The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Darren is certainly a scary...boy!

Why are passports such a pain in the a** to obtain?

Ok, I know there are tons of infidels who'd love to get their hands on a Canadian passport so they can get a ticket out of whatever heckhole they come from, but when you initially obtain your passport, why do they insist you go through the same time-consuming process again?

In other words, once your passport expires, what's wrong with renewing your passport by presenting your old, expired one with some updated photos of yourself? Why is it necessary to show the same birth certificate and driver's licence, all with the same I.D. numbers as before, that they should already have on file?

They let you keep your expired passport once you get your new one but that doesn't really make any sense. They should keep and destroy old passports so that forgers have a much more difficult job to do.

Does anybody know why they ask for the same stuff again and again?

For a movie that has the word "fathers" in the title, this film doesn't really have all that much to do with the relationships between father-son or father-daughter. I understand that the intention of the title is that every solider who fought in World War II are our "fathers", but when there is a character who plays the son of one of the Iwo Jima veterans who interviews other vets, they should tie it in a little more convincingly then they did with this film.

I have to admit I was also confused when Flags of our Fathers cut to interviews with the old war veterans. Most of the time I had no idea which soldier the actor on screen was trying to portray. Was that the Robert Patrick character? And I also thought the movie was much more interesting when they just concentrated on what happened up to, and during, the Iwo Jima battle. Flags of our Fathers tries to put more importance on the "tour" of three of the soliders captured on film raising the American flag, played by Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach and Jesse Bradford. They become overnight heroes and go from city to city to encourage the public to buy war bonds. Each character has their own struggles as they do the tour, including the somewhat clichéd thoughts of "Why me? Why did I live? Such and such a person deserved to be here, not me" etc. Adam Beach is a little too over the top as the guilt-ridden Native who struggles with these questions, but I think most of us would eventually come to the conclusion that every soldier who went to fight for their country are all equal in their bravery, and in war some live and some die and we have little control over which fate our fellow soliders will end up with. So the resolution to this problem isn't all that surprising.

The scenes at Iwo Jima are very well done. The measuring stick is of course the opening battle scene of Saving Private Ryan and while it is not as gripping, it is still very effective and the realism is there. I liked the fighter jet shots especially; the war planes descending on the island as they take & return fire. And before the battles, there were some nice scenes of camaderie between the different platoons. I wish this film just went with that instead of the cutbacks to present day and the "tour" aftermath, but it isn't the case.

So, at the end of the day this is a solid feature, but just not as moving as perhaps it should be. I think this is one of those movies that may improve with a second viewing, but in the meantime films like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red line will rate higher in my books.

The original Doom released in the early 1990s was a revolution in video games that is still felt today. The concept of a "first person" game came into full realization as instead of controlling a character from a side or overhead view, you controlled him through their "vision" of the events that transpire. It also opened the door to more violent games. Doom introduced animated blood and even allowed your character to use a chainsaw to kill it's victims. At the time, this was quite the eye-opener, but today the cartoony graphics don't quite have the same affect as it did when first released. Still, I find it fun to play and continue to do so from time to time.

Doom 2 followed with great success and what was supposed to be the last chapter, Final Doom, was released a short time later. The developers then moved on to a gaming series called Quake and it wasn't certain if Doom would ever be re-visted.

Doom 3 was released about 2 years ago on the PC and wow, to sum up: "What a SCARY game!" Using the basic concepts and monsters from the game made almost 15 years prior, the dark scenery and backgrounds with the haunting music and top notch graphics makes for a very intense experience. I don't know how many times I literally jumped from my seat from a surprise attack from a zombie or other form of creature.

The game is set in the future where your character is a marine sent to a scientific base on Mars to find a missing scientist and return him for questioning. When you find him, the base falls under attack by some form of supernatural monsters and it appears you are one of the few who survived. As you go further into the game, you discover scientists of the company UAC discovered a portal into Hell, and one of the most jaw-dropping components of the game is where you acually fight through Hell itself. The imagination of the developers is incredible, and at the same time I bet there are some who might have had nightmares the same day they played that level for the first time!

The engine on the X-box allowed for the transition of Doom 3 to its platform and it appears there isn't much difference from the PC version. The graphics engine needs to be seen to be believed. The realism and detail is uncanny: It's bloody, it's gory, it's scary and definitely not one for the tots, but for males aged 18-49, a chance to revisit and old favourite complete with 21st century technology updates simply cannot passed up.

If you like action games with tons of stuff to shoot at, you need to play Doom 3 .

Again, got tired with the old design so for a third time, changed up the blog look. I'll have to update the links section soon.

I was watching the Score today and they talked about Darren McCarty's bankruptcy proceedings. McCarty used to play for the Detroit Red Wings and is currently on the Calgary Flames' roster. He had about $6 million in debt and only $1.8 or so in assets, including outstanding business loans he doesn't expect to be paid back for, and his NHLPA pension. The lockout year definitely hurt him as he was counting on that year's salary to pay the bills.

It saddened me to hear he will soon be auctioning off many of his possessions, including his three Stanley Cup rings.

Darren scored the game-winning goal that gave the Red Wings their first Stanley Cup in over 40 years (see, you're not the only one Toronto!)in 1997. When the trophy was passed around the dressing room, he turned the Cup upside down, dumping out the champagne and loaded it with soda, and only then did he take a sweet sip from Lord Stanley.

McCarty was only 25 years old at the time but battling alcoholism. He showed maturity and poise by recognizing his sickness and not letting the heat of the moment interfere with what was more important. And I'm sure every one of his teammates were just that much more proud of him from that one action.

I hope he gets his life back on track. And I also hope the person who buys one of his rings, just might give at least one of them back. Hey Rob...got any spare change?

When you live fast and don't stop, this is the sort of thing that can happen. McCarty vows things will get better...here's hoping they do, Darren.

Ouch.

I didn't think another pounding was coming tonight. With the Battle of Ontario rivalry re-ignited after Tuesday's night shenanigans, I expected a tight, low-scoring affair with maybe a quick fight at the beginning to get things started. And I was completely off the mark.

It just seemed every weakness the Leafs have was exploited. I think the 1st goal summed up the state of the Maple Leafs performance in spades: After an Antoine Vermette shot missed the goal, it deflected off of Ian White's skate, who then did a 360 turn trying to figure out where the puck was, and that allowed Mike Fisher to whack the puck into the open net and get the goal. White, like Toronto, didn't know what hit them. The certainly did make things interesting making it 3-2 at one point in the second period, but the floodgates opened and they couldn't shut it down.

The Maple Leafs were the toast of their hometown after spanking the Senators 6-0 in the 2nd game of the season. But amazing how just three weeks can change everything. The Senators are now looking like one of the top dogs of the Eastern conference, while the Leafs are slipping to mediocrity, and worries about making the post-season will be discussed amongst their fans at the water cooler Friday morning.

On Ottawa's side, Joe Corvo looked like Muckler's best free agent signing since the start of his tenure as Senators' GM. Setting a record with most points by a Sens defenceman in a game with five, he's looking like the best defenceman Ottawa has. It's only been a handful games for Corvo, but he's been dynamite highlighted by his wicked shot from the point. On the other hand, Wade Redden is having the slowest start of his career after signing his 2-year, $13 million deal. He's the highest paid player on the team, and in my books if you're the best paid you better be the best player. There's still plenty of time to turn things around but he's on SBP's radar to turn it up a notch.

Anyway, for Sens fans like myself, this win felt great. Not just because of the high score, but the intensity and emotion they showed to their fans. Although no one dropped the gloves against Darcy Tucker, the team still gave the fans what they wanted with Neil yapping at Darcy to get it on, Phillips nailing him with a check that made Tucker's mouth bounce off the edge of the boards, and then it was topped with a big open-ice hit by Anton Volchenkov. Ottawa's #1 enemy was getting what Sens fans felt he deserved and loved every minute of it. Then Spezza showed why he is Ottawa's #1 centre racking up 5 points and Dany Heatley displaying his scoring touch getting the hat trick. Everything was going perfectly.

Now please...play this way in the Spring.

Might be a bit difficult to make out, but what you are seeing is my hockey pool win (circled are my picks and the pink highlights are the actual winners) where I successfully predicted 18 on 20 results for last weekend's NHL games. I turned $2.00 into $118...sweet! The previous week I didn't win but still did alright...13 on 18 correct, the winner correctly guessed 14 so I almost had a piece of that pie, too. Maybe Pro-line will be next?

We had our final United Way poker tournament at work where 1/2 the buy-ins go to charity. I lost three weeks straight but today managed to come out on top and take the $50 first prize (so in actual fact, I came out ahead $10 for the month)and handed out some bad beats at the end to win. With about 1/3 of the chips in front of me playing heads-up, I went all-in with 4-5 to steal the blinds but was called with Ace-King, and I hit a four on the turn to double up. My Queen-9 of diamonds clashed with King-9 of spades, but I rivered a flush to double up AGAIN. The last hand was an all-in with King-Jack, and I called with Queen-Jack and paired my Queen on the flop to become the winner. I can't remember the last time I laid so many bad beats in one sitting on someone, but, THAAAAAT'S poker! And this makes up for all those times SBP got the bad beats laid out on HIM!

Look at this...The Senators win back to back games. One by a score of 8-1, the next against their top rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2. Is this luck? Are these games not really indicative of the talent level of the Sens? I'm asking this to every Sens "fan" who declared the Senators would not make the playoffs, and that they would have to trade the likes of Jason Spezza & Daniel Alfredsson and start all over.

I'm not expecting Ottawa to win by 7 & 4 goal margins each time out, and at the same time I don't think Ottawa will finish #1 in the NHL (I figure a 4th or 5th place finish by the end of the season). But I do expect Ottawa will win consistently and make the post-season. And as the last few years have proven, all you have to do is make the dance and anything can happen. And they will do that.

As for tonight's Leafs game, there were two things that stood out in my mind that just reinforce my reasons for hating the Leafs: Darcy Tucker's charge on Patrick Eaves to force him into a fight. Everyone knows Eaves is NOT a fighter and that just reeks of cowardice. At least Wade Belak had the guts to fight Ottawa's tough guy Brian McGrattan; that's what they're paid to do. This was followed shortly afterwards by Chad Kilger's spear to the groin of Christoph Schubert. No question Schubert did trip Kilger prior to that, but he didn't commit an act that was intended to deliberately injure. I hope he gets a suspension for that action.

Positives: I'm loving the Antoine Vermette-Mike Fisher-Chris Neil line. They are creating tons of energy & chances and getting those lunchpail goals the rest of the team can feed off of. Chris Neil especially has been throwing lots of hits and making nice plays. I can't picture this line being broken up anytime soon.

The 2nd Leafs goal was definitely soft but Martin Gerber still had to stop 37 shots on net to get the win. There is no clear #1 for the Sens' goaltending right now, but it looks like Bryan Murray is ignoring the salary paid and will go with the better goalie, which is the right move. Ray Emery pushing the #1 spot should make Gerber play better.

Next game should be tons of fun. I'm sure the Leafs will want to make amends for the loss and will play hard: Bad blood left over from the fights and penalties will definitely spill over.

We love our celebrities. We love talking about them, criticizing them, seeing if their lives are getting involved in scandal. It's an ok diversion from time to time. But some of us take it to far, and some of us think of these people on a higher level. They're famous, they have money, they certainly must have a view of the world that certainly the rest of us plebs cannot understand, right?

I bring this up because I just rolled my eyes after reading a Yahoo! article regarding Madonna's wish to adopt a boy from Malawi. The article reads: The High Court in Lilongwe will on Friday start hearing the case lodged by the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), an alliance of 67 human rights groups, which argues current Malawi laws forbid international adoption, even by celebrities."

Now is it me, or do journalists really have to declare to the reader that laws are also binding to the rich and famous? Do people really think that there are a second set of laws for people that are more well known than you and me?

Ridiculous.

Nada. Zero. Nothing to say.

When you stop and think about it, the amount of time sports fans, myself included, talk about and watch their teams is incredible. We are elated when they win, and devasted when they lose. But it really doesn't make any sense. None of the players know who we are. None of them are from the city they're playing for with few exceptions. Most players will be traded or signed by another team during their tenure. And when they retire, the majority will choose to live somewhere other than the location of the team they last played for, unless they're offered a front-office job in some capacity.

Is Mats Sundin going to call you up to congratulate you on being a father? No way. And when we die, are the players going to stop by to pay their respects at our funeral because they know we were their #1 fan? Of course not.

But, we get caught up in the excitement regardless. And now Major League Baseball is offering fans the opportunity to show their support in the afterlife by having their remains placed in an official team urn. It doesn't surprise me it has come to this: I remember last year or the year before, a son honoured his mother's wishes and ran out onto the Philiadelphia Eagles' home turf during a game and threw her remains on the field. He was arrested, but has no regrets. She lived & died with her Eagles.

The first wave of MLB urns will be available starting in 2007. No price has been set, however for a lot of dead fans of their team, cost won't be an issue and many will be snapped up. It will be just a matter of time before the other sports leagues will follow suit, poor taste or not.

In my youth, there was an Indian convenience store called "Farrah's" that had a distinct curry aroma when you entered the shop, so we dubbed it "The Spice Shop". They carried one coin-operated arcade game at a time and one of the first games we played there was "Karate Champ".

It was the first game to my knowledge that had no buttons but the player instead controlled two joysticks. By manipulating one joystick in one direction and the other in another way, you could perform various moves. Right on joystick 1 combined with Up on joystick 2 would perform a lunge punch. Right on joystick 1 combined with left on joystick 2 would perform a roundhouse kick. You felt a real sense of accomplishment once you mastered the moves.

The judge would announce "begin" and would also say "half point" and a very enthusiastic "FULL POINT!" for successful attacks. The speech capabilities at the time were quite impressive.

On the X-box the translation is faithful, although because the joysticks on the old machines for this game were four-directional, you have to be precise with the joystick movement as it can't "read" diagonal movements. It can be frustrating as your character can't move if the joysticks aren't pressed precisely, but lots of practice will correct that.

This is a great two-player game and if you're playing against another who knows the combinations, it can make for some intense battles. My buddy Rob & I liked this game so much, we almost bought a full-size arcade machine of this game off Ebay a few years back. Sadly, it was sold to someone else before we could bid, but in hindsight, worked out for the best as it's now on my X-box. This game is so good, it even made an appearance on Jean-Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport back in 1988.

My Senators are making things too difficult for my liking.

I thought tonight's game vs the Avalanche would be a good opportunity for Ottawa to start a winning streak of some kind. The Avs played last night, they only have 2 victories, Jose Theodore has never played well against Ottawa, and you'd figure they'd be due for a power play goal.

It probably started when Dean Brown announced Colorado has never beaten Ottawa on home ice in, what, eight years? Let the jinx begin. Ottawa played a really strong first period, dominating puck possession and the Pizza line created some good chances. But for some reason, they fell asleep at the switch during the 2nd period and Colorado took advantage and squeaked by with a 2-1 win. It's also one thing for Ottawa to have a power play that's struggling, but when it's also become a liability, where you have allowed more short-handed goals than scored power-play markers for yourself, things can't get much worse, and something is definitely wrong.

A few positives I can take out of the game include Martin Gerber playing strong in net, Joe Corvo looked good in his first game as a Sen, and Dany Heatley FINALLY got one monkey off his back with his first goal of the year.

Jason Spezza is still playing horrible hockey. But the fans at last night's game really annoyed me when they decided to boo him once he touched the puck. You need to stand behind your players, and it's bad enough Leafs fans boo Alfredsson when he's in Toronto. THIS AIN'T THE AIR CANADA CENTRE FOLKS. Back up your players.

Funny thing is that, despite this tough start, I'm not that worried. But, ask me again the end of October, and I might just give you a different reponse. To try and give Ottawa a little bit of luck, I switched the Senators logo I usually do for my posts.

That's about all I can do.

A new feature has been added to the blog, and we'll see if it's popular enough to make it a regular occurence.

If you have a question about anything, anything at all, and want to ask me, click on the "comments" link at the end of the post and post your question, and I'll answer.

You can ask me anything...world affairs...local politics...films...if I want to go to a Sens game with you...maybe you want to know more about SBP and were afraid to ask.

Ask me a serious question, and I'll give a serious answer. Not so serious...you'll get pretty much what you'd expect.

Ask away! Now I'll just chug this beer to get ready...

The ol SBP is inspiring others to do their own blogs and of course, they asked me to spread the word so here they are:

www.johnnyproxy.blogspot.com

John tells us: "I'm angry, generally"

And Nirmala, fresh from her new life as a, uh, non-lead singer of a music group, has joined blogger as well:

www.missimperial.blogspot.com

If you have extra minutes you need to kill while at work, blogs are a great place to do it.

Other thoughts: My co-worker friend Derek almost won a seat at the World Poker Tour being held in Niagara Falls at the end of this month. I would have attended this freeroll tournament held by Labatt's over at Liam Maguire's this past Saturday, but like an idiot I completely forgot. There were two rounds of 48 people each, and Derek was heads up in the final round against the eventual winner. They were very close in stack size, so it was anyone's game. Derek was dealt 9-7 offsuit and called the big blind, who checked. The flop was 9-8-3. The big blind decided to go all-in and Derek immediately called with his top pair and was pleased to see the player was holding only 10-3. But, since it's poker, the turn was a 10 giving him two pair, and to rub salt in the wound, another 10 hit the river to make a boat and Derek was done. He was so close...and now all he has is a visor, a t-shirt and some cheesy hand-held game for his efforts. A bad beat to remember for a lifetime...

It may seem counterintuitive, but when you are a medium or big stack and the other players have very few chips remaining, you have to be careful when you decide to enter a pot with a raise, or worse, a flat call. If you are playing against short stacks who know what they're doing, they will move in all their chips at any time, either because they are down with so few chips the pot odds dictate they must move all-in with any two cards, or they actually do have a legitimate hand and push to double up.

If you are first to enter the pot, ask yourself, is this a hand that you are willing to go all the way with if the short stack moves in on you? If the answer is no, you should fold. See if there are any short stacks left to act when the action is passed to you. You should take a quick look at their chipstacks and estimate how much they have left and how much you have to commit if they do move all-in. Are you willing to call an all-in with pocket 4s? Are you willing to call with your Ace-rag? Consider folding if you don't want to put those extra chips at risk.

You might have so many chips that you decide to bully the short stack and raise if the action is passed to you, and force him or her to fold no matter what two cards you have. This strategy is ok if you're one of the bigger stacks. But if you just have an average stack of chips in front of you, you can get into a lot of trouble if you decide to raise with any two cards. If they push back at you, you have little hope if you raised with 6-3 offsuit. And if you are raising frequently, a good player will deduce your hands aren't the strong and throw it right back in your face.

It's not uncommon for the action to slow down when there is a short stack remaining at the table with just one place away that pays out. Quite often, you will not see the bigger stacks enter pots against each other. Rather, the only time a big stack will enter a pot is if they have a very strong hand, and the short stack will either fold or move in with all their chips. Once the player "on the bubble" is eliminated, the game resumes normally until, again, there's another short stack to bust out.

There are a lot of players who DON'T know how to play when the have a short stack. They might play passively and not realize their chips are dwindling and they don't have too much time left in relation to the blinds. They may limp into pots, or make a small raise and fold when faced with any pressure. A smart short stack understands when it's the right time to move in with all their chips, or fold. You should be observant and know exactly what type of short stack player you're dealing with.

What can be more embarassing then hosting a party and using glasses that are just, ugh, covered in spots?

Doesn't matter if you use the dishwasher or give them an old-fashioned hand cleaning. Those spots are visible, and your guests DO notice. So how do you ensure your glasses are spot-free?

The answer, quite simply, is steam.

That's right, all it takes is a little time circling the glasses over a steam source followed by a quick polish with a linen cloth, and, pocket 5s...I mean, PRESTO! Your spot problem is solved. Yes, do wash the glasses prior to the steam treatment in your conventional fashion (hand or machine); steam is NOT a subsititute for soap!

Spot-free glasses. Your party is now a hit! Thanks to the good people at Moxie's for revealing this ancient Chinese secret!

It wasn't a pretty victory.

They couldn't manage a powerplay goal. Dany Heatley still hasn't scored. And Jason Spezza played one of his worst games in recent memory, including a turnover that directly led to a Montreal short-handed goal.

But the end result is all that matters. A shootout victory will suit Ottawa just fine as they got out of their three game losing streak against a competent Montreal squad, playing in their home opener. It wasn't a fast paced full-throttle match up like the Calgary game, but Ottawa did dictate the play for the majority of the game and got some "lunchpail" goals from Denis Hamel and Chris Kelly that reflected the work ethic the Senators need to pick up wins.

The selections for the shootout were indeed interesting as Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza would normally get the call. But Murray, perhaps on a hunch or perhaps not wanting to put too much additional pressure on the Pizza line then they already have, went with the 2nd/3rd line players in Vermette, McAmmond and Fisher. He looked like a genius, as Fisher and Vermette scored to end Montreal's rally.

More important to me personally, is that I won four individual bets on tonight's game. Every bandwagon Sens fan is eager to profit from their losses, but for me there was just no way the losing could continue with the roster they have and the overall improved play since that 6-0 spanking by the Leafs. So, the victory has given me:

- One "tallboy" bottle of beer
- One bag of fresh-baked cookies from Cafe Deluxe (to be shared with my work lunchmates)
- One Subway chicken salad

And $5.00 cash money.

Ray Emery was solid in net, but I imagine Gerber will likely get the call Thursday against the Avalanche. He's paid $3.7 million a year, so he'll get every opportunity to rebound.

Hopefully, this win will allow some Sens fans to relax a little. You think that the world was coming to an end the way a lot of people were talking. It's a long season...77 games left to play.

Other thoughts: Mats Sundin managed to get a hat-trick and beat the Flames 5-4 in overtime and in the process get 500 career goals. I don't want to take anything away from his accomplishment, but the Leafs are getting extremely lucky blowing leads and managing to sneak away with one or two points. On the other hand, Sundin is racking up the scoring for my pools and I certainly can't complain about that.

Way back in the early 1990s, there was a convenience store/arcade across the street from my high school called "The Pantry" which was frequented during lunch and after school. (I never skipped class to play video games...hardly). Anyway, one coin-sucking machine that ate up a lot of my time was Exciting Hour, a video game which, at the time, was the standard for pro-wrestling games. Your character took on a variety of blatant stereotyped characters, including "Insane Worrier", "Coco Savege", "The Piranhia" and "Blues Bloody". Those typos were included with the game.

The old tricks stil work on the X-box: throwing your opponent into the ropes and allowing them to collide with you, you then rise and piledrive your opponent to the mat. Lather, rinse, repeat. And of course your finisher was always a trifecta of knee drops or 360 splashes off the top rope. If you take the time to look at the fans in the crowd, yup, you can see Darth Vaders on opposite sides of the ring.

After you manage to win the title match, you defend your belt against the same opponents over and over. The old games usually have this fault, in that they never really seemed to have an ending of some kind. And for some reason they never offered a two-player version, which is weird because it would have been lots of fun. But sometimes, that's how it rolls.

It's also weird how games with 2D graphics and basic control options can still be more entertaining then some of the more complex games they release today. It has a high fun factor, and that's what a lot of games seem to miss these days.

I love this old school stuff.

It started with a pretty lame response to my email, but when I wrote back I got a more intelligent answer. Probably because she realized then I wasn't some nutbar just looking to flame somebody. Bottom line: Not much can be done.

As per Gary DeMers comments, we do not have an adult category therefore these DVDs have a "R or 18A" classification.
We cannot ban or censor movies here in Ontario, it is against the law, we do not censor books, music or art, so why should we deprive an audience of adults their right to view a movie that is uncomfortable to a few.
There is plenty of info on the DVD that when purchasing or renting you would be aware of the contents and therefore not select this for your viewing.

Any questions please call

Regards


-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Ben Patrick [mailto:olsbp@rogers.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 9:12 PM
To: Robinson, Janet (MGS)
Subject: Re: Ghetto Fights 2 and Wildest Street Brawls


Hello Ms. Robinson,

Thank you for your response. If the 'R' rating is as restrictive a rating the OFRB can give, I guess there's not much else that can be done. It sounds like though, you may not have viewed the titles I discussed in my email. I say this because these titles aren't "movies" as you described, but rather an assortment of real-life video footage, captured by thugs and criminals depicting real-life crime. Imagine for a second, that your son or daughter was unexpectedly dragged from their car, beaten to the point of being unconscious, and then their valuables and possessions stolen from them. This entire act was caught on camera by these criminals. These crooks then send the footage of this crime to a production company, and get paid for it. This production company in turn makes thousands of DVD copies and sells them to the general public and profit from this crime. Your son and daughter, in the meantime, are not seeing one cent in compensation, but simply recovering in hospital from the injuries sustained. You would rightfully be appalled, and so would I. And that's what's happening. Is this a situation that is just "uncomfortable to a few"?

You mention Ontario does not censor books, music or art, but we do not, in fact, allow video sales of snuff films or films showing sexual acts with a minor. "Ghetto Fights 2" and "Wildest Street Brawls" may be at this level, and that is why I decided to write to the OFRB.

Thank you for your time,
Sean Benjamin Patrick

----- Original Message -----
From: Robinson, Janet (MGS)
To: olsbp@rogers.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 11:24 AM
Subject: FW: Ghetto Fights 2 and Wildest Street Brawls


The OFRB has the right of Approval/Nonapproval over adult product, if it contravenes the Criminal Code of Canada. we also follow the criteria for Obscenity, but do not define what is obscene as that is a judicial function.
I understood what you saying about the real life films, it is a sorry commentary on our youth who gratify in being in these films and enjoying watching their peers being beaten.
Perhaps you should lodge a complaint with the police, I assume they are as disturbed about these gangs as we are.
Thank you for your concern; it will be noted.

Regards

Janet Robinson
Chair
Ontario Film Review Board
1075 Millwood Road
Toronto On. M1K 4A6
Tel: 416-314-3631
Fax: 416-3143632
E-mail: janet.robinson@mgs.gov.on.ca

On October 10, 2006 at 9:26am , Alex and Kerri welcomed Finleigh Audrey to the world. What a gorgeous baby. Blessed with good genes!





Alex assured me the naming of their baby girl had nothing to do with WWE superstar Fit Finlay. Yeah right, buddy! :)



Congratulations you two!

Back in the early-to-mid 1990s, martial arts was a big part of my life. There was a time when I spent four days a week attending classes for Tae Kwon Do and Goshindo (a hybrid Martial Art that combined techniques from different fighting styles). When the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was introduced, the concept of determining the "best" martial art definitely appealed to me. Of course, it asked more questions than answered, and after about 4 or 5 of these events I stopped watching, simply because it was boring: A lot of rolling around on the mat without much action. But one of the initial stars of the show was Ken Shamrock, "The World's Most Dangerous Man". He won many bouts and is now a UFC Hall of Famer. But, a good ol' fashioned rivalry developed a few years ago.

One of the newer stars of UFC, Tito Ortiz, dispatched a couple of Shamrock's students. One of them was named Guy Mezger. The next fight after the win, Ortiz wore a t-shirt that said "Gay Mezger is my bitch." (Mezger had actually beaten Ortiz in a previous fight but Ortiz won the second). Shamrock was not too pleased with that complete lack of disrespect and a war of words between the two took place.

Ortiz then fought Ken's younger brother, Frank Shamrock, for the light heavyweight championship which was cited as one of the best UFC bouts ever, going nearly a full four rounds (championship bouts last five rounds; regular bouts three) before Ortiz got the victory. And wouldn't you know it, he had a special Frank t-shirt made after he was announced as the winner, and that was the final straw for Ken Shamrock.

They had their first bout in late 2002, with Ortiz winning because Shamrock's corner threw in the towel after the third round, feeling he was taking too much punishment.

A second bout fought just a few months ago last less than two minutes when the referee stopped the match because Shamrock wasn't defending himself enough against Ortiz' punches. Shamrock was NOT happy about this, and felt he could continue.

So tonight on Spike TV with no pay-per-view charges, they are going to go at it one last time. It makes for such a cheesy premise for a movie: The arrogant, disrespectful young "punk" going against the old-school legend to settle the score. Shamrock is 42 years old; Ortiz is 31. Ortiz' girlfriend is porn star Jenna Jameson; Shamrock doesn't bother with such shenanigans and is more the traditionalist. Ken isn't favoured to win simply because he's no longer at his prime, but he has a lot of pride and wants to teach his younger opponent a thing or two about respect.

These guys genuinely have a hatred for each other. It's not like meaningless verbal jabs like Mike Tyson vowing, "I will eat his children". They hate each other to the core. And that makes for great TV. For the first time in a long time, I'll be tuning into UFC.

Follow-up: The fight lasted less than two minutes and ended pretty much the way it did before, except this time Shamrock knew he was beaten. Ortiz originally refused to accept Shamrock's handshake once the fight finished, but after a few moments, changed his mind and they both took turns raising each other's arms to the crowd. There's drama for ya.

Three games into the season, my Sens are 1-2, including a humiliating loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-0 in their own arena. I've heard no less than two people tell me the Sens won't even make the playoffs. I've heard lots of people calling Martin Gerber the worst goaltending signing in this young NHL season. Pull the plug on this team, it's over.

I would like to take this time to disagree with these viewpoints. You know, being a Sens fan, aside for being a glutton for punishment for years & years of underachieving, is that you can't win. What if Ottawa was 3-0 right now? "Yeah, regular season, who cares, wait for the playoffs." Ok, so now they have a lousy 1-2 start. "See, they suck. They'll be lucky to make the playoffs."

Aside from all this, you can't tell anything from three games into an 82 game season. If you could, Steve Reinprecht and Kyle Wellwood would be battling it out for the Art Ross trophy. So to dump all over a team for losing back to back is a little shortsighted. Perhaps examine what the team is doing wrong, for sure, but to say they have no chance this year is taking it a bit far.

Here's my view on this: These losses are a bit necessary in the long term. Last season, things came too easily for Ottawa. They wouldn't really have to try, and they would win. Some people say that Ottawa didn't show much heart, but really, they didn't have to. There were blowing out teams by 3+ goals on a regular basis. So when it came playoff time and the matches were 1 goal contests against Buffalo (three of Buffalo's four wins were decided in OT) this wasn't an area Ottawa was familiar with. So when they played horribly against the Leafs, they got what they deserved: an a** kicking. Saturday they were behind the proverbial 8-ball early when Buffalo scored into the first minute and the Sabres managed two 2-goal leads, but at least in the 2nd and 3rd periods they were trying and didn't quit, closing the gap twice to one goal (but still coming up short). These are needed growing pains for the season to get ready for the playoffs.

We will likely see a reunion of the pizza line Thursday against the Flames as they clicked immediately when Murray put them together again. We aren't seeing Fisher & Schaefer click with Alfredsson so far, so let's go back to what worked before and try new line combinations.

Let's not blowup the team and trade Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson to Long Island for Alexei Yashin.

One last thought: Another good thing that came from the 6-0 spanking from the Leafs is a renewal of the rivalry between these two teams. Last year, it wasn't really close so there wasn't much excitement to the games. Now...hey, how is Ottawa going to respond? Did the Leafs just get lucky or are they the real deal? Are we going to see McGrattan and Belak chuck the knuckles after their lousy tilt on Thursday? Is Gerber going to run home and cry to momma? Lots of stories here, which will make for a game to look forward to. And really, that's what we always want when watching some NHL action.

You eating that turkey? Munching on that stuffing? Savouring some pumpkin pie? That's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Is anyone even reading this? I think weekends are less-than-busy times for the blog.

Today, the hardtop of my Jeep was put into place and the soft-top was removed to be stored away for the winter. I made my last, um, topless drive in the Jeep as it was a fairly nice day today. So until Sping 2007, no wind going through my hair as I cruise down the streets in the TJ. I'd like to give a big thanks to Rob for letting me store my Jeep parts in his garage. You just can't do that stuff in an underground parking lot.

Bring it on, winter.

Hey Ben!

Since you've been so supportive of controller.controller all these years, I
figured I should let you know directly that I've left the band. (Maybe
you'd eventually have read it on a message board or something, but whatever. I think you deserve to hear the news straight from me.)...It wasn't an easy decision to leave the band, not spontaneous, but it was amicable and for that I'm glad. It's all pretty bittersweet, but I'm happy.

I just have to ask if David Lee Roth ever personally emailed his biggest fan when he quit Van Halen? Nirmala certainly made me feel special with her note to me to tell me of her decision. It's really too bad that I won't get to hear her voice on upcoming CDs but at the same time, she's happy with her decision so what else can I do but be supportive of it?

Nirm, thanks for the music you gave me and the rest of your fans. We will cherish it always.

I have a weakness. Not just chocolate, or cake, or cookies (all stuff that starts with "c" for some reason)...but cheese.

Delicious, yummy cheese.

Looking at the menu at a restaurant, so many dishes to choose from. Delicious pastas, sandwiches, appetizers...but which ones have the cheese?

Everytime I make a Subway visit, no doubt about it, it has to come with cheese. Sometimes, when I'm feeling a little naughty, I ask for extra. It's been a year since I've done this, but not much beats a footlong meatball sub, with double cheese. A layer on the bottom, meatballs on top, then an another layer of that super yummy fromage, perfectly melted so the meat is enveloped with pure cheese goodness. (One time I also added bacon, but that's another story).

I have a weakness, yessir, and it's not just dessert. It's the cheese.

The season for the Ottawa Senators got a good start with a 4-1 decisive victory over the Leafs. It wasn't an exciting game, but when you're on the road taking the fans out of the game is part of a solid strategy. The fans were so crestfallen (give me $5), half the time they couldn't even bother to boo Alfredsson when he had the puck like they usually do.

Martin Gerber was great in nets, playing perfect position to block shots and made some good stops to keep Toronto from getting back in it. He has a calming aura about him...when the puck is heading towards the goal, you have a good feeling he'll stop it. Emery didn't quite give you that confidence even though their save percentages were nearly identical last season.

Patrick Eaves cashed in on his opportunity to play with Spezza and Heatley picking up two points, and really the only downer to the evening was the loss of Tom Preissing to a "lower body" injury. Let's hope it isn't serious, as losing Corvo is already a blow to their defensive corps.

Pool: My annual 37 man draft pool coincided with NHL opening night, and I think I did ok. I got to pick 1st and used it to pick up Joe Thornton. My 2nd pick was Alfredsson, and the only other Senator I managed to get was Peter Schaefer. I did NOT take Mark Recchi, John Leclair or Jeremy Roenick like in past years, having learned my lesson about old-timers. Shanahan was the only player that would fit that category and I picked him 16th which was great for value.

I even shocked myself by picking up Sundin and Tucker from the Leafs. Hey, I've come in 2nd more times than I want to count, these adjustments may help me get over the top for a 1st place finish.

My Sens made the final cuts to their roster with no big surprises and not much fanfare. Only two questions needed answering: Did Denis Hamel convince the coaching staff he deserves a shot at playing full-time in the NHL, and will Russian Alexei Kaigorodov make the Sens roster as the 13th forward or be sent to Binghamton, as he had a horrible pre-season and didn't look like a 2nd line centre everyone was hoping he'd be.

Hamel will stick around, but will only play as a third or fourth line player. His strength is scoring goals as he had 56 of them in his last AHL campaign, so it would make sense to try to get him some ice time with Antoine Vermette or Mike Fisher. He will have to work hard every night to keep his spot, as his inconsistency is the main reason why he's had to wait until he turned 29 years old to make the NHL.

The only reason why Kaigorodov made the roster, in my humble opinion, is that the Senators are afraid he may bolt for Russia if he was sent to Binghamton, undoubtedly because it would pay more. He still has tons to learn and hasn't adjusted to the NHL style, and seasoning in Binghamton would be ideal. But, not everything is as simple as a demotion. If Hamel or someone else up front flounders or gets hurt, Kaigorodov will be inserted in the lineup to show what he can do and improve.

The lines should look something like this tomorrow night:

Eaves - Spezza - Heatley
Schaefer - Fisher - Alfredsson
Hamel - Vermette - Neil
McHammond - Kelly - McGrattan

Redden - Meszaros
Phillips - Volchenkov
Preissing - Schubert

Joe Corvo is out so Christoph Schubert is inserted as the #6 defenseman. On a side note, I never realized how big Volchenkov is. He's an average (by NHL standards) 6"1, but weighs in at 237 pounds, more than tough guy McGrattan who weighs 225 and, well, anyone else on the roster. And the Sens only have three players less than 6" tall: Daniel Alfredsson, Dean McHammond and goaltender Martin Gerber, who are all 5"11.

Not sure what to make of Bryan Murray's comment that Gerber is "...not a phenomenal goaltender, but a good goaltender". I'm hoping it's a subtle fire lit under Martin that he can get better, but it also may harbour a bit of resentment if Gerber feels he is an elite goalie. Sens have been KILLED by less than spectacular goaltending, and I don't care what anyone says, if Hasek was healthy during playoffs the Sens would have gone further than they did. Anyway, it's safe to say Gerber isn't yet considered an elite NHL goalie, but he has a chance to prove he is this season.

So how will Ottawa do this year? They are not the favourites to win the Cup (I'll give that honour to Anaheim, maybe Calgary or Buffalo) but it's probably in their interest that they come in as a bit of an underdog; a team that doesn't achieve when it should. Less pressure is maybe what they need to get over their early playoff exits. They should have a solid season, finish atop their division or at least top five in the Conference and make the playoffs without much difficulty. Some one goal victories and less blowouts, which will make them work harder than they had to last season to get victories, might get them better prepared for the post-season.

But they'll crush the Leafs 5-1 or something to that effect tomorrow (I hope!). Can't wait for the puck drop, hockey is here!!!

I read an article in Sunday's Ottawa Sun regarding the sale of the DVDs "Ghetto Fights 2" and "Wildest Street Brawls". These DVDs capture real-life, illegal activities of criminals & thugs beating victims in complete graphic detail. Scenes include a male passenger being dragged out of his car, his head pounded against the pavement repeatedly until he is unconscious, and then his cash stolen from his pocket.

People have been making these videos and submitting to a distributor for a fee, who in turns sells them to mainstream outlets and continues to profit from these criminal acts. I found this appalling, so much so I decided to email the Ontario Ratings Review Board to request a change in their "18A" and "R" ratings assigned to these videos which allows pretty much anyone to purchase these DVDs. I'm not one who believes in censorship, but for the reasons explained in my email, these DVDs are clearly an exception:

Hello,

I read an article in the October 1st edition of the Ottawa Sun regarding the sale of the DVDs "Ghetto Fights 2" & "Wildest Street Brawls" in Canada that didn't sit well with me when I read about the contents of these productions. The sale of these DVDs has been classified as "Adult" by the B.C. ratings board, treating it like an Adult sex film undoubtedly because of the violence contained in it. I believe Ontario should reconsider it's "R" and "18A" ratings of these DVDs and assign it an "Adult" rating, prohibiting the sale of these DVDs in mainstream outlets and thus making it more difficult for minors to obtain, or perhaps even consider the outright ban of the sale & rental of these films to the general public.

I want to make clear I believe in freedom of expression and for the most part, feel most films & videos should NOT be banned. Some of my favourite films include violent movies such as Natural Born Killers, Saving Private Ryan and Goodfellas. However, the distinction between these films and "Ghetto Fights 2" & "Wildest Street Brawls" is that what we are seeing is not real. The film is scripted, no one is actually getting injured or victimized, and special f/x are used to portray the violence in these movies. "Ghetto Fights 2" & "Wildest Street Brawls" involve videos made for the express purpose of profiting from criminal behaviour. None of the action shown is fiction. The victims of the violence are NOT consenting. The camera people involved in shooting these videos are, in my opinion, accomplices to these acts that the criminals are shown doing. This is certainly much different than the local news reporting on a criminal act. I feel these videos should be submitted to authorities to prosecute the individuals involved in these crimes. Instead, they are submitting them to production companies and profiting from these real criminal acts. The Ontario ratings board, by assigning "R" and "18A" ratings, are in a way condoning this. Do the victims in these crimes, including one scene described in the Sun in which the victim is beaten unconscious and the cash from his pocket stolen, see any compensation from these production companies for these videos? I suspect this isn't happening.

We seem to treat sex more taboo than violence, and while the explicit depiction of sex between consenting adults is labeled with an "Adult" rating to minimize the availability of such videos and restrict access to minors, we don't seem to think the same way with real-world violence. In these videos (again, which I have not seen, but based entirely on the Sun article) we witness true life degradation and brutalization of human beings. Some cannot even defend themselves, including street people. There is no interest served to the public by having made these videos available, unless they are used to prosecute or track down these criminals but that is not happening. We cannot trust Corporations to not profit from items that we may look upon as reprehensible, immoral or criminal. I would urge you to consider my request to either reclassify to an "Adult" rating or consider a ban of such videos as "Ghetto Fights 2" & "Wildest Street Brawls".

Thank you for your attention on this matter,

Sean Benjamin Patrick

If they respond, I will post updates on the blog.

Not much time to write up a blog entry yesterday, Kylie & Jo had their big move and I was able to help for about three hours. Funny thing is that with the number of people we had (Andrew, Christie, Jason, Sean, Cindy, Neil, and of course Kylie & Jo) it made the time pass quickly and the work was distributed evenly so that it didn't really seem like work if that makes any sense. We had a good time chatting it up between breaks and stuff. Missed out on the free pizza, because...

Marc & Tracy tied the knot after being together for over 9 years yesterday. Congratulations you guys! It was a nice, small wedding and we spent a total of nine hours with the ceremony, reception and dancing afterwards. Unfortunately, this means that they are missing our Sunday poker night this evening :) but, I guess there's a valid reason here. Thanks for the invitation, there aren't too many couples I know that are as kind & generous as you two are, and you deserve all the best life can give. We'll see you soon when you get back from your honeymoon! BTW, that marble wedding cake was DELICIOUS!!!

Other thoughts: A 37" inch Sharp HD LCD Flat Panel TV is on sale for $900 off online at Futureshop. Sigh. That would be sweet. But we'll take care of my current debt first before I take on any more.