Bigbang Big Show 2011

I know I said I would keep this mostly kpop free since I started www.reallywally.tumblr.com but this is like the most exciting thing that's happened to me in Korea ever. So here's the post:

So. I went to the Big Bang Big Show Friday night.

I know I might get bricked by some VIPs for this but my review will have some negatives.

That being said, there will also be a whole lot more positives.

I went with my boyfriend who is not a huge Big Bang fan, but he loves me, so he will go anyways. His first concert ever in his life was YG Family Concert, and this show is number two.

Actually my day basically went wrong in every way humanly possible before the concert, so I actually wasn’t that excited until we basically were in the hall. To list my problems: we lost our plane tickets for our summer vacation home because the travel agent essentially lied about the price and we cannot afford them, my two kittens still haven’t met, and I had to go home before the concert to feed them, my usb drive broke, I had to go to the other side of town to get the Big Bang cd, and I realized I left my Big Bang lightstick at home roughly five minutes after it was too late to turn around and go get it.

But, enough on that. We got to the stadium and thats when everything started to get better. My boyfriend (who used to take lifeguard training classics at the olympic swimming ppol next to the main olympic stadium) found us some secret bathrooms that had no line as opposed to the 50 person line in the concert provided toilet stalls.

Got in line, where everyone was pretty friendly if not moderately terrified of how tall we are. They all were nervous about standing behind us.

We waited as the sun set and they slowly began to let people in to the standing sections. We were in section 5, which is , if you are looking at the stage, to your left a ways, but still standing and relatively close. We managed to get right into the corner where two walkways would meet, so we thought we would be able to get lots of close-ups with Big Bang walking by.

It got pretty hairy as the rest of our section poured into the standing area. I would say about 60-65% of the fans were really young (high school or younger) and the other 35-40% were about my age. Anyways, a group of middle school or so aged girls ended up standing right behind us (foolish move) and proceeded to complain loudly about how they can’t see in Korean as if I couldn’t understand. Then they said to my boyfriend that they couldn’t see, and I firmly informed my still green concert going boyfriend that we would not move for anyone, regardless of how short or whiny they were. If one person gets in front of us, we may just throw up a neon sign that says, step right up. The girls were pretty unhappy with me, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

Just before the concert began, some very severe pushing started within our section. It was pretty horrible, and I just thought plain unnecessary. Everyone was just temporarily out of their mind and shoving everything within sight to get as close as possible. It was really frustrating and before the show even started, I saw a girl get carried away by security because she had passed out. That’s how intense it was. In the course of the evening I personally saw about 6 passed out girls carried away, as well as one illegal camera use escorted out.

Anyhow, the security was super tight around me so I didn’t manage to get basically any pictures or videos, which is a total bummer. But, I was really close to the stage, so that was lucky, or at least I thought it was.

There are other posts that tell the exact line-up, I’ll just say my best memories:

1. The show opened with a revealing of the GD&TOP 집에가지마 video which was just spectacular and retro and so perfect for them. after the m/v, my boyfriend kicked something on the ground. He asked me what it was because it was a cylindrical box of some sort, and I looked down and discovered a box for big bang merch. I didn’t actually get to the merch table, so even though I knew the kind of stuff they were selling, I didn’t see any of the packaging to know waht would be in the box. But, regardless, I thought, that’s MINE now. I carefully picked it up and put it under my arm as the next song began. The pushing started back up again as people attempted to get every millimeter of closeness possible. In the next lull, I opened up the box and discovered, to my extreme joy, it contained the new edition of the light stick which I had been whining to my boyfriend that I wanted to buy since I left my old one at my house. So basically not only did I get standing seats to the concert, I also snagged a free brand new light stick.

2. Secret Garden parody was the best thing ever. They mimicked the scenes so well, and with such nice comedic timing and I really enjoyed it. There was lots of kissing, and lots of GD grabbing his fake Gil Ra-Im boobs, and Taeyang wearing a hilarious wig, and Daesung being the perfect mother of Joo-won (TOP) and the perfecrt recreations of all my favorite scenes: situps, cafe kiss, oska socks, I’m Gil Ra-Ims fan, farewell letter (omg, TOP CRYING), Seungri’s hair for Oska was perfect. Seriously perfect.

3. Taeyang’s solo performance of Where U At and I’ll be There. I wasn’t sure what he would perform or even if he would perform, so this was nice. Where U At is my boyfriend’s favorite song by Taeyang/Big Bang so he got really excited. Downside? As most people mention in other fan accounts, no shirtless-ness from Dae the ENTIRE concert. Major let-down.

4. 뻑이가요 performance by GD&TOP complete with segways, ridiculous suits, and a big ass tank on stage which GD climbed up on. Also, Oh Yeah featured Bommie live, which was great, and then High High all the boys came out on stage, which was also really exciting.

5. Seungri is typically my least favorite in the group. There is always something about his boasting and general loudness that I find a bit annoying. However, I’d like to officially retract all the negative things I’ve ever said about him. He was the only member of Big Bang to really show any love to our section at all. The walkways I was sandwiched between? Virtually unused. GD rolled by on the segway at the opening of 뻑이가요, Daesung walked by once. But in the middle of the show, Seungri heard our section begging them to come to our side, and he listened. He seemed to really show our section love, coming over to ourside (basically right in front of me) and pointing and singing and dancing right in front of us. It was nice that he recognized that we were getting basically no love and he helped us out. Also, his solo performances were really good. I don’t even own his mini-album, but after the concert, I’m tempted to buy it if only to express my gratitude for his concern during the show.

6. During the Encore, Taeyang stopped basically right in front of (there were maybe four people in front of me, but I’m gonna go ahead and assume he saw me and said, this is just for that sexy foreign girl right there, and he danced and sang and did this unbelievably sexy vibrating dance I am almost died right there I was so excited.

7. During the encore performance, TOP had the sexiest hip thrust I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I swooned so hard. It was right in time with 1, 2, 3, BIG BANG (jumpring down from the platform at three hard core hip thrust at BANG). I was like, yo top, come bang it over here in my direction.

8. The pyrotechnics were great! They went light on the fire and heavy on dope fireworks. The fire is awful because it severely impedes your vision and is fucking hot. The fireworks are just bad ass. There were some green ones that exploded and created really trippy smoke rings when they popped in the air. I was really intrigued by those.’=

9. Daesung’s Solo performance was the most memorable of the night. Actually, his performance throughout the concert was essentially flawless. He killed every note, and his new song Baby don’t cry was beautiful. It’s so nice to hear him sing a ballad. He was amazing. I love him.

The negatives:

1. Way too much pushing and hostility from the fans. It was uncomfortable and dangerous. A bunch of people fell in our section, and people were passing out right and left. This is common at concerts like this, but still, it’s depressing to see how fans get when their emotions take control.

2. No love on our side, including almost no attention to our neighboring walkways and a big light blocking a portion of the stage.

3. Security too close for any good pics

4. NO TONIGHT MUSIC VIDEO. This was the most disappointing thing as they announced on THURSDAY that they would premiere it and then Big Bang had to say that it didn’t get finished. They showed an unfinished version, but i actually really wished they hadn’t shown it at all. The clips were good, but they werent timed properly to the music, and it was super choppy and just disappointing

5. Serious technical difficulties before performing their newest songs. Fans shouted 괜찮아 but it took forever for them to fix the issue. Disappointing.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that.

I have to go take care of my just been neutered kitten who is lethargic and semi-depressed right now. Plus, I’m starving.

xoxo

By the way, did any of you go to the concert? What did you think?

Korea

A full update on my life was promised so here goes. The good and the bad.

1. I got food poisoning on Wednesday/Thursday. I was up all night doing, you know, food poisoning-related things, and not sleeping at all. I called in sick because at 6:30 when my alarm went off I was like oh good, I've slept a total of 40 minutes or so, and I just threw up 20 minutes ago. This doesn't bode well. So I slept all effing day and ate nothing while trying to let my body recover. Korea is dealing with some serious livestock diseases, but i don't think that's what got me. I think it was veggies that came in contact with raw meat and then weren't cooked thoroughly. But anyhow, I'm all better now thanks to lots of sleep, and plenty of water.

2. On Tuesday I bought two first floor standing tickets to the Big Bang Big Show which I am SUPER excited to see. I'm basically dying, I'm so happy. I will be among the first people to see Big Bang perform new songs live after a two year hiatus from Korean promotions. Granted, they have performed at YG Family Concerts and last year's Big Show, but nothing new, so this is super exciting. Their album will release the day before the concert and I will go get it and memorize every song in 24 hours if it kills me. Then I will buy the official Taeyang usb drive at the concert sales booth and then I will fangirl spazz for 2 hours while my boyfriend questions why he ever started dating me.

3. I bought the Taeyang Solar Concert DVD. I made a youtube video about in case anyone hear reads my blog but hasn't subscribed to my youtube channel (Uh... SUBSCRIBE NOW PLEASE). Anyways, it's awesome except for this one hilarious and awful English mistake where a page reads, "Let's get start it" which obviously makes no sense. This is disappointing because YG has tons of high level English speakers, and you'd think that for once they would check something like this. Over 100,000 of these DVDs were produced and no one thought to go to a native English speaker and say, hey, is this right? Listen, YG, I'm your girl. I can do this free of charge (except every English grammar proofreading required document must be personally delivered by either Taeyang or Se7en, but that can be arranged, right?)

4. Frisbee practice started this weekend. We had practice on Saturday and Sunday and I am sooooo tired. But it was really fun, and I'm really really looking forward to more practices in increasingly warmer weather.

5. Last weekend I played in a volleyball tournament. I've never had so much fun playing volleyball. Somehow, I think I got better at volleyball via not playing it for 8+ years. I remember kind of sucking back in my freshman year of high school and thinking, welp since I literally can't do anything except blocking (I was a beast at blocking but I couldn't hit, which made me mostly useless) I'm gonna go ahead and quit and focus on bball. And I did just that. But volleyball was awesome and it makes me wanna play a whole bunch more.

6. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I am actually pretty excited for it. Hoon and I are going to have a quiet night in. I am going to make dinner (maybe a revised hopefully even more delicious than last time tomato cream sauce pasta with garlic bread if I can figure out how to make garlic bread without an oven; can't I just crush some garlic, mix it with basil and butter, spread on a thick slice of baguette and sautee?) and give him my gift. In Korea, V-Day is different than back in the States in that only a girl gives a gift and the boy will give a gift to his girlfriend or crush or significant other on White Day which is on March 14th. So I will give a gift, which I will take a photo of and post later, and we'll do something again in another month. I like this time because Feb 5th was our 200 day anniversary (they celebrate every 100 days or at least the first couple, plus 1000, and then they stop, I think), then valentines day, then white day, then one month later is Hoon's birthday, and then two weeks after that is my birthday so it's like nonstop celebrations until May rolls around (but then our one year anniversary will be in July~ hahaha)

7. I might go skiing this upcoming weekend with Hoon and his family. Except we will go only one day and only at night, from like 9 p.m. until maybe 5 a.m. which will basically kill me (I have to go to frisbee the following day at 11) but I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully I can not totally suck at skiing so Hoon won't think I'm a completely uncoordinated loser.

8. I am trying to convince Hoon to get some of his Physical Education classmates to make a frisbee team to send to Jeju. I said I could be the coach. I think it'd be really fun and since they are all athletes (we're talking seriously jacked, run a marathon and then benchpress twice their weight, and then swim 4 miles and then take a 100 question exam on history of sports, sports rules, and human physiology without hardly breaking a sweat-type athletes... this includes the girls) they would probably dominate all the other beginner uni teams because they can run for hours without getting tired. Plus then I'd be obligated to get in better shape and practice frisbee with them too. Win-win, you see?

9. My school had graduation on Friday. I went, and it was only a little sad for me because I was still recovering from food poisoning and had to concentrate really hard on not falling over from fatigue during the ceremony. But, now that I think about it more, I'm pretty bummed. I've known all these students for two years, and they are AMAZING girls. I've gotten to known some of them (maybe about 15 or so) really well and I will certainly miss their smiles, hilarious jokes, helpful Korean lessons, sincere interest in English, enthusiasm for my class, and all-around good attitudes. The prospect of having these students in my classes later in the week helped me get through all the whiny, misbehaving, snarky students I had to deal with from time to time. I will miss them!!!

Also, in case you didn't know yet, I have a tumblr at www.reallywally.tumblr.com. It's basically 100% Korean culture all the time. Emphasis on kpop, but also with touches of food, drama, models, konglish and other interesting tidbits.

That's it.

xoxo
A

this is irrelevant and being used for something else. Sorries.

Anyhow, a real update on my life will be coming soon enough.

Take It Slow Spanish

So I just found this:



Also, I want to add that OMG I'm going to a party Friday that will be me and in the same club as Se7en TOP and GD. And I get to wear my gorgeous new dress AND be with my BOYFRIEND!! Merry Christmas to me!

Naughty Taeyang

Taeyang posted this picture on his twitter. Obviously the capturing on the background was intentional. They could have shot this picture anywhere. I was pretty surprised. First Taeyang's songs get a 18+ label slapped on (well, just a few... but still). Then he wears that shirt that says Fuck you on it. And now this:
 

damn boy. Go get your sex on.

The more I see of him the more I have to believe that really he is tapping it with somebody and we just don't know who. Maybe that's vulgar of me, but jesus christ taeyang. Take It Slow? YOU wrote those lyrics? You been hitting with someone somewhere, that's all I'm sayin.

xoxo

A

My addiction to buying shit.

So, this weekend my phone broke. And by that I mean the scan completely got fucked up and I couldn't read anything on the screen and so I couldn't really receive texts (or read them at least) and I couldn't tell who was calling me. So anyways, I went with the bf to the cell phone store Friday night to try to acquire a new phone. I have been saying I really wanted the Galaxy S phone really really badly, but I didn't have a reason to buy it. But, now was the perfect opportunity. But, to my dismay, E-2 visa holders cannot purchase a Galaxy S smartphone because it requires a two-year contract and there isn't a two-year E-2 visa. So I was looking at some other phones (iphone 4 still has a two week reservation wait, which wouldn't have worked, and also no-go for E-2 visa holders). But, then, my boyfriend proposed that he sign the contract for me in order for me to avoid the prohibition on my smartphone purchase. But, I was a little hesitant to accept right away because, god forbid, something terrible happened (either in my life or in our relationship or in my job) and I have to leave Korea (or we break up *shudder*) he could get totally screwed over. I would never intentionally do that, but sometimes crazy shit comes up. I just don't want things to be too complicated or pressured because he did this for me. But he insisted that it was okay. And he called his parents and made sure they thought it was an okay idea and they said yes (I also briefly talked to his mom to say hello and she said she missed me. I miss her too^^) He seemed to really be in favor of me getting the galaxy s (living vicariously through me maybe?) and so I finally caved. And he signed the contract (all the bills go directly to me, it's just his name on the contract, not mine). So I'm really thankful for that. I find it really sweet because he anticipates us (probably) staying together for at least a significant amount of time, and because he obviously trusts me enough to do that for me.

Actually, the store we went to didn't actually have the phone on hand, so they had to get it delivered from another place. And so they were gonna call my boyfriend and have us come pick it up again. He had to go to the library to study, and I was meeting up with some friends to hang out at the Soongsil University festival. Basically lots of drinking and a music performance and playing. So we parted and he said he'd bring me the phone when he could. I went off with my friends, and he hit the stacks, and I got my eat and drink on. About an hour and a half later he came back with the phone store bag and I got super excited. And to make it even better, he wrapped it up in Hello Kitty wrapping paper like it was a special gift. And he wrote me a note too. It was adorably cute. He's freaking wonderful. Unfortunately he had to go back to studying.

Got my phone. Had someone else who has a galaxy s help me get on the internet. Took some pictures. And then got down to the business of drinking more. Gotten pleasantly tipsy. Saw Beast (b2st, 비스트) perform three songs. Complained a bunch to my boyfriend about it being cold (via textmessage) and he surprised me by coming back. And then we went to one of the booths that was really awesome. At that booth, there was a dj and it was like a club but open air and all Soongsil students. And it was super awesome. And we danced a lot and took shots and it was ridiculous. Promptly proceeded from tipsy to drunk.

Went home.

Saturday morning met M & C in Myeongdong. I bought a new dress and a vest (hahahahahah PAIGEY) and they are both super cute (ESPECIALLY the dress, omg)

Went to the War Memorial for the Seoul Soul Festival. Was like 5 people away from Se7en and Taeyang and it was amazing (review in full coming later). Went to a chicken hof with the girls. The chicken hof place had the most amazing 모든감자튀김 (mixed french fries). There were regular crinkle cut fries, tater tots, sweet potato fries, waffle fries, onion rings, smiley face shaped fried potatoes, and the most awesomely delicious fried mashed potato dallops (there isn't a good way to explain them. Imagine mashed potatoes pushed through a frosting bag/tip to create a ridged mountain of fried mashed potato goodness). And the chicken was pretty good. But omg, the french fries. to die for.

Then we went to Hongdae and I got my tragus pierced. It didn't hurt very much then, and I hardly notice it now. Sometimes if I play with it, it tickles my ear, which is strange.

My league team won our Sunday game. I had mandoo and bulgogi with a friend for dinner. Things are looking up.

I finished my worksheets for this week already and there are no high school classes!!

NICE-UH.

xoxo
A

Taeyang Solar Concert Review

As I mentioned, I went to Taeyang's Solar Concert this weekend. He had two concerts, one on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 7pm and another on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 6pm. I attended both, sitting on the first floor, 21st row on Saturday and second floor 14th row (?) on Sunday. I thought the concerts were both really amazing, but too short.

The set list and a short review of the performances will be posted below.

A few preliminary notes: The Sunday show was supposedly sold out, and I almost arrived late. The shows were both at 경희대학교 which is a beautiful university campus (Kyunghee University), and I highly recommend any potential Seoul visitors to go there and look around. It's incredibly scenic, with beautiful buildings, especially peace hall, which is where the concert was actually held. It's also quite hilly, so it's good for a bit of walking exercise. Also, as I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm totally YB-, BigBang-, YG Family-biased, so probably the review will come off exceedingly positive (although I do have a couple complaints). Last, the concert on Sunday was 18+ so the things that were different (which were fewer than anticipated) will be noted in a different color. Also, this was Taeyang's second and third solo concerts, not his first as many mistakenly say. He had a solo concert for HOT a while ago, but it wasn't a full length concert because it wasn't a full length album.

Pre-show: Before the show began, beside the main stage were two large screens showing various Taeyang videos, as well as a couple 2ne1 videos (at least one). My seats on Saturday were a bit stage left, and my seats on Sunday (which I barely made it to on time) were a bit stage right, which was intentional so as to best enjoy the full experience of the show. Sitting on the second floor was actually really great because I could see the whole stage, and the venue was still quite small so I was rather close.

Intro: The show began with the house lights dimmed, the intro music for Solar playing, and an artistic video of Taeyang preparing to enter the Hall playing. Then, as the intro picked up in the middle, suddenly Taeyang began his descent from above the stage in a white circle lit from all around. All the lights were on him as he stood posed and ready while the circle descended to a few steps when he officially began the concert. He was wearing an all white ensemble with aviator sunglasses. He had on a white vest with the very large collar that is eternally popular amongst celebrities here in Korea. The vest was heavily studded with silver and was quite blingy.

기도 (Prayer): His first song was 기도 which he went right into after descending from the circle thing. The performance was pretty standard. Since it was one of his singles, the choreography wasn't much different for the performances. I had been keeping my fingers crossed that Teddy would come out and do his rap verse, which would have been really awesome. Unfortunately, at neither did he come out. Instead, they played the vocals for the song and Taeyang danced enthusiastically. This seemed to really stand alone from the rest of the choreography as particularly impressive. I really enjoyed it.

I'll Be There: After 기도 Taeyang transitioned very smoothly (props to the music and sound techs who organized what appeared to me to be a very very clean sounding concert, with the mild exception of a mic problem on Sunday) to I'll Be There. He sang, as expected, the Korean version, which I happen to like better. The primary stage prop was a circular set of all white stairs. The stairs ascended and wrapping around the stairs from the bottom right to the upper left of the stairs was a sort of slope quite similar to rock cliff that appears in Taeyang's I'll Be There music video. Just as he does in the video, Taeyang climbs the sloping white stage prop and drops to his knees as he sings. It was nice, but I did happen to think the glistening white stage didn't quite create the same effect as the overgrown graveyard in I'll Be There provided. See below for a reference on the slope thing.

Imagine this scene but minus the graveyards, cloudy skies and overgrowth and add a glistening white veneer and a live band.

죄인 (Sinners): After I'll Be There, Taeyang performed 죄인, which happens to be my favorite song off his first mini-album, HOT. Also, I happened to MUCH prefer this performance to the performance in his first solo concert for HOT promotions. In the old performance, Taeyang dances with a girl who has ugly clothing and is only kind of pretty and it involves some weird shit on a table and it doesn't really make as much sense. This time, the girl is only somewhat involved, and Taeyang really got into singing this song. He moved around the stage quite a bit and got on his knees and really sexed it up for us. This time instead of a table, they used a plush armchair. The sexiest part was when the dancer bent over at the waist and touched the ground and Taeyang came from behind her, grabbed her hips and did a mild body roll towards her. This was the moment when all sanity kind of left me on Saturday and I was mesmerized. Taeyang also did his favorite move when singing where he turns sideway giving his most popular profile view, spreads his arms out wide and throws himself back from the hips and just hits the note with full on intensity. He loves that pose. And frankly, so do I.

After this, he talked briefly and a little dolly rolled out and on it was a white jacket (he had removed the bedazzled vest earlier, perhaps during I'll be There or Sinners, I can't entirely remember). The new jacket has his face bedazzled in silver studs on the back. I bit much I thought, but so goes it. He introduced himself, and welcomed all of us to the concert. Then he introduced his next song, Just a Feeling

Just a Feeling: I thought this performance was just okay. I also think this song is just okay. Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm regarding the song inhibits my ability to fully appreciate the song, but whatevs. It was good, but really there was nothing special here. Just a lot of dancing and such. kind of standard I though.

Move: Now this song is when Taeyang really starts to bring the sexy. Again, no teddy, but his rap section is included. The stage prop had turned at some point between I'll Be There and Sinners (I can't seem to remember it actually turning around) and it revolved once again to reveal the steps. However, this time, on the steps were three stripper poles extending upwards from the stairs. As the stage thing revolved, two dollies which also had stripper poles attached moved onto the stage creating a five girl stripper triangle of sorts, with Taeyang as the sixth on the bottom center. The girls were dressed in white button down dress shirts, black panties (of the cheeky boy cut variety), stockings and black heels. They were dancing really suggestively on the pole both on Saturday and Sunday. The dance was pretty much the same both days. This song really ramped up the sex factor. The girls were almost half-naked and dancing as glorified strippers while Taeyang walked around staring at the girls and sang lyrics like "move move, baby don't stop it" On Sunday the girls took their shirts off to reveal black satin lingerie. On Saturday, this did not happen. Additionally, on Saturday, parts of Teddy's rap lyrics were censored. The words censored were body and play, which seemed odd, because it was in the lyric: "You're body is my wonderland, I can play all night" and the lyrics: "I'm so vicious like Sid with my sex pistols" and "Niagra Falls, baby girl I got you wetter than" were not censored. Clearly the censors were not native English speakers and didn't grasp the excessive sexual nature of the latter lines. On Sunday, from my seat I could see the girls prepping for this song in the brief couple seconds between songs, and I was really impressed. This one girl came tearing across backstage and lept onto her stripper pole while buttoning her shirt just in the knick of time. The stage prop thingy rotated around at just that moment. Nice work lady.

Then there was a video. This (and the shirtlessness during Move) was the biggest difference between Saturday and Sunday. The video showed Taeyang dressed in white lying asleep on a big plush white bed. Then, his opposite, that girl, she is shown kind of looking for him. Also, between scenes of Taeyang in bed and the girl looking for him, there are images of him in his You're My get-up but more gripping, with focus largely on his hands. On Sunday, the video featured the two of them together in bed, snuggling and touching each others faces and holding hands and even at one point Taeyang rolling over and climbing on top of her. Also, there was even more focus on his hands, specifically the ring he always wears. At the end of the video, I could be mistaken, but it appears that the girl removes his ring from his finger, although I'm not clear what that was supposed to signify (holding onto his love, or ending the love...?)

Ma Girl: Then he said Ma Girl, which was pretty good. I thought the video graphics for this song were kind of eh, subpar. I thought they were pretty tacky. Otherwise, the performance was great! Ma Girl is one of my favorite performances because it's always really sexy. He sort of humps the ground and then lays on his back and body rolls and omg, it's so wonderful.

You're My: I hate this song. A lot. However, Taeyang was super super super super sexy when he sang this song because he was in a full suit and just look unbelievably handsome. Just impeccable, really. Plus, the live version of this song wasn't quite so high, because that would be difficult in the one opportunity he has on stage. It could strain him a lot. Still, this wasn't my favorite. I can't help but be reminded of the shitty English that I see everywhere else in this country when I listen to this song.

Talk: Taeyang talked briefly here about some things. And then said he'd be doing I Need a Girl.

I Need a Girl: totally one of the highlights. Taeyang went out into the crowd. On Saturday I was really close to him, but he still didn't see me (darn you security guard in my way) and he was singing to various audience members and I was jealous. But, I got even more jealous as he made his way across the hall and chose a girl  near him to come up onstage with him. He held his arm out and escorted her to the stage and had her sit on a chaise lounge. Then he danced around behind her and gave her a gift box, which she opened. Upon opening the gift, she discovered that it was a bra and panties, pink satin (On Sunday it was some kind of animal type printer and WAY sexier...) and then he sat next to her and proceeded to basically serenade that stupid little annoying girl (she wasn't stupid or annoying, I'm just jealous), while brushing the hair off her face and looking in her eyes. Then he turned sideway, and laid down and put his head on her lap!!!!! >.< And THEN he held her hand and he got back up and kissed her cheek!!!!! >.<   >.<   >.<  On Sunday he also picked up the girls legs and sat near her waist and leaned in to kiss her. She leaned away (CRAZY GIRL) and he ended up kissing her kind of on the neck. I was incredibly jealous. Then, as the song ended, he took her hand and they walked together off stage through a walkway cut out into the turned-around stage thingy.

니가 잠든 후에 (After You Fall Asleep): I hated this performance. Except for this cool horse gallop dance that Taeyang did, I thought this performance was really dumb. There was this big ugly looking bed that came out and Ji-Hye, his main dancer, is in the bed, and I was sure that something interesting was going to happen, especially at the Sunday performance and given the sexy bed scene famous in G-Dragon's solo concert, but ALAS, no such luck. He just stood on the bed and stepped over JiHye awkwardly. I hated this.

Connection: An all-English song which initiated a lengthy series of English songs. This song was on his solar international release album. I thought the performance was okay. The four main male dancers had little square risers that they set up in different groups and which Taeyang jumped on top of and sang from in various points across the stage. Meh. I was more entranced by the video in the background which had all the lyrics in a kind of interesting presentation, with the words dropping onto the screen and scrolling across is strange orders. It was pretty cool.

GUEST PERFORMANCE

Slow Jam (by Usher): Taeyang sang a duet of Slow Jam with IU. IU's voice was gorgeous. On Sunday, I thought her dress was really really beautiful. It had more flare from the hips and was all black and had this really cute big flowery bow on one shoulder. It was cute I was really impressed by IU

Better in Time (Leona Lewis performed by IU): Beautiful. I really liked that I knew all the English songs that they sang. IU is also super adorable and I love her. She's only 18, Korean age (so 17 everywhere else).

Baby I'm Sorry: Taeyang came back to sing this song, which I don't know well. He was wearing jeans and a black jacket now, if I'm not mistaken. I liked his jeans, but felt kind of neutral regarding the jacket. However, this song is gorgeous and beautiful and perfect. I LOVE THIS SONG.

Wedding Dress: Another classic. But, for some reason, probably the clothing, the performance just didn't do it for me. The back-up dancers kind of outshined Taeyang on this one. I might get crucified for saying that, but it's just my opinion.

Super Star: OMG I LOVE THIS PERFORMANCE. I keep wavering on how much I like this song, going between meh, it's just so-so and liking it pretty well (it's never been my favorite, but on good days it breaks the top five on Solar). The performance, though, was really great. It was based on a drumline type style, not too unlike the After School Bang performances, except without the drums, and without the ripped choreography. It was really fun.

Breakdown: Also with sort of the drumline feel. I LOVE THIS SONG. And the performance was just so upbeat and fun and so that was really nice. I enjoyed this. Their outfits were all red and the girls had cheer skirts on and those drumline hats with the poofy white feathers. And in the part where he says Elevator 저럼 let's go up and down, Taeyang jumped into the arms of the male dancers and the lifted him up in the air and back down a couple times. It was cool if not a bit too literal.

I Want You Back (MJ tribute): Taeyang did I want you Back and it made me happy. I love that song, it's so classic, and he actually sang it really well all in English. Taeyang really is a lovely performer. It was at this point that I just kind of thought, wow, I love him.

Closing Comments: Taeyang said a few last words. At the concert I didn't understand exactly what he was saying. On Saturday, it was quite a long speech. He seemed really moved and really sad. It turns out that was correct. Translations of portions of his speech: "The journey of my Solar album... as with all journeys, there were difficult and lonely times, but all of those times taught me great things" and "I think my next solo album... I think that it will have to take a long time. Because I think I'll only be able to put together a new album after searching more of myself and knowing more of who I am." "And I would like all of you to really be happy...and I want to say that I am truly thankful. Thank you so much." He cried, like seriously cried during this speech and I couldn't help but cry too. It was beautiful.  It should be noted that he didn't cry at all on Sunday and his speech was much shorter. He didn't seem nearly so sad. And I'm glad for that.

나만바라봐 (Look Only at Me): I cried my way through this song. Taeyang was a little choked up singing it so he let it go for the audience in the first verse a bit, and the audience really impressed me with their  enthusiasm and supportive singing. This song really isn't very nice lyrics-wise (Baby, even if I cheat on you, don't you cheat on me. Even if I forget you, don't you forget me. Even if I don't call and a I go out and drink and I meet eyes with another woman, only look at me). But, he did a remix at the end, and I'm fairly certain (although not positive, given my shaky on spot translating skills) that it was sort of an attempt to rectify the questionable lyrics. It seemed to me to be like, I love you more than anything type stuff. But it was really good.

Encore:
Where U At: Hoodies and baseball caps were worn for the encore performance. A side note about encores. When the fans shout for an encore, they all pronounce like N-core, N-core. Which I find quite annoying. But, so it goes. When in Korea, do as the Romans do. This performance was good. Standard Where U At.

Take It Slow: I'm so happy that he saved this song for the end. This is the song he wrote and composed and it's beautiful. This is my favorite song on the album and I think it's a perfect conclusion to a wonderful concert. I LOVED this performance. He did another of his hands out wide and back bend thing and I wanted to cry again. I loved it.

Note: On Sunday there was a secondary encore performance that Taeyang did of 나만바라봐 and Take it Slow. For 나만바라봐 the audience sang the whole chorus and it was awesome. I LOVED it. And then Take it Slow AGAIN. A lot of people left before hand, but I was able to catch it AND take a video. So here's that video of 나만바라봐. I had to cut it off suddenly at the end because a security lady was coming over to scold a group of us for recording and I slyly hid it away just in the knick of time. For your viewing pleasure:




xoxo
A

Taeyang Solar Concert

OMG IT WAS AMAZING.


AND I'M GOING AGAIN TONIGHT.

YES YES YES YES YES.

The full details about the concert will be up tonight or tomorrow morning, korea time. ^^

BoA on Music Bank

BoA absolutely killed it on Music Bank today. Everyone says she looks tired, but I think maybe that dead eye thing is intentional? Okay, that's maybe a bit hard to believe, but the way she so non-chalantly executed that choreography is pretty much mind-boggling. She's gorgeous and her hair is great, and her singing is fantastic and this song is beautiful.



Oh, and my Chuseok was really good. Full update later. TOMORROW = TAEYANG

My adoring fans and readers

My bad on not posting for a long time. It's just that I've been busy being in the United States and eating obscene quantities of food (mostly in the form of cupcakes or mexican tortilla-wrapped foodstuffs) and traipsing across New York City/Gainesville/Wellington. You know, it's a tough life, being a globe-trotter.

Here's a brief summary of my vacation. In numbers:


3 dresses I bought during vacation (thanks to Gap, that rando boutique in SoHo with the guy who said, "wear it with just a black bra, it's sexier that way," and Target)
4 sangrias I drank at Calle Ocho during the all you can drink brunch
5 meals I averaged per day on my vacation
9 planes I took in the course of my 2 week vacation
11 planes I had to purchases tickets for due to a big fuck up by Expedia.
14 dollars- the price of one bottle of soju in NYC's Koreatown
17 apps that I've downloaded for my brand-new ipod touch (any suggestions)
23 cupcakes (some mini, some regular and some jumbo sized) that me and my friends inhaled during my two-week vacation
24 dollars- price of my prix fixe lunch at Cafe Boulud on the Upper East Side. Thanks Restaurant Week.
40 hours I was actually in Wellington.
48 crazy bands purchased by me and sarah. They are in the shapes of "lil monsters" and "crazy pets"
86 floors ascended in the Empire State Building. It was cloudy so the 102nd floor didn't seem like a good idea, especially given the additional 20 bucks you had to pay to go there.
105 steps to the top of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, which I trekked up with my family in tow.

That's all I can come up with off the top. But, I guess I'll also add: Sarah and Matt have two doggies each of which are adorable and staying with them made me really really really really look forward to their wedding, and me helping Sarah in every way I can. Plus, omg, Diane is the best ever (along with her roommate) for letting all of us stay in her apartment and being such a gracious and fun host. Plus, I wrecked people at Ping-Pong. Plus I missed Korean food. Good Korean food. Oh. Plus, omg Moesssssssssssssss. And La Tienda. And Flacos. And the Top. gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Now, I'm back at school in Korea. A bunch of my students seemed almost surprised that I was back. I don't know where they thought I was, but it's like I had come back from the dark ages.

Evidently, while I was in America, I was on Korean t.v. A student showed me the video. It's really embarassing. I looked like a fool. It was during the Se7en fan signing. I was interviewed and said some stupid shit like oh my god oh my god oh my god, I met Se7en! I love Se7en! I love YG! Also, evidently a lot of people saw that shit. My students took videos on their phones of me on the t.v. gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. So terrible.

Also, I bought tickets to see Taeyang. I will go to both of his concerts, but my seats aren't very good for either day. So sad. T_T I'm not sure who I will go with yet. My co-teacher is trying to get tickets again on Sept. 2nd, but if she can't, she'll go with me on Sunday maybe. And then I'll go on Saturday with someone. idk who.

I'm signed up for Seoul ultimate fall league, plus a hat tournament in September for Soongshil University, which is the boo's team (but not uni, because he goes to Jung-Ang)

It's good to be back. Really good to be back.

xoxo
A

omg omg omg omg omg

I am so jealous of Jihye. YOUNGBAE KISSSSSSSSSED HER. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

I mean, sure, I have a boyfriend. I'm happy with him. But still, omg omg omg omg omg Taeyang kissed her. I'm so jealous. I'm glad my man understands my obsession with taeyang. otherwise, I'd be screwed.

Watching this video, I little squealed in pain when I saw it. And then I banged my fists on my desk and said, "NO NO NO NO NO!!"

See for yourself.

A whole conglomeration

So my weekend was amazing. It started on Thursday (sort of) with a trip to On The Border to say goodbye to Christi who went back to the states to be with her hubby on Friday. In case you're wondering why we went to On the Border, it's because there is no OTB in the city she is moving too and this depresses her. OTB was in Times Square Mall near Youndeungpo. OH. MY. GOD. That place is effing amazing. It's huge and filled with wonderful, fancy, designer stores that I can oogle as if I was back at the Gardens once more.

On Friday, after school, I took a looooooong nap that kind of morphed into sleep.

On Saturday morning, I met three of my students and we went to see Shrek Forever in 3D at the Incheon CGV theater. It was my first 3D movie ever (excluding the 3D movies at Disney and stuff), and it was pretty good. Honestly, I thought that the 3D was a little distracting/strange at first because I wasn't used to it, but some parts were really cool. The movie was cute and I liked it. After the movie, my students and I had lunch and then went window shopping (I taught them that word!!) at shinsegae and things. I bought some make-up at missha because they were having this epic sale.

Also, I found a coach bag on sale that I am DEFINITELY buying on Tuesday. oh. my. god. it's glorious.

Then I had a date. It was good. I taught him to play go-stop. He is Korean. Ajushis watched. I like him. That's all there is for that, because you people are just too nosy.

Then today, I went to frisbee. Beks gave me a kitty necklace. I had fun. I saw Won-Yule's new haircut.

Then, I bought Taeyang's Solar album regular edition. This may seem strange since I already own the deluxe edition. Well, the regular edition cd is a different color, and I figured I just had to support my man. Plus, I discovered upon opening, that the photo book is different and WONDERFUL!! More shirtless Bae pictures.

Tonight I am thinking about how to add to my tattoo. I'm thinking about getting some literary things added. Plus orange blossoms. I'm not positive yet, but I think it'll look really good. But it'll be effing huge if I do it. But omg I want it soooooo bad.

That's it here.

xoxo
A

New I Need a Girl video

After pulling the original video due to complaints from netizens (I really liked the video but hey), YG just released the new version of the I Need a Girl music video. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. Frankly, I like the original better. The new one, while being called a dancing-focused video, doesn't even play to Young-Bae's strongest trait, footwork. It's mostly a lot of hand and upper-body shots and motions, and not any focus on how he moves his feet. Seriously, that's Taeyang's signature, is slide and glides and other complex footwork. There is none of that. T_T

Taeyang Lyrics Announcement

So. The day has arrived when I promised Taeyang Solar Lyrics. It's not actually the afternoon, but the late evening, but a good friend here is leaving tomorrow, so I spent the afternoon with her. Sorry. But, it's still the big day.

Well, where are the lyrics, then, you may be wondering? Well, actually, they aren't here. Not one single lyrics is here.

Well, where are all the lyrics you promised?

Oh mysterious imaginary interviewer, the lyrics are someplace special. And I don't mean my heart.

Why don't you post them like you said you would?

Well, I realized that uploading the lyrics here would be both time consuming and difficult to not format, not to mention the fact that they would quickly end up in the archives behind my other worthless blogposts. Now, call me a psycho fangirl, but I think a blog archive is no place to put such musical treasures as Taeyang's Solar album lyrics.

So no lyrics?

Silly interviewer, I didn't say no lyrics. I said, no lyrics here.

WHERE ARE THEY GOD DAMNIT?

Oh, they are over at www.reallykpop.weebly.com

Wait, huh? What's that?

Well, imaginary mediaperson, it's the website I made just this week in order to give a proper home to the Taeyang lyrics. It's hosted on weebly.com, a website making site, but I'm considering buying my own domain. I'm not sure yet, though.

Wait, so you made a whole website for Taeyang's Solar Album Lyrics?

Not just Taeyang's Solar Album, but any other songs I have time/interest in uploading. I hope to include sections for big bang and 2pm in the near future, but it'll take time.

Are there English translations on the site?

Why yes, in fact, there are. Every song is typed out (BY MY OWN HANDS) in hangul directly from the Solar Deluxe Album 68-page photo book. Then, each song is romanized for pronunciation purposes. This, also, was done entirely by me. Then, I managed to translate the songs to English.

Why don't you just take the lyrics off other websites?

Well, the truth is, I thought about it. It would be much less time consuming but I discovered that there are lots of mistakes throughout the process. I believe that using the cd inserts enables me to have the best chance at an accurate set of hangul lyrics. In addition, I personally have found some romanizations of certain songs not jut confusing buy wildly inaccurate. I tried to use a standardized romanization set, but there are some variations when I feel they are helpful for pronunciation. Finally, as far as translations go, when they existed online, I compared usually at least two other sets of lyrics, in addition to creating and translating each line on my own. For perhaps three to four songs, I could not find lyrics and so I translated them entirely alone, using nothing more than my own grammatical knowledge, google translate, and my cell phone's Korean-English dictionary.

Holy shit. Why did you do so much work for something no one will ever read?

Well, frankly, because I'm bat-shit crazy, plus I'm a fangirl. Also, I figured even if no one so much as looks at it, it will at least help my Korean typing/translating/vocabularly skilly improve. Plus, hopefully I'll learn the lyrics to my favorite songs better myself this way.


*Notes: On Taeyang's Solar album, I still haven't translated 기도 (Prayer), and I haven't typed anything for 나만 바라봐 (Look Only at Me). Being re-releases from the HOT mini-album, I figured if I had to cut something, that would be it. As such, those will be posted no later than July 12th. I promise.

Also, Can't Stop Won't Stop, 2PM's mini-album is up next.

Also also, PLEASE COMMENT AND COMPLETE THE SURVEY on the homepage for the site. If you see mistakes or think something could be improved, please let me know! Once again, the site is: www.reallykpop.weebly.com

xoxo
A

Update on Lyrics

So my bad. I meant to post lyrics soon.

Unfortunately/Fortunately my weekend was super awesome and hella busy with the r16 Korea world bboy championship (A full-length review of the weekend will be coming soon) and I didn't get around to actually posting the lyrics. Luckily for you, I'm working on a special Taeyang lyrics surprise...

I promise the Taeyang surprise will be released by Thursday afternoon, Korea time, at the latest. So check back here Wednesday for the surprise, or early if you want to read about r16s!

xoxo
A

Taeyang Solar Album Lyrics

So I know this probably won't be of any interest to most of you, but I figured I could put the lyrics of the songs on Taeyang's Solar album all in one convenient spot. Please forgive the next nine posts being nothing but lyrics. I't s a service to my people.

Update: I created a new website which contains all the lyrics in Korean (hangul), plus a romanized pronunciation guide, PLUS English translations. Enjoy!

www.reallykpop.com

CD Review: Taeyang- Solar

Ok. So this is my first CD Review. I'm gonna go ahead and say it flat out: I'm biased. I love the FUCK out of Taeyang. Sure, I have delusions of Young Bae and myself getting married and producing little Youngbae juniors. Sure, my students call me Donglison (it's a terrible mashing of our names). Sure, I know his height (174 cm), his weight (56 kg = 123 lbs... eff off haters), his blood type (AB) and his birthday (May 18, 1988). So? It doesn't mean my review will be biased. Ok. So my review will be biased. Who the fuck am I kidding? I think YoungBae could literally take a shit, package it and sell it for 25,000 won a pop and I'd buy it and say it's the greatest thing ever.

That being said, this cd is still pretty awesome. Sure, it's not the greatest piece of musical genius created. No, it's not groundbreaking or innovative really. But, in its defense, it is incredibly catchy, with very danceable songs and a few noteworthy cameos (read: G.D., Teddy, Swings). I've fallen in love with it already and I've hardly had a chance to listen to the whole album.

The Deluxe Edition includes a t-shirt, a photobook, a signed pictures, and a YG Family Card. The regular edition includes a shorter photobook, the cd (albeit with 2 fewer songs, since this one doesn't have the re-releases of 나만 바라봐 [Look Only At Me] and 기도 [Prayer]).

The full Tracklist is as follows:

1. Solar (Intro)
2. Superstar
3. I Need a Girl (feat. G-Dragon)
4. Just a Feeling
5. You're My
6. Move (feat. Teddy)
7. Breakdown
8.니가 잠든 후에 [After You Fall Asleep] (feat. Swings)
9. Where U At
10. Wedding Dress
11. 기도 [Prayer]
12.나만 바라봐 [Look Only At Me]
13. Take It Slow

As far as composition goes, the great majority of the songs were composed and written by Teddy. But YoungBae wrote the lyrics from Solar, Just A Feeling and Wedding Dress. He also composed the music for Take It Slow.

Anyways, onward with the actual review:

Solar is just an intro, and in it he speaks only English, although it's mostly him saying yeah, it's still awesome. Just a really epic lead-in to the cd.

The first song, Superstar, starts out super strong with horns in the intro. The song is kind of a mid-tempo pop song. Not very dancy, but something you can just groove to. Taeyang switches expertly between English and Korean in this song. Seriously, parts of the song are a line in Korean, a line in English, a line in Korean, and so forth. Also, part of the lyrics: "So baby let's get it on, get it on, girl" which is something every girl can imagine Taeyang is whispering just to her. At least that's what I did.

The next song, I Need a Girl, which features best bud G-Dragon is the first release (after Wedding Dress and Where U At I guess) off the album. The video was released today and can be found here. The video is as amazing as the song. The verse is mind-bogglingly catchy. A student told me today that this is a remake of an older Korean song. Regardless, it's fucking awesome. A line of G.D.'s: "I love Girls, Girls I do adore," which is a nice little Jay-Z (Girls Girls Girls) reference. I hate Dara in the video (only because I'm totally jealous). Anyways, I didn't like the song that much when I heard it for the very first time, but as I hear it more, I love it more.

The next song is one which Taeyang wrote himself, Just a Feeling. The hook and even more so the bridge is just something that I imagine will be stuck in my head for like days. Taeyang also says he wants to make love to ME in the song. He says it. I'm gonna hold him to it. This song is a great dance song. Not too fast, but just perfect for a dance party in the morning when I'm waking up. You've got me saying yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

The first slow song on the album is You're My. Frankly, I just don't think anything will ever top Taeyang's 최인, which is the single sexiest slow ballad in the whole world. This song starts out so beautiful, with a little keyboard action However, I think the song is just a little to high and a little slow and lacks the vavoom that Taeyang usually brings to his ballads. Also, it's really unfortunate the metaphors he uses in this song. "You're my chocolate, my sweetest chocolate, I really wanna have you" "You're my ice cream, my sweetest ice cream, I really wanna have you" and "You're my candy, my lollipop candy, I really wanna kiss you, I really wanna love you." Really, Taeyang? You agreed to sing this? And really Teddy, you told Taeyang this was a good idea? I'm sorry. This is the one song that gets a thumbs down from me.

Then comes Move featuring Teddy. I'm gonna say this: the intro is hilarious and AWESOME. "Ay, all my sexy ladies on the floor. I like the girls that know how to move it right... They know what it is now, but don't get this shit twisted. This is for the ladies." Not only is don't get it twisted on of my favorite phrases, but Teddy makes it very clear. Taeyang is for the ladies. And a lady I am. This song is really pretty sounding. I think it caters to Taeyang's style. It offers just the right number of higher notes (unlike You're my which is ALL high notes) and gives us the upbeat R&B Taeyang that we all know and love. Also Teddy's rap is so sexually explicit and it's so funny because Taeyang is famously uber-religious. But hello, these lyrics? "I cock it and unload it call me Mr. BigRocket/I'm so vicious like sid with my sex pistols...Niagra Falls baby girl I got you wetter then." bwahahahaha.

My favorite song on the album is Breakdown. The hook is so damn good. I literally had this song on repeat at work, and I just have this one dance that is so perfect for this song. Plus Taeyang banks on the auto-tune fanaticism going on here. He doesn't over-use it like some other artists we may know (T-Pain) but just a little during a verse. I just wanna take this one to the club and "break it down down break it break it down."

The next song is the only song on the album that is in Korean: 니가 잠든 후에. It means after you fall asleep. It features the rapper Swings. There is very little English in this song compared to the others. Also, this title makes it seem like it will be a slow song, but nope. It's a dance track. It's very dancy, with a very electronic beat in the background, with a lot of echoing reminiscent of a club song. The Swings verse is pretty fresh. His voice is great and really locks you in.

The next two songs are already solidified as classics in Taeyang's repertoire: Where U At and Wedding Dress.  I don't have much to say about these songs because they are so flawless. I love both of these song so effing much. Seriously, Youngbae has excellent writers (except whoever penned you're my... that guy should be fired immediately) and he performs the songs immaculately. Seriously.

Then are the two re-releases of 기도 and 나만 바라봐 which are from his Hot mini-album. Again, bonafied Taeyang classics. I find it pretty unfortunate that the song 최인 (Sinners in English) gets so much less attention. It is easily my favorite song he's made, and in my opinion, the highest quality song he has. It's so beautiful constructed and sung. So passionate and thoughtful. Anyways, that songs not on the cd, so I should leave it out. hah.

Last is Take it Slow, which Taeyang composed himself. I think this is a pretty nice wrap-up to the album. It's nice to see a piece he composed turn out so well. This is the clutch slow jam (besides wedding dress) that Taeyang really needed in the album. Since You're My fell so short of my very high expectations, it's nice that this song is so good. It's a really love ballad. I agree YoungBae, let's take it slow. I will slowly savor every bit of this cd (minus you're my, which is getting skipped consistently), and dream of the day when you and I will be together... *fades into sentimental day dreaming*

Oh, for those of you who are interested, here are two videos I posted on my youtube channel of me opening Solar, and the BigBang Big Show concert CD, which I also picked up today:

The Hot List

Since Summer is finally here, and it's legitimately HOT outside (or has been until today), I figure it's time for another Hot List. I should do these more regularly, but I don't. This edition will run the gamut of topics, so hopefully you will enjoy:

1. The Rub: I literally discovered them today via the Johnny Cupcakes blog. This DJ crew is composed of DJ Ayres, DJ Eleven and Cosmo Baker. The threesome has been working together for about 8 years, and they are based in NYC. They spin full-time and make mixtapes basically for a living. I haven't been listening to them for long, but I'm already hooked. They mix hip-hop, funk, soul, rock, and other genres to make truly interesting mixes. They also are currently producing a series called the History of Hip-Hop. This series basically puts a group of the hottest songs from a single year into a single long-ass mix. The series starts with the year 1979, which was posted on their site back in December of 2007. Their most recent addition is 2003, which is a throwback to high school for me. I'm listening to the 1993 mix right now, which contains classics like Tribe's Award Tour, Wu-Tang's Protect Ya Neck, Method Man and Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin to Fuck With, Snoop's Gin & Juice, TuPac's I Get Around, Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain, and Souls of Mischief's 93 to Infinity (which Dumb and Wax sample in 2010 to Infinity), along with 39 other joints from that year. While I was only 6 years old in 1993, and certainly had never heard Wu-Tang, Snoop, or delaSoul when I was in first grade, my respect for these artists is immense. To hear them all on one track is pretty epic. All of their shit is available for download on their website. I really hope I can see one or more of them spin when I go to NYC this summer. Hopefully Diane/Amy/Sarah/someone will be down to check them out with me.

2. Rain: It's monsoon season here in Korea. Now, being from Florida, I'm no stranger to summer rains. In fact, in my personal experience, it (thus far) has rained far less here in Korea than it does each summer in Gainesville or Wellington. But, I appreciate much more here for various reasons. 1) my classes are no longer outdoors (LA classes at the ELI are outside and thus were moved every single day due to midday rainshowers). 2) it makes it significantly cooler in my un-air-conditioned classroom and office. 3) The students like rain a lot and are thus much happier/animated in my class. Plus, I just really like the rain. It's messy and wet and cool and it totally encourages casual behavior/dress. The only really unfortunate thing is that in my perpetual forgetfulness, I manage to consistently lose/leave at home my umbrella. So, in the last two weeks, I've bought three umbrellas. T_T

3. R16 Bboy Championships- OH MY GOD. It's this weekend. I've been on the website every day for the last 5 days just looking at the links and watching videos and checking out the pictures. I'm so stoked for this. I'm going to the pre-party with Words Run Dry and Dre. I'm also going with WRD to the bboy championships. I don't know if she knows it, but we are going eaaaaaaaaaarly to get good seats and be as close to the action as possible. I'm stoked as fuck. There will be an Urban Arts Festival at Olympic Park with graffiti exhibitions and bboy circles, along with a street market. Then, popping/locking battles on Saturday and Crew battles Sunday. ^______^ Tickets are still available at www.r16korea.com

4. FUEL- I just received a bunch of my FUEL gear from BoBo/parents. Everything is really great. It's unfortunate that I just now get the sweatshirt since it's really hot here. Also, more importantly, FUEL released their highlight video on youtube this past weekend and it's fucking awesome. Filled with layouts and skies and nasty d's (I've never seen so many handblocks in a highlight video in my life), it makes me so proud to be a FUEL alumna. Anyways, you watch the video here, and check out their other highlights which I've posted here but deserve more hits.

5. Taeyang's Solar Album: My Young-Bae is dropping his first full-length solo album tomorrow. I've got my copy reserved at ShinNara Records at the Shinsegae near Arts Center. I'm the 60th person in Incheon to reserve it. Clearly I'm a superfan. Anyways, YG has been releasing a 1 minute sample of songs every day since Sunday, and they are all super fresh. I loooooooove it so far. Tomorrow evening you can expect a full review of the album. I will listen to every song like 10 times and then really late at night, after I obsess for a few hours, I'll tell you all just how fucking amazing it is. I mean, jesus, have you seen my Bae lately? SEEEEEEX. See below for one of the audio previews released to youtube. Other previews can be found here, here (this one is really gooooood) , here (see previous parentheses), here, and here.



xoxo
A

One More Thing

You know, when I was living back in the United States, there were singers or t.v. programs or actors or things I really really liked, but I wouldn't say I had many obsessions (excluding my 3.5 year love affair with Rooney which now rests at a healthy level of enjoyment and has been tempered with time and distance). Now, however, my whole life is essentially composed of series of obsessions: Hello Kitty, Big Bang, Taeyang, Jay Park, John Steinbeck (finally breaking away from this one by reading the latest Pulitzer Prize winner Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout), Dumbfoundead, Strawberry Milk (yes, I still drink this almost everyday), etc.

I don't know what it is about Korean culture or life that accepts weird obsessions. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one though. The co-teacher I share an office with is OBSESSED with Gang Dong-Won (and understandably so, with the body and face that he has), my friend Miranda is obsessed with BigBang/TOP, and all my students are obsessed with some Korean celebrity or another. It's just okay here. acceptable.

 who wouldn't be in love with this slice?

oh, and Hello to you too, future husband

ahahahahahahahahahahaha

Seriously, I love Big Bang so much I can hardly control myself. This was posted on allkpop.com in February, but I just now found it while reading about a half dozen Big Bang articles online. It's so effing funny. Some fan made family trees for Big Bang members with pictures from various stages in their careers, and it's so awesome. If you are even remotely interested, here they are:

Personal favorites include Kwon Ji Young's (G-Dragon) first younger brother who disappeared after being diagnosed with heart disease, Lee Seung-Hyun's (Seung-ri) mother who smells of cinnamon and loves cappuchino, Dong Young Bae's (Taeyang <3<3<3) 23 month-old sibling who still can't open his eyes, Kang Daesung's older brother who still thinks he's a cat.

Gah, this shit is so funny.