Argentinian Beef

Because cows are so abundant in Argentina...
Stakes of great thickness costs only about 2~4000 won..!
Maybe I should do a comparative research on the history of beef products in the country...

Serius XM

It seems that there is a TV or Radio channel called

Sirius XM, which provides free video clips of

live music performances

I've seen two videos from it 

and luckily came upon  acoustic versions of songs that I love

which were sung primarily for this channel

KMLA rappers make parodies of dissing games

These songs are self-made songs by my friends from KMLA 16th wave.
It is a parody of the Dissing game currently happening in the Korean hip-hop scene.
I'm not an expert on the topic but so far as I know, several rappers are using the same beat to create their own dissing lyrics and uploading them on their Social Networking sites.

I thought the two were both of superb qualities
(though, my opinion shouldn't count for mush since I almost never listen to rap)

https://soundcloud.com/hangyeol-koo/koo-ntrol

https://soundcloud.com/hyunchae-kim/rap-crowd-control


This is one of the original songs

When My Love Swears That She is Made of Truth

William Shakespeare - Sonnet #138

When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:

Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.

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Brit Lit: A Picture of Dorian Gray: Ch 1

Brit Lit 

111009 Hae UK. Ko

     In the first chapter, only three characters are given dialogues. Basil Hallward, referred to as Basil in the book, is a painter. He is described as having a strong rugged face and coal black hair. This physical appearance combined with his desperate manner marks him as a common man who is not above being a piece in the chess field called the world. Next comes Lord Henry Wotton, referred to as Lord Henry in the book; he is not given a specific profession. He seems to be a happy young man with enough money to enjoy his leisure time in the way he prefers. He has a somewhat Bohemian attitude and displays hints of hedonism. He does not seem to care how the world goes on as long as he can enjoy being a spectator of the world. The last of the three is Basil’s butler, referred to as Parker by Basil. He is not given much character in the chapter and probably will not play a central role in later chapters as well. 
     
     Of the plot, I was most intrigued by the part where Basil explains the new school of art that Dorian Gray has unconsciously defined. Basil talks of a school which does not distinguish between the soul and the body. He condemns his contemporaries and predecessors for separating the two concepts which are actually inseparable. Considering that the whole novel is centered on the separation of what a man appears on the outside and what a man is truly like in his heart, Basil’s words reek of importance. Withal, this is the first moment in which a character in the novel voices his/her opinion on the relationship between soul and body. It is not hard to guess that as the plot unfolds more characters will express their views on the matter and that the characters will walk differing paths based on their views. 
     
     Referring to a letter written by Wilde himself, Basil is what Wilde thought he was. This puts a shining star on every one of Basil’s demonstrative statements. A perfect example would be Basil’s statement on the inseparable nature of the soul and the body. Yet, this should not put to shadow the statements of other characters. This is because in the same letter, Wilde also stated that Lord Henry is what the public perceive him to be and Dorian Gray is what he would want to be like. Therefore, it would be a most interesting approach to keep alert for topics which are differently presented by Basil, Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray. 
     
     Personally, the novel’s strong emphasis on the relationship between soul and body was reminiscent of [Demian]. According to Mr. Ji of the Korean department, [Demian] contains Hermann Hesse’s query on whether good and evil can be viewed as two separate things. What does this have to do with [Dorian Gray]? The good and evil in [Demian] are often understood as rationality and sensibility. This, somewhat absurd from a modern view, can be understood in relationship to [Dorian Gray] if we consider that for most of the time, medieval and ancient Europeans considered reason as the symbol of the nobility and turbulent emotions as the mark of the less educated and less wealthy. In other words, reason was the encouraged feature whereas emotional change was the vilified feature. Thus, dichotomy was applied to separate rationality from sensibility; this is also apparent in the following words by Basil: “We in our madness have separated the two, and have invented a realism that is bestial, an identity that is void”. What is more, Basil labels perfection of the spirit as Greek and passion as Romantic. Such a labeling opens up space for historical hunches and analysis. 

     
     At this point, I must refrain myself. This journal only covers those thoughts derived from reading the 1st chapter. A more in-depth study might be presented in later journals when I have read more of Oscar Wilde’s book. Another reason is that as of yet, I have not read Hermann Hesse’s work and have merely taken a few classes by Mr. Ji which dealt with the book. Hence, I must depart from this topic for the present with this last question: “Could it be possible that the two great authors, born 23 years apart—one in Ireland and another in continental Europe, both attempted to address the same problem?” .

Katatonia, the band

A list of songs by Katatonia that I especially like.

Teargas


Sweet nurse


Don't tell a soul

love, bliss, pleasant, misfortune, injustice, and resistance

Since early on this year, the issue of Koreans—both north and south—being caught and handed over to North Korean officials on Chinese territory has been a unsettling topic to my heart. For a long time, Chinese police force was used to capture any North Korean escapees passing Chinese territory. Although such an act is against the international treaty concerning international refugees and escapees, the act was never openly challenged in fear of diplomatic problems, until early on this year. This time, the South Korean government made a formal objection to China’s plan to transport of nearly thirty people that escaped from North Korea back to their dreaded home.

 Having slept, played, and cooked together with those around my age that had to undergo the painful procedure of escaping from North Korea only a few months before, I was touched as I never would have before. The day I came upon the news, it was strangely easy to picture my friend desperately clinging to the South Korean embassy wall as Chinese police grabbed her foot. As a member of Amnesty International, I took part in this issue by promoting Amnesty’s efforts to sign petitions and send letters of condemnation to the Chinese embassy. Thanks to my efforts several school mates became aware of the problem and participated in helping the captured escapees. But, all went amiss as China again closed its damn ears to its neighbors and had its own way. 

 Despite the failure, the fire was not yet quenched in me and when news of a South Korean man caught in the same problem reached the news, I was eager to participate again in the protest. In this case, the person caught is a South Korean social activist that in his past afflicted himself with socialist ideals and actually visited the North a few times to see how communism was actually practiced. Thankfully, as Sartre did after Praga’s Spring, ideologists get a chance to revise their theories after witnessing sites where their theory was actually implemented, the person in this case also changed his mind after the visit. Therefore, he changed his view toward North Korea to a more acceptable one and focused on helping North Korean escapees reach Korea safely. North Korea saw this as a threat and the Chinese police force was called on to capture him.

 So, with such knowledge, I visited a church located across the Chinese embassy where people were putting on a 102 protest against the problem—by the way I’m not religiously afflicted to church. There, I read several posters that recounted successful escapees’ accounts and what’s more, accounts of what happened if the attempt failed. If the escape failed, the people are either taken to this concentration center with conditions much resembling Auschwitz or shot dead in front of their family. Even for other family members that were left in North Korea, the result is catastrophic. The victim’s family are all taken to the concentration center and both tortures and put to hard labor under insane living conditions.

 Waiting by the street for mom’s ride back home, this phrase resonated in my head, “I grew up not knowing the words, love, bliss, pleasant, misfortune, injustice, and resistance at the camp; I only learnt these concepts after I came here (South Korea)”. It wasn’t strange for them to describe themselves as dog turds, it seemed to me.