a broken lull.

24, Day 5
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

what an exciting new day for Jack Bauer. i'm serious. i haven't been this pumped about the way a season was unfolding since Season 2. there's a feeling of breaking new ground with this season. there are familiar storylines but they managed to find new angles to add to the drama instead of rethreading old ground. last night's episode was the first one since the start of the season where i felt they did go back a little to their old ways (WMD's stolen by a non-threatening antagonist; Haas, the bad guy Kiefer offed in the oil refinery in the first episode, exuded way more menace than these bland world terrorists). but apart from that, it was another refreshing new episode. no doubt. there was drama (Jack, Audrey, and Diane), ballsy action (Jack going right into the lion's den and going up to Logan and Cummings; Jack wastes no time), and the returning of past favs whom you can count on to do the right thing (Aaron!!). the episode lagged a bit towards the end with the predictable theft of the nerve gas (btw, that video of the guy gagging on weaker nerve gas was vicious!). it didn't do anything to propel me into the 2nd quarter of the season which looks like more of a re-thread of past seasons (but Sean Callery's recent discovery of basslines is definitely enticing). this season, they discovered some leg room with familiar plotlines, realized the road is infinitely larger than what they were used to. the twists and nuances of the characters (instead of chasing boringly vague virus threats) are what's driving the season and i'm just eating it up. i haven't been this excited about 24 for a long time.

excuse me while i pick up my jaw from the floor -- Lisa Loeb, ladies and gentlemen. miss Lisa Loeb.
i believe i am in love :)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:37 PM |

HALLELUJAH!!!

if you read my comments on the previous post, my computer decided to stop accepting incoming internet connection for some reason tuesday afternoon. i thought i'd wait after work to try it again as our DSL service cuts out once every few months for a couple of hours. but i came back from work later that night and i still had nothing. the next morning? nothing. i checked the roommate's connection and he had internet. i went back to the ex's and got her roommate's laptop (i'd had it the previous day so i could put in some codecs for her) to at least have some internet connection. well, it worked on her computer. fuck. thursday i brought in my computer to have my network card repaired. yesterday morning i pick it up. they say the card was fine, they only updated the drivers. fine. i bring it back and... nothing. still no connection. fuck. i call them up and they say to bring it back in. i go in before work and the tech who worked on it shows me that it's working fine on his workstation. and it is. he asks a few questions and he can't figure out why it's not working at my place. i bring it back with me. a couple of friends at work tell me to reboot the router and modem. maybe they just can't see my computer (but why would the laptop work with the same connection?). so this morning (the computer was in my car while i was at work yesterday evening so i had to wait a few hours for it to warm up once i got back home) i asked the roommate if i could reboot the modem and router and -- voilà! its working :P holy shit. had this failed, my other option would have been to bring it back in and have them replace my network card regardless of whether it worked there or not. but that would've been another day or two and, although i would have done it, it felt like neverending hassle. but oh god, sweet Jesus, it's working again :D you don't know how ecstatic i am right now :) thanks for listening.

but aside from that Major Fuckup, the week was also extra super nice to me, giving me all the online orders i'd put in these past few weeks. so, thanks to DVDPacific, Insound, and Action Records (and my bank account!), i was the exultant recipient of the following goodies:





those were sweet surprises :)

9:49 PM

and the Habs win 4-3 (in overtime) against Toronto !!! oh my god. two quick goals in the third put the Canadiens up 3-2 but, once again, you can count on the Leafs, even when they're playing badly, to tie it up whenever they feel like it. but, wow. Koivu. that was an exciting game (after the first period, that is). glad i was able to catch this one.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:51 AM |

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:

fellow Canadians, tomorrow, as much as your conscience can bear, please DO NOT VOTE in Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.
thank very much. i would not like to wake up to 4 years of conservatism in this country. it's ludicrous. we've got enough of our southern friends who are suffering.

okay. here i am (to the sound of Scorpion's Rock You Like A Hurricane, no doubt). back again (Eminem? sorry). this has been a great week. swamped by more responsibilities and less time to waste than i'm used to, i was able to take it all in stride. the ex-roommate went to Mexico for the week and had asked me to take care of her cat (partly our cat since we lived together for almost 3 years) and her apartment while they were gone. she lives 20 minutes outside of the city. that's where i spend my saturday afternoons (we don't see each other during the week as she's working north of Montreal). i love going up there because, it must be the highway drive that does it, it feels like i'm in another world, free of responsibilities. even if we do abslutely nothing, it's like the weight of the world is lifted off my shoulders. so i was more than happy to drive down there to spend an hour with the cat every other day. that was the plan. the ex-roommate also told me i could sleep over anytime i wanted and help myself to anything in the apartment (which, btw, is a really cool apartment - no cable and dial-up internet, but really nice). i ended up taking an evening off work and slept a total of 3 nights :P friday after work i decided i'd not only go over and spend the night, but that i would also spend all of saturday, and only come back home sunday morning :) that way i would avoid having the roommate and his girlfriend ruin my off days by taking over the apartment, and i would be able to relax in style :) it was a hell of a good time. like camping :) only in a stylish apartment with a cute, purring cat. oh, and i also had two of my friends' laptops with me (had some work to do on them) :P i felt like a rock star. so that was my week.

after two outstanding wins (and a really close loss to a great team) under the new coaching staff, the Montreal Canadiens got their asses handed to them last night, by a score of 6-2 from the Vancouver Canucks. Gainey will straighten them out for good now. you'll see.

oh, we finally watched the 24 episodes from last monday. i won't do a recap but i'll say this - it was cool, it actually felt like a whole 4-hour season premiere instead of four separate episodes, and i hope they keep thrilling us in this way. it kinda felt new-ish and not like a repeat of past seasons. ps. i was pissed as hell to see that Curtis had not understood Jack's code. i understand he wasn't working for CTU when the code was in effect (btw, nice touch, there, writers) but come on. i was banking everything that he was in on it. even though it was obvious he was repeating a secret code (Mr. Terrorist, sir, i liked you and everything, but that was stupid of you not to pick it up the three or four times he made it a point to mention it). i was sure Curtis had understood and that would be the twist, but no. Sam the Hobbit was the one who got it and saved the day. great intro--not. kinda lame since the audience had figured it out and was 'in' on Curtis being as smart as us. losers. don't do it aagain. our characters are smart enough--or at least as smart as we are. that made him look dumb and i resented you for it.

ohmygod. everyone who cares needs to read this -- top thirty Random Jack Bauer Facts.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:17 AM |

24, Day 5
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

to come...
i haven't watched it yet.

why, you may ask?
well, monday my mom received her brand spanking new computer she ordered from Dell last week. i bought one a year ago and a few months later started talking about wanting to change hers at the end of the year. that floored me. she had a '97 PC and it was bogged down by unremovable software and bugs and all that kind of shit. it was frustrating. so xmas-time comes around and she informs me she'll want to check those computers online sometime soon. we finally customize her a cool one sunday, a week ago, and she got it this week. pretty fast service. so yesterday i went over to her place to fix some stuff up and get it going. after that i had to swing by the ex-roommate's apartment because they're spending a week in Mexico so i'm taking care of her/our cat, feeding it and playing with it for an hour every other day. but yesterday i was exhausted so i decied i was taking the day off work and i would spend the entired evening and night with the cat! :) the ex-roommate had told me i could sleep over as much as i wanted. and given that it's in the next city, a 20-minute drive away from here, it always feels like i'm so far removed from my life that i decompress immediately. i spend saturday afternoons there and it relaxes me. so i spent evening with the cat :) she was happy to see me, rubbing herself against me and sleeping on my legs on the couch. lol. i loved it.

yesterday i also swung by Future Shop to see if they had this LG LDA-530 DVD/Divx player i kept reading about. it's incredibly cheap, great quality, but, most importantly, it plays avi files. i can play those on my computer but, if i could, i would love to be able to watch them in the comfort of my living room. i can encode them to dvd format but there's some nasty macroblocking happening in some scenes. if i could play the original high quality file i'd be in heaven. but they were out. lol. the sales guy told me they'd get some more in about two weeks. sheesh. btw, the FS site is also out. on my way home this morning i swung by another store, hoping they'd have one, but no luck. but -- the guy saw that they had two units on file at their other store. he called them up, they actually had one left, and made the sale for me :) since it's close to the ex and i'm picking her up for work tonight, i'm gonna pick it up then. i'm so psyched!! finally.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:09 PM |

24, Day 5
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM

whoa. we were told to expect a shocker before the opening credits rolled, and boy were they were right! Palmer was shockingly assassinated (i thought it was a really nice touch to have him take the bullet right on Sherry's name:P). maybe it was the pacing, but his death itself, other than making his appearance in the series final, did leave me kinda cold. but the boys weren't done yet: minutes later, they took out Michelle, and severely burned our poor boy Tony. i gotta say, although i was strangely numbed and distant from it (hadn't had time to settle into the new season just yet), this was one of the gutsiest start for a tv series. bravo for (finally) going there and pulling it off in style.

i kinda got confused with how the Day 5 teaser fit into all this. in the minutes leading up to Day 5, Chloe meets up with ugly Jack in Chicago... why is he in California at the start of Day 5? and what was all the fuss about him being discovered and having to run in the teaser? did that actually happen days, weeks, or months before Day 5? did i miss a date-stamp? it just fucked with me as i watched the first episode tonight. oh, speaking of Chloe, who became a badass in Day 4 and has thankfully kept her cool geek status for this season, did you notice how they opened up the show a bit by injecting some third-person humor? when Derek is scared and baffled when Jack takes an FBI agent down behind a car, Chloe reassures him by saying that he knows how to do this. fucking hilarious! it entered Alias territory there for a minute, and i loved it.

thankfully, the producers brought Audrey back. it seems they're getting really good at understanding their core audience. i really hope Wayne stays to help Jack out throughout the day. he's the next best thing to Dennis Haysbert as a captivating actor on the show. the Palmer name is alive. btw, Jack wasting no time to go right up to Palmer's penthouse/crime scene was both genius and riveting. on par with the most brilliant of the series. and with the hostage situation taking shape (i hope this stretches for a couple of episodes, Die Hard-style (were there any hostages in Die Hard?)), i really like where this is going.

apparently, 9 AM - 11 AM are even better than these two. i'm seriously excited again about the series. make it dark and i'll fucking be in love with it.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:26 AM |

24.
it's starting this weekend.
and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. (please roll over.)

TVGasm says it best:

Because FOX needs to fit 22 episodes in the space you would normally reserve for 10 or 12, we'll have 2 hours of 24 this Sunday, January 15th, and Monday January 16th (check local listings). It may seem like a lot of television, but that just means more bastards for Jack to take down. I heard his tears can cure cancer (...) .

enjoy the show :)

Posted by Anonymous | 1:11 AM |

Bob Gainey fired Canadiens head coach Claude Julien !!! (assitant coach Rick Green was also let go.)
this is Shocking News! some people were asking for it but i never saw Julien as the Habs' problem. far from it. he was tremendous in bringing up and developing young players for the team and was a good coach. i guess someone had to pay for the team's lack of motivation for the past couple of months. but i do trust Gainey. he knows better than i do what went on behind the scenes. Julien will be missed. let's see if this fires up the team now. oh, Gainey is temporarily taking over coaching duties. and he brought back ex-Hab superstar Guy Carbonneau to help him out :) now that's a great turn of events. can't wait to see the team tonight.

3:24 PM

somehow i don't think this is in the Canadiens' press release, and if it was i totally missed it -- Carbonneau will be head coach as of next season!! :) Gainey did a wonderful thing and is giving Guy Carbonneau the rest of the season, that's the entire second half, 40 games, to get a feel for the team, get comfortable behind the bench, and get ready to coach the 2006-2007 Montreal Canadiens. now that's a GM. how can you not love this man? it's outstanding generosity from one of the league's classiest man.

4:22 PM

okay. so i asked the roommate if i could have the apartment for tomorrow night because 24 is having it's spectacular Season Premiere (and i need peace and quiet and no connection to the outside world during those two hours) and i wanna invite the ex to watch, as she became a fan with the last season. the roommate and his gf would be in bed by 10, the ex finishes work at 10 so we'd catch the West feed at 11. and i don't want to watch this show with the volume turned down to a whisper. i'd never asked him to leave the apartment and he actually said yes :) i was ecstatic. i was sure they'd spend tonight here because of this -- but he just left!!! holy shit. that means i can catch coach Gainey and Carbonneau's Habs game!!! i wasn't ready for this. i was really okay with letting them have anything they wanted tonight. this is totally unexpected. thank you, universe :)

and you all have a great evening.
btw, what are your plans?

9:30 PM

NHL
San Jose 2 Montreal 6
MTL Game #42 of 82, 20-16-6

there you go :)
of course bringing in a new coach always fires up a team (or at least mixes things up) but it's nice to see the whole team playing with heart like it did tonight. and Markov scored twice, getting four points, Streit gets his first NHL goal, Ribeiro getting his first in a long time (hey, Mary!), and everyone else pinched in for an awesome game. bodies flew everywhere and the Marleau-Cheechoo-Thornton line was held off the net for 95% of the game. when the puck is on our side and the goals start coming in as easily as tonight, it's a pretty damn fun game to watch. here's hoping Carbonneau and Gainey can blance things off and get the team going again.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:21 AM |

Jesus Is Back.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:52 AM |

oh my god. Amplifico, my favorite band i discovered thanks to one single song and podcasting (thanks to bitjobs for that - singer Donna did a stripped version of one of their songs and i immediately fell in love with her), which i had quite a hard time finding info on when i first looked them up, are in the studio with producer Steve Osborne!!! i've been in love with everything this guy produced these past few years (Doves, Starsailor, Elbow). i can't believe he's actually working with Amplifico. hell yeah. oh, and they've got a podcast now :)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:05 AM |

WEDDING CRASHERS
David Dobkin, USA 2005

7.5
a highly enjoyable flick that was badly marketed as two thirty-somethings (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) who, haha, crash weddings. hilarity ensued. the first 15 minutes of the film are as funny as this premise -- but the rest of the film, although incredibly funny, is more mature than what we were led to believe. Owen Wilson, whom i like but couldn't think i could watch him carry an entire movie, actually succeeds in doing so - and makes it both painless and effortless. you know how characters are sometimes written as "charming" but only manage to come off boring? the performances are usually too stiff for us to enjoy, but Wilson and Vaughn, known for their carefree supporting roles, actually pull these characters off for the entire movie. there are no dry spots, and when they're not goofing around, they flawlessly back up their characters with feelings. plus, they had me laughing with them, and following along with their stories, instead of having me watch them and only finding it 'cute'. Rachel McAdams also leaves a huge noticeable mark on the film (my 2nd film with her in 3 days!!! i'd totally forgotten she was in this). once again she's breathtakingly free and makes the most cliched storylines feel fresh. you can see what's going on inside her. and that's acting. there's a purity in there that simply shines through. things get a little cliched towards the end of the film (but really, how else would you have ended it?), the goth brother is too caricatured (and how old is the actor playing him???) to be believable (or tolerable, for that matter), especially since everyone else is funny but still credible, and Bradley Cooper just cannot pull off a tough guy. but aside from that, this was a really cool surprise for me. definitely worth checking out for the care that went into it, especially from Owen and Vince. David Dobkin did a remarkable job.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:07 AM |

i hope this'll be a good week for all.
what are you up to thisweek?

btw, the Clerks 2 teaser trailer is up!

oh my god. The Tale of JT Leroy -- is unraveling!
fucking weird. it's gonna be fun getting to the bottom of this.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:02 PM |

NHL
Ottawa 1 Montreal 4
MTL Game #40 of 82, 19-15-6

holy fucking hell!! a quick goal by captain Saku Koivu a minute into the game helped Montreal beat the Ottawa Senators on this Hockey Day in Canada! woohoo!! i can't tell how amazing it feels to watch your team play well. it's been a long time. i'd say they even played well for over 90% of the game, keeping the Sens away from goalie Huet (even though Ottawa outshot Montreal 41-24, there would have been much more had the Habs not played as solid on defensive as they did this afternoon). ah, what a fucking great game to watch. there is hope.

Posted by Anonymous | 5:13 PM |

my Favorite Films of '05.
these are the films that had some kind of impact on me this past year. the list is not limited to films released in 2005; it's about my cinematic experience of '05, so everything i saw in 2005 was considered. 2005 doesn't seem so incredible now that i've written it down. but there were some real gems. i hope you enjoy.
without further ado, in chronological order:

Napoleon Dynamite Jared Hess, USA 2004
i enjoyed this despite the huge buzz it managed to get. well deserved hype on this one. funny and damn hysterical. you've seen this.

Io non ho paura (I'm Not Scared) Gabriele Salvatores, Italy/Spain/UK 2003
a quietly disturbing film about a boy who makes a grim discovery. masterfully told, incredibly well-acted, and never manipulative, this film stuck with me for its brilliant depiction of childhood innocence.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Kerry Conran, USA/UK/Italy 2004
i didn't write a review for this film when i saw it, but i should have. i was unprepared for the magnitude and feel of the film. Conran and company dove headfirst into a throwback world of old sci-fi comic book adventures. with a '30s and '40s look and feel, and dashing performances from Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, and Gwyneth Paltrow, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was one amazing experience i relished from start to finish.

Gimme Shelter (The Criterion Collection) David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, USA 1970
emotionally frightening. made so much of an impact on me that i had to order the damn disc after renting it.

Saw James Wan, USA 2004
a twisted, and surprisingly masterfully done, little horror film.

Frank Miller's Sin City Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, USA 2005
my favorite time at the theater this year. bloody, bold, audacious, and disgusting. fierce filmmaking at its finest. i was actually shocked that it got released the way it is.

F for Fake (The Criterion Collection) Orson Welles, France/Iran/West Germany 1975
a massive undertaking, about the nature of art and reality (and everything else), by one of cinema's artistic geniuses. a massive brain-fuck.

Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith George Lucas, USA 2005
what is there to say now? George Lucas, after giving us two lukewarm prequels, comes back with a vengeance for the third and final film of the classic series. everything clicked in this one, making it look like they were just warming up with the two previous films. and nothing shocked me as much as Ewan McGregor's emotional outburst towards Anakin. action, comedy, adventure, perfect cgi, and an emotionally fit closure for all involved. (too bad George couldn't find anything for Natalie Portman to do except weep from a safe distance for her man.) it was a grandiose finale.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith Doug Liman, USA 2005
more than the sum of its parts, this film was carried by the extraordinarily lively performances of the two leads and their brilliant director who knew how to mix action and big-time comedy. a huge wink to its audience and a lot of fun.

Haute tension (High Tension) Alexandre Aja, France 2003
tense, tense, tense! superb, outstanding filmmaking using the most basic of stories, that even one of the most ridiculous, unnecessary twist endings couldn't sink (although it did leave the sourest taste in my mouth).

Banlieue 13 Pierre Morel, France 2004
seek this one out. stunning natural stunts, surprising acting talent, and stylish direction make this film stand out from the rest of action wannabes. i happily watched a second time a couple of weeks later.

Joint Security Area Park Chan-wook, South Korea 2000
this was my first Park Chan-wook film. and i must say i quite enjoyed the feeling it gave off. the story follows an investigation into the shooting of one of four new friends. the survivors stories develop on the previous one, dragging you in deeper than you thought possible. a great film.

A History of Violence David Cronenberg, USA 2005
schizophrenic and terrifying. the film starts out innocently enough, following dinner owner Tom Stall. i had problems getting into the film as it appeared calm, awkward, and bland, but when Cronenberg and screewriter Josh Olson decide to turn on the screws, they've got you caught in their ugly mess. to this day, i'm still rattled, working out the details in my head. do not be fooled, this is a quiet film, but it's one outstanding piece of filmmaking from a man in total control of his medium.

it's all gone Pete Tong Michael Dowse, UK/Canada 2004
an extraordinary find on dvd, this film follows the life of dj Frankie Wilde from Ibiza to ...a less glamorous lifestyle. an outstanding performance from Paul Kaye, deft direction from Michael Dowse, and a great script all keep things from hitting rock bottom even when they are bleak and harrowing. surprisingly emotional.

Labels: Films

Posted by Anonymous | 1:09 PM |

RED EYE
Wes Craven, USA 2005

6.5
oh my crappy god. i hadn't heard a thing about Red Eye until i saw the trailer earlier last year and nearly crapped my pants because a) it had Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy as the leads, and b) although the story looked limited, it looked like a successfully tense little thriller. the lukewarm reviews had to be the result of expecting anything else but smart performances set in a tiny crawl space. the setting was pure genius and if anyone could pull it off, Wes Craven was one of them. well... uh. the first act freaked me out a bit with its cartoon-ish characterizations. but that all melted away as Cillian Murphy entered the scene. and then i got served with one of the most chilling sequence ever. just Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy talking and Craven intercutting the two faces. both lead performances, and their chemistry, are unapologetic and you can see both actors went for the human aspects in their characters instead of playing up to a type. McAdams and Murphy just took over and breathed life into them. it was refreshing to see what are basically stock characters be believable like that. i can't go into detail about the story because i don't wanna spoil anything (needless to say, if you've seen the trailer, a lot of the first act is sorely predictable -but kept cute by the performances!- instead of being charming - thanks spoiler trailers!), do expect some stupid actions along the way, but the big draw here, and it is intact after having watched the film, are Rachel McAdams' and Cillian Murphy's performances. they hold this baby up breathlessly. if you've got a quick hour-and-a-half to spare and wanna see what fine actors do, do check this one out. a fun little popcorn flick.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:53 PM |

Insound has Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2005 at 25% off.
i hurriedly picked up the following:

M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Superwolf
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

the week has been really good about giving me a bunch of online orders (which is always fun to receive:) i'd placed before and over the holidays.

some Threadless:

Nothing, by Carl Nyman/Sixten
Time Fades, by Samuel Lara

DVDPacific:

The Straight Story (i managed to hunt down the american/Disney version of the dvd)
Le corbeau (The Criterion Collection)

i also received the Harman/Kardon surround speakers i was torturing myself with last week and hooked them up (very) late last night. by the time they were all set-up it was 3 am and i couldn't stay awake so i had to give up watching a film by then. but i swore i'd give myself the time to watch one this morning :)

hey, i've been a bit torn about this. i got a gift certificate from the ex-roommate last week. $40 at Future Shop. i thought i'd get the Wizard of Oz 3-disc set but i'm not sure anymore. i could get a couple of cd's but i got an idea. since i got into Lost last week (almost watching an episode a day) i thought i could get the excellent box set. what are your thougths on that? i could rent out the whole set fairly cheaply, but that set looks mighty damn good. i'd pay up about $30 of my own money (the set's fairly expensive), and that's not issue. i was just wondering, you TV on DVD buyers, and especially Lost fans, if this set was worth owning. thanks :)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:24 AM |

WTF.

so yesterday the ex and i brought her roommate to Montreal under the guise of an impromptu clothes shopping spree. little did she know that we had planned this little outing well over almost two months ago. back in November, the ex and i ended up catching a Habs game (and we LOVED it). a couple after we came back i heard her roommate was jealous upon hearing the news because she was a huge fan. that was news to me. i think it was a couple of weeks later that an idea popped in my head and i asked the ex when her roommate's birthday was. december. i dunno why, and i'd never heard of her birth date, but that felt right. so i told the ex we should surprise her roommate by taking to a game. of course all the games were sold out (except for a few towards the end of the season) so we would rely on scalpers. but we'd done it for the first one we were pros and could handle it. after much deliberation, we settled on January 3, 2006, and Sidney Crosby's first game in Montreal (read up to see how much of an Habs fan he was/is!). it was perfect. the atmosphere would be incredible. although the Pens (and Habs, at this point), despite their raw talent, kinda sucked, it was THE hot ticket game when the schedule rolled out last September. much planning and lying were done to keep it from the roommate and managed to finally get to Montreal with the plan intact. we met up with more than a few friends (although i would strongly advise against shopping by groups of 10; not the best way to do it) and shop for the entire afternoon. when time came to look for tickets, we walked towards the Bell Centre. thankfully the roommate had never been so she had no idea where we were going. but as soon as we turned that last corner and revealed the Bell Centre, she was overjoyed. we got tickets in a matter of seconds. although we got seats higher than we wanted, the ones we were looking for were over our limit. we actually got better seats than last time but paid the exact same amount. and we were centre-ice. i was happy. so it was that easy. we also had extra money (the tickets only cost half of what were prepared to pay) so we could buy up some food once inside. it was a fun evening (although the Habs could have not sucked) and i believe the roommate enjoyed her birthday present :)

NHL
Pittsburgh 6 Montreal 4
Game #38 of 82, 18-14-6

the Habs' first line of Zednik, Koivu, and Kovalev were back. and Sidney Crosby was there (right before i left for Montreal, my mother called me up with the news that my cousin was gonna have dinner with Sidney that evening :) he's been in hockey forever (his father coached Lemieux back in the day and has kept contact) and he and Crosby are at least good acquaintances. but there was no way i could get in touch with him before the game). Lemieux was out. had he been in the lineup, it would have been a perfect evening. the game actually started out with a solid performance from the Habs. but a couple of quick Pens goals, and a third incredibly weak one to Crosby, and it all went downhill from there. Habs fans have become accustomed to this kind of suckiness for the past month or so. the first period wasn't even over and they were trailing 3-0. at least they scored their first goal before the first intermission, keeping the hope alive. but the fans, who'd come, hoping that this was gonna be the game the team would turn it all around, quickly realized this was gonna be another no-show game. Theo got booed after a few weak goals and the crowd started clamoring for Huet to come in. but the Habs rallied back to make it a 4-4 game. but then they sucked again in the third. Kovalev amazed us with some deft moves, and we did have some cool plays to cheer for. but overall, it was the sorry performance we've sadly become used to. one can only hope the fresh energy of the first 3 months of the season makes it back soon enough. it's hard being a Habs fan when it's like this.

although it wasn't spectacular, i don't regret going to the game. i wasn't going there expecting a win. just cheering for our team and favorite players was rewarding enough. we were just going to give the roommate a cool birthday gift. and it was obvious she loved the experience (i don't remember if it was before or during the game but she did say we could do this more often :P).

Posted by Anonymous | 10:20 AM |

i have a "long story short" story to share with you, if that's your sort of thing. so this afternoon i manage to leave half an hour early to go pick up the ex for work because i finally learned a couple more Radiohead songs, top to bottom, and i wanted her to hear them 'cause she gets into it when i play their songs. i walk up the stairs and knock. the lights are on inside. no one. i knock and knock to annoy the hell out of her. the bathroom door is open; she's not in there. then, after about 20-30 seconds, i see her coming out of the living room pulling part of her shirt over her shoulder -- wtf?? she lets me in and i realize she has company. but she invites me in anyways. the guy (whom i think she mentioned as a friend a couple of times) comes out of the living room and sits down with us in the kitchen. we chat for 15 minutes until it's time to leave for work. in the car i ask her if i was intruding. she says no. i ask her again. she says yes. seems she'd started something with this guy last week and never told me. i'm her best fucking friend!!! of course i'm a bit jealous because we were still kinda flirty with each other. and of course i was PISSED -royally so- because she thought it would be a good idea not to tell me. i didn't wanna talk to her. i could have but she was closed up because i was pissed. she feels guilty and shuts up when that happens. so there's no way of actually having a conversation because she just wants to make everyone happy. but the evening was kinda cool because the coworkers were all good friends, so it went pretty well. tomorrow (tuesday) we have the Canadiens' game, though (scalpers, please keep three tickets for us, thanks), for her roommate's surprise gift for her birthday back in december, and we'll be spending the entire day together in Montreal. i thought it would be best to talk at least some of it out before tomorrow. so we started talking in the car on the way home and got into a good conversation. it actually felt good.
but god was i pissed tonight. lol.
goodnight.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:50 AM |

i want to wish every single one of you a Happy New Year and i hope that all your wishes come true in these coming months. make yourselves happy.

after a bumpy end to my year, crush-wise, here's an enticing note:

[...] will be matched by renewed flirtation that will have you giggling like a kid and spinning in circles. Embrace the generous goodwill between you and that friendly, good-looking flirt, [...]

;) i'm happy.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:37 AM |