these should make your day...
---
hehehehe
"There has been no sign of the ninjas."
this is awesome on so many roflcopter levels. watch the video and see how fast they move.
but why would they crash a truck in order to do this? ninjas don't loot. seems more like pirates posing as ninjas. UNLESS... they were ninjas posing AS pirates posing as ninjas.
are you a bad enough dude to rescue the ATM?
---
some commando and spaceballs clips; i should rewatch both of these movies; i fondly remember spaceballs, not so much commando aside from the very cheesy line arnold says at the end of the movie(let off some steam, bennett)
commando trailer
let off some steam, bennett
lol no reloading?
spaceballs - ludicrous speed
we're at now now
i lost the bleeps the sweeps and the creeps
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
old news, but you stumble unto what you stumble:
gene for manliness
of course, i wouldn't take it for word; i'll probably look to see if there's a legit article on ncbi on friday...
quiz on friday.
gene for manliness
of course, i wouldn't take it for word; i'll probably look to see if there's a legit article on ncbi on friday...
quiz on friday.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
i realize i usually don't link to really good football videos on youtube.
that's cause i usually don't watch them.
well, first time for everything huh?
i like these two:
nice video of ol skool nfl tackles
just watching this made me realize how much more tougher the niners d was back then... *sigh*...
the best stiff arm you're ever going to see
man's videos, heh...
that's cause i usually don't watch them.
well, first time for everything huh?
i like these two:
nice video of ol skool nfl tackles
just watching this made me realize how much more tougher the niners d was back then... *sigh*...
the best stiff arm you're ever going to see
man's videos, heh...
Monday, October 23, 2006
3 blocks in one game i think...
can't remember all of them, but 1 of them was on terrance coming over to help. another might've been on jon, can't remember the 3rd. and i need to improve my endurance. i know i can rebound a lot better.
i rewatched the youtube clip on how bill russell guards two players, and then some ben wallace video. there's a lotta good things they do right there that a lotta players don't do in trying to block a shot. it's all about their spacing between their opponents, how they tense their legs, what they make their opponents think they're going to do or can do. but they're able to do these things b/c their hops enable them to cover more space, so they can back off their opponents, for instance making them think they've got a wide open shot, then jump and take that shot away.
---
i used to watch a weird cartoon when i was a kid; i think it was called "danger mouse;" didn't even know how i could watch that crap; there were a lotta things i used to watch as a kid that were nothing.
fyi, a lotta cartoons you watched as a kid werent necessarily that high quality.
---
oh yea; both batman beyond season 2 and justice league unlimited seasons 1 and 2(i believe they're bundled together) come out tomorrow on sale. big fan of both; watched batman beyond a lot when i was a late teen, and i watched a lot of justice league unlimited shows on cartoon network during college. i intend to get both seasons this weekend. J.L.U. is particularly interesting, b/c it's the 6 core members of the justice league(superman, batman, wonder woman, green lantern, flash, hawkgirl, martian), but now everybody else in dc comics, or at least most of them are involved; green arrow for instance, supergirl, etc.
---
sweet tomatoes had baked sweet potatoes with maple syrup cream this weekend(yes, i went with my mom). soooo good. makes me want to buy some sweet potatoes and maple syrup.
i seem to be in a "baked potato" phase anyhow.
can't remember all of them, but 1 of them was on terrance coming over to help. another might've been on jon, can't remember the 3rd. and i need to improve my endurance. i know i can rebound a lot better.
i rewatched the youtube clip on how bill russell guards two players, and then some ben wallace video. there's a lotta good things they do right there that a lotta players don't do in trying to block a shot. it's all about their spacing between their opponents, how they tense their legs, what they make their opponents think they're going to do or can do. but they're able to do these things b/c their hops enable them to cover more space, so they can back off their opponents, for instance making them think they've got a wide open shot, then jump and take that shot away.
---
i used to watch a weird cartoon when i was a kid; i think it was called "danger mouse;" didn't even know how i could watch that crap; there were a lotta things i used to watch as a kid that were nothing.
fyi, a lotta cartoons you watched as a kid werent necessarily that high quality.
---
oh yea; both batman beyond season 2 and justice league unlimited seasons 1 and 2(i believe they're bundled together) come out tomorrow on sale. big fan of both; watched batman beyond a lot when i was a late teen, and i watched a lot of justice league unlimited shows on cartoon network during college. i intend to get both seasons this weekend. J.L.U. is particularly interesting, b/c it's the 6 core members of the justice league(superman, batman, wonder woman, green lantern, flash, hawkgirl, martian), but now everybody else in dc comics, or at least most of them are involved; green arrow for instance, supergirl, etc.
---
sweet tomatoes had baked sweet potatoes with maple syrup cream this weekend(yes, i went with my mom). soooo good. makes me want to buy some sweet potatoes and maple syrup.
i seem to be in a "baked potato" phase anyhow.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
don't know HOW i found this, but check out this product, it might crack you up.
it's DDR for christians!
dance dance praise-alution!
it's DDR for christians!
dance dance praise-alution!
damn, i wished i didn't have any notes to study tonight, so i could've watched the entire bears-cardinals game. matt lineart was GOOD, but bears pulled a come from behind.
bears are really, really good this season. they're getting comparisons to the ditka bears of old the way the pistons used to get comparisons to the 96 bulls last season.
bears are really, really good this season. they're getting comparisons to the ditka bears of old the way the pistons used to get comparisons to the 96 bulls last season.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
on the internet: back up your mouth with your name...
in real life: back up your mouth with your actions...
2nd one's pretty well-heard. the 1st i think needs some explaination; i just really hate it when someone says some really outlandish claim, and they have a really fake name to back it. so that if you couldn't tell who they were, as if it would give them some sort of shield. for instance, last year i read something like this on the web when the kings were sucking(and didn't have artest yet):
kings will make more than 50 wins, and they'll make the playoffs.
-sactown
or last sunday on fox football:
to is the worst wide receiver ever
-phillyphool
i understand that we all have weird quirky internet names and such, but i believe what i'm trying to say is this: if you're going to make an outlandish claim, then put your name behind it, for crying out loud. otherwise you're just telling me that you won't say those words when your buddies aren't there to back you.
-richard tsai
in real life: back up your mouth with your actions...
2nd one's pretty well-heard. the 1st i think needs some explaination; i just really hate it when someone says some really outlandish claim, and they have a really fake name to back it. so that if you couldn't tell who they were, as if it would give them some sort of shield. for instance, last year i read something like this on the web when the kings were sucking(and didn't have artest yet):
kings will make more than 50 wins, and they'll make the playoffs.
-sactown
or last sunday on fox football:
to is the worst wide receiver ever
-phillyphool
i understand that we all have weird quirky internet names and such, but i believe what i'm trying to say is this: if you're going to make an outlandish claim, then put your name behind it, for crying out loud. otherwise you're just telling me that you won't say those words when your buddies aren't there to back you.
-richard tsai
Friday, October 13, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
found this while searching for youtube videos on amare stoudamire:
amare wrecks havoc in less than 1 minute
no wonder sam likes him so much... damn...
and this is probably my favorite putback of all time:
ben wallace vs the suns
i actually have the realtime clip on a cd at home; i'll try to update that once i go home near the end of this month.
amare wrecks havoc in less than 1 minute
no wonder sam likes him so much... damn...
and this is probably my favorite putback of all time:
ben wallace vs the suns
i actually have the realtime clip on a cd at home; i'll try to update that once i go home near the end of this month.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In this world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
-such comforting words
check this
click on "understanding the king james bible;" this chapter was taken straight out of the author's book "new bible versions" which i have; i consider this guide in the appendix in the back to be a very good guide for understanding the bible better.
the best thing i like about the introduction is that the author reminds us that the bible is a spiritual book; hence the distance between us understanding the bible is not words, but sin. hence why we don't necessarily self-help books in order to understand the bible better. he points out that jesus used the common language of the day with peter, but peter was not able to understand him.
this guide is partially why i wanted to start memorizing bible verses again. it will help you to think about God more often during the day.
(fyi, while you're at the site, check out the author's credentials.)
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In this world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
-such comforting words
check this
click on "understanding the king james bible;" this chapter was taken straight out of the author's book "new bible versions" which i have; i consider this guide in the appendix in the back to be a very good guide for understanding the bible better.
the best thing i like about the introduction is that the author reminds us that the bible is a spiritual book; hence the distance between us understanding the bible is not words, but sin. hence why we don't necessarily self-help books in order to understand the bible better. he points out that jesus used the common language of the day with peter, but peter was not able to understand him.
this guide is partially why i wanted to start memorizing bible verses again. it will help you to think about God more often during the day.
(fyi, while you're at the site, check out the author's credentials.)
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Gheorghe Muresan! want to smell like me?
More Gheorghe Muresan!
i still can't find the snickers commercial where he's desperately trying to nail a half-court shot backward while saying "for the kids." that was the absolute best commercial ever. EVER.
More Gheorghe Muresan!
i still can't find the snickers commercial where he's desperately trying to nail a half-court shot backward while saying "for the kids." that was the absolute best commercial ever. EVER.
i'm gonna try my own weak-sauced version of podcasting...
stay tuned...
(the benefits of having a voice recorder on your mp3 player)
---
Another free batch of music downloads, this time from Tooth and Nail Records
I think you need to sign up first, but for 30 songs, that sounds fairly good.
FYI, Anberlin might be my favorite non-popular rock band. i seem to always go back to playing "a day late" on my player.
---
i skimmed chris liu's latest entry.
and in response, one of my "mini-goals" for a future house(assuming i make a decent amount of money) would be to get a dog AND a cat. the dog's gotta be like Ace in Batman Beyond, and black(basically a silent badass). the cat, well, gotta be a tabby. i always loved both types of pets, as opposed to people who just like 1, and always wanted to know how'd they get along in the same house. not all cat-dog relationships are hostile.
and i have to get them at the same time when both are kids, so the dog doesn't straight up rip the cat up upon sight.
---
gonna end this entry by posting up a short list of artists on my mp3 player; probably will miss a couple:
12 stones(cd)
alter bridge(cd)
anberlin
bush(cd)
chris tomlin
creed(cd)
downhere(cd)
dragonforce
guilty gear xx#r soundtrack
guns n roses
jeremy camp(cd)
jewel
joe satriani(cd)
lifehouse
lincoln brewster
linkin park(cd)
megaman 2 - dr. wily stage 1(haha... it's catchy)
metallica(cd)
michelle branch
pearl jam(cd)
pillar(cd)
relient k(one song)
sanctus real(cd)
santana
the presidents of the usa(cd)
timothy james meaney(cd)
tree63(cd)
u2(one song)
basically, lotsa rock, rock-pop, classic rock, instrumental rock. and christian.
the pearl jam are 6 songs from their "ten" cd, one of their earlier, more successful cds. which is why i sincerely believe lifehouse, pearl jam, and creed do not sound the same; vocals are the same, but the guitar work is just too far apart.
pearl jam guitarwork > creed guitarwork > lifehouse guitarwork.
that being said, mark tremonti was not allowed to cut loose on creed.
alterbridge guitarwork > pearl jam guitarwork. although what type of guitar style you like listening to is of course preference; mark is a lot more high shredding on high distortion.
enough talking; i gotta eat.
stay tuned...
(the benefits of having a voice recorder on your mp3 player)
---
Another free batch of music downloads, this time from Tooth and Nail Records
I think you need to sign up first, but for 30 songs, that sounds fairly good.
FYI, Anberlin might be my favorite non-popular rock band. i seem to always go back to playing "a day late" on my player.
---
i skimmed chris liu's latest entry.
and in response, one of my "mini-goals" for a future house(assuming i make a decent amount of money) would be to get a dog AND a cat. the dog's gotta be like Ace in Batman Beyond, and black(basically a silent badass). the cat, well, gotta be a tabby. i always loved both types of pets, as opposed to people who just like 1, and always wanted to know how'd they get along in the same house. not all cat-dog relationships are hostile.
and i have to get them at the same time when both are kids, so the dog doesn't straight up rip the cat up upon sight.
---
gonna end this entry by posting up a short list of artists on my mp3 player; probably will miss a couple:
12 stones(cd)
alter bridge(cd)
anberlin
bush(cd)
chris tomlin
creed(cd)
downhere(cd)
dragonforce
guilty gear xx#r soundtrack
guns n roses
jeremy camp(cd)
jewel
joe satriani(cd)
lifehouse
lincoln brewster
linkin park(cd)
megaman 2 - dr. wily stage 1(haha... it's catchy)
metallica(cd)
michelle branch
pearl jam(cd)
pillar(cd)
relient k(one song)
sanctus real(cd)
santana
the presidents of the usa(cd)
timothy james meaney(cd)
tree63(cd)
u2(one song)
basically, lotsa rock, rock-pop, classic rock, instrumental rock. and christian.
the pearl jam are 6 songs from their "ten" cd, one of their earlier, more successful cds. which is why i sincerely believe lifehouse, pearl jam, and creed do not sound the same; vocals are the same, but the guitar work is just too far apart.
pearl jam guitarwork > creed guitarwork > lifehouse guitarwork.
that being said, mark tremonti was not allowed to cut loose on creed.
alterbridge guitarwork > pearl jam guitarwork. although what type of guitar style you like listening to is of course preference; mark is a lot more high shredding on high distortion.
enough talking; i gotta eat.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Sunday, October 08, 2006
2 roads diverged in a wood...
if you think about robert frost's famous poem, there is a benefit to taking "the road less travelled;" you run into less traffic, and so you can cruise through with the greatest of ease.
but if you take what Jesus said about taking "the road less travelled," you realize it's not necessarily faster; the road width is thinner, and razor-straight; there is significantly less room for error.
(you see, if you go by what Frost said, then as a Christian, you should run into less conflict from others; but if you think about what Lord Jesus Christ said, then you realize all the conflict comes from yourself; it's not the multitudes of people which hate on you for being a Christian, it's how you react to it; nobody's taking the steps along that road for you; only you are)
i believe that what is popular is not necessarily wrong(though most of the times it is) or right, but many people simply do what is popular because everybody else is doing it, without thinking about the inherent value(or lack thereof) behind what they do and think. it took me until i was deep into college ie my 2nd or 3rd year to realize that.
---
niners, eagles, bears all win; saints won by the heroics of bush; it's a good sunday for football.
(i hope now drew bledsoe knows to keep his mouth shut about taunting defenses to go ahead and blitz him; i saw him repeatedly get hurried or get his passes blocked against the eagles, which is probably the most rush-happy defense in the league)
bears might be the best team in football as of right now.
yankees and dodgers are both knocked out; it's a good week for baseball.
if you think about robert frost's famous poem, there is a benefit to taking "the road less travelled;" you run into less traffic, and so you can cruise through with the greatest of ease.
but if you take what Jesus said about taking "the road less travelled," you realize it's not necessarily faster; the road width is thinner, and razor-straight; there is significantly less room for error.
(you see, if you go by what Frost said, then as a Christian, you should run into less conflict from others; but if you think about what Lord Jesus Christ said, then you realize all the conflict comes from yourself; it's not the multitudes of people which hate on you for being a Christian, it's how you react to it; nobody's taking the steps along that road for you; only you are)
i believe that what is popular is not necessarily wrong(though most of the times it is) or right, but many people simply do what is popular because everybody else is doing it, without thinking about the inherent value(or lack thereof) behind what they do and think. it took me until i was deep into college ie my 2nd or 3rd year to realize that.
---
niners, eagles, bears all win; saints won by the heroics of bush; it's a good sunday for football.
(i hope now drew bledsoe knows to keep his mouth shut about taunting defenses to go ahead and blitz him; i saw him repeatedly get hurried or get his passes blocked against the eagles, which is probably the most rush-happy defense in the league)
bears might be the best team in football as of right now.
yankees and dodgers are both knocked out; it's a good week for baseball.
should be quite clear now why dragonforce's songs, especially the solo parts are so long
damn, that's crazy shredding... by both guitarists
damn, that's crazy shredding... by both guitarists
Free music CD from Inpop
just found this today... hey, it's free... might as well take it...
fyi, i've heard tree63's version of amazing grace, because i have their live cd; it's fairly good.
just found this today... hey, it's free... might as well take it...
fyi, i've heard tree63's version of amazing grace, because i have their live cd; it's fairly good.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
this is the vw commercial i was talking about
fyi, if you visit the website listed at the end of the commercial( v-dubsrock), not only can you take a look at the vw which enables you to plug your guitar into the vw, there's some guitar lessons on it; cool eh?
fyi, dunno why anybody would want to buy a car JUST so they can play their electric guitar whenever they want; not saying it's unuseful, but if you want to play anywhere you want, there's the mini amps. and if you want to play with quality sound, there's of course the other amps you would buy.
i guess this would only be useful if you liked playing in parking lots. a LOT. or on camping trips; should've mentioned that.
or if you want to try ghost-riding while playing fenders and ibanezes, heh.
fyi, if you visit the website listed at the end of the commercial( v-dubsrock), not only can you take a look at the vw which enables you to plug your guitar into the vw, there's some guitar lessons on it; cool eh?
fyi, dunno why anybody would want to buy a car JUST so they can play their electric guitar whenever they want; not saying it's unuseful, but if you want to play anywhere you want, there's the mini amps. and if you want to play with quality sound, there's of course the other amps you would buy.
i guess this would only be useful if you liked playing in parking lots. a LOT. or on camping trips; should've mentioned that.
or if you want to try ghost-riding while playing fenders and ibanezes, heh.
Friday, October 06, 2006
anybody see the latest volswagen commercial where there's a lead guitarist riffing away, and his electric guitar's connected to 6 vw's as an "amp?"
that guitarist is Slash, the guitarist for Guns and Roses. very good guitarist i think.
good stuff; i love "You Could Be Mine," and there's a ton of other songs i love that they have.
if i could list 5 rock bands i really liked that are from "back then:"
metallica(they've been going on a long time, but yes, their sound used to be slightly more shredding back then; Master of Puppets is a good example)
guns and roses
joe satriani
ac/dc
van halen
there's probably more; i always forget how many classic rock bands i used to listen to. these are just 5 i really liked. i don't think i ever heard steve vai.
oh yeah:
my bro loved Rush. come to think about it, i really like their song, "Tom Sawyer."
Aerosmith and KISS were good too.
good ol teen days where i would just sit around in my room listening to 92.3 FM.
that guitarist is Slash, the guitarist for Guns and Roses. very good guitarist i think.
good stuff; i love "You Could Be Mine," and there's a ton of other songs i love that they have.
if i could list 5 rock bands i really liked that are from "back then:"
metallica(they've been going on a long time, but yes, their sound used to be slightly more shredding back then; Master of Puppets is a good example)
guns and roses
joe satriani
ac/dc
van halen
there's probably more; i always forget how many classic rock bands i used to listen to. these are just 5 i really liked. i don't think i ever heard steve vai.
oh yeah:
my bro loved Rush. come to think about it, i really like their song, "Tom Sawyer."
Aerosmith and KISS were good too.
good ol teen days where i would just sit around in my room listening to 92.3 FM.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
I find this picture on wiki's page describing how to use chopsticks humorous. Step 3 looks a tad absurd.
it'll be interesting to see how the new nba ball does; i just recently read more info on it on espn.com and spalding.com, and it looks kinda cool, but at the same time i heard a lotta negative reviews on it.
speaking of which, i intend to get a new spalding basketball anyways; one specifically for just outdoor playing, not indoor-outdoor. the one i've used for such a long time is just so worn down that it's impossible to grip it.
i need to wash my flippable jersey and headband.
---
not sure where spalding.com gets their info, but:
"basketball is the most played team sport in the U.S. with more than 32 million people playing in 2005."
"in 2004, almost 8 million people said that basketball was their favorite sports activity, far exceeding the number of people who said any other team sport."
speaking of which, i intend to get a new spalding basketball anyways; one specifically for just outdoor playing, not indoor-outdoor. the one i've used for such a long time is just so worn down that it's impossible to grip it.
i need to wash my flippable jersey and headband.
---
not sure where spalding.com gets their info, but:
"basketball is the most played team sport in the U.S. with more than 32 million people playing in 2005."
"in 2004, almost 8 million people said that basketball was their favorite sports activity, far exceeding the number of people who said any other team sport."
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Stanford professor receives Nobel Prize
crazy... and his contribution was something related to genetics... RNA interference...
i'm gonna read some of his articles on pubmed later...
crazy... and his contribution was something related to genetics... RNA interference...
i'm gonna read some of his articles on pubmed later...
mcnabb's clearly on a mission; you can say what you want, but i think he feels that he needs to show that this team got where it's gotten because of him, not T.O. that's why the eagles are doing so well.
ravens are also the hotness. with mcnair, now it's not just ray lewis anymore.
some people like to compare t.o. to artest. i think t.o. is actually better compared to dennis rodman. the similarities are a lot more poignant there. they both went downhill once they had no more idols to look up to.
---
i don't like/get myspace because of the way the page design is; it looks very cluttered. maybe that's why i don't have an account. for me, i don't necessarily post here because i want the whole world to know about me; just want to throw stuff off my chest. don't really like xanga either cause it seems mainly teenage asians are the ones using that, and always coming on with stuff like you'd want to listen to their day and stuff.
what i would really like though, is if there was a blogging site that let you upload .mp3's easily or .wavs, or stuff like that. i'm not always near a computer when i'm thinking, y'kno. but i usually have my mp3 player with me. then again, if i want to go through the trouble of recording, walking back to my computer, going to another website, uploading, then logging into blogger, linking back to the mp3, i'd be wasting a crapload of time too.
---
thank God for third chances...
---
i'd try cs: source this weekend, but my cpu doesn't have a lot of memory; maybe i'll just reinstall cs 1.6 until my cpu has less stuff on it. cs:s is 3+ gb.
---
i have 1 video uploaded to my youtube account(same name), plan to upload maybe 2 more.
---
i think it's only fair i cut myself off from youtube.com, shoyuken.com, and combovideos.com for a week or two. i think it's taking up too much of my time.
ravens are also the hotness. with mcnair, now it's not just ray lewis anymore.
some people like to compare t.o. to artest. i think t.o. is actually better compared to dennis rodman. the similarities are a lot more poignant there. they both went downhill once they had no more idols to look up to.
---
i don't like/get myspace because of the way the page design is; it looks very cluttered. maybe that's why i don't have an account. for me, i don't necessarily post here because i want the whole world to know about me; just want to throw stuff off my chest. don't really like xanga either cause it seems mainly teenage asians are the ones using that, and always coming on with stuff like you'd want to listen to their day and stuff.
what i would really like though, is if there was a blogging site that let you upload .mp3's easily or .wavs, or stuff like that. i'm not always near a computer when i'm thinking, y'kno. but i usually have my mp3 player with me. then again, if i want to go through the trouble of recording, walking back to my computer, going to another website, uploading, then logging into blogger, linking back to the mp3, i'd be wasting a crapload of time too.
---
thank God for third chances...
---
i'd try cs: source this weekend, but my cpu doesn't have a lot of memory; maybe i'll just reinstall cs 1.6 until my cpu has less stuff on it. cs:s is 3+ gb.
---
i have 1 video uploaded to my youtube account(same name), plan to upload maybe 2 more.
---
i think it's only fair i cut myself off from youtube.com, shoyuken.com, and combovideos.com for a week or two. i think it's taking up too much of my time.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
YouTube - Ataru381 - MUST SEE!!
that video just made me realize my chances of getting a girlfriend are not THAT low...
that video just made me realize my chances of getting a girlfriend are not THAT low...
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Crazy Pen Spinning Done By Japanese
i like the jrock guitar tracks they lay down in the background. maybe it might be on napster...
(rival by mintjam)
---
skool has started... i is a college stoodent.
---
(edit: mintjam offers a couple of their tracks, including rival, for free in .mp3 format on their website; no need to visit napster)
i like the jrock guitar tracks they lay down in the background. maybe it might be on napster...
(rival by mintjam)
---
skool has started... i is a college stoodent.
---
(edit: mintjam offers a couple of their tracks, including rival, for free in .mp3 format on their website; no need to visit napster)
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Reason why Japanese arcades thrive so much more than American arcades, and hence why their competition skills are so much better than ours
the general consensus is that american ppl in the world play on consoles so much more because the difference in quality is really marginal now, that you don't need to go to the arcades to get high-quality arcade play.
but this is probably the best post i've seen on srk.com regarding this topic:
Originally Posted by fubarduck
Everyone sort of nailed a little bit of it, but not the whole reason. Sorry for the long post, but you guys need a culture lesson.
Yes, it is a culture difference. Population density is one factor.
The main reason that the Japanese culture revolves around riding trains to get places and thus meeting in public to do hang out. Yes, there is driving too, but typically most Japanese people live far away from the main downtown/city area where everything happens (which is always right next to a train station). So, when you leave your house in Japan, you are out for a while. You don't just drive/go somewhere and come back home (most esablishments don't even have parking, and if they do, it is pay parking)--when you're out, you're out and when you come home you're not going anywhere far for the rest of the day. You walk or take a bus to your nearest train station, which takes anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes depending on your closest train station, then wait for a train to take you to the nearest downtown area.
As a result, people don't just go hang out at other people's houses. First of all, they're smaller, and second of all many younger people live at home with their families until a much older age than in the US (since apartments are so expensive, especially in Tokyo area). It's a very big deal for a Japanese family to have visitors, and you definitely don't go just to hang out and play video games for a while. As a guest in a Japanese home you're expected to give your full attention and speak to everyone in the family. Also, people's houses are extremely inconvenient to get to, since they're typically far away from their closest train stations.
So, Japanese society is built around giving people places to hang out in the main area of each city near the central train station. This is why there are tons of coffee shops, karaoke bars, and drinking restaurants (which there is really no equivalent to in the US) all over town. Game centers (arcades) are just another one of those establishments--it's just a place where you can play video games with friends or with strangers. When people play video games at home, it's typically RPGs or adventure games which can be enjoyed by themselves. This is why it's never a big deal when the big fighting games do not come to console, or get arcade-perfect console ports. There is no need to own a joystick, PS2, or any fighting game to play fighting games competitively in Japan. You can get all the practice you need just by playing at the arcade, and arcades with fighting games here typically carry Arcadia magazines which have more detailed move lists and strategies which are free for anybody to browse.
This is why game centers (arcades) will never die in Japan. You do not play fighting games at your house, because people do not come over to your house to hang out, you meet them in public where there will always be coffee shops, karaoke, drinking restaurants, and game centers to meet at and hang out. Additionally, even for online games, Japanese gamers typically play at Internet Cafe's, not at their own house or apartment!
America, on the other hand, is a culture that revolves around driving and cars. In most areas you typically have to drive to get anywhere, and meeting friends at their place to hang out is pretty common practice. So, there is no point in going to an arcade to play video games, you can just do it at your friend's house. If you haven't noticed, the only places in America that still have typical "arcades" are places with lots of foot traffic--malls, university areas, and downtown areas. These esablishments would not be making money any other way, because the typical American would not have any reason to go to an arcade unless there is one around where he is travelling/hanging out by foot.
When the arcade scene was huge in the US, there was a distinction--the video games you could play at home were no where near as great as what you could play at an arcade. But now, games available on consoles are either arcade-perfect (to the average gamer's eyes) or even better than that. This is why the arcade scene died in America but is still going strongly in Japan.
So, now there are very few arcades, and the truly hardcore fighting game players still in the US all meet right here on SRK.com. If you want a true, hardcore arcade scene that will never ever disappear, move to Japan. The future of gaming in the US is at home, which means for competitive gaming, online is the future. For fighting games, this is bad news right now because of the limitations of current technology, but hopefully when Internet 2 rolls around latency will become much less of an issue and the hardcore fighting game scene may see a revival.
the general consensus is that american ppl in the world play on consoles so much more because the difference in quality is really marginal now, that you don't need to go to the arcades to get high-quality arcade play.
but this is probably the best post i've seen on srk.com regarding this topic:
Originally Posted by fubarduck
Everyone sort of nailed a little bit of it, but not the whole reason. Sorry for the long post, but you guys need a culture lesson.
Yes, it is a culture difference. Population density is one factor.
The main reason that the Japanese culture revolves around riding trains to get places and thus meeting in public to do hang out. Yes, there is driving too, but typically most Japanese people live far away from the main downtown/city area where everything happens (which is always right next to a train station). So, when you leave your house in Japan, you are out for a while. You don't just drive/go somewhere and come back home (most esablishments don't even have parking, and if they do, it is pay parking)--when you're out, you're out and when you come home you're not going anywhere far for the rest of the day. You walk or take a bus to your nearest train station, which takes anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes depending on your closest train station, then wait for a train to take you to the nearest downtown area.
As a result, people don't just go hang out at other people's houses. First of all, they're smaller, and second of all many younger people live at home with their families until a much older age than in the US (since apartments are so expensive, especially in Tokyo area). It's a very big deal for a Japanese family to have visitors, and you definitely don't go just to hang out and play video games for a while. As a guest in a Japanese home you're expected to give your full attention and speak to everyone in the family. Also, people's houses are extremely inconvenient to get to, since they're typically far away from their closest train stations.
So, Japanese society is built around giving people places to hang out in the main area of each city near the central train station. This is why there are tons of coffee shops, karaoke bars, and drinking restaurants (which there is really no equivalent to in the US) all over town. Game centers (arcades) are just another one of those establishments--it's just a place where you can play video games with friends or with strangers. When people play video games at home, it's typically RPGs or adventure games which can be enjoyed by themselves. This is why it's never a big deal when the big fighting games do not come to console, or get arcade-perfect console ports. There is no need to own a joystick, PS2, or any fighting game to play fighting games competitively in Japan. You can get all the practice you need just by playing at the arcade, and arcades with fighting games here typically carry Arcadia magazines which have more detailed move lists and strategies which are free for anybody to browse.
This is why game centers (arcades) will never die in Japan. You do not play fighting games at your house, because people do not come over to your house to hang out, you meet them in public where there will always be coffee shops, karaoke, drinking restaurants, and game centers to meet at and hang out. Additionally, even for online games, Japanese gamers typically play at Internet Cafe's, not at their own house or apartment!
America, on the other hand, is a culture that revolves around driving and cars. In most areas you typically have to drive to get anywhere, and meeting friends at their place to hang out is pretty common practice. So, there is no point in going to an arcade to play video games, you can just do it at your friend's house. If you haven't noticed, the only places in America that still have typical "arcades" are places with lots of foot traffic--malls, university areas, and downtown areas. These esablishments would not be making money any other way, because the typical American would not have any reason to go to an arcade unless there is one around where he is travelling/hanging out by foot.
When the arcade scene was huge in the US, there was a distinction--the video games you could play at home were no where near as great as what you could play at an arcade. But now, games available on consoles are either arcade-perfect (to the average gamer's eyes) or even better than that. This is why the arcade scene died in America but is still going strongly in Japan.
So, now there are very few arcades, and the truly hardcore fighting game players still in the US all meet right here on SRK.com. If you want a true, hardcore arcade scene that will never ever disappear, move to Japan. The future of gaming in the US is at home, which means for competitive gaming, online is the future. For fighting games, this is bad news right now because of the limitations of current technology, but hopefully when Internet 2 rolls around latency will become much less of an issue and the hardcore fighting game scene may see a revival.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
i've always wondered exactly what type of shotgun the t800 uses in T2. the way he empties a shell and puts another back in doesn't look like the atypical pump-action shotgun. so i looked around a little on the web; here's what i found:
-10 guage shotgun
(guage determines the size of the barrel; i forget what, but most shotgun guages range from some large number to 12; 12 is police issue. the lower the number, the bigger the barrel(ouch))
-sawed-off
(you don't really realize this, until you think about it, but it's true; if arnold was using a non-sawed-off barrel, it would look a lot more like a rifle. it doesn't look rediculously short, or glaringly obvious like in t1 when kyle reese actually took the time to saw it off, but it's there.)
-repeating shotgun
(doesn't mean it's automatic; means that you can put a couple of shells in there and you won't need to reload for about 5-8 times)
-was made by winchester.
the last one's the reason why it cocks the way it does. winchester used to make rifles like that; where you had a large hammer to displace a spent rifle bullet and insert a new one. when they approached him to make a repeating shotgun, he consented, but stated that it'd be much better for them to make a pump-action shotgun. winchester would eventually make a pump-action, but for i think about a couple of years, they made these ghetto shotguns.(go read wiki if you want more info)
that's why you don't see many of those winchester shotguns anymore; a pump-action simply is faster at "reloading."
nevertheless, after you watch t2, and seeing how arnold coolly flips the shotgun around while driving the bike to reload it, you'd probably wish you had one too.
-10 guage shotgun
(guage determines the size of the barrel; i forget what, but most shotgun guages range from some large number to 12; 12 is police issue. the lower the number, the bigger the barrel(ouch))
-sawed-off
(you don't really realize this, until you think about it, but it's true; if arnold was using a non-sawed-off barrel, it would look a lot more like a rifle. it doesn't look rediculously short, or glaringly obvious like in t1 when kyle reese actually took the time to saw it off, but it's there.)
-repeating shotgun
(doesn't mean it's automatic; means that you can put a couple of shells in there and you won't need to reload for about 5-8 times)
-was made by winchester.
the last one's the reason why it cocks the way it does. winchester used to make rifles like that; where you had a large hammer to displace a spent rifle bullet and insert a new one. when they approached him to make a repeating shotgun, he consented, but stated that it'd be much better for them to make a pump-action shotgun. winchester would eventually make a pump-action, but for i think about a couple of years, they made these ghetto shotguns.(go read wiki if you want more info)
that's why you don't see many of those winchester shotguns anymore; a pump-action simply is faster at "reloading."
nevertheless, after you watch t2, and seeing how arnold coolly flips the shotgun around while driving the bike to reload it, you'd probably wish you had one too.
YouTube - Terminator 2
favorite movie when i was a kid... gave me nightmares like crazy though.
i love when arnold's taking the shotgun out of the box, cocks it and steps on the roses. bgm's awesome during that moment.
favorite movie when i was a kid... gave me nightmares like crazy though.
i love when arnold's taking the shotgun out of the box, cocks it and steps on the roses. bgm's awesome during that moment.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
YouTube - street fighter - daigo vs justin or steve vs julie?
i can't stop laughing...
in case you don't get it, just youtube "daigo justin" in the search engine and watch the very 1st entry(or watch the 3rd entry for the entire match)
i can't stop laughing...
in case you don't get it, just youtube "daigo justin" in the search engine and watch the very 1st entry(or watch the 3rd entry for the entire match)
Friday, September 15, 2006
YouTube - Ms. Peachez - Fry That Chicken
hahahaha...
what's next? ms. peachez - eat dat watermelon? drink dat kool-aid?
hahahaha...
what's next? ms. peachez - eat dat watermelon? drink dat kool-aid?
Monday, September 04, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
wow, richard's actually going to say something deep on his journal. weird, eh?
---
when the pilgrims stated "cleanliness is next to godliness," this exact phrase isn't found in the bible(at least, I have yet to find it in the KJV). HOWEVER, if you look at the numerous times the Bible states for Christians to abstain from uncleanliness, I think the inference is quite clear. Of course, we know the apostle Paul did not literally mean that being messy is a sin. however, I have noticed that when you can summarize a person's habits as "neat" or "tidy" they tend to be more in control of things that are going on.
i personally, might come to realize that i don't have an exact method to which i want to approach my day written out in stone, not just listing what i want to do, but in what order i should do it, that i might end up screwing myself 10x over(see [1]).
so, in the interest of trying to change things, from now on i'm going to try to write down an entire list of what i'm going to do the next day, in that order, before i go to bed. maybe things will be different tomorrow. i pray it will.
---
[1] i think for myself, my laziness tends to come from not being hard enough on myself. thanks for all the support and advice people have given me these past years of my life, but ultimately, i already know what i need to do, but if i don't feel like bringing myself to do something, i can't bring myself to do it. in order for you to keep me from doing what i don't want to do(as opposed to me keeping myself), you'd need to literally watch me 24/7 in the same room. the change, as they say, needs to come from within. i believe that i am slowly changing, making little strides, by learning what makes my mind wander or tick in moments of self-reflection, but i have much more to learn about how my mind works, and how i can bring that to usefulness, mainly, doing what i don't want to do.
---
when the pilgrims stated "cleanliness is next to godliness," this exact phrase isn't found in the bible(at least, I have yet to find it in the KJV). HOWEVER, if you look at the numerous times the Bible states for Christians to abstain from uncleanliness, I think the inference is quite clear. Of course, we know the apostle Paul did not literally mean that being messy is a sin. however, I have noticed that when you can summarize a person's habits as "neat" or "tidy" they tend to be more in control of things that are going on.
i personally, might come to realize that i don't have an exact method to which i want to approach my day written out in stone, not just listing what i want to do, but in what order i should do it, that i might end up screwing myself 10x over(see [1]).
so, in the interest of trying to change things, from now on i'm going to try to write down an entire list of what i'm going to do the next day, in that order, before i go to bed. maybe things will be different tomorrow. i pray it will.
---
[1] i think for myself, my laziness tends to come from not being hard enough on myself. thanks for all the support and advice people have given me these past years of my life, but ultimately, i already know what i need to do, but if i don't feel like bringing myself to do something, i can't bring myself to do it. in order for you to keep me from doing what i don't want to do(as opposed to me keeping myself), you'd need to literally watch me 24/7 in the same room. the change, as they say, needs to come from within. i believe that i am slowly changing, making little strides, by learning what makes my mind wander or tick in moments of self-reflection, but i have much more to learn about how my mind works, and how i can bring that to usefulness, mainly, doing what i don't want to do.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
YouTube - Indian Superman
don't ask me how i found this one... i did not find it in the first place by searching "indian superman"
don't ask me how i found this one... i did not find it in the first place by searching "indian superman"
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
YouTube - Robot Chicken - The Password is Swordfish (210)
the batman spoof and soccer skit did it for me...
the batman spoof and soccer skit did it for me...
Monday, August 07, 2006
YouTube - ??????????
6 japanese wrestlers vs a house...
Dirk Nowitzki
very good video; almost made dirk look like kobe in that video
6 japanese wrestlers vs a house...
Dirk Nowitzki
very good video; almost made dirk look like kobe in that video
Friday, August 04, 2006
YouTube - Air (SMB1 Hack) NES in 09:12
wow...
(read the description)
i've got to find this hacked version of the game and find out how to do those glitches...
wow...
(read the description)
i've got to find this hacked version of the game and find out how to do those glitches...
according to the book i am reading, 1st john 5:7,8 is the STRONGEST argument for the trinity in the king james bible. it states clearly that there are 3 that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. john has also stated in the gospel that he wrote, that the word became flesh.
it has been changed in ALL other bible versions.
(Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe the trinity, or the Godhead exists, and don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; without this verse, it is much more difficult to convince them that the trinity does exist)
there haven't been many greek manuscripts which contain 1st john 5:7,
HOWEVER, the evidence for it is still very strong: there have been numerous manuscripts in other languages which contain it, and many church fathers back then quoted it; it was just not found in a lot of manuscipts; what gives?
two possible reasons:
1)scribal error: the three that bear witness in verse 7 was confused to be that of verse 8, hence the accidental skipping of a line
2)numerous cults believed that God was all-inclusive(or something like that where the entire world make up God)
i'd post more, but library's going to close; this should give you something to chew on for a bit.
it has been changed in ALL other bible versions.
(Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe the trinity, or the Godhead exists, and don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; without this verse, it is much more difficult to convince them that the trinity does exist)
there haven't been many greek manuscripts which contain 1st john 5:7,
HOWEVER, the evidence for it is still very strong: there have been numerous manuscripts in other languages which contain it, and many church fathers back then quoted it; it was just not found in a lot of manuscipts; what gives?
two possible reasons:
1)scribal error: the three that bear witness in verse 7 was confused to be that of verse 8, hence the accidental skipping of a line
2)numerous cults believed that God was all-inclusive(or something like that where the entire world make up God)
i'd post more, but library's going to close; this should give you something to chew on for a bit.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
YouTube - Batman snickers ad
if you ever, EVER, find the snickers commercial where then nba player gheorghe muresan is in it trying to repeatedly make a half-court shot facing away saying "and score one for the kids", then breaks down sobbing at the end, please give it to me... i can't find it at all.
if you ever, EVER, find the snickers commercial where then nba player gheorghe muresan is in it trying to repeatedly make a half-court shot facing away saying "and score one for the kids", then breaks down sobbing at the end, please give it to me... i can't find it at all.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
sometimes, i seriously wonder why i don't like jason kidd and the new jersey nets
i mean, almost every basketball fan i know likes jason kidd...
and i ask myself, why don't you?
casual fans like him because he seems to find people out of nowhere...
devoted fans like him because he's not only a very unselfish player, as a passer rather than a scorer, but he's also a very good defender; this past season he was on the 1st all-nba defensive team.
first of all, i don't HATE kidd... i merely have a LOT more teams i like compared to the nets. but lemme give some possible reasons why i don't like the nets more...
-nets have never really been a team with bigs that i really liked. used to like kenyon martin, but then he left. i tend to like bigs who are either good all-around, or monsters on the defensive end.
-in some strange way, the more i think about it, i like players who can score more than those who can pass. yea, i was surprised when i initially thought about it, but the more i think about it, i think it rings true. it's not that i don't like players being unselfish; no, otherwise, i'd be a laker fan by now. i like players who can pass AND create shots by themselves. i think i can sum it up this way:
when it comes to offensively-efficient players with the ball, i like:
the scorer who can pass rather than the passer who can score; the 1st would be like billups, the 2nd would be like kidd.
of course, a good passer needs to have court vision, but i just feel in more ways than not, that when you are a scorer more than a passer, the passing oppurtunities tend to create themselves. if you have a reputation for being virtually unguardable 1 on 1 in the waning seconds of the 4th quarter, the help defenders know they can't simply just stick out an arm in order to throw you off; they must actually come over and commit. that means someone is going to be WIDE open.
(it's also a more inspiring story when you hear of a scorer becoming more and more selfless trying to find others rather than a passer trying to become more of a clutch player)
put it this way; hypothetically, suppose you are a power forward defending against a pick-n-roll situation at the end of the game; the power forward on the other team is robert horry; classic example of a role player who can't create his own shots, but leave him wide open at the end of games, and you just buried yourself.
his teammate is either jason kidd or chauncey billups, and has the ball. your point guard teammate is a decent defender, not a lockdown defender, not like nash. all of your other teammates are guarding well, not intending to double.
i personally would rather face the kidd/horry combo than billups/horry. just because i would have a little more faith in letting my teammate guard kidd one-on-one. if i do need to double, i wouldn't necessarily need to run all the way over with my hands up, just stick my hand in there.
i mean, almost every basketball fan i know likes jason kidd...
and i ask myself, why don't you?
casual fans like him because he seems to find people out of nowhere...
devoted fans like him because he's not only a very unselfish player, as a passer rather than a scorer, but he's also a very good defender; this past season he was on the 1st all-nba defensive team.
first of all, i don't HATE kidd... i merely have a LOT more teams i like compared to the nets. but lemme give some possible reasons why i don't like the nets more...
-nets have never really been a team with bigs that i really liked. used to like kenyon martin, but then he left. i tend to like bigs who are either good all-around, or monsters on the defensive end.
-in some strange way, the more i think about it, i like players who can score more than those who can pass. yea, i was surprised when i initially thought about it, but the more i think about it, i think it rings true. it's not that i don't like players being unselfish; no, otherwise, i'd be a laker fan by now. i like players who can pass AND create shots by themselves. i think i can sum it up this way:
when it comes to offensively-efficient players with the ball, i like:
the scorer who can pass rather than the passer who can score; the 1st would be like billups, the 2nd would be like kidd.
of course, a good passer needs to have court vision, but i just feel in more ways than not, that when you are a scorer more than a passer, the passing oppurtunities tend to create themselves. if you have a reputation for being virtually unguardable 1 on 1 in the waning seconds of the 4th quarter, the help defenders know they can't simply just stick out an arm in order to throw you off; they must actually come over and commit. that means someone is going to be WIDE open.
(it's also a more inspiring story when you hear of a scorer becoming more and more selfless trying to find others rather than a passer trying to become more of a clutch player)
put it this way; hypothetically, suppose you are a power forward defending against a pick-n-roll situation at the end of the game; the power forward on the other team is robert horry; classic example of a role player who can't create his own shots, but leave him wide open at the end of games, and you just buried yourself.
his teammate is either jason kidd or chauncey billups, and has the ball. your point guard teammate is a decent defender, not a lockdown defender, not like nash. all of your other teammates are guarding well, not intending to double.
i personally would rather face the kidd/horry combo than billups/horry. just because i would have a little more faith in letting my teammate guard kidd one-on-one. if i do need to double, i wouldn't necessarily need to run all the way over with my hands up, just stick my hand in there.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
so, does this now make chicago a powerhouse in the east again?
heh, i wish the pistons' starting 5 stayed together(i like the defensive combo of ben and tayshaun way too much), but i DID like the new-look bulls even before wallace came over. i like noccioni and tyson a lot.
so, the team that pretty much led the league in fg % now just got that much sicker.
but in some ways, you were expecting this; if they did not fire flip(drastic measure but hey), there would be a pretty good chance they were going to keep trying to become better offensively. they're still good defensively, but this is a MAJOR LOSS, especially considering if they continue to keep an offensive-minded coach.
heh, i wish the pistons' starting 5 stayed together(i like the defensive combo of ben and tayshaun way too much), but i DID like the new-look bulls even before wallace came over. i like noccioni and tyson a lot.
so, the team that pretty much led the league in fg % now just got that much sicker.
but in some ways, you were expecting this; if they did not fire flip(drastic measure but hey), there would be a pretty good chance they were going to keep trying to become better offensively. they're still good defensively, but this is a MAJOR LOSS, especially considering if they continue to keep an offensive-minded coach.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
my apologies if you're trying to reach me in the past few weeks in some way related to the internet, ie email, waiting for my blog to show some signs of life; haven't really checked my email; will do so this friday or saturday. i'm lazy-weird like that.
---
so the nba finals were over 2 weeks ago. i will just make this thought on the nba short, b/c it's over for this season, and i have no reason to go too indepth on the subject, i will just make 5 statements about the nba that if you wish, i can elaborate on the next journal entry.
1)heat won this year not b/c of their offseason aquisitions(jason williams > damon jones, but james posey = eddie jones, and walker didn't do crap), but because riley was the head coach and dwyane wade and shaq were healthy; most importantly for the players' part, dwyane wade was better and healthier.
2)i would actually like the heat if they did not have... walker(yes, that's right, not shaq, walker; you see, what comes out of shaq's mouth can be obnoxious sometimes, but at least he has the skills to back it up; walker can't do anything without the ball, but everytime he gets an and1, he feels obligated to do that ugly waggle butt dance that he does)
3)funny how when the spurs and pistons win the championship, espn.com's all like "they have all the pieces to repeat next season" but when the heat win, they are a bit more skeptical, b/c of age; well, at least it shows espn guys aren't drones.
4)i actually like dwade out of the 3 "phenoms", ykno, lebron, melo... i like his offense better and his defense seems to be better than either of the two. and he banks :D
5)i was kinda hoping this year that the pistons would meet the spurs again in the finals, seeing how hungry for revenge the pistons seemed during this season. unfortunately, it couldn't happen, but i will say that an occasional change of scenery during the nba finals really never hurt anybody.
---
in reflection, i actually liked reading a lot; it's just that i never liked reading on other people's terms; ie for a class, before this week is over so the library books i have can be returned w/o being overdue. so i present to you the list of books i have as of right now in my room that i would like to get done with by the end of this summer:
an understandable history of the bible - dr. samuel gipp *done*
new age (bible) versions - g.a. riplinger(i hoped i spelled that name right)
the art of war - sun tzu(translated by john minford)
the case for a creator - lee strobel(given to me by my msm counselor)
i would also like to get "mythic past" from barnes and noble; it's a book debating the validity of the bible; you see, as i'm still trying to increase my collection of books arguing for the validity of the kjv bible, i would also like to look into books that debate the kjv vs other bible versions, but i haven't looked at a book that says the bible is not truth based on EXTERNAL factors; would be interesting to read it just to see what type of arguments the author makes(and whether those arguments have any counter arguments; they always do)
---
lucky enough to find bible software for the niv at fry's; you see, i want to be able to compare the niv up against the kjv at home, it's easier to do if you have search software to use, and i have the kjv for free on my cpu, but the niv is copyrighted, so you actually need to purchase it. still wasn't too expensive; 9.99
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i wear SO MUCH stuff when i play basketball now. it used to be just "to look cool" which was why i originally wore the green headband, but now, my body's just like screaming after every day i play if i'm not wearing stuff. i wear wwjd and a rubber bracelet everytime i play, but then, i always wear that, so it's kinda moot.
-white headband(it's a special fiber, so it feels lighter and sucks water away; very, very, good); used to wear it b/c it looked cool, but now i'm getting used to it actually working quite well especially on a hot day, as it keeps the sweat from running down my face, and it can be used to slightly tuck my glasses in so they won't fall out as easily
-starting to wear those things that tuck your glasses in now as well, btw
-fingersleeve(wear it on my left ring; never got sprained, but sometimes when i played it would hurt, so i do this not to get that feeling anymore)
-gels that i wear to cushion my balls-of-my-feet; i get these nasty calluses on my balls of my foot if i don't wear them, and since they slide around all the time, i'm going to get tape now as well
-jumper's knee strap(i dunno if this is a recent occurance, but sometimes my left knee aches after games now)
and that's excluding the fact that during winter and fall, i like using the nike elbow band and nba shooter's sleeve to help me keep warm.
---
whoa, too much typing; i just wanna say one more thing:
if you like watching cartoons on youtube.com, try searching with these words:
jlu secret origins
very nice; should bring up a 1 hr cartoon about the justice league; i enjoy it greatly, because it shows how the justice league(superman, batman, wonder woman, hawkgirl, green lantern, and the flash) came to be; for some reason, i'm a really big sucker for the very 1st episode, and maybe the last episode of cartoons; shows how things were set up, and how the heroes came to don their responsibilities, as well as how they closed things off.
---
so the nba finals were over 2 weeks ago. i will just make this thought on the nba short, b/c it's over for this season, and i have no reason to go too indepth on the subject, i will just make 5 statements about the nba that if you wish, i can elaborate on the next journal entry.
1)heat won this year not b/c of their offseason aquisitions(jason williams > damon jones, but james posey = eddie jones, and walker didn't do crap), but because riley was the head coach and dwyane wade and shaq were healthy; most importantly for the players' part, dwyane wade was better and healthier.
2)i would actually like the heat if they did not have... walker(yes, that's right, not shaq, walker; you see, what comes out of shaq's mouth can be obnoxious sometimes, but at least he has the skills to back it up; walker can't do anything without the ball, but everytime he gets an and1, he feels obligated to do that ugly waggle butt dance that he does)
3)funny how when the spurs and pistons win the championship, espn.com's all like "they have all the pieces to repeat next season" but when the heat win, they are a bit more skeptical, b/c of age; well, at least it shows espn guys aren't drones.
4)i actually like dwade out of the 3 "phenoms", ykno, lebron, melo... i like his offense better and his defense seems to be better than either of the two. and he banks :D
5)i was kinda hoping this year that the pistons would meet the spurs again in the finals, seeing how hungry for revenge the pistons seemed during this season. unfortunately, it couldn't happen, but i will say that an occasional change of scenery during the nba finals really never hurt anybody.
---
in reflection, i actually liked reading a lot; it's just that i never liked reading on other people's terms; ie for a class, before this week is over so the library books i have can be returned w/o being overdue. so i present to you the list of books i have as of right now in my room that i would like to get done with by the end of this summer:
an understandable history of the bible - dr. samuel gipp *done*
new age (bible) versions - g.a. riplinger(i hoped i spelled that name right)
the art of war - sun tzu(translated by john minford)
the case for a creator - lee strobel(given to me by my msm counselor)
i would also like to get "mythic past" from barnes and noble; it's a book debating the validity of the bible; you see, as i'm still trying to increase my collection of books arguing for the validity of the kjv bible, i would also like to look into books that debate the kjv vs other bible versions, but i haven't looked at a book that says the bible is not truth based on EXTERNAL factors; would be interesting to read it just to see what type of arguments the author makes(and whether those arguments have any counter arguments; they always do)
---
lucky enough to find bible software for the niv at fry's; you see, i want to be able to compare the niv up against the kjv at home, it's easier to do if you have search software to use, and i have the kjv for free on my cpu, but the niv is copyrighted, so you actually need to purchase it. still wasn't too expensive; 9.99
---
i wear SO MUCH stuff when i play basketball now. it used to be just "to look cool" which was why i originally wore the green headband, but now, my body's just like screaming after every day i play if i'm not wearing stuff. i wear wwjd and a rubber bracelet everytime i play, but then, i always wear that, so it's kinda moot.
-white headband(it's a special fiber, so it feels lighter and sucks water away; very, very, good); used to wear it b/c it looked cool, but now i'm getting used to it actually working quite well especially on a hot day, as it keeps the sweat from running down my face, and it can be used to slightly tuck my glasses in so they won't fall out as easily
-starting to wear those things that tuck your glasses in now as well, btw
-fingersleeve(wear it on my left ring; never got sprained, but sometimes when i played it would hurt, so i do this not to get that feeling anymore)
-gels that i wear to cushion my balls-of-my-feet; i get these nasty calluses on my balls of my foot if i don't wear them, and since they slide around all the time, i'm going to get tape now as well
-jumper's knee strap(i dunno if this is a recent occurance, but sometimes my left knee aches after games now)
and that's excluding the fact that during winter and fall, i like using the nike elbow band and nba shooter's sleeve to help me keep warm.
---
whoa, too much typing; i just wanna say one more thing:
if you like watching cartoons on youtube.com, try searching with these words:
jlu secret origins
very nice; should bring up a 1 hr cartoon about the justice league; i enjoy it greatly, because it shows how the justice league(superman, batman, wonder woman, hawkgirl, green lantern, and the flash) came to be; for some reason, i'm a really big sucker for the very 1st episode, and maybe the last episode of cartoons; shows how things were set up, and how the heroes came to don their responsibilities, as well as how they closed things off.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
closure...
and yet, it's not...
b/c i don't have a good feeling about one of my classes...
like i said before, i really hope i don't have to come back this fall...
that being said, even if i didn't have to come back, i still really don't know what the hell i'm going to do...
whatever God's will is, God's will is
---
burned my last cd today... that's it... all my data on my cpu is now on a ton of cds. funny how it came down to this... i came into this college with nothing on my laptop, and i will leave with nothing on my laptop(as i'm finally going to defragment that slow ass cpu tonight). now, i won't ever have to worry about being sidetracked when using my laptop, b/c all the data will be somewhere else; available for me to use, but not within easy reach.
---
according to the wiki, dwyane wade is a christian, b/c he's tithed to his church back in illinois. christians are so hard to follow in the nba nowadays; nobody's as outspoken as david robinson and avery johnson. that being said, here i who i THINK is christian:
ben wallace(wears a wwjd bracelet)
chauncey billups(said "God is good" when he received the 2k4 finals mvp)
antonio mcdyess(wears a wwjd bracelet, i think)
jason richardson(prays before every game)
dwyane wade
dwight howard(obvious reasons)
alonzo mourning(points his finger to the sky during games a LOT)
michael redd(gave his dad a CHURCH)
jermaine o neal(sketchy on this one; i've heard he prayed before, but then it's hard to say you're a christian when your track record has you rush-punching a pistons fan)
richard jefferson(parents were missionaries)
antoine jamaison
michael finley
allen iverson(? not too sure; wears wwjd)
help me add to the list; who else? or did i get anybody wrong?
fyi, stuart scott asked avery johnson if he'd ever tell his players that he loved them(coach brown did it in game 6 vs spurs, and the pistons responded with a win)... i loved avery's response, it was along the lines of "no, i don't need to do that, because i tell them every moment off the court that i love them. they know it, and i always allow jerry stackhouse's kids to come and stay over and eat all my food." (sounds very asian christian parent-like, doesn't it?)
---
in retrospect, i look back at college, and i have to admit, i learned stuff... but it was never in class. you see, while i may have picked up random things about modern biology, i believe in the end all that knowledge was superficial, and i probably couldn't recall it in a heartbeat. times flies... regardless of whether you're having fun, or trudging along.
i also learned that the internet and cpu in general is my krytonite in using time wisely... those years in jr high and high school were i was all goody-goody studying? bs... high school never prepared me for dealing with cable and high-speed internet. the good part is that is now over, and should i ever have to go back to college for grad school, i believe i'll have a much better plan of attack in studying better and stuff and not slacking. after all, life is one giant experiment... try stuff out, if it doesn't work, try something else out. just don't lose focus.
i believe the real, life-changing stuff for me though, lay in my junior year; God gave me a second chance near the end of fall quarter, and then it was in my winter quarter, that my eyes came across the humongous eBook i read during junior year that would change my mentality about how i viewed the Bible and my beliefs in christianity forever.
i don't want to go back through my entire journal and pick out stuff in detail that occurred during my college period right now... i'm kinda tired, and intend to take a quick nap before i bring a buncha stuff back to the bay area, then come back early tomorrow for graduation(mom's too afraid to drive herself)... maybe later.
i will say this though... nothing occurs on this earth with it being in some minute way a perfect step in God's eyes of his perfect plan. we may not see the fruits of our labor right now even when it appears all for naught, but i believe somewhere in the distant future when we are spiritually mature enough to take it, that we'll see and understand it.
til then, keep reading the word of God each day. preferably, the KJV.
and test and retest and think about each and every aspect of your life from all angles, so that you'll always arrive at the best conclusion.
i'm out(not my blogging, you silly, i'll keep posting). i'll see you CTCC boyz back after retreat, as i'm not going. when you come back, you'll finally have tayshaun's "asian arms of D" to contend with.
and yet, it's not...
b/c i don't have a good feeling about one of my classes...
like i said before, i really hope i don't have to come back this fall...
that being said, even if i didn't have to come back, i still really don't know what the hell i'm going to do...
whatever God's will is, God's will is
---
burned my last cd today... that's it... all my data on my cpu is now on a ton of cds. funny how it came down to this... i came into this college with nothing on my laptop, and i will leave with nothing on my laptop(as i'm finally going to defragment that slow ass cpu tonight). now, i won't ever have to worry about being sidetracked when using my laptop, b/c all the data will be somewhere else; available for me to use, but not within easy reach.
---
according to the wiki, dwyane wade is a christian, b/c he's tithed to his church back in illinois. christians are so hard to follow in the nba nowadays; nobody's as outspoken as david robinson and avery johnson. that being said, here i who i THINK is christian:
ben wallace(wears a wwjd bracelet)
chauncey billups(said "God is good" when he received the 2k4 finals mvp)
antonio mcdyess(wears a wwjd bracelet, i think)
jason richardson(prays before every game)
dwyane wade
dwight howard(obvious reasons)
alonzo mourning(points his finger to the sky during games a LOT)
michael redd(gave his dad a CHURCH)
jermaine o neal(sketchy on this one; i've heard he prayed before, but then it's hard to say you're a christian when your track record has you rush-punching a pistons fan)
richard jefferson(parents were missionaries)
antoine jamaison
michael finley
allen iverson(? not too sure; wears wwjd)
help me add to the list; who else? or did i get anybody wrong?
fyi, stuart scott asked avery johnson if he'd ever tell his players that he loved them(coach brown did it in game 6 vs spurs, and the pistons responded with a win)... i loved avery's response, it was along the lines of "no, i don't need to do that, because i tell them every moment off the court that i love them. they know it, and i always allow jerry stackhouse's kids to come and stay over and eat all my food." (sounds very asian christian parent-like, doesn't it?)
---
in retrospect, i look back at college, and i have to admit, i learned stuff... but it was never in class. you see, while i may have picked up random things about modern biology, i believe in the end all that knowledge was superficial, and i probably couldn't recall it in a heartbeat. times flies... regardless of whether you're having fun, or trudging along.
i also learned that the internet and cpu in general is my krytonite in using time wisely... those years in jr high and high school were i was all goody-goody studying? bs... high school never prepared me for dealing with cable and high-speed internet. the good part is that is now over, and should i ever have to go back to college for grad school, i believe i'll have a much better plan of attack in studying better and stuff and not slacking. after all, life is one giant experiment... try stuff out, if it doesn't work, try something else out. just don't lose focus.
i believe the real, life-changing stuff for me though, lay in my junior year; God gave me a second chance near the end of fall quarter, and then it was in my winter quarter, that my eyes came across the humongous eBook i read during junior year that would change my mentality about how i viewed the Bible and my beliefs in christianity forever.
i don't want to go back through my entire journal and pick out stuff in detail that occurred during my college period right now... i'm kinda tired, and intend to take a quick nap before i bring a buncha stuff back to the bay area, then come back early tomorrow for graduation(mom's too afraid to drive herself)... maybe later.
i will say this though... nothing occurs on this earth with it being in some minute way a perfect step in God's eyes of his perfect plan. we may not see the fruits of our labor right now even when it appears all for naught, but i believe somewhere in the distant future when we are spiritually mature enough to take it, that we'll see and understand it.
til then, keep reading the word of God each day. preferably, the KJV.
and test and retest and think about each and every aspect of your life from all angles, so that you'll always arrive at the best conclusion.
i'm out(not my blogging, you silly, i'll keep posting). i'll see you CTCC boyz back after retreat, as i'm not going. when you come back, you'll finally have tayshaun's "asian arms of D" to contend with.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
i think i've heard word that dallas and miami tend to be those cities which are just more bandwagon type ppl; if something's good, they get into it; check this out...
cbs4.com - Plenty Of Room On The Bandwagon For New Heat Fans
---
right now i'm just PRAYING i graduate and don't have to come back fall... as an undergraduate... i am HOPING i come back... but not as an undergrad.
cbs4.com - Plenty Of Room On The Bandwagon For New Heat Fans
---
right now i'm just PRAYING i graduate and don't have to come back fall... as an undergraduate... i am HOPING i come back... but not as an undergrad.
Ben Wallace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"Like other big men in the NBA, namely Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, Wallace is a poor free throw shooter. In fact, he is the worst free throw shooter in NBA history out of any player with more than 1000 attempts. As of October 2005, his NBA career average is 42.0%. This ineptitude at the free throw line results in his sometimes becoming a target of the so-called 'Hack-a-Shaq' defense (A tactic that has drawn the ire of teammate Rasheed Wallace). The reason for this drawback is that his right wrist has some ligaments that were cut off due to a surgery that was needed because his hand had some carpal tunnel issues. This causes his hand to go 'dead' whenever he dunks, falls to the ground, or when he shoots a free throw, resulting in him being unable to make them on a consistent basis."
we finally know why he can't shoot free throws...
"Like other big men in the NBA, namely Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, Wallace is a poor free throw shooter. In fact, he is the worst free throw shooter in NBA history out of any player with more than 1000 attempts. As of October 2005, his NBA career average is 42.0%. This ineptitude at the free throw line results in his sometimes becoming a target of the so-called 'Hack-a-Shaq' defense (A tactic that has drawn the ire of teammate Rasheed Wallace). The reason for this drawback is that his right wrist has some ligaments that were cut off due to a surgery that was needed because his hand had some carpal tunnel issues. This causes his hand to go 'dead' whenever he dunks, falls to the ground, or when he shoots a free throw, resulting in him being unable to make them on a consistent basis."
we finally know why he can't shoot free throws...
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
game 4, not THREE, IMO, will be the game that decides the outcome of the nba finals.
i've noticed that it's ALWAYS too early to call a series even if the team w/home advantage gets the 1st two. securing your home court wins is always good, and then it'll put pressure on the opponent, but it's not bulletproof. case in point, detroit and spurs last year. so spurs won the 1st 2 by huge margins. and they won the series. but a LOT of people weren't thinking that way after the outcome of games 3 and 4.
it's probably a given that the heat will win game 3. i BELIEVE it. no way the crowd will allow another loss, and no way will the duo allow it. but if they don't absolutely trash the mavs in that win, and only win by a hair, miami's in trouble.
like i said, you'll need to see how mavs respond in game 4, after losing, to see whether they'll get this.
i've noticed that it's ALWAYS too early to call a series even if the team w/home advantage gets the 1st two. securing your home court wins is always good, and then it'll put pressure on the opponent, but it's not bulletproof. case in point, detroit and spurs last year. so spurs won the 1st 2 by huge margins. and they won the series. but a LOT of people weren't thinking that way after the outcome of games 3 and 4.
it's probably a given that the heat will win game 3. i BELIEVE it. no way the crowd will allow another loss, and no way will the duo allow it. but if they don't absolutely trash the mavs in that win, and only win by a hair, miami's in trouble.
like i said, you'll need to see how mavs respond in game 4, after losing, to see whether they'll get this.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Incredible...
Nadal is clearly Federer's thorn in the side... this kid's incredible. i think the french open clearly favors fast, scrambling players, the type that nadal is. if you can outrun your opponent, you'll shine on the clay.
---
US soccer better live up to its expectations this year... they start tomorrow.
---
note: i have never seen shaq so agile compared to this year... it's been a LOOONG time since i've seen him this fast. i don't think he's a defensive liability at all this season.
another note: like shaq, you can improve your chances of getting a good post-up near the basket, not just by backing down before demanding the ball, but shifting from one side of the court, to the other. trust me. they said something like this on espn.com, and i wholeheartedly agree.
---
some Justice League Unlimited videos for you to enjoy; i love how DC comics likes mashing all their superheroes that they create together...
JLU - Epilogue
they never got around to putting a "final episode" on Batman Beyond(which i used to watch everytime it showed on channel 20); incidentally, the "final episode" comes during this JLU episode; you finally find out all the kinks about terry's past. very nice.
Once And Future Thing
this one's during the future... so apparently static shock and batman beyond make up part of the future JLU huh? nice... so where's gear?(static's sidekick)
aaaand, not to leave out x-men... this stuff's good...
one man's worth
oh schnap! someone save xavier!
beyond good and evil
cable, apocalypse, the whole sche-bang...
(i always tended to like DC and marvel comics more than japanese anime)
---
but for an extra surprise, these are the japanese introductions to x-men; notice the BIG contrast... much more like japanese animation... ie a buncha robots are coming at the x-men, not magneto... weird...
intro 1
intro 2
good ol american fox x-men intro
---
three more funny things i gotta post for your enjoyment before i sign off and study:
click 1
click 2
click 3
---
i'll post something deep after thursday afternoon; that's when all my finals end.
Nadal is clearly Federer's thorn in the side... this kid's incredible. i think the french open clearly favors fast, scrambling players, the type that nadal is. if you can outrun your opponent, you'll shine on the clay.
---
US soccer better live up to its expectations this year... they start tomorrow.
---
note: i have never seen shaq so agile compared to this year... it's been a LOOONG time since i've seen him this fast. i don't think he's a defensive liability at all this season.
another note: like shaq, you can improve your chances of getting a good post-up near the basket, not just by backing down before demanding the ball, but shifting from one side of the court, to the other. trust me. they said something like this on espn.com, and i wholeheartedly agree.
---
some Justice League Unlimited videos for you to enjoy; i love how DC comics likes mashing all their superheroes that they create together...
JLU - Epilogue
they never got around to putting a "final episode" on Batman Beyond(which i used to watch everytime it showed on channel 20); incidentally, the "final episode" comes during this JLU episode; you finally find out all the kinks about terry's past. very nice.
Once And Future Thing
this one's during the future... so apparently static shock and batman beyond make up part of the future JLU huh? nice... so where's gear?(static's sidekick)
aaaand, not to leave out x-men... this stuff's good...
one man's worth
oh schnap! someone save xavier!
beyond good and evil
cable, apocalypse, the whole sche-bang...
(i always tended to like DC and marvel comics more than japanese anime)
---
but for an extra surprise, these are the japanese introductions to x-men; notice the BIG contrast... much more like japanese animation... ie a buncha robots are coming at the x-men, not magneto... weird...
intro 1
intro 2
good ol american fox x-men intro
---
three more funny things i gotta post for your enjoyment before i sign off and study:
click 1
click 2
click 3
---
i'll post something deep after thursday afternoon; that's when all my finals end.
some people view life as a race... and the finish line is death.
in reality, it's probably not that simple.
i think a more accurate picture is that in that race, death is our competitor; and he's slowly catching up from behind, sealing our fate; we just decide on the speed which we run whether he can catch us now, or later...
and various checkpoints in the race are our own personal goals that we want to set before we die. there is no actual finish line; you finish when death catches you. some of us will die before we finish those goals; others will achieve them all in their young life, then just run until death catches them in their old age.
furthermore, as we are running, there are numerous forks in the road that constantly appear. we call these forks "decisions." some of us will choose good decisions, others will choose bad decisions. but no matter what happens, once we choose them, they are set in stone; we can't go back and change our decisions; death will catch us before we can do that.
in reality, it's probably not that simple.
i think a more accurate picture is that in that race, death is our competitor; and he's slowly catching up from behind, sealing our fate; we just decide on the speed which we run whether he can catch us now, or later...
and various checkpoints in the race are our own personal goals that we want to set before we die. there is no actual finish line; you finish when death catches you. some of us will die before we finish those goals; others will achieve them all in their young life, then just run until death catches them in their old age.
furthermore, as we are running, there are numerous forks in the road that constantly appear. we call these forks "decisions." some of us will choose good decisions, others will choose bad decisions. but no matter what happens, once we choose them, they are set in stone; we can't go back and change our decisions; death will catch us before we can do that.
Friday, June 09, 2006
managed to actually get in a few rounds against other asian people playing street fighter 2: hyper fighting. i keep saying "i would've won more matches against them if the forward(middle kick) button wasn't broken" but excuses, excuses.
specifically, i played against 2 asians, both used guile exclusively. i started with guile and played around for a bit. since i couldn't use crouching forward(probably guile's best poke), that annoyed the crap outta me. i had to use crouching short, which, as guile, DOES go pretty far, but doesn't go as far as his crouching forward. and i really would only use crouching short for other reasons. also doesn't do as much hitstun. still, the guile vs guile games were pretty close. he won most of them, but they were close matches. lotsa throws and counterthrows (hey, cmon now; it's guile). i think i knew more tricks than him(i was throwing sonic booms more due to b,f,b+punch trick, using "piano" method to increase my chances of getting reversals, and doing tick throws more), but couldn't really counterattack his stuff better. after the loses started just piling up, i said "screw guile; i can't play him if i can't use croching forward" and switched to ryu(ryu relies on crouching forward a lot too for his normals, but since he's more of a trapping character, you don't really need to use it), and got manhandled the 1st game.
but then, i stuck with ryu, and was able to go on a tear; i think i got like 3-4 wins in a row. ryu vs guile in hyper fighting, is stated by many to be a 6-4 match in ryu's favor. still a close, good match. because ryu's hurricane kick, while prone to flash kicks and guile's crouching fierce, is invincible on the 1st frame, and goes cleanly over guile's sonic boom every time. takes away a lot of guile's pressure tactics up-close because of that. ryu wants to push guile into midrange where his faster fireball and the fact that he doesn't need to charge it gives him a significant advantage; if guile tries to match ryu projectile for projectile, he will lose. guile wants to get in where he has better normals, his crouching forward can stuff ryu's fireball before it comes out, and if his sonic boom matches ryu's hadoken, he gets a free backfist. i played defensively, cause while that's boring, it was the smart thing to do with ryu against guile. although i could've went for crossups a bit more if i got up-close. i actually got a lot of psychic dps on both guile players, ie, i'd hit them with jab dragon punch just as they stuck out crouching short or forward.
muga staff really need to fix that forward button. it's pissing me off.
one thing i don't like about american sticks is that the stick is slightly textured near the top; it's fine in tekken and virtua fighter, because you play that game by tapping the joystick. but it's horrible in street fighter, since you HOLD the joystick more. i've got this blister on my left thumb on the side as a result.
specifically, i played against 2 asians, both used guile exclusively. i started with guile and played around for a bit. since i couldn't use crouching forward(probably guile's best poke), that annoyed the crap outta me. i had to use crouching short, which, as guile, DOES go pretty far, but doesn't go as far as his crouching forward. and i really would only use crouching short for other reasons. also doesn't do as much hitstun. still, the guile vs guile games were pretty close. he won most of them, but they were close matches. lotsa throws and counterthrows (hey, cmon now; it's guile). i think i knew more tricks than him(i was throwing sonic booms more due to b,f,b+punch trick, using "piano" method to increase my chances of getting reversals, and doing tick throws more), but couldn't really counterattack his stuff better. after the loses started just piling up, i said "screw guile; i can't play him if i can't use croching forward" and switched to ryu(ryu relies on crouching forward a lot too for his normals, but since he's more of a trapping character, you don't really need to use it), and got manhandled the 1st game.
but then, i stuck with ryu, and was able to go on a tear; i think i got like 3-4 wins in a row. ryu vs guile in hyper fighting, is stated by many to be a 6-4 match in ryu's favor. still a close, good match. because ryu's hurricane kick, while prone to flash kicks and guile's crouching fierce, is invincible on the 1st frame, and goes cleanly over guile's sonic boom every time. takes away a lot of guile's pressure tactics up-close because of that. ryu wants to push guile into midrange where his faster fireball and the fact that he doesn't need to charge it gives him a significant advantage; if guile tries to match ryu projectile for projectile, he will lose. guile wants to get in where he has better normals, his crouching forward can stuff ryu's fireball before it comes out, and if his sonic boom matches ryu's hadoken, he gets a free backfist. i played defensively, cause while that's boring, it was the smart thing to do with ryu against guile. although i could've went for crossups a bit more if i got up-close. i actually got a lot of psychic dps on both guile players, ie, i'd hit them with jab dragon punch just as they stuck out crouching short or forward.
muga staff really need to fix that forward button. it's pissing me off.
one thing i don't like about american sticks is that the stick is slightly textured near the top; it's fine in tekken and virtua fighter, because you play that game by tapping the joystick. but it's horrible in street fighter, since you HOLD the joystick more. i've got this blister on my left thumb on the side as a result.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
YouTube - ????? Knife Skills
for nostalgia's sake...
am i bringing back memories, college ctcc guys?
personally, all i could do was flip out, twirl, flip back. then again, that's all we could do.
if i tried what the girl did in the video at the same speed, i'd probably slash open all 5 digits on my left hand. and then, by the time i'd get it down, there'd be a puddle of blood forming near my legs.
for nostalgia's sake...
am i bringing back memories, college ctcc guys?
personally, all i could do was flip out, twirl, flip back. then again, that's all we could do.
if i tried what the girl did in the video at the same speed, i'd probably slash open all 5 digits on my left hand. and then, by the time i'd get it down, there'd be a puddle of blood forming near my legs.
Monday, June 05, 2006
What Ibid means
I get it now...
cause sometimes reading "Gipp's An Understanding History of the Bible" I would see this as a book quote in the footnotes, and it would be a really good quote, and so i was like, "man, all these quotes taken from this Ibid book; i gotta have this."
duuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
I get it now...
cause sometimes reading "Gipp's An Understanding History of the Bible" I would see this as a book quote in the footnotes, and it would be a really good quote, and so i was like, "man, all these quotes taken from this Ibid book; i gotta have this."
duuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
for some strange reason, as of late regarding my current flavor in fighting games, i keep returning to street fighter 2: hyper fighting and super street fighter 2 turbo.
virtua fighter's a constant; vf5, vf4:final tuned or vf4:evolution i never put on the backburner.
but strangely, i've begun to disregard tekken more for sf2:hf and ssf2t.
perhaps it's cause i'm downloading a LOT more sf2 match videos, but i find the usage of moves in each match and the care and approach needed to win in those games very respectable. you never use just a few moves.
sf2 has such highly counter-character matchups and do really high damage at times that it's never about the combos. this game is about establishing your footsie game better than your opponent and slowly grinding them to a pulp.
i've always liked ryu, but i've gravitating more and more towards guile, because he can be played very aggressively. and i'm thinking of learning chun-li.
too bad nobody plays this. much like vf4. that and the fact that the "forward kick" button at the muga is broken.
virtua fighter's a constant; vf5, vf4:final tuned or vf4:evolution i never put on the backburner.
but strangely, i've begun to disregard tekken more for sf2:hf and ssf2t.
perhaps it's cause i'm downloading a LOT more sf2 match videos, but i find the usage of moves in each match and the care and approach needed to win in those games very respectable. you never use just a few moves.
sf2 has such highly counter-character matchups and do really high damage at times that it's never about the combos. this game is about establishing your footsie game better than your opponent and slowly grinding them to a pulp.
i've always liked ryu, but i've gravitating more and more towards guile, because he can be played very aggressively. and i'm thinking of learning chun-li.
too bad nobody plays this. much like vf4. that and the fact that the "forward kick" button at the muga is broken.
one of the most interesting phenomenons regarding human nature towards sports is the act of rooting for your personal most hated team to lose. or rather, when watching a sports game, that you're rooting for the team you hate MORE to lose. or rooting for the team that just knocked your team out of the playoffs to lose. instead of rooting for the team you like more to win.
well, i'm here to tell you, STOPPIT.
to be quite frank, it's childish.
why?
no longer do you care about the enjoyment of the game.
you're exhibiting the desire that "if i can't have my team get a championship, neither will you."
and quite frankly, this desire is satanic in nature.
ever since Satan fell from heaven, he has sought to replace God. he also has genuinely sought that if he can't stay in heaven and must suffer, all other humans(who i guess he believes are even less righteous than he was, and even less of a creature than he was) must suffer too.
starting to see why i dislike this attitude so much?
i mean, i could be taking this a bit too far, but i don't believe that.
i'm not saying you have to like the team that just sent your team into the offseason.
or your most hated team.
but grow up already... if you really don't notice, this attitude detracts from your enjoyment of the game, b/c it's no longer about a good play or good sportsmanship... it's simply about the end score and whether the team you hate looks terrible.
so you're asking, what's the difference between rooting for the team you want to win vs rooting against the team you want to lose?
your attitude. whether you view plays as awesome b/c the player on your favored team is that talented, or whether you view plays as awesome b/c the player on your hated team looked like a klutz. etc.
---
the other interesting phenomenon i guess i would say about sports is when your favorite team gets knocked out, ppl who write about it in online journals completely stop talking about the sport in its entirity. haha. but not me i guess.
---
anyways, while i don't exactly like having the heat as the eastern reps as opposed to the pistons, i've kinda gotten over it. to the heat's credit, they've managed to find their offensive stroke, and i think their defense is for real. still don't like the fact that they had to get walker and williams(as both aren't good defenders), but i guess those are just personal pet peeves. that, and riley's brilliant coaching has more-or-less made them a team to beat. plus, i do like dwade and mourning. on the flip side, avery johnson has continued to show just how great of a coach he is. and dallas has continued to show how it is the deepest team in the league right now, plus, i love how dirk's evolving into an all-around player(i've felt this season that dirk had the potential to become the best center offensively if he could master some post-ups, and he's shown it). i also like josh howard.
i do like the matchup of mavericks vs heat. the mavericks smoked the heat in the regular season, but the heat have become that much better now. of course, i'll be hoping the mavericks win, but i'm not going to be that enbittered if the heat win. after all, dwade and mourning are really great.
if i was coaching the mavs, i have a lot of versatility as to how i want to take the heat apart, offensively. i could either put dirk at the 3 pt line since he is so hard to guard, and hopefully draw shaq and mourning out to the 3 pt line. that would free up the middle for terry, harris and howard to slash and do their thing. or, i give the ball to dirk in post and hope he draws fouls with shaq, or if doubled, kicks out to a plethora of 3-pt spot-up shooters. i personally like the 1st more.
heat of course, rely mainly upon their superstars. dallas has improved defensively, but they're not a lockdown defensive team yet. give the ball to shaq and wade, let them create by getting into the middle and then pass. then again, this is the heat's offensive gameplan every game lol.
if mav's improved defense holds up and they don't lose focus(they're prone to mental lapses in some games), i predict that the mavs will win in 6(they'll get all home games, grab the 5th game after they lose focus for 2 games and avery suddenly gets on them, then come home and win it). if not, heat in 6(heat will grab the 1st game showing they are for real, lose the 2nd game at home when avery gets on them, win the remainder)
if mavs win, mvp will be dirk(he will be highly responsible for getting shaq and 'zo to the 3 pt line). if heat win, mvp will be dwyane wade(mavs have slightly better big defenders than perimeter defenders; however, dwyane has not found any real counterdefender to him in the postseason).
well, i'm here to tell you, STOPPIT.
to be quite frank, it's childish.
why?
no longer do you care about the enjoyment of the game.
you're exhibiting the desire that "if i can't have my team get a championship, neither will you."
and quite frankly, this desire is satanic in nature.
ever since Satan fell from heaven, he has sought to replace God. he also has genuinely sought that if he can't stay in heaven and must suffer, all other humans(who i guess he believes are even less righteous than he was, and even less of a creature than he was) must suffer too.
starting to see why i dislike this attitude so much?
i mean, i could be taking this a bit too far, but i don't believe that.
i'm not saying you have to like the team that just sent your team into the offseason.
or your most hated team.
but grow up already... if you really don't notice, this attitude detracts from your enjoyment of the game, b/c it's no longer about a good play or good sportsmanship... it's simply about the end score and whether the team you hate looks terrible.
so you're asking, what's the difference between rooting for the team you want to win vs rooting against the team you want to lose?
your attitude. whether you view plays as awesome b/c the player on your favored team is that talented, or whether you view plays as awesome b/c the player on your hated team looked like a klutz. etc.
---
the other interesting phenomenon i guess i would say about sports is when your favorite team gets knocked out, ppl who write about it in online journals completely stop talking about the sport in its entirity. haha. but not me i guess.
---
anyways, while i don't exactly like having the heat as the eastern reps as opposed to the pistons, i've kinda gotten over it. to the heat's credit, they've managed to find their offensive stroke, and i think their defense is for real. still don't like the fact that they had to get walker and williams(as both aren't good defenders), but i guess those are just personal pet peeves. that, and riley's brilliant coaching has more-or-less made them a team to beat. plus, i do like dwade and mourning. on the flip side, avery johnson has continued to show just how great of a coach he is. and dallas has continued to show how it is the deepest team in the league right now, plus, i love how dirk's evolving into an all-around player(i've felt this season that dirk had the potential to become the best center offensively if he could master some post-ups, and he's shown it). i also like josh howard.
i do like the matchup of mavericks vs heat. the mavericks smoked the heat in the regular season, but the heat have become that much better now. of course, i'll be hoping the mavericks win, but i'm not going to be that enbittered if the heat win. after all, dwade and mourning are really great.
if i was coaching the mavs, i have a lot of versatility as to how i want to take the heat apart, offensively. i could either put dirk at the 3 pt line since he is so hard to guard, and hopefully draw shaq and mourning out to the 3 pt line. that would free up the middle for terry, harris and howard to slash and do their thing. or, i give the ball to dirk in post and hope he draws fouls with shaq, or if doubled, kicks out to a plethora of 3-pt spot-up shooters. i personally like the 1st more.
heat of course, rely mainly upon their superstars. dallas has improved defensively, but they're not a lockdown defensive team yet. give the ball to shaq and wade, let them create by getting into the middle and then pass. then again, this is the heat's offensive gameplan every game lol.
if mav's improved defense holds up and they don't lose focus(they're prone to mental lapses in some games), i predict that the mavs will win in 6(they'll get all home games, grab the 5th game after they lose focus for 2 games and avery suddenly gets on them, then come home and win it). if not, heat in 6(heat will grab the 1st game showing they are for real, lose the 2nd game at home when avery gets on them, win the remainder)
if mavs win, mvp will be dirk(he will be highly responsible for getting shaq and 'zo to the 3 pt line). if heat win, mvp will be dwyane wade(mavs have slightly better big defenders than perimeter defenders; however, dwyane has not found any real counterdefender to him in the postseason).
Friday, June 02, 2006
interesting
to be honest, i kinda thought about it too... but never really said it outloud.
i do agree though, that game 6 will more-or-less decide what type of a coach flip is.
you have to realize though, that flip is a laid-back coach. while being laid-back has its benefits, ultimately, i'll take a strict coach over a laid-back coach.
phil jackson's the only exception.
to be honest, i kinda thought about it too... but never really said it outloud.
i do agree though, that game 6 will more-or-less decide what type of a coach flip is.
you have to realize though, that flip is a laid-back coach. while being laid-back has its benefits, ultimately, i'll take a strict coach over a laid-back coach.
phil jackson's the only exception.
"Harris went missing in action early in the second half. After diving over the Phoenix bench to save a loose ball, the Suns didn't make room for him to return, forcing him to walk all the way to the Dallas bench to find an opening."
That's low man...
---
We are all Nowitznesses now...
---
For those of you who were the same generation as I was and maybe older, I hope you enjoy this throwback cartoon
I grew up watching mainly TMNT.
To be honest though, in fair analyzation, the cartoons back then weren't necessarily better; all of us old people keep saying that's the truth, but that's only because we were raised on it, not because the young kids these days are idiots. Ppl really need to wise up; if we were raised on new TMNT, we'd swear up and down that the old TMNT looks like crap. I've seen both versions of TMNT, and i can see redeeming qualities of the new TMNT on FOX that makes it in some ways better than the old. Fight scenes are a little better(as opposed to the old where they just run into people basically and fall down), the turtles look a bit buffer, not like the skinny ass things in the old cartoon and their lines aren't as cheesy(although, this IS TMNT; lines are supposed to be cheesy). The redeeming qualities of the old TMNT though is that the storylines and plot are a lot better. I think.
Like I said, don't ever say what you watched back then is miles better than what is shown today. Sometimes I look up various episodes of shows back then I mightve watched, and then I go, "I watched THAT?!?!?!??"
(Although I will admit yu-gi-oh and pokemon is a BIT out there... that's my main pet peeve with today's cartoons)
That's low man...
---
We are all Nowitznesses now...
---
For those of you who were the same generation as I was and maybe older, I hope you enjoy this throwback cartoon
I grew up watching mainly TMNT.
To be honest though, in fair analyzation, the cartoons back then weren't necessarily better; all of us old people keep saying that's the truth, but that's only because we were raised on it, not because the young kids these days are idiots. Ppl really need to wise up; if we were raised on new TMNT, we'd swear up and down that the old TMNT looks like crap. I've seen both versions of TMNT, and i can see redeeming qualities of the new TMNT on FOX that makes it in some ways better than the old. Fight scenes are a little better(as opposed to the old where they just run into people basically and fall down), the turtles look a bit buffer, not like the skinny ass things in the old cartoon and their lines aren't as cheesy(although, this IS TMNT; lines are supposed to be cheesy). The redeeming qualities of the old TMNT though is that the storylines and plot are a lot better. I think.
Like I said, don't ever say what you watched back then is miles better than what is shown today. Sometimes I look up various episodes of shows back then I mightve watched, and then I go, "I watched THAT?!?!?!??"
(Although I will admit yu-gi-oh and pokemon is a BIT out there... that's my main pet peeve with today's cartoons)
Thursday, June 01, 2006
ykno, playoff-wise, the pistons are looking a lot like the suns of the east in a lotta ways. ie the balance and depth, and arguably the defense at times is thrown out the window.
and what's surprising me is how the offense this year in the playoffs has almost single-handedly been carried by tayshaun alone.
bad, b/c they really need rasheed, billups, and rip to really beat everybody. i'm really surprised billups is not outstanding outside of the assists and free throws this year.
but at the same time, b/c tayshaun is my favorite piston right next to ben, it's really something to watch this guy. his gamestyle doesn't really stand out like other superstar players like dwade slashing all the time, but it's like you watch the game, he's playing solidly, not really exerting himself or demanding the ball, and then after a few minutes go by you're like "wow, he scored how many points?"
(btw, anybody else notice that tayshaun played with a red wristband on his left elbow for a FEW minutes during the 4th yesterday, then take it off again? weird... tayshaun plays with none of the sweatgear stuff or rubber bands)
---
and yes, i'm still in shock ben wallace blocked shaq's dunk, and put him to the floor. notice how every miami heat fan on youtube.com commented "that was so a foul." hey, i may be a pistons fan, but i know a good block when i see one.
and yes, it's on my cpu right now. man, it's so fun to watch pistons block shots.
and what's surprising me is how the offense this year in the playoffs has almost single-handedly been carried by tayshaun alone.
bad, b/c they really need rasheed, billups, and rip to really beat everybody. i'm really surprised billups is not outstanding outside of the assists and free throws this year.
but at the same time, b/c tayshaun is my favorite piston right next to ben, it's really something to watch this guy. his gamestyle doesn't really stand out like other superstar players like dwade slashing all the time, but it's like you watch the game, he's playing solidly, not really exerting himself or demanding the ball, and then after a few minutes go by you're like "wow, he scored how many points?"
(btw, anybody else notice that tayshaun played with a red wristband on his left elbow for a FEW minutes during the 4th yesterday, then take it off again? weird... tayshaun plays with none of the sweatgear stuff or rubber bands)
---
and yes, i'm still in shock ben wallace blocked shaq's dunk, and put him to the floor. notice how every miami heat fan on youtube.com commented "that was so a foul." hey, i may be a pistons fan, but i know a good block when i see one.
and yes, it's on my cpu right now. man, it's so fun to watch pistons block shots.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
disgusting... i want to find a video of this on the web RIGHT NOW... i saw it during the replay after the game on espn.com and was totally blown away. it's stuff like this that made me like ben wallace so much.
"Prince had a steal and a dunk, then on the ensuing possession Ben Wallace brought the crowd to its feet.
Just when O'Neal was about to throw down another one of his backboard-shaking dunks, the 6-foot-7 Wallace leaped and stunted O'Neal's slam -- forcing a jump ball, and putting the 7-1 O'Neal on his back.
About a minute later, Wallace's three-point play -- yes, he made the free throw -- gave the Pistons a 60-53 lead."
he did it one-handed... against shaq going two-handed... dis... gus... ting...
"Prince had a steal and a dunk, then on the ensuing possession Ben Wallace brought the crowd to its feet.
Just when O'Neal was about to throw down another one of his backboard-shaking dunks, the 6-foot-7 Wallace leaped and stunted O'Neal's slam -- forcing a jump ball, and putting the 7-1 O'Neal on his back.
About a minute later, Wallace's three-point play -- yes, he made the free throw -- gave the Pistons a 60-53 lead."
he did it one-handed... against shaq going two-handed... dis... gus... ting...
alpha collection for ps2 comes out on june 11. 29.99. contains all versions of street fighter alpha, includes street fighter zero 2 alpha(can play as cammy, evil ryu, sunburnt sakura and various sf2 versions of characters), a special customizable version of sfa3(adds guile, evil ryu, fei long, t hawk and dee jay as well as a ton of customizable options), but most importantly, including an actual arcade-perfect sfa3. all previous versions of sfa3 were not arcade perfect, which meant unless you broke the law by dling emulators and roms or bought an actual arcade cab, you couldn't practice for any tournaments at home. now it's possible.
using charge characters, you can speed up the time you can fire off specials by doing precharged specials. in example, using guile, his sonic boom is b 2 seconds, f+p. now, do it as b 2 seconds, f~b~p or f~db~p. get it? this even works on the ssf2t, which is how daigo made his balrog look so scary against john choi in evo 2k4(i have the match video on my cpu).
i don't play mvc2 or really watch it anymore, but i still enjoy videos of duc do playing. nobody else uses spiral quite like he does. no one even USES anybody as a main outside of the top 4. but he does. and it's crazy.
ssf2t does not enable you to do "rapid-tap specials" like chun's lightning legs by the piano motion(short~forward~roundhouse~short~roundhouse); in fact, of all the sf games that are still played, only cvs2 allows you to do this. you need to press the same button quickly(in 3rd strike, you press the same button 4x before 2 seconds are up). however, you can double-tap twice on a button 2x, and that should do it. like use your index and middle finger to drum on forward 2x. unfortunately, it's quite difficult to do any rapid-tap specials without needing to buffer it first. chun-li could be so much higher if you could do it right straight out.
spd(spinning pile driver) does not require a full 360 motion. it only requires a 270. this is actually common knowledge. in fact, debatably you only need a 5/8th of a circle(so rotate from forward to up-back), but i believe the shortest way to do a 720 super is to do a 360+180, and since supers in capcom games are usually "double-pumps" of a special, i'm guessing you need to do a 270 as a regular 360. i'm still in amazement of those who can pull off "standing 270" in ssf2t, so maybe you do need to do a 5/8, not 6/8(270).
if i don't get a ps2-to-usb adapter that actually works with the joystick i got, i will have wasted 20 dollars for plunking down something for approx 1 year. i plan to EVENTUALLY get a ps2 so that i don't waste the money i used to get vf4evo and ttt, but i dunno how long til. i still WOULD like to play with a joystick on my cpu, so that i can actually practice for st and a3, since both are still played at sunnyvale golfland.
using charge characters, you can speed up the time you can fire off specials by doing precharged specials. in example, using guile, his sonic boom is b 2 seconds, f+p. now, do it as b 2 seconds, f~b~p or f~db~p. get it? this even works on the ssf2t, which is how daigo made his balrog look so scary against john choi in evo 2k4(i have the match video on my cpu).
i don't play mvc2 or really watch it anymore, but i still enjoy videos of duc do playing. nobody else uses spiral quite like he does. no one even USES anybody as a main outside of the top 4. but he does. and it's crazy.
ssf2t does not enable you to do "rapid-tap specials" like chun's lightning legs by the piano motion(short~forward~roundhouse~short~roundhouse); in fact, of all the sf games that are still played, only cvs2 allows you to do this. you need to press the same button quickly(in 3rd strike, you press the same button 4x before 2 seconds are up). however, you can double-tap twice on a button 2x, and that should do it. like use your index and middle finger to drum on forward 2x. unfortunately, it's quite difficult to do any rapid-tap specials without needing to buffer it first. chun-li could be so much higher if you could do it right straight out.
spd(spinning pile driver) does not require a full 360 motion. it only requires a 270. this is actually common knowledge. in fact, debatably you only need a 5/8th of a circle(so rotate from forward to up-back), but i believe the shortest way to do a 720 super is to do a 360+180, and since supers in capcom games are usually "double-pumps" of a special, i'm guessing you need to do a 270 as a regular 360. i'm still in amazement of those who can pull off "standing 270" in ssf2t, so maybe you do need to do a 5/8, not 6/8(270).
if i don't get a ps2-to-usb adapter that actually works with the joystick i got, i will have wasted 20 dollars for plunking down something for approx 1 year. i plan to EVENTUALLY get a ps2 so that i don't waste the money i used to get vf4evo and ttt, but i dunno how long til. i still WOULD like to play with a joystick on my cpu, so that i can actually practice for st and a3, since both are still played at sunnyvale golfland.
i really don't know whether to say the pistons are the model for the nba anymore... they might even be the ANTIMODEL of the league.
ok, yeah, they have the best starting 5 in the nba. that's an organizational success on joe dumars' part.
but as of late, the way they approach games is very kobe-shaq laker-ish...
-act like they can just turn it on when it matters(i think they blur the line between confidence and cockiness way too often; i don't see the sense of urgency at all until they're muddled deep)
-rely more upon their offense than their defense to win
-maybe try to rely too much upon getting calls?
-i want to say this is part of flip's doing, but i think flip knew what the pistons needed to work on, and so strayed away from the 1-on-1 lockdown D THINKING that the players would always know how to play it. it's probably both sides' fault; flip for not emphasizing it and urgency, and the players for not doing it.
even if they win tonight, will they carry that same sense of urgency into miami? or that sense of cockiness?
that said, even if the pistons get knocked out, they'll come back the next year. i expect it. and san antonio too. they just need a reality check.
that being said, maybe it IS good that the pistons get knocked out; i really need to finish the rest of this quarter strong.
ok, yeah, they have the best starting 5 in the nba. that's an organizational success on joe dumars' part.
but as of late, the way they approach games is very kobe-shaq laker-ish...
-act like they can just turn it on when it matters(i think they blur the line between confidence and cockiness way too often; i don't see the sense of urgency at all until they're muddled deep)
-rely more upon their offense than their defense to win
-maybe try to rely too much upon getting calls?
-i want to say this is part of flip's doing, but i think flip knew what the pistons needed to work on, and so strayed away from the 1-on-1 lockdown D THINKING that the players would always know how to play it. it's probably both sides' fault; flip for not emphasizing it and urgency, and the players for not doing it.
even if they win tonight, will they carry that same sense of urgency into miami? or that sense of cockiness?
that said, even if the pistons get knocked out, they'll come back the next year. i expect it. and san antonio too. they just need a reality check.
that being said, maybe it IS good that the pistons get knocked out; i really need to finish the rest of this quarter strong.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
GameTrailers.com - User Movie: Virtua Fighter 4 ft SBO Finals 2k5 by BacardiJ
the Akira player's sick...
KG, SPoD(P+K+G,b,df+P+G,f+P) pwns you...
the Akira player's sick...
KG, SPoD(P+K+G,b,df+P+G,f+P) pwns you...
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
YouTube - Final Fight Revenge (Sega Saturn): Hilarious Match Video
i have never laughed so hard at a fighting game.
i have never laughed so hard at a fighting game.
Monday, May 22, 2006
the more i think about it, the more i realize i am totally old school... throwback in a world of modernization. to an extent. has to do mainly with a lot of the principles that i live by. i think a lot of it may have had to do with my mom. my mom's totally throwback. i'll admit that i don't actually achieve a lot of them, but just by thinking of them consciously and trying to always aim for it says a lot.
the reason i hate camping trips is b/c most ppl i have tried to camp with only want to talk and not shut up and let you sleep at night. i don't care what you talk about, even if it's something i would be interested in talking about, LET ME SLEEP! God bless "old" ppl who just want to fall asleep on trips and give you resting space, knowing they've got stuff to do the next day.
and i don't fall asleep too easily if i hear ANYTHING.
as a result, to put it quite bluntly, i feel like crap the following day.
if it weren't for that reason, and possibly the fact that i hate the long drive wherever we needs go, it would be a lot better; i love nature. really.
(so lake tahoe was ok i guess; ok, in that if i could've gotten better sleep, it would've been great. i guess i'll add getting a digital camera to my future list of wants, b/c as of late the only thing i really can use to hold onto each trip are memories)
---
just when i think detroit has lost their defensive mentality that i've grown to love, they bring it in a game 7 lockdown. so i guess doubling wasn't necessarily a bad idea on detroit's part; i did hear they pretty much threw every single type of defensive scheme at james the 2nd half. it just was that detroit wasn't really focused in the oh, 2nd through 5th games.
now, san antonio just needs to follow suit on monday to show that both back-to-back champs still mean (defensive) business.
(fyi, i've heard some talk about how rasheed might be the pistons' best player. i've heard talk about that for billups, and also for ben, but if you think about it, rasheed makes a very good case(rip has yet to show he can take over in the playoffs, and prince sadly as good of an all-around player, doesn't scare ppl on the offensive end). offensively, he gives them a low post presence; it's obviously nothing compared to duncan's, but it's still enough to give them an up-close shot when they need it. if rasheed's low post game goes to hell, there's a pretty good chance the pistons will lose. and don't forget how great of a spot-up 3 point shooter he is. that gives billups and hamilton the freedom to be more aggressive in attacking the hoop, knowing they can also kick it back out to rasheed if things aren't going well. if his shot does not fall from the outside, it also puts more pressure on billups and rip. on top of all that, he brings the typical stuff that the unselfish big men on the pistons usually always do; set screens, rebound well, defend well(in rasheed's case, defend big men 1-on-1 well). but like i've said, he also brings the underdog mentality to the pistons' team, something that i truly believe, adds 10 extra wins to their regular playoff game list, and a couple extra wins they squeak out in the playoffs)
that being said, if there is any possible hall-of-famers on this pistons team, it will probably only be ben wallace, but for good reason. the guy is a rock on defense. basically, while his shot blocking's terrifying, and his rebounding skills, if comes down to that if you pick and roll against him, the fact that the guard does NOT carry an advantage in speed that makes ben so special. the list of centers that successfully can defend pick-and-rolls by switching are very few, and even then, for only a limited amount of time, at a certain area on the court; once the timing gets longer, the chances of the offensive guard crossing over the center and driving or pulling back and launching a wide-open trey becomes higher and higher. with ben, the advantage that the guard carries is about 5.5/4.5 i would say, whereas, against an average center, the advantage is like 7/3, vs a good defensive center, MAYBE 6/4, but more like 6.5/3.5 in most aspects. the guy is HORRID on offense in all aspects(except for rebounding, haha), but his defense more than makes up for it. if you're having trouble believing how a guy can suck that bad on offense, but be so good on defense, i like to believe that ben wallace is one of those ppl who just has really bad finger coordination; he would NOT be able to play any stringed instrument. you need finger coordination on offense to handle the ball properly. not so much when you're trying to swat it out of the air, or grab it and pull it down.
billups has been really great, but the argument is that he wasn't really good until he got to the pistons, which incidently, is when good players surrounded him. of course, we also need to realize he got better in all aspects when he got to detroit; defense, clutch shooting, giving the ball up to the right guy, etc. rip and tayshaun haven't hit that level yet, and rasheed just wants to be a role player, not the main guy.
and i don't fall asleep too easily if i hear ANYTHING.
as a result, to put it quite bluntly, i feel like crap the following day.
if it weren't for that reason, and possibly the fact that i hate the long drive wherever we needs go, it would be a lot better; i love nature. really.
(so lake tahoe was ok i guess; ok, in that if i could've gotten better sleep, it would've been great. i guess i'll add getting a digital camera to my future list of wants, b/c as of late the only thing i really can use to hold onto each trip are memories)
---
just when i think detroit has lost their defensive mentality that i've grown to love, they bring it in a game 7 lockdown. so i guess doubling wasn't necessarily a bad idea on detroit's part; i did hear they pretty much threw every single type of defensive scheme at james the 2nd half. it just was that detroit wasn't really focused in the oh, 2nd through 5th games.
now, san antonio just needs to follow suit on monday to show that both back-to-back champs still mean (defensive) business.
(fyi, i've heard some talk about how rasheed might be the pistons' best player. i've heard talk about that for billups, and also for ben, but if you think about it, rasheed makes a very good case(rip has yet to show he can take over in the playoffs, and prince sadly as good of an all-around player, doesn't scare ppl on the offensive end). offensively, he gives them a low post presence; it's obviously nothing compared to duncan's, but it's still enough to give them an up-close shot when they need it. if rasheed's low post game goes to hell, there's a pretty good chance the pistons will lose. and don't forget how great of a spot-up 3 point shooter he is. that gives billups and hamilton the freedom to be more aggressive in attacking the hoop, knowing they can also kick it back out to rasheed if things aren't going well. if his shot does not fall from the outside, it also puts more pressure on billups and rip. on top of all that, he brings the typical stuff that the unselfish big men on the pistons usually always do; set screens, rebound well, defend well(in rasheed's case, defend big men 1-on-1 well). but like i've said, he also brings the underdog mentality to the pistons' team, something that i truly believe, adds 10 extra wins to their regular playoff game list, and a couple extra wins they squeak out in the playoffs)
that being said, if there is any possible hall-of-famers on this pistons team, it will probably only be ben wallace, but for good reason. the guy is a rock on defense. basically, while his shot blocking's terrifying, and his rebounding skills, if comes down to that if you pick and roll against him, the fact that the guard does NOT carry an advantage in speed that makes ben so special. the list of centers that successfully can defend pick-and-rolls by switching are very few, and even then, for only a limited amount of time, at a certain area on the court; once the timing gets longer, the chances of the offensive guard crossing over the center and driving or pulling back and launching a wide-open trey becomes higher and higher. with ben, the advantage that the guard carries is about 5.5/4.5 i would say, whereas, against an average center, the advantage is like 7/3, vs a good defensive center, MAYBE 6/4, but more like 6.5/3.5 in most aspects. the guy is HORRID on offense in all aspects(except for rebounding, haha), but his defense more than makes up for it. if you're having trouble believing how a guy can suck that bad on offense, but be so good on defense, i like to believe that ben wallace is one of those ppl who just has really bad finger coordination; he would NOT be able to play any stringed instrument. you need finger coordination on offense to handle the ball properly. not so much when you're trying to swat it out of the air, or grab it and pull it down.
billups has been really great, but the argument is that he wasn't really good until he got to the pistons, which incidently, is when good players surrounded him. of course, we also need to realize he got better in all aspects when he got to detroit; defense, clutch shooting, giving the ball up to the right guy, etc. rip and tayshaun haven't hit that level yet, and rasheed just wants to be a role player, not the main guy.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
The ultimate skill is to take up a position where you are formless. If you are formless, the most penetrating spies will not be able to discern you, nor the wisest counsels be able to do calculations against you. Therefore, your strategy for victories in battle is not repititious, and your formations in response to the enemy are endless. Those who are able to adapt and change in accord with the enemy and achieve victory are called divine.
-Sun Tzu
(applies to pretty much any competitive event you ever do; fighting games, bball, board games)
-Sun Tzu
(applies to pretty much any competitive event you ever do; fighting games, bball, board games)
funny how at the beginning i thought there might not be a pistons-spurs rematch.
now there's a very good chance both teams won't even MAKE it. (the little good news is that both teams still aren't dead yet)
all those TINY things that i had against flip saunders' coaching is starting to come out as i stunningly find the pistons 1 game loss away from ending their chances of going back to the finals. and not even against the heat or nets. spurs possibly losing to the mavericks isn't so bad of a stunner, because everybody knew dallas was THAT much better this year. the fact that pistons are getting beat by a team they should've routed in 5 games though is rediculous.
but going back to the afterthoughts i've had about flip's philosophy:
for instance, i've always had afterthoughts about double-teaming, considering how good each of the pistons can play 1-on-1. if each of the pistons are that good, why double-team when you know it'll just leave a gaping hole open? it's hurting them, because it's not even really containing lebron, and all these role-players are beating the pistons. i'm not even too sure prince is doing that good of a job containing lebron. in my opinion, billups, hunter, even rip have done better jobs, because it seems that prince's big weakness on defense is he's too frail to fight through screens and still keep pace.
charles barkeley is right in that sometimes detroit feels that they can win games alone with their OFFENSE this year. this is showing in 2 ways; sometimes they rush their shots, and they are STILL a jump-shooting team. they're not being aggressive offensively. and they're looking at offense as a way to beat the opponents, rather than a supplement to their defense.
that being said, maybe the injuries to rip and sheed are what are hurting this team the most this series. rip's been off, and sheed's been off, which gets rid of MANY 3s that could've been hit. with that, you put the majority of the pressure on billups and prince to play your offense, along with antonio coming off the bench.
i still don't see the urgency and desire detroit needs to exhibit in order to win this series. cleveland has been containing lanes much more better on defense and playing their game on offense. lebron james has been nothing short of spectactular, as he has basically been unguardable, and finding open guys that easily. on top of that, his teammates when they get the ball DO finish.
i've had afterthoughts about what type of impact flip would have on the pistons at the beginning of the season like many, but it was quickly squashed in the season by their wins. now, at least to me, larry brown's coaching is looking VERY good.
pistons just don't seem to have that fire that they had in the past. the good news is that they have gotten out of a 3-2 hole on the road before. let's see if they get complacent or not.
---
on a side note, duncan looked VERY, VERY, good.
now there's a very good chance both teams won't even MAKE it. (the little good news is that both teams still aren't dead yet)
all those TINY things that i had against flip saunders' coaching is starting to come out as i stunningly find the pistons 1 game loss away from ending their chances of going back to the finals. and not even against the heat or nets. spurs possibly losing to the mavericks isn't so bad of a stunner, because everybody knew dallas was THAT much better this year. the fact that pistons are getting beat by a team they should've routed in 5 games though is rediculous.
but going back to the afterthoughts i've had about flip's philosophy:
for instance, i've always had afterthoughts about double-teaming, considering how good each of the pistons can play 1-on-1. if each of the pistons are that good, why double-team when you know it'll just leave a gaping hole open? it's hurting them, because it's not even really containing lebron, and all these role-players are beating the pistons. i'm not even too sure prince is doing that good of a job containing lebron. in my opinion, billups, hunter, even rip have done better jobs, because it seems that prince's big weakness on defense is he's too frail to fight through screens and still keep pace.
charles barkeley is right in that sometimes detroit feels that they can win games alone with their OFFENSE this year. this is showing in 2 ways; sometimes they rush their shots, and they are STILL a jump-shooting team. they're not being aggressive offensively. and they're looking at offense as a way to beat the opponents, rather than a supplement to their defense.
that being said, maybe the injuries to rip and sheed are what are hurting this team the most this series. rip's been off, and sheed's been off, which gets rid of MANY 3s that could've been hit. with that, you put the majority of the pressure on billups and prince to play your offense, along with antonio coming off the bench.
i still don't see the urgency and desire detroit needs to exhibit in order to win this series. cleveland has been containing lanes much more better on defense and playing their game on offense. lebron james has been nothing short of spectactular, as he has basically been unguardable, and finding open guys that easily. on top of that, his teammates when they get the ball DO finish.
i've had afterthoughts about what type of impact flip would have on the pistons at the beginning of the season like many, but it was quickly squashed in the season by their wins. now, at least to me, larry brown's coaching is looking VERY good.
pistons just don't seem to have that fire that they had in the past. the good news is that they have gotten out of a 3-2 hole on the road before. let's see if they get complacent or not.
---
on a side note, duncan looked VERY, VERY, good.
Monday, May 15, 2006
cavs definitely aint the bucks. that's why this series is knotted up 2 all instead of 3-1. that said, the game was still close all the way to the end, and it could've been 3-1 at the end of this game as opposed as to 2-2, but since it's knotted up and i like the pistons too much, i'm sitting here shaking my head.
lbj was nothing short of spectactular tonight; his long-range jumpers were falling, and eric snow was really good tonight. while lbj was the catalyst of this game's victory, everybody was hitting jumpers. so much about pistons being this tough interior defensive team.
whoever wrote on espn that the pistons are still primarily a jumpshooting team is right. i think this is what makes their offense not 100% dangerous. i think it can help them a bit, because it can help them stay injury-free. and when they get hot, you can't stop them. but it also gets rid of the ability to create shots when your jumpers can't fall. and when they went cold, as they did tonight, it hurt them.
prince needs to work on his post-up game into baby hook and go back to it as his main weapon; i thought when the pistons were controlling the game offensively was when they stopped going for jumpers and letting prince get in and give lbj fits on the defensive end. prince's in-close, post-up game is better than some ppl realize. i think the biggest way the pistons are going to get better offensively is how well prince becomes on his post-up game.
this is one TINY thing i'm holding against the pistons this year compared to last 2 years. yes, their offense is better, and yes, that does lead to a slight dip defensively. but larry brown had this "asian mentality" when he coaches you(remember your mom which hammered you in high school about that 1 B you got in a flurry of A's on your report card?). you could execute 90% of your plays to perfection in a game, and he would hammer you about the 10% plays you didn't after a game. i really do get the feeling that this year, the pistons have a "flip the switch" mentality; let's turn it on when we're down 10, as opposed to flipping it on before a game and breaking the switch off. and it's kinda helped by the fact that flip is a laid back coach. i see their lockdown defense only coming out in spurts as opposed to all 48 minutes. they're not focused all 48 minutes of a game.
basically, what i'm saying is that those 5% plays you didn't execute to perfection in the 1st quarter will come back to haunt you in a close game in the 4th. it's EASY to blow off those plays when you blow the opponent out. but basketball is such a high scoring game, that you really shouldn't have that mentality at all(t-mac goes for about 12 in 1 minute? miller gets 6 in about 8 seconds?). and tonight, that was the case when the pistons played against the cavs. if you took away 5 plays where the pistons tried to nail a jump shot and replaced them with situations where they let prince post up, or just take it in instead of a jumper, or some plays where they did not double when defending james, the outcome of this game could've been different.
but hey, i don't play the games; i just watch them. i COULD be wrong.
---
so, this is what i'm speculating: if larry brown leaves the knicks(didn't expect this to happen, but i would guess this is the most likely scenario), he will end up as the kings' new head coach. and why not; kings are becoming a much more physical team than in the past, relying on hustle and defense to win games more. and who better to bring in than that guy? they even stated that they were going to pass up don nelson.
(personally, i would like larry brown to coach the warriors; mike montgomery is a bit too laid back on the warriors, which may be why they suck so much defensively, and don nelson is not known for being a defensively genius, but bringing in rick adelman wouldn't be a bad idea either)
---
i think that if you're not an asian, you believe the stereotype that ALL asians can't drive. lemme correct this, and say it's not ALL asians. just the ones which have kids in the back and are FOBs. i guess every one of my taiwanese/korean acquaintances knows this, but i had to say it. ever see them drive 20 miles/hour slower than everybody else?
---
i REALLY should try to get rid of as much on my cpu as soon as possible onto cds and defragment this sucker... it's almost unbearable opening a program. problem is i keep finding online stuff to keep.
lbj was nothing short of spectactular tonight; his long-range jumpers were falling, and eric snow was really good tonight. while lbj was the catalyst of this game's victory, everybody was hitting jumpers. so much about pistons being this tough interior defensive team.
whoever wrote on espn that the pistons are still primarily a jumpshooting team is right. i think this is what makes their offense not 100% dangerous. i think it can help them a bit, because it can help them stay injury-free. and when they get hot, you can't stop them. but it also gets rid of the ability to create shots when your jumpers can't fall. and when they went cold, as they did tonight, it hurt them.
prince needs to work on his post-up game into baby hook and go back to it as his main weapon; i thought when the pistons were controlling the game offensively was when they stopped going for jumpers and letting prince get in and give lbj fits on the defensive end. prince's in-close, post-up game is better than some ppl realize. i think the biggest way the pistons are going to get better offensively is how well prince becomes on his post-up game.
this is one TINY thing i'm holding against the pistons this year compared to last 2 years. yes, their offense is better, and yes, that does lead to a slight dip defensively. but larry brown had this "asian mentality" when he coaches you(remember your mom which hammered you in high school about that 1 B you got in a flurry of A's on your report card?). you could execute 90% of your plays to perfection in a game, and he would hammer you about the 10% plays you didn't after a game. i really do get the feeling that this year, the pistons have a "flip the switch" mentality; let's turn it on when we're down 10, as opposed to flipping it on before a game and breaking the switch off. and it's kinda helped by the fact that flip is a laid back coach. i see their lockdown defense only coming out in spurts as opposed to all 48 minutes. they're not focused all 48 minutes of a game.
basically, what i'm saying is that those 5% plays you didn't execute to perfection in the 1st quarter will come back to haunt you in a close game in the 4th. it's EASY to blow off those plays when you blow the opponent out. but basketball is such a high scoring game, that you really shouldn't have that mentality at all(t-mac goes for about 12 in 1 minute? miller gets 6 in about 8 seconds?). and tonight, that was the case when the pistons played against the cavs. if you took away 5 plays where the pistons tried to nail a jump shot and replaced them with situations where they let prince post up, or just take it in instead of a jumper, or some plays where they did not double when defending james, the outcome of this game could've been different.
but hey, i don't play the games; i just watch them. i COULD be wrong.
---
so, this is what i'm speculating: if larry brown leaves the knicks(didn't expect this to happen, but i would guess this is the most likely scenario), he will end up as the kings' new head coach. and why not; kings are becoming a much more physical team than in the past, relying on hustle and defense to win games more. and who better to bring in than that guy? they even stated that they were going to pass up don nelson.
(personally, i would like larry brown to coach the warriors; mike montgomery is a bit too laid back on the warriors, which may be why they suck so much defensively, and don nelson is not known for being a defensively genius, but bringing in rick adelman wouldn't be a bad idea either)
---
i think that if you're not an asian, you believe the stereotype that ALL asians can't drive. lemme correct this, and say it's not ALL asians. just the ones which have kids in the back and are FOBs. i guess every one of my taiwanese/korean acquaintances knows this, but i had to say it. ever see them drive 20 miles/hour slower than everybody else?
---
i REALLY should try to get rid of as much on my cpu as soon as possible onto cds and defragment this sucker... it's almost unbearable opening a program. problem is i keep finding online stuff to keep.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
fyi, if you still think sheed's bad for the nba, i suggest you go to www.need4sheed.com, and click on the videos section. then watch the interview he did with stephen a. smith. you'll hear that he actually tries to cut down on the t's, it's just that the refs aren't allowing him to vent his anger in any way. give him a t for not talking, but just giving a dirty look? ok, so let's try something else; but now you're giving him a t for laughing it off? are you crazy?
(while you're there, if you're bored, you can watch sheed making fun of reggie miller prior to game 5(haha), or the interviews billups has w/best damn and stephen a. smith. i like how billups tells stephen a. to pick the spurs so that the pistons'll win this year(since he didn't in 04 and did in 05); stephen a was like "man, you're killing me, you're gonna make me look bad either way.")
btw, sheed's at it again... he made another declaration... i WANT to say it's guaren-SHEED, but i'm leaning more towards 70% it's guaren-SHEED.
some will say that what he's doing is cocky... i understand that, at the same time, i think he does it more to motivate his teammates; he puts his neck out there, knowing it'll raise his teammates' game; i mean, this discussion has been done in the past, on espn.com, during the year they had to play against the pacers to win the eastern conference crown, and again, against the heat to preserve their eastern conference crown.
btw, this is just an observation, but i think the cavs have done better against the pistons WITHOUT hughes. the times he was in, he sucked like crap. then again, i'm basically basing this upon 1 game. we'll see if it still holds true come game 4.
it was funny at first, but now it's just become milked to death how many people are making fun of the nike commercial saying "we are all witnesses" to lebron james growing up, but now getting beat by the pistons in games 1 and 2. i'm sure you've heard it; "of course we're all witnesses... witnesses to an ass-whupping"
-------
spurs should've picked devin harris instead of "futilely" trying to chase jason kidd. it's hurting them now. btw, game 3 was really, really good from what i heard.
i thought the number of sports fans still think detroit's boring and want them to lose, but the last time i checked, the espn poll asking what matchup would you want for the eastern conference crown had pistons against heat leading by a huge margin ahead of everything else. ppl still think the spurs are boring though(or maybe not boring outside of duncan, but it is becoming a bit annoying how ginobili repeatedly tries to sell himself to the refs, and bowen gets away with stuff no one else does). i still watch spurs games in good interest; to learn tim duncan's low post offense and defense, and get amazed by bowen's defense(or at least, try to figure out why so many people dislike him as a defensive player), and parker's slashing. i also like horry. but i'll admit, while i don't dislike ginobili and bowen yet, both are slowly starting to wear thin on me.
heat are SO... SO... streaky. they really ARE the lakers of 04. one game they're terrifying to play against, the next they wilt and lose by 20. i still believe they'll give detroit the biggest problems on their way back to the finals, but i am so confused as to what heat team is going to show up. do they play russian roulette in the locker room and then by those results decide whether to play hard to just give up a game? just go by a "spin the bottle?"
(while you're there, if you're bored, you can watch sheed making fun of reggie miller prior to game 5(haha), or the interviews billups has w/best damn and stephen a. smith. i like how billups tells stephen a. to pick the spurs so that the pistons'll win this year(since he didn't in 04 and did in 05); stephen a was like "man, you're killing me, you're gonna make me look bad either way.")
btw, sheed's at it again... he made another declaration... i WANT to say it's guaren-SHEED, but i'm leaning more towards 70% it's guaren-SHEED.
some will say that what he's doing is cocky... i understand that, at the same time, i think he does it more to motivate his teammates; he puts his neck out there, knowing it'll raise his teammates' game; i mean, this discussion has been done in the past, on espn.com, during the year they had to play against the pacers to win the eastern conference crown, and again, against the heat to preserve their eastern conference crown.
btw, this is just an observation, but i think the cavs have done better against the pistons WITHOUT hughes. the times he was in, he sucked like crap. then again, i'm basically basing this upon 1 game. we'll see if it still holds true come game 4.
it was funny at first, but now it's just become milked to death how many people are making fun of the nike commercial saying "we are all witnesses" to lebron james growing up, but now getting beat by the pistons in games 1 and 2. i'm sure you've heard it; "of course we're all witnesses... witnesses to an ass-whupping"
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spurs should've picked devin harris instead of "futilely" trying to chase jason kidd. it's hurting them now. btw, game 3 was really, really good from what i heard.
i thought the number of sports fans still think detroit's boring and want them to lose, but the last time i checked, the espn poll asking what matchup would you want for the eastern conference crown had pistons against heat leading by a huge margin ahead of everything else. ppl still think the spurs are boring though(or maybe not boring outside of duncan, but it is becoming a bit annoying how ginobili repeatedly tries to sell himself to the refs, and bowen gets away with stuff no one else does). i still watch spurs games in good interest; to learn tim duncan's low post offense and defense, and get amazed by bowen's defense(or at least, try to figure out why so many people dislike him as a defensive player), and parker's slashing. i also like horry. but i'll admit, while i don't dislike ginobili and bowen yet, both are slowly starting to wear thin on me.
heat are SO... SO... streaky. they really ARE the lakers of 04. one game they're terrifying to play against, the next they wilt and lose by 20. i still believe they'll give detroit the biggest problems on their way back to the finals, but i am so confused as to what heat team is going to show up. do they play russian roulette in the locker room and then by those results decide whether to play hard to just give up a game? just go by a "spin the bottle?"
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