Category: Sports

'Tis the season to be forechecking

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

There’s no Christmas present quite like a 4-1 win over the Leafs. Fa la la la la la la la la.

.:.

Been watchin’ some movies. Not much else to do when it’s a squall out there.

The Illusionist (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was hard to like at first, and didn’t exactly thrill me with the ending, but in between it was pretty good. There was a very particular style to the film that I had to adjust to — the visual effect of being shot through amber, the simulated screen wipes that made the film look decades-old, etc. — but once I did, and I got into the film, it wasn’t bad. Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti are just good in anything, and pretty much made up for the useless Jessica Biel. It’s worth a watch.

Flags Of Our Fathers (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and…meh. I don’t know; I like war movies, and it was well done, but it was the same well-done war movie I’ve liked about six times in the past six years. I always compare them to Band Of Brothers, and they never stack up. Worth seeing, but there certainly won’t be anything shocking in it for you.

[tags]canadiens, leafs, illusionist movie, flags of our fathers[/tags]

Was Anna Nicole 2006? Or 2007?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

From OpenCulture: an interview with Stephen King. Normally I have no interest in what King has to say, but this is pretty funny:

STEPHEN KING: So who’s going to be TIME Person of the Year?

TIME: I really don’t know, there’s a very small group of people who make that decision.

STEPHEN KING: I was thinking, I think it should be Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

TIME: Really?

STEPHEN KING: Yeah. You know, I just filmed a segment for Nightline, about [the movie version of his novella] The Mist, and one of the things I said to them was, you know, “You guys are just covering — what do they call it — the scream of the peacock, and you’re missing the whole fox hunt.” Like waterboarding [or] where all the money went that we poured into Iraq. It just seems to disappear. And yet you get this coverage of who’s gonna get custody of Britney’s kids? Whether or not Lindsay drank at her twenty-first birthday party, and all this other shit. You know, this morning, the two big stories on CNN are Kanye West’s mother, who died, apparently, after having some plastic surgery. The other big thing that’s going on is whether or not this cop [Drew Peterson] killed his… wife. And meanwhile, you’ve got Pakistan in the midst of a real crisis, where these people have nuclear weapons that we helped them develop. You’ve got a guy in charge, who’s basically declared himself the military strongman and is being supported by the Bush administration, whose raison d’etre for going into Iraq was to spread democracy in the world.

.:.

I have to tell you, a Canadiens win over the Leafs puts me in a good mood for at least a couple of days.

[tags]stephen king, time person of the year, canadiens, leafs[/tags]

The only day of the hockey season that I don't hate Boston

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I got home from work late and I still have to read 25 pages of corporate finance, so tonight’s a link dump night:

.:.

This story makes me feel good each November: every year the people of Nova Scotia send a giant Christmas tree to the city of Boston. They do this in perpetual thanks to Boston for sending doctors and medical supplies to Halifax after the Halifax explosion in 1917. However, what I didn’t know until today (thanks, Wikipedia) is that this annual gifting didn’t start until 1971. Not sure why it took 54 years for the tradition to begin. Anyway, it just warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks Boston.

Oh, and thanks for beating the Leafs last night too.

[tags]jellyfish, giant scorpions, edgar bronfman, music industry, cristobal huet, chris higgins, nova scotia, boston, christmas tree, halifax explosion, bruins, maple leafs[/tags]

I wonder how it would handle DeSagana Diop?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Closed captions are funny. Sometimes when I’m studying I mute the TV, and the captions come on automatically. A minute ago I saw a basketball highlight, Tony Parker passing the ball to Manu Ginobli under the net for a layup. However, the speech-to-text software (or maybe it’s still humans?) must’ve been confused by the Argentinian name ’cause the caption read “Parker to a monitor nobly.” Apparently Philip K. Dick was calling the game tonight.

.:.

Dylan Reid at Spacing Magazine published what must surely be the definitive guide to the rules governing pedestrians crossing mid-block in Toronto. I specifically avoided using the term “jaywalking” as it suggests an infraction and, as Mr. Reid points out, it’s simply not illegal to walk across the street in Toronto.

It is legal for pedestrians to cross the street mid-block anywhere in Toronto as long as:

a) they are not adjacent to a marked pedestrian crossing, and

b) they yield to traffic.

This legal situation is a combination of Ontario law, through the Highway Traffic Act, and City of Toronto by-laws.

I like this. I cross the street away from crosswalks all the time, and I occasionally even do it right in front of a police car, but I assume I’d never gotten a ticket because the police were too busy with more important matters. Turns out I’m not doing anything wrong. It’s not even very dangerous; I’m very careful about crossing mid-block, and any Toronto pedestrian knows that drivers in this city treat crosswalks as loose recommendations, so it’s not like crossing there offers safety.

.:.

Today Nellie did something that made my very happy. She booked the linchpin in our spring trip: two nights at Lake O’Hara Lodge, high up in the mountains of Yoho National Park. We hiked there last year (description | pictures), but we had to take a bus up the mountain at 10 and down at 4. This way we can get a full two or three days of hiking up there. Plus, just look at the view!! Whatever else comes of the trip I’m happy. I’d fly to Calgary just for that.

By the way, it might seem like we’re booking obsessively early (we’re not going until late June) but this place fills up fast. They started taking reservations yesterday and by today they were nearly sold out for all of next season.

[tags]closed captioning, manu ginobli, jaywalking in toronto, crossing midblock, spacing magazine, lake o’hara, yoho national park[/tags]

Ten-year-olds and shut-ins.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

On the plus side, we had the day off today. On the other hand, it was an ugly day outside, so we didn’t venture beyond our doorstep much…just shut it down and conserved our energy for the week ahead. We did manage to put up a few pictures, and we just watched a movie: Hollywoodland (imdb | rotten tomatoes). Meh. Not bad, but I’ll forget it by tomorrow.

.:.

I’ll do the Toronto Star one better: it’s time to retire the national embarrassment that is Don Cherry. He is far from an impartial analyst (he openly cheers for the Leafs, “good Canadian boys” and anyone who doesn’t wear a visor), and his opinion is stuck in the goonish 1970s/80s.

“If the instigator rule wasn’t in you could get this guy and wipe him out,” Cherry thundered, apparently not sated by the first-period fisticuffs. “This is what’s bad about hockey when you have a little guy yapping around and you can’t do anything about it.”

Indeed. Retire him, CBC. There’re plenty of cavemen on TV to go around.

.:.

Oxford American magazine has a great article about the nature of indie music. It intersperses the history of a 2006 buzz band with a description of the tastemaking machine that turns out these hot new things with dizzying speed. It talks about the fever that infects these tastemakers, where the discovery of something new becomes more important than the music itself:

“But the second time,” he went on, “well, now it sold out early, and it’s at a bigger club. And I’m not that guy anymore. I’m not the guy discovering them. I’m just a guy who is with everybody else who also knows who they are.”

The article mentions how Pitchfork likens a band to, among others, Animal Collective. I thought for a long time that I just didn’t get this band, but I think now I do. I still don’t like them; I think I’m just on to the scam. I ranted on my friend Joe’s blog about them a while ago; rather than repeat myself I’ll just paste here what I wrote there:

Animal Collective is one of those bands that indie hipster nerds (by which I mean those people who want the label more than they want to listen to the music) profess to love because they know the band will never be mainstream and no one will, as a consequence, question their indie cred for having once liked a mainstream band. Nobody actually *likes* their music. It’s like a secret indie handshake. “Hey, you like Animal Collective? Yeah? Cool, we can hang out then.”

It’s like film students who claim to love Un Chien Andalou…no they don’t. But no one else ever will either, so they keep it for themselves so they can have their little club.

Indie became a scene not because it was a genre of music but because it wasn’t popular and mainstream. Now that indie music is just as mass-produced and marketed as any other genre, the indie hipster nerds who crave exclusivity more than they crave good music have made the pursuit of the next great secret thing more important than the discovery of a life-changing album. It’s to be expected; whenever there’s a little money or prestige to be had, there’s little that can stop people from trying to be the king.

[tags]hollywoodland, don cherry, oxford american, indie music, animal collective, indie music[/tags]

Dan Dickinson's Day Off

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Yes, just like Ferris Bueller, except I wasn’t pursued around the city by a sex offender.

Around 2:00 yesterday afternoon I got the best news I could possibly have received: my class got an extension on our assignment. I had my weekend back! Oh, frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!

After plowing through a bunch of work and a last-minute crisis (deftly handled by T-Bone and, in a supporting role, myself) I arrived half an hour late to meet Nellie and CBGB at beerbistro. A glass of Stiegl Pils and some frites later I put the Blackberry away and settled into the weekend. I had butternut squash ravioli with sliced plums (delicious!) paired with a Brooklyn Brown Ale (ditto!) and a piece of chocolate swirl cheesecake for dessert. We all called it an early night after that; it was a long-ass day and we had plans for the early morning.

Today’s been both productive and relaxing; it’s like found time for me, so I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. We got up early and hit St. Lawrence Market for some pastries, seafood, tofu and vegetables, then grabbed ingredients for dinner at the Dominion on the way home. We sucked back the pastries while we watched Friday Night Lights and The Office on the PVR. Next leg of the trip was to walk up to Henry’s and collect some prints we’d ordered online. We’re planning to put some of our pictures on our walls, so we got some B&W prints from recent trips.

After dropping those back at home we struck out for MEC to buy me a jacket, stopping at Chapters on the way back and then grabbing lunch (all-day breakfast, in truth) at
Over Easy. On the way home we bought some picture frames for some of the afore-mentioned pictures and picked up dry cleaning. Back out we went to the {shudder} Eaton Centre, grabbing some more picture frames and a very nifty little charging station at Pottery Barn before escaping the mall as rapidly as possible. One last stop at The Bay for towels and our credit cards were begging for mercy.

Home again we gave the place a much-needed clean and then turned to neglected email accounts and feed readers. Tonight we’re laying low, enjoying the pardon (ok, reprieve) and looking forward to tomorrow.

.:.

Good luck, Atlantic Canada. Hold on tight.

[tags]ferris bueller, beerbistro, st. lawrence market, friday night lights, the office, over easy, eaton centre, pottery barn, hurricane noel[/tags]

And a bucket of my finest diet pepsi on ice

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I am the hold steady:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 222
  • Weight this week: 222

Break-even’s about as good as I could have hoped for last week. Time was hard to come by and I spent a couple days at the IFL, which never helps. It should get a little better now, though, because…

.:.

I finished my paper today! Well, just about. Still have to proof it and throw SW’s revised references in at the end, but I believe we’re pretty much done. To celebrate I went downstairs and ran three miles. To keep the good times running tonight I may just watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch. Woot.

.:.

Last night’s Canadiens game was another good ‘un. Well, kinda; Montreal jumped out to a three-goal lead early in the game but let the Penguins back in it, finally allowing the tying goal with two minutes left. No joy in overtime, so it went to a shootout…16 shooters later someone finally scored, and thankfully it was Montreal. That was the first time in a few games they played a tight one…it was hard on the nerves. I’ve come to like the blowouts.

.:.

Robert Ouellette wrote a column today in Reading Toronto entitled Why I Am Cancelling My Globe And Mail Subscription And Why You Should Too*. I agree with that sentiment; I canceled my subscription long ago, partly for the reasons Mr. Ouellette describes (environmental concerns, lack of compelling content, abundance of ads and increasingly pro-war editorials) and partly in protest over their decision to charge paper subscribers to access online content.

Interesting side note: the asterisk in the article’s title points to a confession by Mr. Ouellette in which he states that he may be biased against the Globe because he occasionally writes an architecture column for the National Post. While his first three objections would apply to most any newspaper subscription, I should think that his objection to “fear-driven ‘dogs of war’ [having] their way in the paper’s editorial room” would sour him completely on the Post.

[tags]fatblogging, mba, reading toronto, robert ouellette, globe and mail, national post[/tags]

Hah bumhug!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It’s a grey, grey day. I’m wondering now whether having such a clear and panoramic view of the world outside is going to adversely affect my mood on days like this? I may be a scrooge for realsies by Christmas.

.:.

Last night’s Canadiens game was a beaut. Watched it on fast forward last night after Nellie went to bed. Montreal scoring 13 goals in two games? That’s five games’ worth at their usual scoring rate. Anyway, they’re back at it tonight against Pittsburgh. I shall watch it while I blast away at this paper (which is progressing quite nicely, thank you very much).

.:.

Still with hockey, if you want to live, do not play against the Philadelphia Flyers. For the third time this year a Flyer has nearly killed someone.

Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron was taken off the ice on a stretcher Saturday after a scary hit from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones.

Bergeron was chasing after a loose puck in the Flyers zone late in the first period when Jones closed in on him and drove his head into the boards with his forearm.

The 22-year-old crumpled to the ice and lay on his back motionless while the Bruins went after Jones, 26. Medical personnel cut away Bergeron’s jersey and shoulder pads as they worked on him, placing his neck in a brace. They placed him on a board and then onto a stretcher, his legs taped together and his arms folded across his chest. There was little sign of movement. The game was delayed some 15 minutes as he was treated.

I don’t know what you’re coaching down there in Philly, but jeezus…let’s take it easy with the attempted homicide, shall we?

.:.

Here’s a whole bucket of dumb for you:

  • This Florida mother mutilated her daughter’s genitals so that she wouldn’t enjoy sex…and was acquitted of the charges brought against her.
  • FEMA staged a fake news conference about the California wildfires. The White House needs to form a disaster management firm to fix all the stupid things FEMA does. I suggest the name metaFEMA.
  • Britney Spears’ mother is writing a book about motherhood. It’d better be called, “I’m sorry y’all, I blew that one.”

.:.

OK, back to work.

[tags]toronto weather, canadiens, hurricanes, penguins, philadelphia flyers, patrice bergeron, florida mother genitals, fema news conference, britney spears[/tags]

It's that last 0.28% that'll kill you

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night’s loss by the Canadiens almost killed me. Watching Montreal completely outplay Florida for 58 minutes and then give up the tying goal with 10 seconds left, finally losing the game on the last shot of the shootout…it was almost too much to bear.

After the game Alex Kovalev couldn’t hide his displeasure with coach Guy Carbonneau, re-igniting rumours of Kovalev’s imminent trade to Calgary. Keep it up, Kovalev, sez I.

.:.

Key strategic takeaways from today:

There will be a quiz next month.

[tags]canadiens, esquire magazine, iran, darth vader harmonica, matador parking lot, stephen colbert[/tags]

I'm surprised we didn't get two Ugly Betty rip-offs

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Back to a North American diet & schedule = half a pound gained.

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 221.5
  • Weight this week: 222

I only got to the gym once this week and haven’t been eating well, so this isn’t a big surprise. Must be a little more diligent about both. Must must.

.:.

We went out for dinner and a drink with CBGB last night and bored them to death with stories of France. We went to Volo, in part because I wanted to avoid seeing the Leafs-Canadiens game until I could get home and watch it on the PVR, and Volo has no TV. Or so I thought; turns out there’s a small TV above the bar, but I was able to avoid looking at it for the whole night. Finally, though, I heard someone say “it’s tied 3-3 going into overtime” so I just gave up and watched. The Leafs got a makeup call in overtime and scored on the power play, keeping Leafs management jobs safe for a few more days at least.

While I hate seeing the Canadiens lose to the Leafs, it’s not a bad result for Montreal to leave a hostile building with a point, especially when their goaltender had an off night, they were turnover prone and their opponents were playing desperate hockey, despite being only three games into the season. Most other teams would have shelled them last night, but Toronto’s D let them stay in the game…Montreal even hit the post in overtime on their own power play. Anyhoo, it’s on to a tougher test next week: Pittsburgh Tuesday.

.:.

I have to say, this season’s new TV shows have been rubbish so far. I decided to give a few a try and, while I haven’t yet sampled the entire list, I’ve been pretty disappointed.

  • K-Ville: cops in post-Katrina New Orleans. Interesting premise? You bet. Sadly, it’s formulaic and predictable and an utter waste of a great actor: Anthony Anderson.
  • Bionic Woman: I love Katee Sackhoff as much as the next guy breathing human, but she’s not in the show that much. The star, Michelle Ryan, is stunning but she can’t act. The special effects look dopey, the supporting characters are awful cliches…ugh. This show was the biggest disappointment of the season.

I haven’t gotten to Life, The Big Bang Theory (which I hear has a laugh track…how 80s chic!) or Dirty Sexy Money yet but I’m not hearing great things about them. Most other new shows Nellie’s watched have been shite as well. I’m about to give up on Heroes, and I’ve already walked away from 24. Even Friday Night Lights is scaring me a bit…the first episode of season 2 was drifting into O.C. territory. That’s network television for you though. The next season of The Wire can’t arrive soon enough.

[tags]fatblogging, canadiens, leafs, k-ville, bionic woman, life, big bang theory, dirty sexy money, the wire[/tags]