http://www.yelp.com/biz/krazy-noodle-thai-bbq-walnut

Wow, its been a damn long time without a food-related update, huh? I’ll break those chains (that bind you). Read the rest of this entry »

I need to start jogging. Lord knows how unfit I am.

Sure, I don’t look the part, but I’m really a haggard, tired-out dude. I may be looking fit, but I’m definitely not.

Look at this little guy.  I need to be like him–running and also stick-like. 

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Yes. That is a number.

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Yes, that’s exactly what it looks like.

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Something that I really am working on to change is eye contact. Since childhood I was never unable to maintain eye contact with people whether it is talking or just passing by. In the beginning I didn’t really think it was a problem until high school. I remember one girl asked me “How come you never look at me when I talk to you?” Then I realized it is somewhat a problem now that I am older.

I don’t know what makes it so hard for me. It feels strange, like I am staring at them. It also feels weird because I feel like they are staring at me also. Eye contact is so important to communication I seriously need take improving my eye contact into consideration. Good eye contact helps convey confidence, something I have but probably don’t show. So if I ever talk to you without looking at you straight in the eye, give me a heads up.

That is what Brawl is. A melting pot of every single Nintendo-related spice and ingredient you can think of, brewed by a master Nintendo-related chef. If you’re a Nintendo fan, you will wet your pants from the sheer amount of references and appearances of obscure characters. I mean seriously, Hotel Dusk makes its way in some sticker form. It’s a little thing, but it adds so much in the long run. And Kirby’s so damn cute in that picture.

If you’re not a Nintendo fan, hey, it’s still a helluva fun game. The simple mechanics means almost anyone can jump in and have fun, and if you want to take the game much more seriously, the depth is there. The single-player adventure is steadily getting better and I love just shuffling through the awesome and almost infinite load of stuff, like the music tracks. Awesome segueway, I love myself.

Brawl rips a lot of music directly from past games, and a couple of them are remastered for clarity. The original and remade tracks are quite superb, too; it doesn’t have as much of an orchestral focus as Melee’s brilliant score did, but they’re nonetheless catchy and memorable. The first piece is a take on a stage music from Donkey Kong Country. I haven’t played through that game much myself, the remade piece for Brawl is awesome. The second piece is a rocked out version of the Fountain of Dreams stage music, and holy crap. Yes.

DKC — Bramble Blast

Kirby — Gourmet Race (Fountain of Dreams redux)

The weird thing is I bought Mafia for 10 bucks off the shelf at a Target. It was cheap, and GameSpot’s 9.3 was on it. That was good enough for me, and the setting was so incredibly appealing. I bought it mostly on impulse.

I took it home, installed and honestly didn’t know what to expect. Sure, the 9.3 is promising, but I didn’t really know what the game was about, other than that is was mafia-related. But right when I reached the main menu, I knew Mafia was going to be quite something. It was the music that hit me at first; I didn’t really have a specific taste in music back when I first played Mafia, but I know for certain that Mafia’s opening score was incredibly influential with how it defined my general preference in music.

And yeah, the gameplay followed suit. The knockout opening cut-scene got me really pumped. Admittedly, I started to lose interest because there was way too much driving and not enough shooting during the first hours. When I was starting to worry if this was all just missed potential, the game threw one incredible action sequence after another, one interesting plot development after another and one incredible hour after another, until I finally reached the bittersweet ending. Definitely ranks as one of the best action games I’ve ever played.

Starting to veer into more appraisal for Mafia, so I’ll stop myself here and give a brief preface for the music that I’m posting. It’s the opening main menu music I was talking about. It’s a great piece, and it sets up the cinematic mood that Mafia was shooting for.

And I’m so very excited for Mafia II. It’s great to see that it hasn’t pushed into a modern setting. Gangsters are only cool when they wear fancy suits, don’t hold their gun sideways and are at least a quarter Italian.

Mafia — Main Theme

Dude makes custom case to put Super Smash Bros. Brawl in.

“This is a custom case for my copy of SSBB, it was crafted out of a blue foam to specific dimensions and has a tight seal. Watcha think?”

Rule: 9/10 — That is really awesome. That’s a really slick case to fit your entertainment software in.

Disturb: 9.5/10 — At the same time, I’d even be aware of how messed up the idea of protecting the exterior that valiantly is.

It’s cool, but what the fuck, man? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s just a game. One more after you do jumping action. It’s even better/worse. Trust me.

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It has been a very long time since one of my smash-hit VG track features. Well, know that I am back for the time being to provide you what you so desire from me. Enough with the e-mails begging me to get this feature back up again! The fan mail’s nice, too, but just hold off on it, for I have no obligation to reply back.

So, today, I have Lost Odyssey. This one’s composed by the famous Nobuo Uematsu, whose previous work includes Final Fantasty III/VI (considered the pinncale of the FF series and Uematsu’s career), so he has a lot to live up to. The opening track certainly does sound very promising. It’s a beautiful tune, but Uematsu’s work has a tendency to get really fucking weird, because Lost Odyssey is filled with a couple metal tracks. It’s not bad, but it clashes with the orchestral goodness. Anyway give this one a listen, and I promise that the wait between each new track won’t be as arduously as long as before.

EDIT: Hold on, I have one more ditty. It’s Lost Odyssey’s battle music, and it’s really, really good. You can thank me via blow/handjob later.

Lost Odyssey — Intro

Lost Odyssey — Battle

Before this week I could never get into this series.

Ok maybe I haven’t tried enough of them (yes I will give VI another go someday), but it just felt like it wasn’t for me. There was nothing compelling that made me want to continue on. Lets take a look at what games I tried

Final Fantasy VI: I downloaded an emulator. Played it for like 10 minutes until I realized my save-game feature wasn’t working. THE END. 

Final Fantasy VII: I think i played this game like 3 times already. Each seperate time I got a little farther than the last. I just couldn’t get into it. I didn’t know wtf was happening sometimes and I didn’t feel as much a connection with the characters. I hate to say that the last-gen graphics had a small part to do with it. I just couldn’t look at Cloud’s blocky biceps any longer. Yeah im spoiled.

Final Fantasy IX: borrowed it from a friend and got through maybe the first disc. I just stopped. Can’t even remember much why I did. Again there was nothing that compelled me to continue. I also didn’t really care for the kiddy looking characters.

 Dang ok I sound like an lol when I described these games but I can see how people can like them but it just wasn’t for me.

So it seemed like it was my Final Final Fantasy to be played.

Until I picked up on Final Fantasy X:

The graphics for one are just great in my opinion considering when it was made and the console it runs on. The story starts off with a bang and it leaves you with many unanswered questions. As gay as Tidus may seem I felt a connection with him (no homo). The leveling system is one of a kind with its Sphere Grid system. It makes you feel like every battle actually makes you stronger. I actually look forward to random encounters. So far I’m about 9 hours in and its been great.

My big sword, let me show you it.