World Cup prediction week! Groups A and B

Hello World! I am back!  It has been five whole months since I lasted posted and a lot has gone on since then.  I FINALLY graduated and am getting very excited to leave for my month in Europe in 19 days!  Speaking of going international, I am getting caught up in the World Cup fever so I am here to give my group stage predictions (two a day) followed by the knockout stage.  There will be a post every day for the next week or so, get hyped!

GROUP A (note: rankings are of May 8th 2014)

Brazil (4)
Croatia (20)
Mexico (19)
Cameroon (50)

This group is easily set up for the host country of Brazil to cruise on through at the top of the group.  They have an enormous amount of talent ranging from the top with Neymar and Hulk, to the midfield with Oscar and Paulhino and a monster back 4 with Thiago Silva, Dante, David Luis and as you saw in the UEFA Champions League final the damage that Marcelo can do.  The real battle is going to be for who gets the second spot in the group.  Mexico is a team that just barely qualified (with a little help from the USA).  They still have Hernandez and Dos Santos on the team but they are not playing very well with each other at the moment  Croatia is a team with a lot of talent such as Real Madrid's Modric, Munich's Mandzukic and Inter's Kovacic.  Cameroon is an older squad that, with their leadership from Samuel Eto'o up top and Assou-Ekotto in the back, can make waves in the tournament if the younger players follow their lead.

I anticipate that Brazil will win all three of their games with no real issues.  The only team that have the back 4 and midfield that MIGHT be able to keep up with them would be Cameroon and even then the age of Cameroon would probably catch up to them.  The match that is going to decide who gets second in the group is the game on June 18th in Manaus between Croatia and Cameroon.  If there is a winner of the game then that will be the team that finishes in second, however if there is a draw then which ever team can come close to Brazil and beat Mexico to retain some goal differential would come out of the group to make it to the knockout stages.  I think that the veteran leadership and the last go around for some of the Cameroon players allow them to make it to the knockout rounds

Group A predicted final standings
1. Brazil
2. Cameroon
3. Croatia
4. Mexico

GROUP B (note: rankings are of May 8th 2014)
Spain (1)
Netherlands (15)
Chile (13)
Australia (59)

First off, I just have to say poor Australia. They qualify for the World Cup, only to be drawn into a stacked group like this.  That being said, they have a unique opportunity in this group.  They have a chance to knock off one of the big boys because the top 3 in this group may very well be beating up on each other and an opportunistic Aussie team led by Tim Cahill might have a shot to pull a huge shock win in the group stage.  What more can you say about Spain? They might be the best national squad to ever play the game.  The talent up and down the roster is insane; from Diego Costa and David Villa to Iniesta, Alonso, Mata, Fabregas, Busquets, David Silva all manning the midfield and Juanfran, Pique and Sergio Ramos in the back and of course, Iker Casillas in goal.  There is no doubt in my mind that this team will top the group or at the very least advance.  The Dutch, of course, are well known for their high flying, high scoring offensive brand of football.  With Robben, Van Persie, de Jong, Sneijder and Huntelaar they can outscore just about anyone.  What concerns me is their defense and goaltender, it does not matter how much you score if the other team can stop you and they can counterattack and shred your defense for goals.  Chile was one of my top 3 dark horse picks in the World Cup this year (along with Belgium and Ivory Coast) until I saw the group they were drawn into.  This is a talented team with Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona and Vidal, Carmona, and Beausejour (who plays at WIGAN!!).  They have a relatively young team that can make noise if they play up to their potential.

The opening game in the group is a rematch of the 2010 final between Spain and Holland.  I have a strong feeling this game will end in a draw as each team will be feeling each other out for most of the game but if there would be a winner out of the game it would be Spain.  Australia's goal for this tournament should be to try and get at least 1 goal.  I would say try and get a point out of the group but there is distinct chance that the Aussie's could lose every game by 3-5 goals.  The second place in the group comes down to the Dutch vs Chile game on June 23rd, which are both squads final game of the group stage.  Each of their results vs Spain will determine how the flow of this game goes (since they both SHOULD beat Australia).  I just think the Dutch are too good here and they should advance in the second spot.

Group B predicted final standings
1. Spain
2. Netherlands
3. Chile
4. Australia


That will do it for today!  Make sure to come back tomorrow for when I predict groups C and D!

Top 13 for 2013

Hello and welcome back!  It has been a while since I put out a blog post.  I might be a little late with this post but I wanted to do my top 13 EDM tracks for 2013.  I am choosing only one track per producer(s) so I don't use multiple producer(s) in the list.  Are you ready to party?! Cause I know I am!


13. Run on Love- Lucas Nord ft. Tove Lo

12. I AM- Axwell and Sick Individuals ft Taylr Renee

11. After Dark- Tom Staar & Style of Eye

10. Get Lucky- Daft Punk ft. Pharrell

9. Wicked Games- Parra for Cuva

8. Interstellar Rollercoaster- Turismo

7. LYCKA- Pryda (Eric Prydz)

6. Take Me Away (Grand Finale)- Arty ft. Fiora

ON TO THE TOP 5! I hope you are really feeling the flow of the songs thus far!

5. Take Me Home- Cash Cash

4. Move into Light - Juventa ft. Erica Curran

3. Stars - Matisse & Sadko

2. Iris- Audien

Before we move on to the top selection of the year, I just have a little to say about the top choice.  The producers that did the remix of number one could have taken every single spot on this list by themselves.  They are hands down my favorite producers. You may have noticed a trend on this list of beautiful and big female voices and it continues in the top song. I consider this a perfect song from the second the track starts to the second the song ends.  It is incredibly uplifting and inspirational in its own way.  Without further adieu, here is number one!

1. Wings (Myon & Shane 54 Summer of Love mix) - Tom Swoon ft. Taylr Renee

I hope you enjoyed the ride for my own personal top 13 tracks for 2013! I am excited to see what 2014 has in store

Drew, party for five?

Hello all!  Tonight I am writing what is, you could say, my first ever "serious" blog post.  In light of Nelson Mandela passing earlier today it brought back a question that I was asked during RA training a few years back: "If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would they be?"  I didn't limit myself to only three.  I came up with four almost at the drop of a hat.  This is going to be the first time I have actually said or written down any reasoning behind the four figures I selected.  Without further adieu let's get started.

The reason Nelson Mandela is listed on here first isn't because of his recent passing rather it is because this is probably the only time in his entire lifetime that he has been put first.  He has always put the hopes and dreams of his supporters and country before himself.  He is probably the least selfish human being that I have ever known in my lifetime.  Not only that but after he was released from jail, he was the first black South African to hold the office of President, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election.  He is one of the very few people on this Earth whom I would have a friendly political debate with.  Also, look at that dang smile.  If there is ever a smile that lights up your day, Mandela's is it.

The legend himself, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Growing up I was taught how to play the piano by my Mother's side of the family so classical music has been a part of my life since I was young.  His music is so uplifting to me and half the time I turn to Mozart and his piano concertos when I am doing homework or am sick of listening to the current generations music.  I can actually thank Mozart for his role in my deep interest in psychology.  My senior year of high school I did my final humanities project on the "Mozart Effect" which was, in short, an effect which figured out if listening to classical music such as Mozart had an effect on studying and in turn, better test results.  I went all out with the project and even brought in a stereo to play some Mozart selections to see if it would work and it did!  Half the class fell asleep to the music but who cares, I had fun doing the research on him and his work anyways!

This one might be the curve-ball of the group.  This is the famous American painter Jackson Pollock.  He was a massive figure in the abstract expressionist movement and is best known for his style of "drip painting".  Despite gaining all this fame he got, he was seemingly one of the most misunderstood painters of a generation.  In my senior year of high school we watched the movie "Pollock" in class and he immediately sparked my interest.  Despite how it looks like he just dipped his paint brush in paint and just flung it all over the canvas, to me it looked like controlled chaos and it really caught my eye.  He was an alcoholic, which unfortunately is the reason it took his life due to a drunk driving accident.  The movie portrayed him in such a way that I felt for him, not bad by any stretch of the imagination but you could just feel the emotion that Ed Harris wanted to portray in his role as Pollock.  I would love to sit down and (ironically and sadly at the same time) enjoy a drink with him because he is a mind that I would love to hear more about.

You can't really guess who this is from a sculpture but this is Alexander III of Macedon, but you might know him as Alexander the Great.  He was the king of Macedonia and was educated by the great Greek philosopher Aristotle.  By the time he was 30 his empire stretched from the Ionian Sea all the way to the Himalayas.  In my eyes, he is the greatest commander to ever grace a battlefield.  So great, in fact, that he never lost once in battle.  What fascinated me the most about Alexander was the cultural diffusion he created by conquering that vast amount of land.  It is incredibly intriguing to read about how him settling some of the Greek colonies resulted in, thousands of years later, a culture that could be seen in the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century.  I also have a passion for reading about wars and how they were fought in the ancient era and there is no better man to read about than Alexander.  As I mentioned before, he was undefeated in battle but what really struck my eye was his intense loyalty to his troops.  He ALWAYS led them into battle and led the first charge forward.  He revolutionized speed and maneuvering in battle despite almost always being outnumbered and his fighting spirit was undeniable.


I put a lot of thought into this blog post so I hope you loved reading it!  I would love to know who my readers would invite to a small dinner party so please tell me in the comments below!  Enjoy!

Special Edition Top 10 list!

Welcome everyone to the special edition top ten list!  I thought since I had yet to post in 2 weeks or so I would go all out for you guys and do a fun (to me) TOP 40(!!) list. That's right, top 40.  In honor of the Xbox One and PS4 releasing I am going back to my roots yet again, by ranking every single playable character in my favorite video game series....SUPER SMASH BROS.!

Ready? Set. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Earthbound)

40. Ness: I HATE THIS CHARACTER. LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM. With his damn PK fire's and PK thunders it irritated the hell out of me.  Then he would follow that BS up by smashing you in the face with his own personal baseball bat.  Screw you Ness.

SSBB (Pikmin)

39. Olimar: I ALSO HATE THIS GUY TOO. Him and Ness are essentially tied for my most hated character in the Super Smash Bros series.  Who wants little monsters with flowers on their head to attack you?! That's so unmanly and LAME.

SSBM (Pokemon)

38. Pichu: Pichu was a lighter and less powerful version of Pikachu (he does evolve into Pikachu afterall).  Because of that Pichu is terrible in every way possible.

SSBM (Mario)

37. Dr.Mario: Mario is an average character already as is, now let's just make a clone of him and give him a PhD. Seems legit.

SSBM (The Legend of Zelda)

36. Young Link: A lighter and less powerful version of Link, not nearly as fun to play with. Nothing special here

SSB, SSBM, SBBB (Pokemon)

35. Jigglypuff: She is irritating.  If you even tap her in that little face of hers she goes flying off the map into yesteryear.  The only redeeming quality of her is the satisfaction you get when you get off a successful rest on an opponent, that my friends is top notch.

SSBM, SBBB (Ice Climber)

34. Ice Climbers: At first glance you might think "hey, two is better than one right?!".  WRONG.  YOU ARE DEAD WRONG. These little cats can't do shit without each other.  Just knock out Popo and Nana will get out of your hair cause she can't do ANYTHING without Popo there to support her.  Apparently they are in one of the top tiers on the tier list (yes, there are tier lists for Smash Bros) and that's a head scratcher to me.

SSBB (Earthbound)

33. Lucas: I won't lie, I never played an Earthbound game so I had no idea who Lucas was when I started playing Brawl.  He is virtually the same as Ness but for some reason, I don't want to throw him off a bridge like I do Ness.  I guess that's a positive right?!

SSBM (Fire Emblem)

32. Roy: He is actually quite a boss.  I had a decent time playing with him in Melee but he was outshined because Marth brought down the hammer and brought it down HARD.

SSBB (Sonic)

31. Sonic: I actually don't like playing with Sonic.  His speed is by far the fastest in the game but I can never control the little bastard enough to do anything with him.  I always kill myself when using Sonic because I run myself off the stage at least three times.

SSBB (Kirby)

30. King Dedede: His character is one of the most fun to actually play with.  They made his character have some spunk and it shows when you fight with him.  Charging up his hammer and smashing faces in is by far the most fun you can have with Dedede.

SSBM (Pokemon)

29. Mewtwo: This guy was the holy grail to me in Melee.  He was the almighty Mewtwo from the generation one Pokemon games. Too bad he wasn't all that fun to play with and in my eyes, Lucario is a better fighter than he is.

SSBB (R.O.B)

28. R.O.B: R.O.B actually takes some serious skill to use.  If you can master R.O.B you can absolutely shred people and wreck their days to your hearts content.  I haven't mastered him, so this is where he ranks.

SSBB (Donkey Kong)

27. Diddy Kong: Diddy didn't choose the thug life, the thug life choose him.  When you get his final smash and you fly around on a jet pack just bombing pea shooter bullets on the stage is just top.  Otherwise, he isn't a terrible amount of fun to play with.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Mario)

26. Mario: He is average. In Mario Tennis, Mario Golf and any other similar game he is always the average player.  A jack of all trades but a master at none if you will.  He is still average in Smash Bros too.

SSBM, SSBB (Game & Watch)

25. Mr. Game & Watch: This guy right here is some serious fun to play with.  He has some super trolly moves that make him so much fun to play with.  He also takes some serious skill to master as well.  He just flips burgers like a motherfucker and makes you pay if you want to take a bite of them.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Yoshi)

24. Yoshi: The sole reason Yoshi is so high on this list is for two reasons: 1- He swallows you and shits you out as an egg then turns around and beats the crap out of you and 2- His Yoshi bomb move is by far the best move he has and its so fun to pull off over and over and over again.

SSBB (Pokemon)

23. Pokemon Trainer: Everyone wins here.  It's three different evolution's of the original starters in generation one.  Obviously they got it right because Charizard is the sole final evolution they choose.  Using his rock smash move and screaming at the top of your lungs "TAKE THAT ROCK TO THE  FACE FOOL" is by far the best part about playing with the Pokemon Trainer.

SSBB (Metal Gear)

22. Snake: Snake is a whole ton of fun if you can use him correctly.  Just setting C4, tossing grenades and using RPG'S is fantastic fun when you can pull it off correctly. He is another character that takes some skill in order to use correctly.  If you do, oh boy, the opponents in for a fire work show.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Mario)

21. Luigi: The picture says it all.  Luigi is immensely fun to play with and is an incredibly trolly character. He launches himself at you headfirst without a care in the world.  His final smash is incredibly weird and creepy too.

SSBM, SSBB (The Legend of Zelda)

20. Ganondorf: He is so slow and I mean SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. But holy shit does he pack a punch.  Using his down heel kick is an absolute game changer, he also possesses his own verion of the Falcon punch/kick.  His final smash too is epic on so many different levels.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Donkey Kong)

19. Donkey Kong: The original big boy of Smash Bros.  Taking your time to wind up his punch and then unleashing it on some unsuspecting fool is one of the most satisfying feelings in any game ever. He also has his own suicide move when he grabs you, holds you over his head and then can walk around with you briefly.  All people do is walk off the ledge and bring an opponent with them.

SSBM, SSBB (Mario)

18. Peach: She is so underrated.  And so much fun to play with.  She harmlessly floats around the map with her umbrella and then out of the blue she hip checks you into next week.  Her final smash is sub-par but she makes up for it by beating people to a pulp with a frying pan.

SSBM, SSBB (Mario)

17. Bowser: Similar to Yoshi, Bowser is this high the list for two reasons: 1-His Bowser bomb where he slams you with his huge ass and 2- His suicide move is the best in the game.  He just grabs the opponent does a 360 flip and if there were ground and belly smashes you, otherwise you are under the belly of a one way train down to hell.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (The Legend of Zelda)

16. Link: Link is the original sword wielding bad ass.  I wish they gave his character a little more emotion or he might be higher on this list.  His final smash, however, is one of the coolest in the game.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Metroid)

15.Samus/Zero Suit Samus: We all dreaded when you gave Samus enough time to charge up her blaster all the way so you would be forced to play the rest of the game in fear that Samus would just unload her blaster on your body.

SSBM, SSBB (The Legend of Zelda)

14. Zelda/Shiek: In term of two is better than one, Smash Bros. got this one right.  You get the sweet speed and throwing knives with Shiek.  With Zelda you get use one of the most annoying and spammable distance moves in the entire series with her Din's Fire.  Together, the bow and light arrow final smash is one of the coolest in the game.

SSBB (The Legend of Zelda)

13. Toon Link: Something about Toon Link that just makes him more fun to play than regular Link.  I think it is his toony like animations for his bombs and everything he does.

SSBB (Wario)

12. Wario: We have now made it to the ultimate troll character of the entire series.  Wario is the epitome of a troll.  He rides around on a motorcycle with the intention of running you over then picking it up and throwing it at your head.  He unhinges his jaw and bites you for 4-5 seconds.  The ultimate troll move is his fart. Yes you read that correctly, a fart.  A well timed fart will blow your opponents all over the map begging for mercy.

SSBB (Kid Icarus)

11. Pit: Pit is awesome and I mean super-mega awesome.  His wings are game changers.  They save him from so many sticky spots and then he just rides off into the sunset.  His final smash is a little weak but his sword becomes a dual wield and he just wrecks days by floating around the map and then coming in face first with his shield.


MADE IT TO THE TOP TEN! I hope you guys are still with me!

SSBB (Pokemon)

10. Lucario: Lucario is incredibly underrated.  He is the only real risk/reward character in the game.  He possesses something called aura that as he takes more damage, his attacks get stronger.  Being able to just tap someone when you are over 100% damage and send them flying is one of the best effects in the game.

SSBM, SSBB (Fire Emblem)

9. Marth: Marth and Ike.  Ike and Marth. They are absolute beasts in the game.  They wreck things like there is no tomorrow with their super powered sword attacks.

SSBB (Fire Emblem)

8. Ike: Ike and Marth are interchangeable for me.  They both accomplish the same thing by charging up their swords and unleashing hell on anyone in the near vicinity.  I just prefer Ike a little more because seems just a tad bit faster than Marth.

SSBM, SSBB (Star Fox)

7. Falco: Yep this guy is this high.  One can't ignore the douchiness he has.  It gravitates players to him.  He is also wicked fast.

SSBB (Kirby)

6. Meta Knight: This cat right here, is OP.  There is a reason he is in his own tier on the tier list.  He demolishes anyone who gets in his way with speed and incredible sword skills that would make Link jealous.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Pokemon)

5. Pikachu: Ahhhh yes good ole pikachu.  Hands down the best character in the original Smash Bros.  He has hands down the most spammable move in the entire SB series and that's his thunder move.  Just keep spamming thunder and make your friends throw the controller through the TV screen.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Star Fox)

4. Fox: My favorite protagonist of any video game EVER.  He has speed and the ability to juggle you in the air and leave you absolutely helpless until he decided to call on the land-master and blow you all the way to Corneria.

SSBB (Star Fox)

3. Wolf: I can't let you beat me Star Fox.  My favorite antagonist in any video game EVER.  His land-master is easily the most powerful of the three Star Fox characters and his speed is just plain insane.  Also has the ability to juggle you until you beg for mercy....which he won't grant until he destroys you thoroughly.

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (F-Zero)

2. Captain Falcon: This guy right here, has the one move that could bring the world to an end.  Everyone knows it and everyone dreads it: The Falcon Punch.  Getting off a successful Falcon Punch is equivalent to winning the lottery.  It is by far and away the best feeling in any video game I have ever played.  It almost feels like slow motion to your opponent, they know its coming and they can't do anything to stop it.  Friendships were halted because of  Captain Falcon and his fists. SHOW ME YA MOVES!

SSB, SSBM, SSBB (Kirby)

1. Kirby: Yes Kirby.  He is easily my number one favorite character.  But wait Drew, are you some sort of button mashing noob? No, No I am not.  You won't see me sit there and do the rock transform move over and over and over again.  I have mastered Kirby and have it down to a science.  The fact that he can inhale any character and take one of their moves (like the Falcon Punch for example) makes Kirby and absolute beast.  The addition of a wooden hammer made him over the top fun for me.  It's also a load of fun to use his final smash and cook the opponents and send them flying off the map while you sit down and enjoy some delicious treats from your hard work.




Whew! I hope I didn't lose you guys! This post took some work and I enjoyed every damn second of it. I hope you guys enjoyed reading about some of my video game rage too!

Update!

Hey guys and girls!  Just a quick little update for y'all.  School picked up and I got wicked sick last week too so I put blogging on hold for a bit but don't you fret I have a special edition of top ten coming out soon!  GET EXCITED YO!

Top Ten N64 Games

This was supposed to be a joint post with flashback Friday but I got a wee bit busy and so I postponed this  until today.  Get ready from some serious gamer nostalgia!

10. Mario Tennis: Did you really think that I wouldn't include this game in here?! Since I started playing the game in the late 90's I have NEVER lost a match in the game.  I welcome all challengers to see if they can defeat me, I dare you

9. Pokemon Stadium: For those of us that were raised with Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, Pokemon Stadium was a huge deal.  You got to battle your Pokemon on the big screen for the first time and it was epic in every sense of the word.

8. NFL Blitz: This game right here, I don't think I have EVER laughed so hard playing any game ever than I have while playing Blitz.  The sheer awesomeness of having this be a free for all 6 vs 6 anything goes football game is something of beauty.

7. Turok: This game actually gave me nightmares.  I was supposed to have a friend sleepover when I was 8 years old and my Dad let me rent a game and since I LOVED dinosaurs, I choose this one.  I played it the night before he came over and it scared the shit out of me.  I had nightmares for the whole weekend and even slept in my parents room one night.  I went back a few years back and played it again and thoroughly had a good laugh at how I even got scared at this game.

6. Super Mario 64: I think I am going to catch some flak for this being so low on my personal list.  This game will forever be the first time I ever played a 3D video game.  This title by itself redefined the platform genre and gave new air to the Mario franchise.  After all these years I still have yet to complete the whole game.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: If I thought I was going to catch some flak for Mario, boy am I gonna get it for this one.  This is generally accepted as the greatest N64 game of all time and even on the greatest video games of all time.  I still go back from time to time to see how fast it takes me to beat the entire campaign but the journey that you embark on in this game is like no other.  It set the standard for emotional storytelling and depth within a video game, that I still hold to this day.

4. Golden Eye 007: There were other FPS and multiplayer games before this game but Golden Eye was the one that made the console FPS multiplayer mainstream.  I spent hours and hours with friends playing the 4 player free for all multiplayer mode.  It's great to go back and play the single player in this too because it is an incredibly solid and overlooked part of the game.

3. Star Fox 64: This game brought around the advent of the rumble pack and led the way for an entire generation of vibrating controllers.  Fox McCloud is my favorite all time video game character and his rival Wolf is my all time favorite video game villain.  But let's be real here, the REAL star of the game is Fox's squad mate Falco which introduced me to what being a huge asshole was like.  DO A BARREL ROLL!

2. F-Zero X: I still actively play this game today.  Whenever I get bored with playing Xbox, I immediately go for my N64 and play F-Zero X.  This made death races a cool thing.  Racing at speeds up to 4000 MPH while floating inches above the ground made for some tense moments when I raced.  The soundtrack as well, is my favorite video game soundtrack of all time.  I even liked it so much, I downloaded it onto my iPhone.  This is also Captain Falcon's introduction into my world as well.....SHOW ME YA MOVES!

1. Super Smash Bros.: For those of you who know me very well, this should come as no surprise at all. This is hands down my favorite video game series of all time.  I don't want to even think about all the hours spent beating the crap out of Luigi with Kirby and vice versa.  The replay-ability of this game is astronomical.  My friends and I get together to this day and still play the original SSB, it is just THAT good.

Just outside the top ten: 1080 Snowboarding, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Pokemon Snap, Donkey Kong 64, NHL Breakaway 98



That is my top ten everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the walk down memory lane because I sure did!