and Now for Something Completely Different

Well, maybe not completely different. I often use this platform to talk about something I've heard related to Magic the Gathering. Today I'm going to talk about something I have heard more and more. Sometimes in life, media, and imagination somethings take on a life of their own, becoming more then sum of their parts, and reaching beyond the scope and measure of the seed thought which spawned them. Recently it has come to my attention that something as simple as a color, has done just that. We've come together today through the force and will of pink. For a year now this simple blending of red and white has brought people together from all across the globe, inspired and renewed friendships, shared hopes, dreams, and passions of individuals. It has in some small but measurable way, changed the world, and the people in it.

I have thought that I was beyond the scope of this phenomenon, as beyond an impressive collection of scars, I really have nothing pink in my life. Let's face it, nobody wants to hear about scars. With the approach of this anniversary, I began to think of pink in a different way, as the sum of two parts. You see, my passion, the Magic the Gathering game, does have white and red components. They represent the finely edged power of Law, and the spontaneous energy of Chaos. Just like in relationships, opposites attract, and come together to create a result larger then the sum of it's individual parts. It's the sheer polarity and vastness of their differences, which when properly combined, produce such spectacular results.

Regardless if you are an old school-er like me and call it Inkara, or a fairly new addition to the game which recognizes it as Boros, the power of this enemy pair can't be denied. October 1996, the release of Mirage brought the Magic community it's first glimpse of the sheer power and diversity wrought from the intersection of white and red. Energy bolt crystallized the polar opposite desires of white to heal, and red to destroy. Even the flavor text on the card sums it up nicely. Reflect damage encapsulates whites desire to protect, and reds desire to burn. When the two are brought together, it creates a protection so complete that the destruction is turned back on it's source.

Magic's middle years brought us Order // Chaos. This two cards in one is a perfect example of these two diametrically opposed forces. White punishes Red's nature to attack at all costs, white Red limits Whites ability to defend.

In it's more recent history the forces of Red and White have combined in new ways. The sheer volume of this combination is startling, with 90 spells in the last third of Magic's history compared to roughly a dozen during the first 10 years. Ajani Goldmne was the first multi-color planeswalker, and artfully combined control with destruction, and pain with health. Intimidation Bolt breaks new ground, damaging a creature while holding the rest at bay. Spitemare is a creature uniquly born of white and red, as it turns it's own pain back on the world.

So at the end of the day, things can take on a life of their own. Be it archaic forces of the universe, or simple colors, the net can often exceed the sum of the parts. I like to take this opportunity to congratulate the "Pink Saturday" community, and thank everyone who has helped make this more then the sum of it's part. Most importantly I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by today because of their involvement in P.S., especially if you have continued to read through to this point, past all that stuff that probably means nothing to you. If you know anyone who plays Magic, or would like to, send them our way, we will take good care of them. Most of all remember, things coming together can be more powerful then their sum, but two wrongs don't make a right. For that you need three lefts!