RonVitale

Episode 73: The Art of Magic

Download the show: Episode 73: The Art of Magic  (46.1 MB)

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Total running time: 49 minutes and 11 seconds.

Show Notes:

--Musical Introduction by Luma.
--The Art of Magic. What is some of my favorite art on Magic cards?
--Master Edition coming in September on Magic online.
--Run through some of my Highlander tournament match mistakes.
--Lots of awesome feedback! (Thank you).
--Send me your feedback. What is your favorite bit of art on a Magic card and why?
--Music by Beyond the Pale "Sligo" available on Podshow.com.

Subscribe using iTunes: To subscribe to The Magic Sock using iTunes, simply click  here. (You'll need to have iTunes installed on your computer. You don't need an mp3 player or an iPod.) For a video tutorial on how to subscribe to a podcast, be sure to check out episode 5 of The Magic Sock: How to Subscribe to a Podcast.

Creative Commons License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Contribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Closing: Magic: The Gathering is trademarked and owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. The Magic Sock is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro in any way. To send feedback, send an e-mail to themagicsock@gmail.com. Audio feedback is welcome. Call the voice mail line at 1-201-467-4962 but please keep the message to under 2 minutes and be sure to mention your name and city/state/country.

Episode 72: Magic Game Day?

Download the show: Episode 72: Magic Game Day?  (54.7 MB)

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Total running time: 59 minutes and 47 seconds.

Tips and Tricks Episode 7 (The Subgame and Suspend):

Show Notes:

--Musical Introduction by Luma.
--What happened to me on Magic Game Day? You might be surprised.
--Run through the rares I pulled in my 10th Edition packs.
--Talk about trading and a good trade I just made.
--Lots of awesome feedback! (Thank you).
--Send me your feedback. How was your Magic Game Day experience?
--Music by Three Blind Mice "Baby All" available on Podshow.com.
Subscribe using iTunes: To subscribe to The Magic Sock using iTunes, simply click  here. (You'll need to have iTunes installed on your computer. You don't need an mp3 player or an iPod.) For a video tutorial on how to subscribe to a podcast, be sure to check out episode 5 of The Magic Sock: How to Subscribe to a Podcast.

Creative Commons License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Contribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Closing: Magic: The Gathering is trademarked and owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. The Magic Sock is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro in any way. To send feedback, send an e-mail to themagicsock@gmail.com. Audio feedback is welcome. Call the voice mail line at 1-201-467-4962 but please keep the message to under 2 minutes and be sure to mention your name and city/state/country.

Reflecting

Life is a rather precious and special thing. That might sound a bit trite but with my daughter having been born only two days ago, it's a bit funny how life changes and priorities shift. Yesterday my biggest goal was bathing my daughter for the first time. Well, cleaning up her full head of hair in the attempts to comb out died mucus and blood from her birth. She cooperated rather well, crying as I had expected, but also urinating in the baby tub I had her in. I turned to look back at the rest of her tiny body (20 and a half inches long) and saw all this yellow "water." Then I realized that I had forgotten how babies pee at any drop of a hat or temperature (the water I had poured on her head was too cool).

I wanted to take a moment just to reflect. Reflect on life, mine, my family's and the interconnected web around us. Learning to be a father all over again, is different, new, and a change. I had never imagined in growing up that I would be a father to a daughter. The challenges (just different than being a father to my son) are interestingly vast as I can relate to my son since I'm male. But the gender gap between my daughter and I is interesting to note as I fear that a pink wave of Barbie will soon descend on her. It's bad enough that my son is in love with everything Disney, including the Princesses! Now in a few short years my daughter will be caught up in the rush too. I half joke about that, but what I am serious about is the father daughter bond. I did not have a sister and didn't grow up hearing my sister talk about a father/daughter dance or fears of her getting pregnant when a teenager. Being a boy, fears of pregnancy are still "out there" as a boy can experience that moment but not physically. The issue is still not part of you and I think that life will be a bit more introspective as the immensity of fatherhood--to a girl--washes over me.

I was driving back from the store yesterday and I realized that the Supreme Court might change the law and make illegal the right for women to have an abortion. And I didn't know what I felt about that. Would I want my daughter to have the right to choose even though I'm against abortion? And then thoughts sparked alive in my imagination, linking up to weave a web of life in front of me, stretching out far into the future. I realized that I needed to champion women rights to help fight for my daughter's well-being. For her to choose what she wants. I just hadn't thought of life from that perspective before when my son was born. Yet maybe these thoughts will temper me and the reflection will enable me to grow to learn more about who I am not and become more--in the hopes of being a better father for my daughter. These thoughts are what I'd like to reflect on, keep close, hold tight within me, and relish my new role as father to a beautiful daughter.

Episode 71: Mean and Green

Download the show: Episode 71: Mean and Green  (33.6 MB)

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Total running time: 36 minutes and 41 seconds.

Show Notes:

--Musical Introduction by Luma.
--Run through of an old Standard Tooth and Nail Elf deck from June 16, 2004.
--Lots of feedback again! (Thank you).
--Michael's Michigan Magic website--check it out if you want to meet Magic players in Michigan.
--Send me your feedback. What's your favorite old school deck? Send me the deck and tell me why it's your favorite.
--Music by Number One Fan "Come On" available on Podshow.com.

Subscribe using iTunes: To subscribe to The Magic Sock using iTunes, simply click  here. (You'll need to have iTunes installed on your computer. You don't need an mp3 player or an iPod.) For a video tutorial on how to subscribe to a podcast, be sure to check out episode 5 of The Magic Sock: How to Subscribe to a Podcast.

Creative Commons License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Contribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Closing: Magic: The Gathering is trademarked and owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. The Magic Sock is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro in any way. To send feedback, send an e-mail to themagicsock@gmail.com. Audio feedback is welcome. Call the voice mail line at 1-201-467-4962 but please keep the message to under 2 minutes and be sure to mention your name and city/state/country.