Awkward Situations #1: Miss Teacher

Hello readers! The awkward situations described in my last post gave me the ideas to start a new column where I'll share some awkward situations I experienced or heard, which I gave the very original and interesting name of "Awkward Situations". My times studying Chinese in a Beijing are a stocked mine of such those situations. To start, 99% of the school population was asian while I was a western average joe. Second, no one except me, and I mean no one had arrived there without knowing how to speak a little chinese, either because they spoke it at home, had private classes, preparation classes, or even bachelor degrees in chinese, the thing is the school expected you to arrive there having some sort of Chinese level. To quote a Kung Fu Panda dialogue...

Shifu: Let us begin.

Po: What? Uh... I don't think I can do all those moves right away.

Shifu: [chuckles] Well, we'll never know unless we try, will we?

Po: Well, maybe we could start out with something more at, you know, my level.

Shifu: And what level is that? ~

Po: Uh... level zero? How about that, level zero?

Shifu: [chuckles] There is no such thing as level zero

Not only I was seen as a big idiot who couldn't talk to no one, but I was still in shock. You see, seven hours before I arrived to the school, I was at Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur watching Marcio Top 4, and receiving my Invitational Trophy. I didn't get a transition period from Pro Magic player to being abandoned in China with people speaking weird languages. Anyway, this is not the awkward situation, this is only the introduction.

After some very painful times of hard work and overcoming many depressions, I learned a little bit of Chinese, which gave me courage enough to try the Chinese proficiency test for Foreigners. It's a test run by the government 3 or 4 times a year, at the same time in several places. They all have the same test, which is treated like a National Security document until 5 seconds of starting time. Grades go from Level 4 to Level 8. If you suck (Level 1, 2 or 3), they don't give you a score in order to don't humiliate you. My goal was of course not to suck, but my roommate had previously taken the test and scoring Level 5 despite being a slacker, altough a chinese speaking slacker.

Given this, I was obviously very happy when the scores came in and I got Level 6. For you Magic players to have a picture, compare the Player's Club levels with the Chinese test levels. Levels 1, 2 and 3 suck, and if when you finally made it you made it as Level 6, that should be able to describe the feeling.

Side Note: At the school there was a young teacher about my age, most of the guys had her in a pedestal as the hottest teacher on the school. She wasn't particularly pretty, altough definitely ok but compared to the rest of the older teachers she clearly shined, in my opinion probably Top 3, because of her younger age. Anyway, after National exams scores went public Miss Teacher, who was never my teacher during my whole stay there, came to congratulate me.

Miss Teacher: Wow Congratulations!

Tiago: Thanks Miss Teacher.

Miss Teacher: I always knew you had it in you.

Tiago: Not really, I kind of got lucky.

Miss Teacher: No, I always admired how you worked so hard and struggled so much.

Tiago: Not that I really had a choice there, you know...

Miss Teacher: But finally it all paid off in the end. I'm so proud of you, I knew you could do it.

Tiago: I'm very flattered, it's a pity Miss Teacher was never assigned to teach at my classes.

Miss Teacher: You must be feeling very happy.

Tiago: I'm feeling Ok yeah.

Miss Teacher: It's not everyday someone gets a Level 8.

Tiago: Uh? I was only Level 6.

(10 seconds of silence)

Miss Teacher: Well... 6 ain't bad either... Oh my, look at the time, I didn't realize it was this late, I should definetely get going, catch up with you later, uhm, Bye!

And that was the last time I saw Miss Teacher.

Kiss Kiss with Miss X

"Why do you have to mention me in all your blog's posts? It seems you randomly pick a paper from inside a fishbowl and everytime my name is written on it"

- Mr. X on Jan 9th 2011

For my next couple of posts I'll avoid talking about Magic, since that will most of the times indirectly lead to Mr. X.

During my times in Beijing I came across many interesting individuals, one of the most peculiar ones being my good friend, let's call her "Miss X" to preserve her identity. Bonus points if you can write down her real name, first and last.

Sometimes me and Miss X would have communication problems so to say, since my native language is Portuguese and hers is a South East Asia language (it's not that I don't know which one, I just rather not reveal her identity). Luckily, we shared not one, but two other languages, English and Chinese, problem is our levels of these languages aren't quite the same which leads to some awkward situations.

For ex, a conversation in Chinese between us.

(Note for those who don't understand Chinese)

问 - wen
to ask
to inquire after

吻 - wen
a kiss
to kiss

Me:
Hey Miss X, wo yao wen ni!
Hey Miss X, I want to ask you

Miss X:
Ni yao wen wo ma?
You want to kiss me?

Me:
Dui, wo yao wen ni.
Yes, I want to ask you.

Miss X:
Hao de! (giggles) Ni wen wo ba (giggles)
Ok! (giggles) Go ahead and kiss me (giggles)

Me:
Ni zhidao, wo men shang ge xingqi qu guo de difang zai nar?
You know, that place we went last week, where is it?

Miss X:
O, yuanlai ni yao wen wo, bu shi wen wo.
Oh, you wanted to ask me, not kiss me after all

Me:
Dui, shi wo gang gang shuo de!
Yes, that's what I just said!

As you can imagine Me and Miss X we often talk but our conversations aren't quite productive. However this is quite understandable, at the time we were just starting to learn the awful language that is Chinese. Our conversations in English are also far from being perfect. There was one time where I go meet Miss X, and when I was about to go back the following conversation happened.

Me: That was fun, it was nice meeting you.

Miss X: Uhm, I'll have to work now, but come meet me afterwards.

Me: Right, I will. So I guess I'll see you later, bye!

Miss X: Wait! Before you go, you have to give me kiss!

Me: What?

Miss X: Kiss, Kiss!

Me: I'm sorry I didn't quite get what you said...

Miss X: Give me kiss!

Me: You know, we've been friends for some time....

Miss X: Kiiiissssssssss

Me: ... so this is kind of awkward...

Miss X: Kiiiiiiiiiis Kiiiiiiiiiiiis

Me: ... and uhm,

Miss X: Hurry up! Kiss!

Me: totally unexpected...

Miss X: I need Kiiiiiiiiiiiis.

Me: ...besides...

Miss X: I don't have kiiiiiiiss to go home.

Me: Oh, you don't have your keys with you?

Miss X: Yes, the kiiis, what were you thinking?

Me: Right, the keys, obvz, what was I thinking?

Miss X: Then give me kiiis!

Me: What? Are you out of your mind, I don't have your keys!

ไอ้เหี้ย

An exclusive interview with the mysterious Portuguese player mentioned by Guillaume Matignon and Antoine Ruel in their Worlds Reports

So I was sitting on my desk when I started hearing buzzes on the Portuguese Magic community about a mysterious unnamed Portuguese Magic player who was credited by the soon to be World Champion Guillaume Matignon as pivotal to put him back on track. What? Who? That was my and pretty mych everyone's reaction. Being Portuguese I was soon able to find out it was Narciso "Goon" Ferreira, a decently well known player inside Portugal, which agreed to spare some of his time to talk with us about Worlds, Magic and life.

Before I start the interview, I would like to present a brief introduction about Narciso "Goon" Ferreira. The following words were written by Gonçalo Pinto "Madcat" and originally posted on his blog on August 13th 2007. (Link to his Blog on my Friends blog linklist)

Rumor has it that Goon...

...lost his virginity before his own dad.

...sleeps with a pillow below his gun.

...one time shot down a plane just by pointing his finger and yelling Bang!

...can cure cancer with his tears, but unfortunately he doesn't cry

...doesn't read books, he stares at them and they confess whatever he wants to know

...plays poker so well that one time he bluffed a guy while holding a Forest, a UNO card, a Monopoly Get out of Jail card and his driving license.

...is the reason why Wally hides.

...can win a 4 in line game with only 3 chips.

...has been on Mars, and that's why there's no life over there.

...doesn't wear a condom, he doesn't need to be protected.

PS: For those who don't know Goon, he's called Narciso Ferreira and he's a National Guard cop.

madcat

Enjoy the Interview!

Tiago: Matignon mentions you as a mysterious smiling Portuguese man, for those who still don't know you, introduce yourself.

Goon: My name is Narciso Ferreira "Goon", I live in Lisbon, Portugal, and I use to hang out with guys who know how to play Magic. My goal is, that one day I'll know how to play too.

Tiago: Where did that nickname -Goon- came from?

Goon: From the card Goblin Goon. For reasons I never understood people say I look like him but, slightlier stupid and a lot uglier. And I used to run 4 of them in my Goblins deck, so this is my punishment.

Tiago: What everyone wants to know is, why do the French credit you as being so important for Matignon's victory. So tell us Goon, what happened at Worlds?

Goon: Due to the fact of being a bad player and on top of that being very unlucky, in the past I was getting upset with Magic all the time, so I decide to change my attitude (also because of some situations of my private life). Now I always have a positive attitude not only for Magic but for everything in life as well.

When playing against Team France, I sat down and I immediatly start chatting and joking in a good way with Antoine even tough he didn't knew who I am lol. And I start with a Game Loss, that's ok, my good spirit didn't changed, after that I still mulliganed to 4, and always taking it easy and I still won game 2 on a mull to 4. Even after losing game 3 and the match, my good humor and good attitude remained the same, and I think that attitude towards Magic inspired Guillaume Matignon.

However I did nothing to deserve having him thanking me, if there's one thing I learnt in Magic is, you only achive results if you work hard and deserve them.

Tiago: You talk about yourself as being an unlucky bad player, but over the years you have built a very respectable curriculum in the Portuguese Magic scene, would you like to share some of your Magic achievments?

Goon: I'm the current National Vice-Champion, I won a PTQ for Kuala Lumpur and I have lost in countless PTQ Top 8's including 3 finals in a row. I have made Day 2 at some Grand Prixs, including GP Lisbon where I went undefeated Day 1 with 5 wins 3 draws LOLOL. Online I have two PTQ Top8's and one MOCS Top 8.

Tiago: So this Worlds has not your first taste of the Pro Tour, how did you do in Kuala Lumpur?

Goon: It was a lesson of humility that I will never forget! I arrived there thinking of myself as the best in the world and then I lost all rounds and suddenly I felt like one of the worst players on the PT. I also decided I would try all kinds of local food, and I think I got a food poison, as for 48 hours I sat countless times on the toillet holding a bucket.

Tiago: I've heard you made a bet with Nuno Costa (Frederico Costa twin brother) for Kuala Lumpur...

Goon: It was my first Pro Tour, I tought I was the best in the world, so I bet I would finish higher than him.

Tiago: Nuno Costa finished 3-3... and you had two byes...

Goon: But I only won against the Byes. That's the perennial problem of the Portuguese Magic player. With the exception of our "the Big 4", no one else is able to make results outside, or Big 5, if you want to consider Paulo Carvalho too.

Tiago: But at Worlds you had a chance to redeem yourself. With two more drafts at the Pro Level, you had a chance to show KL was nothing but an accident. How did it go the Draft day at Worlds?

Goon: 0-6

Tiago: I see...

Goon: I started with 4-2 in Standard, which was the only format I felt prepared. After Nats I had health problems so I stopped playing, I only did a couple of drafts before Worlds. Actually I think the drafts went well, I had bombs, good cards, removal but the games went all the other way around it was surreal, but I took it easily always with a smile on my face, even tough in Portugal many persons think I'm not a good player and I just went to Japan to be a running joke inside the Portuguese Magic community. So these persons were happy when Day 2 didn't went well.

Tiago: I'm sorry may I ask where did you learn how to draft? Was it by watching the "Drafting with Madcat" videos?

Goon: Drafting with Tiago on starcity!

Tiago: Right, I guess I deserved that answer...

Goon: Seriously, I learnt most of the draft fundamentals with you, Marcio Carvalho and Kuni (Kuniyoshi Ishii, Portuguese National Champion 2002 and 2005).

Tiago: And who do you playtest with for tournaments, are you part of any team, I know that before you were a member of Team Nhekes and after splitting up, there was a new team called Next Level coming up.

Goon: Next Level. The problem is, some boys discovered the pleasures of the vagina, and Magic was put aside.

Tiago: What's the current setup of Team Next Level?

Goon: Me, Vasco Cruz, Vasco Bonifacio, Filipe Constancio and Daniel Moura.

Tiago: Still one of the most powerful teams in Portugal...

Goon: But only me and Vasco Bonifacio remain active in a serious way, the others lost or are about to lose their virginity, so they aren't active in Magic.

Tiago: I've read on your MSN status you're looking to recruit some new team members. What are the requirements to be on Team Next Level?

Goon: Having spoken with a woman before and knowing how to play.

Tiago: Fair enough! Let's put Magic aside for a while, and talk about things that really matter. What are your toughts on the movie Prince of Persia?

Goon: Looooool. I agree with everything Fred Bastos said, the movie is very weak, Marcio doesn't know a shit about movies.

Tiago: Do you agree with many people who say, Marcio Carvalho's advices, thanks but only for Magic...

Goon: Yeah, he only knows about Magic. And girls. Because of girls he hasn't been playing lately.

Tiago: Now that you mention Marcio and girls, tell us the story that happened on a plane which only you have witnessed...

Goon: Hey, Marcio is gonna kill me if I tell it

Tiago: No, it's fine, don't worry, I'll change his name to Mr. X so no one will know it's him.

Goon: Ok, so me and Mr. X are already inside the plane, me sitting on the aisle and him on the window playing on his Iphone. I noticed a really hot chick boarding in and I told Mr. X:

Goon: Look at that chick she's really hot!
Mr. X: Man, she sure is. Obviously she's not Portuguese.
Goon: No, No, she is Portuguese.
Mr. X: She's too cute to be Portuguese.
Goon: Bet on it?
Mr. X: How much?
Goon: (since I'm a big idiot I only said) 10 Euros.
Mr. X: Deal!

So the girl get off her seat to go to the restrooms and when she's passing by us I tell her: "I'm sorry but my friend here says you're way too cute to be Portuguese". She starts blushing but answers, No, No I'm Portuguese!. And she stays right there standing looking at Mr. X waiting for him to say something, but Mr. X immediatly starts playing his Slam Dunk Iphone application leaving the girl standing in the middle of the row. Lol.

After she left, I kept telling Mr. X he was an idiot, the girl was kind of into him and waiting for Marcio to make a move. But the story doesn't end here. Half hour later, the girl feels like she needs to go to the toillet once again and she conveniently stands up when there's a queue for the toillet. Only that queue finished 4 seat rows behind us, but she stopped and waited right next to our seat rows, leaning on the seats and looking at Mr. X. And I was telling him, Mr. X come on say something. But he just ignored her, he didn't even turned his face away from the iphone.

Tiago: Perhaps the girl was into you, how do you know she was into Mr. X?

Goon: It's obvious. I'm old fat and ugly, and looking at my clothes you can see I have no money.

Tiago: But there was one time you were on a public urinal, and a guy starts hitting on you, saying you were big, huge. It's better we hear it from you, rather than from a third party.

Goon: That is false, it never happened to me, it might have happened to my friend.

Tiago: Allright, how about plans for 2011, are you inspired by Wafo Tapa who started last season PTQing and then reached Level 8.

Goon: Hey that's not for me, maybe Marcio could do it. As for me I expect to reach Level 4 and I'll try to go as many Grand Prixs I can.

Tiago: So are you gonna come and visit me for GP Shanghai?

Goon: Yup! I want to go to all European GPs plus some outside. This is gonna be my year, or at least I'll give it a try. I still haven't found someone willing to come tough.

Tiago: You know in Shanghai you won't need, I'm here, I can hang out with you.

Goon: Yup! It's gonna be awesome.

Tiago: You would be kind enough to pay me a dinner, right?

Goon: Everyday if I had to. Who treats me well deserves everything. Besides, the little i am in Magic you're one of the persons I should thank to.

Tiago: I make the words you adressed to Matignon my own, no need to thank. Whoever works hard and deserves it, will accomplish.

However, since you're in a good mood, let me tell you, I will be in Portugal this month or the next, so I'm gonna go ahead and reserve a table on your name.

Goon: Are we eating at the Chinese buffet?

Tiago: No not anymore since that time you, shovit and madcat joined a draft queue at the Chinese restaurant and lost even before I finished my starter.

We should go to the grill place next to Devir Arena, so I can teach you how to draft in the afternoon, and later I can turn to the waiter and say: "As a starter, bring my big huge friend a big huge Portuguese sausage".

Goon: And isn't it good? Tastes really well.

Tiago: I'm glad you like it, cause you're paying!

Thanks for dinner, and big thanks for the interview, Ladies and Gentlemens, that was one of the new icons of Portuguese Magic, Narciso Goon Ferreira! If you guys think this is funny or have interest, I might be doing some more in the future.

Movies with Fred and Marcio #1: Prince of Persia

The chosen movie to start this new feature was Prince of Persia. Let's see what our commentators have to say about it, ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS are available right below each text.

Frederico Bastos

Este verão foi uma autêntica desilusão em termos cinematográficos e talvez a maior delas todas tenha sido este Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. É certo que as adaptações de jogos de computador não têm sido muito felizes, mas confesso que as participações de Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley e Alfred Molina sob a direcçao de Mike Newell me davam algumas esperanças que estivéssemos na presença de um sólido blockbuster de verão. Bem que me enganaram!

Para começar podia ter reparado que os argumentistas eram os mesmos de Dirty Dancing 2 e The Uninvited (um remake medíocre de um filme brilhante sul-coreano). Ficamos portanto a saber que eles sabem escrever sobre pessoal a dançar e que também conseguem fazer traduções asiáticas. Penso ser esse o grande problema do filme, o argumento. Nos dias que correm, devido ao elevado custo de produzir um filme destes, existe a necessidade de não correr grandes riscos e para isso tratam o público como se fosse um atrasado mental. Ora, este filme está cheio de momentos que me fizeram sentir como tal e um dos melhores exemplos disso é quando Dastan, o personagem principal, carrega acidentalmente no botão de um punhal e assistimos a uma elaborada sequência de efeitos especiais que nos mostra o tempo a voltar para trás com ele incrédulo a assistir a tudo isso. A seguir carrega outra vez, para percebermos mesmo que aquilo faz o tempo voltar para trás. Não sendo isto suficiente, ainda acharam necessário acrescentar uma fala em que Dastan diz: Wow! Se eu carregar aqui neste botão o tempo volta para trás!! Sigh… Claro que o meu ilustre co-participante nesta coluna do blog deve gostar deste tipo de coisas, visto ele achar que os filmes não são feitos para pensar, o que interessa são as explosões e as gajas boas….

Os actores bem se esforçam, mas o material não é brilhante, e tenho de dizer que se no papel parecia uma boa ideia ter Jake Gyllenhaal como herói de acção, a prática veio provar o contrário e penso que o realizador ou o director de casting a certa altura deveriam ter pensado melhor e contratado outra pessoa. Ele bem tenta, mas nota-se que não está à vontade neste tipo de papéis e falta-lhe um certo carisma para carregar o filme às costas. A actriz Gemma Arterton também não sai nada bem na fotografia. Quer dizer, na fotografia até se sai bem, mas no filme nem por isso. Mais uma vez aqui a culpa é dos argumentistas que confundem independência e feminismo com teimosia e estupidez, criando um personagem feminino completamente insuportável! Não só isso, como obrigam o pobre Dastan a apaixonar-se por ela, enfim...

Gostaria ainda de falar do excelente twist que nos aguarda no final. (SPOILERS) Pois a cereja no topo deste filme fantástico é o recurso a um truque de narração que eu odeio especialmente, o de que afinal era tudo um sonho. Neste caso não é bem isso mas é parecido, o que faz com que todo o impacto emocional que o filme podia ter tido se perca e tenhamos um happy ending totalmente absurdo. (FIM SPOILERS)

Em resumo, um filme que teve o dom de me irritar solenemente enquanto o via, mas que pareceu agradar ao puto de sete anos que veio ver o filme comigo e a certas pessoas que se julgam os melhores jogadores de Magic do mundo...

Nota na IMDB 3/10

Concerning movies this summer was full of disappointments and perhaps the biggest of them all might have been this Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is a fact that computer games adaptations haven't been particularly suceeded, but I must confess a casting composed by Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina directed by Mike Newell gave me hope that we might be in the presence of a solid summer blockbuster. I felt cheated!

To start I could have noticed that the screenwriters were the same of Dirty Dancing 2 and The Uninvited (a mediocre remake of a brilliant Korean movie). Therefore we know they can write about people dancing and can also do asian translations. I think this is the biggest problem of the movie: the script. Nowadays, due to the high cost of producing a movie like this one, there's the need of not taking big risks, and to accomplish that they deal with the audience like they're retarded. Now, the movie is full of such these moments that made me feel like one, and one of the best examples is when Dastan, the main character, accidentally presses the dagger's button and we are presented with an elaborated sequence of special effects showing us time flowing back. After that he presses it again, so that we can really understand that time flows back. Being this not enough, they still felt necessary to add a line where Dastan says: "Wow! If I press here, time goes back!!" Sigh... Of course my illustrious co-participant in this Blog's feature, should probably like this kind of things, since he feels movies aren't made to think, what matters are the explosions, the hot chicks, and he loves the king of this kind of movies: Transformers.

The actors make their best efforts, but the results aren't brilliant, and I must say if in theory looks like a good idea to have Jake Gyllenhaal as an action hero, in practice the contrary was shown, and I think the director or the casting director should have at some point reconsidered it and hired someone else. He does try, but it's obvious he's not confortable playing this kind of role and he lacks a certain charisma to carry the movie on his back by himself. The actress Gemma Artenton also doesn't look good on the picture. I mean, in the picture she's actually ok, but in the movie not quite. Once again, it's the screenwriters fault, who misunderstood Independence and Feminism with Stubborness and Stupidity, therefore creating a completely annoying female character! Not only that, but they also make poor Dastan fall in love with her, oh well...

I would still like to mention the excellent twist awaiting us at the end of the movie. (SPOILERS) Well the cherry on top of this fantastic movie is using a narration trick that I especially hate, that everything was a dream after all. In this case it isn't, but it's close, making all the emotional impact this movie could have had being lost and we having a completely absurd happy ending (SPOILERS ENDING)

In short, a movie that had the accomplishment of making me extremely annoyed while I was watching it, but it seemed to have pleased the 7 year old kid who came watch it with me, and also a certain person who considers himself the best Magic player alive.

Score Frederico Bastos awarded on imdb: 3/10

Marcio Carvalho

Então vamos lá prometi ao meu amigo Tiago chan que escrevia sobre o filme prince of pérsia, ao contrário do meu amigo Frederico bastos eu gostei do filme.

Achei que é daqueles filmes que tas em casa ao domingo e queres ver algo ligas a televisão e olha ta dar Múmia 2 ou something like that e pronto já ta passas uma hora e meia entretido e nem notas por isso.

Depois quando acaba apercebeste te que nao foi nada de espectacular obvio mas são umas 2 horas que passas e nem notas por isso foi isso que senti no prince of pérsia 1 filme que se vê bem mas que não te deixa de boca aberta ou nada parecido a parte de ele carregar no punhal e voltar atrás no tempo sei que nosso amigo bastos acha bastante estúpido por causa que ele tem que fazer aquilo repetidamente para se aperceber que tá mesmo a voltar atrás no tempo o que eu digo a isto e que o bastos pode não coompreender mas também vão crianças ao cinema e nem todos tem que ver filmes russos mudos a preto e branco como tu meu amigo portanto se votasse no imdb daria 6/10 ao filme e em resposta ao outro filme que tu gozaste comigo transformers 1 foi mesmo bueeee niceeeee pelo menos não adormeci como no No country for old men mas isso é historia para outra semana e com isto deixo vos aqui a minha opinião sobre o filme prince of pérsia.

So let's go! I promissed my friend Tiago Chan I would write about the movie Prince of Persia, well unlike my other friend Frederico Bastos I liked the movie.

I tought it's one of those movies when you're at home Sunday afternoon, and you want to watch something, you turn on the TV, and what you know, Mummy 2 or something like that is on, and there you go - you spend one and a half hour entertained without have even noticed it.
Then when it's over you realize it obviously wasn't so great, but 2 hours went by without notice, and that's what I felt with Prince of Persia a movie perfectly watchable, but doesn't leave you stunned.

The part where he presses the dagger and goes back in time, I know our friend Bastos feels it's really stupid because Dastan has to repeatdly perform that action so everyone can realize time it's really flowing back, what I say is this and Bastos may not understand but, there are also kids watching movies and not everyone has to watch Black and White muted Russian movies like you my friend, therefore if I voted on imdb I would award this movie 6/10. Regarding the other movie you mentioned Transformers 1, it was really sooooo nice at least I didn't fell assleep like in No country for old men, but that's a topic for another week, and just like that I leave you here my opinion about Prince of Persia.

Thank you Fred and Marcio, I hope this was entertaining and please vote on the Poll, who do you think it's right. If you wish to hear the opinion of our comentators about a movie, please specify which one on the comments, and maybe who knows, it will be the next one featured on "Movies with Fred and Marcio"

Mr X and the concept of Anonymity

As all my faithful readers know, the new feature Movies with Fred and Marcio is running late, and since it's nobody's fault except Fred and Marcio themselves I decided to, until they submit me their reviews of the chosen movie, I'll be telling funny stories about them to entertain my readers in this long wait.

Fred: Hey Marcio, I've heard you had a pretty wild time last night.
Marcio: Yeah, it was crazy, so stupid but still so crazy.
Fred: Care to tell me what happened?
Marcio: No man, I can't.
Fred: Come on, don't be a princess, just tell.
Marcio: I would, but, I'm sure the other guy who was with me last night doesn't want others to know.
Fred: You don't have to tell me who he is.
Marcio: Fine, I'll be calling him Mr. X.
Fred: Mr X it is, have it your way.
Marcio: So I go out with Mr X to this new club, meh it was ok, but at some point it kind of sucked, so I turned to Mr X and said: "Hey Mike let's get out of here!".
Fred: Ahahahahahahahahaha!
Marcio: What?

I already have Frederico's comment about the chosen movie, I'm only waiting for Marcio. So, next on my Blog either will be the debut of Movies with Fred and Marcio, or a story that happened in the summer of 2005, at the Kiss Disco Club involving a male transvestite. Your choice Kid!

Movies with Fred and Marcio

Some of the best moments I had in Magic were watching Frederico Bastos and Marcio Carvalho exchange opinions and argue about the most diverse topics in life. Draft first picks, rating girls, discussung movies, life and philosophy. Doesn't matter what they argue about, every single time they start at it, they become really annoyed by what the other is saying, they laugh in each other's face, or refuse to talk to each other again, or at least they try their best to not laugh and pretend they want to end the conversation, tough they don't, they love every second of it.

It's gonna work like this, I'll be the host providing the topic, which will be movies for now, as I know zero about Mirrodin #2. Frederico Bastos and Marcio Carvalho will be my resident commentators, tough I might invite guest commentators ocasionally if I feel they can add lots of sillyness to the discussion (I'm thinking in Frederico Costa don't know why). So for now, let me introduce my resident commentators for this feature, and provide you with a little of their Magic and cinema backgrounds.

(Photos will be posted later)

Frederico Bastos
- 2 Pro Tour Top 8 (when Magic cards were shaped triangular)
- National Champion 2000
- National Champion 2009 (bc I was in China and had to skip Nats 2008 and 2009)
- Bachelor degree in Cinema or movies or directing or something like that by the Modern University of Lisbon
- Watches all the movies because he made a membership card which allows him to watch for free any two movies a day in the Sporting Lisbon stadium cinema complex.

funny fact about Fred: before that cinema complex existed he still watched all the movies by buying a discount ticket on Mondays, and "maximizing" it's use so to say.

Marcio Carvalho
- 2 Pro Tour Top 8
- National Champion 2008 (both of you got your chance when I wasn't there)
- Grand Prix Lisbon Winner (50% money split, that's my kid)
- Graduated from the "University of Card and Board games of Lisbon", also known as "Devir Arena Tournament Center - Lisbon", where he is now a guest teacher on the subject "How to be Marcio at Magic".
- Watches all the movies in ways even more illegal than Fred old schemes, often with poor quality and no special effects, or missing the final ten minutes.

funny fact about Marcio: In Feb 2009 Marcio bet with me he would win Nats again since I wasn't playing. Marcio lost the bet because later he received a 6 months ban and couldn't play Nats.

The artists have been presented, the facts may speak for themselves, but let's hear their wise words on the next post. And yes, this introduction was a way to pressure you two for your F... answers I'm waiting!

2010 Hall of Fame

No need for lame introductions, these days I've been really short on time, so I'll jump right to the matter of the 2010 Hall of Fame vote.

I have something like 160 lifetime Pro Points, so yes I am Hall of Fame eligible. That itself is a huge honor for me to be on the same list of Magic the Gathering's all time greatest players. I wasn't inducted last year, very very far from it, I wasn't expecting to be. One time, Mike Turian told me I would probably need to win a Pro Tour to have a chance at being inducted, which I agree, but it's getting harder since I missed 9 of the last 10 PTs. So let's talk about the other candidates.

Who I will vote for:

Gabriel Nassif

Besides the Dragonstorm and the Cruel Ultimatum moments on PT Top 8, he also won the longest match in PT Top 8 history lasting more than 3 hours with his Martyr Proclamation deck. Must be.

Bram Snepvangers

It seems several communities are making a push to put Bram into the HOF, I couldn't agree more with them, its's about time.

Carlos Romão

I know what you're thinking.... "Tiago, so far you were being fair and unbiased but now you're turning to your friends"

Well, it doesn't matter my relationship with Carlos Romão, it doesn´t matter that he is one of the most respected players not only in South America, but also North America, Europe and Asia, or how good as player he is, etc.

His numbers are good enough for HOF, but here is how I see it, and why I will always vote for Carlos Romão: If Tsuyoshi Fujita was an auto vote for most of us because of being the pioneer of Japanese Magic, Carlos Romão is the Latin American Tsuyoshi Fujita, a community lacking the resources of Japanese Magic which has and keeps producing some of the finest players around.

Who I might vote for:

The following players have all good results, and I will be happy if any of them becomes inducted, so I will try and explain what I see different in them.

Patrick Chapin

I like his enthusiasm about Magic, how you can come up to him and talk about any Magic subject, he will listen to you and answer you back, no matter who you are or what you have to say. Plus all the writing, I think he's a good embassador of the game.

Antonino da Rosa

Last year we talked about the HOF, this year we haven't. When the conversation led to whether I was voting for him or not, I said: I won't say I will just because I'm face to face with you, but I'm also not saying I won't, if you want an honest answer, I will have you in consideration when I vote. I remember a time, when week after week it was Antonino's pictures holding trophies on the event coverage, so I was surprised his Pro Tour gold his somewhat short compared to other candidates. Last year I end up voting for him, this year I still don't know.

Willy Edel

Yes, now I'm being biased towards my friends. Willy has the numbers to back my hypothetical vote, 3 PT Top 8's in one year period. Willy is a more mature person than your average Magic player, but also insanely fun. He made the Pro Tour a much more enjoyable experience not only for me, but for all the other Latin speakers playing on the Pro Tour. Willy was the most supportive and influential person to a very young Magic player on his first Pro Tour, a kid which we all now know as "PV". When Willy Edel was accused, an entire community came on his defense, because they believed in him.

Anton Jonsson / Richard Hoaen

The two greatest drafters during my years on the gravy train. Never won a team draft against Rich, never lost a draft with Rich (ok, except that one time, can we please not talk about it). Unfortunately for Rich, Anton has much much better numbers, and is indeed a very serious candidate, or should be.

Tomoharu Saitou

Looking at the numbers, its undeniable that Tomoharu belongs in the HOF. He also happens to be a friend, a very funny and sociable person. He has welcomed me into Japan several times, I would do the same for him. The year he was POY, I conceded to him in the last round of a Grand Prix to give him an extra PT point, even tough I lost a PT point myself and money. Why am I unsureof voting for Tomoharu? Let's just stay I don't want to "buyback" old Pro Tour situations.

Shouta Yasooka

IN-SA-NE-LY good. When I was on the top of my game, Shouta was the best player in the World. A Player of the Year winner, both in real world and online, Shouta perhaps needs a little more charisma, or Top 8's to follow his Charleston win.

Who I won't be voting this year and why

Brian Kibler

I know nothing about Brian Kibler except his numbers, which are quite good by the way, but in the other candidates, I can see something else personal which makes me vote for them. However, the years which Kibler was absent of the PT happen to be the years where I was on the gravy train, and the years where I stopped playing happen to be the years where he made his comeback.

Chris Pikula

I never saw Chris Pikula in my life, except in a Meddling Mage. At least I played Kibler once so I know he exists, can't say the same of Chris.

Steve OMS

You see, the common point so far, is the time gap between gravy trainers of my generation and old timers, we weren't there to receive their influence.

To Brian, Chris and Steve: I recognize all of you as Hall of Fame caliber, if any of you gets inducted I will applaud, but as someone who had the previledge of personally knowing almost all the persons on the ballot, for some reasons other players I had a better acquaintance came before on my votes. I wish everyone mentioned here the best of luck, you are all some of Magic's greatest players ever.