I've always hated rodeo because - despite what rodeo fans and officials spout - it's a so-called sport based on the abuse of animals. Cockfighting is illegal, but we allow rodeos to continue. Hmph. So excuse me if I feel absolutely no sympathy for this kid or his family. Karma is a delightful thing.

Just wanted to give major props to Tabatha Brinson of Bretford Customer Service. A quick e-mail reply to my inquiry and an even better response than I had been hoping for - we need extra keys for one of our A/V cabinets on campus and she has 'em right there to send out. Beautiful! Thank you, Tabatha!

Okay, Manny...you've somewhat redeemed yourself.

For now.

Series tied 2-2, on to Game Five in Detroit.

Right now, words cannot describe how utterly disgusted I am with Manny Legace's sloppy goaltending tonight. I stay up until 2:14am and he gives up one of the absolute WORST goals I've ever seen him give up in double overtime. The second worst goal was the second goal he gave up to the Oilers in this very same game.

Here's hoping Detroit can pull a split out of the second game in Edmonton. With Chris Osgood in net, preferably.

It's gonna be a late night tonight. Game 3 against the Oilers starts at 10:00pm EST tonight. And of course, I have to be at work early tomorrow. I'm looking for a Wings win in regulation tonight - NO OVERTIME, DAMNIT!

...and Kirk Maltby scores his second goal of the game in double overtime to win it! Detroit leads the series 1-0.

I think I need to buy a new belt.

You see, in recent months, I haven't needed a belt to keep my pants up. Thus, I'm not quite sure where it is and haven't really been motivated to look for it. But more and more lately, my pants have been fitting loose (no doubt as a result of my slight weight loss). Today, the waistline of my shorts was nearly dropping to my knees. Since I don't quite look right with that ghetto-fab style, I needed something to cinch up my shorts. Went into one of the equipment closets and grabbed an RCA cable and put that through my belt loops to create not so much a belt but a keep-my-pants-from-falling-down cord.

Yeah, I need to buy a new belt.

The strange things I find on my camera phone.



Yes, that's a Christmas ornament...

Okay, as promised, here's the predictions for the Eastern Conference. I'm gonna be brief with these, since I don't feel like typing a lot.

Ottawa (1) vs. Tampa Bay (8)

No Hasek, no 2nd round for the Sens. Emery will crack under the pressure and the Sens will falter in the playoffs as usual.

Prediction: Tampa Bay in six games.

Carolina (2) vs. Montreal (7)

The Habs have been extremely hot lately, thanks in large part to Cristobal Huet between the pipes. But will he start in net or will trade deadline acquisition David Aebischer get the nod? Carolina's been good, but this is one of those series that will definitely be won by a hot goaltender. Here's Eastern Conference upset #2.

Prediction: Montreal in six games.

New Jersey (3) vs. New York Rangers (6)

This matchup seeding could have easily been opposite what it is now had the Rangers won their last game of the season. That said, the seeding in this one isn't as relevant as in other matchups and the term 'upset' can't really apply. The Devils are hot coming into this game, but they're due to crash, even with Brodeur in net. Sorry, Jersey...the Rangers are for real this year.

Prediction: New York in five games.

Buffalo (4) vs. Philadelphia (5)

Crazy prediction - Forsberg will fall to another groin injury by game 2 and Philly will struggle. Maybe it's not that crazy a prediction. In any case, Buffalo has silently been playing some of their best hockey since they reached the Cup Final in '99. Philly's goalie-go-round will work to the Sabres' benefit.

Prediction: Buffalo in five games.

Okay, since the matchups in the Western Conference are solidified, it's time to make predictions (Eastern Conference picks will come tomorrow). Since the purge of October '04 wiped out previous years' playoff picks and rules, here's how it goes:

- Each series has the potential for two points to be earned in terms of predictions
- The winner of each series will be predicted (1 point)
- The number of games it takes to win the series will be predicted (1 point)
- Overall, there are a possible 30 points throughout the playoffs

So with that out of the way, on to the predictions...

Detroit (1) vs. Edmonton (8)

Okay, we all know I'm a Detroit fan, but I have to be objective. That said, I seriously don't think the Wings should have much of a problem with this series. Roloson hasn't been very good in net for the Oilers and the Wings seem to have no problem getting pucks past him. With players on the Wings' roster like Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Yzerman (who's been playing like he's 30 again), Williams, Shanahan - well, the list goes on and on - the Oilers are going to have a tough time matching up to that level of talent. On top of that, Legace has been playing out of his mind lately and outplaying Roloson isn't even a question. Detroit will show why they're the #1 seed and Edmonton is the #8 seed.

Prediction: Detroit in five games.

Dallas (2) vs. Colorado (7)

Colorado isn't the team that everyone feared in the past. They lost their division to Calgary, breaking their streak of consecutive division titles since the mid-90s. Pierre Lacroix trading David Aebischer for Jose Theodore was a big mistake and it'll cost the Avs in net. Theodore had an atrocious season with the Habs and he has yet to show even a fraction of his former brilliance in net with the Avs. To make matters worse, the rest of the Avs roster are shadows of their former selves, struggle to score and not even clinching a playoff spot until the last week of the regular season. Dallas, on the other hand, has been quietly hot all season. While goaltender Marty Turco's wins are inflated by the multitude of shootouts won by Dallas in the regular season, he's still a threat in the net. On a team where Bill Guerin is on the fourth line, you know there's a deep talent pool. Colorado might be glad that there aren't any shootouts in the playoffs, but they're still not going to be able to get the job done in regulation.

Prediction: Dallas in four games.

Calgary (3) vs. Anaheim (6)

This is an interesting series. Anaheim's been on a tear as of late, ensuring their entry into the postseason. Calgary's been relying on the stellar goaltending of Miikka Kiprusoff all season to balance out their scoring woes. Simply put, if the Ducks can solve Kiprusoff, this series will belong to them. This series is a bit of a toss-up and it's hard to pick a favorite, especially considering that these two teams knocked my Wings out of the postseason the past two seasons. That said, the West needs an upset.

Prediction: Anaheim in seven games.

Nashville (4) vs. San Jose (5)

Nashville without Tomas Vokoun in net? Could be a problem, especially against the likes of Joe Thornton on San Jose. If it's a matchup between the pipes of Toskala on San Jose and Mason on Nashville, Toskala has the upper hand. This will be a series will the victor will come out bruised and battered and in no shape for the 2nd round, much to the delight of whomever faces them in the semifinals. Mason will steal a couple games for the Preds, but cracking under pressure will ultimately be the Preds' undoing.

Prediction: San Jose in six games.

Eastern Conference predictions tomorrow!

Well, I got a couple pieces of homework done today: my final draft for my Japanese II oral presentation and my flash cards for the purpose of studying for my Japanese II quiz on Wednesday. Other than that, today's been an absolute bust. I didn't even get to make it to the gym. It was the one o'clock hour that killed me today, setting up for a group that had A) changed their meeting room a mere three hours before their event, necessitating major changes to the equipment requirements and setup, B) assumed that I would be bringing a laptop and sticking around for the entire duration of the event (3 hours) to run the equipment (we've never given out laptops and we're rarely available to stay for an entire event). Needless to say, it was a debacle and I'm hoping that doesn't set the tone for the rest of the week.

And now I'm going to have to head off to a class tonight that I didn't go to last week due to my finger injury and the week before, I left early due to a migraine completely shattering any potential concentration I might have had in the class. And unfortunately, I have no desire to go to class this evening, but I promised my professor I'd be there, barring any loss of limbs and so on. *sigh*

Again, I can't wait for the end of this semester. I desperately need a good, long break from academia.

As I do every year (except last year, obviously), NHL playoff predictions coming up on Wednesday...

This could potentially be the week from hell for me, homework-wise.

I have what boils down to four papers to work on: a film project for Medieval World (4-6 pages, encompassing two films), a critique on Rear Window, a take-home midterm for the same Hitchcock class that I've been putting off (read a chapter from the book, outline it and do a 'what-did-I-learn' bit on it), and a final draft for my Japanese II oral presentation. This is on top of work, my actual class meetings, and other miscellaneous things. I just want to get it all done by Thursday so I can actually have something resembling a weekend - even though I also have a shoot on Saturday evening and I need to test some audio configurations before that as well, to make sure I have all the proper components for an audio line feed. On top of that, there are demands on my time for a screening room project in New York. I'm actually a bit thankful that I haven't had to do any freelance web/graphics work lately.

I'm just glad this semester's almost over. I really need a break from all this class-related stuff. Mainly because I'm going to need to spend my time from the end of this month until the middle of June working primarily on video shoots, editing, and DVD authoring.

Eh, it's a living. I ultimately chose to be this busy, so I'll have to live with it.

As promised, a picture of my illustrious four stitches.

Clickie.

Well, I had an interesting morning. I tried to do something nice by doing the dishes before Danielle awoke. Unfortunately, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished. As I was cleaning the inside of a drinking glass, it broke and sliced an inverted 'V' into the side of my right pinky finger, with that inverted 'V' represented by a flap of skin hanging off my finger. After wrapping it carefully with several bandages (amidst lots of blood), Danielle woke up and I told her what happened. Neither of us were really certain if it was deep enough to go to the hospital. We went to Walmart and got some gauze and medical tape, after which I removed the bandages and she agreed that the hospital would be a good destination.

So here I sit, right pinky finger completely enveloped in medical gauze and a few stitches in my finger. Amazingly, this is the first time in my life I've ever had to get stitches and the first time I've been to the hospital (for myself) in close to a decade, if I remember correctly.

And of course, there shall be pictures of the stitches once the gauze comes off on Tuesday. Oh happy day.

Now it's off to do the homework that I had been planning to do all day. Yargh.

I turned my head to look outside just a couple minutes ago when a professor asked me if I've been staying dry. Instantly, I thought it had started raining. Nope. It's snowing like crazy. It shouldn't be snowing in April. At least, not in Jersey.

This is a sure sign that our society has become far too paranoid. The byline of "Residents alarmed; teens could be charged" should instead read "Residents stupid; teens should be commended for creativity."