The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 366

And with a long and satisfying sigh . . . I can officially say that G.O has completed one full year of his two year military obligation and that he has exactly 365 days remaining. It has been an absolute honor celebrating this incredible young man every day since he entered training camp back on 18 February 2016. In its own little way, each day has almost been like a prayer of gratitude for me. Each day a small way to be thankful that G.O has shared his artistry, his kindness, his charm and his own humble graciousness so very generously with all of us. For today’s very meaningful celebration, I just want to share a little bit of G.O’s angelic presence from MNet’s July 2011 Wide Open Studio on this celebratory Fan-Camming Friday day.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 353

Way back on Day 245, I talked about the wonderful spring G.O was enjoying in 2014. With two critically acclaimed musicals and a comeback with MBLAQ, he was riding high and seeing quite a bit of press coverage which included landing on the cover of a couple of magazines. Pretty cool! Day 245 was a G.O One Shot day (like today). At that time, I shared a couple of beautiful shots from Campus Job & Joy and said I would not crowd that one shot post with all of the pictures contained in the article as each deserved its own moment to shine. Today is another One Shot day where I will let another moment from that May 2014 issue of Campus Job & Joy charm you.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 352

It is difficult to come by definitive and clear facts regarding everything there is to know about Tykeys. And I suppose that is all well and fine because what we do have in way of pictures and video prove to me that they were an incredibly talented neo-soul R&B sensation that simply did not get the recognition they deserved. However bad the situation was when things ended for the group, it does not take away from the fact that they gave us some incredible music in one amazing album. For this 352nd day of G.O’s service, (and Fan-Camming Friday day), I share a moment of solo work from those early days. A clip of our soulful crooner backed by a live band singing one of his favorites, Wildflower.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 350

I suppose it is rather obvious that I have been having deep (and perhaps emotional) longing to travel back in time to the spring of 2014 when everything seemed to be wonderfully in place for both G.O in his independent pursuits on the musical stage, as well as with MBLAQ as they settled into promoting their 6th (and truly brilliant) mini album, Broken. I left Seoul in mid-April of that year after a lengthy stay, and therefore missed the impromptu meet & greet G.O held in the lobby of the Universal Arts Theater on 5 May 2014. I was momentarily disappointed when I learned of that meet & greet, but that dissipated quickly as I reminded myself how fortunate I was in any event to have experienced not only G.O’s amazing fan service, but his incredible performance in 서편제 [Seopyeonje]. It is Day 350 and seems like a great day to celebrate G.O’s Fabled Fan Service as he met with fans back on that sunny day in early May.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 349

It is pretty clear if you peruse the past 348 posts contained in this countdown series thus far that you could easily deem the majority of them as being nostalgic. With the exception of any that pertain to G.O’s actual enlistment and profile and/or selca picture updates that came thereafter, the series is kind of a retrospective on G.O’s career. Lately, I have been feeling particularly nostalgic for 2014 and I guess it is with good reason. The year 2014 was particularly meaningful for me as it was during that year I fell squarely (and safely) into one true bias land having discovered the irrepressible talent and charisma of G.O. It was my good fortune that not only was G.O prepping to hit the musical stage, MBLAQ was about to make a comeback with the release of their 6th mini album, Broken.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 348

How did I manage to come this far into this countdown series without talking about MBLAQ’s Cry MV?! Shame on me!!^^ This was after all the very first MBLAQ MV I ever viewed. As such, it holds some really special meaning. Not only that, from a purely visual and artistic standpoint, it is nothing short of electrifying. Day 348 of this countdown would be otherwise unremarkable indeed. But taking the time here today to revisit the visual splendor of G.O in the Cry MV pushes it to the forefront of perhaps being one of my favorites as we begin this new year inching towards discharge day.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 327

Although hours, days, months and years may pass and the spring of 2014 become more and more of a memory, the one constant that will always bring me back to those amazing days will be G.O’s voice. Yes, the voice that captured my heart and imprinted itself upon my soul. Because the first time I was introduced to G.O’s voice live upon any stage was through Seopyeonje, I find myself revisiting the music and the moments of the musical over and over. Today, the sweet and achingly beautiful 연가 [Sonata].

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 304

What is his process? Does the melody come and then the lyrics? Are there sometimes only lyrics and no melody? Or only a melody which he gently sets aside to contemplate or place before collaborators for words? Perhaps it is a maelstrom of words and melody that collide simultaneously within his heart and soul wherein all of the parts piece together like an intrique puzzle and a song is born. Whatever his process, G.O has proven himself to be an adept lyricist and composer. Our first glimpse of his writing prowess came with Tykeys 한번만 [Only Once], but with MBLAQ, we had our first taste with 돌아올 수 없는 [Can’t Come Back], his powerful dance track composition which provided the backdrop to Mir’s lyrics. Traveling back today to Blaq Style ~ 3D Edition, to honor Composer G.O.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 294

I would image that recording an episode of any kind of variety show, sitcom, drama, or even MV for that matter, would be putting in a long day’s work. And given that the shows are generally taped, I would assume that there is down time, NGs, retakes, breaks and the like. All of which make conditions right for a little mischief. If I had to choose a mischief-maker for my team, I would most assuredly choose G.O. Back on 22 February 2010, he, Joon and Mir hit up the KBS2’s 스타 골든 벨 [Star Golden Bell] variety show taping for an upcoming episode and when the network cameras were not rolling, there were some fan cams that were thus giving the Countdown another quick and cheeky Playful G.O moment.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 286

Exactly 100 days ago today, I published a post about MBLAQ’s appearance on the KBS2 variety show, Invincible Youth. One hundred days!! It still amazes me how quickly time is passing. I thought it would be fun to revisit G.O’s moments during the first part of MBLAQ’s two-episode appearance, Episode 40 which aired on 6 August 2010. Where G.O and After School’s Joo Yeon’s antics in Episode 41 were perhaps filled with a little sizzle and a lot of humor, G.O and f(x)’s Victoria hit us with a little playful and a whole lot of adorable in Episode 40.

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