Buffoslug

I had a conversation at last night's Halloween party about current NHL logos - we were all on the same page: what are the designers and the people commissioning these new designs thinking (or smoking)?

In the case of the Vancouver Canucks: yes the logo is very West Coast, and is pretty neat looking, but it is also very corporate. The Canucks are owned by Orca Bay, and the Canuck logo is an Orca, shaped like a "C". Coincidence...

What ever happened to the days of the stick in the rink (okay, sure those appear on Vintage night), the skate, or everyone's favourite, the Flying V?

But forget the Canucks, I want to talk about the new team logo that has many NHL fans scratching their heads... the Buffoslug, or the Slugalo. Don't ever visit Buffalo, NY, apparently they have some pretty weird creatures there, namely buffalo with slug bodies. Personally I wouldn't want to run into one of those.

I love the old/Vintage Saber jersey. And it made total sense: a buffalo and two sabers...

Then came the Buffalo head logo...

...but I guess this year they decided the Buffalo head needed a body; but why give it a buffalo body, when you can give it the body of a slug?

What's next? The creepy Burger King mascot showing up in LA?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year...

...And I'm not talking about Christmas, even though the Christmas season already appears to be in full swing. No, I'm talking about Halloween. I absolutely love it. If I could I would still go out trick or treating. Actually there's nothing stopping me, except society: I'm sure the norm would find it rather strange if a 28 year women was out, going door to door on Halloween night.

Maybe I will have to join my brother-in-law and his wife: they still go out, and are planning on trick or treating this year. So, if you live in Kits, beware of a 6'3" man dressed as a chicken...

As usual I have a plethora of Halloween parties to attend - I thought I could swing two this year, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. So Colin and I will be at the Legges' this Saturday night; they hosted a Halloween party two years, and it was awesome.

So why do I love Halloween so much, besides the copious amounts of candy? I love to dress up. It's probably why I used to love acting. Actually, I still love acting, but I haven't been on stage in ten years!

I love creating costumes, and becoming those characters. As my brother will tell you, I have no shortage of ideas for Halloween costumes, especially when it comes to him... Last weekend, within the span of 24 hours, I visited Value Village three times, and the Sally Ann once. By the end of the weekend, I ended up in Value Village four times.

This year, I am dressing up as a character from one of my favourite novels: the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. Colin is going as the Mad Hatter.

I can't wait till tomorrow!

In other news, I am still Polynesian dancing: last night we finished the Hawaiian segment and moved onto Tahitian. Holy crap is that a workout. Girls if you want to tone your mid-section try Tahitian dancing...

In with the new

In the span of 72 hours I learned how to do three new things: three things I can now cross of my life's to do list. Those three things are: learn to knit, playe poker (Texas hold 'em) and Polynesian dance.

For some time now (many years in fact) I have wanted to learn Polynesian dancing. I have always been fascinated by the Polynesian culture, and thought Polynesian dance would be a lot of fun.

I started researching schools in the Lower Mainland back at the beginning of September and found one in Maple Ridge. Living in the south west corner of Vancouver, commuting to Maple Ridge was really not an option, but I contacted the school, nonetheless.

The woman I talked to understood that I didn't want to make such a long commute and recommended a halau hula (dance school) in Burnaby... only a 15-20 minute commute versus an hour to an hour and a half.

So every Thursday night I Polynesian dance for nearly two hours. It's an extremely good workout, and a lot of fun. I especially enjoy the stretching - it is one of the most relaxing things I've ever experienced (expect, perhaps, being in Hawaii itself). To stretch we hula to soothing Hawaiian music, practicing different hand movements which represent different aspects of Polynesian life, e.g. the water, the fish, the rainbow, aloha (love), etc.

Currently we are focusing on Hawaiian dance, and I have learned to use an ipu (a type of hand drum). Eventually we will learn Tahitian, Samoan, Fijian and Maori dancing. I am really looking forward to the latter - can't wait to learn how to use poi balls.

So where did my sudden need to knit come from: I have friends who knit and really enjoy it, but I got my first taste of knitting at a service event my alumnae association was hosting. Actually, that would be my second taste of knitting.

I originally learned how to knit when I was about 12/13 years old. My mum used to knit dolls for the Crofton Bazaar and Saints Fair, so she tried to teach me to knit back then, but I had little patience and was easily frustrated (not that that's changed) and gave up quite easily.

Fast forward 15 years or so to October 1 where some of my sorority sisters taught me how to knit. I learned the basic knit stitch (the casting on was already done) and enjoyed it so much, I decided to pick it up. Last weekend my mum gave me some yarn and needles, and I taught myself to cast on, knit, and bind off.

I find knitting a great stress release, especially while watching Canucks games... I have just requested the Stitch N Bitch books from the library so I can learn some more techniques and begin knitting patterns.


And Texas Hold 'em... For quite a while now I have been saying how I want to learn to play poker, but my biggest obstacle was that I didn't know the ranks/hands. I was thrown blind into a poker game at Tina's last Saturday, but with a little bit of instruction, and my handy crib sheet of poker hands I did very well. Too bad we didn't play for money...

Which Lost Character are you?

So I took two different tests, with a totally different result for each one...

Which LOST character are you?

Claire You are Claire You are very sweet, but you carry the spawn of Satan.

You scored as Jack. Hey there, Jack! You are a top notch doctor who can solve anything. Although you get overwhelmed with everyones problems you still solve them without a second thought. Everyone loves you! Jack 56% Michael 44% Shannon 44% Claire 38% Kate 38% Boone 31% Sun 25% Locke 19% Sayid 13% Charlie 13% Sawyer 0% Which " quizfarm.com http:> created with QuizFarm.com

Lost

The third season of Lost premiered last night, and OMG, it was good. Especially the opening scene - that was the best!

This is the first time I have watched Lost "live". It's certainly strange watching it with ads and not being able to move onto the next episode right away. That show is seriously like a drug: it leaves you wanting more, and you want it right away.

Warning: spoiler - if you haven't seen last night's episode, stop reading....






The whole episode was great, but I want to talk about the opening scene: at first I thought the woman was Pen, since that's the last person we saw on screen at the end of season two. And because the house looked "normal", I thought maybe the show was opening in the "civilized" world.

When the book club was taking place I began to think that this was somebody's flash back. And then the earthquake hit, so I immediately thought this scene was set in LA. And then everyone runs outside and you see "Henry" and Ethan, and suddenly it clicks, it's the island... and then you see the Oceanic Flight 815 explode in the air - what a rush. And that was only the first few minutes of the episode.

The one question the season opener did answer is what are polar bears doing on a tropical island (remember season 1?); but that was about the only question answered, while you were left asking many, many more... Can't wait till next Wednesday.

On another TV note, Colin and I have five episodes left of Battlestar Galactica season 2 to get through. We must do so by Saturday for the airing of BSG season 3.

Damn, why did television get so good again? On my curent must see TV list we have: LOST, BSG, 24, CSI: Miami, Dog the Bounty Hunter, My Name is Earl, Studio 60, ANTM