Musings of the Obsessive Kind
She's a mite whimsical in the brainpan.
Musings of the Obsessive KindShe's a mite whimsical in the brainpan. |
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| Oct. 14th, 2008 @ 08:20 pm Da Ren Wu: I love you, wuxia! | |||
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Current Mood:
 bouncy SQUEE! I finally got a copy of Da Ren Wu in my hands. Yay, wuxia! Just look at this OTP vid: What's not to love? Angst! Evil assassins! Damaged hero and fun heroine! Happy ending! Political intrigue! Finding true love in an arranged marriage! Nic Tse! Did I mention angst? I love the whole premise, of the spoiled and spunky heroine who has read too many wuxia stories and dreams of meeting up her wuxia idol but is instead betrothed/wed to a studious guy she despised since childhood. Only...surprise! Her husband might be better than the shadowy hero of her wuxia readings... SQUEE. Also, the first ten minutes are LOLtastic. I love the spoiled but awesome heroine. ( Opening credits of awesomeness, i.e. Nic Tse angsts shirtless ) | |||
| Aug. 15th, 2008 @ 01:21 am Yup, still on a wuxia kick... | |||
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Current Mood:
 chipper EEEE! Got my hands on the English-subbed version of Da Ren Wu (Big Shot or Hero, I have seen it translated both ways), last year's wuxia drama starring Nicholas Tse and Angelica Lee. It's based on a novel I've never read and the plot sounds so delicious: Naïve, young Tian Si Si (Angelica), the apple of her father’s eye and the sole heir to her family’s riches, believes that she is in love with the great romantic hero, Qin Ge of the Meteor Clan. She dreams of traveling the martial arts world, actually meeting Qin Ge and having adventures just like many of the stories that she has read and heard. From childhood, she has been betrothed to the younger son of General Yang, Yang Fan (Nic), whom she despises. Handsome, melancholy, talented Yang Fan has been on a mission for his father to secretly investigate the Meteor Clan whose upright reputation and strength has been rising in the martial arts world to rival that of Shaolin and Wudang. He comes back injured and somewhat changed, troubled with memory loss after an investigation. He marries Tian Si Si as his father ordered, but Tian Si Si has other plans for her life and runs away at the first opportunity. She quickly becomes entangled in plots and counter plots as she discovers the real world. Both Yang Fan and Qin Ge are ordered to go after her. All is not what it seems as the Meteor Clan and its members, rivals and government agents are at work behind the scenes. Seriously, how many ways do I love the premise? * Couple falling in love after marriage? Check. Though seeing your arranged match is Nicholas Tse it's not really a hardship * Cooky heroine * Angst and funniness * Love triangle * Nic Tse as the lead (if Handsome Siblings was all about him, it would be such a huge fave). I mean, he doesn't even need to act, he can just stand there and I'll ogle him. Look at the cute MV for the OTP (with hints of a triangle): I think I fell for it about the time he let her (she is possessed) stab him through the shoulder. I am so predictable! I have also got Men and Legends (Dylan Kuo and Peter Ho, does it really need a plot?) and Fairy from Wonderland (finally. I want to see Hu Ge write on the walls in blood). But all this shall not sate me! I need Legend of Condor Heroes and I can't find any subs except for Vietnamese yet. I need! Please!!! I mean, look. I want this now:  OK, will distract self with another favorite wuxia OTP (Flower/Orchid from Handsome Siblings. Angsty assassins and common-sense fighter girls ftw). | |||
| Apr. 23rd, 2008 @ 12:44 am Ahhhh, my crazy wuxia OTP | |||
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Current Mood:
Because my earlier post reminded me of them, here is a MV of one of my favorite drama couples, Nicholas Tse and Fan Bing Bing from Handsome Siblings coldI mean, how could you not love them? He is someone trained from infancy to be an assassin by two crazy evil ladies who live in a cave, and who ends up emerging into the world as a rather understandably reserved and not-knowing-how-to-interact guy. Who fights with a fan. YES. With a fan. She, OTOH, is a spunky and awesome fighter lady, who is also remarkably well-adjusted (she has to be. Someone in that OTP has to be) and capable and who he ends up falling in love with. And from then on it's evil families, blindness, self-sacrifice, cages (YES), almost-deaths, poisonings, and other stuff that is so incredibly full of the AWESOME. I mean, what more can I say after I mention that the awesome fact that the Evil Ladies injected him with a poison that gives him hideous pain if he falls in love, and the more he falls the worse it gets, is only the beginning. Oh yes. AWESOME. | |||
| Jun. 20th, 2007 @ 03:36 pm Largely about Handsome Siblings... | |||
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Current Mood:
First off, volume 12 of Wallflower is out. EEEE! contentI am halfway through ep 22 of Handsome Siblings. Since I ff past all the non Flower/Orchid stuff, it’s amazing how fast it goes. Though I confess that Little Fish and Angel resolution made me sniffle like mad. ( spoiler ) But with the exception of stuff like that, Orchid/Flower is where it’s at for me. ( OTP mad squee ) | |||
| Jun. 19th, 2007 @ 11:39 am I die of Handsome Siblings glee | |||
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Current Mood:
I had to stop ep 8 in order to return to real life which is just as well, as prolonged hyperventilation is bad for you. chipperBut. BUT. OMG. ( Mad OTP squee behind cut ) | |||
| Jun. 19th, 2007 @ 09:34 am Handsome Siblings | |||
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Current Mood:
I take time out of my episode 8 watching because I am screaming. High-pitched. bouncyLiterally. OMG. OMG. Flower/Orchid stuff in this ep is the most awesome perfect angst-melodrama kink ever. It hits everything. Also? Princess Moon, the scary psycho ruler of the Floral Palace that is doing all the evil stuff? OMG. Scary. Also, she is really getting a kick out of manipulation and torture. Yikes. HATE. Lady, it isn't a level playing field when he's a young kid who's never been out in the world, whom you've brought up, and who you are now toying with like a cat with a mouse, enjoying every bit as he is suffering trying to protect his OTP. You should seriously DIE. ETA: I must admit Orchid's reaction to the crazy situation is made of awesome. She is all 'My OTP's 'family' is a bunch of abusive psychos and they have kidnpapped me and put him in a cage. Right. Must fix.' She doesn't cower at all. You go! | |||
| Jun. 19th, 2007 @ 12:43 am Handsome Siblings: one incredibly hot sibling and one mediocre one would be a fairer assessment | |||
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Current Mood:
Finished episode 7 of Handsome Siblings. content![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} meganbmoore, you are right, this is a very fast watch.In part it's because I am fast-forwarding past all the non Flawless Flower (Nicholas Tse) or Iron Orchid (Fan Bing Bing) parts. They are OK, but they are not why I am watching this. Basically, I couldn't care less about Little Fish (the eps with his upbringing flashback? The fastest watch ever, on 8x), and am not too interested in the palace intrigue. But OMG OMG. The fights are all spectacular (they are less 'fantastical' then ROCH's and I love that. I am especially in love with the one in the dyer's house, with all the colored cloths. And OMG, every time Nicholas Tse fights. *swoon*). And, most important of all, Flower/Orchid OTP makes it all worthwhile. Little Fish? Blah. Infighting? Blah. The OTP? Remedies it all and more. ( Spoilers through ep 7 ) | |||
| Jun. 18th, 2007 @ 11:04 am Largely about awesomeness of Handsome Siblings OTP | |||
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Current Mood:
Saw Ocean’s Thirteen which was totally fluffy, but complete fun. I am in the tiny minority who liked 12 the most out of the movies (I am a sucker for self-referential humor) but this was quite fun. Except ( spoiler ) calmI am in the middle of ep two of Handsome Siblings and OMG. I have fallen SUPER HARD for the OTP of Flawless Flower and Iron Orchid. They might sound like some sort of botany club but they are almost anime in their interactions, characters and roles. The thing is, he is a very reserved (even icy) young man who is awesome at martial arts. He is also rather unworldly as he was brought up in a cave by a bunch of nutters (order of ladies who keep all men around, except for him, in cages). I don’t think he is super sure about proper emotions, actually. I actually don’t think that until this mission (win the championship in order for his order to become head of martial artists) he’s ever been in the world much at all. Iron Orchid, meanwhile, is the daughter of the old leader of that martial artists society, who is no mean fighter herself, and who has also come to seek the championship. Iron Orchid seems strong, pretty, and incredibly well-adjusted, which I think she is going to need, as Flower probably has enough issues for two. After all, I read a very few spoilers (though please don’t spoil me further), and he is, unknowingly, being groomed to be the bad guy assassin. I was a goner from the first meeting actually. Iron Orchid is walking in the woods with Little Fish (the other main character who I find rather irritating. He is supposed to be funny but I guess humor just doesn’t translate) and as the two of them just left a meeting where they pissed off a lot of important people, they end up in a trap, with wooden stakes coming straight at them and about to die, when Flower appears and demolishes the trap and then, as the back-up assassins spring out, takes out about twenty highly skilled killers, all by himself. Without getting his clothes dirty. I love the look on Orchid’s face as she sees him stand there, at the end :P And then, the super awesome bit follows. Repeating their earlier coversation and staring at Flower, Orchid asks Fish ‘What do you think of love at first sight?’ and he repeats his earlier comment ‘I like it but don’t believe in it.’ And then she grins and goes ‘I do.’ Heeeeeeee. And then they come up to Flower who is still standing there and Fish (who’s met Flower before) is talking to him but Flower ignores him and addresses Orchid, abruptly: ‘Why are you staring at me?’ LOL LOL LOL. Have you looked in a mirror, boy? Did I mention that before he left the cave, the evil head lady injected him with something to deter his falling in love as now every time he likes/loves a woman, he is going to be in severe pain? (Hon, he is in his early twenties. You’d have to amputate things for him not to think about girls, btw). I see awesome potential for angst. And boundless capability for crazy in-laws. Oh MAN. It doesn’t hurt that Nicholas Tse, who plays Flower, is drop dead gorgeous, especially since the makers agree with me and the first few times he appears, there is a shoujo-like storm of petals around him. Did I mention that he has long black hair, is dressed in immaculate white, and is equally proficient with sword and fan? Another thing that I think is really awesome? Fan Bing Bing who plays Orchid is an attractive woman, but she is not drop dead beautiful like (e.g.) Crystal Liu. But she does look strong-willed and intelligent. | |||
| Jun. 18th, 2007 @ 12:28 am (no subject) | |||
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Current Mood:
Afer ep 9 of Taiyou No Kisetsu I decided I needed a break. I was hating Tatsuya. I love and feel very sorry for Shinji though, the object of Tatsuya's wrath. After Tatsuya ruined him and Shinji's friend tried to stab Tatsuya but Shinji wouldn't let him and got accidentally stabbed instead, but then, instead of railing, as all his friends watch in shock, he kneels to Tatsuya, bleeding, and begs him to give Yuki (Shinji's fiancee that he's loved since childhood that Tatsuya seduced) back? Yeah. I think in a lot of other dramas, he'd be the protagonist instead. Nice guy who befriends the 'villain' who seeks to ruin his life for something Shinji's family did, not him. contentBasically, I loathe the protagonist about now, when you add in the fact that he treated Eiko (the heroine) abominably. Ugh. So I decided I wanted some period fun, ergo I finally started Handsome Siblings, Chinese period drama with Nicholas Tse (I posted about it before). I am only at the opening credits but let me say that NT fighting blindfolded in the rain is the hottest thing ever. | |||
| May. 19th, 2007 @ 01:56 am Wherein I ruminate on my perfect entertainment ideas... | |||
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Current Mood:
I confess. After swearing I won't watch stuff on the tinyscreenland of youtube or crunchyroll, unless it wasn't available elsewhere, I betrayed my principles :D In this case, the DVDs will be here next week, but I can't wait and so I started despite my efforts to hold out :)  cheerfulCause of my downfall? Handsome Siblings. Handsome Siblings is a Chinese drama that is based on a simple premise: One hottie with sharp implements is good, true. But you know what’s better? Two hotties with sharp implements. Also, if you throw in some women fighters to the mix, that’s the best. And you know what? I am totally on board with that idea. In fact, I think it’s sheer genius and writers past, present and future should be mandated to utilize it. Come on, you know that a romcom would be better with swords. You can feel that the dating reality show should be settled with battle axes instead of cattiness and coy answers. Right? Right? Anyway. HS has a protagonist for every taste. If you like your guys laid-back, funny, and prankerish, there is sibling number 1, Little Fish as played by Dicky Cheung. He is cute enough and I like him well enough, but I admit that my heart belongs to… Sibling number 2. If you are like me and you like your heroes angsty, intense, reserved and with an impossibly doomed OTP, then Nicholas Tse’s character is your man. In RL, Dicky Cheung is a much better choice, as he is...easy-going, well-adjusted. In fiction? Heck no. That's why it's fiction. In fiction I drool over angsty woobies, especially when portrayed by Nicholas Tse. His character's name? Flawless Flower. Yeah. Not really a great name for a swordsman. I bet at least some of his angst stems from the name (which smacks of ‘but I always wanted a girl, and already came up with a name, too!’ naming). What kind of a psycho would name a kid thus, you may well ask. Weeee-eeee-eell. The lady who brought him up is a somewhat overracting woman who would easily kill the kid’s parents because the father dared to fall in love with mother instead of her. (I bet the mother was most likely less nutty). And then take the kid in to raise him as a little automaton, to train him to kill his brother. Oh, and did I mention that Ms. Psycho, head of a pretty bizarro group, kept all the men around who weren’t FF in cages? Understandably, FF has a whole bunch of intimacy with ladies issues. Nothing a good dose of therapy wouldn’t cure but therapy hasn’t been invented back then, so he has to content himself with fighting things (YAY) and falling madly in love with Orchid, an awesome awesome female fighter played by the gorgeous Fan Bing Bing (DOUBLE YAY). I gotta say if they beat the odds and end up living together happily, those family fights would really be pretty destructive as they can each probably dismantle a house with their weapons :D And herein lies my favorite (and meganbmoore’s favorite) part of the story. Because his evil masters want him in love as much as they would welcome advent of pacifism, so a lot of angst and impossible love and angst and angst follows. I mean, how could you not love a story where (according to my spoiler guru meganbmoore, as I haven't gotten there yet) they put him in a cage and mandate him to kill her and when he refuses they inject her with a poison that would slowly kill her. And that is only the beginning of the angst, small fry relatively, in the first dozen eps! Heh. Rock on, Handsome Siblings (well, to be honest it should be entitled 'One nice looking and one bloody gorgeous sibling' but accuracy in advertising has never been a drama strong point). Soon, we shall take over the world. Oh, and Mr. Mousie and I watched Shrek the Third tonight. I had a great time, it was very funny. It was also quite forgettable. Which basically sums up my opinion on the first two as well. | |||
| May. 16th, 2007 @ 10:09 pm Because am giddy... | |||
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Current Mood:
 complacentmeganbmoore posted some awesome icons and vids of Handsome Siblings here.Go, check it out! Inducement? How about that it has Nicholas Tse angstily fighting blindfolded in the rain? This must be one of the hottest things ever. | |||
| May. 15th, 2007 @ 08:36 pm Wuxia drama ramble | |||
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Current Mood:
OMG. I thought I couldn’t be more excited about Return of the Condor Heroes. I was wrong. I dug around for a little bit of the plot (though please don’t spoil me, it’s one of rare things I want to watch unspoiled) and OMG, the love story is forbidden because she is his martial arts teacher. And she is four years older. Oh MAN. contentYES. It's like Forbidden Love with swords :P Though I hope they wait a couple years to fall in love as he is 14 at the start. I have also discovered that netflix has the 2001 version starring Ekin Cheng. Now I am torn. I already bought the 2006 version but it isn’t here yet. I can wait a week or so for it (since that is the one whose visuals I went mad for and people say it’s the best), but OTOH the other one I can get on Thursday and I adore Ekin Cheng. What to do, what to do…OK, hold out for the 2006 version, watch the EC one later. And also, in other wuxia drama news, I just read that there is a planned remake of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. And it's going to star Nicholas Tse and Takeshi Kaneshiro. If it's true? Nicholas and Takeshi in the same drama? I am going to die. Cecilia Cheung (whom I liked in The Promise) is the female lead. Please, please, please let it be true! Though even if not, I can console myself with the thought of the upcoming Da Ren Wu (Big Figure) with Nicholas Tse. It's a lighthearted wuxia story and it's coming in October and there is already a subbing group for it. Plot: To avenge his love, a fearless young swordsman challenges a powerful gang of robbers again and again, despite suffering numerous defeats, ultimately succeeds in defeating them single-handedly. His story inspires countless youth, with young men all taking to wearing red scarves like their hero, and young women dreaming of a suitor just like him. One of these young women is the daughter of an influential nobleman, who has led a sheltered life, until she decides to go out into the world to meet the heroes of her dreams. Little did she expect that real life can be so very different from what she has learned in picturesque stories. ( Trailer here ) ( Pics behind cut ) Generally, the more I get into the stuff, the more I wish I understood Chinese. I have such a list of dramas I want to watch but can't as they are unsubbed. First on that list is Sword Stained with Royal Blood (see pic below) I agree with meganbmoore. I would LOVE subs for this. Because her father killed his but they travel and fall in love and aaangst: meganbmoore, do not watch the MV because it's only going to make you crave it:( MV for the drama in question ) And also behind another cut (because I am nice) is the rest of my 'wanna' list. To sum it up it's a 'I wish I spoke Chinese and/had a time machine/or had power to pull dramas from limbo' list. Aka dramas I'd love to see but can't because they are not subbed or because they seem to be in limbo, release-wise. And some are just upcoming but I don't know if a subs group picked them up yet. ( List here, with illustrations ) Amd last but not least, browsing I came across the following comment in a review of the Chinese wuxia epic movie Seven Swords: “inspired by Dostojevsky's Brothers Karamazov's ideology about the human self-realization and finding of the peace and comprehension.” OK, I like Seven Swords. Make it I really like Seven Swords (OMG, the final climactic duel with Donnie Yen and the Baddie General is awesome) but whaaaaa? Bwah? *boggle boggle boggle* It has people with some issues slashing other people who are eviler and uglier. It’s a totally fun flick about honor and love and lotsa killing and Donnie Yen being uber hot with long hair, but Dostoyevsky? You gotta be kidding me. | |||
| May. 14th, 2007 @ 09:38 am Handsome Siblings....aaaaaaahhhhh, I am so predicatable. Just give me an angsty guy with sword | |||
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Current Mood:
In case you wondered about my recent interest in Chinese period drama Handsome Siblings (this will be the first mainland Chinese drama I watch), I present the below music vid (yup, chippermeganbmoore already posted it on her LJ). Very briefly summarized, HS (also known as Proud Twins and Xiao Yu Er Yu Hua Wu Que) is the story of two brothers separated at birth who both grow up to be fearsome fighters and coincidentally meet when grown up. Little Fish (Dicky Cheung) is laid back and mouthy. Flawless Flower (Nicholas Tse. Preach it, sisters, with that name! Heh :)) is as serious and reserved as Little Fish is not. I confess to mainly being interested because of Nicholas Tse's storyline. His character falls in love with the girl he meets in a battle tournament, and there is angsty, forbidden, OTP-squeeful love. Shall I enumerate the reasons? 1. Nicholas Tse 2. Nicholas Tse with long hair and sword 3. Nicholas Tse angsting with long hair and sword 4. Nicholas Tse angsting over his OTP with long hair and sword 5. Nicholas Tse having an angsty star-crossed OTP (he meets her in combat tournament, YES). With a cool girl and hugging and kissing and crying. 6. Did I mention that when not with a sword, he fights with steel tipped fans. And still defeats people. Now that is pretty freaking awesome. 7. Nicholas Tse was the only guy brought up by women fighters group who punish men who in their estimation wrong women. Except for him, they kept every guy around in cages. And from what I can see, they eventually put Nicholas Tse in a cage. 8. Both the heroines (the heroes' OTPs) are cool and not wimpy. 9. The other brother also appears OK though I admit to a markedly smaller degree of interest in him. But he fights people which always earns points. 10. Did I mention Nicholas Tse? In white. Anyway, vid: | |||
| May. 11th, 2007 @ 08:23 pm Where I ramble largely on feminism in Delightful Girl Chun Hyang (+ a few comments on other dramas) | |||
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Current Mood:
I think Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang is one of the most positively feminist dramas I've seen, and Chun-Hyang one of the most feminist heroines out there. Dramas are often populated by boy obsessed, cheerful scatterbrains. There is nothing wrong with that, as they can be adorable. But it's so nice to see a clever, strong heroine that isn't any less charming than the most fairy-tale princess in need in rescuing, and who is appreciated for what she is. chipper( Very long and rambly thoughts ) Oh, and I bring you this awesome MV from DGCH (there are a lot on youtube it seems). ( MV behind the cut ) In other news, I got my shiny DVD set of Karei-naru Ichizoku with yummy, angsty, be-suited Kimura looking at me. Yay. Also, I just found a new drama I must watch (blame meganbmoore). It's Chinese Handsome Siblings. 40 episodes of Nicholas Tse with long hair, sword and angst? Thank you, Drama TPTB!!! | |||
| Jan. 31st, 2007 @ 07:34 pm Subtitled Heaven... | |||
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I am so gleeful! I found out that a subbing group picked up KO One Oh Jiro! Soon I shall see you be a lead in all your wacky glory. With subtitles! This group is picking up a lot of twdramas and cdramas! My favorites and least subbed are tw/cdramas so I am so happy! They also picked up 'Zhong Ji Yi Jia' (with Jiro!!!) and 'Exchange Love' (Mike He! Rainie! Body swap! *dies*) And there is mention that another sub team is doing 'Corner with Love' (the same group that is doing Hana Kimi!!!), the Barbie Hsu, Alan Luo drama and 'Da Ren Wu' with Nicholas Tse *dies* and Angelica Lee. Now, if someone picks up 'Delicious Relationship' and the two Joe Cheng dramas, I am set for liiiiiife. And 'Marry Me.' Still from Da Ren Wu (OK, the thought of many many hours of Nick Tse makes me giddy):  DRW summary: To avenge his love, a fearless young swordsman challenges a powerful gang of robbers again and again, despite suffering numerous defeats, ultimately succeeds in defeating them single-handedly. His story inspires countless youth, with young men all taking to wearing red scarves like their hero, and young women dreaming of a suiter just like him. One of these young women is the daughter of an influential nobleman, who has led a sheltered life, until she decides to go out into the world to meet the heroes of her dreams. Little did she expect that real life can be so very different from what she has learned in picturesque stories. meganbmoore, I think this one is calling your name. | |||
| Oct. 11th, 2006 @ 11:39 am Real life beats RPF, huh? | |||
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Current Mood:
 creativerubypurple posted that Nicholas Tse married Celia Cheung. I know who he is, duh. And her name struck a bell so I went to IMDB to confirm, and yes. She was the Princess in The Promise, which I loved and picspammed. You have no idea how gleeful it makes me that the villain and the heroine of the movie hooked up (because, hey, she had a romantic triangle in that movie but it wasn't with him. But he was my favorite character. He was so elegant, offing people with his fans). That's just pricelessly priceless. As long as he doesn't build a giant cage and make her wear feathers.Heeeee. Gleeeeeeeee. And am watching Veronica Mars ep 2 tonight. Seems there is good buzz about it. Yay. | |||
| May. 14th, 2006 @ 12:58 am A little coolness on a warm night | |||
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Current Mood:
I have seen the light,  lovedkoalathebear. And that light is Nicholas Tse. I am watching Tiramisu this weekend. And for now? Picspam. Lovely, attractive, hot picspam. ( Nicholas Tse picspam ) Picspam from "Chinese Tall Story." Because not only does it sound insane (a monk hooking up with an alien), but it has Nicholas Tse playing the movie's equivalent of Sanzo, since the whole thing is yet another retelling of "Journey to the West." Hmm. Crack and eye candy? Not bad. ( Insanity picspam ) And because no picspam can be concluded without Takeshi Kaneshiro, ( Takeshi picspam ) | |||