Happy Lunar New Year! Yunno, I had grand desires to never miss a digest post but alas, a brief bout of illness, too much New Year eating and battling the insane holiday traffic in my home town had overwhelmed me. But better late than never, I say.
I’m now on the mend, so much so that I could get caught up with what my babies are up to on In A Good Way, and in I Need Romance 3. The former still has me firmly in it’s warm fuzzy grip while the latter, I’m afraid, will have to be cut loose. It’s not going the way I expected it to, but more importantly, I don’t want to go where it wants to take me. I’m starting to side-eye the show and that’s not good. I’m saddened because Sung Joon and Kim So Yeon together, are downright drool-worthy and so sexy it almost hurts. So I’m kissing it good bye and wishing it the best.
Onwards!
1. Dramabeans launches a recruitment drive! Wow, Javabeans and Girlfriday are human after all. Because lord knows how they manage to churn out so much great content multiple times a day. As a fan, I want DB to stick around forever. But, reading how “everyone’s tired” I wonder if sometimes our voracious appetite for dramas and any and everything related to dramaland is a double-edged sword. Sometimes doing less is better than doing more. It’s the wise person who knows when to make that call.
2. Very Good Times releases a teaser and it looks like everything you’d want in a family drama. I confess what draws me to this is the Nice Guy pedigree tag team of Lee Kyung Hee, who I think is some kind of flawed genius, and PD Kim Jin Won. As for the cast, well, I’m looking forward to Lee Seo Jin’s dimples–I have a weakness for dimples. I spied Taecyeon in the teaser, and you know, maybe this could be the role that earns him some kudos ala Yoona in Prime Minister & I. If only this wasn’t a weekender I’d be more willing to check this one out. Very Good Times debuts on 22nd February.
3. Ask A Korean!’s latest post is an awesome take-down of the way plastic surgery in Korea is often discussed—condescendingly shallow and deliberately fetishistic. It’s a great reminder that only asking the right questions will lead you to the right answers. For further reading, Beyond Hallyu did a series “Reframing the Korean Plastic Surgery Debate” last year that’s similarly a great read.
4. I recently vowed to get more acquainted with Epik High, fuelled by my feels for Tablo and his muppet of a daughter Haru on Superman is Back. So coming across this dissection of the group’s lyrics on High Yello was a welcome reminder for me to make good on my vow.
5. And lastly, a shameless plug to check out my Q&A last week with fic writer Mywebfoot where this part-time teacher tells me all about her ups and downs writing and publishing her latest eBook, which is up for grabs too! So do stop by if you can 🙂
obsessive compulsive (k)drama-watching disorder 
*MUAH* 8xD
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Try this one. I enjoyed the translation of the lyrics A LOT. http://www.soompi.com/2011/12/09/jbarky-reviews-tablos-tomorrow-feat-taeyang/
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Oooh thanks!! *scurries off to read*
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Great to have you back, DDee! And totally agree with this: “Sometimes doing less is better than doing more. It’s the wise person who knows when to make that call.” I want DB to stick around forever too. And if producing less content helps them do that, I’d be happy to take what I can get. I hope to hear from them soon that “everyone’s recharged” coz “everyone’s tired” is not a good long term thing. RESPECT to the ladies at DB, Total Respect.
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Thanks dear, I do feel much better. I know, those gals are amazing! DB is obviously a passion project and passion fuels them far indeed, beyond what seems humanly possible, at least to me! I just hear alarm bells with the “everyone’s tired” business (read: burn-out) but that’s probably my own projection ;P. Those guys are pros and grown-ups and I’m just fussing 🙂
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I read your interview with mywebfoot but didn’t want to compete with the others for the prize. I figured I’d just buy her book because it sounds awesome. 🙂
I thought Ask A Korean was a dictionary site that’s why I never visited it. LOL but based on your recommendation it seems to be a great place to learn about Korean culture like Eat Your Kimchi’s TL;DR.
I’m kinda losing interest in INR3 too! I think I’ll watch it later just to marvel at Kim So Yeon’s acting. 😦
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Ok. AAK is hilarious but kinda scary too.
I’ll just lurk in his site and stay really really quiet…
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Hah yes he doesn’t mince his words innit? I lurk too! I like that he writes well and his informative posts runs the gamut from dating to politics to history. I’ve learned alot frm reading him.
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Oh that’s great Mary!! I’m sure she appreciates the support. I’m slowly making my way through the book myself, savouring it.
Ask A Korean is similar indeed, except he covers a broader spectrum of stuff and in greater detail. And is less irreverent. And he’s Korean (American). As for INR3, maybe I’m suffering some PTSD after Heirs, but sweet potato is giving me Kim Tan vibes and me no likeys!
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I also love Epik High! They were the first Korean music group I was introduced to!
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Really? Mine was Drunken Tiger way back when I was listening to alot of hip hop, one of the first Asian groups I really liked, despite the language barrier 🙂
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I remember reading another article on plastic surgery in Korea that made much the same points. (Can’t remember where though — it was a while ago.)
Also — I meant to tell you that I really liked your year of the horse header. I’m a bit late, I know, but it was adorable! 🙂
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Ah I see you’re catching up on your reading eh? Nice to have you back! 🙂 Thanks for the header compliments, I don’t know what I’d do without picmonkey!! HAHA.
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I am! I was about to write another “boo, I miss reading and commenting on other posts” post and then I shook my fist at the heavens and said, “no more! today I comment!” (Maybe not as dramatically — but I definitely drew a line! 😉 )
Oh — you did it with picmonkey? That’s awesome! I use picmonkey to shrink my screen caps down to more reasonable sizes. (For storage purposes.)
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Haha well it’s nice to hv you back!! For screencaps I use a screencapping software that automatically saves the pic in a format that’s smallest in size. Saves so much time! I hope that’s what you use since resizing each time in picmonkey sounds like a massive time-suck 🙂
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O.O Wha…? There’s screencapping software?!?
No — I do it all by hand and it is a massive time-suck and probably my biggest issue with blogging… If you could let me know the name of the software you use, I’ll love you forever. 😉
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Heh, yes there is! And it’s called Screenhunter and it’s FREE. Get it here http://bit.ly/1l7upZg
There’s a how-to guide on that page too but it’s real easy. You can do lots of things with it but I just do the basic (capture, rename the file, and save). I don’t even resize the screen caps coz that’s how lazy I am. The best feature for me is that I can save all the caps into a select folder, and in the smallest file size–automatically! Hope this helps!
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This might just change my life! 😀 Thank yoooou!!!
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