26 Ounces, 26 Years. Hmmmm.

Well, another year another quasi-depressing blog post. Nothing too different from this year as compared to last year at this time (though, for some reason I've been thinking that I was older than I am for a while, so I've sort of been denied the full enjoyment of my actual age). As well, unlike when I turned 22, it's clear that the Canadian Hockey team isn't going to win on my birthday (though, maybe the curlers might). I'll be spending the day on an airplane to Saskatchewan. I'll probably arrange something celebratory after I get back. Fortunately, I'm debating with Samuel this weekend. He's always lucky on my birthdays.

That Sucked

I Hate Ovechkin.

I Submit That I Can't Quit You

Carbolic was a lot of fun. Roman managed to get us an ideal table, right up by the screen and the stage, so we could see the speakers and videos quite well. There were some technical difficulties which prevented the showing of the third year video (in which I had a brief, and insignificant cameo). The second year video this year was exceptional, featuring "Brokeback Mooting". Gold, just gold. Right up there with this. As for the evening itself, it was quite enjoyable. Lots of pictures were taken, many of which are probably not entirely fit for public consumption. Apologies will likely be forthcoming to numerous members of the law school community come Monday. We also got little shot glasses commemorating the event, so I thought that was a nice touch. It's sad that this will probably be my last Carbolic. It's one event that I've partaken in every year (which is more than I can say for First Friday Back, or even the Rugby Alumni Game), and I've enjoyed it every time.

In other news, Pac Cup was also a lot of fun. We were at the West Coast Suites, which is where I stayed at my first Pac Cup (back in 2000, with T.J., Samuel and Candace). So that was a nice bit of nostalgia. It was also, by far, the smallest Pac Cup that I can remember, so it had that old-school Cusid West tournament feel to it (also helping was that the rounds on Saturday and Sunday were in Scarfe, like the Saturday rounds of the aforementioned Pac Cup 2000). We ended up dropping in semis. Regardless, it was good to see everyone (second last Cusid West Tournament ever).

On the sporting front, apparently my snarky remarks directed at the American Women's hockey team were perhaps a bit early, given recent results from the Canadian men. I'm a tad worried about Russia tommorrow, but I'm hoping that they'll be able to kick it up a notch.

On the topic of the Davis Sanchez trade, it makes sense to me. With the re-signing of Malcolm Frank, they have too many Cornerbacks (It's no secret that I'm incredibly high on Keyou Craver, and I think that he's definitely ready to start next year). Likewise, with the loss of Rashad Jeanty, they need help on the D-line and Robert Brown is a proven vet. Add in the fact that they haven't re-signed Shannon Garrett, and there's a spot on the roster for Durden. I like the deal, and while there may be some issues with the ratio, I think they've got sufficient Canadian talent elsewhere so that won't be a problem.

Do You Believe In Miracles?

Sweden Does.

Free Agency Addendum

So, I read in the paper today that Tucker and the Esks have verbally agreed to a deal. So perhaps all is not lost yet. No word on whether Garrett is going to be re-signed (though, in fairness, he only gave up one touchdown all year, and that was on the last game of the year after he'd been injured. As well, Frank is older than he is, and has a capable replacement waiting in the wings in Keyou Craver). Anyways, I hope they re-sign Garrett as well. Oh, and the Hockey men seem to be having more problems with Germany right now than they should be (though, part of that may be that the women have raised the bar).

Free Agency

So, the Eskimos have failed to sign Jason Tucker in time for the free agent deadline. Needless to say I'm less than enthused with this development. I'm still hopeful that they'll be able to resign him after he tests the waters, but if he winds up on another team, that will be a big void to fill. Having never adequately replaced Terry Vaughn last year, to once again lose their best receiver would I think impact on their ability to repeat (particularly given the loss of Rashad Jeanty on the other side of the ball).

In terms of the free agent developments in the rest of the league, apparently the Bombers have added Barrin Simpson, which should be a good addition. As well, looks like Argos are once again attempting to develop Eric Crouch (they had planned on signing him a few years ago, but someone in the NFL picked him up on waivers. Green Bay I think).

Carbolic time of year again. Should be much merriment as always.

Odi Et Amo

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone.

Mining Club

Lost the moot yesterday. I still get a book prize out of it. We had a tough issue to argue, and I think we did what we could with it.

After the moot, a bunch of us went up to RATT for assorted merriment (astute readers will notice that I'm not mentioning the hockey game, that is by design). At one point in the evening, this drunk guy came up to a bunch of my classmates and informed them that "Mining Club Rules!". This prompted a number of us to spend the rest of the evening yelling out "Mining Club, F--- Yeah!" to the tune of the Team America theme song, and generally being as obnoxious as possible. We even came up with the following "Mining Nicknames" for ourselves:

- The Main Vein
- Big Brassy
- Klon-dyke
- Twin Peaks / Gemstone Cowboy (he replaced it mid-way through the evening)
- Gold Digger
- Strip Miner
- The Shaft
- Mother Load
- Yellow Gold
- Dirty Ore
- 24 Carat Bitch
- Petrified Woody
- Dead Pan
- Family Jewels
- Fool's Gold
- Deep Crevice

Apparently we weren't obnoxious enough, as one fellow managed to get a waitress' phone number. A cynic would perhaps interpret that as an indictment of the fairer sex. But I certainly wouldn't do that, least of all not before Valentine's Day.

In other news, I didn't catch all of the Grammy's, but I enjoyed Kanye West's performance. I was sort of hoping that 50 Cent and The Game would win for "Hate it or Love It", just to see if they'd go up to accept the award together. On a similar musical note, Nick Tam has alerted me to this. Sheer awesomeness (it's only the first verse, but it doesn't matter, it's still incredibly cool).

Good on Canada for shocking the world in Sevens. I know it's sevens, but regardless there are certain things that should never happen, and I'd think that Canada beating South Africa in Rugby is one of them. Pity that as a reward they get to play New Zealand in the Quarters.

Relatedly, the Six Nations has been having some crazy results. In spite of just squeaking by Italy, it's looking like the Poms are probably going to take it this year. Pity.

As far as Super 14 goes, I'd like to reiterate that I'm rather displeased at Sportsnet for not covering it anymore. From the results that I've seen, it's good that the Hurricanes won their first game. Also a nice touch starting off the Super 14 the same way that the Super 12 started: Hurricanes vs. Blues.

It's unfortunate that the Rush still haven't broken into the win column yet. I thought that they were really close tonight. Hopefully the next game will be different. It was good to see them get a couple of short handed goals.

Finally, as relates to Operation Slap Shot, am I the only one that thinks that the media is getting ready to cut Janet loose? I mean, she's been referred to as "Janet Gretzky" for some time now, yet most of the reports have her as "Janet Jones-Gretzky" or "Janet Jones". This reminds me alot of the descriptions of Ben Johnson as "Jamaican-Canadian Ben Johnson" after the positive test. Not sure what all will come of this, but it's just something that I noticed in the reporting of the story.

In happier Olympic news, Congrats to Jennifer Heil (whose older sister was a year ahead of me in school, and who was at one point a housemate of one of my Latin cronies). Hopefully this is a sign of more medals to come for Canada.

It Sounds Like Cold Medicine

Unsurprisingly, I think that the new name for Edmonton's summer festival is rather stupid. I thought that they'd replace Klondike Days with something stupid, but I didn't think it would be so bland. But then, I'm of the opinion that a kitschy theme is preferable to no theme. More of my thoughts on the whole name controversy, from when it was still Klondike Days, can be found here. I will note in passing that I don't think that the "Ed Fest" component sports a name which is going to stand the test of time. What I did find mildly irksome was all the interviews with the proponents on the news this evening where they stated "It doesn't really matter what the name is...", and then proceeded to hype just a bigger version of what the festival already is (more space for the concert portions, an international marketplace in place of a showcase country, etc.). Funny how the name doesn't matter once it's been changed. At any rate, I shall probably still go to the festival as a good member of the civic community, though it will likely be in spite of any changes which they have made, not because of them.

On the topic of change, it's good to see that things don't change on Survivor. Tina joins B.B. and Hunter as a useful, resourceful player cut down in the early stages of the game because their (usually much less useful) tribemates were focused on strategy (Well, to be fair in B.B.'s case, they weren't really focused on strategy. That was more of a "we don't like bossy people", akin to what helped get Margaret booted in Guatamala. Either way, it was wrong). Still, when people are catching fish with their bare hands, you'd think that people would keep them around for a bit longer to at least get a leg up on the other tribes (though, perhaps the smaller tribe sizes may have factored into this).

The season looks like it should be ok, there are some decent personalities and it will be interesting to see how the new rules play out (though, I'm not sure this whole "Exile Island" twist is going to be as much of a factor as it's been hyped as). No early favourites yet, but this usually takes a couple of weeks (and it's good to see another lawyer on the show). With the Apprentice and the Amazing Race not debuting until the end of the month, Survivor will have to meet my reality tv needs until then.