...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...)

The Kartel ETA is around 12:45 now and I’ll be there about the same time. Can’t believe this is finally happening!!

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

In my mind, Harvey is still a Duff alt, even if site members have now met him.

Harvey Kartel wrote on 04/28/19 at 17:57:51:

Cool to read this. But did you play 2P racing modes too or just BM? lol

You waited too long...

Antistar wrote on 04/29/19 at 01:26:15:


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?

Harvey Kartel wrote on 04/29/19 at 22:08:12:

Sure I can! And I guess Karel, Sami and high skilled players like Zarkov also can.

Sad you couldn't play MR/GP though.

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分, but good solvers can consistently do it in under 10分. My personal record is around 11分 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 万 symbol for the number 10,000, e.g. expressing a quantity like 125,000 as 12.5万 instead.)

^ 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 7万 (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.  

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)

This is reserved for Pt. II

Antistar wrote on 05/01/19 at 22:20:51:


tldr