Norkore – Excerpt from See You Again in Pyongyang
We know from Dennis Rodman that the Marshal’s two favorite songs are the themes from Rocky and Dallas–tunes that undoubtedly implanted themselves in the young Jong Un’s brain during his own adolescence, growing up in Switzerland–which were played over and over again by an orchestra on the night of their banquet together upon the basketball player’s first visit to Pyongyang. In addition to this stylistic influence, the Moranbong Band has layered electronic beats, dance breaks, and soulful vocal acrobatics that channel Whitney and Mariah. Concerts are replete with synchronized dance moves, laser light shows, and digital video backdrops showing footage of missiles blasting off into the sky, ecstatic marching soldiers, and the biggest rock star of all, the Marshal himself, swarmed with hysterical citizen-fans.
An excerpt from Travis Jeppesen‘s account of life in Kim Jong Un’s North Korea.
Pure Hollywood / Egress: Sheffield, 10 June
Sentinel, 178 Shoreham St, Sheffield, 10 June. 3:AM co-editor in chief David Winters will join And Other Stories and La Biblioteka to celebrate the publication of Christine Schutt’s new short story collection, Pure Hollywood. Read Winters’ 2013 interview with Schutt in The Quarterly Conversation here and his essay on her previous novel, Prosperous Friends, here. […]