Finally, it's Friday. I've been waiting for this day since the start of the week, but when it did come, it seems that it came too soon. Days just seem to pass by really fast, and before I know it, it's already 2010. *sigh*

Hope everyone here have a great Friday.

oh poop, SATs tomorrow. technically today... sigh. high school sucks sometimes. :/ i'd much rather be out snowboarding... :(

but happy friday!

Finally Friday is here...Been working like insane. Did anyone see Ninja Assassin. I watched it and loved it. But my friends thought there was too much blood and gore. I cannot exactly disagree...And rain should keep his hair short. The long hair makes him look wierd. But i thought he was pretty good in the movie too.. They do tend to emphasize too much on his body in the movie and in press. There are long periods of just rain half naked in the movie...A little too much bit still worth watching

happy friday everybody...it has been boring week without you're beautiful...i haven't been improving much on moving on from my withdrawal...indeed,YB has been my worst kdrama addiction ever.and it is really difficult to move on.haayyy,am so done for!

I just got home from a pork and soju session. So much meat...I fell like I might fall through the floor...

I have my second Korean class tomorrow! The teacher said I "wrote pretty" last time, and I'm overly smug about that. But I have a premonition that she'll yell at me tomorrow. Sorry, but Korean numbers are too confusing. I shun them.

I went for a walk today and then retreated back to my apartment because I couldn't take the stares. I miss the foresty forestness of Washington nature walks!

Anyone notice how much better the New Moon soundtrack is than the New Moon movie? Wild.

My Friday is already over, but I hope the rest of you have a great one!

I'm suffering from You're Beautiful withdrawal symptoms.

Bad Family is really hilarious to watch, thanks for the recommendation, JB, in your article.

@shubi,watched ninja assassin,and so true,there were loooongg moments with topless rain!it gets to be irritating at times.and bloody too...still it's rain.and that's it,i guess...

JB, that song by Emma-Lee – “That Sinking Feeling” ... wow, it's like sharing a glass of wine that I can't really identify or figure out the depths of the taste! A little bit of bossa nova, a bit of Norah Jones... perhaps a bit too sophicated for me.

I am just a caveman, scared of the mellifluous dulcet tones that carress the ears, mysteriously soothing the ragged heart after a long week of work. For a simple and basic caveman like me, perhaps Anna Nalick over Emma Lee?

Oh, Happy Friday JB and everyone!

I just wanted to stop in and say

THANK YOU JAVABEANS! Thank you for recapping Love & Marriage. I watched it and absolutely adored it. What a fresh and upbeat drama. Plus, whoa makeout scenes! So many! Very unusual for a kdrama.

Also,

THANK YOU to the ones recapping Smile You. I haven't been able to watch any dramas lately (I'm on episode 5 of it right now) but I've been keeping up with the recaps and you guys are doing a great job. Seriously. SERIOUSLY. And so fast too. I'm really looking forward to catching up to the episodes.

SERIOUSLY good job guys. I wish more people would volunteer to do recaps of other dramas. I'd love to see one for Creating Destiny or even for older dramas. Have you thought of that javabeans or is it that there's no volunteers? I would totally do some for older dramas that are favorites, it's just that I don't think I'm that good at it.

Once again, THANKS!

mishane@ Love and Marriage is sort of really like cotton candy. It is nice and frothy and everyone seems abnormally normal in a crazy way. Smile you is absolutely adorable. It just gets better and better. I think the only show i am watching regularly right now

@ shubi

That's why I liked it. It was a nice change of pace from typical k-dramas. I find that the 'normal' k-dramas (ie 9 Ends 2 Outs, Smile You) are refreshing because they give me something I don't normally see, IE crazy fucking characters.

Morning Everyone!

Today's Chuno Update:

http://twitchfilm.net/news/2009/12/tv-action-sageuk-slave-hunters-unveils-new-kick-ass-trailer.php

And a clip of the photoshoot. (rated PG-13 for droolworthiness :P )
http://www.kbs.co.kr/drama/chuno/media/media05/index.html

:D

Happy friday to everyone! I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to the Smile, you
Recapers on the OT. Its one of the first shows I've watched and been so excited about
That I watch it raw! The recaps really help when I don't have time to go re-watch
It subbed!
Also I NEED HELP!!!!!!

Any one have a good recommendation of a kdrama to watch in a MARATHON?
My friend and I are planning one but I can't think of a good one!

yey it's the weekend. rest rest rest...and drama marathon (in between house chores xD)

have anyone seen Will it Snow on Christmas. melodrama it is but it caught my curiosity. in the preview I saw Song Joong-ki a.k.a. Triple's Poong Ho. didn't know that and was bit surprised to see him though it looks like a guesting only.

hope everybody will get a good weekend :)

Happy Friday everybody!! Love the new pig-rabbit banner! ^^

I too am feeling withdrawal symptoms from YB, though I hadn't expected to since I've been waiting for the "Smile, You" episodes each weekend. (Hyunsoo + Jungin = me grinning and giggling idiotically in front of my computer screen)

@ tinyviolin
"The teacher said I “wrote pretty” last time, and I’m overly smug about that."

Good for you! My family members still laugh at my Hangeul penship. It looks like a 1st grader's. (but, hey, I never went to Korean school - and those Saturday classes when I was 8 don't count! :) )

@ Reese

Yeah, that ending to Assorted Gems...I had a conversation earlier this week with my mom, who I got addicted to AG, and we were both like - wth???!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

The countdown is totally on. 14 more days of work till i am on vacation for 2.5 weeks... and just a little over 3 weeks until i'm in Asia!

@ mishane

"That’s why I liked it. It was a nice change of pace from typical k-dramas. I find that the ‘normal’ k-dramas (ie 9 Ends 2 Outs, Smile You) are refreshing because they give me something I don’t normally see, IE crazy fucking characters."

HA! so true. i loved Love Marriage - total cotton candy fun and fluff.

@ samsooki from OT #111

i've teared up a few times during MNIKSS. When she quit her job and was walking out of the restaurant and all the waitstaff follows her out and you even see the obnoxious Captain Jang tearing up. That just really got to me cuz even though they always made fun of her and what not, you saw that she had made an impression on them and that they were very sad to see her go.

3 more episodes.... will finish this weekend. Would finish tonight but I have a birthday dinner and after events to attend. Curse my social life for getting in the way of my drama-watching! haha :)

Love the song! Every week I look at the song of the day and don't recognize the artist,I'm so out of touch with what's out there.
Finished YB this week, ok but not my cup of tea. Moved on to IRIS and after 2 episodes I'm hooked.
Looking forward to Gong Yoo being back in action. Gonna be tough to top CP! Is it just me but didn't those 22 mths go by fast!
Have a great day and fun weekend everyone. I've a gallon of turkey stock in the fridge calling out to be made into soup and then I'm off to get my Xmas tree!

#18 is me. wouldn't let me go in and edit my name. maybe it's this new InPrivate IE browser i'm using...

*squee* Did anyone else see the adorable new pig-rabbit header? It totally made my day. It and the one of our Soo-In couple are my favorite 2 new headers ^^

My tip of the day: do *not* do house renovations while you’re still living *in* the house. Seriously, save yourself the migraine and go somewhere else for a little bit. We’re currently putting insulation into our old house and because the contractors are slloowww, I’ve been without a bed and walls for the past few days. I sleep in a sleeping bag, lack of tv and internet (everything’s wrap up to avoid getting clouded with dust) and central heating (keeping the windows open @ night in the middle of winter to air out the paint so I don’t get suffocated by the fumes. It’s weird – I feel like an indoor hobo. 0_o

I really hope that my internet’s back this weekend so I can watch the next episode of Smile, You. *Squee* ^^ It’s the only thing keeping me sane right now…

@Mishane #10

"I wish more people would volunteer to do recaps of other dramas. I’d love to see one for Creating Destiny or even for older dramas. Have you thought of that javabeans or is it that there’s no volunteers? I would totally do some for older dramas"

I believe retro recaps has been bought up before by javabeans as I recall her mentioning something about recapping Delightful Girl Choon Hyang. It's a great idea as some of the older k-dramas were actually the best. As for guest retro recapping, my vote goes to belleza for her hilarious take on her favorite k-drama of all time -- 1000 Years of Love :D

@ 22 Kobe

I think older recaps would be awesome. I've tried to do recaps of currently airing shows and it's harder because you're not usually sure where the show is going to go, so it's kind of up in the air.

But if it's a drama you've seen already (and love), then I'm sure it'd be much easier and fun to do.

I've done some on 9 Ends 2 Outs (almost finished)!

And my next ones are going to be for Pride (jdrama) and A Love To Kill. And maybe Nodame Cantabile.

But mine are not as great as Javabeans or the Smile You recappers, which is why I'm not volunteering them, lol.

Happy OT Friday y'all!

I know I'll probably get stoned for this (ockoala and samsooki might just kick me to the curb) but I have to say it.

I saw the BEST proposal last night (hjkomo already had to hear about it on Twitter, hehe). Better than City Hall, better than anything I've seen in a drama to date (Robbers, Jang Hyuk and Lee Da-hae). Not only was it the best proposal but one of the best scenes ever, period. I am almost as impressed with Jang Hyuk's performance in Robbers as I was with Hyun Bin in Friend. He is just that good. This is the first time I've every truly wished the girl would pick the second guy, because JH's character Oh-joon, is so sleazy, so narcissistic and cruel that it's hard to root for him at first. Watching him transform into a person capable of loving others, while not believing that he deserves to be loved himself...it is so beautiful.

When recommending MiSa to me, belleza said that it was the best depiction of a man falling in love that she had ever seen. Until watching Robbers I agreed with that 100%, but I think this performance is just as powerful. I don't want it to end...only 6 episodes left. :-(

All I can say is I really really envy Jang Hyuk's wife! What a man. January can't get here fast enough.

I just about died after watching 2PM's heartbeat performance on music bank
ahhhhhhhh~~~~~

and i REALLY am in need to watch some drama
i have to wait for saturdays and sundays to watch creating destiny and smile, you and autmun's concerto on sundays and then thats it.. i have to wait for another week, i NEED to find another good drama

I have a friend who works at a COSTCO store (HR). An employee suddenly barged in their office asking what the conversion is for "wonton". They were all naturally bewildered... convert it to what? A sandwich? My friend realized he meant WON to dollars. :D

I didn't know you can return a merchandise bought from COSTCO overseas.

Happy Friday/Weekend to all!

@ #3 – LOVED ninja assassin. I watched it because of Rain (really, who didn’t?), but amazedly found the story and all the fighting scenes to be awesome.

@ #5 – while watching new moon I thought it lacking soundtrack, but listening to soundtrack make me question why they didn’t use more music in the movie.

@ #10 – yeah, I loved love & marriage also. I wish creating destiny would also be recapped by someone as good as javabeans. But at this point, I’m just happy it’s getting subbed as my Korean isn’t all that great.

When did December sneak up? The beginning of many Christmas parties commences tonight – hopefully I’ll be sober enough to attend another one tomorrow. Have you guys started Christmas shopping yet? What are you getting your parents? Anyone have any unique ideas?

For all Candy Candy lovers out there, I'm attached a link to a very well-done English translation of the original manga (IMHO, a billion times better than the anime, if you can believe it).

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/candy_candy/

And yes, @ celestialorigin, the illustrations are by Igarashi Yumiko, based on a novel by Miyuki Kyoko.

bspanda - now you can read it and remember the story - have your hanky ready and about 5 hours to power through it.

@ langdon-unni

This is the week us sisters must part ways - I don't like the Diana Gabaldon series, couldn't get past the first Sookie Stackhouse book, and now you're telling me there is a better k-drama proposal than City Hall!

And.......please for my sanity, send me the link to that scene!!! I love you, unni, you know I kid, right. Even if I think Southern vampires are as dopey as NW vampires. Oh, and I do love time-traveling love stories, I wonder if I ought to give the DG books another try, read the first one many many years ago.

Happy Friday and Good morning!

Boy, I survived through the night! Now, I'm off to Santa Monica and then on to Hollywood hills later and tomorrow on to Albuquerque and be back! Taking some time off from my day job and concentrating on my own business for this whole week as well as catching up with my friends! They must have thought I'd moved away to some distance place...

I'm watching Dae Jang Geum and loving it.( I went on about it on our late late night OT111 last night). Why haven't I started on it earlier?

Anybody good at Microsoft excel? Is it easy to learn? I'm debating whether I should figure out how to use it or give it up and hire a bookkeeper? I know it has many wonderfully practical features...

Well, Sun is out shinning and light is beautiful, Everybody, have a happy Friday and happy everyday! Thanks for JB for this wonderful site!

@21 yenchan

I empathise. We had (are still having) our bathroom renovated. Contractor said 6-8 days. 4 weeks later, we're still brushing our teeth in the kitchen!

@ 24 langdon813

That is a BIG statement you're making. :D Robbers, eh? Might just have to check it out.

Re: Will it snow for Christmas?

I saw the screencaps and 7 min preview on soompi. Might have to check it out too as it has been awhile since I've shed tears over a melodrama. So many dramas to watch, so little time.

2 weeks until Seoul. Yippee!

@24 langdon813

the BEST proposal. Is this a movie?

@28 ockoala

Oh, Thanks, my memories coming back...

samsooki and nycgrl

thanks for your replies on the previous OT.

samsooki 8

i was studying at barnes and noble several years ago when a song with an angelic voice was playing overhead. pensive and morose, the song tantalized me. "b(d)ee gah may" she sang...wait... what in the world is she saying? quickly googled a portion of the lyrics and found anna nalick...'digame'....ahhh yes, spanish for 'tell me'.

probably listened to the song a hundred times in succession. absolutely killed it...can't listen to it anymore. but for old time's sake, listening to it right now... wow, what a sweet voice.

Right now I'm watching snow queen episode 1, what a cute guy this hyun bin's best friend (what is his name anyway, anybody know?)
SPOILER
Omo omo, the cute guy is killing himself, noooo, I can't drool over him in the next episode then? So sad:(
But its okay, I still got my hyun bin anyway:)

"As for guest retro recapping, my vote goes to belleza for her hilarious take on her favorite k-drama of all time — 1000 Years of Love"

Brief Recap of 1000 Years of Love:

Anyway, Deokman unites the 3 Kingdoms by conquering Paekche, Princess Lee Hyori jumps through a time portal and ends up in the late 90s. She goes on to form the first royal strike forces team (called End Kill Liberty of Paecke!!!, but more formally known in the Formal Record of Chosun History -- viikii -- as FinKl.) Anyway, 1000 Years of Love describes the great love between Lee Hyori and the love of her 1000 years, Kobe. And in 1000 Years of Love, Kobe and Lee Hyori do epic battle against the evil forces of SES and the reincarnation of Deokman, that would be the Evil Eugene, who seduces men with her mighty (gigantic really) forehead. Anyway, this drama is recommended for its lengthy guy-on-guy scenes and Kwon Sang Woo makes a special appearance as Jew Moan, a pianist doing Candle in the Wind on sandy white beaches . . .

1000 Years of Love is greatly recommended for its inspired take on history and the 2nd greatest lines of all hardcore sageuks: "Die you Shilla pig!! I will rip out your livers and boil them in a vat of boiling oil!" (and, yes, Sung Yu Ri actually says this in the show)

Personally, I don't know think any show really defines "Sung Yu Ri" as an actress more definitively to the public imagination than 1000 Years of Love. And what I means is, Sung Yu Ri is really, really bad in 1000YL, but she's also really, really adorable. And OMG, does she pout in this show!! Though on paper, 1000YL sounds like girly fun, this is also one of the most misogynistic K-dramas I've ever seen. Both guys think the princess is a total idiot, but they like her because she's, again, adorable and helpless. Still both men slap her around.

In that sense, it's a Cinderella drama that hates it being a Cinderella drama. This is worth mentioning, because the writer Kim Ki Ho (who wrote one of the seminal Cinderella dramas with "Wish Upon a Star") would then follow up 1000YL with Memories of Bali, where Cinderella goes to Hell with her Oppa Pout Wiggle and some of her clothes still on.

As for a recap of Creating Destiny:

Creating Destiny is about a father trying to marry his daughter into his best friend's family. It's a tender love story between two fathers who love to hold hands, sleep in the same bed, and piss off the wife due to their Brokeback-but-still-G-rated "bromance" (lol, way pass that guys) love. This happens to start Eugene, but who cares? This is about two fathers who'll use their own children so they can truly become "brothers", and by God, this made This Belleza smile!!

(And, yes, the above recap is true.)

Recap of Iris

Boom Boom Pow.
Boom Boom. Pow.
Kiss.
Onos Belleza is pregnant!!
(to be continued)

Recap of You're Beautiful:
This one is about a dude who is not a dude playing another dude, who falls in love with the dude who leads a bunch of dudes, one who is love with the dude who is not a dude. Dude this show is funny!

@langdon813,

Have you seen Jang Hyuk in the drama "Thank You"? Probably my favorite performance he's done for TV.

Call me wierd but i really did enjoy 100 years of Love. I know people will hate me but So Ji Sub was actually the one who really sucked there. He just had wierd clothes, blank expression and was always shouting. I cannot beleive that he is the So ji Sub we know know...It is like throw your mind out of the window coz nothing really makes sense FUN

I hate the parents in CREATING DESTINY. They are supremely annoying. Actually a lot of things are really annoying in that show. But i still find myself watching.

I'm going through a You're Beautiful withdrawal! Anyone else? Weekdays I have You're Beautiful ...by weekends I have Smile,You. Goodness the week is going by so slooooooooooooow now. What to do~

@32 kb -

lol. I did the same thing. I bought the album like 10 minutes later. Love Anna Nalick's voice.

@ belleza and shubi

Agree and agree, EVERYONE sucked in 1000 Years of Love (oh, and The Voice himself is in this drama as well - as SJS's best friend). But when the sucking is so so bad, and the production values the same as a high school musical, well, you gotta love it, right?

And yes, I enjoyed it as well, because it got me really really drunk as I played a drinking game when watching - drink everytime SYR pouts. I'm still stuck on episide 8 - I'm afraid my liver will fail if I finish watching it.

Thanks for ALL the recaps, b. Like I said in the KMM post, you are *on a roll* this week.

Btw, I've gotta jet for now (boo hoo), Disneyland calls, I'm hitting up Club 33 with my dept for our holiday party.

unni - I better see that JH proposal when I get back (please, please). :-)

And hjkomo - I squealed so hard I woke the dog up when I saw that new scene/picture of OJH and LDH in Chuno. I guessing it's caused she needs sagueky CPR, but who cares!!! It's so tension-filled and sexy. if LDH makes out with both JH and OJH in Chuno - that is enough to make it officially my favoritest saguek ever! (who care about the rest of the plot). It'll be What Happened in Bali set in saguek times - What Happened in the Chosun Era.

celestialorigin 29

dae jang geum...what a ride...all 70 some odd episodes.

i was pulling these mini-marathons, probably getting about 3-4 hrs of sleep, but some days i felt energized the next day as i anticipated what travails awaited jang geum. certainly not my shining moment being stuck to the computer monitor like i was, but it was worth it...every minute.

@ belleza

It took some time to remember I,too, have watched this just for SJS.

belleza, you are brilliant, indeed! I'm totally cracking up and I'd better leave home soon but I'm glued to the computer screen. Thanks for the good laugh first thing in a morning!

@ lovenyc52 -

i’ve teared up a few times during MNIKSS. When she quit her job and was walking out of the restaurant and all the waitstaff follows her out and you even see the obnoxious Captain Jang tearing up. That just really got to me cuz even though they always made fun of her and what not, you saw that she had made an impression on them and that they were very sad to see her go.

3 more episodes…. will finish this weekend. Would finish tonight but I have a birthday dinner and after events to attend. Curse my social life for getting in the way of my drama-watching! haha

In my estimation, there cannot be enough love showered on MNIKSS.

Watching MNIKSS again is like re-living your most awesomest dream, there are warm and fuzzies, feelings of uncertainty and hope, love and desire and wish-fulfillment.

The scene at the airport, when she says thank you for telling the story about the brother, and then she just starts into her own story about how she didn't get to see her dad before he passed, and what it meant to her....

*cough*... okay, I'm okay, I won't tear up as I am writing this. but you just can't give enough love to MNIKSS or to Kim Sunah.

@39 kb
What!? 70 episodes? OMG! I didn't even check! That long!? Whoops... I've made a big commitment without knowing some facts like it's long, time consuming, it's addictive...

belleza, love the ohnoes. <3

@ 28 ockoala

I know, I'm sorry! I love CH, you know I do...but this was just KILLER. I can't post a link but I'm watching it on AZNV. It's at the very end of Ep 10, literally at the 60:00 minute mark (Ep is around 67 minutes long). Be prepared to be blown away. Seriously.

Sorry you didn't like Outlander, it truly is one of my very favorite books. But don't feel too bad, my RL sis didn't like it either, even when both her best friend and I were all swoony over Jamie and Claire, thinking she must be insane. :-)

@ 31 celestialorigin

It's a drama, 16 episodes. You guys should be proud, I didn't cry until Ep 10. It was ugly crying, too.

@ 34 belleza

I did see Thank You, finished it last week! I thought it was JH was to die for, loved the little girl to death, Gong Hyo-jin, not quite as much.

I had this idea that I needed to familiarize myself with JH before Chuno, because I hadn't seen him in anything. I had no clue (although I think hjkomo tried to prepare me) for how quickly I would become completely enthralled by him, so much so that I want to proclaim him "MINE" and steal him away from whomever may have claimed him previously.

@ 42 samsooki, lovenyc52

Not a week goes by that I don't watch a scene from MNIKSS. It never fails to make me happy. If the current drama I'm watching gets to be too much, all I have to do is watch Sam Soon and Sam Shik a little bit and all is right with the world. It's my woobie. ;-)

thousand years of love! haha i don't know why people here think it was so bad. it's true, the production values/special effects are kinda laughable (so ji sub's hair pieces in the first couple of episodes stuck out like a dead animal on his head, for one...). but in its own campy, ridiculous sort of way, the drama was a lot of fun to watch, and if i'm honest with myself, it's one of my favorites simply because it makes me laugh every time i rewatch an episode or even think about it. The way Kim Sa-rang's character falls in love with So Ji-sub's character gradually over the course of the drama was one of the high points for me, at least -- the two of them had a really easy chemistry between them that was really enjoyable to watch.

45 langdon813

had this idea that I needed to familiarize myself with JH before Chuno, because I hadn’t seen him in anything. I had no clue (although I think hjkomo tried to prepare me) for how quickly I would become completely enthralled by him, so much so that I want to proclaim him “MINE” and steal him away from whomever may have claimed him previously.

OMG! OMG! What a fabulous idea! Puulease go ahead and do that!!!!!!!! After that, I will take care of broken-hearted LMK for you and he'll be mine!

@tinyviolin- i agree, New Moon soundtrack rocks!
in love with the Editors..."we can never go home, we no longer have one" ahhh :)

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday...it would be so much more enjoyable if I didn't feel like crap!

So I finally watched Nodame Cantabile, and boy was it a fun ride. I am excited that they have two movies coming out in 2010. More Chiaki and Nodame, and the lovable Masumi!!

Next is What's Up Fox...decided to watch it after I saw it on that list you made.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

@ 47 celestialorigin

HA! Nice try!

I'm afraid I'm going to have to samsooki you on this, though. I'm not giving up my I LUB YOU...no matter how many Jang Hyuks try to sway me.