Get Fuzzy

So lately I've discovered a comic strip called "Get Fuzzy." I just found it one day in my local Saturday funnies and I've been addicted ever since. It's about this wise-cracking Siamese cat named Bucky, his pal, the kinda dim, Satchel the Pootch and their "master" (which is debateable-especially if anyone of you out there have a cat) Rob.


Bucky just kills me. He's so arogant and self-centered (like I said, he's a cat) and Satchel is quite careful not to upset him for fear of Bucky's sinister reprisals. But once in a while he gets Bucky, leaving him frustrated, wondering how this dim dog got the better of him. But overall, Bucky controls most of the situations (at least he thinks he does) leaving Satchel, Rob and Rob's friends scrathing their heads-but from a distance.

A Second NHL Team in Toronto?

If this turns out to be true, it will most certainly tick me off. Why? Well, first off Winnipeg and Quebec lose their teams to American cities and there are some other, perfectly good Canadian cities just clamoring for "big league" entertainment.
The city of Hamilton have been begging for a NHL team since it hosted the infamous 1987 Canada Cup. That request has been continually blocked by the NHL Board of Governors, particularly the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres.
Regina has been (kind of) wanting one since the St. Louis Blues were a hair from moving north to-believe it or not-Saskatoon.

Halifax has also shown some interest (I personally would like to see a team out on the east coast) and the aforementioned city of Winnipeg has a state-of-the-art arena that is only six or seven years old. I mean, the AHL team that inhabits that building now continually draws more people than some southern NHL franchises. Why there aren't more teams in Canada astounds me.
Yeah, I know, it's the politics and the tax burdens. But I think mainly it's the short-sightedness and incompetence of Gary Bettman, who should have been out of there years ago.

So as for another team in Toronto? I say nyet!

The Dark Knight

O.k. I realize I'm posting on this very, very late. I saw this masterpiece on opening night. Actually it was during the midnight showing, so of course the theatre was packed.

Let me start off by saying that Heath Ledger is guaren-dam-teed to win the Best Supporting Oscar for this, postumously of course.

Ledger in the role of The Joker was, in one word, brilliant. He deserves all the awards and adulation that he recieves for this. Even for ones he doesn't. His role as the Batman's arch-nemesis was the best EVER! With all due respect to Jack Nicholson's performance in 1989 (which was a different role, different movie, different time) no one can ever compare to the Ledger performance.

From the make-up (awesome) the voice, the laugh and everything in between, I can never read another Batman comic and not think of Ledger ever again.

If Ledger had not passed on, I could have gladly and easily watched a Christian Bale/Heath Ledger marathon of follow-up movies. Just those two going at it and I'd be more than satisfied. This movie was the most true to any comic-based characters ever and for evermore. That includes Spiderman, Superman, and the X-Men.

Another great performance was that of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. In his portrayal, we got to witness the transformation of a good man's turn to evil in the face (no pun intended) 0f lost love. Gary Oldman as Detective/Commissioner Gordon was excellent as well. But then again, he always is.

Maggie Gyllenhaal was a throw away. The producers should have tried harder to sign Katie Holmes for a reprisal of Rachel Dawes. Apparently she wasn't interested this time around. I'll bet she's kicking herself now, seeing that the world-wide gross for The Dark Knight is currently at $991,822,235 and counting, and sits and #4 all-time, according to the Internet Movie Database.

The only real downfall of this film was the voice of Christian Bale's Batman. It was disappointing to say the least, if not down right goofy.

I would say this movie should also win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan should be Hollywood's new golden boys.

An instant classic. It deserved and lived up to every bit of anticipation and hype it created, and then some.

By the way,
"Why so serious?"

Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon

So I'm at work doing graveyard shift security at the hospital as I have been doing for the last seven months, then word comes along that a legend of the sport of professional wrestling is in rehab in the hospital (for his amputeed leg) just two floors up.
Well, I had absolutely no idea that Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, the man himself was just above me in a bed resting. Wow!

So my partner and I (he made the arrangements with the nursing staff) went to visit him, making sure that he had his breakfast and we weren't disturbing him (I didn't want to be a total mark) and what a class act this guy is. I mean I know I supposed to hate this guy, but he was so cool! A legend in my midst-CROIKY!!

We talked about wrestling (of course) Montreal (where I was born, but not raised) his family and the fact that my sister used to hang out with his daughter when they were in grade school (I don't know if it was his daughter or Luna Vachon) and just people in general.

Eternal Rants

A friend of mine has a MySpace page that speaks to the truth about, well everything that buffoons do to tick her off.
It is quite entertaining, thus the reason it is posted here.

But fair warning: There is a lot of gratuitous language.

Enjoy. And try to keep a straight face, and not let your favourite drink come out of your nose.

Yeah. She's not exactly a people person is she? She's really not that mean. Actually, she's quite cool. But just like "normal"people, she just has absolutely no paitence for ignoramaces.

Harvey Korman...R.I.P.

Another great comedic mind has left us. When I was in my pre-pubescent years, my earliest comedic memories were of The Carol Burnett Show, which was a ahead-of-its-time skit & variety show on CBS from 1967-1978 that had me in stitches every week.

The star of the show was of course the hilarious Carol Burnett herself, who I believe is the second greatest female comedian after only Lucille Ball, but the on-screen antics of Korman and his partner, the legendary Tim Conway is what truly stole the show.
With the benefit of live television, the "gag-reel" of sorts, was the best part of the show. Every week, every fan of the show waited with baited breath to see when Conway would make Korman flub his lines, then mischievously watch as Korman tried to regain his composure.
However, that was next to impossible when Korman would at times just bust a gut laughing-mouth wide open and holding his stomach and everything.
That was, without a doubt the best part of the show.

Any cog that was taken out of that machine would have caused a domino effect and ultimately audience loyalty would have taken a nose-dive, I'm sure. That includes every one from Korman and Conway to Steve Lawerence and Vickie Lawerence (no relation, I believe)
By the way, did you know that Vickie Lawrence joined the cast right out of high school?

Korman was known for not only the Carol Burnett Show, but for various other comedies as well.

i.e.

Herbie Goes Bananas-1980
The Pink Panther Strikes Again-1976
Blazing Saddles-1974
History of the World Pt.1-1981
First Family-1980
The Star Wars Holiday Special-1978
Dracula: dead and Loving It-1995
Radioland Murders-1994

Put the NHL Back in Winnipeg

Since I was nine years old I have lived and died with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (and was quite aware of their former success, i.e three AVCO Cup championships of the 1970s in the old World Hockey Association)
Although, admittedly, they were at mediocre best throughout their tenure in the NHL between 1979-1996 (when the facist politics of the league at the time ripped the team-as well as Jets fans hearts out of the city) making it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs only twice (both times defeating the Calgary Flames only to be humbled-again and again-by the mighty Edmonton Oilers) they were the thing to do in Winnipeg in the winter months-which were usually between September and late May. Can you imagine Winnipeg in the winter without professional hockey?

To answer that, the hockey powers that be saw fit to buy the Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League, rename them the Manitoba Moose (the farm team of the not-too-well-liked Vancouver Canucks) and try to keep pro hockey in the Peg strong as ever. But, although the people of the city are supporting the Moose (just like they supported the Jets, thst wasn't the problem-as I said, politics were) it isn't the NHL.

So, from here, I'd like to post a few other opinions (i.e. other's columns from various sources) onthe subject.


Before you get to those, however, check out this great website dedicated to the Jets, by a Winnipegger and a huge Jets fans, Darren Ford, entitled, JetsOwner.com with a better background and/or history. Plus WinnipegJetsOnline.com, curtiswalker.com (Jets memorial page) and dilawri.com/sites/jetstribute.com (weird name for a tribute site, but cool none the less) and winnipegjetslegends.blogspot.com plus a cool WHA site and one more Jets site ah, make that two.

That's just to name a few. And if you're interested in the Jets draft history, look no futher than here.

But of course, none of these will bring my precious Jetas back; only vision, a salary cap (which we now have) a new, committed owner and a new commissioner will do that.

In the meantime, check out this column about the best hockey team ever to live and their chances of returning to Winnipeg.
Mar 04, 2007 -Cohara

As the dust continues to settle in the post-lockout NHL, it is becoming more and more clear that the league, while it can survive in its current state, would be much better suited following either contraction or relocation. It is VERY unlikely that we will see contraction any time soon in the NHL, but the possibly of relocation is intriguing. Teams like the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators will seemingly never draw major crowds. It may appear that Gary Bettman deserves credit for saving for the NHL and I believe he does; the only problem is, is that Gary Bettman is the reason the NHL needed saving in the first place. The overexpansion of the 90's is what put the NHL into pre-lockout mess that it was in. Markets that never should've been considered for NHL teams, were not only considered but granted organizations. I understand that cities like Phoenix and Nashville have strong fanbases, but they are not hockey markets and those fanbases are barely, if at all, enough to fully support an NHL team.

The NHL took teams out of hockey markets in Winnipeg, Minnesota, Hartford and Quebec, not because these cities couldn't support teams, but because these cities couldn't support teams that couldn't win. In the new era of the salary cap, all of these cities, with the right amenities, could support NHL teams. The argument that the NHL can never be a top professional league is fundamentally flawed. The belief is that, if the league can't contend with the NFL, NBA, and MLB in America, it simply is a failure. Well, simply put, the league can survive without the U.S. In Canada, the league is as strong as ever, with support to put even an another team in Ontario. In hockey areas, like MInnesota, and the Northeast, the NHL is also as strong as ever. Unfortunately, the success of the NHL is based on the success of teams in markets like Florida, Nashville, Phoenix, Carolina, and other markets that most likely never should have been given teams in the first place. There's still plenty of to correct these mistakes, but it's up to a current regime, in Gary Bettman and friends, that aren't very likely to admit they made an enormous mistake in overexpansion.

If it were up to me, I would most likely combine the Coyotes and Panthers, and move them back to Winnipeg. I would move the Nashville Predators into Quebec, finally I would return the Carolina Hurricanes back to Hartford. I would leave it at that for the time being, then re-evaluate the success of the league. I understand that not all teams are going to be successful on the ice every year (and that does reflect in off the ice success), but the league can at least give every organization a fair shot at off ice success.