iamkoream

New 2NE1 Video ‘Try To Follow Me’: A Circus of Clothes!

David.Yi — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:27:15 +0000

For the 2NE1 fans who have been waiting countless months for the group’s next video to debut, here it finally is! Having debuted the song about a month ago in a Samsung Corby commercial, the new song is saturated with auto-tune infused voices stuffed with synthesizers and electronic beats in the background. Call it a ‘Fire’ pt II if you will, the new joint is indeed catchy, but is nothing new or trendsetting–I’ll even dare to say the song and video is too ’safe.’ But in true 2NE1 style, it’s cutesy without being too nauseous, and fierce without being too affected. And let’s not forget the ridiculous amount of outfits! From Minzy’s signature bold razor-sharp peaked shouldered jackets, to Dara in Darth Vader-inspired hip hop gear, to CL suspiciously sporting Lady Gaga-like wear not only once or twice–thrice!–to splashes of blaxploitation notes in-between this is definitely an epically sartorial video indeed!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click to see the crazy clothes!

Like a ringleader–she calls the shots!

The video begins with CL in an Arab printed jacket, a large black velvet/fur hat and a spiky metallic mic. Too scared that she may clunk you on your dome piece if you don’t try to follow her lead? Us too!

Just Like A Circus:

Have you seen the latest Gaga video, Telephone? Who hasn’t! Looks like CL got just a little bit of help from that campy video, with her colorful vest and matching telephone cord with matching doll heads. Circus freak show indeed!

Poke her face:

Gaga look parte dos? With sparkling jewels attached to CL’s face we aren’t mad at her for donning a Gaga-esque look. Because frankly, Gaga just looked like a hot pimply mess–and who knew her teeth were so buttery yellow?

Fly like an eagle, er, zebra:

We know for a fact that Minzy’s stylist hates her. Time and time again the girl just never seems to get any of her outfits right. Point in case: in the video she sports a black cross shirt with a zebra printed bold shouldered jacket with neon green seems. Just, no! Please help the girl out, YG, we do not condone such Courtney Love-like behavior!

Cat out of the bag:

Loving how seamless both Dara and CL look in this feline-inspired shot. With CL in a leopard track suit and Dara sporting some real catty hair (and even possibly a little Alexander McQueen-inspired!) the two are looking pawfect!

Bang-bang bangs!

Only a hot curler could get that major of bangs. Along with two pistols, Dara is giving some serious homage to blaxploitation. BAADASSSSS indeed!

Star war:

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Dara may be the cutest in the group, but egregiously the most out of place and YG knows this, dressing her up head-to-toe in hip hop getups from videos to stages. ‘Try To Follow Me’ is no exception. Mixing a fitted Darth Vader cap with a large intergalactic gun, Dara is sure having her own star war with fellow members, CL and Minzy. Girl sho’ is spaceship-gangsta!

Seeing double:

If you don’t have your own style, why not cop another’s? With this military/Michael Jackson-inspired look, the Minzy is taking some serious cues from the likes of Beyonce and Rihanna with their own Balmain military coats. Bravo!

A deathstrike:

Our girl CL is looking so mutant-like in this Japanese samurai-inspired look that she looks as if she copped it right out of the pages of X-Men. What, she did? Lady Deathstrike is that you??

Amazonian:

With their shimmying and sashaying the girls don floral-printed outfits for their tribal dance toward the end of the video. The girls look absolutely primal and beautiful. Too bad that girl Bom still can’t dance to save her life!

Let’s Go Party (in the church!):

Okay, we knew that the girls took some cues from black America (see above), but these Easter church going get-ups are only cute if you’re joining the other ajummas for a Sunday service!

The Right Stuff:

Finally, the video concludes with the girls in their signature 90s-inspired outfits. Harem pants? Check! Polka dot leggings? Double-check! Neon colors? You get the drift.

What do you think of the video, fellow K-pop lovers? Hot video/clothes or not?

Coffin Academy on Nightline

Michelle — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:43:49 +0000

Remember Coffin Academy, the self-help retreat in South Korea that lets you simulate your own death to be born into a new life? Nightline reporter Clarissa Ward went through the controversial seminar, which has participants write their wills, imagine saying goodbye to their loved ones and then lay inside a closed casket for a looooong five minutes. In theory, they’ll emerge from their coffins feeling renewed.

What struck me the most in this segment was the “funeral,” where the “dying” spoke about their life regrets. “I’m sorry I that couldn’t get a better job.” “I always told you I would do well and make something of my life but I was never a doer …” So much focus on material success. When it’s my time to go, I hope my life will be defined by much more than my career.

Would you ever attend Coffin Academy?

Watch the segment here:

South Koreans enroll at Coffin Academy

SFIAAFF Ticket Giveaway!

Liz — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:14:37 +0000

Hey Bay Area peeps! What are you doing on Sunday 3/14? I got tickets for you to go see Like You Know It All at the San Francisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival!

A synopsis of the film from the SFIAAFF website:

In the world of film director Ku Gyun-nam, the “hero” of Hong Sang-soo’s latest dissection of the modern-day man-boy, misery doesn’t just love company: it spreads it around like rats with the black plague. “Famous in East Asia,” the arthouse filmmaker Ku (Kim Tae-woo) still finds it hard to maintain respect. When he goes to a film festival (the real-life Jecheon International Music and Film Festival) as a judge, Ku drinks and fibs his way through several awkward encounters with various erratic, volatile characters, including the festival’s quick-tongued hospitality coordinator, who’s more hostile than hospitable.

Throughout, we find Ku is the kind of person who is instinctively unhappy at a friend’s success, covets other people’s wives, and is willing to say anything for a little attention. Later, he heads south to Jeju Island, where rather than learn from any mistakes, he blithely repeats them. When Ku reunites with an old (now married) lover, complications of the heart are paired with far more primitive (and drunken) impulses, and Ku begins to burn bridges with unprecedented efficiency. With his quick and deliberate pans and zooms, Hong’s camera seems to have a curiosity of its own, providing the viewer an alternative perspective to the triviality of human foibles. As is expected from the master of awkward, Hong meticulously knits a tapestry of uncomfortable human interactions, central to it the evolution (or lack thereof) of the thinking, drinking man.

This one should be a good one among the many that’s featured. Maybe I’ll see you there?

Just comment below and we’ll send you the tickets! While supplies last.

School of Rock

KoreAm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:54:13 +0000

Three, Shirley Choi’s line of backpacks and messenger bags for kids and kids-at-heart, was created “for the inner rocker in every young woman.” The collection features hand-stitched detailing and too-cool-for-school embellishment, all at very child-friendly prices. Get 30 percent off and a free gift with purchase at www.threeusa.com. Use code THREE30 by June 30. (“Sleek” messenger bag, $29.99)

Slowing Down in Samjicheon

KoreAm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:48:07 +0000

Tired of life in the fast lane? Escape to this “slow city” in Damyang for a taste of traditional Korea.

Story and photographs by Bill Stephens

If you spend a week in Seoul, it’s easy to see why the national branding slogan “Dynamic Korea” has replaced the “Land of Morning Calm.”

But travel three hours by train and then 30 minutes by bus and taxi to Samjicheon Village in the Damyang region, and you’ll experience perhaps what was meant by the more traditional designation. Rice fields and traditional hanok-style homes provide a bucolic setting for this area on the southwestern tip of the peninsula that has long inspired poets.
Samjicheon is an official “slow city,” a designation made by an organization based in Italy, where the Cittaslow movement started in 1999. The movement encourages nations around the world to preserve the cultural legacies of small towns and promote slower lifestyles, discouraging technology in favor of tradition.

Samjicheon, located in South Jeolla province, was the first city in Asia to gain such status in 2007. Since then, four other towns in Korea have also been named slow cities. Only 111 cities worldwide share this distinction.

During a recent visit to the town, my fiancée and I, longtime residents of Los Angeles, could instantly understand the charm of such places. After lunching at a local restaurant known for its rice soup, we began wandering the walled lanes of Samjicheon—population 500—where the traditional hanok-style houses have sloped roofs and central courtyards. At one guest house, we found owner Kim Young Bun washing sheets in the courtyard. She and her husband moved here 10 years ago because he loves the hanok-style house, she said.

Kim also said the area is attracting more tourists. Many enjoy the monthly “snail market,” where they can buy produce from local gardens, learn to make traditional rice cakes and even go for an ox cart ride. Samjicheon is also known for local delicacies like rice-based taffies, which are made by melting rice syrup over a wood fire, and hangwa sweets made from rice, beans and sesame.

For Professor Werner Sasse, beyond such delectable attractions, the town offered a quiet place to study and paint after he retired a few years ago. Sasse used to teach Korean studies in his native Germany, so he knows more about Damyang’s history than perhaps the average South Korean. “Because Jeolla was historically outside Korea’s main political action, the Jeolla personality is more free and easygoing,” the scholar noted, referring to the overall character of this region in the south. In the 15th century, he explained, exiled scholars in Damyang invented Gasa poetry, which celebrates the country scholar’s life. To this day, there is an active community of artists and poets who live in the area.

But make no mistake: this is an agricultural region. Typical scenes on a Sunday morning: a man tending his strawberries inside a greenhouse while listening to Korean radio ballads, and a farming couple raking rice on the roadside. More than 50 percent of Damyang County residents, who number roughly 50,000, farm for a living.

Even Samjicheon residents like Hwang Jung Hee, who may not be a commercial farmer, grows her own food. She was digging potatoes in front of her home when we met her. After some small talk, she invited us inside, serving us sweet potatoes and homemade mul kimchi. The 79-year-old told us all of her children, except for one who lives with her, moved to the “fast city,” Seoul, but she won’t budge.

“I like living in a small town,” Hwang said. “The pace is slow. The water is good. All the neighbors know each other.” The friendly woman offered us a spare bedroom for free if we ever needed a place to stay.

In the afternoon, we ventured just outside the slow city, through graceful bamboo groves for which the Damyang region is famous, but even more relaxing was a nearby riverside park where we joined other strollers and eventually reached a street lined with majestic 20-foot Metasequoia trees.

This last anecdote may help communicate the genuine charm of the area. When my fiancée and I returned to our minbak in Samjicheon to check out and pay our bill, the owner Mr. Guk was gone. We called him on his cell phone. “Just leave the money in your room, and I’ll get it later,” he told us without a hint of concern in his voice, and wished us happy travels back to Seoul.