Yeraze's Domain 3.0

As I’ve covered once before, Bad Things Come in Threes.  This time is no exception.

It started last week.  Laura’s 4Runner has been having starter problems for months, maybe even a year.  It would take two or three attempts then finally engage & turn over.  I thought it was nothing too serious until Last Saturday when, after 40 or 50 attempts, it still wouldn’t turn over.  I called my dad and made arrangements to go ahead and replace the Starter Contacts (on most Toyota’s, replacing the entire Starter is unnecessary).  It would be a $10 repair that we would do this weekend.  In the meantime, I would hitch a ride into work with a coworker and Laura would drive my Camry.

Well, Thursday I get one of those ominous phone calls from Laura that starts with “Are you sitting down?”.  (Hint: Ladies, there’s no quicker way to evacuate a man’s bowels than start a conversation with those 4 little words).  She said she pulled into Target and heard a loud “Pop” following by steam pouring out from under the hood.  I prayed it was just the radiator cap came loose, I hoped it was something as simple as a cracked hose.  I drove out there (In the 4Runner, which worked this time thank god) to find that the top of the radiator (Which is plastic) had cracked in two, about 8 inches long.  I called a local shop and they towed it away to work on it the next day.

That night my Dad came over and we worked on the 4Runner Starter.. We started around 5, and finished around 8, putting it at a three-hour $10 repair.  It wasn’t too terribly difficult, just cramped space.  The 4-runner worked beautifully afterwards and has been working beautifully since. 

The next morning, the 3rd hit: Rhianna woke up vomiting.  We took her to the pediatrician to find out she has a 12-hour Stomach Virus.  So I took the day off work waiting to hear from the Mechanic about the Camry, while holding Rhianna’s hair away from her face.  It was a miserable morning, punctuated by the $525 estimate for a new Radiator.  It would be $100 less to repair the current radiator, but as it’s almost 10 years old there’s no guarantee that the other side wouldn’t pop in just a few weeks, so I opted for the brand new one.

Later that Afternoon I got the Camry back.  That concluded my 3 bad things:

1. 4Runner Starter Problems
2. Camry Radiator Problems
3. Rhianna with a Stomach Virus

At least one good thing did come of all this.  I’ve been hitting Jackson Craigslist alot over the last few weeks looking for a Wii (won’t be getting one anytime soon, that money just bought me a new radiator).  I managed to find a nice big Entertainment Center Cabinet for sale for $25 up in Starkville which I went to pick up Saturday and got home last night.  I spent an hour migrating everything over to it, and you can see the results inside.

Talk to anyone who knows much about anime, and one thing you’re likely to hear about is the famous Neon Genesis Evangelion. Widely regarded as one of the best anime series of all time, it covers the story of one young boy destined to either save or destroy the world, and all the forces around him trying to control it.

The animation quality is great, and the story is mind blowing. Aside from the 26-episodes of the TV show, there are 2 Movies: Death and Rebirth, the original ending to the series, and the revised End of Evangelion. I’ve been watching the TV series for the last few weeks after seeing it air on Adult Swim (Evangelion on Saturday Nights, 1am). Tonight I hope to watch at least one of the two ending movies.

Definately have to give this one a 5 of 5, but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s got a few graphic scenes in it throughout the series, and the end of it requires a very open mind and a very good memory to pull everything together. The previously linked Synopsis page is a good quickref as well in case you get lost, and trust me you will get lost in the final two episodes.

I’ve been a big fan of anime for the last few years, but when my former “Anime Consultant” (that’s you Rob) took off for a job up in the NorthEast, I was kinda left to the whims of Adult Swim’s anime decisions. Some of what they come up with is just too weird for me, (Bobobo-bo bo-bobo comes to mine), but they’ve recently started pulling some really great stuff like Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Full Metal Alchemist falls into that latter bin. Placed in a world where Alchemy has replaced both Technology & Magic, those who practice it range from the Military to the criminal . Following the stories of Ed & Alphonse Elric as they strive to find the secrets behind the Philosopher’s stone, the one item capable of ignoring the first law of Alchemy: The Law of Equivalent Exchange. With it they hope to restore their bodies that were lost while attempting the forbidden transmutation: Human Resurrection. The journey leads them into discoveries about their father, another great Alchemist, and discoveries about the limitations of Alchemy itself, and from what I’ve seen there’s even a fairly religious angle in the tone that “Some transmutations are reserved for god”. The animation is excellent quality, although nothing revolutionary. The greatness of this is in the story.

I went ahead and added all the available DVD’s to my Amazon Wishlist, but they only have the first season. I’ve been watching some of the Second season (I think) on Adult Swim and it doesn’t disappoint. I’m looking forward to seeing how this shapes up

Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence) Genres: Drama, Mystery, Police, Psychological Plot Summary: An elementary school kid dubbed with the title “shounen bat” or “lil slugger” has been going around attacking people with bats. Now two detectives are investigating so they can stop this kid from any more attacks… but they will find out soon enough, that this case is much more than they can handle.

I first caught Paranoia Agent on Adult Swim a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to catch it from the beginning, and the first episode was kinda neat but nothing special. The second episode drew me in a bit further, but then the third episode… Wow. The plot was just amazing, the graphics are immaculate, and the entire concept is enthralling and makes for a great mystery. Sadly, tho, I wound up missing a few episodes and being incredibly confused.

Well I managed to get the episodes on my computer and watch them and saw what I missed. I have to admit this is one of the best Anime’s I’ve seen in a while. It has the classic Anime Twist at the end, where it goes from a grounded mystery to a more ethereal “statement of society” and “philosophical statement of the human condition”, but kept me hooked the entire time.

TriGun and BubbleGum Crisis have, until today, have held the title of my favorite anime programs, but I’m going to have to add Paranoia Agent to the list.