Well holy crapola, it's Tuesday already! In as much as I'd love to fill up an amount of space which most folks could consider to be "large" with some typin's, I think that may be a little too much to ask of my poor, scattered brain today. In lieu of such things, I shall offer you all random little snippets of the text to satiate that readin' jones which I know you "gots real bad." Ready? Good. Here we go:

How 'Bout Them Whalers 'Canes!?
Indeed, much as the Quebec Nordiques moved on to greener pastures in 1995 and, soon after, hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup, the Carolina Hurricanes have enjoyed significant success since relocating from Hartford. Last night, on the strength of a 3-1 game 7 win over those plucky Edmonton Oilers, the Whale-come-Natural Disaster team took things to the next level, earning the right to kiss the cup for the first time as a franchise. Last night's victory also marked the first Stanley Cup for many of the 'Canes players. If you take into account the fact that Brett Hedican, Glen Wesley, Doug Weight, Ray Whitney and Carolina Captain Rod Brind'Amour had waited a combined 78 NHL seasons to take that victory skate with Lord Stanley, last night's celebration certainly was one of the "extra special" variety. The Conn Smythe trophy (awarded for playoff MVP) went the way of Hurricanes rookie goaltender Cam Ward who, if I'm not in error (we don't actually check "facts" here at the ol' Cheese blog), is the first rookie to take home the hardware since Patrick Roy accomplished the feat with Les Habitants du Montreal way back in 1986. Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, your 2005-2006 Stanley Cup Champions!

Casting One's Pearls Before Swine...
Just in case you don't read them funny pages in your local newspaper, or (God forbid) your local newspaper just doesn't carry it, I'd like to clue you in to what I believe to be the funniest comic strip running these days. It's called "Pearls Before Swine" and is done by a personable fellow by the name of Stephan Pastis (who might actually email you BACK if you email him!). Since today's "Pearls Before Swine" strip has to do with the phenomenon known as "blogging," I thought I'd share it with the 3 or 4 fine individuals (that's you!) who may stop by today in hopes that it will convert them (that's you too!) into a follower of the strip (if they (you) aren't already). Here that is:

Funny! And so true...So, so true. (sob).

Like A Good Neighbor...
The wife and I, just as a point of reference, are mostly hermits. When we're at home, our doors are (mostly) closed and the shades are (mostly) drawn. Now, you shouldn't get the wrong impression about us here...It's not that we hate people so much as that...we...well..."hate people." Due to this (sad) fact, the "neighbors" which we have actually "met" since we bought our house have been of the "close" and "immediate" variety, limited to "Roy," who lives in the house to the right of ours and "Charlie and Bernice," who (you guessed it) live to our left. There is a guy, though, who lives across the street from us who is always outside, improving the exterior of his home. I have to say, the guy's work ethic would put ANYONE to shame: it seems that he spends every single minute of his "free time" putting up fences, landscaping his yard, building decks, saving the rain forests, rescuing orphans, etc. In appearance, he could easily be mistaken for the surviving member of Milli Vanilli (that would be "Fab," right?) which is one of the theories which I had postulated but didn't have the occasion to head over and validate. Anyhow, The wife and I had tossed around the idea of going over and saying "hello" on more than one occasion, but hadn't actually followed through on such things until yesterday evening when we found ourselves outside at the same time as the "mystery man" and had no excuse not to say that "hello"...So we did...I have to say, even though Fab was funny and personable, in talking with him for a half-hour (or so) last evening, I realized that I had finally found someone who was more antisocial than my wife and I combined. Don't get me wrong, he was as polite as I believe he could've been but...Let's just say that (even though he was VERY funny, cracking jokes left and right) this guy isn't much for being social. He stayed on his side of his smallish fence and, when I introduced myself and my wife, he completely ignored the gesture. He didn't extend his hand for a handshake nor did he say what HIS name was...Therefore, I shall still call him "Fab." He does hate most of his neighbors, though, and also said that the neighborhood (as a whole) "scared him." I got the distinct feeling that we were actually part of what scared him about the "weird" neighborhood and that he was keeping his distance as much as he could during the conversation...Regardless, at least "meeting the neighbor across the street" is one more thing to check off of my "to do list." Yep. Chances are, we won't be hanging out and drinking beer anytime soon...But we finally said "hello."

As always, thanks for stopping by...Have a great Tuesday and remember: TOMORROW IS PODCAST DAY! If'n you haven't subscribed yet, whatchoo waitin' for!?

Labels: hockey stuff, lame stories, sports