LA LA Land

Some people like a flat within walking distance of a bistro or an espresso shop, or a French bakery. The sort of district with florists and gift shops and a pedestrians only street. Cities with metros and lots of people on bicycles where people carry small dogs in purses. Places like the Left Bank in Paris or Manhattan or downtown Bombay. Okay, the last one probably doesn’t have the little dogs in purses so much but it has some of the other stuff.

I guess I can cope with places like that but I feel a lot more comfortable right here: a house a couple blocks by car to a Denny’s and a Rite-Aid. I’ve been told that the Pond is about 40 minutes away and the Staples Center is somewhere nearby. All perfect.

Unlike my set up in Moscow, everyone here speaks English and I can read what it says on my ticket so I doubt I have to worry about not finding the game. Also, I have my car and the Garmin so I should be good to go.

I know, it’s just LA, not Bucharest. I went to school in this part of the country. Who knows, maybe I’ve even been to the Staples Center before, for something. A few weeks ago I realized I had been to the Edmonton arena some decades ago for a horse show. Yep, I rode my pony (a horse, not a real pony, just a pony in the affectionate moniker sense) likely in the same space where Gretsky played, maybe even while he was still playing there. Well, not while he was playing there, that would have been a big mess with the mud and the ice and the horses getting all tangled in the nets, and things that look sort of like pucks that aren’t really pucks.

It has been a long time since I was in So Cal. Not decades but a while. When I hit the 405 coming off of the Grapevine, I thought I had a flat, or two, or that one of my wheels was coming off. Nope, just the same road maintenance troubles we have up North. How the mighty have fallen, that the LA Freeways look no better than their poor Northern cousins.

I am happy for the Islanders. Someone was going to be there when Sid’s streak broke, I’m glad it was the Islanders. I wish Roloson had been in net but I guess it’s good for DiPietro too. Maybe this gets them a spot on 24/7? Maybe too late in the week to make the editing deadline.

I guess this means the Pens will be all cranky going into the Big Game. I sort of want the Caps to win. Maybe I have not watched enough Caps games but they don’t seem to get so nasty when they are having a bad game as the Pens do. Ergo, I would prefer that they win.

Similarly, the Kings might be in a tiff over their shellacking at the hands of the Coyotes last night. The Flyers should be looking for some redemption too. Being beaten by the Canucks is not so bad, but on top of the Panther debacle they need to bolster their self-esteem. It might be quite a scuffle tonight.

Went to buy shampoo and a tee-shirt (because I will always always forget something, like pajamas) and came home with orange and teal nail polish and eye shadow. What the heck. Maybe these old lids can still handle a strong shadow. The nail polish was a given. I was already chastised once at a game by S (of the KHL jersey mission) for not having teal nails. I hope the stuff I got qualifies as teal. Teal is really hard to gauge in a nail polish bottle.

Of course orange eye shadow will look absolutely toxic but what the heck, it is worth a try.

I miss Twitter. One of these days I will come up with a password that I can actually remember. I don’t even know who’s starting in net tonight, for either team! The torture.

I’m hoping that the Sharks injury streak has levelled off. The injuries sustainsed by the Flyers, the Red Wings and now the Blackhawks makes me think someone has it in for winged teams. Maybe that someone doesn’t know a Thrasher is a bird too, or that Penguins, though flightless, do have wings. I’m sure I’m seeing things. Sharks have no wings at all and they have a number of players out. Missing Pavs makes a big hole. And the Hawks are missing Toews now but Kane and Hossa are back. So clearly, I am seeing patterns where there are none.

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Tried to find some hockey news on XM but after listening to what sounded like Dan Bylsma give a thank you speach worth of a time-limit free Oscars speech, all about how great it is that the Winter Classic is so close to coming to fruition… barring wintry weather considerations… in winter… which I think is kind of funny… I gave up.

Orange nail polish is really horrible on winter white hands. I suspect it will be just as horrible over my eyes. Worse, because I can hide my hands, but I guess that is the point. Not to hide your orange tendencies.

Watching the Canucks game I noticed a lot of Flyers fans up in Vancouver. Someone on the radio said something this morning about how many hockey fans migrate, especially away from the collapsed industrial towns. He didn’t mention Detroit, but I’m sure they win the prize for most “exported by necessity” Red Wings fans. Still, I suspect there will be some orange in tonight’s audience. That’s good. I hate it when one team has no one to cheer for them. Wel, sometimes I hate it.

Which reminds me. Pittsburg fans would have a problem trying to make a group color statement. I don’t think any team has had such a medley of color schemes. It was black and yellow back in Jagr’s day. Now it seems to be tan and black, unless they decide to wear baby blue. Weird. Choose a color already!