A few years back, along came something called SARS or Severe acute respiratory syndrome. Those of you who live outside that area of the world that considers Toronto to be the capital of everything probably never heard or have forgotten about SARS, but for a few weeks there, it was pretty scary stuff.
If I'm reading my wikipedia correctly, SARS had a number of cases throughout Asia and there was an "outbreak" in Toronto. (I use quotes around the term outbreak not to poke fun and liken it to the Dustin Hoffman movie, but to show my own ignorance as to what constitutes an outbreak.)
Eventually, SARS fears passed. The Rolling Stones came and headlined a major concert to help support Toronto and life, as we know it, was back to normal.
But the reason I bring up SARS is because, during those uncertain days, all I could think of was Stephen King's the Stand and, for that matter, other apocolyptic movies where a fatal virus spreads and wipes out the world's population.
To put a more religious overtone to my thought process, I wondered if SARS wasn't God's way of giving himself a do-over, of hitting the reset button, of wiping the slate clean and starting all over again. I mean, if God was willing to wipe out the world with a flood back in Noah's day, who's to say he wouldn't do it again.
(In seeing the world and the way it is today, I wonder how bad it was pre-Noah if God wiped out the planet then but won't do it now.)
But again, SARS subsided and so it seemed we were spared.
But then within the last couple of days comes news of this Swine Flu from Mexico. Now I'm not going to debate whether this is the Flood of the 21st Century and if we should start building a giant ark (although I'm guessing that wouldn't do us much good in this case).
I was watching Inside Edition and their coverage alternated between ominous news ("Cases of swine flu have doubled in the past 24 hours") and celebrities joking about "All is well" I mean, when I listened to Tom Hanks joking about how "we don't need to stock up on canned good just yet" and "we'll all get through this together", it was like "Holy crap, this is the opening scene to one of those virus movies!!!"
I wonder who will play me?
Anyone else see this and think that God finally got pissed off at whatever was going on in that particular galaxy and just "Begone!"
There is just too much on TV tonight. The Jays are taking on the Minnesota Twins. How I Met Your Mother may or may not be new. Raw is having it’s three-hour draft episode, and Corner Gas is airing its final episode.
So what’s a poor guy to do? Why, blog as much of it as possible, of course.
The Blue Jays won all six of their meetings against Minnesota last season and on a 9-game win streak against the Twins. Man...Governor Ventura wouldn’t have let this happen. Tonight, Jesse “Bob Backlund” Litsch goes to the mound for Toronto.
My friend Jenn is fond of saying “How ‘bout them Blue Jays?” (although we’re never talking about baseball at the time) Well, the Jays are doing pretty well so far during the 2009 season. Of course, they came in with every baseball pundit saying this was basically a throw-away season, since they made no major moves during the off-season and lost A.J. Burnett to free agency.
(Meanwhile, Kevin Millar is like “Uh...hello? I’m standing right here. I can hear you!”)
My argument is that I think the Blue Jays are going to do better than expected. I wouldn’t suggest Toronto’s marketing corps start producing “Toronto Blue Jays: 2009 World Series Champions” memorabilia just yet, but I think you’ll find Tampa Bay’s 2008 run was a fluke (although nice to see, just to keep things interesting in the division) and Toronto will finish in their usual third place, and speaking of making things interesting, do just that for the Red Sox and Yankees.
Here’s why? In years past, the Jays have gone out and signed a big name free-agent (Cone, Clemens, Canseco, Thomas, Burnett) and the results: at best, a third place finish. If they can finish as afterthoughts and spoilers with a big-name free agent, they can probably do that with some young talent like Adam Lind, Alex Rios and Aaron Hill to go with the vets like Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay.
After one inning complete, it’s a scoreless ballgame.
“Who’s winning?”
“Uh...the Bears!”
(Quick, name the movie!)
Okay, time to switch to How I Met Your Mother. (If it’s a new episode, I’ll stick around; otherwise it’s back to the ballgame. And I’ll be switching back and forth during commercials.)
So...everyone enjoy their long weekend? I had a pretty good one. While my folks went up to Whitby to visit my sister, I bach-ed (is that the word?) it on my own. I will admit the hookers were a bit more expensive than I expected, but (a) they did a lot more than I expected and (b) I’ll regroup the loss on the DVD sales.
Oh..for...I WAS JOKING!!!!
But I did hang out by myself for a couple of days and enjoyed it immensely. I didn’t do a whole lot. I transferred my IPod from the old laptop to the new one (which shouldn’t have had to involve me having to upload everything off my CDs but did) and found out I really need to either delete some songs or get a better IPod with more memory.
Wow! Ted’s new assistant sleeps with Robin. Man, there’s the job I want. Cobie Smulders is so my main reason for watching the show. She’s hot. She’s brunette. She’s Canadian. What’s not to like?
Uhm...it’s 1-1 in the 2nd inning.
So anyways, instead of going to see the Hannah Montana movie, I was hanging out listening to my IPod. I was also watching some TV on-line.
I watched the series premieres of the Unusuals (which is a little like Denis Leary’s the Job except a little darker) and Parks and Recreation (When I want to watch the Office, I’ll...you know...watch the Office.)
Aw crap. Still 2nd inning, but the Twins are starting to light up Howdy Doody there. Last I checked it was 3-1 for Minnesota.
I also watched the first half of Harper’s Island, which I might catch up on during that usual Tuesday night hole of boredom that seems to be plaguing my TV. (Or I could watch the Jays game again...or both.) It didn’t really do a lot for me, but I like the idea of the show. It’s like the reality show where someone gets voted off, save that there’s some originality and creativity to it.
Barney: “I’m...wait for it...in...wait for it...love...wait for it...with...wait for it..”
Okay, Barney and Robin are tied for the best reason to watch the show. (Except Robin is the better best reason because she’s hot, brunette and Canadian....although she’d probably still be as hot if she were from Nebraska.)
3-1 in the third. Twins at the plate.
But it’s time for Raw, with a recap of Wrestlemania (Triple H wins) and last week’s Raw (Orton claiming he will still going to be coming after the WWE (or World) Championship. (I can never tell them apart), and then battling McMahon with the return of Batista.
So finally, five minutes in and we finally get to the Draft.
So all six (yep! Six!) announcers go over how the draft is going to go down. Wow! ECW’s Josh Matthews is so excited about being on Raw. He has a nosebleed.
But rather than have a match, let’s start with a Batista promo. Why don’t they just call it World Entertainment and get it over with?
Batista is talking about how p!ssed off he is at Randy Orton punting him in the head and “putting him out of action.” And someone needs to shut that one kid in the audience up.
Okay, so apparently it’s a Triple Threat match between Triple H (how ironic), Shane McMahon and Batista over who gets to take on Randy Orton.
Excuse me! Excuse me! Hey, it’s Vickie Guerrero! If anyone had told me that Vickie would end up being such an entertaining heel, I would have thought they were crazy. Although she needs Edge to interact with. As Raw GM without him, she’s lost something.
Okay, let’s switch topics for a second. (I know not everyone...or perhaps anyone...reading this wants to read about wrestling.) I played a little Rock Band on the weekend. Not as much as I would have liked but,,.
When I first got Rock Band, I had to get my drum set replaced, but my new set doesn’t prevent me from sucking at the drums. (I’m not bad with the guitar, but I think I’m more a Guitar Hero kinda guy.)
I was toying with the idea of Photoshopping an idea I had for Jimi Hendrix: Guitar Hero or Led Zeppelin: Guitar Hero. Either game would be cool.
First sighting of the Angels and Demons trailer for me. And over in Minnesota, 4-2 for the Twins in the 4th and while I’m not sure why, Toronto has gone to the bullpen, bringing Tallet (Brian Tallet?) on in relief of Litsch. (Have to check that out. 4 runs isn’t enough to yank your starter in the 4th inning.)
Back on Raw, it’s Rey Mysterio vs. Evan Bourne. 9:25-ish and our first match of the night. Should be a good one.
Yep...Litsch is out with an injury.
Holy crap. Bourne is impressing me. Standing moonsault on Rey. But it’s Mysterio who gets the win...and the first draft pick for Raw. (Bourne himself?)
It’s United States Champion MVP. So Intercontinental Champion Rey will be headed out later in the show.
Kane is coming in...and I’m heading out. Corner Gas is coming on and I’m heading to the living room to watch it with the folks.
And back...and I have to say that the finale of Corner Gas wasn’t too bad. (My Mom wasn’t impressed with it.) A quick plot recap: The folks in Dog River follow Brent to the big city to find out where he goes every Wednesday night. Turns out he’s doing stand-up with a routine based on live at Corner Gas. On the heels of that discovery comes news that he’s been asked to go on a national comedy tour, meaning he’d leave Dog River behind.
What I liked about this particular episode is that while it was certainly a “Series Finale” episode, rather than just a regular show that ends the series, there were a lot of elements of what made Corner Gas great, and in the end, we are left with the feeling that, even though we won’t see it, life will continue on in Dog River.
What was kinda cool is they did a “Where Are They Now?” segment. What was disappointing is that they teased that Karen and Davis fell in love and got married...it turns out it’s “not to each other”. That would have been pretty cool.
So...back to the Raw/Jays game: John Cena and Jack Swagger are battling for two draft picks, while the Jays are still trailing 6-5 in the 6th. If Tallet, still on the mound, can shut down the Twins in the 6th, Toronto might come back and scratch out a run to tie.
Cena, as expected pins Swagger cleanly but the announcers try to put over the ECW Champ to take some of the sting out of Swagger’s lose.
And Raw gets Matt Hardy and Triple H. And Raw has both titles on the show...didn’t that happen with Smackdown a while back? Edge attacks Cena. I wonder if that means Cena will head to Smackdown to continue the feud with Edge.
Okay, checking out the Net...Big Show goes to Raw (to be with his love, Vickie...aaawww!!!!) and Melina goes to Smackdown (because not only does WWE need two women’s titles, they need them both on the same show...ooookkaayyy!!!!)
Hardy coming to Raw would be good, if Cena stays. I could see a good program between Cena and Hardy...but Triple H coming to Raw...wasn’t he already there???
Ahh...Santino Marella is out. See, Santino is one of those guys who may not have the best workrate but is pretty good at bringing the funny. And as much as I like stuff like Mysterio and Bourne, I’m not afraid to admit I don’t mind a bit of comedy tossed in...and since Marella is facing the Great Khali (who did jack for me as a wrestler but isn’t bad in small doses as a comedy act as well), I’m guessing that’s what this will be as well.
And Beth Pheonix is out to announce that if Khali beats Santino, Santina’s “twin sister” is going to be a guest on Khali’s Kiss-Cam on Smackdown. Which, we find out seconds later, is exactly what’s going to happen.
And as an added bonus, Smackdown’s draft pick is... CM Punk. That should be pretty cool. Gives Punk a chance to shine on a new show.
I enjoyed Crank...but I really don’t know that I can get into a movie which opens with him surviving a fall from an airplane, even with an artificial heart. I mean, would he not have broken every single bone in his body? Yeah, I know it’s turn off your disbelief and just enjoy, right?
Miz (with John Morrison) vs. Kofi Kingston. Man, I thought both these guys were in ECW. Oh yeah, Kingston got drafted to Raw (but was on Smackdown last week)..and Miz is basically all over the place. (Hence negating the whole point of the draft and roster split.)
Hey...the Jays and Twins are tied 6-6. (Thank God, they’re not playing another team in a triple-threat match. A tie that way good be hell...literally!)
And they’re name-dropping Dwight Schrute on Raw. Unfortunately, I missed the reference. Jerry “the King” Lawler replied “Who?” So sad, King. Maybe he was just no-selling the reference.
Okay gang, with the arrival of some big-wig at GDLS-C tomorrow (and not a “Holy crap. It’s the Prime Minister! – Awesome” type, more like a “Sigh! Just some Corporate suit everyone’s supposed to suck up to”) I have to go in early to get all the regular week-beginning stuff done, set up for the Wellness Team Lunch and Learn, and be around on the off-chance it’s decided that they need me to do something. Oh well, I got out an hour early on Thursday to start the weekend, so it all evens out.
But it also means I have to be up about 5:15-5:20 am tomorrow so I’m going to go to bed now, rather than at 12:00 when Raw ends. (I might watch it in bed before I drift off to sleep.)
Meanwhile, all I’ve done for the last while is switch from Raw to the ballgame so I’m guessing my audience will be dropping off themselves.
Thanks for reading though, and I may be back with another blog sooner than later, one based on something How I Met Your Mother was talking about.
Okay, Kofi Kingston beats the Miz by DQ when Morrison interferes, leading Raw to draft...the Miz. And if that’s not enough, Miz attacks Morrison to break up their team.
And may I just say “FFFFF*********CCCCKKK!!!!!!” Take the one cool team in the WWE and break them up. So that leaves the organization with...the tag champs and...uhmm...little help here guys???? Oh wait...that Bisquits and Gravy team that hasn’t been on TV in months. Sure..that’ll set the tag team scene on fire.
On a brighter note: the Jays are winning 8-6 in the 8th, so at least I’ll end this blog on a positive note.
Ironic that in the same week, Stone Cold Wife Beater Steve Austin gets inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Billy Bob Thornton gets offended by a TV interviewer and takes his ball and goes home, cancelling the rest of his Canadian tour.
What is making headlines is Thornton likening us Canucks to "mash potatoes without gravy". Now, as many of you know, I consider myself a pretty proud Canadian, and you'd think I'd be all up in arms about this, and wanting to string the ex-Mr. Angelina Jolie up by his toenails (or other parts of his anatomy which I can't discuss here) for such a comment.
(Wait! Would that have meant their celebrity couple name was BillyBobelina? Sounds like a 50s Do-Wop Song.That's awesome! That's gonna have me laughing for the rest of the day!)
But instead, I'm not really that offended. For one thing, here's the entire quote from Billy Bob:
"Canadian audiences seem to be very reserved. We tend to play places where people throw things at each other. Here, they just sort of sit there. And it doesn't matter what you say to 'em. ... It's mashed potatoes but no gravy."
Okay, that's not the equivalent of Thornton wiping his ass with the Canadian flag, that's him saying that there's a difference between some of the rowdy crowds he's played before in the States and the audiences in Canada. Personally, I don't see where coming to a concert to listen to the music is a negative compared to making yourself the spectacle, but that's me.
The whole "Canadians are reserved and polite" routine is a myth, but one that's been used pretty regularly over the years. Even back in 1992, Dave Winfield seemed to think Blue Jay fans weren't getting into the game enough and encouraged them to "make some noise". Of course, doing it Winfield's way, the request came off as just that, rather than a condemnation. Winfield was also nice enough to hit a World Series-winning two-run double later that year.
Of course, that was back in 1992, before Major League Baseball made it clear enough to even a blind man that for all it's claims about wanting to be more international, it has no desire to have a team in Canada, all but murdering the Montreal Expos with constant threats of contraction or moving the team, and treating the Blue Jays as after-thoughts. Of course, players like Robbie Alomar, Roger Clemens and David Wells and the whining cries of "trade me to a contender. I hate it here!" haven't helped any. Surely, baseball players can't expect us Canadians (or any small market team for that matter) to cheer on a star player, without knowing that the minute the team falls out of contention, tthere's a good chance they'll be using the media to air their grieviences about being moved to a contender, or leaving for big money on one of those contenders as soon as their contract is up.
Hence why unless the Yankees or Red Sox are playing at the Sky...er, Rogers Centre, you can see lots of empty seats, even during weekend games. It's not that we're reserved, (well, maybe a little...polite is another story) it's just that, perhaps it takes more to impress us into reacting..Of course, you can go to the Air Canada Centre and see the Leafs (who haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967) play to a packed house. It's not like that makes Canadians better or worse than Americans, it's just a different culture.
(Wow! That means the Leafs haven't won the Cup since before Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival!)
But enough digressing about baseball, the above diatribe doesn't mean I'm giving Billy Bob Thornton a free pass on this whole deal either. What set him off was the interviewer asking him about his movie career. I guess Thornton's people had given specific instructions that the topic was off-limits. Well, guess what Billy Bob? You are best known as...an actor. If you start cancelling concerts every time someone asks you about your acting career, the only venues you'll end up playing is your Mom's garage.
At one point during the interview, Thornton responded to the interviewer's questions with "You wouldn't ask that of Tom Petty?" Of course not, because Tom Petty is a full-time musician. If Petty were to take on a movie role (which he did in 1987's Made In Heaven, 1997's the Postman and King of the Hill in 2008-2009), odds are that any interviewer would also ask about his next album.
And I'm sure when Keanu Reeves took time off from his movie career to perform with his band, he probably got asked about his movie career, too.
(Like "Hey, Keanu, how does it feel knowing that your little side project here totally screwed up what could have been a pretty promising Speed franchise?)
And it's not just when actors become musicians...look at the Rock, er, I mean...Dwayne Johnson. No matter how many movies he does, no matter how much he tries to distance himself from pro wrestling, he is still going to be thought of as a wrestler-turned-actor, rather than an actor who used to be a wrestler. In the Toronto Star this past weekend, they discussed the failure of John Cena's 12 Rounds at the box office (yeah...too bad the WWe didn't try and publicize that movie a little bit more) and made a crack about the possibility of a Rock/Cena Smackdown.
(Sadly, with the media's lack of knowledge of pro wrestling matters, even when discussing pro wrestling matters, they failed to note that Cena - miffed at the Rock's cutting ties with the industry - has challenged the Rock..er...Dwayne, to a match at Wrestlemania XXVI.)
But what I think it all boils down to is that, in Canada, at least, Billy Bob Thornton is going to have to eat a lot of crow...or rather mashed potatoes and gravy...for a long time to come.
...
...
BillyBobelina! Hahahah! Classic! A-womp-bomp-alula-BillyBobelina!
Well...I gone and done it. As most (if not all) of you reading this must surely know, I set up an "event" on Facebook for my 40th birthday. I invited everyone on my Facebook friends list. I know that for a lot of people, coming to Glencoe for my birthday will not be possible. (I'm guessing not a lot of people will be able to fly in from England, the U.S. or out west just for my birthday.) In a perfect world, where people could teletransport themselves across hundreds of miles in an instant, it'd be cool to see everyone, but just because people live far away, it doesn't mean I won't be thinking of them, and wishing them the best in their lives. (And who knows, maybe circumstances will be such that those with ties to the London area might find themselves back here in July!) Anyways, I have 150-plus on my Facebook list, plus there are maybe a dozen or so people who I'll be tossing out an invite to. I doubt if even 10% of them will show, but it would be nice to get-together with some people and catch-up.
Of course, one could argue, I should just update my blog more and then people could know what I was up to. And so I'll tell you about my weekend. As per usual, I got next to nothing accomplished. I did, however, get out of the house a little bit. The 427 Wing Association of London (basically like a Legion for Air Force personnel) had a bus trip to Fingal (near St. Thomas, Ontario) to tour the site of the old Bombing and Gunnery School on Saturday. Since my grandfather was an instructor there, Dad and I met up with them at Fingal and took the tour.
My folks and I stopped there one day a few years ago, but all we saw was the plaque. Turns out, once you walk into the park, there's quite a trail. None of the World War II-era buildings are there anymore, but there are some displays of what was there, and some nice scenery, which would make for a good afternoon's hiking in warmer weather. (I couldn't see a lot from the bus, mind you.)
Afterwards, there was a dinner back at the Wing's HQ. I wasn't too keen on going but my Dad wanted to. He suggested he drop me off for a movie and he'd go on to the dinner, which worked out good for me. He had a good time and while he didn't find out anything about his father, he did find out some about a cousin who died while serving in the RCAF in Ceylon. It also turns out there were six Milners killed in the RCAF during World War II. (This leads me to wonder just how many Milners served in all of the war.)
Meanwhile, I wandered around Westmount for a while, and believe it or not, it was the busiest I had seen Westmount in...well, forever. Of course, the Job Fair for the new theatre might have had something to do with it. Speaking of movies, I went to see Adventureland, which was really, really good. I had kinda wanted to see it but figured I'd just wait for video, so this opportunity was very welcomed indeed.
Brief plot synopsis: When his parents' finanical situation turns sour, this guy has to get a summer job at an amusement park- circa 1987. Once there, he meets and begins to fall for a female co-worker who, in turn, is sleeping with the local (married) handyman. From the guys who brought you Superbad, this is actually a pretty intelligent film.
On Sunday, I watched the second half of Zack and Miri Make a Porno. (I had picked it up used at Blockbuster, because I am nothing if not a Kevin Smith completist...although I never did get Jersey Girl) and the first half of Made of Honor (which I had seen in theatres back when it came out.)
What did I not watch? Are you all sitting down?
Wrestlemania! Can you believe it? Me! Missing Wrestlemania!?!?!?!? Man, did the world end? Did Hell freeze over?
Okay, here's the thing: Ordering pay-per-view is always a hassle here in Glencoe. Wrestlemania is about a $50-$60 shell-out and to be honest, it's just not doing it for me this year. That, and I can do things, like update my blog, and still read the recaps on-line, so it's not like I'm horribly out of touch with what the E is doing. (I did watch the first half of the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Special, just the part where Ricky Steamboat was inducted. Wife-beating Steve Austin does nothing for me. I'd much rather have seen the Von Erichs or Bill Watts or Howard Finkle being inducted.)
Oh..,plus I can pick up the Wrestlemania DVD in a few months and watch everything then.
One thing I will be watching tomorrow is Opening Day - Jays and Tigers. Everyone says not to expect much out of the Jays this year because they lost Burnett (and yet no one cries over the departure of Greg Zaun) and because they had such a quiet off-season..but then the Jays have gone out in years past, made high profile and these same pundits have said "This is their year" in years past only for the Jays to finish as distant also-rans. I figure I'll watch, I'll enjoy what the games have to offer, and worry about October in October. (Well, at least as far as baseball's concerned.)
Short week at work, which means we'll be extra busy, but a nice four day weekend commences on Thursday night. (How cool is Thursday shaping up to be. Start of a loooong weekend, fish day at work, and new Office.)
JM
