Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.
– Bill Shankly
.. and I wholeheartedly agrees so. I miss football dearly, after weeks of non-football action. D*mn the rain.
What’s this? Why, it’s Magic: the gathering, or MTG for shorts.
This was the deck that I piloted at the recent Friday Night Magic, or FNM at Gameshaven, where I received my best score in an FNM to date.
What’s FNM? Nothing much really, just a weekly MTG competition where players from all walks of life gather themselves (and their deck of precariously assembled cards) for a shot at CCG glory.
What’s CCG? Collectible Card Games, but some parties refer to MTG as a TCG, short for Trading Card Game, because trading of these cards is very much a healthy on-going occasion almost daily.
Enough about acronyms et all eh? I guess enough for today. Perhaps I’ll reserve another post for more showering of praise on this great game.
Here, enjoy browsing at my decklist, brought to you by the fine folks at mtgdeckbuilder.net. I call it MonoBlack Flails — not to mistake Flails with Fails though!
!LINK REMOVED DUE TO CODING ECCENTRICITIES BEING RESULTED!
MTG, loving it.
I can’t help it but to steal kisses as she’s sleeping.. so serene, so calm, so peaceful she is..
Oh what was it that I wanted to blog about? Let’s see..
How about.. Liverpool FC? My second religion, if you had to ask, and how I’m having mixed thoughts of how the season has been. Our next league game is against Swansea, a team where I used to pick while playing Championship Manager of old, playing from 3rd division, and all the way rising through the ranks into the Premiere League — not without one or two cheat codes of course! *winks*
Swansea doesn’t really allay that much of a concern to me, but it’s the trips afterwards, after the international break, to Chelsea and the hosting of Manchester City, before heading back to meet Chelsea that sorts of gives me the chill, because Liverpool never really gets an awesome result, to put it mildly, whenever they return from the break. Splendid indeed.
So what else..
NS! Of which I’ve managed to succesfully, dodge all the obstacles thrown, subversed and darted in my way. From late-comers to late-bloomers, NS turned out to be a revelation!
For the first time, I had to man the helm of my unit on my own, and though it wasn’t easy, the truth is I thought I kinda liked it. The perks that came along with being the biggest bad-ass on the pitch became quite a challenge and a thrill indeed. There’ll be guys that will dog you on for mild incentives like taking shortcuts and short breaks, annoying you a little as the requests pile on, and then there are those that will look to you as a source of motivation and inspiration, driving you forward until the end of the day.
Indeed it’s not a place that I personally chose to be in, but it’s one that I’ll heartily grab at, and given the opportunity, I’m inclined to think that I did no harm for that period, of 4 days of maintenance training, where for the first time also, I cleared my physical proficiency tests, my high-powered sub-machine gun marksmanship, as well as acing the wilfully hand-held revolver classification shootings. Thank god!
And then..
After years of taking a break from the collectible card game, I went straight back into competitive magic, still chasing for that one Friday Night Magic, or FNM win!
With what time I’ve left after my NS commitments, the magic deck I crafted and piloted at JCube’s FNM is probably the strongest ever deck that I’ve ever used for FNM. Despite losing all three closely contested pairings for the night, I think I ended up with valuable lessons from a few awesome people there, with this memorable quote that I likely will remember for nights to come: “A 5 casting cost card should be winning the game for you when it comes out. It’s the card that turns the tide into your favour. That’s what a 5 casting cost card should do in today’s metagame.“
The credit to the quote goes to a certain Russell, branded as ‘loud’ by my pals, but skillful and thoughtful nevertheless, as those words of his rang within my earlobes as if giving me that wake up call that I’ve been ignoring all these while. Why have I been ignoring it, when I’ve known it all along?
I think you know how sometimes there are things where one is fully and highly aware of and yet keeps doing the same mistake of not paying heed to them, only to indulge in games of questions involving ‘Why?’s. Well I guess it’s human nature to be reminded of things that should matter to them.
Sometimes a timely reminder is all that we need, and (I guess) fortunately for me, another timely reminder is on its way soon — the Hari Raya Haji holidays, a much needed 2 days off-from-work break.
Perhaps it’s time to take a break from life’s chalice of chaos and mayhem and invest into a well spent lull of a time with my loved ones.
Ooh, that’s another challenge indeed for me!
Of my 4 day NS maintenance training passed by in a flash, and I’m a tad too tired to devulge more than I’m able to tonight so..
3 more days to go lor!
Love makes the world go round.
And I love these two much, much, much.
My dad with my lovely little baby.
Okay I lied, cos It’s actually my uncle’s son, but isn’t he just so adorable?
Shower kids with love and they’ll grow to appreciate and be generous in the currency of the heart.
You could even shower them with a birthday party and smile beamingly like my dad here.
He threw a birthday party for little Irfan and I’m jealous because I didn’t even get one when I turned one!
Or perhaps not that I could remember but…
… cute birthday cake right?
The strawberries and mangoes are screaming “bite me, bite me!” while the cream, well it’s just white uh?
In any case, I’m not a fan of cakes, so even if it looks deliciously yummy, I don’t think I’ll miss not eating this.
But I do miss this yummy little boy here.
One of God’s gift for us to appreciate and nurture and love.
Oops, make that TWO of God’s gift to appreciate greatly, nurture endlessly and love unconditionally.
Yummy.
I wish I could run that little bit faster.
I wish I could dribble that little bit quicker.
I wish I could pass the mikasa ball that little bit further.
Even though it’s been almost every weekend that I pump myself up by chasing a 10 inch rubber ball around the green fields with 21 other grown men, I think I’m not conditioning myself well.
The late nights of magic-deck-tuning or dota-rampaging has been punishing my recovery and taxing much of my energy, and there’s one more thingy that I believe that’s turning into quite a significant factor in the decline of my footballing performances.
Nutrition.
Stress level.
Okay I’ll admit, that that’s two factors, but my point being that I’ve not been disciplining myself with regards to my body’s recovery.
Especially after pushing my body gruelly for nearly 3 hours of intense workout, that involves accelerating, tackling, getting tackled, jumping like mad men, sprinting 10-15metres every minute or so, jogging continuously and of course there’s that tiny rippling effect of your mind being psyched like a dog on rabids during games.
It’s intense I tell ya, but I know that when the referee blows the final whistle, that it’s just a friendly game, and while my mind is able to recover at speed, sadly my body doesn’t follow suit.
At 29 years old, it’s time that I prepare a regime for myself, or else I won’t replenish what I’ve lost and then not being able to perform optimally come weekends.
Here’s what I plan to do:
Friday: Grab a carb heavy dinner. Minimise oily foods intake. Finish 1/2 bottle of 100plus. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Rest begins at midnight.
Sat: Soccer at 3pm with Skopets FC. Finish 1 bottle of 100 plus. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Grab a carb+protein balanced dinner. Minimise oily food intake Apply Deep Heat before resting at midnight.
Sun: Soccer at 3pm with Goals On Sight FC. Finish 1 bottle of 100 plus. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Grab an extremely protein heavy dinner. Minimise oily food intake Apply Deep Heat before resting at midnight.
Mon: Breakfast to consist of light carbs and light protein. Lunch and dinner to be medium protein and medium carbs and to minimise oily food intake. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Rest at midnight.
For now, I think I’ll plan from Friday to Monday first and see how it’ll turn out.
I’m not even sure if I’m able to strictly keep to this regime, but I’ll try to.
I know that I have to or I won’t be able to pass that little bit further.
Or I won’t dribble that little bit quicker.
Or run that little bit faster.
… playing Magic actually. Magic what?
Magic: The Gathering, or MTG or just Magic for shorts, a game where two or more players pit their wits against each other using a deck of cards that they’ve assembled either by purchasing those cards, or stealing them.
If the sounds of cards being chucked around sounds a little geeky to you, well that’s because it’s a geek’s game. Really.
I remember when I first opened my pack of booster cards, a bunch of 15 randomly inserted cards, sold in a nice, shiny commercial pack.
More often than not, you don’t always get the cards that you’d want to have in your playing deck, but cards which are lacklustre in terms of gamplay quality.
But sometimes you’ll get that one card where everyone wants to have a piece of, and when you do, people will start to surround you and begging you to sell it to them.
You’d feel like you’ve just won the million dollar jackpot then.
Of course, that was back then, and fast forward to today, or the past month to be exact, I’ve been reliving my childhood days of indulging in these Magic cards.
Every Friday, you’ll find me with my loved one at the weekly ‘Friday Night Magic’ event that fortunately takes place near my office, at Dhoby Ghaut MRT.
Funny enough, for someone who pursues excellence, somehow I do not find the thrill in assembling myself a kick-ass proven deck, but instead to listen to my inner-contrarian’s voice, and instead play against the flow.
I play cards that others don’t. I make moves where others simply shun. Well, like I’ve said it, somehow when it comes to playing Magic, I indulge myself with a contrarian’s approach, and so it’s not surprising that…
.. after 4 weeks of competition, I’ve only managed to win 1 solitary match against..
.. an invisible opponent!
That’s right, my crowning glory of tasting my first ever victory against an opponent, was against one that never arrived to take his seat.
Oh well, a win is a win right?
Even if it took me 4 weeks to announce that I’m back.
MTG, ftw.
I play a lot of games and make myself busy to distract myself, as well as to ‘let looose‘, so to speak, and the thought of ‘why do i game so much when there’s so many other things that I can do?‘ lurks inadvertently.
Actually, I’ve had a lot of thoughts lately — not that I’ve not had much thoughts or haven’t been thinking much! — and it’s getting to a point where the expansiveness of it all sorts of numbs me.
That’s right, I get numb thinking about thinking. Hoah? You know, I confuse myself at times too..
Sometimes I think if I should simply wing it and go for broke while there are times where I wonder if it’s better that I play it safe and do what I do best. That comes to my next thought of ‘Really, just what is it that I do best?‘.
Good question, but unfortunately it is one that I’ve haven’t placed much thoughts to, more importantly perhaps not as much as ‘how do I start creating that killer iphone app?’ or ‘why i that black BMW car driving in 2 lanes simultaneously?’.
My point is, quite simply, that I think I frivolously spend time thinking about things that aren’t quite ‘soup questions’, where ‘soup questions’ are questions that you ask which enables you the opportunity to put a bowl of soup in front of you, on your dining table, someday.
It’s so easy to admit that I’m guilty of trying to get too many things done at break-neck pace, while desperately having to keep track of things to maintain and grow. It’s even easier to say that I’m easily attracted to new opportunities and events, and that’s why, since the past year or so, I have this personal motto of ‘eat only what you can while give as much, maybe more, of what you desire‘.
Backtracking, to my earlier thought of ‘Really, just what is it that I do best?’. I’m slowly realising that I’m best used as a thinker instead of a do-er, and as *koff* brilliant *koff* as I am as a do-er, I think I’ve arrived at a period in life whereby I really really need to do a lot less, and give (ideas) a lot more.
Fortunately I’m being given this opportunity at the office, and am glad that myself and everyone around me is helping me transcend nicely into this new role I’m playing, and I can’t deny that I’m loving every minute of it.
Still, I can’t help myself but to continue asking myself, “What can I do next?“, of which I’d then get a plethora of suggestions and ideas flood my naked brain, filling me with mental dementia and derisory contempt.
Of which I’ll then transcend into a game of DoTA or <insert-game-here>.
And the vicious cycle resumes…
Pressure cooks us all inside and turns patience and virtues into catalyst of disagreement and contempt.
Indeed everyone lives a life in evasion of life’s minefields and curveballs, but as good as we get at it, and deep down inside, we know that unless we accomodate a significant portion of our waking moments in attending to problems, the minefield mushrooms and the curveballs curve steeper.
Today I witness how external pressure stakes its claim on a prized brotherhood, exposing the vulnerabilities of human nature — that we aim to feel better by making others feel worse — though I’m compelled to not go any further than that, in this scene.
By all means, take a serious outlook on life, and be as serious as you can when it comes to matters pertaining to life itself, and Life, being yours, your loved ones or the ones living around you.
Then again, by all means, that doesn’t mean that one has to be serious.. all the time.
Go ahead, take things lightly. Laugh a little bit when a problem comes your way. Welcome a challenging issue with open arms. Then try to find solutions, and if you fail the first time round, and as cliche as it sounds, try again.
Life needs to be taken seriously, in all context of its meaning, but you don’t have to be serious all the time, okay?
Sometimes it’s better when the problems are handled with a bit of chuckles, and a lot less stress.
Okay, a quick one here. ; )
Rise of the planet of the apes was so entertainingly good that I get to see why so many friends of mine gives it a thumbs up, where I was initially sceptical in how a movie about primates can be understood by them whereas movies concerning shiny robots or wizards with glasses failed miserably.
From the charm of the baby ape to the predicament of the scientist losing those closest to him, the movie succeeded in taking the viewers for a ride, although one does question at the end of the movie, what next?
Certainly the movie has its fair share of criticism and plotholes, but I guess I can’t take away it’s plaudits of being an entertaining movie and a worth-every-cent-paid show.
Now, do they really have that serum?
I’d like to give my cats some of ’em.. Um, and as for you, go get the movie!
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