Latest Korean Toy Craze

2:15am, just arrived home from the bar... had a bad night. Smashed a bottle, punched some Styrofoam, picked up a large stick and swatted at random things on the walk home. The strange thing is, I*m not an aggressive person... but it felt good to release some anger tonight.

On happier note, I remixed the school bell for 12 hours last night using Reason and Recycle! It*s kind of a hybrid between happy rave and trance... I like it!

Below is a post I wrote up a few days ago but never got around to posting.

Trendy Toys in Korea

Unfortunately, the latest and greatest toy is making its way around my Hogwan. It all began a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in the staff room, when I heard a buzzing, electrifying sound from the hallway that scared the crap out of me. The noise can best be described as the sound a very large, ferocious flying insect would make when trapped up against a window or wall – or perhaps a large ferocious insect being electrocuted in a bug zapper. That*s it!!! I*ve finally pin pointed it! It sounds like an atomic powered bug zapper frying a dragonfly.

That*s what I think of every time I hear it... here*s a sound clip... you be the judge.

Sound Byte: Magnet Toss

Sound Byte: Kevin trying to tell me something... what exactly, I'm not sure

I think anyone besides an eight to fourteen year old Korean boy can agree that it*s certainly not a pleasant sound.

These headache instigators are generally spherical shaped, smooth, shiny and black, and come in sets of two. There are only a few games the kids have come up with to date – sadly lacking in any kind of originality. They just throw the magnets up in the air simultaneously and they attract each other, like good magnets do, and make the same hellish racket every time they collide.

The other, amazingly original trick is to place one magnet on one side of a inch thick object, such as a desk, and position the second magnet on the opposite side. Then the *magician* discreetly moves the magnet on the bottom side of the desk making it appear as though the other magnet is moving completely of its own accord... I mean please... come on.... Now I can relate to every time my parents chuckled at what I believed was the newest, never been done, fad.

Note the earrings

Whoever the guys are selling these; they must be raking it in. The trend spread faster than Paris Hilton in front of a camcorder. I*m going to find these moral-less marketers, profiteering at the expense of teacher*s already delicate sanity, and subject them to the same torture. I*m also going confiscate these toys starting tomorrow, that way I*ll have a set or two to play with back home.