John Wurth from the Jeollanam-do’s jangheung county has passed along some information to me about a fundraising for the upcoming holidays for the Jangheung Area Children’s Center:

I work in JangHeung Eup, part of JangHeung County in Jeollanamdo. In my spare time I volunteer at JangHeung Area Childrens Center. As part of our program we operate a group home for children. The children in our group home have lost one or both parents and do not have any family able to care for them.

I am doing a project for Christmas at the group home. Our goal is to raise 1,000,000w to provide Christmas presents for the kids. We have 6 kids- 4 boys and 2 girls. We want to give them something special. Our plan is to purchase a game system (playstation, xbox, whatever…) and some nice clothes for the kids.

Donations can be wired to a bank account set up with NongHyup Bank:

JangHeung TamJin Group Home (장흥탐진그룹홈)
Nonghyup Bank / 농협은행
657-01-075935

More information can be found on the Jangheung Area Children’s Center (장흥지역아동센터) Korean-language homepage or the new English-language Facebook group.

For those interested it sounds like a worthwhile cause to check out.

My day at the PIFF

By a little luck I was able to see 7 films on this day and as with 7 films, I saw some great ones, some so so and one so bad that I heard an audience member say after the film. "I want to smoke cigarettes and get to drinking beer now, so I can erase this film from my mind."

The first film I saw was from Poland by the name of Little Rose



The films opens up with a Pro-Soviet Union Polish report blaming the Israeli Air Force for defeating the Soviets Arab allies in war. With this the ugly anti-Jewish hatred in Poland restarts with the Polish Security Service trying to eliminate this "New Threat" to the Soviet rule of Poland.

What you then see is a Young Polish student by the name of Kamila Sakowicz in love with her fiance, who is a member of the PSS. His mission is to try and get close to Polish Historian Adam Warczewski, who the government thinks is a secret Jewish Agent out to destroy the Polish Government.

Well that is the opening plot of this film and I really with that they would had kept it simple. The film wants you to try and make the Polish Mata Hari into a sympathetic character and there is where the film lost me. In trying to make this lady into a saint a tragic victim of circumstance, it just was never believable to me. Each plot twist just kept getting stupider and worse.

By the end of the film the audience and myself were ready for it to be over and when it was over I took a quick poll of the audience and it was about what I thought of this film. Its a good one, not a great one. The film could have used a lot tighter edit and eliminated about 20-30 minutes of plot story. In the end we're left will a mess that at time could have been a great film. It is worth seeing at least one time if you like Soviet style spy stories.

Grade: D-

Now the real irony of all this was that the next film was a Russian film set in the year 1945 in Siberia. By the name of (Kray or The Edge)



Now with films from Russian they have either been hits(9th Company, Night Watch)or Misses(Day Watch, 12) with me. The only reason I saw this film was because of of my students thought I'd like it. She was so right on this film for me.

What we see is a girl running away from men shooting at her and then she falls into a huge river. Then we are told about World War 2 and how the USSR treated Russian prisoners of war and Russian citizens who worked for the Germans. You are then told that these people were sent to exile to live the remainders of their lives working in a very remote part of Siberia.

You are then show a Russian war hero by the name of Ignat, who hates all of these so-called German collaborators. He soon meets and has a relationship with one of the Russian ladies there who has a baby by a German military officer. But Ignat loves trains and you are slowly shown his past. The the film introduces you to a ghost. At last that is what this person is called. This person has lived in an old abandoned train since 1941 and has no knowledge of the USSR German war. To make maters worse she is German and the entire jail city hater her because of this except for Ignat.

Now with this film one was never sure what was coming next and the film told a great story that never seemed too long. I will not spoil the film for you but I will say this when the film was over the majority of the audience applauded and they had smiles as they left the cinema. It was a week later when this film was chosen by Russia to be its' official film for the foreign-language honor at 83rd Academy Awards. The film deserves to be seen at least twice to make sure that you truly see what this film has to offer.

Grade: A+

Now the next film was from Columbia and at this screen I was sitting next to graduate Students who had to see a film a comment on it for their homework. part of their homework was to ask a non Korean questions about the film that they saw. So needless to say I answered a lot of questions about this film for these students. The films title was Portraits in A Sea of Lies



What we are shown is a girl by the name of Marina, who does not talk, and after all that has gone on in Columbia. I knew it was because of something that she had seen in her past immediately and when they slowly start to show her past, it really wasn't that much of a surprise to me. The audience and the nearby students seemed to be interested in this.

The plot of this film is that her family used to own some land that was taken away by the Colombian Government years ago. The girl and her photographer playboy Cousin Jairo attempt to go back there to find the deed so that they can reclaim the land.

I must admit the basic idea of this film intrigued me but the film kept going over already know ideas to me and really never said anything interesting. To me it was because they never seemed how to handle the part of Marina. To her being able to see dead people to the final part of the film. I just never really felt any sympathy for her. She was dead inside and it never made me care for her.

By the end of the film, I had seen nothing original and wondered why the film takes went down this path to this film. The nearby students really liked the film but they understood why I did not. In the end it was a film that just really left me flat. The audience left the theater with kind of a Memh..look. Please pass on this film.

Grade C-

Now the next film was from Georgia and France and was shown at Cannes so I had really no idea about the film called Chantrapas



The idea was simple enough, the audacity of a Georgian filmmaker making a co-production split between France and Georgia about a Georgian filmmaker and how compromising and disappointing it is to make a co-production shooting in both France and Georgia. (Mubi.com) Sad to say the film never really ventures past this idea. The majority of the attempt at humor just left the audience and me very flat. In the end both his Georgian film and his French films are both huge disasters with almost the entire audience walking out of his French Screening.

The film ended in a way that no one saw coming and no one could actually believe that we had just seen it. When the credits started to roll the audience turned on this film immediately. Boo's and loud WTF's were heard during the credits. It is during this time that I heard someone state that "I want to smoke cigarettes and get drinking beer now so I can erase this film from my mind." I also heard another audience member tell the subtitle volunteer that, "The person who picked this film for the PIFF should be fired on the spot!

This is the 3rd film this year (Korean.. A Little Pond.. USA.. Resident Evil #4) that I thought that an F- was too high of a grade. Please pass on this film at all cost!!

My next 3 films were at the Midnight Slasher night. The main event was the Korean premier of the Unrated version of I Saw the Devil



Now before we can go into the review we have to go back into actually why this film was banned in the first place.

Back in 2002 Korean set up a film ranking of Restricted rating (제한상영가). Films with this rating were restricted to adults over 19, could only be shown in specially licensed theaters, and could not be advertised or released on home video. The rating was ruled unconstitutional in 2009 after a challenge from the local distributor of Shortbus(Wikipedia)Korea has 1 of these theaters and its in Kwangju.

So when I had heard that the Korea Media Rating Board had given ISTD this rating, I could not believe it. This particular rating has been ruled unconstitutional so I have no idea why they gave it to this film. (All attempt to try and find out why have only led to more confusing comments)

When the Director of this film Kim Ji-woon came out to present the film to us at the midnight screening he stated, through his translator, that this version of the film had received a 14 rating in Canada and I yelled WTF. If you ever see any video of that, the loud fan is me.

The audience was in a great mood, everyone wanted to see the unrated version. Then the film started and the audience saw what happened the first few minutes, you knew hell was coming in the form of Lee Byung-hun and you believed it. The madman took away his pregnant fiancés. He was going to take away him.

This film was different because in most vengeance films, once you catch the person you slowly kill him or her and then the film is over. This one was different because once Choi Min-sik character was captured. Lee took him to the brink of death, then stopped and let him live. This goes on for awhile and after the 3rd time. LBH characters fiancés family ask him to stop the vengeance because its used in movies and this is enough.

What was also nice about this film was the secondary people in this film, both the good guys and the bad ones. They all really helped t take this film to the next level.

What I liked was that the devil CMS had taken 3 of his best hits and he was still alive and when he figured out how the spy was working and who the spy actually was it was time for the hunted to become the hunter once again and then you see what vengeance true cost was.

When the film was over, I knew that this was the version that I wanted in Blu-ray. The audience applauded loudly and no one still could explain to me about the crazy rating. See the unrated version anyway you can.

Grade A+

So we had a 15 minute break and the next film was from Hong Kong and it goes by the name of Dream Home



The film is story of Cheng Lai-sheung who saves up money to buy her dream home. After finding house prices rising, she goes into a murderous frenzy. The opening part of the film states that this film was based n a true story. I have no idea if this is true or not.

What we are shown is a girl who has finally snapped and you are also shown the background story of why she snapped. I really started to feel sorry for this girl. No matter how hard and how she kept trying to do things the right way the deck just seemed not to favor her.

I saw that her 2 stressers were her father dying and that the couple that she wanted to buy an apartment off of at the last second jacked up the price it was just too much and she went on a killing rampage. It was really just killing for the sake of killing. It was turning into a bad Cinemax late night film devoid of anything why she was killing. When the film is near the end you are shown why she killed all of these people. I was left just like I wasted about 2 hours on this film. I did not like it and the audience near me went to sleep instead of watching this film.

Please pass on this one

Grade: D

The last film of the evening was an American film called Husk I later found out that it was originally a 27 minute short film that was shown at Sundance a few years ago to some good reviews. I sat down and started to watch the film and I kept waiting for a good decent horror film to appear on the screen and by the end of the movie I was still waiting for a good horror film to come on the screen.



The plot was a joke. It never was believable. The idea of this film might have best worked as a short film but when it made into a cheep horror film, it lost a lot in its growth. I wasn't scared, I never believed in it and when it was over, I wanted to find the director and demand my $ back for wasting my time with this film. A huge misfire for After Dark Films

Grade: D

If you get the chance please go to the Pusan International Film Festival next year and hope that have better films that some of these that were shown this year.

Finally
by Craig Miller

Two significant things happened to me in 1976. Each cemented me as a life-long Rangers fan. Both happened on the same summer trip, from OKC to Dallas, where I spent a couple of weeks with my cousins.

First, we all joined the Dr. Pepper Junior Rangers--we got an official club identification card, a cheap batting glove, and some general admission tickets with severe restrictions (I think we could only go see day games against the Twins or Indians). I felt like part of the team--I was a Junior Ranger. It sounded like I was in the farm system. Certainly all of us Junior Rangers would grow up and one day become Senior Rangers! Isn't that the path that Fergie Jenkins followed?

The second occurrence made an even greater impact: I went to my first Rangers (and first MLB) game. June 25th. My Uncles Don and Ronnie took a bunch of us cousins to old Arlington Stadium. We sat down the third base line. It was a doubleheader against the White Sox. Gaylord Perry pitched and won game one. Toby Harrah hit a grand slam. I'll always remember how the giant Texas scoreboard in left flashed "GRAND SLAM" and how the place went crazy. I got a game program, and for the next year or two, I memorized every inch of every page. I fell in love with the old logo--a baseball wearing a cowboy hat. I fell in love with the Rangers.

Never did I, or any of the 29.049 there that night, think we would have to wait through the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's before we would see our Rangers win a postseason series. No modern day fan of any pro franchise has been forced to wait like that. But this October, our suffering was rewarded. God Bless Clifton Phifer Lee.

I was born in Amarillo and grew up in OKC, so I always tried to root for the teams that were geographically closest to me. That meant growing up a Sooners fan, a Cowboys fan, a Spurs fan (remember, it was the 70's--they were the closest NBA team since there were no Mavericks), and a Rangers fan. I've been blessed--I've seen the Sooners, Cowboys and Spurs win 13 championships in my lifetime. But being a Rangers fan balanced things out, and kept me in touch with fans whose teams don't win much--or ever.

The Rangers won a division series, not a World Series--but it sure felt like the latter. To watch Cliff Lee shut down the Rays while wearing "Texas" across his chest was almost too much--I almost sports cried. It made me think of all of those Rangers teams, players and skippers who paved the way for Lee's heroics. Here's to the heroes of my childhood--the 70's and 80's: Billy Martin and the great '74 squad with Hargrove and Harrah, Burroughs and Fergie. The late 70's teams that I was sure would win it all--Scoop Oliver, Richie Zisk and Bobby Bonds at the plate; Matlack, Blyleven, Perry, Alexander, Medich, Lyle and Kern on the hill. The great Buddy Bell (thanks to Sunny and Buddy for making the All-Star game most years, and giving the Rangers their only national publicity each season), Pete O'Brien, and Mickey Rivers (what--we got the Yankees center fielder?!). Charlie Hough, who threw knucklers each half inning, then smoked in the dugout the other half of the inning--and who kept us in every game he pitched. Oddibie and Inky, Boo and Hoss. They may not have delivered like the boys did in Tampa, but they were a part of the process, the journey.

We know the Cowboys mean a lot to folks around here. But, until this week, I never realized how much the Rangers mean as well. I've heard from so many people who were also Junior Rangers, who also used to sit in those vast outfield bleachers at the old park on hot summer nights cheering a Rangers team that was 20 games out. I've heard from so many Rangers fans who shed a tear when the Tampa series ended because their father or grandfather, who loved the Rangers and took them to games in their childhood, didn't live to see this day. It wasn't a title--it was a moment. A moment that really touched a lot of people.



Fernando said to me the other day "I pity the people who don't like sports." Amen. They are missing so much. Moments like game 5. Moments that make the journey seem worth while. Moments that you never think will come, but they do. Finally. Now, if only I could get that call-up to the bigs from the Junior Rangers, my baseball life would be complete.


(I WAS thinking of my dad and how in 2004, the RANGERS TOOK AWAY, FOR A FEW MOMENTS, HIS PAIN OF CANCER. I was wishing that we could have shared this moment together.

And we would have loved it, him Rangers and me YANKEES. It would have been great. It's comforting to know that there were many like me wishing that there father and grandfather could have been here to see this game. I was crying because they weren't here to share this with me...)

Islamophobes!: ‘WaPo’ Pulls Muhammad Cartoon That Doesn’t Show Muhammad

by Greg Gutfeld

So, in a blinding feat of profound wussiness, the Washington Post removed the October 3rd “Non Sequitur” cartoon from its rag. The reason? It mentioned Muhammad. Let me repeat: it was yanked because it “mentioned” – not showed – Muhammad.

There wasn’t a picture of him in the strip.

But the Post, and some other papers, still pulled it.

Admirably, Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander asked his Style editor why- and he said, “it seemed a deliberate provocation without a clear message.” He added that “the point of the joke was not immediately clear.”

Yeah. That’s why you did it: ambiguity. Weasel.

Anyway, here’s the cartoon.

Eh.

And here we see another float in the parade of pussies – a callow editor making a cowardly decision based on a fear of upsetting religious fanatics (a fear he cannot even admit to coworkers).

Which leads me to my only point. Why is it that the media keeps reminding us that we shouldn’t exaggerate the threat of a small group of radicals – but completely changes tact, when it comes to their own personal safety?

Think about it: if the average Joe expresses fear or anxiety over Islamic fundamentalism, they are called Islamophobes. But if an editor with balls the size of electrons removes a comic in which Muhammad isn’t even present – that’s not honest-to-Allah Islamophobia?

No, that’s just being sensitive.

Look, the media can’t have it both ways. They cannot criticize the public for concerns over Islam, and then eradicate anything in their midst that they perceive might elevate their risk for getting stabbed buying a chai latte at Starbucks. If their governing principle in the newsroom is fear, then they should admit it – and get the hell off our backs for feeling the same way.

And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist, homophobic Islamophobic bathophobe.

By GI Korea

Charles Hanley & Nuclear Options On the Korean Peninsula

It seems like Charles Hanley of the infamous No Gun Ri fame just cannot seem to help himself in regards to sensationalizing articles about Korea. His latest article attempts to make everyone believe that the fact that the US had plans to use nuclear weapons on North Korea is some new shocking revelation:

From the 1950s Pentagon to today’s Obama administration, the United States has repeatedly pondered, planned and threatened use of nuclear weapons against North Korea, according to declassified and other U.S. government documents released in this 60th-anniversary year of the Korean War.

Air Force bombers flew nuclear rehearsal runs over North Korea’s capital during the war. The U.S. military services later vied for the lead role in any “atomic delivery” over North Korea. In the late 1960s, nuclear-armed U.S. warplanes stood by in South Korea on 15-minute alert to strike the north.

Just this past April, issuing a U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said “all options are on the table” for dealing with Pyongyang – meaning U.S. nuclear strikes were not ruled out.

The stream of new revelations about U.S. nuclear planning further fills in a picture of what North Korea calls “the increasing nuclear threat of the U.S.,” which it cites as the reason it developed its own atom-bomb program – as a deterrent. [Associated Press]

In true Charles Hanley fashion he of course brings up his declassified documents they found that uncovered this news:

The new information is contained in Korean War documents released by the CIA to mark this June’s anniversary of the start of the conflict; another declassified package obtained by Washington’s private National Security Archive research group under the Freedom of Information Act; and additional documents, also once top-secret and found at the U.S. National Archives, provided to The Associated Press by intelligence historian and author Matthew Aid.

Judging by this paragraph t actually seems that Hanley would prefer the entire Korean peninsula to be over run by the Chinese and the North Koreans than to have the US even contemplate the use of nuclear weapons:

Based on previously declassified documents, however, historians believe the U.S. came closest to unleashing its atomic arsenal against North Korea in April 1951, on the eve of an expected Chinese offensive.

With Truman’s signoff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered A-bomb retaliation if large numbers of fresh Chinese troops entered the fight. In the end, the U.S. military repelled the Chinese push and the weapons were never used. But Pentagon planners retained the option.

Most of the time I say read the rest, but it isn’t worth your time because there is absolutely nothing new in this article and he even uses Selig Harrison in the article.

First of all it would be irresponsible of the Pentagon to not plan for all contingencies with the various units and weapons available. This is like someone 50 years from now finding documents that showed that the US had plans to use nuclear weapons to defend Europe against attack from an all out Soviet invasion during the Cold War. Much like the Cold War nuclear weapons after the Korean War were used to help maintain the peace on the Korean peninsula to hedge against any renewed North Korean hostilities, especially when the US military was heavily committed to the Vietnam War. It was sound strategic strategy that prevented a renewal of hostilities on the Korean peninsula.

Instead Hanley wants people to believe the reason the North Koreans are pursuing nuclear weapons now is because the US has plans to attack them with nukes. It has been clear for years that the North Koreans are pursuing nuclear weapons for a variety of reasons with self defense being at the bottom of the list since they know the US is not about to attack them. The nuclear weapons are pursued for regime prestige, nuclear blackmail against the West and South Korea, as well as an export technology. Self defense would be fourth on the list.

If the North Koreans did not have a nuclear capability the world would not take them as seriously as they are taken now and they know it and Charles Hanley has to know it to and yet mentions nothing in his article and just reiterates Selig Harrison’s pro-North Korean talking points. The North Koreans were already caught in 2007 proliferating nuclear technology to Syria and continue to be rumored to be linked to the Iranian nuclear program. Some how this doesn’t get mentioned by Hanley either; judging by his track record is anyone surprised?

Black English teacher has sex with Korean girl, posts video online, gets Netizens pissed

by Robert Koehler

in Stupid Foreigner Tricks

The Adventures of 흑퀸시

The netizens are astir after a 26-year-old African-American English teacher at an “English village” in Daejeon uploaded onto an Internet site a video of him having sex with a Korean woman.

According to the English village, the teacher — who reportedly operated online under the nickname Quincy Black (흑퀸시) — was fired Thursday after it was discovered he uploaded the video onto an overseas website in late August. The video has since been deleted, but it and screen captures are reportedly spreading around cyberspace.

The teacher taught elementary school kids English for 20 hours a week starting in May of last year.

An official from the village said the teacher had the E-2 visa needed to teach, and they had no problems with him. They also noted that criminal charges were up to those involved, such as the woman in the video.

According to the Hanguk Ilbo, the teacher will be leave the country tomorrow.

Needless to say, the boys at DCInside are having a bit of fun.

According to the Kukmin Ilbo, 흑퀸시 is suspected of selling the video to overseas porn sites, as the video appears to have been edited

ESPN 30 for 30 review: Into the Wind (The Terry Fox Story)

For the last 5+ years of my life I have lived in Korea and during this time, I have been fascinated by this group of people that call themselves Canadians. From what I have heard from the majority of these Canadian people, they love hockey, wear or have something with a maple leaf on it, speak with a funny accent, they seem to love something called "Tim Hortons coffee and they always seem to talk about this famous person by the name of Terry Fox

All I really recalled about the person was that back in 1980 he tried to run across Canada to try and raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society and that he didn't make it. I recall that he died a while before his 23rd birthday. If you want his complete story please click on here for a CBC story about his life.

I then saw that ESPN in their 30 for 30 series was going to do a documentary about this man and that it was going to be directed by NBA 2 time MVP Steve Nash. I knew that I wanted to see this and also to see if I could understand why my friends from the north (The Canadians) recently named him the 2nd greatest Canada's hero of all-time

The film starts out with a crazy idea; what if this 21 year old kid, with 1 leg could actually try and run across Canada in something he was calling "The Marathon of Hope" with the idea of trying to raise money for the fight against cancer. You see that on April 12, 1980 he starts his adventure. Then you start to see this kid turn into a man by his will just to keep on going. Soon, with the help of the CCS, his entrance into Ottawa on Canada Day really is when his story starts to spread.

A member of the CCS, Bill Vigars, who joined Terry's team as a pr man, stated for the Documentary, "That he hoped that people knew who he is, Terry, before he kicked the opening ball in a Canadian Football League game. All the announcer said was Ladies and gentlemen, and the crowd stood and cheered when they saw Terry walk onto the field. The crowd went crazy; he also stated that this was the first time that he and Terry realized that this story was going to take off. After this the Nation of Canada received daily front page newspaper updates of this man’s travels and his goal of fund raising and how many more miles he has to go until the end of his journey to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The documentary also shows the growing pains of Terry and his friend Doug Alward and how they brought in Terry's brother Darrell to help liven the mood. The film also tells about a 12 year old boy name, Greg Scott, who just had his leg amputated also because of cancer, join Terry for a day and how it inspired Terry more to run (The film stated that soon after meeting Terry Greg Scott lost his life to cancer)

I also liked a funny part of the documentary when Planters Peanuts would give the CCS a nice donation if, for the final mile of the run, if Mr. Peanut could run along Terry. Terry sated, “Sure, if I get to wear the costume."

He was about half way to his goal when he started to become very tired and he had trouble starting to sleep. On September 1st he was suffering an intense coughing fit and experienced pains in his chest. He asked to go to the hospital. It was discovered that the cancer had returned and it had now spread into his lungs. Terry had to quit his run across Canada for the time being. He hoped to one day resume the run and complete his, "Marathon of Hope".

Fox had raised $1.7 million by the time he had to stop. A week after his run ended, the CTV Television Network organized a nationwide telethon in support of Fox and the Canadian Cancer Society. The documentary shows that while the telethon was going on he was undergoing chemotherapy. He hoped that the people could see his real struggle with cancer. The telethon was supported by Canadian and international celebrities, the five-hour event raised $10.5 million. Donations continued throughout the winter, and by the following April, over $23 million had been raised, almost 1 dollar for each Canadian Citizen in 1981.

You start to see that a nation is cheering on and praying for their hero to beat cancer and you start to see the Canadian Government realize just what he has actually accomplished. In September 1980 he was invested in a special ceremony as a Companion of the Order of Canada; he was the youngest person to be so honored. Fox was named the winner of the Lou Marsh Award for 1980 as the nation's top athlete. He was named Canada's 1980 Newsmaker of the Year. The Ottawa Citizen described the national response to his marathon as "one of the most powerful outpourings of emotion and generosity in Canada's history".

But if you know the story, you know this one does not have a happy ending. Fox was re-admitted to the New Westminster hospital on June 19, 1981, with chest congestion and developed pneumonia. He fell into a coma and died at 4:35 a.m. PDT on June 28, 1981, with his family by his side. The Government of Canada ordered flags across the country lowered to half mast, an unprecedented honor that was usually reserved for statesmen. His parents had to bury their 22 year old son who had become Canada's son who, to this day, is still Canada's son.

Every year since his death there have been Terry Fox Run to raise money for cancer research. I recall in past runs, Canadians running, walking or bike riding, just to honor the memory of this man.

I thought this summed up best who Terry Fox was, It was stated by Leslie Scrivener, Toronto Star, a reporter who covered his run of hope in back in 1980 and it was included at the end of this film.

"Canadians are always concerned about their sense of self identity. Who are we? We don't have Martin Luther King. We don't have Nelson Mandela. I guess that there's a sense of just grittiness. You just put your head down and work. We really work hard. He really worked hard.

The film ends with credits stating that the Terry Fox Foundation has helped raise over 500 million for cancer research and that he ran 3,339 miles in 143 days.

As I earlier stated in this review, I really didn't know a lot about this person until after I saw this film and maybe, just maybe, I finally get why he is a national hero. He was honored to be from Canada and on his marathon for hope shirts you always saw 2 things, the Canadian country and the maple leaf. He took what his country had taught him and showed the world what 1 man can do. I know that the majority of my Canadian friends know his story very well, this review is for the rest of us so we can get to know his legacy better.

Please watch this 30 for 30 when you get the chance.

Grade A+

Holy fucking shit, look at that shirt.

From Brian in Jeollanam-do

Holy fucking shit, look at that shirt.

Or, "Friends don't let friends go with 'nigger frog faggot wop limey dyke honkie mick kike chink spic beaner'." From Kelly in Korea comes the most awesomely bad t-shirt I've ever seen in Korea.



Originally found by Morgan Dale this past summer, though it turns up on a few earlier Korean blog entries, including this and this.



"Here is a perfect, real-life example," Kelly in Korea writes,

of why you shouldn’t wear clothing emblazoned with words you don’t understand. This is more common than you’d think and almost never done out of irony.

To that I'd also add---as I've said about Gibberlish and nonsense, vulgar English---that what amounts simply to symbols and decoration for Koreans often has actual meaning for a good many people and extends beyond a domestic context, a possibility that needs to be taken into account when using English publically or deciding a t-shirt with an extensive rundown of ethnic and gender slurs is a good idea for the train station.

See also: how Korean-English dictionaries aren't helping.

By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER,

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The comic strip "Cathy," which has chronicled the life, frustrations and swimsuit season meltdowns of its namesake for more than 30 years, is coming to an end.

Cathy Guisewite, the strip's creator, said Wednesday that deciding to end the comic strip was "excruciating." The comic has won several awards, including a 1992 National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1987, and at its height appeared in 1,400 papers.

"It's just been really unbelievably agonizing to make the decision," Guisewite said in a telephone interview from her home in the Los Angeles area. "The strip has not only been the most astonishing form of therapy for 34 years, but doing a daily comic strip for the newspaper set a certain rhythm for my life."

The final "Cathy" strip, will run in newspapers on Sunday, Oct. 3.

Guisewite, 59, said she chose to end the largely autobiographical comic strip because she wanted more time with her 18-year-old daughter and her parents and because "other personal deadlines started becoming more pressing for me than the newspaper ones."

She said her "creative biological clock" was also urging her to try something else, although she isn't sure what that will be.

The best part about writing the comic, "besides the personal therapy," she said, was how she was able to connect with women.

"It was just such a privilege to be able to be that voice for women," she said.

The comic strip also provided her with a great vehicle to vent, she said.

"You can go bathing suit shopping and come home and ... get back at the swimwear industry," Guisewite said.

Guisewite, who started writing comic strips at the urging of her mother, was first published in 1976 by Kansas City-based Universal Press Syndicate, now Universal Uclick.

Lee Salem, president and editor of Universal Uclick, said in a news release that the same day Universal received its first "Cathy" submission, the company sent a contract back to Guisewite.

"Seven months later, the strip began in newspapers," Salem said. While "Cathy" wasn't an immediate hit, it gained popularity. It's currently carried in about 700 newspapers, according to Universal Uclick.

But Guisewite said it did hurt each time a newspaper dropped "Cathy."

"But I know that my strip has had just an astonishing run," she said. "I have worked really hard to try to earn my space because I know that it's extremely special to be able to own that little chunk of the newspaper."