from diego to the bay. a few words before i begin. there are a few songs that i refuse to dance to. i will straight walk off the dance floor when these songs come on. number one on that list is "california love." number two is "nuthin but a g-thang." i can't recall the other three, but i think it's all tupac and dr dre songs rounding out the list. yes, i realize these are all songs evocative of the west coast. the "gangsta hand sign flashing west coast." and that's precisely why they should never play these songs in the club. sure they're classics, sure everyoneunu knows the last two words of every line of the lyrics. but really, have you ever seen anyone dance well to these songs? have you ever danced to one of these songs and then thought "man, that was so fun!" never.

i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that no dre or tupac should ever be played anywhere near people who are in the mood for dancing. now, i like gangsta rap as much as the next middle class whitebread guy, but give me a break. these songs are not fun to dance to, the beats get super repetitive, and it's all over-played. why the crowd even "oooh's" when "nuthin but a g-thang" comes on is beyond me. you've heard it a billion times at a billion clubs, you'll hear it a billion times more at another billion clubs. what are people excited about? it's even worse ever since the internet taught every idiot how to c-walk, poorly. sure it's the only thing you feel like doing during these songs, but actually do it. it's just stupid. stop it, tupac is dead. let him be. and people who are "gangsta" attitude-ing or dancing or making those glowering faces during these songs, stop it. for your sake if not mine. you have a midori sour in your hand, stop pretending like you're hard.

apologies for that. i just had to get it out. i really shouldn't go out to clubs anymore. it's bad for my mental health. good for venting material though.

anyway, i'm off this weekend to the bay area for a magic tournament. you heard it right, a magic tournament. it's not a "real" magic tournament (i'm underprepared and don't have the proper cards to join one of those) but it'll be a tournament nonetheless. a few friends whom i used to play with are hosting a little tourney so i've decided to go. actually, it was fated that i go, and probably decreed by the gods of geekdom. how can i pass up a chance to recapture my high school years and possibly re-kindle my desire for one of the best games ever?

i feel sorry for people who dismiss games like magic and role playing games and maybe even chess, just because geeks/dorks/nerds played them after school and during lunches. it's like the mere association with dorks is enough to taint a game's reputation. people don't know what they're missing out on.

don't people realize that everything cool now was first touched by the hands of dorks years ago? you think lord of the rings fans were cool before? how about star wars fans? even certain comic books fans (excluding cultural icons like superman, batman, wonder woman, etc)? they're multi-billion dollar entertainment behemoths and it sure wasn't the popular kids pushing them along all of these years.

so i'm waiting patiently for stuff like magic and ad&d to hit the big time. to become not only accepted as a cool club member, but be voted in unanimously as president. of course by the time this happens i'll likely be in my late middle ages, but i'd still play. once a dork, always a dork. my deck can beat your deck any day. this might turn out to be one of the best weekends ever since i turned technically adult.