THE GAUNTLET 2011

12 Players.  7 rounds.  13 Games. 
9 hours of straight videogame play. 
We call it THE GAUNTLET.

On Saturday, September 24^th, I hosted my first ever video game tournament.  The idea had floated around in my mind for over two years.  I wanted a competition that showcased more than just one game.  I also wanted a tournament that where when you lost you were not permanently eliminated.   

So I came up with something I call “double-plus elimination.”  It gets complicated, but in a nutshell:  There is a Hardcore tier, and a Casual tier.  The Hardcore tier is aimed at hardcore gamers, with race games, first person shooters, etc.  Meanwhile, the Casual tier is for your idle gamers - Wii games, original Nintendo, Guitar Hero, you know - the fun stuff.  Every round is a different game.

On top of the two tiers, there is a Wild Card queue.  If you lose in the hardcore games, you go into the queue.  Every round wild cards fill spaces in the casual tier, and casual tier winners fill wild card slots in the hardcore tier.  It’s a continual cycle, and players get to keep coming back until the bitter end!

11 people showed, so a few bi-games were needed to make it all work.  Ultimately, it went very well.  Players in the hardcore tier got to play Burnout: Revenge; Call of Duty: Black Ops, both regular and zombie modes; Soul Calibur IV; Unreal III;  and Motor Storm: Pacific Rift.

Casual gamers played Mario Kart; Boom Blox; Mario 3; Guitar Hero; Wii Tennis; and Ice Hockey.

For the final round, the Hardcore and Casual tier champions went head-to-head in a series of Little Big Planet 2 challenges for the win.

Gauntlet I

Winners

1^st Place - Tim S.             2^nd Place - Mike D.

3^rd Place - Jason R.          4^th Place - Chris E.

M.V.P.
I feel that an additional award should be given out, something akin to an MVP award for the most impressive performance throughout the entire tournament.  Here's why:

Hardcore Tier.  Round 4.  Soul Calibur IV

Tim vs. Jason

Soul Calibur is your typical fighter game, similar to Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat.  Now, Tim owns Mortal Kombat, and he played it extensively.  He does nothing but boast about his skill in the game.  For that very reason, Mortal Kombat was not allowed in the tournament.  Even so, whoever was match up against him in a fighter game was pretty well screwed.  That person happened to be Jason.

Tim was randomly given Maxi as he character to play, to which Tim cheered because it was the character he was the best at.  Poor Jason… Jason ended up with Cassandra, who looked like the girly version of Link.

Here’s how every fight went.  Tim beats the  hell out of Jason for ten seconds straight.  Jason manages to get one hit in, and then Tim goes back to pummeling him into the ground.  The only reason Jason one the first round (which, by the way, was funny as well), was because after being knocked down on the edge of the board, Tim decided to finish him off with an impressive airborne spin-kick.  Only he missed, and flipped off the edge of the board instead.

Somehow, Jason stayed tied with Tim all the way to the final battle.  3-3.



Final Round 

It was like watching that epic fight in a movie, where the hero is horribly outmatched.  Yet, in his last possible moment, he has a moment of clarity, the world slows around him, he centers himself, and then launches into an amazing display of prowess that his opponent is not ready for.

That is exactly what happened.  Tim decimated Jason until his chick slumped to the ground with at best two hits left.  Tim had a good half a bar to go.  But out of nowhere, Jason launched into a series of attacks that Tim was not prepared for.  By the time he was able to block, Tim had as much life left as Jason did.  A volley of strikes and parries ensued, until Jason at last managed to deal the final blow.

The entire room erupted in shouts from the intensity of the match.  Tim was so charged up from the fight that he shot up, threw the controller into the couch, and paced outside for the better part of twenty minutes before he cooled off.  As for Jason, mellow beyond belief, he simply shrugged and said “What?  It’s just a game.”

And for that, I award Jason R. with the unnamed award for most impressive display of video-gaming prowess.  Maybe I’ll buy a PS2 controller and spray-paint it gold for him.

Rise of the Fat Chance Heroes

“Doing good things, just maybe not very well.”

My rag tag band of friends needed a banner name for a charitable event we signed up for. The result was an impressive, yet unsupervised chain reaction. Naming ourselves quickly led to each participant creating their own hero name; then physical descriptions; and then powers and abilities. Now we’re looking into conceptual drawings, comic-esque short stories, team T-shirts, you name it.

Yet, a group identify also led to the idea that the Fat Chance Heroes should do more than just this one charitable event.

Click here to Meet the Heroes



Extra-Life  www.extra-life.org

As our first mission, the Fat Chance Heroes must endure 24 hours of straight video game playing. All the money raised towards this event goes to the Gillette Children’s Hospital in Saint Paul, MN.

When:October 22^nd, 8am - October 23^rd, 8am. Technically it’s the 15^th-16^th, however there was a group scheduling issue for that weekend.

Donate: Support the Fat Chance Heroes

Polar Plunge 2012

The Heroes will jump into a frozen Minnesotan lake in the dead of winter on behalf of the Minnesota Special Olympics. More information to come once they are registered for the event.

New Stuff !!

I typed 'New Stuff' into a photo search.  I got this guy.

Consider this as a heads up!  As I mentioned before, I’m constantly making changes to the JonnyD Weekly.  Here are some of the up and coming ones:


Whole New Layout!

Does anyone remember what the JonnyD Weekly looked like when it first started?  I don’t either.  And in a little bit this blue-scale background you’re looking at it is going to change even more.  We’re talking:

          Lively color schemes;
          New banners;
          Updated profile; and
          Stand alone pages, like “About the page” and “Contact JonnyD”


Whole New Content!

It has always been my intention to use this blog as more than what I have been.  I am finally set up where I’m at the point I can begin introducing new material.  Random, playful posts are a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong; but I do wish to add some heavier material, as well as some original short stories.

So, look forward to that in the near future.  I hope you enjoy it! 

Moby Dick

You won’t usually get a book report out of me because 1) I don’t read that fast, and 2) I don’t find reports to be all that interesting myself.  But when the book in question is Moby Dick, a certain amount of acknowledgement is in order.

I started the book on February 28th.  I finished it September 10th.  What’s that?  Six and a half months?  Sounds right.  6.5 months to read 650 pages.  I guess that’s not too bad…

For anyone who’s debating reading the book, consider this your warning.  Naturally, being written in 1851, it has that ye old language style that nigh use nowadays.  At first you’d swear it’s an entirely different language.

Now, I’m a person who is dedicated to the idea that you read EVERY, SINGLE, WORD.  The author wrote it that way, and to honor and respect him, I feel I should read it that way.  But that’s hard when the sentences go on, and on, and on, for half a page apiece. 

And he’s a point repeater; he says the thing over and over, but a different way each time - like he’ll beat around the bush to deliver a point, expounding with all sorts of prepositions, statements that sound like unripe tangents, which in turn all have their own pile of baggage, just to say what he’s getting at.  And then he keeps going.  It doesn’t stop.  Its like he has to explain it from so many different angles so that you fully and entirely get the point.  I understood just fine the first time, but no, he has to…
Great, now I’m doing it!  Thanks a lot Melville :-(

Don’t get me wrong - it is an exceptional book, and I am proud of myself for having read it.  It does exactly what it intends to do.  It is a novel, but it also a documentary on the art of whaling in the 1800s.  The chapters on whaling are extremely informative, and fascinating; but at the same time underwhelming.  They take a lot away from the action. 

The story itself is compelling.  It never occurred to me that you would discover a humane and sympathetic side to Ahab. Of course we all know that Captain Ahab self-destructive mission for revenge is going to lead to his ultimate demise, but going into the novel, I didn’t know how that was going to play out exactly?  What happens to him?  I assumed he died.  And what about the whale?  Do they kill each other?  Does Moby Dick get away?  Even into the last ten pages, I didn’t know.

And let me tell you, those last ten page are intense, and raw even for our time.

500 Club

Holy crap!  The JonnyD Weekly has had over 500 visits!  And that’s all thanks to you guys.


You!

In case you don’t know who you are, and because I’m a junky for statistics, let me tell you that:

There’s a 14% chance that you’re not from the United States.  You might be from Germany, Canada, India, United Kingdom, China, France, Moldova (look it up.  I had trouble finding it), Australia, Laos, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, or Denmark

10% chance you’re probably just me doing page maintenance.

25%  of you guys are using a mobile device to read this.

Some people have found the blog while searching for other things.  My favorites are:
     “Stay puft marshmallow man”
     “Evil marshmallow guy”
     “Agony over you”
     “Evil crazy guy in straight jacket”
     “And then my friend Chris”

The longest stretch of activity was 30 days.

The most visits in any one day was 26 on August 2nd.  That is thanks to the release of A Little Bit of Muscle, by Stranger Things Studios.

Speaking of which…  Between its two movies, Stanger Things Studios has had over 175 views on YouTube!  YouTube has its own mess of stats that I’m not going to bother getting into. 

I will say though that A Little Bit of Muscle has been banned in Germany!  Due to copyright laws - probably the unauthorized usage of the song “American Woman.”  Sorry, German fans.

Plug!

Again, thank you all so much for visiting the JonnyD Weekly, be it your first time (“Hello!”) or a regular thing for you (“Hey, welcome back!  Good to see you”).  First starting out, I thought doing this was a silly idea until I caught one of my brother’s reading my latest post during a birthday party.  It always amazes me to find out who’s reading. 

If you want to help out, the biggest thing you can do is to be sure to tell your friends! 

Or, if you have a Google account, you click the “like” button at the bottom of the posts. 

(<< Looks like this) 

As YouTube personality Phillip Defranco would say “Not only does it help out the show, but it let’s me know you care!”

Also, if you have a Google account, you can become a follower by clicking the “Join this site” button near the top right of the page. 

If not, you can subscribe to the newsletter!  You don’t even have to visit the page.  Just enter your email address, and whenever the new post comes out, you’ll get an e-mail with the whole story right there!  If you change your mind later, it’s really easy to unsubscribe.  I know;  I signed up to see what it looks like.  Just click the unsubscribe at the bottom of the e-mail, no harm done.



Bigger. Better.
I am constantly thinking of ways to improve the page - everything from layout, to color scheme, length of the articles, etc.  I’ve tossed a bunch of quick links and blurbs along the right side of the page.  Go ahead and check them out.  If you have any feedback, I’d love to here it.

Also, I now own the domain name www.jonnydweekly.com.  Much easier to remember, and far easier to tell your friends.

www.JonnyDWeekly.com

Type it in, and you’ll end up here!

KABOOM!

Getting blow up by a bomb sucks.  It’s never happened to me personally, but I’m sure that if it did, it would. 

Let’s say it’s the end of your work day.  You’re on your way out to your car - you’re tired; your crabby; work sucked; it always sucks - when, oh look, there’s low flying plane headed way you.  Then, when its almost directly overhead, a massive object that can only be a bomb detaches from its underbelly.

Well, that sucks.

What do you do?  Any Public Service Announcement will tell you “A bomb!  Duck and Cover.”

Wrong.  If you’re in the middle of a field that’s very shortly going to be a massive crater, swatting down in the grass isn’t going to do dick shit for you.  And what a way to go.  Bomb hits, shockwave goes out, and your body incinerates instantly in a stance you only find yourself in when you can’t wait until the next rest stop to go to the bathroom.

I figure the moment you see that chunk of metal dropping from the sky, the rest of your day is pretty well planned out for you.  However, you probably have a good ten seconds beforehand. 

Strangely, I see this as a blessing.  Think about it.  If a doctor told me that I only have 18 days left to live, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.  How much time do I really have left?  On what day am I no longer able to function?  I probably only have 14 days of quality living remaining.  What do I do with 14 days?  Knowing me, I probably would spend the first few days trying to figure it out; the last few meditating on whether or not I spent my time wisely; and the days in between not really enjoying myself, and for obvious reasons.

Ten seconds on the other hand - a lot less thinking.  A lot more doing.

In this situation, its better to have a game plan long before you leave work.  You know, just in case.  Near as I can tell, you only have one of three options:

Option #1 - Stand where you, and scream.  I’m sure most people would do this.  It’s unfortunate to pee yourself standing up, but in the heat of the moment, it probably feels like the right thing to do.  On the bright side, you’d get to witness first hand what a shockwave of flame and debris looks like.  Ooooo pretty…

Option #2 - Run towards it.  A popular choice among fatalists, realists, pessimists, or people who just had a bad day.  Just get it over with.  You don’t really want to survive something like that anyways.  Think of the radiation poisoning, the permanent injuries, potential paralysis or dismemberment, fourth-degree burns, the medical bills.  I yi yi!  Besides, as Dennis Hopper would tell you, “In a mess like that, they don’t even count body parts... They’re going to be cleaning your friend up with a sponge.”

Option #3 - Run! The PSA will tell you to duck and cover - hide.  Not me.  I’d rather be proactive; take my fate in my own hands; feel like John McClane for a brief moment in my life.  Imagine the rush you’d get booking it as fast as you can, hurtling the hood of cars as an inferno rides in your wake.  If you’re going to die anyways, you might as well go out with a bang - live free or die hard I say!

I’d like to think that in that moment I would turn out to be my own personal hero.  Sadly, I’d probably just stand there screaming, or swatting, or both.

What would you do?

Monthly Scoop: September 2011

I have become acutely aware of the fact that even though I get up the same time every day for work, the sun now thinks it can sleep in longer than me.  It’s starting to mess with my psyche.  The little primal critter in me knows that it can mean only one thing:  its September.  Fall is only three weeks away.  No, its not time to start reigning in your nuts for the season, but its definitely time to start thinking about it. 


But first, there is another matter to attend to.  Remember my August bucket? (No? hmm… Click Here)

Now that we’re all up to speed, let’s continue.  Remember that bucket list of mine?  Yeah… that bucket’s nowhere near empty.  For one, there’s still a massive Sperm Whale in there.  I know.  I know.  I’ve been reading Moby Dick since what…March?  Yeah, that sounds right. 

Don’t judge me!  Have you ever read Moby Dick?  No?  I didn’t think so.  So shut up! 

How about you?  Yes, you have?  How long did it take you?... oh… well you can shut up, too I guess.

- Sigh -

Sorry to be so crass about the topic ;-)  I’m almost done with the book, though.  Less than 80 pages to go!

Moving on.  Don’t let the bucket fool you.  I’ve actually cleared out a good deal of it, such as:

I beat The Darkness.  Again, if you haven’t heard the story about how the PS3 game scared the crap out of me and how I could only play it during the day with someone home, you might want to read about it and get a good laugh at my expense. (Read the blog)

The war between myself at the 105” tree trunk in my backyard wages on.  The last skirmish ended with one side suffering a twisted wrist and three massive blisters; while the other side endured the dismemberment of seven of its roots, the largest being the size of my thigh.

Probably the best moment of August was Taylor Falls.  I love canoeing.  It has to be, especially in the early morning, one of the most serene things to be doing.  Two years ago, coworker of mine told me about a place in Taylor Falls where you can rent a canoe, and make your way miles down the docile waters of the St. Croix river.  They will pick you up and drive you back to your car.  How awesome is that?!  So last Saturday Tonya and I drove up there and got out on the water.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The weather was perfect.  If you’ve never done it, you should.  I want to go back so badly already.


There was something regarding a custom deck of cards that happen in August, but that is a story for later this month :-) 


The Buffalo Wild Wing’s “Blazing Hot Wing Challenge,” did not happen.  12 wings, 6 minutes, covered in their hottest sauce.  Tell him what they win Jonny!  Nothing!  Absolutely nothing.  Is the meal on the house like every other place offering a eating challenge?  No.  Do I get a souvenir?  Yes! you get a shirt;  but you have to buy it first…

No thanks.  I’ll pass. 

We had a good run last month, but with fall on its way, its time to get my nuts in a row.  For example, I have two movie ideas for Stranger Things Studios that I’m idly mulling around.  I may start in on them.  I may not. 

In all honesty, there are other aspects of my life that I feel I need to attend to.  For that reason, I may be backing off a bit from the JonnyD Weekly.  Never fear, there will still be weekly posts.  There just may not be the two or three a week that there has been. 

I have been putting a lot of thought into my writing lately.  I feel it’s time to get back into it.  I have a finished novel sitting on my desk, after all.  However, there is a lot to do before I feel I’d be in a position to get Temporaltorium out on the market again.

And then there’s the video game tournament… The Gauntlet is on its way!