Leap Day!

     Yeah, like I'd pass up an opportunity to blog on Leap Day. I mean this opportunity only comes once every four years and I probably won't be blogging four years from now. (Maybe?). Well, I was going to post the 50 First Dates review, and I DO have it written, I just decided to hold off on it till tomorrow. This weekend was fun. I worked like 11 hours today and is the 8th day in a row out of 10 consecutive days. WOW. I will be off a few days so I'll head upstate and that should be fun. I watched Welcome to Mooseport last night and that review should be up in shortly. (Which means in a week and a half!). Well, I hope you enjoy your LEAP DAY! I know I did!

Stampede

     Well, I got back from the theater a few hours ago and all I can say is wow. What a night. The people who went to see the Passion went bonkers tonight and literally steamrolled their way into the theater when doors opened for the movie. I couldn't believe it. It's only a fricken movie!! It's not a Jay-Z concert!! Anyway, that's all I gots to say about that. Tomorrow I should be going to see the movie Welcome to Mooseport, just to see a movie. I am a Ray Romano fan so I hope it's a good film. Expect the 50 First Dates review late tomorrow night or early Sunday morning. Goodnight!

Passion Movie Theater Thoughts

     Well, let's assume you haven't been hiding beneath a rock for the last few days. Last night was the first night of "The Passion" and I had the fun of working that night. I also worked tonight. Let's just say, it was busy for that movie. Both of the last shows sold out , and that's like 400 seats easy. I just can't wait to see what it does this weekend. It has been a very hyped movie and very controversial. I can't comment on the actual movie yet because I haven't seen it, but I can say that I can't wait to see it. People have been coming out of the theater and saying what a great experience it was to see it. How powerful and moving it is. Luckily, I haven't seen anything negative happen. No protests or anything which is happening in the city. Anyway, I don't have much else to say about it right now. I will post the 50 First Dates review this weekend, if I can find time when NOT working. :-)

Ash Wednesday

     Well, I was going to post my 50 First Dates review today, but I decided not to. For some reason I just thought I'd mention that today is Ash Wednesday. It seems like the days just fly by and I never really know what day it is and when I woke up this morning I admit, I forgot it was Ash Wednesday. I remembered after the post-morning haze wore off and immediately thought, when will I get ashes today? I ended up just coming back from a prayer service here at SJU and it was really good. I always liked Ash Wednesday for some reason. It always just seems like a new beginning. It's the start of the most holy time of the year, Lent. I always enjoyed the Lenten season. Maybe it has something to do with the onset of spring and me becoming happier anyway, but even spiritually I feel, I don't know, more religious during this time of year. I was at church just thinking about how much better I feel when I go to church. So I should go more. I don't know if I'm making myself clear but I just feel great right now after getting my ashes!


Enjoy the Lenten season!!!


     Also, the long anticipated "The Passion of the Christ" came out today, and I will be at work tonight selling tickets. I don't know what to expect. This is the first time I'll go to work not knowing what to expect. I know it'll be busy, but will anything else happen? Protests? I don't know. I'll write about it tomorrow though.


     And one last thing. Today I finally picked up my SJU diploma. I guess it's official now, I've finished college.

False Start

     I had planned on writing about my first day at school, but of course, I can't. Why can't I? Because I didn't have school. Turns out they had recheduled it for two weeks from now and forgot to tell me! It's ok though, I always enjoy going to the city, even if just for an hour or two. I did get my A+ textbook and I was reading through it. It seems pretty simple so far (hell, it is chapter one) but I always savor the opportunity to learn more about computers, a profession I hope to be involved in. Did that last sentance make sense? Anyway, I must be going now. I will blog tomorrow, and it might be the 50 First Dates review which I am almost done with. Who knows?

School Again

     In about 10 hours I will once again be taking classes. I will be taking classes in the city to get certified in some tech stuff and hopefully help in getting a real career job. To say I'm a bit nervous is an understatement. It's only twice a week for 12 weeks so it's not going to be too hard and it's a 4 hour class. I just can't wait until it is over. AND I GET A JOB!!! WHOOOHOOO!!! (hopefully). Anyway, I will post tomorrow about my first day back so stay tuned.

Getting better all the time

     Well, I'm not so depressed anymore. I'm actually quite happy! Dolores always knows how to cheer me up. I had the night off last night and I just relaxed and slept for like 10 hours. I got like 20 hours sleep the last two nights and it's been awesome. We watched the DVD Chicago last night and for some reason I've been in a really writing mood lately so I have a review of that in the works as I type. I don't think I'll post it here, just archive it somewhere else and put the link up here when I finish. I think I'll keep the blog just to what I'm thinking, what I'm doing etc etc. In fact, this week should be a big one for me. I start classes on Tuesday to get get certified for some computer stuff and I'm really looking forward to it. Well, I am gonna go now, I have work in an hour! UGH! Laters!

I'm Down

      It's been a sort of depressing weekend so far. I don't really want to get into it now, but I'm feeling bummed. I hope these feelings pass. Anyway, I haven't started the 50 First Dates review yet, and honestly, I don't know when I will be motivated to start it due to current feelings. Maybe it'll be up this week? Maybe never? No not never, I jest, but I don't know if I'll be blogging much this week. Of course, I might end up blogging like 24 times this week, so you never know. Well, regardless, I'll keep you updated!

Fucking SJU internet connection

     I had a nice blog written and as I go to post it, the SJU internet fails to load completely, thus causing a perfectly good blog to disappear into random bytes and bits flowing through the internet to some undisclosed location. Thanks SJU.


     Anyway, basically I talked about my day. Nothing too much happened. I went to see 50 First Dates and I thought it was hilarious. I'll review it later on this week. Also, I have work on Friday and Sunday meaning I have a nice Saturday off. Score. Well, I'm pissed at the internet now, so I'm leaving. If this blog gets lost, well, you'll never know because I AM NOT REPOSTING and if it makes it through, this statement was completely a waste of time on my part. I truly got served.

My Weekend Upstate

     Well, I promised I'd post about my weekend trip to Orange County so here it is. It all started on Sunday morning at about 6:00am. Maybe not THAT early but this is my blog and I can make things up if I wish. So Dolores and I went to mass near her house b/c she had to give out Communion at 8:00am. So I went to mass, did my praying, did my singing (you DON'T want to hear me sing at 8 in the morning) and then Dolores, her brother Tommy, her mom and myself went to a buffet at the Sizzler. It was lots of fun and I like hanging out wih her family. After that, Dolores and I began the great trek upstate. It was a battle. A battle of my car vs. the millions of others on the highway. Yes, traffic.


      Luckily, it wasn't too bad and we actually made it up in less than an hour and a half. I hate driving upstate sometimes though, there's just NOTHING to look at. Just mountains and trees. Yeah nature is good and all that stuff, but mindlessly driving on Route 9W where there's nothing but that for 45 minutes can get a but numbing. Minor details aside, we got there quickly. It was nice to see the family again. We got there about two and just hung around for a while until we went to dinner at 5. It was a nice Italian restaurant though the name of the place eludes me at this time. Afterwards, we went back home to open presents! I got some cool things. A Wayne Gretzky DVD I wanted, as well as a Who one, and a Who CD (Reviews forthcoming). I also got some hockey cards and was fortunate enough to get not one, but TWO LANNY MCDONALD patch cards. Oh well, it was cool anyways.


      While upstate, you probably ask, Tom, what do you and Dolores do for fun? Well, questioning person, we go to my family's game room. We play pool, foosball and darts. Sometimes cards too. That's one of the reasons I like going upstate, so I can play pool and foosball and darts. By the way, I kick my brother's asses on a regular basis in foosball. Okay now that the gloating is out of the way, I have nothing else to mention about the game room. We also watch TV and just overall relax. It's like a mini-vacation. We're away from the rushin' and bustlin' of the city so it's nice to be somewhere quiet and walk outside in the fresh air. It was very nice.


      On Monday I woke up at about 10:40 and got my things ready to go. I had to leave about 2:30 because I had work at 5 so Monday morning was spent getting my things ready, saying goodbye to the family, and getting in the last few games of foosball. With that, Dolores and I were off. (I forget to mention we stopped by Hannafords, their version of Waldbaums, or if you're from the island, King Kullen, for some super-cheap soda, SCORE!). The drive down was pretty quick too. Probably an hour and twenty minutes.


      For reference sake, here's the CD's of choice in the car on our journey: Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits 1974-1978, The Who's Quadrophenia, Eric Clapton's Journeyman and Paul McCartney's Flaming Pie. Well, this blog seems to be pretty damn long, so I will end it HERE to stop anyone from getting bored. I know I am leaving out some things on this trip, so if I remember anything, I will post them tomorrow. I should be going to see 50 First Dates on Thursday so expect a review of that round the weekend. BYE!

Two days off

     Well, I took a few days off from blogging and the computer in general during my trip upstate but I thought I'd post a quickie tonight. And basically that's it. I'll post about my weekend later on tomorrow so I hope you'll read then.

Valentine's Day

     Happy Valentine's Day everybody! I hope you're enjoying it with someone you care about! I'm currently writing this as Dolores is taking one of her two teacher exams. I miss her greatly and I probably won't get a chance to see her again today because I have to go to work tonight. UGH! I know she will most likely read this tonight, so I have a little message for her.


     Dolores, I love you so much. I want you to know that every Valentine's Day we've spent together gets better and better and every day we're together I feel my love getting stronger for you. I really enjoy being your boyfriend, I wouldn't give it up for the world! As you know I am not good at writing letters like this, so I will write a better one on the card I have for you! Also, go to my apartment! There's flowers there for you!!!


     I just hope all you reading have a great Valentine's Day, and enjoy your weekend. And if you have girlfriend's/boyfriend's just let them know how you feel about them, but don't let it stop at Valentine's Day. Tell them every day. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Review for Miracle


     I'm a HUGE hockey fan so this review may be a bit longer as I tend to write A LOT when I'm talking about hockey. That's enough of an intro, so here we go!


The Main Characters
•Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell)- Herb is a hockey coach who is chosen to lead a group of college Americans into the Olympics. Herb himself was a hockey player who had qualified for the 1960 Olympic squad for the US but he was cut mere days before they left to play. He ended up watching Team USA win the gold medal from his couch. So he has something to prove. He wants the glory that he never had.
•US Hockey Team- A team of 20 young college/amatuer players who play in the 1980 Olympics. There is no really standout player I'd highlight since it was more a story of Herb Brooks than the actual team.
•USSR Hockey Team- They were considered the BEST team in hockey at that time. They had won the Gold Medal in hockey every year since the Americans won in 1960 (64, 68, 72, and 76). They had also recently beaten the NHL all-stars by a final of 6-0. The were picked to win the gold hands down, and their playing was a mere formality.


The Setting
This movie starts in 1979 with Herb becoming the head coach and picking the players while training in Minnesota. The main parts take place in Lake Placid for the 1980 Winter Olympics.


The Plot
This movie is based on a true story, so the plot is pretty easy to describe. I can just write historical facts and such. So, basically, the US hockey team had a snowball's chance in hell to even qualify for a medal in the 1980 Olympics, let alone win the whole thing. I believe they were actually ranked 6th of the 12 or so teams that play in the qualifying round. So, Herb Brooks gathers his team together and they practice, hard. He wants a team that can play a full 60 minutes. He studied the Russians a lot. He studied their style of play, how they cycle the puck and how they intimidate their opponents. He taught this lessons to his players. He also had the hard task of bringing together a team of players who didn't like their teammates due to regional rivalries. He made the players hate him so they wouldn't hate themselves. So the USA played many games against other national teams prior to the Olympics for practice and they did pretty well (though they glanced over this in the movie) until they had to play the Russians THREE DAYS before the Olympics started. In what many thought was a sign of things to come, the US team lost 10-3 at MSG and were completely outplayed. This certainly put a damper on the US' chances. So the Olympics start and the US played Sweden in their first game. They ended up trailing with a little over a minute left and if they lost this game, it would be very hard to make the medal round. With about 30 seconds left, they somehow managed a goal and a 2-2 tie. Next up was the Czech national team, who many thought to be the second best team in the Olympics behind Russia and the US soundly defeated them 7-3. Next they played a German team (I think?) and came away with another win. With their record, they made it into the medal round and had to face, you guessed it, The Russians. Anticipations were high for this game. It wasn't just a hockey game. It US vs. THEM. Remember when this game took place. It was in the midst of the Cold War and the USA was in a bad place. They recently had hostages taken in Iran, the gas prices were soaring and morale was at an all time low. The USA needed something, anything to lift their collective spirit, and no one thought that thing would happen on a hockey rink in upstate New York. On to the game, it ended up being 3-2 in favor of Russia going into the third period. The USA got a goal to tie it at 3 and midway through the third, Mike Eruzione scored from just beyond the faceoff circle to take the lead and send the crowd into a frenzy. 10 minutes left. 10 minutes to defeating the vaunted Russians. The USA managed to hold them off, thanks to many great saves by goalie Jim Craig. As the seconds counted off the clock the crowd got louder, and louder and louder. Finally, 3 seconds remained and the USA cleared the puck as Al Michaels, play by play man for the game, asked one of the most memorable questions in sporting history, "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" And with that, the USA defeated the Russians. We had defeated Russia. Of course, people don't remember they had to play a Finnish team in the Gold Medal round and ended up winning after scoring 3 goals in the third to take the gold.
My Review
This was an awesome movie. I love hockey so there may be some personal bias there. One thing you have to remember when going into the movie. This isn't a documentary, it's a story of Herb Brooks. They focus on Herb's personal mission to win, trying to replace the emptiness he felt from being cut from the 1960 team. It shows how he coached a group of youngsters to become one team, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. With that said, it is still a great movie. It is almost 100% historically correct (some dates are a little off, and the way Russia scored its third goal in the medal round is also made up, to add drama to the game). The action scenes are the best I've seen in a hockey movie. The filming was incredible, the angles of the goals. I was blown away really. I honestly didn't want to see this movie. I thought I've seen stories about it before, why do I need to see the movie? I am so glad I went. It isn't the story of it as I've said, it's about the man. We never really saw the emotion behind Herb, we never knew why he was a great coach. It was awesome to look at it from his point of view. You have to see it. I guarentee that even non-hockey fans will like it, since it is a great source of national pride. It was voted the number sports moment by ESPN recently and one of the few times where international affairs took on added importance to what was just a hockey game. Easy recommendation to see.

****

The Weekend to Come

I really have nothing to say. I'm currently working on the Miracle Review so that should be up this weekend. Anyway, I am looking to have a busy weekend. I have work on Friday night till 11. That's not too bad though. Saturday looks to be busy. It is Valentine's day and of course, D and I won't be together at all :'(. She has to take some teacher tests and I'll be at work from 4-11:30. After that, Sunday she and I are going to 8:00am mass then driving upstate to see the family to celebrate me and my brothers birthday! YES!! DINNER AND PRESENTS!! Of course it's more than that. I haven't seen my family in a long time. It should be good to see them again and I'll try to throw in an upstate blog during my time up there. After that, I wake up on Monday morning and drive back down in time for work at 5. It's worth it though, I GOT MY RAISE WHOOO-HOOO!! Well, I'm going to work on the review now.

Blogless

     I TOTALLY had something I wanted to blog about, but I freaking forgot. It was something good too. I'm here though, so I thought I should mention SOMETHING. I've been reviewing like crazy lately, mostly wrestling, so I doubt anyone reading would have too much of an interest in reading it. I will post some of the review within the next month or so (not here though) if anyone is interested in reading them. I also plan to have the Miracle movie review up by Friday. I'm going to have a busy week next week from Friday-Wednesday, so I don't know if blogging will be as frequent, just thought I'd let you know. Anyway, your Car-CD of the week will be Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1974-1978. Some great stuff on there (though some of it is edited sadly) but it's a quick listen and I've heard it like 10 times total the last 2-3 weeks and I haven't tired of it. If I remember what it was I wanted to blog about, I'll probably do that later on tonight. If not, then, have a good one!

Movies

     I've been working at Loews now for almost 6 months, and one day when I was at work I decided to write down every movie I could remember that has been there since I've been there. It's really amazing the amount of movies that have been there since I started (about 50 from what I've counted) and as I go through movies on The Internet Movie Database, I see lots of movies that I don't even remember I had, like for instance, Looney Tunes:Back in Action. I completely forgot the movie was in my theater. It's even weirder that movies that were at my theater when I started are now coming out on DVD. Well, I really have nowhere else to go with this blog, so I might just end it. I have work tonight so I am sure I will be ruminating about movies that have been in the theater the same time I have been. THAT'S what I do when I'm bored at work. Have a nice day, all.

40 Years Ago Today

     40 years ago today a revolution started, a revolution that would effect the world. It would effect everyone. It's effects are still being felt today. Forty years ago today, 72 million people tuned into the Ed Sullivan Show to see The Beatles. Yes, today is the 40th anniversary of the Beatles first US television performance. Being a HUGE Beatles fan, I thought I'd mention it. Even though I was born after one of the four died, I still call them my favorite band ever and they have influenced me in so many ways, and not all just musical. They are the ones who got me playing guitar and got me to write my own songs (which I doubt anyone will ever see). Thank you, Beatles. I don't want to get into a huge blog about them, since I'm sure most of you know already about them, so I won't. I just wanted to blog today, on the 40th anniversary of the Ed Sullivan Show. Close your eyes and I'll kiss you, tomorrow I'll miss you, remember I'll always be true. And then while you're away, I'll write home every day, and I'll send all my loving to you.....

35

     I had been looking forward to this day since the announcement. This day was marked on my calender months in advance. I know many other people who marked this special day on their calender too. The day? February 4th. The place? Madison Square Garden, "The World's Most Famous Arena." The reason? Look no further than the two numbers written in today's title. 35. Mike Richter's number.


     Mike Richter is easily the greatest New York Ranger goalie in history, he is also one of the top 3 American-born goalies, and in most cases, considered number 1. That's why the news was so devastating when we Ranger fans heard that Mike Richter was going to call it quits because of post concussion syndrome. That day, was a sad day for New York sports. We Ranger fans knew that the Rangers organization was going to do something special for the man who backstopped the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years, and they delivered.


     Before we get to the ceremony, we must first discuss why Mike Richter is so revered by many New York Rangers fans. He was drafted in 1985 and made his first ever start in the playoff in April 1989, losing a game to the Penguins. He began the next season as a full time Ranger and in his regular season debut stopped a Kevin Dineed penalty shot and won 7-3, the first of Mike's soon to be 301 NHL victories. Along the way, Mike set many New York Rangers records and accomplished many personal milestones. In 1991, he made 59 saves setting a NYR record and just a few months later recorded the first of his 33 NHL shutouts. In 1992, Mike Richter played in his first All-Star game, in his hometown of Philadelphia. 1994 was the big year though. THE Year. We all knew something special would happen that year.


     Mike started off the season poorly, I think he may have been 0-4 even, but on October 24th, he won against LA 3-2, setting off a string of 20 games where he wouldn't lose. He won 17 games and tied 3 times and catapulted the Rangers into number 1 where they would stay the rest of the season. Of course, Mike was an easy pick to that year's All-Star game, which would be held at MSG, and was spectacular enough to win All-Star MVP honors. That season he would also become the single season NYR wins leaders with 42, breaking Giacomin's record of 37. He started the playoffs with a bang, blanking the Isles in two straight games to open the playoffs. He would go on to get 4 shutouts that playoff year. He managed to keep the Rangers into games against the Devils who they were able to surpass in 7 games. They then played Vancouver in the finals and managed to take a 2-1 games lead. Perhaps one of the most memorable moments from the finals happened in Game 4. The Rangers were losing 2-1 and Vancouver caught a break in that Pavel Bure, a 60 goal scorer that year, was awarded a penalty shot. A goal there and it would be 3-1 Vancouver with momentum swinging in their favor. To that point, Richter had never allowed a penalty shot goal. In skated Bure and somehow, Richter made the impossible save, and the Rangers ended up winning that game and the series. Finally, a Stanley Cup after 54 years.


     Richter would never win another Stanley Cup, but he would not stop winning big games. He excelled in big games and international events, while wearing the red, white and blue of the USA, were his time to shine. In the 1996 World Cup, Richter single-handedly won it for the Americans and was named the MVP. In 2002, Richter was the driving force behind the USA's Olympic silver medal. In 1996, Mike was named to the All-Time USA hockey team. He truly represented America well.


     Of course, Mike would literally rewrite the Rangers record book. He has the most wins, most playoff wins, most playoff shutouts, most appearances, longest unbeaten streak and I could go on. He also stopped 12 of 13 penalty shots he faced. What a goalie. Well, as this blog gets progressively longer, I still haven't touched upon the actual night and ceremony. I won't recap the WHOLE thing since the ceremony lasted almost 45 minutes but I'll touch upon some highlights.


     First they brought out some old Ranger players, Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin and Adam Graves. The response Graves got was huge. Then the man of the night was brought out. Man, I have never heard the Garden that loud. After that they had some of the guys give speeches about Mike. After that, they gave some gifts to Mike Richter and then Mike had to give a speech. It was a very emotional speech and he says how he was blessed with playing the Rangers. After that, the moment we all waited for. Number 35 being raised to the rafters, to be joined only by Numbers 1 and 7. WOW. That is something I will never forget. I felt like I was a part of history. It was just such a great ceremony.


     The less said about the actual game the better. (The Rangers of course lost) but that wouldn't dampen anyone's evening. The Rangers organization once again went all out and made it quite a night to remember. I have seen it on TV the day after like 4 times and the ceremony is still great. It was most fitting to a player who deserves it. Thanks for the memories, Mike.

1:00am

It's 1:00am and I just got back from watching the movie, Miracle . HOL-EE SHIT what a movie! Full review will be forthcoming but initial reviews sees it as being a 4 star movie. Also, the Mike Richter night blog should be up this weekend. See you then!

Note

I didn't get a chance to blog on the 6th, thus breaking my streak. I'm still up though and I consider it the 6th still, so this counts! Not too much to say. My alma mater is making me proud and my Mike Richter blog is coming together quite nicely, though it looks to be a little on the long side. I'll post something later on today!

22

     I WAS going to blog about Mike Richter night last night, but I'm going to hold off on that until tomorrow or the weekend. I just wanted to post something else now. Something that I felt I should get off of my chest.

I'M @22!!!!!!!!!!!

WHOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO

Happy Birthday To ME

Happy Birthday to MEE

Happy Birthday to TOOOOOOOOOOOOM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEEEE

And that my friend, concludes another blog.

New York Rangers Top Ten

     In preparing for tonight's hockey game, I decided to take a look back on all the Rangers games I've been to and select the best games I have seen. Tonight will most likely go straight to the top but I wanted to write this for a long time, and there is no better time than now. For those who don't know, tonight is Mike Richter night. The New York Rangers will be honoring the best goalie they have ever had, and possibly the best American goalie ever. I can't remember getting this excited to go to a hockey game possibly in my life. Now excited as I may be, I'm not here to write about Mike Richter night, that will most likely be tomorrow, I am here to write about my Top Ten NYR games I've attended. I've been to 98 games as of today so making the list shouldn't be too hard, but after going game through game there are certain moments that I remember through the last few years. Some have been historical, and some sentimental. Well, enough of the talking, and let's begin!



• Number 10

12/29/97 vs. Florida

This game is on the Top 10 for the reason being that this was my first Ranger game I ever attended. It is also the only time I saw Wayne Gretzky play. The Rangers lost 4-3 but I will never forget this game. Highlights include a fight between Darren Langdon and Paul Laus where Darren absolutely pummeled Laus so much that Laus had to go to the locker room. I also think that Ray Whitney of FL scored two shorthanded goals but you'll have to check that out for me.



• Number 9

11/07/02 vs. Calgary

Usually, 1-0 games would be very boring to go to, but this one was different. It was exciting and featured many scoring opportunities. It also marked the first shut-out I've ever been too. The game was tied at 0 going into OT and in a truly historic moment, Brian Leetch scored his 7th overtime goal, tying him for first all time in overtime goals by a defenseman.



• Number 8

11/03/02 vs. St. Louis

First off, I have really no recollection of this game and off hand I have no idea of the final score (5-2 STL perhaps?). What I can tell you is that this is the last game Mike Richter ever played at MSG. One of the greatest Rangers ever, and this was his last game. Unfortunately, no one knew it at the time since he'd get injured in Edmonton a few nights later.



• Number 7

10/29/01 vs. Dallas

As will be the theme for this blog, I again cannot remember the score. Don't worry, if you really want to know just email me or something. As you'll read later on, Dallas seems to be a good opponent for Rangers players to hit a milestone. In this particular game, Theoran Fleury scored his 1000th NHL point. This was a big milestone for him. He was short player who no one thought would ever do a thing in this league, but here is, the 5'6 Fleury, netting his 1000th point. I think it might have been a goal, or maybe an assist, I'll have to check, but it was the first time I've seen someone get their 1000th point and it was awesome to see the celebration and crowd response to this milestone.



• Number 6

02/11/00 vs. Boston

This ranks as one of the most exciting games I've ever seen, usurped only by the number 5 game. Numbers 4-1 deal with a single moment, or event that happened that makes it stick out. Not this game. This was from start to finish an awesome game, and was capped off by a Jan Hlavac hat trick. Now, getting a hat trick doesn't qualify for this list BUT, this game happened to be on hat night, where all 18,200 fans in attendance got a hat. So imagine that, Hlavac scored his third goal on the powerplay in the third period and it literally RAINED hats onto the ice. What a great game and a great moment.



• Number 5

12/23/00 vs. Nashville

As a Ranger fan, this game sucked. As a hockey fan, I don't know if they'll be a game as exciting as this one. The Rangers were winning 2-1 heading into the final minute of play. Nashville somehow got a powerplay and scored with something like 50 seconds left. The game would go to overtime. In overtime, David Legwand managed to get a breakaway, only to be taken down from behind by Brian Leetch. The arena went silent to see what the officials call would be. Surely he wouldn't award him a penalty shot when the breakaway itself was questionable. It would only be a hooking or tripping right? A few seconds later, a moan erupted from the crowd when the referee pointed towards center ice, issuing Legwand a penalty shot. Well, the odds were in the Rangers favor, a penalty shot goal has never been scored in overtime in NHL history. Well, I think you can tell what happened next. Legwand circled and skated down one on one against the goalie (I think it was McLean but I'm not sure) and scored a beautiful goal. Nashville won, and I saw the goal perfectly, I was right behind the net when it happened. What an exciting game.



• Number 4

10/28/02 vs. Phoenix

Yet another game where I have no idea of the final score. I know that the Rangers won however, and this win gave Mike Ricther his 300th win. 300 wins for goalies is like 300 wins for baseball pitchers, it doesn't happen often and it is truly a landmark event. It was quite awesome to be there and see Mike win his 300th and cement his place as an all-time great. The moment turned out to be bittersweet though, because Mike would only win one more before having to retire due to a concussion problem.



• Number 3

10/07/01 vs. Buffalo

This is one of the most emotional games I've ever been to. It had nothing to do with anything that happened on ice, even though the Rangers won 6-5 in OT (I think), but because of the pre-game ceremonies. This was the NYR home opener and they always do really nice opening ceremonies. You see, this was less than a month after 9/11 and so it was a very special ceremony celebrating the hard work of the NYPD and FDNY. They honored many of the uniformed members on ice and played an amazing video tribute that didn't leave a dry eye in the whole arena. To top it off, a huge U-S-A chant erupted and was one of the loudest I've ever heard it at MSG. Truly a memorable experience.



• Number 2

01/18/01 vs. Toronto
This is a game that will go down in Rangers history and further cement the fact that Mike Richter is the greatest Rangers goalie in history. Honestly, my memory of this game is a bit foggy. What I can tell you is that the score was tied at 1 at the end of regulation, and Mike Richter still remained one win away from being number one on the NYR all-time win list. Eddie Giacomin was still tying Richter at 1 with 267 wins. We head into overtime and sure enough, Brian Leetch ends up scoring the winning goal as MSG goes nuts and the players congratulate Richter on his record.



• Number 1

11/04/03 vs. Dallas

This quite possibly will be the best game I ever attend, ever. Mark Messier has always been my favorite player and tonight would be his night to shine. Coming into the game Mark had 1,849 points, just two shy of Gordie Howe's 1,851. Going into the game, I knew that if Mark got two points, he would become the second all-time in NHL history on the points list. Messier scored, I think in the second or third period and the fans in the Gah-den went nuts. Everyone knew that something special could happen if Mark got another one. In true Messier fashion, with time winding down in the third and the Dallas net empty, Barnaby fed Messier the puck at center ice. Messier wristed a shot down and I swear to you that it was moving in slow-motion. I could feel the electricity in my body as the puck crossed over the goal line and into the back of the net. Pure Magic. The place went crazy, the Rangers players came off the bench and congratulated Mark on his historic achievement. This is history. Mark Messier, in all of NHL's illustrious history, is the second all time in points. Best game ever and an easy choice for number one.



Well, I hope you enjoyed my rather lengthy look back at my 10 favorite NYR games I've been too. It's funny that 2 or 3 of the games the Rangers ended up LOSING but still, history dictates they must be on there for historical purposes :). I have already talked about the game tonight, so I don't want to say anything more until tomorrow, but I cannot wait!

The Butterfly Effect

Review for The Butterfly Effect

A brief note for those reading this on the blog. I was hesitant to do this review because, I'm lazy. Things changed though when I read Joe's Blog. See, Joe hasn't blogged that often and just recently posted 3 quality blogs, the most recent one (as of today) being his thoughts on the Super Bowl and on a movie he saw, The Butterfly Effect. Now, he linked my site saying I was going to write a review soon, and whether it was his intention or not, it motivated me to write one RIGHT NOW. So here we go. This will be the same type as the Along Came Polly review which can be found here.


The Main Characters

• Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) - Evan is currently in college studying psychology. He is very interested in psychology because when he was younger he was plagued with blackouts, instances where blocks of time were just seemingly gone from his memory. He couldn't remember them at all. He finds out there is a reason he blacked out though.
  
• Kayleigh Miller (Amy Smart) - Kayleigh is Evan's love interest. There's really not much I can say about her here except that she has an abusive younger brother, named Tommy.
  
• Thumper (Ethan Suplee) - Honestly, he has almost no role in the movie except to be the fat guy. They mention him on the commercials so it shows I MUST be missing something important about him.
  

It should be noted that the two main characters above are also played by younger actors to portray them at 7 and 13, I was just too bored to put their names in too.


The Setting

I think it takes place somewhere in upstate NY, but I'll be clever and say, it takes place in many different dimensions and times.


The Plot

Simply put, as a child, Evan suffered from many blackouts. A psychologist at the time told Evan's mother that Evan should write everything down so he can remember what happened. Young Evan kept many journals but it still didn't help with his blackouts. Evan managed to blackout some of the most frightening moments of his life, Amy's father sexually abusing them, Tommy going crazy and killing his dog, his crazy father trying to kill him etc etc. He can't remember why the blackouts happend and only knows what happened before and after the blackouts. We fast forward 7 years and Evan is blackout free. He stumbles upon some of his old journals when a lady is over and she asks him to read some for her. Sounds good right? Well, when Evan starts reading it, life seems different. He is suddenly transported back to that instance written about in the notebook. Eventually, he learns he can change the events that happened in the blackout. He goes back in time to try to change the way things work out in order to save his love, Kayleigh. Of course, he finds that each time he goes back to "save" her, the outcome he never could have predicted and it seemingly keeps getting worse. See, the chaos theory states that someplace in the world a butterfly flaps its wings causing a tidal wave somewhere else. That's what this is. A simple change of one action, event or anything and it causes a tidal wave of results Evan couldn't have forseen.


My Review
The problem with writing reviews is that I don't want to give away any of the story to those reading who are on the fence about seeing a movie, so I will try my best here. Personally, I loved this movie. The plot was very interesting and it had me hooked for the whole movie, which runs about 2 hours. The only problem is every time you do a time travel movie, millions of people will show up revealing "plot holes." These people clearly have no life and need to reveal things that don't make sense when it clearly is supposed to just be watched for entertainment purposes. And, unless they know something I don't, since no one has time traveled, how can they be so sure what effects one person's time travel will have on someone? The biggest complaint I've seen is that if he goes back into the future, how is the writing still there in the notebook? If you watch the movie, you'll notice he writes in generalities. He doesn't write, at 10:43am I went to my friends house where we ate cookies and then watched Jaws. Then I did so and so etc etc. He would write. I went to my friends house today. I saw my dad today. Whatever. I don't think his going back in time would change anything he'd written since most of them still happened in general, but the specifics are what's changed. I'd have to go back and check that, but I'm pretty sure where were no GAPING plot holes. Putting that aside, I liked the way things turned out. In the beginning of the movie, right before we see anything happen, they show a black screen with the Chaos Theory written in white on it. It went something like this, some people theorize that a simple act of a butterfly flapping its wings in one place, lead to a typhoon in someplace halfway across the world. SOMETHING like that. Basically, when Evan goes back in time, one single event had all these effects on future life. For instance, he goes back in time for to prevent something from happening and he thinks that, oh great, life will be better now, but in fact it turns out worse than before. Overall, it was an enjoyable movie for me. It is definitely a psychological-thriller type movie and a lot better than I expected. Ashton even did an admirable job in my opinion.


Overall Rating



If you want to see a great psychological thriller, this should be at the top of your list. Ashton did a great job and you'll be thinking all night long about the possibilities. I know I didn't tell a lot about what happened but I don't want to risk giving anything way to all you loyal readers. Go see the movie sez Tom.

***1/2

Week of Blogging

     Hey all, I don't have much to say today but I thought I'd give a run down of the next few days of Blogging.

• Tomorrow I will have up The much anticipated Butterfly Effect review
  
• Wednesday should be the long awaited New York Rangers blog
  
• Thursday will be a special blog day featuring my thoughts of the night before and of the important day.
  
• Friday I have no clue yet but I'm sure something will come up

Well, that's it for tonight!

Super Bowl

     Well, it's finally Super Bowl Sunday and my annual tradition can again be renewed. I will flip through te channels during the game, and try to catch all the commercials. Actually, I'm joking, I probably won't even see the commercials. I'm watching it now and it's halftime and New England is winning by 4. I hope my prediction will come true so I can talk about ad naseum for a few weeks. :-)


     In other news, I went to the mall today with Dolores and it was fun. This is probably the first time we've been to a mall in years. We just decided to go today (well, it was to get me a present for my bday). It was fun. A bit too crowded for my tastes but fun nevertheless. Dolores managed to pick up a DVD I've been clamoring for since December and I can't wait until I can watch it. In blog news, I began working on the New York Rangers blog and it looks to be coming along well, a little long but well. I haven't started the Butterfly Effect review yet because, honestly, I haven't been to the computer much this weekend. I might work on it tomorrow, but I don't know. I've been really busy when I am on the computer working on the website (which is coming along really well, and should be done by month's end), and working on a new passion of mine, (don't laugh) reviewing wrestling events. I have been really into it lately and have dabbled in it in the past. I hope to put up a website soon with all my reviews, not only in wrestling but the movies and tv and DVD's. I'll keep you posted on that. I'm gonna end this blog now and start working on my tape site. I hope you enjoyed your weekend, and have fun in the coming week.