bats need love, too

obligatory seasonal music post

2009-12-23T01:02:52Z

Better late than never? No Christmas jpop this year, sorry, it's all choral, i.e. a lot of singing in Latin. So. You know. If you like that sort of thing.

Harvard Glee Club:
In dulci jubilo
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
O magnum mysterium (Jacobus Handl)
Personent hodie (Holst)
Ave Maria (Franz Biebl)

Chanticleer:
In the bleak mid-winter - My favorite. Music by Holst, lyrics from a Christina Rossetti poem.
A hymn to the Virgin (Britten)

Choir of New College, Oxford:
While shepherds watched their flocks by night - Have patience with the wandering flute intro. XD;
I wonder as I wander

Liedertafel:
Away in a manger
Once in royal David's city
O magnum mysterium (Tomás Luis de Victoria) - Not a typo but two pieces by the same name. This one is v. different from the Handl. And very pretty.

sheep-ish.

2009-12-15T06:21:17Z

So, je_holiday. That was an experience, as anyone who had the misfortune to encounter me in gchat knows all too well. XD;;; I am an inveterate deadline-pusher but this was really something special, hahaha. As always, I waited 'til the last minute and then the story went in a 100% different direction from the one I was expecting. As, for me, stories are wont to do. I'm not what you'd call, er, a good planner... At any rate. I did finish and submit it before posting started and that's what really matters, right... (please don't hurt me musikologie.)

I have mixed feelings about the result and am itching to talk about it but for obvious reasons I can't. Suffice to say it's all I've thought about for the last three days and so unsurprisingly I can't stand to look at it again right now. XD;;; But of course there's the bit of me running around shrieking "DONE DONE DONE". With this all my obligations for the year are done with and I can start to actually enjoy the holidays.

So, speaking of which! Cards! I like sending mail; I tend to have a hit or miss record with, uh, actually getting it out to everyone but every year's a fresh start, right. If you are interested in a bit of mail that may or may not be related to the holidays from the lovely state of Alaska (stigma free this year! ...almost!), drop me an email (konsquared at gmail) or comment on this screened post and I will try my best to send a surprise your way.

If you have an address post, in all likelihood between the end of the semester/JLPT/jehols, I did not see it. Point me? :)

omg my neck and upper back are killing me, I've been hunched over the laptop for three days straight. heeeelp.

[ficlet] convalescence

2009-11-19T07:39:43Z

Convalescence

(aka "Jin-eral Hospital")

Jin & Yamapi, more or less gen
925 words

For pipsqueaks, who has in the past said such nice things to me, in hopes it will put a smile on her face. Heal soon. ♥

"Don't you dare say it," Jin said in dire tones. "Don't even think it." He made a restless movement and immediately flinched as it jiggled his arm, suspended in a sling.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Yamapi from the side of Jin's hospital bed. "Oh wait, do you mean the part where I told you so? Because I think I did. Twice. At least."

"I'm just curious, but do you ever listen to me? Ever?"

"Sorry, what was that?"

Jin scowled. "Yeah, that one's not old at all."

"I don't think you get to judge my humor because - why was that again? Oh right, because I told you so."

"You don't have to sound happy about it," Jin muttered. "It hurts like a motherfucker."

"I'm not happy!" Yamapi said indignantly. "I just think you're going to kill yourself if you don't start listening to other people sometimes. Had you ever been snowboarding before? No, but you bought a skateboard once and that's close enough, right, except you never used it so you had no idea what you were doing and unsurprisingly ran into a tree - "

"Are you my mother? You don't look like my mother. Oh wait, actually, do you go to the same stylist, because your hair - "

"If you think that broken arm's going to keep you safe, Akanishi, let me clear that up for - "

Someone coughed. Both parties broke off and turned to the doorway. A young woman in a nurse's uniform stood there, timidly holding up a clipboard as if in explanation. Yamapi tried for a smile that would simultaneously convey reassurance, apology, and charm; he had a feeling it probably didn't come out as well as he'd like. When neither boy said anything, the nurse scuttled in and, consulting the charts at the foot of Jin's bed, began to make arcane markings on the clipboard.

Scritch-scratch, went the nurse's pen. No other sound broke the silence.

Jin stared fixedly at the opposite wall. There was a small television fixed to the ceiling that didn't appear to have been used since about 1976, and a blandly cheerful print next to it. The jimusho wasn't about to shell out for an elite hospital for someone whose injuries were his own stupid fault. The break throbbed. God, he hated that color of paint, the ubiquitous institutional off-white. He hated hospitals. He hated an awful lot about life right now.

After what seemed like an age, the nurse finished her notations. She gave Jin a tiny smile as she left and he did his best to at least smooth out his expression.

Yamapi cleared his throat. Jin glanced over, reluctantly. Yamapi wasn't looking at him.

"How long do they think you'll have to stay here?" Yamapi asked the bed cover.

"Dunno," Jin said shortly. "A few days at least. They want to keep an eye on me 'cause it was a compound fracture."

"It really hurts, huh," Yamapi said, more softly, still looking at the bed instead of Jin.

Jin recognized the peace offering for what it was, and suppressed his immediate response of Really, you think? "Yeah," he muttered. "Basically."

Yamapi was quiet for a minute. Then -

"Bet if you told your fans the name of the hospital they'd send enough 'presents' to decorate every inch of the room."

The mere thought made Jin's eyes cross.

Yamapi added for good measure, "Plus the rest of the ward. The whole floor, probably."

Jin could feel his lips twitching against his own will. "They'd kill me if I even hinted at the name." 'They' was of course management.

"The address could always slip. Accidentally. You never know where a fan might be working, after all." Yamapi's face was perfectly straight, but it wasn't like Jin had known him for fourteen years for nothing. He knew that expression. "They don't even need to know which hospital, actually. As soon as this hits the papers your fans will probably start volunteering in every hospital across Tokyo just so they can give you the special care you need."

"Don't you dare," Jin said through a snort of laughter, assailed by the image hospital halls bulging with hordes of fans in identical pink and white uniforms. "Jesus. No."

"They'd probably coordinate a whole battle plan to cover the most ground effectively. A duty schedule. Color-coded. Itemized. They're probably doing that right now."

"Stop!" Jin yelled. "Mercy, mercy!" He made the most pathetic face he could muster. "Don't let me die that way, Pi."

Yamapi was grinning. "Maybe as a favor to my best friend. If he's nice to me."

"I'm pretty sure that's called blackmail," Jin said with narrowed eyes. "Does it count as a favor if I have to be nice to you?"

"Yes," Yamapi said decisively. "It does. Good children get favors, bad children get coal. And suffocation by well-meaning fangirls. I thought you used to live in America, don't you know that?"

"Nice try," Jin said, as his traitorous voice wavered with the effort of keeping a straight face. "You're a month early for Christmas. Santa."

"Ho ho ho," Yamapi replied, and flashed Jin a peace sign.

The pose reminded him. Jin heaved a sigh and said, "You probably have to get going, huh? They'll eat you alive if you're late for rehearsal for you own solo concert."

"Huh? Oh," Yamapi said, with badly-faked nonchalance, "I'm off today. And tomorrow. Lucky timing, huh?"

Jin fought it and lost. He was smiling, idiotically. "Yeah," he said, settling back against the pillows. "Lucky me."

lollllll

2009-11-04T05:30:24Z

The Economist stumbles across fujoshi

...but doesn't realize it, which makes reading the article twice as entertaining. It also makes the analysis somewhat off base, but I'm not linking for the analysis. XD

things discovered through procrastinating

2009-10-21T05:12:24Z

Fun fact: Mary Renault beta-read for Patrick O'Brien. I probably should not find that as entertaining as I do.

question

2009-10-08T21:44:10Z

For those familiar with Johnny's and/or Japanese business: okay, so, Johnny's & Associates is a kabushiki gaisha (K. K.). That's translated as "public company", but is it? Johnny owns 60%, Mary 10%, Julie 10%, and Izu Kikue 10%. The remaining 10% isn't publically traded (is it? it doesn't seem to be! if it is where are my financial reports!) and a K. K. may be formed as a "stock company that is not public" but J&A doesn't seem to be one - not that I can tell from their totally useless website. XD Avex and SM - omg especially Avex - are a dream in comparison.

In conclusion, I know embarrassingly little about corporate structure outside the U.S. :|

同人誌

2009-10-07T07:24:49Z

Reading up on female writers of the Meiji and Taisho periods was not where I expected to run into the term "doujinshi". But it's short for "doujin zasshi" (for non-Japanese speakers, "group magazine", roughly) and originally the doujin in question were literary societies/salons/circles. They sprung up during the Meiji period, organized around either a particular school of thought or later a particular literary figure (e.g. Natsume Soseki), and belonging to one of these circles seems to have been an obligatory step in establishing a literary career. Anyway, each circle published in effect zines of their members' works, thus doujin zasshi. Thus CLAMP. XD

(Cursory internet research indicates manga doujin first appeared in the '50s or so.)

the kpop edition

2009-10-03T23:22:06Z

1. So give me the lowdown on SM Entertainment as a corporation. How do they recruit/train/market/etc., especially in comparison to JE? Info on shady business practices and lawsuits and things of that sort also welcome. XD ...How does the Korean music industry and market compare to the Japanese in general, actually? There is no such thing as tldr in comments here.

2. Favorite Korean artists/songs/albums/music videos? I am woefully ignorant. Pop, not pop, what have you - hit me. (Assume I know basically no one except Park Ji-yoon, since that's... true. Oh, and BoA.)

[trans] KOKIA - I Believe

2009-10-02T10:31:44Z

Flisters in the Phillippines, I'm thinking of all of you. Be safe tonight.

--

For asinful. ♥

(mp3)

私の涙が乾く頃にきてね
拭ったそばから濡れる頬が歪む
隠す事なんてなにもないけど
苦しんでる姿は見せたくないの

まだ夢みている　海の底から　上か下かも分からずに
浮かんでいる　そこらじゅうの太陽の中を

深い　深い　海の底から

I believe この声は届いてるはず
このままどこまでも落ちていっても

誰もがこの海を越えていったわ
暗くて冷たい不思議な場所で
迷ってるのに　心地よささえ
感じてるのはなんでなんだろう？

息をして昇ってゆく泡粒の方へ
深い　深い　海の底から

I believe この声は届いてるはず
このままどこまでも落ちていっても
私は一雫の憂いを落として
海の底に花を咲かせてみせるわ　きっと

I believe 涙して何か失っても
そうしてよかったって言える日が来るわ
全てはこの海で生まれていったの
いつの日か還ってくるその日まで
believe yourself

I believe even in the dark
Your voice casts a ray of hope
Take me away and guide me through
To someplace where I can breathe

watashi no namida ga kawaku koro ni kite ne
nukutta soba kara nureru hoo ga yuugamu
kakusogoto nante nani mo nai kedo
kurushinderu sugata wa misetakunai no

mada yume miteiru umi no soko kara ue ka shita ka mo wakarazu ni
ukandeiru sokorajuu no taiyou no naka wo

fukai fukai umi no soko kara

I believe kono koe wa todoiteru hazu
kono mama doko made mo ochiteitte mo

dare mo ga kono umi wo koete itta wa
kurakute tsumetai fushigina basho de
mayotteru no ni kokochiyosa sae
kanjiteru no wa nande nan darou?

iki wo shite nobotteyuku awatsubu no hou e
fukai fukai umi no soko kara

I believe kono koe wa todoiteru hazu
kono mama doko made mo ochiteittemo
watashi wa hitoshizuku no urei wo otoshite
umi no soko ni hana wo sakasete miseru wa kitto

I believe namida shite nanika ushinattemo
sou shite yokatte tte ieru hi ga kuru wa
subete wa kono umi de umareteitta no
itsu no hi ka kaette kuru sono hi made believe youself

I believe in the dark
Your voice casts a ray of hope
Take me away and guide me through
To someplace where I can breathe

Come to me when my tears dry
My face, wet again the moment I wipe my cheek, is crumpling
I have nothing to hide - but
I don't want to show you what I'm like when I'm suffering

I'm still dreaming, from the bottom of the sea
Knowing neither up nor down
Floating amidst the sun all around

From the bottom of the deep, deep sea...

I believe this voice should reach you
No matter how far I fall

Everyone has crossed over this sea
Why is it that though I'm lost in this dark, cold, mysterious place, I feel at ease?

I take a breath, and rise toward the spray of bubbles
From the bottom of the deep, deep sea

I believe this voice should reach you
No matter how far I fall
I will let this drop of anguish fall
And make a flower bloom at the bottom of the sea - surely

I believe even if you cry, even if you lose something,
The day when you can say "I'm glad I did it that way" will come
Everything was born from this sea
And someday will return - until that day
Believe yourself

I believe in the dark
Your voice casts a ray of hope
Take me away and guide me through
To someplace where I can breathe.

public service announcement

2009-09-22T07:58:01Z

via rageprufrock:

There's going to be a Sex Pistols OVA.

Promo here.

...I think, er, words add nothing to this.

(Goodness, between Sex Pistols and Maiden Rose and the Ai no Kusabi remake this is quite the season...)

edit: notable seiyuu involved:

Yonekuni - Sugita Tomokazu (Subaru in the X anime, Mayama in Hachikuro, Kyon in Haruhi, Raidou on the recent DSRK drama CD... XD)
Norio - Shimono Hiro (Tajima in Ookiku Furikabutte, Subaru in the TRC OAV ahaha okay that's really the reason I mention him)
Kunimasa - Kawahara Yoshihisa (Yasu in Nana, Tachibana in PoT XDDD)

moar clamp

2009-09-16T04:57:19Z

THE DESTINED DAY HAS FINALLY COME. /clamp impression

That is, TRC's ending September 30th (I'm... not sure how they're going to wrap it up in two more chapters but I guess we'll find out) so if you've been waiting ~~to make sure it would actually be completed~~ for the end before catching up, if you start now you'll probably be done at just around the right time. XD

But I'm really here to talk about xxxHOLIC.

I. Can I just get the squealing out of the way first? Okay.

It's - it's what everyone predicted in fic as far back as, like, 2005. Yuuko disappears, Watanuki is determined to stay with the shop, FLASH FORWARD FOUR YEARS TO WHERE HE AND DOUMEKI ARE SHACKING UP IN THE SHOP?? Okay okay perhaps Doumeki does not live there, but he's at the very least a frequent visitor who goes shopping for Watanuki. XD Watanuki slinks languidly around in kimono, pipe in hand; Doumeki is wearing a suit and majoring in folklore at university, presumably looking for an answer to Watanuki's predicament. Oh, glee. Oh, rapture.

Okay, just had to - to let that out. The raws aren't online yet - just photos of a couple pages - so who knows what they're actually doing in the future, but apparently the Young Magazine table of contents lists the chapter as "xxxHOLiC・籠" (xxxHOLIC - Cage) which seems like it might indicate a new arc/subseries, like they did with Rayearth and CCS? I... do not know how to feel about this. I wouldn't say no to more 'Holic, exactly, and if TRC's wrapping up it should go more quickly but just how long would they intend a second series or arc to run? :o

....cage. aw, watanuki. D:

gip

2009-09-15T07:12:32Z

Me as depicted by (line buddy, stellar artist, and all-around ♥♥♥ person) ebony_angel, from the following sketch:

IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL I LOVE IT FOREVER. and grouchy chibi!me looks - let's just say, very like me. XD

(background information: Hisashi is GLAY's lead guitarist and the most popular member among American fans by a landslide. But not my favorite. *sniffs* The "guitar case pose" line - uh, will take a bit more explaining. XD;)

just like this rainstorm / this august day song

2009-08-13T04:06:23Z

For the benefit of the two people in JE fandom with nice quiet ~~filters~~ flists, je_holiday signups are open again. Yes, I already signed up. I need a deadline or I'll end up going an entire year ficless, which is... bad. So you guys should, too. please (Lest you think I've forgotten about my - my fic debt, I haven't. It's going to get finished. Someday. *determined*)

'Tis the season of job applications, plus one internship that I want badly enough to take over anything that actually pays well. I have several floating out there, most of which would take me away from Alaska - this is okay for the short term, say a couple years, it's when I start thinking about the long term that I get twitchy. Thus my mature response is, as always, to do my very best to not think about it. Regardless I would be thrilled if any of these came through so cross your fingers for me if you can?

Speaking - a paragraph ago - of writing, I am feeling kind of rejuvenated in the fic sector and want to stretch my metaphorical muscles again. Maybe prompts in the near future, I'm not sure, since those usually seem to help in a strange sort of way. Or a meme. I shall have to poke around the flist. (OR I COULD FINISH THE TWELVE HUNDRED WIPS ON MY HARD DRIVE. I KNOW, ALL RIGHT.)

In the meantime a meme, because I like memes:

Inspired by Doctor Who's "Turn Left:" Pick one of my stories and tell me a point in the tale that you'd change. Something tiny (e.g. "and then Fay chose silver glitter instead of gold") or big (e.g. "and then Rose was arrested instead of Jack") and I'll tell you how that one difference would have altered the course of the entire story.

poetry

2009-06-30T19:54:26Z

I first read this at incandescens' journal a few days ago, and it's been in my head ever since.

The Ballad of the Imam and the Shah

(An Old Persian Legend)

to C. E. H.

It started with a stabbing at a well
Below the minarets of Isfahan.
The widow took her son to see them kill
The officer who'd murdered her old man.
The child looked up and saw the hangman's work --
The man who'd killed his father swinging high,
The mother said: 'My child, now be at peace.
The wolf has had the fruits of all his crime.'

From felony to felony to crime
From robbery to robbery to loss
From calumny to calumny to spite
From rivalry to rivalry to zeal

All this was many centuries ago --
The kind of thing that couldn't happen now --
When Persia was the empire of the Shah
And many were the furrows on his brow.
The peacock the symbol of his throne
And many were the jewels and its eyes
And many were the prisons in the land
And many were the torturers and spies.

From tyranny to tyranny to war
From dynasty to dynasty to hate
From villainy to villainy to death
From policy to policy to grave

The child grew up a clever sort of chap
And he became a mullah, like his dad --
Spent many years in exile and disgrace
Because he told the world the Shah was bad.
'Believe in God,' he said, 'believe in me.
Believe me when I tell you who I am.
Now chop the arm of wickedness away.
Hear what I say, I am the great Imam.'

From heresy to heresy to fire
From clerisy to clerisy to fear
From litany to litany to sword
From fallacy to fallacy to wrong

And so the Shah was forced to flee abroad.
The Imam was the ruler in his place.
He started killing everyone he could
To make up for the years of his discgrace.
And when there were no enemies at home
He sent his men to Babylon to fight.
And when he'd lost an army in that way
He knew what God was telling him was right.

From poverty to poverty to wrath
From agony to agony to doubt
From malady to malady to shame
From misery to misery to fight

He sent the little children out to war.
They went out with his portrait in their hands.
The desert and the marshes filled with blood.
The mothers heard the news in Isfahan.
Now Babylon is buried under dirt.
Persepolis is peeping through the sand.
The child who saw his father's killer killed
Has slaughtered half the children in the land.

From felony
to robbery
to calumny
to rivalry
to tyranny
to dynasty
to villainy
to policy
to heresy
to clerisy
to litany
to fallacy
to poverty
to agony
to malady
to misery --

The song is yours. Arrange it as you will.
Remember where each word fits in the line
And every combination will be true
And every permutation will be fine:

From policy to felony to fear
From litany to heresy to fire
From villainy to tyranny to war
From tyranny to dynasty to shame

From poverty to malady to grave
From malady to agony to spite
From agony to misery to hate
From misery to policy to fight!

-- James Fenton

tenchijin : mirage of blaze :: shinsengumi! : peacemaker kurogane

2009-06-03T23:12:02Z

How, exactly, did I get as far as June without hearing the about this year's taiga dorama? In retrospect pithetaphish must have mentioned it when she was giving me a rundown of the new drama season in Shirakawago, because I remember getting Tsumabuki Satoshi mixed up with Tsukamoto Takashi, but I recall nothing else. For anyone else out there living in blissful ignorance, let me fix that for you: the main character is Naoe Kanetsugu, meaning supporting characters include not only Uesugi Kagekatsu but also - oh yes - Naoe Nobutsuna and Uesugi Kagetora. And Uesugi Kenshin, as played by Abe Hiroshi, and Date Masamune, as played by ahahaha Matsuda Ryuhei, and the rest of the usual slew of familiar Sengoku names. (Oh lord, Shirota Yuu is playing Sanada Yukimura. Very clever, guys. -_- Come to think of it I think mananeh told me that part before, so it looks like the fault is with my sieve of a memory and not my network of informants.) No sign of Nagahide, though, more's the pity. Further details here and here, including synopses. Oh god they have one of those relationship flow charts. Do I really want to see what everyone looks l - yes I do. *CLICKS*

Kanetsugu, Kagekatsu and Kagetora: ...............nicely cast. Ahem.

~~Real Naoe~~ Naoe Nobutsuna: Aw, come on. XD

Yes, yes, I know, the producers probably didn't read Mirage (OR DID THEY). But while I have no problem - based on photographic evidence, at least - conflating this Kagetora and that Kagetora, Naoe does make for something of a stumbling block. Sigh. Though if I remember correctly Kagekatsu and Kanetsugu were just-as-if-not-more... no, we're stopping right there. I have no time for taiga dramas and their low production standards! None!

This entire post probably means nothing to those who are not familiar with Mirage of Blaze aka Honoo no Mirage/Honoo no Shinkirou. (Or, you know, Sengoku-era Japanese history, but I know my flist.) I. I don't have the stamina to try and explain it coherently. 40 volume novel series, Sengoku-jidai history, esoteric Buddhism, reincarnation and other forms of the supernatural, protagonists that make Sakurazuka Seishirou and Sumeragi Subaru look the model of a happy and well-adjusted relationship.

Forget no time for taiga dramas, I have no time to resurrect any kind of interest in Mirage. *sobs*

recent manga

2009-05-15T04:15:43Z

Still have to write up Kame no Ongaeshi night #2, oops. Have also started slowly and painfully reconstructing lost remix fic. We'll see how far that goes. In the meantime, manga talk.

xxxHolic

Now that I've read volumes 10+ more or less back to back I can put my finger on what was bothering me that I couldn't pin down as I read during serialization. The pacing and tone changes so that my original thought was that it's almost like two different yet related series, but really -- okay, remember how back when Tsubasa first came out everyone was all, I can't believe they're publishing commercial serialized doujinshi, wtf, remember that? At that point xxxHolic seemed fairly self-contained, but now it's entered the doujinshi stage. XD; It works better for me if I do conceptualize it as an original series up to about the window incident, and from there on as part of a doujinshi series where Tsubasa is SIDE A and 'Holic is SIDE B. XD Prior to that point, the events of Tsubasa had very little effect on 'Holic -- there was, what, a brief appearance by Syaoran and Sakura but though Yuuko frequently popped up in Tsubasa there wasn't much reverse bleed. Starting with the aftermath of the window incident, with the third of Watanuki's saviors being (one of the) Syaoran(s) and the reasoning behind that, everything's gotten all mixed together and the underlying plot impetus seems to be providing a (vague, tantalizing, occasionally red herring-ish) explanation for some of the massively tangled Tsubasa plot threads. I may be making it sound worse than it is; obviously I still like it enough to, you know, buy five volumes and read them back to back.

Re: tonal change: well obviousy *recent massive spoilers* necessitate a different approach, but even before that. I miss the self-contained episodes from earlier on in the series, that were either just-this-side-of-cynical moralizing or heavily atmospheric and supernatural... I said to an flister recently, thinking of what I think of in my head as "series one", that if I had to pick a manga to read to evoke Japanese midsummer this would be it, all sweltering heat and fireflies and ghost stories and incense. Which reminds me, I was feeling the 和風 less, too, with the most recent volumes, but I'm willing to blame that on the fact I was on an airplane. XD My problems with the pacing stem I think in part from how so many of the magazine splash pages (I assume that's what they are) are reproduced in black and white in the tankoubon -- it breaks up my reading flow in a way that makes it feel like the story itself is stuttering.

But man are the physical books ever aesthetically pleasing. Whoever does the book design (Igarashi?) gets several gold stars. The luxurious cover art + colored page edging (heck, even the paper quality) make them look reeeeally nice lined up on one's desk/bookshelf/floor. Also I still like art a lot. Not "pretty" like X or Clover is/was) pretty, but used to excellent overall effect. (This is hammered home by comparing Holic!Yuuko to Tsubasa!Yuuko. ^^;)

Now for the spoilery part for both 'Holic and Tsubasa, so flee while ye may:

Let me just say at the beginning, I've given up on understanding what the hell is going on in Tsubasa (or went on, or was going on until time stopped, or whatever) until it's all over and done with. I need to sit down and draw a Sakuras-and-Syaorans diagram or something because I've lost track. But let's assumed I have at least the Watanuki connections understood correctly.

Yuuko: ...it's amazing the difference the Tsubasa art style + shoujo backstory has on one's perception of Yuuko. (I have more than once mistaken her for later-X-era Arashi upon first glance, actually. Er.) I -- I feel vaguely disappointed that she's been granting wishes solely to save Sakura. I mean, it's not that I wasn't expecting some sort of reason behind the existence of the shop beyond er caprice, but it seems so.... altruistic. XD; This is what I mean about the art style, actually, it's all "sad wistful beauty" instead of "slightly mad dimensional witch" so I instinctively react to the tragic doom with "...really? really?" I found the scenes between Yuuko and Watanuki in, what was it, volume 14? 13? where he talks about her wishes? -- much more affecting than, well, most of the recent chapters of Tsubasa and aforementioned backstory explanations. (Though I never say no to Yuuko/Clow... it's just how they're doing it! argh! who needs another tragic doomed woman saved from death -- with inevitable consequences -- by awesome magic wielder! ...This opinion is subject to revision upon further backstory revelations, like how exactly they knew each other and why she was dying.)

Back to 'Holic: I will be highly disappointed if CLAMP doesn't pull out some crazy backstory/plot twist about Doumeki. Besides whatever he does with that mysterious egg. He's the only major character who has yet to reveal any surprises and in CLAMP world that just won't do. I started to wonder if there was any possibility he knew Watanuki in some other context, whether he remember it himself or not....? Given that the specifics of Watanuki's past are as hazy as ever. (How old was he when he agreed to give up his memories, and in which universe had he been living, etc.?)

(The more I think about it, the more the original series -> doujinshi model makes sense, down to the part where the doujinshika explains away the fact that Watanuki & co. have been through like four different springs yet are still in high school as the effect of a significant underlying plot point. XD)

***

NANA

............*hyperventilates*

It's one thing to know someone is almost certainly going to die, one thing to know Ren in particular is almost certainly going to die, and quite another thing to see Ren's expensive little sports car totaled against a brick wall. Something about that panel made me shiver all over. If I had to name my favorite characters I probably wouldn't include Ren but that Yazawa Ai, she knows what she's doing. o_o

She didn't let up for the rest of the volume, either. The scenes where they didn't show Ren's body -- well. The imagination is perfectly capable of compensating. Twitch. Twitch. ....sdjkal;dsd poor Nobu. ;_; It could have been so easy to do this storyline wrong, too melodramatic or too purple, and instead Yazawa knocked it out of the park, imho. I mean -- for this series, compulsive desire to find out what happens keeps me reading as much as any deep emotional investment in the characters (though I like most of them and I'm interested by all of them), but at one point I realized I was physically hunching my shoulders as I read from the sheer emotional intensity. Ahaha. Also, inquiring minds would like to know what's going to happen to whassisname, the driver of the other car, when Yasu figures out what happened. ...someone is going to figure that out, right? That they saw yet fled the scene and lied about losing sight of Ren, I mean. Maybe the paparazzi photographer guy, whose character arc I am liking a lot. Of course if you follow someone around 24/7 you start to develop some kind of attachment to them (you know, like idol fans do). Really liked that he was first on the scene, and his reaction. I can't have been the only one thinking shades of Diana Spencer, right?

The newest round of future flash-forwards: Nobu's took over the ryokan?? Nobu probably is someone I'd list as one of my Nana favorites; I know this isn't a series you should develop ships for unless you like getting your hopes crushed, but I'd be lying if a tiiiiiny part of me wasn't traitorously shipping Nobu/Hachi still. >_> (Just like a tiny traitorous part of me loves Shin/Reira even though it's more or less been shot down for good. Their meeting this chapter, omg, why don't you just break my heart. ;_; While we're talking about shipping preferences, I would also take Yasu/Nana -- or, uh, Yasu/most others -- over Yasu/Miu in a heartbeat. I never warmed up to Miu, sorry to say. ANYWAY.) I'm confused by this talk about a four person family, though. There's two children, Satsuki and Ren, and... I must have read about Ren at some point and forgotten, right, this isn't a new revelation? He's living with Takumi but whose er child is he...?

I have no idea how on earth Yazawa Ai is going to tie this up, and that's part of why I enjoy Nana so much. *_*

(...does anyone know where I might find recent chapter scans?)

Edit: Also I would be very much obliged if anyone could do me the favor of uploading Superpitcher's "Happiness (Lawrence Remix)" as my .mp3 is trapped on the Dead Laptop and the song's been stuck in my head ever since it came up in (LJ) conversation this morning. Got it, thank you Mysterious Email Benefactor... ;D

Spitz, KREVA, Hirai Ken, Shiina Ringo, Hata Motohiro, JUJU @ Nippon Budokan, 05/02/09

2009-05-07T10:20:33Z

Kame no Ongaeshi, 05/02

Disclaimer: in case it's not, ah, blindingly obvious, I tend to view all things Spitz-related through sparkly rainbow-colored Kusano Masamune-centric glasses. Just so we have that out of the way.

Having said that, most of the audience the first night clearly felt the same way. Next to me was a young couple decked out in 2005 tour gear who seemed to think they were in a (mild and relatively well-behaved) mosh pit and behind me were two of Kusano Masamune's most enthusiastic fangirls. *g* Snippets overheard: "omg, we're so close! I can't believe we're this close!" "Masamune-san is going to be RIGHT THERE." "I'm so glad I'm alive!" *spontaneous outburst of clapping* Then there were the two girls across the floor hanging off the guardrail and mouthing along with every word of every song, and the girl a few seats down watching the stage with a completely smitten smile. (For the record, I was also doing both of those things, simultaneously.)

Not to say there weren't plenty of devoted fans for the other acts -- in particular, Hirai Ken brought out a lot of calls for "Ken-chan" (hee) and there was a whole bloc of fans, mainly older women, in the next section over watching with starry eyes and moving their hands in time to the rhythm almost like conductors as they mouthed every syllable of "Hitomi wo tojite". And then there was the (extremely attractive) Kreva fanboy a few seats down who had the same dopey grin for Kreva that the rest of us had for Kusano, calling out at one point, "Kakkoii yo!" (Kreva, the next night: "Kakkoii yo, shitteru, shitteru. :D" "I'm cool, I know, I know.")

But I'm getting ahead of myself! The stage setup: The stage area divided the floor in half, lengthwise, east side and west side. At either end of the stage area was a raised band stage with drum kit, etc.; in the middle was a glassed in box for the orchestra and on both east and west sides of that a smaller stage about the right size for a single performer. It was all connected so that one could easily walk from one raised stage down to the smaller single stages and back up to the other side, etc. The first night I was, ah, right smack in front of the small single stage on the east side. It. It was ridiculously amazing. I can't lie. *_______* Second night I was on the west side roughly in front of the single stage again, several rows back. (How did I get floor seats both nights? The Yahoo!Japan Auctions gods look upon me kindly or something, I have nooo idea.)

There were I think four large screens present, mainly it seemed to show various story segments and things in between acts. (I'm not really sure, I didn't pay much attention to them during the performance -- didn't need to -- though nyonyo reports they weren't used that much.) There was a short introductory narration on the theme of love/gratitude/music/etc. and then a young boy reading from a book called "Kame no Ongaeshi", and then in between every act a narration with photos, etc. of a story from the book, generally on the theme of thankfulness. They all involved animals in some way, too. *g* At the end there was a message from Kameda-san plus the credits with commentary/thanks from him, which effectively stymied the audience from cheering for an encore as they had begun to do the first night before the message began to play. Clever of the organizers, hmph. XD

Now for the good part. The acts:

Spitz

Haru no Uta
Cherry
Memories
Sawatte Kawatte
Masayume

It's hard to express my feelings whenever I see this group live in mere human words, ahaha. (For the JE fans reading I believe a good approximation might be "Akanishi who?") Basically at "kokoro ima hanaaaatte" I had tears in my eyes and "Haru no Uta" isn't even a melancholy song. Just, the afureteiru kimochi....! Spitz makes my chest hurt in the best way. "Haru no Uta" is a song that I didn't have particularly strong feelings about upon first listening, but it has really grown on me. Like, a lot. It's the part at "aruite~yuku... a-a-ahhh...." ...Also the rest of it.

Anyway, my squishy feelings aside. Both times I saw Spitz before this were in Zepp live houses and it's certainly different in a concert hall. In the end I prefer the closer, more intimate (and during songs like "Hayabusa" and "Memories", more energetic) atmosphere, but I'm not exactly complaining... *_* Besides, it was pretty neat to look around this (relatively) big concert hall with all the flashing lights and all the layers of fans and, you know, be united in overwhelming love... As is obvious, I am not a frequent concert-goer (remember: Alaska), so simple things still make me starry-eyed.

And regardless of the venue, most everyone in the front rows was bouncing up and down, especially during "Memories", and plenty of the audience broke out those hand motions so integral to Japanese rock concerts. (If you've been to a concert or even seen a live clip you'll know what I mean -- the one where everyone waves an arm back and forth over their head like a windshield wiper, and the one that involves energetically imitating an airplane runway attendant minus the glowing cone. XD Sorry, that's the best I can describe it.)

It's not that I didn't know this from, er, personal experience, but it's kind of amazing to observe the particular brand of starry-eyed devotion Spitz and Kusano especially can inspire. *g* Basically all Kusano had to do was turn his head slightly toward a section and it would erupt into a flurry of handwaving and jumping up and down. Which is good given that other than Tamura (the bassist, who is under the impression he's in a hard rock band) they're fairly restrained performers over a short set. In the live house performances there are songs like "Ore no subete" where Kusano breaks out the tamborine and teases the audience and everyone has an excellent time but in general they're just, you know, there, doing their thing.... which I hasten to add is perfectly fine by me skdja;ds there's still an element to hearing them live you do not get on a recording.

...I can barely remember what Kusano said during the MC. Unsurprisingly it was pretty relaxed, though; he wasn't trying particularly hard to be, idk, sparkly and entertaining or anything and no one expected him to in the first place. Sort of a "hi guys, we're Spitz, we ♥ Kameda-san, now we're going to play more" "YAY OKAY :D" feel.

Five songs = too short, though. At the end of the set I felt sort of like I'd been fed a delicious morsel and then told that was my entire dinner, ahaha. Morrrrrre please.

Hata Motohiro

Asa ga kuru mae ni
Forever Song
Synchro
Atarashii uta
Uroko

Enjoyable enough to listen to -- smooth, deep, pretty voice; v. nice acoustic guitar on the first song in particular. On the whole he didn't leave a particular urge to hunt down his music later, but the performance was perfectly nice to listen to. Damning with faint praise, I know. XD If I heard him performing on the street, say, I'd stop to listen for a while, but none of the songs in particular grabbed me. YMMV?

KREVA

Seikou
Neiro
Kureba ii no ni (with Kusano Masamune)
Umaretekite arigatou (ALSO with Kusano Masamune...!)
Ongaeshi
Akasatanahamayarawawon

Hands down best surprise of the night, omg. XD This is someone who really knows how to perform and how to work an audience. Of course as a rap artist goes it's, well, it's Japanese rap, it's not exactly -- hardcore. *g* (Though given that most of the audience was probably, like me, soft-hearted acoustic guitar lovers, that's probably for the best.

"Ongaeshi" was written by Kreva and Kameda specifically for the two concerts and, ahaha, the tiny orchestra really got into it. At the beginning Kreva encourages the audience to clap their hands and the all the orchestra members were really getting into it, then one of the violinists started pumping his bow in the air in time to the rhythm and they picked up on that until by the end they had several musicians pumping their bows and/or instruments in the air -- then the next night from the beginning they had this whole set of choreographed movements worked out. XD Sadly, I couldn't see them as well the second night but they got a quick "Saikou da ze" from Kreva as an aside in the middle of the song, and then afterwards a special thanks for being awesome, at which they waved their bows in the air and everyone cheered. :D After which followed:

Kreva: So this is going to be my last song --
Audience: Ehhhhhh?
Kreva: *pointing at a different section of the audience with each syllable* ...A-i-shi-te-ru. :D

The duets: ............................magical perfection. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Kusano's VOICE. I want to hear him sing non-Spitz songs more often because he does it so well and it sounds so... I don't even know, "fresh" is I think something like the word I'm looking for. Specifically, more duets plz; as other people have said before he sounds so good doing, well, the girl's part. (cf. Kureba ii no ni, Haiiro no hitomi.) Sometimes I get used to hearing the Spitz discography(-plus-assorted-covers-and-ephemera) and don't consciously notice what an amazing voice that is... and then listen to something new and quite different from the usual like "Umaretekite arigatou" and am hit with it all over again. Kusano Masamune = national treasure, the end.

Also he was like ten feet away from me for "Umaretekite arigatou". This is the extent of what I am able to write about that in complete sentences. *explodes*

(Mysterious handout on everyone's seats seemed to indicate a DVD may be forthcoming; fingers, toes, etc. crossed. Oh please oh please I want to rip that and listen to it agaiiiin.)

When the first strains of "Kureba ii no ni" came up the first night, the Kusano fangirls and I were busy having small conniptions so I missed what Kreva said, something about a special guest. The second night, however, the intro didn't come up right away and instead he enjoyed himself by playing with the audience a little beforehand. *g*

Kreva: So tonight's already special.... but I can make it MORE special. :D
Crowd: *knows exactly what this means*
Kreva: Should I introduce him? Should I? :D
Crowd: *small sonic explosion*

Final evaluation: As the Kusano fangirls behind me said, "Wow, tonight I ended up liking him."

JUJU

I can be free
Sunao ni naretara
Yasashisa de afureru you ni

I didn't come away with a particularly strong impression, other than noticing she had a very good falsetto. She doesn't seem to be very well known and given the rest of the lineup she would have had to be pretty mindblowing to make much of a dent in anyone's mind. Nice enough but I wasn't wishing for a longer set.

Hirai Ken

Hitomi wo tojite
Elegy
Omoi wo kasanaru sono mae ni...
Rakuen (!!!)
Pop Star

In other words, the perfect set list. XD The aforementioned bloc of fans noticed him before the lights even came up; I heard a couple calls of "Ken-chan!" and looked over to see a tall fedora'd figure making his way toward the stage. He basically stood/sat on the small stage right in front of me for the entire set until "Pop Star", at which point he visited each section of the audience.

Good lord, that man certainly has a voice. *_* He got a spontaneous round of applause after the first chorus of "Hitomi wo tojite" -- totally deserved, too. As nyonyo said about Ayaka, there's certainly no post-production happening there; what you hear on record is what you hear live. He was also clearly not half-hearted in the least about his vocals, especially during "Elegy". I mean, that song in particular is totally over the top but that's what made it fun! :D

I think it was around "Omoi wo kasanaru" that he pulled over a tall stool to sit on for the next two songs; the atmosphere was suddenly such that I understood why his annual year end concerts are called "Ken's Bar". "Rakuen" was a special request from Kameda, even though he wasn't involved in producing it, and I was so glad, omg. That was an early favorite of mine and it sounded great. :D Well. They all sounded great as far as performance went, naturally. But "Rakuen" had less in the way of dramatic string arrangements and more in the way of -- I don't know, slow, smoky streetlights. The arrangement was more rock and less funk than the original but it sounded goooood.

"Pop Star": This was when he left his stool and went all around the stage, pointing at various sections of the audience at key moments (you know, like "kimi dake niiiii") to produce concentrated outbursts of squeals and handwaving. *g* This was especially fun for me because it hit the charts while I was in Japan and host family #2 were all big Hirai fans, so I became very familiar with it. XD Moeka (adorable 3-year-old) in particular enjoyed singing along to it, although somewhere along the line "kira kira no pop star" became "kira kira no pasta", "gyutto dakishimete ageru" became "gyutto ikishimete ageru", etc... (That would be sparkling pop star --> sparkling pasta, and hold you tightly --> choke you tightly.) If you have somehow escaped seeing the music video, let me help you fix that. No really. You will be doing yourself a favor, I promise.

In conclusion: completely awesome A+++ five stars.

(P.S. My sources tell me that one of the tracks on Hirai's upcoming cover album is a duet with, yes that's right, Kusano Masamune. Covering a Nakajima Miyuki song. sdkjasd; this pleases me greatly.)

Shiina Ringo

Akane sasu kirou terasaredo...
More (Frank Sinatra cover)
Gibbs
Put Your Camera Down (Tokyo Jihen) (with Hirai Ken)
Marunouchi Sadistic (Tokyo Jihen)

As soon as Shiina Ringo came out I had this overwhelming feeling that she reminded me of someone, but it was several moments before I could place the person as Nana. Not in appearance but in terms of sheer presence -- well, and also impressionable young female fans. XD I imagine this is a connection others have made before. Anyway, wow, she was really, really fantastic. She had the audience wrapped around her little finger as she either a. tore up her guitar or b. went slinking around the stage in trademark white labcoat and black nylons, and she totally knew it, too.

"Gibbs": Once again, whoever designed the setlist really liked me, because this was, like, one of the first straight-up jpop/rock (i.e. non anime related) songs I ever heard and I have Special Feelings about it. Aaaaand it was totally mindblowing. I couldn't even tell you why, exactly, just something about the transition from blackout to stage lights on "I wanna be with you..." and her voice and stage presence... Again, I had this overwhelming feeling it could have been a Black Stones concert.

For the all the acts following Spitz, by the way, Kameda was on bass as part of the house band and chatted with the artists; they generally shared their first meeting with him, that sort of thing. For Shiina's set he and the rest of the band also donned the white labcoats, and when Hirai Ken came back out for their duet he, too, had a labcoat plus paint-spattered clothes and scruffy hair and thick glasses, to the point where I didn't actually recognize him until he started singing. XD Fabulous duet, though, which I'm sure comes as no surprise. (Though as I said to canis_m in comments, this was a criminally wasted opportunity for a live performance of "Haiiro no hitomi". XD)

Finale

Spitz + Kameda/house band + Hata Motohiro: Sora mo toberu hazu
Spitz + Kameda/house band + JUJU: Mahou no kotoba

Nice, though not particularly outstanding! I liked both artists all right, just not enough that it was terribly exciting to see them on vocals. Hearing Sora mo toberu hazu = ♥ though. :D (Mahou no kotoba is a. a song I have heard live before and b. a song that I like a lot but don't necessarily love.)

...and that's just the first night. To come: Chara, Suga Shikao, Ayaka, Do As Infinity, plus song samples for both nights' performers.

if by narnia you mean japan

2009-04-15T07:11:36Z

See you in a couple weeks.

acchikocchi @ 2009-03-23T10:36:00

2009-03-23T19:08:27Z

You may recall mention here of Mt. Redoubt, a volcano about 90 miles from Anchorage that has been on the verge of erupting for almost two months. ^^; Overnight it finally did... five times. USGS spokesman says it's probably not over yet; I really, really hope he's wrong ahaha. Fortunately the winds are in our favor and there's no ash expected to fall on Anchorage yet, to the disappointment of mananeh who was looking forward to "apocalyptic photos of ash falling". XD Some flights have been cancelled, mostly in-state, but there are a bunch of skiiers on their way up for the US Nationals who are now trapped in Seattle. And my brother's home for spring break and kind of needs to get back to school on Friday, so, uh, we hope that'll work out. On the bright site, everyone involved in the Iditarod, which happened a couple weeks ago, is very luck because there's ash falling on part of the route and I have no idea how they could possibly have managed the race. (Though that would make for a great headline: "Dog sled race cancelled because of volcanic eruption...")

Did I mention six inches of fresh snow yesterday morning? No? Good thing I didn't make the "hey, everything is melting and ~~spring~~ breakup is coming!" post I intended because clearly that was nothing but wishful and deluded thinking. Sob. Actually the end of March isn't so bad. It's when you get 18 inches on April 25th (see: last year) that you start really questioning your life choices to date. Like, "GOD WHY DO I LIVE HERE."

...a cheerful post so far. Quick note, I've officially signed up for jentfic_remix so consider that extra pressure to anyone wobbling on the edge of joining. Tomorrow's the sign-up deadline! Give me more material to potentially remix. Please. :D

Hockey blather for my own sake: good thing Friday's game locked up our tournament berth, because Saturday's game... well. Best not spoken of. Wince. Facing Northeastern Saturday in Grand Rapids, MI -- why didn't this happen while I was still in the Midwest? I DON'T KNOW. Good chance against Northeastern, not so good chances if we advance beyond that unless Bemidji upsets Notre Dame, i.e. a miracle happens. I remind myself to be content with what I have. (How I miss Moulson. Where is a decent offense when you need it. ;_;)

colin greening is my new favorite

2009-03-21T07:33:05Z

There's so much I've been meaning to post about, argh, and I just can't seem to find the time or energy. A fraction of that is that:

1. This year's round of jentfic_remix is open for sign-ups, and if you were one of the people who were dissatisfied with the original system of match-ups last year, this year the moderator has said she'll be checking everyone's fic journals to see what there is to work with plus there's the option to state preferences in the sign-up form. Am I going to sign up? Oh, probably. (Cue disbelieving laughter from everyone on the flist at this time last year.) Besides being what you might call a glutton for punishment, it's a surefire way to make sure I actually write something, and challenge fic generally turns out better than my average. XD;

2. So, um, I triumphed over the spring fare sales and seem to be going to Japan for two weeks next month. Aha. :D The plan is to head up into the central mountains, specifically around Takayama, where forecasts tell me there will still be cherry blossoms (I have never seen a cherry blossom in my life) and then down to Kansai, to see gnine and xparrot in Kyoto and do some hiking. :) (And then spend a couple days in Tokyo at the end not for any particular reason nothing to do with that concert nope not me. >_>) So if anyone wants to meet up and lounge around the Shima Hanto peninsula or hike one of the Kumano Kodo trails or, well, anything else, let me know. :)

3. Keep meaning to post about Vienna Teng's new album, keep changing my mind on what I think. A couple tracks in the meantime:

Antebellum (edit: link fixed)
Kansas
St. Stephen's Cross

4. I understand that most of my flist does not quite appreciate that hockey is in fact the most perfect sport ever created and that Cornell hockey in particular is the pinnacle of it all but -- coming back with twenty-four seconds left in regulation to tie the conference semifinal and drive it into double overtime with the ultimate win yessssssssss yes yes yes regardless of what happens tomorrow we are going to the NCAAs. It has been TOO LONG. Happy. So happy.

5. BSG finale: ....................*whimper*

torchwood

2009-02-26T06:17:02Z

So Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon played This Is A Low at the NME awards tonight/last night. Be still my heart.

--

This was supposed to be that general media post, but, uh, turns out I have enough to say about Torchwood to merit its own post! ._. Spoilers for... let's just say all of season 2, to be on the safe side. Oh, and a bit for Doctor Who 4x02. Having read only a moderate amount of reaction/meta/speculation thus far, if you are a longstanding fan this is probably all old meme to you. Just to warn you. :)

"Sleeper" and "Meat": Hello Ianto Jones where have you been all my life. *_* I was more or less prejudiced to like him thanks to the wide world of fandom but I finally see him come into his own here. :D The snark! The kicking ass and taking names! The waistcoats! *_* the making out with jack yeah yeah shut up. Since everyone else talks about Ianto and his many, many charms at great length (completely understandably), I don't really need to elaborate. Instead...

"Reset": ...speaking of people with the surname Jones, MARTHA. MARTHA JONES. ♥♥♥ Martha SAVED THE WORLD and is not going to listen to Jack tell her where and where not to go just because he's a little overprotective, thank you very much. Augh, she's so hardcore Martha iluuuuuuuu.

Eventually I'll talk about Who S3 and about how much I loved the Doctor-Martha-Jack team overall, which of course made me squeal like a dolphin when I saw the preview for her appearance on Torchwood. But I loved the little references from Martha and Jack to the end of the universe and the year that never was. :) And "everyone else has had a go", ha. And Martha and Ianto's scene in the medical bay ahahahaha and the adorable expression on Martha's face. sjka;ds I want her to join Torchwood, please. (Even though I know Freema Agyeman has another show. With Jamie Bamber, actually! /tangent)

"Dead Man Walking" and "A Day In The Death": I have lots of Owen thoughts -- overall I actually quite like him and always have, which I think puts me in the minority. (Occasional moments where I wanted to reach into the screen and slap him in "Greeks Bearing Gifts" notwithstanding, but I really disliked that episode for reasons touched on below.) But for now -- "I'm a bloody brilliant doctor" that's right, you are. The A-plot -- or is it the B-plot and Owen's inner struggle is the A-plot? I've never figured these things out -- of "Dead Man Walking" reeeally didn't do much for me but Owen the consummate doctor focused on saving leukemia-child's life even when he's about to go literally grapple with Death (like I said, A plot, wtf), and in "A Day In The Death" at the old collector's bedside trying against hope to resuscitate him -- yes, please. Owen. ♥

"To The Last Man" and "Adam": I just really like Tosh, although I think she's criminally underdeveloped/underused -- or maybe I mean wrongly used? It would be great if she could have a plot to herself that didn't involved being love/sex and the alien-or-otherwise-oddly-placed-person of the week. (Or Owen. Much as I might be shipping them just a bit and yes I know exactly how this series ends and I'm NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.) Because honestly, Mary, Tommy, Adam... ^^; Her part in "Captain Jack Harkness" was close but it wasn't a major storyline at all -- I just liked that a. she was totally hardcore with the equations in blood and everything and b. the show actually touched on the implications of a Japanese girl popping into 1941. Of course I imagine it was set early 1941 to avoid having to deal with any kind of serious repercussions of Tosh's appearance, but, you know, better than the handwave it could have been. There's a lot of rather skeevy overtones in the series' treatment of Tosh -- geeky and social awkward Asian girl good at math and science! what is this word stereotype you speak of? NOW LET'S OBJECTIFY HER EVERY TIME SHE GETS A PLOTLINE OF HER OWN -- but, good lord, if you started on the skeevy overtones in Torchwood you'd never get out. XD (Though they are getting better.) I understand "Fragments" has good things, though, so I'm looking forward to that.

"Something Borrowed": Oh, man, I really thought it was so touching! And, you know, hilarious. XD I mean, it was all about the various relationships of all flavors -- Gwen and Rhys, Gwen and Jack, Jack and Ianto, Owen and Tosh, even Gwen and Tosh and Gwen and Ianto (Ianto the WEDDING FAIRY bwahaha and how sweet was their little kiss at the end? I love them as friends ♥) -- and not simply in service of the alien of the week plot, which is still rare enough on this show to be pleasing. *g*

I'd heard all kinds of less-than-positive things about the episode but I didn't think it was like that at all. There never seemed, to me, to be any serious question of who or what Gwen cared about, or even a feeling that the episode was trying to play Gwen-and-Rhys against Gwen-and-Jack -- more that it was trying to show how she cared very much about them both, and how the relationships were different but not competing. She came right out and said that even though this fascinating, mysterious, drop-dead gorgeous stranger dropped into her life out of nowhere, she still wants to marry Rhys. She is so obviously not just "settling" for him! (I could swear the word "settling" was explicitly brought up somewhere in the series but I can't find it anywhere... And omg, I loved Rhys in this episode. What a good guy. Rhys and his CHAINSAW hee hee.) And of course she's going to have a few moments of UST with the hot boss -- hello, it's Jack Harkness. If I had to guess I would say at the beginning of the series they were planning on having Gwen and Rhys' relationship fall apart and maybe moving in a seriously Jack/Gwen direction, hence Rhys being much less developed and sympathetic and the heavy Jack-and-Gwen moments like the shooting range scene, but as it is now I'm quite fond of Rhys and of Gwen and Rhys together (especially after not only this episode but also "Meat" and "Adam"), and I really appreciate how the show's dealt with her two important relationships. :D

And as for Jack, Stephen James Walker can say that he thinks Jack was pining for Gwen at the end of the episode until he's blue in the face and I still won't agree with him. XD Jack sitting alone in the Hub with his little handful of confetti and his old wedding photo completely highlighted that, omg -- I don't know how much clearer that scene could have said "I AM ALONE AND EVERYONE I LOVE WILL DIE EVENTUALLY AND NO ONE CAN EVER UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ME AND ALL THE THINGS I HAVE SEEN AND EXPERIENCED AND DID I MENTION I WILL ALWAYS EVENTUALLY BE ALONE" without him opening his mouth and speaking in all caps, for crying out loud. (Notice how I am not even going touch the "omg Jack doesn't really care about Ianto!!1!" thing, oh lord, or I will end up banging my head against the keyboard and seriously damaging something. XD)

Maybe I'm giving the show too much credit, but I hope not. This season is soooo much better. :D

Also I've really gotten to like Gwen. And mananeh disagrees but I think Eve Myles is super pretty. ♥

So that's as far as I've seen of S2, and whether or not I finish up in the next couple days or in the next couple weeks depends on the sort of free time my Torchwood-watching companion has before she leaves for vacation. (My Who-watching companion -- pun unintended *snort* -- is currently in a rural Alaskan village as part of her teacher training so I'm already going without for two weeks and considering downloading the next episode on the sly anyway...) But I'm not in a huge hurry: as I said, I know what's coming at the end of the season. It's not going to be pretty.

...so, moving right on from that thought, Children of Earth:

I'd read about the three writers responsible for Children of Earth (RTD, John Fay, James Moran) some time ago, so when I saw Moran credited as the writer for "The Fires of Pompeii", aka The One Where The Doctor and Donna Become Household Gods (insert beaming and giggling here), I took notice and was quite pleased! Obviously that was a great episode as far as the main emotional conflict went -- the scenes of Donna trying to tell everyone to stay away from the beach, omg, and of course the emotional climax re: saving someone when you can't save everyone -- but also the lighter stuff, the running gag with the TARDIS translator and the Spartacus exchange and the household gods, was great. :D Though I lost the plot a bit when they were all running about inside the volcano. So I was already quite pleased and then I saw the much-talked about "Sleeper" and is Moran responsible for the beginning of the Ianto Jones: King of Snark and Stun Guns trend?? The alien-of-the-week plot was shaky, to me, but the character dynamics and dialogue were fantastic. :D And THEN. And then I found out he wrote all the Captain's Blog entries for BBC America. The ones that are frequently likened to officially-sanctioned fanfiction. Cue explosion. I'm v. glad he's going to be involved. :D I've been reading his blog, too, and it's quite entertaining, plus fun background on what it was like pitching, developing, and writing the scripts for Who and Torchwood.

Also interested, naturally, in seeing what RTD's episodes are like, given that he hasn't actually written for Torchwood before.

Have seen the official trailer, various filming footage posted on YouTube (all plastered with massive spoiler warnings, all more or less spoiler free XD), and the behind the scenes footage/interviews aired at NYCC. How pleased am I at the cheers for Kai Owen and the further cheers when he says Rhys will play a significant part? So pleased, hee! ♥

Oh god, this post is long and full of parentheses. Must wrap it up. The sad thing is this is only a fraction of my thoughts. Goodness.

crossover of doom is now "torchwood three visit camelot" orz

(honestly, it's because i'm too lazy to properly deal with arthur and merlin adjusting to modern technology without their heads exploding)

techie stuff

2009-02-20T00:16:32Z

Discovery #1:

I've finally done it -- after months of making noise about trying out Linux, I come to you now live from Linux Mint, an Ubuntu-based distro which is extremely aesthetically pleasing. *_* (that is to say: omg it's so BEAUTIFUL and SHINY and FAST and, and, and...) Because I like safety nets, I didn't jettison Windows entirely but did the whole partition-and-dual-boot thing as explained on roughly a thousand tutorial websites. Turns out this is good because battery life is noticeably less on Mint than on XP; otherwise I've been completely seduced thus far.

Discovery #2:

For anyone who regularly uses more than one computer: Dropbox is a MIRACLE, omg. *_* Like the name implies, it provides a file dropbox you can access via secure login from any computer with the program installed. So instead of emailing yourself 7 different versions of the same file as you keep making changes or messing with your USB drive out for a MEASLY 22K WORD DOCUMENT (...you can see that has always bothered me XD) you just pop into the dropbox and you're all set. For a variety of reasons involving a laptop that doesn't like Photobucket/LJ Photo/basically any photo uploading service and a printer that only has a PS2 port, this is a dream come true for me.

I keep meaning to post about Media Stuff; aside from catching up on reading real books I've seen a truly obscene amount of television over the last few weeks (Torchwood, Doctor Who, The West Wing, the new BSG episodes) while I hang around waiting on each successive step of the interview/application process for a Particular Thing. But that will have to wait for later, as ettezag, encouraged by the comment thread on my last post, is coming over in a short while to force the beginning of Merlin on me. Er. That came out a bit wrong but you all know what I mean.

p.s. hands up anyone who would read "arthur and merlin fall through the rift to cardiff"

a quote that more or less made my day

2009-02-17T23:18:35Z

(Oh man I am so behind on comments -- dotintheshark! pithetaphish! I have mail and will properly flail very soon!)

Question: Which recent Academy Award-nominated film's director said the following about said movie:

"'Did you see Newsies?' [director] asks gleefully. 'You really missed something. Boy, was that great. Now I know this sounds strange, but I want [movie] to be just like Newsies, only without the singing and dancing. I'm serious. Print that!'"

Answer: Gus Van Sant, about Milk, formerly known as The Mayor of Castro Street.

*ROLLS*

volcanic activity

2009-01-30T21:53:42Z

So, Mt. Redoubt's about to erupt! Um. Wow.

The last major eruption I can remember is Mt. Spurr, when I was six years old. My mother was reading the beginning of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to my brother and me, and we looked out the window and saw that it was completely dark outside, at 8 PM in the middle of August. (In August the sun still doesn't set until 10 PM). At which point my dad came in and told us it had erupted. I remember hosing ash out of the gutters outside a couple days later but I don't remember much about the eruption itself except the dark sky, and that we never did finish reading the book.

Redoubt is 100 miles from Anchorage, Spurr was 75, so whether we get hit with ash really depends on the wind when it erupts (which could be, er, any minute now). This is, of course, the week my parents are at a business conference in Hawaii. I think I'm all set, though. I have plenty of supplies, the car's covered up, there is no way I'm letting kitty out of the house.

*deep breath* Okay! Bring it!

the usual mishmash (life, television, books)

2009-01-16T03:49:50Z

Warning: this post is all over the place. And I haven't been keeping up with my flist or comments or anything at all -- please forgive me. D:

Things I Have Been Doing:

Enjoying a really good haircut, which for me is no easy thing to find. It's amazing the difference that makes to your self-image! *swishes shortish hair around*

Wondering why two days of classes were cancelled for weather-related reasons this semester, when I can't actually benefit from it. XD Wondering about that weather in general, actually -- okay, I returned from Texas to be greeted by a low of -25F and a week of temperatures in the negative teens in general. And then it warmed up, which was great! And kept getting warmer. And warmer. And today the high was around 45F and there's a half-inch of water over the ice. As well as being stormy and dark. Needless to say, I haven't spent much time outside. This has been the strangest winter. XD;

Twitching over the last fic, the one for je_ficgames. I feel like there's something I have left to do about it, or to it, only I don't. This is the same feeling I had after jdrama_remix was over, too. I would say it was a result of having it posted anonymously -- the long period between finishing the fic and seeing it posted, and then between posting it and claiming authorship, so that it just results in a constant feel of waiting -- only I feel totally fine about the je_holiday fic. So that's two out of three Weird Unfinished Nervy feeling, one out of three perfectly normal. Results inconclusive. Similar breakdown for Doing Best Work Under Pressure, actually: two out of three vying for pieces I'm proudest of (jentfic_remix's Can't Go Home Again and je_ficgames' The Sky Above, The World Beneath), one out of three fine but not special (jdrama_remix's Waiting). I really should just do one of those end of the year fic memes instead of going off on these tangents. ^^;

Things I Have Been Watching:

Doctor Who until it comes out my ears. I'd seen up through... 1x05, I think, before I left on vacation, and watched the next three episodes on the plane. (And let me tell you it was really fun watching Father's Day sitting next to complete strangers and trying to not look like I was crying. XD Fortunately I think by that point most of the plane was asleep.) Then literally the day I got home the friend who'd fed me the first few episodes ages ago emailed me wanting to know if I was still interested, as she was in the mood for a rewatch. So we watched the rest of Season 1, Christmas Invasion, and 2x01 over the week.

...and then all of the rest of Season 2 plus Runaway Bride over a 24-hour period!

Um.

Thoughts: My friend has that You Never Forget Your First Doctor shirt, and it's true. I feel all prickly over everyone going DAVID TENNANT IS THE GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD YOU'LL LOVE HIM when I was quite fond of the Ninth Doctor, thanks! It's not that I dislike Tennant -- I enjoy what I've seen of him a lot! -- he just has a lot of hype to live up to. A lot. Although I thought the same thing about Jack Harkness and that ended up more or less one shot straight to the heart, game over. Ahem. (that is to say, Jack. ♥___♥ More, please. I was so miffed when they ran off from Satellite Five without even a proper goodbye, omg.)

Things I Have Been Reading:

Diana Wynne Jones' House of Many Ways, which I quite enjoyed, as I expected to. Howl never fails to entertain. Although I really could do without the current juvenile/YA publishing trend to make moderate-length books HP-sized by manipulation of font, margins, paper quality, etc. I realized something was wrong when I was reading multiple pages a minute, and I'm a fast reader but not that fast. XD;

Several Mary Stewart novels, both new to me and rereads. This Rough Magic still takes the cake, though The Moonspinners is close and I have always been inordinately fond of Wildfire at Midnight. (I never got the huge appeal of Nine Coaches Waiting or The Ivy Tree, though. I liked them both all right but in Ivy Tree I never really warmed up to Adam and Mary was much more interesting before you found out *spoiler*, and in Nine Coaches I was very fond of Phillippe -- I always like Stewart's children/teenagers, I adored Colin in Moonspinners -- but the Gothic romance model just doesn't do it for me, I guess.)

Parhelion's Hurrah for Hollywood quartet, which I have always been inordinately fond of. Do I ever love Angelo Gerello, omg. The whole point for me of reading the quartet's final story, which I never really warmed up to, is always the final scene cameo (Angelo's "alarming version of a smile" ♥), as well as the various other references to and appearances by first-three characters. (Sid! Will! Nigel! Edwards & Schulman, my second favorites!) Has anyone else read these...?

Not entirely coincidentally, a large pile of nonfiction related to golden age Hollywood (if one wants historical background for the above quartet, William J. Mann's Behind the Screen is a good place to start), interwar Britain, Noël Coward, and Lorenz Hart. I read by chronological era, I suppose? XD;

Approximately a metric ton of Torchwood fanfiction.

Things I Will Be Watching Tomorrow:

BSG!!!