I'm Still Alive

Dearest blog, in case you're wondering, I haven't forgotten about you at all. I've just been a bit busy trying to be a ~social person~. And by social, I mean getting out of the house occasionally to avoid having my bum permanently grafted to the couch.

So why has my butt had so much bonding time with the couch lately? There are a few reasons.

Firstly, I have a bit of a shameful confession to make. I am unhealthily addicted to watching white people react to kpop dance medleys at their high school rallies. It's not that I'm a huge kpop fan (the stuff can get annoying fast) but the whole culture shock thing is just really entertaining. If you look at my youtube history, you would find a whole list of these videos. (Don't judge me). Some of them are really cringeworthy because you can tell the kpop clubs are taking themselves way too seriously. Occasionally though, you do come across a few gems or two (like this one [start at 1:00] and this one) which make it worth it.

You're totally judging me aren't you?

Secondly, buzzfeed is bad for my health. But I can't stop. How else would I be able to find gifs like these?

Nicholas Cage posing as Ariel on the rock, with his hair flapping about in the breeze. Tell me that is not the most glorious thing the internet has ever produced. 

 

Thirdly, I've gotten back to playing guitar. My friend from uni came over a few days ago and we had a bit of an awesome jam session. We were going to record a cover of Radioactive but ran out of time. It was fun though and I'm glad I found someone else who doesn't mind looking stupid with me in front of the camera. She also had the typical reaction that people have when they first come over to my house. They say it must be cool living so close to your relatives and family friends. And then after my aunt barges in for the fifth time looking to borrow some onions, they change their mind. That's right. Not so fun being one of the village people after all, is it?

 



Fourthly, Gaksital has proven to be one of the best timewasters  of these holidays. It's a Korean drama that reminds me a bit of City Hunter in that there is a strong focus on revenge, masked vigilantes and the girl spends half her time running around trying to shoot the good guy in the chest. ('Cause there is no clearer way to say 'I Love You' than leveling a pistol at your man's heart). Great stuff.

(Source)

The stakes are higher too because Gaksital actually takes place during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1930s (or was it 1920s). Setting wise, I've never seen anything like it. And in terms of story, the drama doesn't shy away from taboo subjects and I find that really refreshing. For example, one of the episodes looks at the issue of comfort women during Korea's occupation when women were forcibly taken or tricked into sexual service to Japanese soldiers. It was a really horrible and dark chapter of their history which you wouldn't expect to be acknowledged in a weekly drama, especially when most of the stuff I've watched in the past tends to fall into the category of romantic fluff.

 

Side note: Gaksital was voted second best drama of the year 2012 over at dramabeans.com. And I trust that site.

 

It hasn't been all stay-at-home though. I went out yesterday with uni mates to watch The Great Gatsby and I'm really glad I did. Granted, I spent half the film analysing all the symbols and quotes (damn you HSC English) but it was still enjoyable. Carey Mulligan is beautiful and believable as Daisy and Leonardo was good was well (although he did seem a bit off at times). I loved the sets, I loved the exaggerated CGI and I loved loved loved the music. It was just... aj;sldfkasdlkfj.