Adventures in Pittsburgh

A few years ago, I thought, what's the point of being young and single f you don't randomly decide to get up and travel somewhere just for the hell of it. Montreal was my first trip with that in mind. Last year, I went to Texas. I mean, why not go to Texas to watch hockey? This year, the destination was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A friend of mine had recently relocated to the Steel City, and with someone I know there, what better time to visit a new place... not to mention, catch a hockey game.

To save big long paragraphs, here are my usual bullet-point highlights of my latest adventure:

• Got stuck on the highway for 6 hours in an unexpectedly heavy snowstorm.(It took as long to drive the 15 miles from the airport to my friend's house as it did to fly from California)
• Brushed snow off of a car in the middle of a highway.
• Shoveled snow from a driveway for the first time ever.
• Built a lot of snow people.
• Made snow angels

• Rode the "T"
• Went up the Duquene Incline to see the views of the city.
• Walked across the Fort Pitt Bridge
• Learned all about the city's (very) early history at the Fort Pitt Museum

• Happened upon the San Jose Sharks' hotel, made obvious by the autograph hunters parked outside. We felt like creepers so we didn't stop.
• Saw Jamal Mayers in a Starbucks (I wished him luck in the game, and he said thanks. Then he paused a second, and said "do you really mean that." I had to explain that, yes, I'm a Sharks fan from the Bay Area.)
• Ate at Primanti Brothers.
• Drank a lot of Yuengling.
• Saw James Neal and Matt Niskanen play their first games as Penguins. (They were traded while we were laid over in Chicago; they're flight came after ors and was diverted by the storm that stranded us on the road)
• Watched the Sharks win in overtime over the Penguins at the Console Energy Center. It is an amazing arena. The Igloo looks cool from outside, but I think the CEC is a vast improvement inside.

• Met Mario, Suzi, and Adrienne, some awesome Twitter peeps!
• Saw the many amazing dinosaur skeletons at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
• Viewed some very interesting art and sculpture at the neighboring Museum of Art.

I'm really disappointed that both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were still out with their injuries. I would have loved to see them play live in their home arena (something I've yet to see anywhere). But I left a lot of things undone, so there will be a "next time" for me and Pittsburgh.

Note: There are not enough words to thank Corey and her family for EVERYTHING they did for us during our stay. Look up "amazing people" in the dictionary and you will see them. Just amazing. So thank you thank you thank you!!

Things I never thought I'd see:

A season with no Mathieu. Oh, and Brad Richards leading the league in... wait for it... plus/minus.  For serious. I kid you not. Here is proof:

Off-topic: Brads abound

Not much news to report on, so here is an off-topic post for the day. I wish I could do this with a Mathieu theme, but, alas, his name is too unique. Other than the beatboxing flutist, not many other Mathieu Schneiders are making news.  But Brad Richards? Yeah, he has a lot of people with his name out there and they pop up in some of the oddest ways in my Google News alerts.  Often times giggles come in the form of major news outlets confusing Brad and Mike Richards. But some are as far from hockey related as you can get.

Here are some examples of noteworthy Brad Richards' that have popped up in my RSS feeds in the last few months:

• Brad Richards just came in 15th at the FWD 4-Cylinder feature event at Midway Speedway in Crooksville, Ohio.

• Brad Richards is on the faculty of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Puget Sound.

• Brad Richards designed the exterior of 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty truck.

• Brad Richards is an avid sportsfisher in Alaska.

• Brad and Mike Richards placed 8th in the Pierre Tournament Trail fishing competition.

• Brad Richards wrote a guest post about ways a manager can help create a happy retail work environment.

And the winner... for some odd reason a "plastic surgery, face lift, breast augmentation" blog popped up in my reader today. The preview said there was a post about a "Brad Richards" but I didn't see anything on the site about him (whoever he is). Not sure B-Rad is or should be in the market for any facial upgrades. He's looking pretty good. (Meow!) But I do now have great mental images of B-Rad getting new boobs.


ADDED NOTE: Being a responsible professional, I was thumbing through my copy of American Libraries today and learned that the new treasurer of the American Library Association is James Neal. I'm sure this James Neal is cool and all, but damn, how awesome would it be to have James "Real Deal" Neal handling the finances of the ALA? Oh, wait, it'd be funny, but doubtful that it'd be a solid fiscal choice. He'd probably blow all our dues on chicken wings and Dr Pepper.

Wooooooooooo!

Woooooooooooooo! That is all.

4/10 and the big 4/0

Enrico Ciccone keeps popping up in my Google Reader news feeds. Apparently, Zenon Konopka surpassed his 14 year old record as Tampa Bay's leader in penalty minutes in one season (was 258). Kind of dubious (on both sides), but hey, any Cicco news is good news.

If anyone else has an Enrico Ciccone news feed, hopefully this will pop up in his/her today's instead of that one.

Joyeux Anniversaire Monsieur Ciccone!!

Since setting that mark all those years ago, he's gone on to bigger and better things, as I outlined in a post on his birthday last year, like commentating and player agenting. (that's not a real word, but oh well)

Of course, he holds a very special place in my heart. Not just as my second favorite player of all time (sorry B-Rad, you're still technically my second favorite ACTIVE player). Not just at the second jersey I ever bought. But, as of last June, as the greatest lunch date ever!

It still makes me smile until my face hurts

So yeah, he pretty much earned 1,000,000,000 good karma points.




P.S. His birthday is always easy to remember. It is exactly 7 days before mine. April babies ROCK! May babies aren't bad. June babies? They're pretty cool, too.

A Time for Change

It has come to this. I've been a Mathieu fan for a long time. A very long time. I first became a fan when he was a young newbie in the league. I was in high school. Now, he's a 22 year veteran. And I'm not exactly in high school anymore.

It's been a good run with Mathieu, but as his career has faded over the last year, my enthusiasm for continuing the site has waned. Mathieu will be leaving the game soon, and I've prepared myself for that day. It just seems to be happening a bit sooner than I had thought. I still want to continue some kind involvement in hockey blogging so this site won't disappear totally.

So today I present to you the big change here at the schtimpy27 domain. The Unofficial Mathieu Schneider has given way to the Unofficial Brad Richards Homepage.

Mathieu won't be abandon. Just as I've had some B-Rad updates the past couple of years, I'll post Mathieu updates as they come around.

It's bitter sweet, but it's time. It became clear to me when I again missed out seeing Mathieu in person when I stayed the extra day in Dallas to catch the Coyotes game only for him to be scratched. I knew then that the run is over and it's time to move on.

I'll forever be thankful for the years of entertainment Mathieu Schneider has provided, and can not express how much I've enjoyed keeping this site going for these past 12 years. I'm looking forward to as many years of of dedication to B-Rad.

Weekend in Dallas, Texas

Greetings from aboard a Southwest Airlines flight somewhere over Texas. I actually love flying, which is weird considering how nervous it makes me. Like just now, it got bumpy. No one flinched. I started praying. I'm sitting in a row next to two pilots flying to catch the plane they are piloting later, which is kind of nice. If something happens to the pilots, at least I know there are back-ups. Plus, if they start panicking, I know I'll need to pray harder. (ugh... screaming baby behind me)

Anyway, I'm on my way back from a weekend of hockey in Texas. Why did I go to Texas for hockey? 'Cause I'm a dork. I always wanted to see Mathieu play on his home ice, and when he came to LA I couldn't not go down for a game. Seeing my guy play when I could unabashedly cheer for him was a great feeling. Ever since, I wanted to do the same for my other guy. But B-Rad being in Florida was a bit of haul, and even I couldn't justify that. When he was traded west to Dallas, I started to consider it more.

Since then, I've meet some great people via Twitter. After the amazing time I had in Montreal, an opportunity made partly possible by Twitter, I felt I had another reason to go to the Lone Star State. I've never been to Texas, and what better excuse than to see my guy play live at home and have some locals to meet up with to show me the real Texas. It was (almost) all I hoped for and more (the "almost" is explained later). Probably most notably, my weekend consisted of two games at the breathtaking American Airlines Center. (You know, I love my quirky Shark Tank, but damn, the AAC is phenomenal).

• Saturday, March 20- Stars vs Ottawa: Afternoon games are rough, and the Stars got off to a sluggish start. Mathieu's former mate Kari Lehtonen let in a goal on the first shot. But Dallas pulled it together and showed some guts, playing a tough game. B-Rad had 2 goals in the game. I screamed loud. Jason Spezza scored a hat trick for Ottawa, and he got one hat thrown out for him. In the end, the Stars won 5-3. B-Rad was the first star. I was glowing.
  
  Other than the game itself, there was other awesomeness. Jen... dude, I totally can't even put into words the mad hook-up she got for this game. Oy! Platinum level seats. Such privilege gave us opportunity for some nice side attractions. Like seeing Fabian Brunnstrom walking around on the concourse. (He may be having trouble adjusting to North American hockey, but DAY-UM, homeboy is beautiful!). Or walking by the booth and seeing Dallas broadcasters Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh ("Razor") broadcasting live. Or chatting with Razor in the concourse during the 1st intermission and having him give me crap about wearing a Tampa Bay jersey. (Dude! It's my traditional I-wear-this-to-B-Rad-games-in-San-Jose-so-I-don't-get-beat-up-for-wearing-a-Dallas-jersey jersey). I told him I'd see him in San Jose on Thursday. He'll probably think I'm a stalker. =P I officially fell in love with the Platinum level, and if they had such in San Jose, I'd be broke
  

• Sunday, March 21- Stars vs. Phoenix: This is where I get to the disappointing part of the trip. I stayed an extra day in Dallas to see this game. After the trade deadline, I looked at the schedule and saw that Mathieu's new team would be in Dallas the day I was planning to come home. The prospect of seeing my two guys play each other live and in person was just too good to pass up. Dave Tippett killed my dream, scratching Mathieu from the game. I caught a glimpse of Mathieu up in one of the boxes during the shoot out, and it just made me sadder. What an awesome thing that would have been. =( As for the game, that was disappointment, too. Dallas lacked the spark they had the night before, losing to Phoenix in the shoot-out (which also propelled the Coyotes past my Sharks into top seed in the Pacific division). B-Rad actually had a great game. He was good all night, picking up an assist on a Loui Eriksson goal, and netting a goal in the shoot-out. (ugh, this was hard enough to write, and now screaming kid is screaming again)

When I wasn't at a game, I was mostly just eating.

• Tex-Mex. We have a lot of Mexican food in California, too, but Tex-Mex is different. Our's tends to be lighter, with more veggies and fish, this seemed to have lots of cheese and a lot more sauce.

• BBQ: beef brisket, coleslaw, fried okra, and some sweet tea. And a Shiner beer.

• Chicken fried steak: Not only the fabulous thin beef battered and fried like chicken, but all the fixin's, too. Mashed potatoes and white gravy, cream corn, biscuits. Finished off with a Dr. Pepper and coconut cream pie.
  

Special thanks to Myra and Patty for taking me out to Tex-Mex, and Jen for introducing me to Babe's for chicken fried steak. I might never be the same. After the Ottawa game, several of us Twitter people met up for BBQ (Patty, Myra and family, Teri, Jen, and Brandon and his brother, and Brad G, who isn't on Twitter, but runs things now over at Defending Big D since Brandon went big time). (seriously, I'm going to slap that kid myself. And then the parents for just letting him scream).


Two final things of note for this trip.

• It snowed. Seriously. I went to Texas, and it snowed. A lot. The day I arrived, it was 70 and ended the evening with thunderstorms. Saturday it snowed. Sunday, it was freezing and WINDY! Monday, I leave and it's bright and sunny and headed back to the 70s.

• I didn't do too much tourist stuff, but I did walk over from my hotel (the Hyatt at Reunion, you know, the big tower with the ball on top? Yeah, I was next to that), and walked over to Dealey Plaza. It was sad to see the "X" on the road, marking the spot where President Kennedy was shot. I went up to the 6th Floor Museum that has preserved the spot where the assassin fired the bullets. It all happened before I was born, but it is still an incredibly sad moment in our country's history. I hope I never have to experience the loss of a leader like that in my lifetime.
  

All in all, what a great time I had! I could get into this NHL roadtrip thing. My friend and I are already thinking Pittsburgh next year. But Dallas made an impression. I might want to head back here.

Off-Topic: Whoa!

WHOA!
Yes, that is B-Rad nestled between Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. (That +/- needs some work though; it's been a problem his whole career. That's the only reason I can see that he was passed over by Team Canada.)

Whoa!

Reflecting on 2009

'Tis the season for year on review stuff. I've never been big on that, but I'm home tonight and have nothing else going, so hey... why not?

The year 2009 in my hockey life pretty much mirrored my real life. Ups and downs all year.

For Mathieu, that was pretty exaggerated. He had terrible lows to begin the season with Atlanta, then an incredible resurgence after the trade to Montreal. He was injured and needed surgery, then he signed with a new team for one more year. And now... well, yeah, right now is a supreme, and yet to be resolved, low.

For Brad, my other guy, the year started with lows, as he broke his wrist and then broke his other hand in his first game back from the first injury. These were pretty much the first injuries he had in his career. He spent the summer recouping and training in Florida, and came back in the new season on fire. Remaining in the top 10 in overall league scoring for the whole season. But despite the performance, he was just passed over for the Canadian Olympic team. {added: he picked up another 3 points tonight; take that Team Canada}

In my life, it was the year I think I really realized my sister is gone. She was in a serious accident in 2003 when a drunk driver ran into her. She suffered massive head trauma and barely survived. The doctors warned us that the part of her brain that she injured was the personality part, and that if she recovered enough to be cognitive, she'd be a different person. She did recover enough to be a cognitive and functional, if still very challenged, person, but she's not the same person. Maybe 2010 will be the year I come to terms with that, but 2009 was the year I finally realized that the Jennifer I knew is gone forever. I hope I can learn to like this new person, but it is not easy.

The beginning of the year also saw a radical change in my middle nephew. He and his brothers have lived with my parents since the accident rendered my sister unable to care for them. The middle boy has always been a challenge pretty much since he was a toddler. Terrible tragedies happening at young ages (his father's death in 2002, his mother's accident a year later) didn't help matters. Things fell apart in 2009. At only 13 years old, he was ditching school every day, shoplifting, stealing from my parents, running away. The police were at the house, I think, 7 times. In June, he was remanded to temporary state custody. He was at juvenile hall for several weeks, and is now at a residential school community for troubled kids. We all hope that this finally provides the help that he needs.

Despite those emotional drains, I had some of the highest highs. I conquered my first black diamond ski slope. And survived. I presented research at a national conference in Seattle. I went on an Alaskan cruise. I visited Washington, D.C for the first time. I saw U2 in concert in Las Vegas. I watched my eldest nephew graduate from high school. I welcomed a new little critter into my world with the birth of my friends' first child. I enjoyed the spunky Pittsburgh Penguins slay Goliath and take home the Stanley Cup. And I went to Montreal for the NHL draft... and had the best weekend of my life. I had lunch with one of my hockey idols, scored a goal in a ball hockey game (the first time I ever really used a hockey stick), and met some of the coolest people ever! I made some absolutely great new friends.

So, this year was ok. It wasn't the greatest, it wasn't the worst. It will be remembered, but I look forward to whatever 2010 has to offer.

Off-topic: best December 7th EVER

We interrupt our slacking with this important announcement...

There is a time in everyone's life when a moment so, um, momentous occurs that the news is broadcast to everyone. You send out announcements with happy pictures. You have your college update the alumni magazine with the news. Everyone on Facebook gets annoyed with you for posting a million updates...

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to make such an announcement. Are you ready?


IT SNOWED IN THE BAY AREA!


And I don't mean the usually dusting on the peaks we get every January. I mean, real, significant snowage at near sea-level. And 36 hours later, the hills surrounding the SMC campus still have snow on them! The clouds have moved on, and while it is hovering around 38 degrees here (at almost noon), I think the snow fall is over. And we'll probably have to wait another 30+ years for it to happen again. But we'll have the pictures, videos, and memories. =)



Check out the video one of our students shot (and edited and posted to YouTube within about 12 hours! Mad skills he has):

Geocities is going... going... gone...

This doesn't have much to do with Mathieu, but it is a kind of an interesting moment in the history of the Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage, so I thought I'd mention it:

Geocities is gone.

Back in the day (i.e., the 90's), Geocities was an awesome service. It was basically a free web host. All you needed was some basic HTML skills and you could have a web page. That is how the Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage came to be.

Over the years new technologies came and traditional static "web pages" gave way to other ways of publishing and sharing information online. The Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage stuck around in that static environment for a long time, mainly because I was too busy to change anything.

Last year, I got tired of paying $5 a month (what I had paid since Yahoo! bought Geocities) and decided to finally get with the times and move the content over to a blog. It was not only free, but the format works much better for what this site has become. I've been very happy with the move. Hopefully it works for the readers of the site. (I know, I go off on a lot more random tangents now; I'm not sure if that has to do with the format or the fact that I'm finally done with school and have more time-- too much time?-- on my hands)

Anyway, looks like I made the right move at the right time. Earlier this year I got a notification that Geocities was no longer going to be supported. At first, it was just that no more editing access was going to be available, but it broaden and all pages would be shutdown. Gone. Poof.

So, on October 26, http://www.geocities.com/schtimpy27 disappeared forever. The longtime home of this page, and a place that was responsible for the opportunity to make some of the greatest friends and have some of the greatest experiences of my life, no longer exists.


But while it chokes me up, it is just a place. Not even a real place, at that! All the content has been moved over here, and the increased interaction made possible by the new format has made even more connections possible.

Good bye www.geocities.com/schtimpy27 (also known as www.geocities.com/Colosseum/6813)
It's been fun, it's been real.

Off-topic: B-Rad is Awesome

We interrupt our normally scheduled Mathieu devotion for some unbridled B-Rad love.

By now, you know my Brad Richards story. B-Rad moved into second favorite player and "backup guy" status in about 2000, when Enrico Ciccone retired and Mathieu struggled to regain his awesomeness. I was an "undercover" B-Rad fan until I started posting a few things here and there last year. Of course, last year was tough, as he went through what Mathieu went through those years that I started following him.

But like Mathieu, I knew he'd bounce back. He has too much natural talent and too much work ethic to have seasons like he had just had.

Ta da! I willing admit that as a pretty dedicated fan of his play, even I never imagined just how right I would be. CHECK IT OUT!!

Yup... that's a screen capture from NHL.com of the leagues scoring leaders as of November 25, 2009. And yes, that is B-Rad at slot number #4, just three points behind the 3 guys tied for the lead.

He's going at a 1.36 points per game clip. He's scored in 17 of the 22 games he's played (he missed two with a lingering groin strain), and 9 of those games have been multiple point games (including a 4 point game against New Jersey).

At this pace, he'd have about 111 points on the season (his career best is 91).

He'll slow down I'm sure, but I'm enjoying the heck out of this while it lasts. And who know, I underestimated his revival... maybe I underestimate his ability to remain this hot for 60 more games.

Off-topic: B-Eauty from B-Rad

Mathieu is still out and while he should be returning soon, I haven't heard a date.

But hockey is happening, and what a season it has been so far. Great excitement!

And then this absolute beauty from B-Rad against a Mathieu-less Canucks...



That was for his team leading 6th point in four games. Woo hoo! I yelped out-loud. I think I scared my neighbors.

And then there was one...

I've been trying for a few days to say something about Patrice Brisebois retiring. I know he was not the most popular player in Montreal and many people were happy to see him retire. For me, it was sad. I liked Patrice, as I mentioned back in March when he played his 1,000th game. I always thought that, considering the situation he was in, he handled himself very well. I won't go to far into praising him, as I'm not privy to a lot of what goes on in Montreal. The language barrier is one thing, also the fact and fiction rolls so seamlessly there that I never know what to believe anyway. But at least publicly, he seemed for the most part to carry himself well. He was took a lot of criticism and outright disrespect aimed towards him and still remained to be positive and appreciative. He was booed every time he touched the puck, but he still said how much he loved Montreal and how much of an honor it was to play for his home team. He was lucky and he knew it. And despite exaggerated and unfair vitriol directed to him by "fans" and the media, he came back to Montreal. In a world where Sergei Kostitsyn demands a trade because he was demoted to the minors and Dany Heatley demands a trade because his "role" was reduced (and then turns a trade down because it wasn't where he wanted to go), Patrice Brisebois... well, Kostitsyn and Heatley may have been born with more talent, but they aren't fit enough men to hold Treesy's¹ game worn underwear.

I wish Patrice all the luck and good fortune in the world in whatever lies ahead for him next. He's hoping to devote more time to auto racing and maybe working in hockey in another capacity. He'll have more time to spend with his lovely wife, Michèle, and their daughters, Alexandra-Caroline and Patricia-Rose. My lose is their gain. I'll miss him, but he's on his way to a new chapter. And as they say... one chapter ends and another begins, and often that chapter is better than the previous.


Another thing about his retirement that hit me kind of hard: Mathieu is now the last member of the 1993 Stanley Cup winning team still playing in the NHL. That pulls at the heart strings a bit. Wow. Wow.


¹ When Mathieu retires, I'll reveal my nickname for him. It remains just between my friends and I until then.

On hanging 'em up

Stan Fischler had some short quotes from Mathieu today, accompanied by the header "Schneider not ready to hang 'em up":

“It keeps me young. I enjoy it so much being a mentor to these guys. There’s no other experience you could have outside of being part of a team, of being in a room; it’s so unique and so much fun. It’s going to be difficult giving it up. Hopefully that’s a few years away."

And since I don't really have any commentary to add to that, I'll just take a moment to go off topic to say WELCOME EMMA! My friend Christina (my hockey loving friend from all the way back to the early Mathieu days when we were in high school) and her husband, Mark, welcomed their first child yesterday. Emma made us all wait. And wait. And wait. She was 2 weeks late and put mama through 4 days of labor. But she's here now, and having met her for just the briefest of moments yesterday, she was worth every second of the wait. She healthy and she strong and she's beautiful. Her parents won the jackpot! I can't wait until she's old enough to go to games with us. And now that I know what team Mathieu is on, I can order some Canucks gear for her. Actually, it's good I waited. She came in at a solid 10 pounds, 21.5 inches and is already too big for some of her baby clothes.

The news well is dry

Still haven't heard squat in the where-will-Mathieu-be-next-year department. I heard some deals were being considered, but that was weeks ago and nothing since.

So, since there is nothing to report, here is a picture of Vincent Lecavalier surfing in Hawaii.


Ok, seriously. Something needs to happen. I'm running out of random Vinny vacation images.

Alaskan adventures

Same writers block, different adventure. Last Friday, I got back from an Alaskan cruise with my roommate from college, and since then I have been trying to summarize my experiences into something eloquent. As with Montreal, I fall short.

So, in lieu of something more creative, and with no attention to grammar, sentence structure, and tense, and in not particular order, here is a list stuff experienced and learned on my Alaskan adventure:

• We started the adventure by flying up to Seattle, where we would board a boat for a 7 day cruise through the Inside Passage.
• Accidentally left my Mathieu Schneider jersey at home. It is a key part of my flying superstition. Luckily, had a Brad Richards jersey in my luggage. Not the same, but at least we didn't crash.
• Southwest Airlines lost Alisha's bag. We bought 7 days worth of clothes as a back up, but luckily it was found and returned... at 2am. Alisha spent the next morning returning her purchases.
  
• Visited Archie McPhee, superstore of the odd, unusual, and totally awesome. I bought pickle shaped band aids. It was awesome.
  
• The Underground Tour of Seattle was really cool. Learned all about Seattle's early days of sewage disasters, excessive drinking, and whores.
• Our boat, Holland America's "luxurious and elegant" Zaandam, was awesome. And christened by the Olsen twins when they were young and cute.

• Formal nights were cool. Gave me an opportunity to dress up and try out real table manners.
• Full body exfoliation and other spa treatments are amazing, and I could really get used to that.
• The hugeness of Alaska, while cliché, is simply awe inspiring.
• The wilderness is breathtaking.
• The glaciers... what can be said really? You have to see them to believe it. Our last remnants of the Ice Age, and disappearing rapidly.

• Rented the original Poseidon Adventure from the ship's library. It is even better than watching it at home.
• Saw a submarine.
  
• I really, really enjoyed the solitary walks around the ship at night. A welcome and needed break from the never-ending socialness.
• Saw a momma bear and her two cubs at the Mendenhall Glacier.
• Watched the sun set into nothing
• Got blown over, literally, by the wind on the bow of the ship.
• Lounged by the pool while we were cruising around Glacier Bay. Ice filled the bay, but the weather was sunny and warm.

• Saw more salmon then I'd ever imagine. It was prime spawning season. You could grab the suckers out of the water with your hands there were so many.
• Ate a lot of salmon. (Wait... that's bad juxtaposition)
• Bald eagles are like pigeons up there. Everywhere!

• Ate a baked Alaska every night, save for one, for desert.
• Had a beer in the famed Red Dog Saloon in Juneau.
• Learned that shaving one's legs in a rocking cruise ship is not an easy task.
• Was going to wave bye to Sarah Palin on her last day in office while in the capital city, but she was in Anchorage giving that bizarre, rambling farewell speech.
• Bought cool Russian stuff in Sitka, including an awesome hat for the eldest nephew that he still hasn't taken off.
• For the first time in my life, I look out and saw nothing. It was a weird feeling.
• Never did get used to the getting dark at 11pm thing.

• Saw more stars than I ever knew existed.
• Spent a good 30 minutes looking over the side of the boat, yelling "jellyfish!" every time we saw a jellyfish. We are easily amused.
  
• 7.5-12 foot swells on the way to Victoria. Whoa...
• Got nauseous a couple times, but never too bad. I did kind of like being rocked to sleep at night.
  
• Saw Victoria, B.C., from the boat. We never got to dock there, but it was only supposed to be a 4 hour stop anyway. I'll just need to go back to Montreal for a Canada fix.
• The bus taking us back to the airport in Seattle broke down on the side of the road, proving Seattle hates us.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip and another amazing experience. I'd love to do it again, and the other cruises mentioned in the brochure they hand out sound intriguing: Baltic states, Scandinavia, South America. But then I come back to reality and look at my bank account. Maybe I can hope for a Caribbean or New England/Canadian Maritimes cruise some day.

If you want to see the rest of my pics, check them out:
Part 1 (Seattle, Juneau)
Part 2 (Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan)


I took over 500, but I narrowed them down quite a bit.

no news

Absolutely nothing to report. No rumors, not mutterings, no hints, no nothing. Zilch. Zippo.

So.... here is a picture of Vinny Lecavalier and some zebras.


If you're curious what the hell is up with these random pics of VL4, they are from an article in the St. Petersburg Times a few years ago about Vinny's adventurous off-season excursions. They seem rather appropriate to pull out again during this loooooooong summer vacation...

And I really hope this doesn't restart the recurring dream about Vinny eating all my orange sticks. Thankfully, I have not had that dream in awhile. But that reminds me, I need to add orange sticks to my shopping list. I'm all out. =(

Montreal musings

I've tried for two weeks to sit down and put my thoughts to paper, er, keyboard, er, screen... whatever! I keep waiting for a flash of eloquence and brilliance. Yeah... it's not happening. So in lieu of a brilliant masterpiece, here are my random thoughts, observations, and experiences from the best 5 days of my life, also known as my trip to Montreal for the 2009 NHL Draft.

• Saw real life cowboys on my flight to Calgary
• Got a stamp on my very bare passport
• Experienced a real Montreal thunderstorm (if only for the 10 minutes it lasted)
  
• Met awesome Twitter folks: Amanda, Amy, Brian, Charlotte, Dani, Joe, Julie, Kate, Katherine, Kimberly, Kuyaz, Kyle, Rick, Sarah, Silvana... I'm sure I'm forgetting someone
• Met some awesome bloggers, too, including the mysterious Eklund. Special props out to Brandon of Defending Big D. Awesome guy!
• Went into the Bell Centre. What a place! I regret that I didn't look around more. I'll need to go back to Montreal for a game.
• Witnessed, in person, the first round of NHL Draft, including John Tavares, get selected by their new teams

• Saw B-Rad's name on the Lady Byng trophy that he won in 2004 (I'm not sure the Conn Smythe trophy was there, so I didn't get to see his name on that; the Stanley Cup was around, but I didn't get to see it. I last saw it in person 10 years ago, so I got to see Mathieu's name, but it was obviously before B-Rad had his name was etched on that bad boy.)
• Played ball hockey
• Scored the first goal of the ball hockey game
• Ate poutine! It was as awesome as I've heard
• Ate a whole lot of Timbits

• Ate smoked meat (but not from famed Schwartz Hebrew Delicatessen. Yet another reason I need to go back)
• Drank lots of beer
• Had a beer with Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau (seriously)¹
• Slept probably an average of 5 hours a night (including one "night" I didn't get into bed until it started to get light; but it starts getting light there at about 4am this time of year)
  
• Rode the metro
• Went to the Biodome and saw the beaver habitat (but the beavers were sleeping; I was highly disappointed)

• Visited the Olympic Stadium
• Saw Alexander Ovechkin's mom's name on one of the plaques outside the stadium (she was on the USSR's 1976 gold medal winning basketball team)

• Sat through a Catholic mass in French in an amazingly beautiful cathedral (I was able to follow along pretty well; Father Sal at work will be so proud of me)
• Dropped by both McGill and Concordia Universities. The academic in me sees colleges as cathedrals of knowledge and must-see places on vacation.

• Actually joked with a very pleasant US Customs agent; usually they are so dour
  
• Flew on the smallest plane I've even been on from Montreal to Chicago (Bombardier CRJ 700), and on the biggest plane I've ever been on from Chicago to San Francisco (Boeing 767-300). I'm kind of a plane nerd.

Oh, and for the big one that needs more narrative

• I had lunch with my second favorite player of all time.

Years ago on the old Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Home Page, I had an "About Me" page that, short of anything more creative, I had listed things I've done in my life and also things I still want to do. On the accomplished list, I had "met my favorite player, Mathieu Schneider." On my to-do list, I had "meet my second favorite player, the now retired Enrico Ciccone." I didn't think much of it. Fast forward to a year ago, on my 30th birthday of all days, I get an email from the real life Enrico Ciccone (great birthday present!). He had seen that and said to me that if I was ever in Montreal, he would take me to lunch.

When I found out last month that I was going to be going to Montreal, I wondered if I should bring it up. He seemed sincere. After debating it for awhile, I decided to just send back the original email with a brief "did you mean it, because guess where I will be in June" message. If he responded, then cool. Sure enough, he wrote back suggesting a time and place. I would be meeting him at one of his favorite downtown restaurants (which luckily was close to my hotel), just a few hours after landing in Montreal.

And from here, I will plagiarize myself and cut and paste the note I already put up on Facebook:

I had directions from MapQuest to the place and headed out into hot and muggy Montreal. Those who know me know that I'm not a fan of heat, and, being the pessimist that I am, I was already anxious if he was really going to show up. Plus, I hadn't eaten since a small sandwich at SFO the previous night and I had been awake for the past 30 straight hours. Anyway, I got lost. Badly. And started to get really nervous. At noon sharp, my phone rang, and it was Enrico asking if I was lost. He talked me through some directions before realizing that I was way off. He told me to grab a cab, I gave my phone to the cabbie, they talked, and 3 minutes later I was there.

Side story: I'm weird, and I know this. I keep random currency in my wallet. It's a cool conversation piece, and you never know when you'll end up in Ecuador and need to buy a newspaper. Anyway, among the currency oddities, I have a Canadian $2 bill, which haven't been used in years. Also, I always keep a toonie. Not expecting to take a cab, I had very little Canadian cash on me. The fair was $4. I only had $20s from the ATM on me and a handful of Canadian quarters in my pocket. I could have given him a twenty and gotten change, but I wasn't thinking clearly. So, I did the unthinkable. I spent my $2 bill and toonie!

So... I get out of the cab at the corner and hear someone say "Sarah?" I look up to a sea of suited business men and women on their lunch break, and there was Cicco. Even though he was suited like the rest, he's kind of hard to miss. I mean, dude is 6'5!

I really can't begin to do justice to the next hour. I'm not the best conversationalists, but wow, it was one of the easiest lunches I've ever had. Every once and awhile I'd look up and think "holy crap, I'm sitting here talking to Enrico Ciccone." Even now, I think I'm still a bit shell shocked. Did that really happen? It had to have happened. I have the photo and the gift he gave me as proof. And I'll have those memories...

So, um, yeah, those 5 days were some of the best of my life. I had an amazing amount of fun, met fabulous people, and had experiences that can never be taken away from me.

If you are one of those people that actually likes to look at other people's vacation photos (actually, I am one of those people), you can see the rest of my two collections:
Around Montreal
2009 NHL Draft and Draft Tweet Up

I already can't wait to go back!

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¹The Bruce Boudreau story? I'll save that one for later. =)