Forgive the complete absent from the blog recently (two entries last month, and this is the first one this month!), I’ve been generally “more busy” updating the MUBI (the site formerly known as The Auteurs lol) database than even actually keeping up with news (trailers/music) on YAM Magazine or watching movies and shows. I’ve also been occupied watching Korean shows, which tend to make everyone procrastinate. And it’s not like it was priority-watching, either~ I’ve been watching Solar and Eric Nam’s We Got Married episodes, but my favorite watch and re-watches was Mamamoo x GFRIEND’s Showtime.
I don’t actually stan GFRIEND, and I already have biases. Bless.
Bless, SinB. Bless SinB with Moonbyul, Bless New Crush Star. LOL
So I was browsing album covers on Xiami when I ran into the one for Ivana Wong’s latest single, Goi Sei Dik Faai Lok (該死的快樂, translated to Damn Happy)… which turns out has a brand new video. And I was like- where have you been all my life when I started going down her discography~
Jyu Jat (如一, As One) is great. Siu Sau Seot (小手術, Minor Surgery) is amazing with the Lyrics Video. It’s also helping me practice my Cantonese xD My jyutping game is totally poor. I also hate that sometimes I’m fixing my music library and it’s not Cantonese but Mandarin, so I gotta fix my romanization. But I’m totally digging her music. More her less popular songs that are not straight up sappy ballads. Her piano skills seem to be on point.
I just finally finished catching up to Fresh Off the Boat, and though it seems like there were a lot of filler episodes, there were actually a lot of more meaningful moments too. Of course, Chinese New Year celebrations was a major thing, but I also enjoyed the episode of Lao Ban Santa, which focused on Evan’s loss of innocence… alongside the development of his OBVIOUS gambling problem. First the bunny he lost to grandma in poker, now his Pogs. And his totally Machiavellian plans in the Jessica Place Melrose Place spoof.
And Emery gets his own development too! Loved that he was so devastated to find out his parents’ definition of romance, how we got to see him dealing with his anger and frustration, and his best moment having to deal with puberty.
I think I may have to write a review. xD
Anyway~ this post is because my life is literally the “polite fight” every single time we go out for lunch or dinner with my aunties.
We’re living in a world obsessed with identity, origins and DNA. I’m starting to believe this is a conspiration to get us all to test our DNAs -paying and very much willingly- to see where we ‘really come from.’ No, like- really, where YOU REALLY come from. First it was this overly dramatic flights company, Momondo ad. Followed by this DNA test Buzzfeed video, which got me really really wondering.
Then this Joanna Rants Flama video about hyphen identities~~~ with a shout out to Asian-Peruvian (Protestant)! xD Which in the end sent my head spinning mainly because of my dad’s side. Peruvian isn’t really a racial identity, though some would differ. I don’t know much about my dad’s side of the family, but I know more than my mom’s side~~~ one thing is certain, I’m positively certain my mom is 99,9% East Asian xD which makes me, at least, half East Asian (if not half full Chinese, despite having two Chinese last names~)
I know my grandpa on my dad’s side was mixed Chinese and I know my grandma on his side was mixed Spanish-Afro-Peruvian, but not certain on percentages. I’ll have to ask my aunt around now. But that would make my dad, at least, half Spanish creole (if not more) Afro-Chinese Peruvian xD and that would make me…… Chinese Spanish creole Afro-Peruvian? xD A Queer Catholic-by-culture Franciscan-by-school Agnostic Chinese Spanish Creole Afro-Peruvian. And that doesn’t even paint the political colors. xD
But interesting.
I’m totally into the idea of finding out what’s in me, but at the same time, I’ve been watching too much Orphan Black. lol
I haven’t been stanning BiBi like I used to (I did listen to her new song, and I do know she’s on the latest Cold War 2 movie), but look at that face and flawless make-up! I don’t even know what the image is for. I was only able to find this black and white version on BiBi’s Weibo, so I’ll just call it a snapshot~
L’Oreal Paris has a bunch of brand ambassadors by region, and they all get invited to Cannes; among them, there’s people like Eva Longoria, Aishwarya and Sonam Kapoor, who all end up walking the festival’s red carpet events, just like last year. This time around, they got them all for this commercial that also credits J.Lo and Blake Lively, even though I don’t really spot them in it.
Those who do make it and aren’t listed, however, include Aishwarya, Sonam Kapoor, and the Bingbings– Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing. That’s on top of Jane Fonda, and everyone’s faves Julianne Moore and Naomi Watts, who all come together to gather round John Legend.
The idea of them coming together around Legend gave me vibes of that Lux Soap Commercial that Shahrukh Khan did like a decade ago, which featured Hema Malini, Juhi Chawla, Kareena Kapoor, and Sridevi… but then I watched it again, and that one was grosser. xD La Vie en Rose, at least, is a nice soft tune to give you the feeling of floating in the clouds xD
There’s been much talk on China’s “Leftover Women” (剩女, Sheng Nv) [Wikipedia], and Japanese beauty brand SK-II is putting it to good use in the brand’s latest Chinese campaign… and it’s lovely, heartfelt and empowering.
Don’t think that I missed your Tang Wei ad at LA’s International Airport, SK-II.
Oh, hey! I’m back from my trip! And as I work on the photos (+1k) I took, I wanted to share these quick perfections~
These are pictures I took on the plane on my way there and on my way back, during perfect break of dawns across the Americas — one was near landing time in Los Angeles and the other in plain flight across Central America — to the most beautiful soundtrack moments~ Su Yunying’s Ming Ming 冥明 and Strong Sky People 空人得坚强. That album is certainly topping my favorite album list this year, LOL.
Anyway~ Su continues her perfection with a performance of Mayday’s Contentment (知足) [MV] in this year’s season of I Am Singer (我是歌手), which I thought I was done with. LOL I don’t get how this show works. But Su Yunying made another appearance and her presence just makes things better. I didn’t realize it was the Mayday song until the last moment or halfway through. xD Her version is so hers and so unique, makes me appreciate the original even more.
But if I thought that was it? Turns out HAYA Band also did a rendition of Bjork’s Joga [MV], which is also life itself. They topped it off with more chants. I’m not entirely sure why they call it 英格玛.
I don’t know what Sony is doing. But it’s effing it up, I just know it. Head over to YAM Magazine for the full rant and all track/MV info. I’m just going to put this video on here, and bask myself on the beauty of the music.
We all thought Henry Zuo released a good album. Goddamn~ Su Yunying just blew it out of the park~~~ I know it’s not ideal (physical buy is always the best), but do buy the album on iTunes instead of streaming it. xD
