Just started listening to them, even though they've been out for 18 months.
[MV] Would You Stay For Tea? - Hello Venus
[MV] What Are You Doing Today? - Hello Venus
[MV] Venus - Hello Venus
Hmm, only 5 members in the older video and now there are six. This just makes it harder to recognize anyone.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Wa$$up
[MV] Wa$$up - Wa$$up
I'm not really into the wannabe K-hip/hop genre since it seems too Americanized. There are even a bunch of white guys in the video. Did they shoot this in LA? All their MVs are similar if anonymous reader wants to search YouTube.
Current Favorite Girl Group
Apink. Most of the members don't sing that well, with the exception of Eunji. There was also some scandal where their management kicked out a group member after using her father's money and connections to build the group. Whatever.
[MV] Mr. Chu - Apink
[MV] NoNoNo - Apink
[Perf] MyMy + NoNoNo - Apink [Sketchbook]
Wow, those are enthusiastic uncle fans in the audience.
[MV] Mr. Chu - Apink
[MV] NoNoNo - Apink
[Perf] MyMy + NoNoNo - Apink [Sketchbook]
Wow, those are enthusiastic uncle fans in the audience.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
New KARA
So Jin
Just found out that Nicole and Jiyoung are leaving KARA. Instead of sticking with just 3 members, DSP is adding a new girl.
==========
Another one:
Shi Yoon
==========
Ugh, there a whole bunch of them. DSP is turning this into a reality TV show to find new replacements. Not sure if I have the patience for this, since there are so many girl groups now.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Driving Under Intravenous
ChinaHush
Dangerous driving? He was getting "energy in the form of a drip" which is what, like drinking a Red Bull? I'm pretty sure it's just a glucose solution. Do they have laws against driving with an intravenous drip in your hand?
Also, the story mentioned that "motorists who travel while attached to a drip are apparently four times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who drive drunk." Four times! Do they have actual statistics or is CCTV reporting BS again? How many intravenous accidents would you need to determine a statistic like that?
Police pulled over a Jiangsu man for driving while attached to an intravenous drip on April 30, according to CCTV news.
Gang Fang was apparently traveling on a highway in Jiangsu province—located in east China—with a bag of fluid sticking from his sunroof, and a tube leading to his arm that Wednesday afternoon.
Gang told police that earlier that day he visited a hospital due to stress. Doctors told him to lie down, and take time off work, but the 38-year-old complained he didn’t have time. Attendants then gave him energy in the form of a drip, but the businessman still didn’t have time to wait in the hospital—he snuck over to his car, placed the bag on a stand behind his front seat, and poked the fluid from his sunroof.
Police then pulled him over for dangerous driving.
“I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong,” a witness overheard him say.
Gang now faces a driving ban, and a summons for dangerous driving. Motorists who travel while attached to a drip are apparently four times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who drive drunk, according to CCTV News.
“This is incredibly dangerous,” a police spokesperson said. “Not only was he taking medicines that could have affected his driving directly into a vein, he was unable to steer properly because he would have ripped the tube out.”
Dangerous driving? He was getting "energy in the form of a drip" which is what, like drinking a Red Bull? I'm pretty sure it's just a glucose solution. Do they have laws against driving with an intravenous drip in your hand?
Also, the story mentioned that "motorists who travel while attached to a drip are apparently four times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who drive drunk." Four times! Do they have actual statistics or is CCTV reporting BS again? How many intravenous accidents would you need to determine a statistic like that?
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Pageviews+++
I told 2 other people about this blog... now I feel pressured to write more useless stuff.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Break Away - Cover
Break Away was originally performed by a group called Big Mama. Here is SPICA's cover:
Break Away - SPICA
Wow. All 5 girls are pretty and can really sing, even the rapper has a good singing voice. After seeing Girl's Day and Sistar live at LA K-pop Festival, my bucket list of girl groups is shorter but still includes SPICA. I've seen the following in concert, mostly at KMF.
- Girls' Generation
- KARA
- Wonder Girls
- Brown Eyed Girls
- Girl's Day
- Sistar
and of course, Baek Ji Young and Lena Park.
Break Away - SPICA
Wow. All 5 girls are pretty and can really sing, even the rapper has a good singing voice. After seeing Girl's Day and Sistar live at LA K-pop Festival, my bucket list of girl groups is shorter but still includes SPICA. I've seen the following in concert, mostly at KMF.
- Girls' Generation
- KARA
- Wonder Girls
- Brown Eyed Girls
- Girl's Day
- Sistar
and of course, Baek Ji Young and Lena Park.
Kawaii Metal
Strange yet somehow addicting...
Gimme Chocolate!! - BABYMETAL
Two of the girls are only 14 years old. They're gonna be deaf by the time they turn 20.
Gimme Chocolate!! - BABYMETAL
Two of the girls are only 14 years old. They're gonna be deaf by the time they turn 20.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
LA K-pop Festival - Photos & Videos
My Korean coworker was generous enough to give me her tickets that she got online so I did go to the concert Saturday night. I asked a few people to go but ended taking my mom with me, which turned out well.
The tickets I got were in section 18 row 77, which is way in the back corner of the Coliseum. Luckily, I texted an old church friend, who happened to be Lena Park's sister, and she told me she had 2 extra tickets up close so I met up with her and her in-laws before the concert. My mom ended up talking to her mother-in-law during our many waits in line.
LA Memorial Coliseum. This is where USC Trojans play football hence the colors.
When I found my friend, she was talking to her sister through a fence near the east end of the Coliseum. This is where they set up a red carpet and also the "backstage" area for performers. I was happy just to see a real pop star up close. There were lots of people crowding the fence and cheering when they thought they saw someone famous. Since Lena was in casual clothes, I don't think anyone recognized her. After waiting a bit, Lena's manager took us inside the VIP area.
I'm just passing through.
I wasn't sure where we were going but it was exciting! The manager led us to Lena's dressing "tent" and we stayed for about 5 minutes; it was mostly family time for her since my friend brought her kids. As we were leaving, my friend finally introduced me to Lena. I didn't feel it was appropriate to ask for a photo but I did get to shake hands and say a few words. :)
We then had to leave the VIP area and line up... first for the ladies' room, then a huge line to get inside the stadium. My friend got busted for their stroller (had to check it in) but we managed to get to our seats at around 7pm. The concert was supposed to start at 6:30pm but got delayed until 7:30pm, probably due to the incredibly lame parking ($25!) and traffic control. This was about 20 minutes before the concert:
There was a lot of talking before the actual concert, even the president/CEO of KBS showed up from Korea. Lena sang the US national anthem, and one of the 2PM guys sang the Korean anthem. They should have had Lena sing that as well, since the guy was not that good.
They kicked off with some weird Vegas showgirls intro then had all the groups come on stage. I only had my Sony RX-100 so the pictures aren't that great (max 3.6x zoom). The rest of the photos are from Koreaboo's Flickr feed. I also shot some blurry videos and uploaded them to YouTube.
Girl's Day. Finally got to see them live. They don't come out to the US too often. They sang their newer songs; I was actually hoping they would perform some of their older stuff, especially Don't Forget Me.
Something - Girl's Day
Expectation - Girl's Day
Dynamic Duo. I've heard of them but not their music/rap.
Baek Ji Young. Saw her at Hollywood Bowl several years ago. I really like her voice and songs even though I can't understand a word. Taecyeon from 2PM also came up on stage and they performed My Ear's Candy.
Don't Forget (IRIS OST) - Baek Ji Young
My Ear's Candy - Baek Ji Young + Taecyeon
I'm a little fuzzy on the performer order after this point. I think an old guy came up followed by this girl who sang very traditional songs (sounded like old Chinese/Japanese songs). Coworker told me today that she is only 16 years old.
I think at this point Girl's Day came up again...
... and soon followed by Sistar. Woohoo! I missed them at KMF 3 years ago since I was traveling in China. My Korean coworker wasn't familiar with them(!) and asked if they were the group that dressed kinda slutty. :)
Give It To Me - Sistar
Alone - Sistar. They also performed Loving U. I decided to relax and watch instead of shooting another shaky video.
Kim Tae Woo. He came up earlier to sing Love Rain and Hotel California. I've seen him twice at Hollywood Bowl before.
Lena Park. Third time I've seen her in concert as well. She sang two songs in Korean then collaborated with Kim Tae Woo on an English song.
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Lena Park + Kim Tae Woo
At this point, it was after 9pm, cold, and only a few boy bands left. I'v seen SHINee and 2PM before so my mom and I left to beat the inevitable crazy traffic. I think my friend was going to meet her sister again after the concert but I didn't want to intrude on family time any further. I do have some minor nitpick about ridiculous parking and lame audio/video production, but overall it was pretty good due to the awesome artist lineup... definitely much better than any of the 3 KMFs I've been to and this concert was free.
The tickets I got were in section 18 row 77, which is way in the back corner of the Coliseum. Luckily, I texted an old church friend, who happened to be Lena Park's sister, and she told me she had 2 extra tickets up close so I met up with her and her in-laws before the concert. My mom ended up talking to her mother-in-law during our many waits in line.
LA Memorial Coliseum. This is where USC Trojans play football hence the colors.
When I found my friend, she was talking to her sister through a fence near the east end of the Coliseum. This is where they set up a red carpet and also the "backstage" area for performers. I was happy just to see a real pop star up close. There were lots of people crowding the fence and cheering when they thought they saw someone famous. Since Lena was in casual clothes, I don't think anyone recognized her. After waiting a bit, Lena's manager took us inside the VIP area.
I'm just passing through.
I wasn't sure where we were going but it was exciting! The manager led us to Lena's dressing "tent" and we stayed for about 5 minutes; it was mostly family time for her since my friend brought her kids. As we were leaving, my friend finally introduced me to Lena. I didn't feel it was appropriate to ask for a photo but I did get to shake hands and say a few words. :)
We then had to leave the VIP area and line up... first for the ladies' room, then a huge line to get inside the stadium. My friend got busted for their stroller (had to check it in) but we managed to get to our seats at around 7pm. The concert was supposed to start at 6:30pm but got delayed until 7:30pm, probably due to the incredibly lame parking ($25!) and traffic control. This was about 20 minutes before the concert:
There was a lot of talking before the actual concert, even the president/CEO of KBS showed up from Korea. Lena sang the US national anthem, and one of the 2PM guys sang the Korean anthem. They should have had Lena sing that as well, since the guy was not that good.
They kicked off with some weird Vegas showgirls intro then had all the groups come on stage. I only had my Sony RX-100 so the pictures aren't that great (max 3.6x zoom). The rest of the photos are from Koreaboo's Flickr feed. I also shot some blurry videos and uploaded them to YouTube.
Girl's Day. Finally got to see them live. They don't come out to the US too often. They sang their newer songs; I was actually hoping they would perform some of their older stuff, especially Don't Forget Me.
Something - Girl's Day
Expectation - Girl's Day
Dynamic Duo. I've heard of them but not their music/rap.
Baek Ji Young. Saw her at Hollywood Bowl several years ago. I really like her voice and songs even though I can't understand a word. Taecyeon from 2PM also came up on stage and they performed My Ear's Candy.
Don't Forget (IRIS OST) - Baek Ji Young
My Ear's Candy - Baek Ji Young + Taecyeon
I'm a little fuzzy on the performer order after this point. I think an old guy came up followed by this girl who sang very traditional songs (sounded like old Chinese/Japanese songs). Coworker told me today that she is only 16 years old.
I think at this point Girl's Day came up again...
... and soon followed by Sistar. Woohoo! I missed them at KMF 3 years ago since I was traveling in China. My Korean coworker wasn't familiar with them(!) and asked if they were the group that dressed kinda slutty. :)
Give It To Me - Sistar
Alone - Sistar. They also performed Loving U. I decided to relax and watch instead of shooting another shaky video.
Kim Tae Woo. He came up earlier to sing Love Rain and Hotel California. I've seen him twice at Hollywood Bowl before.
Lena Park. Third time I've seen her in concert as well. She sang two songs in Korean then collaborated with Kim Tae Woo on an English song.
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Lena Park + Kim Tae Woo
At this point, it was after 9pm, cold, and only a few boy bands left. I'v seen SHINee and 2PM before so my mom and I left to beat the inevitable crazy traffic. I think my friend was going to meet her sister again after the concert but I didn't want to intrude on family time any further. I do have some minor nitpick about ridiculous parking and lame audio/video production, but overall it was pretty good due to the awesome artist lineup... definitely much better than any of the 3 KMFs I've been to and this concert was free.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
77 Cents Myth
Ugh, can we work on real problems, please?
WSJ Opinion
I've worked at 3 large companies (14,000 employees, 11,000 employees, and now ~3,600 employees) and have been very involved in recruiting and hiring. There is not one case of gender wage discrimination that I'm aware of in the ~20 years. It makes no sense... I want to hire the best candidate possible for as little money as possible, male or female. We also worry about every basis point of margin. I'd hire all women as well if I can get a huge margin bump.
WSJ Opinion
April 8 is "Equal Pay Day," an annual event to raise awareness regarding the so-called gender wage gap. As President Obama said in the State of the Union address, women "still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns," a claim echoed by the National Committee on Pay Equity, the American Association of University Women and other progressive groups.
The 23% gap implies that women work an extra 68 days to earn the same pay as a man. Mr. Obama advocates allowing women to sue for wage discrimination, with employers bearing the burden of proving they did not discriminate. But the numbers bandied about to make the claim of widespread discrimination are fundamentally misleading and economically illogical.
...
These gender-disparity claims are also economically illogical. If women were paid 77 cents on the dollar, a profit-oriented firm could dramatically cut labor costs by replacing male employees with females. Progressives assume that businesses nickel-and-dime suppliers, customers, consultants, anyone with whom they come into contact—yet ignore a great opportunity to reduce wages costs by 23%. They don't ignore the opportunity because it doesn't exist. Women are not in fact paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men.
I've worked at 3 large companies (14,000 employees, 11,000 employees, and now ~3,600 employees) and have been very involved in recruiting and hiring. There is not one case of gender wage discrimination that I'm aware of in the ~20 years. It makes no sense... I want to hire the best candidate possible for as little money as possible, male or female. We also worry about every basis point of margin. I'd hire all women as well if I can get a huge margin bump.
Star Trails
First attempt at shooting star trails. Used the zoom lens and shot a 567 second exposure at 18mm and f/22. Since I'm in the city, I was expecting a lot of light pollution.
The resulting image was very dark so I had to use Picasa to change lighting/contrast to see anything. I made sure I was pointing north and you can kind of see Polaris as a single dot (no trail) between the power lines. There's also a few noisy pixels and a lot of shadows, which means I need to clean the lens.
I read online that a lot of the star trail photos, especially ones with really long trails, are composite images. Since my camera takes almost the same amount of time as the exposure time to process each image, not sure how I can shoot multiple shots without long gaps between each shot. Probably a camera body with a faster image processor.
The resulting image was very dark so I had to use Picasa to change lighting/contrast to see anything. I made sure I was pointing north and you can kind of see Polaris as a single dot (no trail) between the power lines. There's also a few noisy pixels and a lot of shadows, which means I need to clean the lens.
I read online that a lot of the star trail photos, especially ones with really long trails, are composite images. Since my camera takes almost the same amount of time as the exposure time to process each image, not sure how I can shoot multiple shots without long gaps between each shot. Probably a camera body with a faster image processor.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
CCTV on YouTube?!
Yup.
I found out about it from Twitter.
Funny how both sites are blocked in China by the Great FireWall.
I found out about it from Twitter.
Funny how both sites are blocked in China by the Great FireWall.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Illegal Church Building
The Telegraph
How is this possible? The church building is massive. Did the city officials not notice this huge $5 million building for the past six year?!
More likely scenarios:
1. City officials decided church did not pay enough construction bribes
2. Church did not want to pay "tax" or percentage of offering to city officials
3. Someone from church criticized the provincial party chief's mistress or something
How are they going to knock the building down anyway? Bulldozers probably won't work...
In an episode that underlines the fierce and long-standing friction between China's officially atheist Communist Party and its rapidly growing Christian congregation, Bible-carrying believers this week flocked to the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou hoping to protect it from the bulldozers.
Their 24-hour guard began earlier this week when a demolition notice was plastered onto the newly-constructed church which worshippers say cost around 30 million yuan (£2.91 million) and almost six years to build.
Officials claimed the church had been built illegally and used red paint to daub the words: "Demolish" and "Illegal construction" onto its towering facade.
How is this possible? The church building is massive. Did the city officials not notice this huge $5 million building for the past six year?!
More likely scenarios:
1. City officials decided church did not pay enough construction bribes
2. Church did not want to pay "tax" or percentage of offering to city officials
3. Someone from church criticized the provincial party chief's mistress or something
How are they going to knock the building down anyway? Bulldozers probably won't work...
Sunday, April 6, 2014
K-pop Girl Group, Chinese Style
LOL WUT?
I saw this from an article from chinaSMACK. Cute(-ish) girls in skimpy clothing? Check. Weird dance choreography? Check. Repetitive yet nausea-inducing music and lyrics? Check. Except for theKonglishChinglish, this is just like a K-pop girl group MV.
好乐Day - Wang Rong (王蓉)
Way too much English in the lyrics. Seems like they inserted English words and phrases at random. One of the cS comments said 外国人听不懂，中国大妈听不明白，这是只属于我们这代的语言，Chinglish (Foreigners can't understand this, Chinese aunties can't comprehend this, this is our generation's language: Chinglish). I doubt many young Chinese people can understand this either.
The quality lyrics remind me of another song:
Friday - Rebecca Black
I listen to a lot of K-pop without understanding any of the lyrics. I cringe when listening to either of the above songs since I can understand English and Chinese (most of the time). Is this true for Koreans when they listen to or watch MVs from Orange Caramel or Crayon Pop?
까탈레나 (Catallena) - Orange Caramel
I saw this from an article from chinaSMACK. Cute(-ish) girls in skimpy clothing? Check. Weird dance choreography? Check. Repetitive yet nausea-inducing music and lyrics? Check. Except for the
好乐Day - Wang Rong (王蓉)
Way too much English in the lyrics. Seems like they inserted English words and phrases at random. One of the cS comments said 外国人听不懂，中国大妈听不明白，这是只属于我们这代的语言，Chinglish (Foreigners can't understand this, Chinese aunties can't comprehend this, this is our generation's language: Chinglish). I doubt many young Chinese people can understand this either.
The quality lyrics remind me of another song:
Friday - Rebecca Black
I listen to a lot of K-pop without understanding any of the lyrics. I cringe when listening to either of the above songs since I can understand English and Chinese (most of the time). Is this true for Koreans when they listen to or watch MVs from Orange Caramel or Crayon Pop?
까탈레나 (Catallena) - Orange Caramel
"New" Guitar
Ever since they dropped my old Ovation/Celebrity guitar at church and broke it in half, I'm down to only one guitar. I was thinking of getting a Taylor Baby/Big Baby/Mini GS but they're a bit expensive for non-solid body guitars. I mentioned this to a coworker and it turns out she has two old guitars that she wants to get rid of. She brought them into work on Friday and they both turned out to be beginner guitars:
Yamaha F325
The other one is a Fender Starcaster acoustic-electric with a Fishman CE301 pickup. I couldn't find any info listed on the Fender website but the guitar label said it was made in China... I'm leery about anything made in China. I stole the pic from an eBay listing.
The Yamaha (made in Indonesia) feels marginally better than the Fender so I will probably buy it from the coworker. I've already ordered some D'addario strings for it so the sound should improve. It does not have a pickup but I don't plan on using it on stage anyway.
Yamaha F325
The other one is a Fender Starcaster acoustic-electric with a Fishman CE301 pickup. I couldn't find any info listed on the Fender website but the guitar label said it was made in China... I'm leery about anything made in China. I stole the pic from an eBay listing.
The Yamaha (made in Indonesia) feels marginally better than the Fender so I will probably buy it from the coworker. I've already ordered some D'addario strings for it so the sound should improve. It does not have a pickup but I don't plan on using it on stage anyway.
Posting History
I received an email notice that someone left a comment on a blogpost from 2010 about CX885. I ended up reading all my posts about that 2 week Asia trip. Good thing I have this blog; I've forgotten most of the stuff I wrote.
On the right side of the blog page, there is an Archive section that shows number of posts by period:
► 2014 (8)
► 2013 (32)
► 2012 (211)
► 2011 (233)
► 2010 (417)
► 2009 (336)
► 2008 (349)
► 2007 (205)
► 2006 (159)
► 2005 (94)
Good thing I'm not paid per post or something since output has dropped significantly since 2012. I think after I stopped traveling to Asia and started new job (not much time to post if you're working 12 hours per day), my life has been about the same for the past two years... boring. I've given upon commenting about China since it's all repetitive and depressing, and most of my other posts have gone to my K-pop Tumblr or Facebook.
8 post for 3 months is pretty sad though...
On the right side of the blog page, there is an Archive section that shows number of posts by period:
► 2014 (8)
► 2013 (32)
► 2012 (211)
► 2011 (233)
► 2010 (417)
► 2009 (336)
► 2008 (349)
► 2007 (205)
► 2006 (159)
► 2005 (94)
Good thing I'm not paid per post or something since output has dropped significantly since 2012. I think after I stopped traveling to Asia and started new job (not much time to post if you're working 12 hours per day), my life has been about the same for the past two years... boring. I've given upon commenting about China since it's all repetitive and depressing, and most of my other posts have gone to my K-pop Tumblr or Facebook.
8 post for 3 months is pretty sad though...
No Korean Concerts
I went online at 10am last Saturday trying to get LA K-pop Festival Tickets. After 50 minutes and 3 browsers later... nothing. Of course, now there are hundreds of listings on eBay for tickets, some as much as $350/pair. So much for free tickets. I was unsure about going even if I scored tickets; seeing K-pop concerts in large venues suck. Several years ago, there were still K-pop concerts at small venues. Sure, tickets were somewhat expensive but that keeps out all the screaming teenage fans.
In addition, KMF this year looks pretty lame too if you're a girls group fan. Only Dal-Shabet and Crayon Pop so far. Not sure how a "free" concert can have better performers than an expensive concert at Hollywood Bowl. I guess no live concerts for me... I'll watch the LA K-pop Festival streaming live on YouTube.
In addition, KMF this year looks pretty lame too if you're a girls group fan. Only Dal-Shabet and Crayon Pop so far. Not sure how a "free" concert can have better performers than an expensive concert at Hollywood Bowl. I guess no live concerts for me... I'll watch the LA K-pop Festival streaming live on YouTube.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
LA K-pop Festival
Forget KMF... this is the better concert and it's free.
Did I mention that it was free?! Tickets available on Ticketmaster at 10am this Saturday (3/29/2014).
Wow... Sistar, Girl's Day, and Lena Park (plus lots more).
Give It To Me - Sistar
Something - Girl's Day
Did I mention that it was free?! Tickets available on Ticketmaster at 10am this Saturday (3/29/2014).
Wow... Sistar, Girl's Day, and Lena Park (plus lots more).
Give It To Me - Sistar
Something - Girl's Day
Friday, February 21, 2014
KMF 2014
-
- Dal*Shabet
- Crayon Pop
Still not enough for me to go. Waiting for either Sistar, Spica, or AOA.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Kindle Owners' Lending Library Small Print
I'm disappointed in Amazon. I signed up for Amazon Prime a few months ago and just recently started using the lending library. On its website, Amazon breathlessly touts that fact that "With Amazon Prime, Kindle owners can choose from more than 500,000 books to borrow for free with no due dates, including over 100 current and former New York Times best sellers and all 7 Harry Potter books." Cool.
Or not. After I returned the first book, I tried to "borrow" another title and I was told "Monthly limit reached." WTF? Nowhere on the webpage did it say there was a limit. You have to scroll to the bottom of the page, click on the "Questions?" link, then scroll down some more before you see "You can borrow one book from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library each calendar month. You can deliver the book to other Kindle devices registered to your Amazon account." It's more likesmallnonexistent print as it's not even on the same webpage. That's really really lame.
Without the lending library benefit, I probably would have still paid for Prime. Typical eBooks are not that expensive and we should support good authors. Luckily, I had access to an old 2nd generation Kindle so I didn't have to buy a new one. I'd be super pissed if I bought a Kindle just for "borrowing" books. I guess I forgot that no matter what a company says (Don't Be Evil!), it's all a marketing ploy to make more money. Silly me... Amazon isn't here to lend you books; they want you to buy a Kindle and pay them $80/year for Prime.
Of course, I wasn't the only one that was irked. There were many complaints online about the same issue. What surprised me was the amount of rude and nasty replies, essentially calling the poster and idiot for not reading every Amazon policy webpage. It wasn't even on the same page! I knew there are many Apple fanboys that "defend" Apple on all sorts of Internet forums; I guess it's the same for Amazon.
Or not. After I returned the first book, I tried to "borrow" another title and I was told "Monthly limit reached." WTF? Nowhere on the webpage did it say there was a limit. You have to scroll to the bottom of the page, click on the "Questions?" link, then scroll down some more before you see "You can borrow one book from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library each calendar month. You can deliver the book to other Kindle devices registered to your Amazon account." It's more like
Without the lending library benefit, I probably would have still paid for Prime. Typical eBooks are not that expensive and we should support good authors. Luckily, I had access to an old 2nd generation Kindle so I didn't have to buy a new one. I'd be super pissed if I bought a Kindle just for "borrowing" books. I guess I forgot that no matter what a company says (Don't Be Evil!), it's all a marketing ploy to make more money. Silly me... Amazon isn't here to lend you books; they want you to buy a Kindle and pay them $80/year for Prime.
Of course, I wasn't the only one that was irked. There were many complaints online about the same issue. What surprised me was the amount of rude and nasty replies, essentially calling the poster and idiot for not reading every Amazon policy webpage. It wasn't even on the same page! I knew there are many Apple fanboys that "defend" Apple on all sorts of Internet forums; I guess it's the same for Amazon.
Friday, February 7, 2014
New SPICA Single/MV
You Don't Love Me - SPICA
2014 KMF tickets just went on sale and as usual, there is no word on artists. Hopefully, one of my new favorite girl groups will show.
Province of China
This is from the settings page of the QuizUp app. I wonder if they got a lot of complaints from Taiwanese people because the text changed during the last update.
Hopefully this won't prompt a bunch of mainlanders complaining about how Taiwan is a province of China, blah, blah, blah.
I've also wondered about this before. Why does the average mainlander give a shit whether Taiwan is independent or not. It doesn't make any difference in their lives. Is it a case of misery loves company? Or are they trying to impress the Internet censors so they get brownie points with the party? Disgusting either way.
Before/After
Hopefully this won't prompt a bunch of mainlanders complaining about how Taiwan is a province of China, blah, blah, blah.
I've also wondered about this before. Why does the average mainlander give a shit whether Taiwan is independent or not. It doesn't make any difference in their lives. Is it a case of misery loves company? Or are they trying to impress the Internet censors so they get brownie points with the party? Disgusting either way.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Where Can I Steal Some Books?
So I'm taking an online class through edX. The course is CS50x, an online version of CS50 (Computer Science) at Harvard University. I'm only on week 3 (started with week 0) and so far it's been good. There is a lot of resources online through videos and social media.
Of course, the class has a Facebook page. I found this earlier:
I mean, sure, no one wants to buy a book if you can just download it online, but one shouldn't broadcast it to the world. The comments to the post are also hilarious:
JO: Pls send to my e-mail xxxxx@gmail.com The files I got are corrupt. Also how do we know the exact author David wants us to read from?
JH: so this torrent is like a zipped file and the uTorrent is like WinZip?
DK: Just google it. Did you try that? And as for the extract author, is that a joke?
JO: Different authors can write different books with the same name especially in the IT world
DK: He gives the exact titles, editions, with the exact authors in the syllabus.
JH: so its like a compressed file...and the uTorrent is the tool used to decompress it?
I don't want to judge, sigh... but the original poster is from Nigeria. Also, reading his profile, it says he has a BS degree in Computer Science in 2012. Really?! Aren't you supposed to learn C or several languages? Also, it appears he didn't even read the syllabus.
Perhaps what is acceptable in public discourse is different nowadays.
Of course, the class has a Facebook page. I found this earlier:
I mean, sure, no one wants to buy a book if you can just download it online, but one shouldn't broadcast it to the world. The comments to the post are also hilarious:
JO: Pls send to my e-mail xxxxx@gmail.com The files I got are corrupt. Also how do we know the exact author David wants us to read from?
JH: so this torrent is like a zipped file and the uTorrent is like WinZip?
DK: Just google it. Did you try that? And as for the extract author, is that a joke?
JO: Different authors can write different books with the same name especially in the IT world
DK: He gives the exact titles, editions, with the exact authors in the syllabus.
JH: so its like a compressed file...and the uTorrent is the tool used to decompress it?
I don't want to judge, sigh... but the original poster is from Nigeria. Also, reading his profile, it says he has a BS degree in Computer Science in 2012. Really?! Aren't you supposed to learn C or several languages? Also, it appears he didn't even read the syllabus.
Perhaps what is acceptable in public discourse is different nowadays.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
흔들려 (Confused)
New music video from AOA (Ace of Angels or something).
Even better... close up eye contact dance version.
Even better... close up eye contact dance version.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Korean Engrish
Ugh, I hate it when people spend lot of money on producing something with typos or horrible English. I see this in China a lot... if you're going to print expensive full-color ads, why not spend a couple more dollars/RMB to check the English? There's got to be lots of underemployed American laowais in China.
This is screen-cap from the Bad Girls MV by Lee Hyori. She recently formed a entertainment company (b2m) to produce her own album and also manage K-pop artists like SPICA.
There are lots of mistakes but the worst is the alphabet:
A B C D E F G H I G K L M L O P Q R S T U V W X _ _
I'm sure I'll find a bunch of errors if I checked the math...
This is screen-cap from the Bad Girls MV by Lee Hyori. She recently formed a entertainment company (b2m) to produce her own album and also manage K-pop artists like SPICA.
There are lots of mistakes but the worst is the alphabet:
A B C D E F G H I G K L M L O P Q R S T U V W X _ _
I'm sure I'll find a bunch of errors if I checked the math...
Monday, September 2, 2013
Tonight - SPICA
Lots of new songs by K-pop girl bands with all caps names. Do Koreans not understand English proper noun capitalization rules?
Tonight - SPICA
Tonight - SPICA
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Damaged Lady -KARA
New KARA album! I'm posting this because Mr. A has shown some interest in Hara...
Damaged Lady - KARA
Damaged Lady - KARA
Hate You - LADIES' CODE
Hate You - LADIES' CODE
Cute girls, good vocals, but the music video is freaky. I hate dolls.
==========
I know everyone wants to be thin, but some of these K-pop girls are borderline anorexic. At 1:16 in the video, the blond girl (Sojung?) has super skinny arms.
只想知道这个姑娘是谁
Looking through my Weibo account today, I saw this post with the above photo attached. I'm 99% positive that it's Kang Minkyung (강민경/姜敏京), one of the two members of Davichi (다비치), a K-pop duo.
The post itself had nothing to do (I think) with the photo; maybe the poster is using it to attract views. One of the comments asked "只想知道这个姑娘是谁" or "just wanted to know who is the girl" so I made my first Weibo reply: 姜敏京. Funny, I never thought I would be schooling Chinese people about K-pop, especially on Weibo.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Former nationality(ies)
A tweet led me to a blogpost about a new Chinese (PRC) visa application (V.2013). I haven't applied for a Chinese visa for several years and was surprised to see it is now 4 pages (PDF).
One the first page, question 1.7 asks you to fill in your 曾有国籍 or former nationality(ies). I guess if I had to fill out this form now, I would write Canada in the box, but not sure how to continue. Do I write Taiwan? China? Republic of China?! Question 1.8 then asks for your 出生地点(市、省/州、国) place of birth (city, province/state, country). Again, do I put "Taipei, Taiwan, China" or go for broke and put Republic of China for country?
For my dad, this becomes even more confusing. He was born in Chengdu, China in 1941. Since the People's Republic of China didn't exist until 1941, it was definitely 中華民國 or Republic of China. He has a passport issued by Taiwan but nothing from PRC. I'm pretty certain if either of us put Taiwan or Republic of China for country or nationality, our visa application will be rejected.
BTW, if you google "Republic of China" you will get the on the results page:
It clearly states the Taiwan is a country, a "state in East Asia", and the "first constitutional republic in Asia." Heh, Google in going to stay on China's shit-list for a long long time.
One the first page, question 1.7 asks you to fill in your 曾有国籍 or former nationality(ies). I guess if I had to fill out this form now, I would write Canada in the box, but not sure how to continue. Do I write Taiwan? China? Republic of China?! Question 1.8 then asks for your 出生地点(市、省/州、国) place of birth (city, province/state, country). Again, do I put "Taipei, Taiwan, China" or go for broke and put Republic of China for country?
For my dad, this becomes even more confusing. He was born in Chengdu, China in 1941. Since the People's Republic of China didn't exist until 1941, it was definitely 中華民國 or Republic of China. He has a passport issued by Taiwan but nothing from PRC. I'm pretty certain if either of us put Taiwan or Republic of China for country or nationality, our visa application will be rejected.
BTW, if you google "Republic of China" you will get the on the results page:
It clearly states the Taiwan is a country, a "state in East Asia", and the "first constitutional republic in Asia." Heh, Google in going to stay on China's shit-list for a long long time.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
JWA Parking
I parked my car at the off-site lot at John Wayne Airport for ~5 days and the total cost was $70 ($14/day). A taxi ride from my house in Orange to the airport would have been about $36 each way so it was a wash. Unlike at LAX, there are not that many options for off-site parking so it's fairly expensive.
The only bonus was the lot is directly below the landing flight path. I caught a Southwest flight coming in for a landing while walking to my car.
The only bonus was the lot is directly below the landing flight path. I caught a Southwest flight coming in for a landing while walking to my car.
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Over this past weekend, I visited my sister in Portland. Part of the trip was spending a few nights in Newport and we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Cleaning shrimps. I've bought quite a few of these when I had a salt-water fish tank.
Obligatory jellyfish shot. The tank was quite small; nothing compared to the huge tank at the aquarium in Monterey.
Not sure if the fish was resting or dead.
On our way out, I saw a small group of Japanese tourists. The group was mainly teenagers plus a few adult chaperones. Interestingly, most of the kids were wearing Converse All Stars. I didn't know they were "in" in Japan.
We got to the aquarium early so the lines weren't too bad. By the time we left around noon, there was a huge line to buy tickets (quite expensive at $19 for adults). I guess there's not much else to do in Newport.
Cleaning shrimps. I've bought quite a few of these when I had a salt-water fish tank.
Obligatory jellyfish shot. The tank was quite small; nothing compared to the huge tank at the aquarium in Monterey.
Not sure if the fish was resting or dead.
On our way out, I saw a small group of Japanese tourists. The group was mainly teenagers plus a few adult chaperones. Interestingly, most of the kids were wearing Converse All Stars. I didn't know they were "in" in Japan.
We got to the aquarium early so the lines weren't too bad. By the time we left around noon, there was a huge line to buy tickets (quite expensive at $19 for adults). I guess there's not much else to do in Newport.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Go Wong Wei
So I was at Imperial Hill taking some photos today and saw a Singapore Airlines A380 pull out of a gate at TBIT and head towards the north runway. Out of nowhere, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 turned into the same jetway, blocking the A380. All sorts of funny Asian names popped up in my head but I'm not posting any of it, because that would be racist or something.
The Asiana 777 pulled into a gate so disaster averted.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
ChinaJoy
Speaking of China, I signed up for a Sina Weibo account recently and have been checking it once in awhile to see if it's still there. I posted a few things that may be censor-able but I only have 11 followers so no one seems to care. Anyway, I think Weibo signed me up to follow some random people (Edison Chen?!) and one appeared to be a photographer. Well, it seems all "model" photographers and trade show booth babes are in Shanghai this week for ChinaJoy 2013. I think it's a mobile gaming trade show but it just looks like a lot of T&A and cosplay.
I found this collage on a Weibo feed. Some of the girls are cute but others look weird in a plasticky way. Real question is how many are moonlighting as mistresses for some corrupt CCP government official or business owner.
If Mr. Anon Y. Mous would like more, I can find some better pics.
Working too much
I haven't posted that much this year since work is super busy. It actually takes a lot of time to compose a serious post, though most of my posts aren't really that thoughtful. Also, I think I'm numb to all the crap that happens in China these days so I'm too lazy to repost stuff here. Ya'll can check out chinaSMACK by yourself.
Finally, I've been putting K-pop stuff on Tumblr (68monkeys) so there's really nothing left to post. :)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Nigga
Jeantel explained to Morgan that “the whole world say it’s a racist word” but the version of the word that she testified Martin had used in reference to Zimmerman, spelled “n-i-g-g-a” doesn’t mean what most people think it means. It doesn’t mean a “black male” as Morgan assumed, she said, but rather any kind of man, including “Chinese” for example. Morgan helpfully pointed out that that’s the version rappers use in their music.
Ha ha ha, what a load of crap. So if I went down to South Central, walk up to a group of black males and say, "Whaz up, niggas?" they would reply, "Yo, my Chinese brother!" I think not... they would probably kick the sh*t out of me. And seriously, is Rachel Jeantel our best source for African-American culture?
Also, Piers Morgan is an ass. Does he realy think "nigga" = non-ethnic male because it's in rap music? Am I to believe then "b*tches and ho's" = non-ethnic females since those terms are used in rap music all the time?
The entire interview is stupid.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Farming The Bee
Took only 4 tries using Gaige in Normal mode. I've lost count how many times with Axton in TVHM. Sigh...
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Supermoon
The moon is supposed to be closest to earth this weekend than it has been for many years. I went out and tried to take some photos but ended up going out too late after sunset; the moon was already off the horizon and not too super (size).
I used my Sony a55 with a Tamron 70-300mm zoom lens on manual mode: 300mm, 1/250sec, f/11, ISO 100. I didn't have my tripod and it was hard holding the camera steady at full zoom.
Off topic... but the photography website I look at for ideas on settings had a survey asking how many digital cameras you owned. I came up with 7:
- Sony U20
- Sony L1
- Sony W5
- Panasonic TZ3
- Sony a100 DSLR
- Sony a55 DSLR
- Sony RX100
I used my Sony a55 with a Tamron 70-300mm zoom lens on manual mode: 300mm, 1/250sec, f/11, ISO 100. I didn't have my tripod and it was hard holding the camera steady at full zoom.
Off topic... but the photography website I look at for ideas on settings had a survey asking how many digital cameras you owned. I came up with 7:
- Sony U20
- Sony L1
- Sony W5
- Panasonic TZ3
- Sony a100 DSLR
- Sony a55 DSLR
- Sony RX100
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