After pulling an all-nighter watching my rare Chinese modern romcom, Renting A Girlfriend For New Years, and then having to delve straight into watching the CCTV New Year Show at 5:00AM in the morning, you can say I'm zombied out.

But what a 24 hours! Who would have thought I would love this hilariously endearing "idol" drama? With DUBBING no less?!
Highly recommended for it's great entertainment value and surprising family philosophies. Gosh, I need sleep before I embark on another set of New Year show viewings and weekend drama watchings. *sigh* Oh, the agony.

@97 cingdoc

As I mentioned on OT #121, it’s too bad that we don’t see each other for CNY, otherwise I would be handing out lai see/red packets to all you single OT’er …how about a virtual lai see ;) Gong Hey Fat Choi

That would be fun! hehe.
Thanks for the virtual lai see~ :D Gong Hey Fat Choi to you too!

Dear Vancouver olympic website designers - I realize that light blue is the color of the games there....but for cricket's sake! Use a different color for the text. Holy Hannah that makes it hard to read.

OTOH, Ben and Jerry's - you are geniuses! Maple Blondie - Hannah Teter's limited batch flavor - AWESOME!

I love the song...Happy Valentines to everyone......And happy Chinese New Year....

새해 복 많이 받으세요 :D

(How the heck did Avatar The Last Airbender get into this conversation? LOL. I'm not ashamed...I've watched it!)

Happy 3 Day Weekend, Happy Valentines Day and Happy Lunar New Year to all!

@pixie, it's actually getting worse. I just got my City Hall director's DVD set and i'm marathoning as I'm typing.

I have not seen Avatar (James C.) yet, I may be the last person in the whole world who hasn't seen it. lol
Avatar (the last airbender) seems like a good movie!

re. Maple Blondie, I just had that last night at applebee's! It's delish!

Thank You (the K-drama) -- OK, addicted now. Marathoning between CNY obligations.
Jang Hyuk -- When was self-loathing ever this sexy?

Hi all,

Happy Valentines!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Where can I watch Pasta, apart from viikii.net, which is restricted in my part of the world?

For Assorted Gems, at least I can download it from thundie's links.

Thanks in anticipation....

@hpn88 Waaaay to go Michigan! LOL LOL....my sister lives in Farmington and she told me about President Obama....her neighbor's daughter is all excited about it!

I'm in Hawaii....I used to live one block away from where President Obama's tutu lived! I had no idea she lived there until I saw it on television!

We are proud of our President!

@celestialorigin
"And Thank you cingdoc. yes! I’ll be off to see Bing bang on Tuesday here!!!!!! "

I so envy you. Was listening to them in the car on the drive up today. Hubby was all like "who are they" and I said "I only dragged you to their concert 3 years ago". He replies, "Next time take my cousin" [who is in her late teens]. I noticed he didn't ask me to change it though.

@serendipity

"Thank You (the K-drama) — OK, addicted now. Marathoning between CNY obligations. Jang Hyuk — When was self-loathing ever this sexy?"

What took you so long? Thank You is one of my top 5 . Not everyone loves it but so far you and I are two for two e.g. Resurrection and Devil so I think you'll love this. Next you have to watch The White Tower!

@147celestialorigin
well i live in the philippines.do you know a site that have the whole drama finished with subs?
;D

ghian
Sorry. no... Have you Googled the drama and see if you get any hit?

nycgrl
Well, at least you've seen them already... I'm due for one.

One more day and this class is over! I've been so over worked and sleep deprived. Can't wait for Tuesday...

Hope everyone's enjoying lunar new year's day... in Vietnam, maybe other places, one tradition is to make sure you do a little bit of all the things you hope to do well in for the coming year. So if you are a student, spend a little bit of time studying, for example.

Question: does anyone use any programmes for watching Korean tv live? I have been using Livestation, but just in the last week, suddenly, I can't seem to connect to any Korean stations. I've tried using some other programmes, but no luck there either. I am wondering if there is a blanket problem, or if I'm just using programmes that aren't working. (Livestation will connect to other stations, but not Korean stations.) Are Korean stations blocked maybe? Just wondering if anyone happens to know. Thanks!

@ lovenyc52 : meant to say on last week's OT, congrats on deciding to make a big change, and on having landed a new job you want to go to. Hope you enjoy the new environment.

@ serendipity and cingdoc : over the last few years I've been to Burma 3 times, to visit friends who were posted there ... when I was an undergrad thinking about graduate studies, Burmese was one of my first three choices of languages to learn, but in the end I chose Vietnamese, on the basis that I'd be more easily able to get a visa, which was correct. But I've been curious about Burma ever since, so these trips were the fulfillment of a long-held desire. And what a beautiful country! (and what a sad country, too.) Rangoon is an amazingly beautiful city, very run-down, but with, as a consequence of so little urban investment, some wonderful original streetscapes. I also went to Bagan, Inle Lake, and another town in the southwest I'd have to look up the spelling for (I never managed to pronounce it properly)... but my trips were short so not as much time to get around as I would have liked, and air transport was expensive, and non-air transport very slow. I am looking forward to going back.

Smile, You got 2 more episode extension because Life is Beautiful's production was delayed.

Hmm... should I feel thankful or restless now?

@samsooki, @cingdoc: It was exactly what I was looking for and more. Thanks very much for taking on my question. It arose from a forum conversation I was having with a fellow QSD fan who posted the inquiry because she, like me, has a kdrama diet consisting mostly of sageuks, i.e. Jumong, Hwang Jin Yi, Dae Jang Geum, Legend. We can't tell if QSD is fusion or not.

I must admit I really can't tell the difference between the two, as I don't speak/understand Korean, though I think I'd be a bit of a purist, and can tolerate fusion only as long as it blends (ok, practically disappears) into the narrative and doesn't shock my sensibilities like Tamra did.

I'll be posting your answer in the forum to enlighten my other QSD fans. I'm sure it's going to spark yet another week-long conversation. :D

@170 momosan
oh god i know! lets recite names of the days and then random nationalities followed by GIRL!!
it is depressing and disturbing

i want big bang's album stat to make all of this fade from kpop memories

@nycgrl / Thank You

What took me so long? Er, because a plot involving a cute child and AIDS presented me with an image of weeping and wailing and tedious carrying on in a sick room with humidifiers going full throttle? So I never really registered that it's not about thwarted lives or even thwarted loves, but more about gratitude and the wonder of life. And not fraught with railing against fate, but grounded in earthy acts of human kindness. Of course, it's also about guilt, redemption and atonement, those age-old tropes. But done well.

It's hard to understand that this is the same screenwriter who gave us that nonsensical, over-the-top angst-fest A Love to Kill. At the same time, I see some similarities with Will it Snow for Christmas -- the Terrible Secret, the dread hand of fate, a story which focuses on a man and his torments, a woman who is a Figure of Suffering, and the mid-series (short-lived in the case of TY) walk-away by the male lead when he is overcome by self-loathing. It even includes a hair-clip!

Sure I cried. But, I judge, in a good way. Not because I was manipulated by The Crazy, but because I was touched at some deep level. I was hit particularly hard by Bom's grandpa, because my own grandfather suffered many years of dementia before passing on.

And aren't Jang Hyuk and Gong Hyo Jin wonderful? How do they communicate so much without doing very much? How are they wholly the characters they portray without giving any sense that they are straining? I loves them. I would watch them any drama, even if ten people had terminal diseases. I think the writing is quite fine - the story breaks no new ground, but there is enough reality and poignancy in what people say and do to keep me emotionally invested - but I think the actors really carry it. Young Shin could so easily be annoyingly passive and over-saintly; but isn't. Min Ki Seo is suitably tortured, but not so much that you roll your eyes and want to tell him to please calm down and have a nice cup of tea.

I'm loving Pasta, although wow, didn't know chefs yelled that much!

Does anyone know where to get the soundtrack? Love the songs, especially this one sung by a female that plays when Sae Young is talking about how she gave up all sorts of girly things to be a chef and again, plays over Team Italy's sit-down with San's sister (where she pretty much states she wants to marry Phillip!). I really, really like it, but since I don't speak Korean, can't even Google it. :)

"It arose from a forum conversation I was having with a fellow QSD fan who posted the inquiry because she, like me, has a kdrama diet consisting mostly of sageuks, i.e. Jumong, Hwang Jin Yi, Dae Jang Geum, Legend."

Frequent criticism of recent MBC sageuks are that they're fusion storylines presented as big-budget sageuks. Dae Jang Geum is the primo example. It's essentially a cooking tournament / medical drama show presented as a sageuk, playing fast and loose with history and medical innovations in order to tell a wish fulfillment story about a progressive woman. Same thing with QSD essentially, written by the same person. In addition, two of the main characters in QSD could and should only exist in a true fusion drama.

Realistically, outside of the KBS1 weekend drama (though that's changed far and gone as well), virtually all sageuks nowadays are fusion, such that the word is probably no longer that meaningful. In fact, for people raised on HK and Taiwanese historical dramas (who've become a major audience for the sageuk), they may not ardently underline a distinction.

@165celestialorigin
did not tried i'm just going to give up and wait for recaps thanks anyway....
;D

@ belleza, happy yr of the tigress to u! :)

'for people raised on HK and Taiwanese historical dramas (who’ve become a major audience for the sageuk), they may not ardently underline a distinction.'

that's me....fusion or not... I can care less...of coz if they can stick to it and be entertaining, all the merrier. It's when they r creating stories YET being less intriguing or painfully boring that's the prob. We can still tell QSD was written by a writer that cant be more lazy, who will drag out one plot point for episodes and fill it with glares and eye brow contests. It has the flow of an old manga Captain Tsubasa, whenever they kicked the soccer ball up in the air and 2 players have to take flight to fight for it... flashback time!! and that will easily last an ep or 3. One soccer match can be 10 eps. it's to the point I can predict exactly how long and y BiDam will 'entertain' that scummy writer, pointing the sword at his neck w/o just killing him for my sanity's sake. but yes, that's no different fr many lazily written HK/TW historical dramas.. and it's exactly that nostalgia that is feeding my immediate family...my very close friends to be absolutely crazy about QSD. and I cant believe I'm watching QSD with my grandma on day after new yr.
' isnt that too bloody *cough*boring*cough* and 'non-friendly/happy' for new yr, grandma?!'

@ reluctantbutaddicated

Vietnam! Definitely on my "must visit" list.

Yes, Yangon is pitifully under-developed, but there are definitely compensations for the tourist -- fascinating markets, interesting architecture and street life, affordable art, lacquer work and precious stones, and the best strawberry jam in all Asia!

"fill it with glares and eye brow contests."

Still mantain that Go Hyun Jung's performance as Mishil is my favorite K-drama performance I've seen in awhile. :)

I do think having a basic awareness of Chinese historical dramas enables a person to enjoy sageuks more, because it's taken for granted that HK/TW historical dramas can run the gamut in terms of style, audience, or whatever.

That's kinda why I ended up enjoying Lee Jung Ki's Iljimae show a lot more than Hong Gil Dong. Iljimae is silly junior high boy's adventure fun. There's a "romantic" story, but it's just there to fill out a so-called revenge plot, substantiating one kid's dreams of being Batman. It's Korean Naruto. :D

@celestialorigin

I'm sure I'll be able to see it on youtube but there is nothing like coverage from someone who was there live. I'm waiting for their next NYC YG Family concert. I think they are due for one.

@Serendipity

"What took me so long? Er, because a plot involving a cute child and AIDS presented me with an image of weeping and wailing and tedious carrying on in a sick room with humidifiers going full throttle?"

Yeah this is why I couldn't convince my sisters to watch this. I lost them at "Its a story about a single mother with a young daughter who has aids and a grandfather who has dementia". What a laughfest! What I love about Thank You is I think it has a very different feel from other kdramas, its not a story about falling in love but people finding hope despite the lemons life hands out and I find its done in a non-cheesy way. Dr Min's journey feels like hero's journey not unlike Odysseus. Blue island and its residents seem to have a transformative effect on him.

I watched Thank You having no expectations since I watched it for Gong Hyo Jin but was so wonderfully surprised by all the acting especially Shin Sung Rok and Shin Goo.

@Momosan

There isn't enough snow here. I'm snowboarding on ice. Yikes.

@ belleza

"‘for people raised on HK and Taiwanese historical dramas (who’ve become a major audience for the sageuk), they may not ardently underline a distinction."

Well, that would be me you're talking about! I entered k-dramas through its sagueks, to be sure, I would never have been interested in its modern k-drama, since I checked out of TW and HK modern dramas a decade ago.

But I watched Seodongyo and Jumong, and I was hooked, but it was more hooked by the style and actors/actresses. The sageuk genre is still very different in tone than the wuxia or historical serials from TW/HK. But I find it just adds more options and variety to my watching repertoire.

But I agree, the genre is all merging and the styles are cross-pollinating. TW idol-dramas are borrowing heavily from k-drama trendies, and k-drama sagueks like Chuno are borrowing heavily from wuxia melodramas from HK.

And like I said, Jejoonwon immediately evoked last 80s/early 90s turn-of-the-century period melodramas from Yang Pei-pei, which were phenomenal dramas with exquisite scores, YPP knew how to score her dramas to be sure.

This is probably the reason that my sister & sister-in-law went absolutely nutso for QSD (they thought the story was pretty draggy and kinda weak) and BIDAM! (who is the quintessential tormented hero who can't catch a break) and wuxia is littered with men like Bidam who just kill our hearts. Sob, poor Bidam!

@ mookie-twin

I finally hooked hubby! Can you believe it! It wasn't You're Beautiful (one episode and he was bored), it wasn't Red Cliff Part I (he was pretty meh on it), it wasn't LoCH 2008 (he was vastly annoying by my cooing over Ariel and awwing over loverboy, plus the parents story was pretty melo and he checked out before we hit awesomesauce time with the arrival of the 4 Greats), it wasn't Duke Tony/Andy version (he doesn't know our legends and didn't realize how amazing a combo that was, and how it will never be repeated ever again).

Nope, we spent last night after gorging on massive amount of food, watching 7! episodes of........Royal Tramp (Zhang Ji-zhong's adaptation of Duke of Mount Deer/Duke and the Cauldron). I bought the DVD set on my way back to the OC from Palm Desert, and he was absolutely riveted (and yelled at me for FF-ing!).

You know why? Two words: That Kid! First off, ZJZ's decision to stage the meet between WXB and Emperor Kang-xi when they are kids had me scratching my head at first (how old were they in the novel?), and then to spend 7 episodes with the kids is normally wayyyyyyy to long for me, and I would be the first to yell: DRAGGY, I'm outta here!

But the child actor who plays young WXB is the winningest child actor (not just in acting, but in making the audience absolutely adore him - he is so beyond good looking for a child, but he captured the very essence of WXB - sneaky, sly, charming, wily - wow, hubby and I were mesmerized by this boy, we could not stop watching - and we finally called it a night when the adults showed up, hahahahaha!).

Everytime WXB did sometime adorable, I had a giant grin on my face, and I kept saying "I love this boy" and hubby would reply "yeah, he's an amazing child actor, such presence."

And let's not forget the scenary porn all through this drama so far - Yangzhou has NEVER looked more lush, verdant, bustling with life (with this kid who grew up in a brothel taking us for a run through the city), and the Palace/Forbidden City (I've visited before but ZJZ seriously gets major props for getting permission to film there and filming it in panoramic vistas and intimate moodily lit interiors. It was a buffett of riches for my eyes.

I know the drama will probably fall into the ZJZ trap of weird edits and odd pacing, but so far, it's the only ZJZ adaptation of a LC novel I like this much with what I have seen so far. And WXB hasn't even met a single lady yet, so it's not the eye candy or the romance that's hooking me. It really is the story, and I often forget how masterful the Duke story is, truly worthy of being called LC's best work. Hubby was vastly entertained and wouldn't let me turn it off bc he wanted to see what happened next. ;-)

If I could add my own score to the drama, it would be perfect! Oh, and first impression of Huang Xiao-ming as WXB, a billion times better than his turn as Yang Guo in RoCH, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really, really hated his YG, and so far he's not bad. If I turn off my brain and refuse to acknowledge that he is too good-looking to play this average, shrimpy, non-descript anti-hero, then it works. Wallace as Kang-xi, eh, no comment. Doesn't compute, good or bad. I could replace him with a cardboard cut out. And KX is the heart of Duke, really, Andy nailed him on the head with his portrayal. Oh wells, can't win em all.

Just my 2 cents, it was a fun night! Having child actors hook me into a drama also happened recently with WUAS, but here I was really blown away, and it was like watching the Duke story for the first time, so I give ZJZ props for his innovative staging of the story. The kids playing was beyond adorable!

@Thank You,

Thank You is a fable about the middle-8 of your life. Everybody on Blue Island are haunted by the past and are living in transition; in that sense, Blue Island is really purgatory. People live and die randomly, as if like ghosts. Blue Island is where you go to see the ghosts and make peace with them. When it's good, it's close to being Lee Kyung Hee's Ruler of Your Own World.

@Chuno,

"Chuno are borrowing heavily from wuxia melodramas from HK. "

I think that's where Chuno really hasn't clicked with me. The characterization is rich and textured with class and gender observations . . . but the emotions and the presentation is pure cheese. Like Stairway of Heaven 2.0-level cheese. On that level, Chuno would be fine if I could participate with an ironic disposition, but the redundant fighting scenes just dull the senses, especially since it seems mere prelude for the homoerotic subtext that will never fruition due to the self-important posturing of the director. I don't know -- for some reason, Chuno makes me think of 80s-era wuxia, especially with how the score was produced and how the style masturbates on slow motion without adequate consideration for narrative rhythm.

Still though . . . dude knows how to frame a reaction shot. CitC was a drama built on close-ups, tight framing, and reaction shots. All budget sparing tactics, sure, but actual techniques that improve a show.

Speaking of Stairway of Heaven, anybody watching the Filipino version of the show? Are there any white pianos?

What Chuno needs is MUCH more plot. Are all the other characters given that much development now 12 eps in?! (I gave up at 10 and just read recaps) It feels like each character is given 1 or 2 things to do with their lives and that's it. in a true wuxia, we'll get to see how every hole is torn by a past gruesome swordfest and how he master that sword beast...not just chasing a girl for 10 years (and 10 eps and counting... grrrrr). imo LDH is failing miserably with her UN. She does not own the character's past. She is fine in those simplier, st forward scenes of romance and just showing one emotion pertaining to that specific scene without the necessary thought of her character. When she walked off her marriage in her 'boy' disguise, she played it as UN was going on a cute backpacking trip. When she's sitting on that cliff, she really does look like she's just being a good little girl and holding onto hot big bro's favorite toy. I'm fine with enjoying the sweeping vista, taking in the moment, but are we to believe this is the same girl who has a hidden identity, been thro many deaths and skidding on edge?!?! her UN does not connect w/ other characters and her environs, it's like LDH is just acting play by play, delivering lines accurately but nth else. Is JH's character not just doing the exact same thing for 12 eps?! but that drop of tear at that awesome timing @ scene with UN's bro... that gave us more than what that scene was written call. If all an actor can do is read lines, I might as well just read the script myself.

@twin,
yes, I do agree HXM is much much better as WXB. But Deer Cauldron is also that much more richer a story dripping with LC's awesomesauce (really it's alternating the top spot with Wanderer for me at diff times) I didnt watch the drama fr the beginning, so I totally missed out on the kid part. :(

I'm going to the Chimelong zoo near GuangZhou in a bit and I feel like such a partypooper. It's a family trip (like), animals (love), but zoo (iffy) and animals doing acrobats (arghhh). I know I'll be seeing hippos and piglets performing 'amazing' tricks tog which is sooo screaming animal cruelty to the american in me. maybe I'll take it as an reenactment of Noah's Arc?! seeing all those poor animals plucked fr everywhere to be in a fake safari for our amusements?!

haha and I'm so screaming go Canada in everything Winter Olympics! GO CANADA!!! (pretty sure I can outscream the whole nation)

@174 Sugarnatural

go to youtube and search for urnobody's channel. this person has a TON of kpop music. i do believe that the Pasta OST is there. i would link it for you, but i can't go on youtube at work, cuz it's blocked. it's a good thing DB is not blocked. :D

i will look after work and see if i can find it and post the link for you too.

I've had an almost totally unproductive day--putting off a task that will be unpleasant and that I really really do not want to do--so I am marathoning the last few episodes of Flowers for My Life. I just watched episode 13 and cried pretty much the whole way through. Oh my. I hate weepies, but this is SO GOOD. Wow. It's just amazing.

I'm also enjoying reading JB's recaps of the series--I watch an episode then skim through the recaps to see what I missed--and it's quite interesting to see 1) how much JB's recapping style has evolved (very good already, but now really impressive) and 2) to note how many fewer comments there were back then, and how of those, I recognize only a couple of names from recent OTs.

I have to stop soon to go watch the skating. But I may have to stay up and just finish this off so I can start off tomorrow with a clean slate. It is SO GOOD (did I mention that?). Wah.

@ Thank You

... proves that one can not judge a drama by its synopsis. Mind you, if someone had said to me "it's about redemption and the importance of family love and acts of human kindness" I might still have gone "oh phooeey", as that sounds a bit preachy. I pondered how on earth I was going to explain why I love it so much and I think I would go for being descriptive: "It's very well and attractively acted; it's atmospheric in its setting of a village on an island; its plot is not radical or ground-breaking, but it tells a story well; it's well constructed and coherent -- everything happening or said contributes to the overall arc of the tale; it's neither rushed nor bloated; it's authentic and heart-felt; it doesn't feel manipulative".

If we must have a plot synopsis, anyway we should say it has an HIV-positive child. "Child with AIDS" puts one in mind of eminent demise, or at least suffering a battery of drugs. Being HIV-positive is a different thing -- but I quibble.

@nycgrl

Yes, I think Thank You is definitely in my Top Ten, possibly Top Five.
Sister, I have duly ordered White Tower online! I clearly have a soft spot for the melancholy.

@ Chuno

Word. I think PD Kwak should refuse to film anything longer than ten episodes. I watched epi 9 (have to wait for Master X's subs), and I don't know what has happened to the drama I was loving so much; because I was bored. I was surfing the net on the other screen. What happened? Answer: Nothing happened! Nothing! No plot progression, no character development. I'm really starting to see what all the disgruntlement is about. Sob.

Still, I loves my Jang Hyuk. Every crinkly laughter line, every single big front tooth. Love him.

@ serendipity

Oooh, judging by your reaction to Chuno ep. 9, ep 10 redeems it, but episode 11 is to be avoided by you, I think. I have very mixed feelings about Chuno, I can't even muster the energy to dissect my own thoughts about it.

It's a love-hate relationship, but that's what makes it so much fun. After ep. 12, I am fully on team DG FTW!

@ mookie-twin

Don't say I don't reciprocate the awesome clips and tweets you send my way about our loverboy, attached please find the cutest meet-cute in the history of bromance meet-cutes.

In fact, I contend there has never even been a meet-cute staged between two guys ever before, so LC was breaking new ground AND he was clearly stating that the OTP in Duke of Mount Deer was not WXB and any one or all of his girlfriends, but in fact, it was the BFF bromance of WXB and Emperor Kang-xi.

This clip (with perfect english subs!) and the subsequent clip which continues the scene, takes adorable child acting to whole nother level of precociouness without ever feeling cloying or articifcial. Imagine if the child actors in WUAS (like my favs Ju-hwang and Parang) were the leads in WUAS and the entire show was about them, and those winning child actors get awesome scenes to showcase their acting talent.

That's what the first 7 eps of Royal Tramp has - and a few reviews I've read all confirm it, these two kids are wonderful! I've always been slightly less interested in the early parts of Duke, the story takes off for me after WXB leaves the palace for the first time, but I was riveted by this take on the early years.

Scene 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvn3XBCEnGo

Scene 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw7xBFHzRmk&feature=related

Oh, and my fave scene was the one when WXB finally realizes his playmate is the Emperor, and KX is throwing things at him from the throne and tearing off his clothes and crying for him to get up and play with him and WXB is just scared and crying, and these kids just totally tugged my heartstrings into 5 different knots!

@ cingdoc

Sounds like you had a lovely day! As you say, perfect because everyone was happy.

I've had a strange Chinese New Year myself. This year my entire family disappeared! My sibs have taken their families on holiday to take advantage of the long weekend, my parents are abroad for a couple of weeks, and my husband was on a business trip. (Hence, plenty of time to marathon Thank You). So I spent CNY eve with a friend who is going through a divorce. We had a good catch-up over dinner at her home and watched a DVD together. I enjoyed myself anyway, and if it helped her avoid a drearily empty CNY, so much the better.

@ serendipity

"Still, I loves my Jang Hyuk. Every crinkly laughter line, every single big front tooth. Love him."

So much word to this! The sum of his parts = awesomeness x infinity. If you break him down feature by feature (OMG abs are exempt, because...hello, perfection), he's not really even that attractive. But put them all together and it's almost too much, weak-kneed admiration ensues.

And if the PD wants to slow-mo him every 10 minutes for 10 minutes straight every single episode you'll hear no complaints from me. I might nitpick later but for now, mama just wants to enjoy the view. :-D

@ langdon 813
All Hail, President of the ICOMYM Club!

There's something so attractive about competence and commitment. Oh Ji Ho is the handsomer man, perfect in every feature. I guess the commitment is there; but the acting competence isn't quite. So it is Jang Hyuk who wins our hearts because he is 110% committed, and because he really communicates the conflict, the intensity and the torment. Such that I'm entirely invested in his conflict, silly though it may be ("Get over it already!" I want to yell at him. "The young crush of years ago is so OVER! If you meet her again you'll be so disappointed, you fool.")

I noticed that in Thank You too - though Jang Hyuk is several inches shorter than the second lead, in every scene where they are confronting each other standing, even though Jang Hyuk has to look UP to second lead, he completely dominates him, by sheer force of personality. Oof. Same in Chuno. Though he's physically the smallest of the three slave-hunters, and not the oldest, I can totally buy that he is the alpha dog. One glare from those eyes and the whole pack submits!

@Jang Hyuk,

Nobody does "I haven't eaten in days, and the only thing that can quench this hunger is your lips" quite like Jang Hyuk. Nobody in K-drama uses temperament and even rage to bring out tender vulnerability. Except Kang Ji Hwan -- KJH is all sorts of awesome when he screams. :D

Having said that, this is Jang Hyuk 2.0; he always had a "Pusan country boy" charisma, ready to take the boys out of the yard. (If Korea did a fusion sageuk of the Dukes of Hazzard, Jang Hyuk is DEFINITELY playing Luke!!) After the military, then he became hungry like a wolf.

Wonderful transformation.

Jang Hyuk is making me watch Tazza, that's how much he sells it! (well, him + Kim Min-joon, who I have suddenly, since Damo, been quite intrigued by....and am building up anticipation to prepare myself to watch Ireland, where he and Binnie are probably going to collectively drive me insane).

Back to Jang Hyuk - he hits every role so hard you can't turn away. I never finished Robbers, but he was the heart and soul of that drama, and his performance was breathtaking, but the story failed me on many levels, and LDH was all sorts of badly acting in that drama.

I have a soft-spot for OJH, and would love to see his TH find some happiness, and was all ready to ship TH-UN, but then JH's DG kept increasing the intensity and self-flagellation every episode until finally I could not control myself, it was DG or bust. He's the heart and soul of Chuno for me as well.

On a side note - I am all shipping the wrong guy in Super Rookie. I love OJH's asswipe, I just want him to be like Eric in QSS and figure it out and get redemption, am I totally wacked here? Sigh, up to episode 4.

Between Flowers for My Life and the Olympics, I've pretty much been teary all day. Now I have a bit of a headache, and I'm willing myself not to stay up to watch the last two episodes... ah! such a great show. Cha Tae Hyun (sp?) is great in this. So's Kang Hye Jung, whom I almost didn't recognize from Welcome to Dongmakgol. And of course, the not completely repulsive Kim Ji Hoon, who was one motivation for watching this in the first place. It's weird to see him smiling.

Oh, so disappointing to see everyone fall down in the pairs skate tonight. Apart from the gold and silver teams, in fact, I think pretty much every single team fell down.

And the men's downhill was pretty disappointing too, for Canadians, at least. But hey! Yay Alexandre Bilodeau!!! Gold last night. The women's hockey has started, and the curling starts soon, maybe even tomorrow. Can't wait.

@ cingdoc

CNY dinner with my friend - yeah, I feel quite pleased with myself, too. :-)

@ belleza

Have mercy! Your exposition of Jang Hyuk's appeal was itself so sexy I had to fan myself!

@ ockoala

You must tell me how you get on with Tazza. When I raved about watching anything Jang Hyuk is in, I wasn't serious. It seems likely I would still be wasting my time with Robbers; fangirlying can only take me so far.

@ reluctantbutaddicted

I have "Flowers for my Life" on dvd and am saving it for when I feel strong enough. Having just wept my way through the latter episodes of Thank You (largely because it reminded me so much of my recently deceased grandfather), I think I'd better put it off for a while more. But I know it will be a cathartic treat once I get to it.

@Serendipity

"Sister, I have duly ordered White Tower online! I clearly have a soft spot for the melancholy."

Squee! So excited. I'll wait to see what you think but I think it will be 4 for 4.

@Belleza

"Speaking of Stairway of Heaven, anybody watching the Filipino version of the show? Are there any white pianos?"

Like the original wasn't painful enough? I personally like your version of STH better than the original (Who would think of turning KSW into a running terminator? Belleza thats who). Any remake will fall short unless they make it into a musical, besides did you ever see what was done to MNIKSS and My Girl. Pure pure torture.

I haven't watched that much of Robbers or Tazza since I abandoned both in the early part but I think Tazza was more entertaining if you like the Oceans 11 sort of thing. Robbers was a snorefest and between LDH or HYS, I'll take HYS's twitching and fish stare.

@ ockoala

Oh little sister, I love you like a fat kid loves cake, but you and I must travel different roads when it comes to Robbers! I loved every single solitary second of that drama, so much so that I've watched A Certain Scene 542 times (as you well know, you had to listen to me rave for weeks, poor thing)! Loved Jang Hyuk, loved Lee Da-hae, loved the story, loved the acting...loved the everything.

I'm further than you on Super Rookie (just this minute finished Ep 17) and I'm having a hard time reconciling the complete and utter scumbag that Oh Ji-ho is in this drama to the noble, determined, beautiful Song Tae-ha! I'm loving hating him in Super Rookie, and hating loving him in Chuno (not as much as you, Jang Hyuk! I'm loyal!). Super Rookie is such a fun drama (thanks samsooki)!

Also have the biggest girlcrush on Han Ga-in now. So beautiful, that girl, my goodness. Makes me wish I had a darling little mole on my nose too, so badly. :-(