Wednesday, July 27, 2016

"Primary - Bawling Feat. Ohyuk MV reaction"



"Primary - Bawling Feat. Ohyuk MV reaction"
by:
The Vole

This MV was actually published more than a year ago(March 23 2015) on youtube with music maker Primary pairing up with the soulful singer Ohyuk to produce what is for me one of the most moving songs that you will ever hear in your lifetime. The 4 million views says that this has not hit it off with a lot of people and I might never know why.


The lyrics translated are as follows:

On top of the long rail
I’m standing with you like last time
I swallow with my dry throat
And cool down the cold sweat on my back
just a little bit
just a little bit

Then I asked you about your day
I open my ears to your typical story
Trying to find an excuse to let you know that I changed

and we play
bowling bowling bowling bowling
bowling game again
that ball just
running running running running
running out again
Picking up the ball again
Writing down the score
Yeah, we’re sad

sideway, we take
You walked on a different path
But I didn’t match my steps with yours but matched my eyes with yours
You know, actions before words
there’s a lot of pins
you’re the one of them

Now I’ll ask you for a chance
In the silence
Trying to find an excuse to let you know that I changed

and we play
bowling bowling bowling bowling
bowling game again
that ball just
running running running running
running out again
Picking up the ball again
Writing down the score
Yeah, we’re sad

I wasn’t innocent
But had clean intentions
I didn’t know anything
We lost our minds
Because we didn’t do anything
It’s nothing
I didn’t know anything
We lost our minds

and we play
bowling bowling bowling bowling
bowling game again
that ball just
running running running running
running out again
Picking up the ball again
Writing down the score
Yeah, we’re sad
and we play



The story of the song revolves around a chance meeting of ex-lovers where the guy is reminiscing about their not so innocent past.

The MV opens up with a rolling shot of the camera on tracks and immense shots of Apartment complexes that seem to surround Ohyuk on all sides. Ohyuk starts singing on a couch on a rooftop.The mere distances and expanses of the places seem to engulf you as the singer takes you through the emotions of sadness and longing in the song. If you are not hooked by the first sad horn notes or the first sounds of the snare drums coming on then Ohyuk will most likely do the rest. There has been talk that Primary always saves his best work for this particular guy and Bawling seems to be the best of the best of cuts.

From mellow vocals to haunting horn sections to the wonderfully rhytmic drumbeats you feel the proportions of how sad the narrator is that he was not able to show how he has changed at all. The ex-lover would never know how much he has changed at all.

In a place where everyone should be hyperconnected you see how alone one can feel in the city and this mood permeates the MV until the very end as even when you see sunny colors they are still grey and subdued. 

The latter part of the MV shows Ohyuk walking but it does not show if it is towards or away from the girl that represents the person he wants to talk to and as the last roll seems to unfold you see Ohyuk still on the same rooftop , still on the same couch as in the beginning. Stuck in that loop of sadness that he cannot escape.




"San E - Like an Airplane MV reaction"


"San E - Like an Airplane MV reaction"
by:
The Vole

San E is a korean rapper and I was introduced to his work via one video called Like an airplane.

Now there are two MV versions of this song. The normal version where it features San E chilling in the park among tall housing projects surrounded by his all male friends until they reach the hotel where the girl he was talking to in the beginning of the MV lives.

Then there is the "boring" version which you will find by typing in Juicy Candy X San E on youtube. Nothing to see in this video except for two girls who are in a hotel room doing really mundane things like waking each other up a bit too vigorously , brushing their teeth while singing to the song , choosing clothes for each other , laughing at a joke that we could not hear over the music. Stuff like that. Nothing much to see really.



It has been said that Korean videos always draw a line between sexy and things that are beyond sexy.Ff you would look at 33 seconds into the boring version of this song you would see that line perfectly. Perfectly.

Kidding aside I have this song on loop and I cannot complain because it has the simple and fun message of lets have fun and let your friends be my friends. The beats are simple and catchy and I often find myself singing Haengi Haengi that someone asked me. "We just ate what the hell are you hungry for?"

Times like that I sigh and wish I could fly away like an airplane.

"Kisum - 2 Beer - MV reaction"



"Kisum - 2 Beer - MV reaction"
by:
The Vole

Kisum is a 22 year old female rapper who participated in several rap competitions in South Korea.I have not watched her in action before but one day I saw one of her videos for 2 beer appear on my suggested pages. I clicked and instantly liked her song.

The first part of the song is the chorus which goes:

Two Beer that feels just good
I can't go to the second round
I have to go out at 5 tomorrow morning
I have so many many many things to do...

So like Japan , Korea is knonw to have an after work Drinking culture where co-workers hang out to get to know each other better. Here , Kisum is saying that she 2 beer is great and enough for me. I can't go to the 2nd round( these sessions really last for as long as the one leading it allows) because she needs to wake up at 5am. She politely excuses herself and that reason is that she has a lot of things to do.



Yes. She really has a lot of things to do and based on the MV for the song some of them are the following:

1) Walking slowly while going up to an apartment complex.
2) Walking slowly while going through a tunnel and railroads.
3) Walking slowly while having a gorgeous view of the Han River and the traffic that eventually builds up on the bridge behind her.
4) Walking slowly while going through a derelict playground in the middle of nowhere.
5) Walking slowly while going past a moss covered dam that is blurred in the background.

Based on this the character that she portrays here loves to just hang around in places where only fierce pretty rap stars hang out. Don't get me wrong here I love this MV because of its simplicity , just Kisum walking with the occasional pink smoke for effect. The shots are effective in conveying her journey and this song is just perfect for those times that you want to drive or walk alone with its catchy basslines and well placed trumpets that paint an ear delicious cityscape feel. 

Not to mention that Kisum has fierce eyes and that contrasting helpless mode when she wants to convey it. The song says that Kisum wants to have a world of her own and with the way that she walks she calmly claims where she is at just like that.

"Magic Life: Dealing with Poison"



"Magic Life: Dealing with Poison"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

For those of you who know me( I am counting about 10 hands right now) , you are probably reading this and saying to yourself: "Oh there he goes again talking about Poison and Infect and How poison counters are the best."

I agree. Those things are the best and I will keep making decks about them and keep writing about them but for today I just have to talk about a different kind of poison. Something that does not include counters but feels just as heavy and much worse. This is the poisoning one does to ones mind.

After watching the wonderful Documentary about Magic:The Gathering pros entitled Enter the Battlefield I was moved by the story of one Chris who has always been on the brink of Hall of Fame voting and who in the 1990's dominated magic tournaments. His story goes like this , in a match up where he was about to win he had unwittingly decided not to play the card Inflame which was in his hand. The result was devastation as he lost the game and with it the chance of becoming a Hall of Famer or at least the chance of it in his mind. 

From this time on the shock stayed with him and he had carried the card Inflame in his wallet for a good number of years as a constant reminder of his loss. Maybe this was his way of coping with the situation and that through facing this disappointment he will go on and move forward.This is a very mature thought process but one that I have to disagree with.



Carrying this card is poison. Inflame Inflames that memory and lets it linger rather than help him. I do not know the guy but I am trying to put myself in his shoes. He was obviously pretty upset and the trauma of that day haunts him even now. He might have improved but in my book one should not drink the same poison day by day in hopes to get immune to it. Something will eventually die both physically and metaphysically. 

The same applies to us who play with different stakes in Magic. We play for Glory , For Pride , For rewards. We all have different reasons and though some of us succeed and go on to greater things like Protour and World Magic Cup  , the harsh reality is that most of us will not. And there will be really close matches that will always be in our minds when we play but don't let those things define you. Do not let it poison your passion. Failing is as much part of the process as is winning. I respect Chris's approach with his problem but I offer you something else. To let your focus be on the things that make you want to play the game and not on the things that almost make you want to quit the game you love.

Standard is already expensive and the stakes are always high so you may not notice it but you are already poisoning yourself with too much negativity that you are weighed down by it even before you draw your first card. Empty your mind and see what you are capable of doing. Be in every play. Be there with your opponent and let the things that weigh you down fall away.

And whatever you do. Never bring the card that burned you.

Friday, June 17, 2016

"The Bleeder"


"The Bleeder"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

I will be your sustenance
I will be all that you need
I will be your everything
For you I will bleed

I ask that you drink of it 
This precious gift of life
Oh please oh please
From this vein I sliced

And so if I die
I live on
Inside of you
Forever inside of you.





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Writers Note: "The Bleeder" is 3 of 3 of my Bleed Series. Where I sat down and just wrote something after a 10 minute time limit while focusing on the word Bleed.

"When We Bleed"



"When We Bleed"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

For those who bleed know this
When we bleed
We know that we are alive
Our heart pumps
Our blood flows
We can heal
We can be stronger
Our life moves on
Our story still unfolds

The trick and there is always a trick
Is to stop so that Life remains
And to never give up
until the last ounce drops.




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Writers Note: "When We Bleed" is 2 of 3 of my Bleed Series. Where I sat down and just wrote something after a 10 minute time limit while focusing on the word Bleed.

"Enough"


"Enough"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

I was once asked, Will you bleed for me?
And I asked how much?
Enough for me to die?
Enough for me to live?
Enough for me to know the difference?

And the vampire stared from the darkness,
"Enough"







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Writers Note: Enough is 1 of 3 of my Bleed Series. Where I sat down and just wrote something after a 10 minute time limit.