Except in Korea. FanDeath.net. Heh. And no, fans don’t kill people. They may make a room cold, or somehow set up conditions which bring on heart attacks or strokes or other things, but there’s no way in hell that fans kill people, any more than sex kills old men because it excites them enough to give them a heart attack. We don’t call that “Sex Death”, do we? Ah, well, maybe in Korean it is called Sex Death, I don’t know. In which case, if the cause of death is ascribed to the catalyst of the physical crisis—the stroke, heart …

Peemil at Where are my socks? encapsulates Korea in a descriiption of PC Rooms: Korean PC rooms are a world apart from anything else I have seen in the West. They are part of what makes this country what it is. A noisy, smoky environment with alot of people swearing at stuff that really doesn’t mean alot at the end of the day. Lovely.

If you’re living in Seoul, or spend a lot of time there, you may be interested in the KMC, a Korean movie screening club where you can watch Korean movies, subtitled in English, in a home cinema-like setting. As for me, I make do with my home player, or with the local DVD-bangs. I would probably think of going, though, if I were living in Seoul.

Antti and June blog on the recent moves to change legislation of the Household register system. There’s a while yet till this new legislation kicks in, but it will make some potentially big differences in the legal status of women and children. As June mentions, this is one system among many that need to be addressed, but nonetheless, it sounds (from their descriptions) like it could end up being a step in a good direction—I’m not sure I’m in a position to dictate the “right” direction, as an outsider, but it seems like a positive step towards nurturing of a …

Okay, don’t ask for more details on how I got into this conversation, but I learned a funny Korean joke today. I only know it in English, but unlike many jokes, it translates extremely well. I’m embellishing it below. One day, a man went out to the mountains, with wishes in his heart, and climbed to the peak. Sanshin-ryeong, the mountain god, was impressed with the man’s vigour and spirited climbing, and could feel the man moved by his hopes and dreams. So the mountain god showed himself to the man, in all his massive, imposing splendour, and declared, “Hey, …

via Oranckay, here’s Georgy Bulychev in an OhMyNews piece imagining North Korean transformation.

Another link from Zarq, this one to an image gallery of old money. I’ve linked here to the South Korean money site, and would like to direct your attention to the P-11b Korea South 1953 One Won bill. It’s the pink one that has lettering on the back that looks straight out of the Old West, ie. it looks like cowboy money. That was a lettering style I never expected! The whole archive is cool, and worth a look if you have some time to spare.

Lunar new year, that is. It’s the first of the year for East Asia, everyone. May oodles of good fortune be yours this new year. 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Since I didn’t make any new year’s resolutions for the solar calendar, I may try to do some up for the lunar one instead… we’ll see what I feel like tomorrow.

After a long day of researching Korean-specific geomancy (for my novel, something I hadn’t anticipating needing to know so much about for the rewrite), I found a look at a totally different side of Korea quite interesting. The Digital Chosun Ilbo has a photo-essay about a female special forces team that’s worth a gander. Thanks to KimcheeGI of Budaechigae, who, yes, got it from someone else…

Just a question, but does the Korean government actually recognize freedom of religion? Is one free to reject Confucian beliefs, for example, and is this freedom explicitly recognized in any critical legislation? Because this news report passed on by KimcheeGI suggests you may forfeit your rights to own property if you aren’t a good Confucian. Well, actually, if you fail to be a good Confucian after promising to be one: A son who failed to mow the grass around the graves of his ancestors and properly show respect to his ancestors will forfeit his rights to a valuable patch of …