November 27, 2012

Onion Convinces Actual Chinese Communists Kim Jong-un Is Actually Sexiest Man Alive

We’re not here to debate whether or not North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, is the sexiest man alive. No, we’re here to snicker that The Onion fooled China’s communist paper into thinking it so. The actual article from the People’s Daily Online, the official newspaper of China’s communist party, isn’t much more than taking a few quotes from the Onion article and smacking them onto a 55-PAGE SLIDESHOW GALLERY of Kim looking all majestic and whatnot.

Read more. [Image: The Korea Times, People’s Daily Online]

10:24am
(Notes: 1,078)
  
Filed under: China North Korea South Korea Kim Jong-un Sex 
August 23, 2012
Gangnam Style, Dissected: The Subversive Message Within South Korea’s Music Video Sensation The American rapper T-Pain was retweeted 2,400 times when he wrote ”Words cannot even describe how amazing this video is.” Pop stars expressed admiration. Billboard is extolling his commercial viability; Justin Bieber’s manager is allegedly interested. The Wall Street Journal posted ”5 Must-See” response videos. On Monday, a worker at L.A.’s Dodger stadium noticed Park in the stands and played “Gangnam Style” over the stadium P.A. system as excited baseball fans spontaneously reproduced Park’s distinct dance in the video. “I have to admit I’ve watched it about 15 times,” said a CNN anchor. “Of course, no one here in the U.S. has any idea what Psy is rapping about.” Read more. [Image: Reddit]

Gangnam Style, Dissected: The Subversive Message Within South Korea’s Music Video Sensation

The American rapper T-Pain was retweeted 2,400 times when he wrote ”Words cannot even describe how amazing this video is.” Pop stars expressed admiration. Billboard is extolling his commercial viability; Justin Bieber’s manager is allegedly interested. The Wall Street Journal posted ”5 Must-See” response videos. On Monday, a worker at L.A.’s Dodger stadium noticed Park in the stands and played “Gangnam Style” over the stadium P.A. system as excited baseball fans spontaneously reproduced Park’s distinct dance in the video. “I have to admit I’ve watched it about 15 times,” said a CNN anchor. “Of course, no one here in the U.S. has any idea what Psy is rapping about.”

Read more. [Image: Reddit]

11:12am
(Notes: 3,331)
  
Filed under: South Korea Art Music Video GIF Entertainment 
May 31, 2012
Attack of the Killer Fans: Why Are South Koreans Are Afraid of ‘Fan Death’? What could be more peaceful than a night of rest with a little fan gently blowing the air of your bedroom across your body? It sounds harmless — unless, perhaps, you are from South Korea, where there is a widespread belief in “fan death,” the mortal danger of sleeping in a closed room with an electric fan. Many fans in South Korea come equipped with timers so that they will not remain on throughout the night. The Korea Herald called the belief ” one of Korea’s best-known urban legends.” No one seems to know why this belief persists, given that its position as a medical condition is dubious. There is some speculation that it has its origins in 1970s efforts by the South Korean government to curb energy use. The natural tendency is to write it off as some kind of crackpot belief. While it seems likely that the reported cases of fan death have other causes, such as excessive drinking or undiagnosed heart conditions, the relationships between beliefs and physical health are tough to pin down. Read more. [Image: Reuters]

Attack of the Killer Fans: Why Are South Koreans Are Afraid of ‘Fan Death’?

What could be more peaceful than a night of rest with a little fan gently blowing the air of your bedroom across your body? It sounds harmless — unless, perhaps, you are from South Korea, where there is a widespread belief in “fan death,” the mortal danger of sleeping in a closed room with an electric fan. Many fans in South Korea come equipped with timers so that they will not remain on throughout the night. The Korea Herald called the belief ” one of Korea’s best-known urban legends.”

No one seems to know why this belief persists, given that its position as a medical condition is dubious. There is some speculation that it has its origins in 1970s efforts by the South Korean government to curb energy use. The natural tendency is to write it off as some kind of crackpot belief.

While it seems likely that the reported cases of fan death have other causes, such as excessive drinking or undiagnosed heart conditions, the relationships between beliefs and physical health are tough to pin down.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

3:33pm
(Notes: 155)
  
Filed under: South Korea Myths Fan death WTF 
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