I agree with Andrea,

We are great.

I agree with Rannie,

I am jealous!

Yesterday I came out of the doctor’s office with good news. My blood pressure is down to 122/80 which is fraking fanta-bulous! Treating my sleep obstructive sleep apnea has probably helped in bringing it down to a more healthy level.

However, this is no time for me to rest on my laurels. Ultimately I want to get off my blood pressure medicine completely. To do this I will need to keep losing weight through diet and exercise. I have asked my doctor for help in contacting a dietitian and she thinks it is a great idea. In the next couple weeks I’ll be working to increase my exercise routine in addition to my martial arts training. Given enough time this combined effort should help with my overall goal.

Did I mention 22 was my lucky number? It is only appropriate that it should be included in the start of something good.

Wow! This poster sure brings back a lot of memories. Metal Gear was the 2nd game I owned for the NES way back when. I remember seeing this poster and being sold on all the neat gadgets and items you could use. I believe I used my birthday money to buy it. I was excited because it was the first NES game I bought with my own money and I knew this game would be worth every penny I spent.

Sadly when I started playing the game my opinion of it started to change. You start off in the deepest part of a jungle with only a pack of cigarettes and your bear bare fists! How was I supposed to get past those guards? How come I could never sneak around those guard dogs? Why was it so hard to figure out what to do next? In disgust I stopped playing Metal Gear and set it aside in favour of Super Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom.

Two years later I decided to try my hand at the game again. Metal Gear was the only game in my collection I had not finished, and I had a whole summer vacation to burn.. This time I was determined to figure out a way past the guards, around the guard dogs and on to the next goal. Boy was I glad I stuck to my guns on this one.

When I first tried the game my approach was wrong. I was charging into the fight head first, which often produced a “Game Over” screen quite quickly. What I didn’t know at the time was Metal Gear was all about stealth. Watching the pattern of the guards so you could sneak buy them; moving just beyond the range of a video camera so it couldn’t see you; hiding in a cardboard box. Once you realized all the tricks you could use to infiltrate the Outer Heaven stronghold the game opened it self up to you quite clearly.

I spent the rest of that summer and a good part of that fall playing through Metal Gear till I finished it. It took me awhile, much longer then any of the previous games I had played on the NES, but I had a lot of fun doing it. Since then I have been a fan of any game that focuses on stealth and sneaking around. I know a burly fellow like me could never do that in real life, but that doesn’t stop me from blending into the shadows in the virtual world.

Looks like this morning’s interview made it on the air. You can witness me in all my glory at the CTV News website. Thank you for finding the link to that L. You rock!

Oh, and thanks Maria for leaving me an awesome phone message about my television appearance. You roll!

There is a slight, slight chance that I may end up on the CTV News tonight. While walking to work this morning I was approached by a reporter and a camera man just in front of Osogoode Hall.

Reporter: No gloves today?
Me: Nope,
R: Are you enjoying this warm weather?
M: Yes! It is a great change from the cold last week.
R: Were you at all surprised by the change?
M: Um, no. Didn’t that … oh what’s that thing … the um, groundhog! Didn’t he say we’d be getting an early spring?
R:
Yes he did!

With that she asked for my name and let me be. I thanked her and then turned to the camera and did that awkward “smile and wave” thing you tend to do when a television is pointing at you. You know the one I’m talking about. While I think my groundhog bit was just the sort of “word on the street” line she was looking for, I hope my gawking at the end doesn’t make it to air.

Who would win in a fight: Ryu from the Street Fighter or Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat? I’m leaning towards Ryu myself since he’s one of my favourite fighters in that series of games. Also, since my brother’s favourite character in Mortal Kombat just happens to be Scorpion, I’m a little biased towards watching the dude get pummeled … especially by me.

But a fellow at New Grounds decided to answer that question with a little flash animation of his own. You can watch the full clip here or skip to the fight scene below.

Gah! And I thought the English dubbing of Naruto was bad. The dubbing on the German version of the show is even more painful!

Thanks Japanator.

Believe it! (said with a thug like attitude)

The nine minute long “Director’s Cut” edition of JT’s video for What Goes Around.

Meh … the acting is a bit … meh. I still love the song though.

Oh, and there are a couple of F-bombs in there so it may be NSFW.