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All your Gruul Nodorogs are belong to me. Trade them to me, please!

Report rules violations.

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Joz - can we ban Leshrac for not fixing the Chrome PM issue?

Have your co-workers tried to sabotage you recently?

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Originally posted by joz:
Why did you sign up to be interviewed?

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I thoroughly enjoyed the LAST INTERVIEW so much, I jumped at the chance to do it again. In fact, I was just thinking about the last interviews and possibly getting them started when I was pre-empted by someone else. I enjoy answering questions, "talking" about myself, and most of all, reading other people's responses to other questions. It's a good chance to get to know everyone else a bit better.

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Tranderas:

Are you ever going to get a new job?

Have your co-workers tried to sabotage you recently?

How do you reconcile being so skilled yet working with such dolts?

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"Ever" encompasses such a long time, that I can confidently say that I will. I don't imagine that I will remain in this same job forever. When that change happens still remains to be seen.

There have been no attempts to sabotage me recently, although one of my co-workers finds it highly suspicious that the two "regular" employees in my department (non-temps) seem to find so much for me to do, and that I'm doing more work than anyone else in the department.

As far as reconciling my skills with the comparative incompetence of my co-workers: I live in a country going through economic difficulties. My state (California) is suffering huge budget problems. In the Bay Area, we have some of the most skilled people of all, and many of them are unemployed. Compared to many of my peers, I am relatively less skilled, less experienced, and I do not have as advanced degrees as others.

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Sovarius:

What kind of name is Yakusoku?

What's your infatuation with V3CB (and variants)?

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"Yakusoku" is a Japanese word for "promise". I adopted the nickname when I first went to college and was both studying the Japanese language and was in an Anime club. One of my favorite anime series is Tenkuu no Escaflowne (The Vision of Escaflowne) and the opening title song is called Yakusoku Wa Iranai (I don't need a promise). I think it's a beautiful song with some very poetic lyrics.

I enjoy V#CB games because it's a simple game with some very complex interactions and great room for creativity that very much rewards innovation and deck building. Virtually all of my Magic playing these days is divided between Standard and drafts (either cube or the current block). Both formats reward some deck building and Standard can reward creativity and innovation, but I also recognize that there are still very clear superior strategies that are well known. I'm currently piloting Caw-Blade in Standard and have gone 3-1 every week since I picked it up. My deck looks very similar, minus a few changes to 95+% of all other Caw-Blade decks. V#CB, in a way, is a purer form of Magic, where play skill is irrelevant and the metagame is unknown. Last week the Eureka, Chancellor of the Tangle x4 was a deck that I never thought of, and it did fairly well, short of winning it all. Rogue decks aren't odd exceptions; they regularly win.

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AlmostGrown:

Why does your job give you such awesome stories? Because everyone around you is dumb? If so, how come you aren't the boss yet?

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When you combine stupidity + bureaucracy, the natural result is going to be ridiculous stories. I am still relatively new to the position (the two people who became full-time employees were working as temps for almost two years and one of my co-workers has been working for several months longer than me) and the Peter Principle is likely working against me - "Every employee rises to the level of his incompetence."

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Originally posted by mattw:
what do you find more annoying, a post filled with horrible grammar and spelling mistakes, or a post by joz?

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By FAR, the post filled with horrible grammar and spelling mistakes. I don't find most of joz's posts (particularly the ones where he's just trying to help) annoying or offensive and I can just ignore anything I don't like. A post littered with errors makes me cringe and linger far more than I should.

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Originally posted by yakusoku:
By FAR, the post filled with horrible grammar and spelling mistakes. I don't find most of joz's posts (particularly the ones where he's just trying to help) annoying or offensive and I can just ignore anything I don't like. A post littered with errors makes me cringe and linger far more than I should.

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Well you're in luck! In addition to being painfully unfunny, Joz's posts are also often filled with spelling and grammatical errors.

I've found that, in these interviews, people who ask the same questions to each interviewee tend to ask questions whose answers matter to them, and have given a lot of thought themselves to them. With that in mind...

1. What one piece of advice would you like to share with others to help them be more successful or be happier?
2. What failure in your life have you experienced that you feel is important to have lived through to help you grow?

3. What would you like to do right now that is just outside of your reach because of one thing (money, people, other resources)?

4. Aside from server/forum/site changes, what is one thing that you would like to see changed about MOTL?

5. What is something that you feel that you are better than most other people at doing?

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Originally posted by WCFmo:
1. Name some of your favorite music/bands
2. Pepsi or Coke?
3. Favorite movies?
4. Do you play legacy? What decks?
5. Would you kill a man for a slim jim?

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1. I mostly enjoy pop and rock, and enjoy a disproportionate number of British groups and female singers/bands with female singers. Here's a list of some of my favorite songs/bands/singers:

"Between You and Me" - DC Talk
"That's What You Get" - Paramore
"Don't Save Me" - Marit Larsen
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2
"Here's Where the Story Ends" - The Sundays
"Hey Jude" - The Beatles
"Hunter" - Dido
"My Idea of Heaven" - Leigh Nash
"I Love You Always Forever" - Donna Lewis
"Down So Long" - Jewel
"Extraordinary" - Mandy Moore
"Wonderwall" - Oasis
"Summertime" - The Sundays
"Baba O'Riley" - The Who
"Babylon" - David Grey
"Caught a Lite Sneeze" - Tori Amos
"Crash Years" - The New Pornographers
"Appels + Oranjes" - Smashing Pumpkins
"Wonderful" - Adam Ant
"Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis
"Fools Like Me" - Lisa Loeb
"Ignorance" - Paramore
"The First Taste" - Fiona Apple
"What Would Happen" - Meredith Brooks
"This Way" - Jewel
"Breathe Your Name" - Sixpence None The Richer
"Mr. Rock & Roll" - Amy Macdonald
"Sick & Tired" - The Cardigans
"Beautiful Life" - Ace of Base
"The Fear" - Lily Allen
"There She Goes" - Sixpence None The Richer
"Under Pressure" - Queen
"You're One" - Imperial Teen

"Wake Up" - Arcade Fire
"Wishign Heart" - Lisa Loeb
"That's Not My Name" - The Ting Tings
"Forever and For Always" - Shania Twain
"1979" - The Smashing Pumpkins
"Anything But Down" - Sheryl Crow
"Ladykillers" - Lush
"Ode to my Family" - The Cranberries

2. I honestly cannot tell the difference in taste, but Coke leaves a slightly more bitter, dry aftertaste when I drink one. I don't drink much soda these days and I have never liked cola drinks.

3. Here are my top 10 (in no particular order):

Star Wars (IV, V, VI) - I'm lumping these all together, rather than take up three slots. It's an epic fantasy story, with classic themes of growth, friendship, revenge, family, and one of my favorite issues ever - villains/heroes changing sides. That moment when Darth Vader suddenly reverts to Anakin Skywalker and saves his son is my favorite of the original trilogy.

The Usual Suspects - The entire movie is one big story and a mystery that seems to be coming to a conclusion, until the end. One of the best "twist ending" movies ever, before Shyamalan decided every movie needed it.

Se7en - Besides an all-star cast of Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, and Kevin Spacey, it's another drama where you want to figure it all out, and the story gives you a definite deadline as one of the characters points out. They have to find the killer before all 7 sins are immortalized in murder.

The Princess Bride - It's sappy, sweet, and "As You Wish" is overused by geeks everywhere, but it's also awesome. How can you not love the poisoned wine scene or Humperdink being bested by a bluff?

Awakenings - I don't cry, but inside I "awww..." just a little bit every time I watch it and see him dance in the cafeteria. It's really a film about humanity, taken from very different angles, seeing what it means to be someone who is trapped for years, family of loved ones who have been lost to this disease, and of course, Dr. Sayer who has been lost in himself and only learns to open up to people through his discovery.

Dead Poet's Society - I have said that I enjoy Robin Williams films, at least the ones where he greatly tones down his comedy (DPS, Awakenings, Good Will Hunting, Moscow on the Hudson). Perhaps I identify with Neil a bit much, but I feel this is another "finding yourself" drama which I enjoy so much.

Inception - Although the story is good, this is a homerun because the visuals are just so outstanding. The concept is amazing, and I enjoy the thrill of trying to find out Cobb's past, resolve the mission, and keep everyone alive.

Silence of the Lambs - In a way, the mystery is partially gone since you know who did it and you can see a step ahead of Jodie Foster's character at times, but I still want to watch her piece it all together and figure it out. Also, this Anthony Hopkins guy does a pretty good job in this role.

The Sixth Sense - By far the best of his movies, and surely the reason why he is still allowed to keep churning out bad movies, this is the one that started it all, but should stand by itself apart from the other works he's done. I was spared the spoiling and didn't see it coming, but the story is phenomenal and the characters are so compelling that you want them all to get to that place where they're all at peace.

Shawshank Redemption - It is a triumph of the human spirit, ingenuity, and just stubbornness that make you cheer for his character and wish that he escapes from the corruption. It's the ultimate buddy film, in that we pair the optimist with the pessimist and see who wins.

4. I have never gotten into Legacy, but if I were to play, I'd likely play with Zoo. I've always been a fan of creature decks with burn. Boros was one of my favorite aggro decks and Lightning Helix was one of my favorite cards from that era.

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Originally posted by yakusoku:

5. What? Am I missing a reference or meme here?

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I'm asking you for your whereabouts on the night Randy "Macho Man" Savage passed!...Your distaste for slim jims and processed meat has put you as suspect number one...Nah, I just always ask at least one random of-the-wall question.

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Originally posted by shaselai:
wat do you think about our ocean's dying due to overfishing and global warming?

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I think it's a {expletive} shame. This is about greed, corporations, and exploitation of resources for the short term over the long term. I try to be environmentally conscious, recycle, walk, commute, and follow the Seafood Watch Program. I think there ARE solutions, but most of them involve being better people, which is painful for individuals and not becoming of faceless businesses which answer to stockholders before any ideology first.

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JoshSherman:

You are a natural storyteller. Heve you ever considered being a writer? I find it's difficult for most people to capture humor in word (myself defibnitely included), but you seem to have a knack for it.

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I have considered it and have done some writing, but nothing close to what I would consider worthy of publishing. I once wrote a short story for a friend starting backwards from one line "The Flowers are Pink", which was the title of the story and the last line of the story. I have an unfinished movie script somewhere that's collecting dust, and before JJ Abrams came along and made it big, I had some scribblings that could be converted into a television series (it's basically an extended short story with two season finale cliffhangers). The style is far too similar to Lost/Alias for me to ever let it see the light of day now. However, I find that there's a HUGE difference between casually being creative and trying to force creativity with a deadline looming over me.

Just getting feedback from some of the drawings I have done has revealed some of the worst things I hate about being an artist: hard work can result in utter failure, people's tastes are highly subjective and often clash with your own, and there's a sharp distinction between what you may think is your grand opus and what is popular.

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Bugger:

I've found that, in these interviews, people who ask the same questions to each interviewee tend to ask questions whose answers matter to them, and have given a lot of thought themselves to them.

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That's a good theory and one that likely has lots of solid evidence, but that's actually not the case here. I came up with those questions on a whim and haven't given them much thought, despite the fact that I was 100% sure that eventually someone would ask them.

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1. What one piece of advice would you like to share with others to help them be more successful or be happier?

2. What failure in your life have you experienced that you feel is important to have lived through to help you grow?

3. What would you like to do right now that is just outside of your reach because of one thing (money, people, other resources)?

4. Aside from server/forum/site changes, what is one thing that you would like to see changed about MOTL?

5. What is something that you feel that you are better than most other people at doing?

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1. Try new things, even if you're not good. Try to do more than you think you can do, even if you're doomed to fail. Sometimes you will surprise other people with what you can do, and every time you succeed you will surprise yourself.

I learned Japanese, when it was not a requirement; I passed out of foreign language for college because of my proficiency in Spanish. I decided I wanted to learn how to draw people and it was very, very hard and my early sketches are just bad compared to what I can do now. I want to learn how to paint next. I asked out two girls in high school for the Junior Prom and Senior Ball and got turned down both times. The Girl From The Train was probably too good for me in some respects, but who cares? We should all strive to regret things we have tried and failed, rather than regret chances not taken. I have no reservations about flirting with or asking out a girl who is out of my league. The last time I was in a bar, my friend was amazed at the fact that I was there talking with this woman who was ridiculously hot.

2. When I was in high school, I met this girl and befriended her, but I was too shy to do or say anything. Two of my female friends who were far too perceptive for their own good saw the obvious attraction and said that I should just ask her out. I can't just sit here pining forever. One day when we were eating at a restaurant, I asked if she wanted to go to a school dance with me. And she said she had no interest in doing that.

And then I died of embarassment.

Okay, not really. I felt bad, but it helped me realize a lot of things. Your real friends and people who care for you will listen to you, help you out and offer good, constructive advice. People whom you don't need in your life will say bad things and malign you (someone in my life said something very rude after discovering I was not going with anyone). The greatest rewards often come in taking some risk, and often you fail. Then you analyze what you did wrong, try again, and you fail again. But, sometimes you succeed. I have a pretty miserable failure rate, but I still ask out women and I still manage to get dates.

3. I would like to spend more time being creative (my current list of projects includes decorating my bedroom wall with my own artwork) and I often wish I had more money to spend helping others.

4. I feel too often that there is a spirt of meanness around MOTL. I void the politics and sports threads like the plague because it gets very harsh and personal quickly, often based on opinions or ignorance on the part of one person. I think we bash too many people who are acting poorly, but not maliciously and I think that MTGSalvation is far too often the butt of jokes.

5. I think I am a better writer than most people. I think there are two keys to good writing - the ability to convey a clear message and an engaging story to tell. Many people may have a good story, but don't know how to tell it. One of my pet peeves when talking with people in person is that they often mull over insignificant details.

"So, last Tuesday we saw the most ridiculous group of people in front of Sears. Wait, was it Tuesday? It couldn't have been Tuesday. I was working on Tuesday. So, it must have been Wednesday. I don't work on Wednesday. Uh, we were walking by Sears on our way to get something to eat when we saw these really beautiful women in red dresses. Well, not so much red, really. You know that kind of dark red hue? What's the word I'm thinking of... maroon? No, not quite that. Like, a brownish-red. Oh, rust. And this other one was in a purple, no-no... lilac top with a white skirt...

... So, to make a long story short, a red dress, green bra, and yellow underwear? Who wears that?"

Distracting errors of spelling mistakes and grammatical issues just contribute to the difficulty of understanding the message when you get bogged down in the errors, rather than appreciate the storyteller.

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Originally posted by ronandaggy:
Are you aware that you made a spelling error In your last post senescing question 4 ?

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Yes, I meant to write "avoid".

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So you're not perfect after all

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Hey, pobody's nerfect.

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Aside from writing and mtg what do you do for Fun?

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I also like to play poker (although most of my friends are too poor to play anything serious). I watch television - my current lineup includes South Park, The Daily Show, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, House, and How I Met Your Mother. I watch movies with my friends; we saw Thor, X-Men: First Class, and Super 8 recently, but skipped Green Lantern.

2. What/whom do you read to build you're writing style with/from?

3. I hate almost all of joz's posts. What can I do to become a better member of MOTL?

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Originally posted by shaselai:
if no law's are in effect - what is one thing you would do without consequence?

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I would jaywalk. I can't think of anything else that I would suddenly do if it's illegal. Most of the laws out there are there for a good reason, to protect us from doing stupidly or intentionally harmful things to each other or ourselves. I'm not allowed to hit someone with a bat, steal his money, deface his front door, or threaten him. I already live by the rules; I've never gotten a moving violation or parkign ticket. I don't speed, use illicit substances, steal, cheat, or otherwise break the law. I can't imagine I would suddenly start anything if given the chance. Jaywalking is about the extent to which I would suddenly do something that I might be hesitant to do otherwise.

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choco man:

1. Is California as good as it's hyped up by everybody who's never actually been to CA?
2. What/whom do you read to build you're writing style with/from?

3. What can I do to become a better member of MOTL?

4. I love the concept behind your XX-card-blind format. It really pushes MTG the same way I build my decks. Do you play a lot of MTG (live/modo)? Do you enjoy other variant formats?

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1. Absolutely. Just about everything you could possibly want in a state can be found here, somewhere, in some city. The weather, the people, and the sites are so varied that depending on your preferences, you're sure to find something that suits your desires. We have rural areas, suburbs, and big cities (San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego). We have a surprisingly large amount of farmland in the state, so you can get lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts here and because we're right next to the Pacific Ocean, fresh fish is available all the time. We're famous for garlic, almonds, artichokes, oranges, and cheese (although, I'm sure those from other places that produce cheese will tout their own) - Monterey Jack is something else. If you haven't had fresh baked sourdough from San Francisco, while you sip on wine made from grapes grown in the Napa Valley, while eating sauteed halibut caught locally from the Pacific Ocean, you are missing out on a culinary delight.

If you want snow, during the winter months, the mountains get fresh powder and some snow is created if there's not enough, I'm sure. If you want mild, temperate climates, the Bay Area offers some places that stay between 55-75 degrees for almost the entire year. We have lots of deserts, too, if that's your thing. John Muir has his own woods named after him, and if you haven't stood next to a giant redwood tree and looked straight up to see the top, you just haven't experienced one of the best marvels of the natural world. We have beaches all along the coast, take your pick.

If you're a tourist, you can see the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, ride the cable cars, take a ferry to Alcatraz Island, go to Pier 39 and see the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk. There's the SF Museum of Modern Art, the San Jose Museum of Modern Art, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. You can visit Hollywood, and walk or drive along streets you hear in songs (Santa Monica Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, etc.). There's the La Brea tar pits, the Chinese Theater, and Disneyland. If you're a sports nut, we have basketball (Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Warriors), football (Niners, Raiders, Chargers), baseball (Giants, A's, Angels, Dodgers, Padres), and hockey (Sharks, Kings, Ducks).

We have one of the most diverse populations in the country and most people are far more accepting of other races, religions, and sexual orientations here than almost anywhere else.

2. I try to read everything and anything I can get my hands on. I started with the classics. I've read works by Mark Twain and Shakespeare, and read many famous books including "Catch-22", "The Sun Also Rises", "The House of Spirits", "The Crucible", "Les Miserables", "The Great Gatsby", and "A Tale of Two Cities". I didn't always enjoy all of them, but reading from as many sources as you can helps you grow and understand that there are many writing styles, many ways of telling stories, and many ways of being a good writer.

3. Be nice. Don't flame. Help people. Make the community a better place by being a better person. When people have questions, answer them to the best of your ability and if people argue with you, be civil and present evidence why you believer your position is correct and theirs is not.

Edit: caught the post above mine... Easy one, when you were younger was it Sega or Nintendo?

When did you get into Magic cards and who/how did you get involved?

Are we (America) going into a depression?

Where do you see the future of America's economy and general state heading and what could be done, in your opinion, to better it?

Only the best,
Jesse

What was your favorite V3CB deck?

What is/are your favorite animes or genre?

What's your favorite card you've ever owned?

Did you cry at all when Joss Whedon killed off Wash?

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Originally posted by ogre:
Favorite food?

Edit: caught the post above mine... Easy one, when you were younger was it Sega or Nintendo?

When did you get into Magic cards and who/how did you get involved?

Are we (America) going into a depression?

Where do you see the future of America's economy and general state heading and what could be done, in your opinion, to better it?

Only the best,
Jesse

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One of the best meals I ever recall was eating crawfish with pasta and alfredo sauce. It was so rich, creamy, and probably very, very bad for me. But, it was very delicious.

I played Nintendo far more than Sega, by virtue of the fact that I played at my friends' houses more than anything else, and I can only ever remember playing Altered Beast on Sega, but I remember lots of other games on Ninentdo. For some reason, I recall getting the biggest kick out of two-player Gyromite and setting traps for birds with radishes, then... SQUISH! Take THAT, you stupid bird! In the two-player version, one person controls the pipes going up and down and the other person moves the main character and you used to be able to uproot a radish, set it on top of a pipe and wait for a bird to start eating, then tell your partner, "NOW!" and the bird gets squished.

I also have fond memories of Mario Kart and Super Mario World for the N64.

My best friend in high school was taught by someone else and he taught me. I'm very sure my first deck was a big green deck with Llanowar Elves and Craw Wurm and some artifacts. I also recall some stupidly bad Legends in the deck that had no business in there. We lived only a few minutes from a comic book shop, but we still played at his house most of our games. Now he's married and has his own house, but on Fridays, we still commute to the closest place that holds FNM and he drafts while I play Standard and we each try our best to go X-0.

I really don't know where the United States is going, economically, but I think ultimately, we're pretty doomed because neither side really is 100% correct, but our current system only really allows for Democrats or Republicans to be in power, so we simply alternate between which system screws us up. I would prefer a smaller, cheaper government which still regulates business, because corporations tend to be awful and keeping themselves honest. The current extreme ideologies of both sides aren't very helpful.

In just the past decade, we've seen the worst of both sides, giving corporate bailouts, not watching the banking industry, watching housing bubbles and busts, and seeing the average guy lose money relative to everyone else. The beginning of something better for everyone has to first start with the realization that it's not like it's really US vs. THEM, red vs. blue, Dem vs. Rep, liberal vs. conservative, especially when most Americans fall in the middle of a bell curve, politcally and economically and need for government to help them accordingly.

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planetearth529:

Yes, coastal California is nice, but have you ever stopped by the central valley? Or have you only driven through? :P

What was your favorite V3CB deck?

What is/are your favorite animes or genre?

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A large part of my family is located in Lodi, near Sacramento. My mother's parents used to be farmers, growing grapes and oranges and limes and tangerines and tangelos and all kind of other fruits and vegetables they could grow.

My favorite V3CB deck was Mox Sapphire, Mox Pearl, Meddling Mage. It was just too brutally efficient. If they didn't play everything on their first turn, you generally won by disrupting them.

I own everything created by Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki. I love pretty much everything he's done. I think that Grave of the Fireflies is exceptionally well done, and a brutal depiction of the harshness of war. I enjoy The Vision of Escaflowne, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fushigi Yuugi, Mahou Tsukai Tai and Fullmetal Alchemist as series.

I don't know if I truly have a favorite card, but for the moment, I'm remembering fond memories of Cataclysm. Keeping Mindstone, Plains, Soltari Monk, and Empyrial Armor on Soltari Monk was so brutal against almost every other deck at the time.

When I was younger, my grandparents used to visit during the summer and we would pack up the car and drive to the pier in Santa Cruz and go fishing. My grandmother had a crab net, my mother would pack snacks for us, and my grandfather, father, and I would all sit patiently with our fishing poles and hope for a bite. We would hope to catch perch, but would laugh at the sheer number of Sculpin (an unedible, ugly looking fish of no value) we would catch and feed to the seagulls. Once my grandfather tried to use the Sculpin as bait and found that the only thing in the ocean that would find it appetizing was... other Sculpin. We would take the sand dabs, perch, crabs, and sometimes octopi we would catch and keep them in a bucket of water and my father would "clean" the fish at home, making fillets out of them and my mother would fry them up and serve them with rice and vegetables. On a good day, we'd all eat our catch and have extra to spare. On a bad day, we'd have to supplement our catch with other food. We'd get there early in the morning to find a nice spot and stay for hours, taking a break during midday to go to a restaurant at the far end of the pier and I'd get fried calamari and clam chowder with oyster crackers.

MST3K = Mystery Science Theater 3000. I got my friends to watch Flash Gordon the other day and one of them suggested that it was so awful and cheesy, we all should have MST3K'ed the heck out of that movie. Well, with my group being what it is, we kind of ended up doing that anyway, mocking the bad dialogue, script, and poking fun of the ridiculous nature of the movie.

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Originally posted by yakusoku:
I do not have as advanced degrees as others.

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2. Do you have any plans to further your education?

3. How do you get around?

4. Will you eventually work your way up to V60CB? If not, what's the limit, 6 or 7?

5. I live in Placerville, we should get together.