Current Mood: Contemplative. That always seems to happen around this part of the year with me. Sure, there's a bit on my mind, but things are still fairly positive. Though first and foremost, I think I need to apologize for the lack of updates as of late! I can partially blame the holidays and work for that. Now that most of that has passed, you'll be seeing a lot more of me around here. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on you all =)

Christmastime in the City: We didn't have a white Christmas, but being in Atlanta, we've come to expect that. Nonetheless, Christmas was a very nice affair over this way. Christmas Eve saw most of us curled up downstairs and watching all manner of random movies (I have finally seen Dodgeball, which was even funnier than I thought it would be). Things were pretty quiet around the Zayas homestead, but pleasantly so. Later on, I popped by Dave's, where he and Galen were doing some cooking. If good cooking makes you want to slap somebody, these two made you want to commit atrocities against mankind. Dave (being from the islands and all) made some nice curry chicken, while Galen threw down with the deserts, breaking out the Pecan Sweet-Potato Pie and the infamous Krispy Kreme Bead Pudding (with rum-flavored topping!). Needless to say, we slept GOOD that night. Heather was in town a few days prior, but flew out to Ohio (who had a helluva white Christmas!) to spend the holidays with her parents. Nonetheless, we did manage to settle the score in Soul Calibur 2, where I have reclaimed my honor by besting her in combat!

Yes, our Best of Ten series needed to go into a Sudden Death 11th match. And yes, it went down to the very last round. But vengeance has been brought, and I am top dog once again. At least, until the rematch, where I'm sure she'll use Xianghua to continually stab me in my face and shin. Man, I hate that combo... =)

Club Ninja Asks: 'What is Good in Life?': Sniping a man in midair during a Halo 2 Deathmatch! Manny's always been top dog during our Halo match-ups (the guy's military, by Jeeves!), but during our latest four-way brawl fest, I happened to spy him in the distance, leaping and launching an ungodly amount of rockets in Dave's general direction. Seizing the opportunity, I whip out the sniper rifle, zoom in, and POW! His immediate response of "Who the hell?!!" informed me that the bullet had hit its mark. Granted he made me pay for it later (multiple times even) with the Energy Sword, but I still hold on to that small moral victory!

Club Ninja @ The Movies - Blade Trinity: Good stuff. Neil and I managed to catch a showing last week, and we weren't disappointed. Opinions vary as to where it ranks in the trilogy, though the general consensus seems to be above the original, but below #2. Anywho, recommended to anyone that's enjoyed the series, or looking for a good action flick to kill a few brain cells with. Also recommended just for the interactions between Hannibal King and Parker Posey's uber-nasty Skank-pire, as Neil has taken to calling her. And even though his role was fairly minor, seeing Triple H regulate at the heavy muscle was pretty entertaining as well. There's been talk of him taking over the Conan franchise for a while now, and I think that he might be able to fit the bill.

Alas, there was no preview for Batman Begins. However, there was one for Elektra! I wasn't too psyched about it when I first heard about it, but seeing that sucker in action changed that in a hurry (to quote my uncle, "Well hey, it looks like it should at least be better than Daredevil!"). That's definitely on my list now.

Quick Wrestling Sidenote: Triple H begging Eric Bischoff for the belt was one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've seen in a while. I caught up to Galen online shortly after RAW went off, who immediately joked that Triple H went into crackhead mode with the begging! I swear, that scene was reminiscent of just about every crackhead I've seen in movies trying to get a hit... "C'mon Eric... that belt is my life... I need that belt..." Good stuff!

More Fun and Games With Lil' Jon: After the story last week from Lil' Jon at the, ahem, Gentlemen's Establishment, we actually got a chance to talk to Snead's buddy about the incident when the two popped by Dave's for a bit last Sunday. And as they say in the infomercials, "But Wait, There's More!" First, let me preface this by saying that Snead's friend carries an intense and seething hatred for Lil' Jon after these incidents; his exact quote describing what he's like to do to Mr. "YEAAAAAAAAAAH!" isn't exactly suitable to be on a family web site, or even this one for that matter. Anywho, as the story goes, Snead's buddy got a call on his cel at one point during the evening, and as he's carrying on a conversation, Lil' Jon (apparently quite smitten by the quantity of Crunk-Juice in his system) SNATCHES the phone from him and proceeds to shout a barrage of "YEAAAAAAAAH!'s" and "OKAAAAAAAAAAY's" into it!! First off, seeing the expressions on Snead's buddy's face as he told the tale was beyond hilarious. Second, and most importantly, what the hell kind of human being would snatch a phone from a stranger in order to shout "YEAAAAAAAAAH!" and "OKAAAAAAAY!" into it?!

To say that I was merely amused by this whole thing would be a gross understatement of the highest possible order.

Strange, Strange Dreams: I've been known to have some fairly strange things dancing through my head while asleep, but this recent crop of dreams have definitely taken the cake. In one, Booker T. (yes, the wrestler) stopped by the house and leaves a NASTY surprise (Direct quote from the dream: "Uh, say dawg... I think I might have clogged your toilet..."). In another, a bikini/thong-clad Heather is seen carrying on a conversation with a swimming trunk-clad ex. Another took place at an anime convention, where TC and Dave rush the stage, grab the microphone, and begin a rendition of Erotic City by Prince. And in another, me and Aaron are at ANOTHER anime convention, where we proceed to haul ass screaming away from a group of fanboys, damn-near naked! WTF? Am I going crazy?

And Speaking of Anime Cons... : It seems that we've got a new one popping up in Atlanta for Memorial Day weekend. There's been some talk of checking it out, but there has been one HUGE drawing point so far. Apparently there will be several videogame tournaments taking place over the course of the weekend, and there are some MAJOR prizes being offered. There's some talk amongst the group of getting back into competition shape in time for the convention, so that we can try our hand at some of this. We'll keep you posted...

Random Quote: "Raigeki Break, muthaf*cka! Get that bitch off my field!!" -- Taken directly from the pages of "Things You Don't Expect to Hear During a Game of Yu-Gi-Oh", you can thank/blame Manny for this one. He, Keith, Dave, and TC were involved in a Four-Way Battle a few weeks ago, and as to be expected, the level of trash-talking was at an all-time high. For those of you not familiar with the game, Raigeki Break is a card that allows you to remove one of your opponent's Monsters from play- in this case, Keith played a fairly powerful card and said something very smart-assed at the time, to which sprung forth this happy response from Manny. And, since it's been a fairly random few weeks...

Even More Random Quotes: "GAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAH!!" -- OK, this one's interactive. The key with this one is to grab a nearby object with both hands, thrust it near your crotch, then shout the quote as you convulse violently. There's certainly a story behind this one, but it's rather vile, so you'll have to use your imagination. Blame Snead.

Current Mood: Lord knows that I don't need one, but I'm having a good old time working with that plasma torch in the Sculpture building. Aside from our instructor, I'm the only person I've see in the class that'll actually be ON the steel plate while I'm torching it. These past few weeks have been hectic, but not all together unpleasant. Papers have been completed, so I just have to finish this last project and prepare for my final in Graphic Design, and I'm all good!

Also, this past weekend saw me cleaning the ever-loving hell out of my room. I'm talking from top to bottom here. Imagine my shock when I discovered that not only do I own a desk, but I can actually sit at that sucker again! I have a tendency to write down cool quotes that strike my fancy, and in the midst of the cleaning, I came across several. So, in honor of this, you'll find a few spread throughout the update, and a note about where it originated, if I could remember.

[Strength Without Justice is Tyranny.]

[I think that one was from Braveheart, but I'm not certain.]

Turkey Day at the Zayas Homestead: It was every bit as hectic as I imagined it would be. We had a good old time, that's for certain, but man oh man did we have some traffic coming through last weekend! Pretty much everyone that we thought would show up DID show up, so we had quite the full house. Food was consumed in mass quantities (no one died from my mac and cheese!), movies were partaken (Chronicles of Riddick, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Shrek 2, and even a bootleg of Troy), and beatings aplenty were distributed on the Playstation. By the way, Heather, vengeance is at hand for that recent Best of Ten series in Soul Calibur 2...

But one thing bothered me about the whole weekend. Despite everything that was going on, all of the different things and people to emulate, do you want to know the one thing that I caught my 6-year-old nephew repeating?

"I'ma take ya' tongue out, and lick my ASS with it!"

I give my brother a quick 10-minute demo of Def Jam Vendetta II, and my nephew picks up on Doc's pre-match taunt. An entire weekend of countless other stimuli, and he retains THAT. My only consolation is the thought of the look on his mother's face if he decides to repeat that in front of her. Heheheheheh...

["What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking thoughts that'd make me Hell's Nastiest Bachelor."]

[That just happens to be an unused quote from everyone's favorite realmwalking ninja Mani]

Videogame Music in the Modern Era: Here's a bit of randomness for you all. I remember reading an interesting article a while back, where the author felt that there really weren't any videogame themes as catchy and infectious as they were back in the day. As he explained, if you ask gamers over a certain age to hum the themes from Super Mario Brothers or The Legend of Zelda, for example, they would have absolutely no problem doing so. And I apologize if I've gotten any of those themes stuck in your head now, but if it's any consolation, the Overworld music from Zelda got trapped in mine a few weeks ago. Anywho, he lamented over the fact that there really weren't any theme songs that struck a cord like the ones of old. While I can see his point to a degree, I have to say that there are a few themes that have managed to stir up something in this generation of gamer. Despite the fact that I don't own an XBox, hearing that choir at the beginning of Halo, for example, gets me every time. In fact, when Halo 2 came out a few weeks back, the Software, Etc. next door to us at work had the original set up, and I literally stopped everything I was doing the moment I heard that opening theme. Sure, part of it was a legit "Where the hell is that coming from?" moment, but it just sparked an immediate connection. What are your thoughts on this? Are there any other themes that just stick out to you?

Fun and Games With Lil' Jon: The following, as near as I can tell, is a true story. With Snead being a bouncer and all, he picks up on all kinds of random stories from throughout the city. One that amused the ever-loving hell out of me occurred to a friend of his that bounces at one of Atlanta's nicer, er, Gentlemen's Establishments. Well in the house on this particular evening was none other than Mr. Krunk Juice himself, Lil' Jon. Snead's buddy is apparently one of the top bouncers at this place, and he was assigned to keep star-struck fans away from Mr. Jon, as well as keep him in line as well- seems that he's got a habit of smacking dancers on the booty from time to time, and we all know that's a no-no. Well, Snead's buddy is doing his job, and at one point Lil' Jon goes to hand him that massive chalice of booze he carries with him, so that he can smack a particular young lady on the posterior due to the superb caliber of dance she was giving him. "Hold my glass, dawg!" I believe was the exact wording, and Snead's buddy, not sure if he had heard him correctly, asks what any man would ask in this situation. "What?"

Of course this brings out the conditioned response of an emphatic "YEAAAAAAAAAH!!!" from Lil' Jon, to which Snead's buddy (now realizing what he had asked) responds with an equally emphatic "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

I do not know why, but that story amused me to no end.

Curses!: It seems that my 27 second record in Def Jam Vendetta has just been toppled! I have to get the details, but it seems that Manny pulled a 22 second victory out of his ass a few days ago, with Dave as a witness to this obscene feat. Not bad, not bad... it seems that I'm going to have to get back into practice and see if we can trim that down, as wickedly difficult as that will be. Congrats, Manny! Enjoy it while it lasts!

[Do Not Fear the Weapon. Fear the One that Wields the Weapon.]

[Not sure about this one, but I thought it sounded pretty cool.]

WWE: Quick Thoughts: That parody they pulled on the whole Monday Night Football fiasco from a few weeks ago cracked me up more than just about anything else I've seen in recent memory. In fact, I'm sure some of you might have heard me laughing from here in Atlanta. I was grinning hard from the get-go, but when Vince got started on the supposed racial implication of it all ("Why, everyone knows that African-American males are attracted to white Canadian females... with broken noses..."), I thought I was going to launch a lung at the TV. Good job, WWE. Now, if Daniel Puder ends up winning this new season of Tough Enough, I'll be a happy man.

Random Pic Uncovered! : I was going through one of my CD backups a while back, and stumbled across this little gem from back when E3 was still in Atlanta. Of course we had to make a stop by the Squaresoft booth, where they had this massive figure of Cloud set up...

Man, if someone had distracted security, that sucker would be sitting in my room today.

And One More Random Pic: I was actually done with this update, but after Galen showed me this pic, I just HAD to say something. Ladies and gentlemen, start by taking the biggest anime fan that you know. I'm talking that obnoxious fanboy that you just want to punch in the ass every time he even opens his mouth, because you just KNOW that he's going to say something unsolicited about Dragon Ball Z, Ranma 1/2, or The Slayers. In fact, take about three of those unwashed bastions of humanity and splice them into one massive uber-geek the likes of which the world has never witnessed, who wouldn't know poon-tang if it had gnawed his arm up to the elbow. Take that poor bastard right there and know, that even on his worst day, that he is not as bad as these guys right here.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is your moment of Zen, brought to you by Club Ninja.

Random Quote: "Guilt is a state of mind.... and I have to say, the Irish, though generally Catholic, know how to drink. The Presbyterians, on the same strain, are a bunch of crazy Scots who, by goodness, invented whiskey. So what do you say to being Presbyterian for a night?" "Baby, I love you!" -- An excerpt from a random-assed conversation with Heather a few weeks ago as we were discussing plans for New Years Eve. There's an Irish Pub near my place that we were talking about hitting up, and this was her rationale (and my response) for checking it out. We'll see how things work out, but hey, it's an option!

Current Mood: It's all good! Things have been sane around here as of late, which always is a plus in my book. I've got a paper to work on for Art History, along with some extra credit, and we've begun working with metal in Sculpture. I have to say that once you get over the fear of searing off a limb, using a plasma torch really isn't all that bad.

New Additions to the Family: Last Thursday we welcomed the newest member of our family, as my brother is now the father of a new son. Actually, he pretty much stood there while his fiancé did most of the work, but details, details... anywho, here's a quick shot of young Ayden, with part Dad's hand for good measure.

Go ahead, ladies... get the Awwwwwwww's out of your system. It's OK, we'll wait.

. . .

There now. I've only had limited exposure to the young lad (during which time he was sleeping like no man's business), but we'll be seeing more of him this Thanksgiving, I'm sure!

And Speaking of Thanksgiving... : It looks like it's going to be a full-house at the Zayas homestead this year. As it looks now, we'll be having my parents, myself, Heather, my sister with her fiancé, my brother with HIS fiancé (and of course little Ayden), and possible appearances by my uncle Junior and whatever other random dregs pop by the house. Ma's thrown a kink into the Thanksgiving machine this year, informing us that each of us has to bring some sort of dish of our own to the festivities! While I'm no 10th Level Wizard of the Kitchen, I've volunteered to make a valiant attempt at preparing the macaroni and cheese. This has apparently scared the crap out of my sister, as she (like the rest of the family) quite loves Ma's mac-and-cheese, and is praying that I don't screw it up. I mean c'mon... it can't be that difficult, right?

Right?

Fun With Used DVD's: I've caught myself ransacking the used DVD sections over at the local Software, Etc, which, while usually filled with crap, will reveal a few gems from time to time. For example, I found (and QUICKLY snapped up) a copy of Equilibrium, which of course needs no introduction. I also decided to go out on a limb and check out The Master, one of Jet Li's older flicks. While it is a pretty decent movie, it definitely shows its 80's age at certain parts. You've got just about everyone wearing Chuck Taylors', gangs that look like they could have been extras in The Warriors, and the Big Bad Guy (TM) sports the biggest, trash-tacular blonde mullet I've seen outside of a rural Walmart. I swear, that thing looked like it was a composite of five lesser mullets. On another note, there were two certifiable I'm Rick James, Bitch! (TM) moments that I won't spoil for you, but I will make mention of an observation for you trivia-minded folks. During the first I'm Rick James, Bitch! (TM) moment, if you take a close look at the other members of the gang, you'll see none other than a young Mr. Tae-Bo himself, Billy Blanks =)

My latest acquisition (The Fatal Fury: Double Impact set) pleased the hell out of me since Fatal Fury 2 is one of my favorite anime flicks that I've been looking to upgrade to DVD for quite some time now. I finally got the chance to watch it subbed (as my previous copies had all been dubs), and I have to say that Wolfgang Krauser didn't sound half as nasty as he did in English. I mean, the dude seriously sounded polite at points! Granted, he was well-mannered in the dub, but I guess that heavy German accent he sported just gave it a sort of edge.

Still My Favorite Line: "Joe... you're being far too loud. Die quietly, please, or I shall have to ask you to leave!" -- Wolfgang Krauser.

And A Fatal Fury 2 Question For the Masses: This is something that has been bothering me for years now, and I'm hoping someone can help me with it. Does anyone out there have any idea what song Wolfgang Krauser is playing on the pipe organ during the opening? I'm pretty sure that it's an actual classical piece, but I've been trying to figure it out which one for years now. I'm also 99.9% certain that I heard the same song being played at one point in the remake of The House on Haunted Hill. Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated!

Tough Enough Random Thoughts: While I'm not into this new Tough Enough like I was in years past, I have to say that it's had its share of moments already. First off, was it just me, or was the large "I'm 30!" 40-year old dude in the casting special seriously scary as hell? That mofo looked like he could have torn any of those kids a new one with minimal effort. It didn't help that he struck me as being crazy-as-hell too, but I digress. Also, I don't care how much I'd like to get a contract with the WWE, but there is no way in hell I'm going to mouth off to the Big Show. 7' and 500 pounds is 7' and 500 pounds, dammit! However, Justice got mad props from me for using a line from The Warriors to taunt everyone's favorite not-so-jolly giant ("Hey Big Show... come out and PLAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!"). Too bad he ate an elbow drop of doom shortly thereafter. Out of all of them, however, the one that's impressed me the most has got to be the former UFC guy. Anyone that can go at it with Kurt Angle on pure mat-based technique in a shoot match... much less after THAT workout... has more than earned my respect.

Who'd Have Thought It?: Two references to The Warriors in one update? That's got to be some sort of record! 

A Little Post-Halloween Randomness : I meant to post this sketch up a few weeks back, but here's what Halloween at Club Ninja looks like. Cain, Mei-Lynn, and Mani decide to dress up as each other, and somebody gets the short end of the stick...

Random Quote: "Nah, I'm more like Wolverine... I'm too ghetto to be Cyclops." -- This one came from an earlier conversation with Neil, where we started off talking about the new 'Goldeneye' game, if you can believe it. Basically, Neil said that he didn't know if he could get into a game where you were an amoral bastard trying to off 007. Earlier we had been talking about 'X-Men Legends', and with that in mind, I jokingly accused him of being too much of a goody-goody, like Cyclops. This was his response, and with Neil being as white as the day is long only made it that much more random.

Current Mood: Rant! Rant! Must... RANT!!

[rant] : Alright, for some time now, there have been rumors floating around that the Art Department here at GSU will be undergoing some changes in the coming semesters. Of course being a student of said department has caused me to be a little concerned and all, but I tend to take rumors with a grain of salt. The way I figure it, there's a time and place to get freaked out, and getting worked up over something that doesn't exist is just plain stupid. Alrighty, here's the situation- word was floating around that the Arts and Humanities building on campus was going to be undergoing some major renovations in the upcoming semester, which was going to affect class availability. One of the stranger things that I'd heard was that all studio classes would be on the three day schedule, that being Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and even stranger that that, Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. "Come now, that's just silly," I thought with my trademarked cocky smirk. "Even GSU wouldn't do anything that freakish." My early registration period is coming up in a few days, so earlier today I decided to check and see what classes were going to be available...

... and everything that they said was true. Oh yes, it's damned true. And not only that, but these classes are going to be three hours a day, three days a week. That's Summer-Semester-Crackhead-Hours!

Pros: Art Department classes will finish a full month before the rest of the school. This simple fact just kicks more than a little booty.

Cons: Just about everything else. I've always tried to balance work and school (which is why it's taken me so long to get to this point), and this has usually meant taking a TTH schedule. Now it looks like it'll be a MWF affair, which is going to affect my work availability somewhat, and hence lessen my income. Which incidentally, is usually used to pay for classes. And as a random sidenote, tuition has gone up again, this time in the middle of the school year.

Wanna know the kicker? There's a second part to this rumor. Word has it that this upcoming Summer semester, there will be NO Art Studio classes offered. NONE. And if things go according to schedule, guess how many Studio classes I'll need to graduate by that point? Three? Two?

One. Freaking. Class.

It looks like I'll be finishing up my residency requirements this summer instead. I really and truly am in the home stretch, and this is just a kick square to the nads and ass in one fail swoop. Curse you, GSU, but I will NOT be broken!!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!

[/rant]

Ranting Aftermath: Ranting is very therapeutic. God, that felt good! =D

Gaming Dirtiness: A few days ago, we were introduced to the digitized wrongness that is known as Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. We only messed around with it for a couple of hours, but I can't honestly remember the last time I've laughed so hard at a game, Disgaea included. There is just so much wrongness in there that it's difficult to find something NOT to laugh at. The conversations in there are downright hilarious (Larry's disingenuous 'Nooooo!' when Sally Mae tells him she's from the country damn near killed us all), and the mini-games are just out there beyond all reason. If your sense of humor is of the Animal House variety, you MUST play this game. I won't spoil anything, but if any of the later stuff is on par with the infamous teddy bear scene, I think I might spit out a kidney before everything's said and done.

DJV II- The Aftermath [SPOILER FREE] : I've beaten Def Jam: Fight For New York, and I have to say that I haven't been that satisfied with victory in a game in quite some time. Sure, RPG's make it a point to pull you in with hours upon hours of plot, but sometimes the simplest of motivations is all you need. I was digging the storyline from the get-go, but when things pick up (and trust me, you know the spot), they REALLY pick up. I would always joke about the first DJV and say that every time I watched that pre-match cinema with D-Mob and Manny, it would immediately psyche me up for that last fight. Well this time, all it took was one little cinema to keep me psyched for the last hour or so, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on that bastard Crow! And speaking of skinny pimp-influenced characters played by Snoop Dogg, the battle with Crow brought about an epiphany. There is a cardinal Law of the Martial Arts World that I had totally forgotten about, but I have since redeemeed myself and added it to the bottom of The List (TM) Highly recommended to anyone that enjoys a good brawl. I'm going back through the game with Cain now (as Mani is good and nasty, and needs to be retired), and I'm still undefeated at about twelve matches in. I'm sure it won't last, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. 

One Last Sidenote... : Oh, and there's a new record for you all to beat. In an Exhibition match, I decided to take Mani (Pre-Crow Beatdown, so my stats weren't as high as they are now) up against Lil' Flip. He gave me a good run when I fought him in in Story Mode, so I was anxious to get another piece of some action.

I beat that fool in 27 seconds flat.

Me: Awwwww dayuuum! Lil' Flip just got Flopped!!

Alright gentlemen, and the rest of you as well... THAT is the time to beat!

Random Quote: "He'll beat you so bad, he'll be speaking tongues while he's doing it!" *pounding motion* "Eeeeeeeeyayayayayayayayaya...." -- You can thank Dave for this bit of randomness. A few weeks ago we were comparing created characters in 'Def Jam: Fight for New York', and he made this remark in regards to his own brawler. Sure, the quote itself cracked me up, but I think it was his accompanying sound effects that really pushed it over the edge. With everyone present pretty much being raised in black churches, we knew EXACTLY what he was talking about.

Current Mood: Thumbs up! It's been a hectic couple of weeks around these parts, but it's all good now. I've not only had my first test and first paper due in History of Graphic Design, but have also turned in my first project in Sculpture as well. Whew! Combine that with a few going on's around these parts, and you can see why I haven't been updating as much...

AWA X: The Aftermath: AWA was a couple of weekend back, and of course it kicked booty as only AWA could. And I'm not entirely certain, but I think I went through the entire weekend without watching a single bit of anime! It's rare that I actually sit down and watch anime at AWA (scandal!), but I'm usually too busy hitting the Dealers' Room, checking out the Live-Action Room, or tracking down and catching up with old friends. AWA has pretty much become an excuse for the lot of us to hang out, as the anime aspect really is secondary to it all. Highlights of the weekend include quite a few pranks on the guys, insanity at the rave, me designing the Animation HQ Badges for this year, Sneed shouting random Wu-Tang Clan lyrics over the our radios whenever we got a crossed channel, Manny sniping the ever-loving hell out of anyone that crossed his path in the Halo tournament, one impromptu wrestling match between Dave and Keith ("Sleeeeeeep... sleeeeeeeeeeeeep..."), and Galen getting a pretty accurate anime representation of himself done. For those of you curious to see us in action, I've posted up a few shots over on the Lazer Enterprises page. All in all it was a good time to be had, with the violence kept to a respectable minimum.

And Speaking of Violence... : A while back, Dave showed us the trailer for a martial arts flick by the name of Ong Bak, which featured a guy kicking the ever-loving crap out of everyone with his insane Muay Thai kickboxing skills. We vowed that we would track this movie down and watch is some day, and as fate would have it, there was a showing in the Live-Action Room at AWA this year. First and foremost, that was probably one of the most insane martial arts flicks I've seen in a looooooong time, as this guy not only does his own stunts, but looks damn smooth doing them as well. Combine that with some of the most over-the-top fight scenes I've seen since Iron Monkey (the furniture brawl remains a personal favorite), and you've got one movie that I recommend to any fan of the genre. I believe that there's a sequel floating around as well, which you'd better believe that we're gonna track down at some point.

Mississippi!! : I was in Mississippi last weekend, visiting none other than Ms. Heather. I am one traveling fool. Anywho, it was an enjoyable weekend to be had, with festival-romping, casino-hopping, aquarium-visiting goodness all around. As much as I like to joke about it, Ocean Springs is actually a nice little area to live in, if you like solitude, peace and quiet, and of course, seafood. I've never been much of a seafood head, but I did manage to get some shrimp before the weekend was done. It was good to see Heather again, and I can't wait to pop by and visit her neck of the woods once again. I'm aiming for sometime outside of hurricane season, but we'll work out the details on that. And Heather, again, I apologize for black screen of death on your computer =)

Classics Reclaimed: During one of our random ventures out, Heather and I came across a shop with an absolute butt-load of cheap CD's. After practically gnawing our arms off to keep from getting too crazy, I am pleased to say that Urban Hang Suite by Maxwell is now back in my collection. As one of my all-time favorite CD's, I was quite thrilled to find it for so cheap. Whoooo!

The Scariest Gamers Alive: A while back Galen let me borrow a few CD backups of his, mainly consisting of random crap he had come across online. In one of the folders were a few old-school videogame speed runs he had come across, which of course I felt obligated to check out. Like most video gamers, I fancy myself to be quite skilled, and am always curious to check out those that take it to the next level. Within that folder was a speed run to one of my favorite games, that being the original Ninja Gaiden. Now, it was already criminally insane how fast he went from Stage 1-1 to whipping Jaquio and the demon's ass in the final battle (just over 18 minutes), but there was one little thing that struck me about that whole thing.

The man went through the game, and only got hit eight times.

Now, I love the Ninja Gaiden series, and MIGHT be able to post a respectable time for #2 with a butt-load of practice. But holy crap, never in my wildest dreams have I seen anything so frighteningly efficient. Even on my best day, I couldn't even come close to 18 minutes, much less only getting hit EIGHT FREAKING TIMES! Despite my speed and skill, I've been known to take more hits in that game than a freshman at UGA. If nothing else, this solidified my thoughts as to why they eliminated the Whirlwind Slash after the original Ninja Gaiden, as this insane mofo was using that move to cut through enemies like a black-clad lawnmower on crack. That was truly the scariest thing I had ever witnessed, until I saw some guy's crazy-mad skillz going through Super Mario Brothers. That was just obscene.

Def Jam Vendetta: Fight for New York: Believe the hype. More street than Street Fighter, more soul than Soul Calibur, a new king of the fighters has been crowned. And yes I feel cheesy for actually using that line, but damn it all if it isn't appropriate. DJV II kicks so much ass that it's difficult to tell where the leg stops and the booty begins. After thinking long and hard, I decided to create Mani as my character of choice (I'll use Cain for my next go-round). So far I've been tearing a nice swath of destruction through the competition, which currently puts me at about the halfway point in the game. I'm currently going toe-to-toe with Slick Rick, who handed me my first submission loss the last time we fought... this is not over, Rick...

And who in the hell thought it would be cute to put Bonecrusher and Banner together in the team tournament? That was just wrong!

I'm taking a much needed hiatus from the game (as I let Dave borrow my Dual Shock 2 controller after he accidentally left his at AWA), or else this update never would have gotten done. Of course I'll probably be picking up a new controller tomorrow afternoon, so here's to hoping that I actually get this done before then.

DJV II: An Update: I just took down Slick Rick in 40 seconds flat. That, gentlemen, is the time to beat. =D

Random Quote: "'Aw man... I think I drank too much at that last SCA meeting...'" -- Have any of you seen those new Burger King commercials where the guy wakes up in bed with a guy dressed up like a king? Am I the only one that disturbed by that whole visual? I made that comment after seeing the commercial with Heather this past weekend, who damn near died from laughing at the thought. Now, I can't watch that commercial without cracking up, while casually wondering just how wild those SCA meetings get. 'Wake Up With The King' indeed.

Current Mood: Good, but still a little tense. As I update this, Heather is en route to Atlanta due to the forced evacuation in her neck of the woods due to Ivan coming through. I heard that traffic coming out of there was most hellified nasty, so I'm really not sure when she'll be in. I'll be up until she arrives (I've got caffeine and lots of it!), but until I see her I'm sure that I'll be more than a little tense. Here's to praying for a safe trip.

Musical Rotations: A realization dawned on me a few days ago. It just so happens that I carry a number of different CD's with me at any given moment, mainly as traveling music and for work when things get sort of slow. I came to realize that there are several CD's in my collection that have been getting very heavy play from me for quite some time now. I mean, I can understand having favorites, but there are some that I couldn't even tell you the last time they've been in their original cases. For those of you that are interested, it seems that my Five Most Played CD's are as follows-

- In Search Of... by NERD

- Speakerboxx/The Love Below by Outkast

- The Animatrix Soundtrack

- Fallen by Evanescence 

- Number Ones by Michael Jackson

Quite the eclectic mix, I must admit!

Old Artwork + New Monitor = Holy Crap: Now that Black Exodus is up and running (Bwahaha!), I'm going about the task of moving stuff from the old computer onto the new. Of course one of the things I transferred was a lot of the art I've scanned and colored, and I made a fascinating discovery while sorting through the folder earlier this evening. I knew that the color on the old monitor was slightly off, but egad, I had no idea it was that bad! There are certain things that are easier to catch on a nicer screen. I'm seeing mismatches on colors, white on supposedly clear backgrounds, and some truly scary color palettes... why didn't anyone tell me that Kai and our Christmas Elf looked a little on the green side?! Wow... as soon as I get Photoshop on that bad boy, I'm going to be doing some heavy-duty tweaking...

And As We're Updating... : ... Heather has arrived, and all is well in the world. Yay!

AWA: Now With More Role Playing! : With Anime Weekend Atlanta quickly approaching, the tension and excitement is beginning to build. I've got something else to be excited about, that being that I've been informed by the crew that they want me to run a double session of Glenshire Abbey at the con! This is mainly due to me heading out to Mississippi the weekend following AWA, which happens to coincide with my turn at GM'ing in our current rotation. This shouldn't be a problem, and the prep work is underway... let's hope I don't have too much to drink beforehand, otherwise things are going to get VERY random with that group...

Gaming Whoredom: I am looking forward to Def Jam Vendetta 2 with an almost fanboyish level of excitement. C'mon Tuesday! I probably won't be able to get much practice in before AWA, but every little bit helps! I'm still debating on who exactly to create when I go through the game... it's currently a toss-up between Cain Harlocke and the infamous ninja Mani at this point, so we'll see how the game moves me in a few days.

Random Quote: "These are the guys that got a vanilla wafer and a paycheck to come out and fight you guys... just wait until we run into the guy that's holding the entire box of wafers." -- Quon at our gaming session last Sunday, describing the caliber of enemy that we were up against. We're starting out something new with a MUCH larger group than before, and since we were just getting situated and everything, James (current GM) put us up against waves of cannon-fodder types. Needless to say, when that lovely comparison was made by Quon, pretty much everyone in our normal group turned to me and asked if that was going to make the Random Quote for this week. Yes indeed it did!

Current Mood: Much better, especially after helping Aaron and Shelly move last weekend! I tell you, those folks own more heavy crap that should be allowed. After a few days of recovery, I'm back in action, and I can feel my arms again! School's been interesting this past week; Sculpture promises to be unique in the very least, and History of Graphic Design is as boring as one would expect. Hopefully it'll pick up in the coming weeks, and we'll get to take a look at some really nifty stuff.

Bad Movies and Booze: That was the official name of the birthday party for Jason, brother of James, a friend of ours and the dude I'm talking to about doing some of the artwork for Glenshire Abbey. While I was expecting them to pull out some of the more obvious choices for bad movies (Dungeons and Dragons did not make an appearance, to my shock), James dug deep with the intentions of educating the lot of us with really obscure crap. We would alternate between bad sci-fi and bad fantasy flicks, which saw us witnessing The Sword of the Valiant (based LOOSELY on the story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and starring Sean Connery wearing very man-whorish armor), Plan 9 from Outer Space (classic Ed-Wood), and the Italian version of The Sword and the Sorcerer (whose name currently eludes me, but was most violent and sported sub-porn caliber acting). Naturally there were jokes flying left and right with this group (ranging from the practicality of chestless armor to more tea-bagging jokes than a year's worth of college). It was a good time to be had by all, and definitely something that I can see being done again in the future!

The Saga of Black Exodus: The Beast Known as Black Exodus will be up and running just as soon as we figure out what happened to the last partition on the hard drive. With it being 120 gigs, we thought it would be best if we broke it up into bite-sized chunks. This was fine and dandy, but when we did an exam of the drives once XP was installed, we couldn't help but notice that one of them was missing! Thankfully, as I've been informed, Snead has a copy of Partition Magic, a handy piece of software that lets you manage them, without having to reinstall the entire OS. Soon, soon... all in due time!

A Tale of Soul, Swords, And Beatdowns: With AWA being in a matter of weeks, combined with the amount of trash-talking that goes on among the lot of us, it's no surprise that I'm getting back into competition shape with the fighting games. If nothing else, I can be positive that they'll be some Soul Calibur-related shenanigans going down, as I owe both Galen (Xianghua) and Dave (Necrid) some serious retribution. I've warned them before, and I'll warn them again... let it be known that most of my training has been with Voldo as of late, and I plan on unleashing a brand of freakiness that only he is capable of delivering! Be warned, heathens!

Also in the Realm of Beatdowns... : ... I got a chance to play the demo to Def Jam Vendetta 2 last week, and giving it a mere "Holy Crap" would be doing it a disservice. They have totally revamped that game, and it really does make you feel like you're in an underground fighting circuit. It's like the old Pit Fighter, but with hip-hop sensibilities, and of course, much saltier language (hearing Redman's pre-fight taunt was entertainment enough to last me the week). It comes out on September 21st, which means that we'll have it available come AWA. Of course I still can't get over the fact that old D'Mob, Jackass Amongst Jackasses from the first DJV, is actually your employer and one of the good guys (or at least what amounts to one in this game). I'll believe it when I see that one...

Olympic Connection: Dwight Phillips, the Gold Medallist in the Long Jump, used to live in my neighborhood back in the day. Congrats, dude! =D 

Random Quote: One More Correction: "Take a nap, you oversized yeti WHORE!" As Galen pointed out, I still had him misquoted from his brawl with Brock Lesnar. Enjoy!

Random Quote: "N! C! N!" -- There is a loooooong story behind this one, and it is so beyond wrong that I'm electing not to put the whole thing up here this week. It started out a few nights ago when Galen, TC, Keith, Manuel and myself were hanging out when the subject turned to Chi-Chi's legendary temper in 'Dragon Ball Z'. We were trying to come up with a real-world example of the type of beating one could expect from pissing her off, which led Galen to give the example of lining up Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, and Karl Malone, and punching each one square in the nads. I decided to add a little something extra to shout as one was doing this, which damn near killed Galen and the others from laughing at the sheer wrongness of it all. If any of you REALLY want to know what that stands for, email me and I'll explain.

Current Mood: Not too shabby. I'm enjoying the time off between semesters, but I haven't been able to do too much aside from working. There's been a few off-days here and there, which is always a plus. It's a laid-back sort of time, and I can't complain!

Birthday Wishes: Happy Birthday to Keith, who turned 22 this past Saturday. May you have many more, since I owe you for that last race we had in Daytona!

Safe Travel Wishes: Safe Travel Wishes go out to Heather, who by the time this update is completed, should either be arriving in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, or be very much en' route. It might be a while before she sees this though, seeing as her internet access may be slightly jacked for the next couple of days or so, but I'll make it a point to keep this blurb up here until she sees it =)

The Birth of Black Exodus: I have hereby dubbed the new computer system Black Exodus, off of the name of one of my Second Realm characters from back in the day. While there are still some kinks to be worked out (mainly the system not recognizing the DVD/CD-RW at this time), Black Exodus is a beast in the making. We're looking at a 120 gig hard drive, along with a near-obscene 1024 megs of RAM. I'll keep you all posted on his status, and when he'll be fully up and running. Beware! =D

Random Link: This one was brought to my attention last night, and while I was just admiring the layout at first, it wasn't until I read the profile that I realized that the site belonged to a dude I went to high school with! Go check out Cartoon Smart, and get you some Flash tutorials!

Random Quote: A Correction: Last week it seems that I misquoted Galen in regards to his match against Brock Lesnar in Smackdown a while back. Rather than "Take a nap, you overgrown, shaved-yeti beyatch!", the correct quote was "Take a nap, you oversized shaved-yeti WHORE!" We apologize for the misquote, and now return you to our regularly scheduled update. 

Random Quote: "First, a bolt of lightning's going to come from the sky and hit you (POW!), and while you're still twirling in the air, the ground's going to open up and suck you straight to hell. When you get down there, you're going to be like "But I'm not dead yet!", and Satan will answer "We've seen enough..." -- This one came from me a few nights ago when somebody (more than likely TC) said something so wrong and antisocial that we felt that he was going to Hell on a Scholarship at that point. This was my response, which caused an instant bout of silence before the laughter broke out, and damn near KILLED Manuel! I've used the line at work on George a few times, but this was the first time that they had heard it, apparently.

Current Mood: Drafting is DONE. Whoooooooooooo! =D Sanity has returned, and it seems that I've finally regained some semblance of free time once more... and there was much rejoicing!

Computer Love: I've been in the planning stages of having my own computer built for a while now, and with the current rig having more issues than a magazine kiosk (combined with the recent Tax-Free Weekend here in Georgia), I've decided that it was time to go ahead and begin the pursuit. Galen and I made a trip out to Monarch Computers in order to start picking up parts. To anyone in need of computer components, these guys are the absolute bomb! Galen pretty much swears by these guys, and I see why now. I'll be buying a few parts for the next couple of weeks, but if anyone is actually interested in seeing it, here's the case that we picked up. What can I say, I've always wanted a black computer!

Back to Glenshire Abbey: Last weekend I got a chance to actually run another campaign for Glenshire Abbey, which has become a bit of a play-testing experience for the upcoming release as well. Dave has also joined the party as D'Shal, a Light Elf archer with a magical energy bow, and an uncanny sense of aim. Take, for example, an incident involving a couple of intruders on campus. Dave is on a rooftop looking down at them, and decided to take a shot at the one in the back.

Not only did he absolutely MURDER the poor guy, but it turned out to be the Kobold shaman that I was planning on using for a later conflict. This doesn't bother me, as I rather enjoy improvising, but this has taught me a valuable lesson. These guys need tougher enemies. Or at least ones with armor.

It is at that moment where I bestow upon him a title. From here on out, he is Dave, Slayer of Plot Points!

Just wait until next session, guys! *bwahaha!*

Club Ninja @ The Movies - Hellboy and Spider-Man 2: While there are still several movies on my list of things to see in the near future, I managed to knock a few of those out these past few weeks. First and foremost, I finally got around to seeing Spider-Man 2, which kicked obscene amounts of booty. I swear to goodness, they nailed everyone's favorite web-slinger down even better on the second go-round. While things did get a little strange (but very comic-esque) towards then end, I have nothing but good things to say about it. The experience itself, however, was somewhat marred by the presence of Jackal Man, King of the Fanboys sitting next to me. This great big goober of a man would not only laugh at every little thing that took place in the movie, but would sound like a hyena getting kicked in the balls every time he did it. That small gripe aside, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and plan on picking that sucker up the moment it comes out on DVD. And as a random sidenote, was I the only one out there that cracked a sly smile when Peter Parker said "I'm in love with Mary Jane?" I just have to ask...

Hellboy came out on DVD this week, which means that I finally got a chance to check it out. That's one that I missed in the theaters, but pretty much vowed that I'd own once it hit DVD. Good stuff all around, lots of action, and pretty funny to boot (Favorite line: "You're nine years old! You're too young to be giving me advice on love!"). I haven't had a chance to go through everything yet, but I dug the inclusion of the little Tell-Tale Heart cartoon in the Extras. And after seeing Kroenen in action, I have a new respect/fear for minions in masks and long trench coats. Dude was INSANE!

Club Ninja @ The Movies - Azumi: A few weeks back found a good portion of the crew over at TC late one night, where we decided to take in a viewing of Azumi, his latest purchase. Long story short for the uninitiated is that Azumi is a movie taking place back in feudal Japan about a group of young assassins trained to take out a local corrupt lord. I don't doubt the sheer kick-ass potential of it all (and trust me, once you see some of those fights, you will bow down to the kicked ass), but the fact that it was late and we were pretty wasted on caffeine led to some interesting MST'ing of the flick. From pointing out that the main bad guy's bodyguard looked like a Japanese Sho Nuff from The Last Dragon ("Who's the master?!"), to the fact that I thought the villain looked like an angry Kenny Blankenship, all manner of jack-up quotes were tossed around. I plan on taking in another viewing at some point so that I can give it a true review. 

AWA X: Anime Weekend Atlanta 10. Let the plotting begin.

Excerpt from an AIM conversation with Kris a few nights ago- 

Kris: You need to post your plans for AWA on the forum.
Mani: 1) Get drunk. 2) Party naked. In a nutshell.

While I AM kidding about the drunken naked partying, the planning stages have begun for this year's AWA. The room has been secured, and since it doesn't look like I'm planning the AHQ room party this year, that leaves me with a bit of free time to do other things this year. There has been some talk of doing a modest get-together for the crew over this way, but nothing too outlandish has been planned yet. If nothing else, I'm planning on celebrating the progress of Glenshire Abbey with a few of the folks that helped make it all happen. Sure, things seem low-key right now, but I'm sure that'll change once it's time for the Con.

But there will be gaming! Lots and lots of gaming! I'm sure every fighting game I own will be making the trip this year, along with the multitap and a whole lot of trash-talking. It begins! 

Random Quote: "Take a nap, you overgrown, shaved-yeti beyatch!" -- This one comes from Galen as he was playing 'Smackdown!' a few weeks back, and was going toe-to-toe with everyone's favorite blond gorilla Brock Lesnar. Not only did Galen end up winning this match, but made the beast tap out to boot! That's no small feat... oh, and since we're on a roll, here's another quote for you all...

Random Ignorant Quote: "Yeah, have you seen Ocean's Eleven? Yeah, it looks like something from that... something Tony Benedict would wear..." -- Excerpt from a conversation a young lady was having on the phone as she walked into the store a few days ago, looking at some tuxedos. It took everything in my power not to throw the counter at her and say "His name is Tony BENNET!" What killed me the most was that she said that not once, but twice, and in a very matter-of-factly way to boot... I tell ya...

And Speaking of Ocean's Eleven... : I finally caught a showing of this last week, and loved it. Those dudes had everything planned to the wire... that was INSANE!

Current Mood: The Drafting hits the fan! Don't worry, things are still OK in class, but we've announced our final project, and work has begun immediatly! I'm doing to entire layout to a friggin' cabin, from the walls to the bathrooms to the freaking furniture! Sure, that seems standard for all out you Interior Designers out there, but I'm just some lowly swine that needed to take the class in order to get some Art credit! GAAAAH! Anywho, I've seemed to have caught on to things at a respectable level, so I'm sure that I can get this crap done before the end of the semester. Here's to hoping!

Recasting The Wiz: Last week, George had brought the soundtrack to The Wiz (always an endearing classic) into work, and it got me thinking for a moment. I presented George with a simple question- if he were put in charge of redoing The Wiz today (and he COULDN'T say no!), who would he cast, and for what role. His choices were pretty good, I have to admit...

As much as he detests the man, he chose Usher to be the Scarecrow, followed by Steve Harvey as the Tin Man. In a choice that cracked me up beyond all belief (but seems VERY appropriate), he chose Anthony Anderson to play the Cowardly Lion. We disagreed somewhat on Dorothy, but we decided to go for Beyonce for the time being. Glenda the Good Witch was a tossup between Whitney Houston and Vanessa Williams (my vote went for the latter), while we seemed to think that Mo'nique would make a pretty good Wicked Witch. And for the Wiz himself? None other than Bernie Mack. As a joke, I threw out Lil' Jon to play Cheetah, the head of the Flying Monkeys, to which George replied "Great! And he wouldn't even have to go to makeup!" Opinions?

CROTCH THRUST OF DOOM: This past Sunday, Galen stopped by to visit me at work for a bit, and informed me that he had located a used copy of Street Fighter EX 2, which is pretty hard to locate nowadays to my understanding. We snagged the copy and brought it over to Dave's, deciding to get a couple of rounds in. First off, let me inform you all that both Dave and Snead are the kings of trash-talking when going up against each other ("Respect yo' elders, boy!" "Chun-Li? I beat her because I love her..."). Also, Blanka is QUITE brutal in that game, and quickly became my favorite character. During a slow time where we were just messing around, I opted to pick Darune Mister (hell, I was bored!), just to see what the big, lumbering wrestler could do. Of course he was as slow as I had expected, but he got major points back when I realized that he, like my man Voldo, also has a CROTCH THRUST OF DOOM! Dave also found this out the hard way, as it was used to send him quite airborne in one match. I don't know why seeing that in action amuses me to no end, but I really AM a simple creature... fear the crotch!

Club Ninja @ The Movies - The Current Hit List: So many movies to see, so little time to do so. Of course at the top of the list is none other than Spider Man 2, which we're hoping to catch a LATE showing after Neil gets off of work tonight. Being such a fan of the sport since I was a kid, I still want to see Dodgeball, and to add on to my woes, King Arthur released this week too! Arthur's been getting some iffy reviews from what I can tell, but I still wanted to check it out. It seems to be right up my alley, and one cannot overlook the fact that Guinivere is an ass-kicker in this one... nothing says bad ass more than a female archer in body paint and leather straps taking down enemies with reckless abandon. Here's to hoping this starts a fashion trend! Who doesn't love a woman with a weapon and in Celtic body paint?

Note to Heather: This is not some sort of kinky hint to you. Unless you're into that sort of thing, and decide to let that Celtic warrior side take over! =)

Random Quote: "Take it easy... or however you can get it!" -- Aaron this past weekend as we were dropping off Shelly's younger brother Justin off to work after a late night RPG session. Justin's the sweet, innocent and slightly naive sort, so seeing the look on his face after that comment made it all the more hilarious.

Current Mood: Not bad, not bad. Drafting has proven to be the antithesis of every art class I've ever taken, since we're so structured and ordered now, as apposed to the loose and fluid style I'm used to. Nonetheless, it's proving to be interesting, and I'm sure that it'll help me out in the long run (especially in regards to drawing indoor spaces, a bit of a weakness of mine). Even with that obscene-sounding 8-2 schedule, I've actually been spending a good portion of that time in class working things out. Ah, summer classes... this is one thing I WON'T miss once I wrap things up in a few semesters...

Belated Birthday Wishes: Happy Birthday wishes go out to Heather, who celebrated #22 this past Monday! As near as I can tell, there really wasn't much drunken revelry going on, but she says that she had a really good time. Here's to getting older with grace and style! 

Out and About: In a rare and pleasant coincidence this past Friday night, me, Neil, Laura, and Jimmy were free and decided to go out and indulge in the nightlife. We hadn't really been out in quite some time, so we decided that getting our collective groove-on would be a nice change of pace to sitting around and doing a bunch of nothing. We ended up hitting Club Europe, one of the local hotspots that we had been interested in checking out for a while now, which turned out to be pretty wild. Not University-of-Florida-Wild, mind you, but not bad. It was a good time to be had by all, save two things- one, and much to the amusement of all present, I apparently turn into Lil' John when drinking, as I threw a "YEAAAAH!" and "OKAAAY!" or two into conversation. And second, I woke up with the worse headache ever the next morning, a sign that I'm a teensy bit out of practice in the Arts of Inebriation. Though I'll admit, that last Gin and Coke I had was a bit of a killer... here's to taking it easier on the next go 'round!

The Smackdown Arena: In the past few weeks at our Sunday gaming sessions, we've been playing a bit of Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain, mainly pitting our created characters against each other. What's been keeping things interesting, however, is that most times we let the computer control them. Now, a good portion of the characters are just using base stats, but there's a lucky few in there that have had a chance to go through season mode and be built up a bit. That being said, you wouldn't believe how insane it been getting as of late ("Sen Tora's climbing to the top of the Elimination Chamber, and OH SH#T, that looked painful!"). We've entered a few more folks into the fray as of late, and my latest addition is none other than a pretty accurate recreation of D-Mob himself from Def Jam Vendetta (Dave's Reaction: "Oh no the hell you didn't just make Mr. 'Nobody Evaaaaaa Beats Me!'") Granted Galen tore him a new one with a built up Sen Tora, but I think ol' D-Mob could be a legit player once I get him some experience. My top-tier fighter right now is none other than Cain Harlocke, who's not quite as nasty as, oh say, Goldberg, but he IS good enough to hang with some of the heavies in the federation. Let the training begin!

The Wrath of Voldo: I spent last Saturday at a cookout over at Kris's abode, and between bouts of waiting for the mass quantities of animal to cook, we took in a couple of rounds of Soul Calibur 2. What the heck is going on, it seems like EVERYONE'S been calling me out in that game as of late! Kris, however, has a Gamecube, and I have to say that it's got the goofiest controller setup of all of the systems I've played thus far (granted I was using a third party controller, but details, details...). Nonetheless, Kris and I managed to have some pretty epic bouts (he's quite lethal with Cassandra, though he is waiting until he can unlock Sophitia to unleash mad-crazy hurt upon the masses), but my own personal highlight came from my Voldo against his Link. Now keep in mind Kris hates Voldo with a passion, which made things so much more gratifying when I go into his crawl, creep up on elf-boy, and proceed to knock him a good twenty feet into the air with the VOLDO CROTCH THRUST OF DOOM. I think I'm going have to take the time to try and learn how to better use freak-boy, because I'm sure they'll be some tournaments come AWA this year. Bring your A-game, folks, because I'm bringing the freak to the party!

Club Ninja @ The Movies - Chronicles of Riddick: Easily the most visually impressive sci-fi flick I have ever seen in my natural life. Holy crap, they went all out with the set and character designs! Unlike every other critic out there, however, I rather enjoyed the movie. Of course I wasn't walking in there expecting Hamlet or anything, but with all of the negative press the movie's been getting, I was very pleasantly surprised. Sure, there's a plot hole or eight that you could drive a truck through, but as a good, mindless romp, it was all good. I'd absolutely see it again, and I really hope that they go through with it as the suggested trilogy. Highly recommended to all of you sci-fi geeks out there.

Random Quote: "'Girl, I'm He-Man... my PENIS got a six-pack!'" -- During a RANDOM bout of boredom last weekend over at TC's apartment, where we sat around and watched a few episodes of the new He-Man that Cartoon Network put out a few months back. We casually wondered if Prince Adam had ever turned into He-Man in order to pick up women, which is when that random-assed quote had the audacity to spring forth from my mouth. Heck, we were tired, and yes, it was a legitimate question! 

Current Mood: Feeling good! Summer's been nice thus far, but it seems that I will be back in school this coming Tuesday taking classes once more. After all of these years, I still can't get used to the length of summer classes... this one's freaking 8am-2pm! Thankfully it's only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but 8 to 2 is still 8 to 2...

Disgaea: An Update: The sign of good game balance- no matter how big and bad you think your team may be, once you enter a new chapter, you're nothing more than cannon fodder. I haven't had any real cakewalk battles for some time now, which is quite awesome. That being said, I didn't think I was going to survive Of Being an Overlord, mainly because those zombies were kicking my butt all over the Netherworld. Then there is the subject of Aramus's ultimate zombie, and the components in which he was made... after he went through the whole list, then added that crucial element at the end (I won't spoil it for those that haven't played it yet), and seeing Laharl's reaction was worth the price of the game itself. I have to admit, the conclusion to Resurrection was quite the bombshell... I literally gasped in shock once certain things were revealed. I'm just starting out the next episode ("Captain Gordon's staring at Jennifer's thighs! Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!"), and we already took a severe beating at the hands of the tribe of Nekomata... thank goodness for tight clusters and exploding Prinnies!

A New Calibur of Trash-Talk: In celebration of Neil's birthday this past weekend, the horde of us decided to go bowling (114! I'll take it!), lounge around, and consume mass quantities of food. He's finally jumped on the 3D Fighter bandwagon, and decided to pick up Soul Calibur 2 as well. Of course being the resident SC2 guru and all, I had to school the boy in the art of war. But good gracious, there was MUCH trash talking! Neil took an obscene liking to Spawn, who used everybody's favorite conflicted pawn of heaven and hell to beat the unholy crap out of just about anyone I put out in front of him. I swear to goodness, poor Laura was going to collapse a lung laughing at the two of us trash talk each other. Neil went so far as to dub one of Spawn's throws (the belly-to-belly into the nasty stomp) the Bitch Please, and proceeded to proclaim it every time he caught me with it! Of course, smacking him around with Voldo while loudly singing "Pretty, pretty dancing!" was a lot of fun on my part, I have to admit. For the record, are you aware that Voldo has a move where he smacks you into the air with his crotch? Very disturbing, yet strangely appropriate. 

As a Sidenote: Is anyone else annoyed by the way Namco chose to spell Calibur? Would calling it Soul Caliber really been so offensive? Granted, the name now looks like they're talking about some sort of soul-shooting pistol or old-school blaxploitation flick, but the 'u' still bothers me.

Ain't No Party... : During a bout of channel surfing a few nights ago, I stumbled across one of the local stations showing a series of music videos from India. I'm a universal sort of guy, so I of course enjoyed all of this. What struck me the most, however, was the footage that they showed of a local wedding after the videos. Now, I've always joked that we Puerto Ricans like to get down at weddings, but we've got nothing (and I mean NOTHING!) on Indian receptions! They had the live band going (with a guy and two women singing), they were dancing, and just having a good old time. Now, I've been to some pretty wild weddings in my time (one of my aunts got tossed in the pool at my cousin Richey's affair), but the vast majority of them have been pretty quiet and stuffy for the most part. We need to cut loose, folks! Not everything has to be a formal affair! Learn a lesson from our international brothers and sisters!  

Random Quote: "Why does she have two butts?" -- Jimmy at a very sheltered fourteen years old after Neil showed him a porno mag that he had snagged from another friend of ours. I had forgotten about this, but it came up in conversation over at Neil's a few weeks ago. Ah, those were simpler times...

Current Mood: Feeling great, feeling good, how are you? = )

Current Mood: Not bad... a little concerned about the series of computer problems that's been plaguing me as of late, seeing as that's not really an expense that I'd like to tackle at this point in time. Nonetheless, I've done a backup of just about all of the good stuff on here (save a few programs), so I'm prepared should a total collapse occur. Sure, it'll still suck like the dickens, but I'll at least be prepared for it!

Fast Ones and the Return of the Master: Galen snuck into town this past weekend, so of course there was some hanging out and gaming that had to take place. But first, he took us past this apartment in town that was being purchased by a client of his back home, and asked if we could help him give it a quick wipe-down and whatnot before the people came by to check it out. After a quick cleaning (and returning to Dave's to get our gaming fix on), Galen informs us that the apartment wasn't for a client, but for HIM, as he's moving back to Atlanta in the very near future! Dave knew what was going on, but both Keith and I were totally clueless in that regard. Once we return to Dave's and get some gaming in, Snead pops by and throws his hat into the arena as well. A sign that you are truly among your people- not only do I catch Snead humming the theme from Enter the Dragon at one point, but the fact that I actually recognized it struck me as being pretty funny. Here's to gaming, friends, and good old-fashioned trash talking!

"Please Don't Feed the Beholder", Part II : We finished the first of three books that Shelly plans on running us through in our current D&D campaign, and I'm pleased to note that no one has died, though both Aaron and Justin (who was covering for Dena's warrior this week) did come very close. Between brawls with massive beetles, shrieking fungi, and little Kristina's priestess getting dragged to the bottom of a pit of water by a giant Bloodworm, we actually ended up getting out fairly intact. We severely lucked out when we ran into the Beholder itself (an Undead Tyrant at that!), since by blind stinking luck we ended up taking out his nastiest eye stalks before he could use them! There was much loot to be had, and we're good and prepared for the next leg of our journey. And incidentally, that Beholder took a good bite out of my mage at one point in the battle, so I doubt seriously that I'll be trying to feed any in the future.

Disgaea- An Update: Not only have we added a Ninja to our ranks, but a Ronin as well... let the beat-downs commence! I've also given Dirk, our axe-swinging warrior (and the ONLY person to come out of the second battle with the Dark Adonis alive!) a pupil in the way of a young Centurion, who seems to be adapting well to our ways of violence and overkill. As a sidenote, there are very few things that inspire more fear than accidentally tossing one moderately powerful creature into another one of respectable power, only to have them combine into one high-level beast of nasty and malice, who goes RIGHT AFTER our Scout (who really can't take a hit like some people on my team)! I laid a Dark Cannon right in the angry Nekojin's path and proceeded to dump every round into her at point-blank range. 

Not only did she survive the assault, but she then proceeded to destroy the cannon with one attack. Dole, the Scout in question, proceeds to probably scream like a little girl before running like he had seen the devil himself.

All is well in the world, as we've not only survived that chapter, but are doing well in the next. And I'll have you know, NOTHING is more fun that unleashing Chaos Fire into the midst of several enemies that are too crowded in to move! You'll not have the throne of Laharl, usurpers!

Club Ninja @ The Movies: Van Helsing: Not bad, not bad. Not as bad as some critics are making it out to be, but still not quite as good as the previews would have you believe. It's good, mindless fun with lots of special effects, top notch action, a definite sense of humor, and of course, Kate Beckinsale in a corset. OK, fine, and Dracula's brides were kinda hot too... *ahem* Anywho, I have to say that I really liked the way that they handled Frankenstein as well. All of the monsters were top notch (even the little cameo from the beginning, whose presence I won't spoil for those that haven't seen it yet), but old Frank was definitely my favorite. Put your brain on pause, and go check it out!

Random Quote: "I don't adapt... I evolve!" -- Keith this past Sunday, after explaining his strategy for playing Tekken 4. While some contend that his style of play is more-or-less button mashing, he says that there is method to his madness, and that he's slowly but surely picking up moves and techniques. There must be something to that, because he pulled out some very impressive victories that night!

Current Mood: Relaxed! Man oh man, with prom season finally passing by us at work, I can sleep again! Granted, I was getting all kinds of crazy overtime pay for the past few weeks, but money does not equal sanity! Anywho, I've still got a few weeks to kill before Summer semester starts. While I'm not taking as many classes as I'd like to be, I've determined that I'll be utilizing the extra time to teach myself a few programs like Dreamweaver and Flash. I'll probably screw around some more with InDesign as well, just to see what I can come up with.

"Please Don't Feed the Beholder." : We started a new RPG campaign last weekend, which was cool for two reasons. First, we hadn't gamed in the better part of forever, and second, this was Shelly's first time GM'ing. She's running us through some of the Eye of the Beholder stuff, and while no one died, the rest of the party is now beginning to doubt my sanity. This definitely isn't a good thing, since it seems that my mage has developed into the de facto leader. When we see what appears to be a Beholder approaching in the distance (and for you non-D&D players out there, is a bad thing of the highest possible order), who, oh why, did I leap from my horse with a loaf of bread and offer it to the beast? Shelly described it as looking very worn out, and knowing that they were intelligent creatures, I reasoned that we might be able to establish a rapport with it if we gave it some food. Thankfully it wasn't actually a Beholder, but our employer, who has apparently run into one and was afflicted with both an Illusion and Silence spell (which kept him from calling out to us). That's definitely some kind of first, because we're pretty sure that NO ONE has ever tried to give a Beholder food... we'd like to think the masses have much more common sense than that. Something tells me that I'd better not try that again, lest I lose an arm.

Disgaea- An Update: After one nasty brawl to get out of the Item World ("Holy crap! Flonne was on a warp panel! Where the hell is she?!"), our little crew of violent and antisocial demons has been kicking the crap out of anything that crosses our path with ruthless aggression. Dinero Palace, however, was quite insane... I tell you, ol' Hoggmeiser had one hell of an entourage. Nothing inspires complete and utter horror than the sight of a corridor lined with Brawlers and Pugilists wielding spears and bows, all of which are pissed off at you. We had a run-in with a ninja after going back through the Dark Adonis's palace, and after seeing that sucker DODGE A FREAKING BULLET, I can't wait to get one my team. Granted I hear that they sometimes dodge Healing spells, but it's a risk I'm willing to take for that caliber of sheer bad-assedness!

Coming Soon: I'm watching the making of Shrek 2, and I'm currently laughing my fool head off. I really liked the original, so of course seeing this one is a no-brainer. The collection of movies I need to see is growing at a dangerous rate. I can already tell that Puss-In-Boots is going to be my favorite character.

Random Quote: "Don't you bite me, you little gray monkey... I'll thump you in your nutsack!" -- Neil a few days ago when we were on the phone, and little Pancho decided to get a little rambunctious. Granted this was said in love to his little hound, but God help me if I didn't nearly collapse a lung from laughing.

Current Mood: I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE!! : D

Big Congrats: This past Saturday was the ending of an era, and the beginning of something new as Heather has graduated from college! The ceremony was very nice ("And brief," to quote Dad), and it was a wonderful time to be had by all. We couldn't spend too much time up in Rome, alas, for after graduation, Heather was bound for Ohio, her parents' new place of residence. Her dad's apparently a big dog with the National Park Services now, so he's been given jurisdiction over in Putin Bay (I think I spelled that right), a nice little island area. I've been told that he has yet to try and rule it with an iron fist, but I'll make it a point to pop by there at some point and be the voice of evil >: D But seriously, go Heather! I'm proud of you!

Club Ninja @ The Movies: The Punisher: A few weeks ago, Neil, Josh, and myself took it upon ourselves to go in indulge in a little comic-book inspired madness and take in a showing of The Punisher. Now, don't be fooled by the critics, good people- if you're a fan of the character, or just good old-fashioned ass-whuppings, then this is your movie. I swear to goodness, good old Frank Castle has a mean streak stretching from here to Timbuktu and back again. I mean c'mon, dude's got a right to be pissed! This is one of those moments where there really is a dividing line amongst the sexes. For example, after catching a commercial for it, Heather made a comment about "another movie with a guy taking the law into his hands", while our trio of the testosteronely-inclined were absolutely into it. Sure, it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think that most people can find something to enjoy about it. And as a random sidenote, but was it just me, or was Kevin Nash's character ("The Russian") not one scary bastard?

"Now You Know That Evil Will Always Triumph, Because Good is Dumb.": I FINALLY got a chance to pick up Disgaea: Hour of Darkness a few days ago, and let me tell you... that  is one of the most addictive games I've played in a loooooong time. And over that, that sucker is downright HILARIOUS. What's not to like about a game with exploding penguins? Heaven only knows how many times I've chucked a Prinnie at a group of enemies out of desperation. There is just so much to do in that game, from keeping your classes upgraded, to gaining the favor of the Dark Council (they really do have a Love/Hate relationship with me at this time). Thank goodness I'm on a break between classes, because if I had picked this up during the semester, I really and truly wouldn't have gotten anything done! Currently exploring the Item World, where I've run into all manner of craziness- who knew that Clerics (outside of Equilibrium, of course) knew how to use guns?

Van Helsing - An Observation: I came across a thread on a message board that brought this to my attention, and I think it bears some mention and comparing. Judging by the previews, I've noticed two things. First and foremost, I think the movie's going to kick more ass than previously thought possible. And second, does it not remind you of Castlevania? Think about it- Van Helsing and Simon Belmont are both vampire hunters. Van Helsing also fights Frankenstein in the movie, who Simon Belmont has also brawled with on occasion. And the main villain in both? None other than our boy Vlad Tepes Dracul, better known as Dracula. Granted Van Helsing doesn't use a whip as his main weapon, and as near as I can recall, no Belmont has gone up against The Wolf Man (though I might be mistaken), but you have to admit that those are some fairly striking similarities. Interesting, no?

In the News: I won't lie... seeing the cover stories on the tabloids at the grocery store amuse the hell out of me. I'm not talking about the ones that might actually have a shred of truth... no no, I'm talking about the ones with crap so random, the MiB's would look at it and shake their heads in shame. The latest one to catch my eye- "Saddam's Execution Postponed! Apparently, He's Sold His Soul to the Devil for Eternal Life!" Now, that in and of itself was bad enough, but why, oh why, was there a picture of him shaking hands with Satan?! I kid you not! Suit, tie, horns, wicked goatee and all! Well, I guess even Beelzebub himself has to pause for a photo-op from time to time...

Random Quote: "I don't know whether to get a motorcycle or a new gun... I'd get a bike, but those are too dangerous." -- A growing collection of strange-but-true quotes from our good friend Jimmy. Collectively known in our circle as "Jimmyisms", they shed a bit of light as to the random thoughts that are running through his head from time to time. 

Current Mood: Surviving! It's getting ugly as far as classes go over here. If this keeps up, I'll be gray inside of a week. The good news is that classes will be over in a few weeks. The bad news is that classes will be over in a few weeks, which means that everything is going to hit at once! Combine this with the hectic mayhem that is prom season, and you can see where my sanity has run off too.

Meatless Saturday: Heather spent Easter weekend down here, and it was, as per custom, a blast. On Saturday, she even cooked dinner for me! It was quite the healthy affair all around... some pasta with artichoke hearts and garlic, served with a side of breaded tofu. Of course my Testosterone Radar goes haywire at the mention of 'tofu', but I have to say that the meal was quite enjoyable, and healthy to boot. Don't get me wrong- Heather's not one of those health-Nazi's that detests anything that's ever carried a pulse. She likes meat too, but she does enjoy her fair share of tofu every now and then. However Heather, I do have a confession, as I feel that there should be no secrets in our relationship. When you went to the restroom, I ran upstairs and absolutely MURDERED one of the chicken wings Ayanna had bought over. Sorry! : D 

Hating in the Workplace: In order to borrow a term from our good friend Theodore R. Long, I witnessed some pretty blatant Haterizing (TM) at work a few days ago. I was checking out a few wedding customers this past Friday, and one of them happened to be standing near the doorway to the store. At this point, a gentleman in a suit and tie walks by and introduces himself to our customer, and proceeds to explain that he works for another local store that rents tuxedos. Now, I'm not one to return the hate, so I won't mention the name of his store, only that it was a Wear-House for Men. Anywho, this sucker proceeds to go through a sales presentation in front of the freaking store! What the hell is up with that? I was tempted to walk on over to The Men's Wearhouse and start handing out some of our own brochures to HIS customers! Maaaaan... don't let me catch that little rodent over our way again...

Champions of Norrath: Final: Who da' man? Bryce is the da' man! I absolutely kicked the crap out of Innoruuk a few days ago, with little to no effort. Granted I had recently purchased a bow that could probably slay a god, but that's beside the point. And I have to say that death in the world of Norrath can't be all that bad if you end up in the Plane of Air, because I mean, c'mon! Did you see Natasla? Who knew the afterlife had so much eye candy? Anyway, just for fun, I started a new game with the victorious Bryce, but at a higher difficulty level. I'll tell you what.... the game DOES get more difficult, but nothing (and I mean NOTHING) is more fun than going back through that opening goblin attack with a guy with a sword in each hand and Critical Hit activated. Granted, I'm chugging potions like a wino to stay alive at some points, but it was well worth it. Who says a Wood Elf can't brawl?

?whatis irony: Irony is getting your ass whupped in Soul Calibur 2 by your girlfriend, who happens to be using your favorite character. I swear to goodness, Heather straight up bitch-handled me with Raphael this past weekend. Granted I did (barely) end up winning our best-of-ten series (6-5, thank you very much), she absolutely mauled me with Raph. I've also learned that she's brutal-nasty with Cervantes, and is damn near insane with Xianghua. Not bad for a woman that doesn't game often, I must say!

On the Other Hand... : ... I ran into some young ladies that apparently DO game very often a few days ago. I stopped by the arcade at our Rec Center in order to get in a few rounds of Soul Calibur 2 before class, and was somewhat shocked to see three young women going to town in there, two on Soul Calibur, and the third breaking things down on Pump It Up. Being the gentleman that I am, I decided to wait for them to finish up in SC2 before approaching; I wasn't even two rounds in before one of them challenged me! I ended up winning the first match, but man, we brawled. She took the second match, and the third went down to the wire, and actually ended up in Sudden Death! I've NEVER had to fight anyone in Sudden Death! I ended up winning that one as well, but then her friend came in and picked Voldo.

I suddenly panicked.

No one- and I mean NO ONE- picks Voldo in a competition setting unless they really know how to use him. Sure, maybe if you're just messing around with some friends, but if you're playing to win? Not likely. See, the thing with Voldo is that he's such a wonky character that you have to know exactly what you're doing to have any sort of success with him. Button-smashers may get lucky on occasion, but that's about it. We begin the match, and unleashes a beating on me that only Voldo is capable of. Looks like I've got some competition in the dojo... anxiously awaiting the rematch!

"Hey Mani, What's the Stupidest Question You Can Ask Someone During a Power Outage?" : "Do you know when the power's coming back on?" 

The Explanation: We actually had a bit of a power outage at the mall a few days back, which lasted for about a good 20 or so minutes. Out of all my years of being at Northlake, I had never seen that happen. But you'd be surprised as to how many people were asking that question! That's like coming up to me and asking if you're going to be in a car accident today! Hell, I don't know! We'll find out when the rest of you do! Common sense really does need a new name...

Random Link of the Week: This particular shirt over at Rocket Ninja, the official site to purchase merchandise from 8-Bit Theater. For the religious role player, this shirt is a must-have! Enjoy!

Random Quote: "Whoa, that kid looks like a little snow-pimp." -- A quick observation from me coming out of work today, and observing a young child decked out in a large white-and-black fur coat and hat. I guess pimping really ISN'T easy if you have to start that early.

Current Mood: Spring is here, as is evidenced by the tree sperm covering everything! You do realize that's what pollen is, right? With all of that lovely happiness in the air, it's still been insanely windy as of late, coupled with some occasionally cold weather. Heck, the last few weeks of winter were warmer that this down in this area, so what the heck is up with that? Classes are winding down, which means I've got a paper to write here, and one last whopping Graphic Design project due, not counting any redo's I may wish to undertake. Ah, school... you continue to suck away at my soul...

Woman Power: As Spring has apparently sprung, I've had an observation of mine reiterated in these past few days. It's pretty simple once you get down to it. Ladies, there is power in the sundress. Seriously. I don't care who you are, but wearing a sundress automatically increases the Cuteness Quotient (TM) ten-fold. I don't understand it, but there is something inherently powerful in the simplicity and cuteness of a sundress. Guys, don't try to understand it. Just go with the flow.

Champions of Norrath: An Update: After beating the crap out of the huge brine-shrimp looking boss under the sea and snagging the Horn of Ill Omen, I'm in Act IV, baby! The Orc's revealed his true form, and I'm stuck in a city full of angry Dark Elves. This should be fun. I'm suddenly reminded of Johnny Cage's comments in Mortal Kombat once he and Liu Kang step into Outworld... "I'm surrounded by people that probably want to kick my ass... it's like high school all over again!" I'm still about half a level away from being able to don the True Helmet and True Leggings (that doesn't sound very manly...), and REALLY start kicking some booty.

Champions: Quickie Update: Guess who just hit Level 19? Something in that dungeon's going to hell with a chest full of arrows... mwahahaha!

Good Times with Weapons: I have finally seen the infamous anime episode of South Park. Mere words cannot describe how hard I laughed at it. For starters, they nailed the whole anime-vibe disturbingly well (the random English phrases thrown in during the theme song damn near killed me), and I think as kids growing up, we've all been in that situation at least once. You know, playing around when you shouldn't have been, and someone gets hurt and you just KNOW that you have to let an adult know... aaaah, memories. And if that didn't kill me with laughter, seeing Cartman sneak across the stage naked at the end almost did. I was literally on the ground laughing with freaking tears streaming down my face! That is definitely one of my favorite episodes now. Also, was it just me, or did Kenny not have the coolest anime-redesign? Just my humble opinion...

WTF? : Between Tripping the Rift and Mad Mad House (yes, I'm getting into a reality series... laugh it up, Prometheus!), I've been watching the Sci-Fi Channel a lot as of late. As such, I'm privy to witnessing some of the shows that they put on from time to time that are really kinda crappy, to be honest. Take, for example, a movie by the name of Faust (there was more to the title, but I didn't catch it). I caught it from about the middle, and let me tell you, that sucker is Drinking-Game-Bad. First off, the main hero would turn into this huge, hulking demonic beast from time to time, which looked about as convincing as an old-school rubber-suit Godzilla. He really did look like a drunken cross between Devilman and Wolverine. Then take the heroine, who goes from this shy and withdrawn creature (for some pretty believable reasons, understandably), to being captured by this dominatrix, who essentially turns her into this super-freak that gets off on pain. Add to this the HORRIBLE fight at the end, where Devilmanverrine is fighting with this huge CG monstrosity, which more or less just involved him hopping around and swatting at where the thing's head should be. This is something me and my friends would have tried to make in high school if we were given some video equipment and a ridiculous budget to work with. There were a couple of saving graces, however. First off, whenever Devilmanverrine transformed and did his thing, they'd play this really cool Fear Factory song. Second, the main bad guy looked like a really evil elf. Seriously, someone should recruit this guy to be in a fantasy flick. And finally, the heroine looked pretty evily-cute in her skanktified outfit towards the end. What, I'm only human!

WWE Thoughts: Shelton Benjamin pinned HHH! That has got to be the biggest example of a veteran putting over a new guy, in like, years! And not only that, but Chris Jericho is back in RARE form! His taunting of Trish Stratus is the stuff of legends, I tell you (Random Sidenote: A lot of Cain Harlocke's personality is based off of Chris Jericho, as anyone in the gaming group can attest to). Smackdown's been pretty interesting as of late. For starters, I've noticed that while Spike Dudley is indeed skinnier than the Grim Reaper, that dude's got, like, 0% body fat. He's pretty ripped for a little dude. And slowly but surely, Bradshaw's new character is starting to grow on me. He makes an awesome jackass heel, and I'm curious to see what direction they go with all of this. But please change his entrance music! Favorite Line on RAW:

JR: That woman's evil! She's a jezebel! She speaks with two tongues!

King: How can a woman with two tongues be evil?

Ah, King. You're a man after my own heart. : D

Random Quote: "You're my Ambassador of Negrosity." -- That little gem comes from Neil, and that's a title I've held for several years now. Essentially, it means that I'm his window to all things ethnic in the world, and if there's ever anything that comes up that confuses the poor lad, then I'm the first one he calls. Not that I know everything my damned self, but hey, details, details...

Current Mood: Not bad, not bad... things in the Mani camp have been sane these past few days. Of course with Prom Season looming on the horizon, I'm sure things are going to get good and jacked at work these next few weeks, but it's nothing that I haven't had to deal with before. Heather's graduating in a couple of weeks (whooooo!), and I'm doing my best to help her stave off the encroaching bout of Senioritis. All in all, these are good and exciting times around these parts!

More Angry Zombies: Am I on some sort of zombie movie kick now? After last week's discussion of Dawn of the Dead, I ended up picking up not only 28 Days Later, but Resident Evil as well. Now, I had seen RE before (one of the better videogame-to-movie translations), but 28 Days Later was new to me. I had heard from many folks that it was one of the scariest movies to come out in recent memory, so I was a bit anxious to check it out. It's very-not-bad, and there were some admittedly intense scenes, but it didn't make me cling to the ceiling or anything like that. Still, it's much more psychological that most horror flicks, making you think heavily about what people could be pushed to in a situation like that.

Gaming Woes: Any gamer will tell you about those times when there's a game (or eight) that's just calling out to you, demanding that you purchase it (or them). Currently in my sights would be NFL Street (which has gotten awesome endorsements from every friend of mine that owns it), along with Disgaea (the quirky little strategy game from the fine folks at Atlus, which is RIGHT up my alley). I've made myself this promise- I, Damani Zayas, shall not purchase another game until I beat Champions of Norrath. Which unfortunately, I haven't gotten a chance to mess around with since last week, but once things calm down on this latest project, it's going DOWN! Bryce the Wood Elf Ranger is calling for blood to be spilled, and asses to be kicked!

Iron Monkey 2 Thoughts: Not bad, but the original is much better. That is all.

Cookies = Crack: This past week, I was informed by my mother that some of the pastor's kids were selling Girl Scout Cookies at the church. Having not partaken of many cookies this season, I opted to go and pay them a visit. The goal: Purchase two boxes (some Tag-a-longs, and another of my choice), and go about my merry way.

I ended up buying four boxes for myself, and two for my mom.

The thing is, though, is that I didn't lose control when I got there! The issue comes from my pastor's wife, who, as near as I can tell, is the world's greatest saleswoman. I had just settled on the two, and the next thing I know is that I'm walking out of there with six boxes in my arms! I'm not saying that it wasn't worth it, mind you, but man, she's good. Thank goodness Sister Gloria found God back in the day, because if she dealt drugs, we'd have a nation of junkies. Well, more so.

Random Quote: "'Do you like her? Do you still like him? Alright, then do the damn thang...'" -- Marissa at work a few days ago, joking about what it should be like to renew one's vows. Between us, we were trying to understand why someone would want to spend all kinds of insane money in order to go through the process of reminding each other that, yup, we're still married. Save that money and go on a vacation, folks!

Current Mood: The Heather-less week continues! For those of you that weren't aware, Ms. Heather's been on Spring Break this week, which places her in Nashville to visit a recently-engaged friend of hers (Helloooooo, ladies!). I've managed to cope (with only me crying nightly now), and I'm glad that the two lasses are getting to spend some time together. I'm also deathly afraid of the fact that they were together for St. Patrick's Day, which I'm sure saw the two of them getting slightly sloshed. Well no biggie, as long as no one got arrested! I feel pretty good about my progress on our latest project in Graphic Design (which I just have to mount on board), and Art History's been strangely sane as well. I've gone ahead and tried to register for a few classes for Summer, but I'm getting so far along now (FINALLY!) that my selections are much thinner than in previous semesters. I've pondered taking Summer off and taking a heavier load this coming Fall, but I'm sure I can locate another class or two to add in. I also need to talk to my advisor and see if I can use C++ as my Foreign Language requirement, which would kick all manner of ass if they'd let me (hey, learning to program is more or less learning another language!). Hey, what can I say, I'm an optimist!

The Return of the Angry Zombies: I got my hands on a few tickets to check out a Sneak Preview of Dawn of the Dead this past Monday. It ended up being Neil, Laura and I attending the showing, which was complete with a cast of folks dressed as zombies! We made the mistake of putting Laura on the isle, which saw her getting harassed by all manner of undead dudes, by far the strangest being the one that bent down and sniffed her flip-flopped foot. "I think he was just fulfilling a fetish," I joked to Neil, who seemed to agree.

Anywho, the movie itself was pretty damned good, I have to say. Funny when it needs to be, and downright nerve-racking at times, Dawn is very well done. It's been years since I've seen the original, so I'm really not sure about the comparison, but the remake does well enough to stand on its own merits. There's a few moments that'll make you crack up (hearing a lounge version of Down With the Sickness by Disturbed playing during one moment amused me to no end), along with several 'Holy Crap!' moments to balance things out (these are by far the fastest zombies I've ever seen in a horror movie). Highly recommended- I'm definitely buying it on DVD in the future, if nothing else to scare the ever-loving crap out of Heather : )

And as a random sidenote, the whole situation reminded me of the upcoming Resident Evil: Outbreak. I've never been a huge RE geek, but I might have to pick that game up now, simply because we all joke about what we'd do in that situation.

Speaking of Which: Now I'm curious as to who among my friends would do what if we were trapped by a bunch of zombies. We'll take Neil, Jimmy, Heather, TC, Galen, and myself into the situation. Of those six, I'd probably give the greatest odds of survival to Neil, providing he can keep from getting too buck-wild and gun crazy when the situation called for it. More than likely, he'd be the shotgun-toting hard-ass of the crew. I also think that Heather stands a good chance of surviving, since she's got a pretty good head on her shoulders, and isn't a skank. Everyone knows that a skank is pretty much Dead Woman Walking in situation like that. Providing she can keep from running outside trying to save a dog (watch Dawn and you'll see what I'm talking about), I think her odds are pretty good. By virtue of the Golden Rule of Horror Movies (also known as "Black Folks Rarely Survive"), TC, Galen, and myself would have a bit of a time getting through this in one piece. TC and Galen would probably get backed into a corner (after killing several hundred zombies beforehand and running out of ammo), but when the realization dawns on them that they're not going to make it out, they would say something very cool before calmly setting off an explosion that takes out an entire city block, along with several hundred MORE zombies. Being mixed, I might make it to the end, but with my luck, I'd more than likely get killed by a stray zombie right as everyone else was escaping (cue slow-motion death sequence), reaching out to Heather and demanding that Neil not take advantage of her in my absence. As for Jimmy... our Japanese associate is quite crazy and is perhaps the epitome of the term buckwild, so he'd probably stay back and cover our escape, a pistol in one hand and katana in the other, screaming "Come on, you undead muthaf*kas! You tell Satan that Jimmy's coming down to stick this sword up his big red ass!" Final survivors: Neil and Heather!

Champions of Norrath: An Update : Still island hopping, so imagine my shock when I actually ended up in a castle in the freaking sky! This was followed immediately by a trip to the frozen plains! I tell you, those islands are seriously jacked up... after beating the crap out of the Sky Giant (who I'm still calling Zeus), I finally found that loon Lazlo, and I'll have you know that dude is crackhead-Gollum-crazy. Now I need to find the pieces of the raft that nut-boy hid, so that I can sail out to the middle of the freaking ocean and find the damned Horn of Ill Omen that Lazlo tossed out there. I also need to hurry and hit Level 19, because I've found some killer armor (the True Helmet and True Grieves) that would really help out. I mean c'mon, that's a 30 point boost in Intelligence and Endurance between the two of them. That comes in handy when you're a Wood Elf Ranger trying to stay alive!

Straight Tripping: I finally caught an episode of Tripping the Rift on the Sci-Fi Channel last night, and I have to say that it was pretty damned funny. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, Tripping is a new series that's totally computer generated, and has been described as a mesh of Futurama and South Park. Definitely not for the youngsters, I'll have you know. The jokes still seems somewhat awkward (as is the case with most shows in their first season), but I think it's got potential to be a pretty big hit. And is it just me, but for a CG character, isn't Six kinda hot? I'm just saying...

And Who in the Hell... : ... thought it was a good idea to bring back The Mullets on UPN? Someone needs to be shot for that one. 

Wrestlemania XX Afterthoughts: Hot damn, that was one hell of a card. I still question the 4-hour format, but there were plenty of matches that made it worthwhile. As expected, Eddie and Kurt stole the show, and I was VERY impressed with the HHH/Michaels/Benoit Triple Threat (Random Mani Quote as Benoit is slapping the Crossface on HHH: "You are Benoit's bitch! YOU ARE BENOIT'S BITCH!"). The Kane/Undertaker match was pretty intense with the buildup they did for it (Random TC Quote as the Undertaker comes out: "It's the Hybrid-Taker!"). I have to say that I was disappointed with the Cruiserweight Open (too rushed!), and Brock/Goldberg was just... surreal. That match was just... bad. We're talking HHH/Scott Steiner at the Royal Rumble bad here... I guess with the news of both of their imminent departures, the crowd gave less than a crap about the whole thing. You never want to hear the crowd chanting 'Boring' during a match between two of the company's biggest stars, a match that has NEVER taken place before, mind you, and at FREAKING WRESTLEMANIA! That grotesque mockery aside, though, WMXX definitely was the best PPV WWE's had in a long time.

Random Quote: "Pancho will hump a cat! Pancho will hump a chicken! And for the right price, Pancho will HUMP YOUR DAUGHTER!" -- Neil a few days ago, bragging about his little chihuahua Pancho, who is perhaps the cutest little rat-dog I've ever seen. He just found out a few days ago that ol' Pancho comes from a very good stock (we're talking Show Dog variety here), and is now contemplating whoring the little hound out to breeders. This was his spiel, complete with the Cheech-in-'From Dusk til Dawn'-accent.

Current Mood: Much better! Spring Break was good to me, so I'm feeling a lot better. I was also graced by the presence of Heather this past weekend, where we attended the dual-birthday party of a couple of friends of ours on Saturday, and spent Sunday wandering around Little Five Points, Atlanta's counter-culture capitol. It's like a huge college campus in a way, with all manner of people wandering about. You've got your hippies and your goths, your 'rastas and your biker gangs, all living and working in the community. I used to be scared to death of Little Five back in high school ("Man, those dudes out there are SCARY!"), but I find myself quite comfortable there nowadays. Hey, an artist could thrive out there, y' know? 

The Sins of the Owner: While wandering around Little Five Points with Heather this past Sunday, we stopped by a natural foods store. Heather (she who loves tofu) has been looking for one for the longest, and she was thrilled to actually find a spot. I, diehard meat-eater that I am, wasn't in as much of a state of shock as you would probably imagine, but there was something there that, quite frankly, shocked and horrified me.

They have vegetarian Dog Food!

My question is this: what self-respecting dog is going to want to be a vegetarian? I just can't help but think that you're forcing the lifestyle on the poor creature, one that goes against what's been ingrained in his psyche from Day One. It's like that tofu-eating lion they had on Futurama, man! People who feed their dogs vegetarian food, be VERY glad that they can't talk, otherwise I'm quite certain that you'd be getting cursed out something fierce!

More SVC Chaos: First off, a correction from last week, as I accidentally called it CVS Chaos... last I checked, CVS wasn't holding any sort of fighting tournaments. Anywho, I got a chance to mess around some more with it a few days ago, and ended up getting thoroughly trounced by a hidden character that I didn't even realize was in the game, but I've been secretly hoping to see for years now... imagine my shock as I, playing Ken, find myself standing face-to-face with Evil Ken! Who absolutely WHUPPED my ass! Man, it was great! I tell you, the brother's nasty... I look forward to fighting him again!

Champions of Norrath: An Update : Still hopping around from island to island, where I've flirted with a mermaid (mmm... Kerriel), and have overpopulated hell with the countless hordes of slavers that have gotten in my way. I've also just warped over to the Ashen Plains, which is teaming with nomads and scorpions, and made the mistake of stepping foot into the temple. Now, the temple itself wasn't the problem, just the 20+ nomad mages that were running around resurrecting things faster than I could kill them. I think the thing a Ranger fears the most in the world is seeing that little arrow counter showing, like, five arrows left when you're surrounded by a multitude of enemies. After taking out everyone that I could, I backed out of the Temple with a Warp Scroll and went back to the coast in order to do some shopping before proceeding deeper. 200+ arrows later, along with malice in my heart, I await the return to the temple!

What's Up With... : ... the color pink? Not just the color itself, mind you, but just that I've noticed more and more guys wearing it. And not all guys, just the hard-assed thugged-out variety. I hate to say it, but it's kind of difficult to look all hardcore and whatnot when you're wearing a pair of pink Timberlands and a pink headband. I guess they're just saying that you really have to be a bad ass in order to wear that much pink and look manly.

The Road to Wrestlemania... : ...leads right through TC's living room apparently, as the Wrestlemania XX party will be at his place! I like the way the card's been shaping up so far, though there's all kinds of rumors floating around that could be a bit of a damper on things. For starters, there's one going around that Brock The-Shaved-Yeti Lesnar might actually be leaving the WWE post-Mania in order to pursue a career in football. Which sounds odd as hell to me, but I'll be keeping my eyes open on that one. On the other hand, I'm still looking forward to the Cruiserweight Open (I'm a big-time whore for the Cruiserweight Division), Angle vs. Guerrero (my pick my Match of the Night), and of course, Kane vs. The Undertaker.

And as a Favor to Me: Could you please pop by my bud Prometheus's LiveJournal and remind him that his birthday was a few days ago? Read that last entry, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Happy Belated Birthday, dude : ) 

Random Quote: "I could be dating Jesus, and my family would find some way to fault him. 'So, Jesus... what's up with the hair, man? Don't you think you need a haircut?' -- Another excerpt from a conversation with God-Is at work a few days ago, in regards to how picky her family is in regards to who she dates. 

Current Mood: Relapse! Crap on it all! I got hit with the infamous One-Day-Flu that seems to be going around as of late, which really made life suck a few days back. As it stands now, though, I've made a semi-full recovery (stupid runny nose, and my swine of an appetite isn't quite 100% just yet), which puts me in a much better mood. Also, Spring Break is next week, which if nothing else gives me a few days of downtime to get things done. Granted most of that time will be spent knocking out a few things for this upcoming Graphic Design project, but at least it's a cool project this time around. Heck, I get to use a quote from Braveheart as the basis... which reminds me...

Message for Neil: Dude, mind if I borrow Braveheart from you sometime this week? : D

The Passion : This past Sunday saw me, Neil, Laura, Jimmy, and Neil's mom catching a showing of The Passion. After sitting through the previews TWICE (no joke there!), we sat back and watched the movie. Words cannot accurately describe the experience... as cliché as that sounds, it really is the best way I can describe it all. Christian or not, this is a powerful piece of cinema that anyone can get something out of. No one in the group could say a word to each other for about 20 minutes after it was over... it's just one of those profound movies that makes you sit back and think. Don't let the subtitles scare you- heck most the the folks that come here are anime fans anyway, so you should be used to subtitles! Very well cast all around too; I'll tell you right now, the androgynous Satan in the movie is very creepy. Go see this movie... it is absolutely worth your time.

And in an Interesting Follow-Up to the Last Topic... : ...the previews to Hellboy look pretty sweet! I finally caught one a few nights ago, and while I didn't follow the comic any, I have to say that the whole premise is pretty intriguing. I'll add that one to the list of movies to catch this summer.

Champions of Norrath: An Update : Several dozen flaming arrows later, Bryce the Wood Elf Ranger has beaten the vampire Lord Vanderhost, and commandeered his ship. But before that glorious brawl, I ran across his underling Sylea... now, I'm not one to leer at half-naked vampiritic Dark Elf women, but DAMN! Is there a rule that if you're a female vampire, you more or less have to lurk about damn-near naked? That's not a complaint, mind you, but merely an observation!

The Wrath of SNK Bosses - A Rant : Between classes this past Thursday, I stopped by one of the local arcades and was quite shocked to find that CVS Chaos had no one on it. Wanting to kill some time I decided to try my hand at it, opting to go with my boy Ken. I proceeded to tear through the computer with reckless abandon, certain that I'd get pummeled by a boss at some point. The first main obstacle was Goenitz (which I still jokingly pronounce 'goat nuts'), who I've seen murder many a competitor in that game. I managed to beat him, and thought that I was the man. Next came Akuma, who ALSO felt my wrath. I felt pretty good at that point, until I saw who was next. Not just Iori, but crazy, foaming-at-the-mouth Psycho Iori! He gave me some problems, but I beat him too! "Oh, I am the MAN!" I thought. "If I can beat him, I can beat anybody!"

Then came Mr. Karate, who proceeded to shove that Tengu mask of his in my ass sideways.

Later that day, I was messing around some with King of Fighters 2001, and I FINALLY managed to face Igniz, the final boss. He absolutely DESTROYED my Fatal Fury team several times before I beat him (with JOE-FREAKING-HIGASHI of all people!). I guess my question from all of this is simply why are the bosses in SNK games the most psychotically powerful and fast mofo's on the planet? I'd hate to be a fighter in the SNK universe if I had to go up against one of those fools...

WWE: Observations: I have to say that this is easily the funniest Smackdown! that I've seen in a loooooong time. For starters, I don't know why, but seeing Brock the-shaved-gorilla Lesnar tooling around on Stone Cold's stolen ATV had me laughing early on. But I think the crown jewel of the evening was Haas and Benjamin's impression of the APA (Line of the Night: "Dammity-damn-damn!"). I thought I was going to spit a lung out on that one. The Road to Wrestlemania has been an interesting one to say the least. I'm pretty excited about most of the card, in particular The Cruiserweight Open, Guerrero vs. Angle, Kane vs. The Undertaker, and probably HHH/Benoit/Michaels more so if it wasn't the Triple Threat. Nonetheless, I think I might try to hold the Wrestlemania party over this way again, providing that FREAKING COMCAST doesn't screw up this year too.

Random Quote: " 'Who's that with the pointy hat?' 'That's JESUS, you fool!' " -- Thankfully this conversation DID NOT take place, but that was my impression of the type of questions our good friend Jimmy would be asking during The Passion. He didn't, mind you, but that got a good laugh out of the group beforehand.

Current Mood: God bless Atlanta when it snows. I swear to goodness, the whole city shuts down when we get some flurries! The Week of Hell (TM) is coming to an end, and it seems that I've made it through in one piece. However, we've got another project coming up, but I think we've got just a bit more time to work on this one, thankfully.

Club Ninja Book Club: Highly recommended- The Jester, by James Patterson. When I first saw it in hardcover a while back, I made it a point to try and snag a copy once it was released on paperback. Action, drama, violence, vengeance and holy relics are the order of the day... it's a hell of a good book, and I highly recommend it to anybody. If nothing else, some of the jokes Hugh (our jester) tells are downright hilarious. Go read it. Now, I say, now!

"Warriors... Come Out and Plaaaaaaaay!" : I finally got around to picking up a copy of one of my all time favorite movies, that being, of course, The Warriors. For you jive-ass suckers that aren't familiar with it, The Warriors is a tale of 70's era gangs in New York City, with the movie's namesake being a gang from Coney Island that gets pinned with the murder of a man trying to unite the factions. Good action, some violence, and what's there not to like about these 70's era movies? I'm still reminded of the various gangs in River City Ransom every time I see this movie... as a random sidenote, I hear that Rockstar Games is supposed to be making a game based on the movie sometime in the future... here's to hoping that actually materializes at some point!

A Debate For the Masses: This one comes from Donald, who called me out of the blue a few days ago to ask the following. "Does Jello ever go bad?" he frantically wondered. "I've got some stuff that's been in the fridge for about a month now, and I don't know if I should eat it or not..." I had to give this one some thought... anything that's been sitting in the refrigerator for the better part of a month is bound to be a bit skanky. On the other hand, all that's really in Jello is water and gelatin, which, as near as I can tell, doesn't really have a shelf life. I gave him my blessing, but the realization has just dawned on me that I haven't heard from him in a couple of days now... oh dear...

And When in the Hell... : ... did KFC start calling itself Kitchen Fresh Chicken? Those chumps didn't drop the Kentucky Fried Chicken moniker (out of fear of the word Fried being in the name) all that long ago, and now they're trying to push this as the new KFC? HA! I really didn't think having Fried in the name was all that bad, actually. I mean, we in the south, yo! We'd fry sweet tea if we could! Who's going to confuse KFC with health food, anyway?

And Speaking of Frying Anything... : When Heather and I were in Mississippi, why did I see Fried Dill Pickle Slices on a menu as an appetizer? Egad... we truly WILL fry anything, living or nonliving!

A Public Service Announcement: Ladies- do not think of us as these big hulking Neanderthal pigs simply because we're concerned with your safety. That it all.

Random Quote: "It's like it pushes everything together into this massive bulge of flesh, and you end up with this big ol' uni-tit action going..." -- The latest addition to Gingiss Northlake, Marissa's friend God-Is, commenting on push-up bras. She's only been here for about a week now, and she already fits right in!

Current Mood: Dreading, yet prepared for this coming week. It's gonna be ugly as far as all of the school stuff that's coming down (paper, test, and project), but I'm sure I can get a good chunk of it knocked out this weekend. The part that irks me the most though is that it's cutting into a couple of side projects I've had going for a while now, but I suppose we've got to prioritize from time to time. Bleh! At any rate, I'm sensing that I'll be downing lots of caffeine this weekend. Bottoms up!

And Speaking of Dreading: Dreading, but in a different sense. The running joke with Heather and I is that she thinks that I'd look good in dreads, while I'm still somewhat content to keep my urban-monk of a haircut. Of course with it being winter and all, I've decided to let my hair grow out more than usual, and in the meantime, ask a few people as to what their opinions on what they think I'd look like with dreads. It's a pretty even split right now between parties, with some VERY interesting comments thrown in here and there ("Yeah, you should get them, you're a pretty strange guy..." was perhaps my favorite, coming from a coworker). My sister's fiancé has them, and I've been examining them every time he comes around, just in case.

Stop the Presses- Fiancé?! : Oh today is a day in which all of my single (and not so single on occasion) friends that have ever stalked my sister must weep, for it's true! She's now engaged, and hence, off the market for good! I swear to goodness, I think just about every one of my friends has hit on my sister at one point or another. Well, no more! While Damion's a very nice dude, he still is linebacker-huge, so I don't advise anyone trying to pick a fight for her honor. Lament, ya' bastards, lament!

Champions: An Update: Man, I hate spiders. Especially ones large enough to eat a mule. The only thing I hate worse than that are spiders big enough to eat ME. I had to go toe-to-eight-hairy-leg with Shelox the spider (interesting name there, btw...) recently, and shortly after that, brawl with the Ant Queen and her 50,000 some-odd angry sons. There's been a lot of insect smiting as of late. Just as a gauge as to how nasty the Ant Queen brawl went, I walked into that fight with 200+ arrows, and left out with 10. The other 190+ could be found embedded in the various asses and thoraxes of creatures trying to chomp me. Who says a Ranger can't brawl?

Champions Sidenote: Thinking ahead, I figured that it might not be a bad idea to build up a couple of characters in case I ever get a multiplayer game going over here at some point. I started a new game with a female Barbarian, but was at a bit of a loss as to what to name her. But then I put some thought into it... an angry blade-wielding wilderness-dwelling redhead with a slight Scottish accent? Heather is is! : D And let me tell you, the girl is BAD! You can't beat a woman slicing down hordes of invading goblins with an axe... just WAIT until she gets Dual-Wielding...

Tokyo Godfathers: This was playing at a local indie theater last week, so me, Kris, and a number of the local Animation HQ folks went to check it out. In case you're not familiar with the premise, it's about three homeless people (an older man, a runaway teen, and, yup, a cross-dresser) who find an abandoned baby, and try to seek out the infant's mother. I know, it sounds like the punch line to a joke, but it was very well done. Touching when it needed to be, and downright hilarious as well, I highly recommend checking it out. I'm hearing that they'll be a DVD release in the near future, so keep your eyes open for it!

WWE: One Quick Note: Eddie Guerrero's the champ! Eddie Guerrero's the champ! BOOYAH!!! 

Random Quote: "You've got the new Outkast? Well, you might actually be black then... oh wait, that's not a bootleg, is it? Well..." -- Excerpt from a conversation with me and my sister last week when she popped into town to give us the news about her wedding. Running jokes never die. : )

Current Mood: Hectic, but all good. I turned in my first Graphic Design project for this semester last week, and we've hit the ground running on #2 thus far. I've also got my first test in Art of the Northern Renaissance in about two weeks, and with the amount of material we've covered so far, there'll be plenty of studying to attend to. Also, Heather and my trip to Mississippi last week turned out to be quite nice all around. We ended up looking at GCRL (Gulf Coastal Research Lab, unless I miss my guess... Heather?), located in Clearwater. Which is about five minutes from Biloxi! Granted it's no Las Vegas, but I like the whole small town/semi-large town dichotomy there.

Mississippi- Thoughts and Reflections: As a whole I have to say that I enjoyed the trip, but there was one little incident that, quite frankly, left me shocked and appalled. Saturday night, Heather and I stopped by a local burger place for dinner. After placing our orders, I go over to the fountains to get some tea, and as I get back to the table, I take a sip... and realize that it was unsweetened! I mean, c'mon, folks! Mississippi is part of the South too! That's criminal! But other than that small little setback, I have to say that the area's pretty nice, all in all. And if you're ever in the Clearwater area, I suggest stopping by the Walter Anderson Museum downtown (which their downtown, by the way, is merely the size of a city block or two). Now, the dude was all kinds of jacked-up strange (ok, eccentric), but he's an awesome artist all around. Go forth and be educated!

New and Exciting Ways to Smite Evil: I picked up Champions of Norath a couple of days ago, and very few things compare to the pleasure of going toe-to-toe against a murderous army of orcs and goblins with malice in their hearts. I'm still early in the game, but I'm handing out my fair share of asses with Bryce, my Wood-Elf Ranger (named after an NPC in my Glenshire campaign). I've never played Everquest in its online incarnations, but even with my short time with this game, I've learned a valuable lesson- attempting to brawl with a pair of Dire-Badgers early in the game is a BAD idea. Can't wait to try this one multiplayer!

Mantra Repeated The Most While Playing Champions: "The Ranger is not a tank... the Ranger is not a tank..." I have this nasty habit of trying to wade into battles like a Barbarian, which usually results in me getting stabbed more times than I care to admit. I'm becoming quite proficient at picking off enemies with arrows Legolis-style, which has been doing a good job at keeping me alive. Just wait until I get Dual-Wielding...

New and Improved Mall Music: I've been meaning to comment on this for some time now, but somewhere between 2003 and 2004, there's been a major change in the mall music over at Northlake. Whereas it was pretty generic fare before, it's composed of some recognizable tunes, and some of them are fairly modern, too! And I'm not talking crappy-instrumental-versions, these are the full-fledged songs here. I've caught some Earth, Wind, and Fire, Michael Jackson (both Bad and Butterflies), and Remy Shand... while most folks probably haven't heard of the dude, if I'm not mistaken, his CD came out sometime last year! And it's not crappy, either, mind you... in fact, I feel the need for a shameless plug...

Shameless Plug: If you like really mellow, yet soulful music, I highly recommend you track down The Way I Feel by Remy Shand. Think a less-Pop-ish Jamiroquai, and you're in the same ballpark. Good CD all around, but as far as specific tracks go, listen to Take A Message With My Love. Very cool!

WWE- Quick Thoughts: Brock Lesnar dancing around to a mariachi band while wearing a sombrero- freaking hilarious! I'm rooting for Eddy Guerro to win at this coming No Way Out this Sunday. It's about time they put the strap on him!

Random Quote: "I heard that you guys get dressed up to go to KFC." -- Another classic from George at work this past week, speaking to a former coworker on the phone a few days ago, who has recently moved to the boonies of Texas/Arkansas. You know, before last week's trip, I probably would have said the same thing about the folks in southern Mississippi, but they turned out to be pretty decent folks all around. Much love to you all!

Current Mood: Getting better, but I still have bouts where I sound like Vin Diesel after a night of heavy drinking. Nonetheless, I'm recovering, and am in a bit of a good mood as of late. For one, I've got a birthday coming up in two days, which is always cause to celebrate. And two, I'll be heading to the University of Southern Mississippi this weekend with Heather, who's interested in going to grad school out that way. Of course every one of my friends is teasing me about it ("Southern Miss.? I think they still lynch people out that way..."), but I imagine that it should be fun. I mean, it can't be THAT bad, right? We'll see with next week's update...

Super Bowl Aftermath: I found the commercials to be a bit lackluster with a few gems here and there, but that was totally offset by one hell of a game. I've always been one to root for the underdogs, so I was pulling for Carolina. Nonetheless, there's no shame in losing a game like that. We had a pretty good time over at Neil's, laughing, joking, and generally gorging ourselves like hogs. It was a pretty full house over that way, but we actually managed to keep property damage to a minimum (though there WAS one impromptu wrestling match over a beanbag gecko... long story that one...). With that much testosterone floating around in the room, you just KNOW there was some interesting reactions once the Half Time show concluded...

Half Time Nudity, and the Concept of the Famous Boob: "What's the big deal?", Neil's wife Laura asked. "Mine are bigger that that!" Ahhh... this was the point where I had to explain to her the concept of the Famous Boob, also known as the Celebrity Tit Phenomenon. While it may be true that Laura's got more going on up top than Janet (and no, Neil, I have NOT been leering at your wife's rack!), the fact of the matter is that the general public has not seen said boob before, and hence, is going to be more apt to make a big deal out of it. In fact, thanks to Neil's TiVo, we rewound and watched that sucker a good three times just to make sure we really saw what we thought we did (God bless TiVo). It probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal if it happened to, oh say, Pam Anderson, since just about every man, woman, and child in America has seen her topless at some point. And while yes, it IS just a boob, it's the matter of who the boob belonged to. In a nutshell : )

Ninja Scroll: A Clarification: A few weeks back, I posted my query as to why Ninja Scroll was called such, despite there not being any scrolls to speak of in the movie. Well, Galen has enlightened me on the subject, and to paraphrase, "The reason why it seems odd why 'Ninja Scroll' doesn't fit with the movie is because, that is not the correct translation. The correct title is "Wind Ninja Chronicles"... you know how Americans like to F%# $ up stuff once they get their hands on it..." Thanks for the clarification!

Quick Movie Observations: I'm currently watching Half Past Dead, which yes, I admit, is quite bad, but it's not without its merits. For one, Morris Chestnut plays one hell of a sociopath, and seeing the freaky commando chick kick the ever-loving crap out of Ja Rule makes it pretty worthwhile. : )

Random Quote: "That outfit Janet has on looks very Japanese... I think I should be offended." -- Jimmy, our resident Japanese brother commenting on Janet Jackson's choice of attire for the Super Bowl Half Time Show, which we all seemed to think made her look like a leather-clad samurai. This isn't a bad thing, mind you.

Current Mood: Down With the Sickness... and no, not the angry-assed song from Disturbed, either. I seem to be running the gauntlet of cold symptoms right now, from the runny noses to the sore throats and mild fevers. I think I'm at the end of it, which leaves me dealing with a cough the likes of which may eventually bring forth a lung or two. But other than that, it's been the usual ups and downs. Mainly ups, aside from the psychotic coughing and all, but other than that, it's all good.

Gamers' Paradise: At Galen's urging, I managed to track down a copy of Rez, which not only is rarer than a Fanboy without B.O., it's also a heck of a lot more fun to be around. The premise sounds simple enough (if it moves, shoot it), but the whole musical mechanics behind it makes it VERY addictive. I dare you to play this game and not start nodding your head at some point. Now I'm not as hardcore as to snag this little vibrating accessory [Beware! Gratuitous Panty Shot Within!], but if it'll make me more popular with the ladies (er, lady... hi, Heather!), then perhaps I'll consider importing one at some point.

Nyquil + Rez = Bad Idea: I took a few Nyquil Gelcaps before heading to bed Sunday evening, and while waiting for them to kick in, I decided to kill some time by playing Rez a bit more. This, my friends, was a very bad idea. I opted to turn the game off once I felt them starting to kick in, but that's where the fun began. I could not sleep for at least a freaking hour after that, as I was busy rolling around half-dazed in bed thinking that I was shooting at computer viruses in some Rave wonderland! It probably would have been less disturbing if I didn't have to work the next day.

The Royal Rumble- Thoughts BEFORE Reading the Results: Here we are lined up for perhaps my favorite WWE pay-per-view of the year, and I won't be watching it. Alas and alack. However, I'm liking the fact that it's not immediately obvious who's going to win it all, as it's been in years past. There's a whole lotta stories going into that match this time around, and I'm quite curious as to who's going to win the title shot at Wrestlemania. My votes are for either Kurt Angle or Chris Benoit (which I think would kick all manner of ass if he got the main event spot come WMXX). My long-shot is John Cena, and my just-wishful-thinking candidates are Chris Jericho or Kane. Seeing as he's #30 out of 30, I think giving Goldberg the win would be a bit anticlimactic, so I'm going against that one. And as my memory serves, I believe Smackdown has one last mystery entrant- I'm thinking we're going to see the return of Edge (whooooo!), or possibly even the old-school Undertaker (hot damn!), coming to unleash suffering upon his brother Kane. We shall see!

The Royal Rumble- Thoughts AFTER Reading the Results: Benoit wins! Hot diggity! And I have to admit, I didn't even think about Foley coming back and beating the unholy stank out of Randy Orton, either. And seeing Brock lay out Goldberg with an F-5 would have been worth the price of admission by itself! Note to self: definitely catch RAW tonight.

Random Quote: "What the hell was in that black mist, cataracts?" -- A tidbit from a wrestling-related conversation with my friend Sheridan, who popped by work a few days ago to say hi. We were wondering exactly what was in that black mist that Tajiri spit at Nidia, which supposedly 'blinded' her damn near two PPV's ago. Seeing as everyone else seems to recover from the green mist with no real problems, we reasoned that there's got to be something wickedly nasty with that black stuff.

Current Mood: This week, I discovered two words that you never want to see when doing a $1000+ transaction over the internet. When attempting to pay for classes online a few nights ago and seeing SERIOUS ERROR pop up in regards to GSU's servers, I nearly crapped a kitten. I swear, I'd have started swearing in Orc if I could. I stopped by the Department of Admissions the next day, and thankfully all was went with the transaction. Nonetheless, it DID manage to freak me out something fierce. But other than that, all is well in the world. The first week of classes went off with nary a hitch, and I'm actually finding friends on campus that actually have worse schedules than mine. If nothing else though, I just discovered that there is indeed a Soul Calibur 2 machine at the Rec Center, so I see at least one way to kill some time between classes. Of course I've also seen the caliber (if you'll forgive the pun) of player that hang around there, so it'll be interesting to test what sort of mad skillz I possess before these mutants.

Ninja Scroll, Dubbed and Subbed: I made an interesting discovery a few days ago. Having snagged a used copy of Ninja Scroll a few days ago, I decided to go ahead and watch it subtitled, rather than the dub I had seen years ago. Now, I'm not one of the anime fans that will argue until I'm blue in the face in regards to subs vs. dubs, but I have to say that subtitled, Ninja Scroll seems so much more... authentic, I suppose. Granted the dub wasn't too offensive to my sanity, but hearing the actual Japanese is so much more fitting for the insane ninja battles, blood-shedding, and evil naked chicks with snakes crawling from unmentionables. And Jubei sound SO much more pissed in Japanese!

Random Question: And now that I'm on the subject of the movie, why in the hell is it called Ninja Scroll? There wasn't a scroll in the whole damned movie! Well, maybe one if you count the message Kagero sends to the clan head via bird, but that was hardly worth naming the movie after. An interesting quandary, I must say. 

To Be Added to the Collection... : Equilibrium. I watched it for the second time this past weekend, and it actually kicked more ass than I previously remembered. Definitely an underrated classic, I highly recommend checking it out at some point. I always describe it as The Matrix meets Fahrenheit 451, which I think is a pretty good assessment. An oppressive future, a conflict of values, and mad-crazy gunplay that keeps from getting too over-the-top, it's got something that just about everyone can get into. Even the ladies, who can not only marvel over the complex emotional content, but drool over Christian Bale and Tae Diggs. Everyone wins!

Random Quote: "I'm up here at the mall shopping with my mother... just stick the knife in me and twist it. She wanted me to take her up here so that she could buy a PS2, using money that I just gave her for bills, for my sister. Who, by the way, isn't doing anything in school right now, and will probably be dropping out in about, oh say, a month or so. Waste of space... I need to look into hiring a sniper..." -- A rant the likes of which could only be delivered by Donald, who popped by the mall for a bit this past Sunday. As is evidenced by the sarcastic tone of all of this, he was having an oh-so-wonderful day at the time. Indeed.

Current Mood: Inspired, which usually means that I'll be starting classes in a few days. As is the case here, since I'm back to the grind come Tuesday. Providing I can get the finances worked out in the very near future, I'll be taking Intermediate Graphic Design (at 8:00 in the FREAKING MORNING!), followed by Art History: The Renaissance (SIX FREAKING HOURS LATER!). Thankfully it'll only be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I'm sure that extended gap between classes will actually help me at some point. That's prime time to finish up Graphic Design stuff! 

A Trilogy to Rule Them All: I've finally gotten a chance to see Return of the King; my geek credentials have been restored. I didn't have any doubts going into the movie, but I fully realized that The Two Towers was a very tough act to follow. Well, Peter Jackson has surpassed it in spades, as that movie... nah, trilogy... kicked more asses than an angry donkey farmer. It's difficult to determine who was my favorite character was over the course of the three movies, but by virtue of what he did in that last battle scene, Legolis is still the man. You know the one I'm talking about! :D 

Irony, Differences of Opinions, and 'Huh?': After I talked to Galen and mentioned that I had finally gotten around to seeing Return of the King, he kindly directed me to the following site belonging to the ChildCare Action Project (CAP) Ministry, who go about rating various movies from a Christian point of view. Now don't get me wrong here, because I am a Christian, just one belonging to the more silent majority that doesn't make the news on a consistent basis. However, there were things that they were flagging in a number of movies that just seemed downright inane (a kiss in Return of the King?! Scandal!). The irony of this struck me, seeing as over dinner after we had seen the movie, we were actually discussing a lot of the Christian symbolism present in the film. A difference of opinions, I suppose. And as a random sidenote, they really didn't like South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut... I mean, they REALLY didn't like it! Granted that was probably one of the most offensive movies ever made, but the way they laid into that one ('Depicting Hell As Livable') amused me to no end. 

The Meaning Of Life: And from that we get into territory of Monty Python! I finally got a chance to see that last night (there's a lot of movies I got a chance to see this past week, come to think of it), and I have to say that it cracked me up something fierce. Not as bad as, oh say, The Holy Grail did, but it had enough random moments for it to stand on its own accords. If nothing else, I can't get the chorus of Every Sperm is Sacred out of my freaking head! Good stuff all around, and not just because of topless women jogging around wearing bicycle helmets and thongs. Really!

Gunfire, Vampires, and Werewolves: I finally got a chance to check out Underworld, now that it hit DVD a few days ago. What's not to like about a movie involving supernatural gang warfare? I mean c'mon, one of the Lycans went as far as to shout 'BLOODS!" at one point! Very not bad, an interesting storyline (especially involving Lucian's past), and the action sequences are downright insane at times. And is it me, or did the Abomination not look like Nightcrawler at full transformation? Recommended to you vampire geeks everywhere

Speakerboxxx and The Love Below: I finally got my hands on Outkast's latest, which I have to say really kicks the booty in ways previously thought impossible. The Love Below has been getting significantly more play over this way, but that doesn't mean Speakerboxxx isn't getting mad props as well. Current favorite songs fluctuate between Spread, My Favorite Things, Bowtie, and Reset, though my absolute favorite has to be Prototype (~I think I'm in looooooooove again...~). Good stuff all around!

Random Quote: "Do you have any velvet tuxedos?" -- I'm used to getting fairly strange questions at work, but this one sort of stuck with me for whatever reason. But truth be told, I don't know what amused me more, the fact that someone actually asked for it, or the fact that we actually DID carry them at one point.

Current Mood: I saw the web page, and I want it painted black... I kid, I kid, though I WAS listening to Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones while I was working on this. Anywho, I'm feeling pretty good all in all... New Year's was a quiet affair around these parts, which was followed by a couple of days off at work. Of course I'm not complaining in the least, but I decided to use the time to get some stuff around here. I've been meaning to do a revamp of the site for some time now, and it appears that the time is at hand! Mwahahaha!

Dangerous Gifts: I got my hands on a new digital camera this Christmas, which gives me all sorts of license to get into trouble now. That sucker's coming with me to every party/convention I attend from here on out. 

Am I The Only One... : ... that finds swearing Brits funny as hell? I had the pleasure of catching Formula 51 a few days ago, and I swear to goodness every other word involved bugger, bollocks, or bums. That was one random-assed movie, but pretty funny all in all. Who can't help but laugh at the sight of Sam Jackson decked out in a kilt and cornrows angrily shouting "Can't a brotha deal some muthaf*ckin' drugs?!" Pretty funny stuff.

Whip It Good: Consider Castlevania: Lament of Innocence beaten! Granted there's still a few things I need to do, such as finding the White Tiger Key and beating the Forgotten One (that's one stankin' nasty bastard), but I have to say that I was quite pleased with the game. I tried restarting it in Crazy Mode, and I can assure you that it lives up to that name, and then some. That sucker is DIFFICULT!! I think I might go through it in the regular mode one more time, just to see how much I can trim my time by.

Random Quote: "It's like watching old people #$%&... it's slooooooow..." -- Ovin, a former coworker that stopped by at work a few weeks back, trying to explain to George (who's semi-computer-illiterate) the difference between theT1 connection he has down in college, compared to dial-up back home. Perhaps not the most eloquent of analogies, but anyone that's every had to experience the change can understand it.