What's on my playlist~

1. The Weepies- Same changes (Accidentally found it while watching EPIC)
2. Cho Yong Pil- Bounce & Hello (Somehow this old Korean singer reminds me so much of Phil Collins. He's like a Korean version of Phil Collins)
3. San E- Story of someone I know (Despite the controversies he's been involved recently, it doesn't stop me from liking this song)
4. Leessang- The Boy Who Can't Break Up, The Girl Who Can't Leave & Rush (Don't blame me, but I am biased when it comes to them)
5. Shinee- Selene 6.23 ( I don't know what does the title have to do with the song)
6. Tasha (Yoon Mi Rae)- As time goes by (Classic and never dies)
7. Colbie Caillat ft Gavin Degraw- We both know (Loved it from Safe Haven)
8. Ladies Code- Hate You
9. Vixx- G.R.8.U
10. Beast- Shadow & I'm sorry

K-Pop: Staying true to culture

     Before you read on, you might want to watch this first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekJ-ldOD0TQ . It's some American YouTuber's including Ryan Higa reaction to K-Pop.

     At first I didn't get what they were trying to say but after some consideration, I do agree with what they say. K-Pop is slowly expanding globally and I think they are trying a bit too hard to please fan's all over the world. I didn't notice this before because I'm so used to it and because i don't mind. 

     The problem? They like to add random English words into their mostly korean songs. Now most of their songs has english titles to be convenient to people who doesn't speak korean but in their songs, they'll add in some english and to some people, it's unnecessary. One of the youtubers was confused because he understand some of the english words but mostly, they don't get what they're singing. I think that they should stay true to their culture and if they want to sing a song in korean then don't add any english words into it. If they want to do it, then sing the entire song in english. I came up with this conclusion after i heard one mandarin songs with a mix of korean in it. And i was seriously thinking like, "Whut? Is this Korean song or Mandarin Song".

     In the video, the youtubers were scrutinizing their songs because they don't get what they are talking about. For example, Girls Generation's "I got a boy". One of them heard, "let me introduce myself" then the rest is continued in korean and he was saying what are they saying. Then there's "I got a boy---" continued by korean again. They heard "I got a boy in my chin" because they korean words sounded like that. So in a way, i understand their frustration. It IS irritating. 

     For me, i've learn a little korean through drama's and reality show. When i listen to K-pop songs, I have to switch my attention at times. I had to focus on what they are saying in Korean at first and when they throw in English, I have to change my attention to understanding them in English and it's a tedious task after some time. I give up mostly. Since I've been studying Cognitive Science recently, I understand that this situation can be linked to Stroop effect. You can google it if you want to know what it is. 

     Because K-pop is SO popular these days especially among Asia and South East Asia, their demands grow. It seems to me that every year, at least few idol girl/boy groups are debuting. I lost track of them. They are mushrooming at an alarming rate , they are starting to lose their uniqueness. All of them looks exactly the same, with the same hair style, same fashion, same face and they even sound the same. And the songs they produce now are mostly mixed with some english words- i don't wanna exaggerate but i think ALL of the songs has at least one English word in it. It might be due to demand or it might be because they want to show of they know at least some english. 

    As for K-pop fashion, I have no comment. They want to be unique and eccentric, that's fine with me as long as they don't overdo it. They might have to reconsider their songs though. If they are proud of their culture, then show it in their songs. I think K-pop can attract global attention even without trying to put in english words in their songs. Though I do agree that by doing that, they will improve their english but it's just this little bit. They should learn proper english sentences if they want to communicate with the world. I find it appalling and amusing at the same time when the celebrities try to construct sentences in english while talking to foreigners. They really should put in some effort in that.

    What they are doing isn't wrong. I am a K-pop fan and I love their language, even sometimes i would blurt out a korean word when talking. I'm not trying to be judgmental cuz i learnt 3 languages since young and I am still learning korean language. I feel emphatic towards those who doesn't get what they are singing about. 

The sweet guy next door: Kang Gary

 

     Some of you might ask: Who's he? It's normal. Lemme introduce you to Korean Hip Hop artist, Gary of Leessang. Now, I never knew who he was until i watched Running Man although i did listened to his album Asura Balbalta before. He doesn't have the best look and he has the typical Asian face as some say. His Running Man co-workers sometimes call him ugly to his face. 
     But i do believe personality beats looks for his case. After watching him for more than a hundred episodes on Running Man, i think he's the most charming person as girl could ever wish.
     I won't say he has the temperament of a saint but his patience is most admirable. Even though his friends loves to joke about his looks, he's still cool about it, even joined in making fun of his own looks. So for someone to really make him angry, I'd say that person has gone overboard. Though i never seen him angry before, so i'm not going to comment on that. 

     Gary from what i can conclude, could be a very loyal and loving partner. He's considerate and real sweet towards his make believe partner Song Ji Hyo. I consider him to be romantic. It's cute seeing how he would try to impress Ji Hyo or grab her attention. It's a shame though that they couldn't be a real couple.  
     Although he looks blur and even serious at times, he does occasionally makes jokes. Gary doesn't try to outshine everyone, as in he is so down to earth, he's always being taken for granted. He mostly looks blur and even the way he talks is slurred but really, he's pretty intelligent when he needs to be. It's sad that he doesn't have confidence in himself even though he's pretty talented. If you watch Running Man, he shows his hidden talents at times. 
     His little actions at times really reflects his caring attitude. He is worth keeping. I will say, his loyalty is.... precious. Hmm... he likes to call himself "Dog" (His name sounds like Dog in Korean) and i guess i can link his loyalty to a dog's loyalty. Like the boy next door, he will be looking out for you from a distant and help you when you need help. 
     I admire his work. I guess you can say, it's because of Leessang, I was exposed to hip hop culture and I love listening to their songs. Most of their songs are composed by Gary and if you take the time to read the lyrics, it does carry certain messages. It's meaningful, unlike other artist who would throw in random words into their songs and it doesn't make sense. I would recommend hip hop lovers to check out their songs. I personally love: The Boy Who Can't Break Up, The Girl Who Can't Leave, You are the answer to a guy like me, Recall, The pursuit of happiness & My Love. I know what you are thinking, "why are the titles so long?", I don't know. Check out some of the lyrics and quotes from Gary, I find it really meaningful.

For more quotes, see here: http://theletters.org/index.php/home/letter/273  or http://chirpstory.com/li/53002

Personal thoughts on book sequels

     I have been reading the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare recently. It's not bad but I tend to find Clary annoying partly because i can't stand that she's so pig stubborn and do unnecessary idiotic stuff. I do like the character of Magnus Bane cuz of his carefree and diva-like character. I find what he does and say cute. Anyway, that's not the point.

     After reading the first book, i was left hanging there so i thought that the second book can fill in the blanks. But i found it quite disappointing, not only i was i more confused, it was damn boring. So it got me into thinking about the Twilight series, the second book was also so excruciatingly boring that i skipped the entire book. So my question: Are all the second book for every series this boring? It's like the author is writing it just for the sake of prolonging the story instead of just giving me the story straight. Ok fine, so the City of Ashes is only boring for the first half of the book. But it's still boring. 
     The third book was fine, it answers the question to the first two books. So yeah. Now that I'm finished with the third, I was reluctant to read the fourth. The third book ended with a happy ending but in the fourth, conflicts happen again and i really hate it when it get's complicated. It makes me lose interest fast. 
     The beautiful creatures series was entirely boring for me. Though why i bought 3 of the books is a wonder to myself. This is the boring of all to me. I thought the film adaptation was going to be okay but I was wrong again. It's totally bad. Not only does the guy fail to bring out the character of Ethan, Lena Duchannes was also bad. It's a huge disappointment to me.
      As for Discovery of Witches, I hated Diana so much that I quit reading it. It has been some time since i last read, so it's a blur as to why I hated the character so much. All i remember was, she's stubborn and annoying. I never hated a book protagonist so much as i hated Diana.
     I hate stubborn, really really hate. It's not like you have to follow everything people say, it's okay to be stubborn for some reason but to be stubborn for the entire time even for small matters, it irks me. I remember being so annoyed at Clary (Mortal Instrument) in the City of Glass that i felt so damn glad when Luke and Jace scolded her. If she were real, i'll tie her up and make her into a pinata just to knock some sense into that head of her's. Other than stubborn, I hate character who does overly stupid things like running out of a perfectly good hiding place just to be chased by a psycho. It's like they don't have a brain. They don't filter things they say and don't think about the consequences of what they do. 
     My point is, I found out that for most series I read, it's usually boring for the second book but the third one would be more interesting. As it drag longer it might be as boring. 

Celebrity and their wedding dresses

     Being in the spotlight on your wedding day might be a good thing and then, it might be a bad thing. If you're any normal person, people wouldn't judge much about what you wear during your wedding as long as it's white. But being a celebrity, i think they do have it hard, even on wedding days. It must be quite stressful trying to please others and at the same time wear what you like. I read an article in soompi lately on celebrity brides and their dresses. To me it's pretty cruel and unfair to scrutinize what they wear during their wedding day. For further info, refer here.
http://www.soompi.com/2013/08/24/the-best-and-worst-celebrity-wedding-dresses/

This looks more of a lingerie than wedding frock.

     I don't know what's their problem (the person doing the criticizing). The dresses on them looks fine to me. Yet they don't spare the brides. And i was ridiculed that it's the wedding planners that were doing the criticizing. Sure there are dresses that makes you look like a cake and some doesn't really flatter your body but seriously, leave them to wear whatever they want. It's THEIR wedding, not the public's. In a few years, they'll look back and probably regret it or not. Leave them be. It's suppose to be a happy day for them, once in a lifetime not a casual day of "fashion police". It's enough that they are constantly being supervised on what they wear normally, the public need to cut them some slacks on wedding day. 
     It's not like they don't have a conscience. They still wear a proper wedding dress, not like they're dresses up for Halloween. Though I wouldn't deny that some Hollywood brides went overboard with their dresses. Still, they want to be unique, go ahead. But how bad can a wedding dress look? As long as it's still under the category of wedding dress, it should look like a wedding dress (unless they wear lingerie).
     I wouldn't even want to bother about Avril Lavigne's wedding dress. It's gothic sure, but its not that bad. So people, just leave your vicious comments unsaid. It's not our job to judge what they wear. They feel comfortable, so why not?
     To me, it isn't the dress that's the problem but the unnecessary accessories and badly done tan job. Surely you don't want to look like a bedazzled orange during your wedding. That'll just make you a laughing stock.

This even isn't so bad. It's unique.

I will admit, this looks bad. The dress looks half done.