ATTK42

I remember Jay wanting to get that for his license plate.

So, I played in the Grand Prix PHX trial this past saturday at Jeff's store, Mana Werx. It was Ravnica sealed with Coldsnap draft top 8. Notables there from "our" crew were myself, Dan Voigt, Michael Bahr, and Jay Webb. There were only 16 competitors, so 7 points should be good enough to get in.

It would seem that every time I play in a sealed deck event, I don't get bombs. I get good solid cards that, when I hit my curve, seem to overrun the opponent. Here are a couple high lights from my sealed (which was less than stellar) -

Vinelasher Kudzu
Rakdos Ickspitter
a 5/5 wurm
Brainspoil

I had a good curve going on, brainspoil was my real only way of dealing with bombs. I had a couple 2for1 cards, which probably were the reason I made it to top 8. I beat Jay and lost to Dan during the Swiss. Dan wouldn't draw, we were both 2-0 and he didn't feel comfortable drawing.

Top 8 draft was coldsnap. The only knowledge I have of this set is what I saw at the pre-release event. This format is bear heavy, if you have a bear that can survive the other bears than you are in good shape. Here is what I drafted -

Juniper Order Ranger - 2nd pick, 1st pack
Phyrexian Snowcrusher
Surging Sentinels
Kjeldoran Gargoyle
Swift Manuever x2
Field Marshal - 2nd pack, 1st pick
Gelid Shackles
Ronom Unicorn
Kjeldoran War Cry x2
Kjeldoran Outrider x3 - my "better" bears
Grim Harvest
Chill to the Bone x2
Gristle Grinner
Gutless Ghoul
Zombie Musher x2
Disciple of Tevesh Szat x2
Garza's Assassin - 1st pick, 1st pack

Sideboard -
Luminesce x2
Deathmark
Gutless Ghoul
Disciple of Tevesh Szat x2
Grim Harvest
a couple Aurouchs that I hated
a bunch of junk

I decided to go with just 2x Disciples because I had the 2x Zombie Mushers clogging up the 4 slot and figured I could get by with just the 2 (plus there was a good amount of damage cards that just damaged for 1 and I didn't want to trade a 4coster for a 1 or 2 coster). 2x Zombie Mushers is tech, I played zero snow covered lands (as the same as Dan Voigt), but these guys were insta threats the minute they hit the board, meaning they shot straight to the top of KTM. The Outriders turned into 3/3 first strikers with the Field Marshall out. I played 1 Forest and only had to wait 3 turns once to draw it when I had Juniper in hand, that guy is truly stellar.

Finals - Me vs. Dan Voigt
He was kind of upset that I wouldn't give him the byes. He told me that the ratings cutoff was back in April and now he had enough rating to get some byes, but back then he didn't. I told him that I would be attending GPPHX, so I would be utitilizing the byes. We sat down and played.
Game 1 - Got the bears when I needed and supped them up with the Field Marshal. He hit a couple Ripple damagers (I believe he said he only had 2). I was able to push through for the win. The curve was hit and I was able to have an answer when I needed it (a swift manuever or war cry).
Game 2 - Again, another great game by both players. He was down to about 3 or 4 life and I was at 11. He swung with 2 fliers and played the red howl from beyond and I was toast.
Game 3 - Another close game, I was getting into howl from beyond range and he was around 7-8 life. I also drew into 2x Luminesce, which were key. He said he was 1 mana away from killing me when I was at 13 or so. I dropped the juniper and then started dropping guys. He had a flier that kept hitting me. I was down to 4, he had a 2/2 flier, on the previous turn, he chumped against my juniper and snow crusher. He swings for 2, I take it, he plays the new relentless assault. I had the swift manuever and that was that.

I had a pretty solid deck and was able to draft enough answers and I'm excited about playing in GP PHX. The prizes weren't spectacular (which is one of the reasons why I didn't want to deal for the byes), 20 packs to first and 10 to second. I gave Dan 2 packs, so I had 6 draft sets and he had 4. All in all, a pretty good day.

Chucking the Rock

^400, 1.8 miles biked, 1hr45min Basketball

Holy smokes. Two things that I know for a fact. 1 - I'm fat and b - I'm a white guy. With all that being said I was able to hold my own for the most part on the court. I ran three games, first to 15 by 1s/2s. I dragged ass for the last half of each game, but I was still able to come up with a couple steals, drove the lane a couple times and had 2 airballs from the perimeter (hey, it's been a long time since I've run it back). Afterwards, my brain was like "yea!!!!, let's go ride a bike" and my left calf was like "do you have any idea how much this bastard weighs?"

This moment as been brought to you by the aussie and Team Lischke Cycling. I miss the nagging.

Maybe we are Por.. Mon....

heh...if you've seen Clerks II, you will get the title. Hey, it's making a come back.

I think that Marnie and I have sunk to a new level of laziness. We are having groceries delivered today between 1 and 3. We ordered our groceries online (here) yesterday and they are delivering them today.

It's pretty hot out you know, so it's...justifiable.

Interspecies Erotica

admit it, you wouldn't look away either.


and I saw Mr. Brad Defruiter's name in the credits.

37

... in a row?

Fatty Fatty 2 by 4...

^400 - ~2 miles on the bike, 40 minutes basketball, 10 minutes sauna


Last week I decided it was time. I went and got an LA Fitness membership. It is about a mile from my work in between the home and the job. It has a basketball court (which I am very happy about), raquetball courts, normal gym stuff, lap pool, sauna, hot tub. I got the buddy pass for the registration fee and there is no contract. Marnie thought that I might be crazy and didn't think that I would go.

I went this morning for the firts time. The guy who signed me up said they had a digital scale that would go over 350 but alas, he was mistaken. I know that I'm over 400, but I'm not sure how far over. I can't really count calories like Tom, so I'll put what I did for the exercise up top. Today I started slow. The bike killed me.

Does anyone know if it's ok to take an ipod in the sauna?

Me and the Sponge

my neighbor took a picture of my spongebob that I have at my desk. I had some crabby patty gummis today. they rocked.

Poor Gigi

This is a secret Italian training video

Never get a Talz Drunk

Yea....talk about unsportsmanlike

Is it a Clone Card or a Wild Card?

Went to the Coldsnap prerelease today. Nothing spectacular at all. I mean there aren't even any chase rares in the set really. I went 3-1 losing 1 match to the 20/20 indestructable land that becomes a creature, I was cursing Chuck the whole time because this seems like the type of card he would build a deck around.

The set isn't very good imo. The format is weird as well. My mana base was very fragile even though I had 2 amulets, a snow rampant growth and the elf dude. In the games that I won, I pretty much just curved for the win.

Afterwards I headed up to Casino Arizona for some gambling. I did average at poker, I think I was down about $50 or so and was getting bored real quick. There was this obnoxious lady that would call with absolutely anything. Twice she rivered me out when I was way ahead and that's where I lost a chunck of change. I decided to try some blackjack. This was a bad idea, I lost a significant amount of money playing black jack, but here is the high/lowlight -

I get dealt A/8, the dealer is showing something like a 7. He points to me. I say stay. He says you have 19. I'm like "uhh, thanks, should I hit on 19?" He said is good to help thin out the shoe (it's freaking constant shuffle). I hit and snag a 6. I can't possibly hit again, so I stay. Dealer flips over a J for 17.

WHY IN THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO HIT ON A A/8???

Someone with BlackJack experience please explain that one to me. thanks..

I Looked Up In The Sky

and I went to see Superman Returns. I have to admit I'm a little rusty when it comes to all the little things that I should be noticing (I should have went and seen it with Tuttle). I thought it was a pretty good superhero movie. It was freaking long...like...really freaking long.

I think Kevin Spacey did a good job. I was kinda "ehh" on Kate Bosworth. And of course every...single...freaking time I see Brandon Routh all I see is Hayden. I don't know if that is creepy or not, I'm leading towards creepy.

I think it's better than average, but it falls way short of my top 100. I enjoyed it, I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was about 30 minutes shorter.

Tuesday is the new Sunday

Of course if I was religious, that title would mean more to me.


Tomorrow is July 4th. It's a holiday so I get it off from work, but it's also a schedule maintenance day for our favorite game.

Don't the powers that be think about scheduling before they put holidays on Tuesdays? I mean I get a whole day off, why should have of it be wasted not playing WoW?

This Space For Rent

More news coming shortly...

EDIT - I hate to do this to you Bojo, but this has been temporarily put on hold. The information that I'm looking for is off visiting in Colorado. I didn't want to post anymore and have this get buried.

It's Late

I just clocked out. I worked a 13 hour day. I didn't get to Mr. Defruiter what I promised him and I feel really bad about that. I promise to get it to you Brad. I think they'll come out fine.

I could really use a 4th meal right now.

F U

This has been what kind of day it was today. My old boss took this for me with his new upgraded from dinosaur to ghetto raz0r phone.

Top 10 Things You May or May Not Have Known About The Girard

Mr. Schaefer if you please...

Number 10 - I am incredibly conceited. I think very highly of myself. However, when dealing with other people in terms of making a decision, I prefer not to make a decision that way I can't be held accountable for it.

Number 9 - I am a passive aggressive person. I will not step to you and tell you that you are wrong to your face. Instead I will berate you and make offhanded comments. I will usually not drop it either, even though I should.

Number 8 - I had a troubling childhood. I was the 2nd of 5 (sometimes 7) and the eldest male. I had spring fever issues where from when I can remember up until about my junior year in high school, I always got in trouble when spring rolled around. The trouble was of verying degrees. I collected baseball cards, but in the 90s the packs started to get more and more expensive. The expensive cards came out of the expensive packs. I was in Target during my lunch hour, dressed in my nice clothes and a tie because I was going to the Honor Roll dinner after school. I lifted some packs of cards and headed for the door. As I was exiting, there was a couple that looked like they were in a hurry so I held the door open for them. The gentlemen came out first and grabbed a hold of my arm. My mother had to pick me up from the police station. That was probably the most mild of my offenses.

Number 7 - I love 90s music. Music from the likes of Ace of Base, Real McCoy, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, etc. Sometimes this gets me some jeers, but I don't care, I like to jam out.

Number 6 - When I was younger, in our old house out in Mesa. I was playing online poker. I was messing around with a pocket knife and Marnie told me to quit it or else I would cut myself. Pocket Aces came up and I put that knife about blade deep into my left pointer finger knuckle. I wasn't supposed to be playing poker at the time, so I folded (yea yea, I know). Went out and showed the large amount of blood dripping from my hand. We double wrapped it and headed to the emergency room. The lady told us to have a seat. About 5 minutes later I was feeling dizzy, Marnie and I walked back up there and told her that it was bleeding a lot. It had bled through 2 double folded towels by now. She didn't believe me, I pulled it back and it squirted on her desk. She jumped up and I was seen immediately. I still have the scar on my hand.

Number 5 - I've had cancer. I had testicular cancer when I was 17 years old. It just started hurting on Friday, Saturday I didn't really notice it and then Sunday I couldn't walk. Monday I went to see a Urologist (no, not myologist, urologist). He thought that I had a hernia or that it was twisted from playing sports. He got my mother's permission over the phone (she was at work) and I was in surgery within a half an hour, I didn't get to see her before I went in. I woke up bandaged up and in those birthing type chassis on my hospital bed. I had about 8 people staring at my crotch, including my mother. My urologist (who was a pretty cool guy) said he had some good news and some bad news. The good news was that it wasn't a hernia or a twisted testicle, the bad news was that it's cancer (I had been out for about 5 hours or so and they ran the tests immediately after the surgery). They took the lymphnodes out all the way up to my waist, but couldn't finish the procedure because of the facility. The lymphnodes up to my waist all had traces of the cancer. Two weeks later I was on a plane to Seattle to the children's hospital to have the rest removed.

It was an 8 hour procedure. The hospital is connected to the university there and since I was one of 500 guys in the world that had this at this young of an age, if my mother signed a waiver so that I could be taped/used for class, they would pick up 3/4 of the bill. Of course we did it, the military paid for the other 1/4. I have a scar that runs from my waist up to the bottom of the middle of my rib cage. I couldn't really feel sorry for myself in that place, because there were 10 and 12 years old in the same area as me that were on dialysis.

Number 4 - I have Attention Deficit Disorder. When I was younger, my mother just told me that it was hyperactivity and not to drink red Kool-aid and I'd be fine. I got tested about 5 years ago. This was before WellbutranXR hit the market and I was on their test list. That stuff had huge problems back then. It sent me spiraling into a deeper depression than I already was in. It was very bad, suicidal thoughts, etc. I couldn't work, I could concentrate, but I didn't feel product and didn't want to work. I couldn't sleep either so they gave me sleeping pills as well. I was on a bad cocktail. There was pretty much one thing that pulled me from it...I got a job that I always wanted.

Number 3 - I believe that there is one person out there that is perfect for you and is your soulmate. I was lucky enough to find mine early on in life. I love Marnie with all my heart and there would be nothing that would ever drive us apart. We have been through some very very tough times and pulled through each time. And yes, we are still recovering from all the rent we put on our Discover card to start our life together. I absolutely love it when she laughs at my jokes too. I think that's all I really wanted in life.

Number 2 - I do not believe in organized religion at all. Throughout my life, I have been baptized in 5 different religions (Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Baptist, and Luthern). One of those was on a bet basically. We were all playing football down at the park and a white van pulled up and out hopped some guys in black pants, white button up shirts and ties. They said that the first person to make it to the Baptist church (that was 6 blocks away) would get $10. I made it (this was when I was younger, probably a freshman in high school) and he said that I had to sit through the sermon and then I'd get it. I was hard up for cash at the time so I did it. I eventually was dipped in the water and got my $10. I've been to midnight mass with ex-girlfriends. I've been to teen night, I used to be able to name the first 8 books in the new testament. But I don't believe that there is some higher power that is either governing my moves, or will be there when I cease to exist. I believe that when we die, that is it. I do believe in the Force though (I'm kidding, it's just a fanboy thing).

Number 1 - I don't necessarily eat because I'm hungry. In my life, the place that I have found the most comfort is in food. When I eat a food that I like, it brings me to a better place and takes me from the bad place I was or was going. This has been true thoughout my life. When I was a kid I would sneak food. Not because I was hungry necessarily, but because it made me feel better. Unfortunately, this is a bad thing in terms of my health. I have tried to stop many times in the past, but I just can't do it. When I first started living in Virginia, I went Atkins, which still allowed me to eat some of my comfort food (most importantly...cheese) and I dropped some weight. I'm at the heaviest I've ever been in my life, I have to do something to correct this problem and I think the only way that I can do it is to become more active and try to do some activities that get my heart rate up.

That was probably deeper than it had to be and not as lighthearted some of the others, but whatever.

My Father

One of my greatest regrets in life is not spending more time with my dad.

He is doing better. He still has spells where it takes an effort to breath, but overall he is definitely doing better. He looks happier, so that's a big plus.

He and I are going to take a trip at the end of July. We are going to go to Dallas to visit my mother and catch a Rangers/Yankees game on the way to Illinois to drop of my older sister's pinball machine. He and I joke about how we are going to be tired of each other by the time it's done. I don't think that could possibly happen.

I really like the war stories as well. Listening to him tell stories about his minifridge or the poor sap who took a stick to the can in the middle of the night that looked like a rifle despite there being a curfew.

I'm glad I'm back in Arizona, and right now, there is little that will get me to move away from my father.

Lastings Milledge could beat up Chuck Norris

And here is the proof for those that are doubters.

DAMN IT!!!!

I keep forgetting to go and view this trailer. I'm guessing it's a prequel. I'm not as weary as some of my friends about prequels, but I can't remember for the life of me to view this trailer when it's available.