The Ordinary Jackpot

tags: Korean dramedy 

ongoing Monday and Tuesday

Things rarely change, but everything began to change. Eun Tae, who has been working as an ordinary employee, is burnt out from everything that happens to him. Everything from work to relationships with others, his life is filled with boredom. Suddenly, he becomes a lottery winner and gets 1.3 billion won. While it is a huge amount, realistically, it is hard for him to even purchase his own house in Seoul. After reviewing everything, he decides to live his life as he used to, but with a somewhat different mindset, as he has "insurance" that he can depend on.

This new Kdrama is different from the typical romcom dramedy. It looks like there won't be romance. Thank you writers. 

The lead male is getting fed up with being a salaryman. He was promoted to his position as team manager and the more senior and older employee resents him for it. The coworker is disrespectful and ignores him everyday and doesn't include him to have lunch with the group. 

Eun Tae, the team manager does his work diligently. He is the first to arrive at work and the last to leave. Even his own family takes advantage of him always asking for financial help. He did not complain when his laundromat guy lost one of his shirts without offering compensation. In other words, he is a pushover.

He went to buy beer but the convenience store's credit card machine was not working and didn't have change. The clerk suggested to get a lottery ticket instead. He reluctantly accepted because there is nothing he can do about the situation. He asked himself when was it that he stopped getting mad. He is worried what the consequences would be if he doesn't control his anger and he couldn't afford to lose his job. He won the lottery. 

I thought this will be a revenge or a scenario of getting fed up and destroy his place of work and beat up his colleagues. It turned out it's going to be a good feel dramedy. Instead of retiring from an unhappy work environment, he decided to continue the good work he was doing but will not be a pushover anymore. He wants to make the company a better work place. He is also thinking $800,000 is not enough to retire.

Only 2 episodes are out. The drama started airing this past Monday and Tuesday. I don't know how many total episodes. I like it already. I first saw the actor Lee Jun-Hyuk in 2011's City Hunter with Lee Min-ho. He hasn't aged a lot since then. What's his secret? LOL

Lee Jun-Hyuk

City Hunter trailer with Lee Min-ho as City  Hunter. Lee Jun-Huyk is City Hunter's nemesis and appears only at the very end of the trailer. Jun-Hyuk was excellent as the relentless cop pursuing City Hunter. The series is going to be shown on Netflix soon.

Never Forget

The 25th year of terrorist attack on the USA and never forget who those America hating people were and who their followers and cheerleaders are. Many of them are now in government positions, all in the Democratic Party.

New York City

 

The Pentagon

Pennsylvania

Guilt

tags: Japanese, Keigo Higashino, mystery 

⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads

A tour de force crime novel from one of the international masters of the form, where a simple murder case questions the simple notions of good and evil, guilt and redemption.

Homicide Detective Godai of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is assigned to investigate the death of a lawyer, Kensuke Shiraishi, whose body was found on a Central Tokyo riverbank. His investigations leads him to one Tatsuro Kuraki, who claims to have had limited contact with Shiraishi - but, surprising the investigators, Kuraki not only confesses to the lawyer's murder, but another one from thirty years ago - for which another man was arrested and died in custody before trial. This brings unexpected resolution to two cases but there is one problem: to Detective Godai the confession rings false.

And Godai is not the only one who cannot accept Kuraki's explanation of both murders and his professed motives. The confessed murderer's son and the victim's daughter both feel strongly that both the act and the motive claimed are untrue. As Godai investigates further, he discovers that the relation between the murder of thirty years ago and the recent one is complex, raising multi-faceted questions of guilt and innocence.

Guilt is a rich novel about crime and its aftereffects on those left behind by both the victim and perpetrator, a twisting, compelling work that will surprise and astonish.

Keigo Higashino's latest novel translated into English was written in 2021 and set in 2017. For a few years now, I noticed that the newer books do not have the same vibe as the older ones. I believe it is the translation problem. I prefer the books translated by Alexander O. Smith because his translations are closer to the Japanese culture and manner of speaking, IMHO. 

The newer books have Western style conversations using cheap words and plenty of cussing even from someone not expected to use cuss words. In this new novel, there are 5 total F words which I never read in 10 previous books. I'm not sure if the author himself included those words to introduce this new detective series and I'm a bit disappointed. I guess I have to get used to it. The book now reads like a dime store mystery novel although it is redeemed by the great plot and characters, thus saving the book from a 2 star rating. I also like that he excoriates detestable social media and tabloid journos calling them the newest scourge of society.

Recommended for Keigo Higashino readers.

The Secret Woman

tags: Denmark, drama, Netflix, Nordic noir, psychological thriller

⭐⭐

The Secret Woman is a Danish thriller centered around Louise who has amnesia and is living a quiet life in Norway. She gets engaged to a local guy. 

She begins investigating her identity when a Danish man approaches her and calls her Helene. She had her DNA tested that proves she is Helene, goes back to Denmark and finds that she is an heiress to a shipping empire. Her husband, young son, and mother-in-law live in her home which belonged to her family. She learns that her father died right before she went missing that triggered her psychotic episodes.  She slowly discovers her husband has something to do with her disappearance. But of course, it's always the spouse, with assist from someone unexpected, a twist I already guessed very early in the movie. It's too predictable. 

I always wonder why characters in so-called thrillers have no common sense and self awareness. She already suspects her husband, yet she goes alone investigating in a seedy part of the city then goes walking in a very dark alleyway. Death wish? Dumb. She also drinks wine poured by the sinister husband without suspecting it might be drugged. Dumber still. 

The other woman, Louise, whose identity she assumed was not given enough back story. Her connection to the human smuggling was not expanded. Speaking of human smuggling (women trafficked as prostitutes) is a very lame story plot. 

The acting of the main female lead is middling; the only commendable acting and storyline is the evil husband.

Skip it. Not worthy of almost 2 hours viewing time. I watched so you don't have to.

I Will Always Love You

R.I.P. Dolly. I will always love you and your music.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

tags, 18th century novel, humor, satire

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wikipedia

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, often known simply as Tristram Shandy, is a humorous novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published from 1759 to 1767, in nine volumes across five instalments. The novel purports to be a memoir, but the titular Tristram is an effusive and digressive narrator who begins the story with his conception and does not reach a description of his birth until the third volume. While attempting to explain four accidents in his early life which have doomed him to an unhappy future, Tristram describes domestic conflicts between his irritable father Walter and his gentle Uncle Toby, and inserts humorous discourses on a range of intellectual topics.

Read the rest from Wikipedia 

I read many conflicting reviews of this book and just like Ulysses, I tried to avoid reading it. It is a long-ish book at almost 700 pages. I ended up loving it. The bawdy humor, the style of writing and many digressive stories, his father, his poor Uncle Toby's unfortunate accident, fort construction, and love affair. 

I laughed out loud several times at the absurdity of some of the topics his father, his Uncle Toby, Uncle Toby's servant Corporal Trim, the pastor Yorick [alas poor Yorick], and the bumbling male-midwife Dr. Slop, and of course Tristram's four "accidents" starting from his conception, birth, baptism, and the unfortunate encounter with a window sash. Tristram even used his name as a verb, as in tristramed. The part where the household helper Obadiah made everyone annoyed for making a superior job of tying and securing the doctor's stuff that Tristram's father cursed him in so many different ways on several pages, is hilarious. His father is a book lover and seems to consult his favorite authors and philosophers in even mundane things such as a boy's breeches. 

The stream of consciousness writing style, the abrupt and unfinished/hanging end to some chapters remind me of one of my favorite books and it's no wonder I also find this book a treasure. A must read. 

Hamnet

tags: melodrama, historical fiction, Shakespeare's son Hamnet

⭐

Hamnet dramatises the family life of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway as they cope with the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet.

This movie is based on the death of Hamnet, the 11 year old son of William and Anne Shakespeare. I consider it fiction because there is no recorded story of Hamnet. He was born and died at 11 years of age but no record of how he died. So the whole movie is made up except for their children. According to Shakespeare historians, the play Hamlet was written 4 years after Hamnet's death.

Anne is called Agnes here for no given reason. She is an herbalist and rumored to be the daughter of a witch. Anne Shakespeare must be rolling in her grave. Authors and moviemakers think they can just make stuff up and I find taking liberties with stories of real life people a disgrace. I don't care if they tell a great story.  

The overly dramatic ending is supposed to be captivating, full of symbolism, and has deeper meaning. Sorry, I was not impressed. It is no different from ordinary tearjerkers. The only significant part is that Agnes realized that William is after all grieving for their dead son. She previously was mad at him for not being present when Hamnet died but William was in London working. What did she expect? There were no cellphones then so he didn't know. Typical unreasonable wife.

I can't recommend it. Streaming on Netflix.

The Red House Mystery

tags: A. A. Milne, mystery

⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads

The Red House Mystery is a classic "whodunit" set in an English country house. An eclectic cast of characters are gathered in the house when the owner's brother, recently arrived from Australia, is found murdered in a locked room. Two of the house guests take the investigation upon themselves and they wade almost playfully through the abundance of evidence and theories.

I never knew A. A Milne wrote a whodunnit novel. It's a locked room mystery and I liked it although a bit forgettable and formulaic. 

Recommended because of the author and it is a short read.

Black Trick: The Lawyer Who Controls Justice

tags: Gackt, Japanese dorama, legal thriller, Netflix

From MyDramaList

“If justice is crushed by lies, then let lies be used to protect justice.”

Set in a modern society where information spread through the internet and media can easily shape public opinion, the story follows Naoto Uramashi, a man who refuses to accept public judgment without uncovering the truth for himself.

When innocent people are branded as criminals and silenced by society, Naoto stands by his clients and fights to prove their innocence. In order to confront powerful figures willing to fabricate anything to escape punishment, he uses deception of his own to expose the truth hidden behind lies.

It looks quirky and it stars Gackt, therefore. a must watch for me.

Similar to Galileo series and Jun Matsumoto's 99.99%, both streaming on Netflix.

Slow Horses

tags: espionage, mystery, thriller

⭐⭐

Goodreads

You don't stop being a spook just because you're no longer in the game.

Banished to Slough House from the ranks of achievers at Regent's Park for various crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal, Jackson Lamb's misfit crew of highly trained joes don't run ops, they push paper.

But not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a 'slow horse'. A boy is kidnapped and held hostage. His beheading is scheduled for live broadcast on the net. And whatever the instructions of the Service, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quiet and watch.

I tried reading British spy novels again after the death of John le Carré but got disappointed with all of them. 

I find Slough Horses just okay. It has tons of characters not unlike John le Carré​'s books and there are some humor although not as witty nor funny. The author invented his own jargon but again not as effective and unique as John le Carré's, making the book IMHO the poor man's le Carré spy novels. It's not even as good as Ian Fleming's James Bond series.

I finished reading it regardless and am currently reading the second book in the series, Dead Lions hoping it will be better than this novel. In Dead Lions, the author introduced an old lady, Molly, a character very similar to Connie Sachs who is one of my favorite recurring characters in John le Carré's Karla Trilogy. I'm not too thrilled with this copycat addition. I think I'll stop at the second installment. 

Wyrd Sisters

tags: Discworld series, fantasy, humor, parody, Terry Prachett

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads

Three witches gathered on a lonely heath.

A king cruelly murdered, his throne usurped by his ambitious cousin. A child heir and the royal crown, both missing.

Witches don't have these kinds of leadership problems themselves - in fact, they don't have leaders. Granny Weatherwax is the most highly regarded of the leaders they don't have. But even she finds that meddling in royal politics is a lot more complicated than certain playwrights would have you believe. Particularly when the blood on your hands just won't wash off . . .

Wyrd Sisters is the second book in the Witches series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

Wyrd Sisters is one of the 41 books in Discworld written by Terry Pratchett. It is a parody of Shakespeare's works specially Macbeth and Hamlet and King Lear's Fool. Here, the Fool is a major character. There are several references to other works like Romeo and Juliet, etc.. The travelling theatrical group's playwright is a dwarf named Hwel (William?) and just like Shakespeare is drawn to ghosts, witches, and death themed plays. 

I like the humor throughout maybe because I already like Pratchett's witty fantasies and satires. There is an animated series based on the book which you can watch on YouTube. I haven't watched the entire video but it looks true to the book.

Happy 250th Birthday USA

Several countries are celebrating our 250th birthday with red white and blue lights on their most well-known buildings. Beautiful!

Enola Holmes 3

 

tags: Enola Holmes 3, Netflix movie

⭐

In 1886, Enola and Tewkesbury prepare for their nuptials, with the ceremony in Malta honoring Tewkesbury’s late father’s service there.

Enola insists she can be both a wife and a detective, but her brother Sherlock, already skeptical of the marriage, is secretly working on another case.

On the wedding day, Sherlock is abducted, and Enola must drop all plans to find him.

I think I'm done with Enola. This third movie is woke to the max. Haven't they heard woke is passe. I also don't like the Moriarty Moriarty Moriarty theme. It is overdone and also the reason I stopped watching Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock series. It got boring. Enola Holmes 3 suffers the same too much Moriarty. Adding to the negative is that Moriarty is played by the ugliest Black actress I have ever watched. And not a good actress either. Dr. Watson played by an Indian actor is not so bad but I've had enough. 

The movie is full of political correctness nonsense and I think the faithful followers of Enola will all go away. People are tired of being lectured about the sins of White people in the 19th century and making the you know who their victims.  

It's a pity because Enola and Tewkesbury are getting married and the movie should have been fun but it was ruined by the script and Moriarty story.

Citizen Vigilante

Citizen Vigilante is a 2026 vigilante action thriller film produced, written, and directed by Uwe Boll. It stars Armie Hammer as Michael Sanders, a vigilante enraged by the breakdown of law and order and the violence perpetuated by criminals, mostly migrants.

He decides to take justice into his own hands, killing criminals and corrupt officials. The film was inspired by a 2016 case in Hamburg where a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by migrants while they received only suspended sentences.

The film was released in select theaters and digitally on June 19, 2026. It received negative reviews from critics while audience reception was positive.

It did not receive an age rating in Germany, effectively banning it in the country. Boll said this was due to concerns the film would incite violence against immigrants. Elon Musk released the film on X, boosting its reach. 

Streaming on Amazon and Apple TV 

Communion

tags: JD Vance, Catholicism, memoir, nonfiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amazon

From the bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy—an intimate account of why Vice President JD Vance strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith.

Communion is a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian in all the seasons of life JD Vance has experienced—as a child, a young man, a husband, a father, and a leader. Picking up in some ways where Hillbilly Elegy left off, Communion recounts how Vance's pursuit of material privileges ultimately led him into a secular wilderness.

Communion reveals how Vance regained his faith and discusses his conversion to Catholicism, how his faith guides his work in public life, and how it shapes his thoughts about the future.

I liked his first memoir, Hillbilly Elegy and of course I want to know what made him reject Christianity and became an atheist for 10 years, returning to the faith and eventually was baptized a Catholic instead of returning to the Protestant denomination he and his family grew up with.

He lost his faith right after the death of his grandmother. Poverty also contributed to it. He started getting interested again in Christianity after the birth of his first son but couldn't decide which one to join. Although he has an uncle who is Catholic, he didn't particularly know anything about Catholicism. His birth father's religion is I think Pentecostal Christianity but he rejected that. His beliefs are more aligned with Catholicism although he didn't know it yet. He had conversations and discussions about religion with a friend, a Jewish convert to Catholicism. Two years hence, he started considering being a Catholic with the encouragement of his own wife, a Hindu, who thought Catholicism might be the best for what he is looking for according to his needs and beliefs.  He was baptized in 2019 to the Catholic religion. He once was lost and now was found. Amazing grace indeed.

Highly recommended for people who have open minds and are willing to set aside politics. 

I Will Find You

tags: crime drama series, Harlan Coben, Netflix

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The story centers on David Burroughs,  a father serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son. Although he was convicted of the crime, David maintains his innocence. His world changes when evidence surfaces suggesting the child may still be alive. Determined to uncover the truth, he sets out on a dangerous search that pulls him into a web of hidden connections, long buried secrets, and unexpected revelations.

I binge watched yesterday this 8 episode drama series based on Harlan Coben's novel I Will Find You. I read it in 2023. I enjoyed the Netflix series regardless of already knowing the who and why. 

As in most TV series adaptations from books, there are a few changes in some characters which are okay and make for great viewing: the lead FBI agent is changed from a male to a young Black female whose father is also an FBI agent played by Chi McBride whose funny one liners give a lighter tone to the tense scenes; the rich matriarch grandma is replaced by the mother; additional police characters and their stories. 

Highly recommended specially for viewers who haven't read the book.

Wolf Hour

tags: mystery

generous ⭐

Goodreads

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2016. When a small-time criminal and gun dealer is shot down in the street, all signs point to Tomas Gomez, a quiet man with a mysterious past—and deep connections to a notorious gang—who has seemingly vanished into thin air. Other murders soon follow, and it appears Gomez is only getting started. Meanwhile, Bob Oz, a down-and-out suspended police officer with a dubious past of his own, becomes fascinated by the he is obsessed with the notion of hunting down a serial killer who only he can understand, a killer with a story as tragic as his own. 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2022. An enigmatic Norwegian man with ties to Minneapolis—a self-described crime writer—has traveled to the United States to research the Gomez case, in the hopes of writing a book about it. But as his investigation progresses, the writer’s seemingly neutral position reveals itself to be more complicated than the reader is initially led to believe.

I can't believe I gave a 1-star rating of a book written by one of my favorite authors. It is hardly a thriller. The title is not even relevant to the story because it is not about El Lobo, the Hispanic thug who is a minor character in the book, only appeared once to slaughter a family eating in a restaurant where only the father survived. Anybody with normal understanding of the text will be able to guess who the vengeful murderer is from the characters being introduced in the story. It's not very subtle and seems to be written for idiots.

The story is incoherent and reads like Nesbo made a check list of things that he doesn't like about the USA and ticked them off one by one, then wrote a dull book. I specially hated that Nesbo is now praying at the altar of Saint George Floyd. Giant eye roll here. It was not necessary to include this incident but you see, Nesbo hates the USA, guns, and police. Nesbo even defended the fraudulent Somalis and made one Somali character a very good cop. [I guess Nesbo missed the news when a Somali cop for no good reason shot dead an Australian female who reported a possible assault near her house.] This heroic portrayal of a Somali did not age well because of the recent billion $ fraud committed by mainly Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, aided and abetted by democrat politicians. 

The book was written mainly to criticize guns in the USA. Nesbo should stay out of American politics because he revealed his ignorance and contempt for Americans and should just continue writing fiction that are about crimes in Norway because he knows his own country and its criminals. 

Recommended only for woke leftists who hate America. Not recommended for normal people.

Positive Diagnosis

🚨 THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO IS HERE 🚨@tashaowensmusic's viral new anthem "TDS" just dropped its OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO — and it's every bit as bold, hilarious, and unapologetic as you'd expect. 🔥

Watch now on our YouTube channel and see why everyone's talking about it. 🎶🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DZ3SYO9US6

— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) June 5, 2026

Sounds Greek

I'm still listening to these songs after more than 15 years. No need to know the lyrics.

Six Singles Under One Roof

Tags: Korean, movie and TV actors, reality show

Drat. I'm hooked again on a Korean reality show with 6 TV and movie actors almost and in their 40s and never been married except one male. They lived alone for between 7 and 20 years. It's like Roommate  for older singles. Once again Jang Keun-Suk is the main reason I am watching. But I have seen the works of the other 2 males and one female, Lee Da-Hee. Jang Keun-Suk has been a favorite of mine since I first saw him in You're Beautiful and Beethoven Virus. He disappeared from KDramas for several years making only 2 or fewer series a year to focus on his solo music career. I only found out from this show  that he had thyroid cancer 3 years ago. That's probably the reason he looks bloated and unhealthy. He takes a cocktail of vitamins, minerals, and a variety of supplements daily like a 90 year old person.

The first episode is hilarious. Keun-Suk ordered an almost 50 pound live octopus for their first night dinner together and it started crawling out of its box. Everybody was shouting and running away from it as though it is a monster. They had a wonderful dinner cooked by Keun-Suk, using all the parts of the octopus.

One of the funniest housemates is Choi Daniel who has no filter and just blurts out his observations of his new roommates without thinking if he might offend them. But these actors are very polite and they don't quarrel or argue at all. 

Lee Da-Hee is the oldest among them at 42. She is tall at 5'8" and very thin, almost skeletal although she eats a ton, very slowly, that she's the last to finish eating. She is also a neat freak, cleaning up everything while they were still cooking, washing and wiping surfaces and walls, all the pans and pots once they have served their purpose. I've only seen her in several series and movies and I have the impression that she is a bit anal in her neatness from just watching one of her reality shows.  

The third male is the "unfortunate" actor Ahn Jae-Hyun who had a very public wedding and nasty divorce story and maybe the reason the shaman proclaimed he had lost his former self and needs to rediscover it. Poor guy. 

There are 5 an hour and 30 minutes episodes with subtitles so far. Episodes 6 and 7 are already out but still raw (no subtitles). 

This reality show is surprisingly airing simultaneously on HBO, Amazon, and Apple TV. I wonder why Netflix didn't join the party.. 

The cast