2010 NHL Crazy Eights Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions...AND a BONUS mystery photo!

Here at BTOG we are a full service blog. For those who could care less about the hockey playoffs (and some who do), I've dug out this photo from the vast BTOG archives as the first mystery photo in ages. What are those curious, squiggly streaks of light? Clue? The photo was taken in Etosha National Park, Nambia at night. Ok, I may have given it away. Good luck!!

The Long Awaited Prognostications.

Is it just me or was the opening round of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs kind of boring?

With the exception of a handful of games (the final 3 games of the Habs/Washington series and one Avs/Sharks game come to mind), there hasn't been much to write home about.

The second round of the playoffs seems, on paper, to have more potential in terms of entertainment. Perhaps not...

Just for notation sake: The BTOG series prediction record is 6-2! Not bad for a hack such as I. Those lousy NJ Devils and Buffalo Sabres choked and let me down.

Let's do it...

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings.

The Sharks' party is over (again). Turn off the lights... It's going to be a tight series though. I was slightly surprised that Phoenix pushed the Wings to a seventh game in the opening round. But, if their performance in that seventh game is any indication of their prowess then they should take the Sharks to the cleaners.

Wings take the series on the road in 7 (Usual Sharks disclaimer: much less than 7 if the Sharks fold like a giant house of cards).

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks.

I'll be sucking it up and cheering for the 'nucks. However, I have a bad feeling that they may experience a deja vu (re: 2009 playoffs) moment at the conclusion of this series. The "young" Hawks have one more year of experience and that will most likely be the key factor. But then who knows? If Goalie Luongo and the Twins stand on their heads...they might pull a stunner out of the hat... But for now,

Hawks take the Canucks in a homer series in 7 thrilling games.

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Noooooooooo!!! Marc Savard, please don't come back for the Bruins. For the love of god, your brain has bounced around enough. I'm kind of scared for the guy. That's all I have to say.

Flyers in 6? They're like a wounded animal backed into a corner looking for a fight. I'll go with that...

Montreal Canadians vs. Pittsburgh Penguins.

DO YOU BELIEVE!! GO HABS GO!!

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, the Habs are in deep doo doo. You thought the Washington Capitals had an invincible multi-pronged attack. The defending champion Penguins have a similar attack force, but they up the ante by throwing into the mix, the world's best hockey player, Sydney Crosby.

If the Habs can semi-shut down Crosby and totally shut down Malkin and Staal and their goalie implodes (I can see that happening) and Hab's goalie Halak is god-like again, they may engineer another glorious miracle on ice.

I'll go against conventional wisdom and rational thought and predict:

Habs in 7.

mystery fruit #56

what is this mystery fruit?

what's hot/what's not...

what's hot? backpacks with side pockets made of mesh material. young people like to fill these with colourful nalgene bottles filled with plain water. cool.

what's not? the playlist in my mp3 device. i was driving to the airport when i noticed the sequence of songs emanating from the machine was similar to that of a "soft rock" radio station. ugh. not cool.

rants of the day...

part I.

did you see the videotape of that guy, a polish immigrant, getting tasered at the vancouver airport? brutal. really brutal. although i don't know all the facts of the case, i believe that the whole taser incident could have been averted by the obviously incompetent airport staff/management. i mean there were reports that the man's mother made numerous inquiries to find him. perhaps they could have searched or took her back to the luggage carousels? did they do everything possible to find him? it's a matter of basic customer service in this case. apparently this airport is run like a home depot.

as for the cops, who am i to question what it's like to be on the front lines? police work is tough. they are targets. my solution: get rid of tasers. their efficacy is pretty much a crap shoot. some suspects live. some die. police should just use their guns to subdue suspects.

whatever happened to common sense?

part II.

poor brian mulroney.

i thought we were finished with the guy when he sued us for a couple of a million bucks a couple of years back. yet look at what the cat (in this case, an incarcerated bitter to-be-deported german super entrepreneur/hustler) dragged in.

i agree with our honourable ex-PM. he's name has been and always will be good. now leave him alone. let him fade gracefully back into the wood work, again.

yet steve, the current PM, had the nerve to authorized another pointless, drawn out, expensive make work project for the lawyers association of ottawa to rehash brian mulroney's squeaky clean record.

what a waste...

crap, 1 or more years of poor brian mulroney in the news.

i dunno if i can handle that prospect.

movie review... The Railrodder (NFB)

wherever i go, people ask, "bubba, what movies have most influenced you in life?"

well, i remember, as a wee toddler in elementree school, watching a film about a strange funny looking guy (Buster Keaton) who traveled across this great land of ours aboard a weird looking open railway cart like vehicle.

he'd putted along the railway, from nova scotia to the west coast of BC. hilarity ensued of course. the funny looking guy "lived" aboard, pulling out all sorts of stuff to do that out of a small red box. i loved the segment where he camouflaged the cart for hunting for ducks/geese.

i couldn't help but notice how beautiful the landscape was.

i could do that (traveling and all), i thought. it looked like a lot of fun.

well, since the early viewings of the railrodder in elementree school, i haven't crossed canada yet.

the railrodder did inspire me to embark on some pretty epic journeys though...

get the railrodder dvd at your local calgary public library!

rating: 5 out of 5 overdue fines.

i had a dream...an awesome dream...part IV

mystery photo #43: where in cowtown can you find this piece of artwork? hint: it's found around this area of town.

i was driving around last night desparately trying to complete an assignment for photo[artifacts], the new and exciting blog just for aspiring photographers (and hacks like me). the topic of the week was speed.

the above photo ended up on the edit room floor but i thought it was kind of interesting.

check out the blog. click here. if you want to contribute, i think we can hook you up...

breaking news...

chinese digital tv has hit a new low. yummy, yummy, i'm not kidding about the name, is a fictional show about a reality show involving teams of people who are racing around the world completing various tasks. does that concept ring a bell?

i think i've finally found a job that i can sink my teeth into. all i have to do is dust off the ol' CV and find some decent references. click here to see the posting. you needn't apply because i'm perfectly suited for the job. really.

mystery #47

mystery photo #47. clue: clothing accessory.

lots of movies.

Aviator

beautifully shot movie. whenever i read a review and the first thing mentioned is the cinematography you wonder about the story. well, in the case of aviator, there was a story, albeit one with gaping holes.

when i was growing up, there were 2 words synonymous with howard hughes in news stories: recluse and eccentric. so, the screenwriter's of aviator had alot of latitude. it was interesting playing armchair psychologist. hughes definitely had a wild case of obsessive compulsive disorder, eh. i thought he was a paranoid schizophrenic as well. but, what's with these toilet paper all over the place, clothes burning, and peeing in milk bottles behaviours? i kind of got tired at the end trying to figure out what's wrong with this guy.

at the end of the day, leonardo di caprio protrayal of a driven, crazy guy was superior. an accurate portrayal? i dunno.

go to the bathroom beforehand. this movie must have been 3 hrs. long.

Red Eye

continuing on the aviation theme... red eye is movie i consider to be standard fare. a few thrilling moments. rachel mcadams was good. the creepy guy, who appeared in batman returns, who terrorized mcadams was extra creepy. i think it's his weird eyes. an abrupt plot twist, where the creepy guy reveals the true intent of his character, and the airline setting were amongst some pausibility issues. however, if you can handle these cracks (not difficult), this was an entertaining, standard, hollywood film.

i'm thinking of starting a rachel mcadam's film fest, however short it maybe...

(the) School of Rock

while i was deconstructing this film with my friend bob, when i realized school of rock was in fact a knock off of the classic 1965 film sound of music. consider these modifications: substitute rogers and hammerstein with led zeppelin and ACDC; jack black for julie andrews; maria being kicked out of the nunnery with jack being booted out of his band; andrews teaching the kids how to write a song with doh, rei, mi with jack teaching kids rock music with antisocial attitude; the nazis with parents/teachers; the final escape of the von trapps after the salzburg sing fest with the school of rock sneaking off on a ultra secret "field trip" to the battle of the bands concert, and you have movies that are mirror images of one another...

how's that for film analysis?

bottomline: this was one of the funniest movies i've seen in along time. jack black was hilarious. his corruption of this elementary class with rock and roll was hilarious. normally, i'm nauseated by movies with snotty-nosed precocious kids but the kids in school of rock rocked. very good casting.

mystery #46

mystery #46: an easy one...
not much happening other than to remind all conan o'brien fans of the his finland special tonite. so, get the vcr hooked up. should be a classic, eh...

mystery #44 or having fun with google earth...

mystery #44: just to the right of centre is a large asian public space. it appears as white in colour. 3 questions: 1) what is the name of this square? 2) what is the building in the southern half of the square...? clue: beach volleyball.

quotable quotes.

just some interesting quotes in the news that grabbed my attention the last few days...

too much mexican wacky tobacky and tequila...

the RCMP held a news conference with regards to those 2 canadians who were murdered in a hotel in cancun. a RCMP spokesperson defended his mexican colleagues and the integrity of their investigation. according to him, "We have full confidence in the Mexican police and in their ability to carry out this investigation in a proper fashion..."

that's hilarious. man, i got some swamp land to sell, if the Gravel Road Cops are interested. the mexican cops must be besides themselves. man, those gringos are so gullible, eh? i nearly busted a rib laughing the first time i heard this. haha...

shut up ralphie...just shut up...

"I don't need this crap," said ralphie, in response to the opposition liberals' alternatives to his "third way" plan for healthcare in alberta.

immediately thereafter, he threw a yellow pages-sized copy of the opposition document at the messenger, a 17 year old female legislative page, in a fit of uncontrollable rage...

critics have likened this assault to ralphie throwing a cream pie. c'mon, give the guy a break. he was having a bad day. he is NOT losing it. he has no previous history of this kind of rash, objectionable behaviour.

ok, i forgot there was that time where he, in a drunken stupor, threw money at poor people in a homeless shelter. ok, that was pretty bad. but, c'mon give the guy a break.

i gonna miss that guy when he hangs it up...

shoes on the other foot, inshallah...

i was watching news the other night on the cbc when they had an article on the stoppage of canadian aid money to the palestinian projects because of the election of hamas, a terrorist organization, as the new palestinian government (long sentence, eh?).

apparently, we as canadians, fund alot of feel good projects in palestine. educational funding that keep kids off the streets and give them hope for the future.

when confronted about this termination of canadian funding, a palestinian teacher said, "why should canada judge our nation by the government we elect..." i couldn't believe my ears. i did a double take. wahoo!!! the shoe's on the other foot.

i dislike it when islamists lump us "westerners" in with terrorist goverments like dubya's. i have nothing to do with the US government. yet, i'm identified with it and am subject to terrorist threats like 9/11. i bet those two canadian hostages in baghdad would have been really pissed off after hearing that comment. or, would they?

upon second thought, maybe it'd be a more peaceful world if we just accept people for who they are. live and let live... only if we can talk above our governments...

i declare the 20th winter olympics closed...

mystery #43: what is this object?

after 15 days i'm olympic'd out.

brief summary:

1. we did good.
2. the canadian women rocked.
3. i hope i never see any of those stupid yoplait commercials ever again.
4. i didn't mind the beaver commercials.
5. go vancouver! they's gonna do a swell job.
6. who wants to go x-country skiing, eh?
7. i'm gonna take up curling.
8. who won the men's hockey tourney? wait, don't answer that. who cares?
   

mystery #42 or the agony of defeat.

where in the world was this pic taken?
switzerland 2, canada 0 in men's olympic hockey...

well that kind of sucked.

i was already to write about how swell it felt to watch the US women's hockey team lose yesterday. then the canadian men's all-stars really stunk up the joint this morning. notice i didn't use the word team to describe the canadians. they were just a bunch of all-stars today.

i have to give the swiss full credit. they were the only team on the ice today. they got the 2 goal lead and played the trap like there was no tomorrow. plus their goaltender, marty gerber played like a brick wall. oh, i know how good he is... he's on the ol' fantasy hockey team. hey marty, give me a shutout like that once in awhile, eh.

was this debacle a national disaster? yes, but the tourney's not over yet.

what's next for the canadians? finland. they better get their act together fast. jarome iginla, marty st. louis, joe thorton amongst others, wake up!!!!

other hockey tourney observations...

slovaks and finns have to be tourney favourites now. very strong teams.

on the bubble: switzerland and the russians...

flopping around like a cod outta water: canada, usa, and the czech republic.

annus horribilis...

montreal canadiens' goalie jose theodore's having a fine year. other than his grotesque performance on the ice this year, he was recently caught using an anti-baldness drug in a doping test... than yesterday he fell on an icy sidewalk and suffered an ankle fracture.

ron maclean unwittingly called it a "hairline" fracture. seriously...

canadian medal of the day...

props go out to figure skater jeff buttle for his bronze medal performance. congrats jeff, even though i don't recognize the legitimacy of your sport. however, you performed well above expectations.

DVD's on the go...

i'm in the middle of a scarlett johansson film fest.

ghost world... good movie, eh. post-teenage angst. cross between ferris bueller and napolean dynamite. scarlett's voice was driving me crazy. now if she could work in a russian accent...
the island... sci-fi thriller, with scarlett and ewan macgregor. fun movie if you're into post-apocalyptic scenarios mixed in with eugenics and brokeback mountain... scarlett is kind of hot....

next in the que: lost in translation, girl with a pearl earring, match point...

ongoing projects: star trek TNG and TOS.

my arms really hurt...

len, good guess on mystery photo #41. i'll give you this clue...

election report 2006.

more silly media stuff:

the use of the Survivor theme on Calgary's channel 2&7 news, where "normal" people vote party leaders off "the island", is kind of silly. i won't tell you who usually gets voted off.

i guess it's an innovative and fun segment. instead of shamelessly flogging "Survivor" they should of used an Apprentice theme instead where participants fire paul martin while donning really bad hair pieces... oops, did i say paul martin?

the cbc news had another brilliant idea last night. they invited hacks from each of the parties to "produce" a 3 minute "investigative" segment. not surprisingly, i couldn't tell the difference between these clips and the usual cbc election spin coverage.

theoretical solutions...

i was on my routine AM run today. dang it, that was cold... the regular route takes me by centennial high. who the hell named that place, eh? lame. i digress. i was running by the front doors when some dumb ass kid threw an apple at me. what the hell?

theoretical solution: get rid of high school. i mean that too. i'm a firm believer that once the kids learn how to read, rite and do the 'rithmetics they should move on out to the "real" world. i'd say if you haven't learned the basics by the end of jr. high you are in big trouble, my friends.

i know most hi school students are bored out of their minds. so, we should take this chance to rid ourselves of hi school.

show us some luv mr. stephen.

i luv canada.

phew... glad i got that out of the way (it didn't hurt too much, eh).

mr. stephen was batting 1.000 yesterday on day 1 until he brought up the gay marriage thing again. i can see the other parties clamping on to that lil' sound bite. who needs ralphie throwing a wrench into the conservatives' plans when mr. stephen is an expert at it himself?

when will the conservatives present themselves as the viable alternative?

theoretical solution: make conrad black the new leader of the tories... i jest say you... well, i was watching the author of "rescuing canada's right: blah, blah, blah" (the same book that qtlibrarian was floggin' at ezra's loft) on the news yesterday. according to her, the author, mr. black is deeply revered in conservative circles in canada. he has made extraordinary intellectual contributions to conservatism in this great land.

i can see myself supporting mr. black...

politics ain't rocket science...

marc garneau is the newest "star" liberal candidate in quebec. this guy's a fully qualified, card carrying astronaut and he wants to be a politician?

theoretical solution: quickly, someone slap some sense into this guy. i just can't understand this one...

hot gases are expensive...

dang it's cold out there. as i tepidly tap out this weak entry, i'm huddled in front of the 'puter drawing on any available heat given off by the crt and motherboard. why? have you seen my last natural gas bill? last i looked the ambient temperature in the house was 67 F. dang that's cold. i'm aiming for 65 F. should be seeing my breath by then...

how am i going to survive this winter?

theoretical solution: every hour on the hour take a walk outside in the minus 13 weather for 15 minutes. come back inside and admire how hot your house is.

slow news day...

where in the world is bubba?

bonus entertainment

mao zedong would probably spin under the plexiglass if he could see this... click here.

what's happening with the proletariat?

0 and 4...

mystery national park pic #2. bonus clue: "rising sun".

ok, i'm 0-4 with my cfl playoff predictions. it just shows you how much i know about football. but you must admit that this last weekend's games were upsets.

i thought T.O. had the necessary weaponry to dismantle the alouettes; however, they killed themselves with turnovers (not the apple kind either). it brought back flashbacks of the stampeders game. ouch...

then there were the BC lions... it was a close game due to incompetent quarterbacks on both sides. for edmonton, that ricky ray guy has the weakest arm of all the starting quarterbacks in the league. dave dickenson, BC's starting quarterback is not far back in this category, eh.

the difference between the two? ray has a grey cup ring. dave doesn't. he's a good quarterback but until he wins a grey cup championship he'll be remembered for just being the most efficient signal caller in league history. (aside: as for next year, i suggest to wally buono, coach/general manager of the lions, that backup qb printers is a keeper.)

this same grey cup criterion for immortality applies to henry burris as well.

final prognostication...

this prognostication business is like trying to win the 6/49.

edmonton 21 montreal 18. the eskimos will use their 4th string quarterback in the last 30 seconds to bring the cup home...

i hate the eskimos. so, it's difficult to predict their success. i hate montreal just as much.

i'm not sure if i'll be watching this sunday.

other news...

what the hell is going on with ralph klein these days? he's traipsing around eastern canada giving away more money... ok, some of it goes towards a national scholarship program... next thing you know he'll be cutting 400 dullah cheques for the newfies, eh. i just hope he keeps mentioning his plans for health care reform in this province on this trip. hehehehe...



seldom do we associate ralphie with the word "art" but he personally chose, on behalf of us albertans, the above piece called "Song of my Dream Bed Dance" by artist Joane Cardinal-Schubert to donate to the National Gallery. no offense to ms. cardinal-schubert but thanx ralphie... you can put our wallet back in your pocket.



like in iraq, dubya didn't have a exit strategy for a press conference in china either.

it's dark out at 4 AM...

mystery national park pic #1

i was over at my bro's house at 5 am this morning supervising the LB and LG. damn, it's dark that time of day. i had to supervise their pre-school preps while their folks made a quickie trip to vancouver.

while waiting for them to wake up, i watched the hdtv version of last night's late night with david letterman. damn, that hdtv was so hot. dave was so wrinkly. he was so much funnier on hd.

shock jock howard stern was dave's only guest. he was really wrinkly as well. ya know if you took tom phillips, dyed his hair black, removed his glasses, he'd looked exactly like howard stern.

howard was tirelessly flogging his new radio show on sirius, a new outer space-based satellite delivered radio network. i think he talked about that the last time he was a guest on the show. i'm all for non-censorship, freedom of speech and all that crap that the FCC seems to object to. i'm not sure if alot of people are willing to fork out 12 bucks per month to listen to radio. i guess if you're into howard stern and his outrageous act, it's worth it.

howard likened the potential of satellite radio to water. i.e. who would of foreseen the day where people would buy bottled versions of water? i like the stuff that comes out of the tap myself...

damn that hdtv was sharp. i don't understand why you have to pay extra for it, especially if it's suppose to be the tv format of the future. how's that going to aid in the conversion of viewers of "standard" tv?

other news...

i was riding my bike to my friend bob's house. my right mitt fell out of my jacket pocket somewhere along the way. my right hand froze solid on the way home...

i was on my regular running route the other day. a gaggle of geese flew unusually low overhead, perhaps 50 feet. i thought it was fascinating. the sounds which proceeded them was a mixture of muffled flapping of their wings, a whining noise reminiscent of high tension wire buzz, random honking, and a swoosh that you usually associate with a baseball pop-fly zooming overhead. that was cool...

once again, i'm befuddled over the fuss about the newest harry potter film opening today. perhaps i should read the books one day. it's suppose to be scary, i heard. LG and LB don't like scary movies...

lastly, george takei a.k.a. mr. sulu of star trek fame is gay... nothing wrong with that, eh.