Do you know of those times when you just get a bushel full of new music, some that are so good, it is filling your heart with this indescribable feeling of love and bliss and peace and happiness and you just want to jump around your bed in your underwear, shaking your hair around and singing out loud, off-key to it?

The lyrics are--literally--music to your ears and the beat bumps to the beat of your inner rhythm and there's this innate urge to go out in the cold California night and shout from a rooftop, "I LOVE THIS SONG!"

Train - "Hey, Soul Sister"

I want to pick this song up and fling it into the wind like dandelions, spreading its message of joy to the world.

And that song that when it comes on, you're already halfway to murmuring a "whoa" and shrugging off your sweater. Where the room suddenly just got hotter and darker. And you wonder where that cute boy you were talking to earlier in the day is up to...

John Legend - "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)"

I want to (obviously) make love to this song.

I have so much more. Paramore's "The Only Exception" nostalgically reminds me of special someones in my life. The Jonas Brothers' "Much Better" gets better every time I listen to it though I must say I am wary when driving through North Hollywood with it blasting from my car's open windows.

Oh- and Glee. Lea Michele's voice stops my heart and melts it like butter. Her crisp vocals can make you soar.

Try her out. You know you want to.

Music Makes Me Lose Control

Music is one of the hardest things to put into words. It differs so much from ear to ear and means so many different things from heart to heart, how can any regular muggle translate a tune for the rest of the world?

I certainly can't. But that didn't stop me from trying.

In the April09 issue of KoreAm, I became the resident music connoisseur and gave a little rundown of cool Korean American artists rocking out.

I did what any soldier had to do for their line of duty. I rocked out to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, sighed wistfully as Maggie Kim crooned to me about love, and chuckled at foul-mouthed Steve Lee's indignation to Kim Jong Il.

When it came time to actually share what my thoughts on the songs, I pretty much racked my brains for all the descriptive adjectives I could find. (And there is a lot to look through, I'm prone to store up these things.) Then, I just inserted them into sentences like I was playing a round of Ad Libs.

Just kidding. I take my job very seriously.

Why don't you see if you agree or disagree with my opinions? Read over the reviews, check out the good works yourself, then tell me what you think. If anything, I highly recommend singing sisters Meg & Dia and this is not just because they gave me a free album.

As I said, I take my job very seriously.

Our Song

This is not a love story.

This is about me being in love with a movie named, "500 Days of Summer."

I'm not ashamed to say that I am kind of a romantic. That's right. You heard me, I am a total whispy daydream-about-Prince Charming, longing-for-happy endings, hopelessly-optimistic, fan-of-grand-gestures marshmallow trapped inside this 5 ft. 7 wall of sarcasm and self-deprecating humor.

Take a look at my favorite movies; Amelie, A Walk to Remember.

Take a look at my favorite books; The Time Traveler's Wife, Eat Pray Love.

Someone should just hit me over the head with a reality stick and say, "hey you! Wake up! Never gonna happen to you!"

So it could be kind of surprising- or maybe not- that I like 500 Days so so much. So much that I want to bake it chocolate chip cookies, leave it adorable post-it notes, plant a radio over my shoulder and wait for it to come out of its bedroom.

True, 500 Days is a whimsical little doozy; all classic 50's-styled costumes and comforting, Pushing Daisies -esque narrator voice and cute hero and quirky heroine but it's also a very raw and realistic portrayal of a romantic relationship between a boy and a girl. It captures so much of the misunderstandings, the awkward stares, the uncertain feelings, the ways your mind can alter details obstruct facts. There is no happy ending in the traditional sense. The story wasn't even told in the traditional sense-what with spontaneous dance sequences and music video-like screen shots.

Speaking of music, the movie's soundtrack was awesome and it (along with reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower just the week before) introduced me to The Smiths. (what - I'm a late angster, okay?)

In an LA Times article, the co-writer, Scott Neustadter had this to say about the film's musical choices:

"We always felt that every relationship has a soundtrack," said Scott Neustadter, who co-wrote the film with Michael H. Weber. "Music plays a role in any kind of relationship, and it would not have been as real-feeling if we didn't acknowledge that."

Seriously. As someone who can't listen to Jason Mraz's The Remedy without smiling, Mika's Happy Ending without frowning and Taylor Swift's...any of her songs, actually-without flaring up, I totally get that. Each tune flashes back a particular time in my life, a certain connection (or dis-connect) I made with someone else, the type of person I was at the moment.

Right now, the sad ballads in my "relationship soundtrack" has overtaken the happy, warm-fuzzy tunes. But I'm certain that when time comes, He'll bring about that one song that will outshine all the other. That'll be the song I'm keeping on repeat. (And as my sister can attest, I hate repeating songs)

And you can bet that whoever makes it into my relationship soundtrack in the future has best gots to like 500 Days.

Harvest Crusades

The Angel Stadium is a gigantic outdoor amphitheater.
Last Friday, it was filled to the max with people. But instead of a usual baseball game, the event was the 20th annual Harvest Crusades. An epic Christian evangelical 3-day event celebrating the One and Only!
Interspersed with fabulous bands and musical acts, pastor Greg Laurie also presented the gospel to over 126,000 believer and non-believers.
I attended with the fabulous Miss Wong and CFBC's biblestudy group, enjoying a great night of listening to an amazing man preach the gospel, some rockin' music and watching soooo many people get up off their seats and onto the field, declaring their love for Jesus. I had goosebumps the entire time.
The event had some really great musical acts, which got me thinking that a lot of my favorite musicians also happened to have started off as (or still remain) Christian bands! Below are my top 5.

5) Relient K
Pros: catchy songs, witty lyrics, pretty boy looks
Cons: overplayed (on my playlist), sound can get mumble jumbled with other bands
Fav. songs: Sadie Hawkins Dance, My Girl's Ex-Boyfriend, Pressing On

4) Switchfoot
Pros: been around for awhile, distinct sound, created my favorite song ever.
Cons: overplayed, sometimes all their songs sound the same.
Fav. songs: It forever and always will be SOMEDAY WE'LL KNOW (ft. Mandy Moore)

3) One Republic
Pros: hecka pretty sound.
Cons: None that I can see as of right now.
Fav. songs: Apologize, Stop and Stare

2) The Fray
Pros: deep, sorrowful stuff that totally speaks to those in the midst of tragedy
Cons: kinda depressing
Fav. songs: How to Save a Life, Over My Head, Heaven Forbid

1) Sixpence None the Richer
Pros: lead singer Leigh Nash (literally) has the voice of an angel.
Cons: None!
Fav. songs: Kiss Me, My Idea of Heaven, I Need to be Next to You

Oh -- and Katy Perry as well! (You know she was a former Christian artist?) But... I think she belongs in a category all her own.

The Curious Case of Gwen Stefani's Abs

There are a few concerts that I need to watch in my lifetime:

1. Justin Timberlake: Need to get my "Sexyback."
2. Janet Jackson: Homegirl can dance.
3. Black Eyed Peas: Cross that off the list. Thanks CeCe Jie. :)
4. No Doubt. <<<<

This is the Cricket Wireless Ampitheatre. A few Coyotes and I headed down south to Chula Vista, San Diego after scoring some amazing $20.00 to see Gwen Stefani & Co. yell, "Hey Baby," to us.
Yea, yea. No Doubt rocked. They played all the awesome oldies. They had an awesome stage. They looked great. But in all honesty, Gwen's abs stole the show.
Want a closer look?
We were mesmerized. We were entranced. We were captivated. How can you be 39-year old, have two kids and look like that?

My personal theory is that she's an alien robot.

Anyway, after the show, we decided to try our own No Doubt moves.
And jam to our own No Doubt beat.
Next step: cloning Stefani's abs.

EPIK HIGH

Timeliness. Something I should think to work on.

No excuses that this blog has been neglected for the past couple of weeks (month?) but it's "time" (excuse the pun) to catch up! I recently made a new fan by the name of Eve and I can't disappoint! Let's bring it!

So I get all these cool perks working for KoreAm, right? One of them came out of nowhere. Epik High, Korea's biggest hip hop stars, rambled through the U.S. for a tour, alongside cool cats, FM and Kero One and MYK.

I must admit, I had no idea who they were before I got the assignment to go and interview them at their red carpet. So imagine my surprise when my friend Freckles and I drove into the Sunset's House of Blues parking lot and faced this...

This is just the tip of the iceberg, kids! Lemme tell ya, the lines stretched all the way around the block! It was ridonkulous! Some of the fans we interviewed said they had been waiting since 7AM to get good seats to the House and were quite miffed that people in the roped off section seen in the pix above bought HOB merchandises to cut the line.

HOB merchandises are the least of Epik High fans' worries. These baby ballas got chauffeured to this concert in their parents' Mercedez's or BMW's. Why not drive themselves? Probably because they're not even old enough to get their licenses yet!

So Freckles and I had a lot of time to kill because we got there early and the red carpet started late. What do two Asian girls, with some time, a nice camera and an empty red carpet equal to?

PIC-TURE TIME~!!

Just when we were starting to feel at home on the other side of the red carpet, the main attractions came.

Awesome hip hoppers Far East Movement first touched down in Cali-town. I really admire these guys. I've loved their music for years now and say what you will about "Girls on the Dance Floor" (which, BTW, sounds nothing like their other stuff) it's dang catchy!

And Epik High! I've never heard their music before this but it's really good! It's poppy, playful and decent even though I have no idea what they're saying. I went crazy asking them questions because everybody else on the red carpet seemed all shy. But then one other reporter started turning on her Korean and for awhile, they spoke only in Korean. I was like..."NO! Language has failed me!" and I couldn't let her dominate the questions so I asked a final question, which was something like, "how do you guys feel about your fans?"

The ensuing conversation resulted in a "high"larious end quote which I want to tell you now, but will save for when I link to you my article. =)

Thanks Freckles for a fabulous evening! Your photog skills are amazing and I miss you oodles.

*Edit: Article published! Awhile back but you know you want to read it anyway. BTW: Epik High music is really really good. I have no idea what they are rapping/singing about but I can't stop listening to it regardless. Get it!

Sing-A-Long

Spring Sing is my favorite UCLA event of all time.  I remember the first time I went, I was blown away by the exceptional talents, from the singing acts who wrote all their own songs and played all their own music, to the dancing hip hop teams, to the unbeatable company. Company is a group of students who act as the hosts of the talent show and provide entertainment in between sets and competition.  

When I attended my first Spring Sing my second year, company was the sh*t. 

They were hilarious, crazy and undeniably talented.  I left the concert talking about them for days and watching the Youtube videos over and over again.  I attended my second Spring Sing solely for the purpose of watching them and them alone.  They fared well but were less funny. (And no, that's not because I auditioned for them but didn't make the team, ok?!) This year, I was determined to make the team but alas, the stars didn't align for me and I failed to audition. I settled for sitting in the sidelines and enjoying the show...

And boy did I enjoy it, we got to enjoy this year's Spring Sing in the comfort of the warm and roomier Pauley Pavilion. Never seen anyone dribble balls here, might as well watch people strum some guitars instead.
Julie Andrews received the annual George & Ira Gershwin Award! I do love me some Mary Poppins.  I love her grace, wit and beautiful voice but mostly, I love the story of how she was the original My Fair Lady in the Broadway production of the story. However, when it came time to cast for the movie, Hollywood chose Audrey Hepburn for having a more classic and elegant look. But when Oscar time came, Andrews got the justice she deserved by winning over Hepburn for her role in Mary Poppins. Who's classy and elegant now, huh?  Good choice, SAA!

That's Julie, for those of you who can't see.  Yea, I know we had nosebleed seats but we had fun so it was all good.

Company was much better this year. Not as mind-blowing as my first Spring Sing but the jokes were wittier and much more intelligent. It wasn't as laugh out loud humor but more of a chuckle to self. I enjoyed it.  Here is my favorite skit of the night; the trailer for Rain: H2O...NO.

Here is the winner of the best skit of the night; the IPHONE/Jai Ho song and dance routine, created by none other than fellow LCCer and dear friend, Shane Billings! Congrats, Shane, you talented schmuck, you!

I couldn't help but wonder where Shane could have gotten his award-winning skit idea from...hmmmm.....

LCC does JaiHo

looks just a tad familiar, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, congrats to all my talented friends who performed throughout the evening; Evelyn, Jarrell, Shane, Christine and more! I am proud to know you. =)

Pretty

A mish-mash of two beautiful songs in constant rotation on my playlist.  Ahh...it must be nice to have talent.