Introducing the Poppin' Ahjummas Review Kpop

We have had so much fun exploring some of our kpop MV favorite hits and misses that we have decided to just make it a regular segment.  It also allows Dongsaeng and I to share songs with you, and each other, that might have been missed.  So please join us in our newest experiment, "Poppin Ahjummas" and if there is a MV out there that you think we have missed, feel free to share in the comments.

The Ahjumma's Beat Goes On: Kpop Reviews for May

And we are back with yet another new segment! While we focus more on dramas, both Dongsaeng and myself love us a good kpop MV.  So once a month we are hoping to produce our new segment: The Ahjumma's Beat Goes On and share our favorite songs each month.  Just a note that we discussed the latest releases from BTS and Big Bang earlier in the month which is why they are not included.

Let's Give this a Serious Go {Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng}

Hello and good day to you all!  How have you been since we were last together?  My apologies for once again falling off the blogwagon.  I spent a good deal of my week doctor hopping trying to get to the bottom of whatever this is that is keeping me from my daily life, including time here with my favorite addicKts talking about my favorite things.  Time not spent whiling away a day or two in transit and waiting rooms was spent sick in bed and/or playing catch up for the time spent sick in bed.  Life is fun sometimes, isn't it?  I don't mean to complain, really I don't.  This is neither the time nor place, nor is it really in my nature to be all gloomy.  So my apologies if that's how it comes across.  No, I just want you to know that the reason I've been kind of missing in action a lot lately is all because of me, not you.

Before I get started officially, I wanted to send a quick cryptic message to one of our most favorite and special readers.  Not even sure if she'll see this or not, but on the off chance that she does, we just want our dear friend to know that we are thinking of her and sending out all the love we can as she faces a heart-breaking loss in her life.  See, being a friend of TCA has its benefits.  You can get cryptic messages written just for you.  Membership has its benefits, no?  ;)

Now for the main show.  Since I slacked off last week, I didn't get to share these with you personally.  I'm sure they're not new by any means to you anymore and I'm incredibly late to this party.  Like embarrassingly late.  Well, like a week late I suppose.  I lost my invite and got the day wrong and now I'm standing on your doorstep with a bag of chips in hand ready to party.

What did you all think of GD's newest video, Michi Go?  Personally, while I liked it and watched it repeatedly, it's not my favorite ever of his.  It is fun and catchy though, even if a wee bit repetitive and kind of jarring if you're not in the right frame of mind (or maybe age bracket).  Still, it's GD.  I am hopelessly under his Dragony powers.  Sigh.  Even if there were many close-up shots of giant feet getting picked at.  Gag. (I have a foot thing, don't mind me).  And what a special surprise to see YG hyung Se7en make a cameo appearance.  It was like seeing a ghost from beyond the grave - you know, the military service grave.  Since Se7en is now serving his MS time and all.  Ah, Se7en...you and I have some major catch up to play in the next two years before you come back.  I look forward to getting to know you better so that I am all ready to welcome you back properly.



Another video that came out was SHINee's Why So Serious.  Okay.  So I have a choice to make here.  Do I tow the Shawol line and gush about how awesome this song and video are, or do I tell you what I really think, thus possibly alienating some?  After all, I think we all know how "passionate" netizens can be.  And yes, by "passionate" I do indeed mean "batcrap crazy".  Since this isn't a normal "fan" site though, I think we can all be mature enough to discuss this like rational human beings, right?  Well, let's give it a shot.



I love and adore SHINee.  I love their music.  Musically they are probably my number 2, right behind Big Bang.  Their music always makes me smile.  It makes me happy.  But this song from the onset bothered me.  A lot.  Just the concept of it.  Okay, more specifically, the title.  "Why So Serious".  Really?  We all know that GD ripped that one off of the Joker first for Crayon.  You hear that phrase and can't help but think of Crayon.  I'm sorry.  It's just true.  You can't deny it.  This bothers me because it then makes it seem like SHINee (read "SM" as I don't point fingers at the artists in this case) is just hoping to ride the GD wave of success.  It makes them seem like cheap copycats when in fact, they definitely do not deserve that.  They are in their own right absolutely amazing and deserve to be recognized for their originality and talent.  This just leaves a bad taste in the mouth that I don't like to see attached to a group I adore so much.  And let's talk numbers.  Now, I don't know all the ins and outs.  I'm absolutely 100% positive that this decision was not made lightly or happily.  I know that if they had seen a way around it, they certainly would have gone for it.  But the fact still stands that it just feels so wrong that Jonghyun was not in the video.  If you will recall, he was recently injured in an automobile accident.  Due to his ongoing recovery, he was unable to appear in the video.  Now, I am not a callused monster.  I am very glad that he is resting and recovering.  I certainly don't want to see him come back before he is all better.  We've seen how that goes in the past with people (actors, singers, what-have-you) being sick or hurt and returning back to work far too soon and just making their health worse.  I am glad he is taking the time he needs to get better.  And if that meant missing shows and appearances and the like, I wouldn't have any bit of problem with that.  But a video?  Again, I'm sure there is a very good and valid reason behind it, but it just doesn't sit well that an entire music video was shot without one of the members.  Was there really no way of delaying it just a bit?  A show/performance/appearance is one thing, but a video?  A video lasts a long, long time.  It's not like he's gone for 2 years doing his MS.  He hurt his nose.  Unless, of course, his injuries are more serious than they are letting on.  I suppose that's always a possibility.  I won't even give voice to the other thoughts swirling around in my head about what could be going on behind the scenes.  I will just assume that what we are hearing is the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth.  If that's the case, well, then, it seems odd that they couldn't wait a bit longer for him to recover before shooting and promoting.

Now, despite all of that, let me just make clear that I still like the song, these two things excepted.  It's cute.  It's catchy.  The four boys did a great job.  I liked that they were dressed better and that their clothes and appearances were less distracting.  So the video isn't entirely memorable (except for the glaring missing member), but it's not bad.  Lots of close ups of cute boys singing.  For most Shawols, we don't ask for much more than that, do we?  In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I am not like most Shawols.  While I love the music, I'm not all fangirly for SHINee.  I don't know why and I don't know if this is a permanent affliction (I have decided that Onew is my bias, at least for now, but I'm still not gaga for any of them in that way), but I'm okay with it for now.  In fact, I'm actually quite pleased to like a group solely for their musical product and not all the rest of it.  I'm good with it.  I'm great with it.  Sorry if that makes me the odd-one out.  I don't know if I can legitimately call myself Shawol.  I don't even have a SHINee Pinterest board.  I know, right???  Crazy that.  So for me, I was kind of just meh on the whole video.  I can tell you however, that my full Shawolic friends were CRAZY for it.  Taemin especially was getting a lot of love from them, the true Shawols.  And Minho.  And Key and Onew too.  They appreciated all the screen and sing time that Taemin had.  Cool.  I'm happy they were happy and I am therefore going to assume that this was pretty much the case and consensus across Shawoldom.  So congrats boys on another great release!  I look forward to hearing the rest of the album.

SHINee's been busy promoting their new album on the airways.  Here are three performances on the major music shows from the past few days.  As an extra bonus, the Music Core and Inkigayo both also feature the song SHINe in addition to Why So Serious.

Music Bank 26 April

Music Core 27 April

 Inkigayo 28 April


And finally, before I sign out, just a quick note about GD's on-stage injury during his first Osaka concert over the weekend. It's supposed to be a minor injury and he's supposed to be just fine. I hope that is truly the case and he makes a full and speedy recovery. Lots of love to both he and Jonghyun! Be careful out there guys - your fans hate to see you hurt!

Have a great week addicKts!  Thanks for stopping by!

Oooh! Shiny! {Monday-Was-a-Holiday Morning THERAPee with Dongsaeng}

Time for this week's Monday Morning Therapy.  We're going to ignore that it's actually Tuesday.  See, yesterday was yet another Monday holiday here in the States (President's Day).  This meant that the kids were out of school and the husband was off of work to round off his 5 day weekend, so we went out and partied all day.  Movie, candy store, mall and Grandma's house.  What a day, ay?  Notice how there just wasn't any room for blogging there?  :(  Sad, but true.  So, instead, you get to start off your Tuesday with me.  Hopefully for many this is your first "work day" of the week like me, if not, well, then, you know, Tuesdays can be rough like Mondays sometimes.  And even if not, any day is a good day for a little something SHINY.

Or, shall I say, SHINee???

That's right!  SHINee released their new album last night.  Now, I haven't even heard this yet, that's how new it is.  If you're a Shawol, you've PROBABLee heard it a million times after staying up late waiting ever so PATIENTLee for its release (I heard rumor that it was a tad TARDee in its arrival, but don't have confirmation on that and would hate to start such UGLee rumors).  There are two versions of the video that I'm going to include here - the official video and then the dance version.  Which do you prefer?  Let us know (enter shameless plug for validation here).



And with that I'm going to leave you for today.  I don't really have much to chat about, especially since I am just barely awake and the old gray matter is still dozing off up there.  Have a fantastic week.  And to those waiting for my FBND ep 12 review, it's on its way and will be here.... oh well, would you look at the time.  I gotta run!  ;)  Thanks for stopping by!  <3

{Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng}: Adventures in Fandom

Last week my sister joked about how she had provided the material for my MMT two weeks in a row.  Or was it three weeks?  Eh, who's counting?  {she is apparently}  Well, Ms Luckypants McGee, here we go again.  This post brought to you with significant assistance from my sister, Ms LpMcG, or more accurately from her friend.  No, not the JPop star this time.  Turns out she leads quite the exciting life and has lots of interesting and cool friends.  I mean, I have lots of interesting and cool friends too, but our adventures usually revolve around playdates and parks and kid-oriented stuff.  Maybe the occasional GNO at Village Inn's Pie Night {mmm....pie...!}.  Can't really blog about that here though now can I?  But when my sister's friend, we'll call him Bob, goes to Korea for work for a couple of weeks - that?, now that I can blog about.  

That's right, "Bob" is a really cool guy.  Bob is one of my favorite people right now.  Bob brought me Big Bang.  Okay, Bob brought my son Big Bang, but you know, technicalities, whatever.

Now, I could make some crude joke here about how I have Big Bang on a hotel bed, but that would be crass and I'm a lady.  Ladies don't cackle and ladies aren't crass.

But, it is a hotel bed and it is covered in Big Bang.  

Lots and lots of Big Bang.  And it's mine...all mine!!!!  *cackle!*  *cough cough* I mean, it's LP2's...all LP2s...  :/

Yeah, fighting over a pack of posters... with my 9 year old son... in front of my family... on video... ... ... maybe not my proudest moment.  But it was a pack of Big Bang posters.  I think that that is excusable, don't you?  I can only imagine what The Husband was thinking as he watched his wife and his 9 year old son fight over posters...of a boy band...from Korea.... o_O  Good thing he loves me, huh?  And is a very patient man.  Saranghae Yebo!

Bob also brought the kids some cold hard cash.  Thousands of won!  We're rich!  Like $3 whole bucks.  Sweet!  Do you know how cool it is though to see a piece of Korea and to be able to hold it in your hand, knowing that it was just there, in Korea, being handled by Koreans?  Maybe even one of the idols we fangirl over respect the talent of?  You never know.  I could totally make some back story up about how this won came from...from...well, from someone cool and then you'd be all like "Wow!  I want some idol won too!".  But then I'd say, tough noogies because he's my sister's friend that went to Korea and came back with presents and he didn't bring anything for you.  And then you'd be sad and cry and would probably never return to our blog and then we'd be sad and cry and so I'm not going to do that.  The world is tough enough without me making everyone sad and cry.  So this isn't idol won, just plain old won, but still, straight from Korea and therefore still totally awesomeness.

Not to leave sweet LP1 out, she also had a present...in the form of SHINee posters.  And she, unlike LP2, has the added benefit of not having to share with her mother.  Nope.  These are all hers.  Don't get me wrong, I love SHINee's music, I really do.  In fact, the ringtone on my new phone is SHINee's Hello.  It makes me smile anytime it rings.  I'm just not fangirling over SHINee.  They're a little too young for me.  I do have to draw the line somewhere after all.  ;)

This poster created quite the stir amongst my non-KPopping family.  They didn't believe us that it was a boy band.  Really?  I guess I've been immersed long enough that I can't even see how you could not see that these were boys, even with the lipsticked-looking lips and all the pink.  Lots and lots of pink.  *shrug*

Sorry for the blur.  Thankfully this one helped convince them that yes, indeed, these are boys, not girls.  Oh silly family of mine.

Here are some shots of Big Bang on my bed this morning.  I tried to get The Husband to agree to putting them up on our walls, but he wasn't too keen on that idea.  I even offered to put them up on the ceiling, you know, so as to not mess with the aesthetics of the room, but he didn't go for that one either.  Weirdo.

Ahhh...soak up the Big Bang beauty.....

Look - "Made in Korea"!  And Big Bang written in hangul!

Nice huh?  See why Bob is on my favorite people list?  Bob, you rock.  Sorry for calling you Bob by the way.  You probably hate that.  It was just the first thing that popped into my head.  I beg your forgiveness.  See, I was up until past 4am this morning working on a certain Love Rain post and so I'm a little brain dead this morning.  Next time I'll give you a much cooler moniker, I promise.


And that concludes the picture portion of today's ADVENTURES in FANDOM.  I mentioned that I have a new phone with a SHINee ringtone and how amazingly cool I am now, right?  Well, the coolness doesn't stop there.  Wanna know what else I scored thanks to the most amazing online friend, Bonnie?  You ready for this?  This is pretty epic and might make some of you crazy with jealousy in its epicness, so prepare yourself.  You ready?  Sure?  Okay then....  You know Gil Ra Im's text tone from Secret Garden?  Yup.  That one.  Oh yeah, it's mine baby!  On the phone and the tablet.  Unnie and I both snagged it (again courtesy of Bonnie who totally rocks!) and have been texting each other for days now just to hear it.  "Munjawashon"!

Here's a clip I found on YouTube.  There's another similar one floating around out there, but I've chosen this one because it has the Big Bang Secret Garden parody included and that just ads to the fun and awesomeness.  Hyun Bin playing Gil Ra Im...is there anything cuter on this planet?  Maybe TOP playing Hyun Bin playing Gil Ra Im.



In addition to the fun K-fandom sounds I now get to enjoy coming from my phone, I also have ordered a Big Bang cover for it.  Once it arrives, the package will be complete.  And then I'm going to go shopping at the Asiana Market which is Korean and Unnie is going to call and text me until someone, anyone, finally hears it and gets it.  Isn't that what we addiKts all secretly want?  Someone to GET it?  Even if we're some white suburban mom - we are looking for that connection - that something that says "I am not alone".  Even if I have to sit there all day with my phone going crazy - I will not rest until someone GETS it.  Or I get hungry.  Or have to go to the bathroom.  Or my family gets impatient.  But, those things aside, I will wait for that magical moment of validation.  Maybe someone will even toss out a anyonghasaeyo my way.  Maybe I'll get to even toss my own anyonghaseyo out there.  You never know.  Could happen and could be like the crowning point of my life up til now.  Well, that and you know, other crowning points of my life like the birth of my children.  Psh.  Whatever.  ;)

Okay fellow adventurers, that concludes today's ADVENTURES in FANDOM.  Or, as I like to think of it, me talking about myself and my K-fan conquests of the weekend.  I'd love to talk about you and your K-fan conquests too.  That's what that comment section is there for.  Share with us all.  We get it, and after all, we've established that that's what we all secretly yearn for, right?  Perfect opportunity right here.  And while I'm on the subject, have you checked out our 100 Day Giveaway yet?  Better act fast - $25 hangs in the balance and the contest ends Wednesday.  Pick and choose from the list of entry options and then come back and leave us a comment.  Don't forget the comment part - it's very important - as that is where we will be choosing the winner from.  Leave a separate comment for every thing you do from that list.  You're trying to get as many (up to 6) comments there as possible.  Some of you have been playing along and doing some of the things on the list - totally awesome and thank you! - but forgetting to come back and comment.  Don't forget the comment!  Please - we want to give you every opportunity here, so don't forget to come back and tell us what you've done in order to be entered in the giveaway contest.  We promise that we won't do anything nefarious with your comments, we're just desperate to hear from you all and to know that we too are not alone, and if it takes throwing money at you to get you to do that, then by golly, we're going to throw cash at you.  Well, at least one of you.  If you want a chance to be that one lucky person, take a few moments to click and then come back and comment.  Unnie will be announcing our winner on Wednesday in her Write Up (right, Unnie?  Maybe should have covered that one before announcing it here in one of our many "business meetings").  So, get busy!  Time's a-wastin!


Hope your Mondays are all filled with joy and laughter and plenty of drama.  Until next time...






   










Your prescription for this Monday is SHINee's Hello since I mentioned it in the post.  Can you just imagine what a cool ringtone this would be?  I'll tell you, it's pretty awesome.  It's good for whoever is calling too because it automatically makes me smile and I'm that much happier when I answer the phone.  So thank you SHINee for your happy, smile-inducing music and the joy that it spreads.


And one more.  2ne1 released their new MV this weekend.  It's pretty amazing.  If you haven't heard it yet, check it out.

my addicKtion - dance 3/30/12

*Originally posted on dongsaeng's personal private blog on 3/30/12*

I suppose secretly I've always been a dancer at heart - a dancer with zero ability, hence a dancer only in my heart. When I close my eyes and go to my happy place, it usually involves beautiful costumes and dancing from a bygone era.  Now, with that said, I know nothing about dance other than what I've picked up from Dance Moms (hahaha - that show rocks!).  I couldn't tell you what I like in a general sense.  I'm a mishmash of dance preferences.  For example, I wish I were a ballerina, but I hate going to the ballet.  ???  I don't know either. *shrug*

This is probably one of my favorite things about KPop - the dancing.  I love watching these groups dance.  The entire lives of these groups are taken up by their careers.  They don't play much - it's all work, work, work.  They are practically owned by their management company.  They eat, sleep and live their job as performers.  And they have the impressive Asian work mentality.  All this nets some pretty amazing dancers.  At least in my humble, biased, and inexperienced opinion.  Take for example SHINee's newest song, Sherlock.  Great song.  Love the beat.  It's pretty darn catchy too.  I debated whether or not to post about their video though because there are a couple of things about it that would distract you from the awesomeness of the song, namely, the appearance of one of the members.  Taemin, dude, seriously?  The hair?  The outfit?  Yikes!  I love you SHINee, but I can't recommend you to my non-KPop-loving friends with you looking like that.  Sorry.  I am already mocked enough, that would just seal the deal.  Everyone already thinks I'm off my rocker - you'd only be further evidence to support their assumptions.  Lucky for me, however, I have recently discovered something amazing that may or may not be unique to KPop and that is the "Dance Only" or "Performance Practice" videos.  All these are are the groups in a studio dressed in "normal" clothes with "normal" hair, dancing.  That's it.  Just dance without the distractions.  Whee!  The only downside to them is that the music plays in the background and so the audio isn't the best.  Okay, it's downright awful, especially for you audiophiles out there.  Sorry, there's just no getting around that unless you want to play a separate track of the song while watching, but that'd be difficult to get the timing just right on and whatnot. Oh well, I'm doing the best I can here to help you feel more comfortable with all this foreign stuff, you'll just have to deal with the less-than-perfect aspects that pop up from time to time I'm afraid.  ;)  Anyway, while trolling YouTube the other day I found some of Big Bang's performance practice videos (drool) and thankfully, one for Sherlock as well.  So, without further ado, I share with you SHINee's Sherlock.




*Editor's Note*  Since I wrote this post I have had the opportunity to listen to this song in my car and wowzers!  It actually sounded even better than when I listen to it on earbuds or the computer.  The car has better bass and this song is all about the bass.  When I first put it on, I could see my side mirror shaking.  Hahaha!  I had to laugh and was inexplicably impressed.  If you know me, you probably wouldn't imagine me to be a big "bass so strong it thumps as you're driving down the road" kind of person because I so am not that kind of person.  I'm more the "call the cops on the car with bass booming so loud it rattles the windows" kind of person.  However, this made me literally laugh out loud in giddy, child-like delight.  I rolled down the windows and blasted the tunes.  I was sad that I was only driving a couple of blocks home from the grocery store and had to do a lap around the block just to stretch it out a bit longer.  34 year old suburban mother of two and this is how I get my kicks?  Yup.  Suppose so.  Who would have ever thought?  Certainly not me. But I'm going to enjoy the ride anyway :)