I am a fangirl, hear me squeal

Warning: Major fangirling ahead!!


I just watched SS501's performance on Music Bank for this week and....

omgomgomgomgfaint!

Haha, just had to throw that in. But seriously, their dancing was so crisp and clean in this performance; I'm really impressed at how much better it is compared to last week. And the white suits... niiiiiice.
The only problem I had was that the stage was so small... I felt cramped just watching them dancing in that tiny space. I would say they should cut back on their back-up dancers but that would probably mess up the whole choreography, etc. I liked the contrast between SS501's white suits and the dancers' black outfits though... it helps in distinguishing SS501 from a distance, haha.

So basically throughout the whole video I was going "niiiiiice" like every 10 seconds and grinning like an idiot. Not totally unlike every other SS501 video I watch.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Love ya (Music Bank performance - June 11, 2010)

Edit: I just re-watched their comeback performances from last week and their dancing was actually pretty good in the Music Bank performance. I think it's either the white suits or the stage backdrop this week that helps to emphasize their movements and make them look more crisp (or maybe they really are more crisp). The singing seems to have improved though. On the other hand, last week's Music Core performance was overall not that good. Also, the Music Core cameraman needs to calm the fuck down, holy shit.

There's a glass between us

Came across this video yesterday and thought I'd share it. Potential inspiration for a poem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjZ6VkLuCM

I don't really know what to think about the ending though... it was a little creepy and it almost seemed like the girl went crazy. But overall it's incredibly touching and I like it a lot. There's a another, updated, version that the guy (I think it's a guy) did with a different music track but I think I like this one better.

Listening to right now: Otsuka Ai - Cherish

Damnit, I want to be in a fanvid too

I was on Youtube a while back and I don't remember exactly what I was looking for but somehow I stumbled across a fanvid of this Chinese malexmale couple. As it turns out, there were a number of fanvids of these guys who I assume are just random bloggers that happen to be a fairly good-looking, gay, Asian couple.

Man, I wish people found me interesting enough to make a fanvid about me.

I'm sure that back when I first watched the videos I had much more to say but since it's been practically a month, my apathy (or bad memory) has more or less kicked in. However, I decided to give this roundabout back story so that I could post a poem I wrote that's loosely inspired by the idea of this couple (or more broadly, by gay relationships or any "forbidden" relationship in general), and written to Yiruma's River Flows in You which happened to be the background music for one of the fanvids.

Anyway, since my poem blog is lagging ridiculously far behind due to my somewhat anal resolution to post everything in chronological order, I decided to go ahead and post the poem here. And, surprise surprise, this one actually had the fortune of being given a title!


"Love Story"
An exchange of shy glances
My heart throbs anytime you come near
Gentle laughter that sets my heart aflight
Tingles that chase my nervousness
We spent so much time together
And wasted just as much apart
Never thinking this forbidden love could be
I finally gave into your smile
And a single whisper made me yours.

An exchange of heated sighs
Hands gliding across glistening skin
Your fingers playing a tune that only we can hear
Passion igniting a rain of kisses
Your breath hitches as you release into me
Riding on your pleasure I do the same
Never thinking this forbidden love could end
I wanted to always see your smile
But in a single moment it all fell apart.

An exchange of angry words
Voices battling to drown the other
Those tears that once betrayed my happiness
Gradually became tears that held my pain
You watched my back as I walked away
Our hearts breaking with the distance
And in the midst of it all there was relief
Never thinking this forbidden love could survive
A single choice was all it took to break.



Listening to right now: Yiruma - River Flows In You

All it takes is good hair

So SS501 made their comeback this weekend and I've been watching their performances for "Love ya" and "Let me be the one" on Youtube. They really nailed "Let me be the one" and even threw in a little choreography which I thought was a nice touch, even though it's a ballad. It's too bad that they sang a shorter version of the song and not the whole thing since it's a such a good song. The "Love ya" performance wasn't as impactful (is that even a word? lol) as I thought it would have been. The choreography works better in the video than on stage, imo, and I'm not sure I really like their outfits that much. At least their hair looks better this time around so I can overlook pretty much everything else. I also liked that they had live instruments on stage, and even though I complained about the rapping in my previous post, that was surprisingly the part that they pulled off the best.

One thing that I'm a little disappointed about is that SS501 is not that consistent with their live vocals. I can understand that some of their dance choreography is very demanding and that affects their overall stamina and hence their vocals, but there are other groups that also dance and sing at the same time and can still stay on key more consistently. I know that they have talent up the wazoo because they always pull off their ballads beautifully, and they can sing well in their faster songs, so I think it's just a matter of stamina or something when it comes to the dancing while singing. With regards to "Love ya", I'm hoping that as the weeks go by they'll be able to polish their performance a bit more since they'll be doing it so many times anyway.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Let me be the one

P.S. The title doesn't really have any relevance to the post itself but I've found myself lacking inspiration for witty titles lately. Though I was watching some of SS501's older performances (e.g. U R Man) and I was reminded of how much difference a good hairstyle can make.

Let me love ya

SS501 just released the MV for their new song "Love ya" off of their new mini-album "Destination". But before I get into what I think about either of those, let's backtrack a bit.

Pictures were released a few weeks ago of their new look and the concept was... wow. Personally, I liked the first set of pictures (the ones with the mask) because the look was incredibly sexy with a touch of BDSM. Park Jung Min pulled if off especially well. However, the set of pictures where they kept the BSDM theme but lost the mask wasn't quite as good, imo. I don't know if it was the hair or the make-up but I found that there was something excessively feminine about the whole look. Key word being excessively because we all know how much I enjoy watching effeminate-looking men.

I was a little bit disappointed that the new album ended up being another mini-album rather than a full album. I mean, anything at all is great but at the same time I was hoping to hear more from them. The songs themselves are really good (quality over quantity, I suppose); I honestly like the songs (and their new look) on "Destination" a lot more than those on "Rebirth". I'm especially addicted to "Love ya" and "Let me be the one" even though there isn't that much choice seeing as there are really only 4 different songs to choose from.

And now back to the "Love ya" MV. The song itself is a strong, catchy, and altogether addictive track. The rap (does every K-pop song these days have a rap?) sounds a little clumsy to me; something about it doesn't flow... I don't know if it's the lyrics themselves, or if it's the fact that none of the SS501 members are really rappers. I think the best part of the song is at the end of the chorus when Jung Min sings all gravelly and then Young Saeng follows up with this smooth voice. Great contrast. Kim Hyun Joong doesn't really sing that much which is a little disappointing simply because I like it when all 5 of them sing a significant portion of the song. While I was watching the MV I was actually thinking "huh, not that much Hyun Joong" and then BAM! solo dance.
Overall, the choreography is pretty decent, though I could do without the air humping; luckily, they don't do too much of it. Strangely enough, the gunshots (or whatever that sound is supposed to be) totally remind me of the yaoi game Zettai Fukuju Meirei [Absolute Obedience]. (Good game, btw.)

I haven't been following SS501's activities as closely as I did last year but I'm looking forward to their comeback performances and such. I get this warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I watch them nowadays because they've matured and improved so much. They also don't sound like almost every other K-pop group out there which is refreshing. Now if they would only release another full length album.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Love ya

P.S. Rabbit rabbit, bring me good luck!

I'm breakfasty!

I stumbled across a random quiz on someone's LiveJournal and out of curiosity (and because really, who can turn down a nonsensical quiz) decided to take it. I was pretty amused by the completely useless yet strangely uplifting description provided in the result.

Quizzes Girls Games

"You are 10:02 a.m.

You are breakfasty, like a pile of pancakes on a Sunday morning that have just the right amount of syrup, so every bite is sweet perfection and not a soppy mess. You are a glass of orange juice that's cool, refreshing, and not overly pulpy. You are the time of day that's just right for turning the pages of a newspaper, flipping through channels, or clicking around online to get a sense of how the world changed during the night. You don't want to stumble sleepily through life, so you make a real effort to wake your brain up and get it thinking. You feel inspired to accomplish things (whether it's checking something off your to-do list or changing the world), but there's plenty of time for making things happen later in the day. First, pancakes."

How about a shave?

Just got done watching the movie "Sweeney Todd" and although I'm not one for musicals, I really liked it. Johnny Depp is, as usual, awesome. I was surprised (and quite amused) that he had never sung before and that even while the sets were being made and the ball was already rolling... no one had ever heard him sing before. Talk about leaving things up to chance.

Ordinarily I can comment more on a movie, especially if I've really like it but there's not really much I can say about "Sweeney Todd". I thought the cinematography was great, and the singing was good too, especially considering the fact that the main actors weren't professional singers. It didn't drag on or bore me at any point, in fact there were a lot of moments when I was literally leaning forward in anticipation. I suppose it helped that I had no idea what was supposed to happen... I knew the gist of the storyline before watching the movie but I had never read up on it or the play to know any specifics.

I also don't really have anything to say about the play versus the movie adaptation seeing as I've never seen the play (and in all honesty, the awesomeness of plays is pretty much lost on me simply because I've never been to even one), plus different adaptations can be good in their own ways and will always have their strong points and shortcomings depending on the form that they take (book versus movie versus play, etc).

All I can say is, the movie is definitely worth watching. Especially if you want more proof that to convince a man to do anything, just appeal to his pimp side.

Listening to right now: Johnny Depp - Epiphany [Sweeney Todd]