My sick iPod and more on "Tatta Hitotsu no Koi" ep. 2
I had a crisis yesterday. My iPod died (sort of). :( And I blame the new version of iTunes, because ever since I downloaded it, my iPod has been acting screwy, as in occasionally not mounting, etc. I'm not fond of the new look of iTunes, either - it keeps losing its soft rounded aesthetic beauty that the earlier forms of iTunes possessed. However, it does have some new features that I like. In any case, after hours of not mounting, it finally told me that my iPod was corrupted and would I like to RESTORE to original settings (which of course erases everything). I said eff that and ejected because I wanted to read up on iLounge for other alternatives before I took such a drastic step. Alas, when I tried to use the iPod independently...there was nothing on it. At least nothing accessible. So at that point, RESTORE was looking like a pretty good option.
What does this mean? Well, I could only use iTunes's sync feature to put about half of what was on there before back on. My music and videos are scattered among three different hard drives and I only had one hooked up yesterday and since I was in the process of obtaining and seeding Music Stations's 20th anniversary special (3+Gig) I wasn't about to disconnect that to hook up any other hard drives, and I only have 2 USB ports, of which the iPod was using the other. *sigh* It's going to take me a while to put all the music and video I had on there back on...on the bright side, it's behaving normally since the RESTORE.
This also meant that time I had planned to use for many other things was eaten up dealing with my poor sick baby. Anyone who knows me that my iPod is probably my most important inanimate object, with my laptop being a close second. I live and die by my iPod, and it's one of the very very few things in my life that I am rarely without (my jewelry is of similar importance, as they are all sentimental meaningful objects, but my iPod gets me through the day in ways that are impossible to express. I'd feel naked and sad without my jewelry but I would feel lonely and utterly bereft without my iPod to provide the soundtrack for my life. Yes, I realize how this makes me sound...but I can't be the only one who feels a strong attachment to their mp3 player or other electronic of choice).
Tatta Hitotsu no Koi Episode 2
As if you couldn't tell from my unholy squeeing yesterday, I loved the episode. It was the perfect way to start my day.
1. I particularly loved Hiroto's reaction to Nao when she calls him a liar. If you look at his face at the very end of episode 1, when he sees her and realizes that she's caught him in his lies, he looks so young and vulnerable, but he walks forward anyway. In the beginning of this episode, when he asks her how she found him, and she tells him about the restaurant, he gives everything away in despair?embarassment? His physical reaction is very telling. He's clearly upset that she knows everything - he looks up and and spins and then moves away from her. He's so upset, but he still tries so hard to maintain his bravado. And then Ren comes in and spoils it for him by making him act kind and human - he's incapable of being anything other than gentle and loving toward his brother. *grin* Thank goodness for Ren! I love Nao here, because no matter how angry she might be, she still has a beautiful warm smile for Ren.
2. I'm so glad that Nao understands a little bit about Hiroto's situation, thanks to Ayuto (who I like more and more all the time). She's already seen how he is towards his little brother, so coupled with Ayuto's background, she knows that Hiroto is not just some everyday jerk - and that there are probably good reasons why he is the way he is.
3. I LOVE how Hiroto can't get the thought of Nao thinking he's a liar out of his head...and also how adorable he is about the name and address that Ayuto provides for him. He tries to act all cool when Ayuto shows him the piece of paper but the truth is in his reaction to Ayuto's fake-out of losing it overboard and in entire posture and manner. He really is like a lost kitty.
4. I know I squeed quite loudly over what happens later between Hiroto and Nao, but on viewing the episode a second time, I do think my favorite scene of the episode is the bloody gorgeous scene between Hiroto and Ren. I think I died several times over at how beautiful that scene was - so tender and loving and gentle and kind. Guuuuuuuh. Kame pulls it off so beautifully and so believably, and the dialogue is fabulous (although a bit too heavy on the foreshadowing). I'm leaning more and more toward the idea that Hiroto dies at the end of this drama as well as Nao. The whole thing with Hiroto listening to Ren's breathing and Ren listening to Hiroto's heart...and Hiroto telling Ren that he can have his heart and that he would die for him (something like that)....guh. They're so loving and snuggly together. Why are the little brothers in jdoramas so damn cute? Ren is just the sweetest thing.
5. Koki was so funny in this episode, but I really do wonder why he's so over-the-top cartoony in what looks like the comic sidekick role. I wonder if he's been asked to play it like this or if it's his own invention? In any case, I did think he was adorable on the phone with Yuuko after he got pulled over for speeding. And I hope we get to see more from him that just a one-note comic character - that kind of role fit what he did with My Boss, My Hero, but I would have expected a bit more depth from a drama like this.
6. The end of the episode is just beyond adorable - everything about the little orange toy - the fact that Hiroto went back to get it because it was for her, and the fact that she wanted it because it was from him...the way he wouldn't tell her how many tries it took him to get it...the hand!porn (I'm with alexandral on the whole hand!porn adoration)...the light signalling at the very end. Lovely.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
It's very predictable, and they're hitting us over the head with lots of things: the illness factor for both Nao and Ren, the chasm of difference between Hiroto and Nao, etc. But the cuteness and the unabashed romance of it all makes me tingly anyway. Besides, I always put part of my brain on hold with jdoramas - I'm all about the characters when it comes to these things. If I love the characters, I can forgive lots and lots of things. I didn't particularly love Sapuri but I adored Kame's Ishida Yuya. There's a lot more that I like with THnK, but it definitely has its flaws. Fortunately, they are ones I can happily live with, so long as they keep giving me what they gave me in Episode 2: schmoopy, gooey sentimentality played by very pretty people. Right now, my life needs this. ;)
Finally, I nearly forgot to mention The Science of Sleep, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which I saw on Friday. I loved it! It's bizarre, quirky, hilarious, and very, very touching. Gael Garcia Bernal is a wonderful combination of wacky, hot and adorable, and the sheer imaginativeness of the art direction is to die for. This is not a film for everyone. You really have to be willing to take the journey the film sends you on and just go with it. And just as Stephane has trouble distinguishing between his dreams and reality, so does the audience sometimes, which adds to the weirdness.
And one more last thing: Happy Anniversary to me! Fourteen years ago today, I saw my favorite band Marillion for the first time and my life was irrevocably changed. Because of Marillion, I've had some of the most wonderful experiences of my life, not the least of which is meeting some of the dearest friends I currently possess.
What does this mean? Well, I could only use iTunes's sync feature to put about half of what was on there before back on. My music and videos are scattered among three different hard drives and I only had one hooked up yesterday and since I was in the process of obtaining and seeding Music Stations's 20th anniversary special (3+Gig) I wasn't about to disconnect that to hook up any other hard drives, and I only have 2 USB ports, of which the iPod was using the other. *sigh* It's going to take me a while to put all the music and video I had on there back on...on the bright side, it's behaving normally since the RESTORE.
This also meant that time I had planned to use for many other things was eaten up dealing with my poor sick baby. Anyone who knows me that my iPod is probably my most important inanimate object, with my laptop being a close second. I live and die by my iPod, and it's one of the very very few things in my life that I am rarely without (my jewelry is of similar importance, as they are all sentimental meaningful objects, but my iPod gets me through the day in ways that are impossible to express. I'd feel naked and sad without my jewelry but I would feel lonely and utterly bereft without my iPod to provide the soundtrack for my life. Yes, I realize how this makes me sound...but I can't be the only one who feels a strong attachment to their mp3 player or other electronic of choice).
Tatta Hitotsu no Koi Episode 2
As if you couldn't tell from my unholy squeeing yesterday, I loved the episode. It was the perfect way to start my day.
1. I particularly loved Hiroto's reaction to Nao when she calls him a liar. If you look at his face at the very end of episode 1, when he sees her and realizes that she's caught him in his lies, he looks so young and vulnerable, but he walks forward anyway. In the beginning of this episode, when he asks her how she found him, and she tells him about the restaurant, he gives everything away in despair?embarassment? His physical reaction is very telling. He's clearly upset that she knows everything - he looks up and and spins and then moves away from her. He's so upset, but he still tries so hard to maintain his bravado. And then Ren comes in and spoils it for him by making him act kind and human - he's incapable of being anything other than gentle and loving toward his brother. *grin* Thank goodness for Ren! I love Nao here, because no matter how angry she might be, she still has a beautiful warm smile for Ren.
2. I'm so glad that Nao understands a little bit about Hiroto's situation, thanks to Ayuto (who I like more and more all the time). She's already seen how he is towards his little brother, so coupled with Ayuto's background, she knows that Hiroto is not just some everyday jerk - and that there are probably good reasons why he is the way he is.
3. I LOVE how Hiroto can't get the thought of Nao thinking he's a liar out of his head...and also how adorable he is about the name and address that Ayuto provides for him. He tries to act all cool when Ayuto shows him the piece of paper but the truth is in his reaction to Ayuto's fake-out of losing it overboard and in entire posture and manner. He really is like a lost kitty.
4. I know I squeed quite loudly over what happens later between Hiroto and Nao, but on viewing the episode a second time, I do think my favorite scene of the episode is the bloody gorgeous scene between Hiroto and Ren. I think I died several times over at how beautiful that scene was - so tender and loving and gentle and kind. Guuuuuuuh. Kame pulls it off so beautifully and so believably, and the dialogue is fabulous (although a bit too heavy on the foreshadowing). I'm leaning more and more toward the idea that Hiroto dies at the end of this drama as well as Nao. The whole thing with Hiroto listening to Ren's breathing and Ren listening to Hiroto's heart...and Hiroto telling Ren that he can have his heart and that he would die for him (something like that)....guh. They're so loving and snuggly together. Why are the little brothers in jdoramas so damn cute? Ren is just the sweetest thing.
5. Koki was so funny in this episode, but I really do wonder why he's so over-the-top cartoony in what looks like the comic sidekick role. I wonder if he's been asked to play it like this or if it's his own invention? In any case, I did think he was adorable on the phone with Yuuko after he got pulled over for speeding. And I hope we get to see more from him that just a one-note comic character - that kind of role fit what he did with My Boss, My Hero, but I would have expected a bit more depth from a drama like this.
6. The end of the episode is just beyond adorable - everything about the little orange toy - the fact that Hiroto went back to get it because it was for her, and the fact that she wanted it because it was from him...the way he wouldn't tell her how many tries it took him to get it...the hand!porn (I'm with alexandral on the whole hand!porn adoration)...the light signalling at the very end. Lovely.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
It's very predictable, and they're hitting us over the head with lots of things: the illness factor for both Nao and Ren, the chasm of difference between Hiroto and Nao, etc. But the cuteness and the unabashed romance of it all makes me tingly anyway. Besides, I always put part of my brain on hold with jdoramas - I'm all about the characters when it comes to these things. If I love the characters, I can forgive lots and lots of things. I didn't particularly love Sapuri but I adored Kame's Ishida Yuya. There's a lot more that I like with THnK, but it definitely has its flaws. Fortunately, they are ones I can happily live with, so long as they keep giving me what they gave me in Episode 2: schmoopy, gooey sentimentality played by very pretty people. Right now, my life needs this. ;)
Finally, I nearly forgot to mention The Science of Sleep, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which I saw on Friday. I loved it! It's bizarre, quirky, hilarious, and very, very touching. Gael Garcia Bernal is a wonderful combination of wacky, hot and adorable, and the sheer imaginativeness of the art direction is to die for. This is not a film for everyone. You really have to be willing to take the journey the film sends you on and just go with it. And just as Stephane has trouble distinguishing between his dreams and reality, so does the audience sometimes, which adds to the weirdness.
And one more last thing: Happy Anniversary to me! Fourteen years ago today, I saw my favorite band Marillion for the first time and my life was irrevocably changed. Because of Marillion, I've had some of the most wonderful experiences of my life, not the least of which is meeting some of the dearest friends I currently possess.