Thunder in the Sky

SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-20T08:55:00.003-05:00

Alright, I've been bottling this up for years now, but I can't take it anymore...

Have we really fallen so far that the freest country on the planet is no longer so... YES! Free country my ass. I am sick of being told what I can and can't do, what I can and can't say, what I can and can't eat by a bunch of fuckwad politicians who have had their heads firmly buried up their asses for decades because they are all filthy rich and have no goddamn clue how we live in this country. Walk the streets people, it's not pretty out there. Of course I'm also sick of these same shitheads looking out for themselves and paying themselves WAY more than they should be getting for sitting on their dead asses doing jack squat the whole time they're in office while we the people get fucked over again and again. Have you seen the radical increase in the cost of living the past half dozen years? Wake the fuck up people! Stop these shitholes before the country is lost and we are turned into slaves like they've been doing to the third world for 50 years! And another thing... vote out ALL incumbents in November. These people have done nothing to deserve a third chance and everything to deserve prison terms for high treason.

Rant over. For now.

I am now considering destroying this blog for the obvious reasons... before the shit really hits the fan. *plays It's The End Of The World As We Know It* I thought I'd be playing that on Dec 21st as a joke, but what the hell I'll do it early. What the fuck is this country coming to?

Also note that I will be destroying my photobucket albums and account, as well as removing all avatars and signatures from all sites where I use them excluding Facebook, because I own that photo of me. So if there is anything left of the net when this is over, look for my name.

I would like to take the time now to thank every last person who has visited this place since August 2008. I really appreciate you taking some of your time to hang around here. God bless all of you and should I never see you again, may you all be happy. I will always remember this place. I hope you've all enjoyed your stay. See ya on the other side. Hopefully.

Games update (been a long time ^^;)

2012-01-10T11:00:00.004-05:00

After getting this for Christmas, I've been kicking ass six ways from Sunday in it and got to second gen yesterday after a week of play. Granted I am using DLC, because lets face it, a major grindfest is not what I'm after here. The story and ass whoopin's are. That and kicking the crap out of stuff that were royal ball busters the first go around in the JP version. Anyway, I've blown through first gen and married Linda. See below for pic.

As for the story it's nothing earth shattering, but it's alright. It does have a leg up on the competition though since all of the leaders of the good guys have been forcefully taken over by the darkness. Meaning you are now the leader of the good guys and your former superiors are your enemies. Major league treason and treachery in 2nd gen. Though it was insanely obvious it was going to happen and who was responsible for it from quite early on. Also it's obvious something is up with Mimel, but I already knew that.

Anyhow, after I finish off the true path, there is an option to play it again in hard mode and within that play the first game as a "digest mode" gaining the use of characters from it as well. This might get done after I get back to finishing of AT3 since it would make for two victories in one.

~Fourth November related post~

2012-01-09T15:29:00.002-05:00

And now a few pics from an old world village...

...which was all decked out for Christmas. Actually the whole town pretty much was because it's a theme that runs throughout the whole place.

A few shops that kind of have the setting right for the Disney "scrooge" cartoon xD The one on the right looks like Scrooge's counting house, yes?

Village Square.

And a closer shot. There was a place around the back that looked like the cemetery in Eternal Sonata, but I didn't take any pics of it ^^;

And fourth pic expo done~ The next one will be the big one. But not for a while since it took forever just to get these posts ready ^^;

~Third November related post~

2012-01-09T15:16:00.003-05:00

And now for the pics from around town.

First up is the alchemist's shop~ Just kidding xD This ain't Atelier, though some spots may as well have been from the series.

Another spot that I thought was kind of Atelier-ish. Or at least old European anyway.

Ah, the ducks. These guys were noisy as hell, all day, every day. They were either ragging on each other or just screwing around in general all the time, because it sure sounded like it.

Some Fall colors. Because it was November after all.

A shot of the river right next to a "haunted" house. The area looks the part.

Another shot of the river from an old English, or maybe Dutch(?) style bridge in front of the hotel.

Town Square for lack of a better description.

And a bigger version showing the whole thing.

Third pic expo done~

~Second November Related Post~

2012-01-09T15:06:00.004-05:00

Now for the pics of the eats! xD Of course there is the required Hard Rock pic~ And below the inside of one place with fly as hell wood ceilings. And Adirondack style chandeliers too. Or maybe those are just Appalachian in general.

Another pic of the same place here, just the fireplace this time. Yeah the stove like hood over it is weird, but interesting.

And the terrace outside. The river just on the other side of this, under the bridge in the middle. It's hard to tell it's a bridge I know, but it is.

The front porch of another place on the other side of town. Which is not far.

And a pic of some weird frogs I forgot to put into the previous post about the aquarium stuff ^^;

And~~ Second pic expo done.

~First November related post~

2012-01-09T14:50:00.004-05:00

Here be some pics from when I was away back in November~ This first set is all aquarium stuff, cuz there was some cool stuff in there.

Big ass jellyfish above xD Sucker was like 16" across.

Proof that dragons do exist! xD

Huge ass crab ahoy ^^; That thing was a good 3 feet across.

Just some fishes xD

Two small jellyfish. They were like 6" long or so.

Tiny little seahorses.

This penguin's name is Leo. He came over to the edge of the enclosure and was rubbing up against it trying to get out. He didn't wanna stay in there no more xD Can you blame him?

First pic expo done. There will be a post that explains a hell of a lot more later on. Though it should be way beyond obvious from a previous post ^^; xD

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T10:28:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve~

2011-12-31T11:48:00.003-05:00

Almost a new year~ Holy crap, where the hell did the last one go?! ^^;;

Merry Christmas~!

2011-12-25T03:58:00.001-05:00

One more day left~

2011-12-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

Almost Christmas! XD

Annual Play-Asia coupons

2011-12-22T18:54:00.002-05:00

As per usual this year I have two unused coupons for Play-Asia if anyone wants to use them. Please remember to leave a comment if you use one of them so others will know.

$7 off $77 or more: AU-JDY-CEZ

$15 off $150 or more: WI-GSF-JEJ

Total speculation but...

2011-12-20T13:17:00.003-05:00

It's a busy as hell day today apparently. Seems something has surfaced that *might possibly* be Ar tonelico's successor. Or AT4 even. See here. I do see an Ar tonelico product plugged on the same page, so maybe~~

Agarest War 2 announced for US

2011-12-20T12:52:00.003-05:00

Aksys has announced AS2 for next year as I was hoping. That makes for three games I want next year. I'm already at my quota and the year hasn't even started yet! ^^;; Also there's no word on possible freebies yet.

A clue to my absence last month

2011-12-20T09:55:00.003-05:00

This should be a clue as to why I was away for a few weeks last month xD Yeah~ I's is married now~ ^_^ I was reminded when I saw it last night that I didn't make this post ^^; And I'm still not planning on making a huge one because I've only got one pic in the computer. See below. Been busy with other things, plus I totally forgot about making this post. Here be the pic~

So yeah, it's been a month and a half since that day. And yes, I know the pic is not the clearest. I took a pic of it in the frame, hence the glare because I didn't have the files yet. More pics will come when I get the chance to put 'em in here.

Christmas is almost here~

2011-12-19T15:36:00.001-05:00

Gots all my presents bought & wrapped~ xD Took a lot longer this year than normal though ^^; But whatever.

Easy come, easy go

2011-12-18T09:52:00.004-05:00

Well, I was hoping to announce a victory in obtaining the Aurica garage kit today, but apparently someone coughed up 14,500 yen ($193) for it, which right now is too rich for my blood with everything that's going on. I thought for sure a top budget of 14k yen would cover it after getting no bids at all the first time around, but it seems not. Also, the Misha kit sold too, but for far less. Just 7,000 yen. So, both of them are off the market now. Guess we gotta sit around and wait another five or so years for another crack at it.

Now I gotta figure out what happens to my down payment on it ^^;

Neptune 2 LE Revealed~

2011-12-10T11:09:00.001-05:00

Tons of freebies! XD And reminds me a lot of the ASZ LE ^^;

Christmas Tree~

2011-12-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

Gots the tree up tonight~

Gust... is no longer Gust

2011-12-07T10:54:00.005-05:00

Apparently they are selling the company to Tecmo Koei. See here. Some suspect this is why the Ar tonelico series was ended. And also Tecmo is already planning changes for the Atelier series. Big changes. Oh yeah, this is gonna go over well. Now I'm down to one company that will for sure stick true to their roots with series'. And their stuff takes forever to get localized. I'm starting to think we've seen our last Atelier game over here once Mereru comes out next Spring. Or normal one at least since I've no idea what a "social game" is supposed to mean. MMO? God I hope not. This blows.

Or not ^^;

2011-12-05T21:40:00.004-05:00

So apparently all of my options to get the Aurica garage kit have failed for one reason or another. Mainly due to lack of a response from an exporter (who I no longer trust) despite multiple attempts to contact them and no way of meeting the requirements for another service. However, if anyone else has the means to get it or the Misha figure for that matter, there is still around 12 hours left on the auctions. Here are the links

Aurica: http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g109342849

Misha: http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b127410780

Figures!! XD

2011-11-29T13:35:00.002-05:00

Major league thanks to Aqua-kun for finding these on the Japanese Yahoo auctions! Unbelievable that these turned out to be real! I had figured that rumor to the effect was not true after so long of not seeing a single example, but man what a find. Unfortunately they are expensive as heck, 90 bucks to start, and garage kits so I can only afford to try to get one of them. Take a guess which one xD

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T11:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving~!

I'm back~

2011-11-21T11:29:00.001-05:00

Just quickly saying I'm back xD Much more to come when I get the chance ^^;

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:14:00.002-04:00

Even though I'll be busting my butt all day. Hopefully yours will better~ Also, this place will be silent for three weeks starting tomorrow, thar be things to be done~

October snow!

2011-10-30T11:26:00.004-04:00

After a close call on Thursday night... Yes, it actually snowed in October for the first time since before I was born. Flurries happen more frequently over in the city, but not the near 2" that fell. Simply put, it's never happened before. No pics from me though, because they were all taken at work, but they are all over the place on the net & in the news. We only bagged a trace out here, but hey it's still a record. It hasn't snowed in October out here since 1979.

~Ten more days~

2011-10-26T13:36:00.001-04:00

Down to the homestretch now~

~Twenty seven months~

2011-10-25T11:14:00.001-04:00

And very very soon a new kind of anniversary will begin~ Happy Anniversary, Emmy ^_^

~Twenty more days~

2011-10-17T10:33:00.000-04:00

Actually the 20th day was yesterday, but I was busy & didn't get the chance to post this ^^;

My 4th Favorite Game Series

2011-10-12T20:15:00.006-04:00

So I've finally decided to do a series of new posts. Actually there's two series' of them xD This one leads into the next one. Yeah, I know it's been a while since something of substance game wise came through here, but such is life with mild carpal tunnel and a lot of other things to take care of. Anyhow, this post is dedicated to my third favorite game series. Record of the Agarest War. There's a lot to be said from the badass fights to the ass kicking music in them. And the innuendo that thank god didn't ruin it for me because I played the whole thing in Japanese and can't understand a word of it xD Though I'm very tempted to grab the US version of ASZ with a ton of DLC for some serious whoopin's to go down. Or... wait for AS2 to get localized. One or the other. Though AS2's fights are a vast improvement with it's pseudo Cross Edge mechanics so maybe holding out for that one would be better. Plus the chances of actually getting the soundtrack this time might be realistic. The JP LE was supposed to have it, but didn't. Did have a ton of other extras though. Anyhow...

First things first, Idea Factory's art style rocks from every angle. Nobody else does it better. For characters anyway. And now that they've incorporated the animated pics for breathing when cut scenes happen, it's even better and more realistic without being in 3D. Which is cool anyway, because 3D graphics usually are rather boxy/crappy in cut scenes anyway. The whole thing smells of old school, which is total awesomeness in my book. Hands down it's my all time favorite game art style for the character pics and very close or tied with two other series for overall coolness. Plus victorian-gothic backgrounds are always a huge plus. The one above is a pirate ship deck.

Secondly is music. Battle themes and anything related to battles are all out balls to the wall ass kicking beat down fests. Just the way I like it. "Final Chase" ranks way way up there. And "Haunted" is a killer normal battle theme. AS2 has some really nice battle themes too, but I don't know the names of them. A lot of the other music I have to say is rather sad sounding even when it's supposed to be happy or neutral. I mean granted there's a world war going on, but still. Though there are quite a few good examples of those kinds of tracks being pulled off nicely. Like "Astron". Other situational type stuff ranges in quality, but can be exceptionally good, like "The Eye", which sounds like it belongs in a Lord of the Rings movie.

Thirdly, the characters always seem to have the coolest outfits. The ladies anyway. Some of the guys seem to be carbon copies of each other. Especially the heroes from one generation to the next. And even from one game to the next. This especially helps me with establishing a frontline since I like a frontline full of women anyway. Which yes it's for a not so honorable reason. I like a front line of cuties ^^; And the abundance of characters helps that even more, sometimes forcing me to make tough decisions that push a character out of formation who I really want to use. This is mainly a problem in AS2 since the formation was cut down to 4 from the usual 6. I guess 6 was too many characters to allow when using a Cross Edge like system. Eliminating the dudes makes half that problem go away right off the bat. And yes, I realize I'm handicapping myself in the process by doing this (especially in AS2 where it came back to bite me in the ass real bad in 3rd gen), but I don't really care. Excessive grinding is a must in this series. And I do mean excessive.

So basically despite some flaws like an insanely convoluted path to the true ending, overly sad music at times, and a ton of grinding, the series has a lot of big pluses for me. Heavy metal battle tunes with a lot of gothic horror elements, a vast amount of badass heavy hitting moves in battle (Luana's double anchor chain bum rush is killer, as is Eva's quasar like finisher), a lot of cool characters, awesome art style, hardcore battles, and an absolutely incredible level of customization. These all combine to make what could be a perfect game with tweaks to some stuff mentioned above. Like really. I see major potential in Idea Factory, but do they see it? That's another story for another post.

~Thirty more days~

2011-10-06T14:18:00.000-04:00

~Forty more days~

2011-09-27T12:14:00.000-04:00

~Twenty Six Months~

2011-09-25T10:20:00.004-04:00

And so another month goes by, and another month closer to something bigger and a new set of days to celebrate~ Happy Anniversary, Emmy ^_^ And something even more magical will happen in 42 days~ Yeah, it's that close now ^_^ And I just realized I need to get cracking on something pertaining to that pronto ^^;

Neptune MK 2 Announced~

2011-09-16T15:56:00.005-04:00

NISA has just announced Neptune MK2 due out in Spring of 2012. Sweet~ Compa & Iffy are back. Nep's younger sister, Nepgear, is the new main. Press release. Gameplay seems to be unchanged except for some things I'd call tweaks more than anything. Although there is the new free roaming battlefields~ Badass. And the story seems to be a direct continuation of the prior, with Neptune now held prisoner by Arfoire's syndicate. Wait... she lived!? And defeated all four CPU's!? I thought we smoked that damn dragon.

2011-09-11T10:40:00.001-04:00

'Nuff said.

Long Island's hurricane history

2011-09-05T14:04:00.010-04:00

I decided to do some research yesterday and found that the story the media tells every time a storm threatens to come ashore here is more than a bit full of holes... As in we've been hammered by a lot more hurricanes than they let on. And a lot stronger ones too. Here's a list of confirmed hurricane landfalls on Long Island that I could find plus two possible landfalls starting with the most recent and working back in time. Hurricanes were not named before WW II, so intensity only is given. "Cat" = category.

1985 - Gloria - Cat 1

1976 - Belle - Cat 1

1960 - Donna - Cat 2

1954 - Carol - Cat 2

1944 - G. Atl. Hurr. - Cat 1

1938 - L.I. Express - Cat 3

1894 - Cat 1

1893 - Cat 1

1869 - Cat 3

1858 - Cat 1

1821 - Cat 3

1815 - Cat 3

1789 - ukn intensity

1703 - potential direct hit

1693 - Cat 3

1635 - Cat 4 - strongest storm ever in the area

1609 - potential direct hit

Brief commentary:

All storms intensities above are verified by NOAA.

1693 - Dealt severe damage and severed Fire Island in two. It is estimated to be of the same intensity as the legendary Long Island Express in 1938. That is to say winds between 115 and 125mph with gusts topping 155mph. A mammoth 11 foot storm surge was recorded in Providence Rhode Island, which has only been bested once by the '38 hurricane when an 18 foot surge was measured. Landfall was October 29th.

1635 - This is it, our Katrina and Andrew, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in this area since Europeans came to America. Indians & Pilgrims reportedly climbed trees that were snapping like twigs to escape the storm surge. With winds estimated by NOAA to have been 135mph, gusts likely screaming in excess of 165mph. And yes, the wind really does scream like a banshee at those speeds. Info is sparse on this one, though a surge of 20 feet reportedly occurred in modern day Rhode Island. Landfall was August 25th.

1821 - This one struck New Jersey as a category 4 hurricane and then the island as a cat 3. It reportedly pounded Jersey with a catastrophic 29 foot storm surge in places. This is just 3 feet lower than Katrina in 2005 for reference. Epic beyond words. Officially it produced a surge of 13 feet here on the island and caused severe damage. Landfall was September 3rd.

1789 - This one has sketchy info on it. Really all that's known is that it "left the entire Battery in New York City in ruins". Intensity unknown. Pretty much everything unknown except that it decimated lower Manhattan. Landfall was August 18th.

1893 - Officially stated to have been only a category one storm, it is responsible for destroying an island so completely that it was wiped off the face of the Earth. Hog Island, the victorian equivalent of the Hamptons today was obliterated Atlantis style. It was so utterly destroyed that nobody even remembered the island had ever existed until it's discovery within the past ten years after a Nor'Easter swept century old victorian china onshore. Landfall was August 24th.

1938 - What hasn't been said about this one? It made landfall on September 21, 1938 with winds between 115 and 125mph, gusts to 150-160mph. It holds the record for the strongest recorded wind gust from a hurricane in the United States at 186mph at Blue Hill, Mass. This was, and possibly still is, a world record. It is responsible for the felling of over 2 billion trees. No that's not a typo. 2,000,000,000+ trees destroyed. Also on the storm's resume is a death toll in excess of 680. Damage in today's dollars is estimated at over $41 billion in a report I saw a few days ago. And with a forward speed of over 60mph, this storm holds the world record for the fastest moving hurricane anywhere, any time in history on Earth.

1944 - Pretty much a forgotten storm here. This one was rated a category one, yet had gusts well in excess of 100mph at landfall. This storm held and maybe still does hold, the record for the strongest winds measured in New York City. Oh to have had equipment in certain places back in the day, huh? Landfall was September 14th.

1954 - Carol holds the record for the strongest gusts ever recorded at Brookhaven National Lab at 125mph. The lab's records go back to 1949. The measurement possibly warrants bumping the '44 storm up to a cat 2. Gusts were clocked at 120mph through out eastern Suffolk County. Since the storm was compact, only this area got hammered hard. (And seems to be the place that gets the hell beat out of it every time) Landfall was August 31st.

1960 - Another compact storm like Carol, which again pounded the east end much harder than everywhere else. Storm surge was measured at a mere 6 feet and damage was remarkably low. Landfall was September 11th.

1985 - Originally ranked as a cat 3 by NHC because of the incredible damage, this one was later re-evaluated at cat 1. Regardless it was the last direct hit on Long Island because Irene was downgraded one hour before landfall. Landfall for Gloria was September 27th.

Breakdown by category at landfall:

Category 5: 0

Category 4: 1

Category 3: 5

Category 2: 2

Category 1: 6

Time spans between landfalls going back in time to the previous one:

26 years

9 years

16 years

6 years

10 years

6 years

44 years

1 year

24 years

11 years

37 years

6 years

26 years

86 years

20 years

58 years

26 years

Pretty damn interesting what a little research reveals. Most interestingly is that the long time gaps are always connected every single time with major hurricane landfalls... And the current 26 year gap certainly qualifies...

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair OST

2011-09-01T19:59:00.005-04:00

Alright let me first start off by saying that I'm kicking myself in the ass royally for not picking this up in January when it came out... Let me also say that this shit here kicks more ass than John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris and Al Bundy combined. Alright maybe not that much, but you know what I mean. As if smokin' guitar riffs could be anything other than rockin'. The heavy metal and hard rock here is done a lot better quality wise, symphonically, and with better flow than Judgement handled it. That's not to say that there aren't better versions of some of the tracks like Illusionary Dance which was as epic as hell itself in the Arcade. But seriously, has Aquarius ever sounded so hardcore? And Hail from the Past actually got cooler! How was it possible!? It's way up there with AI2's desert theme for me now. And I never thought any game would ever come close to touching the greatness of that one. Even Death's theme gets a new cover here, though Judgment's version was more hardcore imo. And Castle Dracula gets a new majorly imposing theme sure to scare the crap out of even Simon Belmont or at least pump him up big time upon hearing it. Anyhow, this baby is a definite must have that no CV fan should ever go without. I damn sure ain't. Thank god for youtube, though my net provider might not XD

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

2011-09-01T19:18:00.004-04:00

Apparently the reason why this has been slipping under my radar is because it's coming out on PSN. This month supposedly. It's been out on 360 since last year and I thought it was going to be XBOX exclusive, but seems not. Or maybe it's because they haven't been working on a new canon title *shrugs* Who knows. It's CV. And rock on as far as the cast goes. But as with other PSN stuff, I'm not getting it, even when I get the chance. I will however be definitely getting the soundtrack. Commentary post on that forthcoming after I scope it all out on youtube xD

As for gameplay, think of it as a fighter style except that the battles are boss rush mode style. Run through a dungeon, whip a boss' ass, then you're done. Rinse 'n repeat with different characters. The ones I know of who are included are Soma Cruz, Alucard, Maria, Charlotte, Jonathan, Julius, Shanoa, and Yoko. There may be some more in the DLC, which the 360 DLC is included in the game this time in the PS3 version.

~Three year anniversary~

2011-08-30T15:54:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I forgot to post about this due to a lot of things going on this month even before the hurricane arrived. Actually it was three years ago I started this place on August 5th. Anyhow, thank you to everyone who has visited here over the past three years and contributed to over 35,000 hits. Not majorly impressive, but a ton more than I ever thought this place would garner. Definitely never thought it'd still be here after three years. And yeah, I know it hasn't been up to par for the most part since I stopped buying stuff to comment on, as I expected would happen, but things may eventually get better in that department. After all, I do still have stuff I never posted about and winter is coming, so that will hopefully allow things to get better then. Especially thanks to youtube allowing me to listen to stuff I can't buy xD

Select other damage photos

2011-08-28T17:38:00.003-04:00

I took a good 50 photos today, maybe more I lost count. Here are a few of them. The rest will be viewable at the link at the end. Not all of the photos I took will be uploaded however as the vast majority of them are tree damage. Very little damage to buildings occurred. None at all to my residence.

Tree on a garage... about 3/4 of a mile southeast of here.

Large tree downed on a golf course a few miles southwest of here.

A huge tree downed in someone's front yard about 9-10 miles west of here.

A damaged sliding screen door and all but destroyed fence about 7-8 miles west of here.

Broken telephone pole about 5-6 miles west of here.

A flattened corn field, one of three, about 5-6 miles east of here.

Sound Ave to the east on the north shore is blocked in several places due to downed trees and utility lines. So no pics of the Sound or Ocean are available. However, here is the complete gallery I've uploaded, consisting of most of the photos I took today. All of the photos are listed with the title "Hurricane Irene".

Here's to hoping everyone stayed safe and hopefully things weren't too bad in the North Carolina/Virginia area. I know Jersey and upstate were hammered with incredible rains, hopefully people were able to get out of the area in time.

I may do one last post detailing the timing of everything today, complete with hourly weather stats for here later. Feeling kind of tired what with being up since 6 and it being a crazy day. Stay safe out there.

Pics time~

2011-08-28T17:14:00.002-04:00

Now for the pics xD The above is what I was greeted with when I got up at 6am. Winds gusting to around 45mph and heavy rain at times. Nothing really special. And that's all I thought it'd be... Not quite. A few hours later, the winds kicked into high gear and were soon gusting in excess of 60mph. Below is the scene as those winds began.

This occurred not too long later. The second tree this month to go down in the first gust around 60mph.

Here's another vantage shot of the winds, taken in a bit of a lull in between gusts.

And here we have when the gusts began reaching full force. 60 to 70mph, with a few gusts estimated to have reached the 70 mark.

Another vantage point. Still in the part of the storm with heavy rains.

And pretty much full force here in the last core band of the storm for us.

The rain stopped, but winds continued to gust 60 to 70mph for a while after the band cleared. It was not easy getting shots of the storm with the rain going since the camera is not water proof.

A shot here showing the second trunk of the same tree after it was felled by the wind.

And a better wider shot of it with no rain.

And here we have some lighter rain that started up just as the last big time gust blew through taking out the tree seen in the right of the image.

This one here... a big beefy boy that has survived all of the baddest storms of the last 15 years without problems until now.

The worst of the winds came through between the hours of 9am and 12noon, despite the first tree falling at 8:15 this morning. As of now it's still pretty gusty. Now down to the 30 to 35mph range, with a few gusts slightly higher. Other photos can be found here.

Hurricane Irene's stats

2011-08-28T16:25:00.003-04:00

Alright, I'm going to be doing this in multiple posts because of the length of it all, so bear with me. First up is the stats. Highest wind gusts, lowest pressure, and most rain. This is for Long Island only. That includes Kings & Queens counties in NYC and Nassau & Suffolk counties to the east.

Max wind gusts:

Sayville: 91mph

Syosset: 79mph

East Moriches: 71mph

Baiting Hollow: 70mph

Bayville: 67mph

LaGuardia: 67mph

Bridgehampton: 65mph

Lowest pressure:

Kennedy: 28.59"hg

LaGuardia: 28.59"hg

Farmingdale: 28.74"hg

MacArthur: 28.81"hg

Brookhaven: 28.89"hg

Baiting Hollow: 28.90"hg

Heaviest rainfall:

Gravesend: 6.78"

Northport: 6.78"

LaGuardia: 5.37"

Plainview: 5.20"

Sheepshead Bay: 5.00"

Kennedy: 4.96"

Lots of pics to come later if the power holds out

2011-08-28T11:53:00.003-04:00

And I say that because right after that last post, the winds really cranked up and have been gusting 50 to 70mph for the past roughly 3 hours. Some places have seen gusts in excess of 90mph.

And we have landfall~

2011-08-28T09:06:00.003-04:00

Landfall over Kennedy Airport has just occurred as a strong tropical storm with winds of 65mph and a core pressure of 965mb according to NHC. The winds are not that strong based on surface obs though... Pics, stats, and the like will be posted later.

Last update

2011-08-27T09:17:00.004-04:00

Updates will now cease as the serious threat imo is gone except for flooding in the city. Really just looking at a strong Nor'Easter calibur storm around here at this point. Pics and stats to be posted on Monday or whenever possible. Though I may as well note that the strongest gusts in NC are at Hatteras and are 85mph.

First cirrus!

2011-08-26T19:18:00.005-04:00

Here's some quick pics of Hurricane Irene's far outer cirrus as it starts coming in right now.

Also, I forgot to mention before, but a Hurricane Warning is now in effect here.

Threat for us diminishing rapidly...

2011-08-26T18:14:00.006-04:00

5PM EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 31.7ºN 77.4ºW

Movement: N at 14mph

Winds: 100mph gusting to 120mph

Pressure: 951mb

It seems to me given everything that I see that the severe threat from this storm really has all but vanished completely here over the past 6 hours. Firstly, the storm is moving way too slow to make it up here as a hurricane if it rips into NC and that looks all but dead certain as of now. Secondly, it's already down to 100mph, which is 35mph weaker than forecasted, and still 18 hours away from NC according to NHC. Thirdly, with a huge amount of land interaction between landfall in NC and landfall here on the island, it's highly unlikely to maintain hurricane status just from that alone. And no hurricane equals much lower threat from wind. The main worry. Now surge will still be an issue for the beaches and tidal marshes. And rain will still be excessive, especially west. So a flooding problem is still very much there, but there should be a lot less trees downed than there would have been if it would have hit the middle of the island with 85mph winds like Gloria did. Fourthly, the storm has been sucking in a ton of dry air today again, as it has for days, so that right there has been strangling it in terms of organization and stability. So basically, unless I see some major track changes, acceleration and/or restructuring, I say it's time for TWC to back off their "end of the world" crap. And they should have done that last night as it is.

Updates will cease in the morning if the threat fully vanishes.

Landfall looking like mid-day Sunday

2011-08-26T15:11:00.004-04:00

2PM EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 31.2ºN 77.5ºW

Movement: N at 14mph

Winds: 100mph gusting to 125mph

Pressure: 951mb

Still looking at landfall right down the middle of the island as per the overnight and morning guidance and NHC forecast tracks. Looks likely that we'll get at least hurricane force gusts if not minimal hurricane force sustained winds mid-day Sunday. NWS is forecasting winds up to 70mph and gusts of up to 85mph, which is below NHC's projection, but more believable given the weakening the storm has seen.

Landfall extremely likely...

2011-08-25T22:12:00.004-04:00

8PM EDT

Major Hurricane Irene

Location: 27.7ºN 77.4ºW

Movement: NNW at 14mph

Winds: 115mph gusting to 145mph

Pressure: 946mb

Seems to me like the eyewall replacement cycle has completed since the pressure is down and eye is open again, yet the winds are flat and the western part of the storm is not improving much in appearance from earlier. Current models runs still going with a path between 15 miles west of NYC and Montauk... Interesting to see the variance is still there and still flip flopping, but not unexpected I guess. Will have to see if the city can managed to be spared and us get spared too. One's gotta get hit...

Section A of New York City may be evacuated, that's Lower Manhattan... Also, Kennedy and LaGuardia are scheduled to be shutdown sometime late Saturday according to TWC with LaGuardia expected to be flooded out.

~Twenty five months~

2011-08-25T12:08:00.002-04:00

Twenty five wonderful months~ With two more to go before it changes to a new anniversary ^_^

Landfall still expected, intensity comes way down...

2011-08-25T07:47:00.004-04:00

5AM EDT

Major Hurricane Irene

Location: 24.6ºN 76.2ºW

Movement: NW at 12mph

Winds: 115mph gusting to 140mph

Pressure: 950mb

Satellite presentation has worsened overnight as the eyewall replacement cycle continues, however the pressure continues to fall, which is odd... it shouldn't be. A possible sudden explosion of intensity could happen once it's finished, which would explain why NHC is still expecting it to gain 20mph on its winds.

As of the latest model runs, the track has gotten worse, bringing the center in further to the west, now coming straight into the center of the island. However, the intensity forecast at landfall is down a lot. From 115mph to 80mph. Hopefully these flip-flops will calm down soon, but this scenario would bring the strongest winds in slightly to the west of us and they would be vastly weaker on top of that which is good. However, given the flip-flops in this area, remaining on high alert here for that is still key.

Also note that the NWS has lowered their wind forecast to 65mph gusting 85mph...

Direct hit looking more and more likely...

2011-08-24T18:30:00.002-04:00

***Extremely dangerous major hurricane landfall possible in the northeast, NHC bumping up their intensities***

5PM EDT

Major Hurricane Irene

Location: 23.1ºN 74.7ºW

Movement: NW at 12mph

Winds: 120mph gusting to 150mph

Pressure: 954mb

Alright the latest guidance is looking very bad... The models are trending west again, meaning that a good chunk of the ones on the east side of the path cone have shifted to the west. Some have not however. Regardless, according to the models, NHC's track is either dead on or just to the east of the trajectory, this is supported by the GFS, HWRF & GFDL among others. Reason this is bad... I'm losing confidence that the center will miss us to the east... The storm is not expected to hit Cape Hatteras as of now and is expected to be moving faster, which is resulting in the model intensity forecasts coming up. With the middle of the road showing a 115mph hurricane making landfall on eastern Long Island early Sunday afternoon. A near perfect fit for 1938... Good news is Cantore hasn't showed up yet, so we won't be needing to kiss our asses goodbye just yet xD

Landfall still forecasted for Sunday

2011-08-24T08:55:00.003-04:00

***Eye of Irene is now forecasted to go directly overhead on Sunday night***

8AM EDT

Major Hurricane Irene

Location: 21.9ºN 73.3ºW

Moving: WNW at 9mph

Winds: 115mph gusting to 145mph

Pressure: 957mb

With a wide open eye, the satellite presentation is looking much more impressive today and NHC is now forecasting as direct a hit as it gets here, straight overhead at 10pm on Sunday night. The NWS has in their forecast winds of 80mph with gusts just over 100mph for late Sunday. It still seems likely to me that the storm will pass to the east, but we will see...

Update, landfall ETA late Sunday

2011-08-23T22:52:00.003-04:00

***NHC, models agree on a devastating repeat of Hurricane Gloria in 1985 at this time***

11PM EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 21.3ºN 72.4ºW

Movement: WNW 9mph

Winds: 90mph gusting to 115mph

Pressure: 969mb

New models runs now looking good...

2011-08-23T22:23:00.005-04:00

The latest runs are showing a consolidation of tracks over eastern Long Island and on over to Cape Cod with the bigger concentration over eastern L.I. This is of course not cool. Dead red hit. On the plus side it will be down to minimal hurricane status by that time and moving at a pretty good clip. ETA is still Sunday afternoon through the night with winds in the 75 to 85mph range, gusts topping out around 100mph.

Also in the past hour, the storm's eye has opened up very nicely and that huge blob of intense convection on the east side is persisting, as is that intense eyewall convection now wrapping around the north and south sides. Intensification is set to resume shortly I'm thinking. Especially with the core pressure dumping already well below where it should be for the wind speeds the storm currently has.

Update

2011-08-23T17:39:00.003-04:00

5pm EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 20.9ºN 71.5ºW

Movement: WNW at 9mph

Winds: 90mph gusting 115mph

Pressure: 976mb

Still sucking in that dry air today and looking quite ragged on IR. Though not much change on visible satellite imagery. NHC continues to be reactive instead of proactive in their forecast changes, still trending way to the west side of the model guidance. Either way it looks like it will be going to the east of here and quite possibly far to the east of here as usual so really not much of a big deal anymore the way it looks now. Updates will discontinue unless the models trend back westward.

Next update

2011-08-23T08:46:00.004-04:00

8AM EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 20.6ºN 70.6ºW

Movement: WNW at 10mph

Winds: 100mph gusting to 120mph

Pressure: 978mb

As expected the storm beefed up quite a bit, despite a bit of dry air getting entrained into the storm overnight. The CDO remains in perfect condition with the eye likely to clear within the next 6 hours. Also note that a direct hit is not looking as likely as it was this time yesterday though it will be a close call either way. May discontinue updates later today if the models keep trending glancing blow.

Newest update...

2011-08-22T18:10:00.004-04:00

5PM EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 19.5ºN 68.6ºW

Moving: WNW at 13mph

Winds: 80mph gusting to 100mph

Pressure: 988mb

The intensity appears to be holding steady, despite improved satellite presentation through the day. I'm expecting it to beef up a bit soon, maybe even quite a bit by morning tomorrow. Official forecast track has been shifted quite a bit to the east, as expected. Landfall now expected in North Carolina near Wilmington on Saturday.

Major hurricane possible for next weekend

2011-08-22T11:01:00.007-04:00

As per the latest model guidance there is a chance that newly formed Hurricane Irene may make landfall on the south shore at the same intensity as the legendary '38 hurricane next Sunday or Sunday night. Scoring a direct hit like this would deal nothing short of catastrophic damage. As a result, things would be quiet here indefinitely and my being online would be extremely limited and only at work.

As usual, there is a high chance that it won't happen, but just in case the heads up is there and there is very strong agreement among the models at this time. Also, it should be noted that we usually get slammed in years exactly like this one. The summer pattern in 1938 was virtually identical to this year so it is worth keeping an eye on.

Note however that NHC is bringing the storm into South Carolina as a major hurricane (Cat 3+) at this time.

Current updates on the storm's intensity will be posted twice per day.

11AM EDT

Hurricane Irene

Location: 19.2ºN 67.5ºW (just northwest of Puerto Rico)

Moving: WNW at 13mph

Winds: 80mph gusting 100mph

Pressure: 988mb

New core Castlevania? On 3DS?

2011-08-13T21:58:00.004-04:00

Could be, seems to be, rumored to be~ Can't believe this slipped under my radar. Though LoS was to thank for that.

Also, what the hell happened to this...? Coop-ed into the Arcade or something else...?

~Three months~

2011-08-05T21:10:00.001-04:00

Three months until something amazing happens~

More storm pics

2011-08-03T11:33:00.003-04:00

These were from last month during a storm that caused basement flood damage.

No big winds with this one, just rain. About 0.75" in 20 minutes.

Nasty storms last night

2011-08-02T20:17:00.006-04:00

Here's some pics from last night's storm. It blew through from 7:45pm through 8:45pm and it was quite impressive. Winds were estimated at around 60mph and lightning stroke rates around 180 to 200/minute. By far and away the best lightning show I've ever seen topping the August 2007 supercell which came in around 150 strokes per minute. Winds were clocked at 62mph at West Hampton Beach & 64mph at Shinnecock Inlet. Both to the southeast.

Also note that multiple people in immediate the area said that the air was pink, before turning orange at the onset and height of the storm. Including my father and the neighbor's on both sides of us. I witnessed the orange "air", and have never seen anything like it before. It was like something out of one of those old tales from the 19th or early 20th century out in the plains about really bad storms. Major league odd stuff with this storm. And I'm kicking myself in the ass for not taking a pic of it when I had the chance. Mammatus was also observed with this cell along with the typical black shelf cloud on the leading edge. Again, I was asleep at that time and missed it. God I hate graveyard shifts screwing me out of seeing badass stuff like this.

All of the pics are after worst had passed, including all of the rain. Which tallies a shockingly low 0.73" despite most of that falling within a 20 minute span for the second storm in as many weeks. The one above is the bottom of the anvil on the back side, the one below is looking towards the back flank of the main tower of the storm.

Below is a tree branch in the middle of the street. It's about 12 feet long and flew approx 25 feet through the air before landing where it is. What needs to be noted is that this branch was blown down from northwest to southeast, where as the winds I observed blew from north to south, indicating some weak ground level rotation in the cell.

There were quite a few branches like this one down all over the area including downed power lines and larger branches right across the street from the mall I worked in for 7 years through high school and college. And far more of them down over the twin forks further east.

And here we have pics of a tree that sustained heavy damage just 25 feet from where I was sleeping through the first part of the storm.

Good thing this baby fell into the neighbor's yard, lest it would have hit the house if it had fallen the other way.

And if that weren't enough, when the sun came up this morning, this baby was visible from a staggering distance of... wait for it... 140 miles away. Yup, that sucker was south of Block Island at the time of the photo, and moved to south of Martha's Vineyard before the sun stopped me from being able to see it an hour later.

Notice the other towering cumulus around it. Pretty damn impressive for 5am. This marks the second time this year that that has happened too. The first time being three weeks ago.

All in all, I'd put this as the second worst thunderstorm I've ever seen behind only the summer 1989 one, which had 80mph downburst winds, excessive lightning, baseball sized hail and insane rains. Everything but a twister, which had lifted just ten minutes before it moved in.

Actually combine the storm we got with what the city & Nassau got, and it would have been 1989 all over again. They got nailed with baseball sized hail in Queens & Nassau earlier in the evening.

Two year Anniversary trip (cont'd)

2011-07-27T18:57:00.003-04:00

Continuing from here. It definitely was an adventure for more than one reason, meeting lots of new soon to be family members (and being reminded of upstate, just with heat) and of course the fiasco involving the airport delays and cancelations on Monday. Which there was no legit reason for I might add... Anyhow. It definitely was a weekend to remember, and now an even bigger one is within sight a few months off. And yes, there will be a countdown. Here's to hoping it gets here fast~

And while I was away, it got a lot hotter than it was forecast to be, with most places bagging upper 90's around here to around 105º in NYC. The highest being Newark, NJ which set a new all time record high of 108º. That is the highest temperature ever recorded in the northeast US and was set last Friday.

I's is back~

2011-07-26T16:52:00.000-04:00

Yes, I was away for the last 5 days, more on that soon.

The king's return has been... delayed

2011-07-15T20:32:00.004-04:00

Until the 60th anniversary blowout bash!! That's right it's been delayed until 2014 with the advent of a new writer signing on. So I'd guess that "Godzilla 2012" is no longer a working title. They'd better not touch this design though... totally badass to the max. I never thought I'd see an even badder version of the 1985 poster version, but this one does it. You know the one, the one where he's literally on fire with lightning erupting from him and skin that appears to be boiling... this one.

Figures~ xD

2011-07-15T19:39:00.005-04:00

Alright, so I haven't acquired anything new in a while. A long while really. But that doesn't mean I don't have my eye on some stuff like the one below. It's only the second or third version of the character I've seen where she's not depicted in some sleazy way. Pretty cool looking too. Also if you look at her from the chest up she looks like something out of the Atelier Iris series especially with that head gear that immediately reminded me of Viese, which of course is good stuff.

Next up is one I've had my eye on for a while now. Doesn't need much explanation since it's coolness and high quality speak for itself. I don't know who she is, but I love the way she looks.

This being a post about figures I want but can't have, it can not be complete without some representation from the new Bandai Godzilla line. These new ones have some insane articulation capabilities. They can be posed in just about any position the real deal can be. That is to say you really can replicate any scene from any movie with them. So far only Godzilla & Mechagodzilla are available due out later in the year.

And here's Mechagodzilla. Too bad I don't see Garuda or the Plasma Grenade open.

Also of note is that the legendary Kaiyodo "Big Guy" is being rereleased! That's also due out later this year for the same price as it was when it first came out years ago... $1,350 bucks xD

More details:

Kaiyodo "Big Guy" (aka G '89)

And this looks cool too...

Godzilla 1992 (X-Plus) I could have sworn X-Plus went under years ago, but that looks damn nice~

Some pics from earlier

2011-07-13T21:35:00.004-04:00

That one actually looked a lot better in person than it does in the pic ^^; The "silver lining" around the cloud was very bright like lightning.

Bigger shot of the one up top.

No anvil tops but these things were putting down some good rains and outflow winds around 25 to 30mph.

And as usual with these kinds of pics, they're probably easier viewed on photobucket.

End of an era...

2011-07-08T11:51:00.003-04:00

Won't be able to watch this scene anymore times...

And it's a crying shame... Good look NASA.

And no that's not a pic of today's launch, there aren't any available yet.

Castlevania quandry/rambling questions

2011-07-07T21:28:00.003-04:00

You know I've just been thinking... why are the brides never in a single Castlevania game? I mean I suppose Carmilla could qualify as filling part of the role, but still they're an integral part of the story of Dracula, so why are they never present? (Stella & Loretta in Portrait of Ruin do not count since they were not brides though they were turned into vampires by Brauner because Dracula was never involved with that.) They would make for an insanely awesome boss fight if you go after all three at once. Or even one by one it could make for three good fights. Even in Lords of Shadow they never show up. Yet. We'll see if they do, but I doubt it. Actually it makes no real sense in the first place why Dracula has brides since losing his wife when he was alive was a big part of what caused him to seek the vampire route... And on that note, if Dracula has three brides, who the hell married them!? Who had the guts to stand in front of vampires and perform that ceremony? Also, why would Dracula marry anybody considering the reason he is a vampire is his betrayal of God... makes no sense. In that case I suppose they can't really be married, but a civil union performed by Dracula himself could be possible since he was a ruler and presumably had such power after all.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T12:27:00.001-04:00

235 years of freedom and counting

~Twenty Three Special Months~

2011-06-25T23:52:00.003-04:00

And only a few more monthly anniversaries to go~ Then the real big ones start ^_^

Lack of activity

2011-06-21T11:45:00.003-04:00

Alright, there are a few reasons for the lack of activity here over the past month. One big one being that I'm no longer buying any more games, which I may or may not have mentioned before on here. This obviously means that I've lost my desire to keep track of new stuff as vigorously as in the past, since I can't play any of them. Though I will say that I've still been keeping tabs on youtube vids of White Knight Chronicles 2, which looks to be the first game I'll pick up if and when I resume buying. And that's still an "if".

Anyhow, this brings me to my next point. Since youtube vids still don't properly embed themselves in this blog, or a few others I've seen with them posted either, that left out what would have kept this place going for a while longer. Mainly funny and cool vids 'n stuff from games & tv shows. With commentary of course so as to not be totally cheap about it.

And lastly... I really don't know how much longer I'll be keeping this place running, with my interest in games & anime and the like waning fast in the down time, I can't really say it'll last much longer, but who really knows. If I can find something else to carry it in between game updates and the like, I'll give it a shot, but we'll see. I mean I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised since this place has lasted way longer than I ever thought it would. Going on three years this August. It's been a good run, hopefully it'll go a bit longer.

~Twenty Two Special Months~

2011-05-25T11:08:00.002-04:00

Another month closer to making a new kind of anniversary happen ^_~ For which I need to get some things done soon ^^; But for now, we's can enjoy a 22nd monthly anniversary xD Happy Anniversary, Emmy ^_^

NISA finally announces Atelier Totori

2011-05-19T17:20:00.003-04:00

Well finally NISA has spoken up on Atelier Totori. They don't have a site up except for this "teaser". But it's due out in the Fall.

Aurica's Legacy xD

2011-05-13T12:38:00.003-04:00

Apparently BBQ Soda has become her legacy with appearances in 3 games now. Though the latest incarnation has been tweaked from the original in that it's sour now. And the AT3 crew thinks it's good stuff. Cocona & Aoto were the most impressed by it. Aoto thinks Aurica's a genius xD 'Course she is!

At first glance, I couldn't believe my eyes...

2011-05-05T22:05:00.002-04:00

When I saw this, thinking it resembled Skuwat Aurica ^^; Actually I was just looking at the headshot when I thought that. But alas, it's not. I still wishlisted it on tsukiboard though xD It's still nice, but it'd have been nice if it were what I thought it was~

~Engaged~

2011-05-04T11:52:00.004-04:00

Continuing from here, since it's all the same. I have to say it indeed has been a very long wait. And additionally it felt very good to not be glued to this (or any other) computer 24/7 for once, which is something I've really grown sick and tired of. Carpel tunnel doesn't make it any easier. Anyhow, t'was a weekend to remember~ Along with a few others xD And a few more to come ^_^

I've had this plan in my head for over a year. Though I must say the idea first came into my head well before that. Like August of '09, but figuring out the details was my job for last Spring. One of which being what you wore~ Which I have to say it again, you looked incredibly beautiful in that dress, Emmy ^_^ And cute too ^_^ Course, you always do. Though I wish we'd taken a pic ^^; So I could switch out that one in the frame for a nicer one. But I didn't want to bug you with it that last day. Also, yay for the weather actually being nice for once! Longest stretch of nice days since like last Fall or so.

I also have to say that I feel lucky beyond words to have found you and to have gotten this far, though I know it's going much farther~ ^_^ Still, considering my mindset two years ago around this time, it's not something I ever expected. But love as they say, is unexpected, and I shall certainly agree with that as I always remember everything that lead up to this~ I'm just wondering if it should be mentioned in that one thread on ARM, since that place is where this all started.

Only 7 more months to go to make it all the way to the next greatest day ^_^ Or series of 'em actually xD

And now for what I really wanted to say~

2011-05-02T20:56:00.004-04:00

Before all this other stuff came up in the meantime. I have a post soon regarding this past weekend ^_^ But I'll hold off on that until a certain someone mentions it first~

Some news related things...

2011-05-02T20:32:00.012-04:00

First of all... with regards to the headline story of the day... WE-GOT-THE-BASTARD!! Finally we got that fucker who started this idiotic war against us for no reason. May he toast on the fires of hell for all eternity for what he did.

And secondly, this is the stuff of legends... Although I'm shocked by the number NOAA quotes, apparently that tornado outbreak last week in the south was the worst on record, easily blowing away the Super Outbreak of '74 by more than two fold. An astonishing feat beyond words. By the numbers, last week's storm unleashed 362 twisters, 312 of which touched down in a 24 hour period. The Super Outbreak had 148 tornados touch down and was until now the benchmark by which all severe thunderstorm outbreaks were measured. We have a new gauge now. Additionally, last week's outbreak had the deadliest single day since 1925 when the "Tri-State Tornado" alone killed over 600. All of this makes for the busiest month for tornados ever, with over 600 this April. Mother nature was seriously pissed last week/month is all I'm saying.

Here is the official NOAA writeup regarding the tornado outbreak.

The highest estimated windspeed in any of these was 205mph according to NOAA. Note that this is not anywhere close to qualifying as a true F5 on the old scale which required winds be at least 261mph and was used to rate nearly all of the infamous twisters. However that does not mean that an EF5 =/= F5. Since the scales are based on different parameters. EF is based on post storm damage analysis (and thus the minimum wind speeds required to produce the damage seen), F is based on the same idea but is determined separately for each storm. The EF range is generic, not specific. An EF5 tornado need only have winds of 200mph, whereas an F5 needs winds over 260mph. So an EF5 could be a "true F5" since the range is 200-318mph. The upper limit on the wind speeds in the EF scale is obviously something NOAA screwed up on when they made the new scale since winds in tornados have been measured by radar in the 260-320mph range.

~Twenty One Special Months~

2011-04-25T11:05:00.001-04:00

And so another wonderful month goes by~ Though the best part of this one is still to come in a few days ^_^ Which reminds me that I better charge the camera battery. Happy Anniversary, Emmy ^_^

Neptune MK 2's site is open

2011-04-22T11:49:00.004-04:00

Yup, instead of looking at this countdown page...

...now we've got the official page with shots like this...

Things are looking pretty cool with this new game, though I still don't understand what it could be about since Arfoire got stomped in the first game. It's kinda bugging me to think that the secret may lie in the post game stuff I'm not doing. But either way it looks like the cast is bigger this time, with the same cast as the first game looking sure to come back. There's a screen of Compa & If, as well as the other three CPU's from the first game in a CG. And then you've got a few new characters including the DS twins. Who take up two spots on the front line. Also, apparently Nep did some aging whilst nobody else did. Related to her memory loss? Anyhow, scope out the new site here.

Additionally, the release date range has been narrowed to August.

White Knight Chronicles 2

2011-04-22T11:45:00.002-04:00

Ah, finally a release date announcement! It's coming out on August 2nd. The new knight (on the far right) looks badass, though I could have sworn it was customizable ^^; At least visually.

Atelier Meruru, getting bigger and bigger

2011-04-12T14:06:00.003-04:00

Apparently there is a world building mechanic similar to Atelier Annie, but on the scale reminiscent of Sim City. Yeah, you effectively build a kingdom in this game. Oh, and the butler looks badass. See all the new info here. Also, there appears to be a more free reign quest system. Meaning it's not so much focused on make/fetch an item and bring it to this or that person, but you actually go do stuff for them to help them now. AI3 style possibly. Though the presence of that date clock is still something I'm not fond of. Either way, there is a lot of potential here, though the wait for it will be long.

Neptune 2 Announced~

2011-04-12T12:55:00.004-04:00

Yup, apparently the game is getting a sequel, which is something I didn't believe at first. See here, and here for the proof. Characters... Here. Here. Here. Sadly this looks like a loli fest, which I can't stand in the least, but if it's cool enough by the time I can resume buying games, it may get on my must have list.

Ar tonelico 3 initial thoughts

2011-04-02T10:38:00.003-04:00

Alright, so again, not so initial since I'm a little before the end of phase 1, but still. I'm finding myself liking Finnel more this go around than before, but still Saki is number one. And Sarapatra is hilarious. That mock wedding idea was great. Major comedy points for that one xD Yurisica is awesome too as expected. I mean she's a bomb totting nurse for god's sake xD How much cooler than that do you want? Anyhow, there are really no complaints from me on this game so far, and in that regard it really has cemented itself as way better than AT2, but not as much so as the first one. Take out Aurica from the first one and it could very well be a tie.

~Twenty Magical Months~

2011-03-25T17:39:00.002-04:00

And many many more to come, though they won't be counted in months for too much longer~ Happy Anniversary, Emmy ^_^

Neptune commentary

2011-03-24T21:29:00.005-04:00

I just finished this game today after a two day grindfest to bag 16 levels so I could finish off Arfoire. Since this game kicks ass in pretty much every way, I'll state that there are very few things that get on my nerves about this game. Number one, the DLC. You should not have to buy DLC to use a character you get normally in battle. Period. That's bullshit. Note to game makers, I'm not paying 60 bucks to get an incomplete game that needs 10-15 bucks more worth of crap to be playable as advertised. I'd pony up a little extra right off the bat if it was complete to begin with. Also, none of the other CPU's are playable in the main game it seems, which is also stupid and takes a lot of the buzz out of the final showdown. What gives? Blown opportunity there. However, all that said, the rest of the game is damn good and the funnest I've played since Trinity Universe. It's certainly Idea Factory's best work outside of the Agarest War series. Which has also reached new heights with AS2. Good look IF. Keep up the good work.

Edit: the other CPU's are playable, but as is typical of IF, you have to pull several deductions out of your ass to figure out how to get them. Way to be counter intuitive as always on that one.

Atelier Meruru site is open~

2011-03-24T18:07:00.002-04:00

The site is now open for business~ And the track that plays sounds like AT3's start up song. Well, an Atelier version of it anyway. Though lets be honest, the two series have been melting into each other in various ways for a while now. Anyhow, here's the link.

New Atelier game officially announced

2011-03-22T13:29:00.002-04:00

Gust has announced the third Arland game today~ Called "Atelier Meruru", or more likely Meryl according to this article. Apparently there's some explaining to do however, as Rorona appears as a little kid, even though she should be in her 20's at this point. There's tons of customization through alchemy with regards to the environment of the game it seems. Also, the battles are different from the usual Gust fare, employing what amounts to a "wait" system to the usual turn based one. Think Growlanser. The game is up for grabs on June 23rd.

Another year older~

2011-03-22T12:13:00.002-04:00

Yet still a birthday with a year that starts with a "2" xD Though it's the last one of those ^^; So far things have come in the last year... And since the start of this place... With lots more wonderful things to come ^_^

Ar tonelico 3 LE

2011-03-16T13:26:00.003-04:00

Lookie what finally showed up~ It took a century and a half, but at least it's here now. Though I won't be starting on it for at least a week ^^;

NISA shipping AT3 early!

2011-03-12T10:09:00.002-05:00

Apparently NISA is shipping Ar tonelico 3 early, as opposed to late with Neptune. Mine shipped yesterday, though I won't be starting on it until after I finish Neptune of course.

Neptune first impressions

2011-03-08T12:17:00.005-05:00

Alright so not exactly first impressions since I'm more than half way through the game based on the in game percentages. This despite having not gained a single character since the very beginning. Save for Nisa who is currently tagging along as a guest. I want the other CPU's! So I can change their names to much cooler ones xD Anyhow, the game is very fun and I like that Idea Factory is doing such a good job of improving the quality of their titles like this. (I think they're entering their golden years right now. Lets see if they can keep on rockin'.) Not really sure just what to call it though since it's not technically a cross over, nor is it traditional Idea Factory. My only question is why does Gust speak with an obviously Asian accent, but nobody else does? IF should have it too, yes? Maybe cuz it's not particularly flattering. Proof positive that NISA treats Gust differently? My only complaint is that there are way too many 4th wall references. Lay off it already, it was funny for the first few hours and a few gags in between, but not around every turn. Anyhow, this should turn out to be the funnest game since I near completed TU last year. Course AT3 will be in the running for that spot soon too.

ASZ LE up for pre-order at Gamestop!

2011-03-07T23:33:00.002-05:00

It's being released on June 14th. Here's the link to the LE. Check out all those extras... Dirt damn cheap too!! Ugh, must resist the temptation!

It saddens me to say...

2011-03-01T10:47:00.005-05:00

I have decided as of yesterday after a long time of debating it with myself that I need to immediately cease buying video games, anime DVD's, DVD's in general, CD's, soundtracks, figures, artbooks, etc. Cut out 100% of all un-necessary spending. Pretty much everything I post about on here, because money is in great need. As in I need a shitload of it, and obviously the only way to get it is to save it. And so Ar tonelico 3 will be my final game purchase indefinitely. Everything else has ceased already. Posts will continue, because I've got a back log of anime to watch as well as games and some other CD's I haven't yet commented on as well as keeping track of games I would have played if I could, but they will be in far fewer number than they have been in the past before too long. I just have to figure out how to keep this place running.

Game progress gonna be slow this week

2011-02-28T12:11:00.002-05:00

Because I slipped & fell down some stairs at work yesterday, busting up my wrist a bit.

~Nineteen incredible months~

2011-02-25T15:01:00.001-05:00

And always going strong~ Happy Anniversary, Emmy ^_^

Three Stooges

2011-02-24T11:44:00.003-05:00

Damn I can't believe I finished watching all these shorts in just two weeks o_O Anyhow. I finished watching volumes 1 thru 6, with 7 & 8 to go whenever I get 'em. And as always the stooges never disappoint. I have to honestly say that the one that made me laugh the most was the very first pie fight xD Always a classic. Though the one in the haunted castle with the suit of armor was funny as hell too. Especially that one skeleton in the closet playing chess. Go away boys, you bother me!

Hyperdimension Neptunia

2011-02-19T11:45:00.002-05:00

After a few delays, Neptune finally arrived today! Though thanks to the delays I can't touch it until next Tuesday. Anyhow. Sweet LE is sweet. Will spend a boring weekend doing a few things including coming up with my customizations for the game xD

Devil May Cry

2011-02-17T14:15:00.002-05:00

Just finished watching this today and I must say that it is one of the few anime that I could watch over and over again. Yes, it kicks that much ass. Or rather Dante does. I mean how totally badass is he? Pretty damn much so, I'd say. The final fight is a bit lack luster compared to what it could have been, but hey a win is a win, and the reactions to Dante coming back were priceless as were his wiseass comments during the fight. And let us be serious, wasn't it totally obvious that Sid was up to something from the beginning? Dante was right, he should have shot his ass a long time ago. Good stuff, will watch it again someday after I've worked through my backlog that is.