Note: What they’re talking about in this article is a step up from the ubiquitous “sel-ca” photos, or “self-taken” photographs, that we see online everywhere. A lot of the photos in question do feature the celebs themselves, but this is referring more to the trend of stars becoming amateur photographers, publishing books and putting their work out for display.

“What’s the reason for the celebrity photographer trend?”

Actors aren’t merely models who always stand in front of the camera. Sometimes they stand behind the camera and see the world through the eyes of photographers. Some publish photo collections like Park Ji-yoon (Secret Garden), Bae Doo-na (Doo-na’s Tokyo Fun), Lee Byung-jin. Others operate photo studios themselves, like Jo Min-ki (Seoul Cheongdamdong St. Zio) and Bbaek Ga (Seoul Shinsadong BY100).

A number of others are photography fans boasting a bit of skill, such as Bae Yong-joon, Boa, So Ji-sub, Song Il-kook, Uhm Tae-woong, and Jung Jong-chul. Let’s take a look at the reason for the trend of celebrities getting behind the camera lens.

(You mean, other than vanity?)

SONG OF THE DAY

Misty Blue - “너의 별 이름은 시리우스B” (Your star’s name is Sirius B) [ Download ]

More star photographs >>

Tags: Bae Doo-na, Bae Yong-joon, Moon Geun-young, Park Ji-yoon, Shin Ae, Shinji, So Ji-sub, star extracurricular activities, Yoo Ji-tae

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 12 Comments →

On a recent episode of talk show Sang Sang Plus, actor (she was in the family sitcom Unstoppable High Kick) and singer of pop group Koyote Shinji admitted that she’d been hurt by the work of anti-fans, that dreaded and inexplicably influential subgroup of Korean society whose purpose in life I cannot even comprehend. (Really? You’re going to go OUT OF YOUR WAY to purposely tear someone down, for absolutely no personal gain whether financial or otherwise, purely for the pleasure of ripping someone apart? DOES NOT COMPUTE.)

This time, malicious rumors that reduced Shinji to tears said that she’d been behaving unprofessionally in missing scheduled appointments because of a bad drinking habit. Recently, she’d gone away to Dokdo as a replacement (”black rose”?) for her Koyote buddy (and regular variety-show participant with the hilariously goofy sense of humor) Kim Jong Min for a Happy Sunday segment. The info was distorted, and when she came back there were reports that she’d been drunk and couldn’t even make the first shoot.

SONG OF THE DAY

No Reply - “강아지의 꿈” (a puppy’s dream) [ zShare download ]

The fallout and the flipside >>

Tags: anti-fans, Shinji, Unstoppable High Kick

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 11 Comments →

I’m bored. Bored, bored, bored.

Not only bored, but restless. The only drama that holds my interest these days is Legend, and that’s just barely. It’s not hard to tell that my taste veers to trendy dramas — the fluffier, the better — and I feel the current lack keenly. As I was saying to a friend recently, I can find meaning in the most superficial of trendy dramas — just give me the sugariest cotton-candy drama and I’ll mine the hell out of it looking for depth and thematic resonance. Of course, I do have some standards — I won’t watch just any trendy drama, if it’s just a boring rehash of familiar stuff. But let’s say that if trendy dramas are the television equivalent of chick lit, I’m looking for Bridget Jones, not Shopaholic or Lipstick Jungle or whatever else comes with cheesy pink covers and pictures of high heels and handbags and jewelry. (I am not my accessories closet! … and if only I actually had an accessories closet!)

What does that have to do with The Unstoppable High Kick? Nothing really, except explain just how bored I am and in need of something light and fun, even if it doesn’t aspire to be meaningful. I missed the boat on High Kick when it first aired — daily sitcoms usually air over a hundred episodes, and that’s just too much of a commitment. It finished its run earlier this summer, but AZN has been showing it (unsubtitled), and I’ve let the episodes accumulate on my Tivo, watching them whenever I remember to. I’m somewhere up in the nineties now (there are 167 episodes), although I skipped a bunch in the beginning.

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Heritage - “Grateful” [ zShare download ]

This is just an excuse to post pretty pictures >>

Tags: Jung Il-woo, Kim Bum, Kim Hye-sung, Park Min-young, Seo Min-jung, Shinji, sitcoms, Unstoppable High Kick

Filed under: Sitcoms/Variety Shows by javabeans - 42 Comments →