Texts From Last Night: Caps vs. Blues Game Edition

Last night I was excited to be going to the Caps game. Not only was it another game to add to my list for the season, but it was possibly the most exciting and stressful game of the season (at least so far). The Caps had a new coach and were hoping to get out of a losing slump. Could the new guy fix the team? Apparently not. Or at least not in one miraculous game. So instead of attending a memorable Caps game, the experience was missable and I almost regret going. The game got so bad that I was basically texting my thoughts to myself during the entire third period. Below are those texts from last night describing all the unfortunate thoughts that were brewing around in my mind during a very unfortunate Caps game. Some of them might not make the most sense, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only person thinking non-sensical thoughts during that depressing game…

• “I feel like I don’t even know this team anymore.” -my friend
• I have an idea: the Caps need to get as far away from their days with the old logo and the failing record as possible. Bringing back a former player from that period seems to be jinxing the team.
• A new coach and one game isn’t going to turn the team around… but IT SHOULD.
• Even if the Caps somehow win this, I feel like they’ve already lost it.
• Once a Cap, always a Cap. Maybe bringing back a former player wasn’t the smartest move. (Has Mr. Kolzig been helping us?)
• Well, I guess my year+ record of going to Caps games and having them win was only lasting during the Boudreau Era. Apparently I have helped to usher in the Caps by attending a loss. This is so not cool.
• I started out a Caps fan when the were one of the worst teams in the league. If things are reverted back to that (which is unfortunately entirely possible) I will remain a Caps fan just like before. But I hope the franchise knows that it will be losing a truckload of all those bandwagon fans who joined in on the rush when Boudreau took over DC.
• Look. That’s all hunky-dory that the Caps have really bonded together as a team. But when the entire class completely revolts against the teacher, that rebellious thinking needs to be changed. Does the team need the same kind of treatment that occurred in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest? If it at least changes something (as it did in the movie) then maybe metaphorically yes…
• At least with Boudreau around, Caps fans had come to accept a sense of hope. But with the new Dale Hunter, fans are just lost in doubt and mystery.
• I think Boudreau should have been fired after the upcoming Penguins game. Because at least under him, the Caps have managed to beat the Pens practically every game in regular season. I guess the real test is going to be if the Caps can continue that streak with Dale Hunter.

Babies That Look Like Old People

I was strolling down the cobblestone streets of Old Town Alexandria this past Sunday afternoon, when something caught my eye. It was low to the ground and in a stroller. But I had to do a double-take, as it didn’t quite seem like a typical person seated in the stroller. I knew it was a baby for some reason, but it didn’t really resemble one. No, instead, the child looked more like an old man, than a cute baby. It was both amusing and oddly captivating to look at.

It gave me an idea. Maybe I could create a Tumblr that focused on this such notion: babies that look like old people. Something about it sounded familiar, however, and I later checked the internet to find the already-existing blog. But to my surprise, it does not apparently exist. I have basically been given the internet OK to create this Tumblr, since my Google search turned up nothing.

There is however, a couple of problems with this new idea. The first snag is that while amusing, it’s kind of a mean thing to create a blog after. I’ve seen my fair share of babies so far (I used to work in an Old Time Photo joint where I was no stranger to taking photos of babies in Old Timey costumes) and while it is a sad but true phenomenon that some babies are cuter and more baby-looking than others, some babies do more closely resemble Benjamin Button. I’m just afraid that karma will get me, and one day, I will end up with an old man-baby.

The other issue here, is that in all honesty, I don’t really care that much about babies. I have no desire to have a baby of my own right now, and frankly, I’m not much of a fan of babies in general. (Kids, however are a different story. I love kids.) I’m afraid if I spent a good chunk of my time creating a tumblr about babies, then it would be misleading to my real interests. But then again, I feel like this is the sort of thing the internet world would love.

So be on the look-out for this Tumblr in the internet world. It may pop up, brought to you by the creator of CAPSLove. Or it may not. Maybe I’ll implore somebody else to create such a thing. Either way, I think it is a pretty funny idea, I just don’t want to be too mean about it. Besides, I’m sure, those old-people-babies will grow out of their elderly looks, just as Benjamin Button did!

Caps Don’t Do Well With Coaches Named Bruce

As many of you may have heard by now (boy, does news travel fast!), the Capitals’ lovable coach Bruce Boudreau was fired and Capitals veteran player, Dale Hunter has been called in to fill the coaching job. I’ll let you soak that one in…

I first heard about the news when I woke up to a text a friend had sent me. The radio was on to a discussion about the firing and re-hiring and it seemed like the whole world was talking about how poorly the Caps have been playing this season. Sure, we had a fantastic start to the season with seven straight wins, but I guess the Caps must have gotten exhausted from all that winning and the team broke down.

Many people have been asking me how I feel, as they know I am such a fan of the Caps team. Honestly, I’m sad to report that I’m not that surprised it happened. I used to think that it was somehow my fault that the Caps lost their games if I weren’t available to watch the game. That jinx could work, as I didn’t see the last two games the Caps played with Boudreau, but in all reality, I could also tell that the team was in some odd kind of muck.

So who’s the new guy taking over? Former Capital player, Dale Hunter is the new man in charge. Dale Hunter played with the Caps from 1987-1998, which was before I really became a Caps fan. Sure, you could check out his wikipedia page, but when I first heard the name, I immediately remembered this great Caps Rap which mentions Hunter at 1:08.

With all this being said and done however, it eerily reminds me that the Caps do not have the best record with coaches named Bruce. Who remembers former captain Bruce “Butch” Cassidy? While I’m not going to go and compare the coaching styles of the two men, I will point out that both coaches were named Bruce and both coaches didn’t last very long. To be fair, Bruce Boudreau’s stay in Washington was for a year longer than Bruce Cassidy’s, but still, it was a shame to see both coaches go.

So here’s to hoping that all the Caps really need now is a new coach. Maybe the Caps organization will have learned their lesson and won’t hire any more coaches name Bruce. But for the record, I liked Boudreau. I’m not happy to see that he’s gone, but I am more a fan of the players than the coaches, and when they players aren’t succeeding, then I will support whatever means will get the team to play better. I’m sorry to see the Bruce era come to a close, but I’m ready for the Caps to get their act together.

Orlov Gets Start With The Caps

See that headline? It says that Dmitri Orlov just got his start with the Capitals. Back on Monday, he played his first NHL game against the Phoenix Coyotes, and game number two was on Wednesday versus the Winnipeg Jets. I had previously met the Russian kid at a Hershey Bears game, where we shared an incredibly awkward post-game conversation at an autograph session. Orlov is super young and super awkward, but apparently he’s also pretty good at playing hockey too.

Anyways, like I was saying, Orlov played in his first NHL games this week. So it confused me when I picked up a few days old Examiner newspaper today to see this odd photo:

So how come this photo shows Orlov playing against the Columbus Blue Jackets here? Did I miss something? I was under the impression that Monday was Orlov’s NHL debut. Either this photograph was Photoshopped or Orlov was secretly called up a while ago to play against Columbus when nobody knew who he was. This photo brings up some questions and I find this all very suspicious. Where did this photo come from? Why would anyone doctor such a photo? What did Orlov think of playing against one of the consistently bad teams? Where was I when this all happened?

In addition to this mysterious photo, I want to bring up another point. The article from which that photo was taken discussed how Orlov’s English may not be so strong. But Orlov has been playing with the Hershey Bears for some time. Does that imply that they don’t speak English in Hershey, PA? Is Russian the only language that they speak during hockey games and practices? Why doesn’t Dmitri speak any English? What kind of things are they teaching those Hershey boys?

Anyways, despite all this confusion around the mysterious Dmitri Orlov, he has definitely been keeping up on his end. Orlov’s been getting a good amount of ice time for a rookie, he’s been hitting, shooting, and overall impressing the Caps’ team and coaches. I heard a rumor that even if Erskine (the defenseman he’s been replacing) is healthy enough to play tonight, that Orlov might still get the nod from Boudreau to play tonight, because he’s been that useful on the ice. Thatta boy! Keep up the good work, Orlov!

Our Country’s Second Most Patriotic Holiday

I love Thanksgiving. It joins the ranks with Halloween as being my favorite secular holiday. I love thanksgiving for many reasons: the food is of course great (I’m a big fan of all things pumpkin, for one), I love the fall weather, being together with family can be nice, a day off from work is a plus, but it’s also a pleasantly patriotic holiday. While I’m sure many people ponder over what they are thankful for on Thanksgiving, I bet few people remember that this holiday is all about the beginnings of our country being founded.

Sure, it might be a little pagan of us to celebrate the conversion of Native Americans to the British ways of the first settlers, but when those Brits started taking up in their new land, they decided that it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to hang with their hosts as well. And thus the first Thanksgiving meal was birthed. Thanksgiving is a holiday of togetherness- and not just on a close family and friends scale; but rather a togetherness that the whole country can share. Sorry to be corny, but Thanksgiving is a patriotic day of coming together.

Many of you might think that Independence Day, or the Fourth of July is our nation’s holiday for being patriotic, but guess what? Thanksgiving is gosh darned patriotic too. So happy patriotic holiday! Go forth and wear some red, white, and blue!

Everybody’s New Favorite Dish

There’s a new recipe that is slowly making its rounds through the wonderful internet world. As many of you are preparing your immense Thanksgiving feast-feats, I figured this would be the perfect time to introduce you to quite possibly my new favorite dish. Now be forewarned: this dish is not for those who do not claim to be adventurous eaters. This dish is also not for people who can not act like kids at heart. This is the kind of food that is best enjoyed if for example, you have tendencies to want to play with your food. Kids, let me introduce you to the wonder of Spaghetti Hot Dogs.

If you have not already checked out that link, let me tell you how this baby works. You start with some uncooked spaghetti and some uncooked hot dogs. The first step is to poke the hard noodles into cut up hot dog pieces. You will wind up with a galactic and dangerous looking creation:

Intergalactic planetary, planetary intergalactic.

You might think this is odd enough, but wait- there’s more! The key to this recipe is the next step: boiling it all. Stick these alien-looking monsters in a pot of water and bring to a boil. To your amazement, the noodles and hot dogs will not only cook to be slightly more edible, but they will also look like this:

or this:

or even this:

Depending on how you cut the hot dog, and where you stick the noodles, your creation can look a number of ways. But rest assured, the dish will come out looking supremely bizarre either way. As for the eating part of this fantastic creation, I’ve hear that many people are frankly too weirded out to consume it. But if you are feeling brave, then dig in! Possible condiments/toppings could include mustard, ketchup, cheese, chili, hot sauce, etc. The goal here is obviously to be creative. So enjoy!

That Girl is 74!

Today is Marlo Thomas‘ 74th birthday!

Many of my younger readers (i.e: younger than say, 25) may not know who this famous actress from the 1960′s and 70′s is, so let me help you out. Marlo Thomas is best known for starring in the 1960s sitcom, “That Girl”. I may not have seen that television show, but to me, Marlo Thomas is best known for her role as a star and producer in the children’s television special, “Free To Be… You And Me.”

I grew up on “Free To Be… You And Me.” My mom had the piano sheet music, and the video tape we had of it, was one of the most played/requested movies we enjoyed as kids. It was a beautiful series that explained to children that everyone is unique and special. The show incorporated numerous special guests doing musical numbers and voicing puppets in skits. Think, Saturday Night Live meets Sesame Street, but in the 60′s and twice as awesome.

Some favorite skits include “When We Grow Up” which is sung by a young Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack; the feel-good ballad, “It’s Alright To Cry”; and Marlo Thomas’ interviews with kids about their siblings and the follow-up song, “Sisters and Brothers” (words can not describe how much I am in love with the dancing and the fashion in that song).

So here’s to Marlo’s birthday! Happy 74th birthday!

Semin’s Lifetime Achievement

Last night in the disappointing hockey game in which the Caps lost to the Winnipeg Jets, something rather miraculous happened. If you were watching the game, you may have seen something rather out of the ordinary. Alexander Semin did something that he’s never done before… at least not while playing hockey. Many have been negatively talking about Semin’s career with the Caps this season and how he seems to be slipping, but last night’s performance really seemed to be showing the player in a different light.

So Semin scored a goal. It was the Caps’ only goal of the game, too. But that’s not exactly what I’m referring to. Need a hint? Check out the video footage of his goal for a clue as to what I’m talking about. Still unsure? Alexander Semin smiled. It’s a simple notion, but normally, this Russian is way too serious and NEVER smiles. But last night changed all that. I think there’s a correlation here. I think that perhaps if Semin learned to smile more, he would score more goals.

Example 1

Example 2

See, Sasha? That wasn’t so bad! Smiling is fun! And easy! It makes you feel good! And as proved by last night, is caused by good things! Like scoring goals for your team who otherwise hadn’t really associated you with the best of thoughts. Keep up the good work, Alexander. Keep on smilin’.

The “Non-Love Song” Song of the Day: The Who

Let’s revisit The “Non-Love Song” Song of the Day blog post today, shall we? In thinking about what song(s) I could feature, I thought about how The Beatles were featured in the previous posting. Many bands from the 196′s are often associated with primarily writing about love, but really, many other bands wrote about plenty of other things. Today I am featuring one of my favorite bands who does just that: The Who.

The Who have a number of songs (from, for example their Rock Operas) that help to tell a story, which thus do not always involve a love story. Today I’m featuring three prime examples of their mastery of the non-love song. First up is the song, Bell Boy from their album/movie/sensation, “Quadrophenia.” This song is fantastic for more than reason, but one being that it’s about a bellhop- my Halloween costume for the past two years.

The next song is frequently played around Halloween time. The Who’s creepy crawly song, Boris The Spider. As much as I don’t like the idea of a song about a spider, this is a fantastic song because well frankly, the spider dies in the end. But this is also a fantastic song because it’s about a spider! Who thinks to write a song about a spider in the first place?! I love that it has nothing to do with anything, except an experience with an unpleasant arachnid.

Our last non-love song today is the ever-classic, My Generation. With lyrics like, “I’m not trying to cause a big sensation,” and ” people try to put us down,” there shouldn’t be any doubt that this song has nothing whatsoever to do with love, or lack thereof. The Who are having fun and not concerned with any of that lovey dovey junk. They have a message about their youth and their peers and just want to sing it out.

The Who goofing off.

I am so glad to have The Who’s music around for those times where all I want to do is listen to a song about a spider. Thanks to The Who, we don’t need to have every single song be about love or break-ups. Be it spiders, bellhops, or a youth movement, The Who really knows how to do non-love songs.

In A Couple Of Weeks, They Will Eat Their Young

Today’s post features a wonderfully entertaining video of someone singing a song by The Beatles. If you think this is going to be any old cover, then you best read on. This version of The Beatles song, “Obla-di Obla-da” is possibly one of the greatest videos on YouTube of a Beatles cover…

The performer is a young Japanese boy, who, while nameless, is something of a YouTube celebrity. I’m sure YouTube celebrities have their videos posted in numerous venues and discussed, but today I’m taking it one step further. This boy is known for apparently not really knowing the lyrics to the many songs he sings and plays. He is also just plain adorable:

In the video du jour, he sings manages to completely muffle about 97% of the lyrics of The Beatles’ hit song. I’m pretty sure he never really learned the lyrics to begin with. Don’t get me wrong- this is not a bad thing in this case! No, instead this young chap totally delights his audience with a fantastic stage presence and lest we not forget- his impressive ability to play the ukulele! He knows all the chords!

But what the heck is he singing? At first I thought the lyrics he was singing was, “In a couple of weeks, they will eat their young” instead of what it really is: “In a couple of years, they have built a home (sweet home).” I thought what I was hearing however, was much more entertaining though. So I decided to transcribe all the lyrics as I heard them much like this fantastic video does. So below I would like to share with you the video and then my misheard lyrics. Enjoy!

This is the fantastic Obladi Oblada video you need to watch.