June 9th, 2009, 4 Comments »
There’s a back lane behind our house. It’s an unusual feature on the west coast, and presumably it’s a reflection of the neighbourhood being at least a hundred years old. As children have done for at least that long, there’s a couple of kids who haul nets, sticks and a tennis ball into the lane to play hockey. They’ve even chalked out a little ice rink, with faceoff circles and a centre ice line.
As you probably know, the NHL playoffs are winding down. In fact, if Detroit beats the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night, they’ll hold aloft their fifth Stanley Cup in 12 years–a remarkable feat.
I was walking down the lane the other day, and noticed a new addition to the chalk-and-cement rink. Somebody drew an oversized, stick-wielding bird with legs akimbo at centre ice:
The lane is sloped, so you pay a price when you miss the more southerly net. I instantly recognized this as a kid’s decent interpretation of the Penguins’ logo, which appears at centre ice in Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena:
Here’s another view, for some perspective. Clearly the kids are pretending to be Crosby and Malkin, not Zetterberg and Datsyuk.
I was a pretty solitary kid growing up. I preferred to tape out a goal on one wall of our two-car carport, and shoot tennis balls at it from the far side. If a ball took a particularly bad bounce, it ended up on the steep, wooded slope between our house and the neighbours. I had to psych myself up to retrieve those wayward balls. The neighbours had a surly Doberman named Sasha, and she didn’t care for children.
Mellon arena photo by EnsErmac.
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October 28th, 2008, No Comments »
I feel like I’m recommending a This American Life episode every other week, but it’s a reflection of how much I enjoy the show. Last week’s episode was called “The Ground War”, and tells several stories from the electoral battles being fought in Pennsylvania:
This American Life goes to Pennsylvania, a battleground within a battleground, to figure out why, and how, John McCain and Barack Obama both think they can win there. And we get to know the ordinary people who’ve become the candidates’ most forceful foot soldiers.
Pennsylvania, I take it, is one of the few states that John Kerry won in the last election that McCain could take this time around. It’s a classic battleground state, described by one Democratic consultant as “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between”. It does feel like a metaphor for the entire election, with passionate people on both sides debating the issues and the personalities of the candidates. Simultaneously, we hear from racists and sundry imbeciles from around the state.
One segment profiles volunteers canvassing door-to-door. I’ve never done it, and I’ve always admired people who have the gumption (yes, I said ‘gumption’) to talk to complete strangers about their voting choices.
UPDATE: I meant to mention the swinging cover of Billy Joel’s “Allentown” near the end of the episode. It’s by a German band called Berlin Voices, and feels like an improvement on the original (you can hear a snippet here). They released a whole album of Joel covers. You might want to pass on “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (which you can hear on their MySpace page).
UPDATE #2: Today I read a Slate article about voter registration form. This seems desperately needed in the US. How undemocratic is a process where, in some states, you must register a month before the actual election?
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June 3rd, 2008, 1 Comment »
Jeffrey recently created this nifty chart, based on Wikipedia data, showing the nationalities of drafted NHL players over the past 40 years or so:
It’s interesting to note the increase in American-born players around 1999. I wonder what happened during that period? Also, I was struck by the declining number of players from Russia. Their development system has gone downhill since the end of the Cold War. Additionally, I gather that Russian players can live pretty high on the hog if they stay home.
Speaking of hockey, how about last night’s game? I’m cheering for the Penguins. There is, of course, a sense of inevitability about the Red Wings’ victory, but it’s nice to see the series go longer. Detroit is such a dominating team–I’m impressed that Pittsburgh has managed to eke out two victories.
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