The main post is found just below here, but I thought I’d post a couple of quick links.

Here’s an interesting article about Jim Davis - the creator of Garfield.

Here’s a link about online DVD rental places in Canada It was actually posted connected to a comment on an earlier post I’d made. David Oberst looks like he’s done his homework on the subject, so if you’re interested, click away.

And finally, Here’s a link to a new gaming site. It looks pretty good.

I meant to give a heads up on Joe Schmo 2 yesterday, but I forgot. I saw it in the listings for two straight hours, and thought they were doing a 2 hour premiere or something. Silly me - Spike just aired the same episode twice. Turns out that I could have watched the end of the football game anyway - not that it mattered much.

So, my take on it - it’s not bad. I seem to remember JS1 taking a couple of episodes to hit it’s stride, so hopefully it gets better - from the preview clips, it seems like it might. They didn’t show a lot of interaction between the characters and the Schmos, but what they did show was kind of interesting. Tim seems like he’s going to be endlessly entertained by the absurd characters that he’s surrounded by - he kind of latched onto Gerald early as one of the more “real” characters. I kind of get the feeling that Ingrid saw/heard about Joe Schmo, and is on her guard against it. It doesn’t help that there are a lot of similarities between the sets (even down to the logo at the eviction ceremony.) I was missing a certain “you’re dead to us” quality though. We’ll see how it plays out in the coming weeks.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “First some ground rules. Number one, we get bathroom breaks every half-hour.” - Lionel Hutz

I don’t know how people can live in the Pacific Northwest. It’s been rainy/cloudy here for less than a week, and I’m already tired of it. William must be too, cause he’s started climbing things. He likes climbing up on the back of the TV stand, and just standing there laughing. Apparently he’s done it a couple of times without his diaper on, and, well, let’s just say that the TV experienced some of the weather we’ve been having too.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “You there, fill it up with petroleum distillate, and re-vulcanize my tires, post haste. And none of your usual boobery!” - Mr. Burns

The football draft went well this year - I executed my draft plan with only a couple of minor hitches. I decided to go with an 8 WR set this year, which contrasts to my highly running focused lineup from years past. Hopefully the boys can show everyone that the CFL is a passing league.

Sunday we went swimming, then drove around a bit while William slept in the car. We stopped at an open house, which Erin went into while I sat in the car with William, then just kind of cruised around town a bit, exploring the city. It was fun to drive down some streets that we don’t drive down regularly.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Dry fish sticks? This sucks!” - Homer

The NHL awards were on last night. A couple of quick comments.

First, when something isn’t a “Live Presentation of CBC Sports” you shouldn’t call it that. I watched the show on a CBC channel that started it after the other CBC channels were already done showing it. Apparently the whole “Live/Taped” thing is beyond the grasp of whoever put the production together though.

I have no doubt that it was live on some CBC channels, but clearly it wasn’t live where I watched it.

Second, some of the awards surprised me somewhat. I’m not clear on when they have the votes, but it certainly seemed like they waited until after the playoffs were done. This isn’t a big deal, but my understanding is that the awards are supposed to be based on regular season performance, and not take the playoffs into account. Maybe I’m wrong on both counts. Either way, the number of Lightning players that walked off with hardware was pretty impressive - even if it was just the same two guys.

Also, it’s a shame that they can’t split the awards, because in some instances, all three nominees were greatly deserving. Norris, Vezina and Masterton in particular. It’s hard to fault the awarding of the big prizes to any of the nominees, really, but I sometimes wonder what credentials are required - I mean, do they let Al Strachan vote? If so, then I can understand any insanity in the decisions.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Marge, anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there.” - Homer

Much to Erin’s chagrin, football season starts next week. I’m keeping busy researching players for the upcoming 5th season of the fantasy league that I’m involved with. I managed to pull off a trade this morning, which is cool - my first off-season trade. The draft promises to be interesting anyway, with the normal major changes that the CFL goes through every year.

So, if you have any CFL tips, keep ‘em to yourself ;) Or email me, so Jason doesn’t see them here too. :P

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Don’t take it so hard lad. I was wrestling wolves when you were at your mother’s teat.” Groundskeeper Willy

Congratulations on a great playoff run to the Calgary Flames, and congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Game 7 was good, though the last 10 minutes or so was pretty heart pounding. Tampa played their best game tonight, and to their credit, their best was enough. Calgary seemed a little sluggish for most of the game. Jarome elevated his play at times, but it wasn’t quite enough. I’ll admit that at some points in the last five minutes, it looked like Calgary might tie it (wouldn’t that have been exciting?)

So, also congratulations to the group of us for putting up a great record predicting series. We had one person finish below .500, but he was a little distracted to make any picks after the first round. Five of us finished at 11-4, which is pretty incredible. Congratulations to everyone. Now, we have to hope there will be more hockey greeting us next fall, and not a work stoppage.

Enduring image of the 2004 playoffs: Ville Nieminen singing the Canadian National Anthem before each game.