I decided that when I’m not working this summer, I should try to catch up on dramas. Like, from scratch. And maybe because it’s June, I went for a super-old Nino drama, Akimahende! (1998), which I'm not exactly recommending (but maybe I was just in a bad mood all week? Maybe this actually is a decent drama?). The exclamation point is part of the ( Read more... )

Come on, NTV. If you're spending two and a half hours to get them into make-up, does that mean you have no time left to stop and do a second take when your monster's bits are coming off?


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I’m back! And I’ll use my triumphant return (?) to wish a happy belated birthday to lockability, who likes dramas, even bad ones, and a not-belated birthday to basil_ovelby, who will probably appreciate the baby TOKIO herein. As for all the other birthdays I missed while I was struggling offline - I hope they were great, and I hope you like this post too, but I am ( Read more... )

Because I really can’t control myself. I have no time for this. I meant to just grab a few caps from a concert and a couple of variety shows. And yet my exasperating fondness for this boy led me down the primrose path of ignoring all my work in favor of watching way too many old Arashi shows, and this is the monstrous result. Besides the ( Read more... )

Why have I had to eject five fireflies from my living room this evening? I really didn't think the drafts were that big. Where are they coming from? Well, at least my area has them -- I learned that there are no fireflies in the San Francisco area. Sad.

( Why is the vealcake tag getting so much action? )

Well, I didn’t get around to the lone juvenile detective after all, instead becoming distracted by Shinjuku Boys Detective Team (1998), starring Aiba Masaki, Matsumoto Jun, Yokoyama Yuu, and a couple of cute girls who may or may not have had careers later. It is extremely bad (and bad video quality). But also stupidly entertaining at times.

( Click for teen-age Johnnys and awesome sfx! )

I seem to have arrived back home again, apparently to sink into the direst sort of stagnation. I was greeted by a stack of student papers that - I’m not kidding - was seven inches tall. Seven inches. Not including rough drafts. Well, this is what I get for temporarily placing my priorities elsewhere. Silly me. I really should have known ( Read more... )

I’m not sure I really understand how mere rain can completely close down the only route north out of here. Okay, maybe it was turning into iciness as it landed, but the state, county, and city all ostensibly have contingency plans for this kind of weather, since it’s pretty common to have sleet around here. Nonetheless, after sitting in ( Read more... )

Mystery is a great genre because it takes a bunch of scattered and confusing events, objects, and characters, sorts them out, and arrives at a nice tidy answer with no loose ends dangling. Intriguing characters and clever twists are just icing on the cake. Even silly and predictable mysteries can be a lot of fun, since they allow the reader/ ( Read more... )