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Accounting on Ice

Thirsty for more action-packed accounting shenanigans? Bring your hockey gear to Accounting On Ice, a fantasized ice sports complex celebrating accounting concepts.

Accounting On Ice has three rinks, each with a different theme:

The Balance Sheet Rink is divided into two halves, representing the assets and liabilities sides of a balance sheet. The assets side is blue, and the liabilities side is red.

The Income Statement Rink is divided into four sections, representing the revenue, expenses, gains and losses sections of an income statement. The revenue section is green, the expenses section is yellow, the gains section is blue, and the losses section is orange.

The Statement of Cash Flows Rink is divided into three sections, representing the operating, investing, and financing activities sections of a statement of cash flows. The operating activities section is orange, the investing activities section is brown, and the financing activities section is gray.

Each rink is decorated with icons of different types of accounting items in the rink (e.g. types of assets and liabilities in the case of the Balance Sheet Rink).

Equipment:

Hockey sticks are styled as mouse pointers and USB dongles.

Pucks come with monetary symbols.

Tournaments:

The scoreboard shows the balance sheet of the complex.

Players wear jerseys with the names of different accounting terms.

Players are to skate around the rinks and score goals in the correct section.

The complex hosts tournaments with names like the "FIFO vs. LIFO Cup" and the "Going Concern vs. Liquidation Challenge."

There is a "Tax Time" skating party, where skaters dress up as accountants and compete in a tax-themed relay race.

Other amenities in the complex:

A ticket office named "Ledger"

A concession stand named "Audit" that offers snacks with names like "Debit Donuts" and "Credit Crunch"

A "Hall of Fame" that recognizes people who have made significant contributions to the field of accounting, categorizing them as "athletes," "builders" or "officials" for metaphorical comparison

A museum named "Rule of 72" that exhibits different artifacts from the history of accounting

A library named "Equity" with books and articles about accounting and with accounting formulae quoted like sayings on its walls

A computer lab named "Common Perennial Aches" with accounting software

A conference room named "T-account" for hosting accounting classes, workshops and seminars

A gift shop named "Trial Balance" that sells accounting-themed merchandise

The complex is open to the public and offers a variety of programs and services for people of all ages and skill levels in accounting and ice sports.

All in all, Accounting On Ice is a fabulous place to learn about accounting in an entertaining and interactive manner, to practice your skills, or to just have some fun on the ice. What are Big Four spectators waiting for? Get your bean counters to work on the bidding prices. You know the rule: No peeking at the human editor's estimated sales value.

A note of repentance!

Floral Bomb Bowling

Physical experience idea: For a touch of nature and a grit-cultivating element of unpredictability, players in medieval village garb or animal mascot costumes take turns to pick from a cart of transparent balloons stuffed with flower heads and petal powder. Complicated impact dynamics are introduced as the balloon selected for the turn may burst as it is rolled down the bowling lane. The elevated cost is justified because watching the jolly but starvation anxiety-inducing original game, Netflix's cabbage-bowling challenge (scroll to the bottom) for cast members of Avatar: The Last Airbender, sets off waves of warmth and guilt in relation to a tomato tennis tournament few know about. Food insecurity and crop wastage are real issues a double major in air-castle bending and soap bending readily overlooks until they see the real thing.

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Tomato Tennis

"Things are about to get wild! As players take their positions, the smell of old and rotten tomatoes hits our noses, and the sight of player

Note that Soap 4.0 is so far a text AI-free zone.

Alice in the Mart

—A rollercoaster-y reboot

In this AI mashup of Pegasus Market and Alice, a group of misfits at a failing supermarket headed by a ruthless demoted CEO determined to close it down discover in the basement of the supermarket a portal to a future world. This other world is called Alice, a parallel universe where anything is possible. The supermarket employees now have a chance to use Alice to find new products and ideas to save their jobs, whereas the CEO does his best to sabotage their efforts.

In the end, only one side can succeed. Will the employees be able to save their store? Or will the CEO succeed in closing it down?

Alice Promoter Droid (with real-time human dubbing in places):

Hey there, prehistorics, welcome to our hyper-advanced world of mealtime solutions in AL Year 160!

Employees:

We want to upgrade our instant ramyun.

Alice Promoter Droid:

A perfect choice! Allow me to introduce… Hydroponic Instant Ramyun! Simply put this widget in a pot of boiling water and wait 5 seconds! The Hydroponic Instant Ramyun has been infused with hyper-intelligent nanotechnology that turns water into instant noodles! With 13 flavors to choose from, there is something for everyone! A small box filled to the brim with packets of instant ramyun-shaped tools, with cool, futurist packaging. Lots of flashing colors

CEO:

How amusing. No processed food is truly instant. Guys, guys, let's launch a green campaign that gets shoppers to queue up for the ramyun for an hour for the benefit of environmental justice!

(Shoppers curious about the queue end up snaking around the street like noodles coiling around chopsticks. Hydroponic Instant Ramyun goes out of stock due to over-demand. Disappointed shoppers end up buying less processed noodles so that they get something out of the queuing time, and subsequent shoppers start to think that the amazing queue is meant for the less processed noodles. The less processed noodles become a sensation, driving up sales. The CEO receives his Earth Protector of the Year award with the scowl of the year.)

Employees:

We shall ride on the sustainability wave! Give us sustainably raised seafood.

Alice Promoter Droid:

I present to you… The Fish Printer! This amazing device prints out a random fish fillet that uses the fish's DNA as a template. No overfishing in the future, no siree! Enjoy the taste of responsibly-sourced fish! A large tube with lots of buttons

CEO:

What did the saying about giving a man a fish say? Hold pompous talks on every yawn-inducing detail about printer construction and assembly, right in the middle of the fish section.

(The tech speaker from Alice turns out to be a beauty tech-enhanced beauty who gets flocks of men shopping for fish alongside the housewives.)

Employees:

Alice is the Queen! Alice is the Heart of Hearts! Cabbages next.

Alice Promoter Droid:

I bring you… The Cosmic Cabbage! This cabbage is grown in interplanetary conditions, which creates a unique and delicious flavor unlike anything you've ever tried! Be warned, it may not have the same nutritional value as Earth cabbage. Enjoy! A large purple cabbage in a futuristic farm

CEO:

You get the origin of the name? Add cosmic garbage to the promo leaflets.

(The funny results become the talk of the town. Sales obligingly soar.)

Employees:

We're living the ultimate dream. What did we do to earn such a genius boss? What other magic can he pull off? Do you sell only mealtime solutions? We have a boring stationery section.

Alice Promoter Droid:

I am glad you asked! Try Venus-grown pens, made using the special materials found within Venus' thick, toxic soil. They are known for retaining ink for up to 200x longer than ordinary pens. They are also known for causing horrible mutations, cancer, and other life-threatening side-effects. It's a fun gamble either way!

Employees:

…

Alice Promoter Droid:

I can assure you, Venus-grown pens have been extensively tested. In lab conditions, we were able to reduce mutations by a whopping 15%. So come on and gamble your health for a fun little pen!

CEO:

I counter that offer! An Earth-bound vacation, on Jeju island's volcanic soil, for all employees as a reward for their mega sales growth! Why, I see, no one's interested.

Employees:

Me! Me! Me!

(The CEO smirks to himself. Surely the vacation will reverse the sales trajectory?)

Alice Promoter Droid:

I can help! Introducing the Stasis Capsules! Just insert yourself into the pod and select the desired duration, as short as you need, and the capsules will hibernate your body while your mind waves are sent to your selected vacation resort, as immersively as you want! You'll wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Disclaimer: Some users have reported waking up with amnesia or as a different species, but it shouldn't be anything to worry about. Small pods with lots of glowing buttons

CEO:

Take your bodies to Jeju island too, you fools. Me and new temporary staff will cover for you.

(In a heroic shot, the CEO takes off his blazer and quickly rolls up his sleeves to go around peddling noodles, fish and cabbages, cursing himself under his breath. Rapturous applause breaks out among the employees before they thank the droid and disperse.)

Alice Promoter Droid:

(Smiling quietly to itself)

Take this along. I present to you the Stellar Compass! A device displaying an interactive map of all known stars and solar systems, and even calculating the fastest routes to whichever one you desire, wherever your happiness lies. A pocket-sized holographic display of our solar system in AD 2023

Credits

Concept: Bard

CEO's DNA: Pegasus Market

Alice Promoter Droid: Computer scientist Landon S's brilliant 2389 AD Designer + said human dubbing

Top image: WOMBO

Can a drama give any demographic a lifeline?

The big question: Did Netflix hit Extraordinary Attorney Woo improve the employment rate of any autistic population?

In Korea, the rate increased by 1.3% from 2022 to 2023, against an increase of 0.7% for the full population of the country, although there may be other factors at work.

The sources are indicated in the alt text.

Tagorean Victory

If Taiwanese drama ToGetHer could be compared to a dish, it would likely be a hearty cheese and tomato sandwich topped with a soft and silky sunny-side up egg—nothing profound or elegant, but enviably more efficient than a typical philosophical tome at brightening up a wintry morning. All the same, this is not an ordinary sandwich, but one which yolk carries a small dash of the flavor of the…

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The NI Series (1): Noble Idiocy Is Neither Noble Nor Idiotic

Admin’s Message: Hello Tumblr followers, thank you for reading The Asian Drama Philosopher (A-Philosopher)’s Chair all this while!  As a special treat for everyone, the Chair is inviting bloggers from different backgrounds to share their views on the relationship between culture and drama writing. First up is well-known K-drama commentator samsooki, who is of Korean heritage. Enjoy his breezy writing and express your support for him. 

written by samsooki

Well, you know it was coming.  It is episode 12 or 13 of your favorite k-drama romcom, after all.  The other kdrama shoe known as “noble idiocy,” must drop.

The Setup.  It has taken a dozen heart-tugging episodes, and a half of a lifetime from the time they attended the same elementary school, but the protagonists (let’s pick names – Bob and Mary) have defeated both (a) the evil scheming uncle who wants to take over the chaebol board of directors, and (b) the crazy ex-boyfriend/girlfriend who won’t take no for an answer.  After weeks of Wed-Thurs cliffhangers, Bob and Mary have finally become the OTP (One True Pairing) that we always hoped would happen!  Ooooh, but what twist hath fate wrought upon our starstruck couple!  The protagonists suddenly find themselves in a quandary – an unexpected and inexorable something (probably a dormant cancer, orphanage secret, and/or a chaebol proxy fight) is standing in the way of their happiness ever after!  What, if anything, can be done?

The Western Solution.  From a Western structural standpoint, the path toward Bob’s and Mary’s resolution includes:  (1) forthright communication, (2) working together to assuage each other’s fears, (3) gaining mutual strength for the Final Showdown, and (4) ending the cycle of individual misdirection by forgiveness and trust.  Seems pretty self-explanatory, doesn’t it?  All they have to do is work together!

The K-Drama Response. Noooo, we must be far more complicated. Bob and Mary must be cliven asunder by a unilateral and preemptive decision made by one of them as a dramatic score plays in the background, followed by heartbreaking preview scenes of “why isn’t he/she answering my texts” angst.  The first of Bob and Mary to blink away his or her single, pretty tear must leave Korea, forever, or at least a very long time.  Further, there must not be any further communication of any kind for at least a year, perhaps three.  Finally, each must suffer and cry alone while reminiscing through montage clips, wondering if fate will be kinder in future lifetimes.  And in the end, what appeared to be a noble effort to cause less pain, has now caused more, idiotically.  Let the sardonic eye-rolls, the knowing sighs of disbelief and cynical anti-tropist over-reaction commence.  Yes indeed, it is the kdrama trope of noble idiocy.

Surely, the kdrama’s PD (the production director) and the writers can do better? But maybe, what we believe to be a crutch for unoriginal writing isn’t what we think it is at all.  Perhaps the writers are merely introducing and then reinforcing an Asian principle that Koreans have long since internalized.

 What is going on here?  

 a.              Western Perspective – Y’all Are Noble Idiots.  The Western view, of course, is based on perspectives heavily influenced by individualism and discrete ethics.  In the Western view, each person is responsible for his or her actions and no more.  The Westerner would look at Bob’s silly actions and argue that, even if Bob initially believed that his own happiness would be greater if Mary is not burdened by Bob’s problems, how can Bob leaving the country without a word to Mary be the proper method for achieving such happiness?  And if Bob were acting in such a way for Mary’s happiness, surely Bob would not believe that he would be making Mary happier if he left her in a frozen state of uncertainty for years, perhaps forever? Pure madness and counter-productive!

 b.              Korean Perspective – You Don’t Understand Our Worldview. Surely, then, Koreans with their 5,000 year history, would know better by now!  Hmm, perhaps they do, though?  By way of background - the Korean worldview is framed by a Confucian philosophy integrally woven into every part of Korean society.  On whatever level, the general principle is the same – a person’s highest duty is to take responsibility for those who follow such person.  This is true of familial relationships (parent to child, spouse to spouse, sibling to sibling), educational and corporate relationships (seniors to juniors) and political governance (ruler to subjects) as well.  This worldview dominates Korean thinking.  It is the reason why one’s age is so important, and why honorifics are critical to conversation, even between family members.  One must always know who should be taking responsibility for whom, and likewise, who should be following and who should be leading.  It is the reason that students address one another by titles like sunbae (one’s senior) and hoobae (one’s junior) and that words like oppa and noona mean so much more than their literal meaning.  Family, friendships, corporations and even nations are held together by this principle of taking responsibility for those who follow you.  Is it any shock that this principle also applies between lovers as well?

Of course, one can argue that romantic relationships should not necessarily follow the Confucian philosophy, especially not in the post-modern age. My counter is that as true as that argument might be, Bob and Mary are not yet a couple at this stage in the kdrama.  As such, each of Bob and Mary is likely to fall back upon traditional relational notions to deal with the other of them.

Taken to its logical conclusion then, Bob cannot simply ask Mary to (1) share in the burden of the obstacle, and (2) work together to deal with the OTP crisis.  Such a request would be nigh on unthinkable because one of Bob or Mary must take responsibility for the other, and cannot share or delegate such duty.  And this kind of relationship is not unique to Eastern philosophies.  The concept that certain duties cannot be delegated is not just an Eastern concept, but it is part of the bedrock of Western jurisprudence as well.  A fiduciary duty is the highest level of obligation that a person can owe to another – and such obligation cannot be shared.  Just as an agent must act solely for the benefit of the principal, and a trustee cannot halve his liability by delegating half of his duties, Bob cannot breach his obligation to Mary.

It would be alarming then, for Bob, in the face of an obstacle that appears unsolvable without the help of Mary, to confess his burdens to Mary.  If Bob were to share his burdens with Mary, Bob would be abdicating his role as Mary’s protector.  Bob cannot have it both ways – if Bob has any designs on remaining the kind of person that Mary could rely upon, Bob cannot ask for help from Mary. Taken on a macro level, such an action would turn society upside down.  Bob’s only choice, therefore, if indeed Bob is the one who takes responsibility for the problems besetting our OTP of choice, is to remove himself from the situation entirely.  

Note that this is not because Bob thinks any of the problems is insurmountable and will inevitably hurt Mary, but because he believes he is not (yet) strong enough to deal with the issue. Note as well that even if Mary also stepped up and declared responsibility for Bob, each of Bob and Mary would be forced to take action unilaterally because of the impossibility of sharing duties under the Confucian way of thinking.

In Korean thinking, harmony in society, whether on a macro or micro level, depends upon the ability of those who take responsibility for others.  The good leader will cause his or her nation to prosper, and the good parent will cause her children to become good adults. Likewise, the person who capably wears his or her mantle of leadership will permit harmony to exist within the relationship.  And it is within this context of harmony that love can truly exist and flourish.

 Hope that helps quell the anger of anti-tropists out there seeking another noble idiot to skewer!

Spot

Sea Of Dream's poster: Spot the sea.

Three-Body II: Dark Forest's poster: Spot the darkness.

Hokusai's dragon legend art: Spot the dragon.

Puuung’s Kickstarter Challenge

Love is : Puuung’s illustration of love   Puuung is a popular Korean illustrator with a large fan base and is best known for her ‘Love Is’ series. This series of illustrations, which is about the universal theme of ‘Love’, is regularly uploaded on NAVER’s Grafolio service. http://www.grafolio.com/puuung1

Since 2014, Puuung has uploaded her illustration series ‘Love Is’ every Tuesday and Thursday on Grafolio, a global platform provided by NAVER for single person creators, She already has a wide fan base that eagerly waits for her updated works. She has received great response from the Korean audience and greater response from those overseas.

A global funding was started through “Kickstarter”, the crowdfunding platform, in June 6, to introduce Puuung’s illustrations to more people around the world. Crowdfunding is a way of raising money via the social media or the internet. Kickstarter, which was launched in April of 2009, is based in the United States and is the world’s most famous crowdfunding platform. Now, let’s hear from the designer who has been responsible for the whole process, from planning the Kickstarter reward items to producing samples and coming up with the completed rewards.

Planning the Kickstarter Reward Items While planning rewards items for Puuung’s Kickstarter project, we had to come up with product designs that best displayed the artist’s illustrations. Overseas delivery was also an important factor, and therefore items also had to be compact and light enough so that it can be delivered to people across the world. After looking into various items in numerous price ranges, and upon final review with the artist herself, fabric posters, an art book and a postcard collection were selected as rewards for Puuung’s first Kickstarter funding project.

Launching the Kickstarter Page We needed a webpage that provided detailed information on the reward items in order to start the funding. To do so, we made samples of each reward in advance and launched our Kickstarter page!! https://www.kickstarter.com We waited with great anticipation until 8 o’clock in the morning in Korea, since the project campaign webpage was to be launched in US standard time. And to our great surprise, we achieved our goal of 10,000 dollars within just two hours from the launch of the funding and collected over 126,000 dollars, which was more than 1000% of our target amount, during the one month funding period. In addition, Puuung became the first Korean in Kickstarter to reach third place in the illustration section, which is an enormous feat. More than 1,800 backers from 70 countries, including English speaking countries of the United States and Canada, European nations including France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Asian countries of Singapore and Hong Kong, participated in the funding. Backers will be given rewards such as postcard collections, art book and posters that contain Puuung’s illustrations.

Producing Kickstarter Reward Items The unexpectedly large number of backers meant that we had to increase the number of items we had to produce. Since a limited quantity of rewards was being produced through funding, we wanted to provide backers who love Puuung’s work with high-quality rewards. We therefore placed extreme care into the paper, material and print quality of the rewards. [Fabric Posters] We especially went through many trials and errors while we were producing the sample for the fabric posters. Canvas fabric, the most commonly used material for fabric posters, was unable to provide us with satisfactory print quality. Multiple tests were done with various fabrics before we were able to find a fabric that gave us a print quality that most closely resembled the original illustration.

[Art Book] The art book is 116 pages and contains Puuung’s illustration as well as drawings of three couples that were selected from Puuung’s photo competition event. The background of the illustrations has a lot of detail and illustrations are shown from various angles, so the layout was arranged to show the illustration in its original proportions. The epilogue of the art book contains information fans were interested in, including the artist’s “thank you” message and photos of her workroom, sketches and of herself. Puuung, despite her busy schedule, also created an original cover for the art book and postcard collection that were to be given to Kickstarter backers. This special cover, which contains original and unique illustrations, is only available in the Kickstarter rewards!!

[Postcard Collection] The postcard collection consists of 100 illustrations and contains never-before released illustrations created by Puuung. Comments left by Kickstarter backers, such as “I want to give your illustrations to my son for his one year wedding anniversary” or “I bought your postcard collection because I wanted to use your work in our wedding invitation” show the backers expectation and affection towards Puuung’s art book.

100 copies of the art book contains Puuung’s autograph, which were each carefully signed by the artist herself. We look forward to more of Puuung’s heartwarming illustrations as she continues to draw about even the smallest happiness that is felt between people in love. :-)

New ask game:

Reblog if you want your followers to tell you what your trademark ™️ is. Like, what’s that thing that really identifies you.