Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda

I'm... for lack of a better portmanteau... pissxcited.

I'm kinda pissed because I had planned to go to Korea in January to see the Big Show. AND NOW YG is like "YG FAMILY CONCERT IN DECEMBER YAY!", and I'm all like "fuuuuuuuuck". Going to Korea in December is not terribly convenient. In fact, it's damn near impossible. Because I'll still be working then. And since they were all shitty over me taking off time for work this past week, I can only imagine they'd do it again.

On the other hand, I'm excited! This huge concert featuring Big Bang, 2NE1, Se7en, AND Gummy?! It's amazing. I wish so so so so badly they were doing another YG world tour, and came to the USA. I mean, 2NE1 is supposed to debut here anyways...



So yeah, pissxcited.

(I'm also sad there's no 1TYM or Jinusean...)

It seems YG read the writing on the wall, and decided to release an international version of YB's album. Young Bae is extremely popular internationally, even more so than he is in Korea, I believe. His album sold remarkably well on international itunes. I'm glad YG is working towards recognizing international fans, because obviously we're a huge market, and we're willing to spend lots of money.

The album will apparently feature two additional songs; one called "I’ll Be There", and an english version of "Wedding Dress".

I am excited. Mostly for the fact that YG is branching out internationally, and not just Japan (JAPAAAAAAAAN!!! *shakes fist*).

YGE has opened auditions for the first time in years. The oddest thing is they've opened them not just in Seoul, but in New York and LA as well. Now, YG has it's share of artists from the US, but it's not the international group that JYP or SM are.

As tempted as I am to audition, I left my dreams of being a professional actress behind years ago. That's the annoying thing about being too pragmatic. You realize that eventually you have to grow up, and find a real job. I love acting, but I don't have the stomach for it. I handle rejection far worse than most.

I guess it's good I'm not a singer, because the age limit is 11-19. I haven't been 19 in seven years. So, uh, yeah. The age for actors is broader (11-29), so I could audition. And then they're looking for producers. I would LOOOOOVE to be a producer. I have no idea what being a MUSIC producer entails, but if it's similar to a movie/stage producer, than I would love that. YGE, can I be a producer for you? PLEASE?

( Promotional video, and me being confused by the application )

The YG secret thingy for today was a preview for Gummy's new album.



I love Gummy's voice, I love the song, and I love the MV preview. In general, I love.

Late Breaking News for VIPs!

YG released a statement that is awesome, and made me love them 8 million times more, because holy shit people, this is exciting!

(Initially seen on yg_bigbang, taken from Alla@soompi, who got the translation from beau@bbvipz... whew! What I have here is directly taken, with my notes added in color)

YG contacted Flo Rida and Flo Rida is featuring in G-Dragon's 'Heartbreaker'. This featured version of the song will be released somewhere around the end of March in G-Dragon's concert live album. Also, the money will be donated to charity.
(I am dying! Flo Rida doing a collab with GD?! I mean, everyone and their mom accused GD of plagiarizing Flo Rida, and here they are now doing a collab. EAT THAT SHIT, HATERS! (wow, did I suddenly turn into a teenager there for a second?) But other than that, GD's concert album is being released at the end of March! SQUEEEEEE!!!!!)

G-Dragon's concert 'SHINE A LIGHT' DVD will be released in April in two versions. No-edit version and the 19 and younger version.
(I honestly never thought this would happen, that YGE is releasing an unedited version of the concert! That makes me want to cry with happiness. Because I love it so very much, but also so that people who weren't at the concert can see just how great the show really was, free of editing. I can barely wait!)

In the first half of the year Se7en, Taeyang, Gummy and 2NE1 are planning to release albums and in the last half Bigbang, 2NE1, TOP, Daesung and Seungri will be active. Perry's back from the States. They have also recruited five more producers.
(Finally news on Young Bae's album! I'm so excited for it. And 2NE1 and Se7en's comebacks are super exciting as well (I'm still a little bitter than Se7en didn't release an album in the US). I wish TOP's solo stuff was happening sooner, but beggars can't be choosers! Even Baby's got some solo stuff lined up! I wonder what it'll be... Lastly, PERRY'S BACK! I love me some Perry. I can't wait to hear all the hot new stuff)

YANG HYUNSUKS MARRYING LEE EUNJOO (from Moogadang) AFTER DATING HER FOR NINE YEARS!
(Yay for YG! Eun Joo is gorgeous. Seriously. Not bad, YG, not bad at all ;P)

GD in possible trouble for his concert

(both sn0tcat and I collaborated on this post! Yays)

Okay, so this is fucking ridiculous, and I'm pissed.

The thing is, we were both at the concert. IT DID NOT OFFEND US IN THE SLIGHTEST. We're not scarred for life. We didn't see people who were scarred for life. The Koreans were enjoying themselves. They were CHEERING. No one fainted from the use of English profanity.

I've read the translations for both "Korean Dream" and "She's Gone" (both of the songs that the censors had issues with). I don't see anything in them that would cause the album to be rated 19+.

In "She's Gone", the lyrics mention alcohol use (after being dumped), say "fuck it down shit" (which doesn't even make sense), and the ending slightly mentions violence as an afterthought. The performance was REALLY GOOD. During it, the audience was screaming, and loving the video. Both Lisa and I were kinda like "uhhhhh" at the end when he killed her (and when Aimee was on stage), but the overall effect was great. AND IT'S NOT LIKE HE ACTUALLY KILLED HER! And seriously, on IRIS, TOP fucking snapped a girl's neck. ON CAMERA. How does that compare to the concert video where it happened off camera? And afterward, he was all upset. It was sort of like a Jekyll and Hyde thing, where he wasn't himself when he was chasing her, and snapped back to himself after.

For "Korean Dream", maybe I don't get it because I'm not Korean, but I see literally nothing wrong with this song. GD says "Motherfucker", but as far as we can tell, the song is about both GD and Young Bae's dreams, and how they got to where they are now. It's kinda inspirational in that sense. And obviously the performance was fine.

What the censors are saying, that drug use and violence are hinted at in the songs, well I don't get that. It's like the censorship of the 50's, with Elvis's songs and dancing being deemed too inappropriate. It's fucking ridiculous.

The best part is, when we were in Korea, and saw GD's album, at no time did we see any sort of sticker on it that said it could only be purchased by people 19+. So, maybe the government should try to enforce their own laws a little bit more, and not blame the artists. And really, they need to review things before they're released (or at the latest, on the day of release), NOT TWO MONTHS LATER. Because, really, at that time everyone's already bought it or uploaded it so any others can listen to it.

I think the major thing is that the PARENTS should pay more attention. OF COURSE GD was going to perform both "She's Gone", and "Korean Dream" at the concert. He only had a set number of songs. And since the album is 19+ (and it's not like it wasn't big news when that happened), they really should have expected it. And yes, I did see young fans at the concert, but do you honestly think they haven't heard or seen stuff like this before?

We just want to go to Korea, and bring GD (and all the other artists who are having the same sort of stupid issues with the government) to the US, where at least they'll have creative freedom. We also want to bring Joon (from MBLAQ) so he won't get any more scary fan letters written in blood by a girl who slit her wrists...

I think YG's statement about the whole thing said it well.
“Also, although this is a separate matter from the controversy, we would like to mention that for a lot of artists, a solo concert is a big dream as well as a big pressure for them. Usually on music programs, they perform a couple of songs, whereas in a solo concert, an artist must lead the audience for more than 2 hours by himself. We feel that artists feel pressured to show extreme performances in some cases due to the huge amount of expectation put on them.”

ALSO VERY PISSED ABOUT THE DVD GETTING EDITED. At least we were some of the lucky few who got to see it all.

Some people in the fandom are like "I want to go to Korea and protest"... if it got to the point where jail time were involved, I'd go too.

Anyway, end pissy rant....

I just spent the last two or so hours ripping all 8 millions of my Big Bang CDs to my new computer. I have TWELVE of them. I'm only missing five (the second Korean single, both indie Japanese minis, and two of the live albums). Yes, I keep track.

Anyway, I ripped my entire Asian CD collection (which is over 50% YG albums, amusingly enough).

I finally received my YesAsia package that I order AGES ago. Stupid incest movie held things up (yes, I bought Boku wa Imoto ni Koi o Suru... I'm weird like that).

So you know how I'm always squee-ing about how Korean album packaging is awesome? Yeah, well it turns out it's basically just YG Fam packaging, because the SNSD album I got isn't nearly as nice (though the photo booklet IS amazing). On the other hand, both the 2NE! album and YB's solo album were amazingly done. Especially Young Bae's. I have no real idea how I'm going to fit it on my shelf (it's round), but otherwise, amazing.

I took pictures, and have them uploaded and stuff, but I'm wicked tired right now, so I won't get around to posting them tonight.

IN OTHER NEWS, I "watched" Buzzer Beat 3, and HOLY FANSERVICE BATMAN. Like, seriously, About half the time Pi was shirtless. Occasionally he was sweaty. Sometimes he was hanging around with other shirtless nicely muscled guys. Either way, he was shirtless. SHIRTLESS. The jdrama gods have smiled down on me.

So I'm off. I'm reading a D/Hr fanfic to see if I'd like to rec it, but I'll probably fall asleep before then. Plus I have to put away all my albums

This article irritated me.
2NE1 Behind the Makeup

Irritation first, because they look perfectly normal, and netizens are being unnecessarily cruel. People expect stars to be flawless gods, and they're not. It seems Asia, Korea in particular, is obsessed with looks. Not that America isn't, of course, but I think cosmetic surgery is more popular in Asia. Not that there's anything wrong with plastic surgery, but it's unfortunate when you have to get cosmetic surgery to obtain professional respect.
But that's a rant for another day...

Personally, I think they all look fine, but REALLY tired. I admit, CL's picture surprised me, but I think it's just a bad picture of her. I personally think Park Bom is the prettiest, but I obviously have a bias.

ALSO! Apparently GD's album is going to be released on 18Aug09, his 21st birthday (22nd in Korea)! That is ALSO the day I leave for Taiwan (it's weird though... my flight leaves at 2am, and arrives in Taiwan at 6am THE NEXT DAY. Time travel). So overall it will be a good day! I'll be able to buy GD's album almost right away when I get to Asia. Maybe he'll even come over to Taiwan for some promotion (unlikely, but I can always hope), and I can fangirl him UNTO ETERNITY.

Lastly, earlier this week YG announced a series of YG TV, which will be kinda like behind the scenes, web diaries (I think...) of several YG artists (BB, 2NE1, Gummy, Se7en, and Teddy seem to be featured). I THINK BB's and 2NE1's episodes have aired, but I haven't seen them yet (I was messed up with the schedule).

Oh, and I found this gif care of GDCL on soompi, and loved it! GD = awesome.