dancing with kittens

I'm watching the free Russian stream, which is delayed by about 10 minutes, and if I don't want to be spoiled I can't follow what people are saying on ontd_skating or Twitter or whatever. So instead I guess I'll just post my thoughts here.

And now there's a cat in front of my monitor. It's okay, though. Still just the warm-up.

First up, Jeremy Ten. Ooh, he's not having a good skate. A Single Man is a great movie with a great soundtrack, but I'm not sure it makes for great skating music.

Ross Miner. I like his music. I don't like his choreography.

Takahito Mura. Nice big quad.

Jialiang Wu. Flailing arms. Music is way more dramatic than he is.

Florent Amodio. This music is terrible! Why couldn't he skate to something more dynamic? Ok, that's a little better. LOL at Morozov fist pumping in the background. Aww, big hug from Morozov and big smile from Florent. Good score.

Yuzuru Hanyu. What is he wearing around his neck? Oooh, nice 3A. I really like this music, but Yuzuru doesn't quite have the maturity yet to carry it off. He's so flexible.

Bathroom break.

Shawn Sawyer. That spin at the end was awesome.

Denis Ten. I totally forgot that Stephane choreographed this program until Denis started spinning. I hate to say it, but I kind of spaced out. I'll watch it again later.

Adrian Schultheiss. Interesting choice of music. Wish he had a more colorful costume. Does he have a goatee? I totally couldn't tell when he was skating. And does he not have illusion mesh over his chest? Is that allowed?

Kevin Van Der Perren. Major bonus points for music from Prokofiev's R&J, but his skating is so wooden! And the costume is hideous.

Daisuke Takahashi. *________________*

Jeremy Abbott. Needs more hair. The shine from his scalp is distracting. Nicely done, but there's something a bit awkward about it.

Okay, going back to Daisuke since I was too excited to form words right away. I loved it! Daisuke is such a sexy skater. Watching that program gave me high heartbeats. And I loved the excited reactions of the crowd.

I may have to stop reading other people's reactions, because I'm seeing people saying that Jeremy was better, and they are WRONG.

...

I know I'm not qualified to say that Jeremy shouldn't have had a higher score. What I find really obnoxious is criticizing Daisuke for not doing Stephane's program. It's fine if you don't like Shae-Lynn's program, but some people seem determined to hate it just because it isn't Stephane's. Which we haven't even seen!

( Edited to add videos now up on Youtube )

Narasaki says, "Don't call Pla a V-kei band."

He's referring to this article on Yahoo!Japan News, which is headlined "V-kei Band Fan Rush Stops Live." As I've said before, I think Plastic Tree are clearly a visual kei band. As far as the media is concerned, and more importantly, as far as marketing departments are concerned, they are, always have been, and always will be a visual kei band. I think it's silly to resist the label as if it's an insult, and it's just as silly to deny them the label because they sound different than they did 10 years ago.

But I do agree with what seems to be Narasaki's primary objection. Why refer to them as a "V-kei Band" in the headline and not simply "Plastic Tree"? Obviously it's because "V-kei" calls up images that "Plastic Tree" doesn't. No one knows who the fuck Plastic Tree even are.

To summarize the article, Plastic Tree had a guerrilla live on the 12th at Shinjuku Station Square. They started 25 minutes late, at 6:55. They started on their third song and got the signal to stop. They finished the song and ended the live. According to organizers, they had expected 2000 people and got over 8000. They were spilling into the streets and blocking traffic. There were no injuries. They have a live on the 13th at Budokan.

Eight thousand people? Really? I find that hard to imagine.

( Photo from the Sports Hochi version of the article. )

I wish they'd put an HD version of this one up on Youtube.
【ニコニコ動画】【PV】Date You 『p.i.l trailer ver.』

You know, after Akira's previous experience in a panda costume, I would have thought he'd be resistant to the idea of doing it again. I guess maybe he really enjoys it.

( Plastic Tree )

So lately I've been reading female-protagonist-with-werewolves-and-vampires-and-sometimes-other-supernatural-or-mythological-creatures fantasy. The existence of the genre is obvious, but there's disagreement as to where to draw the lines and what labels to use. Urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy or paranormal romance--none of these quite work for me, so from here on out, I'm going to call it "werewolves & vampires fantasy".

What I look for in this genre are fast-paced, readable stories with strong, appealing female characters. I also like that there are so many books of this type out there that I haven't read, but it's a bit overwhelming, so I thought I'd make a list.

What I've Liked
The Parasol Protectorate (Gail Carriger)- Set in a AU Victorian England, I love these.
Kitty Norville (Carrie Vaughn) - I had my doubts reading the first one, but after that they've been consistently enjoyable.
Mercedes Thompson (Patricia Briggs) - Very entertaining.

What I Haven't Liked
Rachel Morgan (Kim Harrison) - I haven't read very far into Dead Witch Walking, so I may give it some more time, but so far, it's dreadful.
Sookie Stackhouse (Charlaine Harris) - I only made it a few chapters in. The writing is terrible. True Blood is actually an improvement.
October Daye (Seanan McGuire) - I really tried to get through Rosemary and Rue, but it was boring, so I finally gave up halfway.

What I'm Reading Now
World of the Lupi (Eileen Wilks) - I'm about halfway through Tempting Danger. It's readable, but not all that compelling.

What I've Got Coming Through Inter-Library Loan
Night Huntress (Jeaniene Frost)
Kate Daniels (Ilona Andrews)
Cassandra Palmer (Karen Chance)
Jane Yellowrock (Faith Hunter)
Women of the Otherworld (Kelley Armstrong)

What I Also Plan To Check Out
Weather Warden (Rachel Caine)
Greywalker (Kat Richardson)
The Walker Papers (C.E. Murphy)

Not my kind of music, but it's cool how well it works.


( A Strange Assortment of Pairing Vids )

I had thought the short-sleeve and plunging neckline was one of the most hideous styles for an evening gown that I had ever seen, and I couldn't believe it could possibly look good on anyone.

I was wrong.

It turns out I hadn't seen Halle Berry, who looked amazing. What a gorgeous dress!

One more thing I hadn't noticed--Mo'Nique's hairy legs. Awesome! I love that she doesn't shave and doesn't give a shit if everyone knows, and fuck anyone who's all shocked and horrified.

I love sugar cookies, but I rarely get them. My mom always bakes lots of cookies for the holidays, but she steadfastly refuses to make anything that needs to be rolled out. I haven't actually tried myself, but suspect I'd end up with a big, sticky mess without someone to hold my hand.

Luckily, I found this recipe for sugar cookie bars. I made a half batch before, and they were divine. The only thing is that they turned out slightly undercooked, and while I do prefer a soft, moist, barely cooked cookie, these were pushing it.

So this time I cooked them a little longer than the recipe called for. I also made the full recipe. I don't remember how long I cooked the previous batch, but as it was only half the size, it should have cooked faster, right? Well, it turns out I overcooked these a bit. They're not bad, not burnt or anything, just a little drier and crumblier than I'd like.

But that wasn't my only mistake. I realized too late that I only had half a can of white frosting. So I decided to look up a recipe and make my own. It sounded so simple! And surely it would taste even better than the store-bought kind...Or not. It wasn't bad, but I definitely prefer the Pillsbury. The texture wasn't quite right either. It was thin but still visibly grainy. Not so grainy that it was noticeable in my mouth though.

So all and all, they're not bad, but I'm still disappointed.

Easy Virtue - This was really funny. Jessica Biel was surprisingly good as the glamorous American marrying into a snooty English family. Colin Firth as her father-in-law is quietly awesome. The rest of her in-laws are wonderfully awful people. I also loved the butler and the asshole neighbor. The 1930's style orchestral versions of "Car Wash", "Sex Bomb", and "When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going" were a nice touch as well. It seemed longer than 90 minutes, but in a good way. This is one I would watch again.

I Capture the Castle - A nice mixture of sweet, sad, and funny. And oh so very pretty. Henry Cavill is a very attractive man, but as a teenager, with rosy cheeks and wavy dark hair, he was one of the prettiest young men I have ever seen. The shy earnestness of his character doesn't hurt either. I was totally rooting for him. The girls were pretty too. Rose Byrne has the most glorious curly red hair. And Romola Garai is indescribable.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - A light, fast-paced comedy. I liked it. Frances McDormand and Amy Adams were both great. And Ciaran Hinds! I *heart* him. And that's really all I have to say about that.

Quantum of Solace - I wish I had re-watched Casino Royale before watching this. There were so many references to people and what happened in the first movie that I didn't remember. I liked the scenes with Bond and M, and the action sequences were great, but otherwise it was pretty forgettable.