Enter the Koreans~

[rhythmia]

Well, sort of. :D They jokingly refer to themselves as the oldest kpop idols currently in existence. Four member male vocal group Sweet Sorrow!

I discovered them last summer because someone on omonatheydidnt posted a video of them doing an a capella version of something by Super Junior. Their music is gorgeous

Comments

[flange5]

I did&hearts, The a capella bits at the beginning are great,a nd then when they broke out the recorders, I just started giggling. I was impressed ^_^ and highly entertained. And I thought the crowd was kind of interesting in its age and gender breakdown ^_^ I would totally watch again.

So...how does that work, to teach texts you haven't read yet? I'm hoping this just means that you're cramming them in now? Er

>_>

My goal is to stay a full class meeting ahead of them ^^;; We don't hit any of the new stuff for about a month or so, so spring break will be really useful for that, as well. In terms of working with texts, though, I am pretty confident in my contextual knowledge and ability to read medieval texts, so I'm not all that concerned about it, honestly. The fact that they're discussion-centered classes helps, too. It's a great way to force myself to broaden my textual horizons, and the completely new texts are all romances, and I've never met a boring romance. Even the terrible ones are fascinating and cracktastic ^_^

And I love Arabic food&hearts It's hard to get here, though. We found a place, and it was so-so. I suspect I wil be a jaded diner for the rest of my life after the quality and diversity of foods we had in Jersey ^^;; I miss having 4 Middle Eastern restaurants within a 10 minute drive >_<

My grad advisor is Lebanese and grew up in SAudi Arabia and taught me how to make fantastic baklava&hearts I need to find that recipe again ^^;;;

[rhythmia]

Yeah, those acapella bits are them re-arranging currently popular idol/boyband/girlband kpop songs. :D And from what little I've seen of Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook, I think the host is a fairly prominent entertainer, and musical acts come on to promote. Kinda like...hm, not Music Station, because it's just one person or group at a time. I thought it was interesting that it seemed a little like a show where couples go.

...If you're interested I can see if I can find more videos. :D I know so little Korean, and have yet to find any major source of translated stuff for them, so it's very trial and error. It's like that one guy who went on AnS, who was Toma's brother in Maou. Gekidan Hitori? Something? And his fanboying of Kara. Love it but have no idea what they're saying, other than dorky stuff. XD

Medieval romances? Any classic stories I might possibly know? I fail at placing things in history, but that would mean not Chaucer, right? But discussion centered classes are awesome. Do you have them relate the stories to socio-historical context?

Mmmm, Arabic food. My friend's dad is Lebanese, so the food we made last night is kinda-sorta Lebanese. Yum.

<3

[flange5]

Oh you don't have to do that, unless you find something awesome in your own journeys and want to send it along ^_^ I'll see what I can find in the spaces where I'm not working or inhaling sparkles ^_~

I really enjoyed the way he fanboyed Kara ^_^;; It was kind of adorable, even if I was still recovering from the food homework >_<

This semester, I'm teaching a class entirely on Arthurian literature and it's predominantly romance--Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Malory's Morte D'Arthur, a couple of other Morte texts (Arthur died a lot ^_!, some Chrétien de Troyes, and a bunch of other stuff that's less well-known.

We do some sociohistorical context, or they'll be really lost, but it isn't the primary focus. It's always hard making it both historically grounded without them getting the sense that you're focusing too much on history and not literature, or having them feel like there wasn't enough history with which to ground the analysis. We'll see how it goes ^^;;

I would love some hummus right now. Also, labhne&hearts (it's a sort of homemade sour cream with walnuts, herbs, especially dill, and garlic. You eat it with bread and spicy food &hearts)

[rhythmia]

Well, there's this which is sort of a beginning pimp post. Except not really, there isn't much of an English speaking fandom, alas. But if you search youtube for sweet sorrow or sweetsorrow, there's some gems out there. They haven't done tons, but what's out there is largely gold. I'll see if I can gather together some stuff...

Oooh, I need to read those. Eheheh, I do this thing where I'll read YA versions or subversions or retellings of those stories and still not have read the originals. Kind of like my approach to some fandoms. :P A tricky balancing act from you, but that sounds like fun. You could break it up a little and toss in some Monty Python. :P

Mmmm, lebnee (no idea how it's spelled!). My friend makes that homemade, I think her family boils milk for a long time, then hangs it in a cheesecloth bag from the kitchen ceiling, and it drips the whey out into a bowl. So tasty.

[flange5]

Oooh! Good resource! Thank you&hearts

I do the same thing, too ^^;; I am such a sucker for well done YA fiction ^_^I am always tempted to throw in some Monty Python, you have no idea ^^;; If the schedule had enough room or the students wanted to, I would totally do a screening--also of this terrible early 1980s film adaptation of SGGK called the sword of the valiant, with Sean Connery as the Green Knight: Have a hilarious trailer.

My friend makes that homemade, I think her family boils milk for a long time, then hangs it in a cheesecloth bag from the kitchen ceiling, and it drips the whey out into a bowl. So tasty.

SO JEALOUS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

crap, html fail.

[rhythmia]

The other thing is to check out my delicious bookmarks, since I've been marking all the videos I liked and pages and things. And I just found this site, some Singapore fans started this one recently.

Re: trailer: hahahaha oh man awesome. So incredibly 80s, I love it. Sean Connery? John Rhys-Davies? Why does this look like Arthurian legend crossed with He-Man crossed with Lord of the Rings? XDDD Why does the Seneschal look so much like Judge Frollo? Or maybe it should be the other way around. XD Also, way to go trailer with giving away the entire plot. I love how the damsel in distress is all, Gawain, help! and Gawain kind of flops onto the attacking toughs. XD

In terms of books, the one series I liked a lot is The Squire's Tale, by Gerald Morris. It's the first of a series of books telling the stories that Sir Gawain's a part of, from the point of view of his squire Terence. The both of them get some interesting growth over the course of the series, which apparently isn't finished yet, though I've only read about four books at the library. He does spinoffs into other Arthurian stories and characters that we meet from the first Squire's Tale book. It's a lot of fun, pretty snarky, though there's a bit of Gary Stu going on it's not egregious. :D

Re: crap, html fail.

[flange5]

oooh&hearts yay for bookmarks!

That trailer is hilarious just because it showcases how terrible the movie is. It's even funnier if you know the text, because that pot . . . bears pretty much no resemblance to the text at all ^^;;; And the woman is much much cooler than that. She pretty much terrorizes Gawain as if she were Shibata Rie while he's pitifully asking permission to put his clothes on--and he is denied.

Several of my students have suggested that series. I'm totally going to have to check it out. A new good YA series sounds awesome. Though right now, I am breathlessly awaiting the new Connie Willis Book because it's been . . . 5 years? More? since her last novel and I am stoked \o/