they started out great. then they went into the tank. now they’re winning again. which is the real deal?
this was supposed to be the year long-suffering canuck baseball fanatics had reason to hope. maybe playoffs for the first time since MC Hammer was cool. oh, right. he never was. and the hammer was already in the bin by ‘93, wasn’t he? too legit to quit sucked. and he dropped the MC from his moniker which dug him in deeper. then he became a preacher and befriended webster on the original surreal life… but i digress…
the jays cut future hall-of-famer frank thomas loose because he swung the bat like a corpse early on and they couldn’t wait for him to get his shit together. coz this was the year they were going to contend. so they pay frank 8 mill to play in oakland and proceed to lose 78 percent of the games on their following road trip.
so, i lost interest. which is something, since i’ve been a pretty diehard fan for pretty much my entire life. just ask my girlfriend (yes, there IS a jays game on AGAIN tonight…) i even drove 2400-ish kms 2 yrs straight just to watch my jays in the saddest excuse for a ballpark in the MLB (minny). yet i was sick of the losing and lacklustre play. i even chose to watch TFC soccer one day instead of the jays (sacrilege in the past.)
but then this weekend, they won 3 straight. 4 in a row now. they might have the finest bullpen in the league. their starters have the potential to be dominant. lo and behold, even a few timely hits from the boys who should wear the retro powder blues from the 80s every game instead of just on promotionally induced flashback fridays. i’m interested again.
but am i teasing myself? are they teasing me? again? toying with all of us jays fans? it’s gotten to the point where i don’t expect the world series or even playoffs, i just want them to stay in it so games are still interesting in august. it gives me an excuse to drink beer.
I love the new Heineken mini keg. 13-15 pints ( I think) that stay fresh(ish) in your fridge.
Mind you, I just love beer. Drinking a Pacifico whilst I watch the Blue Jays right now. Threw a Taiwan Beer can at my TV after the scabs won vs. the Bruins last night. Red Stripe’s stubby bottles are the shit. I’m sure I’ve bought 75% of the Zhujiang sold in this city.
Beer runs to the USA are always on my agenda now that the dollar’s at par. A dozen Rolling Rocks, a suitcase of Coors, and plenty of Sam Adams = my claims at customs. They should really know me by now and just let me pass through without going through all the formalities…
Now how’s THAT for a pointless blog entry?
I imagine this shall be read by 4-5 people over the next 7 months.
I am a Bruins fan. This does not make me anti-Canadian (well, maybe anti-Canadien but that’s a different deal altogether).
Everyone is fairly confident my Bruins will succumb to the high-flying Habitants in 5 games or less. I disagree, but I do have to say I am glad just to have my team back in the postseason. They are severe underdogs and that’s not always a bad thing. They lose, meh, no one thought they’d win anyway. They pull it off and it’s gravy. TSN picked my Bruins DEAD LAST in their preseason prognostications. So I’m already ahead of the game here.
Factoring in the lockout, it feels like I’ve been cut out of the playoffs forever. Last time my Bruins were in it, I was teaching English in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Watching the games on delay in an outdoor bar drinking Singha and San Miguel (THAT was awesome, I do miss seeing palm trees on my ride to work). I had just moved to Asia after working part-time at The Bear in Edmonton while taking classes at Grant MacEwan College there. Seems like forever ago. Because it WAS! It’s been too long. Let’s get it going! Here we go BRUINS, HERE WE GO!
nothing too interesting today…just thought i’d share with you the tracers i am experiencing as i type this.
tracers. little spinny bits of light messing with my field of vision. some say they’re caused by acid flashbacks. hmmm, maybe that’s it. but i think these ones mean i have a migraine on the way. seems to be the way it usually happens. first the annoying tracers, followed by a wonderful pounding cranium experience. presently looking forward to that.
tracers suck even more when you’re at work, staring at computer screens. i tells ya, radio has changed a LOT in the past 5 years. EVERYTHING i do now involves a computer screen. all our music runs off it, using the internet to find news to sound half-intelligent (i know, it doesn’t work), scheduling music after i get off the air. i am staring at a computer screen all day. except on potty breaks. mix in the tracers and the impending headache and it’s bound to be a solid day.
just back from a very NOT all-inclusive trip to jamaica. a few things i noticed if you wanna go on the cheap:
pay with jamaican dollars
you can buy things with US $ and it might seem easier (especially with the 70J$=1 CDN$ exchange), but places will always charge you more for it. they’ll rip you off on the transaction. scotiabank ATMs are everywhere and dispense Jamaican $$.
befriend a local rasta man
or anyone local, i suppose. there are hustlers everywhere trying to sell you ev.er.y.thing under the sun, from ganja to female company to mysterious bags of white powder. even magic mushrooms that are really coconut shavings. find a local you can trust, hang out with them, buy ‘em a few beers and they’ll ward off the would-be scam artists. maybe even take you to a local party away from the tourist traps!
eat locally
as in, cheaply. jamaican patties come with all kinds of fillings from chicken to beef to soy and cost around a buck. pan (jerk) chicken from a barrel, streetside, is also inexpensive.
get beer at the grocery store
red stripes for around a buck as opposed to 3-4$ in a bar. bring a cooler bag and sit on the beach. be prepared to give the odd one away. someone will be by to snag your empties. same goes for the awesome jamaican rum.
hire a private driver
for the transfer from the airport if it’s a long drive. you won’t have to wait for everyone else to take their sweet time getting out of the airport and on the bus. the driver can answer your specific questions and stop wherever you want. OK, this isn’t cheaper but who wants to wait around an airport when you’re on vacation? especially on your return journey, wouldn’t you rather have an extra couple of hours on the beach? our driver took us to a cool local spot right off the airport runway’s tarmac for one last “red stripe” and one last smoke, and we were thru customs in plenty of time. private drivers can also handle any tours you may want to do much more cheaply than the hotels can.
don’t carry contraband in the vehicle
or at least, not too much of it, late at night. jamaican police do routine checkstops. but they aren’t looking for drinking in the vehicle. our open red stripes in the back seat were fine. they’re looking for other things. don’t ask me how i know this and/or what took place…
enjoy the reggae, ska, and dancehall. music is everywhere. i’ve pulled out my bob marley box set since returning. but this is a song that sticks in my head from the trip, courtesy Lady Saw.
So, I was nominated for “Canadian Music Director of the Year” at this week’s Canadian Music Awards. For reasons unbeknownst to me.
But I didn’t win. I lost. So…what do the losers say? It was an honour just to be nominated, blahblahblah…
I didn’t even get crunked up at the after-party!
Anyway, here’s a vid for a song we’ve just added. Apocalyptica’s I’m Not Jesus. They’re the Finnish cellists who first became famous for releasing an album of Metallica songs done with their cellos. You’ll see them in the clip. Corey Taylor of Slipknot / Stone Sour adds the vocals.
More blogging? I’m in Jamaica nowhere near a computer so it’ll have to wait.
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