500!

[koganbot]

We've broken 500!

500 what?

Well, whenever someone posts a comment in koganbot, the comment is sent to my lj inbox. If I think the comment needs me to think about it further and/or a reply from me, I save it. Once I reply or think I'm more-or-less finished with it, I delete it. So, there are now 519 comments in my lj inbox that merit further consideration or a reply without having yet gotten the consideration or reply. (Actually, a few of the comments are in snsd_ffa, now that I've readjusted my settings to get those, too.)

So, for instance, I still would like to think further about what petronia and askbask and sub_divided and arbitrary_greay said regarding the Minami controversy, especially as to what is or isn't happening in Korea, whether and how much and why some K-pop idols might be under a no-dating or a don't ask/don't tell regime.

And if you listed a set of tracks and LPs in the comment thread to my mid-year list, 2011, I still hope to listen to what you listed.

And I want to respond to what AG has said about journalism regarding K-pop and what AG and greywing said during the discussion of white participation in K-pop.

And I've still got to go through that list of live Big Bang performances that sub_divided thoughtfully provided. (Also, though it's not on lj, askbask posted a very useful rundown of BoA's career over on ilX's K-pop 2013 thread that I hope will produce lots of future listening from me.)

Etc.

Comments

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Worth noting about the Minami scandal, which you might not want to note since you have 500 other things worth thinking about, is that in their yearly election of the most popular member this June, the winner was big surprise Sashihara Rino, who had a recent bf/sex scandal end with her 'demoted' to a sister group of AKB48 (no hair cutting). Give away two minutes of your time though and you'll see this post-win interview bit which showcases the carefree attitude that's made her popular and gained her haters at the same time http://vid48.com/watch_video.php?v=OXABKRNX556Y

[askbask.livejournal.com]

We're also awaiting your comments on evia entering the diss game.

[koganbot]

This is the first I heard of it. I don't need her to sound so tough, though she's good at it.

And I don't understand the context. Are there actual beefs, or is she just being kind of generic? Well, obviously the stuff about the industry applies to what was done to her. But the rest, is it aimed at anyone in particular, for any reason in particular?

[arbitrary-greay.livejournal.com]

More importantly, Crayon Pop shows up at Kcon as a surprise guest, does interviews for GMA and ABC News, and WINS #1 AT MUSIC BANK WHOO HOO.

Sadly, only one person recognized my Crayon Pop cosplay at Japan Expo this past weekend. (Then again, anyone who really liked Kpop more than Jpop probably went to Kcon instead.) Maybe I'll fare better at this week's Sac-anime, where they have a late-night-EDM dance with DJs who have done Kpop remixes.

[koganbot]

Did you wear a speed racer helmet?

[arbitrary-greay.livejournal.com]

Red tracksuit jacket and jersey pants, tacky running sneakers, construction gloves, goggles, and a white bicycle helmet with the red racing stripes. I might post a picture of the helmet later.

No recognition. The dance on Saturday was devoid of any Kpop, as everything but two songs (one a remix of Power Rangers, the other an anime theme song remix) were original tracks. I don't know if the DJ lineup for Friday's dance were different or did any Kpop.

I did not appear to get any recognition for my cosplay. However, I spent pretty much all day in guests' panels, and did not visit the vendor's hall that had a Kpop goods booth. Mayhaps I could have gotten some fellow piston jumpers if I had. The opening act to the Masquerade was also a cosplay and dance cover of SNSD's Paparazzi, so I probably just didn't run into any CP fans, or the simplicity of my cosplay didn't register as Crayon Pop, and most people probably assumed it was some anime cosplay.

The Psy cosplayer, of course, got tons of recognition and was grabbing people into the Gentlemen dance all weekend.

[davidfrazer.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the long interview with Chrome's CEO? He says that he decided to start an entertainment company and form an idol group after seeing T-ara on television.

• So why did you suddenly open an entertainment company?
» It was due to me seeing something on television one day…
• Who did you see on television…
» I saw T-ara (laughs)
• What was T-ara promoting then?
» Roly Poly. I felt the group had matched the dance and costumes to perfection. Because I wasn’t concerned about idol groups previously, so T-ara gave me a jolt. After this, I said to my friends at the photo studio “Should we try to create a girl group?”

[koganbot]

And there's his explanation of the "Bing Bing" delinquent girls concept (I assume he's speaking of the second attempt (February 2013) to promote the track [EDIT: vid taken off YouTube but here's what's MAYBE a similar performance 12 days later on Show Champion]):

That time, a message I sent to one of the managers on Kakao Talk is floating on the internet. The manager had asked me what to do on stage, and wanted me to respond with instructions. I just replied "Chew gum. No matter what, it would have been better than previously. If there's any problems, I would handle it. However, do not chew during the rehearsal, only chew while live" (laughs).

And we really did it. The PD was very unhappy with that initially, and the camera directors were quite unsure what to do. But because of that, the realtime search terms ranking rose, and people were praising me asking me how did I think of that.

[koganbot]

(But honestly I can't find a live version of "Bing Bing" where they're actually chewing gum, at least not that I can see: my eyes aren't that good anymore.)