Warned and Data

I warned you I would be busy. Anyways, I was just sitting here at work, thinking about the fact that I haven't posted in forever. For those of you who have been waiting for the past couple months to find out just how much stuff there was in the back of my brothers pick-up, well it was about 2000 lbs. of coffee materials (everything from syrup to beans and even some machines I think). You can see the original post here. There now you can quit worrying about it. Congradulations to the Edmonton Eskimos for winning the Canadian Football League Grey Cup last weekend in a nail-biter over Montreal 38-35. Later

No more Blackberry?

No more Blackberry? No, not the fruit the phone. I may not have one but I want one. Apparently there is the possiblity of legal action against the Canadian company that makes the Blackberry. You can read more about it here. Later

Sorry and Story

Ok, I know I'm terrible at updating this thing right now. I hope to find some time to update again over US Thanksgiving break. Really that's when I'll have time to post again after I finish my 4 papers in 4 weeks (two of which are research and aproximately 20 pages of written work on my part). But that's neither here nor there. I will still continue to post stories when I can, but they may have to speak for themselves. The CBC is reporting that Canadians have joined the Iraq insurgency. As if the United States needed more problems. Know that these Canadians are acting outside of the government. These are not Canadian soldiers, as I first thought when I read the headline. For the story click here.

NHL update

Ok, so I've been very bad. I know over a week ago I promised a story on marijuana and an NHL update. I thought I was going to have more time. Well, school got the better of me and I'm not going to get to the marijuana article for a while. I will let you know when I'm going to get there.

So, let's talk Hockey! Last night was the official start of the NHL season. All 30 NHL teams played. The big ones for me of course were the Canadian games. Toronto and Ottawa tangled and had the distinct honor of having the first regular season shoot-out. Ottawa tied the game late in the 3rd period and won the game in the shootout by having Dominic Hasek stop Toronto's attempts to score. Final score 3-2. Calgary and Minnesota played and because I'm sitting in class and don't really care whether Calgary wins or loses when it comes to Hockey, but they lost 6-3. Vancouver and Pheonix played, Wayne Gretzky made his coaching debut. Unfortunately for him, his team didn't do so well. Vancouver over Pheonix 3-2. Now for the game I really care about. Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalance, playing in Edmonton and the puck dropped at 8:30 Mountain time. Hockey was finally back in Edmonton and all the fans were pumped and ready. They left happy. Four goals in the first eight minutes had many thinking that it would be a scoring mess. But after the first eight minutes the goals stopped for a little while. With a whole new slew of enforcement rules and a much larger (4 ft wider than 2 years ago) penalties weren't exactly rampent but there were a lot of new rules calls. For more information on the new rules and more info on daily happenings of the NHL you can check out either TSN.ca or NHL.com (powered by MSN). Hockey is finally back! Yes, I know I left out Montreal, they beat Boston 2-1.

P.S. Really I promise I'll tell you how much stuff is in the back of my brothers truck. I forgot so I have to ask him, I'll try to remember tonight.

Really, I promise

Ok, so I didn't get done what I said I would get done. School has been a little busy, with mid-terms and all, I hope to find some time this weekend to get caught up on some posting. Keep on stopping by, I will post real soon, maybe I'll work on it class tonight and post it yet this evening. Later.

Coming this week!

I'm working on a couple of stories for this week. One will be on marijuana. Another will be my NHL calls as the season finally approaches. And we'll see what else comes up.

Radio for iPod's

I got an iPod 20GB for my birthday this year. It's great. I've talked to a lot of people about it. Here's my story about it. Remember in the 1970's we had big boomboxes that we ran on battery power and pumped the music up. In the 80's Sony brought out it's welcoming cassette player and meant things got a little smaller but it could only play for about 90 minutes before you had to change the tape. Then in the 90's we got CD players, which were a little bigger but you got better sound and a little more time out of them and there was this nifty repeat feature. Then in 2000's we got the iPod. My 20Gb iPod holds about 5000 songs, total play time, if I can get a battery that lasts this long, 14 days. I currently have 2200 songs on it and that's 7 days of audio files. But here is my problem. There are some days when I just want to listen to the radio. You can't do that on an iPod. I really think someone should come up with a way to incorporate an AM/FM radio with an iPod. I don't mind if it's an attachment, just about everything else is for the unit, but it's something I have been thinking about. Let me know what you think! You can email me by clicking my email link on the left or hit the tagboard with your comments. I'll have an NHL update over the weekend and I'll also tell you how much stuff is in that picture of my brothers truck. Have a good weekend.

NHL for 9-20-05

It's NHL time! Tonights pre-season action saw the Dallas Stars beating my Oilers in regulation 6-4. The Islanders played the Rangers (both of New York), and beat them. Toronto shut out Boston 5-0. Montreal thumped defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay 6-1. Minnesota beat Buffalo 6-3. The Los Angeles Kings beat Coach Wayne Gretzky's (yes, you're reading this right) Phoenix Coyotes 8-4. The Coyotes are 1-2 currently, Edmonton is at the same record. While I'm not exactly pleased, I haven't been able to watch a game so I have no clue how Edmonton is playing, I don't get to see them play till October 5. The countdown is still ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Oilers!

NHL on Sunday

Yeah, I'm late, big deal, you still didn't know what was going on in the NHL because it hasn't been on TV in the United States. On Sunday night, Edmonton lost in a shoot-out to Dallas 6-5. Florida, Buffalo, Buffalo, Chicago, Montreal, Ottawa, San Jose all won. Carolina, Columbus, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Los Angeles all lost. You figure out who played who! It was busy on Sunday. Last night, was a little lighter. Columbus beat Pittsburgh 3-2 in a shoot-out. Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay defeated Detroit 5-3. Tonight Edmonton is in Dallas for the second time in pre-season. Edmonton faces Calgary a few more times in pre-season as well. That's all I have. Later.

Last Night in the NHL

The Edmonton Oilers started out with a bang last night, defeating the Calgary Flames 2-1 in double overtime. Ryan Smythe scored the shootout goal to end the game. The teams combined for 22 penalties in the game. Caroline beat Washington 6-0. Phoenix beat Minnesota 3-2. If I get more details I'll add them.

Let the Countdown begin

DROP THE PUCK!!!! Reads the headline at tsn.ca. Ladies and Gentleman the NHL season is back, well ok, it's only pre-season and I can't find anyone carrying in on TV right now but HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!!!! Tonight has three pre-season games. The Washington Capitals are playing the Carolina Hurricanes. The Edmonton Oilers are playing the Calgary Flames in pre-season battle of Alberta part I. And the Minnesota Wild is playing the Phoenix Coyotes. GO OILERS!!!

Something Fun!

Ok, this isn't my truck, it's my brothers'. His truck has a two-inch blocks in the back and a four inch lift on the front. Let's play guess how much stuff is in his box? It's a lot of coffee stuff, like syrups and other stuff. Anyways, take a guess, I'll post soon what the real total is. Post to the tagboard or email with your guesses.

I love Canada!

David Frum, senior fellow for the American Enterprise Institute, has written an eye-opening piece on Canada's new governor-general. The Governor-general, for those of you who don't know, is the Queen's representative to Canada. While Canada has no "real" ties to England and the queen, she is still a figurehead and has a representative. You can find the article here. Questions, comments, leave them on the tagboard or email me.

OIL BOOM!!!

Ok, there are so many americans who don't give a crap about hockey, it's neat impossible to talk to them about it (although my girlfriend is definately going to hear about this story later tonight). My NHL team, The Edmonton Oilers, have just made three absolutely huge deals with other NHL teams. Between August 1 and today the Oilers have made three deals with other teams. On August 1st, the Oilers traded forward Brad Isbister to the Boston Bruins for an entry draft pick. On August 2nd, the Oilers traded defensemen Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka to St. Louis for vetran defensemen Chris Pronger. Today, August 3rd, another deal this time with the New York Islanders. The Oilers sent Mike York and a conditional draft pick to New York in exchange for defense vetran Mike Peca. I have had a crazy weekend so I haven't really been following all of this, but I can't believe all of this. Pronger is getting a little more than 6 million a year in his contract. Edmonton will pick up Peca's contract from New York and they will have to pay just under 4 million dollars. This is just nuts. Check out TSN.ca for more details. I'm still in shock, the Oilers are starting to look like a half decent team on paper, something they haven't done in a very long time, GO OILERS!!!

Gay Marriage: Part 2

In a story from the CBC, gay marriage faces some challenges in Canada. I can't say I didn't say so, I believe if you look back a little while ago about gay marriage in Alberta and how they wouldn't take it. Sure enough, Alberta's Justice Minister Ron Stevens says he wants to protect various groups from being forced to perform gay marriages if it goes against their beliefs, and he is planning on invoking the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution. For those of you reading this in the rest of the world, the "notwithstanding clause" is like being able to say no I won't do that when it's something you have to do. The United States has something like that called "State's Rights", where the Federal government, if it doesn't have the explicit right to run something that is given to the state, it's sort of like that. If you have further questions, email me (it's one of those links on the left, I promise). Anyways, Alberta is planning on telling the Feds to go do something anatomically impossible, something Alberta has been doing for a long time. The notwithstanding clause makes it a lot harder to have a gay marriage performed in Alberta. Hats off to the Alberta government for doing what the people want, which is much more than I can say for Canada's moronic leader Paul Martin and his band of cronies known as the Liberal Party of Canada. Congrats Alberta, at least someone from my homeland is getting it right.

Hurray it's over!!!

The NHL lockout is all but over. Today the NHLPA ratified the new CBA and the end of the lockout is truly in sight. The Owners must ratify the deal tomorrow for the season to officially begin. For more on this story click here. Final count, a 309 day lockout (if the deal is ratified tomorrow). Welcome back HOCKEY!!

Gay Marriage

So I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks talking about hockey. As of tonight the lockout is still not officially over, however is should be by late tommorow or on Friday. I have something completely different to talk about today.

Earlier today the Canadian "senate" stamped their approval on to the gay marriage bill that the Canadian legislature passed last week. Canada is now the fourth nation in the world to have legal gay marriage. Way to go Canada! What a bunch of idiots!!! Ask any Canadian what they think of gay marriage, I mean it ask them? You're going to hear, especially from the western part of the country (Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) that they don't think it's "right" and shouldn't be something that the government has any right to sanction. But no, the Canadian government, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to go against the will of the people and vote for gay marriage. So far, I have heard that Alberta's premier is working very hard to figure out how to make sure that Alberta is not under this new law. I don't know that much about Canadian law on this but I do know that provinces have something called the "not with standing" clause which basically allows a province to tell the federal government to go away and not bother them. Alberta has used this clause in the past, as mentioned I don't know if they can used it now. I plan to continue to follow this story and keep reporting on what I consider to be something that is not a good thing.

The Lockout Ends

It's been 301 days since Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL Owners locked out the NHL Players Association. 301 days, one canceled season (1,230 games), a whole lot of very angry fans, a loss of a major fan base (the US isn't going to be so keen on coming back) and the second lockout in 10 years. Not bad for Canada's largest sport. The CBA (Collective bargaining Agreement) is still only tentative but is said to contain the first every NHL salary cap, on a team-by-team base, and a pay cut for any player that is already under contract. For more on the story click here or here. The NHLPA is meeting next Wednesday and Thursday in Toronto, while the owners meet in New York on Thursday to vote to ratify the deal. Speculation from the experts says that both sides will agree and there will be a face-off in the 2005-2006 NHL season. It is my estimate that the NHL lockout will end at between 310 and 312 days (just to give time to count the vote). This is the longest lockout in North American sports history. I must say I hope the NBA has as many problems as the NHL, I think they could just use a season off in general, maybe it would get all the thugs out of the league. Oh, well, one can only hope.

Where did the day go?

Wow, I can't believe it's 5 o'clock already. Where did the day go? Yeah, I know you don't know anything about what is going on, but that's ok. No new news on the NHL front other than adding another day to the time that the lockout has happened making it 266 days in lockout. So we painted the living room of our house, well, the living room and front hallway, wow, I forgot how hard it is to paint without a paint stick (you know one of those things that you load the paint into the handle and then push it out through the roller). But that's been my day, pretty much. Oh, and I had to pick dad up at the airport, always an adventure, but it worked out I guess. Still looking for any help anyone can provide on podcasting, if you know anything about how to do RSS feeds let me know, thanks.

The NHL is back!

Ok, so it's been 256 days since a hockey player in the NHL laced up their skates to get out on the ice. However, there are reports that the player lockout is if not over, close to being over. Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper is reporting that the League and Players Association have reached a deal with regards to a salary cap. According to the report a source says there is a way to go yet but, they are closer to inking a new deal. Finally there might actually be hockey again. I'm hoping they can continue to talk for the next few weeks and maybe have a new collective barganing agreement by August 1st. Then I hope we won't have to have another lockout for like oh, 50 years or so. There, that's my two cents on all of this.

Podcasting

Ok, so there's this new thing happening in the world right now. Yeah, leave it to me to be like 6 months behind but Podcasting is starting to take off. What is podcasting? Well, as Adam Curry and the Daily Source Code say, "it's hard to describe". Adam Curry and more info about him can be found here. Steve Jobs, as quoted in the Daily Source Code says, "TIVo for your iPod". Here's the great thing, you don't have to have an iPod to do it. You just need a computer that can support iTunes and, at least for the time being, software known as iPodder, downloadable here. Steve Jobs, of Apple is saying that iTunes will soon incorporate the iPodder softwared and you can subscribe to Podcasts from iTunes, I can't wait for that to happen.
Podcasting is really hard to describe, imagine uncensored radio, in small segments, say no more than, oh about an hour. Now imagine being able to send it around the world. Yeah, it's that cool. While I don't understand the technology, I plan to spend some time over the next couple of days/weeks learning about it. Currently podcasting uses RSS 2.0 feeds, which, at least in my head right now seems really confusing. If I can get something going I will have a link to it here on my blog page, in fact my show notes and things will likely be posted here and also on my Myspace page (that link is on the left of your screen). Podcasting has been called the current "hottest thing in Radio" I figure I better get on board. If you know anything about podcasts please feel free to email me or post in my tagboard.

Oh, the fun we have

Well, I've finally done it. Yep, I have graduate community college (ok, not quite yet I have two tests to take but you get the idea). After three years and a whole lot of time spent in a radio studio I have finally "arrived". Well, except for the fact that I'm going to WSU in the fall and then to Law School in a few years. No, I'm not planning on being a professional student, it just seems to be working out that way. I know it's been a long time since I posted but I might actually have some time now that I'm done (yeah, yeah, almost done) school for the summer. Of course I'm still working but I am waiting to hear back from WSU on what the status is. Hey, I might even get back to my daily posting. Later...

untitled

It has definitely been a long time since I have written here.  It’s been a pretty busy couple of quarters.  First, I pay tribute to the legend of night time comedy.  Johnny Carson died in his California home yesterday, he was 79.  Made famous for hosting the Tonight Show on NBC for nearly 30 years Johnny Carson made us all laugh.  He made late night television into what it has become today.  Johnny Carson was only 4 years younger than my grandfather, who also just died.  My grandfather died on January 2.  He was 83 and will be sorely missed.  If you want to read a copy of the speech I gave at his memorial shoot me an email (follow the link on the left side) or leave a comment in the box and I’ll see that you get it ASAP.  My X58 radio show is from 2-4 PST on Monday’s until the middle of March.  Later