Alright, so I'm not going to apologize for how long it's been since I've posted. Mostly because, while sincere, the apology would be pointless since I can't promise it's not going to happen again.
After spending two weeks in London, England, I was forced to go home to America in order to pack up some things and get rid of the rest so that I could return to my boyfriend as soon as possible.
And two weeks later, I'm back. A million and one thanks to Xinye for buying my plane ticket after a skunk in weasel's clothing stole all my furniture and electronics!!
I've been here for a little over two weeks now and I'm so very happy. I'm looking for a job and have an interview tomorrow for an internal accounts management position. It sounds rather like a glorified retail position to me, but I wouldn't turn it down if it were offered to me.
Ok, and on to the actual point of this post! It's Xinye's birthday today! Yay! He actually went to work. What a responsible guy. I wouldn't have gone to work...
Anyway, he was kind enough to pick out his own birthday present, which was good because I probably would have gotten him something he didn't really want and that would not have been a good first birthday experience at all. He picked out a memory chip for his phone so when it got here, I bought a birthday card. I wish I could scan it because it's so fitting. The card has these two dogs on the front and one is handing his friend a wrapped bone (it's completely wrapped but it's completely obvious what it is because of the shape) and saying, "Open it! I can't wait. The anticipation is killing me!" Lol. And the receiver just tuts.
My sweetest Xinye was incredibly wonderful and made me feel very appreciated. That was Sunday because even though we're technically celebrating his birthday on Saturday, he just couldn't wait for his present. heh.
Tonight we're going out to a Spanish restaurant and on Saturday, we're baking a cheesecake together (it's one of his favorites) and I'm going to sing happy birthday. I'm trying to think of what else I can do, because it seems a little small... and less than I'd like to do for him, but I'm drawing a complete blank. It's also a lot harder because what ever money I spend is really going to be his until I get a job.
Erm, there are plenty more stories, but that's going to be it for this posting. Still haven't gotten my camera back from Tokyo Joe's. Grrr. Later!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Amusement Park
While in England, Xinye and I visited an amusement park, and call me Bob if I can never remember the name of the thing. Something to do with Towers.
Anyway! It was one of the cold days when we went. Xinye wore his coat and I wore my sweater. The regular rides were still a lot of fun. The wind in our faces was not so chilly as to chap our skin or burn our ears. And therefore it was not cold enough, apparently, for Xinye because he decided we needed to ride a water ride. And not at the end of the day either, but the second or third ride had to be a splashy, how wet can we get? ride.
The nearest water ride to us when the decision was rendered, was the really short one with the huge boat that goes up, then comes down and the giant tidal wave soaks everyone in the boat and on the bridge that spans the water channel. We have something like it here called the Tidal Wave, I think.
Anyway, Xinye, because he's a genius, says, "Take off your sweater and leave it so it won't get wet. You'll have something dry to put on at the end." He followed his own advice and deposited his coat in the holding cubbies. And I, being stubborn and ridiculously optimistic, reply, "No, that's ok. We're sitting in front. I'm hoping to slip under the wave and not get too wet." ...Yeah.......
As soon as the boat went splashing into the water at the bottom of the ride, I knew that my hopes of staying semi-dry were doomed. I ducked my head, trying at least to have only my back water-logged at the end.
And that's when my hero came to the rescue. I felt Xinye throw himself over me, taking the brunt of the water onslaught. Ha! How sweet is that?!? I got all mealty, gewey inside.
But only the inside, because on the outside, I was very cold. I'm a bigger person than Xinye, so he could not protect all of me. I had minor stripes of wetness and poor Xinye had very thin strips of dryness. He was positively soaked and shivering. But since I'd been foolish enough not to leave my sweater behind, and I had no protection from the chill, he gallantly gave me his coat, his warm, dry coat, to wear.
Yep. Swooned. Right there in the park. I'd found a gentleman. Poor guy probably would have tried to carry me if I had actually fainted. So happy.
We were fairly cold for a couple hours after that, but the freezing cold air coming at us 60 mph as we made our rounds through the roller coasters helped dry us off a little faster. Plus I had plenty of time to wring out his shirt as we stood in line. We left little puddles at at least 3 rides.
And that was the Towers amusement park in England.
Anyway! It was one of the cold days when we went. Xinye wore his coat and I wore my sweater. The regular rides were still a lot of fun. The wind in our faces was not so chilly as to chap our skin or burn our ears. And therefore it was not cold enough, apparently, for Xinye because he decided we needed to ride a water ride. And not at the end of the day either, but the second or third ride had to be a splashy, how wet can we get? ride.
The nearest water ride to us when the decision was rendered, was the really short one with the huge boat that goes up, then comes down and the giant tidal wave soaks everyone in the boat and on the bridge that spans the water channel. We have something like it here called the Tidal Wave, I think.
Anyway, Xinye, because he's a genius, says, "Take off your sweater and leave it so it won't get wet. You'll have something dry to put on at the end." He followed his own advice and deposited his coat in the holding cubbies. And I, being stubborn and ridiculously optimistic, reply, "No, that's ok. We're sitting in front. I'm hoping to slip under the wave and not get too wet." ...Yeah.......
As soon as the boat went splashing into the water at the bottom of the ride, I knew that my hopes of staying semi-dry were doomed. I ducked my head, trying at least to have only my back water-logged at the end.
And that's when my hero came to the rescue. I felt Xinye throw himself over me, taking the brunt of the water onslaught. Ha! How sweet is that?!? I got all mealty, gewey inside.
But only the inside, because on the outside, I was very cold. I'm a bigger person than Xinye, so he could not protect all of me. I had minor stripes of wetness and poor Xinye had very thin strips of dryness. He was positively soaked and shivering. But since I'd been foolish enough not to leave my sweater behind, and I had no protection from the chill, he gallantly gave me his coat, his warm, dry coat, to wear.
Yep. Swooned. Right there in the park. I'd found a gentleman. Poor guy probably would have tried to carry me if I had actually fainted. So happy.
We were fairly cold for a couple hours after that, but the freezing cold air coming at us 60 mph as we made our rounds through the roller coasters helped dry us off a little faster. Plus I had plenty of time to wring out his shirt as we stood in line. We left little puddles at at least 3 rides.
And that was the Towers amusement park in England.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Oops...
Ok! So it has been some time since the last post, but as usual, I have a good excuse. There was a post a couple months ago about a London guy named Xinye that I met on EHarmony. Well, turned out that our conversations went so well that we decided a face-to-face was in order. So, I've been in London England for the last two weeks.
I have to admit that I had a little fear that all the wonderful things that I liked about him would turn out to be things I imagined because I was not close enough to him to see the truth. That turned out not to the the case, however.
While I did not get to spend the entire time with him, we were able to do quite a few things together.
I visited a couple amazing open air markets. While I have been to farmers' markets here, they were a little different in London. For one thing, I noticed that there were military uniforms for sale everywhere! And that's awesome for me because I have a thing for uniforms. There were also a lot more countries represented than just the one we were in at the time. There was a Russian stand that sold fur hats and coats. There were French stands selling art, wine, jewelery, and clothes. There were African stands selling interesting bowls, plates, and other tableware. I'm sure there were many other countries accounted for that I simply did not recognize or pay proper attention to. Oh, and there were some American ones too.
Ooh, I got to see the Lion King musical. That was amazing. They did some incredible things that brought the movie scenes to life.
I also got to go to the Lake District with Xinye. It was beautiful. We took a boat ride and toured one of the lakes and its huge houses. My precious even got me a pair of pretty earrings that go well with a few of my shirts. Awesome!
And, I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I've been waiting for years, about 5 years, to go to Magic Mountain. Well, Xinye took me to an amusement park. There were some huge rides that scared the poo out of me, and some fun ones that made me laugh til it was hard to breathe. Was awesome!
We went to a huge museum together. It very nearly rivalled the Smithsonian. Of course, my feet were hurting so bad by this day, that I couldn't walk the whole thing. He was really sweet and let me take plenty of sitting breaks. We made it through the dinosaur exhibit and some of the mammal, and human exhibits.
I have pictures on Facebook of almost everything I'm talking about here. Just look under the England photo album.
There are more stories, and more details later.
I have to admit that I had a little fear that all the wonderful things that I liked about him would turn out to be things I imagined because I was not close enough to him to see the truth. That turned out not to the the case, however.
While I did not get to spend the entire time with him, we were able to do quite a few things together.
I visited a couple amazing open air markets. While I have been to farmers' markets here, they were a little different in London. For one thing, I noticed that there were military uniforms for sale everywhere! And that's awesome for me because I have a thing for uniforms. There were also a lot more countries represented than just the one we were in at the time. There was a Russian stand that sold fur hats and coats. There were French stands selling art, wine, jewelery, and clothes. There were African stands selling interesting bowls, plates, and other tableware. I'm sure there were many other countries accounted for that I simply did not recognize or pay proper attention to. Oh, and there were some American ones too.
Ooh, I got to see the Lion King musical. That was amazing. They did some incredible things that brought the movie scenes to life.
I also got to go to the Lake District with Xinye. It was beautiful. We took a boat ride and toured one of the lakes and its huge houses. My precious even got me a pair of pretty earrings that go well with a few of my shirts. Awesome!
And, I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I've been waiting for years, about 5 years, to go to Magic Mountain. Well, Xinye took me to an amusement park. There were some huge rides that scared the poo out of me, and some fun ones that made me laugh til it was hard to breathe. Was awesome!
We went to a huge museum together. It very nearly rivalled the Smithsonian. Of course, my feet were hurting so bad by this day, that I couldn't walk the whole thing. He was really sweet and let me take plenty of sitting breaks. We made it through the dinosaur exhibit and some of the mammal, and human exhibits.
I have pictures on Facebook of almost everything I'm talking about here. Just look under the England photo album.
There are more stories, and more details later.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sacramento Visit
Went to Sacramento yesterday so that I could attend my job interview at 9am without having to wake up at 5 to get ready. I stayed with my sister, because she was nice enough to let me, but things very quickly went all down hill.
I suggested we go out, because we don't get to see each other all that often. Neither of us really knew were to go though, so we fell back on the mall, which was ok. Then, on the way back, Melissa says, "Let's go miniature golfing!"
A little back story here. As we're leaving her apartment to go to the mall I realize that I forgot to bring a coat or sweater so I ask, as Melissa puts on her own very warm looking coat, if she has an extra that I can borrow because the night is cold.
"Nope," she answers. So I figure I just have to brave the cold and/or stay indoors as much as possible.
So when she suggests mini golf, I'm think, 'oh, brr.' I decide to agree on condition that she let me wear her coat, and to my surprise, she says yes! However, as we're exiting the car, Melissa opens the back door and pulls out a sweater, then proceeds to hand it to me.
To recap... when I asked for a coat she said she didn't have one for me. And when I said I'd play mini golf with her if she let me wear her coat, she said ok, but then pulled the old bait-and-switch by trying to give me a sweater. But, oh, it gets better.
So I'm already giving her a hard time for the coat/sweater thing when we get to the counter to pay for this round of golf. Melissa pulls out her wallet, which I let her do because of the hardships she's visited on me already. She rifles through her cards, then moans something to the effect of, 'oh no.' And that's when I realize who's going to be paying for this little game.
To be fair, Melissa's acting skills were very impressive. She even pulled out her phone to blame her room mate for not returning her card to her wallet as I swipe my own debit card.
Little did I know that the pain of the evening was not over yet! Either Melissa plays way too much mini golf, has a natural talent, or I just suck, but she womps me both games. I couldn't get that little red ball into the hole to save my life. The score would have been even worse had we not decided that the top number we'd put on the score card was 5. At the end, Melissa's scores looked like, '2,3,3,2,2,2,3,2,4and mine were more like, '4,5,5,3,4,5,5,4,3' so yeah...
I even got so desperate once that I pulled a Daffy duck. I pointed over Melissa's head and said, "Look Missa! A blimp!" When she actually turned around I nearly crowed in delight but couldn't take the time because I was busy rolling the ball towards where it needed to go. It didn't work though. I guess my bowling aim is no better than my golfing aim, because it bounced off the edge of the course and into some bushes. My sister just laughed at me because I couldn't even cheat right... and she'd actually fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Heh. Go me.
So... yeah. That was my Tuesday night.
I suggested we go out, because we don't get to see each other all that often. Neither of us really knew were to go though, so we fell back on the mall, which was ok. Then, on the way back, Melissa says, "Let's go miniature golfing!"
A little back story here. As we're leaving her apartment to go to the mall I realize that I forgot to bring a coat or sweater so I ask, as Melissa puts on her own very warm looking coat, if she has an extra that I can borrow because the night is cold.
"Nope," she answers. So I figure I just have to brave the cold and/or stay indoors as much as possible.
So when she suggests mini golf, I'm think, 'oh, brr.' I decide to agree on condition that she let me wear her coat, and to my surprise, she says yes! However, as we're exiting the car, Melissa opens the back door and pulls out a sweater, then proceeds to hand it to me.
To recap... when I asked for a coat she said she didn't have one for me. And when I said I'd play mini golf with her if she let me wear her coat, she said ok, but then pulled the old bait-and-switch by trying to give me a sweater. But, oh, it gets better.
So I'm already giving her a hard time for the coat/sweater thing when we get to the counter to pay for this round of golf. Melissa pulls out her wallet, which I let her do because of the hardships she's visited on me already. She rifles through her cards, then moans something to the effect of, 'oh no.' And that's when I realize who's going to be paying for this little game.
To be fair, Melissa's acting skills were very impressive. She even pulled out her phone to blame her room mate for not returning her card to her wallet as I swipe my own debit card.
Little did I know that the pain of the evening was not over yet! Either Melissa plays way too much mini golf, has a natural talent, or I just suck, but she womps me both games. I couldn't get that little red ball into the hole to save my life. The score would have been even worse had we not decided that the top number we'd put on the score card was 5. At the end, Melissa's scores looked like, '2,3,3,2,2,2,3,2,4and mine were more like, '4,5,5,3,4,5,5,4,3' so yeah...
I even got so desperate once that I pulled a Daffy duck. I pointed over Melissa's head and said, "Look Missa! A blimp!" When she actually turned around I nearly crowed in delight but couldn't take the time because I was busy rolling the ball towards where it needed to go. It didn't work though. I guess my bowling aim is no better than my golfing aim, because it bounced off the edge of the course and into some bushes. My sister just laughed at me because I couldn't even cheat right... and she'd actually fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Heh. Go me.
So... yeah. That was my Tuesday night.
Monday, February 28, 2011
London Guy
Because my sister was having some little luck with EHarmony, I figured I'd give it a shot. At first I was sending communication requests to everyone and anyone I was matched with, thinking that EHarmony must have matched us for a reason. It was only later that I started being picky and paying more attention to the pictures, heights, and whether or not they wanted children.
Anyway, there was one named Simon who lived in England. He was asian, so yay. Not Japanese or Korean, but whatever. I liked what his profile had to say, stuff about exploring the natural world and always learning. He plays the violin, and I find that very sexy, and described himself as sweet and generous. One of the best parts was that he's well educated.
So I sent him my questions. He answered and we went on from there. Fairly soon, he sent his email address because his EHarmony subscription was ending. I invited him to speak to me on Facebook. We began by messaging. Then we started chatting. So, turns out that Simon's birth name is Xinye. He was born in China and moved to England about 4 years ago. From then on, I was incredibly impressed with his grasp of english.
There I was, thinking Xinye was going to sound like Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, or Jet Lee. But when we moved to phone conversations (made possible by SKYPE) he sounded like Hugh Grant! He had the perfect English accent. Blown away? Oh yeah.
I was already planning on visiting England, and even hoping to be able to move there for a year or two, so how awesome would it be if I found a guy there? Pretty awesome, that's how awesome.
I really like the guy. He's sweet, intelligent, funny, and can have a scathing insults to answer my own.
I'll keep everyone posted if good things happen. Otherwise, I'll probably just never mention the guy again. Hehehehe
Anyway, there was one named Simon who lived in England. He was asian, so yay. Not Japanese or Korean, but whatever. I liked what his profile had to say, stuff about exploring the natural world and always learning. He plays the violin, and I find that very sexy, and described himself as sweet and generous. One of the best parts was that he's well educated.
So I sent him my questions. He answered and we went on from there. Fairly soon, he sent his email address because his EHarmony subscription was ending. I invited him to speak to me on Facebook. We began by messaging. Then we started chatting. So, turns out that Simon's birth name is Xinye. He was born in China and moved to England about 4 years ago. From then on, I was incredibly impressed with his grasp of english.
There I was, thinking Xinye was going to sound like Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, or Jet Lee. But when we moved to phone conversations (made possible by SKYPE) he sounded like Hugh Grant! He had the perfect English accent. Blown away? Oh yeah.
I was already planning on visiting England, and even hoping to be able to move there for a year or two, so how awesome would it be if I found a guy there? Pretty awesome, that's how awesome.
I really like the guy. He's sweet, intelligent, funny, and can have a scathing insults to answer my own.
I'll keep everyone posted if good things happen. Otherwise, I'll probably just never mention the guy again. Hehehehe
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Stop Getting Your Costumes From Second Hand Stores!
Is there a more natural list to make after Fire Your Make-Up Artist, than Stop Getting Your Costumes From Second Hand Stores? Oh no. And as easy as it was to find music videos for the make-up one, it's going to be even easier to find videos demonstrating a lack of good taste, self-preservation instinct, or even a sense of sight when it comes to the clothing choices made by most Korean boy bands. I might even make this a top 10 list instead of 5. In no particular order (this time) horribly dressed hot guys singing and dancing:
IMPORTANT NOTE: A video's appearance on this list does not mean that I don't like the song!
1.
TVXQ, Keep Your Head Down. Not all of the costumes here are hideous, just the one's that look like someone was trying to design couch fabric that would call to mind an owl with rabbit fur stuck to it's back. You'll see these monstrosities at 2:11.
And as a special side note, that glove that Max wears sucks too.
2.
MBlaq's Y. I think you can guess which costumes I find horrid, but I'm going to tell you anyway. The padded overalls horrible at 28 seconds, but when they start glowing in the dark like at 1:43 they becomes unbearable. This group has some cute guys who are not bad at dancing... but who can concentrate on stuff like that when they're dressed in the glow in the dark jump suits?? The answer to that is a resounding 'no one.'
3.
SHINee's Lucifer has some serious fashion fumbles. For instance, Onew's vest with the furry back. Ew. And Jonghyun... or the main singer, his is the only name I don't know by heart, his backless vest/jacket thing is just horrible. I don't even know if you'd be able to find that stuff in a second hand store because who would buy it in the first place? You'd probably have to actually put different parts of different pieces that you COULD find in a second hand store together in a really horrible way to get these costumes.
4.
JYJ's Ayyy Girl. Ok, there was a lot more make up than usual for DBSK in this video, but that's not what this list is about. Most of the costumes in this video look pretty good but Xiah's white hospital vest/apron thing is the stuff of horror stories. I haven't met anyone who liked that top. And that necklace at 43 seconds! It's like a whole bunch of dogtags tied together with random bits of fabrics, fishing line, and gum. I mean, Hero's necklace is big, but Xiah's is a monster. That was 500 second hand necklaces all put around his neck at once. Kudos!
5.
Beast's Bad Girl. I'm searching frantically for any part of any costume that I like here. All of the styles represented in this video were either never in, or were in so long ago as to be past even 'retro'. The feathers on one side, sleeveless other side is nauseating. The parachute pants, with one leg rolled up, the enormous shoulder pads, the skirt looking things, and did we notice the thick ugly plastic necklace thing at 34 seconds? Just horrible. I have yet to see half of these things in second hand stores, but I'm sure if I hunted long enough, (and in enough countries) I'd find exact replicas that no one wanted.
6.
If you weren't expecting F.Cuz's Wanna Be Your Love on this list, leave right now. You don't belong here. Shoo! If, however, you've merely been waiting for this one, then yes, you were right. There was not a single item of clothing or accessory in this video that was not sitting in a thrift store somewhere for years before these guys swooped down on it 5 minutes before shooting. Maybe the store was having a 'Pitch Black, Half Off' promotion. How else would anyone even conceive of these combinations??
7.
G Dragon's G Market. Not one of the songs I listen to regularly, but when I decided that I wanted to do a list of horribly dressed Korean singers, I knew right away that G Dragon was going to be making an appearance. I just didn't know which song since he has so many that could have made the list (see the slinky in Heartbreaker and the My Little Pony in Butterfly and feel free to pick any costume from Knock Out). However, since the title involved second hand stores instead of just funny looking clothes, this song stood out. Is there a single thing he's wearing that you don't think you'd ever find in a second hand store? No. I didn't think so either. All of it looked thrown together from a thrift store shopping spree.
And really, that's all the bands I listen to. So they all made the list! Heh. There must be a law in Korea that all boy bands must support their local Salvation Army store in at least one music video. I'm choosing to believe this because otherwise there's just no excuse for the horrible badness of their clothing decisions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: A video's appearance on this list does not mean that I don't like the song!
1.
TVXQ, Keep Your Head Down. Not all of the costumes here are hideous, just the one's that look like someone was trying to design couch fabric that would call to mind an owl with rabbit fur stuck to it's back. You'll see these monstrosities at 2:11.
And as a special side note, that glove that Max wears sucks too.
2.
MBlaq's Y. I think you can guess which costumes I find horrid, but I'm going to tell you anyway. The padded overalls horrible at 28 seconds, but when they start glowing in the dark like at 1:43 they becomes unbearable. This group has some cute guys who are not bad at dancing... but who can concentrate on stuff like that when they're dressed in the glow in the dark jump suits?? The answer to that is a resounding 'no one.'
3.
SHINee's Lucifer has some serious fashion fumbles. For instance, Onew's vest with the furry back. Ew. And Jonghyun... or the main singer, his is the only name I don't know by heart, his backless vest/jacket thing is just horrible. I don't even know if you'd be able to find that stuff in a second hand store because who would buy it in the first place? You'd probably have to actually put different parts of different pieces that you COULD find in a second hand store together in a really horrible way to get these costumes.
4.
JYJ's Ayyy Girl. Ok, there was a lot more make up than usual for DBSK in this video, but that's not what this list is about. Most of the costumes in this video look pretty good but Xiah's white hospital vest/apron thing is the stuff of horror stories. I haven't met anyone who liked that top. And that necklace at 43 seconds! It's like a whole bunch of dogtags tied together with random bits of fabrics, fishing line, and gum. I mean, Hero's necklace is big, but Xiah's is a monster. That was 500 second hand necklaces all put around his neck at once. Kudos!
5.
Beast's Bad Girl. I'm searching frantically for any part of any costume that I like here. All of the styles represented in this video were either never in, or were in so long ago as to be past even 'retro'. The feathers on one side, sleeveless other side is nauseating. The parachute pants, with one leg rolled up, the enormous shoulder pads, the skirt looking things, and did we notice the thick ugly plastic necklace thing at 34 seconds? Just horrible. I have yet to see half of these things in second hand stores, but I'm sure if I hunted long enough, (and in enough countries) I'd find exact replicas that no one wanted.
6.
If you weren't expecting F.Cuz's Wanna Be Your Love on this list, leave right now. You don't belong here. Shoo! If, however, you've merely been waiting for this one, then yes, you were right. There was not a single item of clothing or accessory in this video that was not sitting in a thrift store somewhere for years before these guys swooped down on it 5 minutes before shooting. Maybe the store was having a 'Pitch Black, Half Off' promotion. How else would anyone even conceive of these combinations??
7.
G Dragon's G Market. Not one of the songs I listen to regularly, but when I decided that I wanted to do a list of horribly dressed Korean singers, I knew right away that G Dragon was going to be making an appearance. I just didn't know which song since he has so many that could have made the list (see the slinky in Heartbreaker and the My Little Pony in Butterfly and feel free to pick any costume from Knock Out). However, since the title involved second hand stores instead of just funny looking clothes, this song stood out. Is there a single thing he's wearing that you don't think you'd ever find in a second hand store? No. I didn't think so either. All of it looked thrown together from a thrift store shopping spree.
And really, that's all the bands I listen to. So they all made the list! Heh. There must be a law in Korea that all boy bands must support their local Salvation Army store in at least one music video. I'm choosing to believe this because otherwise there's just no excuse for the horrible badness of their clothing decisions.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
War With Pencils
I have waged a silent war for many, many years now and have decided to share my pain here, finally.
In elementary school, I used to bite my pencils, leaving teeth marks and often, pulling off the metal eraser holder thing. I left many a pencil horribly scarred and disfigured by my thoughtless acts. I didn't know it then, but pencils hold grudges.
Ever since then, pencils have fought me tooth and nail (so to speak) for every line I've ever coaxed from them. Ever since then, my hand writing has been atrocious and later, when I decided that I liked to draw, my attempts were abysmal. When I try to put a simple straight line on a piece of paper, the pencil is always pushing in direction I didn't want to go or being too heavy or too light.
The revenge continues even to this day even though it has been many years since my last pencil maiming.
I have since tried to make peace with the things. I've bought cute little eraser things to adorn them with, kept them sharp, and not even so much as gummed the wood. But their loyalty to fallen brethren is touching because they still haven't forgotten, nor forgiven.
It seems my war will continue for the rest of my life. So take this warning, if it is not already too late for you too, and treat all writing implements with respect and care! Beware Pencils' wrath!
In elementary school, I used to bite my pencils, leaving teeth marks and often, pulling off the metal eraser holder thing. I left many a pencil horribly scarred and disfigured by my thoughtless acts. I didn't know it then, but pencils hold grudges.
Ever since then, pencils have fought me tooth and nail (so to speak) for every line I've ever coaxed from them. Ever since then, my hand writing has been atrocious and later, when I decided that I liked to draw, my attempts were abysmal. When I try to put a simple straight line on a piece of paper, the pencil is always pushing in direction I didn't want to go or being too heavy or too light.
The revenge continues even to this day even though it has been many years since my last pencil maiming.
I have since tried to make peace with the things. I've bought cute little eraser things to adorn them with, kept them sharp, and not even so much as gummed the wood. But their loyalty to fallen brethren is touching because they still haven't forgotten, nor forgiven.
It seems my war will continue for the rest of my life. So take this warning, if it is not already too late for you too, and treat all writing implements with respect and care! Beware Pencils' wrath!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Fire Your Make-Up Artists!
Since there are no new or exciting music videos for me to review, I've decided to put together another list. My first list was the Top 5 Worst 'Hard' Videos. This one should be just as fun. Top 5 Groups Who Need To Fire Their Make-Up Artists. Woohoo! Wow, how am I going to narrow this down to five??
5) DBSK. This one kind of hurts because DBSK, when they were five, was actually really good about the make-up not being over powering. In fact, Triangle is the only music video in which their make-up drew away from the song. Since it was a group effort with many bands contributing, I'm assuming that the make-up artists that messed them up were borrowed. Still, DBSK should have checked credentials before they let those people get anywhere near their pretty faces. Max and Uknow bore the brunt of the artsy make-up failures. I can see drawing with glitter paint or gluing feathers onto masks, but not on their actual faces! And Micky is too masculine to be sporting that much eye liner (especially when that shot comes up where you see his hairy pit. Two things that should never be together, eye liner and body hair). Go sit in the corner and think about what you've done, make-up artists. Then hand in your resignation letter!
4) Trax. Alright, only two of the four members over did the make-up enough to be put on this list, but I'm not criticising the bands in this blog, I'm criticising the artists so inconsistency is just another mark against these guys as far as I'm concerned. In their music video, Paradox, Trax members Rose...and other dude, are just fugly. Rose is the one in the red with his eyebrows thinned out to almost non-existent lines over bright blue eyes and under platinum blond hair. His face is just washed out to the point of ugliness, which is really sad, because guy is actually really cute! And then the other one seemed to have gotten a brown marker to his face around his eyes. This song is attempting to be much to hard to support such make-up choices. Hey make-up people... you have a back up career choice in mind, right? Hopefully?
As opposed to the potential:
3) U-Kiss. It was hard to choose only one song for this band because they really like their make-up. I almost went with Binguel Binguel because of the glitter around the one dude's eye that was overdone and ugly. But after watching Man Man Hani again, I had what I consider a clear winner. All of them have eye-liner that's a bit much, even by the liberal standards in Korea. And if you know which one Alex is, then you know what a cutie he can be and how badly they had to mess up in order to get him looking like a total freak in the video. I want to roll up a newspaper and swat their make-up artist in the nose. 'No! Bad!'
2) Teen Top! Everyone should have been expecting this one since Supa Luv was recently reviewed and I made a big deal about their street walker make-up. This make-up wasn't globbed on like some of the other bands that made the list. It was put on with an artful but incredibly heavy hand. I'd compare them with very pretty clowns I think. Maybe, since they're a newish band, they didn't have the funds to hire real make-up artists and they just brought in some one's mom... who over did it as some moms tend to do? In which case, there are ways to divorce your parents.
1) 2Pm! Anyone else think the boys in I'll Be Back looked like a bunch of three year olds who got into their mom's make-up bag? I mean, I guess they didn't get crazy with lipstick but that eyeshadow is just wretched. Did professional make-up artists really do this? On purpose? And the ribbon across the face? That's a perfect example of a child trying to out do her mom with her mom's cosmetics. What were they thinking? And who let them think it?? Somebody stop them!
5) DBSK. This one kind of hurts because DBSK, when they were five, was actually really good about the make-up not being over powering. In fact, Triangle is the only music video in which their make-up drew away from the song. Since it was a group effort with many bands contributing, I'm assuming that the make-up artists that messed them up were borrowed. Still, DBSK should have checked credentials before they let those people get anywhere near their pretty faces. Max and Uknow bore the brunt of the artsy make-up failures. I can see drawing with glitter paint or gluing feathers onto masks, but not on their actual faces! And Micky is too masculine to be sporting that much eye liner (especially when that shot comes up where you see his hairy pit. Two things that should never be together, eye liner and body hair). Go sit in the corner and think about what you've done, make-up artists. Then hand in your resignation letter!
4) Trax. Alright, only two of the four members over did the make-up enough to be put on this list, but I'm not criticising the bands in this blog, I'm criticising the artists so inconsistency is just another mark against these guys as far as I'm concerned. In their music video, Paradox, Trax members Rose...and other dude, are just fugly. Rose is the one in the red with his eyebrows thinned out to almost non-existent lines over bright blue eyes and under platinum blond hair. His face is just washed out to the point of ugliness, which is really sad, because guy is actually really cute! And then the other one seemed to have gotten a brown marker to his face around his eyes. This song is attempting to be much to hard to support such make-up choices. Hey make-up people... you have a back up career choice in mind, right? Hopefully?
As opposed to the potential:
3) U-Kiss. It was hard to choose only one song for this band because they really like their make-up. I almost went with Binguel Binguel because of the glitter around the one dude's eye that was overdone and ugly. But after watching Man Man Hani again, I had what I consider a clear winner. All of them have eye-liner that's a bit much, even by the liberal standards in Korea. And if you know which one Alex is, then you know what a cutie he can be and how badly they had to mess up in order to get him looking like a total freak in the video. I want to roll up a newspaper and swat their make-up artist in the nose. 'No! Bad!'
2) Teen Top! Everyone should have been expecting this one since Supa Luv was recently reviewed and I made a big deal about their street walker make-up. This make-up wasn't globbed on like some of the other bands that made the list. It was put on with an artful but incredibly heavy hand. I'd compare them with very pretty clowns I think. Maybe, since they're a newish band, they didn't have the funds to hire real make-up artists and they just brought in some one's mom... who over did it as some moms tend to do? In which case, there are ways to divorce your parents.
1) 2Pm! Anyone else think the boys in I'll Be Back looked like a bunch of three year olds who got into their mom's make-up bag? I mean, I guess they didn't get crazy with lipstick but that eyeshadow is just wretched. Did professional make-up artists really do this? On purpose? And the ribbon across the face? That's a perfect example of a child trying to out do her mom with her mom's cosmetics. What were they thinking? And who let them think it?? Somebody stop them!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Rain's Love Song Review
A very small deviation from the norm here. Instead of a boy band, we're doing a solo artist today. We all know and love Rain (Bi) right? Yeah, I know. He's the star of Ninja Assassin, and played the bad Asian guy in that new version of Speed Racer that came out a few years ago. Not many Americans know that he was a huge star in Korea before he ever came here. He's a singer/actor and probably a model to boot.
I'm not a huge fan of his songs because they're all pretty slow and I like dance songs, but this song (though slow) struck me as memorable and so here it is: Love Song by Rain.
As for his costume, it's minimal except that some one when hog wild with a Bedazzler. The mad bedazzler somehow got a hold of his hat, his vest, and even the poor guy's shoes! But Rain didn't let that stop him! Rather than panic, he stayed a true professional and wore the graffitied clothes for a few scenes and then, when he just couldn't stand it any more, took off his clothes. Way to go, Rain!
He didn't have much make up on for most of the video, which is good because Rain is just one of those guys who's way too masculine to be able to pull of the kind of make-up other boy bands tend to prefer. He did have a weird, cartoon moment where he had short, thick eye lashes drawn under his eyes at 0:23, but it was mercifully brief and only shows up sporadically again after that. So, the make-up was good.
I'm going to switch it up a little here and explain the English translation first because you have to know what the song's about to know how absurd the dancing is, which is why I chose to review this song in the first place. The song is basically Rain lamenting that his relationship with the girl is over. The first line says, "I'm wandering around your house alone again," which I thought was kind of creepy since they've broken up. What's he doing alone in her house? Anyway, he continues to say that it's too late, there's nothing that will changer her heart toward him now. That the hand that knows his body so well is now pushing him away. (Suggestive in a raunchy kind of way? Yes) He repeats the line, "What shall I do, what shall I do?" a lot. So it's a sad lover's song that's saying goodbye, though it's sad, we're over.
There wasn't much dancing. Love Song is very slow. But what dancing there is, is very raunchy! It's all stripper moves! "I'm so sad we're over" while undulating your body so that attention is called to your six pack and junk is not exactly the remorseful regret the words of the song suggest. The music video made the song seem really crass to me. "The hand that's so used to my body is now pushing me away." Along with the pulling his shirt over his head to show off more of his oiled down, tan skin just screams, "The Sex Is Still Good! Why Are We Breaking Up??" It just seems so shallow and... physical.
But as long as we're not focusing on such things as 'meaning' and 'context' the dance moves were fun to watch. The song, not so fun, but we make allowances for Rain, right? ~laughs~
Beware the Bedazzler! Don't let them get you too!
I'm not a huge fan of his songs because they're all pretty slow and I like dance songs, but this song (though slow) struck me as memorable and so here it is: Love Song by Rain.
As for his costume, it's minimal except that some one when hog wild with a Bedazzler. The mad bedazzler somehow got a hold of his hat, his vest, and even the poor guy's shoes! But Rain didn't let that stop him! Rather than panic, he stayed a true professional and wore the graffitied clothes for a few scenes and then, when he just couldn't stand it any more, took off his clothes. Way to go, Rain!
He didn't have much make up on for most of the video, which is good because Rain is just one of those guys who's way too masculine to be able to pull of the kind of make-up other boy bands tend to prefer. He did have a weird, cartoon moment where he had short, thick eye lashes drawn under his eyes at 0:23, but it was mercifully brief and only shows up sporadically again after that. So, the make-up was good.
I'm going to switch it up a little here and explain the English translation first because you have to know what the song's about to know how absurd the dancing is, which is why I chose to review this song in the first place. The song is basically Rain lamenting that his relationship with the girl is over. The first line says, "I'm wandering around your house alone again," which I thought was kind of creepy since they've broken up. What's he doing alone in her house? Anyway, he continues to say that it's too late, there's nothing that will changer her heart toward him now. That the hand that knows his body so well is now pushing him away. (Suggestive in a raunchy kind of way? Yes) He repeats the line, "What shall I do, what shall I do?" a lot. So it's a sad lover's song that's saying goodbye, though it's sad, we're over.
There wasn't much dancing. Love Song is very slow. But what dancing there is, is very raunchy! It's all stripper moves! "I'm so sad we're over" while undulating your body so that attention is called to your six pack and junk is not exactly the remorseful regret the words of the song suggest. The music video made the song seem really crass to me. "The hand that's so used to my body is now pushing me away." Along with the pulling his shirt over his head to show off more of his oiled down, tan skin just screams, "The Sex Is Still Good! Why Are We Breaking Up??" It just seems so shallow and... physical.
But as long as we're not focusing on such things as 'meaning' and 'context' the dance moves were fun to watch. The song, not so fun, but we make allowances for Rain, right? ~laughs~
Beware the Bedazzler! Don't let them get you too!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Supa Love By Teen Top
I don't mind telling you that I've been panicking just a little because I couldn't find any new videos to review. I've done most of the songs I like and I don't really want to post songs I don't like because then you might watch them and think that my blog is boring because I'm reviewing boring songs. See?
But I just stumbled upon Supa Love, or Supa Luv, depending on who's posting the song, by Teen Top. I've seen only one other song by Teen Top and it was ok, but the boys looked so young that I couldn't get into it. This one is only marginally better in my opinion, but you'll have a chance to see for yourself, of course.
Today's song, Supa Luv by Teen Top:
I only found this music video about 20 minutes ago so I'm still reeling from my first impression. So I'm going to share that before I get down to the actual review. There's a freaking lot of make-up. Way lot of make-up! And the first few seconds of dancing, 0:24 - 0:30 or so, reminded me, spot on, of a work out video. (By the way, I had no idea what he was saying during those 6 seconds. "I'm Michael J. I'm Michael J?" Is he comparing himself to Michael Jackson?? But no, he's actually saying, "I make them say, I make them say") And what the heck is that move where they're bending backwards with their hands on their stomachs doing that shoulder thing? That looks so weird!
Ok! Now that I have that out of my system, lets get onto the review in a slightly more controlled, professional manner, shall we?
I really liked how the music video put all their names on screen. They did it in the secret agent way that made the overt attempt at personalizing the merchandise (ie the boys) very comfortable and convenient. And now that I've seen the video a couple times, I'm going to be able to use their names in this blog. But don't worry, I'll still include descriptions and time stamps for those who aren't as psycho as me and only watch the video once or twice.
I liked all of the costumes except the shiny track suit/jump suit get-ups with the silver strap, looking stripe things. In case that was not an understandable description ~laughs~ I'm talking about the costumes that the boys are wearing when they first drop onto the stage, and are most clearly seen at :20 into the video. The others were good though. You can't go wrong with pure white. Their street clothes were fashionable and wouldn't attract snickers or pointing fingers if actually worn out in public. Their black and white costumes were unique and attention grabbing without being ugly. I didn't really like the gloves, but I'm seeing more and more of them in Korean music videos so I'm starting to think I'm just going to have to get used to them. I'm also not super taken with the glasses that one of them is wearing with his white costume. Those always remind me, no matter what color they are or what the frames have in them, of Geordi's visor from Star Trek.
(I looked for a very long time but there is no bigger or better pictures of Changjo in those glasses, so either deal with this little one or just watch the video again!)
(Oh, and Veronica, really likes these glasses. She says she wants them because they're shiny.)
About the make-up... is there a single inch of them that wasn't subjected to paint-thick make-up or unholy amounts of hair dye? I thought the amount of make-up on each boy would look over-done on a woman, much less these young men. In my shock, I nearly fell off my seat the first time there was a zoom in on Neil's face at :19. His crazy hair and the eye make-up made him look like a street-walker. Do you see all that silver eyeshadow? And the eye liner on the boys isn't the usual "guy-liner" where it's thick but in what has been deemed a 'masculine' way. Teen Top wears their eye liner in the really feminine style called 'cat eyes' that just floors me every time I see it. And if you've paused the video at :19 to really appreciate the severe weight of make up that these boys had to dance with, you'll also notice a rather incredible amount of lip liner too, though that is inevitably dwarfed to the point of being inconsequential next all that eye liner. Having looked around for hours in search of a picture of Changjo in his Geordi visor, I found comments by other people that indicate Neil's hair was the biggest gripe for the video (in the hair department) (and Neil is still the :19 guy). The only one who retained a semblance of normalcy when it came to their hair was Ricky. I personally found the light pink hair the most distracting.
I mean, it's not just me right? This is like, bubble gum pink? Anyway, so Hair and Make-up? A lot. That's the sum of it. Just, a lot.
There were a lot of great dancing moments in this video. They showed off their acrobatic skills when Changjo did that no-handed cartwheel at 1:45 and one of my favorite parts was that folding wave thing that looked really cool at 2:37. The group released a dance version of the song a couple weeks after the original music video. The song didn't change but the new version is all dance instead of the super spy plot line. Here, let me dig it up for you so you can see.
I don't know if I'm easily amused or what, but I actually really liked the visual affect of the move they did at :20 and the more I see it, the more I like the move I've decided to call, 'kiss your shoulders.' See example at 1:00. My least favorite dance move is at 1:10 and ends at 1:13. I'm not sure what they were trying to do there, but it just isn't very impressive. And lastly in the dance section, I really didn't like the dance move that they do when they're singing the 'Lu-uh-uh-uh-uh-uv' (see 1:33) until Veronica pointed out... quite loudly, and right in my ear... "They're doing the Sprinkler!!" And you know what? She was right! Take a look, they're totally doing the sprinkler!
So, now I love that move every time they do it.
A large part of the chorus is English, so there's plenty of it throughout the song. I can't tell you precisely why, but my favorite English line is the, "la la la la la, tell me that you love me too." I think it sounds just the slightest bit Arabic, which is what makes it so different, which might be what I like about it so much. Also, it may just be the least slangy English of the song. I'm not opposed to Americanized (read 'butchered') English in Kpop songs, but Teen Top really used the word 'Supa' a lot in this song. A lot, a lot. Kind of like their make-up. *Ooh, ow!* It gets just the smallest bit repetitive after a while, but that may be only because I've seen it about 15 times within the last 12 hours. Maybe. But there's enough English that I get to sing along in fits and starts all the way through and I really appreciate that, so kudos!
As for the meaning of the song, it's a guy trying to convince a girl to go out with him when she's hesitating. He's telling her that he has that 'supa luv' and can make all of her wishes come true. He knows her better than anyone else ever will and she needs to accept him instead of over-thinking it and losing her chance. He's telling her that he loves her more than that other guy can, more than the sky and ocean are big and wide. It's kinda cute in that 'full of yourself much?' kind of way boy bands have.
All in all, I really like the song. It's catchy and as soon as it comes available as an mp3, it's going on my phone. This is just another song that's better as audio only. I don't think the music video will be making an appearance on my personal music players anytime soon. Yay Teen Top! (boo the make-up artists)
Alright, some days later Eatyourkimchi puts out their review...which turned out to be so much better than mine. ~sighs~ With more practise I may get better. Maybe?
But I just stumbled upon Supa Love, or Supa Luv, depending on who's posting the song, by Teen Top. I've seen only one other song by Teen Top and it was ok, but the boys looked so young that I couldn't get into it. This one is only marginally better in my opinion, but you'll have a chance to see for yourself, of course.
Today's song, Supa Luv by Teen Top:
I only found this music video about 20 minutes ago so I'm still reeling from my first impression. So I'm going to share that before I get down to the actual review. There's a freaking lot of make-up. Way lot of make-up! And the first few seconds of dancing, 0:24 - 0:30 or so, reminded me, spot on, of a work out video. (By the way, I had no idea what he was saying during those 6 seconds. "I'm Michael J. I'm Michael J?" Is he comparing himself to Michael Jackson?? But no, he's actually saying, "I make them say, I make them say") And what the heck is that move where they're bending backwards with their hands on their stomachs doing that shoulder thing? That looks so weird!
Ok! Now that I have that out of my system, lets get onto the review in a slightly more controlled, professional manner, shall we?
I really liked how the music video put all their names on screen. They did it in the secret agent way that made the overt attempt at personalizing the merchandise (ie the boys) very comfortable and convenient. And now that I've seen the video a couple times, I'm going to be able to use their names in this blog. But don't worry, I'll still include descriptions and time stamps for those who aren't as psycho as me and only watch the video once or twice.
I liked all of the costumes except the shiny track suit/jump suit get-ups with the silver strap, looking stripe things. In case that was not an understandable description ~laughs~ I'm talking about the costumes that the boys are wearing when they first drop onto the stage, and are most clearly seen at :20 into the video. The others were good though. You can't go wrong with pure white. Their street clothes were fashionable and wouldn't attract snickers or pointing fingers if actually worn out in public. Their black and white costumes were unique and attention grabbing without being ugly. I didn't really like the gloves, but I'm seeing more and more of them in Korean music videos so I'm starting to think I'm just going to have to get used to them. I'm also not super taken with the glasses that one of them is wearing with his white costume. Those always remind me, no matter what color they are or what the frames have in them, of Geordi's visor from Star Trek.
(I looked for a very long time but there is no bigger or better pictures of Changjo in those glasses, so either deal with this little one or just watch the video again!)
(Oh, and Veronica, really likes these glasses. She says she wants them because they're shiny.)
About the make-up... is there a single inch of them that wasn't subjected to paint-thick make-up or unholy amounts of hair dye? I thought the amount of make-up on each boy would look over-done on a woman, much less these young men. In my shock, I nearly fell off my seat the first time there was a zoom in on Neil's face at :19. His crazy hair and the eye make-up made him look like a street-walker. Do you see all that silver eyeshadow? And the eye liner on the boys isn't the usual "guy-liner" where it's thick but in what has been deemed a 'masculine' way. Teen Top wears their eye liner in the really feminine style called 'cat eyes' that just floors me every time I see it. And if you've paused the video at :19 to really appreciate the severe weight of make up that these boys had to dance with, you'll also notice a rather incredible amount of lip liner too, though that is inevitably dwarfed to the point of being inconsequential next all that eye liner. Having looked around for hours in search of a picture of Changjo in his Geordi visor, I found comments by other people that indicate Neil's hair was the biggest gripe for the video (in the hair department) (and Neil is still the :19 guy). The only one who retained a semblance of normalcy when it came to their hair was Ricky. I personally found the light pink hair the most distracting.
I mean, it's not just me right? This is like, bubble gum pink? Anyway, so Hair and Make-up? A lot. That's the sum of it. Just, a lot.
There were a lot of great dancing moments in this video. They showed off their acrobatic skills when Changjo did that no-handed cartwheel at 1:45 and one of my favorite parts was that folding wave thing that looked really cool at 2:37. The group released a dance version of the song a couple weeks after the original music video. The song didn't change but the new version is all dance instead of the super spy plot line. Here, let me dig it up for you so you can see.
I don't know if I'm easily amused or what, but I actually really liked the visual affect of the move they did at :20 and the more I see it, the more I like the move I've decided to call, 'kiss your shoulders.' See example at 1:00. My least favorite dance move is at 1:10 and ends at 1:13. I'm not sure what they were trying to do there, but it just isn't very impressive. And lastly in the dance section, I really didn't like the dance move that they do when they're singing the 'Lu-uh-uh-uh-uh-uv' (see 1:33) until Veronica pointed out... quite loudly, and right in my ear... "They're doing the Sprinkler!!" And you know what? She was right! Take a look, they're totally doing the sprinkler!
So, now I love that move every time they do it.
A large part of the chorus is English, so there's plenty of it throughout the song. I can't tell you precisely why, but my favorite English line is the, "la la la la la, tell me that you love me too." I think it sounds just the slightest bit Arabic, which is what makes it so different, which might be what I like about it so much. Also, it may just be the least slangy English of the song. I'm not opposed to Americanized (read 'butchered') English in Kpop songs, but Teen Top really used the word 'Supa' a lot in this song. A lot, a lot. Kind of like their make-up. *Ooh, ow!* It gets just the smallest bit repetitive after a while, but that may be only because I've seen it about 15 times within the last 12 hours. Maybe. But there's enough English that I get to sing along in fits and starts all the way through and I really appreciate that, so kudos!
As for the meaning of the song, it's a guy trying to convince a girl to go out with him when she's hesitating. He's telling her that he has that 'supa luv' and can make all of her wishes come true. He knows her better than anyone else ever will and she needs to accept him instead of over-thinking it and losing her chance. He's telling her that he loves her more than that other guy can, more than the sky and ocean are big and wide. It's kinda cute in that 'full of yourself much?' kind of way boy bands have.
All in all, I really like the song. It's catchy and as soon as it comes available as an mp3, it's going on my phone. This is just another song that's better as audio only. I don't think the music video will be making an appearance on my personal music players anytime soon. Yay Teen Top! (boo the make-up artists)
Alright, some days later Eatyourkimchi puts out their review...which turned out to be so much better than mine. ~sighs~ With more practise I may get better. Maybe?
Growing Up/Old
I went to Target a couple weeks ago, before I got this nasty cold that's kept me under house arrest for the last few days, where a very little thing happened. It was so small in fact, that I barely noted it at first. But it has since been gnawing at me a little more each day until, finally, I have decided to share it here in hopes that I will feel, if not better, at least relieved that I have it off my chest.
You know those big, knee-high red balls that are in front of the stores as decorations?
Ok, there's only one in this picture, down in the right hand corner, but that's what I'm talking about.
I was walking out of the store with my purchases and looking for my car from just outside the door when I see this little kid, probably around eight or nine years old, run and leap-frog over one of the red balls.
So? Happens every day, right? So... that's what this blog is about? Really?
Yes. Really. Because right then it hit me. "Oh my goodness. I've become an adult." Yes, I'm 27 and have legally been an adult for some time, but this was the moment where it really struck me.
See, I realized that those red balls represented play possibilities for children, shields for tag, climbing opportunities, obstacle course hazards, etc. But all I saw upon walking into the store was red things to walk around and possibly a creative way for Target to keep drunk or enraged drivers from plowing into their store fronts with their vehicles.
I've lost my childish way of looking at things. I stopped looking at the world as a playground and it took a child using it as exactly that to show me my new perspective. That's what's been on my mind lately. Is it bad for an older person to see playground equipment in everyday life? Is it immature and irritating? Have I improved because I see the balls as things to walk around instead of play with, or the opposite? Am I a better person or have I lost something important?
It's been kind of sad because I liked being a kid. Is it too late to go back to that mindset? Would it be a bad thing to try?
You know those big, knee-high red balls that are in front of the stores as decorations?
Ok, there's only one in this picture, down in the right hand corner, but that's what I'm talking about.
I was walking out of the store with my purchases and looking for my car from just outside the door when I see this little kid, probably around eight or nine years old, run and leap-frog over one of the red balls.
So? Happens every day, right? So... that's what this blog is about? Really?
Yes. Really. Because right then it hit me. "Oh my goodness. I've become an adult." Yes, I'm 27 and have legally been an adult for some time, but this was the moment where it really struck me.
See, I realized that those red balls represented play possibilities for children, shields for tag, climbing opportunities, obstacle course hazards, etc. But all I saw upon walking into the store was red things to walk around and possibly a creative way for Target to keep drunk or enraged drivers from plowing into their store fronts with their vehicles.
I've lost my childish way of looking at things. I stopped looking at the world as a playground and it took a child using it as exactly that to show me my new perspective. That's what's been on my mind lately. Is it bad for an older person to see playground equipment in everyday life? Is it immature and irritating? Have I improved because I see the balls as things to walk around instead of play with, or the opposite? Am I a better person or have I lost something important?
It's been kind of sad because I liked being a kid. Is it too late to go back to that mindset? Would it be a bad thing to try?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Infinite's 'Before The Dawn' Review
Alrighty. This is a new band that I don't have much experience with but they're called Infinite and have seven members. I'm not going to list their names because, let's face it, would anybody remember them? I don't, and I'm the one writing the blog! I do like their songs, but as of this very moment, Infinite has yet to be added to my 'favorite bands' list. Oh, and I thought it was kinda funny, but the Before The Dawn music video has been banned from airing because of the gratuitous violence... which I think is funny in a, 'really stupid' kind of way. And, tada! Infinite's Before The Dawn!
Yeah, so the 'gratuitous violence' is the relatively mild fight sequence between the boys. Apparently, the record company refused to change it because it represented the internal struggle of the person singing the song. I don't think I get the music video enough to say that I'm glad they didn't change it. I've been trying to find an explanation for what everything represents and the story behind the video, but so far... nothing.
Alright, so first impression, the music video made me think of Survivor by DBSK. The stylishly ripped and tattered clothes, the messy hair that some how manages to look amazing instead of dirty, the slightly fuzzy look that implies you're watching from a security monitor, and the dim lighting all brought me back to the first time I watched my fav five sing their incredibly happy and hopeful song in a post-holocaust setting.
That's about where the similarities end though because Infinite's song is not a happy, peppy song. The music reminds me a little of nineties fight music and sounds anything but endlessly optimistic. It sounds to me, if anything, determined.
I liked the costumes in this music video. Since there was actually a story going on, there aren't a whole lot of scenes where the seven members are dancing so the group only wears one outfit each. And I like them. They're black, or dark, dark grey and while they are each unique, some with a chain, some with fringe, different buttons, and collar lines, they all go well together. And then there are the two boys whom the video is about. And their costumes are realistic to their situation, which is, as far as I can tell, fugitive escaped inmates. So, kudos on the costumes.
I also liked the there wasn't ridiculous amounts of make up. There was enough to make them look all pretty, or beat up-depending on the scene, and that was it. No layers of eye liner, no sparkly lip gloss, no eye shadow. Again, I was very happy with this. However, the reddish pink hair was a little off and the one with the platinum blond hair really shouldn't have curled it. But then I ask myself, 'Would this be a Korean boy band' if there were no over the top elements to the video?' to which I must honestly answer, 'Aw, shut up.'
There wasn't a whole lot of dancing in the video unless you want to count the fight sequences, which in a way you would not be wrong to do. I really liked the part at 2:56 when they start off laying on their stomachs and then roll up to their feet. I've always been really impressed by that move and they all did it at once and into a circle, so that right there made the biggest impression on me. When they were dancing, there seemed to be more upper body movement than lower body which is what they do with a group that is a little weak in the dancing department. I can't say this for sure, of course, because I've only seen two of Infinite's music videos but I'd say that their members are stronger singers than dancers.
I'm going to let you form your own opinion on it though. Here is a dance practise for Before The Dawn. (I really like these. Ever since SHINee's Lucifer dance practice, I look for them specifically because sometimes they're better than the videos themselves.)
I like this version because it shows that half staggering backwards step thing that didn't show up in the video but was really well done in that it conveyed the mood perfectly, and there's more of the 'Before the dawn' dance moves where their hands pass in front of their faces. I like this, probably because it reminds me of Melissa's highschool talent show where she performed 'Make a Man Out of You' from Mulan. PS: I liked the pink hair guy popping up after the song and everyone else has kept the pose and he looks over at them like, 'oh, woops. How long were we supposed to stay down? Are we going to have to do it all over again now?'
As for the contents of the song, he's a total stalker. He's saying that before the dawn his feelings aren't obsession and that before for dawn he has to grab her and no matter how many times she turns him down, they'll end up together. He says that he feels like a beggar because all he does is be there for her and be at her side and hope that she'll come to feel the same way for him. It would be really creepy if it wasn't sung by these seven cute Korean guys. As it is, it's a little creepy still, but more flattering.
There is plenty of english in this song even though it is hard to understand at times. I actually think it's pretty cute they way they say 'heart.' It's not heart like we say it but with a hard a, like they were saying hair with a t at the end. Hairt. Preciouses.
So, I'm looking forward to hearing more Infinite because they have definite potential.
Yeah, so the 'gratuitous violence' is the relatively mild fight sequence between the boys. Apparently, the record company refused to change it because it represented the internal struggle of the person singing the song. I don't think I get the music video enough to say that I'm glad they didn't change it. I've been trying to find an explanation for what everything represents and the story behind the video, but so far... nothing.
Alright, so first impression, the music video made me think of Survivor by DBSK. The stylishly ripped and tattered clothes, the messy hair that some how manages to look amazing instead of dirty, the slightly fuzzy look that implies you're watching from a security monitor, and the dim lighting all brought me back to the first time I watched my fav five sing their incredibly happy and hopeful song in a post-holocaust setting.
That's about where the similarities end though because Infinite's song is not a happy, peppy song. The music reminds me a little of nineties fight music and sounds anything but endlessly optimistic. It sounds to me, if anything, determined.
I liked the costumes in this music video. Since there was actually a story going on, there aren't a whole lot of scenes where the seven members are dancing so the group only wears one outfit each. And I like them. They're black, or dark, dark grey and while they are each unique, some with a chain, some with fringe, different buttons, and collar lines, they all go well together. And then there are the two boys whom the video is about. And their costumes are realistic to their situation, which is, as far as I can tell, fugitive escaped inmates. So, kudos on the costumes.
I also liked the there wasn't ridiculous amounts of make up. There was enough to make them look all pretty, or beat up-depending on the scene, and that was it. No layers of eye liner, no sparkly lip gloss, no eye shadow. Again, I was very happy with this. However, the reddish pink hair was a little off and the one with the platinum blond hair really shouldn't have curled it. But then I ask myself, 'Would this be a Korean boy band' if there were no over the top elements to the video?' to which I must honestly answer, 'Aw, shut up.'
There wasn't a whole lot of dancing in the video unless you want to count the fight sequences, which in a way you would not be wrong to do. I really liked the part at 2:56 when they start off laying on their stomachs and then roll up to their feet. I've always been really impressed by that move and they all did it at once and into a circle, so that right there made the biggest impression on me. When they were dancing, there seemed to be more upper body movement than lower body which is what they do with a group that is a little weak in the dancing department. I can't say this for sure, of course, because I've only seen two of Infinite's music videos but I'd say that their members are stronger singers than dancers.
I'm going to let you form your own opinion on it though. Here is a dance practise for Before The Dawn. (I really like these. Ever since SHINee's Lucifer dance practice, I look for them specifically because sometimes they're better than the videos themselves.)
I like this version because it shows that half staggering backwards step thing that didn't show up in the video but was really well done in that it conveyed the mood perfectly, and there's more of the 'Before the dawn' dance moves where their hands pass in front of their faces. I like this, probably because it reminds me of Melissa's highschool talent show where she performed 'Make a Man Out of You' from Mulan. PS: I liked the pink hair guy popping up after the song and everyone else has kept the pose and he looks over at them like, 'oh, woops. How long were we supposed to stay down? Are we going to have to do it all over again now?'
As for the contents of the song, he's a total stalker. He's saying that before the dawn his feelings aren't obsession and that before for dawn he has to grab her and no matter how many times she turns him down, they'll end up together. He says that he feels like a beggar because all he does is be there for her and be at her side and hope that she'll come to feel the same way for him. It would be really creepy if it wasn't sung by these seven cute Korean guys. As it is, it's a little creepy still, but more flattering.
There is plenty of english in this song even though it is hard to understand at times. I actually think it's pretty cute they way they say 'heart.' It's not heart like we say it but with a hard a, like they were saying hair with a t at the end. Hairt. Preciouses.
So, I'm looking forward to hearing more Infinite because they have definite potential.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Mblaq's 'Stay' Review
Haha! I've beaten eatyourkimchi to reviewing 'Stay' by Mblaq. Yay! I win.
So when I first watched this, for the first 20 seconds or so, I thought that some fan had put together a music video for the song since it seemed to me to be made of pieces of 'Cry' and cheesy effects, like turning everything red. I was so happy when I realized that it was a real and official music video.
I can't say I liked the costumes in this video as much as in Cry. I'm not sure why all the fur. Joon's white fur across the back of his black jacket bothers me for some reason, but not as much as the big tufts of black fur on only one shoulder of what's-his-name's white jacket. Just, just no. And then the white suit with the black leopard print. Oh, no. And the worst part? Those horrible gloves. Yeah, what's with the studded gloves lately? TVXQ's Max wore one and it didn't look good on him either. And lastly, the shiny gray pants. Not just a sheen, mind you, shiny! Like, made of plastic, shiny.
The dance was interesting. And I found a video of Rain teaching it to the boys.
For some reason the dance struck me as feminine. I think it has to do with the legs and hips, or maybe it's the fluttery hand... I don't know. It's hard to break down. I'm not saying it's bad, just... feminine. There really weren't any parts of the dance that stand out to me as amazing or especially catchy but it flows well. I thought it was kind of cute when Joon traced the outline of a heart on his chest. I hadn't seen anyone do that yet, so it was fresh and adorable.
Mblaq did not disappoint with the make up. They just really like the 'stand out from the crowd' eye make up. They didn't wear so much eye shadow as eye liner and glitter. Wait, that sounds worse than it is. Um, shiny confetti. It didn't ruin the music video for me, and in fact, with the dramatic lighting, it was less noticeable than usual. It felt like half the music video was either done in strobe light or red light. So while the make up was a little bit extensive, I didn't feel that it detracted from the video.
The song's contents are fairly typical. His girlfriend left him and he doesn't understand why since he thought they were going to be together forever and he'd gambled everything on it. The lyrics make it sound like the singer gave up a lot to be with the girl and he loves her even though her moods are volatile. He says at one point that she'd said words of parting so many times before that he thought she'd been joking this time too, but that was one day, two days, three days ago and still he hadn't heard anything from her. So he's asking her to stay with him, stay in his heart.
There's definitely enough english scattered throughout the song to keep me interested. And it's not as heavily accented as say, Infinite's Before The Dawn. Mblaq actually pronounced their 'heart' like we do instead of 'hairt.' I don't know if anyone else thinks this, or if I'm just special, but Joon looks just a little bit weird when he's saying his english lines, like he's pulling his upper lip tightly across his teeth. I actually thought it looked good, like he was being really intense or something, but it just seemed... different.
And that's what I thought of Stay by Mblaq.
So when I first watched this, for the first 20 seconds or so, I thought that some fan had put together a music video for the song since it seemed to me to be made of pieces of 'Cry' and cheesy effects, like turning everything red. I was so happy when I realized that it was a real and official music video.
I can't say I liked the costumes in this video as much as in Cry. I'm not sure why all the fur. Joon's white fur across the back of his black jacket bothers me for some reason, but not as much as the big tufts of black fur on only one shoulder of what's-his-name's white jacket. Just, just no. And then the white suit with the black leopard print. Oh, no. And the worst part? Those horrible gloves. Yeah, what's with the studded gloves lately? TVXQ's Max wore one and it didn't look good on him either. And lastly, the shiny gray pants. Not just a sheen, mind you, shiny! Like, made of plastic, shiny.
The dance was interesting. And I found a video of Rain teaching it to the boys.
For some reason the dance struck me as feminine. I think it has to do with the legs and hips, or maybe it's the fluttery hand... I don't know. It's hard to break down. I'm not saying it's bad, just... feminine. There really weren't any parts of the dance that stand out to me as amazing or especially catchy but it flows well. I thought it was kind of cute when Joon traced the outline of a heart on his chest. I hadn't seen anyone do that yet, so it was fresh and adorable.
Mblaq did not disappoint with the make up. They just really like the 'stand out from the crowd' eye make up. They didn't wear so much eye shadow as eye liner and glitter. Wait, that sounds worse than it is. Um, shiny confetti. It didn't ruin the music video for me, and in fact, with the dramatic lighting, it was less noticeable than usual. It felt like half the music video was either done in strobe light or red light. So while the make up was a little bit extensive, I didn't feel that it detracted from the video.
The song's contents are fairly typical. His girlfriend left him and he doesn't understand why since he thought they were going to be together forever and he'd gambled everything on it. The lyrics make it sound like the singer gave up a lot to be with the girl and he loves her even though her moods are volatile. He says at one point that she'd said words of parting so many times before that he thought she'd been joking this time too, but that was one day, two days, three days ago and still he hadn't heard anything from her. So he's asking her to stay with him, stay in his heart.
There's definitely enough english scattered throughout the song to keep me interested. And it's not as heavily accented as say, Infinite's Before The Dawn. Mblaq actually pronounced their 'heart' like we do instead of 'hairt.' I don't know if anyone else thinks this, or if I'm just special, but Joon looks just a little bit weird when he's saying his english lines, like he's pulling his upper lip tightly across his teeth. I actually thought it looked good, like he was being really intense or something, but it just seemed... different.
And that's what I thought of Stay by Mblaq.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Failed Job Interview
Alright, so I had a job interview in Sacramento and was thinking how very inconvenient it would be to have that kind of commute. Low and behold, I get a call for a job interview in Ceres, which is only half an hour from home as opposed to two hours, so I'm all excited!
Of course, Ceres wants the job interview on the same day as the one in Sacramento. All I could think was, 'really?' Out of all the possibilities... It's like someone knew, and just wanted to stress me out. But, the Sac interview is at 10 and the Ceres is at 1 and it will take an hour and a half to get there. I think, well, it's just an interview because I'd already filled out the application and done the assessment tests in the first Sac interview. As long as my interview doesn't talk for more than an hour and a half, I'll be fine.
So I get to Sac where they ask if I want to take another assessment exam, this time for a higher position. Then, when I'm done about half an hour later, they ask me to wait for just a little bit so I can interview with the manager, who is on her way. I do so, and at about 11 we're done, and then they wanted to do another interview with the regional and vice president. And I think, 'aw well. This job would pay more anyway.'
So I interview. This one takes about as long and I don't get out of the office until 12:30. I turn them down when they ask if I want to take a look at the property, letting them know that I had another interview. And bolted with an hour and a half drive to get to Ceres and only half an hour to get there.
I called every two or three minutes, trying to get a hold of the manager to let him know that I was going to be late, and that I was sorry, but kept getting the answering machine. I left two, semi-frantic messages.
I finally get a call back about 5 minutes to 1, after I'd been speeding and stressing, because as much as I knew there was no way to make it, I wanted to get there, and be offered the job because the Ceres job would just be so much more convenient.
Luckily, guy was really nice and offered to reschedule for three. Yay!
So I get there, we interview for about ten minutes, and it's going pretty well. We're talking, and I'm laughing, and answering all the questions as well as I can. When he says, "And you're bilingual in Spanish, that's good."
And of course I answer, "Um, no. I'm not." He looks at me, all surprised.
"You're not? Then ..." and he flips through my resume to the front where it says 'Profile: Bilingual/Spanish' and then mumbles something about wondering why he wrote it down and then continues to me, "Oh, I'm really sorry. I really liked you too. I was thinking that I was going to set up an interview with you and the regional."
Turns out being bilingual was a requirement for the job and I wasn't qualified. He thanked me for coming and apologized for wasting me time, and that was it!
All that stress for nothing. ~Sighs~
Of course, Ceres wants the job interview on the same day as the one in Sacramento. All I could think was, 'really?' Out of all the possibilities... It's like someone knew, and just wanted to stress me out. But, the Sac interview is at 10 and the Ceres is at 1 and it will take an hour and a half to get there. I think, well, it's just an interview because I'd already filled out the application and done the assessment tests in the first Sac interview. As long as my interview doesn't talk for more than an hour and a half, I'll be fine.
So I get to Sac where they ask if I want to take another assessment exam, this time for a higher position. Then, when I'm done about half an hour later, they ask me to wait for just a little bit so I can interview with the manager, who is on her way. I do so, and at about 11 we're done, and then they wanted to do another interview with the regional and vice president. And I think, 'aw well. This job would pay more anyway.'
So I interview. This one takes about as long and I don't get out of the office until 12:30. I turn them down when they ask if I want to take a look at the property, letting them know that I had another interview. And bolted with an hour and a half drive to get to Ceres and only half an hour to get there.
I called every two or three minutes, trying to get a hold of the manager to let him know that I was going to be late, and that I was sorry, but kept getting the answering machine. I left two, semi-frantic messages.
I finally get a call back about 5 minutes to 1, after I'd been speeding and stressing, because as much as I knew there was no way to make it, I wanted to get there, and be offered the job because the Ceres job would just be so much more convenient.
Luckily, guy was really nice and offered to reschedule for three. Yay!
So I get there, we interview for about ten minutes, and it's going pretty well. We're talking, and I'm laughing, and answering all the questions as well as I can. When he says, "And you're bilingual in Spanish, that's good."
And of course I answer, "Um, no. I'm not." He looks at me, all surprised.
"You're not? Then ..." and he flips through my resume to the front where it says 'Profile: Bilingual/Spanish' and then mumbles something about wondering why he wrote it down and then continues to me, "Oh, I'm really sorry. I really liked you too. I was thinking that I was going to set up an interview with you and the regional."
Turns out being bilingual was a requirement for the job and I wasn't qualified. He thanked me for coming and apologized for wasting me time, and that was it!
All that stress for nothing. ~Sighs~
Friday, January 28, 2011
I'll Be There by erm... Wedding Dress guy
Lol. I can't believe I've forgotten the guy's name! Tae Young, I think. Hold on, let me look it up. Ha! I was close! Taeyang. Ok, so here's the music video for I'll Be There.
Alright, so the clothes first. I actually though Taeyang's were ok. With possible exception of that vest thing with the large collar that he pulled up around his face, I didn't think any of them were bad. The bullet proof vest was, again, odd, but not bad, and I really liked the jacket with the yellow designs on the front. It looked military-esqe and that is my weakness. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crap costumes.
I was, however, unpleasantly surprised when his back up dancers (all men) showed up with no shirts on and oiled down. Not only that, but they had dark eye shadow on and they actually reached out and touched Taeyang when he did this move that had him bending over backwards. It was really gay, and this is coming from someone who is used to asian music videos and has become very desensitized to gayness.
I did like that Taeyang didn't over do his own make up. That is one thing that I appreciate about this artist. He's never put too much make up on (to my knowledge). He hasn't crossed the line that many male artists stomp all over. No glitter, no heavy eye liner, no sparkly lip gloss. Top points to Taeyang for that. And his hair doesn't scream, "Look at me, look at me, look at me" or "I'm gay" either, which is nice.
I really liked Taeyang's movement style here. There isn't really an impressive dance in this video, but he moves in those smooth spurts that totally go with the theme. When he's leaning over the girl in bed at about 2:09 and he clenches his fist and then sets it down beside her? That gave me chills because it just looked so unnatural. Same with that part where he steps away from the stair case at 2:07, almost on his knees? I had to watch that a couple times to see how everything worked. There were several times when I thought to myself, "well he's not my favorite dancer but he has complete control of his body," which I don't think most of us do. I know I don't! I'm way clumsy.
Anyway! The song itself is a little depressing. He's talking about how dangerous love is because of how bad it hurts. He compares it to a gun! And at the end he says in english, "I would die for you, and you know it's true. You're my love." Now the music video makes it look like he's already done that; died for her. Now, I know not everyone will agree with this interpretation, but it seemed to me that Taeyang died for the woman and then came to haunt her because he had promised that he'd be there for her. She looked totally creeped out, didn't she? And the black rose? Scary!
I enjoyed the song because even though the words seemed ballady, the beat saved it from being too slow. It's catchy and there's enough english that I can sing along with bits and pieces of it.
I don't know if I've already posted it, but this is the same guy that sang Wedding Dress, which I'm going to put up now, just in case I didn't before. If I did, consider it a refresher.
I'm a bigger fan of this guy when he's solo than when he's with Big Bang. He's the one who wore that stupid burger king crown in Haru Haru. He seems calmer and more down to earth when he's by himself. I've decided to think that G Dragon is just a bad influence on him. ~Laughs~
So that's it for I'll Be There.
Alright, so the clothes first. I actually though Taeyang's were ok. With possible exception of that vest thing with the large collar that he pulled up around his face, I didn't think any of them were bad. The bullet proof vest was, again, odd, but not bad, and I really liked the jacket with the yellow designs on the front. It looked military-esqe and that is my weakness. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crap costumes.
I was, however, unpleasantly surprised when his back up dancers (all men) showed up with no shirts on and oiled down. Not only that, but they had dark eye shadow on and they actually reached out and touched Taeyang when he did this move that had him bending over backwards. It was really gay, and this is coming from someone who is used to asian music videos and has become very desensitized to gayness.
I did like that Taeyang didn't over do his own make up. That is one thing that I appreciate about this artist. He's never put too much make up on (to my knowledge). He hasn't crossed the line that many male artists stomp all over. No glitter, no heavy eye liner, no sparkly lip gloss. Top points to Taeyang for that. And his hair doesn't scream, "Look at me, look at me, look at me" or "I'm gay" either, which is nice.
I really liked Taeyang's movement style here. There isn't really an impressive dance in this video, but he moves in those smooth spurts that totally go with the theme. When he's leaning over the girl in bed at about 2:09 and he clenches his fist and then sets it down beside her? That gave me chills because it just looked so unnatural. Same with that part where he steps away from the stair case at 2:07, almost on his knees? I had to watch that a couple times to see how everything worked. There were several times when I thought to myself, "well he's not my favorite dancer but he has complete control of his body," which I don't think most of us do. I know I don't! I'm way clumsy.
Anyway! The song itself is a little depressing. He's talking about how dangerous love is because of how bad it hurts. He compares it to a gun! And at the end he says in english, "I would die for you, and you know it's true. You're my love." Now the music video makes it look like he's already done that; died for her. Now, I know not everyone will agree with this interpretation, but it seemed to me that Taeyang died for the woman and then came to haunt her because he had promised that he'd be there for her. She looked totally creeped out, didn't she? And the black rose? Scary!
I enjoyed the song because even though the words seemed ballady, the beat saved it from being too slow. It's catchy and there's enough english that I can sing along with bits and pieces of it.
I don't know if I've already posted it, but this is the same guy that sang Wedding Dress, which I'm going to put up now, just in case I didn't before. If I did, consider it a refresher.
I'm a bigger fan of this guy when he's solo than when he's with Big Bang. He's the one who wore that stupid burger king crown in Haru Haru. He seems calmer and more down to earth when he's by himself. I've decided to think that G Dragon is just a bad influence on him. ~Laughs~
So that's it for I'll Be There.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
TVXQ Why? (Keep Your Head Down) Review
Another video that eat your kimchi reviewed first, but far be it from me not to put in my two cents. All right, so while TVXQ is just another name for the band DBSK, I'd like to take a moment to explain that to me, there is a difference. I've always known the five member band as DBSK (short for Dong Bang Shin Ki). JYJ split off from DBSK and now there are only two members left using the name. Most of the videos on the internet are calling them TVXQ. That's because in Korea, there is no difference in the sounds the letters make. T sounds the same as D, V the same as B, X the same as Sh and the Q the same as a K. So while TVXQ and DBSK are in no way dissimilar, to me they are. DBSK will always be Hero, Uknow, Micky, Max, and Xiah. TVXQ will now be Unknow and Max. So when I talk about TVXQ, I'm talking about post-split band and when I talk about DBSK, I'm talking about the pre-split band. Ok, on with the review.
Here is TVXQ's new video, Why? (Keep Your Head Down)
And Eat Your Kimchi's review...
After having seen their photo shoot for the cd cover, I was really nervous because they had a lot, a lot, a lot of make up on. And it wasn't the usual over abundance of eye-liner and lip gloss. It was like horrible opera stage make up where Uknow had really dark eye shadow that was all smeared and inelegant and Max had his face painted upper half gold and lower half white. And they had these cheap golden breastplate looking things on. So I'm glad none of that stuff made it into this music video. Their make up was not over done in this video so I was happy with that.
My relief was short lived. I really like Uknow's half dinner jacket half vest thing, but Max's black coat, with the puff sleeves and his hair all up and over styled...not so much. And yes, the owl/couch suits were horrible. I groaned very loudly when I first saw those. Not a big fan of the black, gold studded glove Max sports through almost the whole video either. The other costumes were good. It was just those three suites that I'm sad about.
I do want to add a note here that Max looked like he belonged in a high school marching band or drum line with that black and white costume with the short cape looking thing in the back. It probably didn't help that he was wearing it when they were doing the 'drumming the air' and the high school drum line choreography part that kicks into over drive at 3:37. It's also got the whole marching band sound with the big horns and stuff.
As for the dancing, Uknow is amazing in that all of his moves are powerful (if not exactly 'pretty') and sharp. Max, though, I felt looked really lost or blah through out. His opening dance sequence reminded me more of flailing than dancing and there were a couple times, such as 4:04 where he just kinda looks around like, 'cameras? where's the water? Are we done yet?' and 0:55 where he's in the back and sticks his hand up in the air when Uknow ducks, then just seems to let it drop, and a few other places where he just looks like he didn't put any energy into the performance at all.
I kinda wonder if dancing has always been Max's weak point but he was always held up by the four other members and I just didn't notice or if he was sick, or if he's feeling conflicted about the split. I don't know what it is, but I think I'm going to have to have a DBSK video day and keep an eye on Max to see if this is normal or not.
I've looked up the english translation to the song and it's kinda sad in an irritated way. I think that the singer is suffering from a bad case of 'sour grapes.' He's asking why she threw their love away so easily and saying that he doesn't think she knows what she did yet. He says that he was satisfied loving her but then goes on to lament that even though she's pretty, her personality doesn't match her looks and that she's beautiful but there's nothing important inside of her. He's very sad because of how immature she is and so on and so forth. So it seems to me that he was in love with her and really liked her up until she dumped him and then all of a sudden there's all this stuff that's wrong with her. Like I said, Sour Grapes. Oh, in the very beginning, he mentions that she left him but he hasn't been told the reason yet but all of their friends are asking him why he's such a bad guy. This sounded very high school to me because I saw couples break up and one would tell all their friends why they were the victim and, with only one side of the story, they would turn against the other person in the failed relationship. I just thought it was refreshing how real that chimed with me. It's immature, and I haven't had to deal with it for a long time, but it was so true to life.
There's one part I can't figure out. "Keep your head down." Are they talking to themselves or to the girl that dumped them? Are they telling themselves to just bare with it, to keep quiet and let things pass? Or are they telling the girl that she should be ashamed of herself or that they're going to go on the offensive so she should prepare for attacks... or what? I mean, the line is part of the title and is often repeated in the chorus, so it must be important. I just don't get it. Anyone out there who can help me out here?
And that's my review of TVXQ's Why? (Keep Your Head Down)
Here is TVXQ's new video, Why? (Keep Your Head Down)
And Eat Your Kimchi's review...
After having seen their photo shoot for the cd cover, I was really nervous because they had a lot, a lot, a lot of make up on. And it wasn't the usual over abundance of eye-liner and lip gloss. It was like horrible opera stage make up where Uknow had really dark eye shadow that was all smeared and inelegant and Max had his face painted upper half gold and lower half white. And they had these cheap golden breastplate looking things on. So I'm glad none of that stuff made it into this music video. Their make up was not over done in this video so I was happy with that.
My relief was short lived. I really like Uknow's half dinner jacket half vest thing, but Max's black coat, with the puff sleeves and his hair all up and over styled...not so much. And yes, the owl/couch suits were horrible. I groaned very loudly when I first saw those. Not a big fan of the black, gold studded glove Max sports through almost the whole video either. The other costumes were good. It was just those three suites that I'm sad about.
I do want to add a note here that Max looked like he belonged in a high school marching band or drum line with that black and white costume with the short cape looking thing in the back. It probably didn't help that he was wearing it when they were doing the 'drumming the air' and the high school drum line choreography part that kicks into over drive at 3:37. It's also got the whole marching band sound with the big horns and stuff.
As for the dancing, Uknow is amazing in that all of his moves are powerful (if not exactly 'pretty') and sharp. Max, though, I felt looked really lost or blah through out. His opening dance sequence reminded me more of flailing than dancing and there were a couple times, such as 4:04 where he just kinda looks around like, 'cameras? where's the water? Are we done yet?' and 0:55 where he's in the back and sticks his hand up in the air when Uknow ducks, then just seems to let it drop, and a few other places where he just looks like he didn't put any energy into the performance at all.
I kinda wonder if dancing has always been Max's weak point but he was always held up by the four other members and I just didn't notice or if he was sick, or if he's feeling conflicted about the split. I don't know what it is, but I think I'm going to have to have a DBSK video day and keep an eye on Max to see if this is normal or not.
I've looked up the english translation to the song and it's kinda sad in an irritated way. I think that the singer is suffering from a bad case of 'sour grapes.' He's asking why she threw their love away so easily and saying that he doesn't think she knows what she did yet. He says that he was satisfied loving her but then goes on to lament that even though she's pretty, her personality doesn't match her looks and that she's beautiful but there's nothing important inside of her. He's very sad because of how immature she is and so on and so forth. So it seems to me that he was in love with her and really liked her up until she dumped him and then all of a sudden there's all this stuff that's wrong with her. Like I said, Sour Grapes. Oh, in the very beginning, he mentions that she left him but he hasn't been told the reason yet but all of their friends are asking him why he's such a bad guy. This sounded very high school to me because I saw couples break up and one would tell all their friends why they were the victim and, with only one side of the story, they would turn against the other person in the failed relationship. I just thought it was refreshing how real that chimed with me. It's immature, and I haven't had to deal with it for a long time, but it was so true to life.
There's one part I can't figure out. "Keep your head down." Are they talking to themselves or to the girl that dumped them? Are they telling themselves to just bare with it, to keep quiet and let things pass? Or are they telling the girl that she should be ashamed of herself or that they're going to go on the offensive so she should prepare for attacks... or what? I mean, the line is part of the title and is often repeated in the chorus, so it must be important. I just don't get it. Anyone out there who can help me out here?
And that's my review of TVXQ's Why? (Keep Your Head Down)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
MBlaq Cry Review
Well, I'm not entirely sure why I'm reviewing this song since eatyourkimchi already did and did a fantastic job, as usual. They're freaking hilarious. This is the music video, and right below it is their blog on it. Luckily for you, you don't have to read theirs. They do video blogs!
And now for my thoughts!
I liked their costumes in this music video much better than those horrible glow in the dark extreme sports jump suits they sported in 'Y'. They stuck with black and white or a neutral looking tan. The one guy's shirt that kinda looked like a brown version of a musketeer's tunic was particularly interesting to me and I liked how it showed off his arms, because he has really nice arms. I wasn't digging the big, thick, black gloves. They kind of reminded me of mad scientists in their secret labs. Other than that though, I have nothing bad to say about their costumes.
I can't say I love the exaggerated make up on one eye thing they did, especially with the less than complimentary shades of teal and aqua, but it also didn't look horrendous. The only time the make up got in the way of my enjoyment was very near the end, 3:29 into the video, when blondie (sorry don't know their names) is crying in the rain and his eyes are closed but his make up always makes me think that his eye is open a sliver. I mean, it's white eyeliner encased in black eyeliner so it confuses my eyes for half a second. Just enough to think, hm, I probably would have done that differently.
I really like the dancing. My personal favorite is 35 seconds in, singing (forgive the extreme misspelling here) Oetoke? Oetoke? I probably like it because it seems so sensual to me. I also like the water parts but my room mate Veronica thinks that dancing under water is a very feminine thing to do since only female artists have done it before, so it detracts from the music video for her. She also doesn't like the ripped, wafting cloth strips they're wearing. I don't mind it. I think it makes them look even more ethereal. I almost had a huge issue when the group started to do that arm thing I hated so much in their previous video. This occurs at 1:43. My heart sank the first time I watched it thinking, "Oh guys, it didn't look good the first time. Why are you doing it again??" But luckily they kept it short and ended the move differently so I didn't have to stop the video and walk away from the computer in protest.
I found the song catchy and may, when I don't have any other song's I'm obsessing over, try to learn the words. However, I looked up the english translation and it's not as good as I could have hoped. They're saying how they're crying because the girl left them. There's a line that says "I'm your all, there is no one else" which makes me wonder why she left in the first place. The song is about how passionately in love with her he is, one line in the chorus even stating, "You are my life." It made me think what an incredibly one sided relationship it must have been. Girls don't usually leave a relationship unless there's no hope for it or because there's someone else or the guy cheated. So I'm inclined to think that this song is either incredibly sad because of how deluded the guy is, or that he cheated on her, she left, and now he's remorseful.
And that, ladies and gents, is my take on Cry, by Mblaq.
And now for my thoughts!
I liked their costumes in this music video much better than those horrible glow in the dark extreme sports jump suits they sported in 'Y'. They stuck with black and white or a neutral looking tan. The one guy's shirt that kinda looked like a brown version of a musketeer's tunic was particularly interesting to me and I liked how it showed off his arms, because he has really nice arms. I wasn't digging the big, thick, black gloves. They kind of reminded me of mad scientists in their secret labs. Other than that though, I have nothing bad to say about their costumes.
I can't say I love the exaggerated make up on one eye thing they did, especially with the less than complimentary shades of teal and aqua, but it also didn't look horrendous. The only time the make up got in the way of my enjoyment was very near the end, 3:29 into the video, when blondie (sorry don't know their names) is crying in the rain and his eyes are closed but his make up always makes me think that his eye is open a sliver. I mean, it's white eyeliner encased in black eyeliner so it confuses my eyes for half a second. Just enough to think, hm, I probably would have done that differently.
I really like the dancing. My personal favorite is 35 seconds in, singing (forgive the extreme misspelling here) Oetoke? Oetoke? I probably like it because it seems so sensual to me. I also like the water parts but my room mate Veronica thinks that dancing under water is a very feminine thing to do since only female artists have done it before, so it detracts from the music video for her. She also doesn't like the ripped, wafting cloth strips they're wearing. I don't mind it. I think it makes them look even more ethereal. I almost had a huge issue when the group started to do that arm thing I hated so much in their previous video. This occurs at 1:43. My heart sank the first time I watched it thinking, "Oh guys, it didn't look good the first time. Why are you doing it again??" But luckily they kept it short and ended the move differently so I didn't have to stop the video and walk away from the computer in protest.
I found the song catchy and may, when I don't have any other song's I'm obsessing over, try to learn the words. However, I looked up the english translation and it's not as good as I could have hoped. They're saying how they're crying because the girl left them. There's a line that says "I'm your all, there is no one else" which makes me wonder why she left in the first place. The song is about how passionately in love with her he is, one line in the chorus even stating, "You are my life." It made me think what an incredibly one sided relationship it must have been. Girls don't usually leave a relationship unless there's no hope for it or because there's someone else or the guy cheated. So I'm inclined to think that this song is either incredibly sad because of how deluded the guy is, or that he cheated on her, she left, and now he's remorseful.
And that, ladies and gents, is my take on Cry, by Mblaq.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Lots of Catching up to do
Yes, it has been a long while since the last time I posted. This is mostly due to the fact that I didn't feel anything interesting enough to write about was going on. Now, there are a few things and instead of writing a hugely long blog that will get boring, and probably erased when I try to post it, making me incredibly irritable, I'm going to break the information down into smaller, bite size chunks and post them in the coming days.
Today's post will be about taxes, my kindle, and mom's birthday, I think.
I've gotten two of my three W2's and am simply waiting for the last...though it was supposed to be here, legally, already.
I'm a little nervous this year. Actually, I'm a little nervous every year, but especially this one because I was on unemployment for so long and I don't think I'll get anything back. Well, that would at least not be th worst case scenario. I could owe again. That sucked! I owed a couple hundred dollars a couple years ago. Ew.
Oh, and something of interest to me, I forget what the Korean writing is called... the Korean version of the Japanese Kanji? I don't know, but I can read that! Yes, I've posted this also on facebook, but I'm just so happy about it that I have to share it everywhere! It was really easy to learn.
I'm still fairly slow at it. It takes me a while to sound out all the words and I can't tell sometimes where one word ends and another begins, but I think that's mostly because I don't know any Korean words. Ok, I know like 10, but that's not much when you consider that you have to know about 500 before you can have a conversation. But! I have a "Korean Language Made Easy" on my kindle so maybe this will get better.
Oh, yes! I got a kindle for Christmas! Did I already write that? I can't remember. But I currently have about 20 books and 3 games on it. Most of the books were free downloads so they aren't books I wanted to read right away, they're more for when I'm totally bored and don't have anything else to do, or to look well rounded if they should ever come up inconversation. For instance, I have Easop's Fables, Phantom of the Opera (which I've already read) Arabian Nights, Gulliver's Travels, and a few other classics.
The ones I bought because I really wanted to read them are The Host, The Scorch Trials, and the Easy Korean. I have also found that there are some comics that I can get on my kindle, which is awesome! Though I haven't really found any comics I'm into that I can get, I'm holding out hope that since it's possible, it's only a matter of time.
Mom's Birthday is in only a couple days. I'm a little irritated because all she ever asks for are Starbucks gift cards. There's only so many times a daughter can give her mom the same present before she starts to feel ungrateful for the awesome presents she gets for her birthday and Christmas. And I haven't lived with my mom for a long time, so I don't know what else I can get her. It's a bit frustrating really. I know she'll say she loves whatever I end up getting her, but I'd really like to get her something that she'll actually like.
Today's post will be about taxes, my kindle, and mom's birthday, I think.
I've gotten two of my three W2's and am simply waiting for the last...though it was supposed to be here, legally, already.
I'm a little nervous this year. Actually, I'm a little nervous every year, but especially this one because I was on unemployment for so long and I don't think I'll get anything back. Well, that would at least not be th worst case scenario. I could owe again. That sucked! I owed a couple hundred dollars a couple years ago. Ew.
Oh, and something of interest to me, I forget what the Korean writing is called... the Korean version of the Japanese Kanji? I don't know, but I can read that! Yes, I've posted this also on facebook, but I'm just so happy about it that I have to share it everywhere! It was really easy to learn.
I'm still fairly slow at it. It takes me a while to sound out all the words and I can't tell sometimes where one word ends and another begins, but I think that's mostly because I don't know any Korean words. Ok, I know like 10, but that's not much when you consider that you have to know about 500 before you can have a conversation. But! I have a "Korean Language Made Easy" on my kindle so maybe this will get better.
Oh, yes! I got a kindle for Christmas! Did I already write that? I can't remember. But I currently have about 20 books and 3 games on it. Most of the books were free downloads so they aren't books I wanted to read right away, they're more for when I'm totally bored and don't have anything else to do, or to look well rounded if they should ever come up inconversation. For instance, I have Easop's Fables, Phantom of the Opera (which I've already read) Arabian Nights, Gulliver's Travels, and a few other classics.
The ones I bought because I really wanted to read them are The Host, The Scorch Trials, and the Easy Korean. I have also found that there are some comics that I can get on my kindle, which is awesome! Though I haven't really found any comics I'm into that I can get, I'm holding out hope that since it's possible, it's only a matter of time.
Mom's Birthday is in only a couple days. I'm a little irritated because all she ever asks for are Starbucks gift cards. There's only so many times a daughter can give her mom the same present before she starts to feel ungrateful for the awesome presents she gets for her birthday and Christmas. And I haven't lived with my mom for a long time, so I don't know what else I can get her. It's a bit frustrating really. I know she'll say she loves whatever I end up getting her, but I'd really like to get her something that she'll actually like.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)