Lodestar

Haha, actually I'm wrong... Turns out the "announcement" has nothing to do with it. He's been eligible since three years after he played his last game, which was 2003. Anyway, I totally agree he should be in, though it's not happening this year (Yzerman, Leetch, Hull, Robitaille).

Apparently to attract the more "casual" fan, but it bothers me as well... and I'm on the west coast! As for Curry, I think he's wise to say he'll take less than Long did, since I actually don't see him as a lock for the top-3... Just yesterday Charlie Casserly was on NFLN saying that with the way boards are breaking down, combined with team needs and the fact that Curry doesn't project as much of a pass-rusher, there's a chance he could fall to near the bottom of the top-10, or even out altogether... though that seems highly unlikely. I also think Stafford ends up a Lion.

Bure hasn't ever been technically denied, actually -- I don't think he's even eligible for this upcoming class, since he didn't announce his retirement until after the '05-06 season began. He's a very interesting case, though. I think the NHL set (or reinforced) a very blurry precedent a few years back when they inducted Cam Neely; since then, I don't see how anyone can really argue guys like Bure and Eric Lindros getting in as well. As for the HHOF relative to other sports, it does seem the most "generous" in terms of letting guys in.

... playing behind by far the highest-scoring team in the NHL, and possibly the most talented roster the league has seen since the cap came into place! Seriously, his save percentage was .887, a career-worst and dead last in the NHL among goalies who played 40+ games. He had a terrible, terrible season.

He turns 37 this year and just had an absolutely atrocious regular season... Don't know if I see him playing that much more hockey.

Agreed. Beyond the Cammalleri double standard, the fact that Backes' cross-check at the end of Game 3 (which was essentially a combination of what Lucic and Carcillo were suspended for, in terms of action and situation) hasn't been addressed by the league is ridiculous. I'll only be able to catch the first couple periods tonight, so hopefully the Canucks can put it away early... then I'm off to see Leonard Cohen.

Hahahaha, I think it is hair! Oh man...

Count me in the "likes-Collinsworth" camp... He's one of the very few colour guys out there who I actually feel teaches me something about the game when I watch it.

There's a spaghetti joke in there somewhere...

Yup, that's the one. I'd almost be tempted to count Sun Kil Moon's "Lost Verses" as well, but I don't know if you can count that (sensational) outro as a part unto itself... though personally, I think you can.

You guys think there's more WC dates a-coming? I want Vancouver!

There's one on Damien Rice's O, but I forget what it's called.

Weird, I can't get enough of that song lately. I love the fiddle as well.

There's a little piano fill on "Muzzle of Bees" that rocks my world every time.

"Hold On Magnolia" is definitely among my 10 favourite songs of all-time.

I'm a huge Kozelek fan and have been wanting for a while to give Jurado a try... Any suggestions where to start?

Most memorable was Jeff Tweedy at the Commodore in Vancouver in January 2007. Living on Vancouver Island, my girlfriend and I waited at the ferry terminal for about eight hours before finally being told the boats wouldn't be sailing due to wind. We were devastated. Then I posted about it on here and Dreamin' offered us her extra tickets for Tweedy's Seattle show a couple days later. We still consider that one of the most amazing things anyone's ever done for us.

None of the headliners do anything for me, but the undercard looks fantastic. I'll almost definitely be going this year, though I may skip the Monday.

Sorry to bump a semi-old thread, but a fellow VCer alerted me to a song off Cherry Tree EP -- "About Today" -- which is slaying me: Shades of Raymond Carver. Haunting.

Oh, absolutely. One of the more memorable shows I've been to. But also one of the worst, musically, and scariest in terms of worrying he'd walk off stage every time someone shouted anything. At another point during a solo version of "Wonderwall," it seemed like half the audience was shushing the other half of the audience, until Ryan stopped and turned away from the piano and said, "You sound like a bunch of fucking snakes in here!" This is contrary to seeing him at Moore Theatre in Seattle two years later, during which he said almost nothing to the audience and sounded absolutely breathtaki

It's undeniably worse at Ryan's concerts, but that's got a lot to do with him bringing it upon himself. The first time I saw him was a few years ago in Vancouver; at one point, between songs, when an audience member yelled "Freebird!", Ryan walked to the edge of the stage and threatened to fight the guy. If I remember correctly, his exact words were: "I can get a lawyer -- you can't get a new face." This particular show also ended with security on stage trying to get him (Ryan) down off a speaker stack during a drunken, lyric-less, ten-minute rendition of "I See Monsters," and he cancelled

Could not agree more. Exactly how I felt about it.

No one's mentioned SR-71?

I keep hearing "Impossible Germany" at my local grocery store. It usually comes on between "Tiny Dancer" and "You've Got a Friend."

I don't think I can fairly evaluate this album -- I just happened to discover it at a time when I needed it, when it struck me as apt and perfect in every way. It almost feels more like a soundtrack when I listen to it now, like I enter this whole other realm and disappear. And that's me trying not to sound garbagey sentimental.