Silent hill shattered memories for october

Even though october isn't until tomorrow, I have already started playing through silent hill shattered memories on my psp in order to get that "halloween" vibe. I have it on the wii and have already beat it about 2 or 3 years ago so there's some deja vu. It is really creepy and plays on a subtle fear of the dark. Sometimes when you open a door you will see a shadow of a child get up and run across the room. No matter how many times you see it, the shadow kid is still disturbing. There are also faint ghostly outlines of people that when you take a pic with your phone they will turn into more "solid" ghosts and give you a back story. I highly recommend you play this game regardless of what system you get it for. It breaks the norm from other silent hill games in that there is no way to attack enemies and you'll randomly come across the "shadow" world. It is also a re-imaging of the first silent hill. After I beat this game I will probably play resident evil 2 or 3 on my psp or resident evil 4 on my wii or resident evil 1 on my ds lite.

My favorite time of the year

Today is the last day of September and tomorrow is the start of the 2014 ALDS. I don't consider the wildcard games as playoffs even it they officially are counted as such by MLB. The weather is cooler and the skies are cloudier, even the stores smell different. I am a diehard angels fan so I will be watching today's wildcard game to see who the opponent for tomorrow will be. I prefer the angels face the royals but the A's would be alright too. 

How I got my nintendo 64

Ever since the n64 debuted in 1996 I really wanted one and the game super mario 64. Every time I went to sears or best buy I would play the n64 on the kiosk setup. The system was on a timer that would reset itself after about 15 minutes so kids wouldn't hogg it all day. I still remember the "thank you for playing nintendo 64 now whose next?" from mario. One kid even told me a rumor he heard that there was a secret door in the first bowser room that would let you bypass the hole in the floor. I still search for that door today out of habit. Best buy used to have a huge screen above the kiosk that was visible to everyone within the store and in the parking lot(it was that big). I haven't found any pictures of that giant display online but I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers it.




I had a subscription to nintendo power from 1998 to 2000 for some strange reason. I only had a gameboy pocket and they covered the n64 a lot. That magazine made me crave the game banjo kazooie to the point where I associate the year 1998 with my lust for that game. I had a friend that lived close to me and in 1997 I would go to his house often to play super mario 64 which is a pretty bad reason to keep a friend if you ask me. My dad also rented me a n64 in 1997 from hollywood and diddy kong racing. I had the system for 5 days and I was in little kid heaven the whole time.

I finally got my n64 in june 2002 at this video rental store called sj video(which currently is in the rental store in the sky). They were getting rid of their old inventory to clear the way for the new generation of systems and DVDs. I got the n64 for $60 and it came with 2 grey controllers. It was the system the owner would use to test out games and he didn't play it or rent it out. I was as happy as this kid. The first game I bought was super mario 64 and banjo kazooie. I could not believe I was the proud owner of a nintendo 64. To make things even better, kb toys was sadly going out of business and they had n64 games for cheap sometimes as much as 90% off. I got banjo tooie and the guide to accompany it and kobe bryant's nba courtside 2. At gamestop I got mario kart 64 and diddy kong racing and space station silicon valley and mario party 3.

Sadly I sold my cherished n64 in 2010 because I realized I could play most of my games on the wii. I did keep one controller though. I still use that controller to play n64 games on a wii (with an adapter) and it is better then then actual n64. The one game I wish I could play is banjo tooie but I figure it's for the best as it is very time consuming to beat. Hopefully this post gives you a warm fuzzy feeling

Derek Jeter

Yes I am a huge baseball fan and even though I am a big angels fan I am also sad that derek jeter is going to be playing his last game tomorrow. He has been in the MLB ever since I could remember even my childhood nintendo power magazines have him on the back cover. Seriously, he's in half of the back covers of video game magazines in 1998 due to him being the cover boy of allstar baseball. It is also weird that another 90's player is retiring. The only ones I can think of that made their debuts in the 90's and are still playing are: torii hunter and joe nathan and jason giambi and raul ibanez and bartolo colon. I'll miss him and the yankees will look even more weird without andy pettitte or mariano rivera or derek jeter. I believed that he would retire in 2016 or 17 and then become a hitting coach. I have a timer set on my tv for his final game tomorrow and I will surely get something in my eye during the game similar to mariano's last game.

Retro saturdays and a 500SL ad

Technically it's a chrysler lebaron ad but the 500SL over shadows it. It's from 1992 and the base price of the 500SL was 89K. Keep in mind this was in 1992 money which is about 116K today. Nowadays you can find a well maintained 500SL in the 7-13K range so imagine how the guy that bought one new must feel. The 500SL still has presence and mystique and is still a head turner

Retro fridays and orbitz soda

In case you need a refresher or you are too young to remember it. Orbitz is a soda filled with small balls that float similar to a lava lamp. They tasted pretty good if you ate 1 or 2 at a time but if you chugged them all then it would feel like eating flour. Obviously I liked them for the floating balls and not the taste since they tasted alright. I do wish this soda would make a comeback because I don't want to play $30+ on ebay for a bottle. For some reason these remind me of the stonewood mall in downey. That's probably because every time I went to that mall I would get one and a raven's candy testtube

Retro fridays and facetime in 1992

Yes it was around back then although not many people had it. Apple didn't invent facetime. It would have blown my mind to actually see who I am talking to and the phone looks like a polaroid camera

Almost time for october baseball(my favorite time of the year)

My favorite part of the year is october first because the weather usually cools down and temps stay in the 60s-70s. It is also the end of the regular season and time for the MLB playoffs to start. For some reason the games feel like they have a slight chill to them maybe it's because of the playoff pressure. I root for the angels ever since I was 4 years old so this year it will be extra sweet after 4 seasons of no playoffs. I have found memories of the 2002 and 2004 playoffs. The 2002 because the angels won when they were expected to not even make the ALDS. The 2004 because of the ALCS. I really thought the yankees were going to seep the red sox and win the world series but then boston came back. I remember each game ending late even here on the west coast. It was an almost magical feeling to see boston win the world series. Lately the playoffs have been dominated by the rangers then by the tigers even if they haven't won a world series. Hopefully this is the year we have a freeway world series. I haven't forgotten about derek jeter which I will talk about in a future blog post

The wonder years 41-44

First up is episode 41 of the series. It's tax time in the arnold house and everyone has a role during that period. Norma's is to keep the receipts organized and in a safe place. She loses them and doesn't tell jack but then again neither does anyone else. She keeps making excuses to keep jack from doing the taxes until everyone hears the news of the apollo 13 mission. Norma goes to church while kevin follows her and he realizes that there are bigger problems then worrying about tax receipts. He has a subplot about having to write an obituary for school and he has a hard time coming up with material until he see's his mom in church. This episode felt like filler and I don't even remember the ending. I think norma told jack and he said it was alright and they made up.

The 2nd episode i saw also felt like a filler episode. Paul is trying out for the school baseball team and kevin is giving him pointers. The coach likes the cut of kevin's jib so he lets him take a few swings. Kevin gets a base hit that would easily be a double in a normal game so the coach adds him to the team. Apparently in the 60's you only had to hit the ball far to make a team. Kevin isn't as good as the hit would lead you to believe, he can't play his position very well or put the ball in play. He keeps expecting to be cut but somehow he survives every elimination round. He finds out that his coach is his dad's old war buddy so in his mind he is on the team because his coach owes his life to jack. One day during a game, kevin see's his name crossed off the team meaning he wasn't getting favorites. Unfortunately for him, this is when he decides to have a good game as he hits a home run and he pretends he's bobby thomson of the new york giants of '61. Yes even winnie and paul are there to see the homerun.

The 3rd episode I saw I feel I can relate to it a lot and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Kevin ask's his math teacher how he is doing in the class. He isn't doing so well so Mr. Collins offers to tutor him after school to get his grades up. Kevin takes him up on his offer and we see the 2 of them spending time while Mr. Collins also gives kevin some life lessons. Kevin is happy and his grade improves because he feels like his teacher believes in him. Things go bad when Mr.Collins has to miss a week but he reassures kevin he will be back in time for the mid term exam. Kevin lets Mr.Collins know he saw him as a friend and how he believed in him while Mr.Collins only replies with "I'm just a teacher". On the day of the test kevin is still upset so he botches it on purpose. On monday, kevin is looking to have a talk with Mr.Collins but a sub informs him that he passed away from heart failure which is why he missed a week. He tells him that Mr.Collins must have lost his test since he can't find it. Kevin has to do it again only this time he realizes that Mr. Collins believes in him. Encouraged by this, he hands it in and says "you don't need to grade it, it's an A" and on his way out he see's the spirit of Mr.Collins.  I feel like some teachers in my life have effected me even if they don't realize it.

The 4th episode I saw was about a list the girls made. They picked things such as best hair and best eyes and brainest, things a 13 year old girl would write. Anyways paul is voted brainiest and while he is ranting about it to kevin, norma overhears him and mentions that he "is very handsome". Paul spends more and more time with norma and he even invites her to the opera. Meanwhile kevin is upset with paul "dating" his mom especially when the boys make their own list and paul nominates norma for best smile. Kevin is even more frustrated when the other guys agree with paul. In the end norma lets paul down gently after their "date" and things go back to normal

Fall back down by rancid

Back when tony hawk's underground 2 came out for the ps2 I would play it online every night. I kept it up for about 8 months or so. The one song that stuck with me is fall back down by rancid. The singer(tim armstrong) wrote it about his best friends helping him through a tough time in his life(his wife brody dalle divorcing him). I listened to it on and off since 2004 to get through some tough times in life. I feel like the chorus applies to me and I can get back up when I fall back down

current life progress

In case your wondering, I haven't received a call back from any of the places I applied at. It is frustrating since buffalo wild wings opened recently and I really wanted to work there. Oh well I'll just keep trying at other places such as the 99 cents store. I been busy with homework in 3 of my classes.

Retro fridays and scrambled tv

Growing up without cable this was a familiar sight for me on my 20 inch tv. This was also a familiar site if you attempted to watch the spice channel. I have verizon fios so my reception is great and I haven't experienced static since 2006. Sometimes I feel like connecting the ol' rabbit ears to my tv just for the nostalgia of turning the knob in frustration and moving the "ears" just right in order to get a few minutes of a clear picture then having to get up 15 minutes later to repeat the same chore

Road rage video shot near downtown la

Ok I'll start off with the link to the video so you can see for yourself what happens. I think it takes place on the 60 or the 5 (it's been awhile since I been on the freeway in that area) and you can see the skyscrapers of downtown la in the background. I find it really hard to believe a grown man can act like this. If you can't see the video or prefer not to watch it, a man has a camera in his car and a guy in a tan corolla gets mad for no reason. I assume he got mad because the camera car was not stuck in traffic. The corolla driver then violently cuts him off and brake checks him and even hangs out of the door still. The craziest move is when he gets out of his car in the middle of traffic. I also forgot that he also comes to a complete stop when he has a clear path just to get the camera car to stop. He almost rams him from the side a few times. I don't know what causes someone to just terrorize an innocent driver, saying he has mental problems or is having a bad day just seems like a crutch for his behavior. The corolla driver got really lucky since a car could have merged when he was busy tormenting the camera car or when he got out or when he came to a complete stop. Hopefully the cops find this guy before he comes across someone that wont put up with his act or he causes a big pileup.

Retro sundays and pokemon blue

I have lots of fond memories with pokemon blue. I first got it in 1999 during super bowl 33(broncos against the falcons). I could have sworn I got it 1 or 2 months after it came out but I was wrong. Anyways I remember the superbowl because me and my dad were at best buy and of course the game was on all the tvs(we went during half time) and every employee was watching. A funny thing happened when the manager came by to check on everyone. All the employees scattered like cockroaches and some even ran. I vividly remember playing gex for months before I got pokemon blue. I hyped myself up a lot from nintendo power and other magazines but mainly NP. They had pokemon power pull outs that were mini guides scaled down to monthly morsels. Looking at the guides(which I still have) I would plan out who I would pick as my first pokemon and who would be my 2nd and 3rd and so on. I imagined my team would destroy all comers with my high level pokemon. At times I couldn't take the waiting(I was saving my money to buy it) so I attempted to make my own maps of the kanto cities with computer paper.


With meager drawing skills I decided to just use my pokemon power guides instead. The faithful superbowl day I literally could not sleep the night before. I was very lucky to get the last copy(red was sold out) and on the drive home I was wishing my dad drove a little bit faster although reading the manual did help pass the time(remember those?). We got home at night and since I had a gameboy pocket I had to use a table lamp that casts a pretty big glare. I could not believe I was finally playing this game and it was all mine. Every day for the next few months I would play before and after school and sometimes during school such as lunch. That game ruled the playground as the current big thing. I battled and traded with my friends(who I am still friends with to this day) after school and we all discussed various rumors such as the truck by the S.S. Anne and the grass in pallet town. Our imaginations would go crazy with all stories we heard from a cousin or friend who works at nintendo. Some of us even tried to impress girls by turning up the volume of the battle music but they weren't really into the games.

One day I was at a party at my cousin's house when a partygoer(he was my age) asked me if I liked pokemon and if he can show me a cool trick. No it was not sexual, he showed me the missingo clone items trick and from that moment on. I could not unlearn it and I felt like having an unlimited amount of anything in that game was a perversion beyond what my child brain could comprehend. At little bit later on word got around in the playground that you can clone a pokemon by using a glitch during trading. That spread like crying kids and eventually I got the majority of the pokedex filled out this way.

As we got older we lost interest in the games and moved onto trying to get a girlfriend or trying to see a girl's boobs like most kids do as we go through puberty. (there was a girl in our class that would get with guys just to flash them but that is another story). I played my pokemon blue on and off but I never forgot about it. I still have my super bowl edition copy and I recently had to start a new game because I wanted to re-experience that part of my childhood. It still works great although I fear the battery may die anytime soon therefore erasing all my data. I still have the same extreme green gameboy pocket as back then so the nostalgia is pretty powerful. I really wish we didn't have to grow up and grow old and I would give anything to time travel but alas I'll just play my pokemon blue while never forgetting the memories a simple game can provide

Retro sundays and taco bell nintendo 64 toys

Back in 1997 taco bell came out with nintendo 64 toys and I am sure I'm not the only one that still remembers these toys. Me and my brother always got the pyramid or the donkey kong tree maze. One time we got the star fox shooter which was a huge disappointment. The one I really wanted was the mario kart 64 joystick but I really think it is just a maze. I still have some of them around in storage but it goes to show you the powerful connections that fast food companies have with kids and how they can ingrain themselves in your mind. Yeah that was a pretty bad mental image.

Retro fridays and the 1994 mustang

Since fridays are more retro then thursdays I thought I post about the 1994 mustang. It was the mustang that got rid of the boxy styling and ushered in some curves. Looking at this ad, this is from a time when all car manufacturers took the pictures with the headlights of the car on. This only makes the car look dated. I would love to have a mustang from this year although with a beefed up engine or possibly a stroker engine since I feel like the mustang gt is too underpowered compared to today's cars

Retro fridays and mercedes benz 500 SL

To me this car is THE 90's car. It reeks of old and new rich. I remember when they were new they were extremely hard to spot because they cost 99k in 1992 and keep in mind this is in 1992 money. It is almost sad how much you can buy a well maintained one nowadays. It still has huge presence on the road. It was a MB back when they over built a car before the C class was invented and lowered the quality bar. I hope to own one eventually even if it is only for a short time because keeping it might bankrupt me

Retro fridays and virtual pets

Im sure that lots of you remember the virtual pet fad from the 90's. I used to have 2 giga pets(salem and a dog I got from a box of cheerios) and about 4 generic pets and a mortal kombat giga fighter. I never did own a tamagotchi although I did want one. The box made it look ten times cooler then what it was. I remember it was $9.99 at kb toys and giga pets were $5.99 so you can see why I never owned one. Just looking at a tamagotchi box takes me back to 1996 and kb toys. I miss that store

The wonder years 38-40

The first 2 episodes I saw felt like they were filler as a way to pad the episode listing and for kevin to learn a lesson for the sake of learning something. I was watching them while half paying attention.

Anyways the 1st episode I saw is about kevin's friend getting the "talk" and kevin wondering when his dad will give him the "talk". Jack conveniently has a week off from work so he bothers norma by trying to fix every little thing around the house. To keep him occupied, she suggests he build a treehouse with kevin. You can see why I didn't pay much attention. The arnold men get to work and things go swimmingly until the neighbor lady attends her garden. They both can see her cleavage but jack holds off on the "talk" and they ignore her while they go back to work. One day norma decides to check up on them and she realizes what they see. Yes this episode has pretty stiff pacing. At the end we see that norma invited the neighbor and she mentions how big her tomatoes while also heavily implying innuendo. Jack decides that kevin is too old for a tree house(he was 13) so the episode just ends. 

The 2nd episode was about the school's glee club. Kevin's normal music teacher decides to hand the class over to a perky teacher in training named miss haycock. Kevin's class is full of horrible singers and one kid that doesn't open his mouth at all. They all have to perform at the recital but kevin tries to get miss haycock to realize how bad they all are and to get out of it. She bursts into tears because she had high hopes for them all. The kid who never talks(named warren) randomly bursts into a song and he has a heavenly voice. Everyone decides to use him as a secret weapon at the recital because of his amazing voice. When the big day comes like most 13 year old boys, his voice changes and the song is a disaster.

The 3rd episode I saw was centered around kevin and winnie. Apparently they are a couple again(I think this is the 2nd time so far) and they get invited to a robbie hudson party(popular older boy) who only hosts parties for couples and is known as the place to be. At first kevin and winnie weren't going to go but kevin falls for winnie's peer pressure. At the party kevin is relived when he realizes the party is pretty tame and he even starts to enjoy himself. Things become confusing when kevin and winnie are picked to go into the makeout room. Winnie decides not to kiss kevin who is confused because he thinks winnie doesn't like him or maybe his breath smells or other things that must be racing through his 13 year old mind. Later that night at home, winnie shows up at kevin's window and calls him her boyfriend. They go out on a walk(times sure were different) and she kisses him pretty passionately. Kevin realizes that winnie did want to kiss him but she was waiting for the right moment and that love got a little less confusing. 
It is weird how noticeably taller winnie is compared to kevin. I know girls develop faster at that age but she is always looking down at him and he is always at an angle to her to make the height difference seem non existent. I'm not sure what kevin sees in winnie since all she does is play games with him and cause him trouble and heart ache but I think he only wants her for her kisses. Also when we have our first gf we build her up more then what she is especially when we look back at the past

Garfunkel and oates

Anyone watch this show? I started watching it about 2 weeks ago because I was bored. I used to assume it was a wannabe hipster show but it has some depth. I have seen the garfinger and butts adult actors spoof and the one where kate and riki decide not to talk at all on their dates. I love the deadpan delivery especially by kate. I always wondered why she dumped raj on the big bang theory then she didn't show up anymore but now I know. It is also nice to see some women comedians. I highly recommend you watch it daily on IFC

Sept 11 is coming up soon

It is this thursday in case your wondering. I really hope that ISIS does not decide to attack the U.S. as some sort of messed up "tribute". I was in school during the time of the attacks and I could only listen to the news on the radio that teachers would bring out. I was incredibly confused over how someone can do this. When I got home all the channels were about the attacks(I didn't have cable). I spent a good amount of time wondering why a bearded man was behind these attacks. I vividly remember playing tony hawk's proskater 2 on my ps1 then getting frustrated that for about 4 days the only thing on tv was news about the attacks. If you want to know something weird, I took a trip to mexico by airplane in late july 2001 and came back in mid august. I remember how easy and quick it was to get by security and how the general public can go all the way to the boarding gates. Of course things have changed. It's hard to believe it's going to be 13 years already

Retro saturdays and 90's fashion

Look how 90's their clothes are. I would wear every single thing in this picture. Especially the green or pink bugle boy shirts and the pants. Look how high up they are and how square the sunglasses are. It's too bad clothes like this is really hard to find even at thrift stores and yard sales. It's almost like people burned their early 90's clothes

Retro saturdays and creepy crawlers

When I was little, the commercials for creepy crawlers used to come on the screen fairly often. Of course I did want a bug making oven however it was $19.99 so my parents didn't buy me one. 2 weeks ago I was at savers when I came upon one that was in great condition for $5.99. So............................I didn't buy it because I assumed my 8 year old self would appreciate it a lot more

Busy with school

In case your wondering why I don't update as frequently as I used to, well I am pretty busy with school. I have classes on tuesdays, thursdays and fridays(friday is a 8am to 2:15 pm class). I also have classes online that make up the bulk of my homework. I spend most of my time on the computer just working on homework. I'll try to watch the wonder years every now and then but my days of watching 4 or 5 episodes are over until december. Right now I am ahead in 2 of my classes but I work hard to not fall behind while also starting strong

Starbucks and the ghetto latte

Ok I came across this when I was searching for reasons why it is really rare to see a starbucks in the 'hood. Personally I have yet to see someone make one but I'm sure the day will come and I will heckle them for being cheap and the baristas will secretly thank me. When I go to panera bread I get an iced coffee and add creamer and sugar to it however I fill it up about 6/8 of the way with coffee and the rest with sugar. I mostly do it because I like milk in my coffee not because I'm trying to make a budget latte. The main difference is that I don't add a half cup of half and half to my coffee. Now I have a strong urge to get an iced coffee from panera bread

The wonder years 35-37

The first episode I saw was jack's dad(kevin's grandpa) coming to the arnold house to visit while also bringing presents like most grandparents. He gives kevin a puppy which jack disagrees with. The majority of this episode is spent seeing jack and grandpa arnold argue over any little thing. Jack eventually see's that the dog is what the arnold family needs so he lets kevin keep him which kevin names buster.

The 2nd episode I saw was part 1 of a 2 part episode. Paul gets dumped by his girlfriend carla which bums him out and makes him a buzzkill at school. Kevin talks to winnie to ask paul out on a date as a way to get his confidence up. This backfires when paul starts liking winnie which also makes kevin jealous. Winnie eventually lets paul down easily after 3 dates saying she still likes kevin but not to tell him that. Kevin figures it out from paul's expression and goes to winnie's house to tell her the good news. She (like most women) complicates matters when she says she never wants to talk to him again and slams the door on him. This episode encapsulates love at any age perfectly. It is confusing even though both people may know what they want. 

The 3rd episode picks up from the previous one. The next day kevin is going to drop off a please forgive me valentine in winnie's locker however he accidentally leaves it in becky slater's locker. Becky confronts kevin and she is willing to kevin him another chance, not wanting to complicate things further, kevin tells her it was meant for winnie and he has no feelings for her. Becky of course gets really mad and tries to run over kevin after school on her bike. Cupid(played by kevin's real life brother and future corey matthews, ben savage) gets in her way and she falls in front of a guy and then it's love at first sight. Kevin confesses his true feelings to winnie and she admits her feelings for him then they tenderly hold hands.  I had to add, the whole winnie cooper having her own guitar theme song everytime she comes on screen is starting to get weird and distracting