For anyone who knows me, I’m a HUGE fan of 채연 (Chae Yeon), so I’m currently holding myself back from screaming like a 12 year old fan girl - (because it’s unbecoming for a woman of my age to do such a thing) - now that I’m one of the first to actually have some of the tracks from her brand spanking new 4th Album - ‘My Love’ - due to release April 1st (April 4th at YesAsia.com).
They don’t have April Fools in Korea … do they?
Also included in this week’s show: new music from 박정아 (Park Jung Ah), plus a request for Rain and another cool Japanese hip hop/ dancehall/dub collabo with Pushim, Homemade Kazoku, Rhymster, Maboroshi and May J.
For any requests, feedback, suggestions please email them to me at christine [at] popcast88.com.
I’ve ripped up the script and will only be reading the news from now on - except, I have no news to read this week … anyhoo …
I coerced a few of my friends this past week into partaking in a verbal game I designed for this very podcast. (Play along!) They were a bit shy at first, but once they got it, they really got into it.
Of course, I’m still bringing you music including new tracks from Yuna Ito, a hot hip hop collabo from DJ Mayumi and the latest from Epik High.
Any suggestions, feedback or comments are welcomed. Please email them to christine [at] popcast88.com.
* All the dramas I’ve reviewed have high quality English subtitles and are available for legal purchase in North America, either through Amazon or YesAsia.
** Reviews are in order of recommendation.
*** Click the titles for my review of each title.
1. Goong (궁) aka Palace or Princess Hours - Yoon Eun Hye (윤은혜), Joo Ji Hoon (주지훈)
2. My Lovely Sam Soon - Kim Sun Ah (김순아), Hyun Bin (휸빈), Jung Ryeo Won (정려원), Daniel Henney
3. Lovers in Prague - Jeon Do-Yeon (전도연), Kim Joo Hyuk (김주휵), Kim Min Joon (김민준)
4. My Girl - Lee Da Hae (이다해), Lee Dong Wook (이돈욱)
5. Damo: The Undercover Lady Detective - Ha Ji Won (하지원), Kim Min Joon (김민준), Lee Seo Jin (이서진)
6. Glass Slipper - Kim Hyun Ju (김현주), Kim Ji Ho (김지호), So Ji Sup (소지섭), Han Jae Suk (한재석), Kim Min Sun (김민선), Kim Jung Hwa (김정화)
7. Love Letter - Jo Hyun Ji (조현지), Soon Ae (순애), Ji Jin Hee (지진희)
8. Save the Last Dance - Eugene (S.E.S) (김요진), Ji Sung (지숭)
9. Sad Love Story - Kwon Sang-woo (권상워), Kim Hee-sun (김희선), Yeon Jung-hoon (연정훈)
10. Wedding - Jang Nara (장나라), Ryeo Shi Won (류시원)
11. Lawyers - Jun Hye Young (정혜영), Kim Sung Soo (김성수), Kim Sang Kyung (김상경), Han Go Eun (한고은)
12. Something Happened in Bali - Ha Ji Won (하지원), Jo In Sung (조인성), So Ji Sup (소지섭), Park Ye-Jin (박예진)
13. What Planet are you From? - Kim Rae Won (김래원), Jeong Ryeo Won (정려원)
14. Sweet Spy - Nam Sang Mi (남상미), Dennis Oh
15. A Love To Kill - Jung Ji Hoon (정지훈) aka Bi (비), Shim MinAh (심민아)
16. Stained Glass - Kim Ha Neul (김하늘), Lee Dong Gun (이동건), Kim Sung Soo (김성수)
17. Spring Days - Ko Hyun Jung (고현정), Ji Jin Hee (지진희), Jo In Sung (조인성)
But really, I’d like to know what you think about the show.
Please look forward to the official show scheduled to go live May 1, 2007.
In the meantime, I’ll be producing several podcasts to both help those from the Jpopcast.com listenership transition over to the new links as well as introduce new listeners as to what they can expect come May.
Each new show I’ll be adding something new. In this edition of POP 88 we’ve got lots of music. New tracks by T, Khalil Fong and Brian, plus an older track from classic Heartsdales.
Should you have any comments, feedback and/or suggestions, I would love to hear from you. Please email me, christine [at] popcast88.com.
* please note - I know I need to buy a new mic and also, please excuse my really bad Korean and Japanese pronounciations - I will get better, I promise!
POP 88 aims to deliver Asian pop culture in a way that is fun, informative and entertaining through news, music, games and even a lesson in language every so often.
Background
In all honesty, I would like to say the show was borne out of a need for a diversity of voices and a new way of how our community of Asian North Americans should start seeing itself … but that isn’t the complete complicated story.
The POP 88 true story is … For the past 5 years, we (DJ SanFran and I) produced a fairly popular Asian music, news and entertainment show/ podcast on CKLN and had shared the timeslot with another team of hosts alternating weeks. Both shows were Asian-centric but with very different focuses - theirs was more artsy, ours was pop culture oriented. They came to us with a plan in an attempt to ‘unify’ the two shows.
For reasons, both professional and creative, both DJ SanFran and I felt that it was not in both ours and the shows best interest to accept their offer. They then decided that they wanted the produce the show ‘full time’ (ie: every week). The station manager of CKLN became involved and due to the politics of managing a volunteer-run radio station, had to side with the founder of the show - the other team.
After talking with my dear friend Poonstar for about 4 hours after the meeting, an idea I had been toying with for years was starting to take shape.
When I was a child, I remember my mom asking me at the kitchen table over the plastic table wrap what I wanted to do when I grew up. “A DJ,” I said with a smile recalling with great fondness the music coming out of the box with numerous dials and switches on it, my mother dancing to old records my dad brought over from the Philippines and the wonderment of both information and entertainment that came from one place. Of course, this did not go over well and she tried to steer me to the more stable professions - which was all futile as I ended up going to college for Broadcasting for Radio and Television where I focused on Television Production.
It’s probably here where I should say that DJ SanFran was more of an influence on me than he thinks. Both him and I have known each other since we were 3 and I remember always looking forward to seeing him because we would always have a good time together. He is 1 of 2 guys I remember with great fondness from my childhood. The other guy went to school for IT, DJ SanFran went to Radio Broadcasting and Production - I always say that I think I subconsciously followed in his footsteps.
There was a lot I wasn’t able to do when I worked with DJ SanFran at CKLN - this was due to many different factors including show focus, ownership, the large gap of time between shows etc. However, with the wave of podcasts - anyone could literally put on a show - why not me?
The idea both excited and frightened me. You know the moment when you are about to actually realize a pipe dream but haven’t done any of the work and yet still dream of the possibilities? - I was there, overwhelmed with the amount of work and re-learning of skills I had long forgotten (HTML Coding, anyone?). Often I felt like running away, wanting to snap myself out its possibility, but then still propelled myself forward with the next step in completing the project.
I was fortunate over the past 6 or so years, I had developed good relationships with people from all over Asian America and Canada and had just recently signed on as one of 8Asians.com contributors. Ernie was already a fan of the show DJ SanFran and I produced, so pitching a show to him was perhaps one of those moments of destiny and fate - eventhough that idea came to me while in the shower.
And so within a month, I organized myself so I could start producing whenever I wanted to … and here we are today.
And only here can you listen to a very different interview you won’t see or hear anywhere else, as I told her she didn’t have to take me so seriously.
She talks about how she discovered Iris Chang at 17, how she convinced the producers to see her, and how her battle with depression mentally prepared her for the role.
Side note:
Olivia and I have known each other for 6 years but had never met face to face. So when I finally introduced myself, she gave me a funny look, “Not Christine Miguel, Christine Miguel?” I smiled, “Yes.”
A podcast featuring interviews, news, games and the best in J-pop, K-pop and other Asian pop music today. Just like radio, only not! Hosted by Toronto’s Christine Miguel
For anyone who knows me, I’m a HUGE fan of 채연 (Chae Yeon), so I’m currently holding myself back from screaming like a 12 year old fan girl - (because it’s unbecoming for a woman of my age to do such a thing) - now that I’m one of the first to actually have some of the tracks from her brand spanking new 4th Album - ‘My Love’ - due to release April 1st (April 4th at YesAsia.com).
