"Football incorporates the two worst elements of American society: violence punctuated by committee meetings"~Bern Williams

So the Smos are officially out of the playoffs...first time in what 34 years? Brutal.

I just managed to crush my finger in my desk here at work..ouch! I'm doing crafts and drinking tea and generally enjoying myself and my last 5 shifts at my job. Yep, that's right I'm off to my new job at the end of the month thanks to OTC's sister. It pays more, is right downtown --15 minutes from home, and its 9-5 Monday to Friday which accomodates my job with The Pandas nicely.

Got to spend yesterday with my ladies and their tots. Met the newest bairn, Burke William, and he is super wee. He's 6 lbs and so sweet and Vern is well and is feeling fine. Jacob figured out that jamming sand in your mouth from the sandbox isn't as pleasant as he had initially thought it might be. Hung out with Kirny last night for a bit and rented "Lord Of War" but totally fell asleep and missed it. Well, best get back to the "job"...coming up on the last hour till I'm down to 4 more shifts. Good times.

I was 10-4 last week...Here are my Week 6 picks:

Buffalo
Baltimore
Cincinnati
Dallas
Atlanta
Philly
St. Louis (pepto)
Washington
Pittsburgh
NY Jets
San Diego
Denver
Chicago

Song du jour: Crashing Cars ~ Snow Patrol -- frick they overplay the crap out of it here so-- there it is-- stuck in my head for the 2nd day in a row...

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. "~ Albert Einstein

So last week I went 9-5...pretty shabby...

Here are my Week 5 picks:

Chicago
Carolina
Minny
New England
St. Louis
New Orleans
Indy
NY Giants
Arizona
NY Jets (pepto...although I can't check the lines, I am guessing that the Jags are favs)
San Fran
Philly
Pittsburgh
Baltimore

Pandas are raising their banner at Clare Drake tonight, I'm warming up my "sunday, sunday, sunday voice" for the big ceremony...I'm loving being back at work with the pandas...although the new rule changes make it much more challenging, last night 42 penalty mins...42!

Song Du Jour: Streets ~ U2 (Totally stuck in my head today....)

"wheeeeeee!"

Everyday I get on the bus and I go to work. I take the bus down Walterdale Hill and because I sit at the back it feels like I am sitting at the back of a huge rocket hurtling down to the bottom...it's a really cool perspective...then on the right hand side of the street I see a sign that says something about "NAITS POO" because somebody stole the 'L' from the word Pool.
It makes me laugh and that, sadly, was the highlight of my day today.

See this is why I stopped Bloggin...I have nothin to say.
I haven't had a chance to make my NFL picks either...brutal, sorry doods.

Song Du Jour ~ Freefalling by Tom Petty

"Give me a break. Those officers are 10 times better than this man." ~ Dallas Senior Cpl. Glenn White

Hello..if I had a photo of this beautiful city I would put it here...I love fall! The Rivervalley never fails to impress me. Seriously.

Anyhoo...I put up a photo of Riley instead...he's cute and cuddly and a maniac...crazy dog.

I'm working late and getting geared up for the big day off tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Going to have dinner at Kirny's with OTC and his Special Lady. Vern is ready to pop out her 2nd Boo boo's and just moved..what is it with pregnant ladies always moving in their final month? Can't wait to see her all moved in to her palace on the lake.

Here are my Week 4 NFL Picks:

Atlanta
Dallas – Even with TO self destructing...do the Titans have a CB that can cover Terry Glenn? Maybe this will be a Cocaine Kerry Collins comeback...jebus.
Indianapolis – but I’ll admit it I hope the Jets win but where is the Jets running game?
Miami – if they win they’ll be .500, fingers crossed!
Minnesota
Carolina – will it be the Steve Smith show? Maybe The ‘Aints will shock us all...they are on fire.
San Diego
Kansas City
Detroit --a total toss up as far as I can see...I predict a tie.
Cleveland
Washington
Cincinnati – Bring on the NE blitz...Will Palmer get sacked some more this week or just take apart the secondary if they blitz?
Chicago – This is my Pepto,, Without Alexander and with “Stan” Grossman going long, they might squeak it out...
Philadelphia – with the Packers secondary falling all over themselves I think McNabb will take advantage.

Funtimes.....

"Comebaaaaackkk!..Comebaack..." ~ Official mating call of the drunken whyte ave partyer....

Jebus, it has been a while.
Hello little blog world how goes it? I still do not have a computer at home and have had about 4 months of sporadic contact with the internet world. I miss it and hopefully soon will be able to check my email with some frequency...oh and blog.

I have been busy all summer with work and funtimes...recently went to Cowtown to see some friends and get caught up with everbody's life. I hope to post some pics soon.

Saw a bunch of movies including Snakes on a MF Plane and Beerfest. The latter was much better and more enjoyable in my mind. Last Sunday I went to see Little Miss Sunshine...A gem of a movie that highlights the glaring problems of our "normal" society and all the myths perpetuated by supposed perfect families and the like. Apparently the moral of the tale is if you have a family no matter how non-traditional and dysfunctional you can make it through. Ya, ya...what about those of us without family...are we just screwed or what? It was a good movie and fall down funny dudes.

Here are my picks for Week 3 NFL for those of you who care...

Carolina
Chicago
Pittsburgh
Detroit (hoping GB goes 0-3...tee hee)
Indianapolis
NY Jets
Miami
Washington
Baltimore
Seattle
Philadelphia
St. Louis
New England
Altlanta Vicks

"Welcome Home Joey-Joe!!!"

Soooo...my computer is officially broken until further notice (which means until I have some money to fix it, generally). I also have a new jobbity-job. YAY! I start on Monday and am enjoying my last week of free wheeling-funtimes. Spent last night at Rexall cheering on the Oilers and had the time of my life. Today I have no voice. Living on Whyte Ave has its moments, and with Oilers fans galore taking over, it's both good and bad. Last night was a good night, the High- Fiving, the crazy fans...However, Sunday night I will be cursing the masses because I actually have to get up and go to my new work place and endure the the always fun "orientation"day.

My cousin Joe is also home from Japan!! (Do you like the truly ghetto signs My Cousin made?) We went and picked him up today from the airport and he has that disoriented look of a traveller in his eyes. He's not used to hearing so much English, so fast, so he's super overwhelmed. He's having some weird moments trying to avoid the reverse culture shock he is so obviously suffering from. It is so good to have him home! Even if he is sneaking in Japanese into every conversation. It's all a little confusing.















Song Du Jour: Hands Open ~ Snow Patrol

Oh and a photo of the poopers with their lampshades on, as promised:

"Live from the dead mile..." A-Channel reporter

I shall resist the urge to Woo hoo. I will not say Ha Ha. I will not comment on how much I thrilled at the 3-0 Ducks win over The Flames. I will not do any of those things...no I will not. I will take the high road.
Instead I will point out how odd it is that the "New NHL's" top 4 teams in the east are still playing for The Cup but the top 4 teams in the west are out!?!
Does this make anybody else wonder if the Stanley Cup final will be a blowout 4 game sweep? Thoughts? Predictions? Hail Mary's?

Song Du Jour: We Didn't Start the Fire ~ Billy Joel
(actually not a jab at The Flames, this song is stuck in my head because I am reading a novel and one of the character's sings it and they actually had the lyrics in the book...how ridiculous is it that a book got a song stuck in my head?)

"why does it say paper jam when there is no paper jam? I swear to God, one of these days, I just kick this piece of shit out the window" -Samir

Finding a job sucks. I've just been fighting with my printer (which is currently eating my resume) and it reminded me of Samir in Office Space. What I wouldn't do for a baseball bat right about now. You know how it goes...the resume making, the pavement pounding, the sycophantic interview process. I have to go and watch a video at my first pre-employment interview. That's right...a 2.5 hour video with a test of my comprehension level promised afterwards. And that's just the first step and I don't get paid for it...

All I really want to do is watch hockey playoffs and hang with my friends. Actually that is all I have been doing since my last exam on Friday. How about them Oilers? Watched the 6th game here my cousin's house and we all had a moment of bliss when they scored 4 goals in the third. There was jumping and screaming and general mayhem. This week I am taking care of the boys because the rest of the family is gainfully employed so they needed some jobless wonder to dog-sit. That's me! Murphy and Riley went in for the ole "snip, snip" and to get their back claw removed and now they have to wear their "lampshades" and let me tell you they are rather pissed about it, and I don't blame them. Poor pooches. For them the misery will be over soon however, I think mine has just begun. So pray I get a job soon friends and here's hoping the mandatory pre-employment video is a gooder and lives up to the Elections Canada video they made me watch twice. Woo. Hoo.

















Song Du Jour: Touch It ~ Busta Rhymes (Missy E Remix)
"Touch it- bring it - pay it - watch it -turn it - leave it - stop - format it"

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Do Canadians realize we are at war? It doesn't seem like they do. Recently the discussion here at Hack House has turned to the topic of fallen soldiers and the way our government handles the deaths. First I would like to say that I support our troops in every way and when they are KIA I realize that they are killed because they fight for me and the freedoms I have. I mean them no disrespect.

In recent months the death toll in Afganistan has risen and our PM is taking heat for not lowering the flag to half staff and holding press conferences and having huge public memorials.
About 4 years ago we set a precendence in the way we handle the death of soldiers. 4 Canadians were killed in a friendly fire accident and we had a huge elaborate funeral for them and I thought...uh oh, this war just started and this is how we react when 4 soldiers are killed? What happens, I thought, if hundreds more are killed in Afganistan?
And now I can see that there is fallout from that. Canadians need to brace themselves for worse and we need to remember the reason that this war was started and we must finish our job there. We cannot back down and the media needs to stop wondering *if* Canadians think we should be there or not. We *are* there and will be for some time to come and I think it is a disservice to the memories of those who have fallen to ponder why the PM treats these deaths differently than in the recent past.
Does the Military have a protocol they follow for fallen soldiers? Why was that protocol not followed after the friendly fire incident? Public outcry? Short-sightedness on behalf of the liberals?
Although I try to understand the grief of families who lost their sons and daughters I know I cannot know their pain, but on top of must we subject the families to this pissing match over which soldiers get a fancy funeral and which don't? We've lost sight of the big picture here and I just wonder if we haven't set ourselves up for a huge problem as this war we are embroiled in escalates.

I think I have been watching too much West Wing (crack)....I wonder how much time the White House spends on having President Bush call the families of soldiers KIA.

"I thought you had it...."

During the season the old Telus University Cup was replaced by a bright and shiny new Telus University Cup. Apparently, it was just too tempting for a young man who managed to tuck it under his arm and waltz out of the Armoury with it last Saturday night. Nobody noticed.

The team got together and realized that everybody thought somebody else on the team had it. Can you imagine that conversation? "Hey Stanley you took the cup home with you didn't you?"
No?
"Thompson, did you take it?"
No?
uhhh..
Holy crap.

So if you've seen it...please return it to a very embarrassed Bears team.
Now, I have seen many a trophy abused; I have been at a bar and drank out of the Grey Cup, the Panda's have managed to maim the national trophy many times (don't tell the coach) but losing it? This is a new one.

According to the Journal today they have reviewed the surveillance tapes and a 20-25 year old man carried the cup out the door and got in a cab. I wonder if they saved the old cup?

Song Du Jour: Sorry ~ Madonna

UPDATE: Apparently at about 12:30 am Friday morning the police got a call reporting the cup was spotted in a garbage can in the West End (shocker). They investigated and the cup was returned to the team. Good Times.

UPDATE: So Global reports it was found in a garbage can in the West End and now A-Channel says it was found near a school on the southside. That's impressive. Whatever...they found it and I can't be bothered to find out who's more retarded.

"C'mon down! You're the next contestant..."

If you could be on any game show which one would you choose?

I would probably choose Jeopardy because I love that there is some strategy involved in final Jeopardy. I might have a chance at some sweet cash because I have managed to cram all manner of (somewhat) useless trivia into my wee brain and I might not make a total ass of myself. It's also the one game show that has the potential to pay out oodles of cold hard cash. The Price Is Right holds some serious nostalgia for me but I don't want to go on and win some ugly ass brass bed or a catamaran. I'd love to spin that wheel though. One day I hope to go watch that spectacle in person.

Family feud *would* have been my first pick because I think I would rock at that, unfortunately I just have one problem...I'd need 4 other people related to me and well, I don't have a traditional family so I'd never be able to get on.
So Jeopardy it is, I guess.

Song Du Jour:In a Big Country ~ Big Country
ahhh the 80's! They played the first few bars of this song at the Oil game last night and now it is stuck in my head. Good keyboards.

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love the most is soap-on-a-rope." Bill Cosby

The miracle of life is amazing in itself but when your drinking buddies become fathers it is something to behold. GT and The Duke are now the proud fathers of healthy baby girls...Apparently The Karma Gods have a sick sense of humour.
Here are some photos of the wee bairns...




above is Kai's beautiful little sister Mika in pink, born last week. The sleeping beauty is sweet, little Kishina born last month. It is official we are now completely out numbered by offspring in my group of friends.

"What's wrong with a little destruction...."

Last night I did something I never thought I would ever do. With fourteen minutes left in the third period of the Oil game I got up and had to walk away. I snapped and had to get up and leave the bleeds and get away from the spectacle. I just couldn't take it any more.

It was completely irrational. I know it. I lost it shortly after yet another bad call put us on the penalty kill, and with a goal called back and screaming Flamers fans surrounding me, I thought I might assault the guy behind me so I got up and walked away. And I am one of those people that shakes my head at people who leave the game early to "beat the traffic" or what have you. I have no idea what I will do if we have play Calgary in the first round of the playoffs. I used to enjoy the rivalry and now I find it unbearable. Is it just me or is The Battle of Alberta turning into some sort of horror movie I must watch huddled in fear under a blanket, my left arm tingling, just hoping to God we don't coil one up and hand the flamers another win?
I hate being a poor loser and that, in sum, is exactly what I am.

Song Du Jour: The Fallen ~ Franz Ferdinand

Holy Snow!

Just in time for Spring!

Watched the Oscars last night at my very first Oscars party. I've never watched the whole thing all the way through and when Altman was giving his speech it dawned on me that I would have changed the channel and probably missed the rest of the show. It was a good party-- good food, fun games and plenty of laughs. I was happy that Clooney won and "Crash" taking the Best Picture Award was great.

I went to the Preds game agains the Oilers yesterday. The Matinee performance was a bit lackluster but we won it in overtime. Sadly I am still rather unimpressed with the play of #6 'Sissy' Spacek. He certainly gets enough ice time so he must be doing something right, but when I watch him play he seems out of position and he takes too many shite penalties. They also called a diving penalty against the Preds which was hilarious. The dive was well executed and our section gave it a 10! The playoff buzz has already got me and with the trade deadline on Thursday I am looking forward to a brand new, shiny goalie for an early christmas present!

In other Hockey news....The Coors Belfast Giants have finally realized the embarassment of Theo....

"Theo Fleury started well setting up Curtis Huppe for the first and only Giants goal of the game after just 37 seconds but a series of outbursts led to a match misconduct being awarded in the dieing seconds of the game which will see him joining Ed Courtenay in the stands for the penultimate game of the regular season again Nottingham on Wednesday evening."

My friend JT became a father on Friday! Baby girl Kishina Annish was born 8:24 PM Friday March 3. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Congrats to JT and Ashish. Looks like there will be a trip to Calgary in my future!

Song Du Jour: Perfect Situation ~ Weezer

"The world's still spinning around we don't know why Why-why-why-why-i-i..."

Cripes...The Olympics rock. It is a good thing it is reading week this week
so I can watch hockey. It's interesting to see the new NHL rules at work and seems like a prelude to the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals.

Here's how I think it will end up:

Gold - Russia
Silver - Finland
Bronze - Czech Republic

Apparently the weather finally found us, basking in the glory of the Winter sans neige, and decided it was about time to end our boot-free existance. Booooo!

Shite! Ovechkin just freaking scored.

Song Du Jour: Oasis ~ Champagne Supernova

Travelling Vicariously....

"It's been a flower-filled couple of days. We arrived in Chiang Mai Saturday night and were met with a city filled with flowers. They were all around! On Sunday we visited the floats. Each float was made with millions of multicolored fresh flowers. They were incredible with themes from the king of Thailand and his prized dogs to elephants and gardens." ~Lush photos from my travelling friend, Meaghs.

"I'm too tired emotionally and physically to talk about this anymore," Gretzky said.

I don't understand why the allegations against Janet Jones have caused such upset. People are talking about this huge black eye for the NHL. What EVER. First off they are only allegations and the media has spun it in a way that it's as if she killed somebody. Seems like guilty until proven innocent is the name of the game and I blame an over zealous media for that.

People place large wagers on Sports?!?! Wha???? Say it ain't so...who knew that this was going on?!? oh the outrage. (that's sarcasm BTW)

In my opinion this little revelation ranks up there with the "news" that Kate Moss does coke. Holy Shocker!! I know we were all stunned, stunned, to find out that supermodels like the nose candy. Thanks Captain Obvious. Frick What's next? Next they'll be telling us that politicians lie, or that plumbers are ass-crack exhibitionists.

People were even calling for Gretz to stay home from The Olympics and that's just shite. This has been so overblown by the media it makes me shake my head. Am I the only one?

Song Du Jour: City of Blinding Lights ~ U2

"usually the crazy ones play defense..." - Tiki Barber

Tiki was on Letterman last night. Letterman asked Tiki, "you know what the problem is with Eli Manning?"
"What?" Tiki says hesitantly, and then cringes awaiting the answer.
Letterman says, "He's only 14 years old..."

Holly Robinson Peete was on Martha yesterday talking about the Superbowl and Martha was all, "oh yeah I think I'll go to the Superbowl...*I* have friends in Seattle and it is so nice there this time of year."
Martha blathered on (and on) about the rain in Seattle, etc... until Peete leveled her with, "uuuhhhh, but the Superbowl is being played in Detroit ya dumb ass."
Priceless.
But that's not why I came to post originally(...although I am getting excited for, as Martha calls it, Superbowl Day!)

The Oscar Nominations are out today!!
Who do *you* think will win?

Here are the nominations:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"

BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"

BEST SCREENPLAY
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Steven Gaghan, "Syriana"

BEST PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Larry McMutry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Howl's Moving Castle," Hayao Miyazake
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," Tim Burton
"Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit," Nick Park

BEST FOREIGN FILM
"Don't Tell" (Italy)
"Joyeux Noël" (France)
"Paradise Now" (Palestine)
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" (Germany)
"Tsotsi" (South Africa)

Song Du Jour: Better Man ~ Pearl Jam
"She dreams in color, she dreams in red..."

"Tag, you're it"

Four jobs you've had in your life:
Cashier at Canadian Tire
Server at The Olive Garden
‘Information Technician’ for ETS.
Announcer for the U of A Pandas

Four movies you could watch over and over:
Braveheart, Good Will Hunting, Finding Nemo, Rattle and Hum

Four places you've lived:
Rio Terrace
Callingwood
Residence at The Faculty St. Jean
Old Strathcona

Four TV shows you love to watch:
The Simpsons
Law and Order
Coronation Street
The Gilmore Girls

Four places you've been on vacation:
Maui
San Fransisco
New York
Bellville, Ontario (also happens to be the farthest east in Canada I have been, so far)

Four websites you visit daily:
www.ualberta.ca, www.un.org/News, www.nhl.com, www.worldsocialforumlive.org

Four of your favourite foods:
Chocolate, Fresh Raspberries from the garden, Fresh Vegetables from the garden, Roasted Chicken.

Four places you'd rather be right now:
The Cayman Islands, Dublin, New York, Maui

Four albums you can't live without:
Actung Baby ~ U2
The Bends ~ Radiohead
Paul’s Boutique ~ Beastie Boys
All That You Can’t Leave Behind ~ U2

Four vehicles I've owned:
None

"A single day is enough to make us a little larger." - Paul Klee (1879 - 1940)

At my Cousins hockey game on Sunday the timekeeper, father of one of the players, stumbled and fell down the stairs at the arena and hit his head on the boards.
One minute he was holding his granddaughter, watching his daughter play, and generously donating his time, and the next minute his life changed forever.

He passed away last night in hospital after they took him off life support. I feel incredible sympathy for his family and all those who knew him. I'd like to extend my sympathy to them today.

Sometimes it is so easy to forget how precious life is.

Song Du Jour: In God's Country ~ U2

"Wave of The Future"

Have you seen "The Island?"

I don't find myself recommending action movies very often but this one is set in the not too distant future and is rather smart about it. Oh and if you are in it for just plain old pure spectacle then rent this one. The discussion about the word 'Dood' and the fact that Steve Buscemi is in it is enough for this lady.

McCord: Well, excuse me, Miss "I'm-so-smart-I-can't-wait-to-go-to-the-Island!"

oh, and did I mention sexy Ewan McGregor is in it? Double the fun. Literally.

Song Du Jour : Finding Me ~Vertical Horizon

The Twins are almost six months old! We finally get to meet them next month...

"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner

When I started University I found myself fighting my thoughts of how things "ought" to be as opposed to how they are. After 3.5 years of studying international relations I have become somewhat cynical and a lot more realist than even I care to admit. Yesterday, in my seminar on ethics, there was a young gentleman who reminded me of myself 3 years ago. To the delight of some of my classmates he made comments like, "all humans are rational". It was great. I miss being the idealistic one in the class...and although that bright and shiny idealism resonates as pure naivete, there are days I wish I could forget some of the really harsh reality crap I have learned and go back to being happy in my wee little cave watching the puppets on the wall...damn you Plato.

This weekend is shaping up as a busy, busy one. I am working the election on Monday so I have to go fetch my poll with my poll clerk tomorrow, I work all weekend (go pandas!) and it is the most exciting weekend, IMHO, in the NFL because Sunday brings us the AFC/NFC Championships. Dinner with the family will cut into the Carolina V. Seattle game so I will have to miss Carolina lose their panties Sunday night (I hope). It "ought" to be Denver and Seattle in the Superbowl, but the reality might be a win for the Steelers. gross.

Speaking of how things ought to be, why is this election not about electoral reform? hmm?
If I don't get a chance to say it later, this is a reminder to go out and vote all you Canadians. And no matter what Anne McLellan says as she tries to save her jobity-job, when you cast a vote in this country it is *NOT* the person you are voting for it is the party. And if you don't like that well then just jump on board my cozy "how it ought to be" wagon and grab yourself a beer. Even with electoral reform, like say PR, party discipline will still be the name of the game.

booooo, I say, Boooo.

Song Du Jour: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) ~ The Arcade Fire

"Who could give the looby such airs?" -Jonathan Swift

looby (LOO-bee) noun

An awkward, clumsy, lazy fellow. [From Middle English loby, from lob (bumpkin).]

A fellow? Can't a looby be a lady? What a fun word...

Anyhoo...Today in class while I was supposed to be learning about violent weather I found myself pre-occupied by the stench of the Looby beside me. His clothes reeked of cigarette smoke and since the smoking ban here I find I have become much more sensitive to that particular stench. Combine that with his body odour, that greasy hair smell, and the fact that it was 9 a.m....well, lets just say if the class didn't have 440 people taking up all the chairs I would have moved. Did I mention his breath? ugh, I turned away from him and whilst the rest of the diligent students wrote notes about cumulus clouds I thought about how to politely tell someone to take a bath. Not that I would do that to a complete stranger, but one of my friends happens to be dating a man who is awesome except, sadly, he's a bit neglectful with the personal hygiene. We'll call him 'Stinky Daggers' because apparently he needs to trim his nails too. How does she tell him to clean up his act? She's even gone so far as to ask him to take a bath with her just to get him smelling fresh to no avail, his response was, "a bath? no, I'm good."
Uhhhh, no yer not.

Should she dump Stinky Daggers? That's a deal breaker I think. I would call it quits but not before I told him in the nicest way possible exactly what the reason is..."It's not you, it's me..." (and my olfactory system)

Well the wee pups got new duds and I has to post photos because they are just so damned cute.
That's Riley in the Purple and Murphy in Green. Or as Danny calls the colour of the leashes; gay and gayer. The best part was when we were in Petsmart, looking for the least expensive leashes, a certain Deputy Prime Minister seeking re-election was also buying a (much more expensive) leash. I wanted to launch into a big Q and A with her but my Aunt shot me a look that said, don't start all your politics talk in here for God's sake. On that note, I voted today. Yay democracy.

Song Du Jour: Waiting in Vain ~ Annie Lennox

You should see the other guy...

Our little buddy cranked his head on his new "big boy" bed on Christmas morning. It was some Christmas goose egg...ouch.

"An Emotional Mess..."

That's the headline in the Sports Section of the Journal today. It made me laugh so hard I choked on my Green Tea. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mark Messier has retired and he cried and cried and messed up his mascara yesterday. Tonight they will raise The #11 to the rafters and he can start looking for a coaching job. It's like he's the last to Graduate or something. In my mind he is the last Oiler from the winning era (Circa 1984-1990) to retire and that makes it all the more emotional. I'll try to keep it together and not get all veklempt...Let's just hope the Oil can put one in the Win column against the Rangers tonight. Go Oilers Go!

Over the Holidays I had a chance to see the movie "Capote" which I would recommend, you just have to make sure you are not slightly drunk when you see it, or the heat in the garneau theatre will make you all drowsy. Oh and understanding Capote can be difficult at times, but that is the only complaint I have. Nell Harper Lee is also featured in the movie and I had to rent "To Kill a Mockingbird" and watch it again. It is such a great story but, the book is better...but as if you don't know that the book is always better....
I saw "Cinderella Man" and I cried like Mark Messier...It is a really great movie and doesn't veer off the main plot line like that other "overcoming the odds/boxing movie" Clint Eastwood made last year.

Song Du Jour: Gravity ~ Embrace