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Open Thread #724

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is your Open Thread, which is here for you to chat about anything you want, whether it be drama-related or not. Nothing’s off-topic here! Spoilers may be rife, so proceed accordingly.

 
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When I visited Seoul, I did a “tourist” thing by going into a convenience store to buy a bottle of Soju and a bag of local chips. Soju, the go-to tent bar and drama angst drink, has a biting and burning after taste. When I first drank it, I thought in the US we have something similar: we call it gasoline.

Soju is popular because it is cheap. If I recall it was about $1.60/bottle. According to a Korean newspaper, Soju is gaining popularity among hipsters and celebrities both at home and abroad. Chic versions are being endorsed by celebrities like Eva Chow and hip hop star Park Jae-bum.

Khee soju, which varies from 22 percent to 38 percent proof and costs a steep W20,000 ($17/US) to W50,000 ($42.50/US) a bottle, is the brainchild of Chow, a Korean-American fashion designer makes it in America and then sells it back to South Korea. Chow developed Khee over two years targeting the premium liquor market. "I created Khee because I wanted to share the culture of Korea, where I was born and which I with the world."

Park Jae-bum even put out a song titled "Soju" in 2018. He set up a company called One Spirits early this month to market his own brand. "We targeting the overseas markets so we are striving to develop the best-tasting soju."

Another soju brand called Tokki is the creation of Brooklyn native Brandon Hill, who fell in love with it in Korea and built a distillery in the New York borough. He recently s another distillery here in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province using local produce to make his liquor and opened Tokki Bar in the trendy Hongik University area of northwestern Seoul.

Then there is Korean-American lawyer Carline Kim's Yobo soju, which is drawing rave reviews. Boasting a feisty alcohol content of 20 percent, Yobo won a gold medal at t Francisco World Spirits Competition.

If it is a hipster thing to mellow out the taste during distilling then charge a premium price for a bottle, is that really importing/exporting the real Soju?

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I didn’t know soju would taste that strong because I saw them drinking so heavily as if it was mere water in dramas!

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It probably is water in those shot glasses, considering how many takes each scene is filmed by the director.

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🤣

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It depends on the soju...at least the soju we have here (not in South Korea). There are strong and bitter kind of soju and then there are flavoured soju which drinks like juice.

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Also tasted it a few years back after i asked a dear friend to brink back a bottle from her SK trip as i was way too curious about it's taste and actually didn't find it that strong but well guess it's all different tolerance ;D
Must say that i drink fairly 50% alchool(and country made drinks) so must be why i found it on the weak side more than let's say votka(that everyone knows)

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when we went to south korea 6 years ago i was paying $1.25 USD for a bottle! here in the states, it was $4.99/bottle in Hmart. now the price is up to $6.99/bottle in asian stores and $13-15/bottle in restaurants!!!

i do not order soju in restaurants here in the US. fuggedaboutit. i buy my own bottles at Hmart when they go on sale for $4.99/bottle - which is still highway robbery.

i wanted to bring home CASES of soju 6 years ago....

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For years I couldn’t get soju in the states and then could only have a liquor store special order it for $10 per bottle. Now my local Korean grocer carries it (regular and all the fruit flavors) and it’s $6.99. I’m glad that K celebs are getting behind brewing and marketing it, the Americans stars shouldn’t have selling tequila all to themselves 🤦🏼‍♀️

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Hi bbstl I have also missed you and your beautiful flowers. 🌸

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*whispers* Hi Ms Spazmo I’ve missed you. I made the pesto for the fourth time already and it’s always so good. Thank you so much for telling me the recipe. I LOVE it. ♥️

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i finally got a crop going, so i've made 3 or 4 batches, all of which i freeze in ice cube form and put into quart freezer baggies to use all winter long! i'm glad you're enjoying the pesto like i do!

but have you tried the pesto, parmesan & mayo spread for baking a salmon fillet yet? use previously frozen salmon, it's a waste on FRESH salmon...
*winks*

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Homemade pesto is sooo good. I love it on sandwiches (like the PCC makes).

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i make pesto mayo for my BLTAs....
; )

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I haven’t made that one yet, but because you recommended it a lot I have to try one of these days. *mouthwatering*

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It's easy to drink and for a while does not seem very intoxicating. A must with kbbq. I haven't tried makgeoli yet. It looks addictive.

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Watching live test cricket - Avg. quality batting but high quality entertainment.
Its not rain - its barrage of rain drops - good way to wash the streets and every building out there.

Rain here too - slight drizzle every now and then. Clouds the not white. Clouds that can burst open your whole city system. Clouds that tease you briskly with those cold winds.

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Female cricket is progressing far better than male cricket. USA cricket league is getting all the good cricketers and there are various reasons for it but Cricket is at centre of bigger plays too. Political interventions and icc suspending country boards has happened all too often.

2021 - September -
T20 international cricket world cup is near - cool but not important.
2023 - One day international World cup - important. why?
2024 - General Elections.

In politics you not only create a ripple and build waves but you also have to keep maintain the pace aka keep the momentum.

Cricket isn't a sport - Cricket is quite good political tool. From the British colonial times. So many of politics meetup meetups got their due and chance invitation thanks to Cricket.

You are on down trend - You have to wrestle and get back the space taken over by opposition - You have to take the lead and strike the positives -
Hope is that +ve - this n that dream is that +ve - and few others
That's what a party leader has to sell - Elections are always won on positives.
2023 world cup - in your own home - you have good team - Time to do the makeup - crony friends gonna spend money to sell their product and gonna put more because you have to get reelected again - Lot of black money will be routed throw this route to create a image of prospering country under the leader. This image is the real PR and that PR is build through a sport and sporting event. flashes - glamour - easy brainwash time. Every -ve is hidden under the spot light.

2023 world cup surely gonna be main political event.
2024 we have 2 biggest democracies elections and the other democracy's parties would surely go for an event that good to amaze the audience aka voters.

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To all American and Canadian beanies, it's September already and it is the beginning of this year's fall/autumn season!

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I'm not ready!!! (I love summer).

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Lovers of the red sky recap when ?

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if we look at the list of 'currently recapping' section on DB (you'll find it furthest down on the website') there's no sign of Red Sky in the list, so it seems that DB staff don't plan recap it. For dramas that are not getting any recap sometimes DB made first ep review which I assume that could be the case with Red Sky. But who knows the DB staff change their minds and starting a weecap in couple days ;)

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I wish we'd get a minion who loves sageuks (even though this is fantasy too).

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i have watched and completed On the Verge of Insanity, Into the Ring and Zombie Detective. I speedwatched Chocolate and had to tap out Episode 6 to take a break from all the melo.

I found Nana to be great in her role Into the Ring but the reviews on Oh My Lord makes me wary to watch it. Hopefully she can pick a drama with a good script like Into the ring. The couple chemistry was sweet and the KISSES! wow.. kdramas are really stepping it up. We get fullblown actual kisses now? I wonder what memo or guidelines shifted but clearly it happened. And also blurred out weapons? It does decrease the shock and violence of the scene but also quite funny at times to look at.

Seeing the first two episodes has reminded me over my fondness over Kim Seonho as an actor and I remembered he had that ghost comedy drama Catch the Ghost so I think I am gonna be watching that.

I also watched John Wick 2 and 3. Some of the scenes were too gory for me but I liked the sleekness and immense worldbuilding it has. Cant wait for Donnie Yen in season 4.

And also kdramas I am following are Hometown ChaChaCha.. I wonder if a car is gonna be plot point. Dimple couple is on point!! Has there ever been a more couple in kdrama that deserved a moniker of Dimple Couple than them?

Also open for recs for slice of life career stuff dramas

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There is no ghost in Catch the Ghost, in case... But it was a pretty nice drama, the FL was frustrating sometimes and the second one too, so be aware :p

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Kumachan you’re here! I’ve been wondering where you are lately. 🤔

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I'm on dramabeans but now I'm working I have less time to come on discord. But the next week is short one! Thursday is a vacation day and they give the Friday to have a long week-end. I'm going to Turin \o/

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Where is Turin? That sounds like a beautiful place. Kumachan, take me with you! You can pack me in your suitcase.

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Omo Turin, Italy?! Have fun!
I hope you take lots of picts and share it to us ☺️

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@mmmmm Turino in the north of Italy. It's not too far from where I live and it's a beautiful city, less know than Milano so there are less tourists :p

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Eat a lot of good Italian dishes for me! 😭 And I second Zora’s comment, pls share some pics with us!

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Oh really? No ghost in Catch the Ghost? 🤭 Thanks for the heads up! I can forgive most things as long as the main lead is swoon worthy and the plot is solid. So the two female leads are frustrating? is there gonna be a love triangle?

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The set-up in the subway is pretty interesting. The ML is nice and funny and touching. It's more a love square? Each main character has someone who loves her/him but it's not the main part of the story.

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The name is more a chatch on the Heroine name as it's like "Ghost" translated and could also be a catch on the plot about the bad guy...

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Yeah, I think the killer was named Subway Ghost or something like that too.

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Hi BB lovers!
Have you watched You Drive Me Crazy? I think he was so swoon-worthy there with the FL. It’s a short story having only 4 eps.

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So many people were pulled in to watch 'Oh my Landlord' because of 'Into The Ring', but don't be tempted.

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Recs for career stuff dtama? hmm..
I'm delved into On the Verge of Insanity/OTVOI (i'm on ep 14 now), and I'm certain that this goes straight into my Top-3 Favorite of office/career drama, it's so good! My 2 other most faves are Misaeng (TVN) and I Hate Going to Work/IHGTW (KBS2). Misaeng is on Netflix and some other streaming services, but I'm not sure about IHGTW. If you really couldn't find it on your streaming site, but really want to try to watch it then you can always find it in the less trusted site :)) Hope my rec helps

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Not OP, but just wanted to say that the straightforwardness of the title I Hate Going to Work gave me a chuckle 😂

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On the Verge of Insanity was great!! I just finished it last week. Yeah, very memorable and a fave of mine too. Misaeng I have watched and loved. I hate going to work is a series I have never heard but will check out! thanks for the rec

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Don't watch Oh My Ladylord. It had so much potential with 2 great actors, but it was a terrible mess after the first couple of episodes.

(Spoiler: Ending similar to 49 Days)

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Oh My Lord - Avoid it,don't waste your precious hours,started promising but that left the bulding just as fast as it started...

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I strongly recommend you avoid Oh! My Ladylord like the absolute toxic hot mess that it is.

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Every time I see anyone mention this drama it makes me want to bust out a rosary and start my My Liberation Diary & Glitch prayer circles.

Pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood 2022 needs to make up for what 2021 did to those two.

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Happy weekend Beanies and keep Beaning On!

It is September already!😱

September has been sneaking up on me every year ever since I graduated university, and the pandemic made it all worse. School, and life seem to start again with some semblance of normalcy, but I am not holding my breath to be honest. Still I try to jump the busy September bandwagon year after year.

I am using a habit tracker this month to create and keep up some healthy habits on a daily basis. I already failed the curfew one twice!😂 K-dramas are also listed, because otherwise I never get around to start and catch up on anything new, especially now that there are so many interesting shows airing now or premiering soon! It is supposed to be a September trial period only, but I might continue if all goes well. Especially if it enables me to finish my shows and reach my bean count!😆

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Where did you find this? Ever since I started watching Kdramas, my discipline has gone out the window. Staying up past bedtime, my eyes turning to rocks in my head, little on my to-do list getting done. I need your habit tracker badly.

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Me too… I watch on my phone a lot and I always feel terrible when it pops up to say “your screen time was x% higher this week for an avg of (horrifying number) hours a day”. I have no discipline 😂

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I’m quite interested to learn which habit tracker application/ method you use. I don’t think it’ll work for me because I tend to break all the rules I set for myself though.

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Happy weekend, Turtie!

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Oooh, a habit tracker! I didn’t know there was such a thing.

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@thimble, @beffels, @mmmmm and @bbstl
I sadly cannot give you the ultimate habit tracker, because it is different for every person and their needs. Someone explained me the concept as I did above, but I also had to search google images for a while to (literally) figure out what would work for me. I created and printed a simple spreadsheet in Excel with daily goals in rows and days 1-30 in columns. I get to color them with colored pens as soon as I fulfilled the task. I am not good with technology, so I picked and old-fashioned approach. There are apps too, but I am not knowledgeable in that area, so I have no idea what they can do and if they can suit your needs. I do hope you can all find something that works for you! :)

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I wanted to write you my theory about several options of appealed to emotions within the cinema, dramas, books, etc. according to the different environments of the world (the ones I know) and why I especially like Asian.
This is a simplistic generalization if you don't agree don't take it too seriously:

In America the important thing is action. For example, if they want to show that a couple is in love, they add an activity such as kissing, holding hands, making love, etc. An action that allows us to understand the relationship between them.
In Europe, ideas are fundamental: to show the same couple in love, they would put them at a table in a cafe talking about their feelings and expressing in words what they feel for each other.
In Asia the main thing is feelings: through looks, silences, etc. We would feel that the couple is in love without the need for them to explain it to us.
Obviously feelings are not limited to love, also sadness, hatred, friendship, etc.
And that is why I prefer the Asia´s forms of expression, because they appeal to emotions of each one from the feelings, what draw more with the type of person that I am (without I stop liking the others options).

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That makes sense to me. Kdramas tend to have a lot of emotional depth which makes it easy to root for the characters and get immersed in the story.

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But I feel like in kdramas this is often overdone. We’re given endless silent scenes to convey the emotional bond but if an actor can’t give nuance it feels cringy and gets boring.
In whichever world area, I like series which portray nuance - not just “LOVE!!” on the nose, but conflict in facial expression, tone, dialogue (what’s said and unsaid and lies) and not just cliche action but portraying personality too.
Something like Hospital Playlist might fit the criteria? I’m less into American series so I’m not sure what would be a good example from there…

Saying that, we all need cliches sometimes. (Loving Cha cha cha)

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Yes, sometimes Meaningful Silence devolves into overblown Just Standing There Trying To Look Arty. It’s no good trying to tell me that it’s an epic love if you never show any reason why it should be beyond longing looks.

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I also like nuanced romance. I've always preferred slow-burn or side romance to romcoms. The latter are overly stylised, often too cringey for me and rarely have enough substance to fill 16 episodes. As for acting, I know which actors/actresses I enjoy watching...and which ones to avoid. But also the OP mentioned other emotions besides love, which fit in with other genres like slice-of-life where silence can say a lot.

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Interesting, Ikiu. Actually, I have been thinking about this. There's that moment in every romance drama when they "confess" their feelings - the ridiculous "I like you," which of course no one would say in the English speaking world. English speakers don't have such formality, so how would we convey this? I think by touch or by the eyes. Or by "wanna hang out?" I'm actually not sure, but I'm impressed by the clear and direct way they express their feelings in Kdramas.

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Yes, that’s why I’ve come to appreciate the “I like you”s in kdrama. It makes me think that if we in the West had a clear intermediate level of communication before blurting out “I love you!”, relationships might go more smoothly.

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I think you're right that it's often indicated by actually asking someone out ("Would you like to get dinner with me sometime?" type thing). Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is someone saying, "I have feelings for you," which in my personal experience does not always go the way you think it will. 😂

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Hello Beanies! It's been ages. Hope everyone is well.

Not watching much drama these days, though I'm cautiously keeping an eye on Hometown Chachacha. I also recently watched (and loved!) Move To Heaven. Right now, I'm obsessed with Stranger (both seasons) and think it might be one of the best k-drama series of all time.

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When I finished Stranger 1 I was obsessed with it for a longgg time. It was just fantastic. Kudos to all involved.

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Stranger is definitely one of the best! And Move to Heaven is ♥️

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Hi again! It’s been a little while. With the pandemic, I always fear the worst when I haven’t seen a beanie around. I’m glad you’re back!

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Hi there! It's nice to be back! :) I didn't mean to worry anyone. I've just been a little busy and expending my mental bandwidth elsewhere, lol.

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kinda has kdrama slump these days, mainly come from the comment on drama. i tend to look for spoilers and previews before watching the actual episodes because i can stand sad or open ending these days. examples: i read some comments saying Shin Wooyeo in MRIAG is playing with the female lead because she is so much younger than him or main leads in You are My Spring is boring. i know its my own problem because keep looking for spoilers but i cant help thinking that people these days ask for drama as realistic as possible. which isn't my style. i dont even watch slice-of-life genre because i dont wanna see something close to real life. i should really stop looking for spoiler smh.. :(((

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I find some upsetting moments that feel too realistic for me in lighthearted dramas and also could be said about moments of comedy/softness in heavier themed series... which is why I am a component of skipping a few seconds/scenes ahead.. I dont need to fully analyze/focus on each scene to get a story and I still get to enjoy

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i think the most turn off if the comments say everything doesn't make sense when the genre is fantasy? i love some realistic aspects in kdrama too but asking for the whole plot to be realistic is... idk impossible?

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yeah but i think that some series just click for us one way or another which makes us more forgiving of percieved plotholes or characterizations that feel nonsensical etc.. or we just get the essence of what the series conveys and it just works for us ..

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I think in a fantasy setting things still have to make sense (be consistent with the fantasy world rules that have been presented) or it pulls you out of things.

That said I also agree with @tropicalgothic that if you click with a series you will excuse/overlook a lot more.

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One thing I appreciate in 'Lovers of the Red Sky' is when the heroine is painting it LOOKS like she's painting. The proper level of concentration, the way the eyes focus, the body posture, the way she holds her brush. That is a painter there. Compare that to other examples who could best be described as 'I'm posing for the camera while pretending to paint'. Also, the painting in that series is really good. not just 'fake good for the camera' but genuinely good art.

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Spring has sprung.
The sun is shining and it's 24 deg.
We're totally over the plague.
But it thumbs its nose at us.

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I’m so happy it’s spring. Time to grow my garden!

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