I almost bought Metal Gear Solid 4 today. That's an interesting statement considering I don't own a PS3 and MGS4 is a PS3 exclusive. Also consider I own a Xbox 360 and the thought of buying GTA IV never even crossed my mind.
If I did buy a copy I'd have to play it at work. I've got a PS3 dev kit at my desk and it plays retail games! That sounds logical but the 360 dev kits don't play store bought games.
For breakfast this morning, I had scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.
It's expected that tomorrow morning at 11am, Vancouver Canuck legend Trevor Linden will announce his retirement from professional hockey. The press conference at GM Place will mark the end of an incredible two decade long career.
It's hard to describe what Linden's tenure with the Canucks has meant to city of Vancouver, from both a hockey and community service point of view. Let's start with the hockey stuff. Linden was draft second overall exactly twenty years ago tomorrow. He was the Canucks first-round pick in 1988. Vancouver had a horrible history of first-round picks, with most of their chosen players winding up to be disappointments. Linden broke that string of bad luck, posting great numbers in his first season. He wound up second in voting for the rookie of the year award at just eighteen years old.
His impact and growth as a player led the team back to a sense of respectability around the league. At 21, he became the youngest Canuck captain in history and back then was the youngest NHL captain ever (Sidney Crosby has since taken that title). As his successes as a player grew over the years, it was ultimately the 1994 season that will forever define Linden's hockey history in Vancouver. GM/coach Pat Quinn had assembled a story book team that made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals. Though there were many, many Canuck heroes in the spring of 1994, it was Linden's performance in game seven of the finals that I will always remember. He scored the only two goals that the Canucks got in that game. You could almost see him try to win the game based on sheer will. Alas, the Canucks fell a single goal short. When time ran out, there was a camera shot of Linden on one knee on the ice, next the boards. His gloves were off and his hands were to his face. He looked tired. He had given it everything he had.
I think from then on, Linden's place in Canucks' history was pretty much assured. It's now weird to think Linden actually spent three years away from Vancouver. Which I must say, if I ever meet Mike Keenan in person, I'll certainly let him know I'm a Trevor Linden fan (and that's putting it politely). Once back as a Canuck and in his twilight years, Linden's role changed. He was relied on less for scoring and more for leadership. It was an honour to attend his last game.
Though his hockey credentials are indeed impressive, it's Linden's community service that has endeared him to an entire city. Though Linden participates in many charitable functions, his dedication to children's charities for two decades resonates deeply with the city. He is a frequent visitor to BC's Children's hospital and Canuck Place, a hospice for children. Though we've all seen athletes pose with sick kids, Linden's dedication to cause goes beyond the photo op. I cannot think of another athlete that has the class and dignity to actually attend the funerals of some of the kids that didn't make it. That Linden had that much impact on the families involved speaks volumes about his character. Among the many accolades he has received for his service to the community, Linden was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2003.
It's expected that Linden's number 16 jersey will be retired next season and raised to the rafters of GM Place. When that happens, I'll steal a line from Jim Hughson and say we'll honour "a great hockey player but an even better person."
I didn't shave my face on the weekend. I guess I didn't shave my nether regions either but that's for another post. Anyways, when I woke up this morning I was kinda late so I decided to gain some time back but forgoing the shaving.
My ploy worked as I was not late for work. The interesting thing is when I got back home this evening, I realized I had the beginnings of a really poor looking beard. This was of course not a surprise to me. For about two decades, I've known I'll never be able to grow a nice beard. My facial hair grows in a series of patches. The longer it gets, the more crappy it looks. It's a good thing that I'm not an NHL player because my playoff beard would be dreadful.
Ok, I gotta end it here, I need to watch the end of Cloverfield.
For a pretty small operation, I'm always surprised when this web site turns up as a top five Google search result for anything. For a few years now, this site is top five result for the search term "yub nub". For a Star Wars related phrase, I'm quite happy about that.
Just in the last week or so, this site has been turning up as top five result for another search. If you Google "mucous seal", I'm right near the top of the list. Each day, I get about two or more people visiting this site because they were looking for "mucous seal" information. All this results from this post which three years ago, chronicled the removal of a small, benign cyst from the bottom of my mouth.
Given the number of hits I get, this seems like a common thing for people to have. It's a shame that the original comments for that post were lost. In those comments, Gwilli linked to a hilarious hand drawn picture of what he though a mucous seal was... a seal covered in gross mucous.
