Being Content with Life is a Blessing, Not a Curse

Posted by Rock Kitaro on January 15, 2020
Posted in: Essays, Food for Thought. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

One of the worse causes of depression among my generation is this notion that we have to keep experiencing new things, that we should never be content, that we should always put ourselves outside of our comfort zones.

francis drake

Is that the way it’s always been? Back before psychology was a thing. Before Freud and the practice of therapy, is that what the average human strove for?

Here’s what I think is happening. It’s just like in high school where the cool kids think they know best. Where the majority of the student body looks up to the popular kids and want to emulate them. We thought we left that culture behind upon graduation, but thanks to social media where the lifestyles and opinions of celebrities and public figures are instantly made available, we’re stuck. They’ve influenced normal people. Normal people emulate them. And then those normal people blast their lifestyles on social media to their friends and family, showing off how much fun they’re having in life through pictures and posts.

None of this should be a bad thing, if humans were content with life. There’s nothing wrong with having a friend going to Bora Bora and posting pictures from the most beautiful beaches, driving fast cars and lounging with hot women in bikinis. However, it becomes a problem when people like him and society start to pressure others to strive for something similar. Where, because you’ve traveled around the world and enjoyed it, you assume everyone should to really experience life. Where, because you’ve had sex with some of the most beautiful women in the world, you encourage others to do the same or else they’re missing out on life. Continue Reading

2009 – BEAST vs. MBLAQ – Showdown of the Super Rookies

Posted by Rock Kitaro on January 14, 2020
Posted in: kpop, music. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Anyone striving for greatness needs competition. These are just the facts of life. Without competition, some rival, some adversity to overcome, without someone to beat, how do you know how good you are? There’s nothing wrong with striving for greatness. It’s an amazing thing. It’s even better for the fans.

MBlacq vs Beast

Anyone who was into kpop back in October of 2009 knows…the debut of MBLAQ and BEAST was one for the books. Everyone knew these groups were going to be all-stars in their own right. They were debuting at the same time and not only did the fans pit them against each other…for the first time, the boys themselves openly embraced the challenge. The competition was real and each group was ready to throw down.

Back then, they went by B2ST, pronounced BEAST…I remember when that teaser dropped and was like…Okay! Shots fired. Then, on October 14, 2009, MBLAQ responded with their first music video, “Oh Yeah”

Was homeboy sporting a mustache-goatee? In an idol group? Get the f**k outta here! I couldn’t believe it. Both MBLAQ and BEAST made their grand entrance like prized fighters to the ring. My respect for kpop definitely soared upon witnessing this with my own two eyes. But more than that. Even though they were rookies, I was already invested. A lot of us were.

Why? It wasn’t just the hype…AND THERE WAS A LOT OF HYPE! But the members themselves. A lot of us knew about them way before they debuted. Allow me to explain. Continue Reading

August 2009: When G-Dragon Went Solo with HeartBreaker

Posted by Rock Kitaro on January 7, 2020
Posted in: kpop, music. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

HEY YO! FINALLY!

G-Dragon Heartbreaker

2009 was a good year for YG Entertainment. Rolling off of Big Bang’s success from their “Remember” album in late 2008, they picked up endorsements from LG Electronics, spawned hits with Seungri’s “Strong Baby” and went on to launch arguably the greatest debut of any girl group in history with 2NE1.

2NE1 2

In July of 2009, YG could have just sat back and rode off the wave of 2NE1’s hit “I Don’t Care,” or even Big Bang’s stardom in Japan with the release of their hit “Gara Gara Go.” Instead…they started teasing fans about the potential release of G-Dragon’s first solo project.

Now me…this had me on the edge of my seat. You gotta remember, I’ve been a fan of Big Bang since before they debuted in 2006. I saw what G-Dragon was capable of as a friggin trainee…a trainee!

Continue Reading

If You Take Away Traditions…Christmas Blues

Posted by Rock Kitaro on December 27, 2019
Posted in: About the Author, Food for Thought, News and Updates. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

As a grown man, I really hate pointing the finger at others when it comes to my own pain and sorrow. That being said, I’m not so stubborn as to ignore the reason if it’s due to what someone else has done.

CharlieBrownXmas-main

If You Take Away Traditions…Christmas Blues
By Rock Kitaro
Date – December 27th 2019

This usually happens every Christmas and Birthday, mainly because I’m blasted with reminders of how the rest of the world is celebrating their traditions, how everyone seems to have someone, how everyone is living their lives and how completely different they are from me. God knows I pray for the strength and faith to keep my head up despite that which I lack, but I confess, it’s tough.

The reason why I gave this the title of “if you take away traditions…” because I really do believe this is an aspect of my childhood where my parents have failed me. As noted, I am a grown man. I sincerely believe in the concept of “from here on out, you’re in control of your life…” but at this point I’m not so sure if it’s possible for me.

The traditions that were removed from me as a child were the joyous holidays and family traditions that were pretty much celebrated the whole world over. Christmas. Valentine’s Day. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Birthdays…all of it came to an end during my childhood because my parent’s religion was against it. But I don’t blame the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ve just come to the conclusion that if you’re going to strip these things from a child’s life, you need to replace it with something else. Otherwise you’re left with an abysmal void.

… Continue Reading

The Reason Why Christians Get So Upset by Disrespectful Movies and TV Shows

Posted by Rock Kitaro on December 25, 2019
Posted in: Food for Thought, religion. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

This is an easy one we all should know but probably haven’t stopped to consider…myself included until just now. Recently, articles came out about Christians getting upset with an upcoming movie portraying a Gay Jesus that would be aired on Netflix.

The Reason Why Christians Get So Upset by Disrespectful Movies and TV Shows
By Rock Kitaro
Date December 22, 2019

The-First-Temptation-of-Christ-Netflix

Click if You Just Want to Listen to Me Reading the Essay

Leftists and even some Conservatives have hit back at the Christian community telling them, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” And “Oh, I thought you guys were okay with freedom of speech!”

For a while, this had me stumped. Because, as an artist, I’m all for free speech. And I too follow the logic of if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. But at the same time, the portrayal of Jesus Christ as gay does upset me. Why? Well, let me illustrate.

How would you feel if you were going to die, your death warrant was signed and sealed, your life was scheduled to come to an end forever? And then, your brother or your sister, your mother or your father stepped up and offered to sacrifice themselves so that you might have a chance to live in everlasting life.

And then, when it came time for them to sacrifice their lives for you…it wasn’t clean. It wasn’t quick or painless. They spit on your mother. A mob of people beat your sister. Your father was chained to a rock and scourged with a whip that struck flesh from his back with each strike. They dragged your brother out, forcing him to carry his own cross and drove nails into the palm of his hand. For hours, he languished in pain and agony with the weight of his body tearing into his impaled ankles and hands until his life expired.

How would you feel if a loved one did all of this for you, only for someone to disrespect and belittle their sacrifice? To joke about it. To joke about the person who saved your life and gave you the chance to live forever, to see our loved ones again. Continue Reading

The Hardest Part About Being an Author…When People think Your Imagination is Merely a Thought

Posted by Rock Kitaro on December 23, 2019
Posted in: About the Author, Food for Thought. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

What I’m about to reveal will probably make me sound like a sociopath. Method Actors do it all the time and it seems accepted. However, for an author, because projects we work on can take months if not years…I understand why it might be difficult to maintain a relationship with us.

Cowboy Bebop 3

It’s been over a year since I’ve created a new story. In 2019, I was 32-years-old and after committing myself to books and screenplays for a decade, decided to commit myself to other aspects of adult life…like advancing in a corporate job, becoming a homeowner, and building relationships with real people. In that, 2019 was a success. I’ve progressed and accomplished everything I set out to do.

But still…Despite everything I’ve done, I confess that nothing on earth has given me greater pleasure than escaping to another world and writing down everything I see. I can’t overstate this enough. 2019 has been the longest I’ve gone without creating anything new, and while I am happy…I don’t feel fulfilled. Yes, I’ve written critical essays here and there…but fiction is where it’s at.

Everything else just seems ephemeral. I know that one day I will die and memories of me will fade. I’m just a tenant on this earth. The condo I bought will belong to someone else. My money and possessions will be given to someone else or discarded. And if last summer has taught me anything when a co-worker took his own life…people’s perception of who you are, is pretty much whatever they want it to be, regardless if it’s true. Continue Reading

XXX. The Trax, Korean Rock (the Linkin Park of Korea)

Posted by Rock Kitaro on December 13, 2019
Posted in: kpop. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I was going to include The Trax in my last chapter about Korean music, but then I thought, nah…The Trax deserves their own chapter. As one of the best rock groups to ever come out of South Korea…where do I begin. Let’s start with 2004’s very own “Paradox”.

Haha! So…from what I’ve covered (from 2005-2009 at this point), South Korea isn’t exactly known for its hard rock and heavy metal. In the coming years of 2010&2011, I’d eventually discover bands like Buster, Yellow Monsters, and Tranxfixion, but up to this point, the only other metal group I had heard of was Novasonic, Seo Taiji, and props to Moon Hee Jun for his grungy solo albums. But if you contrast this with Japan’s plethora of metal bands and don’t even get me started when it comes to the states…yeah, safe to say, South Korea doesn’t have a lot of diversity with hard rock. I’m talking HARD ROCK.

Don’t be fooled. If you check out websites like Soompi and Allkpop, they’ll tout some bands as hard rock or punk bands, but that shit’s so soft. Like CN Blue or FT Island. Get outta here with all that. I give FT Island props for their hit “Pray” in 2015. But that’s it. Everything else is soft-rock.20121102_seoulbeats_trax_2

But when it came to The Trax… The only reason why I hadn’t written a chapter about them sooner was because, sadly, up to this point they had only released one album. Which is honestly the biggest tragedy of all. “Paradox” was released in 2004. So, from 2004 till 2009, only one album. This shows that either S. Korea wasn’t into the Hard Rock sound, or SM Entertainment doesn’t know how to manage rock stars. Because one thing was undeniable, The Trax was overflowing with raw talent.

Oh, you didn’t know? Hell yeah, The Trax, the mother-effing Trax was founded and produced by SM Entertainment, the company known for its pretty boys like DBSK, Shinhwa, and Super Junior. In fact, the first time, I legit heard of the Trax was in DBSK’s music video, “Triangle”. As awesome as the song was (with its amazing use of Mozart), what made the song timeless was the rock provided by none other than the Trax.

Continue Reading

If Beauty Inspires Us, Do Ugly People Discourage Us?

Posted by Rock Kitaro on December 9, 2019
Posted in: Essays, Food for Thought. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Recently I saw an old crush who had let herself go. I remember how beautiful she used to be. I was planning on hitting the gym that night…but honestly felt a bit discouraged after that. I thought to myself, “what’s the point”?

Brace yourself…I’m going to say a lot of things that’s not exactly nice to hear. But it’s a reality I think a lot of people either deny or ignore.

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For the past few years, men have taken a beating thanks to assholes in Hollywood like Harvey Weinstein. I think the only men not affected wave of outrage are ones who were already married or don’t watch the news. For years, we’ve been hearing it, “Men need to get right. Men need to step up!”

In one of my last essays, I wrote about how “Godly Men Don’t Care About Money”. But we still love women. They are one of my main sources of motivation. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a beautiful woman to want to better myself.  But it’s like the train was already on the tracks, moving non-stop, and the idea of being with a beautiful woman served as coal to the flames to crank it up full-steam ahead.

Beautiful…That’s the key. Or rather it used to be before pop culture started trying to make us feel bad for putting so much value on a woman’s looks. Shallow. Superficial, we’re called. However, from what I’ve seen, women openly praise other women for their looks, even more than they compliment men unless it’s a man that every other woman has already complimented and deemed to be “hot.” It’s all about encouragement that they’re feeding each other. And that’s cool to an extent.

But if I want to be an Olympic sprinter and I spend all my time eating junk food and playing video games…are people really helping me by saying things like, “Yeah, you’re on track! You’re gonna get gold! Good for you!” without pointing out that I should probably get out and practice running?

I know Hollywood and society’s trying so hard to have us believe your beauty shouldn’t matter. That we should care more about your degree, your job, or how much money you make. However, courtship is a selection process. Your beauty is one of the main answers to the question of, “Why you?” Continue Reading

An Interesting Confession – Are People Really Are Afraid of Me?

Posted by Rock Kitaro on December 3, 2019
Posted in: About the Author, Food for Thought, News and Updates. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

When heinous crimes are committed by men who look like me…I understand.

Beast

To begin, I have to set a baseline in the opinion that as human beings, I believe we all possess the power of empathy. It’s one of our instincts where we can sense how another person is feeling. Whether they’re happy or sad. Worried or excited. But more than just emotions, we can also sense when someone’s happy to see us. Whether they’re attracted to us. Whether they got something against us, like resentment or some unspoken animosity or envy.

Some of us are better than others. Some of us ignore this ability. And some of us go to great lengths to deny what they’re sensing to relieve themselves of some form of responsibility, (ie…claiming they didn’t know or saying they didn’t want to assume anything).

Aside from this ability, we’re also faced with the obstacle of doubt. Meaning, even when you sense something’s wrong, or someone’s feeling a type of way…the disbelief of others takes it toll. Not to mention people will lie to your face about it. There’s the practice of gas-lighting where we’re sometimes made to believe it’s all in our head, that we’re making something out of nothing, or that we’re just projecting. And sometimes they’re right.

Empathy is a skill that takes years to hone and refine. It can be sharpened based on our experience with people, our trials and errors. And not just you and your circle of friends, but also people who come from all walks of life, different backgrounds, races, gender, and culture. And even when you acquire this skill, it also takes time and experience to trust it.

When I was a kid called “sensitive” and they were right. I was extremely sensitive and not in just the “hurt my feelings” kind of way…I could sense or detect how the people around me felt. They didn’t need to say anything. I just felt it. Which brings me to the point of this topic…

Last week, I came across a tragic article where a man, recently paroled, was charged with killing an innocent college student in Chicago. Basically, this dude tried to cat-call her, she ignored him while trying to walk to her car but this asshole went and got mad for being ignored. He put her in a headlock, raped, and killed her. This poor girl’s body was found by her sisters and campus security. The parents, being good Christians, put out a message of forgiveness.

But the killer…his appearance perpetuates a stereotype. This man was big, tall, and black. I’m big, tall, and black. Thus…I understand why people are afraid of people like me. You can read the article to find out the full details. But in my dismay, I wrote the following comment:

“This is one of the reasons why I don’t blame people, especially women, when it comes to being afraid of men like me…big, black, obviously stronger than most. You try to live by example to show others that we’re not all the same and you can be cool and relax around people like me…but then stuff like this happens on a seemingly regular basis. And then we wonder why women cross the street just to avoid men like me. Or why women clutch to their boyfriends just a little bit tighter when I walk by. Or the sound of doors locking when I’m approaching. I’m sorry for the family of the victim. It sounds like she did everything she was supposed to do and still got killed anyway. Thanks to men who look like me.” Continue Reading

XXIX. July 2009 – Big Bang Takes on Japan & the end of DBSK

Posted by Rock Kitaro on November 21, 2019
Posted in: kpop, music. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

In July 2009, while 2NE1 was tearing up the charts in Korea with their hits “Fire” and “I Don’t Care,” their big brother group Big Bang was hustling to climb their way up the charts in Japan.

When I first saw “Gara Gara Go,” I was thrilled to say the least. Big Bang isn’t exactly known for their in-sync choreography. They usually rely on Taeyang or Seungri to hold down the dancing, at least in their music videos. So to see that they actually dance together during the chorus and breakdown, it was a welcomed surprise.

Big Bang Gara Gara Go

In August of 2009, they released their first full-length Japanese album, self-titled “Big Bang”. On it, they had Gara Gara Go and some other hits I jammed out with through the summer. But perhaps my favorite was “Stay”.

I must have played that song a 100x that summer. Not only was it a good song to write to, but it’s one of those songs you can take to the beach, go for a walk, and simply dream. Back then, such inspiration was needed. I was only 23 and just now embarking on my career as a screenwriter. I could take all the inspiration I could get. Continue Reading