Eeuauaughhhuauaahh

A friend sent this link to me. It's stupid funny. The longer you watch and listen to it, the funnier it seems.

Inside the head of a fairweather fan

I think I finally figured out what makes a fairweather fan tick.

They are what they are because:

1. They can't stand being wrong.
2. They can't stand people taking jabs at them for supporting their team, despite their losses.
   

So, what do they do?

They abandon the team before it's over so they can take comfort in saying "Yeh, I knew that was gonna happen."

That's their gratification.

Good god people... grow a spine!

Who the cares if you were wrong? Who cares if you supported your team and they lost?

Take some pride in sticking with the team every year, despite the outcomes, because when our time finally comes -- and it will -- it's going to be fuckin' amazing. A hell of a lot better than what you get from cowering every year to a little ribbing from rival fans and naysayers.

On a different note... Lindy Ruff tried to motivate his Buffalo Sabres last year:

"Approximately every 33 years something great happens in this league, and we're at about that 33-year range where something great is bound to happen. So we've told (Buffalo players) we're on the verge of greatness."

He's referring to the Leafs in 1942 and the Islanders in 1975. Unfortunately for Lindy and the Sabres, last year was year 32. This is year 33.

The last time a team came back from 3-0 to win a series was in 1975 when the Pittsburgh Penguins were up 3-0 over the Islanders. Only to lose the series 4-3.

Is it a long shot for the Sens? Sure is. I'll bet the Islanders were thinking the same thing back in 1975.

All it takes is a little hope and a little faith.

(Yeh... this is a double post... I mixed up the "bandwagon" and "fairweather" terms -- too much beering. So I killed the old, and posted the new.)

Haute Cuisine

Dinner in the Sky is hosted at a table suspended at a height of 50 metres, by a team of professionals.

You have to check it out. Gives new meaning to "Haute Cuisine".

Medical mumbo jumbo

I got the results from the MRI I had done on my shoulder a few weeks ago.

Here's a summary of my MRI, quoted from a copy my doctor he gave me. I cut out all the stuff that ISN'T wrong.

There is a small bursal sided partial thickness tear involving the midsubstance of the conjoint tendon. The tear measures about 12mm in short axis and 10mm in long axis. Rest of the supraspinatus tendon shows evidence of mild tendinosis.

The biceps tendon shows circumferential fluid around in its extra-articular aspect and appearances suggest tenosynovitis. No tendon tear is identified.

IMPRESSION:

1. A small bursal-sided partial thickness supraspinatus tear with associated supraspinatus tendinosis.
2. Tenosynovitis of the biceps tendon.

I had to Google some of the terms.

"Bursal-sided" refers to the bursa: "A small serous sac between a tendon and a bone".

I also found some info from the Mayo Clinic web site (really good web site, by the way). After further searching, I found more detailed information on Wikipedia about the Supraspinatus Muscle.

The bottom line is that I am now waiting to get an appointment to see a orthopaedic surgeon so he can decide if I need surgery. :-\

The lights are on, and nobody is home

For the Earth Hour complainers, this clearly was the case.

The whole point of Earth Hour seems to have gone way over some people's heads. I think there would have been less whining and complaining if they had been asked to cut off their left arm.

It's awareness, for crying out loud. Nobody is saying that the world is going to change overnight simply because you turned off your lights and non-essential appliances for one hour.

If you don't want to do it, THEN DON'T. But don't say "it's stupid" or say that you're going to turn on all your damned lights in protest of the idea.

Yes, that's what one poster in a forum I regularly read said he was going to do. I guess we won't know if he actually did it. I suspect he didn't.

What's the big fuckin' deal? ONE HOUR of your precious time to sit in darkness is all that was asked of you, so that maybe the next time you reach to turn on a light you'll stop and think, "Do I really need this light on?" Chances are, you don't. And over the long term, you save yourself a few bucks and help the environment.

Is that so wrong?

Good grief.

CNEWS - World: Parents picks prayer over treatment; girl dies

CANOE -- CNEWS - World: Parents picks prayer over treatment; girl dies: "WESTON, Wis. (AP) — Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl’s death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor."

God can't cure diabetes

This is sad, and it pisses me right off. You have to be crazy to let your daughter die of a something that can be treated by medicine.

They're a pair of nuckin' futz and should be locked up.

Rockin' out!

I'm a Rock Band addict. So is my wife. My kids play as well, but not nearly as much as my wife and I.

My wife gave me an XBox 360 for Christmas. The following week, I bought Guitar Hero II. This was the seed that got my wife addicted. A week or two later, we got Guitar Hero III, with a second guitar. A month or so later, we picked up Rock Band. Just the game, since we already had the two guitars.

Being the typical guy who doesn't read manuals unless he has to, I wasn't aware that the Xbox headset could function as a microphone for Rock Band. After someone told me, THEN I read the manual. My daughter loved it. I ordered a Logitech USB microphone from Dell's web site and it was at my door within 2 days.

We knew that at some point we'd get the drums. That point arrived about a month ago after we had to send one of the guitars back to Red Octane for warranty servicing.

It didn't take long to realize that the drums are loud. The hard rubber/plastic surface makes a very distracting "thwack" when you play, unless you tap really lightly. Light tapping works great, but it definitely lacks that "rock out" feeling.

Something had to be done.

I came across these, as I was searching for a source of the stand-alone drumkit. (turns out that it simply wasn't available at the time)

Gum Rubber Pads

I watched all the videos and read a few reviews, and all seemed positive. I had come across other "solutions", but this one seemed to stick with me. So, I ordered a set for $35 Cdn (S&H included).

Unfortunately, do to the apparent high demand, all orders would be delayed by 2 weeks. No big deal.

I actually ended up waiting 3 weeks. Two week wait... 1 week travel time? Regardless, it was well worth the wait.

The first thing I noticed was that they were thicker than I expected. I'm bad with measurements though. They are 1/8" thick, as the web site states they should be. I think my brain thinks of 1/8" as being thinner.

Anyway, the second thing I noticed was... the smell. Rubber stinks, and these were no exception. Or maybe it's he adhesive...

The third thing I noticed is that these were high quality. They felt durable. They felt like they could really take a beating, and survive.

The adhesive backing covers the ENTIRE back of the pad too. Apparently these can be removed easily if there's a need to ship the kit back to Harmonix? I wouldn't like to try that.

Installation was simple:

1. Make sure the drum heads are clean.
2. Carefully peel the paper off adhesive backing of the pad.
3. Center on the drum head and...
4. Press down firmly.
   

When I say carefully peel the paper, I mean carefully. It's quite easy to accidentally peel the paper AND the adhesive off the rubber pad, if you can't get a finger nail between the paper and the adhesive. Take your time finding that edge to grab.

We happen to have a small wooden roller in our kitchen that I used to roll a few times across the rubber pad to make sure it was glued down properly.

Now repeat the four steps 3 more times. The instructions included also say to let them sit for 15 minutes to dry. I couldn't wait after the first one was glued on and test it out for one song. I didn't want to go through putting all four on, only to discover that I didn't like it.

I'm pleased to report that they work great! The drums are a little less sensitive, but that's more than made up for with the freedom to "rock out" harder.