i was talking to a friend yesterday and i said that i thought the adrian peterson's case and the ray rice/greg hardy/ray mcdonald cases need to be handled separately.
first, let me say this: I BELIEVE HITTING A CHILD IS WRONG AT ALL TIMES.
so my reasoning was b/c peterson's intention was not to abuse his child. his intention was to teach his son, to be a good father, although he stepped WAY over the line on this. i agree that in most cases, intention does not matter. but in THIS case, i think it needs to be taken into account in order to separate the issues. having said all that, i think peterson should be punished for what he did to his son. i'm not sure what that punishment should be, but it's not banishment from the league.
but what concerns me is that the general public is trying to decide what's right and wrong when it comes to raising a child. don't get it twisted, as someone who was raised with corporal punishment, i think it's wrong and plenty of research tells me that it is wrong. but what i'm trying to say is i think it's a slippery slope if we allow others to tell us how to raise our children.
multiple people said that in the south, black parents widely use corporal punishment. that means those people in the south are not bothered by the fact that peterson hit his son, but if they are bothered at all, it's the extent of the punishment that bothered them and rightly so. once again, for that, peterson should be punished.
so i think that should be made illegal. but my biggest worry is that's not where it will stop. if we allow outside forces to tell us how to raise our children, how will we know that those forces will always have the interest of the children as their highest priority?
a few days ago, a korean girl group was involved in a fatal car accident. everyone in the car was injured and one of the girls died on her way to the hospital. 2 of the girls suffered serious injuries that required surgeries and one of the girls is still in a coma.
i have never heard of this group before, but this must be me getting old, b/c i feel a certain way when people younger than me die. it just feels wrong, you know?
but this case is another example of people doing good, even in a small way.
so the fact of the matter is that this group is not popular. the main reason is that for the past 4 years or so, approximately 50 girl groups have debuted every year. that's the text book definition of an over-saturated market. but these girls had some fans.
and as a way of sending off the member who died, the fans started a movement to make one of their songs #1 on all of the on-line charts. this is the song, called, "i'm fine, thank you":
the movement caught the attention of the general public and with their help, the fans succeeded in making the song #1 on all on-line charts. it's my hope that this movement will become strong enough in the next few days to make this song #1 on a countdown show.
something i enjoy doing while driving is listen to podcasts. and for that reason, driving in this area has improved a little bit. for everyone who commutes in this area, i want to take this time to make some recommendations for podcasts.
1. how did this get made?
this podcast is my absolute favorite podcast at the moment. the people on this podcast watch, then talk about bad movies. at times, they can get a little nitpicky, but that's a minor thing. i've listened to every episode (except the mini episodes) and every episode has made me laugh out loud multiple times. it definitely helps if you've seen the movie that they're talking about, but that's not a necessity.
the funniest exchange is from when they were talking about that american idol movie, "from justin to kelly." i have never seen the movie, but in it, justin apparently comes to a beach somewhere with his friends (all-white, it's pointed out) from pennsylvania. and they call themselves the pennsylvania posse.
then at one point in the movie, they start beatboxing and rapping on the beach and people gather to listen to/watch them. and while they're talking about that scene, jason mantzoukas, describing the reaction of the crowd in the movie, says, "they're like, 'oh s**t! the roots are here! the white roots are here!'" a pause, then, "they're from pennsylvania."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! if you don't think that's funny... i feel for you.
2. his & hers
michael smith and jemele hill are smart, funny people. they also speak from a perspective i'm not familiar with. finally, this is a podcast about sports.. mostly. what's not to like?
3. the tony kornheiser show
i've been reading tony kornheiser since i was in middle school. well, whenever the opportunity came up, at least. then i discovered that he had a radio show in 2003 and have been listening ever since.
i like that his show has a distinctly local flavor and i've discovered some new music through his recommendations. i also really like that he doesn't interview any athletes. tony helped me to realize that pretty much every athlete never says anything interesting. in fact, they might not even answer the question that is asked. if you like him on pti, you'll like him even more on this show. =)
4. jalen rose report
he went to michigan. 'nuff said. go blue.
just kidding. i'll say a few more things. i really like the chemistry b/t jalen and jacoby. i also like that he talks about hip hop. and he went to michigan. =)
5. dan carlin's hardcore history
i love history. not quite sure what it is i like about it or even why, but i just do. if you like history, i can't recommend this podcast more strongly. right now, i'm listening to a series about the mongols and learning about how incredibly efficient and effective the mongol military was.
i'm not sure why this is... then again, i now wonder if it always has been this way and i have never been aware of it.
these days, it seems the overwhelming majority of news is s**tty. cops shooting civilians, isis, the ebola virus, conflict in gaza... what the f**k. this ain't good for the soul.
but i know the world is not as bad as the news make it out to be. in this post, i'm gonna share some videos that genuinely make me happy and i hope it will make you happy as well.
life ain't that bad.
1. welcome home
off the top, this is an ad for tmobile. i'll always have a soft spot in my heart for tmobile b/c they used to carry the coolest phone ever (the sidekick 2) and they had the friendliest service center workers.
whether you share my feelings or not for tmobile, this video is heartwarming. i can't ever remember anyone ever waiting for me when i got off a plane or any other form of transportation. it must be nice. =)
2. ode to joy
i don't even like this song, but i love this video. the people coming together to make the song fuller with each pass and to end with the addition of the choir... awesome.
3. "secret garden" episode 12, final scene
i've seen a handful of korean dramas over the past 5 years. more than 5, less than 10. so perhaps this doesn't mean as much, but this scene has the best exchange of dialogue i have ever seen in a korean drama. this is also one of the best exchanges of any tv show i have ever seen.
for my non-korean-speaking friends, a translation (the dialogue starts at approx. 0:45):
context: the guy is in love the the girl in the striped hoodie, but she wants nothing to do him b/c he's too rich for her (this is a legitimate barrier in korea). so the guy joins the stunt team that the girl is a part of and this scene happens during a team-building retreat sort of thing.
guy:
... ok. this is WAY to cheesy that i can't bring myself to type out the translation. hahaha. but i'll type the line that brings it home and it's spoken (mentally, i guess?) by the girl at 1:11.
"but still come... tomorrow... and the day after..."
this scene (from 2:57) is from the talent show where they play their song for the first time. this scene makes me think about what it would be like to discover your greatness while people watch it happening. i mean, the guys wanted to be famous musicians, but they had no idea what they had and as the song went, they slowly discovered themselves.
this scene... no words necessary.
i wish the scene from "lost" when drive shaft hears "you all everybody" on the radio for the first time was online. that scene had a similar feel.
many aspects of life is s**tty, but don't let it crush you.
what granddad says at the end of this strip is one of my favorite quotes ever. it's hilariously awesome and it's a quote i've repeated on multiple occasions since i've read it. this is what i'd like to say to michael bay if i ever met the man, b/c the more i think about it, the dumber transformers is.
first, michael bay is the director. that means he didn't write the script. but i still lay the blame at his feet, b/c he's the overseer of it all. he obviously reads the scripts. he didn't think it was weird? b/c i definitely did. and ask about me, i'm not the most critical watcher of movies. i usually accept whatever is thrown on the screen in front of me. =)
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so some questions (SPOILERS AND BAD LANGUAGE AHEAD!!!):
1. what was the point of the first scene?
a space ship bombs the earth during the time of the dinosaurs and turns everything into metal. that scene then leads into the next scene where a geologist (?) is called to the antarctica to look at a find, which turns out to be a metal dinosaur. and no, it's a real dinosaur, not a dinobot. i have no idea why this scene was in there and what it was trying to tell me.
i mean, i guess from what happens later in the movie, i'm supposed to understand that the transformers came millions of years earlier to earth to transform it so that the transformers can live here but then... left? AFTER destroying every living being on earth? why?
2. what does the creator of the transformers want with optimus prime?
lockdown is a bounty hunter transformer that is sent to bring back optimus alive by those who created the transformers. ok. but... why? no one knows. or cares, apparently.
3. why is there a japanese transformer? they're aliens. why is he speaking in haikus and with a heavy japanese accent? and using 2 swords when EVERYONE ELSE is using guns?
4. why do the dinobots transform into dinosaurs? btw, in the movie, even the autobots are surprised by this. the dinobots were hunted by lockdown and imprisoned on his ship for who knows how long? it's obvious lockdown came to earth AFTER the 3rd movie, or he'd have hunted/captured optimus as he was working with the us military. so that means he had the dinobots from before he came to earth.
if the dinobots are like the other transformers and must scan the thing they transform into, am i to assume that lockdown was on earth millions of years ago for a bounty, caught these cats who were living among the dinosaurs, left earth, never claimed the bounty, then came back to earth millions of years later to hunt optimus? or, that there's another planet with dinosaurs on it?
and one more question re: the dinobots: why does that flying one turn into a 2-headed dragon? how is that possible?
5. this is my biggest problem with this movie: why is optimus such a shitty leader? there are multiple instances in this movie where i was convinced the autobots' survival was based on luck and nothing else.
first, if you've seen the trailer, when optimus is discovered by marky mark, he's heavily injured//dead from his fight with the humans who are hunting him (cia blacks ops outfit called, cemetery wind). ok. so far so good. so marky mark fixes him up and they're chased by the cemetery wind. then after he regains his strength to do his transformer thing, do you know what he transforms into? THE SAME FUCKIN' BLUE/RED TRUCK. WITH THE AUTOBOT LOGO ON THE GRILL. what the hell are you doing, optimus? do you WANT to get caught?
second, after the battle with the decepticons are over, they need to get "the seed" (the bomb we saw in the first scene) away from hong kong. i don't know why this is, b/c the decepticons are the ones who wanted it and they're all dead, except for galvatron, but... fine. i'll let that slide. so in order to do this, they decide that the best way is to drive "the seed" across "the bridge." i put quotations marks around "the bridge," b/c there's no explanation given about it. not where it goes, or why they even need to go. i mean... there's one decepticon left.
but this is the kicker: in order to drive it over the bridge, optimus tells marky mark to drive the shittiest car in their vicinity. there are multiple problems with this. first, TRANSFORMERS CAN TRANSFORM INTO CARS. second, ONE OF THEM CAN TRANSFORM INTO A HELICOPTER. WHAT THE FUCK, OPTIMUS?
third, this point connects with the previous. so after telling them to drive over the bridge, optimus faces lockdown alone. why? is this some sort of an honor thing? galvatron is nowhere to be seen, so he's not a part of this battle. btw, galvatron doesn't even attempt to take the seed back from the others.
so this means that without the humans, there are 5 autobots and the 4 dinobots. that's NINE vs. ONE. why the hell did optimus send EVERYONE away? to protect marky mark's shitty car from... who, exactly? galvatron? you needed EIGHT transformers for THAT job? hey, asshole, if you just put the seed into that helicopter/japanese transformer, the seed would have been across that bridge in like 2 minutes.
so there's that stupidity. but you know what happens? optimus almost loses. if marky mark and others didn't come back, lockdown takes optimus prime to the creators.
then when everything is over, he takes the seed and...
wait for it...
FLIES TO FUCKING CYBERTRON or wherever the creators are. like a rocket. so as soon as they had the seed, optimus could have done this. lockdown wanted optimus for a bounty so he'd have followed. since galvatron wanted the seed to turn earth into the new cybertron, he'd have followed as well. boom, problem solved.
so why didn't optimus do this earlier?
B/C HE'S A SHITTY LEADER.
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i think i read that michael bay is signed on to do 2 more transformer movies. really?
and after watching this clusterfuck of a movie, do i really want to see TMNT?
i've been listening to music for the majority of my life. now that i'm 33, it's harder to like new artists and newer genres of music, like dubstep or whatever they call that techno-esque stuff. are we limited in liking music so that in order to like new music, we have to dump the older music we like? maybe we are.
anyway, i first heard this song back in... late 2003, early 2004. it is the worst song i have ever heard in my life and i'm not sure if any song can top it. but i LOVE this song, b/c it makes me laugh every time i hear it. the lyrics, the voice of the girl... everything about it is AWESOMELY hilarious. then when i consider the context of how i first heard this song... it's game over, son. i doubt there's ANY song out there that is this bad, yet i love this much. without further ado, here's the song:
this is awesome, right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!
so it's been over 10 years since i first heard this song. the reason this came up was b/c i was reading buzzfeed this morning and there was an article titled, "11 Problems People Had In the '00s." in it, problem #7 was, "They had to find a song that perfectly captured their feelings so it could autoplay when people went to their profile." that immediately made me think of this song.
in my entire life, i knew/knew of 2 people who did this. 1st person doesn't matter, b/c it's not funny. but the 2nd person is who unintentionally introduced me to this song. i only knew of him, b/c i found his blog site randomly through a mutual friend's site.
at the time, i was doing a temp data entry job and so i sat in front of my computer for like 8 hours a day. to pass the time, i'd sometimes read people's blogs, even people i didn't know. that's what happened here. and i will admit, that blog was the funniest blog i have ever read in my life.
i guess he had a broken heart, b/c he'd write things like, "i sometimes lay in bed at night thinking about what i could have done differently... and i cry." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
"wherever you are, i hope you're happy and loved."
"i miss you so much that my heart hurts."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! if you say that's not funny, you're a liar.
you know what made it funnier, though? in b/t those types of posts, he'd write things like, "i went to denny's with my friends and i ordered a moons over my hammy. it was delicious." or, "i got an oil change today after work. 3000 more miles!"
and the whole time, that song played. WOW.
i feel a little bad that i laughed at someone's pain like that, but... ok, i actually don't. what i do feel a little bad about is i'd sit with my friends and read these entries out loud to them and we'd laugh together. but in my defense, that blog was so funny that i had to share it with my friends and i never let them actually see the blog.
it's been a long time. wherever he is, i hope he's happy and loved. for reals.
initially, i was going to write about a summer playlist. there was going to be numerous songs.
"fancy," by iggy azalea was coming on strong, as was "problem," by ariana grande. but 2 nights ago, i was looking through buzzfeed and came across an article titled, "17 jams you need for your playlist." i clicked through the links in the article and found some songs that i liked.
then...
i came to the last one. the introduction simply said, "17. the 'j.lo and ricky martin are ageless icons' summer jam".
i clicked on the song, watched for a little bit and well... not to get all dramatic, but it was a game-changer.
the game is over. song of the summer is called "adrenalina," by a dude named wisin, featuring j. lo and ricky martin.
check out the video:
i mean... damn, son. that song is HOT.
this is another video of the song, labeled as the "spanglish version."
one question: ricky martin is gay, right? or am i misremembering this? i only ask b/c the way he's interacting in the video with j. lo, i guess i'm supposed to believe they're attracted to one another in a physical manner. but if he's gay, is ricky martin ACTING in the video? if he is, i find it funny that he's acting in a mv that has no story. if he's not gay, i guess this whole paragraph is moot.
ultimately, it matters not even a little bit. since late thursday night, i've listened to this song 100+ times. i don't think this is gonna stop anytime soon, if i may honest.
don't let the fact that the song is in spanish trip you up. feel the song with your soul, you racist. =)
one of my favorite shows recently has been "how i met your mother." i started watching during season 5, b/c my friends wouldn't shut up about it. =) in hindsight, i'm glad they wouldn't stop talking about it. thanx, friends.
now that it's over, i find it comical that there are so many people who are upset about it. seriously. i do not understand why people are angry. the show, is a piece of art. why are the consumers upset at the artist who created it? is it the consumer/audience's right to not like a work of art? of course. but to get angry at the artist? i mean... i guess it's your right to be angry about anything, but what's the point?
i'm not angry, a little disappointed, maybe, but talking about this situation has given me the opportunity to think about the show and what i take away from it.
1. there's no such thing as "the one."
i used to believe in the idea of "the one" until i was a sophomore or a junior in college when someone said something very interesting. if there's "the one" out there for me, that means EVERYONE ELSE is wrong. that's BILLIONS of women. from that moment on, i did not believe in "the one." =)
so as much as i liked cristin milioti (and i really did), i was glad she died at the end. do you want to make the case that robin was actually "the one" for ted b/c of the ending? by then, they had known one another for like 20 years. i'm not buying it. look, neo took like a week to figure out that he was "the one" and HE SAVED THE HUMAN RACE. is robin that special?
2. timing is CRUCIAL.
during the time the show was taking place, robin and ted were not right for one another. they wanted different things and that's fine. no one's a bad person or anything. they just were not compatible at the time. after the mother's death, now that they're older, they are perfect for one another.
i always believed you shouldn't go backwards in relationships (breaking up and getting back together), but... maybe i shouldn't have such steadfast rules.
3. life doesn't always work out the way we planned/hoped and that's a good thing.
if it always worked out like i planned, would i really like that? i'm leaning towards "no." i like uncertainties. they make me anxious, but they're also exciting. think of the possibilities of tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. who knows where we will be? how exciting. =)
4. nothing stays the same.
obviously. but sometimes, even the obvious must be stated.
as a bad Christian, i believe that life only gets better. harder, most definitely, but also better. i can't accept the possibility that God made our lives so that after a certain point (20s? 30s?) our lives are just gonna go downhill. that seems... cruel.
but i guess that also depends on your perspective. what's good? what's bad?
i've been working on being more positive for a few years now (thanx, maybelle) and so let me end on a positive note: things can always be worse...
first, it's pronounced "yun-ah" kim. "yun" rhymes with fun, run, ton, gun, sun, bun, done, pun, won, one, etc. nbc announcers and all other non-koreans who have been mispronouncing her name for the past 4 years, you don't have to get all non-americans' names correct, but let's at least pronounce the olympic champion's name correctly.
i know a lot of people are upset about how the womens figure skating went down a few days ago. since i think figure skating is a waste of athleticism and actively avoid watching it, i really have no opinion on the result. but you know what? for yuna, i think it was the best possible outcome.
during these olympic games, i've been rooting for a russian speed skater named victor ahn. if you didn't know, he was born and raised in korea and even won 4 olympic medals in 2006 along with a bunch of other international events for korea. then in 2008, he suffered an injury and the korean skating federation pretty much cut all ties with him, not really helping in his recuperation. the reason for it was that b/c korea is a speed skating powerhouse, they have other skaters who can easily take ahn's spot. therefore, an injured and recuperating ahn is not needed. in 2014, ahn came back with a vengeance for russia and won 4 additional olympic medals (3 gold, 1 bronze).
as you can probably guess, ahn's story caused a ruckus in korea. even the president of korea has requested that korea's skating federation be investigated for how they handle their business. but you know what? if ahn didn't win so many medals (he won as many gold medals alone as the entire korean olympic team combined), this story probably wouldn't have been as big of a deal over there. or if the korean men didn't crap the bed so spectacularly, it wouldn't have been as big a deal either.
and that's why yuna's situation is the best case scenario, b/c koreans treat their athletes like every one of them are very easily replaceable. they were going to do it to ahn, but he was too good for that and of course, koreans are wrong in their attitude.
so back to yuna, the first article i ever read about her was back in 2010, during the vancouver games. i think even then, she was the richest female athlete. but the article quoted some korean insider who said that if yuna did not win the gold in vancouver, she would lose approximately half of all of her sponsorship deals. my reaction: WHAT THE F**K???
yuna, on her own, with very little to zero support from the korean government or the skating federation, became one of the best figure skaters the world had ever seen. i don't believe in self-made men or women, but she might be the closest thing. yuna, for her entire career, hired and paid, out of her own pocket, her coaches and staff. when i left korea in 2011, there was no figure skating rink in the country for her to train at and there weren't any plans to build one. this is AFTER yuna won a gold medal in that event. how quickly national heroes are forgotten and discarded.
but that silver medal is a game-changer. to be clear, not the medal itself, but the circumstances (alleged) that led to it.
coming into these games, yuna was expected to repeat as the champion, to become the 3rd woman to do so. i don't know about the experts, but koreans, in general, saw these games as more of a coronation than a competition. and why not? even i read that yuna was clearly the best skater in the world, having won the latest world championship with a comfortable margin. but she didn't win. and not just that, it appears as if there was foul play involved.
if yuna had won, she'd have done what was expected of her. and if i know korean people like i think i do, they would have been happy for her, then they'd turn on her for her popularity. why do i think this? around the time yuna won the gold in 2010, she had another nickname in korea. it was "dohn yuna." "dohn" rhymes with... nothing. it's not important, so let's move on. but it means money. many koreans derisively called her that b/c she had so many sponsorship deals. this is how they roll over there.
but with the silver medal and the situation that led to it, yuna is now and forever will be, a sympathetic hero. the narrative will be that the girl who single-handedly raised korea to the top of the world in figure skating was robbed of a gold medal in her very last competition. that gives her protection from all the hate that was gonna come her way eventually, if she had won the gold. how can you say something negative about the girl who should have won the gold but was robbed (allegedly)?
like i said, i don't know if she was robbed. i personally don't care. figure skating is not a real sport and i think it's stupid that it's such an important event in the olympics. it undermines the legitimacy of the whole thing a little bit. but i understand that it is popular, so... yeah. dolla, dolla, bill, y'all.
for yuna, i hope only good things will happen to her for the rest of her life. i'm sure she was and i'm also sure she will continue to be a great ambassador of korea and figure skating.
it's valentine's day. although i'm not in a relationship, i'm not bothered. i'm sure it's nice to be in a relationship on many occasions and today will be one of those occasions, but if it's up to me, and it is, i don't want to be in a relationship. right now, i'd much prefer to be alone and live how i please, without worrying about how my decisions might affect someone else's life. that's a little too much responsibility for my liking. also, i like being single when it seems so many people think/believe/say that being in a relationship is this unbelievably awesome thing. first, i think they're full of s**t and second, i kinda feel like a rebel. =)
but i'm a fan of love, so let's celebrate today with some of my favorite songs about love.
1. ailee - 너를 향한 마음
like most korean songs about love, this song is about a lost love. the singer of the song misses his/her old love and wishes to see them again, but never does.
now that i write what the song is about, the song sounds stupid. probably b/c i have never felt such a feeling before. but this girl is a great singer, which makes this a great song.
2. bridget carrington & john legend - i knew you were waiting
this song is really old, but i discovered it just last year. i was watching a video my cousin posted to her fb wall, a t-mobile flash mob commercial from an airport in... london, i want to say. in it, there were a bunch of people and they were singing various songs. this was one of the songs. the people only sang the chorus once, but i fell in love with the song in those few seconds.
3. 소유 & 정기고 - Some
this song is too recent to be considered one of my all time favorite love songs, but... it's my list, so you can suck it. =)
as you can tell from the sound, the song is a happy one, b/c i decided just now that i want more happy songs on this list than sad ones.
4. bruno mars - just the way you are
i don't believe this to be true, but it's a nice sentiment, nevertheless. b/c let's be honest: nobody's perfect and we need to keep improving.
btw, the girl in this video is really pretty. is she someone famous?
5. brown eyed soul - 너를
this video has a twist ending. it's not on the level of "the 6th sense," but the way the video plays out, you expect it to end a certain way and it doesn't. but i like the video, b/c it's a lesson: don't be an a-hole to your girl.
6. the overtones - the longest time
do you know where i first heard this song ever? i was in elementary school and i saw an episode of the "alvin and the chipmunks." i don't remember what the episode was about, but all the chipmunks were at a hospital singing this song. i think this a lot, but it's funny what you remember. =)
also, this mv is kinda cool and the lead singer sounds like justin timberlake a little bit.
7. 2AM - 어떡하죠? (What do I do?)
this song is about a guy who falls in love with another girl while already in a relationship. perhaps this is not perfectly in line with the meaning of valentine's day, but... i'm sure it happens, so i'll make the case that it is. regardless, i like this song, so it's on the list. surprisingly, as many times as i have listened to this song, i have never sung it at a nrb.
8. freddie scott - got what i need
i had no idea biz markie sampled this song. i like this version a little bit better. =)
9. jay park - let's make up
obviously, as the title states, this is a song about trying to repair a relationship that is already in progress. i'm sure people use valentine's day as an occasion to try to make up for things they didn't do regularly or whatever, right?
10. jennifer love hewitt - love will show you everything
i had no idea she could sing.
as i end this entry, one quote:
"The first time I saw you, I thought, 'Look at that boy. I’m going to love him forever, and ever, and ever.'"
these days, i have a little more downtime than i have had in years. i don't like that i have so much free time, but at least it's given me more of a chance to catch up on my favorite hobby: watching movies. there are many movies i've missed b/c of school and such and i'm slowly catching up with them. these are the few i've watched relatively recently.
1. saving mr. banks
WOW. WHAT A B**CH. but let me back up for a moment. i first saw "mary poppins" when i was in middle school. i haven't seen it since, but for some odd reason, i used to say it's one of my favorite disney movies. i have no idea why i did that. anyway, i learned through this movie that it's based on a book written by an australian woman. so emma thompson plays the writer and well... WHAT A B**CH. i mean... DAMN, SON. she's an awful human being. i mean, she plays an awful human being.
in the movie, she's got no money. therefore, she finally decides to sell the rights to her books, after holding back for like 20 years. i understand if she doesn't want to sell the rights, they're her creation. but if she has to sell, just sell it. she makes life so difficult for the disney people and really, there's nothing redeeming about her character in the movie.
i hated her so much that i'm still convinced i must have missed something.
2. step up revolution
umm... so i've seen every "step up" movie except for the first one. when it came to #2 and 3, i saw them in the theater. i'm not 100% sure, but if someone said i saw the movies on opening day, i would believe them. anyway, i have very good feelings towards both movies. but this one... nah. the story, acting, everything is awful, except for the dancing. even that, isn't all great.
overall, this movie sucked balls. if you know me, you know how much typing that sentence hurt.
3. the perks of being a wallflower
this movie is a coming-of-age tale about a high school freshman with a traumatic past. it's ok. i probably don't like it as much b/c i'm not the target audience. but i watched it b/c of emma watson.
4. ruby sparks
i've been meaning to watch this movie for a while now and well, i did. it's a movie about a writer whose creation comes to life. and b/c he's the writer, whatever he writes about her is how she behaves. the way the movie unfolded, i guess i should have seen the plot developments coming, but i didn't. it was ok, nothing to write home about.
5. let me explain
this is kevin hart's standup movie. it's only like 75 minutes long, and the first 25 minutes or so is a sketch and some video clips about his world tour. the rest of the movie is the stand up, which is funny, but... if you've seen his previous standups, then you don't have to see this one. at least don't pay to see this one.
before starting this entry, a question: is there a reason why the new year starts in january? it's in the middle of the winter. shouldn't the new year start at the beginning of a new season, at least? i'd prefer the new year to start in the beginning of spring, but i'll take the BEGINNING of any season. that makes sense to me, at least. now onto the entry.
welcome 2014. i have come up with a few new year's resolutions for this year. but before i talk about those, i read my resolutions from last year. i listed 2 and failed in both. =(
first, i am graduating with a 3.88 gpa, instead of 4.0. i'll take it, though.
second, i didn't even buy a guitar. so that one will get pushed back to this year. i hope to buy a guitar sometime in april. why april? just wait. =)
so here's my resolutions for 2014. there are 2 requirements. first, it has to be concrete, not vague (e.g. be a better person, read more books, etc. is no bueno). second, it has to benefit other people. so here we go.
1. do something nice for my parents. since both of my parents enjoy playing golf, i want to give them a chance to play golf at pebble beach. i've looked into it and it's gonna be a few grand. but it's a chance to play at one of the best golf courses in the world, so i'm gonna work on it. maybe my siblings can help me out too.
2. learn to play 5 songs on the guitar, obviously. 5 songs: "sweet child o' mine," "faith," "if only," "all for you," and "사랑은 비를 타고."
3. learn to make 7 new dishes. similar to #2, this will benefit my future gf/wife. in addition, my future kids will benefit as well.
there are others, but i'll keep those to myself. mostly b/c they're goals that are personal. once i achieve them though, i'll write about it.
i was gonna do this yesterday, before 2013 ended, but i've been busy. also, i went to sleep at a little past 11 last night, so... here it is.
2013 was a year filled with great music, so i wanted to share my 13 favorite songs from this past year, as a way to end the year and to ring in 2014. these songs are not in any particular order.
1. pittbull (ft. christina aguilera) - feel this moment
man... this song is great. it's got that melody from "take on me," and christina's still got it, which makes me happy for her. but most importantly, it's fun. what more do you want from a song?
2. exo - 으르렁 (growl)
i initially did not like this song when i first heard it, but after i saw a live performance of it, i became a fan. this has always been true of me: i might not like a song when i first hear it, but if i see a live performance of it, the possibility of me liking that song increases exponentially. so there you go. but this performance is awesome.
3. mariah carey (ft. miguel) - #beautiful
i LOVE this song. mariah is still great.
so something i always wondered about this song: why is there a # in the title? is it a twitter thing? i mean, it has to be, no? what else can it be? also, speaking of #, why do people call it a hashtag? for my entire life, it was either a sharp symbol or the number sign. it's not that i have a problem with the changing of the name, but... why "hashtag"? just curious.
4. kanto - 말만해 (what you want)
isn't this song awesome? hahaha. i don't know what it is about this song, but i can listen to it all day. also, the rapper's voice is very fitting for rapping, no? what a great song.
5. ariana grande - the way (acoustic version)
am i the only one who thinks she sounds like mariah? anyway, i like everything about this song... except for the rapper. there's something about mac miller that causes a gag reflex within me. i can't stand anything he says, which is unfortunate, b/c i really like this song. but b/c of mac miller, i now can't listen to this song. fortunately, there's an acoustic version. i also really like the high-five at the end of this video. =)
6. Big Bang (Tae-Yang) - 새벽 한 시 (1 AM)
this song is about remembering a past love at 1am. i can't relate, but i love this song regardless. personally, i think it's about time he came out with another song that i really like. i mean, "superstar" is still great and all, but that was like 2009. on a side note, the interesting thing about this song is, i've seen him perform this song twice already, but i don't think the recorded version has been released yet. that's kinda unusual, no?
7. lorde - royals
pentatonix - royals
what else is there to say about this song other than "it's great"? what a great voice this girl has. one thing i was never clear on: is the singer's name pronounced "lord" or "lordee"?
also, the acapella cover is great too. 2 things i'll like forever, i think: choreographed dancing and acapella covers of famous songs. not sure why. =)
8. 배치기 (ft. Ailee) - 눈물샤워 (Shower of Tears)
this is a very interesting song. the instruments used and the melody, it's very unique. i'm not sure how to describe it, but it has a... tango feel to it? i don't know why i just said that, but that's the feeling i get when i listen to this song. also, i like that ailee featured on this song. i'm a fan. =)
9. olly murs - troublemaker
i discovered this song while i was on one of those going down the rabbit hole trips on youtube. while going from one video to another, i clicked on this one and well... what an awesome song. the original with flo rida is good too, but there's just an energy that comes from live performances that the recorded version cannot match. so there it is. this song is SO good, i'm putting in TWO videos of it.
10. kara - 2night
the best song on the last album (possibly) from my all-time favorite girl group. i was gonna make it a point to go to their concert when i went back to korea and i'm disappointed they may disband before i'll have the opportunity to see them live. i guess there is a lesson in all this: don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. but in my defense, there was never a kara concert when i was living in korea. i guess i'll just have to live with my disappointment of never seeing the 5 of them performing together live. i'm also disappointed they never performed this great track live. i bet it would have been great.
11. ft island - 말리꽃 (jasmine flower)
this song is decently old (10+ years, i think), but this year is the first time i heard it, when this band covered it on a tv show. so... it's a beautiful song. it's about continuing to live after the person you love has passed away (this is a typical theme in korean love songs, btw). damn, yo. this dude can SING.
another old song (from the 80s?), but... damn. this song is about how much the singer is in love with a girl and will follow her wherever she goes. but beside from the lyrics, LISTEN TO THE SONG. this dude sings like he was born to sing this song. hahaha. that sounds ridiculous, but... he does. =)
and when he goes into the bridge around 4:24 to 5:41... wow. goosebumps, yo.
13. one more chance - 널 생각해 (i think of you)
wherever i see this video, it translates the korean title to, "thinking of you." well, i don't give a damn. my translation is better. =)
with that said, as weird as this might sound, it's a really pretty song. feels like a light spring rain. the kind where you don't mind walking in without an umbrella. can you feel it? hahaha.
man... this was much harder than i thought it was gonna be. but i think i'm ok with it. there are songs that could have been on the list, but i didn't put it in there. perhaps next year, i'll expand the list. =)
