"Drowning"

"Drowning"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I am drowning in your waves

even though you are miles away

I choke at the thought of your smile

and I yearn for it anyway

II

I know my reality

may never mingle with yours

We are too far in the circles

to ever orbit with any force

III

So I drown myself to this droning beat

and feel these energies in me

I think of that smile somehow

close my eyes and I am slowly fading.

Optum  , Quezon City. April 9 , 2019. 2:47am

Plunderers Dance Ball

"Plunderers Dance Ball"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

After they have been convicted and sent to jail and freed.You have a pair of plunderers who are bombarding you with campaign jingles every minute it seems. The election is almost here and it is a safe bet that these two might still be winning on recall alone. No amount of arguing can help it.One is a good boy and one is good looking while dancing to your hearts. Yeah.

They are asking you if they can still your hard earned tax money again and come Monday a vast majority will be saying yes. Why yes take away our money. Yey. Not.

(Insert Budots Jingle here.)

"No Love for Ghost?"

"No Love for Ghost?"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

After the battle of Winterfell Jon instructs his friend Tormund Giant's Bane to bring Ghost with him as he returns to Castle Black up north. Jon did not go near the Dire wolf. Did not say anything. Did not pet the Direwolves head or say good boy after everything that they have been through.

People are upset about this but they fail to see how choked up Jon Sno is upon seeing the Dire Wolves state. A long gash on it's body and a missing right ear too.

People fail to hear his words. "South is not a place for a Dire wolf" which is his way of saying that he knows how Ghost have been through and he no longer want him to suffer for there is sure to be more battles down south. It is not that he did does not love or appreciate the Direwolf. It is just that he has his own way of saying it. Sure it could have been less abstract. A hug or a word like good boy Ghost could have been less subtle but he has his way of expressing things.

People are upset because they did not see what they wanted to see.Only it was already there. Just now in the way that they want it to be.

"Midweek Magic 2019 #16 - Chai Times battles #1 - The Boros Build up"

"Yeba lang ng Yeba"

"Midweek Magic 2019 #16 - Chai Times battles #1 - The Boros Build up"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

As much as I want it be a weekly thing conflicting schedules really in the way but this week Mark and Mau were able to play in Cha time and among the games that we played that night my most favorite was when I was able to use Aurelia the War leader once again.

I was up against Darigaaz the reborn for Mark and Wort , Brood mother for Mau. A turn 3 Legion War boss became all the difference as both of my opponents were not able to come up with a good defence and I was creating Goblins every attack step. The succeeding ones were getting a permanent +1/+1 because of the Legion War bosses Mentor mechanic. 

Things became progressively worse when I was able to play an Odric , Master Tactician in which case I can now choose which creatures block or not.

"Odric Paulate...Ghost Employee not included."

And the worst part was when Aurelia herself came into play. About this time I was creating 2 1/1 Goblins per turn that were Mentored and Unblockable. I was able to reduce Marks life down to 7 and on a second attack Mau's life down to 5.

Mark then cast a Doom Cloud for 7 on this. It was a good thing that I had Aurelia already out and 7 other creatures to sacrifice. Mau even helped by targeting Mark with a Perilous Myr for 2 damage. My Boros Angel then swooped in on my turn for it's first attack and then on the 2nd attack finished off Mau as well. Talk about Bloodthirsty.

And that was my last successful game of the night and the only game of the Boros Legion. It did not spell fun to win that easy but it felt a little good on the inside that the concepts worked.

"Ghost"

"Ghost"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

Why do I feel like when I turn

I might not see your face

Not remember that smile

And all that is left are the lies.

II

Why do I feel that when I hold you

you slip past my grasp

going straight for the things you want

and not stopping for what you might have lost.

III

Why do I turn and hope

that I will see that person you once were

And not hear your words

but feel your once beating heart.

Optum  , Quezon City. April 9 , 2019. 2:47am

"Liliana , Dreadhorde General:Always coming back to me."

"Liliana , Dreadhorde General:Always coming back to me."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

One of the highlights of my War of the Spark box opening was when I tore through a pack and opened her. It seems that she has always been following me since Innistrad days.

Liliana in her new 6 mana costing reincarnation is something that I would love to buildi an EDH deck around on. Her static ability allows you to draw a card whenever a creature you control dies.

She does not care if they die while attacking on the battlefield or if they get sacrificed or simply dealt with by a spell like Lightning bolt.You still get to draw a card.

One of the things I would probably want to try is to sacrifice a Gravecrawler to Viscera Seer , cast the Gravecrawler from my GY(assuming I have another zombie in play) and repeat the cycle again or until my black mana lasts hahahahaahha

And what happens when you don't have a creature willing to die for you? Well Lili here creates one for you.Her +1 ability lets you have a 2/2 zombie.

And if you have the creatures but have no way of sacrificing them then Lili has got you covered in that department too. Her -4 ability is a sweeper for at least two creatures.Each player sacrifice 2 creatures. And it all nets you at least 2 cards. While your opponent just probably lost their best creatures via this process you always have the abilities to resurrect your creatures.  

Her ultimate ability is an upgrade to her Liliana of the Veil ultimate ability. That version of hers allows an opponent to choose half of their permanents and wipes the rest. This -9 ability however just lets you choose 1 of each card type and sacrifices the rest. So it does not matter if you are ahead in a game when it comes to permanents Lilian can wipe your opponents board pretty quickly.

"3 things I have seen this week 2019 : Pinoy Names."

"3 things I have seen this week 2019 : Pinoy Names."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I have always found it interesting that pinoys have this overwhelming need to add as much extra letters into a name that would other wise seem elegant without the extra consonants.

1) The H is silent

I had a patient who had the name Jhaesthine. Yup. This name has too many H's in it if you ask me. A simple Justin would have supposed but noooooooo. The consonants are free let us go ahead and make out childs like difficult and make it interesting for every doctors visit or roll call.

2) Subtracting is more.

And then there are those who have names that become unique without trying by subtraction.

Me:So is your name Achelle? Parang Rachelle without the R ano?

Patient: Actually po inalis nila yung R talaga.

Yeah Achelle. It sounds like a pain somehow.

3) Less is more too

And the last patient I had was someone called Regin. I pronounced it as Rejin but she corrected me right away by saying that it was like the singer Regine Velasquez. Regine without the E. Regin.

Sigh if we are not adding extra things we are subtracting letters from what seemed like already fine names.Only in the Philippines.

Oh and as of this writing I have a late entry. Someone named Jesica....I thought it was an error on her chart or ID but that is her name. Missing that S that makes it a normal name.

"Remembering Gideon"

"Remembering Gideon"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I first met Gideon in a game in Padi's Point , SM North Edsa. I remember being annoyed at him. He kept on goading my creatures to attack him or outright killing them when they do attack the following turn. 

I thought to myself that this guy means business. I remember downing an opponent to 1 life and he comes along and all my creatures seem to dwindle until I see a Cawblade hitting me in the face or buddy Jace the Mindsculptor getting a piece of my brain and library behind the beefcake wall. I grew to hate him that day. Yes I did. 

Fast forward to 2 years back and I met Gideon yet again. My daughter with the lucky hands opened his Gideon of the Trials reincarnation and I knew that I had an EDH deck full of other Gideons waiting for this one. I loved having the big guy on my side of the board , making things difficult for my opponents instead of me. I loved him in those days. Yes I did.

So how do I feel that he is gone? I feel happy that his story has come to its fitting end. A heroes exit. A hero through and through till the end. Gideon will always be remembered as the embodiment of this ideal. He may not be perfect , he made mistakes on the way but he worked hard to be sure that he was the best version of himself and in the end redeem himself. It makes him human. It makes him believable. I will miss. Yes I will.

And so I will buy his spellbook as Magic seems to be making that available after making me feel so sad at his demise. Yes I will buy.

Midweek Magic 2019 #15 - Yisan's Last Barding Gig

"Midweek Magic 2019 #15 - Yisan's Last Barding Gig"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I always have a hard time with goodbyes. It was inevitable though. We have been talking about it for weeks but I still have a hard time. This was the last time that I will be playing with fellow mad brewer Jus Puntay as an employee of DXC. 

And he came in to the game with his trade mark Yisan deck that has become a lot more meaner as it goes head to head against Competitive EDH decks in another place where he plays.

I had to admit that the 2 doses of coffee had no effect on me this day and I was out of it for the most part. Yo , Adrian  ,Cheska and Jus. All 5 of represented what was left of the playgroup who was active. 

Yisan did his thing for the last time tonight and I was so out of it that I felt that I did not even give Jus a worthy fight and send off. At least he won though.

Buddy. Let's play again. Keep on Brewing.Never stop brewing.

"Stillborn"

"Stillborn"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

Eyes heavy , throat parched

piece by piece going to my start

With so many races to finish

I find that I am lost

II

Unable to finish

Unable to start

Just a little bit dead

with these burdens in my heart

III

Overwhelmed with the choices

Drowned by the voices

Not knowing where to turn

And so I burn.

IV

Eyes heavy slipping to sleep

Eternally slumbering

Unfinished

Unstarted.

Optum  , Quezon City. April 9 , 2019. 2:55am

"Oh My Girl - The Fifth season MV reaction: Blooming Flowers "

"Oh My Girl -  The Fifth season MV reaction: Blooming Flowers "

by:

The Vole

After 8 long months Oh my girl has come back with their first full length album , The fifth season. With the carrier single of the same name also known as SSFWL (Spring, Summer , Fall , Winter , Love). Yup the fifth season that they allude to is love that comes after the other 4. 

The 7 member girl group seem intent on one thing in this song , that is to give Miracles a heart attack with their breathy and sweet vocals from Binnie's opening lines , Mimi's low toned slow rap. That Hyojung entry at the tail of the rap is wonderful and comes early on in the song to hook you even further. The song in my opinion sounds like an addictive anime ending theme. It will not surprise me that OMG is trying to market this to a japanese audience and they have been known to come up with anime tracks almost every year since their debut.

The Fifth Season or SSFWL is a slower , dreamier song than Remember me and is more akin to Closer or Secret Garden. In fact the cymbals at the beginning of the song does remind you of Secret Garden but I guess that is where the similarities end.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is an Arin push era even if Arin has the fewest lines in this song. I have to refer to what YooA said in Weekly Idol , "Arin's part are not the  killer parts but it is because Arin does them that makes it killer." And no one can argue with YooA when Arin has the last lines whispering "Love for real" or that part where she asks the question Am I wrong?" Check those parts out in the song. Very short but very effective as Arin is utilized in the best way possible.

I have to say it here that lately OMG has been bringing out the tiara's a lot. I think they had a surplus of it since MAMA 2018! Binnie and YooA are seen wearing it. And YooA kind of chokes me up a bit in all of her appearances here as she maintains her visual dominance in the group despite the upgrades to almost all of them particularly Arin , Binnie and Jiho. 

As of this writing this MV has already has 1.8M views the fastest ever in OMG's 4 year history and one cannot help but be proud of that achievement as a Miracle. There are more of us now. The tours earlier in the year helped out a lot. And I am looking forward to the music show wins next week. Go OMG. Fighting!