Matt's Page

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve found a new Korean song I’ve liked.  Here’s my newest favorite by a new group called 2NE1:

If you remember, I made a photoshop of Kim Jong Il riding a nuke about two months ago.  It’s funny to see someone do the exact same thing.

Mine:

Other guy’s:

Head over and see the 77 photoshoped pictures of the infamous Kim Jong Il (the above image is #50).  There’s just something about him that begs to be photoshoped …

I absolutely love #4 and #36 .  Which are your favorites?

Ever since I’ve been following the k-pop industry, I’ve noticed some very interesting things. They have been branching out of Korea, but have not really made it over to the USA successfully yet.   I read a great book last semester named The World is Flat which explains how the corporate wall between countries has collapsed and how people must compete with everyone else around the world.  If you are at all interested in global business go read this book.  Right now.  Okay, back?  Great read, huh?  Anyway, back to the point.  Entertainment has been an industry that has naturally rejected outside influences on purpose to preserve local talent and also just by having different tastes and languages.  Unlike things like accounting or technical development, every country has different likes and values.  That poses a humongous obstacle for anyone trying to promote entertainment on a global scale.  Because of that, all entertainment has lagged far behind other industries in globalization.

So far, Wondergirls is really the only group from Korea I’ve seen which has actually actively marketed here in America. Even that is super small scale so far, I guess they’re just testing the waters.  I know that Big Bang has released English versions of their music, but I don’t recall seeing any big announcements about it.  Personally, I like the originals much better. You can compare the songs at the bottom of this entry.  Maybe it’s just that I heard the Korean versions first or maybe it’s the fact that people’s voices sound different when they speak a different language, I don’t know. Personally, I would love to see a group like Big Bang make it big here in the states.  I’ve heard some great music from other countries, so I hope that we see more globalization in the entertainment industry.  Sadly, I think that language and cultural barriers will keep that dream at bay.  Who knows though, people probably couldn’t dream we would be where we are these days.  What do y’all think?  Can the music world become flat or is the cultural/language barrier too big?

Here are some of the English versions of some popular Korean songs along with their originals:

Big Bang – Last Farewell (English Version):

Big Bang – Last Farewell (Korean Version):

Wondergirls – Nobody (English Version):

Wondergirls – Nobody (Korean Version):

• Photoshop Kim Jong Il in 77 Offensive and Hilarious Ways OK, so if crazy Kim Jong Il does try nuking Hawaii this weekend, don't blame me. He was planning on it before this horrifying and hilarious gallery of shameful Photoshops appeared. Oh god, what have I done?
• Firefox 3.5 Final Officially Released Mozilla Firefox 3.5 Final is now officially available for download. Other then being the Fastest Firefox Ever, new features include a Private Browsing Mode to hide browser activity, a JavaScript engine known as TraceMonkey, new location services, Open Video, and HTML5 support.

• Two-year-old 'world's youngest smoker' A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy from the city of Tianjin in China is the world's youngest smoker. The father said his son was born with a hernia, and being too young for an operation, has taken up smoking to help him deal with the pain. He's now a pack a day toddler he won't give up, screaming and throwing himself on the floor if he's refused a smoke.
• When Pacman Joins Twitter...

I’ve been exploring a little bit more on Cyworld lately.  If you don’t know what Cyworld is, it’s basically Facebook for Korea.  I’ve joined a few clubs, including a photography club which I’m pretty excited about.  I’m learning a LOT of vocabulary just to learn to use everything.  I would highly suggest any of my readers who want to learn more Korean create a Cyworld account and explore things on there.  One caveat … beware of creating a non-Korean account.  I did that before and found out you can’t befriend anyone outside your country network.  Therefore, if you want to be able to connect with your Korean friends you HAVE to create a Korean account.  It takes a little bit, like emailing a drivers license, but it’s worth it in the end.

I found an interesting article about how the Korean hierarchical society caused Korean Air to have a horrible record in the 1990’s.  Go over to the Wall Street Journal to read it.  They have identified the issues and have since fixed them.  It’s interesting to see how cultural traits affect different things.

Although posting on a subject other than Korea is fairly rare here, this is one story that I feel needs to be posted.  I’m sure all of you are aware of the situation in Iran (if not, just google Iran elections).  In support of the people of Iran, I attended the rally today where Iranians and Americans came together to demonstrate for freedom and democracy.  Here is the rally in pictures:

• In Iran, One Woman's Death May Have Many Consequences Iran's revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman — laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth...
• Evolution of a photographer As you become an accomplished photog, something interesting happens along the way..

mstrum posted a photo:

mstrum posted a photo:

mstrum posted a photo:

mstrum posted a photo:

mstrum posted a photo:

mstrum posted a photo:

mstrum posted a photo: