.:Today's LSS:.

Tell me I'm wrong in saying this just suits me perfectly...

I Started A Joke
by the Beatles

I started a joke. Which started the whole world crying.
But I didn't see that the joke was on me.
Oh, no, I started to cry. Which started the whole world laughing.
Oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.

I looked at the skies. Running my hands over my eyes.
And I fell out of bed. Hurting my heads from things that I said.

Till I finally died. Which started the whole world living.
Oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.

I looked at the skies. Running my hands over my eyes.
And I fell out of bed. Hurting my head from things that I said.

Till I finally died. Which started the whole world living.
Oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.

Oh, no, that the joke was on me. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh


.:Redemption:.

I don't want to have to explain why.

But I have to do what I should've one in the first place.

For until, by the grace of God, I have redeemed myself, then this is the last time you will hear from me in the public blogosphere.

Godspeed to you all.

.:Yet Another Sub For An LSS?:.

You just have to love the sentiments in the poem... in bold are segments of the poem that really struck me...

Desiderata
a poem by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

.:Ice Cream Monster!:.

90 bucks worth of ice cream? You bet!

Just to show the ice cream masterpiece me, Sach, and Dominique collectively collaborated on. Sacha cheated, though, by using a spoon to flatten the third layer of ice cream, allowing me to stack four more layers...

.:Still Sick, But Getting Better:.

I think the fever's gone now. I hope the fever's gone now.

I'm glad I managed to get out of bed and still get to work and then join a Magic tournament despite my condition. I was playing with a migraine, lol. In spite of all that, I had fun in the tourney, despite not having done as well as I hoped to... it's all good, really.

I had fun with yesterday's tournament, though... I don't feel like doing a report because it felt awfully short, though. I think 6-round tourneys are more up my alley to write about...

In any case, nothing much happened over the weekend. I was mostly bedridden, after all. I'm now part of Team TX, though, and our team captain, JT Porter, won yesterday's tourney while wearing Sith Lord robes. That was just surreal.

Good Gawd, I hardly had sleep tonight. My flu is still horrible...

I can't think straight...

.:You Learn Something New Everyday:.

No need for an LSS for today. I think this little website I found should suffice...

Quoting The Law Professor:

Under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, libel is defined as a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or circumstance tending to discredit or cause the dishonor or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead. Thus, the elements of libel are: (a) imputation of a discreditable act or condition to another; (b) publication of the imputation; (c) identity of the person defamed; and, (d) existence of malice.

Wow. You really learn something new everyday...

.:Waveback Rules!:.

So there I was, doing Waveback Wednesday on my own as Gia is taking over for George for the next couple of days. It was a while since I last got to be the one in control on a Waveback Wednesday, so I certainly made the most out of it, as I got to play songs like “Never Let Her Slip Away”, “What Might Have Been”, and “Get Here”. As Clair was feeling rather under the weather, I suppose the last song should've helped raise her spirits a bit. Had a nice phone conversation with her (#9), and all things considered, we had our last live conversation (#10) last UGG, and our last YM conversation (#56) sometime last week. Pretty amusing how I keep track, really. Even if the count may be off by one or two each, it's not such a big deal.

In any case, we had conversations about a lot of different topics, but in the end, I still feel just a little saddened that after all has been said and done, a resolution between me and a certain someone still hasn't arrived, despite the fact that both sides have valid reasons for everything, contrary to what people who love exercising by jumping to conclusions happen to believe. I'd sooner slam the people who talk without knowing what's really going on than put down the person I'm supposedly having problems with.

After my show, I then headed straight to Glorietta to do a bit of playtesting with Mondu for some tournaments. In any case, I'm glad to have seen how White Weenie works. Really scary deck, when given the chance to shine. It's just that powerful against a powered meta.

.:Friday Madness:.

I thought I was okay from my flu already so I headed off to the Chua residence to meet Kathy, Mario, Peppy, and Sacha. Mario was in Glorietta, but the rest were at the residence. I was the earliest one there, and I met up with Sach to point out to her something interesting going on with LJ. I'm glad she gave me a very sound opinion on the matter. I guess I'll just let sleeping dogs lie for now.

So there I was at Sacha's house, and we were bonding, talking about how relationships go, how breaking hearts is never easy, how missing people is no walk in the park. I guess her six months in Japan changed her mindset quite a bit. I'm thankful to still have a best friend left, after that tempest...

After a while, Kathy showed up and started lamenting how much she wanted to watch “Madagascar”. That being said, the three of us first went down to watch “The Classic”, which was one of the DVD's I brought that day. We really liked the film. Very riveting storytelling that was a bit long, but really got the point across.

After staying a while longer, Peppy finally arrived, and plans of watching “Madagascar” were being made already. It was all good, save for the fact that my fever was acting up again, but “Madagascar” sounded like a really fun film...

So now I suddenly owe three film reviews. Okay. We'll work on that in a while...

Anyways, we got there in record time with Peppy taking note of bloggable quotes, while I only got a hold of a few ones. Since Sach and Kathy arrived late in the cinema, we had to do some moving around in the middle of the film to get most everyone together. Sach, being a Linux user, was gushing over the penguins. I was laughing my head off over the line by the lemur king, “What's a little biting of butts among friends? Here. Give me a little nibble.”

After the film, we ended up eating at Burger King, and I was having some suman courtesy of Clair, who was with Mario before heading on home. Very sweet of her. My thanks for that. In any case, we then went back to the Chua residence as Peppy's car was parked there, and this dialogue occurred...

Kathy: So how much is the spare P3, Peppy?

Peppy: Well, since it doesn't have a hard drive and whatnot... six thousand?

Kathy: Oh, shoot.

Marcelle: How much would a night with her take from the price tag, Peppy? Oh, right. She has to add three thousand more...

Kathy: ::stops the car:: Get down, Marcelle!

Mental note: never insult the driver. Lol.

Save for the recurrence of my illness, it was all good, I guess.

.:Blam!:.

I'm currently down with the flu after all that raining and stuff, plus I ended up sleeping very late because I was watching Citizen Kane. That being said, I don't feel too well, so I'll have to put off blogging for next time...

I'd like to thank Pomelo for being there for me yesterday, though. Sorry about being an invalid for a day. I'm glad you and I got to spend time together, although I hope you don't get sick thanks to me...

I'm very grateful. It's a wonderful feeling...

I'll just blog next time... same with the LSS...

.:Today's LSS:.

Here's a nice song... goes out to Clair, who's currenlty a bit under the weather...

Get Here
by Oleta Adams

You can reach me by railway, you can reach me by trailway
You can reach me on an airplane, you can reach me with your mind
You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man
I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can
You can reach me by sail boat, climb a tree and swing rope to rope
Take a sled and slide down the slope, into these arms of mine
You can jump on a speedy colt, cross the border in a blaze of hope
I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

There are hills and mountains between us
Always something to get over
If I had my way, surely you would be closer
I need you closer oh closer

You can windsurf into my life, take me up on a carpet ride
You can make it in a big balloon, but you better make it soon
You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man yeah
I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

I don't care, I need you right here right now
I need you right here right now right by my side
Yeah yeah yeah
I don't care how you get here, just get here, get here
I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can
Get here if you can

.:Film Review: Star Wars Episode III:.

I won't delve into it much, but yes, there will be SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge Of The Sith
George Lucas, you're breaking my heart!

Episode III is supposed to be the final link to round off the entire Star Wars saga, barring a call for episode VII, VIII, and IX. This is supposed to detail the slow descent of Anakin Skywalker into the dark side and the establishment of the Galactic Empire. It was pretty brilliant how this story was advanced, though the acting and the lines certainly could've used a lot more work.

In any case, I don't think I need to even talk about the story details of the film. I'd just mention that I really thought it was way disappointing how relatively easy General Grievous was to fight against in this film, in contrast to how it was in the Clone Wars animated series in Cartoon Network, where he really looked intimidating, to say the least. Count Duku turned out to be a pushover as well.

The Emperor was pretty good as a Sith Lord. He really had a look that was simply brilliant, and he had amazing skills, although I liked the implication that Mace Windu was simply better than Yoda in handling the Emperor, save for the fact that Anakin ended up becoming Darth Vader in his futile quest to save Padme from death (Fairly odd how Princess Leia would still remember her mom in Episode VI, as Cathy mentioned... maybe the foster mom?).

What got to me though was the horrible mismatch between the action and the sappy scenes. I know I can get giddy a lot lately, but even I couldn't quite bring myself to take the terrible lines that were fed and not-so-deftly executed. Anakin Skywalker's twistedness was well-portrayed through events, but not at all through Hayden Christiansen's acting. I also was grateful that Jar Jar Binks did not have a single speaking line, and there were some flashes of brilliance in the dialogue, especially the one about how liberty dies.

All in all, this was a very good story that was told poorly. I really enjoyed the action, and General Grievous was just way cool, and Order 66 was amusing. I suppose any person remotely interested in Star Wars should really try to catch this film.

“Fun” Evaluation: A-
“Critical” Evaluation: B-

.:The Wednesday Webring:.

I'll do the whole links thing if someone e-mails me the HTML code. I'm pressed for time while writing this, so I can't quite hard code it right now... sorry.

I Need Suman To Love Me
a Monologue

Each time I look at you, wrapped so tightly in a sweet embrace, I think of all the memories we had together. Whenever I gaze at you, and your warmth just radiated from within, I feel such a rush. How I long to see you again. I've missed you for so long. How I long to hold you in my hands again, to reminisce about our endless bliss together.

As I untangle you from your encumbering garments and look at you at your most vulnerable moment, I see nothing but sheer beauty. The sweetness you exude, the wonderful aroma you give off, just intoxicates me even further. I miss you so bad I can taste it.

I don't know if you love me back or you just have pity on a wanderer such as I. As we share these moments with each other, as I delight in the senses with you as the center of my attention, I cannot help but wish that I would know somehow, someway, that you feel the way I feel about you. As I taste your sweet surrender to me, all I can say is that I need suman to love me.

.:Whoo!:.

So I did my boardwork, which was fun and all. I got to play quite a few good songs, although I did tick Pam off by joking at her while she was scrambling for a song before the TOH Jingle ended. While there, I was writing my reply letter on pomelo, so my efforts were divided between YM, the letter, and the boardwork. Heh.

Afterwards, I promptly headed off to Glorietta for the Sci Fi Convention, where I met a lot of people, including quite a few of the Calf Up people. Cathy D. was cosplaying as Slave Leia, and Cholo formerly from KCFM was hosting. It was a fun cosplay event, and Cathy brought home the bacon. Conspiciously present was the Doom Knight costume from UGG last Saturday, which now doubled as a Rancor costume. I promptly approached the cosplayer because of that. Heh.

In any case, we had dinner afterwards in the foodcourt, and we started talking about everything from taking the higher road to Mike Abundo@mikeabundo.blogspot.com to Hard Rock Cafe. Cathy and I had very similar mindsets, which I found pretty amusing, considering how we were dissing certain other cosplayers in the same way... heh.

In any case, it was all good. I'll try going into detail next time, but let this suffice for now...

Funny how both Windows and Mac crashed in UGG the other day, though. To think I endorsed Mac when the former crashed, only to have the latter crash, too. I should've endorsed Linux. Lol.

.:The Second Day:.

Yesterday was day 2 for the convention, and the emphasis was supposed to be taken away from Star Wars and instead placed on everything else. I got there around twelve thirty, just in time to see Ranulf perform some swordplay. So that's what they call it now...

I got to the Highlander booth where we all hang out, and Sacha and Dominique were there. It was very fun talking to the both of them, though I heard Dom is going back to Dumaguete today. I was particularly excited because Gyn was going to go to the convention around six in the evening, so I'd finally get to introduce her to my friends. While waiting for that, I had lunch with Dom, Sach, and some of Dom's relatives who were also I.T. experts. It was pizza at Shakey's, coupled with one of the most astounding ice cream creations you'll ever see...

Yep. That's how good I was with making the ice cream. I was about to go for a couple more layers if the waitress didn't shove a plate in front of me, effectively making me feel a wee bit guilty about over-indulging. Heh. Sacha cheated, though. She used a spoon to flatten the ice cream at around the third layer. We had six layers of ice cream sandwiched by toppings before and after each layer...

Afterwards, they headed back to the con while I went to Neutral Grounds to see what was going on. As nothing in particular was happening, I just went back to the convention where I ran into Elbert's Camy, whom I got to bond with along with Jac while talking about how to deal with certain problems I had. I guess I'm being too patient at my own risk here, but I really can't expect to do otherwise.

Sacha and Ranulf joined the Amazing Race competition in the convention, and the Neutral Grounds faction wanted me and Nick Ortega to represent them, but I politely declined as I wanted to wait for Gyn. After some miserable games of Tekken 5, I went back and had okoy from Latik, then freshened up again. Finally, Pomelo arrived.

.:The Cosplay Again:.

As this was a non-Star Wars cosplay, I was fairly interested to see the results. Apparently, the Witch King from Lord of the Rings took the prize. April and Robert got married (Not legally binding, obviously.) in an Elvish ceremony, and I was insisting Ranulf and I do the same. Hades, I even have a Star Wars-like picture with Ranulf...

Paulo, the guy who came as a Doom Knight in UGG and as a Rancor the other day for the Star Wars cosplay, came as a Troll for this day. Yes, he was still wearing the same ruddy costume. I'm actually tempted to look for pictures of him in all three days and have people spot the difference... lol.

Cathy claimed her prize for winning the cosplay yesterday and she got only a couple of shirts and a walkie talkie from Jollibee. The running question was what Robert Wong, the runner-up who came as General Grievous the other day, got, and what the second runner-up got. I mentioned that maybe Robert Wong got a box and one walkie talkie while the second runner-up just got the other walkie talkie...

In any case, afterwards, we went back to the booth to fix it up so we can all have dinner then watch Episode III. Amusingly enough, the Star Trek booth was showing a short film ala Action League where the Star Trek people were going up against a Call Center who would assimilate them...

.:Games Mania:.

After dinner at Tokyo Tokyo and conversations about how someone was trying to stir the pot against Jac, things got interesting over Dance Maniax. The only five people left to watch Episode III were me, Ron, Jac, Jonas, and Cathy. I had three runs at Dance Maniax, and one of them was on double mode. We then went back to Starbucks, where Ranulf was talking to Dom and Sacha, who went back for a while but weren't going to watch with us as they already watched the previous night in Gateway.

In any case, as Cathy was looking for something, we realized something...

Dom and Sach. Jac and Jonas. Ranulf and Marcelle. Spot the difference.

That freaked Ranulf out...

.:In Place Of An LSS:.

Here's a nice thing I read...

One Flaw In Women

By the time the Lord made woman,
He was into his sixth day of working overtime.

An angel appeared and said,
"Why are you spending so much time on this one?"
And the Lord answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her?

She has to be completely washable, but not plastic,
have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable
and able to run on diet coke and leftovers,
have a lap that can hold four children at one time,
have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart

-and she will do everything
with only two hands."

The angel was astounded at the requirements.
"Only two hands!? No way!
And that's just on the standard model?
That's too much work for one day.
Wait until tomorrow to finish."

But I won't," the Lord protested.
"I am so close to finishing this creation that is so
close to my own heart.
She already heals herself when she is sick
AND can work 18 hour days."

The angel moved closer and touched the woman.

"But you have made her so soft, Lord."

"She is soft," the Lord agreed,
"but I have also made her tough.
You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."

"Will she be able to think?", asked the angel.

The Lord replied,
"Not only will she be able to think,
she will be able to reason and negotiate."

The angel then noticed something,
and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.
"Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model.
I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one."

"That's not a leak,"
the Lord corrected,
"that's a tear!"
"What's the tear for?" the angel asked.

The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride."

The angel was impressed.
"You are a genius, Lord.
You thought of everything!
Woman is truly amazing."

And she is!

Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness,
love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.
They don't take "no" for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss
can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideals.
They give moral support to their family and friends.
Women have vital things to say and everything to give.
HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

.:Iron Man:.

I woke up around five or so in the morning to get to work with Gia on our show, and it was a pretty good run for the both of us. Of course, I was a bit off due to sheer exhaustion, but it wasn't so bad for the most part.

After the boardwork, I then took a cab to go to Greenbelt and emcee the U Got Game Pro event in the Expo Exchange. It was a reunion of sorts for the geeks and beyond, what with Dom, Sean, Ranulf, Jill, Sacha, Diane, Clair, Dang, JM, Mario, Jac, Jonas, Zeus, Eric, Charles, among other people. I even ran into one of my grade school friends, Sarah Jane Jervoso, and it was pretty amusing how small a world it really is, when Shunichi showed up and he actually knew JM. Yep, Shunichi's real name is JM, too. Heh.

Anyways, I was doing the regular hosting stuff, but I tried to inject a bit of humor here and there. There were some amazing cosplayers, although I'm sure someone would provide pictures for those. Sacha cosplayed herself from Away Agila, although she, JM, and Clair didn't quite make it to registration. No big deal. Roch was also there, handling a lot of stuff. It was a high-stress environment, but we all had fun for the most part, and when awards were being given out, I found it funny that the cash prizes were going to be delayed by a month. So when I got on the mic, I promptly told them the program was going to continue after one month's time. Lol.

Nonetheless, it was a pretty good event, really. The video games being demoed weren't too shabby, and a lot of buzz went into the Republika and Away Agila games. Poor Ranulf was visibly stressed running back and forth just to make the event work. It wouldn't have been half as successful without him practically overseeing the entire event.

It was fun, really. I was having amusing conversations with Sacha, Mario, and Clair, and all that hugging going on was enjoyable as well. While Clair and Sach and I were in a group hug, I called on Ranulf to join in, and he promptly refused. The look on his face was priceless. And then, I showed them a letter I got recently. A letter that certainly made me smile quite a bit.

Dom left after a while, as he had something to attend to. Didn't see him until later that evening, and he was visibly ticked off...

.:More Spindizzy:.

I had a spinning gig in Alabang at 8:00 that day, so I left UGG around 7:30 to meet up with Paulino, one of Kathy's friends. We had an interesting conversation on the road, although what I realized was that he was one amazing spinner, as he can practically do the behind the back weave already, which was just plain impressive. We had pretty amusing banter for our performance in the party, which was an Indian-themed party by the Alabang International Community or something to that effect, and the line “Yes, he's better than me!” cracked the audience up when Paulino was spinning after my turn.

Nonetheless, afterwards, we saw some belly dancing, although the girls didn't seem too pleased about what was going on and all. In any case, Paulino was somewhat gawking at them, but I wasn't too interested and was after the food, really. The food was good, but the desert was just plain splendid. There was some pudding that tasted like Leche Flan with a hint of Mango... simply divine. Paulino kept on wondering what my odds were with various girls, though, including but not limited to Kathy. That was surreal.

Got a call from an old friend, though. What we talked about kind of took me aback. I guess I owe her an apology for being a huggy person and all. I'm just glad that's the only part of our friendship that needs working on... I guess it's all good, really.

.:The Return:.

Afterwards, on the way back to Greenbelt, I ran into Dominique, who was on the way to attend to Ranulf, who was particularly exhausted after all that. I could commiserate with him, considering I was doing work all day long, and I was about to go and playtest in Metrowalk with Team TX from the 7th Realms. Anyways, after hitching a ride with Sean to Crossing, I said my goodbyes to everyone, and hoping Clair would enjoy the donut I gave her, as she seemed a bit down in the dumps lately. I tried playing “Heaven I Need A Hug” by R Kelly for her that morning but only got to do it for her come Sunday.

I sure missed my friends... glad to have seen them all again.

.:Playtest:.

I finally knew how it feels to be dealing with a fully powered deck. It was really amazing how it turned out. I was doing turn 2 and turn 3 kills with Doomsday without any hitches, but that was just because Carlo, one of the guys I play Magic with, wanted to see how my deck would run if it were fully powered.

I was playing against Control Slaver (Carlo) and Goblins (JT). Pretty innovative goblin deck from JT, really. In any case, we were talking about a lot of things, and they were considering getting me to join Team TX, which is a good thing, truth be told. They then talked about pomelo and how it was simply a superior fruit and all (::winks::)... heck, Carlo even made a brilliant (::double wink::) comparison a few moments later, and simply said pomelo was just that bloody superior even to something as brilliant... true, true.

Had a couple of rounds of billiards before I headed to the station where I caught a short nap and went straight to boardwork AGAIN. Yep. Iron man, indeed.

.:What Happened On Sunday:.

So I did my boardwork, then I had lunch, and headed out to Avenida to look for Ong Bak, The Classic, and My Little Bride. Fond a few other DVD's, but I have to have at least three of them replaced... in any case, it was all good until I decided to be stupid and call up someone about finding “Wet Dreams” (A Korean film.). The person promptly bit off my head for it, indicating that the hostilities are far from over.

I'll just address it now to make sure it's clear to a dear friend who asked me...

Yes, I'm happy. Very happy.

No, it's not because you're not part of my life anymore.

Yes, it's because she is.

I take no pleasure from you not being a part of my life, so don't confuse those two very different things.

.:Today's LSS:.

Heard this song this morning. It just stuck...

Crazy In Love
by Beyonce, feat. Jay-Z

Yes! so crazy right now
Most incredibly
It's your girl b
It's your boy young
History in the makin
[part 2]

I look and stare so deep in your eyes
I touch on you more and more every time
When you leave i'm beggin you not to go
Call your name two, three times in a row
Such a funny thing for me to try to explain
How i'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame
Yeah, cause i know i don't understand
Just how your love can do what no on else can

Got me lookin so crazy right now
Your love's got me lookin so crazy right now
(your love)
Got me lookin so crazy right now your touch's
Got me lookin so crazy right now
(your touch)
Got me hoping you page me right now your kiss's
Got me hoping you save me right now
Lookin so crazy your love's got me lookin
Got me lookin so crazy your love

When i talk to my friends so quietly
"who he think he is?" look at what you've done to me
Tennis shoes don't even need to buy a new dress
You ain't there, ain't nobody else to impress
It's the way that you know what i thought i knew
It's the beat that my heart skips when i'm with you
Yeah, but i still don't understand
Just how your love can do what no one else can

Got me lookin so crazy right now
Your love's got me lookin so crazy right now
(your love)
Got me lookin so crazy right now your touch's
Got me lookin so crazy right now
(your touch)
Got me hoping you page me right now your kiss's
Got me hoping you save me right now
Lookin so crazy your love's got me lookin
Got me lookin so crazy your love

I'm warmed up now
Let's go

Young hova
Ya'll know when the flow is loco
Young b and the r-o-c uh oh
O-G, big homie
The one and only
Stick boney but the pockets are fat like tony

Soprano the roc handle
Like van Exel
I shake phonies man, you can't get next to
A genuine article, i do not sing tho
I sling though , if anything i bling yo

Star like ringo
War like a green berret
You're crazy bring your whole set
Jay-z in the range
Crazy and deranged
They can't figure him out
They're like "hey is he insane?"

Yes sir i'm cut from a different cloth
My texture is the best fur, im chinchilla

I've been ill of the chain smokers
How you think i go the name hova
I've been reala'
The game's over

Fall back young ever since
I made you change over to platinum
The game's been a wrap
One

Got me looking so crazy, my baby
I'm not myself lately
I'm foolish, i don't do this
I've been playing myself
Baby i don't care
Cuz your love got the best of me
And baby you're making a fool of me
You got me sprung and i don't care who sees
Cuz baby you got me so crazy

Got me lookin so crazy right now
Your love's got me lookin so crazy right now
(your love)
Got me lookin so crazy right now your touch's
Got me lookin so crazy right now
(your touch)
Got me hoping you page me right now your kiss's
Got me hoping you save me right now
Lookin so crazy your love's got me lookin
Got me lookin so crazy your love
[repeat to end]

.:Gushing:.

If someone decides to pass up going to a 5566 appearance just so you could meet up and talk with each other for a mere twenty minutes, consider yourself very blessed. =)

.:Stop The Pain:.

I think that until people come to terms with the fact that there are B sides to every story, then there really won't be any justice in the world. Not even for the first American Idol, lol.

::sighs::

I guess jumping to conclusions is the easiest form of exercise for people.

.:Today's LSS:.

I just like the song, mmkay? Now don't go reading too much into me relating to this song, since I don't. the moment I looked at the lyrics, I froze in my tracks. They're so DOT COM! Lol.

Take This Love
by Sergio Mendez

I know what you're thinking
Your eyes give you away
We've been talking all night long
And there's nothing left to say
It's a mutual emotion
Nothing's standing in the way

I've got this feelin' babe
That this was meant to be
You've been playing hard to get
I've waited patiently
It just keeps getting harder
There's a point of no return
'Cause the heat is in the moment
And the moment's in your hands

CHORUS
Take this love and let the night begin
(I want to give it all to you)
Time for you to show the way you feel
(You know how long I've waited)
I need a reason, a meaning in my life
So open up and take this love tonight

Too many wasted nights of hollow victories
But I know this time is diff'rent babe 'cause you mean so much to me
You're the answer to my question
And I need the answer now
'Cause the heat is in the moment
And the moment says it all

CHORUS

.:It's Been A While:.

Before I go on, I have to thank Kathy for the nice break she helped me land. I really appreciate it.

In any case, I scheduled to meet up with Cami (Dalusong) and her boyfriend, Boker, last night in Greenbelt at around seven or so in the evening. As I had plans from six to six thirty, I was genuinely worried I'd keep them if in case they arrived earlier tha usual, so I was grateful they showed up past seven.

It's been a while since I've met either of them, and I think the last time I met them might have been graduation day already or just a little bit after that. Both of them have been quite busy with work, as was underscored by the severe lack of blogging from Cami's LJ, whilst I haven't even lost a step when it comes to that... lol.

Nonetheless, we went to Crocodile Grill to just catch up with each other. It's been fun, and I'm particularly happy because Cami and I were good friends in college, so reconnecting with her and the possibility of meeting her and Boker a bit more often because of my frequent forays in the Ayala area from now on really is good news, as I at least have friends I can talk to once my lack of classes keep me out of touch from my friends in the Philosophy department.

Of course, I'll prolly sit out any offers to be the third wheel/chaperone when it comes to movie nights, though, unless it's a double date or something to that effect. Must bring Ranulf along, then. Lol.

Thanks, Boker and Cami. You guys look great together as a couple. Hope things continue going well for you, and thanks for the great time and conversations last night. Really capped my day off quite well.

.:Paglalakbay:.


Malinaw na para kay Kierkegaard, hindi isang sumpa ang pagkawasak ng sarili. Sa halip, isa itong hamon para sa isang tao upang marating niya ang isang nibel kung saan nagagawa niyang irelasyon ang relasyon sa sarili nito patungo sa pagbubuo ng sarili upang manalig sa Kapangyarihang bumubuo sa kanya. Sa pamamagitan nito, nabubuo ang sarilin ng tama, ngunit nagiging hamon pa rin ito dahil ang pagbubuo ng sarili ay hindi nagagawa sa isang saglit lamang, kundi mga paulit-ulit na sandali ng pag-uugnay ng relasyon sa sarili nito at sa pananalig sa Kapangyarihan. Kung gayon, isang makabuluhan at mahabang proseso ang pagbubuo ng sarili, ang pagbibigay ng lunas sa sakit na patungong kamatayan, na alam natin ang pagka-unibersal.

Napagnilayan ko ang talakayang ito sa panonood ko ng pelikulang “Equilibrium”, kung saan iminumungkahi ng kuwento ang isang bansa na ipinagbabawal ang damdamin, at sa pamamagitan nito, nanatili lamang sa mundo ng may hangganan at nesesidad ang mga mamamayan ng bansang Libria. Sa kuwentong ito, nasisira ang relasyon ng mga elemento ng sintesis sa isa't-isa sapagkat ipinagbabawal ang damdamin na siyang nagbibigay-daan sa walang-hanggan at sa posibilidad na hindi nakikita ng mga tao sa ganitong uri ng pamayanan.

Ang bida ng pelikula, si John Preston, ay isang kleriko na nagpapatupad ng mga batas ng Libria. Dahil may mga taong hindi umiinom ng gamot na “Prozium” na siyang gamot na nag-aalis ng kakayahang makaramdam, hindi man lamang namamalayan ni Preston na mayroon siyang sarili, at lalong hindi niya namamalayan na wasak ang kanyang sarili dahil sa kakulangan niya ng posibilidad at walang hanggan. Nag-umpisa siyang makabatid sa kanyang sarili nang napatay niya ang kanyang kasamahan na siya mismong hindi na umiinom ng Prozium at nakaumpisa ng makadama. Dahil ang damdamin ang nagiging puno ng mga di-pagkakaunawaan, ng pagnanasa, at ng mga kapritso, kinailangang lupigin ni Preston ang sarili niyang kasamahan upang maipagtanggol ang kanyang bansa mula sa ganitong panganib.

Matapos niyang gawin ito, nabasag niya ang kanyang rasyon ng Prozium, kung kaya't nag-umpisa siyang makadama. Sa sandaling ito, nababatid niya na mayroon siyang sarili, at nakikita niya ang kanyang pagkawasak, ngunit mababaw pa lamang ang kanyang pagkabatid dito sapagkat nakikita niya ang pagkawasak bilang mga emosyon lamang, na hindi naman mismo ang puno ng pagkawasak, ngunit ang kanyang pagkukulang sa pagrerelasyon ng relasyon sa relasyon. Sa biglaan niyang pagkakaroon ng damdamin, hindi niya maunawaan ang kanyang mga ginagawa, at nang makita niya na ito ang kanyang sarili, inayawan niya ang kanyang sarili, ngunit hindi pa rin niya makuhang uminom ng Prozium muli. Ayaw niya ang kanyang sarili sapagkat nakakadama na siya, ngunit napakarami niyang bagay na ginawa sa mga taong nakakadama rin, at ngayong pareho na sila ng kalagayan, hindi niya ito makuhang tanggapin.

Humantong sa wakes ang kanyang pag-uunawa sa pagnanais na maging sarili niya, nang naisipan niyang ipamukha sa Libria ang kanilang pagkakamali. Ganito talaga ang tao: nakadarama, nakakakita ng posibilidad at ng walang hangganan, at maaaring kumilos ayon sa kanyang damdamin at katwiran. Ngunit dahil kailangan niyang labanan ang sistemang kanyang tinulungang patatagin, nahirapan siya sa kanyang kahinaan bilang iisang taong humahamon sa sistema. Nang naunawaan niyang manalig sa Kapangyarihang bumuo sa kanya, nakita niya kung paano pag-uugnayin ang kanyang nakaraang sariling walang damdamin ngunit magaling sa pagkilos sa kanyang sariling mayroong damdamin at natututong mangamba at matakot. Sa dulo ng pelikula, napabagsak niya ang sistema ng Libria, at naipakita niya ang pagkabuo ng sarili niya sa pamamagitan ng kanyang kagitingang ipaglaban ang nakikita niyang nararapat maging likas sa sangkatauhan.

Matapos ang pelikulang ito, nakita ko ang paglalakbay ng isang tao sa larangan ng pagkawasak ng sarili. Dahil sa kahirapang magrelasyon ng relasyon sa relasyon at manalig sa Kapangyarihang bumubuo sa atin sa bawat sandali, nagiging unibersal ang pagkawasak ng sarili. Sapagkat hindi nabubuo ang sarili hangga't sa hindi naisasagawa ang naisaad, nakikita nating halos lahat ng tao sa sandaling ito ay nabubuwal ang sarili. Si Kierkegaard man ay ayaw umamin na lahat na walang pasubali at lahat ng tao ay nawawasak ang sarili, malinaw pa rin na halos lahat ng tao ay ganito. Sa paglapit natin sa paglunas sa sakit ng espiritu na ito, higit na humihirap ang ating kinahaharap. Napakalaking kabalintunaan na ang pinakakaunting paghihirap na kinadadaanan ay isang kondisyon ng pagiging bulag sa pagkawasak ng sarili. Na sa ating paglapit sa pag-uunawang tayo ay espiritu, mas nagiging mahirap ang ating sitwasyon.

Sa aking buhay, nakikita ko rin itong paglalakbay sa larangan ng pagkawasak ng sarili. Kung aakalain kong nawawasak ang aking sarili dahil lamang sa mga malulungkot na bagay na dinadaanan ko, lubha akong nagkakamali. Malinaw na ang aking pagkawasak ay nagmumula sa aking kakulangan sa nesesidad at sa may hangganan dala ng malawak kong imahinasyon at pagtingin sa mga maaaring mangyari, sa aking pagtingin sa kalungkutan bilang tanda ng pagkawasak ng sarili, at sa aking kakulangan ng pananalig sa Kapangyarihang naglagay sa akin dito.

Dahil sa mga ito, nakikita ko na kinakailangan ng pag-iibayo ng pagbubuo sa sarili. Hindi ko makuhang isiping humantong sa pagnanais na maging sarili ko na wasak upang ipamukha sa Maykapal na ang Kanyang pagkakalikha sa akin ay isang malaking pagkakamali, ngunit nakikita ko na sa kakulangan ko ng pagiging kuntento sa kahit anong kasalukuyang sitwasyon, malinaw na nagiging wasak ang aking sarili sa aking taimtim na pagnanasang maging iba sa kung sino ako talaga. Oo, dapat tinatanggap ko ang aking sarili, ngunit hindi bilang isang istatikong ninalang, kundi bilang isang dinamikong nilalang na may kakayahang magbago at maging mas higit na mabuting tao sa pamamagitan ng mga nailahad na kondisyon ng paglunas sa sakit na ito ng espiritu.

Kung gayon, isang hamon sa aking sarili ang harapin ang pagkabuwal ng sarili at hindi lamang tanggapin ito bilang aking kondisyon na wala na akong magagawa, dahil mayroon akong magagawa, mahirap at marahil mapanganib man ang magiging mga pagdadaanan ko. Sa kadulu-duluhan, hindi naman maaaring sabihing hindi mahalaga ang pagbubuo ng sarili. Sa harap ng mga kahirapang pinagdadaanan natin sa mundong ito ngayon, ang pananalig ang tanging paraan upang malabanan ang kawalan ng pag-asa sa sitwasyong kinakaharap natin ngayon.

Nabanggit ni Padre noong isang araw ang kanyang malungkot na pangitain kung saan dahil sa ating kultura ng pagbabago at kakulangan ng pagrerelasyon ng relasyon sa relasyon at pananalig, maging ang Ateneo de Manila mismo ay magiging isa lamang malaking paradahan ng sasakyan na makabago. Na sa kultura natin kung saan hindi tinitingala ang tao bilang isang espiritu kundi isa lamang bagay na humihinga, sa kultura natin ngayon na napaka-kaswal, na nawawala ang malalim at makabuluhang halaga ng mga tao, may isa akong kinatatakutan sa sandaling magkatotoo ang pangitain ni Padre…

… Na pagdating ng panahon, dahil sa ating pagtanggap na lamang sa ating pagkawasak sa halip na panindigan ang paglaban dito bilang hamon, ni wala man lamang mga taong magpaparada ng sasakyan sa paradahang ito. Na ating winasak ang munting sandigan ng karunungan sa Katipunan upang magtayo ng paradahan, at ang nakakabahalang kawalan ng mga pumaparada dito ang mismong nagbabadya sa atin ng malaking kawalan na rin ng tao sa pagtanggap na lamang nila ng pagkawasak ng kanilang sarili, sa halip na tumalima sa hamon.

Huwag naman sana ito magkatotoo.

.:POGS:.

The Philippine Online Gaming Summit last night seemed like a clustereff with little rhyme or reason. It honestly felt like a moderate success if you were a person from the gaming industry, but in my opinion as a former events person for RX, it was a severe flop in contrast to how the NBC Tent was once filled up during the FHM Victory Party. As my partner in WAVE, Gia, was hosting the show, I just headed off to the Tent with her after our boardwork, while we talked about lovelives and whatnot.

I stayed at the Summit for quite a while, as I waited for Ranulf and Jac to get there, since we were supposed to look at how it went. I told them that while the 400-600 strong crowd was pretty impressive for a gaming event, the last event in the NBC Tent thatI went to didn't even have any room to walk around.

It was funny how paranoid Ranulf was during the program, though. He was covering his face as though he'd be recognized, as though his status with UGG was going to affect the POGS any further. Clearly, POGS wasn't quite the success it was as their promotions came quite a bit too late for them to do anything good with it.

.:On The Way Back:.

While on our way back, it was pretty amusing what happened while we were talking to the cabbie. While I told Jac and Ranulf about the situation I had, the cabbie gave his opinion and agreed with me that using someone else's family to get back at you is one of the most vicious things that could be done out of you, and should be taken away from one's arsenal of inflicting pain on another if it could be helped. Words of wisdom, really.

I ended up sleeping over at Ron's place because I needed to do some recording for the UGG beta release of the game. Pretty amusing taunt, really… heh.

.:Spindizzy:.

Kathy, Krisette, and I were set on a spinning gig this weekend in Metrowalk, but I had to back out because it was going to clash with U Got Game. That being said, I still met up with them in Greenbelt, and Hrbs was also there, who ended up getting quite freaked out by my ways as usual.

In any case, I was at Coffee Bean, and I ran into Kathy there, who was with Chip, her boss of sorts, and we just talked about different things while I was waiting for my Pomelo. Soon enough, after that short but refreshing break, I got back, and we were still waiting for Krisette and Hrbs, as I realized that I had to pass up on the gig. In any case, it was no big deal. We just continued talking about various things, and when Krisette finally arrived, we immediately started with the funny “during sex” jokes about songs. Even more amusing was how neither Kathy nor I managed to introduce Krisette to Chip, which made us pretty rude... and most amusing of all was how Krisette herself neglected to introduce Hrbs to Chip when he got back...

So after a lot of conversations, we finally headed out to Intercon, and we went spinning near the pool area. It was fun, to say the least, and I was glad that things went pretty well there, and although there are some conflicts of interest that went on (Mainly because the other group doesn't seem to have a good concept of safety measure.), it was still all in all a good start. Hopefully the conflicts would be resolved, and the right measures of entitlement would be accorded to the right people at the end of all of it.

Nonetheless, save for safety, that wasn't really our concern.

Afterwards, we then hitched a ride with the people running the show to Greenbelt, and we had dinner near the Cinema. Interestingly enough, a premiere of Star Wars Episode III will be shown to people who go to the fountain area in Greenbelt so long as you're a Gentxt user. Hmm... I should try that. Krisette was proud of me, on the other hand, because my eyes no longer seem to be wandering at all... chalk that up to a lesson learned.

I then went home, still thinking of the crazy events that happened during the day...

.:Today's LSS:.

What a summer song. Lol.

Laughter In The Rain
by Neil Sedaka

Strolling along country roads with my baby
It starts to rain, it begins to pour
Without an umbrella we're soaked to the skin
I feel a shiver run up my spine
I feel the warmth of her hand in mine

Chorus:
Oo, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Oo, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside

After a while we run under a tree
I turn to her and she kisses me
There with the beat of the rain on the leaves
Softly she breathes and I close my eyes
Sharing our love under stormy skies

(Chorus x 3 until fade)

.:The Rain Is My Friend:.

There's something inexplicably delightful about a downpour in the middle of a wonderful time.

A simple tryst that brings two people closer even together under the pitter-patter of raindrops upon them. A small umbrella that holds infinite secrets underneath it, as they walk on, oblivious to the lightning and thunder, but lost in each other's eyes.

The rain rages on. One of them is drenched to the bone, yet is still all smiles. The other, caring not one bit about the weather, tightly hugs the drenched but cheery one. So much for the umbrella.

Quivering lips due to the cold, yet hearts aglow in warmth. The perfect moment. the perfect weather.

Oh, indeed. The rain is my friend.

.:Hanging Around:.

Just played some Magic in Glorietta 2 after meeting someone. In any case, I ran into quite a few people, such as a batchmate of mine. I even ran into Snakecharmer in Neutral Grounds. Pretty interesting, as he tried to scare me again... but he's a nice guy, really.

I then hitched a ride back with Quiccs, although what was interesting was that I introduced him to the wonders of Aling Banang's, as we had dinner there before I finally got home.

.:Film Review: Can This Be Love:.

I think I can review this film without giving too many critical spoilers. I'm sure you all realize how a movie like this would end, anyways. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins back girl. Tried and tested formula, neh? Wait... lemme bookmark this... I like this weblog. Had a lot of film reviews, too... credit to him/her for the pic I'm using here in the review, but if he/she doesn't want me to use it, I can always take it down at his/her request. :)

Can This Be Love?
Maybe it can be.

The first local film I've seen in so many months, “Can This Be Love” is the story of how a Korean girl and a Filipino boy cross paths and find love despite clashes in cultures and personalities. Hero Angeles plays Ryan, a Filipino nursing student who dreams of working abroad and does encoding jobs for a living, while Sandara Park plays Daisy, a Korean exchange student learning English in the Philippines.

The story starts off amusingly enough, with Ryan complaining how ignorant the writer of one of the papers he is encoding happened to be. He took offense to the way the Korean writer put down Filipinos, and decided to edit the paper himself while encoding it. In the meantime, he gets to know a girl named Daisy, who became his text mate as he wanted to buy a cellular phone from her to replace his.

In a weird twist of fate, it turns out that the author of the paper was Daisy, and they got to know each other personally on a sour note. Despite that, they soon enough hit it off, and Daisy finally finds a friend in the country who's not part of her dormitory. The romance blooms, but when Daisy's father finds out about this romance, Ryan decides to avoid Daisy because he didn't want her to have to go against her family.

In the end, Ryan realizes that if he let her slip him by, then he'd be lying to himself. If he never lets her know that after all those times they've been together, he really loves her, then he was just going to end up being a fool wondering what might have been. In a leap of faith, he puts his heart on the line on the very day Daisy is set to return to Korea... and it is now up to them to write their story.

Inasmuch as I liked the movie and I realized how close to home the theme of the movie could get ;), I found it particularly a rehash. Yes, it's a nice story, and the chemistry between Hero and Sandara was good, but there was virtually nothing about Korean culture in the story that could make it feel uniquely Korean. In all honesty, if they made it a story between a Filipino and a traditional Chinese girl, the story would hardly change, so the movie felt a bit generic on the non-Filipino front.

The Filipino sensibility of wanting to go abroad despite being “nationalistic” was a nice paradox to touch upon. People who stay in the country get cynical about it, but those who leave can even be more nationalistic than those who are still in the Philippines. It can be quite a paradox, and the writing managed to show that very cleverly.

The supporting cast worked pretty well., Inasmuch as I felt that Joross and Melissa were just tack-ons that really added to the movie's appeal quite minimally, the characters like Tirso Cruz, Roderick Paulate, and so forth really gave the movie a backbone in between all the sugar and fluff. Take them away, and you'd have a meaningless fluff-fest with only half-meant stabs at genuine nationalism. Throw these people in the film, and you not only have comedy relief, but you find that the movie has a heart.

I'm also thankful that the product placement was nowhere nearly as blatant as “Feng Shui's”, though. Chalk that up as another plus point for this film.

All in all, I think this was an awfully cute feel-good movie that is not worth watching alone. Share it with someone special. And you'd realize that yes, this can be love. =)

“Fun” Evaluation: A
“Critical” Evaluation: B/B+

.:Today’s LSS:.

Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?

Big Yellow Taxi
by The Counting Crows

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot

They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don't care about spots on my apples,
Leave me the birds and the bees - please
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, they've paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?

Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door swing,
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Now don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now now, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not, they paved paradise
They put up a parking lot
Hey hey hey, paved paradise and put up a parking lot

I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna givin it all away
Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give it
I should wanna give it
Cuz you're givin it all away, no no

I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna givin it all away
Cuz you're givin it all givin it all away yeah yeah
Cuz You're givin it all away hey, hey, hey

Hey, paved paradise, to put up a parking lot
la,la, la, la, la, la, la ,la ,la ,la ,la
Paved paradise, and put up a parking lot

.:The Tournament:.

Didn't do particularly well with my tournament yesterday, and I didn't pay much attention to the details of my games, so I really couldn't write a tournament report for it. I went a horrible 2-3, as I lost to my mismatch of Workshop, lost to B/W Fish in what was a fun but not-so-well-thought-out game, and got swept by Belcher in an even more brainless game where we just played and didn't even bother to side out anything (Damping Matrix, anyone? ;) ).

In any case, it was a good day, and we had fun. When they asked me what a Pomelo would do for a living, they got a good chuckle out of the “tiga-liha ng sim card” reply. Fong was especially fun to talk to, as we kept on joking around with each other, since we were early birds who playtested for almost two hours to more or less cement the fact that Doomsday has an advantage over Food Chain Goblins.

Fong's girlfriend was there, and she was also nice to talk to and had a good sense of humor. I particularly got amused when the talk went to Mr. Ante, and she was just laughing at the basketball analogy when we got to talking about it. Jeff, Fong, Fong's girlfriend, and I were really enjoying ourselves with conversations.

I'll just do better next time, I guess.

.:And I Am Still Put On Ignore:.

My mom’s still not talking to me. Why am I not surprised?

The more the days pass, the more I realize the futility of this all…

.:The Wisdom Of Fr. Ferriols:.

It was fairly odd how Fr. Ferriols kept on interrupting his own lecture today to stare at a guy practicing tennis over at the former handball court in front of SEC. Inasmuch as it didn’t really have much to do with the lecture, Fr. Ferriols kept on referencing to the person practicing tennis, and talked about how the handball court is no longer even a handball court, but it’s been there since the 1950’s.

He then talked about a prediction that he had, but asked us to take it with a grain of salt.

In years to come, someone will see this old handball court and realize that it is so old. Because of the rejection of anything old, out come the bulldozers and destroy it and build something new. And then he would look on and smile- until he realizes that so many other buildings are old as well. The Xavier Administration Building. The Bellarmine Hall. All these places are old, too, and must be torn down. And by the time all this is done, the newer buildings such as SEC, CTC, and JG-SOM are all going to be old as well.

Everything will get old. Everything will have to be torn down. There will only be one thing that can be established that will never get old.

A parking lot.

And so, when the time comes, the Ateneo De Manila University will be no more. They will pave paradise and put up a parking lot. I am not the epitome of school spirit, but the thought of it all still saddens me.

And Fr. Ferriols then turns the discussion to despair, of how one can go from a disrelation of a synthesis to complete unawareness of this disrelation to an awareness and a desperate attempt to deny one’s self and to the climax of willing so hopelessly to be one’s self.

Let them despair in this culture of death. Let them treat euthanasia as a relief from old age instead of the atrocity to human life that it is. Let them treat suicide as a matter of convenience.

But in the end, after paradise has been torn down for the parking lot of parking lots, there will be an empty void. With all the lives who have succumbed to despair and have rejected resting in the Power that constituted them…

… there will be no cars to park in that parking lot.

.:Wahahahaha!!!:.

If you've been to the blogging summit, you'd get this...

Ang sarap ng suman, ano, Dean?

.:Today's LSS:.

Yeah, I found ways around the filter... barely.

Basic Thuganomics
by John Cena

So .......you think you are untouchable?
Word Life
This is basic thuganomics (basic thuganomics)
Word Life
I'm untouchable, but I'm forcin' you to feel me
Word Life
This is basic thuganomics (basic thuganomics)
Word Life
I'm untouchable, but I'm forcin' you to feel me

Whether fighting or spitting
My discipline is unforgiving
Got you backing up in the defensive position
An ass kicking anthem
Heavyweight or ban them
holding camps for ransom
the microphone phantom

Teams hit the floor in this new fight joint
Like a broken needle, kid, you missin' the point
We dominate your conference
with offense that's no nonsense
My theme song hits, get your reinforcements
We strike quick with hard kicks
ducking night sticks, bare knuckle miss
Who fight this beat?
You're lifeless, you'll never survive this

Give a guy like Alzheimer's
Two face rappers walk away with four shiners
the raw rhymer turning legends into old timers
My insight is like a viper bitin' though your one liners
New Deadman Inc.,
and we're about to make you famous
Taking over Earth and still kicking in Uranus

.:Grrr...:.

Marc, you took my chicken baon. Nagbabaon ka pa rin ba? Don't you have salary for lunch?

I was so tempted to reply...

No, I don't have a salary for lunch. I have a salary for paying an 8500 peso debt that you allowed to happen by not investigating who the Hades stole my money from my room. And... don't you have salary for lunch?

.:More Grrr...:.

I hate web filters that block out sites by banning words. In this computer at work, the following words are banned:

1. Pot (No Blogspot for me!)
2. Friend (To block off Friendster, but also block off www.livejournal.com/users/mistervader/friends.)
3. Lyrics (No LSS for me today!)

.:Even More Grr...:.

I had this spinning audition to go to with Kathy and Krisette, only to find out that it got canceled at the last moment. A little courtesy could've helped if they just decided to tell us we're rescheduled a little before five minutes before heading to the appointment itself...

Kathy's a bit apprehensive about the people there, considering their lack of regard for proper safety standards while fire-spinning. That's a bit dangerous, considering how subpar the materials they use happen to be. They get wicks imported from Bangkok,which are low quality and melt too easily. The chains even get hot too easily. All of that would spell disaster, and bringing a spinning group like that to the heart of Manila would only mean trouble for the already-maligned reputation of spinning, despite the impeccable safety record of our group and the other established manila group.

So while I enjoyed Kathy's and Krisette's company, I forgot one important thing about the WAVE eyeball going on last night as well...

Sheree was there until ten in the evening.

Oh, well. It wasn't such a bad loss. For some odd reason, babe watching suddenly isn't so high up in my priorities any longer (As if it really were in the first place.).

Now that I think about it, maybe it's not such a mystery why that's the case, after all... ::blushes::

Okie. Credit to Jac Ting Lim for the template of this message, and here goes:

Click here to go to the Slycesoft website! Free downloadable wallpapers featuring Jac Ting Lim's art!!!

See the article about this new company over here and know what the buzz is all about!

Away Agila is a PC fighting game designed by Ranulf Goss. Character and graphic designs by Jac, while I do the marketing for the company. Sacha is one of the playable characters and has already done initial voice acting recordings with me and Kathy. :)

We'll be releasing the Open Beta version at the UGotGame event his coming May 21, 2005 at Expo Exchange in Greenbelt 1, Makati. See you there, jabronis! ^_^

.:Nanced This Funny One...:.

Here're the rules!! Comment on this post with the song you are listening to right now followed by the words "during sex".

So for example, let's say I'm listening to the Rexona song...

Then I'd be writing down "Let's do the first day funk during sex". Or if I'm listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, it'd be, "The Phantom Of The Opera Is There In My Mind during sex".

Easy enough? :P

.:And I Thought I Was Kantian...:.

You scored as Existentialism. Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism: You choose the meaning and purpose of your life. “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” “It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.” --Jean-Paul Sartre “It is man's natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth.” --Blaise Pascal More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page... Existentialism 90% Kantianism 80% Utilitarianism 65% Justice (Fairness) 65% Divine Command 60% Hedonism 50% Strong Egoism 20% Apathy 10% Nihilism 0% What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03) created with QuizFarm.com

Gyeh? I'm still an existentialist after all this time? Oh, well. I guess the fact that I believe in a God over and above man's will toned down my hardline Kantianism somewhat, while I believe in the power to determine myself with an infinite freedom divinely given. Needless to say, I don't entirely agree with Sartre's point of view. Lol.

.:Omigosh! Omigosh!:.

When our boardwork started, Gia informed me that Hotshots Burgers was giving away free burgers to the first 150 customers at their branch in F. Ortigas Jr. Most of the people at WAVE, myself included, capitalized on that. Hades, I practically went down in the middle of my boardwork just to order a couple of burgers.

Now, that's already a piece of good luck right then and there, as they were giving away those burgers at the start of our timeslot in Waveback.

But as if that weren't enough...

Kevyn Lattau, Lou Pardini, and Joe Pizzulo of the group Sergio Mendez all went to our booth in the middle of our boardwork! Eeeeeeeeeeee!!! Uhhh, I mean... ::manly voice:: eeeeeeeeeee.

I have a pic with them. Just need a way to send it to my comp, as it's not my cellphone...

And yes, Kevyn sang “Far Away”, Lou sang “What Might Have Been”, and Joe sang “Take This Love” for us during the interview. It was surreal hearing them perform those songs.

Bah Gawd, if I had tickets, I'd gladly go to the “Memories Of Love” concert this Saturday night in Araneta... sigh...

.:She's Getting Married...:.

A friend of mine from RX, Ma'am Lea, is finally going to get married this weekend, I believe.

I wish her all the best.

.:Battle Royale!:.

All my LJ friends can now check the edited Chapters I and II in my memories. Chapter III will be up very soon, I promise. :P

.:Breaking News!!!:.

Guess who's premiering this film? ;)

Oh, it's true, it's true!

.:Today's LSS:.

Starting next week, I'm going to try and do a name that tune with my LSS. I'm going to talk about my LSS, but post the song the next day after people have made their guesses...

Emphasis on try.

But for today, all I can say is say your prayers and eat your vitamins!

Real American
Hulk Hogan Entrance Theme

When it comes crashin' down and it hurts inside,
You've gotta take a stand- it don't help to hide.
If you hurt my friends then you hurt my pride.
I gotta be a man - I can't let it slide.

I am a real American,
Fight for the rights of every man.
I am a real American,
Fight for what's right - fight for your life!

Well I feel stronger 'bout right and wrong
And I don't take trouble for very long.
I've got something deep inside of me,
courage is the thing that keeps us free!

I am a real American,
Fight for the rights of every man.
I am a real American,
Fight for what's right - fight for your life!

I am a real American,
Fight for the rights of every man.
I am a real American,
Fight for what's right - fight for your life!

If you hurt my friends then you hurt my pride.
I gotta be a man - I can't let it slide.

I am a real American,
Fight for the rights of every man.
I am a real American,
Fight for what's right - fight for your life!

(repeat until fade out)

.:Meandeck Doomsday: A Primer, Part II of III:.

In the first installment, I talked about what Meandeck Doomsday was, and what were its components.

Before I go on, I'd like to call your attention to a suggestion: instead of Memory Jar, Frantic Search or a second Rebuild could be a lot better in the deck. Both can be pitched to Force Of Will, and the Search can help your threshold and storm count at the same time. Playtest for yourself and see if you agree with this change to the deck.
In this second installment, I will now talk about how to play the deck in a lot more detail, particularly on how to carry out Plan A, B, or C. I'm going to discuss it in the order that games are played, just to give some semblance of organization to the article.

A. Before The Game Begins

Before the game even begins, what you really have to do is to shuffle the deck well. It's fairly obvious that the deck, due to its intense deck manipulation, would definitely have groups of cards clumped together that casual side shuffling can't free up. Given how you only have fourteen lands in the deck, it's highly advisable you use a pile shuffle when you shuffle the deck to maximize randomization. I know this advice has been given numerous times, but it bears repeating. Make sure to do riffle shuffles again to keep within tournament rules after doing the pile shuffle.

At the same time, it's good to have knowledge on your opponent assuming a tournament setting. If, for instance, you know that the opponent seated across you is an FCG player, then you'd know it's a lot smarter to use Unmask than Duress on him due to the sheer number of creatures he'd potentially have. Knowledge of your opponent's deck acquired through legal means is an immense plus for you, as your opening Duress or Unmask might very well dictate the pace of the game.

If you can't determine the deck your opponent's playing, fret not. Most opening plays do give you a good idea what the deck would be (Though I doubt I can enumerate what those plays and what decks are signaled by those plays are.), and assuming you're on the draw, this can help you plan accordingly. I doubt you'd want to take Doomsday to a tournament where you have no idea who/what you're playing against, but if you insist...

Going first or second is not that important to you, unless you're fighting fast combo like Death Long and Belcher, or decks that run Duress and other forms of discard. You'd want to go first in these circumstances. Otherwise, going second might actually help, as you can definitely use all the card draw you can get.

Other than this, there really isn't much to help your game out even before you play it.

B. The Opening Hand

Mulling a hand is one of the more critical decisions a player has to make. Allow me to shuffle my deck right now and draw three opening hands, and see whether or not I can keep or mull those hands away instead...

First hand: Polluted Delta, Necropotence, Dark Ritual, Force Of Will, Chrome Mox, Island, Duress.

Second hand: Beacon Of Destruction, Polluted Delta, Force Of Will, Brainstorm, Vampiric Tutor, Tendrils of Agony, Unmask.

Third Hand: Polluted Delta, Mana Crypt, Island, Brainstorm, Doomsday, Doomsday, Unmask.

Pretty interesting opening hands here. All of them have a fetchland plus one form of disruption or another. The first and the last hands are obviously worth keeping, while it's a genuine gamble to keep the second hand. Why is this so? Here are factors you have to consider when looking at your opening hand.

1. Mana Considerations: Unless you're on the draw or have a way to draw cards or a couple of disruption/permission cards in your opening hand, you have to mull away a hand with less than two mana sources. You automatically mull away a hand of no mana sources as well, for obvious reasons. The second hand only had one land, but had a Brainstorm to perhaps help you draw into more mana. That being said, it's still a gamble to keep a hand like that.

2. Disruption/Permission Density: Assuming you need to disrupt your opponent, can you do it? You might have an opening hand of Land, Mox, Land, Doomsday, Chromatic Sphere, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, but if your opponent had Force Of Will, then it's obvious you will lose that game if you tried to go all-in on turn one. All hands had at least one source of Disruption/Permission, so if this were the only criterion, I would've kept all three hands. You have eight pieces of Disruption with four Duress and four Unmask. You have four pieces of Permission with Force Of Will. The odds of you drawing any of them are pretty high in a seven-card opening hand.

3. Business Spells: In my book, business spells in the deck would be cards that help you draw or tutor for other cards, barring those that cost 3 mana and up, due to the fact that this is just an opening hand. That being said, Brainstorm, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Lim Dul's Vault all count as business spells. If you don't find an automatic combo from your opening hand, all these cards will help you find what you need. While the first hand definitely didn't have business spells, the presence of Chrome Mox, Duress, Necropotence, and Dark Ritual all pointed you to dropping lots of cards from your opening hand, reloading from Necro, and then hopefully winning next turn (Particularly if you go second, and you draw a black card for Imprint on the Chrome Mox.). The other hands have a Brainstorm, which, when coupled with a fetchland, should be enough business to tide most opening hands over (Only the third hand can do this without any other cards drawn. The second hand can't.).

4. The presence of “dead” cards: In theory, no card in this version of Doomsday is a “dead” card when you have it in hand, save for Beacon of Destruction. Despite that, holding a whole bunch of Brainstorms and no source of blue mana to show for it, or holding three copies of Doomsday with no Unmask to pitch the D-Days to, or having Tendrils in your hand with no rituals to accelerate into it and fire a warning shot to buy time, or a Mox Diamond with only one fetchland in hand, or a mana-light hand with Mind's Desire or Memory Jar, are all classic examples of good cards being dead cards. Even Yawgmoth's Will can be a dead card given circumstances where you can't send useful spells to your yard. That being said, The second hand has a notorious count of two dead cards: Beacon and Tendrils. Mulling to six and not holding either card is almost always going to be better, as a Beacon in hand is as bad as drawing one less card already, and an uncastable Tendrils is about as bad. The more I look at it, the more hand number 2 becomes a dubious hand to keep. Anytime you find Beacon in your opening hand, you automatically have to look for something good in your hand before you even consider keeping it. This is a given.

5. Your opponent: If your opponent is mulling to six, give him some time before you consider mulling as well. Sometimes, if your opponent mulls, you can pretty much keep hand number two already. Inasmuch as your opponent is hoping you'd mull your hand away, only a genuine mana screw would make you automatically throw your hand back in, and all the other hands you can get are workable one way or another.

As you noticed with this random sampling above, Doomsday's advantage is that for a combo deck, it rarely has horrible opening hands. There is usually a way to work around what you already have. That being said, don't sweat the opening hand too much. If you shuffle well, you hardly will have problems getting horrible hands, barring a Beacon Of Destruction in your opening, which happens a lot, for a one-of.

Notice how I didn't ask you to look for any combo pieces (Doomsday, a means to cast it, and card draw.) in your opening hand. This is because if your hand is worth keeping, you really should find combo pieces (If you don't have any, that is.) within two turns via your business spells, while you also disrupt them from ruining your gameplan. Having disruption and business in your opening hand is more important than having the combo pieces in your opening hand, unless you're fighting a deck that can't stop your combo at all.

Digression (Na may kuneksyon pa rin):

As my recent tournament report draft sadly got deleted, I may as well mention here the fact that during the “Round Of Music” where me and my opponent (Jaytyah.) were singing “The Closer I Get To You” (LYRICS HERE!!! Finally!!!) to each other (That's a sight to see. Two guys, plopping down power, singing, each of them knowing only one line each from the song.) and the guys on the other tables were singing “Joy In My Heart”, I kept a horrible opening hand that had two Force Of Will, one Brainstorm, a Fetchland, A Mox Diamond, a Timetwister, and a Beacon. I guess all the singing effectively dropped my strategy down the drain for that round, but at least you can see that such a hand should not be kept. By the way, that was the only match I lost in that tournament, underscoring the fact that knowing when to mull can really help.

C. Actual Game Strategy

When you play out Meandeck Doomsday, always remember that there are three roads to victory, each with their own unique variations: Plan A (The “Doomsday, I win” plan.), Plan B (The “Doomsday, done, I win” plan.), and Plan C (The “Oops, I win” plan.). When you look at your opening hand, you begin to determine which is the easiest plan among the three to achieve with what you currently have and what you expect to have.

No matter what the plan you would go for though, you have to take note of things you would definitely have to do to optimize your gameplay against your opponent.

1. Land Plays: You don't always have to play land, as you need only a few lands to pull the combo off. This is only a consideration if your opponent could Wasteland or Strip Mine your land, though. If your opponent doesn't run a complete set of strip effects, you have a slight advantage, as fetching dual lands from fetchlands are definitely better than fetching basics when the opportunity presents itself. Moreover, try to get two islands into play asap (Basic or non-basic.) if you have a gush in your hand. Luring out a Wasteland/Strip Mine via Gush is always fun. Try not to break fetchlands until you really need to. You never know when you can Brainstorm some of your less preferred cards away.

2. Mana Plays: Hold onto all your mana sources until you run into a good reason to drop them on the table. No need to play Chrome Mox unless you really want to cast something right away with the mana jump, for instance. No need to play the Mana Crypt until you're going for a storm count already, either. Of course, the moment you have Necro on the table, forget this one. Otherwise, holding onto your mana until you need it is always a good idea, barring being blocked by a Trinisphere just when you thought you could plop your mana down already. Always be on the lookout for a Mind's Desire if you see a hand that has enough acceleration and disruption to pull off one.

3. Disruption and Denial: Don't be afraid to pitch cards like your sole Doomsday to Unmask if your opponent is holding something really important. Most players who use Unmask seem to want to wait four turns just so they can hardcast it instead of pitching for it, which is ludicrous in your deck. Four turns of uninterrupted land drops is a pretty lucky break for Meandeck Doomsday, one that cannot be relied upon to happen even half the time. At the same time, permission only comes in the form of four copies of Force Of Will, so it would be a good idea not to be counter-happy, all the same.

4. Business: Use your tutors to fetch what you REALLY need at the time. If you don't really need something at the time you use a tutor, then simply get an Ancestral Recall instead. Use your Brainstorms sparingly if you see the potential to go for Plan A. You might not come across any means of card draw otherwise.

All in all, these are the common things you have to be aware of when playing the deck, regardless which route you intend to take.

D. In Depth: Plan A

D.1. How Plan A Works

Plan A is the ideal way to win with this deck because it’s usually the safest road to victory. This usually involves you playing Doomsday, then having some form of draw, then enough mana to pull off a storm count that would allow you to cast the lethal Tendrils or lethal Mind’s Desire into a Beacon Of Destruction.

As with all plans, always concentrate on disrupting your opponent while you’re protecting your combo.

The symptom for Plan A is fairly simple: you need Doomsday, the means to cast it, and the means to draw cards from your deck after resolving Doomsday.

D. In Depth: Plan A

D.1. How Plan A Works

Plan A is the ideal way to win with this deck because it’s usually the safest and most consistent road to victory. This usually involves you playing Doomsday, then having some form of draw, then enough mana to pull off a storm count that would allow you to cast the lethal Tendrils or lethal Mind’s Desire into a Beacon Of Destruction.

As with all plans, always concentrate on disrupting your opponent while you’re protecting your combo. Duress and Unmask your way to victory, because once you cast Doomsday, there will be no turning back for you. What makes Plan A much better than any other plan is that if you know what you're doing, there is no way for you to fizzle out (Unlike Plan C.), and there is no way for your opponent to do anything about it after being disrupted (Unlike Plan B, which entails you passing the turn to your opponent.). This means that unless you're being careless, Plan A is a surefire win when you pull it off.

The symptoms for Plan A is fairly simple: you need Doomsday, the means to cast it, the means to draw cards from your deck after resolving Doomsday, and the mana to cast the spells you're about to draw into, aside from the mana that the Doomsday stack itself would provide you. In some cases, it can go as low as 0 mana. In some cases, it can go as high as 1UUUU.

D.2. Sample Plan A Stacks

Here are some common ways to stack your deck for Plan A after casting Doomsday, assuming you're not holding the other combo pieces. If Necropotence is in play for you and you stand a chance of discarding your kill condition when you sac the LED in response to the Yawgmoth's Will, or if you don't want to lose your hand to the LED as well, feel free to substitute here and there with the stack.

1. If you have Chromatic Sphere in play, stack the deck this way after casting Doomsday (Storm: 1), from top to bottom: Ancestral Recall, Lion's Eye Diamond, Dark Ritual, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils Of Agony. After you make the stack, draw the Recall from the Chromatic Sphere, cast Recall (Storm: 2), draw the three cards (LED, Ritual, Will.), cast LED (Storm: 3), cast Ritual (Storm: 4), cast Yawgmoth's Will (Storm: 5), respond to the Will by saccing the LED, replay your LED and Ritual (Storm: 7), replay the Sphere (Storm: 8), activate to draw, and win via casting Tendrils (Storm: 9). As you usually use a Dark Ritual to cast the spell, you usually have a Storm of 10 by the time you cast Tendrils. You only need UB mana after Doomsday resolves to cast the Recall and the Ritual, one of which is filtered into by the Chromatic Sphere..

2. If you have a Brainstorm in hand and two additional irrelevant cards (You can't pull this off without two additional cards.) in hand, stack the deck this way after casting Doomsday (Storm: 1), from top to bottom: Dark Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Yawgmoth's Will, Ancestral Recall, Tendrils Of Agony. Then, cast Brainstorm (Storm: 2), draw the Ritual, LED, and Will, return the two other cards, cast Ritual and LED (Storm: 4), cast Will (Storm: 5), respond by saccing the LED for mana, then replay the LED and the Ritual (Storm: 7), cast Brainstorm to draw the two cards and the Ancestral Recall (Storm: 8), cast Ancestral (Storm: 9), draw the two cards and the Tendrils, and cast Tendrils (Storm: 10). You need UB mana for this stack after Doomsday resolves to cast the Brainstorm and the Ritual.

3. If you have a Gush in your hand and two islands in play, stack the deck like this after playing Doomsday (Storm: 1), from top to bottom: Lion's Eye Diamond, Ancestral Recall, Dark Ritual, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils Of Agony. Cast Gush (Storm: 2), draw LED and Recall, cast LED (Storm: 3), cast Recall (Storm: 4), draw Ritual, Will, and Tendrils, cast Ritual (Storm: 5), cast Yawgmoth's Will (Storm: 6), respond to the Will by saccing the LED, replay Ritual (Storm: 7), replay LED (Storm: 8), cast Tendrils (Storm: 9). Notice that if you had more mana, it would be possible to cast Tendrils first before casting Will, so you can easily hit more than just 20 damage from your Tendrils. The mana you need after setting up this stack varies from 0 to B, depending on when you use the LED for mana. If you sac after casting Recall, you need 0. If you sac when you cast Will, you need B.

4. If you have only a Brainstorm in hand and no other card in hand, stack the deck like this after playing Doomsday (Storm: 1), from top to bottom: Ancestral Recall, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Mind's Desire, Beacon Of Destruction. Cast Brainstorm (Storm: 2), draw the Petal, the Ritual, and the Recall, keep and cast Recall (Storm: 3), draw the Petal, the Ritual, and the Mind's Desire, cast the Petal (Storm: 4), cast the Ritual (Storm: 5), then cast Desire (Storm: 6). The Mind's Desire will flip the Beacon over six times, dealing a total of 30 damage to your opponent. You need 1UUUB or 1UUUU (Depending on what color mana you sac the Lotus Petal for.) mana after casting Doomsday to pull all of this off in addition to the mana the stack can generate for you so you can cast the Brainstorm, the Recall, the Ritual, and have the mana up for the Desire.

5. If you have only a Brainstorm and one more card not named Beacon Of Destruction in hand, stack the deck like this after playing Doomsday (Storm: 1), from top to bottom: Ancestral Recall, Lion's Eye Diamond, Dark Ritual, Mind's Desire, Beacon Of Destruction. Cast Brainstorm (Storm: 2), draw the LED, Ritual, and Recall, return the Ritual and the random card, cast LED (Storm: 3) cast Recall (Storm: 4), and respond to that by saccing the LED, then you draw the Ritual, the random card, and the Desire, cast Ritual (Storm: 5), and finally cast Mind's Desire (Storm: 6). The Mind's Desire will flip the Beacon over six times as well, dealing a total of 30 damage to your opponent. Now, you only need UUB on your own aside from the mana the stack generates itself so you can cast the Brainstorm, the Recall, and the Dark Ritual.

6. If you have a Rebuild in hand, stack the deck like this after playing Doomsday (Storm: 1), from top to bottom: Ancestral Recall, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Mind's Desire, Beacon Of Destruction. Cycle the Rebuild to draw the Recall, cast Recall (Storm: 2), draw the Petal, Ritual, and Desire, cast the Petal (Storm: 3), cast the Ritual (Storm: 4), and cast the Desire (Storm: 5). The Mind's Desire will flip the Beacon over a total of five times, dealing 25 damage to your opponent. If in case they have a Platinum Angel, you might want to target that once as well. ;) In this stack, you need 3UU or 3UB on your own (Depending on what color mana you sac the Petal for.), in addition to the mana the stack generates by itself. 2 to cycle Rebuild, U for Recall, B for ritual, the additional 1U for mana for the Desire. Of course, you will requirements will be less either by B or U due to your Lotus Petal.

As is the case with all Plans, make sure you are clear to go the moment you cast Doomsday (Use your disruption.), and make sure you have the mana you need to pull the combo off. Make a miscalculation with your mana, and you'll pay dearly for it. Make sure you'll deal twenty damage after doing the combo, by the way. Alternatively, if your opponent uses a lot of fetchlands and FOW, I find that a storm of nine will usually do the trick. I'm still thinking up stacks that involve the Beacon when you're ACTUALLY holding the Beacon, so I'll edit when I come across those solutions.

D.3. Plan A In Action

Here's an excerpt from my now-incomplete tournament report of the last Vintage Olympics for the Realms. This is the second game in my quarterfinals match against Lauren, aka smbdy, who was using a Workshop deck. It's a pretty long game, but it underscores how easy it is to win with Doomsday if you know what you're doing. In fact, if I only had a Dark Ritual, I could possibly have win a lot earlier on...

... Second game saw me doing my regular sideboarding tricks, but this time, the game got funny. I remember this game fairly well, because it was amusing how it worked out...

My turn, I drop a Fetchland, then pass the turn to him.

He drops a Tolarian Academy and a Lotus, which I cast Force Of Will on. He then drops a Mox, and passes the turn to me.

On my turn, I disrupt him via Duress, then pass the turn to him.

His second turn, he casts some more artifacts, ending in a Smokestack.

On my third turn, I play another land, pass the turn to him.

On his third turn, he casts more artifacts, but I bounce them all via Rebuild at EOT.

On my fourth turn, I do nothing of consequence, but draw for Force of Will material.

On his fourth turn, he casts a Welder, Force of Will that right away, then he drops more of his artifacts.

On my fifth turn, I draw, then cast Chromatic Sphere. I now have three lands in play.

On his fifth turn, he casts all his artifacts again.

On my sixth turn, I topdeck a Hurklyl's Recall. I bounce all his artifacts again at the end of his sixth turn. My seventh turn yielded nothing of consequence.

He tries it all again on his seventh turn, so I needed to win on my eighth turn or slowly be locked down by the Smokestack.

Now, here's the deal: Plan A, due to the lack of a Lotus, requires a total of five mana, four of them black, one of them blue. Three of the black mana go to Doomsday, while the remaining black and blue go to Dark Ritual and Ancestral Recall, respectively. That being said, I only had three lands, and though I had a land in my hand to play (I refused to play the Underground Sea because he had a Wasteland.), I still needed one more mana to win.

My topdeck? Lotus Petal.

I used Unmask, then hardcast Doomsday, then proceeded to win with the standard stack from there. (Refer to Stack 1 in Section D.2.)

Match Standing: 1-1.

E. In Depth: Plan B

E.1. How Plan B Works

Plan B is usually Plan A in decks with Lotuses because it's so easy to play in our meta a first turn Doomsday, then pass the turn to the opponent, then win the following turn. The presence of the Black Lotus in the deck makes so much of a difference that what I consider to be Plan B in my sub-optimal build is actually Plan A when you have all the cards. Despite that, you will find that a lot of decks in the Philippine meta (Read: The Aggro decks.) really don't have anything to do against you in one turn when youcast your Doomsday with the intention of winning the next turn. For the most part, you will need to cast four spells in order to cast a fatal Mind's Desire into a Beacon Of Destruction for four times. At times, you will still go for the Tendrils kill instead.

The symptoms for Plan B are usually similar to the symptoms for Plan A except for one thing: you don't have any way to win with Doomsday on the turn you cast it. This means you find yourself without enough mana, or no card draw whatsoever to draw into your stack. Holding some artifact mana without a Mind's Desire in your hand is usually another sign that you ought to consider winning via Plan B. Unless you have a Time Walk, there are still times you'd find yourself losing the next turn after casting Doomsday, as you will pay half your life when you cast it, and if you intend to use Gush in your stack, a timely Strip Mine just might ruin your day, as well as being hit by a Draw7 spell, which happened to me in my third game against Lauren in the match I described above. Yes, his topdeck was Memory Jar. Yes, I had a Force Of Will for it. Yes, he had an active Welder so it didn't matter.

E.2. Sample Plan B Stacks

There aren't as many stacks for Plan B, and I don't intend to talk about how a player can weasel their way out of hosers (I think it should be easy to figure most of them out, anyways.). In any case, here are the usual stacks you'd want to use.

1. With at least two Islands in play and one more source of mana, stack the deck like this after casting Doomsday, from top to bottom: Gush, Lion's Eye Diamond, Chromatic Sphere, Mind's Desire, Beacon Of Destruction. Pass the turn. Draw Gush, float UU and bounce the two islands to cast it (Storm: 1), draw the LED and the Sphere, cast the LED (Storm: 2), cast the Sphere (Storm: 3), and replay one Island. Tap the replayed Island and the third mana source to float a total of 1UU in your mana pool, then sacrifice the LED to float 1UUUUU in your mana pool. Use the 1 to activate the Sphere, draw the Desire, and cast it (Storm: 4). Flip the Beacon four times to deal 20 damage to your opponent.

2. If you're holding exactly two other cards in your hand, stack the deck like this after casting Doomsday, from top to bottom: Timetwister, Dark Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils Of Agony. Pass the turn. Draw the Timetwister, cast it (Storm: 1), and you draw the following cards: Doomsday, Dark Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils Of Agony, and your two random cards. Cast the LED (Storm: 2), cast the Ritual (Storm: 3), cast the Yawgmoth's Will (Storm: 4), and then sac the LED for BBB in response. Replay the Ritual and the LED (Storm: 6), then cast the Tendrils (Storm: 7). Note that you will need a lot of mana (2UB) and luck here so your opponent doesn't draw permission. Note that you also need an additional three spells to deal lethal damage, which means those two cards in your hand aren't as irrelevant as they supposedly are.

3. If you're holding Beacon and at least one other card in hand, stack the deck like this after Casting Doomsday, from top to bottom: Brainstorm, Yawgmoth's Will, Lion's Eye Diamond, Dark Ritual, Mind's Desire. Pass the turn. Draw Brainstorm, cast it (Storm: 1), draw Will, LED, and Ritual, put back Beacon and the random card. Play LED (Storm: 2). Play the Ritual (Storm: 3). Play the Will, sac the LED for BBB in response (Storm: 4). Replay the LED and the Ritual (Storm: 6). With BBBBBUUU floating in your mana pool, cast Brainstorm (Storm: 7). Get Mind's Desire, and cast it (Storm: 8). From there, reveal Beacon a minimum of 7 times for 35 damage. You will only need UB for this, to cast Brainstorm and Dark Ritual.

These plans are all risky because they require you to pass the turn. Stack Number 2 for Plan B is particularly riskier because your opponent will also draw seven new cards from the Twister. Always weight the odds of getting hit by Strip Mine or Wasteland if you intend to go for Stack Number 1 for Plan B with only two Islands in play and no more than that. You will lose right away. There are some stacks where you might instead want to go for Tendrils kills, but they usually involve you holding a Ritual or other reusable mana sources after you cast Doomsday. I think those situations should be a no-brainer to piece together. A single Dark Ritual ups your spellcount by two right away, and a standard Tendrils stack of Ancestral Recall, Lion's Eye Diamond, Tendrils Of Agony, Chromatic Sphere, Yawgmoth's Will already yields a storm of 7 without recasting the Doomsday or the Ancestral Recall on your opponent. A Dark Ritual in hand automatically ups the count to 9, and all you have to do by then is cast Doomsday a second time.

E.3. Plan B In Action

This is an excerpt from the same tournament report that never got finished. This time, it's my second game against Mike, aka Oldschool, and he was using a Masknaught/Stax variant. Notice how both decks I featured so far are both mismatches...

In the second game, I sided in a lot of hate against the deck, and it really saved me in the second game. We shuffled and cut, and my opening play was just a Chromatic Sphere.

On his turn, he played an Ancient Tomb, and played a Chalice of the Void for 1, which I used FOW against. On my turn, I drew, played a land, then passed the turn.

His turn, he topdecked another Chalice, and played it again. I responded to that with a Vampiric Tutor, and let the Chalice resolve. I then drew my card for the Vamp on my turn. I played a basic land again, then passed the turn. He played a City of Brass, then passed the turn.

On my turn, I played an Underground Sea, then played Back To Basics. He didn't have too many lands on him, so he started playing really slow. We went draw, go for a few turns until he managed to plop down a Juggernaut. I already had an Energy Flux in hand by this time, but not enough mana to cast it. I drew nothing of consequence, then passed the turn.

On his turn, Mike swung for five, and I was down to nine life, after all that fetching and FOWing. I topdecked nothing good again, still two Swamps only in play, and a locked down Underground Sea. Mike got to swing one more time, but he was still pretty much tapped down because of B2B.

I then topdecked a Mana Crypt, played it, activated the Sphere for U, drew, and played the Flux then played an Island, which I drew off the Sphere. Mike cleared his board of artifacts on his next turn, and was still locked down by the B2B.

On my turn, with the mistaken notion that I only had three life left, didn't pay for the Crypt's Flux upkeep, but flipped a coin anyways. I took three damage, and shook Mike's hand, but Mike (I am giving MAJOR props to him on this one.) pointed to our life counters and reminded me I still had 1 life point left. I realized I couldn't cast Doomsday, though. Despite that, I still saw good odds with what I had. I had D-Day and Tendrils in hand, and topdecked a land. I played the land, then cast Tendrils to make my life total 3 again.

On Mike's turn, he drew, but didn't find any mana. On my turn, I drew a card, played an Underground Sea, and cast the Ritual to cast Doomsday, setting the stack to: Gush, Lion's Eye Diamond, Chromatic Sphere, Mind's Desire, Beacon Of Destruction. I then passed the turn, knowing full well that nothing short of a topdeck into a Workshop would save him, assuming he had 3Sphere in his hand. He couldn't use Wasteland to stop my Gush, either. I had three Islands already, including the Underground Sea on the table that was tapped down by the B2B. So he drew, played then used Wasteland on the Sea, and then passed the turn to me.

I drew Gush, floated UU from the Islands, bounced it to cast Gush (Storm: 1), drew LED and Chromatic Sphere. I replayed an Island, tapped it to cast the Sphere (Storm: 2), then played the LED (Storm: 3). I activated the LED, then tapped a Swamp for B. I now had BUUUUU floating in my mana pool, and I activated the Chromatic Sphere to draw the Desire and cast it (Storm: 4). Mike took 20 damage from the Beacon, although he had around 11 life or less due to Ancient Tomb and City Of Brass already.

Match Standing: 1-1

F. In Depth: Plan C

F.1. How Plan C Works

Plan C is usually the plan that makes you just win at random. As Doomsday is usually not involved in Plan C, all I can discuss are general things that point you towards winning via Plan C instead of winning via Plan A or B. Plan C usually means a TPS-style kill where you just play ten spells and then win. This usually involves plucking out a Yawgmoth's Will or a massive Mind's Desire.

When you draw your opening hand, and you find yourself with a lot of mana but no Doomsday, you immediately consider the possibilities of Plan C. Assuming you have business in the form of a Tutor or a Brainstorm, or you have card draw or Yawgmoth's Will, a hand sporting two Dark Rituals but no Doomsday should be considered right away for Plan C.

Holding Will or Mind's Desire or Timetwister usually means considering going for Plan C right away, assuming you have enough mana to pull it off. Truth be told, it's pretty hard to see if a hand is a better Plan C kill than a Plan A or Plan B kill if you happen to also have Doomsday in hand, but in general, Plan C kills are more fun to watch, particularly if you have Mind's Desire to work with. A mere Desire for 5 can usually yield you great cards, or at worst, five lands, which has yet to happen to me. This deck has so many spells to put to good use that a Desire will usually either disrupt your opponent's hand severely or make you draw a ton of cards or make you win right then and there. Plan C, as most TPS wins have shown quite clearly, are among the hardest to stop of wins, barring a Stifle. Getting into a counter war with your opponent when you actually have a Desire and not a Will usually makes them regret going counter-happy on you...

Having a Necropotence in play also means you will more than likely win via Plan C than any other plan. You usually gorge yourself for nine or so before the turn you intend to win, unless your grip is filled with good cards. That being said, make sure to save your Unmasks for the time you go for the Plan C kill. Same with Duress, really. It just helps to up your spellcount a lot. Truth be told, there isn't much to be said about Plan C other than if you see it's possible to pull it off, then go for it. Just go with your gut feel, as this deck doesn't have as many micromanagement issues as Meandeck Tendrils or Meandeath, making it a more straightforward deck to play.

F.2. Plan C In Action

Still an excerpt from the same old tournament. This time, my opponent was Quiccs, who was using the Elven Nation combo deck...

Quiccs and I considered an intentional draw at first, but we realized we'd jeopardize both of ourselves if we did that this round, so we instead played out our match. Both of us were combo decks, so it was bound to be interesting to see who can combo out faster.

In the first game, I had a decent hand of Brainstorm, Lotus Petal, Rebuild, a Fetchland, Duress, a Swamp, and an Unmask. Looked like a mess of a hand to me, initially, with no clear plan in sight. As I won the die roll, I opened with a Duress to pluck out his Skullclamp. Quiccs then started bringing down Elves on me in the next three turns, while I filtered my hand via Brainstorm to find myself holding a Lion's Eye Diamond, a Tendrils, and a Mana Crypt in addition to my original hand by the time I was going to die on his next attack. I knew this was a Plan C win, as I didn't have any Doomsday to work with. He had a few elves here and there and the elf that pumped a target creature, so I was running on a slightly faster clock on turn four. I was down to four life, and my topdeck was Dark Ritual. I knew I had to win now or at worst, stall for more life.

Play sequence went, Dark Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Mana Crypt (Storm: 4). I had 3 black mana, I floated the colorless mana from the Crypt, tapped an Island, then cast Rebuild (Storm: 5). I replayed LED, Petal, and Crypt (Storm: 8). I then used Unmask to pluck an irrelevant card from his hand (Storm: 9), then cast Tendrils (Storm: 10). I had no other spells I could cast in hand, so you might say I got extremely lucky on that point.

Match Standing: 1-0.