Drinkin' Stories

Why do people always preface their drinking stories with "I really don't drink that much". Always!

Birthday and Baseball

Friday was my cousin Ian's 30th birthday, and today/tonight we had a little barbecue/beer/cake party for him. Normally, we do a big compbo birthday thang for Ian (15th), myself (23rd), and my cousin Kyle (31st), but as it was Ian's 30th, it was all just for him. It was a good time, I don't think we actually took any pictures, so there's nothing of that ilk to post, but Ian did get cake mushed into his face which was really the highlight of the evening.

Before the party, however, was the Jays game. I entered a raffle for the tickets about two weeks ago, but didn't win. Luckily, one of the coordinators I work with did, and I was informed that she might not be able to use them, and if I asked real nice, she might be willing to part with them. As it turned out, that was exactly the case, so I scored four tickets to Toronto and Tampa Bay (yeah, not exactly a Battle of the Titans, but a ball game's a ball game).

Unfortunately, I'm now .500 for the season, after a terrible call by John "Loogie" Hirschbeck and some shaky pitching resulted in a 5-4 loss. I did, however, score two and nearly three autographs as we got there very early. Gustavo Chacin and Miguel Batista hung around for about 30 minutes signing autographs, and Justin Speier (who I didn't get) did about 15 minutes. I will say, I give these guys tons of credit, they were obviously worn out from just having warmed up for 45 minutes, but they still signed a ton of stuff.

Ideas, people! We need ideas!

So, it turns out that, potentially, the people responsible for last week's bombings in London may be of Pakistani heritage (they're Britons, but of Pakistani lineage). Therefore, I ask, what the hell does Pakistan have to gain by striking London? Or, what would England gain by marching to war in Pakistan?

301 Days Later

You knew that, eventually, I would have to post regarding the NHL and the lockout. It's really a very hard thing to avoid. I do think I did a better job of avoiding it than, well, every Canadian media outlet by not reporting every conversation with the words "lockout", "NHL", "salary cap", or "giant putzes" in it.

Anyhoo, for those that haven't heard, the NHL and the Player's Union have - pending ratification - a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

And the Union got trounced. Trounced, I say. After a year of lobbying on a platform of "No salary cap and no linkage", the 2005-06 NHL season will see a salary cap of between $38- and $38.5-million and a 54% linkage between league revenues and salaries. And there will be a 24% rollback on salaries. And the deal is for six years. Bravo, Bob. Brah-vo.

The chain of events over the last year will, very likely, cost Bob Goodenow his job. It should cost Gary Bettman his position as commissioner as well, since the two are inextricably tied, but he came out unanimously on top, so he's safe for now.

What I don't understand is how it could possibly have taken this long to get it hammered out. The deal is nearly a carbon copy of the CBA that NBA commish David Stern presented to their player's union, since, essentially, Gary Bettman would wax Stern's car with his head if his former mentor asked him to. As soon as the NHLPA realized that they would probably have to concede on one or all of the issues, Bettman should have trucked that puppy right out there and said, "Take it or leave it."

It wouldn't have saved the past season, but it would have been nice to have had a summer without the empty posturing of the last few weeks.

But, with a deal finally hashed out, we'll finally get to hear news from other sports, instead of "updates" about hockey, right? Right?

They're Ev-er-ee-where!

Ben Mulroney and Devon Soltendieck (everyone's favourite tossle-haired MuchMusic...do they still call them Vee-Jays) both had little bit parts in Fantastic Four. Who says they snuck on the set?

Awful!

I may not be in journalism anymore, and I haven't had anything published in a long time, but I still find this disturbing.

A New York Times reporter named Judith Miller was jailed on Wednesday, July 6, for refusing to reveal a source. This is very, very, very wrong. It's caused an uproar around the world, and, hopefully, Judge Thomas Hogan will reconsider and free her. Of course, this is the man that said, "There is a realistic possibility that confinement might cause her to testify."

Urgh.

Things I Learned in Ottawa

• Parking in Ottawa is not plentiful


• Candy stores in Ottawa are more plentiful than in Orangeville


• An apartment roof is a very good place to watch fireworks


• Crystal Light Raspberry Slurpees are wonderful


• So are tiny kites


• The Museum of Civilization is the happenin' place to be on a Sunday


• Well...unless you actually want to, you know, see anything in the museum


• Five hours is nothing when you haven't seen someone in a month


• The Blue Cactus is a fine, fine eatery


• That French guy who drives the yellow Honda convertible is a giant knob


• There's nothing like a good Busker on a nice evening


• It's All Gone, Pete Tong is a very good movie


• The Machinist is a very strange movie


• Four days was not long enough

Highway Philosophy

If a traffic jam disappears without ever having passed an exit, why was there a traffic jam in the first place?