Doctor Jin, Medicine Woman

Music MANIA! Risqué - The Girls Are Back In Town

2017-07-05T18:39:00.000-04:00

I'm not ashamed to admit it: I like Disco. Many kinds of Disco. Often Disco Italiano, but in the case of today's song, Disco Nederlander. Disco is dead. Long live Disco.

The song of the day is Risqué - The Girls Are Back In Town (1982). I don't know too much about Risqué, to be honest, except that they're Dutch and have awesome style (as may be evident from the album cover above and video below).

I'm pretty sure I first heard this for the first time on Intergalactic.fm's Classix station. I'm probably not old enough (or Dutch enough) to have heard it the first time it came around, ya know? You should totally listen to that station if you like this sort of thing, by the way. Save the link to your Floppy Disco.

Tunes EVERY DAY! Girls' Generation 소녀시대 - Mr.Mr.

2017-07-04T16:19:00.000-04:00

Hello friends, family, enemies and others! Frenemies? Frothers. (Let's be real, very few people are actually reading this.

It's been a long time since I updated this blog, but lately I've been in a real YouTube-y phase... finding lots of cool old-but-new-to-me songs and nostalgic favorites. So I've decided to get back into it. But why just update on Tuesdays? (I was never so good at sticking to the whole Tuesday thing anyway.) So from now on, I'm going to be posting a new song every time the urge strikes me. Song-of-the-Day style, maybe. We'll see.

Today's track is Girls' Generation's "Mr.Mr." from 2014. Not exactly old enough to be considered retro, but not a new one either. So why choose this slightly-old-but-not-really K-Pop tune? Well... because I feel like it! I sat down at my computer tonight and thought to look it up on YouTube for whatever reason, so why not share?

It's catchy. It's cool. I like it. Nothing like a Korean pop song to celebrate, uh... Independence Day, eh? Happy 4th of July, my fellow Americans! Hope this sets off fireworks in your earholes and see you again soon.

Tunes Tuesday: Rod McKuen - I Looked At You A Long Time

2015-06-24T16:18:00.000-04:00

It's actually Wednesday, shhh. But it's been a while and I have stuff on my mind, so I thought I'd stop here and dump another song off. Don't mind me.

In case you couldn't tell from my last post, I've been in an introspective mood lately. That's probably a bit stupid, but eh, I can't help it. I found myself thinking about a former lover from long ago (what do you call someone you were in a serious relationship with but not married to?) Not in a "I miss you" way, more in "I wonder whatever happened to that crazy so-and-so" way. And also in a "boy, I sure don't want to experience any of the stupid shit that happened in that relationship again" way. Let us all learn from the past and go on to have nice, uncomplicated lives.

And now for the song of the day: Rod McKuen - I Looked At You A Long Time (1970).

This song reminds me of that relationship. Partially because I remember listening to this record together once, but also because the sentiment reminds me of my ex-whatever. He didn't steal my Sunday paper, but he did steal some of my cutlery. True story. Not that that's what the song is really about—but I do find myself sometimes thinking about him when I shave (my legs, anyway). I could say more on the subject, but it's probably best left in the past. Just like that cutlery, whosever drawer it ended up in.

Tunes Tuesday: Lipseye - Don't Worry

2015-06-02T16:17:00.000-04:00

I've been having a weird couple of weeks. Sometimes I go through phases where I wonder if I'm really putting my effort and energy into the right things—not that that's especially weird, I guess. I think most people probably experience those sorts of feelings at one point or another, but it's been hitting me extra-hard lately. I don't want to get into too many specifics about my personal life on this blog, but right now I'm earning a big chunk of my livelihood from writing, and when your creative mojo and ability to support yourself get conflated, it can feel... taxing. Someone once told me that the thing you spend the most time daydreaming about should be the thing you end up doing for a living, but churning out banal crap out of obligation is not exactly what I dreamed about way back when. That said, it's not all bad... so should I stay the course? Quit? Or find a new hobby to obsess over? I think I'll spend the day wallowing in bed while I try to decide.

The last time I felt like this was shortly after I completed grad school. I finished with good marks, but felt strangely regretful about the experience—missed opportunities and all that. The kinds of things that only students who are delaying the inevitable reality of WORK can do. Oh well—it was too late then, and it sure as hell is too late now. For those things, anyway. But what about now? What am I doing (or not doing) today that I will regret tomorrow?

OK, enough maudlin shit. Today's song is Lipseye- Don't Worry, a relatively unknown Italo Disco/ballad track from 1986 I came across during that period of post-grad woe I just described. I found it strangely uplifting at the time—galloping synth base + delicate pianos + a whole bunch of other synth sounds + constant changes might not soothe all souls, but it did mine. Also, I don't want to say outright where I was living at the time, but there were many seabirds flying around, so even the odd, shoddily-constructed jacket art spoke to me. What the hell is wrong with me? Maybe nothing. Listen and decide for yourself.

Don't worry, we'll live for... a brand new day....

Tunes Tuesday: 소호대 (SOHODAE) - 사랑 그리고 추억 (Love & Memories)

2015-04-28T16:16:00.000-04:00

So... I guess that whole posting more than once per month thing didn't exactly work out. Oh life, you tricky little time-suck of a thing.

The song of the week is SOHODAE - 사랑 그리고 추억/Love & Memories (1999). Full disclosure: I was a high school student in 1999, but not in Korea. And I didn't hear this song for the first time until much, much later. It still manages to have a bit of a nostalgic vibe for me though—over-the-top dance beats mixed with winsome-sounding vocals that are actually sort of sad get me every time. It's exactly what I hated about pop music at the time, but love now that I'm older and maybe wishing a little bit that I was younger. OH LIFE, YOU TRICKY LITTLE TIME-SUCK OF A THING.

Just like love and memories? Whoa, I just blew my own mind a little bit there.

Tunes Tuesday: Mandy vs. Brandy

2015-03-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! And it's actually Tuesday this time. I win!

For whatever reason, "Mandy" (as performed by Barry Manilow) has been stuck in my head all week, so it seems logical to appoint it as the tune of the week. It might be cheesy, but it has sort of a timeless quality that a lot of 40-year-old love songs don't.

Barry Manilow - Mandy (1974)

Fun fact: Did you know that the original version of "Mandy" was called "Brandy" and recorded by Scott English in 1971? Most of the lyrics are the same, but the Scott English version sounds more dated somehow. I dunno, maybe Barry Manilow just has that wistful thing down pat. Here, you can listen and judge for yourself.

Scott English - Brandy (1971)

So, who stole your heart? Mandy or Brandy?

Tunes Tuesday: Peppertones (페퍼톤스) - For All Dancers

2015-03-03T16:14:00.000-05:00

So... um... hi. It's been an absurdly long time since I updated this pitiful excuse for a blog. I had all these grand plans for everything from television to film to even game reviews, but life got in the way. Oops! Let's try this again, shall we?

The song of the week is Peppertones - For All Dancers from 2012. This song has been stuck in my head because I watched some old episodes of 1박 2일 on YouTube recently, and the first 30 seconds or so of it seems to pop up about every three episodes. Which is a little annoying, because it's a catchy little tune. But that's the beauty of the age we live in—you can listen to the whole thing right here, right now on the internet. Whoosh!

On a semi-related note, YouTube/Google now has something called "Music Key", which allows you to listen to music in the background on your mobile device and without ads. Kind of like Spotify. It's currently in beta—I got a pop-up offering me early access on my YouTube account, but I don't think it's been rolled out to everybody yet, so YMMV. More info here if you're curious though.

And with that, I vow to update this blog more than once per year. Yeah!!!

Forgettable Tubers With Memorable Soundtracks #1 - Romance Town

2014-05-15T16:13:00.000-04:00

I made a post about a month ago that included ramblings about The Greatest American Hero and Endless Love and how everybody remembers the theme songs even if they've sort of forgotten how terrible the show/movie actually was. That got me thinking - what about TV shows that have really catchy soundtracks but are otherwise a little bit forgettable?

The first thing I thought of was Romance Town (로맨스 타운), a Korean drama from 2011.

Extremely short synopsis: This is an ensemble comedy about live-in maids at a well-to-do cul-de-sac, their obnoxious bosses, and one housemaid who wins big at the lottery and has to keep it a secret from everyone she knows. Interesting enough premise, and not really a bad show at all overall, but it lost a bit of steam as it went along. These things happen.

I think this show wasn't as successful as it could have been for two reasons:

Number one, bad title-itis. You'd expect a show called Romance Town to be oozing with sassy love triangles or something, yeah? Well the only really strong romance at play is that between people and their money. So in other words, it's really a show about friendship, loyalty, and greed. Which is maybe more interesting than sassy love triangles and birth secrets or whatever, but a bit disconcerting when you go in expecting something else.
Reason number two: Identity crisis. This show tried to be a lot of different things—what's that saying? "Jack of all trades, master of none?" I don't want to give major spoilers, so all I'll say is figure out what your message is and stick with it, show.

Romance Town is one of those shows that survives mainly on the merits of its cast (who are HILARIOUS, by the way.) The plot... I've forgotten many of the finer points now. But do you know what I do remember? Some of the songs that were featured repeatedly on the show. Weird how that works. Here, I've placed a few I found on YouTube after the jump for your listening enjoyment.

By the way: If you want to watch this series, you can find the whole thing streaming on DramaFever.

Tunes Tuesday: Akdong Musician - 200%

2014-05-07T16:12:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been pretty negligent in updating this blog. That's what happens when you have 800 other projects, I guess. Anyway, who wants to hear a song?

Akdong Musician - 200%

So far as I can tell this song is a bit of a hit at the moment - this Korean brother/sister duo has fresh, youthful charm that's downright INFECTIOUS. Like sunshine herpes. This is probably me just being weird, but I also like the strange mashup of English and Korean in the chorus:

"It must be L-O-V-E,
이백 percent sure of that,
I want you, really I mean really,
[random vocal filler?]
정말이야 널
좋아하는데
빨갛게 익은 내 얼굴이 그걸 증명해."

So cute I DIED.

Tunes Tuesday: Joey Scarbury - Believe it or Not

2014-04-15T16:11:00.000-04:00

Hey, I actually managed to post one of these on a Tuesday! Rejoice, pitiful humans! Here's the song of the day:

Joey Scarbury - Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)

I was browsing around Hulu the other day when I noticed that they had added some episodes of The Greatest American Hero - not sure when that happened, but happened it did. Unfortunately the episodes in their catalog start after the pilot, will probably confuse the shit out of anyone who has never seen this cheesetastic hunk of TV cheddar before, though I guess it's a nice thing to have for all the nostalgia nuts out there. But whether or not you've seen the show, you can just listen to this song over and over again and imagine you're "walking on air". Oh yeah, baby.

Now, chances are that if you're under the age of 40, you've probably heard the theme song from this show a bunch of times—it is frequently referenced in popular culture, after all—but never actually seen the show. Do you need to see the show to enjoy the song? No. Do you need to see the show at all? Only if you like really, really ridiculous things. Which I do. But that's another story.

Here's another interesting factoid for you: According to Wikipedia, this song peaked at #2 during on the Billboard chats during August 15–22, 1981. Which song beat it out for the top spot? Endless Love, as performed by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. Why is that significant? It was the theme song for an incredibly ridiculous movie. Another case of the song being more memorable than the film or television production it was attached to.

But anyway, yeah, I think too much about this shit. Happy Tuesday.

Tunes Tuesday (not): B1A4 - 비원에이포 (Baby Good Night)

2014-04-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

I swear, one of these days I'll start making these posts on an actual Tuesday. Maybe I should rename it to Tunes Thursday? Except it's technically Friday now. Shit. Anyway, here's the song of the day:

B1A4 - 비원에이포 (Baby Good Night)

This may come as a surprise given the name of this blog, but I don't really know that much about K-pop. My vague awareness of K-pop comes from watching Korean TV shows, and the whole reason I started watching those in the first place was because I was trying to learn Korean (good luck with that).

Recently I've been putting old episodes of Inkigayo on in the background as I do work to sort of "catch up" on the genre, as it were. A lot of the songs I end up sort of tuning out, but occasionally one or two make my ears perk up. This is one of them! I'm sure the fanatic screams of girls in the audience also helped to get my attention. While I don't find myself wanting to throw my panties at 20-year-old boy band members, I do think this song is cute, catchy and fun. A perfect pick-me-up during an otherwise stressful day. Thanks for the ear candy, B1A4.

PS If you want to see the Inkigayo performance I was talking about, go here and fast forward to 45:25.

Tuesday Tunes (not): Love X Stereo - Fly Over

2014-03-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

At first I had intended to do a regular "Music Mondays" thing because posting music videos on a regular basis seems like a cool thing to do. Then I decided it should be "Tuesday Tunes" just for the sake of variety. But then I got real busy and now it's Thursday. Oops? Anyway, here's a cool music video for you to enjoy:

Love X Stereo - Fly Over

Here's a little background for folks who aren't sure whether or not they want to click on this: Click on it. It's awesome. Love X Stereo is a Korean band, but this song is in English. It has a 90s-retro electropoppy-type feel to it and is catchy as hell, plus the video is equally awesome. Like a toy chest opened up and vomited colors all over your face. WATCH IT NOW. I especially enjoy the surreal bit with the brooms that starts at about 2:18. My boyfriend said it was "really, really weird". You be the judge.

Welcome to your not-quite-daily dose of brain candy

2014-03-24T16:07:00.000-04:00

Well hello there.

This is my first-ever post in this space so perhaps I should introduce myself, eh? My real name begins with an R, but since reality can be kind of "meh" you may call me Doctor J. Some of you may know me better as a a different type blogger, some of you may know me for other stuff, and most of you probably don't know me at all (yet). But here I am! Ooh, mysterious.

Frankly speaking, I started this site because I enjoy thinking about entertaining things and don't really have an outlet to express my feelings about them. Not that my boyfriend doesn't like hearing me rant about my ideas for Snow Dogs 2: Snowmagaddon.

You can expect to see me rant about movies and television series' of all stripes, with a special emphasis on Korean dramas because they're really filling that soap opera-shaped hole in my life right now. I have a feeling I'll end up posting about music as well, and possibly other forms of media (books, theater, impromptu puppet shows etc.) because that's just how I roll. So basically, you can expect Doctor Jin, Medicine Woman to become your one-stop shopping experience for all sorts of entertainment rants. Or not.

Since this is the third blog I'm running at present I can't guarantee any specific posting schedule at this time, but there's gonna be some stuff. Ohhhh yeah. You can bet on it.

Once again welcome, and if you've got something to say feel free to leave a comment or get in touch!

XOXO
Doctor Jin, Medicine Woman

Confusion - Testing 1, 2, 3

2013-12-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

This is a placeholder as I get stuff set up. Hi!