Hockey Playoffs

Yes, another hockey blog. I'm too excited about my hockey teams to not blog about them. My NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks, just played their last regular season game this afternoon against the Colorado Avalanche. Last night the Calgary Flames (my very least favourite team and huge rivals of the Canucks) and the Canucks were neck and neck in the Northwest Division standings. Each team had 98 points and the Flames had one more win (which means that in the case of a tie, the Flames would win the division). The Flames also had one game in hand over the Canucks. But the Edmonton Oilers did the Canucks had huge favour by beating Calgary 5-1. The fate of the championship was left up to the Canucks in their game with the Avs today. If they lost, the Calgary Flames had a chance to win their last game and take the NW Division lead. But the Canucks prevailed and beat the Avs (now officially the lowest ranked team in the Western Conference this season) by a score of 1-0 in overtime. So the Canucks earned the big two points giving them a 3rd place finish in the standings, ensuring home ice advantage as well as a becoming the NW Division Champions! I can't wait for the playoffs to start! With the current standings tonight, it looks like Vancouver will be playing the first round of the playoffs against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Should be an interesting post-season...

GM Place complete with Canucks playoff towels
(For more info, click here to see what Canuck fans use the towels for)

Now to my WHL team, the Kelowna Rockets. They are my hometown team in a junior-rank league. It's sometimes more exciting to watch juniors because the players are the future stars of the NHL. They don't play for money, but for the love of the game and to try and make it to the big league. They are all heart and that makes the games all the more intense. The Rockets won enough games down the regular season stretch that they came in 3rd in the WHL Western Conference standings. They swept the Kamloops Blazers in four games and moved on to the second round. They are currently up three games to two on the Tri City Americans (a team based only an hour north of WWC...I went to a lot of their games when I was in school there). If the Rockets can beat the Ams in tomorrow's game, they will move on to the Western Conference Championships against the winner of the other Western Conference playoff series between the Vancouver Giants (2007 CHL champions) and the Spokane Chiefs (2008 WHL and CHL champions).

All in all, it's looking to be a good post-season for both my teams and I can't wait to get home and be able to watch some of it unfold. Who knows how far they'll go?! Perhaps all the way to the Cup!

Internships: East v. West

According to this Globe and Mail article (be sure to click on the nifty graphic!), getting an internship in Eastern Canada looks more promising than finding one in BC. I'd love to be able to go back to BC for the summer, but I really need to do a writing internship. So now I have decisions to make. Feel free to give me suggestions. Here are the pros and cons of working in the east this summer.

Pros:
1. I'd really and truly be on my own for the summer
2. Having never lived east of Lacombe, Alberta (at least in Canada), it would be a completely new experience and, most likely, an adventure
3. I'd be a lot closer to my older sister who lives in Ottawa, Ontario
4. If I found an internship in Quebec or New Brunswick, I could work on my French-speaking skills
5. I would have the opportunity to meet Adventists that I don't already know
6. There would be the possibility of another Canada Day in Ottawa and maybe this time I could actually get close enough to PM Harper to shake his hand!
7. It's a lot closer to travel around the east than it is out west, so I could see a lot of new places on the weekends
8. Train travel for cheap is a reality with the wonderful services of ViaRail and their student rates
9. I could attend campmeeting somewhere other than Hope, BC or Bowden, Alberta
10. Not knowing anybody would help me get a lot of reading done

Cons:
1. I'd really and truly be on my own for the summer
2. My mountain withdrawal would continue (No matter what people tell me, I know the truth. There AREN'T real mountains in the east.)
3. I'd miss out of fun family events (going to the cabin, going to BC Cowboy Campmeeting, and our annual vacation at Fairmont Hot Springs)
4. The writing projects I wanted to work on for my home church wouldn't get done
5. It would be rather difficult to hang out with all my friends who come home every summer
6. Quadding or boating every weekend wouldn't be a possibility (and my ongoing summer Ogopogo-search would be postponed)
7. I'd have to worry about a place to live, and how to furnish and pay for it
8. I wouldn't be able to work on the family history section of the memoir project I've been planning to do (which includes interviewing my grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and other wise and knowledgeable family members)
9. I'd miss my family
10. I'd miss BC

Earth Hour

On March 31, 2007 one city decided to do something about global warming. In Sydney, Australia 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour at 8:30 p.m. A year later, the event went global with 35 countries and 370 cities around the world taking part in Earth Hour. Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. local time all around the world, people will be turning off their lights to raise awareness about global warming.

While I don't believe all the hype about global warming, I do believe in finding ways to save money and I think Earth Hour is a good place to start. I'm guilty of using way more electricity than I really need to, so tomorrow from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. EST, I'll turn off my lights for an hour and go do something not involving electricity. You should too...

To find out more about Earth Hour, click here.

Alouette

Tonight I agreed to hang out in Bryn's room and help her write and edit a 12-page Bible paper she has due tomorrow. I edited as much as she had done and then spent the rest of the evening distracting her. Somehow I managed to get the Alouette song stuck in my head and tried to sing it. This proved quite difficult because I'd forgotten all of the French lyrics except the first line. So I found a video to remind myself of the words that I learned all those years ago in elementary French classes.

English Translation: "Alouette" is a popular Canadian children's song about plucking the feathers (presumably in preparation for cooking) off a skylark, a small bird. It originated with the French Canadian fur trade. Naturally, the literal English translation does not match up well with the meter of the song, so a slightly less literal (but more singable) version would be:

Little skylark, lovely little skylark
Little lark, I'll pluck your feathers off
I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
Off your head - off your head
Little lark, little lark
O-o-o-o-oh

Then repeat with various other body parts:
Off your beak
Off your eyes
Off your neck
Off your back
Off your wings
Off your legs
Off your tail

Wave Tag

How to Play:
Find an ocean. One with waves is preferable.

Rules:
1. As the water from the last wave goes back out to sea, walk towards the new incoming wave.
2. Stop and stand your ground when you are between 30-60 cm in front of the wave.
3. At the last possible second before the wave touches your feet, make a 180 degree turn and run.
4. Do whatever you need to in order to remain untagged.*
5. (a) If the wave tags you, you are now it and will need to tag the wave. (b) If you managed not to get tagged, congratulate yourself and start all over again when the next wave comes in.

*Dropping a camera is not suggested.


Exhibit:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Note: Playing a game of Wave Tag up until 25 minutes before church time on Saturday morning is an excellent way to start the Sabbath.