add to memories

First of all, GIP!

( Spoilers are stoic and honorable )

add to memories

• desdenova has started to watch Damo! Whoo! I pet my shiny new obsession and beam as it spreads. Come on, people, make me feel better -- who else is out there watching kdramas?
  
  My current kdrama sources are meganbmoore, shewhohashope, rilina, vonnie_k, The Stack, Dramabeans, and of course d-addicts for information.


• For the other Sekrit LJ Smith fans out there, shewhohashope pointed me at this. New short stories! And a promise that Strange Fate is not dead yet.


• I'm not blogging about elections because most of the press surrounding them make me blow my top. Also, I assume everyone's already reading delux_vivens, but for those who aren't, she has been posting a lot of articles and links about Obama and race.


• Via rilina, who already highlighted Asia Pacific Arts' best music of 2007: best Asian films, best Asian-American films (I really want to see Munyurangabo now), best wordsmiths, and top 10 places to see Asian films in CA (most in Bay Area and LA). I'm just sad there aren't more in Bay Area and even more jealous of rachelmanija and her LA-ness.


• I've long been frustrated by the lack of visibility of non-East-Asian knitters of color in the knit blogosphere -- I'm sure POC knitters are there, but their blogs and designs and culture definitely get much less focus if they're not East Asian. So I was delighted when SistahCraft pointed out Black Purl Magazine and its venture into the print world.


• And David Welsh gives a wonderfully snarky tip sheet for journalists writing about women in comics. I hope they read it and actually listen.

I tend to forget that people don't read my mind and instantly realize what I'm reading; is anyone interested in knowing my blogroll? Also, since I can't telepathically figure out what you guys are reading, what are some of your favorite blogs?

add to memories

( Spoilers )

Ok, so now I am curious. Does anyone know anything about Chinese vs. Korean vs. Japanese methods of swordfighting, circa the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910)? I am guessing Damo is set around the 1600s, though really, that is a total stab in the dark. So that would be late Ming/early Qing for China and early Tokugawa/Edo for Japan.

Mostly I am curious because the show says something about how Chinese and Korean swordfighting techniques focus on enemies on all four sides, meaning any one stroke probably won't go through the entire body, whereas Japanese swordfighting techniques focus on enemies in the front, meaning any one stroke will more likely go through the entire body.

add to memories

This year was a strange TV year for me. I feel like I mostly stopped being enthusiastic about American dramas; a large part of this was because of my falling out with Heroes. While I did start watching a few new shows this year, I'm not head-over-heels in love with any of them yet, at least not in the same way I have been obsessing about kdramas.

2007 will probably also go down as the year I got sucked into Asian dramas. I managed to resist for about eight years, too, and then that little thing called Coffee Prince came along...

No spoilers in any of the below; please use <span style="color:#333,background:#333">spoiler text</span> for any spoilers in the comments.

Shows that didn't work for me

( The Collector )

( Ugly Betty )

( Dr. Who )

The only reason Heroes isn't on this list is because 2007 included some of the great S1 episodes.

Shows that I'm watching but not excited about

( Scrubs )

( Dead Like Me )

( Heroes )

( Life )

( Blood Ties )

( Fantasy Couple )

( Snow Queen )

Shows that I'm very excited about!

( Homicide: Life on the Street )

( Spooks/MI-5 )

( Pushing Daisies )

( Avatar: the Last Airbender )

( So You Think You Can Dance )

( Nobuta wo Produce )

( My Name Is Kim Sam Soon )

And now, my very favorite shows of the year! It's cheating a little, because I'm not done with either yet, but I am so filled with squee!

( Damo )

( Coffee Prince )

Huh, looking at all this, I did watch a lot this year. It just didn't feel like it, because for most of the year, I was hopping from show to show to show. I didn't fall into kdramas until Thanksgiving, but wow, I fell hard.

add to memories

I was very good and patient and tried waiting for the DVDs from Blockbuster to come through, but Blockbuster has cruelly changed the status of the discs from "Available" to "Coming Soon." They taunt me with their wily promises of kdrama DVDs.

Anyway, I am still obsessed, as this series has been hitting almost all of my buttons, particularly the ones for people who follow honor over personal desires and have heartbreaking angst without saying very much at all. Also, it's got court politics and intrigue, swordfighting, some awesome action scenes, and two new female characters whom I am predisposed to like! And two people bonding while weapons training together!

Hat speculation: the non-mesh, two-level hats seem to belong to upper court officials (ex. the Minister of the Left) and the Emperor. The mesh hats seem to be long to upper-level officers, like Hwangbo Yoon and and some of his senior officers. I think having a string of black and white beads on the mesh hats signifies an upper rank (the police chief of the left wears the beads and mesh hat when not wearing his court hat. I think). And the hats with rounded tops and giant brims seem to be the working hats of normal officers (part of this taken from The Duelist).

I really need to find a book on historical Korean clothing, because not knowing is killing me.

(all screencaps courtesy of shewhohashope)

( Spoilers )

But anyway, yeah, I am madly loving this series.

add to memories

• rachelmanija has finished her excellent series of posts on PTSD: Parts I, II, and III


• She's also started reading Angel Sanctuary! My joy cannot be contained! Also, spoil her and have your brain taken over by Rosiel.


• rilina and yhlee continue to watch Gundam Wing. My joy is still not contained! OMG people watching and getting into my beloved first anime series despite its mecha-ness!


• I'm sure everyone has already seen the post-apocalyptic cities posters for I Am Legend but I wanted to highlight the fact that they have TAIPEI and SEOUL! EEEEEEE! (I love Hong Kong, but I feel HK is featured much more often than Taipei and Seoul! OMG! Taipei! National monument that is only a few blocks away from my apartment!


• I have taken the plunge, put my Netflix account on hold, and started Blockbuster. I blame my sister. On the minus side, Blockbuster only has DVDs 7-10 of GWing. On the plus side.... THEY HAVE DAMO ON DVD!!!!!


• shewhohashope hosts the 5th POC in SF Carnival and focuses on non-Western fantasy, including... WUXIA! (yes, I am a little obsessed right now) I particularly rec meganbmoore's wuxia primer for those of you like me who only know you like swords and flying people and historical costumes and have no idea what to watch outside of two or three things. And it's good for people who have absolutely no idea what wuxia is too! Win-win!

I should actually catch up on book and TV posting but... oh well. Soon.

add to memories

shewhohashope pimped this as "like CSI: 16/17th Century Korea, mixed with some elements of wuxia, Sherlock Holmes-style deduction, a 'cop goes undercover' storyline, and possibly a star-crossed romance or two to come."

Then she went and posted a lot of pretty screencaps of the first episode.

Have I mentioned before that I used to watch historical dramas in Chinese back in Taiwan? I am addicted to anything with historical costumes and swordfighting, particularly when wuxia is in the mix. Or Qing Dynasty court drama.

So far, Damo reminds me why I loved them so much. Jang Chae-Ohk is a damo (tea server?) for the Left Police Bureau. Her commanding officer is Hwangbo Yoon. It is Chosun Dynasty Korea. So far, Chae-Ohk has solved a crime with her spiffy forensic skills, crossed swords with a lot of pepole, stoically defended her honor, attempted to stoically defend other people's honor, stoically faced her commanding officer, stoically killed some she likes for honor (not a spoiler; this is the first five minutes), and stoically dressed as a boy and wandered off.

I love her to pieces.

Her commanding officer has also honorably and stoically done many things, often with swords, and I love him too, but not as much as I love her. Part of this is because everyone wears very similar hats, clothes, and beards, and they are all roughly the same height, age, and build. I think I have managed to identify his eyebrows though, so all is well.

There is another curly-haired rogue type character who is clearly the other (other other) corner of the love whatever-shape, along with another woman who has yet to be identified. I am guessing some more complications will also come in.

I am not quite sure what the plot is about so far. Chae-Ohk and Yoon solve crimes, swordfight, honorably and stoically stare at each other, and honorably and stoically have heart-tugging flashbacks together. In historical costume! I love it! I am attempting to figure out the significance of assorted hats; some of them have peacock feathers and others have long strings of large brown beads, and yet others have wreaths around the top. I also need to read up on Chosun Dynasty history, because I think there is a whole lot going on with court politics that I do not know, and it is driving me nuts.

Also, Chae-Ohk and Yoon and curly-haired rogue fly around on concealed wires with swords!

I will try to have something more coherent later, but all I can say now is: Swords! Wuxia (um, at least I think it is taking off on Chinese wuxia tradition? is there Korean wuxia tradition?)! Stoic and honorable suffering! Historical costumes! Girl-dressing-as-boy! Stoic and honorable heroine! Flashbacks!

For anyone interested in watching, try to at least get to episode 2, which has the flashbacks of extreme cuteness and swordfighting in the rain, as it is excellent.