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Here is my first big role on Korea’s MBC TV show, “Surprise”.  Our manager from the show called the day before filming to let me know that I’d be the lead, and that I would be singing.  I was excited because, you know, I like to sing.

Well, I was a little surprised to find out what they had in mind.  I hope this disclaimer is unnecessary, but, uh, I don’t usually sing like this.

Drumroll, please.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NAT7fTQ4a4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk3fw2yxNRA[/youtube]

Mom, are you proud?  :).

-Jessica

p.s. If you’re curious, this is actually a true story.  Check out Florence Foster Jenkins.

Here is the debut music video of the EV Boyz, our friends Brian, Mike and Christian from the English Village in Paju.  Geumchon is the downtown area of our old country town of Paju, and it’s about the most exciting thing Paju has going (which isn’t saying much).

These guys are hilarious, and though you probably won’t catch half of the hilarity without knowing the context, I thought you might enjoy this.  Here is an insight into the life of our friends up in Paju, South Korea.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBfy_HVoSM[/youtube]

Intro:
This song goes out to all the waygooks lookin’ for the place to be

Chorus:
Kickin’ it in Geumchon, Oh, Oh
Komsomnida, Annyong Haseyo
Kickin’ it in Geumchon, Oh, Oh,
Komsomnida, Annyong Haseyo
Kickin’ It, Where? In Geumchon Where?
In Geumchon. Where? In Geumchon Where?
Kickin’ it in Geumchon, Oh, Oh

Verse 1:
South Korea’s got Jeju, South Korea’s got Seoul
Busan and Ilsan if that’s how you roll
But when you work at EV, and live in Paju
Then the town to get down is 15 minutes from you, How do I get there?
Hop on the 900 bus
I use my T-money card so there’s never no fuss
Jump off at the station, or shall I say “yuk”
Are you fluent in Korean? No I got a phrasebook
Pang Pang, now we’re off to the races
To the backstreet market checkin’ out pig faces
Octupus on sale, squid 2 for 1
Let’s hit the waterpark for fun in the sun, I got my swimcap!
Baskin Robbins and Pizza Hut
Knock Domino’s down then slam Dunkin’ Donuts
Geumchon rocks, then it rocks some more
The street meat is sweet and corndogs galore

Chorus:
Kickin’ it in Gumcheon, Oh, Oh
Komsomnida, Annyong Haseyo
Kickin’ it in Gumcheon, Oh, Oh,
Komsomnida, Annyong Haseyo
Kickin’ It, Where? In Gumcheon Where?
In Gumcheon. Where? In Gumcheon Where?
Kickin’ it in Gumcheon, Oh, Oh

Verse 2:
Sometimes it’s spelled with a G, I’ve seen it spelled with a K
Sometimes it’s spelled with an E, I’ve seen the E go away
But regardless of spelling, pronunciation’s the same
The town’s so explosive, Boomchon could be it’s name
The movie theater keeps it real with no subtitles
But we never go cuz there’s no subtitles
But birthday party time it’s so simple to rally
We alls grab our balls at the bowling alley
Then to the Sky Golf hittin’ nothin’ but net
The locals wanna wager but it’s illegal to bet
If your mouth is dry, or if your throat’s got a tickle
Part for the Family Mart, to lick a popsicle
Hungry for bibim bop? The choices never stop
The spice is so nice could make a tear drop
We dedicate the bridge, but not in haste
To the cabbage that we ravage with the chili paste taste

Bridge:
Kimchi, Kimchi, it is good for you and me
Kimchi, Kimchi, it is good for you and me
Kimchi, Kimchi, it is good for you and me
Kimchi, Kimchi, it is good for you and me

Pre-Verse 3:
Kickin’ it
In Boomchon
Kickin’ it
in Boomchon

Verse 3:
When I go to Geumchon, I look at all the hotties
Those ahgashis, they got the hottest bodies
The padded bras, the high heeled shoes
Hey ladies? Can I buy you some brews?
Drinkin’ Cass-uh, drinkin’ Hite-uh
Feelin’ alright-uh, drinkin’ all night-uh
La festa’s no longer the best
Ride your scooter to Guemchon and head over to Zest
The barman’s got flair, flippin’ bottles in the air
Tom Cruise in Cocktail can’t even compare
Upstairs at Posse yogurt soju’s flowin’
Plus Froot Loop balls and the roofdeck’s blowin’
Nature videos while I’m singin’ my song
Number six one three seven at the local Noraebong
Want a night on the town? Wanna spend some won?
Come kick it with us, come kick it in Gumcheon

Chorus:
Kickin’ it in Gumcheon, Oh, Oh
Komsomnida, Annyong Haseyo
Kickin’ it in Gumcheon, Oh, Oh,
Komsomnida, Annyong Haseyo
Kickin’ It, Where? In Gumcheon Where?
In Gumcheon. Where? In Gumcheon Where?
Kickin’ it in Gumcheon, Oh, Oh

(Written by Christian Zonts.  The EV Boyz are Christian Zonts, Mike Nance, and Brian Peterson)

-Jessica

This morning, Adam discovered this meeting of our two worlds: my favorite band–U2, and his favorite film– a German film called “Wings of Desire” directed by Wim Winders. We were surprised that we’d never come across this before. The song was written for the film’s sequel, “Far Away So Close”. Winders directed U2’s music video, borrowing heavily from his own films.

In this video, the members of U2 are angels watching over the city of Berlin. Lovely. Bono can sing in my ear any time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQbNDmm09bQ[/youtube]

-Jessica

We’re having another one of those busy couple of weeks that induces a bit of silence here at Lofbomm.com, but our buddy Tyler Kimbro just turned us on to this most fantastic performance that you might enjoy too. Wow. Thanks, Tyler. This guy is almost as talented as your little finger, my friend.

-A.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew-7SwLcHBg[/youtube]

“Here’s my version of it, eternal whirlwind…”

We saw Bjork in concert tonight at Olympic Hall in Seoul. Part Atari game, part medieval madrigal, part sci-fi alien invasion, the show was completely Bjork and completely cool. She was backed up by a brass band, a keyboardist, drummer, and two guys tweaking on Mac computers. The computer interface was projected on the screens throughout the concert, and it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before– I can best describe it as a computer theremin synthesizer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4MoTHilU-Y[/youtube]

Adam and I were sitting in the assigned seats, so we were pretty far back from the stage but dead-center. The energy in the seated section was pretty dead at the start, but Bjork started really cranking about 3 songs in, and we were right there with her. It’s amazing how she can wail so wildly on such perfect pitch. By the end, we were on our feet, fists in the air, screaming along. It was a great show.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KotpmpE16I[/youtube]

We met up with several of our friends from CouchSurfing afterward to complete the event. Adam and I realized that this was the first big concert we’ve ever been to together, and it was a great one.

“Raise your flag! Higher! Higher!”

-Jessica

Here’s Adam’s first, big lead role on “Surprise.” Watch his breathtaking performance as ‘Brooke’s Father.’ A shoo-in for an Emmy if they had them here in Korea. Be sure to check him out rocking a wee bit of Korean during the surreal strangeness at around 2:00 in part one.

Here is part one:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_AB9eqOG5A[/youtube]

And here is part two:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lEEn9UYemc[/youtube]

Enjoy!

I told you I’d give you details, so here we go.

When we moved to Seoul from the country town of Paju in August, I put an ad online for other musicians in Seoul. I found some great guys, and we made Mosaic. We had a lot of fun playing together, and I loved singing again. I actually quit my job to pursue a hotel contract with them.

But then there was disagreement as to what sort of contract we would pursue. One guy wanted to be a pop/ top-40 cover band, but I felt a lot more comfortable singing in the roots and jazz realms. The other guys really just wanted to play music, whatever kind. We decided that it would be nicer to just play music together in a lower-pressure capacity. We officially disbanded. Since then, I’ve gone to a jazz jam with two guys, and two of us also recently recorded a Christmas song (that we’ll share with you soon). I’m glad to have made some good music friends in Seoul.

But, with the abrupt folding of the band, I found myself without a job and no hope of the hotel contract I was planning on. Adam began to train me and bring me into the voice actor’s world, and I’m slowly getting my feet wet in that career. It’s a fun job, and highly flexible. Adam has been getting more and more successful, working almost every day, and he’s also beginning to expand his range from just educational materials to commercial and corporate work.

We had to move apartments because my previous employer was providing our last place. We found an awesome apartment in a vibrant college area of Seoul, and we moved a month ago. We LOVE our new place and are so grateful for the circuitous path we’ve taken to get here. Interestingly, our new land-lord has a desire to convert some units of the building into a guest house, and we’ve already begun to talk about ways we can work with him and learn, since opening a guest house is our dream, too.

Through some of Adam’s voice-actor friends, we found out about another opportunity that would be flexible, give us some fun work, and also provide us with the ever-important visa. Three weeks ago, we began working for a Korean TV show called “Surprise”. There is a huge cast of foreigners, and each weekly episode has about five short stories with twist (i.e. surprise) endings. Then the stories are shown in front of a studio audience, and they vote on which story they believe is not true. Thus, most of the stories are loosely historical or based on bizarre urban legends. It’s a funny gig, and so far we’ve been all over the northern provinces of he country to film episodes. We’ve also made friends from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Canada, Nigeria, Moldova, France, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA among our cast-mates.

So far, I’ve only had bit parts, but yesterday, Adam played Santa in the Christmas special. He was actually one of six Santas in the mystery story, but he ended up being the “real” one. I know, I gave away the ending. Sorry.

Here is a brief part of Adam’s big debut last week in a story about a “remote viewer” working in the CIA. I apologize for the bad quality of the video, we’ll try to find a better way to tape the show in the future.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCiYmRhMNu0[/youtube]

And that’s the scoop for now. Again, sorry to leave you hanging. Thanks to those of you that visit our blog. It has been a busy time, but I do intend to pick up writing again. Take care, and I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season.

-Jessica

We just saw a beautiful Irish film called Once. It opened in the states last Winter on the indie circuit, but somehow it made it to the mainstream theaters in Seoul this week. It’s a quirky love story with beautiful music.

Once stars Irishman Glen Hansard and the Czech Marketa Irglova.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoSL_qayMCc[/youtube]

-Jessica

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQkkAkNwIDw[/youtube]

The reading in church this morning really struck us, in light of current events.

How long, O LORD? I cry for help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.

Habakuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4

The American government has admitted its intention to extend its war into Iran. Read this report on Global Research…

The World is at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history. The US has embarked on a military adventure, “a long war”, which threatens the future of humanity.

It is essential to bring the US war project to the forefront of political debate, particularly in North America and Western Europe. Political and military leaders who are opposed to the war must take a firm stance, from within their respective institutions. Citizens must take a stance individually and collectively against war.

Come on, peace train.

-Jessica

We have news that Adam’s dad is being discharged from the hospital today, earlier than initially expected.  That’s good news.  Adam talked to his parents last night, and Steve seems to be doing better.  I don’t know any details, really, but I know you’d like to hear the good news that he’s going home.  Thanks to many of you for asking about him.  He could use your continued prayers.

In other news, Adam edited and uploaded an interview he conducted with my Grandpa Swanson in 2006.  If you’d like to hear about his childhood as a Swede in Minnesota and his time flying a “Pregnant Whale” in WWII, you can download the interview at http://lofbomm.com/Grandpa.mov.  (It’s a big download.)

And then, completely unrelated, I’m now #29 on the Idol Underground chart, up from #40 last week.  Thanks for stopping by- I’m sure it was you that raised my ranking.

We appreciate you, our friends and readers.

-Jessica