Monday, October 16, 2017

"Nakaligtaan"


"Nakaligtaan"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I
Wala ka na naman
sa birthday , pabinyag at debut
ikakasal na lang ba
ililibing na lang ba
Wala ka pa din ba?

II
Umaasa na darating.
Pero wala pa rin.
Naospital at lumabas na
Di mo man lang napansin.

III
Ang oras mo ay lumilipad
sa pagitan ng mga trabaho.
Sa tulog nauukol
di nasasagot ang tawag sa cellphone

IV
Hanggang nawala na ang tumatawag
At naubusan na ng birthday
kasal , debut at libing
Wala nang graduation , despidida
napuno na , napuna na
kahit nagaabang
sa cellphone wala nang tatawag.

TM Kalaw , 10/07/2017 9:33am

Friday, October 13, 2017

"Pauper Kings: Black Dire Pirates!"


"Pauper Kings: Black Dire Pirates!"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I never thought I would be playing Pirates but heck there were a lot of commons that had these scalawags that I just had to try my hand in making a standard pauper deck. I will start with the basic black version and while I want to complain about the lack of Ships in the vehicle slots , it seems that my poor pirates would have to go on their raiding on foot.

With this being said it would still be a kick ass deck that features this not so old tribe.So read on me mateys. Time for our pirate raid to commence.

22 x Swamps
____________________
22 Lands

4 x Direfleet Hoarder
4 x Desperate Castaways
4 x Deadeye Tormenter 
4 x Direfleet Interloper
____________________
16 creatures


4 x Duress
4 x Vanquish the weak
3 x Costly Plunder
3 x Contract Killing
3 x Mark of the Vampire
3 x Prying blade 
2 x Pirate's cutlass
_____________________
22 Other spells

First the deck offers disruption of your opponents hand by playing a set of the reprinted Duress and a set of the Deadeye Tormentor that also makes your opponent discard a card if you attacked with a creature this turn. With this deck we would be doing a lot of that. 


Then we have two creatures that seem to rely on each other. Both cost the same and have similar power but Dire Fleet Hoarder dies easier and gives you a treasure. Desperate Castaways on the other hand is a lot tougher but cannot attack without you having an artifact in play. Easily remedied with the treasures that will come out from the former creature and from Contract Killing which gives you a solid removal and 2 treasures as well.



I also included 3 Prying blades that could make a pirate stronger and also give you more treasure! Pirate's cutlass may cost 3 mana but it equips to target pirate when it comes in to play making it bigger by +2/+1. I imagine it attaching to a Dire fleet Interloper and this pirate going to town with Menace!

Costly plunder is here for instant card drawing.Vanquish the weak  and Contract Killing round out your need for removal.Mark of the Vampire let's you race with your opponent. A Menace creature with Lifelink usually signals the turn in your favor.

The deck has mana acceleration in the treasures itself. So card draw , removal and disruption. All that is needed is to test it now. So who wants to go on a pirate raid with me?

"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal Letter to Patients:Dysmenorrhea edition"


"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal Letter to Patients:Dysmenorrhea edition"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Dear Beloved Patients,

Nais ko pong ipabatid na ako ay isang Doctor. Ako din po ay lumaki kasama ang aking nanay at mga tiyahin. Ako po ay may asawa at dalagitang anak.

Kaya kung sasabihin mo na di ko naiintindihan ang epekto ng dysmenorrhea sa katawan mo dahil ako ay isang lalaki ay isang insulto. Yung mga taon na nakita ko ang epekto nito sa mga babae sa buhay ko ay mga bagay na di mo alam kaya pinapatawad na kita.(after ko magfile ng IR).

Kung sabagay alam ko na sinabi mo lang yun nung nalaman mo na di kita pauuwiin dahil lang diyan at sa excuse mo na ayaw mong uminom ng gamot dahil pinagbawalan ka ng OB mo. Ang OB mo na di mo alam ang pangalan at wala ang number sa cellphone.

Bakit alam ko na gusto mo lang magpauwi? Aba ni wala kang dalang extrang damit. Kung buwan buwan mong nararanasan yan tulad ng sinasabi mo eh di ba dapat handa ka na para diyan? Eh hindi naman. So di ko alam kung sino sa atin ang di nakakaintindi ng kundisyon mo. Sa mga nakita ko sa mahal ko sa buhay parte na yan ng buwanang dalaw. Wala sa kanila ang nagpauwi o nagpaospital o nagsabi na di sila papasok ng opisina o eskwela. Pero iba iba naman tayo. At least alam ko yun.

Kaya Ate next time kung masama ang pakiramdam mo panindigan mo na masama talaga ang pakiramdam mo at wag kang pumasok. Imagine , naligo ka, nagprepare ng gamit , nagmake up , sumakay ng bus or jeep papuntang opisina at nilakad ang malalayong corridor papunta sa clinic. Parang di ata kayang gawin yun ng taong nasa 8/10 na ang pain scale.

So research muna ng kaunti or umattend ng mas magandaing acting workshop para sa susunod mas convincing. Ok?

Di masyadong nagmamahal sa kakulitan mo,

Doc June.

"Midweek Magic October 2017 #37: Strong to the Last"


"Midweek Magic October 2017 #37: Strong to the Last"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

By the time that I have written this my friend Ram has already come and gone by the office and we have had our last games together as officemates. Well him being from the company and me being in the company clinic.

It was a tough few days seeing him do his clearances and the thought that one of the best players I have ever faced will no longer be playing on the same table as me for awhile. 

So for his last day as an employee of the company I decided that I will not be the archenemy. I will be the Minion Support. We play a version of Archenemy where if there are 4 or more players we could have an ally that can be support or designated hitter for the Archenemy.

I guess I could not bring myself to fight against him for these last games so I opted to fight alongside him for a change. It was also an odd sensation fighting alongside him because we were so used to me being the receiving end of counters and attacking creatures. Tonight it was different. I wanted to send him off victorious in this field of battle.

And Victorious we were. 



And there were times in the games that I felt superflous as his deck and tactics seemed to be able to ensure of his win all by themselves. Like the time he pulled off everyone's "favorite control combo" the dreaded Stasis and then Capsized it back at the end of our opponents turns so that we would have the only permanents to untap on each of the succeeding turns. Locking down everyone else isn't a great feeling except for the one doing the Lock down.

I will always remember the stupidly strong combos and the oppressive ways that you torment us my friend. Another will rise to take your place but you will always have that spot reserved when you come back. Strong to the last. We will welcome you back on that day.

"3 things I have seen this week:Nurse offerings"


"3 things I have seen this week:Nurse offerings"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

And before this topic turns into dirty territory I would like to make clear that no nurse has offered herself to me. And I am not of the habit of taking if offered. So let us get our minds from the gutter and read the three things I have seen offered to me by the nurses that I work with this week.

1) Dark Goya Chocolate.

Goya Fun factory has been a part of my life growing up and so I ended up loving their chocolates. This week I was give 2 Goya Dark Chocolates by the same nurse because she said that it was her dead mothers favorite. While that sounds a bit creepy I guess this is part of her mourning process.Let us just leave it at that and I will not mention other creepy things.

2) Nuts and Rebisco 

On my 2nd day back at a company I used to work for in QC. I was given a paper plate full of nuts and  a single Strawberry Rebisco sandwich which I forgot to eat. I was grateful though because this nurse is helping me each day to transition back to my old job.



3) Gossips and Laughter

What does a man who has everything want? Appreciation of course and nothing says that you are appreciated like a good gossip and someone who laughs at your jokes willingly. I am glad that I am updated in the things at this particular clinic and that I am appreciated enough that I matter there.


See.There was nothing gutter like in this post right? Except maybe Mani and Pink Rebisco. I would let your minds ponder on that one.

"Where to?"


"Where to?"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

The post asked: "If you could just get up and leave where would you go?"

It was interesting to read what some people wrote. Some wrote places that they probably could not reach in a thousand years. Some wrote places on the planet like Stone Henge or Machu Pichu. Some wrote sa Puso mo like that is something that people can achieve.

When it was my turn I found myself freezing in front of my laptop. Surely there are things that I wanted to go. Places that I have been wanting to go since I was a small child and yet I could not type them.When I got home I realized why that was as my wife was asking me to go to sleep in the afternoon with her.

It was because I would be going alone. If I could leave all my duties behind , the life that I have now to just be in a place then I would not do it. People feel the loss of individuality when you get married or have children because it seems like you become one of the crowd. The Familial crowd who seems to conform to certain standards. I don't feel that way though. Being part of my family , Aven , Steph and Me is being part of an exclusive club. You either have to be married in or be born in this super exclusive thing. With no exceptions.


I cannot imagine going on a trip all by myself now. Yes it would be less stressful because I would just be taking care of myself. It would be a lot quiet too without the two women in my life with me. But these will be times that Silence becomes deafening for me because I will miss their voices and their arguments and complaints and requests.

If I would get up and leave I will not be leaving alone. I will be leaving with these two. So if the question was framed as "if you could just get up and leave with your family where would you go?" I would have to say Japan , Venice and Scotland. In that order.

Time to save up then.


"Ikot ng Paghahanap"


"Ikot ng Paghahanap"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I
Naghahanap pa din ng sagot
kahit na alam nang wala
pinipilit na mayroon kahit
wala wala wala

II
At patuloy ang pagwawala
sa bawat kanto at tindahan
Tinda lang ng tinda
nagpapakita kung gaano kagahaman


III
Ang gahaman ay naninita
at nagagalit ang nasisita
At kahit na mali naghahanap
Naghahanap ng masasagot sa kanya.


TM Kalaw 10/07/2017 9:20am