October 28, 2011

November 1st is Going to be Intense...

Why?

Well, two things:

1) Sonic Generations is being released.
2) NaNoWriMo begins!

So with Sonic Generations being released, it's pretty much a given that it's going to be played and beaten in a day, just like Sonic Colors was. Well, most of you actually have no idea that Sonic Colors was beaten in a day, but yeah. I'm relatively sure that this game is going to be shorter than Sonic Colors, but it will be awesome regardless.

I'm also going to have to throw up a review of the game. I can already see it now... Game's awesome, but shit. It's too short.

And then there's NaNoWriMo. The beginning of a quest to write a book containing 50,000 words. That means about 1,700 words a day. And I have a feeling that this first day is going to have an intense chapter or two to start off, because I'm pretty much just going to go off and allow my many frustrations of work and otherwise let loose...

It's going to be awesome.

I see great things for this day. Great things.

This One Dream I Had...

Okay... so let me see if I can accurately recall this crazy ass dream that I had...

I was fighting Vegeta, then there was something about the universe about to swallow itself. So for whatever reason, I "ended" the fight by Mega Punching Vegeta in the temple (but you know, it didn't really knock him down for too long, with him being a Super Saiyan and all) and then I flew off to see if I could stop the universe from swallowing itself.

Sure enough, there was some kind of enemy that was trying to swallow the universe whole, and somehow, with the help of Jacko, Kevin, Nicole, and Katalina(that is a relatively interesting combination of heroes to form a team with), we kill the guy, but he's like its too late because even a dead version of him will swallow the universe. And his dead body almost did swallow the universe, but it seemed to have reversed itself at the last second... like, I had almost gotten swallowed up, but then just as I stopped breathing, the swallowing stopped and I was able to live.

A few hours pass in dream time and Kevin calls me telling me that the universe swallowing guy is still alive, bothering my little brother Justin and what not. So I fly over to where they're at, and Justin's trying to fight the guy, but he's getting his ass beat. Kevin tries to fight him too, but he gets his ass beat, and then I get mad. So I fight him, but I'm on defense, because this guy is ruthless. He leaves himself open at one point, and I take advantage by punching him in the nuts. After that, I go vintage Marko Man and totally annihilate the guy with a 500+ hit combo.

Unfortunately, there's this giant meteor coming to annihilate the planet (because obviously someone is mad that we survived the universe swallowing), so Jacko summons Justin Scott, who is a completely different beast from my little brother, and he uses his ultimate psychic powers to hold the meteor off while I get some random NASA guys or something to fly into space and destroy the thing.

The destruction of the meteor, however, sends nice little rocks into plenty of graveyards and begins a Zombie Apocalypse. We didn't know it started the Zombie Apocalypse at first, but it did reanimate my father in a relatively healthy form, which I found mind blowing. First thing we did was reunite him with my mom and brothers, and then I was like how I needed to introduce her to Sally, who was dying to meet him... well not dying, because she was alive and... well, whatever. However, the trip to Philly gets cut short because the Zombie Apocalypse begins and we gotta fight zombies and whatnot.

Of course, killing that which is already dead is never an easy task, so we're out here, failing miserably to defeat these things. That's when my father's like he'll stay and fight these things while I gather up some hero friends. This sounds like an amazing plan, except I suddenly can't find anyone. And I'm fighting Zombies, trying to figure out where these people are at.

Eventually, I get tired, and the zombies get closer and closer to killing me until one zombie decides that I could be "useful" in the quest to be loved...

And I'm thinking to myself... "Loved? What?!"

The zombie explains to me that their bodies were not loved either by the people who held them (which explained the fat bastard zombie and the zombie with a whole lot of scars on their wrist) or was not loved by the people around them (which explained stab wounds, bullet holes, and missing arms). And that's when I realized that none of these zombies were... "normal," if that makes any sense. They all look like they died via some kind of physical, bodily damage, as opposed to sickness or dying in their sleep. And all they wanted was to be loved.

And apparently, they were holding my friends hostage because of the love I have for them. And they said that I could get them back in single pieces if I could figure out how their bodies could receive the same love that I had given my friends.

Unfortunately, I had no idea I was going to be able to pull that off.

And then I woke up. I guess my subconscious came up with a simple solution to save everyone... wake the fuck up.

I guess the moral of the story is... I Love You Guys. ♥

And not just the people mentioned here... I Love You All.

Additionally, I get the feeling that I had a dream similar to this before...

October 22, 2011

The Adventures of Mark Wins #7: A Night of Life and Death

I had a choice last night.

Go out and party with some friends.
Or play Streets of Rage.

I chose to go out last night.

Big mistake.

I was out with my friends Chris and his girlfriend Valerie, Eddie, and Krystal. It's been a while since we all hung out together, so this was pretty cool in theory.

We all met up on the Ave. (Jamaica Avenue) and we took the F train to find this place called the "R Bar," which Krystal had heard was a pretty cool place and whatnot.

That was a fucking lie... okay, not really, actually, but it just wasn't what we were looking for.

See, we were kinda looking for a kind of party where you can pretty much dance with anyone you like and, at the same time, be safe as possible. For whatever reason, we've all come to figure out that those two party traits (dancing with whomever and maximum safety) do not go hand in hand anymore. Obviously, this is just a theory, but it's been pretty difficult to disprove it.

Anyway, we get to R Bar, and we get in with no problem. We slip inside and we hear the music... not that bad,  but not that good, but actually, kinda better than some other shit that could have been possible, so I have no grudges against it. But everyone was white.

Now, this wouldn't be a problem... but they can't dance. No fucking rhythm whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, I'm no James Brown, but... even if I wanted to dance with these chicks that were there, hell no.

Funny thing is, I didn't even notice it at first... I had to use the bathroom, so I did. When I came back, Krystal and Eddie already had a drink while Chris and Valerie were dancing, and Krystal nudges me to show me these white chicks that were dancing horribly. And she could not stop laughing. She had been extra bubbly even before we got on the train, so it was clear to me that she had pre-gamed herself for the night. But she was dying of laughter while Eddie and I had this "are you fucking serious?" expression on our face.

Chris came up to us and was like this clearly isn't going to get any better. So we left.

Now we're out here in the middle of Manhattan wondering what to do. That's when I remember something about a place called Hype Lounge and it being free to get in tonight. I look up the place on my phone and it's a significantly easy walk away from where we were, so start to hoof it.

On our way there, we almost died. Twice.

The first time we almost died was when this obviously drunk driver decided that he didn't like driving on the street anymore, so he ran upside the curve and hit a street light. The crazy thing is that I felt that 4 out of 5 people on the road that night either didn't know how to drive and/or was intoxicated, so I was kinda wary about this, and I pretty much pulled us all out the way when the idiot hit the street light. And we were all kinda traumatized... except Krystal's bubbly ass. She was laughing her ass off.

So we move on because we don't want to be bother with cops and police reports on one of the rare nights we can actually hang like this, and we end up trying two other clubs before we get to Hype. The first one was called Urge, and it was wack. The second one didn't have a name, but when we went inside, it smelled of crystal meth. Now, I don't know it crystal meth has a particular smell, but if it does, my guess would be that it smelled something similar to what it smelled like in this unmarked club/lounge/drug house.

And the entering of that place is pretty much the second near death experience, because there's no telling what might have happened had we actually stayed.

We left that place, we walk, and we finally get to Hype... where we were denied access because of the dress code.

It didn't even occur to us that a dress code could keep us out of a place like that. We all pretty much had jeans, sneakers, non-collared shirts, and hoodies. But apparently, we weren't dressed to party. I... didn't even know that, but whatever.

Of course, Krystal's laughing at the bouncer that kept us out, talking all types of shit to this guy about both him and this Hype lounge. It wasn't funny until Eddie 1) insisted that we stay and let her finish and 2) Eddie continued to egg her on with the word "And", which led to her really going off. Like, she would say something, Eddie would say "Annnnnnnnnnd...?" and she's say something else. Then Eddie would say "Annnnnnnnnnnnnd...?" and she's say something else. We were dead ass there for at least five minutes until she seriously ran out of stuff to say... too funny.

So at this point, we have a choice... go home, or find something to do. Obviously, we should have just went home, but Krystal was like, "Fuck that yo. We came out here to have a good time and damnit we're gonna have a good time! We're gonna find something to get into and we're going to get into it! Let's go to Times Square!"

Super random destination is super random. I had no problem with walking, and neither did Valerie, but Chris and Eddie didn't like the idea, but they were kinda outnumbered, so we ended up walking to Times Square. On our way there, we damn near died again because some asshole decided that he wanted to run a red light. Fortunately, I saw that one coming too, so we stopped accordingly.

On our way there, we end up seeing three clubs/lounges/drug houses: The Hurricane Club, Club Ultra, and Pulse. We didn't even bother trying to get in because 1) The Hurricane Club looked like it had a $100 cover charge to get it, 2) Club Ultra looked wack as shit although Chris swore he heard of it before but wasn't exactly sure why and 3) Pulse was obviously not our type of crowd, complete with plenty of Asians. It also looked like it had crystal meth in it.

We get to Times Square. And nothing happens. So at this point, we decide to go home.

We look for a train station, and we find a NQR1237 station that tells us to go to 8th Ave. to enter for the ACE... and we kinda needed to be on the E.

So we walk to 8th Ave, and we see the subway station, but not before Eddie sees a Adult DVD store and strip club next to it. Krystal and Valerie want to go into the porn shop, so we go in. They're having a ball, laughing at the videos, the costumes, the lingerie, and everything, making a complete mockery out of the place by pretending to try some of the stuff on and mocking the positions that they see on the DVD covers. At one point, Krystal was on the ground, mocking some legs up in the air position, and at this point, it was clear that we needed to leave.

So we leave, and Eddie wants to go into the strip club, where my wallet bleeds. It's a $20 cover charge, plus one drink minimum .Minimum drink cost? $10. $30 gone and I ain't even wanna be in there.

Krystal wants a lap dance, Valerie wants a lap dance and insists that Chris gets one but Chris didn't want on. Eddie got, like 3 lap dances Apparently, this nigga is ballin' heavy tonight. I didn't even have enough money to pay for a fucking lap dance, so Eddie picks one out for me and insists that she gives me a lap dance while Krystal and Valerie hold my arms. After four songs, this psuedo-fetish lap dance comes to a mandatory end. Obvious highlight of my night.

We leave, we get on the train, we're tired, mostly silent and half sleep. I have no money for a cab, but this ballin' ass nigga Eddie offers to pay for mine ride home. I'm cool with it... until we get to a stop that has an F train chillin right there. I tell Eddie, "yo I'm a just take the 111 to save you money and shit," and he's like "iight cool."

So I transfer to the F, thinking that the F is gonna take a year to get to the Q111 stop and I'll be there just in time.

Big mistake.

This was the fastest F ever. Got to the stop and I had a 30 minute wait ahead of me. Whatever. It wasn't that cold, so it wasn't that big of a deal to me.

And this is where I almost die a fourth time.

So I'm out there, waiting on the bus. And some random guy comes up to me asking for money. I tell him I ain't got any. (I had a little bit, but fuck. I already spent more than I bargained for.) Big mistake, I should have just given him a little bit or whatever, cause this guy... well, he looked like he was kinda pissed about me not giving him any money.

He comes back after trying to talk to some girl, and he starts to talk to me about girls and shit. Okay, that's cool and all.

And then he says he's gonna take a walk and be right back.

Ummmm... excuse me?

Now my mind is like, "This guy is obviously going to come back and murk me. Nuh uh, not today."

So I book it down some street just as he leaves visual distance and I get to Sutphin Blvd. I'm not necessarily scared for my life or anything, but in my current state, I was not trying to deal with life and death situations on the spot. So I had to come up with a plan to get home...

The original plan was to take the airtrain to get to the Q3 to transfer to the Q111 or something like that. Then I came up with a plan to just wait it out and maybe he'd be home by the time I decided to just hop on the Q111. And then I realized that maybe I had enough money to take the LIRR home.

I had just enough money to take the LIRR home. So I took the LIRR home.

On my way home, I got stopped by the cops for the first time ever in my life because I ran across a street in hopes of not getting ran over even though I had the right of way. Cop car rolls up on me and he's like "Why were you running?" And I explain to him my night of life and death experiences and how I shoulda just stayed home and how I think this guy was trying to kill me over a dollar and I might have thrown in some more stuff, but... well, at this point, I just wanted to go home. He asked me where I lived and I was like 8 blocks down, and he let me rock.

And then I got home.

So in summary, I wasted $40+ dollars, had an adventure that was only slightly better than the destination, had 4 near death experiences, and got stopped by the cops for the first time ever in life.

When I got home, I thought to myself...

I should have just played Streets of Rage.

October 19, 2011

I Wanna

I wanna go away.
And take you with me.
Escape to a fantastic place.

But all the rules of reality
Says that this escape
Is impossible.

I wanna break the rules.
And break your mindset.
And show you something new.

But logic mindsets are strong.
And old habits, hard to break.
However can we escape?

I wanna leave this.
And hold you hand.
And never let go.

But choices are hard.
I can only choose one.
The new, or you.

I wanna choose both.
Exert my inner greed
And the six other sins.

But greed gets you nowhere.
Lust should be avoided.
Sin sends to hell.

I wanna be with you.
I wanna better life.
I wanna do me.

But you know what?
The only thing
That stands in the way...

Is me.

October 18, 2011

Sight (i really don't like that title)

pain builds up in me
as you search for the wrong answers.
every so often
i find hints,
indicating that you just might
find the right solution soon.
but soon will never be soon enough,
and it might too late
for the both of us.

you search here.
you search there.
i try to show you.
but you're blind.

you seem
to trust me about everything.
but that.
like i don't know
what i'm talking about.

i didn't want to be the teacher.
i figure that i'd be water
you'd be a cell,
osmosis would occur,
and we could just jones.

jones it out
for the rest of eternity,
because it wouldn't end
at the end.

but you refuse to learn.
you refuse to see.
and as a result,
it hurts you,
just as it hurts me.

metaphor

i can't think of a metaphor
for you and i.

i can't think of a result
for you and i.

i'm ready to give up.
almost.

but not enough
simply because.

i read the rules.
i see them broken.

i read the facts.
i see opinions.

i get all the hope in the world.
that hope gets sniped.

some say i should keep trying.
some say i should give up.

some say i shouldn't let you rock.
some say i should continue to rock.

you won't let me hold you.
i'm tired of reaching.

and still, i reach.
and still, you avoid.

you stay... just out of reach.
i don't understand.

it's like... you like seeing my hand,
but you won't touch it.

should i keep trying,
or should the trying end?

should i continue,
or should i confirm game over?

should i continue to search
for the proper metaphor?

or should i understand the reality
that this might not ever be?

difference.

i love your illusion.
you come and try to be different,
but you're only following a trend.
your definition of different
is something that wasn't as it was before.
mine? unique.
self.
me.

you present yourself as something different,
but different is all the same now.
you're nothing more
than the other one.
he's trying.
she's trying.
they're all doing whatever
looks like
its fun.

and you will never understand
the concept of being you,
for all you are,
are them.
everyone is you
and you are everyone,
for there is no difference
no matter how different
you try to become

for if you must try to be
then you aren't trying at all,
for the attempt doesn't exist.
you are who you are,
and you shouldn't have to try
to be you.

you should just be you.

October 17, 2011

Confirmed: Writing Heals the Soul... so JOIN ME!

This post is directly related to NaNoWriMo... National Novel Writing Month.

This is the month where people drop 50,000 words in a month (about 1,700 words in a day) and call it a novel.

Now ever since I came up with the idea to improvise a book, I've been massively, yet secretly hyped about it. I came up with the protagnist here on this blog... his name is Brendan.

And ever since, I've slowly come up with a bunch of scrambled ideas for the book.

Ultimately, this book... it might not finish by November 30th. It will have 50,000 in the bank though.

Most importantly, it will have me venting out on various frustrations in my life... in the most over-the-top way possible. I mean, I'm talking fights, deaths, explosions, poems, sex, the works. The fucking works.

And that's when I thought about it... I'm probably not the only one with frustrations and no real way to get rid of them without actually killing people... unless I write.

And I know that I have a few writer friends that may have frustrations and aren't exactly taking that out on the fact that they can, in fact, write.

So with that, I would like to invite you to NaNoWriMo.

Now normally, the goal is to write 50,000 in this month. That would mean 1,700 words a day. And for some of you, that just might not be all that feasible. So what I would suggest you do is come up with a goal that you're pretty sure you can reach. It could 500 words a day. It could be 1,000 words a day. Maybe a page a day.... maybe a single chapter, a story, a poem... maybe even, simply, Just Write Every Day. Whatever. Just make a goal dealing with writing of some sort and follow through.

Me? I'm going for the 50,000. That's plenty of room to fight people, fuck people, kill people, find the dragon balls, and bring them back. Then blow up the building that they all resurrected in. Just because I can. This book is either going to be the greatest book I ever wrote, or it won't make it past the first week.

You? Do whatever the hell you want. Let your imagination run wild next month.

October 12, 2011

Dreams

Every night I venture into dream world,
Ready to break you,
Ready to kill you.
Destruction is upon us.

But sometimes, I just chill in darkness,
Not caring,
Just chilling.

And every so often, we laugh.
We play.
And we dream.
Yes, we dream in a dream,
Because our thoughts are fantastic.

We make love.
We fight.
Both at the same time.

Deal with the improbable.
Do the impossible.
Wingless flight.
Ascent, too.

Swimming in water,
No gills allowed,
No drowning either.

Take great falls,
Land on our ass,
And laugh at it.

Pain doesn't exist.
I eat nightmares.
I slay monsters.
I murder murders.
I am the police.

It's fun and fun only.
It's all fun and games,
Until my subconscious kills you,
And my heart reacts,
Doubling its rate,
And jolting me out of dream world.

And I'm in a new darkness,
Wondering what happened.
Wondering if it was true.

No, it was just a dream.
Just a dream, I tell myself.
But the tear tricking down my eye
Doesn't believe it
Because it seen it.

It saw what it wanted to see.
It saw the message.
A painful one, too.
And it wonders...

Was it a dream?
Or is that how I really feel?

power walk.

oh, i got an idea.
watch me.
power walk.
through the roof.
on the path.
gone.
billions of dollars.
we spend.
year after year.
on things that don't exist.
must be priceless,
but probably worthless,
since when you look at me,
you see not enough.

that's fine.
i'll walk.
walk with power.
a power you can't see.
aura.
yin.
yang.
yun.
top tier baby.
genji jin.
custom combo.
over 9000.
hits.

i aint get that many yet.
at this rate.
it'll take 5 years.
but this rate
lacks power
and i'm power walking
to my final destination.
gonna plank,
and run up the numbers
fight,
and run down the blood,
mudslide.
avalanche.
ice.
mud.
water.
blood.
are you cold yet?
freeze
see if i care,
put on your hoodies.
i'll power walk to the heat.
the fire.
the lava.
the magma.
the sun.
through the roof
and to the moon,
follow the light,
and buuuuuurn.

get electric,
get versatile,
get flexible,
get sexy.

get money.
get bitches.
get goals.
get everything.

get greedy.
get gluttony.
get lust.
get pride.

fuck pure.
it's gonna get me nowhere,
except where i wanna be,
but i just gotta believe.

and in that case,
with the belief
of victory in purity
despite the victory of sin,
i power walk.
in my own direction.

and like, it happens,
when i look in another direction,
and veer off my sidewalk,
into the street
dodging traffic,
watch out for that truck,
it'll kill you.

it's inertia,
it's momentum,
it's size.
it says die.

but i lay under it.
it'll never see me.
never touch me.

and i'll survive.
get back up.
dodging more cars,
back to my sidewalk,
and power walk.

left foot right foot.
arms swaying.
head held high.
chest out.
oops, i stumbled.

catch my balance?
nope.
hit the floor.
face first.
whatever.
get back up.
sing it.
we fall down,
but we get up.

and i'm on my ffffffffffffffffffffffffffeet again.
looking at the past.
looking at the present.
looking at the future.
what can i control?
as much as you want to believe you can control
cause the mind is a powerful tool
and only when you contain yourself
can you unleash yourself,
but if you allow others to maintain you,
you get manipulated.

write letters.
rush doorways.
break balls.
show the boss who's boss.

cross the intersection.
a red light has to show up eventually.

stop everything.
look,
and smile.

smile confidently.
let them know you rock.
let them know you know you rock.
let them know you know they know you rock.
let them know you know they know you know you rock.

and toss rocks at 'em
when they try to get you.

cause you best mayne.
you diiiid it.

power walk.

October 11, 2011

Invisible King

I am a King. I am a beast.
I am the greatest thing the world may never see.
The spotlight may never ever shine on me,
But I'm a be the very best that I can be.

Lovely Paradox

It's been a long trip.

It's a trip with a start I don't remember,
And an end, not in sight.

Traveling within the paradox,
Defeated by the odds,
I look for love.

I've received much advice about love.
Be nice.
Just wait.
Take it slow.

I'm tired of waiting for a love
That's supposed to belong to me.
I just wanna take love.
Make love.
And make it my own.

But I tried love many times,
Many times love failed,
But how can I say love failed,
When I still feel love
And still feel the need for love
And still believe in love?

Oh, what a paradox I live in,
Vortex of my mind, body, and soul,
Willing to do everything to feel,
And yet, impatient in achieving desire.
Patience is a virtue,
And that impatience,
Is what they call lust.

Still the irony though,
That I don't lust for you.
I've seen the dedication needed,
And I'm ready to invest,
Ready for you to invest.
I need an ally in this war,
No, a partner, a friend,
An eternal companion.

I'd be willing to stand by your side
If your side is worth standing for.
I have side worth standing for,
But maybe... maybe it's not.
Maybe standing over here
Reaps nothing but pain,
Especially due to my own impatience,
So maybe...
I do need to wait.

For each consecutive land,
Shows more and more promise,
And each consecutive prospect
Shows more and more potential.
And somewhere along this line,
I should find that which is mine,
As I belong to you.
And we fuse together,
Letting bygones be bygones
Creating our own paradox.

I don't like the term "Nerd."

I've never actually been a fan a term "nerd."

Nerd is like, a derogatory term for being intelligent.

Like, really? Am I that fucking smart that you have to twist it into an insult just to make yourself feel good?

Well, I think I know what I'm going to do.

Storytime:
At work, there's this guy named Kelly. He called me "Stuart Little." So I called him "Kelly Clarkson."
He hasn't called me "Stuart Little" since.

So next time some calls me a nerd, I'm going to call them a fucking idiot... no, better yet, I'll censor myself and call you a complete idiot. (for those who rather not click the link back to an old blog post about censorship, the point here is that "fucking idiot" may be less than a 100% idiot, while a complete idiot is at least 100% idiot).

So yeah. Go ahead and call me a nerd, idiot. I dare you. >:-(

Disclaimer: I actually don't give a fuck. Words are words, hence the post about censorship in the first place. If you're getting bent up out of shape over words, then you need a hobby. If you already have a hobby and you're still getting bent out of shape about words, then you need a better hobby.


Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me.
Okay, maybe not whips. Paddles though.


I mean, I'm still not a fan of the word "nerd," but I've insulted people over sillier shit. So yeah. Don't give a fuck. You call me a nerd, I call you a professional cum-munching cesspool swimmer. We're even. :)



October 10, 2011

FIGHTING GAMES BRO (couldn't think of a better name lol)

The Road to Apex 2012


So I've registered for Apex 2012. For those of you not in the know, Apex 2012 is a HUGE Smash Bros. Tourney that will be taking place in Rutgers University in New Jersey on January 6, 7, and 8. It will include the games Super Smash Bros. (N64), Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

"But those aren't fighting games."

That's a completely different type of blog post that I may tackle one day.
Fact is, I'm in there. I entered for Brawl singles, Smash64 singles, and All Brawl.

For Brawl singles, I was originally going to go MetaKnight without hesitation. However, since MetaKnight has been officially banned after Apex (more on that later), I'm going Marth. I may play a little Sonic in "serious friendlies" and money matches, but in tourney, I'm probably going Marth.

For Smash64, I'm going either Captain Falcon or Fox. Now, I'm not even all that good in this game, but I actually play it much more than I do Brawl (something about this game actually having hitstun...), so I figure I might as well try it out in tourney. I'm also going to have to secure an N64 controller for this, as I play Smash64 on *gasp* a PS2 controller. And yes, it works. It works well.

What the fuck is All Brawl?


That is All Brawl.
Basically, the rules are all items are on, everything is chose at random against three other opponents, and you gotta win two games before everyone else does. Clearly, this is a lottery, but you know what? Easily the most fun lottery you can enter. So I'm game.

MetaKnight has Finally been Banned






Well, it's too late for me (especially since MetaKnight's ban doesn't go into full effect until after Apex, which is theoretically the last Smash Bros. tourney I'm entering in my life), but you know what? I still feel like this will be good for Brawl in general. It took, like, five attempts, but you know what? This might be a case of "better late than never." Apparently a number of players had left the community because MetaKnight was such an obviously broken character that might have been left in the game solely because of one player (seriously. just one guy) (like, if this guy admitted that MetaKnight was, in fact, broken, MetaKnight probably would have been banned much, much sooner) and it's possible that now since this character is banned people may come back. Of course, there may be players that leave due to the banned MetaKnight, but... well... you get what you get what you get.

Seriously, I do like this move. I do think that Brawl is a very balanced game outside of MetaKnight, and I think that characters will be coming out of the woodwork in tournaments and stuff since MetaKnight is no longer there to lock characters down. Seriously, MetaKnight was so badass that they had to make rules to keep him in, and then adjust said rules because MetaKnight didn't give a fuck. One such rule was the "ledge grab rule" or LGL. It states that if an opponent grabs the ledge more than x amount of times, that player lost. At first, it was, like 70, I think. Didn't mean shit, because, you know, MetaKnight has, like, 5 jumps. Then it was 50. Still didn't mean shit. I think there was a 40 (don't mean shit), and I think it eventually settled down to 35, although the lowest my eyes remember seeing it was 25 at one tourney (although that may have been either a joke or a typo, since 2 is so close to 3 on the keyboard). Stages were also banned because MetaKnight existed.

With MetaKnight gone, maybe some of those rules can be removed and maybe some of the stages that aren't really a problem can return.

Of course, what if MetaKnight was just the optimal abuse of all the issues that Brawl has in terms of being a competitive fighting game? Well, with the "honor code" that smashers seem to have, I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. I mean, if smashers played to win like, say, street fighters, MetaKnight would have a 97% tourney win rate, since Mew2King wouldn't lose.....

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

So whenever I play this game, my team, as it stands, is going to be Blue Zero, Blue Vergil, Blue Strider. Yes, I know, I'm never going to have meter, because I'm going to be blowing it on my Zero combo, blowing it on the Vergil surrounding sword super, and blowing it on Strider's orbs. What I may do is play a relatively straightforward game with Zero and Strider, and then have Vergil come in with 5 bars and attack hard, especially if he's the last man standing... so that dat level 3 X-Factor can kick in...

Although I heard that X-Factor took quite a nerf... doesn't last as long and, while still damaging, isn't as powerful as it was in MvC3. X-Factor was one of my biggest issues with MvC3, and honestly, I kinda wish it just didn't show up in UMvC3 at all. However, I'll attempt to reserve judgment since it's been nerfed.

Oh, and have you guys seen Ryu gameplay? They definitely based this guy off of Goku. Dude even has a Kaio Ken attack lololol.

Street Fighter X Tekken


This is a game that, the more I look at it, the more I feel that if there's nothing below the surface of la, ma, ha, launch, la, ma, ha, *insert attack here*.

This probably won't be the majority of all the fights though. It's just that everything I've ever seen about the game is just that.

And honestly, that's no better than MvC3's la, ma, ha, s, ma, ma, ha, s, *insert otg move here*.

But, we have 6 whole attack buttons here. It can't be all bad. But if it is........

I'll just resort to Chun Li footsies and pokes and stuff... that'll work... right?

What happened to Mortal Kombat?


Like, Mortal Kombat had crazy hype behind it from its initial release to the decision to feature it in Evo2k11 right up to the big tourney itself. And then, I pretty much heard nothing about it.

Did it die? Impossible... the game is constantly patching up botches in the system and between the five featured games of Evo (SSF4:AE, MvC3, BlazBlue what the most recent one is, Tekken 6, and MK9), it had arguably the most balanced roster with BB coming in second I believe because MvC3 had Phoenixes running rampant, Tekken 6 had a Bob mirror for Grand Finals, and SSF4:AE's top 8 had Vipers and Yuns all day (even though a Virtua Fighter player won with Fei Long).

Maybe it's just me not following the game so much. Maybe the hype itself died but it's living on very quietly. I don't know what the case may be, but Mortal Kombat was not a bad game...

Oh wait... I remember when I was at a friend's house and wanted to play the game, shit took about an hour to update itself. Unfortunately, time is of the essence. We didn't wait for the update.

So maybe that's why I stopped caring. Silly consoles and their desire to become computers... can I just have a Super Nintendo Entertainment System 2 already?

October 9, 2011

NaNoWriMo is Coming!



What the hell is a NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. This month is November, and it encourages writers to write a book consisting of at least 50,000 words. That's about 1,700 words a day.

Last year, I tried this. And I failed miserably.

No, I was not writing a Marko Man book. It was a book about Dark Iron and how somebody was going to either conquer or destroy the world using it and the protagonist, whoever the fuck it was, was going to save the world in this theoretically epic adventure to retrieve it from the overpowered antagonist.

I don't think I got past the Golems in the mountains.

Whatever the case of last year's failsauce may have been about, I am try again this year and I am going to write a 50,000+ word book for NaNoWriMo.

I have no idea what this book is going to be about.

Usually, I come up with plots and outlines and stuff for non-Marko Man stories and they're great as an outline, but apparently they don't translate well enough into a story that I give enough shits about to actually finish. I've had some pretty incredible ideas too. The Dark Iron shit was actually some pretty heavy duty shit. I've also had ideas about this guy that was so good a warrior that he was looking for supernatural shit to kick his ass and a weapon that controlled the entire world, but as I write these stories, I just couldn't give as much of a fuck about them as I did when I came up with the outlines.

So this year for NaNoWriMo, I'm going to pretty much improvise a book out of thin air. This has worked well for my poetry (obviously) and this has also worked well for more than a few Marko Man stories (The Untitled Internet Finale is the freshest example of such). But to improv a non-Marko Man book? Heh heh... this is either going to be amazing or disastrous.

I should at least come up with a name for the main character, right?

Brendan.

Brendan it is.


October 6, 2011

The Adventures of Mark Wins 6: A Return to Philly, Starring Sally Mae



So yesterday, I made an epic return to Philadelphia, PA.

For those of you not in the know, I went to Temple University for exactly one semester in 2006 after I graduated high school. While I was there, I met a number of cool people, but I hadn't met anyone nearly as beautiful, witty, intelligent, or elegant as Sally. (okay, the ass kissing stops here)

After that one semester, we somehow managed to keep in contact with each other. Years passed, and our friendship has blossomed into something special (though arguably not special enough... okay, the cheap shots might not end here).

I hadn't been to Philly since 2009. So, like, I made it kind of a big deal to return to Philly after a hiatus of one year and change. (actually, I didn't.) Still... returning here was... interesting, to say the least.

Like, okay... if you've been following this, then you may know that I've been adventuring around NYC practically all year and especially during the summer. I've seen some beautiful sights. I've seen some beautiful things.

Philly. On one hand, it's nice and all. On the other hand, it's not a pretty city.

Granted, I don't live in the projects in NYC, and I haven't exactly traveled to one either, so maybe there are places in NYC that look just as bad as Philly, if not worse.

And I'm not trying to rag on Philly, either. I am just making an observation. Philly is easily one of the not-so-beautiful sights in my adventures. And because I've had such adventures, it's contrast was even greater in my eyes... because, you know... I lived there for a while and didn't think it was that bad. Because it wasn't.

But that's a different story for a different day.

So in any event, the ride to Philly was a sleepy one. I got there relatively early due to an unclear understanding of whether the Chinatown Bus was shutdown or not, but the bus was operating on all cylinders, so I made the trip.

Got to Philly, got panhandled. lolollolol. Spotted some guy a dollar to "get on a bus" because he was a "dollar" short, but then did it like, three more times before he saw me laughing at him.

Yes. I laughed at him. Maybe he needs the money. Maybe he doesn't. Regardless, it didn't matter to me because I felt I was getting panhandled from the moment he showed up. Whatever.

So I wait a while and my dear Sally shows up. :D on face and everything.

First, we run an errand involving a doctor. As we walk, we first encounter some dude that apparently had a really good scheme for trying to talk to girls... except it was amazingly inconsistent... something about Sally looking like some girl he met in grade school, but then apparently being from Trinidad even though she said that she's not from around here, here being Philly, and him not even mentioning that he's not from here (Philly) himself.

We eventually find the train and on our way there, I sit on her lap and it triggers a random ass conversation with some old guy about how he once walked in on his wife eating another girl our. I'm not exactly sure how me sitting on Sally's lap triggers someone to tell a story like that (I have a theory though that, if anyone cares, I'll be willing to share). Odd story over, and boom, we're at the doctor's office.

I sit there and chill while Sally has her appointment, but then she tells me about some old guy that came in and started talking to her about relationships, sex, marriage, and the like, I suppose. Interesting stuff. I promise I was only in Philly for 2 hours when all this weird shit happens.

Anyway, we go to her house, eat some food, and I watch her play Spider Solitaire. Now I can play Spider Solitaire on Easy (it's a pretty brain-dead exercise), and I've heard my mom win on Normal, but Sally went balls to the wall and plays on Hard. The fact that she had the pure ability to play Spider Solitaire on Hard blew my mind, so I watched. At the same time, there was some show playing on the TV... I think it was called Dating Boot Camp or something like that. Oh, and then there was Bad Girls Club too. Both shows are relatively ridiculous, but at least the boot camp show tries to be real. Bad Girls Club is just so obviously a bawwing out for the camera that it's ridiculous. And to think... they get paid for this shit....

Regardless, Sally plays and Sally Wins. (lol see what I did there?)

Now I'm not one hundred percent sure about the jumble of events between watching her play Spider Solitaire, going to the laundry, and doing something else that I think I'm forgetting because it wasn't the game of chess that we were supposed to play but her cat hid the chess pieces and she didn't tell me this prior to such that I could bring a chess set and a Connect 4 game like I kinda wanted to do but ultimately didn't, but yeah. We went to the laundry because she needed my strength to help her out. Okay, not really, but she did need my help with carrying the bags, and I (un)happily obliged. The laundry mat had Ms. Pac-Man, and considering the quality of the joystick (read: complete ass), I did pretty well. I had two quarters in my pocket, so I played once on the initial trip and once on the trip back, and I scored pretty much the same thing, like 44,000 something points.

I don't think that was a top score since the machine had obviously existed when Joe was in his prime.

After that, there was an era of time that passed. I think we talked a bit and we orchestrated the rest of our time together. Oh, and there was a point somewhere along here where I learned that she plays Tetris. (in my mind, I'm like, "Wow, are you kidding me? I fucking love Tetris.") She suggests a competition for later. Challenge Accepted.

We head out to the movies and we see "Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain." This movie is excellent. If you haven't seen it yet, I just read direct off of Kevin Hart's FaceBook page that it's getting extended for like, an extra 2 weeks or something. I HIGHLY recommend that you see it. It is amazingly funny. So funny, in fact, that we almost died laughing. Well, Sally, almost literally died laughing, but that's another story for another day....

After the movie, we go to Ruby Tuesday's to eat dinner on that discount coupon status. There, we talk about a bunch of different things, including my trip to Atlantic City (I never did post that adventure on this blog... hence making it a lost adventure...). and other things. She suggests that we play pool, so we walk to this bar that just so happens to have a single pool room in it that is already occupied. We try to wait the ongoing game out by talking some more about various subjects... actually, I think I had to conclude the Atlantic City story, which lead to her minor Atlantic City anecdote, which somehow lead to me briefly informing her about my visit to the Wax Museum (another adventure that I didn't post on here.... hmmm... lost adventure indeed...

"Wow Mark, you really gave Sally the inside scoop. She must be important in your life, eh?"

What are you, Canandian? But yea. Something like that.)

We don't get the game of pool in, so we finally leave. On our way back to her house, I show her some pictures that I took at AC. She sees a picture of Jeff and she wants me to inform him that Jerseys died in 2006 ASAP. So I call him and tell him this and he goes off. And then I think he just hung up the phone shortly after I gave the phone to Sally, still going off apparently. Sally wants me to call him back, so I call him back but then give the phone to her. At this point, she informs Jeff herself that Jerseys died. They go into some kind of back and forth convo with Sally obviously trolling the fuck out of this guy and Jeff apparently still going off. Somehow the convo ends and Sally gives her impression of Jeff based on her obvious trolling.

We get home, and we get on with that Tetris competition. Essentially, we alternated with Marathon, a 15 level Tetris survival contest. She played first and got to Level 12 with a score of about 250,000. I played second and managed to get to Level 14 with a score of about 440,000. I pretty much won, but by watching me, she learned a technique or two. She tries again and fails (lol), but then she quickly redeems herself with a game that was long enough to put me to sleep, because at this point, I was devastatingly tired. (I hadn't slept the night before and the only sleep I got was on a bus and her bed was feeling mad comfy... well, not comfy enough, hur hur hur... but yea.)

She wakes me with an immature "made you look" joke and then she leads me back to the Chinatown Bus terminal. I hop on the bus and make my way home.

I just wanted to make a few notes about my ride home...

1) there was this escalator at the Canal Street stop on the F train line... shit sounds like it comes from a horror movie.
2) when I got off the F and had to catch the Q111 to get home, I had to run. Really fast. Because if I would have missed it, I would have had to wait an hour. In the fucking cold. I don't think I ran that fast in a long time (mind you, I'm quick as fuck) because my shoe soles literally felt like they were on fire when I got to sit down on the bus.

Ultimately, I totally enjoyed my trip to Philadelphia. Sally was a wonderful hostess, and she's just as funny as I remember her being. If things life decides that it wants to continue to cooperate with me, I will definitely be visiting Philly more often (and maybe I'll be able to bring Sally up here to NY for some fun times too)... but not until it gets warmer. I can't stand this cold shit. Like, I was there on Monday and what not, freezing my ass off half the time I was outside. So maybe in like Marrrrchaprillllmay... May, I may return.

But yeah, life and stuff. We'll see what happens.

October 5, 2011

Dumb Shit Makes the World Go 'Round


Ever wonder why dumb shit exists?
Because summers and winters would always be missed.
That sounds like a really bad answer,
But the truth is there's no other manner

See it's what makes the world go 'round,
The ups are canceled out by the downs,
I'm just being real with you,
You have to know the truuuuuuuuuuuuuuth...

Dumb shit. Make the. World. Go. 'Rrrrroooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd. Da.

Every other minute someone says dammit,
Cause some people do it, while others can't stand it.
Sometimes it's harmless other times it hurts the mass
With people in discomfort cause of one jack ass,

See it's what makes the world go 'round,
The ups are canceled out by the downs,
I'm just being real with you,
You have to know the truuuuuuuuuuuuuuth...

Dumb shit. Make the. World. Go. 'Rrrrroooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd. Da.

I really hope that you don't think I lied.
There's many examples for one to provide.
Your best bet is just to defend,
'Cause if dumb shit stops, the world comes to an end...

See it's what makes the world go 'round,
The ups are canceled out by the downs,
You'll go up, and that's okay,
Dumb shit will strike another day...
You just might not be a dunce,
But have done dumb shit at least once...
I'm just being real with you,
You have to know the truuuuuuuuuuuuuuth...

Dumb shit. Make the. World. Go. 'Rrrrroooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd.

Da.

Oh shit. 2007 was such a terrible year. lol

Hope


Intro:

I maintain insanity constantly
To keep from breaking down.
I tell you everything's okay
To keep from your pity.
I fear everything equally
But they think I'm fearless.
I'm inspired by the bullshit
Because the pleasant is rare...

The Song Itself:

Bad things happen to everyone, right? Okay,
So when bad sees me they say, "That's life so stop complaining."
Well maybe I've kept it in for a little too long
Cause suddenly I've been inspired to write a little song.
See life's been getting at me on some devious shit,
And separately the events are just some meaningless shit,
But when you put them all together you'll know why I'm the best,
Because Mr. Mark Littles fails no test.
I'm a grind my teeth and clinch my fist
As I begin a very much so unpleasant list.
Comprehending the upcoming will be like chewing on dry dough
As your theories are proven that I really am a psycho.
If something about this far strikes a bit of fear,
Then my suggestion for you is to stop right here.
The ink is the bullet and the pen is the gun
In three, two, one...

I'm on lock at 19 like a bank at night,
Got jumped cause months earlier I won a fair fight.
Leaving a school I love cause the shit's too expensive,
Nobody reads my shit cause I'm much too expressive.
I own intelligence that's both a gift and a curse,
Never got what was shared because someone splurged.
Once had a ringworm in my head for wearing my brother's hat,
Pops passed away already, enough said about that.
The girl that I love don't love me the way I love her,
Prom was cool for you, but me, I made it a blur.
I'm very helpful but I get no help when I'm feeling down,
Tapped plenty of ass but what they ass doing now?
Huge amounts of envy aimed at my shitty life,
I'm judged like OJ in '95
I hope you love my ink to pen, bullet to gun set,
Cause the scary shit is I ain't even done yet.

Fought for respect, won the fight, still ain't respected.
Always trying new shit, always rejected.
Even amongst friends, they ain't ready for the difference,
If I get too unique, they just stop listening.
Moving from neighborhoods with people who embrace me,
I must be ugly as fuck 'cause can't nobody face me.
My ability to be by myself works too well.
I wish I was Dr. Scholls so I could just gel
And slide free from the inner anger that won't go away
As I keep it bottled up with platinum everyday
'Cause I'm too nice to take this shit out on people,
If I did there's no doubt that I'd be lethal.
Counseling? Shit, I might confuse them,
Assign me to a shrink and I'll have him on REM
That's Rapid Eye Movement, it indicates that you're dreaming
Since you can't see my anger while my smile is beaming.

Random bridge:

So what keeps Mark ticking without going BOOM! like a time bomb waiting to explode and kill the mases that happen to be in teh wrong place at the wrong time because life constantly tosses shit to the fan hoping that it hits someone in the face and then they have to go wash their face because they don't want it stinking up their face because they have a significant other to kiss? Did you forget that statement was a question? Good, that was by design.

What keeps me ticking is the desire to overcome,
The desire that maybe one day I'll rise like the sun,
Proving my abilities are as sure as daybreak
As I carry along as many friends as I can take.
I only have to hands and my arms ain't that big,
But determination can promote any gig.
As I psuh to remove the first two letters of impossible
And my story's passed on as a legendary chronicle.
Something in me says strive till there's no mortal on top of me,
See I'm a mortal too, and anything can stop me,
But I can break diamonds, so it can't be that easy
As I get right back up the moment after you defeat me.
I've been beaten, bruised, and battered, so I searched my soul
And the single thing that helps me achieve my goal
Is hope...

October 4, 2011

Confirmed: October Sucks

So it's October.

It's cold. I should know. I was out in Philly yesterday, freezing my ass off.

But good times tho. :-D

Since it's October and it's getting cold, a number of things should happen...

  1. I should be able to get back to writing in this blog a bit more often. And I have tons of material. If I put enough energy into, October may have the most posts yet.
  2. I'm going to have to clean my room. It's getting cold, I'm a need that heater to get going, and thus I'm a have to make sure that clothes don't catch on fire and whatnot.
  3. I should be able to save more money. Since it's cold, I won't be outside as much. (which should also mean more blog posts). Therefore, when big occasions occur, I shouldn't have a problem jumping in.
  4. I'm going to moan and bitch about how cold it is outside.
Between the many drafts stored online in my blog homepage and things that I have written in my marble composition notebooks, I have plenty of material to put up here.

Here's a list of blog titles that you just might see come up on here:
  • Hip Hop Needs a Revolution (working title)
  • Retro Review: SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
  • Retro Review: Need for Speed Most Wanted
  • Retro Review: Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4
  • Retro Review: Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
  • NaNoWriMo is Coming Soon!
  • Thoughts on the current Competitive Fighting Scene (working title)
  • The Adventures of Mark Wins 6 (I think it's six): A Return to Philly Starring Sally Mae (this could show up today depending on how fast I clean my room)
  • Lost Adventures of Mark Wins 1: Making an Impact
  • Lost Adventures of Mark Wins 2: How to Win in Atlantic City
  • Lost Adventures of Mark Wins 3: Celebrity Subspace
  • Why A Perfect World Can't Exist (or can it?)
  • When Gaming was an Adventure... (working title)
  • Dear Jenna Marbles
  • Give Yourself an Hour
  • Humans and Evolution
That's sixteen posts. And that's not even stuff that I may come up with on a whim. Nice.

Well, I'm about to be off this for a moment. Gonna eat, clean my room, and tell you about my fantastic time in Philly with my good ol' comrade Sally.

Edit: Why FaceBook Doesn't Have a Dislike Button

That makes 17.