Marcus's silly little page

Guess what, thanks to uni, career-pondering and now a girlfriend to rant to, I now no longer have a need (or time) for this blog. But hey what's the casual post between long-time readers?

 

So what's been going on in the world of me? Well firstly I am poor, since I really have cut back on working at the restaurant, which is a good thing since Control1 is kicking my-ass so bad my brain cells are doing power-ranger backflips.

Rhiya has been doing well too, we are going along just nicely.... and we hit 6months together only a few days to go. Interestingly as I mentioned it to someone we looked down at a newspaper advertisement that read "Most relationships fail within 6 months.....". Well lucky us I guess? Hopefully we keep this thing going strong (and hopefully stronger).

Also I've been thinking alot about my career now, and as much as I have faith in my knowledge learnt from the faculty of Engineering at Melbourne, I eventually have to get out into the world and do my thing - liability or not. One of the problems is that alot of the Electrical engineers are sought after by mining companies.... and you know what that means...

 

The land where drugs run free in the public domain, bike gangs manage footballer's careers and asian restaurants get firebombed. Or as we fondly call it.... Perth. Is it a worrying sign when someone who's been to Perth tells you that it's a hole? Anyways the jury is still out on the whole mining industry.

 

But most importantly (speaking of football) the AFL is back. Geelong beat Port, Melbourne got worse, Sydney scored under 50 points and Tarrant is still crap no matter how you look at him. Good to see the status quo maintained.

 

This season the Herald Sun introduced a new concept.... Super Tipping. And similar to Supercoach last year, it only took me one round to fcuk it up. In a funny circumstance it appears you have to do two sets of tips.... one weighted and one normal. Well guess what, Ken tells me on the Thursday that you do indeed have two sets of tips. Bugger. So I try and change the tips at the 24hr labs at uni.... cept the internet was being a bigpong (i.e. slower than my bowling). I decide that I have to abandon the tips for this round and run off to my industy night thingo majigo. And it appears I will automatically get all the away tips - so far 3/7. Woops. Darren laughs, I cry.

 

Supercoach is indeed back and so too The Coconuts, and I can tell you this team is going to be better than ever. Gone are the stupid picks of Picket and Montgomery, and in are the less stupid picks of Hartlet and Embley. Hmm... yes still leaves a little to be desired.

But according to round one I have picked a few potential money bombs - Nicoski, Mundy, Kennelly and Burton. Signs look good for a better season from the master coach, yours truly.

 

But for all you Supercoach die-hard fans, here's some of my look out players for this season (with a little help from Round1 results):

 

Backs - Birchall (reasonable price, had a good game, has been consistent), Jake King (a new but older player... meaning he won't be a totally spaz when it comes to decision-making and has alot of courage and drive to play the game), Nicoski (was chosen for the 06 winning side, and also is set for a full-time spot, tend to hit targets with his kicks).

 

Mids - Stanton (great pre-season, and only has a slightly lower price as he had a bad run with injury late in 07 - prior to that had a 100+ average), Mclean (will play hard for melbourne since he aggro'd the leadership group during pre-season.... was a star player in 06, only to loose form in 07), Murphy (3rd season for the former no1 pick, will start to look the goods soon).

 

Forwards - O'Keefe (he's good, and with the upscaling of prices this year - 520k to 100points - 512k is relatively cheap), Richardson (this guy is a power forward whom seems to have removed most of his clangers in the last year), Tredrea (champion players don't fade away that easily, if his knees are good then he'll kick 4 goals a game... his price is worth that risk).

 

Rucks - Simmonds (cheap cheap, no 1 ruck for Richmond), Lade (all-australian and at that price?).

 

So those are some good picks I think, as for my team? It's listed below:

 

Backs - H.Shaw, Kennelly, Goddard, Mundy, Bock, Bradshaw, Nicoski

Centres - Mitchell, Cross, Stanton, Embley, Pearce, Stevens

Ruck - Lade, Simmonds

Forwards - B.Johnson, Lloyd, Richardson, Hall, Burton, Thompson, Gamble

 

So far it looks good, with Kennelly, Mundy, Richardson and Burton all doing exceptionally well, while Bradshaw, Nicoski, Stevens, Simmonds and Gamble all doing as much as I expected them to. The only bummers are Bock, Embley, Pearce and Hall whom I tipped to have comeback seasons. But it's early days and things will unfold.

 

Enough with football, the last topic is indeed on magic drafting. I'm a bit bummed because my friends wanted a TS block draft, while I opted for CS. One CS seemed fun and no one has the cards, two I am poor and wanted to draft cheaply. So here's an idea for next time - Sylvan Games draft - http://sylvangames.com/product_info.php?cPath=47_123&products_id=16365

 

$22 = 8 player draft.... sure they probably aren't stupid enough to stash a Tolarian Academy or Morphling into the boosters, but hey you might just get something good like Digeridoo or Hot Springs.

 

Justin if you are buying from Sylvan Games, I'd like to just get 100 random rares for $40.00.... = $0.40 a rare! Bargain! All I need is to hit a Goyf and I break even!

 

Anyways Song of the Day - 'Boys In Town' by Divinyls. Super rocking song from the New Wave era.... woopee!

 

 

 

Anyways have a safe and Happy Easter everyone, gogo Jesus Power! Don't forget about Him while hunting for your eggs!

 

Marcus

Well once again i am blogging way after the fact that I promised that I would, but I finally found a few reasons to say stuff.

 

One of the things I got from my 21st was a Nintendo DS (my fav, I love it), along with Brain Training. Now as I did my brain age check today, it did something very tricky and very nasty to me. After finishing my Brain Test, it proceeded to give me an age score (with 20 being the best). I felt like I did ok today, not the best, but fairly decent - I am actually getting faster at counting from 1 to 120 believe it or not (is it a bad thing if my fifty's sound like fiddy.... i.e. fiddy cent style?). Anyways, it suddenly gave me the score of.....

 

.....

*suspense appropriate now*

 

....

 

75!

 

 

What the? How am I that old in the mind? I may be angry like an old geezer, but my brain is definitely not in it's final stages.

I shrugged my shoulders and then tapped the screen..... and then it says "Oh I calculated your age wrong.... woops..... your real age is 26."

Oh what..... the..... fudge? Since when were electronic programs allowed to make deceiving jokes? I hate being outwitted by technology! Especially when it's Nintendo. You can kill me in Super Mario, shove blue shells up my ass in Mario Kart, force me to listen to Navi in Zelda, but falsifying my brain age..... that's just overstepping the line Nintendo!

 

Needless to say I am not very happy with Brain Training.... we are not on speaking terms.

 

 

 

But speaking of unhappiness.... let's talk cricket. And allow me to be the first to be irate..... oh what? Everyone beat me to it? Sigh.

In seriousness, things have just gotten out of hand for something that is just sport. People abusing Ponting's parents over the phone? What the fuck is wrong with you? Don't you have like.... a family to care about.... or a job? Wait..... that's right, no one wants to date/hire a socially-void person like that.

 

Now this may sound wierd, I am about to attempt rational arguements to voice my opinion on a topic. It's true, I do use my brain, unlike 90% of the people who have gone burko over the issue.

Firstly let's break down the India-Australia debacle into three separate topics.

1. Sportsmanship

2. Umpiring

3. Tribunal

 

The problem here is I feel that people are blurring these issues together and blaming Australia (or rather Ponting) for all these things, which he is clearly not responsible for.

 

1. Sportsmanship, or rather, did Ponting and the rest of the Aussie Cricket Team act in a way that is unacceptable?

Well.... firstly unacceptable to whom? We can't mean to the ICC or in accordance with the rules of the game, for I don't recall there being a problem with standing your ground (correct me if I am wrong) until the umpire gives you out or appealing in the game. Anyways the ICC haven't reported/fined any player over the way they play cricket (bar Hogg) so we can assume that this question is in the context of the public opinion.

 

Well first issue - standing your ground. This is my own opinion, but I believe that this is entirely upto your own decision as a player. One view is that you should be honest and walk always, the other is that you hold your ground until the umpire gives you out. There are all sorts of decision in cricket, some are in favour of you, some are not. I don't blame players who choose to hold their ground, one day they have a lifeline, the next day they are out due to a dodgey lbw or caught behind decision. I'm of the view that if it's in the rules, it's ok. Change the rules, not blame the player. Remember this - Cricket is a profession, players are playing for their careers. In a cutthroat industry where the next rising star threatens to supplant you, why wouldn't you do everything you can to maximise your runs on the board? Analogy - If someone accidently changes you less for a product by mistake, do you say something or not? Your choice. But people are going to understand why you choose a certain decision, there is incentive either way.

 

Contentious catches - i.e. claiming catches that are dubious. We are speculating here whether or not a fielder believes they genuinely caught the ball, or if they are trying to decieve the umpire. Who knows? Now I know people will say that Ponting's catch was grounded, but we can imagine three possibilities. Either he knew he grounded the ball, knows Australia are in desperate need of wickets, and appeals for a catch. Or he is uncertain whether or not the catch is clean, and appeals anyway in hope of a wicket (a 50% lie if you like....i.e. he doesn't know whether he caught it or not, but appeals anyways). But people seem to forget the third option - that he genuinely believes he caught it. Imagine this, ball comes flying towards u at a blistering pace of the bat, your reflexes kick in and u leap to grab the ball to your side. You feel the ball firmly plug into your hand, and then you hit the ground. Your emotions run wild, your heart starts to beat fast. In your mind, you have just made a sensational catch that could change the tide of the game, and as the third umpire looks at the catch, you keep playing it back in your mind and say, "There is no way I grounded that ball..... I could feel it in my hand, the side of my hand was resting on the ground but I couldn't feel the ball on the ground so thus I definitely caught it!". Some will laugh at that suggestion but with all that adrenaline at work, if you took a 'catch' like that you would feel like it's a catch. Anyways the third umpire gave it not out, so it didn't affect the game so to speak. That one should be left to bed.

 

Interestingly I've seen plenty of contentious catches like that in recent time (the last month). SL V England - Peterson caught in slips after a juggling act between two fielders. Vision is inconclusive of whether the ball was grounded or not. WI V South Africa - a SA fielder grabs one after a specular run down of a skyer.... he claims the catch confidently after a diving effort, but vision later suggests it may have been grounded too. Did anyone bother to question the integrity of these players? No? If not why? Are they liars or deceivers, or genuine believers? Would it have been different if it was Australia V India?

 

Appealing - was Gilchrist right to appeal for a caught behind? This assumes that Gilchrist knew that the ball wasn't knicked. It may be possible that Gilchrist didnt exactly know, and appealed in blind hope. The other thing is, the team would have been runing on adrenaline at that point.... wouldn't you get excitable and shout at everything? I don't exactly blame them, although maybe they could have toned down the appealing. It leads to another point - is it the players fault or the umpires fault? Personally I say that umpires should never be swayed by the fielding team (although they may be) and a decision should be made based on their own judgement. I agree that Australia need to not appeal when it's down right ridiculous, but I don't blame Gilchrist for getting excited over that caught behind appeal. I believe it's a change that needs to be made on the umpiring side, as I will bring up later.

 

Again I have seen wicketkeepers appeal over caught behind decisions that turn out to be not caught behind at all. Prior from England springs to mind recently, but we won't see the last of this that's for sure. But should we criticise every single Wicketkeeper in the world then? Maybe umpires need to get a better clue. Anyways Gilchrist is a fairly honest player, relative to other cricketers. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. If he did indeed try to decieve the umpire, well it's not a good thing, but it's a sign that umpiring needs to be modernised. Men will be men, and no one will be 100% truthful at all times.

 

Celebrations - This need not be expanded much. I think it is ok for the Australian team to be over-joyed by a tight finish. When a tennis player wins a grand slam, isn't it ok for he/she to collapse to the ground and make a big scene, before shaking the opponents hand? The Aussies celebrated first, but I did see handshakes after the game and that is a good thing. Hey, even the great humble Roger Federer is a big celebrater.... look at Wimbledon, he was overjoyed because he won a close one against Nadal. And good on him. Note to remember, Singh went a bit 'ape-like' after dismissing Ponting. If we critique Australia, India is not free from blame either.

*edit: I just read a post that the team failed to shake Kumble's hand.... if they didn't after the game then that's very disappointing indeed

 

It will always be debated whether or not the Australians need to improve their 'sportsmanship'. They act according to the rules of the game, but their aggressive style does not rub off well on some teams. Sledging and sport go hand in hand in Australia, so this would be rather offensive and personal to many touring nations... I'm can't decide if Australia need to tone in down to banter or if other teams need to toughen up (both i think). But let's remember, the umpire's decision is final (this is true sportsmanship). If the umpire gives a player not out, then he is not out. If we look at the other side, are India being unsportsman-like by saying only one team played in the spirit of the game? Where are the congratulations? Where is the I look forward to next game? Where is the I accept that umpires make mistakes? Where is the we may have had a few decisions go against us, but we didn't play well enough to win? India are letting their disappointment bring the game into disarray..... so let's say that Australia and India need to both improve their manners.

AFL is a good example of close games - umpires affecting the game, but players being able to move on after a loss and focus on improvement, not blaming the umpire (I'm thinking of Richo and the dreamtime game). Richo was disappointed, but he moved on and focused on the next game.

Does anyone remember the 05 ashes series? One game the Aussies lost by 2 runs. The last decision was a strange one, it wasn't focused on much, but it may or may not have been correct. But it wasn't such that Australia were cheated, but rather Australia didn't play well enough to win. If a game is won and lost by a small margin decided by the Umpires, a team deserves to loose. If you want to win, play better, and make sure that you win convincingly without arguement.

 

 

2. Umpiring

OK let's keep this a seperate issue, don't ask for Ponting's head over things that are decided by the umpires. Umpires need to be impartial and adjudicate according to what they see, rather than rely on the reactions of the fielding team. All teams are guilty of trying to 'mislead' the umpire at one time or another, it's inevitable.... whether it be due to adrenaline, desperation, etc. Naturally the best teams in any sport in the world are going to be aggressive in nature (AFL, soccer/football) and cricket is no exception. Fielders are going to ask the umpires questions, it's why umpires are there in the first place (or else there would be many brawls on the field). If you watched Australia V India in India for the ODI series recently, India were also very aggressive in their fielding too (hehehe Screesanth) but this I believe is actually a good thing. Who wants to see a boring game with no passion?

"Oh dear, i think I am out LBW"

"Naww it's ok.... I'll give you the benefit of the doubt....."

"Really?"

"Yeah, what's a cricket game between you and me?"

 

Sorry that was rather cynical, back to constuctive prose.

 

Anyways personally I like to see a hard fought contest, and naturally appealing ensures. So the real question is how are we going to accomodate for this new age in ultra-professional cricket?

 

Simple - bring in technology..... remove the doubt.

But we don't need to remove the human interaction, as suggested in The Age. We can adopt the tennis system - a 2 chance policy per day or innings. Both the fielding team and the batting team reserve the right to appeal to the 3rd umpire for any decisions made when it comes to wickets. If they believe that an incorrect call has been made by the umpire, they may use a 'chance' to force the 3rd umpire to assess a decision. If the calling team is vindicated and found to have made a successful challenge, then the decision is overturned and is final. If the 3rd umpire finds the calling team to be incorrect, the calling team looses a 'chance'. When the calling team has zero chances left, it may no longer appeal to the third umpire. Simple right?

 

Here's an example.

e.g.1. Symonds knicks the ball to the keeper and stands his ground. Umpire gives him not out. India have 2 chances to appeal. They decide to appeal to the third umpire. The third umpire finds that Symonds has indeed knicked the ball, and gives him out. India still have 2 chances to appeal, and Symonds must leave the ground.

 

e.g.2. Dravid misses the ball and it goes straight to the keeper. Dravid is given out, but he decides to appeal to the third umpire, who then gives him not out. India had 1 chance remaining, but since they were successful, they remain on 1 chance remaining.

 

e.g.3 The same scenario, but the umpire gives Dravid not out. The Fielding Team appeals to the third umpire, and has 2 chances remaining. However the third umpire says he is not out, and Australia now only have 1 chance remaining.

 

Easy to understand right? Anyways I can picture this style of system being implemented in the modern game soon. It's a great way to promote honesty in the game as a team is not going to appeal a decision if they know it is false. 

 

The point is that umpires are necessary in a game where honesty is not always going to told.  Umpires need to take more control over the game, and this would remove any arguement India has with Australia's appealing. That would end the bad blood, there would be more correct decisions, and fans would be more happy.

Oh yeah, and don't ever ask players on a ground about umpiring decisions, not matter what sport. Period.

 

3. Tribunal

Ok this system is where is believe it is seriously flawed. It is wrong to have a system solely based on a tit-for-tat he said she said system. I believe that the umpires need to be key witnesses if there is to be any credibility in banning a player for breach of conduct.

Also I believe in seeing the best teams play. If something is said on the field, it should be resolved and left at the field. Move on.

There are some exceptions however, and this is neccessary to maintain the integrity of the game.

No violence is acceptible. No striking/gougling etc.

No taunts on race/religeon/social and ethnical background, etc. We need to promote understanding and friendship in our community, and set standards for society.

 

However although I disagree with the way Singh was banned, from the evidence I heard so far (that may or may not be correct) I believe that Ponting has done his team and country proud. Singh called Symonds a 'monkey', which doesn't sound very bad.... but we can look at some preceeding events.

In the recent ODI series in India, the crowd singled out Symonds and called him a 'monkey'. Regardless of whether the crowd was calling him a monkey as a general insult or as a racial taunt, both the Australian and Indian cricket officials decided that it would be interpretted as a racial slur and any future reference to the term 'monkey' in relation to Symonds would not be tolerated. So if Singh did call Symonds a 'monkey', this make Singh one of two things. He is either foolish, or racist. Foolish in the sense that 'monkey' was clearly outlined as a taboo word that would be ruled as a racist slur, and if Singh used this term merely to put off Symonds or even to retaliate to any banter between the two, this still makes Singh extremely stupid. For example in the AFL, (I do not mean this in a derrogatory manner, please excuse me) if it was clearly outlined to me that the word 'abbo' is extremely racist and discriminating towards Indigenous players, if I ran upto David Wirripanda and called him an 'abbo' just to put him off his game, would I not deserve to be reprimanded severly for it? So Singh, knowing full well that the word 'monkey' in relation to Symonds would be interpretted by the ICC to be racist towards Symonds, still decided to use that word to describe Symonds making him either foolish in his choice of words or a racist for using them on purpose. Take your pick.

 

So why then are we calling for Ponting to loose his place? It's all very puzzling.... people seem to be blurring his agressive appealing, bad umpiring and taking a stand on racism? It's all very strange.

 

Anyways if you just calm down and have a good think about it, remember to break up the problems into three separate topics and it's fine. Ponting is no saint on the field, and there is room for improvement. We must remember that agressive play is good for the game, but umpires need to take control. Technology is a must. India too needs to be accountable for its actions, and realise that although they have been extremely hard done by the umpires, that they have not acted in an appropriate manner after the test. And Singh? Well.... he's just an idiot.

 

All I want to see is competitive cricket. Abandon the series? Get real, it's just entertainment..... and seriously, what's better entertainment then hard fought cricket? Maybe India need to take a leaf out of Australia's page? Play hard, play fair, strive to win, never give up, and all those extra cliches. Maybe India should watch the AFL for inspiration. Either way let's just see some good cricket.

And just remember Ponting, we still want you here!

 

Note: I'm no expert on cricket, just a fan. Please don't get angry at me! I love Tendulkar? Does that smooth things over?

 

And now I am done for the post.

Marcus

 

p.s. As per all of my biased opinionated pieces, don't take it too seriously.

p.p.s. Brain Training has some attitude issues!

U know, a 21st takes weeks to prepare and only lasts for several hours. I still don't find it to be quite just either. However although the family had to bust their chops off for the last two weeks, I don't regret having my 21st one bit. And hopefully everyone who came had a great time too.

 

So here's the rundown of what happened last friday.

 

8.00am: Dad rushes into my room where I am still happily asleep, abruptly wakes me up to tell me that the music is now officially working. Because a 21st without any music is like a 1-legged duck that looses another leg. And no one wants to be a duck with no legs.

 

9.30am: Wake up for a second time. Damn I'm tired, considering I spent the previous night trying to get stuff to happen. I am so glad you can only turn 21 once.

 

11.30am: Go to Box Hill to get the cake. Yay, travelling down Station Street before your 21st birthday with all the crazy asian pedestrians that walk right out in front of your car. Happy Birthday Marcus. Before actually getting the cake we stop by Box Hill Central to pick up a few things - only to realise that Central is still very much a hole. Go to the chemist to pick up some aeroguard (yeah that was really wierd considering I was in asian-ville). Not only this but I get served by a non-asian assistant. The mind boggles. Finally I pick up the cake, it's shaped as a key and is chocolate and has fruits on it. This design has been altered to be more manly, but to be honest I preferred the design of the girly cake in the pictures. Wait I did not just say that.

 

2.00pm: Get home, start inflating balloons. I'm proud of myself because for the first time in my life I worked out how to tie balloons consistently. i'm tempted to stand up and pump my fists in the air, but opt not too due to the fact that I am dizzy from blowing up balloons. Decide to turn the cricket on and watch the first Chappel-Hadlee game. NZ actually do fairly well, and look on track to post a 275+ score. "Well this is a welcome turn-around", I say to myself.

 

4.00pm: Help to take the massive tv down to the backyard. Wait why am I helping my sisters plot my own demise? I also get an sms from Ken saying that he will be at the station at 5.30. That seems all well until Justin smses me and says that he will be at the staton at 5.50. Can people learn to synchronise properly? Geez, you guys would fail at being James Bond.

 

5.00pm: Tandy arrives early after getting a lift with my dad. Surprisingly Tandy is a cricket fan and use to play club cricket. He doesn't seem the type since he likes things like MTG, he even says he doesn't mind fast bowlers bowling to him. Hmm.... he might be more sporty than I realised.

Soon after Eileen and X arrive. Reinforcements! Eileen helps me to put up decorations and a variety of things, and holds the fort while I take X and Tandy with me and we pick up the other two guys from the station. We also listen to the radio and realise that NZ has crumbled in a slow yet predictable manner. Well atleast they are consistent.

 

6.00pm: Get home, start to get a little anxious.... I wonder when people will start to arrive.

 

6.15pm: Screw this we are putting some music on, if you don't want to hear Will Smith's Miami, that's your decision.

 

6.30pm: People start to arrive, and the fun begins.

 

So it all starts off as a pretty standard get together, nothing too fancy. We had caterers come over for food, which was yum (we had turkey, beef and pork) and some light beer and premix drinks (we purposely limited the alcohol quantities available.... no drunken dillemmas here, especially not from me). Actually as usual I was responsible and throughout the night I had only 4 drinks. So there was plenty of bad music, and alot of reminising (which Darren obviously did not enjoy).

Speeches were great, especially from Darren and Ken (you can always trust Ken to not humilate you). Thanks guys it meant alot to me.

Similar my sisters put on a little video show about my earlier years. They also mentioned that I use to run away from video games when they got scary. Well you know what? Mickey Mouse was some scary s**t!

Actually it was only late at night when it started to get slightly more fun. While I was trying to entertain, Sen started to show people amazing card tricks. I have to see it sometime. People started to leave, and when it started to get more mellow, I decided to throw on the quiz then. Didn't quite go to plan but it was still super fun. I'm still shocked that DB knew that the spinoff to 90210 is Melrose Place. The prizes for the winning group were a Mr. Strong figurine, Battleship travelset, Uno, Terminator 2 the movie and Michael Jackson's essential collection. Tell me they aren't cool prizes?

After Darren left and the party really mellowed down, all of a sudden we started playing backyard cricket somehow..... I don't know how that happened but I swear I didn't instigate it. It was insane playing cricket under flood lights, for real! Fielding was a bit dodgey tho, especially when u can only see outlines of people and all of a sudden there's this black lump of shadow about to collect your face. DB is way too good. I think he retired not out, and could read the ball coming out of everyone's hands. And I was the only one to get clean bowled between middle and off from a fast top-spinning yorker from Ken. Ouch. I think I did ok though.

Ken, Justin, X, DB and Rhys stay the night. Rhys sleeps early due to having to rise early, while the rest of us duke it out in Mario Kart and Smash Bros. The 64 is still awesome. We then end up placing the Transformers original movie in the background and duke it out in a couple of games of Magic. We are totally cool aren't we? In the end we end up sleeping at 5.30, before Rhys wakes me up at 8 to leave for work. In the morning we catch the repeat of the cricket, and then go to the Pancake Parlour for breakfast before proceeding to send everyone home.

 

All in all it was an awesome time, I didn't include everything but you probably had to be there to know what I mean. It was a really mellow but comfortable time outside with some really good whether and some really bad music. Just how I wanted it (although probably not how you would want it). But everyone I speak to said they had a good time and I hope that they meant it. I had a great time anyways, but next time I'll keep it a bit smaller and with just closer friends over to play some games, listen to some music, or maybe go out bowling or something. I refuse to take that crazy big tv downstairs ever again.

 

I now have to go to work, but next blog I will post up the songlist for the night as by request, as well as details such as presents I received.

 

Photos up soon when I cbb.

Till next time!

 

Marcus

Omg now I finally understand the Ted Turner reference in Robot Chicken's Captain Planet skit! Warning: Very vulgar.

 

Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, is a big supporter of enviromentalism and it is he who created Captain Planet. So there, and interesting piece of trivia. Man I will never get over that skit. Is it wrong if I find it incredibly funny and down right stupid?

 

Anyways I'm currently still arranging things for my party, and man sometimes I wish I had Captain Planet as my motivational speaker.... "The power is YOURS!" The worst part (and the longest part) is the cleaning up job. Ugh. I still haven't worked out a good way to play music outside either. Currently we are thinking about dragging my stereo outside. Now here are some ideas:

 

1. Use a fm transmitter to go from ipod to stereo via a fm signal. Cons - soft, need to turn volume up full ball, may be prone to interference if there is a radio station that has a similar frequency.

2. burn to cds. Cons - 3 cds worth only = 3 hours..... probably not enuff to get all the songs i want.

3. Borrow an amp from Justin. Cons - haven't tested it outside, not sure how well it will work.

 

Anyone else got a better idea? Music makes me a bit nervous.... but for those who read this, here is a sneek peek of the music available:

(All of these songs are confirmed, you can't make me not play them.... muah ha ha ha I am like totally evil scientist).

Miami - Will Smith, Thriller - MJ, Return of the Mack - Mark Morrison, Everybody wants to rule the world - tears for fears, I can make you feel good - Kavana, Leave a light on - Belinda Carlisle, Brimful of Asha - Cornershop, Accidentally in love - Counting Crows, livin on a prayer - Bon Jovi, summer of 69 - bryan adams, roses - outkast, God Knows - Aya Hirano (i.e. song for ken & X), Come on Eileen - dexy's midnight runners (i.e. song for eileen), My Sharona - the knack, Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins, the Touch - Stan Bush (i.e. song for Justin), House of Love - East17, I will do anything for love(but i won't do that) - Meatloaf, love Shack - b52's, Atomic - Blondie, Rebel Yell - Billy Idol, The Final Countdown (i.e. song for Danielbrendan, Justin etc), Like a Prayer - Madonna, Another Night - Real McCoy, She's got the Look - Roxette, That don't impress me much - Shania Twain, Hey Mickey - Toni Basil, Love is all around - Wet Wet Wet, You could be mine - Guns N Roses, Just A girl - No Doubt, Turning Japanese - The Vapours, Black & White - MJ, Step back in time - Kylie, Counting the Beat - The Swingers.

 

Now Darren, request a song coz i don't have a song for you yet. Anyone else want a song?

I need more songs guys! And yes I will add to that list, What I've Done by Linkin Park. Feed me more songs or else you'll have to listen to my demented song choices. Plz help me help you!!!!

 

 

 

Now Darren was saying that he needs help to build a MTG deck. Well me being the loser I am, I reckon I can build a a pretty bad a cheap one for you. here's the deck list:

 

'What tactics?' - a bad red deck, all commons! Type 2 (i.e. all cards are in print), so the cards are available.

 

4 Raging Goblin -> First turn cast and damage.... yay!

4 Simian Spirt Guide -> mana acceleration

4 Bogardan Lancer -> Do some damage to them first (via creatures or burn, then drop this creature: unbuffed it can take down a 3/3 creature)

4 Skirk Shaman -> It has evasion, so you can buff this bad boy to finish them off.

4 Keldon Halberdier -> Pay the suspend costs - you can drop it first turn, and later on use a fury charm if need be to get it into play by 3 turn, and it can safely take out a 4/4 creature.

 

4 Fists of Anvil -> Buff spell, quick way to deal damage

4 Brute Force -> A great buff spell once for green, now it's red!

4 Rift Bolt -> Incinerates for cheapos

4 Shock -> Standard burn, great for picking off important elves, slivers, etc. Sometimes if your lucky a shock to the face is enough to tip the game in your favour.

4 Fury Charm -> Utility: Either trample your way through with your buffed creature or destroy that pesky artifact or get u're halberdier into play faster.

 

20 Mountains

 

Sideboard:

4 Dead//Gone -> sideboard in for decks that have fat creatures or have important creatures.

4 Lightning Axe -> Purely for nuking fat creatures.

 

Ok so how does this work? It's quite simply red's bad attempt to make a cheap cheap rush deck that is associated with green. What Red lacks in mana acceleration, it gains in burn. Use the spirit guides for mana rather than cast them, pretty much just drop as many creatures as you can asap, and start attacking. Use your buff spells to start dealing them damage in record time. Generally save your burn spells to pick off their creatures, unless you are getting very close to winning the game.

 

Ok so does this deck suck? Yes it does. Can it be improved? Yup, I bet ken has ideas. Is it cheap? Very. Is it fun? Yup!

 

Song of the day - 'Counting the Beat' - The Swingers.

 

Look at the sunrise
I look at it burn
I look into your eyes
Don't know where to turn
I'm gonna drift into that void
I'm flying through space, I'm an asteroid
Time doesn't take place when you're paranoid
I'm thinking about you, and nothing else
Thinking about you, you're thinking about me
Thinking about you, I'm counting the beat
Thinking about you
Thinking about me
Thinking about just you and me, la da de de, there ain't no place I'd rather be
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!

I'm bleeding to death
On a cloudless day
A three, a four heartbeat
A waltzin' away...
Oooh ooh, oo oo
Oooh ooh, oo oo
Oooh ooh, oo oo
Oooh ooh, oo oo
I'm counting the beat 2 3 4 5, I'm feeling the heat to be alive
I'm counting the beat 6 7 8 9, I'm wishing that you,
That you were mine
Thinking about you, you're thinking about me
Thinking about you and counting the beat
Thinking about you
Thinking about me
Thinking about you...
Thinking about me...
Thinking about you.....
Thinking about,
Just you and me, la da de de, there ain't no place I'd rather be
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da
La da de da, la da de da, la da de da, la da de da

Did I have to include all those la da de da's? Yes.

Should you suggest your fav songs for my bday? Yes.

 

Marcus? Yes.