"Run bulletproof, you gotta run..."

 ...and the fandom went berserk!

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by PAM

Nope, this post does not need any introduction.  Let's get right down to it... or I'd collapse from excitement!  Besides, I'm in a hurry... I have work to do!

Yes, yes, and YES!  The song, "Run BTS", that ARMY jokingly describe as a BTS song with its own fandom just got a choreography... and it debuted live at the "Yet to Come in Busan" concert!  The said concert is the campaign for S. Korea's bid to host the World Expo in 2030.  Needless to say, it gloriously lived up to everyone's expectations!  By "it", I mean the choreography... but I gotta say, a choreography can be awesome but if the performers are less than awesome, it will not work.  But we are talking about Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) here - the most phenomenal music group since the Beatles!  Except that, well, Beatles didn't dance the way these guys do.  Then again, no one, and I mean N.O. O.N.E., dances in spectacular grace, swag, energy, and synchronization with a capital "S" quite the way these seven young men do - while singing LIVE, that is!

Alright, as that old adage goes, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".  So, here, help yourself...

"Not losing our spirit, make it move left and right
No matter who you are, make it move, left and right
Two bare feet are our gasoline, yeah, yeah..."

I was one of the millions of ARMY who missed many parts of the live concert in Busan because of less than outstanding service of the platform (whose name will not be mentioned here) that carried the live streaming worldwide.  To be fair, perhaps, any platform can collapse from the sheer force of BTS ARMY - all 45 million of us tuned in all around the globe -

Always creating a pandemonium in purple...
...that's BTS for ya!

including a platform from the Most Innovative country in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceana, and #6 in the world, according to the Global Innovation Index of WIPO... well, S. Korea, of course!     

While I was quite disappointed, at least, I can say that I saw the choreography of "Run BTS" on its inaugural performance - live.  The minute that screeching intro of the song sounded, and SUGA, saying "okay, let's go" in his hyper-attitude tone... I literally, hyperventilated!  Hahaha...  Also, I got to see them open the Busan concert with one of my biggest FAVORITE BTS songs, "Mic Drop".  So, that is more than enough for me.  Besides, I saw them perform live in their "Permission to Dance on Stage - Las Vegas" last April 2022.  It was not a 'privilege' nor an 'entitlement' because I saved up from my meager scholarship as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow to pay a considerable amount of money to see them perform live.  And, I travelled from State College, Pennsylvania to Las Vegas by foot, by automobile, and on red eye flight.  So, I'm good.  One of these days, I will post my AWESOME experience of seeing them perform live... with lots of photos and videos that I took in the concert.  Hehe...

But yes, the "Run BTS" choreography was beautiful, and the guys' performance was outstanding per usual.  Forgive me, but I have to say that JK did extra-awesome though -

JK - a TOTAL performer through and through!
And utterly gorgeous, too. 

both in his dancing and singing, and everything in between.  Excellent!  He has really grown to be such an incredible performer, my goodness me!  At mark 0:51 to 0:57 min, he just prowled through that performance like a human dynamo - relentless, fearless, flawless!  He just slayed left and right, up and down, and inside out!  And he never lost a single ounce of gorgeousness while doing so.  Who does that?? Man, this JK!  There simply is no suitable word to describe the talents of this young man.  He was impressive at mark 0:10 - 0:24 min - pitching, and setting the tone for the group - so very talented, seriously.  In all the synchronized dancing, he was absolutely captivating, especially at 2:02 - 2:08 min, and then... again, at 2:56 - 3:02 min.  He seemed to have expended enough energy to send a space ship to orbit!  His blending with Jimin at mark 0:34 min - 0:48 min was beautiful.  Aww, these 'Busan brothers' are just the most loveable performance duo that you'll ever find on the face of this planet - so overflowing with talents, those two.

Speaking of Jimin, aah... he left me open-mouthed and ready to drop - face first - at mark 0:57 - 1:03 min!  Dang, very smooth - too good!  He just oozed pure awesomeness.  At mark 1:57 min in their group synchronization down to his feature move where he simulated driving a motor bike at 2:23 - 2:28 min mark, he was on fire!  His concentration and energy was reflected on his face, and it swept me off my feet!  Right there and then, my heart just gave way... and I felt like crying. I just realized how I missed Jimin's live performances on stage.  That sweet young man that he is... simply gets transformed to attitude and swag, swag, swaaag on stage - nothing like it, no one like him!  Saranghae, Jiminaah!   

Worth focusing on is how our beloved J-Hope's dancing got to an even higher level of awesomeness - if that is at all possible, considering how out-of-this-world great he is already.  All the solo and collab performances

The formidable BTS Rap Line 'Trinity'
(L-R:  J-Hope, SUGA and RM)

that he's been having over the past months have obviously raised his confidence level - unleashing the 'growling' artist in him.. and he keeps 'growling' these days, indeed!  And, like JK, he does work soooo hard to perfect his craft - wonderful role models for young (and not-so-young) people, truly.  At mark 1:03 - 1:15 min, he gave the choreography an unforgettable character.  When I think of this choreography, that J-Hope move will be my mental reference  And his rapping at mark 2:28 - 2:53 min was pure 'muscle rapping' that only he can ever do.  Tough, tough, very tough - loved it!  Way to go, Hobi!

Oh, and speaking of 'muscle-rapping'... man, that SUGA! @a*k8%r485*&... aah, nooo... I can't type - I'm shaking. That 'little guy' with muscled throat and 'muscular rapping voice' just owned that stage everytime the spotlight was on him.. and even when it was not.  At mark 1:15 - 1:28 min, he just sprayed the stage and the universe that's watching the live stream with deadly rap bullets - almost as fast as a flying bullet, dang!  And his hair was sinfully gorgeous, too... and he moved like a 'criminal cat'.  He just slayed, slayed, slayed!  No mercy whatsoever!  So, naturally, ARMY just completely dropped dead in love!  I will admit... I was one of the fatalities.  "Marry me, Yoongi!"  Hahaha... (kidding... he's like a nephew to me.  Hahaha...)

At first glance, I almost did not recognize RM.  He cut his hair just before the Busan concert.  It worked... he looked like a young man having fun while pouring his heart out on stage rather than a distinguished CEO of a multinational bank as he looked at the TMAs.  He was dancing with energy,  agility and a touch of athleticism - yes, agility... and we are talking about RM!  He was matching the "3Js" energy, and successfully, too, I must say.  But the moment he caught the rap ball passed by SUGA at 1:29 min mark... all hell broke loose!  The patent RM baritone sliced through the digital signals from the livestream feed worldwide, and it was beautiful!  It was awesome that, perched up the pedestal, he closed the performance of the song, too.  Awesome, leader!

Speaking of 'closing'... as usual, I wish to close this post with a tribute to V but I think that the 'man of the hour' is Jin, so, I'll reserve the closing for him.  So, it's Tae, it is at this point.  Let me

Tae and his antics - always fun!

begin by saying, Tae did fantastic - I mean, f.a.n.t.a.s.t.i.c.!  After getting a bit concerned with him at the TMAs with less than perfectly timed breathing that sent some notes flat, he completely obliterated this performance in Busan!  He had all cylinders firing!  From dancing with gusto, to drawling his parts of the song with a roar of an engine... and keeping the charm at full blast, too - very, very effective, affective and affecting.  I loved his voice blending with JK, and those moments with Jin, especially with that vandana moves at 1:41 - 1:56 min mark... reminiscent of his 'card tossing' with JK at the Grammys.  Tae is so awesome in stuff like this... he gets the job done in ways that are jaw-dropping, memorable, and unforgettable - so artistic and creative!  And, I completely love that he performed looking like he was enjoying himself.  Watch him, and without you knowing, you are smiling!  That's our Tae - borahae! 

And now, Jin... ahh, Jin, Jin, Seok-Jin!  I had to replay the video and focus on Jin... because when will be the next time that we shall see him doing something like this with the other six members?  2025?  Man... but he did well in this performance.  He totally hit those high notes with his usual artistry. But... there was something in his dancing in this particular performance... which I can't put my fingers on quite accurately. Hmmm... at 0:51 - 1:15 min mark, his concentration seemed tremendous; at 1:41 - 1:53 min, he seemed to be having fun

Indeed, the best is yet to come...
we'll be waiting.

but you can tell he is being diligent in nailing the performance; 1:57 - 2:10 min, he was obviously watching everyone and moving with everyone in such painstaking accuracy; at 2:45 - 3:00 min mark, his concentration was almost tangible; and, in his solo vocals at 3:02 - 3:08 min, he just ripped through the air waves like a bullet train!  Towards the end of the performance, at 3:15 - 3:20 min mark, Jin was obviously giving his all in the choreography, stealing the scene altogether!  Damn, Jin, what did you just do?!  Tryin' a kill us all?  But we survived that... 

...what we're not sure we'd survive is the announcement later, after Busan, that Jin is enlisting for military service this coming December 2022... where he will remain in active service for the next 18 months.  The rest will be enlisting one by one, but with the maknaes all together in 2024.  They will return as a group in December 2025.  Three years and two months... it feels like three decades.   Oh, well... as we are ARMY, we trust BTS.  Therefore, we are certain that, indeed, the best is yet to come!

Alright, that's enough Vitamin B(TS)... for now.

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Video credit:  The video featured in this post belongs to BangtanTV - thanks for the loan.

Photo credit:  All photos belong to Big Hit music except the second to the last, which belongs to an BTS OT7 fan site - thanks for the loan.

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Saturday Photo, er...

 ...video, or, videos... and photos!

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by PAM

Life has been incredibly busy with-a-capital-B over the past few weeks.  My calendar was a chaos with-a-capital-C, too!  But there were so many milestones achieved, too... and I am very happy, indeed! 🙏  However, I will probably need a month to chronicle all the favorable things that has taken place over the past four weeks or so.  One of the 'giddy happy' moments that I've had was two Fridays ago when my Executive Assistant and I paid our new campus in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna, Philippines a visit. The site is about 45 km south of the City of Manila, and it takes about 45 minutes as well to travel from the main campus to the new campus. 

I was happy to see that the first building to rise in that 44-hectare second campus of the University of Santo Tomas (UST, or "USTe" to its alumni) is almost complete now.  As the Sta. Rosa campus will be the Innovation Campus of UST, that first building is the Innovation Center.  It was donated by two of our alumni at the UST Faculty of Engineering through the Jollibee Group Foundation. We hope for it to operate next Academic Year.  By then, we hope that another building (or, maybe two) would begin to rise as well.  

I took a few photos and short videos, and tried to quickly stitch them to an 'amateurish' video just to remember that visit.  Here it is...

This was just a dream...

So, surely, dreams do come true!

The campus is located among beautiful and well-designed communities of Sta. Rosa - away from the signs of environmental neglect of the city.  When one stands at the rooftop of the three-level building, it's all green as far as the eyes can see.  And, from afar, one can see Mt. Makiling, Mt. Banahaw and the Laguna Lake.  It looks like its in the 'middle of nowhere' for now just because it is so vast and the subdivisions around it are just being developed, too.  But is only about 10-minute drive from Nuvali and about five-minute drive from the City Center of Santa Rosa City.  Surely, there's plenty of opportunities for Namjooning for students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders in the future.   

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BTS:  BIG Winners at the 2022 TMA

That was a very inspiring visit to our new campus.  It reminds me of how dreams can actually come true... and, as BTS keeps reminding us, we must live our lives thinking everyday that the best is 'yet to come'.  Naturally, on our way to Sta. Rosa, we listened to BTS music.  

And today, they just won massively again at the The Fact Music Awards 2022 (TMA 2022), winning the GRAND PRIZE... five years in a row!  Woohoo! 💜🎉 And they won many more! 💜🎊 I hope to talk about this in another post.  For now, here they are at TMA 2022...

 

🎜 "Dream and hope, and go forward!" 🎝

I will admit, they left a small room for improvement per their own sky-high standard, after

These two... 💓

several months of working on separate projects... but still awesome, no doubt!  I have to say though that JK was spot-on, totally right-on-the-money in every note he sang - juuust beautiful! Per usual, his voice was on 'autotune' - so gifted!  He is very reliable in his vocals and stage presence, harmonizing with others so well, helping to bring out the very best in his hyungs' voices - 'born singer', indeed.  In fact, I do think he got better again - the raspy quality of his voice is on another level! This evening he was extremely good looking, too.  And, RM nailed.every.single.point.in.his.verses - that distinct power baritone of his and that crystal clear enunciation... my word, KING!  That pick-up at 1:41 min in the video was fantastic - it can be my meal for a month, and I'd be totally healthy!  And he was looking even more distinguished than ever before with that tall stance, heathy-looking dark hair in no non-sense style, and that confident aura about him that makes you want to invest your life's savings in whatever it is he's building - a worthy leader of the BEST group in the world. 'Fine wine getting better with age', and all that! Ahh, these two... really! 💓 

And, of course, J-Hope was himself - always a reliable and a delightful performer who knows when to adlib to get the performance to a higher level of energy.  He oozes more confidence

Seven icons of this generation -
simply phenomenal! 💜

on stage these days while looking relaxed, more so this evening at the TMA - 'the JITB effect'. The continuity he provided at 1:52 min mark just brought a smile to my lips - too good! Aw, Hobi... how to be you?!  Yoongi took a little while to hit his stride but when he did, it was awesome.  This was evident at 2:05 min mark... and then he just went on to slay the whole performance with his usual coolness!  Genius, and the rampant bias wrecker - that's SUGA for ya!  Jimin struggled a bit... perhaps, from emotions. But he has become very skillful in his singing, he can recover his grip of the tune quickly when it is slipping from his vocal grasp due to emotion (or flirtations!  Hahaha...), covering gaps swiftly - smooth, Jimin-aaah! He had special moments, too, and his singing was touching - full of emotions. I'm sure ARMY can feel that Jimin missed them... I sure did, aaaww!  

Jin was calm and steady. I don't think there's anything in this world that can perturb Jin these days when he's performing - such a professional singer he is, indeed. He connects well with ARMY when he is performing with that perfect balance of beautiful singing, charm and unmasked hints of emotions.  It was just lovely to watch and listen to him - the perfect hyung with his committed and professional approach to singing, performing... and anything BTS!  Goosebumps, Jin! 💜 Tae sounded so well, as usual, of course!  That deep voice of his sounded like it's coming from a reservoir in his chest seemingly made of stainless steel that returns a million 'mini echoes' as the notes collided with the wall of the reservoir - unique sound that only Tae can make.  Is there a scientific explanation to this?  He seemed out of practice with his breathing though... or, perhaps, too excited this evening? He was very busy with so many things that did not require singing the past days.  So, I hope that he can find enough time to practice making those 'mini echoes' take Busan by storm.  We love him, of course... always!

All did their best, and it is MORE THAN enough for ARMY, really!  We are overjoyed... and we cannot wait for Busan!! 

Great job, ARMY!  CONGRATS, Bangtannies!  💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Woohoo!

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Video credit:  (1) I own the first video, and (2) the owner of the second video is indicated in the video itself.  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

Photo credit:  (1) JK and Namjoon: Grabbed from the IG account bts_daily.news, (2) Collage: (i) screenshot from TMA, and (ii) grabbed IG account bts_daily.news.  Thanks for the loan. 

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