Thursday, February 28, 2019

"The Persistent Petitioners and Me."


"The Persistent Petitioners and Me."
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I smiled the other day when I realized why I liked Persistent Petitioners so much. It's effect is cool and warrants my attention for my next project but that is not the reason why I smiled. These guys reminded me of my daily life as a Company Physician.

There is an endless stream of patients who demand my attention. May it be from a simple cough and cold to an uncontrolled BP that warrants a trip of the ER. They come to me , petitioning for my help , asking me to send them home , give them rest or simply treat them. The stream can be a little bit too much since there seems to be no end of them like today for example. We manage though.

In the end I win over the Persistent Petitioners my mind still intact. I might have granted a few of their petitions but some I have flat out denied. 

"Midweek Magic 2019 #6:Harvesting from the Lands"


"Midweek Magic 2019 #6:Harvesting from the Lands"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

The week went and gone and I found myself Alone. Not a single game was played and so I did the next best thing. I brewed decks. Since my wife bought me an Azusa as a belated gift I felt that I had enough green cards to finally make the deck. It warms my heart that I went through a couple of boxes and voila I was able to make the deck in under an hour. 

I once played with an Azusa decked. A very fine tuned Azusa deck that spewed out Eldrazi titans on turn 3 or 4 and I felt really overwhelmed by it. (Thanks Dr. Pau for that game). For the deck I was making I just wanted to play a lot of extra lands and not really overwhelm anyone. Well unless they want to be.

One of the things interactions that I wanted to see happen in a battlefield situation was the drawing cards with your lands. I was able to do this with the Ultimate ability of Nissa or a horn of plenty. It was quite insane really. I did not expect to draw so much land in a Mono green deck so how did I do it?

Azusa + Crucible of Worlds+ Nissa's ultimate ability + 1 Evolving wilds.

I would play the evolving wilds from the graveyard , netting me 1 card draw , sac the Evolving wild plopping down a forest , allowing me to draw 1 more card. I could repeat this process 2 more times because of Azusa netting me a total of 6 cards! It went even wild with an Into the Wilds since I can draw 8 cards on a single Evolving Wilds or Terramorphic expanse. 

I am not quite sure if I can win with Azusa since I did not put any monsters yet but safe to say if I can pull this land drawing engine to good use I will be happy.

"Almost Midnight"



"Almost Midnight"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I
A Quarter before midnight
And still sleep eludes me
It was the sweet sound of your voice
It was you who was robbing me of choice

II
Staring at the ceiling
Seeing nothing but you
The silence was loud
and it was just your voice

III
Crazy , insane , Mad
Things I am a afraid that I am
And maybe just a little before midnight
I am glad that I am.

Optum , Bldg.N Quezon City , 02/05/ 2019 3:36am



"3 things I have seen this week: 3 people on the phone"



"3 things I have seen this week: 3 people on the phone"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

While I was buying dinner in Eton Centris one night I happened to see 3 people in the middle square talking on their phone and the contrast on how they talked piqued my interest.

1) Animated Fat Man

The first person was a fat man who was the loudest of the 3. It was not clear to me if he was explaining or berating the person on the other line or maybe both. His hand gestures were wild as he paced in the square. I do hope that he did not lose quite a lot of money or learn something that made him this angry.

2) Nervous thin man

It was tall thin man that I noticed next. He was holding his phone right next to his ear. He did not move about like the fat man. He walked slowly , he talked slowly as if he did not want anyone to hear what he was saying but I could read his lips. Sino ba may sabi sa iyo...basta wag mong sabihin....ano ka ba....Seems like another secret that I don't want to know.

3) Crying girl

And the last one was a girl that I saw while I was going back to the clinic. She sat down on the ground , she clutched her knees as she silently cried listening to the person on the other end of the line. I hope it is not a breakup call as it would suck this close of Valentines but with the way the tears were streaming down her face it might be an interesting time for her.


"Loona - Butterfly MV reaction:A Bad Move"


"Loona - Butterfly MV reaction:A Bad Move"
by:
The Vole

After watching the teasers for Butterfly where Gowon struggled to reach Haseul in the old plane and seeing Yves and Chu in the streets of Hongkong dancing I was eagerly awaiting for Loona's comeback like a good Orbit would.

When the MV started and I noticed all the foreigners that were sporting Loona iconic items like or in the scenes where LoonA members first appeared I knew this was a fan service to all Orbits. I smiled.

And then the choreography started and I noticed something that bothered me. LoonA started off with a move that had them lying on their backs and opening their legs wide as if to give birth. I had to pause the MV there. I was thinking that they would probably change this risky move like they changed that part in Favorite for their Music Show appearances.

So I looked at their first Music Show appearance and they did not change it! I found this problematic since Loona has been suffering from a spell of drabness since their debut. I loved their school girl uniforms in Favorite but I liked their Hi High outfits more since it showed off more styles.

With this "Lithotomy" Choreo Loona would now be confined to wearing Black Tight pants for the rest of their promotions. With Kpop styles always improving and changing Loona will be stuck with an outfit that would make the look like a dance team rather than a kpop group. They could only change their tops and so far that is all that has changed.

From White to Purple to All black. Sigh.

Vocal wise Loona is there. The rest of the song featured sharp , well coordinated moves. Yves opening with her sexy , husky voice was a treat. Seeing Choerry sporting her new purple hair was a treat. Haseuls short hair. Yeojins maturing look.Jinsoul and Heejin appear less but their short appearances make this MV sweet at least.

It is quite obvious that YYxY is taking point in this song. Notice the abundance of Apples being eaten here as they point to the Butterfly effect where LoonA and their existence creates other LoonA's I just really wish that the original Loona could wear more stylist clothes. The Loona's they created were not lacking in color and style. 

I still like this song but I feel that this might not be enough to push them to #1 for this comeback.

"A Little Dragon Magic"


"A Little Dragon Magic"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Oh my Doll were going to be guests on a Magic show in Brazil. YuuA was very excited as she had never seen a real Magician up close. She tried to remember if she ever saw someone who does these kind of tricks but come up real short on that part.Except for something V did.Was that even Magic though?

V told her in advance that he knew this particular Magician and that her and her members would like his work. By now YuuA had gotten so used to V knowing people that she did not even question how he met the magician. She knew by now that asking that question leads to even more questions. 

On the set Oh My Dolls were all arranged in a row and faced the camera. Binmi the Maknae was right next to the magician , Seunsee , Jinyo , Hyosung , Linnie , YuuA and Bee. V wore a face mask and sat down comfortably on a sofa behind the cameras. Blue was lurking somewhere unsee. All the Oh my Doll members were mesmerized by the tricks that the Magician performed such as transferring a card from the closed palms of Binmi into the of Bee who was on the other end of the row. Seunsee who was the groups Queen of reactions were blowing up the screen. YuuA was amused at the tricks and Binmi was squealing every time a new trick was revealed. 

The how was about to be over when YuuA pointed out that their manager knew a little bit of Magic too. It was then that the Magician noticed the tall , wiry man with the face mask on the sofa and felt something he had not felt in over 60 years. The man was waving the attention from YuuA away but she was asking for him to appear. The members joined in with the chant for the manager to join the screen. V stood up and took his mask to appear. He stood next to Bee at the other end. YuuA exchanged places to be near him and tugged at this jacket , "show them your tricks please."

V tried to wave the request away. "This is his show. I don't think that this is appropriate." 

The Magician was looking at V and recognized him after all these years. He had bent to one knee. "Please Master , show us."

YuuA looked at the Magician in disbelief. "Master?"

"Yes. He was my master. He taught me everything I knew all those years ago."

"You are mistaken. I do not know you." V denied on air and hoping that Yellow would be able to erase this footage before it comes out on air all over the world.


"Fine. You don't know him. At least show them one trick." YuuA began to pout and if there was one thing V cannot resist it is that pout.

"Fine." V echoed. YuuA began to clap excitedly. 

"Show them the Rose trick."

V knew exactly what that was. It was the same thing he had shown her during their first date together. He tried to explain that it was matter manipulation rather than magic. YuuA dismissed it as such. She still did not remember what he could fully do though.

V took off his camouflage jacket to reveal a plain black shirt underneath. He had turned to the side and with a quick flick of his wrist he had produced a Black Rose.

"That does not look like a trick" Bee whispered to YuuA.

"This is where it gets interesting." YuuA whispered back. 

V ran his hand smoothly over the Black Rose and now it was Blue. Oh My Doll let out a collective Ooooooh. V ran over the rose again and again until it was Green , White , Yellow , Red and back to Black. And to end it he snapped his fingers at the flower and it burst into flame. YuuA was grinning from ear to ear knowing that V was able to show her favorite trick.

The magician could not help but be amazed. He was looking at all the ways he could pull it off but he was not able to see anything. 

V stared at the burned rose and the flame stopped. He ran his hand ever so slightly and the rose reformed and turned into a Peach colored one , YuuA's favorite color. He handed it to the girl and bowed.

"Are you satisfied now?" V said.

YuuA kissed the flower and answered. "Yes."

V turned to the Magician. "I am so sorry about this. She always puts me in spots like this."

"It is quite ok. It was awhile since I had seen that particular Magic."

"I better sit down before she asks me to Levitate them out of here."

The Magician looked relieved. There will be a lot of questions if this footage ever comes out. V made sure that his segment never came to light much to YuuA's dismay and the Magicians understandable relief. His master still looks after him after all this time.







"The Weighing Scale 3"


"The Weighing Scale 3"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Here we go again. If this is the first time you are reading about the Weighing scale then let me welcome you. This is the same scale that talks by itself despite not having anyone near it. While it is frightening with the light imagine it without the light.

So the other day I was left in the clinic at 3am. Since I was waiting for 3:45am to go to my next clinic I closed the lights on the clinic since I was technically now off-duty. I kept the door to the Doctors office open where I could see the weighing scale that was a few feet away from me in the darkness.

I was listening to music with my headphones on when I watched as the scale lit up in the darkness. I took my headphones off to catch the all to familiar phrase " We will begin  please stand still" of the scale. Something is really in the clinic and maybe it thought that I already left since it was too shy to weigh itself earlier.

Needless to say I opened the lights in the clinic. And when I locked the doors on my way out. I kept the light on. The scale was thankfully silent.