North Koreans Laugh Too

Is it possible to enjoy humor in a country as hopeless as North Korea?

There’s a lot of material, for sure, but do they get it? It seems they do.

One more detention in Burma

You read it here less than two weeks ago: Burma’s military government detained a noted comedian, Zargana, after he went on a private mission to aid millions of victims of Cyclone Nargis. Now they have detained a prominent journalist who was working with Zargana, Zaw Thet Htwe.

Burma: Comedian Par Par Lay describes time in prison

Does  anyone know whether this is Ohbo Prison near Mandalay? I was hoping to find an image for it as I did for the aptly named Insein Prison, which is visually striking in a very sad way. There doesn’t seem to be  as much ‘culture’ of stories around Ohbo Prison because of its newness. But here is one account…

Burmese comedian Par Par Lay told jokes mocking the government at an Independence Day celebration held by the opposition party, the National League for Democracy, in 1996. For that, he was imprisoned for seven years and was sent to a prisoners’ work camp in Myitkyina, and was released in 2001. He was later detained during the recent anti-junta protests on the streets of Rangoon and other major cities. This time, he was kept and interrogated at the Security Guard Compound, in Shwe-sayan, Mandalay. He told RFA’s Burmese service about his time there:

U Par Par Lay (UPPL): The main thing is that they thought I was involved in the monks’ activities.

Burma: Comedian had ‘nice room’ in Insein

When I first read this I assumed that ‘military dogs’ means government soldiers. But then the presenter takes him literally … this man brings a bowl and a plastic spoon home from Insein prison as souvenirs of his stay there, and describes his cell as ‘nice’. Life, it seems, is beautiful…

Announcer: The 47-year-old comedian Zagana, greatly loved by people, was imprisoned for about 20 days by the authorities. He was unexpectedly released, after being told that he was going to be transferred to another prison. He came home in his prisoner uniform and brought along with him a plastic spoon and a bowl as mementos. He was in a building with military dogs, with no pillows or blankets but only a mat, and had to use his pa-hsoe [note: sarong] as a blanket, and that’s why he was still suffering from pneumonia until his release. He tells us the following:

Zagana: I started having pneumonia, and I was in trouble. I didn’t think I was going to be released. I was kept with the military dogs. How rude and wicked. I was there with thirty dogs.

On the lighter side….

I love you, however…

A man in China has persuaded his wife to have plastic surgery in order to make her look like his first wife.

Yum, stamps…

To celebrate the Year of the Pig, China has issued stamps that smell and taste like sweet and sour pork.

Mirror, mirror, on the… 

An ancient Chinese mirror worth nearly $1 million dollars was dropped and smashed while being displayed on a Chinese auction television show.  

Tall Tales From Turkmenistan

UPDATE: President Niyazov, who ruled energy-rich Turkmenistan for more than two decades, has died since we posted this. The 66-year-old had suffered from heart disease and had been operated on in Germany in 1997.

After the ice park and the book-shaped library, President Saparmurat Niyazov has continued with his recent role as the Turkmen father of fun with the opening last Friday of an amusement park named after himself. The 88-acre funfair has been called The World of Turkmensbashi Tales, and the president was photographed looking long and hard at a grotesque cartoon fun park figure of himself…