Thursday, January 29, 2004
The Ghosts of Thursday, Jan 29, 2004...
...Past: got my cavities filled...
...Present: studying and then taking Math 51 midterm...
...Future: playing poker...
...Past: got my cavities filled...
...Present: studying and then taking Math 51 midterm...
...Future: playing poker...
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Sunday, January 25, 2004
The new Magic expansion, Darksteel!
The SF Bay area prerelease was in Palo Alto this time (convenient!). A group of about 10 of us went to get some of the new cards and try our luck in a five-round tournament.
The format: Mirrodin-Darksteel Sealed. Five rounds of Swiss-style pairings.
Each player gets a tournament pack (aka starter deck) of Mirrodin (50 cards, ignoring the basic land) and three booster packs of Darksteel (45 cards). From these, and using an unlimited supply of basic land, each player makes a 40 card deck.
Each round is a best-of-three match against a different opponent. Swiss pairing means that you always play someone with the same record as you. So if you win the first round, you will play someone who also won next. If you're 2-1 after three rounds, you'll play another 2-1 person in round four. This way the event is still fun for people who aren't doing that well, and winning becomes more than just the luck of getting paired up against little kids, scrubs, and newbies.
Quite a few of us had winning records enough to win some packs. My friends Dat and David (if I recall correctly) went 3-1-1 and won six packs. Adam and I went 4-0-1 (that's four wins, one draw, no losses) and won 16 packs. (Adam and I, 3-0 after three rounds, were paired up in round four. I offered a draw, which would guarantee us at least some prize packs no matter what we did in round 5, but he wanted to play for it. We split the first two games. Game three was a standstill, with over ten creatures on the table. Time for the match expired without either of us being able to break through. So we ended up 1-1-1 and drew anyway. But a hard-fought draw is better than an intentional draw.)
I didn't think my deck was that good. I didn't have any riddiculous bombs, just solid red and green cards. I had four artifact destroyers (Viridian Shaman, Dismantle, Unforge, and Goblin Replica) and one burn spell (Shrapnel Blast, which Roxorz). I only had one playable piece of equipment (Vushok Morningstar, which gives +2/+2 for (2) to play and (2) to equip). My big creatures were Myr Enforcer (4/4), Tangle Golem (5/4), and Mirror Golem (3/4 and nigh-unstoppable). I also splashed blue for an evasive Neurok Spy. My one flyer was a Clockwork Condor. I had great green combat tricks, with a Battlegrowth (puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature, which saved my men's asses all day) and Predator's Strike (gives +3/+3 and trample, which helped me win trades or get through some damage for the win).
I got some good cards in my prize packs. The most exciting one is Well of Lost Dreams. Artifact for (4). Whenever you gain life, you can pay (X) up to the amount of life you gained to draw X cards. So if you attack with Exalted Angel and gain four life, you can draw up to four(!) cards for the cheap price of (1) each. That is a lot of power in a four-mana artifact.
OK, that's enough about Magic. Now I have to get back to work. Program in Writing and Rhetoric... *cries*.
The SF Bay area prerelease was in Palo Alto this time (convenient!). A group of about 10 of us went to get some of the new cards and try our luck in a five-round tournament.
The format: Mirrodin-Darksteel Sealed. Five rounds of Swiss-style pairings.
Each player gets a tournament pack (aka starter deck) of Mirrodin (50 cards, ignoring the basic land) and three booster packs of Darksteel (45 cards). From these, and using an unlimited supply of basic land, each player makes a 40 card deck.
Each round is a best-of-three match against a different opponent. Swiss pairing means that you always play someone with the same record as you. So if you win the first round, you will play someone who also won next. If you're 2-1 after three rounds, you'll play another 2-1 person in round four. This way the event is still fun for people who aren't doing that well, and winning becomes more than just the luck of getting paired up against little kids, scrubs, and newbies.
Quite a few of us had winning records enough to win some packs. My friends Dat and David (if I recall correctly) went 3-1-1 and won six packs. Adam and I went 4-0-1 (that's four wins, one draw, no losses) and won 16 packs. (Adam and I, 3-0 after three rounds, were paired up in round four. I offered a draw, which would guarantee us at least some prize packs no matter what we did in round 5, but he wanted to play for it. We split the first two games. Game three was a standstill, with over ten creatures on the table. Time for the match expired without either of us being able to break through. So we ended up 1-1-1 and drew anyway. But a hard-fought draw is better than an intentional draw.)
I didn't think my deck was that good. I didn't have any riddiculous bombs, just solid red and green cards. I had four artifact destroyers (Viridian Shaman, Dismantle, Unforge, and Goblin Replica) and one burn spell (Shrapnel Blast, which Roxorz). I only had one playable piece of equipment (Vushok Morningstar, which gives +2/+2 for (2) to play and (2) to equip). My big creatures were Myr Enforcer (4/4), Tangle Golem (5/4), and Mirror Golem (3/4 and nigh-unstoppable). I also splashed blue for an evasive Neurok Spy. My one flyer was a Clockwork Condor. I had great green combat tricks, with a Battlegrowth (puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature, which saved my men's asses all day) and Predator's Strike (gives +3/+3 and trample, which helped me win trades or get through some damage for the win).
I got some good cards in my prize packs. The most exciting one is Well of Lost Dreams. Artifact for (4). Whenever you gain life, you can pay (X) up to the amount of life you gained to draw X cards. So if you attack with Exalted Angel and gain four life, you can draw up to four(!) cards for the cheap price of (1) each. That is a lot of power in a four-mana artifact.
OK, that's enough about Magic. Now I have to get back to work. Program in Writing and Rhetoric... *cries*.
Friday, January 23, 2004
I finally get to put one of these stupid things in my blog!
I did it in 38 seconds.
I deserved a C+!!
Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!
I did it in 38 seconds.
I deserved a C+!!
Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!
Thursday, January 22, 2004
I went to the dentist this morning (I haven't had a regular check up in a while). Turns out I have two small cavities in my bottom wisdom teeth. (It's hard to bursh those suckers! They're all the way back there, and they're half-sized!) So I have to go back and get fillings. I guess those Sealant dealies on the rest of my teeth led me into a false sense of security... On the positive side, at least my wisdom teeth have come in completely OK.
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Saturday, January 17, 2004
This weekend is the Roble Ski Trip. Approximately 120 out of 310 residents are on the trip. In my quad, only my immediate roommate Mike Posa has gone. (He actually had his own skis under his bed all this time. I never knew.)
Yesterday my RA, Neil, organized a small movie-going group to see Big Fish. In typical Neil fashion, he printed out little half-sheet "invitations" for this "Roble 3B only, invitation only" event.
I had something I was going to say... oh yea. On Thursday Posa introduced me to 8-Bit Theater. (Kevin, I know I saw you reading it over your shoulder in 5th period of 11th and 12th grade. You got me to read Schlock Mercenary, be happy.) Anyway, it makes fun of RPGs and it's funny.
Enjoy the holiday weekend, everyone!
Yesterday my RA, Neil, organized a small movie-going group to see Big Fish. In typical Neil fashion, he printed out little half-sheet "invitations" for this "Roble 3B only, invitation only" event.
I had something I was going to say... oh yea. On Thursday Posa introduced me to 8-Bit Theater. (Kevin, I know I saw you reading it over your shoulder in 5th period of 11th and 12th grade. You got me to read Schlock Mercenary, be happy.) Anyway, it makes fun of RPGs and it's funny.
Enjoy the holiday weekend, everyone!
Thursday, January 15, 2004
My Tempur-Pedic pillow arrived yesterday. As my roommate Mike Posa can attest, I constantly complained about my pillow being way too thick. My neck was always crammed far too high up, making it hard to fall asleep and giving me neck cramps when i woke up. So on my dad's suggestion I decided to go all-out in my replacement and get a space-age pillow. My dad has the Tempur-Pedic stuff it seems pretty cool. (It's squishy!) After one night, I'd say it was nicer than a regular pillow, but takes some getting used to.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Happy birthday dad!
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Quotes from my first section with Blaine Neufeld, Reason Passion and Reality TF:
On philosophy's role in academia:
"Philosophy is a parasitic discipline."
On benefiting from lectures:
"Consciousness is a useful state to be in."
On philosophy's deep intellectual impact:
"Philosophy leads to drugs."
On logical induction:
"But if you examine all five continents..."
On philosophy's role in academia:
"Philosophy is a parasitic discipline."
On benefiting from lectures:
"Consciousness is a useful state to be in."
On philosophy's deep intellectual impact:
"Philosophy leads to drugs."
On logical induction:
"But if you examine all five continents..."
Friday, January 09, 2004
OK, here's my 2nd draft of my schedule:
PWR2 -- E-Rhetoric -- MWF 9:00-10:15 -- 4 units (worst time for a class ever)
Math 51 -- Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus -- MWF 11:00-12:00 -- 5 units (I need to take this at some point, and it's more units than CS103B, so I'm getting it out of the way now because the rest of my classes are easier this quarter)
IHUM -- Reason, Passion, and Reality -- MW 1:15-2:05 (two whole quarters of philosophy? 8-O)
IHUM section -- MW 4:15-5:45
Math section -- TTh 10:00-10:50
Intermediate tennis -- TTh 11:00-11:50 -- 1 unit (horaay for playing tennis! Basically $15 for ten weeks of group lessons, not bad)
Freshman Seminar -- Robots -- TTh 2:15-3:45 -- 3 units (this class involves discussing robotics, playing with Lego Mindstorm, taking field trips to off-campus robotics places, and no outside work)
In other news, I donated blood to the medical center yesterday (Wednesday). They had an extreme shortage after the holidays (no blood donors around) and were calling for donors. They gave me lots of cookies and lots of water and orange juice. As a result I couldn't play tennis today :-(. After 24 hours I'm allowed to exert myself again.
Since I have 9am class tomorrow, I'll go to sleep in just a bit.
Happy birthday Tova!
PWR2 -- E-Rhetoric -- MWF 9:00-10:15 -- 4 units (worst time for a class ever)
Math 51 -- Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus -- MWF 11:00-12:00 -- 5 units (I need to take this at some point, and it's more units than CS103B, so I'm getting it out of the way now because the rest of my classes are easier this quarter)
IHUM -- Reason, Passion, and Reality -- MW 1:15-2:05 (two whole quarters of philosophy? 8-O)
IHUM section -- MW 4:15-5:45
Math section -- TTh 10:00-10:50
Intermediate tennis -- TTh 11:00-11:50 -- 1 unit (horaay for playing tennis! Basically $15 for ten weeks of group lessons, not bad)
Freshman Seminar -- Robots -- TTh 2:15-3:45 -- 3 units (this class involves discussing robotics, playing with Lego Mindstorm, taking field trips to off-campus robotics places, and no outside work)
In other news, I donated blood to the medical center yesterday (Wednesday). They had an extreme shortage after the holidays (no blood donors around) and were calling for donors. They gave me lots of cookies and lots of water and orange juice. As a result I couldn't play tennis today :-(. After 24 hours I'm allowed to exert myself again.
Since I have 9am class tomorrow, I'll go to sleep in just a bit.
Happy birthday Tova!
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
I added another "class" to my schedule: Intermediate Tennis. One hour of tennis twice a week; maybe I'll actually get better. (I've been at a plateau of playing ability for years now, kept up by my occasional causal play.)
Monday, January 05, 2004
I finally played tennis at Stanford! My RA Neil beat me 6-0 6-2 but it was good times.
(people on the east coast are so whiny)
[14:22] *** Auto-response sent to lordtorgamus: tennis!
[14:22] lordtorgamus: Tennis? Tennis? DAMN GOOD CA WEATHER!
(people on the east coast are so whiny)
[14:22] *** Auto-response sent to lordtorgamus: tennis!
[14:22] lordtorgamus: Tennis? Tennis? DAMN GOOD CA WEATHER!
There's water in Lake Lagunita!!
Oh My God is that exciting. I'm going to dig out my digital camera and post a picture, if I can.
Oh My God is that exciting. I'm going to dig out my digital camera and post a picture, if I can.
Sunday, January 04, 2004
JeremyHoffman03: yay IE
JeremyHoffman03: We can't find "stanford.edu"
JeremyHoffman03: well you didn't try very hard, did you?
JeremyHoffman03: We can't find "stanford.edu"
JeremyHoffman03: well you didn't try very hard, did you?
I like being back like this. No work or responsibilities, and only about 1/4 of the people are here. As I said to someone, it's like college with training wheels, to get us back in the flow of things.
Saturday, January 03, 2004
I'm back at Roble! It's sorta lonely in here, but I look forward to welcoming everyone as they arrive.
Also to do tomorrow/Monday:
Buy boots
Buy a new pillow (my current pillow is TOO THICK and bends my neck out of shape)
Register my bike
(More things as I think of them...)
My courses this quarter:
IHUM -- Reason, Passion, and Reality (philosophy) (5 units)
PWR -- E-Rhetoric (4 units)
CS103B -- Discrete Math (3 units)
IntroSem -- Robotics (3 units)
Also to do tomorrow/Monday:
Buy boots
Buy a new pillow (my current pillow is TOO THICK and bends my neck out of shape)
Register my bike
(More things as I think of them...)
My courses this quarter:
IHUM -- Reason, Passion, and Reality (philosophy) (5 units)
PWR -- E-Rhetoric (4 units)
CS103B -- Discrete Math (3 units)
IntroSem -- Robotics (3 units)
Friday, January 02, 2004
I'm returning to the Farm tomorrow. It's been a great three weeks at home, but I can't wait to get back.
To do list for Sunday and Monday:
-new glasses
-restock my room with food
-play poker and/or gamecube
Eventually:
-haircut
-see Return of the King again
-go to classes
To do list for Sunday and Monday:
-new glasses
-restock my room with food
-play poker and/or gamecube
Eventually:
-haircut
-see Return of the King again
-go to classes
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