01. I Did It For Love (Feat. Sean Garrett)
02. Energetic
03. Did Ya
04. Look Who’s Talking
05. Eat You Up
06. Obsessed
07. Touched
08. Scream
09. Girls On Top
10. Dress Off
11. Hypnotic Dancefloor

So checkout BoA-BoA (Retail) 2009-NiSHiNO for the dirty download.

On September 2, 2008, BoA’s Korean record label, SM Entertainment announced that she will make her American debut under SM’s new subsidiary label SM Entertainment USA. A press conference was held on September 10, 2008 at the Seoul Imperial Palace Hotel, to clarify the details of her American debut, with the slogan “Best of Asia, Bring on America”. SM announced that her debut single, “Eat You Up”, would be released on October 14, 2008 on the internet via iTunes and many other online stores. However the single has been pushed back to October 21, 2008.The single will be released in stores on November 11, 2008; a remix of the song features rapper Flo Rida.

The vapid lyrics start “When I first saw you I knew things weren’t like it used to be / Boy you have got to be the finest thing in history” and don’t get any better. The music video feels a decade old, the incredibly heavy digital processing on her voice ruins the song–I never knew imitation T-Pain effect existed…

According to U.S. removes N. Korea from terror list, the decision is not universally accepted:

Removing North Korea from the list was immediately criticized by some conservatives who said it goes too far and sends a bad signal to other U.S. adversaries, notably Iran. Hill, a lightning rod for conservative criticism on the issue, was noticeably absent at the State Department announcement.

Critics pilloried the development because they said it is not adequate to address its involvement in spreading nuclear weapons technology or its alleged uranium enrichment activities.

“By rewarding North Korea before the regime has carried out its commitments, we are encouraging this regime to continue its illicit nuclear program and violate its pledge to no longer provide nuclear assistance to extremist regimes,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Still remaining in the “axis of evil” are Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, and Syria. The only question is if this classification actually accomplishes any good, besides denying modernization to nations which so desperately need it.

Her personal life was full of scandal and misfortune. A brief timeline might be the best format for presenting the history that led to her impulsive suicide:

• 1968 – Born on December 24
• 1988 – Starred in Joseon Dynasty 500 years (조선왕조 오백년)
• 1994 – Former manager Bae Byeong-su was murdered by her road manager, Jeon Yong-cheol
• 1998 – Met Cho Sung-min, a pitcher for Japanese pro baseball team the Yomiuri Giants, at a TV show
• 2000 – Married Cho Sung-min
• 2002 – Seperated from Cho Sung-min
• 2004 – Divorced Cho Sung-min for adultery, domestic violence, and debts
• 2008 September – Actor Ahn Jae-hwan committed suicide after incurring large debts due to failed business projects
• 2008 September – A rumour is started that Choi Jin-sil lent Ahn $2M; the police arrested a suspect who started the rumour for defamation
• 2008 October – Suicide by hanging

On October 1, the night before her death, Choi had a drink with her manager, and sent a text message with the text:

“take care of my children no matter what happens” and “I’m sorry”

Choi Jin-sil then went home, locked herself in the bathroom, and hung herself by the neck with the shower hose in the bathtub. Her mother reported that Choi was drunk when she returned home. Yang Jae-ho, chief investigator at Seoul’s Seocho Police Station, said “Given the results of an examination showing no trace of physical trauma on her body, we concluded that it was a suicide.”

And so, in a tragic story of perpetual depressive unhappiness, coupled with substance abuse, another bright flame is extinguished.

It has a 4.5/5 rating on Amazon, which bodes well, and my girlfriend swears to heaven it’s the best drama she has ever seen. I was able to get one at a used price of $40, which is also good! It was produced in 2005 / 2006, so it’s fairly new, and assorted ratings around the net put it 90% or higher. Here’s a plot summary from IMDB:

The story concerns a young hotel magnate whose grandfather lingers near death, depressed of having never met his granddaughter, having dismissed her mother from his life years earlier. The manager, unable to locate his long lost sister, instead hires a young con artist who has tried to scam him to act as his sister for the benefit of his grandfather. Romantic and comic entanglements ensue between the two as their plan takes hold all to well. But what will happen when the grandfather makes a miraculous recovery and the two are forced to act as brother and sister, perhaps forever?

It’s worth pointing out that in Korea a girlfriend will call her boyfriend “older brother,” so typical American feelings might not get the joke!

The guy has so many names: Jung Ji-Hoon and 鄭智薰. I didn’t particularly like it, but some might.

Here are the photos from their wedding:

It doesn’t make sense to most people why someone would want to become a girl–Harisu was an average-looking boy before she had surgery–given the life of complications, surgeries, drugs, and emotional trauma it would bring. However, for Harisu and her new husband, I wish them the best of luck!

Residents and fishermen on the east coast are expected to protest strongly against it, citing the possibility of the beach creating an environment unsuitable for local adolescents.

19*19 table seems to be a bit of an overkill, even in the educationally competitive country like Korea. A lot of people think that children are tortured enough with education as it is. Keep in mind, a lot of these kids are 1st and 2nd graders. Plus, memorizing more will just reinforce the notion that math is blind computation rather than concepts to be grasped and applied. The proponents of the new mulitiplication table argue that 19*19 table allows for faster computation and higher levels of confidence among students.

I think faster computation is a perk, but not a necessity. If you pursue math long enough and far enough, faster computation comes with the territory. As for higher levels of confidence, if it helps the students feel better about themselves because they have a slight edge over other students or because they can finish problems faster, then sure, go ahead. But if the 19*19 tables become widely used, which seems to be the trend, then the average speed of computation will settle at a higher level than before and the new tables will just be another tool to edge out people who are not inclined towards memorizing long list of numbers and more interested in solving problems creatively.

Recently though, my parents have been watching some K-drama. Perhaps it’s the lack of entertainment, or rather, headache my sister and I used to provide for my parents since we both left for college. Also, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding a show called “Winter Sonata”. It has been a huge hit in Japan, and maybe that bit of international recognition sparked my parents’ interest. So my dad came home with 5 episodes of “Winter Sonata” on videotape. After playing with our VCR, which hadn’t been used since we got a DVD player, we finally sat down to watch “Winter Sonata”. And I must say, I was utterly disappointed.

Basically the story goes like this. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy gets hit by a car and dies. Few years later, girl is engaged to a childhood friend. But wait, her new client looks just like her first love! And he’s going out with her childhood friend who seems intent on ruining our poor heroine’s life for some odd reason. So far, that’s all I’ve watched, but I can guess the rest.

It wasn’t just that I didn’t like the show. I was starting to get mad and frustrated at the show. I could forgive the overused plot, the stereotypical characterizations and half-decent acting. What I couldn’t get over was the heroine. I know I was supposed to sympathize with her, but I was wanting to smack her. She was wimpy, passive and couldn’t stand up for herself. At least, that’s how I saw her character. The writers of the show probably wanted to portray her as a hardworking, intelligent career woman, but the number of scenes devoted to making her look capable is miniscule compared to the number of scenes that made me want to smack some sense into her. I would have been rooting for the villain had she not been so manipulating. The villain had character traits that I would have liked. Aside from her horrible hair and evil schemes, she seemed independent and actually went after the things she wanted. At any rate, to break the glass ceiling, which I would imagine is lower and thicker in Korea, people like our heroine wouldn’t stand a chance.

The show could have been so much more. The characters could have been more complex than just good and evil. The story could have moved much faster. I could probably get the gist of it from the first 2 episodes and the last 2 episodes.

Keep in mind that I’ve only watched the first 5 out of 20 episodes. My dad claimed that I “didn’t get it” because I had become too much of a banana – yellow outside, white inside. Still, I’m not sure I want to “get it” if it involves not saying what I want to say or having to swallow indignant situations. Especially if “it” involves being a silent, dainty lady who doesn’t seem to mind being stepped on.