I was listening to the radio on the way into work yesterday and Meat Loaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light came on.  A listener had called in his top three song picks and this was one of his selections.  I think the reason this song has resonated with so many people and for so long is due to Meat Loaf’s knack for writing a story, complete with plot twists and irony, set to music.  In Paradise by the Dashboard Light, two young lovers (barely seventeen and barely dressed) find themselves heavy petting in the front seat of a car.  Things continue to progress until the girl stops the boy to give him an ultimatum.  She wants to know if he loves her.  She wants to know if he’ll love her forever and if he’ll take her away and make her his wife.  At first the boy balks at this and offers to give her an answer in the morning.  The two debate it back and forth until in the heat of the moment the boy agrees and says that he does love her.  He’ll love her forever and make her his wife.  At least that’s how he feels until immediately after the act.  Afterward, he says that he’s waiting for the end of time, because he can’t stand to spend another minute of time with her.  It’s a cautionary tale to say the least.

It got me thinking about a couple other Meat Loaf songs that are constructed in a similar fashion.  Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad is another cautionary tale with a twist.  The two things mentioned in the title are that he wants her and he needs her.  Unfortunately, the third thing that is missing is love.  As the song progresses, you discover that the words he has been using were once said to him.  He had loved a woman who didn’t love him back.  And when she left, she told him: I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you.  Years later, Meat Loaf released a song whose sentiment is almost exactly opposite these two called I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).  In this song, Meat Loaf sings about all the things that he would do.  He’ll never lie.  He’ll take a vow and seal a pact.  He’ll raise her up and take her out of this godforsaken town.  After some back and forth between him and his lover, we discover exactly what he won’t do.  He won’t forget her or his promise to her.  He won’t move on and he won’t cheat on her.  He promises to never forget the way he feels right now.

I’m sure there are other Meat Loaf songs that have similar stories and twists as much as I am sure there are similar songs by other artists.  However, the only other song that stands out in my mind immediately is Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.  Sung in falsetto, the song tells the story of a high school boy who loves a girl named Noel from afar.  He thinks about her and dreams about her, but he’s convinced that she doesn’t even know who he is; after all, he’s only a teenage dirtbag.  To make matters worse, she has a crazy boyfriend.  At the end of the song, the boy goes to the prom and is surprised when Noel walks over to him and asks him out.  It turns out that she not only knows who he is and likes the same music as him, but she considers herself a teenage dirtbag too.  It’s shockingly sweet considering some of the band’s other releases.

"And you say nothing at all. Well I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Meat Loaf

ABC News announced today that three suspects were arrested yesterday in connection with the theft and attempted sale of Coca-Cola trade secrets.  It is alleged that Joya Williams, a Coca-Cola executive’s administrative assistant, stole confidential corporate documents and a sample of a new soft drink being developed.  It is also alleged that with two co-conspirators, they attempted to sell these highly valuable trade secrets to Coke’s number one competitor, PepsiCo.  The important item from this news story is not just that the three have been caught with what appears to be heavily incriminating evidence, but that the investigation was prompted by Pepsi.  Immediately after receiving a letter offering to sell PepsiCo the trade secrets, they notified Coca-Cola and worked with the FBI in their investigation into the crime.  “Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal,” remarked Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco.

I’ve been playing a lot of games on the Xbox 360, but I seem to keep coming back to Fight Night Round 3 by Electronic Arts. I just love this game. I’ve won it every which way, unlocked all the available achievements and gamerpoints, and I still keep coming back to it. The graphics are excellent and the play is superb, but I think I just like standing toe-to-toe with some of the best boxers and knocking them to the canvas.  There are quite a few lists of hints, tips, FAQs, walk-throughs, but none seem to cover all the bases.  I’ll try to put together what I’ve learned.

The list of actual fighters available in the game are:

Arturo Gatti
Bernard Hopkins
Calvin Brock
Diego Corrales
Erik Morales
Evander Holyfield
Floyd Patterson
Jake Lomotta
James Toney
Jeff Lacy
Jermain Taylor
Jesus Chaves
Joe Frazier
Juan Lazcano
Manny Pacquiao
Marco Antonio Barrera
Marvin Hagler
Mickey Ward
Muhammad Ali
Oscar De La Hoya
Ricky Hatton
Roberto Duran
Ronald Wright
Roy Jones Jr.
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Robinson
Vincente Escobedo

The list of EA-created fighters are:

KO Rey Mo
Big E
Goliath

To unlock KO Rey Mo as a playable character, you must defeat him in the light heavy division in career mode.  To unlock the Burger King as an available trainer, you must defeat KO Rey Mo in the Burger King-sponsored fight in career mode.

Early in the career mode, use the Burger King trainer until you start earning some serious money.  Once money is no longer an issue do not use the Burger King trainer again.  Use the strength trainer for speed training (combinations) and the speed trainer for strength training (weightlifting); this will allow you to gain in one area and not lose in the other.  Even when you need to increase the other areas (body, heart, cuts) with the heavy bag, use the speed trainer; he will increase sufficiently and won’t have the negative qualities of the Burger King trainer.  Sometimes after a break in play, you may want to use the sparring option in the training mode to warm up before tackling a difficult opponent.  Make sure you select sparring before any of the other training because once one of the attribute producing training is used, you can not select training until a new fight is lined up.  Make sure you play the training games and don’t select the auto-train mode; you’ll need to build these skills if your fighter is going to achieve the highest levels.  The same is true for the corner cut-man mini-game between rounds.

Here are some tips for these mini-games:

The heavy bag is probably the easiest training game and the one you’ll use the least.  When the X’s are shown high on the bag, just pound away with as many shots until they start blinking and disappear.  When they’re low, pound away with body blows.  Don’t worry about striking the bag after the X’s disappear; the only penalty is that it delays the time before the X’s reappear.  It’s almost impossible not to reach the set goal, even if you only throw the same jab over and over.

Weight lifting is straight forward.  Raise each side until the lines reach into the red zone and then switch to the other side and repeat.  The weights will gain a little momentum and slide a little after you release, but it won’t take long to get down the timing.  You should be able to average 101,000 - 112,000 points with each training session, much more than you will ever need.

The combo dummy can be the toughest training session, especially when the requirement reaches over 60,000.  At this level, one mistake can be all it takes to ruin a session.  Speed isn’t a factor here at all; it’s a purely memory game.  I’ve assigned a letter to each quadrant (A for the upper right, B for the upper left, C for the lower right, and D for the lower left) call the letters out loud and the count (for multiple punches) as I strike each punch.  You may feel a little silly, but it really helps to memorize the punches in the correct sequence (e.g., A, D, C3, A, B2, A).

To maximize effort with the cut-man, you must arc the right joystick back and further to match the display on the screen.  If you do it properly, the percentage amount will turn green and decrease rapidly.  Do it wrong, and the numbers will turn red and decrease slowly.  You should be able to drop a little more than 2% every second if you do it properly.  Also make sure to tend to any cuts because these amplify your opponent’s punches.  However, if the cut percentage is too high, you may want to focus on the swelling alone because you can always avoid those punches if your fighter is able to see them coming.

I’ve read several sites that describe the fight that occurs during the weigh-in against your bitter rival as a movie. It is not a movie, it is a mini-game. During the fight, you are put into stun mode where you must correctly parry your rival’s punches (using the right trigger and the right joystick) and counter with a haymaker (you must use the joystick - the right bump or A button shortcuts will not work).  It’s tricky to pull off, but you can practice it during one of the training sparring sessions that practice blocking.

Although blocking is a good defense and a certain degree of mastery is required to defeat some boxers who are either too fast or counter every punch you throw, in general it’s quicker and easier to dodge your opponents punches.  Use the left trigger and left joystick to rotate your fighter’s upper body out of the way of punches and position him for a quick counter punch.  This is a great way to tire out your opponent by causing him to miss with a strong punch and suffer a devastating body blow in the process.  Once you get your timing down, you can simply rotate and punch out most every boxer you encounter.

You can change some of the controls for the fight.  For instance, you can allow a fighter to be saved by the bell and prevent the referee from stopping the fight to create some really bloody combat.  This is particularly helpful when attempting to knock a fighter out in a particular round when offered an added bonus.  You can beat the fighter up as much as possible and even knock him completely out after the ten seconds left in the round is sounded and be safe to continue to the next round.  You can also allow illegal shots which can give you some serious advantages especially when combined with the illegal elbow, one of the most powerful hits in the game.  A few illegal elbows is all but guaranteed to cut open a fighter’s face for a quick way of ending a fight or increasing the damage of your punches.

Another good tactic is to switch your stance between traditional and south paw.  This is most effective in the early game when your jab can do a lot of damage and you want to bruise both your opponent’s eyes.  It also helps when using the cheap shot/elbow tactic and want to cause significant damage to both sides of your opponent’s face.

Be mindful of the listed amount of time needed to train for each fight because your fighter ages realistically.  A fighter at 22 is faster and stronger than a fighter at 32; in fact, older fighters start to lose attribute assignments after each fight.  Then, after your fighter turns 40, he really starts to change; he’ll get a pot belly, look out of shape, get winded easily, and really struggle against opponents.  And, since money isn’t much of an issue early in the game and completely useless later in the game after you’ve purchased the only equipment you’ll ever need, you should definitely choose fights that have a shorter wait over those with a larger purse.

In the later career bouts, the deck is really stacked against your fighter.  You’ll bob and weave, block shots and counter repeatedly, but get hit with one punch and the game can be over.  It can be really frustrating when you hit your opponent four times for every once he hits you and the announcers react like you’re just standing there getting pummeled.  When this happens, you’ll really need to mix up your offense and go for a lot of power punches; jabs are useless and hooks won’t even register.  You’ll want to use a lot of uppercuts mixed with haymakers just to survive each round until finally the other fighter is too tired to throw a punch.

If you have more tips to contribute, please leave them in the comments section.