Samurai Equine

Hello there, my crowd! Welcome to my Weekly Musings: Orange Edition. 

[I ❤ JAPAN] -- [I ❤ THE COLOR RED] -- [I ❤ CELESTIA]

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I'm so HYPED, my crowd! Are you hyped? You better be hyped! Change is happening!  Let me tell about it.

 I believe in putting others first...  One of the biggest things to happen this week was something involving my mother and one of my uncles. First of all, they both got new cars! My mother has a matte silver car, but my uncle has a glossy gun metal grey car. His is a bit more sporty with two doors and a bit more high-tech, but my mother's 4 door car is more fun and luxurious. I got to ride in both and compare. I'm helping her get acquainted with the new machine because it has more tech in it than she is use to. I learned the hard way that the USB port doesn't respond to just any USB memory stick. It really needs to be an MP3 player. Speaking of, my mother decided to sell her old vehicle. I was kind of hoping to keep it, maybe I'd pay for the insurance and have the vehicle in my name, but she was adamant about selling it off. And with such a low price point ($500), she was able to sell it pretty quick.

 However, what's even BIGGER news is that my mother celebrated her birthday!  Officially, it happened in the middle of the week, but we celebrated on Friday when we could all get together. She got a cake that was way too sweet, even if it was a flavor she likes. She got lots of gifts. I'm still working on my gift to her. I'll get there eventually. I believe she thoroughly enjoyed it, and up next... One of my uncles has a birthday coming up!

 But it's not all good news... There's been some plumbing difficulties. Long story short, back when there was a long period of snow that badly affected Texas, there was a moment when there wasn't any running water. When it did start running, the pipes were dirty and not safe for human consumption without filtering or boiling. Some people's pipes exploded because they froze over. Our pipes were fine, but because of the dirt in the pipes, it made the washing machine take longer to do a load. I got a part replaced and that was fine enough, but the hot water pipe has a very minor leak. It might be something that needs to be fixed in the future. I'm looking into options.

 And the good news that I've been wanting to share... A chapter in my life is about to be complete! After talking about for so long, I FINALLY BOUGHT A COMPUTER!  I went from six options, to a tough three, to finally the one I picked. It should be here by the 11th, give or take. It was a huge journey. Along the way, I've learned about how hard it is to shop with a smaller budget, how some things in computers are being phased out, and so on. In the final half of my journey, it was between the company Lenovo and a custom-built computer from an Ebay seller. In the end, Lenovo kept changing their discounts, so I went with the Ebay seller. The prices were getting to be the same, but the ebay seller was putting better parts and ports on the tower, so that made it a no-brainer for me. Let's just hope this works out when I get the item. I'm still waiting for the USB extension cords I orders, and getting impatient because they were SUPPOSE to be here on the 29th. But maybe the mail is just delayed or something...

 You know, getting the new computer is going to be an adjustment for me...  I'm definitely going to try and be more organized than I ever was before. I have been using Google Chrome because it's the one browser that didn't slow down my computer by eating up all my RAM, not to mention my computer is really old and not really meant to be running more current software. I use to be very loyal to Firefox, but when I get a new computer, I'm not sure what I'll use. Chrome has been pretty good to me, and I'm actually pretty use to it by now. If I stick to it, then hopefully the browser will stop de-syncing. The account syncing always interrupts when I close the browser or restart my computer. It shouldn't, but it does. At the very least, I hope my new computer will do a better job of automatically remembering my usernames and passwords. I had to use an extension called LastPass, which has been pretty handy I must say. Perhaps I should at least research and see what the most recommended browsers are now. And maybe I'll be able to do things like playing video games, video editing, and some media streaming. Certain programs hopefully won't crash my system anymore, and maybe I'll finally be able to download Discord instead of use the browser version!

 [1/2] MOVIE TIME!  Kamen Rider Saber Movie 01: The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin.  …Seriously?! Was that it?! I hesitate to even call that a movie! The entire film just boils down to “Evil Rider shows up, and the heroes defeat him”. Who the heck is this phoenix swordsman? Why did he just randomly show up out of nowhere and cause chaos like that? I feel we're missing the first 3/4ths of a movie. The only thing I liked about it was Saber’s new book/form, Emotional Dragon. It really suits him. I hope we see it again in the show some day. Clearly this movie was made as just an after-thought. The Zero-One Movie was the big attraction, but Saber had all ready started, so might as well try to get him in the theaters too somehow. I liked what Mei said about Saber and the other Riders. Maybe the other reason this movie is so short is because they just wanted to give audiences some sweet comfort in light of COVID (or maybe COVID has forced Toei scale back their movie productions). Still, I can’t in all honesty say this was good. From the hyped up trailers, I expected more. Even Showa-era Rider shows knew the basics of establishing their villains and their motives. I call it "Movie 01" because I get the feeling this will not be the last time we see a theatrical Saber movie.

 [2/2] ...But wait, it's a Double Feature this time! Kamen Rider Zero-One the Movie: RealxTime.  This was a much better movie by comparison. The only weird thing is that they kind of pulled a fast one on the audience. This movie was billed as the return of the Ark. However, that wasn’t the case. This movie’s villain was actually an original. That doesn’t mean the story was bad! Oh no. It may have been a little all over the place; movies can do that when they cram a lot of story into over an hour’s runtime. But compared to Saber’s first movie, the plot in this was way more solid. There were plenty of great moments that I don’t want to give away as spoilers, but if you watched the show, then you were definitely waiting for these great moments! And the Ark’s assistant Azu mysteriously disappeared halfway through this movie, which means they have more material for a future movie. I’m not sure if Kamen Rider Zero-One will get another movie, which is why I hestitated to label it as "Movie 01", but for now, this was a perfectly fine and very fun closing chapter.

 Saber 33: A Shadowy Sword Dance!  This is where the story elements begin to build. I had no idea that Kento/Caliber was trying to save Touma/Saber from his own destruction, but I think Saber might be right. I think his feelings are affecting these future visions. I've been saying that for a while now. Sadly the main event I was looking forward to, Saber and Caliber fighting Master Logos, was ultimately cut short. For plot related reasons though, so I’m fine with that. And I did not expect Kenzan to suddenly lose his way and side with Desast like that! I mean I guess it makes sense; we’ve largely ignored him throughout the series and he does have a rather short-sided philosophy of “Might makes right”. Desast was there in his hour of weakness and confusion, and now the question is, will Ren become another swordsman-turned-Megid, or will his friends manage to save him from that fate? It could go either way at this point.

 Zenkaiger 09: Two Pirates, Same Spirit!  This episode is full of details. Seems our gold pirate has a sister, and two little Kikainoids that are themed after Shinkenger and Ohranger, neither of which were anniversary series either. And apparently, they stole transformation tech from Tojitendo and purposefully modified it to resemble the Gokaigers. I guess the Pirate Sentai are like idols in Piratopia. But just when you think they have nothing in common with those hearty pirates you loved from a few years ago, turns out they do share one thing in common with their predecessors. They have a sense of honor. However, this is just the beginning, and Stacey has barely gotten started, so who knows what may come next. I imagine that these heroes will clash with each other a bit more before they start to see eye-to-eye.

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and reboot!

You know, I use to think Sonic Adventure 1, 2, and 3 had very similar and interchangeable physics. Boy, was I wrong! Poor Knuckles... He just can't catch a break, even in mods like this. My main man in red deserves better. This is "Sonic Adventure with Heroes Physics" by Tezmehbot.