In the early 1990s, I remember one late Sunday night stumbling upon a PBS show called IRON CHEF. Iron Chef was a Japanese television cooking show that ran from 1993 to 1999 in which two cooks are encouraged to make something using a specific ingredient in a timed battle. The show has since received adaptations in America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, and Israel. Strange ingredients, exciting dishes, harsh judging as part of a competition show back then was unique.

Trends seem to be circular as the hottest show in Korea today is "Culinary Class Wars,” a Netflix cooking competition show. The country’s mega convenience franchises have promptly responded to the cooking competition show’s stir among domestic foodies. CU, a convenience franchise brand run by BGF, teamed up with the show’s ultimate winner Kwon Seong- joon (stage nickname Napoli Matfia), owner and chef at Italian restaurant Via Toledo in Seoul. The franchise is releasing one of Kwon's most popular creations on the show, his chestnut tiramisu, later this week. CU on Tuesday accepted preorders for the tiramisu before putting it on store shelves on Saturday. All 20,000 sold out in less than 20 minutes, the company said.

NOTES FROM 9TAILEDVIXEN'S 2ND WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2024:

1. This Week in Life

Fell and hit my good knee on some steps after Tuesday Yoga class. Said knee promptly bled through my favourite Yoga pants and I had to hobble home as quickly as I could to get the bloodstains out.

Sigh... life is not a picnic when one is chronically clumsy.

2. This Week in Korean Women's News

1. Han Kang wins the Nobel Prize for Literature!

Han Kang, author of the Booker Prize-winning novel The Vegetarian, has become the first Korean and the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. I would say she achieved this IN SPITE OF the toxic Confucian patriarchy of South Korea. CONGRATULATIONS, MS. HAN!

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c206djljel1o

Best of all, South Korea's Incel President is obligated to congratulate her (a woman - the gender he despises):

https://apnews.com/article/han-kang-nobel-literature-south-korea-vegetarian-dark-history-e404fdbb3ca2079bf45e03023c6ad3b4

2. In their 80s, these South Korean women learned reading and rap

Born at a time when women were often marginalized in education, Park Jeom-Sun and her friends were among a group of older adults learning how to read and write the Korean alphabet, hangeul, at a community center in their farming village in South Korea’s rural southeast.

They were having so much fun that they started dabbling with poetry. They began writing and performing rap in summer last year.

https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-rappers-older-literacy-women-education-db7a109b38827e08804e6da20fb9414f

3. South Korean woman sues government over abduction, adoption of child to U.S.

A 70-year-old South Korean woman sued her government, an adoption agency and an orphanage over the adoption of her daughter, who was sent to the United States in 1976, months after she was kidnapped at age four.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/south-korea-mother-adoptees-lawsuit-1.7344652

tehe

so yesterday we filmed 3 more clips, one for st martins´ day and with a phone, I had to stage the action and direct it and then our media person filmed it, and another colleague was the actor, and he did really well. we had 6 takes for that. with props and all

the other 2 were about spirit season starting nov 2nd, and we had a story of a minister who meets a ghost / poltergeist and they bite each others noses off, and the other was about a forest guardian who has its golden throne sink into the ground when people cut the forest down.
we had 4 takes for each half of it was in dialect so even I had trouble although I am a bit used to reading dialects. but this time I was like äbbbbrhhhh I cannot!

fun though, by the end my conversation partner was laughing so hard we had to stop filming. but it is really fun.

and tomorrow: vacation and moms´ birthday.

I dont know why but today I am having anxiety and shivers maybe because there is a very fancy exhibition opening later and my stuff doesnt look too fance but it has a great story. I really dont know what caused the sudden bout of nerves.
overthinking perhaps. this shit is too physical, I mean anxiety is a mental thing why is it giving me hot lashes and cramped fingers.

there is a lot of tension...
since the city is looking for ways to cut expenses so they have sent a hidden spy to the library. to my knowledge it is illegal - they have also recorded personal conversations. If they are doing that and it gets confirmed, we have decided to go on strike.

funny stuff too.
patron asks for Herman Hunts´ book Hesse
and is there a sequel called Esse Moor?
another one asks for "just the first chapter or the national epic Kalevipoeg" first, it is in verse and continuous text that doesnt have chapters, second, how are we supposed to slice the book in parts?

ok just in case the spy is on to me, redfox over and out. don´t tell on me.

A couple of weeks ago, a couple of us were discussing The Remarried Empress and how it would hard or weird to adapt it since it's European inspired or that's the aesthetic. Anyhoo, it's being adapted. Shin Mina is playing the title role.

I don't know how I feel about it because I can't imagine how it will look. They'll likely change the names and look right? I don't know where the webtoon originated but according to Webtoon US, it's an ongoing project so I wonder how much of the story will be covered. Granted, they could just covered 1 arc and be done with it haha.

That webtoon is feeling so long to me. After seeing the news about the casting, I went back to catch up on it and I just skipped around haha. All the betrayals and magic were alot haha

I've been watching some videos of a kpop group, mainly the variety/interview stuff, and it's like I don't wanna like them cause they're younger than me haha

But it's like aww they're cute haha (in a adorable, funny little brother way) and then I saw them performing in a music video and I was 🫨 haha
Why are you sexy, hot, whatever?!?!? Where did the cute dorks go?! Haha

But also it shows the power of makeup and styling haha

I can't even imagine make up and styling changing how I look haha. (I don't wear make up and I have a comfortable plain jane style)

Also the group I was looking at, there are 13 members and I'm just like that is too much! What the hell?! Haha
I can not spot all these different dancers haha
Plus they're an idol group so the dancing would be very synchronized.

I don't know how you can tell the "best" dancers haha

And I don't know the members like that so I don't know who is who

Happy Friday, Beanies! It was a really troublesome week, so I typed it in a particularly annoyed mood. This may affect my critical tolerance negatively Unlike a certain someone I like my life lazy and chill as possible... too bad reality refuses to help with that. But LYN once again proved he's a very considerate man and lessened the amount of weekly updates I need to cover – slightly, but I still appreciate the effort... Or so I thought because the only day I wanted to sleep in he decides to livestream after ages, forcing me to redo my notes last second. Grrr, sir, you're are so lucky I'm fond of you!

We start with a fresh OST - “Splashing ink” for THE RISE OF NING drama I didn't bother to check because fauxcest and me do not click. While it's a nice song, I cannot say I love it – is it because he's sort of straining his voice here to sound high and, idk, thin and breathy? Not his comfort zone, at least as far as my ears are concerned. Official MV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7fs_vC4af8

Subbed lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGDyvSHVK9s

Back to OUR SONG – I think it was really a final FINAL concert, wrapping up at 12 (I think) episodes. No fiery rock this time around – probably to prevent me from overheating))) Too bad – I'd love me some distraction... For this encore Ning-ge went full international, teaming up with two non-domestic artists, first being Taiwanese singer-songwriter Chou Chuan Huing (Steve Chou) for a duo remix of Chou's hit “Blue flower” (what's up with the “blue” songs lately?). While the melody is lovely – and lyrics supposedly are too, lamenting about hardships in life or something like that – Chou's voice (and pronunciation, tho I'm unsure if it's his accent or just how he speaks – been a hot minute since I've listened to Taiwanese) is a bit grating to me, and why did background vocals have to be SO LOUD? It's almost as if singers on stage were support for those in the back and not vice versa. Technical problems between mics? Possible since it was live... Idk. Guess it sounded better at the venue because that was, once again, hottest stage of the night)))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj3UjfoIZx4

Solo fancam: performance was not flawless, but I have no complaints about this new suit, esp the deep neckline. In fact, it was so deep that I managed to spot a bruise quite low on his chest in one of group photos – no, no THAT kind of bruise lol! He claims he burned himself while eating and scar just won't go away – this troublesome child! Go to cosmetologist, don't be stingy! What if your precious “visual brand value” drops, hmmm? Tbh, it looks more like a bruise from prop arrow (Nan Heng was shot exactly there) to me, and man is a known liar...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQBVvc8YGpg

Lindsey Ellis made a composite video of actors who have played Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar singing (or not singing, lol) the high note in "Gethsemane." One of them was this Korean singer, who Google tells me is Eun-tae Park. I found the full video and, holy cow, he is PHENOMENAL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD-Kg65yhHg

but I was also looking at Got7 videos and I only saw one of their videos but seeing them years later, since they've been doing their own things, again, it's like wow, y'all were so dorky and now you're so serious haha

Which makes sense I guess
They are older now and have gone/are going through stuff.

It made me think about how much of the real guys are being shown. Is EVERYTHING an image or character?

No wonder people have identity crisis. I swear it is a miracle if people make it out of the industry well adjusted or have normal, genuine relationships.

Oh, the idol who was put on hiatus for almost a year, Seunghan of RIIZE has been reinstated or however that's phrased. He's supposed to be rejoining group activities.

Personally, I feel kinda bad for him. I just imagine it's gonna be awkward and weird for everyone. Plus those same "fans" and netizens who complained about him in the first place will be at it again.

I don't know if he had more freedom during this forced hiatus but now he's back to not being able to date, smoke, hang out, whatever he was doing with himself.

I've seen people say he got his spot back because of the recent idol who was dropped from his group and label for being an alleged criminal. It's supposed to take the spotlight off of that or something.

Sidenote: has anyone of heard of the term "quasi rape" before? That's the phrase in SK for what the former idol guy is accused of

Han Kang, author of The Vegetarian, won the Nobel Prize for Literature! I read that book when we were talking about which Korean books to discuss on here. Thanks to whomever recommended it. Have you read any of her other books? It's exciting.

Some beanies talked about a show where some Korean young man (former singer? or something?) invited different celebrities like, to his home for a very peaceful "talk show" where you often got a good impression of a side of the that felt very real.
Do you know what I'm talking about, and maybe where I can see it?

I'm not 100% sure why this just came to mind but when korean celebrities date, I wonder do their partners sign NDAs or is there just a trust there?

I could definitely be wrong but it seems like only a handful of spiteful exes or people who know share about celebrities especially idols.

I feel like I've seen the NDAs in dramas

I just finished Alienoid 1 and 2

It was really bad.

I always thought Kim Tae Ri could do no wrong given a huge string of high quality shows like 25-21, Revenant, Mr Sunshine, and Little Forest. Alienoid broke that fantasic streak.

Desperately Seeking...Webtoon in English for Moon in the Day 낮에 뜨는 달)

Hey Beanies, I'm late (as always) to the party. And apparently No Gain No Love has made me a slave to Kim Young Dae (read: embarrassed fangirl), so now I'm trying to catch up to all his dramas.

I just finished Moon in the Day. I know what the drama was supposed to be (although it missed the mark). But, it has now made me interested in reading the Manhwa it is based off of.

I'm not sure if my googling skills are just that bad, but I'm having difficulty locating the Manhwa in translation. Can anyone help me out?

@lovepark @kafiyah-bello @vienibenmio @britney @lordcobol @kurama @asianromance

I just saw a recap for the drama Oh My Baby (I think that's what it's called). The almost 40 year old single woman wants a baby and she's sick so she's on a time table. 3 suitors (really 2) want to get with her.

With all this happening, I just kept thinking that there are SOOOOOO many abandoned and unwanted children in the world yet adoption is STILL looked down. There's babies, there's kids, and there are teens, all who would love to have loving parents and it's just totally disregarded.

Granted, from what I understand the adoption process is not easy and I get the appeal of having your own kids. It's just the fact that it's not even an option that gets me.

I'm exasperated by IMDb credits for Korean dramas. Often I see voice actors for the dubbed versions credited as the principal actors, while the actors who actually played the roles are either missing or listed as being in just a few episodes. On the page for Seoul Vibe, for instance, the first of the eight actors listed is some guy named Ian Kim, playing "Berkeley" in episodes 9 and 10. Kim Dong-Wook is listed fourth, as "Dongbang Yu-Bin" in "unknown episodes." Seo Hyun-Woo is listed as "Jung Jung-Hwan," but only in episode 1. You get the picture.

I've tried to fix some of these errors, but the process is cumbersome and overwhelming. IMDb supposedly does not permit actors to receive credit for dubbing alternate language versions, but the process of removing someone who shouldn't have received credit requires that you upload all kinds of documentation to support your case.

IMDb's brief bio of Kim Dong-Wook says that he's known for "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017), Take Off (2009) and The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince (2007)." Those are probably not the shows and movies I would have suggested to people interested in seeing more of his work.

While I realize that many Kdrama fans don't give a rat's patootie about IMDb listings, there are people coming to Korean dramas for the first time who may want to learn more about the shows and actors they enjoyed seeing. I wish IMDb would be willing to work with AsianWiki to make sure they get the correct credits, bios, etc. in their listings of Korean and Japanese tv and movies.