Kaladesh – Problems Incoming?

If you play Magic The Gathering you may be interested in some of the spoiler cards for the newest set coming out. Seeing how some of the cards are written are interesting because it gets you to think how you possibly combo with cards that you have. Considering the past sets dealt with the Eldrazi as well as the sixth land type some believe that it is coming in to a new age. For those people who believe that then this next set can be another level more exciting then normal.

If you are a touch more jaded or realistic then you may feel like it is starting to grasp at straws. Trying to pull award money from the tournament programs shows that there is not a whole lot of love from the backers. Multiple issues with judges have been coming up over the past year from the basic low level judge doing shady stuff to the lawsuit of some of the judges wanting to be classified as employees to the multiple Grand Prix’s that were not equipped for what was to be done.

Looking at the cards coming out form the spoilers makes me grit my teeth because it reminds of me of Mirrodin block. Seeing how it is packed with everything dealing with artifacts makes me just brace for the headache. Artifact cards are not a problem in itself as they are just cards, but in the Mirrodin block you had to run them to some degree. Trying to get the ones you want to use for your deck will seem to be a higher place, but maybe that is just me.

Their are least some things that are interesting. Energy counters are going to have to be explained a little bit better, and hopefully errata shouldn’t be painful. Vehicles are going to be something that multiple creatures can be in so that will have some new rules apply. Here are just some things that made me wonder though.

Kaladesh Inventions versus the regular set is this going to be two different sets. Is this going to be like an ultra portion of a set, or is it going to be another set of cards released side by side.

Energy counters are supposedly another form of energy that is not mana that some cards will use for specific abilities. Energy counters are placed on the player and I’m already going back to how well the snow lands specific mana cards were used. For those who do not know about it my point exactly. Creating something extra that will be harder for some people to understand makes it great for those who are comfortable in the game and will needlessly cause another wall.

One of the other things that is purely opinion is how artifact players tend to be usually some of the snobbier players. In playing off and on for a decade I have had only one experience of an artifact deck player that actually was fun to play against. Everyone else just made as it was pulling teeth trying to play a game with them. I know this is not every player but it has happened enough time I feel it needs to be said.

It’s time for our second of our four Kaladesh pre-releases and have ...

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Typey Typey Typey

Shattered Reflections is just about 30k in words with a goal at just about 65k. What gets me more then the writing is the typing because now to allude to 2 the Ranting Gryphon. I have a shoulders and neck made out of candy corn. Things happen it just cuts my speed in half, and I have gone over that before. That does not mean that we can’t learn from it. I hate having something negative. I do not like cons that can’t be turned in to a pro through either a style change or something.

Despite my speed being dropped by half, but it has given me a better process to add or edit details in the various forms of typings. Maybe exchanging the speed of the old school gunman for more of the calculation of the sniper if we want to look at it in a action hero inspired light.

Looking at NaNoWriMo coming up all I would hope is that my big two writing projects are at least typed up. That will be difficult to do, but part of me is kinda relishing the challenge because I know what I can do the question is can it be pulled off. Can the mental strength get past all the problems that may pop up physically. Which is the stronger side of people, mental or physical?

To get some of the works done would be great to have it ready to go and then more of the advertising would begin again. If the pictures can be added to the other books then there is a possible of four books that could be released. Wanting to be a writer that can sustain on his own works can be. Trying to break in as writing for a job has been a little more difficult. That’s okay though because the harder the trip, the sweeter the victory.

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Politics. In America.

Before we get in to the mudslinging let me just start by stating I would rather get smacked around by the angry spirit of Bruiser Brody before actually thinking what my vote will go to. It just doesn’t seem like there really is any use. It is clear that anyone that has been a politician before does not deserve it. Maybe some do, but it has just been my experience that really they get paid to much, have too many benefits when most people are scraping to get by. All of this is my opinion mind you, so with that if you feel I am wrong then please explain in the comments.

I mean in what other field can so many people argue over so much and get so little done. What is done sometimes is useful, but in many cases people are being politicians for decades with nothing to show for it. In any job you would be fired and pushed to the unemployment line.

People have asked me multiple times how I am going to vote, and where we normally go in to a fairly political conversation I have to answer truthfully.

“I would rather stick my head in an ice block then either one.”

Because as someone who has done a little bit of volunteer work and a lot of just doing stuff out in the cities. It does not take long to find out there are some serious problems that are not being touched because it isn’t sound with someone’s reelection strategy.

One of the other things that get me, and maybe someone can correct me on this is how can we keep making new laws every year without at least removing some. What if laws contradict each other. What if one law needs another to be there to work. Why does it take a sacrifice of your soul and at least four years to start understanding the laws that should be fairly easy because we all have to abide by them.

So who am I voting for?

Who really cares because after all I will be the one making the world a better place. Best option I would think, but if you want to talk politics you can leave your opinion in the comments. Back to work for me and hope you have a good day.

 

 

 

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A Day in Portland

Before going to the Grand Prix when it rolled through my home city my father decided to take the day and hang out seeing different things that people have told me to go check out while I was working on my stuff. My father and I had started from on of the MAX stations. The MAX is our form of train that goes through the city and even reach to some of the smaller towns on each side. Buses would then work often from those stops branching out from the main train lines making transport when you cannot drive at least somewhat.

Finally though I have decided on how a rating system should work on this as well because there was a lot of different experiences. It is an easy system that explains things I think. One to ten allows a fair enough range where people can discern a little better versus maybe a five point or star system. Next would be how the numbers are in context to each other and of course all judgings are simply an opinion based on the enjoyment that was had.

Zero is the absolute worst. Getting a zero is akin to me out at the place wanting to light it on fire, and hoping whatever is built on the ashes is better. Ten is perfection. Saying something is ten out of ten is the magical euphoric moment that everything in life has been building to and my pants will be caked with the joy of a thousand angels that have cried just being in the universe when such a moment exists. In short not happening in this life time and if it does then it won’t happen that many times. Five is average and that is just the everyday place you go and leave no harm nor boon. That will happen a lot as it will be the average on my guideline.

Ground Kontrol was something as a gamer people told me to go see and how everything was the bee’s knees, but instead of being the cat’s pajamas it just belonged in the litter box. Our food was nearly thrown at us and their was near no one there. The games were okay, but after bad food we had to hit the can. It took half an hour to be buzzed in to somewhere I would rather not go again. Food was bland, second floor a fire hazard according to an experienced ex fire inspector, had to be buzzed in to. Final call 3/10

Kell’s was a stop to try getting the taste of the food with the place been around for close to a century. Being around that long one has to be good at something, and despite the couple hiccups it did not disappoint. The only two problems I had was that their lamb stew was more like a thin broth with some under cooked potatoes that seemed weird. You would expect lamb stew to be done well at an Irish place. Whiskey was good for the price and my fish and chips and scotch egg were good. Final call 6/10

Finally that leaves us to the Lovecraft bar where every thing was just not going right for us. It was hot, both of our knees were not enjoying it, my skeleton was feeling like it was made of candy corn. So walking in to a nice dark cool bar was just fine especially since they had just opened for the day, and no one was in there. It was clearly a dance bar getting ready for the night shift starting at about ten in the evening. One thing about this bar was we found out it was a vegan bar when it came to their food, but we had already eaten so we just decided to have a couple drinks. Going somewhere with only vegan food when you are not can be a bit intimidating to some, but that was not the case here. They had an amazing assortment of tea and the bartender was a very friendly young lady who answered our questions while she was organizing the booze shipment for the night. Pops enjoyed the horror theme, so much he said he was going back. I will head back here, but it may take a while since I am on the other side from the western suburbs. Not taking any food in mind, which will be done next time means a final call of 9/10.

Ground Kontrol nearly screwed up the day with how bad they were, and Lovecraft made sure the end was on a positive note.

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Typing and Games

Right now Shattered Reflections stands at about 11k words and my shoulders are already complaining about what is to come. The goal on this project is 65k to 90k erring probably on the shorter side. It is an auto biographical project that some people have asked for after finding out some of the experiences I have had. The way it is right now I am just looking at it as a good way to practice writing of that length. Considering writing is something I want to get better at and grow maybe into a career or at least something that would be interesting to try.

My typing speed has taken a nose dive because of my shoulders which sounds weird, but you need your shoulders to keep things going. Without a good base then your arm is pretty much only half of what you can do at your best, and that is weird to think about unless you need to. It will be something that will just be just needed to worked through because, and anyone that has a condition that has to deal with pain can tell you one must either handle it and use it to push or they will always be pushed because of it.

It is nice to see the old stories as well just to go back in time again for certain things. Doing a project like this provides you with some perspective that some people do not have just going through the paces in an average life. This world has too much in it to experience for people to just go through the paces month to month and year to year. Which by the way my father the self professed redneck and I decided a few weeks ago to have a single day in the city of Portland which will be an experience on here soon.

Things are going as well as as they can. Found a little time to play a little bit relaxing with one of the Ludum Dare creations called Steam Heart. It will bring a lot of memories of old Megaman games, and I played to the end of the first boss while not botching too badly. Unfortunately those are the kinds of games that I have absolutely no skill in, and boy does it show. The game is fun enough that even scrubs like me can get through the first boss somewhat easily. The controls are easy to pick up and if you like those kinds of games then please look it up on Newgrounds or even on Google.

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Opinion about privilege

According to an online study with a thousand different people this is how this post will be recieved.

So with that let’s talk about white privilege. Let us talk about male privilege. Let us talk about even playing fields and uneven ones. First, if you are using emotions to back up your opinion, and cannot understand how any counterpoints can even exist then congratulations this will be a very painful post so just go away, and actually no just let me put this here for you. If you will not like to hear anything that may hurt your sensibilities then I have at least placed a picture of a baby hippo here. If you can be mad after looking at this then you need to go and decompress before returning back to society because you have no heart.(Joke)

Image result for baby hippo

Stow the happiness though because there are somethings I need to share with ya’ll because some thing aint adding up to anything.

White privilege, does it exist ? Yes.

Black privilege, does it exist? Yes.

Male privilege? Yes.

Female privilege? Yes.

Every group of people has a set of strengths and weaknesses; privileges and problems and that’s just going to happen until people on the whole get to be a lot nicer to each other.

Every subsection of people has sets of advantages and disadvantages that over the grand scheme I would say is closer to even then most people would hate to think. Should everyone be based and judged on person by person basis. In a perfect world then yes, but I do not know when I woke up and it was perfect. The emotion is a good start though because at least that shows investment of people to try and change things. Now, if it could be focused properly most of the problems in this country could be finished in just under a week.

Now, when we talk about such privileges something that is missing is a little context. So, to help show what I am speaking from I am going to give you just the cliff notes so you understand.

I came from a household that was severly abusive in a town known for drugs and gang issues to the point that police would not show up at all despite being a couple miles away. If you were not of latin background then you were in the minority in the school system. Had a lot of social issues, physical issues, mental issues growing up. Loved ones died because of petty arguments and I have been called everything under the sun from a catholic child rapist (Many of the people in the town were raised protestant) to a terrorist to a dyke, fag, cracker. My girlfriend once died because she dated me because she was of latin descent and I was not as well as her raising protestant and mine as more catholic.

I can count most of my true friends on my fingers, and I don’t like asking for help on a whole lot. I have been fired from jobs because hiring someone else would bring them better tax breaks and even had jobs taken away from me that I wanted to work because I was not of a certain race. Girls would not date me because I was not in the same or higher tax bracket.

So a lot of the problems that a lot of people have I have seen as well, not all, but enough to at least make this post.

Life is unfair. Sad fact.

Males get paid more in some even the majority of professions, but not all. Being female also allows a slew of tactics to make one’s way up the ladder that guys don’t get to practice to often. Scholarships and grants for women do not exist for just men, at least I didn’t find one in four years of searching. If you find one then please comment with it.

There are no tax breaks for hiring those who identify as white. When companies are trying to save every penny the workforce is going to be a group of people that gets the most bang for their buck in those returns. Colleges are in the same boat many of which will have race on the table if it is worried about the bottom line. Some scholarship funds are give implicitly on race and gender as qualifying factors yet thy exist in the hundreds and thousands.

I have never been to a white lives rally without being termed a racist. In many cases even speaking about the races with a lower melanin content deems you as automatically wrong when if you had more melanin in your skin then it would be a more socially agreeable action.

If people really want to make it an even playing field then they have to give up the things that provide them advantages over others and let merit of one’s work and personality define the person. No race specific grants. No gender specific grants. No tax breaks for hiring those of different skin colors or creeds. No race or gender specific scholarships. No award for nepotism or cliques in the workplace. Companies held to a scientifically quantifiable set of statistics when talking about pay and benefits per person, and if they are skewing the numbers then they must fix it. If I could toss my pluses for an even table for all then ya I will toss those cards like a 7 -2 off suit( poker term: Worst starting hand in texas hold’em)

I don’t really care though how far things are going supposedly because I have learned how to socialize more and I know talk to people regularly now then ever before. My facebook has people from more then a dozen different countries on four continents that I chat with regularly, and that’s pretty cool to me.

Oh and if you are student of a different race and you are looking for scholarships or grants and havent had a whole lot of luck well…

http://scholarships.fastweb.com/r-african-american-students

https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/minority-scholarships/african-american-scholarships/

http://scholarships.fastweb.com/r-asian-or-pacific-islander-students

https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/minority-scholarships/american-indian-native-american-scholarships/

http://scholarships.fastweb.com/r-hispanic-students

https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/minority-scholarships/hispanic-scholarships/

https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/womens-college-scholarships-grants-and-fellowships/

Shabooski. Obviously these are not going to change for along while so people may should take advantage while they can, and just be aware that for the table to be truly even in something then everyone will need to sacrifice something for it.

With me the only thing you will be gauged one is if your an ass who will not learn or grow and make others grow around them. Red, blue, black, white, yellow, male, female, trans, furry, godlike, bottom tier, earthling, martian, royalty, or the homeless. If I got some beef and bell peppers going on then you can get a plate at my place. If you are vegan then I will just cook some bell peppers and onions with rice for ya. I will make the world a better place for us all.

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Health problems – Rant

Typing this up I feel like hell. I have collapsed four times in the past three days. My father says I have been pushing myself too hard and he is worried. My mother hasn’t even known how bad it is for a while.

I’m a fairly big guy just about 6’1 and before my latest few rounds of sickness about 320 lbs. It stands I have gained a hundred pounds without an addition of fat percentage, and I’m still at just abotu 27%. Gaining a hundred pounds nearly tends to be a bit of a question. Then I went to the hospital because it felt like I shattered my shoulder blade.

It also will feel some days like I had snapped something in my neck with the pain so intense I can’t even move. On top of this I had been throwing up a lot and altogether not in a great state of health. Combined with past injuries really the only thing that hasn’t been blasted apart is my left leg. My right leg has been ripped apart by a nasty injury someone had put on me earlier and never getting the chance to heal properly.

Anyway, I normally had the energy to at least keep trying to do things. Now, I can barely get out of bed sometimes.My typing speed has diminised because supposedly one of the side effects of this tendonitis is the arms individually going numb for hours at a time. I can’t go back to cooking because to have your arms numbed makes it difficult to use any sort of knife professionally.

No one knows what’s wrong with me. Not pre-diabetic no heart issues and blood pressure that a lot of people have to double check. (generally around 120/80) I can still walk for the most part when my knee isn’t lockedu p which with proper stretching has gotten it to hbe a rare occurance.

It just sucks being ill without anyone knowing what is wrong. The tendonitis is a symptom of something, and they do not know what. All I know now is my faith in my goals will be tested because with less energy and more pain it will start becoming a game of what can be done before one must rest. For the tendonitis to go away the doc said it will be either surgery which my still have it come back or just deal with it. The fatigue they can’t tell other then it is something going on with the body. It drives me up a wall sometimes, but if I keep trying eventually something will get better.

Sorry, had to rant.

 

 

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Wrestling Article Attempt

Recently I tried to senda sample to a wrestling webstie to have me on as a content provider, and with a promo done by the Miz that really made me want to try to write for a pro wrestling website. If it is something you love then it will show more of the natural emotion I would think.

 

THE MIZ HITS THE TARGET, SHOOT OR WORK.

I have not seen a full show bell to bell in quite a long time. Keeping track from the wrestling news all over the world tends to make it hard to see everything for what it is instead of the single words on the screen. Until something happened on Smackdown recently.

The tag teams were fresh, and Dolph seemed to be moving back up with A.J Styles and Dean Ambrose firmly in the next match for the gold. Diva’s and Tag belts were unveiled as well as what would be done to crown the first champions. Six pack challenge for the female superstars on the blue brand while the smackdown tag belts would be given to the winners of a tournament. From the first two matches having American Alpha and The Uso’s moving on to the story of Heath Slater looking for a partner it seems there would be a lot there to fill a show.

Found out Nikki Bella was back, and was actually really feeling how she was going to be used as her work as been known to not be the greatest, but she also has been really pushing herself to grow. It will take some time, but Carmella and Nikki may seem like a good pairing because both have something to prove Nikki from her injury and Carmella as a draft pick getting used to another audience. Which was strange because usually I can nitpick to a hair splitting level. Overall though the show seemed good, and I was thinking about watching it bell to bell next week.

I crossed paths with a certain well moment would be the best way to describe it. It came from the post show on the network called Talking Smack, and I saw the mix in the picture so I clicked. If there was anything good I have done this week it was watch that video. I’m a fan of the Miz. The whole thing were people didn’t respect him for what he wanted to do struck a chord with me. He was insulted for a wrestling style that Daniel Bryan called “Cowardly”. Where some people would expect Miz to go off like a pouty actor were not getting what they wanted tonight. You know what, go right now, tab this page, look up “Miz talking smack”, listen to it, and then come back because words cannot do it complete justice. It is just about three minutes if you go to the WWE Youtube channel. Go.

Finished?

Where was this hiding? One moment that perfectly encapsulates what wrestling should be not because he was perfect in his speech. He did stutter at times, but it made it more authentic. No, the reason why this was a defining moment was because I had watched wrestling for years since being cap high to a milk gallon. Since then we hear so much behind the scenes and then this happens and for a moment you look at it and go.

“What did I just see?”

Suspension of disbelief is a hard thing to grasp. After so many years watching the shows, reading the articles, hearing the interviews with everyone under the sun. This three minute clip where no flips were done, no tables broken, no clinics held, and just had two people for the most part talking made me remember why this held magic for me. This moment made me feel like there would have been a five year old me screaming “Awesome” instead of “Oh Yeahh”. Wanting to try and do the Skull Crushing Finale in backyard wrestling instead of the Perfect-plex or the Macho Man elbow drop. In one single span of a video the guise of the jaded critic always looking back was gone replaced with the child sitting next to his best friend’s family while we booed and cheered for who we loved and hated.

If you can listen to that video and not hear the great promos of Flair, Austin, and Shawn Michaels then you need to just go. Come back when someone on the screen is almost crying because he feels like everyone in power has looked past him. Angry, because he is holding a title and feels like others say “You aren’t good enough to be a true champion”. Which made me think to my own memories again being places where one should have more respect, but for some reason felt like it wasn’t there. I’m sure everyone has had a moment or two like that somewhere in their lives.

The Miz isn’t back. He never left, but this has to be just plain awesome. Because of this Smackdown will be the first show I have seen in it’s entirety on the T.V realize just how much of a fan I really am of the whole wrestling genre.

When CM Punk had his infamous pipebomb it set him up as the cornerstone of what was called the ‘reality’ era. After the brand split has the Miz stepped into the position of being the flag bearer where everyone else is graded against? Considering now there are two top level titles and he is not holding either one if he can make the correlation then he has done a great bit of work no matter how you cut it being real or not.

Obiously, there is some work that can be done, maybe too much honesty to start with. In either case it is a starting point on working to write. Worst case scenario a start is better then nothing.

The article asked for 750 word minimum and on opinions or lists. Looking back I couldsee that some more polish is needed, but overall I am still happy with the product if anything to show how much further I can go.

 

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Risque Whiskey or Risky Whisky

So I recently wanted to get some more writing experience, help my efforts trying to network in that industry. Their was an open position for a website called The Whiskey Wash. They have not answered back after multiple attempts at contact which is fine open positions got to have a lot of people applying for it one would figure maybe I just don’t cut it. I hate to have it happen, but one can move on.

Except something caught my attention. I’m a fan of whiskey and on the web site itself their were two spellings of the word. One with the “E”and one without which I thought were strange. Normally that would dictate that someone would have majorly screwed up. It is rare though for something like a specialty site to do that so I did some research.

For anyone who reads this blog they will find I spell it w-h-i-s-k-e-y. This is the spelling found on many American and all Irish and since my whiskey experiences stem from the Jack Daniels and Jameson brands over my two and a half decades on this planet, and that would be why it seemed strange to me. W-h-i-s-k-y is the spelling used by Canada, Japan, and Scotland. If there are any other countries then I am sorry I just do not know which one you use, no insult meant.

Some people actually get legitimately angry about it like the inclusion of a single “E” can throw all their good memories they ever had with it in to the river. Going so far to insult those who use the spelling in reference to the wrong original country. Now with writing some people will only look at it and go..

“Huh, they got multiple spellings here, they can’t know about what they are writing about.”

Nope, there is a reason although it is slightly strange to see two different spellings on the same website over and again.

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Metal Gear Survive -Dead On Arrival?

So anyone even listening to game news over the past week has heard of what has happened to the Metal Gear series has heard what has happened with the new game announced with trailer Metal Gear Survive. For those who do not know let me give you the short version.

Game company did well for a while. Wanted to make money easier. Decided to put all their Ip’s (intellectual properties) in pachinko machines while showing a lot of venom to the average gamer. Pachinko laws get passed where it may be more scrutinaized and taxed and Konami wants to come back to games like nothing has happened for the sake of a better business model. Now, one way to do that is to really come back after all this and make something people want to see.

From the view of the trailer it is a game with zombies and four player co-op possibility with little flavor from the series beforehand. Which is sad considering the series itself despite its flaws had a fan base that was willing to back a release. It is most likely going to disappoint unless Konami has a major set of aces up their sleeve which it could very well be the point. Take the series somewhere it would not normally go so you can really push it in a new direction, but given the company’s actions it will be something where they will need to prove it before anyone takes their word at face value.

This game could very well be the game that gets them a second chance as a good gaming company, and if it does it would still have work to do. Konami has made enough enemies with their actions against the previous designers and employees, disrespected the fans, and overall turned in to a company where the stereotype of the money grubbing company is closer to people’s views then one with a vision and purpose. Either way I do hope they take the time to make this a good one otherwise the market just begin to turn more toxic to their products. Keeping in mind where they started coming back to gamers, that is not a good thing.

 

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