Hockey and Politics. Good Times in Canada.

As I'm sure that most of our American and other foreign friends are aware, we are entering the silly season here in Canada...the NHL playoff for the Stanley Cup. In fact it's really doubly silly this year because we have entered into yet another federal election (to be held on May 2). Hockey will be vying for TV airtime with all of those nasty political commercials with the leaders telling you LESS about what they will do for our country and MORE about the negative attributes of their opponent. *Le Sigh*



photo credit: detentionslip.org

 
Anyway, the election will be done before we we can say "ANOTHER friggin' minority government" and then we can devote all of our time and energy to hockey. Some of you may recall my talking about entering the office hockey pool last fall when we picked our players, hoping to win a crap load of money to win the bragging rights at the office. At this time last year I was probably gloating and doing a happy dance (so much so that my fez may have flown off). However this year my players appear to be collecting their big old paychecks, getting fat on coffee and Tim bits. I'm back in 8th place or so. Coincidentally, leading the pack this year is...my mother. Yep, the old Scottish dear herself. With only one night of hockey left in the regular season she holds a 16 point lead with little hope of being caught. I was talking with her this morning. Even though her computer is on the fritz, she is going to spend her prize winnings on other necessities. Items such as a vat of hair dye, orthopedic stockings and a six-pack of Drambuie are high on her must-have list. I know some of you are saying, "What a cheeky young lad, talking about his mum like that." I suppose that if she read these comments on my blog (she doesn't know of its existence) she'd give me a 'skelp aboot the ears'. That was a popular expression around our house when I was a kid. Above is a recent photo of the 'auld yin' in celebration of her windfall.

I saw a video this week to illustrate how weird it gets in Canada around playoff time. Below is a clip from Thursday's game with Minnesota at Vancouver. A fan apparently threw a salmon on the ice. What a waste of a good fish! Yahoo! sports writer Greg Wyshinski made a good point, "So this is symbolic of … what, exactly? The Canucks always swimming upstream in the playoffs and eventually getting smoked?" Sounds to me like the 'trash talk' has begun.





I would follow that up with something political, but I wouldn't want to spoil your day. Or your appetite. Instead I offer you a hilarious clip from the web site Funny or Die (you may remember these are the folks that brought us the fine Charlie Sheen cooking video). I first saw a link to this video at Huffington Post and thought, "Cool, they're doing a remake of the movie "When Harry Met Sally." However, upon closer inspection I discovered that this is a mock video about what a sequel might look like. I won't say another word, just watch and Billy Crystal and Helen Mirren and enjoy for yourself. On a side note, the video was directed by Lindsay Crystal, daughter of Billy...

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

The Baby Solution

Now, it's not what you think. We're not having another youngster as a solution to anything...

The insanity is at hand...can't breath...can't think...the walls are closing in.

It must be almost Christmas time! Or else I'm about to get married again. Har! Just kidding, of course (I say this because V might read this post.

I went in search of YouTube humour to help stop the insanity. It came to me in the form of the E*Trade babies. Cool little commercials. You must have seen them on TV at some point in time, unless you've been living under a rock. I have selected a few that didn't seem familiar to me. I've noticed that alternatives to ones on TV get posted on YouTube as well. I'm not plugging this company. I said that when I last posted about a product here on my blog in October of 2009. Robert Carlyle in a commercial  called 'The Man Who Walked Around the World' for Johnnie Walker Whisky. I got a kick out of the commercial because they used subtitles as Carlyle was talking. I've never thought his accent was that thick.

OK, back to the babies. This time, I'm not plugging E*Trade...

I thought this 'Solitary' video was funny because it differed a bit from the one shown on TV. The baby flying fist class was one I had never seen before. 'Un-Broke' where the baby is interviewed by ABC is cute because his little pal is smitten with the interviewer. The clip where he's trying to explain to his girlfriend why he didn't call was really good as well. Again, I don't recall seeing that one on TV. And finally, there was a clip with 'Outtakes' from 2010 that are well worth a view.

Hope that one or more of those bad boys takes your mind off the insanity for a while. Only 2 shopping days left...remember, the Walmart near you is probably open 24 hours by now and the drugstore on Christmas eve is always a way to get things done (not that I advocate that, of course...)

Political Humour: Canadian Style

Just a quick post to link you to a sketch from the fine people at This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a CBC comedy show that has run in Canada for years. It's been very popular in this province as the shows creator, Mary Walsh, and most of the cast are from Newfoundland and Labrador.

The sketch from last night's show has a distressed 22 Minute regular Mark Critch confronting premier Danny Williams about his resignation from office effective this Friday. Mark has been impersonating the premier on the show for years and figures he will now be out of a job. The two men go to see 'The Codfather', as played by Gordon Pinsent, to resolve the situation. I'm thinking that you don't have to be Canadian to appreciate the humour (and accents) of the men in this skit. Watch for a small cameo by a couple of men from another popular CBC show near the end of the skit (I won't say who they are as it will spoil the surprise. Then again...probably only Canadians well get the joke...) Nobody can say that Danny Williams doesn't have a sense of humour.

As per usual, my total lack of technological knowledge leaves me baffled and I will take the easy way out and rather than trying to embed the sucker I will post a link to the YouTube video here.