Appetizer
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how polite are you?
8
Soup
What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
THS, Mr. Maxwell, was pretty funny. He always wore a suit and had big feet. He was so goofy, but you could tell he really cared about the students. I always enjoyed his class.
Dessert
Complete this sentence: I strongly believe that [u>McDonalds’ $1 double-cheeseburgers are dangerous[/u>.
Mark Kriegel wrote an article today about Barry Bonds’ visit to Dodger Stadium, and this is one of the paragraphs:
Dodger Stadium is endowed with an almost Zen-like beauty. To their everlasting credit, the people who run it don’t feel a need to abuse the fans and impair their hearing by blasting “YMCA” or “Cotton Eye Joe” over the sound system. The Dodgers have the greatest announcer in Vin Scully, and a wonderful, mellifluous organist in Nancy Bea Hefley. The fans, for their part, remain a remarkably civil lot, despite the many provocations of traffic going in and out of Chavez Ravine.
He must have used a time machine to go back to 1995 or something, because Dodger Stadium does play that loud music, and you don’t get to hear the organist very often anymore. Or maybe other ballparks are just worse? As I alluded to in a previous post, I wish Dodger Stadium would return to it’s more pure state, not this corrupted version.
Last Sunday we bought Bay a bicycle for his birthday. When I went into the garage, the next day, the smell of the new bike tires coupled with the Austin heat and humidity brought back a memory of when I was maybe 11 or 12.
We were visiting family in Florida where my uncle had a bicycle shop. It was so great as a youngster to be there! I really wanted to replace my old Scwhinn Stingray (the frame was painted, so I am not sure if it really was a Schwinn or not) with a Mongoose. Of course my uncle wanted to give us new bikes but my mom refused. 🙁 One funny thing about that day was that my brother and I were taking turns riding a three-wheeled version of a bicycle behind the shop, and I couldn’t figure out how to turn the thing. I was leaning like you do on a two-wheeler, but not turning the handlebars. I ended up going straight into a fence. Fun stuff.
Funny how that smell of new bike tires brought back that memory.
A while ago I had read the synopsis of Dr. Koto’s Clinic, and was interested in watching it, however for some reason I never got around to it. I think the synopsis I saw was for the second series, Dr. Koto’s Clinic 2006, and when I saw that SARS Fansubs was releasing the first series (2003), I had to get it.
The story starts off with Dr. Koto (Yoshioka Hidetaka 吉岡秀隆) traveling to a remote island and setting up shop in an old run-down clinic. He finds out that the previous doctors who came to the island didn’t stay long and that the local residents aren’t expecting Goto-sensei to stick around either. We also sort of find out that he left Tokyo after an incident at the hospital, and that he separated with his girlfriend, who is also a doctor. Soon after arriving at the island, he meets the two people who he will be working with at the clinic, Ayaka (Shibasaki Kou 柴咲コウ) the nurse (rawr!), and Wada-san (Kakei Toshio 筧利夫) the clerk/helper. These two are pretty interesting actually. The nurse starts off kind of disillusioned with the doctor, thinking he will return to Tokyo like all the other doctors who came before. The clerk has no medical experience, but since there is no one else to help with some of the operations, he helps out the best he can.
The first episode really jumps into the story, with Dr. Koto (actually Goto, but the kids misspell his name on a flag they made for the clinic) performing an emergency appendectomy and earning the trust and respect of his new coworkers. Each episode has some kind of medical emergency, but they are all interesting in their own way. Unlike Gokusen, where each episode follows the same formula (kid gets in trouble, hides it from the teacher, then teacher kicks bad guy’s butt), Dr. Koto’s episodes really build on eachother. It’s not like the plot is just “going through the motions”. Towards the end of the series the plot really getsreally interesting because of the return of a former colleague/love interest, plus the Dr.’s controversial past catching up to him and the effect that has on his relationship with the local residents. Also, the relationship of Ayaka and her feeling towards Koto starts developing.
This dorama is a nice break from the simple romantic comedies that I have been watching lately. The story, based from a manga, is semi-serious, although not too hardcore. One thing about this series, though, is that almost each episode is a tear-jerker. You might want to have the Kleenex box nearby, especially episode 8. That was a tough one to get through. The sad parts aren’t really tragic, however. They are just very sentimental.
There are a few reasons besides the plot why I really enjoyed this series. First, the acting is superb. Yoshioka Hidetaka is excellent as Dr. Koto, and the supporing cast is wonderful as well. Secondly, the island setting makes for some really beautiful scenery. It is filmed with a lot more sophistication than other dorama and you really feel like you are on a southern island. The (how do I say it) audio portion also contributes to the atmosphere, with lots of ocean waves, bird, and insect noises. Lastly, the soundtrack is a cut above the normal dorama. It fits in perfectly with the mood of the story. The overall feeling kind of reminds me of Tonari no Totoro. The ending theme song is amazing as well. It’s kind of a sad and melancholy tune, and the ending credits imagery behind the song works perfectly to create a mix of sad and beautiful feelings. It’s really well-done.
I really have to say, SARS-Fansubs are the best! They did an excellent job subbing this series. Even the ending theme song is subbed in a great style. These guys and gals are amazing. If you have a chance to see this dorama, I totally recommend it. It won a ton of awards at the 38th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Drama, Best Actor (Yoshioka), Best Scriptwriting, Best Director, Best Musical Arrangement, and Best Theme Song.
No news about Barry Bonds. But the picture above shows what is wrong with Dodger Stadium. That awful advertising ring of light (showing Toyota in this particular pic) that stretches from the right field pole, down to home plate, then back out to the left field pole. It is terrible.
[pic from Yahoo! Sports/AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill>
