Category: Uncategorized

Action Movies

Action movies aren’t my favorite thing in the entertainment world, but I have to admit that i have enjoyed my share. I mean I do have a Y chromosome after all, right?

Today it was suggested that I view the trailer for the upcoming film, “The Expendables.”

It would seem that almost every cliche action movie actor has been cast in this film.
Sylvester Stallone? Yup
Dolph Lundgren? Yup
Bruce Willis? Yup
Arnold Schwarzenegger? Yup
Jet Li? Yup
Hell, even Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts show up in this one.

Check out the Internet Movie Database page and wow at the list of possibly steroid enhanced actors.

With a cast like this there are two things we can bank on: The film will suck. Millions (possibly billions?) of people will see it in the theaters.

Money.

Home Ice

The undisputed kings of NHL choke are the San Jose Sharks. Now, however, we have to start thinking there is an Eastern Conference team that is closing the gap.

The Washington Capitals won the President’s trophy. They outscored the rest of the league by some ungodly (three digit?) number.

And last night they were eliminated by the eighth seeded Montreal Canadiens. Oh and did I mention they needed to blow a three games to one lead in order to lose the series?

Yes, Eastern Conference Choking Champion Washington Capitals.

So how did I do in my predictions? Crappy, that’s how.

I picked Washington over Montreal and was wrong. 0-1.
I picked New Jersey over Philadelphia and was wrong. 0-2.
I picked Boston over Buffalo and was right… and I still can’t believe it. 1-2.
I picked Pittsburgh over Ottawa and was right. 2-2.
I picked Colorado over San Jose and was wrong. 2-3.
I picked Chicago over Nashville and was right. 3-3.
I picked Los Angeles over Vancouver and was wrong. 3-4.
I picked Phoenix over Detroit and was wrong. 3-5.

That’s my worst first round ever.

Of course the end result of those bad predictions is that the Bruins are now the second highest seed remaining in the East. We have home ice advantage in round two. Un-fricken’-believable.

Here is the schedule for round two, as posted at nhl.com:

2010 EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
SERIES I

#4 vs. #8
Network
Friday, April 30 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
Sunday, May 2 at Pittsburgh, 2:00 p.m. NBC, CBC, RDS
Tuesday, May 4 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
Thursday, May 6 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 8 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*Monday, May 10 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*Wednesday, May 12 at Pittsburgh, TBD CBC, RDS, VERSUS
SERIES J

#6 vs. #7
Network
Saturday, May 1 at Boston, 12:30 p.m. NBC, TSN
Monday, May 3 at Boston, 7:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Wednesday, May 5 at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Friday, May 7 at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Monday, May 10 at Boston, 7:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Wednesday, May 12 at Philadelphia, TBD TSN, VERSUS
*Friday, May 14 at Boston, 7:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
2010 WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
SERIES K

#1 vs. #5
Network
Thursday, April 29 at San Jose, 9:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Sunday, May 2 at San Jose, 8:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Tuesday, May 4 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Thursday, May 6 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 8 at San Jose, 10:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Monday, May 10 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Wednesday, May 12 at San Jose, TBD TSN, VERSUS
SERIES L
#2 vs. #3
Network
Saturday, May 1 at Chicago, 8:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Monday, May 3 at Chicago, 9:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Wednesday, May 5 at Vancouver, 9:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Friday, May 7 at Vancouver, 9:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Sunday, May 9 at Chicago, 8:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Tuesday, May 11 at Vancouver, 9:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Thursday, May 13 at Chicago, 8:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS

Pittsburgh vs Montreal: Going with the Penguins here. For four reasons. First, they are the defending champs. Second, they are not the Montreal Canadiens and I really hate the Montreal Canadiens. Third, I am going to assume that Halak won’t have enough gas in his tank to blank another offensive juggernaut they way he did Washington in the last three games. Fourth, Sydney Crosby. In the last two years Crosby has lead his team to the Cup Finals twice, winning the second time, and lead his national team to the Olympic Gold Medal. He’s starting to look like Bill Russel with all the constant winning he’s doing. Hard to bet against a guy on a streak like that.

Boston vs Philadelphia: See that? I get to put Boston first there because they are the higher seed. I am shocked. I am still stunned they beat Buffalo. Hell, I am still stunned that they scored a single goal off of Ryan Miller. Now on top of all the winning they did against all odds in the first round, they get their top offensive player, Marc Savard, back for the second round. I thought Philly would have died quick in the first round after all the fighting they had to do just to get there. Turns out it was New Jersey who died quick. I will not underestimate Philly again. I see this one going a long way. All seven games perhaps. I also see The Boston Bruins in the Conference Finals. Go Bruins!

San Jose vs Detroit: I am picking the Red Wings for two simple reasons. First, they are friggin’ awesome right now. Second, they are not San Jose. The inevitable Sharks choke waits for round two this year, but it will happen.

Chicago vs Vancouver: I am pretty undecided on this one so I am going to pick Vancouver based on former Lowell Lock Monster Roberto Luongo shedding his can’t-win-the-big-games image and standing on his head and carrying his team to the third round.

So there are my picks for round two. I need to go 3-1 just go get back to .500… and here I am picking two upsets in the West again. I probably should have learned not to do that after the first round.

I have just one more thing to add to this post:

GO BRUINS!

Bobby Orr Statue at the TD Garden

On May 10th there will be a statue of Bobby Orr scoring the 1970 Stanley Cup winning goal unveiled outside of the Garden. Click here to read the story, or just keep reading because I am going to copy the text right here…

Bobby Orr Statue to be Unveiled
Ceremony will be May 10th at 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday, 04.28.2010 / 10:09 AM / News
Boston Bruins
BOSTON, MA – The Boston Bruins and TD Garden announced today that a bronze statue depicting the famous scene of Bobby Orr flying through the air immediately after scoring “The Goal” that clinched the Bruins 1970 Stanley Cup Championship over the St. Louis Blues will be unveiled at a ceremony on May 10th at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Present for the ceremony, which is being held on the 40th anniversary of “The Goal” and the Bruins four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues to win the Stanley Cup on May 10, 1970, will be Bobby Orr, Bruins Owner, Jeremy Jacobs, Mayor of Boston, Thomas M. Menino, TD Garden President, John Wentzell, the sculptor of the statue, Harry Weber, and Orr’s teammates John Bucyk and Derek Sanderson.

The larger than life sized bronze statue (110% life sized, weighing more than 600 pounds) which will permanently be installed in front of the TD Garden at the mouth of the West Walkway outside of the arena facing Causeway St., has been designed and sculpted by Weber. Weber, has designed and sculpted a number of famous works including “The Captains’ Return” in St. Louis, MO, “The Plaza of Champions” in St. Louis, MO, and “Doug Flutie” in Boston, MA.

In the creating the statue, Weber wrote: “The main objective of the statue of Bobby Orr is to faithfully capture both the likeness of this great defenseman, and the spirit and emotion of the few seconds on May 10, 1970. ‘The Goal’ has become a defining moment, not only for the Bruins, but for the sport of Hockey.”

The creation and installation of the statue is being funded entirely by the Boston Bruins and the TD Garden as a gift to the City of Boston and the fans of the Boston Bruins.

Further details regarding the ceremony and the media availability for all of the participants will be released in the days leading up to the event.

We will have to make sure we use the West entrance when we see Rush in September. That should be my next trip to the Garden.

Now we’ll have a statue of Ted Williams at Fenway, Red Auerbach in Faneuil Hall, and the greatest hockey player ever, Bobby Orr at the Garden.

Congrats Bobby!

Kind of a Let Down

Today is starting out as kind of a let down. After all the excitement yesterday of basking in the glow of the Bruins advancing in the playoffs, and getting Rush tickets, and going to the gym for the fourth day in a row and not feeling like I was going to die I don’t know how today can match up.

To make matters worse when I woke up this morning I was sure it was Thursday. Then I realized we didn’t have the kids, which meant last night wasn’t Wednesday, which meant today wasn’t Thursday, which meant today was actually Wednesday.

Bummer.

On the upside, as of today it’s less than a month until our vacation. Also, in two days it will be Jenny and my 11th monthiversary. I’m on call this weekend so that sucks, and the week after is mother’s day and we won’t have the kids and that sucks too, but we’re going to celebrate mother’s day this Sunday instead and that’s excellent. The kids and I are scheming a little. Just a little.

Tonight is the final night of the 1st round of the playoffs. Washington vs Montreal in game seven. I don’t know who to root for. I want them both to lose.

My predictions for the 1st round sucked. I got Boston and Pittsburgh right in the East and Philly wrong. In the West I got San Jose, Detroit, and Vancouver wrong. If Washington wins tonight I will be 4-4. But if Washington wins tonight the Bruins won’t have home ice in the 2nd round. Oh woe is me and my ridiculous picks.

I have a fat lip. It hurts. A lot. That’s something else to add to the things that suck list. I have a beautiful wife who loves me as much as I love her. That’s something to add to the things that don’t suck list. I think that one should count more than once. Maybe a few billion times.

I still haven’t had any caffeine. I think tomorrow marks three weeks. I’m sleeping much better and the random eye and finger twitches have gone away. The lack of coca~cola and the short work outs at the gym have conspired to cause me to lose a few pounds. That’s on the things that don’t suck list too.

How did I get into a things that suck/don’t suck lists discussion anyway? This one is getting a little stream of consciousness here. Maybe I should start writing in second person, just to weird it up a little more.

You read about Robert’s suck list and think he should shut the hell up because his things that don’t suck list vastly outweighs his things that do suck list. You then click off of the page and go to something that actually holds your interest for more than 0.68 seconds and isn’t totally stupid.

You think the second person voice is lame and the writer agrees with you.

Anyway.

Florida is approaching. Mother’s Day is approaching. My birthday is approaching but we aren’t going to talk about that tragedy, The 2nd round of the NHL playoffs is approaching, Rush is a looong way off still but it is approaching (and the word yesterday was that there would be two knew songs released just prior to the start of the tour. Nice!). Good things are happening. There’s a few other things that I need to kick into gear so that I can add them to the don’t suck list and I am going to do it, I just need a kick in my motivational ass.

Hear that motivation? I’m going to kick your ass into gear!

WOOHOO for Progress!

Floppy Discs

This post 100% qualifies as an in-joke…

Should I send this article to my father?

RIP Floppy Disk

I love the slipping a corrupted disc under the teacher’s door reference. I never did that, but there might have been a time or two when I could have.

Did Hell Just Freeze Over?

Last night at about 9:40 or so I went upstairs to our bedroom and quietly said to my wife, “Sweetie I’m sorry, but there are going to be at least four more Bruins games this year.”

I cannot believe that the Bruins have advanced to the Conference Semi-Finals. I am in a state of shock and awe. Last night’s game was awesome. Back and forth, high tempo, lots of scoring chances. Just a lot of fun to watch, although the Bruins have a nasty habit of making things hard on themselves. Watch the highlights. I thought the first Sabers goal was the result of the dumbest play I’d ever seen in my life, only to see an even dumber play on the second Sabers goal. I think Wideman and Ryder should get assists for the hard work they put into those two goals.

So now we have to wait until Wednesday to see who wins game seven between the Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens. Far be it from me to ever root for Montreal, but if they win we’ll have home ice advantage against Philly in the next round. If they lose we’ll be the lower seed against Pittsburgh. Both opponents are going to be tons of trouble for us. I definitely prefer to see Philadelphia, although my feelings on their competence have changed 180 degrees after the way they handled New Jersey. Hopefully everyone is saying the same thing about the Bruins right now.

Tuukka Rask is the man. Just have to say that publicly.

In other, equally important, news: Today the pre-sale for tickets to the 9/14/10 Rush show at the TD Garden in Boston begins. It starts in 39 minutes. I am ready. I need to get three tickets. One for Jen, one for Mike, and one for me. Then I can amp up my excitement to the next level. I might load a bunch of Rush bootlegs onto my iPod and start freaking out five months in advance.

We also changed our hotel reservations in Florida because we are expecting to get there a day earlier than we had originally thought. We are going to leave much earlier in the day, and we are going to have Jen’s parents with us. That’s two extra drivers. We should be able to eat up quite a bit more miles each day.

I can’t wait for Rush.
I can’t wait for the 2nd round.
I can’t wait for Florida.

Go Bruins!

All for Science

Okay… read this article.

Now read this blog post, written in response to the previous article.

Seems to make sense. If immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes then we should be able to reproduce the issue by having a large sample of women voluntarily dressing immodestly.

Boobquake.

If you are offended by the second article, read this blog post, which aims to clarify that the blog post above was meant to be funny, not political activism.

I think it was funny, but I think the first article might be funnier.

heh heh… Boobquake.