Monday, October 29, 2012

PSY Gangnam Style and the Korean Wave at The Economist

As reported at the Huffington Post, Gangnam Style has even made NFL Football: see Dolphins' 'Gangnam Style' Dance: Miami Blocks Punt For Olivier Vernon Touchdown vs. Jets (VIDEO)

See The data behind Gangnam Style: The rise and rise of PSY | The Economist

I post this here because I collaborated with the late Kim Youn-Soo in Germany on numerous publications some years ago. Youn-Soo was a Professor in South Korea whose ancestors came from North Korea, as written in a previous LawPundit posting, so I view with interest developments in Korea:

Korea
Seoul - The LawPundit [owner of Make it Music] has edited and co-edited several books with Korean professors including: Prof. Kie-Taek Kim and Andis Kaulins, ed., The Foreign Policies and Foreign Trade of the German Democratic Republic and the Korean Democratic People's Republic. Kiel, West Germany: German Korea-Studies Group, 1979. The book was published by my good friend Prof. Dr. Youn-Soo Kim, who passed away some years ago, but about whom was recently written:

"In the 1980s the greatest activity in the study of the past and present of the Koryo saram was to be found amongst Western and American-Korean scholars. Kim Youn-Soo, a professor at Kiel University (Germany) and Daegu University (Korea), has published a book compiling his impressions, notes from his travels in the Soviet Union, a historiographical review of Korean ethnology in the former USSR and essays on the history and the culture of the soviet Koreans. His only book about soviet Koreans can only be tentatively included among the annals of scientific research, so it has languished out of the view of domestic and foreign Korean studies. Yet merit for publishing the three anthologies of lyric poetry and short novels including this book must undoubtedly go to Kim Youn-Soo."

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Conductor Mariss Jansons and the Music Behind the Notes

At the Guardian, The Observer's Fiona Maddocks reports in an article headlined:

Mariss Jansons: 'The notes are just signs. You have to go behind them:
"Mariss Jansons is regarded by many as the best conductor in the world. On the eve of a visit to the UK with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw he talks about his Latvian roots, his heart attack on the podium, and why he's never satisfied with his performances"

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The BOSS is Back! YouTube: We Take Care Of Our Own (With Lyrics) - Bruce Springsteen

Maybe better than just talking politics....

See Bruce Springsteen on YouTube and
We Take Care Of Our Own (With Lyrics)

Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball is a Populist Vision of the USA, via The Blog at the Huffington Post

Wrecking Ball: Springsteen's Populist Vision of America is the title of Russell G. Smith's review of the new album by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Smith writes:
"Taken as a whole, the songs present a stark view of the current state of America...."
Read the entire review.