a broken lull.

wow.
i'm simply blown away.
okay, the Montreal Canadiens were taken out of the playoffs last night so this morning we get the injury reports from the team.

showing us why he's our fucking captain -- without anyone noticing a fucking thing, Saku Koivu played the last nine games with cracked ribs, torn cartilage and a bruised lung!!
with all the hard workd he put in, getting our team riled up, he was also tied for the lead in playoff scoring this year.
hats off to our fuckin captain.

oh god, this is just too much. it makes last night's loss thoroughly irrelevant now. seriously.
i was trying to find links to the Saku injury and i stumbled upon these two smile-inducing headlines (Canadiens fans, start smiling):

+ Kovalev would like to stay
+ Koivu Wants Kovalev to Return

Gainey would be crazy not to sign him. we got enough young players with cheap contracts, and some veterans on their way out this summer. Kovalev's expensive contract shouldn't be a problem. and if Koivu talked that way minutes after a devastating loss, i think Bob knows what to do. there's no doubt in my mind. he's one of the smartest GM's out there. he brought in Kovalev as a rent-a-player a few months ago but this turned out way better than anyone expected. the only thing that could come between Kovalev and Montreal would be Kovie wanting to play elsewhere. but i think Koivu's feelings and the way the team played, and how the fans reacted (finally) to him (fuck, as soon as he had the puck -after he started to score like crazy- the fans went mad and cheered him on. every fucking time. because they knew he had magic hands. man, the guy is a beauty to watch) it's only a matter of time. i hope Gainey signs him asap. (and don't worry, i'll post the news when he gets signed :)

Posted by Anonymous | 9:27 AM |

2004 NHL Playoffs
Round 2

Game 4
Tampa Bay 3 Montreal 1

well, this is it. Tampa leads the series 3-0. tonight's game can be Montreal's last. i have to admit that it looks grim for our beloved Habs players but one thing you can definitely be sure of -- tonight's game will be hard-fought. it's weird, though, because the excitement for tonight's game is not there for me right now and the game's not even 2 hours away. i guess i left my faith with tuesday's heartbreaking loss. but i'm still gonna cheer for my Habs. they'll no doubt come out fighting. i guess they could still come out on top tonight and actually win this game. but one thing's for sure, the guns will be blazing tonight. and there's no place better to do it than at the Bell Centre. here's to a great game. if they play like they did in game 3, we'll have one hell of a show (and this time they won't choke before the clock's actually run out :)

1st Period

well, it feels good to have that first goal! :) and by Nik Sundstrom too! the guy came back a game ago! very cool. and nice pice by Juneau. wow. i still see a lot of room for improvement for Montreal. but we've been tagging their asses for most of the period. thank god. Tampa hasn't been too much of a factor for now. hopefully Zednik's injury won't be too bad and he'll come back for the second period. Modin should be a marked man. but not too much that it takes the players' heads out of the game. they still have 40 minutes left to play. but it definitely feels good to be the team with the lead :)

2nd Period

well. we're back to just not playing smart. fucking penalties one right after the other. come on, guys. we're actually outplaying Tampa again! it's not sad right now. and it's not going to be depressing. but they've got to bring their a game for the third and last period of the game. if not, their asses are on the golf course tomorrow morning. you just know Tampa's gonna get those bouncy type of goals. we gotta be smarter than that. we're letting this one slip out of our fingers. come on, guys. have a great period.

3rd Period

sigh. an empty-netter by Tampa Bay with 55 seconds to go in the period sealed the fate of the Canadiens this season. what a classy move by the home fans, though, to stand up and cheer through those last 55 seconds of the game.

and this is where it ends.

Tampa takes the series in 4 and moves on to battle the winner between Philadelphia and Toronto.

i seriously hope that a) there's a season next fall, and b) that the Canadiens organization signs Alex Kovalev. fuck, they got to. i don't know what Kovie's plans were but i hope they were dashed by his amazing run with Koivu and Zednik in these playoffs. i really want him on our team come next september.

Posted by Anonymous | 5:09 PM |

dvdanswers has some specs for the Region 2 set of 24: Season 3. you know one thing i've been really hoping Fox puts in the set? the NHL Spots Kiefer did last season. they could put them in as easter eggs, i don't care. they were shot from CTU and i think would make a cool little addition to the set.

anyone know where to reach the guys who make these decisions?

Posted by Anonymous | 1:27 PM |

here's the 24: Day 3: 8:00 am - 9:00 am thread. use it wisely.

well, for the person who could be looking forward to my thoughts on this episode, we've hit a little snafu. see, the roommate is housesitting all week-long, until saturday, and she asked me if i wanted to watch the last two episodes (she still hasn't seen last week's episode) when she comes back saturday morning. now, i usually watch them on my own and then one more time with her. but i can't do it anymore, especially with only five episodes remaining. it kind of defuses the tension with the storylines because you can actually see how they prepare things for the unsuspecting audience. so i'm gonna wait till saturday to watch the 8 am episode. i'll post my thoughts then :) thanks.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:02 AM |

well, you enter contests and ... well, there you go.

if you're quick you can catch my name on the indieworkshop front page. yep. i rarely enter contest but a couple of weeks ago i sent in an email for this Sigur Ros contest. and yesterday i get an email telling me and three other dudes won :) then i check the page to see what the prizes were ... and i see that ::i:: won the grand prize :) Sigur Ros' ( ) album (which i already have but that's okay, i'll pass it on to someone else) and the Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do ep that i never really got around to getting. how cool is that? :) i rarely win anything but every now and again i seem to get lucky (i won The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi album a few years back). two days ago i entered a bunch of dvd contests. lol. (and no, it's not because of the Sigur Ros contest; i learned about that one last night.) i hope this bodes well 'cause i really want that Kids in the Hall set.

::.

wow. atrios has some cool bit of news for us. first off, Karen Hughes is French -- born right in Paris, actually. ha. let's see the right wing throw some shit at her now. come on :) and the other news is big -- friday night on Nightline, Ted Koppel will be reading the names of the american troops killed in Iraq while they show pictures of the fallen soldiers. this was probably spurred on by the pictures debacle, i think this is great news and shows a lot of balls on ABC News' part. i applaud you.

Posted by Anonymous | 8:57 AM |

2004 NHL Playoffs
Round 2

Game 3
Tampa Bay 4 Montreal 3

1st Period

what a game! see? do you think the Tampa players know what's actually going on? lol. shee-it. what a period. and we're hitting the right guys. and we're getting under their skin, it's obvious. i hope they continue playing like this for the next two periods. if they do, we got one hell of a game. god it's fun to be a Habs fan when they play like this. i hope they don't lose the momentum going into period two. see you in a bit.

2nd Period

well, i missed half of the period because this guy came in to sell me this coupon booklet. heard the Kovalev goal but as soon as i sat back down to watch the rest of the period i saw that Tampa had scored two goals while i was talking to the guy. damn. okay, now i see Tampa scored the first goal, then Montreal tied it up and Tampa scored their second after that. cool. we came back from behind. let's do it again. seems the Canadiens pressure has let off a bit. there's no way they won't try to bring it back up for the third period. they know that if they lose this one it'll be 3-0 Tampa in the series and they can't have that. come on, guys! it would be so cool to get a win in front of their fans.

3rd Period

...oh my god. i was so fired up about writing this great third period recap ... but then Lecavalier scores with 16 seconds left in the game. sigh... disheartening. at least we haven't lost this one. yet. shit. the Habs put on a great show in the third, scoring twice. and a beauty of a goal by Michael Ryder, finally finding the back of the net. what a goal. but then, that goal by Tampa Bay. gotta give it to them, though, they seem to always find a way to score a quick goal at the end when it counts. oh, we were doing so good. see you in overtime. hopefully, if we lose it won't be on some lame-ass mistake by our team. hopefully.

Overtime

well, there you go. i don't even think there were 3 minutes played and the Lightning scored. go figure. fuck off. i'm pissed right now.

next.

Tampa Bay leads series 3 -0.

Posted by Anonymous | 7:51 PM |

tonight's the big night -- Tampa Bay vs Montreal, Game 3.

don't try and call me between the hours of 7 and 9:45. thank you very much.
Tampa won the first two games at home. watch out for the Montreal crowd to go fucking nuts for their team. the atmosphere will be amazing.

in other news, i just received three brand-new rental discs (thank you, mr mailman. oh, how i love you):

The Devil's Backbone (Guillermo Del Toro's highly-praised 2001 film)
The Awful Truth - The Complete First Season (Disc 1)
George Washington (The Criterion Collection) (finally!!)

Posted by Anonymous | 3:02 PM |

amen, brother.
thanks to Moby for this one (from last week, but still, this was the first time i read about it, so bear with me). back in 2001 Paul Bremer had this to say:

"The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh, my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this?' That's too bad. They've been given a window of opportunity with very little terrorism now, and they're not taking advantage of it. Maybe the folks in the press ought to be pushing a little bit."

okay. let me get this straight -- so the U.S.-appointed Iraqi governing council designed a new flag for Iraq??? wtf? (i know the U.S. is not the governing council, but it's still handling things over there. how the hell did this get through to U.S. media??) how the hell are you supposed to ::gain:: credibility if you're going to go and still stupid idiotic stuff like this?? first, stabilize the country. then hand over power. then, let them have democratic elections where every single adult can vote. then let that new government and the citizens of Iraq do whatever the hell they want in terms of a new flag. sheesh. we always gotta tell 'em what to do.

something else i wanted to rant about a little: is there really a controversy about Brahimi's comments that Israel's policy is like poison in the region? really? the way i've been seeing it, from reading about it for the past couple of years, is that U.S. has been supporting Israel in their fight against Palestine for decades now. so now someone makes a comment that those policies might be a bit harsh against the Palestinians and now Brahimi's a controversial figure, especially because he's overseeing the handover of power in Iraq? gee, Israel, don't make it look like you have something to gain from the Iraq invasion. please. maybe the U.S. is just on the wrong side?

Posted by Anonymous | 1:17 PM |

wow. i'm seriously impressed. last night a friend of mine finally got to hang out with Chan Marshall :) a friend of hers befriended Chan last year and they were supposed to go see her play at some point but i guess fell through. but last night they went and hung out with her :) how cool is that? and it doesn't look like it'll be a one-time thing either :)

i'm impressed.

okay. changing the subject -- quick q&a:

any thoughts on the Franz Ferdinand record?
i didn't feel like jumping on the bandwagon (three months ago) because the first time i heard the first single i didn't really like it. but tonight i saw the video and listened to it and it was good.

also, any thoughts on the Muse record?
never heard a single from it (and i know it's like 6 years-old by now) but tonight i saw the video and it rocked my socks off. at first i thought it was the new Ash single, i was even sure the singer was Tim, until the credits popped up and it was Muse.

huge thanks.

::.

well, there you go. another great episode of The Restaurant, which is fast becoming my favorite reality show of the season. the producers are somehow pushing for some big showdown in the next episode, an ultimatum, as Rocco put it. hmm. anyone have a feeling this might not go as well as we would hope for Rocco? (actually not for him, but for the restaurant, which wouldn't be Rocco's if Rocco wasn't there anymore. as would the show, btw.) i saw him on a talk show a few days ago. didn't watch the whole thing but i did catch him talking about his other restaurant, the one they "just renovated". the Pacific, or something like that. weird that he would be talking about it and bringing pictures of the new interior to talk shows (alright, i must admit those 10 seconds were the only time i saw him talk). i'm guessing the shows shot either back in november, or just a couple of months ago (there's no snow on the New York sidewalks). but, if Rocco had lost that restaurant, i think we'd heard about it by now. weird.

btw, did they tap the staff's cell phones? we hear Rocco's conversations clearly. and in the one between Drew and Jeffrey, you can definitely hear Jeffrey 100%. and Jeff sounded like a tone-deaf reading off a card. did they re-record what he said? unless they recorded his home phones. that could be it. but his delivery was so uptight. it was weird.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:48 PM |

wow. you know, i didn't like Kill Bill Vol. 2 as much as volume one. i thought Tarantino rambled on a bit much (maybe he extended the film once it got divided into two parts? i don't know. i guess we'll have to wait for the special edition dvd to know). but a Tarantino film, even a rambling one, is always heads above anything else these days. the man knows film. the meat of the film is still there, it's just not immediately apparent. Jessica Harbour's take on the film is making me think twice about my initial decision not to go see it a second time (i saw volume one three times when it came out). very interesting read. now i'm wishing the full version was out in theaters so i could enjoy the whole thing :)

Posted by Anonymous | 8:57 AM |

2004 NHL Playoffs
Round 2

Game 2
Montreal 1 Tampa Bay 3

pre-game

yes! Julien took Dagenais out of the lineup!! fuck yeah.
also, Bulis will be on the top line with Koive and Kovalev. i guess Zednik is gonna be playing with Ribeiro and Ryder, which was a great line this past season. people forget that Zednik was switched to the second line this season. i would've left him on the top line but this could make the second line tougher to beat.

1st Period
2-1, Tampa

well, after what looked like another blowout by Tampa, the Canadiens finally scored a goal, thanks to captain Saku Koivu, at the end of the period. i think we're playing just a little bit better than on friday but the Lightning are still doing almost what they want with the plays. Theodore, on the other hand, is stopping pucks left and right. i can think of two stops that should've been immediate goals. Theo stopped them cold. i think they were stunned too. good for us. here's hoping for a better second period. we're also hitting a lot more. that was obvious. we're taking bodies against the boards, trying to stop them from skating forward. i hope we keep that going through the game. it should slow Tampa down and maybe discourage them. oh, almost forgot the mention the biggest factor we could put in the game -- taking Lecavalier out. he has a temper and we started seeing some of it right at the beginning of the game. we can get under his skin.

2nd Period
3-1, Tampa

now we've got a game! fuck yeah. those are the Montreal Canadiens we know and love! feel the heat? i think we're surpising them. lol. whoa, boy. Lecavalier scores with 2.4 seconds left to go in the period. goddamn. and how disheartening is it to see Souray give the puck away once again, so deep he can't even backcheck. aw well. i hope this just spurs on the Canadiens 'cause up to that point they were owning the Lightning.

3rd period

well, okay. so Tampa was able to contain us and keep us from crossing the red line. at least the period wasn't a disaster. too bad, though, we couldn't go ahead with the pressure we'd been putting on during the second period. we got some action with the six-men advantage in the last minute. two games down. not really worried yet, for some reason. lol. not only because we've been through this once, but it felt like we are kinda playing this time. that second period felt great. hopefully the players'll get a boost from that. Tampa wins the first two on home ice. no big deal. we can win our two games too and if that goes on, we have a game 7 back in Tampa in a week. see, things aren't as bad as people might wanna make it seem. hopefully (again) the coaches can look at that second period and see what we were doing right and get that across to the players again. we can win. we know how to win. it's just a matter of not losing sight of the plays.

hmm. one thing i just realized -- the next game Montreal will be on fire. our fans are amazing! and the players haven't heard the Montreal crowd for the past three games! holy shit, tuesday and thursday are gonna be hellacious. home crowd in Montreal during the playoffs -- a definite seventh man on the ice. the players are gonna get a huge boos out of that.

Tampa Bay leads series 2-0.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:40 AM |

wtf? sunday is Arrested Development's season finale?? already?

bring back the show for another season, will ya, Fox? thanks.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:05 PM |

and it starts (once again) ...

2004 NHL Playoffs
Round 2

Game 1
Montreal 0 Tampa Bay 4

1st Period
no goal

man, the ice must be like gravel tonight. the puck is jumping all over the place. i like how things have played out so far. Tampa is a very fast and able team, cutting across inside the blue line to confuse the defense. but we knew that. Montreal is matching up nicely, though. they're holding their own and playing their style too. no one's owning this game right now. whoever let Souray and Brisebois on the ice tonight should be shot. these two guys, judging from the first period, have no right to be playing playoff hockey. we need to bring our defensive game back up a notch or two. Montreal actually got their physical game going, in the middle of the period, along the boards in the defensive zone, so that's nice. Tampa is way smaller than Boston and this is how you're gonna hold them back behind the net. i like what i'm seeing so far. someone needs to talk to Dagenais (backcheck, you fucking prick!), Souray and Brisebois.

2nd Period
2-0, Tampa Bay

god it's pathetic. really horrible! the Canadiens are not playing badly, mind you, but they're not generating anything. they'll need to regroup and refocus. if not for the next period, then for the next game. they'll be able to get one or two games. and i'll say it again -- Souray and Brisebois have no right to be on the ice tonight! wtf?!? they just stand there, even when they have the puck, they let themselves glide on the ice. meanwhile a couple of Tampa Bay forwards are rushing up to them and take away the puck before the Habs player has time to clear it. fuck. what a waste of a spot in the lineup. good going, guys. you call yourselves NHL players? god it's infuriating! they better fuckin shape up. Canadiens will lose this one. they will need one hell of a comeback to stop Tampa Bay tonight. the offense has been good so far (with Koivu-Kovalev-Zednik generating some excitement at times), but they haven't been able to generate enough plays compared to Tampa. for those of you not watching, don't worry, the Habs are playing as badly as game 1 against Boston. Tampa Bay is just faster and seems to want it more than they do. for now.

3rd Period
4-0, Tampa Bay

well, that was horrible. Souray did make up for his lame attempt at playing hockey by ramming Sarrich right in the face with a punch. damn that felt great. maybe it'll wake him up. the fight came up towards the end of the game and Souray defended his player. about four punches into it Souray hits Sarrich straight in the face. you should've seen it. i swear to god you can see the guy's eyes just open right up a millisecond after the hit regists. lol. watch it in slow-motion :) i hope that little burst of energy will wake up the Habs for sunday's game (which will be played at 4 pm. god knows hockey games are not meant to be played during the day. i hope they're awake for that one).

hopefully the coaching staff will have taken notes, hopefully the team regroups nicely for the next game.

the best players for Montreal tonight were Theodore and Jim Dowd (who, btw, is still playing the most consistently solid hockey of anyone on the team. highly underrated player).

ps. keep Dagenais off the fucking roster! and keep Perreault on the second line with Ribeiro. wtf were you thinking??

goodnight.

Posted by Anonymous | 6:55 PM |

NHL Playoffs 2004
Round 2

Toronto 1 Philadelphia 3
Calgary 2 Detroit 1
Colorado 2 San Jose 5

tonight:

Game 1
Montreal vs Tampa Bay

i'll be blogging this game between periods.

hopefully Souray plays like a professional defenseman this time. he was dreadful in round one. is he still hurt? it fucking looked like it. the guy was a peewee player out there. if Tampa did their homework, look for them to come in on his side. god he was awful. hopefully Quintal will not be back right away. Komisarek played too great a series against Boston to be benched right now. we need him. or if Quintal has to come back, bench Souray for a game. he needs it. Sundstrom is apparently coming back. not too thrilled about that. unless Julien takes Dagenais out. he's done. hopefully he'll have learned from the huge mistake he made in round one and keep Perreault for every fucking game. we also need him badly. and keep the first two lines as they are.

my prediction: Tampa in 6, but i'm pulling for Montreal. if they can take one of the first two games in Tampa, we could be looking at a long series.

Posted by Anonymous | 8:41 AM |

you know, i get pissed everytime Bush and his cronies try to peddle their line about "the United Nations Security Council knew he had weapons, everybody agreed he had them and that he was a threat, that's why they told him to disarm. and he wouldn't disarm." see, this logic makes it look as though the intelligence they got was believed by 'everyone in the world!', so they don't have to apologize for acting on it, see? but, see -- and this is what insults me the most -- they gloss over the little fact that the United Nations did not think Saddam Hussein was a threat. if they did, why did the U.S. need Colin Powell to go make a big (stupid, fuckin') show in front of the entire world to convince them otherwise? how come Hans Blix couldn't find any weapons? how come :: they would not sign :: a declaration fo war along with the U.S.?? they would have if they thought Saddam Hussein was ready and able to use weapons of mass destruction!! don't try to re-write history (again. these guys...).

maybe these guys saw the same evidence as you guys did. i have no doubt about it. but what they didn't do was :: go to war like crazy, rabid dogs ::. which tells us something about you guys now. how come you were so gung-ho on going to war with Iraq? seriously. you're saying everyone was on the same page; how come you're the only ones who went to war. how come 95% of the world was so adamently against it, and you? how come the rethoric changed from "weapons of mass destruction" to "weapons programs" and then to "weapons program-related activities"? now you're coming back with weapons of mass destruction? dudes, that's so 2002. just a bit after 9/11, back when the world loved and supported you like no one ever has.

see, the United Nations had Iraq in check. they had inspectors in Iraq for the past few years. they were monitoring their activities day in and day out. they didn't need to go in and bomb the damn country again. Saddam was a bad man, yes. but he was no threat to the world at large (maybe to Israel... who knows). but. BushCo is trying to bring in the U.N. (now, after saying for months last year that the organization was most probably bullshit since it wasn't agreeing with it; same for 95% of the countries in the world. good going, George) into it's little justification for war. i can't believe they have the gall to say this people's faces.

the only thing Iraq achieve was divert funds and an enormous amount of troops from the actual War on Terror. if i'm fighting a fiery gang war in my neighborhood i'm not gonna stop in the middle of it to go after the guy who stole a candy bar.

rant done.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:34 PM |

i finally watched tuesday's episode of 24 [ click for my comments ]. lol. i'd been planning to watch it yesterday afternoon but totally forgot about it and then realized i hadn't watched the show very late last night :)

btw, Frank has the funniest quote with a bit of good news (but was anyone seriously worried about it not coming back? come on):

Ending no small amount of speculation, Fox has confirmed that 24 is coming back for a fourth season. No word on whether or not Keifer will be back as Jack Bauer, or if a days of horrors and indignities will be rained on someone else instead. I think they're grooming Kim to take the lead - they've already established her amazing espionage skills and willingness to shoot anyone and everyone. I think she's racked up a higher body count than Tony by now.

any geek out there rush off to try sylviaimports.com? well, go ahead! i totally forgot to after the show but i wanted to. they used Saunders to get a message through to us :) nice. i was expecting a small website but this is more than cool enough :)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:39 AM |

weird day today, weather-wise. it was supposed to rain some during the day but i don't think it has yet. it's been kinda cloudy for most of the day but this afternoon you could actually see the light fade away as the dark clouds appeared to position themselves over the region. and it's windy as all hell. kind of a storm-perfect day. but it's not raining. i don't think it's gonna.

anyway. so that's the weather for ya today.

after much review-reading, i went out with the good intention of buying a shitload of albums this afternoon. but since store availability can suck sometimes here, i was left wanting more. thank god i didn't splurge on anything to avenge my thurst, though. i must be growing up :)

anywhoo. the lucky winners are:

Ghostface, The Pretty Toney Album
got it because i heard so much about "Tush". and i like Ghostface too. i didn't have to get it today but since it came out yesterday it was super cheap.

Memphis Bleek, M.A.D.E.
i got The Understanding last week at the used record store. and the damn thing can't seem to get away from the cd player in my car! surprisingly so. that's a damn good album. i hate proteges but Memphis B sure doesn't fit the usual description. M.A.D.E. was a high-profile release so i got it. this one was also rightly-priced :)

Usher, "Yeah! featuring Lil' Jon & Ludacris"
this sweetened the bad taste not being able to find more albums from my list left. sweetened it by twenty! i was so happy to finally find this single. i didn't wanna have to buy his crappy r&b album but i love (lurve) the single. plus, it includes the Neptunes' track, "Sweet Lies". it was supposed to make the album but somehow was left off at the last minute. folks were waiting to get their hands on the proper copy. i'm so thankful it made it's way onto this single, though. two-for-one. very cheaply too :)

btw, i've been listening to the Wu-Tang's The W album (by mistake. i wanted to listen to the second one and i'd switched #2 and #3 on the shelf) all day. and i know it didn't get too many great reviews (none have since 36 Chambers) but i like the damn thing. and everytime i listen to an album produced by RZA i just can't deny how right Quentin was in getting him to produce the soundtrack to Kill Bill (right now, "Jah World" is playing. check it out. totally perfect). i'm telling you all this because i wanted to prop up a song on the album that catches my ears everytime it comes on -- "I Can't Go to Sleep (featuring Isaac Hayes)". this damn thing is epic and yet amazingly intimate. a great song.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:31 PM |

oops. almost forgot about this one. what with me seeing Kill Bill Vol. 2 tonight (very incomplete thoughts right now. can't dissect. immediate reaction -- good, with some great, amazing even, moments, but like the first part a bit slow to start rolling) and the new episode we got not two days ago.

24: Day 3: 7:00 am - 8:00 am

the tuesday night thread. please share your comments. thank you :)

:: wow. what a boring episode! lol. shit. compared to the last one we got this was a snooze-fest. starting things off with a busted surprise that Kim would be the one sitting in for Jane Saunders. dude, we figured it out as soon as Tony told Chloe to look for possible matches for Jane. then we had to sit around and wait for them to catch up with us and realize that, gasp, Kim was the ::only one:: possible right now! boring. oh well.

the good thing out of all the episode's intro was we found out that, yes, Chappelle indeed was dead. the writers couldn't resurrect him. good.

btw, how lame is Chase (aka the writers) that he can't figure out a better way to tell how many people the Infected Guy came in contact with at the pharmacy? hello... security cameras, anyone?? so this and the lame Kim-as-Jane lines were the weakest parts of this episode.

now. the good parts: Jack getting all in Tony's face about Kim going in the field. that was cool. and Jack is always fun when he's wearing his Travis Bickle uniform too :) Kim finally had a good scene when she too was confronted by Jack and pushed up against the wall. the library scene was good ... until Kim got up and walked straight into the arms of yet another kidnapper. i was actually happy when i heard the shot being fired and it looked like, yes, Kim had been shot. but no. the guy falls to the ground. oh-hum. as soon as she'd been kidnapped i thought, they can't hold her for too long 'cause she's been kidnapped, what -- a total of four times now? so the only way out i could see was that she would be killed this time, finally figuring a way out for a badly written character. but no. they kept the bad wig-wearing Kim.

what was the kicker at the end?
i can't remember. there was no suspense. at all. shit. i can't think of it.
nope.

oh. another good bit, probably the best one, was the infection estimate (yet another chart! but this one was good). how the fuck are they going to trace every single person??? fuck, they can't figure out that you can just watch footage off a security cam to see who was at a pharmacy, how the hell are they gonna do this? this line looks better. kudos to the writers for having balls and pushing the storyline to its limit.

btw, i'm tired of having the Palmers relegated to playing the greek chorus on this show. it seems everytime they talk together or bring one other person in these past episodes they just seem to rehash what's been happening so far. dudes, we get it. we've been following for a while now. new people are gonna get it if they watch more than 15 minutes of the show. stop it. stop condescending your audience. plus, you're wasting precious screen time.

btw, Sean Callery seems to be the one constant source of inspiration on this show. what a job he's been doing. so kudos to Sean.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:30 PM |

Kill Bill Vol. 2
tonight. 6:40 pm.

i'm psyched.

(and it's a 134-minute Tarantino extravaganza. who wouldn't wanna sit comfortably in the dark for that?)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:12 AM |

i'm sad i've gonna bump the wonderful Canadiens win for this but i just had to mention how incredibly interesting Mark Burnett's The Restaurant is. i'm not a fan, i only watched a few episodes towards the end of last season, but i was once again riveted to this show tonight. i dunno. i'm not gonna tape it but there's just something about it that when i start watching it i gotta stay to see what comes next. and Rocco, don't get me started on that brat. he's got charm and probably some talent in the kitchen, but that dude's one spiled, attention-seeking brat. what i like about the show is how they can show that he's an ass (without making him out like an out-and-out bad guy). this is one of the few shows where i don't feel manipulated into feeling good or bad about this or that character. we're not told what to think. like the cameras, we're just witnesses.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:18 PM |

THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!!

the MONTREAL CANADIENS WON the SERIES against BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fuck me...

score was 2-0, including an empty net goal.
game was tied 0-0 after two periods. i think Zednik scored his first goal (he got the two) with 6 minutes left in the fucking game!

oh my god, i can't believe this.

Boston outplayed our little guys but we came through when it mattered. and scored. but fuck Souray. man, that guy had me having heart attacks over and over again. we need to get our defensive plays in better shape. and keep Quintal. we're doing just fine with Komisarek.

what a boring, but amazingly nerve-wracking, game. wow. intense.

two goals for Zednik. nice...
and Kovalev. man, that guy sure can play. and he threw his body a lot tonight, which was a nice thing to see. the man is huge.

woo!
okay. i think the next game is friday, right? that leaves them a couple of days to get back in shape and do some real practice work. we weren't that amazing these past few periods.

but Theo, although not amazing, was cool as ice tonight. wow. he was just always there at the right time, pucks kept hitting him right in the chest. a solid performance.

next stop: Tampa Bay, for the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
(who the fuck ever thought the Habs would get to round 2??? no one! not even me. i was just happy with them winning as many games as possible against the mighty Boston. i told you before, this is just cherries on top :) and my picking my two weeks vacation this week and next week paid off -- i'll be able to catch almost every Montreal game of the next series :) it was a gutsy pick on my part but it paid off :)

(and it's official, there'll be three canadian teams in the second rounds :)

Posted by Anonymous | 9:38 PM |

The Sopranos, season 2
episode 1

wow. what a comeback!
it'd only been two days but i realized i'd missed these guys already. lol
i'm gonna watch an episode a day. i got the first two discs of that season 'till sunday.

i loved the intro with the "when i was 17..." song. and Chris' intro, with the asian guy taking his business test for him, was the best :)

happy to see they didn't let up one bit in terms of quality for their second year. a strong episode and they're not changing the slow, natural pace of the episodes. they're letting the actors breathe and think on-camera. great scene between Tony and Melfi at the diner. i wonder how he'll get back to seeing her again, though.

btw, is Pussy the same actor? it's close but i can't tell for sure. the one in this season (if it's not the same actor) is the one i know from all the talk shows. but. i was trying to figure who he was in season one and i couldn't positively identify him, Pussy, as that guy. weird.

Posted by Anonymous | 6:31 PM |

tonight's the night. and i'm not talking some Phil Collins' wannabe night either. tonight's the big game the Montreal Canadiens are giving us fans -- a fucking Game 7. the one no one in their right mind even attempted to dream of a week ago, much less after losing the first two games. but then something happened. they started playing real hockey. the one we know they have in them. then they came back from a 3-1 series. first thursday night with a solid 5-1 win in Boston, stunning the Bruins fans into doubting their team. they looked like fools out on the ice. then Montreal came back saturday with a 5-2 victory in front of their loudest crowd this season. the fans loved it. i'm not predicting anything since this is playoff hockey. i'll be giddy beyond belief if they win but i'm not looking for that tonight. no. tonight i just want them to show us what they can do on the ice. if they lose, they earned the respect of a lot of hockey fans out there by coming back with such solid performances when everyone had already jumped ship.

wtf?? Condi and Georgie Boy sitting in a tree...

Kerry actually takes on the Saudis and the White House. wow. i'm impressed. i thought this issue was long forgotten. and John Kerry is the one taking this up. very cool, indeed.

white men and their guns. Cheney and the NRA caught in a circle jerk.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:22 PM |

a reminder:
24: Day 3: 6:00 am - 7:00 am

tonight. 9 pm on Fox/Global.
post your thoughts here.

immediate blogging, 9:49 pm :: i knew it! they pulled a Silence of the Lambs!!

fuck. now there's no way Chappelle is getting out of this alive.
for the first time this season i really feel like there's no way out of this situation. congrats to the writers for this episode.

i picked a good week to start watching The Sopranos and discover Paul Shulze, Ryan Chappelle, as Father Phil, giving me more sympathy for him, uh?

the episode, 10:00 pm :: ...anyone not teary-eyed... ?
fuck.
shit.

and first off -- a big FUCK YOU to the ASSHOLES over at FOX for putting the wonderful image of Jack standing behind Chappelle, execution-style, in the trainyard in the fucking trailers! you fuckwits still don't know how to do your fucking job!

but, wow. what an episode.
i liked the scenes between Jack and Chappelle, and Jack and Tony. it felt like we were experiencing some real acting for the first time in a long time (just two guys talking).

and boy am i hoping God will forgive Jack for what he did... lol. good to see Jack's mind is in the right place just as he's about to shoot his boss, execution-style :)

oh, and Chase is the man - taking down five men with his crew in a matter of seconds. but the end of that sequence, even though i thought of the possibility that they might pull an agent Starling mistake a few seconds before, was one shocker. not that the apartment was empty, but what it meant for Chappelle. that whole ending was just... there was just nothing they could do after that. he had to die. what a devastating episode.

now i'm glad we're getting another one in just 47 hours, though :)

man, the 24 Forum over at Fox are alive tonight :)

tuesday april 20, 2004 :: i just showed the episode to my roommate. she had trouble standing up and walking after that ending :) i must also say that it worked a second time for me. this was truly one of the most intense episodes ever.

Posted by Anonymous | 5:16 PM |

2004 NHL Playoffs

Game 6
Boston 2 Montreal 5 !!!!!!!!!

there WILL BE a GAME 7.

i'm stunned. they were down 3 games to one. i think everyone in the NHL is stunned.

tonight wasn't a blowout like the score might lead you to believe, though. Montreal played a good game (one in which Langdon scored!! haha. you shoulda seen the permanent grin on that guy's face :) and, as expected, Boston came back into the game in the third causing me to hold my breath everytime the Bruins got into our zone. Boston managed to come back to one goal of tying the Canadiens in the third period. but then with about a minute left Sullivan pulled Raycroft out of the goal and the Canadiens managed two beautiful empty-netters -- one by Kovalev (this guy is so not done with his hot streak :) and Bulis (with 3 seconds left).

and Begin, what a player. of course we already knew this. when he's playing, the team just plays better. he just loves to play and it shows. but last night (his first game back; he was an agonizing game-time decision) he ate the boards while trying to hit somebody and immediately went to the locker room to see a dentist. well. he came back in the game!! i'm not shitting you! he had the full visor on and his mouth looked like hell, but the damn kid came back in the game. and his play wasn't even affected!! for fuck's sake. this is a player. show that to kids everywhere.

a big fuck you to everyone who were jumping off the Canadiens boat when they went behind two games to none at the start of the series. thank you for not believing. i'm not saying they're gonna win the series. no fucking way. it's definitely not over yet. there's still a game to win monday night. but it's great to see them fight their way into a game 7 after trailing 2-0.

this is only the first round but it's been feeling like the final game of the playoffs for the past two games here in Montreal :) see you all monday night.

i would just die if the Canadiens won game 7 and wiped Boston out. but. i'm seriously just happy to have seen them come back from so far behind when almost no one believed in them anymore. tonight was just the icing on the cake. forcing a game 7 was my dream wish and it came through tonight. everything else will just be adding cherries to an already delicious run :)

ps. the fans cheering the american anthem was one classy touch. a few games back a few fans in Montreal booed the anthem. the next game the Canadiens had to bring out Jean Beliveau to tell the crowd to be respectful of both anthems. but tonight's show was touching. what class. of course then the cheers just went up to 12 when the canadian anthem was sung :) but a point was made. i was proud.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:47 PM |

two periods down, one to go, and it's Boston 1 Montreal 3 !!

what the hell is happening here??? Boston is being outplayed, but not only by the Canadiens. it's amazingly obvious that they've lost their will to win. the third period is gonna be one amazingly brutal period. i do believe Boston will come out fighting. there's no way a team like the Bruins will take this lying down. they've been sleeping for the last 30 minutes but the guys will take advantage of the intermission to wake their teammates up. hopefully the Canadiens do the same and don't think they got the win already. the Bell Centre is electrified beyond belief.

Canadiens goals (so far) - Koivu, Langdon, Perreault.
and Komisarek is playing one hell of a physical game. and the guys are not afraid of hitting anything that moves. it's amazing the shift in attitude over the past four games for these guys. it looks as if the Bruins are cowering into submission. it's impressive if you're a Habs fan. btw, the fans in the Bell Centre are definitely playing a vital role once again tonight.

and remember, if the Habs lose tonight, it's over for them. Boston leads the series 3-2 right now. they could eliminate the Canadiens. but not only is Montreal fighting to stay alive tonight, it looks as if they're fighting for the Cup. lol

Posted by Anonymous | 8:54 PM |

my god. you actually need to go out and publicly correct your President's errors now?
50 tons of mustard gas was not found on a turkey farm. the number was less than half of that.
oh, and there were no chemicals. nope. oh, and yeah, Lybia turned over (nothing was, ah-hem, "found") 23.6 tons of "unfilled chemical munitions". and it wasn't on one farm. it was spread across all across the country.

so, way to go Georgie boy!

thanks to body and soul.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:03 PM |

my two-week vacation from work started 13 hours ago :)

last night after work i actually went out jogging again. whew. i'm glad to see i'm keeping this up.

so what does sam's first day off entail, you may ask yourself? well, let me tell you. (i'm hoping last night's jog was a nice precursor to the next two weeks.) this morning started out with some emails, finally a first listen of The Decemberists' Castaways and Cutouts (nice! and a lot less quirky than envisioned), and the viewing of episode 10 (it was actually episode 11!! fuck, only 2 left. lol) of the first season of The Sopranos. and what an episode too! wow. i think this was the first one that featured a cliffhanger. and a somber one at that. but i'm not watching the next one right away. i'll keep that for later on this afternoon, sort of as a motivation to get things done today.

this afternoon i shall visit Pizza Hut and get some pizzas. and then swing by the grocery store and buy some good food. then, tonight, the main event -- Boston vs Montreal, Game 6. that's the reason for the pizza. this is what i've been wishing and waiting for. i really don't care if the Habs win or lose. of course i want them to win. but them just fighting their way onto a game 6 is well enough for me. as long as they play the best way they can tonight, i'm a satisfied fan all the way. now, if they actually beat Boston tonight i'd be the luckiest, happiest man on earth. this would mean a game 7 in Boston monday night and a 50-50 chance at going into the second round (against Tampa, who won their series last night).

Posted by Anonymous | 12:40 PM |

2004 NHL Playoffs

Montreal 5 Boston 1

YES! YES! FUCKING YES!

my dream actually came true!
we're coming back to Montreal, folks! :)

"We absolutely wanted to have a Game 6 in Montreal.''

and it's a weird win because even though i was working i was able to listen to it on the radio from the half of the second period on to the end of the game, so i was able to follow it and was happy about that, but the surreal nature of the win was amped up by me not seeing the plays. i couldn't believe it everytime a Hab would score. i would wince everytime a Bruins player came into our zone. but then heard that Theo had made a save and hearing those Boston fans stunned. what a game. i was grinning from ear to ear after the game was over :) i was so happy. everyone at work was happy. not many people gave them much of a chance last night. i did, though. i wasn't 100% positive but i knew they could play well if they really wanted to. and they did. boy did they play a great game. and for once the penalties on the Bruins were called in the third period. boy were they pissed and undisciplined. i was glad to see Mike Sullivan (the Bruins coach) say so during his press conference after the game. they could've come back up after they made it 3-1 in the third but they took so many stupid penalties. especially Thornton. boy is he really playing injured. they tried to cover it up at the start of the series but it's obvious. the man is not himself. he must be pissed.

and the Bruins are just not playing well. they seem out of place, not playing as a team. and that's good for us 'cause one thing we definitely do know how to do is how to take opportunities.

not only are my Habs alive, they fucking rocked! and ...i get to see a Game 6 :) and it will be one hell of a game. and if they win that, i'll get to see Game 7 as tonight's my last evening of work. starting at midnight tonight i'm on a two-week vacation :)

Theodore finally played a great game! he should be on from now on. fuckin-a.
and our first line was awesome; each player getting a goal :)

and Kovalev standing in front of the net with no helmet while Rivet shot a bullet from the point. his goal and that play should get him the fans' forgiveness.

what .. a .. game.
thank you. thank you. thank you.

Boston leads series 3-2 now.
hopefully the Habs won't be overconfident and win us game 6, giving us a very exciting final game 7 next monday.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:22 AM |

tonight the Montreal Canadiens will be playing to stay alive as the Boston Bruins lead the series 3-1. i still want to write updates about this series after tomorrow, dammit! please help my wish come true by saying a little prayer today. my team really needs it. thank you :)

btw, despite tuesday's heartcrushing loss in double overtime 'cause by one or two of our guys, we are still in this series. we've shown that we can win against Boston. we've outplayed them in the past three games. this is not over. i only realized this yesterday but it's so true! our guys are due. Theo still hasn't stolen a game and he'll be pissed tonight. the guys are gonna want to avenge the ugly game from tuesday and if Kovalev plays he's gonna be on fire.

and as i've said before, i want a game 6 because i won't be able to watch tonight's game!! :) seriously, though. there's nothing worse than playoff games you can't see. you just learn the score after all's said and done. it sucks. so yeah, i want them to win, dammit!

Posted by Anonymous | 10:47 AM |

2004 NHL Playoffs

Boston 4 Montreal 3
2nd Overtime

ooh. i cannot bring myself to believe this. Kovalev was slashed on the wrist, was going to the bench as if there was a penalty called, Souray runs into him, taking the defenseman out of play and allowing the Boston Bruins player to come up with the puck against Theodore and scoring in overtime. wow. you can bet your sweet ass that there will be much talk about this play tomorrow. and i'm working thursday night when the Habs could be playing their last game.

fuck. fuck. fuck and fuck.
and there we played some of our best hockey and outplayed the Bruins for most of the game. hats off to Ribeiro for coming off the mega-controversy of the past two days and scoring twice tonight, and to Kovalev who's now the fans' most cherished player (hopefully tonight's last play will go against the refs and not Kovie).

Boston leads the series 3-1. one game and it's over.

Montreal better be bringing their a-game with them, like they did in 2002. they had the fans behind them for these last two games. they were an asset. and now they're going in Boston; the noisiest venue to play. they better shape up as a team 'cause this could very well be the last game for them.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:35 PM |

well, i did it. i went back to the used record store and got all the shit i left there last week because i needed more info some albums. what i brought back: Memphis Bleek's The Understanding; Beanie Sigel's The Truth and The Reason; and the reason i went back there today - Rosie Thomas' Only with Laughter Can You Win, the owner (young 25-ish girl) was so happy i got it too :) this young guy was my cashier but i saw her hovering behind him, trying to see what i was buying. when she saw the Rosie cover she commented on how happy she was someone was buying it 'cause she loved it and couldn't understand why people weren't buying it. score :)

update:
my day just got this much better. between the used record store buys, the day off, and tonight's massive Boston vs Montreal game on tv, i was ecstatic as it was. but then i went to my mailbox and found this -- my amazon.ca order: Beulah's Yoko, The Decemberists' Castaways and Cutouts, and the reason i put in the order in the first place -- the limited edition of Iron & Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days with the bonus disc. this edition will apparently only be out in the U.S. so i was scurrying around trying to find a place that was carrying it. the only place up here seemed to be amazon.ca but even they put a few weeks delay on it. and when my order was to be shipped i checked the site and it had gone into another couple of weeks delay. i emailed them and it strangely shipped that night. i wasn't gonna be happy until i saw it for real, though. now i'm happy :)

damn near genius post about George W's vacation time. worth it for the title alone.

and it's now official -- there'll be no 24 on Global either tonight. the episode will air next sunday at 9 pm.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:08 PM |

wow. only the writers of Arrested Development would think of changing a free speech zone into a wild cage dance! lol. this show is so not slowing down.

i just saw the Fox May preview for all the show finales. one of the shows was, of course, 24. i closed my eyes for that one but managed to hear what i think might be the most awesome line ever read on 24 (of course it was said by Jack) - and the line was:

"we've run out of time."

simple as that.

now i don't know what he's referring to here. could be anything from now until the end. but wouldn't it be awesome if the season ended on a really dark note and the plot had to be followed into the next season??

this is by far the best post title ever about tonight's presidential press conference.

according to the forums, Global is still undecided as to what to do with tonight's episode. i'm surprised to see them not having made a decision this late in the day. could be good news for us.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:54 AM |

aw, goddamn. Begin is apparently out for tonight's game against Boston. shit. he's the Canadiens' sparkplug. but now that he's been hurt, i do believe the team will be fired up about this. it's gonna be one hell of a game tonight.

if you're a Habs fan, get your Game 4 fix here.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:33 AM |

i watched episode 5 of the first season of The Sopranos (nice episode, but not the best). and i just had this big-ass surprise ... Father Phil is Chappelle, right??! shit. it took me a few minutes before i was like ... wait a minute ... lol. nice. of course this was before 24. it's nice to see what he can do outside of Chappelle. what a great surprise :) nice to see him as something other than a walking stiff (although last week's episode of 24 sweetly propped him up to nice guy status with only one scene. same way they switched Mason around on us on a dime last season).

anyway. just wanted to share my enthusiasm towards Chapelle :) i was so excited by this discovery that i couldn't think of anything else for most of the episode. lol

btw, i've been lucky spoilers-wise with The Sopranos. it's not that i tried. i didn't even think i'd get into the series until a few months ago. it was Edie Falco's solid turn on Will & Grace last winter that immediately prompted me to want to watch every season of The Sopranos :) so i only know about the divorce and a couple of characters getting whacked. outside of that i've been pretty much spoiler-free. it makes being able to watch these discs all the more sweeter.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:14 PM |

oh. fuckin hell.
George W Bush has once again decided to hold a primtetime press conference for a tuesday evening. no doubt 24 (and to a lesser extent, Quentin's appearance on American Idol) will get pre-empted for this cheeseball. oh, we like him. the press conference (he'll no doubt won't be taking any questions, though) starts at 8:30. he just wants to make sure we don't see 24, doesn't he?

oh, cool. that link up top goes to a message mentioning Fox are considering putting the press conference (is the press really gonna be there? as more than note-takers?) on FoxNews and run American Idol, and i presume 24, on Fox as usual. that'd be the smart thing to do.

update:
big commotion over at Fox about what to do with tomorrow press conference (or not). the idea that was made official for a few minutes was that they'd show the Bush (boo) press conference live and air the two shows next sunday instead. now it seems Fox just wants to be sure about what they're gonna do. if they do end up airing 24 next sunday, though, i'm not gonna argue -- two back-to-back episodes of 24 in a matter of days is fine by me.

and there you go... it's now official (click for Bush's stupid boy-grin):

The network moved "24" to 9 p.m. Sunday

about that press conference thingy.

The president is expected to field questions on Iraq and issues raised by the 9/11 commission about his administration's preparedness for the attacks.

yeah, right. complete fubar in Iraq -- check.
9/11 Commission grills Dr Rice and learns that the title of the august 6th memo was "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." -- check.

... and the president chooses this week to field questions??? eek. someone's not doing his job right.

oops.
may 2002:

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters yesterday said the headline on the document was, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike the United States." But sources who have read the memo said the headline ended with the phrase "in U.S."

forthcoming, all of them.

Posted by Anonymous | 3:47 PM |

well, yesterday i stopped at Blockbuster's on my way to work. i was hoping they'd have those Sopranos first season discs. last time i checked every video store in the city and Blockbuster were the only ones who had all four seasons on dvd; but they were strangely out of all the first season discs. i'd ask about it if they still weren't there. but. there they were :) in all their beautiful glory. i rented discs 2, 3, and 4 to round out the season. they're full week rentals so i was able to save some money. they've got this option where you save money if you rent more and more movies at a time. there's no option for three films so i had to get a fourth one.

after looking through all the older titles for a good 5 minutes i stumbled upon Is Paris Burning? it's a 1966 film i'd heard the title of a couple of times but i'd never heard of it being released on dvd. and take a look at this cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Leslie Caron, George Chakiris, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas, Yves Montand, Anthony Perkins, Michel Piccoli, Simone Signoret, Robert Stack, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Orson Welles. i looked up reviews for it when i got back home and it reassured me that i made a great choice. there's nothing worse then coming back home after leaving an album or a film on the shelves 'cause you weren't sure and then finding out you fucking missed out on something great :)

i just saw that i've been shipped The Day the Earth Stood Still today. i never saw it and this looks like a great edition.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:26 PM |

2004 NHL Playoffs

Game 3
Boston 2 Montreal 3

!!!!!!!!!!! holy fucking shit. they actually did it. they actually won a game in this series!! i seriously could not believe it. luckily i was able to all three periods. we couldn't have been happier about the game (save for some of the tired plays in the third). wow. and Kovalev scores two goals :) amazing. that should shut the know-it-all's up for a bit. he can play. we just have to give him some time to adjust. and our confidence in Jose (although not saint-like) dropped to almost nothing since the last game. he gave up two soft goals. but we're okay as long as our offense keeps playing like it has been the past two games and our defensive game stays as tight as it has. wow. who knew Theo would actually be our weakness? :) we were on the edge of our seats everytime Boston came in the zone. what a fucking game, though. they showed us they play. and now they know they can win. couldn't be happier. hopefully the same momentum, if not more, will be present at tuesday's game. once again -- what a game! and Boston was once again tied up and couldn't shoot at Jose! i don't know how the Boston fans saw this one, how their team played, but from our side, we played a fucking strong game (first and second periods). proud to be a Habs fan. a big fuck you to the naysayers who, after two losses, started hating on the team again. also -- all the Kovalev haters out there -- shut the fuck up. people just don't understand patience. i'm not saying the Habs will win the Stanley Cup, i'm not even saying they'll get out of the first round; but tonight they showed us that they were a great team, and could tie up one of the best teams, even when their own fans threw in the towel after two measly games.

Boston leads the series 2-1.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:26 AM |

i finally started watching The Sopranos this week. got the first disc through the mail and watched an episode about every day :) i'm gonna go by Blockbuster today to see if they got back the other three discs of the first season (they had every other seasons' discs; the only ones missing were the four one from the first season. strange). i finished the 4th episode just now. god it's good. and the 4th one was my favorite. and it ends with a Mazzy Star song!! (or Hope Sandoval; couldn't place the song.)

i guess he's a fan. not sure yet in what capacity but the official site tells us to expect a Quentin appearance on tuesday's American Idol.

Weird Al Yankovic's parents found dead in what appears to be a freak carbon-monoxide accident.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:49 AM |

2004 NHL Playoffs

Game 2
Montreal 1 Boston 2 (overtime)

well. okay. so the final result is Montreal lost another one. yes.
but. and it's a big fucking but. they actually showed up at this game. i saw the second and third period and damn if they weren't tying up Boston in their own zone most of the time. i was impressed. they even kept the Boston shots at 2 in the second period! nice game. sad result.

but this game will have given the players a lot of confidence. Julien has to drill them about the way they played. they played very well, from what i saw. the confidence wasn't there before, but now they know they can score on Raycroft and they know they can keep the play flowing in the offensive zone. and they also know, now, how to stop Boston from making plays into our zone. nice.

it's getting damn close to golf season for the Habs. please win the next two in Montreal.
and hopefully the fans who are going to the Bell Centre sunday and tuesday will be behind the team. this will be crucial. i think they'll deliver and support our team, though, because these are the playoffs.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:00 AM |

Howard Stern responds to the idiotic FCC fines.

for me, this won't be a long weekend. i'm working tonight through sunday evening. but i'm not complaining. i have my two days off monday-tuesday. then i work through friday and then, folks, i'll be off for two fucking weeks! :) i never took a week off all my years of working there. i used to take days off here and there but never full weeks. this will be good.

Canada Post will be closed today and monday, dammit. my amazon.ca order will only get here on tuesday.
i'll post about that one when i get it :)

Ottawa actually won 4-2 against Toronto last night. kind of a surprise. tonight Montreal will try to show us they've got balls as they play Game 2 against the Boston Bruins ::cross my fingers::

Posted by Anonymous | 11:45 AM |

well. i made the canadian economy work today:

used finds:

Foxy Brown's Chyna Doll and Puff Daddy's Forever were both extremely cheap. the Foxy album has some interesting producers (Kanye, Swizz) and i've been meaning to get into Puffy's music for a few months now. i was getting some David Banner anyway and i found his MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water used. nice one. at the same store i found the Wu-Tang Killa Beez' The Sting album. and my last find there was The Cardigans' Long Gone Before Daylight! what a find. i almost bought it full price last winter but waited for it. that's a great find for me.

new:

Madvillain's Madvillainy, for obvious reasons. i think there was only one copy in the whole city. i got it now. went around and around between three stores and rounded up the following -- David Banner's Mississippi: The Album and Twista's Kamikaze.

Posted by Anonymous | 6:05 PM |

the Rice testimony.

the point of the 9/11 Commission, to me, is not whether or not the tragedy could have been prevented all-together; but whether or not the Bush administration did anything at all with the information they got in the months prior to the attacks. the White House would like nothing better than to tell people that had they known they were gonna attack on that day, with those planes, with those highjackers, they would've done something. well, i sure fucking hope so! the sheer laziness of those kinds of statements are horrible. don't these guys know how to do their jobs? or are they too busy raising money and hiding in Crawford, Texas for most of the year? that's the issue to me. i wanna know if they sat on their lazy asses when all the info came in. i'm sure you wanna know what kind of Leaders you got up there.

and the second point i wanna bring up, which was one of Clarke's great statements, was the fact that going into Iraq deflected important attention from the actual "War on Terror" going on in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda. the media seems to have forgotten about this little point (and the Saudi connection in 9/11, and the Saudi connection with the Bush administration). if they did their job, Pres Bush wouldn't be able to talk about the War on Terror when talking about Iraq and the American public would be able to see the biggest lie of them all -- that they were lied to in order to invade a country that was no threat to America. period.

this White House seems hellbent on failing at anything it starts.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:30 PM |

2004 NHL Playoffs

Game 1
Montreal 0 Boston 3

damn. i couldn't watch the game but i was told the Habs played well in the second and third periods. good to hear 'cause their weakness is that sometimes it looks like they're tired or they just don't know how to care about playing well. i'll be working again through games 2 and 3. hopefully i'll be able to catch bits and pieces here and there. i'll be home for game 4, though.

someone had to lose game 1. sure the score looks bad but the important thing is that they showed up for it. the team who wins game 1 doesn't automatically win the series. hopefully the Bruins will be over-confident for the next game. we need to win one in Boston.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:34 AM |

holy fuck.

the Americans tried to go against Sadr yesterday and war has finally erupted in Iraq. get your body armor ready.

the Marines also attacked a mosque in Fallujah.
way to go, Marines. the U.S. is doing its best to win them over, uh? i know they were going after Sadr and his friends, but sheesh. come on. you were fucking vilified because you went into Iraq Rambo-style. and now you're doing it again? don't you know any other way? let's see the body count go up from here on out...

meanwhile, back in Washington, the White House and Rice are lying and playing the commission again.

::.

in other news, some fucking assholes firebombed(!) a jewish primary school in Montreal earlier this week.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:36 AM |

24: Day 3: 5:00 am - 6:00 am

i haven't watched it yet.
not sure if i'll be able to today (wednesday) either but i'll post my thoughts right after i do.
do the same, please :)

:: wow. not as amazing as the previous episode but it had some great ideas. the return of Bad Ass Michelle was a nice start. she seems to get nastier and harder with each episode. and it feels genuine. the suicide caps were also a nice touch. best exchange:

Chappelle - "it breaks every regulation in the book."
Tony - "yeah."

Jack went into Die Hard mode but managed to get away with the MI-6 server.

i really feel as though they're being lazier and lazier with the exposition dialogues. i feel as though i'm being talked down to with info i heard two minutes before. it's really annoying.

next episode should be about Chapelle. nice touch making him more than just an asshole.

oh, and no Kim this time. despite Elisha's name in the opening credits. i'm not complaining, mind you. the writers don't know what to do with her anyway.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:17 AM |

some thoughts this morning:

Spymob released an album today??
sadly, though, the (ex-)Neptunes are nowhere to be seen on the album.

Bush and the Cabal created Fallujah. they're the ones who invaded a country (that had ::nothing:: to do with terrorism or 9/11). even more, it doesn't even look like they had a fucking plan for after the "war". the evil empire handbook must have at least one chapter on how to deal with post-war efforts. did they think Hussein's puny army was the last line of defense against good ole "freedom"? come on. either they didn't care and just wanted to take over the country, or they honestly believed they were gonna be welcomed with open arms. sadly, though, if it was the latter, then they really are as stupid as we make them out to be. leveling a city will not accomplish anything. and it will only get worse as we approach the November election.

btw, the ugly word "Islam" is coming back into play after Fallujah. seems the media is keen on latching onto that devilish word once again to explain the backlash against the American occupation. bullshit. it's an "occupation". you wouldn't want them in your city. the backlash has nothing to do with what religion you are. and not all Sunnis are attacking the troops. that's simplistic bullshit. it's like saying the Christians wanted to kill the Muslims by going into Iraq. what? you got a Christian White House wanting to attack Muslims by going into Iraq; and there are Muslims in Iraq. how is that not correct? don't let the media make this about religion (we are the good ones. god loves us, not the "others") again. they're too lazy to do their research and are now acting like the National Enquirer again. don't let them shape this by their laziness.

oh, another Bush flip-flop: he said he'd bring dignity back to the White House, and then... well, you know the story.

apparently today marks the 10-year anniversary of Kurt's suicide.
i wasn't a huge fan of Nirvana. i liked their music but didn't own any of their albums until early 1996, and that began because of my love of all things Butch Vig. but i did respect their music before 1994. and i do remember vividly the exact moment i heard about Cobain's suicide -- my then-girlfriend, her sister, and i were driving down to quebec city, i believe (to spend a few days in a cottage and do some skiing). it was on our way over there, on the highway, that we heard on the radio the fatal news. even though i wasn't a fan right then it kind of affected me. it was weird. another rock n roll suicide. but somehow this was different. this was from my generation. and this was Kurt Cobain.
that's my little story.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:09 AM |

good morning, everyone. well, it's not that good a morning, actually. according to Frank (chromewaves), Fox has cancelled Wonderfalls. what prompted them to cancel the show at the very top of the buzzworthy list is beyond us right now.

please email Fox and ask them to reconsider their decision and put Wonderfalls back on the air.
askfox at foxinc dot com

maybe we can do this. it's worth a shot.
don't let this be another Sportsnight or My So-Called Life.

according to the official website, the show's still on - this time on thursdays. for now.

at least some dim hope for Canadian fans from the Wonderfalls board -- Global is looking into airing the rest of the season!! write or call your local Global affiliate asap.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:32 AM |

THRONE OF BLOOD :: Akira Kurosawa :: 1957

two words of advice if you haven't seen this film: rent - it.
now.

the reviews i'd read all talked about how the film felt detached and unemotional. i was ready to watch a good-looking film and then send it back. fine. but that was not to be the case. not at-fuckin-all! wow.

the film is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth (right?), so of course that's where the detached comments come from. but it's in no way uninvolving. Kurosawa's adaptation is a fine one and Toshiro Mifune gives one of the most inspired performance (although i gotta say i didn't start out feeling his performance, which i felt was too overexpressive. but at some point it just all makes perfect sense and he just brings you with him.

and the film features one of the most memorable scenes i have ever had the pleasure of watching on film. and remember -- tonight was the first time i saw this film. it's quite astonishing.

i can't go into details much but let's just say the film is about madness (Shakespeare; who woulda thought?) and is a great film from one amazing filmmaker. i'm not the first one to say this about Kurosawa, but tonight i experienced it first-hand.

go out and find a copy and rejoice.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:17 AM |

well it's official -- Montreal are gonna be playing Boston in the first round of the NHL Playoffs.

that's gonna be one hell of a bloody, and exciting, series. this and Toronto were the two matchups i wanted. it's gonna be electric again this year.

and also because of the Boston win today -- Toronto vs Ottawa.

i like Ottawa but they've been kind of on a tailspin these past few weeks. either team would be a good choice for the second round against Montreal but Toronto is gonna be the biggest matchup. watch those CBC/RDS ratings and the Molson stocks go through the roof if that happens :) beer and pizza for everyone!

i really, really want Montreal to come out on top against Boston. it's gonna a hard one, definitely. but i need them to make it to the second round because ... that's when i got two weeks off of work! :) i'll be working through the first round. i'm gonna be able to catch a few games but i really want to watch them all from buzzer to buzzer. but the second series falls right into my two-week vacation :)

are all canadian teams in now?
Edmonton was tied for 8th with Nashville as of this morning. dunno how that's going, but every other canadian team is in. very good.

holy shit. i just read that the second round wouldn't even be fought against Toronto or Ottawa; it's gonna be the winner of the New York Islanders/Tampa Bay matchup. fuck that shit. i want the ultimate canadian series now.

Posted by Anonymous | 3:55 PM |

good morning, all

as you can see from my list to the right, i'm finally listening to some music again. i went through a week/two week phase of not feeling it anymore. that happens. i knew it, thank god. so i kept myself entertained with two cd's and the radio. i wasn't even listening to cd's when i was on the computer(!).

so yeah. and last night i also finally took the wrapping off the Super Furry album. my first SFA album, which i bought last month or something. and people, now i know what everyone knows -- it is good music :) i really like what i heard so far. didn't think i would feel it quite like this. i thought it would be more rock and psychedelic. i'm happy it's not :)

dreamt a little dream this morning.
and the beautiful and sweet-looking neighbor was in it. we started talking (first time) and it was nice. at some point we parted but i gave her a kiss on the cheek. she took that and gave me a hug. at that point we didn't wanna let go of the embrace :) nothing much happened but a lot of hugging. hmm. now she's in my head :)

have a good day.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:53 AM |

Buffalo vs Montreal.

for those who care, i'm gonna try to blog this game tonight. with updates coming in between periods.

1st Period.

Montreal leads 2-0 after 20 minutes with two goals by Pierre Dagenais. good call by Coach Julien to give him his second-and-last shot tonight, uh?

the first thing that hit me was how well Montreal was playing. the flow of the game is really good for both teams (although it kinda halted there towards the end of the period for Buffalo. but i have a feeling they're the kind of team to be able to rebound from a period like this). it feels as though the players can do what they want on the ice. it's a nice feeling. one we don't get that often. take advantage of it. if they keep playing like this, we might get to see the second round of the playoffs. nice work by all. the fans are happy (we are winning; that always keeps fans in a good mood). confidence seems to be there for the team. i couldn't be happier. let's keep this pace up for the next 40 minutes, though.

btw, i didn't think it was a good idea to put Bulis up on the first line and take down Kovalev to the third line, but it seems to be paying off. Kovalev seems to be playing well with the sparky Begin. nice one.

2nd period.

4-2 Montreal.

the Sabres are coming back but the Canadiens are still able to try out plays as if they were in practice.
shots are around 23-6 for Montreal. that kinda tells you the story of the game so far.

it's a great games for Habs fans going into the playoffs next week (btw, no one knows who they're gonna play against in the first round!!! how crazy is that?? everyone's playing their last game either tonight or tomorrow).

3rd period.

well, who woulda thought? the Canadiens finish the season with a 6-3 almost-blowout.
and my man Ryder got another goal -- his 25th of his rookie season. look for him to win the rookie of the award.

the period almost ended with a scruff but things calmed down after the referee visited the Sabres' bench after two game penalties for fighting against Buffalo.

apparently we're gonna be playing against either Boston or Toronto, depending on Boston's game against the Devils tomorrow afternoon. i don't want them to play Toronto first. lol. they're too big a team and too solid. Boston are tough but we match up well with them. and there's the age-old rivalry.

tomorrow around 4pm is when we'll learn the first round of the 2004 NHL playoffs.

Posted by Anonymous | 7:46 PM |

update for today:

i'm going jogging.
i started looking up info online and it's giving me the second wind i needed, i think.
i started jogging again, on and off for the past month, but the motivation is still sorely lacking everytime i attempt to go out and do it. this week i found out a coworker i was talking with also jogs and that gave me the first boost this week to motivet me further in my quest.

tonight i wanna watch Criterion's Throne of Blood.

then there's also the Canadiens' last game of the season. playoffs start later next week and Montreal has been horrible these past couple of weeks. i didn't see thursday's game but apparently they played a lot better and actually played for most of the game. nice to hear. tonight's game should be an interesting one since the team is back home. expect the fans to not be happy about the last 5 games. hopefully they'll put on one hell of a show.

more on today:

from what i've these are not buzz-only releases; hence, the just-purchased Blonde Redhead's Misery is a Butterfly and Nellie McKay's Get Away from Me are happily sitting here with me :) feels it good to get good "new releases". seems to have been a while for me.

oh yeah, and earlier, i really did end up going jogging :)
i feel good about myself.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:14 PM |

ohmyfreakingod.

i knew Chris Nolan would be perfect for this project.
take a look at the awesomeness that is Christian Bale's new ride.



[ thanks to frank at chromewaves for the pic. go check out the official Batman Begins site for more pics and the awesome new logo ]

oh yeah, in other news -- yep, it's still legal in Canada to share songs over the internet :) yet another reason to consider a move north if the numbers don't add up come next november.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:37 AM |