PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR UPCOMING KOLLABORATION SHOWS, COMING IN 2012!
“Collaboration. It’s an inviting word. One that implies cooperation, coordination, a coming together of like minds in an effort to create something great. But when you spell it Kollaboration, the word becomes something more than great. It becomes empowering.”
Extra, Extra! Read all about it! Kollaboration Atlanta is gearing up for their 2012 show! Auditions will take place on January 28, 2012. Click here for more information and to access Kollaboration Atlanta 5′s Audition Application. (Walk-ins are welcome, although audition space for walk-ins is first come, first served.)
Click here to visit Cloud USA’s Kollaboration Atlanta 2011 and Beyond Page for our exclusive report on Kollaboration Atlanta 4′s event, in March 2011, as well as NEWS ALERTS on Kollaboration news and upcoming shows!
Click HERE to see an additional Kollaboration Atlanta 2011 slide show at the top of our Cloud USA Korean Culture in Atlanta page.
* PLEASE NOTE: This is a Cloud USA special article. The proper way to share it is with a link. However, if you import it to another site, please do so in its entirety, exactly as it is presented and with all credits and links intact. Thank you.
— Written by: Stephe Thornton, Cloud USA Managing Editor ^@@^
Earlier this month, on February 11, South Korean singer, actor, and mega-entertainer RAIN (a.k.a. ROK Army Private First Class JiHoon Jung) completed four months of service in the Republic of Korea military. In those four months, he has established himself as a serious super soldier at one of the toughest training camps (near the DMZ), as more physically fit than recruits ten years his junior, and as a loyal squadron leader and top sharpshooter of the 5th Division. No one can say he has used his celebrity and taken the easy road when it comes to doing his duty for his country.
Rain has never taken the easy road at anything. He’s always taken the one he knew was right, worked very hard, and weathered whatever storm it may have entailed.
The Yellow Ribbon for Rain Brigade is gathering no moss! It’s rolling along on its merry way like a stone skipping along the surface of a pond with nary a ripple. And the stronger it grows, the more fans that hop on board, the stronger the foundation supporting world star JiHoon grows. So please, keep spreading the word so that the Brigade can fulfill its purpose and keep the ground under Rain’s feet solid. Thanks for showing how very much he is loved.
There are two options for sending snail-mail to JiHoon presently. For information on where to send handwritten cards and letters to him in the military, please see our previous posts HERE (military) and HERE (military, official site notice). For cards, letters, and gifts, do see our post HERE (office admin).
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SONG OF THE WEEK: “I” (난/Nan), first released on Rain’s 3rd album Vol.3 It’s Raining (2004) and later on his 4th album Vol.4 Rain’s World Repackaged (2006). This song has given him more stage mileage than any other, in my humble opinion, with all that heartache and the go-to-church Sunday morning organ and piano playing in it. Have mercy.
With English subtitles and Romanization. Credit and edit: chubbycebs@YT. (You can also find this video to your right, at the very top of our media blog sidebar.)
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»We’ve added to our community with a brand new Cloud USA Youtube Channel. We hope you enjoy it! And FYI: A new fan-made Rain videos show is currently in production and should be ready for broadcast on Cloud USA TV soon.
» Cloud USA merchandise is here! Partake of our store at CafePress, and have fun doing it! (Need a Rain fix? Pick yourself up some of his stuff in our affiliate store while you’re at it.) For those of you who have already ordered goodies, thanks so much. We’re so excited. Take care, everyone!
Rain is Eternal. Where clouds stay gathered, rain will always come. It is inevitable.
WOW. Nicely done! Thanks for the share, J.Tune Camp!
A+s, BLAQ girls, and Clouds, if you haven’t already, check out the Boys and their posse killin’ the intense “Run” choreography in their practice studio. GREAT stuff. I love this song! Mama is sooooo proud.
MBLAQ(엠블랙) – ‘RUN(런)’ 안무연습영상 (dance practice video). Video credit: J.Tune Camp / jtunecamp @YT.
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The lyrics to “Run”: Hangeul, English and Romanization. “You better run, run… run, run…”
MBLAQ- Run lyrics [Eng. | Rom. | Han.] (Lyrics from pop!gaza /kslyricsworld / video by Platypizz2 @YT)
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“Run” LIVE, today!
120301 MBLAQ RUN LIVE. (courtesy of MrAMBLAQ @YT)
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In a terrible turn of events, SeungHo took a tumble and injured himself during the second TV pre-recording of “Run.” At last check they had gotten him to the hospital. We’re praying for him and at the same time, we’re confident that he’ll be okay. These Boys have already been through some scary injuries, and just at look how they powered through all that! SeungHo, fighting! ^@@^
120301 MBLAQ’s SeungHo was injured on M!COUNTDOWN. (courtesy of micaybn357 @YT)
The beauty and looks of celebrities born in the year 1982 have become an issue.
Several pictures of celebrities appeared online recently with the title “The best stars born in 1982, Year of the Dog”.
In the pictures are Han Ga-in, Song Hye-kyo, Son Ye-jin, Lee Joon-ki, Lee Min-jeong, Hyeon Bin, Rain and many more who were born in the year 1982.
It seems that the one other thing they have in common besides the fact that they are actors and actresses, is that they are all very handsome and pretty.
Those who have seen this say, “The 1982′s stars are the best”, “It seems like their fame will go one for a while”, “All of them are good looking” and more.
Han Ga-in is currently in the MBC drama “The Sun and the Moon” and Lee Joon-ki is looking forward to coming back to screens with a movie soon. Hyeon Bin and Rain are currently in military service but they were very well known for their varied performances before that.
Rain really got down during his 2010 appearance on Kim Jung-Eun’s Chocolate, at the close of his B2TB comeback trail. After waiting almost two months for the show to broadcast, we got an absolute treat. And we never get tired of revisiting it!
Four Faces of Rain: Singer Rain (see him checking his pitch with a finger in his ear?). Actor Rain (Batman!). Model Rain (serious and refined). And that loveable goofball JiHoon, in his off-time.
He gave us the different facets of himself in our membership goods this term. Did any of you 8th Clouds notice that? How clever of you, Hoon!
We are pleased to announce that longtime community member and fan-made video maven JJ (many of you know her as tubetubehawaii) has accepted the position of YouTube Channel moderator for our new Cloud USA YouTube Channel.
This sweet, talented Hawai’ian Cloud will be working with us to bring you fresh, original Rain videos and imagery, as well as make Cloud USA an even more dynamic and exciting place for new and veteran Rain fans alike.
Do join us in welcoming her to our staff, and support her well.
Made with Rain’s KB Card, XNote, VONIN and Speed O||commercials, and a few others to boot. Anybody wanna talk? ^@@^ Rain bi CF // Wanna Talk (fanmade). Courtesy of 0625pocky @YT)
ROFL! LOL! Oh my lord, dude, what else is left after the height, body, and face? That’s everything! kekeke Very clever. I love these guys. ♥
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Excerpts from Rain’s soldier mates’ response to their acquaintances’ letters, 2/28/2012
Re-posted and edited by: 프리지아님 (Freesia) @ Benamoo
English translation by: 화니 @The Cloud Rain News Board
5사단 열쇠부대 치면 연관 검색어로 치면 뭐가 나오는지 봐봐. 얘기하지 말라고 하셔서.
Do you happen to know which search word pops up immediately when you put the keyword “열쇠부대 (unit Key)” in the search box? I’ll talk to you about this when I receive a certificate upon completion of my course of training. Since we are ordered not to say anything about him (Rain) on the unit Key blog, I can’t bring myself to tell you the news.
참! 여기 5사단 열쇠부대에 비(정지훈)이 조교로 활동하고 있어. 멀리서밖에는 못봤는데 일단 후광 작렬이야.
완전 부럽. 나도 열심히 운동 좀 해야겠어.
Oops! Rain (Jung Ji Hoon) is serving as a teaching assistant in this unit Key attached to the 5th Division. I just saw him from a distance, but he gave off an intense aura as if there was a sort of halo of sanctity surrounding him. I really envy him. I’ll work out hard like him.
밑층에 비가 조교로 있어 ㅋ 그래서 가끔 지나갈 때 봐.
Rain lives downstairs in my unit, and he serves as a teaching assistant..ke..So I can sometimes see him whenever I pass by.
오늘 식당에서 비를 봤어. 잘생겼다! 키도 크고! 그래도 같은 사람인가봐~
식사를 아주 잘 하시더라구.
I saw Rain in the cafeteria today. Oh, he is very tall and handsome! It seems to be obvious that he is no less a man than I am, though~ He was enjoying his meal very much.
아직 조교는 아니지만 정지훈 조교님도 자주 봅니다.
I haven’t been yet assigned to the teaching assistant team, but I see teaching assistant ‘Jung Ji Hoon’ (Rain) often these days.
가수비 있다 ㅋㅋㅋ 몇 번 봤는데 개 크고 개 잘 생김.
There is singer Rain in the unit where I serves..kekeke..I’ve seen him a couple of times. He is tall and handsome.
여기서 가수 비를 봤어. 내가 급식당번인데 가수 비 김치 퍼줬다구.ㅋㅋㅋ. 나랑 별 차이 없더라..키랑 덩치랑 얼굴
빼면 별차이 없음..ㅋㅋㅋ
I saw singer Rain here. I gave [him ^@@^] a helping of Kimchi when it was my turn to cook.. kekeke..There seemed to be little difference between him and me. Excluding height, body, and face, there is little difference between him and me..kekeke.
나 오늘 ‘비‘(정지훈) 봤어요 비! 똑같이 생김. 등판이 장난이 아님.
I saw Rain (Jung Ji Hoon) today!! He looked as impressive in actuality as he did on TV. He really looked awesome from the back.
내가 페북에 써달라는 거 뒤에다가 (좋은점은 비가 조교로 있다!) 라고 써줘 ㅋㅋ
Please post, “There is Rain who serves as a teaching assistant on the credit side”, to the message board of Face Book…keke..
일단 비도 우리 부대에 있었어.. 12중대 조교로 일하고 있는데 나는 10중대로 별로 마주칠 일이 없어서 지나가다
가 2번 봤지 ㅋㅋ 쓰다가 밥먹으러 나갔는데 또 봤엉 ㅋ
Rain serves in the same unit where I do. He serves as a teaching assistant attached to the 12th Company, while I’m attached to the 10th Company, so we rarely run into each other. But I saw him twice..keke.. Going to the cafeteria to eat meal while I was writing, I saw him again..ke..
어제 정지훈 이병을 바로 코앞에서 봤는데 걍군인이네요~~
I saw Rain at close quarters yesterday, and he was just a soldier~~
우리 훈련소에 비 있다.. 두 번 정도 봤어. 레알 그냥 눈 작고 키 큰 조교야.
Rain serves as a teaching assistant in the recruit training center where I’m trained. I saw him a couple of times. He is tall and just a plain teaching assistant whose eyes are small.
여기서 정지훈 (비) 조교로 있는데 키고 크고 생긴건 좀 잘 생겼더라
‘Jung Ji Hoon’ (Rain) serves in the same unit where I do, and he is really tall and handsome.
This absolutely adorable video released by the South Korean Ministry of Defense, which looks to be an entry in a competition, struck me as what JiHoon will probably be doing during the next seventeen months, so much so that I just had to share it. Aw! ^_^ Go get ‘em, Rain!
As the Japanese say, かわいい！Kawai! So cute! I challenge you to watch it without grinning. (Impossible. Give up now!)
국방부 군가보다 프로젝트 UCC 공모전 _ 김세형 (Department of Defense military project UCC competition _ Kim se Hyung). Video credit: ROKMND2020 @YT.
* IN PRODUCTION: Rain Mania: Fanmade Videos 2, the second show in the series that showcases our favorite Rain tributes and videos made by you, Rain’s loyal nation of fans. Also, our first show featuring Rain fan cams is on the drawing board.
Stay tuned for broadcast dates and times.
* ADDED: Cloud USA’s official Youtube Channel, the newest addition to our community. It’s about time, don’t you think? We hope you enjoy it and our new Rain tributes to come!
Several permanent links to our Youtube channel are over in our blog sidebar, to your right. →
According to this entry from CJ Entertainment’s American Film Market 2011 newsletter last year, Rain’s upcoming blockbuster movie 비상 [飛上]: 태양가까이 (pronounced bisang [bisang]: taeyang-gakkai) a.k.a. Soar Into The Sun, was prepped and ready for a 13- minute promotional screening at the eight-day annual AFM in Santa Monica, California back in November. Other films on the docket with Soar were My Way, Tarbosaurus, Sector 7, Hindsight, and Quick.
We hope the screening went well! ^@@^
(Source: www.cjent.co.kr AFM 2011 newsletter. Cap by Cloud USA. CLICK on image for full size.)
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Fresh Soar Into The Sun posters, in English. ENGLISH! Talk about EXCITING.
Yes, the theatrical release is shown as Spring 2012, so either spring or summer is probably a shoe-in. Although if they’re smart, they’ll wait a bit more so that they miss the “summer rush” (please learn something from the Ninja Assassin/Twilight debacle, for pete’s sake!).^@@^
(Images: DC Rain Gallery / Source: The Cloud Photo Board. CLICK on images for full size.)
Aw! SungTak, Gori, JiHoon, SooBong, and Hongshi… baby brother and his hyungs. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Thanks for sharing this, Gori. We really, really miss you guys, the hottest dancers in South Korea. JiHoon, of course, is looking soldier-suave. Thumbs up!
Watching you five (and SangQ and YongDeock) on stage together has been a pleasure that we’ll never forget.
Let us know what you’re doing now, so that we can continue to support you in your endeavors.
(Image and Tweet Source: gori7911 @yfrog, 2/26/2012)
[*Edited to Add: I am assuming, because it is soorain, that she made this with some extra f(x) footage from something unrelated out there, NOT with anything connected to the movie, heheh...^@@^ ]
An awesome tribute to his movie character “Lt. Jung TaeHoon”, soorain.^^ Well done! ^@@^ [fan mv] flight_close to the Sun. (Credit and edit: soorain @YT)
WOW. Feast yourselves upon what looks to be Rain’s first Cloud fan meeting, with the lucky members of the 4th Cloud term waaaay back in 2006. The host of the event is one of my favorite South Korean personalities, Kim JeDong, who was very close to Rain then and remains so today.
This stuff is pure gold! Thanks so much for sharing, happym7!^^ Have fun with this, fans.
Naomie Harris is “very happy” about her new muscles.
The actress revealed that thanks to her training for the upcoming James Bond movie, her body shape has changed completely.
The star portrays Eve in the latest 007 installment Skyfall and started training several months before shooting began.
“It’s been a lot of hard work. My body’s completely changed,” she told Empire magazine. “I’ve got muscles where I never knew it was possible to have muscles, which is all very exciting. I’m very happy about that.”
Naomie added that she is even more pleased that she actually gets to put her new muscles to good use in the Bond action scenes.
She explained that while she worked hard to get into shape for previous film Ninja Assassin, she ended up just running away from her on-screen opponents.
“I did a lot of training for Ninja Assassin, but actually I was largely just running away from the ninjas and screaming and being all girlie. This is the first time where I actually get a chance to be a bit bad-ass,” she said.
Not to mention, at minute marker :52 my tongue rolled out of my mouth and hung there for the rest of the video. Oh, how I miss my PoodleHead from the Adieu!2010 with Rain concerts! LOL ♥
Nice going, soorain. Another one from you for the record books!
the tree Rain lived…. (Credit and edit: soorain @YT / “You Know I’m No Good”, Amy Winehouse)
…a fan shared this for Rain’s birthday. It is so chock-full of Visual Rain Goodness that I have to share it here (and with CloudUSAer Mari in Puerto Rico for her birthday today). Enjoy! ♥ ^@@^ Fanmade_Happy 30th Birthday ♥ RAIN ♥ _ 25 June 2011. Credit and edit: jinjung1 @YT.
After all, the Defense Ministry’s Publicity Department was publicly chomping at the bit about lassoing Rain for his singing, dancing, and acting skills a whole year before he even enlisted, as you can see in this post from September 2010. From the sound of their quote, their planned productions were all but done deals and they were simply waiting for him to show up so they could snag him with a quickness.
I’m glad that JiHoon was able to go into the military with both barrels blazing and make it quite clear to anyone who doubted him that no, he wasn’t just another pretty celebrity face, yes, he is indeed a Boss who will stomp some guerrilla tail, and yes, age ain’t nothin’ but a number—before the PD came knocking. Now our rough-and-tumble ultra soldier can settle into using his God-given entertainment talents once again and help his fellow troops in a different yet valuable way.
JiHoon can do morale without missing a beat, no problem. Just ask the guys who’ve been his recruit-mates for the past four months.
S. Korea Singer Rain Takes a Rain Check on Frontline Soldiering
Seoul. South Korean pop icon Rain will serve as an “entertainment soldier” for the remainder of his two years of compulsory military service, the defense ministry said Friday.
Rain will appear in television and radio programs of the Korean Forces Network, a broadcaster run by the ministry to boost morale, and take part in weekly concert tours to military units across the country.
“As he is a singer and dancer, he will do well as an ‘entertainment soldier’,” a ministry official told AFP.
Fans from across Asia wept last October when the 29-year-old entertainer entered boot camp to start his mandatory military service.
He was said to be adjusting well to military life, being judged a top marksman and groomed to become an assistant instructor.
Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, is a major star in his home country and throughout much of the rest of Asia, where South Korean “K-pop” commands a huge following.
All eligible South Korean men must spend about two years in the military. The country has remained technically at war with North Korea since their 1950-1953 conflict ended without a peace treaty.
Most start their spell around the age of 20. But Rain took advantage of a provision allowing famous entertainers to postpone their service.
Agence France-Presse
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Star News 2/24/2012 — [Brief English translation by 화니 (Hwahni) @The Cloud Photo Board]
Rain picked as an entertainment soldier by the Publicity Department as part of the Ministry of Defense
Clockwise from the top left to the right / Rain (Jung Ji Hoon – private), Kim Sung Won (private first class), Kim Jae Wook (private first class), and Im Joo Howan (private first class)
-Rain excerpt -
The Publicity Department as part of the Ministry of Defense, have revealed on the 24th that they’ve picked singer Rain (his real name, Jung Ji Hoon), singer Kim Sung Won, actor Kim Jae Wook, and actor Im Joo Howan as entertainment soldiers.
As a support group belonging to the Defense Ministry, these soldiers will start working on military TV and radio, and will visit each of army bases to give a morale-boosting concert every week.
Pte ‘Jung Ji Hoon’ (Rain) had always wanted to serve in the military as an ordinary soldier since his enlistment, and he was supposed to serve in a recruit training center belonging to the 5th Division as a teaching assistant, beginning at the end of this month.
The ROK military has spoken, these past few days. We appreciate them giving this information. And now you know the word “Twitter” [트위터, teuwiteo] in Korean.
(Credits as tagged. CLICK image for full size and use your Zoom if necessary.)
Very, very cool. Particularly because, as we understand it, the fan cammer took them at Star Avenue earlier this month.
Hmm. Thanks, Lotte!
Rain Lotte CF display at Star Avenue, Myeongdong, South Korea. (Video credit: Adetted / adetted @YT. PLEASE do not re-upload to other Youtube channels by request of the owner. Thanks!)
Ah ha ha ha! Remember this, Clouds? One of Rain’s shining moments here in The States: His dance-off with Stephen Colbert.
Is there a sillier guy than Colbert? And is there anybody smexier than Rain? Wait. Let me answer that for you. No. No, there is not.
Click on the image below to witness Colbert’s utter defeat by the master Rain once again.
Timeline Trivia: For those of you who don’t know, Rain had just started filming Ninja Assassin (hence the long hair), and had to fly to Los Angeles for the Speed Racer Premiere. The dance-off with Colbert took place on his way back to Germany.
Gosh. Wasn’t that fun?
(To Mr. Colbert: Cloud USA appreciates your humor and we hope your mom is doing better. Much love.)
If you’re an action movie fanatic, then you are going to LOVE this blog. Of course, Rain made it onto the bad ass list, but what impressed me the most was the effort that went into compiling all of these lists of action movie heroes.
Click on the image below to take a look at Rain’s list, and then work your way through the rest of the site. Trust me. It is well worth your time.
Interestingly, Rain is listed under the “Regular Joe” section of the Bad Ass page. At first, I was like, huh? But I think I finally got where the blogger was coming from.
Although, Rain’s Raizo is a bad ass, he’s not that typical, buffed-up, break-em-in-half hulk-like-monster that one might expect from your typical action figure-type. Ninja Assassin is a ninja movie. And Rain plays a ninja who is all muscle and zero body fat. He doesn’t fit the action-figure mold.
And, in regular clothes one could possibly mistake him for a “regular Joe.” For about a minute. Which would be a minute too late, mind you. (Poor ninja-girl in the laundromat. O_o) In any event, his baddassery still far outweighs the other “Regular” Joes on the list, don’t you think?
The movie, Ninja Assassin, also appears on Action Movie Freak’s “Hit List” as one of the Good (Oorah!) Action Movies. The Freak’s not very picky. He admits to loving ALL action movies to some degree. So, I imagine that if something comes out on his bad hit list, then it’s probably really REALLY BAD.
Not enough is being said about the talented R&B/Hip-Hop/Classical/Pop artist Leehom Wang these days. So, I thought I’d take a moment to remind everyone that he’s still out there working hard for the world of music (and for the world, in general, actually) in a multitude of ways.
You don’t know of him, you say? Sadly, that question will likely be asked by most of you reading this blog—even though most of us would consider ourselves to be extremely educated on the Asian music front. For those of you who don’t know, Leehom Wang is another one of those brilliant artists who was American-born and yet who is completely underexposed and underrated here in the U.S. Why? Well, frankly, it’s because he is Asian-American. After all, don’t most Asian-American artists feel compelled to live and work at least during part of, if not all of, their careers in Asia, because there’s more work for them there than here in the United States. Let me go ahead and answer that. Yes. Yes, they do.
To me that is a travesty and something that needs to be remedied. The problem is I have a terrible feeling that nothing is going to change on that front—at least not in my lifetime. That my doubts are accurate can be evidenced by things like this past week’s ESPN Jeremy Lin blunder and Jenny Hyun’s scathingly racist Twitter rant. Add those incidences to the following facts…
Arts programs all over the country have been either eliminated or had their operating budgets slashed. (which means that only kids coming from the wealthiest neighborhoods may have good access to arts programs.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/la-youth_n_1277182.html
…and it is pretty clear that the trajectory is not headed up. Sigh. :-{
But we all do what we can do in the sphere of our own influence, right? Hence this post.
Back in 2005, Leehom released an album entitled Heroes of the Earth (蓋世英雄). On that album was a little ditty called 完美的互動 The Perfect Interaction [Wan Mei De Hu Dong], which featured two more popular Asian artists of the time. Their names were Ji-Hoon Jung (Rain) and Jeong-Hee Lim.
Heroes of the Earth was an important and intellectual work. In 2004, Wang traveled across China and into the remotest of villages to collect rare, tribal sounds of aboriginal Chinese, Tibetan, and Mongolian music. He then went back to his studio and incorporated these sounds into the R&B and hip-hop music he was working on at the time.
He ultimately coined the style of music he had created as “chinked-out” music, hoping to embrace the once derogatory term “chink” and “make it cool.” (CNN’s Talk Asia Interview). I’m not sure if he was successful with the phrase. Probably not. However, his albums were another story altogether.
The first album to incorporate “chinked-out” music was Wang’s album, Shangri-La ((心中的日月), which he released in December, 2004. Within ten days of its release, 40,000 copies of the album had been sold. Ultimately, Shangri-La sold over 2,000,000 copies.
Heroes of the Earth, continuing the trend, was released in December, 2005. Today, Heroes of the Earth is listed as Wang’s best selling album, with over 3,000,000 units sold. Both albums, Shangri-La and Heroes of the Earth, were critically acclaimed, and led to Wang’s winning several awards, including the Golden Melody Awards’ coveted Best Male Mandarin Artist Award (2005 & 2006).
At the time of Heroes of the Earth’s release, Rain’s career was only three years old. Leehom, on the other hand was already an industry professional and an international star; Heroes of the Earth was his 11th album. I imagine that Rain felt quite honored to be featured in a song on one of Leehom’s albums. Another bit of trivia: this was Rain’s first Chinese song.
Below is the music video of that song, The Perfect Interaction. You will note that Rain doesn’t appear in the video, even though he is singing in the song. That is because, at the time, Rain was a really busy guy, and there were scheduling conflicts with the shooting of the music video that simply could not be resolved. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to be in it. Just so you know. It’s just that he couldn’t. So, he recorded his part later. :-}
I have tried like heck to find an English translation of this song, but one does not appear to exist. If anyone has a good English translation of this song, please send it our way.
Wishing you many Rainy days,
Terri :-}
terri@cloudusa.org
P.S. Another interesting tidbit related to Rain and Leehom Wang: Remember that 2008 Olympics Closing Ceremony, where Rain made a surprise appearance to sing with a group of young artists? Well, guess who was one of those artists? You got it, Leehom Wang.
As an added treat, I also recommend you head over to Leehom’s official website and his latest music video. The song is called “Open Fire. You can watch it by clicking the following link: Leehom Wang’s Open Fire.
In light of the unbelievable racist crap going on lately, I think you’ll find it entertaining. I know I did. :-} (I wanted to say something else besides crap here, but I’m trying to keep this blog as PG-13 as I can, okay?)
Just so you’ll know, Leehom doesn’t like to simply make “pop music.” Instead, he works hard to make music that is meaningful to him, music that he hopes will make people want to change the world around them. Some people don’t like his music, because they think he is a little heavy-handed, a little too “on-the-nose.” Others like the honesty of it. I think that his living all of his young life in the U.S.A. and then moving to Asia and writing his music in Chinese is what has created some of the juxtapositions in his music myself, but that’s just me. I find his music extremely interesting. You, however, can decide for yourself.
By the way, the phrase “open fire” in Chinese can apparently also be translated as “full blast,” which is why the translator below translated the phrase in the song that way–because it fit better in the lyrics. I have a feeling that Leehom may have meant the phrase to be used both ways in the song, somehow. For example, the end of the chorus of the song could have been translated like this:
This battle is going full blast,
Full blast, full blast,
open fire…fire.
But I guess we’ll never know exactly what he meant unless he tells us, because there is no “official” English translation to be found anywhere. In the meantime, please do enjoy the video.
Open Fire by Leehom Wang
(Let’s overthrow) the imperialism.
(Let’s) not agree to be slaves any more.
The main gate of my house is invaded.
Lady Gaga, you say?
I say, why should I fear her?
Oh oh oh oh oh oh.
Don’t bow to those women.
Culture is a weapon
Buried in every nerve
And awakened by a performance of drums.
Never allow failure;
There’s no need to wait for success,
Because Music Man (Wang Leehom) is here.
Suddenly the whole world is shaking.
The rhythm and music invade our blood vessels.
This battle is going full blast,
Full blast, full blast,
full blast.
Blast~~~~
So many accusations
Of an Asian invasion.
Here they come a pointin’ fingers at me,
Preyin’ on a mass emotion,
Stirrin’ up a big commotion,
trying to assign responsibilities.
Gonna stop this negativity.
Turn it into positivity with integrity,
Givin’ all of me,
For all to see.
This fight for equality,
But even if they blame us,
Try to frame us, nobody can shame us.
I’mma gonna sing this next verse in Chinese
Suddenly the whole world is shaking.
The rhythm and music invade our blood vessels.
This battle is going full blast
Full blast, full blast,
Full blast.
~translation by sayhitoforever, http://aiyatheydidnt.livejournal.com
The official Mentholatum China micro-blog on Weibo has been making it rain a lot lately. We like that. You can see those posts and my quick summary of them below. Enjoy.
(All images credited to Mentholatum, as tagged / brief English summaries by Stephe @Cloud USA)
A post from today (2/22) talks about how men wear watches not only to tell the time but also to share their personalities with the particular watch that they choose. That’s what I loosely get out of it… ^@@^
This second post from 2/22 advises that after surviving a long snowy winter, men should use the Power Up product line to restore elasticity, moisture, and vitality to their skin… ^@@^
This post (2/15) talks about how the MENtholatum Men’s professional skin care line uses the Shea fruit tree, found in Burkina Faso, Africa, for its almost “magical” properties, and that shea butter not only repairs damaged skin but resists UV rays… ^@@^
This post (2/12) talks about how, after 40, strength and muscles decrease and shrink year after year, so a regular exercise regimen is conducive to maintaining good posture and staving off diseases that commonly come with age. The post also gives advice on certain physical activities to stick to and paying attention to your age group for the most benefits… Yes, Rain in “Raizo” form was the perfect image to insert in this post, right? ^@@^
This was quite special, and showed yet another reason why Rain isn’t just another pretty face. The man has so many facets, real substance, and brains to boot.
Behind every Cloud is a silver lining. His name is RAIN.
Cloud USA (EST. January 21, 2010) is an UNOFFICIAL FAN SITE where all English-speaking Rain Clouds of every age and ethnicity around the globe can share in their love of JI-HOON JUNG, the talented Korean artist known the world over as Rain [비] (Bi). We want to provide a comprehensive introduction of Rain to those who may not know much about him, as well as help increase his presence in North America.
We also would like to further the popularity of Korean art and culture in the United States.
ENGLISH SPEAKERS FROM ALL COUNTRIES ARE WELCOME HERE. We hope you will visit and participate often!
Special thanks to...
THE Official Korean CLOUD
The Ladies at RAINLISTINGS
Cuckoo, Scorpiola, Ratoka, & RAIN LEGEND international fan forum
Absolute MBLAQ
Rain's Hawai'ian Cloud
RAIN Germany
rain bird & Rain Europe
huhuhuhu & Raincloud Hong Kong
Rain Destiny Peru
...for the wonderful job you do, and for continuing to feed the Rain fan inside all of us. Fighting!
Cloud USA
3961 Floyd Road
Suite 300130
Austell, Georgia 30106
EMAIL: letitrain@cloudusa.org
THIS MEDIA BLOG IS BEST VIEWED IN MOZILLA FIREFOX, GOOGLE CHROME, and OPERA.
We are not associated with Rain or J.Tune Enterprises in any way. No copyright infringement intended; all videos (embedded or linked; there are NO uploads) and images remain the property of their respective owners and are used for promotional purposes of Rain only.
GET: Calendar Wallpaper CloudUSA, Coupang, Fan made
GET: Regular RAIN Wallpaper
READ: Rain’s 2006-2011 TIME.com Time Line
VISIT: Our MTV BADASS Page
VISIT: Our NINJA ASSASSIN Page
WATCH: Season 3
WHAT WE ARE WATCHING…
Stephe
The MOON EMBRACING THE SUN (K.drama/period)
VAMPIRE PROSECUTOR (K.drama/suspense)
DARKER Than BLACK, Season 2 (J.anime)
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, Season 1 (J.anime)
SUPERNATURAL (U.S.fantasy)
Everything on HGTV and DIY (U.S. home & garden and do-it-yourself)
Revisiting: THE FUGITIVE: PLAN B (on Hulu)
FAVORITE RAIN SONGS: "Oh Yeah" (with A.I.), "Love Song," "Move On," "No No No," "Even You," "The Empty Space," "You Know," "Quiz," "Because of You," "Familiar Face," & "Slowly"
Terri
WILD ROMANCE (K.drama)
OPERATION: PROPOSAL (K.drama)
THE MOON THAT EMBRACES THE SUN (K.drama)
SUPERNATURAL (U.S. Fantasy)
GAME OF THRONES (U.S. Fantasy)
PASTA/파스타 (K.melodrama)
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN (J.anime)
SUPERNATURAL (U.S.paranormal)
The WALKING DEAD (U.S.horror)
PLAYING: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, HALO (Xbox LIVE)
FAVORITE GIRL GROUPS: Wonder Girls, SNSD (Girls Generation), and Perfume
FAVORITE RAIN SONGS: "Rainism" & "Hip Song"
(although every five minutes, the man is humming the "Love Song" tune for some reason, probably to try out on some woman)
Katie
HAMMAR SESSION (J.Drama)
TAISETSU NA KOTO WA SUBETE KIMI GA OSHIETE KURETA (J.Drama)
HONG GIL DONG (K.Drama)
PARADISE RANCH (K.drama)
SUPERNATURAL (U.S.paranormal)
COMMUNITY (U.S Comedy)
CHUCK (U.S Comedy)
THE MENTALIST (U.S Crime drama)
THE WALKING DEAD (U.S Horror drama)
Revisiting: SAMURAI HIGH (J.drama) + ROOKIES (J.Drama)
WHAT: THE FUGITIVE: PLAN B
[ 도망자 (Do-mang-ja) Plan B, RUNAWAY Plan B ]
Melodrama / Romantic spy comedy / 20 episodes, 70 minutes each
WITH RAIN ~ Jung Ji-Hoon AS: Ji-Woo (private investigator / super sleuth)
ADD'L CAST: Lee Na-Young, Lee Jung-Jin, Daniel Henney
* Fugitive's first broadcast run in S.Korea and globally had ended by the new year (2011), but the show can still be viewed On Demand on the Internet sites below.
* FYI 3/16/2011: KBSWORLDi has had a name switch and is now known as MVIBO.com (Multi-cultural Video Broadcasting)! It is still managed by KBS America, Inc., and is also partnered with KBS (Korea), SBS, MBC, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and other content providers.
*FYI 7/29/2011: Fugitive is beginning to broadcast on various cable and satellite channels and networks around the world. Recent television trailers in Taiwan and in Japan are advertising the series' arrival. JiWoo is still alive and kicking, and will be for some time to come!
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR UPCOMING KOLLABORATION SHOWS, COMING IN 2012!
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