Rectifying a Karmic Mistake

I know I said hiatus, but there is but one obsession in my life. That which will make me drop all other things, and sit at rapt attention. Hockey. Call it what you will, but I am still in love with the game that is my first memory. That game was the Hershey Bears against my favorite team of all time, the Adirondack Red Wings. When I moved as a child away from the Adirondacks and the Red Wings departed for Grand Rapids, I switched my allegiance to their parent team the Detroit Red Wings. It has been the only consistently amazing run in luck of my life outside of my family, and the reason their logo will be my next tattoo.

However, here I am at 26 years old, having seen numerous Major League Baseball games; quite a few NFL games; and even a Wizards playoff game against the Cavs (with amazing seats courtesy of Brigitte Bardot) and yet, I have have never once seen my favorite sport beyond the minor league level*. Tonight, that changed thanks to an extra seat from the Fat Man's Wife, The Environmentalist who had an extra ticket and insisted that I go with her when he could not come to the Caps v. Rangers game. Though the home team lost, I can still not stop smiling. I am praying for a Caps v. Wings final, though I don't believe either will make it that far. Now, for all of you who are still paying attention, my picks for the first round of the NHL playoffs

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8) - In what could be one of the most compelling series in a long time these Original Six Blood Enemies have had one of the most vicious rivalries in sports. Forget what you heard about the Packers and the Bears or the Redskins and Cowboys. The Yankees and Red Sox? They can't even try to hurt each other. The Canadiens are in their Centennial year, do you think the winningest franchise in Hockey (second only to the Yankees in all of professional sport) doesn't want to win against their loathsome enemy? The last game of the season for both was against the other in a preview of what will be a hard hitting, high finesse game. Bruins in 7 ugly games

Washington Capitals (2) vs. New York Rangers (7) - The Caps face the unenviable spot of the feared 2 vs. 5 upset. They outplayed and outshot the Rangers for the vast majority of the game, but faced much better goaltending. The Capitals are a hot pick and who wouldn't be when you have the most exciting player in hockey and one of my favorite players of all time Sergei Federov. Their greatest problem all season came from a defense that is young and high scoring but not yet responsible enough to be great (give it 2 years) and a goaltender that gives up terrible rebounds and soft, top shelf goals when he lets himself lapse. Which basically occurs any time he's not in a contract year. Bruce Boudreau needs to let his young Defensemen pinch in a little more to create better chances. Sean Avery has already picked his target for this series and it's going to be Nicklas Backstrom. Several times during the game Avery went after Backstrom and tried to get under his skin. Watch for Backstrom or Brasher (when he gets back from injury) to take on the Terrell Owens of Hockey. The Caps still win this one, in six

New Jersey Devils (3) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6) - I think the Devils are the team to beat in the East. Martin Brodeur is proving that he may indeed be the best goaltender of all time on a team that can finally score goals. With backup Kevin Weekes gone to injury the Devils will be backstopped by the man who took over for Brodeur and proved to be, incidentally, amazing Scott Clemenson. A Devils team that can score? Jersey in 4, and I like the Hurricanes

Philadelphia Flyers (4) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (5) The battle of Pennsylvania. A familiar first round matchup for the Flyers. The most balanced scoring attack in Hockey with six 20+ goal scorers against two of the top three scorers in the league, a bunch of young grinders and an overhyped French-Canadian Goalie. Same result as last time, much to the chagrin of Gary Bettman: Broad Street Bullies in 6

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Anaheim Ducks(8) - The battle of California. There, but for the grace of God go I. The best team in the NHL this year against the best team of the last month and most brutal team in the league the Ducks. The Ducks will Stalwart Hall of Fame goalie Jean Sebastian Giguere in favor of the hot, young Ike Hilliard as their goalie against workhourse Evgeni Nabokov. I see the Sharks winning this one in 6, maybe 7, if they can get it done earlier it would help them a lot. A drawn out series against the Ducks could spell long term disaster for their Stanley Cup hopes.

Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7) - I have not seen the fire in the belly from this team that is necessary for them to repeat as champions. Nick Lidstrom is not his usual self and the defense has suffered as a result. The addition of Hossa has disrupted the chemistry of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Datsyuk should be in the running with Malkin and Ovechkin for Hart Trophy (MVP) consideration and he is without a doubt the most complete player in the league. Pavel has simply become the most complete player in the league. He is small by Hockey standards which allows him to Deke through any defense, but it his ability to saucer pass perfectly; rack up minutes that number one defensemen on most teams would find daunting thanks to his Penalty Kill and Power Play time; who plays so well defensively that he is the reigning Selke Trophy (best defensive forward) winner, leads his team in hits yet has won the Lady Bing (sportsmanlike conduct) for three years in a row. That said, the magic he created with Hank last season seems to be gone by splitting them up amidst the worry that Hossa and Franzen would not work well together given their both being free agents fighting between the two of them for the remaining Salary Cap room. The much more natural line alignment would be last year's number one line of Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk with a number two Franzen, Cleary and Hossa. Hopefully Franzen's new deal will alleviate some of that and Marian can decide to stay or go. I don't like the length of the contract (11 years) for someone who has often been injured. I was only sort of alright with the Zetterberg 12 year contract. They are handicapping themselves to a future that looks mighty ugly if the salary cap decreases and/or those players don't achieve Chelios levels of longevity. When the team can't afford to invest in a halfway decent goalie to compliment their team they can't have that many big contracts on long term

I'm off my soap box now and though I don't like my teams chances to win The Cup unless the schedule breaks their way I do like them to win this series. It will be a lot tougher than people think. This is the first trip to the playoffs in Blue Jackets history and Rick Nash deserves it. Backed by Calder Trophy (best rookie) winner Steve Mason the Jackets are looking to take a run at making Ohio vs. Michigan more than just a college football rivalry. Detroit has come in heavily favored and run into a buzzsaw of a hot young goalie before (see Irbe, Arture; Giguere, Jean Sebastian) and their goaltending leaves much to be desired. The close travel schedule and inexperienced opponent should allow the Wings to take this one in 5

Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. St. Louis Blues (6) - The Blues have been red hot lately ending their playoff drought and sprinting into the playoffs. Their rookie goalie named Mason (Chris in this case) ought to also be considered for Calder winner but their team is lead by gritty veterans and hard hitting youngsters. Vancouver has one of the best goalies in the game, twins who are in a contract year and incredibly gifted players, and a Hall of Fame level, veteran power forward who is rested because he only played a half year this year. Nucks in 5

Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Calgary Flames (5) - Youth and a tolerant coaching style against experience and a Gordon Ramsey approach behind the bench makes this a Yin and Yang Series. The Blackhawks brought in Cristobal Huet and watched him dry up like so many Patrick Roy impersonators (see Theodore, Jose) but cause that arrival to stimulate Nikolai Khabibulin to start acting like the goalie they signed away from Cup Champion Tampa Bay five years ago. The Bulin Wall wins this battle against the overworked Mikka Kiprisoff. Hawks in 6


*I can't believe you read all of this. By some random sort of kizmet the last game I saw live was the Rochester Amerks, then coached by current Rangers coach John Torterella against the current Caps farm team and aforementioned Hershey Bears. As fortune would have it Torterella won both matches.

Hiatus

Today will be my 12th straight day of work, and next week we start opening for lunch which means double shifts 6 days a week. I was supposed to have my only day off this week on Sunday, after switching with someone, but then she got fired last night so now my only day off this week is gone. And there is that whole trying to find a new apartment thing, made more difficult by The Canadienne being unable to room with me as was the plan. All of that is keeping me from having the time necessary to devote to this blog and a lot of other things in my life. So I'm going to have to let my already anemic posting rate slip to nill for a little bit.

Thanks to all of you for your patience, good thoughts and continued readership. I'll try and keep it as short as possible.

The Fightin' 25th!

New York's 25th District is represented by Dan Maffei and is near to my own home district in Western NY. Foolishly and funnily Rep. Maffei agreed to be interviewed by Stephen Colbert for his Better Know a District series. I appreciated this interview and some of its local trivia. Bonus: NAMBLA Reference!

An Early Easter Gift From the Internet

It was my one day off this week, and I still had to go to work for menu classes for when we start doing lunch next week. All that means is that the 6 days at 9 hours a day is about to become 6 days at 14-15 hours a day next week until we get sufficiently staffed to handle the restaurant. I return to the apartment to see that the landlords have paid a visit to my roomate's room, threatening him with small claims court and to throw his stuff out into the street and to show they were serious slashing his air mattress open. Or should I say my air mattress. Certainly they have every right to be furious with the Black Poodle, but I refuse to be caught in the middle of this, especially should it come to my things being tossed into the street.

I try to calm down and take care of the numerous things that need doing, apartment searching, laundry, beginning to pack again two months after unpacking (ugh) and even manage to get to bed early in hopes of offsetting the increasingly Rhianna-like bags under my eyes (too soon?). Alas it wasn't to be. One of the other tenants warned me that they would attempt to make our lives miserable and the never ending parade of stomping boots and moving furniture that has begun upstairs coupled with theloud music with heavy bass left on all night shows they are serious and non-discriminatory. After awhile I manage to fall asleep only to hear the Black Poodle and Landlord #1 (who he had called down to explain the slashed bed and note addressed "Dear FuckFace") screaming at each other. It was truly enthralling to hear them scream back and forth about how everyone had warned each of them (some of the same people on both sides) not to live with the other because of their various reputations and how everyone was concerned with my feelings and not screwing me over (as though their various behaviours had nothing to do with what got us here instead of everything).

Now my potential new roomate is having visa troubles and I'm stuck trying to figure out where to go from here. I'm happy to be leaving I just wish I had more time to prepare for it. At least I have Sunday off. Not sure what I will do with my Easter, but I'm hoping it will be relaxing and peaceful, I certainly need it

Thoughts and prayers to those who are being held hostage or have been shot in Binghamton. I just can't wait for that certain set of Right Wingers to start screaming about how this is God's Wrath for the mayor's decision four years ago to push his city to the forefront of legalizing gay marriage. But then again, they probably can't wait for me to start talking gun control after this. None of that is important now though, that is first and foremost the safety of those in that building.

TAIF - Thank Adonis It's Friday

More importantly, thank the Iowa Supreme Court on this Friday for it's unanimous decision overturning the state's ten year ban on same sex marriages. Just so everyone knows, Freakazoid is ok, and even better my old friend The Jersey Queen will be joining me at my new restaurant, with his first day of training today.

36 Hours in DC

Amazing Satellite Views

Puns from Toronto

Flickr pool of people reenacting Far Side Cartoons

The Weird Picture Archive

Some cool tools for organizing your music collection

Regional Foods from around the country

Kermit Sings The Talking Heads


Snow White set to Daft Punk


April Fools was this week, in that honor, one of the coolest and most successful pranks ever. The BBC ran this report about the Spaghetti Harvest in Italy. Yeah, you read that right


I don't think my Wings will win the Stanley Cup this year, the passion (and more importantly goaltending) hasn't been there this year. That doesn't mean they don't have a chance, just that they aren't playing with the focus and determination of last year. That said, this goal from last night is friggin sweet.

Death Treads Lightly Collecting in Threes

Thumbs Down to Me for no Thursday thumbs again this week.

But I do have one of my only-to-me stories to tell.

Among the waiters and bartenders that left the old gig for the new we also snatched some of the better busboys, chief among them Babylove. He reminds me of my first best friend Mike. Both were strong, easy-going, big hearted and did what they had to do to ensure their family's survival. Babylove, like Mike had an absent father and lost his mother this week to cancer, so I agreed to go out drinking with him and some other people from work. All was fun and games, dancing, drinking good times and we decided to head back to our place afterwards for some afterpartying with Babylove, Hostess Mostess, Black Poodle and Freakazoid (another busboy).

Around 3 Babylove and Freakazoid decided to leave and asked if I could walk them out to hail a taxi (much easier for the gringo). Babylove and I are talking when Freakazoid starts grabbing his chest, his eyes rolling back into his head and his breathing becomes labored. We're unsure what to do but decide to try and take him to the Hospital. We grab him under each shoulder and start dragging him along. After 3 blocks he says he cannot go any farther, so I decide to try and get someone to help (I'd left my phone in the apt thinking I'd just be gone for a second).

I flagged down a taxi, but when I told him where I needed to go he floored it, running right over my foot. Ass. No one was stopping and I was getting increasingly frantic. I tried running in the middle of the street so they'd have to stop, or someone would call the cops on me and I could get them to help. Finally, a man in a nice car pulls over and asks me what the problem is. I explain the situation and he starts driving back in the direction of Freakazoid and Babylove. "So your friend is really hurt?" he says "Yes," I say, my voice starting to break in panic as I think of him dying from something as simple as an asthma attack.

"Easy sweetheart, we'll get your 'friend' some help," he says as he reaches over and strokes my cheek.
"What the Fuck man, I'm serious. Let me out of the car."
"I was just joking, come on, we're almost there"
"No, I'm sorry I wasted your time, but I need to get my friend some help"
"Look, we'll get your friend some help and then you can repay me for my kindness"
"I'm getting out now"

So I leave and start running back to where they were, and they are nowhere to be seen. I run home to get my phone and try calling Babylove, but there is no answer. Uneasily I give up and try for elusive sleep, but the only thing running through my recently rattled mind was if I had just seen someone dying again. Today, I'll find out whethere he lived or died as I go back in to work.

SURPRISE!

I'm beat tired and not in the weeds, but definitely busier than my frazzled brain is willing to deal with. I look over and groan a little inside as the hostess seats me another table. That lady looks like my Aunt I think, I approach and it is her, but not just her, my parents are there. They flew into DC for a day and a half to surprise me for my birthday. I was so shocked and happy, it was exactly what I needed and by far the best birthday present I could get.

This morning I met them for brunch/cherry blossom walk/museum trip and it was splendid. The weather which had been threatening and been listed as possible thunderstorms broke into beautiful sunshine and warmth just as we were beginning to walk around the Tidal Basin. A goodbye to what has been a shitty year and hello to a new one that will, I hope, be better. Twenty-five, you sucked ass. Twenty-six, I hope you're better.

THIF - Thank Hesita It's Friday

I'm still pretty pissed about the eviction notice, but I have a meeting with one of the landlords this afternoon to try and get to an agreement. So this weeks flog is dedicated to Hestia, the goddess of house and home.

One of the most awesome TV shows ever created was Cosmos with Carl Sagan. Now, all the episodes are available on hulu!

Awesome tilt-shift/time lapse video

50 strange buildings

Debunking the myths about Guinness

Get an email that tells you when your favorite shows are on or new books and music from your favorite author or band from this site

Correspondence between Ghandi and Einstein. Incredible.

Thru-you remixes and mashes up youtube videos and makes some pretty good music with them

A neat collection of dialect maps

How to make sound effects

an ongoing project to cover all Beatles songs on ukelele

Tits or GTFO

As has been mentioned before, my living situation has become entirely ridiculous. It went beyond that yesterday. A day after I had to wake up at 7 to go down and put the bills in my name (because pepco blows) I was handed an eviction notice at my job. Yes, my roomate is a month behind on the rent, which was a known commodity before we ever moved in. That I had to find out because my manager handed me my notice of eviction is beyond ridiculous.

So here I sit, trying to figure out what the hell my life has become, and where I'm going to live. I was planning on moving the rest of my stuff out of storage tomorrow, and now I'm looking for a new apartment. Happy Birthday me!

If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.