Top five 독도 (Dokdo) songs on Youtube

After seeing The Marmot's Hole's wonderful New Year's Eve tribute to Dokdo (HT to King Sejong for the Youtube link), I was inspired to go looking for what other songs about the Liancourt Rocks there might be. So now for your viewing and listening pleasure I bring you the top five Dokdo songs on Youtube.

At Number Five:

신독도는우리땅 (New Dokdo is Our Land)

This seems to be the inspiration for the english "Do you know Dokdo?" song, similar music, same melody lines (strangely the words seem to fit better in the Korean version). A joyful celebration of all that is Dokdo, watch out for the catchy chorus and the enchanting references to seafood at the start of the second verse. The video features beautiful shots of those enchanted islands to which all our hearts belong.

At Number Four:

D.O.K.D.O. by Twelve Tone

Bringing a fresh twist to patriotic songs about Dokdo, Twelve Tone have used their combined talents to give us their hip-hop/rap interpretation. Not only fun, this song adds in an extra 10 second slice of education at about one and a half minutes into the song, before magically transforming into a ballad for the last thirty seconds or so. The video features beautiful shots of the islands that we all hold so dear, plus the odd inflammatory image of Japanese politicians.

At Number Three:

독도는우리땅 by random foreigners on 무한도전

Ah, MBC, you spoil us with your poorly edited video clips of foreigners singing songs about Dokdo. Fortunately there are Korean subtitles for those of us unable to make out a single word of this beautiful musical tribute and I think we all must admire the little girl at 14 seconds in who is able to pronounce the word 땅 with impressive clarity and diction. Took me a long time to get the double d pronunciation right.... While watching the video you may be disappointed by the lack of stunning visuals of the islands that charm the whole of Asia, but hold on! Wait for the thirty second mark and you'll be treated to almost a full ten seconds worth of Dokdo glory! Ooh, MBC, you little teasers!

At Number Two:

Welcome to Dokdo, Korea! from onmam.com

Something a little more traditional taking the number two spot, taking Arirang to new heights with this Dokdo inspired version of the theme. Some brave soul has worked hard to put english subtitles on the video, so feel free to sing along with lines such as: "The rough wind will blow as usual today", "Did you have a nice sleep, Dok-Do?" and "Even though we might get tired and have a break during the way". Classic lines for a classic song. The song drives an important message home and we are reminded in eight different languages on screen that "DOK-DO is the territory of Korea!" Needless to say this beautiful tribute is accompanied by some stunning pictures of the twin hearts of the East Sea of Korea, plus some hand-holding. Mesmerizing.

And At Number One:

독도는우리땅 Boys and Puppets Version by Dori Elementary

Five boys, four puppets and a lot of heart. This version is just a lot of fun, surprisingly no lovingly crafted shots of Dokdo, Lord of Islets were included in the video, but the kids show so much love and passion for Dokdo that no pictures are necessary.

So there we have it, the best of Dokdo on Youtube; awe-inspiring, heart wrenching, beautiful songs showing us how much we love Dokdo. Honourable mention must go to this version though, for its innovative use of a computerized anti-japan demonstration on Dokdo, complete with flag burning!

Doctor Who?

Matt Smith has been named as the new Doctor.

It's hard to imagine what he'll be like, but at 26 years old he's facing a huge challenge playing the iconic timelord.

Dr WHeasel is most displeased....

New Year's Day Sunrise on Namsan

6.00 am on New Year's day, a saner person would have stayed in bed for at least another three hours, but Euna and I braved the vomit strewn streets of Itaewon and made our way up to the top of Namsan mountain to see the sunrise. Unfortunately it seemed that half the residents of Seoul had decided on the same course of action.

Wading through the hordes of visitors we headed to the base of the tower; squeezing our way past thousands, nay millions of families, elderly couples and drunken twenty-somethings in high heels and trendy suits. We came for the sunrise, but we stayed for the bizarre sight of thousands of Seoulites worshipping the sun.

There were no bloody sacrifices, just a lot of pushing and jostling as everyone tried to get their camera-phones in the perfect position to capture the sun. Walking through the crowds our nostrils were assaulted with the stench of soju and happiness and when the sun poked it's head over the horizon there was a real sense of celebration; a joyous moment shared between the multitude on top of the mountain. Half were early risers starting the New Year with a bang, the other half finishing off their New Year's Eve and stumbling around in inappropriate footwear. All of us were glad to see the sun rise on 2009.

Happy New Year.

More photos here.

Copyright Infringement Wednesday (New Year's Eve Edition)

New Year's Eve, looking forward to sitting in front of the television, wanting something decent to snooze in front of; I perused my DVD collection looking for the very best film my shelves had to offer. The Dark Knight? Sweeney Todd? Truck? No, these were not good enough..... then I saw it, the film I had to see this afternoon:

T-D: Terminator Dog (터미네이터 독)

A dog that's a terminator? A sequel, a prequel, a spin-off from the James Cameron classic? Not exactly. A quick search on google revealed nothing except a link to the Brian Yuzna classic "Rottweiler".... A closer examination of the DVD and I saw that the original title was indeed included though not in the most obvious of ways:

Bottom right hand corner, just after the heart warming statement that T-D: Terminator Dog had been shown at the Ninth Puchon Fantastic Film Festival (Pifan), is the original title of the film "ROTTWEILER". Even on the Pifan website, the film is listed as "로트와일러 Rottweiler", so the distributors have deliberately altered the name of the movie after its original festival presentation.

But what of the cover picture? That shot of the robotic dog is not exactly what I would call a rottweiler (looks a little bit like a wolf to me) and is more than a little reminiscent of the dvd cover for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Has somebody been to the plagiarist school of cover art? The original image for "Rottweiler" is much less copyright infringing, so why not use that instead? Probably because it's not very good, but that is beside the point.

Well for 3,000 won, you get what you pay for... a crap Brian Yuzna film about a naked convict being chased by a cyborg dog with blue eyes.

I leave you now with the inspiring spanish language trailer for "Rottweiler" so that you too may share in the joy of the Terminator Dog:

How I Spent My Christmas Day....

It's Christmas Day, what better way to spend it than to dress up as a Minotaur and scare children...

A happy, happy Christmas!

Death at Christmas

Sad news: Harold Pinter died on Christmas Eve.

One of the greatest writers in modern theatre, Pinter was a hero of mine and his plays have had a great influence on me. A great loss. Michael Billington's tribute to him can be found here.

Here's Pinter's Nobel Lecture from 2005:

The Transcript.

And the video:

Rest in Peace Harold.

Christmas Lunch

Nothing says Christmas more than a big steaming plastic bowl of 설농탕 (Beef Soup)....

Lunch in a bag.

Before the soup.

After the soup.

The Christmas lunch of champions; well, those champions who have to work.

Snow on Christmas Eve eve

The Itaewon Orange Pig says Merry Christmas.

And at Passion 5 Bakery....

Real snow on a fake plastic tree. Beautiful kitsch.

Copyright Infringement Tuesday

Where does the incredibly tense superhero go to unwind? Where can Kal-El find sanctuary in this hurly-burly whirlwind life of ours? Well, search no more son of Krypton, just around the corned from Baeng-baeng sagori in Gangnam is your personal fortress of solitude:

A place where the mighty may be massaged...

DC Comics must be proud that their favourite son's logo is emblazoned on the side of this wonderous massage parlour. The only question that remains is whether "Superman Massage" is a legitimate venue for relief from the aches and pains of every day muscle strain or whether it is a seedy hangout for unsavoury business men in search of a happy ending. Unfortunately, if you live in Seoul you probably already know what the answer is...

Photos of 2008

Coming to the end of the year we find ourselves in a time of reflection.... blah blah blah.....

Here are some incredible photos collected by the Boston Globe looking back on the past twelve months:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3