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...