Category: Sports

Well…it's not flesh-eating disease…

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It’s shingles.

Seriously.

Because, apparently, I’m 72. What the hell?

Sigh.

I’m staying home the rest of the week because my co-worker, who I sit next to and probably have the most contact with in the run of a day, has never had chicken pox (which is the virus that causes shingles) and there’s a chance I could give it to her. This sucks, because I have a very busy week of stuff that I was looking forward to, including tomorrow night’s Rheostatics concert, their penultimate show.

Frack.

This just seems weird to me. Not the shingles themselves; apparently it’s not at all uncommon. Anyone who’s had chicken pox can get shingles, but it’s usually triggered by something. Here’s WebMD’s list of typical triggers:

  • Have a weakened immune system (such as people with cancer or HIV)
  • Are over the age of 50
  • Have been ill
  • Are experiencing trauma
  • Are under significant stress

Cancer: nope; HIV: nope; over 50: nope; ill: nope; experiencing trauma: nope; under significant stresss: not that I’m aware of. Honestly, the best that I (or Nellie) could come up with is that my body might be rather weakened by the recent drastic shift in diet. Whether that’s it or not, I can’t ignore the fact that I’ve been sick more in the past three months than I had been in the past three years. Maybe that’s coincidence, but when you consider that we haven’t done a great job of adjusting our diets (I know we don’t get enough protein, for example), it seems to be something that I have to address. So, reluctantly, I think I shall have to start eating fish again. Temporarily, until I can adjust my eating habits enough to be vegetarian and be healthy about it.

Goddammit.

.:.

OK, changing gears now: is it wrong that I want to eat Jesus?

.:.

The proposed 60-story condo on the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor has become a proposed 80-story condo. Any new development on that intersection would be an inprovement. As (city councillor) Kyle Rae put it, “I sorely would like to hide the Royal Bank building on the northeast corner. It’s brutal.”

.:.

There’s so much stuff in the new Harry Rosen magazine that I want that my wallet has begun to glow, kind of like Frodo’s sword when there’s an orc nearby.

.:.

I’m with Serge Savard: hockey should be banned from fighting. It has nothing to do with the game. No other pro sport allows it, let alone condones it. If you’re excited about watching two guys fight, there’s another sport called boxing which I believe would be right up your alley. If I’m watching hockey I prefer skill plays and hard bodychecks to pre-arranged fights and tough-guy posturing.

[tags]shingles, chocolate jesus, toronto condo, yonge and bloor, harry rosen, serge savard, hockey fighting[/tags]

Coinstar, Battlestar and my latest star

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Today wasn’t quite as nice a day as was forecast, so we stuck to doing some errands, cleaning and (in my case) watching more basketball. We traded in a bunch of loose change ($120 worth, in fact), picked up our tickets for the two documentaries we’ll see at this year’s Hot Docs (Let’s All Hate Toronto and Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib) just before we move, got some excellent snacks at Cobs Bread, picked up a few groceries and got home just in time for the opening tip of the Florida/Oregon game. Since I finished my case study yesterday I can now relax until the season finale of Battlestar Galactica tonight.

.:.

Speaking of basketball, I’m doing quite well in my March Madness pool. I’m currently in 3rd, but I can take the $600 prize if Florida beats Georgetown in the final. If my calculations are correct there are also two other scenarios where I’d finish 2nd (for which I’d get $200) or tied for 2nd ($100).

I’m also doing well in my other (non-money) pools. I’m leading my NHL pool; some other guys got within half a point of me, but I’ve gotten some breathing room back, mainly by adding Jordan Staal to my lineup the other night. I’m starting to love that kid as much as Don Cherry does. In my NBA pool I’m only four points back from the leader, but I don’t think I can catch him. I probably could’ve if any of Pau Gasol, Paul Pierce or Dwayne Wade had been able to play a full season, mais c’est la vie. I’m just hoping to hang on to 2nd place.

[tags]hot docs, let’s all hate toronto, ghosts of abu ghraib, cobs bread, battlestar galactica, march madness, hockey pool, jordan staal, don cherry[/tags]

Shaved Head, one last time

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It’s been a very sports-oriented weekend thus far. Tons and tons of March Madness basketball and some hockey games. Tonight’s Canadiens/Leafs match is pretty much make-or-break for both teams’ chances of staying in the playoff hunt. Montreal’s still without their #1 goalie, so if they lose tonight, I think they’re all but done for the year.

Last night we took a break from the madness by having dinner and a beer at Volo, and watching a few episodes of Entourage. I haven’t been feeling great for the last 24 hours (don’t know if it’s the crazy weather changes or lack of sleep or what, but I’ve got a perpetual headache right now) so I don’t think the rest of the weekend will get much more adventurous.

.:.

One thing this tournament has reminded me of: I despise the word (and I use the term loosely) “stick-to-it-iveness”. I’ve heard it more than once*, and it drives me nuts. I have no problem with new words entering the everyday lexicon. What I do have a problem with is a using a disjointed mash-up designed for the addle-minded rather than suitable existing words.

Sigh…et tu, dictionary.com?

* It’s quite possible that whoever’s saying it is the same guy who keeps pronouncing “eschews” incorrectly. Somewhere that guy’s English teacher is cringing.

.:.

You may or may not know that the Rheostatics are, in my opinion, the most truly Canadian rock band of the past two decades (that’s right, more Canadian than The Hip); you also may not know that on March 30th they’ll play ostensibly their last concert ever, at Massey Hall. I didn’t get a ticket for that, but I did get a ticket for smaller show at their most recent and regular home: the Horseshoe. If you’d like a ticket of your own, you can get one from Six Shooter.

Anyway, the excellent Canadian indie music download site Zunior.com has something very cool on sale right now: a Rheostatics tribute album. It has songs by 13 artists, among them The Weakerthans, Weeping Tile, The Inbreds, Barenaked Ladies and Cuff The Duke. It only costs $8.88 and the proceeds go to charity; for a few extra bucks you can download the songs and get the CD. Quel bargain.

[tags]march madness, leafs, canadiens, sticktoitiveness, rheostatics, zunior[/tags]

On Bedford and Grand

Dan Dickinson3 Comments

Downloaded the Besnard Lakes album Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse tonight. I gave it a preview listen today at work and liked it as much as the one song I’d already heard: “For Agent 13”. I’m having a hard time classifying it, except to say that it’s…big. Lush is probably another word I’d use.

.:.

Sporting news: Montreal clawed back for a huge win tonight to stay in the playoff hunt. The Senators also did them a favour by beating the Rangers, but Toronto and Carolina both won to stay ahead of Montreal. If the Canadiens make the playoffs, it’ll be a minor miracle. Also: my March Madness picks are done and submitted. I never win these things, but it adds an interesting angle to the games.

.:.

Starbucks is launching its own music label. I figure this will be to music what the Oprah book club is to books…which is to say, not the ideal solution, but probably better than the alternative. Both Starbucks and Oprah tend to pick better than average, if somewhat safe, material (though some would disagree that Oprah’s latest pick The Secret falls into that category), and if people are going to slavishly follow some pop culture phenomenon, I’d rather it be Starbucks or Oprah than MTV or Britney Spears.

[tags]besnard lakes, montreal canadiens, march madness, starbucks music label, oprah, the secret[/tags]

Hopeless? Or just pathetic?

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This post on The Movie Blog earlier today might’ve had the best title ever: “Eddie Murphy To Do Fantasy Island Remake – We are Officially A Hopeless Society.”

.:.

I can’t remember who told me about Open Culture, but it’s one of the most useful, educational websites I’ve ever used. It pointed Nellie to a podcast that helps her learn French, while I used it to find podcasts from top business schools around the US. It also pointed me to this NPR debate entitled “Is America Too Damn Religious?” I haven’t listened to it yet (not having a commute makes it hard to find a 40-minute block of time to listen to something), but you know I’m going to dig it.

Anyway, whoever told me about the site, thanks.

.:.

OK, must go and watch Montreal try to scratch their way back into a playoff spot.

[tags]eddie murphy, fantasy island, open culture, montreal canadiens, nhl playoffs[/tags]

Maybe they should send Jack Bauer after Rosie Costello

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Life is always better the day after the Canadiens beat the Leafs. However, Montreal didn’t do much of anything at the trade deadline (picking up a third-string goalie from waivers) while many of their closest competitors did.

.:.

I want this. Bell Canada cannot get this to me fast enough.

Imagine being at work, behind your computer, or holding your BlackBerry, and being able go online and control all the lights, temperature and appliances in your home. About 250 homeowners in Milton will soon have that option through a Web portal designed by Bell Canada and offered through their local utility.

Pair that with a Slingbox and I can take my home with me.

.:.

This woman might be the most repugnant being on the face of the earth who hasn’t killed someone or tortured an animal.

A woman admitted Monday that she coached her two children to fake retardation starting when they were 4 and 8 years old so she could collect Social Security benefits on their behalf.

The mind boggles.

.:.

Speaking of mental retardation, I don’t know how much more of 24 I can take. It’s just boring now. I feel compelled to watch the remainder of this season, but really, I’ve stopped caring for the most part. The only thing I really tune in for now is to see how Jack occasionally manhandles someone (cases in point: nearly breaking his [imminent] lady love’s neck last week when he thought she betrayed him, and in an early episode when he dragged some poor unsuspecting motorist from his car and threw him to the ground, yelling “Don’t get up!”) and to see if they somehow miraculously bring Mandy back into the plot. Other than that…meh. To quote Frank, “Wake me when Zombie Nina* arrives.”

* A&E’s been showing old episodes in the morning. Today I was late for work because I had to watch the end of the episode where Jack kills the hell out of Nina.

[tags]canadiens, leafs, trade deadline, smart home, slingbox, children faking mental retardation, 24[/tags]

Quel match

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I just finished watching the Montreal/Nashville game…and what a game it was. 6-5 the final with the Canadiens winning in the 4th round of the shootout. Montreal never led in the game; they trailed by 1 or 2 goals the entire night until Sergei Samsonov (!) tied it with 48 seconds left. Nashville scored 2 goals by bouncing it off Canadiens’ defenders, so it would’ve been a tough loss. Honestly I was ecstatic that they’d steal a point on the road against the best team in the NHL; that they won it in the shootout was just a bonus.

Jaroslav Halak is now 3-0 since being called up from Hamilton. Let the canonization begin.

[tags]montreal canadiens, nashville predators, jaroslav halak[/tags]

By the left…quick March!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The first week and a half of March is looking pretty sweet:

  • March 2: Black Snake Moan and Zodiac hit theatres
  • March 6: the new Arcade Fire album Neon Bible drops (officially, anyway; I’ve already listened to it, but I’ll still buy it)
  • March 9: 300 comes to theatres

Of course, there are more good movies (like Sunshine) and albums (like Ted Leo‘s Living With The Living) coming later that month, and then comes the sports fiesta — March Madness, NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs — during which I become one with my TV. Besides, it’s usually starting to feel pretty spring-y by late March/early April, and spring’s my favourite time of year.

[tags]black snake moan, zodiac, arcade fire, 300, sunshine, ted leo, i love march[/tags]

Florida? Really?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Four years ago today I got engaged. Happy engagiversary to me.

.:.

The Canadiens have become le suck. They lost again tonight, and are barely holding on to the final playoff spot in the east.

.:.

Speaking of le suck, 24 has been predictable for the last three seasons, but now it’s getting to the point where we can’t go 5 minutes without making fun of it. If I manage to make it to the end of this season, I think it’ll be my last.

[tags]engagement, canadiens, 24[/tags]

Fire in this guy

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Neither of us felt like cooking tonight (disclosure: I never feel like cooking, and even if I did, I’m  crap at it) so we ordered thai. Along with the requisite pahd thai, rice and veggie dish, I got some spicy noodles. They were a little bit hot, but just enough to be yummy. Anyway, as I cleaned up the last few bites of the noodles something happened. I could feel the back left of my tongue burning, but not in a spicy, peppery kind of way. It felt more like…I don’t know, like an actual burn, or how I remember bee stings felt, except it was on my freaking tongue.

I jumped up and grabbed water out of the fridge; that helped, but as soon as I swallowed the pain came back. I tried milk; same result. I tried eating an entire wheat thin while drinking milk, making some sort of edible mud pack in my mouth which (perhaps not surprisingly) didn’t really help much either. Finally, after another glass of milk, 5 minutes of foofing and a mouthful of plain rice my tongue began to feel normal again.

There must have been some super-hot half-peppers in the noodles and I put one in my mouth directly on that part of my tongue; the rest of my mouth was unaffected. I didn’t even get that runny-nose, watery-eye kind of thing that eating a crazy-ass pepper would give you. If I didn’t know better I’d say I’d put just-cooked food on my tongue and burned it, but the food had been on our table for 10 minutes and in the car for 30 before that, so that wasn’t it.

It’s like my mouth had its very own Tunguska event.

.:.

The contestants in this year’s NBA dunk competition have been named: Dwight Howard, Tyrus Thomas, Gerald Green and defending champ Nate Robinson. Nate Robinson, you may recall, took 17 attempts to put down one of his dunks last year, and still won the damn thing, showing just how stupid the event has become. The only thing I’ll watch for this year is the 3-point shootout.

I liked the suggestion last year (can’t remember if it was Kenny Smith or Charles Barkley): to save the dunk competition the NBA should ask Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Josh Smith to compete. That’d get me back in front of the TV.
[tags]pepper, thai food, nba dunk competition[/tags]