Watch the two videos below and tell me if you think one was influenced by the other. The top video is a new TV commercial for a new variant of the chewy sweet formerly known as Opal Fruits. The commercial (known as Starburst Choozers – Licking Policeman) is produced by London advertising agency TBWA according … [Read More]
Month: August 2007
Exhibition: Eo-Ulim / In Harmony
I’ve just received information about an exhibition by young Korean artists working in London, to be held in Finchley in a few weeks’ time. The exhibition title is Eo-Ulim / In Harmony and the venue is the Arts Depot, 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, N12 0GA (Map). Here’s an extract from their … [Read More]
Francesca Cho in Rags in the Wind II, Graz, Austria
The picturesque Austrian university city of Graz (above) hosts an unusual exhibition from mid-September. From 15 September to 13 October the Botanical Garden of the Karl-Franzens-University will be the setting for an international collaboration of installation art. The Botanical Gardens themselves are worth a visit in their own right, with their spectacular new greenhouse: From … [Read More]
Deadly Elves and other recent tabloid stories
It’s a while since I did a round-up of celebrity news, which means that I’ve almost forgotten all the things I was going to mention, and lost most of the links that I was going to use. So before things get completely out of hand, here’s one of my not-so-regular posts shamelessly plundering the celebrity … [Read More]
Korea and the Asian Cup 2007 – A Bittersweet Life
Aashish Gadhvi analyses the performance of the Red Devils in the recent Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup passed under the eyes of the world’s media almost unnoticed, probably down to David Beckham’s summer transfer to LA Galaxy. Barring the sensational victory by Iraq, which made headline news, the tournament was hard to track … [Read More]
Embroidery, celadon and a Juche paradise opposite the Institute of Directors
The exhibition at La Galleria is entering its last two weeks. A number of the artworks that were in the gallery last time I visited are no longer there, having found good homes1, and the opportunity has been taken to move some of the pictures around to give more prominents positions to some artists previously … [Read More]
Some Mot tracks
Discover why Mot’s first album “Non-linear” was Anna Lindgren’s soundtrack of choice in 2004. Here’s the opening track, Cold Blood. And from the same album, Love song. From the second album, “Strange Season“, comes the track Close Links: A meeting with MOT by Anna Lindgren [Read More]
The $54 million pair of pants
He’s been christened “Pants man”, he’s had vilification heaped on him, and may even lose his job, but still he battles on. He’s Washington judge Roy Pearson who’s been suing Custom Cleaners, owned by Korean immigrants Ki, Jin and Soo Chung, for rather a large sum of money for allegedly losing his trousers. He clearly … [Read More]
KEB blow by blow
Reports of HSBC’s renewed interest in KEB have given me the impetus to resurrect a post which has been work-in-progress for a while. I’ve been periodically trying to google back in time to reconstruct the whole KEB saga, and yesterday’s FT coverage gave a very useful framework on which to build. So here is another … [Read More]
The Grand Culture Project
At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title “the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics”. “What on earth is Cultural Informatics?” I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The … [Read More]
Monsters, the other Kim Ki-duk, and Mr D-War’s earlier film
Ever since dipping into Anthony Leong’s fun collection of film reviews I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a copy of Yonggary. He gives a charitable 1 star out of 5 to the film: As the film’s tagline declares, “It’s not what you expect” — in fact it’s far, far worse. Sounds like the … [Read More]
Welcome to LKL V3
I’ve finally taken the plunge and moved over to a two-sidebar theme – the way Scott Wallick, its designer, intended it to be used. A number of drivers behind the move: A typically male thing of always wanting the latest version of everything – and Scott has based all the coding for this theme on … [Read More]
Special Fringe Korea Day, 21 August
A press release from Kore@fringe KAMS is also delighted to announce: Fringe Korea Day 21 August, Assembly Hall, 11am-1pm In association with the Fringe Office and Korean Cultural Centre, UK, this event will present live showcases from the six productions that make up Korea@Fringe, followed by film footage of other Korean shows that are part … [Read More]
Book Review: Digging to America
My slightly random reading patterns in respect of Korea-related books sometimes turns up a gem, sometimes introduces me to an author I wouldn’t otherwise have read, and sometimes proves a disappointment. This book falls into the second category. It came up on my list of Amazon recommendations based on my past purchasing behaviour, and I … [Read More]
Indian Summer? Try Indian boshintang
And in the second of today’s frivolous links, here’s a story from Associated Press. An Indian politician has allegedly proposed solving India’s stray dog problem by shipping the creatures to Korea. One cynical wag has suggested that there would be howls of protectionist protest… Links: Indian Politician: Ship Stray Dogs to Korea, Hindustan Times via … [Read More]
International Toilet Rescue
Revealing my schoolboy sense of humour, I couldn’t resist posting this link to an article about the Korea-based World Toilet Association “racing to rescue Cambodia” Toilets are no longer a space for excretion only; they are becoming the central place in our daily lives where cleanness, relaxation, and aesthetics are important. Read on at expat-advisory.com. … [Read More]