(no subject)
Guess who finally, after trying since AUGUST 19TH, has finally managed to get her hands on a physical copy of Big Bang's Japanese album (aptly titled "Big Bang")...
It's the Taiwanese version, which as far as I can tell is exactly the same as the original Japanese edition, expect: it was made in Taiwan, and has a booklet of the lyrics translated into Chinese. It was also $25 less. Score for me. The DVD behind the scenes stuff is awesome!
Other news... Well, culture classes are scary, because they're taught totally in Mandarin, and I'm like "uhhhhhhhh, 什麼?"
Yesterday was Moon Festival day, so we had a big meal, mooncakes (which depending on type varied between REALLY good, and kinda weird), and moon watching. Afterwards, right as I was attempting to go to sleep, we had a earthquake. Well, technically Hualien had an earthquake. And, um, Hualien is pretty far from Taipei. But the earthquake was pretty strong (6.3 magnitude), so we felt it. It was kinda scary, but also pretty awesome. It was my first earthquake. Well technically I've been in another earthquake when I lived in Virginia, but I didn't feel it, because I was in an elevator.
We're also preparing for Typhoon Parma. It might hit Taiwan, but it might not. Crapshoot, really. They're evacuating some parts of the south already. BUT the typhoon weather means it's FINALLY cooler. It feels lovely, finally.
Otherwise, I'm doing random NON-DRAMA related things. I've been watching a lot of Western TV. That, and thanks to darkeyedwolf, I've been reading The Vampire Diaries, which is SO MUCH like a badfic it's hard to imagine it got published. So bad it's good. I've also been enjoying Korean Horror movies...
Western TV:
1. How I Met Your Mother - Flailing incessantly over Robin/Barney. I really liked last weeks episode. Lesbian!Robin, Mustache!Marshall, and Stripper!Lily were awesome. AWESOME. And Lindsay Sloane!
2. Glee - Who doesn't love Glee?! And Kristen Chenowith! I've fangirled her since Wicked. The addition of Victor Garber was genius, and I think I'm one of the 8 people in the world who actually kinda likes Terri (Will's wife). But mostly because she's played by Jessalyn Gilsig (who I LOOOOOVED in Nip/Tuck).
3. Eastwick - SO good! I loved Lindsay Price in Lipstick Jungle, and I'm glad she got another high profile gig, because I think she's amazing. The others are awesome too, of course. And hell, it's 'The Witches of Eastwick'! I haven't read the book (yet), but the movie is one of my favorites.
4. Modern Family - Cute, funny, and ED O'NEILL! (In case you couldn't tell, I pick shows mainly for the actors). But I adore all three families, especially Mitchell and Cameron.
5. The Vampire Diaries - Watching almost solely for Ian Somerhalder (I will never, ever, EVER tire of seeing his face, which is gorgeous. When Boone died in LOST, I nearly stopped watching right then and there), but also because it's pure teenage crack, and what can I say, I love me some teenage crack.
6. Secret Diary of a Call Girl - Late on the bandwagon, but whatever. I adore it. It was kinda weird, because after I watched the first episode I saw Billie Piper in the BBC adaption of The Ruby in the Smoke (one of my favorite books, because, honestly, Phillip Pullman is a genius), and it was rather jarring. But it's a lot like Sex in the City, which is a good thing.
I'm also watching House, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives, but less religiously.
Korean Horror Movies:
1. Cinderella - Odd... More sad than scary. Though the part when THE FACELESS DEAD GIRL SITS UP was pretty scary.
2. A Tale of Two Sisters - Since I knew the ending, it wasn't that scary. Though honestly, parts of it didn't make much sense. That seems to be a thing for me... I can't understand Korean horror!
3. The Wishing Stairs - It was funny, because I was watching, and was like "... is that Ballet girl from Goong?!"... it was. This one was probably the scariest for me, because it wasn't just a ghost, rather a person possessed.
4. Hansel and Gretel - Didn't watch it fully, but not REALLY horror to me, more just sad.
So the overwhelming theme for me regarding K-Horror is that it's confusing, and sad, rather than scary (there ARE scary moments, but less than there should be, as it's HORROR).
Oh random! Today at the Taiwanese Daiso/eslite building they were playing a LOT of ABBA. And then we were walking around Ximen, and suddenly I heard GD's song "Hello". I proceeded to freak out, and stay in that store until they finished playing GD (they played the whole album).
And has anyone else heard Joe Cheng's new album? I caught one of the singles on MTV the other day, and was impressed. I'm probably going to buy his album sometime (there are two versions! One comes with a book, and one comes with a DVD!)
It's the Taiwanese version, which as far as I can tell is exactly the same as the original Japanese edition, expect: it was made in Taiwan, and has a booklet of the lyrics translated into Chinese. It was also $25 less. Score for me. The DVD behind the scenes stuff is awesome!
Other news... Well, culture classes are scary, because they're taught totally in Mandarin, and I'm like "uhhhhhhhh, 什麼?"
Yesterday was Moon Festival day, so we had a big meal, mooncakes (which depending on type varied between REALLY good, and kinda weird), and moon watching. Afterwards, right as I was attempting to go to sleep, we had a earthquake. Well, technically Hualien had an earthquake. And, um, Hualien is pretty far from Taipei. But the earthquake was pretty strong (6.3 magnitude), so we felt it. It was kinda scary, but also pretty awesome. It was my first earthquake. Well technically I've been in another earthquake when I lived in Virginia, but I didn't feel it, because I was in an elevator.
We're also preparing for Typhoon Parma. It might hit Taiwan, but it might not. Crapshoot, really. They're evacuating some parts of the south already. BUT the typhoon weather means it's FINALLY cooler. It feels lovely, finally.
Otherwise, I'm doing random NON-DRAMA related things. I've been watching a lot of Western TV. That, and thanks to darkeyedwolf, I've been reading The Vampire Diaries, which is SO MUCH like a badfic it's hard to imagine it got published. So bad it's good. I've also been enjoying Korean Horror movies...
Western TV:
1. How I Met Your Mother - Flailing incessantly over Robin/Barney. I really liked last weeks episode. Lesbian!Robin, Mustache!Marshall, and Stripper!Lily were awesome. AWESOME. And Lindsay Sloane!
2. Glee - Who doesn't love Glee?! And Kristen Chenowith! I've fangirled her since Wicked. The addition of Victor Garber was genius, and I think I'm one of the 8 people in the world who actually kinda likes Terri (Will's wife). But mostly because she's played by Jessalyn Gilsig (who I LOOOOOVED in Nip/Tuck).
3. Eastwick - SO good! I loved Lindsay Price in Lipstick Jungle, and I'm glad she got another high profile gig, because I think she's amazing. The others are awesome too, of course. And hell, it's 'The Witches of Eastwick'! I haven't read the book (yet), but the movie is one of my favorites.
4. Modern Family - Cute, funny, and ED O'NEILL! (In case you couldn't tell, I pick shows mainly for the actors). But I adore all three families, especially Mitchell and Cameron.
5. The Vampire Diaries - Watching almost solely for Ian Somerhalder (I will never, ever, EVER tire of seeing his face, which is gorgeous. When Boone died in LOST, I nearly stopped watching right then and there), but also because it's pure teenage crack, and what can I say, I love me some teenage crack.
6. Secret Diary of a Call Girl - Late on the bandwagon, but whatever. I adore it. It was kinda weird, because after I watched the first episode I saw Billie Piper in the BBC adaption of The Ruby in the Smoke (one of my favorite books, because, honestly, Phillip Pullman is a genius), and it was rather jarring. But it's a lot like Sex in the City, which is a good thing.
I'm also watching House, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives, but less religiously.
Korean Horror Movies:
1. Cinderella - Odd... More sad than scary. Though the part when THE FACELESS DEAD GIRL SITS UP was pretty scary.
2. A Tale of Two Sisters - Since I knew the ending, it wasn't that scary. Though honestly, parts of it didn't make much sense. That seems to be a thing for me... I can't understand Korean horror!
3. The Wishing Stairs - It was funny, because I was watching, and was like "... is that Ballet girl from Goong?!"... it was. This one was probably the scariest for me, because it wasn't just a ghost, rather a person possessed.
4. Hansel and Gretel - Didn't watch it fully, but not REALLY horror to me, more just sad.
So the overwhelming theme for me regarding K-Horror is that it's confusing, and sad, rather than scary (there ARE scary moments, but less than there should be, as it's HORROR).
Oh random! Today at the Taiwanese Daiso/eslite building they were playing a LOT of ABBA. And then we were walking around Ximen, and suddenly I heard GD's song "Hello". I proceeded to freak out, and stay in that store until they finished playing GD (they played the whole album).
And has anyone else heard Joe Cheng's new album? I caught one of the singles on MTV the other day, and was impressed. I'm probably going to buy his album sometime (there are two versions! One comes with a book, and one comes with a DVD!)