MVOTD: EXO (Day 158)

EXO, who debuted this year in the SM Entertainment family, has done quite well for themselves. As a concept, having 12 guys who learn the same basic song and dance divide into two smaller sub-groups for singing is both fascinating and disturbing. Fascinating, because it's technically two groups singing the same song, and disturbing because it divides the attention normally afforded to one group between two groups.

As I learned with their previous single, with EXO, often the language version you hear first will be your favourite (unless you prefer a certain pitch of voice). Therefore, I was quite pleased to find this, a comparison/mash-up of their new single, History, so you don't have to favour either the Korean or Mandorin version.

 History is quite a catchy song, filled with ridiculous fringed (harem) pants and metallic fabric. It's got SM written all over it, and is reminiscent of every major boyband SM has had in the last five years. That's not bad though, since that means pretty decent fashion, dance moves, and song. What isn't reminiscent is the member of EXO-M who looks vaguely like Mr. Du from Skip-Beat!. Good choice SM. 

Pretentious Word of the Week: Histioblogonate (Day 157)

Unfortunately, the Pretentious Word of the Week this week is not actually pretentious. It is just long.

Histioblogonate, which means to determine what a wrapped present is without opening it, is a word that originated deep in the south of Manitoba, Canada (Morden). It is pronounced hiss-tea-oh-blog-oh-nait. The word histioblogonate has been propogated by select citizens of southern Manitoba (and Alberta) since the mid-90s and has been seen in print (newspaper) before. As many words are, when seen in print they become real words. That means you can use histioblogonate too.

While it is a fun word to use, the real interest in histioblogonate is its various forms. Yes, it means to figure out what a wrapped present is using your senses (hearing, smell, sight, and touch) without opening it, but that opens up other words.
Histioblogonator, someone who histioblogonates. People most often become one of these at birthdays or Christmas.
Unhistioblogonatable, the state a wrapped present is in when it is unguessable. This usually required weights, false sound makers, and a really well stuffed box. It usually also requires that your family/friends like histoblogonating.
Histioblogonating, the present form of histioblogonate, usually occuring when someone is trying to figure out what a wrapped present it.
Histioblogonation, the form used when declaring what one has histioblogonated a wrapped present is. For example, "My histioblogonation has determined that this present is a toy car."

So there you have it. May your histioblogonations be enjoyable.

MVOTD: "Everything" (Day 156b)

Once there was a cheesy, 90's based music video that was recent. It was by Juno, twin brother to popular TVXQ member Junsu.

Everything, by Juno and put onto Youtube by the Avex Network, is kind of unbelievable. Not only do three people (all Juno?) appear out of nowhere, but mysteriously Juno is a superman. Why? Because he uses his special ability of stopping time in order to help people. Mr. Dogooder Juno goes about singing in his low low cut vest and warm heartedly helps people. It's all very lovely and incredibly 90's. The only sad part is that it is a teaser and ends too early.

Please enjoy.

MVOTD: Big Bang (Day 136)

Since the topic of the day was so heavy, here is a music video to match. A music video theme about people rebelling against music being outlawed, along with some truly fantastical ensembles make this both a heavy and funny music video.

Big Bang of YG Entertainment's Fantastic Baby.

Oufits of note: All of them. But really, there is the 8 plus foot long hair, the visors of doom, the French court apparel, the gangsta monk, the brooding prisoner of flexdom, the green eyebrows, the camo lips, the cyborg arm, the giant ruffle shoulders, and the bejeweled crowns. Amazing. Amazing Amazing. The only scary part was the cat ladies.

CAUT (Day 156)

CAUT is short for Canadian Association of University Teachers. Over the past few years they have been discussing whether or not requiring professors (at faith based universities) to sign a statement of faith breaches academic freedom. And by discussing, I mean that they have decided that requiring professors to follow statements of faith means that academic freedom cannot exist.

I recently read one of their reports on a faith based university's academic freedom. CAUT's definition of academic freedom is;
"Academic freedom includes the right, without restriction by prescribed doctrine, to freedom to teach and discuss; freedom to carry out research and disseminate and publish the results thereof; freedom to produce and perform creative works; freedom to engage in service to the institution and the community; freedom to express one's opinion about the institution, its administration, and the system in which one works; freedom to acquire, preserve, and provide access to documentary material in all formats; and freedom to participate in professional and representative academic bodies. Academic freedom always entails freedom from institutional censorship."

Having knowledge of the institution they were talking about, I went through the checklist.
"Freedom to teach and discuss;" Check. They have it.
"Freedom to carry out research and disseminate and publish the results thereof;" Check.
"Freedom to produce and perform creative works;" Check
"Freedom to engage in service to the institution and the community;" Check
"Freedom to express one's opinion about the institution, its administration, and the system in which one works;" Check.
"Freedom to acquire, preserve, and provide access to documentary material in all formats;" Check.
"Freedom to participate in professional and representative academic bodies." Check.
"Academic freedom always entails freedom from institutional censorship." Check.
"The right, without restriction by prescribed doctrine." Technically, the statement of faith would be a prescribed doctrine. It says that all employees must agree with (essentially) ancient church creeds (the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed); namely that God created everything, Jesus died and became alive again (after 3 days of being dead)  in order to enable sinful people to have relationship with God who is perfect, that Jesus was fully human and fully God, and the doctrine of the Trinity. The required statement of faith basically says that those who sign it come at the world from a Christian perspective.  So essentially, faith based universities require their employees to come at life from a Christian perspective. This is entirely reasonable since faith based institutions want employees and teachers who believe what is being taught. However, only hiring people who believe these things is seen as requiring a prescribed doctrine. The issue that faith based institutions argue is that all universities have an implied standard of beliefs required for employment (standards which are most often secular humanism), so therefore all universities function as if they have a statement of faith. 

From the checklist it seems that faith based institutions follow all the requirements but the one about prescribed doctrine. Since this doctrine (statement of faith) is basic to being a Christian, the statement of faith ensures that courses (at a Christian university) are taught from a Christian perspective (and no that doesn't mean subject matter changes. Just how it's taught). The statement of faith is the groundwork from where professors academic search begins, just as everyone has a foundation of knowledge/beliefs from where they start academic discovery.

What really got me about the report (and reason I bothered to write this) was the conclusion;
"there must be substantial doubt that free teaching, instruction, research, and public comment occur at [the institution]. The Committee finds it disturbing that [the institution's] courses are accepted for credit at the University of [], and that [the institution's] degrees are accepted as credentials for entrance to University of [] graduate degrees."
I'm kind of offended. Assuming this refers to all faith based institutions, because that is the issue in general, does being a Christian and teaching from a Christian perspective make the following courses unacademic? Courses like math, sociology, psychology, philosophy, aviation, english, media studies, and business. If courses like these don't count because someone who has faith in Jesus Christ as God taught them, then the world is coming to a crazy place. A crazy place indeed.

MVOTD: David Bisbal (Day 155)

It's David Bisbal time!

David Bisbal is such a lovable, and sometimes creepy looking, pop singer. There's usually something to really enjoy in each of his music video's. For Esta Ausencia, that special something is the way he goes "oooooooo" at the end. Yes, the song is great and is a pleasure to listen to, but the "ooooooo" really makes it special.

On the more serious end, Esta Ausencia  is actually a pretty serious song that includes lots of crying. There are roses and rose petals which obviously mean something important. Maybe he is sending his love out to them. Anyway, it is artistically rendered and a very nice music video. Please enjoy.

...and also, I really like the way he goes "ooooooo".

Skip-Beat! Episode 10 Review (Day 155)

Episode 10

from en.korea.com

I really really enjoyed this episode. The costumes. The hotness. The way it included all the important characters and Gong Xi wasn’t irritating. Mmmmm.

When we first meet our hero, Gong Xi, she is riding up to meet the music video producer. This requires some special features, so Gong Xi uses her grudge spirits to have her bicycle ride itself in front of the building. She then goes in and pretends that she’s not Gong Xi. Now she is Gigi and is excited by everything and everyone. Meanwhile, Bu Po Shang is wearing a horrid metallic tank top. When they eat lunch, Bu Po finds out she’s lying about who she is and decides he needs to check if it’s really Gong Xi or not. Therefore, he finds a perfume bottle and whips it out in front of her. She goes crazy talking about how the perfume is amazing and he smiles wickedly having revealed her true identity.

Once Bu Po knows who she is Gong Xi has nothing to lose and shows up on set cooly and setting his heart pitter pattering. They fight. Other people get jealous. Gong Xi tries to strangle Bu Po. Other people get jealous. Gong Xi realizes that she needs to work on her acting and so she tries to call Dun He Lian, but only manages to give half a message on his answering machine (a very suspicious message it is). Then she calls Jiang Nan Qin and figures out her problems. Gong Xi acts her heart out, wins, and makes Bu Po Shang more susceptible to her charms.

Dun He Lian heads south for filming, and while away, Mr. Du confronts him about his affections for Gong Xi. Lian brushes it off, but it serves as good foreshadowing. It also gives Siwon a chance to show off his sweet English skills. Oooooh.

Thanks to the great crow outfit Donghae wears as Bu Po Shang (and looks great in), the poofy ‘angel’ outfits Gong Xi and friend get to wear, and the long scene where Mr. Du accuses Dun He Lian of liking Gong Xi (which was great because we all want to see more of Mr. Du) this episode was great fun.

MVOTD: SS501 (Day 154)

It's amazing what dark lighting and a bunch of tv monitors can do for a music video. For SS501's Deja Vu, these things worked wonders, and, along with the camera angles, made the music video dynamic and engaging. The costumes were pretty good and the song was pretty good. Overall, Deja Vu is a pretty solid music video.

How To Be Pretentious: Book Quoting (Day 154)

It's Sunday and therefore it's time for a 'How To'. Many people feel annoyed at people who think that everyone around them is less smart than they are. If you want to ruin their false notions, or if you want to become that person, being pretentious is helpful.

Today's 'How To' is book quoting. Remember all those classics that you have sitting on your bookshelf? Well, start referencing them in conversation. Depending on your situation, you may want to reference different books. For example, in many hoity toity circles Jane Austen is just a romance writer so referencing her books wouldn't be very pretentious. However, in non-hoity toity circles referencing Jane Austen means you like classy writing. You just need to feel it out to determine what books you want to reference.

Once you have determined what books you want to reference, read them/read parts of them. Memorize the book title and author. You can't be pretentious if you don't remember the source of your reference.

Once you have your selected books read, start practising comparing normal life to your books. You will soon be able to throw book references into any conversation, making yourself one step closer to acting/being pretentious.

MVOTD: BOA Duet (Day 153b)

So that there are more music videos to review later this month, here is a music video that is both simple and complex. It's smooth and almost classy. It's BOA's duet with Daichi with the song I can only guess is called Possibility.

This music video shows how impressive and interesting simplicity can be. There's the separation and longing, the playing with shades, and the heaviness of the relationship/characters that is communicated in simple sets and a very simple colour scheme. It's almost touching.

MVOTD: Backstreet Boys (Day 153)

Today, as I was watching music videos on VHS, I realized that the Backstreet Boys haven't been featured on this blog yet. The backstreet boys are pretty great. Their vocals are good and their dancing is decent. One thing they did make me realize though was how much I appreciate that Super Junior members wear shirts in their music videos.

This particular music video, As Long As You Love Me, features a very romantic and unrealistic song but a fun concept. I especially like the face changing and the bad outfits.

Epic 80's Movies : GoBots (Day 153)

Remember the 80's? Remember Transformers? Well, of course you remember Transformers, but do you remember GoBots? GoBots is pretty much essentially Transformers, but the plot moves faster and the characters have lamer names.

In the GoBots movie, the evil Cy-Kill(who is a motor Cy-Kill. Ha ha ha.) and the Renegades escape Gobotron to dun dun dun...Earth (of course, because aliens love earth) where he is discovered by a group of snoopy Americans. The Americans lives are threatened but they are saved by Leader-1 and his GoBot Guardians. Cy-Kill then proceeds to pursue his evil plan of total world/Gobotron domination one step at a time. He steals stuff. He blows stuff up. He uses mind control technology. He uses Cheyenne Mountain as his evil headquarters (which is great, because so does the Stargate Program in Stargate SG-1. Coincidence? I think not). With the mind control, Cy-Kill gets all the humans to attack the Gobot Guardians. They then have hostage situations, car chases, attempts to take over Gobotron,  and the eventual Gobot win. Ta da!

Best parts of GoBots = the bad names. Leader-1, Cy-Kill, Crasher, Scooter.
Second best part = the plot line moves faster than the Transformers storyline. Stuff happens at almost normal speed.
Third best part = the use of Russian vs. American relations, aka. the traditional Russian bad guy who isn't really the bad guy. It lead to some fun English jokes...and reminded me of Stargate SG-1 season 2 episode 1967.
Fourth best part = Crasher. While she's crazy, she is actually a cool female character as the flashy sports car and Renegade lieutenant.
Fifth best part = the mind control. It's so so bad with the humans being all zombified and saying lame things.
Sixth best part = all gobots can fly...and shoot electricity from their feet...or maybe that's just Crasher.
Biggest Transformers Rip-off = the giant dinosaur motorcycle...who shoots flames.

I give GoBots a 4 out of 5. If it is on while you are doing something else, it is very watchable and entertaining sounding. Cy-Kill has an epic voice. Scooter has an annoying one. Lots of things that defy logic occur. Overall, very cheesy and thus worth watching.

 

MVOTD: LEDApple (Day 152)

What can possibly be done in Popland that is new and fresh? That is a question that producers have to constantly ask themselves. That, me thinks, led to a new concept: The Jonas Brothers! the musical boyband. A recent edition of the musical boyband is LEDApple. Now you may be thinking that they are like Hanson or CN Blue or something like that, but you would be wrong. They have two singers, plus a DJ, who sing and do choreographed moves (sometimes with the guitar men). This is certainly an improvement on rock groups who don't really move at all, but can it work for pop? Maybe. The graphics inserted overtop of the members, plus their sci-fi musical equipment may give them a distinctive style that differentiates them enough for a large following. Therefore, here's LEDApple's Time is Up.

Something Frivolous (Day 152)

Thanks to social media, I came across this clip.

Go ahead and watch it. It's only eight seconds long and is reminiscent of 80's action films.

This clip is one of the many reasons that I like Super Junior (because it is indeed them). Not only are they ridiculous (as seen here), but they do silly things (like this video) in their free time. I especially liked how the fireball was clearly video edited in, covering the walls with schrapnel.

MVOTD: Henry Lau (Day 151)

In honour of Justin Bieber's birthday, which is today, March 1st, today's "music video" of Henry Lau's Off My Mind. Now, you might be wondering why, if it is Justin Bieb's birthday, Henry Lau is being played. The answer?

Both the Biebs and Henry are from Ontario, Canada. Therefore, they must know each other and/or be friends (this is a false assumption).
Henry Lau speaks more than four different languages, while the Biebs, he doesn't speak four languages.
Henry Lau has been legal for four years. Justin has been legal for several hours.
Henry Lau is basically a part of Super Junior and that means he's great, even if his song does take awhile to get used to.

Therefore, let us all enjoy Henry's performance of Off My Mind. 

Here's hoping the Spanish subs are accurate.