Roy Tang

Programmer, engineer, scientist, critic, gamer, dreamer, and kid-at-heart.

Blog Notes Photos Links Archives About

Recent Activity

15 Aug 2021

  • Weeknotes 2021-08-15
    A quote: “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” - Eckhart Tolle The world: We are one week into the current NCR ECQ lockdown. Covid19 and the Delta variant continue to rampage through the country; the DOH reported 14k+ new cases today, the 2nd highest daily rate since the pandemic started, the positive testing rate staying above 20% for more than a week (signaling not enough testing - WHO recommended rate is 5%).

    read more (773 words)

    Posted by under post at #weeknotes #philippines #covid19
    Also on: mastodon twitter / 0 / 773 words

14 Aug 2021

12 Aug 2021

11 Aug 2021

10 Aug 2021

9 Aug 2021

  • Forty Three
    Had some trouble thinking about what I wanted to write for this year’s birthday post. And while I was thinking about it I accidentally published an empty draft of this post earlier today. Sounds about right. I like to consider myself an optimist, but it’s been a challenging 365 days. We are still very much in the throes of a pandemic, threatening to overrun our vaccine defense with mutated variants. The entire twelve months since the last birthday have been spent in quarantine.

    read more (347 words)

    Posted by under post at #birthday
    Also on: mastodon twitter / 0 / 347 words

  • I thought I was done with #mtgafr, limited but in the wee hours of the morning earlier I threw some gems away on the draft challenge. RW pile went 0-2 (boo!), UR went 4-2 (better, but still not happy with it). I should stop letting the format keep drawing me back in lol

    PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    I thought I was done with #mtgafr, limited but in the wee hours of the morning earlier I threw some gems away on the draft challenge. RW pile went 0-2 (boo!), UR went 4-2 (better, but still not happy with it). I should stop letting the format keep drawing me back in lol PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    I thought I was done with #mtgafr, limited but in the wee hours of the morning earlier I threw some gems away on the draft challenge. RW pile went 0-2 (boo!), UR went 4-2 (better, but still not happy with it). I should stop letting the format keep drawing me back in lol PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Posted by under notes at #mtgafr
    Also on: twitter / 0

8 Aug 2021

7 Aug 2021

6 Aug 2021

  • After last night’s terrible W/L record in the final #mtgafr draft stream, I decided to do an off-stream quick draft just so I hit platinum by Aug 10. Naturally this was the one where I managed to get 7 wins lol

    PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    After last night’s terrible W/L record in the final #mtgafr draft stream, I decided to do an off-stream quick draft just so I hit platinum by Aug 10. Naturally this was the one where I managed to get 7 wins lol PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    After last night’s terrible W/L record in the final #mtgafr draft stream, I decided to do an off-stream quick draft just so I hit platinum by Aug 10. Naturally this was the one where I managed to get 7 wins lol PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    After last night’s terrible W/L record in the final #mtgafr draft stream, I decided to do an off-stream quick draft just so I hit platinum by Aug 10. Naturally this was the one where I managed to get 7 wins lol PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    After last night’s terrible W/L record in the final #mtgafr draft stream, I decided to do an off-stream quick draft just so I hit platinum by Aug 10. Naturally this was the one where I managed to get 7 wins lol PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Posted by under notes at #mtgafr
    Also on: twitter / 0

  • The Suicide Squad
    First, the spoiler-free review: On 6 Aug 2021 10:27am I wrote: THE SUICIDE SQUAD spoiler-free review: great, fun, violent, hilarious, possibly best of DCEU so far trailers have spoiled waaaay too much of this movie first act was ok, second act felt a bit meh, third act was great hard to comment on actor performances without spoiling things, but Daniela Melchior was great and Idris Elba took the role seriously there is a post-credits scene Full review on the blog later

    read more (419 words)

    Posted by under post at #movies
    Also on: mastodon twitter / 0 / 419 words

  • Drafting Adventures in the Forgotten Realms! final (?) episode https://www.twitch.tv/twitchyroy #mtgafr #magicarena #twitch

    [22:42] Tonight’s extra long final AFR stream featured FOUR DRAFTS. Look at these piles and try to guess whether I made it out of Gold rank?

    YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7kTTuQGgM

    PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Drafting Adventures in the Forgotten Realms! final (?) episode https://www.twitch.tv/twitchyroy #mtgafr #magicarena #twitch [22:42] Tonight’s extra long final AFR stream featured FOUR DRAFTS. Look at these piles and try to guess whether I made it out of Gold rank? YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7kTTuQGgM PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Drafting Adventures in the Forgotten Realms! final (?) episode https://www.twitch.tv/twitchyroy #mtgafr #magicarena #twitch [22:42] Tonight’s extra long final AFR stream featured FOUR DRAFTS. Look at these piles and try to guess whether I made it out of Gold rank? YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7kTTuQGgM PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Drafting Adventures in the Forgotten Realms! final (?) episode https://www.twitch.tv/twitchyroy #mtgafr #magicarena #twitch [22:42] Tonight’s extra long final AFR stream featured FOUR DRAFTS. Look at these piles and try to guess whether I made it out of Gold rank? YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7kTTuQGgM PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Drafting Adventures in the Forgotten Realms! final (?) episode https://www.twitch.tv/twitchyroy #mtgafr #magicarena #twitch [22:42] Tonight’s extra long final AFR stream featured FOUR DRAFTS. Look at these piles and try to guess whether I made it out of Gold rank? YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7kTTuQGgM PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Posted by under notes at #mtgafr #magicarena #twitch
    Also on: twitter twitter / 0

  • THE SUICIDE SQUAD spoiler-free review:

    • great, fun, violent, hilarious, possibly best of DCEU so far
    • trailers have spoiled waaaay too much of this movie
    • first act was ok, second act felt a bit meh, third act was great
    • hard to comment on actor performances without spoiling things, but Daniela Melchior was great and Idris Elba took the role seriously
    • there is a post-credits scene

    Full review on the blog later

    Posted by under notes at #spoiler-free-review #movies
    Also on: mastodon twitter twitter / 0

5 Aug 2021

4 Aug 2021

3 Aug 2021

  • Quantum of Solace
    Bond film no. 22, Daniel Craig’s second outing. I actually watched this back in 2008, but apparently I wasn’t super impressed (and I wish I wrote more back then lol). I suspect I didn’t really like it because this movie is actually a direct sequel to Casino Royale which I hadn’t seen until this year. It picks up on several hanging plot threads, and some of the characters appear again, and Bond in this film is primarily motivated by anger over the events of the previous film.

    read more (376 words)

    Posted by under post at #movies #jamesbond
    Also on: mastodon twitter / 0 / 376 words

  • Performative Politics
    I read this article about how a US Democratic representative says his Republican colleagues are like WWE wrestlers (excuse me, they’re called “Superstars”) who behave differently in private versus in public. Basically their politics are performative, they act a certain way in public to appeal to their bases, but in private they don’t actually really believe in many of the things they say in public. It speaks to a certain lack of integrity and deceptiveness.

    read more (523 words)

    Posted by under post at #politics #philippines
    Also on: mastodon twitter / 0 / 523 words

2 Aug 2021

1 Aug 2021

  • Weeknotes 2021-08-01
    It’s August! A quote: “Here’s the thing: there is no real life. There is no full, meaningful, “best life.” There are, at best, more and less meaningful pursuits, from your perspective, based on your upbringing, imprinting, and your own specific cocktail of longings. It is natural for us to feel anxiety about how we spend our limited time. No matter how happy you convince yourself to be, you will sometimes feel the vague ache of other possible lives.

    read more (996 words)

    Posted by under post at #weeknotes #philippines #covid19 #tv
    Also on: mastodon twitter / 0 / 996 words

  • Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2!

    PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER

    [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though! BO3 decklist attached for reference.

    PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Managed to clear the #mtgarena Standard Open in just under an hour using @urlichmtg ’s Monowhite Book list. Wasted a bunch of gems though, since I had a first run that was plagued by network issues on my end. Still, looking forward to day 2! PHOTOS PLACEHOLDER [2021-08-02 02:06] Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Finished day 2 at 5-2, just short of cash prizes! Such is life. Deck was a great choice though!
    Posted by under notes at #mtgarena
    Also on: twitter twitter / 0

31 Jul 2021

30 Jul 2021

  • Couldn’t sleep, decided to grind some @EternalCardGame instead, finally hit Master rank after a long drought, just before the end of the month too. I think it’s been an even longer time since I’ve had both Master in Eternal and Mythic in Arena!

    Couldn’t sleep, decided to grind some @EternalCardGame instead, finally hit Master rank after a long drought, just before the end of the month too. I think it’s been an even longer time since I’ve had both Master in Eternal and Mythic in Arena!
    Posted by under photos at
    Also on: twitter / 0

Want to read more? You can browse different types of content below:

  • Blog A blog is a website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries, typically displayed in reverse chronlogical order. A single entry is called a blog post. (1367 items)
  • Links Shared links. (1023 items)
  • Photos Photos, sketches, screenshots, and definitely memes. (1975 items)
  • Notes Microblog-like status updates. (12627 items)
  • Fiction Some works of fiction I have written. (13 items)
On This Site
Things I Write About
Elsewhere
Subscribe