I am a hockey GOD!

Pulled into first place in the store hockey pool.

While Jeff has a pretty impressive selection of players, I'm just getting the goals more frequently.

At last count, with four days into the NHL season, here are the stats:

Jeff: 8 goals, 18 assists, 1 goalie win, 1 goalie tie

Me: 11 goals, 10 assists, 2 goalie wins, 1 goalie tie

(You score 2 points for a goal, 1 for a tie, 2 for a goalie win, 1 for a tie, and 4 for a shutout. Stupid Cechmanek was NOT in the net when the Kings got a shutout. No points there, dammit...)

The next guy is 11 points behind us.

Lord of the hockey pool. At least for today...

Life is good.

Reminiscences with a very old friend...

After a LONG night at work (Went in for six hours to renovate some walls) last night, it was a welcome change to have Thanksgiving dinner with my friend of 12 years, Heath, and his new girlfriend Pam.

Last time I saw Heath was a year ago, when he came up to see Kow perform at Northern Harmony 2002.

It's nice to see things don't change much, as was evidenced by Heath yelling at me through the closed doors of the store.

After a delicious dinner, we sat on the couch, and talked.

I feel sorry for Pam, who had to sit through a crapload of "Ooooh! Remember when we did that thing with so-and-so?" and then Heath and I laughing our asses off, while trying to explain the story behind that gem of a joke.

And there were a lot of things that Heath brought up that I had totally forgot about, such as the "Mister Flat Five" solo I was gypped out of back in Grade 12, because my voice decided to take a long extended vacation.

Or the parody of Guys and Dolls' "More I Cannot Wish You" that Heath, Shauna and I wrote back in Grade 12.

(Story behind this: I was in a jazz choir back in high school, one that was probably in the top ten in Canada in terms of quality for a few years, anyway...

We had gone to the Rocky Mountain Music Festival held in Banff and had Phil Mattson (one of THE vocal jazz arrangers in the world today) listen to our performance.

He came in to our workshop afterwards, and said, "It's so nice to not have to deal with the usual things a vocal jazz group usually have problems with. There's nothing I can really fix with your performance. Let's just sit and talk."

So we were talking to PHIL MATTSON!!!! about vocal jazz. And we were just awestruck.

Here was a guy whose songs we memorized, whose arrangements were notoriously hard, but sounded SO beautiful when done correctly, saying that we didn't have to worry about anything to change during HIS arrangement, and just talked about how we felt about music. One of the best musical moments of my life.

The next year, we got a copy of a song he was arranging (More I Cannot Wish You) before it went to the publisher, just because he wanted us to be one of the first groups to perform it.)

I remember the song WE wrote went a little something like:

Velcro I will miss you, you can do such neato stuff
Like tie my shoes and keep my zipper up
Velcro I will miss you, for you're awesome, swell, no guff
My leggings won't ride up...

Afterwards, the three of us took a walk down Whyte Ave.

I get to see him tomorrow, before he goes back to Prince Albert. Whoo!

* * *

Kit, thanks for the invite to last night's dinner. If I weren't up to the elbows in Panasonic video wall parts, I would have been SO there.

ESPECIALLY if pumpkin pie was on the menu...

Celebrity Rebublicans, Pools, and a Must-See Movie...

And so begins a new era in California politics when it was announced that Arnold Schwartzenegger will be the new state governor.

Granted, the vote on recalling Gray Davis was very close (something like 53% for, 47% against), which doesn't surprise me at all from what I know of the American voting process.

From all I've seen of elections down south, there is something that will never change: 45% of the voters will vote Republican, and 45% will vote Democrat. No matter who is on the ballot, if the Republican candidate is Jesus Christ and the Democratic candidate is Pee-Wee Herman, this ratio will always stay the same. ALWAYS.

So there's only a 10% margin out there who actually change their vote depending on the circumstances. And this margin is always who the candidates actively campaign for.

So the 45% Republican block voted for the recall (since a GOOD Republican would never think twice about voting a Democrat out of office), as well as an extra 8% of the swing vote.

8% of a voting public who were either caught up in a celebrity governor possibility, or who were stupid enough to endorse throwing out a governor who was voted on by the majority of Californian voters the first time.

I have two things to say on this:

1) If you voted the guy in, DON'T complain about what you get. You made the bed, now you should lie in it...

2) If the reason you were angry at Gray Davis was due to the overwhelming debtload he incurred and the crippling power outages, why would you ever actively endorse throwing some many millions of dollars on the costliest election in California?

2a) And why wouldn't you recognize the the federal government is to blame in some respect? Since they were the ones who decided to deregulate the power industry, which lost revenue for the state, as well as let the corporations throw the state into blackouts...

I'm just wondering how long it's going to take the Republicans to realize they have a governor on their side in name only. I mean, Arnold stands for a LOT of things that the G.O.P. hates.

I'm sure the only reason they voted for him is because it makes their party look good.

Eurgh. it's going to be a long four years in Sacramento...

* * *

I decided to join a hockey pool in the store that Jeff was organizing.

Now, while I am somewhat interested in hockey, I'm mostly a stats guy. I don't like watching the sport until playoffs hit.

Still, I like to think I know a bit about my picks, since I do follow the statistics.

And so, yesterday, after a long morning at work (Regional Manager visit, so I was there at 7:30 am), five guys decided to spend the afternoon doing the draft, in between helping out customers.

So there was a lot of, "Okay, Kyle's done selling that cell phone. Let's go to the back and get the next round done..."

I like to think that my unorthodox style of picking helped me out some. I decided to take a goalie in the first round, since my theory is, there's a crapload of good forwards, but a great goalie is hard to get.

So I picked Martin Brodeur first.

I was able to get a few good picks in (not such a hard thing with only 5 people in the pool): Paul Kariya (Colorado), Mats Sundin (Toronto), Ryan Smyth (Edmonton), Brett Hull (Detroit), Scott Neidermeyer (New Jersey), plus a whole lot more.

I think I did a pretty good job, considering I have no clue what I'm doing. I chose my second goalie on how frustrated I was when I heard his name out loud. ("Cechmanek SAVES!" was a mantra that haunted me and Canton whenever we played against Philadelphia in NHL 2002.)

I found this kickass website that does EVERYTHING in terms of pool stats...and for only two dollars! Whoo!

So how the hell did I become such a hockey nut in two days? A $125 pot, I guess. And competition...

* * *

Saw Jack Black in "School of Rock" this evening.

SUCH a good movie. It starts off with Jack Black being his Tenacious D persona, a jackass wannabe rock star.

When he needs money, he steals a substitute teaching job from his roommate, and thinks of it as a babysitting job, not wanting to teach the kids at all, until he finds out they can play music very well.

It turns into one of the best family movies I've seen in a long, long time.

Mostly because while Black is his usual hilarious self, he's not afraid to let the kids take center stage.

And the kids are great! All the rock music the kids play are actually done by the actors, and it's amazing how good these 10-year-olds are.

I saw the movie with Marauder and Dev, and all of us are now raving about it hardcore.

A movie I very highly recommend. Even if you're not a big Jack Black fan.

Listening to: School of Rock, an original song off the movie's soundtrack; Immigrant's Song by Led Zeppelin.

Wedding Angst, Thanksgiving Dinner and a New Hire...

So my cousin Colin's getting married next month, and I'm going to Jasper with MFJ for the wedding.

First of all, Colin's only a year younger than I, but I still feel that as the eldest of this generation of Jago relatives, that I've failed in some way for not being the first one to get married. Or, you know, even GET a girlfriend. (I hear that it's helpful to get a fiancee BEFORE the marriage part...)

I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm 26. Or because I keep on seeing people get married. Or maybe because I'm getting old. In any case, makes for some mixed feelings about Colin and Joanne.

And MFJ said that if I didn't get a date for the wedding (which isn't looking likely), she'd be willing to act as an escort. Have I touched on this before? (Yes, I did. August 28th, towards the bottom of the previous page... Gee, thanks, me. No probs.)

She's cool with it, and Dev's cool with it, and I'm cool with it. It'd be a lot less of an issue if it were in town, though, instead of a long weekend in a resort town.

Kind of daunting if I were asking someone I was interested in. "Hey, babe, I know it's kinda a weird first date, but want to go to Jasper for a weekend? For a wedding?"

But since MFJ and I are good friends, it's not a big deal, I guess. At least all of us are cool with it.

* * *

Looks like I'll be getting to have Thanskgiving dinner with Heath this year, since he's coming up for spend time with his Edmonton girlfriend.

And he's cooking a turkey, something he's never done before.

It reminds me of this one time when Heath, Rich, Perry, Kingston and I made a huge dinner of ribs and steaks at a place Heath was housesitting in either Regina or Saskatoon.

I was in charge of the garlic bread.

It was a good time, and a huge meal for five strapping young (20) lads. One fun evening, although I didn't think of it until Heath gave me the invite to this one...

* * *

Have a new hire, Amanda at work. She started today.

So far, she seems like she'll fit in.

I was doing some work at the computer for Jeff, who wanted me to proofread a letter he was sending to Rogers AT&T. (I am Jeff's goto guy for writing.)

Every time Jeff went by, he'd punch me in the shoulder, earning threats that I could, if he wanted, make the letter a incoherent mess of swears and gibberish.

So he's leading Amanda to the back, punches me in the shoulder and mentions, "It's tradition to punch Jago in the shoulder." (Did I mention I have an abusive boss?)

So she punches me. Hard.

"GAH!" I yell.

Later on, I'm taking lunch in the back room, and Jeff, Martin (came in on his day off to do some errands), Nathan and Darren are all in the back as well.

Amanda comes in. "Hey! Why are you guys all allowed to hang out in the back room? Why not me?"

Me: (looking dead serious) "Oh, maybe because we're all male?"

She glares at me.

Man, mock angry glares, unprovoked attacks...It's like I'm working with MFJ...

* * *

I've pretty much figured out my position at RadioShack.

I tend to be the old veteran, but also am the very sarcastic know-it-all.

Since I have so much experience, and know how to do alomst anything asked of me by my bosses, I can afford to be the flippant one.

Chris, my old manager at Bonnie Doon, used to mutter that I was karmic retribution for all his misdeeds in the company.

For Jeff, it's usually a matter of saying, "You know what? You can really be annoying at times. You REALLY frustrate me."

I figure that I'm more along the lines of the slave that Roman authority figures would have at their sides to keep them humble. The ones who kept on saying, "Thou art NOT a god. Thou are mortal."

Yup. That's pretty much me in a nutshell. Always there with the ability and opportunity to take someone out at the knees with my sarcasm...

Odd Transformations 5

Woke up in the midst of this dream (or selected highlights that I can remember):

There's a street fair in Moose Jaw, or a place that has similar geography. While this is going on, I'm participating in a 50's style comedy musical a la Bye Bye Birdie, but featuring time travel for sure, since I was able to go back through time to fix the end of the story.

Canton and Astro were definitely featured actors along with me, and there was a lot of dancers, to the point that they had some guys in drag to boost the numbers.

After leaving the show, I go back out to the Moose Jaw environment where I find Laura, MFJ and Dev. We talk for a bit.

Instead of going out to a cast party, I decide to hang out at Kit's house and interact with the party via Messenger. I definitely recall corresponding with Nicole Kidman, who was at the party...

I ask if the run of the musical ended today, or if it'll go on until Thursday. This is apparently bad, since I've got choir on Wednesday that I, along with Canton, will have to skip.

The dream ends with a VERY precocious Caboodle, who has gone beyond mere words and can speak complete sentences. And she's 22 months old.

She gets injured due to our roughhousing, and I spend the end of the dream taking care of Caboodle and wiping the blood away from her forehead.

Oh, that wacky gubernatorial.race...

I went over to D!'s place last night to watch some Smackdown. Befor the show came on, D! was watching the Game Show Network's "Who Wants to Be the Governor of California," the first (I kid you not) game show featuring candidates from the election. Six candidates: A porn starlet, a frat boy, a crazy old man, a performance artist who only wears blue, the son of a basketball player, and Gary Coleman.

And the prize was a campaign contribution.

I was shocked, but then I thought, "You know, that's a pretty good way to feature some candidates, who wouldn't get time in the media to actually distinguish themselves..."

So D! and I found the porn starlet to be the most annoying, because she kept on jumping up and down, and just acting like a porn star, not a candidate.

And sometimes, there is such a thing as too much boob...

Good idea, but, yipes. There are some crazy, attention-starved people running...

Geeking out.

After choir today, Dev told me he had broken down and bought the second season of 24, one of the best-written dramas on television. The continuity on the show is simply amazing, with the entire season taking place over one day.

AND the villains aren't written like total buffoons.

It makes me with that a similar approach was taken by the WWE in their storylines.

Just give the audience credit, already...

So, Dev and I walked MFJ home, picked up some snacks, and dropped on the couch, ready to watch the DVD.

Last year, when we watched the first season, it was the bunch of obsessed geeks, watching the television like our lives depended on it.

Canton would let out these gasps of "eek!" as well as pretty much screaming like a girl whenever any plot twist jumped out at us.

So Canton was on his computer, and he asked, "So you guys are watching 24?"

"Yup," Dev and I said.

"I'm going to my room, then. Catch up on some reading."

Seven minutes later, he comes out of his bedroom.

"I hate you guys. What's happened so far?"

So, we watched the first three episodes. When Jack shoots an informant for a big trial coming up to get over good with a terrorist, my jaw dropped.

"You know, George," Keifer Sutherland said onscreen, examining the body, "you're just the kind of guy who doesn't like getting his hands dirty...

"Now, I'm going to need a hacksaw," he finishes, staring at the corpse's neck.

I love this show...

* * *

Verbal exchange of the day:

Jen, our stock girl, said something sarcastically at the store today.

ME: "Wow. Jen's becoming quite the sarcastic girl today."

TERRY: "Well, a healthy amount of sarcasm each day tends to make your bones strong and healthy."

ME: "No, Terry, I'm pretty sure that's milk, not sarcasm."

TERRY: "Oh, right. I always get those two mixed up..."

* * *

Reading: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski; as well as Book Five of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.

I also finished up Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden recently.

Listening to: My mix CD I made a few weeks back. Doris Day, Stevie Wonder, Steve Burns, WHAM, and a bunch more stuff...