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https://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl Mario Kart >> Super Mario Kart >> ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories https://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1553202819 Message started by eoJ on 03/21/19 at 13:13:39 |
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Title: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by eoJ on 03/21/19 at 13:13:39 This was one of the longest and biggest secrets I've ever had to keep that I can remember in a very long time. For those who are unaware, Clark and I made arrangements to essentially re-enact the long road trip that was featured in the 1994 comedy classic "Dumb and Dumber," where Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels drive from Providence, Rhode Island all the way to Aspen, Colorado. I happen to live in Denver, Colorado and I threw the option over to Clark that -- if he really, really wanted to -- he could fly in from England to our place and we could share the experience together and make the voyage to Louisiana a trip of a lifetime. Clark found cheap flights to Denver basically the very next day, and our trip was set. I made this quick Excel sheet as an itinerary of sorts: http://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450415105268776962/535387412185088020/unknown.png A little afterward, Guillaume caught wind of our Western US road trip idea and expressed to me that he also wished to see the United States by car at some point in his life, so I gladly offered him the last remaining seat in our little Honda Civic as soon as possible. He also wished to keep it a secret that he would be attending the meet, just so that other CDM ("Championnat du Monde (SMK World Championships)) veterans like Sami and Karel would think that nobody from France would be competing. Clark and I went along with the ruse for almost a full two months. I warned the two of them (through both discord private messages and several Karthritis episodes (for Clark at least)) that this specific area of the United States is "filled" with... well... absolutely nothing... and not to expect much from a tourist standpoint for hours and hours and hours and hours... I believe my exact words were something like: "Yeah, where I live is absolutely beautiful, but after you get outside of Colorado, there's going to be nothing for the next 10 hours." [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK8dckqyfJg&t=1545s[/media] Not looking for reassurance here, but I think the Europeans will agree that I was pretty spot-on with my assessment. [smiley=thumbsup.gif] But, before we go any further, let's back track a tad (a tad?! A tad, Lloyd?!). http://https://i.gifer.com/GRx.gif Clark was set to arrive at the Denver Airport at 4:18 p.m., Guillaume at 7:06 p.m., on Wednesday, March 13th. The weather on Tuesday (the day before) was absolutely gorgeous while I prepped our car for the long haul, cleaning the headlights with an abrasive liquid in order to get the most out of them (they had been in dire need for far too long), and I remember wearing shorts and a t-shirt just thankful that the weather was going to be great for the start of our journey. I go to trivia that night with Vanessa (referred to as "Nes" from this point forward) and my buddy Kevin, who informed me that he had heard about an absolutely massive impending storm due to hit the Denver area the very next day. I quipped "Well, that's just fuckin' perfect. I have to pick up two Europeans from the airport tomorrow..." http://https://media.9news.com/assets/KUSA/images/548c78f2-3dea-48d2-8f9f-5f88630b356a/548c78f2-3dea-48d2-8f9f-5f88630b356a_750x422.jpg I inform both Clark and Guillaume as soon as I get back from trivia about the storm through discord messages (as if there was anything that they could do about it), but I warned that they might get delayed or diverted or cancelled altogether; I really didn't know. Guillaume was flying into Seattle and had a connecting flight from Seattle to Denver, so I was almost positive that his flight wasn't leaving the ground that day. Clark's flight, however, is a much different story. I had been watching the flight tracker online throughout the day and I couldn't believe that it was still on track to land at the Denver airport despite my best instincts telling me that there was absolutely no way a pilot was going to fly through what I now know is called a "bomb cyclone." At 2 p.m (an hour before I was going to leave to pick him up), his flight was shockingly still en route to Denver from Southern Canada/Northern Montana, albeit they updated his time of arrival from 4:18 to 4:54 p.m. Waiting until essentially the last minute, I put on my coat at 3 p.m. and I set out to pick up Clark at Denver International. The trip usually takes 40-45 minutes on a good day, so I gave myself two hours to get to the airport, not knowing what the conditions were going to be like in the least... As a native Chicagoan I'm no stranger to snow and its effects on vehicles, so I was pretty confident that I'd make it to the airport with enough time to pick up a jet-lagged Clark, all the while knowing that Guillaume was staying in Seattle for the night. The day already started off 0 for 1 on European arrivals, and I would be damned if the reason why I couldn't pick up my good friend at the airport was my fault at all, so I was never going to let anything stop me. To put it simply, I wasn't really prepared for what was to come. Visibility? 1/10. Traction? 4/10. Average MPH? 12/65 mph. Times I got stuck and had to be pushed by a good samaritan with a larger vehicle behind me? 1/10 potential times that I lost control and just swerved back and forth until I forged a groove of my own. I saw so many cars in ditches and hazard lights flashing on the side of the road, but I had to keep momentum in order to not get stuck myself. I saw a bus get jack-knifed by a Mazda, but I blew around them at a steady 10 mph while they assessed the damage. I re-enacted my own Elaine Benes moment when she recounted her story of getting that jackass back to JFK airport, all to have him miss his flight and stay another day at her place, much to her chagrin. http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S8AS_tisvQI/hqdefault.jpg Somehow, some way, I ended up at the Arrivals/Departures split at 5:00 pm, a mere 6 minutes later than Clark's scheduled arrival time, but arrivals was 100% closed due to 4 foot tall mountains of snow from previous plows. Donc, I was forced into departures, where I got out of my car during 70 mph winds of snow and called Nes for an update. Nes: "Well, it looks like it's still supposed to get there very soon according to the flight tracker." Me (standing there, absolutely stunned): "Are you serious? You should see the shit that I'm in." Nes: "Yeah, it's supposed to... oh wait... he's in Las Vegas. Looks like they updated the flight to McCarren Airport and he landed there at 4:54." Me: "So, he's been diverted?" Nes: "Yeah. They diverted or cancelled every flight in and out of Denver today." Me: "...... (silence)...... I'm completely fucked, aren't i?" Nes: "Looks like it." Me: "Well, I have to race against daylight now. If the sun goes down then I won't be able to see absolutely anything and I'll be stranded on the side of the road until tomorrow. I have to go right now." 0/2 on European arrivals in Denver, March 13th, 2019. I get back in my car and I head for the only road out of the airport: Peña Boulevard. There are other cars who were in my same predicament, so as long as I followed in their tracks I should be okay. Just keep the line moving and there's nothing to worry about. I wasn't happy when I found out that Denver police closed Peña out of the airport in order to allow plows to clear the road. This would have been fine on normal roads, but Peña is 10 fucking miles long and it's the only way to get back to the highway. So I'm screaming at the police for being inadequate in their preparation for this storm as if it's their fault... Two. Hours. Pass. http://www.instagram.com/p/Bu-pUkEljRT/ http://https://i.imgur.com/61U3nJB.jpg?3 I'm still in the same exact place I was before. Nes -- being the saint that she is -- was on the phone with me the whole time while I was sitting in a parked car with the engine turned off. Everyone around me succumbed to the same fate, and some even got outside and started to chat with one another. Those people are lunatics, so I locked my doors and just laid back until I could see that people in front of me started to move again. Thankfully the sun was still out and the roads were nicely plowed all the way back to i70, and I made it home at 8 p.m, five hours after leaving my house to pick up Clark at three in the afternoon. I then proceeded to watch the Blackhawks go up 5-0 on the Toronto Maple Leafs, only to have them barely squeak by with a 5-4 win. Hockey, man... Clark spent the night at a hotel in Las Vegas where he was fully taken care of by British Airways, but the same cannot be said for poor Guillaume, who was left to himself to find a hotel for the night. Clark had received a new ticket to Denver that would arrive at 3 p.m. with no trouble at all from the airline. Guillaume, however, got to the airport in Seattle around 5 am in order to get himself on the next plane to Denver, just to have him be told that he was 8th in line for standby tickets, and that his luck would be very slim making it to Denver at all that day. We begin to message each other throughout the day with updates: He missed the first flight at 10 a.m., the next, then the next, then the next one after that... but he told me that when I go to pick up Clark I should be on the lookout for his luggage which was put on a plane before he was able to secure a seat on a later flight (I wasn't sure if that was possible, but I honored his wish). So, there I am at Denver International, just walking off the street into Baggage Claim 1 looking around for a bag that doesn't belong to me in an absolute SEA of luggage that no one was claiming. There must have been 400-500 bags... I tell Clark (who had just exited his plane) to meet me in that area. http://https://i.imgur.com/uNcWSti.jpg?1 He sees me awkwardly sifting through other people's luggage, and we hug a good long hug knowing what each other had already been through up until this point. I explain just what the hell I'm doing, but during all this I receive a phone call. It's the legend himself: Dave motherfucking Smith. He wished us a good trip and I explain in short detail what had already happened, but he apologized for not being able to make the journey to Louisiana and hoped that I would call him later so he could speak to other karters at the event. I, of course, obliged. Clark tells me through his expertise that luggage doesn't leave the airport unless the traveler has a seat on a plane, so we end up leaving the airport and going back to my place, sans Guillaume's luggage. Meanwhile, Guillaume is still in Seattle pleading to be put on the next flight to Denver, but everyone else has the same idea and he simply has to wait until people cancel. Eventually he makes it onto one of the last flights out of Seattle and he's in business. We make it to the airport again at 8:00 p.m., I pull up to a person waiting outside who looks an awful lot like him and I roll down my window. "Are you French?" I yell. Nameless guy: "Nope, sorry!" "Damn, okay, thanks!" and I drive off. We circle around again and I decide to go back into baggage claim and just wait there until I see Guillaume. Much to my surprise, I find his luggage at the exact place I was standing 5 hours earlier, but Guillaume is nowhere to be found. http://https://i.imgur.com/VgsGY94.jpg?1 I wait there for a good long while, deciding whether or not to "steal" his luggage like I was supposed to earlier. Anyway, I send him a picture of both his luggage and my hat so that he could easily find me once he makes his way to baggage claim. The sigh of relief that we both shared after we made eye contact will live on in my memory forever, as it had been quite the experience up until this point. We hug and laugh and decide to get the fuck out of the airport as quickly as possible, so I gather both Guillaume and his luggage nearer to 8:45 and we're back on the road toward my place. Everyone is now in Denver (Clark had stayed back and took a quick nap while we went to pick up the final remaining Euro), so we drink ourselves a little drink before going to bed around 12:30 a.m. Estimated time for departure to Granbury, Texas was initially supposed to be 8 a.m Thursday morning but that has been officially delayed by a full day to Friday morning; everyone mentioned in this story has already had a pretty rough 48 hours. http://y.yarn.co/73de49df-fd69-4a3f-977b-b1618e729e84_text.gif Everyone slept as late as they could, knowing that we have 15 hours in a car to look forward to, and sleeping in a small Honda Civic is next to impossible. We left around 8:30 a.m. and drove south on i25 for 3 or 4 hours until the New Mexico border, where the landscape remained beautiful up until we hit the border of the panhandle of Texas, where things quickly went sour. Guillaume snapped a bunch of pictures of the Colorado/New Mexico horizon, and for a little while there he and Clark were absolutely stunned at the vast nothingness that upper west Texas has to offer. That sentiment quickly faded the deeper we got into our trip. http://i.imgur.com/D3juXQp.jpg Fast forwarding quite a bit, the "luxuriousness" of the Texas open road sucks, especially when you're driving 80 mph and can't do anything besides count the minutes and miles ticking by ever so slowly. Clark and Guillaume napped for a couple hours while we were making our way to the suburbs of Fort Worth, and we got into my parents' complex (Pecan Plantation) around 11:45 p.m. Because we lost a full day due to the weather, this means that we had to make it to Louisiana before 11 a.m. the very next morning, and that drive is an easy 6 hours. We have a quick drink at my parents' before getting to bed around 1:30 a.m., and our scheduled time of departure that same morning was 5:00. We hit the road at 5:15... http://https://media.giphy.com/media/sKShUHpP7ZJ9S/giphy.gif We tell Matt that we're on the road toward the venue and should be arriving shortly after 10:30 a.m., and he assures us that they wouldn't start the event until we're all there (thank God for that, otherwise we'd have been in some trouble). We arrive around 10:45 a.m. to sign in and quickly say hello to everyone that had heard about our disaster beginning. Sami, Leyla, Karel, Eric, Matt, Kyle, et al shook our hands and hugged us as we breathed another big sigh of relief. We had finally made it to the event, and the stories we all had to tell were only beginning. _______________________________________________________________________________ I will continue with part two at a later time. It feels like I've been driving non-stop for the last week, and typing this all out (let alone reading it) will take some more time as I allow for my brain to fully heal. Thanks to everyone who made the first half of this story something I'll absolutely never forget for the rest of my life. These are what road trips in the United States are made of, and we couldn't have made it without the help of everyone involved. I owe you guys several hundred beers. [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by eoJ on 03/21/19 at 17:34:39 I don't know how many times in your life that you're able to witness truly touching moments, but when Karel saw Guillaume walk through the doors of the venue it looked like he was seeing his long lost brother for the first time in years. They also hugged and laughed about having to keep Guillaume's presence a secret for such a long time for that moment to happen exactly as planned. Glad I could be a part of that experience, if only as an outsider looking in. After we got settled in at the venue, we had a quick moment to load up on caffeine. I would like to take this time to offer my gratitude to the great people at Mountain Dew for allowing me to stave off exhaustion for at least a fleeting moment. Mountain Dew: "Don't let the color of piss fool you." Anyway, the organizers of ASMKC (the "Kartel," which is a terrific name that I wish I had though of myself) opened the events by thanking everyone who traveled either great distances to be there (Karel, Martin, Sami, and Leyla), or endured the bomb cyclone in Denver and still made it on time (Nes, me, Clark, and our surprise guest Guillaume). With the opening ceremony now complete, it was time to go into a world championships absolutely cold. You'd think that we would have practiced at least a little bit, right? Day 1 of the event consisted of Time Trials and Match Race. In the interest of full disclosure, the last time I had done anything SMK related was to try to beat Karel's 11"65 on GV1, only to come up short with 11"69, which I was still really proud to drive. This being said, Time Trials is a one-try contest and not a lengthy grind trying to max out a particular time, which is a totally different mindset. You get one chance on every track and you just cross your fingers that you keep making the cut. I was paired with Martin, whom I had met in 2015 briefly, although we didn't really talk to each other during that CDM. I had the misfortune of going first, which didn't really bother me because I really had no expectations of doing anything of note. If there's one thing to gather from these two lengthy posts is that actually playing Super Mario Kart is secondary for me; it's the laughs and the beers and the experience in general that really makes me love this community. I struggle through the majority of the races, with a few being downright awful, but hey, what can ya do? Martin goes second and shows me the proper way to do one-try racing, which taught me a good lesson about being conservative. They announce the cuts and to my surprise, I made it. We do another few tracks, I struggle, but it wasn't the worst. When I was done I kinda took a lap to see where others were stacking up against me, and I shrugged a bit and just hoped for the best. They announce another cut: I made it again. Wow. Now I'm in the running for the top half at the very least, so that was pretty nice. We do another two tracks (I forget which ones exactly), and I drive pretty consistently but very, very conservatively. I wrap up the tracks and do another lap around to view the competition. Karel was over by the stream TV, but I didn't know who he was partnered with at the time. I look at their sheet of times and noticed that I had beaten whomever times the other person had driven, at which point I say to Karel, "Welp, at least I beat whoever that guy is, right?" That guy turned out to be Sami, which absolutely floored me. Sami had missed the zoom start on both tracks, and I had barely edged him out (despite me getting both zooms). They announce the final four: "Karel, Guillaume, Martin... and Joe." The surprise on my face could be seen for miles... Karel and Guillaume were seeded 1 and 2, so it was up to Martin and me to decide who would be taking home the bronze. They put me on the stream TV, despite me begging to be put on a different one. Nervous throughout the entire three tracks (KB1, CI2, and RR I believe), I made a fool out of myself and crashed about 27 times on Rainbow Road. Martin was on a different TV but I walked over to him immediately and congratulated him on a bronze medal win. I took home 4th place, which is considerably better than I ever thought I would do at the event, so already this tournament was a success in my eyes. Karel then wins a coin toss and opts to play first on the stream TV, while Guillaume was put in quarantine in order for him to not know what Karel's times ended up being, which is a good system. KVD is a goddamn pro (or "machine," if you will) and showed the world what a real champion drives like, getting very good times on all of the tracks. Guillaume then shows the world what another champion drives like, getting very fast times on all of the tracks as well, but narrowly losing to KVD in the end. Guillaume crashed on CI2 once, and that ended up being the deciding factor. Gold: KVD Silver: Guillaume Bronze: Martin ... distant 4th: Yours truly. Europe wins the podium. This would end the part of the competition that relies solely on you and your driving ability. Match race would be next... Now, I have never played Match Race, to which I believe Clark and Karel both said that they also have never seen me play that mode. Really I've only played Time Trials and GP throughout my entire SMK career, but hey, how bad could Match Race be? Well, I would quickly learn. Truth be told, I don't really remember a lot of Match Race because at this point I'm riding high on a 4th place Time Trial finish and I'm also running on fumes at this point. More Mountain Dew was in order. What I do remember I'll put into bullet points. - I got matched with Leyla a few times, and Leyla is one hell of a player. Our history goes all the way back to CDM 2015 where she beat me in a barrage match in GP on the main stream TV. It was close, but in the end she's just a better player than me; no doubt about it. - Match Race is also a mode where item luck is also pretty key, so there are some sandbagging tactics which absolutely annoys the crap out of me, but I refuse to take part in those shenanigans. I'm a pure driver, so I'm just looking to do the best I can do. I don't know high level strats and even if I did I'm not talented enough to put them on display during a competition, so my expectations for this event were very low (as with all the others). - I think I hit every fenner on every track. Fast-forwarding, I believe that I came in either 5th or 6th, which again surprised me. But I totally knew going in that I wouldn't beat about 5 or 6 people in any event, so that's pretty much where I belonged throughout the whole weekend. The day came to a close and we headed back to the Kartel's place to drink and stave off exhaustion for another couple of hours. They had sleeping arrangements for everyone beforehand, which was awesome! They really, really took care of us throughout the entire weekend, and for that I'm forever grateful. They also had gotten two pony kegs of an Amber Ale and a Kolsch, which were both very good. I called Dave Smith around 11 and he talked with Clark, Karel, and Guillaume for a little bit before we ended up passing out. The second day of ASMKC featured GP 150cc and Battle Mode, the latter of which I truly hate and thought about scratching my name off the list entirely. But I love GP even though I have a reputation for not using items (also known as "The Gentlemen's Agreement that nobody else agreed to"), even ones that would only help myself (like feathers on Choco Island). Again, my expectations were low because the Europeans at the event are seasoned CDM veterans and know every single nook and cranny that can be done in the game, and I just like to drive really, really fast. Some highlights: - I got paired with Leyla yet again, and now I'm starting to think that they're doing this to me on purpose [smiley=smokin.gif]. We like to talk to each other during our matches, and she admitted that NTSC is completely foreign to her for some tracks, specifically Special Cup, where the speed can really affect your driving lines. I ended up winning that cup, but that would be the beginning and end of my victories over her for the weekend. She battled through the rest of the players and ended up facing me again, this time with her coming out victorious and knocking me out of the competition. Before playing her for the second time I played Clark and won, and I also went up against Guillaume on the main TV. - Playing Guillaume was both fun and tough. He's the type of player where you know that one small mistake against him can be completely devastating. I had the fortune of getting all of my zoom starts and won a few races/cups, but in the end he overpowered me. Our KB1 race was solid, and our VL2 race was very, very close, with me getting red shelled on lap 5 and taken out of contention for the cup. He shook my hand after Rainbow Road and told me that he understands now that GP is my best mode and that I really pushed him to play at his very best, which is nice to hear from a legend like Mario86 :P. Case in point: It's probably a good idea to both practice beforehand, and also practice good strategies on top of that, like using red shells to hit your opponent. I have truly horrendous item luck as it is so it probably wouldn't matter anyway, which is partly why I mostly rely on solid driving to try to beat the field. That can only get you so far though... Took 5th or 6th again, can't quite remember off the top of my head. The real story here though is that Leyla was on her last leg of the triple elimination system and ended up going through a crew of heavy hitters and took home the bronze medal, making SMK history in the process! Much congratulations to her on becoming the first ever female to win a medal in an official SMK competition! ... sucks and no one should be forced to play that mode. [smiley=beer.gif] If I had low expectations for previous modes, then I can't stress how low my expectations were for battle mode. I absolutely hate it and I was just happy to be done with it as soon as possible. Oh, but there was another surprise that I had yet to touch on: Drew Blumfield ended up making it to the second day of the tournament after having a rough trip as well. He had gotten to Dallas from Los Angeles, but the car he rented ended up shitting the bed on the highway and he was stuck there for a couple of hours. I'm sure he'll post something about his own adventure... Without glossing over too much, let's just do more bullet points: - I took 12th, which is 4 better than I thought I'd do. - I either won 3-0 or lost 3-0 for every single match I had. - I went on a string of 27 straight non-red shells, which was initially thought to be impossible... - This mode still sucks, but I will work on my 1p battle mode skills for the next world competition. Drew won gold, which was amazing since he used Bowser throughout the entire run. Bowser isn't exactly the greatest character to use (arguably the worst), but Drew is Drew and he'll do whatever he damn pleases. That's what makes him a legend. [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif] The festivities were then over, and overall placing was announced. 1st: Karel Van Duijvenboden 2nd: Guillaume Leviach 3rd: Sami Cetin 4th: Martin/Leyla 5th: Matt Ballard 6th: me 7th: Chris Clark Matt took first place for Team USA, which is where I thought he'd go (battle mode pretty much derailed my chances of a high overall finish). I don't remember the last half of the standings, but it was good to have the players that were in my car all finish in the top half of the rankings. Pretty fucking cool indeed... We didn't end up getting back to the Kartel's place until around midnight, where we drank and watched Fenner vids and handstand tutorials until 3 in the morning: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O53b7JNsXGo[/media] It's these kinds of things that I enjoy the most. [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] With the event being over and our trip back about to start once again, I decided to take Clark and Guillaume to two southern/Texas staples: Whataburger and Buc-ees. For those who don't know, Whataburger is a fast food burger joint with above average but typical American fare (great fries, burgers, patty melts, spicy ketchup, self-serve soda fountains), and Buc-ees (https://www.buc-ees.com/index.php) is this MASSIVE highway truck stop with 100 gas pumps and their own shopping center, complete with Buc-ees brand everything. And I mean EVERYTHING... I bought my fair share of merchandise, and the Europeans wandered the store completely in awe at the size of the place. Guillaume: "This place is probably twice the size of my local super market. Holy shit..." Clark: "Why on Earth does a place this big need to exist?" Me: "This is the United States, my friends. Go big or go home, right?" So after stocking up on road essentials: chocolate covered walnuts, sweet kettle almonds, Buc-ees shirts, blankets, iron-on patches, etc..., we make it back to my parents' place in Granbury to drink like it's the end of the world. My parents are very welcoming, so we were able to drink all of their beer and my dad was able to show Guillaume his collection of records on his juke box, his 1931 Ford Roadster that he's in the process of restoring, all of my childhood sports pictures which embarrassed the shit out of me... you get the idea. After we were done drinking in the outside shed/shop/second garage, we go back into the house where my dad says the line which Guillaume will probably remember forever: "Hey Frenchie, wanna drink some cognac?" Of course he does. He's French... We hit the road the next morning after we all have a good long sleep and the coldest showers of our lives, but we decide to take a different route than the one we took to get to Texas (Clark and Guillaume had already seen that shit, no need to put them through that misery all over again). We opt for the direct route north through Oklahoma and west through Kansas, which was a much, much better drive for all parties. We make it back to Denver around 10 pm after leaving at 8:30 in the morning, which is pretty good. I take them to our local Waffle House, and in doing so I completed my task of getting the most out of this part of America that it could offer. Total number of states visited: 7* (* - Clark and Guillaume have a different 7th state). Colorado New Mexico Texas Louisiana Oklahoma Kansas * Washington/Nevada (the only variant) http://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450415105268776962/557817537438679062/image_12411336_19700118_162424.jpg Left to right: Martin, Matt, Guillaume, Kyle, Clark, Stinson, Karel, Me, Chris http://https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450415105268776962/557817538377940992/image_12411332_19700118_162424.jpg http://https://i.imgur.com/3IZ2F4D.jpg?1 http://https://i.imgur.com/bCj0xJO.jpg?1 http://https://i.imgur.com/vfH01kR.jpg?3 http://https://i.imgur.com/dURY8Zm.jpg?2 http://https://i.imgur.com/gYSBXBk.jpg?3 Many, many thanks to the Kartel for all of their hard work in putting together this amazing event! Many thanks to Clark and Guillaume who braved the open roads of the Western United States with me and Nes. Many thanks to all the players around the world who made this first edition a huge success! Many thanks to the fine people at Mountain Dew for helping me stay awake for what seemed to be 36 straight hours. Many thanks to everyone who read through all of this and hopefully smiled along the way... I love each and every one of you who I met throughout the weekend. May this be the first of many more to come! [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by SMKChamp on 03/22/19 at 13:31:14 Awesome post. Jon Barber did a similar comprehensive summary for Norway 2017, and it's good to see these retellings for people who aren't sure it really happened. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/22/19 at 22:47:08 At first I thought it was a little weird to see Matt in a Britney Spears T-shirt, but Britney is a Louisiana native after all... ...Why isn't Eric in any of these pics? ::) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Jarmounax on 03/23/19 at 17:06:27 Thank you so much for this bilan, Joe, I'm crying with laughter watching Kyle's attempt over and over! I really wish I could've been there, hopefuly next year! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by LeylaSMK on 03/24/19 at 09:16:09 If I’m honest, it never actually occurred to me to write a ‘bilan’ about the American Championships, especially since I haven’t been on this forum in goodness knows how long. But once I’d read Joe’s fantastic reflection (you’re a legend, man!), I knew I had to jump on the bandwagon- after all, us English students will take any opportunity we can to write something long :P Pre-event: When I first heard about the event early on, I couldn’t get over how awesome the opportunity would be. Because I knew I’d still be at uni when it would take place and things were pretty difficult at home, I just assumed that I wouldn’t be able to attend. In a meeting with my personal tutor at uni the following week, I briefly mentioned the event and must’ve been beaming about the whole thing for countless minutes because of his response. My tutor, an American himself, asked me why the hell I wasn’t going. Well, I’d have to miss a week of classes, I said. He basically told me to screw the classes and just attend because I’d being working hard all year and a short break wouldn’t kill me. So that’s what I did. Arrival to the US: Fast forward a couple of months to Thursday 14th March, when Sami and I made our journey to the US, flying first to Atlanta. My first experience on American soil in around 16 years was an extremely intimidating experience- let’s just say that the US Customs Officer certainly took his job very seriously! ;D When we eventually landed in Monroe in the late afternoon, we were surprised with Matt and Eric welcoming us in the gate and suddenly the trip felt so much more real. Holy shit. We were in Louisiana! :o That evening, the four of us were joined by Kyle and shared a meal at Olive Garden, stuffing ourselves silly and confirming my mum’s warnings about the excessive portions when compared to the UK. I mean, the box of my leftovers alone was of greater quantity than my meals at home so America truly is ‘go big or go home’. Main topics of dinner conversation were Joe, Vanessa and Clark’s disastrous start to their road trip (obviously at this point Sami and I had zero idea that Guillaume was also involved), the hilarious antics of Drew and whether Terrence Fenner would ever make an appearance at a championship. Obviously, the latter is something that EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE! *hint-hint Terrence* ;) Friday was dedicated to ‘sightseeing’ at mine and Sami’s request, which ended up being exactly what Matt meant when he mentioned “the two things” in Monroe :D Kyle drove us to Black Bayou, the Monroe ghetto (Croydon’s is better, sorry) and the main street of stores in West Monroe where for every store we entered, Sami and I had to relay our life stories and reasons for being in this sleepy neighbourhood once the shopkeepers had caught wind of our alien accents. Suddenly we felt a lot less Croydon and a lot more RP Queen’s English ;D While the constant repetitive conversations started to get pretty boring quite quickly, the kindness and hospitality that was extended to us made up for it and that Southern charm I always heard about felt real and special. That night we went over to the Kartel HQ, being reunited with Karel and Martin and spoiled with our first taste of Southern cuisine- crawfish! Despite Alex’s best attempts to teach me how to dissemble the shells etc, I pretty much butchered every crawfish I ate but it tasted so damn good and I’m proud to say that I tried the brains too. It’s safe to say that if I ever return to Louisiana I’ll DEFINITELY be having more crawfish! Saturday- Day 1 of competition: When we had returned to the hotel on Friday night, Sami and I discussed the identity of the event’s ‘mystery guest’ and we opted for some pretty wacky guesses which couldn’t have been further off from the truth. But suffice to say, the moment that Guillaume entered the venue with Joe, Clark and Vanessa on Saturday morning, I remember beaming with happiness as I said my hellos. At one point it looked like they wouldn’t even make it on time but thank god they did because the event wouldn’t have been the same without them! After finally meeting members of the community like Nathan Stinson and Andrew Koltz for the first time (which was really cool!), we got down to the Time Trial. Due to my hectic uni schedule I hadn’t played SMK itself since the CDM last August, let alone NTSC which hadn’t been touched for over a year. My only training for this championship was a single one-try TT set, a few tracks in MR, around 4 maps of BM and a solitary Mushroom Cup GP round the week before. I had never played multiplayer on NTSC until this point so I really wasn’t expecting much at all in terms of performance but TT started off well…key word there being ‘started’ ::) In the group-stage equivalent round I think I placed 4th or 5th which was great, until the first knockout stage occurred for the fight into the top 8. GV1 was first and I drove a clean 1’06. So far, so good. DP2 was next and my lack of familiarity with NTSC haunted me as I missed my zoom start and pretty much guaranteed the end of my TT participation. Well, at least Sami missed both zoom starts and given his reputation, this was a much worse situation for him so as the wonderful niece I was, I just reminded myself of his shame and instantly I felt better [smiley=engel017.gif] Congrats to Karel for taking the gold there and for awesome performances by Guillaume, Martin and Joe! :) Also an honorary mention to Clark who took the UK #1 title at NTSC TT one-tries; FUN FACT as of now, Sami doesn’t hold the #1 spot for TT one-tries in both NTSC and PAL :o Although he’ll very likely take the PAL one back from me when we return to the CDM this year lmao Match Race came next along with my first experience of a triple-elimination bracket setup. Amidst the confusion I’ve unfortunately forgotten who I played throughout the evening but what I do recall is losing 2 of my 3 lives earlier than I thought I would. This meant that my chances of achieving a strong rank were incredibly slim as I’d have to wade through a sea of heavy hitters while ensuring I no longer lost a match. But against the odds, it all somehow worked out quite nicely in the end and I managed to take 4th place right behind Guillaume, Sami and Karel. Once again, congrats to Karel for taking the gold there! Sunday- Day 2 of competition: The final day of competition began with a headache and on/off sickness spells which plagued my body [smiley=dead.gif] But at least I was playing my two favourite modes, right? Wrong. GP 150cc was the mode I’d arguably been dreading the whole time. 150cc on PAL does NOT work well with me, let alone 150cc on NTSC! My first match was in fact against Matt and after discovering that our designated cartridge (as well as a couple of others) didn’t have 150cc unlocked, we both admitted to each other that we actually preferred the slower speed and very happily played a 100cc GP while everyone else struggled ;D I can’t remember the next opponent again (I think it may have been Karel or maybe even Martin?) but it ended in an unfortunate loss. Following this, I was thrust into the loser’s bracket where I faced Joe for another great game. Everything seemed to be going well by my side until we got to Rainbow Road, which ended up being a complete and utter DISASTER. I was ranked out and narrowly lost, once again putting me in the less than ideal position of having 2/3 losses early on in the bracket. By this point I was in and out of feeling okay and needing to throw up (sorry for the TMI :P) so I dragged my feet to Chris’ table, declaring my giving up in a ‘Camille Batier-esque’ manner. All I had to do was lose my next match then I could stop playing and lie down. Easy enough, right? Wrong again. For some godforsaken reason (Sami and I always joke about this), I seem to perform BETTER when I’m not feeling 100% and I managed to replicate my performance from the day prior to reach the final four. At least my headache then disappeared! Anyway, I had to face Guillaume in a first to 3 cup wins and the winner of this match had at least a guaranteed bronze medal, while the loser took 4th place. Statistically I was to lose this match, after all, I’d never knocked out Guillaume in a final phase of anything and my bloody hands were hurting after all the bloody playing. So you could probably understand my bewilderment when I was 2-0 up on cups and needed only to win the Mushroom Cup to take that bronze. That was when the nerves kicked in. Guillaume had a great two cups and with my stupid mistakes he brought it back to 2-2. At this point I’d half accepted defeat and thought well, at least you had a good run ;D Our final cup was either Flower or Star because I know it ended with either MC3 or MC4, which of course was the deciding track for the match since the fourth round had left us on equal terms: 30-30. Nobody can say that I don’t like to challenge myself! Anyway, I got my zoom start but Guillaume was left behind and I knew that all I needed to do was drive and JUST NOT CRASH. It’s a shame that I can barely stay on the bloody road with the 150cc speed and if it wasn’t for a very devious Yoshi egg on the final lap forcing Guillaume into a wall, I wouldn’t have narrowly sustained my winning position. In all honesty I have never been so thankful for Yoshi [smiley=beer.gif] Guillaume was awesome and gave me a lovely hug which was highly fitting given our earlier conversation regarding our tournament history. My newfound success was so unusual and surreal that I forgot I had to play again, this time against Karel, which ended in my third and final defeat. This was a very welcome loss because I did NOT like the idea of playing any more GP and I much preferred getting to watch the finals instead. Congrats uncle on the gold! As I’d played my final match against Karel, we both joked at having forgotten that we needed to play Battle Mode after all the tiresome GP games. Once again my mind has unfortunately blocked out 95% of what happened that night in terms of competition so I have nothing really to say here; although, this isn’t because of the whole ‘Team UK sucks at BM’ thing, trust me! I actually prefer playing BM to GP which is why that medal makes no bloody sense at all [smiley=lolk.gif] my final rank for BM ended up at either 7th or 8th but the funniest thing for me was knowing that TT was unexpectedly by far, my worst rank of the championship :o You can’t make this stuff up sometimes! Anyway, it was fantastic to end the night watching some awesome BM skills on display by Drew, who kicked Europe’s arse and took the gold for the US- we’re hoping you can replicate this at the CDM! Highlights/Things that stick in my memory: -Winning a bronze medal for a mode which drove me bloody mad all day!! -Getting to have my first proper experience of America (not when I’m 4 years old and high on sugar in Las Vegas!) -My many conversations with Guillaume, who is honestly one of my favourite people in this community -That hilarious moment when I was sat chatting with Guillaume and Clark, and as Guillaume was mid-sentence, Karel mischievously pulled his chair backwards and he disappeared from sight out of nowhere. What made this super funny in that instance was the intensity of the conversation we were having, where Guillaume was literally in the middle of saying something like “What you said really touched my heart” only to be whisked away unexpectedly [smiley=roll.gif] -The endless bants with Clark- again one of my favourite people in this community! -My constant attempts at trying to get out of being streamed, much to the semi annoyance of Kyle and Chris. This ended up becoming a running joke between the three of us all weekend -The great many matches I had with Joe- I told Vanessa that you’re hilarious and I genuinely love playing against you so I’m really hoping that you guys will make CDM this year! -Andrew Koltz revealing to me that in the US a double bacon cheeseburger pizza is actually a thing! Absolute madness, you don’t get that sort of thing back home! -Being reunited with my dear friend Crystal after nearly 3 years <3 -Getting to enjoy a trip away with my dear uncle Sami- this may surprise all of you but with our family difficulties at home, I barely get to spend time with him anymore and this was a welcome change -The entire closing ceremony segment: the Trump coin, the Trump video…I guiltily laughed way too much at that! -Spending a lot of wonderful time with the Kartel who took the BEST care of me in this very unfamiliar place- Matt, Kyle, Eric, Chris, Alex, Heather. I really feel like this event brought Sami and I even closer to you guys and I can’t wait to see you all again <3 Just wanted to end this lengthy bilan with a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that helped to organise this event and those that took part! I’m so thankful that I attended because upon return to uni this week, every time someone mentioned the event, I was left smiling from ear to ear. That’s down to you guys. August can’t come quickly enough and I hope to see many of you again at the next CDM <3 …unless I fail my exams and coursework, in which case I won’t be seeing any of you :P |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/24/19 at 10:00:58 Great write-up Leyla! I was wondering if you had ever been to the United States before. Glad you enjoyed it! It hasn't been often that you've posted on this forum, why not become a regular part of this community and participate in all of our discussions and debates? I'm sure everyone would love to hear from you more and where you stand on everything. You'd offer a different perspective on many things, what with you being female and younger than most of us (and having grown up around many of us!). It's funny that Sophie has just joined this forum (having been a regular on the French one) and made her first post in this very thread, so the future of this forum does look to be a little less testosterone-fueled. 8-) ...Can we expect some NTSC PRs from you in the coming weeks (I'm sure you'd like to work on Star and Special Cups) or will you be too buy with university? We'd love to see how high you could get in NTSC overall rank once you take the time and put your best effort into all 20 tracks. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dave Smith on 03/24/19 at 10:21:23 Nice write ups so far. That for sure was a event \ trip of a life time Joe. The "I Love Finner" T-shirt is awesome! ;D I watched some of it on twitch which was cool as hell. Will the CDM do that this year? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/24/19 at 10:42:02 Superb bilan Leyla! :D [smiley=zark.gif] Can I just say I love the fact that we're calling these 'bilans', even when posting on the English forum? ;D Dragging away Guillaume's chair was just some impulsive banter, I can't believe the timing worked that well, but it was definitely one of the funniest moments of the weekend because of that. [smiley=roll.gif] @Dave, it was very cool to speak to the legend himself on the phone after all these years! Of course it would have been even better had you been there, but that can be fixed next year I hope!! And yes the CDM 2019 will be streamed for sure, it has been for the past several editions and it keeps getting more and more professional actually. I absolutely agree that the I love Fenner shirt is indeed awesome...it is my favourite piece of loot of the ASMKC2019 (which provided by far the most loot I've ever gathered through an SMK tournament) and may even be my favourite prize won at a gaming event all told! :o :D To a large extent this is because of how Guillaume presented the challenge for me, spicing up that specific BM meeting between us with such high stakes...[smiley=ninja.gif] Since I enjoyed this precedent so much, I have decided that I will also put the Fenner shirt up as a gauntlet/challenge during specific CDM matches this summer. I'll have to think a bit more on the specifics, but I definitely feel this item should be up for grabs every year / event, so that it can cycle through many different owners. [smiley=beer.gif] I'll write a proper bilan myself as well later, but I will write this already now (and will restate it probably like 5 times in my proper post): The Kartel are absolute fucking legends! Each and every one of you: Matt, Kyle, Eric (and by extension his family), Chris, Alex, Ben and I'll include Matt's bro Adam too! I already felt that when you joined the community several years ago that you guys were bringing something completely new to the table. A component or niche that wasn't really filled in yet. I can't even articulate what it is exactly, but I'll just suffice by saying that you guys are truly the best! [smiley=beer.gif] <3 |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by LeylaSMK on 03/24/19 at 10:50:29 Thanks Nick! To be honest I hadn't really thought of making a return to the forum but now that you mention it, it's something I could very well do :) As for returning to NTSC PRs, I've got a hectic couple of months at uni starting now but once my exams/the academic year finishes in May I'd definitely love to start playing again. This championship certainly reignited my love for the game, that's for sure! 456F7C6B620E0 wrote:
Thanks Karel! I think it would feel really weird calling these reflections anything other than a 'bilan' haha. And honestly the timing of your banter was indeed perfect, I replay that moment in my mind a lot and it never fails to make me smile [smiley=roll.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 03/24/19 at 12:42:52 First off, let me just preface this by stating my Bilan wont be nearly as long or in depth as I imagine Joes or Marios will be, as I neither have the writing ability nor the will to write a novella! That said, I’ll try and at least do it a bit of justice. So the whole point of this trip for me would be to sort of knock off one of the items off the loosely held bucket list I have in my head. That being the ‘Great American Road Trip’. Ever since I saw Dumb and Dumber as a wee lad in the early 90s, I’ve always wanted to go on one. And after a brief search of flights after the ASMKC got announced, I had found a super cheap return ticket to Denver (where Joe lives) and in a rare moment of throwing caution to the wind for me, I said fuck it, and booked it. I hadn’t really thought about quite how long this road trip would end up being seeing as im from the UK where everything is really close together, and a 2 hour drive is often remarked on as “a fucking long drive”. How wrong I could be. Joe had mentioned a few times this would be quite the punishing drive, but I was wrapped up in excitement at recreating Dumb and Dumber in a way so it fell on deaf ears. Additionally, I learned that id also get to spend the entirety of the trip sitting next to a Frenchman, namely Mario86 (Guillaume Leviach). Which was awesome, sort of. So forward wind a couple of months, and March rolls around and I find myself at London Heathrow preparing to board for Denver (side note, I got to hang out with an old workmate for an hour or so while waiting to board which was great). Joe had mentioned something on discord about the possibility of blizzards in Denver at about the time I was due to land, but I just assumed this was gonna be the usual level of snow North Americans get at this time of year and that I would not encounter any issues. Once again, how wrong I could be. I board the plane, and we take off. Nothing mentioned whatsoever by the Captain about blizzards, or ‘bomb-cyclones’ closing the airport. I watched Bohemian Rhapsody, Kong: Skull Island, and just as the end credits of Rampage were rolling a solemn sounding First Officer announces that nature has taken a massive shite on Denver and that we would be diverting to Vegas. I can’t say I was annoyed, it is what it is, these things happen. We land in Vegas, and from my point of view I didn’t have to worry about anything. British Airways were awesome and took care of everything, sorted us a hotel and dinner, and the next day checked into a flight bound for Denver at midday. I arrived with no issue wondering what the tits all the fuss was about as it looked like nothing much had happened! It was great to see Joe after so many years (when he attended the 2015 CDM), and before I knew it we were back at his (really fucking awesome) place. He filled me in with what was happening with Mario, and a few hours later he was with us at Joes. A few beers later and we crashed ready for the brutally long road trip the next day at 8am. We set off, and initially I was stunned at the scenery on offer. The Rockies really are something, and the whole flat plains with giant mountains behind is just not something you see in the UK. Unfortunately, (and as Joe had said) the mountains didn’t last that long and soon we were in ‘absolutely fuck all around’ territory. Admittedly I had wanted to see this nothingness, but the novelty of it lasted about 5 minutes. Even as a Brit with only limited understanding of the States, even I knew that Texans were a proud bunch who revelled in their enourmous state but after travelling through 8 hours of nothing but dusty fields and shit towns, I cannot for the fucking life of me understand why. Maybe there is something else out there in Texas which can justify all the fuss, but I sure as bollocks didn’t see it! So anyway, we made it to Joes parents utterly awesome house in Granbury around 11pm (I think), had a beer, and went to bed exhausted. How can just sitting in a car all day be so tiring? Because of all the shenanigans at Denver, we now didn’t have a day spare and had to be on the road at 5am as Monroe was 6 hours drive away. Having reluctantly dragged myself out of an extremely comfortable bed, we were on our way. Mercifully, there is a lot more to the landscape of Louisiana and before we knew it we were dumping our bags at Matts house and racing to the venue with about 10 mins to spare before the start of the tourno. It was great to see everyone again, and to meet some new peeps, and the venue was really nice. Just the right size for the amount of participants. Sami needs to cut his fucking hair though! I’m never one to go into detail about the actual tournament, but what I will say is that I really liked the format of the multiplayer modes, and that it was really well organised. Props to all the Kartel for that, they smashed it in every way possible. These guys really are a credit to the SMK community, every one of them are like the nicest guy you’ve ever met. Plenty of great pizza as well which is always a plus for me! The three actual personal highlights for me as far as competing goes were being the #1 from the UK in TT (how the fuck did that happen, imma dine out on that one for the next year lol), Erics epic nanner on me during Match Race on RR (go check it out, it’s clipped on Twitch), and the nail biter of a match I had vs Matt on Battle Mode. I’m fairly sure every round went down to the last balloon. Also the bit Leyla mentioned about Karel pulling Mario away on the chair had me in tears of laughter, from my view Mario was mid heartfelt sentence then vanished a second later lol. I’m assuming most who will be reading this would’ve at least seen some of it on stream so I’m not gonna go into a play by play of the whole event. I’ll leave that to Mario. As is always the case with SMK meets, it’s over before you know it and after some farewells and photos (and faffing about looking for postcards for Mario, he’s such a tourist) on Monday morning we were on our way back. The return leg felt much easier, as we didn’t have the time pressure on us anymore. Plus the route back through Kansas, and Oklahoma didn’t seem nearly as barren as Texas did. Actually, seeing a casino shaped like the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the middle of not very much in Oklahoma completely caught me off guard. I had a tinge of patriotism! Plus the awesome selection of music certainly helped. We arrived back at Joes around 11pm on Tuesday evening after a stop in Granbury. A couple of well-deserved beers, a good nights sleep, and a 6 hour drive back to Denver and it was time to catch my flight home. My main takeaway from the whole trip was just how hospitable everyone was. From Joe and Nes doing the mammoth trip with us (doing ALL the driving) and putting us up, and not letting us pay for anything. To Joes parents who did everything they could to make us feel comfortable for our brief stays. To Joes sister gifting us those fucking awesome coffee flasks. To The Kartel for laying on a brilliant event with everything taken care of, and offering their house to us all. Say what you will about Americans as a nation, but the ones ive met through SMK are genuinely some the nicest most awesome people I’ve ever encountered. You guys really made this trip memorable, and you should be proud of how great you’ve all been. Also it was great to meet a few new karters who ive known about for years in Stinson, and Andrew Koltz who are both super great guys. Lets hope the ASMKC is a yearly event as this really was a brilliant start, long may it continue. I’m sure I’ve missed shit loads as I always do with a Bilan, but you guys always do a much better job of it anyway! Despite a few tough moments during the trip (eg having to sit next to a Frenchman for 42 hours j/k) im very glad I made the trip. Il certainly try and get there again next year if im able. Cheers! [smiley=beer.gif] (just to add at the end, I love how 'bilan' has passed into karting parlance now. Also, I really hope the 'Fenner Challenge Match' becomes a thing every year at the CDM or ASMKC. The holder should be able to choose their opponent within reason, it has to be on BM, and it should be streamed) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Humanoidgale on 03/25/19 at 11:04:53 On behalf of the Kartel, we are touched by everyone’s words here :). Joe, I just finished listening to the karthritis episode that you posted on here and my god, easily the best/funniest episode to date ;D. Everything y’all said in the episode concerning ASMKC really hit close to home for Kyle and I, unfortunately [smiley=flush.gif]. I apologize for the blatant unprofessionalism prior and during the tournament. There wasn’t any promos or updates whatsoever prior to the tournament which in all honesty was mainly due to laziness. So you all had every right to express concern going into the tournament. It was nice however to hear echoes of optimism from Karel during the episode :). Not sure why he had so much confidence in us but thanks a lot buddy [smiley=beer.gif]. While being professional and organized (unfortunately) isn’t our forte, we feel that the tournament was a success considering that we achieved our main goal which was for everyone to have a good time. My first interaction with this community was meeting Neo in Strasbourg in September 2015 followed by Karel in Utrecht the following month. Unfortunately Neo couldn’t make it to ASMKC’s year one but thankfully Karel (and Martin) did. When I first met Karel and Martin back in late 2015 I would’ve never guessed that a little over 3 years later that I would’ve been hosting them in Monroe, LA for a NTSC world championship :o. Life can be super shitty at times but this community is fucking awesome and I consider myself blessed to be a part of it. It was refreshing to see so many familiar faces from CDM as well as finally meeting some fellow American karters that I’d never met like Joe and Nathan Stinson. My personal favorite highlights from ASMKC: - Receiving Harvey’s console and handwritten letter in the mail. Thanks again Harvey :) - Eating crawfish with Sami and Leyla. - My BM matches with Zarkov. He is the perot (or pedro?) king [smiley=beer.gif] - Seeing Karel’s reaction to Mario walking into the venue. - Karel winning the overall title. - Drew winning BM with Bowser. - Leyla winning a medal in GP. - And the hilarious drinking game festivities that ensued after the tournament [smiley=roll.gif]. Bloody good, damn good time everyone that was only made possible because y’all decided to take a chance and come to a tournament that by all means seemed pretty sketchy at first but actually turned out to be a huge year one success. Thank you all [smiley=beer.gif] P.S. In regards to the picture of me getting baptized last month in the Jordan River. I’m 0% religious. I was visiting a lady friend of mine that lives in Tel Aviv and pretty much got to see all the sites the country has to offer considering how small the country is. While I was touring Nazareth/the Jordan River our tour guide asked us if anyone would like to get baptized in the Jordan River. It was unseasonably cold so no one volunteered at first except for me because why not? The Jordan River is literally the most epic place on Earth to get baptized. Also, the tour guide said that he would never get baptized because he is Jewish but that he gets satisfaction from watching other people getting baptized :-*. I ended up convincing two Christian guys (one from Brazil and the other from California) that they would regret passing up this opportunity so we all got baptized together [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/25/19 at 22:32:39 49746C606F6E686566606D64010 wrote:
Matt you should know that from the song... Jordan's river is chilly and cold, hallelujah. Chills the body but not the soul, hallelujah. 8-) Once again I am honored to have been at least a small part of this inaugural event. Though I'm still waiting for my special console and "Kartridge" to return hopefully some time this week. ...But how can you be Louisiana born-and-raised and be "0% religious" as you described? I guess your time abroad has really changed you. Are you telling me you don't ever expect any kind of existence after this one? ::) "A thousand years from now... a million years from now... a hundred million years from now... you're going to be alive and well... somewhere." -John Hagee |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by eoJ on 03/26/19 at 09:29:00 Quote:
It wasn't our intention to make anyone feel badly about the work that was involved in making the ASMKC a reality, we were just expressing our viewpoint as outsiders for the show. I personally never had any real doubt that you guys weren't going to pull it off spectacularly, so that should be known first and foremost. I also understand that it's a massive amount of work involved, so I hope I didn't sound like I was being pessimistic at any point. I knew we'd have a great time and that's all I was hoping for from the very start. We can't thank you guys enough, honestly. Everything was brilliant as soon as we made it to the venue, so my hat's off to you and your crew. Much respect! [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/26/19 at 21:50:23 Just noticed this at the beginning in Leyla's post while reading over this thread again. Couldn't resist pointing it out. 59706C7974150 wrote:
... 59706C7974150 wrote:
Leyla if you write like that you will fail your English course ;D Kinda reminds me of that old-timey cigarette ad slogan, "Us Tarryton smokers would rather fight than switch." (I doubt you've heard that one, but here in America, prior to 1971, cigarette adverts could be shown on the telly, and while the ads are long gone, they're still well remembered by the older generation... just ask any American Baby Boomer about the "Marlboro Man". Also... smoking's bad for ya. I don't do it and I hope you don't either.) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/27/19 at 02:24:03 Going off on a tangent, but I think syntax accuracy in language is grossly overrated. It has always kinda (kind of ::)) irked me. Language is about conveying information. Personally, I rate someone's creativity with language higher than their ability to write 100% according to the existing grammar, spelling, etc. rules. Of course I perfectly get that some structure and rules are needed so everyone shares the same framework, it makes communication a lot more efficient obviously, but that doesn't justify the language OCD some people seem to be possessed with (I'm talking to y'all grammar nazis :P). It reminds me of these stupid arithmetic puzzles that go like '90% of people fail to answer this' or 'if you solve this you're a genius' that people share on facebook. http://https://i1.wp.com/mindyourdecisions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/7-7%C3%B77-7%C3%977-7-social.png?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1 I mean congratulations, you've learned in which order mathematical operations are supposed* to be done. I'm sure that's very impressive, but there is a lot more to math than that**. [smiley=engel017.gif] *That's just human convention btw. If some bozo decided for all of us (back when the rules were made) that substraction had precedence over addition, we'd all be using that system instead and all our answers to these kind of problems would be wrong now. ::) **and no, I am not particularly good at math. Not even the best one of my floor of the house. There's an inside joke in there somewhere. ::) /rant over. [smiley=flush.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Max28 on 03/27/19 at 06:20:32 To add to the tangent, there is no one correct system of grammar that is superior to all others. While most use standard English, in particular standard American English here in the USA, there are so many different versions of English, each with thier own grammatical structure and vocabulary. Language changes depending on your audience, exigence, and constraints, and like Karel said, the only real goal is to get your idea across. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by eoJ on 03/27/19 at 10:03:57 Everything that everyone has already said is true, however, reading the comment section on Facebook and seeing all the baby-boomer Americans destroy the English language still makes me laugh. But, let's try to get back on topic, shall we? [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/27/19 at 10:28:01 My bilan is coming, but it might take a while. It'll be shorter than Guillaumes by 1 Bible. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by eoJ on 03/27/19 at 10:48:11 And probably a lot fewer Dumb and Dumber gifs... [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/27/19 at 10:52:43 674B5218122A0 wrote:
But there is when you're an English student, is there not? :D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 03/28/19 at 03:48:07 1A3023343D510 wrote:
You mean one Torah. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/28/19 at 03:58:33 Stop being a Drew alt. [smiley=lolk.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/28/19 at 17:23:42 Just wondering, was there any kind of local media coverage of this event? I've been curious about whether or not the ASC ever got the attention of any Monroe-area news outlets. If any of you Kartel members have any links to an online News-Star article or better yet, a local television news story on the ASC (especially if some of you were interviewed by reporters), I'd love for you to share it with us! As my own local news might report on something random like this, especially if it's a slow news day, I can't rule out the possiblity that the ASC was at least a footnote in local news, but in all seriousness I doubt there was any sort of news coverage at all. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Cire Nedlo on 03/28/19 at 21:33:06 Actually there was tv coverage Nick, and it couldn't be more perfect. https://www.knoe.com/content/news/Super-Mario-Kart-Championship-tournament-making-its-first-appearance-in-Monroe-507279641.html |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/28/19 at 23:06:16 1B3A3E3C30313A2D363C2C30315F0 wrote:
Wow, that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Sami Çetin-- now rocking a mullet-- interviewed by a Monroe, Louisiana local news reporter. Who'd have thunk it. You can also catch a glimpse of Leyla Hasso during the segment, wearing a striped shirt (boy, has she grown!). I don't really recognize anyone else. I'd like to know who that guy is juggling in the background while they're talking to Sami. Also, who is that little boy at the tournament? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 03/28/19 at 23:12:48 43646E6562616C7E52456C7F7B68740D0 wrote:
The juggling guy is Martin van Haasteren: https://twitter.com/FFSMK/status/1107091118292905984 The little boy was a local player who came there with his father (who did not play). |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Sami de la SMK on 03/29/19 at 03:29:10 785F555E595A5745697E574440534F360 wrote:
Wow, that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Sami Çetin-- now rocking a mullet-- interviewed by a Monroe, Louisiana local news reporter. Who'd have thunk it. You can also catch a glimpse of Leyla Hasso during the segment, wearing a striped shirt (boy, has she grown!). I don't really recognize anyone else. I'd like to know who that guy is juggling in the background while they're talking to Sami. Also, who is that little boy at the tournament?[/quote] Nick again, for the infinitieth time... you should have been there. You missed out big time on meeting everyone. Martin is a Legend, we always enjoy his skillful juggling acts at CDMs. My long hair has been there for a few years now. I just removed an extremely long beard but it has grown back a lot already. Luckily I took the beard off otherwise they might think I'm turning into Luke Skywalker from the Last Jedi (actually I am, but shhh!!) or some gaming nerd stereotype who locks themselves indoors playing games 25/7. Thankfully Clark turned up with an impressive gaming beard to hold the Fort while most of my hair was absent. However no one will ever top Drew on the long hair and beard department though. They should have interviewed Drew, he would have made a much more entertaining speech no doubt :D Bottom line, we all had fun and everyone there has an amazing heart. It is what is inside that counts. So Nick, there should be CDM in August, but you need to fly further out for that one. Please don't miss out on these! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/29/19 at 04:26:47 One of the funnier comments on the ASMKC News item was: "People with mullets like that do not lose at Mario Kart". :D He was right in singling you out as one of the players that rarely ever loses at least. Feel No Way and all that. :) Definitely agree that they missed out on not having any Drew footage. :( Nick needs to come to the ASMKC 2020. We'll all show up at his doorstep if needs be. ;) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Sami de la SMK on 03/29/19 at 05:18:51 4E64776069050 wrote:
I lost a lot though except for GP, but anyway funny line still lol. And hey, Drew - long hair - Battle win... The next one needs to be hosted in Mississippi. Nick, did you get the garden done? I need to start mine but I think il skip the sunflowers for one year so the earth can have a rest year for one cycle. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/29/19 at 05:26:55 You only have the 3rd highest win rate per round in CDM history. >80%! [smiley=ninja.gif] http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=players&sort=pct Though most of that was without long hair, to be fair. :P |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Sami de la SMK on 03/29/19 at 05:53:42 1D3724333A560 wrote:
Yeah, interesting facts though. Just had a flashback of 2011 CDM, when Tif and Conor both played and Guillaume stood behind them both and said "Championnat de la Hairs". |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/29/19 at 05:55:56 03313D39500 wrote:
That's another ScouBot quote candidate for sure. ;D Also, somebody bring back Thomas Bouctot, one day fly miracle, 4th on that list! [smiley=ninja.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 03/29/19 at 06:36:52 Every time BPA and myself meet up for a drink, we always end up talking about Thomas Bouctot and how he rocked up one CDM and fuckin bossed it. He is the karter we all aspire to be. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by ScouB on 03/29/19 at 09:32:44 I was inspired by Jerome Giraut, the first winner of Battle Mode at CDF and lone karter with a rating of 10 in Battle : http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=playerslevel&sort=levelbm&page=1 [smiley=smokin.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/29/19 at 10:05:17 Wraith! 8-) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 03/29/19 at 11:18:35 In case Sami was wondering: 50626E6A030 wrote:
Yes, I did get some of my yard work done. But I have a hell of a lot more to do. Because when this started I barely had a back yard to speak of. It's probably going to take most of the year to clear out all of the bamboo overgrowth I have in my back yard. I can only progress as quickly as the garbage people can pick it up what I've cut-- and I often wait all week for them to come, with a huge pile of bamboo in front of my house drying out and becoming a potential fire hazard (if, say, a passerby throws a cigarette on it and failed to completely put it out). But that has little to do with the reaons why I wasn't in Monroe. As I mentioned in the other ASC-related thread, even if I did have the means to make it there this year, I might have backed out on the last day before the event started because I really didn't feel well that day, and I wouldn't have made a very good first impression by shitting my brains out every 15 minutes. While I definitely did feel better the following day-- the day the ASC officially began-- I had no idea Friday how I'd be feeling Saturday, and I really think I needed the comfort of home to help me recover. I'll see if I have more money saved up by this time next year. I have all year to plan. And I'm not the only one here who expressed interest in this ASC and ended up not coming. Maybe next year Dave Smith won't have a bedbug problem. Maybe next year I won't get a nasty stomach bug the day before the event is to start. And maybe next year, you'll even get to meet the KB1 NTSC world record holder, who also entertained the idea of being in Monroe this month. Just keep your fingers crossed! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 03/29/19 at 22:29:36 Oh behave Nick. You never had any intention of coming even if you wernt ill. Why else would you mail your snes ahead of time when you could just put it in a bag and bring it with you. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 03/30/19 at 01:47:34 ^ more like Detective Zarkov |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by eoJ on 03/30/19 at 19:51:09 The world is waiting for Karel and Guillaume's reflections... [smiley=smokin.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 03/31/19 at 03:29:43 Was gonna finish this yesterday, but then I discovered that the ASMKC full broadcasts on Twitch were scheduled for deletion this weekend.... We won't lose the videos, but it would make archiving a lot more cumbersome, not being able to work with Twitch highlight function & auto upload to YT. I was too late to salvage some of TT 1-tries and the full MR tournament (I'll have to download that and go to work with it offline). For Battle Mode and GP150cc I have archived every round (well nearly finished with BM at the moment of writing). I saw your VL2 driving vs Guillaume back, that was magnificent, until that mofo broke the gentlemen's agreement (that no one else agrees to) again. :) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 03/31/19 at 07:07:47 587261767F130 wrote:
I now understand why the FFSMK Twitch account logged in the Netherlands on those last days, and imported some stuff (thanks to the email notifications). I knew you or Patrick were behind this but I didn't know why. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/01/19 at 10:09:28 It's April already and I'm still waiting to receive the SNES and SMK cartridge that I sent to Monroe for this event. Has anybody shipped it out yet? If so, did you remember to save the tracking number? I'm wondering if my local postal workers might have lost the package because I've been having substitute carriers in the past week or so (our regular carrier injured herself). Somebody keep me posted! (No pun intended) Today a UPS truck arrived at my house and the driver pulled out a package that was the right shape and size to contain a SNES and few other things, but he said it was for the neighbors across the street. I even asked him if it was from Louisiana, and he said no, so it really is for my neighbors, that was a little disappointing. :( Does anybody need me to PM my address or did you remember to save it? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Cire Nedlo on 04/01/19 at 19:31:56 We've got it saved Nick. Matt, and Kyle went camping for a week, but should be back soon. We are willing to personally deliver it to you if you would be ok with that, and treat you to lunch. If not it will be in the mail very soon. We greatly appreciate your contributions, and a bonus gift will be included by yours truly. - Eric |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/01/19 at 21:04:21 I'm flattered that you'd be willing to make the trip all the way here and deliver it to me personally 8-) I'm not sure exactly when I'll be available this week, though. It won't be tomorrow or Wednesday that's for sure, but if you're still waiting on Matt and Kyle, maybe we can discuss some time next week. I'll just have to keep you in touch. P.S. As I hinted at earlier, I really did entertain the thought of coming to Monroe, but I took the safe option and just went ahead and mailed you the console, game, and controllers because I was fairly doubtful by that time. And I do feel like I did the right thing in the end, because my body really couldn't have handled that trip, the way I was feeling that weekend. Something just told me that I probably wouldn't be able to make the trip. So Clark, don't think I was making excuses or being shy or finding some other reason not to be there. I probably did everyone a favor by not being there because my intense shitting, burping, and farting fits-- which I really couldn't have helped-- would have been disruptive to the event. :D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dave Smith on 04/03/19 at 08:23:24 7C5D595B57565D4A515B4B5756380 wrote:
Uh Oh! Sounds like a NTSC meet #2 about to happen. :D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by nstinson on 04/04/19 at 05:29:35 0F23302B2D7A74420 wrote:
The juggling guy is Martin van Haasteren: https://twitter.com/FFSMK/status/1107091118292905984 The little boy was a local player who came there with his father (who did not play).[/quote] His father played in Battle Mode I think |
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Title: KVD's ASMKC Bilan: Part 1 Post by KVD on 04/06/19 at 05:02:05 The time has come for my #ASMKC2019 bilan. :) Prologue First off, I want to reaffirm that the initiation of a genuine NTSC SMK world championships is something of a dream come true. I first started going to PAL Championnats way back in 2007; if I'm not mistaken I was the first non-French speaking participant in the history of these championships...FYI I’ve been told that the honor of being the first foreign (as in non French) participant at a CDF goes to Raphael Braun (at edition #1 in 2002). Anyway, the focus back then was exclusively on the PAL version still. That said, I was already acquainted with the NTSC version, but exclusively through playing Time Trials (from 2005 onwards). From the 2008 edition onwards NTSC natives started first appearing at these SMK championships, with Drew being the first (and bagging the BM gold medal and a #2 overall spot right away). In 2009, Guilherme Arantes became the first Brazilian to attend. In the following years we had more American players fly over (dan__h, Joe, Lafungo and eventually the Kartel) and even Takashi joined us all the way from Japan on 2 separate occasions! To a man, they expressed that adapting to the PAL version was difficult and sluggish and they all shared the desire to compete in their native version at least once. Arguably the NTSC version is superior in some respects, even some PAL-ies think so, so that wish was not entirely born out of petty version chauvinism. Either way, the desire to have an NTSC CDM was created in our collective minds. We had a taste of what NTSC competition would be like through the SNESOT website and the 2012 edition of the CDM; in 2012 we celebrated the 20th year since the release of SMK (and the 10 year anniversary of the Championnat itself) and hosted NTSC tournaments of every mode on the side. To my knowledge, this was the first time we competed on this version in an organised fashion and it sure tasted like more! Personally, I actually missed the multi-player tournos that were held on the Saturday, but did manage to bag the gold medal in the TT 1-tries despite a plethora of missed zoomstarts (thankfully I wasn't the only one missing them to say the least :D). The Kartel joined the scene in 2015 (with 2016 being their first CDM) and the SMK landscape was forever changed (for the better). They brough a new spark that ultimately created the fire that would become the #ASMKC2019…when Kyle and Matt made these intensions known to the SMK public I was smiling from ear to ear. :D Fast forward a little, Martin sent me a message somewhere in November of 2018 if I was interesting in going to Monroe for the tournament. He suggested to expand the trip and also visit Mexico (and specifically the Teotihuacan pyramid site during the spring equinox) right after. This was a great idea for multiple reasons, including relatively cheaper flights, the tournament + the equinox somehow being aligned within the same week and me never having visited Mexico before. So it didn't take long for me to get fully on board with that idea. The journey to Monroe would take us via Schiphol (Amsterdam), Mexico City and Houston. Even though it totaled over 24 hours of traveling, it wasn’t nearly as eventful as the journeys of any of the road-trippers detailed above. We had some beers at the various airports, tried to sleep on the planes (with the emphasis on tried) and that was about it. One thing to take away from the journey was the stack of newspapers located at the entrance of the airplane that would fly us from Mexico City to Houston. http://i.imgur.com/0ZijWzP.jpg Mario Kart prominently on the newspaper cover…we both reasoned that had to be a good omen for things to come (and it was)! Arrival in the US and A….plus the announcement of a mystery guest… We had been informed by Matt that in the weeks leading up to the event the weather had been unseasonably cold for Louisiana standards, so we were surprised to be greeted by abundant sunshine and warmth upon landing. And this was not going to change, the entire time we were there the weather was pretty much 10/10. Matt picked us up and drove us back to the Kartel place. And what can I say? It’s what I imagined it would be and more…American sized house (one floor bungalow style), complete with a water fountain (Lafungo take note) and their very own beer tap complete with 2 kegs! :O As Martin & me were the first arrivals (technically Leyla and Sami arrived the day before, but they were staying in a hotel near the venue) we got the first pick of the available bedrooms, though honestly premium bedroom choice didn’t matter much with the size of the place. I could sense we were going to be treated like kings indeed, exactly as Matt had promised on the Karthritis episode…We were quickly brought up to speed on the latest Duff & Harvey antics, the both of which would provide continuous fuel for banter throughout the weekend…It turned out Harvey was not planning to show up after all (major bummer!) and had sent his SNES + SMK cartridge & controllers to the Kartel for use during the tournaments, accompanied by a handwritten (cursive style!) letter. Seriously, who still writes in cursive after they leave primary school?! Harvey, that’s who! 8-) The content of the letter was good too, including beautifully obscure Harvey-esque details such as how he once spilled a drink on one of the controllers which may or may not have contributed to its suckiness…Anyway, Matt rightly decided the letter was good enough to warrant a place on the Kartel fridge. I’ll talk more about Harvey’s setup later. Meanwhile, we were also informed of the trouble Clark & Joe ran into regarding the Bomb cyclone. Thankfully they had some buffer time, so we were still hopeful they would be able to make it to the start of the event the following morning. Drew’s travel plans were also becoming an increasing source of worry for those who wanted him to attend and show everyone who’s boss at Battle Mode. They had so far included a sketchy lift deal with a Craigslist serial killer and the bright idea to show up at the airport without purchasing any airplane tickets…Anyway, time for a Louisiana style dinner! Spicy crawfish for everyone, except me as I have crustacean food allergy. Not to worry though, Kyle’s mom had made a delicious casserole and I could have as much as I wanted hehe. She had also made a great banana cake, which served for everyone’s breakfast for the coming two days; Southern hospitality indeed, very good stuff!! Meanwhile, during conversation Matt had dropped a hint that a mystery guest would be attending the ASMKC. His lips were sealed as to who it was, but he did provide us with a single clue…”all I know is, he’s pretty decent at Mario Kart too.” Matt’s smile said enough, whoever this guest was going to be, he/she must be a Super Mario Kart powerhouse. I’ll admit, pretty much all my money (96%...) was on it being ScouB. Out of all the top players who had considered attending (but ultimately announced they weren’t gonna make it), his plans had been the most advanced, including arranging a travel permit and passport. Also, ScouB would be the #1 favourite to win the event if he would show, so in a sense he had a lot to lose by not being there. I also entertained the idea of it being Guilherme Arantes or even Takashi somehow…I did not however consider Guillaume a.k.a. Antistar a real possibility, as he had told me a few weeks prior that his colleague had taken that week off, putting the final nail in the coffin for his chances to attend. Mofo… Saturday: ASMKC Day 1 The next morning we pretty much went to the venue straight away after a quick shower & breakfast. The venue did not disappoint! Located in a swanky office building complete with indoor trees and foliage, this was going to absolutely suffice for us for the coming days. Joe’s posse had not arrived yet and of course neither had Drew (though both had posted updates), but I did get to finally meet Andrew Koltz and Nathan Stinson! Now both names I have known for a long time; in fact Stinson had already ceased to be active in SMK when I arrived in the community way back in 2003. But he was still active in the Elite (most notably through the VA meets) throughout all this time. Stinson is one of the early SMK legends and he told me that he was even very close to becoming immortalized via the SMK hall of fame that is known as the Past Champions page. In fact, he said he has probably been #1 for a few days, but never for an entire update. What is certain is that he has driven World Records on the Vanilla Lakes back in the days. Good track choice sir! ;) It was very nice to finally meet him in person. http://i.imgur.com/HLKX0CN.jpg The Stinsmeister & me As for Andrew, all I know is that he had been around for many years already as well, sticking exclusively to Non-NBT all this time. Besides that he has one more thing in common with Simon Laflamme, the Godfather of Non-NBT. Andrew also writes detailed posts when he submits his PR’s, which I occasionally do as well when I feel like it. Keep doing that Andrew, we’re an endangered species! Very cool to meet you for sure! I also really enjoyed the Harvey’s neighbor anecdote when all you wanted to do was meet up and kart, it’s an instant classic! Halfway through the morning I heard a murmur at the office doors and sure enough, Joe, Vanessa and Clark had made it! And WTF……they had Guillaume in tow??! Boy, did I not expect him to show up! Joe’s description (in his excellent bilan) of my reaction was pretty funny, I can only imagine what my face looked like. I will say that my reaction was definitely amplified by how unexpected it was to see him there, all the way in Monroe. The pieces of the puzzle quickly fell into place: the mystery guest must have gone on the road trip with Team Joe, which is totally awesome. Another thing I realized is that there would be non-stop banter, mischief and positive energy with having Guillaume around for the entire weekend. Upon hugging Joe I got the feeling he had barely slept for 3 days, his eyes were bloodshot and he clearly needed some rest. This, more than anything, made the magnitude of their adventure clear to me. Thankfully, he and the rest of the road trip team appeared to recover very quickly. Mountain Dew, eh? One of the first things Joe did was shake my hand in person to congratulate me on the 11”63 GV1 flap, aka finally having caught the White Whale of Super Mario Kart. Without trying to sound overly dramatic, it dawned on me that this symbolized the end of an era for all of us. Anyway, time for the competition to start (still no Drew though…)! The Kartel didn’t waste any time and Matt grabbed the mic to announce how the tournaments were going to go. Time Trial was going to be exactly like at CDM, with two exceptions. The final would be played over 3 tracks (total time) and the extended wall-ride (CI1) was not allowed. The latter was a little surprising, as to my knowledge it is allowed at PAL CDM. I wasn’t going to do it anyway though, too risky. The group stage would be just to warm up to the event and NTSC SMK…as we had 13 competitors, we were all going to qualify. Guillaume and me were paired on TV #1, the streamed station. I got the honor to kick it off and did a pretty solid set, starting out with a 57 on MC1 and a 1’10 on DP1 with one mistake. I decided to go for a 1/5 GV1 platform-jump race, because it was essentially a risk free shot at a Championship Record with no fear of being eliminated. Of course I crashed it. Lord only knows how Guillaume keeps pulling that off during PAL CDM 1-try competition. Looking at the result sheet, I got 10 out of a possible 20 temps scratches (competition bests…the disclaimer being that not everyone’s times were listed on the sheet posted so far), not a bad score! Some may turn out to be already hard to beat Championship Records, who knows. Now would be a good time to mention that I am certainly not writing all this down from memory. I’m using a little memory mixed with the results Kyle posted and the streamed videos. Guillaume’s turn was up and he took a 2-1 lead early on, driving a better DP1 and not trying the platform at GV1…what happened to his balls?! Actually they were definitely still there, he was driving very sharp lines, not shy of crashing on a lot of tracks. I got out ahead on the majority of tracks, also because of his risky habits. Anyway, here is the TT result sheet Kyle posted: http://https://i.imgur.com/Le01jov.png As everyone’s results were being processed, there was going to be a big break. I sat down to play some MC1 to entertain the Twitch audience (remembering the feedback dan__h gave us about the CDM 2018 stream) and keep the form. The form was there for sure, I got within PR distance quickly and even managed to improve it after a while! 56”32, a 0”02 PR cut and a #2 tie with Marisa (I should maybe write alleged #2 tie….I mean, the legitimacy of the reclusive Japanese master may, sadly, never be certain). Andrew K. was watching the action and seemed inspired to try his first steps in NBT land thereafter. I suggested he should also watch Sami play some Ancient Way later, surely as robotical as SMK playing can possibly get. Much to my amusement it was announced that I was actually playing on the cartridge of none other than Nicholas Harvey! Here the idea took shape to set a bunch of very strong times on his cartridge, just to mess with him a little bit and thank him for his support in our own messed up way. The Harvey Record challenge was born :P Anyway, group stage results were in. Sami is typically the most consistent 1-try player around, so I fully expected him to win the group stage, especially with my failed GV1 exploit. To my surprise it was announced I was the winner of the group stage (in hindsight, calculate the totals on the sheet and you will find a different result actually). Time for the Top-16 then. Or top-13. Whatever, only 8 players would progress next and the tracks were going to be GV1 and DP2. A risky draw as both tracks are relatively easy to drive cleanly. No more platform-jumps from this guy…My runs went smoothly and I was quite certain it would be sufficient for top-8, possibly qualifying as #1. The same could not be said for Sami, who was paired with me on TV1. There was nothing wrong with his driving at all, but he missed both his zoomstarts! I figured his driving sharpness would overcome this still, surely there would be 5 players getting worse times than him. Sami seemed devastated (which I can imagine, normally he’d be top-2 in this) and was taken back to his top-16 defeat during the CDM 2018, where ScouB, him and me were all knocked out early. He started pacing around the venue to check on other people’s results. In the meantime, Joe walked up to the stream TV and checked out the DP2 time: “Hey, at least I beat that guy”. Dude, ‘that guy’ was Sami! “No waaay!” It turned out Clark was also barely ahead of Sami and it also turned out I was wrong. Both Sami and Leyla were out! Pretty shocking, this really felt like Alphen top-16 all over again. The consequence of this being that Clark was now the official NTSC Time Trial one-try champion of the UK! If he rubs that in half as many times as Lafungo did (and does) with his 1-try title of the Netherlands, I’d be impressed. We were all happy for Clark and cheered him on. [smiley=zark.gif] http://i.imgur.com/8limb6B.png Zarkov nice! Time for the quarterfinals: Andrew, Clark, Eric, Matt, Joe, Martin, Guillaume and me making up the top-8. I was hoping Matt would pass on and grab a medal here to immediately reward the Kartel for their awesome work here. The tracks were going to be MC2 and MC3, in short yet more Mario Circuit action! To Long Boost or not too Long Boost? Actually, for me that was never a question, I do not feel confident LB’ing this track in 1-tries at all. I just went safe and included more regular boosts than most people. The MC3 pipeboost was actually more tempting than the LB, but I think I left that one out as well. Both runs were pretty smooth, nothing crazy. Apparently it was enough to win the round again. 3 out of the 4 Europeans made it to the semis. Sadly, the Kartel members were out and Joe was left to defend the honor of the American continent. I was stoked Martin made it too, doubling the chance of a Dutchman in the final. Semifinals were played on MC1 and BC2. Considering I had just PR’ed on MC1 that was not a bad draw for me at all. Though BC2 can be tricky and was really going to determine the final result. I went flying out of the blocks with a low 57” 1-try, basically as good as it gets. Therefore I went very risk adverse on BC2, even taking a few yellow jump bars when I didn’t feel like facing the odds of the dreaded concrete drown. Scored a 1’42 in the end, like 1.5 seconds of safety margin compared to a more pushed 1-try. It was more than enough. Guillaume and I had made it to the final! The final would be played on KB1, CI2 and RR. That Rainbow Road was going to be the finale between Guillaume and I was the stuff of dreams. For years we have duked it out on this track in Time Trials, continuously fighting for the bragging rights of being the one true Rainbow God. First, Martin and Joe would play for the bronze medal on the same set of tracks as the final. It was hard to decide for me who to root for. Martin was my traveling companion and fellow Dutchie and Joe a lifelong friend (or at least it sure feels that way!). It was time to be neutral and just watch the action unfold. There wasn’t too much between the two on the first 2 tracks, though Martin had a slight lead already going into RR. Joe had started a little earlier though, so he still started RR first. This gif sums up Joe’s Rainbow Road experience, however... http://i.imgur.com/7ddlvyu.gif Things did not go well, he even got squashed. Martin finished well ahead of Joe, while having started the track later, and had already heard Joe laughing at his own mishaps throughout the race. Joe did in the end get the sub 2 min, but even that was a close call. Still a top-4 finish was not bad at all, especially coming out of such a tiresome journey. Martin was solid and calm under pressure as always, good stuff! So the 2 Dutchies had both made the podium then. Time to see whether I would start off my ASMKC career with a silver medal (to establish a new streak) or with an actual win. But that will be for the next part, as I ran over the character limit with the current post. ;) |
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Title: KVD's ASMKC Bilan: Part 2 Post by KVD on 04/07/19 at 03:26:22 Saturday: ASMKC Day 1 continued So yeah, time for the final. In all honesty, I would have hated to lose this one specifically as my silverino collection is big enough for many years to come, thank you very much. I was well aware that Guillaume would go crazy in his runs, like he did in his already legendary VL1 final race at CDM 2018. I reasoned that he would probably crash at least once using that approach, so in order to win I needed to crash exactly one time less. I won the coin flip to decide who could go first (the other person would need to go into isolation for a few minutes, which might increase mental stress levels, idk). KB1 can be a risky customer (obviously) and the final corner fish was in an awkward position on several of the laps. I swerved to the far left to avoid it, not wanting any close brushes with the last corner deep water either, which can easily stop you in your tracks. A 51” wasn’t great, but it certainly meant I was still in good shape for the gold. CI2 went about as good as it could go and a 1’03 finish is exactly what the doctor ordered. Finally, on RR I went almost dirty safe. I threw in a few boosts here and there, but avoided the inner lining of the track like the plague, knowing full well that a crash on that track was by far the costliest out of the 3 given tracks. By the way, if this final had been decided on average finish rather than total time, my approach on RR especially would have been completely different. I would have either crashed or gotten a low 1’25 at least. As it was now, I finished a 1’26 (whereas a really pushed 1-try would just about sub 1’25) and had not crashed in the final (and the entire KO stage for that matter) at all. I played my cards like I wanted to, so mission accomplished. If Guillaume would beat that, the hat would be off and it would have been a deserved gold and then some. Time for Guillaume to rise to the occasion. His KB1 beat mine by a second, he was not dropping any beats. At CI2 he went with the extra boost per lap strat, which is every bit as crazy as the approach he used for the VL1 final at CDM 2018. I mean, Eric doesn’t even do that in his flap PR and he is the 5-lap WR holder for crying out loud! In the end, this is exactly what cost Guillaume the gold, as he hit a bump during his zigzags that directed him straight into the last corner flower. He got a 1’07, which meant he pretty much needed WR level driving at RR to still snatch the gold. I gotta say though, style points for Guillaume once again for actually going with that strat on CI2. No guts, no glory. That can be said about his RR as well. He pushed it hard and scored a 1’25. I got the gold medal, but he got the ‘true Rainbow God’ bragging rights for another year. :) http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1z9N21XgAAtL54.jpg The Time Trial podium Lunch and dinner at the ASMKC for the most part consisted out of large proportions of pizzas (and good ones too, props to the Kartel once again!) and a collection of candy, snacks and some bananas and other fruits Martin had brought, to at least maintain the illusion of a healthy diet haha. He actually used them for his juggling antics too. The pizza eating was much more civilized than at your typical CDM feeding frenzy, I blame the French (and Aron to be fair ;)). About Martin’s juggling antics, he had told me during our journey that he had trained himself to juggle and recite pi at the same time. I mean, what?! In fact, if I recited a string of 4 digits within the first 300 or so decimals, he proved to be able to recite the flanking 4 digits on either side of the string. Sick shit! He also said his juggling rate was slower than his pi reciting rate, which I thought was a joke, but holy shit it wasn’t. He was reciting faster than I could even register… http://i.imgur.com/sEHBoam.gif Awesome juggling gif posted by Guillaume on Twitter. Now imagine him reciting pi at a faster rate than him catching those ‘balls’. Mad skills! Time for Match Race next! I was especially curious how the triple elimination system was going to work out, both from an organizer’s and participant’s point of view. In short, the answer was that it worked excellently. Especially from a participant’s point of view it worked smooth as could be and felt just right. Even Clark and Guillaume thought so, which is a big win as they were always among the most vocal proponents of the classic CDM style tournament formats (whenever double elimination was so much as mentioned anywhere). They may still favor that system for all I know, but at least they felt this worked well as an alternative too! Credits to the Randol brothers working with those paper brackets, it had the potential to be a mess, but they pulled it off. Sometimes we did not know what was currently going on, but the basic fact everyone was always aware of was how many lives they had left. Whatever happened, you would only be out if you had lost a total of 3 matches. About the MR action itself, I don’t remember a lot of details on specific matches, so I will be a bit briefer. But not before I give you this gif of what was quite possibly the best move of the entire ASMKC: Eric Olden’s nanner throw against an unsuspecting Zarkov… http://https://i.imgur.com/fvQaZRH.gif The reaction of both players says it all. So I got sent to the lower bracket early on by Guillaume (revenge eh), a match that was not streamed and I do not really remember any details of. My form was clearly still there though and I remember cruising through a lot of the matches. I also noticed a lot of my opponents were constantly missing zoom starts (and I somehow wasn’t?), resulting in some ‘free’ wins, even in my matches against Sami during the final stages of the tournament. In the lower bracket semifinal I managed to beat the Godfather 5-1. All in all, reason to be confident throughout the rest of the tournament. My confrontation vs Guillaume in the second minor final (these terms only makes sense when you’re acquainted with multiple elimination formats or when you can see the bracket I suppose, but bear with me) went down to the wire. A classic KVD vs Antistar meeting then, going toe to toe all the way, exactly like in so many matches we had before. What I remember from this match was that he kept getting ghosts in second. He was not lucky and I ended up winning the confrontation 5-4 to qualify for the real final (i.e. grand final). He would have to face Sami to decide who would be my opponent. Guillaume vs Sami in the bottom bracket final then, first to 5. The result: another nail biter, Sami edging it 5-4 with a classic ‘red shell + mushroom in the lead’ assisted MC1 win. Guillaume got the bronze, but it could have easily been better with a tad more luck. On to the MR final. Was it going to be double gold? That’d surpass my boldest expectations to be honest. Sami dropped many starts again and my performance was calm as I collected the wins and got into a 4-1 lead (first to 7). Sami clawed back into the match and for a moment it sure looked like it was going to be another 'KVD choking away a lead' scenario. Mostly it was just Sami playing better for those rounds and/or just getting the items he needed. It went to 6-6 and KB2 was going to be the decider. As a bit of an outlier we actually both got the zoom start in the deciding round and I picked up a red shell. I managed to convert the red shell opportunity at the end of lap 1 and cruised to victory. Two gold medals in a single day, wow! Immediately after the finish, the speakers started blazing the Karthritis intro tune (a really nice touch by the Kartel once again, preparing some specific winning tunes for the potential winners), which sparked me to run to the microphone and do a victory scream. An homage to Antistar’s TT 2018 scream of course, but nobody does it better to be sure. Now having finally been on both sides of the equation (the losing and winning side of a 2p final), I confirmed what I kind of always knew. When both players are so closely matched, it really comes down who gets the little extra push of lady luck at the right moment, or even just absence of bad luck sometimes really. One might have suspected a mental component too, with me getting that many silver medals through the years. Perhaps, but I didn’t approach this any different than before nor did it feel different. My conclusion is, unless there is a skill gap, it really just is the luck of the day. Either way, day #1 competition was over and the first triple elimination tournament had been nothing less than a success for all involved! http://i.imgur.com/2xHDYzZ.jpg Two ‘glods’ in one day, for realsies? We headed back to the Kartel mansion shortly after for a night of drinking & banter. Drew had posted some updates and in true Drew fashion, his traveling story was becoming ever sillier. There were some pictures of him sleeping next to a radiator (at an airport I suppose) and he had reportedly been arrested for soliciting by the Dallas police (sounds about right); so he made it to Dallas then. I believe Stinson summed up the situation best with his Tweet: http://i.imgur.com/rKcEHC4.png If I recall correctly, we played some Tetris99 that night (may have been another night tho) on the Kartel Switch and Martin managed to break the house record with a #6 rank after getting to grips with the control scheme first. I also talked to Chris a bit about his hiking plans involving the Appalachian trail and how he plans to film it (and even stream parts of it), which is going to be quite something when it all unfolds. And..ehhm…Dave Smith called! Or rather Joe called him back. He had just woken up and I’m pretty sure there was at least some alcohol involved. Very funny to talk to him and sure hope he can be there next year! Anyhow, everyone was also pretty tired after day 1 of the competition so we didn’t exactly pull an all-nighter. Sunday: ASMKC Day 2 I had woken up with a headache, which was no fun. It may have been caused by travel, jetlag, gaming or any combo of the above; I hoped it would go away with a coffee before the gaming action all restarted, but that would not be the case. To congratulate me with my double win from the day before, Guillaume gave me his famous Fatboy Slim “Im #1, so why try harder” shirt, which was another great gesture and one of the first bits of loot that headed my way. It’s a shirt with SMK historical value, as he had worn it on the day of his first CDM gold medal, the TT tourno of 2013. Of course that was the shirt I was going to wear for the day now, though I would wear an even better shirt at a later point during the day…We also woke up to the news that Drew was now finally near Monroe. He had rented a car, which broke down in a field somewhere 13 miles away from the venue…of course. Crystal and he then got a lift from a tow truck driver; we could follow all of this unfold on Twitter. Shortly after we all got to the venue Drew walked in…the best battle player in the world and USA’s best shot at a gold had finally arrived! Crystal had stayed behind at the Airbnb for a bit to rest after their crazy journey, fair enough! Time for GP150cc to start. Well NTSC GP is hard. It is probably the most demanding form of Super Mario Kart and it for sure is the fastest. We were definitely missing Takashi here as I feel he may have schooled all of us hehe. Again I don’t remember too many details from specific early tournament matches. One match that I do have strong recollections of is the lower-bracket-semifinal between Joost and Antistar. It was streamed and Joe was showing the world that he is not on the Past Champions page for nothing. He was clearly giving Guillaume a run for his money, but frustratingly he was really refusing to use advantageous items (or any item really). When he did not even use his feather to bag a free CI2 win, I felt exasperated, as it felt like he was the better player, but he was giving himself an unfair disadvantage. It prompted Joe’s legendary quote about him not wanting to use items: “It’s the gentlemen’s agreement that nobody else agrees too.” That was also the match where he drove that ridiculous VL2 race. He had always singled out VL2 as his main weakness during GP speedruns (and even TT for that matter). When him and me were doing speedrun races in the past and it would be close before VL2, it would not be close after, basically. That was the meme. The reality of the day was different. He started out trailing Guillaume by half a second or so, but lap by lap he was gaining on the Frenchie (who is actually a bona fide VL2 master). Eventually Joe passed him for real, only to get taken out by a red shell. Of course it was always going to end that way, but you won the people’s hearts with that match Joost. http://https://i.imgur.com/MxnanqI.gif Joost = Boozer. What a move! The GP tournament was running quite a bit longer than I had anticipated and I was fearing we would run out of time for the Battle tourno coming after. The Kartel didn’t seem too worried though. Meanwhile, we all got to meet Adam Ballard (Matt’s equally buff bro). He was going to compete in battle mode and seemed to be having a blast by just being there! He was a total life saver too when he got me an ibuprofen to help me with my headache. He asked a bunch of us to sign posters for his son, which was awesome and we were all really happy to do. This initiated a big round of poster signing from everyone. A mystery guy was signing all posters with ‘TTF’, but who could it be? It turned out to be Drew, as a nod to the conspiracy theory that Terrence Thiron Fenner is one of his alter egos. ;D http://i.imgur.com/KCnG42o.jpg Poster signing session. Someone’s poster got signature bombed, though I won’t be naming any names ;) Meanwhile, I was performing more like my old self again, shooting myself in the foot several times during the final(s) vs Sami. I messed up a couple DP3 shrooms, which is one of the easiest item related moves in NTSC multi. Instead of getting wins, they even got me outranked and insta lost me those special cups. Ouch! Lafungo texted me that those shroom misses made him nauseous. Speaking about Lafungo, he was probably the absentee that came up in conversation the most (of course after Harvey and Fenner). His 10”04 KB2 flap surprise was the talk of the day and Guillaume was teasing him for not being there and telling him to go to bed. Back to the GP final though: funnily enough, Sami was monitoring Leyla’s bronze medal match vs Guillaume while we were playing the final…multi-tasking that shit. When she crossed the finish to get the medal he instantly announced the result (in the middle of our race!). Sadly I did not get to fully witness Leyla winning her first ever SMK tournament medal (and neither did Sami, at least not really), but just knowing that she had done that was awesome enough. It brought a smile to both our faces and Sami was visibly proud. She has clearly moved far beyond the ‘just being there because Sami brought her image’ years ago already, but that win symbolized it more than anything else perhaps. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D15k2GAXQAADlJq.jpg Merité! Where were we? Ah yeah, we were playing a final. Sami got his first gold medal of the event and beat me in what felt like a pretty evenly sided match. So was Match Race the day before, so it was fair that he got his turn today. I got quite frustrated (KVD style) during two specific moments, which I will gif for you now as they are quite funny in hindsight. First on DP1 I shroomed towards the finishline, which was completely not necessary to secure 2nd place, but it’s just something you do. I went too close to the wall however and somehow hit that 1 forbidden pixel (why always me?)….triggering a 6th lap. Bye bye mushroom cup! Actually that mushroom cup was bonkers, I almost still came back, but it wasn’t to be. Secondly, Sami’s quadruple mushroom on CI1 absolutely got to me. I managed to body block two of his prior mushrooms, something that is very hard to accomplish and to be fair also requires a bit of luck to pull off. But after all that effort the game cynically just gave him a fourth shroom and made him win anyway. http://i.imgur.com/NPxsgu6.gif http://i.imgur.com/uvUuYkM.gif #WhyAlwaysme #WhatAreTheOdds #4Shrooms Overall it wasn’t too lopsided though. I also got 3 feathers on GV3 in one of the races for instance. People had mentioned a Grand Slam (or Chelem) to me (winning all 4 modes) and that was now no longer possible. I personally felt the Grand Slam dream had already left the door the very moment Drew entered the venue hahahaha. Woops, I ran out of characters again. The Battle Mode tourno and aftermath will follow in the final part. I should be able to wrap it up in two posts really, but it failed. :P |
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Title: KVD's ASMKC Bilan: Part 3 (Final) Post by KVD on 04/07/19 at 05:05:29 Sunday: ASMKC Day 2 continued There were two news crews that visited the venue, which interviewed Sami and Kyle. Much to my personal amusement one of the interviews was filmed right next to the prize table, featuring the epic ‘I <3 Fenner’ shirt prominently. I still wonder if that footage made the cut. That Fenner shirt was actually going to be up for grabs for either Zarkov or me. If either of us managed to best Guillaume in a direct Battle Mode face-off, it would be ours. Talk about a gauntlet! Zarkov really wanted the shirt, it was his creation and he wanted it back. Unfortunately, Zarkov did not get the chance to face him at all. I did however, and it was going to be streamed! I have hardly been more motivated for one specific tournament match ever and went at it guns blazing. The Fenner shirt was mine! Excitement all around and the best bit of loot to be sure. I realized this tradition deserves to be honored and will also put up the shirt as a challenge during the upcoming CDM. Perhaps Terrence can win it himself by beating me in a 1p Battle Mode sprint if he shows up…one can dream… http://i.imgur.com/Wl0RVgz.jpg http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D16CbSxX0AA9WE5.jpg Drew was indeed using Bowser and when I faced him he had not really woken up yet it seemed. I somehow managed to beat him, which was the key to my eventual medal here. I do not think I was the third best player there, I was fortunate to meet Drew when I did, as he demolished me 5-0 twice at a later stage of the tournament. This was the Kartel’s best chance for a medal (that and TT 1-tries for Matt), as both Matt and Kyle had played NTSC Battle matches at least semi regularly leading up the event. And they were already top-16 / quarterfinal material at PAL BM during last CDM. The form of the day and/or tournament experience let them down a little bit and they were in the lower brackets fighting for their tournament lives early on. Kyle faced Sami twice, which is a brutal way to go out. He did beat Matt in a thrilling Kartel final though, of which only the very last bit was streamed. Drew announced he had hit peak form during a match vs Antistar and no kidding, I found myself in the path of a perfect storm when I faced him again next. As I said, double 5-0s, I never had a ghost of a chance. I then faced Sami in the bottom-bracket-final and also lost 5-0. Those defeats felt very different. Against Drew it just feels like you get brutalized, but against Sami it feels more like you’re constantly chasing a ghost. You never really get a shot while he slowly chips away at your life power from a distance. My BM kryptonite, I still have no idea what to do against it. But whatever, Sami and me had actually both won battle mode medals?! Putainattle! http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D16FlCZWsAEsPG8.jpg The Kartel final http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D16y8-iXgAAhSmH.jpg I would like to thank ScouB, Neo, Kart_King, Garro, HAK, Harold and Geo for making this picture possible by not being there. [smiley=lolk.gif] The final between Drew and Sami was a close affair actually. One always had the feeling Drew had the upper hand though, somehow creating those very hard to get openings vs Sami by just being completely crazy. During the match-point round Drew had Sami down to one balloon and stated his odds of winning now being 96%. Hilarity ensued. You can watch the short clip here (though it didn’t get conveyed particularly well on stream): https://www.twitch.tv/videos/404029329 Drew did convert the match point and got the American gold medal that the American SMK Championships deserved. The Kartel had prepared a brilliant video for the occasion that involved a Trump speech, footage of the Twin Towers, the whole shabang, much to the amusement of everyone in the venue of course. Sami and Leyla were shaking their British heads for minutes haha! To top that off the overall podium (Me, Guillaume and Sami) all got rewarded a gold plated Trump coin. It also dawned on me that I had actually become the ASMKC’s first overall champion, as I was rewarded the best SMK medal I have ever seen! The Kartel truly delivered awesomeness on all fronts this weekend. I was the first to the prize table and acquired my final piece of loot, a brilliant Zelda art book. Once again provided by Guillaume. Basically all excess luggage he brought to the USA was directly transferred to my backpack…I will definitely bring some stuff to the CDM 2019 as well to repay the kindness. http://i.imgur.com/pJ961Ic.jpg Making SMK Great Again, USA wins the gold! http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D17S8CcWwAE7i9i.jpg The best medal ever made http://i.imgur.com/tCcIuhZ.gif Zelda art book impression Sorry for those post containing more pictures than actual text so far. As Moll already pointed out on Discord I am starting to look like Krysster with these posts. So the ASMKC2019 was over, we all took a group picture (so yeah, one more picture I guess) and went to the Kartel place for the after party. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D17VfZOXcAA-t0g.jpg The group <3 The aftermath & trip to Mexico It didn’t take long before we started watching obscure internet videos. Joe already mentioned the legendary Kyle Randol handstand tutorial that absolutely killed all of us. We instantly subbed his channel and you should too. Of course such an evening is not complete without its fair share of Fenner videos. We gave the good old ‘Sad and Devastating News’ (#SaveGhettoKarter1992) a spin, but things really got out of control when we got to the DailyMotion stuff. Sargoth and me had ‘discovered’ this monstrosity of a Mario cartoon dubbed over with T-Man explicits back in Alphen (in our hotel room that wasn’t really a hotel, but I digress) and almost didn’t live to tell the tale. Minds were blown in Monroe, that’s all I can say. http://i.imgur.com/zqxBw1u.gif Antistar ‘killed’ by T-Man’s King Koopa Scoopa The man was literally wiping the tears out of his eyes. Vanessa totally lost it too. Joe, being a good boyfriend, had shielded her from these videos for all these years, but the moment had come. ;D The next morning a lot of people were leaving, sad (but also happy) goodbyes all around. Matt took Martin, Sami, Leyla and me to Five Guys for a lunch that packed enough nutrients for a day. In the evening we started to really work on the Harvey Record challenge, the first goal was getting 40/40 HRs (all cartridge times better than his current PRs). Eric & me started out taking turns on CI2 while the rest were playing a high stakes poker game. Time Trial grinding is usually a very solitary experience, so getting to share it with Eric was fun. From talking with him I know how much blood, sweat and tears went into his CI2 records and I wanted to pull a Sami and interrogate him on some of the more advanced tricks & micro strats that the course offers. We were both expecting both of us to sub 1’03 within half an hour, but somehow Harvey’s curse was with us and it didn’t happen (Eric blamed the TV). As the evening progressed Matt and Martin joined us and we all took turns shooting at all the records. Chris announced there would be a real prize at stake too, another gold coin, but an even more badass one! For whoever netted the most impressive HR…Matt got sub minute on GV1 with a 5/5, Martin got a Long Boost race on MC2 and Eric had gotten the best CI2 time out of the two of us in the end. Eric’s VL2 3 boost-a-lap + island-jump strat had to be seen to be believed too! Very creative, very weird and somehow effective. My best effort was probably landing a big island jump flap (8”83?) within a few minutes, which should take Nicholas a while to beat. ;) After some discussion we could not decide who should win the coin, so we’re gonna leave it to the Gulfport oracle to decide that one. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1_9cH-XcAI_nIV.jpg The HR challenge well under way! The 40/40 HR mark was reached shortly after. The next day we walked around in the park to get a taste of the Monroe life and Matt took us to a waffle house for lunch. Hallowed ground it turned out, we were sitting at the very boot where Matt & Kyle had conducted their business meetings to discuss all matters regarding the organization of the ASMKC. Shortly after it was our time to fly out. Martin and I were the last of the Mohicans, but alas we too had to leave. Flying back to Mexico City. The check-in at Monroe airport felt like a Monty Python sketch, there were a handful of people there (there was more personnel than there were people checking in!) and it still took like 10 minutes. I have never seen a slower and less competent ground crew at an airport. Thankfully we had enough time, so it was only comedic. A few hours later Martin and me had landed in Mexico and were about to embark on a grand new adventure. I will not go into the extensive details as this is not a holiday bilan, but I will post a few more pictures and gifs. I will say that it was an unforgettable experience and do recommend Mexico as a traveling destination to anyone. It was a huge bonus that Martin speaks Spanish quite well, which I sensed opened up a lot of doors for us. Martin is a lot more seasoned at traveling the world than I am and it showed, I was very unprepared compared to him and learned a lot. Big thanks to Martin there! In short the people of Mexico were nice, the food was very good (and spicy!), the temples were awesome and so was the scenery. Would go again. :) http://i.imgur.com/Vn4mRki.jpg La calzada de los Muertos, Teotihuacán http://i.imgur.com/50iePLE.jpg Balloon ride http://i.imgur.com/CirKrpG.jpg A rare dan__h approved selfie (from the balloon) http://i.imgur.com/BaHJssp.gif Just Martin chilling on a lawnmower turned scooter |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 04/08/19 at 10:21:51 Welp, I was hoping that after all this time you would have written at least something interesting. :johncleese: I kid; nicely done, buddy. Thanks for the recap and hopefully it won't be another three years until we see each other again. P.S. - I'll be saying the exact same thing when Guillaume posts his "bible-lan," except it was four years since I saw him last (CDM 2015). [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by SMKChamp on 04/09/19 at 15:05:24 I didn't ask for an interview because I thought it would only show up on the local news station where only a handful of locals would bother to see it, and I was way too tired to put myself together for that. 092330272E420 wrote:
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/10/19 at 13:52:36 Any news from the Kartel yet? Just letting y'all know that I won't be available for this Friday because I've already made a commitment with family. If you don't think you can get together and come see me any time soon for whatever reason, just go ahead and ship my stuff to me, at least I'll have it back, but feel free to visit the Mississippi coast any time you want! Just let me know exactly when and where you'll be so maybe we can run into each other. (Also, don't forget to check weather forecasts before you set out.) You know we have casinos here, right? And Matt, I swear I remember seeing a Britney Spears slot machine around somewhere (not sure which casino, though, but I'm guessing it's at Hard Rock). 8-) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Cire Nedlo on 04/12/19 at 07:53:25 Severe weather is forecast for tomorrow, how about Sunday? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/12/19 at 09:23:40 We don't recommend visiting my area within the next week, unfortunately, due to the spring break crowds. I'd love to show you our beaches and local casinos, and it's just going to be too crowded all over town this week. Over 30,000 visitors are expected and all the major roads will be bumper to bumper. (My dad is the one who's driving.) If it has to be on a weekend, Eric, I would just pick a random weekend this spring, maybe between now and Memorial Day, such as the weekend before Mother's Day or after Easter where we can get out and have a good time without worrying about the crowds. I appreciate you being willing to make the trip, but I would just choose a different weekend. Don't think I'm making excuses not to meet with you. My dad said this. It's his house. He makes the rules around here. He worked 30+ years at the shipyard in Pascagoula (a 30-mile commute away!) to pay for this place and I highly respect that. (And I'd love for you to spend the day with him, too! I invited him, of course) Remember that family outing I mentioned in the above post? We're not doing it today because my uncle (who planned it) failed to take spring break into account (as did I, at first), and changed his mind after my dad warned him about that. We're probably going to stay close to home until this spring break bullshit is over. I know it's hard to make plans this far out but how about... the weekend of April 27-28? Let's try that weekend first. Weather permitting, of course. I can wait that long to get back my copy of SMK and my PAL-capable SNES 8-) Next weekend, which is Easter, might be doable if you really want to be here sooner, but I'm not totally sure how crowded places will be then. I just know that after Easter, spring break will be over and traffic levels will be back to normal. This place attracts a lot more tourists than you may realize given that it's a part of the country you don't hear much about in media. 30,000 people is nearly half my town's population but if we assume they'll be divided between Gulfport and Biloxi, which total about 120,000, that's still a 25% population increase... and they will all be on the roads at the same time. Especially the roads serving the beach and casino areas that I'd most like you to see. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Eric Kart-man on 04/12/19 at 13:33:20 It will be better overall to wait, Matt is going to orange beach with family this weekend so he was not gonna make it, I'd prefer for you, and your father to meet him as well. That weekend sounds great, I've been to Biloxi, but not Gulfport. I use to like to go to the Casino when I worked for the postal service, probably way too much, especially when the liquor was flowing. The postal service was easily the most stressful job, and I'm glad that ship has sailed, but the money was nice. The last time I really drank was CDM 2017, to get the edge off. I have bad anxiety, and social awkwardness but I've become very comfortable with the community as a whole. I'm ready to meet the final "Libra Legend" and I'm looking forward to it! One of my life goals is to take a pic with you, Sami, and KVD! Legends are born in October, fun fact: Sami is 8 days older than me, and I'm almost exactly 3 years older than KVD! Keep me posted, and if you get a hankering for your console before we meet up let me know! - Eric |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/12/19 at 14:09:46 I feel flattered that you're calling me a "legend", there are more talented Karters out there who reached higher ranks than I did, in less time. I may have been a regular here for the past 11+ years, but that doesn't make me a legend, just someone without much of a real life. :D I certainly wouldn't put myself in the same league as Sami and KVD, a picture of the three of us would be like the mayor of Gulfport getting a picture with Queen Elizabeth II and the King of the Netherlands. Also, I wasn't born in October, but on the last day of September. I suppose Matt is currently on his own spring break? :D ...Excellent choice of screen name, by the way! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dave Smith on 04/12/19 at 16:02:37 Sorry Nick But I am "The" "Legend" |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 04/12/19 at 22:38:26 "Every generation has a legend" http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2019/15/6/1555137484-static-assets-upload7146634019352646756.jpg |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 04/13/19 at 00:50:35 ^I clicked on this thinking you had posted your bilan. :-[ ps: that is indeed an awesome screen name Eric! [smiley=thumbsup.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 04/15/19 at 14:50:19 0C2635222B470 wrote:
I was thinking the exact same thing. Instead we got one sentence and one picture, which I imagine will be the exact opposite of his actual bilan... http://https://i.imgur.com/BXbKvb0.png |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 04/16/19 at 03:01:35 I appreciate how you found a way to post the John Cleese smiley on the MB, Joost. http://https://i.imgur.com/BXbKvb0.png |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 04/16/19 at 10:53:36 The non-Discord crew should be made privy to the glory that is the John Cleese emote. http://i.imgur.com/BXbKvb0.png Also, credit should go to Etch, whom I hounded on discord to add it to the list of emotes on this board, but this was the best we could do (for now). [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 04/17/19 at 00:04:58 I think actually only the Discord crew should be allowed to use it. http://i.imgur.com/BXbKvb0.png (oh look, another post from me in this topic with a single line of text and one picture! happy, Karel?) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/17/19 at 10:35:56 Koltz has expressed interest in joining the Kartel on their trip to Gulfport at the end of this month. Please be aware that you all can't spend the night at my place-- there is no room in my home for multiple guests-- so those of you planning on visiting will either need to find a hotel room in town or simply try to make it back home on the same night. (This should also be doable for everyone since Monroe is about the same distance from here as Lake Charles, and back when I used to go there with my family when my grandmother was alive, we rarely spent the night there and usually came back home the same evening.) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Eric Kart-man on 04/18/19 at 06:22:30 That's great news Nick! I haven't got to talk any travel plans, but it would be nice to arrive shortly after noon, and head back later that evening. I've been semi-retired from SMK as of late other than a very short session of time trials, and getting my ass handed to me in battle mode when I make the trek to Monroe. In fairness I never get to practice that mode, but I'll have a few shining glimmers of nice moments. Ironically I've been putting a lot of hours in gardening, primitively at that. I stumbled upon an old logging tire that bees have made a home in at close proximity to the watermelon patch. This made me incredibly happy because they are "bee-coming" more of a rare find every year, and pollination tends to concern me. I showed Heather, and was stung almost immediately, whilst I'm all up in them, and fine. I honestly think I have a good relationship with nature, and know what kind of energy to put off. I'm also growing a lot of peppers on a broad scale of various heat for a kartel pepper challenge gauntlet that will likely destroy me. Jalapeño, Serrano, Tabasco, dragon cayenne, habanero, and ghost peppers. Trinidad scorpion was going to be the grand finale, but they failed to germinate. When grown correctly habanero and ghost can be devestating enough, late June to mid July get ready to laugh at our misfortune, :). Looking forward to the weekend after next, and Zarkov has a very nice CDM video everyone should check out! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/24/19 at 12:16:44 Any word yet on what day and time you plan on arriving this weekend? I'd like to at least give you a quick tour of my place and then we can have dinner at one of the casino buffets and maybe gamble a bit if you have a little time, assuming you all plan on heading back home that evening. Don't forget to have a look at our beaches, if you've never been to this area before. Also, remember not to drink and drive. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Andrew K on 04/24/19 at 21:33:16 ^I’ve got a 9.5 hour drive from St. Louis and a busy Friday so Saturday afternoon would be the absolute earliest I could get there. If the Kartel is planning on coming for one day, then meeting on Sunday would be easiest for me as I’d have all of Saturday to make the trip south. I have all of Monday to drive back so staying somewhere in Gulfport Sunday night wouldn’t be an issue. Already can’t wait for this trip to happen [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/25/19 at 15:52:29 So Kartel, can I expect you to arrive here some time around midday Sunday? I assume you'll all be able to find my home if you have a Garmin or other mapping program in your car (my aunt has one of these, but my family's car doesn't) as long as you saved my address when I sent you the package in March. If you really need directions just PM me. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Eric Kart-man on 04/25/19 at 19:29:01 Looking forward to it, Sunday sounds great! We should not have an issue finding your place we have gps and your mailing address. Any special request Nick? I'm going to bring you a more functional pad for your snes btw. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/25/19 at 20:10:27 So who all plans on coming? I know you and Andrew Koltz are; I assume Matt and Kyle are coming also? I don't really ask anything special of you guys, other than returning to me everything I sent to you for the ASC last month. I'd really love to show you around my place, let you see some of the interesting stuff that I own, and also let you meet Cricket. :D I'd love for all of us to go out to dinner together somewhere Sunday afternoon (I assume you still want to do this?), preferably at one of the casinos in Biloxi, my dad and I would like to show you Beau Rivage in particular (too bad this isn't Christmas season), and I'm sure you'll want to take a few pictures from this meeting also. Maybe do a little gambling if we have time. And, of course, play a little SMK at my place, time permitting, so I can try out that new controller. P.S. How are those peppers coming along? I bet you'd love to show them off at the next ASC [smiley=evil.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 04/25/19 at 23:09:13 You gotta get a group photo guys. This is an incredible moment in Kart history! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 04/26/19 at 00:18:51 What Zarkov said, the history cannot be overstated. 8-) Have fun! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 04/26/19 at 07:09:56 2B29262627262B24293A23480 wrote:
Perhaps the bigger one since the day Shock met Fenner and his ironing board! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Chrono Krysster on 04/26/19 at 08:12:00 2C0013080E5957610 wrote:
Perhaps the bigger one since the day Shock met Fenner and his ironing board![/quote] I think the next Shock will be when the world could be able to (finally) read on the MB the solution of 7 + 7 ÷ 7 + 7 × 7 - 7 = Antistar's biblical bilan ::) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/26/19 at 18:52:02 Since Jackson would be right along the route from St. Louis to Gulfport (I-55 + US 49), I'm assuming that Koltz is going to set out from St. Louis on Saturday and spend that night at home with his family before heading for the coast on Sunday, so that everybody can get here at about the same time. He could also head for Jackson on Sunday evening if he wants and spend that night at home also, allowing him to spend two nights in the comfort of his own home as well as not having to spend money on a hotel room anywhere nor make the entire 10-hour drive either way in one day. Right? I'll try to be on my front porch waiting for everybody around midday Sunday. If you think you will need to call me in case you need help, or have an emergency, let me know and I'll PM you a number Saturday night. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/27/19 at 19:07:43 ...Considering that y'all are planning on making the long drives to visit me tomorrow, you guys sure have been quiet today! :-/ I'm currently practicing some time trialing on my Japanese copy of SMK, though I haven't been too impressed with the times I've been getting so far tonight. I did just get a 53"31 on VL2, despite hitting the water a few times (which is what turns 51"xx runs into 52"xx or 53"xx runs anyway). It's going to be a long way before I return to PR-level form for sure, especially Non-NBT. (P.S. Also got a 54"28 for VL1, which I'm okay with considering how rusty I am. Oh well. At least I'm still driving at Top 100 level. Could be worse...) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Humanoidgale on 04/28/19 at 04:44:52 The Kartel (minus Ben) is headed your way! See you around noon Harvey 8-). |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Andrew K on 04/28/19 at 09:09:37 The Kartel ETA is around 12:45 now and I’ll be there about the same time. Can’t believe this is finally happening!! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 04/28/19 at 14:49:50 Any news? I'm going to be now (almost 1AM here), I hope to read interesting stuff when I wake up! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Andrew K on 04/28/19 at 15:09:09 The Kartel arrived around 1 and we all got the tour of his house. His room was a goldmine of Nintendo memorabilia and other interesting stuff, more details to come later! We’re heading back to his place after stuffing ourselves at the casino buffet. The slot machines paid for Nick’s dinner [smiley=engel017.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Saint-Nicholas des É.-U. on 04/28/19 at 17:57:51 Playing Battle Mode with Andrew and the Kartel right before they left was a blast! They took turns playing against me and I think we finished with me having around 10 wins and Andrew & the Kartel around 24. I started to find my rhythm in the later matches, but I'm a total beginner in Battle Mode (having no good human players to practice against) and I'm just starting to pick up on some basic Battle strats, such as learning the regions on the map by color to see where you and your opponent are going and watching both your screen and your opponent's to see where you and your opponent are in relation to each other (i.e. you don't want to be in front of someone who has a red shell, but you do want to be behind someone when you have the red shell). The whole cat-and-mouse element is a helluva lotta fun and makes for a very different experience from the usual racing for the fastest times. It almost feels more like Pac-Man at times than a Kart racing game, think of how Pac-Man is normally running from the ghosts but when he gets a power pellet, he becomes the one doing the chasing. Except instead of power pellets it's red shells and stars. I will do everything I can to make sure I see you all next spring. Can't wait to meet Joe, Sami, Antistar, and the rest of you guys... I heard you're all going to be back next year! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dan H on 04/28/19 at 21:57:25 In my mind, Harvey is still a Duff alt, even if site members have now met him. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Chrono Krysster on 04/28/19 at 22:27:00 0B2F282823150809113227460 wrote:
http://i.imgur.com/vSnsqW7.jpg <<--this is obviously a mask-- nice try Drew!!! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 04/29/19 at 01:26:15 7C5B515A5D5E53416D7A534044574B320 wrote:
Cool to read this. But did you play 2P racing modes too or just BM? lol |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 04/29/19 at 02:13:19 This meet is gonna overshadow your bilan Mario. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 04/29/19 at 02:46:52 You waited too long... [smiley=dead.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dan H on 04/29/19 at 21:42:53 6B52595353544552171717200 wrote:
http://i.imgur.com/vSnsqW7.jpg <<--this is obviously a mask-- nice try Drew!!![/quote] Yeah, cuz Duff certainly couldn't put "fat Mississippi redneck" into google image search and come up with a picture like that, lol. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 04/29/19 at 22:08:12 735F4C575106083E0 wrote:
Cool to read this. But did you play 2P racing modes too or just BM? lol[/quote] We only played TT and BM. I did some TTing on both PAL and NTSC to show everybody my basic techniques (including some NBT on MC1) although none of the times I drove were very impressive (I was trying to talk to the Kartel and play the game at the same time) and I didn't even do five complete laps on some of the tracks. Later I had Eric show me his CI2 chops. He, too, wasn't at his best (although he did hit a 12"6x lap and a 1'06"xx 5lap after a few tries)... but can anybody really drive their best in an unfamiliar setting with an unfamiliar TV set and controller, all the while trying to hold a conversation with four other guys? Certainly this is a big part of what makes a good tournament player-- they have to be able to play at close to their best level while not being in the comfort of their home, and must be able to fully concentrate on the race with opponents and spectators nearby watching (gotta overcome that stage fright). If we had more time, then hell yeah we would have raced. I would have loved for them to take turns racing me in MR or have a Mississippi GP Championship against Mr. Koltz. Maybe next time... I'm still waiting for Andrew and the Kartel to tell their stories of this historic meeting. Everybody did make it home safely, right? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Chrono Krysster on 04/29/19 at 22:09:00 426661616A5C4140587B6E0F0 wrote:
http://i.imgur.com/vSnsqW7.jpg <<--this is obviously a mask-- nice try Drew!!![/quote] Yeah, cuz Duff certainly couldn't put "fat Mississippi redneck" into google image search and come up with a picture like that, lol.[/quote] LMAO HAHAAHA ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D You peeps are really crazy [ch9829] 71565C5750535E4C60775E4D495A463F0 wrote:
ASMKC 2K20 or Tokyo 2020-- you know the right choice for you. ;) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 04/30/19 at 00:35:55 183F353E393A3725091E372420332F560 wrote:
Sure I can! And I guess Karel, Sami and high skilled players like Zarkov also can. Sad you couldn't play MR/GP though. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Eric Kart-man on 04/30/19 at 12:44:38 I'll do an extensive write up very soon on this legendary meeting! I've been busy with work, gardening, pecan wood harvesting for smoking chips (trees are old and on last legs), and random yard work. Of course my handful of a son plays a factor too, he has been playing kong kong 2 (DKC2) with me. Sorry I shit the bed on CI2, me forgetting my controller was a huge factor. Nerves weren't an issue I was doing much better playing with Karel last month. Still unacceptable times regardless. I can't overstate how welcoming you, and your family were to us. You are the real deal for anyone that has any doubts, your general knowledge is astounding, and crushing a crossword puzzle live action in just over ten minutes while carrying on conversations, unbelievable! Nick would destroy Jeopardy, and any contest likewise. Hopefully that day comes because it needs to happen. I'll have more feedback soon, looking forward to coming back for a visit later this summer for that fishing trip! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 04/30/19 at 13:17:54 Glad to see you made it back okay! I was worried because I hadn't heard from any of you since you left Sunday night. BTW my PR for DKC2 (102%, 40 DK coins) is 1:59. Erik Agard, the current crossword champion (and also a repeat champion on Jeopardy!) finishes Sunday NYT crosswords in five minutes, according to editor Will Shortz. That's beyond human. I suppose I'm not too bad doing it in ~15[ch20998], but good solvers can consistently do it in under 10[ch20998]. My personal record is around 11[ch20998] for a Sunday. (Yes, that's the Chinese/Japanese symbol for minutes, we really need to adopt that one here in the West, along with the [ch19975] symbol for the number 10,000, e.g. expressing a quantity like 125,000 as 12.5[ch19975] instead.) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 04/30/19 at 13:29:39 Nah, not really. If we were concerned about adopting to outside ideas that make far more sense then we would have made the switch to metric ages ago... [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 04/30/19 at 13:46:18 ^ You're right about that. Although every educated American does (or at least should) know metric and can do quick mental conversions, we prefer the tried-and-true Imperial system, along with the UK, Liberia, and Myanmar. Still, it's a hell of a lot more fun to say that your town has a population of 7[ch19975] (pronounced ban, like the last syllable of Autobahn) rather than 70,000 or even 70K. Finally broke down and turned on my A/C today after the thermostat read 82 degrees indoors. (Yes, I know, this is about 28°C). It was a little stuffy in my room during the meet, don't you think? Unfortunately it's going to be in the 80s every day now here, with nighttime temps struggling to get below 70. That's the worst part about living here. Give me Denmark's climate any day. Then I wouldn't fucking need that A/C. :D And least I'm not in India (not sure, does the average Indian home have A/C yet in 2019?) Eric still did better on CI2 Sunday than I did last night. Best 5lap was a mid-1'07" (PR: 1'06"18) but I was mostly experimenting with various mud lake trajectories for a flap. I couldn't get past the low thirteens :( PR is 12"82, not sure how many sub-13" laps I've gotten. I think I'll be using my Japanese cartridge for PR attempts now so I won't ever get my records mixed up with those that were set at the ASC. P.S. Drove a 1'06"xx this evening along with a 12"98 (three times, LOL). I guess there's a reason why my 1'06"18 / 12"82 is still my PR. I'll have to find another track to throw my spare time at, or just try CI2 again on PAL. (EDIT: Got really close to both of my PRs on PAL but my hands are tired and need a rest. I saved the ghost of a 1'09"4x run that loses about half a second in the final lap, so when I'm up for CI2 again, I'll have something to go by-- important on a course where your speed can very so much from lap to lap) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/01/19 at 22:20:51 Hi Karel, this is my ASMKC bilan [smiley=bath.gif] (This was worth the month and a half wait... [smiley=johncleese.gif] - Joe) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/01/19 at 22:21:19 This is reserved for Pt. II [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/01/19 at 22:21:52 Like the Godfather, there's even gonna be a part three [smiley=zark.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Danger M on 05/02/19 at 04:52:31 664A594244131D2B0 wrote:
tldr |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Lily on 05/02/19 at 07:03:49 5E7C7F7F130 wrote:
tldr[/quote] tldr: bilan |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/02/19 at 12:13:31 The Tacoma Bell Situation Everything was going perfectly, things were going better than expected like we use to say. I could wake up properly, take both quick trains to Paris airport in time under a beautiful sun, get checked in easily, and found my way to the best possible seat ever: nobody was behind me but the restroom, I was close to the window, and had no neighbor. How could you dream about a better 11-hour flight? I could watch three movies (Bohemian Rhapsody, John Wick 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story), enjoy a decent meal, and even arrive right in time, at around 1:30 PM, in Seattle – yeah, Seattle, because since I had booked my flights very lately as a surprise guest, I could not find any Paris to Denver one for a good price. Seattle was OK for me though: as a total Nirvana nerd, I had always wanted to visit that town once, so even if I couldn't make it to the city itself, the symbol behind it was really nice. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822406-01.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822406-01.jpg) So, I had to take my suitcase back and to check it in again for the 3:25 flight to Denver. This is where bad things started to happen. Oh, I won't complain that much about 3 of the 5 GTA V stickers missing from my suitcase and that would be gone forever; getting my luggage was an excellent first step, unfortunately followed by a list of cancellations for ALL flights from Seattle-Tacoma Airport to Denver International that afternoon. Getting in touch with Joe made me realize that a massive snowstorm had totally paralyzed the main airport of Colorado the day I had to go there (and I also realized that I was not alone, because Clark also had to land in Denver and couldn't either, being moved to… Las Vegas, lol). So I could do absolutely nothing but waiting until the day after for that goddamn snow to get the fuck out of Denver and let me meet my friends later than expected. We were supposed to leave Joe's place on Thursday morning around 9 AM: in the best possible case now, Clark and I would be in Denver by the very end of the morning, or more likely, the beginning of the afternoon. I took care of being given a new flight ticket for the next morning (7:59 AM, Seattle time) and some kind of discount ticket for local hotels. Could have been worse. Well, was gonna be worse, but not before the next day. Chatting with a French workmate who knew Seattle and the Tacoma area pretty well helped me to choose a hotel that could fit with my price range, so I just had to get a Uber and meet a very friendly hotel lobby team telling me they were already full, but took care about calling every other hotel like theirs around until they found one who could welcome me – and they even drove me for free there, which was a good way to forget a bit how messy this journey had gone. I saw a Taco Bell on the road, I hadn't gone there since my trip to New York City in September, 2013, because we do not have a single one in Europe, and that was only a 20-minute walk from the hotel under a very non-Washington weather (I mean, sunny and without the shadow of any wind). I must confess Taco Bell went a bit worse than in my memories even if still OK, and when I went back to my hotel room it was probably 5 PM, so something like 1 AM in France, which meant I was awake for 20 hours. Time to go to bed, set the alarm to 5 AM, and have some fun watching the American TV channels. Bed and mattress adverts, Donald Trump, NFL, AirPod conspiracies, dubious lawyer adverts, NBA, Donald Trump again, some senator going racist, NASCAR, Donald Trump once again, and I think I fell asleep. Oh, and the hotel corridor looked like the one in Silent Hill’s dreadful "playable teaser" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZJu-wyoWr4). http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822484-02.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822484-02.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822481-03.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822481-03.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822473-04.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822473-04.jpeg) I did not dream about Donald Trump but about my ex girlfriend, which is technically not better (for the record, we were together when he was elected and I remember she woke me at 5 AM saying "Trump won, that's the end of the world"). But that bed was absolutely awesome, fortunately. Of course, I woke up at something like fucking 1:15 AM. I remember I went on Discord to chat with Joe and Clark privately about those adventures, and on the SMK channel to see mostly Europeans in the morning. It was pretty logic for me to be on Discord at something which was probably 10 AM in France – after all, I still had to keep the secret for two big days, it would have been sad to make a stupid mistake so close to the finish line! I actually made a single one that I discovered three weeks after – I had disabled location on my tweets, but not on the FFSMK Twitter account, which I used once when in Tacoma for one single publication… having the extremely awkward "From SeaTac, WA" attached to it (https://twitter.com/FFSMK/status/1106129618015121409). Funnily enough, that tweet was quoting Karel's bad quality PR video while having Lafungo playing Breath of the Wild on the TV close to him. Karel even answered it and could have just seen the detail of the tweet location but it looks he did not. Well, perhaps he could also have thought that was ScouB's, work, because he seemed to think he was gonna be a surprise guest, and he also has access to the FFSMK social media logins. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822355-05.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822355-05.png) I arrived at Tacoma Airport way too early, because I didn't want to take any single risk. Checked in at 5:20 AM for a 7:59 flight, whatever: Denver, here I come! Oh, there's already a 1-hour delay, departure time is now set at 8:59. Three hours and a half to wait, well that's no big deal, my MacBook's fully charged, so is my Nintendo Switch, and I even have some work to do with this (the beginning of a complete walkthrough of some video game that I'm not supposed to display and/or tell about at this moment because of embargo issues, woops). So I play, I write, flight's delayed once again to 9:59 AM, then to 10:59, still because the weather conditions around Denver are said to be terrible. I eventually realize I have no specific seat on my ticket, which happens to be a stand-by one, which I didn't really know about, being not really familiar with planes and that kind of stuff. "You're on a waiting list", the Delta staff woman says to me, explaining all flights to Denver up to Saturday (!) are sold out because of yesterday's rampage. What the hell. So I'm pretty sure I'm gonna miss that one, which was delayed to 11:59 meanwhile by the way, and this happens indeed: they never call my name (it turns out I was #8 on their list). The next one leaves Denver at 1:20 PM, and this time, I'm #3 (so I need to try harder, eh), which gives a lot of hope. The only good thing that happened between 11:59 and 1:20 was the McDonald's meal I ate, because I discovered some food I never had the opportunity to see in France, and because, you got it right, I was never called once again. Next flight was at 3:25 PM, which was actually the one I was supposed to take the day before. I never knew what my number was on the waiting list, they couldn't even check it. At that moment I started to think about buying a ticket to New Orleans and ask Matt to go after me (Matt and Eric were the two other knowing about me attending ASMKC in hiding), but I was eventually called, and the Delta guy tried to pronounce my name so badly I had to show him my boarding to pass and say "is that me you just called, lol?" (well, I didn't say "lol" but I could have). End of Chapter 1. Sweet Home Colorado (and everything but Texas) Everything was going perfectly, things were going better than expected like we use to say. The airplane even arrived in Denver 25 minutes earlier than the estimated time, the (slightly fading) light of the day making me realize there still was a lot of snow and ice on the landing track. Which actually turned out to be another problem: the plane just could not drive to that safe spot where the door opens to help all the passengers walk into the airport. It took one hour and a half to make this possible, and of course, in the meanwhile, the sky had gone totally dark. I was close enough from the Denver International free wifi to try logging in and keeping Joe informed of what the hell was going on, but far enough not to be able to stay logged more than three seconds at best. I am absolutely not even joking. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822694-06.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822694-06.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822482-07.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822482-07.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822522-08.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822522-08.jpeg) I could finally meet Joe and hug strongly after all the crazy mess I had been going through on the last 30 hours. It was already 10 PM when we arrived at his place, we had to leave at something like 8 AM the day after, and if you remember well, I had waken up 19 hours ago once again, so I found much more interesting to share some beers with Joe, Clark and Vanessa (aka Nes) than to play some SMK for practice before going to bed. I would really arrive in Monroe on Saturday without having played SMK at all since last CDM, and without even being able to remember when my last NTSC session could have been. And, well, I absolutely did not give a single fuck. The upcoming road trip was everything I cared about, because my main goals were to enjoy myself with friends and visit thousands of miles of a country I could not say I really knew – NYC is not really representative of what the United States actually are! We should actually have done this one day before, but whatever, we finally could go for a 15-hour drive from Littleton, Colorado (where the horrible events of Columbine happened 20 years ago already) to Pecan Plantation, Texas. The whole trip was gonna make us drive through Colorado and roads surrounded by beautiful mountains (including the Pikes Peak one!), then New Mexico and his desert-like landscapes, and finally Texas. I didn't know a lot about that final step, and I now understand why. There is absolutely nothing to know about this state. If that John Denver's full of shit, well let me say that John Dallas's full of nothing. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822541-09.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822541-09.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822556-10.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822556-10.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822895-11.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822895-11.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823015-12.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823015-12.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822987-13.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822987-13.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823005-14.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823005-14.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823018-18.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823018-18.jpeg) Prior to the trip, Joe warned both Clark and me about the emptiness we would have to face during roughly 6 or 7 hours, and I must admit he was not exaggerating. Texas, for its northern part at least, is a terrific flat land full of nothing on both sides of the road. Funnily enough, that wasn't even boring because we were frequently chatting about a lot of things, from movies to American vs. European comparaison, through music, Mario Kart meeting memories and other stuff of all kinds (*). I knew Joe and Clark were close friends but I also have been knowing the Man from Watford IRL for an entire decade know, and met Joe once at CDM, so I never felt isolated or anything wrong: I was really feeling as part of that legendary trip, which was obviously a very long and exhausting one, but always extremely nice to share together. I knew that was a good idea to go for such an endless ride with those guys. (*) Hah, and food, too. We discussed about food and we ate, of course. Shitloads of snacks and drinks bought all trip long in gas stations (which are the only kind of human interaction you can have in TX anyway), and Taco Bell again. We stopped at a Subway first (before starting to realize there were gonna be more minutes to wait than there are Subways all road long, which means A LOT), but eventually stopped at Taco Bell. It was really not good and Clark seemed to had the worst time there, ordering a "Mexican pizza" that just looked like post-CDM leftover cold pizza Drew would not even be OK to eat. Sorry bro. I absolutely do not remember a single thing during the two last hours, finally falling asleep and waking up very shortly around 11 PM before we arrived at Joe's parents, whose place is absolutely awesome and made me think Texas could be a good place to live for a couple seconds. Joe's Dad welcomed us with beers we could just not refuse, even if I really wanted to go to bed (we had to leave at 5 AM to make sure we'd arrive in Monroe in time!). I naively thought I would sleep during that morning trip, and of course I didn't, preferring to bully Clark all road long. He'd have been so alone on the back seats if I had not been part of it! By the way, Joe's random playlist worked very well since it brought "Africa" by Toto on the stereo a couple minutes before seeing the Welcome to Monroe sign. Singing this all along with Joe and Clark was definitely one of the hidden achievements of the list. Honorable mention to the unexpected "Careless Whisper" metal cover that instantly brought into my mind the hot and wet memories of a sexy gay dance between Karel and I in Alphen last summer. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556822970-15.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556822970-15.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823017-17.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823017-17.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823029-19.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823029-19.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823077-20.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823077-20.jpeg) http://www.antistar.fr/garbage/16.gif Halfway between a cock meet and the worst DIY British haircut of all time Discovering Monroe was pretty interesting because, from my personal point of view, that 50,000-soul town is an excellent and fast portrait of what American cities can be. It goes really quickly from poor (and dangerous) areas to a downtown with modern buildings, through old rusty areas, long roads full of auto parts shops, bars and restaurants of all kinds, and richer districts with massive landlord houses. The Kartel's house was located in a street that could hardly look much more from a typical local one, and I have to admit I found it pretty funny to see the door actually open but nobody being inside to welcome us. As I told my friends, that reminded me of the last time I virtually visited Louisiana, in Resident Evil VII. Fortunately there was nothing horrible to expect inside, and we could just make our way through a big place we already knew we would enjoy. Then, after having a look at Harvey's note on the fridge (thanks a lot for sending your console, game and pad to help the overall organization, by the way!), we could go to the venue, where Joe and Clark had been expected for almost 24 hours, and most important, where absolutely nobody knew I was gonna show up. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823620-21.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823620-21.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823727-22.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823727-22.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823943-23.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823943-23.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823673-24.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823673-24.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823620-25.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823620-25.jpeg) Entering Tower Palace, that business building entirely available to us for the whole weekend (!), obviously meant putting an end to all my awful lies to my best foreign friend of the community. When I appeared in the room where ASMKC was about to begin, Karel's eyes and reaction were something I had put high expectations into, and I wasn't disappointed (the only thing that disappointed me, anyway, was Lafungo not being there). My beloved Dutch mofo, also known as "cock", looked extremely shocked when he saw me arriving into the venue, and pronounced that very Dutch "wot da fok" I was sincerely hoping he would say. I was obviously very happy to meet him and hug once the surprise went over, but I wasn't prepared to the true sensation of that friendly meeting atmosphere: Sami had cut his hair. Himself. Which couldn't have looked worse. I must say I spent the entire weekend trolling him on this because I found it so shitty that I could not resist constantly making a fool of the most polite and classy man of this community. Sorry, but that Sami Çetin's haircut's full of shit. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823635-26.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823635-26.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823754-27.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823754-27.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823786-28.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823786-28.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556823790-29.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556823790-29.jpeg) Those pre-competition moments also allowed me to discover people I had never met before, like Andrew K or Stinson, which is something I always like a lot about SMK championships and turned to be a bit like everything within that meeting: a SMK competition that really, really looked like an American CDM. Meeting people you already know and had not seen for a year like Martin is always a great thing, and seeing Leyla's sincere smile when realizing I was there is something really moving that warms the heart. Not knowing where Drew could be was another typical CDM thing, especially when you discover later what happened to him (he could have allegedly been locked up in some Texan jail, DAFUQ??). Getting interviewed in English for the first time, by local media from Louisiana, was one my unexpected highlights of the early ASMKC. Then I decided to play a bit, because a Time Trial official contest was about to begin, and even if I felt I had zero chance to win anything according to my to my total lack of practice, I didn't want to be ridiculous and really wanted to bring home at least one of those nice medals Matt showed me. Getting my Dutch friend pissed off being the small bonus I would more like dream about. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/02/19 at 12:13:59 Zarkov nice So, we played Time Trial, just like at CDM, with a group stage where everyone was paired with another player to write down his times. I still don't understand why we had to go through a group stage since we were 13 people and ended up with a round of 16 (more like round of 13 then) after having played all the tracks. Being paired with Karel on the streamed TV was a very interesting experience though, which proved he was much more on fire that I could be, and was once again the top contender for a second NTSC gold medal in his best mode. I probably didn't impress him at all during this session, while Sami was driving crazy on another TV, Leyla being particularly strong too. I was playing so lame during that group stage that I didn't even feel confident towards my chances of getting a medal. Karel and Sami were definitely much better, and there were 3 or 4 big contenders who looked more ready than I was – Leyla, Martin, Matt and Eric. I knew Joe's total lack of practice would give us equal weapons, and I couldn't imagine the rest of the attendees performing surprisingly well. Of course, I was wrong on most of those aspects. Sami's skills seemed to be full of shit too, missing two zoomstarts in that extremely weird round of 13 (did I already mention how weird it was? lol), and for some crazy reason Leyla missed the opportunity to beat him twice in a row in their best mode (after 2018 CDM), and even more, to become a very serious medal contender. When we all arrived to a final 8, Clark was the only UK player still alive, becoming officially NTSC British Time Trial champion even before the quarterfinals started. It seemed this crazy week was only starting to reach its apex. Matt and Eric were still part of it as expected, but so was Joe, which really made me super happy for him because nobody could be more exhausted at this moment than a man who had driven that much in real life in the previous 32 hours, without a single shroom to help him – well, perhaps this explains why the Chicago champion actually never uses a single item, something which I will definitely mention later. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824923-30.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824923-30.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824931-31.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824931-31.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824915-32.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824915-32.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824915-33.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824915-33.jpeg) There's no need to remind how excellent Joe had been in the past when it came to SMK Time Trial. He's the latest NTSC-native champion the community ever witnessed, and even if his reign has ended almost 15 years ago (WTF), he's part of the SMK great values. Then, I was absolutely not surprised when he made it up to the semifinals, with a rather expected Martin who took advantage of his important CDM experience (in addition to be the most quiet and relaxed player I've ever seen). The Clark joke obviously ended there (sorry old chap) and the Kartel unfortunately couldn't do much better, missing the American TT title they sure would have loved to win. This leads me to be part of it, once again, for my 7th Time Trial semifinal in the last 9 I've attended since 2011 (including the two NTSC tournaments, and missing only 2016 and 2017 PAL CDM ones). I really, really had not practiced at all, just taking care of checking if my NTSC cartridge was working before putting it in my suitcase, and of course I couldn't practice at all between the moment I landed in Tacoma and my final (and super relieving) arrival in Monroe. But like every year, a rusty and shitty group phase always helps me to reach a good level enough to be part of the best, which I honestly find ridiculous. http://www.antistar.fr/garbage/34.gif I don't remember what the semifinals races were, but I can remember that I drove the first one pretty average, and the second one was much more solid. Martin and Joe didn't play at their best at all and that helped me to secure a medal, which is always a very positive way to start a championship, freed from any kind of further pressure, especially for the final! For the first time ever, Karel and I were finally gonna face each other in a Time Trial great final. It took literally an entire decade and a 10,000-km trip for each of us to finally make it. I knew he was not feeling as cursed on NTSC as he was on PAL, and I knew I had absolutely zero reason to believe I'd do better than him this time. This was NTSC, he had practiced much more than anybody else (especially me) and he had already hit some gold there, 6 years and a half ago, so things were extremely different. Plus, he proved to be capable of failing miserably on single-track finals in the past, but the Kartel had decided both finals would be 3-track based, which is a format I don't especially enjoy, but that's the local spirit. Karel drove a (small) final once this way, in 2009 CDM, and easily got the bronze medal thanks to his consistency. As Karel mentioned in his bilan, I'm not prepared to be consistent when it comes to Time Trial one-tries. I love to attack, to take maximal risks, when I'm facing a world class player like him, because that's my way to win (remember the 2013 and 2018 finals). Since Karel won the toss, he decided to play first to avoid the pressure of the wait (good choice), so I had to isolate in the main hall for something like five minutes. I came back without a single idea of what Karel had done, but I preferred to think he had driven well, without taking stupid risks, and made three great races. It's funny how fate decided Rainbow Road was gonna be part of the show as a final track – I already had in mind to attack as if I was looking for a PR there, even if my two first tracks (KB1 and CI2) were clean. I had what I thought to be a really good KB1 first (halfway between safe and aggressive), then I attacked on CI2 just the way I like to, adding that extra boost which is required for the 5-lap WR, and which is not that impossible to perform live. It almost worked at every lap but I managed to crash into a flower somewhere, so I really hoped Karel had hit a flower (or a fish on KB1, or perhaps the water) to make sure Rainbow Road was gonna be the deciding one. http://www.antistar.fr/garbage/35.gif I drove an excellent final race, which would have been perfect with a 1'24'' time if you want my opinion, but that led me to win 2-1 against Karel. Unfortunately, this is not the way those 3-track finals work, the total time is the only one that counts, so he won by something like one second and a half (or two?). I wasn't disappointed at all, because reaching such a level with zero practice was unexpected; plus, finally having a final between the two of us was a huge satisfaction. Karel has always been the best NTSC Time Trial driver the SMK scene has ever witnessed and he proved it for the second time, being totally undefeated at this moment in official live NTSC tournaments (which is easier when you decide not to attend the multiplayer tournament (*), you cock). Time had come to prove he was the best NTSC driver overall now, which is something really different. (*) Don't worry, I know you couldn't attend it, I just wanted to find a good reason to call you a cock once more. <3 A Dutchman's gold mission in America Match Race is the only multiplayer mode I kinda know when it comes to NTSC, because I know the way to drive thanks to my Time Trial experience, and I've played shitloads of CI1 (yes, only CI1) freeplay at Alicia's circa 2013-2014. So I won't say I was expecting to hit a second medal, but that unexpected Time Trial performance helped me to feel much more confident than initially, and it turned into a very positive but tricky situation. I actually managed to win all my initial matches in a row, being part of the winner's bracket all mode long, which also meant I was not gonna play at all for a while. I had absolutely not foreseen this prior to the MR competition and was like « when the fuck am I gonna play again?" for maybe half an hour, or even more, can't remember. I don't know if the Kartel had explained this to us before or not, anyway that's my fault, I should have not won everything so far, eh? Whatever. That helped me to watch everyone playing, taking pictures, making some kind of FFSMK livetweet, and eating pizza, because there was some and it was terribly good. Plus, triple elimination proved to be a good system for such a "small-size" tournament, and the Kartel (mostly Kyle and his brother Chris) managed to take care of this extremely well. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824900-36.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824900-36.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824878-37.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824878-37.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824981-38.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824981-38.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824984-39.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824984-39.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824981-40.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824981-40.jpeg) I finally could play SMK again after almost everyone had lost those three matches meaning they're out. If I'm correct, it was impossible for me to rank below bronze medal at the moment, which I didn't even know before I played again. I had to face Karel another time, which resulted in a typical "KVD vs. Antistar" match: similar level, dick moves, tight score, and lack of luck for one of us. Surprisingly enough, I turned to be the unlucky one. I had to deal with an insane amount of ghosts when being second, which turned out to be absolutely ridiculous in the end, and made me feel what it is to be KVD. I understand better why he says NTSC's better now: it's a system which looks much more fair with him in terms of chance and fate! Just kidding. He was luckier but also driving really well, and made very, very few mistakes, playing a bit like Sami in PAL – well sorry man, that's not the best compliment I could write, but I'm pretty sure you understand what I mean. ;-) Ah, speaking of the devil. I had to face Sami after that. I forgot to mention that I lost 5-4 to Karel, which is absolutely nothing but pure logic (I won 3-2 in Grand Prix in 2009, he won 7-6 in MR in 2011, I won 4-3 in GP in 2013, he won 5-4 in Battle then 3-2 in GP in 2019, and I probably forgot tons of other close matches like this, in addition to our perfectly balanced all-time matchup in CDM history). Obviously, I also lost 5-4 to Sami because I turned into some kind of NTSC Karel. I know I had to lose a third match to make sure I was gonna be third for good, which eventually happen, but I don't even remember how and against who it happened. I had secured two medals anyway, being a solid #2 after Team UK came back into the game with Leyla (!) being 4th, and Sami reaching his first medal after the Time Trial disaster (which was gonna cost him the NTSC title and even the vice champion one, in the end). ASMKC was already a huge personal success in terms of results. http://www.antistar.fr/garbage/41.gif What I didn't expect at all was seeing Karel beating Sami then. I felt that the Shitty Haircut Champ was upset and angry after his Time Trial "performance" and was gonna get his revenge the hard way, which started pretty well before roles got inverted once again (I actually don't remember it but I read Karel's bilan to see what actually happen, lol). Karel made a strong comeback and proved mentally solid, and kinda lucky with items, reaching a second consecutive gold medal, which was his third one in three attended NTSC modes in official live competitions. "NTSC is the superior version blah blah blah", haha I get it know. You cock. :-* http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556824950-42.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556824950-42.jpg) Party hard, shit your bed and go to jail Surprisingly enough (once again?), playing both Time Trial and Match Race the same day never was a problem for the Kartel's really perfect organization. I hadn't experienced this in twelve (!) years, and my last memories of playing both modes the same day were a terrible disaster (I still respect KVD a lot for coming back after CDF 2007 as a first championship experience, because it was such a permanent bummer). We even could eat and drink (massive kudos once again to the team for that fridge idea for the drinks, by the way) without lowering the process and we managed to end Match Race at a very, very decent time of the evening. Which was really not something bad for Joe, Nes, Clark and I because we barely slept 4 hours the night before. This said, we were gonna have a party at the Kartel's house. It's never too late to attend a Saturday night party in an American house and this is another thing I'm very happy to have been part of, even if I spent most of my time in a sofa, talking with my European fellows (except Sami and Leyla, pretty sure she'd have loved to be there though) and drinking more beers. One of the most entertaining moments was that part of the night where we had a weird wake up call with Dave Smith that sounded half asleep, half drunk, and read Nicholas Harvey's posts on the MB, apologizing for not being there and giving extremely detailed explanations to make sure we'd know why he would not make it. That led to a specific ASMKC meme based on shitting mattresses and beds that made us laugh much more than adults should when it's about poop. But we're still goddamn children – well, maybe teenagers, are best – when we're all together and I really love those moments that belong only to this community and that I wouldn't trade for anything else. The climax was kinda reached when we learned that Drew (oh, I forgot to mention he hadn't showed up yet!) was still not part of us because of issues with Dallas Police Department, which made me laugh extremely loud despite of tiredness. I know I will have never seen all that Drew can show to the world but every time a new Duffact happens, I tell myself "what else could he do now that he's done this?" – well, wait until tomorrow. The story's not over. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825181-43.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825181-43.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825188-44.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825188-44.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825181-45.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825181-45.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825196-46.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825196-46.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825102-47.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825102-47.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825176-48.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825176-48.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825205-49.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825205-49.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825220-50.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825220-50.jpeg) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/02/19 at 12:14:22 All roads lead to Rainbows I fell asleep while watching the last laps of the F1 race and had my first true complete night for ages, and woke up in a very nice and sunny Sunday morning in Monroe, where Chris offered me a ride throughout the town, which was another cool souvenir for the tourist I was during the whole week. Monroe's not the most interesting place to visit in the southern states and certainly not even in Louisiana, but it was OK, especially with such a charming weather. I also visited the entire Tower Place with Eric and felt a bit puzzled about that place: what the hell is this modern business building in the middle of nowhere, full of empty rooms and desks? This sure was a perfect place to play Mario Kart for a competition like ASKMC, but whose tax dollars are paying for this strange place full of nothing? Whatever. Back in the venue we also learned about Drew's fate, this time he had his car stopped 15 miles away from Monroe because of engine failure or something like that. Pretty epic. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825506-51.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825506-51.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825498-52.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825498-52.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825449-53.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825449-53.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825457-54.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825457-54.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825507-55.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825507-55.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825459-56.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825459-56.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825574-57.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825574-57.jpeg) The Moutain Yak of SMK finally arrived before GP started, and slightly after some local journalists interviewed Sami (whose haircut was gonna be massively commented on social media, mérité) and Kyle with some Rainbow Road sign in the back. I'm not 100% sure who brought this wonderful item (Andrew?), which of course was as legal as Connor Wood watching adult movies with the regular porn fans at CDM 2012, but at first I thought that was a prize. I would have driven and played extremely seriously to win it. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case, and I think this one of the only few disappointments I had to face in Monroe (this, and not being able to troll Lafungo in real life all weekend long). I really, really need this artefact at my place, now that I know it actually exists (I remembered some photos, especially from the MKSC meeting, but the sign was too massive). The other piece of collection that was displayed just behind, during the same interview of Kyle, was the Fenner T-shirt. I've got another story coming. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825578-58.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825578-58.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825565-59.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825565-59.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825591-59c.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825591-59c.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825594-59d.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825594-59d.jpeg) First of all, I had brought this T-shirt only to wear it and make people having fun of it, because I hadn't worn it at a CDM for ages. This ZarkovCo. creation was introduced at the 2011 CDM and I still don't remember why I was owning it, and when I arrived in Monroe I decided it would be part of a specific challenge. But first, I also decided to get rid off another T-shirt I had brought: my legendary Fatboy Slim "I'm #1 so why try harder" brown T-shirt, which I wore during my successful 2013 quest for gold: I just realized Karel deserved to have it, so I gave it to him and perhaps, if he would prove to be good enough that day, he'd also be able to leave the place with a second T-shirt I had in my luggage the day before… The American Gift Shop / Long live SMK Queen I suck at GP. I dislike GP. I hate this fucking zoomstart. And I hadn't played this shit in NTSC for ages. Everything was set properly for a disaster, which would probably have happened if my beloved Denver host didn't decide to act like http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825803-60.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825803-60.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825797-61.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825797-61.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825810-62.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825810-62.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825798-63.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825798-63.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825798-64.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825798-64.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825793-65.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825793-65.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825962-66.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825962-66.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825946-67.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825946-67.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825957-68.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825957-68.jpeg) GP was my worst multiplayer mode and I'm absolutely not surprised: not only I ranked 4th, being responsible forever for the first podium ever without a French player at a SMK official championship (why always me?), but I also did not good at all in the original bracket thing. I won my three first matches, including one against Joe which was a pretty tough match if I remember correctly, before losing the one that would have secured top 4 before having to play with the losers. I had to face Joe once again in a friendly deathmatch, which he just decided to lose on purpose. I do not remember all the details but the major one is absolutely unforgettable: I was leading CI2 by a small margin, probably enough to be safe from a red shell in the muddy part, but certainly not enough to escape from a feather shortcut, such an easy one that a skilled driver like Joe would even be able to perform blindfolded. When I started lap 5, I had a look at where Joe was, and told myself "okay, you're screwed, he's too close". But for some absolutely fucking unknown reason, Joe didn't go for the feather. I thought he initially forgot he was entering lap 5, but that was not even close to reality. That crazy mofo knew what he was doing, which was deliberately refusing to win this way and to use a single goddamn item. Why the hell. Dude, you just gave this match to me. And this was not even the only gift I got from you during that whole match, come on. Of course, I was happy to save my spot and still be part of the fight for the final win in that mode, but why being abusively nice like that? http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825966-69.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825966-69.jpeg) After that, I can't exactly remember what drove Leyla and me to face each other for the podium, put this eventually happened. Every single year, I feel she's getting closer to my multiplayer level in racing modes (and she's even getting better in Battle actually), and I'm telling her every year that the moment where she's gonna knock me out is getting closer and closer. I didn't know this was gonna happen in America, and she still has to do it on PAL, but she just did it, with style. My start was miserable and Leyla's safe driving, very Sami-esque even if she hates that comparison (*), helped her to lead 2 cups to zero. Then I came back, because I'm so used to those horrible starts before playing well, to make us play a final 5th cup which was gonna make her really deserve to make her own legend. Once again, I don't remember the details, but I just know she was stronger, that's it, I did not even play average or below. Leyla was just extremely good and defeated a former World Champion and multiple medalist thanks to her talent. I was extremely happy for her and even felt proud to be the one who lost against her for that first medal. Because not only she beat me, she also earned the first medal for a female player in the history of Championships. Kudos, Queen of SMK. (*) "Sami really pisses me off often, you know…" Ah yeah, and Sami beat Karel just after. Who gives a fuck. … well, the SMK statisticians and data nerds do. That just ended Karel's insane NTSC gold streak, and gave Sami one last chance to hit the final top 3 of the event, perhaps even top 2 if he did something like 4 or 5 ranks better than me in Battle Mode. He also proved it was possible to win a multiplayer mode with a terrible haircut, which I had failed to do for a bit more than a decade. And finally, this was the first time two players from the same family attended the same podium – and even were part of the same final four, because the best situation so far was CDF 2004's Time Trial with the Holmière brothers finishing 3rd (Julien) and 6th (Sébastien). Pas mal ! http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825966-70.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825966-70.jpeg) Battle for a T-shirt Even if Drew had made it in time for GP, he kinda sucked at it and was only expected to kick some ass in Battle Mode, playing with the big guys this time (the only time one of them managed to reach a final was in 2009, when Geo destroyed Drew's DK 11-4). Oddly enough, and perhaps because of a special contest that motivated both of us, Karel and I managed to make it to the winner's bracket final, defeating Drew and Sami (that being the first time I beat him in this mode where I really hate to play him). I remember starting pretty average against Stinson who scored the first round and played pretty well, before I really started to use my skills the way I wanted. Then, Karel and I just had to livestream that battle for the top seed, it was a matter of honor, because the legendary Fenner shirt was to win. I was OK to give to him (baby, a-ha, a-ha!) but only if he deserved the prize. What's sure is I never saw Karel playing BM this way. It just looked like his own life was at stake, and he completely destroyed me with a very agressive game, playing the way I'm supposed to do in BM (especially in NTSC), preventing me from whatever I could try. The T-shirt was his, and the joke (me being that highly ranked in BM) was over. Almost. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825866-71.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825866-71.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825914-72.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825914-72.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556825962-73.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556825962-73.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826019-74.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826019-74.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826023-75.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826023-75.jpeg) Drew and Sami had to fight to (easily) get out of a losers' bracket they clearly didn't belong to, and then came my only true competition disappointment of the whole week: I played against Drew, on stream, and led 3-1 in that first to 5 match that would have automatically earned me a medal if I could win it. I won't say this was my best BM match ever but it sure was one of my greatest, because I had really started to get well with Mario (a character I might consider using this summer in PAL!), fitting my style much better than Yoshi in this aggressive version, and forced the King of Battle to play extremely well to finally revert the situation and end my dreams of a medal in the only mode I never got one. I ranked 4th again in the end, which obviously is my better BM performance (I've reached three quarterfinals so far, the closest to semifinal being a 7-5 loss against Neo in 2011), but dammit, I was really, really close to do something better. Maybe next time, who knows. Funnily enough, everybody there hit his best BM rank ever. Sami had reached bronze in the 2012 NTSC Open Tournament in Battle, but managed to reach silver this time, and Karel got his first BM medal ever with bronze, being the only one winning four medals and of course, the overall title. Drew did nothing more than winning his best mode again after destroying Sami's and Karel's dreams, making America proud of his legendary champion there. Perfect timing to make ASMKC championship more American than ever… http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826028-76.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826028-76.jpeg) Three big medals, Donald Trump's coin, and a pot of gold "Drew.S.A"'s win was highly acclaimed by an imminent Donald Trump speech directly broadcasted on TV. But this was far from being the most American thing that happened to conclude ASMKC. The prizes ceremony started just after, and we Europeans were given a wonderful gift from the organizers, in addition to three huge medals for the top 3 that really rock: a 24-k gold Donald Trump coin, commemorating his disgusting face as the 45th President of the United States of America, and which costs shitloads of money according to Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Official-2018-Donald-Trump-Commemorative/dp/B079T75XGD) (I don't thank the person who sent me that link when I tweeted it, lol). Don't worry, I absolutely don't give a fuck about the value, the prize is absolutely fantastic and really awesome, I probably never laughed that much since the rainbow anal plug I won at CDM 2013. I will keep this forever (the Trump coin, I won't tell what happened to the plug), and it won't even be part of my junk-gifts-graveyard closet. I made it up to the US to search for gold and that's what I got. … oh wait, I got even better (or worse?) then this. I had brought my own prizes from Europe, than were going from excellent (The Legend of Zelda 450-page artbook) to absolute shit (a CD of half French half Portuguese singer Lio "performing" Jacques Prévert poetry in a crappy acoustic jazz show), with some average stuff (3rd party SNES controller, brand new NintendoLand US Wii U game) and some decent ones (Super Smash Bros. goodies like a steelbook and a pin's from Ultimate, and a dog tag from the Wii U version). I didn't know there were actually not gonna be other ones apart from the Trump coins and… a weird purple purse absolutely full of money. As Karel had already picked the Zelda book, I could not take one of the prizes I had brought (especially since they were shit and/or I already had my own copy), so I went for the mysterious purse. It was really heavy and full of cash, it seemed there were several hundreds of coins inside (a first look made me realize there were mostly dollar cents, some euro cents too, and even pennies and pounds, WTF?), I found it really funny so I decided I would count all of this during our road trip back to Denver, because I'd have time for this. Spoiler: I didn't even do it. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826433-77.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826433-77.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826297-78.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826297-78.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826414-79.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826414-79.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826236-80.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826236-80.jpg) Another great moment that happened afterwards, before everyone left the place, was all of us signing the posters. First of all, congratulations to anyone who designed it, I really loved it, despite the unacceptable lack of DK (nobody's perfect). Then, it was really entertaining to write mischief on everyone's, especially some specific ones. I loved signing "Louisiana is French" on all of them, seeing Drew putting "TTF" instead of his own signature, but the best ones were Clark's and Joe's on the one we had to send back to Harvey. I hope he'll frame it in his toilet room. I also need to say I was very touched by what Leyla did write on mine. I don't know if I have to keep this private or not so I'll leave this to her. But it was very, very heartwarming. We also had an intense chat that was INTERRUPTED BY RAMBI ATTACK[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57oxywUQuFY[/media] Rambi more like KVD, actually. Dat mofo pulling my chair away when I was having a SERIOUS TALK with Leyla was one of the funniest moments I ever lived within that community. And I also really enjoy the very important, useful and interesting talk we shared, that helped us to become even more friends than we used to be. I really like you a lot as a person and a friend, Leyla. Not like that Dutch ass-face. (*) (*) I'm talking about Aron L. of course) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826331-81.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826331-81.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826345-82.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826345-82.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826424-83.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826424-83.jpeg) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/02/19 at 12:14:44 Terrence House / Take the Long Way Home Just before leaving the venue at something like 11PM, a very wise person I can't remember the name said "We're all tired and won't party again tonight". Yeah, sure. At 2:40AM, a Fenner-video-based drinking game (well, more or less) was going on for more than 2 hours. I don't really remember why we decided to watch T-Man videos, to be honest. I just know we did. On a Wii U, thanks to the YouTube app. I didn't watch many videos from Terrence so I wasn't familiar with them – just knowing most of them were really crappy and useless, but I couldn't realize to what extent. The sad news announcement is a classic that required to be rewatched of course, such as him being interviewed on local TV or being part of a local bus advertising. But I just didn't know about Fenner eSports Corporation, about those amiibo and figure live-action videos, and most of all, about that Mario cartoon parody. Oh, man, I laughed so hard. Karel (as the mofo he is) recorded a video of me literally bursting into tears of joy, and I must thank him for saving a proof of how much I LOL'ed. I cannot remember when was the last time I had laughed that hard. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826387-84.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826387-84.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826377-85.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826377-85.jpeg) The day after (Monday, then), we had to leave Monroe, and start a back trip to Texas. Since we had only a six-hour drive ahead, we could leave rather late and sleep well, and take our time on the road. It was not even that sad to say goodbye to everyone, not as usual, because we knew we were not gonna meet each other in one year, but in less than six months this time! I wish we can do this every year now. We could stop at that wonderful "Welcome to Monroe" mural we had noticed two days before and take cool photos there, as a final memory of our awesome Louisiana weekend. Around one hour after we left, we stopped at Whataburger, which was some kind of project our crew had in mind since the original Saturday trip. It definitely was one of the best fast-food restaurants I have experienced in the US, alongside with Wendy's and White Castle (yes, I fucking love White Castle), and it was funny to use the money found inside of the purple purse to pay my meal. I had not started to count exactly what was inside yet, even if the biggest surprise so far was to find 45€, no more no less, in Euro banknotes. What. The. Hell. And: WHY. Well, whatever. I'll save this for my trip to Netherlands in August. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826953-86.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826953-86.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826979-87.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826979-87.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826955-88.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826955-88.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826985-89.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826985-89.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826978-90.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826978-90.jpg) A Day at Buc-ee's / That Subway not-drinking-game We also started a funny game on the road, that we also had thought about when driving the first days: how many goddamn Subway restaurants had we seen in one road trip? I didn't realize that was the #1 fast-food restaurant on the US roads, much more than McDonald's for example. So we decided to count them. After a five-hour ride we had reached a total of 25, which looked a bit less impressive than expected, but we were driving in the middle of nowhere so the achievement was a bit more interesting from that point of view. It was really fun to focus on it and yell "Subway!" every time one of us noticed one, on both sides of the road. As a big tourist, I tried to buy postcards in the gas stations, and ended up buying stupid souvenirs for my parents, my girlfriend and myself, including a T-shirt based on that boring interstate we spent so many endless hours on. But the best shop we had to stop at was Buc-ee's. I could not even describe properly how I felt about this shop. It was just like 3 times the biggest supermarket I've ever been to in France, half of it being dedicated to the local mascot, a stupid smiling beaver with a cap. Of course, that massive market was in the middle of nowhere, just like everything in Texas. We spend half an hour there, bought a lot of dumb souvenirs, and I remember the position of the sun had really changed a lot between the moment we entered the place and when we got out. Perhaps we actually spent even more than 30 minutes there, lol. After that, we drove to Joe's parent's place again, and I was expecting to sleep early (it was 10PM I think) to have a great night before the final long trip back. What a fool. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556826966-91.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556826966-91.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827080-92.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827080-92.jpg)http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827119-93.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827119-93.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827123-94.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827123-94.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827143-95.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827143-95.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827116-96.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827116-96.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827150-97.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827150-97.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827187-98.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827187-98.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827189-99.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827189-99.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827185-100.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827185-100.jpeg) Joe's dad has some kind of garage where he likes to watch hockey, which would not be an interesting story if this specific place was not some kind of museum of 20th century America. A 1930s Ford car in awesome shape, a 1964 jukebox, a signed Michael Jordan Bulls jersey, baseball memorabilia all around, Route 66 signs, (funny) photos of Joe's childhood, World Cup '94 tickets, and so many other stuff I could only show with pictures if Joe allows me to do so. And we drank so many beers, ending with comparing American politics to European ones, and speaking for hours about everything. Explaining to that 65-year old American man that I was working as a video game journalist – and that, yes, it was a real full-time job that I was paid for – was another great moment, but not as epic as when we came back to the house, just before going to bed, at roughly 2AM, to hear him antagonizing me: "Hey Frenchie, wanna drink some Cognac with me?" Oh dude, what a trip. This never ends. Sure I do, man. Which French man would be dumb enough to refuse? Not me. http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827396-101.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827396-101.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827378-102.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827378-102.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827363-103.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827363-103.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827383-104.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827383-104.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827391-105.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827391-105.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827390-106.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827390-106.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827497-107.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827497-107.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827519-108.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827519-108.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827521-109.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827521-109.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827533-110.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827533-110.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827550-111.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827550-111.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827536-112.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827536-112.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827557-113.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827557-113.jpeg) On Tuesday, we finally had to drive back to Littleton. Joe had an idea of a different road to take, to make us go through other states we hadn't visited in the first part of the trip – Oklahoma and Kansas. Both are rather flat and annoying places too, but not as much as Texas can be. The funniest part of it was definitely when we crossed the first border and entered a state where gambling was legal: it looked all the forbidden casinos from all Texas had been built in the southern part of Oklahoma, all road long – including a crazy one that entirely recreated the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben from London. I thought I had seen everything, but still not. I also missed a couple things because that lack of sleep finally drove me to completely miss 2 or 3 hours of the trip, at the exact moment it started to rain, and I basically woke up when we had eventually went through the storm. I'm only sleeping when it rains (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpBFOJ3R0M4). For some reason, that back trip almost looked shorter, including a playlist of mine when Joe was asking to listen to "MMM MMM MMM" by Crash Test Dummies as one final tribute to the Dumb & Dumber trip. That also was the moment we discussed about what our personal Mounts Rushmore were made of, in terms of music, movies, series, etc. – all the road shared together was cool, absolutely never boring, and in the end we also ended with a grand total of roughly 75 Subway restaurants, which turned out to be much less than expected. Our final stop was at the Waffle House where we had a nice dinner which looked a bit more like a breakfast, but whatever, that was another great moment to share with Joe, Nes and Clark. I also enjoyed a lot discussing with Nes about the PS4 game collection she had and highly suggesting her to give a try to some specific ones. Joe, please don't forget to tell me about her experiences, or even yours if you play together as I suggested! http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827637-114.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827637-114.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827666-115.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827666-115.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827589-116.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827589-116.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827658-117.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827658-117.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827658-118.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827658-118.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827658-119.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827658-119.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827698-120.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827698-120.jpg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827709-121.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827709-121.jpeg) http://image.noelshack.com/minis/2019/18/4/1556827711-122.png (http://www.noelshack.com/2019-18-4-1556827711-122.jpeg) I could elaborate a bit more, especially to tell the plane & airport overall nightmare was not even over with my final trip back to Paris (the Denver to Atlanta part was OK, but I managed to got stuck in Atlanta for 3 hours again, dammit), but I think I can stop there. I had a wonderful week, my best in 2019 so far (and I still think this 6 weeks after!) and one of the best ones of my life. Now that it's done, I know what I would have missed, and what a douchebag I'd have been to stay in France and not go there. I hope a second edition of ASMKC will happen, in Monroe or anywhere else in the US, and I will definitely do my best to attend again, whatever it costs. I really start to realize I don't give a fuck about the money when it comes to SMK and its marvelous community. Unless I win a purse full of money. Which I eventually checked. There were: • two Swiss coins (?) • one Israeli one (???) • several UK pounds and pence, one coin of each from one penny to two pence, except the two-penny coins (3 of them), for a total of £5.62 (yay!) • 18.02€ in coins, plus 45 in bills (WTF), so 63.02€ • 90 one-cent coins, 91 quarter-dollar coins including 43 unique ones I might perhaps keep as a "collection", 43 one-dime coins, and the oldest of all, which is from… 1965 (!), and 24 5-cent coins which makes a total of $29.15 I have saved every single cent of it for Alphen 2019. See y'all this summer, bitches. http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2019/18/4/1556827671-img-7253.jpg What I liked about my US trip + Joe & Nes + Sharing the back of a car with Clark for 42 hours + The seats I had during my flights + All those typical American shops (and the liquor ones!) + The hardcore chili pepper Doritos + The evening/night at Mr Bernier's garage + Whataburger + Buc-ee's + That goddamn road trip! + Well, ASMKC What I did not like about my US trip – Flights – Texas – That damn Taco Bell cinnamon crap, fuck this shit What I liked about ASMKC + The Kartel organization, very CDM-esque, or even better + Pizza was awesome and we never lacked food or drinks + Karel's face when he saw me arriving in Monroe + The poster signing session + Making Louisiana French again + I played much better than expected + Pushing our friendship with Leyla to further boundaries + Winning a ~ 100€ cash prize that paid my CDM subscription afterwards + It was not in Texas + Lafungo was not there What I did not like about ASMKC – Lafungo was not there – Having to wait after a winning streak sucks a bit – The Rainbow Rd sign not being a prize – Sami's infamous haircut, I still have nightmares – A stream commentary would have been better – Why did we play Time Trial group stages again? http://www.mariokart64.com/yabbfiles/Smilies/johncleese.gif (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ETi00Yln0) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/02/19 at 14:14:30 Thanks for all the kind words, mon ami! You are welcome here in Denver anytime. [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dan H on 05/02/19 at 22:30:29 I'm fucking going to this next year. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/03/19 at 00:24:53 Superb bilan, we had to wait a bit, but it was worth it eh! ;) 8-) I love all the little anecdotes, references and easter eggs you've thrown in. Also I can't believe how a store like Buc-ee's even exists... [smiley=smokin.gif] The garage of Joe's dad looks amazing, definitely would have liked to join in on that part of the experience (would skipping the rest of Texas be optional?). :D And yes, you gotta be there in 2020 mister underscore ;) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/03/19 at 04:04:44 6C4655424B270 wrote:
If I remember correctly, we were not very far from Dallas, so next time we can directly fly there and experience only a 1 or 2 hour drive to Mr. and Mrs. Bernier's. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by LeylaSMK on 05/03/19 at 08:33:16 I think it’s extremely fitting that the day I finally log back onto this forum, you’d just posted your bilan Guillaume. I really enjoyed reading this and it made me laugh/smile on multiple occasions, especially when you reminded me about the ‘Karel chair pulling’ incident [smiley=roll.gif] I actually read your comments about Sami’s hair to my mum and she found it hilarious because we all agree with you- the mullet isn’t the best! Your kind words truly touched me and I’m also so happy that this event allowed our friendship to further flourish, as you say. I look forward to having many more conversations such as this at future CDMs ;) (I’m already really sad that I won’t be able to attend the next ASMKC if there is one, because it was wonderful!) Also, I don’t think I ever got to thank you Karel, for your own fantastic bilan and kind words. It was a pleasure to see you and Martin again, as always! Maybe now that I’ve just finished my 2nd year at uni I’ll become present on this forum. But then again, I’ve said that a hundred times and it never happens ::) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/03/19 at 11:15:02 022E3D262077794F0 wrote:
If I remember correctly, we were not very far from Dallas, so next time we can directly fly there and experience only a 1 or 2 hour drive to Mr. and Mrs. Bernier's.[/quote] C'est vrai. Although if you guys make the trip again either next year or the year after, I think we should set apart some time to visit both Austin, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana. They're not exactly close, but they're certainly not 20 hours out of the way. [smiley=johncleese.gif] [smiley=zark.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/03/19 at 11:33:10 4D64786D60010 wrote:
lol, what are the odds? Quote:
[smiley=roll.gif] [smiley=roll.gif] [smiley=roll.gif] [smiley=roll.gif] [smiley=roll.gif] [smiley=roll.gif] [smiley=roll.gif] Quote:
I'll be very happy to spend some good time and talk a lot again together this summer ! Ddo you know when you'll be able to confirm it's OK for you this year, BTW? And why do you look so sure about next ASMKC? :( Quote:
As long as you're still part of the community and can meet us from to time, that's already great, but I also hope you'll keep this promise now. [smiley=thumbsup.gif] 02252238292226231C233B293E4C0 wrote:
Ohh yeah! 8-) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/03/19 at 12:33:38 Did you or Leyla or any of the other non-US Karters ever stop at a Wal-Mart while you were in the United States? Wal-Mart Supercenter is certainly a part of a true American experience. I just got back from there, by the way, to pick up a prescription refill and a few grocery items. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/03/19 at 12:52:53 I went to Wal-mart on my own because the Kartel's house was in danger of running completely out of beer and I wasn't about to let that happen while we watched Fenner videos. [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/03/19 at 13:12:11 Well every American has been to Wal-Mart. But what about Sami/Leyla/Zarkov/Antistar/KVD. And if they did go, what did they think about it. You haven't truly experienced America until you've shopped in a Wal-Mart Supercenter. You really didn't have to go there for beer, though, there must have been a place closer by you could have stopped at, every gas station and convenience store in Louisiana has beer, and often has a selection that rivals or surpasses that of Wal-Mart. I still think it's a shame you say you never put the radio on a country station during that entire drive. That too is a quintessential part of the American experience. That, plus watching American football, although March isn't part of football season (but there was the short-lived Alliance of American Football that probably had a game on TV that weekend) I'm curious, what type of beer did you drink at the ASC? Don't tell me that all you had was Budweiser or Bud Light or Coors Light or any of the other horse piss they advertise everywhere in America (and what most Americans seem to drink, based on the empty bottles and cans that litter the streets in my neighborhood). The guests deserve better than that. America makes much better beer and you know it. It's just too bad that the most popular beers in this country are also the worst ones. The main brewer in Louisiana is called Abita and they make a wide variety of beers and ales, I would prefer each and every one of them over Crud Light. And speaking of Fenner videos, did they show you Fenner appearing in the ad for the Charlotte Area Transit System? I saw it at dinner during the Mississppi/Louisiana Kart meet last weekend and thought it was hilarious hearing him talk about how he likes to ride CATS. ;D Still waiting to hear Matt, Eric, and Andrew tell their full stories about last weekend's historic meeting! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/03/19 at 13:25:07 7E5953585F5C51436F785142465549300 wrote:
Well, Nick, I would have to again disagree with you. Not every American has been to a Wal-mart (even I didn't step foot in one until I was well into my 20s), country music is not "quintessential American" (my mother was born and raised in Texas and she absolutely despises country music, as does just about everyone else from the north), and American Football is not viewed by everyone here (I play fantasy football otherwise I'd have absolutely no interest in that sport). I dislike all of the above and I would consider myself to be an American (maybe not a very typical one). The things you describe are inherently southern American, which I am definitely not. I still thank my parents for moving to Chicago before I was born, and I'm returning the favor by moving out of Texas and into beautiful Colorado to maybe one day raise children of my own. As for beer, we drank Shiner Bock (Texas), Sam Adams (New England), and two different kinds of Yuengling. No crappy domestic beer was drank until we got to my parents' place and we wiped them out of PBR (I don't mind crappy domestic beer at all, but if I'm going to pick a domestic beer it'd be Shiner all the way). [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/03/19 at 14:04:44 52757268797276734C736B796E1C0 wrote:
Shiner's a great beer too. Wasn't sure if they sold it in Monroe or not. The most common variety is Shiner Bock but they also make (or use to make) Shiner Light, Shiner Kölsch, Shiner Hefeweizen, and Shiner Dunkelweizen as well as a different special beer each year to commemorate their anniversary (I still have the Shiner 100 bottle from 2009) and a Shiner Holiday Cheer at Christmas. Shiner Bock is rather weak compared to a real German bock but it's still a mile above Crudweiser and Crud Light. Dunkelweizen is probably my favorite but I've only had it once (around 2007, when my uncle brought me some from Dallas) and I'm not sure if they even still make it. Kölsch was awesome as well. But you know how beer varieties come and go... 092E293322292D281728302235470 wrote:
Joe I think we both can safely assume that you and I don't speak with the same accent. [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/03/19 at 14:25:41 Quote:
My voice has been all over SMK in various avenues: - CDM rewind commentary with Karel/Clark - SNES Superstars SMK commentary with dan____h - Kart Radio in 2007 (RIP) - Our new podcast "Karthritis" where I'm a regular fixture - Youtube videos where I show off the house I rented in Illinois (and my outstanding Chicago accent... [smiley=johncleese.gif]) - ASMKC background noise/main stream mishaps... There's no shortage of hearing my terrible, nasally voice, mon ami... [smiley=johncleese.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/03/19 at 16:28:04 I just searched for you on YouTube and found two "Stanley Cup Prediction" videos, with a hockey video game that looks like it could be on the SNES. I don't think you have much of an accent really, if that's really you speaking. I've never really been sure what a "Chicago accent" is supposed to sound like anyhow as it doesn't seem to be as pronounced as the Southern and Northeastern accents, where the speaker's region is absolutely unmistakable. None of the Southern Karters who visited me last weekend really had much of a "Southern" accent that I could tell, either. I guess regional accents are less pronounced in the younger generations as we've been exposed to so much more mass media especially online. I think I have a bit of a Jeff Foxworthy-type twang to my voice (and take pride in that-- I have no shame in telling the whole world where I'm from when I open my mouth) but there are certainly much stronger Southern accents out there. (I do want to sound a little cultured, after all...) But yeah, I seem to have a bit more of a regional accent than most American Karters I've heard speak. Oh, and don't say you don't like country music until you've heard good country songs. I can put together a little playlist for you if you want. None of the crap that's on the radio today, I mean the good stuff that I grew up listening to. Just thinking about some of these songs brings a smile to my face. Not all country songs are sad and not all country songs are about drankin' either. There are a lot of really fun, catchy country songs that are great for parties. I'd love to bring some CDs to Monroe next year so I can play them for y'all as we party after the competitions. [smiley=beer.gif] Who knows, we might even make a country fan out of someone like Antistar or Leyla. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/04/19 at 00:02:10 I'm pretty sure he just doesn't like country Nick. [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dan H on 05/04/19 at 04:24:19 Country music in a nutshell: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdYatkECzyo[/media] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/04/19 at 07:39:33 41666C6760636E7C50476E7D796A760F0 wrote:
From what I've heard in various movies, series, video games or even in the radio, country music is OK. Not my favorite kind of music but I can listen to it for longer than Dream Theater without falling alseep. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/04/19 at 09:05:08 Blasphemy. Not the country music part, the DT part. [smiley=ninja.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dave Smith on 05/04/19 at 10:57:57 What? No Natty Ice? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/04/19 at 11:44:59 0824372C2A7D73450 wrote:
What else do you expect from a band called "Dream Theater"? ;D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by LeylaSMK on 05/04/19 at 13:57:28 6C4053484E1917210 wrote:
Sami, Conor and I are already confirmed for this CDM and we're guaranteed to attend unless any family issues arise at the last minute. We wouldn't want to miss it for the world! Quote:
I'll be in the middle of my final semester at uni and I can't justify missing that, unfortunately [smiley=cry.gif] to be honest, the entirety of January-May 2020 will be super busy in my academic life alone so I'm completely out of the picture, no matter what the date of the event will be :( well, unless the ASMKC is moved to June or something but I know that won't happen ;D 53747E7572717C6E42557C6F6B78641D0 wrote:
I didn't, but Kyle did take Sami and I to Target. It was a strange experience though and I remember telling Sami that Target felt like an amalgamation of Boots, Sainsbury's and Homebase, all of which we have in the UK ;D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/04/19 at 13:58:47 Falling asleep to DT is actually a highly unexpected outcome I must say. I know the type of music they make is not to everyone's tastes (I myself consider myself somewhat of a fan), but in any event it is not boring, run of the mill or slow paced music. :o [smiley=dead.gif] Disliking them, sure...but falling asleep? Get outta town! [smiley=roll.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/04/19 at 14:14:27 072E32272A4B0 wrote:
Damn. I was looking forward to meeting you. I assume your uncle Sami still plans on coming? Any chance that Maia could come in your place, or will she too be busy with school stuff? At least if the 2020 ASC does get pushed back to June (unlikely, as you've said), you'll then be old enough to have a beer with us. :D ...Are you sure you can't get at least one week off next spring so you can come again? I'm sure everyone enjoyed having you around last time. I now have the poster that you and all of the other ASC attendees signed for me, by the way, Matt & Co. brought it to me last weekend. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Sami de la SMK on 05/04/19 at 17:48:10 1532383334373A2804133A292D3E225B0 wrote:
Damn. I was looking forward to meeting you. I assume your uncle Sami still plans on coming? Any chance that Maia could come in your place, or will she too be busy with school stuff? At least if the 2020 ASC does get pushed back to June (unlikely, as you've said), you'll then be old enough to have a beer with us. :D ...Are you sure you can't get at least one week off next spring so you can come again? I'm sure everyone enjoyed having you around last time. I now have the poster that you and all of the other ASC attendees signed for me, by the way, Matt & Co. brought it to me last weekend.[/quote] She told us all at ASMKC that she definitely couldn't attend the 2020 edition due to University Finals, they are top priority; and therefore a good reason why she came to 2019 edition. I am a maybe as well for next year. But would love to go if I can. As for Maia.... :D seriously her first Championship she ever goes to would be all the way to America (and missing school which is impossible)? :D As much of an adventure that would be, that is not going to happen. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/05/19 at 01:29:53 0D2A202B2C2F22301C0B223135263A430 wrote:
What else do you expect from a band called "Dream Theater"? ;D[/quote] Hah, that's not false. ;D 143E2D3A335F0 wrote:
This is the kind of metal stuff I find extremely boring, actually. It's beautiful and technically impressive, but it really gives me zero feelings. 1D34283D30510 wrote:
So I had to wait for Sunday morning to finally read good news this week. <3 Quote:
Makes sense! Having ASMKC so close to CDM looks a bit risky though. I think the late winter / early spring format is an excellent one, to make sure we all can meet every 6 months or so at least. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/05/19 at 02:22:38 04283B2026717F490 wrote:
Ok, each to their own and everything, but seeing we share so many tastes I'll be damned if I don't give it at least one shot to try and make you see things from my perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BKHCIVzV38&feature=youtu.be&t=435 One of the band member's dads passed away when they wrote this; this passage never fails to hit me (and my dad is still alive, thankfully). "The fleeting winds of time Flying through each day All the things I should have done But time just slipped away Remember "seize the day" Life goes by in the blink of an eye There's so much left to say These were the best of times I'll miss these days Your spirit led my life each day Thank you for the inspiration Thank you for the smiles All the unconditional love That carried me for miles It carried me for miles But most of all thank you for my life These were the best of times I'll miss these days Your spirit led my life each day My heart is bleeding bad But I'll be okay Your spirit guides my life each day" If this doesn't do it, I shall give up and accept that we do have different tastes when it comes to some points after all haha. ;) ps: I used to feel exactly the same way about DT actually. But I had not been exposed to all their material at that point yet. I first heard some of the more technical songs with Petrucci hitting a gazillion fast notes...that did exactly jackshit for me as well. But some of their songs are absolutely magical, "The Count of Tuscany" and "Pull me Under" for instance. Sorry for the off-topic. :D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dave Smith on 05/05/19 at 05:29:15 I love to listen to some Dream Theater. One of my Fav bands. Speaking of wal-mart, have you guys ever looked at the web site "people of wal-mart"? That is one of the reasons it is fun to go there. Never know what you are going to see, lol |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/05/19 at 10:24:13 183221363F530 wrote:
The problem is I can actually enjoy Dream Theater if it requires to listen to a song from time to time. I just find them boring as a whole, listening to an entire record from them is much different. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Humanoidgale on 05/06/19 at 12:03:44 Ultimately I have to side with Mario when it come's to Dream Theater. There are certain songs by them that I really like (Count of Tuscany, The Shattered Fortress, etc.) but I can't really sit through a whole album and say that I enjoyed it. Everyone in the band is a top tier musician (Petrucci is phenomenal) but I tend to get burnt out on the singer's voice pretty quickly. He's got some good pipes but that style of singing just isn't for me [smiley=flush.gif]. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/06/19 at 12:17:06 I can see that p.o.v. totally, I rarely listen to full albums by them either. But come on, some of their songs are absolute god tier, so falling asleep is still a tad too harsh no? ;D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Humanoidgale on 05/07/19 at 09:14:44 1B3122353C500 wrote:
I'll side with you on this Karel, I'd have to be pretty damn tired to fall asleep while listening to Dream Theater [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/07/19 at 11:13:20 Just seeing those song titles makes me cringe... [smiley=johncleese.gif] But seriously, I've never really gotten into that kind of music either. I think when music gets too technical it kind of puts me off for whatever reason. They're obviously top notch musicians, but that doesn't always translate to amazing songwriting (for me at least). Kurt Cobain is one of the worst guitarists of all time (personal opinion) but he was able to write some amazing songs in spite of his very limited ability. The word "feel" comes up often when trying to relate to a song and how it just hits all the right notes to certain people, and even though I don't know a ton of Dream Theater's catalog, they sort of lack that feel that I get from -- say... Alice in Chains or Soundgarden, for example. But to each their own. I don't hate Dream Theater, just their song titles... [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by ScouB on 05/07/19 at 11:13:36 Matt the Siding man of SMK. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 05/07/19 at 23:20:06 16313B303734392B0710392A2E3D21580 wrote:
Eh I wasnt fussed we didnt go to a Walmart. A supermarket is a supermarket, they all sell the same shit. I was really surprised with how much I loved Shiner Bock. Would love to be able to have a ready way to get that over here, but eh it's not like we dont have as good options anyway. Il chime in and say A) i really dont like country music so thanks Joe for not forcing it upon us, and B) have no idea who Dream Theatre are. Finally, a lot of the nothingness inbetween big towns on our journey to Monroe looked a bit like a third world country to me. Not that ive been to one, but you know what I mean. Just run down, and disheveled by and large. No attention paid to verges and such. Thats one of the things I love about the UK, so many well kept grassy verges and hedges. Sort out your verges America. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/07/19 at 23:53:37 ^ Oh Chris, American roads and highways are nothing to complain about. We have better things to do than nitpick over our "verges" (whatever you mean by that). Our important roads are all paved (say that about the roads in most of the world), well maintained, well signposted, and easy to navigate. Route numbers are always well marked. Yes some roads might get bumpy but that ain't gonna kill ya. And yes sometimes you'll get a pothole but you can report those and they'll get fixed as soon as possible. There was one on the road we take to get to my aunt's in D'Iberville but it didn't last long before it was paved over. I've been on Interstate 20 between Dallas and Monroe myself, and there's absolutely nothing "Third World" about that highway, nor anything else along the way. American roads are some of the best in the world. There may be some that aren't so great but they are the exception not the rule. What we consider a bad road would probably be considered an average road in, say, Italy. If you look around your own country beyond the London metro I'm sure you'll find plenty of "bad" roads in the UK as well. If you want to see a "Third World" road then why not go to Vietnam or better yet, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I bet those countries wish their whole road network was as good as America's worst roads. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/08/19 at 12:35:03 I can speak from first-hand experience that European highways do not resemble anything like the majority of middle-American highways. And I'm not talking about interstate highways -- those are usually kept in pretty good shape (For Clark and Guillaume, we took interstate highways back from Texas to Colorado through Oklahoma and Kansas, but we took backwoods "highways" where you saw the vast nothingness from the Texas panhandle on our way toward Fort Worth). The differences are huge: For the most part interstates have lights, rest stops, other drivers... [smiley=johncleese.gif], whereas those backwoods highways are simply concrete that only serve as a means to get from point A to point B. I don't suggest taking those roads at night because if anything goes wrong you're miles and miles away from civilization and your options of getting out of trouble are extremely limited. Interstates usually have your fair share of assistance within a reasonable distance if needed. However, I would argue that gussying up the sides of those backwoods highways is kind of a lost cause because A) nobody would ever see it, and B) within a year it'd just be back to what it looked like before anyway. America is far too large of a place to invest money into something like that since it doesn't really serve any purpose and we're too busy neglecting the things that we really should be investing in for the future... [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/08/19 at 13:14:52 6A4D4A50414A4E4B744B534156240 wrote:
Of course they don't, American highways are much better. [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/08/19 at 13:38:53 092E242F282B2634180F263531223E470 wrote:
Of course they don't, American highways are much better. [smiley=beer.gif] [/quote] How? You have absolutely no frame of reference. You're like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie... [smiley=johncleese.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] http://https://media.giphy.com/media/VItx1Jzua1EdDf5pQP/giphy.gif |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 05/08/19 at 14:00:31 Yeah as someone who now has considerable experience in both European and American roads, I can say with a lot of certainty that European roads are better. For starters they have corners. I'm speaking about Northern Europe here, US roads are much like crappy Spanish or Greek roads where there's just a lot of abandoned and run down shit on the side. Dead plants and such, broken fences, and crappy places like Taco Bell. Whereas roads here have nice grass and we'll kept hedges and trees, lampposts, and foraging wildlife. That said, the lush and green road into Louisiana was quite nice, except for all the twatheads in pickup trucks. Though they seem to be everywhere in America. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/08/19 at 15:35:37 5F5D525253525F505D4E573C0 wrote:
Clark did you actually try Taco Bell? It's actually one of my favorite fast food places. I need to go back there soon. Get an XXL Grilled Stuft beef burrito or just a bunch of tacos. Put the "Fire" sauce on them (Diablo is hotter, but Fire has a better flavor IMO) and wash everything down with Mountain Dew Baja Blast. I think they have Taco Bell in the UK now (heck, even India has Taco Bell in 2019) but I can't imagine British Taco Bell tasting quite the same as the real stuff in the USA. I actually got a whole set of talking Taco Bell Chihuahuas from a junk store a while back, they're all over my room and say different things when you squeeze them (including the classic catchphrase, "Yo quiero Taco Bell!"), I showed these to Andrew Koltz when he came over last month. I always liked the Chihuahua mascot, even though the chain hasn't used it in many years, and besides, I have a pet Chihuahua. I just couldn't pass that set up since I'm also a regular Taco Bell customer. 00020D0D0C0D000F021108630 wrote:
Clark do you have something against pickup trucks? They can be very useful when you want to transport a lot of stuff across the country. They also have more towing power than a car, if you're pulling a trailer. Not to mention they're just more manly to drive than that little Volkswagen Beetle. You can have your cute little compact cars (although I'm sure there's no shortage of pickups in the UK/Europe either). Granted, that's what my family has, but still. On American television you'll see far more ads for pickups and SUVs than you will for a little two-door sedan. We like to feel big when we're on the road, dammit. I'll pit a Ford F-350 against whatever you're driving around London in a little game of tug-of-war anyday. [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dan H on 05/08/19 at 22:29:05 The stereotype is strong with this one. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/09/19 at 00:58:50 1A3D373C3B3835270B1C352622312D540 wrote:
I think he already told it somewhere in this thread, saying he found it really disappointing (and I agree on our common experience, my previous ones being better though). Quote:
Their drivers are absolute morons who do not care about any kind of traffic code and other drivers' safety. Clark do you mind if I answered instead of you? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/09/19 at 01:02:36 ^Except the Kartel, they drive pickup trucks and are awesome. ;) :P Let me ask you a question Nick....have you ever...once in your life...left Mississippi? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Danger M on 05/09/19 at 01:36:35 Taco Bell is foul. I tried it in the US out of curiosity and can't imagine any food ever tasting more artificial than the crap they served. It was as if someone folded a piece of cardboard over, filled it with lego bricks and then microwaved it. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 05/09/19 at 01:54:47 4E6C6F6F030 wrote:
I am gonna side with Moll here. I was gonna write something along those lines earlier, but Moll worded it far better than I ever could have. It's 100% spot on, have never eaten worse food. I bet even Drew's dumpster dives offer far superior cuisine. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/09/19 at 01:57:31 I must confess that experiencing the infamous O'Tacos in France made me appreciate Taco Bell much more than expected. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/09/19 at 12:05:33 163C2F38315D0 wrote:
Yes, today. I went to Slidell, Louisiana to buy lottery tickets, which I do twice a month. As for travel I've been all over Louisiana, Dallas and much of eastern Texas, Alabama (mostly Mobile area, of course), eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina (Great Smoky Mountains), and the northern part of Florida, but obviously I've logged far fewer travel miles than most people my age. Some 8-year-olds are certainly more well-traveled than I am. (But how many of us actually have that much control over where we can go, especially at that age?) I might be spending a week in the Dallas area later this month so just a heads up in case I'm suddenly very quiet on this forum. :D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/09/19 at 12:14:29 I went to Germany when I was 10, traveled every year to Texas on vacation when I was a kid, went to California and Florida for their respective Disney theme parks, and went on a United States tour with my band when I was 21 (39 or so states). Also went to France for the 2015 CDM, Canada for my girlfriend's brother's wedding, Canada again when I went to Niagara Falls, Canada again for a baby dedication (Baptist rite of passage of sorts), and England to visit Clark in 2007. It's extremely rewarding visiting places that you don't see often at all. [smiley=beer.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Chrono Krysster on 05/09/19 at 16:38:00 Nicholas and Joe, you have never put your foot in New York? It's probably just an unpopular opinion but I find it particularly weird when native-born Americans don't come to visit a place like Times Square for example, to me it's like when the Frenchies don't visit Paris-- not even once! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 05/10/19 at 00:57:53 4F686F75646F6B6E516E766473010 wrote:
Since this topic has turned into "which countries/states have you visited", in Europe I've been to Portugal, Spain, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, England and Scotland. I won't count Denmark and Norway because there were only flight stops when I came to New York City. In the US, I've been to NYC through New Jersey, wandered around the Seattle-Tacoma area (Washington) and the Atlanta airport (Georgia), and of course, visited / went through Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas recently. [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 05/10/19 at 06:18:32 063F343E3E39283F7A7A7A4D0 wrote:
Well, as stated earlier, I went to Niagara Falls during a wine trip (Finger Lakes Wine Festival located in upstate New York) and on tour with my band to 39 different states (including several shows in and around New York City). Don't know why you'd assume that New York wasn't included in the 39 states? [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/11/19 at 12:32:54 I mentioned earlier that I needed to go back to Taco Bell... 0B2C262D2A2924361A0D243733203C450 wrote:
Guess what, I went today. :) I got the XXL Grilled Stuft with five tacos. I must have underestimated my appetite, because I really could have had at least two more of those tacos (I barely feel "full" at all). Legos stuffed inside folded cardboard never tasted so good. Live Más, everybody! ;D I guess Mexican food just never caught on with the British? |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Danger M on 05/11/19 at 13:13:51 ^we get some very good, very tasty Mexican food here (rather than the cheap artificial crap they serve at Taco Bell). |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Zarkov on 05/13/19 at 04:14:56 Yeah Nick, I did try Taco Bell. Albeit ive only been there that once, but if what I had was anything to go by I wont ever be going back lol. I ordered a 'Mexican Pizza' which in my head meant 'pizza with mexican toppings'. How wrong I was. It was two slightly damp tortillas with some rabbit food sandwiched in the middle, and one teaspoon full of grey looking mince meat thrown on top, with some orange cheese sprinkled on for good measure apparently. The fries wernt too bad though. Even before the road trip, I had a general dislike (read hatred) of pickup trucks (and their retard cousins tippers (https://www.lease2buycars.com/admin/uploads/789/Last_Import_-_03.jpg)). I cycle to work most days, and any motherfucker who drives one seems to make it their mission to get as close as humanly possible to me. They all drive like wankers anyway, and its borderline scary having to share the road with them when on a bike. Im convinced they are actively trying to kill me. So to see so fucking many of them in the USA was disheartening to say the least (they arnt nearly as common as pickups over there, its mainly pikeys and builders who have them here). If its at all possible, they drive them worse than they do here. So no, im not a fan! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Etch on 05/13/19 at 18:34:50 444649494849444B46554C270 wrote:
There's your problem! http://https://i.imgur.com/3hABrCi.png |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/13/19 at 19:20:35 Speaking of pizza I got one from Little Caesar's earlier today. Six hours later, I'm still burping it up, and I even got up in the middle of my MC1 PR session to take two Tums. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Eric Kart-man on 05/15/19 at 04:37:22 The big write up and pictures are still in the works, I think Matt wants to unveil the pics, so I'll leave that to him for the time being. Big congrats for Matt reaching the top 10, huge accomplishment! In the meantime we have decided to make Nick and Andrew official Kartel members! A lot has changed since forming roughly two years ago, and I'm proud to be a part some truly historic moments with such an amazing group of friends that dare to make things happen! |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 05/15/19 at 18:30:18 I'm honored to be accepted into this group! Truth be told, from the beginning I kinda thought you saw me and Koltz (especially Koltz) as "honorary Kartel members" because we're the most geographically close (and active) Karters to Monroe, plus we all got together on that magical day of April 28, 2019. Great to know that both of us Mississippians are full members now. I've got to get some more PRs now and do this group proud! And most of all, I've got to MAKE IT TO MONROE IN 2020!!! 8-) ...On a completely unrelated note, if Zarkov and Antistar ever think western Texas is vast and empty, they're welcome to ask Mr. Sumner over there just how much there is to see between Perth and Adelaide. ;D (not to mention how far it is between those two cities) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 06/15/19 at 12:44:31 Relive the ASMKC one more time with this Karthritis director's cut: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3jStMe7uC0&feature=youtu.be[/media] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 06/16/19 at 00:02:14 The good part starts about 1 hour and 15 minutes in. You're welcome. Karel: I think you need to work a little more on that Southern accent. I can believe Leyla (or any other native English speaker) being able to do it since they probably hear it fairly often in American movies and TV. And hey, Cary Elwes did a pretty convincing Oklahoma twang in Twister, don't you think? I recognize Matt's and Kyle's voices in this video, who else is speaking in it? (besides you) At the end it's definitely Joe and Chris Clark talking about the bomb cyclone and the grueling road trip (I didn't realize they only got about 3 hours of sleep the night before the ASC started!) One of you (probably not a native English speaker) is pronouncing the word "championship" in such a way that it almost sounds (to me) like "chimpanzee". ;D |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 06/17/19 at 00:06:00 Eric Olden does the best swamp accent, it's hilarious. The other people in the convo were Sargoth (out of the main Karthritis panel he is usually the one that takes on the role of hosting) and of course Antistar, aka the Frenchie, who went on the road trip with Clark & Joe. Still waiting for the H4H! ;) 8-) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Harvey Kartel on 06/17/19 at 00:21:53 I didn't realize Sargoth and Antistar spoke English so fluently. If that was them speaking, I'm surprised that I actually understood most of what they said. I've always heard that the French weren't the best English speakers, but maybe this is a Myth (or Myth+, if you prefer) that Antistar is out to dispel. 8-) Norwegians seem to be pretty fluent, though, at least the ones I've heard being interviewed during the Winter Olympics (who almost sound American at times!) I don't remember hearing Eric in this video but truth be told, I only watched the last 30 minutes or so. Obviously he would do the best rural Louisiana accent since he actually lives not in Monroe itself but in a rural area of a neighboring parish. Grayson has a population of about... 500? (If you've seen his Twitter page, it's pretty obvious that he's not in the middle of any city) He didn't talk like a hick or anything when he came to visit me, but I'm sure he has plenty of neighbors and/or relatives who really might sound like that. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Antistar on 06/17/19 at 14:07:02 The French actually tend to speak a terrible English. I think mine is good (especially for a Frenchie) but still a million miles away from Karel's, who sounds like he's a native English speaker. I even prefer the way he speaks to any British or American person. |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by KVD on 06/18/19 at 00:04:04 Haha thanks for the praise. Actually, my Dutch accent is quite present (easy to recognize, especially for Dutchies), which especially comes out when I say words like boost (booschtd) and shrine (sccchrrine). Moll even said my accent is stronger than Aron's, but this I respectfully disagree with. [smiley=beer.gif] I do agree some accents are nicer to listen to than even some of the native ones. My personal favourite is Swedish English or Swenglish. It has a singing quality to it, it sounds like they're always happy. Yump, yump!! ;D I also like the Chicago one that Joe has after enough beers. ;) |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Firewaster on 06/18/19 at 07:56:36 Aaron's accent is horrible. Every time he says something it sounds like he's saying "beer". |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Joe Reinreb on 06/18/19 at 13:11:05 Quote:
It's not nearly as strong now as it was when I was younger, but I find it hilarious to hear myself slip back into speaking with that midwestern accent after I've had a few, haha. [smiley=johncleese.gif] |
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Title: Re: ASMKC 2019 - Faded Jeans and Memories Post by Dave Smith on 06/18/19 at 15:51:29 Someone told me once that when I talk I sound like I am asking a question. Middle of the road southern talk here?????? Not sure. |
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