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 I've tried searching for this book at the library again in years thereafter to no avail, having been replaced by similar books.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!