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Though we’re still not sure of his playing status for next year, it was nonetheless a special night for Trevor Linden and his fans at GM Place on Saturday. My seats were fourth row, the closest I’ve ever been to ice level. I went to my first game in six years and made sure I arrived early to catch the warmup. I’ve said to many people that sometimes that warmup is the best part of going to a hockey game. It’s a great chance to see all the players closeup. If you’re interested, here’s some video from the warmup.

There were many people watching the Canucks warmup, probably more than I’ve ever seen. Also in great numbers were Linden #16 jerseys. They were worn everywhere, by people of varying ages, from children to senior citizens. The jerseys were also from different eras as well. Linden jerseys were represented from the yellow “V” days right on up to the current incarnation of the Canucks sweater.

I knew the evening was going to special when the crowd started cheering every single time Linden did anything or was on the Jumbotron (either live or in recorded video format). There was a huge ovation at the beginning when they announced his name as a starter at center. The sustained applause caused the announcer to have to wait several seconds before moving on to the next player in the lineup.

When the game started, the crowd was electrified whenever Linden touched the puck, hell they even got excited when he just went over the boards to take a shift. It appeared that the crowd wanted their collective will to get Linden a goal. He had several chances too. In a rare display of “bone tossing”, coach Alain Vigneault decided to give Linden a season high of over 18 minutes of ice-time. Linden was paired with Sedins for a while on the top line and he even played with Markus Naslund for a while.

Things really got going at the beginning of the third period. Linden began the period on the ice, ready to take the faceoff. His face appeared on the scoreboard above and the crowd began cheering again. It turned into a standing ovation. The officials refused to drop the puck and the players, on both sides, retreated from center ice to leave Linden to receive his loud ovation. Looking a little embarrassed, Linden raised his hands to acknowledge the crowd, making a full circle as to not leave out anyone. This only made the crowd cheer and applaud louder, which I did not think was possible. Again, here’s some video of the moment.

The game itself was a blowout, the Flames scoring seven goals to the Canucks’ one. Linden was on the ice, as he should have been, as the last few seconds ticked off the game clock. You won’t see many crowds cheering at the end of a 7-1 loss but this crowd didn’t really care about the score. Now most teams surround their goalie at the end of a game, but this time it was Linden who was the center of attention. After receiving greetings from his team mates, Linden noticed that the Flames were waiting for him at the other side of the ice. Led by Jarome Iginla, the Flames shook hands with Linden. After that, it was time for another circle around center ice for Linden who again graciously thanked the fans for their applause.

He then led his team off the ice, as he had done so many times in the past. There was a brief pause as the lights went down in the building as they prepared to announce the three stars of the game. The second and third stars went to the Flames, notably Iginla for the second, who received a loud cheer. The first star went to Linden of course, not for anything he did in this game, but for everything he’s done in a career that’s spanned two decades. A final first star for a player unlike the city has ever seen.

As Linden took the ice again, the crowd again got on their feet with a thunderous ovation. Slowly, Linden took a circle around the rink, again thanking the crowd for their undying support. Rarely do any players in the NHL have the special privilege of the last skate around the rink but here Linden was, lit by a single spotlight as he made his way around.

When he got to our corner, he was less than fifteen feet away from me and he appeared larger than life. He did a wave to us as he passed by. It was surreal seeing him that close and in that context. Linden didn’t linger on the ice, he did his lap and left. There’s an interesting moment that the cameras caught as he left. For a split second, you can almost see the moment he realizes this might be it, a career ending in adoration. If there one video you watch from this post, make it this one.

Linden and the team returned to the ice to give away their jerseys (as they do every year). It was generally agreed that whoever got Linden’s jersey this time around was easily the luckiest bastard in the building. In the end, some dude got his jersey and we called him a lucky bastard. After the jerseys were given away, the players came out to center ice, and thanked the crowd for their support. For the final time that night, Linden along with his team, left the ice to a loud ovation.

Linden has stated he hasn’t made any final decisions about retiring just yet. How far he is leaning either way is unknown. Whether or not he retires this summer, this was by far the most special sporting event I’ve ever attended. Outside of fried chicken, the best $129 I’ve ever spent on myself.

The Vancouver Canucks played themselves out of a playoff spot tonight. Losing 2-1 to the Edmonton Oilers, the loss eliminated them from the post season. It wasn’t one of those amazing sprints down the wire where a team just falls one win short. In their last seven games, they managed just one win, a measly two points, just when every other single team in their division was clawing for points. If they had just gone .500, they would have been in a much better position tonight. Hell, even if they had lost the last seven games in shootouts, that would have been ok.

Nevertheless, I am going to the final home game of the season on Saturday evening where the Canucks will face the Calgary Flames. The prices appeared to have dropped quite a bit since the last time I checked. I got lower bowl seats, 4th row even, for $129 each, just $20 over face value. Considering nosebleed seats were going for over $200 just a few days ago, that’s a steal.

I am going of course, solely for the reason that this very well maybe Trevor Linden’s final home and NHL game. As of this writing, he’s hasn’t said anything about retiring yet but if he retires during the summer, I don’t have a time machine to go back to his last game.

If this indeed is his last game, I’ll be pleased that I was able to see it in person. I was there when he played his first home game after being traded back to the Canucks in 2001. The tickets cost me $35 back then and that was using a broker. The Canucks played the Blackhawks that night in November. I got there early to watch the warmup. I’d never heard that much applause for a player just because he took the ice to warmup. There were “welcome back Linden” signs everywhere. Linden was the second star of the game that night.

So after taking a six year break from attending Canucks games, I’ll be going back on Saturday. Retirement or not, I hope the game will be memorable and fun to watch.

I wrote in a previous post how the general manager at Joeys on Burrard offered to make up for a horrible dining experience I had a few weeks ago. Tonight, I took up his offer and returned to the original crime scene.

Now granted, I gave him a day’s worth of warning, so he told me there’d be a table for myself and my buddy Ron when I got there at 7pm. I got there first and there was a big lineup at the restaurant. I overheard a wait time of about 30 minutes. When I got to host and hostess station, I told them my name. The hostess perked up immediately and said my table was ready for me. Since it was a bit of a contrived evening, I got to bypass the waiting time, which was fine by me. The hostess led me to a table by the window, which I was pleased with.

Since Ron wasn’t there yet, I sat next alone with my menu. A few moments later, Kent the manager came by to meet me. He sat down and we discussed matters for a few minutes before Ron arrived. Kent introduced himself and then left us to our menus.

To make a long story short, we ordered some ahi tuna tacos for appies and we each had a 7 oz. tenderloin steak for mains. The food was quite nicely prepared and tasted excellent. This was a far cry from my last meal, which took too long to arrive and tasted very bland when it finally did arrive.

Both Kent and our server checked up on us several times during the evening to ensure everything was to our liking. I thought the whole meal was great. When I asked for the bill, we were told it was on the house, which was a very nice gesture on their part.

The important question now of course is how will my dining experience go the next time I visit Joeys? The next time just being a regular, run of the mill guest where they won’t be trying extra super hard to win back my confidence.

Stay tuned!

At work, I leave my cell phone on my desk in plain view of anyone who walks by. Twice this week, I’ve had people come by and say, “Man, that phone is old. When you gonna get a new one?” My current cell phone is the one you see above, it’s a Siemens M55 that I bought off Ebay in 2005. It’s only my second cell phone ever. I first got a cell phone in 2000 if you can believe it and pretty much didn’t use it until 2005.

Anyways, I don’t see why I need to get a new cell phone just because it’s over three years old. My current phone let’s me talk to people over a GSM network and I can send/receive text messages. That’s all that I really need from a cell phone. Plus my phone is quite small measuring only 4 x 1.8 x 0.8 in.

Sure I’m missing still and video camera features but other than making my own amateur porn, is there any other reason to have that on a cell phone? I suppose it would be neat to listen to MP3s with my phone but unless I’m willing to shell out big bucks for those 4Gb models, there’s really not a lot of storage space on your average cell phone.

Yep, I think I’m going to stick with my current phone for just a little longer. Having said that, I just surfed on over to a list of unlocked GSM phones for sale. Maybe that wasn’t a great idea.

Though the date is the first of April, I assure you this post is no joke. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post where I saw the body of a deceased gentlemen lying in the street where he had died after getting hit by a private bus. Today, again on my way home, I saw another dead body.

My bus was nearing the Barnet Highway, where Hastings St. splits off to Inlet Drive. At that corner, right next to the Chevron station, I saw two RCMP police cruisers. Both had their lights on and they were blocking off a portion of the road. Yellow crime scene tape had already blocked off a portion of the street and the sidewalk. Lying on the sidewalk was what appeared to be the body of tall man. He had a white plastic sheet covering his body but some dark shoes poked out from underneath.

There were no ambulances and no other signs of emergency personnel, save the police. As my bus drove by slowly, things seemed pretty calm. I watched the news tonight to see if there would be any mention of this, there was none. None of the local newspaper web sites mentioned it either. I wonder what happened here?

I got eleven hours of sleep on Friday night. It felt great. After an evening out with some people at work, I played way too much Xbox 360, causing me to get to bed around 5am. I awoke the next day around 11am because my bladder was full. After emptying it, I decided I could use another couple hours of sleep. I wound up waking up for real around 4pm.

And that’s what I had for lunch.

Though I don’t mention it much, I am indeed a fan of the local pro ice hockey club, the Vancouver Canucks. I have been a fan since 1982. I have seen many incarnations of the team come and go. I remember their first Cup run in 1982, the heart-wrenching game 7 loss in 1994, and of course the current edition of the team.

Many players have suited up for the Canucks, but no other player has had a bigger impact on the team and the city than Trevor Linden. Along with his accomplishments on the ice, his devotion to charitable and benovelent causes off the ice have made him a beloved player in the community.

Linden is in his 19th season and questions remain as to his status as a player beyond the current season. He’ll be 38 years old in April and few players at that age play competitively in the NHL. This very well could be his last season.

Because this year could be the last, I am determined to go to the last home game of the regular season. The Canucks have struggled in their last two games, so if this continues, they won’t make the playoffs, rendering the last home game the last game period. Now Canucks tickets have been sold out for like seven seasons straight. My only recourse is to go through a ticket broker or a scalper. Ticket brokers are like a slightly higher class scalper. Things with them are a bit more legit, so I’ll probably go with them.

The only problem is that tickets in the nosebleeds currently stand at $175 per ticket for that game. It’s ridiculous actually. What’s even more ridiculous is that I’m pretty much decided to buy two of those babies. I don’t want to go alone, so I’ve decided to take my good friend Garrett along. I don’t expect him to pony up that stupid amount of cash, so it’s on me.

Is $400 too much money for two people to go to a hockey game? Hell yeah it is. It’s also a chance to be there at Linden’s last game, assuming he does retire. If he doesn’t? Well, I’ll have to do this damn thing all over again next year.

I came home fairly late tonight, so there’s little time to make a proper post. Instead, why don’t you peruse this online catalogue of plastic buttons?

http://www2.funnyordie.com/public/flash/fodplayer.swf?5954

Originally, this post was solely going to be about how it’s been nearly eight weeks since my last haircut. I was going to mention how Krameresque my hair had become and how I have wings on the sides that threaten to give me flight in a strong breeze.

Then I found the awesome video above, which I must warn you contains some strong language of the f-word kind. If you’re offended by such language, then read to the end of the post, close this browser window and continue on with your day. Anyways, the video contains some exclusive footage from the movie Knocked Up. The film was a hit and quite popular. While everyone knows that Vancouver native Seth Rogen was a big part of the movie’s success, did you know he wasn’t the original actor in the role? Yes, that is true! No lie!

Actor James Franco, better known for his role as Harry Osborne in the Spider-Man movies was the first actor to play the lead in Knocked Up. The video above shows some shocking footage from on the set that demonstrates why he was replaced after filming had started. Amazing stuff.

I can’t wait to get my haircut tomorrow.

I didn’t realize it until I was in the shower tonight but my domain turned eight years old on Monday (yesterday). I was an unemployed bum on March 24, 2000 when I decided to take up some company’s offer of free domain registrations. The promotion lasted an hour and I realized just how many people could visit a web site at once. The company’s promo site slowed to a crawl and I wasn’t even sure if my registration went through. Obviously, it did though. I think I’ve told that story before.

Anyways, we sure have come a long way since the early years here at et.com. I remember our first office was in this cheap rental space in an old strip mall located in Pitt Meadows. We were between a sporting goods store and a beauty salon. Those were simpler times.

As always, I would like to thank each and every one of you for visiting this site, either on a frequent or infrequent basis. There wouldn’t be much point in me writing for this site if no one visited, so thanks for giving it purpose. If I don’t go bankrupt buying a former grow-op condo in Abbotsford, maybe I’ll get some more et.com t-shirts to give out again. Thanks for sticking with me for the last eight years.