KHS Junior Private Party -- March 27, 2011

This event, was probably the highlight of this month, scratch that; of this year.  It was well planned, there were a few contests, plenty of dancing, all you can eat food, and a kind of ambiance that just isn't replicable in a gym.  Did I mention dancing? In short, practically everybody this evening was a party animal for a while.  Even some of the teachers (and I as well) joined the foray.   When I left the Ala Moana Hotel at 10:11 PM (4 hours later), I did not see a single frown on anybodies face, except for a few grimaces due to sore feet (high heels).  


First off, the setting.  This party took place in a nightclub.  An actual night club.  With smoke machines, mini disco-balls, strobe lights, lasers's up the wazoo, spinning fixtures, a dance floor, and projection screens showing off popular music videos and the occasional "Welcome to Rumours".  There were also dancing cages.  People got a lot of laughs out of those. I kind of got a headache when the strobe effect went on but that was probably just me (party virgin here).  

The place had AC but it wasn't uncomfortable.  I'd like to say that it hit that "Goldilocks" temperature; not too hot and not too cold (and everybody knows that when it's too cold, you just gotta use the restroom...over and over again).  The seats were nice (comfy padded cloth chairs or bar stools) and the lighting gave the room an ambient relaxed kind of atmosphere (similar to before a movie starts in the theater).  The pillars, multiple floor levels, and weird carpet texture had me feeling like I was in the back portion of Willy Wonka's factory.  I liked that weirdness.  Not to mention that the ceiling was a complete mishmash of pipes, lights, and other assorted metal.  That was pretty cool.  There was even a kind of private room in case you didn't agree with all the noise. 


The food was okay.  It's not 5 stars gourmet kind of stuff but that's okay.  It's not like the brochure said you'd be having Iron chef quality food.  Not to say that it tasted bad.  In fact, I'd say that most of the food there tasted quite good.  Especially the fried noodles and fruits.  And avocado crab sushi. And buffalo wings.  The pasta salad had a little too much onion but then again, not everybody nitpicks like me.  The fact that this was all you can eat was a definite plus.  Also, the food wasn't "heavy"; it didn't get in the way of dancing.  The bar provided a wide array of fountain drinks (sodas) on demand.  


The games were pretty fun.  They weren't elaborate as most games are during the pep rallies.  It was just called "Bend Over".  Now that you've taken some time to pull your mind out of the gutter, allow me to elaborate.  There was a stack of boxes on the ground in front of you about a foot tall.  The point of the game is to bend over without bending your knees and pick up the box tower with your mouth. Everybody had a try and as the participants came full circle, the tower got smaller along with the number of people competing (they couldn't handle it).  Eventually it got to the last little 3 inch tall box.  About 4 or 5 people managed to do it (me included).  2 teachers also did it (Mrs. Kishimoto and Aunty Holly).  All participants got prizes ranging from school supplies to 32 ounce bags of animal crackers to stuffed teddy bears the size of a rather husky grizzly cub. 


There was also a call in contest where the 11th caller to a specified phone number had a chance to win a brand new Ipod Nano. I won't say who won, but the question was pretty easy.  "List three of the first names of the teachers chaperoning this event."  

The last game or rather contest was a "dance-off".  The prizes were upped this time and at least 5 people walked away with prizes that included Ala Moana gift cards valued up to $100, $50, and $25.  That was the best thing about this party.  There weren't many competitors so out of the 40-50 or so people that went, I believe a good 20 of them left with a prize.  That's 40%.  I'd say your chances of winning were pretty good, wouldn't you say?  


Music.  There were two DJ's and well... It was party music.  There were some unpopular soundtracks (Bieber) but that was easily fixed with a quick suggestion.  I thought that was great.  You could suggest songs if you didn't like what was being played.  Power to the students.  Songs included were by artists like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Far Off, Ceolo Green, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars, and Lil Wayne.  The dancing portion was great.  The music was varied and there were even some easter eggs in the form of oldies but goodies like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and the never fail "Electric Slide".  I think most people who went to the club actually got on the dance floor at one point. Though of course, I was disappointed that the DJ's were unfamiliar with some of my favorites.  

To be fair, I did have some problems with the party.  The one thing that irked me were the announcers.  They butchered the script.  Or rather, a announcer.  To protect their identity, I have given them a new one; Liphu Gino.  Why do you have to talk like a god-damned robot?  I think it was a great thing that there's such a thing as varying your tone.  You know, to have a change of pace in pronunciation?  I know you're reading it from a script but couldn't you make an attempt at making it sound like you're not reading it?  It's okay to use improv.  I mean, what would you say if the ceiling collapsed: "AND LETS START THIS THING OFF WITH A BANG"?

(This guy manages to sound totally badass.  And he's a robot.  What is your excuse?)

In conclusion, I'm inclined to say that the most fun I ever had this year was at this party.  It doesn't top Disney World, but in all honesty, what can?   In my personal opinion, this was the best high school event I ever went to, hands down.  Blew Freshman year out of the water, destroyed Sophomore year, and might be a heavy competitor for Senior year. There were a lot of people, all dressed semi-formally and in tasteful attire, I had a lot of fun dancing, and at the end of the event; with the sweat on my brow and the pain in my heels,  I (along with many others) felt satisfied that this was a $35 very well spent. Major props to the people who were able to make this possible, and the sponsors who donated the prizes.  If you couldn't make it to this event, I truly feel sorry for you and hope you're able to make it to a similar event next year.  


P.S. If you have photos you want to share on here, link it to me. 

NES Classics Castlevania -- for GBA

Today just happens to mark the 5 month anniversary of the time I finally defeated the game known as Castlevania on the GBA.  As of this moment, I have still only beaten it once on normal mode.  It's that hard.  Despite this obvious quill in the backside, the game is still playable.  It's actually one of my favorites in my collection.  The gameplay, the setting, the enemies, and the music are in my opinion, it's best features.

The main plot of the game is that you're a warrior named Simon Belmont, who's taken it upon himself to find and destroy Dracula, who's hidden away deep inside his castle.  You have to make your way through 6 stages, defeating different iconic monsters to get deeper inside, all while gaining different power ups, weapons, and a twitch finger reaction. 

Simon's main weapon is the whip, which can be upgraded from the short leather whip to the spiked ball and chain, and finally to the Vampire killer (a longer version of the spiked ball and chain).  You can only aim to the left and right.  They are found by whipping candles. 


Other items include hearts, which are gotten from enemies or candles that are scattered through out the stage.  Instead of replenishing life (as gaming intuition would tell you) they act as ammo for your subweapons. Sacks of money earn you points, food replenishes your health, gold potion acts as invincibility (sort of like the Star in Super Mario but without the enemy dieing when coming in contact with you), and the Holy cross kills everything on the screen. 


The Subweapons are found when attacking the candles and they're all unique.  The Axe attacks in a arcing pattern while the Dagger goes forward and goes relatively quickly.  The Boomerang cross goes... in a boomerang pattern.  Holy water travels a short distance ahead of Simon when thrown and on contact with the ground or enemy, bursts into a small ember that continually damages the enemy while freezing it (overpowered).  The Stop watch is the most expensive subweapon, costing a whopping 5 hearts to activate while the rest only need one. It freezes every enemy and obstacle on the screen (like collapsing spikes and moving platforms).  The double and triple shot allows a player to use a subweapon in a rapid fire fashion with the roman numeral corresponding to the amount of weapons you throw at one time.  

The enemies are fantastic.  There are ghouls, ghosts, vampire bats, hunchbacks, skeletons, hawks, dark knights, bone dragons, medusa heads, you name it.  The bosses just get better with a killer bat, mummies, Frankenstein's monster and Igor, Medusa, the Grim Reaper, and Dracula.  Does anybody see a recurring theme here?  Their design was just great.  Keep in mind that this game was competing with stuff like Super Mario.  Compared to that, Konami did a hell of a job at recreating some of the silver ages best horror monsters on the 8-bit NES.  

Now on to the gameplay.  The control... isn't the greatest in the world.  When Simon jumps, he commits to where he's going.  You cannot change the trajectory and he always moves a set distance.  At least he can attack while jumping.  Simon also moves at the same exact pace throughout the whole game; a slow trudge.  The primary problem in this game is that when you're hit, it often meant you were going to die.  Not because of being hit too many times, no, you had a lifebar.  The problem was that whenever you got hit, you flew back.  And this normally resulted in you falling into a pit or water, where no lifebar can save you. Then there are the annoying enemies like the medusa heads.  I swear, I never look at a wavy line in a positive manner anymore... Ok, I feel like I'm just beating a dead horse now.  Better leave this kind of bashing to the experts.  

The music on the other hand is top notch.  Each stage had it's own unique theme that matched very well with the setting.  Would you believe that a game that came out in 1986 (a year after Super Mario Bros) managed to simulate music that was reminiscent of 80's rock and classical piano?  Just listen. 

In conclusion, this game is incredibly difficult (nigh impossible on hard mode) and should be played by only the most avid of retro-gamers.  Back in the day, this type of hand eye coordination exercise was common, unlike now.  In fact, the version that I'm playing is the easy version.  On the original NES, there was no save function to my knowledge, which meant that losing all your lives put you right back at the start.  This meant you would have to beat the game in one sitting.  The game is short (it can be beaten within 20 minutes with the luck of God and the reflexes of a crack snorting cheetah) but it can take days just to get past one level due to it's difficulty.  If you're an ordinary gamer, and not even kinda-sort of a casual gamer, then I suggest you do not at any point; pick up this game and play it.  I will not be held responsible for any broken consoles, furniture, and sleepless nights.  

Of Mice and Men -- By John Steinbeck

I finished reading this classic about a couple minutes ago, and I have to be honest.  I really liked it.  This book deserves its place on the recommended reading lists.  It's short so it should appeal to the casual reader.  In fact, you can finish it in a couple hours. The edition I have is a mere 118 pages long, but each page is jam packed with emotional dialogue between characters, and vivid imagery that gives off the feel of that "backwoods America".  It never gets boring (at least for me).  However, this story does not have a happy ending.  If books could make somebody cry, roll around the ground in agony, and feel depressed for a small amount of time afterward, this would be one of them.


The plot basically goes like this.  Two homeless guys, George and Lennie; are traveling together looking for a job.  They're like two dissimilar peas in a pod.  On the one hand, George is intelligent, cunning, and level headed; Lennie is dumb, slow, obsessed with rabbits, and incredibly strong (which plays a key role in the story). George acts as a big brother (ironic considering their implied size differences) for Lennie, in the occasions that he accidentally goes too far.  He isn't violent.  He's just childlike with no way to control his strength, much like a kid a gun.  He kills animals when he pets them (mice and a puppy) which foreshadows the fate of other smaller creatures he encounters.  They both share one goal however.  It's the quintessential American dream.  The only thing they want in life is to start up their own farm and "live off the fatta the lan".

The book starts off with the two in the middle of a forest running away from something, apparently from lynchers that want to kill Lennie for trying to "rape" a woman when the reality was that Lennie was feeling her dress (he liked velvet).  The duo figure out that they need to work for money and food, so they get a job at a farm. The primary problem comes in the form of an angry little man that loves to pick on bigger people, who goes by the name of Curley.  He also happens to be the son of the farm owner.  Then there's his promiscuous wife, who Lennie immediately finds himself attracted to, which kind of brings back the reason why they got in that mess.

It's not all bad for George and Lennie.  They meet a one handed farm hand who goes by the name of Candy.  He also wants his own farm and promises to pitch in his own money to make their combined dream a reality.  You can't help but feel elated that they might actually live on their own, despite the unrealistic nature of it all.

Things start to look good but they quickly fall flat.  Curley's wife manages to catch Lennie alone and despite his attempts to get away, he becomes enthralled by her hair.  Of course, she screams, and Lennie (who innocently just wants her to keep quiet so George doesn't scold him) tries to muffle her, killing her in the process.  You can already tell by now that the two are in some deep shit.

Lennie runs off into the woods while Curley; in a rage, forms a search party to find and kill him.  George can only reluctantly follow along. Lennie starts to hallucinate and sees images of his Aunt and a giant rabbit; entities that he adores with all his heart.  They start scolding him for dragging George along and at this point, the reader would probably stop and think "Why does George put up with Lennie?"  The images fade and George (the real person) comes into to comfort Lennie.   This leads to the most poignant part of the story.    George now realizes that if he doesn't bring in Lennie, he'll be taken along and killed too.  But if he does, Lennie will be locked up or killed by the enraged Curley.  Left with no choice, he tells Lennie to turn around and envision their dream home in the distance. As Lennie does so, George brings out a gun, wobbles while positioning the muzzle at the back of the head, and finally kills his own distracted friend, execution style.

As the last pages start to come up, you realize that it probably killed George on the inside to do what he just did.  After all, this was something that nobody should have to do.  It becomes hard not to shed a tear at the way that these two men were already on the right track to achieving their goal in life only to have it be thrashed to pieces by a simple accident.  When one of Curly's men utters the question "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" in the last line of the book, the reader immediately knows the answer.