Lousy Korea

It is kind of funny. Thinking about MBC's racist BS got me thinking about Lousy Korea.

Lousy Korea basically did what the Korean media does to foreigners. But she did it to Koreans. She took things that aggravated her about Korea and Koreans, focused on them, and exaggerated them to pursue her narrative.

At times she was hilarious. At times she did cross the line into making racist comments. Unlike the media you knew she was doing it tongue in cheek. You knew it was meant as comedy, as well as some heavy duty venting, and not to take it all seriously. Well, anyone with a brain and the ability to understand sarcasm knew it.

That left some "foreigners" and a lot of Koreans out. Her blog drove the KKKlan at Korea Sentry apeshit. Which is a big part of what eventually led to her shutting down the site. Death threats from whack jobs.

If you are reading this LK I hope life is treating you well.

Untimely replies and racist comments.

A comment that was left for me on Notes From the Dog Farm was pointed out to me the other day. Since time had passed I decided not to answer it. It did raise 2 interesting questions.

The 1st had me shaking my head a bit. The commenter asked why I stay in Korea if I dislike it so much. The only reply I can think of is a question. How can someone who claims to have read both my blogs not know that I left Korea almost a year and a half ago? If he meant why did I stay 10 years, that would reply a post of it's own.

The 2nd question raised was about some of the words I have used on my blog when talking about Koreans. Two were mentioned specifically; mook and ricetard.

It still surprises me a bit that people don't know the word mook. It has appeared in many TV shows and movies. Just about anything Mafia related has the word show up in it. You can't have watched The Sopranos without having heard it being used. It has even been used on the Simpsons. While it is an older term, more popular in the old pulp fiction novels and gangster movies, it isn't THAT rare to hear it used today.

Mook isn't just used to refer to Koreans. I use it to refer to idiots of any nationality. Once again, if someone read my blogs they should know that.

Of course you have 'tards like John who implied I was using it as a play on the word gook. Mind you that was him either being deliberately dense to imply racism on my part or too lazy to use a dictionary and just showing his own ignorance. But I digress.

Ricetard, well, yeah, regardless of how it was meant it was kind of racist. (Hmm, I went back and reread this post before posting it and even saying "kind of racist" seems like a cop out. It was racist.) Which is why I stopped using it.

It didn't seem racist to me at the time. Which is a reason not an excuse. It seemed like a funny play on words (especially after a Korean company released a confectionary called a Rice Tard), and Koreans aren't a race. Mind you that kind of reasoning is just a cop out. It is a way of trying to excuse something you either know or think could be bad behaviour. In this case my own behaviour. I can see how it can be construed as being a racist comment. So rather than using the term any more, or being stupid enough to actually try and defend the indefensible and continue using it, I stopped and just went with the generic fucktard and non-racist variants of it (Bustard, Youtard, etc.).

What the ... idiotic expat rules?!?!?!? 2

What is it in Harry Potter about a name? People are afraid that if you speak Voldomort's name he will appear. Not to compare Chrissy Snowflake to Voldomort, the big V is much cooler, but I mentioned his name in conjunction with a horrible article on CNNgo and what do I find after that ... Chris responded to the article as well. A reader sent me a link to Chris' post. It turns out Chris wrote his with his own list of rules for expats to follow.

One of the things taht always irked me about Chris's style of writing is that he appears arrogant and condescending at the same time, dare I even say a tad pretentious. He starts right off with the arrogance by telling you that his list is THE list to follow. Or to quote him

If you’re coming to Korea to teach, work as a business person, serve the military, or otherwise hold a respectable position in Korean society, THESE are the 12 rules to follow.

Because only Chris can tell us what is right and proper. The way some people go about talking about rules makes me wonder if they actual know what a rule is. Personally, I don't like people, especially some internet mook, telling me what the rules are. If anything you giving GUIDELINES, tips, advice.

Let's look at some of his advice.

5. Along that same line, be aware of your surroundings – not because of safety concerns, but to avoid returning those unintentional bumps.

No, be aware of your surroundings FOR safety reasons asshat. You aren't safe from being hit by a vehicle even if walking on a sidewalk. If driving, you have to be uber-aware of pedestrians as well as vehicles. Talk about playing the importyance of something down.

Below he says you must respect Korean culture, even an aspect that leads to a lot of fuckery.

7. Respect the Confucian mindset – older above younger, etc. Your boss gets a bow (whether they particularly deserve it or not), and those younger than you should treat you with some deference.

He follows it by saying;

8. Tip – but only for good service. Despite the cultural mindset of ‘don’t tip’, I firmly believe it’s appropriate for good service.

Make up your mind. Are expats supposed to respect their culture or not? If it is cultural NOT to tip who the fuck are you to tell people they should? Not even getting into the fact that even in a tipping culture a person should only be expected to tip for good service. If you are giving out rules try to make them contradictory. Even if you are giving out guidelines it is bad form to have them contradict each other.

9. Get really good at one aspect of Korean life (at least!). There’s plenty to choose from – the sel-ca (self-portraiture), the jimjilbang (spa / sauna), the noraebang (singing room), etc. It’s a source of interesting anecdotes, and at least one area where the locals will compliment you on your effort to embrace culture.

Koreans will compliment you? Yeah, in a condescending manner by saying "Oh, you could be Korean!" as if that is the greatest compliment on Earth.

And how the hell does someone "get really good" at going to a jimjilbang? Korean's will compliment you on your bathing technique? What a fucktard.

He ends by saying

Wonderful readers, what did you think of the original CNNGo article? What other rules would you suggest for new expats coming to Korea.

Wonderful readers? Is he trying to land a blowjob or write a post?

Now I understand trying to match what the CNNgo article said point for point. Unless every point you have is good it is stupid to even try. In many cases you can't match point for point unless you are going for satire and just mocking the hell out of the article. Chris takes himself much too seriously to do that, and it doesn't look like that was his goal. I would have just said the guys article was shit. Pointed out some examples of why. Then maybe added some of the ADVICE or GUIDELINES I thought were important. Or just mocked the hell out of the writer's stupidity.

There really is no magic list of rules for people to follow to be a good expat because you can't make a rule for every situation people will encounter. It also implies that there are rules citizens of the country you are in always follow. Anyone who has lived in South Korea knows just how much bullshit that statement is.

What the ... ignored comments?!?!?

I was in a quandary about whether or not to post a comment in my blood money thread last week. Not because of the content per se but rather because it seems to be more of a "read my site" post than anything else.

The commenter said;

"I am afraid that much of this post is severely incorrect and misleading, and therefore deeply offensive. A more accurate picture of this so-called "blood money" -- with an actual discussion of laws and everything -- is available here."

Where it says "available here" had a link to the commenter's blog. Being curious I followed the link and read the voluminous post the blogger wrote attempting to debunk the ideas that evil ignorant expats have about "blood money". According to the blogger the way Koreans do blood money is just the same as plea bargaining in the US. He couldn't have just said that? He couldn't have commented on the parts that get his panties into such a bunch and why? He could have, but that wouldn't have pimped out his site as much as his attack and a link to his site for "the truth".

Reading his post (on his site), and staying awake through it, just had me shaking my head. Much of my post was "severely incorrect and misleading" according to him. What parts? The ones that talk about experiences people I know had with the system? The idea of a lesser sentence based on blood money being paid or even just offered? The reports from KOREAN sources that confirm what expats have said about the abuse of Blood Money? Nice way to slough off other peoples experiences, actual reports, and opinions of others because they don't fit your narrative.

Yes, people do work deals out sometimes in the US, and even here in Canada. There are people who deliberately get hurt, or fake it, to get money out of you. If/when caught THEY get in trouble with the law here for blackmail or filing fraudulent claims. In South Korea, in the case of one friend, the police KNEW the guy was doing it, apologized for him, but still insisted my friend pay blood money or be charged. How is that the same as plea bargaining again? Oh right, it isn't.

Yes, there is no obligation for the person to pay blood money. Unless you count the fact that it will be held against them when it goes to court. Look at the case of the bus driver who stopped the guy from molesting one woman and attacking another. Part of the judges reasoning for his sentence was based on the fact that the driver had NOT paid compensation to the "victim".

Or conversely, in the case of the scum that raped the South African woman, the fact he offered her blood money was taken into account when he was sentenced ... towards reducing his sentence.

The blogger ignored things like that in his post. Probably because they hurt his argument that there is nothing wrong with Blood Money and it is just misused by evil expats who want to malign Korea. Not the first time I have seen him do something like that to prove his point. I used to read his blog fairly regularly while I lived in Korea.

As I was contemplating whether or not to post his comment and give his site some free advertising "someone" sent in several comments. I guess my "delay" in posting the comment bothered someone, or a few someones. I received comments saying things like;

"Stop being ignorant and LEARN" which also contained ... a link his blog post about blood money.

I have to admit that comment did make me chuckle. Of course anyone not agreeing with everything said by him/them is ignorant. I actually did learn from his post. I learned that his writing style and way of arguing his point haven't really changed since I used to frequent his site. He is right. You are wrong. If reality doesn't completely agree with him then he will just ignore the parts that upset his argument.

Overall, to use some of his own words, I found his comment, and the other ones sent in, severely incorrect and misleading and therefore deeply offensive because they were dismissive of people's experiences and reality. Therefore, while I will use them and reply to them here, I won't include his link.

Added April 24th 2011: I guess I should thank the commenter(s). He (they?) reminded me of a pretentious asshole I got email from in the late 90's and still have a copy of.

What the ... absurdity?!?!?

An interesting thread was started on Blog Gogi about some of the absurdly insane things that happen in South Korea. Just telling tales of the lesser absurd stuff that went on left friends and family think I was taking the piss out of them. Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes, and in my life no where did I find more instances of it than in South Korea.

Great thread Blog Gogi!

New Yorker In Seoul

Thanks to The Grand Narrative I found an interesting blog called New Yorker In Seoul. It is written by a Korean-American living and working in Seoul. It makes for a good read, especially seeing what she deals with as a Korean-American.

What Would Fucktard Do?

There is an interesting new blog out there called What Would Fucktard Do? The latest post, the third of the blog, really resonated with me. I had never put Hilda in the fucktard category but after reading that I think she deserves to be there.

Hilda is one of those people who complain "Why didn't you invite me?" You decided to do something at the last minute, or a friend called and invited you. Hilda lives in another city and even if you had thought of inviting her there just wouldn't be time. Of course as soon as she finds out you did something she would whine "Thanks for inviting me.", "Why wasn't I invited?" or the more annoying "Nice to be invited." or "I guess I am on ignore."

She would even get like that when she wasn't invited to things by people she kept blowing off. Like Spock. He always invited her to come out. Most of the time she would say yes and then not show. So he stopped inviting her. Once she found that out the "Why wasn't I invited?" started. Of course she would never ask him why, she would just annoy others whining about it.

What would make the fucktardery even more annoying is she would do it even if she had previously told you there is no way she would be in town to do anything. Stig probably remembers this example, there was a time when we had a Thursday and then a Tuesday holiday. Hilda was in town for the Thursday one. She said quite vehemently that she would not come to town on the Tuesday. I say vehemently because she droned on about it for a while, complaining about crowds on the buses, on the streets, and just about everywhere else.

So 11AM Tuesday morning rolls around and Stig and I decide to meet at Outback for lunch. Of course Hilda calls while we are there. She then proceeds to get pissy for not being invited. I mentioned that I knew she didn't want to come in and that just led to more fucktardery.

"How do you know what I would want to do?"

"Because you told us quite clearly last Thursday you were NOT coming to town today for any reason."

The scramble to save face at this point caused her to deny saying that while also stating that she is allowed to change her mind. Contradictory fucktardery.

She would also hold the lack of an invitation against people for years. Hell, she is probably still holding a grudge about it. For example, a friend of mine, N, that she met once was coming to town. He wanted to meet me for lunch to talk about something. (Turns out he wanted to borrow some money and understandably didn't want anyone but me to know.) Hilda called that morning and asked what I was doing for lunch. I told her I was meeting N for lunch and she wanted to come. Now I don't just drag people along to things, I ask if it is ok. N asked if we could meet her after lunch because he had something personal he wanted to talk about. Hilda took that as a personal affront, even when it was later explained to her that he didn't mind her joining but that he wanted to talk about something personal with just me first. That didn't matter. Up until the time I stopped being friends with Hilda, 4 years after that happened, she was STILL harbouring a grudge to N over it. If she heard he was coming to town she would whine about that 1 time he wanted lunch with just me. Sometimes she would make comments like "Well, I don't want to hang around with him since he didn't want to be around me that time."

This attitude is one of the reasons I stopped bothering with Hilda. Life is too short to put up with undependable fucktards.

Dokdo Is Ours rules!

Dokdo Is Ours has one of the best April Fool's jokes I have seen in a long while. :) I wonder how many hits he gave to Chrissy.

What the ... Racialicious commenters?

Bobbie was venting about something again. This time about Blackout Korea. He pointed to a link at a site called Racialicious which has Epic Fail of the Week. It featured Blackout Korea.

To a point I can agree with them. While I have no problem with people snapping pictures of others who make themselves look like assholes in public, and getting so pissed you pass out in your own sick qualifies, there is a line. Posing in pictures with the passed out, especially ones that make it look like you are fucking them in the ass, cross that line for me.

What caught my eye wasn't Racialicious' comments so much as some of the commenters. One in particular named Katie came off as an extra-strength whack-a-do. She started going on about Korea being occupied by the US military and how the pictures of people posing with or over drunks looks like soldiers lording it over Korean casualties.

"I look at the photos from the offending blog and I’m struck by how they could be pictures from a war, with White soldiers lording it over Korean casualties. Korean bodies have often been portrayed as disposable in the US imagination. Korean prostitutes, Korean war deaths ... "

This cunning stunt is actually equating these pictures to ones from a war? What a stupid bizzy ditch.

Then you have some asshole named Keith spouting off saying;

"I dislike ESL teachers immensely. You don’t even have to have credentials to become one in some places. Not only that, their have been scandals where these low life’s have taken advantage of their female students high school and junior high."

Could someone please point out these scandals to me? The ONLY ones I have heard about, where teachers have been diddling their students, have concerned KOREAN teachers. Considering how hot the Korean Times is to print shit about ex-pat English teachers, even when it isn't true, it is surprising that even they haven't printed any stories about this.

I love the way Keith parrots the line about ESL teachers not being qualified. If the QUALIFICATIONS to teach ESL do ONLY require you to have a 3-4 year University degree, and you have one, then you ARE qualified. IF the qualifications called for a teaching degree and they didn't have one THEN assholes like Keith would be right. Instead they are just a bunch of assholes with an axe to grind against ex-pats. If it wasn't ESL teachers I am sure they would find something or someone else to whine about.

Guess what Keith, a lot of ESL teachers feel the same way about douchebags like you.

What a bunch of fucking morons.

Another Blog bites the dust.

Hat Tip to Superfantabulous for reporting it first ... An Idiot's Tale is gone.

Yesterday, in a post no longer accessible he said;

"Recently, I received a threat from a Korean netzien claiming that he and his buddies are going to track me down and run my name through the mud because they don't like *An Idiot's Tale*. "

I don't know what came after it because the Blogger: Dashboard only shows a snippet of the post and the site is now locked down.

Lousy Korea, which I have to admit did have racist tendencies but was fun to read, went down because of death threats against herself and others they thought were her. Koreans and thinking ... an unusual combination. Odds are it was Koreans and drinking.

Korean Rum Diary shut down because of these Korean Kimchi Kommandoes. He decided it wasn't worth the aggravation.

Superfantabulous almost shut down. She stopped using the term roundheads to refer to Koreans so they decided to leave her alone. Now she is out of the Land of Confusion.

Now, An Idiot's Tale is gone.

It is kind of sad how eager these assholes are to go after people who criticize Korea, even when they are right, yet they do nothing about the problems in Korea. (And threatening people doesn't solve the problem.) They will perpetuate the attacks on foreigners when it is their own people who are actually raping kids in Korea, raping or molesting students in Korea, spreading aids in Korea, beating students in Korea, threatening to kill people because Korea loses at a sport, and the like. You know, the stuff they blame others for doing. And then they wonder why many people see them as a bunch of backwards ass country fucks.

*** UPDATE 29 October 2010 ***

An idiot's Tale is back up. According to Mr. Wonderful he turned the blog back on for shits and giggles. Which might make you wonder if that was the real reason he shut it off.

What the ... brothel?!?!?

Brian in Jeollonamdo aka Blian Golden Balls to those who follow An Idiot's Tale, graced my comment section with his presence.

Brian had this to say;

"Right, apologist.

I'm not saying love motels don't attract prostitutes and johns, or that they don't have condoms or vending machines. But it's lazy to call them brothels, when you're not going to find brothels in Yeongam and Mokpo."

I didn't say Brian was an apologist. There was something about a "cunning stunt" in the comment section being either Korean or an apologist. That wasn't a poke at Brian ... unless he is also that poster. When it came to Brian I simply asked the question if someone calling a love hotel (which may or may not have hookers or order them for you) is a moron what should I call someone labeling them a moron? An apologist? I did say, in the comments that it made me wonder if Brian was on his way to becoming an apologist. Maybe I just should have said he was a moron himself?

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would hear a reply so ... moronic from him. You aren't going to find brothels in Mokpo?!?!? What the kimchi?!?? Has he been smoking that whacky tobaccy?

If he had just said it is lazy to call them all brothels I could have agreed with him. It was lazy because not all of them are brothels. They could have and should have qualified their comment. But then Brian went on to make that insanely stupid statement about Mokpo.

I have been in much smaller cities than Mokpo and there were double barber poles around. Reading what was said in A Year in Mokpo would make me think there are massage parlours in Mokpo. You know, the ubiquitous Korean massage parlours where you go for a haircut, shave, and a happy ending. Those aren't brothels of a sort?

I was visiting friends who lived out in the rice fields several years ago. The love hotel I stayed in offered women through room service. Plus there were massage parlours around ... as I said you can't miss the double barber pools. Mokpo is HUGE compared to that town and you are trying to say they have no brothels there?!?

I guess Brian doesn't follow Korea Beat. Or else he doesn't consider Room Salon's, a place that provides prostitutes, a type of brothel. If so he has a strange definition of what constitutes a brothel. Oh wait, he has links to Korea Beat AND A Year in Mokpo on his site.

I decided to do a google search to see what I could find about Mokpo and Brothels. Once you got rid of the current articles about the F1 there was some stuff to be found. A Year in Mokpo's site, Korea Beat, even a poster on Asia Finest talked about brothels/hookers in Mokpo. He said in 2007;

"I live in Mokpo, and there are anmas and full-service barbershops on every corner. Why would it be different in other places with a large Korean male population?"

Was he lying? Exaggerating about every corner maybe, much like calling every Love Hotel a brothel is exaggerating ... but lying? After all you won't find any brothels in Mokpo. Right Brian?

Which brings me back to his comment that you won't find brothels in Mokpo. If the people calling love hotels are morons for being lazy what the kimchi does that make Brian for his statement about brothels in Mokpo?

Is he being disingenuous, moronic, or maybe he drank too much kool aid and is trying to pass it on? Having followed his blog for years I don't think he is a moron or an apologist. That leaves disingenuous. Maybe it was just a momentary lapse of reason?

Who's the moron?

Wow First we get to see Bobby get his panties in a bunch over Banksy and now Brian in Jeollonamdo is getting a little bent out of shape over reality. His latest post has him calling anyone who thinks a love hotel is a brothel a moron. ( Oh and Bobby did post about this too, but without any of his Blansky bile.) While I agree most love hotels aren't brothels ... in my experience many of them are.

I went to the blog that offended Blian's sensibilities so much. I was expecting it to REALLY rip into Korea and Love Hotels. It didn't. While it did call them brothels and reprinted comments by people about finding used condoms or rooms that had been rented out for an hour or so it also contained comments talking about how nice the room was and the amenities that came with it. Hardly a blistering piece of blogging.

One cunning stunt who posted in the comment section was fun to read. He is either Korean or a Korean apologist. Why? Well, he droned on about Love Hotels being cultural. He threw out the old "The people writing these articles know nothing about Asian culture." Then he went on about how they are used to take girlfriends to, which is true, but he completely ignored their other use. He even threw in a Japan comparison while ignoring that other aspect of Korean culture, men using hookers of all sorts.

Now a hotel that supplies a room with dildo machines, condoms, sex toys, and/or porn doesn't make it a brothel. Nor does renting rooms out by the hour. There are "No-Tell" Motels all over the world. Love hotels do make a cheaper alternative to regular hotels and are usually well kitted out. Huge beds, TV's, some have whirlpool bath tubs. Most of the ones I have stayed at have been very clean and modern. Better than higher priced main stream hotels.

However, I would class many of the love hotels I have stayed at or seen as brothels of a sort. Why? You can order a woman, and I don't mean with an ad for a coffee girl although you will see them around too. Many of the love hotels I have stayed at have a menu by the phone. You could order food, drink, or a woman. Prices were shown for the food and drink but not for the woman. Several of the hotels had a norae bang (singing room) in the basement, with a lot of "partners" waiting for guys to cum sing or they had their own low end Room Salon. And a Room Salon is a kind of brothel.

The same sort of comments and problems turned up during World Cup 2002. The Korean government actually forced owners to label their hotels "World Inns" to get away from the love hotel image. My biggest problem with Love Hotels during World Cup was the way they doubled or tripled their prices. We ended up paying 70-80,000 won for what would have been a 30,000 won room in Ulsan for the Denmark vs Uruguay match. Bloody gougers!

A hotel with singing room hookers, room salon hookers, or a hooker you can order up to your room over the phone. I have no problem with someone calling a place like that a brothel. Is someone calling a place like that brothel a moron or is the person doing the labeling being an apologist?

What the ... fuck you?!?!?

Wow, I actually didn't expect such a visceral reaction from The Marmot's Hole over the opening of the last Simpson's episode. "Hey, Fuck You, Banksy"?!?!? What the kimchi?!?!?

I expected Korean's and some others to over react to it like that but not the Marmot. Jeeze Bobby, maybe you have been in South Korea too long? You seem to have lost the ability to understand satire and to read everything as a dig at South Korea. Maybe Stig and I need to bastardize "Turning Japanese" into "Turning South Korean" and dedicate it to the Marmot?

When I saw it I immediately thought of ... China. The Panda kind of reinforced that for me. I didn't even think of North Korea. Just China. Most of the people I know thought of China or the Norks too. Or that is was just a statement about sweat shops in general. Not a poke at south Korea.

I don't remember Marmot getting his panties in this much of a bunch (or any type of bunch) any other time the Simpson's took a direct dig at any other country. And I still don't think this was a direct dig at South Korea or an attempt to "defame " the artists who work at AKOM.

By the way Bobby, IF it was supposed to be aimed at AKOM, and not a general statement on sweat shops or even one aimed at china or the NorKs, how would it be defaming the artists who are portrayed as sweat shop slaves? Wouldn't it be defaming the company and the people who run it? And Fox? And Groenig? And anyone associated with Simpson's Merchandise? How would it be defaming the artists? Interesting leap of logic there.

Hell, as some of Bobby's own readers pointed out, this isn't the first time the Simpson's has shown the cartoon being made in a sweat shop. It was shown being made in a sweat shop in an earlier episode, complete with a "South Korean" soldier prodding a slow cartoonist with a bayonet if my memory doesn't fail me. (And it didn't fail me. One of Marmot's readers mentioned it too (it was a 1992 episode) and provided a link to a screencap.) That didn't raise Marmot's ire but something with Panda's (China), Dolphin heads (Japan?), and unicorn's (there are no unicorns in South Korea Bobby, they are a fantasy creature) does? Wow.

I wonder if he is equally upset with their OBVIOUS insult to South Korea over calling things the "something of the something"?

Much ado about nothing. Like I said, I expected over reactions from South Koreans but not the Marmot. I guess he turned into an adjosshi. If it could happen to him could it happen to ... you?!?!? (Oh wait he left South Korea didn't he? Damn it has a residual efffect!!!!)

Mr. Wonderful ...

... has a point. What you expected something else? :)

Something Mr. Wonderful, and others, have said time and again but the internet morons just ignore; If you don't like a site don't go to it. Move on.

Look at some of the people that are regularly make negative comments at his site. They piss and moan about how crappy the site is. They whine about how awful he is. The rant about the uselessness of the blog. Yet they keep coming back. If it were audio I would say they just like the sound of their own voices. Maybe they just like reading their own words?

I think of the YouTube idiots and the Kamikaze Kimchi Kommandoes. Leaving out the more whackado ones ... why do they keep coming back for more? Do they honestly believe they will change anyones mind with their vitriol? Do they honestly think they are making Korea look good? (If they do then they truly are deluded.) Or is it just that they need to feel that they are important in some way? (Which would still make them deluded.) Are they just attention whores?

Since I started using Toad Man's site as an example I will keep going with it. There are times when it bores the shit out of me just as there are times it makes me laugh. Economics was never my forte. So, and this is a revolutionary thought if you are one of the internet idiots, I skip over that stuff. I ignore it and wait for something I want to read to come up. If nothing I found interesting in some way came up ... I would move on. It is wonderful thing, the ability to move on. :)

The YouTube idiots take this to new heights of absurdity. They troll YouTube to find things they don't like and then go on the comment attack. That is how they spend their free time? Hell, they may even be doing it during work time looking at home prolific some of them are. On the other hand, a job would probably interfere with their trolling so it is doubtful they have one.

How pathetic must someones life be if the best they can do is haunt a site they claim to hate and/or find boring? I can just imagine them talking about their life with friends.

"What did you do today John?"

"Oh I (worked/studied/goofed off) all day and then I went onto that website I hate and told them how much I hate it again. It is a boring site. No redeeming value."

"Didn't you do that yesterday?"

"Yeah, but I have to make sure my message gets through."

"Your message?"

"Yeah. I have to let people know how horrible the site is so they stop reading it. If I don't go on and keep letting them know the site is boring and no good who will?"

"Damn, I need new friends and you need a life."

What the ... pedantic posting?

Chris in South Korea once wrote:

"I beg of you, for the love of whatever God / Goddess you believe in, to never mention the Yankee Nom / Idiot’s Tale blog ever again. It may well be a popular blog that reaches to people’s most basic needs (in the same way ‘Ow my balls!’ did in the movie ‘Idiocracy’), but it has nothing credible to assist people in Korea. I can’t believe it’s considered popular, and hope it fades into a meaningless existence."

What prompted him to do this was that in an online popularity contest ... I mean poll ... An Idiots Tale was winning. Chris' site wasn't. He felt that his blog was better because it is credible. That is, it helps new comers to Korea learn about things and gives travel information. While he felt An Idiot's Tale did nothing. (Except make people laugh.)

As I said back then, I don't usually go to his site. The few times I have gone I found it ... lacking. He tried, I have to give that to him. But for me, he failed. His pictures were ok but christ having 2 boring paragraphs describing an empty lot. No thanks. I was willing to admit that it could just be me. As Chris often whines, the site, especially the Life in Korea section, is more for newbies to Korea than "old timers".

Today a friend pointed out a post on An Idiots Tale. It talked about Chris' latest "helpful information" post. I have to say it just confirmed what I already knew. His site is pedantic. If I were a newcomer to Korea I would find it more insulting than useful because he seems to have an extremely low view of the intelligence of newbies.

In the aforementioned post, Chris came up with 4 ways to beat the heat in Korea. Reading that one would expect some insightful things. Places to go and things to do. If you expected that you were sadly mistaken. It isn't that his 4 suggestions were just bland or unimaginative. They were just so obvious that to actually use them in a serious post is crazy. His 4 points, with my comments, are:

1) Make sure your floor heat is off.

You would think that feeling it on would have someone asking their boss how to turn it off. I mean give people SOME credit. "Hey. My apartment is hot. My floor is hot. How do I shut it off? I know, I'll ask my boss."

2) Reduce the humidity.

Now this one, and the advice about the hippos, had the potential to be good. I never learned about hippos until well into my 1st summer in Korea. While they don't do much for dragging the overall humidity of a room down they are good for use in closets and enclosed balconies to prevent mold from forming. Chris' comment makes it sound the hippo will drain all the humidity from your apartment, which isn't true.

3) Use a fan or air conditioner.

How stupid are the people that frequent his page? Or how stupid does he think they are? I can't think of anyone that would need to be told this when they first get to Korea. It ranks up there with Ralph Wiggum informing Lisa that his cat's breath smells like cat food.

4) Eat ice cream or something cold. Once again ... what the kimchi?!?!? He thinks people have to be told this?!?!?!? Ralph what does your cat's breath smell like again?

This is the great information that makes his blog credible and helpful for newcomers?

In the comment section, there were only 4 comments, 2 are replies from Chris. One commentor hit the nail on the head. Mr T said:

"Are you serious? These suggestions are obvious things that a common idiot would or should know about. There is no real redeeming quality to this post."

That is a pretty spot on. I do think the Hippo stuff had some value but Chris missed it. Chris' reply basically ignored the gyst of Mr T's comment and, well, reality.

"@Mr. T - Posts starting with 'Life in Korea' are written/aimed towards those newer expats among us - not everyone knows to look for the controls on the wall, or to look for 'Hippo Packs'. Perhaps it's not as relevant to you or a more experienced expat, but there are far more 'newbies' than veterans."

What the kimchi?!?!? What the blue hell does there being more newbies than experienced people have to do with the fact that only an idiot would have to be TOLD to use a fan or air conditioner to stay cool? Only an utter moron would need to be told to eat ice cream to cool off. Nice of him to avoid mentioning those tidbits of advice in his reply.

Then I started looking at past "informative" posts.

How to get a haircut? He actually gives the tourist hotline number for people to call for help? I would suggest they do what I did ... ask their co-workers for help. It isn't rocket science.

Packing up, moving out, and moving in. You will need boxes. You should cancel your internet. Change your addresses to your new one. Throw away what you don't need. Clean. Jesus H MF Christ, are these people new to Korea or new to life?

I could go on and on but why beat a dead horse. If this is an example of a credible blog then give me the incredible ones because it sucks. I have seen better advice on Dave's ESL Cafe and that is something I NEVER thought I would say.

My advice to others would be what I am going back to do (at least until he posts something else this funny in its stupidity) which is ignore the site.

If you are new to Korea and need help talk to your co-workers or find a credible site and ask questions there. A site where you aren't assumed to have the IQ of a door knob.

Damn!

It looks like the Korean Rum diary is gone for good now. I popped by a little while ago to see if there was anything new and there wasn't. Mind you there wasn't anything old either. All of KRD's old posts are gone. :(

You will be missed Rummy. Best of luck in your future endeavours.

End of the line for the KRD Express.

The station is empty. Only the movement of leaflets blown about by the wind can be seen. You have reached the end of the line. The KRD express is no more.

Korean Rum Diary has removed the comments and seems to have shut the site down for some reason. I haven't emailed and asked because I figure if he wanted to say why he would have said it on his site.

I am going to miss his posts. Hopefully he will still be around the net.

Good luck in your future endeavours KRD!

Youseok is back.

After a brief absence Youseok re-opened his blog.

Typical of many sites Wordpress never asked for his side of the story. They suspended his account with no notice. No discussion. According to him he could only contact them through a form letter.

That is one of the things about Youtube that used to piss me off. They never actually looked into complaints. They just suspended or removed people. No chance to defend yourself or even find out the full reason for their action. It is one of the reasons why I stopped using Youtube. Another reason is that I COULDN'T leave comments on my own videos or page because I am in Korea.

I can understand a site may need to quickly suspend someone but they should at least give a reason and allow for discussion.

Good luck at the new address.

The Fall of Youseok's Blog.

Another K-Blogger has vanished. YouSeok's blog is gone. This time the fall of a K-blog was not due to some piece of Korean Kimchi Kommando shit threatening to kill people's children. You could say Youseok was the master of his own demise.

In his desire to get at the KKKunts of the net he crossed the line and acted like one of them. This took the shape of him posting the name, phone number, and personal email of the head of the Kleagle, Consoleman.

Herr Consoleman filed a complaint with WordPress. com and they either archived or suspended Youseok's blog. It is a shame because he did some good with his site. However, posting the information was wrong. It is what we complain about the Korean netnazi's doing. It is the kind of thing that even the KKKunts under Herr Consoleman aren't stupid enough to do. Although they have talked about hoping the Korean netizens read their site, find out about people like Lousy and Youseok, and go after them. That way they feel their hands will be cleaner.

One of their Grand Wizards MidWestInsahm82, one of their more racist pieces of shit in the Kleagle, is already crowing about it. He is also taking great pleasure in the fact Lousy Korea's site was shut down. It was shut down because pieces of shit like him made death threats to peoples kids. Really something to be proud of eh? Can't say it surprises me to hear him being happy about that.

Lousy made me laugh a lot of the times. But she did cross the line sometimes, such as with the monkey comments. Youseok you were doing well until you crossed the line posting Herr Consoleman's information. I hope you get your site back up in one form or another.

Chrissy Snowflakes™ vs The Toad Man

After reading Chrissy Snowflakes™ self-congratulatory "look where I appear" comments I felt sad and dejected. I felt unworthy. Someone like Chrissy Snowflakes™ can appear in a couple of places why don't I? Maybe Chrissy is right and he is just better than the rest of us.

Then I talked to my peeps and begged them, for the love of whatever God/Goddess they believe in, to pray and find out why a windbag could be so popular. Chrissy may well have a popular blog that reaches people's most basic need to sleep. (In the same way a politician droning on about nothing can help you get to sleep.) It has nothing credible to help people laugh at the bull shit they will encounter in their daily life in Korea. I can't believe he considers himself popular and hope he just drones himself into a coma.

Then I looked at the referrals for people coming to my site. Oh my god or goddess. I am great. My reach is far. Just look at the Google searches that brought people to my site. That is ... if i actually gave a shit about any of that or needed to reassure myself and make others aware of how great I am. I have better things to do than than that. People who go on about stuff like that tend to seem kind of pathetic to me. Self-important blow hards.

Seriously though Chrissy. Chris. You take yourself and more importantly An Idiot's Tale, too seriously. Lighten up and either enjoy what he writes or, and this could be hard to do, don't go to his site. Hell you shot yourself in the foot with your pathetic plea to others not to go to his site. Odds are you BOOSTED his readership. When told to ignore something most people tend to check it out.

The purpose of Blogs isn't just to do something credible to assist people. Maybe that is what Chris wants his blog to do. Just because that is what he wants doesn't mean everyone has to do the same thing. It is kind of pretentious of someone to think others must do it their way. A blog can be whatever anyone wants it to be. Whether a diary, a place for discussion, a myriad of things. It is nice that Chris hopes to do that with his Blog but Idiot's Tale never pretended to be like his blog. Ever.

For me, his blog fails to reach his goal. Mainly because it is hard to read his posts. He is just too verbose. It is nice to have pictures to show people things to see but seriously 5 sentences describing an empty field where something MIGHT be reconstructed? Zzzzzzzzzzz. That is me though. It might work for others. I hope it does.

I have been to Chris' site before his issues with Idiot's Tale started. I never book marked it or went back pretty much for the reasons I just stated. My problems with his "style" of blogging are not new. Unlike him when I don't like a blog I stay away and don't talk about it (at least until now). If others like it and talk about it more power to them. To denigrate them and try and get others to ignore them just because you don't like their style is kind of ... petty.