A Convenient Distraction

Have a cow duck. Or rather Cow Duck. Because that's how I know 'im and recognize 'im. Or her? I'll never know.

(Does this mean that Google won't embed my albums anymore? >( And why is G+ so hideous now?)

( Read: Nonfiction Roundup )
( Watch: Prix de Lausanne )

In other news: Diablo III finally comes out . . . and I have no machine capable of playing it. :( Though I'm not sure I'd want to play it without my brother.

OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS

(Sosiz source, which mentions the source being DTSN-nim? And something about Kebom/Gebom? And something about more dance videos uploaded at SM? *scratches head* My attempts are understanding Korean are so fail.)

Hyo fail is so cute. And Kim Choding. XD Interesting that this seems like an incomplete routine, because we know the ending that they went with in "Rhythm Nation" was a fist jab.

Somehow this haphazardness translates into this goodness. And this goodness.

More rehearsal (but not practice room) goodness: [Fancam] 091230 SNSD 'Wrongful Meeting Rehearsal' @ KBS Gayo Daejun


Ridiculous. XD Taken at Coex, where HyoYoongSunny were spotted--even in a stationery shop? I thought I saw Hyo investigating some stickers. XD

First, I want to apologize if I haven't gotten around to responding to any comments left in the past few days. I've been sort of stewing on things and so I haven't had the brain capacity to approach the more serious comments with the amount of attention and thought that they deserve. (I kind of have that "Whoa, drained" feeling that I was left with after some of the furious discussions we've had over at the comm.) But know that I do read every comment (even if you comment on a post months old) and that I appreciate every comment I get. And thanks to people who have kept the conversations going on their own!

So, for a change of pace, OPEN THREAD. You now how it goes, peoples, be nice, have fun, ask questions, bring up anything you want to talk about (you don't have to talk about SNSD *GASP*), drop in and say hi, and don't be afraid to talk to each other! If anyone wants to send chocolately thoughts my way, I like dark chocolate!

This open thread is dedicated to viliscp. She knows why.

Am I the only one watching America's Best Dance Crew this season? Watch full episodes at MTV.com.( SUDDEN DEATH FACE OFFS! MOOOORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAT! )

Now this is an interesting discussion going on at omonatheydidnt: Korean musicians struggle with U.S. success. ( This became a block of text, literally. D: )

And because it makes me laugh: Ciara's LG Chocolate Touch commercial. Sorry, imagining SNSD being asked to do the same thing is just LOLicious.

R just gave this to me to read: Isle of Man schoolgirl becomes an anime star in Japan. Either WOW or WHUT? to everything here.


I actually made this one!

Links from comments:
- KARA teaser @ JP H!P because AG is always hotlinking and whatnot to JPH!P. XD
- HyoCole pics from Dream Team 2 recording that you may or may not have seen already.
- CP has some manga she recommends you read.
- "Oh!" @ Music Bank - Where's Waldo?
- SNSD Special Stage: "Jjak Sarang" + "Dancing Queen" - Who is singing with them?
- MuBank Win - Did I spot some HyoTae after that HyoYoung? (LOL, Hyo just wrapped around Syoung's waist. XD)
- Section TV News: YuRi and Daniel Henney's CF shoot - looks cold. D:
- Spot translations of SNSD's appearance at ShimShimTaPa
- Inkigayo recording fancam or so I'm told. XD More fancams under the user, so I'm told.
- 2NE1 Samsung Corby F CF
- Maybee's Volume Up spot translations (Taeng missing)
- ifuritka brought Mai HiME, Xena, and femmeslashy fanfic-ness Star Trek Voyager style. Wow, I used to have other fandoms?! *laughs*
- juneunhae/HYJ did some spot translations of SuKiRa over at SSF--which come with all her warnings. XD
- She also brought Sunny being a BAMF at the Lunar New Year Special, wrestling against Gahee
- I am pimping Poreotics, the crew I'm probably going to end up pulling for in this season's America's Best Dance Crew!
- "Star Golden Bell" raw w/Tiffany, SooYoung, Sunny, HyoYeon and other guests like CN Blue, Kim JongKook, and that trot singer who was bringing lots of laughs. Hyo is mighty talkative here and I wonder if she's finally leaping feet first (without her filters! D:) into the "I'mma fight for screen time!" game. I'm cautiously watching how it goes for her.

And just because it's the first time I've revisited it in months despite it being one of my favorite web-comics (I haven't visited webcomics in forever DX): Sinfest! Aw, Buddha. There is nothing more amazing than God as a giant, oft times mocking hand.

Happy Lunar New Year for those who celebrate it! It's the year of the TIGER! (Eeee, kitty!)

Going through the Beat Freaks' twitter feed for the first time in a long time. Apparently, a new season of America's Best Dance Crew is premiering tomorrow! ROFL, I had no idea!

Freak the Vogue! 2! Background of Vogue Dance.

There is something ironic, delicious, and cute about the gay men of Vogue Evolution having to teach the female dance members of Beat Freaks how to be feminine. XD Hips, hips, hips! I loved how Maryss started throwing in some hip-hop waving with the vogue waves. XD

Sooooooooooo, seeing how much fun Rino was having, when will we get to see SHINee, f(x), and/or SNSD doing Vogue Fem on the stage?! XD (It would be amazing!)

( MOAR VIDEOS! )

LOL, everyone talking about SNSD's "Oh!" album in the comments. XD

There's no "Destiny" or "Boyfriend" equivalent on this album with ridiculous bass and attitude? :(

ETA!: Dream Team 2 Sunny fancam, in which we can see that there will be epic fail. Hyo scream @0:51+ (lolololol, epic fail?). Nicole laughing at Hyo at around 1:10+ish. <3 And HYOSUN at 5:28. <3 <3 Here is the first part too.

So I was being nostalgic and watching (and loving) HyoYeon and Min's Little Winners Stage (miss this Hyo so much and I didn't even know her), when it occurred to me that I had never tried the Winners Dance School homepage. Apparently, WDS also has a Cyworld club page. And clicking around the profile links reveals some interesting things:

( Whoa. )

Gaiz, when did the other thread get so long?

( My bias, let me show you; or, HyoYeon is my woobie )

( Other SH links and things to make you happy )

( Morning Musume makes me ponder sexuality in Asian pop culture. Seriously. )

You can't tell me that the women of Kaba Modern aren't sexy doing what they do. The guys are damn sexy workin' it too. This is the type of audience reception I crave for Hyo, that active connection and appreciation from the crowd. (Anyone know if the ABDC KB group goes by a different name because KB is more of the name of the UC Irvine team, no?) Hyo needs to hit up the CA crews like Kaba and Beat Freaks. Take a nice long vacation and get her dance on. She'll get popping, locking, breakdancing, boogaloo and more from BF and isolations from Kaba. My dream. <3 There are some crazy ass East Coast crews I'd love her to meet too. . . . I get through these clips and I just go damn.

I totally dug Super Junior and SHINee's joint Michael Jackson stage: "Beat It" and "Bad." The singing maybe not so much, but the look was right. I wish SNSD had come up with something new because you can't use recycled material, really, after your company mates just put up a show like that! AG and I already sighed over the camera!fail during their performance and she and I both think that this performance lacked energy compared to the Star Dance Battle showings.

But I'm sure every SNSD fan knows that SNSD managed to bag a Digital Bonsang and Daesang. Congrats, girls! (LOL, the first thing I imagined was their parents all calling each other and congratulating each other. I think that now whenever I see them win an award since SooYoung's mom said that that's what they do.) Hyo looks like she was compulsively handing out hugs in order to express her excitement. I think she smothered Fany at least three.

Anyone know who that woman was at the end who came up to the stage? Jessica and Hyo, I think? I can't tell!, went over to her and crouched down to take her hand. Hyo was sporting extensions (I'm not sure I liked the look; it made her hair seem heavy), so it's hard to make her out. Also, leather pants with . . . lingerie as outerwear on top and lots of chains? I saw the pics before I saw the videos and the sudden transition from the white dresses to the performance outfits made me go, "WTF is going on?!" SM went a little S&M, huh? /shot (It was really closer to biker babe, but I had no idea what to think when I saw the outfits; it's racier than SM seems willing to have SNSD be lately.)

In other news:
"Top Chef," WTF? D: D: D:
"Glee," WTF? I wasn't really feeling it. I have to admit it. D:

ETA: That Hyo!fan who attended the Women's Volleyball League performance was at the GDAs, proudly bearing the "효연하경" placard. LOL, the things I bother to notice.

( Sometimes I just have to rediscover my love for Maryss from Paris <3 )

For those who don't know, Maryss is Rino Nakasone's "other half"--literally as the dance duo Geminiz (oh, look, there's a YT playlist or two or even three [lots of overlap]). Just like the other Beat Freaks members, they do solo work independent of each other but also teach dance classes together often. When all the talk about Rino choreographing "Tell Me Your Wish" appeared, it was from Maryss' twitter that people got the drop; Maryss helped record the choreography (but not in creating the choreography itself).

As you can see from above, Rino could choreograph down-and-dirty, curb-stomping hip-hop, but there's just no way all the members of SNSD or even f(x) could do all of that and still expect to be able to sing, lol. Even 30 seconds' worth looks exhausting.

HOLY!:

SNSD Concert officially announced for December 19th and 20th.

It will be the start of Asian tour, to include Shanghai, Bangkok etc

See also allkpop.

Uh. That's a surprise. I mean, concert before second album? Wow. What? Wow. And it's an Asian tour thing? What is going on?!

Wait. How? I mean, where are they getting the time to rehearse and put this thing together? My mind is having a hard time processing this. And an Asian tour would mean taking members with gigs away from Korea, right? Do they plan to just hit up the concert venues and then fly back to Korea for a time or hit up the venue in one country and fly to the next one afterwards? Would Taeng have to pre-record a bunch of ChinChin, same with YulTi and MuCore, SunYul and Invincible Youth, Sunny with The M, SooYoung with Fantastic Duo? And when is Jessica supposed to be doing her run of Legally Blonde?

My brain!

. . . I wonder what'll be on the set list.

juneunhae, will you be hitting up the concert?! And, AG, I guess we'll get to see how SNSD's endurance holds up, eh?

( Some senseless, groundless musings on the upcoming concert. )

When I first saw pics of the IEF performance, I kept thinking they were from Dream Concert because in my heart I kept wishing that they wouldn't reuse those costumes. However, the recent performance (Live Power Music? JTV-Jeonju '2009 Song Daekwan Song Festival' Celebration Concert?) confirms that Fany has butchered her bangs and was trying to channel old school Madonna's high ponytail, if not the pointy bra at IEF (D:), TaeYeon is trying to rock extensions? (and not succeeding IMO), and Hyo has decided to dye her hair again?

Didn't she just dye it a lighter brown a few weeks ago? Granted, I like Hyo in darker hair. It gives her a maturer look. Unfortunately, it tends to make her stand out not as much. Just. Can't. Win.

At the recent performance, Hyo gave Taengoo a nasty surprise during "Chocolate Love." Ouch! Hyo definitely stepped on Taeng's foot. I'm not sure what happened, whether Hyo was moving too far back (Taeng pushed her forward a step or two afterwards) or if TaeYeon actually slipped on the rain-slicked stage (Sunny took a tumble during "Genie") and thus couldn't get her foot out of the way fast enough. Either way: OUCH!* What surprised me was that Hyo didn't say anything to Taeng when they finished! I'd've turned around and said, "Sorry!" Hyo, I hope you apologized! And what was up with SooYoung? Did she forget the choreography to "Chocolate Love"? She kept glancing at the others and her moves seemed really unsure at parts.

*ETA: An anonymous visitor showing some Hyo!love dropped by to suggest that instead of anyone stepping on anyone's foot, Taeng slipped and ended up snagging Hyo's heel in the process, which is why Hyo lifts her foot. In that case, Hyo, you don't need to apologize, but you should've laughed about it with Taeng because you two don't interact enough!

Soompi's silis7noy2 works some translation magic again and brings us an account from one of the staff members of the Samyang Ramen CF shoot. LOL, Sica!

Besides being actually quite interesting and maybe not all that wise (do you really want to share your secret to winning auditions?), YoonA's CF Queen segment on "Strong Heart" got me thinking. ( Surprise, right? )