RonVitale

Step Mania

Friends of ours told us recently that they had put together their own Dance Dance Revolution game area in their house using the Step Mania software on a PC.  I contacted our friends a little while later and installed the game on our laptop and bought the dance pads and USB converter for my wife for Christmas.  We’ve been playing for the last two days and it’s been a blast.  What a great way to exercise and have fun!  I have to admit that I love the new set up in the house.  We can watch a movie, TV, hook up the iPod video, or the laptop to watch TV/movies, and now play Step Mania with the laptop.  A simple S-video cable and a two composite to 1/8” stereo jack is all I needed to connect the laptop up to the stereo receiver and to our TV. 

Now we can get some aerobic exercising in after our son goes to bed.  Just step away in playing the game and we can sweat the calories away.  Back in the summer time I put up a   picture of me playing DDR in an arcade on the boardwalk.  Sure the home setup isn’t anything like the arcade version, but I kind of like the setup at home the way it is.  The goal is to paint and get new carpets for the basement and then we’ll move all the equipment down there, but for now, the setup is fine.

So if you’re looking for some fun that’s fairly cheap, you can buy the USB adapters and some pads for about $60-$80.  That’s not too bad.  For the cost of an Xbox 360 game, you can put together your own DDR setup in your home.

Step 1:   Download and install Step Mania on your computer.
Step 2: Connect the   USB adapter to your laptop or PC.
Step 3: Connect your   dance pads to the USB adapter.
Step 4: Connect your PC to your TV via S-video and then change the input selection (Video 2 or 3) on your TV. (If your TV doesn’t have an S-video input, then simply use a computer monitor.)
Step 5: Connect your laptop to your TV or receiver for sound.  (1/8” stereo to Composite.) Apple sells a 3 composite cable (Yellow is video, red is sound, and white is sound). But you can go to Radio Shack (or a similar gadget store) and ask the salesperson for an adapter that will allow you to connect a set of composite (red/white) wires from the back of your stereo receiver’s TV/Video jack to a 1/8” stereo jack from your laptop headphone jack or a PC’s sound out jack on the sound card.
Step 6: Follow the instructions for Step Mania to   configure the dance pads.
Step 7: Play the game and look like a fool in the beginning!

Once you give it a try and need some more help, be sure to check out the   How to Play Instructions on the Step Mania site.  There’s a lot of useful information there. 

I believe that there are over 200 songs available for the game (lots of fast tech music—not my favorite type of music but it’ll get you moving!).  If you’re bored (or just don’t like) those songs, you can import your own mp3s and then   create your own song for the game.  Very cool.

Thankfully this one Christmas present went over very well.  It’s an activity that we can do together and both initially be horrible at.  I’ve been having lots of fun, we’ve been getting all sweaty, and little by little we’re getting better at the game.  Yes, it’s great to watch movies and TV or play other games, but I also like having the option of being able to play this game and get some exercise in.  It’s a good way to burn off stress and let loose. A big thank you for our friends for teaching us about this home version.

Have fun!

Happy Holidays

I'm off on vacation from writing in this blog.  If something extraordinary occurs between now and the new year, I'll post something, but I'm going to take the time to spend with my family, enjoy the holiday season, and start working on episode 3 of The Magic Sock.

May you, your loved ones, and all of those in the world enjoy peace and health in the new year.  Enjoy. And for those who have lost your homes and family in the last year due to the hurricanes, earthquakes, or war--I pray that you will find comfort and aid to help you through the rough times.

Peace.  See you in 2006.

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

I lied.  I’m back.  Yeah, I’m back.  It’s not even the end of the year yet and already I’m making a new post.  Now that I have a few moments to sit down and collect my thoughts there are just too many good things to talk about.  And before I get into it all, I wanted to talk about religion: I believe in God, but I do not practice organized religion.  I was raised Catholic but have fallen away from the religious practices.  I just can’t stand behind a faith that has so many problems: Women cannot be priests, priests cannot marry, and officials have continually neglected to prosecute priests who have molested young boys.  I could go on and on, but I won’t.  It’s Christmas and I believe in God, his/her/its power in our lives and of the glory of being.  I believe that we’re all God (more of a Hindu belief) and all of creation is God.  We could not separate ourselves from God even if we wanted to.  It’s just not possible.

Now: I like to take a step back and I want to share some joy and fun with you.  Am I making fun of Christians and as to what they believe?  No.  But I do not support any religion that thinks that they have the right answer about how their faith is the right one.  And that their God is THE ONE.  Everyone else is in error.  That’s bullshit.  Plain and simple.  (I could go on and on about how a priest told us in religion class that even the poor in Africa [who never heard of Jesus] couldn’t go to heaven.)  Being born into a faith or having access to it, is not the means through which salvation is given to people.  At least that’s what I believe.  If there is a God, then why would he simply show himself to the world as a white man with a beard?  Come on, let’s wake up a bit.  You’re freaking God!  You could be a cow one day, the President the next, and then a rock baking in the sun.  You’re God!  All dimensions, time, space, and existence are in your control.  You thought it up, it’s all you.  So with that said, I want to share with you my thoughts on the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (also known as   Pastafarianism) 

My wife told me about this back in the summer and I just couldn’t stop laughing.  The   Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was created in response to Intelligent Design. Here’s the basic story: “In June 2005, Bobby Henderson submitted an open letter to the Kansas Board of Education in response to their scheduling a hearing debating whether to give intelligent design equal time with evolution by natural selection in biology classes.”  From there, people just started jumping on the bandwagon.  What do Pastafarians believe in?  Well, one of my favorite tenets is: “Global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct consequence of the decline in numbers of pirates since the 1800s.”  (You have to check out this   graph.  It’s really funny.)

In an age in which religious fanaticism has swept America, I wanted to have some fun on this day before Christmas Eve.  If God does exist and if she were to sit down with me and have a chat, I’d like to talk with her about Pastafarianism and hope that she enjoys the joke.  I think she would get a big laugh out of it all.

While enjoying Christmas (if you celebrate the holiday), remember that: 1. You’re not the only people in the world who celebrate a religious holiday at this time of year.  2. Take a step back and just enjoy life—your family and friends and what you have.  I can only hope that 2006 will be a better year.  2005 was filled with famine, war, disease, and natural disasters.  If you want to learn more about Pastafarianism, then be sure to read this   article on Wired.   Have fun!  Peace.

Episode 2 (Worlds: Then and Now)

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Show Notes
Total playing time: 9 minutes 57 seconds

--Thank you to MTGSalvation for running The Magic Sock
--Breakdown of Zak Dolan's 1994
--Comparison of the 1994 Worlds deck with Katsuhiro Mori's 2005 deck

1994 Worlds 1st Place Deck (Zak Dolan)
Land:
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Savannah
4 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
2 Strip Mine

Creatures:
1 Clone
2 Old Man of the Sea
1 Time Elemental
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Ley Druid
4 Serra Angel

Spells:
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Control Magic
1 Mana Drain
1 Recall
1 Siren's Call
2 Stasis
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth
1 Armageddon
2 Disenchant
1 Kismet
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wrath of God
1 Black Lotus
1 Black Vise
1 Howling Mine
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Ivory Tower
1 Mana Vault
2 Meekstone
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Winter Orb

Sideboard:
1 Chaos Orb
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Copy Artifact
1 Diamond Valley
1 In the Eye of Chaos
1 Floral Spuzzem
2 Karma
1 Magical Hack
1 Power Sink
1 Presence of the Master
1 Reverse Damage
1 Sleight of Mind
1 Kismet
1 Winter Blast

2005 Worlds 1st Place Deck (Katsuhiro Mori)

Land:
4 Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
4 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
4 Brushland
5 Forest
4 Temple Garden
1 Plains

Creatures:
2 Yosei, the Morning Star
3 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Selesnya Guildmage
4 Wood Elves
4 Loxodon Hierarch
3 Kodama of the North Tree
3 Llanowar Elves

Spells:
3 Pithing Needle
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Congregation at Dawn
3 Glare of Subdual
2 Seed Spark

Sideboard:
2 Greater Good
1 Kodama of the North Tree
2 Naturalize
2 Carven Caryatid
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Wrath of God
1 Kodama's Reach
2 Yosei, the Morning Star
3 Hokori, Dust Drinker

Closing:

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