I just finished the last day of week 2. Week 2 was still very easy. At this point, I kind of wonder if I should have skipped a few weeks in this program. I haven't experienced anything too difficult or challenging. None of the weights on the reps comes close to my limit until at least week 4.
On week four the first exercise is to bench press 245 at 4 reps. I can see where the challenge starts in week six where the first exercise is to bench press 265 at 3 reps. Currently 265 to 270 is my one rep max. I won't deviate from the program but I am looking quite forward to week 6.
Last week, I was walking through Wal-Mart in the electronics department and I found a gold nugget. I saw the complete Cowboy Bebop series on sale for $30. Immediately, I picked it up without a second thought and that means a lot because I am not one prone to impulse spending. This wasn't even really an impulse spend. I've been wanting the box set for a few years but the cheapest price I could find was $70 or $80. The last time I spent money on myself for something other than food was probably several months ago.
Cowboy Bebop is just amazing. I've been a fan of it ever since I saw it for the first time on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2002 or 2003. It is only 26 episodes long so it doesn't drag out and it has almost no filler. But since I'm a man that really loves stories, it is the narrative that sells the series for me.
The anime takes place in the future where men have figured out space travel with the use of hyperspace gates. These gates were constructed with the help of two crime syndicates and there was some disaster that happened during construction if I can remember correctly. I'm in the process of re watching the series.
This is the plot but the best part of the narrative is that this isn't really explained from the beginning. The plot of the past and history is told by anecdotes and some flashbacks. The anime isn't slowed down by this sort of exposition. From episode one, all you really know is that there are two bounty hunters that travel through space trying to earn money.
What gives Cowboy Bebop more depth is a sense of cohesion. All four members of the Bebop have a back story that ties back into the construction of the space gates and the disaster that happened during construction. Spike was in a high position in one of the crime syndicates. Jet was a former police that was hunting down the members of the syndicate. Faye was knocked into a coma for a hundred of years as a result of the exploding space gate. And Edward was ...... Ah jeeze. I forgot Ed's backstory. She is just kind of a girl that does what ever.
Even the bounties have a small back story to them and each one usually ties back to the syndicate or the space gates. Each bounty is given at least a few minutes to develop them. When I thought about it, the way the bounties are developed kind of feels like the numerous NPC's in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Even though you see them for a short amount of time, you get a moment to see deep moving moments in their lives.
The last thing I'll mention about Cowboy Bebop is the humor scattered throughout. The episode that sticks out most in mind is when Spike runs across another bounty hunter that is dressed like a cowboy complete with cowboy outfit and a horse. And the horse goes everywhere. I'm pretty sure I remember a scene where an elevator dings and this cowboy walks out of the elevator with the horse.
During this whole episode, the cowboy causes so much grief and frustration for Spike that most of the episode shows Spike and the cowboy fighting each other instead of actually trying to hunt the bounty. And the bounty sees this and gets mad because he really wants the attention for blowing up buildings. In the end the cowboy gives up to Spike and gives up the fight. The cowboy was some rich kid that played pretend for a while and got bored being a cowboy. But the funniest part of the episode is at the very end when you just see the same guy riding on his horse right next to the train dressed in a samurai getup.
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