I've always talked about nostalgia and how I can't relate to it as much as "90's kids" could, but the Mario Party series continues to grow in popularity from the first installment of Mario Party in 1998 to the present with the most recent Mario Party, Mario Party 9. It was released this year in the United States on March 11. It has always been a classic video game, where players choose their favorite character and travel across a board collecting coins to buy stars and become the "superstar" by collecting the most stars. This Monopoly-styled game is very fun. The game can change in numerous ways, such as buying and using items on yourself or other players, winning minigames for coins, using the dice to land on a desired spot, etc.
Here is a picture of the front cover of Mario Party 9, which I got on Monday this week:
You may be thinking, how has this series lasted through nine games and still remain popular? Well, for many reasons! Each game has an addition of new minigames, items, maps, characters, and many more to make it even more exciting than before. But, this all takes a big turn in Mario Party 9. Mario Party 9 probably brought the most changes from one game to the next. First off, in the others, players traveled seperately, but now everyone travels together in a vehicle. This doesn't allow much strategy for some other players; for example, if you want to turn left when the player whose turn it is (the captain) wants to go right, you are goin' right. Second, in the other games in the series, you could set a limit to how many turns everyone takes. Now, you go from start to finish, meaning games could range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Third, usually after everyone takes a turn, a minigame is played. Now, a minigame is only played if you land on the specific space on the board that starts a minigame. And fourth, the creators this time tried to incorporate "boss battles" into the game. You can't lose them, and it is basically a minigame. You have to understand that this game was designed for younger kids, and inside, I am. They have used many ideas from other Mario games to make it more interesting.
Don't run off thinking I hate this game, because I don't. I just enjoyed the original style Mario Party games, where players try to get coins to get stars and have a set amount of turns each. This is obviously not my favorite Mario Party game, but there are some good things about it. One thing is the exciting music. With the growing rate of techno music, Mario Party 9 has also used some techno-dubsteppy music to suit minigames. Just listen:
While this is very upbeat and catchy, I actually enjoy a specific song from Mario Party 7. It is the theme of the board, Pagoda Peak. It is a Chinese-style board, with gongs, mountains, pagodas, and a koopa master. This is the theme of the board:
I recommend purchasing this game if you enjoy Mario games, especially the Mario Party series. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I do. Also, try buying one of the older Mario Party games to have a different experience! Have fun!
Imagine going to your mailbox everyday and expecting more than just junk mail. You could be receiving plenty of exotic stamps and postcards from around the world. This is an introduction to what is known as Postcrossing. Postcrossing is a fun hobby for people of all ages who love to hear of different cultures and look at postcards from others' countries.
This online project known as Postcrossing came out in 2005 and was founded by Paulo Magalhães. The idea of the project is to send a postcard from your country to another area of the world. When that person receives a postcard, you will then receive one from another area of the world. You can choose to have the option of sending and receiving from your country as well. Be aware that just because you send to one country doesn't mean your next postcard you receive will be from that specific country.
Let me show you Postcrossing:
If you create an account, this is the first page you will see when you are registered. Let me explain everything that is on it. First, when we take a look at "Your mailbox," we see how many postcards I have sent (113), how many I have received (105), and how many postcards I have currently on the road to their selected countries (11/11). It also shows an estimate of how far your postcards have traveled and how far others' postcards have traveled to come to you.
You also get to write a bit about yourself on your profile as well as what postcards you prefer. Also, when you send or receive a card, you can upload a picture of the postcard for others to "favorite" and comment, kind of like FaceBook. When you register, you also need to give your address to your mailbox, which may make some people wary of strangers. No need to worry, because postcrossing only shares your address with people who are supposed to send you a postcard, so your address is kept safe from creepers and pedophiles.
This website is very simple to use. You click on "send a postcard" to obviously send a postcard. It will generate an address of someone who is expecting a postcard (since they already sent one to someone else). You write down their address on a postcard. Along with their address, the website generates a postcard ID. This tells what country the postcard came from. It also tells what number postcard is being sent from that country via postcrossing. For example, if you were given the ID, US-74972, then that means the postcard came from the United States of America and this is the 74,972 postcard from that country that was sent using postcrossing. This is one of the most important parts of the postcard, as it allows the other person to register it and tell postcrossing that you are expecting another postcard. Write a message to the person you are sending to after reading their profile to find out more about them. Then, apply the correct postage amount in order to send to that country. Currently in the US, it costs $1.05 to send a postcard internationally. With the poor economy, the price could rise so check with your post office for the current price to send a postcard. The Postcrossing website is absolutely free to use; however, you will have to pay for postage stamps and postcards in order to send a postcard to a country. When the person on the other line registers it, be sure to look in your mailbox in the next upcoming days for a postcard!
Now, you may notice that I have sent more than I have received. The reason for this is because another person must register my postcard with the postcard ID in order for the website to know that I have sent one. Then, another person will receive my address and send me a postcard as well and the cycle repeats. I currently have 11 postcards that I am sending to someone else. I can only send a maximum of 11 postcards at once. Your maximum limit is determined by how many you have sent. Once you get up to 100 sent postcards, your traveling limit increases by one for every 50 you send i.e. x/11 traveling, I sent 100. x/12 traveling, I sent 150 and so on. You can click on your "traveling postcards" tab to see how long they have been traveling.
I have collected (so far) 105 postcards, which is not nearly a lot compared to others. Postcrossers have been on this website for years and they have received over 5,000! Wow! If only I had that many! You should definetly use this website if you are one who loves to collect, then you should try this out today!
My question for this week is...
What do you think of Postcrossing?
Here are some of my postcards I have received and the countries they came from:
So, I've probably talked about the end of the year many times than you've probably thought. But, right before the school year ends, I have something that is new to me this year. Finals, finals, and even more finals. Let me introduce you to my current schedule:
English from 8:45 to 10:11
History from 10:11 to 10:54
Science from 10:54 to 11:37
Lunch from 11:37 to 12:07
Math from 12:07 to 1:13
Spanish from 1:13 to 2:02
Gym from 2:02 to 2:50
...and go home.
Now, on Wednesday, I had a Spanish final in which I got one point off on for not knowing how to conjugate the verb, "saber" which means "to know." Oh, well. I was the highest in the class, so that counts for something. Immediately following that Spanish final, I had cooking class instead of gym that day and had a mini quiz in that class. I do not know what I got on that quiz, but it was extremely easy; it had questions like, "What does T. and tsp. stand for?" After that, I went to Science to take my next final, and this was the part of the day that I was most scared about. I got my grade back the next day and I got a B+. Not bad, but considering it was only out of 43 points AND I'm in the highest science class in my grade, I think it was good. After the test, my friend reminded me we had a retake on our math test in our next class. We had a long-term substitute who was not the best at teaching, but had to be our math teacher. We took a test during her time with us. Everyone except me and a few others failed the test. She allowed us to retake it and she averaged the two grades. I didn't take it the second time. Our original teacher came back and let us take it AGAIN and she took the better of the two. This totals to be THREE times that we retook this test. The third one I decided to take since it couldn't harm my grade and I improved my score by 1.5 points. I winged this math test since I forgot that we were going to retake it Wednesday. Luckily, math is my best subject.
Next came Thursday. Thursday consisted of a surprise vocabulary final in English class. It wasn't graded, but we got to see how well we did. I got 107/110. After that, I had my history final on everything we learned that year. It was graded, but only counted if it improved your overall grade. I don't know what I got, but I know it improved my grade. Next, I have yet again another science test, but it was a benchmark. A benchmark is an exam we take to show how much we know to our teachers for next year. It didn't count as a grade, but they showed us our grade after we took it. I got 26/30 and missed questions on the areas that we were never taught, so that is good. And later, I went to math and had my mid-term, which is basically the final, but for math. You see, my math class does half of our algebra book in one year, and then the other half the next year. The math class above us does the whole book in one year. My math class is the second-highest math class and the math class that learns the whole book in a year is the highest class. However, almost everyone in that class is failing, so I'm glad I'm in the second-highest. It's perfect for me. Anyway, I got one point off on my mid-term. Wow, four tests in a row.
So as you may be able to tell, it was very hectic for me. Two days in a row were constant tests. But thankfully, everyone got a chance to relax on Friday while my jazz band and choir got to go to our four elementary schools in our district and perform. Believe me, I was DEAD TIRED at the end of Friday; try playing and singing the same music four times in one day! We also played (not our instruments) at the park and ate lunch while we were at it. When we returned to our middle school, it was about ten minutes until the day ended, so I ran to my locker to get my stuff for math class, but on the way down, I peeked into the room and saw everyone dancing! I realized they were practicing for the talent show that our class is in! We're all doing the Cupid Shuffle at our school's talent show for fun. I was also welcomed with the rest of the teacher's candy! It was a great day overall!
I live in a very small school district. We do not have much money, like many other schools nowadays. The thing is, we are roughly five million in the hole. This was an effect of building another elementary school the size of a really fancy high school in another district. It's ridiculously large, and should not be for little kids. Us middle schoolers are stuck in our ancient middle school while the little kids get a tall ceiling elementary school with a giant gym and many more rooms. The only downside may be that in an effort to help save money and benefit the environment, they never use lights. Instead they have sunroofs and rely on the sun to give them light. However, I still believe that older students should be able to use a giant building.
At this point, you may think my blog post is about the construction of this building our school district decided to build. WRONG. It is actually about a decision made about whether or not students will have a field trip. Our school district cut the field trip for my grade, 7th grade, but allowed 6th graders to take their usual required (and I say "required" loosely) field trip. Also, the 8th graders were supposed to have a field trip to a local pool and party all day with friends, but that was cut as well. Since it was the last year for the 8th graders, our school district wanted to make it up to them, so they had them go to our high school's planetarium. *clap* *clap* BRAVO. What a waste of money that is just to have students break their necks and look up onto a digital map. Get this: Everyone who has been in our school district since the beginning has seen the planetarium before! It was cool the first time, but I can understand why the 8th graders found it very boring and a waste of time. Some even said they would rather stay in school than go to the planetarium! Admit it, at some point in your life, you will go to a planetarium.
Anyway, I really want your opinion on this, so my question of the week is...
What do you think of the school district's decision of allowing a field trip to our school district's planetarium?
P.S. This is totally irrelevant to the topic we were just talking about, but to the Legend of Korra fans out there, check out this crazy video I found the other day... It makes no sense, but it's fun to watch:
I may not be a "90's kid," but I have a brother who was. His childhood was filled with many fun times. This included lots of excellent video games which should never be forgotten. He has passed many of the games off to me, and let me tell you, I find them just as amazing as the ones there are today. I'm beginning to notice how they were nostalgic and rememorable to him and I thought I should form a list of my top five most nostalgic video games.
5. Mario Kart 64
Number five on my list is Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64. Mario Kart 64 is a racing game designed for single and multiplayer modes. It was released in 1996 and developed by Nintendo. What makes the game very memorable is the classical, simple platforms, the original items, and the themes. Kenta Nagata composed the catchy themes for this game which adds the perfect effect to each individual stage. The producer, Shigeru Miyamoto and director, Kenta Nagata did a very great job adding the best possible graphics and effects for the Nintendo 64 at its time.
In this game, players race around a course throwing items at each other, including turtle shells and banana peels. Each course had unique terrains, turns, and obstacles. One moment you're on mud, the next you're in water. Sharp turns with trucks on highways also added some challenge. The goal is to get to the end of the finish line in the highest place possible, first being the best.
4. Super Smash Brothers 64
Again, this is another Nintendo 64 game. It was released in 1999, produced by Hiroaki Suga, Satoru Iwata, Kenji Miki, and Shigeru Miyamoto. Also, it was developed by HAL Laboratory. Super Smash Bros. 64 is a fighting style game, somewhat bringing back the arcade fighting style games at the time. This game was very popular at the time, especially since it allowed players to choose their desired favorite character from their other games they had. Characters included Link, Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Yoshi, and Fox. The wide range of characters from many different games made this game a great start to a wonderful series. This game had awesome successors to follow including Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each successor made new advancements including adding more characters to the selection, adding new playing modes, and a wide selection of items to use during battle.
Players choose a character and fight on a selection of different stages with different items. Each character and item has its own special abilities and the stages have obstacles that can affect players either positively or negatively. Since this game led to many sequels, it has a strong sense of nostalgia because when I play one of the more recent versions, it makes me think of this game from the past.
3. Super Mario World
Number three on my list is Super Mario World which was released on November 21, 1990 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was directed by Takashi Tezuka, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto (again), and had an amazing composer by the name of Koji Kondo. Let me tell you something about Kojo Kondo... He is FABULOUS at creating video game music. He adds the correct musical effects at the perfect time which fits into every stage. In some of the more recent Mario games, he has composed all of the music in them.
The evil Bowser captures Princess Peach and is keeping her locked up in his castle. Mario must travel the world to get to Bowser's castle to defeat him and save his princess. That is the main gist of the storyline.
In Super Mario World, a player chooses either Mario or Luigi. They go from level to level via a world map, running from left to right through each level getting ot the flagpole at the finish. The world map wasn't a new edition to a Mario game, as it was seen in Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES); however, this map was much larger and had many more levels. The levels had creative enemies, platforms, and much more. All of this added to a challenging, yet exciting game.
To here some of Koji Kondo playing some of his video game music, CHECK THIS OUT:
This is a snapshot of the whole world map from the game (it's zoomed out the whole way to fit all stages, but during the actual game, it zooms in on specific areas where you are located):
Donkey Kong Country 2 (DKC2) was released on November 21, 1995, developed by Rare, published by Nintendo, directed by Tim Stamper, produced by Gregg Mayles, composed by Dave Wise, and had artists Steve Mayles and Mark Stevenson. Its platformer was the SNES. If you could tell by my other blog posts or maybe even just this one, I love music; specifically video game music. Its amazing to me how people can think of the right music at the right times, and this game is a PERFECT example as to what I'm talking about.
DKC2 is much like Super Mario World; you pick between Diddy Kong or Dixie Kong, travel across levels via a world map, and finish at the end. Now the reason this game tops Super Mario World is because of the music. They have music for dense jungles, slippery iceland, muddy swamps, and much more. All of the themes fit perfectly. When you die in a level, there is a short tune you hear. This tune fits in to the stage as well. What I'm about to show you is exactly what I mean how it fits in. This video will display the name of the current stage's biome such as jungle, fortress, etc. All of the tunes have a similar jingle. For each death tune, try to imagine yourself in the area:
Now do you know what I mean? Now, you may have noticed that this is Donkey Kong Country 2, and not the first. The first is very good, but it didn't have the various tunes for each death theme and the different themes for each stage. But, here is the cover picture of Donkey Kong Country (1):
In DKC, the storyline is that King K. Rool stole the Kongs' bananas. In DKC2, Donkey Kong is taken hostage, so Diddy and Dixie must rescue Donkey Kong. You may not believe it, but yes; there was a third DKC. DKC3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, has Dixie and her cousin, Kiddy must rescue Donkey Kong AND Diddy Kong.
1. Super Mario 64
Ah, Super Mario 64 (SM64)... It was developed and published by Nintendo, directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and had composer (yet again), Koji Kondo. It was released on June 23, 1996. Here is the cover picture:
This game was advanced for its software at the time. It is a single player game and players run around freely through a 3D world from level to level. You progress through the game via collecting stars from each level. At the end, you save Peach from Bowser who yet again, steals the princess. Seems like he never gives up, right?
Now you probably know what I'm going to say next. The music (here's where you say, "here we go again...") in this game is absolutely fantastic. Again, it matches the theme in each level. Let me show you example instead of wasting my time typing away:
This is a watery stage where you rome around a vast sea. The title of the level this music comes from is called "Dire, Dire Docks."
The music still isn't the whole reason I find this game nostalgic, but the successors of these games were just as amazing as this! This game led to Paper Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and many more 3D games! This game is just the very original of all the successors! All of the successors had great editions to the musical aspect of the games. Some remixed the original compositions while others may have created a medley of themes together for each level.
Words do not explain how awesome, fabulous, wonderful, or amazing these two people are at creating video game music: Dave Wise and Koji Kondo. Koji Kondo I must say has been one of the greatest human beings alive right now. He created an amazing era of epic music (and so has Dave Wise). Here is his outstanding orchestra while they play their music to Super Mario Galaxy, one of the successors of Super Mario 64:
I want to briefly touch of Paper Mario 64. It is near the top of my list of favorite composed music. This game is another successor of Super Mario 64. Everything looks 2D, but everything travels in a 3D world. The vast variety of areas, large world map and excellent composed music makes this game very fun. Mario travels around the world and if he bumps into an enemy, he must battle them. this style of gaming really catches my attention for some reason. Here is the catchy music every time you hear when you battle a minor enemy:
Now you know my top five nostalgic Nintendo video games!
My question for this week is...
Have you ever played any of these games I've mentioned? Seriously, if you haven't, try buying them on the Wii Shop Channel on your Wii or buy a used system online!
Ever since I was a young kid, I've loved the idea of money. Don't mistake me as a penny pincher, but I always try to find a way to make money, whether it be selling lemonade at a lemonade stand, selling gum at school, or simply finding loose change. The idea of collecting, saving up, and spending money thrills me for some reason.
Ever since 2006, I've ran a lemonade stand for supporting Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a foundation for supporting research for children with childhood cancer. I was around 7 years old at the time, and all of my earnings went to charity. All I sold was lemonade, lemonade, lemonade. Nowadays, 20% of my earnings go to the charity. I sell much more items now; take a look at this: I've created quite the creative menu for this stand. It includes the items I sell, information on my stand, etc. (click on it to expand the size)
Here's me with my current lemonade stand sign:
It doesn't hurt to have a paper-folding artist as a mom! :) So I lug up my cooler with all of my supplies up my hill with a table and the sign. I usually have a friend help me carry everything up and help me out as we make money. Seems that my cookies and fudge are a hit! People just pass by to grab more and say "those are amazing!" It's a good start for this Summer!
Being a teenager, you always want to have money, so I still donate to charity, but I have 80% going to me. Don't think me selfish just yet, because I ask every customer if they want the money to go specifically to the charity.
I have currently made around $10 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation at the moment and I've only been up and running for a week so far this year! Wish me luck as I try to get more money for the foundation!
My question for this week is...
Have you ever had or been a part of a lemonade stand before?
I'm going to tell you a story about my ex-friend, John, and his lunchbox. My whole family and many of my family friends have heard this story before and they are sick of hearing it. So, how about I tell you guys? Let's begin.
This story takes place in second grade when my friend (at the time), John, was eating lunch. We were sitting together at the table. It was Trix Day at school, which means packaged cereal and milk. I bought the platter, Trix, that day and John had packed.
Lunch went on normally, including random, uncalled-for jokes and immature laughter. But, it came time for lunch to end. At the end of the lunch period, the lunch aids told us to empty out trays and we did. While I emptied my tray into the trash can, John was walking with me to chat as I dumped my trash in. But somehow, John did the strangest thing: He dropped his lunch box into the trashcan! It looked like he did it purposefully! I thought it was his, but I didn't bother.
John went into line to be dismissed back to class. I saw he didn't have his lunch box. While I still stood by the trash can, I saw another friend, Max, who was emptying his trash in as well. He bought the platter too, and all I could see was this milk just splattering and pouring down on his lunch box. I was shocked and I ran into line to tell John.
In line, I explained that I think I saw his lunch box. John is still confused, as he has convinced himself that he didn't pack that day. I turn around and see a teacher holding a soaked, smelly, lunch box while saying, "Is this anyone's?" I said, "JOHN! That's yours!" and sure enough, he's just like "Oh my gosh!" and is brought somewhere else that I wasn't sure of. All I knew was I was cracking up!
He comes back about ten minutes late to class and I saw his lunch box tied up in a bag. That sure would take a while to clean! It was such a funny experience and I still remember it even after five years!
My question for this week is...
Do you have any funny stories like the "John and the Lunch Box" story?
