How I Met Your Mother: "Double Date"

Loved the episode. Ted's second blind date with Jen was nicely-written and played out, and a good example of the trademark time-shifting dexterity that the show does so well. Josh Radnor and Lindsay Sloane (from "Grosse Pointe"!) has an easy onscreen chemistry, and I thought for a while that Jen could perhaps, maybe, be the titular mother? For one, Sloane looks like she could slot right into the rest of the cast (as seen by her brief scenes with the rest of the gang at MacLaren's), and for another, they won't be the first couple who have gotten together after a disastrous first date.

One of the nice touches is that the first blind date started off bad but actually ended well (with Ted promising to call Jen but never did), while the second blind date started off well (with both of them playfully trying to review what went wrong with the first blind date so they could avoid repeating those in the future) but actually ended bad, when Jen remembered that Ted didn't in fact call her back the first time. It all nicely ties in to the denouement of the storyline, when Ted remembered that the reason he didn't call back was because it's apparent they were just tolerating each other's quirks. In the case of Ted, his love of making stupid shellfish jokes and being the language police in correcting spelling errors in menus; in the case of Jen, her love of talking obsessively about her many cats. Surely they each deserve to find someone who not only tolerates these quirks, but loves them as well, as Ted posited. Which I agree. Well, I'm no relationship expert, not by a mile, but tolerance only takes you so far, and the relationship they're thinking of entering into could very well turn out to be a lifelong commitment. Tolerating another's quirks is the same as changing oneself to suit the other's image. It's a short-term fix that won't work in a marathon. It's a pity that this means Lindsay Sloane's guest-appearance will probably be a one-time thing, but this story was just so nicely done that this is just a minor quibble.

Other than the main plot, the subplot of Marshall and Barney finding Lily's doppelganger at a strip club serves its amusing purpose, and the throwaways to the time when they found Robin's and Marshall's doppelganger were hilarious. Can't wait to see when Ted's and Barney's turn up. Also, I know the writers don't read this blog (haha, no one does) but one week after mentioning I love Lily and Marshall best as a sweet, loving couple, they have an episode of Lily and Marshall as...a sweet, loving couple! Awesome! The next episode can't come soon enough!

A Decade of 静茹

September 17, 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of 静茹's debut album "一夜长大". It's hard to believe that she's been in the music industry for a decade now. For me and countless of her fans, her songs have accompanied us, and been a reassuring presence, in good times and bad. Affectionately nicknamed 疗伤天后, 静茹 has that uncanny gift to 唱入民心...take it from an easily-stressed out dude (ha!) for whom her music has made at-times extreme work pressure that much more acceptable. Is it any wonder then that there's a saying among 静茹 fans that 遇见静茹, 遇见幸福? My mom's a big 风飞飞 fan and I used to be puzzled as to why she can love every song from one musician. Well, thanks to 静茹, I'm no longer puzzled now. To my very own 风飞飞, to my hero whose music have "rescued" me countless of times before, and whose songs have moved me to tears and made me smile, have a great 10th anniversary!

Dollhouse: "Vows"

Tough slog of a premiere. Perhaps my expectations were unfairly raised by the great unaired episode set in a dystopian future of the "Dollhouse" universe. Still, this episode dragged for me. Ballard is as unsufferable in his holier-than-thou attitude as ever, and the standalone story of the week (with BSG's Jamie Bamber) does nothing for me. The attempt at softening up Topher in his conversation with Whiskey left me cold too. Maybe I wasn't in the mood to watch this, but really hoping the season picks up from here. The next episode can't come soon enough...?

How I Met Your Mother""Definitions"

Strong season premiere. Marshall fooling around with the Indiana Jones whip is amusing. While Lily has been one of my favorite characters, she's falling rapidly down the scale though with her bizarre way of manipulating her friends' lives, first with Ted and Robin's relationship in the past, and now with locking Barney and Robin in the same room so they can work out the exact nature of their relationship. I liked Lily much better when she's playing off Marshall as the happily-ever-after couple. The locked-in-the-room scene does have the fantastic payoff where Barney and Robin ostensibly put on an act as boyfriend-girlfriend just to get Lily to back off, but it's so clear to the audience, even if it isn't to them, that their "fake" declaration of love is truer than either Barney or Robin would like to admit. Very nicely set-up scene. Ted as a douchebag at the university is fun enough, though I'm probably not alone in being indifferent at this point as to who the identity of the titular mother is. As I've said, a nice start to the season for HIMYM. The next episode can't come soon enough!

The Office: "The Meeting"

Hilarious cold open. Michael seeks Oscar's advice on what to expect during a colonoscopy...nuff said :) Michael's attempts to eavesdrop on the titular meeting between Wallace and Jim, however, hits the wrong side of the line for me in terms of Michael's general obliviousness...coming across as insensitive and then descending into mean-spiritedness as he tries to sabotage Jim's proposal after he got to know about it from Wallace subsequently. Michael's fumbling attempts to remedy the situation after he discovers that Jim was actually pulling for him does set up the potentially fascinating scenario of Michael and Jim as co-managers, though the irony won't have escaped the viewers that Michael could have gotten so much more if he hadn't dissuaded Wallace from accepting Jim's proposal in the first place.

The Dwight/Toby pairing is fun for two characters one would never have thought would be partners-in-crime, or law enforcement in this case, and this is one well I wouldn't mind if the writers revisited in the future. Pam, however, is becoming increasingly dislikable by the season. What happened to the sweet receptionist from Seasons 2 and 3?!? She just comes across as smug as she's trying to ask her colleagues as to who's coming to her wedding, and though Kelly, Ryan and Meredith aren't exactly angels themselves, one expects better from Pam. Come to think of it, the way her character has generally been written these past few seasons, perhaps I've been the silly one for expecting anything different.

Reservations aside, the Michael-Jim dynamic presents really interesting plot points for the episodes ahead. The next episode can't come soon enough!

The Office: "Gossip" (Season 6 premiere)

And the good folks of Dunder-Mifflin are back! I enjoyed the season premiere, showcasing Michael in good form (so to speak) again where he inadvertently chances upon the fact that Stanley is having an affair, and in a bid to be "in" with the crowd, spreads this around like hot cakes. Upon realizing the potential consequences of his action, Michael's way of solving the problem is to spread other gossip of his devising, so that Stanley's situation would get lost under the sea of false rumors.

Laugh-out loud moments center on Andy actually thinking he might be gay just because Michael spreads the rumor that he is. The two golden moments are Oscar's outrage in his TH right after Andy seeks his opinion on the matter, and Jim's expression after Andy tells him he's confused about his sexuality.

In classic "Office" fashion, on top of the hilarious moments are the moments of heartfelt warmth, where Jim and Pam admit to the rest of the office that, yes, indeed Pam is pregnant (a rumor that Michael had spread without knowing it was actually true) in order to cover for Stanley. The ending scene with Pam's radiant smile upon seeing Jim put up the ultrasound of "Little Tuna" on the picture frame on his desk is the perfect close for the episode. One of the (many) things that make this show so brilliant, and such a joy to watch, is its ability to tug at the heartstrings of the audience without descending into the mawkish, and showrunner Paul Lieberstein, who wrote the premiere, demonstrates how it's done again.

Welcome back, Dunder-Mifflin. The next episode can't come soon enough!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episodes 1 - 23

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (FMAB) is the first encounter of any kind I have with the Fullmetal Alchemist series. I have never read the manga, nor have I watched any episodes of the first anime series before watching FMAB.

Being hardly an anime fan, I've found myself (pleasantly) surprisingly engaged to the series "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" ever since I caught the first episode on Hulu some months back. The story centers around two brothers who, in a failed bid to resurrect their mom through human transmutation (a taboo of alchemy), finds that they have paid a dear price for their transgression and hubris. The elder brother, Edward, lost one of his hands and legs, while the younger Alphonse lost his whole body, and only managed to stay "alive" because Edward somehow managed to transmute his brother's soul into a suit of armor. In a bid to regain their bodies, Edward has now joined the State army, so he could be in a position to search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which enables alchemy to be performed by circumventing the principle of equivalent exchange.

I love the close relationship between the brothers, and how they look out for each other. The single most impressive aspect for me is the character design; even though there are tons of characters, each is distinctive and well-drawn, and this is especially amazing considering that in a manga/anime format, the characters have to be physically mapped out too. The Homunculi make for fearsome enemies, and the series, like most anime, isn't afraid to shy away from more brutal depictions. However, and crucially, there are lighthearted moments of slapstick humor and warmth to alleviate some of the more grim proceedings. Memorable episodes to date include "An Alchemist's Anguish", a stomach-churning yet heartbreaking tale of the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker who, in a bid to receive continued state funding for his research, resorts to converting his daughter and her dog into a chimera, in order to demonstrate that his efforts to create a talking chimera have been successful. Other installments that comes readily to mind are "Those who Lurk Underground" and "Death of the Undying", featuring especially well-choreographed and thrilling duels between Greed vs. Wrath and Lust vs. Roy Mustang, respectively.

I haven't realized the furious pace at which FMA: B has been going at until I watched the first few episodes of the first anime, and the pace shows no signs of letting up. The last few episodes have really upped the momentum (and gee, I thought the series was going at maximum gear already), with the re-appearance of Ed's and Al's dad, and the capture of Gluttony, one of the homunculi (the previews for next week's episode look positively awesome!).

Count me in as a new fan of FMA in general and FMA: B in particular! The next episode can't come soon enough!