Waddup yo! Lookit that, it was only a ONE WEEK wait this time. I'm at the library at the Uni of Waterloo, taking advantage of the comps. I parked in a 15 minute loading zone lol, but it's Sunday eve, so who cares, there was about 5 other cars parked there too.

So what have I been up to. Well, work, mainly. Did some Mercury training and PCB training on thursday. That made for a near 13 hour day, about 45 hours on the week, but no overtime. That's right folks, NO overtime. Sandy said this place must be run by Plasti-Fab, they treat their employees so well.

But Frank came over after work on Friday and we heavily partook of the Ciclon, played a bunch of games, and passed out at about 8am. It was a damn good time, shout out to my homie. The next morning my throat was dead (Cold was comin on), which was annoying.

So last night I went into TO to meet up with Sandy and her travelling companion Matt. (Cory sucks cuz he didn't come.) Anyhow, as it happens, this Matt dude is gay, and ok whatever I can live with that. So we first set out to find somewhere to eat, and went into this funky place. All the people were dressed funny though...I was weirded out by it at first, until I realized that I had been led into a gay eatery. They were celebrating some Philadelphia gay festival, or some crap.

After that, Matt wanted to goto a bar, Fly I believe it was called. Now, I'm trying really hard to not be a homophobe or something worse, so ok, we'll (Sandy and I) go...for as short of a time as possible...then get the hell out and go do something that straight folks can enjoy.

I'd like to take this opportunity to state that Zackary T Castlefree is completely full of shit. The guy said that he (while claiming to be straight) enjoys going to gay bars because of all the hot women there. Well, I was at apparently the biggest and most popular one in Toronto, and there was 2 hot chicks there. Along with about 500 guys. Zack, I will never believe you again. Any credibility you ever had has been lost, not just lost, but utterly annihilated.

It's not that I'm completely disgusted by half naked guys prancing around after each other (well, it doesn't sit too well how about I say that, but that's not the point) (and yes, this did happen, I'm not making it up). Also, the point isn't that I was disturbed whenever one of them touched me for no apparent reason or stared at me (I'm in their element, what should I expect?). But the point is that goddamnit, it's a gay bar. It's for homosexuals, they're the ones that're supposed to have fun. Not me, not bloody me, I goto straight clubs for my fun. That's not a diss on gay people, it's a simple fact. Sandy owes me a really big favour after that one! For example, if I get thrown in jail and my cellmate is a big fat dude named bubba and he wants me to be his plaything, she is now under extreme obligation to be the first one there bailing me out, or breaking me out. That's the price.

Another thing that made it really awful, was the amount of smoke. Every one of them had a bloody smoke shoved in their mouths. After 15 minutes I could barely breathe for lack of clean air. What a disappointment, I had hoped that Toronto was a little more progressive.

Today was good though, we went to Niagara Falls. The Falls are always worth a visit, always. Sandy had never seen 'em before, so she was strong into the "Holy Amazing!" phase. It was fun to observe. I've been there about 5 times now, so it's not as much of a "Holy Amazing!" anymore, but a steadfast appreciation - without the goggling. Not that goggling is bad, believe me I did my share of goggling when I first saw the Falls, and aboard the Maid of the Mist, and on the Journey Behind the Falls. Suffice to say I've goggled myself out.

I look forward to Cory and Sandy both coming to visit sometime. I found Sandy's descriptions of the various multi-freeway junctions in the city endlessly amusing - she calls them "Clusterfucks" because of the triple/quadruple-decked overpasses and roads going everyhere and basically freeway craziness. It's such a great term that I've adopted it for my own use :D.

Now, I have to make a quick reply to that punk King Koop. So he says that I was wrong in saying that Wonderboy III was the best platformer of the 8-bit generation. Simply because Mario 3 exists. I anticipated this though. I mean, Mario 3 was indeed pretty impressive, and it had quite the large fan base. So, why do I say Wonderboy III was better? Well let me compare.

Graphics: Mario 3's graphics were livable, but standard. WB3's graphics were better. (Note: It's hard to compliment the graphical quality of games released 15 years ago.) Just look at 'em side by side, WB3 is the clear victor here.
Sound: Don't remember Mario 3's sound lol.
Scope: Ok, Mario 3 was huge, I give it that. Yes, many more levels and secret areas in comparison to WB3. Basically, that's the only reason I think it could be considered better than WB3. On the other hand, WB3 was no slouch in that department either, providing many vast and very different areas to explore.
Gameplay/Game dynamics: Mario is Mario, quite simply. It was always solid, and always will be. The reason I give WB3 the nod here, is because the gameplay isn't the same level after level after level. Why though? Because of the story. The curse, that changed Wonder Boy into different creatures. Each creature with different abilities and styles of play. Each creature had specific abilities allowing WB to get to different areas. It was new, it was different, it was unique. Mario 3 just doesn't have the same level of originality, I thought.

So, in the end, both games were really great. But damnit I just enjoyed WB3 a bit more :D. Your turn Koop ;).

Also in reference to my good buddy the Koopster, he had a Top 5 of classic franchises that could use resurrection. I must say I really agreed with 2 of those choices in particular. NiGHTS was brilliant, amazing, everything that a video game could ever hope to be. GIVE US MORE SEGA! Next, Altered Beast was bloody great as well, in fact, I have it sitting at home, but I've been playing too much WonderBoy to get to it lol.

I rented the movie Max, recently. It stars John Cusack as the art dealer Max Rothman. It also stars Noah Taylor as Adolf Hitler. It was quite interesting, actually. Though not without some flaws, I do highly recommend it to anyone who has an open enough mind to take a look back at probably the most hated person in history and perhaps gain just a little bit of understanding of the man behind the monster.

Anyway, I'll try to get back sometime this week. Maybe I'll drop by after work one day and do a bit of a write up. All of you have yerselves a good one. Peace.

INotD: Choad.

~K