CSI : SJC

A few days ago, some cold-hearted thief stole the pen which was affixed to my door. SJC doors are pretty plain when you move in. Unlike undergrad residences there are no message boards on your door. When I moved in, I put one on my door as a throw-back to my younger days.

I also bought a water-soluble overhead pen from the UBC Bookstore. Using some string and tape, I hung the pen next to the board.

And there the pen hung on my door for months. Then, one day, I woke up and opened my door to find... an empty loop of string, waving in the wind... some mofo had stole my pen. Who steals an overhead projector pen?

I thought at first maybe someone in the College had stolen it for their door. I took a quick tour of the place and discovered most people don't have boards and those who do, have different pens than mine. It's a possibility someone visiting the College might have taken the pen as well.

Stealing isn't something new here at College. There's a bold food thief at work too. There are fridges in the common kitchens here where you can store your food if you don't have one in your room. Since the beginning of the year, some brazen soul has been stealing food almost weekly. It got outrageous a few weeks ago when someone baked a cake for her friend's birthday. She placed the clearly marked cake the in fridge and a few hours later, someone had taken a chunk of the cake. Fuckers.

There's been lots of discussion about how to punish the thief if and when they are found. Removal of genitalia has been mentioned.

Back to my situation, here's what my pen looks like:



If you see it, please tell me where it is!

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THE CANUCKS ARE DONE

I would like to revise my previous prediction of Blues in six and make it Blues in five.

I just don't think the Canucks have enough time and space to turn it around for this series. It's clear that they haven't figured out how to play against the Blues. They played well for the first period, but an unlucky bounce and a lapse in defensive coverage saw them go down by one by the time the third started.

In that critical third period, I again didn't see the desperation and intensity that I thought they needed. To his credit, it seemed Linden understood what was needed. He nearly tied it with a great shot from the blue line and he went to the net hard a few times. Unfortunately, his play didn't seem to rub off on any of his teammates.

When the Canucks desperately needed a goal, they found a way to surrender two. Afterwards, they said all the right things about coming back and playing better, but their words seemed hollow. The series may be technically 3-1, but the Canucks have already mentally lost the series.

It will not be an easy off-season for the Canucks this summer. It will seem long and there will be many questions to be asked. It was believed that the series against the Red Wings taught the Canucks what a team needed to be playoff performers. Evidently, there were no lessons learned.

Many will say that the first game was when the Canucks basically lost the series. I have a different view however. In my mind, the Canucks lost the first round of playoffs when they failed to win in Phoenix with just a handful of games remaining in the regular season. In that game, the Canucks were in full control with a 3-1 lead against the Coyotes. Maddingly, the Canucks played uninspiring hockey for the rest of the game and let the Coyotes tie it up. If that wasn't bad enough, in overtime, Bertuzzi had a clear breakaway in which he shot the puck wide.

Had the Canucks won that game, either in regulation or in overtime, they would have won their division and would have faced the Wild instead. No disrespect to the Wild, but the Canucks would be in much better shape against Minnesota.

Instead, the loss of focus in Phoenix signalled a beginning to a downward spiral which will mercifully end in Vancouver on Friday night. How will the fans react? Will they boo or will they cheer? What changes will be made over the summer? Who will be the scapegoat for the terrible end to the season?

It will be a long and unrestful summer for the Canucks and their long-suffering fans.

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STUNNING!!!

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READS LIKE MINE

Reading this was really funny until I realized how similar it was to my blog.

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MOTIVATION... ZERO

I'm having a difficult time getting motivated for my two remaining exams. I wrote my first one on Monday and since then I've been acting like I'm done. Understandably, I took Monday off. Today, I was just plain lazy.

As I left my exam, I was thinking, wow, my next exam is next Wednesday. If I started studying now, I'd have plenty of time to kick some serious ass. So of course, today I didn't even crack open a book. I cleaned my room, did laundry, played video games, and went to the Village.

I better get started tomorrow, or else I'll be a bit behind schedule.

Hey, this is totally off-topic, but what the hell is up with Syria right now? They're not even a bonafide member of the Axis of Evil®. If the US attacks Syria, then Iran can't be far behind. They should print up some t-shirts for the soldiers of all the places where they helped topple regimes. I wonder how many places will be on that t-shirt.

Ok, time to work on some job applications!

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THEY'RE FINDING A WAY

Go Ducks Go!

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THREE GAMES IN

As some of you might know, the Canucks tonight dropped the third game of their opening round series against the Blues by a score of 3-1.

After my dire prediction, I waited until a few games in to make another comment on it. Sadly, I don't feel inclined to change my prediction. While they won game two, I feel that game was an abberation in the flow of the series. The play of the Canucks is more in tune with seems to be the norm for the series.

If you watched the third period of tonight's game, the Canucks didn't play with the desperation that I thought they needed. Granted, the crappy officiating broke up the momentum of both teams, but the Canucks failed to mount anything resembling an attack. During the critical third period, the Canucks failed to get any quality chances on net. Shots were being deflected by the Blues at will it appeared. Nothing was getting through to Osgood. The only quality chance I saw was when one of the Sedins fed Linden in the slot. Agonizingly, Linden whistled it high and wide. Apart from that, the 'Nucks were no where near tying it up. In the playoffs, the teams that advance find a way to do what they need to do. They adjust, they fight through adversity, and they get to a higher level of performance.

If you're a Canucks supporter, it must alarm you to see that once again, the big line of Naslund, Bertuzzi, and Morrison was effectively shut down for the entire night. The line has combined for two points over three games. I know Naslund is being focussed on by Blues defenders and I know he's receiving special attention, but superstars find a way to get past that. As captain, Naslund has the extra responsibility of leading by example. The team looks to him for confidence and leadership.

The best captains in the league accomplish this. Yzerman last year rallied his entire team against the Canucks on virtually one leg. When you think about the Avalanche in the playoffs, you think about Sakic (ok, maybe Forsberg too). When Linden was captain during the '94 run, there were some nights where he pulled the whole team with him. Remember the apprehensive game seven of the finals? Linden scored both goals and gave it all he had.

Now, I'm not saying Naslund shouldn't be captain or he's the only reason why the Canucks are losing. The whole team could be playing better. We have, however, reached an important milestone in Naslund's career though. How will he adapt and react to this adversity? Will he find a way to be the goal-scorer he was in the regular season? Or will he be unable to fight off the tight-checking and remain a non-factor in the series?

That whole line had problems last year with the Wings and it appears those problems continue this post-season with the Blues.

I feel bad for writing this, but my prediction seems more likely than ever now. A part of me even wants to revise the prediction and say Blues in five.

It goes without saying that game four is a must-win for the Canucks. As far as I'm concerned, with the Canucks in mental state they are in now, they do not have the resiliency to come back from three games down.

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ONE DOWN, MORE TO GO

You know, I've been wanting to post since Saturday night, but couldn't until now. On Saturday, Blogger suffered a serious network problem which didn't get resolved until Sunday. On Sunday, I had to study for my final today. Today, I wanted to post hours earlier but my web server was down.

So now that I'm here, I really have nothing to write. Well, I do except I'm so damn tired I just want to do nothing. I'll be back later with more.

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