Merry Christmas!

How It All Started

My dad used to take my sister and I to the local library on Main street. Way back when I was still in elementary school I wasn't much of a reader, I would only pick out books with pictures in it. This one time I distinctly recall that my love of drawing drew me to this red book. I remember picking it up and skimming through the pages. Not only did this book have very few words, it had tonnes of pictures. On the cover were a bunch of weird looking things, and the way it was laid out it was clear that this was a how to draw weird looking things book.

I wasn't too impressed with the cover, but skimming through the pages I was intrigued by two characters. One of them with a gun, and the other with a sword. Yep, I knew instantly this was the book I was going to borrow. And boy am I glad I did. I'm no artist, but I'd like to think I'm pretty good at free hand drawing and this book did a lot in teaching an impressionistic kid at the time.

I spent that week going through pages of paper, drawing out all these characters from the book. Starting with the man with the sword, then the character with the gun. The book didn't detail how to draw backgrounds but the book's finished drawings all had beautiful backgrounds, and I just copied whatever I saw in the books.

I fell in love with this book and didn't want to return it at the time, but I had exhausted all that it had and my dad would've back handed me if I returned it late. I've tried searching for this book at the library again in years thereafter to no avail, having been replaced by similar books.

The name of the book: How to Draw Star Wars Heroes, Creatures, Spaceships, And Other Fantastic Things by Lee J. Ames.


Picture from Wookiepedia

Las Vegas - Day 5 - Leaving the city of sin

I woke up at around 4:00am or so after a half hour of sleep. Ju left to go wake B up to get ready to leave for the airport, and Mui was fast asleep. I stood up to watch some tv, knowing that I'd fall asleep as soon as I touched the bed.

A few hours later I received a text message from B. He didn't check any luggage in and thought that it'd be safe to bring his Ciroc with him on his carry on. The airport people weren't going to let that happen and told him to either drink it now or throw it away. What are we Russian? No one's going to stand there at the airport and drink a bottle of vodka. B ended up throwing the Ciroc bottle away (I would've maybe taken a sip, passed it around the airport first), and just got on the plane. He was not having a good day.

Mui and I got up and did a last minute check, said good bye to our pink room and met up with Herb and Janger to head to the airport. The cab driver looked like an elderly asian guy, drove kind of slow too. When we got out of the cab, Herb paid the man, and he started complaining. Wow, it's not like we didn't pay him the right amount, I couldn't understand what he was saying but it sounded like he was complaining about the tip that we gave him, sheesh.

Checking in at the airport was painless, we picked up some food then waited for departure. Once at LA we caught our connecting flight onward to Vancouver. Herb and Janger's carry ons somehow expanded and didn't fit in the overhead compartment, so they had to shove it under the seats, which probably made for an uncomfortable ride. I was pretty comfortable watching Get Smart.

Customs at YVR wasn't bad at all, some random airport security guys came up to question Herb and I about what we brought back, nothing came of it though. Herb's friend picked him and Janger up, while Mondo picked Mui and I up. We ended up going to E-Canteen to eat dinner and got home at around 8 or 9 ish.

Now time for reflecting:
Definitely I would like to go back to Vegas. There is so much to do and so much to see, there is no way anyone can get it done in a few days. If you cut out all the shopping you'd be able to walk the entire strip in a few days, but I really wanted to go off strip as well. I wanted to get a tattoo while I was there, because if I got one here I would need to explain why I'm getting one, whereas over there I can just say it was for the moment.

Next time I go, I am definitely catching some shows. No matter how slow the economy is the shows were still sold out. Buy tickets in advance people. Since I saw most of the strip, I would go to the Grand Canyon next time, and downtown Vegas. If you've read the previous posts, you'll know that we didn't try ANY buffets, so I would want to go to one next time as well.

Vegas was a great place to go for vacation, it had something for everyone. Vegas has so much to offer and I feel like I've only gotten a taste of it, it leaves you wanting more, kind of like crack. When I return to Vegas, I'm bringing the brigade, Vegas is more fun with friends. For great food, great entertainment, and great memories escape to Vegas, I only wish I could again.

Las Vegas - Day 4 - We brought the rain

I awoke today not to the sunny skies of the previous days. It was all gloom, and when you're gambling in Vegas, gloom leads to doom.

The gang all got together pretty early and walked to Fashion Show Mall which was around a 15 minute walk from our hotel. It was raining. It rains 10 out of the 12 months here in Vancouver, and rains 1 day in Vegas at best. Yesterday Lady Luck back hand slapped me, today Apollo spat in my face.

We didn't explore all of Fashion Show Mall, I was shopped out and I barely bought anything. I picked up some souvenirs, while Mui bought some clothing from Forever 21. Since Herb and Janger didn't get a chance go to the outlets yesterday, they decided to go today and would meet up with us later on.

The rest of us cabbed it to MGM Grand to check out the last remaining big hotels on the south end of the strip. The cab driver we had was from Chicago, complete with the accent. He started talking to us about insurance companies, the weather, what it was like to be a cabbie driving 10 hours a day, and hookers. The ride wasn't as weird as it seemed, I was laughing the whole time. The cabbie also explained to us the miscellaneous charge we had on the first day. Apparently in Vegas everytime a cab passes out of the airport they get charged $1.80, which they then pass on to the customer. He told us to becareful and that the $1.80 doesn't apply when you go to the airport, only when you leave, most informative.

At MGM grand they had the CBS studio where they invited people to sit in and watch pilots of possible upcoming shows. I wish I had more time, I would have loved to watch a few hours of crappy television. Honestly I really wanted to do this.

The MGM Grand arena wasn't open, I wanted to get a picture of it, so I was pretty disappointed.

When we went to look for tickets to Cirque Du Soleil's O, we found out that it was sold out. This was like a swift kick to the throat, I didn't know what to say. I really wanted to watch some shows at Vegas, but time constraints limited us to this show, and it was sold out. O was only on Sundays and Wednesdays. Sigh...

On our way to the M&M shop we saw the "Stone Man." A man painted in a ceramic white that just stood there until someone donated money to him. Ju went up to him to donate some money and he started to move while robotic sounds played. I don't get why this "Stone Man" sounded like a robot when he moved but you couldn't help but have a smile on your face when you see him.

The M&M store was huge, four floors of M&M merchandise. Everything from cups, cushions, guitars, posters, clothing, toys was all on display. I picked up some souvenirs while everyone else was busy making M&M penny imprints.

Next we walked next door to the Coke store, three whole floors of Beverages and merchandise. I succumbed and purchased a Coke mug. We also paid $7 to try out 16 different types of Coke products all around the world. Some of the stand out drinks were the Bibo drinks from South Africa, Smart Apple from China, and an Aquarius Citrus drink from Taiwan.

There was also this drink from Italy called Beverley, son of a butcher's whore this drink was horrible. The after taste that it leaves is so nasty that I tried to wash it out with the other drinks and couldn't. The nastiest drink I've ever tasted. We watched a little girl drink the same drink the table next to us (we're sadistic like that), and the face she made was hilarious. The only way to describe her reaction would be to say Goatse, yep that's the reaction you get when you drink Beverley, the Goatse reaction.

Herb and Janger met us at the Coke store, and we all walked to Paris again, Ju wanted to pick up another Ciroc. The walk to Paris was wet, Vancouver wet. I was soaked bad with puddles everywhere and no umbrellas in sight.

After we changed we cabbed to Red Lobster's for dinner. I'd see their commercial all the time, but there are no Red Lobsters in Vancouver. The dinner at Red Lobster was really good, they didn't serve any alcohol worth noting, but when there's no alcohol butter will do. Most of us either ordered the lobster tail, scallops, prawn dish or the rock lobster tail steak dish. Both were mouth watery entrees worthy of a repeat.

The cabbie on the ride back to the hotel was the nicest cabbie we've had all trip. He gave us a list of bang for buck restaurants, then told us he could hook us up with cheap tickets to clubs. We told him we were Canadian and he started naming all the provinces and territories, kind of weird since he wasn't Canadian but impressive.

Once back at the hotel we gambled again. Mui was with me this time at the roulette tables. Some good calls, some bad calls. I played inside today and didn't do as bad as I thought I would've (I was putting down 10 chips or so all to win back 17).

Ju doubled up, I ended up down $5, Mui was down $5 from slots, and ya, nothing else to add to that. This covers everyone, pretty much.

We chilled at the hotel for a little while drinking a case of Miller Lite, then Ju had the brilliant idea of chugging beer outside the Bellagio. So we went outside to where the Bellagio fountains were took turns taking off our shirts and then chugged beer a la Stone Cold style.

We returned to the hotel with our beer soaked pants, and tried to pull an all nighter as Ju and B were leaving at 5am. After going through 18 beers with just the three of us, we tried to battle the sleepy state produced from alcohol. Trying to reflect on the past four days I eventually dozed off...

Las Vegas - Day 3 - Shopping, shows, and gambling

Day started with Herb and Janger telling us that they would be busy today, and so B, Ju, Mui, and I set out to the outlets. The cab ride cost us roughly $15, and was around 15 minutes away which wasn't to bad. On the ride there we saw Stratosphere, and although I had no intention of going into the hotel itself I did very much want to go on the rides at the top.

We got to the outlets before noon and wouldn't leave till about four, that's quite a bit of shopping. The outlet looked a lot like the Seattle Premium Outlets, in terms of style and store variety. I ended up getting a hoodie, while everyone else had three bags each.

By the time we left the outlets night fall was already coming in fast. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and made our way to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in the Venetian. It was normally $25 entrance, but we had coupons. The wax museum was pretty amazing. For some of the models, the closer I got, the more real they looked, complete with skin texture and individual hairs. The ones that looked most real included Marlon Brando, Jamie Foxx, Nick Cage, Joe Montana, and Evander Holyfield. But some of the other ones like Beyonce, George Clooney, Michael Jackson, could've been better. We went through the whole museum (all two floors of it) well under an hour.

We got some fast food to eat and then explored Palazzo hotel which was connected to the Venetian. The Venetian had this soapy detergent smell which I dread, as it stretches back to my days working graveyard shifts at a certain super market. I wasn't alone on this though, none of us liked the smell at all.

After the exploring these hotels we caught the last showing of the Sirens at Treasure Island. It was a sort of musical between a Pussy cat-esque group of girls vs a bunch of shirt-less pirates. The show was pretty well put together complete with singing, dancing, fireworks, and a sinking ship. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I believe the moral of the story is that if you're a pirate, all you have to do is take your shirt off and a bunch of scantily clad girls will sing and dance around you.

After the show we checked out Treasure Island and The Mirage, then went back to our own hotel. We met up with Herb and Janger, cooked some cup noodles, then the boys went down to gamble.

Herb said he broke even while playing poker, while the three of us hit up the roulette tables. The great thing about gambling at Vegas is that they willingly give you free booze. Waitresses came around offering drinks, and when they brought us the drinks, we'd pay a tip and that's it. I'm guessing they want to get you liquored up fast.

Ju doubled up pretty quickly and cashed out. I doubled up but then forgot I had to play 23/24 one round for Mui. With a 1 in 17 chance of winning (or is that 1 in 19 with the zeroes?) I lost whatever I bet, and spent the next half hour trying to make it back. Lady luck said no and band hand slapped me across the face and I ended up even. Brandon eventually doubled up and we all left unscathed.

We went back to the hotel took some shots of Effen and Skyy (ughh) then called it a night. Tomorrow we'd try to explore the rest of the strip, however endless it seemed.

Las Vegas - Day 2 - Taking it all in

The day began beautifully, I awoke to a blue sunny sky. It took awhile to get everyone together, but we left the hotel and were off on the strip seeking out food. Mui had heard of this place called Ellis Island, but didn't know exactly where it was. After roughly half an hour of walking we found the elusive Ellis Island (turned out it was only 10 minutes from our hotel).

The restaurant was Denny-esque in food offering, but quality wise Ellis Island wins hands down. From the menu I saw an eggs and ham dish which included a description somewhere along the lines of order only if you're hungry. How big could the piece of ham be?

Holy @%&!, the ham was gi-normous, it didn't even fit on the plate, it even had a bone in it. Mui ordered a prime rib, which was phenomenal, it's not Keg quality but for roughly $10 it was unbelievable. Others ordered a chicken fried steak topped with gravy, mmmmm. Needless to say we were all very satisfied with our meals and would definitely go back again.

On the way back to the hotel we passed by a 7-11 to pick up some drinks. B and Herb picked up 32oz of Miller high life for less then $2, and I grabbed a $3 40oz Mickey's. I don't think any of us finished it all at once, but what a steal.

We explored Flamingo hotel for an hour or so, checking out the pool and the actual Flamingo habitat. The pools were still closed and would be for the remainder of our trip, but we debated on whether we'd come down in the middle of the night.

After resting at the room for a little bit we made our way South on the strip to Paris. We passed by the Paris Balloon thing and the Eiffel tower, both were quite a sight to behold. The inside of Paris was a little dark, but the shops all had sort of a European theme to them. Mui stopped to grab some dessert at one of the shops. After sharing a tiramisu dessert we went to a drinks shop not too far in, that's where Mui and Janger bought humongous drinks each. Mui bought a plastic Eiffel tower that was around 2 feet in length, filled to the top with pina colada. Obviously she didn't finish the drink, and so I had to. I officially hate pina colada, I wasn't a fan of it before, and after nursing a whole 2 foot drink of it, I'm definitely not a fan of it now.

Inside Paris was a liquor store, and that's where Ju found it, his holy grail of drinks: Ciroc. He pretty much wet his pants upon seeing it; he and B spent all of the previous night walking around Vegas looking for Ciroc. He immediately purchased a $35 bottle from Giselle the liquor lady. How do I remember her name? I remember it because after walking out of the store B decided to go back in and buy a Ciroc bottle for himself. Then when he came back out, Herb and I went in a bought a bottle. We pretty much cleared their supply of Ciroc.

We made our way in and out of Paris and then proceeded to Miracle Mile Shops in Planet Hollywood, I don't know if it was actually a mile of shops, but we did spend two hours shopping in there.

While everyone else were shopping for ridiculously expensive designer jeans, Mui and I enjoyed the artificial rain show inside the mall. Nothing special, I wouldn't say everyone else missed out. I tried to take pictures but taking pictures of rain is like making a system for gambling: you can try but it's not going to work.

Herb made reservations at Lawry's - Prime Rib for 7pm, but we didn't make it there till 7:40 ish. We were able to get a table but they had to open up a previously closed off wing for us. I thought it was because we were late, others thought it was because we were dressed like scrubs for this fancy schmancy restaurant, whatever the reason I enjoyed the isolation.

Ms. Tremble was our server (she really introduced herself as Ms. Tremble). Contrary to her name, we very much enjoyed her presence. Lawry's was unique in that when you ordered their famed prime rib, it does not come pre-cut, they have a carver, who cuts you a piece of prime rib from a large prime rib roast. It's unique that they would serve the entrees in this way, but because they serve it this way the presentation was kind of bland.

The other thing that Lawry's was known for was there spinning salad. Ms Tremble, who by now we nicknamed ah Ma cause she reminded us of our moms, came by with a big metal salad bowl on top of some ice. She would spin the bowl on top of the ice and then proceeded to mix the salad with salad dressing while the bowl spun in place: oooooo.

The prime rib I had was good, I don't know if it was $40 good, but ah Ma alone made the meal worth it.

After dinner, we dropped off all 50 of our shopping bags and walked to Bellagio to enjoy the famed Bellagio Fountains. We found a great spot pretty much central to the fountains where we were able to take in the enormity of the show. The fountains, highlighted by the underwater lights, flowed beautifully with the instrumental music that was being played. I took a video of the fountains, but it really is something that should be viewed live.

After the fountain show we made our way into the hotel itself to explore the lobby and the autumn garden they had on display. Decked out in designer stores, Bellagio is clearly a higher end hotel, and would definitely be on my list to stay in when I go back.

Monte Carlo was the next hotel we visited. I don't really recall anything worth mentioning about the hotel though. If I had a date with Monte Carlo it would be awkwardly silent.

While walking South on the strip visiting these hotels, we opened a bottle of Ciroc and drank it from the bottle. It was definitely smooth, I like it a hell of a lot more then Grey Goose. I haven't tried mixing either with anything, just straight up, it's the Russian in me.

New York New York was the last hotel that we visited, and the hotel was one of the busier ones that we visited that night, keep in mind that by the time we got there it was well after midnight. The hotel was lined with stores decorated to look like outdoor shops, it really did look like I was walking outside, complete with blue skied ceilings. After passing the entrance I faintly heard a song that I was instantly drawn to. I found a pub within the hotel and held within was a crowd all singing Oasis' Wonderwall. Peeking through the windows like a pervert I found the band that everyone cultivated around. The band was pretty talented, as they were just taking requests. The next request was Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, it was a little off as they were probably just winging it but B and I sat there and listened to the whole song.

We found a grocery store just South of New York New York, where we picked up some beef jerkey and drinks, then headed back to the hotel. Our legs were pretty sore from walking all day, and so we decided to take a cab back to the hotel. While in line for a cab, we got offered to ride in an SUV as we had six people (we would've had to take two cabs otherwise). Winston our driver told us it was a slow night and we were his second ride all night (this was maybe 2/3 in the morning), he gave us his card too.

It was today that I truly understood the enormity that was the Strip. And it was today that I started to doubt that we'd be able to do everything I had planned.

Las Vegas - Day 1 - Trying to do it all

The next few posts will detail my trip to Las Vegas with Mui, Janger, Herb, B, and Ju on November 23rd to November 27th, 2008.

Having been in planning mode for close to a year, Last Sunday I finally left for my trip to Las Vegas. Being around 10 the last time I was there and having not remembering much, I couldn't wait to arrive in Vegas. The day started way early with a text message from Janger at 3:30am: "LAS VEGAS BABY!!!" Our flight was at 7am...

I got in another half hour of sleep before waking up at 4am to get ready. Lana was kind enough to pick us up, and got us to the airport by 5am. After a relatively painless check in at the airport we had some quick (over priced) breakfast, then waited for boarding. Herb fell asleep sitting on the wildly uncomfortable airport chairs, as he pulled an all nighter playing Red Alert (idiot).

Once on the plane (Air Canada) we found our seats and were on our way to LA for a connecting flight. I hadn't learned my lesson from the Mexico trip, but I saved money (score one for the advisor). The flight to LA was made short by the in-flight movie.

At YVR we had to go through some strict security before boarding the flight to Vegas. Janger had the button on her jeans inspected, probably for fear that the button contained radioactive substance. She got held up again at LA for her earrings.

On one of the flights we were in, sitting in first class was Patrick Stewart. I didn't notice him on my way in because he had a hat on, but Herb pointed it out to me first. I was going to go up to him to tell him Star Wars > Star Trek, but I thought better of it, after much debate...

Flying on United was horrid, there was no in-flight movies, and the aisle was built for midgets. Luckily it was under an hour flight and we got a whole row to ourselves.

Flying over Vegas was beautiful even in broad daylight (it's prettier at night). We got out of the airport and caught a cab to our hotel, Flamingo, which cost us $20 (including a miscellaneous $1.80 charge, we'd look into this later). Check-in at the hotel was smooth, the whole trip was actually going pretty smooth. Mui and I landed the upgraded "GO DELUXE" room on the 19th floor at no extra cost. The room included a huge LCD tv, and even had a tv built into the mirror in the washroom. I'd wake up in the morning and watched tv as I peed. And because the tv was built into the mirror, I watched myself pee while watching the tv. Vegas is awesome.

The view in our room was of the pool (which was closed due to wussy tourists not being able to take the cold water). We weren't facing the Strip, but the view was still pretty good.

After doing a little unpacking Mui and I met up with Herb and Janger and walked over the bridge suspending over the Strip, to Caesar's Palace hotel. B and Ju weren't in Vegas yet, they took a different flight which arrived four hours after we did. The weather on our first day there was great, perfect t-shirt temperature. Caesar's looked epic, as it was covered with statues of Greek Gods and Goddesses. In the middle of every Forum shop junction was more statues, along with hordes of tourists budging there way looking for openings to take pictures.

The forum shops was lined with expensive designer shops: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and a bunch of other ones that wouldn't look me in the eye as I was a waste of their time. We had no idea how much time had passed until we received a text message from B letting us know that they were at Flamingo. Reluctantly we left the Palace and made our way back to the hotel. Going back to the hotel I noticed that our hotel was really pink, even our washroom was pink, I guess it fits with the whole flamingo theme.

After meeting up with B and Ju we walked around Flamingo looking for Steak 46. We saw an ad for it and the steak it showed looked delicious. When we finally found the place, they had a sign out front letting us know that they were closed on Sundays. Isn't this Vegas? The place that doesn't sleep? That was fine though, as we made our way to Margaritaville. Margaritaville served seafood and pasta dishes, but as the name suggested, we were there for drinks. We decided to order this huge tube of their specialty margarita, over 100oz of it.

Throughout our dinner they randomly bursted out into dancing sequences with a girl in shorts and a bikini moving around provocatively. She'd cap off her performance by ditching the shorts climbing up an indoor volcano and then sliding down into a huge container of green water. Entertaining! Some people compliment food with wine, Margaritaville likes to compliment food with bikini girls in water tanks.

Men on stilts walked around making balloon hats for everyone, at our table the man made a twisty one for Mui. After finding out that we were from Vancouver he told us he wasn't allowed in Nanaimo anymore because of speeding tickets.

After dinner the gang walked down North along the Strip. We made it as far as the Venetian then walked back to our own hotel to change for clubbing. Before leaving for the clubs we met up in B and Ju's room, and B described it best when he said his room was from Motel 8. It was pretty bad, couldn't even watch yourself pee while watching tv.

We took a cab to Tryst, paid the $30 cover and got into the club at 10pm. Surprisingly there was no line-up. Tryst had a bunch of lounges, but they all had reserved signs on them, and so we made our way outside to the waterfall / pool area. When we went to buy some drinks that's when we got slapped with the $12 per drink charge, ugh.

Tryst had a bunch of hired girls in skimpy outfits dancing up on pedestals. There was this one guy who we named Ne-Yo, who just stared at this one girl. He even took a picture with his phone, this man has no shame.

I tried to hold it in as much as possible as drinks cost me $12, but I had to go. In the washroom they had people in there passing you paper towels and brushing off your shoulders, then they expected tip. I would later use trickery to get past these grifters, by trickery I mean I waited for the guy next to me to finish peeing first then while he distracts the grifters, I quickly wash my hands and book it.

After I got back from the washroom, Janger was out, cold. Her arm was limp, and she draped all over Herb. Herb held her up for a while then decided that he'd take her back to their room. We'd later find out that at the door, security guards surrounded Herb thinking that he slipped something in her drink. Herb had to wake Janger up and got her to sign a waiver form before the guards let them leave. Seems like the waiver form is more to cover themselves then to actually stop criminals as any drunk can sign their name.

Throughout the night, Ju scoured the floor looking for girls. He'd eventually find one who he talked and danced with until we left. When we left the club Ju got a hug but no number. Ju gets shafted at every vacation.

We went back to the hotel via cab with a Jamaican cabbie. He was playing with his iPhone and he showed us his Bob Marley wallpaper. He didn't say he was Jamaican, but he also sported dreadlocks, ya I'm stereotyping, but come on! Bob Marley picture, and dreadlocks!

The four of us went to the closest grocery store and picked up some water (no way I'm drinking Vegas tap water). And located right next to the grocery store was a pub / bar thingamajig. We saw signs of it on the outside advertising $2 for a hotdog and a beer.

First day in Vegas was great, we shopped, we ate well, clubbing was fun. Looking back this was one of the more physically relaxing days of the trip. The next few days were not for the weak of sole though.

It wasn't till the next day that we'd find out that B and Ju found $200 right outside their room. They hit the tables with that money and ended up winning enough to buy liquor. Right on boys!

At the tables though, Ju didn't have ID but he assured the casino people that he was over 20. B corrected him saying that he's over 21...But they let him play anyways! Wow.

Night For The Ages

Night I won't soon forget, December 17th, 2008.

Mui got me some fantastic tickets, section 118, row 4. It cost a Wookie life debt, but the seats were amazing. We got there at 5:30, and were one of the lucky ones to actually receive the coveted #16 pins. The ceremony started at 6PM with Shorty and Jim Robson making the initial speeches. It was awesome hearing Jim Robson's voice, the man is a legend.

Introduced first were Linden's former teammates Harold Snepsts and Garth Butcher. Next was the Steamer Stan Smyl, the possessor of the only other jersey retired by the team. After that I wet my pants: Shorty introduced Cliff Ronning, Gino Odjick, Greg Adams, Dave Babytch, Geoff Courtnall, Martin Gelinas, and the original goalie captain, Kirk McLean. Seeing them wear the black skates jersey overwhelmed me with emotions. The ovation each of them received, got louder and louder.

Even after it was clear no other players were coming out, I kept looking at the walkway, hoping he'd show up...but he didn't.

Next came the current Canuck players, all donning Trevor Linden's #16 jersey. They lined the walkway, where a few special guests from the Children's Hospital came out, wearing former Linden jerseys (*cringe* Islanders, Canadiens, Capitals). When everyone was lined up, the man of the hour finally came out, along with his hottie wife. She didn't show much emotion all night though.

Stan Smyl, Linden's close friends, and Matthias Ohlund all made speeches. Linden was also presented with a heli-ski package, and a ticket to the Masters next year.

Throughout the ceremony, there were various videos from people all congratulating Linden on his achievement: Rick Hansen, Mike Weir, Steve Nash, Eric Brewer, Pat Quinn, and Markus Naslund. Everyone had a premeditated speech for Linden, except Nazzy who looked like it was ripped from a post game interview.

I kept looking for a video by him...but he never showed.

Linden took to the podium and gave a very very humble speech. I was a little disappointed with his speech, he pretty much diverted attention away from himself, and talked about everyone else around him. But this is expected, it is Trevor Linden.

After the speech, Linden's banner rose through a screen of smoke and light, further illuminated by the thousands of camera flashes all around the arena. Seeing that banner rise to the rafters of GM Place got me a little emotional, it got everyone a little emotional, Linden watered up, even his wife showed some emotion. That banner is the most beautiful thing in GM Place, looking at it inspires me to think that I can do great things.

The Canucks, having obviously been inspired, went out and spanked the Oilers 4-2, to cap off a great night.

But it could've been so much better. They could have gotten an actual interview with Nazzy, instead of using post game footage. They could've gotten Linden a better retirement gift, they cheaped out in my opinion. And they could've invited some other people to the ceremony. Brian Burke went on to say that he never received an invite, which leads me to assume that a certain someone didn't either. Probably the only other man who would receive a louder standing ovation then Linden himself.

Sad to say that we've seen the last of Linden in a Canucks uniform, but it's satisfying to know that no one else will be allowed to wear his jersey ever again. There's no better way to cap off a career of service then by honouring the man that has given so much to the city that he loves. There will never be another Captain Canuck.

Tonight I Will Cry

Tonight I will cry.

I will have goosebumps all over, chills will run up and down my spine all night.

I will weep, I will have tissues in my hands, fluids will come out of my eyes and nose, and I won't care. I won't care because the 18,000 strong will be crying beside me. That will be 18,000 strong + 1, because he will be crying as well. He's not going to make it through his speech, I'm not going to make it through his speech.

If you don't know why we're crying tonight, then get out of Vancouver.

Halting the skid

After missing two games due to Vegas and a scheduling conflict, I returned to the Sharks lineup on Tuesday night to face-off against the ever so classy Ghetto Superstars. Chow was on vacation and so the always serious never dangerous Chow Dang Chen line was again separated for the third straight game. In my departure, they managed to get points each though, hmmm.

The Sharks sported the home White jerseys and the Ghetto Superstars hit the ice wearing black jerseys. I kind of expected something flashier from a team with such a flashy name. Dropping down a tier, I had no idea how good the Ghettor Superstars were, they did get kicked out of the tier higher then us, but were they too good to play in our tier? We would soon find out.

The Ghetto Superstars struck first as they scored on the powerplay after a very weak hooking call on one of our players. With the absence of Chow, Captain Eric centered my line. A few shifts in we found ourselves deep in the opponents zone, with Dang parked in front of the goalie, Captain Eric circled behind the net and fed it to his open back hand. Dang made no mistake and buried the puck past the opposing team's goalie. Where was I? I was drawing the defense away from Dang by dangling back, way back.

Dang later tells me that during open ice time, he practiced this exact play with Chow, where he parks right in front of the goalie. I'm going to call him Holmstrom from now on.

Still in the first period we took another penalty on what looked like a fairly clean hit to me. The Ghetto Superstars were again able to capitalize on the powerplay as they didn't even need the full two minutes to score.

The second period was pretty even, we weren't able to square up the score, but they weren't able to pull ahead either.

Then came the third. Have you ever peeled off packaging tape, then noticed you only peeled off half while the other half is still on the tape, then while you try to peel off the other half that's still stuck on the tape, the half that was peeled starts sticking to itself, and then everything just goes to hell in a hand basket? Ya we had one of those third periods. A break away, inability to clear the puck, and odd man rushes led to three straight unanswered goals by the Superstars from the Ghettos, putting us into a three game losing streak.

Randy the goalie was pissed after the game, it wasn't his fault, we were in the game all the way up until that stupid packaging tape started sticking to itself. Damn packaging tape, stupid Christmas presents wrapping, where the hell's the scotch tape.

Nothing Else Matters!

I've marked December 2nd, 2008 as a day I won't soon forget. The Metallica concert was un-freakin-believable. The concert beat out the whole Vegas trip, no doubt in my mind.

I got the tickets to the box suite from work, winning it in a draw. I missed out every time I put my name in including concerts from Oasis and AC/DC but did I ever luck out for these tickets. There were a few people I had in mind to take to the concert but I ended up taking Norm, his birthday played no part in my decision...From the looks of it, he enjoyed the concert.


We got there at 7-ish in time to see The Sword. They were pretty good, not my cup of tea, but I could still appreciate it. I tried to go and get some food and alcohol and found out that I could order a 6 pack to the suite for $50. My eyes could not get any wider.



Lamb of God came on, I've never heard their music but I could tell that they were a heavy death metal sort of band. The band members all sported long hair and full beards. On top of that they were all in the "Power Stance." I love the Power Stance, if I'm ever in doubt in life I'm just going to assume the Power Stance. I'd like to give a presentation one day, all while in the Power Stance.


The songs Lamb of God played were loud as expected, I couldn't make out what the lead singer was coarsening, but I felt like punching the wall. A mosh pit started at one end of the stage, the stage was set up in the middle of GM Place. I told Norm that I didn't understand mosh pits, and he explained that when you listen to slash and thrash you feel like pushing something, which is what mosh pits are: people jumping around pushing other people.

Lamb of God finished at 8:30pm, and Metallica wasn't to come on until 9:15. I ended going upstairs to the third floor to get some food and drinks. Two hotdogs, a pretzel, popcorn, coke, and a beer: $29. I really wanted to buy a Metallica t-shirt, but the financial planner in me said that $40 was too steep. The same t-shirt at Wal-Mart was probably under $10.

It started out with just Norm and I in the suite box, I guess no one else cared about The Sword. More people came in when Lamb of God came on, and it was pretty full right before Metallica started.

At 9:15pm the lights went out, but the crowd roared with cheers and chants of Metallica (which is a really awkward chant to do, it'd be easier to chant something with two syllables, like Nap-ster, or something like that).

A barrage of lasers lighted the darkness, then came the guitars and bass ripping through the sounds of This Was Just Your Life. It really was amazing to see them live. Hearing their songs in the car or at home is one thing, but yelling lyrics at the top of my lungs, while James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet, and Robert Trujillo tore through their guitars and bass, all the while Lars Ulrich pounding away at the drums on center stage is something that is incomparable.

The song list (taken from http://www.vancouversun.com):

That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Ride The Lightning
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam
No Remorse
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman

Metallica ended off with Enter Sandman but came back on for an encore with:
Am I Evil?
Stone Cold Crazy
Seek and Destroy

Highlight of the night for me was James Hetfield apologizing to the crowd. He apologized in advance because the next song they were going to play offended some people. The song tends offend people because it's too HEAVY! Then they played Sad But True with the whole arena yelling out: Hey! Hey! I'm your light, I'm the one who takes you there!"

The other highlight was during the encore, James Hetfield asked for the house lights to come on, and for the first time that night I was able to not only hear, but to see the 19,000 strong at GM Place all holding up the devil horns screaming the words Seek and Destroy to the playing of Metallica.

I look some pictures and videos, none of them were any good though. If anything you should go to Vancouver Sun's posting of the concert as they have a great article (http://www.vancouversun.com) and a gallery with professional photography (http://www.vancouversun.com)



I was kind of disappointed that Metallica didn't play The Unforgiven, Turn the Page, or Whiskey in a Jar. They also played some songs that I didn't even know the words to, but I didn't care, I was smiling ear to ear the whole night. I hope Death Magnetic isn't their last album. If they do come to Vancouver again, there's no doubt in my mind I'd go again, I'd be holding up the devil horns on one hand, $8 for beer in the other hand.

Long live Metallica!

The First Canucks Goalie Captain

Luongo is receiving a lot of praise especially after posting three consecutive shut outs. And rightfully so, after years and years of mediocre goalies coming in and out of Vancouver, it is great to finally have a goalie that won't make you panic in the last 5 minutes of a game. And Luongo is also the first goalie to be named Captain in 61 seasons...or is he?

From the ashes of the dark ages of the Keenan era, rose the West Coast Express which led to sell out crowds, with an exponential growth in fans. These fans relate to whoever was playing when they started watching, and with each passing year it seems that the memories of '94 fade further and further away.

The team, that were one goal away from tying game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, had a lot of reasons contributing to their success: Linden's leadership, Bure's skill, hard nosed defensemen, coaching of Pat Quinn. But there was one reason why the Canucks made it all the way to the end, and he was the first ever Canuck goalie captain: Captain Kirk.

The original No. 1, the original goalie Captain, Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected, the last of the great Stand-Up goalies, Mr. Cool as a Cucumber: Kirk McLean. Back before every goalie in the league adopted Patrick Roy's butterfly style, goalies played a stand-up style of goaltending, where they relied less on positioning and more on pure awesomeness. The gist of the style is to basically stay on your feet and pray that your reflexes are faster then a puck going up to 100 mph.

In the '94 playoffs, McLean posted 4 shut-outs, 2.29 GAA, and had 1 assist (that's one more then my entire ice hockey career). Numbers don't tell the whole tale though. The Canucks fought their way back from being down 3 games to 1 to play game 7 against the hated Calgary Flames. The game went to overtime, where Flames' all star Theo Fleury came streaking down the right wing on a two on one and passed it over to Robert Reichel who had a wide open net. McLean came sliding over and kicked out what was supposed to be a sure goal with his toe, his toe! This save is known by fans as "The Save"



How do top this though? You go into Madison Square Gardens, and you stop America's team the New York Rangers 52 times! Here's all 52 saves:



There is no doubt in my mind that if the Canucks had went all the way in '94, McLean would've received the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff's MVP). Brian Leetch stole McLean's Conn Smythe Trophy, that's right I said it, he stole it. So what if he had 34 points in 23 playoff games, McLean stopped the whole team 52 times in one game!

I'm done venting, here are a bunch of pictures of McLean that I found on Google: the Iconic McLean Linden after a grueling game 6 against he Rangers, sporting the Lion Mask, no butterfly for Captain Kirk, 1990 All-Star, Calm Cool and Collected, on the cover of NHL 95, the greatest men to have ever worn a Canucks jersey, I can't even look at the last two pictures, they're of McLean in a Panther's jersey 97-99, and in a *cringe* Rangers jersey 99-01. I hate you Keenan.

Where Luongo Fails, Steven Succeeds

Roberto Luongo went into Wednesday night's game against the Avalanche with three consecutive shut outs. Hoping to set a franchise best shut out streak Luongo showed why he's Vancouver's best player by stopping all 16 shots fired against him in the first period.

Going into the second period, it looked as if Luongo would deny every shot that came at him; that was until there was a mad scramble in front of the net. With Louie sprawled across the ice, the puck somehow found it's way onto Svatos' stick who then roofed it up and over the down Captain. This ended Luongo's shut out streak at 242 minutes and 36 seconds, enough to rewrite the franchise record, but not enough to record the fourth consecutive shut out.

That really is quite pathetic. I, on the other hand, pulled through to continue my shut out streak at a magnificent 6 straight games. That's right ladies and gentlemen, that's 6 straight games of scoreless hockey on my part. That's 360 minutes of regulation time, and approximately 8 minutes of overtime as two of the games went into extra time. Luongo could only wish he had my streak.

In the sixth game of the season, the Sharks faced off against the ever so eager to hit Cubz. In one of the highest scoring games of the season, I stuck with my guns, played text book hockey and remained pointless in the season for the sixth straight game.

We started off with a short roster as some of the team could not make it to the game. This meant that there weren't any set lines, and so the feared Chow Dang Chen line was rarely out together. Despite not being on the same line, Chow was able to tip in a point shot off of one of our defensemen not named Chen.

As mentioned it was a high scoring affair with the Sharks leading 6-4 in the third, but somehow managed to squander the lead to let the Cubz back in with under two minutes to go in the third. Unfortunately over-time did nothing except to lengthen my scoreless streak, and the game ended in the anti-climax tie of 6-6.

The Cubz were a physical team who were itching to hit any chance they got, but for the most part the Sharks matched in terms of intensity. Where on one occasion the puck was in the Cubz zone for well over two minutes straight.

Despite the failures of Roberto Luongo to continue his shut out streak, I predict that my shut out streak will go beyond what is countable. During the Canucks Avalanche game, Chris Cuthbert commented that Adam Foote was on an 82 game scoreless drought, which I intend to shatter beyond recognition. Instead of forward, maybe I should play goal next game, then at least a goaless streak would be something to brag about.

Bwarararrrr!!!

Yesterday I talked to a lady who's name was Mrs. Wookey.

Honestly do I need to write anything else in this post? How awesome is it if your last name is Wookey? Sure it's misspelled (Wookie) but having your last name be Wookey is just plain cool. I had to bite my lip to refrain from acting stupid, there's so much I could've said...

1) Bwarararrrr!!!
2) Where's Han?
3) Shaved recently?
4) You looked better in the movies.
5) You cleaned up a lot better then Peter Mayhew
6) How come in Episode III you help Yoda escape Kashyyyk, but in Episode VI you seem to have no recollection of Yoda.
7) How come in Episode IV Han and Luke both get a medal at the ceremony where as you have to play second fiddle, even though you helped as much as anyone in destroying the Death Star?
8) If you have a Wookie life debt to Han which is why you owe him your life, what happens if someone else saves your life? Do you owe two life debts? Would you have to leave Han if the second life debt requests you to do so?

I'm still waiting for the day when I meet a Skywalker, I wouldn't let them out of my sight. I'd pretty much talk their ear off, and then take pictures of said fallen ear.

Top of the Line

Tuesday was the rematch between the Sharks and the Killer Ice Bunnies. Last time we met it was a pretty one sided affair, but it was also an exhibition game which didn't mean anything.

With one of our top defensemen out with a season ending knee injury, suffered last game, I was expecting another grueling game of pretending to play as a defensemen. When the lines were read out, I was surprisingly playing forward (my crappy skating skills finally over came the need for defensemen). Not only was I playing forward, I was now winging on quite possibly the deadliest line to have ever been assembled.

Legion of Doom line, KLM line, Triple Crown line, Punch line, West Coast Express, Production Line, Life Line, any line with 80's Wayne Gretzky, meet your maker: the Chow Dang Chen line.

What we lack in skill, speed, skill, ability to stop, shot power, shot accuracy, shooting overall, passing, grit, skating, mobility, flexibility, agility, balance, depth, intimidation, strength, vision, experience, defense, offense, potential, hockey sense, sixth sense, common sense, jerseys that fit properly, we made up in the fact that we almost never come in offside as we're not fast enough to over skate the puck.

Back to the game: we fell behind 1-0 early, but had the tying goal in the second. It became clear early on that unlike the previous game where defense was the problem, the defense was the highlight this game, whereas it was the offense that was lacking this game.

On a completely separate and unrelated note, my move from defense to offense this game wasn't going too well. Someone must've tipped off the Killer Ice Bunnies prior to the game about the famed Chow Dang Chen line, as despite our best efforts, we were held pointless.

One of the girls on the opposing team somehow ended up on a clear breakaway from the center line on. She made her way in and potted it five hole on our goalie. If that was me in net I would have probably faked an injury right then and there, but apparently our goalie has far more class then me. He shook it off and played fantastic the rest of the game. In the third a puck was wristed in from the blue line and was tipped by one of our players pass the other team's goalie, tying the game at 2 a piece.

The third period solved nothing so we proceeded to over time having tied 2-2. On the powerplay in over time, the other team took a lot of bad penalties throughout the game, the puck made its way into the opposing teams zone. I was panicking on the bench about how I would cough up the puck in overtime, and during this time we scored. I didn't see how it went in, I'm just glad it did.

The other team played decent, we would've won in regulation had we converted on the MANY powerplays that we had, but we won and that's all that matters. Although being held pointless throughout the night, this was the first night in our newly formed top line. Chemistry comes first, scoring comes second. Maybe next game we'll try the triangle offense, where Chow streaks in first while Dang and Chen lag behind. I'm expecting goals in bunches the next game.

Longest Drive

Today I drove from Vancouver to Richmond, and then back to Vancouver. But the longest drive was the one after playing hockey.

The Ties That Bind

Sunday was the last day I was stationed in North Van. I had to pack up fast as I was finished at 6PM and I had to bolt it down to GM place to catch the game at 7PM. I was lucky enough to get invited to watch the Canucks Ducks preseason game. Not only did I get to go, it was in the corporate box. I love this box, first of all its catered, secondly it's got a great view of the game, and it has this awesome poster (Building the Dream) of the 1993/94 Canucks team dressed in construction attire. The poster kind of gives off a wrong message with the hard hats and the tank tops, but nevertheless what a great poster.

The game itself was action packed, plenty of goals and a fight to boot. Despite Mason Raymond getting 2 goals, the game came to a 3-3 tie at the end of the third period. Not a problem though as Nathan McIver of the Ducks was in the penalty box to start over time. McIver was recently waived by the Canucks, and was picked up by Anaheim that same day. This is why it stung pretty hard when during overtime, right out of the box McIver received a break out pass to score the over time winner, ouch.

Despite losing the game, I enjoyed myself. I got to converse with a few of the people from work that I haven't seen in a while, plus there was Kobe beef burgers that pretty much melted in your mouth. In a hierarchy of burgers it would be:
Big Mac < Whopper < Kirkland patties < Big Mac after drinking < Kobe beef

That's right it's better then a Big Mac after drinking.

Following the Canucks game, Danny and I rushed to Burnaby 8 Rinks to play the first regular season game for the Sharks. Due to some players not being able to make the game I had to play defense again. I don't think Captain Eric understands that I can't skate backwards. Maybe he's being really nice and forcing me to get some experience. Or maybe he's a sadist who enjoys seeing other people skate around me as I pretend to know what I'm doing. Regardless I was stuck playing defense.

The game started out pretty even, we were down going into the second but we were able to catch up. During the second a girl on the opposing team (Cubs) somehow ended up down on the ice after a loud thud. I didn't see what was happening, but I assume that the Sharks aren't women beaters so she probably "slipped." After a few minutes of being down she was able to get up and make her way to the bench with help. As far as I know she did not return.

During the third one of the players on the Cubs blew by me on the outside and made their way to the net to slip it by Randy the goalie to tie the game at 3-3. I couldn't find a hole big enough to hide in.

Here I was an hour (or so) after watching the Canucks lose in overtime 4-3, the Sharks were going into overtime 3-3 because I let a guy blow by me. This was looking all too familiar. Was the fate of the Sharks binded to the fate that the Canucks had just suffered? Was our future by some stroke of fate tied to the fate of the Canucks? Did I just repeat myself in an effort to reinforce the title of the blog? Did I just shamelessly tried to direct your attention to the title because I'm so proud of it? So many questions, and so without further ado:

In the late stages of overtime, the Sharks went on a power play. Unfortunately....here it comes....we couldn't convert and the game ended in a tie.

Was I relieved? Not really we had the win in our grasp and ended up with a tie. This will be a tough one to swallow for me, hopefully I'm not on defense next game. I listened to Metallica the whole way home, and one song stuck out: The Unforgiven.

New blood joins this earth
And quikly hes subdued
Through constant pain disgrace
The young boy learns their rules

Blood, Sweat, and Tiers

Few days ago I got an e-mail from Captain Eric who let us know that we got bumped up a tier from 5 to 4. Great, as if I wasn't having enough problems before. On top of this, I also found out that the third preseason game was against a tier 3 team. I was not looking forward to this game. On the flip side, we were away which meant that I got to wear my old Canucks jersey again.

I got some tips prior to the start of the game from Harry. He told me to watch the stomach to avoid getting faked out. You can juke and jive the head and stick, but the stomach goes where the skater goes. In all my years of playing street hockey this has never occurred to me, but I also never used to be a pylon.

While we were changing, Captain Eric read out the lines, and I was on offense winging with with Harry. What a relief, I didn't have to skate backwards the whole game, of course I was counted on to provide some offense but for some reason we had a low scoring game.

We went on quite a few power plays with the Cold Shots taking some stupid penalties. The other team was playing pretty aggressively, but we didn't really retaliate. There were a few scrums that occurred, words were flown around but nothing happened, luckily for the Cold Shots because I would've made some heads roll.

We were down 3-2 in the third, and one of our players was called for interference with under four minutes to go. The whole team played hard the last few minutes to try to tie up the game. Despite being on the power play the Cold Shots seemed content on just winding down the time. Their careless play led to a breakaway by #96 (I still don't know everyone's name), skating in with two defensemen chasing him down, he wristed the puck 5-hole, but his efforts were in vain as he was stopped by the butter-flying goalie (damn you Patrick Roy).

Seconds kept ticking away from the clock, and the Sharks eventually lost 3-2.

The Good
We kept toe to toe with a tier 3 team. We played a pretty responsible game even though the other team were unbelievably fast. The referee complimented me on my jersey, I responded with "94 baby!" to which he replied: "I know."

The Bad
Their whole team was named Phan. There was a P Chan, Phan, B Phan. They scoured the Lower Mainland looking for players with last names that rhymed.

The Ugly
During the second period, El Capitan Eric skated into the opponents zone, and instead of trying to go around the defender he pretty much treated the guy like a Thai hooker...he nailed him hard. The guy obviously went down, and a scrum ensued. As I mentioned earlier no fights broke out. Even though some Sharks had friends on the other team something like this still happened. Kind of makes you wonder how the rest of the season will go.

Great game, the impact player failed to make an impact this game, but rest assured, despite my futility on the ice, I am (ever so slowly) getting better, I should hit my prime in 5-10 years.

Shark Fin Soup

Second game of the preseason the whole Sharks team felt good, I was still a nervous wreck, but everyone else seemed relax. And rightfully so, last game we mud stomped the Killer Ice Bunnies 7-1. With talks of moving up a tier, the mood in the locker room was one of confidence.

- Enter Banzai Bullets -

When I saw them on the ice, I knew that this wasn't another team that we would run over. The players were all bigger then me, obviously faster, and they were all wearing the same team uniforms.

Sitting on the bench with my old Canucks jersey with a taped on '94' on my back, I waited for the zamboni to get off the ice before going out for some warm-up. I was playing defense again, what used to be a natural position for me in street hockey, I now had guys blowing by me like I was a pylon.

The game started off pretty competitive, with both teams showing off their firepower the score jumped to 2-2 early in the first. Then the Banzai Bullets kicked it to another gear, tallying a few unanswered goals causing us to call a time out. Team Captain Eric made it abundantly clear that we were worthless. "We need to skate harder, and grow a pair of eyes" (he put it a little nicer, but this was the gist of it).

During the second period, it was Superstar Chen time. Mid way through the second, off the draw, I wristed the puck from just after the centre ice line (perfectly avoiding the icing call) down towards the boards, in an arc that made rainbows jealous. The sound in which the puck rebounded off the boards was nothing short of audio euphoria. Mesmorized by such an unorthadox move, the entire Banzai Bullets team looked in awe as #11 from the Sharks grabbed the puck as it came off the boards and tucked it in the net. "That dump in / pass showed shades of Gretzky and Orr in its elegance." quoted one passerby. An unbelievably clutch play by Steven C (C for clutch), bringing the Sharks back to contention by making the score 6-3.

The Banzai Bullets went on to win 8-3.

The Sharks were done pretty much in the second: bad line changes, off sides, useless defensemen like #94. What a drastic change of mood compared to Saturday's huge win. Hopefully our next game we play the Killer Ice Bunnies again, or maybe a bag of pucks.

As feeble as I make the Killer Ice Bunnies look, I do have to give them credit: where they laughed while expecting to lose, (cue cheesy one liner) we lost expecting to laugh. I just ruined this whole post with that last line, go back and read about that precision pass I made.

For The Non-Believers

With Linden's retirement coming up fast (December 17th for those under a rock), there's been talks of whether Naslund will have his jersey retired. He leads the Canucks in practically all offensive categories and is the longest serving captain we've ever had. So will his jersey be retired? My answer is: not before Bure's. That's right I said it, Pavel Bure deserves to have his jersey retired before Naslund.

Bure's blinding speed was only matched with his amazing stick handling abilities. If you gave him a hole he'd punch through it before you were able to turn around, if you blocked him he'd undress you silly with his deke's. Although he only played 428 games as part of the Vancouver Canucks, he tallied 478 points. Before Ovechkin scored 60+ goals in a single season, the last player to do it was Pavel Bure (keep in mind Bure played during a time when clutching and grabbing were legal). There have been players that have been as fast as Bure (I recall him losing to Sergei Federov in a race around the rink), but Bure was able to stick handle while skating full speed. Take a look at quick skaters like Gaborik or Ovechkin, they're pushing the puck forward, not stick handling.

Regardless of the fact that he has been this city's only superstar (Bobby Lou's pretty close though), Bure will be resented for leaving the team. The story goes that he was being treated unfairly by the entire Vancouver organization, and so he wanted out, but no one aside from those involved know the true story.

Bure wanting out shouldn't be the defining point in determining whether his jersey is retired or not, everyone forgets that at one point in time, not only the entire city of Vancouver, but even fans from around the world was in love with the Russian Rocket. Proof can be found here with 40,000 screaming fans packed into BC Place in appreciation of the '94 team, but the deafening roar when Bure came on goes beyond imagination:



Want further proof? Here is a video that shows what he did for this city, pay attention to
0:39 Stick to skate to stick and in, what a beauty.
1:26 What a stud.
1:40 Stan Smyl #12 the man with his jersey RETIRED, says that he CANNOT do the things Bure does full speed even if he was walking.
2:47 Goal to complete comback by the Canucks against the Flames in the '94 playoffs.
3:15 His FIRST shift ever as a Canuck, and he embarrasses the whole Winnipeg team.
6:15 Jim Robson, voice of the Canucks, summarizes why he's the best.



Bure still holds the franchise record for most points in a single season with 110 points, two back to back 60 goal seasons, and is considered widely as the most electrifying player ever. If this man doesn't deserve to have his jersey retired, then no one does.

For The Captain I Would

Since the announcement of Linden's jersey retirement game on December 17th, I have been looking for tickets to the game to no avail. From checking online, it's clear that ticket holders are marking the prices up. Last checked tickets for the game in the lower bowl are going for $230ish per seat. I don't have this type of money and so I'll have to find some other ways to get tickets.

The memory of Linden standing centre ice as his jersey is raised to the rafters, ensuring that no one else will ever wear the famed 16, will forever stay with me. Watching it any other way other then live would be a travesty.

And so here are the top five things I would do for tickets to the December 17th Linden Jersey Retirement game against the Oilers, if you have tickets pay attention:

5) I will hold up a sign with whatever you choose to write on it (no vulgar/inappropriate language).
4) I would give you a hot oil massage (no happy ending).
3) I would walk around GM Place in only my underwear.
2) I would shave my eyebrows off.
1) I would dial to a number of your choosing on a street pay phone using only my tongue.

I'm begging for tickets here, someone answer my begging!

My Heart Hates Me

For the BC Day long weekend I went down to Seattle with Glo, the boys, Kevin and his girl friend. I'm not much of a shopper so I really had no business there, but I was looking forward to going for two reasons: Steak and Butter.

You read correctly, that's steak AND butter. I'm referring to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Norm told me about them and their menu which included steaks that were butter soaked. Being in Seattle I obviously had to try it out.

On Sunday (08/03/08) we left early in the morning, and went past the border after just over an hour of waiting which wasn't too bad. We made a stop at Wal-Mart and then at the Premium Outlets for some minor shopping. We got to the Paramount Hotel in downtown Seattle at around 1PM and noted that Ruth's Chris was right across the street. After some downtown shopping and visiting Pike Place Market we made our way back to the hotel to drop our things off before eating.

On the elevator down I was talking about the buttered steak and a lady in the elevator instantly knew we were going to Ruth's Chris. She said she ordered her steak without the butter. Why would you do such a horrible thing?

Upon entering Ruth's Chris we immediately observed that this restaurant was on the high end of the scale. We were shown to our seats by the hostess where we were greeted by Dee our waiter. I usually don't remember waiters, but Dee was an exceptional waiter, I'm going to say he's the best waiter I've ever had. He looked a lot like Michael Clarke Duncan, but no one seemed to know who I was talking about.

Dee offered us a variety of bottled waters, but after a moment of awkward silence he said that they also had Seattle's finest ice water (tap water), we answered with a communal "We'll take that." Cheap skate asian kids.

Me and Glo ordered the porterhouse which was slices of different steaks (filet, ribeye, and New York). The entree came in a piping hot plate, we were told that the kitchen generally under cooks the steaks because the plates are so hot. And of course the steaks sat in a pool of melted butter. My heart hates me.

The steak itself was good, not great, I've had better steaks. Was it worth the $40+ that we each paid, I would say no. But Dee was very pleasant, so for anyone with money to burn and can take butter drenched steaks go to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Help Yourself

Last night me and Gloria were at Safeway to get some groceries, picking up some breakfast and lunch for the rest of the week. We also wanted to pick up something to drink at Starbucks there, but they were closed. Who closes at 9PM? Anyways I pick up some strudels, and Gloria grabs a sandwich, all in all there weren't many things in the basket which is why we were in the 15 items or less line.

Gloria paid for the groceries and I walked to the end of the counter where the bags were. I had both bags in my hands lifted off the counter then the clerk, who clearly sees me, turns to Gloria and says:

"Would you like some help with the bags?"

No she won't need help with the bags, you saw me hold both bags you douchebag. What kind of snide comment is that? I'm standing right there. Did you make that comment to gloat in front of Gloria or do you have something against me? Next time I go to Safeway I'ma wear my wife beat, then we'll see who needs help.

Punk

Vinegarggle

My throat's feeling a little weird today probably from lack of sleep the past few days. At lunch I went to McDonalds, no not to buy their burgers, I went to pick up some vinegar packs.

Bacteria meet Instant Death!

Swallowing vinegar is brutal, it's almost as bad as taking shots of hard alcohol, but it works. As soon as I feel a sore throat coming, BAM! I hit it with the dreaded dual pack of vinegary goodness. Bacteria stands no chance against the awesome acidity that is vinegar.

My stomach's feeling a little weird, maybe I should've ate first. It might be the vinegar mixing with my empty stomach, or maybe it's the screams of a thousand dying bacterias in what will now be known as the Battle of Sorethroateness.

Fuss about Bus

Today Amanda needed the car for a birthday she was going to. I needed to stay in Richmond for dinner tonight, so Amanda took the car to work. Which meant I had to take the bus. I'm no stranger to the bus, I used to take it all the time before I started driving. But it has been a while since I've taken a bus for a trip lasting longer then 10 minutes.

I started off getting dressed and looked into the mirror I instantly knew that the bus ride would be awkward. How many bus patrons wears a suit and tie? I had no idea how much fare would be so I grabbed a hand full of quarters and was on my way. One of the people I was having dinner with needed a binder which was conveniently left at home and not at the office, so I had my work bag in one hand, binder in the other hand, bus pass in my third hand, and hand full of quarters in my fourth hand.

Getting into the #25 UBC bus towards Granville street was all too familiar. I used to take the same bus every day back when I was in University. After sitting down (I was lucky enough to get a seat) I noticed that the bus had a voice system to read out the stop names. I don't know if this was from a GPS or if the driver had to push a button, but it's quite convenient. The voice was a mono toned computer voice, but better then peering out onto the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of a street sign.

It always makes me wonder when someone who is sitting beside you on the bus decides to just get up and sit somewhere else. Is it me? Do I smell? What's going on? Is that really that much better of a seat to warrant you to get up and make your way there? I should've asked.

Getting off the bus at Granville street I made my way to where the #98 B-Line would stop. The #25 bus wasn't bad, didn't get too many stares, and I got a spot to sit.

The #98 B-Line driver told me politely how much extra it was to Richmond and after paying for the extra zone I was on my way. Bus etiquette hadn't changed much, people were still sitting on the aisle seats even though the window seats were available. Lots of people crammed in the front while there was plenty of room in the back.

At the next stop I noted that some people were getting on through the middle door entrances. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they all had 2 zone bus passes and wasn't illegally traveling on the bus.

I made my way to the middle of the bus and found a seat in the "Death Hinge" the flexible section that connects the front of the bus to the back. How safe is the Death Hinge? The ground rotates when the bus turns, this is just asking for injuries.

The #98 B-Line got down to Richmond fast, the whole trip from my house took less then an hour. I'm not going to start busing regularly, just noting its efficiency.

While riding the bus it made me think back to simpler times. I used to take the bus all the time with my mom and little sister. Weekly trips to Chinatown for groceries, odd trips to Brentwood mall and Metrotown. School during the weekdays, cartoons and grocery shopping on the weekends. There's no worries of bills, jobs, money during those times. I miss those times.

I have a strong belief that kids should all take the bus, it teaches gratitude (to the driver), graciousness (to other passengers), patience (when waiting for the bus) and money (how far you can go with a dollar, although now it's more like $3.75, but still). I miss taking the bus, ok maybe not so much the bus but the memories that come with the bus. Kids grow up way too fast I don't think they know it until it's too late.

Sympathy vs Spunk

I watched Wall-E with Glo last night, and what a great movie. There wasn't a lot of dialogue yet the movie conveyed a powerful message. A message about taking care of our environment and appreciating what we're given, while intertwined with a love story.

With the whole story revolving around the cute as a button Wall-E, it is inevitable that Wall-E must be compared to other great robots, and there is no greater robot then R2-D2 (except maybe Optimus Prime, but that's just not fair).

To set it up, we're going to use the Original Trilogy Artoo (none of this flying bs). I will try to give an un-bias point of view. Warning, possible movie spoilers ahead.

Job
Wall-E
Compacts garbage, then stacks them up neatly, cube after cube, day after day, year after year.

R2-D2
Sidekick to Luke Skywalker. General hacker of all things mechanical, and flies navigator to the X-Wing

Winner: R2-D2 (Rogue Squadron > Garbage compactor)


Durability
Wall-E
Able to withstand: extreme heat, being crushed, and being run over. Able to repair itself.

R2-D2
Able to repair minor injuries. Doesn't take much to put it out of commission

Winner: Wall-E (What's Wall-E made of? Some kind of super heat resistant super durable metal?)


Mobility
Wall-E
Can climb by using his hands, the rubber tracks give it a surprising amount of speed. Can climb up a garbage shaft.

R2-D2
Not very fast on its wheels, and even slower when bi-pedaling. May be subject to tipping over.

Winner: Wall-E (Wall-E's pretty damn mobile considering he's all metal)


Love Interest
Wall-E
Eve is a do everything, kind of robot. All-in-one can repair machinery, search for existing life, and has a cannon for an arm. Very sleek looking.

R2-D2
C-3PO is a little girly. C-3PO clearly doesn't wear the pants in the relationship. Although he is fluent in over 6 million forms of communication. Severely hurts Artoo's reputation.

Winner: Wall-E (Dump Golden Rod Artoo you don't need him)


Weapons
Wall-E
Has his mechanical arms that's about it. Even if Wall-E had weapons I highly doubt he'd use them. Wall-E wouldn't hurt a cockroach.

R2-D2
Saw, welding arm, fire extinguisher, Artoo would use his whole frame as a weapon if he found a way to do it.

Winner: R2-D2 (Wall-E's too nice, R2-D2 takes crap from no one, he'd spit on that cockroach)


Accomplishments
Wall-E
Risked its life to help bring the human population back to Earth.

R2-D2
Risked its life to help bring down the evil Empire, in essence helping the entire Galaxy.

Winner: R2-D2 (Galaxy > Earth)


Recognition
Wall-E
There's no doubt Wall-E's a hit, and will touch the hearts of not only children but adults as well. Anyone who goes to watch Wall-E will melt in the hands of Wall-E's adorableness.

R2-D2
This is unverified, but I'm pretty sure its true, there are Star Wars fans on the moon.

Winner: R2-D2 (Don't even argue, Star Wars > everything put together)


Appeal
Wall-E
As cute as a robot can get. You can't help but to sympathize with him especially as he's going after Eve. Loses points on cleanliness.

R2-D2
Self sufficient robot with unrivaled loyalty, and an attitude that closely matches Han Solo.

Winner: R2-D2 (Girls love guys with attitudes)

The final score:

Wall-E: 3, R2-D2: 5

You put up a good fight Wall-E, but this goes to show, you can't beat Star Wars no matter how lovable you are, because George Lucas created the word lovable. George Lucas created everything large and small.