if the interview showed the face behind the voice.

    But on the other hand, if eveyone knew the Marmot’s face, then the aura of mystery surrounding him will disappear, so I guess it’s better if it’s left as it is.

  19. Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:46 am | Permalink

    “Aura of mystery”? Robert Koehler, the Thomas Pynchon of the Korea Blogosphere…

  20. Gravatar SomeguyinKorea your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 9:59 am | Permalink

    My last comment wasn’t a reference to Truman Capote’s homosexuality, but rather to the scandal he caused with the dust jacket cover of his book ‘Other voices, Other rooms’.

    PS. I give 5 points to whoever can tell me what a ‘capote’ is in French.

  21. Gravatar R. Elgin your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 10:04 am | Permalink

    Ouch, man, you would have to mention Pynchon. My hands shake every time I see his name mentioned in a blog . . .

  22. Gravatar michael your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 10:49 am | Permalink

    “And finally the winner is slow and sticky.” So true, so true….

  23. Gravatar peninsular aborigine your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 10:54 am | Permalink

    Now that Liberace and Truman are gone I finally have another male role model.

  24. Gravatar judge judy your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 11:23 am | Permalink

    “Do I really sound like Truman Capote? Not that there’s anything wrong with sounding like Truman Capote”

    septoplasty, marmot.

  25. Gravatar dogbertt your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 11:27 am | Permalink

    I’ve had voicemail from the Marmot and he sounded like a normal, unlisping, man’s man. I’ll have to give this podcast a listen.

  26. Posted January 12, 2007 at 11:33 am | Permalink

    Now that Liberace and Truman are gone I finally have another male role model.

    That’s just mean.

  27. Gravatar peninsular aborigine your flag
    Posted January 12, 2007 at 11:38 am | Permalink

    Sorry. Got out of the wrong side of the “yo” this morning.

  28. Posted January 12, 2007 at 3:10 pm | Permalink

    bluejives—You know, I’d never thought to make that comparison, but listening to it again, I’m afraid you might be right. Just without the Southern accent.

    I never meant to imply that you sound like Truman Capote. When I wrote that remark, I hadn’t even listened to the podcast yet. It’s just that Slim once made a remark that implied that you look like Phillip Seymour Hoffman (I have a good memory). Who ,of course, played the role of Capote in the movie. So naturally I wondered if you sounded like Capote also.

    BTW, Mr Hurt mispronounced your last name. “Koehler” is not pronounced like “cold-Ler” but more like “cool-Ler”. The latter is how a German would pronounce it.

  29. Posted January 13, 2007 at 3:18 am | Permalink

    Grrr. Bluejives of course, and I have no love for one another.

    No, BJ, a German umlaut is probably closer to “coal” than “cool.” See, after having lived in Göttingen (a town with an umlaut in the name, no less) for a semester exchange on top of 5 years of formal German language study, I might just know how to pronounce vowels with two dots above it.

    And that’s besides the point, because last time I checked, Robert wasn’t German. So I guess you pronounce “Volkswagen” as “folks-vagen” then, eh? And you get all hard consonant when you go to “ka-ra-o-ke,” too? And in America, I don’t roll my R’s when ordering “burritos”, nor do I hold my nose when getting a “croissant” from “Au bon Pain.” To me, it’s “aw bon pan” not because I don’t know how it’s pronounced, but because I’m not trying to be the irritating twit who correct other people’s proununciations and spellings of foreign words.

    You still dislike me that much, BJ? Well, I’d just like to let you know the feeling mutual. Du darfst mich am meinen schwarzen Arsch lecken, Du Fotze. Ist meine Aussprache jetzt klar? I still remember some of my German, son, and I don’t need your pronunciation lessons.

    Ahh. That felt good. Almost as good as Fahrvergnügen, in fact. You know how to pronounce that, right?

  30. Posted January 13, 2007 at 3:54 am | Permalink

    Achtung, what brought on this hissy fit?

    Maybe I’m a irritating twit with a fetish for the exact verbal articulation of the umlaute but it was never my intention to re-ignite an ancient online feud (long forgotten and put behind on my part, I may add).

    Although, this outburst confirms a suspicion I’ve had for a while. That the best way to get under skin of an educated Black man with affecting certain academic pretensions is to insinuate (whether intentional or otherwise) that somehow his intellectual ability is short of par.

    meinen schwarzen Arsch lecken

    LOL! My German sucks but I think I can recognize “kiss my Black ass” when I see it. Das ist Klar, mein Herr!

  31. Gravatar dlatn your flag
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 5:31 am | Permalink

    Going by the Marmot’s blog, its nice to know that the Marmot aspires to something more than what he has accomplished so far, which is quAnd cte impressive. good luck to him. And congratulations to Michael for letting someone else dribble shit for a change.

  32. Gravatar Sonagi your flag
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 7:29 am | Permalink

    I’d worry if you start posting pictures of yourself in suggestive poses.

    For god’s sake…NO!

    This blog already does a good job of turning off female visitors.

    As long as he’s circumcised…:)

  33. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 10:40 am | Permalink

    Gbevers didn’t have his contract renewed for talking about Dokdo from his own screwed up point of view (and WHY he would present his faulty “evidence” and go out of his way to p*ss off Koreans about these little rocks when he was living and working in Korea is beyond me) and now he wants to get his shots in to show he’s still defiant and won’t be quiet. What a big man.

    *snore*

  34. Posted January 13, 2007 at 10:54 am | Permalink

    Well, I haven’t forgotten being attacked mercilessly by the BJ, and your little jab’s neutrality is in dispute, especially since you love linking in the fact of my blackness to my alleged feelings of intellectual inferiority, which you did here again.

    I just called you an annoying little twit for continuing to needle me for stupid shit about which you demonstrate with your ignorance you actually know little about, and even when that fact is demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt, you never acknowledge it.

    See, nitwits like you think I feel intellectually inferior and are compensating, whereas I look it it as an intellectual poser trying to obviously compensate by being petty and argumentative. I’m just the type to call you out on it.

    I know, I know – BJ is best ignored, but he is so goddamned annoying. That’s what brought on my little “hissy fit” – I don’t appreciate being “corrected” by a mental midget, that’s all. So sue me.

  35. Posted January 13, 2007 at 12:18 pm | Permalink

    It is somewhat disheartening that this blog could go “national” and be a place for exchange of opinions between the foreigners and native Koreans but some commentors are too set in their ways (racistic) to present two sides of a story and just too anti-Korean for Koreans to bear.

    If they just tone it down a little bit, then we may be able to advertize this blog in Korean media.

    For the mean time, we may enjoy this type of non-PC stuff:
    http://etv.donga.com/newsclip/.....1120001721

    I can imaging I hear the following things:

    Korean Girl(KG): Can I serve sauercraut with a hamberger? Some Koreans may go for that.

    American Girl(AG): No, never.

    KG: It is so hard to pronounce “hamberger”. Can I just say “Hambug”?

    KG: What do I do if a customer lift my skirt to see what color of pantie I have on?

    AG: What? Koreans do that? I have never in my ten years have had any man do that. Just polite say “No”.

    KG: Then, his friend will do it too. Another question. Can I wear “popup bra” or stick some “falsies” into my bra?

    AG: It is not allowed in company policy. (hmm…but looking at your breats, you may have to)

    KG: I still cannot remember Hooter’s song. I can substitute some Korean words here and there. Adjussis don’t understand English.

    It is so funny to see some girls learning how to be sexy. They are not sexy yet. American instructors have a difficult job cut out for them.

  36. Posted January 13, 2007 at 12:27 pm | Permalink

    It is so funny to see these girls in “breaking training”. American instructors have difficult time suppressing a laughter.

    36 to 1. Yes, these girls beat out 35 other hopefuls. Wow, almost Green Beret-like selection ratio.

    Sorry about “lifting skirt” scenario. Upon careful examination of video, Hooter’s girls wear hot pants. Just substitute in “touch my butts”.

    This video is so funny. These girls trying to learn English and remember menus and Hooter songs. So hard for them.

    This video deserves SNL or MadTV skit. Or, somebody should put this up in U-Tube.

  37. Gravatar peninsular aborigine your flag
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 12:39 pm | Permalink

    Does Baduk remind anyone else of Rorshack from the Watchmen?

  38. Posted January 13, 2007 at 12:42 pm | Permalink

    AG: Onion Ring

    KG: Onion Ling.

    AG: No, Ring as in wedding ring.

    KG: You mean we serve them only when they are getting married.

    AG: No. (dumbfuck). Say Ring.

    KG: Ling.

    AG: Looking at another Korean girl. Say Ring.

    KG2: Ling.

    AG: (frustrated) Can anyone say “ring”?

    KG3: I can. Wing.

    AG: No, you are confusing Onion Ring with Chicken Wing.

    KG1: Chicking Ling?

    KG2: Onion Wing?

    AG: Fuck. Whose idea was to bring Hooters to Korea? These girls are so stupid.

    KGs (altogether): (Who the fuck is this American cracker to make fun of us in our land? Yankee Go home!) Onion Wing. Can we just say, Round Onion thingy?

    AG: No, no, no. Either you do it my way or no way at all.

    KGs: But people here come here to eat and look at our boobs, they are not interested in correct pronounciation. Nor they are interest in hearing Hooter’s song. Can we sing a sexy Korean song instead?

    AG: No, No, No. Koreans dig American sexuality. We sell Hollywood and then, we sell American sex.

    KG: But, Playboy wasn’t successful in Korea.

    AG: Hollywood works!

  39. Posted January 13, 2007 at 1:33 pm | Permalink

    Baduk, you’re killing me. You should be on a podcast. :LOL:

  40. Posted January 14, 2007 at 11:11 am | Permalink

    Baduk, you’re killing me. You should be on a podcast. :LOL:

  41. Posted January 14, 2007 at 11:15 am | Permalink

    Oh, I aped Mark.
    Baduk is really killing me.
    I can’t stop my laughter and think that it’s good that I’m not over coffee.

    Abyway, Do know this,
    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a.....ters1.html ?

  42. Posted January 14, 2007 at 11:28 am | Permalink

    I transplaneted my previous post from other place to this, http://law4u.net/tech/board.ph.....&no=10 .

    Dogbertt씨는 한국어를 엄청 잘하시는 건가요 원래 한국인인가요?
    여기 원래 한국인은 몇 명이나 있나요? 일단 저부터 “저요.”라며 손을 들고…
    저는 중국어를 배워야 하기 때문에 이제 여기 오기는 어렵겠네요. 호호호. 혹시 중국인이나 중국에 계시는 분이 있다면 생각해 보고. 그럼 모두들 안녕히 (_ _)

  43. Gravatar Sonagi your flag
    Posted January 14, 2007 at 12:12 pm | Permalink

    Wow, Dogbert, is your Korean THAT good? Actually, I’ve been mistaken for a gyopo on the telephone.

  44. Gravatar Sonagi your flag
    Posted January 14, 2007 at 12:24 pm | Permalink

    Baduk wrote:

    Just substitute in “touch my butts”.

    Most Korean women barely have one butt. I have seen some North American women with enough bum for 3-4 people, but I doubt any of these women would be serving chicken wings at Hooters.

  45. Gravatar MrChips your flag
    Posted January 14, 2007 at 12:29 pm | Permalink

    Boy am I having trouble following this thread. What’s it about?

  46. Posted January 14, 2007 at 5:46 pm | Permalink

    Someguyinkorea dit:

    PS. I give 5 points to whoever can tell me what a ‘capote’ is in French.

    Une capote, parfois une “capote anglaise,” est un préservatif– c’est-à-dire un machin qui nous aide à niquer les nanas sans peur des conséquences.

    I remember learning the word “préservatif” when I went to France for the first time in 1986. I learned it after mistakenly asking my French host family whether French people put preservatives in their jam.

    “Vous mettez des préservatifs dans la confiture?”

    Ah, sweet memories.

    Kevin

  47. Gravatar dogbertt your flag
    Posted January 14, 2007 at 10:10 pm | Permalink

    Dogbertt씨는 한국어를 엄청 잘하시는 건가요 원래 한국인인가요?

    Thank you for the compliment, SubRosa. But I am not Korean — I am what Koreans refer to as a “blue-eyed foreigner”.

    How are you finding your study of Chinese?

  48. Posted January 15, 2007 at 4:24 am | Permalink

    Une capote, parfois une “capote anglaise,” est un préservatif– c’est-à-dire un machin qui nous aide à niquer les nanas sans peur des conséquences.

    I remember learning the word “préservatif” when I went to France for the first time in 1986. I learned it after mistakenly asking my French host family whether French people put preservatives in their jam.

    “Vous mettez des préservatifs dans la confiture?

    Au contraire, “capote” comes from the German kaputt. During times of religious persecution, the French Huegenots settled in the western regions of Germany. The Germans referred to these refugees as kaputt (utterly destroyed). Some of them adopted this term as their nomenclature thus we have the modern Capote.

  49. Gravatar railwaycharm your flag
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 1:15 pm | Permalink

    Baduk…. You saved the f*cking day! brilliant stuff!

  50. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 8:39 pm | Permalink

    Bluejives,

    I, being a German citizen, used to live in France as from 1985 until 1990, and yes, I have to admit that your franco-allemand explanation of the different expressions for that useful little rubber device is probably correct.

    I do, however, rejoice at the fact that I did not accidentally come across you during my time in France. I had to battle enough over there with racist Koreans, so racist gyopos in addition would really have been too much too handle.

  51. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 8:44 pm | Permalink

    No, BJ, a German umlaut is probably closer to “coal” than “cool.” See, after having lived in Göttingen (a town with an umlaut in the name, no less) for a semester exchange on top of 5 years of formal German language study, I might just know how to pronounce vowels with two dots above it

    .

    Yeah, that’s right, Kuraeji.

  52. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 9:12 pm | Permalink

    Gbevers didn’t have his contract renewed for talking about Dokdo from his own screwed up point of view (and WHY he would present his faulty “evidence” and go out of his way to p*ss off Koreans about these little rocks when he was living and working in Korea is beyond me) and now he wants to get his shots in to show he’s still defiant and won’t be quiet. What a big man.

    *snore*

    JK:

    Whether Gerry Bevers’s arguments are correct or faulty is neither for you, nor for me, nor for anybody else here to decide but alone for the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands. That is what we have got this institution for. Having one’s disputes resolved in this way is called the “Rule of Law”, isn’t it ?

    BTW, why are you bringing up Gerry Bevers here in the first place ?

    Maybe I did not read all the comments carefully enough, but I do not find any trace of him posting here, nor of the entire fucked up Doktdo issue, in this thread.

  53. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 9:25 pm | Permalink

    Okay, okay, found it now right at the top where I had not looked since I started from the bottom of the threat. Never mind. The issue still belongs in front of a court of law. And freedom of speech without having to face repercussions is one of the core values for Americans, one of the foundations upon which the US is built. And you are a typical American, of course. Or so you say.

  54. Posted January 15, 2007 at 9:34 pm | Permalink

    Interesting comments on “capote.” A little research reveals (important elements highlighted):

    *********************
    *********************

    CAPOTE1, subst. fém.
    A. MODES et HABILL.
    1. Vieux
    a) Mante à capuchon tombant jusqu’aux pieds, portée autrefois par les femmes.
    b) Chapeau de femme, garni de rubans, à brides et à coulisse. Elle avait une jolie capote doublée de rose qui encadrait parfaitement sa figure, en dissimulait les contours, et la ravivait (BALZAC, Le Colonel Chabert, 1835, p. 101) :

    1. Comme elle était jolie avec sa petite mine fraîche traversée par le reflet papillotant de l’eau, sous sa grande capote de paille, emboîtant la tête de toute part. Une capote comme on n’en voit plus guère.
    MOSELLY, Terres lorraines, 1907, p. 176.

    2. P. ext., usuel. Manteau militaire, ample et lourd :

    2. Des soldats du dehors confluent au pied des murailles; les soldats du dedans se tiennent renfermés. L’air retentit des imprécations des désespérés forclos, vêtus de sales lévites de cosaques, de capotes rapetassées, de manteaux et d’uniformes en loques,…
    CHATEAUBRIAND, Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe, t. 2, 1848, p. 454.

    3. Je ne sais qui fit cadeau à maman d’une pièce de drap d’officier bleu horizon; une couturière y tailla pour ma sœur et moi des manteaux qui copiaient exactement les capotes militaires.
    S. DE BEAUVOIR, Mémoires d’une jeune fille rangée, 1958, p. 30.

    B. Arg. Capote anglaise ou, absol., capote. Préservatif masculin (cf. E. et J. DE GONCOURT, Journal, 1887, p. 711).
    Prononc. et Orth. : []. Ds Ac. 1740-1932. Étymol. et Hist. V. capote2.

    CAPOTE2, subst. fém.
    Couverture amovible d’une voiture (dite décapotable*). Abaisser, rabattre, replier, relever la capote. Une vieille berline de voyage, à deux chevaux, la capote abaissée, attendait sur la place (A. FRANCE, Les Dieux ont soif, 1912, p. 122) :

    1. Le cabriolet choisi par Guillaume était une voiture à deux places, couverte d’une capote de cuir qui se baissait à volonté.
    ZOLA, Madeleine Férat, 1868, p. 177.

    P. ext., techn. Dispositif de protection placé au-dessus d’une cheminée :

    2. La capote [est une] feuille de tôle convexe supportée par des tringles en fer [pour s'opposer] à l’entrée du vent et de la pluie dans un tuyau.
    E. ROBINOT, Vérification, métré et pratique des travaux du bâtiment, t. 5, 1928, p. 90.

    Prononc. et Orth. : []. Ds Ac. 1878 et 1932.
    Étymol. et Hist. 1. a) 1688 « grand manteau à capuchon » (G. MIÈGE, The Great French dictionary); b) 1832 milit. « sorte de redingote à l’usage des soldats » (RAYMOND); 2. 1820 habill. « chapeau de femme » (Observateur des modes, 15 avril, VI, 23 ds IGLF Techn.); 3. 1839 « couverture mobile de certains véhicules » (BALZAC, Béatrix : ici en parlant de calèches); 4. 1878 capote anglaise (L. RIGAUD, Dict. du jargon parisien, p. 68). Forme fém. de capot1*.
    STAT. Capote1 et 2. Fréq. abs. littér. : 530. Fréq. rel. littér. : XIXe s. : a) 254, b) 968; XXe s. : a) 1 187, b) 799.
    BBG. QUEM. 2e s. t. 4 1972, p. 44. SAIN. Sources t. 1 1972 [1925], p. 199, 379.

    [end definition]

    *********************
    *********************

    According to the above, the etymology has nothing to do with the German “kaputt.” But if there’s an authoritative source that says the contrary, I’ll be very interested to read it. My source was here: LEXILOGOS; other online French dictionaries offer exactly the same information I offered in my original comment (minus my nasty slang).

    “Capote” refers, in French, to any number of items whose function is protection, ranging from clothing to chimneys. A convertible is a “décapotable” in French, for example. The word was in existence for quite a long time, and it seems to have been a small notional leap from the older meanings to the modern slang meaning. Prophylaxis, after all, simply means protection, preservation, or prevention (see here). A “capote,” being a prophylactic, protects, and in some ways, it also preserves and prevents.

    Actually, just before I hit “post,” I went back to the etymology dictionary and typed in “kaput” (English spelling of the German “kaputt”). I was wrong: there IS a relationship between “kaputt” and “capote,” but it’s the other way around from what the SS claims:

    kaput
    1895, “finished, worn out, dead,” from Ger. kaputt, probably a misunderstanding of the phrase capot machen, a partial translation of Fr. faire capot, a phrase meaning “lose all the tricks in piquet,” an obsolete card game, from Fr. capot, lit. “cover, bonnet.”

    Funny what you learn, eh?

    Kevin

  55. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 9:52 pm | Permalink

    Thanks, Kevin,

    this was news to me…

  56. Posted January 15, 2007 at 10:23 pm | Permalink

    Fantasy,

    It was news to me, too. I’ve been speaking French since the early 1980s, and never once thought to look up the origins of such a… frequently used word.

    Kevin

  57. Posted January 16, 2007 at 9:18 pm | Permalink

    It’s Robert Koehler at Orkut, http://www.orkut.com/Profile.a.....2698262700 .
    Mr. Koehkler, haven’t we met into each other at Orkut? Whom I remember may be you. You got a profile photo, didn’t you?

  58. Posted January 16, 2007 at 9:26 pm | Permalink

    Sorry… I think it’s another Robert Koehler.

  59. Posted January 16, 2007 at 9:35 pm | Permalink

    Wait, that does appear to be me. Don’t recall when I filled out that account. Strange.

  60. Gravatar dda your flag
    Posted January 16, 2007 at 10:01 pm | Permalink

    Wait, that does appear to be me. Don’t recall when I filled out that account. Strange.

    Too much work, or too much Chinghis Khan vodka, m’dear Robert? :-)

  61. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 19, 2007 at 1:31 am | Permalink

    Fantasy,

    Rather than blame the lack of free speech as the reason for his not being rehired, perhaps Gerry Bevers should take a look at himself.

    I know of university instructors in the US who were asked to leave the university where they were teaching because of personality problems (as perceived by those more senior) or because the person didn’t look or talk right (weird as that sounds). In other words the reasons for not having their contracts renewed in the US were so very fickle.

    Now you take a guy working on a year-to-year university contract in Korea who touches on a very sensitive topic as it relates to Korea, and he decides to do his own so-called “analysis” on a topic that is not his topic of expertise at the university, which in itself is total BS.

    Now if university lecturers without tenure in the US have such instability at THEIR jobs and can lose their positions at the drop of a pin…..why is Korea so much a worse country because they let go of Gerry Bevers for spreading his usual anti-Korea rants and biased reports? I would think an Iranian instructor working on a year-to-year contract for teaching chemistry at Hebrew University in Israel would endure the same fate if he presented a biased report that used questionable sources and left out more reliable resources that contradicted his preconceived conclusions that said the Holocaust was greatly exaggerated and that the problem was that Jews were too xenophobic and whined too much and were all liars. Would you be surprised, fantasy, if this hypothetical Iranian lecturer at Hebrew University were not to have his teaching contract renewed?? And would it be wrong if it were upsetting all the Jewish students that attend Hebrew University?

    Bevers is allowed to have whatever opinions he wants. He is allowed to do whatever “research” he wants. He is even allowed to use sources like Bruce Cumings (the writer who once said the US and South Korea started the Korean War by invading North Korea). But when ANYTHING like not smiling the right way or whatever can prohibit university lecturers from continuing to work at their schools in the US, Gerry was stupid to spread his “conclusions” in Korea about Dokdo and other Korean issues, like the colonization by Japan being good for Korea or the comfort women forced to serve Japanese soldiers being actually willing prostitutes, just to take a poke at Koreans, who he obviously has an extreme bias against.

    BTW, fantasy, thanks for mentioning my being American. I think. Now really, was that necessary?

    Your remarks on this and other blogs negatively generalizing us kyopos are sad. I agree with what you said at the Metropolitan’s blog that if we were to meet in person, we would likely be good friends. I mean that sincerely. However, your generalized statements about a whole race of people that includes me…I am finding increasingly disturbing.

  62. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 2:17 am | Permalink

    Hello JK:

    BTW, fantasy, thanks for mentioning my being American. I think. Now really, was that necessary?

    Point taken, apologies offered.

    Gerry was stupid to spread his “conclusions” in Korea about Dokdo and other Korean issues…

    Yes, that may well be so, but I feel you are spiteful, see your latest comment on another thread of this blog (Disgruntled professor goes William Tell on judge):

    Comment 21:

    JK from United States
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 12:40 am | Permalink
    Ugh. Bevers is not martyr. He brought this all on himself….and for spending an inordinate amount of time and energy to discuss ROCKS. And he’s STILL discussing rocks. I hope he’s happy now. Was it worth it?

    But then, JK, back to quoting you from your comment here:

    I would think an Iranian instructor working on a year-to-year contract for teaching chemistry at Hebrew University in Israel would endure the same fate if he presented a biased report that used questionable sources and left out more reliable resources that contradicted his preconceived conclusions that said the Holocaust was greatly exaggerated and that the problem was that Jews were too xenophobic and whined too much and were all liars. Would you be surprised, fantasy, if this hypothetical Iranian lecturer at Hebrew University were not to have his teaching contract renewed??

    This very likely is correct, as Israel considers herself to be (and probably REALLY IS) in a constant state of emergency due to her precarious position vis-à-vis her neighbours, all of which seek to destroy her.

    And would it be wrong if it were upsetting all the Jewish students that attend Hebrew University?

    Well, you know denying the Holocaust is really in a class of its own, not comparable to denying the (highly disputed, quite apart from Gerry’s efforts) Korean ownership of some barren rocks.

    I know of university instructors in the US who were asked to leave the university where they were teaching because of personality problems (as perceived by those more senior) or because the person didn’t look or talk right (weird as that sounds). In other words the reasons for not having their contracts renewed in the US were so very fickle.

    Now you take a guy working on a year-to-year university contract in Korea who touches on a very sensitive topic as it relates to Korea, and he decides to do his own so-called “analysis” on a topic that is not his topic of expertise at the university, which in itself is total BS.

    Now if university lecturers without tenure in the US have such instability at THEIR jobs and can lose their positions at the drop of a pin…..

    JK, I agree that you describe the situation succinctly, but I do not think that this is something to rejoice about. I think the entire system should be revamped, in the US, in the ROK, and in Germany, as well. Now, I understand, my latter suggestion has no chance whatsoever of being taken up, but I made it nevertheless, because I believe in it…

    Your remarks on this and other blogs negatively generalizing us kyopos are sad.

    I’ve very rarely talked about Gyopos, whom I do not regard as KOREANS, if they do not possess Korean citizenship, and on the rare occasions that I have talked about them, it was mostly favourably, e.g. by saying that they are generally doing well in Europe and that some of them have attained influential positions in Germany.

    However, your generalized statements about a whole race of people that includes me… I am finding increasingly disturbing.

    I do not think I’ve made such statements - I’ve always said that I’ve had many problems in Korea and with a good number of KOREANS, not Gyopos, abroad (particularly with the Yuhaksaeng, due to my being in a university environment). The number of Koreans I’ve run into trouble with by far exceeds the number of people of any other nationality I’ve had problems with - and this despite the fact that I spent barely 5 of the 41 years of my life hitherto in Korea.

    However, I really do not think in “racial categories”.

    That is also why I told Jodi (of The Asia Pages) that in my and my wife’s view, she would, had she, as an adoptee, lived her whole life in rural Minnesota, and had come to know barely anything about Korean culture, she would, in my and my wife’s view, not be entitled to the honourable titles of “Gyopo” or even “Korean-American”. I did make clear, however, that the term “Asian-American” would apply to her, regardless of her connection to a particular culture.

    May I quote myself ?

    Jodi,

    honestly no offence intended,

    but quite apart from the F-4 visa question, do you really think that, if you had spent your whole life in Rochester, Minnesota, married a local farmer, and barely knew where the Korean peninsula was, you would still be entitled to being classified as a “Gyopo” or a “Korean American”. My wife and I do not think so, as these two terms invariably seem to imply a certain connection to the relevant culture.

    Asian American would be an apt description, though, as this term refers to the mere geograpic roots of a particular person’s biological ancestors, just as African American. There is no implication in this term of a connection to the culture of a particular country or region, as both Asia and Africa are vast continents comprising a multitude of different cultures.

    My apologies to Jodi for dragging her into the discussion.

    Whether this view of ours stated above is sound or not may well be debatable. It does, however, prove that my wife and I do not think along racial but rather along cultural lines…

    And BTW, one of the reasons why my wife is so keen on the classification as a “Gyopo” as opposed to a “Yuhaksaeng” is that she, despite her wanting to retain her Korean passport, she does not really think of herself as a KOREAN anymore.

  63. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 4:30 am | Permalink

    JK:

    As I’ve said somewhere on Metro before, from a German perspective there is really not much focus on race nowadays, but on culture instead.

    And on citizenship, of course. This has now become a lot lot easier to obtain, but is still not obtainable by the mere birth on German territory. And, in my view this should remain so, in order to prevent the kind of misuse that some Koreans and Mexicans (and maybe other nationalities, as well) practice by sneaking into the country right before giving birth, so that the child will be a US citizen straight away.

    But the latter observation is an aside, and it is really none my business, at all. I, as a foreigner, have no right whatsoever to give the proud people of the US any advice on this very sensitive issue.

  64. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 5:17 am | Permalink

    And one more thing, JK:

    Please read my comment on Nomad.

    http://www.lostnomad.org/?p=3588

  65. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 5:29 am | Permalink

    I don’t know H. Kim or Mark….but over on that link, Fantasy, Mark was wrong to categorize an entire group of people. Based on what I wrote in #22, Mark might as well have said the “typical Jew mindset” or called H. Kim “Jew.” And that’s just wrong.

    Oh well….

  66. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 5:31 am | Permalink

    And fantasy, again I am not surprised, but I am somewhat disappointed that you were quick to reply to H. Kim, who was making a legitimate point to Mark about his generalizations of kyopos, but not to Mark himself.

  67. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 6:42 am | Permalink

    Well, JK,

    please ask yourself why that is. Mark was wrong but H. Kim had already made that abundantly and convincingly clear. I think highly of H. Kim’s eloquence, I relly do. So far so good.

    But at the same time he started belittling the feelings of those who felt offended, and even to some extent threatened, by the original post.

    This is the entire point you never seem to understand. For you all these questions are a mere mind game, you probably have never experienced real danger, and thus cannot understand what it feels like.

    You get, from a safe distance, all worked up about unimportant issues like these barren rocks somewhere there in the … sea. But you have never had a Yuhaksaeng’s knife at your throat and nobody issued rape threats against your wife…

  68. Gravatar Fantasy your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 6:42 am | Permalink

    Well, JK,

    please ask yourself why that is. Mark was wrong but H. Kim had already made that abundantly and convincingly clear. I think highly of H. Kim’s eloquence, I relly do. So far so good.

    But at the same time he started belittling the feelings of those who felt offended, and even to some extent threatened, by the original post.

    This is the entire point you never seem to understand. For you all these questions are a mere mind game, you probably have never experienced real danger, and thus cannot understand what it feels like.

    You get, from a safe distance, all worked up about unimportant issues like these barren rocks somewhere there in the … sea. But you have never had a Yuhaksaeng’s knife at your throat and nobody uttered rape threats against your wife…

  69. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 7:40 am | Permalink

    Fantasy,

    No, I never had a Korean student put a knife to my throat. I HAVE had violent encounters in the US with both white and black people. I HAVE had racist remarks thrown at me by white and black people (which again resulted in me getting in fights). I HAVE had remarks and glares thrown at me because I was in the company of a white or black girl.

    So am I supposed to categorize the entire white and black races???? And what good does that do me to make generalizing comments about whites and blacks on some hate blog whose sole purpose is to denigrate the entire white and black races the way you are a strong supporter of certain anti-Korean hate sites (not meaning this blog, btw)????

    You have had problems with Koreans and with kyopos, fantasy, fine. I believe you, and believe me when I say I am sorry to hear that…sincerely. But this IS news to me as I go to a very LARGE church of Koreans and kyopos and they (the ones on the English-speaking side) have treated people of other races with acceptance. In fact, some of the Korean-Americans joke with one of the white guys who goes to our church as having yellow fever, and the white guy laughingly will admit as much. But we’re all friends and we’re all open to each of us dating anyone we want!

    Yet I read day in and day out on many of these blogs that “kyopos” are brainwashed discriminating people that want to keep “their” women to themselves. But my daily life experiences say otherwise.

    Well, I AM allowed to present an opposing viewpoint to those I am reading about that I can’t really believe, aren’t I? I hope you allow me that much at least if I don’t agree with some of the generalizations being thrown out there about us supposedly bad, bad kyopos.

  70. Posted January 20, 2007 at 7:56 am | Permalink

    But you have never had a Yuhaksaeng’s knife at your throat and nobody uttered rape threats against your wife…

    A yuhaksaeng did that? His credibility has gone down the tubes. Now we know why he calls himself “Fantasy”. Me thinks he’s been watching a little too many Kim Ki Duk or Park Chan Wook movies.

  71. Gravatar gbnhj your flag
    Posted January 20, 2007 at 9:06 am | Permalink

    Yeah, that does seem like a bit of drama, and it deserves greater description if true.

    My favorite part was ‘But you have never had a Yuhaksaeng’s knife at your throat…’, as if knives are distributed to all Koreans who study overseas. Ooh - scary! How about ‘But you have never had a yuhaksaeng hold a knife to your throat…’ for something less broad and more accurate (again, if in fact true).

  72. Posted January 20, 2007 at 10:16 am | Permalink

    Shall we proceed to Lost Nomad? I think this better suits “Angry Young Men” rather than “Marmot Unplugged.”

    Thanks.

  73. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 21, 2007 at 12:45 am | Permalink

    No! Let’s keep it up here.

  74. Posted January 21, 2007 at 5:54 am | Permalink

    From about two-thirds of the way through this thread commenters have taken a post titled “Marmot Unplugged” (Marmot, the person) and have turned it into something more like “Marmot Butt Plugged” (Marmot, the blog).

  75. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 21, 2007 at 9:56 am | Permalink

    I see. Well, it’s kinda confusing WHERE this dialog is taking place. Someone continue if they have something they want to say, and I’ll reply….somewhere.

  76. Gravatar JK your flag
    Posted January 23, 2007 at 2:45 am | Permalink

    Fantasy, you got really questioned and thought you might want to address the questions.

    I believe you myself btw about the yuhaksaeng. At the same time, you do have your doubters. And personally, I can tell you, since I have yuhaksaeng friends, that not ALL go around carrying knives.

  77. Posted January 23, 2007 at 5:26 am | Permalink

    This yuhaksaeng-with-a-knife business continues to fascinate me. The idea of a Korean foreign student, threatening Fantasy’s wife with a knife, just doesn’t jibe with my own experiences with yuhaksaeng. The typical yuhaksaeng, usually coming from affluent backgrounds, seemed very much concerned with visa/international student issues, passing the TOEFL, sightseeing around the US, etc.

    But for argument’s sake, let us suppose that Fantasy’s claim did indeed happen, for the sake of being objective. The idea that a knife was involved suggests that this might have been a crime of passion, ala OJ Simpson. Was Fantasy’s wife having an illicit affair turned awry with the said yuhaksaeng? We shall never know the truth.

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