March 24, 2010

sorry guys…

i moved! :)

http://progressiveprocedures.tumblr.com/

Filed by minuskeptics at March 24th, 2010 under extras
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March 21, 2010

newalbum…a work in progress

i just had to record this. but it’s not finished:

Where You Are Is Where I Belong [SNIPPET]

i can’t breathe, my heartbeat slowing
feel so cold but the fever is burning
this lonely void, too void; too long for too long
now i can’t see, only smiles and reflections
closest thing to a taste of perfection
but not too close, too close; just right, yeah, just right.

could what i’m feeling down inside
be deceptions of my mind?
God, i hope it’s not a lie
cuz, girl, i know that when you’re gone
where you are is where i belon

Filed by minuskeptics at March 21st, 2010 under music and tagged minuskeptics, music, new album
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March 2, 2010

newalbum…?

in the midst of chaos (concerning college prep, academics, and soccer), the thing on my mind next in line (hey, that rhymes..HEY THAT DOES TOO!:D) is releasing a full-length album before i graduate high school.

here’s a tracklist (of course, more will be added + deleted + order changed), try to guess which song will be about what ;)

1. rollar coaster
2. unintentional
3. white flag
4. pieces
5. july rain
6. stars, awaken (interlude)
7.  but the neighbors next door… (interlude)
8. where you are is where i belong

a piece of it? the only complete song is “july rain”:

(click on the “COMMENTS ” TAB to read more!)

Filed by minuskeptics at March 2nd, 2010 under music and tagged brainstorm, music
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February 19, 2010

juniorlifesobusy..

things that happened this past month:

- 2/11-2/15 LUNAR NEW YEAR BREAK
…ended up spending most of the week in sorrow –> S.A.T. scores came out + progress reports + math 2c 학원…sigh.

- 2/13 FAMILY MEETINGG
got to meet my relatives for the first time in 2010. that’s two aunts, one uncle, five cousins + three of their wives (the other two aren’t married), my two nieces (:  got some good cash while we were at that…(;

- 2/14 Valentine’s Day = S.A.D. (Singles’ Awareness Day)
spent the whole day with yeram byun (his blog is on my friends’ list, take a peak at it!) we a) discovered the amazingly productive atmosphere of cafe bene @ 양재.   b) discovered that kyobo is closed on lunar new year day, NOT valentine’s.   c) walked from KANGNAM all the way to APGU ON FOOT.  d) played an amazing 2 HOURS of indoor soccer (futsal) for tryouts :)

- 2/17 TRYOUT RESULTS
Tamas Lengyel…12…Captain…
Jona Park…11…Captain…   (:

what the agenda plate has to offer:

- 2/20 KIS Winterball (i’m performing!)
- 2/27 First official scrimmage vs. ICS-UJB?
- 3/4 Science Fair project due….heh;;
- 3/5 FIRST GAME OF THE 2010 KAIAC SEASON!! vs TCIS away
- 3/6 sleep @ Daegu, play 2nd away game vs. DAHS

…it’s gonna be a good few weeks (:

Filed by minuskeptics at February 19th, 2010 under extras and tagged hakwon, music, soccer, valentines day
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January 5, 2010

1st ALBUM REVIEW: rhianna’s “rated R” (2009)

alright. i’m going to start something new.

after watching alonzolerone and seeing how fun music reviewing really could be, i decided to do my own review of albums that i come across myself. After all, it is a good way to express my thoughts and ideas about what good music potentially could be.

so here it goes:

rihanna’s “RATED R”

i’ll admit, i don’t usually listen to r&b/hip-hop of the 21st century. i prefer something with a little more guitar and less repetitiveness when it comes to being musically innovative. but as of last night, i decided to spice up my itunes library with a little more of what people are actually listening to these days instead of staying in my little shell that someone could too easily call “oblivious”.

ALBUM APPEAL.

so i took a swing at it, and the first thing that came to mind was seeing rihanna in that AMAZINGLY unique and…exposing (if you will) outfit that she wore at the American Music Awards back in November. “what the heck is going on with the mainstream?” was the first thought that went through my mind. but what i failed to realize at that moment was that the music industry is competitive. these people are going to do whatever it takes to stay on the screen. in this case, it was stripping half naked and making sure that everyone had a glimpse of those areas we don’t see everyday.

don’t get me wrong, i think she’s beautiful. and it’s not wrong to look sexy. it’s just the demand coming from viewers and listeners is on the rise, that we’re taking it too far.

regarding kids, alonzolerone said, “…’rated R’ will not sell that much until they re-release the PG-13 version in 2010…”

he was talking about the content of music, but i’m absolutely sure he was talking about her dress appeal too: “it just seems like artists are more into fashion these days then actually giving us what we really want.”

SO TO SUM THE ALBUM APPEAL UP: sexy, but too much.

GRADE:

6/10

MUSIC CONTENT.

i’m going to guess that by this point in time, you’re thinking that i’m going to hate on this album the whole way through. truth is, i was actually impressed to a majority of these songs. maybe it’s because i haven’t been listening to this type of music in a long time, but rihanna’s beats and riffs can get you HOOKED.

you got songs such as “RUDE BOY” & “TE AMO” that i can see as potential party songs – great feel, good beat, not too “bad” for anyone. “Rude Boy”‘s got that almost-Caribbean feel (most likely roots back to her Barbadian heritage if you will), doesn’t sound like a lot of typical hip-hop songs that we’ve been tranced with in this day of age. I like it – it’s original, but it’s still got that electronic taste that we’ve all grown so fond of.
“Te Amo” heads in the same direction as “Rude Boy”, only this time with a more latin-feel. clever lyrics about a…”lesbian” experience. no, i’m not saying THAT’S what’s clever. it’s the play on words, the lyrics themselves:

“Then she said ‘te amo’, then she put her hand around my waist
I told her no; she cries ‘te amo’
I told her I’m not gonna run away, but let me go
My soul is crying, without asking why
I said ‘te amo’, somebody tell me what she said/Don’t it mean ‘I love you’?”

NOW, for a mainstream artist in the r&b/hip-hop category (excluding respected rappers such as JAY-Z) to think as far as rhyme scheme and play on repetitive words, i’m REALLY impressed by the cleverness of this song.
but of course, when it comes to lyrical content, we can’t expect anything particularly symbolistic or pensive (as i would prefer), so i’ll stay a little lenient with the criticism on that.

we all know the politics behind this album. Rihann’s infamous battle against her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown’s assault evidently broke her heart. Rated R was a rather quick and solid response to the heartbreak. I’m guessing that’s the reason for “bad” but crap songs like “HARD (feat. Jeezy)” and “G4L” (“I lick the the gun when I’m done/Cuz I know that revenge is sweet, so sweet”) (actually, i’ll confess: i grew fond of this song, but HARD, i canNOT forgive. it’s a pointless, mere celebrity song). It’s obvious that her more quiet, sentimental songs such as “STUPID IN LOVE”, “PHOTOGRAPHS (feat. Will.i.am.)”, “COLD CASE LOVE”, & “THE LAST SONG” are referring to Chris Brown and the broken relationship. NO ONE can ever cast doubt on her singing ability – it’s always been there. She does such an excellent job in producing more than the right pitches, but the tone of the song. When she’s mad, SHE’S MAD. but when she’s in remorse, she delivers the message with such such elegance. The extra, peculiar harmony gives more to the song, and i’m absolutely in love with it.
we can relate to a good majority of her songs. what evokes a more tangible feel to the songs is that we know exactly who she’s talking about and what she’s gone through.
i have to say though, “RUSSIAN ROULETTE” was an interesting one. i think we can all process different meanings from the same song, but the way i see it, THE MUSIC VIDEO WAS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO THE SONG. horrible job for such a great song. russian roulette is about testing love and seeing how far you’d go for the one you love. the way I saw it, Rihanna should have been the one with the gun pointed in her face, under pressure. but -_-. i was utterly disappointed by the MV…see what you think.
I’ll talk about  “FIRE BOMB” now. i feel like the order of the songs aren’t in the BEST order based on the content of the songs – seems like they were all tossed onto a CD last minute to meet the deadline for the world premier.
this should have been the last track on the album (despite “THE LAST SONG” being in its “proper” place. haha-_-). read for yourself:

Gunfire left a hole in the tank, losing gasoline
Fire is on my trail and hes after me
Hope it don’t get here before I get where Im going
I gotta get where Im going, take off the masked debris

You could’ve been a apart of a masterpiece
Fluid in the breaks was the last to leak
Thats the thing: where Im going, I dont need my breaks

Cant wait to see your face
When your front windows break
And I can crash through

J. Fauntleroy (the writer of this song) devised this song so brilliantly, i listen to it despite the cliche 4-chord progression-electric guitar intro+choruses (i actually skipped this song when i first heard the album after about 5 seconds into it). The chorus is my least favorite part of the song, but i can relate to the verses personally. beautiful song, great harmony, even though it’s not really rock, good hybrid of the two genres.
we are most attracted to the songs that we can most relate to, no?

SO TO SUM THE MUSIC CONTENT UP: never-disappointing vocals (+), good use of harmony (+), great variety of types of songs – party v. hard v. sentimental (+), irrelevant video content (-), disorganized track order (-).

GRADE:

9/10

OVERALL GRADE
6 + 9 = 15 / 2

= 7.5/10

thanks for reading! (: leave your thoughts/comments beloww

Filed by minuskeptics at January 5th, 2010 under music and tagged album review, rihanna
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January 4, 2010

brainstorm: “transparent”

song in the process of being written since 12/31/09:

…

we’ve been pushing forward like a bullet train
I think we’ve made some progress, but that could be my disarray
But if there’s one thing that I’m certain of
It’s I never wanted you more than I do today

Time is moving backwards, on the double now
My hand is reaching outward, but your heart, I can’t figure out
But if there’s some thing That i’m searching for
It’s that you’ll never be alone, as long as you’re here to stay

[this is the last half of the soon-to-be-finished chorus]

I hope I’m not transparent
‘Cause If I am you’ll see right through
this heart for you.

…

i honestly don’t know who i’m thinking about while writing this. the guitar riff came first, then the melody, THEN the lyrics. i’ve just been constantly playing the riff over and over and over and over again until words struck me. I tried to make some sense out of the pile of chaos stored up in my notes (myGOODNESS it’s messy), but it’s always difficult to come up with good lyrics when the writing process hits you in that order.

i do know that everyone feels confused at times. there might be that special person that you have in mind, but you don’t have a clue with how you’re doing. there are days when you feel like you just “scored,” and days that you failed miserably because he/she didn’t text you today, or message you on facebook, or call you after class ended, or even look at you at school.

simple truth is, that other person doesn’t know what’s going on inside your head, and we die to let them know despite it being the most dangerous thing to do. question is, how are you going to let them know?

Filed by minuskeptics at January 4th, 2010 under music and tagged brainstorm, music, writing
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January 2, 2010

2009

they told me when i was seven years old that the clock ticks faster as you get older, and i didn’t believe it.

but now i do.

it’s amazing all that’s been compact in this past one year. 2009.

but since i only have 10 minutes until it’s january 2nd, i’ll be concise and get to the point.

i have so much that’s been given to me. too much. i live in an area of seoul that rich people normally live in, but our income is barely half of what our neighbors get. this computer that i’m using was a birthday gift from people other than my parents. i’ve been allowed to go to a life-changing trip with three of my best friends in kuala lumpar, malaysia. i’ve been part of an amazing soccer team that was one table point away from the title and still have so much ahead of itself. my parents support me in whatever i do 200%. they love me no matter what i’ve done to them and no matter what i put them through. i’ve been allowed to attend two international/foreign schools that we probably could not afford to go to if it weren’t for those who loved my family and helped support financially. had it not been for them, i would be a korean student right now attending some public school 15 minutes away from my house. i’ve been given the opportunity to learn to sing properly, play guitar and express myself as i am. i’ve been given friends that have stuck to me for more than just fun, but struggle.

i think it’s obvious that i don’t deserve all this. and yet it’s given to me.

god, thanks for everything. i’m looking forward to the trip you’re going to take me through this year.

crap…it’s 12:01 am…;;

PREVIEW: a few catalytic events that shook my world in 2009 will be posted next time (;

Filed by minuskeptics at January 2nd, 2010 under life and tagged 2009, thank yous
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December 22, 2009

an introduction, music.

it’s finally over.

i think for those who took the exams throughout this week can say that it’s been THE longest week of the year so far. Personally, i took six exams this week – ap euro, euro lit, physics, us history, precalc, and theology. I’m proud to say that i’ve survived through it all.

unfortunately, i’m attending hakwon for the whole winter break. i’m talking christmas eve, christmas day (from 9AM-12PM so..i guess that’s okay). the unbelievable amount of pressure to do well on this january test (on the 23rd) surpasses past extremities…

an introduction, MUSIC.

i normally try to write on agenda, but of course it never really really works out like that. the lyrics that i normally postulate as “good” are those that derive out of a real situation, whether it be an emotional catastrophe or just a good day overly-charged with too much caffeine. what i tend to do is concentrate on hitting the bull’s eye of my focus: “what am i really trying to say here?”

too many times i fail to produce anything. it’s not that easy, really. to come up with some solid material that you yourself are satisfied with, and at the same time gain the approval of the general public. i’m talking approval in the sense that they understand and feel the vibe of the tune, the depth of the material of the song, not just their glimpse at the song or whether or not it’s popular.

i hope to communicate with you, through this song that i’ll start writing right now (but came up with a melody first :D) more than what i’m trying to say through this, but what i can relate to you. to help this become YOUR song instead of just “jona’s”. enjoy.

brainstorm (for the past 30 minutes):

Hush, quiet now
I’m trying hard to think
But the only thing I think I know
Is that I think I miss you

So silent now
This Christmas is at ease
And it’s easy to just give up on you
As if nothing’s missing

But then again I’d lose it all
Is this a common cold war?

What I’m feeling tonight
I don’t think it’s all right
But to fight off the tide
I was your place to hide
And now you’re gone away

this will probably be finished by tmrw with a video to go with it :)

Filed by minuskeptics at December 22nd, 2009 under music and tagged brainstorm, end of semester, i think i miss you, music
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December 12, 2009

a start of something new

song of the moment: “On a Night Like This” by Dave Barnes

…yes, i decided to start a blog.

i know i really shouldn’t considering that i have final exams next week, but it’s been on my mind that we never have the time to just sit down and reflect.

…well at least I don’t.

so here’s the declaration: this blog will be all about journaling – anything that comes to my mind, i will write it down, for my sake. so that i can look back and remember everything that happened from junior year and so on.

this blog is all about reflections, thoughts, stories, and music.

(i should REALLY start studying for the exams…heh).

SIGH. alright. here it goes.

Filed by minuskeptics at December 12th, 2009 under extras and tagged Dave Barnes, journaling, new start
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