So I went to the Canadian Opera Company yesterday for the first time. The closest thing I’ve come previously is a serious musical, way back when I was like 12: Les Miz. I have since seen other musicals, but I don’t think they count (Evil Dead). The theatre, named after some no doubt famous opera …
Aaaaaaaawkward…
So, we just got our new students at work. We get students every summer. They help us out. It is a good thing. Some of them have worked with us before, others not.
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: What do the Leafs need to do to create a winning club?
I think first things first, someone needs to buy MLSE, because I don’t think a pension plan has any interest in championships.
Milk
My family has some odd traditions, like any family. One of them is this:
Raptors – April 3, 2010
I think the Raptors are fucked. If they lose today, I’m ready to call the season. I think if they lose to the Sixers then the chances of them making the playoffs get significantly worse, with Chicago winning games and getting healthier.
Raptors Draft History
Good game last night. Actually saw some D. That was great. Yeah, they still can’t rebound. Oh well.
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: The Draft and College Players
The Leafs have signed yet another US College star. As much as I appreciate this new direction, the odds of success are significantly lower than the draft. I understand the Leafs must take this approach as, for some reason, they don’t appear to have any draft picks…well, any first rounders.
The US Census
I’ve been spending a lot time watching the Madness over the last few days and I’ve noticed something: embedded PSAs for the US Census.
About last night…
So there’s this folk singer. Steve something. Can’t remember his last name. He does covers and his own songs.
Best Documentaries of All Time
Inspired by my recent viewing of Tony Kaye’s outstanding Lake of Fire, here is my list of the best documentaries as of June 2010. No, I have not seen Nanook. 1. Capturing the Friedmans This is my vote for the greatest documentary of all time (if I had to pick one). It is one of …
Worst lyrics ever?
There have been some truly bad lyrics since “rock” music appeared lo those many years ago. One set of lines that manages to still stick in my head years later is a famous Backstreet Boys chorus,
The Best Movies of the Aughts (2000s)
Now that we’re through the Aughts, here are my picks for best movies of the decade. The ones that make the initial list are movies that I rated a 10/10. The runners up are 9/10s, and the honourable mentions are 8/10s. Many of these movies I have seen only once, and remember that in 2000 …
Palin is coming to Hamilton
I don’t know why she’s coming to Hamilton. I can guess. Supposedly she’s coming to speak at a hospital fundraiser. I figure she’s really coming because she’s already spoken everywhere in the US that would take her. Though she is probably the dumbest politician I have ever seen (dumber than Quale, and that’s saying something), …
Heatley deal
I know I should have said this last weekend but I was busy. Ottawa Senators get: Cheechoo Michalek 2nd round pick Cheechoo is probably the Tony Batista of hockey. He was great for a time, but the moment he declined he declined terribly, because his mechanics are so bad nobody knows what to fix. Michalek …
The Hamilton City Councilors are at it again
I guess it’s because municipal politics attracts the dregs, the people who can’t make it at any other level of politics, that we regularly get the most insane and ignorant suggestions from Hamilton city councilors. The previous highlight was an idea to ban swearing in the downtown core. Councilors were apparently wholly unaware of the …
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: The Stralman Deal
I cannot for the life of me understand this trade: Stralman and Colin Stuart (don’t know him) for Wayne “Not Keith” Primeau and a second round pick next year.
2009 Toronto Drafts
So I figured I’d share my opinions about the Drafts but suddenly it was early July and I hadn’t done anything yet. Oops. Maple Leafs: It could have been better and it could have been worse. Burke should have kept his mouth shut. I still believe he could have maneuvered to get a top 3 …
The Toronto Sports Media Strikes Again
Our beloved sports media (specifically the Star) cannot hold a consistent position on anything, it seems. Obviously, the best example of this is Damien Cox and his endlessly wavering positions on everything. (Currently, this fixation is the Bettman-Balsillie affair: one day Bettman and the league are in the right, the next Balsillie is, and so …
Reflections on the god thing
I’ve been trying to read up on chaos theory today, as I think there may be some sociopolitical implications that haven’t been addressed by most of what I’ve read for the book. The description of chaos I’m familiar with sounds an awful lot like life: minuscule changes in initial circumstances have a big effect on …
Playoff reform, seriously
Once again I renew my call (which no one answers) for playoff reform in the NHL and in the NBA. In the NHL: No points for losses already. This is so stupid. No other professional league does this, that I know of. It is retarded. There is no rationalization for it. It skews the standings. …
TO Media
The Toronto sports media don’t like it when Toronto has star players. This is becoming increasingly evident. Last year, they forced out a star who liked it here. But he wouldn’t go on their terms. He went on his own, which arguably hurt the team. Without the media badgering him, would he have gone at …
On the Hiring of Brian Burke
I don’t know what I think about all this. Burke said (almost) all the right things at the conference today. I still think his record is inflated by his supporters. (And I’m finding that, surprise, surprise, his detractors are equally full of hyperbole.) I can say one thing, he is a better GM than Ferguson …
Leafs 2008-09 Early Season Thoughts
So I haven’t talked about the Leafs in ages. Maybe you wonder why. Maybe you don’t care. Well, I knew they were going to suck. I figured they’d suck but not enough to get what they need, a very high draft pick. I still think this is the way things will go, despite some of …
NHL #1 Draft Picks from 2007 to 1988
I am hoping the Leafs will be bad enough this year to have a legitimate shot at getting the #1 pick (i.e. Stamkos). Since I apparently don’t have better things to do, here’s a brief look at how this isn’t rocket science. Here are some recent #1s and how they’ve turned out. 2007: Patrick Kane, …
Throw in the towel on the 07-08 Season
I pretty much believe this all the time, so coming from me, this doesn’t really mean anything. But, personally, I think it’s time to call it a season and start over. Now, I wouldn’t have made the signings they did for this seasons (or previous ones) anyway, but they might as well give up. As …
The Pagan Christ (2007, directed by Cynthia Banks)
I just watched a brief news-magazine / “documentary” program about a book called The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur. This book seems to put forward a new version of a fairly well-known (if not well-accepted) claim, that Christian beliefs have their antecedents in various pagan cults and religions. He also suggests that Jesus didn’t exist …
The Culture of Fear
This culture of fear is ridiculous. On Thursday, I was on my home, and at the James-Main intersection. I wanted to cross it a particular way because, on Thursday, the new View comes out. It is located in a box on the southeast corner. So I want to go to that corner, rather than the …
Student throws korans into toilets
Okay, so a student at Pace University has been arrested because he apparently threw some books in toilets back in the fall. As far as I know, he was not charged with stealing the books, and he has not been punished by the university for obstructing the septic system. (I don’t know if there is …
Reunion
So I didn’t write about this last week, I guess because I didn’t have much time on le net. I went to an, ‘ancestral’ lets call it, cottage on Bob’s Lake – that’s near Sharbot Lake, that’s 40 min or so north of Kingston – last weekend. We used to spend a fair amount of …
Cheney and NHL’s Silly Season
The NBA isn’t the only league with a silly season any more, but first…The Whores!