[tomscy2000]

Quote:

  Tomscy that is nothing new my friend. The rich and elite own 99 percent of the worlds resources (the top 1%). There are so many inadequacies around the world it's not funny. So it looks like the same thing is poisoning China now?

 
Poisoning Now? haha, no, happened a long time before. Mao Zedong did nothing to reverse that trend. I understand socioeconomic inequality fine --- I'm not that naive --- I get the #OCCUPY movement.
 
But I really mean whether this concerted strategy is really going to help China vault to the top. I think it's an interesting dynamic; as an almost solely export-driven economy, China is quickly learning technical information that will allow it to supersede the rest of the globe in technical ability. They have the manpower, the human capital, and the money to do so. They're taking foreign-born concepts and creating their own services that they build up within their own nation. They have the population to drive these services, so that it can rival their global counterparts. They took Alibaba/Taobao from the Amazon model, and tailored it specifically to their own nation. Ren Ren is the Facebook analogue, as Weibo is to Twitter. Beijing is clearly trying to bolster the slowed global economy by reinforcing its domestic strength. Yet, it experiences great tension internally. Ethnic disputes (Uyghurs, Tibetans, etc.), country/urban strife, etc. People can say this happens everywhere in the world, but this is China --- a world within the world. Nothing like this has ever happened on this large a scale.

 

[ardgedee]

Quote:

So did you make Psy proud and do S. Korea gangnam style

 
Kept bumping into the guy, all but literally. His face and catchphrase are plastered on EVERYTHING across the breadth of South Korea. In Andong, a remote farming province in the south, I got photos of Gangnam Style scarecrows. He's on billboards and TV ads and standup ads selling everything from refrigerators to hangover remedies (the latter is particularly apt: his stage show apparently includes his downing a whole bottle of soju in one swig; if you've ever had soju, you'll get it). That doesn't even include the advertising that he's not involved in, trying to capitalize on Gangnam Style through punning or turning the phrase (imagine "Gangnam Smile" for advertising a dentist, "Gangnam Files" for an office supply shop, "Gangnam Bridal" for a wedding planner... you get the idea).
 
Psy represents an interesting conundrum for the entertainment business there. One of South Korea's biggest exports right now is its entertainment media, and the music corporations in particular have spent tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars trying to break into the American and European media markets with effectively no success whatsoever. And then Psy goes and does it, totally by accident, with an parody song about, well, extremely local issues with extremely-local in-jokes. It's messing with the heads of the decision makers and they don't like not understanding what's going on.
 
I took some photos of Gangnam station and some particularly odd knockoff merchandise (Psy socks!), but otherwise I mostly steered clear of the whole thing. My 2-year-old niece does a very cute Gangnam Style dance but she was too shy to do it with the extended family around. Fortunately her 8-year-old cousin saved the day with a spot-on version. Me, I couldn't do the dance without offending a nation and breaking my own ankles. I lack the physical coordination to move my arms and legs at the same time.

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

...extremely local issues with extremely-local in-jokes. It's messing with the heads of the decision makers and they don't like not understanding what's going on.

 
Exactly. Apparently, the Miss Korea contestants did their own little rendition of Gangnam style. Has the popularity of the song completely occluded the fact that the song is actually parodying them, precisely?

 

[ardgedee]

Quote:

Exactly. Apparently, the Miss Korea contestants did their own little rendition of Gangnam style. Has the popularity of the song completely occluded the fact that the song is actually parodying them, precisely?

 
I couldn't say, really. I'd guess that some people there lack the self-awareness to know when they're being mocked, but entertainers around the world know that sacrificing their dignity is part of their job, so if it's going to be good for a laugh and provide the opportunity to ride a wave of popularity, they'll do it.

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

I couldn't say, really. I'd guess that some people there lack the self-awareness to know when they're being mocked, but entertainers around the world know that sacrificing their dignity is part of their job, so if it's going to be good for a laugh and provide the opportunity to ride a wave of popularity, they'll do it.

 
Well, normally I'd agree, but Koreans are an incredibly prideful group of people, and I was surprised there was so little backlash over this song (my assumption is that it's making so much money for them, they just don't care). If the song had not blown up like it did, I would be betting that someone within YG Entertainment would be plotting to drag PSY through the mud by now.

 

[DigitalFreak]

Psy must be laughing his head off at the entertainment industry powers that be then.

 

[ardgedee]

Quote:

Well, normally I'd agree, but Koreans are an incredibly prideful group of people, and I was surprised there was so little backlash over this song

 
Not me. Comedy and parody are rife there, and comedians have been getting away with incredibly pointed satire for a long time now. South Korea has its own fully-licensed franchise of Saturday Night Live, and Psy was a regular cast member on their version of the Weekend Update segment. When Gangnam Style went viral and he started making appearances internationally, he became the butt of the joke there, and iirc for a while they had a cardboard cut out of him as a placeholder when he couldn't be there.
 
Social satire is practically Psy's stock in trade, and he was quite famous as an entertainer long before Gangnam Style hit, with songwriting credits for others' top 10 songs.
 
So I think it's similar to other cultures with a reputation for humorlessness: They still appreciate comedy and jokes, but the national sense of humor tends towards the more personal and cutting, and not as much silliness and wordplay.
 
(Edit: It's probably also worth pointing out that there's the same growing divide between the wealthy and the rest of the population there, as in the rest of the world. Mocking wealthy excess, or those who aspire to that lifestyle of excess, is going to go down pretty easily with most of the population. And so it did. The tacky people will have nothing to say, and the genuinely wealthy and powerful families of the chaebol are sufficiently insulated from the rest of society that it simply doesn't matter to them; in that sense, it's not about them.)

 

[jgray91]

Smoking --- I understand the temptation and the extreme difficulty in quitting, and I also know a few members here take a drag here and there, but sometimes when I see people smoking in public places and on the sidewalks (the laws are too lax here), I seriously get miffed, especially when they're in front of the hospital that I work in. Usually I imagine locking them all up in a small room with zero ventilation, and letting them choke on their own smoke. I get so annoyed, it's tough for me to think otherwise.

That's kind of an extreme thought, but I'll admit I myself have thought something like that. Logically and rationally thinking, I still can't see why the hell would anyone not stop smoking with all the evidence that it deteriorates health both yourself and those around, and it burns through money consistently and mercilessly. It boggles my mind.

 

[tomscy2000]

That's interesting. I would've thought that media in Korea would be a lot more conservative in that regard, judging from the types of contracts that entertainers sign, and the 'what's allowed and not allowed to be asked about peoples' personal lives, etc.' --- that goes to show I don't understand Korean culture all that well (understandably so, but I like to think I know more about it than the average muppet).
 
I do know that PSY was already huge in Korea before the song dropped. At the same time, however, things like the marijuana incident seem to be genuine knocks on his reputation rather than a street-cred building publicity stunt like it often is in the states.
 
I guess it's true that the people who would actually be offended by the song wouldn't have the clout to take him down anyways, and the truly wealthy would just be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

That's kind of an extreme thought, but I'll admit I myself have thought something like that. Logically and rationally thinking, I still can't see why the hell would anyone not stop smoking with all the evidence that it deteriorates health both yourself and those around, and it burns through money consistently and mercilessly. It boggles my mind.

 
That's why I don't actually round them up and lock them in a room. Though, it is my gut, emotional reaction, however cruel it is.

---

 
How did this make the front page of Yahoo? http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/-25-earphones-sound-like-winners.html

 

[veyrongatti]

Quote:

I've been checking out the coverage on the Tokyo Headphone Show.
 
Some interesting things:
 
(1) The FAD Heaven II was announced/released; looks identical to the IV and VI.
 

A cheaper heaven? yay finally an FAD that I can afford 

 

[jgray91]

godspeed to those getting hit with hurricane Sandy. May you guys stay safe.

 

[veyrongatti]

Quote:

godspeed to those getting hit with hurricane Sandy. May you guys stay safe.

+100000000000 stay save ^^ 

 

[lee730]

+2 May God be with you guys during the storm. We we're lucky to avoid any damage from the Tsunami from Canada.
 

 

[ardgedee]

We narrowly avoided the storm on our flight; arrived in Detroit and then went southeast to the Carolinas, all while airlines were canceling flights up and down the central and northern seaboard, leaving travelers stranded. It was fortunate for us, but most of my siblings are in the path of the storm and my partner is being forced to rearrange plans for a conference she's attending because her flight on Tuesday has been canceled.