Beanie level: Rooftop room dweller

My God, I’m such a dork. At first glance of this fashion shot of Seo Ji-hye, my brain asked, “Huh? Is that a pistol?!” Of course not, you silly American. *sigh*

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Dinner Mates/Will You Have Dinner With Me cast having fun. I think I’d just about die if Song Seung-heon and Seo Ji-hye did a (shexy, moody) fashion pictorial together.

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A lovely Dinner Mates/Will You Have Dinner With Me tweet.

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Mystic Pop Up Bar | Ep. 11: Just watched the penultimate episode. I guffawed, squeeed, shivered, teared up, and gasped.

—Are you crying?
—No! You\’re crying!

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New Yorker cartoon: Maybe we could get the K-pop stans to work on a vaccine?” (click to see full caption)

I don’t know if kpop fans and “tiktok teens” really reduced the number of attendees to Trump’s rally in Tulsa (New York Times), but the idea of it is so, so delicious. This crusty Gen-Xer salutes you.

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    OMG, a New Yorker cartoon is a huge thing (to us old people)!

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Open question for Beanies watching Will You Have Dinner with Me/Dinner Mates: How do you feel about Do-hee\’s drinking or the portrayal of alcohol in kdramas in general? Tagging @eazal, @marylou (@lately), and @ashes2ashes who have recently raised this point.

My own comments follow below.

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    I’ve noticed a lot of comments in English-language spaces about Do-hee’s drinking. Even though her alcohol consumption absolutely normal for a South Korean, I admit to a niggling desire for her to ease off the drink. As an American woman, I can’t shake my deep-seated anxiety about sexual violence related to alcohol. I also live in a state with a 24% rate of binge drinking (the U.S. national rate is 16%). (Amongst my own extended in-laws, their abilities run from near teetotalers to full-on alcoholics). Personally, I have a super low tolerance for alcohol and my own extended Chinese family drinks very little.

    When I started watching dramas in 2017, my first drama featured doctors and there were zero drunk scenes. Black and Jugglers introduced the concept of team dinners but I was beyond puzzled because I was completely ignorant of South Korea’s drinking culture,

    The Monsoon Project article @windsun33 recently shared sheds light on alcoholism and the lubricating role of booze in South Korea. In 2017, my own first glimmers of understanding Korean drinking culture came from the Blackout Korea blog (now retired) managed by an expat English teacher working in South Korea. Explore Instagram’s #blackoutkorea tag for similar commentary. I hate the snarky comments but the photos are illuminating. This American teacher’s IG post about the ubiquity of soju is one of the better balanced and journalistic observations.

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    I am Spanish, and in Spain we are used to drinking. It’s social. In fact, we have more bars and pubs than people, if you allow me.
    So I’m quite tolerant to the idea of drinking, even to getting drunk while partying. And, hey, I’ve been there. In my country there’s an expression and the literal translation would be: “you drink even the water in the vases”… I’m sure you get the idea.
    But even so, I find the way consuming alcohol in dramas to be excessive. I’m not only talking about the vulnerability of the people abusing alcohol that are left alone in the streets (one rule I’ve learned from the very time I got drunk is you never let your friend alone), I’m also talking about how alcohol is shown as a way to deal with problems:
    – you’re dumped by your boyfriend/girlfriend, you drink.
    – your boss in an as**ole, your drink.
    – you’re fired, you drink.
    – you’re promoted, you drink.
    – you’re in the mood, you drink.
    – you’re sad, you drink.
    You drink in your house, you drink in the street, you drink in a bar. And you drink until you pass, and then the next day you take a hangover drink and go to work as if nothing happened.
    It just shocks me. I can’t understand it.
    People drink instead of talking.
    People drink instead of doing therapy.
    People drink with their bosses, and some may think you’re being impolite if your don’t drink like a fish.
    We’ve seen dramas in which people is forced to drink. And that’s harassment.
    As I said before, I’m totally used to bars, and people having a beer after work. Or two. But not being drunk every single day of the week.
    I consider that a serious problem, and I really don’t like the way it’s normalized by dramas, so many times as comic relief. There’s very little comedy in alcoholism.

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    I am used to the way dramas depict the South Korean drinking culture now – team dinners, 8-10 bottles of soju between two friends at a convenience store at night, a fridge full of beer cans. Do Hee’s case just rubbed me the wrong way the past episodes – I can tolerate having her getting black out drunk once, but night after night? And in the morning she goes back to work. There my suspension of disbelief ends. Because that is the only way I can enjoy a drama, trying to block out my realistic knowledge about alcohol and its effects (be it addiction or damages to the body, the vicious circle as a “coping mechanism” to deal with depression, on relations and families, etc). I know I can’t expect dramaland to follow my standards and be more aware of its influence on the viewers and I would imagine Soju and Beer companies are the biggest sponsors after all…

    I was reminded of “My Ahjussi” on this matter. The drinking culture in all its (un-)glory by having the three brothers meeting in the bar frequently, drinking to forget their problems but at the same time just deepening and repeating their sorrows and regrets. While at least I felt that this was a more realistic approach, the show (in my recollection) stopped at showing the problem, not giving a better answer.

    Drinking and culture are deeply intertwined in a lot of parts in the world. Last year I went to Bavaria on a family matter and remember arriving to breakfast at 9 am and seeing two young locals, all dressed up in their Lederhosen and hats, sitting at the bar, still drinking big pints of beer since last night, one of them falling asleep while talking to his friend and just lying there. No one really took notice, or it was an amusing matter for the locals. Obviously that is a part of the culture and just happens frequently, but it made me sad and concerned.

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If you\’re loving Song Seung-heon in Dinner Mate/Will You Have Dinner with Me, you might already know how good he is with food. In 2017’s Black Ep. 14, our handsome Black is stunned when Ha-ram kisses away some ice-cream off his lips. His response? More ice-cream.

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    I’m gonna need ice cream to calm down after Ep. 3-4. Who do those exes they think they are? Ugh.

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    Oh, Black… *thinking endearing thoughts and then remember the end* Yaagh!
    Instead of ice cream, let’s find some rocket to torch those exes!

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      I was still relatively new to kdrama when I watched Black. I’ll fondly remember it for two things: SSH’s exquisite black suits and that clustercuss ending. It was my first WTF kdrama ending! 😂😂😂

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        Ahahah, omg, I don’t know whether to commiserate or congratulate you. On one hand, it can scar you, but on the other hand, at least it sets the bar high for any other WTF ending? ><

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    OMG LOL this gif is so funny

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Dinner Mate/Will You Have Dinner with Me? | Ep. 1 First episode hits it out of the park. Wonderful meet cute x 3, great chemistry, and quirky with a bit of heart. Seo Ji Hye is my girl and I’m thrilled to see her as the FL after enjoying her in Crash Landing on You and Jealousy Incarnate. As gorgeous as he is, Song Seung Heon can be a touch wooden in dramatic roles but he’s quite good here—sensitive and humorous.

The first episode had me laughing out loud and enthusiastic for tomorrow’s episode.


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    I was waiting for a review. Thanks for this! Maybe I’ll download iqiyi now because that’s where its available if not kocowa.

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      I’d love to hear what you think. Seo Ji Hye is sooo good at portraying the cute, professional, vulnerable and silly sides of her character.

      I’m in the mood for a charming romance and I just don’t have the energy to follow the machinations of The King: Eternal Monarch. I hope Dinner Mate keeps it up; it feels fresh, even with all the tropes. *finger hearts*

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    I want to check this out.

    Before that though, what in the world is the guy wearing in that first pic??! That multi-color flower pattern is hurting my eyes! Heh!

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      The halmoni outfit is gold and that beautiful man rocks it.

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        I finally watched the episode and yes, he does. I wonder if he had a say in picking out the outfit.

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    I want to watch this so much, only I’ve just discovered it’s not on Viki… I’ll have to go creative…

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      Same here. I don’t have a VIP iQIYI account. They do have a free month trial but only takes you through eight episodes. I’m surprised Netflix didn’t buy this—it would be a good fit.

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    I loved her in Jealousy Incarnate. I honestly wished they explored her character more. She was smart and ambitious but never mean

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Up to now, the Trump administration refuses to centralize the distribution of medical supplies across the country, forcing individual states to bid against the feds and each other like independent nation states.

The state of Maryland has a secret weapon—their Korean-born first lady, Yumi Hogan.

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WASHINGTON POST, April 20, 2020

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan credits his wife, Yumi, with helping secure 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea
Maryland owes a debt of gratitude to the people of South Korea, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Monday after securing 500,000 coronavirus tests from the country over the weekend.
But Hogan acknowledged Monday that the deal would not have come together if it weren’t for his wife, first lady Yumi Hogan.

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    Awesome. Great photo.

    What is going on between the President and the governors is insane. What does he think he is the president of?

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      What does he think he is the president of?

      That is the question, innit? It’s an issue of enjoying “power” vs. actual “governing.”

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      Well hes said more than once that as president he has absolute power. So my thought is….everything.

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        That’s what I thought but then he seems to be all…..”States? What are those? I federal.
        It’s jus weird how he wants the governors to come hat in hand and be obsequious and they’ll get medical supplies, encourage the protests, but then want to call the shots on how to open the states back up.
        So sometimes it feels like he is the president of things and the economy.

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    I love this story.

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    Yay, good for him for acknowledging his wife and her contribution.

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Hyena | Ep. 15 To quote Ep. 15’s undercover Jung Geum-ja: “Oh my gaaawd.” I was fortunate to come late to this show, which allowed me to gobble up this riveting show just before its last episodes.

It’s heady stuff and a rare show that sustains both the emotional and professional storylines.

It took Joo Ji-hoon being paired with the scorching Kim Hye-soo for me to see his sex appeal. Her portrayal of the cunning Jung Geum-ja will leave an indelible mark on my drama-soaked brain. The show’s stylist deserves awards too. It’s no surprise that Yoon Hee-jae looks like he was poured into his suits. I’d expect nothing less of an elite 1% like him. Geum-ja’s style, however, is gloriously unexpected. The skyscraper heels, shoulder pads and wide collars (!), track suits, gold cartouche, crossbody phone, Japanese schoolboy jacket … She’s outrageous and I can’t get enough.

For the love of God, will someone please start writing fan fiction? In English?

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    Oh my gaawwdd, This man is haawwwtttt!!! I can’t seem to get enough of him.
    And yes, we need fan fiction! Seeing Hyena and Kingdom around the same time made me go berserk. .Now I am looking for all his past works and saw some random movie of his..lol.

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I know this question’s come up before but I’m still curious. Are characters in Hyena (and elsewhere) really dropping f-bombs or is Netflix taking liberties?

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Beanies—Following March\’s focus on music, are we celebrating women this April?

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Squeezing in my only post on the last day of Music March.

Mom’s 6th death anniversary is in two days and I was reminded of a moment I realized Mom was more hip than I’d given her credit for. She really was one of the most culturally literate people I’ve ever known but when it came my music, I was certain she knew shite.

I was 14 years old in 1983. Y’all remember how synth-y music was then? We were riding in the car when Mom stunned me by singing the words to Naked Eye’s “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me” as it played on the car radio.

I sputtered incredulously, “You know this?!” She snorted back, “Oh, this was a hit in the sixties.”

Mom’s favorite pop composer was Burt Bacharach but I’ll never know who did her favorite version. Lou Johnson? Shandi Shaw? Dionne Warwick? (And Mom was quite tight with Ms. Warwick.)

[tsutsuloo tosses back a shot of imaginary soju in Mom’s memory]

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Photos from The Guardian:
South Korea’s booming Dirve-Ins — In Pictures
Box office numbers for drive-in cinemas in Seoul, South Korea, are on the rise as people find a way to avoid crowds during the coronavirus outbreak

Drive-ins are always good opportunities to bring your beloved kdrama OTP closer together! Any Beanies ever go to drive-ins?

My only memory of going to a drive-in was shortly after immigrating to the States in the mid-70’s. I was in kindergarten when my mother and step-father took the Jeep to the drive-in, me snuggled in the back wrapped up in quilts. I never did know what they went to see because I zonked out soon after the show started.

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    My small town had a dive in until the late 90s, maybe. So all through my childhood and high school. I loved it and still miss it.

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      I just checked my state’s tourism bureau. There are only 9 drive-ins in my state, two within 25 miles of my city. They normally open on Memorial Day or thereabouts … if they’re able to open, I’ll definitely go this summer!

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    I wish we still had more than a few drive-ins here. It would be nice to get out for a few hours but still be away from everyone.

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    We went to drive-in a lot because it was cheap, two movies for $10, no matter how many people were in the car. Saw Kindergarten cop a lot while going to see the other movie.

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@linda-palapala—Have you checked out BELLA&LUCAS’s YouTube channel? I was charmed by their Crash Landing on You 4-hand piano OST medley. They do costumes from these OST covers. Too cute!

According to one of their “about us” videos, the platonic duo met a decade ago as composition majors at Seoul National University. Bella (Oh Young-kyung) and Lucas (Kim Dong-hyun) are in their late 20’s-early 30’s with day jobs in the music industry. Kim Dong-hyun, in particular, collaborates with k-pop artists. (He produced New Authors and played keyboards on this collaboration with Elaine. That woman’s voice kills me. If you watched Mr. Sunshine, she’ll sound familiar.)

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Crash Landing on You | Ep. 12 It\’s fate, baby. Such a good episode! I love our resourceful ducklings and all the emotions! Who knew the sight of a woman bringing firewood would make me sob?

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Crash Landing on You | Ep. 11 It’s just too cute watching Jung Hyuk pore over his thirsty posts. Yes, sweetie, you are a “babe magnet.”

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Crash Landing on You | Ep. 11 Sure, he’s a scammer and thief but don’t you love watching Goo Seug Jun pine for Seo Dan?



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Crash Landing on You | Ep. 11 Goo Seung Jun asks, “Why did she smile?”

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PBS Studios | Sound Field: Why K-Pop is More Complex Think You Think
Nahre Sol investigates why K-Pop is different from other styles of Pop music, speaks to K-Pop producer and songwriter David Amber and attempts to create her own K-Pop track. Source: YouTube

—

While she’s not overly academic, Nahre uses and explains music theory terms. You’ll feel much smarter afterwards! Now you know the Phrygian mode is the most common mode in K-pop!

If you love learning about music, I recommend watching more of Sound Field, one of my favorite digital-first programs from PBS Digital Studios. Hosts Nahre Sol and LA Buckner are both musicians and music educators. This YouTube series explores all aspects of music, from “What is the Spotify Sound” and “What Makes Black gospel Musicians So Skilled” to “Why Does Sad Music Sound Sad?” and “Where is the Funk? How Prince Created the Minneapolis Sound.”

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    That was cool, thanks!

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    Just subscribed to the channel.
    To add on to this, I recommend the YouTube channel ReacttotheK. They’re all music students who listen and react to k-pop songs for the first time.

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    This is a really interesting channel, especially for music junkies like myself! Thank you for sharing. I just subscribed to the channel too.

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