Rants and Weekly Raves #213 (RAWR)
JoAnne: I have to start saying no to things, and I don't mean pie. Well, pie too, but that wasn't what I was talking about at the MOMENT.
kakashi: A good topic. One of my employees told me something he's read in a book and I'm SO going to implement this. If you get an invitation to a talk (for example), you have to ask yourself: 'would I say yes if it were next Tuesday?' Most things won't be important enough! But if it takes place in 6 months or so, it always looks like you have nothing on then and you'll think "why not".
Okay, that sounds like a good barometer but...if you DON'T have a lot happening six months from now, why wouldn't you say yes? (there is ALWAYS something happening once you get closer to the date, that's the problem) I'm assuming it's paid appropriately and within your field of expertise, of course, and probably in front of a group you don't have a previous reason to avoid.
Trotwood: That is excellent advice, Kakashi! I have three presentations in the next two weeks that I wouldn't have had if I had thought of the whole "would I say yes if it were next Tuesday". Sigh. So behind. I think what happens is that 6 months away always looks empty but the regular job and expectations and responsibilities always fills things up and then you really don't have the energy. at least that's how I'm feeling right now. The number of dramas, too, just is overwhelming. It's like they are mating and reproducing all on their own.
I don't see this solving anything for me. I'm going to say no to nearly anything due by next Tuesday because next Tuesday is always pretty well booked. But if I say no to nearly everything on that basis, then eventually my Tuesdays will be empty - and so will my other days, and so will my bank account.
haha, but these are EXTRA things, not the day job things.
Panda: I am taking a Social Media break. I am getting overwhelmed and having small but actual anxiety attacks with all the mess that happens daily. Just today, there was another incidence at a High School, I can't get those poor folk at the Synagogue nor Kroger out of my mind. May they all rest in peace. Sigh.
I wondered where you were, my Panda. Soothe yourself well. I told Cookie yesterday that I was losing my appetite for evil on screen when I can see so much of it in real life lately, so you are not alone!
SakiVI: I have been trying to avoid the news, but it's not easy. It's freaking me out. If we don't have at least something of a Blue wave next week, I'm just going to take up sucking my thumb again. Other than that, I can't mentally process all these dramas, so I stuck to finishing Ruyi and a show on Netflix.
He's perplexed by her so they draw closer. And then at the same time, they've got this system of reapers who collect people with supernatural abilities and there's a story there, too, for sure. I'm looking forward to next week.
kakashi: A good topic. One of my employees told me something he's read in a book and I'm SO going to implement this. If you get an invitation to a talk (for example), you have to ask yourself: 'would I say yes if it were next Tuesday?' Most things won't be important enough! But if it takes place in 6 months or so, it always looks like you have nothing on then and you'll think "why not".
Okay, that sounds like a good barometer but...if you DON'T have a lot happening six months from now, why wouldn't you say yes? (there is ALWAYS something happening once you get closer to the date, that's the problem) I'm assuming it's paid appropriately and within your field of expertise, of course, and probably in front of a group you don't have a previous reason to avoid.
Trotwood: That is excellent advice, Kakashi! I have three presentations in the next two weeks that I wouldn't have had if I had thought of the whole "would I say yes if it were next Tuesday". Sigh. So behind. I think what happens is that 6 months away always looks empty but the regular job and expectations and responsibilities always fills things up and then you really don't have the energy. at least that's how I'm feeling right now. The number of dramas, too, just is overwhelming. It's like they are mating and reproducing all on their own.
I don't see this solving anything for me. I'm going to say no to nearly anything due by next Tuesday because next Tuesday is always pretty well booked. But if I say no to nearly everything on that basis, then eventually my Tuesdays will be empty - and so will my other days, and so will my bank account.
haha, but these are EXTRA things, not the day job things.
I wondered where you were, my Panda. Soothe yourself well. I told Cookie yesterday that I was losing my appetite for evil on screen when I can see so much of it in real life lately, so you are not alone!
SakiVI: I have been trying to avoid the news, but it's not easy. It's freaking me out. If we don't have at least something of a Blue wave next week, I'm just going to take up sucking my thumb again. Other than that, I can't mentally process all these dramas, so I stuck to finishing Ruyi and a show on Netflix.
KOREA
100 Days My Prince
Wait so the father IS her brother? I feel weird about the princess, like, I can feel sorry for her because she can't be with the man she loves and she hates her father too but then, I mean, she DID kill that one guy to protect her secret lover...how are they going to clean this all up for the end?
So, the brother IS the father? I feel that is so anti-climatic. I don't know why I was expecting something different though, because this drama has stayed a very tried and tested sageuk path. What id does excellently however is do them very efficiently. As for the Crown Princess, yes I do feel slight pity for her But she is a terrible person too. I would hate if she was redeemed.
So, the brother IS the father? I feel that is so anti-climatic. I don't know why I was expecting something different though, because this drama has stayed a very tried and tested sageuk path. What id does excellently however is do them very efficiently. As for the Crown Princess, yes I do feel slight pity for her But she is a terrible person too. I would hate if she was redeemed.
Where Stars Land/Fox Bride
I thought the guy who fixed Soo Yeon up and the guy who made them noodles was the same guy (and her father.) But no, Mechanical Genius guy is not Noodle Guy, but Noodle Guy IS her father.
Matrimonial Chaos/The Best Divorce
So what do you think happened on or after that train ride to make what's his face so skittish about commitment? I mean, the guy is in love with his wife but sleeps with other women nearly every night!
Devilish Joy (Finale)
I struggle with this one a bit. This drama denied us rational behavior, legal consequences, moral consequences, and the benefit of medicinal science. It forced us down a path as twisted as a lower intestine and then just when we thought we were ending in a pile of shit it reversed course entirely and gave us the happiest of happy days without ever once explaining how we got there. (Yes, Show, we noticed that.)
And yet, because it did this to us with the tallest crinkly-eyed man and the smallest, cutest woman ever, we can't really be mad. I'm sure you, like me, were just nodding along saying okay, I'll let you have this, okay, I'll ignore that...smiling and maybe a little teary-eyed at times, right? It's okay. It's okay. It's not great. It's not even GOOD...but there were so many likable characters and an adorable OTP...YES I know the villains were ridiculous. I'm ignoring them.
But that dance at the end. Since we know the actors haven't been paid for this drama yet, can we just let them have their little moment of fun and pretend we didn't notice?
The Ghost Detective
He DIED? Come ON. I know there's more next week and so obviously they're bringing him back but HOW?
SO are we getting one or two episodes next week, and can I say that I was more upset at the possibility of Sang Sub and faithful cop dying than him. I sort of accepted that that was a possibility. Chae Wong is still my favorite character and probably will be until the end. Also, I'm wondering why that rich guy is helping them so much. I mean, I know that they saved his daughter, but he's going really far for gratitude.
SO are we getting one or two episodes next week, and can I say that I was more upset at the possibility of Sang Sub and faithful cop dying than him. I sort of accepted that that was a possibility. Chae Wong is still my favorite character and probably will be until the end. Also, I'm wondering why that rich guy is helping them so much. I mean, I know that they saved his daughter, but he's going really far for gratitude.
A Hundred Million Stars/The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Wow, that car accident - I wasn't expecting that. I feel like I have more of a handle on Moo Young, now. It's not that he doesn't feel, or can't feel. It's that to protect himself from whatever it was that he experienced as a boy, he's so shut off from most of his emotions (clearly not all of them) that even he doesn't know anything about himself except that he cannot lose. If it's not something he can win, he won't even make a move - but if he thinks he can win, he'll throw away everything to get whatever 'it' is - even if it's just the satisfaction of making a rich bully look like a fool.
I'm still watching the J-version, and am not up to current timeline, so he still seems like a likable guy whenever he's in front of people. Quiet, a little odd maybe, but not dangerous at all and certainly not sullen, not even around the cop.
Hand: The Guest
I really want this to be over because I'm tired of our team being in so much pain. They really have experience such trauma with all of them losing their family. It was so painful to watch Kil-young's distress when Detective Ko was possessed. She is wracked with guilt and her tears at the station when he comes back (with no memory) and goes back to nagging her like her brother? Gah. That got me right in the heart. Our Lovely Priest is probably the one who is going to be sacrificed in all of this isn't he? He knows it and that's why he isn't saying anything.
Dae Jang Geum is Watching!
Never got to it. Maybe next week.
Hide n Seek
If she doesn't dump that horrible family this weekend, then I'll probably keep watching, but I won't like it!
Room No. 9
Awww, the cute doctor with a secret temper finally knows about the switch! And it seems they genuinely love each other, although her love is a bit more baldly materialistic than most.
Ms. Ma, Nemesis
Okay. I will admit that I've completely fallen for the charms of Ko Mal Goo. I would watch this show/ a show with just him and his backstory as the poor excellent fighter that was recruited by the mob for his skills but had such a good heart that turning him into a thug made the mob boss guilty. I love how he's embarrassed that Ms. Ma took him out. I could watch him read children's book to our blind mafia boss (who has got such a rep that the famous director let him slap him even though he's blind and dying) or teach our little Woo Joon how to fight back all day long. Alas, the story is not about him, but now I am confused because there are too many people that this can be about. We started off by the wrongfully accused "Ms Ma" who half the people seem to know is not really Ms Ma, but now we have the adopted daughter angle and more murders and more threats and enough red herrings to pickle for a Viking voyage. And the flashbacks don't help me at all show. They are confusing and abruptly inserted, making them more annoying than suspenseful. I got more quality information of a 1 min convo with mafia boss than any of the flashbacks.
I didn't expect this to be very good but I really like the story so far. Poor girl working hard, mysterious handsome man comes on the scene but wants to be left alone. Only there's something strange about him, she realizes - he can make time stop for everyone, leaving only her and him unaffected. She thinks he's a thief and yes, he is, but that's not's quite it. He likes old things, because they contain the memories of their owners. How does that connect with his control of time?
That Time When Time Stopped (New)
He's perplexed by her so they draw closer. And then at the same time, they've got this system of reapers who collect people with supernatural abilities and there's a story there, too, for sure. I'm looking forward to next week.
Sunny Again Tomorrow
WOOOHOOOO!! Finale week is this week and we've been set up for a doozy of the last five eps (I'm wondering if they will have 6 just to fill out week). We have Mr. Steadfast still being steadfast, but we also have the following: forced taking pregnancy test so Bad mom can use test to prove fake pregnancy of daughter, stealing of video, awkward fermented snake eating, more than one fight with more variety of conflicted people than even I need to remember, embezzlement, bribery, and perhaps an upcoming attempt to flee the country. But damn it. I really want a wedding at the end which I just don't think we are going to get. I'll be fine if there is some prison time for at least one of the bad people.
Vanishing Time/Boy Who Returned
Never mind, it's a movie. But it's on my movie list now. For a minute I thought this was the time stop drama and I kept wondering when they were going to get to the point where he's unfamiliar with how things are because he's been 'somewhere else' for 20 years, but no.
CHINA/TAIWAN
Baby Phoenix
Everything is so sad (yes, we're at that part). But this is a GOOD drama. Can't believe I wrote that.
Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (Finale)
There is a poignant moment where Ruyi, at the end of her life, says, I think of them all, and she lists all her enemies and friend in that harem, and says, we could all have been drinking tea and chatting together here if we had not been fighting. I cried so much. And her love wasn't just about the emperor, because, let's face it, how do you stay in love with a man who is constantly sleeping with other women? It was her love for others in general. That said, I still missed my precious Noble Consort Jia.
WESTERN
The Walking Dead
OOOOOOH is Rick gonna die this early in the season? He's passed out in an intersection, impaled on some C-Bar, with not one but TWO hordes of walkers about to converge on the X that marks his spot.
Is this a never ending show? I'm asking because as long as I can remember, there's been walking dead in our RAWR.
Is this a never ending show? I'm asking because as long as I can remember, there's been walking dead in our RAWR.
The Good Place
Oh thank God they're done with that experiment and the secret about the places good and bad and Chidi having a girlfriend and all that. Although everyone IS doomed to The Bad Place since now they know about the points system (See, Weight Watchers IS HELL) and can't go to The Good Place since if they do good things, it will be assumed that they did them for the points. YES JENNY I exercised so I could have a potato chip. What's your deal? Why give me points to use for potato chips if you're going to SHAME ME for using them?
Midnight, Texas (New)
I enjoyed the first season of the show even if it was a combination of slightly cheesy and a tad overwrought. It looks like they intend to keep that same mix in Season 2, so I'm happy. Manfred had a bit of demon cancer but he's all better now, the Midnight crew has forgiven him for trying to kill them - with the major exception of Creek, who's supposed to be the love of his life. Nope, Creek is off to Austin to make art, apparently. We'll see.
The Romanoffs
Ep 3 was weird. Very weird. And Christina Hendricks is a TERRIBLE actress. Very terrible. Ep 4 was irritating. I only liked the cuckolded husband, truthfully. Every week though, I find myself looking forward to what weird Romanoff family member I'm going to see.
I like the idea of this show more than the execution.
I like the idea of this show more than the execution.
The Chilling Tales of Sabrina
I was a big fan of G-rated Sabrina and even PG-rated Sabrina. This is disturbing, though, and made me uncomfortable. I'm not sure I'm prepared for Sabrina's aunties to worship the devil and eat human flesh. It seems likely that Sabrina herself will not since I think she's going to turn down the Dark Baptism but...
Was thinking about watching.
Was thinking about watching.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018) (New)
Ohhhhh, I like it. Kakashi can't watch it though. There are ghosts and scary things lurking in pretty much every shadow in every scene. They don't even call attention to most of them. They're just there, in case you happen to notice them (and then get a little freaked out because NO MOMENT IS SAFE.)
I'm NOT GOING TO WATCH IT. But told husband to.
I'm NOT GOING TO WATCH IT. But told husband to.