Dirty Whirlwind

Word up. Just relaxing after watching the Leafs totally destroy the Bruins, 10-2, at the TD Banknorth Fleet Shawmut Garden Center Thingy. I had planned on going to the game, but couldn't find anyone to go with, so I ended up just watching it here. After they dominated Boston 5-1 on Monday night in Toronto, I figured the Leafs might be in for a letdown and sure enough, they had a lackluster first period and trailed 2-1 going into the second. But they came out fired up and scored early and often, including three goals in a 42-second span. The best part was much of the scoring was done by second-year players Alex Steen (3 goals, 2 assists) and Matt Stajan (2-2), who have both struggled this year. Of course, after the last two times the Leafs blew out opponents, they went on prolonged losing streaks, so I'm a little concerned.

So I ran to work again yesterday, a shorter run of 5 miles as planned, but what wasn't planned was tripping on one of Marblehead's many crappy sidewalks and scraping my knee. You wouldn't think a community that affluent would have shitty sidewalks, but they're uniformly lousy, all bumpy and uneven thanks to frost heaves and tree roots. I played hockey last night, so I wisely chose to get a ride to work today. I'll get another ride tomorrow, but I'll get a run in at lunch.

As for the car situation, we're planning to test drive a Kia Sedona minivan this weekend. We've read good things about the Sedona in terms of safety ratings, and it's less expensive than the Honda Odyssey, so we're going to check it out. I remember years ago thinking I would never be caught dead driving a minivan, but that was well before I had kids and realized how much crap you have to haul around on a family trip. Plus you can fit a keg quite nicely in the back of a minivan. Not that I ever buy kegs anymore, but it's nice to know.

What the dealio?

• Of course, as we're looking at new cars, it's comforting to hear that Consumer Reports found that most child car seats flunked crash tests. Our kids ride in those things every damn day. Guess we'd better start duct-taping them as an added precaution.
• Here's a disturbing case that raises a lot of interesting issues: the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled 9-year-old had surgery performed to keep the girl from growing to her full height to keep her care more manageable. On the one hand, it's freaky to imagine parents doing that to their own child; on the other, it must be incredibly difficult to raise such a child.
• Lily started preschool today, moving up from daycare. It's amazing how quickly the girls are growing. A co-worker brought her newborn into the office yesterday and it was hard to remember Lily or Hannah being that small, even though it was only a few years ago. Hannah starts kindergarten in the fall; she's starting to learn how to write a lot of words. Weird, wild stuff.
• A group of workers at O'Hare Aiport in Chicago, including some pilots, claim they saw a UFO hovering over the airport in November. The FAA is blowing it off, but these folks say it can't be explained away as a weather phenomenon. Hey, it could have been Kang and Kodos checking in on us.
• In between showing NHL games and rodeo events, Versus (formerly the Outdoor Life Network) aired Rocky IV last night and I watched most of it in all its craptastic glory. I saw it in the theaters when I was home for Christmas break from my freshman year at UNH (yeah, yeah, I'm friggin' old). The movie's unabashed jingoism and classic David vs. Goliath story were just the things I needed to take my mind off the horrendous first semester I had just completed (the short version: I started as a chemical engineer and nearly flunked out before wising up and switching to English). Stallone was absolutely jacked in this flick, as he worked out in the wilds of the Soviet Union, pulling wagons, lifting rocks and running through ankle-deep snow. This was contrasted (see the montage) by villainous Russkie fighter Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren in the role he was born to play, baby!) training on the finest treadmills and getting injected with steroids while then-hot Brigitte Nilsson kept an eye on things. The whole thing climaxed with Rocky winning in a knockout and then giving a lunkheaded speech about everybody changing...of course, the entire arena is cheering for him by the end. Classic.
• Speaking of great mid-80s movies, here's a great chase scene from Pee Wee's Big Adventure, featuring Godzilla, dancing gingerbread men, a beach party scene, and Twisted Sister. Don't get much better than that.