Hey y'all, it's not Tablo I'm crushing on...although I think he's awesome.

IT'S JO KWON!

@ celestialorigin

lovenyc52 and i do not chop up our boys.. we timeshare. the boys are given whole and returned whole when our time is up with them.

however, i have no qualms about taking bits and pieces of other MINE!s that i didn't get.. mainly voices.. you can have the body as long as i get THE VOICE. thankyouverymuch. :D

@ langdon813

jo kwon is totally crushable!!! he's so adorable beyond words!!! the sweetness between him and his "wife" GaIn is so exciting to watch.. live vicariously thru his wife.. she's so sweet w/ him too. they should just get together for reals...

@ nea:notoriousnoona

"initially this wasn’t on my “must watch” list and I still have no intention of putting it there but I like this show more and more with each episode."

That's the weird thing I can't quite put my finger on, before WUAS - I liked KJH the second, very much didn't care for CJW, heard good things about SDW, and wanted to watch this but was expecting nothing other than a way to pass the time. I also am not the biggest fan of stories involving sob tragedies and orphaned kids.

But somehow, this is a very engaging and winning drama, warm and meaningful, touching without (yet) dipping into the maudlin territory. I worry about the plot contrivances (lost long granddaughter, etc.), but I think it just might work out. I also like the double personality growth we're going to see in this drama, and I seriously would be just as happy if CJW picked ANY of the three guys, or none and made it on her own.

The conversation CJW had with her oldest younger brother in the basement at the end of episode 5 is up there in the pantheon of amazing scenes involving a child actor.

Boo for my hubby, not one, but two! of his fave authors died today, Robert B. Parker and Erich Segal.

I console him by saying the other 498 of his fave authors, half are still alive, and these two went to join the other half.

GENERAL COMMENT ABOUT OT:

What I love about OT is the memes here. We're literally codifying the K-drama viewing experience in a way that Soompi and no other blog has.

Carry on. ;)

LOL belleza!

We OTers are rather like dolphins...we all completely understand our own language which can be incomprehensible to others. Plus, simply by using one or two words we can pick up a conversation from any OT, no matter how long ago, exactly where we left it off.

This is why hippies lived in communes. This is our virtual Utopia. ;-)

How the hell did we go from dripping with blood, lust and gore WW at the battle of Stirling to becoming hippie Dolphins?

@ ockoala

such is the magic that is OT :P

"How the hell did we go from dripping with blood, lust and gore WW at the battle of Stirling to becoming hippie Dolphins?"

Because, dammit, I've been trying to work in a hippie dolphin comment for MONTHS and I just got tired of waiting! :-D

In other news, Vanness just left the dentist. NO CAVITIES!

@410 langdon813

:D

I though the hippie Dolphin reference was remarkably fitting. Just curious whether this topical-ADD will last until Friday?

Btw, before Vanness found God and reinvented himself (not being snarky here, really!), this from my TW-sister-in-law, VWu was considered the sleazy F4 guy, who peddled in flesh and a raunchy image. He partied hard and really his image was not so good in Taiwan. And then he had an epiphany and now we have VWu on twitter where his every other shout out is to God and food. And his makeover and heartthrob du-jour Guang-xi on Autumn's Concerto.

@ langdon813

re: vanness's perfect teeth... did he twitter this? hehe.

by chance, did he also twitter when AC is going to end... because i finished ep 16 last night thinking ep 17 was going to be the end...and it doesn't seem that way. and i want to know dammit! even if it's 24 eps i want to mentally prepare myself for it.

@ ockoala

haha i remember when vanness was the 'bad one' of the f4...being all american and what not. but i think he still parties - one of my girlfriends says he was at some hollywood club recently (roped off area/private room of course). i wonder if AC is all wrapped up in filming now??

@ lovenyc52

Oops, so sorry, I forgot to answer your earlier question re: AC. It will end at 20 episodes.

I've check out, really, even Vanness in a bathtowel can't drag me back. When Mu-cheng had a concussed, constipated look on her face when Tuo-ye is melting down in front of her after learning GX-MC got married, and had NOTHING to say to him, I was like *adios, amigos*.

That exchanged totally reminded me (@ mookie, you know this) of that giant epic exchange I just watched on LoCH when the brothers are lashing out all their issues, and my loverboy is acting his heart out, while Hu Ge looks dazed and confused. Ady must have learned her reaction shots from HG because when Tuo-ye was just breaking down in front of her, and she's all like, huh? Oh, I'm sorry, I guess.....man, so not bringing it, Ady!

@ samsooki

I can neither defend nor betray you, since I have not seen My Love Patzzi. But I am quite fond of Kim Rae-won so for the sake of friendship and camaraderie, I'll try to watch it sometime soon and let you know what I think. :-)

"the forces of samsooki"

Hee!

@lovenyc52

Yes, Vanness is quite the Twitterer (Tweeter?) about his daily routine. He really does seem very sweet. Maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but very sweet. He did tweet about going out clubbing recently but stated that there was lots of dancing but "no alcohol." I tend to believe him, because I'm sure there are people with camera phones at the ready who would just love to catch him misbehaving. The boy goes to church a LOT, so I tend to think he's really and truly reformed.

@ Samsooki
apparently the force is strong in javabeans"

as such, now realized...you have? o_O
:P

@ langdon813

shall I send hubby over to Telegraph Ave to look for some hippie dolphin tie-died shirts for our group tees?

Informal OT poll - anyone liked/loved Love Story (the novel and/or the book).

I didn't like either, but is it a generational thing, i.e. if I was a teenager in the 70s I would have loved it to pieces? Never felt the magic, though briefly wondered what being a Radcliffe girl must've felt like.

It feels like a k-drama melo-trope written by a Jewish guy. Though if it really was based on Al Gore, I'll eat my hippie dolphin t-shirt.

@ langdon-unni and lovenyc52

Vanness is very vocal in the TW press about his epiphany and his calling to live life according to God's plan. Kudos to him. And his AC is really breaking all sorts of ratings records for giant leaps in ratings gains from week to week.

@ ockoala

my thoughts EXACTLY about mu cheng's reaction (or lack thereof) after tuo ye's heartwrenching monologue. i was like... and that's it?????? and yet i've invested this long into it...and the next ep looks like it is somewhat more interesting with the comeback of the rape victim. 4 more eps. i can do it.

@ langdon813

wow. he really does tweet daily. even about clubbing. i actually quite like the club he was at recently - it's not huge but it has a nice layout. i dono where these private rooms are though so i guess he had to behave if others are watching. granted he's in the states and not in taiwan so he has more leeway. so unless you're into the tw-drama/tw-pop scene, you probably wouldn't know who he was in the darkness of the club lol

@ 348 samsooki:

I second your nomination. Go kb! "I think they're dehydrated from all the crying".

@ lovenyc52

I'm actually pretty pissed, Tuo-ye was an awesome second lead, both the character and the actor, and I *hate* the way the writers are treating him. So Ady's bad acting in that scene really was a double deal killer for me.

AC episode 16, part 1, english subs, start at around the 4 minute mark. Until that scene ends at the 9 minute mark, Ady has *one* non-expression on her face. That's just inability to portray nuance. She should be feeling guilt, pain, sadness, empathy, a load of emotions - instead we get mild confusion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcfhKzGk30Q

@ ockoala

I'll be checking the "Hate" box for Love Story.

@ hjkomo

Oh, by all means, do! One can never have too many t-shirts. That's business casual for me. ;-)

@ lovenyc52

Vanness even tweeted recently about wanting a wife. He is a sweetheart.

***

Hey, if I ever decide to form a Kdrama production company, I'll call it Hippie Dolphin Productions. It'll be great!

It's not any more far-fetched than someone thinking "You know, I think I'll call my company GOOGLE."

@ 371 langdon813

"@ samsooki

We will cheer you, defend you, and humidify you if necessary"

YES! And we will more importantly defend your right to be oh, so, wrong. As long as we can tell you you are Oh. So. Wrong. Sorry, pal. But the humidifiers will keep on coming, as long as you need them.

Is anyone keeping score over on the main page?

@ langdon-unni

I knew I loved you for a reason - so it's not just me. I was feeling like such a puppy killer for disliking something called LOVE STORY.

@ ockoala

oh yes. already saw it once. can't bear to watch it a second time. the whole time you see tuo ye's range of emotions..from utter disbelief to hurt to anger to despair to him practically flat-lining. you see where he's just had enough. and that whole time. that whole horrible 5 minutes, ady (who has been pretty decent throughout the series) just blanks. nothing. not even a tear until after he leaves. wt... you just lost the one person who has been by your side without any kind of conditions or strings.... the one person who has NEVER hurt you and has ALWAYS been there to help you... and you have zero reaction.. i can see how it's a drama killer for you. but i'm slightly masochistic. i want to see how it all plays out. i want justice dammit. i want a reward for all of this.

@ langdon813

ha! his wife tweet probably resulted in a flood of responses huh??

and if you ever start up Hippie Dolphin Productions - lemme know. I'll send my resume your way hehe

@408 & 419 ockoala

How the hell did we go from dripping with blood, lust and gore WW at the battle of Stirling to becoming hippie Dolphins?

About Love story

It feels like a k-drama melo-trope written by a Jewish guy. Though if it really was based on Al Gore, I’ll eat my hippie dolphin t-shirt.

LMAO! almost fell off my chair again! :D

Yes, I was a teenager and loved it back then. But I've grown since then. for me the quintessential love story would be, for example, Jane Austen's Persuasion., Awww! Captain Wentworth and Anne, culmination of their quiet yet enduring love. Yey!

@ lovenyc52

"utter disbelief to hurt to anger to despair to him practically flat-lining. "

You called it, sister! When Tuo-ye stumbled away, that was a shell of a man left, and the actor nailed it. TY gave it his all, for that I salute Tuo-ye, my oppa-of-the-month.

What was it about the 70's and ridiculously sad sports movies? Brian's Song, Something For Joey, The Other Side of the Mountain. There was one from around 1979 called Champions. OMG! It starred Jimmy McNichol (Kristy's brother, so hot to my 14 year old eyes). Something about ice skating, something about a plane crash, who can remember, but I was devastated. DEVASTATED! :-(

Also, can you guys believe that that *wonderful* 70's movie Ice Castles with Robby Benson (yes, another of my teen dreams) has been remade. Egads...as if it weren't bad enough the first time.

Only "ice skating" movies worth watching are The Cutting Edge and Blades of Glory. Ice skating and plane crashes should *never* be in the same movie, NEVER!

Oh, and go go Kim Yuna!

@ ockoala

"only 'ice skating' movies worth watching are The Cutting Edge and Blades of Glory..."

damn straight. just watched The Cutting Edge on Sunday night. classic. TOOOOOEPICK! I hate how they've made "sequels".. just horrible. why couldn't they just let a classic movie be... sighs.

WoW, this OT is better than any drama I've watched.

It has so many more sub-plots, plot devices, themes and scenarios (re. poo-ing in the woods) not used by any drama writers.

@ lovenyc52

Betcha haven't seen it as many times as I have - toe pick AND The Pomchenko! Actually, you probably have, I *love* this movie. :-)

What sequels? There are no sequences for The Cutting Edge. *That* *Does* *Not* *Exist*, okay? (deep breath).

Ha ha ha ha ha, samsooki, you "sound like [someone's] uncle"

Time to graduate from oppa to ahjusshi, dood. Btw, very persuasive review, too bad I've seen MLP already.

Samsooki, poor fellow, I might have some sympathy for how you are surely going to be crushed if you have not already had enough crushing, except:

YOU STARTED IT.

HA!

I was just sitting here, pretty as you please, when I got the metal mitten thrown in my face. So I can't feel bad and have only this to say: BOOYAH!

@ 430 langdon813 :

I LOVED Robby Benson. Wah. Ice Castles. Was Glynis O'Connor in that one? They were the teen movie couple of that era.

Oh, so nostalgic.

@ ockoala

i can't remember how many times i've watched it except to say that i have both the vhs and dvd versions of the movie. it's glorious. and i only wish i had your selective memory loss regarding the non-existent sequels ;)

@ loveynyc52

I wore out my The Cutting Edge VHS, it was mandatory girls night viewing. I don't quite remember is there was every any US on-screen movie couple with *as much* chemistry as DB Sweeney and Moira Kelly, honest to goodness, I've tried to rack my brains, and nothing pops to mind as immediately as The Cutting Edge. As for the "sequels", selective memory is such a comforting thing to have. Bliss....

@ ockoala

just from the opening instrumental sequence (u know what i'm talking about) during Sunday's viewing, i knew it was going to be a good night :) as for a "US on-screen movie couple with *as much* chemistry as DB Sweeney and Moira Kelly"? nothing comes to mind. i can think of some asian drama OTPs and some American tv shows... but no movies really stand out at the moment.

@ockoala

Disliked the movie and the book but a lot of older koreans generation seem to really love it. I found it too emotionally manipulative. You have to wonder if a lot of kdramas are sort of a homage to "Love Story" by writers who were deeply influenced by it which would explain why I hate most kdrama melos

"Samsooki the Deluded"

Isn't that what we've been saying all along?!!!!

@ reluctantbutaddicted

Lynn-Holly Johnson (who is also a freaking Bond girl, go figure) starred in Ice Castles with Robby Benson.

Glynis O'Connor was with him in Ode To Billy Joe (sob), which incidentally was filmed about 40 miles from where I live. Oh, how I was tortured by that book (which was by Herman Raucher, of Summer of 42 fame) when I was young! I bet I read it 500 times. I can recite passages from it to this day.

See, I've loved pretty boys a long time, y'all! Guys did not come any prettier than Robby Benson in his day:

http://dontgetmestarted-lindasharp.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/03/22/robby_benson.jpg

OK, I'm feeling pretty old right now. :-(

"You have to wonder if a lot of kdramas are sort of a homage to “Love Story” by writers who were deeply influenced by it which would explain why I hate most kdrama melos"

The Seasonal dramas. . . maybe, by virtue of the Douglas Kirk-style dramas being of seminal influence in virtually all developing Asian countries. Such still exists today, with the exotic/tacky decorations that is assigned to modern wuxia (as well as post-wuxia exercises in melosocio-angst like Chuno.)

Western Gen-X/Y are inherently allergic to this stuff, what with irony and all.

J-dorama at least substanties melodrama in terms of narrative detail. There are practical and truly horrible reasons why people suffer. And often there are lessons that will people to understanding and wisdom. Whereas in K-drama, we just enjoy the men crying, preferably while showing the abs.

Oh and *Big Hug to Samsooki* You went out there and got blasted like Tupac without any possible hope for resurrection. Sigh. Anyhoo . . .

PATTZI MUST DIE!!! ;)

@ belleza -

"PATTZI MUST DIE!!!"

I was wondering when that was coming as you can see in my post in Dahee's rebuttal. Where is Mookie?

The era was 2010 (4th year of Dramabeans Drama Dynasty), and a generation of weaksauce heroines were thrown out of their chaebol houses to roam on the fields as slaves.

In this tragic era, slave hunters (on horseback, wearing fake fur, Anita Mui-style wardrobes, and vaguely obsessed with Jo In Sung's anti-Guido fist pump in mouth of sorrow) named Mookie, Ockoala and Belleza (TEAM MOB RECONIZE FOO'!!!) roamed the hinterlands of the K-drama wasteland. They looked for weaksauce heroines without pity and without purses. One Belleza secretly longs to be reunited with the most tragic, most beautiful slave of all -- one Won Bin, who has disappeared for 10 years from the bosoms of sweet roboto Song Seung Heon.

Today, the slave hunters look for one My Lovely Patzzi, who by tribunal has been declared of being weaksauce. And so today, the slave hunter team MOB (formerly of the Late Great Team Park Kyu) hunts Patzzi, last seen in China, with but one message on the bounty.

PATZZI MUST DIE!!!

Ahh! Just lost a whole rambling post about Robby Benson directed at langdon813. Ode to Billy Joe--what a classic! I had such a huge crush on Robby Benson.

TEAM MOB, FTW!!! :D

------

Ah...I remember Ice Castles...
Hey, wait, wasn't that "Kdrama On Skates"?

@ ockoala

Yeah, I had the Cutting Edge VHS tape...and subsequently DVD.
D.B. Sweeney has never looked better. :D
Sequel? What sequel? (It hath been remotely struck from memory like a Dollhouse wipe. ;) )