Category: entertainment

Updated a what’s in my gym bag?

im6footLeave a comment

My Bag:

My bag is simple black and white Nike duffel bag. There is nothing crazy special about it, my duffy is just bag that I’m constantly in. It has one big compartment with a mini interior pocket and a mesh pocket on the outside.

pc: travelmacedonia.net

Accessories

Mentos gum:

I chew gum while lifting. Chewing gum is an essential for my lifts, I prefer Mentos brand gum because the favor is immaculate and lasts for along time. Chewing gum helps me focus and stay locked in.

pc: amazon.com

Chapstick:

A chapstick-stick is an important item in my gym bag. I hate having chapped lips and especially in the gym so I’ll always apply a layer of chapstick prior to my lift.

pc: chapstick.com

Supplements:

Pre-workout:

I use Legion Pulse pre-workout and love it. This pre-workout has few ingredients and has a relatively balanced caffeine level. Legion Pulse is a pre-workout that does drag me through my workout, rather it gives me a little extra push through my lift.

pc: stack3d.com

Creatine:

I take Legion Recharge as my creatine supplement. Not too much to say about it, I take a scoop of it on a daily basis.

pc: amazon.com

Equipment:

Lifting Belt:

I use an all-black Gym Reapers belt. No complaints, it gets the job done. I wear it mostly during squats but will throw it on during deadlifts or if I do heavy barbell rows.

vc: me

Wrist wraps:

I rock the Ethos 18″ wrist wraps. I only use them on certain lifts like dumbbell bench press, dumbbell incline press, and dumbbell shoulder press. They provide stability and support in both my hands and wrists/arms.

pc: dickssportinggoods.com

Wrist Straps:

A recent addition to my gym bag that I absolutely love is my Gym Reapers wrist straps. I use these almost every day in the gym whether it’s for the upper body or legs I’ll use these straps daily.

Knee wraps:

The newest addition to my gym bag is my Gym Reapers knee wraps. I’ve only used these a couple times, I only use these when I squat heavy or if I load up plates on the leg press machine. These knee wraps provide security and safety to my knees and surrounding ligaments when doing a heavy exercise.

pc: gymreapers.com

Additional stuff:

Some other not-so-important items in my bag are resistance bands, cash, a water bottle, and a shaker bottle. These are all items I use but not as frequently as the items listed above.

Escaping the pit of despair

navraj22Leave a comment
@benjimanz

“Ya sista doesn’t even have seasonal depression like this” @newyorknico @meals_by_cug #foryou #fypシ #impressions #duster

♬ Constellations – Duster
VC: Benjimanz//Tik Tok

Seasonal depression is wild. I’m not a depressed person, don’t really have reason to be depressed, and have never been depressed, but this winter I was feeling kinda sad I’m not even gonna front. Since the start of December, I had a fog hanging over me. I lost my drive to seek new relationships and became content with what I had, which was a good thing in some aspects, but I was incredibly unmotivated. I was bogged down by hours of college work, AP classes, soccer practices, and late nights during the school week. On the weekend, I would drive down to LA and it would feel like I had to choose between my family and friends when spending time with people. I was in the pit of despair.

All of the sudden, I have snapped out of it. I have moved past soccer, college apps, and have embraced senioritis. This has given me time to meditate during the school week and afforded me much more clarity. I have also started sleeping in LA on Sunday nights, which gives me more time to balance hanging with family and friends. Also, my convertible whose clutch I totally melted a month ago is back from the shop so I can take friends out in it. ALSO, I have a new friend who is the perfect candidate for a cruise in the Boxster.

Everything is coming up, Alden. I don’t know how things just magically turned around, but I’m here to ride out this wave of good energy.

Isekai Anime That I Recommend

jared315Leave a comment
photo credit: facebook.com

Anime is something that represents all walks of life, from sports players to everyday salarymen, everybody has some representation in this animated world. This connection that people can make to the characters in the anime allows for a deeper viewing experience. One genre of anime known as Isekai follows a normal everyday person as they are transported into fantasy worlds with magic and magical beasts. This list will be my top 3 Isekai anime that I think everybody should watch.

Mushoku Tensei

(Picture not included because WordPress sucks)

This anime follows a shut-in boy to a new world where he is proficient in magic. This visually stunning and comedy-packed show is meant for a viewer that can resonate with the immaturity shown as well as more serious realizations that were made by the characters. This show seems to go deeper into the psychology of the protagonist Rudeus Greyrat than other Isekai’s I have watched. This interesting aspect of the show as well as the complex world and characters that are introduced create a fantastic anime, worthy of my #1 ranking for animes made in 2021.

9.3/10

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

The classic Isekai anime usually shows a character or a few characters transported to another world with their newfound talents and special affinities; Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash is different. Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash takes a new and unique view on the anime, with the characters facing a world of magic and monsters with a realistic sense of fear and gore. The characters in this show all wake up in a haze and are asked to join the Reverse Army, where they kill monsters and get paid. The strongest people all team up together leaving several weak and fearful men and women to make a lousy team. This team does their best to persevere in such an unforgiving world, and this unique perspective of the Isekai makes it especially intriguing. (Also most definitely not a children’s show due to the gore … and the sexual implications)

8.7/10

The Rising of the Shield Hero

The Rising of the Shield Hero is another excellent anime, falling into a similar category of Isekai as Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. This show also takes a unique perspective of the Isekai genre where (without giving too much away) the protagonist of the show is scapegoated in a community he was summoned into supposedly as a “Hero.” This show attempts to teach a lesson to the viewer, to never give up, especially in the face of adversity. The main hero of the show has nothing to keep him going, so he relies on the power of spite to fuel himself. This oppressed man wants to prove that he is the strongest and most useful hero to spite those who deceived him into a downfall of public standing. This interesting mindset allows the hero to cut corners in some areas where others that call themselves heroes would have to tread lightly. The Rising of the Shield Hero is an incredibly unique anime that is sure to entertain most viewers.

9/10

The Best Thing Ever Made

cannassuerLeave a comment

If you know me personally, you know that as a masochist, FromSoftware(Souls-Like) games are literally my favorite types of games. Bloodborne, Sekiro, Dark Souls 3, and Dark Souls 1 are all four out of my top five games. However, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco just released their newest title, Elden Ring. Which had been in the works since before Sekiro was released in 2019. It is now 2022, three years later, and Elden Ring is finally here. And it’s the best thing I’ve ever played. From minor detail to major detail this game is as close to perfect as anyone can get. (I play this on PC so I am aware of and have experienced the frame stutter when in fights, but they’re already fixing it and it really doesn’t take away from the experience at all).

Photo Credit: TechRadar

First of all, this game is absolutely gorgeous. Elden Ring is hands down the most artistically and graphically impressive game I’ve ever played. Sure there are a lot of games with technically better or more realistic graphics but, the care and detail put into making this world is absolutely unparalleled. As an open-world game, I was expecting it to be a little lazy with lots of walking around between one interesting location to the next like most large open-world games. I was wrong. This world is jam-packed with detail, easter eggs, items, side quests, characters, hidden levels, the list goes on. And every single one is great with immense detail, no enemy, no boss, no area feels unfinished. Every nook and cranny is filled with fun things to do. It is the single best open-world game I’ve ever played. And as a souls game, it is easily the best. It brings back my favorite part of Dark Souls one which is semi non-linear progression. Instead of only being able to go to one level and being stuck there if you’re under-leveled or skilled, you have the option to go do something else and explore the lush and lore-rich world that surrounds you.

Photo Credit: IGN

Secondly, Elden Ring takes everything good about the other games and packs them all into one. Weapon arts from DS3? Check. You can even change your weapon art on the fly. Powerstancing from DS2? Check. I am currently power-stancing two greatswords. A separate jump button from Sekiro? Check! 83 bosses??? CHECK. This game is jam-packed with content, it is everything FromSoftware learned from all the time they’ve been making games. And just like the masterpiece that is Bloodborne, it is a completely separate game from Dark Souls in every way. It doesn’t matter that the combat is technically similar, the environment, the feeling of playing Elden Ring, the satisfaction is all just on a different level from their previous games. It is a culmination of all of their previous masterpieces. If there’s any game that defines the spirit and the artistic value of gaming, especially RPGs and Open World games, it’s Elden Ring. I adore this game.

Plus it has the two best NPC’s ever in gaming, Pot man and Wolfman. Buy it right now

Photo Credit: IGN

Journalism Showdown

bartholomulethegreatLeave a comment

Two weeks from now, the Journalism class at my school will be participating in a smash tournament amongst the class. For my blog this week I will be giving a prediction based on how I think the skill of my classmates is in smash.

For those of you readers that don’t know what Super Smash Bros Ultimate is, it is a game that consists of fighters trying to stay on top of a platform. Characters have a bunch of different attacks these include a neutral smash, a side smash, up smash, and a down smash on top of these attacks there are the same directions but with a light attack. Heavy attacks do more damage at the cost that they leave an opening at the end of the attack for the opponent to take advantage of.

The ordering of placements will go like this (I’m not going to use their names for privacy I will use their initials)

The list goes from first to last

  • E.H.
  • N.J.
  • A.K.
  • C.C.
  • H.L.
  • Z.D.
  • S.H.
  • B.M.
  • E.S.

Wildcards: Z.Z., C.H., F.A.

E.H. Has the game and plays it a lot, so I trust his skill.

N.J. plays with E.H. a lot and supposedly is very good, so he makes the number two spot.

C.C. recently got the game and had been playing it a lot.

H.L. plays smash on her brother’s switch in preparation for the tourney.

Z.D. hasn’t played a lot of Smash but has a lot of prior game knowledge.

A.K. plays games to my knowledge but I don’t know how much, I just know how good others are.

B.M. plays Madden so he knows how to strategies, so I think he’ll do pretty well.

E.S. doesn’t play games and when she did it was quite disappointing.

F.A. I’ve never seen him play a videogame ever he says he knows how, though, so he’s gonna be a wildcard.

Z.Z. is a bit of a mystery to me because I have no clue of her videogame knowledge, so I put her at the bottom but she is a bit of a wildcard.

C.H. confuses me because I don’t know if he plays videogames, so he’s another wildcard.

Credit: Demon Gaming

My Top 4 “Underrated” Animes

cannassuerLeave a comment

Underrated is probably a gross overstatement. Most of these animes can be found near the top of the MyAnimeList charts, but I still notice that not a lot of the people I know who watch anime have not seen these. And should most definitely see these as they are far better than some of the Sword Art Online’s of the world that preside near the top of MAL charts.

Starting with the only anime that has ever got me to sit through a single one-hour episode, let alone ten of them. Hellsing: Ultimate is an adaptation of an older anime called Hellsing. The show has all the same characters and even has the same start to the plot. However, this anime is a world of difference. First of all, the animation and art style are so nice. Everything about it is so clean and fits the general vibe of the show so well. Not only that, but it has some of my favorite characters in all of anime: Alucard, the first Vampire ever born, and Lady Hellsing, the leader of the organization and the coolest female character ever. She is the hottest and only hot British person ever. Add that to one of the only good Dubs in anime and you’ve got a certified slapper. I’m not gonna tell you how the plot unfolds, but it is a beautifully drawn anime with a great plot and characters. If you’ve seen the original Hellsing and it deterred you from Ultimate I fully encourage you to watch it, it is a completely different level of quality.

Photo Credit: IMBd

Afro Samurai is one of the shorter animes I’ve seen and easily one of my favorites. Even though it isn’t ranked high on my list, it is easily the anime I have re-watched the most and the only anime I’ve ever watched in one sitting. This anime has everything. Compelling storyline and Villains? Check. A great main character and comedic relief? Check. I mean it’s all about one headband but somehow it’s one of the most complex storylines with a great backstory and fight scenes. And it has Samuel L. Jackson. What more do I need to say. If you haven’t seen it yet or are just getting into anime, this is the one to watch.

Photo Credit: Medium

Another is an anime that I rarely ever hear about. It definitely is one of the more peculiar horror animes I’ve seen and honestly has quite an interesting storyline. This kid goes to a middle school in which there is a curse, one that he reactivates on accident. The show basically follows him trying to figure out what the hell is going on or even what the hell he did wrong even though he’s the only one in the class who is morally right. The whole show and the plot are great in my opinion. The art is very nice and it is overall just a clean anime. It doesn’t shoot for more than it’s capable of and it doesn’t suffer from an underdeveloped plot. I would definitely watch this if you have Crunchyroll.

Photo Credit: Anime Filler Guide

Terror In Resonance was a very refreshing anime for me. I had been on a streak of pretty mediocre shows and I had finally stumbled onto this one which I had been continuously told was very good. So I watched it and it still stands as one of my favorite animes ever. Every character fits into the show perfectly. The plot unfolds seamlessly. It is a very dark and very real anime. It actually caused me to think about my life a little after I watched it. Terror In Resonance is a beautiful anime, if you haven’t seen it, you are missing out on the best short-length anime ever made.

Photo Credit: IMBd

Post-Chip Journal

navraj22Leave a comment

I ate the chip.

If you have no clue what I am talking about, you probably aren’t put on. It’s cool though, I’ll put you on. Last week I wrote a blog that laid out the chip challenge I orchestrated for my podcast which you can read here: ( https://ovsjournalists.com/2022/02/08/pre-chip-journal/ ).

My Pre-Chip Journal was full of joy, wonder, excitement for the journey I was about to embark on. I had a ton of ideas that were good in theory: many wheels, games, tests, goofs, and gaffes. Some worked some didn’t. We spun the first wheels and ate the chips in the order decided upon by the wheels. The problem arose when we went to play feud before our next wheel. We staggered our chip eating times, my co-host ate, 30 seconds later the editor ate, and 30 seconds later I ate. This led to my co-host being in a hiccup fit when I began playing. My tonsils and ears started burning, I felt my cartilage melting like some sort of Ear Nose Throat doctor’s office diagram-shaped candle. All concerns about the order and plans I had made went out the window. Eff the spelling bee. Eff feud. I. Am. Done.

I frantically mashed click on the computer connected to the tv behind us, spinning the wheel that decides what we get to drink. My co-host couldn’t open his chocolate milk. My editor opened a milk carton like it was a Christmas present. Milk went EVERYWHERE. I finally got to my chocolate milk and had a drink.

Sweet relief overcame my mouth, I was back to normal!

(please watch this, I am using this as a sentence)

VC: NOID

The pepper was dancing on my grave. It was back just as strong as before.

We spun the next wheel, I got lemon juice, which in my panicked state I poured into my chocolate milk, leading to a sour, coddled, sweet beverage that went down terribly. From here on out I don’t remember much. I was dying. I bit into a lemon, which actually really helped, something about the acid canceling the capsaicin.

I then went to lay on the floor. I zoned out on the floor for a few minutes, and when I came out of my pepper trance, I was feeling fine. The burning had moved down to my upper chest, which hurt far less than my mouth. I then ate roughly 7 mini muffins and the infamous wet bread. Wet bread, for those who yet again are NOT put on, is wonderbread with club soda. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.

At that point, the wheel had gone out the window. I began eating a whole onion, my co-host had the entire lemon turned inside out in his mouth, and my editor was still dying.

Our teacher, throughout this whole experience, was anxiously crossing his arms, pacing, and looked like he was about to collapse out of the fear a student’s stomach lining would rip open in front of him.

The podcast is super funny, which I am proud of. I am more pleased though, with the fact my editor had firey diarrhea the whole night, the best form of payback.

Putting You on (to Anime)

jared315Leave a comment

In my years, I’ve watched a lot of anime. From finishing 12 episode shows left right and center, to watching 718 episodes of One Piece (I’ll finish it one day), I would say I am well versed in the world of anime. So, I figure why not give recommendations. This list has some pretty mainstream options so if you’re new to anime, this index is for you.

Hunter x Hunter

Hunter X Hunter' Season 7: Everything You need to know - Market Research Telecast
PC: IMDB

Hunter x Hunter follows a talented young boy named Gon, and his friends through the Hunter exam. The Hunter exam tests applicants from around the world to become Hunters. Hunters are given access to information, locations, treasures, and auctions that normal people don’t even know about. The group explores this magical world, discovering people and powers that are hardly imaginable. This show has amazed me every time I’ve watched it. It’s slick and well put together animation makes the show look consistently clean, with not many scenes being too rushed (unlike some other animes *cough* Black Clover *cough*), the complex and detailed storyline also leaves the viewer in awe as the viewer feels such an affinity towards the characters. Hunter x Hunter is definitely on my list of top anime, and it will not be moving any time soon.

9.8/10

Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop anime moves from hulu to Netflix ahead of live-action debut | EW.com
PC: ew.com

Cowboy Bebop is a legendary anime. This neo-noir/science fiction world is invigorating. Its fantastic, flowy, and dramatic animation style is something modern-day animes struggle to compete with, the protagonist is a hopeless nihilist, and the soundtrack… don’t get me started. This show follows a talented, yet disastrous bounty hunter group. The lead character, Spike, is a smooth talker and an even better fighter. Spike’s past is shrouded in mystery, which is slowly revealed. Spike is also accompanied by a few characters, Jet, his mechanic, and a few others introduced later into the show. I would recommend Cowboy Bebop to anybody that has already seen a few animes, rather than it being the first anime, but I would definitely put it on the Must Watch list.

9.5/10

Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo' sets a high bar for anime soundtracks with legendary producer Nujabes. | by Johnnie Yu | Text + Color
PC: TextandColor.com

For lack of a better word… This anime is goated. The story isn’t the greatest one I have ever seen, but boy is this anime special. The animation left me starstruck and the characters pose a strong yin yang duality. The characters Mugen and Jin are samurai during the Edo Period, however, this twist of the Edo Period has elements of hip hop culture entwined. This anime is really something to behold, with excellent character chemistry and fantastically coordinated fight scenes, I would recommend not overlooking this show.

9.5/10

Grading NBA trades

im6footLeave a comment

The Unicorn heads to the nation’s capital:

The Washington Wizards are sending point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Davis Bertans to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a future second-round draft pick and forward Kristaps Porzingis. The Wizards are adding another big in Porzingis, which I don’t get they have Kuzma, Gafford, Hachimura, Bryant, and now Porzingis. I guess they might try and mirror the Cavs who had a boatload of bigs/forwards. Dallas adds a veteran guard who will probably come off the bench and add a stretch-big both will play big roles for Dallas in the latter half of the season.

Washington gets a C for this deal while Dallas gets a B-

pc: clutchpoints.com

Harden heads to Philly:

The Brooklyn Nets are sending James Harden and Paul Millsap to Philly, the 76ers are sending Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, two first-round picks, and Ben Simmons. This is a win-win trade for both teams. the 76ers add a second superstar next to their all-star center Joel Embiid; while New York adds rim protection with Drummond, 3-point shooting with Seth, future assets, and a young all-star point guard/power forward in Ben Simmons. Both teams are in win-now mode and this trade keeps them both in this focus.

Philly gets an A and Brooklyn gets an A as well, in my opinion.

pc: theathletic.com

My Bottom 3 Animes

cannassuerLeave a comment

As embarrassing as it is for me to say, I have seen over eighty animes. Yes, I hate myself. But, I am qualified to critique animes, especially the ones that suck. In most of the animes, I have two similar problems. Ok, three if you count the weird incest stuff and blatant sexualization of middle-schoolers. But plotwise my main problems are either a massive plot with no lore and context or a very dark plot that doesn’t deal with it in a dark way. Sure whatever I know I was spoiled by Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan, and Vinland Saga and that’s just how some animes are but I don’t care. I also get really annoyed with bad or shortened endings which you may see me rant about here and there. Now, these aren’t exactly my least favorite animes, most crap animes are just way too boring. So much so I can’t even write about it. Instead, here I have some memorable animes that did something critically wrong.

First, we’ll start with a smoking hot take. Sword Art Online deserves none of the hype it gets. Sure I enjoyed it a lot when I started, but eventually, it got mind-numbingly boring and became an incestual cesspool throughout the second season. I mean in what world does a girl falling in love with her brother in real life and in a video game make any contributions to the plotline? Not only that, but Kirito is just casually given the power to duel wield swords? Which don’t get me wrong is definitely a cool power for the SAO universe, but at least give us a reason to why he has it or show us him getting it. It’s really a failure of storytelling and kind of relies on horny fan service so I’ll give it a solid G- for a good idea but too horny and inconsistent for me.

Photo Credit: https://occ-0-2794-2219.1.nflxso.net/dnm/api/v6/E8vDc_W8CLv7-yMQu8KMEC7Rrr8/AAAABUS0tODygRPvN6Ekv8edM7fDKBMYR0-ZnptNi6Oo8O4dDaOg7yfpGQMdi-COGkltQqoNq5e5g4mS43KiuLPGev2c3MfO.jpg?r=48d

Seven Deadly Sins is in a similar boat as SAO for me. Part of the reason I really didn’t enjoy this anime was that I watched it in dub and Meliodas’ voice is the same as both the Blue Exorcist MC and young Eren Jaeger. Until he grew up, Eren was an insanely annoying character for me. So when you add Eren’s voice to a small blonde boy who inexplicably looks 12 and has the accumulative power of every Greek God combined there’s not much to like. And no I will not take “he’s a demon” for an answer. Not only that but this fool is eternally bound to some random girl who is cursed to be reborn over and over again. And all this fool does is grope her like what the hell is this? Honestly, Seven Deadly Sins was a perfectly good anime. It has great supporting characters and every fight scene is very interesting, but I cannot handle Meliodas and Liz it’s quite literally excruciating to listen to/watch. Solid S+ for stop groping unsuspecting women in anime PLEASE.

Photo Credit: https://gritdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/netmarble_seven-deadly-sins-grand-cross.jpg

It was honestly pretty tough to decide the last one for the chopping block, so I’ll do an anime that I enjoyed but at the same time am very very disappointed with. Gangsta was quite the hopeful anime for me. It has honestly one of the more interesting plot lines and character creation I’ve seen in anime for a while. The characters are all very tangible and relatable, they give all the major characters and some of the minor ones pretty compelling backstories. But to me, that’s the main problem. Gangsta is standard short-length for an anime (about 12 episodes) and it is way too little time to provide full character backstories and a coherent plotline. Which they provide much more of the former than the latter. For the most part, until the end, the story is mildly interesting. There are some really exciting moments and character introductions, but they never elaborate and give them the screen time they deserve. I mean the other main character doesn’t even get any screen time in the last episode and neither of the other interesting characters gets any as well. The show just ends by killing off the less interesting main character and that’s it. Like they didn’t even give enough time to kill off the rest of the cast. At least give me a good ending. Solid E- for extend the show a little, please.

Photo Credit: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7rbRiDTq4OY/maxresdefault.jpg