Hey everybody! I watched a lot of cool things in April. I finished a few seasons of TV shows that I've been keeping up with and even watched some movies that I enjoyed more than I expected. I'm so close to finishing school, so that means I'll be able to catch up on a lot of shows/movies this summer.
Going with movies first, one of my favorites was Ride Along. I'm a sucker for cop comedies, and this one was great. Kevin Hart and Ice Cube are the cops, and they make a great pair. Kevin Hart's character was my favorite, because he was so hilarious. I also saw Baby Driver, which I knew nothing about. I actually really liked it. It basically just follows this getaway driver and all the heists he and his crews have to pull. There's tons of good music in it, and the driving scenes were awesome. I liked it way more than I thought I would. Another comedy I saw was Vacation. This one wasn't my favorite, but it did have some good moments in it. I didn't like the main family it followed. It was cool to see some cameos from popular comedians, like Kaitlin Olson and Charlie Day. There characters had such small roles, yet there parts were the most memorable to me. I wouldn't really recommend this one. After finishing reading It this month, I finally saw the movie. IT was okay, but it strayed a lot more from the book than I expected. It wasn't scary one bit considering it was an R rated movie. Pennywise the Clown was more funny than scary in my opinion. I think this one was greatly overhyped. Last but not least for movies, I watched Gone Girl. I read the book last year and absolutely loved it. I thought it was a little too long. It was a very well-done adaptation. I did end up enjoying it overall.
Now onto TV shows, my favorite show I watched this month was season 2 of The Good Place. The first season was already great, but this season was even better. I liked the direction it went in, and the cast is so great. If you haven't seen this show yet, you need to! It's fast paced, since there's only about 12 or 13 episodes 25ish minute episodes each season. I also finished seasons 2 and 3 of Girl Meets World, so I'm now finally done with that series. It was very stereotypical Disney stuff, but it was cute and funny to watch. All the characters were so weird. I wish it had focused on Cory and Topanga a bit more. It was cool to see all the cameos from original characters from Boy Meets World. I wasn't obsessed with it, though it was still a solid show overall. I also started watching a few new shows. I usually try to avoid starting shows that are still airing, but there are two new ones that I recently started. I'm one episode into AP Bio and Good Girls, which are both current shows on NBC. I found them when I was catching up on The Good Place and figured I could use some more comedic entertainment. Good Girls is much funnier, and I'm probably more excited to watch that one. Netflix has some great original shows out too. I'm a few episodes into season 2 of Jessica Jones. I'm interested to see where they take the plot. Not much has happened so far, but I do know that lots of people have enjoyed it. I also started a Netflix original called On My Block this past week. I like to watch a 20 or 30 minute episode of something when I eat my lunch on campus and found this one. It follows the lives of these LA teens starting high school. It seems kind of dumb so far, but there's only 10 episodes, so I might as well just stick with it. I'll probably prioritize finishing all these shows in May before I start any new ones. That's it for now. Thanks for looking!
Monday, April 30, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
What I Read: April 2018
Hey everybody! This month I managed to read 42 things. That's super inflated, mostly due to graphic novels and some easy YA/kids books. This is definitely not normal for me. It was the last real month of school, and I found myself reading a lot more to procrastinate from studying or doing homework. I've managed to surpass my goal of 100 books for the year, which I figured would happen. I'm currently at 103 books for the year. I do think I'll ease off reading over the summer. Instead, I'll probably focus on doing more blog posts, videos, and catching up on movies/TV shows I've wanted to watch. Anyways, I don't want to make this post too long, so I'll mostly only talk about the things I really enjoyed.
Like I said earlier, I got back into graphic novels this month. I think if my math is right, I read 23 this month. My libraries use this service called Hoopla, which is basically a digital library that actually has tons of graphic novels. I can check out 13 a month between the two libraries I'm a part of, plus I had like 6 from the previous month that I was still able to read. That really spiked up my totals this month, but honestly I'm fine with that. There's a lot of sick graphic novel series out there. One that I surprisingly enjoyed was Lumberjanes. I read volumes 1 and 2 this month and thought they were a lot of fun. It follows the life of these girls at this summer camp where all sorts of weird supernaturalish/fantastical things happen. The art is great, and the plot is pretty interesting. I am looking forward to continuing on with the series. I also read a few different ones from Sarah Andersen, like Adulthood is a Myth and and Herding Cats. There's one more that I read from her, but these two were my favorites. There's a bunch of short individual comics that are cute and relatable. They're not anything mind-blowing, yet they're so enjoyable to read. I definitely recommend those two. A few other ones I enjoyed were In Real Life by Cory Doctorow, Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier, Runaways Vol. 1, and Injustice 2 Vol. 1. Those last two are series that I'm looking forward to continuing. The worst graphic novel I read this month was volume 1 of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was incredibly boring and hard to get through. The plot just didn't appeal to me. I definitely won't be continuing on with that series. It was quite a good month for graphic novels, so I'm excited to read more in May.
Onto books now, I'm finally beginning to find ones that I enjoy. If you've read previous readings posts this year, you'll now that I haven't enjoyed much of what I've read. A few of my favorites this month would have to be American Fire by Monica Hesse, Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry, Unqualified by Anna Faris, and One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul. I rated all of those 4 out of 5 stars. I listened to that last one via audiobook. It was just a memoir about this woman's life. She told stories about her growing up, not being white, her view on relationships, etc. It was funny/enjoyable to listen to and really resonated with me. I've found that memoirs where people just share their stories are some of my favorite things to read. I read mostly to hear other people's point of views or to experience things that I normally wouldn't be able to experience. Memoirs offer a great way to do this. American Fire and Adnan's Story are both true crime novels. American Fire focuses on a pair of arsonists, and Adnan's Story goes in-depth about the story behind a man that was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend while they were in high school and has always proclaimed his innocence. If you've seen one of my last posts about the podcast Serial, Adnan's Story expands on what was reported there. I thought it was a good look at the wrongdoing and complete failure by the Baltimore PD. I do not believe Adnan is the murderer. I thought the author touched on her story a little too much, and the best chapters were near the end where they talked about all the sleuthing a few different folks did. I loved American Fire, because of how well-written it was. It seemed so conversational and flowed very well. I didn't know what to expect, but it definitely exceeded by expectations. Unqualified is a celebrity memoir by Anna Faris, where she gives advice on relationships. I didn't realize this going into, and I still managed to like it. It was interesting to hear more about her life and relationship with Chris Pratt. She also has a podcast where she gives out relationship advice as well. I've checked out a few episodes so far. It's not the best in the world, but she does have a lot of big-name guests. I think I'm going to do another post soon about some podcasts I've discovered, so stay tuned for that. Also, I'm editing this post the night before to briefly mention how much I enjoyed Irresistible by Adam Alter. It was also a 4/5 star book for me. It goes in-depth about how addictive technology has become and why that's the case. It was so fascinating and really touched on how we behave as humans. The most interesting part to me was the idea of gamification, which is when the ideas behind games, like badges, levels, accumulating points, etc., are used in non-game applications such as exercise, eating, or education. I highly recommend that book.
Four books that also helped provide a boost for me this month were Gary Paulsen's sequels to Hatchet. I remember reading Hatchet back in elementary school, though I had no clue Gary Paulsen even wrote more books in the same world. There were all less than 200 pages and weren't that great. They follow different events in the main character's life, like going back to survive in the woods again several years later, trying to survive in the winter, attempting to hunt a bear, etc. I can see that they're probably meant for a much younger audience. I liked The River, but the ones after that were all kind of the same. I wouldn't necessarily recommend any of them. It was fun to return to the worlds that I read back when I was a kid.
Last but not least, I finally finished It by Stephen King. I was probably 60 to 70% done with this when I started the month, so it was much easier to get through the back half knowing I was so close to being done. It's easily the longest book I've ever read. I do think Stephen King carried it on for way too long. A lot of the material was worthless and a waste of my time to read. I hated the way he wrote the women characters, especially all the violence against them. He also had an abundance of racist slurs that didn't need to have as big of a place in the book. This book was nothing like what I expected. It jumps back and forth in time, which is annoying. I only enjoyed the parts where it focused on the kids. I would not recommend it, since it only got 2/5 stars from me. Another 2/5 star read was Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I love a murder mystery, but this one was so boring. There was no action, and pretty much just all talk throughout the book. All the characters were old and lame. Agatha Christie is one of the most acclaimed mystery writers out there, so I thought I'd really enjoy her writing. It was a let down for sure. Anyways, that's more than enough for this post. Thanks for looking!
Like I said earlier, I got back into graphic novels this month. I think if my math is right, I read 23 this month. My libraries use this service called Hoopla, which is basically a digital library that actually has tons of graphic novels. I can check out 13 a month between the two libraries I'm a part of, plus I had like 6 from the previous month that I was still able to read. That really spiked up my totals this month, but honestly I'm fine with that. There's a lot of sick graphic novel series out there. One that I surprisingly enjoyed was Lumberjanes. I read volumes 1 and 2 this month and thought they were a lot of fun. It follows the life of these girls at this summer camp where all sorts of weird supernaturalish/fantastical things happen. The art is great, and the plot is pretty interesting. I am looking forward to continuing on with the series. I also read a few different ones from Sarah Andersen, like Adulthood is a Myth and and Herding Cats. There's one more that I read from her, but these two were my favorites. There's a bunch of short individual comics that are cute and relatable. They're not anything mind-blowing, yet they're so enjoyable to read. I definitely recommend those two. A few other ones I enjoyed were In Real Life by Cory Doctorow, Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier, Runaways Vol. 1, and Injustice 2 Vol. 1. Those last two are series that I'm looking forward to continuing. The worst graphic novel I read this month was volume 1 of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was incredibly boring and hard to get through. The plot just didn't appeal to me. I definitely won't be continuing on with that series. It was quite a good month for graphic novels, so I'm excited to read more in May.
Onto books now, I'm finally beginning to find ones that I enjoy. If you've read previous readings posts this year, you'll now that I haven't enjoyed much of what I've read. A few of my favorites this month would have to be American Fire by Monica Hesse, Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry, Unqualified by Anna Faris, and One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul. I rated all of those 4 out of 5 stars. I listened to that last one via audiobook. It was just a memoir about this woman's life. She told stories about her growing up, not being white, her view on relationships, etc. It was funny/enjoyable to listen to and really resonated with me. I've found that memoirs where people just share their stories are some of my favorite things to read. I read mostly to hear other people's point of views or to experience things that I normally wouldn't be able to experience. Memoirs offer a great way to do this. American Fire and Adnan's Story are both true crime novels. American Fire focuses on a pair of arsonists, and Adnan's Story goes in-depth about the story behind a man that was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend while they were in high school and has always proclaimed his innocence. If you've seen one of my last posts about the podcast Serial, Adnan's Story expands on what was reported there. I thought it was a good look at the wrongdoing and complete failure by the Baltimore PD. I do not believe Adnan is the murderer. I thought the author touched on her story a little too much, and the best chapters were near the end where they talked about all the sleuthing a few different folks did. I loved American Fire, because of how well-written it was. It seemed so conversational and flowed very well. I didn't know what to expect, but it definitely exceeded by expectations. Unqualified is a celebrity memoir by Anna Faris, where she gives advice on relationships. I didn't realize this going into, and I still managed to like it. It was interesting to hear more about her life and relationship with Chris Pratt. She also has a podcast where she gives out relationship advice as well. I've checked out a few episodes so far. It's not the best in the world, but she does have a lot of big-name guests. I think I'm going to do another post soon about some podcasts I've discovered, so stay tuned for that. Also, I'm editing this post the night before to briefly mention how much I enjoyed Irresistible by Adam Alter. It was also a 4/5 star book for me. It goes in-depth about how addictive technology has become and why that's the case. It was so fascinating and really touched on how we behave as humans. The most interesting part to me was the idea of gamification, which is when the ideas behind games, like badges, levels, accumulating points, etc., are used in non-game applications such as exercise, eating, or education. I highly recommend that book.
Four books that also helped provide a boost for me this month were Gary Paulsen's sequels to Hatchet. I remember reading Hatchet back in elementary school, though I had no clue Gary Paulsen even wrote more books in the same world. There were all less than 200 pages and weren't that great. They follow different events in the main character's life, like going back to survive in the woods again several years later, trying to survive in the winter, attempting to hunt a bear, etc. I can see that they're probably meant for a much younger audience. I liked The River, but the ones after that were all kind of the same. I wouldn't necessarily recommend any of them. It was fun to return to the worlds that I read back when I was a kid.
Last but not least, I finally finished It by Stephen King. I was probably 60 to 70% done with this when I started the month, so it was much easier to get through the back half knowing I was so close to being done. It's easily the longest book I've ever read. I do think Stephen King carried it on for way too long. A lot of the material was worthless and a waste of my time to read. I hated the way he wrote the women characters, especially all the violence against them. He also had an abundance of racist slurs that didn't need to have as big of a place in the book. This book was nothing like what I expected. It jumps back and forth in time, which is annoying. I only enjoyed the parts where it focused on the kids. I would not recommend it, since it only got 2/5 stars from me. Another 2/5 star read was Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I love a murder mystery, but this one was so boring. There was no action, and pretty much just all talk throughout the book. All the characters were old and lame. Agatha Christie is one of the most acclaimed mystery writers out there, so I thought I'd really enjoy her writing. It was a let down for sure. Anyways, that's more than enough for this post. Thanks for looking!
Saturday, April 28, 2018
My Victorinox Collection
Hey everybody! So today I wanted to share how my little Victorinox collection is growing. I've really gotten into Victorinoxes more over the past year or so. I use at least one every single day, mainly the Classic, but some of the other ones get a lot more use in the kitchen to cut up vegetables or open cans. Victorinoxes are so versatile and don't scare people at all. I've grown to appreciate them so much more in my carry compared to when I was first starting out. If you somehow don't own any, you need to go pick some up.
I've currently got six Victorinoxes in my collection. I also do have a Wenger that I probably should have included in this post but figured I'd just stick with straight up Victorinoxes. I by far love the 58mm models the most. You all know I absolutely love small, keychain-sized gear. The 58mm models are more than big enough for basic EDC tasks. I use mine all the time. My favorite Victorinox is the Classic. I've got one in the plastic scales and another in purple Alox. It's got all the bare essentials you'd need in an EDC tool. I use the scissors and the tweezers the most. Victorinox has hands-down the best scissors in any multitools. Leatherman scissors don't come anywhere near Victorinoxes. Alox is awesome too! I don't typically like metal handles, but the texture of the Alox is awesome.The red Alox one is the Minichamp. I still haven't carried this one much yet. I love how many tools it's able to fit in such a small package. I'm looking forward to carry it more this summer.
Now let's get onto some of the slightly bigger ones. The blue one is the Pioneer. I like it a lot more than the Cadet. The awl is such an underrated tool. It's been the main multitool that I've been carrying the past few months. I'm way more impressed with it than I thought I would be. The silver one is the Bantam. It's just got the blade and bottle opener/screwdriver. This is the knife I'll use to cut up vegetables. Victorinoxes have such thin and sharp blades that cut extremely well. I'm not exactly sure what model the camoflague one is. I really like that it has a locking blade. I keep this one in my hiking bag most of the time. These are all great options for EDC. I've enjoyed carrying and using them all. I'm going to try to get at least a post of the Pioneer and the Minichamp over the summer. I've tried most of the Victorinoxes that I've wanted to, but I am intrigued in the Evolution models. Maybe you'll see one of those on the blog in the future. Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed it!
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Podcast Review: Serial Season One
I've been trying to get into podcasts recently, and I figured I'd start with one of the most iconic ones, Serial. If you've never heard of Serial before, it's basically a podcast focused around investigative journalism. In the first season, you're listening to the story of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. They were both in high school at the time. He's been sitting in prison ever since, but he still proclaims his innocence. There's a lot up in the air about what exactly happened on the day that Hae was murdered. Throughout the 12 episodes of the series, the host, Sarah Koenig, walks you through all of the details of the case. The episodes range from about 35 minutes to a little under an hour. They go by very quickly, since they're so interesting.
I absolutely loved everything about this series. I'm a true crime junkie, so it was already way up my alley. What really kept me so fascinated with it was the way the story was told. I never thought I'd connect with this form of storytelling. I thought I'd get bored or wouldn't get much out of it. Boy was I wrong. I really regret not listening to Serial earlier. Sarah Koenig did such a fantastic job with the narrative and keeping the audience informed/interested. I felt like I was investigating along with her. She did tons of research and really knew what she was talking. The podcast itself is very well-produced, with nice bits of music and lots of interviews with many of the people involved. What's crazy about cases like these is that you may never truly know what happened. There's so many details that don't add up. I personally don't think Adnan was the murderer. This is all still on-going too, as Adnan has made an appeal for his conviction and is finally getting a new trial.
I didn't know a single thing about this story going into the podcast, and I think that was the way to do it. It is definitely worth the listen. If you need a break from Netflix or YouTube, consider checking it out. It's been one of my favorite things I've listened to this year. It's just so good! It was very fun to listen to and truly kept me on the edge of my seat. I'm intrigued to check out Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry, which is a book that covers the case in a lot more depth. A podcast is a really neat way to tell these types of stories. It'll be interesting to see what other ones I try out this year. Check out Serial here! I'm hoping to start the second season soon, which changes gears and focuses on the Bowe Bergdahl desertion story. Thanks for looking!
I absolutely loved everything about this series. I'm a true crime junkie, so it was already way up my alley. What really kept me so fascinated with it was the way the story was told. I never thought I'd connect with this form of storytelling. I thought I'd get bored or wouldn't get much out of it. Boy was I wrong. I really regret not listening to Serial earlier. Sarah Koenig did such a fantastic job with the narrative and keeping the audience informed/interested. I felt like I was investigating along with her. She did tons of research and really knew what she was talking. The podcast itself is very well-produced, with nice bits of music and lots of interviews with many of the people involved. What's crazy about cases like these is that you may never truly know what happened. There's so many details that don't add up. I personally don't think Adnan was the murderer. This is all still on-going too, as Adnan has made an appeal for his conviction and is finally getting a new trial.
I didn't know a single thing about this story going into the podcast, and I think that was the way to do it. It is definitely worth the listen. If you need a break from Netflix or YouTube, consider checking it out. It's been one of my favorite things I've listened to this year. It's just so good! It was very fun to listen to and truly kept me on the edge of my seat. I'm intrigued to check out Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry, which is a book that covers the case in a lot more depth. A podcast is a really neat way to tell these types of stories. It'll be interesting to see what other ones I try out this year. Check out Serial here! I'm hoping to start the second season soon, which changes gears and focuses on the Bowe Bergdahl desertion story. Thanks for looking!
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
My Flashlight Collection Update April 2018
I somewhat recently did a video on my current EDC flashlight collection. I don't think I've done an individual post about all my flashlights in a while, so I figured this would be a fun post to do. I've really gotten more into flashlights in the past year or so. I've found quite a few perfect ones that I'd always like to keep in my collection.
The only headlamp I own is a cheap one I found on Amazon. It doesn't have a specific name and isn't made by a big name brand. I honestly didn't think I'd get much use out of it in my EDC, but it's such a useful tool. If you don't own a headlamp already, you need to pick one up for sure. I use mine a lot in my room at night when I want to read without turning my main light on. It's good for all those times when you need some hands-free lighting. Mine is comfortable to wear, was less than $20, has a good output, has a red light mode, and so many other positives. I need to get my review of it up soon. I highly recommend it.
Now for the flashlights, I'll name them all first and then talk a little bit about each. So from left to right in the second photo, I have a FourSevens Classic Preon P2, Coast G10, Singfire SF-348, FourSevens Upgraded Preon P1, Foursevens Classic Preon P1, Thrunite T01, Olight i3E, Spotlight Speck, and a Nitecore Tube. If you've watched my videos or read my posts before, you've heard how much I love the Preons. I did a post about my love for the classic Preons (linked here), and I've got individual reviews up on most of them, along with the other lights, in my Gear Thoughts tab. The classic Preons aren't the best output-wise, but they're by far my favorite flashlight design of all time. It's a simple and sleek design that just works for EDC. The Coast G10 is one I've had for years now that I got for free somewhere. It's kept in my hiking bag as a backup, so it doesn't get much use in my carry anymore. It's not the brightest in the world, and the tint isn't the greatest. It has held up extremely well as far as quality goes. I wouldn't be opposed to trying more Coast lights in the future. Next up, the Singfire SF-348 is one I've haven't used too much yet. I like the simple design, and you can find them pretty cheap (less than $20 on Amazon). The tint and quality are surprisingly good too. I need to carry it some more, because it's definitely an interesting light. The Thrunite T01 and Olight i3E are both very similar. They're around $10, have a single mode around 100 lumens give or take, and are a nice size for a keychain. I prefer the Olight, mostly because of the fact that it comes in purple. It's actually the first light I ever decided to keep on my keychain, so that's something. I recommend either one as a light to give people just getting into EDC or to friends/family. The little tiny red one is a Spotlight Speck. This is my only button cell battery flashlight at the moment. It's very similar to the Streamlight Nano, but I actually prefer this Speck to the Nano. It's easier to turn on and off, since the whole body twists instead of just the head on the Nano. The tint is more purplish, but what else would you expect on a cheap light like this. I know I've heard that people like to put it on their zipper pulls, which is a neat idea. I don't use it much anymore, though it's still in my collection because of how tiny/cute it is. Last but not least is the Nitecore Tube. This is one of my favorite lights. I love the whole rechargeable keychain light concept. The clicky button works so much better than a twisty light, and the price is great. If you're debating between picking up any of these lights, the Tube is the one I'd recommend the most besides the Preons which are kind of hard to find now.
So there you have it. There's my current flashlight collection. There's a few more I'd like to try this year, but that probably won't happen until the summertime at the earliest. I've gotten a much greater appreciation for flashlights as my EDC has progressed over the years. At this point in my life, I probably end up using them more often than my knives. Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed!
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Purple EDC Gear List
Purple is my favorite color, and I try my hardest to make sure I mostly carry purple stuff. It used to be impossible to do, but companies are slowly starting to add more colors to their lineups. It's not the easiest color to find your gear in, yet there's still quite a lot out there. I figured I'd highlight some of my purple gear, and talk about some other things that come in purple. Honestly, I just wanted to see how much big-name purple gear I could find out there. If you've been on the hunt for purple things, look no further than this post. If you'd like to find more in the future, my tip is to go on a big knife website like Blade HQ and GP Knives. You can search purple, and tons of different things will come up. I did one of these types of posts a couple years ago (linked here) where you can see the difference in how much purple gear I had then versus now. I'm not sure the format of this post will be the best, but honestly I don't know any better way to do it. I'll have a bunch of pictures with the name of the piece of gear at first, and then I'll have links at the very end. So let's start with all my purple gear first.
Links
Spyderco Ladybug: my review link and Amazon link
Esee Izula: my review link and Amazon link
Kershaw Launch 4: my review link and Blade HQ link
Victorinox Classic: my review link and Amazon link
Moleskine Volant extra small notebooks: my review link (I can't find these on Amazon, so they might not be produced in purple anymore)
Fisher Bullet Space pen: my review link and Amazon link
Pilot Metropolitan: Goulet Pens link
Zippo: Amazon link
Olight i3E: my review link
Klean Kanteen: my review link and Amazon link
Big Skinny New Yorker wallet: my review link and Amazon link
Spyderco Endura: my review link and Amazon link
Spyderco PM2 blurple: my review link and BladeHQ link
Fenix E05: my review link and Amazon link
Lamy Safari: my review link (this was a limited edition version, so you can't find this exact one anymore)
Kershaw Shuffle: my review link and Amazon link
Kershaw Scallion: Amazon link
Spyderco Delica: Amazon link
Fenix E01: Amazon link
Esee Candiru: Amazon link
Kershaw Blur: Amazon link
Kershaw Leek: Amazon link
Olight H05 headlamp: Amazon link
Gerber Dime: Amazon link
Fenix UC02: Amazon link
StatGear Pocket Samurai: Amazon link
Opinel No. 7: BladeHQ link
Baladeo Papagayo: Amazon link
Fenix Mini rechargeable keychain flashlight: BladeHQ link
Fallkniven LTC: Amazon link
TOPS Knives Lioness: Amazon link
You made it to the end! I'm not sure how I feel about the length of this post. If I do anymore of these in the future, I may try to mess around with the formatting some more. I at least hope it helps out all my fellow purple lovers out there. I might do some of these for other colors, mostly because it's fun to get colorful gear together. Thanks for looking!
I've talked a lot about this gear in previous posts, so I don't think I'll be going too in-depth about each thing. At the end of this post, I'll have a links section for everything with links to my reviews on whatever I've personally owned along with some links to Amazon or Blade HQ if you want to pick any of this stuff up.
Knife wise, I've currently got three knives in purple. Those are the Esee Izula, the Spyderco Ladybug, and the Kershaw Launch 4. There are all perfect knives in my opinion. Check some of my past posts to hear more about my thoughts on them. Multitool wise, I've got two Victorinox Classics, one with the plastic scales and another with Alox scales. For writing stuff, some notebooks I use are the Moleskine Volant extra smalls, and pens I use are the Fisher bullet space pen and a Pilot Metropolitan. I've also got a purple Zippo which doesn't get much use, and my only purple flashlight, the Olight i3E. In the second photo were two things I almost forgot, a Klean Kanteen and a Big Skinny New Yorker wallet. That's all the main purple gear I carry every day. All the bags I own are purple too, but I didn't want to include them in this post. Maybe one day I'll do separate posts on all my bags.
Those are all the things I own that are purple. I do love all of them, hence why I still own them. Now we'll get into things that I've tried in the past that didn't click and others that I'd still like to try.
For this next batch of gear, I'll be talking about purple gear I used to own that I've since gotten rid of. The front half of it is things that I do have reviewed on here. I won't talk too much about those, since I'll have links to my individual posts on them at the end of all this.
This is the Spyderco Endura. It's the best large knife out there in my opinion. The ergos are great, and it is the exact same length closed as the PM2. I'd definitely recommend you check it out.
Now onto the infamous Spyderco Paramilitary 2. I think this knife is insanely overhyped. Check out my review on it to hear more about why. I like the blurple color, but that's about it.
The Fenix E05 was my main EDC flashlight for a little while. I don't particularly like Fenix anymore. They're not the quickest to keep up with the upgrades in flashlight technology, and I've had a few quality issues with them as well. This was a great flashlight when it was popular many years ago. There are so many better flashlights out there now.
If you're not into fountain pens or higher quality pens, you might not have heard of the Lamy Safari. It's one of the more popular beginner fountain pens out there. I think it's overhyped, and the Pilot Metropolitan is a much nicer pen for a cheaper price too.
The Kershaw Shuffle is one of the biggest pieces of garbage I've ever tried. Mine was terrible quality, and honestly, it's overhyped as a small knife. The ergos suck, but I will say I love the black on purple color combo. I don't understand how people enjoy carrying them.
Now I'm going to get into some gear I've tried that I don't have my own photos of. All of the following photos are from BladeHQ. They are my favorite place to buy knives and other EDC gear. Check them out if you somehow haven't heard of them already!
I had a Spyderco Delica several years ago, but it didn't really click with me. I don't like the look of it, mostly because the blade-to-handle ratio is so off. The ergos felt a little cramped too. I think this is one is also overyhped. The Native 5 or Endura are much better offerings from Spyderco. I had a plain purple one, not this cool purple/pink combo that Spyderco recently did.
The Esee Candiru also felt a little cramped in the hand. I had one in tan before they came out with this purple colorway. The Izula is a much better fixed blade. I wonder if adding any scales to this would make it feel better in the hand.
The Fenix E01 was probably the first real flashlight I bought. The output sucked, the form factor wasn't the best, and there was always a weird hissing noise when I had it turned on. They went for like $10-$15, so they don't break the bank. I don't think they're worth that now, since they're pretty outdated.
This is the Kershaw Scallion. I have not tried this specific version, but I did own one with black plastic scales. I hated the SpeedSafe and didn't like how the handle swoops down near the spine of the blade. I don't personally recommend this knife at all.
Lastly, the rest of this post will detail some of the purple gear out there that I have not tried. I know I don't have all of it listed here, but this is a big chunk of it.
These two Kershaws are the Blur and Leek. I've always wanted to try a Leek as long as I've been into knives. I just wish Kershaw got rid of the SpeedSafe on both. I think Kershaw has discontinued the Blur, so you should be able to find them for a good deal right now. Some other Kershaws that are purple are a majority of the Launch line. I mentioned the Launch 4 earlier, and there at least three or four more in that line that are also purple. I definitely recommend any of the Launchs.
The Olight H05 headlamp is a somewhat recent release from Olight. It has pretty good specs, I believe around 150 lumens, for less than $20. I'm interested to try this out eventually.
The Gerber Dime is one of the only purple plier-based keychain multi-tools I've seen on the market. I've heard it's hit or miss as far as quality goes, but for less than $20, I think it's worth a try.
This is the Fenix UC02. It's USB rechargeable light for around $25. I'm hoping to pick one up eventually, so you might see my more in-depth thoughts on one some time in the future.
These two are the StatGear Pocket Samurai and Opinel No. 7. The StatGear is a random knife that I don't know much about. It's less than $20 and looks pretty small. Opinels are pretty well-known and fulfill that more traditional role. I don't particularly like the idea behind them. They are well-respected in the community though.
The Baladeo Papagayo reminds me a lot of a knife you'll see a few photos down. It's pretty cheap (less than $20), and it looks like a nice size for EDC. This is another piece of gear I may have to eventually try since it's so cheap.
Fenix has had a lot of their products featured in this post. I've always liked that they put out gear in purple. Their quality and specs aren't the best in my opinion. That's caused me to move away from them as a company. Some of their newer products still intrigue me. This is their version of the popular Nitecore Tube. I don't believe it has an official name. It's basically a $10 rechargeable flashlight. I don't know the specs, but I'd suspect it's less than a 50 lumens max. I don't think I'd buy one since I love my Tube so much.
This is the Fallkniven LTC. I don't know much about them as a company. I like the color of course, but the price, around $70, seems a little high. It's a slipjoint with aluminum handles. I don't think I'd ever buy one personally. Props to Fallkniven for putting out a purple knife though.
One of the more expensive items on this list is the TOPS Knives Lioness. It goes for around $100, which is a fair price for a quality fixed blade. I've heard a lot of good things about TOPS over the years. I've still yet to try one of their knives. Maybe this one will be my first.
Links
Spyderco Ladybug: my review link and Amazon link
Esee Izula: my review link and Amazon link
Kershaw Launch 4: my review link and Blade HQ link
Victorinox Classic: my review link and Amazon link
Moleskine Volant extra small notebooks: my review link (I can't find these on Amazon, so they might not be produced in purple anymore)
Fisher Bullet Space pen: my review link and Amazon link
Pilot Metropolitan: Goulet Pens link
Zippo: Amazon link
Olight i3E: my review link
Klean Kanteen: my review link and Amazon link
Big Skinny New Yorker wallet: my review link and Amazon link
Spyderco Endura: my review link and Amazon link
Spyderco PM2 blurple: my review link and BladeHQ link
Fenix E05: my review link and Amazon link
Lamy Safari: my review link (this was a limited edition version, so you can't find this exact one anymore)
Kershaw Shuffle: my review link and Amazon link
Kershaw Scallion: Amazon link
Spyderco Delica: Amazon link
Fenix E01: Amazon link
Esee Candiru: Amazon link
Kershaw Blur: Amazon link
Kershaw Leek: Amazon link
Olight H05 headlamp: Amazon link
Gerber Dime: Amazon link
Fenix UC02: Amazon link
StatGear Pocket Samurai: Amazon link
Opinel No. 7: BladeHQ link
Baladeo Papagayo: Amazon link
Fenix Mini rechargeable keychain flashlight: BladeHQ link
Fallkniven LTC: Amazon link
TOPS Knives Lioness: Amazon link
You made it to the end! I'm not sure how I feel about the length of this post. If I do anymore of these in the future, I may try to mess around with the formatting some more. I at least hope it helps out all my fellow purple lovers out there. I might do some of these for other colors, mostly because it's fun to get colorful gear together. Thanks for looking!
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
What I Watched: March 2018
I've watched a lot of really cool TV shows and movies throughout March. I had my spring break at the beginning of the month, so I was pretty much watching a movie or two a day for that week. I felt like I've watched a good variety of stuff. Let's get into it.
Movie wise, I watched a lot of comedies. The most surprising one and probably my favorite of the month was Snatched. Amy Schumer is one of the main actresses in it along with Goldie Hawn. It's based around this mother-daughter pair that goes on a vacation and gets kidnapped. It was hilarious. I hate Amy Schumer as an actress and don't find her all that funny, but this movie had me cracking up. I definitely recommend it. It was so much better than I thought it would be. I watched a couple of movies with Will Ferrell in them, like The House and Get Hard. The House also had Amy Poehler as the main actress, which was fantastic. She's one of my favorite actresses. Honestly, the plot wasn't what I expected. I didn't really like the relationship between Amy and Will's characters. It was okay overall, but not one that I'd recommend. Get Hard was just okay as well. I love Kevin Hart, so I enjoyed his character. I'm not the biggest fan of Will Ferrell, so maybe that's why neither of those clicked with me. I also saw another one of Kevin Hart's other movies, Central Intelligence. I never would have thought that him and Dwayne Johnson would be a good pair, but it was awesome. That one was really funny as well. I love a good, animated movie, so I decided to give The Emoji Movie a watch. It's not rated very well, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny and cute. I don't know why it's rated so badly, but I personally would recommend it. Fun Mom Dinner and Happy Death Day are two others I'd recommend. I was very excited for Happy Death Day, yet the twist was predictable. It was still pretty good, but there are tons of better horror comedy films. The last one I want to talk about in some detail is Spider-man: Homecoming. Spider-man is probably my favorite superhero. I loved the original movies and The Amazing Spider-man series, so I thought this new reboot would be promising. Honestly, I thought it was insanely overhyped. Tom Holland was the most irritating and whiny superhero ever. I didn't like that there wasn't much backstory into his life or the gadgets he used as Spider-man. My favorite parts were when the friends were involved, since they were a lot more likable. Zendaya's character was my favorite in the whole movie. It was a huge letdown. I'm kinda bummed that Tom Holland will be the Spider-man in some of Marvel's upcoming movies. Actually let me mention one more, Table 19, is a rom-com that wasn't that great. I liked the cast of characters that it focused on, though the plot was dumb.
Now onto the TV shows. I finally finished Boy Meets World. I've been working on that for a few months now, so it's nice to have it done. It got worse as the seasons progressed as most shows typically do. I didn't like the ending and was left wanting more. There are a few side characters that were added in the last few seasons that I wasn't a fan of. It was an enjoyable show overall. I did like seeing how all the characters and the family dynamics changed over the years. I actually started the more recent Disney spin-off, Girl Meets World, where it focuses on Corey and Topanga's life and their children. There's been some appearances from the original cast so far, which has been really fun to see. You can tell it's a Disney show. It's not that great, but I like how weird all of the characters are. I'm one season into that show so far. I finished season 1 of Narcos as well. This show has kind of been a letdown. Some parts of it are enjoyable, but it doesn't feel as fast-paced as I'd like. They focus a lot on the relationships/sex of the smaller characters, which is not what I care about. I've still got two more seasons to work through, but I'm not in a rush. I'd rather watch some other shows that interest me more. I do think I'll continue with the series, though it's not as good as I expected. Netflix has had a really good month as far as new releases go. Jessica Jones season 2 dropped this month, as well as season 2 of A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I just started Jessica Jones season 2 today, and I'm interested to see where they take the story. Jessica Jones is one of my favorite Netflix original Marvel shows. I'm hoping to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events sometime after I get Jessica Jones finished. I think that's all of the major TV shows I've kept up with in March.
So yeah, I've been able to watch lots of cool and funny things in March. I've got quite a bit on my watchlist for April, so hopefully I'll be able to make some solid headway on that. I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for looking!
Movie wise, I watched a lot of comedies. The most surprising one and probably my favorite of the month was Snatched. Amy Schumer is one of the main actresses in it along with Goldie Hawn. It's based around this mother-daughter pair that goes on a vacation and gets kidnapped. It was hilarious. I hate Amy Schumer as an actress and don't find her all that funny, but this movie had me cracking up. I definitely recommend it. It was so much better than I thought it would be. I watched a couple of movies with Will Ferrell in them, like The House and Get Hard. The House also had Amy Poehler as the main actress, which was fantastic. She's one of my favorite actresses. Honestly, the plot wasn't what I expected. I didn't really like the relationship between Amy and Will's characters. It was okay overall, but not one that I'd recommend. Get Hard was just okay as well. I love Kevin Hart, so I enjoyed his character. I'm not the biggest fan of Will Ferrell, so maybe that's why neither of those clicked with me. I also saw another one of Kevin Hart's other movies, Central Intelligence. I never would have thought that him and Dwayne Johnson would be a good pair, but it was awesome. That one was really funny as well. I love a good, animated movie, so I decided to give The Emoji Movie a watch. It's not rated very well, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny and cute. I don't know why it's rated so badly, but I personally would recommend it. Fun Mom Dinner and Happy Death Day are two others I'd recommend. I was very excited for Happy Death Day, yet the twist was predictable. It was still pretty good, but there are tons of better horror comedy films. The last one I want to talk about in some detail is Spider-man: Homecoming. Spider-man is probably my favorite superhero. I loved the original movies and The Amazing Spider-man series, so I thought this new reboot would be promising. Honestly, I thought it was insanely overhyped. Tom Holland was the most irritating and whiny superhero ever. I didn't like that there wasn't much backstory into his life or the gadgets he used as Spider-man. My favorite parts were when the friends were involved, since they were a lot more likable. Zendaya's character was my favorite in the whole movie. It was a huge letdown. I'm kinda bummed that Tom Holland will be the Spider-man in some of Marvel's upcoming movies. Actually let me mention one more, Table 19, is a rom-com that wasn't that great. I liked the cast of characters that it focused on, though the plot was dumb.
Now onto the TV shows. I finally finished Boy Meets World. I've been working on that for a few months now, so it's nice to have it done. It got worse as the seasons progressed as most shows typically do. I didn't like the ending and was left wanting more. There are a few side characters that were added in the last few seasons that I wasn't a fan of. It was an enjoyable show overall. I did like seeing how all the characters and the family dynamics changed over the years. I actually started the more recent Disney spin-off, Girl Meets World, where it focuses on Corey and Topanga's life and their children. There's been some appearances from the original cast so far, which has been really fun to see. You can tell it's a Disney show. It's not that great, but I like how weird all of the characters are. I'm one season into that show so far. I finished season 1 of Narcos as well. This show has kind of been a letdown. Some parts of it are enjoyable, but it doesn't feel as fast-paced as I'd like. They focus a lot on the relationships/sex of the smaller characters, which is not what I care about. I've still got two more seasons to work through, but I'm not in a rush. I'd rather watch some other shows that interest me more. I do think I'll continue with the series, though it's not as good as I expected. Netflix has had a really good month as far as new releases go. Jessica Jones season 2 dropped this month, as well as season 2 of A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I just started Jessica Jones season 2 today, and I'm interested to see where they take the story. Jessica Jones is one of my favorite Netflix original Marvel shows. I'm hoping to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events sometime after I get Jessica Jones finished. I think that's all of the major TV shows I've kept up with in March.
So yeah, I've been able to watch lots of cool and funny things in March. I've got quite a bit on my watchlist for April, so hopefully I'll be able to make some solid headway on that. I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for looking!
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