Been a while...

Just haven't felt like blogging. Many random thoughts have passed through my head. Among them:

* What the hell happened to Christopher Gorham? I got my DVD set of Popular, and it's like night and day between then and now. Back then, oh-so-cute. Now, in desperate need of a shower, if not other things. Eeek.

* Canadian TV is interesting. The kind of programming that earned Skinemax its nickname is available on basic/extended cable up here. One of the things that appears is HBO's Real Sex. I ran across it a couple of weeks ago, when they were discussing the new male Real Doll. The Real Doll is a silicone human sex toy (allegedly not the original intent.) The male version has interchangeable genitalia - want larger/smaller/softer/harder etc? Just pull off the current set and pop in a replacement. I can't figure out if that's sick or hysterically funny. It's probably both.

* Habsgirl is currently a habs-not. Management locked out the players two weeks ago. No end in sight, and some people believe this could last for years. That's both sides cutting off their noses to spite their faces, and leaving the fans (who foot the bill) out in the cold. So many people blame the players, but I don't quite get that. Nobody held a gun to the owners' heads to pay the outrageous salaries out there. Most of the problems can be traced back to the moronic managers of the New York Rangers, who have more money than sense. Every year, they sign free agents to enormous contracts, the players don't play up to expectations and the Rangers miss the playoffs. The players have every right to ask for astronomical sums. That doesn't mean the owners have to pay that.

In the past, some teams have shown backbone in dealing with players. Case in point, the Ottawa Senators. Their very first draft pick was Alexei Yashin. They signed him to a multi-year contract. His first year goes very well. He wants to renegotiate - I believe he believed that he had the right to renegotiate, something about how contracts work in Russia (he has a North American agent). Ottawa's stuck - he's their best player by far, so they renegotiate the contract. Alexei again demands a renegotiation a few years later. IIRC, he sat out for a while, but Ottawa still sucked, so eventually, the renegotiation takes place. He pulls this a third time in 1999. However, Ottawa has a far better team, and they don't need him as badly. They don't renegotiate. He sits out a year (the last year on his contract.) An arbitrator decides he still needs to serve out the last year of his deal in Ottawa. He eventually goes to the Islanders, who crow about signing him to a 10 year deal (I'll believe it when he's halfway through year 10).

Funny aside: While he was in Europe during his year off, Yashin started dating Carol Alt. Carol Alt appeared on Politically Incorrect at a time when there were a lot of off-field issues with pro football players - Rae Carruth and others. Carol said something like "I think athletes should live up to their contractual obligations." I fell off my couch in hysterics.

* The Expos are heading to Washington. It's sad, but the team has been so mismanaged (ok, mis-owned, but you know what I mean) that it's merciful. The Big O sucks as a ballpark. The team has been treading water for years. It's a hockey town. But it is still a part of my childhood leaving.

* In knitting news, both the DNA scarf and Kimono are ready for blocking and finishing. I just need to find the blasted blocking pins that have gone AWOL. The lovely Kersti that my secret pal sent is being knit into a Kombu scarf. The navy Waterspun I bought from Elann will become a Sitcom Chic once I fiddle with the row gauge issues. The indigo cotton, also from Elann, is destined for a sweater, but the base pattern I'm using needs lots of modifications for what I want.