I thought it was very weak.

First period summary:

Scoring:

Bickell (CHI) at 3:05 (Bolland & Uduya)
Torres (PHX) at 8:52 (Doan)
Vermette (PHX) at 13:44 (Yandle & Okman-Larrson)

Penalties:

Vermette (PHX) for slashing at 1:08
Toews (CHI) for goalie interference at 12:06

SOGs: CHI 17, PHX 11

Stupid Crawford.

Just in time for the Detroit game. Look what was just given to me.

Go to your Circles tab and list the first ten people sorted by relevance (default). I think Google needs to work on the algorithm a little more. Here is mine:

+Kat B awesome hockey chick despite her fixation with the Red Wings.
+Melony Isaac a fun gal that posts some really dirty stuff if you get in her NSFW circle.
+Melissa Fisher yeah, we do not have much in common but I enjoy her posts for some reason. Just a down to Earth lady.
+Joyce Donahue she loves Doctor Who, shares my religion and lives near me.
+Pam Adger She is in my sports circle but she posts on all sorts of topics.
Are you noticing a trend here? All of them are female so far. What am I gay?
+Craig Newman He works for the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the three papers I subscribe to.
+Steve Quinn He posts amazing stuff mostly about design. He almost never provides a link much to my chagrin.
+Ryan Straight He is another Doctor Who fan. He also likes to post NSFW stuff if you are in his correct circle.
+Angela Rae Powerbeard She is a funny character that is a big pot head. I am not into that, but to each his own. She likes science fiction.
+Mark Richards He is into sports and science fiction as well.

I value all of the above as good virtual friends. Befriend them yourselves. They are all good people.

So Doctor Who on BBCAmerica must be over now.  Did anyone else catch that they took the Williams name?  The Doctor always referred to them as the Ponds.  In fact when the Doctor first called Rory a Pond there was a discussion and Rory agreed that he was a Pond.

Iran meet the 5th Fleet. 5th Fleet meet Iran.

Sloppy field and windy at Soldier Field.  Go Bears!

Chicago at Minnesota. This will be a huge win for the Hawks if the "good Hawks" show up.

Are we all ready? The slideshow with this video is a bit dated, but the song rocks.

Blocked twice now for being honest about what I think about a book.  You two know who you are.  In 20/20 hindsight if you cannot accept criticism perhaps you should not write.  It is a tough field and not everyone will heap praise on you for a mediocre effort at a book.

My dog was going nuts in the backyard this evening so I went to investigate.  Sally thought that she found a new playmate.  In a near panic I threw my dog into the house and chased the opossum away.  Nasty rabies carrying pests.  I checked out my dog and she was not bitten.

Then there was one of my older dogs, a golden retriever, that I found running around the backyard with an opossum in his mouth.  I completely flipped out over that.

Soap survey. Bar or liquid? Technically I think liquid soap is in a plastic state, but that is a different matter. I prefer the liquid as soap bars seem to be magnets for hair. Yeah, I do not care if you are a family member. Hair on a bar of soap is disgusting.

Suggestions on a laptop for my mother please.

She likes the camcorder that I gave her and wants to edit the videos.  Mind you, just simple stuff like cutting the bad parts out of her movies, nothing fancy at all.  Today she asked me how she could do it on her computer and I  flat out said that she cannot.  She has I think a P4 with about 1 gig of RAM, not very good for editing HD video.

I am thinking maybe some Win 7 laptop with about 6 gig RAM, but I know next to nothing about video editing.  What software would she need?  Is Windows Movie Maker good enough?  If I set her up with Linux I have no idea what software to install.

There is a budget, so don't get all extravagant in your suggestions.  Thanks!

"I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that’s why other folks vote for other people — because they look like them."

You have bigger problems if you listen to what actors, athletes, musicians, etc. have to say about politics of course.  

Waiting to see how many people uncircle me for this.

Apple Quiz:

What below did Apple invent?

1) The graphical user interface (GUI).
2) The mouse.
3) The MP3 player.
4) The smart phone.
5) A central place to download programs.
6) Tablet/slate computers.
7) Proprietary cables.
8) Speech recognition
9) High resolution displays.

14-0-3.  Because there was some nonsense about the Hawks being tied for the best starting season ever they had to prove it.  That is how we do things in Chicago.

The joys of living across the street from a park 1/2 a mile from a ghetto... Park in front of your own damned place!

What are your opinions on the future of public libraries?  Those that know me well know that I am a big supporter of public libraries.  It seems to me that they are having a problem remaining relevant now though.  Just having books is not enough.  It seems that now they must become a sort of community center.  Internet access has increased traffic in libraries, but also attracts teenage boys looking for pornography.  Having rooms available where writers can speak and do a book signing thing is positive.  Renting out rooms for private meetings also happens where I live.  Then there is the e-book debacle.  Libraries are getting raped on this as it is very pricey.  And you have to go into the library to get the e-book.  

Below is pictured the main branch of my village's library (the stacks are on the upper levels).  

+Michael Pate +lynn paden 

I found a new way to get the weather thanks to a friend here who posted it limited.

0-0 after one quarter.

This is messed up. That contact was not incidental? Screw you Shanahan! Game time!

Of course.

What do you say?  I say, "No."  For the serious reader such as myself I want either ink on paper or e-ink fore easier reading.  I do not care about playing games, going on the internet, watching, movies, or what not; I want to read.  But most people do not read as much as I do and would like an all-in-one device.  Therefore I predict the trend of slate sales increasing and e-book readers declining will continue.  There is enough of a market for people like me that the slates will not kill off the e-book readers--  they may become a niche item, but they will exist.  Well until the slates get color e-ink capable of showing video.  Those are my thoughts on this.  What are yours?

Really?

Did you know that I can pick up four analog channels on my TV?  I thought that you could no longer broadcast analog in America and everything was digital.  I found this out yesterday when I discovered that I could no longer get channel seven.  Remembering that they said something about moving to a new spectrum and having to rescan to get it I discovered this.  I also discovered about eight more digital channels, some of them good.  I pull in about 25 quality digital channels OTA, about 60 channels overall.

Hippie + hypocrite = hippocrite.  Sorry, but this is very accurate.

+victoria kelley meet +Kat B you have some things in common:

Circling me.
Loving hockey.
Loving Patrick Kane.

victoria is a Sabres fan. Kat is a Wings fan.

Please help me organize my circles properly. I have a lot of people stuck in my "temp" and "The Wheat" (separate the wheat from the chafe) circles. I have a lot more people that I have not gotten around to circling or not circling yet.

If you fall into any of these categories let me know with the number(s):

1) Science-Fiction & Fantasy-- fans of books and movies of those genres.
2) Sports-- only hockey, football, and baseball fans need respond to this.
3) Writers-- real writers. No offense to someone with a crappy blog, but I mean real writers. Unpublished aspiring authors are welcome as well. Damn, I sound like an ass there.
4) Media Types-- journalists and editors, etc.
5) Unix/Linux.

I have many other interests, but these are the ones that I am focusing on right now. Also, where the hell do I put non-news editors. Right now they are in "The Wheat." Perhaps lump them with Writers?

Thank you in advance for your anticipated and prompt consideration into the resolution of this matter.

Why on Earth would I want to do this?

Phoenix Coyotes at Chicago Blackhawks. Game 4. Another OT? Has that every happened?

#sarahjane
#bantorres
#WinItForHossa

A friend of mine took this picture a few blocks from my house.  That is not a dog.

Also, paper towel = kitchen roll, stove also = cooker, and cigarette = fag.  Anything else?

Query me anything. I am omniscient. And if I do not know the answer I will make up a believable one. Yes, I am this bored.

It's go time biatches. Colorado at Chicago, live on WGN.

I am going to make French toast in 1.5 hours.  Will this work?  Four parts eggs to one part milk.  A splash of vanilla extract.  Place the bread in a shallow bowl with the mixture.  Turn it over. Put the soaked bread onto a buttered skillet with a medium flame.  Brown it and turn it over.

Believe it or not I have never made this before and am craving it.  Tips on preparation are welcome here.

Good time for the fucking boiler to cease functioning.  Crap.

Who here cannot wait for the election to be done with?

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+Beverly Rivera I do the 2600 thing as well.

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Yes. That is over 100 Atari 2600 cartridges. Who rocks? I do.

How the playoffs stand as of now.  I'm OK with this.  I would rather see Detroit in that 8th spot though.  Wow.  Detroit fighting for a playoff spot.

The puck has dropped.  We have hockey again.  Here come the Hawks, the mighty Blackhawks.  L.A. should not even have a hockey team.  The only ice they know about is in their drinks.

Taking PC a little too far? As a bonus this is from Arizona.

Los Blackhawks en Anaheim juego se encuentra ahora a mis amigos hockey.

Just be thankful that I did not post this in erse or Cantonese.

When was the last time that you saw a bicycle rider ticketed?  My guess is "never."  I say bicyclists are for the most part smug jerks that think that they are above the law.  True, they do have the same right to the road as motorists do.  You know what else?  The same laws apply to bicyclists.  Just because you are on a bicycle does not entitle you to do whatever you want and generally be a menace.

Also unless you are a hot chick you should probably not wear those spandex shorts.

Does anyone see the problem with the Doctors?  None of them have any form of facial hair.  Why is this.  Does the Doctor have something against beards?  Now you may say that perhaps Time Lords are incapable of growing facial hair.  Pfui!  Some of the High Council had beards.  This omission needs to be addressed with the 12th Doctor.  How can a Time Lord go on living for 100's of years without having a beard or some form of facial hair.  It is ridiculous.

+Google+ Facial Hair Club 

Vancouver at Chicago. Hanson puts one in 27 seconds into the first. Uh-oh.

This just in: Mike Milbury is a prick.

+Lou Gagliardi & +Jason Walters I assume you heard about this already.

#SelfySunday Here you go +Pam Adger and +Laura Topliffe.  Me in the flesh.  My boobs are nice and I seem to have the "crazy eyes" here.  Why, yes, I am hairy on the chest as well, just not so grey there.

Do you people have a database for your books?  Note that unfortunately this is not my house (found picture on Beauty in Ruins).

While my house may closely resemble a library on the inside, it lacks the organization.  For the most part I know where the important books are, often I cannot locate a book that I know that I have.  At other times I discover that I have duplicate or even triplicate copies of books.  Then ebooks are another problem...  I cannot tell you how many times that I have bought an ebook that I forgot that I owned in paper.

Do you have any suggestions short of hiring a librarian to sort it all out (which I really cannot afford)?

What is it with Forbes and Doctor Who? That is one of the last magazines I would expect to report on Doctor Who.

I hate to say it but I am not a fan.  Tonight I tried to read three of his books and had to stop because I found them absurd.  The first was Good Omens, the second Neverwhere, and the third was Coraline.  And yes, I know that being a Doctor Who fan I should be able to handle the absurdity.  And yes, I know Neil Gaiman did write a Doctor Who episode and is writing another one.  I guess I am just very picky about what I read and not so much about what I watch.

What was his best book?  I will give that a shot.

Are you kidding me Comcast?  What is up with this?  This was at 11:22 or so PM.  Wired connection, nobody else on my internet.  This blows donkey balls.

OK, this is the thread where you update what the heck is going on for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Here is what I have:

Eastern:

1. Rangers
2. Bruins
4. Penguins
5. Flyers
6. Devils

Note the Flyers at Penguins series.

Western:

3. Coyotes
4. Predators
5. Red Wings
6. Blackhawks

Hawks face the 'Yotes.

A little help +Game Misconduct/ +Jay Day.

Whatever you are doing stop and turn on NBC NOW!

+Matthew Hicks my Atari 2600 cartridge collection.

+Blacky Roach why?  Bats are great for getting rid of pests.

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Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck.

Now open to public viewing. If you are curious about Doctor Who this is the episode to watch.

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Winnipeg at Toronto 7:30 PM ET tomorrow. This should be good for some yucks.

I am  thinking about changing my profile picture and putting a sticker on my car so as to advertise to the world that I am a man that cares about things.  That will make the world better I think.

A conversation I had today:

After general chit-chat about nothing of substance I say, "Well there is the Blackhawks at Colorado tonight."

"Hockey?"

"Yes."

"Do they still have the Indian head on their jerseys?"

After a pregnant pause, cocking me head sideways like a confused puppy, and narrowing my eyes, I ask, "So, are you new to the city?"

She thought maybe it went away because it was offensive.

+Sean Roan this one is better.  +lynn paden pointed this out to me.

This is outside my house.  As I am egocentric my first thought was that they wanted to interview me about something or other.  Nope.  It appears to just be a broken down satellite news van.

On how to pronounce my name: It is not hard folks. I am pointing and whistling at +Darren Kitchen, +Justin Young, and +Brian Brushwood. No, it is not "Joff, nor is it "Gee-off." Really guys it is not an uncommon name.

I have a very bad feeling about this game.

So if someone posts something and I get an error message saying, "You are not allowed to comment" does that mean that the person blocked me?  The posts are public and she has me circled.  What gives?

TV Question

Do televisions have any kind of media player for video?  What I would like to do is put a movie onto a USB thumb drive and plug it into the TV to watch.  This is not possible, or is it?  My results so far indicate that TVs will read a FAT32 formatted drive but not an .avi file on it.

Now I remember why I never upgrade distros unless something is broken.  Holy crap!  This is taking forever and there is no guarantee that it will work once it is done.

Survey for youngsters that have circled me

How many of you can tell me what time this clock is displaying?
How many of you know how to drive a manual transmission or know what a clutch on a car does?
How many of you know how to write in cursive (your own signature does not count if that is all you can do)?
What does # mean?

I am not judging you. I am simply curious.

My Sally dog is in a real bad way.  For some time I have been carrying her up and down the stairs, on and off the furniture, etc. due to arthritis.  Now she keeps trying to hide (under beds, in wardrobes, etc.).  She is on her last legs.  She yelps when I pick her up and I think she just wants to quietly die somewhere.

And she has been snapping at me lately when I try to make her more comfortable.  What to do?  +Brenda Curtis any advice?

American woman:  "I cannot keep our plans for the weekend.  I was called into work."

British guy:  "You can't!"

American woman:  "What did you call me?  That is it.  This is over."

Get it?

So you want a new computer, do you?  I used to watch this show back in the day.

Yeah this is awful of the Liverpool police, but WTF?  They take your DNA when you are arrested in England?

The decision has been made.  I am officially abandoning this franchise.  When I saw Episode IV as a child I thought it was the greatest thing ever.  That is until Episode V came out which was even better.  Yeah, I ignored the  gay droids.  Episode VI was pretty decent but I really wanted to skewer the Ewoks and roast them over a pit.  Then came the new re-releases of the movies which annoyed me to no end.  And then, well let us pretend that the prequels never happened.  When Disney bought Lucas Films I thought there might be a new hope (get it?).  Then Disney said that they want to release three movies per year.  So much for quality over quantity.

Screw this.  I am done with Star Wars.

Blocked punt for a TD.  Bear down Chicago Bears!

On December 24, 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.  The Soviets nine years later made a humiliating withdrawal due to fierce resistance of the  Mujahideen who were trained by the CIA and well armed by America.  That and other foreigners meddling about.  One of them was named Osama.

On August 2, 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait.  America, Britain, and many other powers mass troops in Saudi Arabia in preparation for kicking Iraq out of Kuwait.  _Someone_ named Osama has a problem with infidels in the holy land and thinks that he should have been called on to fix things up.  Of course he was already banned from entering Saudi Arabia due to "issues."

On September 11, 2011 America needed to be taught a lesson.

That is my take on things.  Feel free to add your two bits.

Geof's half-baked.  Check that.  Geof's completely baked guide to the playoffs as of today.

There is one game today and that is in the lesser conference.  Stay strong Islanders and force a game seven.  They are playing over their heads.  The only thing decided is that conference so far is that the lowly SNES advanced to the eastern semi-finals by defeating les Habitants in five games.  The Stove Tops  can't seem to get a handle on the Crapitals which were unfairly seeded because they play in a crap division.  That will go to at least game six.  That is all that there is to report out of the east other than a player from the east will win the Hart trophy while Jonathan  Toews continues to be the best overall player in the league.  He is in the wrong conference I guess.

In the west the mighty Blackhawks beat up three Mild goalies to get the top seed in the western semi-finals.  Five games?  You can do better than that.  The Sharts swept the Canucks for God's sake!  Speaking of the Sharts, either they or the Dead Wings will be playing the Hawks next round.  Go Wings!  Come on +Jim Hebert, +Kat H, +Jay Day, +Laura Topliffe, and +Kate Blass!  Make your team useful and defeat the Emilio Estevez Disney team in game seven.  Do it for old time's sake as this is your last chance to get pounded by the Hawks in the Western Conference.  Also the Kings managed to beat the Blues in six games.

We have our playoff bracket now that the last game is over after rescheduling thanks to Boston going all martial law.  +Pam Adger am I annoying you yet?

If she was injured she probably should not have tried out.  Instead millions of people got a chuckle out of this.

Beer and Bacon Battered Deep Fried Doritos
The site takes a while to load as the servers are getting deep fried right now.
http://foodbeast.com/content/2012/12/10/beer-and-bacon-battered-deep-fried-doritos-youre-welcome-world/

Let me review my day.  Someone stole my credit card number charging up crap on e-bay.  The card was cancelled early this morning.  Off to work!  Uh, my transit fare card was tied into that credit card.  Cash it is then!  Nothing dramatic happened at work.  But then my White Sox lost a crucial game to the Detroit Tigers tonight.  Whatever.  The Bears at Packers game is where it is at.  _Someone_ just lost $1,000.00 betting on that game...  Not pissed off at all.  That's cool.  Wait.  That is not cool at all.

So angry.

And the wolf pack had a history of attacking humans.   This is just sad and I cannot blame the wolves.

OK. The game is about to start. The Blackhawks need to win three in a row now. This is the official Google+ Chicago Blackhawks at Phoenix Coyotes game five thread. Below is the video of Shanahan explaining why Raffi Torres got a massive 25 game suspension for the hit on Marian Hossa. I assume you have seen that already though.

I swear that the next time that I see someone in California or Florida wearing a winter hat I will track them down and kill them for crimes against humanity (not really, well possibly really).  Is that supposed to be "ironic?"  If so I suggest that they consult a dictionary.

This is a "car."  This is the world's smallest street legal "car."  This looks terrifying.

I am calling B.S. on a number of these.  What do you experts say?  Attn.:  +Daniella Ayala 

+Julie Murray this is a better picture.

Which companion are you?  This is a silly personality quiz.  G+ does not seem to want to use the link, so here it is:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/12/doctor-who-personality-quiz-which-companion-are-you/

I am Donna Noble and am OK with that.

#DoctorWho

I made it maybe 10 minutes into the movie before I had to give it the chop.  Those 10 minutes I will never get back.

Let  us be very clear on things.  This is a map of North Africa.  This is not the Middle East.  Stop saying Libya is in the Middle East!

Wow! A policeman "copped" an attitude with me an hour ago. I was taking Sally for a walk in the park across the street and heading back home. He put the spotlight on me an approached me.

"What are you doing?"

"Walking my dog."

"The park closes at 10:00."

"Yeah, I know, but we were not making noise. We were just walking."

"Show me your ID."

"I don't have it on me."

"Where do you live?"

I point to my house that is about 25 yards from where we are standing and say that I am more than happy to get my driver's license from there and produce it for him.

He gives me a stern warning about being in a park after hours and then shines the spotlight on us while we are going up the driveway to the backdoor. Once I was in I flashed the front porch light at him a few times.

What a dick.

Do not get me wrong. I am not a cop hater. This guy was just out of line.

Tell a secret about yourself. I will start. I am not allowed to enter Canada anymore. No. I am not proud of that.

So what is your locality known for food wise? Mine is famous for pizza, Italian beef, and hot dogs.

That is dedication.  The lady was in labor and refused to leave the game.

What did/do you call your relatives?  On my father's side I called my great-grandmother Nana, and my grandmother Nanny.  It is probably an English thing as they were born in England.  I called my grandfather on that side of the family "Grumps."  That came about because when I was a baby people tried to spell out names using those wooden blocks with letters on them.  The letter a was taken, so people went with the u (Grumps instead of Gramps).  It kind of suited him as he was Irish and rather grumpy.

On my mother's side of the family the only thing that might be considered odd is calling my grandfather, "Pops."  My mother's side came to America many generations before my father's side.

On both sides an aunt is pronounced "ant," and not "ahhhhnt."

So what do you say?

2004:  You wear a watch?  My phone duplicates that function.
2014:  You don't wear a smart watch?  It duplicates some functions of my phone.

I still do not see why people are so excited over watches that link with their phones.  Maybe it is just gadget love.  It all seems pointless to me.  And yes, I do wear a watch which I say is pretty smart as it tells me the exact time.

Matt Cooke has reached a new low.  (with video)

The most mysterious part of a keyboard

OK, Prt Scr is useful and I use it a lot for screen captures.  I have no idea what the SysRq business that shares the key is on about.  As for the others, I only know what Caps Lock is and get annoyed when that is on.

This is going to be a nasty Chicago weekend.

And a last minute change of insurance carriers. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0513-nato-insure-20120512,0,6776606.story

Thanks, Rahm. We wanted this annoyance here.

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Via +Kimberly Chapman. Why is this not headline news?

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Wouldn't new episodes be great +Brianna Mims ?