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07/01/07 - 「ROLLING STAR」

SOMMMM long time since I wrote anything. It's a new year finally which means a look back at the past year in music :-D As always, my policy is that a song cannot win more than one award to prevent sweeps (and let me name more stuff :p). Thus a song eligble for multiple awards will win the award I feel most suited for it. By the way this list is totally biased so faku if you don't agree with me lol.

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09/09/06 - Long Time No See

Ok well I guess I didn't write anything for a while. Currently working, while trying to stay fit and get healthy. Not much time to play games anymore, but I wish I could play some Guilty Gear at least. Hmm that's it for now lol.

- Chack

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29/05/06 - Random Catching Up

So a lot happened since I last posted. I graduated from college (!!!), got turned down for another job interview, and just got back today from another huge tournament in the Ohio. Graduation was stressful and hectic and I'm glad it's over, but I will definitely miss the college days of carefreeness. The job interview was blah so whatever. I've been spending the past 2 weeks just chilling on campus and playing games and watnot. Ohio Midwest Classic tourny was tons of fun, cuz a bunch of us all went there together to compete. I lost probably 90% of my matches in Guilty Gear, but did better at 50% in Virtua Fighter lol. It was cool to see so many top players in one place and the level of competition was really high. Saw some old friends like Maddy and other ppl which was cool too. They're still repping the VF scene and it makes me want to play VF5 a whole bunch lol. The GG singles tourny was crazy and the final four especially were super exciting to watch. Makes me realize that GG is just an exciting game because of the character diversity and emerging talent in the scene. These matches really got the crowd all rowdy and they were shown on a huge projection screen which was uber. Also just had fun messing around with friends in the car and in the hotel room. Good stuff, good times.

Going back to Thailand on the 30th, then returning to UIUC to chill for a final time in July. Will prolly leave UIUC again in late August, then it's work in Thailand I suppose. GLHF to me.

- Chack

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01/05/06 - Dan's Final College Tourny Experience

Last one for a while it seems...posted here for reference as always lol.

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So on Friday we had the last tournament for our fighting game club for the year. This would be the last tournament of my college career as well, thus I was really looking forward to going out strong (and hopefully on top hehe). The games that were there were Smash Brothers (team tournament), and the newly released Guilty Gear XX Slash (singles). I joined the Smash Brothers tournament for the heck of it with my friend Jerry, since it was a team tournament and seemed like it might be fun, but my main focus was on Guilty Gear. I had been focusing on this game for the majority of this semester and knew that I was ready to take on the veteren players as well. Here's how it all went down.

The Rules: Best 2/3 rounds, 2/3 games, double elimination

My character: Potemkin


- This guy is the Zangeif of GG. My main move was the Potemkin Buster which functioned the same as Geif's Spinning Pildriver. Thus the basic strategy was to mix up between the Pot Buster Grab, and a knockdown combo. If they try to jump, I also have an air grab called Heat Knuckle which takes off a lot too. Pot is really slow, but takes a lot of damage and dishes out a ton more. You only need to guess right a few times to win with him.

1st Round vs Neil (Holy Order Sol)
- This guy had come from Chicago to join the tournament, so I hadn't really played him much before the tournament. I had a few casual matches with him though, and found he wasn't a super good player or anything. I think he also didn't have much experience fighting against Pot as well, cuz I was getting him with many Busters lol. This wasn't much of a fuss, and I cleaned up rather quickly.

2nd Round vs Steve (Dizzy)
- Steve is probably one of the best GG players in our group, but he doesn't actually get much playing time in cuz of whatever reason. The Dizzy-Pot matchup is actually in Dizzy's favor cuz she can summon many many projectiles and dash around the screen, effectively shutting down Pot's offense. I came of the gates really aggressive though and I think put Steve out of his game, cuz I beat him really fast both games (the last round was a perfect or near perfect). He didn't look too happy after that, but like I said, if he had played with us/me more in casuals before I think he would have been able to take me out. Preperation is a big part of tournament success :D

Winner's Semi-Final vs Aric (Baiken)
- Aric put me out of the last GG tournament with his Baiken, so I was itching for a rematch. This time I was using Pot instead of Axel so my chances were definitley battle. The rounds were close, and we each split one game. However, I was a bit too hasty with trying to get in, and ran into too many tatami mats thus I lost this match. I would have to try to get through the Loser's Bracket from here on out.

Loser's Quarter-Final vs Joe (Jam)
- The Jam-Pot matchup is super horrible for Pot, and I really felt it in this match. Joe was an average player at best, but I was getting hit by a lot of his pokes since Jam is so fast and mobile. I managed to land my Busters and Heat Knuckles though which helped me take the match, but not without sweating for a good couple minutes.

Loser's Semi-Final vs Stephane (Holy Order Sol)
- Stephane is the resident trash talker of the group. He beat me a lot in casuals with his normal Sol when I was still a n00b, but ever since he switched characters and I got better, I've managed to beat him pretty consistantly. This was when it really mattered though, in a tournament setting. I stuck to my gameplan and was patient since I knew he was a really aggressive player. I capitalized on a lot of his mistakes for free Busters and soundly beat him 2 games straight. I was pretty satisfied with this win and he wasn't happy at all lol.

Loser's Final vs Aric (Baiken)
- Aric lost in the Winner's Final, so I had to play him again here. This time I was determined to finally beat him and get my revenge lol. I was more patient with his tatami mats, but it was still very close each round. We again split it 1 game each, and the final game came down to the last round. We were each at our last bit of health and he had me in a corner, but I hit him with a wakeup super and managed to scratch him after that for the win. Honestly, I did panick in the last few seconds of the match and was kind of mashing out buttons, but I'm glad it worked lol. Thus I was in the Grand Finals.

Grand Finals vs Scott (Ky)
- Scott is easily the best GG player amongst us, and probably one of the best in the midwest as well. He won the last GG tournament, and also happened to play Ky, the best character in the game. I had quite a task cut out for me, but I won't go with any false suspense: he cleaned me up pretty badly. I didn't play all that well and missed a few Busters because of bad execution :-S Oh well. Scott was too solid with Ky for me to be able to get any real rhythm against him going.

So in the end, Scott won the tournament ($100), I got 2nd ($65), and Aric got 3rd ($35). Not a bad tournament at all I would say. I'm glad that I managed to place this time, and Scott was pretty much the favorite to win it all since the beginning. I'm satisfied with this as my last college tourny, and am glad I managed to become pretty good at GG now lol. I've had a great time with all these tournies through my college years, so I hope that in the future I can keep on competing and get better as well :D

(if your wondering how I did in smash brothers, me and Jerry went out without winning a game lol)

- Chack

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25/03/06 -「 Bitter Sweets 」

Well today started off with prolly the biggest shock of the year so far. SweetS announced that they are going to be disbanding on July 7th after they release one more single in order to continue their studies and focus on school. In reality, this is related to their poor sales as well. If they could sell enough, then they wouldn't really worry about school (like Morning Musume ppl). Sigh, I always seem to find these groups too late. Like for ZONE, I started to like them when they released Sotsugyou with their brand new 4 person line up. 3 singles later, they disbanded. I just started to like SweetS with On the Way, featuring their new 3 person line up. Now 2 singles later, they will disband, despite the return of Aki and Aya. Following this trend, I just started to like HALCALI with Tip Taps Tip and their new style. God I hope they don't disband after another few singles.

Good luck to Haruna, Miori, Mai, Aki, and Aya with whatever they decide to do in the future. I'll never get to see them live (just like ZONE), but I'll always keep them in my memory...

I guess I'm just bad luck :'(

- Chack

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20/03/06 -「BLOW OUT」

K so it's been super long since I last updated. Guess I've just been really busy and tired with all the stuff going on lately. I took some tests, then went to Midwest Challenge 4 to compete in GGXX where I lost all my matches, but it was still fun. The finals were super intense and really great to watch as well. Also got to play VF against Maddy and Derrick which was cool. It'll be sweet when VF5 comes out. Then I did some interviews, took more tests and it's spring break now. Can't believe that I'll be graduating in just 6 weeks time. Sigh, guess it's really all going to come to an end soon.

I'm pretty tired. Just want to relax and sleep this break.

- Chack

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12/02/06 - Dan's SC3 and GGXX Tournament Experience

Happened last week, but posted here for reference once again lol. First post ever with pictures! *shock*
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So yeah, yesterday (feb 3rd) we had another tournament, this time sponsered by our school and held during the monthy Illinites festivitiess. We ran a tournament for Soul Calibur 3 and Guilty Gear XX #reloaded, with the school providing $150 cash prizes for each game. It was cool because they also provided the room and projectors for us to use. We had two projectors for each game. All we had to do is bring the ps2's and run the thing. They did everything else pretty much. So I entered both games and since Dana doesn't like how I spoil stuff at the beginning I won't do that. If you just want to know how I did you can scroll to the bottom and read it. I discuss the GGXX part first

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Guilty Gear XX # Reloaded
Rules were 2/3 rounds and 2/3 games, single elimination.

My charecter: Axl Low

- This guy is the Dhalsim of the game pretty much and he has really long pokes and I tried to just be really annoying with him when I played. I don't get much practice in this game, but a lot of my friends play, thus I was inclined to join just for the heck of it.

1st Round vs Random Scrub (Sol Badguy)
- He never played the game before so I wasn't very worried about losing the match as long as I kept to my game plan. I was getting hit by random shoryuken's tho and those take off a lot and I realize why everyone hates Sol lol. He's got really easy damaging moves that even scrubs can hurt you with. But yeah I won this without much fuss.

2nd Round vs Andrew (Slayer)
- Andrew is the guy who beat me in the previous street fighter 3rd strike tournament, so I knew this would be tougher than the scrub guy. Andrew claimed to be out of practice and he just picked up slayer as his new charecter, but the exact same thing applied to me since I rarely play this game either and I only recently started playing Axl (about two weeks ago I was still using Potemkin). So yeah I kept away from him with my long pokes and annoyed him a bit and then started running in and using Axl's jumping slash overhead with gives me a lot of frame advantage. Andrew didn't know how to deal with it and I beat him pretty soundly the first game. Second game was closer, but I hit him with wakeup super moves quite a bit and managed to win it. Andrew was a bit annoyed that he lost and was like "you always pick dirty charecters" (and this was coming from teh guy who used genei jin Yun) but too bad for him hehe. Sweet revenge lol.

3rd Round vs Aric (Baiken)
- Aric is a veteren GG player so I knew that I probably couldn't beat him with just annoying tactics. I went on the aggressive from the start and rushed him down with my overhead and sweeps and managed to take the first round pretty quickly. It all went downhill from there though and he started to defend my attacks and get me into his own traps. I didn't know how to deal with his tatami mat attack and lost the next 4 rounds to put me out of the tournament.

Aric went on to win the tourny so there's really no shame in losing, also considering that I don't play this game very often. It was still fun tho, and I'll probably get around to playing it more later. I still need to learn basic combos and stuff for Axl. I was getting by on a lot of poking lol.

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Soul Calibur 3 Tournament
Rules: 3/5 rounds, 2/3 games, single elim, you can switch chars after each game if you lose, no bonus/custom chars allowed.

Before the tournament started there were people playing casuals and I scouted out the competition for a bit. There was one Voldo guy who was killing everyone and had a 5 game winning streak so I played him to see how he was. I picked Maxi and it was close but I managed to win and knock him off. From there on I went on a 8 win streak and picked a diff char everytime. The Voldo guy seemed to be the best of the bunch. I got bored tho and wanted to practice some GG so I let this one Cervantes guy win (he wasn't very good but I made it look close though lol) and people were like "YEAH!" when he won, and he even did some fist pump and looked at me like he had just pulled the upset of the year or something. I left the station and left him with his (false) glory lol. So then the tourny started a bit after that.

My Charecter: Lizardman

- Carlo and Kevin know how I play Lizardman hehe. I basically just tried to hit the other guy with a lot of stun combos and mix in his lows with lizard stance stuff in between. There was really nothing special about my strategy, I just liked Lizardman lol. If I lost, I was going to switch to top tier Sophitia and just whore out her broken stuff.

1st Round vs Vincar (Mitsurugi)
- This guy was a super scrub. He didn't know how to play the game at all and just signed up for the tournament with his other friend (the gg scrub guy). So yeah I beat him with AA and BB.

2nd Round vs Alex (Yoshimitsu)
- He was better than the last guy, but still not very good. I owned him with stun combo for 50% life and lizard-ed his arse lol.

Quarter Final vs Ross (Voldo)
- This was the Voldo guy I had beaten in practice before. He was clearly a level above the other people I had fought so far and we traded rounds for a bit. My exp against fighting Dana's Voldo helped a bit tho (thx) so I read some of his moves and forced him into a mid/low guessing game and mixed in throws here and there. Thus I prevailed 2 games straight.

Semi Final vs Rory (Zasalamel)
- I had been introduced to Rory by one of my other friends earlier in the day and he said he wanted to play me, but we didn't get the chance until this match. He had one dirty ass Zas and was very very tricky. I was lucky that I had seen vids of Zas before so I kind of knew what to expect, but I couldn't break his pressure patterns and he read most of my lizard stuff. So I lost the first game and was stuck with a dilemma. If I switched to Sophitia then I would basically being doing the same stuff as Lizardman. Her stuff is just a bit stronger and faster. I didn't think that would work, because the main problem was he was reading my offense. So I made a TOTAL spontaeneous decision and picked Maxi :-S My plan was just to be super aggressive with Maxi and hope that he never had played against a good one before. Fortunately for me, it worked and I was hitting him with a lot of stuff that a player familiar with Maxi probably would have been able to block. I went on the super offensive and didn't let him pressure me and I managed to win the next two games and the match.

Final vs Billy (Astaroth)
- I saw Billy playing against one of my friends who tier whored Sophitia and my friend got super beat down so I was nervous going into this match. I didn't think Lizardman could take the match, so I stuck with Maxi, and again hoped that he never fought against a good Maxi before. The beginning was close and we traded rounds but I soon began to dominate with Maxi and really started to pressure him with my strings (Dana remembers how annoying my Maxi is hehe). I beat him in a close first game but the 2nd game I totally dominated and won all 3 rounds straight (the last round I ringed him out). So that gave me the match and the tournament.

So I won the grand prize of $75 and Billy got $50 and Rory won the 3rd place playoff for $25. All in all it was a successful tournament I would say. I never would have thought that I would play Maxi to win it all in the end but I guess strange things happen lol. If I had not been watching some Maxi vids the day earlier, it might have never occured to me to play him. Duno if my scrubby Sophitia could have won it :-S My friend talked to Billy afterwards and said Billy was like "I didn't know someone like that existed on campus." My legend is growing lololol. But yeah, hail to Maxi pad lol.



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- Chack

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31/01/06 - 「 Keep Tryin' 」

Hikki has done it again! I just got her new song and it's really, really great I think. I thought Passion was pretty good but I lost enthusiasm for it rather quickly actually. Right now I think her new song is a lot better. It has a dreamy feel to it, but at the same time has upbeat lyrics which I really enjoy. The song couldn't have come at a better time really, cuz the career fair is tomorrow and I've been stressed out about what to do with my future after I graduate. Apparently, so are a lot of other people which puts me in the same boat as them I suppose. After hearing the song though, I feel like I have more energy to face whatever will happen.

Thx Hikki, you're the best :-)

- Chack

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25/01/06 - HALLELUJAH!

So last semester of college, and trying to figure out what to do after grad. Job hunting and stuff, etc, so it's pretty much like last semester (but colder). I suppose a look back at last year would be good, but just cuz I wana talk about my favorite music lol. And also, I like to make lists.

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Best PV: AAA - Dragon Fire
[colorful, fun and cool PV. love the kung fu dance moves and nissy sings super awesome as well]

Best Pop Song: SweetS - On the Way ~yakusoku no basho e~
[definitely the most dancy upbeat song of the year and the one that led me to SweetS fandom :D]

Best Rock Song: Everset - Niji
[didn't hear it until late in the year, but considering the lack of other good jrock this one took the cake without much competition]

Best Spring Song: Toraji Haiji - FANTASTIPO
[a ridiculous retro disco song but i love it a lot]

Best Summer Song: w-inds. - Ageha
[no other song released this year captured the feeling of summer as well as this one did i think]

Best Autumn Song: w-inds. - Izayoi no Tsuki
[w-inds has really great fall songs, and like shiki last year, this one was a great song that just represents the season so well]

Best Winter Song: 3rd X'mas GB Union - Giant X'mas ~yuujou ni ribbon~
[there were a lot of great Christmas songs this year, but this one was the best. GB Union is better than H!P now in my opinion]

Best Coupling Song: Paradise Go! Go! - Happy Go Lucky
[this was a really great upbeat dancy song. it might be their best song in fact. can't wait for their first full album in feb :D]

Best Live Performance: AAA - Blood on Fire
[i wasn't a fan of this song until i saw it live and the face and furious style of the song made for some equally cool dance routines. ppl jumping all over the place, doing flips and stuff, it's nuts]

Best Variety TV Show: Utaban
[it's been the best for a while, but there were too many random comedians this year for my liking...i hope they reduce them and bring back more actual artists]

Best Newcomer: AAA (Attack-All-Around)
[the name refers to their marketing strategy and with 5 cool guys and 3 cute girls singing every genre of song, i got me hooked lol]

Biggest Surprise: Avex Girl's Box Union
[there was no way that i could have forseen my departure from H!P fandom to the GB Union. SweetS and Paradise Go!! Go!! are just miles ahead of anything Tsunku can draw up]

Biggest Comeback: HALCALI (honerable mention to Utada Hikaru)
[i wasn't even a fan of HALCALI until their comeback but hey, a comeback is a comeback hehe. also seeing hikki release a number of singles was nice. she'll be strong in 2006]

Biggest Disappointment: Gackt
[first it was love letter, then diablos, both albums were uterlly bland and devoid of any kind of creative input. i still like you gackt, but if you keep on trying to hack it up, then i might have to change my mind :-S]

Biggest Bore: Ayumi Hamasaki (dishonerable mentions to DAI & Mai K.)
[these 3 are what gackt is becoming: downright boring. they just churn out release after release like machines that just spit out the same stuff over and over. heck, even H!P and morning musume don't sing the same kinds of songs over and over and they're supposed to be the real idol machines lol. honestly when DAI broke up, i coudn't have cared less]

Biggest Breakup: ZONE
[this one still pains me to speak of...i still can't believe that they're really gone, but SweetS has taken their place right now, and there's a promising new group ahead...]

Most Overexposed: Aya Matsuura
[i am frankly bored of her too. she's been in media way too much]

Most Promising: Maria
[ex. ZONE bassist Maiko's new band which is set to debut march 2006. i've already heard sound clips of their songs, and i'm happy to say that it resembles ZONE to a great degree. i'm a happy man :D]

Top Male Idol: Takahiro Nishijima (AAA)
[this guy is just too cool. he's got some uber voice as well]

Top Female Idol: Miori (SweetS)
[although not one of the main singers of SweetS, miori is just too adorable to ignore. she gets my vote for top idol of the year]

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I wonder what discoveries await in 2006? Here's to a good year: Cheers.

- Chack

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15/12/05 - Tip Taps Tip

I was officially done with this semester a few days ago when I handed in my last paper, but yeah kinda forgot about updating anything lol. The semester seems to have zoomed by pretty quickly, and if not for annoying job hunting it probably would have been even faster.

I made a number of amazing discoveries this semester in the music world which was pretty nice. I always enjoy finding new stuff to listen to. The biggest story would have to be SweetS which has quickly become one of my favorite pop groups with their catchy tunes and sharp perfomances. Paradise Go!! Go!! was another good group and I'm looking foward to thier first album which is going to come out early next year. Just a week or two ago I got the new song from Halcali on a whim and I absoultely loved it. After going back to listen to their old songs, I've become a fan of them too and hope they release more stuff soon. Just 20 minutes ago I got the new Ellegarden single on a whim also and I'm surprised on how American it sounds (which proves that the next evolution of J-rock will be emo lol). They have some good melodies and hard guitars. A pleasent surprise to end the semester with :-D

Have a good break everyone~

- Chack

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18/11/05 - Yotsuba&!

It's Thankgiving break! Will start the papers and work tomorrow, but for today, I will just relax. Play some basketball and read manga lol. GLHF everyone.

- Chack

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14/11/05 -「On The Way」

So I didn't update for a while cuz I was uber lazy :p. Not much going on really I suppose. It's almost Thanksgiving break so I'm just studying for that one random test that is going to happen before the break. The first three days of the break I'm going to clamp down super hard and write 3 papers and then the final sunday of the break I have to fly to Wisconsin for a job interview with K-C. I hope I can get it :-S

I recently downloaded the PV "On The Way ~yakusoku no basho e~" from SweetS on a whim and it ended up being my favorite pop song this entire year lol. Some amazing discovery :-D. I later branched out to Paradise Go!! Go!! who's new song "Argent Snow" is pretty good also. So yeah...some J-pop resurgence.

I ordered uber stuff from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.jp yesterday hehe. I hope it gets here soon. Some holiday spirit of consumption to ward away the stresses of exams and job hunting.

- Chack

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17/10/05 - Move Along

Ack, the interviews never end. I'm averaging about 4 per week so far for the past 2 weeks. This week I have another 3 scheduled. These are only first round interviews also >< Sucks. Sigh, oh well. At least it should all be over by late November, or early December. That's only 6 weeks away or so I guess.

Been playing Tekken with SOCOM on Wednesdays and we have good number of people so it's pretty cool. We get to play on some big projector screens in the engineering buildings with uber facilities hehe. Weekends are dominated by basketball (I'm getting better at shooting which is nice), and Settlers (some 6 player and Sea versions now). This fall semester has gone by pretty fast compared to last year and I can easily say it's a lot more enjoyable also. It's so much nicer to just enjoy doing stuff with your close friends instead of running around doing things for stupid random clubs.

And without having to worry about stupid people :-p

- Chack

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29/09/05 - You can't get away

Well at least I finished writing all my papers for now. Duno, not much to do since the weather still sucks. I finished the w-inds. section of Artist Jam. Will probably get around to doing momusu sometime eventually. It's gona be a hell of a page tho, cuz I gotta put like 100 picts lol.

Mrm. Not much else to say I guess.

- Chack

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25/09/05 - Simple Minds, Simple Lives

Urg, job hunting sucks. Other than that, it's become exam/paper time around here so people are all scrambling to get stuff done. Still have to do some crappy project proposal for my dumb econ class >< The weather decided to crap out as well, giving us rain everyday. I duno when the next time I'll get to play tennis will be. Maybe in April :-S

Sigh, well I hope you're happy...

 - Chack

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17/09/05 - Dan's 3s and T5 Tournament Experience

Posted at Chit Boi, but here for reference as always.

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Hey guys, we just had another EB Games tourny today @4pm with 3 different games: Street Fighter III Third Strike, Guilty Gear XX Reloaded, and Tekken 5. I was in charge of the Tekken part of the tournament so I helped run the brackets there. The tourny was single game, but double elimination, up until the semi-finals which were 2/3 games, and then the finals were 3/5 games. Entry fees were 5 dollars per game with the money being divided up 70/20/10% to the top 3 places for each game. I decided to enter the t5 tourny (obviously since I won the last one), and I also joined the 3s one also with my DENJIN RYU hehe. I didn't know how to play GGXX so I didn't play that one. I managed to take 1st place in Tekken and 2nd place in Street Fighter :-D Here's a breakdown of how it all went.

Street Fighter III - 9 entrants (small :-S)

My Character: Ryu - Super Art III - DENJIN Hadoken

- Well there wasn't much to my Ryu except to try to land the full stun DENJIN on the other guy every round. I was playing Q and Remy a lot before the tourny tho, but they definitely weren't ready. I had the most confidence in my SHOTO-POWA lol.

1st Round vs Hiro: Q – Deadly Double

- I certainly didn’t expect to be fighting a Q in the tournament, and the guy had a huge anniversary edition stick also, so I was a bit scared at first. I mean kmon, he must be uber good if he’s using a stick and is playing Q! So when the match started I went on the ultra aggressive as you should against a Q and was surprised to clean it up pretty fast in straight rounds lol. I hit him with the DENJIN a few times and executed the full jump in combo afterwards perfectly which was surprising considering I didn’t practice at all. So yeah I won this pretty easily.

2nd Round vs Justin: Alex – Stungun Headbutt

- Justin is one of my buddies who used to work at EB Games, so I got to know him through the shop. We played casuals in 3s before, but never that seriously so I wasn’t sure exactly how this was going to play out. He also used more Ryu before so Alex was a bit of a surprise for me. The rounds were really close, and I think we split it 1-1 so it came down to a final round. I managed to get in my DENJINS though and pulled it out in the end. Still a really close match though so it coulda gone either way. Props.

Winner’s Bracket Finals (already) vs Andrew: Yun – Genei Jin

- Oh no! This was the guy that whupped everyone all day with Yun during casuals whenever we got together. So yeah, he was definitely the favorite to win it all and we all knew it from the get go. I had to play giant killer here and did my best. For those people who have never played against a skillful Genei Yun before, I’ll explain how the match goes: Yun dive kicks all day, uses the frame advantage to go into uninterruptible safe strings, builds meter, unleashes Genei Jin, uses the extreme priority and speed of the super art to juggle you for 50% life in the corner, rinse repeat. So yes, you spend a lot of the time BLOCKING in this match cuz Yun gets so much advantage on all his moves. It was 2/3 games and I lost the first game super quickly which was pretty bad. I pulled myself together though and won the next game with a DENJIN stun and ZERO HEALTH hehe. I was uber happy and ppl were cheering which was cool. The last game we split rounds 1-1 but eventually Genei Jin was too much and I lost :’( So that put me in the loser’s bracket.

Loser’s Bracket Finals (already) vs Hiro: Q – Critical Combo Attack / Deadly Double

- Since there were only 9 people in this tournament, I was immediately put into the Loser’s Bracket Finals lol. So yeah, I played this guy again. This was also 2/3 games. I already knew exactly how to play him, so I made it real quick 2 games straight. Thus, I was in the Final Final’s against Andrew again.

Grand Finals vs Andrew: Yun – Genei Jin

- Well there wasn’t much change with how the fights went, except that they made it 3/5 games now. Again, the Dive Kick madness was super annoying and I couldn’t do much but block for 75% of the round. When the Genei Jin came on, I was forced to try to weather the storm of attacks in the corner until his meter ran out. I lost the first 2 games cuz Andrew started to parry my DENJIN’s which rendered them useless. The next game though, I changed my strat a bit and went for more tick throws and such random stuff which worked well. I managed to land DENJIN some more with messed up timing and beat him back 2 games (and I was like Jacky-style “YEAAA!”) to tie it all 2-2. So the next game was make or break for me. It was close, and again we split the rounds 1-1, but the final round I ate a full Genei combo and died :’(

Thus I came in 2nd place and Andrew took 1st. I got $9 lol. With only 9 ppl entering, couldn’t ask for much I guess. Right after my devastating loss (not really lol) I had to go play in the Tekken Final so I’ll get to that tournament right now.


Tekken 5 – 14 entrants (still small :-S)

My Character – Lee Chaolan

- OK I ADMIT IT. I super chickened out from using Ling as my main -__-” I was playing a bit of casuals before the tournament and Lee just seemed to be doing so much better so I just went with him. I would have used her as my backup though if so needed (not Hwo unfortunately). So you know how I play Lee already: jab, jab mist step to throw or mid attack. But I tried to use the knee less cuz it’s really unsafe. Instead I used his round house kick and played it a bit safer than I did the last tournament. Srry Ling, I swear to use you next time I promise.

Before the tourney started I announced to everyone that they were welcome to come to my apartment later to play casuals since I was running Tekken for the club. I also got everyone’s emails who were interested :-D

Round 1 vs Alan – Devil Jin

- Alan was a pretty good player actually. He seemed to know a lot about the game and different characters (which really showed when he used Mokujin later in the tourney). However, Lee POWA was too much for him and I managed to win it rather quick. I think perhaps he never fought a good Lee before cuz I was getting him with a lot of stuff.

Round 2 vs Joseph – Hwoarang

- Heheh yes, Hwo finally shows up in one of these tournaments and played by a Korean! SGUD. Anyway, he was a cool guy and I played him in casuals a bit before the tourney started. He had a good Hwo actually and knew how to mix up the feet pretty good. Still, it wasn’t as good as Pat’s so I saw through a lot of the moves to counter. And then Blazing Kick to the wall for 50% life lol. SO I won this one not so badly either.

Winner’s Bracket Semi-Finals vs Ryan – Yoshimitsu

- This was 2/3 games and Ryan had a pretty good Yoshimitsu in fact. There was a lot of spinning around and I kept on getting hit by that jumping roundhouse when I tried to sidestep. Since I had a lot of EXP against Yoshimitsu from playing Danuuut though, it was under control. So Blazing Kick to the wall for the win basically. I managed to win both games straight which put me in the Winner’s Bracket Finals.

Winner’s Bracket Finals vs Adam – Asuka

- I had actually played Adam before last semester when he came over to my other friend’s house with some other people and we all played casuals. He drove all the way down here from off campus so it was cool that he joined. He knew the game very well and his Asuka was good. We traded rounds for a bit but I managed to squeak out the win in both games. Mist step to double break throw is too good hehe. So I sat and waited for the people in the Loser’s Bracket to fight it out for a spot in the Finals.

It ended up that Joseph fought nearly all the way through the Loser’s bracket to win that and get to the Finals. There was delay before it started though, cuz I was busy blocking damn Genei Jin in the 3s finals against Andrew. So the people on the Tekken machine played casuals for a while lol. After I lost 3s, I went directly to play Tekken again.

Grand Finals vs Joseph – Hwoarang

- This was 3/5 games like the 3s finals. Since I was the one who sent him to the Loser’s Bracket I knew what to do to take him down again. He got in some good juggles and hits with Hwo, but I overpowered him with Blazing Kick to the wall, and double break throws. I took all 3 games straight which gave me the tourney. We were both having fun and it was pretty cool.

So that was the tourney for me. We divided up the money and I since I won I got 70% of the pot which was $49. SGUD. So I won a total of $58 from my initial $10 investment hehe. The GGXX people finished up last with Scott (the undisputed #1 GG player amongst them) taking it. We took some pictures of the top placers and then cleaned up. Adam came to my place for some more casuals before heading back. Later I went to buy groceries which costed $50 LOL. So yeah, some profit of $8 today XD

Good games to everyone and let’s hope they have another tournament real soon. GGPO.

- Chack

---

16/09/05 - The Rival Cycle

Well I'm a bit better from my cold now, but it's still pretty bad in the morning. Oh well, I think this might be as good as it gets for a while. In brighter news, I finally saw FFVII Advent Children a few days ago and it was definitely worth the wait. Amazing action sequences, and awesome graphics :-D I super want to watch it again, but I'll wait until the 3.9 gig version is done downloading hehe.

The EB Games tourny is tomorrow and I'm gonna be entering 3s and T5. I'm definitely using Denjin Ryu for 3s and Ling Xiaoyu will be my main for Tekken. What I'm not sure of is who to use for my backup character in Tekken. Experience shows that I should use Lee (since I won with him last time), but I'm kinda leaning towards Hwoarang actually...I duno, he's more fun to play lol. I guess it'll be a game time decision. Of course, if I don't lose with Ling then there won't be a need for a backup charecter hehe...

Time to GET READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE :-D

- Chack

31/08/05 - 「Planning A Prison Break 」

Well we're back on campus and things have been pretty good so far. Still no internet at my apartment which is why it took me so long to update. As of this moment I'm still leeching from my other friend's apartment's wireless connection hehe. But hopefully we'll have net by tomorrow. Classes are fine so far, and I think it'll be a good year.

What I really need to do is play more tekken and tennis hehe. Cheers.

- Chack

---

13/05/05 -「 笑顔日和 」

Exams are done, packing is underway and near completion. This is it for junior year and the end of my life in the dorms also. Apartment life will be cool next year and going to be a lot of fun. One more year left; let's make it count.

Have a good summer~

 - Chack

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29/04/05 - Dan's Tekken 5 Tournament Experience

Posted on Chit Boi forums, but put here for reference also heheh
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I managed to take 1st place at the Tekken 5 tournament today at EB Games. Damn, it was hella nerve racking, but I managed to pull through with the tourny without losing a match. There was around 20 people in the tournament. Here's the basic run down of how things turned out.

Rules: 3/5 rounds, only one game, but double elmination. Winner's and Loser's bracket final were 2/3 games, and the Grand Final was 4/7 games.

My charecter: Lee Chaolan.
 - My basic strategy was to jab, jab, mist step, rinse repeat to lock them down, and then mix in various throws. Once they started to duck my jabs and throws, I'd switch to the knee and launch them into uber mist step combos. I had Xiao Yu as backup, but ends up I didn't need to use her hehe.

1st Match VS Randy (Paul)
 - I had actually played this guy the day before in the shop, so I kinda knew how he played. I was pretty nervous though, and ended up being down 2-1 in the round count, but I managed to block his low sweeps and bait his deathfists to knee combo mist step him to death. I pulled it out 3-2 in the end.

2nd Match VS Dan E. (Wang)
 - This guy wasn't that great, and I had gotten more confidence from the first match so I really brought out my A-game and whupped him 3-0.

3rd Match VS Joey (Jin)
 - The thing about this match, was Joey is actually my really good friend who always beats my ass at virtua fighter. We had actually played 50 pratice matches before the tournament started, and I was helping him learn his Jin a bit better (cuz he's a beginner at tekken). There's no mercy in a tournament setting, so I had to take him out. It was a quick 3-0. Sucks I had to be the one to eliminate him though.

Winner's Final VS Jason G. (Bryan)
 - This guy had a pretty solid Bryan and was one of the tougher matches I had in the tournament. He knew his combos pretty well, but had never fought an uber Lee like mine before, so I juggled him to the wall and pulled off my 70% combo lol. It was 2/3 games and I won both games straight, putting me in the Grand Final.

In the meanwhile, other people were battling it out in the loser's bracket for a spot in the Grand Final. There was a couple of really good kerrian's there and I befriended a couple. One guy in paticular, Andy, was pretty good with Kazuya and Law. He made it to the loser's final and played against Jason G, who I sent there. Andy managed to win that, putting him in the Grand Final against me.

Since he had one loss already, and I had none, he had to win 2 sets against me (remember, best 4/7 games) to take it all. I only had to beat him one set. For this match, I actually put in my memory card so I could use my custom charecter "SQUIDRYUKEN" who had a guitar and red hair.

Grand Final VS Andy (Kazuya)
 - This was the hardest match of the tournament, fittingly. He definitely knew how to play the game and spaced into EWGF's really well. He also broke my throws a number of times and mixed up the hell sweeps and chop kicks pretty well. The first few games were close, but he managed to beat me in the end each time, which put me into a 0-2 hole in the game count. He had to win another 2 games to take the set, and then another 4 games, to take it all after that.

I wasn't about to let him do that though. I really focused and went back to my original gameplan of jab, jab, mist step and then flow chart from there. I used Lee's 3+4 throw, so he couldn't break it as easy, and forced him to duck into my knee to combo. From then on I went on a tear, and beat him back 4 games straight. I figured out his pattern and really took it to him, which gave me the victory.

The 1st place prize was a $50 gift certificate to the game shop and 2nd and 3rd got $25 certificates. I got Andy's email, along with some other good players, so we'll definitly play casuals again sometime soon. It was a nerve racking experience, but I'm glad that I managed to pull through when it really counted and finally take first at a tournament.

LEE CHAOLAN BABY!

- Chack

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25/04/05 - Special Generation

Three is the magic number of the moment. Three weeks left in the semester, with three exams remaining, drawing to a close my third year of college. Can't help but feel a bit old when I see those hapless freshman tours going around the campus lol. Sigh, young people these days (haha). I'm beginning to understand how Pat and Carlo always complained about feeling like grandpas.

The weather has been horrid the past week or so, with temperatues dropping below 10 degrees celcius, even though it's late April :-S. That's Illinois for you. Anyone who comes here wishing to enjoy and experience the changing seasons and winter are n00bs and obviously bums also. I for one, like to go outside and oh, maybe play some tennis BUT TEH WEATHER WON"T LET MEEE. At least I'll be back in BKK in a few weeks time.

On Friday there'll be a Tekken 5 tourny at EB games. I've been practicing hard and I feel like my Lee and Ling are ready for the challenge. Mark my words, I am taking first this time for sure. Any random fools who get in my way will be crushed.

ACID STORM OWNZ U!!!!!!11one!11!!!

 - Chack

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01/04/05 - (the symphony of) blasé

Only 6 more weeks left in the school year :-o. If I get an intern this summer then I'll stick around the US, if not I'll go be a bum in Thailand LOL. Either way is fine I suppose, but getting the intern would be nice. Weather is starting to get a bit warmer so hopefully I can play tennis again soon. Problem is that there aren't many other people who want to play. Next semester I would like to find more people who truly love tennis. Club Tennis would be an obvious first choice, except that people don't really go there to meet other people; they just go to play. I would like to meet people, and get to play, if at all possible.

Maybe you've never realized it, but I am a tennis fanatic, and have true love for the game. It started on the court many years ago, the day I first hit a sweet backhand. Then I realized the true joy of tennis. I soon after watched all 14 days of the Austrailian Open, discovered a great game called Virtua Tennis, and a nifty manga called Prince of Tennis. Loving the game means that you try to involve yourself with it as much as possible. You watch it on tv, play tennis video games, read tennis manga/anime, etc. I know plenty of people who say their hobby is tennis...but then they haven't played in years. And then there are people who only read the manga and watch the anime, and these people don't love tennis either. They just love the charecters in the story. It could be about any sport really, it doesn't matter to these people. Then some other people will say, "oh, well I'd rather play myself than watch it on tv, etc." The point of these other tennis related activities is that it is impossible to play all the time. What does a person do during the winter? Indoor courts aren't easily accessible, so the only option is to watch it on tv, etc, and if they truly love the game, they'll probably do that.

Maybe you'll call me a tennis freak, but well, I don't like to do things half-assed. If I find something I like, then I really dedicate myself to learning more about it and being the best I can be at it (thus the focus on fighting games also). Sure you can go through life trying to be a jack of all trades, but just remember that they're the ones who don't do anything paticularly well. And that's what this is all about really isn't it? It's all about self-improvement and getting better. For what purpose? For what cause?

If you have to ask yourself these questions about what you to do then you'd better find a new hobby.

 - Chack

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17/03/05 - EWGF EWGF EWGF

Only 4 more days and I'll be in Boston for spring break :-D. There, I'll be chilling with Dannut and playing Tekken 5 (which I might add, is the greatest game of all time) and doing other random stuff. We're gona head up to NY also for a day or two, and go to CTF to check out the competition hehe. My main charecter has actually turned to become Lee Chao Lan, instead of Kazuya which is pretty surprising. I played some guys who were really good a few days ago, and they were impressed by my Lee (even tho I had only played him for a few weeks really). My secondary charecter is still Roger Jr, but I haven't lost the love for the EWGF yet lol.

Have a good break ppl.

 - Chack

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21/02/05 - A Day Late

I guess this calls for a summary. Been playing basketball (!?) every friday night now for some reason lol. Hard to believe, since I've always been so bad at it, but I've actually been getting better lately where it comes to the point where I'm looking forward to playing every week heheh. So that's pretty cool, although I wish I could play tennis. I did go to IMPE once and jacked one of the raquetball (read: tennis for scrubs) courts and just practiced my strokes for about an hour so that was fun. I should do it more often, but its hard to find a good time to go when there aren't people using the courts.

Beat a few RPGs: FF1, and Suikoden IV. I was a bit disappointed by Suiko 4 in that it wasn't as good as 1 and 2, but it was better than part 3 so I guess that was a plus. I did enjoy seeing Ted though...that was a cool bonus also. Thinking of starting up either Disgaea or Shin Megami Tensei, but can't really decide. I've been playing Tekken 4 everyday in anticipation of 5 which is going to be released on the 25th along with my arcade stick. Somehow through the waiting I've picked up Lee and am looking at Nina also haha. I read Heihachi was broke today cuz he has a 10 frame jab string, that's guaranteed after the first hit, completely safe on block, and then leads to a 40% combo. His ass is so getting banned. I doubt the Tekken community will put up with another JFLS type move after part 4.

The new Anberlin album is super good. I'm glad American rock music is this good now, cuz Japanese rock certainly has taken the fall in many respects. If you are one of those people who still hangs on to J-rock, please give it up. I can think of no more than 2 (two) artists out there who really qualify as good J-rock. It's dead, plain and simple. Maybe give them another 5-10 years and they'll be good again.
 
 - Chack

---

06/02/05 - 「 夢ノカケラ 」

Well I found out that ZONE is disbanding right after their spring tour on March 31st today. Sigh...I guess it was something that the fans all knew would happen eventually. Three of the girls graduated high school recently, so it was decision time on whether to continue with the band, or pursue some other career. They chose the latter choice and that probably means that their next single will be their last one as well. I guess we always joked about what ZONE would name their albums once they finished spelling out Z-O-N-E (the titles of their albums), but I guess it was kind of predetermined from the start that they wouldn't really go anywhere after "E." Miyu will probably go solo, since she already released two solo singles in the past few months...but it won't be the same. Not only cuz the type of music is the same, but ZONE as a group really had a great personality. It was the cheerful, upbeat personalities to match the songs that made everything work. Miyu's R&B stuff is still pretty good I suppose...but it certainly won't stick with me as much as ZONE's work did. The only good news it that ZONE finally realizes their dream of playing at the Nippon Budokan on April 1st, which will be their final concert. All I can hope is that they release it onto a DVD since I'll never be able to see them live now :'(

Well here's to ZONE; without them, Japanese music is gona take another big hit to me. It's just going down the drain isn't it? I guess that's just something that you can't avoid with the changing times. Best of luck to Miyu, Tomoka, Maiko, and Mizuho in all of their endeavors. がんばるぞ～ん!

 - Chack

===============================================

When we realized it, we had lost sight of tomorrow
Something important had now been forgotten
That long hill road was dyed by the sunset
We always talked together while playing around didn't we?

Now we have become good at avoiding sadness and pain
Now we are quivering in happiness and kindness

What you gave to me  courage to believe
Feelings that never change always are engraved in my heart
What you gave to me  warmth and kindess
Because they continue to shine in my future

I who am becoming closer to an adult am crowded by dreams
Diving into the swirling town
~ Having lost sight of tomorrow ~
Standing still countless numbers of times, faintly seeing it
Continuing to run on this long, slender road

If you quietly open the door to my heart and look
You'll find pieces of a dream from a childish time
I softly gather up the pieces with both hands
Once again believing and gazing at the sky
What you...

What you gave to me  courage to believe
Feelings that never change always are engraved in my heart
What you gave to me  warmth and kindess
Because they continue to shine in my future

I who am becoming closer to an adult am crowded by dreams
Diving into the swirling town
~ Having lost sight of tomorrow ~

It's something I certainly saw when I was small
If I close my eyes
I believe it soon must be close to me...



translated (badly) by CHACK

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06/02/05 - 「 FANTASTIPO 」

I don't really know why, but for some reason almost all my classes decided to have some sort of group project. I went through the first 2 and 1/2 years of college only having maybe 2-3 group projects total. Then suddenly I have 3 in 2 months?! OMGWTFBBQ!!!11!one!!1 is really all I can say about that. Besides that, I'm glad Safin smoked Hewitt in the Aussie Open Final, I'm going to order the Tekken 5 Limited Edition Set, and Japanese variety TV shows are still the best lol.

 - Chack

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28/01/05 - Aussie Open Report

Damn, Roddick lost to Hewitt in 4 sets. I stayed up until 5:30am to watch the match but it was well below my expectations for a hard fought 5 setter. Roddick started out strong but Hewitt just wore him down as always. Sigh, I guess Roddick just can't do much against the big top players even though he has a big serve and forehand. He needs to work on consistancy off of both wings and not go for the big knockout stroke too early. I hope Safin crushes Hewitt in the final at least. And when is Henin going to come back? I miss seeing that awesome backhand...

 - Chack

---

17/01/05 - 「 Ready Fuels 」

And we're back for another semester. I have my PS2 hohoho and I'm never letting it go this time. Tekken 5 is coming out late march so looking forward to that. Classes start tomorrow and then who knows what else is in store for the semester. I'm good, let's relax and enjoy it.

 - Chack

---

18/12/04 - 「 Memory 青春の光」

With all the tests done and all the papers handed in there's nothing left to do now except get ready to go home. It really has been a super ridiculously messed up semester now that I think about it. In the end, I'm back to where I started pretty much. Was all of it worth it? Hmm...well...I dunno. All I really know is that I damn want to play some Tekken lol.

Good bye for now, have a good break everyone. Hope for better next semester.

 - Chack

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30/11/04 - 「 Hello!のﾃｰﾏ 」

I'm so close to the end now. As they say, it's crunch time around here. After my four tests next week I'll be left with just one final and then this semester will come to a close. Can't wait to get back home.

 - Chack

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20/11/04 - [Tears of Love]

Well it's Thanksgiving break now. Not much to do except chill I guess. After the break is done there's only about three weeks left until the end of the semester, so I'll be going home pretty soon YAY! Not sure how much longer I can stand this place but well I'll survive as long as I can play some VF. Speaking of which, gonna play Maddy today who is the #1 Akira in the USA :-o

Here's one more song from Blue-B. GLHF.

 - Chack

=========================================

A sudden rain soaks my shoulders as I continue walking
Searching for an exit in a maze that has no way out

You're also probably wandering around like this
Without understanding

If you realize it, I'm searching for you in this crowd
That day won't come back again
If these overflowing feelings could take shape
Streaming down those cheeks of yours
Your hearts TEARS OF LOVE

Gently bundling up someone's words with a nervous dream
Inside my hands while being protected, it has become stained

Distantly averting my eyes
I gaze only at you

Now I only want to know the truth because
Nothing but lies were always told before
If it rotates I again feel like I'm getting smaller
Streaming down those cheeks of yours
Your hearts TEARS OF LOVE

If you realize it, I'm searching for you in this crowd
That day won't come back again
Now I only want to know the truth because
Nothing but lies were always told before

If these overflowing feelings could take shape
I surely would be saved
But I know the strength of small things
Streaming down those cheeks of yours
They were all TEARS OF LOVE



translated (badly) by CHACK

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07/11/2004 - (TRY)

Well there's only about 2 weeks left until Thanksgiving Break and 5 weeks left until the end of the semester as it stands. I really do feel like I'm ready to go home after this mess of a semester. It's almost over though; the end isn't that far off. In the meantime, let's focus on getting back to grass roots basics and ignore things that aren't. For example, should I pick Seichusengodanzuki or Abare-Tosanami for Makoto in 3s? How can I utilize Urien's charge partitioning (despite my low level skill) to setup unblockable Aegis Reflector chains? Yes, thinking about this kind of thing helps me relax and is BASIC. Plus, I got another song translated today, Blue-B's [Distance].

Let's ride this wave until the semester is over.

 - Chack

====================================

In a dreamless world, engulfed in darkness and unable to see
Even now everything seems to have crumbled and lost its meaning...

Helpless to the cold silence, my body trembles

I'LL BELIEVE even if this night never ends, always
I'LL BELIEVE the earth will forever keep on spinning...

Even though struggling, I search for an aimless place...
Only dreams that don't pile up gaze at tomorrow

Inside the empty time, my unfulfilled heart closes

I'LL BELIEVE even if this night is surrounded by loneliness, always
I'LL BELIEVE the flow will keep on continuing

Everybody knows
Everybody goes
Like a river for the distance

I still haven't found
What I'm looking for
Like a river for the distance

Everybody knows
Everybody goes
Like a river for the distance

I still haven't found
What I'm looking for
Distance
Distance

I'LL BELIEVE even if this night never ends, always
I'LL BELIEVE even if this night is surrounded by loneliness, always
I'LL BELIEVE even if this night never ends...
I'LL BELIEVE the earth will forever keep on spinning...



translated (badly) by CHACK

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05/11/04 - [     ]

I want to go home.

 - Chack

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31/10/04 - Random Thoughts

CFJ looks broken cuz Jedah seems too damn strong with air dashing triangle jumping rush downs (oh and don't get reset by Karin's CC unless you feel like dying very quickly). Getting hold of a new batch of 3s tournament vids was welcome and when my shipment of EVO2k2, 2k3, 2k4 dvds get here then we'll really be talking RTSD. The new Fake? song is pretty good...but not spectacular. Kagrra became like Janne Da Arc: singing the same kinds of songs over and over...the songs themselves aren't bad, but they're just copying themselves now (congrats on 0% originality guys). Miyavi is on Domoto Kyodai now for some reason...trying to be the next Gackt maybe but regardless of what his personality is like, his music sucks. Speaking of bad music, someone please write to Penicillin and tell them to disband because my god, they suck. The Yellowcard concert was spectacular to say the least since they played all my favorite songs and I had a great time. Halloween was nuts and today I will take a break to study for my 2 exams next week. I got Casshern, maybe I'll watch it.

まだまだだね。

 - Chack

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21/10/04 - [Go!]

I've had ZONE fever the past few days haha. I've just been listening to their songs and watching their PV's and TV shows for a while now. Yesterday I went crazy and translated five of their songs in one day. I did, Miyu's [Confidentially], Mizuho's [Go!], and then [Hanabi ~kimi ga ita natsu~], [True Blue], and [Yume no Kakera]. I've never translated that much in one day (and skipped 2 classes just to do it lol). Duno, guess I was just in the translating mood. Plus I ordered those three ZONE dvds I had always wanted from cdjapan finally hehe. Mizuho's [Go!] in paticular was a song that I really liked. It's a super generic happy upbeat song with cheesy lyrics and everything but I sure do like it haha.

A new start - a new day - live and learn~

 - Chack

=========================================

Don't cry anymore, now walk on with unwavering strength
Even if its awkward, these passionate thoughts must be conveyed

Try the challenge no matter what it is
You aren't alone from now on
No matter the time, we're all here
There's nothing to be afraid of

1, 2, 3, 4

Keep on trying  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
If it’s a cowardly decoration, shouldn't you get rid of it?
No matter when  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
If you believe then it'll come true, jump into your dreams

If you had a little more courage, things would change
If you could get over that tall obstacle, the answer would be there

Hiding your eyes, there are days where you hang your head
Breaking down crying from loneliness and worries
There are always things that don't work out as you hoped

1, 2, 3, 4

Keep on trying  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
You have to have the courage to walk on to the endless future
No matter when  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
If its worries, turn it into radiance and keep on running

Keep on trying  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
No matter the time face forward, right now you're shining
No matter when  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Don't give up, continue to run and believe in yourself

Keep on trying  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
No matter the time face forward, right now you're shining
No matter when  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Don't give up, continue to run and believe in yourself



translated (badly) by CHACK

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13/10/04 - [Dear...]

What can I say? The past six weeks of my life have been the most eventful, stressful, and dramatic time in recent memory. If you want an example, I keep a more personal kind of journal just for me and I only write it in when something I deem worth writing about happens. The first two years in college, I had seven entries total...the past six weeks alone, I wrote another five. I mean, lots of stuff happened those first two years, but it was in no way comparable to the torrent of events that this past six weeks has borne witness to. Some things have ended now which reduces the amount of anxiety in the air, but at the same time many things are still unresolved and lingering. Everyone has their own problems (I know this better than anyone), and that includes me.

My own worries are still unresolved and I am still waiting for the time when they will be. I feel like I've been waiting a long time...but I am still patient, and I am still hopeful. I owe my strength to all my friends, especially the ones back home, who have helped me through this mess of life. When you're faced with troubles, it's your friends who help you through it. And regardless of the outcomes, bonds and ties become stronger and you grow up a little more each time. It's then that you realize who your true friends are...these are the people who will be with you for life, through thick and thin. They help you, and you help them back. It's give and take like any relationship, but it's one that will never change. Treasure them and don't lose sight of them, because they are hard to find, and if anything, this past six weeks has really shown me both sides of human nature: people with no sense of morality whatsoever, who are pathetically shallow human beings, and people who are genuinely nice and caring, and always deserve more than what they get. Don't be fooled by the surface impressions people give you...dig deeper and you will see how far down their soul goes. Sometimes it may be a lot shallower, or a lot deeper than you originally thought.

I'm feeling like a sentimental fool right now, and I guess it's not that bad of a thing every once in a while. I found the perfect song to translate, [Dear...] from Siam Shade. This translation is for all my true friends, and to one person here in particular who has been with me through most of this drama: Thanks for everything.

 - Chack

====================================

My close friend, you don't cry
If it's a freezing night where we don't meet, gently close your eyes
Become aware, just a bit, of the miracle of passing through the ages at the same time
I say it's all right

My soul became impatient with the speed of the changing seasons
Searching for a melody to convey to you who can't sleep

This seemingly scattered Nervous Rose that only counts repeating circumstances
Connect those paused and broken disappearing thoughts
Many Letter's Love

Until everything crumbles and falls, that voice will answer you
No matter what direction the wind blows
I'll never let go of that hand

Look at this place instead of a love that has only pained and hurt you
Feel this distance instead of a love that paralyzes you in lies

So You don't cry
If it's a freezing night where we don't meet, gently close your eyes
Become aware, just a bit, of the miracle of passing through the ages at the same time

Until everything crumbles and falls, I'll be next to you
So anytime loneliness seems to drown you, even then
You aren't alone My close friend
I won't let go... I want to protect you... always



<translated (badly) by CHACK>

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10/10/04 - [Only One]

I hadn't listened to Yellowcard for a few weeks. The mood wasn't there and I guess I forgot how much I liked thier songs. A great band, with great melodies. They're coming to play at UIUC in a few weeks time. Maybe I'll go, we'll see.

 - Chack

=======================================

Broken this fragile thing now
And I can't, I can't pick up the pieces
And I've thrown my words all around
But I can't, I can't give you a reason

I feel so broken up
And I give up
I just want to tell you so you know

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you
You are my only one
I let go, there's just no one that gets me like you do
You are my only, my only one

Made my mistakes, let you down
And I can't, I can't hold on for too long
Ran my whole life in the ground
And I can't, I can't get up when you're gone

And something's breaking up
I feel like giving up
I won't walk out until you know

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you
You are my only one
I let go, there's just no one who gets me like you do
You are my only my only one

Here I go so dishonestly
Leave a note for you my only one
And I know you can see right through me
So let me go and you will find someone

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you
You are my only one
I let go, there's just no one, no one like you
You are my only, my only one
My only one
My only one
My only one

You are my only, my only one

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03/10/04 - [Wish]

A Luna Sea fan favorite and for good reason...everything about the song is great. The music, the lyrics (posted below); it all comes together so well. I've been listening to the acoustic version a lot lately cuz it really helps me relax and think. The storm's been out for a while now but all I can do is wait for it to pass and keep on believing that everything will be alright in the end. A coincidental sidenote: I was just watching the new POT ep (131) and it was called [never give up].

Well that speaks for itself.

 - Chack

========================================

I wish for こんな夜には、I wish for 夢見て
I wish for 失くしたすべてに、I wish for 今も。

溜め息が時を刻む　長い夜の途中
思い出すたび　あなたの夢繰り返す
孤独だけ抱きしめて

永遠を欲しがっても　刹那を感じてる
BLUEな気持ち　ちりばめた時の中
答えさえ無いままで

I wish for こんな夜には、I wish for 夢見て
I wish for 失くしたすべてに、I wish for 今も。

一人きりの自分がいた　暗い迷路の中
自分の居場所さえも　まだ分からずに
行き場所も分からずに

明日さえ怖がっていた　冷めた瞳のまま
だけど今は　擦り切れたこの夢を
優しく抱きしめて

I wish for こんな夜には、I wish for 夢見て
I wish for 失くしたすべてに、I wish for you 今も。

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30/09/04 - [Four Seasons]

The new w-inds song "Shiki" is really good. I always want w-inds to sing thier "SUPER LOVER" upbeat disco kind of songs but this one is really catchy in its own right. It has a good atmosphere, or at least it fits the mood right now. The dance they do in the music video is kind of dorky but oh well haha. I think the lyrics are really nice so I'll post it here if anyone is interested.

 - Chack

===============================

四季
w-inds.

欲しかったもの一つずつ　手に入れてその中で　
もう代わりのない宝物があって

磁石みたくわけもなくただ引かれてく心を　
暖めあうように二人を包んだ

春の風過ごした瞬間が増えて　胸に刻む君とのseason
ずっとこの先も繰り返すと信じて
明日晴れても雨の日でも　もう今は君に会えない　
共に波にさらわれたあの夏の夢

一晩中側に居てもまたいつもの日常に　
戻される夜明けを恨んだり

もしもいつかこの世界の終わりが来て　
それでも二人なら一緒だと思ってた

秋の夜瞳を閉じればいつも甦る君とのseason　
その温もりと痛みは消えないまま
優しさが足りなかったね　不器用な僕に残った
最後に見た思い出はあの冬の涙

So I cannot forget four seasons believing
君が居ない四季を渡るよ

So I cannot forget four seasons believing
あの空も悲しみを抱いて

So I cannot forget four seasons believing

過ごした瞬間が増えて　胸に刻む君とのseason　
ずっとこの先も繰り返すと信じて
明日晴れても雨の日でも　もう今は叶えられない　
遠い日々に置いてきたあの二人の夢

So I cannot forget four seasons believing
So I cannot forget four seasons believing

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28/09/04 - [Time's]

It's been pretty hectic lately. Everyone has a lot going on right now so I think everyone just needs to chill out and relax . I've said that about a million times the past three days or so (with five hundred thousand of those times being me talking to myself).

So let's do that shall we?

 - Chack

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24/09/2004 - Mada Mada Dane

FINALLY! Tezuka returns! Hahah, ok well maybe not "returns" returns but at least in the new POT (Prince of Tennis for you misinformed people) ep 130 you get to see him mingle with everyone again. The Tezuka vs Atobe match remains one of my favs so I really want to see Tezuka match up against someone soon (and win this time lol). I wonder if he'll end up playing that Yukimura guy from Rikkaidai...it seems like it would be a really cool match cuz they're both the injured captains who didn't make it to the last match hehe. TEZUKA ZONE is still the best move probably...you can be really lazy and win the points cuz the ball keeps on coming back to you haha.

A-O needs to release eps faster!

 - Chack

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19/09/04 - [ 知りたがり症候群 ]

Hmm, well no updates for a while cuz I don't really know what to write haha. Things have been just going the way they've been going. Exams and what not are around but that's pretty normal for this time of the semester. Translated "Destination Truth" and "Buranko" from Siam Shade today as a break from studying...I don't think it's very accurate though lol.

Ah well this is it, がんばるぞ～ん

 - Chack

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10/09/04 - Distance

Well not much going on nowadays except that it seems like exams are beginning to creep up again. Let's hope that it's not like the "exam months" that I had to go through last year :-S. Playing a fair amount of tennis lately, but I think I could (and should) up it a notch and just play everyday lol. I actually got the new Hikaru Utada album, "Exodus," a few days ago but I haven't listened to it yet. Probably cuz I heard clips of it and it blew chunks according to those haha. Who knows, maybe the full versions will be good, but I really seriously doubt it. Oh well.

 - Chack

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04/09/04 - Original Color

You won't believe it, but I actually updated a section on the website haha. I put up a new comic that I drew up while I was in Japan titled, "A Day At Sega." Despite this spurt of creativity and work ethic, don't expect the other sections to get something new soon. Sorry about that but hmm, I'm pretty lazy to update lol.

Other than that, it's been a wonderful first week or so. I met a really great person who shares a lot of common interests with me and I'm sure she knows who she is :-)

 - Chack

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25/08/04 - Me and the Moon

Three months since my last update and wow this place is stagnating isn't it? Well anyway, Japan was awesome; I did so much stuff there and had a blast. Climbing Mt.Fuji was probably the most memorable thing there besides just hanging out with friends and going karaoke lol. After my 6 weeks in Japan I went back to Thailand and chilled there for another 4 weeks. Met up with all my old highschool buddies and we just gamed it up pretty much hehe. 3rd Strike was a welcome addition to our routine, but man do we need Tekken 5 or what. Let's hope Kazama dies in it badly lol. Back in the US now and classes just started today so whoopie. Duno how this year is going to go really, except that IMPE is a must. Good luck have fun, rush that sh_t down.

 - Chack

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25/05/2004 - [Fine Emotion!]

I actually updated the "Jargons" page in the "About Moi" section cuz was bored haha. Added more Chit Boi Vernacular that Dannnnnnnut, Vin and I came up with. Man, haven't updated other sections in a while but oh well I'm too layzee. I'm in 100% chill mode right now. Haven't played any VF4 or as much tennis as I would have liked but it's all good. When I update again, maybe I'll be in Japan :-o

GLHFBBQGGPO

 - Chack

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11/05/04 - [ 太陽のkiss ]

Whoops. I completely forgot about this place. I finished with exams a few days ago, did pretty well on all of them. So yes, my summer vacation started already. Nothing to do :-D. Anyway, gonna practice vf4, tennis, etc over the summer before I go to Japan. Duno when I'll update again so have a good summer everyone.

RTSD STSFN GGPO.

 - Chack

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23/04/04 - [ 誰かの願いが叶うころ]

Only like 2 more weeks until school is done :-S. I don't have any tests during finals weeks (potentially) so I got next week to study and then I take all 5 exams that week after. Gonna be some hell. When school is over with, I'll be here in UIUC for another month or so before my study abroad program in Japan starts (about mid June). I'll probably be taking driving lessons during that time. Also be able to practice my VF4 skillz since some people I know are staying so that will be good training before I go to Japan. Speaking of games, VF4 Final Tuned and Tekken 5 might be out in the arcades when I'm in Japan....that would be sweet :-D. Danuuuuuuuuut will meet me in Japan, so we'll hit the arcades together heheh. I've been able to play tennis pretty often the past week or so (borrow racket from IMPE) which is awesome. Hopefully I can play over the summer while I'm still here too.

GLHF on exams everyone.

 - Chack

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02/04/04 - [ﾌﾞﾗﾝｺ ]

Well not much going on other than I'm set for another exam month it seems. I just had an exam on Wednesday and have exams every week for the next 3 weeks. Then it's finals week :-o It's been a pretty messed up schedule this semester. I'm used to just studying every week for exams. Well at least it's only 5 more weeks until the semester is done for. This has definitely not been my year. I probably would have gone insane if I didn't have H!M to watch. I can't believe I left both my tennis racket AND my PS2 in Thailand. Mental note to self: don't deprive yourself of your favorite things for any reason you stupid moron; there's no reason to put yourself through dumb crap.

I'll look forward to Japan and home in the summer.

 - Chack

晴れの日があるから　そのうち雨も降る すべていつか納得できるさ

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28/03/04 - Chit Boi

School starting again tmrw...noooooooooooooooooooon~
Just 6 more weeks...

 - Chack

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19/03/04 - [New Skin]

Well after 5 (five) consecutive weeks with at least one exam each week, it's all over and Spring Break starts today. Staying in the dorms again but that's fine. Was thinking of going to Boston, but tickets were uber expensive cuz I didn't reserve them quicker. Doesn't matter; I enjoy having time to chill either way. Semester is half way done with pretty much now. Can't wait for the summer...Japan will be cool (and I better get to go otherwise....<sob>).

Itinerary for the break: Sleep, Eat, Momusu, Domoto, A3, GB, POT (not that kind), Everything Else, in no paticular order. Have a good break everyone~

 - Chack

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29/02/04 - [さくら満開]

You only get one chance every 4 years to write a blog on February 29th so might as well. Mmm, not much to write about. Got 2 exams this week so...fack.

Duno...nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnut.
 
 - Chack

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26/02/04 - [ 僕の手紙 ]

Well lately it's been kinda busy and boring at the same time amazingly enough. I've had an exam every week for the past 3 weeks and have 2 next week and another 1 the week after that. Inbetween studying tho, not much to do. I duno, I kinda need to refocus on some new goal or something. I always have these let down periods after I accomplish a big goal (the most recent one being the cvs2 tournament) and it takes a while to find a new one. Mmm, not so hot on tricking right now. I'll get back into it later I suppose. Got an arcade stick but it'll take a while to become proficient with it. I did get the shipment of 80 Hello! Morning eps tho so that was cool. I guess I'll watch those to pass the time until I can think of something to aim for.

Lulls suck.

 - Chack

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16/02/04 - Dan's Capcom VS Snk 2 Tournament Experience

Also posted on TKD board but again, I'll put it here for reference. And yeah, it's very very very long heheh.
---------------------------------------------------

EB Games just had a tournament yesterday for Capcom VS Snk 2 much like the Soul Calibur 2 Tournament. I had a blast and there's actually a really long and cool story that goes with it so this will be pretty long. If you're not some kind of (fighting) gamer then it probably won't interest you at all so just stop reading now if that's the case.

Anyway the tournament was be played using the ratio system, double elimination and best of 3 matches, with no shin gouki or god rugal. I had been practicing for a few weeks for it and since I didn't have a ps2 I just stopped by EB Games inbetween and after classes and played the one they had on display for a couple hours a day. One guy who worked there, name was Kerry, was pretty good at the game so I practiced with him a lot. Anyway originally my team was a C-Groove Kyo, Ryu, Terry and I had been playing this team for about a year dating back to freshman year. The only problem was, Kerry was using a Hibiki that totally would decimate me. The problem? My charecters were getting zoned out. I couldn't break down Hibiki's defense and I got beat down pretty badly the first time I practiced with him. His team was C-Groove Hibiki, Ken, Mai, but really only his Hibiki was really troublesome.

So after extensive research, conversations with Danuuuuuuut, and watching many many tournament vids from shoryuken.com and other places, I found that the games top tiers were Blanka, Cammy, Sagat, Sakura and Bison. In paticular, Blanka, Cammy, Sagat were a very common and pretty broken team IMHO. So I decided that my Ryu sucked ass. There wasn't much I could do with him, and I really only picked him cuz he's "standard" with the hadoken and shoryuken. Instead I put in Sakura because she has a much better moves and pokes at her disposal. The thing was I had never seen a non A-Groove Sakura so it was a bit weird that I was playing her in C-Groove. But anyway, I practiced with my new team of Kyo, Sakura, Terry and it was a big improvement. Sakura's standing fierce kick is a great poking tool and she has easy damaging combos. At this point, I was pretty even with Kerry because Sakura was a good counter to Hibiki.

About one week before the tournament started I was practicing at EB Games against Kerry and then this short red haired asian dude with glasses walks in.

"Can I get in one round?" he asked.

"Sure" we tell him. So I play against him. Do you know who this guy picks? Blanka, Cammy, Sagat! (N-Groove).

"Oh man! It's the team of death I always see in those videos!" I exclaimed. The guy replied,

"So? I was in videos before." Ignoring the obviously incorrect sexual interpretation of the statement I proceeded to be beat down hard despite the improvement in my team. This guy was insanely good. And I'm talking really really really insanely good here. I swear I felt like I was playing those guys I had seen in tournament videos. Some insane God level (much like the Soul Cal God level dude I had met before). 

"Holy shiet" I exclaimed after seeing my 3 guys go down to his SINGLE (ratio ONE I might add) Cammy. Kerry was also decimated when he attempted to play against this God level player. He left the store leaving me and Kerry in awe of his mad skillz.

So I went back to the drawing board and re-evaluated my team. The weakest link to me was my Kyo. He was dying too easily and without a fireball or any projectile like move, he couldn't do anything unless it was close range and in a game like CVS2 where it's all about poking, he was pretty weak for me. It seemed like that God level guy would win the tournament being at the God level that he is, so it was a battle for 2nd place but damn I still wanted 2nd place even if that's all I could get.

So the next day at EB I just decided, "what the hell, I'll just try out Sagat and Cammy for fun." And omg you know what? The Kyo I had been playing with for an entire year was noticably suckier than the Sagat and Cammy I had picked up for 5 minutes. I only used 3 moves with Sagat, crouching fierce punch, fierce kick and fierce jump kick and I beat down Kerry's team SUPER EASILY.

In paticular, Sagat's crouching fierce punch and Cammy's standing fierce kick are some of the best moves in the game with insane range, damage and priority. I had seen these moves being used constantly in the tourny vids I had downloaded but putting them to use really made me understand why. That did it for Kyo. I kicked him out and put in Sagat. I could have removed Terry and put in Cammy but for nostaligia's sake, I wanted to have at least ONE of my original team members for the tournament. He still did pretty well for me. With this C-Groove team of Sakura, Terry, Sagat (with a 1-1-2 ratio), I EASILY beat down Kerry. So I was pretty confident in my skillz up to this point.

The next day, God level man returned to beat us all down again. Even with my new team I couldn't do much and I was getting rushed down constantly. I could kill off his Blanka but his Cammy would then whomp me. So me and Kerry took turns getting beat down and I asked God level man whether he had seen the japanese tournaments or Evolution (the biggest fighting game tournament in the US) before.

"I go to Evolution every year."

"WUT" was my exact response.

He explained that he goes to Evolution every year and had played against Marvel vs Capcom 2 Three Time World Champ Justin Wong. He added, "his chinese sucks" and when I asked him if Justin was really kinda fat he was like, "yeah." He's also played against Ohnuki in CVS2 before but got beat down. I didn't find out his name until later but it was Jack. Anyway, Jack wasn't good enough to make the Evolution DVD's but he could still beast at the game considering we all sucked in comparison.

"Yeah I'm a moderator on Shoryuken.com."

A whole bunch of "WTF"s and "HOLY SHIET"s ensued and he was like, "what you don't believe me?" but we were like, "no we believe you it's just kinda shocking to see a shoryuken.com guy in the cornfields of Illinois." Apparently he wasn't a student (got kicked out for something) but he worked at a resturant nearby as the manager (full time). So I played against him a few more times and he gave me some pointers on how to play more effectively and suggested that I use N-Groove since the small jump and run were better for my charecters. I took his advice and switched over to N-Groove which was also an improvement in my game. Jack complained that he couldn't do crap on the pads and was 100x better with the stick. Man, how much better could this guy get? I would later find out.

The next couple days I spent improving my skillz and I got a lot better. My friend Joey (who was also in the Soul Cal 2 tournament) finally found time to come and play also. He sported a P-Groove Nakoruru, Ken, Cammy. He's pretty good (could parry nicely) but I could still beat him pretty consistantly. The day before the tournament I just chilled and didn't touch the game (instead I played some VF4:Evo against that Soul Cal 2 God guy Derrick).

The day of the tournament I got to EB Games around 12 noon and it started around 1pm so I had time to practice a little bit. There were about 15 people there (not a bad turn out) and they all seemed pretty good. Jack brought a huge arcade stick with him and one of his friends who also played. Oh yeah, his friend could roll cancel. So that was a cool yet unpleasent shock and surprise all at once. I just chilled with Joey until they started. Here are the full rules that we had for the tournament: best of 3 matches, you can only have one team and groove (but you can switch ratios) until you lost once, double elimination, no shin gouki or god rugal. So there was a winner's and loser's bracket where the winner of the loser's bracket would still have a chance to win it all. If you lost once and were in the loser's bracket then they allowed you to change your team just once. A 2nd lost put you out of the tournament. The order I list the charecters are the order that we played them in with the ratio in parentheses.

My Team: N-Groove - Sakura (1), Terry (1), Sagat (2)
 - My basic strategy was to rush them down with Sakura using her fierce kick to zone and bait if needed. I relied a lot on her dive kick and her speed. She was probably my most important charecter actually cuz depending on whether I played her well or not, being up first, the match could be a lot easier or harder. I played Terry kind of unconventionaly just doing power waves and then crackshoots to hit them out of the air if they jumped and mixed it up with throws and low kicks. Sagat was my anchor and I just whored out his crouching fierce punch as much as possible along with basic low kicks, tigers, tiger uppercuts etc.

Here's how it all went:

1st Round vs Chris: C-Groove - Ken (2), Ryu (1), Terry (1)
 - I had actually played this guy before when he stopped by EB Games a few days before the tournament. He wasn't that great. So I recognized him and he recognized me and he realized that I was gonna beat him down and that's what I did. I finished it off nice and easily 2-0 (remember it's best of three).

No real surprises here with everyone good I had seen advancing.

2nd Round vs Dan C: C-Groove - Ryu (2), Ken (1), Terry (1)
 - I didn't realize it until later, but this guy had essentially the same team that the guy I played in the first round had. He had on a Cardboard Tube Samurai shirt (duno if you're familiar with Penny Arcade) and he was kinda fat. I made some small talk about PA to make things a bit friendly but then beat him down in the match. Again it was fast 2-0.

Joey got knocked down to the loser's bracket here and so did Jack's roll canceling friend surprisingly enough.

3rd Round vs Tony: C-Groove - Geese (1), Rock (1), Bison (2)
 - This was my first real challenge of the tournament. He had a very solid Geese and his Bison was giving me trouble with his Psychocrushers. I tried to zone him out basically with my range attacks and it worked fairly well but he still got his hits in. We split it 1 match all so it came down to a deciding match. I was kinda nervous at this point but I decided to move Sagat up in my rotation to the front to deal with his two level 1 charecters first and then have my 2 level 1 charecters clean up Bison. It worked out well I managed to beat him fairly easily in the deciding match. So I won it 2-1.

That win put me in the winner's bracket final versus mr.you-know-who-Shoryuken.com Jack.

4th Round vs Jack: N-Groove - Blanka (1), Cammy (1), Sagat (2)
 - I actually didn't do too badly against him, as I managed to take out his first two guys but then Sagat would crush me. Terry in paticular was getting owned every match which kinda makes me wish I had gone with Cammy but oh well, he was good up until I fought Jack. I lost this one 2 straight so it was 0-2 and I went to the loser's bracket.

At this point, the bracket got really screwed up for some reason and I don't really know what happened but I played against the other 2 people who had only lost once (since this was double elimination, you needed to lose twice to be out). One of those guys being my pal Joey. Jack's roll cancel friend lost a 2nd time to somebody luckily for me so he was out.

5th Round vs Joey: P-Groove - Nakoruru (1), Ken (1), Cammy (2)
 - Well I had experience playing him before since he was my buddy and things went as they did in practice with me squeaking out the win in straight matches 2-0. It was still a good couple matches and he got some good parries on me, but I rushed him down with Sakura beating his first two guys and Terry and Sagat took care of the rest.

So there was one more guy who had only lost once. And funny enough, the one lost was from me. So I played this guy again.

6th Round vs Tony: C-Groove - Bison (2), Geese (1), Rock (1)
 - He switched around his order a bit, but I still overwhelmed him with my Sagat leaving my other two guys left to clean up. It was easier this time since I knew how to play him and I won it straight 2-0.

That put me into the Final Final versus mr.you-know-who-goes-to-evolution-every-year Jack. Since it was the final, they made it a special best of seven matches so we needed to win 4 to win it all. Hoo boy.

Final vs Jack: N-Groove - Blanka (1), Cammy (1), Sagat (2)
 - I kept my order of Sakura, Terry, and Sagat for the first 2 matches but I was getting whomped. Blanka would take out my Sakura and Terry but my Sagat would then take out his Blanka and Cammy. His remaining Sagat with full health would then beat my Sagat. I was down 0-2 at that point. I decided to take a gamble and move Sagat up in my rotation to be first and it was a good move. My Sagat took out BOTH Blanka and Cammy and I even got his Sagat down to about 2/3 health before my Sagat died. Sakura got him down to about 1/10th health and I had a full Terry left. Unfortunately, Terry got killed perfect (-__-"). I just need to get one good combo and I woulda won that match but I got nailed by a level 3 Tiger Genocide and was dizzied so it didn't turn out that well. So I was down 0-3.

"Last chance" I thought to myself and really concentrated, keeping Sagat in front, with Sakura and Terry following. My Sagat again took out his Blanka and Cammy and about 1/3 life off his Sagat. So I had 2 level one's against his one level 2. I knew that if it came down to Terry again I would definitely get killed so I was determined to finish him off with Sakura. I baited his Tiger Uppercuts, kept him away with her fierce kick and rolled past his Tiger's to throw and I WONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. I was so insanely happy at that point and was like, "YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" and everyone was cheering so it was cool. Since that was the first match Jack had lost all tournament, he took it as one of his loses (double elimation remember) and opted to change teams. He picked Cammy and then 2 RANDOM charecters and got Ken and Rolento. Unfortunately for me, his Cammy took out my Sagat and Rolento cleaned up the rest so I lost the final 1-4. Still, I'm glad that I managed to get one match off of his super team.

So that gave Jack the win and I got 2nd place. 3rd place went to Tony Mack, and Joey came in 4th. Jack won a $50 gift certificate to EB (basically a free ps2 game) and I got a retrocon (a ps2 controller that looks like an NES controller) and Tony won a players guide. Crappy prizes, but then again, the turn out wasn't that much so they couldn't give away anything too expensive.

All in all a very successful tournament I would say. I knew that Jack was gonna win it since the first time I played him, but I'm really glad that I pulled out 2nd place. I admit, my part of the bracket was kind of easy compared to some other people (there was one guy who ran into Jack in the 1st round and then his roll canceling friend right after that and another guy who fought Jack twice) but I'm still glad I managed to win so many matches like I did to get to the final.

Wow this has been a pretty long recap. Well anyway, they were talking about some Third Strike tournament next. If they officially announce it, you can bet I'll be practicing for that next heheh. Ken or Ibuki...hmm well I guess I can wait to decide on that.

 - Chack

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07/02/04 - [世界のほんの片隅から]

Well I think I'm very close to landing a b-twist. Cuz the other day I was with Alex in the combat room and I was like, "dagnamit I'm gonna do it" and I threw myself into it and landed on my knees. Alex was like, "WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAH." He said I was this -------> [       ] close to landing it. The thing is that it doesn't feel like I'm doing it correctly. Feels like I'm not very horizontal, but Alex said it was pretty horizontal...feels uber weird but I guess I'm getting it. I kinda know where I need to stick out the foot and hope I land it. It's just a matter of time I believe...let's aim for the end of this month.

Man, Zone has good songs. At first it was just [Secret Base -君がくれたもの] that caught my ear but I listened to thier other stuff also and [僕の手紙] along with thier newest single [卒業] are just a few of thier good songs. It's funny how many times I think a group is sucky but then they end up being good. But in all actuality, since most of the music out there sucks anyway, my assumptions aren't all that bad. I'm just glad I realized my mistake in this case.

 - Chack

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04/02/04 -「一人ぼっち 」

Warg...landed on my head trying the backflip...other than that...

 - Chack

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27/01/04 - 宇宙で la Ta Ta

Man, that guy Tsunku...puts us through so much emotional trauma graduating each Momusu member (the latest victim being Nacchi) but then his brilliance shines when he gives Ayaya a remake of the EXACT song I was thinking they should remake after watching the H!P 2003 Summer Concert. That song being the title up there. Wah it's such a great song with Ayaya doing the vocals. You know Tsunku's gonna bring back ズルい女 sometime. How much you wanna bet Ayaya will get to remake it again? Woo! That'll be cool.

In tricking news I attempted the backflip a few days ago with Alex spotting...but it was too scary. I'll try again today in a few hours...it will be mine! Well, eventually anyway.

 - Chack

Zone's [Secret Base -君がくれたもの] is a guud song too

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22/01/04 - 「 いきまっしょい！」

So good. I like putting japanese there now as the title cuz it's spiffy. Anyway I managed to truly land the DOUBLE LEG a few days ago. I could fluke it a couple times whenever I tried to do it but it was always inconsistant and for the past few months I couldn't do it at all. However, I found the point that I was missing which was to relax during the initial step through and really DIG down for the take off. I was previously rushing the take off and it was screwing me over. I got the trick now and its pretty damn cool! It puts my lower back under a lot of work though and I woke up the next morning with a sore one. I need to rest and slowly get used to the trick. I'm sure after a while I won't get sore anymore. Now for that damn 540 and chit b-twist...

Played that uber guy in soul calibur 2 again. I'm a lot better than I was the last time I played him so I don't get totally massacred anymore which is cool. Still can't beat him one match but I can get at least a couple rounds every time. He also plays VF4 apparently so I think I'll be able to win some there heheh...

As for other stuff: gradually moving. Some ambivilent emotional capsizing...maybe not.

 - Chack

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19/01/04 - 愛あらば It's All Right

Well one month from my last blog exactly and it's school time again. Left my PS2 in Thailand due to space restriction so have to go back to playing KOF again...oh well. DVD burner should help me save money on cd-rs and space. Classes start tomorrow. Chit. Need to download stuff! The new cds I got in Thailand were pretty good. The new Aya Matsuura and BoA albums I bought in Japan are good too. Need to TRICK (double leg + b-twist must die). Ultra random thoughts. Yeah ok AI SAT.

 - Chack

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19/12/03 - Daybreak

WOO!!! I'M DONE!!!!!!!!! Well actually I was done on Wed but was too lazy to update till today. Anyway, I can now say goodbye to the worst semester EVAR and look foward to the tons and tons of cds waiting for me back home. Got LOADS of new music to listen to and LOADS of games to play. GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

 - Chack

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16/12/2003 - Midnight Parade

ONE MORE FINAL LEFT AGHHHHHHHHHH. I'm THIS (<---) close to being done with EVERYTHING for this dumb semester. KMOOON, hurry up time so I can finish this stupid crap~ a;lksdfj;alsdkjf;alsdf;alsjfkd;lasjf;lajsfl;asjdf;ljasdf;jadsfkj

 - Chack

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10/12/03 - Horizon

SO CLOSE~~~~ (not the movie). In exactly 7 (seven) days, I'll be done with ALL of my finals and getting ready to finally go home. It's so close I can almost taste it...just thinking about it makes me all jittery. Seven, seven, seven days leftttttttttttttt. Argggg. This situation would be a perfect example of the proverbial, "so close, and yet so far." 4 finals remain towering in my way to enlightenment and salvation...in other words, FFX2 and tons of CD's. HURRY UP I WANNA PLAY~~~~~~~~~~

 - Chack

Hyoutanjima wa doko e yuku
Bokura o nosete doko e yuku

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04/12/03 - Zettai Tokeru Mondai X=

Ok so school is back now but there's only 14 more days of it left!!! After this week, there is only one more week until finals. And actually, I have 2 of my finals next week, which means this week is really it for chilling. Gonna start cracking the books on saturday probably. Once that is done with, it's time to go home finally~~~

Ahhh, I can't wait to get back. It'll be a good Christmas for sure. The end is in sight, gotta stay focused till it's really over!

 - Chack

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24/11/03 - Yeah! Meccha Holiday

Thanksgiving break is here finally after a grueling semester. I'm in "chill" mode right now, but still doing some hw everyday just to keep me from getting too relaxed. The semester isn't over yet. Gonna have to start worrying about finals soon, so one can't get TOO lax. In other news, I finally got that 4 gig torrent with 13 eps of H!M so that'll keep me busy for a while, heheh. Oh and the new Speed album also, but I haven't listened to it yet. SC2 skills are improving, and I've picked up Astaroth, Cassandra, and a decent Maxi in the past week or two. My interest in the game has been renewed since I'm not playing my old Xiang Hua or Kilik as much anymore, and there's always people here waiting to be beat down heheh. Ok, have a good break everyone.

 - Chack

RAKUGAKI shite

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18/11/03 - Shabondama

Taking a break from studying. Hmm...duno. Funky Discotheque? Randomness. Yeah. Ok. Back to studying.

 - Chack

doryoku mirai A BEAUTIFUL STAR

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15/11/03 - As For One Day

I will say for the record that I HATE trash talkers. I understand it's sometimes "fun" to do every once in a while, but I HATE people who talk trash non-stop. What the hell is thier problem anyway? Take any videogame for example: saying they're so good before a match, saying you're so crappy, and then blaming it on luck when they lose. I normally don't pay much attention to it as just decimating a person during the match is good enough for me, but when the trash comes 24/7 all day everyday (and not just in reference to games), you can't help but start to think it's serious and not playful as it might be intended to be. There is nothing fun about playing against a trash talker because they'll find a way to whine and cry about everything that doesn't go thier way. They are the most pitiful and ANNOYING people on the planet.

So if you are a trash talker, please shut the hell up. Thank you.

 - Chack

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08/11/03 - Lemontune

YARGG. Tests time again. It's ok though, I got a pretty good grip on it this time I think. Yesterday I went around full circle, but we'll see how it goes. The difference is this time I got my MOMUSU to help me out heheh. This time I'm taking everything slowly~ I finally got the new B-Twist tutorial so I'm gonna start practicing soon. They make it look so easy...2 new eps of Hello! Morning today! K, back to studying.

 - Chack

Jitto matsu mi no BOOGIE TRAIN

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27/10/03 - Away Message: [Out Trickin' ]

Been trying to land that damn Butterfly Twist for the past few days. I completely understand how the move works, but I just can't execute. Aerials and Double Legs are still so-so and kinda inconsistant right now. Still can't do 540's either. I found that I can't trick 2 days in a row because the 2nd day I'm too sore and tired from the 1st day to really pull off the moves. If you haven't been to <http://www.steve-terada.com> then you should really go and watch some of this guys samplers. He does some insane moves (nearly lands a freakin' california roll!) and makes it look easy. Arg, if I was 1/10000 as good as he is I'd be super happy. At least I need to be able to do this damn b-twist...GODDAMN I WISH I WAS BETTER.

 - Chack

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20/10/03 - Easy Come, Easy Go

FINALLY. The tests are over, and I can relax for the time being. It's been hell but I'm still alive at least. Now I can really do what I want for a bit. Lately I've been spending my weekend nights at IMPE, practicing my tricks. I've managed to land really crappy aerials and double legs, but the fact of the matter is that I can do them! The 540 still evades me, as does the butterfly twist but I'll get them eventually. Have yet to try a backflip...too chicken right now for that. I should also play tennis before the weather gets too cold again...it's been a while.

I'm downloading stuff like crazy now. Bittorrent is an amazing tool if you can get it to work. After spending hours trying to configure it to bypass the school's firewall (and skipping class during the process), I finally succeeded and DAMN it is awesome. I am getting at least a few hundred k per second downloads for my files now. There is a whole lot of stuff I have yet to download and new stuff is being uploaded all the time. Here's my download schedule for the next few days:

Hello! Morning (2002-11-17) : 344.70 MB
Maki Goto on Utaban (2002-8-22) : 224.57 MB
Maki Goto on BHTV (2003-06-25) [subtitled] : 681.21 MB
Aya Matsuura on BHTV (2003-4-2) : 252.76 MB
MM Florida Speical [Quidam] : 1.403 GB
MM Mechaike Kimatsu Test SP (2003-04-05) : 1.2 GB
MM Mechaike Sports Test SP Kanzenban (2003-10-18) : 477.06 MB
MM 13 nin Christmas Special : 945.05 MB

So as you can see. I end up burning at least 1 cd per day. This is all the stuff I have to download right now, but it doesn't even include the new stuff that will be uploaded in the next couple days. Needless to say, I end up going over the measley download limit of 750 megs everyday. Being rate limited sucks, but it's a worthy cause. MM Rulez all.

Night~

 - Chack

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16/10/03 - Drain Away

Once this next test is over I'll be happy. Jeez, I need a break. I am seriously sick of studying all the time. Does someone want to play Tekken or something? I really want the break to get here fast.

 - Chack

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13/10/03 - Misery Days

Have you ever gotten the feeling that things will never be the same again? It's something that I haven't been able to shake for the longest time. You wouldn't believe how much different one year, no, even half a year can be from the previous times. It was so much different in high school where you could predict what each week would be like. You knew what a "normal," "average," day was. I can honestly say I'm still waiting for things to settle down into "normality."

If that even exists anymore.

Since the beginning of the year I kept on saying to myself, "oh this week is just bad because we're rushing to get our clubs set up and going," or "oh this week is crappy because classes just started," or "oh this week is crappy because exams are here." If it's not one thing, it's another. Club stuff, and school stuff hits at anytime, all the time. I look at my I-Book and there hasn't been one week, even day, that I would consider to be "normal" whereas last year it was full of them. What happened? When will it go back to that? Will it ever? Maybe I just have to accept that things keep on changing...it's just that it's happening all so fast. When will I be able to say that today is a "normal" day? Is a "normal" day a "good" day?

I know that I'm trying to keep up my spirits with my training and all...but I still can't help but feel down at times. I ask myself, "Where did I go wrong this year?" I had such great plans...it was supposed to be a great year. It's not over yet...far from it...but I definitely haven't moved anywhere near where I wanted to go. When I think back on to these times I hope I at least can say, "Those were some of the unhappiest times of my life...but I learned something from it." I'm still trying to figure out what that would be...

Unfortunately The Super Happy Fun Hour hasn't been very Super Happy Fun lately...I'll find a way to cheer it back up.

 - Chack

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06/10/03 - Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari

Well after one week of HARDCORENESS, I can say that it is pretty damn tiring.  Unfortunately I have three (3) exams this week, one (1) next week, and another one (1) the week after that. I had to cut my workout a bit short today as a result of the impending doom but I'm not going to be discouraged though! HARDCORE people stay focused!

A funny story actually: today I ordered some McDonalds McNuggets after a 2-hour study session at the Union, and the first thing that came to mind as I bought them was, "mmm, protein." This HARDCORENESS is taking over my brain heheh. I guess that's a good sign though.

I'm getting too much stuff to download with bittorrent! I found a Momusu bittorrent page and the amount of stuff they post is way too much for me to download, especially with my limited hardrive space + download limit. Damn I wish I could get all this stuff...Momusu is DUH BEST!!!!

Duno. Random ramblings before the exams I guess. Later.

 - Chack

gackt is still cool though

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29/09/03 - Souda! We're Alive

Ok, I know what I want to do now. No more being down n' shit. Inspiration has hit me, and I am going HARDCORE training starting tomorrow and will not stop until I get some HARDCORE results. Actually, even after that I probably won't stop, because HARDCORE people don't stop! I have an entire workout schedule put together and THIS time, I will be HARDCORE. I'm going to go buy a 5 pound, $40 protein shake mix tomorrow to affirm my HARDCORENESS after my HARDCORE workout. Also, I'm starting my HARDCORE jump workout "Air Alert" to increase my vertical jump 14 inches after 15 weeks. The goal? Trick Kicks. I don't know if you've ever seen this things before but I will tell you right now they are goddamn amazing. I was first introduced to them last year by *dreamer* and bless his guitar-crazed soul for doing so. I am so inspired now to become HARDCORE and do the crayzee shit that they do.

So the word of this year is : HARDCORE , and that's what I'm gonna be.

 - Chack

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25/09/03 - Merry & Hell Go Round

I can't say whether this year has been good or bad so far. It's just been so weird. Like one day I'm feelin' all good and happy, and then the next day shit happens and everything sucks. After sucking for a couple days, things eventually even out and happy days return. "Happy days" minus the "s" actually. I think I've been miserable more often than not so far this year. <sigh> You know what they say:

"When life gives you shit, make shit-ade."

Ok that's not what they say, but hell, I don't know what kind of advice could help me at this time. I've been through some shit times and I always manage to make it out ok in the end. Sometimes I wonder how, and I realize that it's always the little things that keep me going at times like these. Right now that little thing would be Momusu believe it or not. Call me crazy, but its becoming an addiction almost. At least I can always look forward to Takitty and Aibon being very kawaii all the time...

 - Chack

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15/09/03 - Dan's Soul Calibur II Tournament Experience

I posted this on the TKD board, but I'll just put it here too just for reference.
--------------------------------------

Hey guys. I just participated in a Soul Calibur II tournament today. It was held at EB Games and had 32 people total. Best of 7 Rounds, 150% life. I wasn't that confident going into the tournament (as I've been beaten constantly at this game since it came out) so my only goal was to beat one guy. Since Soul Calibur II is like the only fighting game people play here in the US, I was expecting some super good people.

Unfortunately we played the xbox version so I was stuck using a controller I wasn't used to. They used the smaller version of the controller luckily. But the pad still sucked. Anyway, I went in with my Xiang Hua since I've been playing her since Soul Calibur 1, even though I knew if I ran into a Nightmare I'd die. I didn't really watch people practice, since I from knew it would just get me all excited (remember the Tekken tournament we went to a few years back?). Instead I just read my finance 254 textbook. Some guy was like, "Hey man! Now's not the time to study!" I was like, "No man, interest rates! I'll tell you all about it!" Here's the rundown of what happened afterwards.

1st Match: vs Taki
- I was just getting used to the controller (it didn't respond so well) so the first round was sloppy but the guy I was playing wasn't that great. I beat him pretty easily 5-1.

I had accomplished my goal, but seeing as how the people weren't THAT great, I set my sights a bit higher; just getting as far as I could.

2nd Match: vs Raphael
- Now this was a TOUGH match (and probably my best in the tournament). I really had no experience playing against Raphael (I think Pat used him like once) so I didn't really know what to expect. His annoying fast pokes were really getting on my nerves. I lost the first 2 rounds and came back 2 but then lost the next 2 so I was down 2-4. Luckily at that point I remembered something I read on Raphael that I just saw while browsing through the strategy guide like 20 mins before. It was, "side-stepping is Raphael's main weakness." So I started to sidestep a lot and it worked! Also, I played a mind game on the guy where I would keep on rushing him and then throwing him. Once he picked that up and started ducking, I'd hit him with 2 mid attacks to keep him guessing. I could tell the throwing was really starting to piss him off because he started swearing. I managed to rally all the way back and win it 5-4 in a close final round. The guy was like, "Oh whatever!!" and he just walked off. I later heard him complain, "Throwing is so f_cking cheap! I hate people who throw!" Man, I only do it because he blocks so much. Too bad for him eheheh.

3rd Match: vs Yoshimitsu
- I was like, "what the hell is this guy thinking" when he picked Yoshimitsu. And I still don't really know. I creamed him nice and easy 5-1. That win put me in the final 4 people.

Final Four: vs Xiang Hua
- A mirror match wasn't what I was expecting coming into the tournament and this guy was good. He was this big black guy who played a lot like me actually. It was pretty close but I lost in the end 3-5. Last round I got ringed out; sucks.

Consolation Match: vs Mitsurugi
- I duno, I guess I wasn't really into playing anymore but I lost pretty bad 1-5 to this guy. He was actually really good (some kerrian). I shoulda done better I guess.

Well that put me in 4th place, just one spot off the podium so I didn't get any prizes. In case you're wondering, the guy who beat me was in the final against this other big black guy who used Cassandra. And oh man, Cassandra wiped the floor with the guy. Clean sweep 5-0. If I had been in the final, I probably would have gotten sweeped also.

1st place got 2 SCII action figures and this big cardboard stand of a sword. 2nd place got one action figure and the cardboard stand. 3rd place was actually the best, since the guy got a t-shirt and a cool wall-scroll. Still the prizes were kinda shitty. 1st place prize kinda sucked. It was no PS2 that's for sure.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with my results since my original expectations had been kinda low. They said they'll have some Street Fighter and Tekken tournaments in the future. I'll look forward to those.

 - Chack

final comment on american gamers: black people are good, white people are bad.

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13/09/03 - Dahlia

Eventually the hard times pass and things return to normal again. That is what happened yesterday and I'm really glad things worked out ok. During turbulent times you always just gotta keep on telling yourself that you'll pull through ok somehow. Things will eventually work out, it's just a matter of time. Hopefully I can avoid these kind of stressful times in the future.

Yesterday, ILAAS had Mandarin Wok night. It was pretty good, we got around 20 people to show up. The male/female ratio was heavily skewed as always (18-2, guess which way) but eh, what can you do. We all went to Jason's place afterwards and it was kinda crowded but we did manage to have fun playing mafia. We later split up into a poker group and an egyptian rat screw group. Two of our newest members were apparently super gosu (check the jargons page for definition) at it and they beat us all. Duno how they can get so fast. Pretty good event but like Sean said, I suppose we should have done introductions again. It's just that I'm getting really tired of doing them all the time. When can we stop doing them? I don't think anyone really enjoys them that much anyway even if they are kinda nessecary. Maybe I'm just lazy.

Today was the TSA Potluck event. Had some guud food there and I ate a lot. Cool thing was we got in for $3 when normally you have to pay $8. Was totally worth it. They had a luk tung theme going on so that was interesting but I left about half way through the show to do some hw. Of course, I got no hw done and ended up playing warcraft instead but oh man, it was soooooo worth it. I swear to god I played the best damned warcraft game of my life today and I'm not even kidding. Easily the best win of my warcraft carreer. What a match it was.

Tomorrow is the first workout of UIUC Sport TKD. Truthfully I'm not looking forward to it that much. I duno, it's like how we've been talking on the TKD board about; just burned out. We'll see how it goes. I'll try to be energetic...

 - Chack

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09/09/03 - Blue Days

I've been really busy lately. The club stuff is taking up a lot of my time, and whatever free time I get has homework waiting and I'm still behind on some classes. I feel like I don't have the time to do what I really want to do. That would be to play tennis and vf4/tekken. I'm still trying to find people who play but it's been kinda hard. Add in a bunch of other stressors I'd rather not get into and it adds up to some tiring times. I'm hoping once things reach a state of regularity around here it'll get better.

I can't believe I've only been to school for 2 weeks so far. It seems like I've done so very much already...

 - Chack

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28/08/03 - Sweet Heart Memory

Hey remember when I was writing over the summer about how much nothing I had to do and how all I did everyday was eat, sleep, and ps2? Yeah, well you forget about all that now. I officially give myself the title of, "Ultimo Supreme Busy Man 3000 Deluxe." I mean, it's good that I got lot's of stuff to do now that school has started...but I'm getting flooded the first week. Aside from normal class work (which hasn't even picked up yet), I have to help manage 3 clubs this year:

1) Illini Life for Asian American Students (ILAAS) - I'm the president of this club this year which equals busy times. Most of the planning and organizing runs through me. It is hard to run these meetings every week.

2) Thai American Insight (TAI) - I'm the webmaster of this club and I'm in the process of redesigning the entire website. As if I didn't already have enough websites to manage. Working on a deadline also which doesn't help much.

3) UIUC Sport TKD - Well I'm officially the treasurer of this club but actually I'm co-founder with my friend Alex but actually I got all the secretary work. So essentially, I'm the co-treasuring-secretary of the club. Sending out emails and junk.

So as you can see, my leisurely life style is one of the past now; I'll try to survive.

 - Chack

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26/07/03 - Happy Hour

W00t! The site's been alive for officially one year now. Happy Birthday and a Merry New Year. To commemorate this occasion I've put up a new section on the site that I've been working on and off on for a while. It's not much...but hey: anything new is good right?

Now I'm off to play tekken bye~

 - Chack

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18/07/03 - Mellow Amber

Not much to say in this update, other than that I'm still chillin' over here. It's been raining quite a lot recently which has resulted in an influx of mosquitoes everywhere. Yeesh, haven't been bit this much in a while.

Nothing on the site has been updated for a woefully long time, but eh, that's what the apathetic nature of summer can do to one's hardworking diligence. Plus Warcraft also takes up a lot of my time. The new expansion is pretty cool but since I can't log onto b-net over here with my crappy internet connection, all I can do is fight the computer. Other than that, VF4 and Xenosaga are also there to take up some time during the day. Hmm, wish I could play tennis or something...VINAL OR CHLUMP COME BACK TO THAILAND YOU FOOS!!!!

I just noticed that in 8 days it will be the 1st anniversary of this site. I'm proud to say that it's every bit as ridiculous as I had hoped it to be...well, maybe not every bit. But I would have to say I did a pretty GUUD job, for 1 years worth of time that would have otherwise been spent unproductively. Saying that this sites existance is somehow productive of course.

- Chack

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11/06/03 - .hack // infection --> mutation --> outbreak --> quarantine

No, that isn't a reference to SARS or anything (note: there is no SARS in Thailand). It's just this game I'm playing right now. I wish it was as good as FFX, but eh, not many games are. Yep, that's pretty much all I'm doing nowadays; chillin' in the hot weather. My days now consist mainly of PS2, tennis, movies, and more PS2. Playing all the games I had sorely missed for an entire year was awesome to say the least, especially since I actually have some competition over here. Damn, you thought I was good at Tekken? You have yet to meet any of my friends. The flying arrows that are so dominant in the US no longer hold my interest...I shall never step onto one of those pads ever again.

I'm running off a modem over here, so updates will be sparse at best. Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying their summer~~

 - Chack

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07/05/03 - Be Awake

Well, I actually should have wrote this early but since I got back at 6AM this morning from another poker game, I was kinda tired. We had another killer poker game at Robin's place yesterday (and today) which lasted a looong time. Here's the scoop.

We headed over to Robin's place pretty early actually. It was like 8PM only and we were already over there. Me, Jason, Walden and Dan K (hereby referred to as Kim) were over there. The guys got some beers and we started with the games. We first played a little bit of Hearts actually, but since me and Kim didn't really know how to play we didn't play for money. Eventually we got to the real betting poker and everyone chipped in 5 dollars, so the pot was 25 dollars. We played a different version of poker for a bit. I forget what it was called, but there was something like 6 rounds of betting! Kim was winning a lot in the beginning and I was losing, but we switched back to texas hold em' a bit later. Walden and Jason made early exits actually but both bought back in and came back strong. Still, my cards weren't hitting so I was still losing. My luck was about to change though.

Ok, so it wasn't really my luck that changed, but everyone elses did. Kim, who had a huge stack of chips at the beginning, got suckered in by Jason and lost over half of his chips. I was down to 23 chips. We each started with around 120 chips! I knew I wasn't going to last very long so I went all in with the next hand. Somehow,  I managed to win that hand, and my luck turned around from there. I quickly won the next couple hands and had amassed a nice stack of chips. The next hand was crucial. We had raised the ante to 5 each instead of 1 to speed up the game. Jason was pretty low on chips though so he tried to buy the pot by sticking in 50 chips at the very beginning of the hand. I followed though, and surprisingly so did Walden. Jason was like, "oh shit!" so it was pretty obvious he didn't have anything. After the first 3 cards had been flipped I realized I had a huge chance for a flush. The two cards in my hand were both hearts and two of the three cards flipped were also hearts. So I thought, the chances of pulling another heart in the next 2 cards isn't bad. I went all in, challenging Walden. He took a while to think about it, but he did follow. Since we couldn't bet anymore, we just showed our cards. He was going for a straight. So depending on the next two cards, either of us could blow out the other. When the last 2 cards were flipped, it ended up I had no flush! But the thing was, Walden didn't have a straight either! I managed to win the hand with a pair! It was super lucky. Walden was out. But since I didn't beat Jason's hand, he got to keep his money. Kim soon also made an exit, with Jason suckering him again.

It was down to me, Jason, and Robin. We all traded blows for a bit, but Jason eventually lost a really big hand to Robin which took him out of the game. So it was 1 on 1, me vs Robin. Out of all of us, Robin is probably the best card player, but his cards weren't really hitting that night. Our stacks were about even so we decided to play for another 15 mins, and just split the money according to how many chips we had. Playing one on one is hard because the focus of the game isn't so much about figuring out what the other guy has, as to what you have. Most of the hands went really fast, with people folding fast because of the bluffing. Jason was the dealer and because of the constant folding, he had to shuffle the cards all the time. One of the hands, Robin was like, "there's no way you can beat this hand, judging the probability." He had a 2 pair of high cards. However, I had 2 aces on the flop, and another ace came out, giving me 3 aces! It was super lucky. It did come down to one big hand though, each of us betting about 100 chips on it. Robin had a 6 and a 7, and I had a queen and a 4. When the first 4 cards were flipped, Robin already had 2 pair, and I had nothing! The flipped cards were 5, 6, 7 and a jack I think. I still had a small chance though. If the last card pulled was a 3, I would have a straight! I thought, "no way a 3 is going to come out." Lo' and behold, a 3 came out! It was amazing. Everyone was like, "no fu_king way!" So that was really cool (and lucky).

At that point it was 5:20AM and so we just split the money, with me getting 20 dollars and Robin getting 10. By the time we got back to the dorm, is was 5:40AM and I got to sleep at 6AM. So you can see why I didn't write this earlier. It's a crying shame though that Robin is graduating. He's a really cool guy and it's too bad we can't hang out with him anymore. Best wishes to you wherever you go Robin! I'll be waiting for another match!

That's it for today. Back to studying for me...

 - Chack

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03/05/03 - It's About Time

Ok so mega slackage on my part for not really updating anything lately. There's been no blog or comic for 3 weeks. Sorry bout' that but it's been hella busy around here lately. Finals are just around the corner but there are still little tests and projects going on still. Plus today the Thai club TAI just finished the Thai New Year Songkran event. Me and Dome put on a TKD vs Muay Thai skit and I think it was the highlight of the show. The crowd seemed to be rooting and cheering for Dome and they were really into the skit! I guess I play a good villan, heheh. It was lot's of fun. A lot of work setting up and cleaning up though! I didn't think it would take so much time to set up and stuff. So even though we didn't really practice that much, everything went pretty smoothly. If we can work out the errors for next year that'll be good (ex. having the event at the exact same time as the jnet japan night wasn't a good idea).

The ILAAS bbq is tomorrow, but I got a test on monday! And final on friday! Ugh. I'm sooooo tired...no rest for the wicked...

 - Chack

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19/04/03 - Gambler

The time is currently 4:25AM saturday morning. I just got back from Jason's place where we played this hell long poker game. There were 6 of us in the beginning: me, Jason, Sean, Dan K, Dome, and Kevin. Each of us pitched in 5 bucks, so the total pot was 30 dollars. One might think that poker games are boring as all you do is sit there and play cards. My friend, you coudn't be more incorrect. At first the games seemed to start off slow with bets only amounting to around 10-15 chips (we each started with 137) but it soon picked up pace. Jason was the first one to drop out actually, with a failed bluff against Kevin, but he bought back in to the game. Dome was the next one to drop, followed by Dan K. Jason was leading most of the game with an insane amount of chips. I was down to 40 chips at one point and didn't think I could make it back. However, I managed to get Sean's chips by drawing a full house and then top Kevin by pulling a royal straight (is that even what you call it), so it was just me and Jason left.

Somehow I had amassed more chips than Jason at that point and it was one on one. Man was that intense. Although all the windows were open and the AC was on, I was actually sweating. We traded blows for a couple hands and I was doing pretty well but finally it came down to one big one. When Jason deals the cards, weird things tend to happen. We played Texas Hold Em' and it just so happens that the 5 community cards had already made a club flush. I had a pair of 9's (one was a club) so we went big. Well, not super big, but like 100 chips each, which was about half of both our chips. Unfortunately for me, he had the king of clubs so I lost the big hand. At that point we were really tired and decided to just split the pot. Each of us got half and I left soon after and here I am now.

I admit, the cards were really good to me today during the later parts of the game. I was pulling a face card and usually a high number almost every hand. Couple that with some successful bluffs that I sneaked off and all in all it was a really good night/day for poker. Since I had also just been watching the World Poker Championships on TV today, I think what I saw them doing also helped me figure out the game.

Props to everyone and especially Jason. It was damn fun. I wanna do it again soon. G'night everyone (the time is currently4:44 AM).

- Chack

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14/04/03 - Slowly but Surely

The new comic is up. Other than that, nothing much going on. Just kinda chillin' and doing some work. Got some projects and papers to do, but those can wait until later (whenever that is).

Yea, I wish I could play VF4 Evo or SC2 right now.

 - Chack

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10/04/03 - Rainy Days Never Stays

It's been a while since I wrote anything. This week was kinda weird and messed up. My com started getting all sorts of errors which I haven't been able to fix yet. Nothing too serious...I hope. Finished a number of tests this week also which I think I did pretty well on. Made some important decisions which I hope will turn out well. So yeah, I'm glad this week is pretty much done for. The rest of this blog is pure video game geek talk. Sorry, I need to do it every once in a while to maintain my sanity. You can stop reading now if that kind of stuff doesn't interest you (which probably means about 99.8235% of you).

I've been getting back into VF4 lately. With the release of VF4 EVO, it rekindled my interest in the game. Been downloading all sorts of vids featuring the incredibly fast ShinZ and his Akira (82% win ratio). If I could do HALF of his insane crouch-dash canceling and korean stepping I would be infinitely better than I am now. I mean, how can someone control thier charecter that well (and fast) in a game such as VF? I remember some people complaining VF was too slow for them and they prefered Tekken. Well obviously, they've never seen ShinZ play. For some reason, I can't find any Chibita vids though. He was the MAN in VF4 playing as Lion (92% win ratio), so I'm interested if the update to EVO has affected anything at all. I heard they toned down Lion just because of him! He's like the only guy in the world who seriously plays Lion. Amazing what one guy can do to a game.

If anyone's wondering (the remaining .1765 of you), I played pure Akira back in VF3 (for the DLC and SPOD which I couldn't do consistantly) days but kinda got bored of him when it hit VF4. Well not bored really, but I had a really hard time winning. I decided to play as Vanessa instead and it was a nice change. Eventually I got back into Akira, so I use both of them now. Not sure which one I'm better at. I've played Akira for a lot longer, but I think my Vanessa probably has a better mix up game.

Did I mention my friend Pat (plays as Lion, uses Chibita as reference) is the VF4 National Champion of Thailand? No? Well you see, my friend Pat (plays as Lion, uses Chibita as reference) is the VF4 National Champion of Thailand.

Goddamn I need to play this game.

 - Chack

Why am I so great?
 - Lion

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06/04/03 - Funk

I forgot to mention last time how the weather has been obnoxiously horrid since the fashion show. Whoever controls the weather around here should be slapped upside the head...several times...and kicked in the stomach...and given several servings of knuckle sandwiches...hell, someone should just shoot the bastard.

I've got a lot to do but I'm lazy. I've got a lot on my mind but I'm tired.

Yeah, that's about it.

 - Chack

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05/04/03 - Dear Life

The AAA fashion show yesterday was pretty good. My favorite performance was probably the orchestra/rapping number they did. And as always, the wushu club was there to put on a good show also. Made me think, "soul calibur has truth!" Hopefully, we can make the Thai club's Songkran event work out well. At the very least, I promise the skit I'm working on will be good.

The new comic(s) is(are) up. I actually did 2 this week surprisingly enough. Don't expect it to happen again anytime soon though because I think the workloads are starting to increase again. In case anyone was ever curious about it, the amount of time it takes to finish one strip is about 3-4 hours. If I was a better artist I think I could cut it down to 1-2 hours, but well, I'm not.

Guess that's about it for today.

 - Chack

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04/04/03 - Writer's Block

I wanted to write something today. Create a new section, update an old section. Something. Anything. All I managed to do within 4 hours of free time (from 10pm to 2am) was change the animated gif up there. Urg. It's annoying when you finally get time to do something constructive and then you show up blank. Hopefully I'll figure something out soon.

I actually already finished drawing this week's comic a few days ago. It's sitting in my drawer right now; I just have to scan it. I'm just kinda lazy so I'll try to put it up soon. Or maybe I'll just wait until sunday and post it like I always do. Dunno. Whatever my mood is I guess. The title of the strip is, "Duh." I'll let you imagine what it could be about (hint: no, it's not about the fact that sea monkeys are not primates).

Somehow, I thought I had more to write than this, but it seems I can't even figure out what it was now. Ugh, hopefully I'll be over this staleness tomorrow.

 - Chack

<i was going to write something witty here but i can't think of anything...woe is me...>

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02/04/03 - Excelsior!

I don't know what it means. It just popped into my head for some reason. I think I must have read it somewhere and I vaguely remember it being some trademark quote of someone , but I can't quite figure out who yet. Feel free to tell me what it means or who says it if you know because I really don't.

Had a math test today. Unlike the previous test where I failed to reach the last 2 questions (out of 10 questions) in the allotted time, this time I finished a good 10 minutes before the time was up. I'm pretty confident that I did well, but it seems everytime I think I do well, I end up getting a lot wrong...must be some messed up reverse-psychology-performance-anxiety type thing.

Other than that, not much else happened today. I did manage to get a new epsisode of Domoto Kyodai, hosted by the ever-popular Kinki Kids (get those perverted images out of your mind you sick bastard - they're a pop group in Japan). This episodes featured guest is none other than Ryuichi Kawamura of former Luna Sea fame himself! Haven't watched it yet; I'll look forward to it tomorrow.

Time to hit the sack. G'night.

 - Chack

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31/03/03 - The Lonely Position of Neutral
Spring break is over and school is back in session. Which means quizes, tests and exams. Which means <sob>.

I was slightly disappointed when I heard the new Linkin Park album Meteora. The songs weren't as good as the old ones on Hybird Theory and a lot of them just sounded like rehashes of Crawling. Fortunately I also picked up the album The Lonely Position of Neutral from some unknown band called TRUSTcompany because my brother said they sounded like Linkin Park. After listening to the first 3 songs I was convinced that the album was already better than Meteora. Maybe even better than Hybrid Theory. Damn these guys are awesome. All the songs are good and they rock with some really cool melodies. Some of the songs even have a slight Luna Sea-type feel to them because of a certain guitar that they use which reminds me of Inoran. I hope these guys make it big so they will continue to release stuff. It'd be a shame if they only had one album, then disappeared forever.

My roommate just got Xenosaga. Damnit, I need a PS2. I don't think KOF can really hold my attention for much longer, despite how awesome May Lee is.

 - Chack

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