DDR Night @ The Blancos'

On Saturday night, Michele and I hosted a DDR night. What fun! :-)

We catered in Quiznos for dinner, Michele baked cookies, Anthony brought from-scratch cinnamon rolls, and there was plenty more to eat. It started at around 4:30 when Vincen and Patricia and Anthony and Sarah arrived.

We started with some practice. Anthony and Sarah had some experience, but Vincen and Patricia were deer in headlights. ;-) They started off stiff, but man oh man, by the end of the night they were cruisin'!

The rest of the group showed up at around 5:30, way ahead of schedule, and we all ate and chattered away before we were ready for more practice. Kevin, Shawn, Adria and Aaron picked things up pretty quickly -- and the tourney was ready to begin! Mobat and his girlfriend, Athena, showed up just as things kicked off, and we were off!

I've included some pictures from the event...a lot of them were butt shots because there wasn't much room for pictures between the players and the TV, so out of respect them I won't publish them FOR THE WORLD TO SEE. ;-)

If you've never played DDR, you are missing out on a heap of fun. :-) We just ordered some good quality mats and they are on their way! Can't wait to play this weekend!

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And that is all for this blog. :-)

DDR Night #1: John and Michele Boogie

Here is Michele and I going against each other. In the background is Patricia, Vincen's wife, on the couch, and Nuntendo wunderkind Mobat (Sean) and his girlfriend, Athena. Up in the kitchen, if you squint, you can see Anthony and his girlfriend Sarah -- fellow Young Democrats. :-)

DDR Night #2: Disco King

A well-timed photo! This is me no-doubt rockin' the perfects. Wow, what a lame sentence. :-) But anyway, I was playing at Standard level, so balance is key and hence the raised arms...I don't stomp, I dance. I DANCE!

DDR Night #4: Pad Closeup

These are the pads we used. They are the cheapy soft pads. We just ordered some much nicer pads since there's a lot of DDR in our future...although the cheapy pads will still be used for future DDR events. :-)

DDR Night #3: Kevin and Adri

Kevin and Adriana were both new to DDR, but both dancers and DDR came pretty naturally for them after a little practice. They both did very well in the tournament!

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Little Plastic Castle by Ani DiFranco

In a coffee shop in a city
Which is every coffee shop in every city
On a day which is every day

I picked up a magazine
Which is every magazine
Read a story, and then forgot it right away

They say goldfish have no memory
I guess their lives are much like mine
And the little plastic castle
Is a surprise every time

And it's hard to say if they're happy
But they don't seem much to mind

From the shape of your shaved head
I recognized your silhouette
As you walked out of the sun and sat down

And the sight of your sleepy smile
Eclipsed all the other people
As they paused to sneer at the two girls
From out of town

I said, look at you this morning
You are, by far, the cutest
But be careful getting coffee
I think these people wanna shoot us

Or maybe there's some kinda local competition here
To see who can be the rudest

People talk
About my image
Like I come in two dimensions
Like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind

Like what I happen to be wearing
The day that someone takes a picture
Is my new statement for all of womankind

I wish they could see us now
In leather bras and rubber shorts
Like some ridiculous new team uniform
For some ridiculous new sport

Quick someone call the girl police
And, and...file a report

In a coffee shop in a city
Which is every coffee shop in every city
On a day which is every day

The Giveaway on Terror

"The GOP governors reluctantly acknowledge that the series of gaffes threatens to undermine public confidence in President Bush's ability to provide security, which has long been his greatest strength among voters."

A little wake-up call to those who fall in this category who think Bush is "tough" on terror. There is a *big* difference between acting "tough" on terror and doing something the fuck about it.

In the last 4 years, we've become a bigger target, and have come under bigger threat than ever before.

Do me a favor, and close your eyes. Imagine the time period between 1993 and 2001. Please tell me, honestly, were you scared about terror as you are now?

Now now, if you're citing me terror attacks, shut the hell up -- because no matter what you say, I can give you 9/11 and the Anthrax mailings and you can't tell me Bush has kept us safer. No, you CAN NOT tell me Bush kept us safer.

My question again...did you feel safer? Of course you did. The government took care of terrorism, and didn't keep you neurotic about it. That is the government's J-O-B.

What do you think you pay your taxes for? Entertainment value?

We'll welcome you back, Democrats, in 2006 and 2008. Vote Ritter for Governor of Colorado!

*AHEM*

Daily Kos: State of the Nation: Videotape, March 16, 2003:

MR. RUSSERT: The army's top general said that we would have to have several hundred thousand troops there for several years in order to maintain stability.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I disagree. To suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations cease, after the conflict ends, I don't think is accurate. I think that's an overstatement."

...uh, yeah, is THIS revisionist history?

DDR Party Time!

Get your party shoes on...it's dance time!!!

Sad and Pathetic Fox News

Every time I look at this image, I can't stop smiling, and crying, at the same time.

What happened to my country?

American Civil War 2006

The Republican's political gameplan of tearing the social fabric of America into two is on it's least tug. South Dakota has passed an *illegal* bill with the intent of challenging Roe v. Wade.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/22/dakota.abortion.ap/index.html

Make no mistake, this is fact...the intent of this bill is to force the Supreme Court to make a ruling on *settled law*.

Will the Supreme Court, equipped with two new rightie judges overrule Roe v. Wade and therefore disrespect settled law? Will *both* Roberts and Alito vote to strike it down, or will at least one preserve it and thereby cause a major uproar on the Religious Right lunatics?

In my view, if Roe gets overturned, the Pro-Choice Majority, and it IS a majority, will be awakened. This is what I've called for. The Republicans will be *plastered* in the next election.

Trust me...the Republican Party does NOT want Roe v. Wade overturned. They will lose their frenzied base who only want one thing...an anti-abortion law.

Republicans are not anti-abortion, they are pro-choice. Neo-Conservatives are anti-abortion, but only the voting base -- not the neo-cons themselves. HA! You think they care?! For most of them, no...it's all about politics and money, baby.

The Republicans have succeeded in turning one another against each other. Enjoy it, bastards. But you forgot one thing.

You will be defeated.

A Loss in the "Family"

A torubling day at work today, and one I will never be able to forget.

Ken Stern, a co-worker of ours was found dead in his apartment yesterday afternoon. We were all notified yesterday evening, but as many of us had left work already...we're all finding out this morning.

Ken was a quiet guy who worked on a different project than I was on. I never talked with him, at all, but I saw him every day.

From details I've been able to gather from a couple other co-workers, Ken was out sick most of last week, though working from home. He came in Friday to gather a couple books up, but was otherwise unseen.

Later, I overheard on a telephone conversation that a former co-worker had gone to his apartment to check up on him when Ken was missing on Tuesday (I believe). His door was open, and there was ski equipment layed out. From what can be surmised, Ken was packing his car up to go skiing and perhaps had a heart attack, or something similar, while back in his apartment.

It's pretty traumatic even though I didn't know him very well. The guy had to be in his mid- to late-30's. Amazing how fast life can just stop. :-(

It's terrible to see his empty cube, just down the aisle from me -- computer books and notes that are all so useless and meaningless now.

On Heads In Butts...

Sometimes I get a little too glues and smacking down ignorant right-wing hacks who do nothing but spew the same old talking points they hear on TV or read in hate-filled books like Hannity's.

Recently, I got a little too involved with a certain head-butt-sticking Web site that I've now pried myself from. The real kicker was this comment to me, which was part of a much longer, hate-spewing post:

"I’m really amused by this Neo-Con label you like tossing around… what is the difference between a new conservative? and an old conservative?
So does that make you a Neo Socialist? or a Neo-Communist? or a Neo-shit for brains?"

Why I'm arguing with a right-winger who, get this, doesn't even know what the term Neo-Conservative means...is beyong my comprehension. But I'm done now.

Is it reasonable to expect that if a right-wing hack like this guy is going to spew his same rhetoric about hating gays, hating protest, and being pro-bastard (he believes foster children should remain just that, rather than sharing a home with a gay couple) -- that he should at least know what movement he's part of.

Geeesh.

Just to cap off his intelligence level, his latest insult for me is calling me DDR-boy. Nice.

Bill Ritter now a Gubernatorial Favorite

According to ColoradoPols.com, Bill Ritter, the Democrat, is now the favorite to win the race for Governor of Colorado!

Sweet!

I'm (Nowhere Near) Famous!

In the last few days, I've had the pleasure to discover that I've become the target of a smear campaign by right-wing blogger, Robert Howe, of GetYourHeadOutOfYourButt.com.

You can find two articles aimed at me here:

http://www.getyourheadoutofyourbutt.com/?p=299
http://www.getyourheadoutofyourbutt.com/?p=300

I thank him for exposing my personal life and blog on his 12-hit-a-day Web site. I hope this newfound stardom will open up new opportunites for me in the future. Maybe a big company will purchase my ongoing Avatara work.

I look forward to the new opportunities that come with stardom!

Video Games I've Solved

This is a list of all the video games that I have solved. There's probably more than this list, but I had to try and remember the ones I played from years ago as a little boy. Years of not being a "completist" have shrunk the list...but I've played a lot more games than I've finished! :-)

And now, the games that I have solved, broken down by system:

Nintendo Wii

Rayman Raving Rabbids
Call of Duty 3
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Happy Feet
Madden 07
Super Paper Mario
Wii Play (Gold medal or higher in every event)
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Super Mario Galaxy (All 120 Stars!)
Guitar Hero III (Easy and Medium Mode)
MLB Power Pros (NY Mets win title with 140-22 record!)
No More Heroes
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Beat Subspace Embassy, unlocked all characters and levels)
Mario Kart Wii (Earned two stars in all levels, unlocked all characters and levels)
Elebits
Zack & Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Guitar Hero III World Tour (Medium Mode)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (160/160 Gold Bricks)
Ghost Squad
World of Goo
Wii Punch-Out

Nintendo DS

Super Mario Kart DS (Star Ranking!)
Super Mario Brothers 64 DS
Nintendogs (50,000 Trainer Points)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Brain Age (Age 20)
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Mario & Luigi 2: Partners In Time
Trace Memory
Lost Magic
Big Brain Academy (Gold medal or higher in every event)
New Super Mario Bros. (Double Stars!)
Star Fox Command
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
The Sims 2
Contact
Final Fantasy III
Elite Beat Agents
Phoenix Wright 2: Justice For All
Pokemon Diamond
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Game Boy Advance

Advance Wars II
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy II
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Final Fantasy IV Advance
Final Fantasy V Advance

Nintendo Entertainment System

Super Mario Brothers
Super Mario Brothers II
Mike Tyson's Punch Out!
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
Metroid
Kid Icarus
Smash TV
Pro Wrestling
Mega Man
Defender of the Crown
Casino Kid
Contra
Crystalis
Ninja Gaiden (via Virtual Console)
Mega Man (via Virtual Console)
Mega Man 2 (via Virtual Console)
Mega Man 3 (via Virtual Console)
Ghosts n Goblins (via Virtual Console)

Super Nintendo

Mortal Kombat
Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Mario World
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time (Normal Mode)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (via Virtual Console)

3DO

Super Street Fighter II Turbo

Nintendo 64

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Paper Mario

Playstation 2

Katamari Damacy

Nintendo Gamecube

Pikmin
Pikmin II
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Super Mario Sunshine
Soul Caliber II

PC

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Typical Yankee Fan

ZaBlanc: you think the Yanks can win it this year?
ccfezzig: yup
ccfezzig: but what does that mean
ccfezzig: lol
ZaBlanc: Johnny Damon....still weird.
ccfezzig: lol
ccfezzig: yup
ZaBlanc: Sox are gonna be real tough with Beckett
ZaBlanc: did they replace Damon?
ccfezzig: not sure
ccfezzig: f them
ZaBlanc: hahaa
ZaBlanc: You might be f'ed by them.
ccfezzig: f them
ZaBlanc: haha
ZaBlanc: I just hope the Braves lose it this year
ccfezzig: ME TOO
ccfezzig: lol
ZaBlanc: Sheffield stilla Yank too?
ccfezzig: not sure
ccfezzig: i forgot
ccfezzig: whoops
ZaBlanc: You see Sosa's retiring?
ccfezzig: good
ccfezzig: f him
ZaBlanc: hahaha
ccfezzig: never liked him
ccfezzig: good ?
ccfezzig: mattingly
ccfezzig: guidry
ccfezzig: :)
ccfezzig: willie
ZaBlanc: they are all 60 years old

Superstar Saga: Solved!

Superstar Saga is done, man!

My Funny Valentine

Last night, Michele and I enjoyed Valentin's Day the way we intended it to be the first time. :-)

The story goes as follows...on our first Valentine's day back in 2002, Michele and I were going to go to Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs, a small little mountain town along I-70. However, it was a cold and very wintery day that day, and the roads were slick, and we were forced to cut our commute short and so stopped at a restaurant called El Rancho along the way.

(A funny byline is that it was a fancy-ish place, and we were in jeans...so we felt a little awkward. :-) )

Well, this year, we finally made it to Beau Jo's and we had yummy goodness for dinner. The wait staff was a little short, so we waited a while for our hot wings and pizza, but it was OK cause instead of being in Littleton, we were in Idaho Springs. ;-)

For gifts, I got Michele a cute groundhog named Evergeen. (He's an Italian, ah!) I also got her a card and a little M&M guy filled with...you guessed it...M&M's!

Michele got me two love-bears...connected beanie bears, one says "I" and the others says "Love You." Their feet, combined, say "Forever." She also kicked my ass on the chocolate front, getting me a bag of goodies which I may or may not have shared with her. ;-) And a card.

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to Dairy Queen. I went with a sundae, while Michele went with her favorite, a Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard.

Mmmmmmmmmmm!

I've Graduated!!!

Mom's Home!

Yeee-hoooie! Mom is home for the hospital (again) and resting up. She's recovered a lot from the head troubles that began a few weeks ago, and she kicked pneumonia's butt in...

Now let's just hope everything stays good for a while!

...

Congratulations to SLIPKNOT for winning the "Best Metal Performance" Grammy! WHOO HOO! Finally, recognition!

Great band. You guys deserve it.

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Big weekend of Flash Avatara this weekend...In only a short time, I've gotten a solid start to my tile world completed, and now I'm working on the XML communication. So far, so good!

I'll post screenshots as I go.

A New Avatara Hope

So, it was a good thing that Vincen soured me to my political game idea, as I have a new fervor for Avatara again. This time, it's due to Flash being the chosen code of choice for the client.

With Flash, I'll be able to construct a lot of what I had already very quickly -- plus, the new freedom will allow things like chat panels, character effects, and hopefully even paper-dolling to be written A LOT faster!

For now, I am rewriting the tile engine, but in only an hour I already had some results -- so, hopefully by the end of this month I'll be mostly caught up to where the Java client is today.

Though, I'm sure I'll have some roadblocks, too...

Sweet Katamari

I promise you I will save the heavens, King of the Cosmos!

New Member of the Family

Yesterday, Michele and I treated ourselves to a Playstation 2. I know, I know -- I'm a Nintendo fanboy! But, the reason we got it was that I wanted a DDR game (Dance Dance Revolution) and I was NOT in the mood for DDR Mario Mix for Gamecube. :-)

So, we bought the system, DDRMAX2, two dance pads ($10 each, sweet!) and even threw in SSX for Yog. Today, we need to pick up a memory card, DVD remote (we moved our DVD upstairs to our bedroom since PS2 *is* one), and I wanna get Katamari Damasi...the greatest game EVER and one I've only been allowed to play in GameStops!

By the way, I have absolutely no buyer's remorse...we got a great deal on the dance pads and SSX because of the Toys R Us Out of Business sale, and in total we only spent about $230! The stuff we'll get today we're using our gift card on. KATAMARI!

Plus, DDR is frickin' amazing. :-)

Update on Mom

My mom has been at home, resting and getting better each day. I've talked with her several times, and a couple days ago she had the stitches and stables removed from her temples.

Today, though, she's back in the hospital. :-( The good news is it's nothing head related, but last word is she has Gall Stones and Pneumonia. Arrrrrggg...frusteratin'. Poor mom.

It's a lot better than more brain surgery, but my poor mom has now more to cope with. Surgery is not out of the question to remove the stones, either.

I'll keep you posted.

My Poor Little Heart!

So I call my friend Vincen to tell him about my new game idea. I've been designing it for a few days, and I was totally hyped about it!

I'd be writing a game about politics. You'd have to win an election, and it would be this great blend of humor, fun, and reality! You compete in the states, you pick a politician to run, a special interest group to assist you, and then you spend money and energy each day to do tasks. (Run flyers, do a commercial, etc.)

And Vincen broke my heart...there's already a game like that. See it here.

And it's a brilliant game I can't top. Oh, man! There are so many design details, it's as if someone stole my docs, went back in time, and wrote the game. :-/

So sad.