oiran | variations on the theme of "broken record"

...and all the ways to interpret it. Lift the needle? Not likely.

I haven't even finished my download, and I'm already sure I've got a new member to add to the list of "favorite manga boys." I was looking for something else, and found this in the process:

That hair is RED. There are other images which demonstrate that our boy, Badou, knows how to handle a gun. And, obviously, the fucking eye patch is like a ladle full of sugar heaped on top of everything else. So, I'm definitely looking forward to actually reading this thing, i.e., Dogs by Shirow Miwa. I recognize the drawing style, but I can't figure out from where, and frantic web searches aren't helping. Not even the mangaka's own site gives me any useful clues.

in other faux-boy news: I ended up on a site for a Japanese doll manufacturer whose products I have long coveted. Because I am tainted with bitter whimsy, I fell in love with a 24"-tall plastic boy who costs $900. But in order to enjoy having one such doll, you need at least two, so you can pose them together (innocently! they're just friends!), so I actually need two 24"-tall plastic boys, which means an outlay of somewhere between $1700-2000. Well, they do come with clothing and shoes and such, so maybe it's a bargain. Plus, you can pop their eyes out of their heads and switch them out for yet-more-soulful or differently-colored models.

For $2000, I could probably buy a real boy, at least for the short-term, although I bet I couldn't convince him to let me pop his eyes out for a mere two grand.

why I've been so confused about Sirius and Remus: I've never understood all the to-do and squee about Sirius and Remus. In fact, I didn't even remember them from the third book. I didn't remember anything about the third book, strangely enough, even though friends kept telling me (reminding me, almost) that it was the best one, everyone's favorite, etc. Since I own the third book, I was certain I had read it. Well, apparently I never actually did read the book. I don't know how this could have happened: reading the next "installment, as such, was something I looked forward to, and I actually purchased it, so I have no idea what stopped me from opening it and plunging in. Until yesterday. So: Sirius and Remus. Now I know who they are. That doesn't mean I'm going to care, particularly, or that I'll suddenly want to read fanfic about them, but at least I'll be on the same page as the majority of my friends list.

the best show: The Wire Are you watching? Do you have HBO? Then watch it, dammit! Cops! Baltimore! Tons of familiar faces from Homicide! But even better, I dare say, than Homicide...though, how I'd love to see the HBO version of that show. There's a huge and complex back story (and I think at least the first season is available on DVD), but the way the show is structured, you should be able to follow it well enough if you start NOW. In talking to the people I've pressured into watching this in the past, it can seem impenetrable if you try to wander in mid-season.

Mr. Glove and I were discussing that, oddly, despite our rabid devotion to the show and the characters, we don't know their names. Well, we know about half of them, and we know more thugs than cops. We know all about them - what they're passionate about, what sets them off, what they'll likely do in various situations, but we have no names for them. Instead, they're "the lawyer lady," "dumbass white cop," "dumbass black cop," "Bubbles' friend," etc.

So late. Did nothing I thought I'd do. And, yes, Rhi, that includes your read/beta. Because I wasn't going to get distracted and do any of the above stuff, see...

Ooh! *squee!* Bittorent of manga file is complete!