I'm back and I've started posting again!

For now I'll just be posting the videos I already subbed weeks ago but I hope I'll be able to start subbing new videos again soon. I would have started already but I had to leave the laptop with all my subbing programs back in my dorm and my other laptop is a Mac which is incompatible with those programs. That means I'll either have to learn how to use a different subbing program or you guys may have to wait three weeks until I'm back in my dorm again.

I swear the universe is against my subbing because one thing or another keeps preventing me from getting back in the rhythm. *sigh* This is so frustrating...

"You were here in this city but now sadness is raining down like falling cherry blossom petals."

Artist: Flower
Song: Sakura Regret
Nationality: Japanese
Genre: Pop / Ballad
Summary: A song about being reminded of a past love and all the regrets and loneliness

My Opinion: I can't even describe how much I love this song and video! The sets and colors are absolutely gorgeous and I love all the scenes with falling flower petals. At first I used to get annoyed by Japanese groups in which only two or three members would sing and the rest were all just dancers. Now I've gotten used to it and I think it's cool that the dancers are considered a part of the group and aren't just left in the background. This video does a wonderful job of giving equal time to the vocalists and dancers because they're all working just as hard. I love Reina & Chiharu's vocals and the rest of the girls wowed me with their dance skills and flexibility. Overall, the song has a very soothing vibe but the beats and music add even more flavor and catchiness. The lyrics are heartbreaking but evoke very vivid imagery and almost make you feel like you're there. The song takes almost two minutes to get started but if you let yourself get lost in the video, you won't even know where the time went. I HIGHLY recommend this!

Translator's note: Sakura is Japanese for ‘cherry blossom’ and the Meguro River is known for the many sakura trees lined up alongside it.

( Download links, thumbnails & credits under the cut )

"I become weak in the memories of you, but watch, I’ll show you that I’m over you."

Artist: B1A4
Song: This Time Is Over
Performance: March 18, 2012 on SBS's Inkigayo
Nationality: Korean
Genre: Pop
Summary: A song about convincing yourself that you're over someone until you actually are

My Opinion: This is my favorite song from their "Ignition" album! I really wish they could have promoted it as their follow up track. But I guess I'll have to be satisfied with just this short performance. I love the imagery of the clock and falling rain in the background. It matches the mood of the song so perfectly! Their voices sound amazing and they all (except Gongchan) sing with so much emotion that this song always pierces my heart.

( Download links, thumbnails & credits under the cut )

"You always find out that it hurts after it shatters. That's why you only amount to that."

Artist: NU'EST
Song: Face
Nationality: Korean
Genre: Pop
Summary: A song about how bullies are really just weak inside

My Opinion: I haven't gotten into this group yet, but I do like the fact that they sang about something other than love or breakup. The bullying topic is so important to Korea (and all around the world actually) that I have to applaud them for tackling it as their debut song. The music video is really well done and helps keep things consistent even when the lyrics get a bit confusing. The rap is strange though. Someone needs to tell that guy that having a forced raspy voice doesn't equal good rapping. And the English part at the end was a little weird too. The opening chair choreograph was cool though and the rest of the choreography is pretty good too. But I have no idea what that "dance" break was supposed to be. I burst out laughing when they did the hip swivel move with really serious faces XD None of the members have stood out to me so far so the only name I know is Baekho's because I was impressed by how much of the song he sings during live performances. Overall, it's a decent song and it's really the uniqueness of the lyrics and topic that makes this stand out. I hope they continue singing about different topics and don't regress into the same old stuff all idols tend to sing about.

( Download links, thumbnails & credits under the cut )

1.) I will no longer be listing which videos I'm NOT subbing in the Updates Post.

I should have done this from the beginning but I always felt guilty about not subbing videos that people wanted to see so writing a review in the updates post helped me justify (to myself and others) why I decided not to do it. But it's impossible for me to write a review for every video I don't sub and I don't enjoy writing purely negative things about songs & videos that other people are a fan of. Even though I wrote that stuff to explain my reasoning, music is about enjoyment and personal taste so I want to keep this comm a positive place. Also, 90% of the time when someone asked me whether I was subbing a particular video, the answer was usually no. Because if I was planning to sub it, it would have already been on the subbing list. There's no need to apologize if you asked about videos in the past and I'm not making this change because I'm angry or annoyed at the questions. I just hate saying no to people and I like to live by the philosophy "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all".

So from now on, if you're curious about what I'm subbing, check out the Updates Post. I already keep it updated on a regular basis but now I'll make sure it's updated daily and as quickly as possible after new releases. If you don't see a particular video on the updates list within a few days of its release, then you'll automatically know I'm not subbing it. This especially applies to Kpop because I watch all new Korean videos at least once (and usually the same day they're released). For Jpop & Cpop, give me at least a week to decide whether to add a new video to the subbing list.



2.) The Winners of the Subbing Raffle/Contest Have Been Decided!

Like I explained in the previous mod post, I entered the names of all the users who wanted to participate in a form on random.org and let the website randomly chose ten people. Here's a screencap of the winners' names as chosen by the site to show that this was done purely by random.

So without further ado, the winners are:
carmelxboo (2NE1 - Lonely {Strings Version})
ichigo_berry
quinnsan (U-Kiss - 0330)
onichick (Shinhwa - Eusha Eusha)
mokomira (Kis-My-Ft2 - Inori)
nicchan (Park Bom - Don't Cry {Live Session})
ladycaine (My Aunt Mary - Green Tin Scooter)
syarinzz (G.O.D. - Lie)
ai_za (Nightmare - Alumina)
animeleo (L'arc-en-Ciel - Link)

Congratulations! Winners, please leave a comment in this post with the name of the music video or performance you would like me to sub :)

The first half of the 2011 Pimp Post Directory is here!

Sorry it's a little late but I didn't get a chance to make the banners until today and a few people were still editing their posts.

In case you don't know what a pimp post is, it's basically a post made by a fan where they "pimp" out why a particular person/group/couple is awesome and everyone should love them. It's a great way to learn more about a group you've been curious about or collect pictures and gifs if you're already a fan.

Thank you so much to all the people who worked hard into putting these posts together. Even if it's just a short comment, PLEASE take a few seconds and let them know you enjoyed reading their post! I know they'll really appreciate the kind words and be happy to fangirl with you :D

I'll be leaving this post public so feel free to link it to your friends and have them join the party.

( it's time to get your fangirl/fanboy-ing on )

It's finally done! I apologize for the delay but it's time to get your fangirling on :D

In case you don't know what a pimp post is, it's basically a post made by a fan where they "pimp" out why a particular person/group/couple is awesome and everyone should love them. It's a great way to learn more about a group you've been curious about or collect pictures and gifs if you're already a fan. Now, that's a win-win situation right there. LOL

Thank you so much to all the people who put hours of hard work ogling gorgeous people into putting these posts together. Even if it's just a short comment, PLEASE take a minute and let them know you enjoyed reading their post! I know they'll really appreciate the kind words and be happy to fangirl with you :D

I'll be leaving this post public so feel free to link it to your friends and have them join the party.

Also, a couple of people are still working on finishing their posts so you might want to check back later (in about a week?) to see if there are any new links.

( Now, onto the fun, squeeing, and bandwidth death :P )

First of all, thank you to everyone who left their advice and input in the previous post! It was really helpful and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you all took the time to share your thoughts :)

After a lot of contemplating, the decision I've come to is that the rule WILL STAY.

So remember:
--- if you appreciate the time I spend subbing
--- if you want to see this site stay alive
--- if you want to have a place to EASILY download HQ subbed videos
--- if you have any humanity or respect in you

PLEASE do not upload my subbed videos to streaming sites like youtube, dailymotion, megavideo, etc

It may not seem like a big deal to you but I want to keep subbing for as long as possible. And the best way to do that is to keep things underground. I know there isn't a huge chance of getting in trouble with record companies but I don't want to take that chance. Please, please, please help me out by not breaking this rule.

I mean, come on, there aren't even that many rules in this comm! I don't force you to comment or leave your email to get the download link. I don't constantly rant about people not commenting enough. I'm generally a laid back person so I definitely don't want to become some crazed dictator running around yelling at rule breakers. Please understand my reasons behind this ONE restriction!

So in conclusion, the rule stays.
~ and I'm putting my faith in you guys to respect it.

( more details under the cut )

My paid livejournal account was about to expire but I managed to extend it a few more months. I was able to save enough money to renew it but while I was paying, I suddenly had a thought. Instead of constantly worrying about renewing my membership, maybe I should just invest in a permanent account ($150). That way, even if someday I stop subbing (I know, bad thought!) all the screencaps and entries on this site will stay just the way they are ... forever.

The reason this whole thing is an issue is because I store all the screencaps and images posted here in my LJ Scrapbook. That way I never have to worry about running out of bandwidth and you guys won't have to see ugly photobucket or imageshack placeholders. Also, the paid account gives me a lot of bonus features like creating polls and modifying the layout. Plus, as long as my personal account (carmendove) is a paid account, all of those features are also activated at any comm I run/create.

Long story short, I think a permanent account would be a good investment. Unfortunately, Livejournal only puts them up for sale once a year or once every couple of years. One time it was only open for 24 hours! I'll be putting aside money to save for it, but between tuition, books, fees, etc. I'm not sure if I'll have enough if they suddenly put it on sale.

So I've debated about this for a long time and I hope no one takes it the wrong way, but I've added a button to the sidebar for donations. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, don't feel obligated or burdened by this because I know many of you are in the same shoes as me. Even if no one donates anything, I will do my best to keep this site running just the way it already is :)

I often get asked the same questions over and over again so I decided to create a "frequently asked questions" page so I can direct people to it when they ask something that's on here. I'm not discouraging questions! I just wanted a quicker solution to the questions people ask often.

I highly recommend EVERYONE read this. Please. It would save me a lot of time!

Plus I added totally random gifs to make it more fun to read :D


( read the FAQs under the cut )