Open Thread: the Year of the Snake Edition

by Robert Koehler on February 9, 2013

in Open Thread

We here at the Marmot’s Hole wish you a happy and healthy Lunar New Year holiday.

{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Bobby McGill February 9, 2013 at 11:52 am: Year of the Snake, as I slither my way into first. Happy New Year ya’ll!
2 Jakgani February 9, 2013 at 12:12 pm: The Chinese are a little afraid that the Year of the snake might bite!
3 keyinjpop February 9, 2013 at 11:38 pm: That one for the snake seems legit.
4 keyinjpop February 9, 2013 at 11:39 pm: Anyone got any plans for Valentine’s Day? I’m just going to buy some chocolate and say I got it from a co-worker.
5 Sinister February 10, 2013 at 5:57 pm: Happy Lunar NY holers. Anyone watching the Rugby later? Should be a cracking game between England and Ireland tonight.
6 Cloudfive February 10, 2013 at 11:00 pm: This might be funny to some of you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LL8uqURmw40
7 pawikirogii February 11, 2013 at 4:33 am: robert, wont you please consider getting rid of nested comments? i now most of my time here trying to find new posts. that means this place is work now instaed of entertainment. please get rid of nested comments
8 yangachibastardo February 11, 2013 at 6:29 am: North East Asia (and not only North East Asia) nightime in 1992 and 2010:

http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Esteri/2013/02/10/pop_cina-luci-1992-2010.shtml

Notice not only the exponential growth of China but also Korea, which seems to be by far the most illuminated country in the area

(once i read somewhere Korea was in the top 15 worldwide in terms of night lights)
9 Horace Jeffery Hodges February 11, 2013 at 6:57 am: Sad news in the NYT about some North Korean doctors in Nigeria: “Attackers Kill 3 North Korean Doctors in Nigeria.”

I was surprised to learn that North Korea sends doctors abroad, particularly to a poor, dangerous part of Nigeria, especially dangerous because of the Islamist group that calls itself “Boko Haram,” which means “Western Learning is Forbidden.”

Westernized? North Korea? I guess the North never saw that one coming.

My condolences to the families.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *
10 yangachibastardo February 11, 2013 at 7:10 am: Could it be some kind of doctors-for-oil agreement ? Cuba and Venezuela put up a similar scheme
11 mickster2 February 11, 2013 at 9:09 am: Chinese are celebrating the New Year with fireworks, some named Tokyo Big Bang, tweets like ‘send PM2.5 to Tokyo’ etc. Though we’re sorta used to this kind of thing here in Japan, I’m wondering if the pollution is coming to Korea? Or are you safe from its impact due to wind direction or whatever?
12 weiguk February 11, 2013 at 9:36 am: Look, just because comment levels have dropped like 90% doesn’t mean disquss isn’t a good choice. Disquss is perfect, there are no problems, the sun is shining. Have some kool-aid.
13 weiguk February 11, 2013 at 9:42 am: oh look..comments disappearing again.. great system..
14 Horace Jeffery Hodges February 11, 2013 at 9:56 am: Good question. I did a quick check for the possibility by Googling “doctors for oil” and “North Korea,” but found nothing. I didn’t search very long, though.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *
15 SomeguyinKorea February 11, 2013 at 10:04 am: With so many streetlights along the highway, even in the middle of nowhere…Not surprised one bit. Heck, you can barely see any stars out in the sticks.
16 SomeguyinKorea February 11, 2013 at 10:05 am: That’s one of the first steps in becoming a stalker.
17 SomeguyinKorea February 11, 2013 at 10:08 am: So vague and even counter-intuitive, it baffles the mind that people still believe in such nonsense in this day and age.
18 keyinjpop February 11, 2013 at 1:26 pm: Are you sure? because I’m not interested in people other than myself.
19 jk641 February 11, 2013 at 1:54 pm: I don’t know about pollution, but every spring Korea gets hit by dust clouds from China/Mongolia.
It’s called 황사 and covers everything in fine yellow/orange dust.
I would suspect that some pollution from China reaches Korea as well.
20 jk641 February 11, 2013 at 2:03 pm: yes, it is becoming a chore..
21 bumfromkorea February 11, 2013 at 3:14 pm: I tried using the find function, but it isn’t responsive to the Disqus comment. Is it just me that’s having this problem? Using Chrome, btw.
22 bumfromkorea February 11, 2013 at 3:16 pm: I remember thinking back in 4th grade (in Korea) that it’s just hard for me to accept that there’s only 12 types of fate in this world, and that every single one of my classmates (hell, the entire 4th grade) shared the exact same types of fate.

Of course, now that I’m an adult, I’ve seen the truth. May the Great 12 God-Animals give you great blessings this year.
23 Jang February 11, 2013 at 11:34 pm: With rice consumption down in S. Korea it’s important to remind everyone of “The Rich Goodness of a Plain Bowl of Rice” http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/02/11/2013021100089.html
“Today, nutritionists appreciate the goodness of steamed rice. It is nutritionally superior to wheat, the staple in the west.”
24 jk641 February 12, 2013 at 1:38 am: It works for me, in both Firefox and Chrome.
25 Arghaeri February 12, 2013 at 3:38 am: Then why not just say you bought them yourself!
26 dlbarch February 12, 2013 at 8:01 am: Since “Top Gear Korea” is pretty much the only Korean show I watch these days, I thought I’d share this pretty amazing footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EsoWpTO2qg

On the other hand, I gotta say, if the first thing one utters upon witnessing a helicopter crash is an effeminate “어떻게,” then someone on that show needs a shot of testosterone pronto!

DLB
27 pawikirogii February 12, 2013 at 8:55 am: 1. sorry for all the errors. i really need to start proof reading more.

2. you know, you can really get a very jaded view of the expat if you only come to places like this place where the expat is constantly complaining about koreans this or koreans that. i’ve mentioned this guy before but i want to bring him up again so as to provide some balance because not all expats are malcontents. the guy’s name is mike aronson and he’s made quite a few interesting videos about korea. he even writes korean pop songs! the korean government has taken note and thus made him an honorary citizen of seoul. i found his videos dealing with his increasing awareness of korea to be quite interesting ie no interest in korea until he stumbled onto a k-pop song. that song would ultimately take him to his current home somewhere in seoul. have a look.

http://www.youtube.com/user/p00lman
28 Sperwer February 12, 2013 at 9:51 am: Top Gear Korea? Please. A wan imitation of the real thing. (Ditto the US version). I do hope they are paying the BBC a hefty fee for “borrowing” the concept.
29 Brendon Carr February 12, 2013 at 10:06 am: They do.
30 jk641 February 12, 2013 at 10:59 am: Perhaps b/c you want to pretend like you have a valentine?
31 Kuiwon February 12, 2013 at 12:25 pm: Breaking News – U.S. Geological Survey reports a seismic disturbance in North Korea, centered near the site of two prior nuclear tests.

According to CNN
32 Jakgani February 12, 2013 at 1:41 pm: Tuesday 11:57am (1 hour ago) http://tiny.cc/ozldsw

SEOUL (Reuters) – Seismic activity has been detected in North Korea with an earthquake measuring 4.9 magnitude registered by the U.S. Geological Survey, in a move that South Korea said indicated that Pyongyang had carried out a third nuclear test.

The quake occurred at 11:57 a.m Korean time (0257 GMT) and South Korea’s presidential office said that it was “likely” a nuclear test, according to the South’s Yonhap news agency
33 Cloudfive February 12, 2013 at 8:04 pm: In other news, Bill Gates AMA on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/18bhme/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/

redditors are so much wittier than youse guys…T_T
34 Jieun K February 13, 2013 at 10:22 pm: Anyone got any plans for Valentine’s Day?

Figuratively (or literally if you like) uplift your valentine with a serenade.
35 Kuiwon February 14, 2013 at 12:15 am: In other news, Korea has no cardinal eligible to vote in the next conclave. Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk, the only Korean cardinal, is above the age of 80. The current Archbishop of Seoul, Andrew Yeom Soo-Jung, has not yet received the red hat.
36 dlbarch February 14, 2013 at 7:32 am: Well, you know the field of Korean Studies is maturing when a sociology professor at U.C. Berkeley decides to turn his attention to K-pop:

http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/ieas/event_ID=?event_ID=62542

It used to be that Korean Studies were focused on pretty much three areas: security, economics, and history. Not any more, I guess.

Oh, and yeah, Prof. John Lie is Korean. Interesting transcription of that last name.

DLB
37 Sperwer February 14, 2013 at 12:03 pm: At least, Lie looks to connect the subject with more substantive ones; most of the kpop culture stuff is a farrago of jargon-laden po mo / gender studies / “literary” studies rubbish – not to mention the tired old nationalist triumphalist cant
38 cactusmcharris February 15, 2013 at 5:47 am: Alright, people, you know you haven’t had enough Psy to put you completely over the edge, have you? No, I thought not. So, public service time, since Spring’s some months away and you need to make the winter blues be gone.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=218840454907759&set=vb.274667072581834&type=2&theater
39 cactusmcharris February 15, 2013 at 8:20 am: I guess you could make the argument that this is more evidence of my quadrophenia (past). I’m catching the 5:15 now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v124/cactusmcharris/DSC03707_zpsef060be6.jpg
40 nannasin smith March 7, 2013 at 4:41 pm: I guess the North never saw that one coming.
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