Red carpet entrance and interview
"I" performance (the best one to date, IMO)
Taeyeon in a white dress slaying your noonas
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Being Park Jaesang
By the time you're reading this, Psy's music video for his song Daddy (featuring CL of 2NE1) has probably reached a quadrillion views on YouTube.
The video features Psy the kid, Psy the thirty-something old man, and elderly Psy all showing off the skills that they ostensibly got from their daddy. There's also a cameo of Psy the baby early on. The whole creepy/funny adult-face-on-infant head reminded me of the movie Being John Malkovich, hence the title of this post. Check out this scene from the movie.
The video features Psy the kid, Psy the thirty-something old man, and elderly Psy all showing off the skills that they ostensibly got from their daddy. There's also a cameo of Psy the baby early on. The whole creepy/funny adult-face-on-infant head reminded me of the movie Being John Malkovich, hence the title of this post. Check out this scene from the movie.
Alright. So we know Daddy will be hugely viral just like Psy's last two hits (though Napal Baji will probably be a flop). No need to say how awesome it is. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't even finish the whole thing when I first saw it, but it's kind of grown on me now. By the way, would you mind checking YouTube again to see if Daddy gobbled up a million more views while you were busy ogling at John Malkovich's boobs?
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
If the World Was Perfect
To the delight of Taeyeon-Verbal Jint shippers out there, the two recently released their second collaboration for this year. This time their roles have switched, with Taeyeon being featured in Jint's new song 세상이 완벽했다면:
Unfortunately, Taeyeon doesn't have a cameo in the music video (alas, the world is not perfect). But I do appreciate the artistry and message of the MV, which I'd like to discuss a bit here.
The video's protagonist and all the antagonists are played by the same actor, something that has confused a lot of YouTubers. But I think the message is simple. By showing that the person being mistreated has the same face as those mistreating him, I think the MV's is trying to teach the Golden Rule in a cool way. It basically asks the audience: If you don't want to be discriminated against, oppressed, shoved aside, or otherwise subject to cruelty, why would you do those things to your fellow human being? It is this failure to see ourselves in others that causes us to see them as caricatures (like the ugly face the protagonist wore for most of the video until we saw what he really looked like), and that's what causes war and bigotry and injustice in the world. In a perfect world, these things would not happen because we'd treat each other the same way we treat ourselves.
Anyway, I really like Taeyeon and Jint's collabs so far. Both "I" and "If the World Was Perfect" transcend the kind of songs the two celebrities have usually performed in the past. Personally, I don't care whether they start dating or not, as long as they make more good music like this.
Unfortunately, Taeyeon doesn't have a cameo in the music video (alas, the world is not perfect). But I do appreciate the artistry and message of the MV, which I'd like to discuss a bit here.
The video's protagonist and all the antagonists are played by the same actor, something that has confused a lot of YouTubers. But I think the message is simple. By showing that the person being mistreated has the same face as those mistreating him, I think the MV's is trying to teach the Golden Rule in a cool way. It basically asks the audience: If you don't want to be discriminated against, oppressed, shoved aside, or otherwise subject to cruelty, why would you do those things to your fellow human being? It is this failure to see ourselves in others that causes us to see them as caricatures (like the ugly face the protagonist wore for most of the video until we saw what he really looked like), and that's what causes war and bigotry and injustice in the world. In a perfect world, these things would not happen because we'd treat each other the same way we treat ourselves.
Anyway, I really like Taeyeon and Jint's collabs so far. Both "I" and "If the World Was Perfect" transcend the kind of songs the two celebrities have usually performed in the past. Personally, I don't care whether they start dating or not, as long as they make more good music like this.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Taeyeon, Byuntae, and I
As I mentioned previously, Kim Taeyeon is my bias in Girls' Generation. In fact, she's my top K-Pop bias, beating everyone else in my eyes and in my heart. She has single-handedly saved many a Soshi song from mediocrity, and her Instagram photos has brightened many of my otherwise bleak days. Every now and then I would listen to Taeyeon's OST solos, with my favorite being the classic "만약에" ("If"), just to hear her voice and her voice alone, wishing for the day when I can buy a Taeyeon solo album so I could immerse myself longer in the heavenly sounds of this Korean angel.
Okay, that was a bit cheesy for an introduction, I'll admit. Let's just go straight to my review of Taeyeon's mini-album (dammit, SM, why not a full album?!), entitled "I", starting with the title track.
Okay, that was a bit cheesy for an introduction, I'll admit. Let's just go straight to my review of Taeyeon's mini-album (dammit, SM, why not a full album?!), entitled "I", starting with the title track.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
정수연
The first couple of times I watched the Gee music video, I thought Tiffany and Jessica were the same person. Back then I had a strong disdain for K-Pop, and I thought Korean female celebrities all looked alike. SNSD's Gee was the first K-Pop video I actually enjoyed watching (though I didn't want to admit it at the time), and it took a while for me to realize that the starting monologue was from two people, not one.
(I had the same problem telling Yoona and Yuri apart, but that's for a different post.)
Once I realized my mistake, I watched the video again and I decided I liked Jessica more than Tiffany. This was before I knew their names. Even though I often claim that Yoona was my first bias, Yoona was just the first bias whose name I already knew (due to a friend's obsession with Korean drama). In reality, the first Soshi member who I decided I liked was none other than Jung Sooyeon, a.k.a. Jessica Jung, the Ice Princess; I just didn't know who she was at the time.
(I had the same problem telling Yoona and Yuri apart, but that's for a different post.)
Once I realized my mistake, I watched the video again and I decided I liked Jessica more than Tiffany. This was before I knew their names. Even though I often claim that Yoona was my first bias, Yoona was just the first bias whose name I already knew (due to a friend's obsession with Korean drama). In reality, the first Soshi member who I decided I liked was none other than Jung Sooyeon, a.k.a. Jessica Jung, the Ice Princess; I just didn't know who she was at the time.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Random Thought for the Day
I just had a realization. Each "Red" single by Red Velvet represents one of the members.
The song Happiness is Joy's song. The most obvious clue is that the word happiness is synonymous to the word joy. Also, notice how the the music video had lots of "jungle" scenes, which means the color green dominated, and green just so happens to be Joy's color.
Ice Cream Cake is for Wendy. First, Wendy likes making desserts. It's not too far-fetched to think that she's made ice cream cake before. The music video also shows the girls looking like white chicks in a North American setting. Guess who's actually lived in North America and can be considered the "whitest" member of the group? Wendy.
Dumb Dumb is obviously about my favorite member, the lovable dumb bear Seulgi. She's the only one with the word "Dumb" written prominently on her shirt in the video. Also, her legs were used for all those creepy-awesome legs-in-a-box scenes. Heck, I bet Seulgi is a big Michael Jackson fan, so even that part of the song fits her.
Now we just have to wait for Irene's and Yeri's Red songs!
***
(I'm just kidding about the whole thing, of course. :-P)
The song Happiness is Joy's song. The most obvious clue is that the word happiness is synonymous to the word joy. Also, notice how the the music video had lots of "jungle" scenes, which means the color green dominated, and green just so happens to be Joy's color.
Ice Cream Cake is for Wendy. First, Wendy likes making desserts. It's not too far-fetched to think that she's made ice cream cake before. The music video also shows the girls looking like white chicks in a North American setting. Guess who's actually lived in North America and can be considered the "whitest" member of the group? Wendy.
Dumb Dumb is obviously about my favorite member, the lovable dumb bear Seulgi. She's the only one with the word "Dumb" written prominently on her shirt in the video. Also, her legs were used for all those creepy-awesome legs-in-a-box scenes. Heck, I bet Seulgi is a big Michael Jackson fan, so even that part of the song fits her.
Now we just have to wait for Irene's and Yeri's Red songs!
***
(I'm just kidding about the whole thing, of course. :-P)
Saturday, September 19, 2015
The Red
It's only been a year, but it already feels like Red Velvet has grown beyond the "rookie" stage. They've certainly been more busy than any other rookie groups since last year, having been through the music show promotions cycle thrice already (not counting the ongoing Dumb Dumb promotions), and with Irene and Yeri becoming music show hosts. They've participated in international concerts, guested in multiple radio and TV shows, and mingled with the masses in multiple official fan meetings and signings. They've even collected six music show trophies during their Ice Cream Cake promotions.
All those milestones were reached before they even released their first full album. And now even that has been achieved. The Red contains ten brand new songs from my favorite quartet-turned-quintet. As of this writing, The Red's lead track, Dumb Dumb, has already won three music show trophies so far, and the album itself has debuted in the Billboard World Albums chart at #1.
The album title is probably a reference to Red Velvet's "thing" of having a "Red side" (high-energy and experimental, with some hip-hop influences, as seen in songs like Happiness and Ice Cream Cake) and a "Velvet side" (smooth and a bit sexy, like Be Natural and Automatic). As expected, the songs in this new album are predominantly upbeat and quirky, in keeping with the group's Red side.
All those milestones were reached before they even released their first full album. And now even that has been achieved. The Red contains ten brand new songs from my favorite quartet-turned-quintet. As of this writing, The Red's lead track, Dumb Dumb, has already won three music show trophies so far, and the album itself has debuted in the Billboard World Albums chart at #1.
The album title is probably a reference to Red Velvet's "thing" of having a "Red side" (high-energy and experimental, with some hip-hop influences, as seen in songs like Happiness and Ice Cream Cake) and a "Velvet side" (smooth and a bit sexy, like Be Natural and Automatic). As expected, the songs in this new album are predominantly upbeat and quirky, in keeping with the group's Red side.
Monday, August 31, 2015
The Lion Heart Album
I fucking love Check, You Think, and Lion Heart.
That is all.
Well, fine, let me elaborate further.
Friday, August 28, 2015
안녕
Hello guys. Call me Francis, the Good Oppa. Long-time SONEs might recognize the reference to Bad Oppa (오빠 나빠), one of the songs Tiffany, Jessica, and Seohyun sang back in 2007.
The guy in yellow depicted in my profile picture/avatar is holding a stuffed toy pea, which is one of Taeyeon's favorite things in the world. As it happens, Taeyeon is one of my favorite things in the world, hence the avatar. (Unlike many fanboys, I don't use avatars depicting my female bias; more on that in another post.)
In case it hasn't been painfully obvious by now, this blog will be about K-Pop and will contain lots of Girls' Generation-related posts. I'm also very much into Red Velvet, Shannon Williams, AKMU, Crayon Pop, and... that's about it. This blog won't have much in terms of variety, unfortunately, but I will try to post about other groups.
One last thing. I love Kim Taeyeon (as implied above), Kang Seulgi, and Shannon, so expect some amount of unseemly spazzing over these sexy, talented, angelic dorks.
The guy in yellow depicted in my profile picture/avatar is holding a stuffed toy pea, which is one of Taeyeon's favorite things in the world. As it happens, Taeyeon is one of my favorite things in the world, hence the avatar. (Unlike many fanboys, I don't use avatars depicting my female bias; more on that in another post.)
In case it hasn't been painfully obvious by now, this blog will be about K-Pop and will contain lots of Girls' Generation-related posts. I'm also very much into Red Velvet, Shannon Williams, AKMU, Crayon Pop, and... that's about it. This blog won't have much in terms of variety, unfortunately, but I will try to post about other groups.
One last thing. I love Kim Taeyeon (as implied above), Kang Seulgi, and Shannon, so expect some amount of unseemly spazzing over these sexy, talented, angelic dorks.
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