Sunday, September 5, 2010

if it slapped him with a silicon spatula in a moose stew pot

A PERSON could know South Korea for a long time without knowing Wanju, an obscure county 112 miles south of Seoul. And, at least until recently, a person could know a lot about Wanju without ever hearing of Cha Sa-soon, a 69-year-old woman who lives alone in the mountain-ringed village of Sinchon.
Now, however, Ms. Cha is an unlikely national celebrity.
This diminutive woman, now known nationwide as “Grandma Cha Sa-soon,” has achieved a record that causes people here to first shake their heads with astonishment and then smile: She failed her driver’s test hundreds of times but never gave up. Finally, she got her license — on her 960th try.

For three years starting in April 2005, she took the test once a day five days a week. After that, her pace slowed, to about twice a week. But she never quit.

Hers is a fame based not only on sheer doggedness, a quality held in high esteem by Koreans, but also on the universal human sympathy for a monumental — and in her case, cheerful — loser.

read the rest of this hilarious article.

also fun:
An extended Vanity Fair article trashing Sarah Palin.


and a rebuttal from a Palin friend. I love it because it kinda starts off reasonable, and then she gets crazier and crazier ("we talked about the gentle touch of a child with Down syndrome that feels almost like the wing of an angel... She spoke from a tender, mother’s heart, one that Mr. Gross wouldn’t know if it slapped him with a silicon spatula in a moose stew pot!")

14 comments:

gurdonark said...

Knocked down 4 times, get back up 5.
The phrase that comes to my mind is "swiss system"! I love to see tenacity like hers.

Anonymous said...

It amazes me why you liberals are so afraid of Sarah Palin.

Anonymous said...

I'm "afraid" of Sarah Palin the way I'm "afraid" of 14 miles of construction reducing the highway to one lane.

I'm "afraid" of Sarah Palin the way I'm "afraid" of finding gum on the bottom of my shoe.

I'm "afraid" of Sarah Palin the way I'm "afraid" of being caught in a high-rise elevator with someone who can't talk about anything but her new and very deep and meaningful personal relationship with Jesus.

I'm "afraid" of Sarah Palin the way I'm "afraid" of finding out that the aforementioned person has just been hired at my company as director of human resources.

Brian Lafferty said...

Liberals aren't afraid of Sara Palin. She is the lowest common denominator of America and American politics. She's exactly what most people want and emotionally need. She will hasten the long standing Republican agenda of destroying the Federal government (both Krugman and Rich of the NY Times have documented this--but, don't bother to read them unless you're a liberal).

The bottom line is simply this. Ignorance and provincialism breed the politics of Palin and her ilk. What was once merely the putrid underbelly of American politics is now the new mainstream. You'll be getting exactly what you deserve. And when that happens, I'll be moving to Canada or Western Europe.

Carry on.

Lian Baffety said...

Conservatives aren't afraid of Barack Obama. He is the lowest common denominator of America and American politics. He's exactly what most people want and emotionally need. He will hasten the long standing Democratic agenda of destroying the remaining parts of society not controlled by the Federal government (both Sowell and Roberts of the Hoover Institute have documented this--but, don't bother to read them unless you're a conservative).

The bottom line is simply this. Ignorance and provincialism breed the politics of Obama and his ilk. What was once merely the putrid underbelly of American politics is now the new mainstream. You'll be getting exactly what you deserve. And when that happens, I'll be moving to Singapore or Eastern Europe.

Brian Lafferty said...

LOL! Looks like I struck a nerve. :-)

Anonymous said...

My friend had a suggestion... every election should require a "None of the Above" choice on the ballot. If that choice gets a majority of votes, the office gets eliminated.

Anonymous said...

Manhattan Applesauce,
Get rid of your blogger-the negativity will doom you.
Too much information shared.

haruki naginata said...

brian lafferty, do you seriously thing anti-federalist sentiments don't exist in canada? they're far more rampant here than in america

if you don't like provincialism, you should definitely stay away from canada, and if you don't like ignorance, you should definitely STAY AWAY FROM YOUR OWN POSTS

awwww yeahhh

Anonymous said...

The success of S..is IMO much simpler to explain ...

S.P. is - for her age! - a relatively nice-looking attractive woman; a lot of older guys prefer to look at sb like her instead of watching and listening to a grandpa like McCain...and what politicians talk isn't important anyway

Brian Lafferty said...

Haruki dear,

There are nuts (anti-federalists to you) everywhere. Part of my family is Canadian and has lived in Montreal for years. I realize that Montreal is a far too sophisticated environment for may English speaking Canadians living west of Ottawa, But then every country has its own provincial citizens.
Carry on.

haruki naginata said...

brian lafferty you bumbling baffoon

first of all, parles-tu francais? if not, GOOD LUCK living in quebec. you do realise that provinces select their own official languages in canada, and the official language of quebec is FRENCH, right? not french and english, JUST FRENCH. yeah, it's fun for a 2 week-vacation, try spending a lifetime there. there is a reason why so many "unsophisticated" anglos moved out west, you know

second of all, odd how you negatively depict us westerners. perhaps we are anti-federalist because we're forced to subsidise the broke-ass maritime provinces + nfld & quebec? yes, eastern canada is so "sophisticated", what with their rampant poverty and incessant need for bailouts from the west...

Brian Lafferty said...

Dear, dear Haruki, you're all one country, eh? That's what federal systems are all about, eh? Maintenant que le pétrole et le gaz sont en cours d'élaboration dans le maritime, vous pouvez envisager l'apprentissage du français, oui?

FYI--wealth does not guarantee sophistication. There are wealthy provincials in many nations. Meet me in Montreal and I'll buy you a beer.

Heytherehitherehothere said...

The essential disagreement over politics is really about morality. Some people think it is ok to have a monopoly agency of force take (under threat of force) the labor value of people, in order to fund things they find important. Moral people do not think this is ok, regardless of hysterical justifications that the world will end or people will die in the streets unless theft of the productive is made ubiquitous and onerous.

Instead of a mistaken battle between 'left' and 'right' it should be seen in its true colors, as between evil and good.