The intensity of War

I must write a rebuttal to the April 26th blog of Mr. Tchao. He somewhat accurately recounted the events of Saturday the 24th where we went up to Wasaga Beach for some paintballing. He did however forget to mention how it was he who on subsequent games in the "Bus" event - proceeded to die within a combined 8 seconds in both games. I believe it was him in the first one that fell before he got to the bunker and was shot like a lame duck flailing in the sand.

Now regarding the infamous "fart". I must clarify a couple things. It is true however it was not as violent as our protagonist likes to portray it. What was impressive though was when he decided to dash from the overcroded bunker, risking life and limb in order to get to a closer bunker so he could shoot the white team. As he dashed through the jungle, narrowly avoiding bullets, he jumped (John Woo style) over limbs of a branch and showed such great agility and skill in landing directly behind the tree he had targetted. Although the final outcome of getting shot in the ass and on the wrist was tragic - his valient attempt was fearless.

Such cannot be said for the aforementioned hero (or should I say heroine?)

Combat

Tomorrow I am going Paintballing. I've never done this before so it should be very interesting. I am looking forward to it but also mildly nervous cause I've heard that people get hurt when they play this. I think I have all the equipment I'm going to need...

I'll let you know how I do.

A "Sniper" G

Congratulations and some other things

I am very happy tonight cause the Leafs won Game 7 against the Sens. I also feel very bad for the Senators. They were the better team in this series. They outhit the Leafs, outskated the Leafs and outhustled the Leafs. However - they didn't outscore the Leafs and that's primarily because of one person - Ed Belfour. He is definitely the Leafs MVP so far.

The Senators are a solid young team. Lalime had a bad game tonight - let in 2 SOFT goals that really proved to be the difference. I don't know if I can question their heart. I can't imagine that all those guys don't wanna win really badly... Looking at them and listening to them in the post game interviews - guys like Mike Fischer, and Todd White - those are guys that feel really bad. Hossa had a great series but other than that - where were their snipers? Smolinski, Bondra, Havlat, Bonk and Alfredsson combined for 1 goal in the series - that is a major problem. (That said - several of the Leafs big guns...Mogilny, Francis, Antropov and Renberg didn't have anything in this series). All in all though...Ottawa is a good team that ran into a hot goalie and got beat. 4 years out of the last 5 - they've been eliminated by Toronto. That must be tough to take.

As for Toronto - I am a diehard fan and I felt like they played a pretty solid game tonight. I still think that they can play a lot better though. One thing that is very evident is that they miss Sundin. When you look at the powerplay - there really is no flow. I used to think that it was driven by Leetch and McCabe but now I realize that it's really Sundin who makes thing click and makes those nifty passes. Also, the intangibles he brings as captain are great. I think he'll play in the next series...just not sure when. Francis should be on the 3rd or 4th line. He is a solid player and I'm sure a good addition to the dressing room but he shouldn't be playing 15 - 20 minutes per night.

With Philly coming up...I think that the Leafs have a chance to kill some skeletons from their closet. This year they were 1 and 3 against the Flyers and outscored something like 20 - 3 in 4 games. Belfour is going to have to continue being the man and the Leafs are going to have to shapen up on the Defensive end.

Great character win tonight...let's keep the momentum going into Thursday night.

So in the end - all the teams I wanted to win in the Game 7's were victorious. Now I am cheering for the Habs, Leafs, Flames and whoever in the next round with a Leafs - Flames Stanley Cup Final. We can all dream, can't we???

Game 7

Nothing says excitement like those two words - Game and Seven. All of the Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going to be playing a 7th game to decide their fate.

Montreal - Boston is Monday night at 7:00 pm EST
Calgary - Vancouver is Monday night at 10:30 pm EST
Ottawa - Toronto is Tuesday night at 7:00 pm EST

Toronto has not played a good game yet in this series. They've been outplayed in 6 games and they're lucky to still be alive. They have a chance now to play one solid game and win the series. If they can do that...it will be a complete steal. However - good teams create their own luck. I wonder if Mats will play on Tuesday. I also wanna know what Quinn is going to do to try and increase scoring. Perhaps a top line of Niewendyk, Roberts and Mogilny?

Today is my niece's birthday. I was over for dinner with my family. I made her a scrapbook of a bunch of photos I had of her since I've met here (these photos are stretching back to August, 2001. I had a lot of fun making it. It just took forever to find all of the stuff I needed. Who knew that you could buy Scrapbooks and Notebooks for anywhere from $8.50 - $80.00 at places like Chapters. That was absolutely crazy but I'm glad I ended up finding what I was looking for. She really liked the scrapbook and so did her mom and grandparents so that is all that mattered in the end. I pretty much worked on it all afternoon yesterday and today as it took a lot longer than I anticipated.

One thing I did learn this weekend (and at my niece's) is that I HATE watching hockey (or sports in general) with people who aren't true fans or who don't know what they are talking about when referring to hockey rules/stats/trends, etc. It is really aggravating to hear them talk crap and I absolutely wanna yell and tell them to shut up. I think that's why I end up watching a lot of games on my own at home cause I can't stand the reactions of some people.

That's it...time to start researching for Game 7.

Now that's Hockey!!!

It is almost 3:00 am and I am just getting ready for bed. Why you ask? I was just watching the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of their series. Calgary was up in the series 3 games to 2. Vancouver stormed out tonight and by the middle of the second period, they were leading 4 - 0. Calgary didn't give up though and eventually tied it 4 - 4. Then, the game went into TRIPLE overtime. That was by far the best hockey game I've watched since the Salt Lake City Olympics. It's amazing how EVERY game in this series has been so exciting. I just wish they weren't on as late as they are. It's night and day compared to the Leafs-Sens series (which has been quite a dud).

The nice thing about that one is that the Leafs have a chance to clinch it on Sunday night and then they can rest for a little while. If they do win though...they'll be facing either Tampa Bay or Philly in the next round. Both opponents will present unique challenges for the Leafs so either would be a difficult series.

I went to an engagement party tonight for someone in our Marathi community. It was a lot of fun...and the food was amazing. Mmm...Butter Chicken. That's for you Luen! The eggplant and potato bhaji that my mom made was kick-ass too. Sunday the 18th is Ankita's b-day. I am making her a scrapbook and just putting the finishing touches on it tomorrow morning. I am going to hang at her place tomorrow afternoon and play with her and all her 6 and 7 year old friends. I better get my rest tonight then. :) I do have one dilemna though. We are staying at her place for dinner tomorrow night but the Leaf game is on at 7:00 pm. How can I do both things at once? I might have to miss the first two periods but then race home during the second intermission (it's only a 10 minute drive) to catch the end of the game. I'll have to play it by ear.

Night,

Superstitions

When it comes to playoff hockey...I am quite silly. It seems that my fantastic "home court" or "home ice" advantage of the 2315 Basement just ain't what it used to be. In the Leafs-Sens series so far. I have watched 2 games at home (both losses: 4-2 and 4-1 tonight) and the 2 games I saw on the road were 2-0 shutout victories. So, what does this mean? Do I have to forego the comfort of my home for the rest of this series?

One funny random thought I saw today...Gary Roberts was pinned up against the glass by Zdeno Chara. The fans on the other end were banging the glass right in his face and making faces. That much be so annoying. How can you possibly block that out? This stupid looking oger is banging the glass so loud and hard, it might break right in front of your face while another oger (this one 6'9" is pounding you into the glass from the other side)

Happy Birthday Eric! You are truly the funniest and wittiest (word?) person I know.
Enjoy the day my friend. Hopefully I'll see ya soon...

Excitement...of two different kinds

The NHL Playoffs are so exciting. Especially when a game goes into overtime. Like the Habs and Bruins are right now. It's the second overtime period and there are about 10 minutes remaining. I am listening to the game online on nhl.com and will run to the TV once a goal is scored. This way, I can look into trying to get some work done cause I was on the road all day yesterday and today. And will be for the rest of this week.

Just after I finished typing that paragraph...Murray scored the game winner for the Bruins. Kovalev ran into Souray in the neutral zone and the puck went free to Murray who skated in and scored on the short side. There were several goats in this game including Rivet for icing the puck, Julian (the coach) for not having Perrault on the ice for the final faceoff in the Habs zone and although he scored 2 goals tonight, I think that Ribeiro's acting job at the end of Game 3 has changed the officiating in this series...

Speaking of Montreal - My cousin, Vishwanath (Yogesh), just called and him and his wife, Marilyn had a baby daughter on Monday. Her name is Tanesha. Besides my one cousin Ulka, all of the men in my family so far had boys. So now Ulka and Tanesha are the only females. They seem so happy and I'm very excited for them. I can't wait to go Montreal to visit them.

The Molson Cup 3 Stars

The third star - Ed Belfour
The second star - Ed Belfour
The first star - Ed Belfour

The Leafs were saved this evening. On a night when they started out flat and only had flashes of brilliance, it was their goalie, Ed Belfour, who came to their rescure. He stopped all the rubber that faced him (all 37 shots worth). So now, he has a combined 138 minutes and 21 seconds of shut out hockey vs. the Sens. That is all of Game 3, all of Game 2 and most of the third period of Game 1. The Sens must be beside themselves. He is totally standing on his head and making some excellent saves.

It's time for bed now but man, I'll fal asleep happy this evening knowing the Leafs are up 2 games to 1.

After 40 Minutes

"It's tough for Bondra to draw first blood with a Leetch stuck on him"
- Ron Maclean

Ron Maclean...still making hits when it comes to one liners. What a joker. He's had 2 others tonight but I just can't remember them. Belfour is playing huge so far. And the second period was a much better effort for the Leafs. Go get 'em in the third boys!!!

Coach's Corner

It's the first intermission and as Don Cherry says...the Leafs are playing "dopey" again (like game 1). Although one difference is that it is still a scoreless game. He just had the funniest thing at the end of the show. He was talking about Mike Ribeiro's (of the Habs) acting last night. And he had this thing called - "vote for the bigger fake". He showed Ribeiro and then he showed Rivaldo (Brazilian striker who got the ball kicked towards him when he was getting ready for a corner kick. He fell down like he was shot (just like Ribeiro did last night). Watching both of them rolling around like that was hilarious. They both looked like idiots and it is totally classless if you ask me. How can you be considered a "tough" player in your sport if that's what you do?

Time for the second period...

Not so long Weekend

Long weekends always come and go so quickly. It's Sunday night...11:46 PM and I am getting ready for bed. This week ahead will be pretty busy but I think it's going to fly by so that is good. I haven't received the final word about the apartment yet (should know this week) but if it's a green light...I have to start doing some furniture shopping. I need a bed (haven been sleeping on a twin for 25 years), a couch and a TV.

I am thinking about creating a new website. I know I know I know. I've been talking about this for some time now. I just think I need to have a page with some links to the pages of my buddies, some cool other things and of course - my photos. I was just creating a "O-Foto" site tonight where I will upload all of my images and any of you can go and check them out. Problem is that you need to sign up to the site (it's not a major problem though) cause you can just sign up your e-mail address (any address works). Then, once you're in - you can check out all the pics...download whatever you want...make prints - just about everything. The dang site is down right now though (I was trying to upload some more images and it was giving me grief).

On Friday, I had an Easter Egg hunt at my place for my niece Ankita. She had a blast and found all 16 eggs that I hid. 12 were small jelly bean eggs. 3 were Cadbury chocolate eggs and the final was a Kinder Surprise (of course with a toy in it). She found all of them including the hardest Kinder Egg so that was pretty awesome. In total...it took her about 15 or 20 minutes but it was good fun for everyone and I got some great pictures of her in the process. After lunch, we went across the street to the mall and I took her to the fair in the parking lot. There again...she had a blast. We went on a bunch of rides (merry go round, bumble bees, fire truck, berry go round too). She also played a couple of games and won 2 stuffed animals which was pretty fun. The whole time...she kept saying how much fun she was having. It is such a great time to hang with her as well cause time just flies and you really just enjoy every moment.

Yesterday - a bunch of us helped Kdot and Raq paint their new house. Lesson learned - I suck at painting. I love to help but I'm not very good at this painting thing. I guess it will just take some time to improve. At night, we watched Game 2 on Ashvin's big screen which was a real treat. They played a lot better so that was a good sign. Today, Mickelson won the Masters with a thrilling 18th hole Birdie. It was pretty slick how he did that and quite an amazing shot under as much pressure as he was (especially cause he's known as the best golfer to never win a major championship. One thing that annoyed me about CBS' coverage was that there was not even a mention of Mike Weir throughout the final hour and the only time his name came up was when Jim Nantz and Hootie Johnson introduced him as last year's champion. Weir totallly got the shaft but if his name was Love III or Woods or Duval, he would have gotten much more noteriety. It was nice of Mickelson to awknowledge that he was accepting the green jacket from a fellow leftie golfer so that was kinda neat.

C'est le temps pour dormir.
Au revoir.

Post Mortem

The Leafs played very poorly tonight. Ottawa's best players played better than Toronto's. Hossa, Havlat, Alfredsson all had solid games. Sundin, Mogilny, Francis, Roberts all floated around. And when you only get 17 shots on net - you've got problems. I am not going to get into bitching about the referees. Leaf fans (led by Mr. Quinn) are using that as an excuse. Bottom line, they didn't play well and they were outplayed. You can't take 8 penalties against the best power play in the league. You know they are calling lots of close things so play with a bit more discipline. ALSO - Lalime is not 100%. How can you test a cold goalie when you average 6 shots on net per period???

I think they'll bounce back on Saturday night. I think that Belfour is going to play well. I think he can steal the next one. Ottawa was embarrassed at home 6 - 0 a week ago. Now, Toronto has played poorly at home so they have to respond. Don Cherry was bringing up some interesting things tonight too. He was talking about ice time...Why did Niewendyk play only 11 minutes tonight? And where were Sundin, Niewendyk and Fitzgerald for penalty killing?

As another comment...something needs to change with the Kaberle and Johannson pairing. They looked awful tonight.

My parting thought is that there will be several broken ankles tomorrow morning. I'm sure all the Toronto bandwagon fans have already jumped off. I'll see them back around in a few weeks when the Leafs are still around. I must say - I hate those fans.

Have a good time watching the playoffs folks...

I'm a loser...and so are the Sens

I just watched the bachelor in between commercials of the hockey game. I found myself going back to the who looking to see what was going to happen. Thiw as the first episode of the new series. The "bachelor" this time is Jesse Palmer. He's the QB for the New York Giants and he is Canadian (from Ottawa). There is 1 (one) Canadian girl on the sho from Quebeb. I was really surprised to see that. Very unexpected.

Wow...Calgary just tied the Canucks 2 - 2. They were down 2 - 0 and were on a power play. The Canucks got called for too many men on the ice so the Flames went up by two men. The Flames then scored 2 goals in 28 seconds. Guess this should be a good hockey game. Although, Iginla is getting thumped on every opportunity.

Now, back to my bachelor discussion. There were some amazing chicks there...and also some tools. Mandy (the soccer player) was pretty fine and my favourite. There was this one chick (a cheerleader) who was a complete tool. Totally after the money and absolutely nothing else. I think she said "He's so hot" about every time they tried to interview her. Not that I am expecting much other than that...but well, I guess I am. The Canadian chick seemed all right - spoke French with Jesse so that was amusing. This show gets interesting this time around because apparently there is a "spy" among the ladies. Jesse's best friend is posing as one of the girls and she is kinda like a mole. It's quite amusing. The highlight definitely was when Jesse was giving out the roses to the ladies he wanted to stay...he accidentally called out one of the wrong names. There were 2 (two) token Asian girls (none of them made it) and 2 (two) token Black girls (only one of them made it).

OK, so all of my friends now think I am a tool and have totally lost respect for me. I won't watch this show again (until of course, I am flipping channels one day and see a bunch of hot ladies on the screen). I might be forced to stop and watch.

Now for some important stuff...

The Battle of Ontario begins tomorrow (in approximately 20 hours). The Leafs and Senators are meeting in the playoffs for he fourth time in 5 years. It's an absolute awesome series and these two teams are really starting to hate each other. There are so many side stories and tonnes of entertaining storylines. A lot of the hopes of either team rest on the shoulders of their goalies. Belfour is totally on his game right now (3 of his last 4 starts were shutouts - all on the road). Also, I believe he has allowed only 1 goal against the Senators this season. That (along with many other things) must be festering in the Senators' heads cause the Leafs have really been thumping them over the years (especially in the playoffs). Lalime has been playing like a sieve recently and he is still in questionable health. I wonder if he will be ready tomorrow night.

I can't wait for this game tomorrow. Nothing beats playoff time...Nothing at all.

On the road

Sleeping in a hotel bed. Showering with the small shampoo, soap and conditioner bottles. Working out in cramped gyms. Eating out for every meal. I guess as they say - that is life on the road. I've been here in the hotel since Monday and will be here till Thursday. My room this time around isn't as nice as the last time I stayed at this hotel. It's still a nice place but man, the restaurant in here sucks. The service is so slow and the food is pretty crap.

So, did you watch the NCAA final last night? It was pretty boring actually. The game was a blowout very soon after it started. Okafor was great. I wonder how he will do in the NBA.

I did win close to $200 in the NCAA pools I was in so that was pretty cool. That is 2 years in a row that I've won all the pools I'm in. I guess I'm doing something right in these pools. I also came back and finished second in my NHL Hockey Pool for the regular season. And now, I am entering an NHL playoff pool so we'll see how that one goes.

Well, it's time for bed. My bed was "turned-down" tonight. How often do you get that kinda service?
Later,

A Fine Weekend
Just blogging real quickly before the week starts. Just wanted to say that it was a fun-filled weekend. Some quick highlights include:

- a 30 minute phone conversation with my niece Ankita on Friday night. That girl is so smart and really quick. I was trying to talk in tricks and mess her up with questions and stuff but she figured everything out and it was just so neat to see her do that.

- Texas Hold 'Em poker tourny at Kevin's place. That was a lot of fun. That game is so good. Lots of strategy goes into it with all the bluffing and winning. It's really pretty neat just to see how everyone plays that game and all the unique styles. I will definitely be playing more hold 'em as the days/weeks/months go by

- Aquadesiac (an empty bar on Queen's Quay) and Rolsaan (a busy Chinese restaurant in China Town) after the poker tourny. Got home late didn't get to bed until 5:00 am

- Roller Hockey in North York on Saturday morning with Nitin, Adam, Kdot, Ashvin and Chet. It was definitely one of my better games as I scored some goals and set up a few sweet ones. I am very excited about the possibility of joining a roller hockey league this summer - I hope that Chet and Steve figure that out soon.

- Nitin and Reena's wedding reception on Saturday night was A LOT of fun. Those Marathi functions with the whole posse are always a blast and it totally always reminds me of how fortunate my family is to have such a great extended family located all around the city. It's awesome to have all these people in your life that are important peeps that you don't necessarily see on a day-to-day basis but you can just pick up with them wherever you left off. And as always, the dancing at Marathi Weddings is hype and they always play the classics - Maestro: Let your Backbone Slide, House of Pain: Jump Around and Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock: It Takes Two. For some reason, those songs have been immortalized and they are played at every Marathi wedding I've been to in Toronto for the last 10 years. They are such classics. We all know all the words and everyone just goes nuts. The entertainment at the wedding was great too (there were some wicked dances going on). As well, the food was quite tasty as well - mmmm butter chicken (for all you closet Indian food fans out there).

- When I got home, I was watching sports highlights for about an hour cause I wanted to get all caught up on the NHL and NCAA. In hockey, Toronto shalacked (sp?) the Senators last night 6-0 which was completely unexpected. I mean - I thought they would win but not that handily. And since the Bruins won today - it's the Battle of Ontario Part IV this year. Toronto has home ice advantage and Game 1 is this Thursday night at the ACC. The Canadians are against the Bruins. In the West - Vancouver plays Calgary in a battle of western Canada (I think that after the whole Bertuzzi thing - Vancouver ain't going very far in the playoffs and will probably lose in the first round (they are just too shattered as a team). Unfortunately, Edmonton didn't make it this year so not all 6 Canadian teams are in the playoffs. In the NCAA - it's the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. UCONN Huskies in tomorrow's championship game. I had all 4 final four teams picked correctly in my pool. Although I had Oklahoma State vs. UCONN in the final - I can still win all my pools if UCONN beats GT tomorrow night. Should that happen, I think I'll be about $250 richer which is pretty sweet.

- Today I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It was okay. I liked the beginning. I liked the ending. I'm not too sure what I thought of the middle. It was definitely a different movie. Apparently the story is written by the same author of Being John Malcovich and Adaptation. So, if you have seen those movies - you know that this one will be a little on the weird side. There were just certain things about the movie that I didn't really like but other parts that were really interesting in the way they were filmed.

- Tonight it's packing time. I am flying north for work tomorrow for a few days. Should be good times...

Later all,

Lots of Stuff - Quite Eclectic actually

Lottery
Did you hear about the Canadian man who won a $30 Million dollar jackpot last year but put the ticket in a safety deposit box at the bank for a year without claimin his winnings? And now, just as the prize was going to expire, he went into the OLGC office and claimed his prize. In interviews, he said that he wanted to make the right decision. He didn't want to do anything rash or uncalculated. He consulted with lawyers and accountants just to make sure he was doing the right thing. One funny thing is that in the town where he bought the winning ticket - there was a lot of speculation among the local residents. Tonnes of gossip as well. When the winning numbers are announced, they can determine where the ticket was purchased. He said that one day a few weeks ago he was in the store buying something from the shop keeper and there was a couple beside him who were talking about the unclaimed winning ticket. At one point during the conversation, the man said to his wife...the winner could even be that guy right there (and he pointed at Raymond Sobeski (the winner)). At the time, Raymond just nodded and smiled (knowing full well that he was actually the winner). I wonder if that man and his wife are watching the news now and remember doing that in the store whenever that happened. They were saying that Raymond lost out on about $1 Million dollars in interest by sitting on the money for a year.

Then, there was also the couple in Virginia who won $239 Million dollars (USD no less). CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??? The guy says that he plans on investing some and the women basically said she was going to shop till she dropped. Man, that is just ludicris if you ask me. It came out to about $180 million before taxes (and they are going to get 1 lump sum).

Something is really wrong when people can make winnings as high as that. What does lottery money actually go to? I mean, when people buy lottery tickets, does that just go to the government? Is it pure revenue for the government after they pay off the winnings? Let's do some quick math...

30 Million people in Canada
How many are at lottery buying age (have to be at least 18)
Let's say 60%
so that is 18 million people
Of that - how many buy tickets?
Should I differentiate b/w males and females? No.
So, let's say 50%
That is 9 Million people
How often do they buy tickets on average?
Let's say once/week
How much is a ticket?
$1
So that is $9 million per week for 52 weeks.

I think that I made some incorrect assumptions. I am also too tired to check my logic.

Anyway, where was I going with that? I guess I was just trying to understand what the whole lottery industry is all about. Are the winnings that go to people funded by people buying tickets? Where else does that money go? Does OLGC or the Government donate to charity?

ER
ER was awesome tonight. One the best episodes I've seen in a LONG time. They were ranking the med students in this episode and Neela (Parminder Nagra's character) was ranked quite high except the knock on her was that she was too passive and didn't take charge of situations enough. She ended up taking charge and screwing up and a patient died as a result. Gallant tried to cover for her. But she couldn't go along with it and eventually told the truth. When Weaver was interogating the whole group - Carter covered for Gallant and Neela. In the end though, it looks like Gallant might be royally screwed because he falsified a patient chart after the fact (making it seem like he ordered Neela to give the demoral). As a result, he committed a felony. And after all this...we've gotta wait till next week to find out what happened. In one other season, Gallant admitted that he was going to ask Neela out. And her reply (through tears) was "I was going to say yes". I thought that was a pretty slick line. Right after that...they showed her balling in a room and they showed Gallant realized how badly he may have messed his career up. It was quite touching and I hope it works out okay.

Wow...look at me - I am writing and talking as if all this is real. What a dork. I am so hooked on this show though. It's the only thing on TV that I watch religiosly (other than sports).

NHL Playoffs
Wow. This is going to be an exciting year. I can't believe how close it is. St. Louis lost tonight. Nashville won. So that means that St. Louis, Nashville AND Edmonton are all tied for the final 2 playoff spots. One of them ain't gonna make it. Who's it gonna be??? I really hope Edmonton comes through but the cards are stacked up against them because they only have 1 game left against Vancouver whereas St. Louis and Nashville both have 2 games remaining. The Oilers are in a must win game but St. Louis and Nashville still have the luxury of losing one game (because they both have more wins than the Oilers).

As for the Leafs - the first round is gonna be crazy. No Owen Nolan. Possibly no Tucker. Not sure about Klee. And of course - not sure how long Belfour will last. Let's see how things go for the boys this spring. I am getting ready to watch! I don't wanna play New Jersey or Ottawa in the first round. I would take my chances with Boston, Philly or Montreal. Let's see how it plays out though.

I am setting up a Sportsnet Playoff pool so if any of you want it, lemme know. I've got the usual suspects already so if there are any other peeps, I'm all ears... Blair my man - you in a pool? Can I join?

Cecilia
I have to write about this and just say that I was deeply saddened by the news this week. I didn't know Cecilia but like many Canadians (and others from around the world), this story made me contemplate everything. I will never be able to understand the type of anguish and pain that Cecilia's parents must be going through. All of their grieving and thoughts will never bring their daughter back. That is a very scary thing to say. I just don't understand what happened and there seems to be so many theories so it's probably gonna go on for a LONG time (because there is just not that much evidence right now). I am deeply saddened that this 9.5 year old girl didn't get to live life. She was an accomplished pianist. Loved cats. Was doing very well in school. Clearly a very bright girl who quite possibly would have become something quite amazing. And to see all of that just shattered is really scary. I'm not sure if this is a good statement to make but I'll say it anyway, there are plenty of people in this world that don't need all of what the future has to offer. Why can't some of them be let go earlier on than necessary. Save the good ones...let them stay a while longer. On the radio the other day, someone was saying that she is very afraid to have kids because she doesn't want to bring someone up in such an environment that is so scary and random. Another caller called in and said the fact that you have a chance to bring someone into this world is the potential that they will be someone that could change this world. I thought that was quite profound.

Carving in Vermont
I had a great weekend last weekend (actually...exactly 1 week ago right now, I was on the bus to Vermont) in Vermont. The Friday and Sunday were great carving days and actually, so was the Saturday (although there was quite a bit of fog and rain). I was riding goofy and regular pretty well by the end of the 3rd day. I've still really gotta practice my carving and got a lot more proficient with it but I think I really made some positive strides on the weekend. This sport is ALL about confidence. With confidence, comes more skill. One thing about snowboarding that is for sure - there are certainly several cute ladies who've taken up the sport. I think the politically correct term is Snow Bunnies. That's right, ain't it?

This Weekend
Going to a wedding reception this weekend. Kdot's brother got married in India and the reception is happening this weekend. It is gonna be a blast and much of the Marathi community is going to be there so it's gonna be awesome. I've got Dragonboat practice as well and I'm gonna play some roller hockey. I'll probably also do a little shopping and I'm gonna see a couple of apartments/condos. Oh yes...tomorrow night I am going to a concert. The Toronto Tabla Ensemble is playing at Harbourfront Centre. I hope it's really good like the last time I saw them. There are 2 Marathi peeps in the group so it's always great to see them perform. After the show, I am gonna meet up with the Sci/Biz posse since Dave is coming into town. It'll be great to see Dave and Veronica again (after a very long time)

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What would a post from me be like unless it didn't mention my #$#%$#@ neighbour. I hate him yet again. Tonight he is playing some crazy hip hop that has a lot of base and what sounds like mixes with rock music. I absolutely want to kick him repeatedly in the head. I need to go to bed now. He better shut up in 16 minutes (I'll give him till midnight)