Phineas Blogg

magic playing has been a little slow since I moved here but Brent, Pascal and Chris all made a trip to visit and play cards with me Saturday. It's nice to be loved enough that people want to take time out of their lives not only to hang out but to have to make a trip to do so. That's a lot of the word 'to'. I wrote that sentence and I had to read it twice. Anyway, the three of them showed up and we played a few games of 2HG and then went out for lunch.
We went to Subway where we were told "We are all out of bread". That was kind of wierd. So we got Pizza Hut instead.
I purchased a box of Alara from De which Brent brought with him. The picture above is the aftermath of that. Brent's birthday was just a couple of days before so I got him a couple of nerd chic t-shirts. I wasn't sure he'd like the actual comic book characters on them but I thought the nerdiness of them would be enough for him to enjoy.

Don't make Brent angry.

Josh called me up and asked if I wanted to come over to Cliff's house and play Magic with them. It was nice to do something without being the one initiating the call- that might mean I have friends. We played a little and traded a little. As I was looking through one of Cliff's binders I saw on the backs he had several peices of art drawn by actual Magic Card artists. This was a favorite of mine, possibly because it was colored but also because it was by Mark Tedin who is one of my favortes. With Brent as my best friend for most of my life I've come to appreciate that I know nothing about art. Tedin is one of the few artists that I can recognize on sight so I think that's one of the primary reasons I like his work. Also, everything he does looks like brains and he did my buddy Lord of the Pit. You can't see it in the picture here but if you are holding the card you can see little bodies in his stomach- probably the souls of those he's eaten. Scary!

This particular picture is from the card Leviathan. Here is a closeup from the original art.

Since the move I've been looking for someone to play Magic with. Cheryl introduced me to Cliff and Josh, two of her friends that play. I've played with Cliff and corresponded with him a lot arranging times to play but haven't had much interaction with Josh. I called him on one of the few nights I wasn't working overtime and asked him if we could get together and he agreed. We had a good time. He replaced Cory as my 'Friend with the dirtiest mouth'. Here Josh poses as one of the Magic dorks that sometimes grace filler cards in packs. I think he's doing a very good impression because he looks really lame.

Dave
Another Tuesday night gaming session with an odd man out. The odd man sitting out this time is Dave who is setting up Guitar Hero so he can woo us with Iron Man.

Pascal
Friday's is the new Magic night for Brent and me. I should say a new night not the new night because we still do Tuesday's at Brian's. Friday's we go to Master Consignment and play there against Pascal (the dude pictured) and Chris (totally not pictured). It's fun because after several years withthe same people you get in a rut. Each Tuesday you know that Dave will swear and exclaim "I hate this deck" or in an exasperated tone sigh "That's tedious". You know that everyone will fear Brent even if he's lost ever game that he's played that night. You know when Brian is going to do something clever because he's got the worst poker face ever. And you definately know when he's holding a Cheatyface. And they all know that even if I suck at cards I can beat them to death with smack talk. I love Tuesday nights so don't think I'm saying I don't I'm just telling you how Friday is different and how that makes Friday special.
The appeal of Friday's is that Chris and Pascal are okay with Brent and I being partners (tuesday's we get spilt up a lot) which is fun because I enjoy the synergy of our playing styles. We don't know what tricks they are going to pull, or what color all their decks are. The element of the unknown is a big factor in what makes this so fun. Also we are pretty evenly matched with a 50/50 win/loss ratio. So the games are usually bitterly fought and for me that's the best game there is.
Mistress De is there usually and it's always nice to see De. We get to chat with her a bit and if we need cards she's happy to help us get them. All around good time.