Cool Sites

Hey guys, just thought I would drop by and tell you some really great sites and why you should check them out.

First on my list is: Game Master X.

GMX is a new upcoming site (currently updating) that is run by the incredible programmer/website designer DXLwebs.  It is kept up by the admins Rawk and Random Turnip.  If you join and prove worthy you might just find yourself in the position of mod, so give it a look and stick around and post some.

Next is: Nintendo-Daily.

ND is a gaming forum centered mostly around (but not limited to) Nintendo.  They have an incredibly competitive Arcade, a soon to come RPG system, a Casino, and an incredible admin.  NintendoNerds does an incredible job keeping up the site and definitely deserves your help.  Drop by and give the site some posts while you're there.

Last (but not least) is: Game Lair.

GL is the real deal, they have reviews cheats and news.  A full staff to boot and some great members.  They also have some quite competitive graphics competitions, and an arcade loaded with games.  Give them a couple posts while you're at it ;).

Thanks guys, anything you can do to help these sites would be simply wonderful.

Star Wars

Everyone has heard of Star Wars and just about everyone will recognize the fabled "Luke, I am your father." with the raspy mechanical voice.

These movies are a never-ending classic that I simply can't get enough of.  I go through a monthly routine of actually re-watching all 6 of these wonderful films in either the order released or chronologically.  They never get old.  Even if you know exactly what Luke will do next you still feel suspense in what he may do, it is simply amazing.

Now many fans will say things such as "Four, Five, and Six were 300 times better than the new ones."  Or "The new ones are complete crap."  Or other things along those lines and I can't really help but agree but I must say that they do do a good job of rapping up the story from where we were jump-started into the universe.

Anyway, to anyone who has never actually seen all 6 of them I full-heartedly recommend going out and renting and viewing them.  To those who have seen all of them but not recently than I suggest giving them a re-watch, they are well worth the weekend.

Toradora Review

This is the start of a new chain of me reviewing animes that I finish.

The premise of this anime is that Ryuji Takasu has eyes that make him look like a delinquent despite him being a normal, somewhat overly nice, person.  This often gets in the way with him trying to act normal and attempt to get a girlfriend.  It doesn't help that he has a single mother who sleeps all day and works night shifts at a bar.  Already tired out from taking care of and cooking for him and his mother he finds that he gets to school and he is in the same class as his crush Minori Kushieda and his best friend Yusaka Kitamura, but those aren't the only suprises.  Also in his class is the "Palmtop Tiger" Aisaka Taiga, who is a short, childlike, violent, and short-tempered girl that turns out to have moved into the apartments next to his house.

As the show goes on you learn the connections between the characters.  There is Ami Kaashima who is a bit of an outsider between the five and has mixed feelings towards the other main characters, she is also a professional model who gets called mature when, on the inside, she is a child. Yusaka Kitamura, who is Ryuji's best friend, Taiga's crush, and the class president.  Minori Kushieda is Taiga's best friend and Ryuuji's crush.  Ryuji and Taiga become very close friends, Yasuko, Ryuji's mom, refers to them as "A family of three."  Taiga often eats at the Takasu residence and they both come up with plans to help get them and their crush together.  Throughout this time they become known and several rumors start between them.

The way this anime really grips you is in its incredible ties between the characters.  The relationships are always shifting yet hold through throughout the toughest of times. This is definitely a romance anime with only brief scenes of action (centered around Taiga) in maybe 4 out of the 25 episodes.

This anime has an incredible soundtrack including two ending songs sung by the female cast in the show.  It also has great art and detailed animation in the characters.  Even when zoomed out the characters rarely go into chibi form, they are quite well drawn.

POTENTIAL SPOILER WARNING

One of the only downsides to this anime is that it has such a predictable ending.  In the last episode the ending almost gets a huge curve but works out nicely in the end.  Despite being categorized as a romance anime this is not a serious, Romeo & Juliet love romance.  It has a very lighthearted tone (despite characters often crying) and definitely shows this in the ending (not giving that away though).

The main part of the story carries Ryuji, Taiga, and cast through many adventures proving their love and devotion to each other including a trip to Kawashima's beach house, a class ski trip, and the annual cultural festival. In each one of these Ryuji and Taiga come up with plans to get them closer to their crushes while also, non-purposefully, getting them closer to each other.

Overall I give this anime 10 out of 10 geeks. It has a stellar story, great animation, an incredible soundtrack, a great length, and some great twists and turns. It keeps a sweet and funny tone throughout and always keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat.  If you like Romance or Comedy animes this is a DEFINITE watch.

What is Mainstream?

This isn't a rant and this isn't an explanation. I'm not really sure what this is but it's something I want to say.

A lot of people think that being mainstream is a bad thing, it isn't. It's not a bad thing, a lot of people view it as being a follower, which is pretty correct, so you may see followers as bad but that doesn't always mean that being mainstream is bad.

When somebody is mainstream it means they don't really stray from the crowd, they most likely hear all their favorite music on the radio or from friends. They most likely dress in a T-Shirt and jeans, and they probably play Basketball or Football or possibly Soccer. That would be your stereotypical High School mainstream kid. You don't have to be full out mainstream, just like you don't have to be completely alternative.

I am quite alternative. To quote a post from GL:

I wear tight pants (never jeans though) and my shirt ALWAYS has a collar. The rare time it doesn't I'm either wearing a sweater or in my casual dress. I don't listen to any hip hop or rap. I don't even know the popular artists except some Rock ones. I don't go out to Starbucks and get Frappuchinos (don't care about spelling), I don't get high, I sit inside and play games and surf around on forums all day. I love Ghostbusters, I play DnD, I watch Star Wars several times a year (all 6), I carry my flash drive around for portable games, not school work, and, best of all, I HATE THE 360!!!

And Apple, I dislike apple too. But anyway, as you can see I'm alternative and proud of it. I don't like following the crowd, I like standing out and making my own opinions. But not everyone is like that, some people don't care about being different from everyone else, they just follow their friends and roll a long with it.

To me being mainstream isn't bad but it isn't really good. I don't hate people that follow the crowd, but I don't automatically love people that carve their own path. Next time you see someone who only listens to Top 40 rather than something like Bomb the Music Industry! don't immediately hate on them, they could be just like you in other ways.

How to Pun

Today during school I came up with a quite handy technique for making puns.  I spent most the day perfecting it. These are a couple examples of what I made:

- What's the most optimistic place near the water? The shore (sure).

-During what season to hunters and weightlifters go out together? Bear season.

Those are the two ones I remember, yes I know they are horrible but it's still a pun none-the-less.

The technique: First, come up with two homophones or even better a word with more than one meaning. After you have gotten your main word than you craft your joke around it.  I'll make a new one for a fresh example.

The word I came up with was Dire (sounds like Die-er, or someone who dies).

After thinking for a while how i could pull that one off (not the greatest word choice) I came up with this. "What are the worst consequences you can get for comitting suicide? Dire (Die-er)."

Might take some explaining it gets the point across. So I hope you get how to make your own homemade puns now! It's a lot easier than most people think it is, just takes a long list of homophones and some creative juics.