Hahn (한)

Hahn is a documentary film in the making, which is being directed by Kelley Katzenmeyer, a nineteen-year-old American filmmaker and visual artist.

        "Hahn" will follow several Korean teenagers in the most stressful time of their lives- 

        their last year of high school. After studying for roughly sixteen hours each day, their 

        futures boil down to one last exam. On November 10th, 2011, thousands of high 

        school seniors will take a nine hour test that for many, will determine their economic 

        and social status for the rest of their lives. 

Kelley Katzenmeyer received a scholarship from the United States Department of State to study abroad in South Korea. Katzenmeyer deferred her admission into Columbia University to direct this documentary on Korean high school students.  She is currently raising money to help with funding for her documentary.  For more information on how to support this project, visit her project page. Here is a peak at what Katzenmeyer is working on in South Korea.

Rainy Days

One Way is a R&B and hip-hop group from South Korea. One Way consists of Chance, Peter, and Young Sky.  It's interesting how all three are connected, where Peter and Young Sky met in middle school in Sydney, Australia, and Young Sky moved to California and met Chance in high school. All three members are fluent in Korean and English. I feel like this group is so talented yet so underrated in South Korea's music industry.  Thankfully, with the help of social media outlets, One Way has been able to reach out and gain many fans all over the world.

Summer is just around the corner, and yet the dark clouds above decided to embrace us (the Bay Area) with rain.  So I was listening to this song for a good portion of the day.   This song was amazingly produced and written by members of One Way, and also features Kim Junsu of 2PM.  There is a certain flow to the song that makes you forget about the dark clouds and the glum weather.

I Got My

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM). In celebration of APAHM, Magnetic North and Taiyo Na made a music video dedicated to all amazing people within the Asian/Pacific Islander (API) American community, using their song, "I Got My". Magnetic North and Taiyo Na were able to reach out to community members to be involved with this dedication.

          "We reached out to entertainers, activists, teachers, students, actors, 

          designers, dancers, writers, poets, bloggers, community organizers…

          anyone and everyone who gives our community strength, depth, beauty."

Over 100 community members appeared in this five and a half minute music video. It was definitely inspiring and encouraging to see so many API Americans involved with this video.

Fiction

Beast is a six member, boy group from South Korea, under the management of Cube Entertainment.  Beast consist of Doojoon, Hyunseung, Junhyung, Yoseob, Kikwang, and Dongwoon.  Yesterday, Beast released their music video to their song "Fiction".  "Fiction" is track off their album, Fiction and Fact.  "Fiction" can be downloaded off of iTunes.  Up until now, I have enjoyed most of Beast's songs.  But after listening to "Fiction", it's one of my favorite Beast songs so far.  I love the instrumental integration mix of strings, piano, and electronic beats.  The vocals of each member blend well together with the instrumentals, and create a beautiful melody.  The choreography of "Fiction" is intriguing, and I've tried mimicking it,  but it didn't go too well.  Check out the song and music video to "Fiction", below!

 

I'm Lovin' It!

McDonald's came out with a new product, the frozen strawberry lemonade. McD's started a campaign for this new product with a couple advertisements. But McD's has been airing the talking lemon advertisement, and this advertisement is the only commercial on their YouTube account. But watching a talking lemon doesn't make me want to try McD's latest product.

Instead, this commercial with Victor Kim and Yuri Tag caught my attention. The commercial starts off with Victor sipping on a frozen strawberry lemonade and starts break dancing, and doing what he does best. Then Yuri enters the dance studio and sips on the frozen strawberry lemonade, and shows off her dance moves. Then it shows the two dancing together and sharing the drink. I like how McD's incorporated their brand colors into their product and the commercial. The frozen strawberry lemonade makes a swirl of red and yellow, and Victor is wearing yellow while Yuri is wearing red. Watching this commercial makes me want to try the newest drink.

I Wonder

Gifted On West East (Gowe) grew up near Seattle, Washington in a Chinese family. When he turned eighteen years old he found out he had been adopted, and his biological mother is Korean. Gowe wrote a passionate song, filled with emotions, to convey his experience and his longing to meet his biological mother one day. The first time Gowe performed this song was at Kollaboration Seattle 2010. This past Mother's Day, Gowe released a music video for his song. The song has passionate lyrics that will touch your heart. This is Gowe's song to her.