uncanny valley

wow, hello kitty was named japan's tourism ambassador to china and hong kong. i'm more of a tuxedo sam woman myself, but why not korea?

i have mixed feelings about this video. i thought the whole appeal of hello kitty was her diminutive nature. look at her! she looks like she's going to attack the japanese minister of transportation with her cuteness. btw, is she going to be traveling with her boyfriend, dear daniel? quel scandale! and why does she live in london?

anyway, this news led me to the sanrio website and, more specifically, to their hall of characters of yesteryear. my favorite are doki doki yummychums: Dokidoki Burger is always smiling and is everyone’s favorite! Don’t forget to check out his friends Dokidoki Fries, Dokidoki Shakes (Vanilla, Banana, Strawberry and Chocolate) and Dokidoki Chickenchums.

and also pandapple, who, as beta alex points out, is literally a panda with an apple for its head. creepy, scary!

U to the N-izzo

yeah, i like jigga-man. "threat" on the black album is one of my favorite songs featuring sound effects (shooting bullets) and i think american gangster would be a worthwhile purchase. turns out i'm not the only korean who appreciates hova. ban ki moon, yes, the secretary general of the UN, issued the following statement about jay-z:

i’m proud that this award has been given to Jay-Z for his work with the United Nations and MTV on “Water for Life”.

My man Jay-Z has been a wonderful partner to the United Nations, and a champion of those in need around the world.

More than one billion people have no access to safe drinking water. Two billion lack adequate sanitation. As a result, thousands of children die every day from diseases that could be prevented.

When world leaders adopted the Millennium Development Goals, they pledged to change all that. They promised, by the year 2015, to cut by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.

Let us hold them to that promise.

Let us free all those without water and sanitation from this hard knock life.

Let us give them water for life.

hey, who said blacks and koreans can't get along?