What’s wrong with the Canucks’ Power(less)play??

OK so last time I did a “what’s wrong with the Canucks” post they started winning. I figure I’ll try that again. Seriously, wtf??? We should have won the game last night…Anaheim gave it to us on a platter several times and we just couldn’t complete. How can you have not one but TWO 5 on 3’s and not score a freaking goal? Worse, only get 3 shots total from the two of them???? It’s an embarrassment. Heck, we should have beat Dallas in 5; and would have if our powerplay had any teeth. I tell you what, it’s a good thing we have Roberto Luongo in goal or we’d have been gone in the first series.

I figure Salo is playing injured, and because of that we have no quarterback to set it up. The Sedins are trying way too hard to be pretty, and Brent Sopel is just a little too slow in the head. Ohlund is good, but he’s more of a workhorse and shot guy than a play maker. And of course Mitchell…well he may well be the best stay at home defenseman in the NHL, but he certainly doesn’t score alot of goals. So what’s the answer? What’s coach Vigneault gonna do to fix this clusterfuck?

I say change it up next power play. Mess with their heads. Put out a line with Morrison as center, Burrows and Cowan and don’t be pretty, be mean. Burrows is a great play maker, although he doesn’t score much, and with Cooke MIA, him and Cowan are the forwards with the most nastiness in them…Cowan cuz he’s tough and Burrows cuz he’s an agitator. So throw that line out with Salo and Mitchell on defense as your top PP line, or maybe even just Mitchell and put out Naslund or Pyatt as a fourth forward (Naslud cuz of his hands or Pyatt cuz of his size in front of the net). Morrison takes the faceoff then rides the point with Mitchell and quarterbacks everything, let the other guys make hits and take shots. And most importantly, STOP WAITING FOR THE PERFECT SET UP and shoot the damn puck. Anaheim has at least one defenseman with a longer reach than you think, and if u keep passing he’s going to break up the play and send us back to our zone. As we saw 8 times last night.

I don’t know, maybe my suggestion is dumb, but using the sedins with linden and naslund with morrison and smolinski isn’t working for shite right now. Coach Vigneault HAS to change things up and get this going, or there’s no way we can survive this series, let alone the whole post-season. Luongo and Mitchell can take us so far, but without production on special teams we are doomed. There is no reason we can’t beat Anaheim…sure they’re a great team, but so is Vancouver when they play on their game. We happen to have a slightly better goal tender. So why shouldn’t we win this series? The only thing left to do is get the powerplay working, and we can take the next 3.

Yes, I know…I should be a consultant!

Stanley Cup Round 2

Well I was 7 out of 8 for the first round. If you went with my predictions for the pool, you’d be doing ok. I missed badly on my NY Islanders vs Buffalo series. I miscounted the games on some as well, but that’s ok…I was pretty much guessing for the most part. I was very happy to watch Detroit whup Calgary though…

Well now that we’re one game into round 2, I’m going to lay it all on the line again. There are some really difficult picks this go round because alot of the matchups are real solid. But there can only be one winner in any playoff series, so we will see how it goes.

1: Vancouver Canucks vs. Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks look amazing this season. They were definitely the best team in the west last round and possibly overall (although buffalo fans would disagree…). Is it irony that the year they drop the “Mighty” is the year that they are?  They have strong offense, with the Selanne line leading the way. They have a massive power play. They’re big and mean and Giguere is no slouch in net. Vancouver, by all accounts, is the underdog here. But…after all that, Vancouver’s defense can be stifling, and even if they miss the Luongo factor comes into play. Salo should be back and hopefully Bieksa’s not off for too long, but even if he is, Willy Mitchell is on his game. If Matt Cooke gets back as well (although from the deafening silence about him, I suspect he won’t), that game breaking big hit may come about. Obviously I’m gonna pick my team here. If they can shutdown the big line, stay out of the box and get some production from the three superstar Swedes I say Vancouver in 6. Maybe that’s alot of if’s though…

2: Detroit Red Wings vs San Jose Sharks: Game one was real solid on both sides, although San Jose won in the end from the two goals they scored halfway into the first. The Sharks have some big, nasty, chippy players, and may get under Detroit’s skin here. I don’t know who I’d pick as a better goalie between Nabokov and Hasek, but they both have the potential to come up with the big save at the right time. They both could let in a flubber or two as well. Hasek hasn’t really been the Dominator for a while now, but he’s still pretty solid and could come up with a playoff run. Or not. Sharks in 5.

3: New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres: And so that all New York series continues. Buffalo looks real awesome this year (again) and the only reason they didn’t go all the way last year was injuries. After shellacking the Islanders, their sights are set on the other NYC team and they have the nuts to do it. They are deep and strong and offensively good and defensively good. For the Rangers, Henrik Lunqvist does have the potential to be a factor as the playoffs dark horse. I’ve never thought of Ryan Miller as an Elite goaltender, but his firstgame save percentage was .941. That’s pretty incredible. Throughout the season his sv % and GAA weren’t in Luongo/Brodeur/Kiprussof leagues, but he did win 40 games… I don’t see how Buffalo can’t win this series. Regardless of who wins this one, if New Jersey wins over Ottawa the whole eastern playoffs would have been played in one geographic area. Sabres in 5.

4: Ottawa Senators vs. New Jersey Devils: Ottawa has some good offense, good defense and one of the top 5 goalies in the NHL. New Jersey has some good offense, ok defense and one of the top 2 goalies in the NHL. After peppering goals past Martin Brodeur in period one it seemed that Ray Emery just didn’t want to make him look bad and let in 3 or 4 of his own. I suspect as they settle down, there will be some spectacular goaltending in this series. Can Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza and co’s scoring advantage outweigh Marty Brodeur’s goaltending advantage? I’ve gotta say yes and pick Ottawa to win a long hard series. Can they beat Buffalo next round tho? Ottawa in 6 or 7.

So there we go. Round two. Game on woooooot!

The Bad Side of Citizen Journalism: Verifying Facts

“Just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.” – Joe Friday, Dragnet

Blogland seems to break itself into two different sectors: Citizen Journalism and OpEd. Personally, I’m an op/ed guy…everything in here is purely personal opinion, and I don’t spend much time reporting on things. Occasionally I’ll link to some news if I find it interesting (such as this piece on the recent discovery of Kryptonite on non-cartoon earth) (KRYPTONITE, ffs!!!!), but for the most part my blog is a self serving place for me to rant. It’s a completely selfish place, and I make no secret of it, and I don’t expect anyone to dig it. The Op/Ed types tend to be a bit pretentious and the Citizen Journalists tend to be arrogant and consider themselves better than the others. Neither is right or wrong.

The majority of the citizen journalist guys pass themselves off as regular journalists, and sometimes even have side jobs either as journalists or marketing folk. I have a ton of these guys linked in my browser, but not in the blog links. I often find their insight and reports valuable in my day to day existence. I do take some of them with a grain of salt, as they tend to spend alot of time bragging how great and prescient they are (even tho the “predictions” they make were usually public domain before they made them), but I do glean useful bits of info from them too. What’s dangerous is believing the news reports, apparently.

At least hacks like me don’t spend half our time bragging about our knowlege and abilities in reporting the facts. And then miss completely without bothering to validate the facts. The arrogance of these guys is outshined only by their unprofessionalism. If you reported like that in the real world, you would lose your job and the newspaper would probably get sued. A good portion of the citizen journalist types know this. It doesn’t matter who posted it first and where u got it from…if you’re a reporter, check the facts. What kind of bugs me is if it’s bloggers that I have a bit of respect for, I feel like they let me down, and now most everything they publish is suspect. And the thing is, I tend to believe these guys when they publish stuff until proven guilty. I don’t always have time to verify the facts, I count on my citizen journalist roll to do that for me. And if they don’t do that, they jeopardize my whole information system! Maybe I’m out to lunch on this, but it’s my opinion, and this is, after all, an Op/Ed blog.

And that’s the thing…if I’m wrong in something, I’m wrong and admit it. I can change it or not change it, that’s my prerogative. No one comes to my blog looking for groundbreaking information for their master’s thesis, and if they do, they’re dumb. My friend Megan has pointed out more than one error and bad writing habit in my blog. I can take these constructive criticisms and use it to expand my abilities. But if I’m a citizen journalist, I should behave like a journalist or strive to. If I pass myself off as a real journalist, then I best be accurate and unbiased.

Comments? Thoughts? Sticks to throw?

Stanley Cup Check in/Follow up

OK well so far, I’m batting zero Well, actually I’m batting 1,000 as far as winning teams, but my game count has been off in every case. Let’s look at what we have.

West

1: Wings vs Flames: My great hope to call it correctly. With the series tied at 2, Detroit can still win it in 6. Bertuzzi’s playing well and will be the foil to the Iginla factor in the next two games. Calgary just doesn’t have the talent. That red filled arena is cool tho, but in the end, DIE FLAMES DIE!!! Oops…the Oiler in me jumped out for a second. New Prediction: Detroit in 7.

2: Ducks vs Wild: I said Ducks in 7 or 4; it was 5. I said that it would be a long series without much scoring or a short one with a lot. It was a short one without much scoring. Yeah ok I sucked at this one. Did pick the team tho.

3: Canucks vs Stars: Who knew that this would be the most exciting series since, I dunno, forever! Everyone expected a low scoring snooze fest between two defensively capable teams. The teams are virtually dopplegangers for each other. Think about this: Vancouver: Brendan Morrison, Dallas: Brendan Morrow. Vancouver: Sedin, Dallas: Sydor. Vancouver: Matthias Ohlund, Dallas: Matthias Nordstrom. Coincidences? I don’t think so…Dallas is our evil twin! I predicted Canucks in 5, but I missed by (I’m saying) one. I had thought that Vancouver would come out and pepper Turco with shots, giving him a complex and getting under his skin. On the contrary, Turco has been magnificent, Luongo spectacular, and there’s been lots of end to end edge of the seat action. When I look at some of the other teams’ stats it just amazes me how good the goaltending is in our series. in game one Luongo faced 76 shots!!! And only let in four!!!! Much as I wanted Vancouver to win last night at home, as a hockey fan I am LOVING this series. Now if only someone would give that cowardly little weasel Nagy the bootfuck pummelling he deserves, it would be the perfect hockey series. I’d say the same about Steve Ott if we didn’t have Burrows. New prediction: Canucks in 6

4: Sharks vs Predators: My other great hope to nail it. I said Sharks in 5 because they’re meaner. Tonight could prove me right. There has been some nastiness in this series, but all the way the Sharks have controlled the pace and the tone. I’ll tell you one thing tho…with .89x save percentages, niether of these teams would have much luck against either Luongo (.953) or Turco (.949). I’m gonna say that Nashville will win tonight, but San Jose in 6.

East

1: Sabres vs Islanders: I predicted the Islanders to be the Cinderella team this year. Wouldn’t it be sweet to have a repeat of ‘94 and have a Vancouver/New York final with one of them being the cinderella surprise team, except with the roles reversed this time (yes, I know that was the Rangers, but I like the underdog to go all the way!)? However, my resolve in the Islanders doing it has faltered a bit. They’re down 3-1, and if they do mount the comeback it will be spectacular. I’m going to stay on my previous prediction for now, even tho my heart’s not in it as much. Islanders in 7.

2: Devils vs Lightning: I said Jersey in 5, and put the win on Brodeur. It looks like Lecavalier and the rest of the lightning HAVE figured him out, and it’s a series. I can’t say that disappoints me, but I still think New Jersey is the team to win this one. New Jersey in 6.

3: Thrashers vs Rangers: Boy did I miss this one. I figured it to be the most exciting series of the eastern first round. I guess it was if you’re a rangers fan. The Thrashers got thrashed, and it’s like they didn’t even show up. Seriously, 7-0 in the playoffs?? Oy. You’d think Cloutier was in goal. Anyways, this is what happens when u don’t see the teams much; you have to go on stats and news reports. I did get the team correct, although I wonder if the Rangers will have an overconfidence issue moving forwards.
4: Sens vs Pens: Missed this one by one too. Maybe i had my Canadian team counts backwards. The Penguins really do remind me of the 1983 Oilers, except they didn’t go all the way to the final and lose there. Maybe the ‘82 Oilers. If ever a team had the opportunity to become a dynasty in the new NHL, the Penguins are it if they can afford to keep that young talent. Sidney Crosby will do to today’s game what Wayne Gretzky did to the game 25 years ago. And he’s got the teammates to help him do it; he even has his Mark Messier and Jari Kurri. Anyways, yay for Ottawa winning, and I think they’ll go deep. All Canadian final??? Mmmm…

So at the end of it all i’ve been accurate with the teams, but almost completely wrong about the game counts so far. But, that doesn’t really matter if you followed my picks in your pool. As I’m sure no one did, actually.

Now THAT’s Fighting for your remote…

Thanks to the chief for posting this (while you’re at his blogsite, check out his new wheels…zero down no interest sale…maybe i should go look at a wrx…).   I have no idea what they’re saying here, but I always like a good jackie chan style-no-one-gets-hurt fight.  By the way, the dude in this video has the same name as the above mentioned chief.

Farewell, Kilgore Trout… Kurt Vonnegut, 11/11/1922 – 04/11/2007

“Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.“  Slaughterhouse Five, 1969

I had forgotten that line, and how funny I thought it was when I first read it some years ago.  I read today that Kurt Vonnegut passed away yesterday from complications that came from a head injury from a fall.   He was 84 years old.  He was an advance scout for the American army during the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, and was captured by the germans.  He was put in a POW camp in Dresden and witnessed the firebombing of that city, ending up as one of only 7 American POWs to survive that.  He and his comrades survived by hiding in an underground meat packing cellar named Slaughterhouse Five.  Which, of course, we all know of.

Although Vonnegut himself and most readers consider Kilgore Trout an alter ego of Vonnegut, the character was apparently originally modelled after real life science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon.   Interestingly enough, Vonnegut brought Kilgore in as his alter ego in the novel Timequake and had him die at 84 years old.

Being a reader who totally gets into individual characters (I have more series type books…) I always appreciated Vonnegut’s reintroduction of guys like Kilgore Trout and Eliot Rosewater.    My girlfriend’s online bridge name is (I’m pretty sure) an adaptation of one of those guys.

I personally discovered Vonnegut late.  I read Slaughterhouse Five for the first time in the mid 90’s as one of my roommates had it in their bookshelf, along with a few other of his novels.  I ended up reading them all and becoming a bit of a fan.   His dark humour, irony and deep cynicism all appealed to me.    I was saddened this morning to read the news.

To quote Billy Pilgrim:  So it goes…

Seems to me that someone forgot what the internet is about…

I don’t know if I see the point of this “Bloggers Code of Conduct” First off…who stood up and appointed you as the writing police, and secondly… what makes you think that your idea of a good community is the same as mine? And thirdly, IT’S MY BLOG!!! Why should I need to conform to any standards of who i respond to or how i respond to them other than my own? I could be wrong here, but I believe this started because two bloggers started dissing each other or something, and someone took it upon themselves to appoint themself as guardian of the internet. Uhhh… am I the only one who sees the ridiculousness of that? Apparently not… I actually became aware of this wierdness due to this post by John Scalzi.

In all seriousness, the real blogger code of conduct should be as follows:

1: Write what you want, when you want, how you want. It’s your site and your readership or non-readership. If your writing sucks ass (as mine usually does ) then it sucks ass. If your writing offends people, then it offends people. Deal with it.

2: Allow comments by anybody, nobody, everbody or just your bestest friends. Again, no one should care but you. If some idiot put a comment on my blog that I found offensive, I’d either verbally slay them with my magic keyboard of death, or I’d delete their lame ass. Sometimes ranty discussion is fun, dammit, and sometimes it’s just offensive blather…it’s up to me to decide which direction I want to go with any comment! (although, everyone who comments on my site is smarter than me anyways, so the whole ranty discussion idea goes out the window…)

3: It’s your site…do what u want and deal with the consequences.

4: Ignore this code of conduct, cuz as number 3 says, it’s your site and u can do whatever the hell you want.

One thing that did strike me about this code of conduct when I went and read it, is that it really doesn’t say anything beyond basic common sense. What pisses me off about this is why would these guys figure they get to take credit for basic common sense? If they had contentious codes in there like “Thou shalt not ever write about Hockey Fights” or “Peanut Butter-Jelly Time will not visit the blog at any time” then I could just laugh it off to someone’s ridiculous joke or satire. But as it is now, it’s a pretentious soap boxy “i’m smarter and more important than you” bit of ridiculousness that’s funny solely in the fact that they’re serious.

Read Scalzi’s post for a much better written discussion on this…

My “Uneducated-Guesses-Type” Picks for the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Round one of the most difficult trophy hunt in all of sports begins this week, and so I’m gonna put it out on the line and give my picks for the various round 1 match ups.  I won’t be responsible for any lost money from wagers made based on my completely unscientific and unsupported picks.  So don’t whine if u go with these and lose.  Thanks

West (First Cuz I’m Western):

   1:  Detroit Red Wings (1) vs. Calgary Flames (8) –>  Mainly cuz I totally hate Calgary (I know, I know…I’m Canadian and should support the Canadian teams… Bah screw that.  I HATE Calgary) I think Detroit will take this one.  Anyways, Kiprusoff is not his best this year, and the Hasek (although he did play a third less games) has a way better GAA.   I also think the Red Wings have the depth, size and talent to take this one fairly quickly.  Yes, the Flames have Iginla and Phaneuf…but I don’t know if it’s enough.   Regardless, there will probably be alot of big hits and cheap shots in this series.  The winners will be tired for round two if it goes much past 5 games.    Detroit in 5 (maybe 6).

2: Anaheim Ducks (2) vs. Minnesota Wild (7) –> Being a Vancouver fan and having my dreams crushed by Minnesota in the past, I gotta go for Anaheim here.  Plus, Anaheim is all around a much better, more explosive team than the Wild.  By stats alone it looks like a romp for the Ducks.  Having said that, the Wild do have their system, and Brian Rolston…  But Anaheim has Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger, Scott Neidermeyer, etc.  I say it will either be a long series with not alot of scoring or a total rout, a sweep.  I’m really not sure which so ima take the easy route and say both.  Don’t complain, it’s MY picks .   Ducks in 7 or 4.

3: Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. Dallas Stars (6) –>  Well of course I’m going to pick the home team here.  But…there’s reasons for that other than they’re the home team.  The teams are fairly even, the season series being 2 wins Vancouver, 1 win Dallas and 1 OT win Dallas.  The goals for averages (from the season) are tied at 2.60 each, and the goals against gives Dallas a slight edge.  But…Dallas’ game all season has been the trap, defensive play without alot of shots on goal.  Overall, Luongo is a better goalie than both Turco and Smith. The Canucks have a better penalty killing team, and I think guys like Matt Cooke are gonna come into play in this match-up, forcing discipline lapses and giving the Canucks the edge overall.  I also think Luongo’s gonna be so psyched to be in his first playoffs that his door will be even more shut than normal.   Vancouver in 5.

4: San Jose Sharks (4) vs Nashville Predators (5) –>  This one is a tough one for me to call.  Cheechoo and Thornton vs Kariya and Forsberg…yikes.   Both teams have 51 regular season wins.  The Predators we’re soooooo hot for so much of this season…but San Jose’s been on a big run of late.  I think I’m going to go with San Jose in this one and it’s going to be an ugly series.  The Sharks and the Preds both have their chippy cheap shot players, and I think there will be some big hits and big fights and lots of emotion.  I don’t see the winner of this series having a whole lot of steam left afterwards if it’s more than 5 games, but I’m gonna say:   Sharks in 5.

Eastern (Here comes the undereducated guesses… I just don’t see these teams as much)

    1: Buffalo Sabres (1) vs New York Islanders (8) –> My first instinct is that New York Islanders are going to be to this years playoffs what the Oilers were last year.  I think they’re going to beat the number 1 Sabres thru sheer teamwork and grit alone.  I don’t know why I think this, but I do.  There’s no logic to it at all…it’s a feeling.   The Islanders will go up or down early and the it will be a 7 game series, with 3 wins for 1 team to start it off.  Islanders in 7.

2: New Jersey Devils (2) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (7) –>  Two words : Martin Broduer.  Can Lecavalier and the Lightning figure him out?   I don’t think so.  New Jersey plays a good system as well, and although they may have a lower Goals For average, they’re wayyyy lower in the goals against side of things.  I think it will be a short series.  Devils in 5.

3: Atlanta Thrashers (3) vs New York Rangers (6) –> Hossa vs Jagr, Lehtonen vs Lundqvist … I think this might be the most exciting series of the first round.  Stats are pretty even all around, but the Rangers have better special teams.  And slightly better goaltending, which is what the playoffs are all about.  So, with those things in mind, I have to go with:  Rangers in 6.

4:  Ottawa Senators (4) vs Pittsburg Penguins (5) –> I really really want to pick ottawa here, cuz they’re the Canadian hope out East and the only Eastern Canadian team that doesn’t make me want to spit rocks.  But I struggle with that.  Every year, the sens are the great hope and every year they make it into the playoffs and tank.  Having said that, Ray Emery is a way better goaltender than Marc Andre Fleury.  But Sidney Crosby…man… Plus the Pens have Jarko Ruutu, one of my all time favorite pesky players…  Hrmm…so do I make the call with Emotion (Sens) or with Logic (Pens)??? Maybe people can give me their opinions on this one, but for the purposes of this particular blog post i’m going with Emotion:  Sens in 6.

Ok, so now everyone feel free to slam, bash, pick apart, or agree with my picks in the comments section.  I don’t profess to be a sports analyst or a hockey genius, so my picks may be completely out to lunch.  Or they may be spot on and you’ll be glad u went with my calls in your hockey pool.

Kurt Cobain and Layne Stayley, RIP April 5

“I wish I woulda met you,

but now it’s a little late.”  Filter: “Hey Man Nice Shot”, Short Bus, EMI 1995

That song wasn’t actually written about Kurt Cobain, but I’ve always associated it to him.   For 13 years now, April 5 has been a day of mild sadness for me.  In the early 90’s Nevermind kind of changed the public perception of popular music, and for a central albertan kid like me it was my first taste of a sound that wasn’t exactly new in parts of the world.

I’ve written before in here about how I was bored with music and it’s brutal sameness around that time.  And it wasn’t just that it was all the same…it was all the same and really kinda of poorly written and performed.  Nirvana truly was instrumental in me re-discovering the joy of my lifelong passion, and I was never even a die hard fan. I purchased nevermind.  I went back and purchased Bleach, didn’t dig it so much.  I purchased Incesticide, liked it alot.  When InUtero came out I bought that too.

And then the news came out of Seattle that Kurt Cobain had died.  I’ve written this before, but it was the first and one of very few times that someone’s death stopped me in my tracks.   Kurt Cobain was different than other celebrities for me…I could relate to his angst and frustration.  He was an ordinary dude in an extraordinary setting.  He didn’t have big teased up hair and a 2000 dollar leather wardrobe like other musicians of the time, and he didn’t pull any airs of elitism like alot of other celebrities.  He was…just a dude.

I’ve read alot of things since his death about him and his abilities.  Kurt Cobain loved punk music, but played guitar like a metal guy.  There are some that say this is what ultimately killed him…the fact that he was more like what he professed to hate than what he loved.  I don’t know if that’s true or not;  I never heard him play outside the boundaries of Nirvana and the life it gave itself.  Some say he was a much better technical musician than he wanted to allow himself to be.   This went against his punk aesthetic of playing by pure emotion and ignoring the math behind music.  It’s an interesting thought that someone could learn something and be better at it than they wanted to be.

Of course, that’s all hearsay.  Maybe he was just a punk player and killed himself for (as some say) stomach pains or (as others say) heroin induced depression.  Perhaps he was even (as a few say) murdered by his wife.  Although I really doubt that one.  Whatever the case, the world lost a bright spot that day.  I was deeply moved and saddened by it.  Now, as I am on the cusp of an exciting new phase of my life and going through some massive changes, I don’t feel that sadness anymore.  But I still took pause today to reflect on those times and have a little moment of silence.  Incesticide is on my CD player right now.

The other great musical loss on April 5 was Layne Staley, singer for Alice in Chains and Mad Season.  In the post nirvana music industry clusterfuck of every wannabe in old jeans and a plaid flannel shirt getting signed, Alice in Chains was really a shining light for doing it right and for the right reasons.  Sure, there was soundgarden and Pearl Jam too, but of the bunch Alice in Chains was my personal favorite.  To this day whenever Rooster or Man in the Box comes on the radio I get a bit excited.

I always thought that Layne Staley never really got his due.  Alice in Chains today is looked on as a great bit of that era, and Jerry Cantrell and the band are legitimate stars now.  But I think alot of that kind of came after Staley died.  Eight years after Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley died of a heroin overdose in his apartment, and his body wasn’t discovered for several days.  I don’t remember there being much fanfare about his death or anything… when Cobain died, his band was at the peak of their popularity.  When Staley died no one had heard much from the band in a couple of years.  So he died in relative obscurity.

So…yeah.  April 5th…always a somewhat melancholy day for me.  Two of the big influences of a certain time of my life both dead.   RIP Kurt and Layne…

Call for Assistance: A Question on Hosting etc?

So I’ve decided to take the plunge and get my own domain for this blog and maybe some other things as well.  So I’m curious what people think I should do to go down this path.  Is there a hosting site that’s best and cheap?  Should I just go with GoDaddy or is there someone better?  Comment or email me.  Plus any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Matters of the Heart…

My heart seems to be a common thread of things in my life these days, both for the good and the bad. The best is obviously my relationship with Ruth and how things are advancing there. Since my brother’s wedding we’ve spent a substantial amount of time together (well, I guess before it as well) and have really come to a place of real happiness and comfort together. And we’ve had a couple of dates, even! Our relationship started somewhat interestingly and I’m real glad we kept at it to reach this place. In my whole life, no one’s ever affected me the way she does (and I’ve had some long term relationships), and it’s nice. She’s the first woman who I’ve ever felt this…(i dunno, optimism for the future, I guess?) with, and it’s real sweet. Sometimes it seems like a short time for this to develop, but then, one can’t really put a schedule on these things. I’m not one to stand back and question my feelings, so I just let the wave carry me.

Last weekend I took her out to Shijo Japanese restaurant, one of my favorites in Vancouver. The meal was awesome, the service was exceptional, and the whole evening was a great experience. Ruth had never been, so it was a new one for her as well. I must say that even tho I’ve been there a few times, I’ve never had their sushi. Their grilled beef Robata is to die for (although for some reason I had Chicken this time), though, and I LOVE the bacon wrapped asparagus. We had Beef Tataki Carpaccio for a tapas as well. This weekend we both also had fish, a salmon on greens for Ruth and a Black cod (cooked) for me. Ahh it was like butter! If you like Japanese food, I recommend you try Shijo out sometime. They also serve brown rice, and I think they’re the only Japanese restaurant in Vancouver doing so now (I could be wrong). Shijo is not inexpensive, but it’s also not a super expensive high end dining experience either. For the two of us with Sake for her and desserts it was around a hundred bucks, including tax and 20% tip. And apart from the bacon, it’s mostly healthy I would think.

So that’s the good. The not so good…well… For a little while (basically just before we went to Calgary for the bro’s wedding) I’d been getting an ache deep in my shoulders whenever I had much exertion. I pretty much wrote it off to the flu. A few weeks ago I was walking to my car after work, and as I got close the ache hit my left shoulder hard. As I continued walking my chest started to hurt and my breathing became laboured. I got a bit light headed, and the chest hurt more and more. It was like a band being tightened around my chest. Being a little bit overweight (ok maybe a bit more than a little…but not obese), almost 40, a smoker and a lover of high fat/low value foods, naturally my first thought went to the ol’ George Jefferson place: “It’s the big one, ‘Ouisie…it’s the big one”. (Uhhh…if you don’t catch the reference you’re just plain too young…).

I got to my car and sat down and it all went away. I drove home, and it weighed on me a bit, but I decided not to take any immediate action. A couple days later, after stewing for a bit and experiencing the same thing to a lesser extent a few times, and getting in trouble for not calling 911 when it first happened I went to the doctor. Basically he berated me for not taking immediate action and set me up for a bunch of tests, including ECG and a blood test that tests for hormones generated by a heart attack.

I went back for the follow up last week after that, and the good news is I definitely did not have a heart attack. The dr. did however prescribe me nitroglycerin spray (generally used for Angina) and tell me that if I have that again, stop what i’m doing and spray under the tongue. If it doesn’t go away in 5 minutes, spray again. Wait another 5 minutes, and if it still doesn’t go away, call 911 immediately. Yikes! I haven’t had to spray yet, so that’s a good thing. But man…not pleasant happy days!

Anyways, at this point it has not been fully determined if it’s my heart or something else, so I have one more test to do next week. My cholesterol was pretty high, but I kinda figured it might be as my diet’s been a little weak of late. I’ll do this excercise stress test next week and hopefully find out that this is all just related to the flu I had before my Calgary trip…maybe just a little lung infection or something. Hopefully.

So, after this little scare I decided it’s time to get my body looked after. I’ve quit smoking (again…sigh) and altered my diet somewhat. I went out last weekend and bought a juicer, and have been enjoying various veggie concoctions since. I gotta say that if you’re not used to high veggie intake and then you start it, your body does some interesting things The juicer (so far at least) is possibly the best investment I’ve made in a long time. I’m a chronic vegetable avoider, so it’s nice to have an easy way to get some.

I also bought a fuzzy logic rice cooker. Now, I’ve never had a real problem cooking rice (I’m one of those people who can even cook brown rice on the stove, which, when added to my disdain of cooking, is a bit odd to some people). But, what I wanted this cooker for is a few different things. First off, I wanted to be able to throw some brown rice in in the evening to have a nice lunch I can take to work. Add the vegetable steamer part and I can add some asparagus or broccoli or something to it quite easily. Secondly, the steamer itself…it’s useful. And thirdly, most importantly, it has a timer and can cook oatmeal. I’m a bad breakfast person and generally won’t make it. With this thing I can throw it in at night, set the timer, and wake up to a nice healthy hot breakfast. Which will add to my healthy eating bit.

I don’t plan on completely changing my diet or eating habits, or doing crazy things like becoming a vegetarian or something. I just need to be a bit more cognizant of what shit i’m putting into my body, and try and remember to get all the proper stuff inside it. Once we determine what’s causing this pain and light-headedness when i exert myself, I’m hoping to get a fitness regime started. I was a gym rat once, back in the day… maybe I can get back to that place.

Ahhh…anyways…interesting times indeed.

Isn’t it ironic? Dontcha think?

Ahhh Alanis Morrisette we love you, we really do. A parody of a song that in itself is probably a parody…does it make sense? In keeping with my theme from earlier in the week of putting up a real cool cover song… Posting this for my girlfriend Ruth cuz we were just talking yesterday about both the song and Alanis.