Why'd they call him that?

Update

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:26:40 GMT

Well, it's been some time, but that's what Facebook will do for you. I've been concentrating more on that than posting publicly here.

Work is good. the Ten Minute Play Festival rehearsals for Bedlam are in full swing, and I'm excited to be involved in three of the pieces.

Speaking of that, I've got a rehearsal in a little more than a half-hour. Toodles.

Time for another Sealed Deck breakdown!

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:00:50 GMT

I played in the Midnight Pod Late Friday night (early Saturday Morning). I must say, this go-round went much better than the previous sealed deck posted here. I went 3-1, losing to a Monster Naya deck (double Druid of the Anima) in Round 3.
Cards I couldn't use</b>

1 Foil Promotion version of Malfegor

Lands

1 Esper Panorama
1 Jund Panorama
1 Rupture Spire

Artifacts

1 Armillary Sphere
1 Mana Cylix
1 Minion Reflector
1 Obelisk of Grixis
1 Obelisk of Naya

White

1 Asha's Favor
1 Aven Trailblazer
1 Celestial Purge
1 Gleam of Resistance
2 Marble Chalice
1 Metallurgeon
1 Nacatl Hunt-Pride
1 Path to Exile
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Rhox Meditant
1 Rockcaster Platoon
1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1 Yoked Plowbeast

Blue

2 Brackwater Elemental
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Coma Veil
1 Courier's Capsule
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Frontline Sage
1 Telemin Performance
1 Traumatic Visions
1 Unsummon

Black

1 Absorb Vis
1 Banewasp Affliction
1 Cunning Lethemancer
1 Drag Down
1 Fleshformer
1 Glaze Fiend
1 Nyxathid
1 Resounding Scream
1 Rotting Rats
1 Salvage Slasher
1 Shadowfeed
1 Viscera Dragger

Red

1 Bloodpyre Elemental
1 Bloodthorn Taunter
1 Ignite Disorder
1 Kranioceros
1 Magma Spray
1 Manaiacal Rage
1 Molten Frame
1 Skeletonize
2 Thorn-Thrash Viashino
1 Toxic Iguanar
1 Wandering Goblins

Green

1 Behemoth's Herald
1 Ember Weaver
1 Gluttonous Slime
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Naturalize
1 Resounding Roar
1 Spore Burst
1 Topan Ascetic
1 Wild Leotau

Multi-Color

1 Agony Warp
1 Blightning
1 Elder Mastery
1 Exploding Borders
2 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Jhessian Balmgiver
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Necrogenesis
1 Rhox Bodyguard
1 Sphinx Summoner
1 Suicidal Charge
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Valeron Outlander
1 Vectis Agents
1 Vedalden Outlander
1 Windwright Mage
1 Wooly Thoctar

So, here's the deck.

4 Island
4 Swamp
4 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Rupture Spire
1 Esper Panorama
1 Jund Panorama

1 Armillary Sphere
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Courier's Capsule
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Frontline Sage
1 Telemin Performance
1 Traumatic Visions
1 Cunning Lethemancer
1 Drag Down
1 Fleshformer
1 Nyxathid
1 Viscera Dragger
1 Bloodpyre Elemental
1 Ignite Disorder
1 Magma Spray
1 Skeletonize
1 Agony Warp
1 Blightning
1 Elder Mastery
2 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Sphinx Summoner
1 Vectis Agents

I of course, welcome insight on what I could have done better. This was a prerelease, and this format will be in use for at least two months.

Humor, Courtesy of NPR- about GNR

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:47:13 GMT

(x-posted to facebook)

A couple of months ago, I was doing some errands, and heard a story about Chinese Democracy, the newest ablum from Guns and Roses. The rest of this is best expressed by the writer of the piece, and there is a podcast link. Thanks to the fine folks over at NPR for helping me locate the address of the piece.

Click Here

PTQ- Kyoto- A report

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:48:43 GMT

I attended the Magic Pro Tour qualifier yesterday, and went 1-3 drop. I don't think it was my playing, as I opened a pretty horrible pool that was neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring. To add insult to injury, I got my own pool back, which I EMPHATICALLY did not want.

Lands

1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Esper Panorama
1 Grixis Panorama
2 Naya Panorama
1 Seaside Citadel

Artifacts

1 Minion Reflector
1 Obelisk of Esper
1 Obelisk of Jund
1 Obelisk of Naya

White

1 Angelsong
1 Guardians of Akrasa
1 Marble Chalice
1 Metallugeon
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Scourglass
2 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1 Sigiled Paladin
1 Welkin Guide
1 Yoked Plowbeast

Blue

1 Call to Heel
2 Cathartic Adept
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Etherium Sculptor
2 Filigree Sages
1 Jhessian Lookout
1 Protomatter Powder
1 Steelclad Serpent

Black

1 Blister Beetle
1 Demon's Herald
1 Dreg Reaver
1 Dregscape Zombie
1 Onyx Goblet
2 Salvage Titan
1 Skeletal Kathari

Red

1 Bloodthorn Taunter
2 Goblin Mountaineer
1 Hissing Iguanar
1 Incurable Ogre
2 Lightning Talons
1 Resounding Thunder
1 Soul's Fire
1 Thorn-Thrash Viashino
1 Thunder-Thrash Elder

Green

1 Algae Gharial
1 Cylian Elf
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Godtoucher
1 Naturalize
1 Resounding Roar
1 Savage Hunger
1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
2 Wild Nacatl

Gold

1 Blood Cultist
1 Deft Duelist
2 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Hindering Light
1 Jhessian Infiltrator
1 Kederekt Creeper
1 Swerve
1 Tidehollow Strix
1 Waveskimmer Aven
1 Windwright Mage
1 Wolly Thoctar

With that pool, I built the following deck:

Lands

4 Island
4 Plains
1 Forest
3 Swamp
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Grixis Panorama
2 Naya Panorama
1 Seaside Citadel

Creatures

1 Guardians of Akrasa
1 Metallurgeon
1 Sigiled Paladin
1 Welkin Guide
1 Yoked Plowbeast
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Etherium Sculptor
2 Filigree Sages
1 Steelclad Serpent
1 Blister Beetle
2 Salvage Titan
1 Deft Duelist
1 Jhessian Infiltrator
1 Tidehollow Strix
1 Waveskimmer Aven
1 Windwright Mage

Spells

1 Minion Reflector
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Scouglass
1 Call to Heel
1 Protomatter Powder

I welcome any feedback on whether I mis-built, and how I can be better.

Writer's Block: Under the Same Sign

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:26:16 GMT

Today is chockfull of celebrity birthdays—Brad Pitt, Keith Richards, Christina Aguilera, and more. What celebrities do you share your birthday with? Do you find any similarities between you and those who share your birthday?

View 500 Answers

Charles, Prince of Wales.

Owl Jolson

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:37:11 GMT

In honor of the little_octagon Classic Cartoon File comes this.

Embedding was disabled upon request, so I am linking to it.

On Sunday, November 9....

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:51:23 GMT

I've been meaning to write about this, and just kept putting it off. My wife and I went to the Vikings-Packers game earlier this month. The game was great, and would have been tremendous, regardless of the outcome. But that wasn't the coolest part.

A local radio station has a contest before every home game called "So You Think You're Better Than P.A." Paul Allen is the voice of the Vikings, and many Wisconsin residents should be familiar with the oft-repeated Josh McCown to Nate Poole call in 2003. Yep. You know the one. You stop by the station booth on the Plaza, and audition. If you win, you get to call a Vikings play from the previous week standing ON THE FIELD, over the Jumbo Tron. You can see my audition and competition by clicking on "See the participants prior to the Vikings-Packers game" on this page.

I got to call this play.

It was the coolest thing. I got a little performance anxiety. Being the focus of 63,000 people will do that. Shelley got to come with me. They told me I could bring a guest. She was wearing a Packers hat and Packers T-shirt. I really didn't hear anything shouted at her as we walked along the side line, FIVE FEET from the Vikings bench. As a matter of fact, Sidney Rice was about a yard away from me, as he jogged back to the bench following This play. You can Hear Paul Allen's radio call on that highlight.

I should add that after the final field goal sailed wide right, the Public Address system played "I Don't Want to Work, I Just Want to Bang on my Drum All Day," for no reason, I am sure.

And now, we leave for Denver for a Thanksgiving spent with my in-laws. I have not seem some of them since the wedding, and others since our trip to Hawaii. I am looking forward to it.

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:24:13 GMT

At the risk of seeming like Potch's Blog O'Death....

RIP, Grandpa.

I am 34 years old. If my nephew has grandparents still living when he is 34, he will be blessed, indeed.

A magical Weekend in Review

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:23:20 GMT

Yeah, that's right. I spent most of last weekend *gasp* playing magic.

I played in the last Shadowmoor/Eventide draft, and was rewarded with a deck that included a two Demigod of Revenge (one first pick, first pack; the other third pick, pack 2), an Incremental Blight (second pick, second pack) and a TON of other Black/red support including the delightful combo of Corrupt and Elsewhere Flask. I went 2-1, losing in the final round to a very timely Mirrorweave (targeting my Demigod and swinging for 15) and the other game with a turn 4 Barrenton Craigtreads and a Steel of the Godhead. Suffice to say, it was an ugly, ugly match. Third place out of 7.

I came back to Misty North for the Midnight Pod. Are you happy legion_i_am? I am calling them Pods, not Flights. I opened a pool that was solid, not great and played an Exalted deck. I dropped after going 1-2, and got to sleep at 4:30. After a very fitful four hours of sleep, I headed back to the store for the 10:00 Pod on Saturday morning. I opened a much better pool, and played a Devour deck which destroyed people. I went 3-1. The guy I lost to just had too many large creatures for me to cope with. Soul's Fire is better than you think (especially with dubs or trips in a sealed pool). Also Skeletonize puts the skeleton in play under YOUR contol. It is not a "fixed" Pongify.

I played again on Sunday. I played Devour again, as I had some really great stuff in Green/Red/Black. I lost in the first round, and went 5-0 the rest of the way. I did not win the Box, BUT I now have enough prize packs for two drafts. My only disappointment was in regard to the new Mythic Rare card rarity. We are told that Mythic Rares appear in place of 1 out of 8 regular rares, and you get 6 rares (excepting for foils) in a Sealed Pod. Out of my 18 rares, I opened ZERO Mythics. Clearly, the laws of probability are not with me. Perhaps I will be luckier in draft.

I have a Nephew!

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:58:50 GMT

And, yes, he WAS born yesterday. The little fellow came into this world at 10:52 A.M. on September 15, 2008. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long.

More information on the parents can be seen here.

Expected but bad news...

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:49:47 GMT

Rest in Peace, Grammie.

More later.

Happy Anniversary!

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:08:47 GMT

Today marks the fourth year of my marriage to a wonderful lady, msbeenz.

Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife. She brings me so much darn joy and I cannot imagine where I would be without her. These last four years (politics excluded) have been the best of my life.

Forgive the gushy post.

Blitz Saturday

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:35:32 GMT

Thanks to Art Fair on the Square, my wife and I were able to park in The Neighborhood that Time Forgot but is Now Getting Gentrified. In other words, willy street.

We got to the theater a bit late. We had called ahead, so everyone knew we were coming. I was assigned to Craig Johnson's play "Nocebo Films Present: Practical English for Travel" as directed by George Gonzalez. I was cast as the narrator in the peice, involved in stopping and starting an increasingly odd look at English when seen through the eyes of a foreigner. I put on my "Sternum Voice" and attempted to memorize what felt like several paragraphs of dialogue.

Thankfully, the playwright notes said the narrator "Could crib his script, but only in the most subltle way." Fail. I had a podium, but nobody knew I had only cut out the four most challenging lines in the script for me. I got to work with Liz Angle, Gary Kriesel and Erika Gotcher. They all understood my difficulty with the lines.

Anyway, the performance went off really well, dispite the extra-long nervewracking intermission while the crew cleaned the stage.

I'd give more details, but I gotta get outta here.

What was I doing a week ago today?

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:35:23 GMT

The answer, of course is

BLITZ IX

I will say right off the bat that this was one of the most successful Blitzes I can remember. I arrived at the Bartell on Friday morning, and was given a script titled "Not Exactly Martha Stewart" by Rick Stemm. I was not familiar with Rick's work, as I had to miss last year's Blitz because of National Eichenlaub Day.

I was handed a script and director's instructions which, in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS told me to draft Anna Marquardt for the role of "Kali Darkmoon Kalypsoleaf." Lucky me, I drew the Ace, so I picked Anna to a chorus of "Fuck you"'s and groans. The play was MESSY. It was about a failed art designer that found her muse through the practical use of blood splatter and corpses. One actor, the incredibly versitile Matt Schraeder (who I had worked with in the Blitz Play "Clown Spikes") played 5 different roles, complete with sppedy costume changes. The cast was made complete with Ryan O'Connor, who was a little young, but put on this very cheesy Spaniard accent (which he was directed to lose when he got excited) for the role of "Armand Spitz," and he really worked out great.

As a director, I am not afraid of asking for help in an area that I am unfamiliar with. The main challenge of this play was to create the cartoony, gross-out violence without actually sickening anyone. Blocking and staging both went well, especially when Matt got stuffed head-and-shoulders into the mini-fridge. Everyone was such a great sport about the physicality of the show. Also, we went fourth, to allow some clean-up time. Anna and Matt were both very skilled in stage combat, but my biggest concern was the BLOOD.

Enter Doug Holtz. Apparently, Rick had discussed with rob_matsushita and Doug his needs for this show. A plan was already in place to make fake blood out of Caro Syrup and cherry juice, and a red sweater was sacrificed (but NOT soaked in blood) to make some guts and other assorted entrails. Unfortunately, we were only able to rehearse with the fake blood during the actual show, but again my actors were really good sports about it.

The other concern was to allow Matt the opportunity to change into his costume. He had to leave as (the recently deceased) Mr. Mortis and come back 3 lines later as Mr. Graves. The script called for a blood-covered make-out scene with Armand and Kali, so we added a couple just to give Matt an extra 15-30 seconds or so.

There are always a bunch of things that I never expect to hear coming out of my mouth. I'll give you context if you really want it.

(to Anna): "I want you to give him two or three extra pushes into the mini-fridge with your hips. I want it to look like reverse butt-sex."

(to Ryan): "Move your arms, caress her, grab hold of something, give her a little spanking! Right now, it looks like she's humping a mannequin."

(to Matt): "My GOD! The Art director sounds like HedonismBot. And Special Agent Johnson sounds like Stephen Colbert as Tek Jansen. Keep them."

As a lighting request, I has asked (as an homage to rob_matsushita) that the lights go to red whenever Kali murdered someone in the course of the script. This worked better than I had ever dreamed. The blood squirted in a graceful arc, mostly all over stage right. During the rehearsal, Doug was laughing so hard, he actually fell out of his chair, bum shoulder and all. This was during the dance that Anna was doing with a large sheet of skin. Don't worry; we used Peel 'n' Seal (covered in fake blood for the performance.)

The play went off better than I could have hoped. I'm going to need to track down the video as soon as it comes available.

Next Post: SATURDAY!

We Were There!

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:26:22 GMT

You may have heard about some large, groundbreaking political rally a couple of nights ago at the Xcel Energy Center. My wife and I were lucky enough to attend. We were in the 19th row, behind "The Man" and to his left. Upwards of 19000 people were allowed in, while another 15000 were turned away.

The energy in that building was incredible. I applauded until my hands hurt, and yelled my self hoarse. We joined in the chants of O-Bam-a and Yes We Can. It was a marvelous feeling to be in attendance of such a groundbreaking night.

One amusing thing: We happened to sit next to a very nice gentleman from New York City. He was in town on business and had attended the Twins-Yankees game the previous evening. He was absolutely astounded that people in the middle of a row could ask for beer, pass down money, and get back beer and change. He said "In New York, your beer and money would be GONE." This gave me pride.

Today, in my attempt to further get involved in politics, I made the call to volunteer for the Franken for Senate campaign.

Lightning-Quick Update

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:48:19 GMT

Wow, the 10-Minute Play festival at Bedlam was TOTALLY awesome. the play I directed was regarded as one of the top plays from its Set. I also got many compiments on the Giraffe costume I ~~had~~ got to wear. Dang, that thing was HOT. And by that, I mean temperature hot, not sexy hot (although I got to wear my footie tights under it).

The Wife and I are in State of the Union, presented by LexHam Players, and it opens later this month. This is a very interesting project, and it's giving me some real insight into the Post-WWII attitudes of both the playwrights and, um, people that remember that era better than I do.

My wife and I are also going to attempt to attend the Obama rally tonight, in the Xcel Energy Center. "Coincidentally," it's the same building in which the Republican National Convention will take place in later this summer.

All for now, more later.

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:02:29 GMT

I WANT TO GO!

I've been meaning to write about "Smackdown"

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:21:39 GMT

I know it's Thursday, and here I am writing a "Weekend in Review." Whoops.

We arrived in Madison on Friday, and took care of all the administrative details with our tax person. So, hooray. The taxes are done. Then, it was a Valentines dinner at Prime Quarter (highly recommended BTW) and I was off to find out whose play I would be directing for Blitz Smackdown II. I got paired with "I Eat Babies" Konoplisky. Following the Actor Draft, we headed out to the Nauti-Gal to do Karaoke. In a fantastic development, most of the cast of The Maple Bluff Mystery joined us out there.

Saturnday morning, I headed down to the theater (stopping for a ham & swiss on Asiago bagel, yum!) and got my script. It was faily monologue heavy and was divided into 9 scenes, most separated by a blackout. Normally, this would create a problem, but the only thing happening in the blackouts were characters moving (not furniture) so I figured we'd be OK. My biggest challenge came at about 11 when Potter informed my that we were working on the assumption that an actress I had cast as one of the principles in my show was a no-show. This created a slight scramble. People were called. Thankfully, (and I cannot say again how awesome it is) animal_eyes answered the call and my cast juggling really paid off.

I tried to do my ususal thing during Blitz of giving actors enough time to memorize on their own as well as doing run-throughs and creating a collaborative process of give-and-take with characterizations and the "what's-really-going-on-here" speech. I worked individually with all the actors that had large monologes in order to not have a "talking head" play. We also ended up cutting a song, with the author's blessing.

We stayed right within the guidelines for "Space rehearsal" and tech, which I am super proud of. For the Tech, Potter yelled "TIME!" and I said great! we just finished, which wasn't even a lie. We HAD just finished. So, just a few minutes later (actually it was 4 hours that only SEEMED like minutes) I got introduced next to "I Eat Babies" as "The Shoehorn." This was a nickname of my own choosing, and I tell people that it was due to my ability to put people into a role they might not be QUITE right for, but stil get the most out of them. Also, it's a dick joke.

After the 6 shows, the audience voted, with Kirk's Decibel Meter as the judge. baronvonreed's piece was a finalist, but there was a tie for second between our show, and robmatsushita's. In what I would call a stunning upset (there were several LOUD dudes behind us cheering for Rob) we got the slot for the Final Face-off. Lisa's one-pager was simple and funny. It called for 1 Tuna and a school of Salmon. Lisa told me I should have a tall male actor play the tuna. In a stroke of luck, I had 2 tall guys. Maury and "the guy" from radio_redhead's play. Somehow, one decided to ride on the other's shoulders, for that much more addtional height. I figued "Why not take the risk?" and said Sure. Somebody handed them a lab coat. Perfect. I doled out lines during the first read-through and gave simple blocking assignments. I didn't get to see it, but fountainal was still dressed as a panda, and he was one of my salmon. I have no idea how, but it worked.

Here's the kicker. We won. I mean, this whole thing is a collaboratve venture, diguised as a competition. (Thank YOU, Alabaster County!) It was great to be a part of the team that got the loudest cheering, and I'll definitely be back next year for Blitz Smackdown III, assuming Madison community theater hasn't died by then.

Our plan was to see The Maple Bluff Mystery for the Sunday matinee at Broom Street, but that got derailed (along with nearly everything else in Madison) by the snow and ice storm. We still set out, because we both had to work Monday morning, and one of us does not get paid days off. There was a portion of pretty hairy driving between Lodi and the Dells. The rest of it was just slower than normal. I think it was around Black River Falls that I felt comfortable traveling greater than 50 mph.

We made it safe and sound, and it was a great Blitz weekend!

RIP, Aunt Del

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:25:43 GMT

Delphine Mae Heaton, 1924-2008

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:02:16 GMT

It's been a nice couple of holiday weeks. My only minor complaint is the lack of PTO given my temporary employment status. However, I expect that to change one way or the other soon.

Christmas was good. I gotta say that driving 20 minutes to my brother's place and being able to host part of Christmas festivities was mighty nice. I think we did some good tradition-building there. There were board games aplenty played, including but not limited to Trivial Pursuit, Cranium and RoboRally.

I'm not really big on "Resolutions" to start a new year, but I think putting "Goals" forward is a good way to go.

Goal #1: Get stable employment and be able to move out of this apartment complex and into a home (single family, townhouse or condo) which we would buy by April 2009. It's pretty ambitious, but we've decided we don't want a kid until we own the place we live. And the clock is ticking.

Goal #2: Build a social network. This has been the hardest thing since we moved. I have family up here, and Shelley and my Sister-in-Law have spent some time together, but friends still need to be made. I have a (small) group of Magic Friends, but still very few (to borrow chuck4's definition) people I can call without pre-existing plans.

Goal #3: As my wife and I have joined the YMCA in downtown St. Paul, I want to get into a workout schedule. Given my current work hours, spending an hour between 8 and 9 in the morning 3 times a week should not be out of the question. My wind isn't what it used to be, and I think I lost some strength that I used to have in my admittedly wiry frame.

Goal #4: I plan to attend at least one game for each of the Big Four professional sports teams during the 2008 calendar year. For the purposes of this goal, the Big Four are the Vikings, Wild, Wolves and Twins. Public Transportation makes it easy to get there, and 2 or 3 of the four teams listed are mediocre to bad, so tickets should not be that expensive. I just hope the Wild tickets aren't much more than $50. People up here sure love their hockey.

Goal #5: Get better at Limited Magic. I don't know what it is about Lorwyn, but I can never seem to figure out (during a draft) when to stick with a creature-type archetype and when to grab things that go in "three-or-four-color goodstuff" decks. I also seem to be getting outplayed with alarming regularity over at Misty North. There. I've identified the problem, but I'll be damned if I know how to fix it. the draft tool over at tcgplayer can only teach a person so much.

Goal #6: Be a better Husband, and be a better man. We are still very happy, but I think there are things I can do to make our lives better.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Kuala Lumpur PTQ detail

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 04:43:13 GMT

Last Saturday, I went to the Magic PTQ for Kuala Lumpur. I did not win. The closest I came to top 8 was when I crushed my second round opponent. The closest I came to prizes was when I thought I had a chance to go X-3 in round 6. However, in my effort to become a better sealed player, I am posting both my card pool and the deck I built for all to see.

Lands
1 foil plains
1 Gilt-Leaf Palace
1 Shimmering Grotto
1 Vivid Marsh

Gold
1 Sygg, River Guide

Artifact
1 Rings of Brighthearth

White
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Crib Swap
1 Goldmeadow Dodger
1 Judge of Currents
2 Kithkin Greatheart
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Kithkin Healer
1 Lairwatch Giant
1 Plover Knights
1 Shields of Velis Vel
1 Soaring Hope

Blue
1 Aethersnipe
1 Amoeboid Changeling
1 Deeptread Merrow
1 Drowner of Secrets
2 Faerie Trickery
1 Inkfathom Divers
1 Merrow Harbinger
2 Mulldrifter
1 Protective Bubble
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Whirlpool Whelm
1 Wings of Velis Vel

Black
1 Bog Hoodlums
1 Exiled Boggart
2 Footbottom Feast
1 Moonglove Winnower
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Nightshade Stinger
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Prowess of the Fair
1 Quill-Slinger Boggart
1 Squeaking Pie Sneak
2 Weed Strangle

Red
1 Adder-Staff Boggart
1 Blades of Velis Vel
1 Boggart Forager
1 Caterwauling Boggart
1 Faultgrinder
1 Glarewielder
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Lash Out
2 Lowland Oaf
1 Needle Drop
1 Rebellion of the Flamekin
1 Smokebraider
1 Tar Pitcher
1 Tarfire

Green
1 Bog-Strider Ash
1 Elvish Eulogist
2 Elvish Prominade
1 Fertile Ground
2 Guardian of Cloverdell
1 Leaf Gilder
2 Lignify
1 Spring Cleaning
1 Vigor
1 Warren-Scourge Elf

So, from that pool, I built my six round companion. I'm not about to break down solid playables in each color, as that's somebody else's bag. But I will list the deck I played.

6 Island
5 Plains
4 Swamp
1 Shimmering Grotto
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Sygg, River Guide
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Crib Swap
1 Judge of Currents
2 Kithkin Greatheart
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Plover Knights
1 Aethersnipe
1 Drowner of Secrets
2 Faerie Trickery
1 Merrow Harbinger
2 Mulldrifter
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Whirlpool Whelm
1 Wings of Velis Vel
1 Moonglove Winnower
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Oona's Prowler
2 Weed Strangle

I desperately wanted to fit green in the deck, but I found the blue-whitecreature curve to be more to my liking, and the black removal was a necessary inclusion. I would love to hear your thoughts.

And Now, A recipe.

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:08:29 GMT

As indicated in the comment to wisconsinwriter, this is really simple. It got me a lot of compliments whenever I brought it to work potlucks, however.

1 stick of butter (or margarine)
1 cup flour
1 big can of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cream

cook until smooth. Then, add:

16 oz. cheez whiz
1 Tbsp Worstershire sauce (opt)
appx 3 oz dried chives
12 oz beer.

Stir until smooth, heating constantly.

Serve with popcorn on top, if desired. Serves appx 14.

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:13:05 GMT

View Poll: Battle of the Bands

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:33:40 GMT

I jsut saw yet another trailer for Walk Hard. A couple of things occur to me. One is the obvious disdain for the marketing machines for movies that look substandard.

The other is my strange belief that the "Spoof-a-popular-genre" is done as a genre. This is the main reason why UHF 2 and 60% Chance of Rain have not been made. Al is too smart for that.

Seriously, what was the last funny "Spoof a Genre" movie you saw, or even that looked good but you didn't make it to the theater to see or rent? matchstyx and I went to Scary Movie. I'm not even sure that was worth the time.

This post brought to you by Mr. Obvious.

7 1/2 hours of Deal or No Deal

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:42:28 GMT

For those not aware, Deal or No Deal had open auditions here yesterday. They set up shop at one of the car dealerships in town. I was one of an estimated 8,000 people that showed up.

Auditions were scheduled to go from 9 am to 3 pm. We had planned to get there about 7, which is when the various pulications had said the doors would open. We overslept. Board Game Night at the Source went a little long. The alarm was set, but the snooze button.... oh how she mocks me.

So, we got there at 8:30. The temperature was hovering around 0-5 above. In anticipation of a long line, we had bundled up, thank heaven. The line stretched down the block and around the corner for about three hours. So, we finally got inside at 11:30. I should mention at this point that immediately before we entered the building, a woman with three children walked right in ahead of us. Security had nothing to say, as I guess there are rules about making kids wait outside. Once inside, there were concession stands. Hot dogs were $2, which is not bad. Two service bays and the service department lobby were converted into amusement park-style wraparound lines.

In the third and final room, the Casting Driector stood on a stepladder with a microphone and sound set-up and gave us some inspiration and information on what they were looking for. He told us that we would have 20 seconds in front of a junior producer and that we would be meeting them in groups of 10. The goal, then, was to stand out in your group of 10, to hopefully get a second interview for an additional 30 seconds. The gentleman then stated that the producers did NOT want to hear about where you're from and how much you love the show. He said "I know you love the show. Wanna know HOW I know? It's not that you're here. It's because I'm rich." He went on to say that our 20 seconds needed to be enthusiatic, happy and smiley. "This is not one of my other shows, Extreme Home Makeover. We don't want sob stories. We want happy stories." He mentioned that they were expecting between 5000 to 7000 people and were looking for about 8 to appear on the show. The woman who was on the show most recently (and walked away with $53000) attended a 12000 person audition 2 YEARS ago, and had 10 seconds to speak.

Well, after working our way through the final service bay and around the table, we all had the chance to make our 20 second impression. I pretty much fell down. I wanted to talk about my interests and interesting jobs, and I think I mentioned that. I talked about the Next Life Step, but neither Shelley nor I got the additional 30 seconds. Who did? Without sounding bitter, it was the woman who didn't have to wait in the cold for 3 hours. Her gaggle of kids went to a corner while she was at the table, and for her 20 seconds, she made sure the producer guy saw the three kids (one of them was hers, but she didn't mention that), played the Katrina Card, and did a little song and dance about a million bucks.

Anyway, we were summarily dismissed with "If we want you, we'll call," and hoofed it back to the car. We were lucky enough to find (free) parking about 3 blocks away. We then came home and ordered pizza.

It was fun. The people we were next to in line were all very cool. The kids were only slightly squirrelly for those 4 hours, and the operation was run as smoothly as possible.

If you want a shorter, better edited version of thse events, here is the NBC affiliate's story, and here is the Strib version.