C. Litka's Blog, page 53

Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds -- Korean TV Shows (Part 1)

My Sassy Girl  Image: https://www.viki.com/tv/35705c-my-sassy-girl
In this episode of an old man yelling at the clouds, I’m going to highlight a number of excellent Korean TV shows, or if you're hip enough, “K-dramas.” I must admit that despite my interest in China and Asia, I have paid no attention to Korea. It seemed like a minor player in the area, sort of a minor offshoot of China and Chinese history. And as a result, I didn’t pay much attention to its TV shows many of which are offered by Netflix. I did sample one comedy, whose name I can’t recall, but it seemed rather silly, and quickly forgot it. Later, I tried three episodes of the historical drama Mr Sunshine, but found it a bit more violent than I cared for. All that changed when, with nothing else to watch, I tried the Korean historical drama, Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung.I think I watched three episodes before I decided to invite my wife to watch with me. (I audition these shows before suggesting that she might like them as well.) In any event, it was a winner.
Ah, don’t let the silly translation of the show titles put you off. The shows are nowhere near as silly as their English titles might suggest.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung  Image: https://www.tvtime.com/en/show/364834/recommendations

Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung (16 episodes Netflix)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rookie_Historian_Goo_Hae-ryung
The story is set in the 18thcentury Korea. It, like those Chinese historical dramas, is centered around the court of the Chosen Dynasty, who employed court historians that recorded everything that went on in the court. These historians were historically independent of the King’s authority and allowed to record what was said and what they observed, impartially. In the story it is decided to add a number of female historians to the department, in part, to try to discover who is behind a perceived threat to the king. Our heroine, Goo Hae-ryung, escaping from an arranged marriage, and wanting to be something more than a wife of an official, applies and is accepted as one of these female apprentice historians.
As with all the shows that I like, Rookie Historian Goo Hau-ryung is a mixture of comedy, romance, plus mystery, intrigue, danger and drama all deftly woven together in one story. And like almost all of the shows, it is carried along by an appealing female lead. The male romantic lead is a cloistered prince who moonlights as a writer or romance novels. The story unfolds, sometimes with a lighthearted episode, and sometimes with a dark episode full of danger and/or tears as the main characters come ever closer to the central mystery of what happened a decade before to bring to power the current kings slowly comes to light.
Rookie Historian   Image: https://www.soompi.com/article/1333638wpp/astros-cha-eun-woo-and-shin-se-kyung-impress-on-1st-day-of-filming-for-rookie-historian-goo-hae-ryung

The actors, female and male, in this, and indeed, in all the Korean shows I’ll talk about are wonderful. The writing is clever, funny, and dramatic in turn – and so must be the translators as well. Compared to their Chinese counterparts, the settings are much less elaborate, and the courts less impressive, but I think the stories are tighter, and more focused.
On interesting feature of this and the following show, is that marriage is not the end all, be all of the heroine. In both, they pursue their own futures, independently of their true love.
I’d rate Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung 4 ½ stars.

Next up is another historical drama set roughly in the same time period as Rookie Historian. The name is still silly, the men still wear those silly looking hats and it still concerns intrigues of the court.

My Sassy Girl  Image: https://www.soompi.com/article/992093wpp/first-impressions-sassy-girl-drama-finally

My Sassy Girl (16 episodes Netflix)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl_(TV_series)
The heroine of this story is a princess, whose mother was supposedly killed in thwarted palace coup ten years before the beginning of the story. She is free spirited and bold, often escaping the confines of the palace. Worse for drink, she is saved from falling from a bridge by the male lead, a scholar just returned from China, and things get more complicated after that. Later, he is appointed the teacher for the princess’s little brother, and together, with much bickering in the beginning, they set out to unravel the mystery of her mother’s supposed death, and its implications in the court. Like Rookie Historian, there are lighthearted, largely comical episodes along with dark, dangerous, and dramatic episodes. Both my wife and I looked forward each evening to watching the next episode. (We limit ourselves to one a night.) Another winner.
Another 4 ½ star show.
I can highly recommend both of these shows, though it probably takes watching the first two episodes to get fully involved with the characters and the story line, but once in, I think that you’ll enjoy the ride.
Next we turn to shows set in modern Korea.

Romance is a Bonus Book  Image: https://medium.com/@togoandoreoo/reasons-why-romance-is-a-bonus-book-is-a-big-bonus-everyone-2089c80b0a78

Romance is a Bonus Book (16 episodes, Netflix)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_Is_a_Bonus_Book
The story is largely set in a small Korean publishing house, and if you like books, it is interesting just on that account alone – how books to be published are decided upon, printed, sold and, if necessary, disposed of in Korea. The story concerns a woman who took time off from work in an advertising to raise her daughter. Now divorced, she tries to get back into the business, but finds that no one wants a 30 something year old woman who is 10 years out of the business. To make ends meet, she secretly works as the housekeeper of an old friend, and when she finds herself homeless, stays in his attic as well, until discovered. Unable to get a job in her field, she applies for an internship at this friend’s publishing firm, without listing her university degree, and gets the low level job… And well, once more we have a romantic comedy, with a dollop of mystery. It is a very character focused show, with a likable ensemble cast, and without any great soap opera/melodramatic endings, like a number of other shows like this seem to think you need.
I liked it a lot. 4 ½ stars, yet again.

Something in the Rain  Image: https://heychingu.com/157/something-in-the-rain-2018

Something in the Rainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_in_the_Rain
This proved to be a darker romantic drama than I expected. It has its comedy elements, and its romance, but it has a lot more drama and heartbreak than I usually prefer. What it does have going for its female romantic lead, Son Ye-jin. Son Ye-jin is simply a wonderfully expressive actor. Here she plays a 35 year old coffee company supervisor who falls in love with her brother’s best friend, who is some 10 years younger. This romance is bitterly opposed by her mother, and most of the family, for reasons that are not quite clear to this viewer, (It might be a cultural thing that I’m missing.) and much drama and heartbreak ensues – along with drama at her office concerning pressing sexual harassment charges. Overall, not exactly my cup of tea, but certainly not bad. We watched the entire series.
On this one, I’d only give it 3 stars – but just because I like my entertainment more lighthearted.


Cinderella and the Four Knights   Image: https://www.soompi.com/article/1371147wpp/4-reasons-cinderella-and-four-knights-is-the-ultimate-guilty-pleasure

Cinderella and the Four Knights (16 episodes Netflix)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_with_Four_Knights
The premise of this show is that a very rich man has three grandsons from three different and deceased sons living in a modern mansion together, who don’t get along. Two of them are more or less jerks, one is nice, but none of them he considers suitable heirs to his wealth, as they are. One of them, on a bet, hires our heroine to play the role of his fiancee for the 5thwedding of his grandfather. The wealthy grandfather is impressed by the actions of our heroine and hires her to live in the mansion and make his grandsons better people. She accepts, needing the money to go on to college, and set out to complete the missions he assigns her. The first having all three cousins eat a meal together…
Like most of the other shows I’ve reviewed in this series, it is an enjoyable comedy/romance/soap opera. My biggest ding against this one is that it ends with a very melodramatic ending, that I didn’t think necessary. I like slice of life stories, and don’t need a dramatic ending. But I am likely in the minority on this issue.
Because I dislike melodramatic endings, I’m knocking half as star off: 3 ½ stars

Well, I see this rant has gone on longer than I had expected, and I still have one Korean show to go. It, however, is a show that I’m going to gush over, being perhaps the best show I’ve ever seen. I’m already watching it for a second time. So I think I’ll save that for its very own post, coming soon.
Romance is a Bonus Book  Image: https://aminoapps.com/c/k-drama/page/blog/romance-is-a-bonus-book-episode-8-preview/qkGs_Ru5B7be2E76omm20rRZEvpQpk7

Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds -- Taiwanese TV Shows

Office Girls image: https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/795448352904958189/

This should be a shorter piece than the last several postings, since I’m only going to discuss three Taiwanese TV shows.
The first one, Office Girls, is one of my all time favorites. It’s a 40 episode romantic comedy soap opera. It actually offers an interesting mix of genres, ranging from pure soap opera to slapstick comedy including strange sound effects, and romance, of course. But what I think sets it apart from similar shows I’ve watched, is the great acting and chemistry between the two romantic leads.
Office Girls (40 episodes Netflix)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Girls
The main “office girl” and female romantic lead Sheng Xin Ren, played by Ko Chia-yen, AKA, Alice Ko. She is a hardworking office worker in a “department store” in Taipei Taiwan. It is a rather interesting setting. The department store is more of what we would call a mall, with independent shops. However, they are all housed in something like an eight story, block-sized building like an old, traditional downtown department store. The male romantic lead, Qin Zi Qi, played by Roy Chiu, is the playboy son of the department store’s owner. After arriving back from an extended stay in the US to earn his MBA, his father insists that if he wants to inherit the business, he must put in a year’s work as a regular employee, plus live on that modest salary, and not tell anyone who he is. And so off we go, with a pampered rich boy trying to live on what he sees as next to nothing, while slowly falling in love with the office girl in his department.
What makes this show work for me is appealing characters, both lead and supporting, the quality of their acting, their onscreen chemistry, and just as importantly, the quality of the writing. As with all these types of shows, the road of romance is never straight, especially one of 40 episodes, and the story does rather veer into familiar soap opera territory towards the end. Still, for me, the characters and their acting are more than enough to carry me along, even if I think things become a little soapier than I’d like. My wife loved the show as well, and as far as I’m concerned, this is is light, escapist entertainment at its best. Five stars.
The second Taiwanese show is another comedy/romance/soap opera. There seem to be dozens of them from Taiwan on Netflix. This one is called Miss Rose, and features Roy Chiu once again as the male romantic lead, paired with a new female lead played by Megan Lai.

Miss Rose   Image: https://whatsnewonnetflix.com/usa/12705/miss-rose-2015
Miss Rose (35 episodes Netflix)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Rose
Megan Lai plays an office worker who gets entangled with Roy Chiu’s character, a high powered business man, and a long romance ensues, tangled, with a plot line of corporate intrigue. The mean girl from Office Girlsplays Megan Lai’s nice best friend in this show, and several other actors from Office Girls make their appearances in this show as well. We both enjoyed it, though its not quite as good as Office Girls, so four stars.
As I mentioned, there are a ton of other Taiwanese shows similar these two, and I’ve sampled several more, some with actors from those two shows. One was Bromance which stared Megan Lai From Miss Rose, who played a girl raised as a boy, unconvincingly so. And as the plot soon veered into a rather unbelievable course, I gave up on that one after episode 3. I’ve watched the first episode or two of several more that either failed to hook me, or that I felt I’d wait to continue until I could watch them with my wife.
The last show in this post is La Grande Chaumiere Violette. Now this is not a romantic/comedy/soap opera, but rather, a historical drama – which happens to star Alice Ko (Ko Chia-yen) of Office Girls fame, which is enough to get me to watch it.

La Grande Chaumiere Violette  image: https://uk.newonnetflix.info/info/81020668
La Grande Chaumiere Violette (22 episodes Netflix)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6158540/
The story is told in flashbacks from the 1980’s. It tells the story of a group of famous Taiwanese artists from the late 1920’s to the 1940’s. During most of this era, Taiwan was the Japanese colony of Formosa, and its people were treated as second class citizens. The show tells the stories of these artists set against the backdrop of repression by the Japanese, and the political unrest as a consequence of it. Then, after the Japanese defeat in WWll, they are occupied by the Nationalist Chinese from the mainland, which prove to be just as bad if not worse than the Japanese. As such, it is not quite my usual light entertainment, but since it concerns art, tea, (the point of view character’s family owns a tea business) and Alice Ko, I watched and enjoyed it. Four stars.
There are still many Taiwanese TV shows to sample, when I have the time. But for now, my next reviews will feature TV shows from Korea – “K-Dramas” – including another of my all time favorite shows.

Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds – Chinese TV Shows

Rookie Agent Rouge Image:  https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/rookie-agent-rouge
When I want entertainment, I look for lighthearted, escapist entertainment. I don’t need drama in my life. Adventure, mystery, intrigue, humor, and romance, when handled deftly, are always welcome, at least in books and shows. I value, clever, witty writing, plotting, and good acting. I dislike gaping plot holes, trite, and predictable stories.
I like spending my time in the company of likable characters. Life is too short to put up with jerks, even in books and TV shows. Some unpleasant characters might be unavoidable as antagonists, but as long as I have pleasant characters to carry the story along, I’ll put up with a few rotten eggs. Some of the rotten eggs might even be redeemable.
I like stories that take their time in the telling. Stories that give me a chance to know the characters. I often find that good characters are usually more interesting that the story.
Plus I appreciate high production values – in sets, scenery, costumes, and cinematography.
These are the characteristics that I judge a show, or a book by. Right. On with the reviews.
The first two shows listed below served as my introduction to Chinese TV. They exhibit many of the chief characteristics of Chinese TV shows that I’ve observed over time.
These characteristics include intricate, 20 to 50 hour long, stories. They fall into the soap opera formula, featuring a number of plot threads woven into one long story. They’re in no rush, and will half a minute with nothing more than a character silently pondering his or her situation. Romance is a slow, slow burn. Plus, they are not afraid to make a mix of genres, with drama, action, romance and comedy alternating throughout the story. Another characteristic is that the male lead is of the strong, silent variety. He says very little. Heck, if he ever said what he was thinking, they could cut the number of episodes in half. On the downside, the stories may run a tad too long, and the endings are a bit over the top, at least to my tastes. And well, they have lame titles in translation.
Rather than summarizing the shows myself, I’ve included links that will take you to the wikapedia entry for all the TV shows I mention.
The Disguiser Image: http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-disguiser-episode-11-recap.html

Rookie Agent Rouge (Netflix – not currently available) 45 episodes.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rookie_Agent_RougeThe Disguiser (Netflix – not currently available) 41 episodes.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disguiser
Both of these shows stories of the Chinese resistance to the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and northern China in the late 1930’s to early 1940’s. Rookie Agent Rouge has a rather pulp story feel to it, while the Disguiser, based on a novel, portrays more of the political aspects of the situation. Both shows show the harsh, and often cruel, nature of this occupation, with torture being the fate of any enemy of Japan.
I enjoyed both of these shows, and I’d rate them 4 stars out of 5
The Rise of Phoenixes  Image: https://meaww.com/the-rise-of-phoenixes-fans-reveal-makes-this-netflix-c-drama-beloved-all-over-the-world

The next two shows I watched were also historical dramas, but this time set in ancient China. A China that is probably more fantasy than historic. They are:
The Rise of Phoenixes (Netflix 70 episodes)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_PhoenixesThe Princess Weiyoung (Netflix 54 episodes)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Weiyoung
The Princess Weiyoung  Image: https://zuriest.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/chinese-drama-the-princess-weiyoung/

These shows set in the imperial court or surrounding palaces, and mostly involve court intrigues. Since Chinese emperors had not only a wife but many concubines, they had numerous of sons – all of whom, it seems, wanted to be the next emperor. And who don’t mind bumping off their step brothers to clear their path to the dragon throne. Since they had to conceal their actions from their father, their deadly schemes needed be elaborate, making for much of the drama and intrigue in these shows.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I enjoyed science fiction for its exotic locales, and these versions of ancient China, with their exotic costumes, customs, along with the occasional kung-fu movie style of action, they manage to create a very exotic setting for their stories. Heck, I enjoy seeing all the exotic costumes and interior designs of these shows offer the viewer.
The romantic leads in The Rise of Phoenixes, one is just dressed up like a man... Can you tell who?
Image; https://ninja-reflection.com/2018/10/01/rise-phoenixes-novel-ending-ii/

I like my stories to be semi-realistic, without gaping plot holes. However, if I like a show, I’ll cut it some slack, as for example in The Rise of Phoenixes where the female lead does her hair differently, and dresses like a man (though there isn’t all that much difference) to pass herself off as a man. Realistically, this would only work in a kingdom of the blind. But it’s all in good fun.
I’d rate both these shows 4 stars out of 5 as well.
There are many more shows along these lines on Netflix, many of them pure Chinese fantasy, complete with supernatural beings, demons,gods, and all kinds of beings in between. I’ve sampled several, but most are too strange for me. I can, however recommend trying the one listed below.
The Legend of White Snake  Image: https://www.viki.com/tv/36277c-the-legend-of-white-snake

The Legend of White Snake (Netflix 36 episodes)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_White_Snake_(2019_TV_series)
It had some strange, supernatural elements, but it also had interesting and likable characters as well. Another 4 out of 5 show.
Leaving the past behind, we come to stories set in modern China, which, as I mentioned in previous post, is a very futuristic place, since many of its major cities have been largely built within the 21st century. With these contemporary shows I find it interesting to note the cultural differences and similarities between China and the West.
Many of these stories are set within the upper 1% of the Chinese society. You see a lot of wealth on display in these shows – mansions and luxury flats, expensive foreign cars, and high class restaurants. I may have missed some of the gritter shows, but still, for a communist country, they seem to like celebrating their wealth in their TV shows.
I also found the glimpse of college life and life in the dorms rather interesting as well. It is these little glimpses of real life that I find fascinating. From the shows Netflix serves up to me, there are a whole lot of Chinese YA and college age shows. I’ve sampled a few, but that’s not really my thing.
When a Snail Falls in Love  Image: https://blog.onehallyu.com/drama-review-snail-falls-love/
When a Snail Falls in Love (Netflix 16 episodes)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_a_Snail_Falls_in_Love
This show is part mystery, part police procedural, part adventure, and part romance. I enjoyed all the parts.Again, 4 out of 5 stars.
Next, are the two soap opera style, romantic comedies that I and my wife have watched to their conclusions.
Well Intended Love   Image: https://pikdo.info/p/coupletaichi_/2131893516545024143_14013427399

Well Intended Love (Netflix 20 episodes)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-Intended_Love
Put Your Head On My Shoulder (Netflix 24 episodes)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Put_Your_Head_on_My_Shoulder_(TV_series)
As I mentioned before, the male romantic lead is the strong, silent type which drags out the romance. My feeling is that these stories run a little too long. Well Intended Love had kind of a creepy premise, and a very over the top ending that seemed entirely out of place. I liked the characters, which is my first priority in a show. Put Your Head On My Shoulder is an example of a college romance story.
I’d give them, almost, 4 out of 5 stars, their run times and endings drag them down a bit.
Put Your Head on My Shoulder   Image; https://www.justwatch.com/ee/tv-show/put-your-head-on-my-shoulder

But as I said, there are many more similar romance/comedy shows from China involving young people to choose from on Netflix.
One last show, that I’ve watched, but not to its end, is The King’s Avatar. If you are into computer games, you might be interested in this show as it concerns professional esports players and teams in China. It has “in game” play in the show, and lots of intrigues within and between the teams and such. I’m not into video games, but it does have the key ingredient that I like in a story – likable characters. If I run out of shows, I might continue on with it.
The King’s Avatarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King%27s_Avatar_(2019_web_series)
The King's Avatar  Image: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10732794/

Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds – Asian TV (Part 1)

Image credit:https://ninja-reflection.com/2018/09/24/rise-phoenixes-novel-ending/

After trashing the TV sf show, Vagrant Queen, in the last post, I’m going to tell the clouds about something positive this time around. I’m going to talk about how much I enjoy Asian TV shows, mainly Chinese and Korean TV shows – and why.
But first, a little background on how I came to discover them. I can draw a direct line back sixty years to grade school, and to the fact that I can not memorize by rote. I could not, and still can not, spell words, because spelling, in English, anyway, makes no sense. Rules have been broken at will, (though you dare not try it yourself) and a word’s spelling is not necessarily connected to its modern, or its regional pronunciation. Correct spelling can only be achieved by rote memorization. See Dr Gerard Nolste Trenite’s poem “The Chaos” here: https://the-digital-reader.com/2020/03/03/if-you-can-correctly-pronounce-every-word-in-this-poem-actually-most-people-can/
But enough of that, I’m trying to remain positive in this post. However, I must also mention that to pass a language class in high school, rote memorization was also necessary, at least back in my day. I failed freshman year Spanish in high school, and so I had to take five semesters of a foreign language in college. Given that I could not spell English, it seemed unlikely that I would be able to correctly spell French or German words correctly, (Spanish was a non-starter after my high school experience.) even if I had managed to memorize enough of the grammar to have a chance of passing any test. Faced with this reality, I signed up for Chinese.
Spelling was not a problem in Chinese. True, I had to rote memorize characters, but they, at least, appealed to my artistic side, and how they were constructed was interesting as well. (And since our professors were Taiwanese, we were learning the original characters, not the simplified ones from Mao’s mainland China.) However, I found, as I went along, that Chinese grammar is nice and simple. There are no tenses in Chinese. You simply say when the action occurred without changing the word, i.e. “I yesterday go, I today go, I tomorrow go.” Plus, there is no male or female words, or different social caste conventions, and other such nonsense. The spoken language did depend on how one said the word – it could have four different meanings depending on how it was pronounced – so one has to train one’s ears to catch the subtle differences in the four tones. Still, all in all, it had, for me, a lot of advantages over most other languages. Not, mind you that I was any good at it, for I wasn’t. But, it had one other advantage in 1968 – China was still under Mao and was not playing the large role in the world as it now plays – so that the East Asian department at the University of Wisconsin, wanted students, and was reluctant to flunk them out. Where the French or German departments would’ve had me out on my ear, I managed to get my five semesters in, more or less on the basis that at least I was trying… So I was able to earn a BA in international relations, in which I took all the course I could on China and East Asia, because I knew then, as I know today, that China would be the central power of the 21st century. I did not pursue a career in the foreign service – I didn’t have the right connections, wasn’t motivated enough, and well, it was 1972 and I was not in agreement on how America conducted its foreign policy – and probably will never be.
So, fast forward 40 some years and I discovered some Mandarin language TV shows on Netflix, and decided to give one a try –if only to hear the spoken language to pick out the six words I remembered from two and a half years of college Chinese. And I discovered that I liked the way the Chinese told their stories on TV for a number of reasons.
One of the major reasons is, to put it in a nutshell; they take their time telling stories. One of the first shows I watched was set in Shanghai in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s when the Japanese occupied the city. It was a story of Chinese collaboration and resistance to the Japanese occupation, and was based on a novel. The TV show from this novel probably had a running time of around 35 hours. I liked that they took the time to establish characters and motivations, and allow those characters and their motivations play out over time. The Chinese shows generally have about 40+ episodes of 45 minutes to an hour each. I could watch one a day for a month and a half, allowing it to play out like a soap opera. I doubt that this pace is for everyone, but it is for me – in most cases. I have found that some shows do seem to drag things out and run too long to fill in their time slot, especially the romantic comedies, but still, I’d rather them err on the side of longer than shorter. The Korean shows, on the other hand, run 16 episodes of an hour or more, which is a little more manageable.
The second major reason I enjoy Asian shows is that they portray a different society. Stories set in an exotic world was, and is one, of the major draws of science fiction for me. Stories set in China, and Korea, be it ancient or modern, are set in an exotic world. Neither country scrimps on sets or costumes when they shot a historical show, and their modern settings are both familiar and different at the same time. Chinese cities look like 21st century cities – cities of the future – because they are. And the Korean shows show a lot of different cityscapes, from ultra modern to picturesque neighborhoods with houses seeming piled one on top of the other.
But of course, the differences don’t stop with architecture. I find it fascinating to observe all the little cultural differences as well, from the food they eat, and how they eat it, how they dress and the various social customs these shows display.
For example, one thing all the Chinese shows seem to have in common, is that when one of the characters gets hurt, say a skinned knee, another character will show how much they care for them, by treating their injury, be it only dressing it and putting on the bandage. You can count on someone getting injured and treated by their romantic opposite in every Chinese show. Another way of showing kindness and affection, is giving a person a piece of food. The Chinese each have a bowl of rice, with all the main course of the meal set in the middle of the table. Everyone uses their chopstick to pick out pieces of these dishes to eat, or to place in the rice bowl of the person they wish to show their regard or affection for. It is also, apparently, not considered impolite to speak with your mouth full, and both the Chinese and Korean shows often have characters talking as they eat. And eating very eagerly apparently shows one’s appreciation for the food and hospitality. In short, there are plenty of these little cultural differences to make the shows just that much more interesting. Another surprising thing is how often an English word or phrase is used on conversation, often to emphasis a point – illustrating how common English language in school must be. Americans, at any rate, rarely, if at all, insert a foreign word into their conversations, unless it is that German word one uses when someone sneezes. Which I can’t spell.
Another thing I like about Asian shows is that they take their time to develop their romances. Romance is almost always a very slow burn. Kissing is very rare in Chinese shows. When people are jumping into bed in western shows, the Chinese may be experiencing their first kiss, if that. I’m a fan of the chase in romances, and the chase in these Asian shows is a long, sometimes rocky, sometimes sweet one.
Oh, well, I guess I’ve gone on long enough, talking to the clouds. So to sum up this installment; I like Asian TV shows because they take their time to develop characters and tell a story, I like that they are set in exotic lands, and that, after several hundred hours of watching Chinese shows, I sometimes don’t need the subtitles…
In my next episode of this series, I will tell the clouds about the shows that I've watched, really liked or loved and can recommend.
Image credit: https://www.thailandtatler.com/style/chopard-steals-the-show-in-crash-landing-on-you 

Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds -- Vagrant Queen

IntroductionAs an old man of some 70 years, I'm now an elder of society. And as an elder of society, I believe I've the right to yell at the clouds. Hell, as an old man of 70 I've nothing better to do than yell at the clouds. For all the good it will do. And with nothing more to write about my writing, for now, I might as well use this blog to yell at those damn clouds. So this is my first post in a new series of what I shall call, well, let’s see… Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds.
Image: Syfy Vagrant Queen 1st episode
First in the series is, the syfy TV show called the Vagrant Queen, which is (allegedly) a science fiction show. Sysf description of the show:
With civilization at stake, it’s one queen, a deadbeat and a mechanic against a whole damn galaxy. Buckle up, because you're in for a wild ride, when  Vagrant Queen  premieres Friday, March 27 at 10/9c
The 10-episode series follows Elida (Adriyan Rae) from child queen to orphaned outcast, as she scavenges the treacherous corners of the galaxy, always one step ahead of the Republic government out to extinguish her bloodline. When her old friend Isaac ( Tim Rozon ) shows up claiming her mother Xevelyn is still alive, they head off with their new ally, Amae (Alex McGregor), to stage a rescue that will take her back into the perilous heart of her former kingdom and up against a deadly foe from her childhood, Commander Lazaro (Paul du Toit).The first two episodes have been released on Youtube, which allowed me not only to view them, but to tell you just how bad they are, from my viewing of episode one and ten minutes of the second. Ten minutes into the second episode proved to me my limit. I’m not going to do a full recap. Watch’em if you care to.The first episode opens with a ruin in a desert (wow! original) with the title character, our ex-queen now working asa scavenger. One point here, at least the hero is not a bounty hunter. She had justdiscovered a macguffin of some value when she is ambushed by two other scavengers. Who talk a lot, like villains do until she shoots them. One, at least, in cold blood. She’s a hard boiled scavenger. Then we’re off to a space station, with lots of aliens and bars. No points here for originality. Straight out of Firefly, and likely countless othersf shows. (Firefly is about the only one I’ve seen…) She doesn’t get what she expects to get for her macguffin, and well, her ship is a piece of sh*t and needs repairs that she can ill (or not) afford to get done. Next we see some lighthearted shots of some guys playing strip-something, and a lesbian mechanic, before a vast Republic space ship appears announcing that the authorities are boarding the space station to search for a fugitive, our hard boiled ex-queen/scavenger. A shuttle, tiny compared to the great ship, departs from the vast space ship and heads to space station, with a comical villain in command of a pack of storm troopers in black, apparently with three eyes. Those three eyes buys them half a point. The search for our hero aboard the space station occupies the next 40 some minutes, ending in a gun battle as our hero and her new found companions, try to reachher piece of sh*t ship to escape. The battle just comes to a screeching haltwhen the comical Republic villain appears. Everyone just stops shooting so that theycan stand around talking, which villains love to do. I don’t know why our hard boiled hero doesn’t just shot him, since he’s just standing there… but I guess… well, I guess he has a contract for 10 episodes. In the end, a dog-boy alien seems to sacrifice his life so that our heroes can escape in their ship. The comical villain is just left standing there, frustrated. When one of his men suggest that he contact his superiors about what happened, the villain shots him. Our comical villain is also hard boiled. As an aside, I have always wondered why storm troopers wear armor when it provides absolutely no protection. Or why storm troopers don’t shoot pathologically ruthless officers in the back as soon as they turn around and simply claim they were shot in the course of the action. Anyways back to the escape. It goes without a hitch, because that vast Republic spaceship -- remember it? Well, the writers didn't, because it is gone. Not anywhere to be found. I guess it was too inconvenient. I mean, how could they escape if it was still around? It would require some clever idea and writing, which is nowhere to be found here.Episode two has them landing on a planet to make repairs to their sh*tty ship. It opens with them landing on this planet. I will admit that I did not see the threads that had to have been holding up the little model that they were using to film the scene. But that's about all. It looked every bit as real as a Flash Gordon serial out of the 1930’s.  Sorry, no points. To repair the ship they need to get some gas. I kid you not. They go off with a 20 gallon container to collect some gas from a wrecked space ship nearby. Yah, in this future, I guess space ships run on gas, just like your Honda. Huh, who would’ve thunk that? I wonder how many lightyears to the gallon do spaceships get?While getting the gas, our hero is attacked by a guy in a monkey suit with extra long arms. Our hard boiled ex-queen/scavenger shoots him or her. This was about ten minutes into the show, or maybe a little less, and well, it was all I could watch. I’m 70 years old. I don’t have the time to waste watching one of the dumbest shows I’ve ever seen.But wait! Maybe, I’m seeing it all wrong. Maybe it is actually a campy comedy! It has all the earmarks of one -- utterly lame, complete with cheesy special effects -- everything was very pre-Star Wars, maybe even pre-Star Trek. The dialog was certainly lame, the jokes, even lamer. The writing in general was pretty much cut and paste from other sf shows, without even bothering to make any sense of it. It is hard to see, in the finished product, that anyone cared about it at all. Certainly not the writers, nor the showrunners, the producers, or the network. Maybe the actors did, though they played like a camp comedy. But then again, aren't camp comedies shows that tried, and failed miserably, to be taken seriously. They ain’t even trying in this one.The first two episodes are free on Youtube. Be sure and let me know if I’m wrong.

Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds #1

IntroductionAs an old man of some 70 years, I'm now an elder of society. And as an elder of society, I believe I've the right to yell at the clouds. Hell, as an old man of 70 I've nothing better to do than yell at the clouds. For all the good it will do. And with nothing more to write about my writing, for now, I might as well use this blog to yell at those damn clouds. So this is my first post in a new series of what I shall call, well, let’s see… Remarks and Observations Directed at the Clouds.
Image: Syfy Vagrant Queen 1st episode
First in the series is, the syfy TV show called the Vagrant Queen, which is (allegedly) a science fiction show. Sysf description of the show:
With civilization at stake, it’s one queen, a deadbeat and a mechanic against a whole damn galaxy. Buckle up, because you're in for a wild ride, when  Vagrant Queen  premieres Friday, March 27 at 10/9c
The 10-episode series follows Elida (Adriyan Rae) from child queen to orphaned outcast, as she scavenges the treacherous corners of the galaxy, always one step ahead of the Republic government out to extinguish her bloodline. When her old friend Isaac ( Tim Rozon ) shows up claiming her mother Xevelyn is still alive, they head off with their new ally, Amae (Alex McGregor), to stage a rescue that will take her back into the perilous heart of her former kingdom and up against a deadly foe from her childhood, Commander Lazaro (Paul du Toit).The first two episodes have been released on Youtube, which allowed me not only to view them, but to tell you just how bad they are, from my viewing of episode one and ten minutes of the second. Ten minutes into the second episode proved to me my limit. I’m not going to do a full recap. Watch’em if you care to.The first episode opens with a ruin in a desert (wow! original) with the title character, our ex-queen now working asa scavenger. One point here, at least the hero is not a bounty hunter. She had justdiscovered a macguffin of some value when she is ambushed by two other scavengers. Who talk a lot, like villains do until she shoots them. One, at least, in cold blood. She’s a hard boiled scavenger. Then we’re off to a space station, with lots of aliens and bars. No points here for originality. Straight out of Firefly, and likely countless othersf shows. (Firefly is about the only one I’ve seen…) She doesn’t get what she expects to get for her macguffin, and well, her ship is a piece of sh*t and needs repairs that she can ill (or not) afford to get done. Next we see some lighthearted shots of some guys playing strip-something, and a lesbian mechanic, before a vast Republic space ship appears announcing that the authorities are boarding the space station to search for a fugitive, our hard boiled ex-queen/scavenger. A shuttle, tiny compared to the great ship, departs from the vast space ship and heads to space station, with a comical villain in command of a pack of storm troopers in black, apparently with three eyes. Those three eyes buys them half a point. The search for our hero aboard the space station occupies the next 40 some minutes, ending in a gun battle as our hero and her new found companions, try to reachher piece of sh*t ship to escape. The battle just comes to a screeching haltwhen the comical Republic villain appears. Everyone just stops shooting so that theycan stand around talking, which villains love to do. I don’t know why our hard boiled hero doesn’t just shot him, since he’s just standing there… but I guess… well, I guess he has a contract for 10 episodes. In the end, a dog-boy alien seems to sacrifice his life so that our heroes can escape in their ship. The comical villain is just left standing there, frustrated. When one of his men suggest that he contact his superiors about what happened, the villain shots him. Our comical villain is also hard boiled. As an aside, I have always wondered why storm troopers wear armor when it provides absolutely no protection. Or why storm troopers don’t shoot pathologically ruthless officers in the back as soon as they turn around and simply claim they were shot in the course of the action. Anyways back to the escape. It goes without a hitch, because that vast Republic spaceship -- remember it? Well, the writers didn't, because it is gone. Not anywhere to be found. I guess it was too inconvenient. I mean, how could they escape if it was still around? It would require some clever idea and writing, which is nowhere to be found here.Episode two has them landing on a planet to make repairs to their sh*tty ship. It opens with them landing on this planet. I will admit that I did not see the threads that had to have been holding up the little model that they were using to film the scene. But that's about all. It looked every bit as real as a Flash Gordon serial out of the 1930’s.  Sorry, no points. To repair the ship they need to get some gas. I kid you not. They go off with a 20 gallon container to collect some gas from a wrecked space ship nearby. Yah, in this future, I guess space ships run on gas, just like your Honda. Huh, who would’ve thunk that? I wonder how many lightyears to the gallon do spaceships get?While getting the gas, our hero is attacked by a guy in a monkey suit with extra long arms. Our hard boiled ex-queen/scavenger shoots him or her. This was about ten minutes into the show, or maybe a little less, and well, it was all I could watch. I’m 70 years old. I don’t have the time to waste watching one of the dumbest shows I’ve ever seen.But wait! Maybe, I’m seeing it all wrong. Maybe it is actually a campy comedy! It has all the earmarks of one -- utterly lame, complete with cheesy special effects -- everything was very pre-Star Wars, maybe even pre-Star Trek. The dialog was certainly lame, the jokes, even lamer. The writing in general was pretty much cut and paste from other sf shows, without even bothering to make any sense of it. It is hard to see, in the finished product, that anyone cared about it at all. Certainly not the writers, nor the showrunners, the producers, or the network. Maybe the actors did, though they played like a camp comedy. But then again, aren't camp comedies shows that tried, and failed miserably, to be taken seriously. They ain’t even trying in this one.The first two episodes are free on Youtube. Be sure and let me know if I’m wrong.

Sailing to Redoubt is now FREE on Amazon

I'm happy to report that Amazon has honored my request to price match other ebook stores and has reduced the price of Sailing to Redoubt to FREE once again. Thank you, Amazon. They had been offering it for free until several months ago. It is their choice, and I decided not to kick when they dropped price matching. I wanted to see how many copies I would sell at $.99. The short answer is not many, but some... Thanks to all that purchased it!

The Prisoner of Cimlye is now FREE on Amazon

I'm happy to report that, after sending the links to the other ebook sites which listed The Prisoner of Cimlye as a free book, Amazon kindly reduced the price of their version to free as well. Much appreciated. However, I also sent them links showing that Sailing to Redoubt was free as well, and of this writing they haven't reduced its price to free. Still, one mustn't look gift horses in the mouth. $.99 is a modest price, and for that you can pick up both books in the series -- 150K words of adventure and romance. A bargain.

The Prisoner of Cimlye is Now Available!

I am happy to announce that the sequel/epilogue to Sailing to Redoubt, The Prisoner of Cimlye has been released via Smashwords, Google Play, and Amazon on 2 April 2020. My kind beta readers returned their corrections very promptly and everything else went along without a hitch, so I was able to release this book well before the time frame I had originally envisioned.

The Prisoner of Cimlye ebook verion is priced at FREE on Smashwords (Apple, Kobo, & B & N), and Google Play. It is currently priced at $.99 on Amazon. We'll see if they will price match the FREE price once all the other editions are up and can be linked to. I will update this post if they do.

The trade paperback version will also be available for $9.00 from Amazon and other booksellers.

As for the story told in The Prisoner of Cimlye:

The best laid plans “gang aft agley” as Robert Burns noted.
As did the hopes of Sella, Lessie, the Meys, and Taef Lang.
The Prisoner of Cimlye, a novel of some 54,000 words, is the sequel to Sailing to Redoubt. It takes up the story of Sella, Lessie, and Taef six months after the end of that first Tropic Sea novel, and ties up many of the loose ends left dangling at the close of that story.
For instance, was Lieutenant Taef Lang able to convince his commanding officer that duty required him to spend several months sailing the Tropic Sea in a 12 meter yacht with two beautiful girls – the delightful Sella and her twin sister, the less than delightful Lessie? And what did that powerful premonition Taef felt when the dour Lessie shyly waved goodbye to him foreshadow? And, of course, how did the governments of the three continents of the world react to the message that they carried back from Redoubt Island? Indeed, were Sella and Lessie able to convince their angry Grandfather to forgive them for so often making a fool of him, and welcome the new age that that message promised?
The answers to these and many other questions and mysteries can be found in the pages of The Prisoner of Cimlye, A Romance of the Tropic Sea. 

I would like to thank my proof and beta readers for their work in making this book possible; Sally Litka, Hannes Bimbacher, Dale Shamp, Joe Saur, and Walt. Thank you, I appreciate all that you have contributed to making this book the best that it can be.

Sketch Map for The Prisoner of Cimlye

The view from Seaview House
I avoid putting maps in my ebook editions for several reasons. The first is that I don't know how they will display on both tablets and ebook readers.  And second, and perhaps more importantly, unlike a book where you can just flip back to the front of it to glace at the map, when needed, it seems a lot more work to do that on an ebook reader or tablet. I'm certain it is possible, and perhaps easy for readers adept at ebook readers, but well, I just prefer posting my maps here on blog, which can then be downloaded and printed out, if you, dear reader, wants them at hand.

Below is the rather simple map necessary for The Prisoner of Cimlye. It is just a detail from the larger maps of the Tropic Sea found in Sailing to Redoubt and here on my blog:
https://clitkabooks.blogspot.com/2019/03/maps-for-sailing-to-redoubt.html

Sketch Chart for The Prisoner of Cimlye