Rants and Weekly Raves #11 (RAWR)

Lafer: So by the time this goes out, some of us will have already met up with other Twitterbeans, eaten vegetarian Chinese food together, drank soju, dined at a Korean restaurant and gone to an actual noreabang. Should we just pinky swear here and now that what happens in DC stays in DC?
kakashi: All photos will have to be carefully monitored by my lawyer, yes.
JoAnne: Others of us will be at home doing family celebration things and work things and cursing the KDrama Gods.  
bcook: *mournful* *mournful too* *sigh*
cherkell: Some of us are still on the road, attempting to recover from SqueeCon. And failing miserably.

On SqueeCon2014 

JoAnne: It is 6:33pm on Friday. As I write this, certain people are at a certain place doing certain things. Certain others are not.
Shuk: Serious proof that anything that can happen, will happen. Also proof that (wo)man is an adaptable animal.
kakashi: It has happened. I'm so tired I'm about to die, but tomorrow I will be strong. I also have Kim Ji-hoon HOTNESS in my bag, thanks to cherkell (and by the time this is published, Kim Ji-hoon HOTNESS will be hidden somewhere behind my other books so that, er, my husband doesn't see this, you know ... all the time. Or at all).
cherkell: [sings] It's nine o'clock on a Saturdaaaaaaay....
bcook: There is picture proof! Enough for blackmail? *whispers to herself *whether she is a secret agent or not I will use this picture only for the good of mankind.  
kakashi: Woot?! I didn't do anything! I didn't even TOUCH him!! 
Lafer: Let's just say I slept for 11 hours the night I got back from Squeecon. We squee-ers do like our music/dancing/singing. It was all worth it to meet up with our illustrious leader again and meet more beanies!
kakashi: laaaaaaa, lalalalaaaaaaaaaaa, lalalalala, lalalalalaaaaaaaaaaa
Shuk: Although not everybody participated in everything, I deem the weekend a success! The Metro had light traffic, the museums were relatively empty; the weather was hot, but breezy and cloudy enough to prevent any spontaneous combustion! Friday night's restaurant, OVO Simply Veggie in College Park, MD, was an experiment (for me at least) in vegetarian meals. Happily, I am still a carnivore! But something to check off my bucket list.
kakashi: I'm so full of love for all of you I could burst. It was fabulous! 
Shuk: Saturday night's dinner was at Mandu's Restaurant in DC. I found the food a bit meh, but it gave me the opportunity to meet SakiIV, a fellow Twitterbean and awesome person! All in all, I met three new people, tried several new foods (including spicy beef intestine), and visited two museums I had never been to before. Woot!
Lafer: The noraebang, while not quite the standard of the ones in the dramas (yeah, where were the MEN?!), was hilarious. La la la la. We did an homage to Rain for you, JoAnne.
kakashi: see above, YES. Rain's Da Best.
Shuk: The noraebang, Muzette, was indeed fun, once we figured out how to queue up the songs. Downside: it was a bit shabby and hot, and the Korean playbook was in hangeul and not alphabetized in any way we could figure out. Upside: MyWei doing things her way and singing Mayday songs in mandarin!
cherkell: I actually fumbled my way through a K.Will song. In Korean. My life is complete now.
bcook: *pout* I went to Ikea. So there! 
Proof of box wine in 400 AD China (Freer Museum)
Proof that box wine makes you grumpy and abs-less in 400 AD China (Freer Museum)

Ah, but these two guardians! They have abs! (Durn teetotalers!)
 
Shuk: And, for the record, we found a jimjilbang (right next to an H-Mart and a fabulous restaurant called The Honey Pig), but, alas, circumstances prevented us from partaking of it. But that body scrub will be checked off some day!
kakashi: That's me up there! Feeding my unni Shuk lettuce wraps! 
cherkell: As soon as I get home, the first thing I'm doing is checking into rehab. Don't light any matches near me, arraso? 

So, shall we move on to discussing dramas?  

Yoo Na's Street

Lafer: I'm a little late to the party, but I'm on board now. I'm just mad I can't download it or else I'd fill my ipad up before my long upcoming plane ride. It's really different and that is what I've been looking for, something different.
kakashi: Oh, welcome!!! Guess what I'm packing for MY long flight ... (psst, you can in fact download it. If you bring a USB stick to the meet-up, I can provide you with some ... YNS stuff).
JoAnne: She thinks she's slick, Squeeglets. There were two spaces at the end of Kakashi's sentence (where you not there when I explained to Becca why I sometimes have double spaces at the end of a sentence IF I get the default color on here? No? I'll let you work it out for yourself). I need to get caught up on Yoona's Street.  In all my spare time from the shows I'm not watching.
bcook: It's pretty cute eh? Yoo Na is quite charming.
Mary: Yey! :)
kakashi: I love this show. But it's not easy to avoid spoilers! That's one of the downsides of watching only while you recap on the side. Once Jangbori is done (and RL stops being a pain), I might be able to recap this faster, but until then, I'll have to look away. 
Mary: I'm sad when someone keeps live-tweeting their YNS watch on twitter too because I don't want the other YNS-watching chingus to be spoiled. :( Part of this show's loveliness are the surprises in each ep. Our squeeglets are awesome about keeping the comments limited to each ep though, with just vague hints about future eps. (Squeeglets, you are OZAM!)

The Three Musketeers

Lafer: I am not a fan of sageuks, but I have fallen totally in love with this. The fact that it's only once a week for 12 weeks helps, too. And believe it or not, it's not just about the actors. I think it's tongue in cheek fun, and so far the acting is good.
kakashi: It might have to go on my watch-list. Yeah, that 3rd one I started this year.
JoAnne: This show rocks, pure and simple. I love ALL FOUR of them. And I think the two women are going to be interesting. It's funny, it's action-packed, it promises some emotional connection, it ain't hard to look at, that's for sure. I'm CURSING that it's only once a week and 12 episodes.
(I had to delete double spaces after each period. Seriously) 
Lafer: I will continue gif-capping for sure. Because my attention span is only 12 episodes. Oh, and because I adore the men in it. So it's perfect for me!
bcook: The gif cap has charmed me. I'll be watching tomorrow while I wait for IOIL and FTLY.
Mary: I luffed the gif cap too! Lots of Jin Wook smirkiness!

Discovery of Romance

Lafer: Your words were prophetic, kakashi (sawwwry). Episode 3 bored me so badly that I still haven't finished it. Instead of DOR, I think it's more like DOA. I don't even like Eric's character at all, and if I wanted to see Jung Yumi in this role, I could just re-watch I Need Romance 2012. At least I won't feel bad putting this on the back burner while we party in DC.
JoAnne: I keep hearing people saying it's boring and so I haven't even watched episode 3 yet. But Eric! Yes but I already watched Jung Yumi play this character before, and I don't appreciate them making Sung Joon look 14.
becca: I wouldn't say I was bored, but... okay, maybe a little? But! Cutie Soo and Kim Seul-gi! They are fabulous, and if I ever get around episode 4, it will be for them.
 

Roommate

Lafer: Dear friends, I am sorry to say that I'm dropping this recap project. Haha, like you all didn't notice. I could not imagine how big an undertaking it would be and we were all running out of time. Plus with Bom, SoRa and Ga Yeon all leaving, I feel this may be a sinking ship. I've been stuck on episode 14 for weeks. I may do an occasional update, if I ever get back to watching it!
Shuk: I stopped watching as soon as Park Bom was gone. Spurious reasons for actions does not mean forgiveness on my part. 
JoAnne: Since I have yet to watch that episode, take your time.
Lafer: Ok, just read Mama Shin is out too. Now I have no guilt whatsoever in stopping.
bcook: Yup no point without oppajusshi. 
kakashi: RIP, show. And hey, SqueeCappers ... it's OKAY to drop shows. Nobody has to suffer while doing recaps.
Shuk: REALLY?? [shining eyes] But, crap, only 2 1/2 episodes of FILWM left to do. [squares shoulders to finish]

My Secret Hotel

JoAnne: The shipper wars will have lots of casualties on both sides. To be very, very clear, Jin Yi Han is the correct choice. Yes, yes, Namgoong Min has his charms - but JYH took my heart and SQUOZE it with his sadness and missing-herness.
becca: I can honestly say that I'd be happy whoever she ends up with (though we all know it will be JYH). Overall, I'm just happy. I can't even properly get into why and how much because I'm beside myself with love for this show! *hugging drama*
Lafer: Yes, well, some of us tried to watch this while at SqueeCon. Let's just say the cosmos interfered. I shall download for the plane ride.
Shuk: Yes, this will need to wait for some marathon time. But overall, the first two episodes were intriguing!
You were saying?

The Night Watchman

Shuk: I just have to add: JOANNE UNNI, YOU ARE THE BOMB-DIGGITY! I am having more fun reading her posts than watching the show, and I owe her a big big big bottle of bow-wrapped Tylenol when it's done.
bcook: Agreed. I'm not watching but Jo's gif/screenshot caps are awesome. I think she may have developed a new genre of capping. She should get like... an award or something. 
kakashi: JoAnne rules, yes. I nominate her for president.   

The ShukList of Non-Korea Dramas (the sad-and-alone section of RAWR)

Humsafar: My first Pakistani drama, recco'd by a long missing but not forgotten online member. I ended up mentioning it on OT last week  (#358), and the spirited discussion surprised me! I enjoyed the 23 45-minute episodes, even with little skinship on the screen or any personal cultural references. I've already got my next one on my Watchlist.
     
Walking, Crying: Another first, this one Vietnamese. Girl raised as a boy to satisfy a heir-hungry grandmother, helps a good-hearted rich boy try to find his estranged mother. Cross-dressing hijinks, tsundere love, and lots of sugar cane drinks abound! Posted on Viki, I found it a fun watch, without the intensity of my Pakistani show. The second leads were both annoying and endearing, and her ultimate acceptance from everyone was sweetly done.

Love Myself Or You (Pleasantly Surprised): I started watching for the food porn, but kept watching to see what ridiculous clothes they would stick on the male lead. Do guys in Taiwan really like pink-flowered Bermuda shorts? We are up to episode 15, without a significant slowdown into the OTP interaction, which is nice, but I'm kinda ready to get the family issues resolved and move on to the cute.

JoAnne: I've been watching this one too, just not talking about it much. The boy is cuteness but man, the flowery clothes.

Fall In Love With (Both Of) Me: Desperately trying to finish SqueeCap 18. Enough said.

JoAnne: I finally watched the final episode and was surprised at how emotional I got. And no, it wasn't simply relief to be done with it.

Shuk: Belinda in our Twitterbean group is an avid Thai drama watcher, and we have shared several ones recently. I'm not sure if any SqueeCappers have watched any of them: Raak Boon 1 (2012), Bo See Chompoo (2006), and Sud Sai Paan (2013). Rumor mill has all terrestrial Thai channels going HD. We can only hope, because I'd love me some Chakrit Yamnam in hi-def. :-)
JoAnne: Sorry, nope, although I did read the brief for Sud Sai Paan and that looks interesting plus I can see it make Bel crazy on twitter. I DID watch a fabulous Indian movie this weekend, filmed on the cheap in Calcutta. It was fantastic. I loved every minute of it - a woman searching for her missing husband, who everyone insists does not exist. It was - just watch it. It was awesome. Kahaani, it means 'story' - and there is definitely a story being told. 

On It's Okay, It's Love

kakashi: Man. Didn't we all know it was going to become very sad? We did, didn't we? I must admit though, this show somewhat tricked me into denial. It's part of why it is so excellent. We all knew this was a serious matter. But we all went with the cuteness of them falling in love, their cuteness of finding out how to be a pair. Ouf. So ... who believes we will get a happy ending?
Lafer: I had never read the synopsis (because honestly, they are usually so far off) so didn't know it would get this heavy. Images of Beautiful Mind keep running through my head now. Can I say I'm hopeful for at least a semi-happy ending? Please? Please!
bcook: I'm still hoping for happiness. It must be curable... right? Look how a night of sexual healing cured her of her 20smn year long "afflication". I have to believe there's hope for him too. The cuteness is just soo! I love mature korean dramas. SEE! SEE! junior members of the korean drama writers association! This is how you write a drama. From start to finish! No audience influence. 
kakashi: *sobs* ... *and runs over to look at happy Jae-hwa* 

On Fated to Love You

Jang Hyuk + Ailee = tears and tears. Nuff said.
Also creeper Gun is just delightful.
Shuk:  I give it the double-snail salute.