Where have I been?
WINNIPEG - That's where I've been. And sick... :P But I'm better now, and here's the highlights of the last few days... obviously the biggest one is getting my car back. The Strat... she reclaims the streets! Blues are in the playoffs against Winkler, and I'm working in the penalty box in my suit and fedorah. I've never looked so good. Bah, never enough time, I have to stop writing this before I go home...

Another hockey game, if you can believe that
WINNIPEG - Last night marked the end of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's regular season, as I took in a preview of the Winnipeg Saints/Selkirk Steelers game at the Dakota Community Centre. It was kind of a boring game, but it had an exciting overtime finish... the highlight of that game though was two Team Ramrod alumni playing against eachother. Colin Hourd of the Selkirk Steelers, and my main man Matthew Day, who spent most of the season with the Selkirk Fishermen of the Keystone Junior B League, who dressed for this game. Hourd took care of Day (WHAM) the whole time pretty much. That was pretty much it for my day, as I was super bagged. Tonight though, I'm playing hockey with PT and the boys. MJHL playoffs start Friday! Check out www.nhlfa.com/psa

A so-so 4 day weekend
WINNIPEG - What a lot of ground to cover. Let's go right from the start. Turns out the sore throat that came on quite strong on Thursday got progressively worse on Friday. I woke up with a very raw throat, and wasn't able to talk very well. Sick day. But at about 6:00 PM, Merina, Meghan, Nathan and I were off to Manitou for a surprise 50th birthday party for Merina and Meghan's mom, Jennifer. We arrived in Manitou at about quarter to eight, and we went like made to decorate the house while she was out at a Wing & A Prayer practice. The place looked really good, Merina's dad did a great job in getting everything setup and ready. There was about 25-30 or so people there, and she was very surprised! Olivia was there as well, so I was able to give her 10th Birthday mix to her in person. Paul was there too, and apparantly he's been telling Manitou kids my jokes. Uh oh. Anyway, the night was highlighted by the awesome cake, and Dale's winning the paper-bag contest. Yikes. We all got to bed around 3, but not before 1:40 AM hit, and I was officially 23 years old. Whoop. The next day was MY party at the Warsaw House. I thought it went smashingly. I bought Wild Turkey Bourbon, had some of that, but pretty much stuck to Old Milwuakee the rest of the night. I did very fine, didn't get sick, or very drunk, but I can't say the same about our good friend Tim Friesen. The guy was beer-bonging while playing the piano for goodness sakes! So he ended up puking everywhere. The next day was ball hockey playoffs, we lost, and a spare for our team took it so hard, he smashed his stick to pieces. I told him that he should be angry, being a professional floor hockey player and all, he had to perform. It was his life, and he'd better perform, as they're not paying him to do otherwise. In fact, they're not paying him at all! Mwa ha ha. He didn't like that speech very much. Then I saw the Saints play the Blades, and was hoping for my main man Rick Lecuyer to try and play spoiler. It wasn't too be, Saints in, Stamps out. Theeeeeeeen, yesterday, called in sick again, horribly stuffed up (still am), and decided to get my car out, finally. However, it looks like I need a boost to get the ol' Strat back on the highway. Last night, a fully recoverd Tim Friesen, Merina, and Shabs went to see Meagan Simpson's trumpet recital. It was very good! Paul and Olivia showed up too, which was good, as I wanted feedback on the cd I made for Olivia, and it turns out it was good. w00t! I also taught Paul the old "put the toilet paper in the toilet and flush" trick, which he actually tested out at the School of Music :P Kids. They be like sponges. Then karaoke, then home. Now I'm still sick, and I've pretty much short-formed this entry, so tomorrow hopefully I'll have it more together tomorrow, if I'm able to breathe through my nose.
This one's for you, Steven Sleep.

A sore throat before my birthday?!
WINNIPEG - This had better just be a one day sore throat! I can totally feel something coming on, but I'm drinking tons of water, and hopefully I can beat this before Saturday, which is my birthday/birthday party. Any, and all peoples are invited. Warsaw House! I'll also plug Trevor's birthday party, that'll be on March 12. I can't believe I'm going to be 23... it's not that old I suppose, but I'm just trying to grasp on to the whole "being young" thing. Not going out and partying or anything like that, I could do that as an old man if I wanted to (albiet quite creepily), but I'm talking about just having the energy to have fun with friends, go walking, be physically active, etc. I'm just glad I'm feeling nostalgiac at 23, because it probably means that I'm going to value life more than those who take it for granted. But enough of that. Other than Saturday's party, not much else planned other than game 2 of ball hockey playoffs. Hey, the Wheat Kings won last night 7-3! Myself, Brad, Trevor, Danny, and PT went, and had a blast. We were our normal heckling selves, and this time we had help! Behind us were two 50 year old fans behind us who must have had experience doing the same thing hehe... Two catch phrases came from them last night... "BOOM IT!!" we chuckled at that one, only because we thought he was serious. The second one, and the funniest of the night was when Regina's goalie was pulled in place of Reekie, the one guy behind us went ballistic. "HEY, LOOK! IT'S STINKY!" We erupted, it was hilarious! The entire section loved it, except for this one old guy and his grandson. He turned around and faced Brad right in the face when Brad yelled "Man, what are you guys, the Manitoba Moose?" He gave Brad a piece of his mind, and turned around. We then proceeded to shout about how much the Moose sucked, etc. He was not too happy, however, it's a hockey game. Get over it. Anyways, I am about to call my cousin Tim and wish him a happy birthday, then it's off to Warsaw to practice for the party. It's going to be a great show!

Chris Cuthbert, you were screwed.
WINNIPEG - The Day After... yesterday Chris Cuthbert was released by the CBC due to hockey layoffs. Here's where that sits with me. NOT VERY WELL! I mean, they chalked it up to the fact that there's no hockey? Wasn't this guy also the voice of the CFL on CBC? And did other amateur events all over the world? Horrible. They couldn't let Elliot Smith go? Bah. Just watch, TSN, Sportsnet, or the Score is wide open to him, and will pay him tons of cash, and it will their network's most amazing gain since James Duthie went to TSN... yea right. I had to throw in a Duthie jab. But to brighter hockey related news, the Winnipeg South Blues beat the Saints last night 4-1 to remain on top of the Addison Division with 2 games left in the regular season. Winkler can still catch us, however we will still be hosting a playoff series... hopefully against OCN. And tonight, the Wheat Kings are in Winnipeg! Myself, Brad, Trevor, Danny, Justin, and Primetime will be on hand. That will be good stuff. Nothing else really today except I just finished making Olivia's mix cd for her 10th birthday. I scanned it for curse words, and alas, I actually know songs without curse words. As I leave you tonight, let the distinguished words of Sean Connery guide you through your day: "Yes, I'm trying to find Forrester. Have you seen him? Well, if you run into him, tell him Sean Connery is looking for him. He can call anytime after 6, as I work until 5:45..." *sigh* How distinguished!

Tax Return Day!
WINNIPEG - It is indeed a glorious day. I got my T4 from work yesterday, and now it's off to H&R Block to get the taxes done, and get some of my money back from the government that owes me so, so much. After that, we'll see... I'm either going to the last Winnipeg South Blues home game of the year to timekeep, or I'm going to hitch a ride with Rick McPherson to watch the St. Claude Knights face the Killarney Shamrocks in game 2 of their playoff series. I really hope I can go to that one, as I havn't seen them play this year, plus I have friends playing on both teams. That should be interesting. However, we'll see what happens in that regard. One thing is for certain... I'll do either with more money than I had this morning. Also, the Wheat Kings are back in Winnipeg tomorrow to take on those pesky Regina Pats. I'll definetely be in heckle mode tomorrow. Warm up those chops B-Rad, there's bound to be an old couple sitting in front of us you can scream between hehe...

Why I hate Nascar
WINNIPEG - Well, we lost our game against the Pimps & Ho's 3-1. Not too bad considering they're the best team in the league. It's ok though, we have two more games ahead of us before the playoffs really kick in to gear, as we're in the round robin. Juggernauts next week, and the Bulls the week after. Speaking of losing, the Winnipeg South Blues lost to the Swan Valley Stampeders 3-1 last night. No biggie, we already clinched a playoff spot, however we could very well be facing these same Stampeders if they get the cross-over spot, and we're in first. Still on the topic of losing, how about that NASCAR? Or any racing for that matter? If I'm not in the race, I don't give a damn. Seriously though, how do 200,000 people watch the Daytona 500 live, for like, 3 hours? 3 hours of watching cars go by really fast. I'd be amazed about the first 2 times around of how fast the cars were going, and then i'd probably be like "Yea, i've been on planes faster than this. Big whoop." That's just me though I guess, the other guy in the box at the South Blues games swears by NASCAR, and his main man Jeff Gordon. You're supposed to cheer for a team, not a guy! Yowza this, Verrier.

As promised, Details at 11
WINNIPEG - Unfortunetly I did not make it to the show. I woke up at around 8, and I thought "maybe I should wake Nick up..." and promptly fell back asleep. I was quite tired, as my last post was written right before I went to bed. Yikes. I made it back to Winnipeg around 2 or 3. At 7, I had coffee with a friend at the Fyxx. I'd never been there before, but as far as coffee places go, it was good. I had green tea :) The reason I don't have coffee anymore is from an incident stemming back to the year 2000. I was in Killarney for March Break, and my friends got on the topic of espressos, and how strong they were. Thinking my body invincible from toxins (at this point in my life I hadn't drank a drop of alcohol), I scoffed at the supposed power of coffee. They asked if I'd ever had one, I said no, but I mean, come on! No problem. "I can drink 10." They laughed and laughed, and dared me to. What an easy dare to complete. We went to the coffee shop that night, and I saw the size these espressos were in, and I laughed out loud. These cups were so tiny, and they were saying I couldn't drink 10 of them? Bring it. Bob, the owner of the Blue Room Cafe told me that I was crazy, and not to puke on the floor. Still, I heeded no such warning, and I dug right on. 10 espressos gone in 20 minutes. After about 20 minutes after the last one went down the hatch, I started to feel very energetic. Very very energetic... and very dizzy. I was still getting applause from the coffee house, but I mean, I didn't care! I was all over the place. After a while, we all left to Tim Banman's place to get ready to go to Jerrad's farm which was about 15 minutes down the highway to watch a movie. Well, I puked at Tim's (haha) and thought "Well, it sure wasn't the smartest of ideas, but I did it, and I got it all out of my system now. I am so the man." Everybody had left Tim's except for me and my ex, who politely waited behind for me. We started driving to Jerrad's, and I was becoming more and more dizzy and delirious. Haley was asking me where Jerrad's was, as I was the only one that knew the way. She later told me I just kept pointing at roads and mumbling. I do remember telling her to pull over. I got out of the truck, and said I needed to lay down... "uhh Joe, you are laying down." So I was. I threw up again, and from that point on I don't remember anything until much much later. From what I was told, I had tried to grab a pizza out of the oven with my bare hands, and was apparantly talking very morbidly about how I was going to die and how my family would be sad. Did I sleep that night? No. And nothing frustrates me more than when I try to sleep and I can't, and man I tried sleeping that night. Couldn't do it, so I had to make use of Tim's vast cd collection. I listened to some Glueleg, and all his comedy cds hehe... Anyways, his dad got up for work at 7 or so, and he said my eyes were the scariest he's ever seen. He wasn't kidding, I freaked myself out. This was the day before I had to go back to Churchill, but I got a ride with Haley and her brother Brett to Brandon, where we swam at the Sportsplex, and I attempted to eat. I failed at that basic body function as well. So after that, I bus it to Winnipeg, and stay at my friend Joey Klippenstien's place. Did I sleep? No. Again another long and frustrating night. I was on the plane that day going back to Churchill, and on the same plane was a bunch of students from home going back from a TADD conference in Edmonton (Oh man, remember TADD guys?). They kept staring at my eyes, and they were convinced I had either been in a fight, or had been drinking for a straight week. I told them what happened, and most of them thought I was retarded. I agreed with them! Got back home, had school the next day, but I certainly did not go. But I sure did sleep for 16 hours! The moral of this story, is if you'd like 16 hours of sleep, drink 10 espressos in 20 minutes, because I guarantee, it will happen eventually. Well, I have game 1 of our ball hockey playoffs in a couple hours, go Titalors!

A night to play hockey
Now Playing: 54-40 - I Could Give You More (in my head)
ILE DES CHENES, MB - Howdy. I'm in IDC right now at my buddy Nick's place, after a night full of hockey. First off we went to Ile De Chenese to coach 9-10 year olds. Still after all these years out of the minor hockey system, I envy these lucky kids. We had a lot of fun with that, and it was off to Ste. Anne for a league game with I don't know who. They just asked me to play, so I did. Game time was at 10:30 PM, and we played a good hour and a half. It was quite tiring. Ol' Whitey was in full force again, and I can safely say that the hockey hair is working out splendidly. How long will I keep it? Tough to say. I thought I'd be keeping the beard until spring, but it was just time to let it go. I'm the better for it, I think. It's not that cold out here in Southern Manitoba anymore, -9? Give me a break. Winnipeggers are on and on about how cold it is, and it's like, "hey Winnipeg, how about remembering where you live?" Whatever. It's very late, and i'm very groggy. Plus, I have a radio show to do tomorrow. Will he make it? Details at 11.

Hockey tonight!
WINNIPEG - Sorry for the non-updates. It's been a mad week. On Wednesday it was Scott Nolan night once again, as it seems to be happening alot more regularly. However, we got there a bit too late, and there was really no room to sit down. Plus the main guy, Scott Nolan, was in Vancouver. Not saying the band wasn't good, but maybe it meant we should have an off-night as well. We walked down to Cousin's on Sherbrook and talked to Miranda, who just started work there the day before. I hadn't seen her since she went to Quebec back in May, so it was a treat. Last night the Winnipeg South Blues were back in action, and we're in first place! We faced Winkler, who was two points back of us. It was a very close game, 1-1 until Adam Corrin got his 36th of the year with just a couple minutes left. The place went nuts! Both goalies played amazing, and our man Brant Hilton is really starting to get into his comfort zone, which is a real good thing when there's only 4 more games until playoffs. Yesterday was a good day! Tonight should be good too, I'm playing hockey in Ste. Anne with my buddy Nick, and crashing at his place in Ile Des Chenes. I havn't been there in awhile, so it will be nice to do the small town thing again, if only for a night. In fact, this whole weekend is going to be a great one, the radio show tomorrow, Saturday night, and Ball Hockey League playoffs start on Sunday! All good, all good :)

Frustrated beyond consolement!
Now Playing: My James Taylor mix cd
WINNIPEG - Well, there's finally closure. The NHL cancelled the season today, much to my extreme furiousness. Me, being ever the optimist, truly believed a deal could be done. I mean, after philosophical differences were overcome, it was only a question of money, and reports had them at about $4.5 million apart. It's a travesty, and the game that I, and millions all over was curbstomped by these fools. I certainly hope that this is good for economics of the game, if anything, because otherwise this isn't a black eye on the sport, it's a raping. Hockey belongs to all of us, the fans, and real players (not the whiny ones), and for those of us that hockey is a part of, we have been violated. There are those who have accepted this along time ago, and there are those like me who said it's not over till it's over, and it is truly over. Thank goodness for the juniors. My attention in terms of hockey now turns strictly to the WHL, the MJHL, and hey, the Moose aren't half bad. Also, the Detroit Tigers open their doors to pitchers and catchers tomorrow, so that's ok. But enough of that, it's over and done. Merina was pretty lonely as Joey Joe Joe Shabadoo was at work, so I called her up, and we decided to hit up the mall, as I had iPod fever, and I wanted to check it out (didn't buy it, someday though), and after that we went to the University of Manitoba, to the university centre to play DDR... we ended up playing 4 rounds, I hadn't done that in awhile. We're relatively good, so we enjoyed the celebrity. We called it a night after that. OOh, and here's some good news... in the next week or so, I plan on taking the Strat out of storage! To have wheels once again... till the morrow.

Bowling & Karaoke
WINNIPEG - I sure havn't written anything in the last few days. I've either been too busy at work, or out. I'll do a recap of Sunday and Monday for yer. On Sunday, Primetime and I went to play hockey on the outdoor rink at the Bronx Community Centre. The ice was absolutely terrible, the worst I've ever played on. However, the guys we played with were the jetsowner.com guys, and they're a fun group! PT played goal for both teams, and the final score was them 22, us 4. Ouch. From there, PT dropped me off at my brothers place, and we went and picked up my mom at the airport. We went to Boston Pizza for supper, then I rushed to Century Arena to see our Winnipeg South Blues take sole possesion of first place in the Addison! Terrific. Yesterday I went bowling with the IDC crew, and bowled terribly. It was great fun though. Karaoke was on last night as well of course. My songs included Incubus - Drive, and um, er, Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles... haha, I have the unfortunete ability to sing like a girl. Till tomorrow, i'm sure it will be less compact then :P

Kevin Costner, you owe me sleep
WINNIPEG - I spent all last night watching Kevin Costner Baseball Movies. For Love of the Game, then Field of Dreams. I was up until 3:30 am, then had to be up for 7 to get to CKUW. More about that tomorrow, as I am incredibly tired. If you book them, they will come.

The Winnipeg Choke Blues
WINNIPEG - AARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So frustrating. The Winnipeg South Blues/Neepawa Natives Game and Half was played last night. We lost the first game 6-2, but that was ok. We had one more game left to play. We were actually up 6-2 by the end of the second period. Guess what the final score was. Guess! For those who are familiar with the term "Winnipeg Choke Blues," you'd be right if you said the final score was Neepawa 7, Winnipeg South 6. They scored the game winning goal with 43 seconds left. How did the Blues let it get to that point? Well, I'll say they had some pretty bad breaks which led to it. Neepawa was down by 2 goals midway through the 3rd, when the Blue's Ryan Garbutt tried to get the puck with his stick, and it was a little high. It hit a Neepawa player right on the wrist, and right away you could tell he was in extreme pain... both gloves flew off, there was blood, and we're pretty sure it's broken. Garbutt got a 5 minute major for slashing and a game misconduct. On the ensuing powerplay, Neepawa scored two goals to tie it, and that was pretty much the gamebreaker. It's too bad we lost, as if we had even won one of those games, we'd be tied for first place in the ever so tight Addison Division. However, it was just not meant to be. It's in the past now, so the boys have to focus on a very important game tomorrow against first-place Winkler. Should be a goody (let's hope.) I guess we'll see. As for today, not too sure what's on tap, but it'll be an early night, as Bruce and I have to be in the studio early tomorrow for our show... CKUW is having their fundraising drive, so things are going to be a bit wacky. For those who want to listen, 95.9 FM in Winnipeg at 10:00 Central, or just click here to listen live.click here to listen live. Oh, and only 6 more days until pitchers and catchers report to Lakeland, Florida for the Detroit Tigers Spring Training! The division is ours.

An eventful Wednesday
WINNIPEG - Ba da ba ba ba... I'm lovin' GST cheques. Anyways, I was at the Warsaw House last night, and started a dynasty season with the Vancouver Canucks on NHL 2004. I was doing alright in my first game, but about a period into it, Danny came upstairs and joined in, so he was Calgary. I lost 4-1. We decided to play another game in my dynasty, so Danny's brother Will joined up as the Columbus Blue Jackets to take on my Canucks. I lost 5-1. I then cut my losses, and folded the franchise. We then played a game of Madden 2004, I was the '88 Detroit Lions against the Brothers Johnson, who were the '98 Minnesota Vikings. I won 30-12. Although the story of the game was Will's odd tactics... the same play 7 times in a row? 4 first downs as a result? My defensive co-ordinator needs to clue in. However, we got the win. Also last night I watched Coach Carter. I thought it was pretty good. "Books before hooks" is the motto in that one. Brings me back to a time when I balled in the ghetto... (I havn't forgotten you, Snow Lake point guard. You'll pay for busting up my thumbs you bastard) it was good times. Go Churchill Storm, Go! Also last night, I got a call from my American friend Nathan. He asked if I wanted to sing the national anthem at the Manitoba Moose game on March 5. Heck yes I do! I get free tickets as a result. Oh yes, it's also part of a choir, but hell, I don't care! Free tickets to the Rochester game. It'll most likely be a battle for first place in the northern division. And that's not all that happened last night. Seeing as it was Wednesday, Brock had invited me to see the Scott Nolan Band again at Bella Vista. So I went, and was surprised to see Tim Banman, Trevor, and Ellie there. The band was amazing again, and I actually got to talk to Scott Nolan about his upcoming album and things of that nature. He also mentioned that he would like to come on Beer for Breakfast! Bruce will like this news. On tap tonight, the game and a half between the Winnipeg South Blues and the Neepawa Natives. The two teams played about 3 weeks ago in Neepawa, but the power went out in the second period wit Neepawa up 4-2 I believe... so what's happening tonight is they will play the last period and a half, have an intermission, then play the full game that is regularly scheduled. Kick ass! Plus the Blues play on Saturday and Sunday, so there's lots of hockey happening. Hmm... something witty to go out on... Well, that's my momma!