We just had an evening of loud family members and fondu (cheese and chocolate!) and now as the loud ones gather in the basement to watch movies, I've hidden in my room to ponder the year 2006.

But what can I say? Everyone has their top this and worst that list. Maybe I'll share my opinion on such.

I can say Twilight Princess made it in just in time to be my top pick of the year. Why? It's just another Zelda game yada yada yada. Sure there could have been a lot more, there could have been more sumo fighting, maybe a Dark Link battle after you gather the mirror pieces, but hey 60 hours to complete with nary a game FAQ and I was still interested even beyond the final moments is quite a feat. When I walked into Hyrule field, sun beaming off my sword, the music with probably the greatest huzzah since Link to the Past, I knew I was entering something wonderful. It took me in and kept me captivated for hours. TOO many hours perhaps, as I played every day until 2am only to go to work a little late and a little tired. And not one final battle but five? That's cool, man. Graphically, it's crisp and smooth, while I love the cartoon world and expressions of Wind Waker, this is a whole new ballpark. Twilight Princess is the moving oil painting, with hidden details everywhere from pictures hanging on the wall, to those bizarre Twili in the Twilight Zone. The game was clearly made with a lot of love, and it really shows. It is definitely a masterpiece. I look forward to the new Wii one that is apparently on the way (though I'm sure it'll be a Four Swords-type...but we shall see). Unfortunately, it set the bar really high for what I expect from games now...

Artistically, 2006 brought us lots of artsy games. While they seemed kind of lacking in general gameplay, or control... At least we saw plenty of developers trying something that wasn't super hyper realistic, or the so-called Next Gen. Okami and Shadow of the Colossus win as artistic endeavers, yet I didn't finish either of them. Colossus because the control was bothering me, Okami because...well a lot of things started to annoy me (I am right at the end though, so I may just finish it in a 'just because I did' way).

In terms of gaming, 2006 was the Year of the DS. Collectively, I have never spent so much time on a single device in my entire life.

At work, we play on break. At home, I play sometimes until 1am (with headphones). I'm very picky with my game purchases too. I don't like spending a lot of money. The DS was probably the ONLY device where I barely bought things used. I also only exchanged a few finished games for new ones. This coming year looks like yet another solid DS year with Hotel Dusk coming in January, a SLEW of Squeenix titles (hey they even got me interested in a Final Fantasy title if you could believe that one...and all the Squeenix games I have on the DS totally slap that thing to its max), more adventure games... The DS will make me poor.

I still live at home, but I'm currently at a point in my life where I really don't know what I want to do. I think I will definitely try to find some new place to work at because I'm getting very bored with my current job... I might go to school into the graphic arts, which was honestly what I was going to go into but Concordia was too slow at sending out their acceptances and I went into animation. Or I may go into game design, as I really want to be part of that end of the team more than the grunts... I love inventing things, I love puzzles, I love stories and characters... Well, lets just face it, I'm getting bored with JUST art. So we'll see where 2007 leads me. Maybe I'll even find work in another part of the world...

So here I'll tally up my list for 2006, and say cheers to 2007. May there be many more years to come.

Top 5 Games:
1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC/Wii)
2. Rocket Slime (DS)
3. Megaman ZX (DS)
4. Okami (PS2)
5. Chibi Robo (GC)

Looking forward to: NO MORE HEROES (Wii)
Last thing purchased: Contact (DS)
Last game played: Seiken Densetsu 4 (PS2) [wtf space physics under a rehashed Kingdom Hearts game]
Last movie seen: The Prestige
Favourite movie: 16 Blocks (crafty!)
Favourite console: Wii~!
Favourite TV show: The Office (USA version)
Craziest thing of the year: Muthafucking politicians!
Person I wanted to punch out on New Year's Day: Mayor Gerarld Tremblay (I still hate you)
Person I wanted to hug this year: Anyone who's actually helping those poor people still stuck in New Orleans with nothing SINCE AUGUST 2005!
Thing I forgot to do this year: paint
Thing I still haven't done: gotten married (my mom keeps bugging me...)
Rememberance: Great aunt, the last of the old Niedzvieckis, who is now probably arguing with my grandmother in Heaven.

Resolution: To do what I want so I won't regret any of my future life's choices... like my dad did when he was young and never became a doctor.

I just beat Twilight Princess.

Now what am I gonna do? Every game I look at looks lazy and dull. I clocked in at over 60 hours too and contrary to Okami it didn't feel like an annoying chore. Sigh...

The end battles were pretty episodic. Actually I can loudly proclaim they were fucking awesome. And Zant's crazy.

If I can nab a save out of my brother, maybe I'll start the Wii version...

I think I have a fear of being chased by giant solo hands.

It's kind of like how people don't like spiders or think butterfly wings are creepy and have eyes. Franky I never liked those Floor Masters in older Zelda games. Even in Wind Waker, where they'd come out of the groud... There was something unsettling to them.

Come to think of it, I was never much fond of Thing either...

Anyway, I just don't like being chased by giant hands. And Twilight Princess sent two of them after me.

Oh, I found some more hidden things. I was fishing in a hidden grotto 'cause I found a bag of money that way once, and...

...discovered Hylians are litter bugs. Link doesn't look impressed either with his fellow countrymen. A pair of rotten boots!

Oh yea, is it December? It sure doesn't look like it...

Oh climate change... You will be the death of me. Well... yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go beat up Zant for sending giant hands after me.

Oh my god it's finally here! Two years since I herded those goats into the barn... And now I finally got the game. Sorry, can't talk any more. Gotta go save some more monkeys from this forest dungeon.

So, I preordered Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, which comes with this present. Though, a month ago I was told I may not get the present as it may be USA only, but here it is! The game, unfortunately (or strangely) comes out tomorrow here. I was given my gift though.

Though I use my old Game Gear game cases to hold 6 DS games and 1 GBA, I can use this to hold both Castlevania games. I probably won't, though. The stylus is kind of odd and a little heavy. It's in two pieces: clear part with the logo on it and the backing that slides in the clear piece.

Oh yea, the wax seal is actually plastic with velcro under it. Crafty.

And I'm proud to say I nominated Mayor Tremblay for a blasting via Chicken Cannon on the Royal Canadian Air Farce. Unfortunately, you can't possibly fill that cannon with enough justifiable bullshit, but I did suggest they get at least one item donated by every Park Avenue Merchants Association member to splatter on his cardboard image.

Well just the controllers anyway. At first I was told they only had 3 nunchucks so I said to give me one anyway. Then the clerk returned telling me she had one wiimote that was a pre-order but unclaimed for like two weeks now. I should have asked if she had any unclaimed pre-ordered Wiis! D:

Meanwhile, mom walked into Compu-Smart and yelled at the salesman "Where's my Wii!!!" Don't get between my mom and her rabbids. Beware!

I think I just might be playing my Game Cube Twilight Princess before my brother gets that Wii...

Mayor Tremblay, a plague on both your houses.

It's clear and obvious the little tyrant doesn't give two shits about the city he's supposed to be in charge of. And what's with the rest of the councillors? Choking on tears of stories of Park Avenue and their grandparents and then turning around to vote YES to the name change? Cowards, all of you. More afraid of standing up to the mayor dictator, afraid of possibly losing your high paying job that we pay you for.

Here's hoping the Quebec commission for street names and changes don't let the notion pass since they supposedly hear the public outcry and have monitored the petitions. Maybe they'll even declare the street name protected as heritage like the streets in Old Montreal. One thing that's for sure, the Park Avenue Merchants Association is bringing it to the courts.

Public consultation my eye. Mayor Tremblay was always a two-faced bully and our shortsighted selective memory caused his re-election. Hopefully they won't forget again during his next campaign.

Nation? To all those confused about Harper's statement, just say you're Canadian. It's plain and simple. The "Quebecois Nation" is really only for those who insisted on labeling and alienating themselves. Franly I never called my self a Quebecois. I was born Canadian, and I'll always be Canadian. I wear my maple leaf proudly. I don't need any fancy label or official declaration of distinction.

The one thing that made me happy with that whole ordeal was that it got the Bloc to actually sign in on something that included a "united Canada" in it. That alone is enough for me.

Today, Bloc leader/seperatist wanker Gilles Duceppe got owned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mr. Harper just gained +10 Awesome in my book. I'll laugh if Duceppe votes against the notion of recognizing Quebeckers as a nation (within Canada). Man, that would be hilarious. Maybe people here will finally wake up and stop voting for this arsemuncher who dreams of running his own little dictatorship where pigs fly and monorails go straight to New York, seulement en français! Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee~!

Squabbles over the renaming of historic Park Avenue still continue despite the mayors obvious attempt at ignoring the issue. With so many citizens voicing their heartfelt opinions, how could he just sit there and play dumb? I signed two petitions, and on the first sent my opinion to council members on the list in question. Helen Fotopulos, Borough Mayor for a part of the Plateau region which Park runs through saw the light after listening to the people she represents and admits the idea was a miscalculated error on behalf of the council and, along with her colleagues, will vote against it. Mayor Tremblay, however, is thick as a brick.

"Along with other north-south arteries in Montreal, Rue Bleury and Avenue du Parc are marked by the presence of numerous neo-Montrealers. The decision of changing the name of the artery does not affect in any way their history or the gratitude that we feel for the contributions of new arrivals to Montreal's development".

So in translating that from politicionese... That basically means, "You're all immigrants and we don't really think you care about the city's history so, therefore, we don't think you'll care about the name changing. Thank you for bringing your money so we can take it and use it on the wrong things".

Excuse me?

That street has been around for over 100 years, both of them. But while Bleury died with the printing industry, and is now nothing but home to a church and a bunch of derelict buildings soon to be converted into over-priced condos, Park is the heart of Montreal's culture. It's the Sunset strip of Montreal. The Hollywood Boulevard. When the street cars ran on it in the old days, it was like a northern San Francisco. And it still is today, with many of these so-called neo-Montrealers that came here either for new opportunities or because they lost their homes in the war (like my family) still living and remembering the vibrant new home and how little it has changed today. If Bourassa cared so much about the people he represented, would he be happy to see all the pain his name is causing? I don't think so. Honour the guy, sure, but don't destroy everything this city stands for. He's a politician, not a god. And that's another thing wrong with Quebec. Why do we always appear to act like our politicians are beings of higher power, where we worship their photos and listen to their one-track minds like zombies? They're just people. Wanna name something in his honour? Name the new hospital after him, since medicare was his forté.

Burnside to Maisonneuve. Dorchester to Levesque (that one was rich, HA! But hey, at least Westmount, ironically enough, kept the Dorchester part). And now Park to Robert-Bourassa? Talk about a mouthful. Oh and do I sense a malaise towards english names here? Either way, Park works in both official languages, therefore adding more to the multi-culturalism that it represents.

From the "vote for me and I promise no mergers" platform to the "oh right, you wanna demerge? well that's gonna cost you" platform, it's just another added to a long list of incompetencies this mayor holds. And I have no idea how he got reelected. The city is dirty and crumbling, our taxes are the highest in Canada and they keep raising higher, and yet there's always a sob story that there's no money to do anything. Meanwhile, totally out of touch with the city he's charged with, he will waste thousands of our dollars to trash another part of Montreal heritage and history.

Probably one of the things I find very scary, is his statement to promise to allow councillors to vote freely on the issue at the November 27 city council meeting. What does that mean? Does that mean no one would vote against any issue at all in this city? Do these people sit there picking their noses all day while Montrealers break legs on potholes and stare at graffiti and ride 40 year old metro cars? Isn't this a democracy where members of a given body are allowed to vote for/against issues? Does that basically mean if Montrealers didn't bitch, he would have done whatever the hell he wanted like Drapeau did? Quite the tyrant, ain't he?

So give us a hand, and read the messages of these so-called neo-Montrealers, from both languages. Sign the petitions and help my city from turning into nothing but bland streets of dead politicians. Because in the end, do you really wanna live on Jaques Parizeau Boulevard?

Causes.ca
Petitions Online - Save Park Avenue/Sauveguardons l'Avenue du Parc

Wow! They sure know how to pack a soundtrack CD over at Capcom. Got the Rockman ZX "ZX Tunes" in the mail (or rather, finally was able to pick it up). I did indeed get the shitajiki board! And the CD comes with 5 double-sided CD covers from various Capcom artists (and yet another secret flap image). I think... Well, according to the liner notes, together with Nakayama Toru (the main artist of the Zero series) were others who worked on other Rockman series games from X, Dash, EXE and Zero. Pretty cool~! Now the only thing to top this little surprise would be to receive that nice present from Konami for pre-ordering Portrait of Ruin.

Yarr! So, I was planning to revamp this website... I was planning on working on some Exkaiser typesetting... I was planning on doing some more work on my side projects... But noooooooooo! I just had to go buy Children of Mana and then have it ruin all my plans 'cause I can't stop playing it.

Oh god, wait until I get my hands Twilight Princess... I will not be seen or heard from ever again. (Well except at work, I guess).

Why yes I am indeed, Mr Bear! (Actually, I think that quest was about riding the tower of zombies... mwahahaha).

I have my four weapons already. It's more of a dungeon crawler like those Mysterious Dungeon games (which I like). And there's no stupid AI buddy bouncing around getting killed or telling you to go fight that boss while it goes to beat up a corner of the room. There's also four characters to choose from, with their own abilities, but I picked the swordman and named him Drew! (And gave him the green hair).

My brother found this quite hilarious. We went shopping at Kim Hoa for some goodies, and my mom got this can of Lychee. Yet another case of mother not reading the labels! Only this time with hilarious results. The name of the company is indeed "Cock on the Mountain Top". This is after she sent me an email on Friday of foreign foods with questionable names and proceeded to laugh for 30 minutes straight over it.

So, I just went through the most agonizing moment ever playing a game since Ocarina's Big Goron Sword quest (which I still haven't finished 'cause it pissed me off). Oni Island in Okami. AAAAAAAAARGH is the word. Actually, even that couldn't possibly describe the swearing and threatening and almost throwing my controller at my dad's ginormous television (the fact that it's DAD'S tv stopped me, actually).

Guh.

It's done though. I have one more brush technique to get (and gee, this game needs something better to draw with, like, oh say...the DS). One or two more areas left as well.

It's weird, but not as annoying as Okami. Ok well, the fact that if you click on someone twice and they run through the same dialogue without the ability to skip it (or none that I know of) is kind of annoying. But it's ok. Solved my first case! On to my second. I totally nabbed a banana off the annoying brat too. Sneaky.

:D Everything you ever wanted to know about Rockman-Zero! Actually, my ZX cd should be on the way soon. And I just found out that the earliest of orders gets some shitajiki boards. I think I was pretty early pre-ordering it, so I hope I get one.

STLL no Contact in any stores in Montreal.

I'm really tired... I'm also redesigning the site. Maybe by next week.

A lunch break well spent. I nabbed the fresh-out-of-the-box, one of TWO copies of Clover's last game from the EB Games at the race track. Didn't even have time to put the price tag on it!

Oh, look at that. It's Friday the 13th.

Holy anxieties, Batman! For a super cute game, Rocket Slime stresses the hell out of me. Well, no, it's really just the tank battles. I ran into my enemy's tank this afternoon to smash his engine without realizing that the three projectiles I launched were knocked out of the sky. So I'm sitting there wondering why the door won't open and noticed they still had 3HP left. Gaaaah! I still won though. Ran over, booted them out of my tank, launched some projectiles and myself over and got their engine with seconds to spare. I wish I had a crew...

And someone couldn't wait for a Wii to make his Mii, so he made a fake MiiMaker in flash! I'm really hoping the real Miis will have more stuff though, like HATS! Oh man, if Ragnarok Online taught me anything it's my obsession with hats (even though I never wear them). Here's Mii! I will rock your WiiSports (~^o^)~

Happy New Years! It's 5767!

I have so much I want to buy that it's tiring. Rocket Slime was on the shelf but 'cause I've waited so long to play this, I picked up Okami. It really is an interesting game though the dialogue jumble kind of gets annoying after awhile. Totally should have been a DS game (or a Wii!). Actually, yea, Wii would have been perfect for it... In any case, it's a nice change from the shelves of violent crap.

Still no Cooking Mama for me, but I did try out making a Salisbury steak! Got 100 points too!

Spent New Year's at my aunt's. Her cat loves it when either me or my brother come over. I pet him to sleep. Then proceeded to use the wrist strap to my DS as a toy!

There was like absolutely nothing to do at work today so I spent 8 hours looking over the Character Design blog; studying, reading, checking out the art by people far more awesome than I could ever be. Got me inspired to sketch a bit on the scraps of homemade storyboard paper I pile in front of me under my keyboard so I can doodle while I wait for things to load on that slow computer. Well, I only sketched the stumpy detective guy. The old man and octopus was done directly with the pen tool. (Inked stumpy detective with the pen tool, though!)

The octopus was inspired by an upcoming 2D Wii game, TAKORON! I'm happy to see someone still interested in 2D on these new machines! It's super cute, and kind of reminds me of Randy's Gulo Fruit game that we're still hoping will see the light one day...

And a happy happy birthday to Derick Loo, who's now in Toronto somewheres. Come back to Montreal, Loo, so we can all Dim Sum!

Happy Birthday to me~! I finally got my hands on this, and I can't stop playing it. Currently going through (easy mode) as Vent. Cooking Mama was no where in sight...

Oh yea, I also picked up Gunsmoke for the NES at Microplay. Fuuuun~!

I thought today would be a good day. I actually tried to make it a good day. Mostly just bummed out with work and all that, but it's September! It's my birthday on Sunday and I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to actually do something or what. By tradition we go out to eat as a family at the restaurant of choice by the birthday person. I'm picking Aikawa again, mostly 'cause I love their quirky Japanese food and we never really go there normally. (It's really not a place you'd go just 'cause you were working late and were too tired to cook or something... it's the special occasions place). So yeah, I even got in earlier than I thought considering the messy traffic even though I left at a quarter to nine. It was also supposed to rain in the morning and continue all day until Friday but it was nice and sunny. So the day was looking up. With nice weather, one thing left to do on the baseball things I was given. Hell I even brought grapes to work (I never bring fruit 'cause they usually get soggy).

And then some crazy man starts shooting people at Dawson College before he shoots himself.

All news accounts are all over the place. I think this is because police haven't really interviewed everyone in there, while these witnesses were calling the radio station and telling us what happened. News first says he kills himself then swithces to the guy being gunned down by police while a boy calls in later and says he (the gunman) was shot in the knee and then took his own life. In the end a poor girl died there, and about 20 people are injured in various degrees.

I listened like all day to the 940 News which streams the station live on the net. I don't even know how I managed to get my work done 'cause my hands were shaking over being rather distraught with the whole event.

And I wish I could say that this garbage just doesn't happen in my city but it unfortunately has, twice before. On the bright side, we have an excellent first response to such an event, partly thanks to the first one at the Polytechnique in 1989. I fear the response could have been ten times more chaotic than it was had we not had such preparations. Though it's still not much reassurance, it does kind of help in knowing that this mess of a city despite all it's disorganizations can get something right.

Though my birthday is in two weeks, my parents got me the screen I was about to get. A nice 19" Samsung with 8ms response time! My brother is sad 'cause it's ten times better than his at half the price. Atchaaaa~! (Of course, his is over a year old). I do believe I'm going to watch a movie on my computer now.

Yup, I got my hands on the last non-used copy in the store. (Actually, they didn't have used copy for Gamecube). Currently playing dodge-ball with the giant and not succeeding. Some parts you just can't solve by running away to the next door while nabbing all the items... It's probably the best interactive movie I've played since some old PC games. But you know what would make this game ten times more better? If you could shoot the chainsaw guy, kick him, then take his chainsaw and just wreck havoc on those psychos for a just a little bit. Oh wait, that's Dead Rising. But c'mon! Let's have fun here~! It would be neat if you could pick up various things other than cleverly placed cases of ammo. That's more in with surviving strategies, no?

Oh yea, and Luis Serra is Batman. (Rino, not Kevin)

CLICK TO WATCH!

The upcoming season of The Batman looks like it's totally going to rock. And Dick Grayson seems like comic book Tim Drake as well. Brandon Routh as the Everywhere Man, crazy ol' Harley Quinn, a new Clayface, some more Dark Knight Returns hommage, Oracle, Martian Manhunter... Though I seriously doubt they'll do the Killing Joke to show why Barbara is in a wheelchair. Never the less, I am totally excited about this season. And since Martian Manhunter is there, wonder if they'll take on the Justice League after this. I hear Flash may make an appearance as well. Still, no sign of Scarecrow nor Two Face... Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

Because I got downtime, it looks like I can dabble a bit in my EO project, which is a Bubble Bobble type game. For the moment, I'll just call it Elementis.

I decided to make it a little fantasy-like. A little guy with a sword, that slashes element-base creatures. Figured if he hits 3 in a row of the same element, he can get a spell that will eliminate the counter element in one fell swoop (for extra points!). So basically Fire hits Wood (Earth), Wood hits Water, Water hits Air, Air hits Fire, and the Golden element hits all. Might even add a Spirit element which would be eliminated only by Gold, or something. I put the setting in a castle, after studying lots of Castlevania and the different locations they managed to include despite being inside one building. At first I was thinking a tower, but now I think I'll go back to the castle.

What I was playing with today. 20x20 tiles in a 320x240 screen (incomplete tiles here 'cause I'm still deciding on the walls). Might change it down to 16x16 tiles depending on how I plan to make the sprites, but I don't know what I want for them yet. I think this would qualify as a front hallway of sorts, or just general hallway. Could have the first level outside the castle gates, front hall, inside courtyard/garden, dungeon, rooms, kitchen, etc. I'm also thinking it would be neat for wrap around (sprite can reach the other side of the screen by walking to the opposite) since I'm not sure I wanna make the guy jump (for a restraint purposes in puzzle play; if you can't jump, you'll have to think a bit more about your direction). Or at least not jump high enough to reach the next platform. We shall see.

Today I actually beat the Basic Clear mode in Coloris! That last stage was hard. For a while now, I've been doing the Advance stages (and was actually doing better at them than in Basic). Now I have 35 Advance stages unlocked. Oh yea, if you're colour-blind DO NOT GET THIS GAME. It's totally based on colour and hues. Even I have a hard time seeing that the block is a lighter orange red than actual red. It's a super clever game, though.

Well, another project in the dumps. Third one in the past 2 months. Reason? Canceled because they didn't think it would sell. It was Pipe Mania... Yes there are plenty of them but really. There's lots of Bejeweled too. Whatever. We'll see what other doomed project they shove me on.

So Friday sucked despite being the nicest day of summer. It was our good ol' Montreal summer. Hot but with a slight chill to keep you cool and perfect clouds floating in a perfect blue sky. Went over to Etienne's to check out Dead Rising. I didn't lasts long really. But the reading 2pt font tired me out. AND THE FUCKING PHONE OH MY GOD! I hope you can get that bastard killed at the beginning somehow... Honestly, it's more annoying than Navi's HEY LISTEN every step.

Been playing Resident Evil 4 at work. I die in the same place all the time. Though I did last longer on Thursday... I just forgot to heal. Poor Leon... Though I really like that creepy original one more with the dark castle and the fog. I'm not too keen on meeting fucking Ashley. I borrowed Etienne's copy of Resident Evil 1 remake for Gamecube. I guess it is the same as the one I have on the Saturn, just nicer. It took me awhile to get used to the wonky controls though... I really just run from the zombies. My knife does shit anyway and I like saving bullets. Of course I got cornered in the graveyard and died.

Hey look! It's not zombies! But my third bitGeneration game is turning me into one... So damn addictive I can't put it down! Already unlocked fancy trippy levels.

Oh yea, some time this past week I snagged a copy of Chibi Robo as well. There's something ironic about playing that game in my messy room though...

Listening to Billy Talent S/T. Good ol' Canadian punk that's not like that emo shit or next-on-Smallville-soundtrack crap. They live up to the name of fictional guitarist for the greatest fictional Canadian punk band, Hard Core Logo \m/ Hey, played by Callum Keith Rennie <3 Actually they're playing right now at Vans Warped. Must be loud fun...

I tried saving this guy on my walk back from lunch. Found it on it's back, wiggling, like it was trying to move. I didn't want anyone to step on it so with the flap of my camera case, I managed to flip it over. It then started to crawl like a dying man trying to reach a place unknown. So i took some dried leaf and tried to will it onboard to put it in the grass. It worked for a bit but then we really needed to go back to work. So I thought I'd carefully pick it up by it's tail to place it in the grass when it's tail end shot up straight with that "I'm really a twig! Go away!" defensive stance Dragonflies do. So, it's probably dead now, but here's to you crazy-dazed-missing-leg-Dragonfly. A picture in your memory!

They used to scare the shit out of me when I was a toddler.

I got mail!

Sleak and minimalist from the package to the cart to the whole damn thing, I got my hands on two of three Series 1 bitGeneration titles for the GBA. Even though I imported them, the game is in English. Only the tiny foldout manual is Japanese, and the warning sign at start up.

They're pretty neat. Of course my fervour for puzzle games has me hook with Dialhex. Already unlocked Endless Mode. Would like to try them in versus, particularly Boundish, which is like a whacked out Pong in various forms. I love the record player one and how the path of the ball curves when you turn the disc. The stretched people one is great too. A neat added touch on that one, the defensemen yells a mighty "RAAAR!" when he hits the ball. Hope to try out Dotstream soon!

Now I have a coupon from Play-Asia for $5 off (basically shipping). I think I'll use it to pick up Coloris from Series 2 (because I love that game). Though, those sneaks force me to make an order of $50 or more to use the coupon... What else could I get...? Polaris GBA is on sale. Maybe another in the bitGenerations series. Maybe a Pink DS Lite! XD Nah... I'm still holding out on a new DS. I think I'll get one when Zelda comes out, since I'm hoping for a special bundle pack like they did for Minish Cap. A golden DS? With maybe a little Triforce on it? I just want to raise it over my head to some fanfare!

So I needed a little break. Actually, I was just too lazy to open the laptop and spent most of my hours off work relaxing, watching Batman and Justice League, and... relaxing. Our kitchen was being remodeled, so everything is also in a state of disorder. But, geez... I gotta catch up.

I dug out some old MSN drawing. Yes, we use this as our main mode of communication at work. And to keep tabs with folks outside of work... Whaaat? Even the bosses use it. Honest! The drawing tool was the best add-on of recent. It helps illustrate ideas for visual people like myself. It's the new electronic version of what we did in high school. Actually, I still have our grade 9 make-shift stoneage MSN... It was a little hardcover (sort of) notebook that myself and two friends in my class would write or draw in while in class. And we never got caught either. I cracked it open a year ago and laughed my ass off. Maybe one day i'll crack the spine and scan it.

Yea, I don't know what it is... but when I finish work, I feel like I'm wearing a layer of computer screen on my face. I have resolved to keeping facecloth wipe thingies in my car to attempt at relieving this narsty feeling but I fear it's getting permanent. On the bright side, if the sun won't tan me anymore, maybe I'll try monitors!

My mom bought these sherbet ices. See, my mother has a problem when she buys things: She tends to not read the package and claims ignorance on their contents. Sometimes it's annoying like "Oh I bought this new kind of bread for you." only to read the package afterwards, realizing it's whole wheat (and I'm allergic to that). She does that a lot. This time though was awesome. The package showed the ice in sliced solid versions of their flavours. So lemon sherbet was in a sliced frozen lemon bowl, mango in a mango, mango-orange in an orange, and piña colada in a coconut shell bowl. She thought that was a display-purpose-only thing, even though it says otherwise on the box. Of course, she thought they were pretty much just thrown into plastic bowls because, really, for twelve dollars? Would anyone really put the real-deal inside? Well, turns out it was real, exactly as the box showed. Sherbet in a coconut!

So I picked up the Big Brain Academy 'cause I like the cute little sprites. Yes, I need cute pictures to teach me 'cause I am that childish!

Well the first test didn't go so bad. Probably would have gone better if I didn't stare at my screen for a few seconds not realizing i was supposed to add the creatures to equal the amount on top.

However, according to my DS, my skills are in thinking. Yes, indeed, I am the brains of this operation. I think so much that I've become an insomniac because my brain won't shut up.

And it's official. Metroid Prime gives me major motion sickness... And thus my adventure on Tallon ended prematurely...

ENJOY!

Because watching two gundams figure skate is awesome. (Well, I think one is an Arm Slave but who cares about the details! THEY'RE DOING THE GAINER!)

So I finally got around to buying Metroid Prime (first one, they were out of the second one) for 15$ and it doesn't even work. Well, it does work but after about an hour of playing or so, it goes black and the Gamecube shouts "Disc cannot be read! Please see manual!". Then again, the disc is pretty scratched even though the lady at EB went in the back to get me one that was less scratched. I wonder what the one behind the counter was like... So, I'll have to go back and exchanged it for another, hopefully working copy! By now I should be an expert at that stupid plant boss... I'll probably restart anyway since I didn't scan the fooking bees in the other boss room >o<;

Huzzah! So, if the 3rd Atelier Iris were out, I could have played them in order but oh well. Number 1 (which is actually 3!) came in the mail today. Playing it now. See ya in a week or so ;D

Yosh'! Off to work now.

Evil has been thwarted! The people can now rest at ease! I have crushed the evil Palaxius and brought Mana to the world! Huzzah!

Now I've unlocked the bonus material so I can listen to the pretty music and watch all the lovely animated cutscenes whenever I want. It also opened up the insane levels at the Dragon's Nest. I only did one so far... It was the ultra hard super powered Emerald Puni who, despite not doing much damage to me, took FOREVER to kill. Persistant slime...

Atelier Iris 1 is in the mail now, thanks to NIS America for slashing the price in half :D Why buy it used for the same price when you can get it new!

Hey look! It's May? Who knew? Apparently, not me! Guess I lost track of time while spending every waking moment playing Atelier Iris 2. It's a pretty average game with pretty typical RPG characters, so much so that most people probably wouldn't give a damn about it. But I just can't stop playing it. It's purdy too. (IT'S ALL HAND DRAWN! A RARITY ON THE STINKY PS2!)

So, I'm probably half-way through the game now since my battle music changed. I'm about to invade the palace. I'm hoping for another anime cut scene~! Oh yea, if I lived in California, I'd totally apply for the job posting of translator at NIS America. W! T! F! Whoever said inventing things and character quirks was translating! It's not even creative freedom! It's MURDER! This stuff is like Digimon where they shove in lame jokes while there's a quiet pan over some scenery. COME ON! Why do we have to suffer! Thank god the japanese voices are still there talking, but I pity you who has to rely on the text boxes. For one, Max doesn't call Felt by any other name other than Felt. He's not a bumbling moron that forgets names. He's just...a cool, likeable dude. Oh yea and that part with Noin's cooking was all wrong too. There's more but I just wanna upload this page and play! RAR! /o/

I think this is the first year of my life other than that weird winter we had with no snow where April hasn't had a 30cm or more dumping. SHOCK! Though there is a few day left... and I'm getting my snow tires off tomorrow morning... Murphy's Law states that it shall snow five minutes after my tires are changed!

Anyway, lots of rain... Kind of gloomy, cold, dreary, wet, boring... But for the first time in a long while I've managed to get some drawing done that wasn't for any work mockup or whatever. Also it has been a while since I've painted anything on the computer with careful detail and not just looking at the colours...

Kuro from Entity. Something I haven't even THOUGHT of since I made those GBA screenshots for fun. They look pretty lame now... When I created this character's look, I thought of Raggedy Andy and a scarecrow. I don't know why, maybe it was the red hair... But he also appeared during my bucket hat craze. (Mine's kind of squashed and dusty from being tossed into a box on my shelf, though). Bucket hats forever!

Oh yea, I bought some games on the weekend. I was madly looking for Atelier Iris, but didn't find it anywhere. (I did, howerver, order Atelier Iris 2 off NIS America for the same price it would cost here, and should come with the soundtrack). Picked up Megaman: Transmission (GC) which is pretty neat, Vagrant Story (PSX on the PS2) which is pretty freakin' cool, and Tales of Symphonia (GC) which I saw at Walfart for 18$ NEW! EB sells it for more USED! Ho ho! That bin made me sad though... It had 10 copies of Gunstar Super Heroes and everyone digging into it had no clue what it was! Woe is Sega! Actually the bin had a lot of Sega games in there... Mostly Sonic. Am I surprised? No Sonic DS though. Damn...

If I were American, I'd definitely be a Vermonter.

As typical in our family these days, we spontaneously decide a day or two prior to leaving where we will go for a little traveling adventure. It's not a bad thing, actually, 'cause you get deals on hotels by doing that. So Friday, we piled into the new Yaris--including two snowboards--and headed south. Friday was so nice and HOT but we couldn't make it in time to ski that day 'cause mom and I were still fighting with dad to get his ass in high gear to come with us (being the now non-skiier he wasn't sure what he would do while we were on the mountain). So we left late. Of course, it wouldn't have been so bad, but no one listens to me and we got there after 1pm. Why? Evidently my parents chose Map Quest for directions instead of following my natural navigational skills. My directions: take the 89-South to around Sugarbush, turn left. Map quest: take every back road you I wish to put you on without realizing the pass between Smuggler's Notch and Stowe is closed for safety reasons until the snow melts entirely. And Friday was the nicest day too...

The last time I went skiing on extreme Spring conditions was when I was 6 or so. It was the now closed Mount Christie with it's 3 T-bar lifts and 2 inches of water over something I think was snow. Pictures on the net showing Stowe on Monday showed us a winter wonderland with warm weather and 80cm of snow. I guess it melted pretty quickly. There really was only 5 good runs with some complete cover of wet, sticky, slushy snow which isn't very comfy for snowboarders who spend the majority of their time sitting. Nevertheless it was still fun! Though... we got stalled 'cause it started to thunderstorm. This Winter was pretty warm to begin with, we were lucky to even have what we got.

But Stowe is wonderful. The hotel we were in was right on the base of the mountain (the Toll Road side). Nice little place too. They had some arcade cabinets in the lounge at 25cents each. I owned Galaga, reaching the highest score. Would like to return there and see if anyone has beaten me...

Sunday we headed home. After picking up a small breakfast at The Bagel and confusing the hell out of the poor man serving us thanks to my disfunctional and semi deaf family, we drove off and finally made a stop in Burlington. Of course, since it was Sunday, nothing was opened. But parking was free and we made our way to the harbor (again thanks to my navigational skills of "Stay on this road, hit Main Street, turn left" despite never being there once). Enjoyed the view for a bit of the New York mountains from the shores of Lake Champlain and seeing the GIANT Whiteface looking like it'll have skiing well into June, we went home.

(My photos mixed in with mom's set. Click to enlarge)

Driving towards Smuggler's Notch.

Artsy. That's all melting snow!

Our room where dad checks out the Stowe village map. View from the balcony on the right. In winter, you can ski right in.

Friday after closing. Some folks were having a bar-b-q in the parking lot. One of Stowe's mountains is Mount Mansfield, the tallest mountain in Vermont. But even they have to snow-farm to let you reach the lift in Spring.

The Notch. I would have liked to have driven through it... Smugg's is around the bend, behind Stowe's other mountain, Spruce Peak (the easy trail land).

The only meal I had that day, other than two shortbread cookies for supper. BIG ASS BURGERS. It was a dog themed restaurant and mine was called The Boxer -- burger with bacon and cheese. The cows came from a farm down the street.

Ben's yellow hat is like a beacon in the fog. I'm getting soaked. It looks like fluffy snow but it is not.

Mini Snowman!

One bonus about that 60% chance of rain forecast... You practically had the place to yourself.

Mom was angry we didn't put her skis in the car 'cause they would have stuck out into the front seat. But she ended up being glad not to have to worry about ruining them. We did one run, and then I heard thunder...

Clouds funneling through the Notch. Dad said it was hailing down the street by the hotel.

Of course everything got wetter. But Ben was too busy using his cell camera for new wallpaper to care much.

Yuck.

Trying to make our way over to Mount Mansfield.

From Mount Mansfield.

Mom sampling the micro brew at The Shack on a ski. Two glasses apparently equals roughly one bottle of beer.

In honour of the Alpine Soldiers - The Unknown Skier.

Coffee on the porch of The Bagel.

Park by the town. An older lady passing by told us that beavers come out at dusk under the bridge to build their damn.

The red Inn in the rear was where we almost stayed.

Downtown Burlington and waterfront. New York State with Whiteface on the other side of the lake.

Uncle Yaris has come home!

That's right, folks. My parents have finally gotten themselves a new car! No more smelly clunky draggy Ford station wagon that cringe when you push 80. They got themselves the glorious new Yaris sedan in bright metallic red. Of course, being used to the Ford they totally can't drive this zippy little dude properly... Though I don't understand why since they've driven my car and it drives exactly the same. Maybe they're still shocked that they now own something cool. And it's so roomy in there, you feel like you're sitting in your own little world.

Though we still have the Ford... my poor brother gets to drive it. Well, as long as he doesn't idle while in park it shouldn't stall! Not that he's driving it far anyway. Just to Abbott for his night course twice a week and back 'cause he's too lazy to bus it like I did...

Saturday I found Phantasy Star Online 1 & 2 for xbox for 9 bucks. I thought it harmless! Four players and all, like the elusive Game Cube one that I really wanted... But obviously it was too good to be true. Thwarted by the necessity of Xbox Live. You can't even START the game without Xbox Live! No thank you. So I gave it back and picked up one of their NES games for the same price (to which my brother said that was very sad). Because I probably didn't recognize what I got since the cart art is um non-descript...

Where does this tell me that this is the game starring Akira Toriyama's adorable little blue and red slimes!? So yes... I picked up Dragon Quest/Warrior 1 for 9$.

Thy have reached the stairs.

Open menu.

Input "Stairs".

Thy climbeth down the stairs.

Thy have entered the kitchen.

Input "Search".

Thy searches but found nothing in the fridge.

Return to the King and complaineth.

We happened upon this frightening sight on our way back from Subways to get tea at this candy store on St-Hubert street. A wall of Easter chocolatey goodness, in every shape and size, all watching us with bright yellow candy eyes! I'm not sure if it was a good thing...

Morgan Arboretum was having a sugaring off today! So I went with my mom, since my brother was still zombifying over at his 3 day LAN party and my dad was just being his usually grumpy self. It wasn't as good as going to a real sugar shack though, but if there is maple sirup then it's all worth it. Granted they were running low on clean snow 'cause there really isn't much left these days and all the muddy brats were running lose from their nonchalant parents. Ah well. A nice clear warm spring day under the trees, eating a german sausage and devouring frozen sap on a stick! Now that's a Sunday!

(click to enlarge)

Faceless ownage, thy name is Tetris DS.

My first NiWiFi title, finally in my tiny little hands! Though I already have a wireless router, I didn't want to screw around with the security settings so I went and got the little adaptor. It's not so bad! This way I can travel and play through my laptop, too.

Count:
Standard - 3 games, 1 win 2 losses
Push - 1 game, 1 win

I also just re-watched all of Scryed prior to embarking on a worldwide battle quest. Something about watching two guys spend 26 episodes to beat the snot out of each other goes a long way.

My friend code is 628659 092632. Synergy's the name! Let's play!

It's Viva Piñata!

Apparently 4Kids, Microsoft, and Rare seem to think this will sweep the nation with one giant swoop (and with a stick, I guess). From what I understand, these Piñata's grow up and frolic on their lovely island, filling up with candy somehow, only to be sent off when they've matured to be slaughtered by drunks at a party so the party people in the house can get their candy...? And then they go back and start all over again!

To quote my brother, "Rated R for Retarded".

I guess this is what happens when you try to combat and bank on the trend of a monster that is Pokemon but you're not really Japanese... In fact, no one seems to understand it either. Most people are screaming bloody murder that Rare is applying more googly eyes to crap instead of making a sequel to Killer Instinct. I'm just wondering what kind of crack the creator of this franchise is smoking and how legal it is.

I mean, really, W T F?

They're not really cute, aren't very appealing, they don't make much sense, and just seem like someone trying really hard to do a genre without realizing what makes that genre work. Pokemon are cute little creatures that say nothing but their names and battle others so they can get strong and evolve and you gotta catch em all to be the best Pokemon trainer in the world! Digimon were your digital buddies who fought hard and cared whether or not you were feeding them right or treating them wrong, and evolved back and forth to save the world from evil. But what do these things have? Isn't it a little inhumane, more so than farm animals, to raise these things and then bust them open with a stick to get candy, and going back to start all over again? At least pig, cows, and chicken have things we need to eat to survive and be healthy...

Remember that time when everyone tried to make an awesome mascot game and only 2 or 3 survived without hurting people's dignity or making the production company cower in shame? This sounds a lot like that...

And so 15 yeas after it's initial SNES release, Namco has graced our North American shores with the over-1-year-old GBA version of the classic Tales of Phantasia. I was so happy and excited when I first heard the news but then my anticipaton quickly switched to an "oy vey"... Is it so hard to get something unadultered over here? Once again we get the shaft by having the nifty opening song removed. (It was a big wow when it came out on the SNES too, a full length opening song in a video game with singing and everything! I'm guessing they couldn't get the rights...) A few name changes: Cless is now Cress, Klarth is now Klaus, I'm sensing a german vibe even though all the city names seem Norse... Oh I guess we can ignore Chester, Amy (Now Ami? Mon ami!), Arche, and Mint. And the worst of all, the most terribly un-emotional voice acting I've ever heard! And Mint's is so low I can barely hear what she says anyway. The victor is to the options menu where you can turn off the voices but it's so boring without Kusao Takeshi yelling until he's blue in the face...

The translations aren't too bad but they're not great either. As "Please don't defile the tree!" instead of pleading not to kill the tree. Just say kill, who needs the thesaurus? At least there's no invented words or the famous "fucks like a tiger" skit courtesy of DeJap's TOP (sic) translation.

So, let's see here...

O rly?

Ya rly.

Been waiting so long for this game! And my wait paid off, I'm not disappointed at all with it. Currently in the awesome haunted mansion level with all the emotionaly unstable Boos! Man... I wish I could get to make an awesome, colourful, cute game like this...

Hey look, it's Smarch. I wonder when we will get the new DSlite? I don't want white though... I want shiny Enamel Blue! And look at this screen! Now ten times more able to save you from a giant rabid squirrel in a dark cave! Oh drool... Children of Mana game looks so beautiful there... And I bet Princess Peach DS will give me a colour overdose. Pink cavities ahoy!

Apparently there was an earthquake last night. I thought I felt something. I was playing a bit of Tales of Rebirth when I thought I heard a weird rumbling, THINKING it was an earthquake but figured it was maybe a snow truck or something. My earthquake senses never lie! I usually wake up before they happen too.

There are two places in Verdun that MAY have my name on them! I'm so pleased to find these at such a great price WITH parking. Though I haven't visited them yet, but I do know the area. Idealy I'd like St-Laurent but Verdun near Atwater was on my list (as is Lachine and Lasalle). It's like St-Henri but with some better maintenance and less rich condos in dumpy areas. Also the style of the building is what I'm aiming for as I hate big buildings and apartments. These ones are remodeled triplexes (well, with 6 units, but you know what I mean...the duplex style, long units, instead of cramped and square apartments). So hopefully I can make an arrangement to see them soon. One is actually on Nun's Island by the water which is a shocker 'cause that place is usually super expensive.

Tomorrow I go to Jay Peak for some snowboarding. Let's hope it'll be a good day!

Wacom Graphire⁴ sure is fancy. Another silver appliance to add to my collection. Now I can stop bringing my work tablet home!

So I weasled out a copy of Shining Force Neo finally. I did have some fun with it at E3, but I did pick that one up right in the middle of some map. Starting from the beginning, I think I can maybe start to enjoy it after I spent an hour getting through the prologue.

Here we go: Annoying teenage swordman wants to become a Force to find his long lost brother (also a great Force), yet angry experienced father doesn't want him too. Despite that, the kind-hearted kid with bad eyebrows goes to get trained for a few years by a Centaur with no pants that likes to drink something that's like booze but the censures won't let them say it, however he'll joke about it not being for brats. After dumb orcs attack and swiftly get their slow green arses kicked, the flashing Centaur gives boy the OK to become a Force. Now boy goes home to his town named after a christmas carol, where we meet the annoying female magic girl slash childhood friend who's practically boy's sister after monsters killed her family when she was a wee little squirt yet everyone will poke fun at the two and make them blush because you know they like each other but won't admit it. Then boy goes to meet angry pop who forces him to fight him a bit before more dumb orcs pop in to say "die?" and die themselves. Bippity boppity boo, we talk to Grandma a bit, yada yada yada, we go home and find magical girl looking for "herbs" so we promptly go after her 'cause there be monsters in the sanctuary where the grass grows. After we find her, surprise, magic girl is actually kicking more orcs around but they trashed her weed garden so the two sneak into the SECRET weed garden which is the real sanctuary where the super-special crystal glows and strange eggs are sitting waiting for a plot device. Plot device had! We hear a mysterious voice but run back up and get caught by the jaded father who says the eggs were fosils of the army he sealed that killed boy's mother and girl's family and lots of other folks. We get some moody rain and thunder and egads the eggs have hatched! Father runs off to kill. Boy wants to go too, and girl follows. They all get together in the backdoor of the Sanctuary 'cause the orcs were smart enough to break the elevator down but not smart enough to live, and we come to the great climax--the mysterious voice heard earlier! A masked soldier who makes you wonder how he sees throug that metal helm appears from the crystal and cleaves it in two while father tries to stop him only to get cleaved a bit himself. Masked soldier is slightly unmasked and behold the sacred plot device, like Ryudo and Melfice, it's the boy's long lost brother thought to have been dead but now he's crazy as a loon and nova blasting his father to smitherines. Crazy boy leaves, little boy is pissed and in denial, and magic girl comforts him, but crazy boy returns to dump a pile of monsters on our head just because he thinks we should die but forgets we heal automatically when we run away a bit. After the extermination, the boy and girl are given their force frames, 'cause dad and grandma we actually forces but didn't want any of them to know. And now the kind-hearted boy must save the world with his trusty friend by his side, and must kill his crazy brother to avenge their father's death 'cause he could never forgive them.

Yea, I didn't leave town yet.

Though I have to say, looks like I'll be heading for some more hack'n'slashing instead of dialogue that I can read faster than the dub actors from all your favourite old anime dubs. Barf. Where's the language option, Sega? Since porting off to other machines they've forgotten to leave the real tracks in. Oh well, at least the 2D animated cinematics are nice. Not Namco's Tales of quality, but still up there.

I wonder if Shining Tears is better...

Proof that Game Freak doesn't need Pokemon to survive. Been waiting a while for this to come out! The year has gotten off on a good start for games 'cause of this one. Nice to look at AND fun to play, could that be true? The music rocks too. Looks funny sticking out of my DS, though.

Aptly placed under "lol?" I don't know why but I just couldn't stop laughing when I saw this banner on mininova...

There's this new chocolaterie on St-Denis that I gotta go to called Suite 88... I bet the walls are made of chocolate.

Parking in Montreal is always evil, but this is just proof that you're paying the devil. Montreal is really a place to trade your soul for a space to put your car while you shop.

I've been sick with this terrible cold for the past week and busy with work and other things. One of those things is trying to find myself a home to call my own. And I did find one--absolutely everything I could want in a condo that's not in the city but not really in the suburbs and close enough to work that I would only have to fill up 3 times a week, in a nice quite area that's still being built so there aren't even really any street signs up yet--but alas, it was too much for my income. So I'm back on the hunt. Not that I'm in a rush, just that it was really beautiful. It had two skylights, came with an indoor garage even though it was a one bedroom, large-ish rooms for 775 square feet, 9 foot ceilings, hardwood floors... And it was cute too. Even mom said that just like my car, this place said it belonged to me. Well, maybe a rich me...

I have to lower my price range now, to an uber max of 150 but a preferable max of 140. Mom says a two bedroom is an ideal, since I have a lot of stuff and it would be easier to resell, but YOU try to find a two bedroom that's not in Montreal North for under 150. (That's 150 000$, by the way). Best I can find is off island... I'm far enough as it is from work. There was one in Lachine (also a one-bedroom) for 135 but parking was outside, which sucks but if it's not the street then I'll deal with it. Another in St-Laurent starts at 130 but I don't think they've been built yet (3 1/2 with garage, but it's a building type as well, and I'm not very keen on buildings). Apparently with the surge in condo construction, the prices are supposed to drop somewhat. Meh, we'll see what happens.

So I'm bored tonight. I typed my name in google and found some interesting things. My name appears in the credit for Asphalt 2 (which I think the only thing I did that appeared in the game was a few icons and maybe some sparks). Ghost Recon... Seems to be N-Gage manuals. Guess no one makes manuals for regular phone games. Another thing that pops up (besides dead websites) is the old fan made tribute to Hayden "Inside Your Eyes" that a guy I traded music with a few times organized. I did the song "Tragedy" and drew some art for it. Man, it was so long ago but I remember every bit of it. The cover drawing was like that 'cause I hated the way I drew the bottom half of Hayden's face, but hey it all worked out in the end! The song was recorded oddly too. I don't have any mixing equipment or anything fancy, and just used a my old boom box. I sang one 'track' in the laundry room, I recorded the piano part while playing that recording on the living room stereo, then finished it off by re-playing that recording in the bathroom while singing the rest. One track is a recording of the electricity running through my electric guitar. I think a few planes flew by too. It's kind of creepy and grainy... There's some pretty good stuff on the CD too (printed on one of the first CD burners ever!) and Hayden himself got a copy of it. It's all pretty rough too which is pretty close to how he does his albums (though I bet with better equipment ;D) Ahh... I remember his concert. That was a good concert too, the one I saw at Cafe Campus. I stole the advertising poster from the hall afterwards which is still on my wall.

By the way, Benylin is awesome.