Lance to Fernando: a captain hat for his new yacht and a bottle of wine
Yuki to Lance: a beanie (or toque in Canadian)
Zhou to Yuki: a Chinese cookbook and an apron
Charles to Zhou: a (second) Bottass calendar that he tried to return to Charles only for Charles to give it back to him again
Fernando to Charles: a padel racket
Nico to Pierre: a tripod ����
Esteban to Nico: a 🥱 mug
George to Esteban: a Spider-Man travel mug, carrying case, and neck pillow
Kevin to George: a Santa Hoptimist (Danish figurine)
Logan to Kevin: a “shhh … I’m watching racing with daddy” onesie and a book about the best road trips in the USA
Lando to Logan: a Miami Heat mini hoop and basketball
Pierre to Lando: the actual gift (a headcover with Lando’s face on it) didn’t arrive in time so an “OnlyPutts” golf marker as a placeholder
Oscar to Alex: customized golf balls
Daniel to Oscar: a koala t-shirt and Christmas candies (is it still Secret Santa if your Secret Santa is impatient and spoils that he is your Secret Santa before you can even open your gift?)
Checo to Daniel: limited edition tequila
Alex to Checo: a Williams teddy bear and kids clothing plus Alex Albon Athletics sneakers
Max to Valterri: “A Simply Lovely Look at the Butt in Art” (a book of those photos of Valterri overlaid on existing pieces of art)
Carlos to Max: a vintage arcade mini
Valterri to Carlos: chilli pepper swim briefs and chilli hot sauce
La Dinastia on West 72nd St. is a classic Chinese-Dominican restaurant that my friend Victor introduced me to 25 years ago and we have no stopped eating at since. Obviously it was easier when we lived ten blocks away on 82nd St., but we’re still happy to make the trip from wherever we live. Even after we moved to Shanghai, we visited La Dinastia every time we flew back.
Last Friday we hit The Dead Poet for a few cocktails first, then shot down to the Return Brewing Tap Takeover at The Hoptimist before heading to La Dinastia for my friend John’s birthday dinner. As a creature of habit, my family always orders the exact same thing here, but this time, John had the honor of choosing our dinner... as long as their Boneless Crispy Crackling Chicken hit the table, as seen above. Here’s a look at what else we went with...
Old school pork egg rolls, which are getting harder and harder to find in the city...
Fried pork dumplings, which were a first for me...
General Tso’s Crispy Beef...
Arroz con Pollo Dominican Style...
There was also an order of their Chickpeas in Moro sauce, which is another dish I always get, and highly recommend you do too.
Everything was outstanding as always! Consistency is king here.
And, for another first, I ordered a cocktail instead of beer, a Nutcracker, with rum, amaretto, SoCo, pineapple juice and grenadine...
Several of New York’s long-time Latin-Chinese restaurants did not survive the pandemic, with even La Caridad 78 closing, but La Dinastia was packed with people, still going strong with all the same staff, and now their kids, who have been serving here for the three decades I’ve been going.
In the end, it’s the food that people keep coming back for, and on that front, La Dinastia is still at the top of their game!
(Yknow what, sending one for Vanilla too)
"Dishes, are, uhm, cleaned Miss, ah, hoptimist."
This day is awkward. Fun, delicious food but, awkward. And he still can't leave because his brother is now busy cleaning something else with the robot. You know what. Might as well ask the question.
"...Why did ya let us eat? We kinda - made a mess of ya house. Ya could have just - thrown us out."
"It's Miss Vanilla and well..." The elder rabbit spoke, pausing, as she reflected on the day. She had only left the house to grab some butter from the store and came back to her daughter crying, and her house utterly trashed, which was a result of skunks breaking in and starting a fight with Gemerl.
"It was clear that you regret your actions in the end, even if those actions were inappropriate in the first place.... and the fact you and your brother are willing to tidy up afterwards" Vanilla hummed.
"Plus, I know what it's like to be young and wild... As well as that you both look like you were hungry, thus it was only fair for the pair of you to eat." A smile form on her face.
SUGA | Agust D 'D-DAY' activities behind the scenes revealed!
BANGTAN BOMBs:
SUGA's POV Naver Posting
'Haegeum' Challenge Video Shoots Sketch
Spotify Hero Film (Behind the Scenes)
SUGA’s Instagram post: D-2, D-DAY
SUGA is the fifth member to have a solo release in Chapter 2. This album also concludes Agust D’s career after Agust D and D-2.
The army film club account posted a Twitter thread showing several parallels between the whole Agust D trilogy and the movie Scarface (1983) by Brian de Palma.
Tracklist
D-Day
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
해금 (Haegeum)
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
An haegeum is a traditional string instrument. it can also mean “to lift a ban” in some cases
The beat is similar to the one in the video SUGA 의 Maschine mk2 review (src). It was also used in “The Last” in the first Agust D mixtape
HUH?! (feat. j-hope)
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
AMYGDALA
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
SDL
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
사람 Pt.2 (feat. 아이유)
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
극야 (Polar Night)
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
Interlude: Dawn
SUGA explained in his Weverse live that he used a part of the track for “Snooze” and reversed it to obtain this interlude
Snooze (feat. Ryuchi Sakamoto, 김우성 of The Rose)
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
Life Goes On
Lyrics
Doolsetbangtan’s translation
“Life Goes On” is also the title of BE’s main track
The description of each track is available in Korean here.
“사람 Pt.2 (feat. 아이유)”
Release date: 7 April 2023
Poster
DJ Syub radio show form (eng translation)
DJ Syub's kkul FM is back
SUGA’s Instagram post: lyrics (eng translation), album cover, on the set
Official Photo on Melon (archive)
MV Photo Sketch
Episode of the MV Shoot Sketch
youtube
This song is the second collaboration between SUGA/Agust D and IU, after “eight(에잇) (Prod.&Feat. SUGA of BTS)” released in May 2020.
The MV was filmed at South Cape (cr. btsmap1). They used one of the cliff houses for the part in the home and the music library for the part in the studio. During this first part, you can notice decorative fake books and a Danish springy-toy called Hoptimist (src). Thanks to Instagram stories from Nam Hyunwoo and the brand Entre d’eux, we know some of their products were in the bathroom: the nkumba flos or the verte grez hand wash as well as the bitter vitae hand cream.
The black dog appearing in the MV is Nam Hyunwoo’s, the director of photography who’s been working on pretty much every BTS MVs and CFs. Nam himself did a cameo in “The Astronaut” MV.
A Danish ARMY also caught sight of an Hoptimist, a little springy-toy designed by Danish designer Gustav Ehrenreich in 1968 (src).
Glitch Film
Release date: 14 April 2023
The film starts with a calendar from 2016, moving from January to August, passing July twice. The first Agust D mixtape was released on the 16 August, 2016.
The following part mixes extracts of the previous videos so “Agust D” MV, “give it to me” MV and “Daechwita” MV. There are also new elements that seems to relate to D-DAY, including a recorder, birds, dollar bills, and an eye. The video also connects the three human shapes to an MV:
rectangle shape: “Agust D” MV
spiky shape: “Daechwita” MV
particle shape: “give it to me” MV
Concept Photo
Release date: 17-18 April 2023
Being
Exister
Outfits and accessories: tropical shirt identified by BangtanStyling
In the Being concept photo, SUGA stands in front of a fake police station, the APC (Asia Pacific Police Union).
@Lmyjj noticed that these pictures fits with the shapes seen previsouly, notably on the promotion schedule and on the main poster for the documentary SUGA: Road to D-DAY.
“해금”
Release date: 20 April 2023
Teaser
Jacket Shoot Photo Sketch
Episode of MV & Jacket Shoot Sketch
Dance practice
Outfits and accessories: tweets from BangtanStyling, Tailorable’s Instagram post about the custom suit
youtube
The MV was filmed in Bangkok, notably in a place known as the thieves' market (src). The street scenes were filmed here (src), the hideout of criminal Agust D was here and the tangerine scene happened in a nearby street.
The team also used popular filming locations, namely this deserted building (src) already seen in Jeff Satur’s “Dum Dum” MV and in the Hidden messages video teasing Kinneporsche, as well as the sports complex Nightingale Rama Inthra Club (src) famous for being a shooting location of F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers. Director Lumpens shared his storyboard for the video on Instagram. MU:E did too (#1, #2, #3).
The dragon on SUGA's jacket is a symbol of royalty in Korea (src). It could a nod to "Daechwita" MV. Be it in the MV or in the choreography, SUGA is accompanied by 6 extra, reminding of the 6 other members of BTS.
Nam Hyunwoo, director of photography for all BTS MVs and some CFs, makes a cameo as a policeman in the background.
chloë and army film club noticed parallels between the MV and the movie Oldboy.
“AMYGDALA”
Release date: 25 April 2023
MV & Jacket Shoot Photo Sketch
Episode of the MV & Jacket Shoot Sketch
SUGA’s Instagram post
Outfits and accessories: tweets from BangtanStyling
youtube
Thanks to the Episode, we know the video features the book The Logo Design Idea Book by Gail Andersen and Steven Heller, the issue 39 of Magazine B titled “Breville”, and the frontpage of two international editions of The New York Times, the one from the 17th of May 2022 and the other from the 16th of May 2022.
As for the filming location, it was at the basketball court of the Juam-dong Sports Park and in a street nearby.
@btswingsjm7 noticed that one of the shirt Agust D wears is from Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s collection, about the duality between one’s self image and the public preconceptions..
During the scene in front of the 202 flat, we can see custom-made flyers with phone numbers that mix the digits of SUGA’s birthday (9th March, 1993). The flyers on the door advertise delivery for Korean chicken, food and Hit Shopping products, with special promotions for Chuseok (Hit Shopping could be a nod to Big Hit). The flyer on the whole is for internet contracts and the one below is for a washing service. Concerning the little stickers they’re all locksmiths’ name and phone number.
SUGA | Agust D TOUR D-DAY
Announcement (additional dates)
Get Ready for the Day
Get Ready for D-DAY
Official Trailer
Official Merch
TOUR DIARY in: NY (eng), Chicago (eng), LA (eng), Oakland (eng), Jakarta (eng), Japan (eng), Bangkok (eng) Singapore (eng), Seoul (eng)
[EPISODE] SUGA | Agust D TOUR 'D-DAY' in the USA
[EPISODE] SUGA | Agust D TOUR 'D-DAY' in Asia
[SUGA VLOG] D-DAY TOUR in: Chicago, Jakarta, Phuket
Stage Photo Sketch
SUGA’s Instagram post: playing guitar, tour, Chicago, Chicago 2, LA, Oakland, Jakarta, #2, Japan, Bangkok, Singapore, #2, Seoul, #2, thanks
MAX’s tweet about his appearance on May 11 at the Kia Forum
Halsey’s Instagram post about her appearance on May 14 at the Kia Forum
NME: “Suga live in New York: a show-stopping statement of artistic intent at the BTS rapper’s debut solo tour”
Weverse Magazine: SUGA | Agust D ‘D-DAY’ world tour report
MAX, Halsey, and PSY made guest appearances for some dates. They respectively sang “Burn It”, “SUGA’s interlude”, and “That That” (src).
THE FINAL: poster
[EPISODE] SUGA | Agust D TOUR 'D-DAY' THE FINAL
An encore concert on August in Seoul was announced at the end of the tour, through a meme-like poster (a style they used several times for comebacks live show).
This time, it’s the members who made guest appearances. Jung Kook came to sing “Burn It” and “Seven”, Jimin performed “Tony Montana” and “Like Crazy”, and RM did “이상하지 않은가 (Strange)” as well as an unreleased song he was working on.
THE MOVIE
Official tweets
Announcement
Main Trailer (English, Korean)
IMAX Trailer (English, Korean)
Ticket Announcement
'SUGA: Road to D-DAY'
Mood Teaser
Poster teaser
Official Trailer
Official Photo 1
Main Poster
Official Trailer 2
Highlight
'People Pt.2 (feat. IU)' Live Clip (60")
'People' Live Clip (90")
'해금 (Haegeum)' Live Clip (full ver.)
'대취타' Live Clip (full ver.)
Starnews: “BTS SUGA on fire... 'SUGA: Road to D-DAY' live still released”
Youtube playlist on Disney+ Korea
Steve Aoki’s tweet with pictures
This documentary follows SUGA during a road trip in the United States, while he was creating the album.
Concerning the main poster, you can notice seven song titles written, probably the ones that will be performed live in the documentary:
“People” and “Daechwita” are from D-2 while all the other tracks are from D-Day.
Press releases, interviews, and promotion
[IU's Palette🎨] IU X SUGA Palette (With SUGA) Ep.19
Billboard: “BTS’ Suga Returns as Agust D to Tackle Loneliness, Humanity & Being Acknowledged”
Weverse magazine: “From Agust D with love”
Apple Music Radio: Episode 1
"D-DAY" album introduction
슈취타 EP.9 RM with Agust D
Rolling Stone: “‘I Poured My Soul Into This Album:’ How Suga Let Go of the Past and Stepped Into His Future”
NME: “Suga of BTS: “You have to find what makes you happy, what brings you joy””
NME: “Agust D – ‘D-DAY’ review: lessons and liberation reign on final part of BTS rapper’s trilogy”
CINE 21: “Interview in commemoration of the release of the last album of Agust D’s trilogy <D-DAY>”
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Standoff with BTS' SUGA & Agust D, SUGA Gets Ready for His Tonight Show Solo Debut, Imposter Challenge with SUGA, SUGA Spills on His Album D-DAY and Attempts to Play the Haegeum, tweets
Los Angeles Times: “BTS’ Suga on going solo, his love of hip-hop and the band’s future: ‘We’re real brothers, period’“
The Atlantic: “Suga of BTS’s World Tour Is Pop Subversion at Its Finest”
SUGA’s All Night Nippon Gold (interview translation)
K-pop ON! Track: “BTS’ SUGA Drops His Official Solo Album, D-Day” (archive of the video)
This years Chinese New Year mount! Jade, bright forseer! 🐇🏮🎋🎍
Leap into new adventures astride Jade, Bright Foreseer—Pandaria's hoptimistic rabbit spirit that will carry you around Azeroth and beyond with pure joy.
http://www.newbloggycat.com
Let’s welcome the year of the rabbit! I’m hoptimistic that it will be a hoppy and fruitful year. May this bunny year be kind and gentle to us all.
And may your troubles be light like rabbit hair;
May you be surrounded with the love of family and friends;
May you eat more mindfully;
May you have a friend you can act silly with;
Images from pinterest.com
2023 was a real reshuffle of social media and how I use it. Still, I was happy to mark 10 years of book blogging. Success too this year on reading challenges. I greatly reduced my TBR with Beat the Backlist. Plus, I completed the Fortnightly level of the Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge. Lastly, I wrapped my Francophone Writers from 50+ Lands project. Though there are always more such writers to read. I don’t know what 2024 will bring. But as always Happy Reading!