There’s a pretty big difference between grasping the fundamentals and beating the game though. I could (at one point) make it to the final boss in Contra without dying but it still took more than the 3 lives you started with to kill it. Granted I was probably all of ten or eleven the last time I tried that but I don’t…

I’m on board with this

Sweet! I got Ultimate Donkey Kong Bakery and The Legend of Zelda: The Crucial Italian, which I assume features Mario in some role, perhaps even a “crucial” one.

It was certainly the first real side scrolled I ever played, although I can’t authoritatively say it was the first. It was probably the most influential though.

To be fair, regular Mario Bros. was weak as hell though. Super Mario was almost an entirely different game while Ms. Pac-man was more a refinement of the concept. Not saying it wasn’t the better game, but I get Jackgar’s point.

I just want to point out that the TI-99/4A Pac-man knock off “Munch Man” was totally awesome for giving every level different baddies, instead of Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and uh.....whoever I’m too lazy to look up.

Well, at least Superman and the Flash should be able to withstand getting run over by a largish Hyundai. Batman would probably find a way too, but I doubt he’d be in fighting shape.

Man, St. Louis is the worst. Closely followed by Memphis. At least in terms of poor signage, traffic volume, and streets that don’t go where they logically should. Memphis seems to have much better drivers than StL, but just getting from point A to point B in either city is a fucking migraine waiting to happen.

I commute from Belmont to Lowell 3-4 days a week. Admittedly most of the bad driving I see is either of the annoyance variety or the “I don’t know where I’m going” type, but I do see an unusual number of people who can’t seem to keep their car in their own lane.

That’s the premise I’m operating under, if for no other reason than it keeps my stress levels down and there’s nothing I could really do about it anyway :).

The funny thing is I suspect she didn’t want to tell me about the engagement to avoid hurting my feelings without thinking about how much more it would hurt to just find out she got married.

Ugh...I had a relationship with a woman from Thailand dating back to high school and alternating between long distance and whenever we could be together for a few weeks or months for something like 15 years. Unfortunately, even though deep down I knew it would ultimately not work out, she never told me she got…

For the record, I drove something very similar to this gem for most of undergrad:

I’m 36 years old and I’d drive this into the ground.

LOL, like I said, sorry for getting pedantic on you. I knew what you were trying to say, and I’ve been more clumsy in expressing myself in the past.

Melkus RS 1000. Sure, it only had a 3 cylinder 2-stroke engine and it probably fell apart if you looked at it sideways but it *looks* cool and is East German dammit!

Uh....”If Mazda says no, the deposit gets refunded.” Isn’t that sort of the opposite of nonrefundable? I mean I get what you were getting at, but that’s more like crowd funding than a “nonrefundable deposit”. Sorry for getting pedantic.

Heh, I wouldn’t doubt that percentage wise, Ferrari branded gew-gaws have a higher profit margin than the cars.

Totally agree, no one would blink an eye if it wouldn’t have had a Ferrari badge.

That makes sense. You’d think it would be used more if it conferred a legit advantage that outweighed the drawbacks