Lascivious

Getting back into Takarazuka. I watched their version of the French Romeo et Juliette, and it was really good. Some parts were kind of weird, and I feel like some of the vocal parts were a bit low for some of the otokoyaku, but I really liked the Romeo - Otozuki Kei - he had such a great presence and a really impressive voice, and Juliet - Maihane Mimi - was good except that sometimes she sounded off-key. But they were adorable together. And I forget how sexy otokoyaku are.

Also I am now obsessed with Elisabeth.

Oooh, apparently they made a movie of Mahoro Ekimae Tada Benriken, aka according the English title the novel gives itself, "The Handymen of Mahoro Town". I first read the manga version (manganization?) of the novel because 1) it was drawn by Yamada Yugi, who is one of my favorite mangaka, and 2) it was in the yaoi section of Kinokuniya.
(It's not technically yaoi, despite the slashy undertones of two grown men living together.)

I liked the manga so much that I went out and bought the novel it was based on, which is by Miura Shion, and I ended up loving that too. It's kind of one of those zany slice of life stories.

I'll definitely see the movie when it comes out on DVD, even though neither Eita or Matsuda Ryuhei are anything like what I pictured as Tada and Gyoten. ("Oh, so you mean his name's not Chihuahua?" AKA Hana-chan looks perfect though.)

Original illustrations:



Manga:


Movie:

So, 2011, guys! The year of the rabbit. XD That means this much be the theme song XDD

(Uh, also...those lyrics are absolutely filthy. Oh DAIGO XD. Maybe it's a good thing that can still think of you mostly as your character in Love Shuffle. LOL LOL)

Now, on to the things I'm loving:

1) TOP and G-Dragon's 'Knock Out'.

So perfect. How are they simultaneously so cool and so ridiculous? They have that great mix of swagger (deserved since they've been hailed as musical progedies since they were teenagers and happen to be part of the super famous and successful BIGBANG) and not taking themselves seriously.

This is what good rap is all about, tongue and cheek, macho posturing and bragging, and tons of puns, in-jokes and references to pop culture and the rappers' own career and past scandals, etc. A concise explanation of all the references in the song can be found here.

2) I have a new RL OTP, you guys.


Ayu, AKA arguably the biggest Japanese pop star in the world, shocked basically everyone by announcing her engagement to Austrian model/actor Manual "Mannie" Schwarz, on Dec 31, and then marrying him in Vegas on New Year's Day, 1/1/11.

The two met in May when Mannie played the role of Ayu's husband in her 'Virgin Road' music video.

They are absolutely adorable together. I uh, am considering making a primer. But I can't tell if that's creepy, despite how many band primers I've read in my years. (Also, it would be super easy, considering all the flirting they did over tweeter for the whole time up until now. LOL)

3) OMG, an actual fic rec!!
Scott Pilgrim and the Unsubtle Seduction". Scott Pilgrim, (Scott/Wallace)
This gets the tone/language of the movie and comic books perfectly. I want to read a 100 more of this fic.

4) Still, Marry Me, Mary! Only 2 eps to go now, and it's just so good! I'll be sad when it's over, but I also just want Moo-Gyul and Mae-Ri to get their happy ending already!

Best way to relive your nostalgia for a show? Check out the show's Crowning Moment of Awesome page.

Now I really want to watch some Buffy. I actually own the entire series (I was given the box set as a gift years ago), but unfortunately it's at the 'rents.

My book: Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire , by Amanda Foreman. AKA the book that The Duchess starring Keira Knightly was based on. Georgiana's lived during the late Georgian and early Regency periods, so having all that Heyer under my belt makes the book that much more interesting, because I recognize people and cultural references. I am excited to see the movie when I finish, but I doubt it will do the book justice.

Gogo no Kocha AKA Afternoon Tea AKA the best tea brand ever, has a new flavor: Patissier Apple Darjeeling au Lait.
We need to get more apple tea in the US. I miss it, and love it.

This article: Japanese Shoppers Freaked Out by Singing, Dancing, Shirtless Staff at Tokyo Abercrombie
Holy International Marketing Fail, Batman!


The new Coke Zero CM in which Namie has a dance against All Blacks, the New Zealand Rugby Team. It is truly bad ass.

Last night I made this cake for Cy's co-workers birthday. It took all evening, as it was surprisingly labor intensive, but it came out really well.

Heart-kun, the chihuahua with the heart-shaped marking, was born in 1997 to breeder Emiko Sakurada of Odate, Japan. Of the 1000 or so dogs Sakurada has breed, she had never seen one with such markings.

Until...

2009, when Heart-kun's brother, LOVE-kun was born!!



Love-kun is so tiny! And look how much Heart-kun has grown!!

ETA: 11 days later, Heart-kun's daughter was born!! Her name is Kokoro-chan!
(Kokoro = 'heart' in Japanese)

From here

Due to the new vampire craze sparked by "True Blood" on TV and the "Twilight" movies, movie studios are considering going back to earlier history of the famed vampire Lestat from the Rice books.



On one hand, I would be excited about that. I always wanted them to make 'The Vampire Lestat' into a movie. It's certainly more manageable than 'The Queen of the Damned' was, because it doesn't cover so much time, or have a million different viewpoints. It's pretty straightforward:

Lestat, the son of an impoverished French aristocrat, moves to Paris to become an actor with his best friend/lover Nicolas. He attracts the attentions of a crazed old vampire, who turns Lestat into a vampire against his will and then kills himself. Lestat learns about and struggles with his immortality, but is pretty okay with it. The local coven isn't pleased with Lestat's general flaunting of and reveling in of his vampirism. Lestat wants to learn all the things about vampires his maker never told him. He tries to learn from Armand (WHO IS MY FAVORITE FOR EVER AND ALSO BEAUTIFUL, 17 AND AUBURN HAIRED. DNW ANTONIO!!) and his self-flaggelating coven, but rejects their dreary idea of immortality and sets out on a quest to find answers. He finds Marius (Who is also awesome, and has long bleach blond hair, not a crew cut dude from QoD movie!!) and Those Who Must Be Kept aka the original Vampires. The Queen lets him drink, making him super powerful. Marius leaves him. Most of that last bit was incorperated into the QoD movie now that I think about it. Then all the stuff from interview happens, then back to the present for the whole Vampire Lestat vampire Rock Star thing. (I think he would be like Adam Lambert now? LOL LOL LOL)

So anyway. Much more doable. I mean, they managed to make it into a musical, right? (WHICH WAS AWESOME AND ALSO GAY.)


Which is why I'm worried. Because well...

1) The Queen of the Damned movie SUCKED. It was a terrible movie, even if you take it as an original movie rather than a book adaptation. It was just SO BAD.

2) The QoD movie also totally made Lestat straight (Lestat/Louis OTP forever!!!), and changed Jesse into his girlfriend. (Who tbh always seemed to kind of lesbian to me.)

3) Now, I personally was obsessed with the Vampire Chronicles when I was 13. But they are very different than Twilight. And I would be worried they would try to change it to be more Twilight-y. (See #2)

I'm torn. I mean. Lestat is my favorite hero of fiction, to use that phrase from the Proust Questionnaire. Lestat is awesome. And I would love to see a movie that got The Brat Prince right. (Also Armand, but hey, I will be satisfied with getting the main character right at this point.) Because I mean...Interview was good, but...the Lestat of Interview with the Vampire is very different from the glamorous, irreverent, playful, passionate Lestat of the rest of the series.

So I would love to see a GOOD movie made. But the potential for suckage is just so HUGE, it worries me.

(Which, actually Tale of the Body Thief, which was my fav for a long time, would made a movie really easily. It's the most linear and clear cut of all the books: Lestat meets (well is stalked by) a guy who can switch bodies. Lestat and the guy switch bodies for a week, the guy runs away with Lestat's body, Lestat has to find him, while in the guy's human body.)