Below is James J. Lee (Korean? Chinese?), the latest Asian guy to go nuts in public with the intention of killing a whole lot of people.
Note to my Asian peeps: Yeah, yeah, we're "passionate" people (like, uh, everyone else on the planet who claims to come from "passionate" ethnic roots), but for Christ's sake, STOP GOING CRAZY. Life is hard enough without you going all batshit and killing-- or trying to kill-- everyone around you. And think about the PR: most of us are just average Cheol-sus and Beom-seoks and Mi-gyeongs going about our daily affairs like normal, sane folk, but when people like you make the news, the rest of us start to look a little unhinged.
Mr. Lee contended that the planet doesn't need humans. He's probably right: anthropomorphizing the planet-- thinking of it as a being with "needs"-- is a mistake right there. So I'd agree with the Crazian, but only because a non-living thing doesn't need anything. The flip side, of course, is that the planet doesn't not need us, either. (My thoughts on environmentalism: here, here, and here.)
Quit staring, James. You're reminding me of any number of Koreans who used to do that to me when I lived in Seoul.
_
I guess I'm one of the few people who doesn't come from passionate ethnic roots. I come from a long, proud line of slackers.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Beom-seok is the most awesome Korean name ever. I never really thought about what it sounded like in English until a furriner friend here pointed it out to me. The Korean footballer O Beom-seok has to have the best possible moniker: it's not just a name, it's also a very mild profanity!
What hanja is Beom, anyway? I'm assuming that seok comes from the hanja for "rock," perhaps indicating some sort of toughness, integrity, faithfulness, and solidity; and I'm further guessing that the Beom used for a person's name isn't the same character as the beom in the Sino-Korean word for "crime."
ReplyDeleteBelated reply...
ReplyDeleteNope, it's not the same as the "beom" used for "crime" (that would indeed, um, suck). It is in fact 範, which can mean "law" or "model" (I'm assuming it's the latter meaning that is being drawn upon here). The "seok" character is 錫, which is pretty common in Korean names.
At least, these are the characters used by the footballer, but they seem common enough that I would assume most bum sucks use them.
D'oh! So I guessed wrong with seok as well. Ach, du liebe penis.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the education.
Kevin
Now that you mention it, Kevin, the guy does stare like some folks I've noticed on the subway . . .
ReplyDeleteJeffery Hodges
* * *