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The Crazy Canucks #16 – Screw the Wild, we spanked the Leafs

Recorded, encoded, and delivered. Episode #16 is up and ready.

Dave is a healthy scratch for this recording as the rest of us gathered together to record another episode. We lost the streak against the Wild, but the Leafs were our next victims as the Canucks took them down on Hockey Day in Canada over the weekend.

Record as of this episode: 25-19-1
Northwest Division: 2nd
Western Conference: 7th

There was a lot to chat about even though there hasn’t been much action since the last episode. We take a look at some of the younger guys on the team, review some of the ways that we celebrated Hockey Day in each of our own special ways, why it should be a national holiday, wander down the scheduling trail again, and dissect the NHL All-Star Game selections a little bit. J.J. also drops some bombs at the end of the episode with some injury reports, and we all agree that nothing else matters since we spanked the Leafs, 6-1, on national TV, no less.

40:18 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

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I wanna be a NBC page

Kenneth the page - 30 Rock
Well, not really, but Kenneth from 30 Rock[imdb] is what really keeps me coming back to this show. For those not in the loop with the series, he’s the southern kid who is consistently looking on the bright side of life with blissful ignorance to anything negative from the world around him. Truly a hero among men.

I realize that I am posting this after ripping on the flagship that birthed this show(SNL), and it is that reason alone that I first thought that the series was doomed to fail. I have to say that my assumption was a tad off. In fact, I didn’t see this one coming. Alec Baldwin is what Phil Hartman was to NewsRadio[imdb], and I might even add in a twist of Stephen Roots’ character of Jimmy James.

It’s weird, random, and completely what is needed in this post-sitcom-wasteland of live studio audiences, laugh tracks, and three camera sets. You can’t call it perfect, but it’s damn nice to have surprise gems like this pop up on the major networks.

Liz Lemon: Where’s Gary?
Jack: [Kicks down door and enters room] Gary’s dead. I’m Jack Donaghy. New VP of development for NBC/GE/Universal/Kmart.
Pete: Oh, we own Kmart now?
Jack: No. So why are you dressed like we do? [imdb]

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We’re not all like this

I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the reason why grudges about all Americans being stupid, ignorant, stuck up, and all of the above exists.

Who said David Beckham’s arrival in America would attract no attention? Not only has the erstwhile galactico and England captain made it onto the US equivalent of GMTV and elicited praise from Sly Stallone, he’s attracted the attention of Jayceon Taylor, aka gangster rapper The Game.

Showing a not entirely cohesive understanding of the game Americans call soccer, the South Central-based rapper (Beckham’s new side, LA Galaxy, is his local club!) was not entirely effusive about the arrival of the face of Gillette razors in his hood.

“I’d kick David Beckham’s ass on any given day,” the Game said when asked about Beckham. “I’d just pick the ball up and kick the shit out of the stadium, game over.”

Quite whether the Game’s expletive was referring to the ball, Beckham, or simply the action he was planning to take against LA Galaxy’s Home Depot Center remains to be seen. But The Game was on less steady ground when a follow-up question was put his way.

When asked his thoughts on Beckham’s ability as a footballer he responded simply: “Pretty good”. [guardian]

Dear rest of the world,

All Americans are not like this. Please don’t let our piece of crap version of popular culture influence you. I dislike this junk just as much as you guys do. There are some of us who look past it and enjoy other things in life that is not related to MTV, reality TV, and tabloid media.

This guy, on the other hand, is a moron. Feel free to rip on him.

Thank you.

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I can’t stand Amy Poehler on SNL

You know how it is where you have that one person that pops up in your life and they have that ability to send that feeling of nails on a chalkboard down your spine? That’s what Amy Poehler[wiki] does to me. Sure, as a person who isn’t trying so desperately on camera to get you to laugh while on camera, I bet you that she’s a really nice person. On the set of SNL, she doesn’t work for me.

Every time she pops up on a SNL sketch, which seems to be every single one, I’m already not liking what I’m seeing. I really, really try to keep an open mind and give her, or whatever she is in, a chance, but it always ends up being the same. It’s Amy Poehler, no matter who it is that she is trying to mimic. It’s the same thing that happened with Cheri Oteri and Jimmy Fallon. They could have been funny, it should have been funny, but they weren’t. At least not to me.

I think where it really gets me is the Weekend Update. There was a time where it was done with the premise of being a real news show but with total satire on recent events in pop culture. It had a sense of dead pan that made the jokes all the more hilarious. I would even go as far to say that things just seemed to have been written better. In fact, it was just better. Better to the point where I had trouble breathing because I was laughing so hard.

When you see Amy Poehler do the news on SNL, it’s like listening to a bad knock-knock joke. That other guy is guilty of it as well, but Poehler is worse by far. Smug face, a look-at-me-I’m-funny look, the setup, punch line, and even a badda bing follow-up where she rehashes the punchline to squeeze out those few extra chuckles from the live studio audience. Painful. And even more so, she’s not much different in any of the other sketches that she pops up in. She’s all the same to me, and it’s just not that entertaining.

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Where hockey becomes a holiday

Ok, it’s not an official holiday, but it damn near should be. And to me, this Tim Hortons commercial is what Hockey Day in Canada is all about.

Off we go to GM to watch the Canucks beat the Leafs on the big screen. Should be a good time. Hope your hockey day has been good for you.

Update: The game was pretty cool, and that’s more than just the 6-1 win over the Leafs(who, I might add, suck). It was close to a real game experience. They blew the horn when the Canucks scored, gave away some free stuff at random points, and a fair number of Leafs fans for us to heckle were actually brave enough to hang out for the game.

True highlight? The first intermission of the UBC game that followed the CBC broadcast was a mini-game of some pee wee hockey kids. Check out the video I posted onto YouTube here. We actually left after that. Regina was up by three goals at the end of the first. Good action, but we were a little beat and ready to head home.

I have pictures from the event on Flickr. Pending review for quality control, look for some audio that Rebecca and I recorded at GM Place on The Crazy Canucks in the next few days.

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Uggs for dogs

I should have seen it coming, and it was the sound that caught me before the sight. On my run this morning, it was below freezing once again. I understand the care people give their dogs. I’m not completely against the little boots that some owners throw onto the paws of their four legged friends.

It was that swishing sound that you often hear when kids where those gum or moon boots, and then they don’t pick up their feet enough as they walk. There was more of it though, and I only saw this one person walking their dog. That’s when I noticed the ugg boots[wiki] on the medium sized canine, fuzzy lining and all. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but there is truth in seeing is believing.

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It’s oh so cold

IMG_9870
Call it whining if you want, but it’s freaking cold. Snowed about three days ago, and the temp hasn’t reached much above freezing since then. More pictures of some of the recent snow in Vancouver can be found here.

Sure, it’ll be a short time until it stops freezing and the rain starts up again. And yes, their is plenty of breath to be seen by those living in the prairies. Still no snow or long cold snaps in areas of Ontario where they should be having the weather we are having. In fact, reports from my family in the upper midwest of the U.S. say that they’re enjoying Vancouver type weather more than we are in Vancouver, just minus all the rain.

By the way, you have got to check out these pics of a recent ice storm to hit areas of Nebraska. Amazing shots for sure. My dad’s side of the family are mostly in the eastern portions of the state. Reports from them stem from having no power for nearly a whole day to an entire week. Now THAT is an ice storm. I’ll take an inch or two of snow on the ground any day compared to that.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the climate change debate. I’m inclined to post about it more in the future. You have to admit, things just ain’t the way they used to be.

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Little Mosque on the Prairie

Little Mosque on the PrairieYeah, the title is enough to make me not want to keep watching it, but I can say that I’ve watched the first episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie. I’m not taken by it, but it is just the first episode of the series.

Once we can get past all the terrorist jokes, people in the town claiming that all these people are terrorists, and something else about stereotyping Muslims being linked to terrorism, this show might be good. It’s too early to tell.

To tell you the truth, I felt like I was watching something on PBS back in the states. It’s like a Canadian version of a British sitcom, if that makes any sense. Blatant humor with elements of being subtle, but not as hugely funny as I find many British sitcoms.

Like I said, at least I can say I saw it. The U.S. media seems to be up in arms over it more than the Canadian side, but maybe that’s just the effect that living in Vancouver has done to me. There’s so much diversity here that it just seems commonplace to me anymore.

Don’t know if I’ll make too much more of an effort to pay attention to Little Mosque on the Prairie from here on out.

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Not the Canucks at GM Place

We’ve decided to go check out this new fangled jumbo-super-tron that they’ve installed at GM Place tomorrow. It’s not a bad deal. $12 to watch the Canucks take on the Leafs on the big screen above center ice, then we get to catch some college hockey between the UBC Thunderbirds and Regina Cougars[canucks]. Will make for a nice Hockey Day in Canada[cbc] for sure.

We got our tickets ahead of time so we could ensure some decent tickets. The guy asked us why we wanted to sit further away from the ice rather than the closer seats we could have got. I told him that I didn’t want to strain my neck to watch the CBC coverage on the mega TV up above. He said that made sense.

Should be good, and I will take the recording gear along as well. Never know what I can capture, but will probably push that content out The Crazy Canucks feed.

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RadioZoom Episode #123 – Rebecca’s Birthday; Donations; Olympic Village; Vancouver Trivia

Squeezed this episode in just before the puck dropped for last night’s Canucks match up with Minnesota. The game sucked, but this recording didn’t. Go listen.

Our first episode back in the studio after quite a while. We’ve been having too much fun with the video podcasts, so it’s about time that we got back into the groove of the strictly audio world. We recorded this just ahead of watching the Canucks play on TV, so you’ll hear the sound of glass bottles clink in the background just a little bit. We’ll leave it up to you to figure out what’s inside of them.

I’m posting this during the second intermission, so I’ll make this brief.

58:43 minutes
radiozoom.net