Ho-hum, ho-hum…

My weekend? Boring. But that was of my own choosing. I’ve felt anti-social the past couple of days, and therefore have spent massive amounts of time reading. Yesterday I finished “Friday Night Lights”. Fantastic book. Yes it’s about football (I’ve been in a little bit of a mourning period with no football and no hockey), and how it’s an obsession in Texas, but it’s also about the oil boom, a way of life and ultimately, about the cost of success. Fascinating stuff. And did you know that the first George Bush is actually a Yankee – from Connecticut?

With that book finished, I had a hard time deciding what to read next. Satire? Political science? History? I settled on “The Kite Runner”. It’s been disturbing thus far, but obviously good enough to have me read the first 100 pages this morning. That doesn’t happen too often. Hopefully the next 300 will be just as good.

Since Heather was having people over for supper and I didn’t feel like sticking around and visiting, I decided to go and catch a movie. “Finding Neverland” is the story of J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. This movie is wonderful. Well worth the two hours. It’s really quite brilliant. And the ending – tears were in full force. I’ve never been a fan of fantasy books, but this movie has given me new insight into Peter Pan – I might read the book.

A disabled Mike Clemons and a 6:00 am wake up call

(Once again this is the 2nd version of this entry. Silly computer…)

So I went out to Molly and Heidi’s last night, where they proceeded to tell me about their little Grey Cup party they had last weekend while I was in North Vancouver. None of them knows a whole lot about football, and this will become more apparent in a few seconds. They made fun of Mike Clemons all game because they thought he looked like a Smurf in his blue Argos sweatshirt and Crest Whitestrip smile. I’d have to agree. He has now been ordained – “Smurf Coach”. Now I like Mike Clemons. He’s a good guy, but I really don’t buy him as a great coach. Or a coach at all. Molly’s next observation confirmed my suspicions: she thought he was a Make A Wish Foundation person who’s wish was being granted. She actually thought this and shared that thought with everyone. She held this view until the end of the game when Gatorade was being poured all over him and they interviewed him and under his name it said, “Head Coach”. Pretty funny stuff. Molly also commented that she thought the player’s butts where “tighter than usual”. And that’s a direct quote. Now I’ve never compared one CFL player’s Spandex-clad butt to another, but maybe the CFL should be keeping statistics and measurements on those things. It might garner more female fans for the league…

And now a story from Heidi. Heidi works at a K-12 school in Aldergrove. Now, this is an Adventist school, so they have chapel everyday. Well this week one of the American teachers was in charge of chapel, and therefore, everyday was focused on American Thanksgiving, or what this teacher deemed, “The REAL Thanksgiving”. She’s in a Canadian school, and she’s going on about American Thanksgiving being the real Thanksgiving. Okay. But then came the even more hilarious part. These teachers complained the whole week about not getting American Thanksgiving off. Who are these people?! You’re living in CANADA. C-A-N-A-D-A. You know, that land above your country? Where Thanksgiving is in October and the holiday isn’t overshadowed by the huge shopping blowout that happens the next day. Speaking of which…

As I was eating my Cheerios and strawberries yesterday, I turned on the TV, only to be greeted by a 7-foot-story Super Grover flying through NYC down 5th Avenue. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. I’ve never watched any of the commercial spectacle, but I had some time, so I decided to tune in. And during one of the commercial breaks there was an ad for Bon-Macy’s (which sounds so much sillier than The Bon Marché), where they gave a telephone number for people to call. Why? So that they can get PERSONAL WAKE UP CALLS and be at the store in time for its 6:00 am opening. And to potentially avoid the shopping rush. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. But not as ridiculous as the song and dance number done by the Broadway cast of the what-looks-to-be-truly-dreadful new show, based on Elvis Presley’s music, called…wait for it…”All Shook Up.” Original, huh? Oh, it was bad. And then there was another number from the Broadway show, “Bombay Dreams”, sung by Tamyra Gray, and that was even more awful. Does she LOOK like an Indian princess to you? She sure doesn’t to me. And they were followed by Brooke Shields in a number from Wonderful Town (they should have picked a different scene to do), and then by country and pop newbies trying to pick up new fans. Commercialism abounded. And that’s the “real” Thanksgiving, huh?

Mosquitoes and monsoons…

There was a heavy rainfall warning in effect for the Vancouver area today. Really? I hadn’t noticed the deluge outside of my condo. But the nice thing was that it brought some warmer air with it. Five degrees here is really cold. I’m not becoming weak. Vancouver cold is penetrating and bone-chilling. Saskatchewan cold is…dry. It’s cold, but an external cold. But it’s also like comparing apples to oranges…

Today I heard the most intriguing/interesting song at masterclass. Would you believe that there is a Spanish composer who wrote an entire song about a swarm of mosquitoes bothering a couple as they’re consummating their marriage? Where do they come up with these things? Seriously. One of the lines in the piece has the woman asking for a mosquito net to put around her bed so she and her husband can continue, well…consummating. You learn something new everyday! Master class was a hoot today. It was as if everyone had had a chocolate bar for lunch. Everyone was hyper and the jokes were flying. It was a good time had by all.

After getting home from school, I traipsed downtown. Heather, Orest and I headed to Tinseltown, which is right beside GM Place, to see Bridget Jones’s Diary 2. First we had supper in their food court. Then, because we had time to kill, we voyaged to T&T Supermarket, an Asian supermarket where I felt like a giant. Intersesting things in that place, like duck eggs, canned vegetarian roasted duck (see a pattern here), and live crabs, and many more odd things. I honestly didn’t find it that entertaining.

BJ2. Good movie. Not as good as the first, but it was hilarious to once again see Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fighting like girls. Speaking of fighting…I’m getting back to my old self. It struck me today, after the incident occurred, that I haven’t hit anyone since I got here. It’s usually my first instinct when someone has said something I deem inappropriate or mocking, or just because. Well, Mexican football/hockey buddy Javier was irritating me in the library today as I was trying to translate German text. So, I did what I would normally do. I hit him. With my German verb book. He whimpered. I felt back in my element again. And my sarcasm is returning – ’bout time.

Anyways, time for bed. And I don’t have to wear 4 layers of clothing tonight – the heat’s back on!

Brrrrrrr…it’s cold in here.

So…

I spent most of the day clothed with two turtlenecks, socks and slippers, gloves at one point, pants (duh), and a blanket around me. I turned up the thermostat a couple of times during the day – nothing. I couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on. The power did go off for a few minutes this morning – but it was cold before that. Well, Heather gets home with this awful movie (Before Sunset – ugh – I watched 20 minutes and gave up) and says, “The heat’s not fixed yet, huh?”. Didn’t know that. It’s not that I didn’t venture out of the condo today. I did. I went to library. The grocery store. Shopper’s Drug Mart. In the rain. I just don’t like to take the elevator – where the “Furnace Broken” sign has been transfixed. I’m actually a little scared of elevators – another one on my list of things that I’m scared of. But I decided to make some more chocolate chip cookies this afternoon and then made meatloaf (a good one – not a Luther cafeteria version) for supper, so with the oven on for a good 2 hours, the condo warmed up quite nicely.

What else did I do today? I watched “Corner Gas”. I love that show. I taped “Making the Cut”. Haven’t watched it yet. Todd Harkins and Kristjan Jefkins were cut last week, so it doesn’t matter who makes it from here on in. Todd Harkins is a 35 year old NHL has-been who auditioned to try and get back in the league. During a scrimmage he gave a two-handed chop with his stick to another guy’s head, ala Marty McSorley and Billy Guerin. For no reason. Sure the other guy had nudged him as he skated by, but a two-handed chop? Come on. “I’m a former NHler and guys should respect that. I’m just creating some space for myself.” Whatever. I’ve never heard of the guy, so he couldn’t have been that great a player. If he was Stevie Yzerman, different story. And Jefkins – he’s annoyed me from the beginning. All talk, no action. It’s the only hockey these days. I am going to go and see the Giants play one of these days, once I coordinate with my Mexican friend, Javier.

Javier is hilarious. He’s a baritone, from Mexico. One day during dress rehearsal last week he came up to me and said, in his thick accent, “So Nicole, I hear you are a Canadian football fan, and a hockey fan. You and I need to go and see some games, football buddy.” And now my name is “Football Buddy”, cadenced with a high-five. Works for me. I have a Mexican football/hockey buddy. How cool is that? And speaking of football, I’m reading “Friday Night Lights”, which follows a Texas high school football team through a season. Very good reading so far. And it’s scary how serious American high school football is. Have you seen Varsity Blues? And once again – no more football, so you’ve got to get it where you can…

I semi-practiced today, too. Semi-practiced you say? Well, it means that I sang some new songs, but I sang them half voice in my condo because I don’t want to get noise complaints from the neighbours, and because I was too lazy to walk to school today in the torrential rain. Also semi-practiced because I sang some new songs with French/German/Italian I haven’t properly figured out how to pronounce yet. So, right notes, homemade words. Most people learn the words first, and then the melody. I have to like the melody first, and then if I like it, I put the words in. And for fun, I took out some musical theater songs – I love Broadway tunes. If I don’t make it as an opera singer, I’m going to be a Broadway star. But not a dancing one.

I also finished my resumée. Oh, I hate résumées and cover letters. I’m applying to music schools in White Rock, Langley and Surrey. They’re looking for voice teachers, and hopefully they’ll hire me! It’s something I’m going to do eventually, so I should get started now. I have taught some voice – and I could teach piano too if they’d like!

La, la, la, la, la. I guess that’s about it. Back to “Friday Night Lights”. Rider training camp can’t come soon enough!

Yeah for new music!

First of all: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Lions! Mwah ha ha ha! Now I feel better…

Now I need to answer Jolee’s question. I’ve been singing at the Vancouver Academy of Music’s Recital Hall the last couple of days. We’ve been rehearsing some opera scenes for about 6 weeks, and we finally got the chance to perform them. My favorite scene was from L’Elisir d’amore, a 19th-century comic opera by Donizetti. I played Adina, a wealthy, smart, sophisticated and witty landowner, who, in the scene we did, makes fun of poor Nemorino, a farm boy who is helplessly and hopelessly in love with her – isn’t opera great? The scene was so much fun because it wasn’t possible to go too far. And I got to work with a guy named David who’s a REAL tenor. That in itself was great. And, as in all comic operas, by the end, Adina realizes that she loved Nemorino all along, and they live happily ever after.

The other scene I was in is from The Merry Wives of Windor, another 19th-century opera by Otto Nicolai. The story is much more complicated. I played Mrs. Ford, who tricks her husband into believing that she’s having an affair with another man. So, he’s a little upset with me in the scene we did, and I am completely melodramatically sobbing and crying and whatnot. It’s long, it’s complicated and frankly, the music isn’t that great – the Donizetti is SOOOOO much better, musically speaking.

I was really happy with all of my performances. Today’s wasn’t as great as the other two, as vocally I was feeling a bit tired, but I was still happy. Happy because I actually have learned a lot in the past two months, and happy because I’ve made some good progress. But I am really looking forward to moving into some new repertoire. Bring on more Donizetti! Yeah!

After this afternoon’s performance, I headed to a Grey Cup party in North Vancouver at Donna’s house. Donna is the accompanist at the Academy, and is turning into a good friend. She’s from Prince Albert, and knows some people I know in Regina. And Donna LOVES football and LOVES the Riders. We had so much fun watching the 2nd half of the game – we missed the first half because of the concert – and it was so nice to be around musicians who like football!!!! And some who don’t, but still got into the spirit of it! We all cheered for the Argos – as much as it pained me to do so. Come on, most of us in that room are from Saskatchewan, and those cocky Lions needed to be taught a lesson. And taken down from their pedestal. A good time was had by all. And that’s NOT just because of the final result, even though it did play a little part in it…

And I had two new experiences today. I took the SeaBus, which goes across the water from North Vancouver to Downtown Vancouver. And then I took the SkyTrain! Finally!!!! That was very cool, too, even though it’s basically a subway. And I figured out two new bus routes to get me home from downtown so that I don’t have to chase the 98 B-Line all over the place. This place is fantastic guys – but I wouldn’t mind a little snow one of these days. It sure doesn’t feel like November…

More Rider fallout and a successful Vancouver debut…

I saw the most hilarious commercial I have yet seen about the (grrrrr….) NHL lockout. It involves a guy wearing a Canucks T-shirt (the T-shirt being the only problem I have with the ad) and going all around Vancouver, and looking in the strangest places for “Hockey”. Over and over again he calls, “Hockey!” “Hockey?” “Hockey!!!!” The commerical finally ends with him sitting beside a dumpster in a back alley, uncontrollably weeping. Then we see the logo of the Vancouver Giants (WHL team) and an announcer telling everyone to tune in to the evening’s news for Giants highlights. I found it amusing.

But what I didn’t find amusing today was the sermon in church. Church ticked me off. Church isn’t supposed to tick you off – it’s supposed to encourage you. I’ll admit that church HAS ticked me off before, but it’s usually some musical thing, or the Thanksgiving Sabbath when our pastor in Rosthern preached a Palm Sunday sermon (!?!?!?). But football was the problem with today’s sermon.

So Pastor Dan comes up to the front, and on the screen behind him comes a super-sized version of the front page of the Vancouver Sun from Monday, November 14th, 2004. And on it – the Lions’ Duncan O’Mahony and the title, “Man Oh Man!” My jaw dropped. How could this man be rehashing last week’s game in church? My wounds were just starting to heal – it was if a scab was being ripped off. And he continued flashing images from various newspapers, recounted the ENTIRE game, put up picture of poor, poor Paul McCallum, and continued pounding out his point – the Lions were behind, and it didn’t seem as if they’d ever win. But they did! I know what the point of the sermon was, but it was lost on me. I was too angry.

So what did I do? I told Pastor Dan after the sermon that as a Rider fan, I was slightly offended – and I was half-joking, half-annoyed. He apologized to me. In his sermon he talked about how the 55,000 people in that stadium cheering the Lions on could be compared to the angels in heaven, cheering us on in our faith journey on Earth. And I thought – hey, what about the Rider fans? Were they the devils’ angels, booing and snickering at the people? I didn’t ask Pastor Dan if he had thought about that part in his object lessonm, but the question should be answered! But having made my point with Pastor Dan, I left church feeling vindicated. I believe God is a Rider fan. And Rider fans are hard done by because God knows that only THEY can handle it. So there (and I know there are going to be some serious arguments against this)!

On Thursday night I made my Vancouver singing debut. And it was fantastic!! I don’t know why, but under the pressure of the lights and the audience, I almost always am able to do my best. And last night I had another show, and it went swimmingly as well! As my co-star said to me, “You sure kicked the crap out of that piece tonight!” 🙂 Having not performed since June, and having a new-found confidence that I gained somewhere in the past week (yeah!), I remembered why I love singing so much. The last couple of months have been riddled with questions for me: “Why am I here?”, “What am I supposed to be doing with this talent of mine?”, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”, and “Do I really want to be a singer?” The answer is ‘yes’ to the last one – at least today! There is nothing that compares to the rush of being onstage, in front of an audience and communicating with them in only the way music can – though last week’s Rider game is right up there!

I have one more show with these scenes, and that’s tomorrow. And then it’s to a Grey Cup party! Yeah! I don’t like the Argos OR the Lions, but GO ARGOS! Somebody’s got to put BC in their place…

Crap for brains…

Okay. So I know in my last column I was emotionally spent. I was angry, frustrated and humiliated beyond belief – you try living in orange and black land. The land where the Lions are finally topping the news. The land where even the press calls most Lions fans “bandwagon jumpers”. I’m not lying about that last one. But before I went to bed on Sunday night I noticed an article on some website: “Kickers’ house attacked after Rider loss”.

What? Say that again?

And of course, out of burning curiosity, I clicked the link and read it contents. And I was shocked. Appalled. Dismayed. And humiliated yet again. Honestly – couldn’t they have at least dumped the manure on the right lawn? Not only do Rider fans everywhere look like complete nitwits, we’re also “directionally challenged” as well.

It’s sad that this happened. Riders fans are THE BEST fans in the world. I witnessed it first hand on Sunday. And we have a first-class team. We have a kicker that actually APOLOGIZED to us. What more do you want? Well, the NHLPA grovelling to the fans would be nice, but not gonna happen!

He’s human. He made a mistake. But other mistakes were made as well. Kenton Keith fumbling inside the 5 yard line. A holding call that wiped out a touchdown. Two TDs missed. 14 points. What’s 3 compared to that? And let us not forget the inability of the the defence to stop 2nd and long situations. Add it all up – it comes down to missed opportunities – by everybody.

Do I think it was wrong for Roy Shivers to place the blame on McCallum? I don’t know. In some ways yes, it others, no. But it’s time to move on.

The real question is, with 11 free agents, who’s coming back next year? We should focus on that and move forward – as hard as Sunday’s loss is to put behind us.

Ow.

That hurt. That really, really, really, really hurt.

Football. Can’t live with it. But sure as heck can’t live without it, even as it kicks me (insert Paul McCallum joke here) over and over again. That pretty much sums up today folks.

The comparisons to the glory year of 1989 were all around. 9-9 records for both teams. A rare win at Commonwealth Stadium. Three road games. And who could forget the good luck charm of last year’s Grey Cup in Regina. Normally these things would be considered good omens. For every other team but the Riders, Maple Leafs (do you see a pattern emerging here?) and the Chicago Cubs.

But alas, it was not to be. But couldn’t it have not been in regulation? Did we really need the overtime to rub it in a little more?

Apparently so. But it was an unbelieveable experience. The energy and noise of BC Place was unbelieveable. And to watch a game with everything on the line was gripping. Amazing plays. Great catches. Hard-hitting tackles. Excitement. Emotion. It was all there. And with 1:05 left, it looked as if it was meant to be…

I was nervous all morning, and right up to game time. I took a cab at 11:30 to the stadium, as I was told I’d have to wait in line for up to pick up my ticket. Uh, try 30 seconds. So, it was 11:45, an hour and 15 minute to game time. So, I was around the entire dome. And bought 50/50 tickets. You would have too – the jackpot was over $30,000. And desperately looked around for any hint of green. And green there was.

After walking around and then to the upper level, I found my seat and watched the warmup, my knees starting to shake – they didn’t stop until I got home. I had a funny feeling about Sir Paul in the warmup. He didn’t look good. Oh the foreshadowing! But on second thought, neither did Mr. O’Mahony.

The seats began to fill up, and I began to be surrounded by Lions fans. But finally by cousins from Hope came to my rescue, and things were looking up.

The game was great. A hard fought battle every step of the way. And no penalties, except for that one holding call…

Then came the final minute of the 4th quarter. I thought that we might possibly do it this time. Like last week, I went through every possible situation that might transpire. But unlike last week, one of them came to pass. The guy to my right said, “Don’t worry, he’ll never make a 49 yard field goal.” And my mind said, “Just wait. He will this time.” And he did.

Overtime. Why did they bother running the ball? It hadn’t worked at all up to that point. Why would it work now? And then the kick heard around the country. Poor Paul. Poor, poor, poor, poor Paul. But don’t blame it on him. Blame it on the fumble at the 5 yard line. The decision to play zone defence (?!?!?!?!??) on 2nd down and 19. Blame it on the holding call that wasn’t. Blame it on fate. It wasn’t meant to be.

And as soon as it all began, it was over. The season. Gone. Hopes of another Grey Cup blown across the Prairie for another year.

It took me an hour to find a cab to take me home. I wandered from BC Place down Smithe Street up to Granville Street and walked up and down for awhile, looking for a cab and letting the rain dull my thoughts. I shed a tear. Seriously. First time I’d ever done that.

I know it’s just a game. A silly football game that doesn’t matter compared to all of the hurt and heartache in the world.

But there’s something about this silly game and these “lovable losers”, as recently named by TSN.ca, that resonates with me. I’m not about to start talking about football as a metaphor for life, but the Riders are Saskatchewan’s. Uniquely ours. And it saddens me when they’re always looked down upon, or never taken seriously.

The Riders will win next year’s Grey Cup. It’s in BC Place. And I’ll be watching.

Back to BC Place

They won! The Riders ACTUALLY won! I’m still in a bit of a state of shock. Seriously. Watching the last two minutes of the game, I think I came up with every possible horrible thing that could happen. Fumble returned for a TD. Interception. Blocked FG returned for TD. Wide field goal returned for TD. And on and on and on. My mind wouldn’t shut off. My real fear though, was that Ed Hervey was going to take a Jason Maas pass and never look back. I can’t believe that he didn’t get behind the Rider coverage at all. Kudos to Omar Morgan. I’m sure the guys are looking forward to next week’s game for revenge, and also to go back playing man-to-man. This zone defence was unbearable at times – particularly when the Eskies converted a number of 2nd and longs. Still got to work on those guys.

This was my first playoff game in BC. It’s weird watching a Rider game, wearing your Rider jersey and knowing that you’re in BC. Heather was out for the afternoon, so I watched it alone. It was a bit lonely, but she just doesn’t get the game. And I unfortunately get annoyed when someone is continually asking me, “What’s going on? What was that? Why can’t they do that?” But I did get annoyed when she showed me her new shoes as I was trying to watch the half-time analysis. I’ve got to relax.

14-6. Not a great victory in terms of point differential, or offensive output, but a huge victory psychologically. The Riders holding the Eskimos to no TDs should give them the Grey Cup. With Vaughn, Tucker, Hervey and Mitchell, their receiving corps is dynamite. I’m still shocked they weren’t able to light us up with the big play. Great job by the secondary. Mike Pringle was a non-factor. I’m still a little angry about that trapped ball he caught. “Campbell Football League” – maybe. Yeah defensive line, and special thanks for the 4 sacks. Well done.

Smilin’ Hank still made a few bad decisions. You’re supposed to TUCK the ball in when you run! A few errant throws into double coverage and just a weird over-the-middle lob to Corey Holmes. What was that about? But he connected when it counted. That last TD pass to KK – amazing! I thought he was going down for sure. The offensive line was fantastic. I’m also sure they’re happy that next week’s game is indoors – better footing. And the happiest man of all about better traction next week – Kenton Keith himself. The 34-yard 4th quarter run – did he have screw in his cleats or something? How was he able to cut like he did on that skating rink of a football field? Travis Moore – what a trooper. Dominguez – such a team leader. Jason French – Corey Grant should have replaced him for the rest of the game. There were 3 or 4 balls he should have caught, or made a more significant effort to catch. To me, he was the only disappointment, as well as Paul McCallum’s punting. And Corey Grant!? He is my hero. Corey Holmes was great when called upon, too. Karsten Bailey didn’t see the ball enough, unfortunately. But great job guys!

Now, I’m going to the game next week. I don’t care if I have to go by myself, though I’m not too keen on that prospect. Anybody want to go with me? I’ll buy your ticket if you buy your airfare! 😉 I’m so generous, aren’t I?

This is the time of year when I sure wish I was back home. The headlines will be screaming, “Riders Break Curse!” (though it’s not much of a curse, ala the Rex Sox), and the province will be painted Green and White. Darrell Davis and Rob Vanstone of the Leader-Post will write columns on how the Riders have matured that I won’t be able to read because canada.com requires money now for you to read those articles. How rude! And the BC spin machine here will be interviewing Wally Buono, Jason Clermont, Barrin Simpson, and Casey Printers everyday, looking for something to heat up the already heated rivalry between these teams. I can’t wait ’til next Sunday!

The BC Lions may think they have us beat. Heck, almost everyone else thinks they are. But Kenton Keith didn’t play in that last game, and the Riders weren’t hungry and angry for revenge like they are now. Watch out BC. The Riders are coming into town, and they’re not leaving without the championship.

Bored. Absolutely, completely and utterly bored (2nd edition).

Editor’s note: This is not the original version of this article. That version was lost when my computer decided to have a mind of it’s own a couple of days ago. So, here’s as much as I can remember…

I am bored. So bored. This is why I have sadly been on MSN for up to 14 hours a day lately. Very sad. Thank you to all of those who have put up with me, and let me bother them while they have homework and social lives. I, unfortunately, don’t have a social life right now. Oh, well. I went downtown the other night to a movie all by myself. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. I felt slightly conspicuous, but quite independent. Obviously I’ve had too much time to philosophize over the last number of days as well, hence the word “philosophize.”

So, why have I been so bored? My teacher’s been out for 3 weeks after having emergency surgery on an abdominal hernia. So, no lessons. Couple that with no opera workshop rehearsals this week, and I’ve only had 2 classes this whole entire week. When I only have 4 classes to begin with, that’s a lot of time to fill.

Now, what have I been doing with all of my free time? Reading. I bought Jon Stewart’s book, “Naked Pictures of Famous People.” So funny and completely irrevent and politcally incorrect in most places. Mom and Grandpa – please don’t ever read this book. I can’t wait ’til I get to the chapter entitled, “Adolph Hitler: The Larry King Interview”. I’ve also been playing a lot of computer games. I’ve only lost one of the many games I’ve played of Risk this week. I’ve even played Oregon Trail, successfully making it to Oregon City without losing anyone along the way. And NHL ’94.

NHL ’94 is too funny. The graphics are poor, and game action even worse, but it’s still so much fun to play. My team, the Leafs of course, are 30-0-0-2. When’s the last time the Leafs ever had a record like that? Um, never. The playoffs start anytime I feel like it. And I WILL crush the Canucks, as in ’94 they beat us up in the Conference Finals. That will NOT happen again.

My team relies on a quick transition game (read: lots and lots of breakaways). And it leans heavily on Mats Sundin. I think he has about 75% of the goals scored. His spin-o-rama trick moves handcuffs goalies. Sergei Berezin cashes in once in a while, but I’ve been trying to work on the physical side of his game, turning him into Tie Domi. He hit Sergei Samsonov through the glass and into the penalty box the other day. Not bad for a guy normally noted for his speed. Matthieu Schneider does some good work, along with other non-notables Steve Sullivan and Mike Johnson, whom I really don’t ever remember playing for the Leafs. Cujo and Felix Potvin have been fantastic in goal. Could a Stanley Cup be in the stars? I’ll let you know when if it happens.

Other than that, I’ve spent a lot of time e-mailing and on MSN, as you already know. It’s so weird that after 4 years of constantly being on the go in university and 3 years in high school, I’ve got a lot of time on my hands, and I sure don’t know what to do with it. Hopefully I will get a job one of these days that will take up a bit of time. Cross your fingers (and toes).

In the meantime, Scrabble anyone?