From the Detroit Free Press:

A LETTER TO HOCKEYTOWN: McCarty to fans: Don't shed a tear

July 28, 2005

Don't be sad it's over -- be happy it happened.

In the past few days, since the official word came of the buyout and as the
status of my contract teetered, the reality that I'm not going to be a Red
Wing anymore has set in, and I've taken some time to reflect.

I don't know if it's maturity ('cause if you know me, that's never been an
issue) or the painstaking reality of the past 12 months without hockey.
Either way, I'm saddened to leave an organization in a place where I've
grown up, raised a family, been part of a first-class and first-rate team,
won three Stanley Cups and achieved great personal success.

But looking back, what I really feel is gratitude -- thankful for the
opportunity to realize a childhood dream to play for my childhood team.
Grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch and their entire family for letting this boy
become a man and always treating my family as one of their own. Grateful to
the entire Red Wing organization from Ken Holland and his staff, to John
Hahn and Anne Marie Krappmann in the PR department for their ever tireless
effort. Grateful to Piet Van Zant and Paul Boyer for patching me up and
getting me back out on the ice. Grateful for the support and memories from
everyone at the Joe whom I will miss seeing daily, and thankful to the media
for not only their endless support of myself but in the way they've always
supported the McCarty Cancer Foundation and my band Grinder.

What will I miss most about playing hockey in Detroit? That's simple. The
fans. From the day-to-day coffee stop or gas station conversation to the
people who say hello on the street or ask for an autograph at the checkout,
there are no greater fans than those in Detroit.

These are the great things about my time as a Red Wing that I will always
remember no matter where I go. Thank you to all of you. But please don't
shed a tear 'cause it's over -- crack a smile 'cause it happened, and no one
can ever take that away. I'll always be a Red Wing at heart, and Detroit
will always be my home.

Much love to you all,

Darren McCarty, Red Wings No. 25

I'll be damned. Dane Cook and I have something in common. Go to his site and use the media player at the top of the page to select the track 'My Son O-Prime' from his new album, "Retaliation". It's about halfway through the track...and you'll know what I mean when you hear it.

I've actually finally started working out a bit now that the majority of my freelance videography/DVD work is done until December. While I was initially going to go jogging/walking around the neighborhood with my MP3 player in tow, Danielle dissuaded me from that particular notion due to the recent heat wave. Good idea too, since I've heard that the recent 'real heat' temperature (I'm gathering that's like the hot version of wind chill?) around here has been close to 105 degrees F. And while I haven't yet gotten myself to the point of jogging at the indoor track on campus, I have done...uhm...something.

Okay, yeah, I've been playing DDR for hours at a time. And believe me, it's a workout.

Combined with starting to do sit-ups/crunches in the morning after I have my coffee, I'm hoping that I can burn off this obscene amount of fatty tissue that seems to have accumulated around my midsection without my knowledge.

Okay, yeah, it's just a beer belly. But it still bugs the hell out of me. I weighed myself the other day and the scale read 233lbs. 233!!! I mean, even if the scale was off by a bit, I don't think I've ever weighed this much in my life. And the weird thing is, I'm not that big. At least, I don't think I am. I see myself every day, so if I'm looking drastically different, I'm not going to see it.

In any case, I'm hoping to at least get myself back into the 210s by Christmas time. I figure that's a reasonable goal. Not too little an amount, but a realistic goal at the same time.

Aside from the obvious 'eat good food' standards, does anyone else have any good ideas for me to drop some of this weight? I'm trying to eat three average sized meals a day for a change, I've kicked fast food and soda, and I've even cut down on my coffee intake. I'd like to be able to do more...but within reason. I have a tendency to be impatient when it comes to matters such as these and if a method is going to hit my wallet, I want to be 100% certain that it's an effective measure.

And if anyone says Atkins or South Beach Diet, so help me, I'll smack the shit out of you! (Kidding. Sort of.)

If World War Two had been an online Real Time Strategy game, the chat room traffic would have gone something like this (credit to the author, whoever they may be):

*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: Fock Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got sh1t to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do sh1t til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bullsh1t u ***s im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bullsh1t u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: WTF u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right ***** im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh sh1t help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: WTF eisenhower hax hes killing all my sh1t
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun ****socker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: WTF i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: WTF my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this sh1t im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: sh1t now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY FUXOR I GOT NUKES!
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy sh1t holy sh1t hoyl sh1t!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for sh1t
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all ***s
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o sh1t!
*paTTon has left the game.*

Looks like the Red Wings are the first NHL team to release their preseason schedule and it looks pretty damn good. Two games against the Avs, another two against Dallas, two against Toronto, two against...uh...Columbus, and one against the reigning Cup champs, Tampa Bay.

Only problem is, I don't think NHL.com covers the game radio for preseason games and TV coverage for hockey is understandably sparse. At least it means that Red Wing hockey is starting in a little under two months. I'm waiting for IO Digital Cable to get back to me and let me know if they're carrying NHL Center Ice this year and how much it'll cost me.

I can't wait to see some fresh, new hockey. It's been much too long.

Well, it's finally happened. Ken Holland's beginning to drop the axe and the first three casualties are Derian Hatcher, Ray Whitney and Darren McCarty. The first two, I can do without. But D-Mac...he's been a Red Wing his whole 11-year career. I realize this is a business, but...damn. He's going to be really, really missed on the Wings. I'll have to watch his career and pray he doesn't get stuck on a team like Colorado.

I thought this was a rather interesting test. Check it out and post your results in the comments if you feel like it.

"The Political Compass"

And here's my results for those interested. I'm one hell of a lefty libertarian, apparently.

James ‘Scotty’ Doohan dies at age 85
‘Star Trek’ chief engineer forever known for beaming up Enterprise crew

LOS ANGELES - James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original “Star Trek” TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command “Beam me up, Scotty,” died early Wednesday. He was 85.

Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Wash., home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease, he said.
Link

I'm noticing that Enya is very popular for on-hold music. Would you believe that I used to have some of her albums? "Caribbean Blue" is a good song. Really, it is.

You know who you are. You were driving a white car in front of me on Madison Avenue this morning, just outside Convent Station. It makes no sense to freak out at me and gesticulate wildly (not even looking at the road in front of you, to boot!) because you think I got too close to your little car. Next time, you may want to consult the instruction manual on how turn signals work. You see, when you turn on your left turn signal at an intersection, that means that you're actually turning left at that intersection. Don't get all frantic because I was going to pass you because you turned on your left turn signal.

Fucking moron.

I'm watching a report on CNN Headline News where all these people are chastising some members of this championship girls' lacrosse team for wearing flip-flops, specifically some of the girls in the front row for a photo op with Dubya. Here's a couple stories on the deal, including the infamous picture.

Isn't it possible that these girls may have been making a subtle political statement about Dubya's numerous policy 'flip-flops' (a term he so frequently used against John Kerry) during his administration?

Of course, all anyone else had to say on CNN was "That's so inappropriate! They dressed like slobs wearing flip-flops!" and so on. I mean, what's the big deal about wearing flip-flops to the White House anyway? They're standing for a picture with a guy who can't even ride a bike without falling off of it or eating a pretzel without choking on it and passing out!

The NHL is back!

Of course...now this opens up a whole new can of worms, one that I'm not particularly looking forward to. Supposedly, teams cannot renegotiate any existing contracts, which means teams like Detroit, Colorado, Toronto and Philly are going to effectively have to dump half of their roster. Hell, look at Nick Lidstrom. Even with the 24% rollback, he would still be making $7.6 million - $200,000 more than is allowed under the new CBA for any one player. That means the Wings have no choice and must buy out his contract. And when they buy out his contract, they are not allowed to sign him.

I was all looking forward to the NHL coming back...but not like this. For fuck's sake, let them renegotiate contracts. You get the same result either way - lower salaries and teams under the cap. Otherwise, you're just penalizing teams unreasonably and potentially separating loyal players from franchises on which they've played their entire career. Again, I'm thinking Nick Lidstrom here.

There's going to be a new set of Transformers DVDs released by Metrodome soon and initially, I was disappointed when I found out they'd be UK releases. The releases are the Japanese-only Headmasters series and a new release of Transformers: The Movie with improved transfer, extras, etc. Then, when I found out they'd be Region 0, I was happy again because I'd be able to import them without a problem. And then yesterday, I found out that despite the fact that they're Region 0, they're still PAL releases, not NTSC.

This means that eventually, I may have to get me another DVD player to add to my living room setup - like this one with a built-in PAL-to-NTSC converter - so I can get these sets. Damn technology!

Hasbro's done some strange things in the past, but this one may exceed them all. From RebelScum.com comes a report on some new packaging for upcoming Star Wars items. So why would I care about new Star Wars packaging?

"The other new packaging is a foot long pegable package with a clear window and on the top it has the STAR WARS logo, and on the bottom it says...TRANSFORMERS. That's right, Star Wars Transformers!"

Interesting. Very interesting.

UPDATE (7/19/05): Meh. I found out that it's just Star Wars characters that change into Star Wars vehicles, just like those Marvel characters that changed into vehicles. Disappointing.

Reading these idiotic comments from Pope Benedict XVI makes me fear for a very real, very dangerous modern-day holy war.

"To those who foment feelings of hatred and to those who carry out such repugnant terrorist actions, I say to you: 'God loves life, which he created, not death. Stop in the name of God!'"

"Let us pray for those killed, for those injured and for those dear to them. But let us also pray for the attackers: Let the Lord touch their hearts."

You old fool. You do realize that you're inciting a holy war by implying that your god is more powerful and relevant than theirs, right? They don't want "the Lord" to touch their hearts. They don't want to stop in the name of your god. Religion is only going to make these rivalries worse, not better.

Another odd thing I've noticed about the Pope's statements. Is he implying that his god didn't create death or just that he/she/it doesn't love death, despite creating it? And wouldn't that imply a bit of a paradoxical relationship between the supposed sanctity of life and death? Not that I'm claiming that any religion has any real love affair with logic itself, it's just a question that popped up in my head.

Looks like Dave Lewis' poor playoff performances behind the bench have finally caught up with him. The likely successor looks like Mike Babcock and frankly, I don't mind that idea one bit. Babcock can be an asshole...but so could Scotty Bowman. And that's what the Wings need behind the bench - not a buddy, but a hard-nosed guy that isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Lewis just can't be that, not with the Wings, at least. I mean, the guy played alongside Yzerman. He was the good cop to Bowman's bad cop. The transition for him from buddy to drill sargeant just never happened.

Now hopefully, if Babcock comes in, he'll at least keep Joey Kocur behind the bench, if not also Barry Smith. Kocur's got fire in his eyes and that's what this team needs. Guess we'll see. The sooner the CBA is worked out, the sooner we'll know about who's coaching this team.

In other Wings news, it looks like Vladdy's finally become a full-fledged U.S. citizen. For those not in the know, Vladdy (Vladimir Konstantinov) was injured in a limousine crash days after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup win and left with severe brain damage.This quote almost brings a tear to my eye:

"I feel good," he told The Detroit News after the ceremony.

Glad to hear it, Vladdy.

Stay strong, London.

According to C21Media:

Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the London-based visual effects and animatronics division, has been shut down with the loss of over 20 jobs. The Hollywood-based parent firm blamed the weak US dollar and the UK production environment.

However, this doesn't necessarily spell the end of the Creature Shop...

A statement from the Henson's US HQ said that its TV and film projects would not be affected and that the Creature Shop would continue to service third-party clients out of its LA and New York locations, as well as hiring crews in London on a project-by-project basis.

Son of a...

I just broke my ice cream scoop. Oh well, I only paid $1 for it at a garage sale anyway.

Read the last line of this article. Funniest thing I've read all week.

EDIT: Well, the article's been edited slightly since I first posted this. Now it's right before the last sentence, beginning with "Bush has..."

Well, I'll be damned. Lil' Kim is actually going to prison for a year. That was actually unexpected...I figured she would get off completely. Although, there did seem to be a bit of a fear of racial backlash in the judge's tone ("U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch said he had considered the public perception of sending a young black entertainer to prison far longer than Martha Stewart, who spent five months in prison and remains under house arrest.") which undoubtedly affected his decision to give her a far lesser sentence than the maximum of 20 years, or the 3 years that the prosecution had been gunning for.

Oh well. At least justice is served. Sort of.

Okay, I can understand Natalee Holloway's mother being irate over the disappearance of her daughter...but I can also under the sentiments of Arubans and their distaste for her slander against them.

One quote particularly irked me:
"Two suspects were released yesterday who were involved in a violent crime against my daughter," she said.

Violent crime? Really? I've seen no evidence of a violent crime against her daughter.

The Dutch protestors seemed to have more common sense among them. One of them even stated that Holloway might not be dead but partying in Brazil or nearby Venezuela. And you know, that's what I've been saying all along. Sure, she's missing...but there's no proof whatsoever that any crime was committed. Who's to say she's not a runaway? Who's to say that she's not off partying in Brazil or Venezuela? I mean, come on...while a portrait of her as a "good girl", "honor student" and so on has been played up by the media, this is also the same girl that was apparently making out in the backseat of a car with some random guys that she had just met. She obviously isn't the innocent little flower that her family has made her out to be. Could poor parenting be at fault here? Perhaps, perhaps not. I know I wouldn't let my daughter go off to Aruba for a graduation vacation with what was obviously limited or no supervision.

I feel for her parents, I really do. But the authorities of Aruba have gone above and beyond looking for this girl. I highly doubt that if I went missing in Aruba that they'd break out a bunch of fighter jets to take photos from the air in a search pattern. They're getting special treatment, but since nothing's turned up, they accuse them of not doing enough.

What about that other girl that went missing in Aruba 5 years ago and still has never been found? You don't hear her family bitching that the authorities didn't do enough. Maybe she wasn't young and pretty enough compared to Natalee Holloway now. Because you know, the media only clings to these stories when the person in question is one of the beautiful people. Laci Peterson, Jon Benet Ramsey, etc. I don't discount the savagery of those crimes...but what about the multitude of other women murdered by their husbands? What about the thousands of other missing and/or murdered children? What about other missing persons that haven't been found? Don't they warrant the same amount of media attention and rampant searching that Natalee Holloway has gotten?

Most of these cases don't even get a fraction of what the Holloway family has gotten...and it's not even confirmed that Natalee Holloway was a victim of a "violent crime". But no, apparently Aruba still isn't doing enough.

One last thing...why is everyone reading into that judge-in-training's comment of "Without a body, there's no case" with implications of guilt? The way I read that comment, it's more like "Don't worry, there's no way they can falsely pin this on you, they have no case without a body" as more of a reassurance to his son's innocence. Yes, the judge's son lied to authorities about when he last saw her...but if he was the last one to see her, he was obviously scared about the conclusions the authorities would make. That error in judgement just compounded things and solidified his guilt before innocence in the eyes of the Holloway family.

Believe me, if he's found guilty with substantial evidence, I have no problem with putting him away and vindicating the Holloway family's accusations. But if she's off somewhere partying right now, very much alive...well, we'll see.