Who doesn't love cheap coffee?

I know this is a bit old, but I dare say that this song's play count is slowly creeping up to my iPod's Top 25. I love that it's random-chirpy-and-pensive-in-a-bottle (for lack of a more sophisticated term), and that for once, I don't have to listen to someone whine sing about love, love, or... yeah, love, in the overtly-obvious-my-tears-are-falling-like-the-rain-on-a-wet-summer-day-sense, at least.

장기하와 얼굴들 - 싸구려 커피



Particularly fun are the lyrics, which I wouldn't have been able to comprehend without the help of Arirang Radio's translation (below).

싸구려 커피를 마신다
I drink cheap coffee.
미지근해 적잖이 속이 쓰려온다
It’s lukewarm and makes my stomach hurt.
눅눅한 비닐장판에 발바닥이 쩍하고 달라붙었다 떨어진다
My feet stick to the soggy electric heating pad beneath me.

이제는 아무렇지 않어
Now I don’t feel anything.
바퀴벌레 한마리쯤 쓱 지나가도
Even if a cockroach crosses in front of me,
무거운 내일 아침엔 다만 그저 약간의 기침이 멈출 생각을 않는다
Tomorrow morning I don’t even flinch.
축축한 이불을 갠다
I fold my damp blankets.
삐걱대는 문을 열고 밖에 나가 본다
I open my creaky door and go outside.
아직 덜 갠 하늘이 너무 가까워
The overcast sky seems so close.
숨쉬기가 쉽지를 않다
It’s not easy to breathe.
수만번 본 것만 같다
I think I’ve seen this millions of times.
어지러워 쓰러질 정도로~ 익숙하기만 하다
I’m so used to this it makes me dizzy to the point of fainting.
남은 것도 없이 텅빈 나를 잠근다
With nothing left, I lock myself away from the world.

뭐 한 몇 년간 세숫대야에 고여 있는 물
The water that’s been trapped in my sink for years
마냥 그냥 완전히 썩어가지고
Has almost completely gone bad.
이거는 뭐 감각이 없어
But I am completely desensitized to this.

비가 내리면 처마 밑에서 쭈그리고 앉아서
When it rains, I crouch under the eaves,
멍하니 그냥 가만히 보다 보면은
And just stare off into space,
이거는 뭔가 아니다 싶어
And I feel like something’s wrong

비가 그쳐도 희끄므레죽죽한
Even when it stops raining,
저게 하늘이라고 하기에는 뭔가 너무 낮게
I feel like the overcast sky is too low to be called the sky.
머리카락에 거의 닿게 조금만 뛰어도
Even if I jump just a little to the point where it grazes my hair,
정수리를 쿵 하고 찧을 거 같은데
I feel like I can almost touch the sky with the top of my head…
벽장 속 제습제는 벌써 꽉 차 있으나마나
The humidifier in my closet is all full…
모기 때려잡다 번진 피가 묻은 거울을 볼 때마다
And every time I see the mirror with the smeared blood of the mosquito I squashed…
어우! 약간 놀라
Oh! I get surprised…

제 멋대로 구부러진 칫솔 갖다
Even if I take the toothbrush that I bent myself
이빨을 닦다 보면은 잇몸에 피가 나게 닦아도
And brush my teeth until my gums bleed,
당최 치석은 빠져 나올 줄을 몰라
The tartar on my teeth never goes away.

언제 땄는지도 모르는 미지근한 콜라가 담긴 캔을 입에 가져다 한 모금
I take the soda can that I opened God-knows-when and take a gulp of it…
아뿔사 담배 꽁초가
Oh! A cigarette butt…

이제는 장판이 난지 내가 장판인지도 몰라
Now I don’t know if I’m the electric heating pad or if the electric heating pad is me…
해가 뜨기도 전에 지는 이런 상황은 뭔가
Why does the sun set even before the sun rises?

Gee Gee Gee!

When I heard this song (SNSD's "Gee") for the first time, all I could do was cringe... I have to admit though, it's since grown on me, and dare I say that I've actually come to enjoy it? o_O haha, in certain doses of course. Anyway, this remix version was pretty cool...!



Original:

I want nobody but YOU

One of my favorite YouTubers, singindork888, did a nice cover of the Wondergirls' Nobody... ^^

What A Catch, Donnie

Loving this song...


I've got troubled thoughts and the self esteem to match
What a catch, what a catch
And all I can think of is the way I'm the one who charmed
The one who gave up on you
Who gave up on you

ㅠㅠ

Jake Shimabukuro in MA

It's hot here. The muggy, sticky grossness that's called a Korean summer. I have the feeling that native Koreans are a lot better at handling the heat than I am... Anyway, I can't sleep, and need to be up in 5 hours, so why not blog? Lately, I've been on quite a roll. ^^ This one's for the Boston-ers. I was listening to one of my favorite videos tonight...



...which got me thinking, "Where's Jake touring this year?" You lucky Bostonians get the chance to see him not once, not twice, but three times - Northampton on 8/1, Cambridge on 8/2, and/or Newport on 8/3... will someone go so I can live vicariously? ^^

PS Thank you to MC for the Stove Top (plus Easy Mac, Craisins, Cheetos, Orville popcorn, Nature Valley granola bars, and Quaker Oatmeal! ^^)



And Malesa & Tim for the JIF!

Happy 4th

...of July!

H e l p

Been catching up on Imogen Heap vLogs, browsing old Darren vids, playing Temposhark podcasts, listening to Kerplunk on repeat, checking out new stuff on iTunes every now and then, rummaging through old Hotel Cafe clips...

I NEED MUSIC!

You know, stuff more like this... ^^



And less like this... >_<



Help.

Help.

H

E

L

P

!

Thank goodness for YouTube.

This post goes out to my big sis, who always (whether knowingly or not) let me "borrow" her cassettes (Whoa! Those are like extinct now, no?) and CDs and got me listening to stuff that usually wasn't crap. Except for that one Beastie Boys album. I never really got why you bought that.

Songs I was too young to completely understand at the time but loved and will always cherish. ; )

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit


REM - Stand


B-52's - Roam


Green Day - Christie Road

I'd buy a copy

Originals from my fave amateur YouTubers... when will YouTube start a label? ; )

"Almost" - Jennifer Chung

"That Girl" - David Choi

"Does He Know" - Urban Germany

Can't get you out of my head

In case you haven't seen it yet...

Who - Five O'Clock Heroes feat. Agyness Deyn

Temposhark's Blame - Official Music Video ^____^

The boys of Temposhark are ready to take over the world. Official music video!



Behind the scenes version.



Remember that it's important to support bands by BUYING the music, esp when they run their own labels! ^^

That having been said - you can get Blame for free this week at Walmart!

Live from Seoul...

I've been a little musically deprived as of late... missing out on tons of amazing spring concerts... especially THIS one. (Pleeeease go show your support for Temposhark in my US absence! ^^)

But recently, I've been fortunate enough to have a few run-ins with some live performances. Haha, okay, so I didn't get tickets to Jason Mraz or Harry Connick Jr. nor did I see Celine Dion or any K-Pop bands, but I DID get to see this random guy jam at Namsan Tower...

He's good at what he does... but the view definitely made it better. ^^

Here's what it looks like from outside.

Light show...

Upon first glance, I thought this was a real person attempting to be David Blaine-like. ^^;;

We also checked out Nanta, which in the US, is known as Cookin', or more descriptively (in my opinion), "Benihana meets Stomp with a little Blue Man sprinkled in here and there." If you're pressed for time and have to choose between being late or leaving early, definitely opt for the former! (For pure theatrical effect, half the men rip off their shirts in the last 5 minutes of the show, as they fiercely pound on water soaked drums while female members of the audience shyly grin and sink into their seats... not to forget the hundreds of colorful playpen balls that get shot out into the audience prior to this spectacle.) Incorporation of audience participation also makes it fun, but in that 42nd Street kind of way (when you'd rather see something with a bit more substance or edge like Cabaret.) 

Of course, I saved the best for last - my friend's awesome classical guitar concert! ^^ I caught bits on video but unfortunately the sound didn't catch so well on the camera. Here's a little preview...

Very cool.

Magic markers, American chains, and a reason to go to Boston

While I was coloring in the lines like an eager camp-bound 5th grader last night, I decided to show off my handiwork to a few slackers some of my wonderful buddies who gladly pushed off very important Wednesday morning office work JUST FOR ME. ^^ My four man sample size suggests general US sentiment may begin with "fob shock" but will gradually soften into cute, happy thoughts. Results are not statistically significant so I welcome any additional feedback.

Front.

Back.

It spells...

We came in 4th place, out of 20 teams. ^^ It wasn't a t-shirt design contest.

But it might have something to do with this.

Right... what you really want to see... food! I'm afraid it may be a little... familiar.

When they first mentioned grabbing a quick bite at a good sandwich place nearby... I didn't realize they were referring to Quiznos and it was too late to change my mind. ^^

I've officially visited Outback Steakhouse more times in Korea (twice) than in the States... come to think of it, have I ever been to one in the US? We went here b/c it's apparently a good place to study... meaning they don't kick you out after 3 1/2 hours of loitering. ^^ The pasta wasn't bad either.

And who knew that you could get your bread served with chocolate?! Y'all better try that in the US sometime. And if the waiter gives you a funny look, just say, "They do it in Korea!" Apparently, the bread is pretty popular here, and they'll happily package it up for you (with some butter) to go. Come to think of it, it really tastes like the stuff at The Cheesecake Factory.

Saved the best for last. It may not look all that appetizing, but this was my first time eating samgyetang (삼계탕), and it was pretty darn fun. It's like knocking open a pinata (in this case, a whole chicken) to find lots of little goodies (rice, chestnuts, garlic, dates, ginseng) stored inside.

Anyway, for you Bostonians, check out this NYT article - Frank Bruni has O Ya listed as a top 10 (non NY, non previously reviewed) restaurant, in the company of Guy Savoy. Now, according to Boston.com, O Ya has the power to make you cry, moan, and hold future booty callers to higher standards of satisfaction and imagination. So what are you waiting for?!

You lucky, lucky Americans!

This post has nothing to do with Korea.

Bit of an insomniac tonight.

Should prep for my four exams this week.

But the music's got to me.

I realize that some of my faves will be out and about very soon.

You lucky, lucky Americans!

If you haven't gotten your tickets to the Hotel Cafe Tour yet...

Whatchya waiting whatchya waiting whatchya waiting for?

And who's going to Coachella?

Or SXSW?

Or the Kokua Festival?

부럽다.

On a related note... how cool is THIS? ^____^

Temposhark were the Guardian's new band of the day this past Monday - love this write up!

• "Imagine if Kate Bush had shagged Marc Almond and spawned a monster that grew up listening to Violator."
• "And they look like such nice boys, like Busted dressed as Nine Inch Nails."
• "This is music from the dark backroom of Studio 54 in 1982 where Prince, Cameo, Wham! and New Order are frotting each other into a lather over the very idea of Fischerspooner coming along in 20 years' time."
• "Nevermind the swearing and dirty beats, they're a cuteboy take on pounding industro-electronica; McFly meets the Mode. McMode, basically."

I miss you Rob, Luke, Mark, and Mathis! <3

In dire need of something live and non bubble-gum very soon,

C