The Purple Tux
With just enough education to perform.Wednesday, November 28, 2001
I was at the arcade yesterday, and then I started playing MvC2. I was on the player 2 side, and discovered that the jab button didn't work!!!! Annoying!! Magneto is so hard to use if he can't airdash, same with Blackheart. I was wondering why I couldn't get their airdashes working, then I noticed the guy who played after me tried to pick his characters with the jab button, but couldn't. Pretty lame!! So then I went over to the CvS machine, and discovered that the roundhouse button on the player 2 side only works about 40% of the time... I still beat this one guy twice in a row though. But man, another guy came, and I was using Dhalsim, and the other guy jumped at me. I was about to roundhouse kick his butt outta the air, but I pressed the button like 5 times, and nothing happened!! The other guy was like, "Wow, it doesn't work? I feel lucky!"
Those machines better get fixed... And where's my CvS2??
Sunday, November 25, 2001
So over the weekend, I was browsing at Amoeba Records, and I noticed a section of music entitled "Lounge-core." Haha!! I've heard of hardcore, rapcore, and ska-core, but never in my life have I heard of lounge-core. I was tempted to buy a hardcore lounge music CD, but............nah. Still, wonder what hardcore lounge music sounds like. Bet it sounds like the music from Marvel Vs Capcom 2.
How was your Thanksgiving? I don't know if I entirely like the idea of that holiday... On one hand, it seems to bring people together, but it still seems so shallow and commercialized. I mean, why can't we thank our loved ones any day? What makes Thanksgiving Day in specific so special?? Why can't every day be equivalent to Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving isn't about eating a dead turkey, it's about people and God. It doesn't matter what you eat! You oughtta be grateful you're able to eat something in the first place. Are we only allowed to give thanks one day a year? I say we just do our best to live every day as if it were Thanksgiving. Never take anything for granted, and always remember who's got your back. Which reminds me, the same thing goes for just about any holiday, and even your birthday. Is your birthday the only day you feel glad to be alive? I hope not. Is Christmas the only day we remember the birth of Christ? (Heck, it's not like He was born on December 25th exactly...) Is Independence Day the only day we're allowed to feel patriotic and be thankful we live in the USA?
I think people just make any excuse to party and have a good time. Especially in America. I doubt other people in other countries, especially the poorer nations, celebrate as many holidays as we do. In America, any holiday is a good excuse to not have to show up for school or work. I hope anyone who reads this just realizes that each day is a day. Make the most of it. Commercialism is for suckers. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for holidays and special events if they truly bring people together, but when it actually requires a holiday for someone to realize something profound about the joys life, we are in a sorry, sad, state...
Monday, November 19, 2001
Wow, I've been reading some of my earliest entries about MvC2, and all my Spiral/Cammy/Sentinel stuff. In the months that have passed, I believe my skills have improved greatly, as well as my understanding of the game. I also haven't used much Spiral/Cammy/Sentinel lately, I've changed to Blackheart (anti-air)/Sentinel (ground)/ Cammy (anti-air). Still trying to figure out a way how to stop Magneto rushdown teams. Sometimes I try Magneto too, but I haven't exactly mastered the art of air dashing into infinite or Hyper Grav xx Magnetic Tempest combo. I keep getting crushed by the same people over and over.
For a time, I tried Blackheart/Sent/Juggernaut, but I gave up on them after realizing how useless Juggy is in a fight; only his assist is useful. But once BH and Sent are taken out, I can't stand a chance with Juggy. Sure, I can usually fake the guy out and land a Headcrush, but after that, the guy will just play smarter. Plus, it's so hopeless to be left with only Juggernaut when the other guy is playing a runaway Storm... Storm just goes above the screen and starts doing "Typhoon!!" over and over, and Juggernaut can't jump that high!! So I switched back to Cammy on anti-air, who actually works pretty well with Sentinel's fly mode stomp tactics. Against normal people, I can usually dominate as long as I keep my head an play smart. Blackheart's demons death from above tactics are annoying when Sentinel is on the ground providing his assist. Blackheart is a good point character, he builds meter fairly well and his air dash cancels the lag from his jumping roundhouse/fierce. With cover, his death from above is pretty good, as long as you don't start getting too predictable.
I decided to put Sentinel second because when I delay hyper cancel (DHC) from Blackheart's Hyper (usually Heart of Darkness), Sent's Hyper Sentinel Force has VERY fast recovery time, so he's safe if the guy blocks. And of course, if the HSF connects, I can do fierce (the laser) cancelled into Rocket Punch cancelled into another HSF. Sentinel and Blackheart can team up to do some good chipping damage. Call Blackheart's assist, then crouching fierce cancelled into short kick Sentinel Force. It's a pretty decent trap, nothing compared to Spiral/Sentinel or Strider/Doom, but pretty useful when you need to build up some meter for Sentinel's semi-infinite. I've also watched a lot of good Sentinel players, and I learned some good tactics. Finally able to use his fly mode decently. It's good for confusion, and when he flies he can call out BH or Cammy while stomping. Even if the guy blocks, the chip damage is great. The trick to using his fly mode is not to remain flying for too long, or Sent will be punished like heck. I usually call Blackheart assist, fire a fierce laser, cancel into fly mode, try to stomp them, and call either assist again, stomp, unfly, crouching roundhouse cancelled into jab Rocket Punch. Sometimes when I activate flying, I just fly in a circle to play some keep away while calling Blackheart assist. I try to switch tactics so people donno what will come next.
Cammy has a very good assist. I learned her Cannon Spike is almost (some people might say better than, but it's gonna be debatable forever) as good as Ken or Captain Commando. She can pierce Doctor Doom's Molecular Shield (annoying rock crap), and when she's going up, she's invincible as long as she has the purple crap on her leg. As point character, she is still quick and useful, especially when Sentinel's ground assist acts as cover. People who keep blocking will just taste her command throw (hooligan combination), and I finally can (usually, at least) do her good combo in a real fight (chain combo, launcher, chain combo, roundhouse Cannon Drill cancelled into Killer Bee Assault hyper combo).
Oh shoot, late for class. I feel the urge to play once math is over.................
Peace out for now.
Saturday, November 17, 2001
How you guys doing? Who's out there? Who's reading this? Does anyone read this? Is my writing all in vain? Hello? I wonder if anyone reads this stuff.
Man, I've been sleeping late again. Earlier this week I was able to stave off my AIM night usage and actually slept before 12AM a couple times, once I even woke up at like 7:40AM, but the past three days or so, dude. Been reverting to insomniac mode or something again. Donno what the crud's down with me, man. I've been having a great time here, having fun chilling with rad people at Cru and all that. Fun stuff. I've also discovered that EX Yuri in CvS has a deadly trap. Zone opponents out with her short little air fireball (quarter circle towards + kick), then see what they do. If they jump, counter with Yuri's crouching fierce, which has TREMENDOUS priority. If they roll or dash towards you, do a string of crouching short kicks and then sweep them and repeat the air fireball. It's very hard to get around. I'm learning to abuse it.
I'm also offended by players who don't like "cheap" characters or tactics. WTC. How is using Sentinel cheap? How is Blackheart cheap? Is Cable cheap because of his AHVB x3? Heck no. Today I was playing one of my friend's roommates in MvC2 on Dreamcast. Massive ownage, then he commented on how he doesn't use "cheap" characters like Sentinel or Cable (guys I had just picked to whoop his ego). What a scrub. I asked him if he ever heard of www.shoryuken.com, and he said, "yeah, I read all that stuff." WTC. I was so disgusted that I let him beat me. What I don't understand is why people think they're so hot at MvC2 (or whatever game) when the only people they can beat are their close friends and stuff. I've never seen any good players play without calling out an assist. In fact, one of the key points in MvC2 is to abuse assists, which adds a great deal of depth and strategy to the game. Abuse assists by calling them out constantly, and abuse the opponent's assists when he calls them out predictably. I mean, dude. The bottom line is that whatever someone does to whip you will be considered "cheap" as long as you lose. Winning is cheap. Cheap is bad. So don't win, play to lose, and live the life of a scrub. Sheesh.
Take it easy now, and remember, only winners are "cheap." I know you got potential, don't waste it.
Peace out, brethren and sistren.
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Been listening to Come Together a lot. Good stuff... You gotta get it.
Monday, November 12, 2001
Awright. I'm back in my dorm again. That was a pretty fun weekend. Didn't get much work done, but at least I had a good time. On Saturday I played hours of MvC2 and CvS with my buddy Sherwin. Sometime this week I'm gonna try to out some new Sentinel flight mode/stomping tactics, see if it works against those guys I see at the arcade all the time. I also got "Come Together," the new Third Day album. I've been listening to the first 6 tracks over and over again in a futile effort to prolong the newness of it. The first time I listened to it, I didn't think it was as good as Offerings, Time, or Conspiracy No. 5 (I still don't think their first album is really that good), but the second time, dude. Something just clicked. I haven't listened to the entire thing yet, but I'm smelling greatness here. We're talking about quality on par with delirious?'s Mezzamorphis and Switchfoot's Learning To Breathe here, man. This could be another 5 star album. It's good to hear Christian bands that care about the music as much as the lyrics, ya know?
Hunh, suppose I oughtta start studying now... This week, I'm going to (try to, at least,) lay off the AIM... Too many distractions, you know? Peace out for now.
Friday, November 09, 2001
Yo. I'm about to leave for home, for the first time since coming up here. With that, I'll leave with these few words of encouragement.
Honestly, who the crap would ask a stranger on AIM for information on a 7 page term paper on abortion, at 2AM in the morning? Sheesh... Common sense, people.
Tuesday, November 06, 2001
Oh, man, what's going on, people? I got back from the retreat on Sunday afternoon, and man, it was so tight!!
We listened to a speaker give some genuinely encouraging talks, we had discussion groups, we played games, we hung out and had some fellowship, we had some cool male bonding, we talked about Jesus Christ and how cool He is, and we did all that cool stuff. It was tight, man. I feel renewed. In the words of one of them Starcraft Terran marines, I'm "jacked up and good to go." Hahaha, that's cool.
The speaker gave some encouraging messages. One talk he gave with his wife was about romance/relationships/marriage. It was a lot deeper than most talks I've heard about the subject. One point I clearly remember was about how we shouldn't get married simply to "be happy." I mean, it's like when we get too concerned about our own personal happiness, we can forget about God, ya know? And also, if we follow God's will, we'll be happy in a better way. Oh yeah, and in a discussion group the girls all said that guys shouldn't make the point of a relationship the pursuit of the girl... Something about how the "adventure" should be about both of them undergoing a journey together, or some such mushy stuff I don't understand, but hey, that's alright. You know why it's alright? Because God's got my back, yeah, He gonna take care of me, man. Haha, that's tight. Another message the speaker gave us was about courage. It's probably the most important quality a guy needs. Courage=power to do what you know you ought to do. It takes courage to obey God sometimes, since it's often easier just to be all like, whatever, do what ya wanna do. But following God, though it could be hard, has rewards that FAR outweigh the present. Eternal perspective, man, thas what it's all about. Today is just a snapshot. We still have infinity to go. The future? Who knows what'll happen. But a Christian's vocation should be serving God, and his occupation is whatever pays the bills. And if you don't get what I'm saying, come ask me, I'd be glad to talk about Jesus with you.
I think one of the awesome things about the retreat was on Saturday, when we men took a short hike in the dark and then sat around, sharing and bonding and farting (cue Nishon's machine gun farts). It was great to be encouraged by fellow brothers, to hear how Jesus was working in their lives. We prayed together and talked... And then we had a group hug, like 40 or 50 manly studs all in the dark, holding each other and we sang, "I Love You Lord" and prayed. (Yeah, yeah, I'll admit I cried...but I didn't weep like a sissy or anything, I just might have sniffed a bit and shed one or two tears. No big deal.) It was so radical.
Oh yeah, and the guys in my cabin and me took part in this great prank. We got some stink bombs and taped them underneath the toilet seats in all of the girls' cabins. It was hilarious, we had such a great triumph. They were gagging and choking and stuff!! Never knew what hit 'em, hahaha!! But yeah, it's cool, we're all brothers and sisters and jokes are all good!
Well, it's about time for me to start my homework... (It's 1AM and I'm about to START my homework... How cool is this lifestyle? Hahaha!)
So just remember, Jesus loves you guys. If you're reading this, you probably already know who Jesus is. But if you don't know who Jesus is, lemme tell you about Him. You probably heard He died on a cross or something, and you're wondering what's so special about that? Well, as far as anyone knows, Jesus is the only Dude to come back to life after dying. Thing is, He died on the cross to take mankind's place. Like humans deserve to die because we do so much crappy stuff in this world and stuff, but see, God has mercy, and showed His love by having His Son Jesus (therefore, God) die in place of us. He was the ransom. Like we were the hostages, gonna get killed, but Jesus paid with His life, so we got off the hook. Who would do that, that's like i-N-s-A-n-E!!! But it's in the books, Jesus did it for us, for me, and for you. So yeah, just think about that. Jesus saved your life, are you gonna turn Him down, reject Him? It'd be like if a gunman tied you up, pointed a gun at your head, and asked your mama for 100 bucks (even though you're probably worth more than 100 bucks, I didn't feel like typing that many zeros. But oh shoot, I typed this explanation which was longer anyways!! Doh.) So your mama gives the gunman 100 bucks, and you can go home. But instead, you just run up to the gunman, take his gun, and shoot yourself. How you think your mama feels then? Well, how you think God feels when you spit on the name of Jesus? Huh? Think about that. I'm not serious about a lot of things, but I'm serious about life, and Jesus IS LIFE. He paved the way for us to go to heaven. I hope I see you there. And if you got any questions or stuff, you can email me at ZephyranthesFullBurner@juno.com or altan@ucdavis.edu. Haha, that's tight!!
Peace out!
Thursday, November 01, 2001
I'm going on a retreat this weekend with Campus Crusade For Christ. It's somewhere near Lake Tahoe or something. Donno. Oh right, Dru. You should go pack up right now so you don't forget tomorrow...
Peace out, kids.
