Lee Jung-jae — whom I LOVE! He was my Original Korean-Star Crush, waaaay back when — was awarded his master’s degree from Dongguk University on August 22. He received his degree from the Department of Theater & Film Art in the Graduate School of Cultural Arts.
Now, I’m all for further education, and master’s degrees must command a level of respect. But get this! His dissertation was titled “Approach to Acting in the Role of Kang Se-jong in the Film ‘Typhoon’” — ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
(I mean, the guy could have at least TRIED a little, right? Maybe I should apply to Dongguk for a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Procrastinatory Studies; or perhaps Analyses of Celebrity Exploits with a minor in Netizenery would be more apropos?)
Well, can’t accuse him of not trying to wring the most bang for his buck. He turned his high-profile role in a super-expensive blockbuster starring opposite Korea’s darlingest heartthrob (Jang Dong-gun, for the unfamiliar) into a graduate degree. Talk about enterprising!
Kim Ah Joong is putting out a book and has announced plans to donate proceeds to a hospital for handicapped children. She’s co-editing with Koryo University’s writing professor Kim Kwang Su, and the book Emotional Communication goes on sale on May 30.
The book is described as dealing with a study on the spectrum of human emotions as classified into several categories such as horror, anger, sadness, love, happiness, etc. It takes a look into several academic fields in its synthesis of the human emotional experience, such as neuroscience, physiology, and psychology.
Professor Kim explains that he’d come up with the concept of the book in early 2007, and was impressed with Kim Ah Joong’s enthusiasm and insight when she attended his lectures on the topic (read: He saw his ticket to publication). He apparently approached her and suggested her participation, and thus the collaboration.
Yeaaaah, I’m sure. A pretty young actress and jeans model, whose claim to fame is a mainstream romantic comedy fluff hit, seemed like the perfect partner for compiling an examination of human emotions using an “academic approach”? A university professor works on a book for more than a year, brings in a student, and now they’re “co-editors”? I wish the workload balance tilted in this direction when I was a college student.
Hey, maybe she has a knack for the subject (also, maybe not) — but no matter how bright a student is, no way does a college intro-lecture-attendee have any sort of business co-authoring a book bearing this description. This is no slam against her — it’s miles away from Horan’s essay collection, Yoon Eun Hye’s craft projects, Jung Ryeo Won’s sketchbook, or Park Jiyoon’s photography. Even pop- and pseudo-science ought to require the bare minimum in the way of academic credentials.
It’s graduation season in Korea, and as with everything else, stars always attract the most attention.
Fifteen-year-old So Hee of the teen pop group Wonder Girls has just graduated from middle school (ceremony was held on the 15th) — MIDDLE SCHOOL — which just tinges the group’s exaggerated flirtiness and coquetry with unsavory overtones, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s one thing for an adult to dress up as a schoolgirl and indulge one’s own adult fantasies, but when you put a middle schooler into that role and teach her how to dance and dress suggestively to cater to that same sexual fetishization, it kinda grosses me out. (And that doesn’t even have anything to do with the Wonder Girls’ tepid brand of weak-vocaled bubblegum pop. I will forever resent JYP for inflicting “Tell Me” upon the world.)
Graduating on the same day, but from high school, were So Hee’s fellow groupmate Ye Eun and actress Go Ara (Sharp 1 & 2, Snowflake). Ye Eun plans to enroll in Kyung Hee University’s art design school (postmodern music department) as a vocal major. Go Ara, who seems to be dropping her last name more and more to go by simply “Ara,” will move on to study theater and film at Joong Ang University’s performance and media school.
Other new high school graduates include Girls’ Generation’s (Sonyeo shidae) Tae Yeon on the 11th and Yuri on the 14th. Both SoShi girls have decided to forgo education in favor of their, um, artistic pursuits, and gave up any ideas of taking the national college entrance exam. (Wonder Girl Sun Ye, on the other hand, failed her attempt to pass the exam and plans to retake it.)
As for college grads, the 15th was ceremony day for actress Lee Yowon and comedian Choi Hyung Man, both theater and film majors at Dankook University. Lee Yowon, who starred in last year’s popular medical drama Surgeon Bong Dal Hee and the recent melodrama Bad Love, graduates late (after nine years), while Choi Hyung Man has accomplished the task in just six semesters, graduating early with honors.
After it became known that announcer Han Joon Ho is a member of Mensa — the group open only to those with high IQs (specifically, those who score above the 98th percentile on standardized IQ tests) — interest arose in the topic of celebrity IQs.
For reference, the average IQ is 100, although the range can be extended to include 90 through 109. (110-119 is superior intelligence, 120-140 is very superior, and above 140 is generally known as genius level. Conversely, 80-89 is in the “dull” range, 70-79 is borderline deficient, and under 70 is considered “feeble-minded.”) And yes, I know IQ can be considered an outdated standard of measurement.
Now, some of these names are familiar, but some are a bit surprising. Goong’s Kim Jung Hoon, a smarty? Whoaaa. Not that he seemed, well, un-smart, but I’m a little surprised.
Okay, this post has nothing to do with kdramas, but I occasionally post song lyrics and Tablo sometimes acts, so I’m covered. Not that it matters. Just saying.
Rapper and songwriter (and yes, sometimes actor) Tablo has revealed a short story he wrote in English on the variety show Sunday, Sunday Night. Tablo’s quite famous for his intellect as well as his popularity as Epik High rapper and songwriter, having graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English literature. (It’s earned him the nickname “Ta Bak-sa,” meaning “Dr. Ta.”) Apparently the author Tobias Wolff has praised the story, although it’s not clear who made the claim or whether it was corroborated.
The articles make mention of the short story and Tablo’s educational background, then go on to talk about some Michael Jordan sneakers that (other Epik High rapper) Mithra has from the Olympics blah blah blah… but I wanna know: What about the story?!?! You get Tobias effing Wolff (yes, that IS his full name) to read it — who cares if he liked it, just the fact that he supposedly READ it is news enough (I believe Tobias Wolff also teaches at Stanford, so perhaps it was in a classroom context) — and you don’t bother to comment on the material itself?
