[past tweets][V App][Rain links][CFs/clips] 비 Yourself Open Thread for 10/1 — 11/30/2017.
(When Rain tweeted this image back on 10/10/2011, the day before he enlisted, we thought he might be in a barber shop, maybe getting his Army haircut… but no! He was doing his thing for new sponsor Coupang with actress Kim Tae Hee, before she became his girlfriend and his wife! They were the new faces of the company, sooo cute.^^ SCROLL DOWN for more. BTW… the concert he’s talking about here was his Last of The Best street concert in Gangnam on 10/9. The city had to close off seven lanes of traffic for that thing! ^@@^)
- NOTE: The last day that you can apply to Rain’s Official Cloud Cafe for Cloud 10 membership is October 30. As we understand it, as long as you get your Naver ID and apply for membership by that day, you will still have time to complete any membership requirements. Yippee!
» [tutorial][Eng trans] For 10th Cloud applicants: Adding pics & videos in the Cloud Cafe.
» [tutorial][Eng trans] From Stephe’s desk: Starting the requirements to become a 10th Cloud.
» [tutorial][Eng trans] From Stephe’s desk: Signing up for Rain’s official Cloud 10 fan club, now on Naver Café.
» [info] It’s finally here! The membership drive for Rain’s official 10th Cloud fan club has begun. (8/22 — 10/30)
» Rain’s official Korean/Global Cloud community site is moving to Naver Café: http://cafe.naver.com/officialcloud.cafe
» R.A.I.N. Company has moved to elegant new digs! Scroll down to our Rain links below for their new address.
» You can visit the previous Open Thread HERE. And of course, don’t forget that our Cloud USA Forum is still a most excellent place for Rain love, fan communication, and self-expression. By the way — have you left a message for Rain on THE (retiring) CLOUD Rain Official Fan Community OR on the RAIN JAPAN Official Website today?
» Help us recognize Jung JiHoon as a leader in global entertainment excellence. Join the World Star Rain Brigade with your Twitter or your Facebook today, or add the World Star Widget to your website! Big thanks, fans.
» Cloud USA disclaimer. READ it. We’re 10th Cloud term members now, but the same still applies.
» DramaFever NEWS. For the latest on your Korean, Latin, and Asian stars and their shows.
° ° °
» LINK: V-Live TV’s website » LINK: Rain’s V-Live videos for Replay
° ° °
RAIN SUPPORT/OFFICIAL LINKS
R.A.I.N. Company’s new address effective 8/22/17
B326, 32-14, Seoulsup 2-gil
Seongdong-gu, Seoul, Korea
04769 (Galleria Forét)
Tel: +82 2 546 4379 | Fax: +82 2 546 4375
E-mail: info@raincompany.co.kr
CLICK on image to go to the new site!
R.A.I.N. Company Blog on Naver
Rain’s Twitter
Rain’s Weibo
Rain’s Instagram
Rain_비&정지훈 Official Facebook
R.A.I.N. Company Website
Rain’s official YouTube
Rain’s Google+
Rain’s official Fan Community in Korea (site RETIRING)
Rain’s official Fan Community in Japan
R.A.I.N. Company Twitter
The Korean Cloud’s Twitter
Snail Mail: Send everything to R.A.I.N Company. Rain has not acknowledged any other OFFICIAL SITES, PAGES, or SOCIAL MEDIA EXCEPT THE ONES LISTED in this post.
Image credit: rainvietnam_rvn @ Instagram, 8/22/2017.
° ° °
This Month’s Featured videos: What else? The making of those precious, hilarious Coupang CFs! My favorite parts: Rain in the sauna, trying to convince two HUGE guys what bargains they can get by shopping on Coupang, and one of the guys looks at him like, Dude, we’re naked. Don’t touch me. ROFL^^ The way Rain says, “얼마게? 반값!!” (eol-ma-geh / How much? / ban-gabs / Half price!!) cracks me up! And when he’s pretending to yank stuff out of a tablet at high speed, LOL. And when Kim Tae Hee can’t help shouting on the bus how great Coupang bargains are and wakes this poor soldier up out of a dead sleep so badly that he leaps to attention. “앗싸!” (ahs-ssah / Hooray!) Hahahaha!
Gosh, we really loved this sponsor. They made calendars and everything. Not to mention, Rain and KTH were so funny and cute as buttons, singing, dancing, and acting. Aw! ❤ I’ll bet Coupang wishes they’d had a crystal ball and known that, in a few years, they’d start dating and now be married. Talk about cashing in on something! Enjoy! ^@@^
Rain is Eternal. Where clouds stay gathered, rain will always come. It is inevitable.
— Stephe ^@@^
Cloud USA 
On a happier note, got my Gang cd today, just in time for my B-day. Yep! About to drop some “Hundred dolla bills, hundred dolla bills………” SMILES
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stephe, my heart is so, so heavy hearing about Jonghyun’s death. I didn’t follow Shinee as much as some others, but they were the first K-pop group on my radar after Rain. It’s just so sad to see how much this young man was suffering inside. While watching some of the fan tribute videos to him yesterday, one video stopped me in my tracks. It started with him pouring out his heart (through tears) with such vulnerability and it seems he just wanted people to think well of him. Just to say he did well in this life.
My gosh he was only 27. His sister is probably in agony herself right now as well. Sending up prayers for his family. I truly hope he finds the peace he so desperately sought.
LikeLike
I, too was heart broken by the death of such talented young man. I remember him very well, like you I found Shinee while discovering Rain. The world is not kind and those of us who are fragile, suffer the most. I pray for all the children, young people and the lost souls who have killed themselves to escape the bullying or the insensitivity of the world.
The shame of it all is, he never understood how much he was loved and how very talented he was. You can never hear the positive because the negative drowns it out when you are that fragile. May his soul find rest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s what is so sad and scary about depression to me. How do you help the person? How do you get them to see what you see? How do you get them to see how much they are valued/loved? When you are not the one suffering, the answer seems so simple. I don’t know, I just wish he could’ve seen how he truly touched people. Such a talented young man, gone way too soon.
LikeLike
Hey, y’all.
Terri called me and told me yesterday afternoon (I was out of the house and hadn’t seen the news). I’ve been in a daze since. I just couldn’t bear to come online and read about it. Still not ready but that doesn’t make it any less true.
SHINee was the first K-Pop group that I ran across (thanks to Rain) and fell in love with and they are phenomenal. Their music, choreography, and voices have been insane since Day 1. I’ve been in their corner for a good eight years and Jonghyun was the one I adored most (Taemin is my second. Terri adores Minho and Onew. I got real respect for Key, though, after I saw him in K-drama The Guardians, a.k.a. Lookout.) I can’t explain why Jonghyun was so special to me. He just was. He had one of those unique voices that can’t be duplicated, like Rain’s. There was a sweet happiness behind his unique expressions, especially when he interacted with his fans and his band mates. The boy was talented, oh yeah, he was that. There was also a bit of sadness behind his eyes that he was always trying to hide, bless him. I understood some of what he was going through and I prayed for him a lot.
Can’t believe I’ll never hear new music from him again. Even typing that is just wrong.
So glad I got to see them bring down the house live at Madison Square Garden. I’ll never forget that sound. I pray he’s resting peacefully. It doesn’t seem real.
Stephe ^@@^
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had to pull myself away from YT watching all the videos, fan tributes, etc. I was beginning to feel way too heavy inside. I get a little angry as well thinking about the enormous pressure that gets put on these young Korean celebs. I mean my goodness they are still mortal human beings. The crazy pressure from management, the over excessive fan worship and bullying online (real talk), no doubt takes its toll even on a good day. The relentless pursuit of perfection, the relentless expectation of perfection…..it’s just too much, even for the strongest of people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You said that exactly right. The pressure put on young Korean celebs gets unbearable really, really quickly. And it’s like, don’t you know what you’re doing to that person? Love is not fanatical. Love isn’t supposed to hurt. Love isn’t supposed to be vicious.
And it’s not just fans, it’s the Korean media too. They are like sharks smelling blood in the water. And if there’s no blood, they’ll lie and make some up for ratings and sometimes simply out of spite. Rain has been through sheer hell with the media making up things to cause him scandal and trouble, like SportsSeoul intentionally photoshopped pics of him and an actress together, and SBS intentionally went after him after an appearance and promised the country an expose and were embarrassed when he wasn’t even in the surveillance video nor doing what they’d claimed, and the witch hunt he endured after all the media spread false accusations about his military service and wouldn’t retract them even when the GOVERNMENT proved them false and asked them to stop (and I have RECEIPTS)… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I worried so much about him, he was so sad and upset in the midst of all the bullying. Thank God he was able to remain standing strong against it all.
Jonghyun was bullied by netizens a lot, pure poison on top of whatever else he was going through in his personal life and the clinical depression he fought. I don’t understand why anyone would want to be famous in Korea, the way the celebs are dragged through the mud for the slightest thing.
Yes, media all over the world are vicious. But there’s a special kind of meanness there and I’ve seen it.
Stephe ^@@^
LikeLike
Concerning that relentless pursuit of perfection: Rain has said he’s really appreciative and thanks everyone but asked them to please not call him “Rain God” because he can’t live up to that kind of comparison and the pressure to do so is really difficult. But the media and others do it anyway. So. ^@@^
LikeLike
Rain should tell them ….. look here peeps God is in heaven. I’m down here on earth with you. LOL. That’s the kind of fan worship that’s crazy to me. I’ve never understood it.
I agree with you that there are varying degrees of crazy worldwide, but Korean fan culture takes it to a whole other level. Honestly, the “fandom culture” over there needs to change. Celebrities give the fans way too much power to dictate their moves. For example, if I’m dating and want to hold hands with my Bae in public, I’ll do it. Fans can raise hell if they want to, but I’m gonna do me…..with My personal business. Folks will get over that shit. This is the attitude they need to exhibit more often. The fans will adapt when they have no choice. Celebs defer to fandoms way too much. Rain has learned this lesson. Boyfriend said don’t ask me ‘bout my wife and child…..ya gets nothing. LOL. Oh he was nice about it but that foot was put down quite firm indeed. LOL.
Oh and to be clear, I’m not saying a celeb should act like an ungrateful jackass. However, don’t let fandom opinions hold so much power over what you do and how you feel about yourself. People can be hell…it’s true (and that’s just among us regular peeps). LOL. But they are not gods either, so don’t give them that kind of power. *just my thoughts*
LikeLiked by 1 person
You know it’s funny how things work. For all my “frustrations”, I got rewarded today. Yes, Dee is official 10th now baby! Yes indeed. Although it’s still easier for me to go to Naver on my desktop rather than my Ipad, no more complaints for the remainder of the day. Thanks official Cloud admins.
Dee for the win……YAY! Puts me in a lovely mood before I have to get out in the 5:00 traffic. SMILES….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can I be frank here?
Honestly, I’ve been getting frustrated as of late following Korean celebs, including our Korean celeb in chief. I think the goal for many Korean celebs is to cultivate new niches in Western markets…..but here’s the problem IMHO. The problem is the majority of their wares, their social media is in Korean (as expected)…..BUT…..we Westerners (by in large) don’t speak Korean. Western fans are ravenous to connect and understand as best we can, but Korean management of celebs don’t get English translations on many things. When they do it’s weeks, months down the line. IMO, if you want Western fans you’ve got to make it a bit easier for us to understand and maneuver in your world (the Asian market).
I don’t know……maybe I’m expecting too much. Let me know if I’m over reaching. English translators on payroll maybe? It would take most of us years to learn Asian languages. Before someone says “well, Koreans speak/learn English..” to that I say yes, they do. However, I don’t live there and I don’t know all the cultural reasons why Koreans teach their children English in their formative years. I think it’s awesome that they do. They are actually ahead of the global game and much more prepared to compete on a global scale than many of us Westerners….but that’s a different discussion for a different day.
I’m just trying to understand a few videos and a fan web site…..ya know? If I can do that, then it’s all gravy to me.
*Frustrated Cloud*…………..SMILES
LikeLike
You know, I just read a FB post regarding Jay Park’s recent signing with Roc Nation. This post was really a think piece and quite thought provoking. This post also made me wonder about who exactly are some of Korea’s social activists? Has anyone here heard of anyone specific? I’m not trying to get too heavy on this fan site, but sometimes I want to get inside the Korean (Asian) psyche a little deeper. I guess I’m looking to ask some more hard core questions about Korean culture with respect to race relations of other cultures and I know this is not the site to do that. If someone could point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it. SMILES…………
LikeLike
I understand you wanting to understand this culture. I have done some reading on it, but the best way for me was to start reading books on the Japanese occupation of Korea and working backward to the Chinese occupation. There are a few documentaries on YOU TUBE about the three Kingdoms of Korea. You will be surprise by some of the modern Korean fiction. Just my take on.
LikeLike
Thanks libbie, I will follow your suggestions. I have also done some watching of documentaries, as well. However, I find I’d like to learn more. Thanks again!
LikeLike
You are welcome. Enjoy the journey!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Boy, I tell you…..these Korean celebrities. When will we see the baby Bi? She’ll be 18 by the time we get to see her.
Don’t be stingy with the baby pics………SMILES!
LikeLike
So nice, thanks for sharing 🤗💦👏🏾
LikeLike
Thank you! I really enjoyed that. So cute, where it all began for those two.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love these photos of the soul mates, even then there was chemistry. They were so cute together. I had never seen these clips, thank you. And it is so great to have you back my follow Cloud 10 member. Missed you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Missed you too, Lib! 🙂
Stephe ^@@^
LikeLike
Wow, thank you for this, I even haven’t seen all of them before! I can’t believe he did work untill the very last minute, but good that he took this job 😉 Haha, I’d buy anything (for half prize, of course) for those two….
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Karinina! ☺️
Stephe ^@@^
LikeLike