I was going to call you today,
However I decided to run away,
To paranoid of what to think,
To afraid of what to see,
I just wanted to let you know,
I’m sick of what we are to be,
Why cant we just sit and watch the moonlight glow,

Peaceful,
Innocent,
Beautiful.

To peace you say,
But I wish, our war would cease today,
I’m sick of your jokes,
You’re nothing more than an elaborate hoax.
You only wanted me there for you,
But I’m not sure how I’m going to get through,
No… I do.
Not with you.

You don’t have to cry,
Everything is going to be fine.
I’m not going to deny,
Your lips are better than mine.
So you can kiss this goodbye.

Kids get sick.  A lot!  My nephew, Xander, is an industrious one and doesn’t let a simple illness keep him down.  Not five minutes after his mommy instructed him to stay away from his brother, Zereth, to keep him from getting sick as well, I overheard Xander threatening Zereth with a little germ warfare…  It’s no wonder when children get sick, their entire family (parents and siblings alike) are taken down with them.

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MAN, THAT WENT FAST! 

Here we find ourselves at the end of the year already,  December!  Before you know it we’ll be out shopping for those O so special people in our lives.  Which reminds me…Gift Certificates are available from Iron Monkey and punch cards also make excellent gifts!  (sorry, had to do it!) 

UPDATE FROM LAST MONTH 

Some people were sick (Chris – how could you!), some people were not (me - WOOHOO!).   

UPCOMING EVENTS 

Depends on who’s sick but… Mitchell is geared to fight muay thai on December 4th in Lambton County. 

I.C.A.D.S. is scheduled for December 13th at Caged Dragon in Brantford and if you happen to get this in time, there is a Sid Vanderpool Boxing Seminar tomorrow at 1, same bat place. 

CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH 

Here it is:  Jenn did 100 double kettlebell swings and 50 burpees (advanced) in 9 minutes 15 seconds!  

BEAT THAT! 

This is how it works:  10 swings, 20 burpees, 15 swings, 15 burpees, 20 swings, 10 burpees, 25 swings, 5 burpees, 30 swings.  

Don’t even think about doing lame-ass burpees either!  Squat, pushup, tuck jump. 

It’s all about the time!  How quickly can you get it done?  Are you a conditioned machine? 

Jenn seems to be the one to beat, no one has topped her time holding a kiba-dachi stance either. 

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 

The club will be closed on Christmas Eve, December 24th and Christmas Day, December 25th and Boxing Day, December 26.  Other than that the class schedule remains the same.  We hope each and every one of you enjoys the holiday season with an abudance of cheer and good will.   

FESTIVITIES 

While you’re enjoying all the benefits of the season, keep in mind that I like an assortment of Christmas cookies and you’re more than welcome to bring me some.   After such gorging occurs, the Womens Kickboxing class regrets every morsel I eat since the workouts reflect how many calories I need to burn.  This inturn benefits them as well so it’s a win/win situation every time! 

KEEP IN MIND 

Iron Monkey T-shirts are for sale and make great gifts.  

Gift Certificates are available in different denominations. 

Punch cards are wicked convenient. 

I like cookies 

And… 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 

Okay last night I had a bit of a fitful sleep drifting in and out a bit.

During the evening we had had a friend over and ended up in an in depth discussion about the paranormal, ghosts, spirits and such. I, being a non-believer in it all, had joked that the closest I get is when the bedroom tv randomly switches itself off and then back on. This happens to me from time to time, yet never to my partner.

When we got into bed my partner fell asleep before me and suddenly the TV started switching off and back on more furiously then ever before… needless to say I was freaked out. So think it may have affected my sleep a little!

Anyway back to the dreams.

I remember three distinct dreams, but only parts of each, not too much info on them all (this often happens if I dream and wake up and then fall asleep and dream something else).

Dream 1: Life info which affects this – My youngest sister is currently 8 months pregnant

My sister had her baby, it was an easy labour and she had a healthy little girl. The whole family was there, and everyone was happy, then I was left to look after the baby. I managed to ‘misplace’ the baby and was freaking out. I hadn’t gone anywhere so no idea where the baby had gone. I tried to cover up the fact I had lost the baby by ‘making’ a new one out of lifelike dolls. Yet, I couldn’t remember what the baby looked like! Needless to say there was much panic.

I cannot remember anything after that! The dream dictionary says:

Having A Baby – To dream that you or someone is having a baby, suggests that you are giving birth to a new idea or project. It also represents new beginnings or some upcoming event. A more direct interpretation of this dream, may represent your desires/ anxieties of giving birth or the anticipation for such an event to occur.

Lose - To dream that you lose something may mean that you really have misplaced something that you had not realized yet. It may also be a signal for you to clean out and reorganize your life. You have become overwhelmed and distracted with the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. On a symbolic note, losing things in your dream may signify lost opportunities, past relationships or forgotten aspects of yourself. Your personal associations to the thing you lose will clue you into the emotional meaning and interpretation of your dream.

Dream 2:

I was on a TV chat show as an extra (no idea why they’d have an extra but still) and kept saying cheeky, funny things when I shouldn’t be! The show hosts were getting really annoyed with me, but the audience and producers were finding it hilarious… I kept going until the end of the show, where Graham Norton came up to me and asked me to be a regular guest on his show. I was bowled over as I’d always wanted to meet him, but even more surprised when he started kissing me (bearing in mind he is gay).

Again short but random dream, I have never wanted to be famous so definitely have no aspirations to be on TV. Dream dictionary says:

Kiss - To dream of a kiss, denotes love, affection, tranquility, harmony, and contentment

TV – To dream that you are on TV, suggests that there is something that you want to broadcast to the whole world. You have the desire to express yourself. Alternatively, you are trying to take a more objective view on your life issues.

Dream 3: The longest of my remembered dreams, bearing in mind I’ve been playing final fantasy in the past few days.

The dream starts with me under water, trying to open a gate… I know if I go above the surface this giant turtle beast will get me. I also know if the gate doesn’t open soon I will drown. Eventually I get the gate open and myself, and the others with me (strangers) get through. In the next room we are standing looking down on another room.

There are piles and piles of what looks like patio slabs of all different heights, and I am told some will disappear when stood on. There are stacks which will decrease only slightly, some which will disappear instantly (bringing certain death) and some which will not move. I take a deep breath and run as fast as I can across them. I do make it to the other side, just. When there I find a ring that I know is extremely precious to somebody and know I have to try and keep it safe.

Upon entering the next room, I proceed to have to battle with different men and creatures, yet am surprisingly relaxed during it. Until someone kicks me and I turn into an esper (thats definitely out of final fantasy) and start killing everyone.

And thats where I woke up! So all in all a random nights sleep.

Dream dictionary about the last one:

Monster – To dream that you are chased or followed by a monster, represents aspects of yourself that you find repulsive and ugly. You may possess some fears or some repressed emotions. Try to confront the monster in your dream and figure out who or what aspect of yourself the monster represents.

To dream that you kill a monster, signifies that you will successfully deal with your rivals and advance to a higher and better position.

Ring - To see a ring in your dream, symbolizes emotional wholeness, continuity and commitments. If the ring is on your finger, then it signifies your commitment to a relationship or a successful new endeavor. It also indicates your loyalty to your ideals, responsibilities, or beliefs.

Danger – To dream that you escape from danger, signifies that you will rise to a place of high position and honor in your business and social circle.

Question:

Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, to proceed:

I have read the second part of your book, at-Tibyaan fi Kufri man a’aan al-Amreekaan, the title of which is: “The Crusade Campaign in its Second Phase: War on Iraq”, and I benefited much from what you mentioned from rulings regarding this campaign, like the ruling on supporting America, and the ruling on supporting the Iraqi government, and the ruling on supporting the Muslim nation in Iraq.

Except, there was a matter that was not mentioned despite its importance, and it is: What is the ruling upon doing Jihaad against the Americans, and fighting them outside Iraq, like attacking their interests and bases and hitting them in different places of the world, and this is regarded from Jihaad? And do they have a covenant with us, in those countries were they do not [openly] fight us in? And is the saying of the Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa salam, ‘Whoever kills a person under covenant will never smell the fragrance of paradise”‘ And if we say that they are not under covenant, but fighting them would result in greater disadvantage, [would it then be] legislated to fight them?
Jazakumullah khayr.

Answer:

Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, to proceed:

Undoubtedly then, that the greatest of enemies of Islaam, and the Muslims in this era are those Americans, and if we wished to follow-up on their crimes against Islaam and its people in the recent times we would have spent ages on it; for they have killed nations of Muslims, in Iraq and Afghanistan alone almost two million, and have embargoed nations, and expelled nations, and brainwashed nations, and plundered the riches of the Muslims, and occupied much of their land, and placed tawagheet on the people, and they did in this ummah what no one did in ancient or recent history.

And today, we see them launching the thousands of rockets and tonnes of bombs on the heads of the Muslims everywhere, and they do not differentiate between a child, an old man, and a woman!

And why should they differentiate?!

For the Muslims, in thier eyes, are nothing but a collection of insects, whose extermination from this world is necessary.

So doing Jihaad against those cursed ones, and awaiting for them, and fighting them wherever they may be is: from the most important of obligations, and the greatest of things that can bring you close [to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala]; for they have corrupted the lands, and killed many of the servants, and fought the Muslims everywhere, so there is no doubt that they are the ‘leaders of disbelief’ in this era, without dispute, and Allah, the Most High has said, ‘So fight the leaders of kufr, verily they have no protection’, and if I had ten spears [only], I would have thrown it all at them, and no one else except them, and I swear by Allah: If my chance to do a martyrdom operation against them becomes easy, I will do it without any hesitance whatsoever…

And if Allah raises from amongst this ummah of one billion a thousand – only – from the ‘martyrdomers’ who quake their bases and interests everywhere, they would have defeated them and returned them humilated losers…

So what a shame:
Do those pharoah’s enslave the Muslims, and taste them the severest of punishments everywhere, and then find no resistance, rather they find protection from the tawagheet and their slaves?

And know, my dear brother, that the doubt of the one who prohibits fighting them and killing them in other than the lands in which they fight in is one of two:

The first: The doubt of the covenant:

So they say: They have a covenant with us, and whoever kills a covenant-holder does not smell the smell of paradise as is clear in the hadeeth.

The second: The doubt of the advantages and disadvantages:

So they say: Fighting them causes tribulation upon this ummah that it cannot handle.

So we say in reply:

As for the covenant, then no wallah, there is no covenant between us and them, nay, they are harbiyoon wherever they reside and live, even if they became attached to the coverings of the Ka’bah, for the covenants that the governments did with those crusaders is not recognised in the sharee’ah, rather it is based upon the charters of the false-dietic United Nations, and was signed by individuals who have no conciousness of Allah in their actions, and nothing is more important to those individuals more than preserving their thrones and status, even if the covenant was recognised, they would be considered as having broken that covenant in the tens, nay hundreds even; like their declaring that this is a crusade and fighting us due to our religion, to expelling the Muslims from their lands, to supporting those who expelled them, to violating many of the treaties, to involving themselves [in corrupting] the Islaamic rulings, to supporting the enemies of Islaam everywhere, to following up and spying on the Mujahideen on earth, and killing them, and imprisoning them, to plundering the treasures of the Muslims, and other than this from the matters of which a tenth would be enough to invalidate their covenant had it been shar’ee.

If the covenant between the Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa salam and Quraysh was nullified due to Qurayh’s support for Bakr over Khazaa’ah secretly, and for once only, so what of the actions of America which cannot be counted or numbered in this day and age…

Furthermore, it is not from the shar’ee covenants to allow the Crusaders and give them protection so that they may hit the Muslims however they want…

And praise be to Allah, I have detailed the proofs and statements to establish that there is no covenant between us and those crusaders, and that between us and them is nothing except the sword, as well as refuting many of the doubts casted in this matter in the book Nashr al-Bunood and I will release it soon insha’Allahu ta’ala.

As for the issue of advantages and disadvantages, then it is correct; for the matter if its disadvantages is greater than its advantage then it does not become permissible at that moment, except I notify you of two matters:

First: The advantages and disadvantages here are the shar’ee advantages and disadvantages, not the ones imagined [by some people].

Second: The people who sould look at the benefits towards the Jihaad of such actions and their harms are the Mujahideen, not the sitting ones who don’t even know how to use a gun!

This is what I have to say in this short reply, and I have lengthened the talk about these matters in two books, that I will release soon insha’Allah – if Allah protects me from his enemies -:

One of them is, Nashr al-Bunood, mentioned above.
The second is the third part of at-Tibyaan fi Kufri man a’aan al-Amreekaan.

I ask Allah subhanah, to grant victory to Islaam and its people, and to destroy America and its allies, and to cure our hearts from them, and to remove their envy towards us, and peace and blessings be upon our Messenger Muhammed.

Written by the noble Shaykh, Naasir al-Fahd on the 10th of April, 2003.

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Sports Coverage

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32inch lcd hdtv

Hitting and fighting in the NHL has once again come under a lot of scrutiny, thanks to several ‘head shots’ heard around the league.

The growing thought that there is any less respect between players these days as opposed to decades before is nonsense. Stick swinging incidents are essentially unheard of, bench clearing brawls are a thing of the past and outside of the odd skate stomping incident, thanks Chris Pronger, direct, vicious attacks are rare.

The Pronger Stomp Finishing Move

Ask any player how many times they received a hit and thought to themselves “Hey that guy really respected me with that hit.” BS. The thought is to get the puck, no matter what the cost. Knock the other player out of the way in order to make a play. ‘Send a message’, ‘run someone over’ and ‘set the physical tone’ are all terms that are accepted and encouraged within the game and for the vast majority of the time, it is what gives hockey it’s edge that makes it so appealing to so many. But the odd time something is going to go wrong, be it accident or an unfortunate decision made at an unfortunate time. Mr. Bertuzzi you’ve never been same. Neither has Steve Moore for that matter. But these things have always happened, one could say even more frequently in days gone by than today. Have we evolved a higher social conscience in such a short time that now these incidents are reproachable now? Hardly. It’s all about exposure, for better or worse.

We live in an age of 24 hour, 365 day sports networks that need to fill content and are scouring for every relevant tidbit they can get run on. Did anyone really give a damn what Sean Avery had to say about Dion Phaneuf’s girlfriend? Does anyone care what Avery says ever? Something (near) tragic happens, be it in juniors, the AHL or up in the ‘Show’ and it’s everywhere. Suddenly every enforcer is being asked his thoughts on fighting, or a mic is stuffed in the face of every grizzled veteran who’s seen it all, Hi Craig Conroy, thanks for smiling into the camera. The nature of the game is violent and it always will be until it is changed so fundamentally it ceases to be the hockey it ever was before. No fighting. No headshots. Something of which I can’t imagine or ever want to see happen to be honest, but that’s easy for me to say as it’s not my livelihood, brain or family life at risk when the gloves come off or someone’s ‘caught with their head down’.

I thought more about it and tried to put myself in the shoes of a pro athlete who had just ‘had his bell rung’ a few times. What would it take to keep me down or to hang them up? Having accumulated a couple concussions myself over the years, I can honestly tell you that things are different with me than they were before hand. My moods are different, my thoughts get lost momentarily at times. It’s as if my brain was a radio dial that is just a click or two over from its proper signal. I garnered my two diagnosed concussions a decade apart, at 16 and 26 yet now at 36 I’m still feeling the affects a decade later. Compare this to players in the NHL or NFL, or similar contact leagues, where players suffer two or three head blows over a single calendar year and you can imagine the damage accumulating. Damage that doesn’t heal, ever.

There is such an incredible amount of pressure to perform for today’s athletes, be it playing for a position, a contract, or an endorsement deal. Sacrifice is the key word that transcends all sports: what are you willing to do to achieve your goal? What will you do that your peers won’t to get a leg up? For the longest time it was a sign of intestinal fortitude to get your bell rung, take a shift off and get back out there. What a warrior! He can barely stand, he’s wobbling like bobblehead but he made it back to the bench on his own! That thinking is changing.

This past January the London Hockey Concussion Summit was held to discuss the impact of concussions are having in hockey the recommendations that followed were predictable, if not understandable.

“Fighting is one of the known causes of concussion, and may result in the related long-term complications,” the panel’s summary statement says. “Fighting can cause needless death.” The outlawing of high hits and head shots were also brought into question, “Those are significant ones,” Summit chair Dr. Paul Echlin said. “The reduction of hits from behind has had a major effect on the incidence of broken necks in hockey and similarly, the reduction of high/head hits should reduce the incidence of concussions.” Canadian Press, CBC.ca

Does anyone feel that hits from behind have gone away? Absolutely not. Again, the nature of the game dictates that players run into each other within an enclosed arena at high speeds. The line between finishing a check and boarding someone outright can be left to the eye of the beholder at times.

After Chris Benoit’s autopsy, it’s said doctors found he had the brain of nearly a 90 year old man, and that concussions surely played a role in his mental state leading up to the tragic death of he and his young family. Eric and Brett Lindros retired (or should have in Eric’s sake) prematurely due to concussion issues. Ask Keith Primeau about life after hockey, post concussions; he tells a foreboding story.

Keith Primeau, (Matt Rourke/AP)

“When my immunity goes down, it goes straight to my head,” he said Wednesday. “My head pressure is a lot better, but I still get pressure there.” Oh, one more thing. “For me the most frustrating symptom still is that I can’t elevate my heart rate. Whenever I exert energy I get lightheaded and dizzy. And I’m unable to do any kind of exercise.” ~ SAM DONNELLON, Philadelphia Daily News

Primeau hasn’t played a game in nearly 4 years and is still suffering symptoms intermittently, a frequency he feels is a victory compared to the constant, nauseating fog that can seem as if it will never leave.

Where does this all leave us now? As per usual, it takes something tragic to bring something to the forefront of conversation. It takes something tragic happening over and over again to actually spur change. But for the most part hockey fans like things they way they are now, and will not easily allow fighting or open ice hits to be marginalized or outlawed all together. I’m not sure the NHL could afford to follow suit either. For now it seems the problems of concussions will have to remain in other very well paid peoples heads.

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Happy Actual Thanksgiving!  So what is everyone thankful for today? I am thankful that so far my wisdom tooth removal healing seems to be doing fairly well…Oh, and of course my family and friends and just about everything else in my life right now

I had a really good post thought out last night but the unfortunate thing is I decided to sleep instead hoping I would remember in the morning.  I know I never remember in the morning but I had hope that maybe I would this time, I was wrong.  I have vague memories of what I wanted to write about but don’t know exactly.  I really should start taking a notebook to bed or something…

So hubby and I got in a fight yesterday.  It was one of those that was kind of inevitable, he had stress building up over the month and had a bad day and I had my long day as well.  We started a discussion and we just sort of kept getting worse.  Someone would say something, then the other would get defensive and say something snippy and we just kept one upping each other until I hung up on him.  Not the most mature thing but honestly probably the best thing.  I realized that it wasn’t going to end happily and well no matter what either of us said so the best thing to do was just end the conversation got worse.  We continued talking through text, like we used to do.  Whenever the fights got bad we stopped talking and texted, it cleared away the defensive bs because we had to stop and think about what we were typing and we took out the random voice tones that can be taken wrong.  We texted and started talking and got some things out and most importantly apologized.  I grew up and realized it wasn’t all his fault and apologized for my part.  I knew I had been bad and snippy so I tried to make up for it.  He responded to my apology and we managed to somewhat salvage the night.  We tried the whole phone call thing again, considered the first one a do over and so we talked and had a decent conversation.  When I was about to go to bed he sent me his apology and even though it was delayed I kind of liked that better.  It meant he actually thought about it and most likely meant it.  It wasn’t prompted wasn’t forced, it was meant.  It was progress, when we fought before it used to be about who could win.  It used to be just angry, each person put up their defenses and attacked.  It’s finally different, a step back and actually be able to stop ourselves before it is that bad and apologize while actually meaning it.  Any apologies from before used to be superficial, just because we knew they were supposed to be said, I like meaning them better.

Francisco Rodriguez was born in Mexico, but grew up in Chicago where he became a 5 time Golden Gloves Champion.  In 2004, Rodriguez advanced to the U.S. Olympic trials by outpointing opponent Teon Kennedy.  Years later the two would once again meet in the ring, but this time as professionals.  In the 10^th round, Rodriguez was knocked out by Kennedy and never regained consciousness.  He was taken to Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia where he was immediately rushed into brain surgery.  And although this is another tragic story, this one seems to have somewhat of a happy ending.  Rodriguez’s family donated eight of his organs, including one of his kidney’s to his own uncle who has been on the waiting list for several years.  Francisco’s Brother went on to say, “My family is desperately grieving the loss of Paco, but there is some comfort knowing that he will save at least eight lives and benefit so many families.   “My brother was so strong and healthy. … His heart and lungs were in perfect condition. It would have been a terrible waste not to share his life with others. How could we not help another family?”  This adds to a long list of boxers who have died due to blows suffered in the ring.  And although it is the risk one takes when entering into such a profession, it is comforting to know that others will benefit from the tragic and premature loss of Francisco Rodriguez.  Donations can be made to the Francisco Rodriguez Estate fund account #707331062 at any Chase Bank location.

 Keeping Your Emotions in Check

     Hello, young world! It is time for another sneak peek into the world of success. This week, we are going to talk about how to keep your emotions under control when doing business. So often, we let our hearts creep into our business lives at the wrong times or in an ineffective way.

PASSION IS NEVER WRONG: Being that you are doing something that has been a dream of yours forever, it is expected for you to be passionate about it. The passion and love you have for fashion should come out in everything you do that relates to your business from the care you take in designing your line to the marketing you do for it. When discussing your ventures with potential clients, the love and dedication you have, should always shine through. Otherwise, it will become apparent to people that you are not in it for the right reasons.

MAINTAIN YOUR COOL: Of course, there are going to be some people out there that will not be as enthusiastic about your ventures as you are. When this happens, you have to maintain your composure, not everything is for everybody. As much as it may sting when a critic or consumer disses your work, you have to keep a cool head. Getting upset emotionally is understandable, but you have to keep it to yourself. You do not want others to label you unprofessional because you started an argument with a critic or started to cry because of their words. Take it as their loss, not yours, and move on. Holding onto it will only hold you back.

FIND AN OUTLET FOR YOUR ANGER: We all get angry sometimes. That is just human nature. The secret is finding ways to control it and release it in a way that is not detrimental to you or your business. To prevent this from happening, find ways to get your anger out. Writing, drawing, sketching out a new line, ANYTHING. There are so many different ways to relieve stress and tension. These healthy outlets do not involve causing more drama or pain in your life. Anger is a funny thing. You can either use it to motivate you or destroy you. The choice is yours.

We all allow our feelings to escape us from time to time. The day when we stop feeling is the day when we should really be concerned. That being said, you have to find a way to separate some emotions from business by reminding yourself that it is truly not personal.

Until next time,

By: Toni Cabrera aka @ToniC813

I accidentally double booked mysel for Friday, I believe. I don’t know how that happened as I am pretty good about not doing that sort of thing, so I am trying my best to sort it out before anything actually happens.

I was invited to a squat in West London, an abandoned gay hotel/bar. I went to see the place today and its a good thing to because E told me her flatmates pretty much said I can’t stay there at all anymore. So, I went to go back and get some things and go back. When I got back, however, I felt to lethargic and had too much to do to get ready that I said I’d stay one more night. E didn’t really say anything to me about it, but I heard her mention it to R who said it was alright. My squatters, on the other hand, were a bit pissed off. They misunderstood a lot of what I said. I said I was going to come by and see the place and maybe stay the night. Maybe. Then when I told them I was staying North, they said I said I would bring the drill at 7pm and stay the night. Which isn’t even close to it what I said whatsoever. I have noticed squatters tend t change things around a bit to suit their needs. There is nothing I can do about it though. Do you really expect me to be able to just move in after a few hours? I have a lot in my life I need to take care of, you know.

Come and party with UFC’s Anthony “RUMBLE” Johnson and KNOXX tomorrow at Slide in San Francisco!! Come and have a drink with us…. Lets get him drunk tomorrow!!

The King of Iron Fist Tournament returns with the latest installment, Tekken 6. The Tekken series has become a top contender in the fighting game industy, and this year has truly been a game for Fighting game fans with releases of major titles like Blazblue and Street Fighter IV. Does Tekken have what it takes to knockout the competition and go to the top?

Tekken 6 does not stray far from the formula that has kept the series going. The system uses four buttons to control the limbs of the characters, but its much simpler than it sounds. You use the buttons in combonation with directional pad inputs to create moves that can chain to combos, in true fighting game fashion. While not completly new, the gameplay has receieved refinements that change up gameplay styles. Added into is the Rage System that activates as a characters life dips to a low point. While not changing actually gameplay, it leads to quicker matchs and some tricky situations. Characters also now bounce much more when they hit the floor, which allows the other player to continue a combo after smacking a character down to the floor. This makes for some truly amazing combos. While characters themselves have seen moveset refinements and additions, the characters are mostly faithful to their previous counter-parts. The new characters are welcome additions to the tekken roster, adding even more variety to the mix. Characters like Bob and Lars add new and interesting fighting styles to the game.

While gameplay itself hasn’t changed much, the amount of different modes has increased. Added in is online multi-player that allows two players to battle it out in player matchs or ranked matchs with their customized characters or normal characters. While online is a great addition, it still has problems such as input lag that are present in both versions. Also added is a new campaign mode that is essentially the story mode of the game. The campagin mode revolves around the characters Lars and Alisa. The campagin is a throwback to previous tekken force modes, allowing players to play an arcade-style brawler campaign that uses moves for characters from the main game. While this sounds great, it lacks alot because it is repetative in gameplay and the control scheme is problamatic. While it is a nice addition, the reason to play the campaign mode is to gain more in-game money to customize your characters. Character customization is a feature from the previous tekken that has become even more defined in this installment, with more options of clothing for characters being made available for purchase as you progress through the campaign. The customization feature is vast and allows people to make very unique looking characters to use.

The style in Tekken 6 hasn’t changed much, with most character models staying relativly similar to their previous Tekken models. Tekken 6 keeps the intense, cinamatic vibe that previous installments had with detailed level structure and impressive effects. But, for Tekken fans what really matters is the gameplay, and as im sure you can tell at this point, the gameplay is good…very good. With the deepest combat out of the whole series and some of the most fun characters in the series, Tekken 6 truely stands out from the pack, and with the amount of fighting games this year it has alot of contenders. Tekken 6 is a must-buy for Tekken fans, and if your a fighting game fan or just slightly interested in Tekken, I think Tekken 6 may just suprise you.

]]> http://bengodby.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/augmenting-moral-turpitude-2/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:00:45 +0000 Ben Godby http://bengodby.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/augmenting-moral-turpitude-2/

Bernard Cornwell’s name is fitting, because it begins with a B, and his books are built around the three B’s: Bitches, Beer, and Battle. If we dare be more callous, we can easily translate this triad to reflect Cornwell’s surname, thus rendered: Cunts, Cups, and Combat. Obviously, Cornwell writes books for men, and suffice to say that if I saw a woman reading a Sharpe novel, I’d call her an impostor and a spy – unless she were a lesbian orc. Except, that would be even more suspicious.

Now shut your face and read one of Cornwell’s books before you disdain my sexual profiling; mighty fast you’ll see what I’m talking about. His fantastic storytelling abilities may win over some lesbian orcs, but at heart his novels are about killing and fucking, and these two activities are done by men to men and men to women, respectively; and consequently, I have no doubts that the novels will appeal primarily to dudes. At first blush this may seem prejudicial, but on sober reflection it becomes apparent that Cornwell’s work is the ineluctable male counterpart of chick lit – dick lit, if you will.

I’ll remind you again to fuck off before you, in your wellspring of infinite tolerance, rage against my obscenity. The Pale Horseman, the second book of the Saxon Stories, kicks off with the protagonist riding away from a bloody victory on the battlefield to “plough” his wife, whom he insists is “a good field to plough.” I’ll tell you right now, there’s a lot of plowing in Cornwell’s books, and he doesn’t write about farmers – except to say that their fields will be fertilized by the enemy’s blood. Whether or not Cornwell intends to, he glorifies this shit, and despite the fact that war and sexual subjugation are unqualifiedly wrong, Cornwell is such a damned good storyteller that, in the heat of the read, it becomes near impossible to resist the Hobbesian heteronormative imperative and get swept away in a torrent of the three B’s and/or C’s.

Wut?

But despite the iniquity of Cornwell’s worlds – which, we should not forget, are historical, rather than purely fictive, worlds – his books give me great satisfaction. They’re entertainment – entertainment well done, I should add – and they need to be approached with all the enlightenment of the modern age to prevent oneself from becoming a beast through the consumption of their delights.

So take this as both warning and laudation. Whatever desires they might stir in my primal heart, I know that Cornwell’s heroes – who are killers and adulterers all – are bad men, and I caution you to remember that. But if you want a read that will keep you on the edge of your seat and fill you from top to bottom with murderous, rapacious, and unshakeable passion, pick up a Cornwell. And pick one up for me, too, because I’m nearly done Enemy of God.

-bn