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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.

Luc "Sandman" G.
Movies

Heartbreak with the Love Guru

I’m taking a very small break from my Honeymoon Diaries to bring you this very special movie review.

After a 5 year absence from the big screen (Shrek voiceover work nonwithstanding), Mike Myers returns with a new character and movie, The Love Guru.

The story revolves around Guru Pitka AKA the Love Guru who is hired by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Jane Bullard, played by the lovely Jessica Alba) to help their star player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) get back with his wife (Meagan Good). Ever since Roanoke separated from his wife, his play has gone down the toilet. This is exasperated by the fact that his wife is now sleeping with the LA King’s goaltender Jacques “Le Coq” Grande (Justin Timberlake). Bullard, along with coach Punch Cherkov (Verne Troyer) believe that by getting Roanoke back with his wife will allow him to regain his talent and help the team win the Stanley Cup. Pitka’s goals is not only to get the couple together, but by doing so will secure himself a spot on the Oprah Winfrey show, allowing him to beat his rival, Guru Deepak Chopra.

My thoughts about this movie? It was OK at best. This is not one of Mike Myers’ greatest characters or movies. The laughs were few and far between. As with previous character based movies like Austin Powers, the jokes range from the very juvenile(which was often) to the cerebral (which was rare), but it seems that there was a lack of a connection with the audience. It also seems like the Love Guru contained just recycled and scrapped bits from the aforementioned Austin Powers movies. The only time I truly laughed was at Justin Timberlake’s character who was spot on as the french canadian goaltender. His mastery of the accent of a french Quebecois speaking english accent was dead on.  Stephen Colbert’s small role as a Hockey Night In Canada commentator was also quite good, even if it was a little over the top. For rest of the movie, most times it seems like Myers was trying too hard to get laughs but failed.

I love Mike Myers’ comedies and I tried hard to love this one, but I just couldn’t do it. Though it was funny at times, the jokes were not roll in aisles funny and the slightly funny ones were very spread out. I was disappointed with the Love Guru, about as disappointed as Leafs fans who will only see their team win the Stanley Cup in a fictional movie.

I give Love Guru 4 out of 10. 4stars

Luc "Sandman" G.
Comics Hockey

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 😛

Luc "Sandman" G.
Hockey

2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals

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.

Luc "Sandman" G.
Hockey

Sens vs Pens: Pre-series Thoughts

Sens vs Pens

Tonight the Ottawa Senators are taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. This is going to be an exciting series to watch, as both a fan of the Sens and a fan of hockey. In one corner you have a healthy Penguins team with the likes of Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. In the other corner you have a hurt Senators team, with Alfredsson, Fisher and Kelly out of the line up.

Can the Sens overtake the Pens in the first round like they did last year? Its pretty much unanimous from sports broadcasters that the Sens don’t stand a chance. Bah I say! I will admit that without Alfie, Fisher and Kelly in the lineup that the Sens are missing 3 very important players, but I have little doubt that the Sens can come out of this series triumphant. I believe that we will see a united Senators team that will display both a strong offense and a strong defense, better than we’ve seen all year. The playoffs are a completely new season, where all bets are off and where we often see the underdog take down the favourites. The Sens will bring forth a physical game that will wear down the young Pittsburgh team. Forechecking and backchecking will chip away at the Penguins, not only bruising their bodies but also bruising their egos and their chances of coming out of this series a winner.

I fully expect players like Vermette, Spezza, Heatley, Stilman, Neil, Phillips, Volchenkov, Meszaros, Commodore, Donovan, Bass and Lee to come out with guns blazing, bringing their A game and not letting up. This is the team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals last year and they now know what it takes to win. Heck, we might even see Redden show a bit of passion and get back to the form he was regarded for a few years ago (but I’m not going to hold my breath on that one).

As much as I have faith in my team, I do think this will be a long one. I expect this series to go to 6 games. I predict the Pens will come out with only 1 win in the first 2 games. The Sens will then win the 2 games at home, followed by a loss back in Pittsburgh, but winning the series at home on the 6th game. You can take this prediction to the bank! 🙂

For the other teams, here are my predictions:

There you have it folks. My predictions for the first round. Now I have to go find a bookie 😛

Luc "Sandman" G.

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