Liebster Award – Silent Future | The A-Philosopher's Chair

Kwon Sang Seung, a drama blogger with a gregarious online personality, has generously nominated an astounding record of 17 blogs for the above award!!! I’m saying “online” not because I think he’s really a different person offline but because I’m agreeing with this quote posted by another blogger, which says we should not delude ourselves into thinking that we understand people more than we actually do:

“Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don’t know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right. But the truth is, that isn’t you. That isn’t you at all.”
– Attributed by netizens to Leila Sales, This Song Will Save Your Life (2013).

And so, to truly know each other a little bit more, here’s the response:

To repeat, many variations of the rules have been floating around on the web, but I will just go along with the first version I have received. In CapriquariusMei’s words, the rules are:

Each nominee must have under 200 followers
Thank and link to the nominating blog
Answer their 10 questions and propose 10 new ones for your nominees
Nominate 10 blogs and tell them that they’ve been nominated
Write a post containing the questions
Include these rules in the post

Kwon Sang Seung’s questions:

1) With Ga In’s choreography in Paradise Lost MV i think paradise was found, do you love Ga In? If not, why?! Confess your thoughts to me.

apqaria’s opinion is also mine.

2) When you can’t think of a proper question what do you actually do? Silence is gold or silence is a burden? Or the truth lies somewhere in the middle?

Oh dear, the question I sent out has now come back to me! Well, there’s something off-putting about asking questions for the sake of asking questions, so silence is golden. There’s been talk about how modern people have to learn how to be comfortable with quietness and solitude anyway. But if you’re talking about award questions, there is so much we can probe about dramas and people’s lives (mwahaha?), so I think what you really need is to take a mental break and come back naturally recharged with more questions.

3) South of the border or west of the sun?

West of the sun. You’ll most likely find yourself west of the sun even if you go south of the border. It seems that geography patterns apply to relationships too. The past is probably romanticized.

4) How many dramas are you currently watching? And which ones?

At this very moment? None at all. 😦

5) Is there a comeback from the world of Asian pop that you highly expect or want to happen?

I don’t have a real comeback in mind but some people would like Jay Chou’s songs to regain their magic again. Although I’m not one of his fans, I rather admire how the songs infused themes from ancient oriental literature (including references to a classic text on herbal medicine!) and culture, futuristic elements, Western classical music and stuff as diverse as Spanish guitar, bossa nova and sound effects from everyday life (e.g. ping pong balls 😀 ). I have not been listening to his recent works but one critic lamented that they have become too commercial and repetitive. You’ll have to tell me how true that is.

6) Did you ever feel like Yo Na? If yes, would you be able to confess your guilty feelings to me?

Huh? In what way? ^^ If someone ever really felt like Yo Na, s/he would probably charge straight to the girl/guy’s home to announce his/her crush and propose right there! That’s what I loved about Yo Na: she knew her time was limited and wasted none of it hemming and hawing. I felt sorry for Oh Ri-on though. It’s not like men do not have bodily dignity. -.-“

Update: Well, the above rambling was more of Yo-seob’s confession of sibling love. =P Mr. X has a confession to make on behalf of everyone, which would include Yo-Na: 64 Minds (shameless plug? Ha.).

7) Take for example The Girl Who Sees Smells, whether you watch it or not, which weird drama ability would you like to possess?

I’ve already mentioned the shapeshifting and self-cloning abilities from Jeon Woo-chi. Of course, Oh Cho-rim’s smell-seeing power would be cool too!

8) Movies like 2046, In the Mood for Love and Lust, Caution are some of my favorites of all time, what do you think of them? Are you expecting The Crossing as much as i do?

They say that people who don’t know history will repeat it. But I think Chinese-language films have focused too much on mythical and historical pieces. People can’t be living in the past all the time. There’s a need for more forward-looking productions like those churned out in truckloads from Hollywood that prompt us to think about where exactly we want to go and how differently we should be living in the decades and centuries ahead. That’s why I appreciate how 2046 is refreshingly set in the far future, in a very different world.

My gripe, though, is that even in Hollywood, films set in the future tend to be rather bleak. While there are justifiable concerns about politics, climate warning and artificial intelligence, I wonder how much of it is due to the human fear of the unknown and foreign? Is there really that little we can look forward to in our remaining journey?

9) Any idea on how recaps could take less time?

I don’t do normal recaps but I would like to “recap” literature, art and ideas featured in dramas as soon as they are aired. So far, doing so would entail compromising on many areas, like cutting out the analysis part entirely, which I do not want. The fastest turnaround time I’ve managed is 1.5 weeks after the broadcast date, for the two Mask posts published to date.

I guess if speed cannot be helped, we should try to take pride in quality. But I see that your latest Beloved Eun-dong recap was posted just three days after the broadcast, which is a decent time frame to me. Any faster, you’ll probably have to do it full time!

10) “Omona omona” they are doing some sort of chincha dance next to the singer, let’s join all together and form an MV. Seriously now, do you like trot music? Did you like the song?

Trot has never been my cup of tea, but I’ve read responses to your chincha dance question so many times that I’m looking forward to that MV of all drama bloggers united for the dance. When will it be out? Can I have autographs to go with the album? 😀

11) Saranghaeso mianhae, saranghaeso mianhae! Did you enjoy the song? But apart from that, did you catch yourself secretly singing along?

Maybe yes if this band sings it!

My last nominees are:

9. Hiking Research (“Connecting people to the restorative power of nature”)

10. Inquiry Into Inquiry (Logic, mathematics and philosophy. Think logical theories are unconnected to dramas? Think again.)

My questions:

1. A golden sunset, the starry heavens, or a starless night sky?

2. Which literary or screen figures have been most like sunlight to you?

3. Which real-life figures have been most like sunlight to you?

4. What is the first word someone says to you in the morning and what is the first word you utter in the morning? (This is a question I’ve asked before, but since I’m quite curious about the answer, I’m posing it again.)

5. A small glint of golden light is emitting from a window at the top of a tall tower. Another is peeking out from underneath a pebble. Yet another comes from the iris of a woman’s eye. One more beckons to you from the bottom of a lagoon. A final one zips past you from the glittery feathers of a swallow darting by. If you must follow one, which source of light do you go after?

6. If there is a novel or drama titled That Autumn, The Sun Slept, what do you imagine it to be about? (And for drama lovers, who do you hope will be the leads?)

7. Do you prefer serving your blog sunny-side up, over light, over medium, over well or over hard?

8. The times of sunrise and sunset can be calculated through the following equation:

cos(ω_o) = -tan(φ)×tan(δ)

where ω_o is the hour angle at either sunrise (negative value) or sunset (positive value), φ is the latitude, and δ is the sun declination. All variables are in degrees.

If success or a significant other were a sun, what do you think the equation for the start and end of a challenge or relationship would be like?

9. What is the greatest source of hope you see in the current global conflicts?

10. Who has been the greatest influence behind your blog?

Again, while I’m interested to know what you think, there is no pressure to answer the questions or in any way respond to the nominations. If a question is too time-consuming, you are welcome to skip it.

Next up, response to the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award nomination by Blue!

[Published on July 15, 2015.]