And so, much like last week, the week before and (likely) the week before that, we find ourselves once again locked in a staredown with that bastard they call "Tuesday." I'd like to take this opportunity to tell all (3 or 4 of) you kids that I have a lot to type about, and you should be absolutely RIVETED by what you're about to read but...I'd be lying to you if I did that. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time I've lied to you (not by a long shot) so I know that, by now, you can handle it. Hell, you've no doubt come to expect it. In fact, the handful of you who keep coming back to this goofy little blogsitething here must REALLY like being lied to...For that, I am appreciative...Thank you...

Anyhow...

How 'Bout Them Avalanche!?
I started off LAST WEEK'S completely random Tuesday post with this topic and I am compelled to do the very same thing THIS week...SCREW YOU, DALLAS STARS! Yeah! ha HA! The Colorado Avalanche, the same team that played poorly down the stretch during the regular season, the same team that had a big, fat glaring question mark at the goalie position, the same team that backed into the playoffs and had me worried that they would fall flat against Dallas not only did NOT fall flat, but they hung a Texas-sized asswhuppin' on those Stars, eliminating them in 5 games. In the series, 3 of the 4 Avalanche wins came in Overtime and the much maligned (by me) Jose Theodore stood tall when it counted, shutting the door on the Stars late in the games and giving the Avs the opportunity to score the late goals which meant the real difference. Also: Andrew Brunette, you're my HERO...

In addition to the 7th seed knocking of the 2nd seed (Avs over Stars), Edmonton pulled the proverbial rabbit out of their hockey helmet and, despite a superhuman effort by Henrik Zetterberg for Detroit, knocked off the Redwings in 6 games to also advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Detroit, who had the best regular season record in the NHL, is not the first President's trophy winner in NHL history to be bounced unceremoniously in the first round. Some call it the "curse of the president's trophy," but I have a more realistic view: the Wings severely underestimated their opponent and, conversely, overestimated their own talent. Regardless, they're free to make tee-times now and that makes me quite happy...

Everybody Needs A Little Positive Feedback Now and Then...
As some of you may already know, I've always been quite enamored with talk radio. Among other things, I've been a talk show host in my past and, if I'm not listening to a CD in my truck, I'm likely listening to talk radio. Sadly, outside of sports talk, I've found that actual "good" talk radio can be pretty hard to find. With that said, I've really taken a shine in the last few months to the Penn Jillette Show which you can stream live from noon to 1pm (Mountain time) or, if you're so inclined, pick up as a podcast the following day. Now, because I am a proud and permanent member of the lunatic fringe, I've called into the show a couple times and also sent in an email which was read on the air. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that a "fan art" section was added to the show's website and, since I had a few extra minutes, I decided to slap something together and submit it. Now, the whole "fan art" thing has always seemed a little geeky to me and I've only slipped completely into fan-geekdom once before in my life, submitting this, which was inspired by this, to this guy some years back (he liked it). Anyhow, with only a couple of photographs to work from (and, of course, my spooky, spooky brain to assist me), I came up with this to submit to the Penn Jillette Show:
click it, it'll get all "big" and you'll be able to discern "detail" and shit...

When I sent it, I got a nice email back from Michael Goudeau saying that it was...well, I can't exactly remember what he said (and I'm not going to take the time to look) but I do remember that he liked it and that he said it would go up on the website...After a few back and forth emails between me and their web guy, it DID go up and, predictably, I felt "pride." At the end of last week, though, I got some nice, non-specific feedback on the air from Penn which led to me feeling even MORE "pride"...In lieu of an audio snippet (which might get me in trouble...copyrights and all, you know), I'll transcribe the little bit he said about my drawing during the show...

(Penn, speaking to Michael Goudeau) ...I looked at (the website) the other day, it's got pictures and stuff! Pictures from the AIDS walk, pictures of your kids, just kidnapping fodder all over the place there and uh...A picture of Moxie, me holding Moxie walking across the line at the AIDS walk and ALSO cartoons, psychotic cartoons that people send in of you and I doin' the show. There was one I really liked with you, uh, juggling donuts and me eating donuts and just boxes of donuts all over the place. I guess we give people the impression that we do nothing but eat Krispy Kreme donuts...

So there you go..."one I really liked." I know it's not much but every little bit of feedback helps. What it helps, I'm not exactly sure, but it helps. Hooray for "positive feedback" (like comments - hint hint). As a sidenote, since I was just guessing as to what the studio would look like when I drew the thing, I now feel compelled to rework it and resubmit it because pictures of the actual studio recently went up on the site and...well...The only thing I really guessed right on were the microphones. I was way off on everything else, especially about the whole "lighting" factor...

A Day Without Immigrants? Ooh, Can We Shoot For a Whole Week?..
So yesterday, in an attempt to display their "clout," scores of "immigrants" were supposed to take a cue from the AFL-CIO and forego doing any actual "work" to instead prance around in public places all across this great land and shout half-assed slogans, likely in a language which I would have trouble comprehending. Now this is all well and good, I guess - we do have a number of freedoms in this country including the freedom to assemble and the right to free speech but, if the people who were assembling and speaking are in this country illegaly...Do they really have those rights at their disposal? I think what has bothered me the most about this whole "immigration reform protest" deal which has, of course, been coming to a head for more than a few weeks now, is that those involved seem to think that the only "immigrant" which matters are those who trek across into the States from Mexico. I guess it's only fair - they probably couldn't get any help from the NAACP since the only color which that organization believes exists is "black." Regardless, around here I didn't see any significant impact - we don't employ any illegals where I work. I heard on the news that there was a gathering in Memorial Park near downtown and, following that, the group attempted to march downtown but were turned away by the cops. Now that yesterday is over (and, presumably, all of the dishwashers and construction site cleanup guys have gone back to their temp agencies to pick up some work) I'd like to say that I don't begrudge anyone who wishes to enter our country and become a part of our population. After all, this country was built on immigration, it's one of the things at the very core of american society. I just have one simple request of those who would seek to join us here:

Follow the stinkin' rules, would ya?..

Labels: cartoons n' stuff, famous folk, hockey stuff, Illustrations, lame stories, misguided rantings, radio stories, sports, tales of triumph