Ahh, those Sand siblings--can't live with them, can't live without them! I say that with all affection, my occasional frustration with them aside. I had of course been waiting for their arrival in the anime arc for a long time, and what a grand entrance they made! I happen to like all three of their voice actors, too--especially Temari's. I like the way Temari's voice is lower than most of the other girls'. But my favorite Sand sibling has to be Gaara. It was so uplifting to see him step in for Lee like that. It made me want to stand up and cheer, as in take THAT, Kimimaro--you have met your match! Gaara also looks so much more at peace with himself these days. I like his outfit, too--much better than his old one. And seriously--who can resist a redhead?

Most of the action in the episode, though, centered around Kankuro/Kiba/Sakon/Udon. I'm not quite sure what to make of Kankuro sometimes. In fanfics I usually see him portrayed as the annoying teenaged brother to the manic Gaara and the responsible Temari, which I think is a rather endearing portrayal. But as this episode showed, Kankuro is a ruthless, bloodthirsty shinobi. In some ways he's more reckless and cruel than Gaara. Gaara was the way he was because he had, let's face it, a miserable childhood and a monster inside of him. But he actually started out as a very sweet boy. Kankuro seems like, Gaara aside, he's never been afraid to push anyone around. Okay, he seems like a bit of a bully and meanie. But to quote Kiba, "They were fearsome as enemies, but as allies, they couldn't be more reliable." I know that in the current manga arc Kankuro is laid up in the hospital and vulnerable, and fans have been remarking on how good looking he is without his hat and mask (personally, I think he would look better with dark hair), but he showed some very nasty skills against Sakon/Udon in this episode. What a nasty way to go, enemy or not, locked inside a puppet with a dozen sharp spikes hurled into your body from all sides. Nasty, Kankuro--you are nasty! You could tell that was what Kiba was thinking, too--his eyes grew all wide and his pupils shook.

As for dear, darling Temari...sigh. Now, I like Temari. I really do. (I've said this before, I'm sure.) And I wish it was she who had been chosen Kazekage because I think she'd be great for the job. But I just can't be impressed with her jutsu. I mean, she doesn't even do anything! She just waves her gi-normous fan around! And here Shikamaru has been working so hard to give Tayuya a real fight and suffering under her genjutsu and all that, and Temari just waltzes in and does two measly moves (doing immense damage to the forest, I might add!) and Tayuya keels over and dies. How lame is that! Okay, so she bites her own finger and summons a ferret. But the rest of the time is just spent flirting with Shikamaru!

The music that starts playing in the background after Temari summons her ferret is admittedly cool, and I can't wait until that appears in the next Naruto soundtrack. And Temari has a nice, spunky smile, okay. This whole Shikamaru/Temari thing...I'm going to horrify anime_babble and say that I'm becoming resigned to it. The main reason is that Shikamaru's character is changing in a direction that I just don't find that appealing for Ino's sake anymore. He's become so...boring! He's not the lazy, effortlessly brilliant, sarcastic Shikamaru of our days of yore. He's responsible, self-deprecating, hard-working...in a word, he's different. And maybe this new Shikamaru is more suited to Temari than he is to our loveable Ino.</span>

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One of the things that makes the Naruto anime series so wonderful is the soundtrack. Here the genius of Toshiro Masuda meets the genius of Kishimoto Masashi. Alternately goofy, sad, triumphant, and pensive, Toshiro’s music perfectly complements the series’ most unforgettable moments. Only the first two installments of the soundtrack have been released, and I for one am looking forward to the next one, since some of the great songs from the recent episodes of the series have yet to be made available. Just listening to the first Naruto OST gives me such an intense feeling of nostalgia for those early days of my obsession with the series! Here are my top five favorite songs from the first soundtrack, in ascending order:

5. “Evening”—I love the peaceful, simple tune of the flute superimposed on the steady rhythm of the zither. This is the background music in the scene where Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura arrive in the Country of the Wave way back during their first real mission. It’s a perfect “Country of the Wave” song; it’s as if by listening to it you can just visualize a small village located on the edge of a river with beautiful mountains in the background.

4. “I Said I’m Naruto”—This is an upbeat song that takes me back to the old days when Naruto was young, flawed, exuberant, and innocent. It captures his personality so well and reminds me of him taking his first steps toward becoming Hokage. In general, very uplifting and inspiring.

3. “Loneliness”—This song is so wistful-sounding that it makes my heart ache. I love the opening flute solo, of course, but my favorite part is when the acoustic guitar comes in a little bit later. This song reminds me of Naruto reflecting on his unhappy childhood.

2. “Sadness and Sorrow”—Another heartbreaking song, it’s been used for many a heartbreaking scene. One that comes to mind is back in the first arc of the series, when Kakashi and Team 7 visit the Country of the Wave. It plays when Sakura thinks Sasuke is dead and delivers those memorable lines about the twenty-fifth rule of being a shinobi (or whatever the number of the rule is)—she remembers how she blithely memorized the dictum that a shinobi should never show any emotion at the same time that she collapses into sobs over Sasuke. It also plays when Naruto bursts out into a bitter lecture at Zabuza, and then we see Zabuza—that hardened, professional assassin—break down in tears. And of course, “Sadness and Sorrow” was also used when Sakura desperately confesses her love to Sasuke in an attempt to stop him from leavin Konoha in Episode 109. It was perfectly employed in all of these scenes!

1. “The Rising Fighting Spirit”—This song just kicks ass. I like the juxtaposition of the lute and the flute (especially the lute) with the electric guitar and drums. This song plays when one or another of the shinobi breaks out with a cool move and just lifts you up and makes you want to cheer!

Wow—going through the songs has been like walking down memory lane. Some day I will have to present my top five for the Naruto OST II, but that’s enough rambling for now.

I begin today with a problem of terminology: what do you call those things that the shinobi wear that bear the insignia of their village? The translators usually describe them as "forehead protectors" but the problem is, not everyone wears it on their head, much less on their forehead! In fact, when you think about it, "forehead protectors" come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors, and they are worn in a variety of fashions as well. For lack of a better name, I will stick with the term, "forehead protector" in this post, but it's worth pointing out that the protocol for wearing these forehead protectors is very loosely defined, which makes it interesting to ponder the different ways in which the various shinobi personalize their gear.

Everyone in Konoha seems to start out with the same kind of forehead protector: the standard-issue strip of blue cloth with the metal plate bearing the village insignia. Way back in the early part of the series, we see them displayed neatly on the table in front of the examiners when Naruto takes his final academy test. But as it turns out, not all forehead protectors are blue. Neji's is black, Lee's and Gai's are red. Everyone else's in Konoha, however, are blue. What is the explanation for this? Hinata's is blue, so we can't say that black is a distinctively Hyuuga color. Perhaps Neji simply prefers the color black because it matches the strap he wears around his forehead. As for the red, Gai probably started the trend in order to stand out more, and Lee, naturally, followed suit. Blue, black, or red—seems like a decent range of colors to choose from. A more flamboyant color (yellow, pink, orange, purple, florescent green) might lessen the dignity of village. In any case, color is but one way in which to invest your forehead protector with style—more importantly, you can choose where you want to wear your forehead protector, because this has important implications for its shape.

With the standard-shape cloth strip, we've seen shinobi wear it in the classic fashion around their forehead (like Naruto), but also around their neck (Hinata) and waist (Gai, Lee, Ino). Some like to wear it with the metal plate on top of their head and tie it like a hair band (Sakura). Some like to wear it on their forehead, but at a rakish angle so that it covers one eye (Kakashi). I have to say, though, that I find the classic fashion to be the most dignified—I couldn't imagine Neji or Sasuke wearing their forehead protectors any other way than in the classic fashion. There's just something very simple and elegant about it.

Out of all the genin teams, Asuma's team has the most variety in style. Even though Ino wears the standard-shaped cloth strip, she ties it around her waist for a bit of creativity. Shikamaru's style is definitely unique—his forehead protector is some truncated form of the cloth strip that's pinned to his shirt sleeve. But Chouji’s is even more interesting. His forehead protector, when tied up, is shaped sort of like a pair of briefs. When he ties it on his head, two tufts of hair stick out from where the leg holes would be. It doesn’t work for everyone, but I think it suits Chouji well enough.

My favorite style, though, has to be the bandana/doo-rag type of forehead protector notably worn by Ebisu, Hayate, and of course, Genma! Ebisu and Hayate wear (in Hayate’s case, wore) it the proper way—with the metal plate in front and the tie in the back. But Genma, rebel that he is, wears it backwards, with the metal plate in back and the tie in front. Isn’t he just too cool for words?

Finally, a word must be said about the Sand Trio, since they are practically honorary Konoha members and ought to be considered in any discussion on style, seeing as how they are all three of them quite stylish. Temari goes for the sophisticated, around-the-neck look a la Hinata. Gaara ties his forehead protector on his gourd strap for a very casual and understated look. Finally, Kankoru has an entirely unique forehead protector that is actually part of his overall costume. The metal plate is attached to a long piece of cloth that hangs down to his shoulders, topped off with two protrusions on the top of his head that resemble cat’s ears.

In summary, not only do shinobi work hard and fight hard—they have to look good, too. And one of the ways to do this is to customize one's forehead protector to suit one's personal style.

I finally got around to experimenting with Live Journal a little more and was able to update my journal format to the much cooler-looking Newer Version. You, my esteemed reader, are looking at it right now. Yesss! I can stop wondering why everyone else's looks so sleek and sophisticated compared to my blocky and un-color-coordinated page.

As I am sure all are aware, the much anticipated beginning of Part II of Naruto has finally arrived, and I am here to offer my initial impressions. But before we start talking about the storyline and the character changes, etc., I have to say that I found the results of the character popularity contest quite interesting. Sasuke has taken over the number one spot on the polls, and Naruto has dropped to number two! Does this mean that audiences everywhere like the tortured, bad-boy Hamlet type over the noble, good Horatio? And Kakashi-sensei is in number three. In fact, out of everyone on Team 7 the outlier is Sakura--who is back in eighth place (although to her credit, she is the highest-ranking female ninja).

Shikamaru is the highest-ranking "minor" character, unsurprisingly--his initial laziness and later transformation into the understatedly heroic team leader has made him quite endearing to people. And the next most popular member of Team Shikamaru is Hyuuga Neji, everybody's favorite once-caged bird--I had to give a little cheer at this! (I was also pleased to see that Hakke Rokuyuuyon-shou ranked so highly on the favorite moves list.) Hinata continues to surprise me by ranking so highly despite having been an unimportant character since the end of the Chuunin exam--but I like that readers appreciate her. Itachi is overrated, I think. And it's baffling to me that Kiba ranks more highly than Lee. Finally, it's even more startling to see Kimimaro in 18th place! KIMIMARO, folks! I've told you what I think about that fellow. Kimimaro is favored over Hayate and Shino and Jiraiya and Tenten? But Kurenai...didn't even make the list. Oh,the injustice!

Anyway. Enough about the polls. Back to the story.

Change is always hard. It's one of life's inevitables. And I'll confess my bias here and say that I always find change difficult to handle, both in life and in epic stories--no matter how much the characters grow and develop, after I finish a good book I always look back to the beginning with a bit of nostalgia. At how young and innocent and fun everyone was in the exposition of the story. That's something of the way I felt when I read through issue 245. It's too early to tell, of course, but while it was great to see Naruto and Sakura again, they both seemed a little too...perfect for me. The "normal and good" members of Team 7--here the implied contrast is to the missing Sasuke, who's gone off the deep end to the dark side. "See how great Naruto and Sakura turned out?" the moralizing voice of the manga seems to say. "Compared to the delinquent Sasuke who chose to seek the nasty Orochimaru instead of staying behind with the good legendary sannin." And when will Sasuke's name come up again? They haven't forgotten about him, have they? When will they renew their vow to "save" him? Of course I didn't expect this to be the first thing they talked about, but Sasuke was certainly in the back of my mind as I read the issue.

I know I'm always harping about how the female characters deserve more credit, etc., etc., but the new "beautiful and strong Tsunade No. 2" Sakura was disconcerting. And anyway, I should qualify that and say that the female characters other than Sakura deserve more credit, because Sakura already gets so many privileges as the lead female! She gets to be on the same team as Naruto and Sasuke. She's the target of the affection of many men (Naruto, Lee, and probably Sasuke as well). She gets the very cool Kakashi as a teacher. Must we make her an awesome ninja too, star pupil of the legendary Tsunade? To me, the great thing about Sakura was the fact that she wasn't a great ninja, that what she had to offer to Sasuke was, as I've said elsewhere, nothing more or less than total, unconditional devotion. That despite her objective weakness as a ninja, she could still help Sasuke in a meaningful, emotional way. But now she's...perfect! Pretty, strong, emotionally mature, AND a great ninja. No more character development needed!

Of course something has to be said about the new outfits. Naruto's doesn't look too different. But Sakura! Shorter skirt, knee-high boots...I suppose the hotness factor has increased a bit there! (Which, despite his friendly, carefree reaction, I'm sure Naruto noticed--I mean, come on, how can you spend two and a half years with Jiraiya and still be an innocent little boy?! I highly doubt Naruto is as ingenuous as he made himself out to be in this issue.) Speaking of which, Naruto/Sakura proponents must have gotten a kick out of this issue. Sakura really seems to see and appreciate Naruto in a new light, and I am almost certain that Naruto's feelings for her have stayed the same. Sasuke's departure seems to be drawing them together more and more...

Poor Sasuke. What's happened to him?

As usual, I couldn't make myself wait for ANBU's translation and had to go ahead and download Dattebayo's Episode 119: "Blunder! A New Enemy," featuring devious bomb-planting Akamaru, self-spanking Naruto, bewildered Tayuya, and the very disconcerting Kimimaro. To be honest, I was disappointed by the episode overall--the various recycled scenes made it seem more like a filler than a substantial installment in the series (how many times do we *really* need to flashback to the Third's death?! It was painful enough the first time around). And I guess I'm just biting my nails in anticipation of Lee and the Sand Trio's reappearance!

I find Kimimaro truly frightening. That shot of him falling down from the sky in a spread-eagled position just sends shivers down my spine (yes, mine too, Shikamaru!). And his fanaticism makes him even scarier--he's got nothing left to lose, so he's basically turned himself into a tool for Orochimaru. That kind of complete self-effacement for the sake of a higher "master" is simply disturbing. To top it all of, he is scary looking, with his weird lightning-shaped hairline. Brrr!!

Tayuya is much more human-seeming, although man, does that woman have a dirty mouth! It's really quite absurd how every other word that comes out of her mouth is some swear word. Speaking of which, I loved that scene back when the Sound Four first arrive in Konoha looking for Sasuke and Tayuya makes some foul comment which causes even Sakon to click his tongue in disapproval. The look on Sakon's face just cracks me up!! Here's this very evil guy and even he is offended by her. Anyway--given how manly-seeming and "one of the boys" Tayuya is, it's kind of startling to see her whip out this dainty flute. I'd like to hear her play it, though. The highlight of the episode had to be Naruto sailing over Tayuya's head with this very strange yell and landing on the next tree branch before spanking himself, making a face, and taking off. What kind of taunt is spanking oneself?! I was quite taken aback when Naruto's Kyuubi self started coming through, though; the change in his eyes and the pronouncement of the scars on his cheeks made him look truly frightening.

Ever since he got his chuunin vest, Shikamaru has seemed different to me, and I'm not sure I can quite place the feeling. He seems to have grown even more popular in fandom recently, with people jumping on the Shikamaru bandwagon, so to speak, but I'm not sure that I find the change more endearing. I never thought that Shikamaru's charm lay in his coolness or hotness or whatnot, but I guess he seems that way now that he's a leader and taken a more blunt and assertive tone. I sort of miss the days when he really was the imperfect, lazy underdog. I guess he's almost...too perfect and too cool now? He's left Ino in the dust.

I guess it's the fate of the girls in this series to be underestimated and undervalued. I thought things might have been different with Ino. Unlike Sakura, Tenten, and certainly Hinata, she took the lead in her team, and Shikamaru and Chouji had to defer to her. But now, Shikamaru and Chouji have gone off to do their manly duty and Shikamaru has become this very cool, desirable guy, leading missions, seeing the world, and helping to accomplish tasks of real importance. He's out-classed Ino! And that's sad. I suppose if there were one bone I had to pick with the series overall, it would surely be the lack of importance attributed to the girls.

But, as if to remind us that they haven't completely disappeared off the face of Naruto world, the animators treated us to some childhood photos of Ino, Sakura, and Hinata in the buffed-up ending. The ending, by the way, is a vast improvement on "Mountain a Go Go Too," which I just plain did not like. The song, "The First Time I Spoke with You," is interesting--about earning another's respect and acknowledgment. The obvious connection is to Naruto wanting Sasuke's recognition, but I suppose if you go along with the photos it could also be read as Sakura wanting Ino's, Hinata wanting Naruto's, and Naruto wanting Sakura's. Seems to be a theme.

Anyway, here's hoping that next week's episode is more substantial. And I can't wait until the manga starts up again and we see how things have changed in the last three years! Ohhh, the anticipation!

ARGHARGH! I am so frustrated! The illustrious berrygold has uploaded her latest Neji/Tenten story, "Rust," on Fanfiction.net, and I can't access it because the servers are overloaded. This is killing me!!!! Who's responsible for this travesty? WHO?! EVERYONE! Stop trying to access Fanfiction.net so that I can read Goldberry's story!! RARRR!!

Maybe by the time I finish writing this journal entry, the path will be clear for me to read "Rust."

I always look forward to new Naruto intros. Unlike the out-tros, which tend to be much less enthralling, the intros usually stick around for a longer time and are generally much more well done. The latest one, to "Seishun Kyousoukyoku," took some getting used to at first, but now I like it a lot. It has a completely different tone from "Go!," which was so full of Konoha pride and cheery together-ness. And even though "Seishun Kyousoukyoku" has a pretty fast beat, the lyrics are quite sad, and even if you didn't know the way the storyline was headed with this latest intro, the Naruto vs. Sasuke theme that runs through it would have given it away. I love the way it begins, with the shot of Naruto and Sasuke by the fence on the hospital rooftop, and the way it blurs in and out for awhile before the Naruto logo appears. I love the way Sakura and Naruto transform into Orochimaru and Itachi. I also love the brief shot of everyone who was left behind at Konoha, and Sakura's sort of pleading look. Nice. The whole thing just gives me a shiver every time I download a new episode!

Generally, though, I've liked all the intros, excepting the first. The "Rocks" song is...just not cool. And there are some cute shots of Team 7 (e.g., Naruto sleeping on a tree branch) but I like it much better when there are more characters featured. If I had to pick one, "Far Off Distance" would probably be my favorite--it's so, "Let's kick some ass," and you get to see everyone else for the first time (like Team Gai!!). The contrast with "Rocks" is fantastic; it's like a whole new world has opened up to Naruto. When I first saw the intro, back when I was watching everything for the first time, I thought, "Who in the world are these people?!" And since having grown to know and love them all, it's fun to think back to the first time I saw them introduced in the opening credits.

"Kanashimi wo Yasashisa Ni," the third intro, is quite nice as well. Who can resist young Naruto, Gaara, Hinata, Neji, Sakura, and Ino? But my favorite part occurs just after the million Narutos fall on the ground, and you see a brief shot of Sasuke and Sakura running with fierce fighting expressions on their faces--Sakura rarely actually looks so cool in the series! I love her serious fighting expression. You sure don't see it often...no offense, Sakura. You're just not a great fighter! But you don't have to be.

"Go" is probably my second favorite intro, after "Far Off Distance." It has so much Konoha pride, and it's so upbeat and sort of...makes you wish Naruto were real. There are, of course, two iterations, and the second is obviously much more complete. But the great thing about the first is that you get a shot of Sasuke and Sakura back to back with the fuuma shuriken between them. I love that shot of them! I must sound like a major Sasuke/Sakura shipper, when I'm actually not. I just think they are a fairly aesthetically pleasing couple. But the second iteration is better, of course. I love the first scroll, with all of the genin in various groupings, especially like the Neji and Tenten frame and the Hinata and Ino frame. And the second scroll is awesome as well, with all of the Konoha women--Tenten looks especially cute, and I love Shizune's cheery expression.

In general, I'm much less impressed by the out-tros. The only one I've really liked is "Ima Mande Nando Mo" (at least, I think that's the one), where Naruto is sitting alone on the hill before all of the Konoha genin join him and you get this great shot of the twelve of them all lined up in solidarity. Nice! But some of them have been just plain bizarre. "Harmonia" cracked me up, with Ino and Sakura dancing weirdly while a picture of Sasuke floats down between them. It's like, wha--? "Ryuuesi" is probably my favorite out-tro song, but I'm not a fan of the genin girls on the beach thing. You just start thinking, "Why are they at the beach? Are they there together? Who is Ino playing volleyball with? Does Sakura really know how to surf? What's Hinata thinking about? Where are all the guys?"

And all this stuff about the genin girls segues quite nicely into the last thing I wanted to mention, which is Tenten's shippability. Among the genin girls, it's obvious that Sakura is the most shippable in fandom--she gets paired up with Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi, Neji, even Shikamaru (?! but true), Gaara, and Genma (yes, I've seen a Genma/Sakura fic). But as the leading female character of the series, I suppose you have to live with that (sorry, Sakura). But I'm finding that Tenten is a surprisingly shippable genin girl! I've mentioned that Ino gets no love in fandom, and as for Hinata, well I suppose you get her put with Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru (?! but true), Gaara, and Neji. But Tenten! Besides the obvious Neji/Tenten, you get her with Lee, Sasuke, Naruto, Shino, Kankurou, and recently I even saw a fic that was self-proclaimed Itachi/Tenten. Considering that Tenten is a pretty minor character in the series, this comes as quite a surprise. But I think that's part of her charm. She's a good ninja, pretty, AND lacking in firmly set character traits. So writers can let their imaginations run free a bit more than you can with the very shy Hinata. How's that for a theory?

Let's see if Fanfiction.net is finally running again...

Is Kiba destined for Hinata? Is Hinata destined for Kiba? This ship is one that I have always been ambivalent toward. Before the most recent developments in the manga, there was perhaps a case to be made for feelings on Kiba's part judging by the anime--during the third stage of the chuunin exam, Kiba met up with Hinata beforehand to attend the competition, and during Neji and Naruto's fight, when Hinata was overcome with a coughing fit, he did seem very attentive about her health. We all know, though, that Hinata's only ever had eyes for Naruto. And, six months after Team Shikamaru returned from their unsuccessful mission to retrieve Sasuke, we see Kiba openly acknowledging and teasing Hinata about her crush. Hmmm!

Of course, fandom is free to speculate on whatever pairings it wishes, and I'm certainly not one to complain about putting random people together (anyone else out there ship Genma/Shizune?!). But I've wondered, why Kiba/Hinata, and would they be suitable? I suppose the fact that Kiba's personality is superficially much like Naruto's is part of the reason for this ship. They're both loud, outwardly confident, occasionally considered by others to be annoying. So if Hinata is attracted to that kind of personality, she might as well be with Kiba as with Naruto. And Kiba and Hinata are on the same team, which provides for all sorts of interestingly awkward/endearing inter-team dynamics (witness Shikamaru/Ino and Neji/Tenten). So yes, the ship is just as plausible as any other.

But I guess what makes me lean toward Naruto/Hinata is the dynamic between Naruto's inner vulnerability and Hinata's inner strength. Naruto is a great character to me just because he has had to overcome so much alienation and loneliness, and even if he is loud and carefree on the outside, there are moments in the series when his past comes back to haunt him that reveal just how much that sense of alienation and loneliness can still confuse and hurt him (e.g. his encounters with Gaara). And whereas Hinata is, on the surface, unbearably shy, she's got an inner tenaciousness that just needs to be expressed in a concrete way. And she's also capable of the kind of unconditional devotion that someone like Naruto, who has had trouble learning to trust people after having been ostracized all of youth, needs. I like the way their inner personalities complement each other. And okay, so this has turned from a why/why not Kiba/Hinata into a defense of Naruto/Hinata, but hey, the two ships are mutually exclusive. I guess Kiba/Hinata is fine, but...Naruto/Hinata is better. At least, to me.

Another observation I have to make today is that it often feels like Ino gets no love in fandom. Stories portray her as loud, superficial, bitchy, plasticky, boy-obsessed...when Ino is actually a good-natured, deeply loyal, and sincerely compassionate person...even if she does have an exuberant personality and even if she thinks she has a crush on Sasuke. The many times she has come to Sakura's rescue, the genuine affection she has for both Shikamaru and Chouji--even if she won't admit it and goes on about how lazy/gluttonous they are--attest to this. And to punctuate this defense of Ino I just have to recommend Stumbling Blind by Virgo1 and Blinded by Snooza.