'Got to play a friend's Starfox Command last week; 'decided i'd pass for now (( It's bound to end up in Circuit City's bargain bin after the holidays )).  So, here's what i ultimately decided on ...


Okami is just BEAUTIFUL; it's like playing a watercolor painting... which is about 9 thousand times more fun-er than it sounds, if you can imagine :D  'Definitely one of the stronger PS2 titles this year and a step in the right direction design-wise.   I'm not very far into it; but I'm having a gool 'ol time breaking into villager's homes, digging holes in their bedrooms and breaking all their priceless family heirlooms.   'Only complaint at this point is the bug / guide talks too damn much.  Shutup and let me figure shit out on my own, geez!! ... he gives away too many hints IN BOLD RED LETTERS.

Cooking Mama is bland and not very challenging. 'Storyline is non-existent...and that's a huge downfall.  The entire 'game' is comprised solely of mini-games; all using the stylus: Mama tells you to make shit, and you make it.  That's it.  I believe that's what you'd call BOO-URNS.

Big Brain Academy:  'yet to officially start it!  ....but i'm sure it's awesome  ;)

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Las Vegas trip #2 was fun, though being constantly surrounded by fake blondes with fake boobs with bright orange fake tans put me in a violent mood.  Ughhkkkk, they were everywhere!  Millions of them!  Why does everyone want to look the damn same?  o.0  Ya wanna know where all the cute-as-hell NORMAL girls are?  Frikken Dodger Stadium, I SWEAR.  Millions of them. 


Anyway, it was soooo nice to see my family for those few days.  ^_^ We stayed at the Rio for the first time: 'liked it all right despite it's lack of tigers.  My Uncle Kenny taught me how to play craps like a real pro.  My crazy dice skillz earned a good deal of applause. 'Just tossed 'em down the table like i didn't give a shit and watched all these strangers win tons of money.  Hey!  Fun! 'Too bad i don't gamble, ....but if i did, i'd totally play craps.  :P

**'Updated my Flickr account with some new photos.**

My Nana hasn't been to 'Vegas since the early 70's... so, for her, it was almost an entirely new place.  New York, New York was good to her; she won like $700, i think.  'Not too shabby  /:) 



Staying at the Rio reminded me of how forgettable Penn and Teller were.  We saw those guys during our previous LV trip, and i somehow forgot to mention it.  Ha.  I enjoy, Bullshit, but their stage show is just awful.  'Best way to describe it: a college lecture with a couple of circus acts and magic tricks here and there.  Avoid.

I met the "Crab Leg Instructor" at the Rio Carnival buffet. I was struggling big time with the blue plastic "sea sheller".  'Never used one of those things before....and apparently i was doing it wrong!  This short Mexican waiter appears out of nowhere and saves the day: he grabs the crab leg out of my hands and gives me a very messy demo.  Crab juices and particles are flying everywhere... he was like the Emily Fox of crab legs!  He ripped out the crabmeat and tossed it onto my plate.  I look up at this guy and he's got this crazy smile showing all 94534548 of his teeth looking like he just conquered the universe. 
If i married him, i'd have a pretty good answer to the "How did you two meet?"  question, huh. 

OH! I have a really crazy story involving me having to run out of my hotel room late at night; half-dressed, in front of a good portion of the 16th floor hotel guests at the Plaza hotel BUT i tell it really good in person (( SFX's needed )!  We'll be at the Sketchbook Session this Sat: ask me about the "hot shower incident"   :P 

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Last weekend, Rajesh ( EmceeONE ) and Rob were ambushed by a certain hairy-legged monster the size of frikken Montana aka the biggest damn spider i've ever seen. HUGE!!  It's abdomen looks like BRAINS and it has a furry face!!  o.0
I'm going to link to the photo i took, BUT...  can you handle it?  After posting the pic on the DB, Kelly Tindall and Rick nearly passed out  ;)  'So be warned, arachnophobes!  Here he is!  Rrraaahhh!!!

He's a type of Orb Weaver spider ( thanks to gubixcube for ID-ing him! ); they are not venomous and are reluctant to bite. Yes, friendly  :)  ....though, still pretty damn scary.  'You know what else is scary?  Pickles.

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We're heading back to Vegas tomorrow 'cause we just can't get enough.  :)  Actually, we're meeting some of my family members there.  I'll be back with more stories on Thursday... 

♥♥♥♥♥ Sue

Ah yes, the Great Pyramid....an amazing feat of ancient engineering, with an estimated 300,000 people constructing this wonder in the blistering desert heat....

SNORE.

Seriously, who's impressed with this crap? "OH, LOOK AT ME! I'M A GIANT MOUND OF DIRT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT"! Nothing special there folks. But here's the thing. The people that built this were onto something. They might've failed bigtime with that there triangular piece of mud, but it paved the way for something much more important. Something, even BIGGER. And I found it.

Behold, the real 7th Wonder of the World, Pyramid Mickey!!!!


He really does hog that thing.

Look at these two fools! I caught them playing in some construction site in the middle of Neo Tokyo last night. Amazingly i caught it all on my camera....

Seems like they were playing a good ol game of "catch the extremely heavy rock." Judging from Haratio's expression, it seems he's a bit weary. Nonsense I say!


And here comes the thro- OW!


Aw, what a WUSS! Guess it was too heavy to catch. Well, I'm sure Julius will help out his buddy...


What a jerk! Leavin his buddy to die like that.....terrible. (Yes, this photo is a bit blurry. That's because the ground was shaking from Julius' cowardly run. Oh well!)

...

Welcome to TBS! I'm Howie and along with Sue and Katie I'll be posting pics of my toys and giving some insight into why old toys rule and new toys suck. Yeah!

-howie

Hi hi!! I have some amazing news: TOYBOX SAFARI  has just launched today!! :D 


Please head on over and take a look!  If you're as obsessed with odd vintage toys as i am..then you're gonna want to check in often.  TBS will be updated very frequently with it's multiple authors!  It'll feature tons and TONS of photos, stories, drawings; even VIDEO... of rarely-seen toys; both vintage and modern.  'Help spread the word, and give us a link :)

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I'm over-due for a new DS game. 'Either finished or got bored with the ones i have! 
It's "Happy Starfox Day" on the 28th. I'm not ultra-excited...but the Wi-Fi mode could be fun :D  The last few installments of this franchise have been pretty dull...from SF64 on...(( though i still bought them all  :P ))  Nintendo can put their name on a half-eaten moldy mayonnaise sandwich in the trash and i would still buy it. 
....Ask anyone.

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*LAS VEGAS 2006*  'Awesome time, as always....


  This year, we kinda planned our trip around the Fabulous Fantasy Pinball 10th Anniversary Show... which was held at the Plaza casino in downtown LV.  Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!  I'm positive the nerds scored more that weekend than any high-rollin' -young billionaire with money coming out of his ass....



...we didn't play as much pinball, actually.  Me... i was glued to the Mr. Do machine  :)  The Canadian champion was there at this thing.....and whoa... i've NEVER seen anyone so skilled in my life!!  'Saw him beat Twilight Zone.  That ,alone, was well worth the price of admission!  :D

We stayed at the Plaza for two nights, and the Mirage two nights.

Our pal, "Disney" joined us the next day.  While him and Rob played blackjack for 94593574563 hours, i went out exploring.  'Met some really nice roller derby girls and watched them beat the shit out of eachother!  Man...they fall pretty hard alot of the time... scrape up their legs ...but then get right back up like it's nothing.  'Wish i was that tough. 

The Wynn Buffet: Does it live up to it's hype?  Well... i can say this:  unlimited king crab legs and prime rib is EXTREMELY satisfying...even when paying $34.00 a person.  One thing that stood out: the food was arranged real nice along the buffet.... 'kinda artsy, if you can imagine.  I didn't get very far in my documentation 'cause the prime rib nazi told me photography was not allowed.  :P  Man...getting yelled at by a man wearing a floppy white hat is pretty pathetic.  Oh well... here.  You get the idea:


Bottom line: Huge variety at this buffet, including juicy med-rare cuts of PR and king crab legs; unusual decor; artistic food presentation; expensive as fuck.  There's a waaay cheaper alt if you only care about the seafood... "Freemont"'s Seafood Special Buffet is just $16.99....and they have the SAME crabs; though no steak. 

On to Circus Circus: Ok... have any of you guys heard of an arcade machine called "The Stacker"?  'Cause holy crap...i had my first encounter with this pile of shit, and let me tell you.............UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The object is to line up a bunch of scrolling red lights; row after row; stacking them up to the top of the display screen until you reach a "prize line".  If you reach the first prize line, you can choose to end your game with a small crappy prize (( like a keychain, or a hacky-sac ))...OR you can continue playing, go for prize line #2...and win something a little better...  Like an I-Pod Shuffle or a Gameboy Advance SP. 

NOW.. i have really good reflexes.  I had absolutely no problem AT ALL clearing my way to the very last move on every single game i played before a grand prize item would be awarded. I go to lock the lights into place on the last move, and i SWEAR i've got the timing right, ....and that's when the damn machine yells "OH NO!!!!!" and the sad noises play!!

I had my "WTF" face on for $7.00 worth of plays @ 0.50 a shot.  o.0

'Like the Wiki entry states...and this is just too true: you get hooked...'cause you think you're sooo damn close to winning a cool ass $100 prize...but this crapfest is RIGGED! 'Timing on the last shot is off!!

 AVOID-AVOID-AVOID-AVOID!!

Well... i opened with a tiger, and now i'm gonna end with a tiger.  Here's the bad-boy who turned Roy into a pez-despenser.  ...ok he's not THE tiger, but it's his friend.  :)

'Are you still reading this?  o.0  ...damn.