Samurai Equine

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Hey there, my crowd! 

This may or may not be the last status update I make before New Years. We shall see~!
For now, I just want to say, there is no weekly game this week either. Since New Years is not far behind, I just want one more week to myself. I just got back to work, and I need to get back into the flow of things once again.

Hope everyone is ready for the final holiday of the year.

Take care, my crowd. 

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

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

   Feel free to leave a video request. Your video will eventually be featured in a future Weekly Musings entry!   

I swear, I didn't derp this time~!  I was purposefully saving this for after Sunday. Let's talk about the week gone by, shall we my crowd?

 So I guess I should mention the obvious... The biggest thing that happened this week was CHRISTMAS!!!  As always, I got to celebrate with family. We were able to treat each other to some really nice gifts this year, for less than happy reasons. Even I was able to do more this year than ever before! Now I have a house full of leftovers and presents~ I really do hope next year is even better. My mother loved every gift I got her, my family appreciated every gift I got them, and I was able to give gifts to a few lucky extras. Over all, well done. T'is better to give~!

 So here's a preliminary list of what I got:

• From one of my uncles, I got a waterpoof bluetooth speaker, a candle, some chocolates, and some nice soap. Really like the speaker the best.
• From the other uncle, I got a dad joke book and a bunch of gourmet teas. Not the most personal gift, but I am definitely going to love the tea.
• From my mother, I got a purple pull-over jacket, jeans*, a dress shirt*, high quality bath wash w/ a bath sponge, and a new wallet. The wallet is the only thing I actually asked for. It's a far better replacement for my old one.

If you're wondering about the asterisks, it's because those gifts need to be exchanged. They don't fit me.  My mother tried really hard to get my size right, but this is why I prefer a shopping trip rather than the clothes themselves. When I pick them out myself, I can try them on and get the clothing I actually want. I appreciate the sentiment, really I do! I'm just particular about clothes. Furthermore, I may end up getting some post-Christmas gifts. I'll keep everyone updated on that.

 As for random news... I got a haircut before the holidays. The reveal images for King-Ohger were released, and I am feeling quite positive about them despite the terrible name. I donated to the charities being run at this forum. And I got to enjoy lots of other Christmas-time traditions too. Chocolate covered pretzels, the Christmas Day brunch with one of my uncles, and the day-after Christmas cheeseburger with my mother. Lots of little things made things really eventful.  Speaking of little things, I also made time for...

 [ 1 / 3 ] MOVIE TIME!  In accordance with my yearly tradition, I saw... A Christmas Carol: The Musical! This mostly well-cast special manages to hold up really well in the first half. There are some things in the middle acts that could have been done a little better. And part of the final act is really phoned in, and kind of ruined in some ways. However, for every questionable creative choice, we see some good ones too. We get to see more of Scrooge's parents, we see how Jacob dies, and there is a song that thankfully comes back in a meaningful way rather than the cheap, predictable way I was afraid of. I've learned that there are more version of this very musical, some that may be performed in the theaters only. But unlike a different movie I saw earlier this year, this one was a wonderful adaptation as a made-for-television movie. Easily top tier. Maybe not the best, but definitely up there.

 [ 2 / 3 ] I also saw... GoodTimes Entertainment's Christmas Carol (1994). It's always a random what you'll get with GoodTimes. Either they'll make something of great quality, or something that immediately goes in the bargain bin. This seems to be latter, however it's actually not that bad! In the middle act, during the Ghost of Christmas Present's visit, they do cut out some important moments that Scrooge should see. That being said, this cartoon is easily on par with Mickey's Christmas Carol (Disney), just with a lower animation budget. I love the song they gave for Jacob Marley and the ghosts of the cursed; absolutely haunting in an unnerving way. Best part of the cartoon, they actually made Scrooge lovable and believably redeemable without making it feel forced. And you better believe I got a laugh out of hearing Gary Chalk as every other character. Christmas Spirits, transform and roll out! This one is not only worth a revisit, but I could easily recommend it to children as their first exposure to A Christmas Carol. They might have dropped Tiny Tim's iconic line, but they were so on point with many other things.

 [ 1 / 3 ] BONUS MOVIE TIME!  Finally, I saw... The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special! Yes, I know, this is not another Christmas Carol movie, but I had to check it out! I'm just as surprised as any other Marvel fan. Apparently during production of the new Guardians movie, the crew just decided to do a Holiday Special spur of the moment, and here we are! I can easily say that I enjoyed it. Not sure how well it holds up on its own; you basically have to be a fan of Guardians, or else this is just holiday randomness with a plot. Still, they made it work, and it was fun. It's harmless, random, just-go-with-it fun. Groot got a cool glow up. Some of the background characters are awesome. The big reveal with Mantis is heartwarming. THERE IS ANIMATION IN THIS!! I was afraid they were going to ruin Yondu's legacy at first, but they redeemed it at the end. Kevin is a real sport for doing this. The music is pretty good. This holiday special didn't even need an after-credits scene, but they gave us one anyways. For the Marvel fan that has stuck with the MCU this long, this is a wonderful little movie to play each year.

 Black Sun 09: Bilgenia's Last Stand.  What a powerful episode... The last pieces of the past are explained, filling in the gaps for how we got here. The Sun and the Moon. They were made to work together in peace to find a solution that benefits the world, but now they are split believing opposite things. However, Aoi seems to have found a third option. And in this episode, Bilgenia makes his final stand. He all ready lost it all, so as he goes down, he takes everything with him. It's such a powerful moment, it outshines Bilgenia's final moments in the original series. But as he falls, a hero rises. Black Sun, who is a cybernetic kaijin, has come back from the brink, fully healed. He didn't evolve, but he has his red eyes once more, and a symbol. I wonder if Aoi even knows what it means. I have a theory, but I'll wait 'til the final episode. The stage is set. The curtain is falling. Our stars are about to perform in the pitch black darkness...

 Black Sun 10: Broken Infinity.  I had a theory, and I was close. They showed us without telling us. Black Sun's symbol in an incomplete infinity symbol. The original resistance party that once gave rise to Golgom is no more. In its place is a new resistance party that is carrying on where some of the original founders left off. I cannot say anything further then that. I want people to experience this for themselves. The ending of this was kind of spoiled for me. I have trouble accepting it; I was really hoping for something different. Still, those mad lads actually did it... They recreated the Kamen Rider Black TV show opening, theme song and all! I am not sure if it works here, but man that was so cool to see! I can at least relive that moment over and over again. Any reboot of a classic Rider that does that will always be the smarter reboot in my eyes.

 And now to summaries my thoughts on KAMEN RIDER BLACK SUN.  In sort, this show eclipses itself. It's so hard to judge this series. On the one hand, this had SO many respectful nods to the original TV series and the Showa era material. Which can make the ending all the more confused... And while I do love a more grounded, more “serious”, adult interpretation of any older series; it's hard to have your cake and eat it too when there is still a supernatural element that never fully gels with the series in a cohesive way. Speaking of that ending, there are many on the outside who would consider it “going w0k3”. Since Japan doesn't usually share those kinds of morals with the west, it's hard to say if the ending really is w0k3 or not. All I can say is, it's not exactly what long time fans would want. Watching this will ultimately be the test of if you can enjoy the show for everything else and overlook the small detail of the ending. Perhaps if you never saw the original, you could better enjoy it for what it is. That's not to say this reboot is bad. There are many redeeming points. It's just hard to balance those good points against the ending, a detail you NEED to land, or else it can taint the whole experience.

In many ways, this show does make me appreciate the original more. It also gave me insight into how things might have happened if done differently; like if Nobihiko could transform like Kotaro, or if Kotaro had never grown up around a loving family that took him in. In other ways, it takes things in a wildly different direction. It's hard to judge the social and political issues thrown into this reboot since they can lead to both the greatest strengths and the saddest weaknesses of this story. We never get a cathartic ending to the discrimination between humans and kaijins. I've been hearing the fandom talk about the possibility of a second season... But to what end?  Without giving away the ending, they pretty much closed the book on an adaption of Black. As much as I would love to see an adaption of Black RX, how could they possibly do it without making the story even clunkier than ever before? I'd be all for it, if it means justice for Kotaro. It should be his story, not this new girl. She can be the secondary Rider we never knew we needed, but that's as far as I ever want to go. I don't want a passing of the torch. Even if this ending is series is suppose to end in a more tragic way than the original, even if tragedy is the whole point, I'd rather see a different kind of tragedy than what I found here. But again, I hope whoever watches this disagrees with me and defends the show for what it is.

 I have no idea what the week holds from here on out, but I would like to start Sonic Prime before the year is over. There is a LOT I need to catch up on. 

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and may the night continue being silent.

Uhh... Lego lawn ornaments, anyone? This is "This LEGO build will blow your mind" by Brick Bending.

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To all my followers, whom I affectionately call "my crowd"...

 Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Captivating Kwanzaa
Youthful Yuletide
Wonderful Winter Solstice
Bountiful Boxing Day
Harmonious Hearth's Warming
Wild Winter Wishday
Lovely Life Day
Fantastic Festivus for the rest of us
And may your days be merry and bright!   

 Oh, and a mincemeat pie for everyone!

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Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, my crowd. 

I won't be on much tomorrow, the day after, and most likely the day after that. I'll be too busy spending that time with family and making the most of the holiday.

But I will see you all again soon with much to say. And if I don't reply to any status updates, you'll understand why.

Please take care of yourselves, the ones you love, and look forward to the good things to come. You're all amazing and you matter. 

'Til we meet meet again, my crowd. 

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Hey! Thanks for following me. Welcome to the crowd. 
Games are on Tuesdays (except for this week), results are posted on Friday, and every other day I'll post any random thoughts or updates I have.

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Just a reminder that I'm not doing the game this week. It will return when the holidays are over, either after Christmas or after New Years, depending on how I feel. 

I did get a haircut. It was suppose to be just a quick clean up around my neck and suck, but the guy cutting hair today was clearly new and charged for a full haircut.  And he was too rough also.

We got our first look at what the new Sentai after DonBrothers is going to look like. Still hate the name, but I like the designs, and I am SO happy we are going back to suit actors for all 5 Rangers.  Kind of hoping we get a carrier mecha or a battle base with this season. Been a while since we've seen one of those in Sentai. Like how the suits are designed like tactical armor. Wouldn't mind if that continues to be a thing in Sentai.

Take care for now, my crowd. 

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Happy Birthday, my friend. Miss you greatly. 

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

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

   Feel free to leave a song request. Your song will eventually be featured in a future Weekly Musings entry!   

I am beginning to think I am the only one who cares if I post these on time or not. I didn't post this on Sunday because... I honestly forgot. Sorry~!  At least Pinkie and I have the same excitement for the holidays! Let's talk about the previous week, my crowd.

 First of all, the biggest thing that happened was one of my uncles had a birthday, and we celebrated it on Sunday. It's so hard to do a birthday so close to Christmas, but we pull it off every time. Naturally, he accidentally left one of his gifts at my mother's house. He always forgets something. 

 I managed to finish all my holiday shopping and then some, and I even got to return to my favorite coffee shop. Despite removing it from the menu, they still had some pumpkin spice drinks. Not the best version I've ever had, but the price was good at least. I also treated myself to an early Christmas present. They were cheap, so I got myself a set of silicone rings. ... Somehow, after check-out, I lost the red one; the one I wanted most. No idea where it fell.  It's okay, though. I can always get more. No big deal. They are a tiny bit snug, but fit just right over my thickest fingers. They don't cut off circulation or anything; and since they are basically rubber, I can stretch them out if necessary.

 I am sad to learn Ichirou Mizuki, Aniki, a super famous anisong singer, has passed away. I also regret going to Church on Sunday. One of the speakers got way too political (and extremely offensive). Worst of all, they didn't sing any of the Christmas carols, which I was looking forward to the most. They weren't even going to have a formal service on Christmas Sunday, so I thought they'd make up for it, but no. No such luck. Stuff like this makes me not want to return to the Church. I'm all ready Agnostic, so this isn't helping. 

 Black Sun 07: Death Gives Rise To Revenge.  This episode is so dense with material, it's crazy. We see how Yukari dies. We see the true origins behind how all this madness started. We see Black Sun finish what he started in the past... Or did he? Black Sun lost his leg twice, so I am willing to bet he'll get it back again. There was a lot of loss in this episode, and I don't just mean Aoi's loss of humanity. I can't even go into the gruesome details without giving away too many spoilers, only to say that was a lot of senseless loss. Too much. And all this loss has lead to a cycle of revenge. Revenge for Yukari. Revenge for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Revenge for Shunsuke. And just like how anger pushed Kotaro to evolve into Kamen Rider Black Sun, anger has finally forced Nobuhiko to evolve into Kamen Rider Shadow Moon; in the most horrifying way.

 Black Sun 08: Shadow Moon's Rising.  Bilgenia is disgraced. Once on top of the world, now we see he is just a lap dog and now the weakest kaijin of them all. Might not even be a complete kaijin. He gets no respect from those he serves, he has no place in the new Golgom, and now he's all alone. If you stand for nothing Bilgenia, what will you fall for? But more then that, this is the rise of Shadow Moon's regime. Finally, he looks like the villain we've been waiting to see. He plans to eradicate all humans and show that kaijin are superior after all. But for now, the Kingstones have been separated. Kotaro/Black Sun has the red one, and Nobuhiko/Shadow Moon has the green one. The matching stones now belong to the matching Riders, and I get a feeling we'll see them evolve one more time.

 DonBrothers 40: No Safety Here.  From evil terminator to sudden ally, Murasame continues to be fascinating. I really don't want to ship Inu Brother with Sononi. Inu Brother has suddenly been tasked with exterminating the Beastials, but I am pretty sure we all know how that will go. No doubt he'll choke when it comes time to defeat Nastumi's double. MOTW is based on CarRanger, and it actually works this time because the driving instructor actually cares about traffic safety.

 Geats 14: A Silver-Tongued Fox?  I wasn't expecting Geats to be such a smooth talker that PunkJack actually switches sides. However, it may have all been for nothing. Thanks to a new Rider that feels like a combination of Headmasters and Ryuki, Geats has been eliminated. ...Or has he? The rule posted at the end of this episode makes me think his elimination will soon be undone. Also, who knew! Na-Go's servants use to be Kamen Riders as well~! Furthermore, did I just see some dark foreshadowing at the beginning about the Jamato?

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and bundle up just in case.

I love AI generated stuff, and this is the only AI generated Christmas carol that doesn't hilariously goes off the rails in strange directions. It actually could blend in as a real carol. Can you transcribe the lyrics? No one else has so far. This is "Jingle AI Bells - The First Christmas Song completely made by Artificial Intelligence!" by Crypto Bär.

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 How much sad news can we fit in before the year is over?

The famous anisong singer Ichirou Mizuki, known to his fellow musicians as Aniki (big bro), has passed away a few days ago due to lung cancer. Those that saw his final live performances could tell that he wasn't as attentive and wasn't singing at his absolute best. I am sad to say that I have found out late. I don't usually care that much about celebrities. I do feel sad when a tokusatsu actor passes away. However, I do like the singers just a little bit more. Ichirou is known for singing iconic songs such as the Mazinger Z theme song; both in Japanese and in English. He has been known to rub elbows with big music groups like JAM Project and Animetal. Through the years, he has made countless songs for anime, tokusatsu, and some originals too. He has a catalogue of songs so long, most of them were never performed live. He had a very unique voice, and it may be a while before we hear another just like it. In some ways 74 is still too young to go. However, his legacy is immortal.

In good news at least, I am done with all my Christmas shopping and managed to do some extra things. So I am all prepared for Christmas.  Still, I know many who would agree with me that this year and this decade has been the worst by far. I can't wait for it to be over. I want to look forward with some sense of hope and optimism. And I hope everyone else out there is having an even greater time. Since Christmas (the 25th) falls on a Sunday, I'll be going to church this week. There is a chance that church services might be canceled on that day, and I always make it a point to go to church just before Christmas. It feels appropriate, considering my upbringing and everything. It's one of my traditions. Not to mention, my local church tends so sing some (at least one) Christmas carol along with their regular songs. That's always fun. 

Take care, my crowd.

Happy Birthday, my thunderous friend. 

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And now, the results of Tuesday's game!
What was the correct lyric?!

B. Christmas

Let’s check the PDM Leaderboard:

1. @Rising Dusk - 385,813
2. @Astral Soul - 190,769
3. @Sparklefan1234 - 24,114

And now, there's only 3 more rounds to go! IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!  The lyric game will eventually return. For now, the game is on hiatus until Christmas is over.
Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Take care, my crowd. 

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Hi there, my crowd!! 

Guess what? I am officially on vacation!!  Tomorrow, I'll do the last of the Christmas shopping, and then relax a bit. Won't be long before Christmas is upon us. Or whatever holiday you celebrate! and if you don't celebrate anything, then... Hello. 

I wonder if anyone knows that I put in an art request earlier this month? 
[Link]
I thought it was a simple request, but maybe I am wrong. Or maybe I asked at a bad time... Or maybe there just aren't as many active artists who do free art these days? Either way, this will be the last year I ever ask for free art.  I thought it was worth asking, just to see who would reply. No big deal if nothing happens.

Speaking of forgetting things, I forgot to mention that Shout Factory announced that they'll be releasing DekaRanger next!  Can't wait to see how they'll translate that one.

Take care, my crowd.