Apparently Windows Live Spaces hates me. Seriously, the site always freezes up on me, takes forever to load, it's just a big hassle. Which is why I don't post here anymore. I think I'm going to delete most of the modules, maybe that's what's causing the page to freeze.

 

Anyway, to my friends here just know i'm ok, it's just that this site isn't too cooperative with me.

 

Oh, and apparently based on a user that commented on my last entry My Chemical Romance sucks. Thanks for letting me know, and here I was thinking for years, that they were actually pretty cool. But apparently this person has some inside info. Grazie!

 

God, how annoying it is when people just randomly choose your page to spew their hate. It's actually sad, but whatever.

 

See you later, babes!

 

Hugs!!!!

Sorry i haven't updated since May. I've just been posting more regularly at my other blogs. Plu, everytime i try updating this blog it freezes up on me. And it's always a hassle.

 

Hope you're all great...

 

Remember that you find me prmarly at these blogs:

 

Asia Love: dedicated to my love for everything asian.

Beautiful Hina: dedicated to my love of dolls.

Vampypoet: My personal blog

Svu-fan-4ever: My Law & Order: SVU blog

 

that i have a new personal blog. I used to have one in Diaryland, but i'm not going to be posting there anymore.

 

My new personal blog (where i write about my day to day things) can be found at this address:

 

 

 

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Also, i won't be posting here all that much because i am now posting all asian pop culture news, reviews etc. over at:

 

 

 

See you there!

From Hancinema.net

Singer Rain Ranked World's No. 2 Artist (2006/04/26)

Time magazine has ranked the singer Rain second on its list of the world's 100 most influential people.

The weekly in its latest edition said Rain last week received 28 percent of online votes in the "Artists and Entertainers" category, behind only Oscar-winning film director Ang Lee.

Actor-turned-filmmaker Clint Eastwood ranked third at 16 percent, followed by Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi and actor George Clooney.

Time selects the world's 100 most influential people every year in five categories: "Heroes and Icons", "Scientists and Thinkers", "Leaders and Revolutionaries", "Builders and Titans" and "Artists and Entertainers".

Reported by KBS WORLD Radio

Source : english.kbs.co.kr... ( English )

 

 

 

From Hancinema.net:

 

LJ Film and Focus Features Join Hands (2006/04/14)

Korean company LJ Film and U.S.-based Focus Features have agreed to the joint production of the film The Julia Project (working title), a film about the American Julia Mullock, wife of the last Korean crown prince Kyu LEE. The film will be LJ Film's most ambitious project to date.

 

LJ Film and Focus Features will produce together and equally share the film's $20-25 million budget. English will be the main language for the film and it is aimed at an international audience, with overseas rights handled by Focus. For this project, Focus will work together with the American branch of LJ Film.

 

The director and cast have yet to be attached, but it is expected that a screen writer who will do final revisions of the script will be announced soon. The film is scheduled to be released in 2007.

 

Both LJ president Lee Seung-jae and Focus president James Schamus acknowledged each other's qualities in filmmaking as the reason to partner up. Lee added that he hopes that it "will help forge new alliances for the Korean film industry".

 

LJ Film is known for its low-budget films, which have been invited to film festivals worldwide. LJ Film's most successful film to date is also an international co-production, Kim Ki-duk's 2003 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring, a joint production with the German company Pandora Film. The film was also screened outside the festival circuit through releases in cinemas worldwide.

 

Source : www.koreanfilm.or.kr

 

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So, i decided to start watching the jdorama Rondo. This is my first Japanese Drama, and i am loving it. It's full of action & angst... lots of it. I've seen the first three episodes. I decided to start watching because of Choi Ji Woo (Winter Sonata, Stairway to heaven). But now i'm completely in love with the male lead. Japanese actor Yutaka Takenouchi!! I love him. He's so gorgeous & incredibly talented. Can't wait to see the rest of this drama.

 

I also had the chance to watch the Korean Movie 100 days with Mr. Arrogant. I love this movie!! So funny, and incredibly sweet. I definitely recommend it. And i love the male lead Kim Jae Won. He's so adorable, kind of reminds me of Bae Yong Joon.

 

Anyway, i'll leave you with some pics from Rondo, Yutaka Takenouchi & Kim Jae Won. Enjoy!!!!

 

 

Ok, so i was watching TV and the commercial for the video game Kingdom Hearts II came on. And frankly i could care less, 'cause i'm not a video game person... BUT what caught my attention was the beautiful voice that came on the backgound. Utada Hiikaru! I was so excited to hear her voice on an american commercial!!!! And to think that only jpop fans will recognize the voice. It's so sad that she hasn't had success in States. She has an amazing voice, and is incredibly talented.

 

 

Anyway on other news...

 

I found this article in Hancinema.net... and it's in moments like these that i wish i lived in South America.

 

 

 

I miss my korean dramas!! I don't have AZN TV anymore. My stupid cable company stopped offering it. I haven't seen a korean drama in months! I'm having withdrawal. I'm gonna have to start downloding the episodes again, but that's just a big hassle. Oh well... We'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

From YesAsia.com:

 

written by James Mudge

 

Ang Lee captured the Best Director Oscar at the Academy Awards 2006 for Brokeback Mountain, which also triumphed under the categories of Best Original Score and Adapted Screenplay. Previously, the film scored a number of significant wins, including the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival and the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture-Drama and Best Director. For director Ang Lee, the film represents the latest success in a career studded with such achievements, with many of his works having won accolades at festivals and awards ceremonies around the world.

 

Lee is undoubtedly the most successful Asian director working in Hollywood today, and one of the few to be equally successful on both sides of the Pacific. Lee has never compromised his vision or the cultural identity of his work to suit Western audiences, and has never fallen into making empty popcorn fodder or vapid slices of cultural tourism as other Asian directors unfortunately have. Although he has directed a diverse set of films, set in different times, countries, and in different languages, they are all essentially character pieces, sharing many of the same universal themes, dealing with strained family ties, personal conflicts, repression and the generational clash between modernity and tradition.

 

Read the rest of this article HERE.

 

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Congratulations to director Ang Lee for his win @ the Oscars!!

Yun Seok-ho Completes His Four Seasons of Love
 

Wearing a yellow shirt and a fluorescent green jumper, Yun Seok-ho is immediately recognizable from quite far off. The producer of “Winter Sonata” -- and with it the driving force behind the juggernaut known as the Korean Wave -- started with “Autumn Fairy Tale” and already followed up with “The Scent of Summer.” What remained, natch, was “Spring Waltz”, which now debuts on KBS on March 3.

 

Spring colors have clearly made their way into Yun’s outfit, and the 49-year old, true to form, started off by discussing the new drama's color. “It’s pink,” he says. “It feels like spring, and symbolizes romance and fantasy." “Autumn Fairy Tale” was yellow and red, “Winter Sonata” was white, and “The Scent of Summer” was blue and green tones.

The drama carries familiar Yun themes in the way that childhood memories and a love story are woven together against beautiful natural settings. In a climate where dramas with lightning-fast story development dominate, Yun’s melodrama likes to take its time.

“This trend where a cool, bizarre and cynical atmosphere is considered stylish while calm and seriousness are passé doesn't agree with me,” he says. At the same time, he denies that “Spring Waltz” is made to please an audience of Japanese women. And being the man that launched a thousand careers in Asia did not protect him from the raging egos of the stars when he embarked on the new series.

Yun delicately alludes to the difficulties he had casting the new show. “The Korean Wave generated many international stars, but there is barely one among them who behaves like an international star,” he says. But Yun made a virtue of necessity, resolutely casting relatively new faces like Seo Dong-woo, Han Hyo-joo and Daniel Henney instead.

 

On the cusp of turning 50, Yun still dreams of romance. “Maybe it’s because I still haven't got married that fantasy lives on in my dramas,” he smiles.

 

url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200602/200602280010.html
 

Bae Yong-joon Set to Begin Shooting “The Four Gods” (2006/02/20)

Bae Yong-joon, the most prominent Korean actor leading the Korean Wave, is set to shoot the period drama "The Four Gods", which deals with the life of Gwanggaeto the Great of the Koguryeo period.

 

"I feel both enthusiastic and afraid because it is a fascinating role any actor would want to play", Bae said in a final meeting with the production team before the shooting starts. "I am also looking forward to working with many other great actors and actresses like Jeong Jin-yeong, Choi Min-soo and Moon So-ri".

 

The meeting was also attended by producer Kim Jong-hak, writer Song Ji-na and music director Joe Hisaishi, the world-renowned Japanese film score composer. Kim expressed his devotion to the drama saying, "I think this drama will become the last one I have ever produced. So, I will put everything I have into making it".

Hisaishi said, "Seeing the passion Bae Yong-joon has for this drama has made myself become passionate about the work".

 

The "The Four Gods" team discussed various marketing strategies for the drama so that it can sweep the Asia region more dramatically than "Winter Sonata", which made Bae a heartthrob across Asia. Investment and distribution agency SSD said that it is negotiating with a global distributor to distribute the drama not only across Asia but also in the American continents and Europe. It has already singed a contract with Japan's Avex to release the DVD and OST of the drama, and plans to develop various value-added products like games, animations, and books.

 

The product placement marketing will be used for traditional Korean accessories featured in the drama, and a package tour traveling the drama's shooting sites has already been developed by Zam Tour, which developed a similar package tour for the move "April Snow", also starring Bae.

 

After two years of through preparations, the shooting will finally begin on Jeju Island next month.

 

Source : english.kbs.co.kr... ( English )

 

 

 

 

 

'Spring Waltz', the conclusion of the 'Four Seasons' series, comes to life (2006/02/23)

Producer Yoon Seok-ho, who has created the Four Seasons series that includes 'Autumn in my Heart' (2000), 'Winter Sonata' (2002), and 'Summer Scent' (2003) ? all of which made Asia spellbound with the Korean Syndrome, brings us to the conclusion of the series with 'Spring Waltz'.

 

"Although I appreciate the anticipation of the many fans, but frankly, I feel burdened", said Yoon, who is busy shooting 'Spring Waltz', which will be broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays on KBS 2TV from March 6.

He added, " I have to continue the ideas that I have pursued from the previous ones, but still, I have to offer something new. I cannot guess, but I keep compelling myself that I got to do what I got to do".

What he aims at is to come up with something fresh and new while keeping the previous works' theme intact preserving the concept of innocent love against the backdrop of beautiful natural sceneries while injecting freshness into the story with the help of new writers and new actors.

 

As for bringing new faces, he showed his expectation from new actors. "It seems that I also need new energy for this project. As Bae Yong-joon, Won Bin, or Choi Ji-woo were not top actors when they started working with me, it looks to me that if we give birth to new stars with 'Spring Waltz', it will be meaningful".

As for Seo Do-yeong, playing the male protagonist Yoon Jae-ha, Yoon said, "He has some unique physical qualities, and he's improving on his acting very fast. I think we will do a good job for The Classic artist, which is what the main male role does".

 

He also mentions Han Hyo-joo, playing Park Eun-young, the main female role of the drama, whose character is "opposed to the image of femininity the main female characters in the previous installments in the series had; she will play a cheerful and healthy character, which fits well to the image of spring".

In addition, Daniel Henney who will play Phillip, "has a different charm that can be delivered only with his gaze. He doesn't have to speak. He has something unique to offer that no other Korean actor has", said Yoon.

He also added about Lee So-yeon, who will play Song, Ina, that she "has a very well-rounded character and she will play an elegant and intelligent character by injecting a sense of innocence and cheerfulness to her acting".

 

Meanwhile, many are becoming more and more anxious about whether 'Spring Waltz' will continue the Korean Wave.

 

"I cannot help but to think about the Korean Wave. We have many dramas and films in Korea that are very strong and intense. But, in Japan, more natural and gentle dramas like 'A Jewel In the Palace' ("Dae Jang Geum") or 'Winter Sonata' are more effective. In that regard, I thought I should continue the same tone as the previous dramas in the series".

 

The Source : Koreacontent News Team

 

Source : www.koreacontent.org... ( English Korean )

 

 

 

 

 

 

*merrily sings* I saw RENT!! I saw RENT!!!

 

I loved it!!!! I cried like a baby!! So, great!

 

 

If you love musicals, this movie's for you.

 

I can't wait till it comes out on DVD, im definitely buying it!

 

Hmm.. i need to buy the soundtrack, the music ROCKS!!!