The answers to the teasers posed just before the New Year. 1 Stressful times What does the current credit crunch and the most recent DPRK nuclear test have in common? a) the media blame them on an incompetent government who should have seen it coming and somehow prevented it b) they would both cause a … [Read More]
People: Rain (page 2)
Post-olympics celebrity and trivia round-up
It’s been so long since I did a round-up of celebrity news, and nowadays my knowledge of what’s hot in the celebrity world is derived from looking at my site’s statistics where I can identify the google search terms which have landing people on my blog.1 So here is a collection of random stories from … [Read More]
Easter celebrity round-up
It’s been a while since I rounded up some of the celebrity news as an excuse for posting some pictures, so here’s some recent items: First – Brits with Korean connections: Korea Beat has a translation of an interview with David Beckham, recently in Korea with LA Galaxy Kate Moss gets an advertising contract with … [Read More]
Rain 8 – Colbert 4: an unscientific survey of hallyu in Asia
Devoted followers of Korean popular culture will remember the Rain v Colbert battle in Time magazine last year. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5c7fj_stephen-colbert-vs-rain-dance-off_fun The much smaller population of devoted LKL readers will remember that I did a straw poll of my US co-workers last year: how many out of an unrepresentative sample of US bank regulatory specialists had heard … [Read More]
The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007: the top 10
Here’s the top ten. And probably not all that work-safe. #10: The second appearance of LKL’s favourite ex-playboy model, Lee Sabi (806 views): #9: The Chejudo Love Land theme park (884): #8: Sassy girl and last vampire Jeon Ji-hyun displaying her smooth thighs as a rock chick (969): #7: Pop diva, CF queen and all-round … [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]
The beauty of particular body parts
Browsing through the celebrity rags the other day I came across a report of a survey which struck me as rather distasteful: the actress with the most beautiful chest. I’m not sure why it struck me as distasteful, seeing as in the UK we have a light-hearted annual survey as to which female celebrity has … [Read More]
How many Koreans have never heard of Rain?
I don’t know the answer to that question. Maybe a reader can help. But seeing as I’m over in the States visiting my US co-workers right now, I thought I’d do a bit of market research. We had a team-building dinner yesterday. And on an impulse, I asked the person sitting next to me: so … [Read More]
Stateside celeb update
Avid blogwatchers will find this particular post surplus to requirements. This post is for my own benefit, just in case I lose the various links which are hot at the moment but which may soon cool off. Rain’s ongoing efforts to achieve the unprecedented feat of winning LKL Man of the Year two years running … [Read More]
Park’s gong
So what exactly is the Alfred Bauer prize? We know that Park Chan-wook was awarded it at the recent Berlin Film Festival for I’m a Cyborg, because there’s this picture on the BBC website to prove it. Yet you read the various blogs and news websites and you get the impression that the prize is … [Read More]
Celebrity news round-up: January 07
Rain, LKL’s man of the year 2006 has started 2007 on a low-note with a speeding ticket in Hong Kong at the start of his gruelling tour. He also underwhelmed one reporter at a Singapore press conference who found him just a little dull. This wasn’t a reflection on his performance on-stage (and I’ve yet … [Read More]
A date with Rain? I’d rather have my hair done
“Sorry, I’m washing my hair that night” is the familiar put-down you get when the girl of your dreams doesn’t fancy a date with you. But it’s also true of LKL visitors. They’re much more interested in finding the best Korean hairdressers in London, or reading about the techniques involved in a “Magic Straight” perm, … [Read More]
The London Korean Links Awards 2006
In the year-end spirit of reviewing the highlights and lowlights of 2006, here are the winners of the first LKL Awards – a personal and unscientific selection. The awards are in the following categories: Man of the Year Woman of the Year Best cultural promotion: Briton in Korea Best cultural promotion: Korean in Britain Best … [Read More]
Chosun Ilbo’s top K-pop of the year
Here’s their list: Best Album Best Song 1 Vibe: Re-feel Vibe: He & She (equal with Lee Sung-chul) 2 Lee Seung-chul: Reflections of Sound Lee Seung-chul: Shout it out (equal with Vibe) 3 SG Wannabe: 3rd Masterpiece Baek Ji-young: I won’t fall in love again 4 Nell: Healing Process Eru: Black Glasses 5 Sung Si-kyung: … [Read More]
Top singer-actors, a Chungmuro A-list wedding, a record deal and the Last Vampire
I haven’t posted about any celebs recently, so here’s the latest clips I’ve come across: 1 Singers turned actors With an eye on the success of canto-pop stars on the big screen, K-pop stars and their managers have been looking to maximise brand value and revenue streams. Uhm Jung-hwa, I only recently noticed, has been … [Read More]
Rain #1: Bad Guy
Rain’s first album displays his vocal qualities (it’s a good voice), and the range of stuff he’s prepared to sing. There’s a problem though. The music isn’t really distinctive. The ballads he sings are the sort of ballads which lots of K-pop stars are singing. The same key-shifts, the same use of that infuriating tingly … [Read More]