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Monday, May 23, 2011

WE'RE STILL HERE! WHAT A SURPRISE!

What do you know, Harold Camping was wrong. I even watched all the news stations trying to see if anything was happening and nothing. I was kinda disappointed. I mean I was hoping for ANYTHING to happen but 6 o'clock came round the world just to see we're all still here, theres no uprooted graves, and theres no zombies. I honestly waited all day yesterday as well just to make sure.

Unless you count his old ass as a zombie.
Harold has since then "disappeared" off the face of the Earth. Many people have tried contacting him just to have him say he's deep in prayer and/or spending time with his family. He said any and all questions will be answered today, May 23, 2011 on his show, and I have a few questions for him:

Did you do this for the money or the message? Either way, how does it feel that you, yes you Harold, are getting a straight ticket to hell if it even exists?

HI HAROLD! I'M SATAN AND I'M HERE TO RAPE YOUR BUM!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

New News

So guys, for the next few days I'm going to be playing around with layouts (and making them) to better fit my page. If you have any suggestions, comment or email me :) There still will be regular blogs and stuff, but this is just to make the site prettier :D

Friday, May 20, 2011

Sad Day For All Wrestling Fans...

Ladies and Gentlemen, today...


The man responsible for "Ten thousand years as Intercontinental Champion", "Oh yeah!" and as well as "Snap into a Slim Jim!"


Randy "Macho Man" Savage has died today.




Such an inspiring man, he (and Mr. T) is the whole reason I like to punch people in the face. This man fought in the WWF, not the WWE. This man made slim jims the most bad ass thing ever. This man was a macho man.


According to TMZ, Randy was driving his 2009 Jeep Wrangler when he veered across a median, through oncoming traffic, and collided head-on with a tree. He was then transported to Largo Medical center, where he died from his injuries.


His wife was in the car where she escaped with minor injuries, and police say alcohol was not involved.




RIP Randy Savage.

Every time I snap into a slim jim, I will think of you.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Earths Expiration Date: May 21, 2011

So theres been some talk going around about this church that has discovered when the world shall end.


Thats right, May 21, 2011 is the Rapture. According to Harold Camping who started this: There will be the worlds worst Earthquake, shortly followed by graves opening up and dead bodies getting flung everywhere, BUT WAIT THERES MORE! ALL THOSE DEAD PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED IN JESUS WILL BE RESURRECTED  THATS RIGHT, FUCKING ZOMBIES! AND IN OCTOBER, THE UNIVERSE WILL ALL BE BURNT DOWN! JOIN THE CHURCH NOW AND BECOME ONE OF THE FEW 200 MILLION CHOSEN TO BE SAVED!

I shit you not:


So lets get this straight, there's going to be a lot of shaking, zombies, dead bodies, and fire. All this coming Saturday! Woot! 

Now being the not so religious type (Agnostic) and having read the bible and many other biblical writings of other religions, I can safely say from my knowledge (and common sense) this guy is a fucking loon.

But hey, what if I'm wrong? I'm still going to die the way I live. I'm going to a rave! So if the Zombie Apocalypse happens, guess I'm screwed till I get home. So guys, what are you going to do on May 21st?

ZOMBIES! THE CHOSEN PEOPLE!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Houston Press: The 10 Hottest Sex Offenders? And Schwarzenegger The Impeganator!

Recently, the Houston Press released a list of the "10 Hottest Women on the Texas Sex Offender List


Nice.
Well needless to say, other than the girls on the list aren't really that hot, this got a lot of people upset. Since then, Houston Press editor Richard Connelly has made a formal apology and regrets publishing such an article. But the link I provided also explains his motives, and honestly, I believe it was amazing. I'm always one to support a controversy topic, and I believe the execution was a bit extreme but pretty informative all and all.

The article shows a mug shot of the females, their names with hyper-linked to their page on the Texas Department of Public Safety, the city where the sexual act was done, the crime, and the victim.  

The reason he made this article was to show people that a sexual offended can be anybody, not just some fat neck-bearded man in his late 40s or an old man that walks around in a robe.

Mmmmm...

Mr. Connelly if you somehow ever read this, you shouldn't have had to apologize for your article. I respect you sir. Theres not many people that will attack such topics as this. It truly is a "sexist" topic when you hear about a sex offender. When you hear about a male sex offender you always hear "rape" yet when you hear about any female offender you hear "committed a sexual act" or "had an affair with" something along those lines.

Houston Press, keep on keepin' on.


On to more current news. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated he's has a family behind his ex-wife, Maria  Shriver's back with a member of his staff! 
Arnold lighting up a menthol shortly after sexing his staffer
Not only has his kept this secret away from Maria, he also kept it away from his entire state! Holy shit Arnold! How did NOBODY KNOW ABOUT THIS?! FOR LIKE 10 YEARS! 

All I have to say is if you want to keep a secret in this country, this is your man.

Monday, May 16, 2011

New Kitty :D

So about 2 days ago me and my girlfriend got a text from her brother saying there was a little ragdoll/mix cat for adoption at a adoption agency about 30 minutes away from our apartment.

The picture we got from her brother
After seeing that picture we decided to go check out the kitty. We checked around the shelter looking for other cats and then we found our new kitty, Mog.

Say hi to Mog
Mog apparently was brought to the shelter when he was only 2 weeks old. He was a stray. about 3-4 months later a family adopted him, only to bring him back 4 months later due to their allergies. A few days after that, we adopted him.

Whats funny is at first I really didn't want him, but shortly after adopting him, I began to like him. When we got back to the apartment, he instantly went to me and avoided my girlfriend. Since then he's become my partner in crime. He follows me everywhere, waits by the door when I leave, all while avoiding my girlfriend (not out of fear/hatred, he just likes me more lol)

I love this lazy bastard so much, and my girlfriend is mad. Very mad.

GIRLFRIEND SIDE NOTE: I stole the computer. kekekeke. :3 Anyway, this adorable little shit (the cat, not the boyfriend, although he's an adorable little shit as well) decides he likes my boyfriend better than me, even though I'm the ENTIRE REASON we got him. He's warming up to me, but he still follows him all around the house. Oh well. At least I know my ferret likes me more than he likes boyfran. He bites his toes.

<3 girlfran

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Rebecca Black Got Pretty Down On Friday! She's Pregnant Now...

Thats right...13 year old Rebecca Black, singer of the terrible song/viral video "Friday" is pregnant.


Looks like she got a little TOO down on Friday. The story is here: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-607618 and http://digg.com/news/entertainment/rebecca_black_pregnant but she has since then tweeted as followed:


Well what to believe? A 13 year old who I'm sure PR is telling to dismiss the rumor and having people comment on the reports saying it's a hoax? Or million dollar news sites? What do YOU think?

My say, I HOPE its not true...the last thing we need is the offspring of FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY. But at least her kid would know the days of the week...well some of them at least.

Links: 

Friday, May 13, 2011

Newt Tweets, Rand's A Slave, and Sanders Isn't Chicken

Bloggers back! Yay! I wanted to post this yesterday but lets talk about it now?


It's nearing that time again people. The time where we elect a person to run our country, and I'm on my usual politics kick, so lets discuss whats in the news shall we?


To start things off, 58th Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich(R) announced his candidacy for president via Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday, officially becoming the first to do this.




 But my question is why? Why is a 67 year old man using a "tweet" to announce something in the first place? Is he trying to look "cool" and "with-it" to kids? Granted it's GREAT publicity, but you have to think this will turn a lot of people off. It's childish in my personal opinion. If you wanted my vote and wanted to look cool, go to the X-Games, make a video skydiving while announcing your candidacy, something like that. Don't just make a crappy youtube video with a link on twitter.


Moving on: 


Rand Paul(R) made a BOLD statement by comparing free healthcare to slavery of workers in the medical field. If you watch the full video, you will see Bernie Sanders(I) destroy Rands statement. 


I laughed. Hard. 


This is all I have at the current moment for politics. But while the news picks up, who do you want to be president in 2012? What are your views? 

Thursday, May 12, 2011

EVEN MORE PSN NEWS!

The official Sony Japan site release a statement about the network.



Translated (Thanks to Google translate):
"PlayStation Network" and "Qriocity" and continued failure, I am sorry indeed.
As we told the other day with the latest information in regard to future service restart, will be conducted in stages on a regional basis to ensure the safety of our customers.
We are preparing to be able to resume service as soon as possible in Japan, and is now doing the verification stage for ensuring the safety and security, providing more advanced. Server to complete the relocation of more secure facilities, further strengthening the encryption, firewalls and expansion of new customers with peace of mind again "PlayStation Network" and "Qriocity" to stay in a We support the most. The monitoring and the introduction of warning systems facilitate early detection of cyber attacks, subjected to a system upgrade intended to eliminate vulnerabilities, established a system to ensure information management to protect important personal information of customers We.
For those of you committed to ensuring safety, but would take some time for some time now, humbly thank you for your understanding. For the latest information, this website will guide you at any time.
To everyone of our customers and partners, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience and inconvenience."
 So yeah. The hacking is done and what PSN users are left can rejoice.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Favorite Apps!

Well seeing as I haven't had time to even turn on the tv today, I haven't seen much news yet... So till I find out something to post about here's a filler: Today I got super bored, started playing around with my iPhone and I got the question in my head, "What's your favorite app?" Theres literally an app for everything you could ask for so what do you find yourself wasting the most time on?

My Top 4 Favorite Apps

Fruit Ninja: This game has literally consumed most of my time when I'm away from my computer. All you do is swipe your finger across the screen and slice fruit as it comes onto your screen. It's available for all smart phones (that matter), it has an awesome multilayer feature, and it has un-lockable blades and backgrounds. I currently have all the un-lockable and I'm ranked in the top 25% on the online multilayer. I have no life thanks to this game.



Talking Carl: This damn thing will entertain the piss out of you for a good hour. It's GREAT if you have little kids and/or babies that play with your smartphone. You can poke him, tickle him, make him yell, touch him inappropriately, and he repeats everything you say. This is strictly a time waster and you will waste so much time on it, as well as get some pretty funny looks if you play with him in public.




Discovery News: Thanks to my hatred of CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and most all other biased news centers, I tend to find my news online. I finally found myself downloading the Discovery News app, and it was one of the best apps I've ever downloaded. It actually covers news I care about (anything but politics, war, and deaths) and sends me push notifications when breaking news happens. I love it :D





Yelp: This app is amazing for finding...anything! You can find a place to fix your car, a restaurant, a bank, a gas station, and a good bar all within seconds. Theres tons of apps like this, but this one is the best one I've used. I suggest this app for just everyday use in general. You'll end up finding places in your town you never knew of!






So what are your favorite apps? Comment and let everyone know :)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Arizona Police "Brutality"

A few days ago a video surfaced on YouTube of officer Patrick Larrison shove a 15-year-old girl into a wall after she'd been in a drunken altercation with her mother in a strip mall parking lot.


If you read the comments on that article I just posted, theres a poster claiming they know the officer and the whole incident was a complete accident. But theres tons of holes in his reasoning, as well as the fact being: is it really ok even if it was all just an accident? But this is one of those 2 sided stories.

Story goes and I quote from a washing post article
"Sgt. Trent Crump said the girl’s school had called her mother and police because she was drunk and passing alcohol to other students. He said the girl was taken to the school’s office and that she pushed a male teacher and stormed out, causing her mother to follow her and try to hold her down until police arrived. The girl, who Crump said was uninjured, was charged in juvenile court with one count each of aggravated assault for pushing the teacher, domestic violence assault for punching her mother and threatening and intimidation for later telling the officers that she would kill them and their families."
It goes without saying this girl was shitty wasted and acting an ass. And theres no doubting that the girl would have started running when she saw the cop after her. Fact is though, she didn't run and wasn't resisting any kind of arrest when he started after her, slammed her, and forcefully picked her up. From the video you can see that he does collide with the girl and I'm not sure if it's with an intention to get her on the ground or just wrap his arms around her to catch her.

What is your opinion on this matter? Was he right in using even a little force, or was this all just too much and needed to be dealt with in a more civil manner?

New Mortal Kombat Soundtrack Music Review

To start things off, my girlfriend and I finally decided to listen to the new Mortal Kombat's Soundtrack and needless to say we were greatly pleased with what we heard, but were disappointed in a few songs.

Quite possibly one of the most hyped up games of the year, Mortal Kombat! If you're an old fan or not, this game is a must have according to most everyone who's even touched the case.


After I saw the original MK comercial with the Skrillex remix of Reptile's theme, I had very high expectations for this. And most of them were met, with the exception of a few.


Top 3 songs that blew us away


1) Skrillex - Reptile Theme ~ To start it off we'll begin with one that everyone has heard. It's the song their trying to sell the game with, and for good reason. It's a GREAT dubstep track from a great muscial prodigy. In typical Skrillex fashion, he made it dirty and mixed it perfectly. I'm typically the asshole that will criticize a song till it is no more, but with this song I can't help but say it's perfect. Even if you don't like dubstep, you can't help but get pumped when you hear this song. 

2) Run DMT - Baraka's Theme ~ THIS SONG GAVE MY EARS ORGASMS! I wasn't expecting Baraka to get a good theme but I decided to listen to this for pure shits and giggles, and I'm so glad I did. The drop in this song is so violent I had to replay it several times to make sure I heard it right. I honestly never hear this term used, but  this song is one of those in a small sub-genre I would call "Dark Dubstep" This song gives me chills! Its dark, it's violent, and slightly unsettling. Perfect for Baraka.


3) Bird Peterson - Goro's Theme ~ To be perfectly honest, I had never even heard of Bird Peterson before this song, but I really wish I had. This also was another fighter I wasn't expecting a great theme song from. It's an epic mix that caught me off guard. It has a very Halloween-y feel to it and I love it! It's a great track to just get up and start shuffling too (which I did) and a fun song to blast over your subs in your car.




Top 3 biggest disappointments

1) Harvard Bass - Helado (Sub-Zero's Theme) ~ Don't get me wrong it's a alright track, but I was expecting MUCH MORE for Sub Zero's theme. I mean he's one of those characters everyone uses. The song has a very chilling effect and it's good for Sub Zero, but there could have been so much more than a basic clap, house hi-hat, and bass hit with a slight oscillator in the background. It was just a big let down overall.

2) Sounds of Stereo - Shao Kahn's Theme ~ It doesn't get more basic than this song. Basic kick, basic hat, basic, basic, basic. I personally didn't like SoS to begin with, but come on guys, you had a chance to pull something awesome out of your ass, but instead you go in fruity loops and make this. And this was for Shao Khan! Thembodiment of evil!  WTF?! This doesn't do Shao any justice what so ever. Way to suck guys. This has to be the worst song on the soundtrack.
3) Them Jeans - Kano's Theme ~ This actually isn't a bad song. I quite enjoy it. But this was the song for Kano. Kano. The guy with the metal face and the laser and shit. I'll give it that it does have a very techy-feel which does match Kano. I just thought that the the leader of the Black Dragon organization would have a darker toned song. Even this version, has a fairly evil feeling behind it. Is it a bad song? No in the slightest. Could it had been done better? Way better.

Keep in mind theres still loads of great songs on this soundtrack. I just listed and reviewed those that caught my attention most. There's still Johnny Cage'sRaiden's (which...doesn't fit Raiden but does...you'll see what I mean), Mileena'sKung Lao's, Scorpion's (which was done by JFK of MSTRKRFT), and Liu Kang's, all of which are great mix's and fit their characters very well. I highly suggest checking out this soundtrack.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Nintendo 3DS = Virtual Boy 2.0?

After a 15 hour nap, passing out in the bathroom for 3 1/2 hours and just feeling like pure shit in general, I bring you my thoughts on the health factor on the Nintendo 3DS and its close ties with the Nintendo Virtual Boy. NOTE: There is no connection with my sickness and this subject as I am too poor to own a 3ds.

No doubt some people have/want the new Nintendo 3DS. But is it the better version of "Virtual Boy" just with better graphics but the same warning label?

Nintendo's first go at portable 3d system. Yes, they marketed this as portable.

Nintendo has a warning on the 3DS advising players to take a break every 30 minutes from the system, should stop playing if they feel ill, and advise against children under the age of 6 from playing it all together. Is this just crazy propaganda started by the same parents that started the "Nintendo thumb" and "Wii elbow" trying to get a reason for their kids to put down the game, or is there a legitimate concern here?

I personally believe that there should be some concern. Other than my theory that Nintendo is trying to take over the game market literally by brainwashing the players to help Nintendo take over the world on top of buy out any and all Nintendo merch out there, I do see what people are trying to say here.

Much like the biggest flop in Nintendo's history, the Virtual Boy, the 3D gaming can cause eye strain, headaches etc. more so and faster than 2D gaming. And much like everything ever made in the history of ever it effects some people more than others, and some people have no effects at all. Does this mean I feel like the system should be pulled off shelves? Nope. I do feel like parents need to know their children a bit better and know if they walk out of a 3D movie with a headache, the 3D feature on this system probably needs to be disabled. The difference between the 3DS and the Virtual Boy? Well if you're not old enough to know what the Virtual Boy is and how horrible it was, here is a quick glimpse into the past of "portable" 3D gaming:

Mario Tenis Virtual Boy 1996
MarioKart 3DS 2011











As you can clearly see Nintendo has made a lot of progress in this market. And thank god! But what bugs me is that both systems carried similar warning labels, and something SUPER FISHY (to me) was that the Nintendo 3DS was released 15 years to the month the Virtual Boy was discontinued. Is this just coincidence? Or is Nintendo elaborately planning something here?!

Whatever the case may be Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata says the Virtual Boy paved the way for the 3DS and I fully agree. Without Nintendo going through that horrific machine known as a Virtual Boy, chances are we wouldn't have this new shiny piece of awesome known as the 3DS, at least not for a few more years.

My only fear is whats next on the agenda of portable gaming? State your opinion in the comments. And for further reading, check out Kotaku's article on the subject!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

NationStates, The Game Where You Get To Be The Goverment!

Recently, a chat room that I go to frequently started playing "NationStates." It's a game where you run your own country. You can make it reflect your real views or just make your own third-world country!

My Nation tis of the, Sweet Land of Fries and Dildos...

Yes, that is my nation.

You can make your own currency, flag, nations animal, get real world issues that you can choose to solve, make worse, or just dismiss the issue all together (just like REAL CONGRESS! :D) You can follow other nations, endorse them, I believe go to war with them but I haven't found that button yet, you can elect delegates in your region, this game is literally Sims: Government.

My only complaint is that this game is INCREDIBLY slow paced. The makers really went that extra mile to make his game as much life real life as they could. The fastest option you can set your issues on is two issues a day.If that bores you they have the "World Assembly" where you can vote on what ever the issue is at the time (There's the General Assembly and the Security Council, both of which have an issue you can vote on) and when that gets boring, you have the forums. here is where you find those that take this game way to seriously, those who are having fun with it, and people that just want to stir up trouble.

Overall its a very interesting game. It is slow, yet I find my self checking my nation multiple times daily. I recommend this game if you are one of those that typically says "If I was in charge of this country..." its a great way to see what your actions would do if you did in fact have your own nation to run. I suggest at least checking it out and inviting your friends to play too. This way all those political arguments can stop and see which would actually be better for a country.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Temporary Fix and Bacon Wrapped Hotdogs with Homemade Onion Rings

Since I'm out of a laptop for the next few days/weeks me and my girlfriend decided to run to Micro Center and buy some power cords so we can have her computer. You might ask why we did this rather than buy a new charger. The part on my charger that broke is replaceable, but costs $50 and that was the cheapest I could find. The power cord for the desktop ran me 6 bucks. However if you guys could find a charger for a HP Pavillion DV6700 for super cheap, please link me in the comments! I saw some stuff on Amazon for 10 bucks but I wasn't sure.

My pockets and bank account right now




In other news, this is what my girlfriend made for dinner.



So fucking good!

Tits and weiners

Computer Charger Broke :(

Sorry guys but I'm going to be out of commission for a while. The charger to my laptop busted :( I hope that Ill replace it soon as I can as i can't update this from my phone that easy (which I'm posting from right now) please just stick around and check out my other blogs while I'm out :D

HAPPY STARS WARS DAY! And More PSN News

May the 4th be with you :D I hope everyone has a great Star Wars Day!


Now onto news.

Sony has already sent in a response after Congress asked them a few questions about the hack-attacks on PSN. At least they didn't put this off for a week.

PSN is kinda like this right now.

To read more, here is Sony's actual blog discussing it.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Stuffed BBQ Biscuits And Chocolate Cake That Isn't A Lie




Stuffed BBQ Biscuits
8 biscuits (I used whole wheat Grands)
1 lb of ground beef or turkey
half a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (I used corn/green beans/peas/carrots)
minced onion
barbecue sauce
grated cheese

Roll or flatten the biscuits out to about 1/2" thickness. Line muffin cups with them, going up and over the edges slightly. Brown and season the beef and onion. Add the frozen vegetables and cook for a few minutes, then add enough barbecue sauce to coat everything (usually about half the bottle.) Fill the biscuits with the meat/vegetable mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes, then top with cheese and bake until golden brown. You will probably have some leftover meat mixture, but it makes really good sloppy joes for lunch the next day.


Chocolate Cake

Betty Crocker cake mix with Pillsbury Funfetti frosting and sprinkles . :3

It's times like this where I realize what a great girlfriend I have :) I feel alseep earlier after my last post and I get to wake up to cake! I love her so much <3 and I thank her for being so awesome. :D I tend to forget to thank her as much as I should some times though, and I feel like the biggest asshole :( 

Obama Releases A Picture of Osama

President Obama released a picture of the face of terrors, Osama Bin Laden's well...face shortly after the fire fight that took place at Abbottabad in north-west Pakistan. Speaking as someone who has seen the picture (as well as all the fakes) it looks pretty legit (I compared and contrasted with a picture of him when he was alive, all facial features matched). The picture is very gruesome.



I highlighted the "above the left eye" because it's a very important aspect when looking at all the fakes out there. I have yet to see a fake that matched that description even slightly.


Now my question is, do you think it was right of Americans to drop in and shoot Osama unarmed as well as several people at his house (honestly, this is a major question going around)? And do you think he was buried in accordance with Islamic tradition or not? Do you think it honestly matters?

Update: Expect a verrry nom-worthy blog later on, I'm off to take a nap. Nighty night!

PSN "Welcome Back Bitches" Edit: US Congress Gets Involved


It seems with the relaunching of PSN, Sony is going to include a few freebies to go along with the service being back up. Sony's "Welcome Back" program will include a yet-to-be-determined "free play station entertainment content" (which I can only assume means game/s) and one free month of PlayStation Plus for users and newcomers to the network. 


I can't help but just look at Sony and lower my head in shame. Granted the "free entertainment content" will probably be decent, but one free month to already-users of PSN and newcomers? It seems more like a marketing ploy rather than a legit "Sorry we fucked up your shit" to me. I understand Sony is a big company and will do something like this, but come on. You won't even decide on what "entertainment content" your loyal customers that you fucked over will receive! Wtf Sony? 



Sony is going down a wrong path if they want to win back trust and ever be able to get PSN off the ground again. They've already fucked up a lot of the trust they had with their customers. 


This might just be me, but I just feel that Sony needs to get their head out of their ass and actually give a shit about the customers they just lost. What is your feeling on Sony's "Welcome Back" program?

Update: US Congress is now asking Sony about the attacks on PSN. And they want a reply by May 6th.


Sunburn and Spaghetti

This is my girlfriend's sunburn + sadface. Keep in mind she's normally whiter than the shirt she's wearing. It's pretty bad. She won't forget her sunscreen next time I'm sure. GIRLFRIEND SIDE NOTE: I would like to say that I am at LEAST two shades darker than the shirt I'm wearing. :3 Okay. Here's le boyfran again.


And being the awesome boyfriend I am, I made my girl some pasta with tomato cream sauce when she woke up. It was just wheat rotini pasta and Bertolli Rosa sauce, she didn't want me to blow up the kitchen. 


And too keep you readers more entertained, IGN had a readers choice on the 10 Most Hated Pokemon and I'm kinda upset by the line up. I like a few of the Pokemon on there...



Also Wired had a article on the things Sony can do to make up for the PSN hacks.


Also dancing Storm Troopers in Tokyo. Just one more reason why I wanted to live in Japan as a child.