You know what's the great failing of personal blogs? You can't target your postings. You see too many postings where people are trying to talk about something without giving away any details because someone specific might be reading it.
I watched the Emmys on Sunday. Conan's intro was funny, and I also want to know what all those people in the audience were doing holding iPods and PocketPCs watching the show.
I'm about to take a test. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
This morning I had a dream where somebody hurt me. They were just having fun, and I told them to stop but they didn't listen and just kept poking me in the same place harder and harder. And then in the end I had a gash on my abdomen and they weren't sorry about it at all.
You know what bothers me at the moment? People who haven't stopped to take the time to understand themselves. Then they go off and end up deceiving themselves. The problem is that my intuition is useless when dealing with people like that. All it tells me is that the person genuinely believes what they're saying at the time. It's only after prolonged interaction with them that I realize that nothing they say can be trusted to hold true. And that's not a very good state to view someone in.
So then what happens is that they slice you open and your bowels all fall out. The End. =p
You know what bothers me at the moment? People who haven't stopped to take the time to understand themselves. Then they go off and end up deceiving themselves. The problem is that my intuition is useless when dealing with people like that. All it tells me is that the person genuinely believes what they're saying at the time. It's only after prolonged interaction with them that I realize that nothing they say can be trusted to hold true. And that's not a very good state to view someone in.
So then what happens is that they slice you open and your bowels all fall out. The End. =p
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
For reference, Eric's goodbye lunch was Thursday. Audrey's karaoke party was Friday night. Saturday was Pro Tour Trials for Phoenix. (this is all the weekend of Aug. 12th)
After the miserable 0-4 start at PTQ Kobe, it would be an understatement to say that I was going in with low expectations. Here's what happened to me in this tournament (34 people, 6 rounds).
First, my deck: Bramble Elemental, Cytospawn Shambler, Drooling Groodion, Elves of Deep Shadow, Golgari Brownscale, Greater Mossdog, Mourning Thrull, Rakdos Guildmage, Sandstorm Eidolon, Silhana Ledgewalker, Simic Basilisk, Streetbreaker Wurm, Trophy Hunter, Ulasht, the Hate Seed, Viashino Fangtail, Vinelasher Kudzu, Breath of Fury, Clinging Darkness, Galvanic Arc, Last Gasp, Nettling Curse, Pyromatics, Savage Twister, Wrecking Ball, Gruul Signet, Rakdos Carnarium, Selesnya Sanctuary, 4 Swamps, 4 Mountains, 5 Forests. What did I miss out on? I maybe should have splashed blue, with Peel from Reality, Consult the Necrosages, and Helium Squirter at the very least.
Round 1: Jason Yang
Game 1 I mess up on the rules for Bramble Elemental, call the judge, and we both end up getting a warning...=p Game 2 I couldn't stabilize the board. Game 3 went into overtime and I just managed to push enough damage through on my last turn. 1-0/2-1, now tied for 1st with 17 players.
Round 2: Stephen Hines
Game 1 he's basically manascrewed. Game 2 there's a huge creature stall, but I get a whole bunch of bombs out on the board (including Ulasht with 8 counters when he's at 13 life) and he just concedes. 2-0/4-1, now tied for 1st with 9 people.
At this point I'm amazed. Maybe I'm not so horrible as I thought...=p
Round 3: Iain Bartolomei
I lose both games. Almost managed to squeak out the second game but I get denied. 2-1/4-3, 5 people tied for first, I'm tied for 6th with 11 other people.
Round 4: Matthew Nass
Game 1 I get the most insane opening hand. Vinelasher Kudzu with bouncelands in hand and his life total basically goes 20, 15, 6, dead. Game 2 I once again don't get damaged at all. I just control the board with removal. 3-1/6-3, 3 people tied for first, I'm tied for 4th with 7 other people.
At this point, the people who are 4-0 can draw into Top8. 4-1-1 will also get into Top8. So I just need to win this round to get in!
Round 5: Matt Benjamin
I can't decipher my notes, but I lose the match. The lack of note-taking shows how my mindset is proceeding. At this point it's probably like 6 hours in and I'm beginning to lose my concentration. 3-2/7-5, 2 people tied for first, 5 people tied for 3rd, I'm tied for 8th with 8 other people.
OK, at this point, six people are guaranteed into Top8 by drawing in. The second-to-last spot will might get taken by the guy who gets paired down. If not, that spot and the last spot will be taken by whoever ends up 4-2 with the highest tiebreakers. I have the second highest tiebreakers of everyone in 3-2. And I get paired up with the guy with the highest tiebreakers. Basically, if I win this, I get into Top8.
Round 6: Kyle Pratt
Game 1 I can't stabilize the board due to mana problems. Game 2 I lock up the board but can't turn it around. I end up dying embarrassingly to a pinging Ledgewalker. 3-3/7-7, which puts me into 13th place.
Oh well. But obviously a much better ego booster than the PTQ. =)
After the miserable 0-4 start at PTQ Kobe, it would be an understatement to say that I was going in with low expectations. Here's what happened to me in this tournament (34 people, 6 rounds).
First, my deck: Bramble Elemental, Cytospawn Shambler, Drooling Groodion, Elves of Deep Shadow, Golgari Brownscale, Greater Mossdog, Mourning Thrull, Rakdos Guildmage, Sandstorm Eidolon, Silhana Ledgewalker, Simic Basilisk, Streetbreaker Wurm, Trophy Hunter, Ulasht, the Hate Seed, Viashino Fangtail, Vinelasher Kudzu, Breath of Fury, Clinging Darkness, Galvanic Arc, Last Gasp, Nettling Curse, Pyromatics, Savage Twister, Wrecking Ball, Gruul Signet, Rakdos Carnarium, Selesnya Sanctuary, 4 Swamps, 4 Mountains, 5 Forests. What did I miss out on? I maybe should have splashed blue, with Peel from Reality, Consult the Necrosages, and Helium Squirter at the very least.
Round 1: Jason Yang
Game 1 I mess up on the rules for Bramble Elemental, call the judge, and we both end up getting a warning...=p Game 2 I couldn't stabilize the board. Game 3 went into overtime and I just managed to push enough damage through on my last turn. 1-0/2-1, now tied for 1st with 17 players.
Round 2: Stephen Hines
Game 1 he's basically manascrewed. Game 2 there's a huge creature stall, but I get a whole bunch of bombs out on the board (including Ulasht with 8 counters when he's at 13 life) and he just concedes. 2-0/4-1, now tied for 1st with 9 people.
At this point I'm amazed. Maybe I'm not so horrible as I thought...=p
Round 3: Iain Bartolomei
I lose both games. Almost managed to squeak out the second game but I get denied. 2-1/4-3, 5 people tied for first, I'm tied for 6th with 11 other people.
Round 4: Matthew Nass
Game 1 I get the most insane opening hand. Vinelasher Kudzu with bouncelands in hand and his life total basically goes 20, 15, 6, dead. Game 2 I once again don't get damaged at all. I just control the board with removal. 3-1/6-3, 3 people tied for first, I'm tied for 4th with 7 other people.
At this point, the people who are 4-0 can draw into Top8. 4-1-1 will also get into Top8. So I just need to win this round to get in!
Round 5: Matt Benjamin
I can't decipher my notes, but I lose the match. The lack of note-taking shows how my mindset is proceeding. At this point it's probably like 6 hours in and I'm beginning to lose my concentration. 3-2/7-5, 2 people tied for first, 5 people tied for 3rd, I'm tied for 8th with 8 other people.
OK, at this point, six people are guaranteed into Top8 by drawing in. The second-to-last spot will might get taken by the guy who gets paired down. If not, that spot and the last spot will be taken by whoever ends up 4-2 with the highest tiebreakers. I have the second highest tiebreakers of everyone in 3-2. And I get paired up with the guy with the highest tiebreakers. Basically, if I win this, I get into Top8.
Round 6: Kyle Pratt
Game 1 I can't stabilize the board due to mana problems. Game 2 I lock up the board but can't turn it around. I end up dying embarrassingly to a pinging Ledgewalker. 3-3/7-7, which puts me into 13th place.
Oh well. But obviously a much better ego booster than the PTQ. =)
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Why is it that it is so hard to go out and do things? It's so easy to just sit back and say, I don't feel like going to such and such right now...there will be a next time. But every time I go out, I always end up having fun and am glad I went. Take the rallye, for example. After Eric and Charles bailed, I was seriously considering not going. But I forced myself to drag my brother along and we had a great time. Why is it that it takes such an effort to decide to do something that always ends up being enjoyable?
Yesterday I went over to Tuesday draft at Pro-Star. Once again, I had to basically force myself to go. I felt like I much rather would have stayed at work and not go. Once I got there though, I decided not to play since they were doing RGD instead of CCC. Should I have played anyways, even though I don't know anything about RGD? Or was I wise to stick with my plan to get involved only at CSP and later?
I'll go live on gtx once it's all over starting 5:00PM ET.
Yesterday I went over to Tuesday draft at Pro-Star. Once again, I had to basically force myself to go. I felt like I much rather would have stayed at work and not go. Once I got there though, I decided not to play since they were doing RGD instead of CCC. Should I have played anyways, even though I don't know anything about RGD? Or was I wise to stick with my plan to get involved only at CSP and later?
I'll go live on gtx once it's all over starting 5:00PM ET.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
So since Eric and Charles completely bailed on the rallye, I went for the first time to a coursemarker gimmick rallye with my brother. It ended up being easier than I thought it would be. I thought there would be a lot more expert gimmicks. We ended up coming in first place in the first-timer division.
1) We didn't notice the HI printed on the magnet that they gave us.
2) After turning R on SANDRA and getting AA/40, we mistakenly forgot that SANDRA comes into effect again since the Supps said R 1st OPP then DS instead of DS then R 1st OPP.
3) We thought that RI7 given to us at the CP was valid, but it wasn't.
4) We forgot about the ROSS signature given to us at the very first CP.
5) We missed the fact that Richardson is an anagram of acrid horns.
6) We again missed the fact that STONE comes into effect again because of no DS.
7) We completely missed the Rallye Sale 3799 Nathan Way sign.
8) We missed the On Course CM on LOUIS. D'oh!
9) Since we missed the T/1 sign, we missed R onto GAILEN.
10) Since we saw B1 and B4, we just chose to put B1 in case we mistakenly got B4. Oops. We should have put B14 or B41 instead.
11) Not following B/14 or B/41 made us miss the CM on CAMPESINO.
12) We did R at Loma Verde for RI15, when we really should have denied it since it said R at Loma Verde (one block after Campesino; branches obscure the sign)
13) We turned on MACKALL since we thought it was MCKALL
14) We thought the ending SI traverse was in effect, so we didn't turn R on ST. CLAIRE
15) For the same reason, we didn't turn R on ASHTON
So by my count, we should have gotten 850 points (still good for 1st), but instead they said we got 870 points. Weird. But totally fun. The two of us really got into it. =)
1) We didn't notice the HI printed on the magnet that they gave us.
2) After turning R on SANDRA and getting AA/40, we mistakenly forgot that SANDRA comes into effect again since the Supps said R 1st OPP then DS instead of DS then R 1st OPP.
3) We thought that RI7 given to us at the CP was valid, but it wasn't.
4) We forgot about the ROSS signature given to us at the very first CP.
5) We missed the fact that Richardson is an anagram of acrid horns.
6) We again missed the fact that STONE comes into effect again because of no DS.
7) We completely missed the Rallye Sale 3799 Nathan Way sign.
8) We missed the On Course CM on LOUIS. D'oh!
9) Since we missed the T/1 sign, we missed R onto GAILEN.
10) Since we saw B1 and B4, we just chose to put B1 in case we mistakenly got B4. Oops. We should have put B14 or B41 instead.
11) Not following B/14 or B/41 made us miss the CM on CAMPESINO.
12) We did R at Loma Verde for RI15, when we really should have denied it since it said R at Loma Verde (one block after Campesino; branches obscure the sign)
13) We turned on MACKALL since we thought it was MCKALL
14) We thought the ending SI traverse was in effect, so we didn't turn R on ST. CLAIRE
15) For the same reason, we didn't turn R on ASHTON
So by my count, we should have gotten 850 points (still good for 1st), but instead they said we got 870 points. Weird. But totally fun. The two of us really got into it. =)
So after the PTQ fiasco, I saw My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I was hoping for a film that could maybe provide a little bit of a life lesson (after all, even Sky High has a life lesson). But the film disappointed me in that regard. It was basically pure farce from beginning to end. If that's all you wanted, then it was a fine picture to satisfy your mindless funny bone. But that was it. And as usual, I couldn't place where the girlfriend was from until I went back and looked at it on imdb. She's from Friends!
This weekend I saw Little Miss Sunshine. As far as non-documentary indie films go, this is a great one to watch. The only problem for me was that the humor was actually a little bit predictable. I can't tell if it's because the situations were easily read or if it's just because my mind just ran in that direction, but there were no out of the blue moments to make me laugh out loud. Once they introduced the entire dysfunctional family then you already knew how they would act for the rest of the movie.
The movie is enjoyable, and I can see how people might really like that kind of humor. I guess to me most of it was a little cliché. The genius of the writers was in taking a bunch of disparate items and putting them all together in a pretty cohesive mesh.
This weekend I saw Little Miss Sunshine. As far as non-documentary indie films go, this is a great one to watch. The only problem for me was that the humor was actually a little bit predictable. I can't tell if it's because the situations were easily read or if it's just because my mind just ran in that direction, but there were no out of the blue moments to make me laugh out loud. Once they introduced the entire dysfunctional family then you already knew how they would act for the rest of the movie.
The movie is enjoyable, and I can see how people might really like that kind of humor. I guess to me most of it was a little cliché. The genius of the writers was in taking a bunch of disparate items and putting them all together in a pretty cohesive mesh.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
So Sunday was supposed to be Grand Prix day, but Eric completely bailed on me. Booooo. Now that I think back on it, I should have headed of to the Garlic Festival once the racing plans fell through. Crap.
Why didn't I go on Friday? Because we had our own racing event at NVIDIA (see pictures) as well as Wushu.
Why didn't I go on Saturday? Because I went to Matchplay for the first time. And I got suitably pwned. I lost 1-2 on the first round vs. Vaugn Deitz (0-1). And then I got creamed 0-2 by Rovert Wiser (0-2). And then I very nearly won against Jeff Tsai. I just needed one more turn or one more free mana at the end of game 3 (0-3). And then I got bad draws against Rommel Someros (0-4). hahaha.
Then finally I won one against Derek Candelario, only because it looked like he was making some bad plays. (1-4). And then I got a bye while waiting for AAA to come unlock my car (2-4). And then my last opponent didn't show. (3-4).
OK, I didn't really expect to do wildly great, but I also wasn't feeling incredibly drained by the end either -- maybe my endurance is creeping up. My deck ended up being:
Compulsive Research, Infiltrator's Magemark, Stasis Cell, Cytoplast Manipulator, Halcyon Glaze
Ribbons of Night, Last Gasp, Netherborn Phalanx, Roofstalker Wight, Stinkweed Imp
Pyromatics, Galvanic Arc, Rabble-Rouser, Sabertooth Alley Cat, Viashino Slasher, Wojek Embermage
Consult the Necrosages, Dimir Infiltrator, Gruul Guildmage, Minister of Impediments, Moroii, Tibor and Lumia, Wee Dragonauts
Gruul Signet, Simic Signet, 5 Mountain, 5 Swamp, 5 Island
It probably should have been more like:
Peel from Reality, Halcyon Glaze, Cytoplast Manipulator, Tidewater Minion
Ribbons of Night, Darkblast, Last Gasp, Roofstalker Wight, Sewerdreg, Stinkweed Imp
Pyromatics, Seal of Fire, Galvanic Arc, Greater Forgeling, Wojek Embermage
Consult the Necrosages, Gruul Guildmage, Minister of Impediments, Moroii, Tibor and Lumia, Wee Dragonauts
Gruul Signet, Plague Boiler, Simic Signet, Golgari Rot Farm, 4 Mountain, 5 Swamp, 5 Island
Why didn't I go on Friday? Because we had our own racing event at NVIDIA (see pictures) as well as Wushu.
Why didn't I go on Saturday? Because I went to Matchplay for the first time. And I got suitably pwned. I lost 1-2 on the first round vs. Vaugn Deitz (0-1). And then I got creamed 0-2 by Rovert Wiser (0-2). And then I very nearly won against Jeff Tsai. I just needed one more turn or one more free mana at the end of game 3 (0-3). And then I got bad draws against Rommel Someros (0-4). hahaha.
Then finally I won one against Derek Candelario, only because it looked like he was making some bad plays. (1-4). And then I got a bye while waiting for AAA to come unlock my car (2-4). And then my last opponent didn't show. (3-4).
OK, I didn't really expect to do wildly great, but I also wasn't feeling incredibly drained by the end either -- maybe my endurance is creeping up. My deck ended up being:
Compulsive Research, Infiltrator's Magemark, Stasis Cell, Cytoplast Manipulator, Halcyon Glaze
Ribbons of Night, Last Gasp, Netherborn Phalanx, Roofstalker Wight, Stinkweed Imp
Pyromatics, Galvanic Arc, Rabble-Rouser, Sabertooth Alley Cat, Viashino Slasher, Wojek Embermage
Consult the Necrosages, Dimir Infiltrator, Gruul Guildmage, Minister of Impediments, Moroii, Tibor and Lumia, Wee Dragonauts
Gruul Signet, Simic Signet, 5 Mountain, 5 Swamp, 5 Island
It probably should have been more like:
Peel from Reality, Halcyon Glaze, Cytoplast Manipulator, Tidewater Minion
Ribbons of Night, Darkblast, Last Gasp, Roofstalker Wight, Sewerdreg, Stinkweed Imp
Pyromatics, Seal of Fire, Galvanic Arc, Greater Forgeling, Wojek Embermage
Consult the Necrosages, Gruul Guildmage, Minister of Impediments, Moroii, Tibor and Lumia, Wee Dragonauts
Gruul Signet, Plague Boiler, Simic Signet, Golgari Rot Farm, 4 Mountain, 5 Swamp, 5 Island
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