Now What...

Ok, I'm no stranger to relationships.  I've had a few (though less than the dozen relationship psychologists suggest will give me the best idea about where I fit into the looks hierarchy).  And I'll be the first to admit that my taste in men has not been great.  I went for the bad boys in highschool.  The emotionally unavailable when I was a little older.  The irresponsible moocher, the overly jealous, possessive, the cheating scum bags, yeah, I've dated them.   Each time the relationship ended, it was hard.  I usually wasn't the one to end them.  Looking back, I think it hurt because I thought, 'this creep just dumped me.  I can't even hold onto a guy that shouldn't be allowed in the gene pool!'  Of course, this is in retrospect.  It felt more complicated while it was happening, but this is what it boiled down to.

And then, there was this boyfriend.  Generous, driven, intelligent.  This has been the first 'good' one I've dated.  And now, it's over.  'Another one bites the dust!  Another one gone, another one gone.  Another one bites the dust!'

I've read a couple of books on healthy relationships and compatible couples, etc.  What woman hasn't?  And at least two of the books said that if I've had a lot of relationships, it doesn't really matter who my next boyfriend is, because I'll still be the same woman, and I've obviously got some characteristic that is undesirable in a relationship.  I like to think of myself as a great girlfriend, encouraging, affectionate, non-jealous/possessive, responsible-ish, and a cheap date.  But obviously, I'm missing something huge...

Research indicates that the best relationships are between the most similar people.  Meh.  I can see why this may be so.  But I loved all of X's differences.  I admired him where he had characteristics that I wanted and tried to take interest in the things he liked that I didn't care much about.

It was not enough.  He didn't love me for my differences.

So this one has dumped me and no where in the back of my mind is the little voice of relief, telling me that I was too good for him.  Because I'm not.  For the first time, I don't have even the hope that I subconsciously sabotaged the relationship because I knew it was bad for me.  This was a genuinely good man.  And I genuinely love him.  And I did my utmost to make it work.  And it was not enough.

I am a bit bummed.  Happily, X performed the break up really well.  He was kind.  He was firm.  He continued to be generous.  Things are much better than I had any right to hope for.  I'm not crushed, I'm not inconsolable, but I do think I'm going through a bit of a self-centered period.  I'm indulging myself in my light depression despite all the things that I should be doing instead (school work) and despite all the wonderfully good things in my life that are counter-balancing this one negative thing.

So... here I am.  In a foreign country, most of the way through a degree and having applied for my postgraduate degrees... and I've lost my first and main reason for being here.  I'm still planning on staying because the education is cheaper here, but my safety net is gone.  My favorite person in the whole world to talk to you no longer really wants to talk to me.  I miss having a partner.

Ok, that's all I really have to say at the moment.  I'm bummed and soul searching and I'm going to make it through!

Mr. Mr. Do You Feel Me and Highway

Geeze, how did I not know about this band??  Ok, their singing talent is pretty good, but I haven't seen them doing any really impressive dancing.   Their songs are good and Highway is one of my favorite music videos now!  But more on that in its time.  First up, Do You Feel Me!

The words aren't anything particularly special. They're nice.  A love confession.  Cutey patutey.  Whatever.  They have a cool oldy's thing going with the fedora hats, waist coats and microphone stands.  And while their dance steps were generally in sync, I couldn't help but compare Mr. Mr.'s mic dance to Shinee's microphone dance in Dream Girl.  Here's a small example in case you don't remember or haven't seen it...

  

I, personally, liked the Do You Feel Me song better than Dream Girl and I definitely liked Mr. Mr.'s clothes better than Shinee's, but when the most memorable part of your dance in tapping your toe on the floor like Gil Ra Im in Secret Garden (If you haven't seen that, watch it.  It's cute) you may want to hire a new choreographer or practice your dancing a little harder so that they can give you more complicated steps.  I could get in line with Shinee's dance moves done by Mr. Mr. in Do You Feel Me.  That would have made it even better.

So yeah, not blown away by the music video, but I really like the song.  It wasn't catchy in the way that I found myself singing it to myself for days after I heard the song once.  It was more that I liked it enough that I wanted it to be stuck in my head.  I listened to it several times in hopes that it would stick enough that I could do justice to it while out walking or doing dishes.

The English is only half bad.  Heh, sorry.  I forget that humor doesn't carry well in writing.  Actually, the only part I laugh at is the 'My heart's blowing up!'  And not because they say it funny, because they don't, but because I've never heard this expression used in the west.  I can see how people who don't speak english might think that this means what it was supposed to mean, which I think was that his heart is expanding, or beating really hard or something to that effect.  Ok, I'm not really sure, but that's what makes it funny, right?  ...Just me?  Really? ....Oh well.

I know it's a little cheesy, but I liked the snow in the video.  Sure, it's in a building, but if Nu'Est can have fog in their school then Mr. Mr. can have snow in their mansion!  That's the rule.
 It was a little different than the usual rain or outdoor snowy scene.

So pretty

 May I take a moment to ponder that scene at around 1:38, where the girl seems to be sitting on a flight of ornate stairs that go...nowhere?



I mean, they're not even pushed up against a wall where you might need to hang a painting or under a chandelier where you might need to change a light bulb.  The stairs are just... there.  Like an extra set of really uncomfortable, vertically climbing chairs.
 At least they're getting some use.

Do You Feel Me: 7/10.  That being said, I'm learning it and have it on repeat more often than any other song at the moment.

And next, Mr. Mr.'s Highway!

Woohoo!
Ok, so in the opening scene he's driving this unconscious looking woman really fast at night and then they're in a room where she doesn't look too happy to be.  She's looking out the window longingly while he's unpacking a couple guns and trying to offer her a can of food.  What is one supposed to gather but that he has kidnapped the girl and is holding her against her will!  Well that's new!

I mean, not brand new, as Kan Mi Youn did it in her music video, Crazy (and she kidnapped Lee Joon from Mblaq! A little jealous) but new in that it's not often done.

  

Then he leaves the room and his guns on the table.  At this point I was thinking, 'Wow, that's really inept.  Please don't let the girl stare at them stupidly until he comes back like she would if this were a Hollywood production.'  And no, she grabs the handgun!  Yeah!  I laughed out loud when he dropped the bag when he got back and she pointed the gun at him, like he was shocked.  I figured this must be his first kidnapping.

But then he walks toward her!  And she gives him a warning shot!  The hesitation before she points it at him again was when I started considering looking at things in a different light.  Which was confirmed when he guided the muzzle to his heart so that she could not help but kill him if she pulled the trigger.

'Oh.  A twist!  Awesome!'  I love twists.  The last one that really surprised me like this was Please Don't by K. Will.

                                    

I thought the blood on the back of his hand was a little even.  I am guessing it was supposed to represent that he has blood on his hands figuratively, and that's all well and good, but it didn't look like his hand had been dipped in or splashed with blood, but more like some make up artist had taken a paint brush of artificial blood and evenly distributed it on the hand and all the fingers.  Sigh.

And then, to make matters worse, that group of guys comes in, and where are all boyfriend dude's guns??  Where'd they all go?

Ok, I could forgive that.  It's not like you can live you're whole life with a gun within easy reach, even if you do know that someone out there is trying to find your girlfriend and kill her.  What I will never be able to forgive was the bad guy holding the gun sideways, all gangsta'.  Really???

                         
                                            Ugh.  So dumb. Hold it right.

You're wearing a suit for goodness sakes.  Who wears a suit, shiny shoes, and that much hair product (not to mention the subtle make-up) and then holds the gun like they think they're on the streets of LA?

And that was not my only complaint about this video.  Could they not have found a better actor to play the girl?  There were a few times that she actually took me out of the scene because the acting was so obviously acting.  Sigh.

I can't say that I understand the music video even now.  I still have some questions.  For instance, if boyfriend does have blood on his hands, whose is it?  And if he was knocking people off, as the picture next to his girlfriends with the big red X through it suggests, why is he killing them?  And why didn't the group of perfectly made up gangsta's shoot both of them, or even just her when they found the couple the first time?  And how did the girl know where to find them when she went to turn herself in?  These are not all my questions, but they're the main ones.

I liked the uniform-esque clothes, though they were just a little too shiny.  And the street clothes were well chosen as well.  All dark and dangerous, which was supposed to be the message of the song.  Well done!

Again the dancing was a little lack luster, but it was better than Do you feel me, so Yay!

So this is my favorite video right now mostly for the twist.  And there's something about a sad ending, isn't there?  In a world where one grows up on Disney, there's just something about something actually ending on a sad note with no hope of things working out.  Don't get me wrong, I would NOT want that to be the norm (like it seems to be in Japan.  Seriously, I've seen only 4 Japanese movies but they've all ended with a death or where the couple doesn't make it and no one's happy about it.  Gah, it's depressing) but every once in a while it's nice.

'Sad is happy for deep people.' -Sally Sparrow (Doctor Who)

And that's all I've got for now.

Thanks.

Norazo, and Lim Chang Jung. Who Knew?

I want to thank Eat your kimchi husband and wife team, Martina and Simon for their list of top Autumn songs because I would not have heard these without it.  I get stuck in my favorite bands and don't look outside of them unless prompted.  And thus, I found Mr. Mr.  And may I just say, Yay!  Mr. Mr. has been officially added to my list.  Norazo and Lim Chang Jung have amusing songs, and I will frequent their music videos when I need a laugh, but I don't think I'll be purchasing their albums any time soon.

The Norazo song I was introduced to was Wild Horse.  ... I was a bit dumbstruck when I first saw it.

Of course, I'm never left without words for long.  Hehehe.  I want a back of a horse so that I can wear it around, pretending I'm a centaur.  I would have so much fun with that.  Of course, I would enjoy it even more if I had a crazy friend to do it with me.  Sigh.  I need to find a pack of crazy to join.  I get a little lonely all by myself.  And if we're going to do the centaur thing, I'd love for them to have a mo-hawk to more accurately simulate a mane.  I wonder if it would be easier to find like minded weirdos if I moved to an Asian country...

This song is semi-catchy and fun to listen to, but it didn't speak to me.  I liked Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron's songs about horses and freedom and wildness better.  I did like their posing like the two little centaurs in the picture though.  They did that well.  And I liked, in the end, how the white horse chose friendship over being pampered.   I laughed so hard when the brown one photo bombed the picture in the circus!  I totally related to him.  Kind of in the background, wanting to be in the picture, trying to be in the picture and look cool and not desperate or like a dweeb, and managing to look both.  Bwuahahaha! 

I've seen posts hailing Wild Horse as the next Gangnam Style, which would be nice.  But my bf, who has never been able to share my enjoyment of korean music, says that it's not as catchy, and can't see Wild Horse taking the west by storm they way that Psy's song did.  Oh well.

The next song that I found thanks to Eat Your Kimchi, was Lim Chang Jung's Open the Door.

I want this power!

When I see people litter and spit and do all these rude things in public I would give my left arm to be able to confront them in a way to make those people act like better human beings!  I don't think I'd style my hair like his though...  That is an extremely unfortunate hair style.  1950's.  Nerd.  It really is the perfectly stereotypical straight-edge hair.  Heh.  And good job taming U-Kiss!  

I'm not particularly fond of this dance.  I may be from an older generation here, but it reminds me just a little of the whole, hit your chest with the side of your hand while trying to bite your ear joke.  And also, not being very hand-eye coordinated while being very clumsy, every time I imagine trying this dance, I hit myself in the neck or the head.  I hurt myself even when I'm just picturing doing something physical!  And I know that I would look even worse trying to do the squatting, hip circle things than the guest who tried to do it with Lim Chang Jung at the end.  Anyone else feel bad for him?  He did so much better in the blooper version but he smiled.  Then he looks like a slow, uncoordinated monkey and that's the one they put in the music video.  I have the feeling that he's famous and it's not going to hurt his self-image at all, but if that were me, I'd cringe every time I even heard the song.  

And lastly!  Mr. Mr.  Actually, I'm going to save them for the next blog, because I'm tired and would like to try to do them justice.  

MBlaq's Smoky Girl Review

I love Kpop!  Unfortunately, that does not mean that I own, or am in any way associated with any of the members of bands, their producers, their song/music writers, or even the people that wash their cars (assuming the band members we're talking about are old enough to drive).  So if you sue me for stealing, or impinging, or mocking, well then the joke's on you because I don't have any money!  Ha! ...Wait...*cries*

Anyway!  MBlaq's Smoky Girl

This song, I'm sorry to say, did not grab me the way Cry or Stay did.  I've largely ignored it since it first came out, but I recently heard it again and it got stuck in my head for the rest of the night!  So, what do we learn from this boys and girls?  That first impressions are not always the right impressions. Yes, very good.  (Wow, I could not be an elementary student teacher.  I fear my level of patience is ridiculously low and I would mock them in the guise of being nice, figuring that they weren't smart enough to know that I was being mean... and then I'd get caught, and fired.  Better to let more angelic people handle children!)

The song has a nice enough beat through most of it and there's enough english in there to keep me entertained through the whole song as those are generally the only parts I can sing along to.  But!  And there is a BIG but in there (and 5 cute ones!).  Has anyone else looked up the translation of the song and thought that the dance is slightly inappropriate?

There was a woman sitting alone at the bar, Her sad eyes filled with anguish...

I'm afraid that I can't say that this is my usual body language when I first find a fellow human being who seems to be suffering...

The words and the tone of the song are serious, sad and empathetic.  He supposedly falls for her straight away because her sadness, her 'anguish' draws him in, but the dance... it just doesn't fit!  It's not sad, intense, mostly standing around, rubbing lips or looking longingly at the camera.  It's big, energetic, and, well, see for yourself!  

It's like they learned this choreography but didn't have a song to put it to, then decided that it would be better to use the dance with this song than to waste all the time they'd spent learning it!

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed the dance.  Like I said, it was big and energetic.  If it were to a happier, or even more aggressive song, I'd love it.  Mblaq has a lot of hotness, and they use it well.

And may I make a fan moment to say how good I think Joon looks in his fedora?  Woohoo!


And that's all I have for Smoky Girl.  The make-up was masculinely done, there were no horrible, hot pink, leopard print pants, the jewelry was tasteful and not overwhelming.  Overall, I felt that this song and music video was safe which made it pleasant but forgettable.

EXO's Growl Review

As pointed out in an earlier post, there haven't been any knock-out, fantasmagorical music videos released recently so I'm reaching way, way, way back to somewhere around the beginning of the year for more material.  Disclaimer:  I would not be sitting in my living room, writing this blog if I owned anything having to do with EXO, their music, videos, or talent.  Heck no.  I'd be making a pest of myself, trying to weasel my way into working with them or joining the group as a temp back up anything... yeah.  If I had anything to do with their official anything, I'd probably have a restraining order by now.  Heh.

Anyway!  EXO's Growl.

The song didn't catch me right off the bat the way my favorite songs do, but it was bouncy and likable once I'd played it enough.

I would have enjoyed this video a lot more if they hadn't spent quite so much time with their hands on their crotches.  *Uncomfortable*  The first really obvious, lingering placement was at just 7 seconds into the video for goodness sake, and it only escalated from there. It happened again at 9 seconds, a double hand grab at 17 seconds, then a kind of a thrust into the hand at 32 seconds, etc.  It put me in mind of jock itch, where perhaps they just couldn't help but scratch or touch or anything to relieve the burning.  Or, maybe they were going into a dangerous situation without a cup on and were trying to protect their family jewels.  Their second English line of the song was 'So dangerous.'  Herpes maybe?  Their first English words were, 'So sexy,' after all.  What's more dangerous than a sexy woman with the clap?  And that would explain all the grabbing.  And even if you're thinking about skipping to the next paragraph to skip the rest of this complaint, just realize that I haven't been complaining about it half as long as they spent doing it!  So there.

Hey!  Stop that!  You'll go blind!

I watched a documentary on strippers once and they said the key to being sexy rather than raunchy was to be sensual rather than sexual.  Rubbing the lip?  Sensual.  Touching your d*ck?  Sexual.  Sorry, EXO.  Fail.

Whew, feels good to have that off my chest.   Ok, the rest of it... whatever tiny bit's left... kekekeke

Um, is it just me or do the guys remind anyone else of baby chicks following their mother, flapping their little wings as they go hopping off?  

And so happy!  I love when bands are able to look happy and into their routines, even though you know that they've practiced the dances hundreds of times and must be so bored with them by the time they film.  It takes real talent to make something so rehearsed look so fresh and fun.

What is this song talking about you may ask?  The lyrics are about being attracted to a girl who may or may not be a tease.  He's saying that he is jealous when other guys look at her and that he could get violent if anyone else tries to move in on her.  The song is a  weird vacillation between how good and gentle he'd be with her, and how wolfy and ferocious he'd be with any of his rivals.  And the name of the song?  Growl?  Heh. "I growl, growl, growl."  I know it's a little facetious of me, but I can't help but think of one of those little yappy dogs when I hear this line.  A little chihuahua that barks and growls and shakes before it runs away.  Lol!  Ok, sorry.  No, EXO boys, you're very intimidating. *Snickers*

I really enjoyed the dancing in Growl.  It was aggressive and almost popping, but not quite.  I've been searching for examples of some of my favorite moves, but apparently I enjoyed different parts than most other people because I couldn't find them anywhere!

Here's an example of some bits I liked:

  

I'm very sorry to EXO fans, but this is the first song that I've liked enough to make me at all interested in them.  But may I just say how difficult this music video made learning about them??  How many of them are there in total?  Not sure.  They're split into groups for most of it and the groups keep changing its members... I think...  What are their names?  Let's look up the one in the NY hat first.  Oh, two or three guys wore it.  There costumes are a bit different but not really different enough to be able to tell them apart.  What about the guy in the red hat?  Oh, that changes too.  Gosh darn it!  So frustrating.  Stop moving so much!

Lastly, I have to mention the hat retrieval move.  Yes, every blog so far has mentioned it, but wouldn't you feel that I had forgotten something if I did not also?  Exactly.  Hat retrieval drop spin!

Smoothest. Move. Ever.

And guy next to him spares only a glance before flowing into his own part.  No hesitation!  Guess that's where the hours and hours and hours of practice really pay off.  Beautiful.

I know there's also a bit of a laugh about one of the filming crew being caught in the background through a window, but I would never have seen him in a million years so I'm not going to include a picture of him here.

Superman Insurance

Anyone think the people of Metropolis must have Superman insurance?  It would be there for when they woke up to a huge hole in their home, or half their home was simply missing, or their work said not to come in because their cubicle is scattered all over the whole block (but if they could work, they'd have a nice view of the city).  It must happen on a weekly/monthly basis where giant swaths of the city are reduced to rubble and people are left homeless or with an excuse to renovate the kitchen...  

Whenever Superman saved the world the insurance companies must get an influx of claims.


"Hello, this is your insurance operator."
"Hi.  Superman just saved the city again today."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.  We'll send out an agent to assess the damage but your Superman Policy covers up to $500,000."
"Yeah, I think I'm going to need all of it."
"While we have you on the phone, Ms. Victim, I'd like to take the opportunity to inform you that our premiums are rising, due to the frequency of claims."
"Ah crap."

And this is what I was thinking about this morning rather than my dissertation.  Sigh...

Shinee, BtoB, Teen Top

Late last night I began a post about how I haven't cared too much for the Kpop music that has been coming out recently.  This in spite of the fact that a lot of my favorite bands have been having 'Come Backs' which, in the US, is called simply coming out with new releases (small cultural difference?  Translation fail?  Dunno)  I figure blogging is a good place to complain a bit, make some jokes about some of their more eccentric artistic choices... you know, put my jealousy and desire into derisive commentary.

Shinee's Everybody.

Any body else see Minho say 'ebrybody' instead of 'everybody?' Hehehe.  I can't find a gif to show you, but everyone else seems to have a handle on the difference between a v and a b.

Shinee has one of the best dancers in the Kpop world!  And the rest aren't too shabby either, so what's with the elementary school recital move, with the shoulder shrugging shuffle?  Really?  I mean, I, the most uncoordinated person in the entire world, can do this!  I had come to count on Shinee to impress me!  And this?  This is not impressive.

Eh...

I did, however, enjoy this part.  It kind of reminded me of a magic show or something.  Thank you Shinee!

And I've already made clear how disappointed I was with the sound of the song.  And that's what I think about that!

BtoB's Thriller

May I just say first, how much I love their looks in this video?  No jokes, no sarcasm, they were all incredibly hot.  A good amount of make-up, appropriate costumes, and ok special effects.  Good on ya BtoB!  (If I were going to nit pick, and I am for just a moment, their costumes were very shiny and Hollywood, which is not bad, just not necessarily the best choice in connection with the song)



Well, I've already made groaned over the horrible backward penguin waddle, so I'm not going to do it again.  But I still cringe every time I see it.

And on to new songs!

Teen Top's Date

I always think of these videos as the lowest budget videos possible.  I mean, these boys have cameras on them almost 24/7 so it's not going to cost anything extra to take a few minutes of that footage and then edit them together to a sound track.  There are definite advantages to this form of laziness.  They don't have to take days out of their schedule to dance on sets, they didn't have to pay for extra camera men, lighting technicians, or any of the other things a music video generally requires.  Ok, it was cheap and everyone knows it was cheap, but it had some cute boys being cute, so I assume most people didn't care too much.

I don't even have any pictures or gifs that I really want to share because it was so unremarkable.  Love you Teen Top!  But, some effort would not go amiss next time...

What else is there?

Nothing.  So I guess there hasn't been a whole lot of new stuff to not like, so I don't feel so so bad about not having found anything new to add to my regular play list.  Aw well.

There wasn't much new material for this blog, but what little there was just had to be said!