Mood Bored #8
Worship, Autistic lawyers, and the end of a childhood era
If you're new and just stumbled on this, welcome! The “Mood Bored” blog series summarizes everything I’ve gotten into for the past month. From media I’ve consumed, hobbies, travels, experiences, music, and everything else I’m currently geeking out on.
As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and nerd out with me in the comments on anything mentioned here or if you have any recommendations.
Listening to: Sleep Token - “Even in Arcadia”
Probably the fastest rising band in metal (yes, they are metal regardless of what the gatekeepers say!) in the last couple of years drops a new album. From the singles I’ve heard, I was already sold, especially with “Caramel” having a more in-depth lyrical aspect to singer Vessel’s experience in their rise to fame. It starts with a reggaeton-type groove but progresses to black metal territories with powerful screams.
After hearing the whole album several times over the weekend (which, by the way, sounds AMAZING on vinyl!), I probably give it a good 4 out of 5. I dig how they play around with pop genres with stadium rock verses, but are very much still progressive and technical. It’s a notch below their last album Take me Back to Eden, but only because of more predictable song structures (starts soft- ends heavy). There have been a lot of haters recently for this band, but I do think they are probably the best gateway metal band today. I know people who don’t even like metal and love this band.
Watching: Extraordinary Attorney Woo
I am very new to the Kdrama TV genre, and I never thought I’d get into it. But it started with Squid Games, then Killer Paradox, now this charming courtroom drama about a lawyer battling and learning to cope with her autism. What’s interesting about this show is how the character understands that her autism is a disadvantage being a lawyer, as clients don’t exactly have confidence in her defending them based on first impressions, but how she finds ways to incorporate her special quirks as gifts to help her solve cases!
As someone who worked in the courthouse for over a decade and has considered becoming a lawyer at one point in my life, the technicalities are very interesting for me. Sprinkled with some rom-com here and there, this is a lighter court drama from a Better Call Saul and an entertaining watch!
Watched: Ash Become the Pokémon Master After 25 years
Ever since we got into the Pokémon card game back in December, we’ve been putting the Sword & Shield season in the background in hopes we can get through it all and see the conclusion where Ash finally becomes a Pokémon master. As someone who’s been a lifelong fan and watched the anime when it debuted in 97’ (I am old), watching the finale and seeing Ash win a tournament felt like such a monumental moment for me as well! The battles, animation, and strategy were intense during the final tournament, where for the first time since I was a kid watching the show, I was glued to the screen every move and yelling at the screen on what Ash could’ve called during his orders!
Watching this made me realize the impact that Pokémon had on me throughout my life, and could be a future piece of its own to explore this more.
Playing: Ender Lillies
This is a metroidvania game similar to Hollow Knight, Rogue Legacy, with a touch of Soulsborne difficulty. The art style and progression are fantastic, and I like the freedom of equipping only 3 weapons that I get from big, bad bosses and playing around with the combinations. It is very tough, but fair. And is the kind of game I can also listen to epic prog metal such as Sleep Token and Leprous (whom I saw live this month btw and killed it!). Currently stuck on the witch boss, so if you have some tips on what weapons you used, let me know!
Film: Clown in a Cornfield
Had a blast seeing this in theatres on opening night. I’m not like obsessed with slashers or anything, but once in a while I do like an easily digestible plot with dumb characters that gets killed off one by one by some psycho, and on here, it’s a clown.
Not everything has to be a deep exploration into past grief and trauma in horror movies, which we’ve been getting a lot of lately. This is a good ol, predictable fun time at the movies. And I swear, the title of this could’ve done just as well, if not better in marketing, if it was titled “Gen X Rise”.
Reading: Marriage Toxin
This is a shonen manga that has so much style and flair, with the protagonist being in his 30’s. I always find it fresh when a shonen MC isn’t an underdog 15-year-old with a hidden power, which is why I was a big fan of Kaiju No.8. Here, it is a hopeless romantic who is a hired assassin with the skills of a “poison master”. While having some martial arts skills, his skill is creating different types of poison based on his opponents, with several effects to dilute their powers. Each mini arc is him rescuing a girl in hopes he will find his match, nothing crazy, but super fun to read. Reminding me a lot of MOB Psycho 100 and Soul Eater.
Listening to: Kyle Gordon - “Kyle Gordon is Wonderful”
Another artist I’ve been listening to is Kyle Gordon and his parodies. His latest album makes fun of so many genres notably: nu-metal, Garage, 00’s Rnb, and even 80’s. Somehow, he does it though while crafting BOPS. Like the songs are well written, catchy, and produced to sound exactly like the genre he is making fun of. Look out world, this guy might be our modern Weird Al Yankovic.
Have you checked out, or planning to, anything off this list? What are your thoughts? Similar recommendations? Let’s geek out in the comments!
Thanks for reading. Cheers.