Forget hoverboards. Where is my colony on the moon and moving sidewalks? They promised me a colony on the moon and moving sidewalks. I clearly remember my teacher in first grade telling me that by the time I was thirty we'd have these things. Why can't I live on the moon yet?

I sincerely hope we don't go the Back to the Future fashion route though. I just re-watched that movie and...wow. Just wow.

Seriously, though, science is making huge leaps and bounds in what is possible and what we expect. I have no idea where we go. The fact that we're  making laws about robotic sentience-I'm not kidding, look it up, there are several countries currently drafting laws about how to handle the possibility now that an android managed to pass the Turing test-makes me a bit worried though. 

Edit: Just a little rewording, as I realized I used the word seriously about seven times in the original post. XD

I hadn't realized they'd censored that either. Odd. 

Censorship is stupid. Stop trying to protect me from things that won't hurt me. As a kid I had an uncle who swore like a sailor. It didn't bother me and it didn't affect the way I grew up or the kind of person I am today. It was just words, funny at the time but eh.

As for censoring other things in music-like the gun example above-again, it's just stupid. The ones who care won't be listening to that song anyway, and the ones who are listening to that song get annoyed. No one wins. 

Oh, gosh, we play a lot of table-top games at my house. Cards-we love go-fish for when we're just goofing off (but always the collect-four version) and cribbage when we're more serious. War is the ultimate 'brain-dead' game. And we have a set of Monty Python and the Holy Grail cards we whip out sometimes to play. 

Board games-we play Scrabble, Monopoly (we have the Star Wars version), Life (we have the Simpsons version!), Clue (also the Simpsons version, but I'm going to get my mom the Big Bang Theory version for her birthday, shhh!) Scattergories, Yahtzee, Connect Four, Battleship, Chinese Checkers, Sorry (we have this really neat board my grandfather made for me-he carved a wooden board with marble holes, painted it by hand, and varnished the whole thing. We use those decorative plant marbles with the slightly flattened side instead of real marbles). 

We still play D&D every now and then (but we've radically redesigned the rules to make it more 'video-game' style, like not bothering to pay attention to how much stuff we have in our inventory and not counting arrows, cause it's just more fun. Purists please refrain from yelling at me, mmkay?) 

Arby's! Roast beef sandwiches? Really? And what the heck is 'horsey sauce'? I'll tell you what it is-disgusting! (Yes, I know, it's horseradish, but it tastes weird and there's something in there that's just off). And I'm sorry, but the meat is gross. If that's what comes of slicing it in-store, I'd rather have it pre-packaged. Rubbery, dry and tasteless, that's what I had on my last sandwich. The only thing that made it tolerable was the Au-juice sauce and even that was salty and overpowering. And please, please get some regular fries? Those curly things are crunchy, over-spiced and leave a nasty taste in my mouth. I hadn't gone to an Arby's for about five years, and I decided on a whim to try it again one day. Now I know why I wasn't going there. Totally unimpressed. 

I'd have to choose between two, because it depends on what I'm wanting. For french fries (a big no-no on my diabetic diet, alas), I must always go to McDonalds. I love their french fries-they're so bad they're good. Reminds me of my childhood, I suppose. Especially when they're not fresh. I know it's probably weird, but I love them when they've been sitting for a bit under the heat lamp. 

The other place I love to go is Taco John's, because their meat and potato burrito is soooo good. It's just a big pile of meat and potato, no fancy stuff (lettuce? Who needs veg on my burrito!). The crunchy, salty potato oles squished in the beans and meat...mmm. 

Ok, now I'm hungry. Darn it.

Oatmeal. It's oa..tm..e...

Oh, fine. I can't even lie in text format, darn it. Gotta keep trying though. 'Oatmeal is good for you. Oatmeal is good for you. EAT THE OATMEAL!'

My favorite breakfast food is eggs, lightly scrambled, with cheddar cheese and mushrooms and onions smothered in salsa. We call it 'dirty scramble' (because we literally make it all in the same pan) and it does NOT look all that attractive) and we eat it for dinner sometimes too. It's best if you have time to saute fresh mushrooms and onions in a little butter, but even canned shrooms are good if you're in a hurry. You can add sausage or ham or bacon to it for protein too. Add some toast and your morning beverage of choice and you're good to go. 

Dfsg: LOL I have to take a weekly shot, but it seems to be doing pretty good. I'm getting better at the 'rules' but it's so haaaard. CHOCOLATE GOD I'M SURROUNDED BY CHOCOLATE ARGGHGHGHGH

*cough* Anyway....

I have heard of flax seed-does it really taste that bad? I heard you're supposed to like, grind it up and sprinkle it on stuff. One of the books I read said it expanded in your stomach and made you feel like you've eaten more than you actually have. 

Oh, and on the subject of artificial sweeteners-DON'T. I did some research and it's terrible! Most of them have the worst side-effects. Like, horrible intestinal bloating and gas and nausea. I'm shocked that so few people notice it. Maybe it doesn't affect everyone that way, but I don't want to even try it. My dietitian said to stay away from pretty much anything labeled 'sugar-free' or 'low calorie' because all they did was take out the sugar and stuff a bunch of chemical additives to it. Blegh. 

Dfsg : Thank you for your reply!

Yeah I've been trying. Breakfast is difficult because I just don't want to eat then. But eggs and ham sounds pretty good actually. And not too hard to cook. The thing about forcing oatmeal down is that it's not just good for you, it's actually really good for diabetics period-something about helping your body regulate insulin. Maybe a cup of oatmeal and a little omelet? Best of both worlds?

I tried agave nectar. I don't know why but I remember not liking it. I'll maybe give it another shot now though. 

As for fruit, I try to get it when I can but it's expensive off-season. Canned fruit is loaded with sugar and frozen fruit is nearly as expensive as the fresh. And I recently found out that dried fruit is bad for you? Not sure why yet, gotta look more into that.

rebelyell : I don't think the point of his (her?) original post was that they personally disliked violent games. At least, that's not what I got out of it. It felt more like faithfighter's point was that violent video games are harming our culture and our youths.

Not that I really agree with that point, I just wanted to point that out.

Unfortunately, I don't really think it would matter, or would have mattered, if we toned down violence in video games (and as has been pointed out, in movies, in books, in...the evening news?) Our culture is in a period of decline; it's history, repeating itself. Civilizations rise, peak and fall. 

As for kids copying what they see/play/hear, I agree with that...but only to a point. My childhood was spent swinging big sticks at my friends and pretending to decapitate them-we played knights and dragons a lot.(and I can promise you I never saw that in any movie or game!) ..and shooting my friends with pretend guns (Indians and cowboys, natch)

But I was also raised to be a morally upright person (without the...er, 'benefit'...of religion, thank you) and I know that killing is morally wrong. So my childhood of pretend violence and mayhem really didn't have a big impact on me as an adult. I believe that if you're raised right and aren't some kind of psychopath or sociopath from birth that things like that won't really affect you.

I actually think some of the violence and gore in video games and movies is a good outlet. Take out your frustrations on the other guy on the screen and soothe the urge to punch that annoying jerk at the office in the face. Imagine those guys you're sniping are the customers who drove you insane during the day and manage to avoid the nearly overwhelming desire to slap each and every one of their faces at work. See? Stress relief, and no one gets hurt.

That doily is beautiful. You SHOULD be proud of it!

Ok, so. Things this year has taught me.

1) Take care of myself better. Ending up in the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack kind of made me realize that I wasn't taking the best care of myself. Stress, smoking and just life in general had gotten away from me, and I had let a lot of things slide, health-wise. I'm not a kid anymore; I don't heal up the way I used to and I need to start paying more attention to what my body is telling me. 

1A) Oatmeal is delicious. That's a lie, but I have to keep trying to tell myself that because...it's good for me.

2) Appreciate the people you have, because they won't always be there. I lost my wonderful grandfather this year. We knew it was coming (he was 93) but it was still a horrible jolt when he died. I think about the things I didn't do all the time now-things I always meant to ask him but didn't get around to. Things I meant to do with him but never made the time. All the times I blew him off or was too 'busy' to spend time with him. I hope he realizes how much I loved him and appreciated him and I miss him so bad. I would give a lot to be able to go back and just hang out with him for an afternoon again. He was a major influence in my life and helped me to become the person I am today. I know he was proud of me, because he made sure to tell me. I hope I told him enough how proud I was of him too.

3) That being said, sometimes it's better to just step away. Certain members of my extended family and I have always had a tumultuous relationship, but hey. Family. Y'know, stick together no matter what, to the bitter end, no matter the cost. Right? Well, I finally figured out that sometimes the answer to that question is No. Just no. To loose a family member hurts, yes, but to loose all the drama, unhappiness, bitterness, disappointment and heartache that came along with it....that is good.  

Overall this hasn't been a very good year. We're all looking forward to the New Year. Hopefully we can start off on a good foot and make the next year a bit better.

Oh, and 4) Keep posting at Vizzed!  I missed you guys! I don't know why I wandered off but I'm not leaving again. Darn it. 

jack3604 : I don't think that's stupid. When I was swimming (just a bit in high school) I never could wear a cap either. I don't really know why, I just didn't like it. And only about half of the guys on my team wore one unless they were being forced to wear one. So don't worry, you're not alone in that!

I don't really like getting my hair done either, but then I don't really like people I don't know touching me. Plus they always seem to forget there's a PERSON attached to all that hair; one took a razor and razor cut it so it would be blended well-I liked the way it looked but it hurt my skull, the way she was jerking my head around. I honestly had tears in my eyes when she finished, and I don't cry in public. Ever. 

The worst experience I had was when I went to this cosmetology school. They offer super cheap haircuts done by students. I don't have a really fussy or elaborate style; I have the asian poof hair, and it's not that hard to cut really. So I figured, what the heck, give them some experience. The student actually did a fairly good job, as far as I could tell-I was good with it. Then the teacher came around, started fluffing up my hair, and grabbed a pair of scissors and started snipping, telling the student she needed to be more careful, even, yadayada. Long story short, she cut like another half an inch of hair off my head, left me looking like a...well, kind of like this:

  obviously not me, but that's about the look on my face when the teacher stepped away.

I have to say I'm a recent newcomer to the whole Deadpool experience...and I've seen the test footage and it looks hilarious. I just hope they don't tone it down too much. I mean, c'mon, we can take it. Deadpool fans are (hopefully?) adults. Give us the fourth-wall breaking and the random carnage and the complete weirdness. Otherwise don't bother. 

As to if I'll see it in the theaters, it depends on the trailers that come out closer to the actual movie. 

Bah Humbug.



I liked and commented.



(And I Really Don't Hate Christmas...)


(In case you don't get the reference...)

I love Mario. Everyone knows that, or at least, they should by now. So I'm always on the lookout for a new Mario Hack to play. And I've played a lot of them....most of them ok. Not good, but not bad, just...ok. And I've played some that were just...oh, god, terrible. And then I've played some that were just so odd and inexplicable they left me staring at the screen in bewilderment.

It was nice to finally find one that did it right.

This game doesn't try too hard. It doesn't try to pack a lot of different Mario games into one and then blend them so they don't look strange. It doesn't amp up the difficulty to tear-your-hair-out range just so it can be 'different' than the other hacks. It doesn't just take a level and change the colors and call it a new hack.

What it does is take the familiar, time-honored elements of Super Mario World, mix them up, and add a few new, surprising twists. And what it gives you is a solid, satisfying, playable game who's only real problem is not being long enough.

The 'demo' only goes through castle 5. Which was really unfortunate; I would have loved to play more. 

If you loved the original Super Mario Brothers, I guarantee* that you're going to enjoy this one.

*Not an actual guarantee. Just a very strong feeling.

ON TO THE NUMBERS!

 Graphics: 10
True to the original game almost completely, with a few color-swap monsters and some color-tweaking on areas. Nothing too weird and in fact, in a couple of places, the color-swaps were actually pretty cool. (See: The lake of Hot Chocolate.)


Sound: 1
I hate to give this a bad score anywhere, but this demo has no sound? There is a version with custom sounds, but this is the one I started playing on. Not terrible, but I can't give it points for something it doesn't have. That wouldn't be fair.


Addictiveness: 8
I give this about the same rating I'd give the original game. Pretty fairly additive, and I finished the whole demo, which for me is pretty unusual. 

Story: 7
I'm not sure I completely understand the story. Princess Peach is working with Bowser to princess-block Mario's old 'friend' Rosalina? Did Rosalina hit on Mario? Was Mario interested back? What does Bowser get out of the deal? Does he think it will help him with Peach? It seems a bit lacking, but then, we haven't gotten to see the end of the story yet either, so maybe that would fill it out a bit. It's not like Peach has shown much interest in actually having a date with Mario-anyone remember the scene from Super Mario Sunshine in which she pretty much says 'no but thank you' at the end there? ...or was that just my interpretation? ANYWAY...the story is a bit slapped on, but then again, this is a Mario game, so it's always a bit shallow. See Bowser, kick Bowser's tail is usually the general gist of things.

Depth: 8
Great depth. Secret paths, switch blocks, and a path to the star bridge (not finished yet, I assume, because you could open it but not actually use the star bridge). The secret ways are tricky to find sometimes but not impossible and the alternate routes are usually entertaining to find. Again, taking into account the general shallowness of Mario story lines in general, this game has a lot of play and even the shortish demo wasn't a quickie game-play through. 

Difficulty: 8
On average this game is about the same difficulty as the original. Maybe a bit trickier in a few spots-there were definitely a few areas that had me going ARGH and having to stop and ponder my strategy. On the other hand, I had 99 lives fairly quickly, so it evened out. There are no impossible areas, no crazy pin-point accuracy jumps, and no monster-spam like I've seen in so many other Mario hacks, which is really nice. If you can play the original game you can play this one.

Overall: 8
Except for the music and the fact that it's not finished, this game really doesn't have any flaws. No bugs, no crazy moments of insane difficulty, no odd mismatched graphics issues, no hopeless hidden keys...if you were a fan of the original Super Mario World and you want something new but not new, I highly recommend this game. The twisty English can be a bit hilarious in spots, but that is just a cute dimple. Everything else is well-thought out, imaginative and highly enjoyable.

Wow, all the lingual talent on the board knocks me out.

Uh, I can swear in six languages. Does that count?

I can get along in Spanish (broken, but I can make myself understood and generally get the gist of what the other person is saying) and I can speak a very small bit of Gaelic and Latin. 

Mario! I'm a huge fan of Mario games and I'll try anything with Mario in it (at least once, lol). I think I love the SNES version the best, though.

TitaniumOxide : Thanks for your reply!

As much as I'd love to, moving isn't really an option, lol. That would be so nice...

I'll take your advice on the tea, though. Someone else said that too, but I've never been a tea kind of person (I love coffee, alas). I'll have to look into trying some different teas.

Honey is a good idea too. Super-sweet but it can't be as bad for you as sugar, in moderation, I would assume. 

I'm glad you're eating less salt-that's just as bad for you, they say.

CommanderSauce : It would perhaps be a bit more helpful if you would explain...was that comment directed at me, the review, or the game itself?

...and I'm having a heck of a time finding things that aren't expensive that don't have sugar! It's crazy-I never read the ingredients on things before (I didn't want to KNOW) but now that I have to, I'm pretty shocked. I mean, there are almost literally NO cereals without sugar in them. Rice Crispies? Really? 

I've been doing research and looking around, and I'm not really happy with what I'm finding. Yes, yes, I know, eat more veg. *shudder* I'm working on it. But some of the other advice is confusing.

I've been forcing myself to eat...*shuuuuder* oatmeal....every morning. It is nasty. NASTY. But it's supposedly good for you.

Anyone have any other super-awesome diabetic food? I could use some help varying my diet a bit. Bland chicken and spinach is getting rather old. Keep in mind I live in the middle of bum-fart nowhere. No fish markets, no fresh veg, nothing like that. And I'm poor, so I can't afford to shop at those super-special health food markets.

Also, I appear to be...sensitive...to those fake-sugar additives. So I can't even have no-sugar candy. *sigh*

Seriously, I could use some help guys. Please?

PacmanandMariofan : False! I prefer the regular style better, but I'm not really complaining.

The person below me has a Christmas Tree in their living room all lit up for Santa.