Thoughts for the Day

It's been a long time since my last entry, hasn't it?  To be honest--and I've probably stated this before--I can't really think of much to say these days, let alone come up with titles for these entries.  ^^;;  But I'll keep trying my best as long as you keep reading them. 

'Catch Me' in L.A.
Earlier this month, Yunho and Changmin did their America leg of their Catch Me tour.  And as usual when any of TVXQ comes to the U.S., I never get to go.  This was also the case.  What's upsetting is that they did a whole concert where it was just them.  No SM Town.  Now, I would've been fine with either or, but almost three hours of just seeing them is like...amazing.  *o*  Not only that, but Yunho and Changmin did one of the craziest things a celebrity of their status could do--they went out into the crowd.  Needless to say, I was quite jealous of fans who got to see them up close and personal like that.  But I also heard that some fans were being a bit too touchy-feely.  >__>  All in all, it was quite a successful stop.  Hopefully next time any of the members come for something, I'll be able to see them.

Junsu is 'Incredible'
This week Junsu released an MV for his 2nd album.  The title is called 'Incredible'.  Let me tell you, he's really gone far in a good way.  I personally enjoyed the song.  The last thirty seconds of it...not so much--but that's because I'm a fangirl in love.  XD  There is another song on his album which has an MV called '11am'.  I also like that song because it just sounds so calming.  There is also another song on the album called 'Chocolate Girl'.  Now, this song has gotten a few black Kpop fans talking because of the context of the word 'chocolate'.  Some find it demeaning while others find it lovely that he would even sing a song about a woman of a darker complexion (if that is really what the song is about).  Personally, I do hope he's talking about women of color because...well, I'm one.  ^^  Here's his MV for 'Incredible'. 

 

My E3 experience

Last month I was watching E3.  It was really my first time watching it so extensively.  There are many games I'm anticipating, and after a few years I'll probably buy a PS4.  XD  Some interesting games they showed were 'Watchdogs' and 'The Crew'.  But being a SquareEnix fan, I practically screamed when they showed trailers for Final Fantasy XV (formerly XII Versus) and Kingdom Hearts III.  They're also going to be releasing Final Fantasy XIII-3 and HD versions of Final Fantasy X and X-2.  Oh, how I love SquareEnix.  (^o^) 

 

What a Whirl of News!

Greetings, fellow readers and Happy Good Friday (for those who celebrate it).  I don't really have much to talk about today.  Well, nevermind...I do.  XD 

Congratulations to KAT-TUN's Nakamaru and HeySayJUMP's Inoo for graduating!
At the same time, both Yuichi Nakamaru and Kei Inoo graduated from their universities!  I congratulate both of them for continuing their studies as well as being the awesome performers that they are.  Not many celebrities can do that.  ^^  Nakamaru majored in Human Sciences and Inoo in Architecture.  Those sound like really good degrees.  *__* 

Junnosuke's arrival in Thailand~!
Recently, Junnosuke Taugchi of KAT-TUN as well as a few other artists came to Thailand for an event called J Series.  This video really goes to show that Thai fans love Junnosuke.  :D  There are many more fancams of him entering/leaving Thailand's Suvamabhumi airport as well as the event that he was there for.  As a sidenote...I really wish I could've been there.  Some fans even started singing his solo, 'Finale'.  T___T

Daichi Miura's 8th Anniversary
March 30th marks the 8th anniversary of Daichi Miura's solo career.  Not many people know of him (which is sad).  He's not only a great singer, but a superb dancer.  He even makes up his own choreography sometimes.  Maybe a few of you may know of him when he performed a song with Korean singer BoA.  Personally, my favorite song from him is 'Delete My Memories'.  A fan of his that I follow on Twitter has put together a small project that I took part in.  I really think it was nice of her to do so.  If you want to check it out, click here.  I do hope that many of you will be interested in him enough to check out some of his music.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed~!

Welcome to Twitter, L.Joe and Chunji
It seems that slowly, but surely the members of Teen Top are getting their own Twitter accounts.  It's always fun to follow celebrities.  ^o^  If you have a Twitter and like Teen Top, you should follow them.  Now if only Changmin, Yunho, Yoochun (again), and all of KAT-TUN would get one, I'd be happy...despite all of the chaos that might ensue.

Onew dating and electronic cigarettes?
Well, yet another dating rumor has arisen.  This time it's SHINee's Onew and After School's Jungah.  All I can say about this is...I'm sorry to Shawols (mainly Onew fans) as well as fans of After School.  :/  This one doesn't hurt me as bad as Changmin's did.  *still shuddering from that*  But what does concern me is that Onew is also rumored to be smoking electronic cigarettes.  It's quite disappointing like the whole marijuana bust involving DMTN's Daniel.  Though I think electronic isn't as bad as the real thing, it's still a cigarette, so here's to hoping that Onew will kick the habit altogether one day.  It's really weird though because Onew seemed to be the last person in SHINee I'd see smoking.

No war, please
It seems that North Korea and South Korea are once again butting heads, and the rest of the world is being quite concerned with the actions of North Korea.  I really do hope that war doesn't break out.  Not only would it affect the Korean Penninsula, but also areas nearby: China, Russia, Japan, maybe Taiwan, and some U.S. territories (mainly Guam and Hawaii).  Of course, I don't want my favorite artists to get caught up in all of that but I don't want the civilians to get hurt either--even the North Korean citizens.  Hopefully it will never escalate to that. 

Once Again, Korea...

First of all, I don't claim for any of this to be factual, just straight up opinions.  It just feels that time and time again, I'm noticing that Korea gets slammed for being racist more frequently.  The most recent thing being when a group called B2ST (Beast) was in New York filming for a music video.  They put up a last-minute ad asking for only Caucasian models.  Unfortunately, that was a really wrong move on their part.  But I wouldn't blame the group itself.  The director of the music video should be the one to blame.  I read comments stating things like: "Why does this group even have fans" and "This is why I don't like Kpop.  It's racist".  I'm probably on the wrong side about this and I will admit that how some Koreans are about other races is really wrong, but I do feel bad that Korea gets called out on this more and more often now.  There are other countries that do this as well I'm sure.  Dare I say that Jpop may have a similar problem?   Because all I see in majority of their music videos whenever they need a foreigner are Caucasians as well.  Would you not think that they may be doing the same thing that Kpop may do?  The only difference is that Jpop may be more discreet with it, but I'm sure they had problems in the past as well. 

I will admit to this: there are times where I do sit and wonder how my biases would view me and such (especially Changmin or Junnosuke) because I am of a dark complexion.  .__.  But despite all wonky things Korea throws out there, I still enjoy the things I see from that country.  I'm not going to let these things deterr me from listening to Kpop or wanting to visit that country, and I don't think it should let others as well.  I feel the same way for Japan too.  If anything, it's like I always say:  Korea is now beginning to become noticed by the world more and more, and all this attention (i.e.- more tourists) is something they have to adjust to.  Not only that, I think it would be best if the idea of having pale or lighter skin as the "ideal" skin-type just disappears.

All in all, I do want Korea to be more mindful of what they're saying and doing now that they've got an international audience, but at the same time wouldn't it be best to guide them in how to deal with it rather than choke-slam them?  :/ 

Maybe I'm just too chill about this.  Anyway, peace out.   

       

A Huge *Sigh* for the Korean Entertainment

When I first got into Kpop, I was really bedazzled by how cool they look.  They danced a bit more than the Jpop groups I was following, and they looked very pretty (not that Jpop groups aren't pretty either).  I still have trouble singing along to their songs as it is difficult to pronounce words than it is with Japanese. 

The group that I followed the most was, of course, TVXQ.  It was something about them that drew me to them and kept me there.  I do remember reading an article about S.M. Entertainment's '5 Year Curse' on any group they harbor, so one time I thought: "What would happen if they disbanded?"  I had hoped that it wouldn't happen, but it did.  After the three members left, things sort of changed for me and Kpop.  It was like I was seeing things rather differently when it came to these companies and their artists.  The biggest thing--and what the bulk of my post is about--is the ostracism of former members in a group from anything in the entertainment industry.  My question is "Why?"  Why do companies try their hardest to make it difficult for an artist who left to get on television or promote anywhere?  Just today, I read some articles about the cast of "Ripley" not going on any television programs because of one problem or another.  However, one of the cast members is Park Yoochun...  =.=;;  And if you've been following this whole lawsuit, you may have noticed that the three members haven't been able to do a proper performance on televison.  And when they are promised to go on a television show, it somehow always gets cancelled.  It's even to the point where C-Jes, their current agency, is a little weary of offers made my television stations because they wonder if they're going to cancel on them too.  It reminds me of S.M. Entertaiment trying to gain signatures for a petition to keep JYJ off of any show. They stated that if the three members get back on television, it would "damage the Hallyu Wave".  I can't see how their appearance on television would do something like that.  I'd watch them regardless if it damaged the wave or not.  I know most fans think that S.M. Entertainment is not behind every little fault the three members are experiencing simply because they aren't supposed to be messing with them, but if that were so...why couldn't they just let the members see how much they were making in the beginning?  That is what this was originally all about.  That and to give more leeway on their contracts.  And it would've saved everyone the trouble.