| Politics

As most of Newfoundland and Labrador knows, the Provincial election is coming up in October. All candidates have already hit their respective campaign trails looking for support, and the local media is on fire with coverage... but I'm personally not feeling it.

I'm very much a local person and lover of my home. I do pay close attention to the issues in our Province. My deep desire to forever keep our unique identity keeps me engaged in all things nearby. I'm just having a hard time right now focusing on the smaller picture.

With an economic crises unfolding and a true possibility of the collapse of monetary systems around the world lurking, I can't really think about Muskrat Falls, ya know? With the cover-up of huge events such as 9/11 continuing to this day, I can't really focus on what Danny did or did not do as Premier. With protests, riots, uprisings and revolutions happening all around the world, I'm not really interested in two political leaders happening to run into each other on the campaign trail. Maybe it's just me, but I'm just not into it. Not at all. It's not like me, but it's reality. My interest is not sustained by the local debates, as it's the same push button politics we always hear. It goes beyond that though, I think. Push button politics exist on the grandest of scales too. It's just that right now, the grandest of scales are very unstable, and that's where my focus is... for now anyway.

And for the record, I'm not saying that I'm not going to vote. That's just crazy talk. I'm just saying that these folks I'm voting on are going to have to do quite a bit to get my attention right now, that's all. I'm just not feeling it.

| Blogging

I would think that a high percentage of my posts on this blog are ones referencing my 'return to blogging'. It's been no secret since I started doing this whole web log thing back in 2005 that lengthy absences are frequent. To be fair however, I do have a pretty big network of blogs that I update. Strike that, try to update. I can't even pass the full blame on the lack of updates here on me having many blogs, because they all suffer at times. The summer is generally the time I tend to be removed from blogging most. I guess the winter makes it easy to stay inside and get it done, while when the sun is shinning I want to be out and about enjoying it. Now that fall in the air, it seems I'm comfortably transitioning into my blogger world once again.

One of the blogs which I run is currently in the middle of an awards session actually. This constantly evolving entity is called the NL Blogger's Choice Awards and this year is the 2nd annual. The contest features 3 selections per 10 categories, all featuring blogs from Newfoundland and Labrador, the place and live and love. The vote opened on September 15th and will be open until the end of the month. It's open to anyone anywhere, with the ability to vote once per day.   Check it out if you haven't already.

Hockey season is fast approaching as well, and with that comes the 7th annual Wasting Time Fantasy Hockey League. Nothing really special to the outside world on this blog, but it is a place I try to update for the 16 folks involved in this highly developed and pretty intense league. It's probably common to all those who partake in fantasy hockey leagues, but the 'GM's in this league take things seriously. All in good fun of course. But serious fun... and none more than myself, the Commish of the league :)

Outside of those two worlds, my political fancy has been tickled as of late too. It was sparked mostly by the 10th anniversary of the attacks on 9/11 which came and went last Sunday. Leading up to that day I felt an extreme urge to once again partake in the 9/11 Truth infowar which grasped me so firmly in years past. It wasn't as if I felt guilty for being away or anything, but more that I felt updating the Canadians For 9/11 Truth blog during this time would be benificial in that infowar. It's a high  ranked site within most search engines after all, and new updates only serve to help that. Now that I'm back in that blogging world, I'm hoping that I can find the time to stay in there, at least semi frequently.

So yeah, I guess I do spread myself thin when it comes to blogging and sometimes I do take breaks, by choice and not sometimes, but in saying that, it's pretty evident that I'm a blogger and forever will be.

| Ghost Rider, Movies and Film

Just on the heels of my last post of images from the upcoming Ghost Rider film comes a few more goodies to share. This time it's far more images, and they're moving rapidly in succession to tell pieces of a story. This is otherwise known as a teaser trailer!

I've watched this about 6 thousand times so far and I'll probably watch it a few thousand more before February. There goes my 'trying to stay out of the loop this time' idea eh? Here I was thinking I would actually be able to not watch one trailer, not look at one poster. Sheesh, who was I kidding really? Oh, and speaking of poster...

You can click the image for a larger version (posted on the ever awesome SuperHeroHype.com) if you want a better look.

I'll going to have leave you with that for now. When I get more time, I'm sure to blabber on with my thoughts about all this, but in one word at this very moment here's how I feel - Excited.

| Ghost Rider, Movies and Film

While I am indeed making a concerted effort to stay very much out of the loop of any developments concerning the upcoming Ghost Rider reboot, I couldn't help but take notice of an article posted on SuperHeroHype a while ago which displayed some new images.

The imagery presented here pretty much solidifies reports that this movie will have a far different tone to it than the first one did. Ghost Rider has a much darker, scarier look this time around and from what little I've read, I understand that this movie will indeed be darker. Nic Cage also elaborated on this thought recently at this years comic con, which you can watch below:



Nicolas Cage gets Scarier for Ghost Rider II from Elliot Kotek on Vimeo.

Most of the negative feedback given to the first incarnation of the character was that the film wasn't dark enough. The long time fans of the character were those most vocal and it'll be interesting to see if this version satisfies. Time will tell...

| Movies and Film, Pearl Jam

Need I really say more? Watch!

| L.A. Kings

In the summer of 2010 I spent a considerable amount of time stating two words over and over again: King Kovi. Both my friends and perhaps the folks on LetsGoKings all eventually hated me because of it, but I truly believed it was about to happen and didn't back down from that position. That is until Ilya Kovelchuk said no to playing with the Los Angeles Kings, which of course was much to my dismay. After having a vision in my head for so long of what the roster would look like with the inclusion of this sniper, discovering that it wasn't going to happen was quite the heart breaker. I'm not sure what was worse though; seeing my favorite team not get the player, or the ridicule I felt from my peers when it didn't happen. In the end it was probably for the best, considering how Ilya played for most of the year, but I still can't help to think how different the Kings would have been with that addition.

It's rather sad that I haven't posted anything about the Kings in a year, especially anything regarding what I note above. That has a lot to do with taking care of a rather intense fantasy hockey league as the commissioner during the season but beyond that, I've been busy with the NL BlogRoll these days as well, let alone work and life and all that stuff. I have followed my beloved Kings all season however, through the ups and downs, to the eventual 7th place finish in the Western Conference with 98 points. Not a bad close at all, considering they were down two key players during the final tough games of the season. One of those players being Kopitar, hands down the best player on the team, was not good to say the least. They went into the post season without this key players as well, in the end losing to the Sharks in 6 games of the first round. I wasn't heartbroken at all over this though. I kind of didn't want them to win without King Kopitar anyway. It just wouldn't feel right without him and there's always next year... which of course will be 'our' year. :)

In related news, I have to mention that former Kings player Teddy Purcell went on to have a very great year with Tampa Bay. That was very good to see because I always knew he had it in him. I just wish he were able to find that groove in LA. It would have been nice to have that Newfoundland Labrador connection on my favorite team of 20 years.

Speaking of Newfoundland and Labrador connections, Michael Ryder is now the second Newfoundland born player to win the Stanley Cup. Congrats Michael! To all the Boston Bruins for that matter.

While I'm at it, it's just as well I mention that St. John's is getting an AHL team this coming season. It's going to be Winnipeg/Manitoba/whoever's farm team. Oh yeah, as a side note, Atlanta Thrashers have been sold and moved to Winnipeg! That's seven Canadian teams! As exciting as that is, I'm equally jazzed about the AHL team, but mainly because of the chance of seeing LA's farm team play. That's going to be awesome.

Anyway, crazy tangent (after tangent) there; sorry about that. It's been such a long time since chatting hockey on the blog here that I think it's all just blurting out. What's funny about this is that I'm actually gearing up to take a break from hockey now (well, maybe after July 1st; free agency day!). With all the hockey hoopla over the long winter, I need that break to refresh. Having said that, I'm already looking forward to a new season. Kopi back on the ice and full year with Penner (trade deadline day addition) in place, plus any new additions Dean will bring in, should make for a very exciting hockey team next year.

Until then, I'm going to get out there and enjoy my summer!

| CDs and DVDs, Movies and Film, Pearl Jam

It was devastating for me to read that Pearl Jam were doing another tour this year in Canada and not visiting the Atlantic portion of it. It's perhaps a little drastic to be devastated by such news but, since they visited our tiny province back in 2005, I've been dying to see them again. After being teased with the Canada reference, I was just kinda bummed when I discovered the tour was only going to be a few shows, that's all. I'm sure any PJ fan who saw either of the shows half a decade ago in St. John's probably feel the same way as I do, or Halifax for that matter...

Ah well, such is life. There are a bounty of delightful things happening this year in the world of Pearl Jam to keep me perky. I really shouldn't be too bummed about it all. The Band is celebrating their 20th anniversary all year after all, and they're doing so with a bang. I don't mean just touring and huge Labor Day festivals either; I'm talkin' about CD's being released...

• We already had a release of 'Live on Ten Legs'.
• A super deluxe box set of VS and Vitalogy has also been released.
• 'Eddie Vedder Ukulele Songs' will be released very soon which can be listened to in it's entirety right now (as I post this anyway) by visiting here.

Better yet, I'm talkin' about the upcoming release of Cameron Crowe’s brand new film, 'Pearl Jam Twenty', which will hit theaters and PBS in September, let alone the accompanying book and soundtrack album. This is perhaps the best news of all and I don't mean to wish my time away but... come on September! Check out the first glimpse (a teaser really) of the film below:


MookiePJ from Pearl Jam on Vimeo.

So yeah, I won't get to see the band soon (unless I can make it to one of the three easterly cities), but at least there is still plenty to celebrate. I know this fan is quite excited.

Happy 20th Pearl Jam!

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