A Touch of K-Pop: October '13

Two things: First is Happy Halloween! to all who celebrate it (or acknowledge this happy costume and candy day). The Second is, I missed my blog birthday- on October 23 a year ago I started this lovely little sanctuary for myself. Back then I had no idea what this place would become. Sometimes, I still don't know. Which is why I give myself time at least one time a month to ramble on about a subject I love almost as much as drama: KPOP!

Uhm, greetings from Park Kyung-ssi? Always a character :P

I always knew October would be busy! What I didn't expect is that for a couple weeks I would be totally obsessed with YG's devil program WIN: Who Is Next. Or that Teen Top would once again entertain fans with another dance practice version of "Love Fool." [Note: It's more them beating each other up with pumpkin pillows than 'practicing'.] But now the month is over, and Blocktober comes to an end as well. Soon there will no more live performance of Block B's "Very Good." Waaaa! Why can't they just sing and dance forever?!?

More to say about WIN or Winner (blegh), live dates with Block B, why I tried and failed to like IU, a kid named Yoo Seung Woo, and I finally announce my thoughts on EXO (because, everyone always want to hear more about EXO right?? They just don't get enough coverage..)

P.S. I joined Tumbrl. I have no idea what on earth I'm doing on there- but it is a scary scary place! 

What Happened This Month

My current and future obsession:
the babies/hotties formerly known as Team A

WIN happened.

And it killed me. Absolutely killed me. Fortunately I only picked it up with two weeks to spare until the announcement, and therefore only had to suffer a couple weeks. Last Friday I set my alarm to 6:45 am so I could wake up and livestream the finale. It was a fabulous plan. Thanks to rising early, I had that much longer in the day to sit around with a splitting headache and burning red eyes from all the crying I did. Probably would not have survived the day had I not been given a great outlet to alternately discuss and spazz. Maybe someday I'll gather all my collected thoughts into something resembling coherency, but in the mean tine, thank you Jane and Caitlyn for participating in a WIN exorcism. I think we all needed it a little- Nowadays I'm just out of words. But I seriously look forward to *cringe* Winner's upcoming debut. Why oh why though did it have to be that name?

Still my favorite stage from the whole program

A Very Good Blocktober.

I got a lump in my throat when I read Block B are ending promotions soon. However, this month really couldn't have gotten much better. Block B returned, they were badass and awesome, they got their first music show win, and still haven't cease to do something amusing for me [exclusively] almost every day. My favorite night was when me, husband, sister, and mother-in-law all sat in front of the TV to livestream the Allkpop Live interview. Well, that was certainly eye-opening. Whether it was the members' purposefully forcing Zico to lose a game (the punishment being Zico's least favorite thing ever- Gwiyomi), P.O. and Ukwon recreating the beating scenes from "Be the Light" or P.O. and Park Kyung flirting ridiculously with the interviewer. 

Particularly P.O.

I can't believe she survived to live another day. When late in the show Jaehyo just stretched his arm behind her, she flinched violently. Attack of the derps! Attack of maknae's killer aegyo, more like it.

Dancing Queen?

I'm late to Kpop - I'm also a little more boy group-focused (for.. obvious reasons). So forgive me if I never bothered to really look up IU before her latest comeback. Oh sure I knew who she was, and I've seen her in some dramas and genuinely enjoyed the characters she played. I may even have heard her sing and not been turned off by the sound of her voice. However, "The Red Shoes?" Uh uh. Nope. I'm sad, because I wanted to like her. The problem isn't even the song so much- I like that kind of music. Before Kpop, I listened to old old old American music.. 1920s-40s music. I like that style. I like jazz. 

I don't like "The Red Shoes" both the song and her particular way of vocalizing said song. But the dance? IU's no dancer, and while I can say that she's obviously worked very hard and puts her best effort out there in the choreography, it's a tad bit awkward to watch. When I see dancing, every 'I was born dancing-critique it now!' switch in my body turns on. I can try, but I can't turn it off. It spelled double doom for my liking IU this round. Sorry, girl. Better luck next time.

My Favorite Marshmallow 

Ever heard of the kid Yoo Seung Woo? I saw him at KCON doing some awfully amazing covers and then a song of his own. He's got this most precious baby face ever, and quite a vocal range. Which is why I can't figure out why most of his own songs he's put out are not all that catchy. Still, I've had a soft spot for the boy ever since I watched him get nearly bowled over by the giant marshmallow beach balls people on the ground floor relentlessly kicked onto stage, while he stood there singing and playing guitar, kicking away the biggest marshmallows. I keep an eye on him now. 

So this cover of EXO's "Growl" dropped on my subscription list on Youtube and niiiiice. I love the song, and while this cover is very different from the song's original sound, I'm a sucker for a good arrangement too, especially when it's with acoustic guitar.

EXO Time...

Speaking of EXO- I realize that I've never made some kind of confession. I do, uhm, listen to their stuff.. sometimes.. uhh, quite a bit. And, I kind of recognize a few faces *coughs* but just like.. 12 of them.. Shhh. I ignored them long enough, mostly because I wasn't and still am not fond of most of their music prior to this year, and "Wolf" has to be my least favorite Kpop song of all time. But then "Growl" happened, and then I bought tickets to KCON (not to see EXO) and I got this crazy vision of me accidentally happening upon EXO members and not knowing who they were. *lmao* Because that would totally happen. It didn't, of course. But I learned their names regardless. And I'm quite fond of the Repackaged album. 

Please don't lump me in the same category as most of EXO's crazy fans (and, I know there are quite a few fans who will plead this same thing). But I think I enjoy their music about as much as I enjoy seeing gif sets on tumbrl. I added Xiumin to my bias list, and thanks to my mom's bias (Tao) I have a new bias wrecker. 

By the way, sister... No matter how many times you spam my tumbrl dash, I will NOT buy into the Xiuhan ship. I. will. not. *growls*