2008 Stanley Cup Finals

Posted: 23rd May 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Comics, Hockey

Looks like I was way off in my conference finals predictions 🙂 I was extremely surprised to see both my picks go down 3 games to none, mount a brief comeback, but eventually falling to the Red Wings and the Penguins.

So what’s my prediction for the finals? I say Detroit Red Wings in 6. This is an older, more experienced team who has been to the finals not too long ago and won. I don’t believe the Pittsburgh Penguins team is mature enough or experienced enough to come out a winner in these Stanley Cup finals.

Since my predictions were so bad in the last round, don’t take this one to the bank 😛

Rock Band, Iron Man and Two Stoners

Posted: 19th May 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Comics, Games, Movies

The moment I’ve been waiting for the last few months finally arrived this weekend. I finally managed to get my hands on Rock Band for the 360! I haven’t gotten to play much due to other things going on, but so far I absolutely love the game. This game allows me to do something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, which is to play the drums.

Playing drums is a curiosity that I’ve carried with me since my teenage years and I have yet to fulfill that dream. Growing up, my parents wanted nothing to do with bringing in some loud drums into the house. When I moved out, I lived in an apartment for 10 or so years, so having a drumset was out of the picture. Now that I have a house drums may be possible, but not now. So this game allows me to fulfill this dream a little bit.

I’ve also tried the vocal/mic portion of the game and its a real hoot. Trying to vocally hit the right notes can be a little troublesome sometimes, especially if you don’t know the song. Its still lotsa fun. I haven’t tried the guitar/bass yet, as I’ve played plenty of Guitar Hero III and I was busy tasting something new. I’m sure I’ll get around to trying them soon.

I give Rock Star 9 out of 10. 9stars

I managed to catch 2 movies at the theater in the last couple of weeks. It had been a while. I think the last movie I saw in theaters was Walk Hard over the Christmas break. Being an avid comic book reader, I was excited to see this movie. Though I’ve never read the Iron Man comic book, I did read some Avengers. Iron Man also has had tons of ‘cameo’ appearances in other comic books, so I was fully aware of his story.

This movie was pure fun! The story is fun and interesting without being over the top. Unlike previous Marvel movies, both the hero and the villain are ‘mere’ humans, not beings with super powers or mutants. Even though this is pure fantasy, it did bring the story to a more down to earth level. The acting in this flick was very very good, especially Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. As much as his real life has been one disaster after another, this man can really act.

If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favour and catch this flick. Just make sure you stay until the final credits have scrolled by for a little easter egg (and hopefully a sneak peak of what’s to come next!).

I give Iron Man 9 out of 10. 9stars

Last night my fiancee and I finally managed to go see the second Harold and Kumar movie, Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay. This sequel, like most sequels, wasn’t as funny as the original. Like the original, the story revolves around these 2 stoners on a quest, walking into many situations which deter them from that quest. This time around, Harold and Kumar are trying to make their way to Amsterdam so that Harold can meet up with Maria, the girl we saw him confess his attraction to at the end of the first movie.

A funny situation on the plane derails those plans, as the main characters are labeled as terrorists and sent to Guantanamo Bay prison. They manage to escape and make their way back to the U.S., where they embark on another adventure to clear their names (and make their way to Amsterdam). Along the way Kumar hooks up with the love of his life, which in itself brings its own sub-story.

Though this movie has its funny moments, and you get to know more about the 2 stoners, its not as funny as the first movie. That would be a hard feat to accomplish, as the first movie was an instant classic and a breath of fresh air for comedies. This doesn’t mean the sequel is not funny, but its not as funny. The best bits in the movie revolve around Neil Patrick Harris who returns as himself, but drugged out and heterosexual.

Its still worth catching this flick if you can. Its been out for a while and may be out of distribution in some markets. If thats the case, do yourself a favour and rent this baby when it comes out on DVD.

I give Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay 6 out of 10. 6stars

New Star Wars Movie

Posted: 10th May 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Movies

One word…. **drooooooool**

This movie takes place between Episode 2 and Episode 3, much like the TV cartoon mini-series of a few years back.

Life, love and music

Posted: 6th May 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Life, Music

Its been a while since I’ve posted anything that wasn’t hockey related. Stanley Cup playoffs aside, my life has been pretty hectic dealing with last minute wedding preparations. There seems so much left to do that it seems overwhelming. Luckily a few months ago my fiancee had the great idea of hiring a wedding coordinator and she has been a godsend. She’s given us some good ideas for decorations, and relieved us of the stress of having to deal with all the various people/companies for last minute preparations and the day of the wedding. I will admit that at first I did not see the point of having a coordinator, but as the big day gets closer I can’t phantom how more hectic things would be for us right now. We have the peace of mind knowing that she’ll be decorating the church and the hall, as well as coordinating everything on the day of the wedding. She’s also double and triple checking with everyone and all companies we hired, making sure everyone gets there at the proper time so that there’s no ugly surprises for us to deal with. This will allow us to enjoy the day worry-free.

We still haven’t gotten around to planning out our honeymoon to Paris. There’s so many places to visit and things to see that making a schedule is the only way we’ll get to see it all. Museums like the Louvre don’t have all sections open every day, so we have to figure out which days are best for us to go without missing anything. There’s only a few weeks left to plan things out, so we should get to it ASAP. So why am I sitting here blogging? 🙂

This is also the start of birthday season. Nieces, nephews, cousins all were born in the summertime. So we’re doing a lot of running around doing some shopping, visiting family, etc… Between that and the wedding/honeymoon planning, there isn’t much time for anything else.

Erin and I did manage to take the time and catch a concert last night. We saw Melanie C at the Bronson Centre. She’s currently touring small venues in Canada. If you’ve never heard her solo stuff, its very different from the Spice Girls. The concert was small and intimate, which is what she was aiming for on this tour. There was maybe 400 people at the concert, but that low turnout didn’t come as much of a surprise. There was next to no publicity for the show and the Bronson Centre is not the best venue for a concert. It was held at what used to be Immaculata High School‘s auditorium, which doesn’t really conducive to a concert atmosphere. That being said, the show itself was very good. Backed by a 5 piece band, she belted out songs from her last album along with past hits (in Europe mostly, where her solo work is a lot more popular than North America). Having such an intimate rock show allowed for great interactivity with the energized crowd. The size of the show and the crowd made the whole thing seem a lot more personal. I did manage to tape 3 songs (which she mentioned she doesn’t mind people doing, as long as its not ‘shit’ 😛 ). I’ll post them up on youtube sometime in the next few days. That being said, I would definitely catch her again in concert if she ever comes back to Ottawa.

Never be The Same Again

Northern Star

I Turn To You

2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals

Posted: 6th May 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Hockey

I did a bit better at my last predictions, hitting 50%. Now lets see if I can do one better this time around.

Predictions:

  • Detroit Red Wings vs Dallas Stars: Stars in 6
  • Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers: Flyers in 7

Now for the breakdown. As good as the Penguins have been, I don’t think that they’ll be able to beat the more physical Flyers. I expect Philly to push their weight around and just bash the fragile Penguins into submission. Biron also has been pretty hot during these playoffs and we can expect this aspect to continue. As far as Stars vs Wings is concerned, its more a gut feeling than anything else.
Some brief thoughts on the 2nd round. I was very surprised to see the Rangers fold the way they did. I fully expected them to make it to the finals this year. However, I did not expect the Penguins to be as good as they have been. I was also very happy to see the Habs lose. They choked big time, and Price was shown to not be as invulnerable as everyone makes him out to be. They are a young team, so we can expect them to be very competitive next year. For the west coast, I wasn’t surprised at the Detroit series. The Avs were hurt and were clearly inferior to Detroit during these playoffs. Again, for the Stars, it was just a gut feeling. San Jose were picked to be the favourites in this year’s playoffs, but I was honestly surprised that they even got out of the first round.

If my predictions are correct, then we’re looking at a Dallas vs Philly final. Now that would be very interesting to see.