Thanks for the new road, but...

Over the last month or so, a mile and a half stretch of road near where I live was ripped up and replaced with brand new asphalt. Let's make no mistake, I appreciate it. While it was being worked on I had to drive on it a number of times. I was able to closely observe the workmanship going on. I was very impressed.

They got the whole road tore up in about two days. Then they ripped up the base and put in some new fill material. The guy running the grader did an outstanding job in moving the dirt around and not spilling over the sides. On top of that he crowned the road perfectly. The soil was kept wet enough so it compacted just right. I drove on right before it was paved and it was just about as smooth as asphalt. The road was paved in about two days. The pavement is smooth from one end to another.

Remember that I used the word "but" in the title?

So here's my gripe. Keep in mind, this not on the people who built the road, not at all. It's directed solely at the people that decide we needed a new road. The old road was not in all that bad a shape. Filled potholes here and there. The edges in a few places were starting to crumble. The one end of this road that intersected with another was a little too narrow. But, this was a total waste of time and money. Especially considering that there isn't a whole lot of people that drive on it.

On top of that, three months ago a new drainage ditch was dug on one side and culverts put in across the road to drain into a canal. The guys did a great job of covering that back up nice and smooth. I have to ask, why couldn't both jobs had been done at the same time? Could have saved several thousand dollars in work and materials.

You see, about two miles away there are three intersections that have needed right turn lanes for at least ten years now. In order to make a right turn at these intersections you have to practically come to a complete stop and then turn. While that's going on there's a guy behind you doing 55 MPH. Then there's the dumbasses who will pass you using the left turn lane. What surprises me is that there haven't been any accidents, to my knowledge. It's only a matter of time until there is a major rear ender or a head on.

In closing, I appreciate the new road. I appreciate all the hard work in this heat.

However, I would have gladly given it up just to be able to make a safe right turn.

What I should do is start attending county meetings where these projects are decided. Then again I'm too busy earning the money that gets used for these "Your Tax Payer Dollars at Work" projects.

Rosario Vampire Season 2 Volume 9.

That was the best damn fireworks display I've seen in my area in a long time.

Back on June 29th I was perusing one my local Hastings when I spied Rosario Vampire Volume 19. I immediately opened up volume 18 and saw clearly that the release date was supposed to be July. Lucky me that someone screwed up. Either Shonen Jump Advanced or Viz Media for putting down the wrong date. Or, I'm not going to say anything else about it because I don't want some hard working individual that barely makes minimum wage to get in any trouble for stocking the shelves too soon. All I need to say is thanks, dude.

Before I get into a long discussion about volume 9, I need to go back over volume 8. I started discussing several similarities I noticed between it and the anime Orphen. I didn't get too deep because of spoilers. Now it has been several months and everybody who is a fan has bought and read it. Probably has even been to the site that I get the upcoming scans from. By the way, this site has all the way through chapter 54. No doubt that a lot of people have read it all the way through. I assure you that I'm waiting for these things to come out to my local bookstores and BUYING them. (I will admit to reading several other series that are not available here in the U.S. (Better hurry, it's only a matter of time before that site is shut down.))

Continuing with Orphen, I'm only going to say one thing, but first let's look at some pictures:

Then there is the character Lycoris. A younger sister that had all her memories sealed away. Sound familiar?

I don't think there is anything intentional on Akihisa Ikeda's part at all. I have no doubt if I were to delve into my video collection I might find some of the same scenes. As a matter of fact I do seem to remember somewhat of the same things going on in an episode of Transformers and Thundercats.

However I do find this interesting:

Now let's look at Rosario Vampire Season 2 volume 9 (finally.) Graphically I noted that there seemed to be a return to the style that has been used throughout the entire series: getting occasional well drawn out and detailed scenes and more simplistic ones for the most part. While the first half is well done, the second half is back to the old style. A side note from me, while reading through the online version I noticed a distinct lack of detail as opposed to the volumes I bought.

We in the States are getting something a bit different. I wish I could show you but that would mean tearing up my $10 copy. I ain't doing that. (I guess this is supposed to be the "B" Team. More likely to be found somewhere around "X" "Y" or "Z.")

That image brings back a point I made in an earlier article: too many characters. In volume 8 Mizore was just sitting there in Moka's dream doing nothing the whole time. On top of that, characters we were led to believe were killed, weren't. If the story progresses the way I think, we're going to have about ten people assaulting the Fairy Tale headquaters. That's just the good guys. We also got badguys from a long time ago returning and joining in as well. I don't doubt the writer's ability to make it a cohesive and compelling story, I just question the necessity of it all.

Speaking of compelling story, most of the last third isn't. More of Tsukune's whining about wanting to get stronger to protect Moka. A bedroom scene between Gin and Kurumu with Mizore trying to make her mark in comedy. Then a total breakdown in training amongst the B Team. What was interesting was Kurumu. The last part really focused in on her and her love for Tsukune.

Since we're talking story, I noticed this earlier, but I can't remember if I ever made any mention of it. It's the way the writing has drastically changed. In season 1 we mostly got comedy with small doses of seriousness and character development. Season 2 has evolved into serious storytelling with punctuations of humor. I really want to see this series go back to being more of a comedy. Thinking about it further, that really was the anime's strongest point.

Now for some funny asides:

This judgmental thought brought to you by a ten twelve year girl that drools over the prospect of a three-way with vampire and a ghoul. (Oops. I would like to say a mistake like this comes about because I did this review in the span of one day; but even if I do take a whole two weeks worth of research...)

The hell? Not just here, but everywhere. When has he ever talked like this? So I did some research. Had to go all the way back to Rosario Vampire Season 2 volume 5 in which Gin actually had more than just a couple of lines. It does describe him as talking like a hick and Gin does say "ya'll" occasionally. However, taking the whole series into consideration, I really never got the notion he talked like Larry the Cable Guy until now.
 

I know I'm stepping into a mine field on this one. Plus I'm doing it without a mine detector or even a flak vest. But, I must give credit where credit is due. I have long decried the nudity and upskirts in this series. This volume was a lot different in that respect. No nudity and very few panty shots. There were many opportunaties for them, but the writer decided to start taking the high road. The rather clever use of feet, legs, and impossible skirt mechanics to cover up what a 16 year old succubus wears under her skirt. Thank you. Keep in mind, still rated "Older Teen." (What ever that is supposed to mean.)

If only Yokai Academy was a monster college instead of a monster high school. All the blood and nudity really wouldn't bother me. I do keep in mind that Hastings ain't reaching into my pockets and taking my money and leaving Rosario Vampire behind.

Overall I think I got my money's worth. I very much look forward to Rosario Vampire season 2 volume 10. Yes, I will wait and NOT read ahead.

Independence Day 2012

Krion Conquest did it first.

A rather bold statement by a lifelong Megaman fan, or more lunatic ranting by yours truly. This is me we're talking about here.

But first:

It was episode 110, Season 7-14 titled “School Lies” of American Dad in which Stan had his penis (aka pud) hanging out. Available in volume 7 uncensored. Give credit were due, in episode 97 two chicks showed their boobs. However keep in mind this is the Seth MacFarlane style of animation.

Okay, now we've all heard about Krion Conquest, I'm not going to talk about how I found a brand new copy in the discount bin of a long defunct chain store and bought it because it looked like Megaman. I'm not going to prattle on about the game difficulty is like Megaman 1, but without the pause cheat. I'm totally ignoring stuff like the lack of HP refills and the way too short a lifebar. Instead I'll shoot straight to my main point.

What exactly did Krion Conquest aka Magical Doropie (Doropii) aka Magical Kids Doropie do first? Was is the first Megaman clone? To answer that we have to define what exactly what is a Megaman clone. A stage select that is part of the game play and not an easter egg. Stage start sequence, player selectable weapons and not randomly shooting badguys to get weapons. Similar enough gameplay mechanics and maybe even graphics/sound. This is a pretty broad definition that can snare up some games like 8 Eyes which came out in 1988 a full two years before Krion Conquest. When you play the game, it is just like Castlevania.

Using the above terms that I totally made up on the spot, four games come to my mind: Power Blade, G.I. Joe, Samurai Pizza Cats and Bucky O'Hare. That last one came out in 1992. Pizza Cats according to the title screen came out in 1991. The first two are confusing. Going by the title screens, GI Joe 1990 and Power Blade 1991. Looking at the never wrong Wikipedia pages for both games it says that the Japanese version of Power Blade came out in mid 1990, months before Magical Doropie, and GI Joe came out in 1991. This one is a wash.

While Krion Conquest is clearly a Megaman clone, there are thing done in this game that would later happen in Megaman. (By the way, I will be using terms like Krion Conquest and Francesca for the most part. Mostly because I like them better, they type out easier, and to irritate purists.) Starting on stage one we are greeted by a cut scene. MM3 had a tiny one, But KC has them between every stage.

Press the start button to warp past this and we can take a look at many of the things done here that would later show up in Megaman.

Press the start button again and we have a Megaman 1 and 2 style weapon select. Different from Megaman is the fact that Franny is running on it and her color changes as you scroll through the weapons. Which we would see in Megaman 5. (I decided not to post images of this, because of the major pain in the ass it would be to do so.)

Starting off, let's see what Fran can do:

 Holding the fire button lets you charge up your shot. A technique later employed by Samus Aran.

According to the unused sprite sheets for one of the fighter games, Bass could shot up with his normal weapon. Interesting how Megaman originally could only look up in the game that came out afterwards and only while red.

Frustratingly enough, badguys can still fly through walls.

Now to do some more talking because once again it will be a real pain to get some of the images. When you encounter a stage boss, you are presented with an alert message. Starting in Megaman X4 you would get a waning siren. Bosses would enter the battle room in a rather unique fashion and not just appear or float in. Megaman X and Megaman 7 would do this as well. When the boss is defeated he would disappear in a series of explosions like in Megaman X.

I think I'll digress from my main point and discuss my theory as to why Magical Doropie was radically changed into Krion Conquest. All the cut scenes were taken out as well as the ending. Most views I have read state that Vic Tokai thought that the American audience wouldn't like a game that was text heavy and had a strong female lead. I disagree because you look at Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, and Ninja Gaiden. All text heavy, all very popular. On the second point, most people I knew preferred playing as the Princess in Super Mario 2 and Metroid has always been well liked.

Nintendo of America had a no religious symbol what-so-ever and a no blood policy in any game well into the 90's. I think after having spent so much time editing out the hexagrams, then faced with removing the blood and translating the Japanese text, the programmers just gave up and cut it all out. Leaving us with the Krion Conquest.

Magical Kids(?) Doropie?

In Megaman 7 you could input a password that allowed you to play a minifight game as either Megaman or Bass. In Megaman X3 you could call upon Zero occasionally. Unfortunately Krion Conquest had the secret players removed. However, go and get yourself a copy of Magical Doropie and input the Konami like Codes on the title screen and you can play as an alternate(?) Francesca or as Kagemaru!

My theories are that this is a protoform of Francesca, or maybe this is an entirely different character. The game is called Magical KIDS Doropie. I think the idea of having a multiple player game was scrapped because of time and money constraints. The programmers barely got done with Francesca's cut scenes and said "No Mas!" and decided to leave the other characters in as an easter egg. I mean, Francesca's scenes still play even though you may be using Kagemaru.

There are more similarities to later Megaman games, but I think that is enough. You guys go and sniff them out. I'll leave you with this:

The logged in game.

I kinda discovered this neat game recently. 

I spent the better part of a couple of months checking out iPads and Android tablets. I was really wanting one. The iPad is the gold standard, but Android is much better priced. You can get a good sized one for not even half the cost of the cheapest iPad. Two things swung me to the iPad. First was the internet speed. Side by side in stores that had crappy wireless, the iPad outsped the Android by light years. Then the price drop. Still $400 plus tax (lotsa tax) is a lot to pay for what is essentially an Angry Birds machine. (By the way, I call my desktop the $1000 solitaire machine.)

I think I made the right choice. During commercial breaks I can check my email, news, Sprint Cup standings, play solitaire. THAT'S RIGHT! EMAIL!

While comparing tablets in the stores, I notice quite a few times that when I fired up the internet app, it would go to the last opened page. Which would be more often than not be Facebook, Google Account, Twitter, Yahoo, or even a realtor's spreadsheet. So I stated playing this game of simply going around to each tablet and checking to see if it was still logged into some site. Most of the time I would do whomever a favor and log them out and uncheck the “Keep me logged in” checkbox.

I do have this paranoia about logging into anything on a foreign computer. Even one as safe as an iPad. You never know who maybe looking over your shoulder or using a password sniffer app on that row of computers around the corner. I flat out refuse to sign into anything personal of mine on somebody else's machine.

In the div preceding the previous one you might have noted I said, and I quote: “Most of the time...” Well, sometimes I'm not in a good mood. I just set the tablet back down thinking that person is a total dumbass and they'll have to learn their lesson the hard way. Then once or twice, an email is sent to a lucky individual informing them that they have just been logged out.