What is this, Horseville? 'Cause I'm surrounded by naysayers. Wordplay!

FINISHED. Guys? I am all about the fast-forward button. I first called upon it's powers for the last half of Prosecutor Princess and that really helped since the mystery was dullsville. It also came in handy for Coffee House which was pleasant enough, but towards the end I still wasn't that invested in the characters and just wanted to go back to watching Hotaru no Hikari 2 and Gumiho: Tale of the Fox Child.

( Spoilers for the whole shebang )

Three day weekends are the BEST. I went back to my parents' house for my little vacation and had an all around good time. There was car-washing and waxing, house cleaning (of the outside variety), shopping (and not finding anything remotely like the duvet cover I'm looking for), grilling, and drinking.

I also saw Prince of Persia with sailorgaia and it was just the fun, silly summer movie I thought it was going to be (Also saw The Last Airbender preview and it looks like it will be pretty amazing on the big screen. And that just makes me more sad about the racefail that is the casting. I also hope it keeps the humor that was such a huge part of the show). We went out to eat first at a new Asian restaurant that was pretty dead, but the sushi was good as was my udon. We also tried some sparkling sake which tasted just like sparkling wine (thus: delicious and dangerous). Anyway: Prince of Persia. I was convinced that the actor who played the older brother was someone I had seen before. But when I looked up Richard Coyle on imdb he hadn't been in anything I'd watched. Maybe he just has a face I've seen before? I don't know. But what I DID see is that he's playing Moist Von Lipwig in the TV version of Going Postal that JUST AIRED. So, I downloaded that to watch later.

Going Postal is the only Terry Pratchett book I've read (besides Good Omens, which was a collaboration) and just picked it up at the airport because I needed something to read. I enjoyed it, and maybe someday I'll read other Discworld books. Who knows, life is crazy.

I finished another book this weekend: A Game of Thrones, the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series that everyone else has read but I only heard about for the first time a couple months ago. I never read much fantasy beyond The Hobbit and the first book in the Wheel of Time series. The Eye of the World bored me when I first read it, but I think I was in 5th grade or something, so maybe I'll give it another shot?

Anyway, there was a lot about A Game of Thrones that I enjoyed. It was fun to get so immersed in that world and I'm really interested in how things are going to play out. I'm trying to remain spoiler-free for the series, so be careful if you comment.

What I didn't like about the book is how misogynistic it was. It's one thing for the world it takes place in to be sexist, it's quite another for every single female character to be either evil, crazy, useless, or a slut. I don't know how any of the households manage since all the noble men are off to war and all of the women are employed in whorehouses.

Even Catelyn, the mother of several of the main characters, who seems like a strong, capable woman, is driven to distraction by her husband's bastard son. She hates the kid, not her husband who did the cheating, the child. It's unreasonable, but well, she's a woman so it's to be expected.

The sole female character that seems to be free of all the negative female trappings is Arya. Who is what? Eight? But, she behaves more like a 'boy' so people find fault with that anyway.

Over in dramaland I decided to drop Personal Taste because it bored me, even with the kissing. I didn't care about any of the characters and I'm kind of annoyed that I made myself sit through 11 episodes. It wasn't fun or entertaining. It was a waste.

I'm in the middle of Prosecutor Princess and I don't feel AS apathetic about it as I did Personal Taste, but I'm still not that invested in it. I want to know what Lawyer Seo's deal is, but I'm mad at him for making Hye Ri sad. I'm happy to see her progressing as a prosecutor and a human being. Too bad she's the only character I care about.

I know a lot of people are giving up on Sunao ni Narenakute but that is one that I'm still enjoying. I'm not angry at Haru and Nakaji for their behavior, I think it's pretty human to have doubts. This holds more true for Haru though, since Nakaji was in what he thought was a committed relationship when he started flirting with Haru. But at the same time, their story isn't that interesting. I'd much rather learn more about Peach or Linda. Doctor is sweet, but a little too spastic for my taste.

Tsuki no Koibito is meh, and a little slow, but I'm intrigued to see where it is going. Shinohara Ryoko's character is the bright spot in that drama for me.

Finally watched the first two episodes of Coffee House and it strikes me in many ways as more light-hearted and fun TnK. You have the eccentric man, old friend, and spirited young woman. I enjoy Jin Soo more as a character than Rensuke, because while he is just as OCD (about the DUMBEST THINGS) as Rensuke, at least he tries to be charming. Eun-young isn't as much fun as Maemi, but I love how she takes on Jin-soo. Seung-yeon... I don't know. I appreciate that she's not some mindless, chipper ray of sunshine. She's just a normal girl, who is a recent graduate find it hard to get a job. But, she's not that engaging. The plot is fun and quick-moving though, so I'm enjoying it.

Randomly, I watched the first two episodes of Smiling Pasta because they were sitting on my hard drive and LOVED IT. It feels like it's been so long since I had such a strong reaction to a drama. Lately I've been bored with a lot of stuff, and just watched it because it was there. But I was bummed when I had to go to bed last night because I really enjoyed Smiling Pasta.

It's unapologetically silly and ridiculous (Xiao Shi almost gets killed by a JAVELIN on campus, luckily the boy she likes plucks it out of thin air to save her. The director also seems overly-fond of the fastforwardandzoompauserepeat camera trick WHENEVER something vaguely dramatic happens. It makes me laugh every time) but not an an annoying, completely over the top way. Xiao Shi wavers close to the line of being clumsily adorable, but never crosses it (though her family is so QUIRKY I worry they may wear thin). Instead Xiao Shi is a sweet girl, who is a little preoccupied with having a boyfriend, but isn't crazy about it. She just doesn't want to disappoint her family. And even when she finally does run into the cool popstar He Qun, she doesn't completely lose her senses. I'm pretty psyched to watch more.