All my good intentions of blogging every day (did I really say I would do that? π), or even vaguely regularly, went up in smoke as they always do with me, although me saying I didn't do anything apart from celebrate idols' birthdays probably wasn't hugely interesting to most people (or even me) anyway. To be fair, I was heavily sidetracked by Hogwarts Legacy, as we all know - and being terrible at games it took me about 420 hours to complete it (yes, I really am that bad!) - and that was without any of the side bits like decorating my room of requirement or the vivariums - mine were empty apart from plant pots and potions tables, and let's not even talk about shiny animals (although I did somehow manage to get a shiny (gold) unicorn π¦.
Look at the pretty unicorns ❤️
Worse still, I felt I didn't do it (especially my Slytherin character) justice so I restarted playing over Christmas. I'm impressed at how much better I am this time around (and more adventurous in jumping across gaps and stuff), although I still suck at flying and my fighting ability is zero - and yes, I was and am playing "story" mode, the easiest mode, and it's still challenging for me π.
After I finished the original run-through, I decided to try another few games (Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor and a curious game called Book of Hours) but gave up with both almost immediately as they weren't as easily playable as HL so I was even worse at them - and I give up when I get frustrated with things. I am not a trier, which is why I hate all those games like Candy Crush or the bottle-filling games because I just want to smash things or fill bottles for hours, I don't need them to get increasingly impossible to do (maybe this is why I don't mind all the repetitive tasks in HL). Two other big factors in not blogging (or playing games) were work - which took up far too much of my time and mental well-being this year - and still is, unfortunately - and music which took up a whopping amount of my time (far more than I expected - I really should make listening to music my full-time job - I would be much happier too). Even drama-watching took a backseat as the year went on, although I did manage to complete a fair few.
Anyway, having spent too much time on those things I really couldn't be bothered to sit down at the end of the day and blog about it, especially when I wasn't doing anything exciting.
I did do a few things over the year - at the end of May/early June, I went on holiday with my family to Benidorm. It was great, both the holiday itself (which was the first proper holiday since 2019 and was a lovely break from work and I want more) and spending time with my family, who I hadn't seen since the pandemic began in March 2020 (in fact, I had just got back from my mother's 80th birthday party in Spain when the lockdown started).
There were also concerts, of course:
April - Blue October (twice and we met them again too)
June - SHINee (online - I really want to see them live one day)
July - KPop Lux Festival (online as it was in Madrid - I wish I'd gone, though)
October - Muse - they were as incredible as they always are, but unfortunately, Quincy ended up catching Covid
November - London KPop Festival (online as we couldn't make the concert - which was lucky as they streamed all the performances on YouTube a couple of weeks later and I'd have been really annoyed at paying almost £200 for a ticket just to see it all online)
November - Woodz - he was great and we were lucky enough to see him just a couple of days before he announced his enlistment date (serve well, king)
December - TVXQ! (online this morning and they were amazing - I love them so much)
There are plenty more concerts, both online and IRL planned for 2024, assuming ill-health doesn't stop us, as it did a few times this year π.
We also managed a couple of trips to the cinema - to see the Peter Doherty film, which I found really interesting and informative, and made me love him even more than I already do, and also to see the NCT Nation concert film, which was entertaining but confirmed that the only NCT unit I really like enough to spend time on is WayV (sorry 127 and Dream).
This year also saw the sudden enlistment of Kai (very unexpectedly, just before the EXO album (which is a banger) was released) and then we lost Sehun to military service too, just before Christmas, so no full band again until 2025 now. Shinwon from Pentagon went at the same time.
Sadly, my beloved ult, ult bias, Onew, went on hiatus for ill health just before SHINee's last album was released in June, so he missed all the promotion for it, and he still isn't backπ - get well soon, my love, I and millions of others miss you greatly.
Most members of Pentagon and all of BtoB left Cube, and have signed with other agencies. Hopefully, they will still all be working as their respective bands in the future as well as following their solo careers (although Yanan is still in China and signed to a Chinese agency and busy with all sorts of work, so I'm not that hopeful about his return to Pentagon π’).
EXO also had a busy year with their contracts - EXO CBX were even suing SM at one point (good thing too!). I'm not entirely sure where they all stand at the current time, except that D.O. has started his own agency to manage his solo activities. I think Baekhyun has started a dance agency (?) or maybe one for his solos (I'm sure he said something about dancing though), and EXO-SC are also managing their own activities (when Sehun returns obviously). As the band's relations with SM are less cordial than they've ever been, I wouldn't be surprised if the band leaves in the next year, or shortly after Sehun is discharged. I live in the eternal hope that Lay is still a member, despite his increasing workload in China, and his signing to yet another agency to manage his international work. I miss him in the band and want him back working with his members.
One of the best things K-pop-wise (from my point of view anyway), was Omega X finally getting away from their terrible agency and then releasing a fab new album. I was so happy for them - long may they continue.
I'm currently working on my end-of-year music lists, which I will write about here once I've finally sorted them (although the playlists for the favourites and monthly listening are available in the bar on the right). Some of it will be easier thanks to the monthly playlists, despite the difficulty in choosing a top 3 every month, but there is still a deal of work involved, especially deciding on favourite lead and B-side songs from the EPs and Albums and sorting out OSTs and stuff.
I also hope to listen to more Chinese music next year, although it's not so easy to track down, especially when they only put some of it on Chinese streaming sites that have no translation facility. I did split what I could find into separate monthly playlists, with the intention of doing a top 3 for them too, but when the K playlist was up in the 6-700's each month, and with work sometimes leaving me having to play catch-up, it was hard to find time to listen to them as well. I must try harder next year as most of the stuff I did listen to was excellent (and not just Zhang BinBin and WayV either).
I discovered LastFM in July, which has been providing me with all sorts of interesting (and contradictory) information about my listening habits - it has EXIST (the EXO album) as both 1 and 2 in my most listened-to albums list (I have no idea how this happened π). I'm also continuing the use of Receiptify. I look forward to a full year of data from both this time next year, when I might be able to get a proper reading on the number of songs listened to etc. (it's been 11,676 since 1 July, so probably at least double that).
At the beginning of December (far too early as I've listened to another 2,527 (as I write these words) songs since the beginning of the month, Spotify released their annual Wrapped stats, the details of which can be found below. I don't think 4 of my top 5 artists this year would be much of a surprise to anyone. If you're interested in what they say I listened to most, you can listen to my playlist.
This is not really that indicative of my listening this year, but still.... (yes, apparently I really do love Zhang BinBin that much!)
Going forward, I expect to use this blog more as a monthly catch-up for things I've done (I am seriously intending to leave the house more this year - yes, I know I've said it before but I'm really going to try in 2024) and a round-up of the music I've been listening to, plus anything interesting going on. If something really exciting happens, then I'll post about it, but I'm definitely not tying myself down to daily or even weekly posts if nothing interesting is happening, as that's just setting myself up to fail. Just like my Goodreads Reading Challenge, less is more, and if I manage to exceed my target then I can feel proud of myself for doing better, and I really need mood boosters rather than things to drag me down.
Anyway, I think that's it for now. End-of-year music and drama posts will follow in due course (maybe even today as I'm on a roll). All that's left is to wish everyone
Oh yes, I also finally changed my hair to a full rainbow rather than the pink, purple, and turquoise it's been for years. I love it, but also miss the simplicity of the earlier colour as it takes longer to do and clashes with all my clothes unless I'm wearing black π.
It feels a bit weird to be posting things in celebration so soon after Moonbin's passing, especially when the funeral isn't until Saturday and I'm still feeling so sad about it. But life goes on for everyone, and as Korean time starts at 1600 UK time, we're already 2 days on, so let's say Happy Birthday to some people with birthdays on the 20th before it's too late.
First up, is Lu Han, who really doesn't need any introduction if you've read my previous posts, especially recently, as I've been getting back into his music of late. He is an ex-member of EXO, an actor, and solo artist, who is extremely popular in China. With the huge decrease in Twitter posts related to K-pop in deference to the sad situation, almost every post on my timeline seemed to be related to him today.
Luhan and friend
Next up, is Dojoon, the main vocalist and keyboard player from The Rose.
Finally, Hong Jinho, the cellist from the wonderful, yet now sadly defunct Hoppipolla.
Hong Jinho
As I was so sad last night, and really not in the mood for music, I decided to try to distract myself with a drama. The one I chose was Perfect and Casual, a Chinese romantic comedy from 2020, that I've had on my watch list for a while now.
I stillmight not have got around to it for a while longer, but I really needed something light that I didn't need to think too hard about, and it's been just about perfect as there isn't anything in the way of heavy drama, just the general ups and downs of relationships. It's also short, both in terms of episode number (only 24, which is about half the usual number for Chinese dramas) and in length, with each episode running to about 40 minutes including starting and ending song.
If there is a criticism, it's that the lead female is just a little too good to be true. She is pretty, kind, and genuinely helpful to everyone, albeit not the cleverest person, which is made clear several times. She flunks graduating college (thanks to the future lead male), which should make her unemployable, but still eventually ends up with a great job working in a law office - which she naturally excels at, despite having had no prior training. Then, thanks to meeting the boss of the company through work, she gets to move into a new role drawing online comic strips, beating better-qualified professional artists for the post, when she's done nothing more than draw a few cartoons in her diary.
However, the chemistry between her and the lead male (who is the typical cold, aloof-seeming yet secretly warm and loving man from a lot of these types of dramas) is spot on, and he does diverge from the trope slightly by being helpful and supportive, always assisting her to succeed and better herself rather than being the domineering partner.
Also, the two side relationships are both entertaining, while never dominating or overshadowing the main couple, which is good, as this ruined A Romance of the Little Forest from last year. Obviously, it's not the most creative drama ever produced and so far there isn't anything you couldn't guess at in advance, but for what it's there to provide it's doing it pretty well, and is a solid drama. It'll be interesting to see how it ends - happily, I'm assuming, but for just one or all three couples?
This is going to be short because I am sad right now and don't want to do anything, including blog.
A couple of hours ago it was confirmed that my bias from Astro, the beautiful, talented, and eternally-smiling Moonbin, was found dead in his home by his manager. He was 25 and seemingly had everything to live for.
Although the cause of death hasn't yet been announced, and Fantagio, his agency, has urged people not to speculate, the original report included a statement from a police officer that said they were assuming suicide. That statement has since been removed, but the story has already spread around the world.
Whatever the cause, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that we lost someone that a great many people will miss forever. I know what his family will be going through right now, and I send all my best thoughts and wishes to them at this most difficult time.
Farewell, dear Moonbin. I hope you're happy wherever you are now. I shall always remember you as a smiler.
So we did eventually get to the Gary Numan concert on Saturday evening, although it took hours as I got stuck in a traffic jam on the way to Quincy's, so we didn't get to the Electric Ballroom until after he had gone on stage (fortunately, we only missed a couple of tracks).
Obviously, I was too late for a stool, although someone did eventually offer me one. But the accessibility person at the venue mentioned there were seats upstairs, so we went up there instead. I couldn't see anything but the sound quality was better than sitting in the bar with everyone chatting and I could see Gary and the band on a TV screen.
It was then time for the long trek home, by which time I was completely knackered and in a lot of pain. This continued through yesterday, hence why I didn't blog. Today, I actually feel even worse, I definitely have no spoons right now. I'm so glad our next concerts (Blue October) aren't until next week so I have time to recover, and are spaced a couple of days apart.
I've neglected the April playlist a bit, but today I added a whole load of new tracks (about 170 π±), one of which is EXO's Japanese song, Bird - The Best version. I know you're all thinking that this will definitely be in my top 3 singles for the month by default as I'm biased towards my favourite band, but it's actually a live reissue from their Japanese birthday fan meeting last weekend, so is excluded from my list (hence why I'm mentioning it here because it will get lost in that massive playlist and it's a great song).
No idea when I'm going to get the energy to work my way through the new stuff but with 2 weeks still to go until the end of the month and some banging releases that I know are still to come, choosing my top 3s may be even more difficult than previous months. And no, I still haven't decided on March's (or January's π), but I have created a MV playlist on Youtube in case you want to see the videos. Merlin only knows what my Receiptify for the month will look like (although Lu Han and Zhang Binbin have still been played quite a lot so guessing they will be there).
Anyway, I don't have anything else to say, so it's on to the birthdays, and there are a lot of them.
First up are Jinho and Hongseok from Pentagon. Rather than posting pictures, here is the two of them singing a cover of Lee So Ra's Track 9.
*sigh* These guys have such beautiful voices. I love them ❤️
Next up is Jonggeun, from recently debuted band Haww (the EP, How R U is in my February playlist).
Today is also the birthday of the magnificent and beautiful actor, Lee Joon Gi, who has appeared in so many great shows and films; my favourite being Flower of Evil(2020).
He's so freaking handsome
Finally, but definitely not least. Hyuk from Tempest is celebrating both his birthday and the release of the band's latest EP, The Calm Before the Storm. Here's the MV of the lead track Dangerous. I've been a fan of the band ever since their debut last March. Hyuk is the main vocalist with rose-gold hair.
So, I was meant to be at the Gary Numan concert tonight. However, unfortunately, the journey yesterday was extremely long, and although I managed to get an uncomfortable stool to sit on during the concert, I was in a lot of pain by the time I got home, and in more by this morning.
As there's another concert tomorrow, which is the important one (1000th), and as I don't want to risk not being able to go because of being in too much pain or not being able to walk, especially if I can't get a seat tonight, we decided to leave it for this evening and concentrate on going tomorrow instead.
While I'm disappointed not to be going, the fact that I needed a snooze earlier because of the pain (I lay down for 5 minutes and slept for almost 2 hours), proves I was probably right to cancel. I need to remember that while I might feel mentally as if I'm still in my early twenties my body doesn't feel that way. It feels more like 80 πππ.
As I have an unexpected free evening - I was going to watch one of my regular Twitch streams but that was also cancelled last minute - I'm watching a Chinese film from 2015 called The Witness.
Recently, I've been listening to a lot of old Lu Han songs, and particularly the track εη« (Medals), which I absolutely love (that song and a few others are pretty much why he was top of my Receiptify last month π). I decided to watch an English lyric video for it to find out what the song was about, and discovered that it was the official theme song for the above-mentioned film. The film stars Lu Han and an actress that I have a lot of time for, Yang Mi, so I decided to download and watch it. As I understand it, it's based on the 2011 Korean film Blind, which I also haven't seen. So far it's as good as I'd hoped it would be.
As it's already tomorrow in Korea, and I won't be around to post (hopefully), I'm going to say an early Happy Birthday to King Arthur from Kingdom, who is celebrating. Here's the MV for Excaliber from the band's excellent debut album (History of Kingdom: Pt 1, Arthur).
Once again a few days have passed since I last blogged, but tbh, apart from watching the EXO fan meeting (which was loads of fun, and very emotional seeing them all on stage together, although I missed Lay) I haven't really done anything worth writing about. And I've been playing Hogwarts Legacy, of course. Last night, I got caught up with and finished Delivery Man, which I rather enjoyed, so that was why I didn't blog yesterday.
I have been trying to decide my March top 3 list, but I'm still failing miserably (and Quincy hasn't even listened to it π). Unfortunately, I decided to go and listen to my January playlist for a change, as I've been adding stuff to it as I've found new artists, and discovered some songs that might be better than the ones I originally put in my top 3 π€¦π»♀️ - there were 7, which is the same amount as March - maybe my top 3 should be my top 7 instead?
This is a great idea until it comes to the end of the year and I have to choose my top 20 from 84 tracks rather than 36. Of course, Sion was in there (when isn't he? I'm already feeling the lack of a track from him this month) . . . maybe 84 is manageable π . . . and it doesn't have to be 7 every month, does it?
I shall need to go through the February playlist again, as I've added loads to that, too. Oh, and April is currently 198 songs (I have listened to more, but discarded the stuff I didn't like and moved the OSTs).
Tomorrow sees the first of three days of Gary Numan concerts (his 998th, 999th and 1,000th, of which I've seen a fair few over the last 40 years). Unfortunately, it's at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, which is a non-seated venue and doesn't have a particularly friendly accessibility policy (especially for someone with limited mobility who isn't registered disabled, so doesn't have documents to send as proof). It does say there are a few stools, but they're first come first served and I can't queue up for hours either to make sure we get in early enough to get a stool.
I already know I won't be able to stand all night, so I'll probably end up sitting on the floor at the back - I'm so short I probably won't be able to see the stage anyway; I never can when I have to stand, so it won't make much difference. At least I'll be there. Actually, attending all three nights is pretty ambitious, as travelling to one seated concert is usually enough to wipe me out for a couple of days afterwards, but I'm determined to be there if I possibly can.
Can't think of anything else I want to say, so it's on to the birthdays . . . and no, I didn't just blog because it's a member of EXO (as if I'd do that π).
Our favourite maknae, super Sehun
Happy birthday to the best maknae in the world, Oh Sehun πππ
It's also Sunwoo from The Boyz's birthday, too, so congratulations to him as well!
It took me so long to do the EXO post, with all its links, that not only did I miss the midnight deadline, but I also completely forgot about today's birthdays. And they are important too.
Finally, but definitely not least, our beloved Jonghyun, who was taken from both SHINee and us far too early, would have been celebrating today. We all miss him, today and every day. πΌπ» Here's a video of him singing live with Onewduring SHINee World V.
Yep, today is almost all about my first and greatest K-Pop loves, the mighty EXO, who are celebrating their 11th anniversary today. To commemorate the occasion, 8 of the remaining 9 members (there were 12 when they debuted in 2012*) have completed the first of 2 days of fan meetings in Seoul. I, and millions of other EXO-Ls, will be watching the other tomorrow morning via the concert streaming platform Beyond Live.
During today's meeting they premiered a brand new song, gave several solid spoilers about the so far only rumoured comeback, including the news that they are recording 3 (yes, 3!) MVs in April (thanks, Kyoong π), and generally made everyone extremely happy with an interesting set list. It was lovely to see all the Korean members back together on stage for the first time since before Xiumin enlisted in May 2019 (at the 10th anniversary fan meeting only 5 members were able to perform).
EXO performing their first brand new song since 2021
Sadly, there are still 2 members who need to enlist (Kai and Sehun), and there's still no sign of Chinese member, Lay, re-joining them - although he did recently visit Korea which caused a bit of a stir at the time (hopefully to record vocals for the new album ππ») - so they won't be back full-time as a band until 2025.
Fortunately, the members are all extremely talented and with the exception of 2 (who, coincidentally, formed a sub-unit in 2019 called EXO-SC), they have all released solo albums, and will presumably continue to do so over the next 2 years.
Hopefully, Sehun will release his first solo before enlisting. Chanyeol, who was discharged late last year, has mentioned in several videos that he has been recording. During a brief Instagram livestream earlier today, he appeared to be spoiling an album cover, that was visible behind him for the first 20 seconds of the stream. He then moved it (almost) out of sight, thus giving us all hope that his album is also imminent.
Loey possibly spoiling his new album?
I'm particularly excited, as with the recent return of Baekhyun, the other sub-unit EXO-CBX (Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin) are now fully manned again, so hopefully some more music from them will be coming too π€π».
*To celebrate the band's debut, I am going to give a little bit of background on the undisputed vocal kings of K-pop.
EXO was originally a 12-member group, who were split
into 2 x 6 member units: one focussed on the Korean market (EXO-K) and the
other on the Chinese market (EXO-M). The members of the band were introduced in
solo MVs a good year or so before they debuted, with Kai (whose name
means 'to open') being the first to be revealed. The two units also each released 2 pre-debut
songs, What is Love, which showcased the main singers in each unit,
and History, which introduced the units and set the stage for their
concept (they were one of the first, or maybe the actual first in K-pop, to have one).
The members represent as aliens from an exoplanet, who lost their memories
after landing on Earth. Each member was endowed with a special superpower:
EXO-K: Suho (unit and overall leader) - water Baekhyun - light Chanyeol - fire D.O. - earth/power Kai - teleportation Sehun - wind
EXO-M: Kris (leader) - flying Xiumin - frost Luhan - telekenisis Lay - healing Chen - thunder/lightning Tao - time control
This concept runs through the entirety of both EXO's discography and also the members solo works. It covers everything from promo videos and teasers, right through to the VCRs that are shown at concerts, although to make things harder for fans they aren't in chronological order; thus the last release Don't Fight the Feelingis related to Power, the lead track from the repackage of their 2017 album The War, called The Power of Music, using the same graphic references as the earlier album. In the past, they have brought in elements related to werewolves, and also Alice in Wonderland, and their entire Japanese catalogue takes place in a separate parallel universe (the romantic universe).
EXO's debut song was MAMA, and the MV begins with a
narration that gives an explanation as to why the group was divided into the two
units; with both living in parallel universes, and each member was paired with a
counterpart in the corresponding group. Particularly for this track, in order
to get the full picture you need to watch both the Korean and Chinese versions
of the MV, as while all 12 members do appear in each version, the main focus is
on the featured unit with only extremely brief cameos from the others.
MAMA - EXO-K version
MAMA - EXO-M version
Even after Tao left the band in 2015 (Kris and Luhan had preceded him in 2014), and the two units joined and became EXO they continued to produce both K and M versions of their MVs, and until the Universe album in 2017 all their Korean studio albums contain both Korean and Mandarin versions
of all the songs. Ever since, they have always included a Chinese version of the title track on all their Korean studio albums, with the exception of 2021's Don't Fight the Feeling.
Their concept was so off the wall, and their music so ground-breaking, especially in 2012, that many people didn't know what to make of them, particularly when they then disappeared for another year before coming back with the equally unusual Wolf (still one of my favourite tracks by them).
Despite being the first Korean band to sell a million copies of an album for 12 years, they were considered a flop band, but then came Growl, which soon became known as the national anthem of Korea, and as record after record was broken (some of which still haven't been surpassed today), it became clear that EXO was anything but a flop. They were such a huge band that they closed the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Seoul and received medals of themselves from the then President of South Korea.
Sadly, their record company, SM, as with the other earlier bands under the label, weren't interested in capitalising on their popularity and gaining global success (and they still aren't really π), so they generally only promoted the band in Asia with minimal appearances elsewhere (and not at all in Europe π). As a consequence, while their popularity is, even these days, massive across the world, they didn't have the chance to reach the global success of bands like BTS and BlackPink, despite being vocally superior to both. Neither have they produced songs fully in English to attempt to cater to the western market (apart from a live English version of their song For Life, sung by D.O.), yet they still manage to get on the Billboard charts and top iTunes across the world every time the band or one of the members releases a new song or album.
These men are my absolute favs (after Gary Numan, obviously - who we're seeing 3 times next week) and I hope they continue for many more years . . . and finally do concerts in London ππ». However, I don't want them to sell out as quickly as they do everywhere else - they still hold the top 4 world records for the fastest selling concert tickets; 0.2 seconds in 2017 at the Gocheok Sky Dome (66,000 tickets), beating their own previous 2015 record of 0.4 seconds. Even this year's fan meetings sold out in just over a minute.
I spent a lovely day with my sister at Bluewater, eating and drinking lots of nice and tasty stuff, and doing a bit of shopping along the way - she bought a lovely dress and some other cool bits. It was a lot of walking for me, and my knees were aching badly by the time I got home, but I enjoyed the day very much, especially the chance to spend some time with her.
I desperately needed some groceries, so stopped in at Morrisons on the way home. I didn't really want to walk anymore but I had no food, and with a Bank Holiday weekend (and a religious one at that so shops will be closed for at least some of it), and my body screaming for a salad as I haven't had one for a few days, I thought I ought to get it out of the way.
By the time I got home I was knackered, and a quick ten-minute lie down to rest my sore knees/ankles/back turned into an hour and a half snooze - I only woke up because of my tablet alarm.
I am intending to pop into Hogwarts Legacy for a little while - not long because I do really feel knackered and my bed is calling. But I managed to get another vivarium for my beasts last night (a dark and gloomy swamp, just perfect for thestrals, to go with my beach and meadow ones) and also access to breeding pens, so I can now make baby beasts. I can see this becoming my most played part of the game as they're all so cute, even the giant toads. They look so happy when they're being groomed and I enjoy kicking a ball around with them - all the beasts love to play.
Tomorrow is EXO's 11th anniversary and the start of lots of celebrations, so I'll be talking more about that later. For now, it's birthday time again, and today it's the turn of Siwon (Super Juinor), Woojin (Ghost9) and Sumin (xikers) - Happy Birthday guys, I hope you all had a great day!
So you'll have noticed I missed a day again π€¦π»♀️ My apologies to my Treasure baby (grandbaby?) Haruto and only slightly older Lew from Tempest, who celebrated their birthday's yesterday, for missing the chance to congratulate them - but I'll do it now instead.
Haruto and Lew - happy belated birthday! πππ
The truth is that I lost track of time again, and I was also completely exhausted. I don't know why, maybe everything just caught up with me. Yesterday evening, I somehow found myself watching the conspiracy-rich series, National Park Mysteries on Pluto TV; a mix of indigenous folklore, extensive UFO activity, and the possibility that Adolf Hitler and various other Nazis were happily living in the Glacier National Park in the 1970s.
By the time I reached the end of the short series I was just about wiped out and ended up heading off to bed well before midnight (yes, really), not even thinking about blogging.
And now it's evening again and I feel every bit as knackered as I did yesterday. Not sure why, although I have been out and about today (doing laundry, returning goods and getting my hair done) so I have been far more active than normal, which might have something to do with it.
I'm also in a lot of pain as the weather is typical April showers, which plays havoc with both my hayfever (my eyes are itchy as hell right now), and my joints (my knees especially are extremely sore). Add to that a backache from lugging the washing around, and it makes me feel my age and more - god, I hate being old.
Anyway, apart from that I don't have much to say, so I'm off - to finally have a go at that EXO game I mentioned the other day but didn't get a chance to play and then, possibly, if I'm still awake, a bit of Hogwarts Legacy. I've neglected my animals so I need to go and stroke them all and make them feel loved. Then I might attempt to find the final 2 Daedalian Keys and see if I can finish that quest before I join my quasi-boyfriend Sebastian and learn another Unforgivable Curse (not doing that tonight as I'm meeting my sister tomorrow and need to get some decent sleep as it will be a long day of shopping and talking).
Before I go, Happy Birthday to Junji (OnlyOneOf) and Ken (Vixx), who are both celebrating today!!! πππ
Okay, so before I disappear off back to school for Easter
(yes, obviously I’m talking about Hogwarts Legacy) and end up forgetting
to post again, I thought I’d better check in and have a K-Pop catch up. I’m not
intending to do any more 24 hr stints, but you never know. I get so engrossed with
the game, and exploring both Hogwarts and the world outside it, that I don’t
realise how much time has passed, and suddenly it’s 3, 4 or 5 am. That’s why I’ve
had to give up playing on work nights (yes, I was still happily exploring a
bandit camp at 3am on Monday morning) π€¦π»♀️.
However, I am now on leave until next week π
so can justifiably immerse myself, but first I have to watch the last episode
of My Lethal Man, which I will be watching once I’ve posted this.
I also want to play the new EXO game that a fan created, which
can be found here, so I’m probably not going to go back to Hogwarts
until tomorrow evening – I have laundry and other chores, including buying some
food, to do tomorrow during the day and don’t want to be distracted or too tired
to do them.
So, it’s a new month and as I said yesterday (and is posted at the top of the sidebar ➡️), I have a new
playlist. It currently stands at 79 songs – Merlin only knows how big it will
be by the end of April. The March playlist topped 400 tracks in the end, mainly because I found
a Spotify playlist that has a lot of new Korean music, which is
updated daily, and added a lot of it to my already quite extensive list. To
make it more manageable (if it can be called that at 400+ tracks π),
I removed a lot of the Original Soundtracks (OSTs) to their own
playlist and also moved some of the more obviously traditional Korean artists
that I like but aren’t really K-pop to their own playlist too, as well as
removing the stuff that I probably wouldn’t want to listen to again, whatever
mood I’m in. However, as with previous months, as I come across new artists and
discover songs I missed, they will be added if I think they’re worth being on
there, as has already happened with previous months.
So, from that behemoth I had to add to my 'top 3' playlists
for albums, EPs and singles (as defined
by Spotify). I was actually quite confident about all of them, until I found
that bloody playlist and some absolute crackers that I would never have known
about otherwise.
In the end, it was a difficult choice for all three
categories, but after some really tough love – I dread to think how much time I’ve
spent listening to all these tracks over and over – I did manage to get the top
three albums:
Onew (SHINee)– Circle(I
couldn’t not, seeing as he's my ult of ults π). Kingdom – History of Kingdom Pt VI: Mujin(this
album is better than the last, in my opinion, and that was in my top 10 of the
year for 2022, so it couldn’t not make the list). BamBam (GOT7) – Sour & Sweet(just an amazing
album from start to finish).
However, although they didn’t make it to the playlist, I
really want to give a shout out to JJax, Cosmic Boy
and heyden, who all made me agonise for a good long while, and who
are all well worth checking out.
I also managed, with even more difficulty, to decide on the
top three EPs:
Sion – Live (probably not a surprise
to anyone given how much I’ve raved about him recently). Weder – Nera(a complete surprise and so totally
different from anything else on the playlist, but I fell in love within the
first few seconds of hearing it). Lꬾren
– Put up a Fight(another very late entry and it’s totally 90s
indie rock but so good).
Here I really want to shout out to Gaho, who was in
the top 3 right up until I heard Lκ¬Ύren (sorry, dude π, but your EP is absolutely ace). Also,Trade Land Futuristic Swaver.
I also want to recommendXikers(labelmates ofAteez),whose debut EP, House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing,
I would definitely have hyped here had I not been MIA at the time – watch the
MV for the lead track to make up for me missing it on release day.
The real problem came with the singles. Unsurprisingly,
there were loads that I really enjoyed, so it was a battle to cut them down. To
do so, I had to discard tracks by Sion and Zior Park
(which I deemed to be OSTs to say a π’ farewell to them) as well as many other
artists I both know and love, or just found and have become attached to. In fact,
as I write this, I still haven’t managed to choose a top 3.
I have created a new playlist (yes, I know,
but seriously, I love a playlist π) containing the 7 tracks that I just can’t
choose between. Which 3 do I keep? Which 4 do I have to drop? It really is
impossible for me to choose, so I have no choice but to resort to other
opinions. I’ve posted the link to the
playlist on Facebook in hopes someone might give it a listen and comment about
one or more (but no more than 3 π) tracks they like. I have also given the playlist
to Quincy (I even created it in Apple specially for her) so she can tell
me her top 3. I’m not sure it will help, but it might focus my thoughts a bit .
. . maybe. Should you feel the urge to tell me your favourite track (or 3) from the 7,
please do so.
Anyway, despite the huge monthly playlist, that I listened
to multiple times over the month, I did still have time to listen to other
stuff too. Most notably, again, the tracks from Song of the Moonby
Zhang Binbin (Vin Zhang) and a lot of other Chinese music, too
(especially Lay (EXO member and general powerhouse) and Lu Han
(ex-EXO member, of whom I’ve recently become reacquainted with his solo
music - although I was surprised that he came top). Also shocking (for me anyway), was that Pentagon didn't appear anywhere in the top 10 π±.
My ReceiptifySpotifystats
for March are as follows:
Here are the receipts for my all-time Spotify listening:
The most interesting thing, to me anyway, is that Kai’s
(EXO) Mmmh has finally dropped from the top spot in my all-time
tracks list, replaced byD.O’s (EXO) That’s Okay. I
have always been amazed that not only was it top in the first place, but that
it remained there for so long (given that it was released in 2020). I do like
the song a lot, but not as much as several others on the list, and definitely
not as much as the one now in first place, which is a beautiful song (it's considered the healing song in Korea). I really was a good EXO-L and
streamed the album, and that song in particular, very well. I also did the same
for Kai’s release this month, as can also be seen above – but not enough to beat
Binbin (those 2 tracks really are my comfort songs), and with so much
other stuff to listen to I doubt they will remain in the top 10 for long.
However, if I continue listening to the current favourites playlist (and I am being a bit obsessive about certain songs so it's highly likely), I
think iKON and Stray Kids could be on next
month’s receipts, as well as Baekhyun(EXO), probably.
Wow, how many links? Yep, I totally missed the midnight deadline thanks to themπ.
Well,
I think that’s it for now. All that’s left is to wish Eunhyuk from Super Junior a really Happy Birthday πππ
Finally,
finally, I want to say a bigπWELCOME BACKπto Taemin from SHINee, who finished
his military service yesterday. I look forward to a comeback from the band
shortly and, no doubt, a solo album by him.
Welcome back, Taemin
I’ll see you tomorrow . . . probably . . . maybe π€·π»♀️.
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