Friday Night Magic

I suppose I should start this post with a bit of history. I have what I would call an addictive personality.  Not to drugs or alcohol, but to other diversions.  I guess I would call myself addicted to competition.  When I find something I really enjoy, I put all of my energy into being the best I can be.

I first noticed this trait when I was in college.  My roommate introduced me to a game called Ultima Online.  For those of you who don't know what this game is, it's an MMORPG that was popular back when IRC and webrings were new and exciting.  I would sit in my dorm room and play this game for hours. It wasn't unusual for me to go days at a time without sleep in a vain attempt to guard sigils for my faction.  When I left school, and with it my T1 line, I returned home to dial up and wasn't exactly competitive anymore.  It didn't take long for me to find a new diversion.

The summer after college, my friends introduced me to a game I had scoffed at while in HS.  I had spend most of my lunches laughing at the group of kids sitting in a small group in the corner of the cafeteria with decks of cards blissfully trading and playing, immune to the ridicule of the masses.  My first game of Magic: The Gathering took place at the large wooden table in a smoky kitchen.  I managed to win the group game with a terrible mono-green deck that had been haphazardly thrown together so I would have something easy to play.  From that first win, I was hooked. 

I spent more than I could afford on buying boxes of a brand new set called "Mirrodin" and watched as I acquired a fairly decent collection.  I built decks to beat my friends, using whatever cards we had lying around.  Then when my friends weren't around, I found my way into my first sanctioned tournament.  I lost horribly. 

So I spent more time and money. I did research.  I traded. I entered more tournaments. I lost just as much.  One day, something clicked for me and I started winning.  Whether it was pure luck or my seemingly thrown together style that led me to win, it didn't really matter.  Now I wanted to win more. 

I started finding bigger and better places to play and at my peak, I was playing in store that I was also working at for store credit. All my friends were there, and we were all there every day.  MTG was all we really talked about and I'm fairly sure it's all I thought about.

Then the other shoe dropped.  The shop we had called home decided to close, and the owners left to live in the arid desert that does everything it can to kill you...or your go kart.  (I'm actually still sorry about that) 

So with my diversions gone, and at least one relationship destroyed because of them...I moved on.  Sold my cards, and vowed never to play again.

Instead, I found a shiny NEW distraction to help me kill some time:  World of Warcraft. 

I spent years playing this game.   Starting low, role playing my way to pass the time during the low levels.  Then I found a character I loved playing and I got him leveled and geared for raiding.  Yet again, I was hooked.  After a few years, I had leveled a handful of character to fill any possible raiding position and was well recognized in certain high end circles. 

The downfall of WoW for me was the day I got a job.  I no longer had the time to invest in my hobby.

So for the last year or so, I've been looking for things to do with my spare time. 

My girlfriend can spend her nights chatting with her blog friends and listen to the drama that is ALWAYS involved in the indie make-up scene. 

My friday nights are going to be my attempt to break back in to a former addiction. My local comic store runs an FNM Draft night every friday.  The prospect of this actually terrifies me.  If I'm terrible, then I don't have much fun and I'd be wasting my time.  If I win, then I'll be sorely tempted to keep coming and eventually branch out from a limited, casual, battle of wits to a constructed tournament. Constructed  Tournaments bring out the worst in me.  I spend more than I can afford to play a game I'm probably going to lose. 

For now, I've simply got to take it slow and hope for the best.  And of course, keep it drama free.

Comic Book Men

Kevin Smith is a legend.  Normally I love most things he does.  I'm a fan of his movies.  I love his comics.  When he talks, I normally listen.  That's why I'm so disappointed by Comic Book Men, his new series on AMC.

I watched the first 2 episodes and was thoroughly unimpressed.  A man as creative as Smith raises the expectations quite a bit.  I wanted to enjoy this series. I was looking forward to it.  I had set aside space on my DVR for this.  Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy comics and all things collectible, this show seemed to be a cheap knock off. Comic Book Men is the television equivalent to buying an Aquaman action figure; not only is Aquaman a rip off of Namor the Sub-Mariner, but the strongest emotion either character elicits is apathy.

The episodes I saw could have just as easily been episodes of Pawn Stars.  Just like the history channel's show about a store, there were never any actual customers coming in to buy anything. Instead, there was a seemingly endless stream of people coming in to sell marginally interesting pieces of comic history.  Then the shop owner was called to negotiate with the guy. Sometimes an "expert" was called in to give their two cents.

The only difference between Pawn Stars and Comic Book Men, is that the actual negotiations are regularly interrupted by the cast sitting around a table with Kevin Smith (who hasn't actually appeared in the store) to record a podcast that talks about the goings on of the comic book store.  I'm watching video of what's going on in the store...do I really need to be shown reaction shots of Kevin while basically hearing the radio broadcast?

Like Smith's other attempts to break into television, I don't see this series lasting very long.