The Battle of Yorktown heralded the end of British and American armed conflict and the United States of America followed with credence. I was born not many miles from this historic place. Enjoy and Happy Independence Day!
credit: Mark Erney
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The producers of SBS’ Wednesday-Thursday drama “Three Days” have joined the other media figures in helping the victims of the heartbreaking Sewol ferry tragedy.
The drama’s production company Golden Thumb Pictures donated 30 million won (~ 30,000 USD) through the Salvation Army of Korea on April 21. A representative of the Salvation Army shared, “Yesterday, they revealed their will to donate. They requested the funds to be used for the rescue operations of the Sewol ferry.”
After hearing the news of actors Song Seung Hun and On Joo Wan delivering their donation through the Salvation Army, the production company contacted the organization to sort out the details. The representative added, “Looking at the Sewol tragedy, I am sure everyone is waiting for the rescue [of the missing people]. This wish is expressed through the extensive donations.”
Since the devastating news of the accident begun to spread on April 16, many celebrities and their fans have participated in the rescue operations by sending relief goods and funds to the victims.
credit: soompi
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KyuHyun: In the midst of food broadcast with Shimchwang, going on a tour of good restaurants.. ???Sokcho Honggye… Jang’s cut noodles… Eating and going sightseeing in Gyeongju ^^ pic.twitter.com/lB0SFr8fyN
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TVXQ’s 7th album ‘TENSE’ has topped weekly album charts in both Korea and Taiwan.
Released on the 6th of January, TVXQ’s new album ‘TENSE’ has dominated various Korean album weekly sales charts on sites like Hanteo, Hottracks and Synnara Records (January 6th~12th). The album also topped FIVE MUSIC’s weekly charts for Korean and Japanese music in Taiwan.
The album is not only doing well domestically, but it has also been praised by Billboard.com as ‘an album that will satisfy R&B fans of singers like Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars’ in a lengthy review. The title track ‘Something’ was introduced as ‘a track that successfully combines the sounds of the past and the present.”
TVXQ have been showcasing a complicated line performance in their renditions of ‘Something’, which uses ropes and microphones in its choreography for the first time ever in Korea. TVXQ’s rhythmical dancing and chemistry with their backup dancers makes ‘Something’ look like a scene from a musical.
Source: [tenasia]
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Kim Jaejoong has kicked off his first nationwide tour.
On the 4th, Kim Jaejoong met with fans at the Busan BEXCO for his ’2014 Kim Jaejoong 1st Album Asia Tour Concert in Busan’ concert.
As expected of the first concert of the singer’s nationwide tour, the Busan concert was full of energy and power, with each song met with thunderous applause and cheer from fans.
Kim Jaejoong opened his concert with energetic renditions of ’9+1#’ and ‘Butterfly’, and moved on to sing ‘Rotten Love’, ‘Kiss B’ and ‘Light’. His melodious voice was the highlight of ballads such as ‘Now Is Good’ and ‘What Used To Be’, and was met with an explosive response.
The details Kim Jaejoong put into the concert were the highlights of the show.
To commemorate the New Year, Kim Jaejoong changed all of his concert outfits, other than for his encore. He also created a different design for his standing microphone, catching the attention of all his fans.
As it was the singer’s first solo concert in Busan, Kim Jaejoong’s concert was filled with families and lovers, as well as regular fans. A mother and daughter caught the attention of Kim Jaejoong and he held an on-the-spot interview with her, wishing the fan a happy birthday. Kim Jaejoong’s affection could be felt throughout the whole event.
In the middle of his concert, Kim Jaejoong sang ‘I Have Nothing’, to the surprise of his fans. The beautiful melody and explosive high notes had fans on their feet, cheering the singer on.
The atmosphere got more energetic as the performance went on. Kim Jaejoong expressed his joy as he said, “Busan fans are so passionate! Your passion is amazing! I love Busan!! I will come back, for sure.” He also made a few comments with a Busan dialect to the delight of his fans.
Meanwhile, Kim Jaejoong will be performing in Gwangju on the 11th, and Seoul on the 25th and 26th of January.
Source: [enews24]
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TVXQ’s Max Changmin will be leaving ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master’.
KBS2?s ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master of Variety and Sports’ announced that Max Changmin will be leaving the program once the show’s basketball season ends, with his last recording scheduled to be on the 15th of January.
Max Changmin expressed his wishes to leave the program in order to focus on promotional activities for TVXQ’s 7th album, and he and the staff came to the conclusion that he would make his departure at the end of the team’s basketball season.
The star has held a MC position on the show for the past 9 months since the first episode aired on the 19th of April last year, and Max Changmin has won the hearts of his viewers over 43 episodes with his passion and energy in table tennis, bowling, badminton and basketball.The staff of ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master’ stated, “We will be saying goodbye to Max Changmin, who has been with us from the start. We would like to thank Max Changmin for the passion and sweat he has poured into this show,” and “We also ask for everyone to show their love and support for him as he returns to his original place as a member of TVXQ.”
With the departure of Max Changmin, ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master’ will shake things up, adding new MCs for every new sports category to stand alongside Kang Ho Dong.
Meanwhile, ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master of Variety and Sports’ airs every Tuesday night at 11:20pm.
Source: [enews24]
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KBS 2TV’s variety show ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master of Variety and Sports’ is set to attend the Sochi Winter Olympics.
A high-level representative of KBS’ variety sector stated, “The ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master’ team is confirmed to go to Sochi.”
The celebrity team will be flying to Sochi, where the Olympics will kick off on the 7th of February, and stay at the event for one week.
Last May, when the team took on the challenge of bowling, the members requested that they be sent to the Sochi Winter Olympics if they won, and they reached an agreement with the staff that it would happen if the team won four times in a single sports category.
The ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master’ team was unable to do so, until they reached their fourth victory in basketball during the episode that aired on the 24th of December, solidifying their plans to attend the Sochi Winter Olympics.
The staff have been preparing for this trip since last year, just in case the celebrity team was able to secure four victories. The team will be showing their support for Korea during the Olympics in a unique way to fit with the characteristics of their program.
Meanwhile, ‘Our Neighborhood’s Master’ won the Best Teamwork Award at the 2013 KBS Entertainment Awards.
Source: [star news]
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SPRINGFIELD – At noon on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, the Springfield Nativity Scene Committee (SNSC) unveiled its annual display depicting the newborn Christ Child, lying in a manger inside a handcrafted wooden stable for the sixth year in a row.
The crèche stands in the center of the Illinois State Capitol Rotunda, next to the Governor’s “Holiday Tree.”
The crèche and manger represent a constitutionally protected expression by private citizens, the SNSC, in a traditional public forum, namely, the Capitol Rotunda, where political rallies are routinely held during sessions of the Illinois General Assembly and at other times during the year.
This is classic free speech, as well as citizens’ free exercise of their religious faith in the public square,” a statement from the group said, “where the sole role of the government is that of a viewpoint-neutral gatekeeper assuring open access for all citizens to have their say. Government is neither censor nor endorser of such religious speech.”
The SNSC Christmas display is privately funded and sponsored, bereft of any government aid or endorsement. Its primary goal is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But its secondary mission is to proclaim and demonstrate to the public and to the media alike (statewide and nationwide) that such private expressions of religious belief in the public squares of our nation are not merely tolerated but fully deserving of robust legal protection.
The December 3 celebration opened with an invocation by Rev. Bernie Lutchman, President of Business Men in Christ (Springfield). Christmas carols were sung by the Official Praise Team of Springfield Baptist Church and led by Music Pastor Brian Morgan.
Speakers included Most Rev. Thomas J. Paprocki, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois; Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, an SNSC member and legal counsel; Pastor Charlie Carver from South Tower Community Church of Dawson; and SNSC member Beth Rogers of Springfield. Pastor Brian Williams of Broken Chains Church – located 1 block from the Capitol – will present a message about Jesus and hope.
A special highlight of this year’s ceremony was the laying of a Christmas wreath by Chaplain Steve Holden of US Emergency Chaplains Corps (USECC), as a special and seasonal recognition in honor of the service and sacrifice of America’s military veterans.
Charlene’s Attic Source: Illinois Review
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‘Hallyu icons’ TVXQ will be keeping their promise with their fans. To commemorate their 10th anniversary (December 26th), they will be releasing a special album.
A representative who was present during the process of creating the new album stated, “The members are currently in the final stages of recording tracks for the album. There will be about 10 songs in the new album, and it will be a special album that is close to a new full-length album.”
The release of TVXQ’s commemorative album is to repay their fans for their endless support and love. The singers had promised their fans that they would be preparing a special event for their 10th anniversary during the concert they held at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan in August.
During the concert, U-Know Yunho stated, “December will mark our 10th anniversary. We’ve been thinking of ideas for what to do. Right now, it’s difficult to reveal any specifics, but we will definitely be preparing something for our fans, whether it’s an event or a concert.” Befitting of an album to commemorate the group’s domination across Asia for the past ten years, the group has been putting all their effort into every step of the process, from choosing the songs to recording the tracks.
The representative stated, “The representative composers of SM Entertainment, who work best with TVXQ, have come together for the album. Around twenty songs are being recorded, and we believe that the tracks will be split and released through two separate albums. The first album will be released no later than late-January.”
As well as releasing a new album, TVXQ will be participating in their agency’s music festival and spending their 10th anniversary with their fans. ‘SMTOWN WEEK’ will be held from the 21st of December till the 29th at the Ilsan KINTEX. TVXQ will be joined by five other SM teams, including Super Junior and Girls’ Generation. TVXQ are said to be preparing a special concert to commemorate their 10th anniversary as they will be performing on the 26th and 27th of December.
For the past 10 years, TVXQ have solidified their spot as the greatest Hallyu group of Korea. They first made themselves known on SBS’ ‘BoA and Britney Special’ end-of-the-year special program on the 26th of December, 2003. The group released their first single ‘HUG’ in 2004 and since then, have had a countless number of hit songs, including ‘MIROTIC’, ‘Balloons’, ‘Catch Me’, ‘Rising Sun’, ‘Why? Keep Your Head Down’, ‘O-Jung Ban Hap’ and ‘The Way U Are’.
TVXQ’s legendary run in the Japanese music market began in 2005. At that time, there were no Korean singers in the market other than BoA, and it was considered next to impossible to succeed there. But the group was able to capture the hearts of their Japanese fans in an instant and became the foundation for K-POP acts that followed them. Having topped the Oricon singles charts twelve times, TVXQ have broken the record for the most chart-topping singles for a foreign artiste or group. With album sales totaling three million copies, they are the best-selling foreign act in Japan.
This year, the group rewrote history when they gathered 144,000 fans at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. Ticket sales alone brought in an astronomical amount of 16 billion Won for the group. When asked how he felt about TVXQ reaching their 10th anniversary, U-Know Yunho stated, “We’re working hard to show our fans a new side of TVXQ. When I was younger, I’d see my seniors celebrating their 10th anniversaries and thinking they were amazing to have come so far, but now I find myself celebrating my own 10th anniversary. We’ll work hard to become artistes with great depth rather than big stars.” Max Changmin also added, “We’ll try to become singers who are able to over come the barriers formed by nationality and language.”
Source: [joongang]
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TVXQ’s Max Changmin has showcased a new side of himself as a warm and sensitive photographer.
Chosen as one of the cover models for the December issue of lifestyle magazine ‘The Celebrity’, TVXQ’s Max Changmin has transformed into a photographer and part of this process was revealed today.
The released photos show Max Changmin wearing a brown trench coat and scarf, with a camera in his hands as he transforms into a photographer.
Max Changmin has always shown a great interest in photography, and decided to go to the Seoul Grand Park for his first project. He would have a gaze full of curiosity as he looked through his camera, and he would take shots with a sincere expression on his face. His first steps as a photographer were full of his passion and excitement.
Meanwhile, stories and photos of Max Changmin’s transformation as a passionate photographer will be featured in the December issue of the lifestyle magazine ‘The Celebrity’.
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