In case you haven’t heard, Kim Jong Il has passed away.

(And if you’re just reading about this now on this blog, I welcome you whilst you climb out from under that rock from which you’ve been living!)

I had a brief conversation with my father about the late North Korean dictator’s death. He tells me that he is a bit worried, for there are three possible scenarios for the future of North Korea:

1. Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il’s third son and his successor, is still pretty young but headstrong. He may just do something stupid as a display of his power.
2. Someone may use this precarious transition period to usurp the dictatorship role, and those in North Korea who have the power and influence to do so are not very nice. Or, they will take advantage of Kim Jong Un’s youth and naïveté to use him as a puppet for their own needs.
3. Not much will change, because Kim Jong Un is too much like his father.

We will just have to pray and hope for the best.

I think that many around the world share my father’s worries, but the majority of what I’ve been seeing on the web are humor-based. Like how “Team America” became a trending term on Twitter. Or how a clip of the HORRIBLE monster movie Kim Jong Il created (after kidnapping a director) is regaining in popularity on YouTube.

Or this jem, created by the folks over at Happy Place, of what his obituary would look like if it were written by the man himself:

I still say that the best/funniest Kim Jong Il parody comes from the old LiveJournal blog he used to keep.  The AIM conversations he has with George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, and Dick Cheney are stuff of legends. Go give it a read if you have some spare time — I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Dear Hulu,

Thanks for even having a Korean Dramas section. I really appreciate it.

And thank you for spotlighting the Korean Dramas genre on your front page today: 

But wait. Something isn’t quite right.

Can it be that the first “Korean” drama you featured is The Legend of Bruce Lee?

Just to make sure, I clicked on over and watched a few minutes.

I was right. It clearly is a CHINESE drama.

Look, I have nothing against the Chinese. Heck, I even married a Chinese guy.

But as someone who grew up with numerous people asking me, “What ethnicity are you? Chinese?….No? Japanese?…No? Then what ARE you?” I can’t help but laugh at such a high-profile company making such a mistake.

Can’t you make a better effort?

Sincerely,

A Loyal (Korean) Hulu Plus Customer

Admit it. We’ve all been there. Doing a #2 in a public/semi-public restroom, only to realize that — oh crap (literally) — there’s no toilet paper!

What do you do?

This is precisely the reason I try my best to have a pack of tissues in my bag at all times. But on the few occasions I didn’t, I have waited until the bathroom was empty, loosely pulled up my lower pieces of clothing so that nothing was touching my skin, waddled over to the next stall and helped myself to some toilet paper from there.

I have never asked a stranger to pass me some toilet paper (although I have been asked several times over the years).

But what if it’s a one-person bathroom? And there are no other stalls? And for once, you are wishing the restaurant/office/store/etc is not trying to be eco-friendly by installing hand dryers with no paper towels in sight?

THEN what do you do?

This was actually a question posed by a then-popular Korean drama called 내 이름은 김삼순 (“My Name is Kim Sam Soon,” or “My Lovely Sam Soon”) which aired in 2005. I remember catching a few episodes back then, and re-discovered it on Hulu just recently. (Did you even know there’s a Korean drama section on Hulu? I didn’t!)

According to the main character, Sam Soon, how one reacts in this situation depends on his/her bloodtype (like Japan, Korea is big on blood typing):

• Type A’s would wait for help.
• Type B’s would utilize the two finger method (use your imagination).
• Type AB’s would scrounge for used toilet paper.
• Type O’s would just wipe later.

Sam Soon actually has a more practical method than the four outlined above: she would use her socks!

My blood type is O, but I personally wouldn’t choose to wipe later. Can you guess what I have would do?

What about you? What would you do, and is it consistent with your blood type?

I’m disappointed that Korea and its ubiquitous drink, soju, have been ignored. Didn’t ya know that we are Asia’s biggest boozers?

Via Laughing Squid.

I am loving this video about how a Korean grocery store chain successfully brought its store to customers during their commute.

How is it different from having just an online store? Seeing the items in front of you, in life-size, full-color photos that are brightly and attractively displayed not only reminds us of items we may have forgotten, it also makes us consider products that we *might* want or need (ie, impulse shopping)…which is a lot more difficult to accomplish with online/mobile shopping alone.

Via Reddit.