What is your real name?
Who asked that? You don't believe I'm the real Pedro Martínez? Well, you're right. My real name is Patrik. And if you're able to read Farsi, you can see my full name in my Profile.
Where does your name come from? It has a Hispanic influence doesn't it?
My real name has no Hispanic influence, as far as I know. :) Pedro, however, is a Dominican.
Why the name? Just liked it, just discovered baseball and he thought he was a good player... or a completely crazy nut that suffered through 86 years of pain and finally was at ease and could rest in peace on a given day in late october! :)
When I was living and working in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 2000, I didn't miss one baseball game of the Red Sox on TV. There were especially two players who I liked at most – Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martínez. So when I discovered BrainKing and had to pick a nick, I was thinking about these two names. Pedro won and I don't regret it.
How do you feel about changing your userID to "BIG BAD PEDRO"?
Sounds good, I think I'll stick with Pedro Martínez though. I don't know if I'm big enough for that nick. :)
*anonym*
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Yup, I have two half brothers and a half sister. The interesting thing is that both my bros have the same name.
Are you aware that there is another player now going by the name of your brother Ramon Martinez? Related?
Yes, I'm aware of that. He is one of my brothers (the one I have a common father with). We thought that it could be nice to go by the names of the Martínez brothers. Before changing his nick to the current one, he had played his games at BG as "tenn".
I wanna know if the picture in the BK Frapper is really you? Hubba Hubba!
LOL, Foxy. Yes, that's the real me. This photo was taken in 1997 though. Now I'm almost 10 years older and more than 20 kilos (44 pounds) heavier. If you want to see some more recent pictures of mine, go to the Srazy discussion board and click the first link in the description of the board (it says 18. listopadu 2005). Those pics were taken in November at a meeting of some Czech and Slovak BK players and I guess you won't have any problems identifying me.
I've heard you work as a lawyer. Is it true?
Yes, it is true. However, in the past several years, I have been more of a translator than a lawyer. It's about to change again very soon though, since I haven't been making as much money as I would like to as a translator, or – to be more precise – I have made lots of money but few of the people who ordered the translations have been willing to pay me. So now I have to switch back to the lawyer mode and beat the money out of them in the court. :)
If you could have any job, what would it be?
That's an interesting question and definitely not as easy to answer as it might seem to be. I'm quite sure that if I could have any job, it would most certainly be at some place where the weather is not as freezing in winter as here (in the Czech Republic). Florida would be fine, I reckon. The job itself would, of course, have to provide me with as much money as possible in return for as little effort as possible. I guess being a divorce attorney "specialized" in movie stars might be very close to this idea. :)
Whats your favourite meal?
I have LOTS of favorite meals. It's pork+cabbage+dumplings or beef+tomato sauce from the Czech cuisine, the original Swiss cheese fondue, burritos, I love to prepare steaks with various kinds of exotic spices, French desserts are delicious ... Oh and I'd almost forget about champignons with blue cheese. I got the recipe for this meal from Hrqls and it's a top class one!
Whats the cause of your obsession/addiction for cheese?
The cause? Well, Matthieu, I have no idea! I just happen to love good cheese. Now when I think about the previous Eriisa's question in the context of this one, I have to say that I probably wouldn't be able to exist in Florida for a long time since American cheese sucks! What would I do there without all those Old Amsterdams, Fourme d'Amberts, Vacherin du Mont d'Ors, Vltavíns?
What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
Well, I was told I can't mention "certain" things here as BrainKing is a family-oriented site, so aside from those, there's really not much to report. :) If you want to know the details, Eriisa, we can take care of it via PMs.
What's the best thing that has ever happened to you and why?
When my girlfriend saw this question, she told me "Don't you dare to answer anything else but that the best thing that has ever happened to you was meeting me", LOL. So what can I say now? :) Now seriously – in my professional life, one of the best things was definitely signing a contract with the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic on exclusivity as far as translations are concerned. That was a real milestone for me. In my private life, I'd wish to say that the best thing that has ever happened to me was winning a lottery or something, but I guess I'd have to start betting or buying lottery tickets to be able to say that. Now when I'm thinking about it, the best thing in my life was meeting my girlfriend indeed. She has helped me open my eyes in many respects and I'm sure I'd live a completely different life without her. And definitely worse one.
Who or What would you say is the number one inspiration in your lifetime which has made you who you are today?
That's a hard question to answer. There have been so many people and things in my life that contributed to the formation of my personality – my parents, teachers, employers, co-workers, schoolmates, girlfriends, ... It's really difficult to say who or what was the number one. But if was to pick one person, I'd have to say it was my father. In the good but also in the bad way.
*anonym*
What do you consider to be your worst habit?
Spending too much time on BrainKing, if that counts! This site is too addictive and sometimes I start to think I need a therapy. :)
Which music do you like?
Well, I'm not into music very much, I only listen to radio when I drive. But I like Latino rhythms, if you know what I mean. Songs sung in Spanish are somehow catching for me.
If you could visit or live anywhere, where would it be?
I have just come back from a vacation on the island of Fuerteventura, which is one of the Canary Islands and I could imagine living there. It's certainly one of the most "fit" places for me – weather, people, food, everything. As far as placed I would like to visit are concerned, they would definitely include Japan, Australia and the US west coast.
You seem to have been to most countries around the world, are you or do you intend visiting Australia, in particular Queensland. I have the room all fixed up for your intended arrival :)
I would so love to visit you down there, Bernice. As I said in the answer to the previous question, Australia is on my list and once I'm there, I won't miss meeting you. So keep the room fixed up, I'll be knocking on your door very soon. LOL
Have you ever been on holiday, If so where, and which was your favourite?
The vacation time is my favorite part of the year. I have been to lots of places but the best was probably the last one, on Fuerteventura. Too bad it was too short.
I know you understand some portugues... How many of BK's languages can you speak?
Well, I can make myself understood in Czech, Slovak, English, German and Spanish (which is why I do understand some Portuguese words). Can't wait to see Farsi and Danish here, as those are another two languages I'm trying to learn.
How did you find about BrainKing? What made you stick around?
I don't know if you're going to believe me but I don't know. According to my Profile, I discovered BK in the middle of the night. I remember I was looking for a site where I could play 5-in-line, but HOW I found BrainKing, that's beyond me. It's certain, however, that nobody had told me about it. What made me stick around? A friendly environment, well-arranged layout and, of course, great games and greater people to play them with.
Who would you most like to meet in real life from BK?
That's easy. BerniceC, TeamBundy, Hrqls. I would love to meet others as well (Evásek, Walter Montego, redsales, Reza, to name a few), no doubt about that, but these are the Top 3. :)
How much time do you spend on this site?
TOO much time. Usually it's around 3 or 4 hours a day, but during the August Action, it was even 10+ hours a day. On the 13th, I spent the whole 24 hours here, except for a few hours to go to eat something and to go to a movie theater. :)
When you don't have any games to play... hmm... wait... Ok, when you don't want to play games, in what areas of BrainKing do you like to wander? And what about outside of BK?
There are a few discussion boards I like to read and contribute to (I have 18 of them as my favorite ones), the World of Sport and Languages are my most favorite ones. Outside BK, I like watching movies, eating, doing funny things with my girlfriend, drinking good wine, etc.
What 3 games would you like to see at BK that have not yet been added?
Well, I'm quite satisfied with the number and variety of games we have here right now. As a matter of fact, I think there are already too many games on BrainKing.
What do you think of Hostage Chess?
I have never heard of this variant before. I've looked it up now and at first sight, it seems like an interesting chess variant. I'd have to play at least a few games to say if I like it or not though.
What is your favorite thing about Brainking?
If you asked me a year or so ago (you actually did, I should apologize for the fact it took me so long to finish this interview), I'd say without too much thinking: Ponds! The interest in them have decreased in the last several months so they not so fun to play as they were any more. So right now, the coolest thing would be the Statistics. It's great to have the graphs, various rankings, ladders and so forth.
If this was your site what would be the first thing you'd change? (if any)
Well, if this was my site and I knew how to do that, I'd change the system of vacation days. Though Fencer has done some important improvements to it, I think rooks should have only 30 vacation days per year, irrespective of how many times they renew their memberships during the calendar year. Besides, it's currently very easy to abuse the system in order to prolong the time allocated for you to move. Some players have become very sophisticated in this and they spend more time finding loopholes like this than making moves. That's what I'd like to prevent.
What has been your toughest game to date?
Well, I have played almost 7500 games here and it’s hard to pinpoint one. One of them comes to my mind, however, and though I hate to "advertise" this person, it would be a game of Amazons I played with Grim Reaper.
Who is your favorite opponent?
I will name two: Oliottavio is a very tough player in almost any game and it's always a big challenge to play him; and TeamBundy is a guy who I love to chat with in our games.
What question were you secretly hoping that nobody would ask?
Well, I was ready to answer any question, but I'm quite happy none of them concerned politics. I've learned this is a topic want to avoid on BrainKing.
What question(s) did you hope would be asked, and what would your answer(s) have been?
Maybe "I don't know what to do with my millions. Why don't you come over to help me out?" :)
