Category Archives: Humor
AndersonEnglish lesson on how to swear in English
I thought this was hilarious. This Korean guy, Anderson I think his name is (gathered from the watermark on the upper left), gives a lesson on how to swear in English in Korean; thankfully with English subs too. I think he does a pretty bang up job at it too. So my Korean friends who have asked me in the past to teach them to swear in English, I’m think of you Frank, here is a good lesson for you.
Conan talking to South Korean girls
This is absolutely hilarious! Conan O’Brien chats up some South Korean tourists at a wax museum and convinces them that he did something that would be truly epic (I don’t want to ruin it…you can watch the video). I love how he even got plenty of oooh’s, awes, and double waves from them.
Crazy/Hot Postulate
This is one of those things that always makes me laugh, but I know someone’s going to yell at me about it. It’s not about anyone and just funny, and before you ask YeYe happens to reside far above the curve. Also this was blatantly stolen from this blog Yellow Magic but the blog hasn’t been updated in nearly 2 years. I’m posting it here in the interest of preserving this little gem so that it doesn’t disappear if the original blog gets removed from the intarwebs (but please at least click on the link to give them traffic). Oh and I think Sam originally shared this with me…thank you Samuel.
But first a clip from How I Met Your Mother showing the origins of this graph:
Youtube link to How I Met Your Mother
Plagiarized from Yellow Magic:
One day when I was watching an episode of CBS’ hit TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother, one of the main characters in the show makes a provocative mathematical representation of a woman’s “datability.” In this, admittedly overly simplified definition, a woman’s datability is determined by her ratio o f hot to crazy. Please watch the video for the full theory as defined by Barney.
So what Barney has done is define a classical economics indifference curve, with datable women above the graph and undatable women below. Now while his ideas are interesting, it’s ultimately too simple. To start off, every man has differing Crazy/Hot Graphs (CHGs), representative of their preferences. In Barney’s case, he prefers his women to be hotter than they are crazy. However, there is no reason why the preference ratio has to be 1:1 or better, nor does that ratio need to be consistent throughout the graph. The linear graphical depiction as presented in HIMYM is a rather unique case. To make a more generalized graph that fits the majority of guys, I would like to present my own Crazy/Hot Postulate). While the details are up for debate, the general idea is there and 60% of the time this will apply every time
To start off, we should define the parameters of our graph. Starting with the X axis, we start off with 0 crazy, indicating a completely rational logical human being. Basically a man with boobs and better hygeine. This axis then runs to 100% crazy, on the level of Elizabeth Bathory of Hungaria or perhaps the classy broads of 2Girls1Cup. On the Y axis we have a pretty stereotypical 0-100 Hot Scale. With 0 as Hillary Clinton and 100 being ludicrously hot (insert your ideal woman here, as long as it’s not Hillary Clinton).
Now let’s move to the plot itself. In my estimation, the y-intercept can not be 0. No matter how not Crazy a girl is, there’s a certain Hot threshold that most guys simply will not dip below. Starting from there, we have a traditional exponential rise. In the beginning there is not a significant demand of Hotness for an increase in Craziness because the total Crazy is so low. But as the total Craziness builds, every additional increase in Craziness warrants a much higher increase in Hot. In lay terms, if your girlfriend is low in Craziness and high in Hotness (much like the significant other of yours truly), she sits well above the curve. Any minor increase in Craziness will not nudge her past the line into undatable territory. But if you happen to have a girl that’s sitting right on the curve, any prolonged or permanent increase in Craziness without the necessary increase in Hotness (or vice versa, as stipulated by her location on the graph) will make her as unappealing as a conversation on cramps and bloating.
Let’s continue. As you can see there is a point at which the graph no longer rises continuously, instead there is a discontinuous jump to a platform we designate the Jessica Alba Plateau. The jumping off point is personal to each guy depending on his risk tolerance. We arbitrarily drew the line at the level of Crazy where there is SIGNIFICANT risk of physical harm. When the risk is already that high, any further increases in Craziness is virtually unnoticeable. After all, if you’re gonna get stabbed in the leg with a butter knife, what’s another fork in the arm? Thus there is no further demand on Hotness with additional increases in Craziness. The extra demand is made at the initial jump point. This Hotness differential between the endpoint of the continuous graph and the start of the JAP is the luxury tax a girl must pay to be THAT crazy and still datable, something we call the Preposterously Bananas Levy (PBL).
Figure 2: Area under the curve = bad timesWell that basically sums up the major points on the graph. Now let’s look at one final thing, a simple integral. From here you notice that the integral defines the entire undatable zone. Since the area changes drastically with individual CHGs, this is reflective of each guy’s selectivity factor.
Korean Superstitions: Fan Death
In Korea, there is a superstition that being in an enclosed room with a fan running (especially overnight) can result in a persons death.
This is one of the most picked on Korean Superstitions by expats living here. Although I don’t think I know many people that believe in this (perhaps I should start asking around work) it is accepted as fact widely. Enough to warrant news attention and government bureaus issuing statements about it, such as this one:
If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes [the] bodies to lose water and [causes] hypothermia. If directly in contact with [air current from] a fan, this could lead to death from [an] increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration [sic] and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems. From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping. To prevent asphyxiation, timers should be set, wind direction should be rotated and doors should be left open.
-Korean Consumer Protection Board
There are tons of ways this superstitions is attempted to be rationalized through some bastardization of science. Here is a brief list:
- A fan put directly in front of someone’s face will create a vortex sucking all the air away
- The fan uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide
- That the fans cooling will contribute to hypothermia
- And my favorite…That an electric fan chops up all the oxygen particles in the air leaving none to breathe
I don’t even know how this belief gets perpetuated in a country like Korea, since most people are so well educated (because of the awesome value Korean culture puts on education…please start doing this more America). Even though it seems like such a benign superstition it does have one annoying effect, that is people leaving their windows open while the air conditioning is on. This drives me nuts because it is just such a huge waste of resources and terrible for the environment. I know a guy whose language academy actually told him he is not allowed to turn the AC on without the windows open because of fan death beliefs. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed learning a little about Korean superstitions.
I know you might not be able to understand the video in Korean but I love the little animation in the corner of a guy dying by the apparent sonic waves emanating from the fan. Or the shots around the corner of a door attempting to make the fan look sinister, like a dangerous animal you shouldn’t get near.
Link to the above Youtube clip
TIL about the Hobbit House in the Philippines
TIL that in the Philippines there is a place called the Hobbit House. The Hobbit house is a bar designed like, well the name says it all, a Hobbit’s House. The place is even completely staffed with “Little People”. My more politically correct self is somewhat against this…but come on! It’s a bar designed like a hobbit’s house with little people, I would so go there.
Korean Comics
- 건배
- Mission Objectives
- Smart Phone
I don’t know what is really going on in these comics, they are all somewhat weird, but very entertaining and creative. Also I don’t know the comics name or who is translating them. So kill some time and have a look.
Kim Jong-Il Looking at things
This is a hilarious site of Kim Jong-Il looking at things. Hilarious because if you think about most pictures you have ever seen of this diminutive dictator then they were probably of him looking at things.
Also fun to read is The Onions piece on if Kim Jong Un is crazy enough to succeed his father.
Kim Jong-Un Privately Doubting He’s Crazy Enough To Run North Korea
Dali and his moustaches
“Since I don’t smoke, I decided to grow a moustache – it’s better for the health. However, I always carried a jewel-studded cigarette case in which, instead of cigarettes, were carefully placed several moustaches, Adolphe Menjou style. I offered them politely to my friends:
‘Moustache? Moustache? Moustache?’
“Nobody dared touch them. This was my test regarding the sacred aspect of moustaches.”
Rally on Stephen and Jon
So there is an epic moment, or at least an epic moment of hilarity approaching. This moment will occur on October 30th, 2010 at the National Mall in Washington D.C., when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert respectively give their Rally to Restore Sanity and March to Keep the Fear Alive. I wish with so much of my being that I could be there for this monumental event, but alas South Korea is just to damn far from DC. Although, I will not let that deter me and will search for alternative methods to give my support.
So someway, somehow I must find a rally in Korea. Anyone setting anything up yet? If so let me know! Although, I have found this groovy website, Rally Mao, that aids people in setting up their own satellite rallies around the globe! I think I will have to keep my eye on it to see if there will be any South Korea rallies going off.
Rally to Restore Sanity ————- March to Keep Fear Alive
Also, thank you peoples of Reddit for using your internet leverage to force these two titans of comedy (and some would say politics) into open discourse!












