Good Morning 2011: Wherein the emo comes to roost

[Lady Door]

I need to take some good photos of my dog that show off how adorable he is.

That way, when he's being a little asshole, I can look at them and remember why I bother.

... That, and I can throw things at it instead of the dog himself.

[DjinnAndTonic]

You should take pictures of your adorable dog anyway, because DJ likes pictures of adorable dogs.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Mutts!

[Idun]

I am correcting a friend's thesis. Holy shit bad bad grammar. This was more of a task than I was really up for.

I laughed at this.

(I think that's what my professors say about me)

[Hunter Sopko]

So it's official, I won my fantasy hockey league this year. Makes a man feel good.

1 of 12. 106.5 out of 120 points. 19 points ahead of league.

485th Overall in all Yahoo public leagues.

203 Goals (3rd in league), 386 Assists (1st), 87 +/- (3rd),  491 Penalty Minutes (4th), 193 Power Play Points (4th), 2198 Shots on Goal (1st).

89 Goaltending wins (1st), 2.35 GAA (1st), .919 Save % (Tied 2nd), 13 Shutouts (Tied 2nd)

As you can tell, I have goaltending to thank for this win, as well as pretty stellar offensive stats despite... no real big names. Just solid workhorses like Patrick Marleau, Claude Giroux, Justin Williams, etc. Hmm... MVPs...

Offensive MVP: Patrick Marleau. Not surprising. Logged 33 goals and 36 assists for my team, far and away the best. Doubled the amount of Shots on Goal of the other offensive players.

Runner up: Want to say Claude Giroux for this, but Martin St. Louis. I only had him for 15 games after getting him near the trade deadline, and his 6 goals and 15 assists are one of the primary reasons I jumped back into a dominant first place position after nearly squandering it. I doubted it since I gave up a slumping Fleury for him (who almost immediately turned back on) but it panned out well.

Defensive MVP: Dustin Byfuglien. Yep. You heard me. It's scary to think what would've happened if his team stayed healthy, because he was a defenseman that scored like a forward. 19 goals and 33 assists, most of which came in the first 50-75% of the season. Plus a key 81 penalty minutes and a mind-numbing 321 shots on goal. Awesome, awesome stuff to have in a DEFENSIVE slot. Not bad for someone I threw near the bottom of my preferred draft choices on impulse.

Runner up: Brian Rafalski. His assist rate is uncanny. Even with his injury this year he still notched 42 for me.

Goaltending MVP: Jonathan Quick. 30 wins, 2.26 GAA, .919 Save % and 6 shutouts. God fucking damn awesome.

Runners up: Pekka Rinne and Marc-Andre Fleury. Was hard to choose, so why not both? I wasn't happy getting saddled with Fleury again this year, despite his awesome amount of wins, his GAA and Save % were ABYSMAL last year. Lo and behold he completely turns it around with a 2.29 GAA and .920 Save %! He slumped pretty badly near the trade deadline though, so I traded him off for some offensive help in Martin St. Louis. As I said before, as much as it would have been good to keep him since he finished off the year strong, I needed the offensive help. Plus it wasn't nearly as bad after aquiring the next guy...

Pekka Rinne.... when I got you I was immediately frustrated to learn you'd been injured it had not been updated yet, and thats why you were availible. Pleaaaaaasantly surprised when you came back reasonably fast and fucking dominated with 20 wins in 35 starts for me, with a mindboggling 2.06 GAA and .933 Save %. 3 Shutouts were icing on the cake.

Biggest Disappointments:
Tyler Myers- Talk about a softmore slump. One of the best defensemen last year, I suffered through an atrocious 5 goals, 3 assists and -10 in 24 games before wising up and dropping him.

Zach Parise- My perennial #1 Draft Pick. Sadly injured the whole year, so disappointing. Was on IR for a long time and later dropped. Sad times for Devils fans.

Biggest Wastes of Time:
Dan Girardi- Rangers defenseman, was getting a fair bit of hype in fantasy chatter, so needing a replacement for Myers I picked him up. Turned in a pathetic 1 goal and 3 assists in 19 starts before I cut him loose.


All in all, great fantasy year. Gots a shiny trophy in my Yahoo profile now. Looking forward to next year. Probably gonna strongarm the DL into doing a private league too if at all possible.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Craaap. I missed the ferry back to Vancouver by like 10 minutes! ;_; I didn't realize the bus route would be so lame or else I'd have allotted more time!

[OblivionKnight]

Hey, I'm alive!

Went to the Sara Bareilles concert in Pittsburgh last night.

Christ, that was awesomeness incarnate.  I love Sara Bareilles, and that was probably the most entertaining, highest energy concert I've ever been to.  She really puts on a great show. 

The first two acts, Ximena Sarinana and Elizabeth and the Catapult, were also pretty good.  I'm actually impressed - typically, the opening acts suck ass, but these two were good.  Ximena has a great voice, and, as I just learned, has been in a bunch of Mexican films.  She's also so polite and adorable.  Her first 3 songs were...not particularly amazing, mostly because the background music from the computer she was running it off of overwhelmed her piano and voice.  The 4th song, which was all piano, was significantly better, and her 5th song was done in tandem with Elizabeth and the Catapult. 

Actually, that last point deserves some mention before going on - the concert as a whole, both opening acts and Sara herself, struck me as a group, more than "lead performance with random people tagging along hoping to make it big".  Sara brought both of the opening acts onstage for a combination song, and both Elizabeth and Ximena had some songs they performed together.  It was a nice touch.

Elizabeth was also pretty good - I really liked "Go Away My Lover" - though I wish I were a bit more familiar with their work.  Something to work up a bit more, I guess...overall, really impressed with the opening acts - they were entertaining and non-torturous.  Really could feel the energy, feeling, and work they put in to their music. 

Sara is, as always, awesome.  I love her personality - very down to earth.  It also helps she loves the word "fuck" so very much.  One of the first things she said was, "I have a potty mouth.  My mother doesn't like it.  But it's better than flashing my boobs to everyone.  Which I'd do.  If mine were worth talking about".  Which then prompted the obvious, very loud response, with a nice laugh >_>

Seriously, is there something wrong with me that I find a girl saying "fuck" to be really hot?

Ahem.

She performed several of her big songs (King of Anything, Uncharted, Rain, Love Song), as well as several by other artists (Little Lion Man, Fuck You by Cee Lo Green, Yellow).  Thought she did a fantastic job with them, arguably better than the original artists.  Loved how the band was very integrated with her, and how they weren't merely accessories to the show.  Again, one reason I love her is that she's pretty down to earth, cool, and a real, honest person.

So much feeling in the songs - really can emote to what she felt when writing them.  Great voice, very energetic, fantastic musician on both guitar and piano, great personality...excellent, excellent all around.  And the tickets were so damn worth it (seriously, $25 for the front row seats we got?  shit man!).

Only 2 thoughts would be that Little Lion Man, while awesomely done, was hard to hear since they didn't use the microphone; and that finishing off with Yellow felt...mmm.  I understand the thematic reasoning, and it fit wonderfully for that.  Just felt like an abrupt end.  It really felt like there was still show left after that was done, and I know a good portion of the audience felt the same way.  Still, relatively minor criticisms of a fantastic show.  So tempted to try to get to the Columbus showing >_> 

[Luther Lansfeld]

So I went to Victoria, the second largest city in British Columbia, yesterday. I really love it and I half want to try to move there once I finish my degree for a while. It's so much less congested and more homey than Van. Just very quaint.

Biggest problem is that flying home will be even a bigger pain than it already is. >_> I want to be closer to my family too. I miss them. (Okay, mostly mom and my friends. I think I miss my best friend's dad more than my own. >_> I feel kinda bad about this.)

[Clear Tranquil]

* Clear Tranquil hugs Ciato

Don't feel bad!

Congrats to Soppy and yaay to OK for liveness~

[Magetastic]

Victoria is the second largest city in BC? Really? Certainly feels too quaint for that...

[Idun]

Ahahaha.

The technician left the cutest message on my oil change sticker!!

[DjinnAndTonic]

Funny to think that she'd probably get complaints if she left a similar messages like "Allah Bless *smiley face*" instead~

[Scar]

Winner winner chicken dinner!

My fantasy basketball team ended up being victorious!

It was a great success because this was my first attempt at fantasy basketball, so it feels good to know I could win it with beginners luck.

Biggest risk in the draft: Blake Griffin. I never would have expected this guy to go off like he did. I picked him 8th and he ends up scoring me the most points on my team. Go figure...

MVP: Blake Griffin. Not a true rookie, but Rookie of the Year anyways. 3rd most points in the league behind Lebron James (1st) and Dwight Howard (2nd). Dude was a beast with 63 double doubles and two triple doubles! Steal of the draft.

Offensive MVP: Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. Had his best field goal percentage of his career and led my team with over 29 points a game. It was a tough choice between he or Lebron since I was the 2nd pick in the draft. I picked Wade and of course it was obvious that Lebron had the better stats, but it might have changed my teams look so I am grateful for picking who I did. Plus it's freaking D. Wade son!

Defensive MVP: Andrew Bogut. At least when he was healthy he gave me tons of rebounds and blocks. That's all I can ask for from a goofy tall white boy.

Assist Master: Andre Miller. I was lucky with this guy. Someone dropped him in the first week and I only had Jameer Nelson and some other PG and I needed another good PG and Miller fit right in with my squad.

Old and Reliable: Grant Hill. 38 years old and had one of his most productive season in a long while! I was really picking players that I was a fan of so once again I got lucky with this pick, but I am not complaining.

Second Half Slump: Ray Allen. He was killing it for the first half of the regular season, but after the all-star break, he fell off. Whatever had had game I suppose and he is the leading three point shooter in league history.

LVP: Joakim Noah. Not because he was bad when he played, but because he barely played. I held onto him and he kept a spot on my team where I could have picked up someone who was producing. He missed too many games with his hand and when he came back he did not last. hame, because when he played he was a beast on the boards.

Fun Facts: I had two of the three Heatles on my team. Wade and Bosh and both performed very well. I also somehow managed to have four Trailblazers on my team at one point because of Gerald Wallace being traded to them in the mid season. Miller, Wesley Mathews and Nicolas Batum were my other Blazers.

It was fun!

[metroid composite]

Victoria is the second largest city in BC? Really? Certainly feels too quaint for that...

Hmm...if you count Greater Victoria, then looks like yes it is by a good margin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Canada

Looks like it goes...

Greater Vancouver 2.2 MILLION
Vancouver (proper) 578k  (And various large suburbs are not far behind)
Greater Victoria 330k
Kelowna 107k
Kamloops 80k
Nanaimo 79k
Victoria (proper) 78k

So...basically it's like 1/7 of Vancouver--about 1/7 for the greater metro area, and about 1/7 for the city proper.

It's more that it has no competition.  I mean, Kamloops?  Really?  That's in the top five?

[Luther Lansfeld]

I was counting Greater Victoria, yes.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Should be noted that since you're using metro populations, that metro Kelowna is 184k and is thus better competition than you're giving it credit for. Also you missed Abbotsford entirely (159k, generally not regarded as part of metro Vancouver). But yeah, obviously if one city eats nearly half of the province's population by itself, there's not going to be that much room for more large cities.

[metroid composite]

Ah, did not think to check Kelowna for a greater metro district; my bad.

Also you missed Abbotsford entirely (159k, generally not regarded as part of metro Vancouver).

It's...not?  (I had Ringette games in Abbotsford, so I just assumed it had to be.  Although, now that I think about it, I had periodic Ringette games in Nanaimo too...).

[Dark Holy Elf]

Well, Wikipedia doesn't, and most maps of Vancouver don't include it, etc. It's a self-contained enough population centre, people who live near there commute to it rather than to Vancouver to work usually, etc. Though yes, defining city boundaries is murky business.

[NotMiki]

Wow, I always kinda thought Canda would have, um, more people in it.  It's like 5 Massachusettses or 60 Wyomings.

[Magetastic]

BC does not really represent Canada, I want to say. If somebody is capable of proving me wrong, then I totally agree NotMiki's sentiments.

[metroid composite]

Wow, I always kinda thought Canda would have, um, more people in it.  It's like 5 Massachusettses or 60 Wyomings.

Or 1 California?  Yes.

I can see how you'd get such a misconception, though.  Gaming communities tend to have a higher Canadian presence than you'd expect based on population--maybe about 20% of the American numbers, instead of the 10% of American numbers you might expect if things only operated on a per-capita basis.  Furthermore, there's a tendency for Canadians to be high-profile members.  I remember my TF2 group had a "best Canadians vs best Americans" matchup (the Canadian team was considered heavily favoured).

Sigma's explanation for the phenomenon was "there's not much to do in Canada during winter except be online with videogames".  But this doesn't entirely explain the high number of Vancouver residents I tend to see on the Internet (as Vancouver doesn't really have winter).  (It could just be that Vancouver is an especially wired city.  It could also be a product of Canada having no lower class, and good education and computer literacy in general rather than anything to do with weather.  Or maybe it's just more of a gaming country--Canada has the third largest game industry in the world behind Japan and USA...which is again, disproportionate to population--the UK has twice our population, speaks English, and yet has less game development these days).

BC does not really represent Canada, I want to say. If somebody is capable of proving me wrong, then I totally agree NotMiki's sentiments.

BC kinda does represent Canada.  Third most populous province, and all that.  Large cities in Canada have a tendency to be spaced 1000+ km apart...all along a thin line right next to the American border.  Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec are the only major exceptions here.

I mean, don't get me wrong--Canada's still in the G8.  Canada's a big deal.  Just...you're talking to someone who lives in New York City--(the city that could form its own country and be invited to the G8 all by itself).

[superaielman]

I thought you lived in Atlanta, MC?

[metroid composite]

I thought you lived in Atlanta, MC?

I do.   Notmiki lives in NYC (hence his reaction of "wtf Canada is small").

[Dark Holy Elf]

But this doesn't entirely explain the high number of Vancouver residents I tend to see on the Internet (as Vancouver doesn't really have winter).

I always attributed it to the strong Asian influence on the city. blah blah blah stereotypes but yeah

EDIT: Wasn't really referring to internet use, there, so much as talking about (primarily Japanese) video games on the internet.

Anyway, I think another factor that tricks people into thinking that Canada is more populous than it is is that it has big cities (well, three of them, anyway), and you tend to hear about cities more than, say, "well the state of Alabama actually has like 5 million people". Add up the three largest cities in the US and you get maybe 12% of its population (despite metro NYC being a monster). Add up the three largest cities in Canada and you get something like 35%. Australia is another good example of a country with large cities relative to its population and I bet most people kneejerk it as more populous than it actually is, too (five cities topping a million people in a country with a population equal to the third most populous US state).

Granted, there's an even simpler factor: both Canada and Australia share the distinction of having very low population densities, which probably also would make people assume their populations are higher, knowing both countries' (large) area just by looking at a map.

[VySaika]

Moving Status: Ahead of schedual. Still won't be done until Saturday(since that's when we rent the truck) but we're well ahead of where we planned to be on the taking carloads of boxes/smaller furniature over.

I'll lose internet here on Friday though, and won't get it at the new place until next Wednesday at the earliest. I'm not sure how I'll survive a few days without being able to lurk in chat and be amused at the antics, but I'll manage somehow~