Merk vs. IndyDDR: Waiting for a Merk-acle

[Ho]

Let's just say that I went to put on a suit for a wedding and the pants didn't fit.

[Merk]

For some reason I picture your suit as being one of those tacky light blue ones from the 70s.

[Ho]

Actually, it was this suit.

I haven't had any soda today and I've been kind of hyper. I was even cracking dirty jokes in the IT meeting.

[Merk]

lolololol DONGle guys amirite?

[Ho]

I am starting to get serious about the reason you started this thread. I am going to try cutting down on soda starting today. I guess maybe I should weigh myself to see if I am actually getting anywhere.

I just want to document some numbers...

I don't actually own a scale (unless you want to count my Wii Balance Board + Wii Fit), but I do step on one occasionally when I see one at a doctor's office or other random places. My recollection is that this summer I was just over 160 lbs. Let's say, 162.

I just stepped on a scale this morning and it read 156 lbs. I was actually kind of surprised since I only started doing anything on purpose just this week. I highly doubt those 6 lbs. have much of anything to do with the last 2 days, but I'm going to go ahead and use that as my baseline from which to track progress. The thing is, I don't actually have a number goal in mind like Merk. I just want my pants to fit again.

As a reference, I was ~120 lbs. in college...of course that was over 14 years ago now. I don't intend, nor necessarily want, to get all the way back down there. I think I had a lot less muscle back then as well as a lot less fat. I imagine I will reach my goal somewhere between my current weight and that point.

The real trick will be whether the weight comes off in the right place to reach my goal. I wore pants with a 26" waist in high school. Those fit about right. In college, they stopped making those and 28" was the smallest I could readily get. Those were a little loose. By the end of college, 29" was the smallest. Since then, 30" seems to be as small as I see. These have been big on me all along--which is probably why I haven't noticed an expansion of my waistline. However, they're probably not as big on me as they once were.

[Merk]

Holy shit. I don't think I've worn anything below a 34 even in skinny Merk days.

I have a bulbous ass.

In thread related shit - I'll see what I can do about getting 20, November played on a legit cab. I'm not sure if Tokens 'n' Tickets is going to be open Thursday/Friday so I might have to roll with whatever I get on Putt-Putt's Stepmania cab (it will probably be a AAA).

[Fluffyumpkins]

Holy shit. I don't think I've worn anything below a 34 even in skinny Merk days.

I have a bulbous ass.

In thread related shit - I'll see what I can do about getting 20, November played on a legit cab. I'm not sure if Tokens 'n' Tickets is going to be open Thursday/Friday so I might have to roll with whatever I get on Putt-Putt's Stepmania cab (it will probably be a AAA).

Weren't there two versions of 20, Nov on DDR? I seem to recall a version in one of the older mixes that was a bit harder.

[Merk]

Yeah, you're right - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mPIlARph0I

I vaguely recalled this as well since the background to this song was the same as Let Them Move's and for some reason that struck me as weird back in the 4th mix days. Obviously, the one we'll play for this week is the one that's on Supernova.

I agree that the old chart was harder too, I think it had a gallop or two in there while the current version is just a jump of slow and easy jacks with jumps.

EDIT: Nevermind, here is the old chart, no gallops but it is arguably more difficult than the new chart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMfMRp8OMl4

[Ho]

I thought the older chart was easier. I remember playing it a few 20, Novembers ago to get my AAA.



I had specifically installed 4th Plus because the basic chart had fewer steps than the modern chart. I can't quite read the number in that picture, but it's small.

On a side note, wow...that's a really old picture! If you look at the wall behind me, the basement is not finished. Also, I'm still wearing glasses, and that is not the last pair of glasses I wore. The file is dated 2004.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Yeah, you're right - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mPIlARph0I

I vaguely recalled this as well since the background to this song was the same as Let Them Move's and for some reason that struck me as weird back in the 4th mix days. Obviously, the one we'll play for this week is the one that's on Supernova.

I agree that the old chart was harder too, I think it had a gallop or two in there while the current version is just a jump of slow and easy jacks with jumps.

EDIT: Nevermind, here is the old chart, no gallops but it is arguably more difficult than the new chart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMfMRp8OMl4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSTNvEZ1-0A

This is the chart you're talking about. They didn't get the rhythm correctly toward the end, but it is still a fun chart.

[Merk]

57, the number is 57.

You can tell by looking at the bloke's score on the left side. Good job on getting a "AAA" on 4th mix even if it's on Basic - I couldn't do that, there's something about the framerate in the earlier mixes that throws off my PA.

[Merk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSTNvEZ1-0A

This is the chart you're talking about. They didn't get the rhythm correctly toward the end, but it is still a fun chart.

Well I'll be damned! I knew there was a chart for this song out there with gallops in it - good to know I'm not crazy!

[Ho]

I would like to post an apology to The Merkulator. I am now at least three weeks behind on our little activity here. I am sorry. I did reinstall my SuperNOVA2 over the weekend, but I still need to work on the event songs. Is it Wookie Wookie and two weeks of 20, November? Is there a third song (other than whatever we may set today) that I'm missing?

In other news, the scale reported 153 this morning. Somehow I actually lost weight over Thanksgiving weekend.

[Merk]

Wookie Wookie and whichever version of 20, November appears on Supernova are the songs you still need to play.

I played a lot of Stepmania at Putt-Putt last week and went through all the weird little iterations of 20, November that were on that machine. Obviously none of them count since the timing is ITG-level easy (I AAA'd 5th mix's No Limit on my first try) but it was fun to compare them all to each other. The 3rd mix version is the best even though it's a little off.

With that being said I myself still need to play 20, November officially on an actual Supernova cabinet which I will do come Thursday.

WHAT SONG DO WE WANT TO PLAY THIS WEEK SO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THE QUEUE?!?!?!

[Ho]

PARANOiA KCET (clean mix), Broken My Heart, and Can't Stop Falling in Love (Speed Mix) were all mentioned prior to the realization that we should be doing 20, November. I'd be ok with any of those.