Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Today is the first day of the Spring semester. It is also 182 years since the birth of my favorite author and poet, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). In commemoration of him and in hopes of a wonderful semester of educational improvement and self improvement, I will share one of my favorite poems written by him, Jabberwocky.

I have always loved this poem for its narrative technique, it's fun tone, and it's creation of strange characters, such as the Jabberwock and Bandersnatch. One of the most common misconceptions of this poem is that Jabberwocky is simply the name of the poem, but the actual creature is named Jabberwock.

Jabberwocky

  by Lewis Carroll

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
   Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
   And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son 
   The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun 
   The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand; 
   Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree, 
   And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood, 
   The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, 
   And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through 
   The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head 
   He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 
   Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" 
   He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
   Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
   And the mome raths outgrabe.

Because I'm A Girl

I will make one thing clear to my readers; I am a feminist. By feminist, I believe more of the social equality than the political ones. The politics are too messy for me to get into in this post, considering the whole equal pay, drafting, maternity leave stuff. Maybe I will clarify my opinion on those in another post in the future. But right now, I want to write an entry on my stance on social equality of the sexes. My belief in social equality of the sexes stem from my mom being an outright sexist. She constantly forces me to do favor for her by using the excuse that I am a “girl” and that girls are supposed to do certain things for their mothers and family. Meanwhile, I use my mind’s eye to look into the other room at my brother who is just sitting in his bed all day playing games on his computer (and I do say all those things literally). In my mind, so many thoughts are racing and making me want to scream at my mom. Now this is the part where I sound like an ungrateful daughter, but I so long to ask her to explain to me why it is that those chores or favors she needs me to do require my female sex organs. However, I must refrain myself from doing such because I am respectful enough not to retaliate such harsh words at my mother and I do not speak Chinese well enough to be able to translate that for my mother.

Ever since my Woman’s Gender Studies class at Hunter College, it made me question my mom’s unfair mentality even further. Why is it that even though I am studying a double major in Film Studies and English, am maintaining a 3.7 GPA, have been on the Dean’s List at both Hunter College and Queens College ever since I enrolled in college, graduated high school with a Regents Honors diploma, and have worked at 3 jobs so not to need to ask my parents for money ever since high school senior year, am I still expected to devote so much time and effort to my mother’s expectations of me as a “dutiful daughter”? Meanwhile, my brother didn’t do so well in high school, graduated Hunter College without a ceremony, and have never held a job, is not expected anything in terms of family responsibilities. It just really irks me how society treats men and women so unequally.

But it’s not only the old generation that do this. Even in the modern generation that seek to equalize the rights of men and women, there are still sexist expectations. Women still complain about having to be subservient to men, meanwhile they expect men to pay for dates and to hold the doors for them. My stance is that if women want equality, they have to accept the bad with the good, just like everything else in this world.

Fun Fact: The Equal Rights Amendment was not adopted to the United States Constitution because many women feared losing the legal protection of the law that guarantees them custodial rights of children in the cases of divorce and exemption from military drafts.

Lisa’s Top 13 Korean Music Videos of 2013

For my first blog and first music critique, I am going to start off the New Year by reflecting back on the past year. This idea was given to me by my friend Jenny when she had also come across many bloggers and video bloggers online counting off their list of top K-Pop music of 2013. So I am going to give my opinion on my Top 13 in a blog form, since I am not as well-composed in speech. I also chose Top 13 instead of the usual Top 10 in homage to the year 2013. Even with the number 13, it was extremely difficult to narrow down so many amazing videos released this year. I was so tempted to turn this into a Top 50 list multiple times.  Anyways, here is my list and I have comprised them out of Korean Music Videos released in 2013. I am doing a list of music videos because I wish to discuss the music’s lyrics and composition as well as the videos’ concepts and visuals. Of course this will be a bit biased because I am only including a list of videos I have seen and some are here because of my personal preferences. But I will try my best to give just reasoning for all my rankings. Now, without further ado, here is…

Lisa’s Top 13 Korean Music Videos of 2013
 

13.Miss $’s You Were Not The… ft. Verbal Jint

            Much like Younha’s The Real Reason We Broke Up, this video takes on a concept of a breakup. The twist to this video is that the camera is set on a body-cam to give the perspective of the man who is being dumped, yet the song’s lyrics is sung from the perspective of the ladies. The members of the group also sing the lyrics of the song as they play roles of women the guy encounters within the few minutes it takes for him to wait for his girlfriend and get dumped by her. The film is done with one shot, but the composition of the shots is brilliant, especially the flipping of the records with lyrics on the covers. I also especially loved the concept presented in the lyrics because it shows a side of breakups where girls don’t dump the guy just out of falling out of love but rather that the strain of a relationship is too hard.

12. Ladies’ Code’s Hate You

            This music video was one of my personal favorites this year, mostly because I have a fascination with creepy porcelain dolls. The lyrics of this song are really identifiable with listeners because we all have that one person or situation we can recall of a love hate relationship where we absolutely hate someone, but still can’t help but feel an attachment of love to them. The song’s composition is also very catchy and undertones of instruments that emphasize the creepiness in the tones that the girls are aiming for. The video is choc full of symbolism for female possession by men. What really catches me and brings laughter to me is the use of the theory of karma in this video. The girls are each seen playing with dolls in ways that torture the dolls, but it then cuts to the girls feeling the consequences. Although I am not a fan of Ladies’ Code, I just absolutely loved this concept they tried out, which was a good break from their overdone cutesy concept that is too often seen by K-Pop girl groups.

11. BAP’s One Shot

            Although this is a song that has faded in my interest after a few months, I still consider it to be one of the best videos released this year. This is one of the few story music videos I consider to be successful for BAP. The style sticks to their group concept of being very dark and masculine. The video shows the boys in their usual dark outfits and puts them in underground scenes, such as warehouses and train stations. The storyline is quite simple; a group of guys going to rob a van transporting bank money and uses that money as ransom money for their friend who was captured by a rival gang. The one small critique I have with the storyline is that they stole a bunch of hundred dollar bills. But the video was obviously shot in the Philippines because you see the streets and transportation system. So unless the rival gang plans on exchanging all of those dollars into peso (and risk getting caught) or they plan on attempting to smuggle all that money out of the country (which is highly impossible), it’s a bit unrealistic. The ending was the biggest WTF moment because it has two alternative endings. The first is that the rival gang shot the hostage and the two groups have a massive gun fight, which results in all deaths. But then Matoki (BAP’s bunny mascot) somehow reverses time and gives an alternate ending where the hostage was actually working with the police to crack down on both gangs. I personally think the first ending was at least more honorable. The second one was just messed up and such a betrayal among brothers. But overall, the song was very catchy and absolutely follows along with the style that first made me fall in love with them since their debut as a boy group who sticks to the hardcore masculine image and is more heavy on the hip hop style and dance. The dance was also amazing, as usual, with more highlights in Zelo’s improvement.

10. Sunny Hill’s Darling of All Hearts

            This is one of my most addictive songs. I usually love Sunny Hill for their more creepy concepts. At first the cutesy image was a bit difficult for me to take in. But once I got over that, I found it to be very charming. I also relate a lot to the lyrics of this song of being the girl everyone goes to for relationship advice, yet I’m never in a relationship myself. But it’s also a very uplifting song because it gives uplifting advice that even if single people feel lonely; being single has its perks. I also really love that they feature Hareem, who is known for his collection of rare instruments. The music is extremely cute and addicting and the dance goes along with it extremely well to give a lively feel to it. I always love listening to this song whenever I feel down and need cheering up.

9. Lim Kim’s Goodbye 20

            Kim Ye Rim makes another solo comeback this year with Goodbye 20 as a signal of adulthood. Contrary to this song, she is actually going to become 20 years old in 2014, which is the Korean age of coming of age, it being especially important for girls. The song is a cute pop song geared towards reminiscing the fun teenage years and embracing the crappy responsibilities of adulthood, such as jobs and paying for your own things. It also deals with the reality of going through the twentieth year where you expect so much excitement, but it falls short of expectations because you are still treated like a child by society, yet must deal with the legal responsibilities of an adult. The video itself is extremely cute with Lim acting so cute in colorful scenes and surrounding herself with blue balloons, teddy bear costumes, and photo sticker scenes and trying to act like a teen, but falling short in the enjoyment of such wacky activities. It is a song that all adults can find appeal in and certainly reminds me of my coming of age.

8. Sistar’s Give It To Me

            Sistar makes another sexy comeback that continues on their roll of incorporating their smooth and powerful vocals paired with sexy outfits and sets. The song is straight up K-Pop with catchy beats and chorus. The dance choreography is also sexy, yet simple. What I particularly loved about this comeback was its use of props in the dances. As a dancer, I think props are very fun. I loved the short tango with the male partner, the top hat and cane, the hoop, and the glitter. There is not much for me to criticize about this video, but I put it as one of my tops because its addictiveness and dance made it one of my most listened to and watched songs of this year.

7. Younha’s The Real Reason We Broke Up

            I have always known Younha to be an amazing singer, but I admit that this song made me absolutely fall in love with its style. The song is more of a pop ballad as compared to her usual ballad style. The acoustic guitar in the background is very soft and complementary to her beautiful and smooth voice. I also feel like the lyrics are exactly what a girl goes through when she recently goes through a breakup and Younha sung the lyrics with perfect emotion. She really portrays the pains and fears of a breakup with both the heart’s emotions and the mind’s logic. What I love most about this video when I saw it was that it incorporates interpretive dances to relate the emotions of the lyrics. Being a ballet dancer myself, I especially loved two scenes of when Younha and the male actor have short moments of glimpsing at each other. The first is at the empty movie theater when glimpse at each other without the other noticing their attention and watching the dancers dance out their former relationship on the stage. The other is when they finally look at each other across rooftops and you would not be able to know their inner emotions if not for the dancers around them. It is not an amazing video, but it is one of my favorite pop ballads of the year.

6. Block B’s Very Good

            After so much that this group has gone through, Block B continues on the path with their K-Pop videos that keep up their image of wild young boys who love to have fun being rebels. This time around, their video is much more artistic. The song is still their usual addictive style with repetitive catch phrases that are stated in the title. But the video contains a lot of very fun scenes for each member, from being chased by a ferocious hound, to having a head juxtaposed on a dining table plate, to being beaten up by a woman boxer with huge breasts. And to wrap it all up, they are dressed up in Joker-esque masks to rob a bank. It is one of the most fun videos I’ve seen this year.

5. IU’s The Red Shoes

            IU releases yet another long and whimsical story music video. This time, she tackles a concept derived from the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. It sticks only to the main idea of the shoes forcing her to dance. Everything else is altered to fit the plot of a girl who jumped out of an old black and white film and winds up spending an amazing summer with a guy and his eclectic friends. This video featured many famous Korean musicians as cameos. The visual style and music is very retro, along with the other tracks in this album. I also applaud IU for finally attempting somewhat difficult dance choreography for this comeback. The dance and outfit style this time also highlights her maturing image and I hope she continues along this path.

4. Brown Eyed Girls’ Kill Bill

            Unlike their usual videos, Brown Eyed Girls did not go with just another thematic concept. This time they did a music video in reference to the American film under the same title. Each of the girls takes on a loose adaptive role of different characters. I do not know much of the original Kill Bill films, so I cannot critique it on its accuracy of adaptation. But I do know that unlike the film plot, the plot of this music video seems to be that all of the girls are fighting over Bill, but also to get revenge on attacks they each previously made against each other. The music is very upbeat and adds an almost amusing quality to the video, especially with the signature whistling. The dance is very much by the style of Brown Eyed Girls in making it sexy on many levels. Jea continues on with her classy sexiness. Miryo is still the tough girl with a seductive appeal. Narsha continues pushing the experiments she plays with other women. And Gain is still the group’s image of female sexuality, even though she is the youngest. Brown Eyed Girls is one of my favorite groups for always rolling out songs that are sexy with class.

3. 2NE1’s Missing You

            Being a Blackjack (2NE1 fan) myself, of course one of their 3 videos released this year would end up on this list. I chose Missing you because although the other two videos were really fun and cute, this video just really reminded me of how artistic their style can be, just like Lonely and Ugly. The lyrics really speak a message about the loneliness of missing someone, and it does not even have to be a lover, it could be anyone held dear in the heart. The background music is also very soft and subtle to emphasize the emotional power in their voices to give it a simple allure. There is so much artistic beauty in this video, from the outfit choices, to the lighting, and the simple, yet hauntingly beautiful scenery. It is one of those videos that I cannot explain all its complex beauty in just a short review. But one of the most empowering parts I feel I must point out is CL’s sequence of nude scenes. Many people have been critiquing that scene on many different aspects, whether it be love, hate, or indifference. For me, I absolutely loved it because it furthered her fierce leadership qualities and it shows a new level of maturity she and the group are going through. In this video she is able to embrace the nudity as an artistic symbol of feeling stripped of all coverage and emotions and being at the greatest point of vulnerability. It is definitely a video I would call a moving painting.

2. Lee Hyori’s Bad Girls

            The Queen of Kpop’s return to the music scene this year with a full album and three music videos was one of the biggest highlights of the year. My personal favorite was Bad Girls because it was just so powerful and true to her style of being sexy in a classy and feminist way. The main concept of the song is for girls to embrace their bad girl side and not care about whether people like them or not because even the bad girls have more allure than the good girls and they certainly have more fun. But the term “bad” is not used to tell girls to just act bad with no reason, but to be bad in a way that is breaking the rules and going against the people in our lives who try to put us down or take advantage of us by abusing their privileges. The video exemplifies that theme with bright comic strip-like scenes of Lee Hyori’s character growing up as a girl and always being “bad” by fighting against bullies, playing pranks on a pedophilia teacher and a teacher who doesn’t even teach class because of tenure. This was one of my most listened to songs this year, especially with its addicting chorus. It’s definitely a video for all the rebels in the world.

1. MFBTY’s The Cure

            This video is the main reason why I titled this list Korean Music Videos. MFBTY is a collaboration of three of the biggest Korean Hip Hop artists. It consists of the King (Drunk Tiger JK) and the Queen (Yoon Mi Rae) of Korean Hip Hop, who are also husband and wife, and their long time friend Bizzy. They make a powerful trio and each time they drop a track or video, it is chock full of their experiences of composing music and producing videos with styles that are true to their roots in old-style hip hop. There is so much I can say in praise of this group, but let’s move on to the music video. This song is for the title song in Tiger JK’s new album, The Cure. The song’s tempo is more on the mellow side as compared to usual Hip Hop music. The lyrics are reflective of all the harsh experiences they have been through in their lives. They are lyrics that everyone can relate to; feeling alone, yet trying to find hope. You can understand the gist of the song by just listening to Yoon Mi Rae’s English chorus. On top of the wonderfully composed lyrics, the video is even more amazing because it allows you to watch the singers act out their feelings with so many symbolic scenes and caricatures that are literally drawn in and so adorable to see. For anyone who enjoys analyzing symbolic cartoons, this is definitely the video for you.

Notary Mentions

            There are a few videos that released this year that were not my personal tops, but I do acknowledge them to have been exceptional videos for certain reasons.

1. Xia Junsu’s 11am

I am not a big fan of ballads nor was this song my type of song. But the video is one that is a must watch with all its simple symbolism. Junsu’s amazingly smooth vocals are perfectly exemplified through this song. The background music doesn’t even need to kick in until more than halfway into the song. It is also shot in one straight shot of him singing among all the tarnished objects around in the empty plain that further gives the feeling of sorrow. It is just such a beautifully simple video and song.

2. Psy’s Gentleman

Psy has become the face of Kpop ever since Gangnam Style. I personally think he is overrated, not because I dislike him, but because he is not the ideal example of K-Pop and his Gangnam Style is perfectly like all his previous music videos I have seen. However, I did particularly love Gentleman because of the Korean pop culture he promotes in this video. Any person who is a true K-Pop fan would recognize all the cameos in this video.  The first obvious one is Brown Eyed Girls’ Gain; whose group had created the Abracadabra dance that is once again highlighted in this song. It also features many Korean stars from the popular variety show Infinite Challenge: HaHa, Noh Hong Chul (Elevator Guy from Gangnam Style), Yoo Jae Suk, Park Myung Su, Jeong Jun Ha, and Jeong Hyung Don (by appearance). There were also many famous scenes of Korea both public and media-wise, such as the spring chairs at the pool (featured on Running Man). I loved this video because I felt like I wanted to put footnotes all over it.

3. So Nyuh Shi Dae’s I Got A Boy

Being a SONE, I so wanted to put this video on my list of top videos this year. However, since this is more of a critical review, I must admit that this is not such an amazing video. Though I will mention it as a video deserving of notice since it did win YouTube’s Video of the Year award. Personally, I felt like the song was very inconsistent in the sound and it takes a while to get used to it. But I do love that the girls are trying to go back to their debut days when they actually did more active dancing in their songs.

4. EXO’s Growl

EXO’s Growl is not a video that is exemplary of their style or even amazing in its composition. But I did appreciate this video because it shows how much the boys all practiced the choreography to be able to film it all in one shot. I also loved the choreography because it was like a mirror dance between EXO K and M, which is a really fresh style of dancing as compared to the typical dance formations.

5. VIXX’s Voodoo Doll

This video actually flew over my radar until my friend Jenny became obsessed with it and forced me to watch it. The song and concepts are not exceptional. However, I do appreciate VIXX’s attempts to push the limits of what is acceptable in terms of gore in the K-Pop industry. It was especially shocking for a rookie boy group to attempt at it on stage with suggestions of being stabbed through with a large needle pin in the chest in their choreography. But this song finally won them their first music program award and got them more notice. So I applaud them for having so much guts (no pun intended).

            So concludes my first Korean Music Video review and my first review in general. I did not expect it to turn out so long. I hope you all enjoyed this review and feel free to comment with your own opinions. I am very open-minded to reasonable debates.

Introduction

Hi everyone. I guess this will be my introduction to my blog. My name is Lisa Huang. I am not good with introductions. So I will just let you all know the basics about me. I am a Chinese American young adult woman. I love faes, Wicca, ballet, mythology, fairytales, Korean music, and other things. I will be using this blog to write about almost anything I feel like. I am not a consistent writer, but I am trying to become one through this blog. You may judge for yourself if you deem my writing to be interesting enough to read or not. But I hope you will all watch over me with care.