catskilt | Recent Entries

everybody knows, everybody knows where we're going;
yeah we're going down
Hello :) I'm Gem, and this journal is 40% personal life and 60% fangirl flail over Super Junior, general k-pop, NEWS, and the occasional JE / j-pop. My fandom-related posts will mostly be public, while personal will be under lock and key (I am paranoid, yes). I have biases and they tend to show, but I try to be objective. Really. It's not my fault if it doesn't work out. Life is hard like that :|

If all this sounds like your cup of tea, please read the below.

Friending policy: I am currently friending only those whom I've met before in previous interactions. If we've never interacted before or I don't know who you are, then chances are I won't add you back unless I know you better, because I'm not entirely comfortable with strangers reading about my personal life. Feel free to add me if you want though, since this journal is semi-public, and I'd love to get to know you better :D

In summary, talk to me a bit and I'll most likely adore you and we'll be great friends :D

Currently not friending because I really don't have the time anymore to be a good lj friend D:

This is too much. I understand if you put logos on pictures/fancams that you took yourself because - well, you took them yourself. I understand if you credit yourself for translations. But this, I cannot understand.

MyPaper is a national newspaper in Singapore. It is owned and published by SPH. "13elieveSG" does not have any ownership over it: he/she/they did not write it, nor edit it, nor print it, nor invest in it. All they did was to scan it. They didn't even translate it.

I somehow don't think that scanning an article gives you the right to put your own logo on it. In fact, even if they translated it, the only right they own is over the translation, not the article in any way, shape or form. And I don't believe that uploading and sharing the article is reason to insist that people give you credit for it. Yup, that's right, "sup3rjunior.wordpress.com". If sharing gave us the right to claim credit for the printed work, then I could talk about a New York Times article on this LJ and insist that people credit me for sharing it. See how ridiculous that is?

I think these people need to have a good hard look at what copyright infringement and intellectual property mean because they obviously do not have a clue. Or maybe they do, except that they're too caught up in wanting to promote their fansite/twitter/etc. in whatever unethical way that they can. And I honestly, honestly hope that the rest of fandom isn't dumb enough to realise that no, credit does not need to be given to the "sharer, uploader, or scanner". Most especially if it's a fucking national newspaper article.

Report in point form - but very long points!

Anyway, everyone knows that Bangkok usually has some of the best Super Shows, right. The guys really seem to like interacting with the audience and horsing around with each other. So that's what they did.

( Long-winded report underneath! )

The amazing thing about this group is that you can be half out of the fandom and kind of yeah well this doesn't apply to me anymore cos it's, you know. I've better things to do, like read a book (not that I am saying anything against books, okay, just that they're a completely different sort of pleasure), and then BAM you go watch their concert just because they're here and you know that Super Shows are always fun, and BAM BAM BAM you're pulled straight back in like you put a foot into quicksand.

They're just so absolutely fantastic at tugging at your heartstrings, making you want to cry, instigating you to laugh and scream ridiculous things at them like: "GET IT SUNGMIN", and dressing up as Marilyn Monroe and Britney Spears and Steve Jobs and still managing to look madly adorable. And I mean, if you're able to look adorable in a black turtleneck, jeans and a creepy centre parting while chomping on apples, you've got a mad talent, just saying.

Also, OUR LOVE. I'm dying to find a fancam of it on the second day because it was the most stunning moment I've ever encountered in concert. All the factors just culminated together (despite the lack of EunHae, which I'm still bewildered over cos, I mean, no EunHae during Our Love?! The world, it is collapsing!): 1) Almost every single fan in the stadium holding up red hearts, 2) the absolutely gorgeous remix and musical interlude, 3) the video of their debut days and first concert, 4) the boys all hugging each other, 5) the fans singing one verse unaided, 6) Teukie and Shindong both crying. It was a gorgeous moment. I can't even begin to describe it. Certainly it's not on the musical level as say, X Japan, but it doesn't really have to be because it was so emotional and you just wanted to bawl and be all, aww my boys look how far you've come and despite all the members leaving and leopard prints and fishnets and music videos in a box - YOU'RE STILL HERE SINGIN' TO US.

The opening, too, was kind of...stunning to say the least. With the stadium waving the glittery blue lightsticks (okay, so Sapphire Blue Ocean is not the most mature name around but the effect is still very beautiful) and the stage all flashing red and the boys coming out silhouetted against the red light and...SUPER JUNIOR, THE LAST MEN STANDING! God it was dynamite! It was goosebumpy! It was screamy! It was - OH MY GOODDDD LOOK AT THEMMM THEY'RE SO PRECIOUS AND ARROGANT AND DESERVEDLY SO! And BAM BAM all the greatest hits came rolling out one by one, Twins, A Man in Love, Opera, Don't Don, Rokkugo, etc.etc. and you're like okay so what if they have an average age of 27.5 years and are thus considered a step before being fossils in the Museum of Kpop, THEY CAN MOVE. AND THEY CAN MAKE YOU MOVE, OH YES THEY CAN.

All the solos rocked out, Kyuhyun with his beautiful harmonica rendition of "Isn't She Lovely", Henry with his Bruno Mars (I LOVE BRUNO MARS), Hyukjae with his SAY-MY-NAME (and you'll always be Lee Hyukjae, stay that way, you couldn't be more fabulous if you were Brad Pitt - actually you would be older and graying with a little belly so.), Sungmin with his girl-grinding, everything was so - for lack of a better word, wonderful! They just make you smile and sing and dance and chant along. And of course, Oppa Oppa. BEST CONCERT SONG EVER EXCEPT FOR ROKKUGO. Says something that it got HALF A STADIUM OF SOUTH-EAST ASIAN GIRLS ROCKING OUT. Cos we're South-East Asians, and we're as slitty-eyed (well actually SE-Asians have pretty big eyes) and poker-faced as they come. You do not get us out of our seats easily. We have special butt glue that keep us stuck to our seats. And yet half the stadium got up and bounced and screamed OPPA!

The ridiculous antics and getting splashed by jets of water and the cheesy pick-up lines ("Everytime we come to Singapore, we're amazed at how beautiful the country is. But even more beautiful, are the fans. What do they eat to make them so beautiful?"), the comebacks ("CRAB!"), the silly bantering ("I want to do this for ten hours." "....YOU DO IT YOURSELF."), the bowing, the gratitude, the interaction, the acknowledgement of fan projects, the always-on understanding of what fans want and the sincerity in wanting to please their fans and put on the best show (cos, I mean, FOUR HOURS AND JETS OF WATER HITTING THEIR CROTCHES).

I love this group and I will sing my heart out for them, and I will wave my little blue lightstick (that says 'Donghae' because it's the only stick I have that works - um), and I will clap till my hands are sore and scream "SARANGHAEYO <insert name>" during Our Love. That's all. ♥

"But the trouble is there aren't any bends in my road. I can see it stretching straight out before me to the sky-line...endless monotony. Oh, does life ever frighten you, Anne, with its blankness...Anne, I want to travel. It's the one thing I've always longed for. I remember the one and only picture that hung on the wall of my attic room at Uncle Henry's...a faded old print that had been discarded from the other rooms with scorn. It was a picture of palms around a spring in the desert, with a string of camels marching away in the distance. It literally fascinated me. I've always wanted to go and find it...I want to see the Southern Cross and the Taj Mahal and the pillars of Karnak. I want to know...not just believe...that the world is round."

You know what, people?

That is, the people who are whining about how they're sick of EunHae / EunHae is boring, overhyped, played up, etc.; or the even weirder whines about how they like Donghae but don't like Hyukjae (thus don't like it when Donghae works with Hyukjae) or how they like Hyukjae but not Donghae (and thus don't like Hyukjae to work with Donghae)...

For fuck's sake, can you see the smiles on their faces? The amount of tweets today? They're happy doing their thing. So what if there are some shippers who annoy you or go overboard in their shipping? It has nothing to do with the fact that Hyukjae and Donghae are excited about Oppa Has Risen, are happy about it, are promoting it as much as they can on Twitter, have the support of Suju, and are smiling widely while doing it.

So for the sake of shutting up, shut up and just enjoy it, gdi.

And if you can't do that simple thing, I have only this to say:

TOO BAD FOR YOU.

Super Junior 6th Anniversary!

LOL look at these beansprouts with their alien hair on Nov 6, 2005 :D They were really petrified weren't they?

Same performance, four years later, how the boys have grown. :D

Thank you Ryeowook for posting up that sepia-y image of SJ being precious and making me all sniffly that aww look how far they've come despite losing members to army and individual projects and having weird 'ubersexual' animal print and fishnet concepts.

Stay happy and healthy and successful!

SME, it's not really that difficult to make a passable music video.

It's quite simple, actually.

All you have to do is not put your group in a box.

You could put them in a carpark, or a house, or a shopping mall, or a park, or a wide open field. Anything goes. Just not a box.

You could have them smiling and patting each other's heads. Maybe feeding each other grass. Anything goes. Just not dancing in two outfits and making faces at the camera via random inserts.

So see, it's very simple.

Now learn from the professionals:

Brown Eyed Girls stays fantastic, and SME stays unimpressive.

A run through Singapore. This island is so full of beauty, it's bursting with it!

Also, what a stunningly simple but effective method of presenting a country.

And the guy is kind of cute too.

Because this cracked

thundersquall and I up so much, it deserves to be shared with everyone too :D (mostly Singaporeans, though, since I'm not sure how much a non-Singaporean would understand) but anyway:

Super Junior as Singaporean Boyfriends

And yes, they pretty much fail...very badly. Except for Siwon and Sungmin.

So, Super Junior as Singaporean boyfriends in various scenarios! Written by both me and

thundersquall :D

On Going to the Beach to Watch a Movie Screening

Kyuhyun

You: Let's go to the beach tomorrow, there's a free screening of Ice Age.
Kyuhyun: …what for?!
You: It'll be fun!
Kyuhyun: …just download it lah!

Kibum

You: Let's go to the beach tomorrow, there's a free screening of Ice Age.
Kibum: Okay.
You: It'll be so much fun!
Kibum: Yup. Okay. If you want to go lor.

Donghae

You: Let's go to the beach tomorrow, there's a free screening of Ice Age.
Donghae: OMG OKAY!!!! :DDDD!
You: We can bring like, beehoon and stuff!
Donghae: OKAY! WAH, BABY AH, WILL BE QUITE ROMANTIC HOR!

Ryeowook

You: Let's go to the beach tomorrow, there's a free screening of Ice Age.
Ryeowook: Ooh!! So fun! Okay! /claps hands
You: Can bring some food…
Ryeowook: Okay! I will make beehoon, curry chicken, fried chicken, nuggets, fried rice, …what else ar? Oh yeah, can bring fruits too for dessert, eh I go NTUC buy strawberries to eat with cream hehe.

Kangin

You: Let's go to the beach tomorrow, there's a free screening of Ice Age.
Kangin: Har, what fuck Ice Age.
You: That cartoon lah, last time got show one, very nice.
Kangin: Ka ni nah, beach damn hot lah.
You: But it'll be fun…
Kangin: Some more sure got the cheebye mosquito one.
You: But I really want to go leh…
Kangin: okokokokoklah. Wah lau eh. I call my kaki come along.

Heechul

Heechul will not go.

( And more of this macabre ridiculousness )

I am sitting in the Doha International Airport now blearily awaiting my flight to Singapore in about four hours and trying to block out the children screaming behind me...is there a playground there or something?

...Okay, just turned around to look and yes, there is a playground there indeed. I would move but I'm too tired and anyway I need to sit right by the TV sets with the departure gates information because as of now my flight has not yet shown up...

Anyway, this means that my time in America is officially over and it's weird because I seemed to take forever preparing for it and then it flew by. Which is not to say that I'm not glad to be going home because I am, I've done so much in the States and I'm quite willing to go back now. Regardless of how well you assimilate in a place, it's always home that you look forward to *___*

It has truly been the most amazing time and I think I've changed quite a fair bit - definitely a lot more independent now, and probably more confident, and friendly (lol), and generally just a lot more comfortable with being in a foreign country all by myself. I've also learned how great people can be, because all the friends I've met in the States have been really fantastic to me, from my Buffalo friends sending me everywhere and entertaining me and bringing me out, to my LJ friends who housed me and fed me and took me places. So, a more specific thank-you:

- To Lib,

ununoriginal ,

sinonymity ,

irisated ,

rodiy ,

pregnantcigar ,

taoyan, for putting me up in New York and taking time out to be with me every single time I went into the City...you guys are the reason why I kept going back, time after time!

- To

sanjihan for taking me out for dinner in Orlando!

- To

where_wordsfail for housing me in L.A. and then in NorCal, and tramping all over L.A. with me!

- To

wobaozhewo for giving up an entire week for me in San Francisco and climbing up Telegraph Hill with me!

- To

mawaru_berry for housing me in Rochester and being so sweet and adorable and just generally a joy to be with!

- To

meiface for driving me two hours to and fro the beach in NC, and sitting with me for hours watching videos!

- To

ky_rin,

trivialaffair,

xplodey_di,

soratoufu for being brilliant company in Ann Arbor and driving me four hours to and fro Chicago and being insane and lovely and adorable and making my stay in AA a wonderful thing that I will remember for a long time!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I am so, so happy that I met all of you and that we had all those long talks and good times. You will always be on my list of Precious Friends :DDD

HELLO ALL! I am the almighty Gem. I like to be graceful as an ostrich with a broken leg. Water is attracted to my face wherever I trawl. I have a couple

pregnantcatspregnantcats. In my spare time I paint chocolate koalas with lopsided smiles. I hope to find my work hung up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the near future.

If I translate something and make it public, it does not mean that you can re-post it on your own journal/tumblr/fansites/communities without asking me for permission.

I am not looking for credit as a translator, or anything like that, but I do have reasons for not wanting those translations reposted. I know I was short-sighted in not anticipating that people would be re-posting it, but in any case - in any case - if someone has not specified if you can re-post their stuff, it is only common courtesy to ask.

To all those who have re-posted my Baidu translations: please go to my original posts to read the explanation on why I do not want them re-posted. After that, please do lock your posts, or delete them if they can't be locked, and share them privately among all those who might like to read it. I don't want to withhold the posts from anyone, but I have reasons for not wanting the whole world to know that those posts exist.

Thank you.

Tonight is my last night as a university student.

I will miss the almost-daily dinner gatherings, cooking and eating and laughing and talking the most ridiculous nonsense.

The sometimes bawdy, sometimes witty, sometimes incredibly lame jokes.

The texts that read, "Dinner tonight?" "Coming to pick u up now." "Want bubble tea?" "Movie?" "Study at Lockwood later?"

The student association gatherings that come along with tons and tons of food.

The bland lunches at the school's food outlets.

The French Vanilla cappuccinos and apple fritters.

The endless bitching about schoolwork and classmates and professors (but getting everything done anyway).

The weekend road trips to Toronto for dim sum and karaoke.

The entourage of cars converging at the bubble tea cafe.

The hot chocolates during study sessions.

The partying and getting high and laughing for no reason at all.

The silly drinking games where we reveal our innermost secrets (but not the inner-innermost).

The long Facebook comment exchanges over statuses and photos.

The trips to New York City.

The camwhoring.

The impulse outings.

The late night mahjong and card games.

The stumbling home at 3am and sleeping till noon the next day.

Despite some hitches, it has been a good time.

And after tomorrow, another chapter of life begins.

With election fever high right now and everyone in a patriotic mood, I want to contribute by posting a bit about Singapore!

When I was a young and dumb kid, the trend was to hate Singapore. "I want to move away, I want to emigrate, I want to go to Australia" in addition to "weather so hot, everything so expensive, kena sai". Singaporeans are expert at criticizing Singapore - you don't have to look overseas for haters! We're our own best antis.

But in recent years I've grown up a bit and opened my eyes and now I can say openly and unashamedly, I love Singapore. I love my home. I love its food, its "chin chai" (easygoing) culture, its diversity, its tolerance, its harmony, its heart, its beaches, its skyline, its greenery, its ships out at sea. Okay, so I don't love the weather, and I don't love Channel 5, and I don't always love the people (though I do love the people too, sometimes), and I don't love the cockroaches/ants/lizards who also call Singapore home. I may love Taiwan or Japan, and the US has a lot more open spaces and pretty houses and friendly people.

But Singapore is home. It's an island that our grandparents have worked their asses off in factories, boats, markets, schools, to build a country. It's a place where our mothers and fathers grew up in, played five stones, hung off buses, ran around in fields. It's a country with an amazing history (despite our early attitudes of "Singapore history damn boring"); it has gone from virtually a swamp to a highly developed and prosperous country. It is safe for women to walk alone in the wee hours of the morning, it is a haven for so many people from surrounding countries, it speaks any amount of languages, it has minimal corruption, it has had some fantastic political leaders and statesmen. This hasn't happened overnight, and no, it is not the typical development for most countries. Singapore is a country that has achieved its own peace, security, and comfort through physical hardship, through the terrors of war and occupation, through poverty, through racial riots, through political tension, through intelligence and diplomacy, through endurance and perseverance and hard work.

And so I want to say to Singaporeans: SINGAPORE IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF. Singapore is worth your passion, love, and loyalty. Learn more about Singapore before you bash it as we've been socialized from a young age to. Take some time to read its history, to think of what your grandparents have done for Singapore, to think of the many, many people who have come from all parts of Asia and integrated together to build this amazing diverse community. Think of your Chinese, Malay, and Indian friends. Think of how the CBD lights shimmer on the Singapore River. Of the sunsets at East Coast. Of the glittering skyscrapers at Raffles Place. Of the talkative taxi uncle. Of the old men playing chess in coffeeshops. Of the auntie in the wet market smiling when she recognises you as a regular customer.

It's a beautiful country. And despite what happens in the elections, despite what the PAP may say about the opposition destroying Singapore, despite what the opposition says about PAP already destroying Singapore - remember it is up to us, first and foremost, to love our country, protect its own interests, preserve its beauty, and maintain it as a place that other people from around the world wish to visit, work, and live a part of their lives in.

One of the most inspiring and beautiful songs ever performed.

( translation. )

Matsuyama Kenichi and Koyuki are married

how where when what!!!

Yeah, so...I feel so submissive.

( more shiny eyes. )
In other news, I received my SJ-M album a couple days ago from my lovely lovable

wobaozhewo with the pretty Donghae postcard/photocard inside! The album looks better than I'd expected. I have yet to take out the CD but Donghae is already gracing my wall. A very small Donghae though, so my housemates won't think I'm crazy.

Also I haven't been commenting much on anyone's entries lately (no, I am not ignoring you! D:) because I've been so tired recently. If not physically tired (though now I am very physically tired), just emotionally or mentally tired. Which is probably why I've been unable to write fic, watch a drama series (I stopped halfway through the second episode of Secret Garden for no good reason), watch anything basically aside from movies (even attempts to rewatch EHB haven't been very successful, sigh), or even tweet as much as I used to. I also haven't been able to keep up with fandom, not even Suju, though I must say my t-list keeps me mostly in the loop with all their links of fantastic goodness and spazzing...speaking of which, I haven't even spazzed with anyone even though I see spazzing on my timeline about KyuMin, Teuk, etc. (This is also a half-lie; I think I just spazzed about Donghae). I'm just too tired to spazz properly nowadays, or at least to any convincing degree of intensity, and if you would believe me I am actually trembling with exhaustion while writing this post right now. But if you were to ask me what I did all day, I would have no idea at all.

SO. What I intend to say, in a less roundabout fashion, is that no I am not ignoring you!!! I have, in fact, kept up with my f-list entries mostly (

tees2mai, I want more ubergay!Hyuk!) just that I'm a lazy ass pleading exhaustion of some sort. I don't see this condition changing very soon, so please put up with me till...June? (Why am I saying this? I'm still around, as you can very well see, gdi!)

Anyway, yes. Er. I shall go to sleep now :3

LMFAO.

The joys of growing up.

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catskilt

May 2015

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i'll dance with you inside the layered light.

towards the spiral of fantasy

Recent Entries

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i call this: credit greed

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This is what the NDP videos should have been

for posterity

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never gets old.

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