In his whirlwind trip to Korea two weeks ago, Bill Gates came bearing gifts. He presented an XBox 360 to president Lee Myung-bak custom-covered in mother-of-pearl!
Bill out-Koreaned Koreans by presenting modern gifts that can be accepted from a cultural standpoint (a tradition perhaps started here?). Kim Young-jun, the Korean artist who was commissioned by Microsoft to create the special consoles sorrowfully exclaimed:
“I’m grateful that Bill Gates appreciates the beauty of mother-of-pearl, which even Koreans are forgetting, but at the same time I feel sorry. Shouldn’t it be us (Koreans) who give mother-of-pearl gifts to Bill Gates, and not vice versa?” — he said, mourning the sad, but unpublicised, decline of the mother-of-pearl industry.
No news yet if LMB will provide his own intra-peninsular review of Call of Duty 4.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
In my opinion, the mother-of-pearl xbox looks cool, but mother-of-pearl cabinets and furniture are hideous.
I agree that mother-of-pearl looks tacky when done on large objects. As a former mover, I can also report that the varnish becomes really fragile as furniture ages.
However, I think it looks nice on small objects like jewelry boxes.
I WANT ONE
The PS3 is a superior machine.
I agree… but it’s built by the unrepentant Japanese (boo… hiss…) who would never inlay their game console in mother-of-pearl with Koreaized motifs. Well, maybe they would, but if they did, it wouldn’t be the same. It would be like a BMW with a Star of David sign in place of the Meschersmitt propellers and given to the Israeli prime minister. Ewww… neither tactful nor appreciated.
Also,
It is reported that the designer, Kim Young-jun, made three custom consoles. One for LMB, one for Bill and one for himself, just in case. Just in case what I have no idea. Even money says that it’s probably in his living room hooked up to a flat screen.
According to the Fareastgizmos.com article (photo link above), Kim is making 100 similar Xboxes, to be used as gifts from Gates to a few special folks. (Of course, for those of us who aren’t really tight with Bill, this might still be a problem.)
that’s hot.
If they gave every middle and high school student an xbox, you see those candlelight vigils disappear real fast.
Well, I guess Mr. Gates wants the Kia partnership to go smoothly. Understandable, seeing as how it represents a chance to do some actual business in Korea (as opposed to having the entire population steal your best product, then having their government slap you with fines just cause they can.)
I just want to spend less than 100,000 won for GTA IV.
I once recovered a handful of very nice mother-of-pearl shelves from a scrap heap. They’ll make a great little cabinet when I finally get around to it.
100,000 won….is that for the special edition?
There was an article in the NYT today about how the guy who did the voice of the main character isn’t entitled to any royalties or residuals.
My sister had a plastic Betty Crocker mother-of-pearl stove-top oven
that had a little label on it which read “Do Not Cook Chinese Food in the Oven”.
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