Jamie Wakefield

"Completely unrelated, but I have to share: After a series of bizzare events yesterday I escaped as the winner of PTQ Marseille and thus qualified for Pro Tour San Juan. I wasn't really on a quest for The Pro Tour, but I guess the dream still lingered somewhere in the back of my mind and when the oppurtunity presented itself I grasped it." -Kjetil Congratulations! That is awesome! What format was the PTQ and what is the format of the PT itself? I could look it up but I'd also like to know what you think about the format and how you think you'll do in the style. My one piece of advice is this - Have fun. You made it to the big show! THE BIG SHOW! Even if you go 0-7, smile the entire day because you knwo what? You made it!

I would love to tell you the book of the month is Roger Zelazny’s - “Changling” that I picked up at the used-book store. (God! I hate Grammar! Is it “Zelazny’s: Changling,” Zelazny’s Changling” or Zelazny’s – Changling”?) For one thing, It has one of the most fascinating premises ever. A child born of technology is swapped for a child from a world of magic. Both grow up with an ability that is feared in their new world. Sadly, from there, the book goes to shit. Which is odd because Zelazny is one of my favorite authors. I cannot recommend highly enough the audio tape “The Last Defender of Camelot.” I’ve written about it before. A long time ago I wrote a column about “Beautiful Things.” If I remember correctly, the premier item was “The Last Defender of Camelot” audio book by Roger Zelazny and read by “Odo” from “Deep Space Nine.” Or maybe you remember him better as the snide Butler on “Benson.” Regardless of how you remember him, Rene Auberjonois had the best reading voice I have ever ...

Before I get to a real post, I thought I would mention how much I hate Jay-Z. And Jon Fitch. (See below.) Beyonce is pregnant and it's all over the news which is the reason for this post. When I was in college, almost a hundred years ago, rap was in its infancy. There was iambic pentameter. There was rhyme. There was rhythm, and there was a story. It was a new form of music that was magical. Wendy and I actually danced to it the other night with lyrics of: “Superman has come to town, to see who he could rock. His speakers were three stories high, his woofers made of steel, he blew away every crew he faced until he reached our block!” Notice that there is no mention of bitches and ho’s. Jay-Z is a “rapper” and somehow, has made a fortune being one and now has impregnated the beautiful Beyonce. Beyonce is amazing. She has the voice of a goddess. Her dancing evokes passion. And yet, when I see her, I have a rough time not remembering that she is with that idiot Jay-Z. She has made a ...

From MMAJunkie.com "Fitch (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC), a former Purdue University wrestling team captain, posted a familiar performance: He used takedowns, a stifling top game, and good ol' ground and pound to post a unanimous-decision win. Fitch's past six wins have all come via decision in a similar manner. The string of wins was interrupted by – and Fitch's only defeat in the Octagon was the result of – a lopsided unanimous-decision loss to champ St-Pierre at UFC 87 in 2008. Since then Fitch has won four straight and is anxious for another shot at the belt. And after watching St-Pierre's similarly lopsided (and thus far, largely criticized) title defense over Dan Hardy, Fitch is even more eager to exploit what he sees as holes in the champ's game. "It was a good fight for him, but I still see flaws in his game, and that's why I want to fight him," Fitch said of St-Pierre. "There's nothing that means more to me right now than fighting for the ...

Bustin' a move to Rick Astley, 2008 in Ecuador. No, I'm not kidding, I am one of the few people that love his music. Why this picture is here is explained below. . Spain – Random observation #269 They don’t have a drop box at the post office. Now, I could just put the letter in the mailbox outside our apartment, but what if the mailperson has already come through and collected that mail? Then it would be tomorrow before the letter got picked up, and, I am assuming, late afternoon or even evening before my letter gets to the post office. So, it will be put in a big pile late Friday, most likely sorted on Monday. So, I hauled myself to the post office, a half-mile away, Thursday morning to drop it in the mail slot to make sure it was sorted that day and on its way to America before the weekend, instead of Monday. And there is no drop box. I take a ticket and I am number 110. The sign says they are now serving number 94. So I stand for 25 minutes, hand my letter to the woman who f...

Actual WoW news. Anyone else but me not aware there is a new expansion coming out that will change the way Azeroth looks? There will be some huge cataclysm that remakes all the old stuff you’ve come to know and love. Shit, I already went through that in Dereth. It still pisses me off that I can never go back to Yanshi again. All that’s left is a big smoking crater. Now they’re looking to do the same thing in WoW? I’ll never get to go back to Darkshore and trap a bear? I’ll never get the fishing skill on its shores? As you can tell, I consider it a bad move. You’ll get to play as a werewolf or a goblin now though. And races can be different classes now. That’s where I stopped watching because as much as I loved WoW, I’m bored with it now and have been for years. I do wish they would release an expansion that rekindled my love of the game, but sadly, this isn’t it. In fact, it goes in the opposite direction… http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/media/ I think I posted quite some time...

I believe that once again, I am almost done with “I’m not an Alcoholic, I’m just European! Living in Spain, Adventuring through Europe.” Yesterday I spent the day designing the cover, uploading photo’s, formatting flavor text on the back cover. At the end of the day I submitted everything to CreateSpace so they could make sure the work followed their guidelines. Last night I was told that it was acceptable, and this morning I have ordered a proof to look over. My fourth to be exact. Let’s hope this once comes out right. I spent the rest of the morning working on the Kindle edition of the book and uploaded that for approval a few hours ago. So, by the end of this week or early next week, yes, there will finally be a link on this blog and Amazon.com to a book you can purchase. I thought it would take me a year. It’s been three. Oh well, at least that’s finally over and now I can retire. Oh wait… I have been enjoying working on “Secret Force – Quest for the Pro Tour II” but now I am stuck...

I’ve never been a huge Michael Jackson fan. Which doesn’t mean I don’t like his stuff, I’ve just never worshipped it like some people. This weekend Wendy and I saw “This is it” the documentary on his planned return concert. I recommend it to everyone. The view we have been presented by the media is quickly refuted by watching Michael in a normal setting. He doesn’t seem weird, or sick or wasted away, or the victim of bad plastic surgery. He seems like a nice guy. He says God bless you a lot. He looks like he’s trying to be nice to everyone. I admire that. What has always amazed me is the hypocrisy surrounding Mister Jackson. I know he had a fascination for childhood and for children, but I think it’s important to remember that he was never convicted of anything, and the people who did accuse him came from families looking to make a lot of money by suing him. And everyone was willing to believe the worst of Michael until he died, then all of sudden everyone remembers what a huge star he...

I have always cherished books. I loved their smell, their texture, the turning of the pages, the collecting. I loved everything about them. No more. Wendy and I are of one mind on this. Sadly, the iPhone has destroyed my love of books. I still read hard copy books, but if I had my choice, I would prefer to read a bad book on the iPhone than a good book on paper. I never, in my wildest imaginings, thought I would ever type something like that. A book has a weight I don't enjoy. It requires a light source. Turning pages requires me to lift the book off the pillow supporting it. An ibook requires none of these things. A simple flick of the thumb, no light source, just text in its simplest, best form ever. I can carry three thousand books in my pocket. Do you know how many boxes of books I have in the eves of my house in Vermont?

"Thank you for your submission. We're very sorry it’s taken us so long to respond, but we’ve had a backlog of submissions. Even though your project sounds interesting, I’m sorry to say that it is not right for us at this time." My first rejection in months! Of course, it's been months since I've heard from anyone, so, whatever. Quick Robin! To the self-publishing machine! Bamf!

All the bars and restaurants in Madrid have a sign that says that. "Singing Prohibited." It's actually a real problem that Spaniards will just get up and sing. And they'll likely sing a song that everyone knows and everyone joins in. I can think of worse problems to have.

Why does Jennifer Aniston keep making bad movies? If she's choosing the scripts herself, she needs to stop and get someone else to do it for her. If her agent is doing it for her, he needs to be fired. I don't think there's ever been a more popular actress that has made so many horrible movies. Currently rated 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Bounty Hunter is her latest flop. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012049-bounty_hunter/ "There are no rewards to be claimed for enduring The Bounty Hunter." "Disappointing, frequently dull and painfully unfunny romcom that's let down by a badly written script, obnoxious characters and a total lack of chemistry between Butler and Aniston." "A stark example of misbegotten chemistry and its resultant pitfalls."

(Forgive the extra periods, blogger, shit program that it is, isn't formating things correctly today.) . My body is asking for carbs this morning. Wendy has been explaining this new way of looking at food she heard about from Lena. Lena is five foot nothing and has lost fifteen pounds in the last year listening to a podcast called “Inside Out Weight Loss.” There's also a website where you can listen and read as well. Essentially, you learn to listen more to what your body needs as opposed to what it wants, and breaking old eating habits and acquiring newer, healthier ones. It makes you think about each bite, eat slower and question if you really need more. For example, you are eating a pizza. It is good pizza and you are eating it while watching a movie. You finish your plate and go back for more, eat some more and continue watching the movie. This new philosophy is all about making sure you are appreciating every bite. Don’t just shovel more in because the first bite was good...

I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life; because, usually, each chapter is better than the last. Okay, sure, the cancer chapter sucked in a way I didn’t believe possible, and there have been some rough parts in all chapters. But, in general, the book that is my life continues to rise towards a climax and eventual denouement. Life is great right now but I am making the philosophical mistake of looking forward to events that will be even greater. I am very much looking forward to the wedding this summer, ( http://www.wendyandjamie.com/ ) seeing old friends, having a big three-day party, and most of all, finally being able to call Wendy my wife. Eighteen months ago I was in a therapy session and the therapist asked me “Where do you want to see yourself in a year? What would you accomplish that would make you most happy?” I told him without hesitation the thing that would make me most happy would be to be married to Wendy. Second would be to get an agent and get published, but t...

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Well the Ferret set me straight - “Actually, I'm the webmaster, but close enough. As for the blogging, it takes about half an hour a day, averaged out. I do work at home, but I also generally work twelve-hour days, and often sixteen - I've got blogging, writing, and programming to do, as well as keeping up all my relationships.” Which is stunning. Inspired by such work ethic, I’m going to try and do more frequent updates. No, I really mean it this time. Why are you rolling your eyes like that? We had an interesting weekend. Saturday morning we started the day by heading to the gym where Wendy had an awesome run but for some reason I went down in reps, which was not even mildly disturbing. I’m actually lifting some respectable weight now and hope to get back to my peak max bench of 220 lbs which I haven’t done since I was 25. It’s starting to show as well, which I am very psyched about. I actually laid one arm down last night, put my hand on it to go to sleep and thought for a m...

I wish that I could be Ferret. Not just any ferret, but The Ferret. What? An animal? Is that a superhero? What are you talking about Wakefield? http://theferrett.livejournal.com/ The Ferret is a fellow Magic writer who happens to update his blog every day. I can’t even imagine that. See, as much as I would like to do that, I don’t know how he finds the time. What many people find out quickly is that, well, blogging doesn’t actually pay anything! I don’t know what he actually does but I imagine it might involve a private office and a light workload where he can work all day and find time in that workday to update his blog. I would be able to do that if I went back to being a night auditor for hotels. The night audit usually took up a couple hours then I had five hours to read, and an hour where a guest or two might check out. Then I went home. Sadly, they didn’t have MMORPG’s in those days. Maybe he has a job like that. I keep thinking I’m finished with a project and then I find it need...