Detroit Red Wings

Rapid Fire #2

rapid-fire (rap′id fīr′)

adjective

done, delivered, proceeding, or carried on swiftly and sharply

startrek

Summer movie season has started, and right out of the gate we have a front runner for best movie of the summer. Its a really great story, with great characters (with a different twist from the characters we knew before), amazing acting and some special FX that are not only really well done, but they blend into the movie and are used to progress the story, instead of just showing off FX for the sake of showing FX. It reboots the franchise allowing for a fresh start (or an alternate universe, depending on how you choose to see it). If you only see one movie this summer, Star Trek is the one to see.  9 out of 10

terminator_salvation

The first disappointment of the summer came a couple of weeks later with Terminator: Salvation. Its not a bad movie per say, but its not great either. After having digested the movie a bit, I would place it on equal footing with T3. I was expecting more from this movie. More action, more war against the machines, more John Connor. Instead we got introduced to a new character and most of the movie revolved around him. I think that giving McG the reins on this movie was a bad decision. It wasn’t bad, but it could have been so much more, which is what’s the most disappointing. 6.5 out of 10

metallica-logoMetallica are coming back to Ottawa in October for their Death Magnetic tour. We haven’t seen Metallica in our fair city since 2004. Buying tickets for this show was a no-brainer. Didn’t get amazing seats, but they aren’t bad seats either. The show sold out in less than a day which suprised me. Now the countdown begins!

stp Stone Temple Pilots is one of those bands that have been on my ‘must see in concert’ for a while now. When the band broke up in 2003, I thought that I would never see this amazing band live and in person. I had to settle to seeing Velvet Revolver. Here we are now 6 years later, the band is not only back together, not only about to release a new album, but they are also playing Ottawa Blues Fest! There’s no way I was going to miss this concert. Getting first row tickets was almost beyond belief! I finally get to see STP live! I’m so psyched!

pittsburgh_penguinsdetroit_red_wings Who would have guessed that Detroit and Pittsburgh would meet again in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. I certainly didn’t, and was hoping not to see it happen again. Out of all the teams that made the playoffs, these 2 teams, along with the Montreal Canadiens, were the teams I really did not want to see in the finals. Can Detroit repeat another win this year? I think so. I don’t think that Pittsburgh still has what it takes to be Stanley Cup champions. I call Detroit Red Wings in 6, and Sid the Kid Crosby crying in the corner again this year.

old_television TV season is over, and here’s some thoughts on some shows and finales; Lost had a great season finale, sucks that we have to wait 8 months until the next and final season. Smallville’s season finale was probably the worst of the series. It was very meh. Survivor was good, finally a good guy winning the million again. Really sucks that My Name Is Earl got cancelled. Hopefully it will be picked up by another network. Also sucks that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles got cancelled. This show really delved into the characters of the Terminator universe. We got to see what made them tick. It was very much a psychological and cerebral show. It will be missed. Surprisingly, Dollhouse got picked up for next season. Rumours are that Summer Glau (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Firefly) will be joining the show. Fringe’s season finale was also really interesting. Fringe and Dollhouse are easily my 2 favorite new shows. I can’t wait to see where both shows will take us.

canon_eos_t1 After years of wanting to get a DSLR, and having learned most of what I could by using a point and shoot camera,  I finally got my hands on one. The new Canon T1i. This was my treat to myself for quitting smoking (4 months now), and I also had to drop my monthly comic book sub from approx 30 books a month to 5, but it was worth it. I’m absolutely in love with this camera, and I’m driving my wife and family crazy because I bring it everywhere I go.  I can already tell that I’ve improved my photography skills and technique and hope that the learning never stops and the skill keeps on getting better.

wedding-cake-lilac-lilies

Last but not least, today (May 31st) marks the one year anniversary of my and my wife’s wedding. I can’t believe we’ve been married for one year already. The time has gone very quickly. Here’s to many more years of happiness together. I love you sweetie.

2008 Stanley Cup Finals

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 😛

2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2

So my previous predictions were way off the mark. Only Montreal made it to the 2nd round. I hope I do better this time around. Here are my thoughts on the first round, and my predictions for the 2nd round.

I was saddened to see my home team get swept in 4 games. Realistically, I did not really expect them to win, but I was hoping that they would take a game or 2. Alas, this wasn’t the year for the Ottawa Senators. Kelly and Fisher were out for the entire series, Alfredsson played 2 games with a level 3 torn MCL and a cracked vertebrae, and Stillman and Spezza played with a level 1 torn ACL. This was not a healthy team. We played some good games, so at least the team didn’t go down without a fight. Surprisingly, Gerber was pretty solid in nets, so he cannot be faulted for the loss.

It was also sad to see the Calgary Flames get extinguished in the 1st round. They fought a hard battle, taking the series to a deciding 7th game. Unfortunately from the parts of the 7th game that I saw, San Jose was in control most of that game. With Ottawa and Calgary out of the running, that only leaves the Montreal Canadiens as the last remaining Canadian team in the playoffs. As proud as I am to be a Canadian, there’s no way I can root for the Habs. In fact, there’s no team out there that I want to root for, there are only teams that I want to cheer against, and the Habs are one of those teams.

Why not cheer for the Habs you ask? There’s a few reasons. Firstly, the Habs and the Sens are developing a big rivalry now that the Canadiens are  competitive.  Cheering for the Habs would be like asking me to cheer for the Leafs. It’s not going to happen. Secondly, the Hab fans have to be the most annoying and arrogant fans after Leaf fans. It’s sickening to see all these supposed Habs fans crawl out of the woodwork. At least Leaf fans openly support their team even when they suck. The majority of Canadiens fans in this region only seem to make themselves known when their team is playing very well. I can count on one hand how many Habs bumper stickers and flags that I’ve seen in the last 5 years. However, this spring, you can’t see 10 cars without seeing at least one Habs flag. And lastly, there’s that stupidly moronic Ole song that the fans sing at the Bell Centre. I’m all for supporting your team, but singing that stupid Ole song 5 minutes into the first period? Give me a break. That’s what I meant by arrogant.

Out of the remaining teams, the series that interest me the most are the Sharks vs Stars and the Rangers vs Penguins. Those two series are bound to be exciting to watch, as these probably contain the 2 teams that will make it to the finals.
My round 2 predictions: