SeoulFire

****BIG SIGH**** Hello. How are you? Good? That’s great……….****BIGGER SIGH****What?……..Oh! How am I am? Well, I’m doin ok. I use the term ”ok” loosely. Why? Boy, you are asking a lot of questions today!! That’s ok. I don’t mind sharing. Where should l start? Well……

• As soon as I decide to share my precious Alex with you it turns out he has decided to take a small break from his busy schedule.
  

  Working hard for the money!

  Apparently it’s supposed to last until the end of this month so that he can rest up for his sold out (!) concert coming up at the end of this month. I understand though. He has some back issues and it’s pretty common for entertainers in the Korean industry to pack their schedules. Imagine our entertainment industry filled with Mario Lopez-es aka Saved by the Bell’s A.C. Slater.

  

  Mario Lopez.....Working TOO hard for the money!

  Yeah. They work a lot. Basically the higher profile you have, the less you have to stay in the public eye. He is still doing We Got Married but it worries me that he won’t be doing it much longer. I want him to be healthy because HE’S ALEX but I won’t be attending any of his concerts anytime soon so I have to rely on the nice people who posts his tv appearances on YouTube aka The Center of the (internet) Universe!!! Of course if he kept going it might cause some serious damage that there wouldn’t be any footage to post EVER. But still…….. AI-GOO!! (That’s a Korean exclamation. They use it a lot. And now that Korean dramas have become a way of life for me I’ve started saying it too. It’s rather handy if you ask me. Better than some of the exclamations we Americans like to use ;  0)

• What else? OH!! Solbi and Andy are leaving We Got Married!! Apparently this departure is due to scheduling conflicts. PFFFT!! (Blowing raspberry. Minimum spittage was present.) Yeah. Sure. “Scheduling conflicts”. This is on par with celebrities and their entering rehab due to “exhaustion”. I can almost guarantee that the reasons “scheduling conflicts” means everything but “scheduling conflicts”.
  

  Love you forever?.....Not so much.

  Let’s count the many different possibilities, shall we?:

1. “You’re annoying the crap out of me and I can’t tell you all of the ways I want to hurt you on national television without there being repercussions.”
2. “I’m gay”
3. “I think you’re gay.”
4. “I was using you to make my boyfriend/girlfriend/crush jealous. And it worked! So I’m done.”
5. “I was using you/the show to up my celebrity profile. And it worked! So I’m done.” 
6. “My friends keep making fun of me and I’m sick of it.”
7. “I was done once you made me dress up in those ridiculous costumes (See previous post) but the audience liked it so I stuck around a little longer.”
8. “You’re kinda hot and I thought I would get some. But now that I know that I’m not…….”
9. “I’m tired of competing with Alex!!! He’s too perfect!!” (Ok. Maybe that’s just me typing outloud. HA)
10. And finally: “It’s kinda hard dating when you have a fake wife/husband.”

In all seriousness, now that I know they are leaving I feel like a part of my pop culture addicted life has been shaken. It’s almost as if my mind put some equation together and it made my world slightly different-apparently, these couples are free to leave anytime they want……WHAT?! In a strange way that hurts a little. They introduced 3 new couples last week and they will be holding a segment soon where the couples will decide to stay on the show or not. Andy and Solbi are confirmed. No one is sure about the other couples. Any number of couples could leave and they already have a back up couple waiting on the sidelines. It’s a little scary. Especially considering 1) Alex is trying to slow down for his back issues, 2) He’s already been established as the romantic guy that everyone loves so is there a reason to stick around longer?, and 3) Shin Ae will always have a job because she’s pretty so will she push for them to stay if he says he’s considering leaving?

I'm so pretty I don't need this show. What about you Alex?

ALL THESE QUESTIONS THAT CAN ONLY BE ANSWERED IN TIME!!! AI-GOOOOO!!!!!

• Lastly, as I said in the last post, I am working overtime to bring you another issue of “Of the Asian Persuasion”. But here’s the problem-I worked TOO hard!! I’ve worked so hard that I can’t decide which titles to comment on. I’ve been watching all kinds of things for the past month. I don’t know a show/film without subtitles!!  Just to tell you now it will be all Korean dramas because, if you haven’t notice, I’m a little obsessed with them. What makes it worse is that I’ve got more dramas that I have yet to watch that are patiently waiting for me to obsess over them. You can thank my external hard drive for that.
  

  Sleek, dark, and secure...Why do we need men again? Oh right....they're human.

   

Thank God for external hard drives!!! I just have this handy device that protects everything that I love until I am ready to access it. I think I just described my perfect guy. Scary. 

On a rather insignificant positive note I have started watching another Korean reality show to take the place of We Got Married in case my favorite couples leave and it turns to crap. It’s called 2 Days and 1 Night.

They look like they've had ONE NIGHT of sleep AND TWO DAYS of hell!!!

 It’s pretty popular over there in Korea. Remember how I said foreign entertainment have a tendency to have titles that are ridiculously obvious? A cast takes 2 days and 1 night to visit a tourist location around Korea with little to no money. You can’t get more obvious than that. They basically use it as a PSA to up Korean tourism and the show is so huge I wouldn’t be surprised to know that tourism has goneup a bit. While seeing the same cast every week going to some place you’ve never heard of and will probably never visit seems, well, useless…….imagine the cast was the cast of Punk’d. Led by an overweight Ashton Kutcher. Wow. If that doesn’t sound funny to you then you have no soul whatsoever. I am literally in tears watching this show. I’ve had many moments where I had to pause the video just so I can finish laughing. I couldn’t see because my eyes had closed completely!!!

If you’re wondering why these shows have that certain je ne sais quai for more people than you think, well, I can only give you my opinion. I personally like the honesty in them that the people display in them. From my short experience with Korean entertainment I’ve learned that Koreans appreciate a certain pureness and honesty that we Americans have a tendency to bury. It’s refreshing. It’s the difference between an American contestant in a Miss USA competition and a Korean contestant in a Miss Korea competition: While they both may want “world peace” I guarantee that Miss USA will have more silicon and botox running through her body than Miss Korea.

Miss USA 2008

Miss Korea 2008

Don’t misunderstand, I will always come running back to American entertainment because……..WE RULE!!!!! It’s nice to take a break from self involved young adults who have too much money and find ways to voice their opinion by using ”like” for every other word (“And, like, that just, like, HURTS!! You know? Like, A LOT!!”)

"Like, totally!!"

Just keep in mind that I am one of those young adults. The only difference is that I can control my “likes”. I know when and how to say no. Just say NO, Lauren Conrad!!!

Before I go I just want to point out- GREY’S ANATOMY STARTS NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, breathe in, breathe out……..I’m ok. At least until next Thursday. For two hours I can’t make any promises on my ability to control myself.

WOO-HOO!!!

It’s here people. The kids are driving their parents crazy, we’re all sticking to leather seats or anything covered in plastic, and (most importantly) all of the season finales have shown leaving us craving for more. All of them leaving us half satisfied, majorly disappointed, and some have just left us raving mad. Summer. My most loved of all seasons. My best and truest friend…….. WHERE THE HELL YA BEEN?!! To celebrate this momentous occasion I thought I’d purge myself of any deep, dark TV crimes I have committed this season. And there are a lot. Ok. Here goes.

1. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. So here it is: My name is India and I (*SNIFF*) watch The Hills (voice cracks). 

All together now in your best uninterested, monotone voices, “HI, INDIA”. Ahhhh. Feel the love.

Now I know I’m probably not the only one who has been able to scrap up the courage to admit this (there are many that are proud to be Hill-heads) but you have to understand where I’m coming from here. I loathe reality television. It was ridiculous when it started and it’s gets more ridiculous every year. I mean, scripted reality?! Isn’t that an oxymoron? 

These are not real people on the screens anymore! These are aspiring models/actors/singers that are desperate for fame when all they’ll really get out of it is a chance to elongate a semi-memorable moment that made them infamous. These real people have become “real” people. They have become characters that are assigned to a series season episode that you can download on itunes for a relatively cheap price. They are simply people that have been edited and modified to fit whatever cliche the producers think is fitting for that person.  Unless you get a season pass then we’re talking a little more in the $ area but who can but a price on desperation, huh?

I have to say that are some moments that are watercooler worthy but really isn’t that why we watch? The producers of these shows definitely know that. And there are those moments where you just have to make fun of people. I hate to talk about people behind their back back but I just don’t consider it the same thing. I mean, really, don’t they kinda sign up for that? I watched an episode of The Hills and they just got to the part where Heidi and Spencer are having an argument in Spencer’s car……..again. The entire conversation was based around the fact that Heidi claimed they were on a “relationship vacation”. Relationship vacation? Really? I’m sorry but when I hear vacation I think a relaxing break from the everyday norm. Or everyday drama in their case. And if that IS a vacation then that’s the worst vacation ever!!! When they’re together they fight and when they’re apart they talk about each other. Just get it over with already!! You won’t be the first reality TV couple to break it off but I think yours will be one of the main ones that everyone will rejoice about. 

I understand the appeal though. We get to spend an hour in someone else’s life and then thank God that we’re not them as they show the closing credits. I usually end up mumbling something to the effect of “Stupid” as the credits roll. It’s a break from our relatively boring lives and we welcome the distraction with open arms and I don’t exclude myself from that group.

       2.  Next confession: I LOVE Gossip Girl. Now I understand the irony here and, yes, technically Gossip Girl and The Hills pretty much run in the same vein. I mean you could have the entire Hills cast do a guest spot on Gossip Girl and no one would blink an eye. All the way down to the soundtrack. It’s like a game of Tetris you would always win. But the combination of Upper East-side brats, ridiculous storylines, awesome clothes and witty repartee is just irresistible!!!

You’ve got Serena the prodigal daughter who is just so tortured with her beauty, popularity, and almost perfect (if not self righteous sometimes) boyfriend. Yeah. I wouldn’t hold your breath for any tears from us anytime soon. Blair, the quintessential Upper Eastside bitch with a slight habit of letting her human side shine through. VERY slight but her bitchiness is better than her human-ness so I’m ok with that.  Nate……oh who cares about Nate. He’s nice to look at and too nice for me to take him seriously.  And Chuck. I wish I could make you understand how much I love the delicious evil that is Chuck. He’s ruthless and conniving but that makes it even better when he lets his true feelings show. Plus…….. He’s Chuck Bass.

       3. My last confession: I watch Grey’s Anatomy. This really isn’t something that I’m ashamed of. I’m more proud to say that now. I mean let’s face it, season 3 SUCKED!!! Everyone was either really depressed or depressing and they killed almost every patient. For the top notch doctors they were supposed to be the death toll was horrendous!!!

Ok. That’s all I’ve got. Join me next time when I will be confessing my deep love for Instant Star (Starting June 2!!) and any other show offering new, shiny things that happen to catch my eye.