The show returned this past Friday and I'm so glad it's back! The main theme of the first episode is definitely change. Liam McIntyre now portrays Spartacus (Andy Whitfield passed away last September) and I didn't have trouble adjusting to him, maybe because I've known for a long time that he's the new Spartacus. Plotwise, Spartacus and the escapees from the House of Batiatus now live in the sewers while killing Romans as their day job. Glaber and Ilithyia return to Capua, as ordered by Albinius, to stop Spartacus' reign of terror.

I'm looking forward to the battle of wills between Spartacus and Crixus now that they're roaming around. They both have different agendas: Spartacus wants Glaber dead while Crixus just wants to find Naevia. The other members of the group either follow one or the other so it's inevitable there's going to be conflict. Oenomaus roams around Capua for the moment, but I'm sure he'll find his way back to Spartacus' camp in the future. Maybe a certain freed slave could finally tell him the truth about what Lucretia made Melitta do.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ilithyia in this episode. She throws a tantrum when Glaber drags her back to Capua and it's freaking hilarious! Then there's her "I see dead people" moment. Loved that whole scene the first day she and Glaber settles into the former House of Batiatus. I can't wait on how her new relationship with the miraculously alive and a bit batty Lucretia develops this season.

New characters introduced: Siblings Seppius and Seppia and that cutie Marcus (Luke Pegler). Seppius and Glaber are going to be adversaries this season and that should be interesting since Glaber is trying to advance his political ambitions. Seppius and Seppia have a strange flirty vibe. I was staring at the fully clothed Marcus more than the gladiators. Hopefully he has more scenes as Glaber's right hand man since he's not part of the already huge main cast.

The violence, sex, and slow motion are still present but I thought the sex scenes were abrupt for this episode. They did have that long brothel scene but the camera just took a survey of the going-ons instead of lingering. The woman with the strap-on distracted me for a while though because it looked detailed I thought it was too modern. I read a review that it was made of ivory which I guess makes sense. Anyways, that brothel scene was very dynamic specially when the gladiators attacked it. All that chaos was very theatrical thanks to the direction of Michael Hurst. There was a cringeworthy moment when Spartacus stabs a guy in the groin. Just another day in DeKnight's world and looking forward to the rest of the season.

"Wo Bu Hui Xi Huan Ni" or "I Will Not Like You" by Bolin Chen is an insert song for the Taiwanese drama In Time With You. Bolin is known more as an actor but his singing is decent. The song is a reflection of his character's emotions in the drama. I love the part after the instrumental section when it sounds more forceful but reverts back to being melancholic because he can't control his feelings.

Yesterday, I did my first workout of the year using the Spartacus Workout (2010) from Men's Health. It's a circuit of 10 strength exercises (60s work, 15s rest) repeated for three rounds (2min rest between rounds). I've known about the workout for a while but only decided to do it this year and there are already 3 versions available. I may try the other two before 2013 because I'm sure Men's Health will publish another version since Starz's Spartacus has been renewed before this year's season premiere airs. Only 24 days until Vengeance!

I used a free music cue from Workout Muse but I think I'll try a regular timer because it made me frantic instead of focusing on good form during the exercises. The music is designed for speed which is great for the body weight moves (2 in this case) but not with the ones requiring dumbbells. I only did 2 rounds because I was getting close to an hour after I kept pausing the music for extra rests. It really spikes your heart rate up and I wasn't quick enough when changing my adjustable dumbbells. I had to fight the urge to stop when my reps reached 15 and the time wasn't up yet on the first round. I increased the weight in the second round and still had to fight to finish the whole minute after 15+ reps. I may have to increase the weight again for the next session specially for the exercises that I did more than 20 reps. Maybe I'm just used to 12 reps max after consistently lifting for the past 6 months. I'm glad that I wasn't sore when I woke up this morning so I could do my other workout. Not sure about tomorrow though. I may have abused my calves today.

Here's a nice demonstration of the workout except for the last exercise because he's just doing an overhead press.

For 2011: 3 were anime, 6 were TV show related, and only 2 was from Legend of the Seeker. I'm very skeptical that LotS will ever come back. Even Tribune hasn't emerge from bankruptcy and it's been 3 years. Anyways, here are the wallpapers that graced my desktop....

• Jan 15: Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse
  I was bummed that I couldn't watch it because of the clouds. Thanks to that livestream from Chile I could share in the experience. Photo from NASA.
• Feb 04: Work Out Now
  Featuring Oenomaus from Starz's Spartacus to inspire me to work out. I think I only exercised four times up to this date.
• Mar 03: Piolo Pascual
  My favorite photo from the Bench Paradise campaign.
• Mar 31: Jing/Rong
  I finished watching Legend of the Condor Heroes (200 and I love this couple! (fanart by sisy at ihuge.net)
• Apr 14: Emotional Kahlan
  From my favorite Legend of the Seeker episode, "Torn". Emotional Kahlan was hilarious. (fanart by aleynarose@LJ)
• Apr 30: Lucas North
  Kept me watching the last few seasons of MI-5. (fanart from richardarmitagenet.com)

• May 09: SoT fan map
  A nice updated Sword of Truth map since Goodkind never changed his map. (fanart by halfabubble@Tumblr)
• May 31: Luke and Tear
  Characters from the Tales of the Abyss game. Makes me want to play it again. (fanart by myhilary.devianart.com)
• Jul 19: Work Out Now!
  Featuring Crixus from Spartacus and I think it helped because I stuck to the first half of my summer challenge of consistently exercising.
• Jul 31: Sleeping SKU Characters
  The main characters of Shoujo Kakumei Utena. (fanart by ammi@e-shuushuu)
• Sep 24: Keep Training!
  This time featuring Gannicus from the prequel, Gods of the Arena, for the latter part of my summer exercise challenge. Planning to do Men's Health's Spartacus-inspired workouts which is up to three now and possibly a fourth since Starz renewed Spartacus for a third season. Looking forward to the show's 2nd season premiere this January.
• Oct 15: Zen
  The epitome of cool. Rufus Sewell as Aurelio Zen looking dashing in his suit.

• Nov 01: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
  The main characters from the anime. (fanart by HawthorneKitty at konachan.com)
• Dec 23: Our Child
  Richard and Kahlan from the episode "Eternity". (fanart by incanta-art@LJ)
• Dec 31: Mawaru Penguindrum
  A fan's explanation of the anime after the show's ending. I'll miss this fabulous show, do another series Ikuhara!

Bamboo is back with his first solo album, No Water, No Moon. When I first heard the intro of "Questions", it reminded me of a country song which is not to my taste. The lyrics are lovely though with the last two verses as my favorite.

 

QUESTIONS
Bamboo Mañalac

It's a lonely road out there we're all just waiting
For these answers that may never come our way
So we hold on to each other
Hoping to find what's missing
A million more questions by the end of the day

So we've been getting all this inside information
Are you as confused as me it's all driving you insane
Throw some money at the problem
Lose your inhibitions go talk to someone
It's a million more questions by the end of the day

It's who we are
It's who we are

We try to get away -- hide- pray for shade
Follow
What will we find
A return to sacred ground or the memory of one
Strange
Is it a new day?
Bored? Sounds all too familiar
A good excuse for change in pace
Go forth be a happy clone
Questions by the end of the day

Running in circles
In this once in a lifetime
I got this
One last chance
To ditch this borderline life
My place in this world
Last day I draw breath
I'm about to collide
With myself

It'll all get better all we need is time
Drag yourself out of bed
Waiting for that change in season
Praying for a line
Living in a rainbow
Or drowning in the gray
You've filled in all the blanks
It ain't all that bad
Questions by the end of the day