MVOTD: TVXQ (Day 253)

Thanks to two bad late night decisions, TVXQ's Humanoids makes it into the November line-up. I would have reviewed it anyway, but now you get the 1 AM semi-awake review version.

The reason Humanoids needed to be reviewed? It's pretty much TVXQ's Japanese song Android, but Korean.

Things to talk about? The steam punk theme.

Is it just me, or are there a lot of clockwork gears and pocket watches flying around this music video?

There is an obvious steam punk theme going on here, so why are TVXQ still wearing metallic fabric and pastels for the third music video in a row? They're handsome guys, so give them a break. They'd look great in say...

Picture credit to http://www.royalsteamline.com/category/steampunk/page/2/

Steam punk outfits. Yup. Enough said.

As for the video part of the video, it was okay. One of the best parts was at the beginning where Max was standing in the position you stand in when you are trying to make a weird voice. You know, when your chin touches your neck so that your voice can go deeper and softer at the same time. Yeah, that position. I also really appreciated the teleporting, the dancing. Yunho grabbing his peck (that's not your heart dearie. You've just been in a boyband too long), the breakdown, and TVXQ wearing anything that was black or suit related.

In general, a pretty good SM video.

What is Love?

... What is love? Apparently I wrote about such a topic about a year ago, because I found this in my drafts today. I feel like I was very articulate a year ago. Therefore, here it is, unedited. Just imagine a pleasantly cold day, with snow sitting softly on everything. The air is still. It is cold. Okay, now to topic.

_______________________________

Today I took a walk through the snow laden trees and the snow laden streets, and I pondered on love. Several years ago I confided to my friend that I didn't think I loved anyone, that I didn't even love my parents. She was astonished, and proclaimed that I was probably wrong. She was correct. I was wrong, but it took a good deal of thought and prayer to find out.

First off, my definition of love was faulty. I had assumed it was an emotion, a powerful attachment. That's how it is often described though, right? On television, love is often described as emotional, the wanting of someone or to be with someone. Television characters are willing to estrange themselves from family and friends and/or jobs in favour of their beloved. That's not the type of love we have for friends or family though.

So what is love? I think we all define love a little differently, but overall love is a multi-dimensional thing. If love were an emotion, then it would die with romance. If love were dutiful attachment, there would be no joy. If love were just a choice, then we would choose who we were attracted to. However, love is a choice. How else would long-term relationships last? Once you know everything good and everything bad about a person, are you still passionate about them? Doubtful, but you probably trust them and you probably do things for each other. You probably compromise and discuss things and argue and make-up.

According to the Greeks, there are six types of love. These include manic love, eros (erotic) love, philos (brotherly) love, agape love, and parental love. Still we are not closer to the answer.

For me, love is deep attachment which includes duty, emotional attachment, and choice. Would I be sad if the person died or went away or were angry with me? Am I willing to do special things for them? Do I intentionally spend time with them? These are tests of love.

Like a river, hearts melt from the outside in. People treating you well heal external/minor hurts, but it takes a lot longer for you to trust people after you have been deeply emotionally injured. To work towards loving people more and being able to accept their love, choose to love people a little more. Choose to be around them and be open for them to care about you.

MVOTD: Boyfriend (Day 252)

Boyfriend.

Boyfriend, the group, recently came out with what is apparently their first studio album. Maybe they had lots of mini albums before this one, because I seem to recall them having a bunch of songs...last year.  However the math works out, they named their first album the innapropriate sounding name, Janus.

Janus, which has the title track Janus, just sounds kind of like a euphemism. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks so, so I just thought I'd mention it.

Janus, the song, is pretty catchy. The chorus is especially catchy, and thanks to Simon and Martina of Eat Your Kimchi, I shall probably hear it as, "You're not a Batgirl", from now on. Since, "You're not a Batgirl", is about a dozen times more interesting and fun than, "You're not a bad girl", that particular misheard lyric only increases the appeal of the song. Good job Boyfriend on the bad pronounciation. Now your only task is to convince me that the Boyfriend twins are still around and it's not just one guy pretending to be two.

Janus, the song, had some truly good parts. Boyfriend finally all look like adults. The dancing was pretty dynamic, and, most important of all (but not actually), the costumes were good. The biggest drawback was the not very interesting plotline. The music video could have gone SM (no plotline at all) and it would have had no effect on the quality of the music video. What that means is that even though everything was well done, it was still an average music video. Sorry Boyfriend.

MVOTD: Miss A (Day 251)

Yes, Miss A's I Don't Need a Man. JY Park is silent in a rare case of him not saying, "JYP" at the beginning of the song.
JY Park is amazing at shamelessly branding his artists though (remember the Wonder Girls' giant light-up JYP staircase?), so all the money in the music video world has his face on it. 

I Don't Need a Man is one of the few feminist Kpop songs I have ever heard. I respect it for saying lots of things about how to respect yourself. Things like, "I pay for everything myself.", "I won't be a slave.", and, "You have to respect me." The sad part is what lyrics like that imply; that women sell themselves to men so that men will buy them stuff. It implies that couple relationships aren't based on mutual affection but on getting something from the other person. Therefore, even while I enjoy the song, I hope for more empowering songs to come from the kingdom of Kpop. Empowering songs remind us of what we can be.

As a song, I Don't Need a Man is fairly catchy. The beat is good, and the lyrics are good. Miss A goes for a slightly masculine look and dance, and it matches because of the topic. The only annoying part is that the chorus seems to go on and on and on, even though it actually doesn't.

MVOTD: PSY... (Day 250)

Is there anything more ridiculous this year than Gangnam Style? Well, yes, but is there any way to make Gangnam Style more ridiculous? ...No. But is there a way to make it even more fun than it already is? Potentially. Add a little MC Hammer. Bam! Instant something or other.

I really do enjoy the collaboration. Both artists are ridiculous, and they are ridiculously entertaining together-PSY dancing MC Hammer style and MC Hammer dancing Gangnam Style. It's really enjoyable in a letting loose and allowing ridiculousness to be fun kind of way. I regret having not watched the American music awards now, just because I missed the chance to watch this live in HD.

Oh the wonder. Next time, Super Junior should collaborate with MC Hammer or PSY. Either would be really fun.

MVOTD: Big Bang (Day 249)

I wanted to review a music video quickly today, so Big Bang's Blue it is. Blue is a ballady song in that it is slow, but it's not really a ballad. It's more just sad feeling, which is nice because that means it conveys that sad feeling. The music video consists mainly of the Big Bang members standing around in interesting scenery...while a Caucasian model who looks like a Korean Manwha character (The Queen's Knight) chases them around. 

The first minute features G-Dragon, and it is two minutes before you see a clear shot of TOP, so the music video is kind of frustrating. However, it sweetly features singing, Daesung gets decent face time, and G-Dragon's lightning jeans were nice. Also, I find it interesting when real people look just like manga/manhwa/manhua characters.

Big Bang's Blue is okay, but its caliber wouldn't defeat an SM music video.

MVOTD: TVXQ (Day 248)

TVXQ's The Way U Are. It's so amazing, I feel like it needs to be taken apart scene by scene. However, that won't work so I'll just have to describe it in agonizingly detailed detail (but not really).

 The Way U Are is an epic of a music video that could have been shot in the 90's. However, I know how old TVXQ is and that would have been impossible. The Way U Are's Cheesy 90's "special effects" include; morphing video footage - Tire to wheel, wheel to pool table, pool table to drink-, standing against a wall in slightly less than extremely baggy jeans with knees bent, weird flailing dance moves, and fun funky beat. In my head, I call it the transition from 90's American pop into what is now most definitively Korean pop. Kpop has a completely different style than American pop and in the music video you can sort of see it getting different.

The Way U Are starts off by establishing that TVXQ are bad boys. They are involved with motorcycles, gambling, pool, and alcohol. Or maybe that is lemonade. Then Jaejoong sings. The mild ramen hair is introduced (to be made bigger for 2005-2006), as are the sheer "shirts" the guys dance in. The shirts are embarassing, especially Yunho's which is obviously designed to mainly cover his nipples.

TVXQ is then established as being interested in a lady who is more badass than all of them put together. She drinks, she wins at pool, she threatens men who may or may not be Max, she plays poker, and she defeats Yunho in racing. She also doesn't wear tattoo sleeves in order to look cool. That makes her the ideal woman. They all pine a bit, but just dance in general. Lots of comfortable looking knits are used. Jaejoong's white shirt looks like it is covered in fake blood. Mickey dresses up as a 1920's gangster. It is all very surprising.

This Youtube shot shows Junsu's hair matching the red plant. If you were wondering what "ramen hair" is, Junsu's hair in this scene is ramen hair.

As a song The Way U Are is fun and kind of catchy. The dance looks like it would be fun to learn. The music video is super cheesy, and is therefore wonderful. It all goes nicely together. Good job TVXQ and SM. 

A Matter of Pride

Where upon I brag that I beat Eat Your Kimchi to the punch. But really, I posted about Younique Unit a whole six days before they did, and I said pretty much the same things. I'm pretty proud about that. I even called the "Max Time" thing and the fact that Max was not included. I generally appreciate Simon and Martina's opinion, so having my own opinion match theirs, yeah, it's a big deal.

Pretentious Word of the Week, a Return

"Last week I was shocked and amazed." Maybe more mild than that.
"Last week I was surprised and insulted." Now that's more like it.
Last week I was suprised and kind of insulted whilst watching We Bought a Zoo. It is a really cute, family oriented, heartwarming movie. However, it was obviously written, or trying to express, the urban viewpoint. The family moved nine miles out of town. They lived a whole nine miles away from the nearest Target (or 15 minutes at 60 miles per hour), and boy did they ever complain about it. Goodness gracious, fifteen minutes there and fifteen minutes back. If that were in city there would probably be no issue.
In honour of the excess with which they complained of living, "in the sticks", today we shall compare terms and their meanings for things extremely rural. The dictionary of use shall of course be Webster's Third New International Dictionary; Unabridged, and Seven Language Dictionary, Volume1: A-G and Volume 3: S-Z. I shall also use the dictionary called my mother, because of course, she is so wise.

• The "sticks" - "to saddle with something disadvantageous or disagreeable".
• Honestly, although there was a whole third of a page dedicated to the word "stick", there was no such definition as such as we were looking for. Probably Webster's Third is too new for it, or considered it slang and therefore not worth printing. According to my source, the phrase, "In the sticks" comes from a European explorer newly come to Canada who thought our forests looked like they were made of sticks. Therefore, "the sticks" would mean forest.
• The "boonies" - slang for "boondocks"
• The "schtruck" - a Low German word for "way out in the country: lost"
• The "boondocks" - "1: rough country: dense brush: JUNGLE: 2: slang: rural backcountry: STICKS"
• Interesting note. Apparently "boondocks" was originally a Tagalog word adopted by english army personel in the Second World War.
• The "bush" - "FOREST, WOODS, JUNGLE; a large uncleared or uncultivated area usually scrub-covered or heavily forested."

There you have it. They all roughly mean about the same thing. Just don't let anyone know it. Not if you want to be pretentious anyway.

And while we are in the dictionary anyway, on page 252.
Bonnyclabber - "sour thick milk"
Example: "I make my bonnyclabber by putting vinegar in the milk."

MVOTD: TVXQ (Day 247)

Old TVXQ. Enough said.

Well, maybe not. Old TVXQ is cheesy, often with bad hair or costumes, and inexplicably makes you want to take out your eyes...or something like that. I probably would have been a Cassie if I had found out about them in time, because they were just that bad. Their music video Survivor, features lots and lots, and lots, of Jaejoong. Maybe it is because he is the prettiest bishounen you ever did see, or maybe it is because he is the prettiest bishounen that you ever did see and the song is for TVXQ's Japanese market...where they like bishounens. Plus he is the prettiest bishounen that you ever did see (bishounen means pretty boy).

Jaejoong dances in the front a good 80% of this music video, even when other people are doing their solos. I think that says it all, as far as how pretty he is.

Now for the music video. Using their super high-tech not actual touch screen touch screen Mac's, TVXQ is in some sort of secret base. They also dance around, sometimes in their bad boy outfits, and sometimes not. Then trouble emerges. It's an emergency, and they are stuck in their ultra secret underground secret fortress. What will they do? Answer: be calm, dance around, and be saved by themselves. It's just a nuclear bomb that will wipe out the city. No biggie.

Unfortunately, that is the entire plot of the music video. Fortunately, it is a great music video. So cheesy and wonderful. I especially like when Jaejoong shakes Jaejoong's hand.

MVOTD: Younique Unit (Day 246)

SM pulled a new one October 31st. They teamed the (in theory) best dancers of their company into one group and made a car commercial music video song thing. I'm not 100% sure on it, but I do know that Hyundai had a hand in the music video.

The combination group, formed by members of Super Junior, Super Junior-M (Yes! Canada respresented), Girls Generation, SHINee, and EXO (M and K. Yay.), is called the hard to take seriously name Younique Unit. Now, many people may think that it is unique because it does what Korean groups don't; have men and women sing and dance together. However, that is false. Anyone remember Speed? That was a male group singing with a member of T-ara. Or what about Kim Wan Seon and Yong Jun Hyeong's song Be Quiet? Or the actual group that is permanently three guys and one woman? Mixing the sexes is in fact not new, so what is younique about the SM group? I'm thinking that they are unique for SM and that's why they were named Younique Unit. They focus on rap and dance, and other than having both sexes in the group, they have both Chinese and Korean members. They also combined four of their super groups which brings up my biggest question. Why no Changmin? Changmin, or Max, of TVXQ is good at dancing. All of TVXQ is. The song Younique Unit sings is called Maxstep. All I can think of when I sing it to myself is, "Max Power!", a misquote of an Eat Your Kimchi video. Therefore, I am missing the Max of Maxstep.

As a music video, it was very SM Entertainment. They danced in several interestingly lit rooms, and soloed in various stationary sets. Interesting angles and good beat propelled a lot of the music video. As with any group that you know, you want to figure out which person dancing is which. Therefore, I was a little disappointed that the dancing shots were so far away. With most of the hair being black or dark and similarly styled, it was hard to figure out who was who. Fortunately, EXO members were dressed in shiny metallic fabric, as they have been thus far in their EXO music videos. Eunhyuk of Super Junior had a portion of hair dyed, so I could tell who he was, and Hyeyeon is a woman, so it was pretty obvious who she was. That left Henry, Taemin, and Kai to figure out. I'm still trying to get it.

Maxstep is an okay song, featuring dubstep and rap, with lots of the lyric "Max time", I mean "maxstep". As a concept, it is fun because it allows you to see people from different groups working together. As a reality though, it should also have put more of a spotlight on these particular members. Only Taemin is in a larger group than normal with everyone else coming from a group of 8 or more. Therefore, with decreased numbers, each one should have had more and better facetime, but that didn't happen. I think that may be the most disappointing thing about the music video. Opportunity knocked, but the door wasn't opened, at least not all the way.