VaxCave

My brother, Dan, rode in the Escape to the Lake MS-150 cycling event on the weekend of the 9th and 10th. Thanks to all that contributed to his pledge drive. As of today, his pledge total came to $1,265.00.

I assumed a less strenuous volunteer role as a SAG wagon driver. I picked up about 15 people over the two day ride. Issues ranged from flat tires to severe exhaustion. My job was to get the people to the next SAG station so they could have any issues addressed.

I worked with a guy named Adam that drove a large van. He was a support person for the D.O.R.C. team and the van was from Thick Bikes on the south side. Since my CR-V doesn’t have a bike rack and his van didn’t have any seats, it only seemed natural for the two of us to work in tandem.

Dan rode his 1986 Guerciotti bicycle. It did him pretty well on the second day, but the gear ratios were all wrong for day one. Day one was chock full of long uphill climbs. Day two was a more relaxed and flatter ride. Perhaps next time we will bring both bikes (mountain and racing) for the event.

I took loads of pictures of the event. You can check those out in my Flickr set.

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Filed by AxsDeny at 12:56 pm under General, Sports & Games
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When I was 17 or 18 my family visited a flea market near our home. As the flea market was closing up, Tom (our German foreign exchange student) and I passed a vendor. The vendor said to us, “Do you have a Nintendo?”

“Of course.”

She pointed at a table to the side and said, “help yourself.”

On this table was a display of hundreds of original NES games. Tom and I looked at each other. Then we looked at the people picking through the titles. We grabbed one of the available trash bags and began shoveling as many games as we could into the bag. I vividly recall how heavy the bag was and how the plastic stretched under the weight of the cartridges.

After getting home and sorting through everything, we ended up having multiples copies of many, many games. I think the top title was Super Mario Bros. with a total of 13 copies. We ended up giving the extras away, so it worked out nicely for me and my cousins.

Here’s a rundown of what I still have in my collection and how I remember the gameplay.

1. 8 Eyes: The intro music to this game is some of my favorite. The gameplay has a multi-attack approach utilizing a falcon that you can deploy from your shoulder. The control of the falcon is a little weak, but you can’t complain since the NES only had 2 buttons.
2. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance: The Dragonlance books were basically the only books I read in junior high and high school. This game is horrible though. It is based on the first book in the Chronicles Series.
3. The Adventure of Link: Awesome game. Some didn’t like it. I have one word for those people: downstab.
4. Alien Syndrome: This game was stupid. Thankfully it was free.
5. American Gladiators: My mom bought me this for Easter one year. She knew that I liked to watch American Gladiators on TV. I feel bad because the game certainly didn’t live up to its television counterpart. It was nice of mom to do that though.
6. Anticipation: I don’t even remember what this was about. I think it was a game show on TV that was adapted to the NES.
7. The Bard’s Tale: A poor implementation of the PC game.
8. Bionic Commando: I loved this game. The hook arm that allowed you to swing around was great. The fact that the ending fight is obviously with Hitler is a bit disturbing. Apparently the game was created as something different and the US marketing group thought that a game about Hitler wouldn’t sell.
9. Blaster Master: I got this for Christmas in 1990 or 1991. I was never able to beat it without the help of the (much later acquired) Game Genie.
10. Burai Fighter: Barely played this. Not very memorable.
11. Captain Skyhawk: Not as good as Top Gun.
12. Castlevania: A classic. Simon Belmont is a name I’ll think of everytime I hear the name Medusa.
13. Castlevania II: Simons Quest: I didn’t get into this one as much because I got it when I was a senior in high school. I had a girlfriend at that point, so video gaming wasn’t always at the top of my list.
14. Caveman Games: Another poor implementation of a cool PC game.
15. The Chessmaster: Sadly, I played this a lot.
16. Commando: Jackal with no Jeeps. I liked this game though. I remember playing it at Scott Szajna’s house when I still lived in Robesonia.
17. Contra: While in college, Neil Stone and I beat this game (without using the Konami Code) in under 14 minutes.
18. Cybernoid: No recollection of this game at all.
19. Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum: I remember reading about this in Nintendo Power, but I don’t think I ever spent much time with it.
20. Double Dragon: I have YET to beat this game. I can get to the end, but just can’t beat the guy.
21. Double Dragon II: This was the first game I bought with my own money. $30!! I played it till I perfected it.
22. Dragon Warrior: My first step into the world of RPGs. I still hold a special place in my geek-heart for this game. Blue slime!
23. Duck Hunt: I recently found my Light Zapper. I don’t think anyone can look at those things and not think of this game.
24. Final Fantasy: I graduated to this game after Dragon Warrior. I spent so much time on this game. I used to listen to a mixed tape that my brother made for my while playing this game. Now, whenever I hear any of those songs I think of this game.
25. Friday the 13th: Wow. This game was hard. Stupid Crystal Lake.
26. Golgo 13 (Top Secret Episode): This game was insanely hard. I loved it though because of the feeling of European espionage that it had to it. The music was enjoyable and really set the tone. Also, amusingly, Golgo has a sexual encounter in this game that returns his life meter to full status. It’s quite amusing. Does anyone remember the name of the maze that is in the East Berlin level? It’s the place where you get the sniper rifle. I just can’t recall what it was named but I remember that it was an incredibly hard level.
27. The Guardian Legend: Another fun shoot-em-up. Wasted many hours on this one.
28. Gyruss: No where near as good as The Guardian Legend. This is a classic coin-op game though.
29. Hogan’s Alley: One of the other 5 Light Zapper games. Basically the game everyone played in 7-11, including Marty McFly.
30. Ikari Warriors: Like Contra, but suckier.
31. Infiltrator: No.
32. Ironsword: Burdensome.
33. Jackal: Commando. Only with Jeeps.
34. Journey to Silius: Too complicated.
35. Joust: Arcade classic. I bought this at a thrift store. Quite pointless, but popular nonetheless
36. Karate Champ: Wow. Kung Fu wins this battle.
37. Kung Fu: See above, then look out for the bees and that purple dude with the stick!
38. Laser Invasion: I have no idea where I got this.
39. The Legend of Zelda: I spent many hours on this game as I’m sure many others of my age group did. This game, along with the Super Mario Bros. games are THE defining games for Nintendo.
40. Mach Rider: Weird motorcycle racing game. I distinctively remember not being able to figure out how to make the custom levels work properly.
41. The Magic of Scheherazade: I don’t think I’ve ever even put this into my NES. Many people rave about it though.
42. Metal Gear: This was one of the first games that I rented. I rented it several times. I remember staying up late and trying to beat it. I remember feeling excitement when I got close to the end. At some point, I ended up owning this game, but it wasn’t until I got a Game Genie that I was able to actually get to the end. The best I ever did without the Genie was to blow up the supercomputer.
43. Metroid: This was a game that I played at Brad Bailey’s house a lot. He owned it so I would go over and play watch him play. I remember the excitement of getting the ice beam and the jump boots. I also vividly recall quadruple checking the characters of the continuation codes that we were forced to write down. A fantastic game.
44. Operation Wolf: Boring.
45. Palamedes: No recollection of this one.
46. Platoon: This was a little too mature for me at age 12. Thankfully, I was 17 when I got this game. Unfortunately at that point, I had a Super Nintendo and was engrossed in Super Metroid or Chrono Trigger.
47. Pro Wrestling: This was an awesome button mashing game. Remember the Swamp Thing guy that chewed on people’s faces?
48. Raid on Bungeling Bay: I never got into this one. I definitely recall that he box art was cool though.
49. Renegade: Sort of like Double Dragon meets River City Ransom. Except take out all the good parts of both of those games.
50. Robowarrior: This was a game that I think Justin Jordan had. I borrowed it from him (I think) a few times and I recall not having any idea what I was supposed to be doing.
51. Rolling Thunder: Another one of those games made by the Gauntlet people. Unfortunately, this sucked as much as Gauntlet ruled.
52. Rush ‘N Attack: Another game I played with Scott Szajna. This was a ton of fun, but essentially impossible to beat as an 11 year old.
53. Section Z: Never got into this one. My A.D.D. prevented that.
54. Skate or Die: Ron Phipps had this game. It caused us to spent many hours outside his house trying to learn how to olley. All we ever did was hurt ourselves.
55. Sky Kid: No recollection.
56. Solar Jetman: Mom bought me this one for Christmas one year. That year I also got Blaster Master and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All three of these games are SUPER hard. It was a stellar Christmas though. All three were winners in my book.
57. Solomon’s Key: An amazing puzzle game. I really liked this one. This is another game that Scott Szajna introduced me to.
58. Star Force: Crappy space shooter.
59. Strider: Oh man. This was one that Brad Bailey introduced me to. I loved this game.
60. Super C: I bought this at a thrift store while I was in college. It certainly wasn’t as good as the first one.
61. Super Dodge Ball: Loved this game. So many hours playing against my cousins.
62. Super Glove Ball: Never played it.
63. Super Mario Bros. 3: One day, after returning from work, my mom popped into my room and handed me a rented game. It was SMB3! At that time, SMB3 was about a month old, so this new release was HOTT. It was like my mom had been reading my Nintendo Power magazines and knew what all the kids wanted. I don’t think I slept for the next 36 hours. I ended up buying this game later on and spending many hours playing through all the levels. No magic flute!
64. Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt: Do I even need to mention the awesomeness and pervasiveness this game has achieved?
65. Target Renegade: Double Dragon ripoff.
66. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Level 4 is where I died ever time. Fun though.
67. Tetris: When I first got Tetris for the NES I played it upwards of six hours per day. After about 2 or 3 weeks of this I started to become delirious. During one marathon session (5 hours in) I realized that I was very thirsty. I went down to the kitchen to quench my thirst. As I poured iced tea into my glass I thought to myself, “I better pour this properly or the tea won’t fit into the glass correctly.” It was at that point that I blacked out. The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital a few days ago… something about a coma. Dr. Mario was a saint to me for explaining the situation in colorful, albeit hallucinogenic, pill form. I’ll miss 1991.
68. Time Lord: No recollection.
69. Top Gun: Landing (that is, crashing) was the only reason I couldn’t beat this game.
70. Track & Field II: I didn’t have the running pad thingy, so I never got in to this one.
71. Urban Champion: No recollection.
72. Wrath of the Black Manta: The end of this game was impossible if you didn’t have the Nintendo Power that told you how to beat it.
73. Xevious: Awesome side scrolling space shoot-em-up.

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Filed by AxsDeny at 1:35 pm under Entertainment, General, Sports & Games
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Big Ben Drains a Three

The PA State Police hosted a fundraiser for the family of slain trooper Joe Pokorny last weekend. They had many events, but my mom and dad, along with Bill and I, attended the Troopers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers basketball game.

The Steelers that played in the game were James Harrison, Lee Mays, Ricardo Colclough, and ex-Steelers Louis Lipps and Ed Nelson. We were all a little non-plussed about the lineup until Ben Roethlisberger ran out and joined the team right before The Star-Spangled Banner was sung.

The game was fun, if not a tad embarassing for the Troopers. It’s probably safe to say that everyone on the Steelers side of the ball had picked up a basketball at one point in their life. At one point, Big Ben hit six three-pointers in a row. It was amazing.

We had a good time at the game and it was nice to see the Troopers and the Steelers raising money for the Pokorny family.

Final score– Troopers: 30 Steelers: 119

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Filed by AxsDeny at 12:54 pm under General, Sports & Games
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I’m not sure if this is funny, sad, brilliant, or idiotic. It might be a little of each. But this style of writing is just like all the books I read when I was in junior high.

Taken from a Mythology Book, circa 12,000 AD…

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Filed by AxsDeny at 2:41 pm under Entertainment, Funny, General, Sports & Games
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Bill, Laura, Bridget, Jake, Chris, Gretchen, and I went to the celebratory parade for the Steelers yesterday. It was un-be-lievable. The news is saying that there were 250,000 people there. I totally believe it.

We were only a few feet from the street on 5th Avenue, but the throng was thick. It was difficult to get any good pictures because of the crowd size and movement. I’ve got a Flickr set that you are welcome to check out. I took over 300 pictures and (in my opinion) only about 10 were any good. Take a look for yourself.

I got this picture via email from Chris. It was also on the front of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review today. Pretty cool. Polamalu is a cool guy.

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Filed by AxsDeny at 11:10 am under General, Sports & Games
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