Gregg Easterbrook is an IDiot

A few years back Easterbrook was by far my favourite writer about the NFL. He was funny, erudite, knowledgeable, and his opinions on everything reeked of fanboy delurium. Then he went and said some really stupid things about Jewish control of Hollywood, and it cost him his gig.

Well, he's back writing for ESPN. Unfortunately, he hasn't smartened up all that much in the interim. Like the once admirable author Orson Scott Card, Easterbrook fell for the odious 'Intelligent Design' theory hook line and sinker, going so far as to write really stupid things in its defense.

Now, on the whole its much better that Easterbrook be out and proud of his intellectual backwardness when it comes to ID theory than cagey and specious about his anti-semitism, if only because its a lot easier to chart his lunacy when he isn't trying to mask it.

Here's his latest stupidity;

"Here's the rub, unmentioned in news coverage of the Mars water finding: Readings suggest liquid water last flowed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago, and has not done so since. How could this have happened? An essential aspect of Earth's geologic history is the "faint sun" problem. When the Earth formed, about 4.5 billion years ago, our star, Sol, gave off less heat and light than today. It is thought that for much of the early eons, Earth was a snowball, because the sun's heat was insufficient to melt water on our world. Gradually solar output increased as the material of our star compressed; somewhere around a billion years ago, Sol began emitting as much heat as it does today, the Earth warmed, and complex life followed. But if Earth was a snowball 3.5 billion years ago how could Mars, much farther away from the sun, have been warm enough for flowing water?"

Ok, where to start?

A. It is not an 'essential problem' of solving the Earth's geologic history that we uncover the 'faint sun' problem, since most rational people have concluded that natural processes like the 'greenhouse effect' (see: Venus) can account for the warm temperatures found on earlier Earth.

B. It is not thought that much of Earth's early history was that of a snowball, in fact, it is understood that the Earth was relatively close its current temperature for most of its history (with variations in temp that acccount for the occasional ice-ages etc.). What needs explanation is not how life developed on a snowball, but why was Earth not a snowball if the Sun's output is only 75% of what it is now.

C. Ditto for Mars. Mars gives us all the evidence of having been both warmer and wetter in its past than it is now. Again, atmospheric composition is the most likely candidate for explaining this phenomenae.

Ok, so why is Easterbrook so interested in this 'essential problem if earth's geologic history' that is neither essential nor a problem?

I think it's because he spends too much time reading these guys, and taking them way, way too seriously.

They are all Meat

Here is proof that good science fiction movies can be;

1. Short
2. Funny
3. Light on special effects
4. reliant on no-name actors like 'Mr Dollarhyde' from 'Manhunter' to great effect.

Colbert vs the Media lapdogs of BushCo.

Header-link takes you to the video of Colbert's speech at the WhiteHouse Correspondents dinner.

It will no doubt be considered a classic comedy piece over the coming decades for several reasons;

1. It is painfully, screamingly, funny.

2. The audience made up largely of politicos, military and media are the targets of Colbert's acid satire, and for the most part, they either; don't get the joke, get the jokes but don't think they are funny, or worst of all, realize that they are in fact the joke, and Colbert is simply telling them the truth. In any case, the laughter from the audience is sparse, and at best intermittent, causing some pundits to claim he 'bombed'. Far from it. It's the sound of an entire news culture having its nose rubbed in to the reality of their craven cowardice.

Australian Rules Football and Michel Foucault

It seems the monster of post-modernity is still alive and well and kicking footballs in Australia.

What does the intellectually deranged relativism and post-Nietzche malaise of Foucault have to do with sports backwater chimera child of soccer hooliganism, rugby and head injuries, you might ask?

It seems Foucault's identity politics (how power shapes identity - in this case, how media portrayals and charcterizations reverse form a players personality) are being used to address 'character issues' in recruiting players.

In other words, frankly speaking, not a damn thing at all.

That all said this is the capper;

"Then, player salaries were lower and footy clubs were almost carefree in their risk-management practices. Nowadays, the write-off cost of a defective or disruptive footy player is bigger, and thus so are the worries of prudent footy executives. Foucault helps them to tackle those worries.

Elsewhere, the business community has been, on the whole, slow to adopt Foucault's contributions to the philosophy of accounting. But the Australian Football League has built itself a platypus of a game by incorporating odd elements from the most unexpected places. It is unafraid to throw something different - even a dead French intellectual icon - into its business plans."

So at least the owners seem 'reassured' by these Foucaultian influences, which perhaps is the best PM joke of all.

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

`You don't believe in me,'' observed the Ghost.

``I don't,'' said Scrooge.

``What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?''

``I don't know,'' said Scrooge.

``Why do you doubt your senses?''

``Because,'' said Scrooge, ``a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!'' - Dickens

Fermi's Paradox

In a previous post I mentioned that my favourite math of all time is the 'Drake equation' that calculates the number of potential intelligent species sending out radio signals per galaxy. In that post I mentioned that when I ran the numbers I would get an answer in the hundreds or thousands, and this prompted a minor debate between Richard and I over the variables.

Mea Culpa. I am saddened to point out that when I run them with a clear head, even my optimistic calculations still yield just one or two for our galaxy, and not the teeming multitude that I had thought.

Related to the Drake equation is the Fermi Paradox, which was a speculation on the presence of intelligent life in the galaxy that preceded Drake's calculation by two decades.

I've culled the following definition from an article whose response to the paradox is not only 'radical' but I think typically anthropocentric in it's limited vision.

Sometime in the 1940s, Enrico Fermi was talking about the possibility of extra-terrestrial intelligence with some other physicists. They were impressed that life had evolved quickly and progressively on Earth. They figured our galaxy holds about 100 billion stars, and that an intelligent, exponentially-reproducing species could colonize the galaxy in just a few million years. They reasoned that extra-terrestrial intelligence should be common by now. Fermi listened patiently, then asked, simply, "So, where is everybody?" That is, if extra-terrestrial intelligence is common, why haven't we met any bright aliens yet? This conundrum became known as Fermi's Paradox.

AR: I think Drake's equation coupled with modern astronomical theory solves the paradox for Fermi;

A. The premise is incorrectly understood, I suspect a function of 1920's astronomy. Intelligent life in a the universe is extremely likely given the staggeringly large number of stars that would be ideal for life to generate. However, Drake's equation shows that at any given time a galaxy of roughly our size would have only 1-5 intelligent species capable of radio transimission. So while the universe itself could be teeming with life, our own neighbourhood - the milky way, could well be barren save for us, and even if we lucked out and the number is higher, there is another problem;

B. Even if the galaxy is teeming with life, it is still a very, very, very long way away, and light speed is still the speed limit for getting any place. If you want to calculate how many alien species develop technologies that violate the light speed barrier so that they can buzz Kansas farmers at will, be my guest, but the odds on favourite way for us to discover intelligent life in the galaxy is with a radio antenna, not UFO hunters.

So there is my bashing of Fermi's paradox, but the real fun is what follows;

"I suggest a different, even darker solution to the Paradox. Basically, I think the aliens don't blow themselves up; they just get addicted to computer games. They forget to send radio signals or colonize space because they're too busy with runaway consumerism and virtual-reality narcissism. They don't need Sentinels to enslave them in a Matrix; they do it to themselves, just as we are doing today. Once they turn inwards to chase their shiny pennies of pleasure, they lose the cosmic plot. They become like a self-stimulating rat, pressing a bar to deliver electricity to its brain's ventral tegmental area, which stimulates its nucleus accumbens to release dopamine, which feels…ever so good."

You see, Mr. Miller is an assistant professor at the university of New Mexico in Psychology, so naturally the premise for why we don't see more intelligent species in the galaxy visiting us is a psychological one, that the aliens fail to build radio antennas because they become decadent, selfish creatures addicted to pleasure.

Here is Miller again;

"I suspect that a certain period of fitness-faking narcissism is inevitable after any intelligent life evolves. This is the Great Temptation for any technological species—to shape their subjective reality to provide the cues of survival and reproductive success without the substance. Most bright alien species probably go extinct gradually, allocating more time and resources to their pleasures, and less to their children. They eventually die out when the game behind all games—the Game of Life—says "Game Over; you are out of lives and you forgot to reproduce."

AR: So the suggestion is 'they forget to reproduce'. Cuz, you know, we see that all the time. Creatures everywhere reach a stable population, and then, you know, forget to reproduce. Honey I don't feel like sex, because I have an iPod!

I'd say Miller's insight falls somewhere short of genius. But we do get further insight to both his technophobia and his erotophobia here;

"Heritable variation in personality might allow some lineages to resist the Great Temptation and last longer. Some individuals and families may start with an "irrational" Luddite abhorrence of entertainment technology, and they may evolve ever more self-control, conscientiousness and pragmatism. They will evolve a horror of virtual entertainment, psychoactive drugs and contraception. They will stress the values of hard work, delayed gratifica tion, child-rearing and environmental stewardship. They will combine the family values of the religious right with the sustainability values of the Greenpeace left. Their concerns about the Game of Life will baffle the political pollsters who only understand the rhetoric of status and power, individual and society, rights and duties, good and evil, us and them.

This, too, may be happening already. Christian and Muslim fundamentalists and anti-consumerism activists already understand exactly what the Great Temptation is, and how to avoid it. They insulate themselves from our creative-class dreamworlds and our EverQuest economics. They wait patiently for our fitness-faking narcissism to go extinct. Those practical-minded breeders will inherit the Earth as like-minded aliens may have inherited a few other planets. When they finally achieve contact, it will not be a meeting of novel-readers and game-players. It will be a meeting of dead-serious super-parents who congratulate each other on surviving not just the Bomb, but the Xbox."

AR: If the 'The Great Temptation' rings apocaplyptic I don't think that is an accident. Neither is the suggestion that Christian and Muslim fundamentalists will be the forces that end up prospering after the 'The Great Temptation' wipes out everyone else.

What Miller has really done here is make the best case possible for the fundamentalists, albeit in a language sideways from reality. The 'Great Temptation' where a species becomes narcisistically enthralled by capitalist goods dovetails with the both the conservative and apocalyptic right crowd. At its core, it is a fear that if you give people the freedom to pursue their own wishes they will choose idle pleasure over stoic labour. Pleasure then as an end, is to be eschewed as being non-productive, and discouraged. Hence, don't have sex for pleasure because it is unproductive, and etc. etc. for the whole conservative social agenda, only Miller has wrapped it all up in a fanciful tale of how we should adopt this mindset to avoid extinction, and ultimately become 'dead-serious super-parents'.

I wonder if Fermi's Paradox may be a sort of philosophical Rorsharch test whereby asking an academic to solve the paradox reveals more about the academic than about the paradox.

In this case, it's revealed a pleasure fearing conservative longing for an escape from his iPod.

Steve Nash to win MVP #2

Proving last years win was no fluke, Nash did what I thought would be impossible; he got even better.

The Suns dropped three starting players from last years roster keeping only Shawn 'the Matrix' Marion and Nash. They lost their elite pick n' roll finisher Amare Stoudamire for the season. They let Joe Johnson sign with the Hawks. They dealt their starting 2 guard to the Knicks for a centre.

All Nash did was take the collection of players brought in and hand them ALL career years in stats.

That bears repeating, no less than seven players who played for the suns this year had career best seasons - including himself.

He's the best passer in the league, and the best point guard in a generation.

The only remaining question is whether or not he can get the Suns to a title, but whether he does or not, the Hall of Fame will be calling his name.

An age restriction on the FUNHL?

Doug makes a quick case for an 'Age Restriction' (it's really an 'experience condition', but AR is the essential element), here;

"Kessel or Staal - I still think selecting an 18year old in the first round as an FP is dumb but if you want to do it, be my guest. I'm more concerned about selecting an 18year old prospect in the last round so no one can take him as a prospect and then rudely tossing him away the next week to the waiver wire. As such I propose that we require that players taken in the ED have to have played at least one NHL game. Keep prospects for the prospect rounds (it may be the best way for the Wolves, Edge and Knights Templar to finally build the franchise they need to win it all). If you want to make an exception for FPs, fine, I really don't think there are that many GMs who would do it as there truly aren't that many Crosbys and Ovechkins out there."

AR: I endorse the proposal, but only with the FP exception attached.

- An FP selection is a 'go big or go home' selection, and Gms should have full freedom of movement in exercising it. If they want an 18 year old who hasn't played a game, that's up to them.

-16 of the top forwards selected in the last 25 NHL EDs were FP worthy. Adjust for definably weak draft years (the first forward selected is not among the top 2 selections) and you get a ratio of 73% FP hits.

For the record,

FP Hits (16):

81-Hawerchuk, 84-Lemieux, 87-Turgeon, 88-Modano, 89-Sundin, 90-Nolan, 91-Lindros, 92-Yashin, 97-Thornton, 98-Lecavalier, Heatley-00, Kovalchouk-01, Nash-02, Staal-03, Ovechkin-04, Crosby-05

FP Misses (6): Bellows-82 (with 9 seasons of 30 goals or more including one 55 goal year, and a 40 goal year, he was only a marginal FP failure opinion IMO, and I was tempted to credit him as a 'Hit' because he was at LW), Lawton-83, Clark-85, Murphy-86, Daigle-93, Stefan-99

Weak Draft years (out of top 2 picks) (3): Bonk-94, Dumont-95, Kilger-96

Not only is drafting the best forward available in a given ED year as an FP a better than an even up proposition, you are looking at getting a legit FP 3 out of every four times you do it so long as you don't pick the best forward in a year where 2 or more other positions get picked ahead of him.

So, for me, the exception for FP's must remain in place for the rule change to work. Gms not only should have the freedom to make these players FPs without them having played a game, I'd argue it is statistically meritorious in the long run to do so.

The Merits:

If we have the exemption for FP selections, Doug's plan does have the merits of; eliminating the frivilous draft picks that bother some GMs, improving the quality and coherency of Omnivore lineups, and ending the poaching of potential prospects.

However, it also repudiates the 'you can draft anyone you want' philosophy of the pool that has been around since its inception.

All in all, I'm in favour so long as there is an FP exemption.

The Bladerunners, the FUNHL, Phill Kessel and other stuff

My apologies for the light blogging of late, especially on matters FUNHL

First off, congratulations to the Bladerunners on their second Predator Cup

Forgive me for not celebrating too hard at their admission into the 2+ Predator Cup holding Pantheon, but I was forced to root for them as the lesser evil.

Darth Darell and his Personal Vendetta had to be stopped from reaching 3 cups at all costs, and even a Bladerunner victory was worth the price of stopping him. That he did not accomplish this horrific victory of evil over good, we can all celebrate.

Congratulations as well on winning the Challenge Cup.

(Note that the Severed Heads finished THIRD in the league but somehow still managed to collect a losing record in the Challenge Cup. This statistical absurdity settled down a vicious cycle of blame that was cascading through Heads mgt between Team Pres., The GM, and Coach. The blame game for the poor showing was assuaged upon recognition that the teams failure was ultimately the fault of the schedule maker gods and not of anyone in Heads Mgt.)

FUNHL SEASON ENDING THOUGHTS

- I know this is a tad existential, but c'mon, did it really have to be the Bladerunners? Couldn't it have been the Wolves or the Edge? Both teams were blown apart by injuries and/or sucking franchise players for much of this year, both are original franchises, and both are long, long overdue for cup wins. If it can't be the Severed Heads I am definitely rooting for one of them.

- Wow. In what I believe is easily the worst free fall in the history of the pool, the Knights Templar burn to the ground after flying as high as 3rd overall 2/3rds through the season. How bad was it? The Knights held a 100+pt gap over the Edge with only 5 weeks to go, and somehow managed to finish dead freaking last.

Some teams win the Herbivore in a dogfight to stay out of last, competing with every last breath against that other GM just a bad lineup change ahead of them. Some Teams have won the Herbivore by wide margins - awful terrible seasons that cripple the soul.

But this is by far worse.

In all cases we've seen before the Heribivore has always been won by a team that sank in the standings relatively early on - in almost all cases, the Herbi is earned by a team already in the bottom four and usually the GM in dead last by WD2.

In short, this is a pants-crapping of another magnitude.

The Knights were in 3rd place at WD2, and conceivably still in the hunt for the Predator (though probably only in theory, the BR and PV had already split away from the pack) when the powerdive began.

To blow that kind of lead with only a handful of weeks remaining, not to just finish low, but to actually bottom out and win the Herbivore, well that's gotta be at least as legendary a pantaloon-diarrehea-bomb as the Ramapithicines once posting a lineup that lost points - if only because that spectacular cave-diaper-soiling by the legions of Og only lasted for a week.

- Kudos to the Edge for once again being the officialy scapegoat of the injury gods. So long as they hate you the most, the rest of us are safe.

- I wake up screaming because of Darth Darrell's drafting. He picked two 40 goal scorers at LW in Shanahan and Gagne, and that was after he chose a 100 pt RW in Alfredsson.

- That said, the three teams that scare me the most right now are; The Great Whites, The Bladerunners and the Highlanders. Maybe scare is too strong a word, perhaps, concern is better. Ultimately, I need my Heatley-Spezza-Jagr-Horton quartet to be equal or greater than the quartets of; Staal-Hossa-Malkin-Luongo, Nash-Zetterberg-Brodeur-Pronger, and Thornton-Jovanovski-Crosby-Zherdev, for the Heads to be at roughly equal footing with the front runners going into next years ED.

- The Highlanders and Shadowmen GM both gleefully pointed out that Kessel is no longer the top rated prospect on many scouts lists, and thus is not an FP waiting to happen. No argument from me. My point was merely that historically the top picked forward (with two exceptions) over the last decade and a half was FP worthy. If that prospect is someone other than Kessel (i.e. Jordan Staal or Jonathon Toews) then my point remains that whoever that player has a statistically significant chance of being FP worthy. Other prospects may have overtaken Kessel for the top forward slot, but the argument remains that whoever that top prospect is should be a top consideration as replacement FP.

- That all said, my gut says Kessel despite all his warts, is still the guy to take.

- The Haves and Have Nots. Here's a disturbing trend to consider, of all the Predator Cups won since the start of the pool, 7 Gms have won the big prize (Dan, Doug, Bob, Corey, Darrell, Corey, Brian and Me), and all of those GMs now have two or more each. That leaves 5 Gms who still need to lose their virginity.

- I believe that I am the only GM who has both won the Predator Cup AND won the Herbivore.

- Dallas is simply getting abused by the Avs. Redemption for Theodore is just around the corner.

- Montreal had been manhandling the Canes, but the loss of Koivu may turn the tide in the series. Speaking of les Habitants Kovalev always looks better in the playoffs than the regular season, and this year is no different. He's a difference maker.

- The top UFA available in the NHL this off-season should be Patrick Elias. Didn't see that coming at the start of the year, did ya?

- Philadelphia's problems still stem from one glaring weakness, goaltending. Sooner or later Clarke is going to take the fall for cycling unproven netminders through the system at such a blistering pace.

- Brian Gionta's story book season where he re-writes the Devil's goal scoring record continues in the playoffs as he and the satanically influenced pound the Rangers. Is he an FP? I don't think so, but I for the moment I'll remain officially agnostic.

- Bertuzzi has to be done with the Canucks, but the idea that the team will land a top five ED pick for him is a pipe dream. They will find a buyer for him somewhere, but the return will be much less than expected by Vancouver media.

- Marc Crawford's firing was not unexpected, but frankly, was still a mistake. He's the third youngest coach to 400 wins, he took the team from sad-sack to title contender, and if not for the Bertuzzi incident the team would have easily made the playoffs this year again. Don't pity him too much, he'll land somewhere soon enough.

- I love Zdeno Chara. Not only did he willingly drop the gloves with Vincent Lecavalier, he dished out a solid beating and then when it was clear that Lecavalier was helpless in the face of Chara's onslaught, he declined to throw finishing shots into the defenseless Lecavalier's grill. He'd already won the fight, and didn't need to add injury to insult. All class.

- Last but not least, Havlat's return to the Senators makes them my odds on favourite to win it all as far as I'm concerned. He gives them a 4th game breaker at forward, making them impossible to match lines against, and so long as the D and goaltending avoid injury there isn't a team in the league that can pace with these thoroughbreds.

Quote of the Day

In honour of my chess partner in Calgary I give you the following immortal quotation;

E2 -> E4, Motherf*cker!

- Marcus

NHL Award Predictions

Here are my NHL award predictions;

Hart: Jaromir Jagr
Art Ross: Jaromir Jagr
Richard: Jaromir Jagr
Pearson: Jaromir Jagr

Yup, I predict he wins the full quad.

The closest of the ballot awards will likely be the Hart (I don't see it being close when the players vote for the Pearson, but I may be wrong). The only clear challengers to him for the Hart are; Rod Brind'Amour, Ovechkin, and Kiprusoff. However, each of those gentleman will get a consolation prize (see below). As for the Richard and Art Ross, there is still an outside chance that he could lose the goalscoring title to a surging Kovalchouk or Ovechkin, and its still possible for Joe Thornton to amass enough assists to catch Jagr for the Art Ross, but I wouldn't bet against Jammy on either front. His team is keenly aware of how close Jagr is to winning these, and to a man they want to bask in the reflected glory helping him reach these marks would mean. So, if you see Ovechkin get close in the goalscoring watch for Jagr to get lots of feeds from his team, if Thornton makes a run at the scoring title, watch for Jagr to get double shifts on the pp.

All in all, maybe Jagr's most complete season to date.

Calder: Ovechkin.

This may be the most frustrating Calder race ever, as there are fully a half-dozen players who would legitmately claim this in almost any other year, but the fact is Ovechkin's chase of a 50-50-100+ season on one of the worst teams in the league gives him the head and shoulders advantage.

That said, Crosby, Phaneuf, Lundqvist, and Brad Boyes are all having outstanding rookie years. Crosby is way over a ppg as an 18 year old (and leads the hapless Pens in every offensive category AND he is their top PIM guy), Phaneuf will get serious consideration for the Norris, but has already declared himself to be the defensman forwards around the league must keep their heads up around. Lundqvist is in the running for the Vezina, and Boyes is making all of Leaf Nation tear their eyes out. And I haven't even mentioned that the Rangers uncovered a nifty 30 goal winger with speed in the undersized Petr Prucha. All in all maybe the best Calder class I have ever seen.

Vezina: Miika Kiprusoff. His stats are stupid ridiculous. He now owns the Flames record for wins by a goalie in one season, surpassing Mike Vernon's record. Recall that Vernon earned this award by leading the Flames to a couple of President Trophies. The only guy who can close out Kipper for this award might be Lundqvist, but since he has been absent the last couple of weeks, Kipper seems to have sewn it up. Pay ZERO attention to Christobal Huet, as the alternative pronounciation of his last name is 'Flash-in-Pan'.

Norris: Niklas Lidstrom in a cake walk. Though I hope some of the writers throw some love to the deserving but never recognized Sergei Zubov, and to pp specialist Bryan McCabe.

Selke: Rod Brind'Amour in another cake walk. Sure Stephane Yelle is a more pure representative of the defensive forward than Brind'Amour, but Rod 'The Bod' Brind'Amour's season has been nothing short of a full rennaisance. He scores timely goals (30 and counting), he wins a tonne of face-offs, he leads all forwards in ice-time, he hits with intent, he kills penalties, and he is the Cane's key shadow for the other teams elite forwards. In short he's had the kind of 'mister everything' season that earns some thoughts for MVP but all but locks up the Selke. Couldn't go to a better player.

Jack Adams: Tom Renney. Afterall, the Rangers were predicted to be in the Kessel sweepstakes, but instead they have pounded out a division title. Renney got them to do this despite relying on; an untested rookie in net, a cast-off collection of injury prone Czechs, a moody superstar who killed a coach, gm, and an entire teams fortunes in his last stop, and a defense corps that featured household names like 'Marek 'the pylon' Malik. In all, an amazing performance to get this team to the playoffs and a coach of the year performance in getting them to the title and making them into a genuine playoff threat.

Lady Bing: Brad Richards. The kid is all class, leading his team in scoring and only garnering 30 or so PIM in doing so. Probably the first of many.

Hockey Stuff

FP Replacement Strategy

What do the following names all have in common? Heatley, Kovalchuk, Staal, Crosby, Ovechkin, and Nash?

If you answered 'They were the first forwards drafted in each of their respective draft years', you would be correct. But that isn't the point I want to make by listing them.

If you are a team in the FUNHL considering the replacement of a franchise player at this upcoming draft, I suggest that you seriously consider 'Phil Kessel' as your man. Why, you might ask, should you roll the dice and pick an unproven rookie to be a cornerstone player for your team?

Because of the six players I listed - each was the top forward selected in their draft years, and each of them I would argue, is either already a franchise player (Heatley, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin) or legitimately will be when they cease to be FUNHL prospects (Staal, Crosby and Nash). You have to go all the way back to the Patrick Stefan/Sedins/Pavel Brendl draft to find one where the top forward selected did not eventually go supernova and become FP worthy (and recall too that all the scouts bitched about that draft as being 'weak').

So, if Kessel is still the considered best forward available, (and given his unique offensive skillset I believe he is, even if he eventually gets overtaken by other worthy players like Jonathon Toews or Jordan Staal) than anyone looking for a new FP should seriously consider biting the bullet and making the top forward selected as their guy. That all said, this methodology does NOT work when it comes to defensemen who dominate a draft (Chris Phillips as Franchise Player? Uh...no.), nor does it work with goalies (Rick DiPietro anyone?).

Speaking of Kessel....

My thoughts on him are this; he's a selfish gunner who loves to score goals, has warp speed, fantastic hand skills, and a stubborn streak a mile wide. In other words, there is nothing wrong with him that wasn't also wrong with both Kovalchuk and Ovechkin. C'ept of course, that Kessel is an American.

Several players are indeed taking a run at his lofty status as most likely first overall, but more because they are performing well themselves rather than Kessel dropping in status.

- Jordan Staal, a Peterborough Pete centreman, he's Eric's 'little' brother. He doesn't come with the fanfare that his big bro did, and in part his status is a projection on on his bloodlines and where he projects out to be one day. Which from all indications is as a solid #1 pivot.

- Michael Frolik, a Czech winger with impressive set up abilities continues to draw comparisons to Jagr. I suspect that has more to do with Frolik's country of origin than talent level, as one of Frolik's drawbacks is a weak first step acceleration and limited top end speed - in other words, two of the characteristics that best define Jagr are missing from Frolik. He does display wicked skating power when he gets going, is bullish on the puck, and has a powerful wrister, so he'll be good, but Jagr good? "Dream, dream, dream...."

- Jonathon Toews. Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't exactly overwhelmed by Toews at the WJC, in part because he had a very small role on a deeply talented club. The fact is the North Dakota Fighting Sioux forward is probably as good an all-round offensive player as there is in the draft, but unlike Kessel, Toews doesn't have an offensive weapon that is as obviously dominant as Kessel's shot or speed.

- Niklas Backstrom. A quicksilver skating winger with sound two-way play and top-end playmaking skills. He should make someone very happy as a consolation prize somewhere between 3 and 6.

- Erik Johnson. What's not to like? He's huge, mobile, has good offensive instincts, and a vicious streak a mile wide. He reminds of Rob Blake or Mike Komisarek, someone who may take a while to fill out the mental side of the game before he can dominate as a pro, but once he does....Of all the players chasing Kessel, Johnson is the only one who I think seriously has a chance to displace him. Johnson represents the complete defenseman package, size, strength, mobility, passion, and sound two-way abilities. He's a solid #1 defenseman you can build a defense around, and those teams that already have decent offensive talent may be very tempted to pass on Kessel so they can take Johnson.

Of the teams who might have a shot at the top pick; St Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Columbus - I would venture that all of them except one would value the addition of Kessel more than the rest of the pack. He's simply too dynamic a talent to pass over in favour of the rest. The exception is Columbus. The Bluejackets already have a pure goalscoring threat in the form of Rick Nash (and another decent one in Zherdev), and adding Kessel to the forward unit means too many shooters and not enough passers on the same line. To them, the best player to take might well be Toews (who has upscale playmaking abilities), or again, Erik Johnson to fill out the blue-line. St Louis would certainly LOVE to have Kessel as the new face of the team, Pittsburgh would have to be interested in at least considering what a Malkin-Crosby-Kessel first line looks like in three years for them (and 'sick' is what it would be), and I believe Chicago would have no problem taking Kessel to pair with Ruutu (especially since they already have Cam Barker).

My own speculation is that Kessel is still the favourite as top forward, and that the only real threat to his going first overall is if Columbus wins the lottery.

Rumour Mill

The Flames remain in the bottom 10 teams offensively. That won't be good enough to win in the playoffs. Who'd have thought they'd miss Craig Conroy so much?

- The Shadowmen's GM is convinced that Calgary will take a long hard run at signing Brad Richards in the off-season. Sure this makes a tonne of sense if you are Calgary, but I don't see how the TBay brass would ever let it happen. More than St Louis, or Lecavalier, Richards is the engine that makes the Bolts run, and to lose him would be fatal to cup hopes for the team moving forward. I can see St Louis being dealt. I can even see Lecavalier being dealt (neither player is in the top 20 in scoring this year), but Richards being allowed to leave for nothing? Won't happen.

- One option for Calgary to consider is the aforementioned Lecavalier. If the Flames were to part with Robyn Regeher, Mathew Lombardi and a pick for Big Vinny, would the Bolts take it?

- So who will Calgary eventually bring in to do setup duties for Jarome? My bet, Eric Lindros. His contract will be easy to handle, he hasn't got an issue playing in Calgary, and his style of play would be a good fit for Sutter and Jarome. Yeah, he's as injury prone as they come these days (though not yet at the 'Zhamnovian' level of injury prone), but he would be a good fit in the dressing room, and bring much needed passing ability to the centre spot. Sure Doug Weight is probably higher on the Flames wish-list, and Richards is surely at the top of that list, but Lindros might be just what the doctor ordered.

- Last but not least, the Flames may feel they have the guy within the system to do the job already. Dustin Boyd, a 5'10 sparkplug in the WHL has the skill set to compliment Iginla, but I suspect he is too far away from being an elite level player to make an impact in the role. He's a good one for your prospect lists though, and can probably be had with a late 1st rounder onwards.

The Leafs will likely be in a shopping mode come the off-season as they will undoubtably go through some sort of management shake-up (my bet is Quinn is ousted and becomes the next President of the Canucks, and that Ferguson keeps his job - barely), but the real changes will be with the team itself. Clearly they do not have the guns to compete in the new NHL, they lack first line wingers to compliment Sundin, they will not be welcoming Belfour back between the pipes no matter how succesful his latest round of back surgery is, and there is a very real problem of how much money to throw at Bryan McCabe. Lindros and Allison are also probably gone, gone, gone.

- Here's the thing, the team is ripe to be blown up and rebuilt from the ground up. The Leafs have some decent young prospects (Ian White on D, Ponikarovksy, Steen, Pogge, Rask, etc), but nobody who is going to step in a score 30 goals or anchor the D. They need an infusion of talent and youth in the baddest possible way.

- If I were the GM of the Leafs, I'd do the following; dump: Nolan, Allison, Belfour and Lindros onto the market. They clearly represent the past and won't be contributors moving forward. Sign McCabe to a reasonable deal - and then trade him to a contender for picks/prospects. McCabe is a Norris calibre D-man, but he is a better fit for a contending team, and this Leaf team isn't a contender, so spending upwards of $5M on him just isn't worth it. Then with all the cap-roon now available I would take a serious run at Brad Richards with the sales pitch starting with Richards being the eventual heir to Sundin as Leafs captain. I'd also consider whether I could get a substantial return for Kaberle as he is young, at a position in high demand, and relatively cost effective. Any contending team would LOVE to pick him up to QB the PP, so if the return on him in a trade is substantial, I'd pull the trigger.

- That all said, I would probably keep Sundin for two reasons; 1. He's the face of the franchise and having him remain a Leaf through the rebuilding project while painful for Sundin, would make the transition easier on the fans, and 2. At his age he wouldn't command much in return. So all in all, better to keep the cornerstone and start putting the building blocks into place to eventually replace him. However, if an offer comes up for him that makes sense for the future I'd definitely move him on.

Vancouver is going through a full-on panic over the Canucks stumbling in the standings during the stretch drive. This is also a team that is ripe to be blown up. Jovanovski has to be resigned next year, and there is speculation he will be let go (I would do the same as above with McCabe - sign and trade). Bertuzzi appears to be all but done as a Canuck. He's feuding with Crawford and has split the dressing room into two non-speaking parts. His contract is huge, but so is his ability, so there should be a trade that will get a decent return from whoever takes him on. Brendan Morrison is having a simply horrible season, and could also be on his way out. Even Naslund now finds himself being questioned about his leadership, but I suspect he will not be the goat for the Canucks and that instead the other two linemates will find new homes. Cloutier hasn't made his case any easier either, especially with Alex Auld playing very well (early on) in Cloutier's absence.

Tuomo Ruutu is apparently slated to return on Tuesday against Minnesota. Sweet. It will give me a preview on how well he'll fit in with the Heads next season.

Modano tweaked his knee last night - not a good sign for the playoffs, but Modano would have to be faced with amputation before he'd miss a playoff game - he'll be fine if less than 100%.

I'm still probably the only GM who has this name on his prospect list - but I also admit he is not ranked as high as many others, and because of the depth I already have in my system won't be a pick this year. Maybe next year.

In the 'Good news/ Bad news' file, it looks like Alexander Semin may finally make it over to the Capitals. That's the good news (at least for the Great Whites). The bad news (for the Bladerunners) is there is still no agreement with the Russians and the IIHF on transfer payments - all but guranteeing that Evgeni Malkin will play another season for Dave King at Magnetogorsk.

Finally, a note about our FUNHL races;

Predator Cup - my money says the Bladerunners pull this one out over the Personal Vendetta in a squeaker at the finish line. My heart is also pulling for the BR's (and believe me, that's a first) if only because the PV already have two cups and I don't want them to get a third before I do.

Challenge Cup - this is gonna go to the PV - just a hunch, but also a nice consolation prize for getting beat at the wire.

Omnivore - The Edge. Which is nice, Collin deserves some hardware that doesn't cluck.

Herbivore - The Edge. His third. Which sucks, but hey, he just won the Omnivore!

S'all for now.

Picture of the Day

V for Vendetta

Caution: Spoiler alert. Seriously, I'm warning you. Ok. Fair enough, keep reading then.

I got the chance to see 'V for Vendetta' with my good buddy Dr. Neuromancer, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to see one of the all-time classics of my late adoelesence/early adult hood translated to the big screen.

I admit, two things going in;

- As with 'Sin City', I had read the graphic novel and loved it, but not for many years, and I made the conscious decision not to go through my collection and re-read it before hand (though the temptation was much harder with V than with Sin City. I liked Sin City, but Alan Moore's works - especially The Watchmen - a cliche taste for geeks of my dotage, stirred much more intense attraction than mere enjoyment). There was then real risk that if I re-read the g-novel no matter how good the movie's execution I would feel it failed to do the g-novel justice.

This way, the movie at least stands a fighting chance.

- The fact the Wachowski Bros. were involved, and the overall zeitgeist of the movie's release with the inevitable comparison to world events gave me pause. It's one thing to release a movie that raps on a cultural touchstone years after the events (Platoon, JFK, etc.) but quite another to do so when the stone is still threatening to crack. For the Wachowski Bros, a pair of smart (Bound), extremely talented (The Matrix), if occasionally philosophically lazy film makers (Matrix 2-3) to be at the helm added the potential for real greatness, but also the risk that something cheap and tawdry might be done to the material for partisan polemic, or worse, out of the Wachowski's brothers indifference to it.

Needless to say I was greatly relieved when by the half hour mark I noticed that there was far more exposition than I expected, and less than a 1/10th the number of mindless action sequences that littered the latter Matrix movies. In fact, I found McTiegue's direction to occasionally verge on being almost calm - and absolutely comatose by Wachowski Bros standards. Which isn't to say there isn't action, there is, but it owes far more to the action of comic books than to 'wire-fu' special FX extravagance.

Also, there should be an award for voice acting. Hugo Weaving is absolutely perfect as 'V' - a man who is never seen without his mask - and a role about as far from 'showy' you can get as a result. But Weaving is pure magic. His voice, cadence, and intimations bring to life what could easily have been a thankless part. Instead, Weaving invests it with everything, while never descending into the campy robot drawl of 'Mr. Smith', and lends critical balance to the 'star' lead character of Natalie Portman. If Weaving had been less than excellent, the entire movie would have spun on an axis consisting of Portman emoting with a shaved head. That all said, Portman never guns the engine out of gear when she could have. 'V' could have been her movie, but she keeps her performance basic and compact, when an actress with less restraint (Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston) would have let it all hang out to the detriment of the flick.

Overall, what the combination of restrained direction and competent acting do is breathe life into the story that Moore penned/inspired. I am assured by Dr. Neuromancer (who read V far more times than I, more recently, and with much greater recall) that the majority of the plot was indeed still there, that the items I picked out as being likely alterations by the director/Wachowski Bros were indeed additions (the character played by Stephen Frye and the final end of Suttler), but in all these were mostly minor changes and in service to the medium.

I'd like to comment further about the story line itself, but it's late, and I have to get to bed, so I'll finish by saying 'Go see it, we'll talk'!

The 'Amen' Break

I encourage all my friends out there into music to check this link out!

A musicologist deconstructs the origins of modern hip-hop/electronica by detailing how a simple 6 sec drum riff from a 1969 sould/R&B recording became the backbone for an entire subculture of musical expression.

I guarantee you'll never hear modern music the same way again, as I found myself picking the 'Amen' break out in several pieces I own (Aphex Twin and Basehead to name two).

How to Shoot Your Own Asian Fetish Porn!

First things first, the article is work friendly (coming from 'The Village Voice'), but the links contained within the article are probably not (it is afterall, an 'adult title' being reviewed).

That all said, it is a hilarious read.

Some sample titles for your own 'AFP' from the review include;

Feeling Good Ass Punch
Semen It Is Where?!
Naked Executive Swimming Suit
Lesbian Penis Big Boobies Instructor
Sad Exciting Gymnastics
Fetish Special Lactate Freely
Indecent Forever Twins!!!!

The 'Indecent Forever Twins!!!!' absolutely rules, but 'Sad Exciting Gymnastics' is probably not gonna move a lot of units. Call it a hunch.

Bio-Origami

The pictures are of microscopic objects created by tweaking DNA to grow and fold into specific shapes..

My personal favourite is the DNA 'world map' - cuz does it get any cooler than writing the very shape of our planet into a molecular program?

Click the link for the full story on the potential applications of this 'Bio-Origami'.

Picture of the Day

"These are some of my favourite things..."

Antiphon BANNED from Free Dominion!

Ok, fair comment, I was in fact a 'troll' on the site, one of those loathsome creatures who inhabit the net and visit sites where they can create the most inflammatory threads of commentary and controversy. As such, it was really only a matter of time before I raised enough ire to get kicked out.

In my case, I was picking on the Canadian conservative site 'Free Dominion'. Why them? Take a look at, and you'll see immediately why I couldn't resist the urge to take the piss out of them. The site specializes in stroking both the ego and moral superiority of the theocratic right. Anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-moderation, anti-Islam, anti-Liberalism and anti-tolerance sentiments abound. You literally can't visit a post that deals with anything gay related without encountering a sewer of filth from FD members, much of it likely qualifiable as hate speech (that said, I still maintain that hate speech laws are bad laws, and on free speech grounds I defend the site despite the toxic effuvian it's members spew).

In my defense, I was hardly the typical troll. I confined my commentary to SSM, and a handful of other issues that came up in relation to that topic. My tactics were simple, I took on the personage of a strict libertarian, one who would be firmly in the conservative camp on most fiscal, and foreign policy issues, but one who would be antithetical to the theocratic moralizing of the god-fearing far right the site caters to. This lead to some genuinely interesting exchanges among my first few dozen posts - especially my defense of SSM on the grounds that it promotes conservative values, but lately (post Harper victory) the denizens have been in a really poor mood.

You see, Harper is simply NOT RIGHT WING ENOUGH for them, and with a minority government that needs to be seen as moderate in order to survive, Harper won't be taking on any of the socially conservative policy initiatives that these FDers crave (i.e. banning abortion, banning sex ed, banning gays from the public sphere, stoning adulterous women, etc.). So the FD minions are not in any mood to be criticized, when at the very moment they should be feeling their oats, they find themselves still being locked out.

What fascinates me is that I got banned not for any of the really inflammtory stuff I posted aboutf religion/marriage and gays, no, I got banned because of disparaging arguments I made about the thesis of a gentleman named Bill Whatcott (who bills himself as 'Secretary of the Committee for Social Transformation'), but not on the topic of SSM, or gays, or even the value of religion in politics.

No I got banned because I came out vocally in favour of contraception as a means of reducing the need for abortions.

Apparently, pointing out that if they were intellectually serious about wanting to reduce abortions, the so-cons would endorse contraception and effective sex ed, was simply too much logic for their religion-stressed brains to take at once. This blog (from the US) has a chart that may explain why these two topics (contraception/abortion) cause such a short circuit in the brains of theocons.

No, as soon as they thought about women having the freedom to make decisions about their bodies by using birth control, and the 'out of control promiscuity' that this would inevtiably lead to, they shut down the thread, and kicked me from the site.

Am I sad about this? A little. I honestly found some of the people on the site to be challenging, and some to be very funny (and I even some who defended me - they were few and far between though), however most of them are complete and total dolts looking for a self affirmation of their more grotesque prejudices.

Them I won't miss.

Ah well. They were a diversion from real political theory, but an amusing one nevertheless. I will miss those cute little theocrats with their plans for both womb and world domination.

Sharkey for Governor of Minnesota!

He's a family man, with a distinguished career in the military, and in the high calf leather boots of a predecesor (pitcured at left), was also a former 'professional athletic entertainer', and with such sterling credentials he wins my endorsement (as shallow as it is being a Canadian) of Jonathon 'the Impaler' Sharkey for Governor of Minnesota!

I thought at first that he might consider toning down the heavy religion thing, but the fact is, Bill Frist, et al., have done quite well pimping the religious angle lately, so why not ole Sharkey?

I mean, what could be the problem?

Picture of the Day

That isn't the fishes tongue - it's a parasite.

This little devil invades the fish, consumes the tongue and then takes its place, going so far as to actually respond for the fish in grabbing prey etc. to keep the host well fed.

Ain't evolution grand?

More MVP talk for Nash!

Prognosticators all had Phoenix slipping from the elite group of teams for 2005-06 because they felt that C-PF Amare Stoudamire was too valuable for the Suns to miss for any extended length of time.

Nobody told that to Steve Nash. Fresh off his MVP season, Nash has the Suns, who are missing Joe Johnson (off-season trade) as well as Stoudamire from their mix, a threat to win 60 games again this year.

His MVP stats from last season? He's doing even better this year, flirting with 20ppg and and still clocking in with an average of double digit assists every game.

What's more, he is the ultimate team player capable of making his team mates better. Can anyone say that about selfish shot gobblers like Kobe or AI?

The best news of all is that Shaq's season hasn't been worthy of MVP consideration, taking the pressure off sportswriters who would feel the need to 'redress' last seasons close loss to Nash. With the field of candidates wide open, with Nash's Suns still a powerhouse, and with Nash having even better numbers than last season despite the absence of Stoudamire, it could well be two MVP awards in a row for Steve.

The Next Superpower

In Gwyn Dyer's 'Future Shock' he carefully points out that most economists, political theorists etc., have adopted the mindset that over the next 50 years American power will gradually wane to be replaced by Chinese and Indian super power states.

The author of the article in the header link, has a different country in mind as the next superpower - Japan.

The reason why he picks a small Island nation with relatively modest economic growth and a sclerotic oligarchical capitalism? One word;

'Robots!'

Bill Maher's got some 'New Rules' up!

New Rule: Consenting adults, not governments, must be the ones to decide what constitutes a marriage. But if you applaud that for gay marriage, you have to applaud it for polygamy. Which comes from "poly" meaning "many" and "gamy" meaning a musky odor in the bedroom. Now, by now, I'm sure you've heard how the Mormons are upset about a new HBO show called "Sex With the Entire City." But, you know, Mormons should just be happy that Scientology came along and made them the second-weirdest.

But, for everybody else, if you really are for the principle that all families don't have to look alike, then you have to admit polygamy is hot! And if you take the husband out, it's even hotter! That's right. I'm not only for polygamy, I'm for gay polygamy. Okay, lesbian polygamy. But, really, I'm for any sexual perversion the Swedes can dream up and the Japanese can make disgusting.

So - so when the conservatives say gay marriage could lead to polygamous marriage, I say, "Quit selling, Jesus-freak. You had me at 'hello.'"

Now, it comes down to who decides what love is, and what commitment means. The government? A church? No, sadly, it's Dr. Phil. Who, it was in the news last week, is selling his Ferrari. That's right. It turns out we've all been taking relationship advice from the "fat middle-aged, bald guy who drives a Ferrari!"

Which, of course, is Italian for "I'm not banging my wife." It's also all the evidence you need that the dirty little secret about polygamy is that it really does suit human nature. Because middle-aged women, they don't want that fat, beer-breathed old coot climbing on them anyway! So, ladies, why not let the latest-to-be-hired do the crummiest job. Just like at the office.

Maybe it's monogamy that just isn't natural. And don't tell me about the prairie vole. Yes, the prairie vole is monogamous. That's because it has no cash. Also, all voles look alike. They have no idea if they're screwing or masturbating.

But the question all women have to look in the mirror and ask themselves is, "Would you rather be the second wife of George Clooney or the only wife of Willard Scott?"

Enceladus - the Ring Maker

The Cassini probe has just made one of the most fundamentally transformative discoveries of modern Astronomy.

While studying the moons of Saturn, Cassini was allowed to dip close to one of it's 40+ moons - one called 'Enceladus'.

Almost immediately, they realized that something special was happening with the moon, not only was it unnaturally bright for a moon (reflecting 10x more light than our moon), it seemed to have a relationship with the 'E' ring of Saturn's rings.

What they discovered was more exciting than they imagined.

Enceladus is covered by what appears to be frozen water, with some heat source churning it up underneath the surface. This results in geysers of water pluming from the surface, and it turns out, driving the formation of the 'E' ring.

In checking on the chemistry of the ice-water Enceladus is blowing into the rings, it was discovered that its composition lacks the expected ammonia compounds necessary to encourage water to remain soluble and liquid at low temperatures.

In other words, there may well be water we can make drinkable under the surface of Eceladus.

Even more exciting is that where there is liquid water there may well be the building blocks for life.

With this discovery of water on Enceladus, two major contributions to knowledge have been made; the way moons can affect ring formation, and most interestingly, the 'Goldilocks Zone' or, the potentially habitable range around a star that life might exist in, has just been broadened substantially.

It may even turn out that rocky planets (like our own) are not the best bets for finding alien life around other stars,if only because they are so small and difficult to find.

Now, we'll have to look at their gas giants for moons that may do the trick as well.

Wedding Picture comments

First off, as any Trekkie will tell you, the picture has one obvious problem that screams for explanation;

Why are the two Starfleet officers getting married on the bridge of the Enterprise circa 'Next Generation' but wearing uniforms from 'The Original Series'?

Possible answers;

- A temporal anomaly carried their two person research ship from the past to the 23rd century. After being treated for Chroniton radiation poisoning the two happy time travellers were promptly wed on the vessel that rescued them.

- To honour their grandparents both the wedding participants wore uniforms from the past handed down to each of them through the generations.

- In a display of rebelliousness at the new uniform codes, these two officers used a loophole in Starfleet regulations to protest the single piece outfits being issued to personnel by wearing the now 200 year old designs at their wedding on the bridge. No more unitards!

- Brought to the 23rd century by the omnipotent being known as 'Q', these two lovers found themselves trapped in the future when Q's repeated attempts to breed succesfully with either of them were met with failure. Rescued by the Enterprise, they finally found peace and the time to tie the knot.

- It's a Halloween wedding on the Enterprise!

- The wedding actually took place in an alternate universe that had parallel development to our own. In this alternate universe, the uniforms from TOS were never changed. It was determined that any contact with beings of this alternate universe is to be avoided as they may be 'anti-matter' constructs and the resultant cataclysm from the contact of anti-matter and the matter of our universe could cause its complete destruction. The wedding party was subsequently isolated in a magnetic bottle cut off from either universe and the entrance to the bottle destroyed. "How would it be, trapped with a woman at your throat forever? How would it be?"

- The real question has not to do with the uniforms, but why neither of these Klingons have the distinctive head-ridges.

Ok, now to the Top Five Wedding Pic Comments!

5 - 'Aauuk Blooog Toaku'

(Klingon for 'Congratulations' - thanks to TW for her kind regards!)

4 - 'You LIED to me'! - My Mom, upon finding out we were not in fact holidaying in BC.

3 - 'So is there a shotgun off camera?' - my new boss. All class.

2 - 'My brother is the biggest nerd ever. Let's throw a party!' - From my brother, the coolest human being alive.

1 - 'vegas star trek wedding

the big geek turns pro with style

congratulations'

Top spot goes to a stellar haiku from buddy AJ.

Picture of the Day

"Where there is fire, there is smoke. And in that smoke, from this day forward, my people will crouch and conspire and plot and plan for the inevitable day of Man's downfall - the day when he finally and self-destructively turns his weapons against his own kind. The day of the writing in the sky, when your cities lie buried under radioactive rubble! When the sea is a dead sea, and the land is a wasteland out of which I will lead my people from their captivity! And we will build our own cities in which there will be no place for humans except to serve our ends! And we shall found our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty! And that day is upon you NOW!"

'Caesar' - Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Robert Nilsson's Goal

First it was Mike Legg in a College game, then Sidney Crosby in a QHL contest, now Robert Nilsson works a little magic in the AHL.

It's just a matter of time before this lacrosse move makes it to the pros!

Click the header link for video of Nilsson's score.

Sweet

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Mr. Nilsson is a former Heads selection in the prospect draft.

Pick-Up lines for Economists!

Who says economists don't have a sense of humour?

My favourites:

• Are you a Keynesian? Because you sure make my monetary policy inflate.
• You've got the loveliest supply curves I've ever seen.
• I think you and me would have great potential output.

Check them out, they are worth a giggle.

The Decline of the American Empire

Unfortunately, this is not a joke. There really is a 'Faith Based Initiative' for Homeland Security!

(the governments link is in the header).

Just in case, you know, the Demons attack again.

NHL Trade Deadline Deals - analysis

Trade Deadline!

Calgary deals Weimer to the Devils for a 4th

Verdict: Flames drop a useful 3rd/4th liner with size on the Devils for a mid round pick. Good trade both ways.

Phoenix trades F Jamie Lundmark to the Flames for a pick

Verdict: Lundmark is a bubble forward who may just need the right situation to flourish. He's been a ppg in the AHL, so we know he has skills, but his speed may not be front line calibre, he's washed out of the Rangers and in a short time made himself expendable from the Coyotes. He's running out of chances, but if his work ethic is good, Sutter will find a way to make him earn his place. Not sure what Phoenix is doing except shifting deck chairs on the Titanic.

Florida trades C Petr Taticek to the Penguins for D Rik Jackman

Verdict: Taticek is a young prospect with size and some scoring ability, not that disimilar from current Pens prospect Milan Kraft. He has upside potential to be a full-time player, and he'll get a shot at being a top 6 forward with the Pens down the road. Jackman is a powerplay specialist with little defensive zone acumen. He'll fit in to Florida's top 6 as the rusher given a solid anchor partner, and could be used to help groom Bouwemeester's powerplay skills. Overall, a wash.

Vancouver made seperate deals to address their blueline and goaltending, all involving picks;

From the Blues, D Weinrich for a 3rd

From the Ducks, D Carney for 2nd (previously the Islanders) and mediocre D prospect Brent Skinner

From the Devils, D Brown for a 4th

and from the Sabres, G Noronen for a 2nd

All in all, three solid defensive defensemen, including Carney who can play pro minutes in your top 4, and a solid prospect netminder with #1 potential for four picks and a player not on the main roster. In other words, everything the Canucks needed to do, they did. Verdict: Full marks.

Islanders get a 3rd rnd pick for Oleg Kvasha.

This one is a headscratcher. Why pay anything like a third round pick for Kvasha? Does he really look like a top 6 forward for the Coyotes? He's fully bust IMO, and Mike Barnett looks like an ATM in this one.

Dallas sends D Martin Skoula and D Shawn Belle to the Wild for D Willie Mitchell and a 2nd.

Verdict: Skoula is a tweener D man, he's got enough offense to keep you interested, but he never overwhelms anyone, and his D is good enough to get by, but isn't airtight. He should fit well though into the Wild system as he has the wheels to play Lemaire hockey (see: Andrei Zyuzin and Alexandre Daigle as Wild reclamation projects that worked for that reason). Belle is a massive swift skating blue-liner who has a tonne of upside. His decision making is what is still suspect, which is why he's on his third team since being drafted by St Louis. Eventually, he'll be a regular on the blue-line. Willie Mitchell was the object of affection here, as he brings a solid defensive defenseman game to Dallas and will fit comfortably into the teams top 4. He'll bring a nasty streak to the team that is essential for playoff hockey.

Overall, a solid trade bothways, but I'd rather be the Wild's GM after this season is over when re-looking at the deal at that time.

Senators flip pre-season wonder L Brandon Bochenski and a 2nd to the Chi-Hawks for C Tyler Arnason.

Verdict: I think Bochenski has the potential to be a useful 2nd line scoring winger and Chicago may eventually be the right situation for him to flourish. Ottawa adds a pivot with speed and some playmaking to bring depth to the centre position. Is he really a 2nd line centre? Or is his future as a checking pivot ala Kris Draper? The upside with Arnason is definitely higher given the speed and experience advantage over Bochenski, which warrants the inclusion of the 2nd rnd pick. Overall, I'd say Chicago got what they needed in terms of building blocks for the future in a young player and decent draft pick, and the Sens got a skilled forward to compliment their top six. Call it even, so long as Arnason doesn't score a GWG in the playoffs en route to a Cup, and Bochenski doesn't flip the switch and turn into Brett Hull.

Oilers get Sergei Samsonov from the Bruins for forwards Marty Reasoner and Yan Statsny and a 2nd rnd pick.

Verdict: I love Kevin Lowe as a GM. The Bruins deal an elite offensive winger (albeit one who is injury prone) for a forward best suited to the AHL (Reasoner), an unproven forward who looks to be a solid third line winger (Yan Stastny) and a 2nd round pick. No wonder the Bruins suck if this is the best they can do in trades (see Thornton for Stuart et al). Samsonov will fit right in with the Oilers as his game is built on elite skating, speed and phenomenal hand skills. To get an offensive performer like him for two duds and a pick is just sick.

Nashville trades a 1st rnd pick and AHL forward Kris Beech to the Capitals for D Brendan Witt.

Verdict: Witt returns to the GM who drafted him, and will bring some much needed size, nastiness and defensive presence to the Predators. The pick is costly, but Washington needed to get a good return for Witt and a 1st is excellent. Beech returns to the team that drafted him in the Caps after a stop in Pittsburgh. He's never been able to crack an NHL lineup because of his speed defeciency, and while he'll get another new start in the depleted Washington cadre of forwards it will be tough for him to displace either of the other young two-way pivots ahead of him (Gordon, Laich) or Jeff Halpern who seems to have a lock on the 2nd line centre spot. In the end, the Predators overspent to get Witt, but he could pay decent dividends especially in the playoffs. Washington sheds salary and gets both a prospect and a 1st so you know they are happy.

The Rangers pick up Sandis Ozolinsh for a 3rd rnd pick.

Verdict: Sather has reversed several years of mediocre performances being able to spend whatever it takes and has turned in two solid years in a row rebuilding the Rangers within a budget. Ozolinsh for a third? Ridiculous. I don't care what problems he has off-ice, his on-ice contributions - especially within a system like the Rangers, will far outstrip the value of that 3rd rnder. The Rangers may have just added the guy needed to get them out of the tough Eastern conference.

Carolina releases Mark Recchi from the lottery bound Pens for two forward prospects in Nordgren and Kolanos and a 2nd rnd pick.

Verdict: The Canes lost a top 6 forward in Cole for the season and replaced him with an even better one in Recchi at the cost of two mid-ling prospects and a 2nd rnd pick. Word is that Recchi will not re-sign with the Canes and intends to end up as a Penguin again next year as his contract runs out. In that light, its a high price to pay for a rental player, but Recchi is everything you want in a rental, highly skilled, excellent leadership, playoff experience, and an easy slot into one of your top lines.

Anaheim aquires L Jeff Friesen from the Caps for a 2nd rnd pick.

Verdict: Washington gets another building block, this time cheaply as Friesen has had a horrible offensive season and frankly isn't worth a 2nd rnd pick. I'm not sure what Anaheim's GM Burke is thinking, as Friesen isn't likely to be more than an excellent checking winger in the mold of Paul Ranheim as his career winds down, but maybe there is more life in him than I see.

Colorado sends G Aebischer to the Canadiens for G Theodore

Verdict: I say its a no-brainer. Aebischer is an OK #1, but best suited to either a platoon or backup role. Theodore (when his head is on straight) is a potential all-star and a legit #1 who is a threat to win hardware if he can get back to his peak. I say Colorado simply hosed Gainey on this one, but Theodore's salary could be problematic moving forward if he pulls a Jim Carey. I don't see it. He's got game.

The Oliers send a 1st rnd pick, and a conditional pick to Minnesota for the Wild's G Dwayne Roloson

Verdict: Kevin Lowe is a genius part 2 - not. Ooops. Colour me contrarian but Roloson is a mirage as a #1, and at 36 I think clearly isn't worth a 1st rnd pick. He's at best a stop gap until the Oilers can groom a #1 from within, and I suspect he'll make them regret this deal if the Wild manage to select an NHL player of any decent calibre with that pick in the first. Risebrough laughs at the Oilers once again.

Illusions

With nothing more than chalk and a sidewalk (and some carefully angled photography) Julian Beever creates some amazing illusions.

You can check out more of his work by hitting the link in the headline.

Mapping Mars

Click the header link to take you to one of the coolest sites ever for Mars geeks.

Quote of the Day

“Presumably there is indeed no purpose in the ultimate fate of the cosmos, but do any of us really tie our life’s hopes to the ultimate fate of the cosmos anyway? Of course we don’t; not if we are sane. Our lives are ruled by all sorts of closer, warmer, human ambitions and perceptions. To accuse science of robbing life of the warmth that makes it worth living is so preposterously mistaken, so diametrically opposite to my own feelings and those of most working scientists, I am almost driven to the despair of which I am wrongly suspected.”

- Richard Dawkins 'The Selfish Gene'

There is a strain of belief that is charmingly referred to as 'Wittgensteinian fideism', (and among its proponents is non other than uber-sceptic Martin Gardner), that argues that it is legitimate to believe in God, not out of any rational enterprise, but out of nothing else than that it simply 'feels good to believe'.

This fideism presents an interesting challenge to atheists because the objection to atheism isn't reason based, but rather an attack on atheisms 'killjoyness' - to the fiedeist, the atheist seems to be resolutely focussed on being a pessimist and cynic (conversely, to the atheist the fiedeist seems hopelessly polyanna, but I digress).

Dawkins hits the nail on the head with his quotation, the correct response is not that atheism substitutes nihlism for god, but that he substitutes cold hard truth for religion, and I sometimes share his despair that people would rather believe in fairy tales that make them feel better, then grapple with the world as it really is.

Red Alert!

Thanks to everyone for the messages of congratulations that we've recieved!

The wedding was a total riot!