HiR:tb Toots (@warwalker)

I love a good Poti joke.

Admittedly, it is difficult to point to a document entitled “Barry Melrose Rocks” with a straight face and claim some sort of vindication.  Nevertheless, on the subject of Bryan McCabe, I plan to do so.   Here is what was recently written on that site concerning the Leaf blueliner:

…Toronto running Bryan McCabe out of town. Look, if they don’t want a defender who has averaged 59 points and a +15 rating over the last three seasons, then so be it. I’m probably not alone when I say I’ll take him on Long Island. Heck, there’s probably a bunch of teams that would find a good use for this guy. OK, so McCabe can be a bit of a defensive liability. I can live with that. We had Tom Freaking Poti all of last year for God’s sake. All I’m saying is that one dumb mistake is no reason to run a guy out of town. Then again, the folks in Toronto may be right. The Leafs will obviously be a much better team without the guy who outscored every forward on the team last year save for Mats Sundin.

And for those of you scoring at home, you have to go all the way back to Denis Potvin to find the last Islander defender to have 59 points in a season.

I would not be the first to observe that the Islanders of recent history haven’t exactly been dynastic, a fact that makes the last sentence admittedly somewhat less emphatic than it might otherwise be.  But the above-noted judgement is not devoid of value simply because it emanates from within the (presumably success-starved) Islanders fan camp.   No doubt, somebody wearing a Captain Highliner jersey would point out that the Isles beat the Leafs for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot last year (remember Wade Dubliewicz?).  It should also not be forgotten that McCabe played three seasons at the beginning of his career on the Island – though Bryan himself might like to erase those years from his memory banks.  The point remains:  appreciate the guy for the player he is, and realize that there is often a bit of a defensive price to pay for offensive talent in a point man. 

Don’t make me put Tom Poti out there to make you see the difference.

Ooo, THAT’S scaaaaary…

BLECH!Nothing says “scary”, old-school Mikey Myers style – rip a scream from yo’ ass, y’all be runnin’ down the street witchoo arms wavin’ – like a bad ass jack-o’-lantern.

For best results, might I recommend the following: 

(1) carve the said gourd according to the complicated plans of an adamant six year old about three or four weeks too early;

(2) leave the bellicose fruit in an uncovered area, where it will be terrifyingly unprotected from the rain;

(3) apply no preservatives, lacquers, veneers or any other terror-reducing protective coating to the interior surface of the totem;

(4) allow neighbourhood squirrels to gnaw away randomly at the eye-holes and other orifices of  the diseased squash;

(5) wait patiently for the inexorable march of organic chemsitry; and

(6) cover your eyes or prepare to scream, ’cause you now have – a BARFING PUMPKIN.

…and now they’re gone, now they’re gone.

A CBC reporter from New Brunswick by the name of Bob Mersereau has written a book purporting to set out the top 100 Canadian albums of all time.   Obviously, the subject matter of such a book is in the “holy freakin’ subjectivity, Batman” category.   I have no doubt that Mersereau’s whole point is simply to jump start a debate – I would hope that no author of such a work would expect to have his words received as the definitive statement on the topic.

Four beauty guys.

Rheostatics placed two albums in the top 100;  Whale Music came in at #19.  CBC radio listeners may remember that the Mother Corp. conducted an online survey some years back on the same subject matter.  If memory serves, Whale Music placed at the very top of that list as the Greatest Canadian Album Of All Time – but all reference to that poll seems to now be absent from the CBC website.   The inherently contradictory nature of these two results kind of reminds me of the two hot dog carts in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips square that used to be side-by-each, with signs respectively proclaiming:  “World’s Greatest Hot Dog” and “Best Hot Dog in the City.” Click here to continue reading …and now they’re gone, now they’re gone.

Hulk 2 too.

In between periods of the Leaf game last night (yay Leafs fans for not booing McCabe -at all – and yay Leafs for showing up when it was gut check time), I banged together a rough edit of some video from last week’s Hulk 2 film shoot in downtown Hamilton. The big buzz on the street was for a scene where a vehicle (generally believed to be a “Hummer” by the man on the street, but described to me as a “jeep” by one of the movie guys) was to be propelled through one of the fake movie building walls. Obviously, everyone and his brother was interested in seeing this scene. That was what had kept me up until 3 o’clock in the morning on a couple of nights. I had been down to the set on Thursday October 11th, which was the second last day of filming – and saw no such scene. I figured that meant it was going to happen Friday night for sure. As it turned out, the scene they were doing did involve a Jeep, but the movie guys seemed to be working on a sequence in which the jeep, loaded with armed soldiers, goes careening through traffic on Main Street. In the meantime, extras were fleeing something on Hughson Street (presumably, this will turn out to be the Hulk in the finished movie). One good thing about this montage is that I did manage to get the scene from a number of different angles – but don’t hold your breath for a jeep smashing through a wall. In the end, Spouse and I gave up and went home to bed.

Heckling Dept.

I am involved in three rotisserie hockey leagues this year.  One is a family league, one involves people at the office, and in the third my competitors are some of my fishing buddies.  Today, one of my fellow franchise managers decided to change the name of his team seven games in to the season.   This did not sit well with me – I am a stickler for continuity about these things.  Here’s what I posted to the league message board:

Oh, man, I’ve seen some suspect [sports] franchise moves before in my time – there were the Captain Highliner Islanders jerseys, Philadelphia’s Cooperall experiment and the “Mighty” being put between “Anaheim” and “Ducks”, but this may take the cake…

Brian’s team has changed its name entirely!

I, for one, refuse to be manipulated by the management of this money-grubbing club in this blatant attempt to kick-start jersey, t-shirt and ball cap sales by introducing a brand new nickname in mid-season. For shame, for shame – and shades of the Oakland – no waitaminnit, we want to be called “California” Golden Seals.

Boooooooooo!

I think I’ve made my point.

I’m a bad fan.

Look, I’ve badmouthed Bryan McCabe over the last couple of days.  I’m not saying I haven’t.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t.  I’m just saying that maybe the folks raining boos down upon him from the newly-humidified rafters of the Air Canada Centre ought to reflect upon the legitimacy of their booing.

First, the facts.  Bryan McCabe will be receiving more than 7 million dollars to play defence for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year.   He is the highest paid player on the team.  The team is, once again, disappointing fans with games that frequently feature either inconsistent efforts or decent efforts that degenerate into late game collapsesClick here to continue reading I’m a bad fan.

Youth is fleeting; that one is fleeting down the street in his underwear.

Saturday afternoon I went down to Ivor Wynne Stadium to watch some CIAU football – McMaster University vs. York in the last regular season home game to be played in the friendly confines at Balsam and Beechwood.  I went to the game because my friend’s son Joey is a first-year running back for the Marauders, and I didn’t want to miss possibly my last chance to see him play this year.   Joey had a great game in service of a McMaster victory over the Lions (since when are they no longer the “Yeomen”, by the way?) – he scored McMaster’s third touchdown, carried the ball 19 times for 121 yards and was named co-winner of the Mark Timpany trophy, presented to the MVP of McMaster’s homecoming game each year.  I very much enjoyed the game, though it was freaking cold sitting up in the stands, and I was thrilled for my friend (Joey’s father);  he had every reason to be beaming a thousand watt grin after the game.  There was no disguising the proud papa (though I noted he has begun sporting a soup strainer over his upper lip that some might argue represented an attempt at going incognito). Click here to continue reading Youth is fleeting; that one is fleeting down the street in his underwear.

Live Blogging Leafs vs. Islanders

7:30 –  I tune in to Leafs TV and bemoan the fact that although the signal is being offered in HDTV this year, my local cable company has elected not to provide an HD feed.  Learn that Andrew Raycroft is starting in goal.  Reflect on the fact that as a Leaf fan, I may consequently not want to have that clear a view of this game;  standard definition will do fine.  Click here to continue reading Live Blogging Leafs vs. Islanders

Hulk in Hamilton – Bus Goes Boom

Hulk in Hamilton

Here is some video of the previously described burning bus, explosion and fleeing extras.

Things that go “BANG” in the night.

Hulk 2 is being filmed in downtown Hamilton right now.   Spouse and I went down to take in some of the movie magic and I brought along the video camera, hoping to capture some explosions and other cinematic truths.  I was not disappointed.  I suspect that this film will not focus overly much on character exposition and a search for human truth;  rather, the subject of the film is more likely to be “black powder and the things it blows up.”  I got a lot of video of the tableau below the window from which Spouse and I were watching:  a burnt-out NYC bus with a demolished sedan lying crossways across what would be top of the bus if it had any roof left, lots of (propane fuelled) flames everywhere, and a series of explosions that made the assembled extras eschew their previously lethargic ways and run screaming down the street.  Click here to continue reading Things that go “BANG” in the night.