Ole! Ole! Ole!

It feels good to say it when it actually means something. Although I am a die hard Habs fan, I am not one of the ones that start chanting it during a regular season, first period powerplay. Too much of a good thing people, too much of a good thing!

That being said, I love the pride that comes with being a Habs fan. Through thick and thin, we love this team. Well they most certainly gave us something to cheer about last night by coming back from being down 3 games to 1 to eliminate Washington in their own barn. In Halak we trust!

Thing is, it wasn't just because of hot goaltending that the Habs won those last three games (it was the main reason though). All of the players that Bob Gainey was chastised for signing in the off season were massive. The Smurfs (Cammy, Gionta & Gomez) were all heart and soul, especially Mike C who was clutch. Travis Moen gave the team some jump on the forecheck in game 5 that really set the tone going forward. And Hal Gill... oh how we take back everything we said about you during the regular season. Jaromir Jagr once said Gill is the toughest blueliner in the league to play against. Me thinks Alexander Ovechkin might concur.

It doesn't get any easier for the Habs as they now take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. In fact, I would say it is a tougher assignment because unlike the Caps, the Pens will adjust when something isn't working. When it comes to the playoffs, Crosby & Malkin >>>>>>>> Ovechkin & Semin.

Do I want the Habs to win this series (and the Cup)? Of course I do. Do I think they will? Seems like a tall order considering the energy they spent playing the Caps full tilt for 2 weeks but stranger things have happened. Or at least equally strange ('93 anyone?).

Regardless of the outcome, this edition of the Habs have made me proud to wear the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge. Vive les Habitants!

Murphy's Law

I don't know who this Murphy cat is but he (or she) has some 'splainin' to do! It is snowing like a mother in St. John's today. I know it is still April so I shouldn't be surprised and you know what? I'm not. The snow isn't my beef. The timing of it is.

We went weeks without a flake and then as soon as my girlfriend got her snow tires off, bam, we get dumped on. Seriously, it happened when her car was getting worked on.

Once that came and went, we barely saw even a hint of snow for 2 weeks. I decided it was a good time to get my car serviced and the tires changed. As soon as I did, bam again, snowing like a mother!

It leads me to ask, what happened to this Murphy character that pissed him/her off so much? They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Well you are doubley screwed if that woman is a Murphy?

I guess today's life lesson is 'be nice to a Murphy!' If not, they'll get you back, big time!

Havin' a time!

My body hates me right now. It is completely exhausted but it was well worth it. Juno week just wrapped up in St. John's and it was absolutely unreal. So many highlights, so many great shows.

While most people were either at Mile One or on their couch watching, I was on George Street. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. If you caught the show, you only saw a little bit of it. The party started a couple of hours before the broadcast. Kim Stockwood and Damhnait Doyle kicked it off with some modern versions of traditional NL tunes. Ricky & Bubbles of TPB's took over MCing duties and got screeched in with a couple of the lads from The Arkells and it was ridiculous. The Arkells tore up the stage after that. They left quite the impression on The Rock. Bubbles hopped back on stage to play Liquor & Whores and then handed it over to Deadmou5 who transformed George into a rave. Twas incredible.

After that, the show kicked in with Classified performing Oh Canada. I was a part of that crowd. If you watched from home and thought 'that looks like a pretty good time', you were only a quarter right. There is nothing quite like a street party on George. If/when the Junos return to St. John's, you'll know where to find me.

Exiled Back to Mainstreet

The Stones, you might love them, you might hate them but you have at least heard them. I doubt there is an English speaking, non Amish person on the planet that has not heard a Rolling Stones tune.

I wouldn't go as far to say that I am a massive fan. I am however over the moon about their run from 1968-72 when they released Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Mainstreet. Four of the finest rock albums ever assembled.

Well, Exile is getting the remastered treatment that is so popular right now. And with that comes new tunes that have been dug up, dusted off and released for your listening pleasure. The only catch is that the vocals were laid down recently. And while Mick is still a fine vocalist, he is not what he once was. Still though, this is maybe the best thing they have done since Some Girls.

Cooking with booze cont'd

Just a follow up to one of my previous blogs about using booze when cooking. The missus and myself were out the other night celebrating 365 days of putting up with each other ; ). One of the great things about our relationship is our shared love of dining out. We rarely go to the same place twice. Not because we can't find a good meal though. We just don't want to get stuck in a rut. We decided to spoil ourselves and check out one of the nicer resaurants in St. John's that was still on our bucket list, Blue on Water. We had heard mixed reviews, never bad but some just average so we went in with a bit of trepidation. It was completely unnecessary. It was one of the best meals we have had in the past year.

My meal was delicious (seafood bouillabaisse to start, roast pork on sweet potato mash with blueberry chutney as a main and some sort of ice cream rolled in hazelnut dessert). Not a complaint about it. Oh and a tasty pint of Guinness to wash it all down. I will seriously drink that stuff with anything.

My better half's meal was of particular interest to me because of how it incorporated booze in the cooking. For dessert she had Frangelico creme brulee which was terrific. It was her main course that made me jealous though. She had a beautiful striploin cooked to medium rare perfection. That itself would have made it great. What put it over the top though was the demi-glace they served it with. It was a combination of cayenne pepper, molasses and...wait for it... GUINNESS. By now you should know how much I love myself a pint of Ireland's finest. That being said, I never would have thought of combining it with cayenne pepper . Oh but how it works. It really added some punch to the meat. Loved it!

And that is the beauty of having a fully stocked fridge/liquor cabinet. You have a world of cooking ingredients you never would have thought of previously. The world is your oyster, have a shot of tequila with it!