HellNinjaCommando

'Tis the season to be jolly

Not christmas of course. As festive as christmas is - the weather sucks. At least here in KCMO. It seems that start of spring and summer is upon us. Today was probably about a 75 degree day - beautiful.

I've always liked grilling out in the summer, having a couple beers, so on and so forth. Hell - I actually grilled in the winter too, but summer was the best. However, my grill got fucked up in a T-storm last fall. Knocked over, handle broke, important looking pieces falling out of place. I've been told by a few people that I should try fix it. They were free to try if they wanted to be the first to fire it up afterward. Sorry, but fix-er-upper and gas and fire do not go together for me.

Anyway, I got a new grill the other day. This time, I'll be grilling out front rather than on the deck so I can pull it into the garage when I'm not using it. Furthermore, I'm not fucking around this year. I'm serious about enjoying the experience this summer. So, I've got the grill. Got some lounge chairs and portable tables. Got a wiffle ball set and a washers set. I'll be keeping the fridge stocked with some beer. This summer is going to be awesome. Enjoying the simple things - good weather, good food, and some simple but classic entertainment.

KCMO'ers - post some comments or email me and we'll hook up for some summer grill outs. 

Posted by Klotera at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Got a couple new games in the past week. I'll start with the most recent, Ikaruga.

Been wanting to play Ikaruga for a long, long time. Originally a Japanese-only Dreamcast game, then ported to the Gamecube, where it was first available in the U.S., it is now available on Xbox Live Arcade.

This game is all it's hyped up to be. From just an hour of play, I'm convinced that it really is one of the top shoot 'em ups of all time. It's hard as hell, though. I thought I could do, at least, relatively decent. I'm getting my ass whooped on just the first boss.

The game has an interesting mechanic that sets it apart. You can reverse the "polarity" of your ship from black to white. You can shoot enemies as either color, but get double damage if you are shooting enemies of the same color. You can also absorb bullets of that color. So, managing your ships polarity while fighting a mix of black and white enemies adds a real extra element of strategy. In good shooters, you're already using all your wits just to find that little space of safety in a screen full of bullets. Now, you have to do that and be concerned with your ship's polarity at the same time.

While the game isn't pushing any boundaries of the 360's hardware graphically, it's a nice looking game. It is just like the DC/GC games, but rendered in high-def, so it looks a bit cleaner. The moving 3D backgrounds are quite epic, though, and the music adds to that feel. 

If you're a fan of 2D shoot 'em ups and are willing to deal with some severe frustration (which you should already be used to if you are a fan of the genre), definitely pick this up. Awesome at ten bucks.

Earlier last week, I also picked up Williams Pinball Hall of Fame for the Wii (It's also available on PS2 and PSP, I believe - though missing a couple tables). Another cheap game that you'll get more than your money's worth out of. It's just pure pinball - in all it's glory. No new gimmicks or additions, just the original tables exactly as they were. As far as I can tell, the physics are accurate. One particularly nice touch is that the game offers a walkthrough of each table explaining all the scoring opportunities and how to achieve them, so you can play knowing what you're doing rather than simply trying to keep the ball in play (though, you generally ought to do that, too). 

Pinball seems to be a lost art these days. For those of us that appreciate it, though - this is a nice gift. It also proved to me that my memories were not rose-tinted. Pinball is still fun. 

Posted by Klotera at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! The Cards are back and, as one sign said during the '06 playoffs, "the experts are idots!" Last place in the NL Central? Forget about it. I thought we had a potent offense and tonight was just a taste. Pujols anchors an offense that features power from Ludwick, Ankiel, and Duncan. Skip Shumaker should be solid in batting for average, making him a decent leadoff guy. Adam Kennedy is showing that he is back to his old self, forgetting that .219 average. Though, I think Miles could pick up the slack if necessary. Izturis is really the only major question mark in this offense, I believe. They're young, so they may lack discipline, but they have potential to be a powerhouse.

Ankiel.... man, what a terrific game. 3 hits, including one home run. An amazing catch to save a run early in the game. Really, the big hero of this game. He's proving his worth as an offensive threat.While he's no Jim Edmonds defensively, that catch shows that he's more than capable of handling the center fielding position. If Skip stays in the lineup most nights, we only have to worry about the Duncan/Ludwick/Barton position on outfield defense (infield defense is a whole different story with Kennedy and Izturis holding the middle infield).  

Kyle McClellan - a top pitching prospect with the Cards who, almost surprisingly, won a spot on the 25 man roster, is very exciting. Only adding to the excitement is that he's a St. Louis native. His first inning of work this game was a thing of beauty. It was over almost as quickly as it began. While he gave up a run in his second inning of work, it's because a grounder found a real lucky hole in the middle infield (again, see the question marks around Kennedy and Izturis holding the infield). He's the real deal.

So, our offense is looking great and the defense is mostly serviceable, while less than spectacular. Pitching is the big concern. I don't understand why this is such a big deal. We have so many options. Wain-O is a given. Lohse is solid. I'll even say Looper is a given somewhere in the rotation. Right now, Wellemyer and Thompson are the fill-ins in the rotation. At worst, they seem to keep us in the game. With Reyes and McClellan in the bullpen and on the roster, though - we always have options if we feel our existing starters aren't pulling their weight. That's not even considering that Piniero is going to be back soon and Clement and Mulder are just over a month away. I have to think that, while it's wishful thinking to believe all of these pitchers will be good, we have a lot of options from which to pull a decent five-man rotation. And when Carpenter is back mid-year... our rotation is locked in at that point. Carpenter, Wain-O and all those other potential starters to choose from for the three other spots? How can you really think we're in trouble. It's the first few weeks we have to worry about, and even then we still have a couple options.

Posted by Klotera at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Told 'ya we'd get fucked over after yesterday. Rockies get a pass on a terrible start. Cards play a hard game and take a loss. All of our pitchers were great except for one bad innning from Franklin. To be shame.

On a slightly humorous note - by the time Yadi took his ninth inning at bat, they were showing his "season" stats. 333 average, 1HR. Way to be! 

Posted by Klotera at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)