Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Monday, December 31, 2012

Today in Rock Music History...

George Harrison is saved from stabbing by his wife Olivia
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/george-harrison-attacked/
“They used us as an excuse to go mad, the world did,” George Harrison said in the Beatles‘ 1995 ‘Anthology’ documentary. “And then blamed it on us.”

Who knew that this guy would have someone breaking into his house? On Dec. 30, 1999, a man broke into his house, stabbing him, nearly killing the Beatles member

The suspect was a native Liverpool citizen named Michael Abram, who was 33 years old. He broke into Harrison's house in Friar Park at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire at 3:30 am. In order to enter the mansion, he threw a statue through one of the windows, which woke up both George and Olivia.

George confronted the man, who had a knife in his hand. When the 56 year old musician ran at him to try and tackle him to disarm him, the man stabbed him in the chest. Meanwile, Olivia hit the suspect with a lamp, causing him to drop the knife. He then tried gogin after her, trying to strangle her with the lamp cord. But she escaped.

After 15 minutes, police arrived and arrested Abram. Harrison was taken to a nearby hospital after paramedics had stopped the bleeding. He was treated for a punctured lung. And according to one doctor, the stab wounds were near all major arteries and if they hit, it would be fatal. It was said that the attack was similar to Mark David Chapman's murder of John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980.

Yoshi's Island for Gameboy Advance

My fave handheld game ever!!!!

Yoshi's Island

Gameplay
-The game is 1 dimensional, u know, 1 view. It was the late 1990s and early 2000, technology of today was not here yet. The details retain their cute, adorable handdrawn appearance throughout the entire game. This would be perfect for little kids because there is no violence in it, just cute lil animals









-The basic premise of the game was to escort Baby Mario through the various worlds of Yoshi's Island and pass him off to the next Yoshi as a sort of relay system
Get the 1UP to get an extra life








-If Yoshi is hit by an enemy, Mario will fall of Yoshi's back, and any stars you've collected on the way will disappear as it will be used in a countdown clock until Baby Bowser's minions snatch up Mario
The floating cloud balloons often hold special items, such as coins, stars, etc
-The only way to safely get Mario back is to pop his bubble
-Along the way, the player will collect stars to increase the timer to 30
-And there are circumstances in each level that will cause Yoshi to lose life no matter what, such as touching spikes, falling into lava, falling into a bottomless pit, etc
-In this game, Yoshi can perform a flutter jump that allows him to reach higher levels. He can also perform a butt stomp to break crates and break through weak floors. Another ability he has is to snatch enemies with his tongue and turn them into eggs to be used like a weapon. He can collect up to 6 eggs at once. And in certain levels, he can collect eggs that have special powers. A flashing purple egg will give him a mystery gift, while a red egg will give him coins. A large egg will shatter the earth, destroying nearby enemies
This is the Flutter Jump. It allows Yoshi to reach new areas
Plot
-It starts out with a stork carrying two babies, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, identified by their red and green hats. Suddenly, the evil Magikoopa Kamek swoops out of the sky and stuns the bird and tries to steal the babies. He steals Baby Luigi, while Baby Mario falls to safety on a tropical island in the middle of the sea, known as Yoshi's Island, home to all the cute little colored Yoshis. He falls onto the back of the main green Yoshi, who was out for a walk. The Yoshi crew then decide to do a relay system fo using each Yoshi to navigate the various environments of the 6 worlds to rescue the stork and Baby Luigi from Baby Bowser and Kamek. When Yoshi finally reaches Bowser's Castle, he demands that he hand over Baby Luigi. Baby Bowser wakes up and tries to ride Yoshi as Mario is doing. Kamek then uses magic to enlarg Bowser and a fight ensues, with the castle being destroyed. Baby Bowser is then returned to normal size and is whisked off by Kamek, flying towards the moon, vowing to return. The stork takes off, with both babies in tow, towards the Mushroom Kingdom, where their parents live. At dawn, the parents wake up to find 2 infants on their doorstep
The "Y" flags mark the worlds you've conquered

Go here with a key to get extras


This is how you upload your file



Level: Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy


Down the pipe to a new area


The guys shooting water will knock you off

This floating box will often hold stars to extend your timer

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Ratchet & Clank

Love this game, playing it currently. Just started level on Planet Kalebo III, the Gadgetron HQ

Ratchet & Clank
Plot
-Planet Quartu is a factory planet that creates robots. One day, a small robot is sent out and when it sees an Infobot and sees the disturbing content on it, he is found by one of the larger robots. He escapes and is shot down over Planet Veldin

Getting the Gadgetron PDA in Gorda City on Planeit Oltanis


Jowai Resort on Planet Pokitaru





-That is where he meets Ratchet, a Lombax who is fixing his spaceship. The robot shows Ratchet the Infobot and thus he nicknames the robot 'Clank'. The Infobot shows a character named Chairman Drek who is of the alien Blarg race. It says he is constructing a new planet and destroying old planets and using what's left to make the new one.
Metropolis, Planet Kerwan

Tobruk Crater, Planet Novalis




-Fearing total destruction of the entire galaxy, the robot asks for Ratchet's help in finding a superhero named Captain Qwark to help. Ratchet is eager to leave, but his ship can't start with out a robotic ignition. After they take off, they are shot and crash land on Planet Novalis
Meeting the Plumber

Tobruk Crater, Planet Novalis
-While doing missions, they eventually find Captain Qwark in Blackwater City on Planet Rilgar, where the Hoverboard Races are being held. After meeting with him, he invites them to his headquarters on Planet Umbris, which has a military-style obstacle course on it. Clank thinks that Qwark will help them when he really intends to trap them and have a large creature called a Snagglebeast destroy them.
Blackwater City, Planet Rilgar

Gemlik Base, Oltanis Orbit
-By now, Ratchet is obsessed with revenge on Qwark. After defeating Qwark in a space fight on the Gemlik Moonbase, they proceed to Gorda City on Planet Oltanis, to try and stop Drek on their own. They soon learn that Drek has invented a new weapon called the "Deplanetizer", which will destroy Veldin, Ratchet's home planet. After defeating Drek, they send the Deplanetizer towards Drek's new planet, which destroys it and sends meteors hurtling towards Veldin. They fall off the edge of the missile launcher and after Clank thinks Ratchet is leaving, he comes back and offers to fix Clank's broken arm. The two then leave as best friends

Gameplay
-The main character is Ratchet, he's the main playable character
-The player controls him from a 3rd person perspective
-You explore different environments with an arsenal of different weapons and gadgets
-The main weapon is an OmniWrench 3000
-As the player progresses, you gain more weapons and gadgets, such as the Bomb Glove, the Tesla Claw, the Glove of Doom and more
-Throughout each world, you collect nuts and bolts, which are the primary currency in this game. They can be found in crates, from defeated enemies or in ammo crates
-There are also vendors. In this game, there is a gadget company called Gadgetron, which has vendors on all the planets and they sell you new weapons, ammo
-After you beat the game, you have the option of doing "challenge mode" which has all the bolts you collected the first time around follow you along with all the weapons you have. This also allows you to enter the Gold Room and upgraded your weapons to gold weapons, which makes them more powerful and dangerous
-The other semi-playable character is Clank, a small robot who rides on Ratchet's back. When playing as Clank, he can control "Gadgebots", small robots who can perform actions
-You also have the ability to do races. In this game, you can use a hoverboard. And in other levels, it is necessary to do a space fighter mission, by getting into a jet fighter to shoot down an enemy or as part of a mission to progress

Weapons/Gadgets/Items
-Pyrocitor: Flamethrower
-Bomb Glove: able to toss bombs
-Tesla Claw: claw-shaped weapon with the ability to shoot electricity
-Devastator: missile launcher that resembles a bazooka
-R.Y.N.O: Heavy multiple missile launcher, stands for Rip Ya a New One
-Morph-o-Ray: Turn your enemies into chickens!
-Trespasser: lock picking tool
-Visibomb Gun: Controllable missiles
-Decoy Glove: toss out Ratchet dummies
-Magneboots: Allows user to walk on special metal surfaces
-Walloper: Boxing glove that packs an extremely dangerous punch
-Swingshot: allows you to zip from one area to the next
-O2 Msak: Allows the player to breathe underwater and on planets where the air is bad (i.e. Planet Orxon)
-Blaster: Shoots white balls of energy
-Taunter: use it to lure your enemies
-Suck Cannon: Suck up enemies and shoot them as high calliber missiles
-Hydrodisplacer: use it to control water
-Hydropack: allows Ratchet to swim against currents in water

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Another of my favorite games!

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Plot
-After defeating Drek, they are now celebrities. After things cool down for a while, they are teleported to the Bogon Galaxy by the head of Megacorp, Abercrombie Fizzwidget. This company makes weapons for the Bogon Galaxy. He asks for their assistance in recovering a stolen biological experiment. After being equipped with weapons, he is sent to a flying lab on Planet Aranos to investigate. When he finds it in a cage, a thief breaks in and steals it. He asks Ratchet who he is and he covers his identity by lying




-After informing Fizzwidget of the thief's escape with the Experiment, Ratchet is given coordinates to several planets, where he is chasing the theif. He finally finds the thief on Planet Siberius, a cold, desolate mining planet. He gives the Experiment to Fizzwidget and he is accidentally ejected over Planet Tabora, a desert wasteland planet that has been turned into a mine for Sand Crystals. They run into the thief again and when the mask falls off, it is revealed to be a woman, named Angela Cross.



-She tells them that if that Experiment falls into the wrong hands, the entire glaxy is doomed. On the next planet, Planet Dobbo, Ratchet & Clank discover that what Angela said is true. Watching a video of it eating its handlers, Ratchet & Clank try to warn Fizzwidget about it, but it does not get through as he is distracted during the video.







-Throughout the game, you'll see mentionings of a group called Thugs 4 Less, showing an alien with red eyes speaking with a heavy New York accent. Ratchet & Clank then see a commercial showing th Experiment, which has been dubbed the "Protopet" and is being issued for mass release. In Silver City on Planet Boldan, the Thugs 4 Less crew arrests Ratchet & Clank and imprisons them on Planet Aranos.

-When they escape, they try and find Angela, who has been captured and is now in the company of Thugs 4 Less. On Planet Snivelak, they defeat the Thugs 4 Less leader and rescue Angela. She tells them to split up, her going to her home planet to get her Megacorp ID and they go to Planet Smolg to destroy any Protopets there and also to Planet Damosel to get parts for a weapon to control robots

-After arriving at the Megacorp HQ, they all discover that Captain Qwark had disguised himself as Fizzwidget and planned to release the Protopets as a way of becoming a hero once more. Her tries to use an item called a Helix-o-Morph on them but instead it gets used on the Protopet, making it gigantic. When they defeat the Protopet, Captain Qwark comes out and burps up Angela's Helix-o-Morph and it returns the Protopet to it's original state.

Gameplay
-Same gameplay as the first one. You control Ratchet, a Lombax from a 3rd person view. Only in this game, you are in a new galaxy, the "Bogon" galaxy.
-Has 18 new weapons and also a few weapons from the previous one, such as the RYNO, which has been given a new look
-When each weapon is used alot, it is upgraded. And also, when you kill enemies, your health level, also known as your Nanotech bar, upgrades, so more enemies that die, the higher your health will go
-Certain things from the first Ratchet & Clank make a return, such as the Swingshot
-In this game, in addition to the weapons vendores, you can also buy armor from armor vendors. And instead of it being Gadgetron, it is now Megacorp
-Bolts are still the main currency
-You can also participate in what is called "Maxi-games", games that you can play to earn bolts. These include Arena battles, hoverbike races, spherical worlds, space combat

Weapons/Gadgets/Items
-Swingshot: zip from one area to the next
-Blitz Gun: R&C version of a shotgun. Shoots blasts of energy similar to a shotgun
-Seeker: Small armed weapons that hover around you and attack enemies nearby
-Lava Gun: Shoots hot lava and after upgraded, shoots balls of hot magma
-Lancer: Machine pistol
-Gravity bomb: Small nuclear bomb launcher
-Chopper: sends out spinning ninja blades
-Pulse Rifle: Sniper rifle
-Spiderbot Glove: Send out controllable spider robots
-Plasma Coil: send out balls of electricity
-Sheepinator: turn enemies into sheep!
-Zodiac: As the screen turns white, enemies turn to powdery ash
-Thermator: freeze water or melt ice
-Tractor Beam: Allows you to move objects with a glowing orange target

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

One of my favorite games!

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Plot
-The game opens with Ratchet's home planet of Veldin under attack from dinosaur-looking creatures called Tyhrranoids. The main suspect is a mysterious figure known only as Dr. Nefarious. After defeating these creatures, the Galactic President tells Ratchet & Clank that Captain Qwark, who is from the first 2 games, is the only person who had defeated Nefarious and that they ar to go and get him ont the swampy jungle planet of Florana




-When they encounter Qwark, he thinks he is a giant monkey. They take him back to the Starship Phoenix, where he will be safe. After creating an "elite" group of people called the Q-Force, Ratchet and the gang receive a transmission from Dr. Nefarious himself, telling them that they can't defeat him. Computer geek Al then locates the transmission, which sends Ratchet to Planet Daxx







-When they arrive, they learn about a weapon Dr. Nefarious has invented called the Biobliterator. And also, they witness a music video by intergalacit pop star Courtney Gears ( an obvious spin off Britney Spears). She kidnaps Clank and Dr. Nefarious gives him the choice to either rule the Universe with all robots or stand with the organic lifeforms.

-Clank is then replaced with an evil robot called Klunk and in order to rescue him, Ratchet must fly to the Obani moons. While going to the moons, Skidd McMarx, an intergalacit hoverboarder, is kidnapped by Courtney and attempted to be turned into a robot. But it is too late and he is turned into a robot. She tries to the same to Ratchet, but it does not work. He defeats her and returns to the Starship Phoenix. His colleague, Sasha, then tracks down Nefarious on a Star Cruiser called Th Leviathan and she sends Ratchet and Qwark to investigate. When they arrive, they discover it was a trap. With Ratchet on a planet helping to fight off the Tyhrranoids, Nefarious uses the Biobliterator to turn the denizens of Planet Kerwan into robots. Klunk attacks Ratchet and he defeats the robot, finding the real Clank inside the now dead robot. They discover that Captain Qwark is still alive and not dead like they thought. Clank manages to somehow destroy the Biobliterator.

-After regaining bravery, Qwark fights alongside Ratchet & Clank as they engage in air battle agains Dr. Nefarious, who has taken the form of a giant robot suit

Gameplay
-Similar in gameplay to the other two. You control Ratchet, main weapon is an OmniWrench 8000
-Follows Ratchet & Clank as they defeat a robotic villain named Dr. Nefarious who wants to destroy all biological life in the galaxy and replace it with robots.
-The game's title is a take on the British word "arse" and "arsenal"
-RYNO is back again, this time upgraded. This one, like the Going Commando game, allows the player to upgrade weapons after constant usage and also allows the player's Nanotech level to increase with each enemy killed
-Most of the missions and levels are played by Ratchet, but some missions involve you playing as Clank, controlling small Gadgebots, playing mini-games and also play as Giant Clank.

Weapons
-Shock Blaster: Shoots small balls of energy
-Nitro Launcher: shoots small nuclear bombs
-N60 Storm: Machine gun
-Plasma Whip: fiery whip
-Infector: use on enemies and fool them into attacking each other
-Suck Cannon: Suck enemies into cannon and fire as high calliber missiles
-Spitting Hydra: Shoots electricity
-Agents of Doom: small robots that destroy nearby enemies
-Flux Rifle: Sniper rifle
-Annihilator: Shoots powerful missiles
-Disc Blade Gun: Shoots razor sharp discs
-Rift Inducer: shoots black holes that suck up enemies
-Qwack-o-Ray: Turn enemies into ducks
-Refractor: protects Ratchet from laser beams and allows him to redirect them
-Tyhrra-Guise: allows player to disguise himself as a Tyhrranoid
-Hacker: similar to the Trespasser from the first one

Post-Christmas Wishes

Well, Christmas is over for yet another year. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I sure as heck did. The shopping was not the bad part, it was just the wrapping. But in the end, it turned out amazing. I got all kinds of cool stuff, some I wasn't even expecting. Like for starters, I got an iPod Nano!! My mom won it at work and I get it for Christmas instead. I asked her why didn't she just keep it for herself, and she told me that she already had a music device and that I should have it. That figures, I always question something like that, asking someone why didn't they keep it for themselves?

But, all in all, here's some of the stuff I got:

Book. Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary. Has pictures and lets them do all the talking about their being around for 50 years

Very heavy book! Did not ask for this!







iPod Nano. Apple green. Gonna load it up with as much Def Leppard as it will allow!!









CD: The Rolling Stones GRRR!
Clothes

Other: Key chain of Mario Brothers character Yoshi.
-He's so cute. Belt that looks like a seat belt with cartoon character Domo on it

Lotion for my stupid feet that crack and peel all the time

New camera with a plastic bag that says "Catie's new waterproof camera bag".
-Joke from my mom and step dad after I accidentally walked into the pool at our hotel in Mexico with my digital camera in the pocket of my board shorts

Visa Gift card to use on anything

More lotion and things, this one in White Jasmine

New wallet with Yoshi on it