Hello, Komodo [National Zoo]

Called in slick to work on Monday and headed down to Woodley Park for a visit to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, the best zoo this side of the Mississippi. (That's an arbitrary point; merely vs. the San Diego Zoo, natch.)


It was a very warm day, something of which I am not so fond, and the pollen count was high, and I was nigh constantly assailed with fits of violent sneezing, but despite climate and plant sex, I was able to have a very enjoyable time viewing fauna.

Of note, we saw Tian Tian, the adult male Giant Panda. I was fortunate to have seen Mei Xiang and Tai Shan playing outside last time through, and had to settle for seeing Dad lazily sprawled inside the Panda house. Would have very much liked to have seen TS again, but c'est la vie. Hopefully we'll reconvene before he returns home.


Being a big octopod fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the Invertebrate house. Had a stare down with an aggressive cuttlefish. Sensing my sinister nature he presented an imposing facade to frighten me off, to no avail. Also a Maryland Blue Crab (W00t!) seemed to fancy Big Sis Prinny, and put on an elaborate show any time she was within eyeshot of his tank. I postulated he had been conditioned to call attention to a "Save the Bay" placard that had since been removed.

We also had some great time with a Komodo Dragon (pictured above) that seemed to relish the company. Some excellent shots of him, def.

Oh, and due to what was described to me as an unfortunate incident, the National Zoo no longer serves alcohol. Boo-urns.

Good One, Bob [Show Biz Humor]

Humorous exchange at work. Was chatting with my favorite lighting vendor about our current event with the notoriously nitpicky Opera.

KIL:	So, how'd you get roped into this gig?
BOB:	The check cleared.

And All That [Jazz Apples]

I just had to know!, so I Wiki'd it.

The Jazz apples, with which I have become so enamored lately, come from New Zealand like so many other trendy imports. Apparently they are a cross of Gala and Braeburns, also both from NZ, though neither one nearly as remarkable as teh Jazz.

I've been smitten (and they've been bitten) since the shiny skins caught my eye. Hella tasty if you roll that way. (You know, if you get down with fruit.)

In summation, omg, so fucking good.

Oh Yeah [Madcatz SFIV Fightstick SE Fix]

Oh yeah, I beat Gief Hard Trial 5 using my HORI FS3. Left input went out on the Madcatz SE just prior to this momentous occasion. Motherfucker.

Zan-Glee [SFIV Technical]

Boo-yah. Gief Hard Trial 5 SUCCESS.

Fucking Finery for real this time. Christ, it only took me thirteen days.

What the hell. Gief, your image just made Killa Blog.

Major Surgery [Addendum]

Oh yeah, Fightstick definitely *is* fight-worthy.

Zangief hot streak. > 2400 BP

Major Surgery [Madcatz SFIV Fightstick SE Fix]

So, I haven't fought with it since I completed the procedure yesterday, but I believe it'll work.

Rewind. Okay, I ordered the Madcatz SFIV Fightstick Standard Edition a few weeks before SFIV's release and got it towards the end of February. Lego and I had been feverishly competing in Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the MAME cabinet, and I reckoned it would be fitting to have two joysticks for the PS3 for the new release. Unfortunately the Tournament Edition stick had already sold out everywhere.

No real problems initially with the stick, though occasionally it would momentarily stick in a diagonal, but I figured it would loosen up with use. It actually got worse. I also had an issue with the R2 (third button of the second row) being intermittently non-responsive.

Did some searching online and learned I was not the only person out there with a joystick issue. For some reason, in the manufacturing process, Madcatz did not glue down a metal washer on the underside of the joystick. When loose, it will cause the joystick to stick in a direction, and prolonged rubbing while loose can actually damage the printed circuit board that transmits signals from the directional microswitches to the wiring terminal. I ignored the sticking for awhile, but it eventually stopped registering Left inputs and it was quickly time to take action.

I weighed the pros and cons of voiding the warranty and working on it myself, but faced with being down a stick for the foreseeable future, AND seeing the upside of failing the repair and replacing the joystick entirely (an enticing proposition) I popped it open and went to work. The only mishap was a sheared panhead screw that, as it turns out, didn't even need to be removed. Oh well.

First attempt to glue down the washer was unsuccessful, but a renewed effort using my traditional workspace was successful. The washer stayed put, and the joystick was no worse for wear. Reinstalled, and tested, to determine the stick was now fine, but the loose washer had damaged the PCB. A little testing and retracing with a mechanical pencil, and I was back in business. Also swapped R2 for L2 (which worked fine). I never use L2 (KKK) so I didn't really care how it reacted. These "light action" pushbuttons featured a bearing and spring mechanism; much more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill alternatives we used on the Cabinet.

Everything (save the rubber feet) is back in order, and I plan to put it through some rigorous testing next I have some time at home to devote. Fingers crossed, yo.

Oh, and many thanks to this article for all the info and images.

Zan-Grief [SFIV Technical]

Zangief Hard Trial 2 DONE. Fucking Finery.

Wow, who knew it could be so trying to just:

Flying Body Attck,
cr.Light Kick,
Double Lariat,
EX Focus Cancel,
EX Banishing Flat

which inputs as

uf, d+HP, d+LK, PPP xx (MP+MK), b, b, f, d, df+PP

Y'know?

Iced that, and then knocked out Trials 3 and 4. Only thing left is

Double Knee Drop,
cr.Light Kick,
cr.Light Kick,
cr.Light Kick,
cr.Light Kick,
EX Banishing Flat

Piece of cake, right?

Motherfucker.

KIL vs. Big Phuh [SFIV Competition]

So finally got into a player match with HC13's big bro, who, for lack of originality, I will call Big Phuh.

To cut to the chase, I did well. I won every match I played as Zangief or Balrog (Boxer). Big Phuh has a fondness for shotos, and I fight more of them online than anything else, so I'm pretty accustomed to countering their tactics. Gief and Mike Bison both have excellent anti-projectile games, which proved very useful.

I didn't jot down specifics, so bear with me. Can't recall the first match too well, but I'll guess it was Akuma vs. Balrog, and I managed to throw him off by TAP'ing his hadoukens, spamming jabs and catching his back jumps with fierce headbutts.

Second match was an interesting one, only in terms of applied strategy. Phuh selected Seth, and Zangief was my natural counter. I've mentioned Gief's vertical jump headbutt (the one that does a ridonk amount of stun damage, enough to dizzy Akuma or Sakura in merely two consecutive attacks.) Well, I was aware that Seth's impressive moveset was balanced for competitive play in a manner similar to Akuma's: an extremely low health coefficient and pitiful stun resistance. First round started with the vertical headbutt to counter Phuh's jump-in, which turns out is enough to dizzy Seth in one hit(!). A walk up fierce SPD follow up, and Phuh was already at half health. He caught me with his Ultra on wakeup, but he was already fighting an uphill battle. Second round started exactly the same as the first and ended in a similar fashion.

I believe I played Ryu vs. Zangief after that wherein I took advantage of my familiarity with Ryu. More than a couple times I was able to jump over an incoming Shinku Hadouken (or whatever the Ultra version is called) and land with an UAB to end the round. You have to be pretty familiar with Gief to avoid his cross-up special throw games, and I wasn't surprised I had a lot of success with it. After a few setups, I just walk up and bait the wakeup Shoryuken, block it, and catch the descending shoto with another SPD.

I experienced a string of losses when I strayed from my mains. Phuh's Sakura handily defeated my Fuerte in a very fun match. His Ryu absolutely violated my Akuma, and my Guile couldn't pin down his Ken. Returned to the Red Cyclone for a couple more matches and kept up the consistent record.

Definitely trying to avoid any dickish gloating here, by the way, just trying to be factual. Phuh definitely had a solid style, and I had the advantage of having played the game longer, and, again, I have a lot of experience against Ryus. I don't see a ton of Zangief's out there, and his powerful throws can put you in a tight spot fast if you're not expecting the setups. Oh, and my Balrog is straight wicked. Lego can't even touch him. Found that instead of trying to master the kara Roundhouse I just pick Balrog and fucking punish.

Been having a strong run online lately, having peaked at over 2100 BP last night before dropping a little. Hopefully Big Phuh will be energized for a rematch soon.

Kara Bitchslap [SFIV Technical]

Thanks, Renegade, for this bad ass post on the SRK SFIV Zangief forum.

Turns out the Red Cyclone has a kara!

Kara effectively meaning "empty" in Japanese. I was first introduced to kara cancels in Third Strike, wherein the animation of a command attack (say Akuma's f+mp) can be quickly cancelled into his throw, increasing the throw's range. Why, it's even possible at extreme levels of technical proficiency to execute a "kara demon", or a kara cancel into the Shun Goku Satsu.

Anyways, apparently there are a few handy kara throws in SFIV (Ken, I've learned) but this Renegade fellow has enlightened me to the fact that Zangief's standing Roundhouse, which I previously praised for it's ability to move forward under Zanku Hadokens, can be cancelled within the first two frames into EX Banishing Flat to punish blocked Rolling Attacks (both horizontal and Backstep) from an opposing Blanka.

To simplify (?):

Blanka Rolling Attack blocked;
Zangief (reversal) s.Roundhouse xx EX Banishing Flat

So glad to hear, as the Blanka matchup is a real pain for Zangief. Electricity shuts down a lot of options in this pairing, so any way to inflict damage is a boost.

Can't wait to give it a shot.

Eagle Vs. Akita [Zoology]

Had the fortune to meet with two animals today. A bald eagle, and an Akita puppy. Vastly preferred interacting with the canine.

Now, I know I'm known for my penchant for advanced predators (maybe not so much), but I'm not a big fan of avians. Sure, that relatively gianormous hypothalamus and its complex vector calculations are cool. So is that mile+ vision. But birds have no zest! No anima! Nada excitamente. No thoughts behind those twitchy eyes. They are much less evolved than virtually all mammals. Especially dogs.

And especially the Akita, renowned as one of the most loyal breeds, specifically due to one famous specimen. Dogs are genetically closer to humans, and their behavioral and morphological evolution has been driven and directed by their symbiosis with early man.

That puppy was super cute-ums!



...But I bet that eagle would be delicious.

WANTED [Lost Puma Fixation]

So, if you know me, and you probably wouldn't be here if you didn't, you know I am missing something that was very dear to me.


You may notice something very wrong with that image. Yeah, fucking 'cause I'm not inside that soft, versatile garment.

If you can find me this hoodie, anywhere, in the proper size (L) and color (Blizzack, Entwistle!), you will be generously rewarded. I would especially like to challenge you out there that make a habit out of hunting down hard-to-find items through the internet. *cough*HC13*cough*

Any help is appreciated! I'm fucking desperate! Thank you.