I have talented friends

"On days like these I feel so blind."

-- Jamie Macdonald, The Orchid Highway

"I had a dream the stars were holes we made with tacks
in giant cardboard boxes, laying on our backs.
You know, we both looked so relaxed."

-- Rory Macdonald, The Orchid Highway

I don't care about your faith...

No matter your gods, deities or lack thereof of choice, may your 2006 end peacefully, and your 2007 begin with smiles and music (unless you don't believe in that sort of thing; in that case, I wish you insert your desired state of mind here.

Sending prayers, friendly thoughts or just a positive vibe or two to your friends, family, neighbours and mortal enemies will bring us a little closer than we seem to hover most of the time. Show a little patience in the post-Xmas shopping frenzy, people. That PS3 just ain't important enough to be throwing elbows around.

George Carlin is still brilliant

If crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
-- George Carlin

Obligatory Canucks rant

For years, I knelt at the temple of Brian Burke, in awe of two things:

1) He assembled a marvelous nucleus of great in-their-prime players -- par exemple, Naslund, Morrison, Jovanovski, Salo, Ohlund, Carter, Cooke and the pre-Steve Moore Bertuzzi -- and promising youngsters such as the Sedins. He did this with a reasonable budget before the salary cap was forced upon everyone by that ugly lockout.

2. With all his team-building moxy, Burke for some strange reason decided to stand behind perennial loser Dan Cloutier.

With management's brilliant decision to oust Burke (and hey, what a surprise, Anaheim's where in the standings now?), the new guy had to show everyone he could play with the big boys. Dave Nonis displayed major-league stones by getting Roberto Luongo, but now he needs to buck up for a few scorers. Need a couple of ideas, Dave? Put those cojones aside to read this:

Tell Vigneault to bench the Swedes for a game or two. And hell, sit Sami Salo, too. Every blonde is playing like bonkers right now, and they're the only ones who are finding the net (even if it is only once a game). Not since Thomas Gradin have the Canucks seen so much Swedish stickhandling with so few goals to show for it. Shame them into scoring more, and embarrass the hell out of the rest of the crew when they play 55 minutes in the Canuck end of the rink without Markus, Daniel, Henrik and Mattias.

How about grabbing John LeClair off the wire? He may not be in his early 20's, but now that he cleared the first round of waivers, you'd only have to pay half his salary, with the Penguins grabbing the other. That's less than $800K for a proven veteran -- this guy has scored in the regular season and the playoffs (should we get there, we might need that experience), has killer power play instincts, and could teach a few guys how to hit the freakin' net on a 2-on-1.

Make a promise and keep it. Let fans know you actually care if there are ticks under the W column. If the Canucks don't make the playoffs, offer ticket refunds, or at the very least, reductions for next year. Hell, give out a few concession items at less than a 700% markup; something.

Pop culture doesn't always suck

"It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
-- Winston Churchill, about the political machinations of Russia

"I am a cipher, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce."
-- Jimmy James, NewsRadio, about his autobiography

Why popular culture ain't all that bad

"In the words of A.A. Milne, 'get out of my chair, dill-hole.'"

--Chandler Bing, Friends

Postive thinking

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right."

-- Henry Ford

Quote for the day

"Our problem is not ignorance, but inaction."

Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Another life-altering event

My friends are all either getting married, moving out of town, having babies or combinations thereof.

Nadia and me? We just bought a PlayStation 2.

I'll post more after I've finished rolling the bejesus out of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.