Beanie level: Errand boy

Just here to say the Super Junior D&E show in Auckland was awesome and if you get the chance (they’re on a world tour) you should really go! The crowd was small (I doubt anyone who wasn’t actively looking knew they were coming) but enthusiastic, and I’m so psyched I got see them in person! I have no fan cams because my phone camera sucks so I left it to the many people with good cameras who were taking them 😄 but Donghae in particular is super good looking up close 💙💙💙

/end fangirl post

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    ❤ 👏

    So cool! Can you tell us little more about the concert.

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      So for us, it’s probably a bit of a different experience than other places because NZ is definitely a new market for kpop (putting it tactfully) and we don’t have a lot of people here in the first place, so it was not a large audience and we were super close (like you felt they could actually see everyone there close). This tour they’re performing just D&E (no dancers) with a live band. The energy was great, you’d never know they came off a 12 hour flight that morning! They did heaps of songs – my favourites were Danger, Growing Pains and Oppa Oppa but honestly there wasn’t a bad one – and in the middle there was a games/chatting section. I really appreciated they still did the whole thing properly for our little audience, I’ve been to international acts before that felt really phoned in but they genuinely seemed happy to be in New Zealand even though it was for probably less that 24 hours 😅😅

      They’re going all over – they’re in Australia today and tomorrow, then I think Mexico and Canada are coming up. I don’t know where in the world you are but if they are coming near you, totally go!

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        Thank you for sharing. This is so amazing. I am so so happy that you took out the time to describe your experience. These type of intimate shows are so rare and it makes me so proud as a fan that they were professional and also took time to play games and chat. Oh! such fun. Thank you once again for sharing your precious memory. ❤

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    Lucky yiu! Which SJ members performed?

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It’s my youngest’s birthday today – FOUR HOW DID IT HAPPEN SO FAST 😭 – so I’m making our traditional birthday dinner of pancakes. This was fine when all were llittle but now I have to make SO MANY 😅

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Finally getting around to watching Alchemy of Souls pt 2 and turns out I remember absolutely nothing from the end of part 1. I have no idea what’s happening 😅

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    Honestly, it doesn’t matter because the second part made no sense with the first part. So if you can take it as a new story, it will be better :p

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    It doesn’t matter. I’m having more fun with Season 2 but this is a complete mess.

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    Oh, this is my biggest fear!! I am still to watch it and I’m afraid I will not remember anything 😂😂😂😂

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      We’re up to episode three now and I think I understand what’s happening 😅😅 but I’m finding it a downgrade from part one – I don’t know if that’s from the initial confusion or just it’s not as good.

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Love February, Day 1 –

Nowhere near as beautiful as it was in person.

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    Yes these are the shots that show how superior eyesight is to camera technology. I bet even top of the range camera shots need photoshopping to reflect reality. Was there a pink hue to this as I noticed this orange bias in photos whenever I use my phone for sunset/sunrises. I had some glorious sunrises on the cruise but could not share as they looked rubbish in the photos.
    Thanks for sharing, I had a glorious sunrise on my drive into work yesterday it included purple tinges it was truly gorgeous.

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      It was very orange in real life but the main thing is how much clearer and more obvious the moon was – it was a totally crisp crescent and hanging quite low but we couldn’t get it at all. I should really go back to using my proper camera but the cellphone is always so easy to whip out.

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Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all are having a lovely Christmas (or, if you don’t celebrate, a lovely day 😄)!

(Photo -not mine- is Pohutukawa, the “NZ Christmas Tree”)

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    This is the first time I’ve been able to log in for ages – I don’t know why but I kept getting kicked out – so merry Christmas to me 😄

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    Merry Christmas to you as well and thanks for the picture of such a cool plant! I wish I were in NZ right now to see them (it’s 0 degrees here).

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      It was over 24 (Celsius) here all day, it was lovely! I often wonder what a winter Christmas would be like but I don’t want to give up my lovely summer Christmas with family to find out 😄

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    Merry Christmas

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    Merry Christmas Beffels!

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    Merry Christmas!

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I thought Lee Seung Gi was one of the few that escaped this kind of treatment from his agency but clearly not – https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/11/dispatch-accuses-hook-entertainment-of-gaslighting-lee-seung-gi-withholding-years-of-music-usage-profits

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    It is insane. If they did this to Lee Seung Gi, think how they are treating younger and less famous artists. And if LSG couldn’t even get them to pay him, think how much control they had on other aspects of his life…

    This is one of the cases of real life surpassing dramas. If this was a drama, a 37 year old famous singer having been basically a slave to his agency for 18 years with no pay, I can well imagine the comments erupting saying this is way too farfetched, he isn’t a kid, there are lawyers for such things, how much are we to suspend disbelief!

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      Truth stranger than fiction, right? It seems he still got paid for his other activities (dramas, variety, commercials) so at least he can afford good lawyers.

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        When I heard about the story, I thought it an epic joke because how could he of all people have been called a “bottom up/minus/negative singer”?! How could the guy who was called the nation’s little brother possibly have been treated that way and then the story got even crazier with the CEO’s audio.

        I feel bad for him because it’s just a betrayal on so many levels.
        And you’re right about truth being stranger than fiction because I guarantee that if this were a drama, people would be complaining about how unrealistic it is.

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      That’s what I was thinking: If LSG gets treated like this, it makes you wonder how bad it is for other artists. And the managers … Did you see the translation of the recording of the Hook CEO ranting about LSG? She is a nutcase and LSG’s manager has been through it.

      LSG tried to leave Hook last year to form his own agency and suddenly his dating news was released, and he was dragged back. I hope he doesn’t have a lot of skeletons in his closet, maybe not since he’s fighting back now, but agencies control artists that way.

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        Another thing that comes into perspective here is maybe this is why actors and actresses that we think are quite famous to have power over their projects, and rant when they choose bad ones, or embarrassing ones, or obviously money-making ones… Maybe they DON’T have the power! Maybe they seriously need to make money for themselves and their employees! Just how big should an artist become to get complete control of their career?? Or at least equal say in it!

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        I expect they’ll drag out everything they can (or anything they can make sound bad) since that seems to be the go-to tactic. The recording of the CEO is intense, she seems like a real piece of work.

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          This is going to get ugly, or uglier, but LSG and his side were smart, feeding Dispatch info, getting that recording. She can throw whatever out there but people will know she’s trying to ruin him.

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    When I learn about these kind of stories I always feel guilty. Me as a fangirl am feeding this beast, agencies slavering artists, lots of kids and young women and men working their souls to succeed only to be slaves for ages. Should I just quit being a fan? Should I encourage my idols to find other way? Can they?

    So heartbreaking.

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I’m so sad, this morning is when all my kids are out of the house so I was all geared up for some drama watching – then for some reason Good Job wasn’t up on Viki at the usual time 😭 disappointing!

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    It’s usually up before they go off to school and now they’re home and I have to be useful 😅 ….still not up though.

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      It’s the little things that bring joy, how disappointing for you. What did you do instead?

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        Watched some of 100 days my prince 😂 I was all geared up to watch dramas, wasn’t going to switch to doing jobs!

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          It’s up now so I just needed to complain, clearly 😂 too bad I can’t actually watch it until tomorrow now

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            Hope you enjoy it when you finally get to watch tomorrow.

            Something must be going on as Love in contract was up much later than I expected and when I went to another app which releases quickly it only had Arabic subtitles 😞

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            @reply1988 I was waiting for Love in Contract too, oh well – tomorrow will have lots of shows for me 😅 usually when it’s not the normal time the show is there to watch even if the subtitles aren’t (although I definitely still need subs) but not this time, bit strange.

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          Yes you definitely need the battery recharge time before going into the busyness of your day.

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      “I have to be useful” 🤣😂

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    I was disappointed too, and fell asleep when it finally came out at about the 10 minute mark. Lol.

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Brian Bilston’s poem of the day – an ode to Truck of Doom?

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And last one for now – this is an older pick but I love it 😂

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And another pick for the playlist (again, sorry for repeats)

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Ok I’m late to the party and I’m sorry for any repeats! I scrolled back pretty far but there were more and more and more so here we go….

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    It’s not a repeat and I’ve had this chorus in my head since last week!

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Have managed to lure my husband into watching Alchemy of Souls with me 🥳 better be good show or it’ll take another year before he agrees to watch anything again 😅

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    i hope he likes it — i like it alot! but generally speaking, my husband has started watching on his own — and we don’t usually watch the same dramas. i’m just happy he watches them – so much better than the american crap on network tv. the streaming services have some good programming here in the US, tho…

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      We don’t watch a lot of the same tv so it’s nice to have something we both are watching – he tends to watch a lot more grim dark sci fi than I have energy for 😅 I’m not even sure what’s on network tv these days here, I’ve completely shifted to streaming services now.

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    He likes romcoms? And fantasy?

    I could be a good strategy to watch something you’re 100% he’s going to like. He’ll think “I enjoyed this one… I guess I can watch another kdrama” and then BOOM you invite him to watch Alchemy. Even if he doesn’t like it, he’ll remember his previous experience with the kdrama he liked and won’t hate the idea of watching another drama in the future.

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      He actually does like rom coms (if they are good), which is excellent for watching things together. I mostly got him watching this one because he has terrible flu and I put it on while he was lying on the couch and he couldn’t escape 😂 – but he’s sucked in now.

      I’m no good at predicting what he’ll like so I think it’s better watching things neither of us have seen – he liked (most of) Strong Woman Bong Soon and Oh My Ghost but we never quite finished Goblin and we abandoned Abyss pretty early on because it was not very good.

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        Oh, nice! Glad he liked it ^^

        I like those shows, especially Oh My Ghostess, it’s hilarious.
        Maybe you two would enjoy something like Fight for My Way, Kim Bok Joo or Welcome Waikiki. 🤔

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          I definitely like both Fight My Way and Kim Bok Joo, but couldn’t get into Waikiki at all. I don’t think he’d get the appeal of Dong Man 😅 so might not like FMW but Weightlifting Fairy is on my list to force on him some time.

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    Hi beffels! Long time see on db! It’s funny because I’ve managed to do the same!🥳 I’d forgotten how much fun it is to live watch something together. But now we have a whole week before the next episodes…waiting is so hard! Do you have any theories as to what’s going on with Mu Deok’s original soul? I have so many questions!!😅

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      Hi! How are you? It’s been awhile!

      We’re not quite caught up yet because there were four or five episodes out before we started so at the moment I haven’t got a clue about anything 😅

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        It has! Work took over my life for about a year, but things are much more manageable now so I actually have time to watch dramas again!☺️ How have you been?

        Can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you’re caught up!

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          I’ve been good – just looking after kids who are having turns at getting winter bugs for weeks on end 😅

          It’s good to have time to watch dramas again! Are you watching anything other than Alchemy?

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Can report that pterodactyl sound very much like archaeopteryx 😂
(It’s an art installation)

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I’m pretty sure LSG should just go around singing rock ballads at all times ❤️

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My sister is watching Do Do Sol Sol etc and I don’t know whether to warn her or not 😅

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    WARN HER!!! If you love someone, you don’t hurt them like that. You make them stay away from that drama.

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    Oh dear 🤔 I think I would be really mad if you didn’t at least warn me that everyone hated the ending. Or, like that it’s in the Top 5 most hated KD endings ever, something like that? Yikes!

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      Is there anyone who DIDN’T hate the ending? I know she’s watched some other things with famously disappointing endings (eg Gu Family Book) and not hated those, so you never know…

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      The traumatic event that was DoDo’s ending. Ugh! My blood still boils remembering it.

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    Don’t. I would let her get the same experience we who live watched it got. Don’t deny her that.

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      😄 I had already stopped watching by the time the collective meltdown at the end happened so I feel like I escaped. I might just let it happen – she doesn’t always finish dramas anyway so she might never know.

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        Here is a suggestion for when your sister is not around. Since you didn’t go with DO DO to the end. If you want a taste of what might of been rather than the spectacular crash landing we got, fast forward to the end of episode 15 and watch the epilogue. It is probably the last 3-4 minutes. It is a beautiful scene between Joon (Lee Jae-wook) and Seung-gi (Yoon Jong-bin) (the daughter’s (boy) friend). If the writer could give us that why the disaster of the latter part of the drama?

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    Tough one indeed. I am for letting her watch it and decide for herself what she thinks of the ending. But if I were her, I’d appreciate a heads up as well.

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    You should let her know that the story is really bad. The ML is one of the worst ML of Kdrama world. The only things he can do is lying and running away and he doesn’t change during the whole drama, the end being the climax of his lies!

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This is super late but happy love February to my husband – I’ve been sick since last week and it’s so nice to not have to worry about things because your partner will just be the team for a bit.

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Begin Again is prob my fave kvariety show – I particularly love Henry and Suhyun singing together. This is one of my favourites.
Love, February

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Today’s love is for my little sister, who shares my affection for kdrama and variety; when we were kids I hated when she liked the same things as me – now it is the best thing ever! ❤️
Love, February

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Was feeling very grumpy and un-loving today, but just went for a walk in the rain, and I feel much better – so, I love rain walks (if not TOO rainy and can get dry easy after 😄)
– love, February

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    Theoretically i love walks in the rain. Practically, i rarely take walks (for pleasure) and less inclined to do so in the rain. The romantic life is only in my head 😆

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      I’m really lucky and live right by a couple of lovely walking tracks so it’s something I do a lot – but the rain part is only nice with a good jacket 😄

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    Walks in the rain, I can’t think of the right word to describe them, but it’s a peaceful sort of magical ❤

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