NEARing to the Culture

This is the Way… - Mandalorian creed

Hey Nemo,

I’m back for another dose of what's in my head, fed into your eyes. It could also be fed into your ears in about two weeks or so, assuming you want to hear the recording of this drivel. How have you been? Me? I’m ok I guess, I feel like I’m ok. Then again if you have to deliberate it, are you truly well? I've been much less-of-use to my health than even I'm comfortable admitting to, while likewise continuing to do little to get back on track, at least as far as eating right and training intensely. I've done astoundingly little of both, which would normally be a concern I would flagellate myself into a mental coma for. This time, not so much though. I'm letting it blow past me… for now. What have I been doing then, when I'm not at the mercy of course? Usually engaging in popular media.

I've been a fan of the culture for a while, and I'm not saying which on account of being part of most of them over the course of my life. I loved Mario and Sonic, Digimon and Pokemon, Star Wars and Star Trek… I know, blasphemy. All the same it would be worse if i pretended otherwise. I was the kid that always packed his Yu-Gi-Oh(Dragons), Magic the Gathering(Black sometimes mixed with Green) AND Marvel VS(Batman/Gotham Knights) in his bag during sleepovers. Asking me which console I loved best was also a trick as I had at least one incarnation of most of the major players in the race. I never beat many of the more iconic titles in my youth, though it was not for lack of trying. I touched Mario, Zelda, StarFox, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Uncharted, Halo… you get the idea. So, what have I been ingesting lately?

As you can guess, the new season of the Mandalorian has been in play for me. Every week I settle into my mattress and watch the latest installment of space western, even if it isn't necessarily the greatest season in my opinion… I'm committed due to my fandom. It is even complete with a wily green sidekick named Grogu. As a hard-core Wars nut, I find it difficult to whine or nitpick about things I don't like or feel could be improved. I personally love the idea of seeing a new Mandalorian Jedi; since the years of the first one in history, we have yet to encounter another beyond legends lore. The creator of the DarkSaber himself was both, and he had served as a mythological icon to their culture ever since. His unique lightsaber itself is a symbol of leadership to his people's later generations. While I imagine "baby Yoda '' as he was known will likely serve as a new offering to the concept of a being who walks both paths, I'm not certain how this will be done in a timely enough manner. Due to his species seemingly taking centuries before they are able to fend for themselves in any reliable way, it's clear to me that every character he has run into the past 3 seasons will be long dead before he is ready to walk alone much less wield a weapon from either culture. I am curious as to how Disney/Lucas will address this fact.

One Piece. Remember when I said I'd watch the first 100 episodes and come back to report on it? Well I'm at 150 or so and didn't post anything regarding this. Apologies for that, but as you can imagine I'm likely not going to drop the show. At this juncture I can't, I've invested way too much time even before watching the show proper to do so. I've passed the mark, that is something. I like how watching the episodes feels like watching eras pass within anime itself: how openings change while artistic styles become more refined. One Piece(I know this because I've read and seen way ahead of where I'm at) has this way of growing and evolving with the years over the breadth of its over 1000 episodes, that has to count for something as well.

John Wick 4 was an experience I would categorize as enjoyable. I was one of the people who didn't see much appeal in the title itself which in turn would initially deter me from looking deeper into. That would remain so until I looked into the trailer a few days before its initial release. That little impressed me enough to continue following the story of Jardani through the I'm not certain how many years it has been since that first viewing of part 1. Since then, Keanu reeves has consistently proven he can train himself to be as deadly and absurdly unrelenting as the character he portrays. I can not verify but overheard that Wick himself only said about less than 200 words throughout the script of the film. Having seen it, I can not truly say if that's a good estimate of it. But if it were, I would still be absolutely floored by the sequences and choreography he delivers in his Boogeyman Assassin in a bulletproof suit persona. If you liked the last ones, get ready to enjoy more of it.

MHA, Tales of the Jedi? Mario?

And then a bit of business… Mailchain. Whats that? A topic for later. Maybe next week. Maybe

Signed,

Woodward Forest-Lich