111 Day 2023, Happy New Year!

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, 

Happy new year! Today is 111 day, it's January 11th, the first month of the year, on the 11th day, 111 day. What a nice number. I hope you have been well. Have you? Is everything alright?

Things are spectacular right now. I'm on day 3 of my vacation week. This is a quiet vacation. I'm not going to travel anywhere or do anything too fancy. I just wanted time off from my busy retail gig. The store has been busy since the pandemic began in 2020. I requested this week long vacation every month since September 2022 and have been denied every month. That is, until now. 

The vacation has been fruitful and relaxing. I have been reading a lot, practicing drums everyday, creating a lot of AI art, and eating out at my favorite restaurants. But contrary to most vacationers I haven't been overeating, rather I feel like I've been eating less, which has been better for the body. Refreshing and rejuvenating.  

First, I spent the first two days reading The Age of Voltaire by the historian Will Durant. It's an analysis of England and France before and around the time of the French revolution. Amazing historical detail. And I've learned a lot more about Voltaire, who although was trained by the Jesuits, was a sore wound in the side of Christianity and he was often persecuted for his views against the Church and the nobles as well as other intellectuals. 

I nearly finished the book but decided to take a break because my dad recommended this new space opera that came out back in 2019. It's called A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. It's a homage to early Ursula K Leguin but it has a vibe very similar to Cecelia Holland's Floating Worlds, a 1970s space opera. It has all those space opera bells and whistles but it's also got a cultural and linguistics thing going for it as well. Some of the naming systems are middle eastern and the cultures within the book are Japanese and Chinese. It's quite good and I'd recommend it to any science fiction fans or anyone who's interested in reading a good space opera, a brand new one rather than the old classics. 

Second, I've also been practicing drums with my new hi-hat cymbal. Tomorrow I've got a jam session with my friend who plays a Selmer alto saxophone. So tomorrow I'll use my makeshift 4-piece drum set, which includes a kibaga practice snare pad, a pearl limited edition snare, a meinL cymbal, and a ziljin hi-hat. I would have a bass drum and a tom, but space is limited here at the moment so I have to play with what I have.

Third, I've been creating a lot of ai art. You can view my work here https://www.instagram.com/jazzerrocker779/. I've created a lot of my AI generated art using www.mage.space, a wonderful tool that recently came out with a payment model because so many people were using it and enjoying it. I've found that with AI I've been able to find out that I have an eye for art, the eye of an artist. 

Furthermore, I had no idea that I had an eye for art until I was recommended to read Vasari's Lives, The Illustrated Lives of the Italian Painters of the Renaissance, I was recommended the book by my friend's wife, Elizabeth. From there I looked at and studied all the Italian Renaissance art I could and then after that my dad saw that I seemed interested in art, so he recommended that I start using mage.space to create AI art. From two older people with more knowledge I was able to find these things out and the rest is history. Now I do AI art often and I have over 5,000 images [gasp!]. 

Lastly, what does life feel like now, and furthermore, going forward? Even though there are cyclones over Los Angeles and 90% of the state is in fear of flooding I feel great. I'm happy now because I'm on vacation and doing all the things I love with unlimited free time but in four days I'm back at work and it will be tough. How does one stay happy? 

"There is no definitive answer to what makes humans happy, as it can vary greatly from person to person. However, some things that are commonly associated with happiness include having strong and supportive relationships, feeling fulfilled by one's work or hobbies, having financial security, having good physical and mental health, and feeling a sense of purpose or meaning in one's life. Additionally, people can also experience pleasure and enjoyment through different types of activities, such as exercising, traveling, or listening to music.

It's important to note that there are also other factors that play into happiness, such as genetics, which can account for up to 50% of the variance in happiness levels among people, and daily activities and practices can also have a positive impact.

Therapy and meditation, positive thinking, and gratitude are also known to be beneficial for one's well-being and may help some people increase their happiness levels." [openchatGPT]

"Beneath cherry blossoms pink and white, I find happiness in simple sights. A gentle breeze, a babbling stream, The rustling leaves, a peaceful gleam.

With every step upon the path, I feel my spirit start to lift. And though the road may have its twists, I know that joy and peace exist.

As petals fall and dance around, I'm filled with beauty that astounds. And in the sunshine and the rain, I find my heart is free again.

So let us all take life in stride, And let our hearts be open wide. For in the end, it's not the end, But the simple joys that make us blend.

With the world and all its wonder, Happiness will always be under our feet, a constant companion, guiding us to a brighter horizon." [openchatGPT]

image ai generated

Sacramento Vacation trip

I took a my first hippie road trip in California. I took the Greyhound bus from LA all the way to Sacramento. It's a long ride, eight hours away from my house, my friends, family, and job. It was a big undertaking because it's literally eight hours of being on a bus, but hey it's nothing I can't handle. My usual work shifts are eight hours, and this is supposedly for fun!

Anyways, the first day I got home from the bus and I was pretty exhausted. We had dinner at a hip sushi place. There were these fried sushi rolls that were delicious. And the place was super hip in the main part of town in Sacramento. Lots of hot girls on dates, all young people there. 

The second day we went to Effie Yeaw Nature Center, which is a giant open land of sanctuary. We saw a lot of animals; an owl in a cage in the visitors area [my favorite, the true mvp], a coyote [which everyone went gaga over], a falcon on a trainer's arm [that scared me], a mother deer and her young, turkeys, small birds, and even the Sacramento River. We stood near the River for quite a while, I may have been mesmerized by the rushing waters. I don't usually spend much time outside in the Valley, and when I do, I'm just walking back to and from work. So to be able to enjoy nature that much was quite something indeed. Almost metaphysical, magical, in a way. Zen. 

That night we had dinner at a traditional Korean place. I got a meal my father would eat, in fact I got it because it's usually his favorite meal at the Korean place we eat at in the Valley: ginseng chicken [cooking] in hot broth. This meal was so delicious. It was the best meal I had throughout the trip. On top of that the meals came with about a dozen sides; everything from pasta, kimchi, noodles, anchovies, tiny crabs, and more. I actually don't think I could find a better or more traditional Korean restaurant in the Valley near me. On top of that, at some point while eating my meal, I looked up and the place was packed, and we were the only non-Koreans!

The third day we went to Sutter's Fort and studied up on the history there. I bought a cheap bamboo flute souvenir there at the gift shop. Hard to play but fun! We had lunch at a terrific Mexican place nearby my friend's place here. I got a carnitas burrito and it was the best carnitas burrito I've ever had. We had cheap Chinese food for dinner and I got the hot tofu with pork, not bad, but this place was Chop Suey all the way. 

On the last day, today, 7/8/21, we went to the California History Museum, which is located inside the state's main government building. We spent a lot of time there. There were many posters in which I read everything from women's rights, Japanese internment, Chinese railroad workers, natives peoples of California, the missions, Spain and Mexico's connection to California, and more. It was quite a fun learning experience and just learning from that small taste has me more interested in the history and culture of America's greatest melting pot of a city, and it really is/was/shall be!

Our final meal was at Angry Chickz Nashville Hot Chicken. This was another hip place with mostly young people eating there. The chicken was very good. I got one chicken slider mild and another medium but there was like six spice levels, and I chose the lowest for safety reasons [lol!]. I thought the chicken tenders were very tasty but as my friend said, "you can taste how unhealthy this place is," that being said, the place was probably either my second or third favorite meal of the trip. 

A healthy meal we had was lunch today. We ate at a place called Pita Q, a Mediterranean place. I got a gyro pita. Vegetables, sauce, and gyro meat. Healthiest thing we ate and also one of the best meals [yes I say that about every meal]. 

The weather throughout the trip was 100 degrees. Which made the Effie and park trips more tiring. It should me mentioned that on one of our parks visits we saw a giant group of young men [all white] larping. Perhaps their moms or grandma's were there too as we saw a lot of older women sitting with them there too. Which is kind of funny. I guess if you're larping maybe you don't have a hot girlfriend to bring with you. So you could bring your grandma instead. My friend took pictures because it's really rare to see a big group of people larping.  

On top of that we went to a used book store and I finally found a physical copy of Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic Of Morals. It's quite a hard book to find in the Valley area so it was awesome to find it and I even read the entire thing in one sitting. It's a short introduction to his categorical imperative, morality/ethics, as well as the introduction to his ideas into the critique of pure reason. Worth buying and owning, and its a small book that can easily fit into my luggage. Philosophy, even on vacation!

It's been a pleasure. My friend is happy and safe. As am I. The trip gave me a lot to think about and a lot of time to think about it. Life is good and this is probably the cheapest and also one of the best vacations I've ever been on. I didn't do anything extravagant but sometimes you just need a few days away in Sanctuary. This was it. 

Thanks for reading and if you haven't gone yet you need a vacation. Take a few days off and go somewhere nice. Treat yourself. This trip gave me the reset that I probably needed years ago. My mind is refreshed and I'm ready for work on Monday morning.  

Minor note: I listened to a ton of jazz music and some classical over the trip, everything from Telemann to Bird to Miles to Trane to Bill Evans to Monk, pure bliss. At one point I think Monk's music transported me into the heavens. The picture used is of Fort Sutter. 

Unleashing Your Inner Zen

This is part of an ongoing series that I've been writing, which has been more part personal vlog-style and part inspirational thinking. Here I'd like to discuss how I've changed my mindset, and become a more jovial person, at least for now. 

The beginning starts with my attitude coming back from vacation and going back to my retail job, where I sometimes work over 40 hour weeks. My friends that work there are always stick-in-the-muds about working there, meaning that even though they have cushy top positions there (and low like myself), they still feel like the job is letting them down, and that perhaps they would be happy doing something else, etc. 

For a while I got trapped in that line of thinking. These people aren't happy so I should be unhappy too, right? Wrong. It all starts with my boss asking me to come in early on my late night shifts. At first I was saying no and using my time to just relax-game, read, guitar, my usual activities. But then I started saying yes, all the time. 

Wait a minute. You're probably thinking you'd rather relax and have fun than go in early to work retail. Or maybe you think you'd rather have free time over money? Once I started saying yes I realized that I actually didn't mind going in early, and that I'm getting paid more money, so that's a plus. The other upside is that management likes me and (hopefully) has my back in times of trouble. 

Now to the jovial part. Work can be stressful but once you 'get over it', you realize that your life is actually quite amazing, and good things even happen to you, even at work. I got over my job, which means that I'm willing to help out in any way I can, even if I don't need the extra cash. I'm happy to help, and be a team player. Its no skin off my back and I don't attach any negative energy to my occupation. Its a blissful realization, inner zen unleashed.  

I had about a month lead up into this from my vacation in October. I don't think I would've realized it if I didn't start dividing my time into organized sections-music, guitar, reading, hanging out with friends. I've been using my time more wisely. It even affects my eating habits. I realized in order to lose weight I have to stop eating late at night, so once I started doing that, I started losing weight again. 

The mindset problem is very difficult to overcome. Most people don't. A lot of people are whiners and complainers their whole lives even though they have everything handed to them on a silver plate. I'm a lucky guy, I have musical talent, a job, and intellectual curiosity that leads me to a lot of interesting books. Most guys would be lucky if they just had a job. So maybe your crappy attitude makes you think things suck when actually you just have to change your outlook to realize how great life really is. 

Perhaps I should become a zen monk?

Chicago trip starts tommorrow

Hey everyone! Its been a long time since I've posted, since the Buckethead cover post. I thought I'd let you all know I'll be spending the next week in Chicago with my brother and step-dad. There's a lot of planning that was involved in the trip so I have to think carefully about everything I want to do and all the places I want to see. For me the highlight is of course all the great restaurants that we'll probably eat at. But also my step-father's composer friend is playing at a new music (avant-garde classical music) concert at this place called the Green Mill that looks promising.

My bro's apartment is in Hyde Park somewhat near the University of Chicago so I'm thinking about spending some time on campus checking out events and hopefully going to some jazz concerts at night as well at some local joints. I'm also interested in seeing downtown Chicago. My step-dad organized the trip and its mostly for him to see all his old school buddies. I'm interested in seeing my brother and my mother but unfortunately I might not be able to see mom because she lives in Wisconsin and she has to work.

I literally haven't had a vacation or a week off probably since last year. Its been a good minute. I really need some rest and relaxation. Work has been good in terms of getting off early but I haven't been getting good hours (averaging 25 at most lately), I struggle with cutting and wrapping cheese, and my manager can be a little harsh to say the least. I've been trying to not let it get to me. If I don't make it in that department at work I'll probably ask to go back to the front end as a combo clerk (bagger/cashier). I've gotta learn to relax and not take work as the law of the land. If anything happens I'll probably still have a job there. Having been there four years its not like they're going to fire me or anything. And I have no intention of forsaking my union.

Anyways, the Chicago trip will be a perfect distraction from work and stuff. I'm going to be blogging pretty often when I'm there just because I'll be at the library a lot (my bro works at a library) so I'll probably do a bunch of updates on movies, tv shows, music, and video games that I've been checking out. It's going to be a lot of blogging. Get ready to read!

Laguna Beach vacation

This past weekend I got to go on a mini-vacation to Laguna Beach. We stayed at this five room house but the owner and her two roommates were there too. The drive there was super long. It took two hours just to get out of LA and something like an hour and half to get there! The drive was super annoying but playing Fire Emblem made it more fun. The purpose of the trip was to meet up with my dad's friends, my brother's friend, and to have a fantastic time. Mission accomplished!

The first night we got there we ended up meeting with my dad's friends. They were nice folks from New York-a place I've been trying to visit to check out their jazz scene. We had this restaurant in mind but it was an hour wait and it was already ten at night. So we ended up eating at GG's Mediterranean restaurant. I can remember it because there was this cute Asian girl that was serving people outside. Anyways, I ordered a Seafood Spaghetti plate that came with mussels, calamari, and shrimp. It was great! The sauce wasn't too acidic which is a big factor for me when it comes to spaghetti. We had a great time telling jokes and sharing stories.

In the morning the next day I ended up playing a lot of Fire Emblem Fates Conquest. By the time it was eleven am I had completed the game. It took me a long time and I was playing on normal but I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I don't play too many single player games so it was a big deal for me. I plan on starting Birthright soon. I'm going to play it on hard mode to put my strategic skills to the test.

The next day was a busy one. We left around noon and went to San Juan Capistrano's Mission Basicila. For me it was the highlight of the trip. The church was beautiful with all this painted glass for the stations of the cross. I was moved by how the guitar player was leading everyone in prayer through song. I walked up to the front to join everyone without thinking. You could say that I felt the power of the Holy Spirit, if you believe in that sort of thing. I'm not really a religious person but I do have a Zen-like attitude towards pretty much everything I do. This guides me through stressful as well as peaceful situations in life. Also, the acoustic guitar was pretty sweet!

After that we had lunch inside this stationary fancy train at this place called the Vintage. In the old days fancy rich people would have lunch in moving trains as they travel around the country. Sounds like a good time don't it? The funny thing is that as fancy as that place was I had wings and they were playing smooth jazz. Pretty funny.

After that we went to the beach. There were so many beautiful women in bikinis and in general just sexy women all over this trip. We saw a lot of surfers riding medium-large sized waves. Parking was a nightmare but once we got settled and walked around I enjoyed it. I didn't swim or anything because by the time we were there (five pm) high tide set in and the waves were super strong. After walking around a while we sat down and chilled. I sat next to this young woman who never looked up from her cellphone for the entire time we were sitting down. People and their cellphones man...

That night my brother helped me out with a problem I was having on my laptop where Heroes of the Storm was lagging so hard to the point that it became unplayable. The solution was to update all my Blizzard games not just Heroes and that fixed it. Sometimes updating is all you need to fix things. Unless it tells you to upgrade to Windows 10. In that case upgrading isn't the fix. So that night I played a bit of Heroes. In addition, my brother brought his Xbox360 so I played a bit of Call of Duty Black Ops 2-my favorite CoD game. I went all sniper (svu-as) and the best game I had I went 20-10. Not bad for an amateur sniper who doesn't play the series.

The last day I woke up drenched in sweat. Should've left the door leading outside open. Oops. The thing that kind of sucked about the whole trip was that it was super hot. A moist humid kind of heat. The opposite of the Valley where its more of a dry heat. The owner of the house made breakfast for us. What a nice woman. I talked to her about music and stuff. She was surprised that I knew all the stuff from the 60s and 70s.

We packed up all our stuff then went to lunch at Sam Woo's (Chinese restaurant) in Rowland Heights-about thirty minutes away from the vacation house. My brother's friend was chill and his wife was really nice. He did say that Overwatch was for casuals. Although he said no offense I don't think Overwatch is a casual game. He was making the case that Battleborn takes more skill and has a higher skill cap than Overwatch. Even if that's the case I think Overwatch is the more interesting and fun game. He's been playing Battleborn with my bro lately.

In terms of food we had duck, honey walnut shrimp, and all these other goodies! We still have leftovers. I just ate some earlier. We talked for a super long time. About anything and everything. I liked how my bro's friends' wife was a geek too. She was telling me all about the new Killing Joke movie and how they were going to see the new Star Trek later that evening. We also talked about some Ryan Reynolds movies because someone brought up Dead Pool. She was also excited for Suicide Squad-which comes out soon.

All in all the trip was great. I didn't want to go because I thought I wouldn't have time to hang out with my friends. One of whom was only in town for a few days because he's a trucker and had to get back on the road. It was his birthday and I got to see him the night I got back. We gave him some birthday gifts. He got some Xbox1 games-Sunset Overdrive, Fallout 4, as well as a Deadpool shirt. Our other friend threw down to buy us all pizza. It was a great night hanging out with our original core friendship circle. 

To put it in funny terms I was living high on the hog. And this all happened in only three days ( this past Friday-Sunday). Life is damn good. Sometimes you gotta take a look back and be happy about how blessed you are. Now is one of those times. 

Ay! Imma let you finish but this had to be one of the greatest vacations of all time.

     What a great vacation this has been! The food, the ocean beach walks, the conversations, the jazz music, the anime, the movies, the smash 4, the mario kart, the family, the friends, etc. As I like to say,"It's all good." Tonight's the last night that we're staying here. Here being this super nice big house on the ocean in Cayucos, California. This is the good life. This is the sort of town where people don't really live here. Rather, homes are used for people to rent by vacationers. The town is mostly upper class, white, and people are hardly ever seen unless they're walking their dogs on the beach. We saw other black people, Hispanics, and Asians too but that was in the bustling busy daytime of the town. It would be great to live in a place like this one day when I'm retired. The city life is great but nothing beats the ocean front. Seeing it everyday, waking up to the sound of it, and that majestic ocean breeze that makes even the hottest days bearable. Maybe one day I can afford to live in a place like this. Goals, as they say. 

     This has been one of the best vacations I've had with my family ever. The best part of it was just relaxing, hanging out, and talking with my brothers. They're really cool people and I've become close with them, especially as I've gotten older. One of my brothers is a black studies scholarly intellectual with an interest in Caribbean/African diaspora. Check out his blog here http://ryfigueroa.blogspot.com/, he's been going strong with his blog for a few years and it's gotten a lot of traffic. He's a very cool guy and the thing we have in common is that we're both jazz fans. He's more of a straight ahead guy at heart but I can forgive him for not liking the extreme avante-garde free jazz sounds of modern New York and Chicago. My other brother is more like me in that he's a gamer and he's super chill. The trip has been great with them.

     Every morning we went on walks on the beach. Each day we walked farther than the last so I was getting in more exercise day by day and building up more stamina. This is something that I want to take back with me back home. I'm going to start going for walks to get in more exercise. It really gets the blood going and your day going. Other things that I'm going to take with me from this trip is that I want to go to the beach more with my friends. I'm gonna recommend going out to Santa Monica and Malibu, places like that to get away and relax this summer. Hikes in the hills would be good too. Also, I'm going to focus back on music and the guitar, learning as many jazz standards as I can as well as just overall practice in improvisation and jazz. 

     Lastly, I want to improve my diet tenfold. I'm going to stop eating ramen and hotdogs everyday and have more variety in my diet. For starters, I'm going to buy fruit like apples and bananas, pre-made salads, cereal/milk, granola bars, and cold cuts for sandwiches. Sounds like a much better diet just thinking about it. 

     I ate so good on this trip that it's unfathomable. There's no universe I can imagine where I would be making enough money to be eating as good as I ate on this trip. Notable mentions was this seafood place called Dorn's where I got this great combination plate that came with scallops, shrimp, fish, squid, and calamari. I pulled my weight on the vacation by paying for everyone's lunch at Anderson's Split Pea Soup restaurant back at this town called Buellton. In addition, we ate at this cool Mexican fusion place called Taco Temple. It's not traditional at all but the portions are humongous. The food is great to boot. I ended up getting the carnitas nachos. My brother got a wet burrito and it looked like a pig swimming in sauce. 

     Another thing that I thought about on this trip was my working status and how I should go about trying to get promoted or get a raise. Getting a second job isn't out of the question either. I've got a lot on my plate (I can't stop thinking about food!) literally and figuratively to think about. It's all good. 

     Lastly, another notable mention about the vacation was that I saw this waifu anime mini surfboard at this gift shop of this chick sucking a popsicle ;-). I was thinking about buying it but the next day I went to the shop they'd already closed. That would've been an amazing souvenir considering that I'm an anime connoisseur and waifu fan. But waifu's aside, this trip has been amazing. I look forward to taking what I learned from this trip and bringing it back with me home. Ah, life is good. 

More Vacation Stuff

   

     Just thought I'd write a bit more while on this great vacation. Things couldn't be going any better. Every morning we're going out on the beach and going for nice walks. The house is right on the ocean and the weather has been amazing. The first night we got here it was super cold and windy but now things have seemed to stabilize. These resort towns are pretty cool. There are all these antique shops with old instruments and stuff. I saw a clarinet, violin, flute, and lots of cool guitars. In fact, today we went to this guitar shop in a neighboring town. I walked in and saw a bunch of old geezers but the place itself was pretty nice.
     There was a big stage right in the middle of the shop, presumably for concerts. There was a drum set onstage as well as a microphone and tons of cables all over the place. The store itself didn't have anything spectacular when it came to guitars and basses. It was all mostly secondhand stuff but I did play this great red Joe Satriani signature model, it was so rad! The guitar itself was secondhand but when I plugged it into this solid state Albion amp it sounded great.
     I started by playing a few jazz chords and progressions and it responded beautifully. Surprisingly, it had a great throaty guttural tone for jazz as well as blues. I had a blast playing chords on it and playing a ton of my signature licks. Keep in mind that I haven't really picked up and played the guitar seriously for like a month so going in I didn't think I was even going to play a guitar today.
     However, the owner was so nice and generous that I had to. He was practically begging me to play on his stuff. He asked me if I was looking for anything in particular and when I said I was just browsing he told me that I could play anything in the store. What a guy! The funny thing is that later I went to a coffee shop and told the barista girl about the guitar shop and he said the owner didn't care about the customers XD. Anyways, once I played a few minor 7th chords into a few dominant 9ths I was back in business baby!
     My guitar playing definitely has changed after not playing for so long. I feel like I don't hit as many notes, partly because some of my technical aspects are lacking from not practicing but my melody and sense of original style stands out more if that makes sense. It's like riding a bike. Even though I haven't been bike riding in like five years I still know how to ride. I felt like the playing today at this guitar storefront kinda reinvigorated my playing. Once I get back home I'm definitely gonna start playing more guitar again, and maybe after a while try to form a band, finding members via the internet. My main thing has always been free jazz but I'm still into straight ahead stuff as well. I feel like I could go far if I had a band and started playing shows and stuff. Goals!
     The other thing we've been doing a lot is watching a lot of anime, Netflix, and movies via the Wii U. I'm glad that I brought it along. It has turned out to be great entertainment late at night when we're not out on the beach or sitting on the porch with the fire pit going.
     Anyways, I felt inspired to do a post because of the guitar shop. It was the best part of the vacation for me so far, although there have been other great moments so far like when I won against my bros in three player Magic the Gathering using a swamp and mountain deck, walks on the beach, and this amazing seafood dinner at this place called Dorn's. The dinner was so delicious! I got a seafood combination which came with fried calamari, squid, fish, scallops, and fries. It was a memorable meal that's for sure. Hope to have more memorable moments on the rest of this trip. We're going to be here for one last night then we're hotel bound for a day, and then we'll be back home. I can't wait to get back to work and earn some good paychecks. I miss my friends at work and my main friends too. It'll be great to be home again. Hope you're all enjoying your school spring breaks or if you're a working stiff like me I hope work has kept you fully engaged and fulfilled. Thanks for reading, catch ya later!

Vacation/Pokken Tournament

     

     Hey, how are you all doing? Life is good. Happy Easter and all that Jesus Christ jazz. I'm currently on vacation out on the ocean in this place called Cayucos here in California. Its a family vacation with my step-mother, my two brothers, my step-dad, and my step-mom's brothers and sisters (about 11 people all together). Right now I'm writing this at a hotel. Tomorrow we will be moving into a house that we'll be staying at the until April 1st. Things are looking up! I've got the Wii U hooked up and my bros are watching Netflix on this great hotel WiFi. We just came back from a great dinner at this seafood place called Dorn's. I had a seafood combination plate that came with fries, squid, calamari, and fish. It was terrific! I'm having too much fun for my own good. But you may have been wondering why I'm writing this on my vacation. I just want to keep up with the blog and keep it comin' with content. This time I want to focus on Pokken Tournament.
     So I got Pokken Tournament the day it came out, which was back on March 18th. I played the tutorial for a bit but I didn't really like it or understand the way the game played. After playing it with my friends I just got stomped on and still didn't get it. After some time I played the single player mode by myself and I'm finally starting to get it. The game isn't amazing by any means but its not a bad game either. It's somewhere in the middle if you will. My main problem with Pokken is that the roster is just crappy Pokemon that I've a) never heard of or b) don't give too shits about. The roster could've been so much better if a) they put more gen one pokemon in the game or b) put more interesting fighters in there or c) had a rotating roster that you could download like in mobas. They had endless possibility that they could've done with this game to make the roster better but they failed so hard. But I do believe that the game is very well made and plays great for a pokemon fighter, a first for the pokemon series. Namco done did good with this one folks. If I had to give Pokken a rating I would give it an 8 out of 10, which is being fairly generous considering that the combos can be rather generic.
     Also, people are trying desperately to turn Pokken into a tournament fighting game and I think that's just plain wrong. I don't think this game was intended to be a tournament esports game nor do I think it has that kind of potential as a fighter. The combos, as technical and theatrical as they are, are simple stuff that are basically Tekken cop outs. The SoCal Smash community have created a SoCal Pokken community page and there are tournaments all over SoCal for Pokken and I think that's a bit much for a game that just came out and doesn't have that much going for it yet. I might be wrong in the future and Pokken might turn out to become some kind of major esports game but right now I just don't see it. The game just isn't good enough in my opinion. Earlier I said that the game is an 8 but its a hard 8, like getting a C in a super difficult college course. If you have a Wii U you should buy this game just because its the first pokemon fighting game with combos and bad ass looking pokemon when they win a fight. However, I believe that they will make better iterations of this game in the future and/or patch the game until it becomes good. That's all I'll say about this game for the moment. I think it has untapped hidden potential (Gohan anyone?) for the future.
     Lastly, this past Thursday was a cool Fire and Dice smash tournament. I brought my friends along and they had a blast. They played doubles and singles and one of my friends won a set against this Lucario player. It was pretty cool seeing him annihilate this guy with Yoshi. My matches went okay but I didn't win any sets so things definitely could've gone better. I'll get 'em next time!