Since 1996, I have been loyal to the PlayStation brand...and it has now occurred to me that I have *3* PlayStation systems in my house (PS2, PS3, Vita), all owned 5 and 4 years apart: PS2 (2004), PS3 (2009) and now Vita (2013).

Tomorrow is my birthday (I'll be 27 tomorrow), and I was supposed to have gotten the Vita tomorrow, but just like Christmas Day 2012 with a Polaroid tablet, family members just wanted to see me open the gift. My knowledge of devices these days are so 2007 when I learned how to use a USB flash drive, and that was it. Now there are touch-screens and my fingers are too fat to even operate screens.

My adventures in gaming started in the early '90s...that's right...BEFORE PlayStation, unfortunately, and I have this funny memory of around 20 or 21 years ago where I was being yelled at by a female cousin at the age of 7 when I did not know how to play Pac-Man on her NES correctly. I still suck at it AND Ms. Pac-Man, unfortunately. I also did not know how to play Sonic the Hedgehog back in 1992 on the Genesis, either - lost all my lives up to Green Hill 3 with Dr. Eggman/Robotnik's wrecking ball. In matter of fact, over the years, I have been known to SUCK at coin-op/arcade games.

December 25, 1993 was when all that changed. I got a SEGA Genesis and could easily beat the boss of Emerald Hill 2 in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the cartridge that came with the system, but that darn platform section in Chemical Plant 2 tripped me up until I got older. I got as far as Metropolis 2 when a curved section messed me up. I also remember with the same female cousin, we made it to Sky Chase and Wing Fortress, but could NOT beat the game.

1994 and 1995 were no better, either. There was that $%ing BARREL OF DOOM in Carnival Night 2 in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and when I locked it on to Sonic & Knuckles, I STILL failed to improve. (I now know what to do at that section before the boss - I'm supposed to move the D-pad up and down). In terms of S3&K, I am still having trouble beating some bosses - the Hydrocity, Carnival Night, Ice Cap act 2 bosses and the Launch Base final boss.

Then I got this weird game, Cosmic Spacehead, made by F1 game designer Codemasters. Oh, and the bumper car races at Cape Carnival were as far as I got, running out of time every time and running into random things, even pits and the other cars.

I would go on and on about some of my adventures, but I promised myself I would keep this short. That failure in Spacehead's minigame would lead me a year later to a demo on the PS1 where my racing skills were still weak at the time, and in 1997, the other racing game on the SEGA Saturn was way too hard. These games are Ridge Racer Revolution (demo, I would play the full version in the summer of that year) and Daytona USA, respectively.

1998 saw a definite change in racing skills with the demo version of Gran Turismo - Polyphony Digital's crown jewel and the game that makes the company what it is today, coming in 1st place on the only playable track, Clubman Stage Route 5 with all three of the available cars in the demo - the Subaru Impreza rally-like car, the Honda (Acura) NSX and Chevrolet Corvette (C4), respectively. I would find the demo everywhere - Wal-Mart, K-mart and Target, respectively.

I would not own a piece of PlayStation history until 6 years later in 2004, and steadily started my collection until Gran Turismo 4 came out. I would play the crap out of this game in 2005 until I finally beat it in 2009 by winning the Gran Turismo World Championship on my black memory card I've had since 2004 with the Toyota Minolta 88CV prototype car, from 1989, number 36 (almost perfected all 10 rounds - got 4th place on the 24 Hours of Le Mans track), unlocking the ending movie as well.

Speaking of 2009, I took the next step with the PS3...until the day I got Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection along with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 2010. I played the crap out of the latter until GT5 came out in November. Oh, and I have 20+ games for both the PS2 AND PS3...most of them are racing games, too.

Four years later, here I am with my newly acquired Vita. I have yet to get any games and a memory card for the system, as these error messages saying that I need one are jumping out at me when I am trying to access certain functions. It's interesting how I went from a Genesis to a Vita 20 years later. I am looking forward to the PS4 as well. To paraphrase what Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec said about one of the Skyline R34s in GT Mode, I must never stop evolving. Stop evolving and it's over. Oh, and I need to find a way to get past PSN Level 10 in trophies...I'm at 86% right now.

Oh, and my adventures in gaming are not over, either - even after 20 years.

Sorry I haven't been on in a while...I've been busy and having adventures in daytime. In other news, I've been working on a new project, Supercar Academy, a story about a young Japanese-American woman in her 20s, Veronica, from Seattle, Washington who discovers the world around her when all of a sudden she stumbles across a hot guy in California who looks like a younger James Lafferty (as in One Tree Hill seasons 1-2 and 5 hot), Brandon, and the two find adventures together and make new friends, though their friendship gets off on a rocky start when she gets weird dreams about him and they meet on a racetrack weeks later. In addition, a notoriously evil mega-corporation named SpiraTech Industries vows to tear Veronica and Brandon's worlds apart to shreds. In addition, they've gained some control of many sports and racing organizations in their scheme for world domination. Their (SpiraTech) secret weapon is a mysteriously alluring redheaded girl named Sapphire (who looks a little like a younger version of Rebecca Budig from All My Children), who is getting tired of the organization treating her like dirt. Her purpose is to defeat the world's best drivers on racetracks. To stop SpiraTech's impending threats, Veronica and Brandon enter a tournament held by a mysterious source, saving the world's road courses before they get turned into proving grounds for drivers with ties to the mega-corporation, which is their first step to world domination. To help Veronica stop SpiraTech is a bounty hunter/FBI agent named Calandra, a British woman who emigrates to New York, also in her 20s, bent on catching a fugitive who may have ties to the mysterious organization. I'm almost done with this story and I plan on writing a sequel late-summer 2010.

Other than that, I'm doing just fine. I just wish I could get rid of all this stress in my life that seems to keep piling up...

Hmmm, I just don't get it. I come up with story characters (I want to be a published author some day; my goal is to write for a teen/young adult audience) and I wind up thinking of songs by two bands. Is it something I might have done to deserve this?

I was watching 90210 (the season premiere was tonight on the CW) and saw Kellan Lutz up to no good. While that was going on, I turned to Greek on ABCFamily and saw half the cast up to no good like Kellan Lutz' character on the series premiere of the former trying to stir up trouble. I also saw the season 6 premiere of One Tree Hill and saw a teen punk girl up to no good, shoplifting from Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush)'s store...and at the end of the episode, Brooke is beaten up by a masked thug, causing me to lose it - and like the "Azalea" problems one month ago, I loaded up WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 for my PS2, reducing the game Edge, Randy Orton, and Shane McMahon to a bloody pulp in that order, winning by KO and retaining the WWE championship belt 3 times to let off some steam. I can't be having these problems when the first day of fall comes...

Leaving this Azalea stuff behind, I was working on some writing projects for the fall of 2008, and one in particular focused on the life of one of my characters from Los Angeles, California (she has brown eyes and brown hair and she's 22 - born May 21, 1986). All of a sudden, I hear Misery Business by Paramore and Fell in Love Without You by Motion City Soundtrack! Is she a fan of pop-punk music? Amanda (the character's name)'s an actress, known for playing countless villains in teen movies. She's often shy and quiet and soft-spoken, but isn't afraid to express herself on the outside.

I had bought Riot! (Paramore) and Even If It Kills Me (Motion City Soundtrack) at Hollister (they actually do sell music CDs), one of my favorite stores in the mall. Once I had heard Misery Business, I couldn't stop listening to it. Same with Fell in Love Without You as well. I have yet to hear a song by Panic at the Disco as well and like it. Maybe sometime this year?

Is there anyone here who's a huge fan of Paramore, Motion City Soundtrack, or Panic at the Disco? I'm just curious.

Wow, that's just wrong. My imagination is having a field day this month... :(

After I dream about a California college campus, I find myself having an action-packed adventure switching between CBS and GSN (DirecTV Channel 309) during The Price Is Right (replay of Friday, April 25, 2008 episode) and Press Your Luck (Halloween 1985 episode), and my imagination just ran off again. I saw a cute girl win the Showcase on Price and an actor win the game on Press...and my imagination thinks that they were EVIL!!! So I decide to record their winnings with Sound Recorder, a TV, and a microphone, shuffling between Price and Luck.

The "evil" people win...until disaster strikes while watching One Tree Hill...in the form of a violent promo for a SoapNET (DirecTV Channel 262) show, M.V.P.--a season finale with Goth-like behavior and that same Mike Metzger One Life to Live violent promo AGAIN from last week. That made me so mad, I once again loaded up WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 for my PS2...and the game Shane McMahon AND Randy Orton (both controlled by player 2) lost the game 4 times, busted open and K.O.'ed--and failing to take both tag titles (the champions saved to my black memory card with a label on it retained their titles). Oh, and their body damage was all red (Critical) again. Ouch... :(

If I had common sense, I should've *known* what was coming next...imagination running too far away and getting "Azalea" into more trouble than ever, thinking she was the mastermind behind the Price and Press contestants and the SOAPNet executives' random attacks.

(speaking of Azalea, Poison Ivy: The Secret Society is back on Lifetime Movie Network (DirecTV Channel 253) tomorrow night at 10:00pm and Thursday at 12pm.)

Sorry, but I had to put that shameless plug in. I don't even understand why my imagination runs wild at times. What are this person's likes and dislikes? Is she a radical feminist? What are some of her favorite foods? Favorite TV shows and movies? Favorite artists or bands? This I'll never know.

(Man, I REALLY gotta stop coming here when my imagination runs wild)

...and last night, after that debacle, I had a strange dream, but it was too dark outside. Was it trying to tell me about Azalea from yesterday's blog entry? Or was it a flashback to my high school days? I'm pretty sure the latter didn't happen.

I tried to ease the pain by watching The Price Is Right--but the show ended in a double overbid in the Showcase. I found it really funny when at the end of the first Showcase Showdown, Drew Carey tries to get way too close to the camera (which happened many times throughout season 36) when it comes to ticket plugs before Rich tells you one of three ways to get on the show (telephone, letter/stamped envelope, and online). I bet head honcho Kathy "Fingers" Greco giggles every time Drew gets too close to the camera at the end of the 1st Showcase Showdown. (announcer Rich Fields can be heard laughing sometimes when Drew actually *does* get too close to the camera) :P

Then disaster struck when I was watching One Tree Hill on SoapNET (DirecTV Channel 262). There's a violent promo for One Life to Live which includes teenage character Star Manning being pushed down the stairs to force a miscarriage. I got so mad--like yesterday--I loaded up WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 for my PS2 console. Mike Metzger, a motocross champion (I think) was featured before the various soap opera scenes were shown in the commercial. I waited until after OTH went off to do some damage. The game Randy Orton (controlled by player 2 like Shane--I forgot to put that down yesterday), like the game Shane McMahon yesterday, was reduced to a bloody pulp 4 times, me winning by K.O. (and defending one different belt for a total of four times as well)--with ALL RED (Critical) body damage. Talk about double bad days, huh.

Oh, and I really like One Tree Hill seasons 3 and 4...it's like the producers wanted to tone Nathan Scott down like a cheap final boss from a Namco fighting game in 1996 that players got upset about (Soul Edge (January 1996), the "Soul Edge" final boss' cheap AI was fixed in Soul Edge Ver.II, released in May of 1996)), now that Nathan is engaged to Haley and I'm currently enjoying season 5 and can't wait for season 6.

As I'm writing this, my imagination is running off yet AGAIN, dragging Azalea into yet more trouble just to make me think she's the mastermind behind Orton's random attacks.

Just who is this seductive character? How old is she? What does she like and not like? How tall is she? I already know she has brown eyes and natural brown hair. Is she the mastermind behind women that are evil? God, I hope not...

But then again, my day was a little better - still needs a little improvement. Other than that, I'd like to know a little more about this mysterious "Azalea" girl.

(I may be back here later to write another blog if needed.)

Hey all - sorry I haven't been on in a while...had a really busy schedule.

Monday has been mediocre for me - got upset during the movie Carrie (a 2002 remake of the 1978 horror film) which was shown on USA Network (DirecTV Channel 242). Tension between mother and daughter in flashback sequence, and then a locker room where a mean coach (a female) had talked sternly to a bunch of girls in a locker room. For tormenting Carrie, they got suspended and had their prom tickets revoked. They were also given detention and I yelled my disgust and went outside to calm down before loading up WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 for my PS2. I had reduced the game Shane McMahon to a bloody pulp 4 times, winning by K.O. and retaining the belts four times as well (Shane's body damage was all red (Critical) as well).

My victory over the evil Shane McMahon was short-lived; my imagination ran off unexpectedly when I turned the game off to fix my DirecTV receiver. When I got it back up and running, all of a sudden, my imagination is dragging a mysterious girl named Azalea into a whole mess of trouble, thinking she used Shane as a pawn to punish the girls picking on Carrie for their greed, and possessed the coach to give the girls detention to upset me and blame EVERYTHING on him.

I have no idea who this "Azalea" is, but she is one tough cookie with brown eyes and brown hair, and one of her greatest assets is being seductive. Last time I heard that strange first name, it was when I watched a little of Poison Ivy: The Secret Society a month ago on Lifetime Movie Network (DirecTV Channel 253). Just who is she, and why is she doing this? I'm just curious.

Why am I suddenly hearing "Love Is On The Way", a 1998 song by Deborah Cox when I'm writing about one of my newest characters with ties to North Carolina?

Over the past week (and Thanksgiving--hope you too had a happy and safe one), I have been trying to make a character's story which is loosely based off my school experience from elementary school to college, and suddenly Caroline Bell comes to mind. She's 21 and from Wilmington.

If anyone watches Smallville on the CW, let me tell you that this is where I got most of the character ideas from (looks). The character resembles actress Allison Mack. Caroline's got great friends from Wilmington including two from the last R.A.C.E.R. 41 I wrote. They are Jennifer Lentz, who resembles Sophia Bush from One Tree Hill, and the other is Nicole Rush, who resembles Hilarie Burton from the same show as Sophia.

It's that when Caroline narrates in my story, that enchanting song by Ms. Cox is playing. I once had an idea where the villainous Shane McGrath (played by Dax Griffin) was sent by evil forces to hurt a girl, but all of a sudden out of NOWHERE comes Jun Kazama...to crash the party for Mr. Griffin and break Shane McGrath (and the force)'s arms, Tekken 2-style until he's K.O.'ed "perfect!". Ouch. Maybe Jun doesn't like The Bold and the Beautiful?

Or was the song by Deborah Cox trying to drive Dax away? I hear on Wikipedia that Shane has something terrible for a female character, and if Jun Kazama were there, Dax would be screaming in pain because SHE broke Shane's arms and hit him with (WS)+2,1,1,1,2,3,4,3,3,4 (10 hit combo). Maybe Shane lives off making female B&B characters a nightmare so I can throw things across the room and blame various people ranging from Jeff Hardy to someone else not mentioned.

If I post anything like THAT on SoapCentral.com's message boards, the administrator just deletes it. I'm not going to take anymore chances and blame Jeff Hardy or whoever for Shane's actions on B&B, or Maddie's actions on ATWT. I'm not going to even try to blame Jeff Hardy--period, or go on the site.

This blog also wasn't made to offend or harass anyone, by the way. I'm very friendly. As I despise violence towards women, I ALSO DID NOT write this blog to bash Dax Griffin repeatedly until Jun Kazama comes and K.O.'s him "perfect!" for my beliefs. He's not a bad actor if you ask me. Shane just needs to stop torturing women RIGHT NOW before he gets in trouble with women's rights groups...AND Jun Kazama!

Yep. Just *what* on earth does Jun Kazama have to do with Deborah Cox? Nothing. One of her songs comes to mind when I'm writing about Caroline Bell, a new character I just invented in R.A.C.E.R. 41 3: The New Generation. If there's ever an IMDb message post on Allison Mack's message board on what song reminds users of her, I'll be damn sure to put down "Love Is On The Way" by Deborah Cox (excuse my language). This is what I really think when she comes to mind. Oh, and Deborah needs to come out with a new album soon. I can't wait for Suzanne Vega or Alicia Keys to come out with some new ones as well. :0)

 

The first two paragraphs are in dedication to my uncle who recently passed away at the age of 55 to a heart attack. He will be greatly missed... :(

Did you ever have the time where you lost a family member, and he/she was important to you, and you were in sadness for the remainder of a day? Well, I'm feeling it. My uncle has passed away at the age of 55. So I had to comfort his widow (my aunt) and her son (my cousin) this morning on my cell phone after my mother told me the bad news. He will be greatly missed...

I also remember watching all the Law & Orders with my aunts (the one in Beulaville, North Carolina watches the classic L&O, my aunt in Maryland likes Law & Order: Criminal Intent). Though I couldn't understand SVU in 2004 (a rerun was shown), I started to like the L&Os until the saddest news on earth: Jerry Orbach passed away due to cancer. Actually, after L&O, the next one I watched was that of Criminal Intent, but didn't know of Vincent D'Onofrio until just last year.

Though I didnt watch the L&O series until 2002 (my Economics, Legals & Politics class showed a 1999 episode, KiLLeRz, but I didn't understand the 10-year old's motives for killing that little boy with the battery and in 2004 while in high school, my Business Law class showed that same tape), that little girl was just psychotic (she said she hated boys and wishes that they would die--that's like Avril Lavigne's childhood in an article I read which stated she got into fights with boys at school), I could just walk away from that right now. I idiotically accused Avril Lavigne and Jeff Hardy for what the little girl was thinking, and I think that's how R.A.C.E.R. 41 was born on September 24 of that year. Well, I'm sorry, but Avril Lavigne and Jeff Hardy do NOT have *anything* to do with any of the Law & Orders, and I knew better.

I got into SVU in June of 2004, but USA showed a bad episode, "Manhunt", which led to Canada. A young woman was tortured against her will and then killed by a villain played by R.E. Rodgers. I did not know about Mariska Hargitay until two years later when I first read a copy of Sophisticate's Hairstyle Guide. Yeah, Olivia Benson can be tough as nails, but as the article said, "Mariska lets her hair down when she's off the set to show off her girly side", which is fine with me. From 1999 to 2001, I didn't like Olivia's hairstyles. I liked the ones from late 2002 to now, which Mariska dyed her hair light brown and it was a little shorter. I started watching SVU by myself this year.

Oh, and Mariska, congrats on the new baby boy, August. I also have her official website bookmarked.

Well, I gotta close out Book 5 of The New Challengers--time to introduce Ayame to Wendie...

How many of you SVU and 4400 fans can imagine Patrick Flueger and Mariska Hargitay starring in a film together? I know I can after seeing a 2004 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled "Families". I had a weird dream about one of the two, and it's not Olivia Benson. It's the man that played Aidan Connor and Shawn Farrell. I'm pretty busy write now, so I'll update later.