Knut the Polar Bear

Here's a video of Nikita when she was a bear cub (The video is embedded in the story, you have to scroll down). See how cute she was? Hop hop hop. At 0:38 she becomes very startled and timid. Because she sees an intimidating robo human. It's ok baby bear cub Nikita. Play on.

I Don't Want To Talk About It

I, obviously, have had better days. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my desk, called, sent me a wallpost/gchat/tweet/text. I hope my boss never finds out why I was late to work yesterday, missed the first hour of our EPA Partners Meeting, and was completely vacant during the rest of it.

Now what? I think that's the biggest question out there right now and I'm excited to see what the off season brings. This very long. long. off season.

If anyone needs any help getting their rock the red blood flowing again, here are a pair of links to really heartwarming and supportive stories about my favorite Brooksy.
Brooksy changing a flat for fans after Game 7
Brooksy sticking up for the home team

And for the record, I'm rooting for the Habs. 1) You have to respect Halak's performance. 2) Rooting for the Pens is not a rational option. Ever. 3) I'd MUCH rather lose to the team that went on to knock out the Pens, the Flyers, and then lost in game 7 of the finals against the Canucks (yes that's how I think things will play out. Or rather, how I hope they will.)

Stolen Moments

Sarah sent me this gem of a photo with the simple caption, "Jane in the shower"

Happy Earth Day

An hour late, sorry. Just trying to make the day last for all those huge Earth Day fans out there who also happen to read my blog. Large. large. target audience with this one.

Playoff Update

The big news tonight is the Flyers won the series over the Devils in 5. That busts my grand plan for the East. O well. Right now it's looking like it's going to be Caps-Flyers and Pens-Bruins semifinals.

Pens-Sens went into 3rd OT tonight, it was WILD. Sens won it to make it a 3-2 Pens series. Sens goalie was really amazing tonight. I love an opportunity to gloat over the Pens and what a great opportunity this is :)

Coyote cubs are all tied up at 2-2 with the Red Wings, along with all the other series in the West. As I'm writing this, the San Jose - Colorado game is 5-o SJ with about 3min left in the 3rd, so SJ will get a lead going into game 6 and a chance to clinch.

Mystery Solved

Friends. Tonight an ongoing mystery has been solved. Every game I've gone to this season, during the burrito toss, I've asked my viewing partner. Do you think those are real? My vote? No. No WAY. They're not throwing real burritos at people. They could fall apart. Rice and beans would rain from the sky. Could get ugly. But to my surprise, many of my fellow spectators have thought otherwise. Jen thought they must be real, and she wanted one. Why don't they have Chipotle in the phone booth?? Ayse thought they must be a simple mix of rice and chicken, no wet ingredients. But the meat can get greasy and leaky. And what about our vegetarian friends? Dick thought if they were made the night before they would be fine because they would be dried out, primed for tossing. This didn't hold weight with me. Something about osmosis... Along the same lines Ayse also thought it could work if they were refrigerated. But, she noted, cold burritos might hurt more if they hit someone.

As luck would have it, I've got a big shot Slapshot affiliate within my social web. Text Slappy, we implored. We needed to know. What lies beneath the foil? My guess? Cardboard or styrofoam and a Chipotle coupon for a free burrito. Answer? a tshirt and a Chipotle coupon for a free burrito. Sweetest victory, being right never stops feeling good. Until the next Caps tradition mystery...

This is prob a good time to say to you, Slappy, I hate your new look :-\ I'm really hoping it's a playoff outfit, and I do appreciate you rocking the red, hard. But let's go back to a regular ice skating hockey mascot eagle look come the regular season next year, yeah?

Dear Bruins Fans

Thank you for cultivating a world paradigm where shoving a woman around is a-ok. An alternate reality where, in fact, if that woman stands up for herself you tell her assertively, "You're a bitch. Fuck you!" Well done Boston, well done.

Somehow found myself in the middle of yelling boys, shattered beer bottle, bleeding from the face man, incidentally injured bartender, and tattooed policemen last night. An enthusiastic "Let's Go Team USA!" from a Caps fan at the bar was enough to fire up the Boston fan, who previously had cheered the Habs on when they scored their 3rd goal against the Caps in what ended up being a 6-3 Caps game 4. Emily suggested I should have climbed up on the bar and began singing the national anthem. "OOOOOOOO SAAYYYYYY CAN YOU SEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Really wish I had that idea at the time. Thank goodness Dick is so heroic. Where would I be today without that?

Goon Town

Carey Price, what a class act. Two unsportsmanlike calls for idiot moves, stay cool. I'm not sure if Price or Bruins fans are classier.

I'm Not Your Toy

It's all false love and affection

You don't want me

You just like the attention

My Grand Plan For The East

Here it is:

Boston upsets Buffalo (sorry Ryan Miller, I still have insanely strong feelings of affection for you, but you just don't fit into my plan...). That would put the Caps against the Bruins in the semifinals and the Pens against the Devils. We take Boston, no problem. And I trust the Devils to take the Pens because they're 6-0 against them this season. Boom. This is all assuming Avi is wrong and the Sens don't take the Pens in 4.

As for the West, rooting for little Coyote Cubs all the way up to the Cup. Then we take them in 6.

Chow Dot Com

Came across this site, I kind of like it, thought I'd share :) Any site that first teaches me how to pick a good artichoke and then tells me how to make my own girl scout cookies is a-ok in my book.

To My Puckold

Rudy, a portrait of you. Ready to be interpreted by your brain fruits and 96 box of Crayola crayons. Enjoy.

4 Days Without Caps Hockey?

This is what happens. I watched 2 romantic comedies last night. Stab me. The Ugly Truth and The Proposal. I actually really liked them, especially The Proposal. I hope this isn't a preview of my life during the off season though. I'm scared.

Recycle To Get Free Stuff

Or because it's the right thing to do? Old cell phones for free admission to IMAX Wild Ocean 3D. Kost, Mihlf, I'm looking at you. :)

What if Karma Wasn't A Bitch?

I couldn't resist, I love this fight too much. And I have some more links and I wanted an excuse to post a picture of Kane hovering over his KO prize. So again, I present, Kane vs. Cooke. I'd also like to pose the question, What if Mayank had never drawn my attention to this fight?

Here's an article on Thrasher responses to the fight, I especially like when their coach points out that Crosby's team needs to stop protecting his baby bitchiness, it's not cute.

Sweet (Vicarious) Revenge

I know. He's so cute right? Baby Evander Kane, 18 years old, rookie year on the Thrashers. Make that Evander "Holyfield" Kane because on Friday night he knocked out Pen's pest, Matt Cooke. Loyal followers will remember when I blogged about Cooke's hit on Bruin's frontman, Marc Savard (3rd link down). Kane is being heralded in Boston, sweet, sweet vengeance. Tastes like victory. Because the Thrashers went on to win this game 1-0.

And as a special present to Chimera, for his 500th NHL game, Timmy Thom had this special treat for him. Reaction:
"Looking at the replay, I overreacted," Thomas said. "It wasn't as bad as I felt like it was at the time. But I hadn't played in a while and I needed to do something to get myself in the game." Chimera's response: "Overreacted? The guy punches me with the blocker five times in the face and doesn't take his mask off. It's called stupidity, not overreacting."

And on a fun ending note, Brads is hilarious. "I have yet to crack a smile today"

Trophy Race

Some other business that can be wrapped up now that the regular season is over are some of the individual races. So the photo is a little extraneous, but you know what, I'm a Caps fan and I can.

So no Richard trophy for Ovie this year. The Bruins seemed like their main goal on Sunday was to shut Ovie out. Really repping the class that city brings to the table. Crosby had 2 against the Isles ( I refuse to link this and insist on pointing out that the Pens squandered their 3 point lead in this game and the Isles forced an OT) and Stamkos had 1 against the Panthers to tie for 51 goals this season, putting them both 1 over Ovie's 50. Crosby, as per usj, is whining about sharing the trophy, but hey. Try being better and shutting your face. Maybe next year Malkin won't miss so many games due to injury and he can set you up some more for your individual glory. But it won't actually matter because if Ovie plays a full season (ie doesn't miss 10 games like he did this year due to injury and suspension) you won't be anywhere close to the top anyway (Ovie had 65 goals last season).

Congrats to Jeff Schultz for finishing the season +50, first in the league over Ovie, Greeny, and Backstrom. In that same article, Boudreau jokes about how the most important personal milestone has already been achieved: Brads got his 10th. O GABBY YOU CHARMING JOKSTER.

Two highlights from the Boston game:

• Mike Green body blocks a shot in OT in a game that really doesn't matter for the Caps in any way. That's integrity and commitment to game. Way to go Greeny.
• Boudreau on his shootout picks of Boyd Gordon and Brads:

"For 81 games it's always been Alex, Nicky, and Semin. I thought hard about it. It didn't affect Boston's standings, they were going to end up in 6th. It didn't affect our standings, at all. And so, why not give some guys that don't have a chance, that work their rear ends off, an opportunity to get a little bit in the limelight."

The Caps finished the season with 121 points and are the first team outside of Original 6 (Canadiens, Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Blackhawks) to ever reach the 120 mark. We'll have to wait until June to see on the other awards, including the Hart, the Norris, and the Masterton.

The Verizon Center sold out every home game this year for the first time in franchise history, good job Caps fans!

Bring It On, Habs

Finally, the stage is set for the playoffs. We'll be playing Montreal in the first round. I'm honestly a LITTLE concerned because we had a 2-2 season record against them and this is the team that ended our midseason 14 game winning streak. At the same time, I loved that game because it was good hockey, and of course Brooksy's first career hat trick to tie the game with 18 seconds left. Chills! As for goal tending, Mike Vogel (who I saw this weekend! More deets in an upcoming post) had a good post that could help with the mystery, for those who want to speculate. Should be a good series, the Canadians, or the Canadiens?, love their hockey, here's a taste of their local media's perspective going into the series. I'm predicting Caps in 5.

Yo Gabba Gabba

There are a lot of major perks to having a friend with an adorable baby. Most notably, you get to spend time with an adorable baby. And that adorable baby's feet and cheeks and nonsensical babbling. And baby smiles. Then there is also the most up-to-date 411 on what is hot in baby entertainment. Which really could be synonymous with Jane entertainment. I present to you, childless adults of the world, Yo Gabba Gabba. PROPS Lola. (Bonus points if you can tell me why the red guy looks familiar...)

A potential reason this is SO great to me is because it reminds me of Noodles on my Back. Which...if I'm not mistaken...was also shown to me by the lovely Lola?

(Answer to Bonus Question. Points only if you knew before clicking. Honor system here, let's have some integrity folks)

Absentee Blogger

So work has been really hectic lately, too much work and not enough money at a non profit? Who knew. My blog has, consequently, suffered some serious neglect. I haven't blogged about the Caps in 6 games. It's the last week of the regular season and teams have been battling for playoff spots, so pretty exciting stuff going on. Quick notes and thoughts from the week or two I've missed:

Flames @ Caps, Sunday 3/28/10

• Coming off a great weekend, got a call from Katie. "What are you doing at 3 today?" PERFECT. Almost. ALMOST. wish I hadn't been there. It was 4-0 at the end of the 1st. "When's the last time the Caps have let 4 without responding?!" I asked Katie. "The last time?" she asked, meaningfully. "Ah...yes." Penguins-Caps playoff series last year, game 7. UGH. Finished 5-3 Calgary. A highlight was Matty Perreault's goal, I REALLY liked him out there, lots of gumption. About 4 hours later, we clinched the Eastern Conference for the 1st time in franchise history with a Devils loss to Philly.

Senators @ Caps, Tuesday 3/30/10

• STRESS. I needed to balance picking up my newly fixed life source (lap top) from Best Buy, long planned wing night at 51st state, and making sure I caught the entire game. Rudy once pointed out to me that 75% of Seinfeld situations would not have happened if they had cell phones. Well that's how I feel about my life, but with DVR. Original plan? 51st State for 1st period, cab home to make sure I didn't miss any game time, pray that the game didn't go into OT so I could jump in a cab RIGHT afterwards to make it to Best Buy before they closed at 10. Luckily, Avi, unexpected hero, came to wings and stayed for the whole game. Saving me one frantic cab ride. The game went to OT of COURSE. Caps lost 4-5 in the last moments of OT. Matty had another goal this game, I REALLY like the guy. Ran out of the bar at 9:38, made it to Best Buy at 9:52, and brought my newly repaired baby comp home. Ta-da.

Thrashers @ Caps, Thursday 4/1/10

• Nisha chats me around 2pm telling me we're going to be best friends today. I ask why. She lets me know approval for tickets were pending. I told her that was amazing bc it was Brooksy's first night back and I would get to see him! SHE TELLS ME "Well these are section 108 row H, so you'll be able to see him skate. Or whatever you call it." Un. Real. And it wasn't an April Fool's joke (The "White House" and Starbucks had really good ones this year). The city was a mess bc of the warm weather, cherry blossoms, and kids on spring break. My bus went half a block in 20 min and I wasn't even allowed to get off because we were in the middle of the street. DAMN TOURISTS. When the bus driver finally, FINALLY let me out, I ran for it. Met Dicksy, saw a pony along the way, went to our unreal, amazing, out of this world seats. Won the game 2-1 and Mandy won a signed and framed photo of Knubs in a silent auction. Came home, watched the recap, you know to hear what Joe and Locker had to say about the game. After Matt Bradley's game winning goal, I saw...me. ME. ME AND DICK. ON TV. HILO!!!!! The Washingtonian, Comcast Sportsnet, I'm basically a local celebrity. Who knows what's next. The Express? LSN? Stay tuned... Next day found out Colby Armstrong got handed a 2-game suspension for his non-penalized hit on Matty. Sweet revenge.

Capitals @ Blue Jackets, Saturday 4/3/10

• Woke up still wondering what the point was of continuing to live, as a result of watching Up In The Air. Parents and sister arrived, first day this year out in SHORTS. Drove down to the tidal basin, got a SWEET parking spot, and took a lovely cherry blossom stroll. Ate a wonderfully surprisingly delicious hot dog and acquired a purse pretzel. Drove to the Verizon store and got new phones for all the lady Changs. Finished up just in time to make our reservations at Coco Sala. Very delicious! Home just in time to catch the CBJ game, somewhat of a homecoming? for Chimera. 3-2 win gave the Caps their 51st win of the season, a franchise record. Later, Umberger had some really interesting thoughts. If my team was 14th out of 15 in the conference and 26th out of 30 in the league, I guess I'd be spewing unsupported nonsense too.

Sharks @ Avalanche, Sunday 4/4/10

• Sharks lost 4-5 to Avalanche, clinching the first President's trophy for the Caps. OK CAPS!!!!

Bruins @ Caps, Monday 4/5/10

• MORE STRESS. Comcast has recently decided to switch half their channels to digital only. Because my cable package is included in my rent, I have pretty basic cable and no digital box. Both my building and Comcast are incompetent and as a result I haven't had half my channels for about 2 weeks now, as I continue to wait for my digital box from Comcast. I have the TV on at 6:30. There's no pregame coverage on CSN but I figure there's a lot going on in sports. NCAA Championship game that same night, McNabb traded to the Skins, etc. No room for Caps pregame. Then, all of a sudden, it's 7:00 and the game isn't on. INSTA PANIC. It was being aired on Versus, which is one of the channels I don't get right now. Ended up cab rushing over to Mihlf's and forced him to host me for a Caps game (THANKS STEVE :))Well played game on both sides, I really liked the intensity I saw out of the Caps. And what I liked EVEN MORE was adorable, caged Brooksy baby's overtime goal to win it 3-2. So glorious. A visual, courtesy of Katie. Although I don't necessarily think the front of net is Knuble's office... Also, Em's first Caps game! Also Walker's first game back after his knee injury and a rest for Mike Green.

And finally...

Caps @ Penguins, Tuesday 4/6/10

• Thankfully, realized this game was also going to be on Versus. Courtesy of Comcast, I had to change my plans to have people over and make dinner. Went to Jen and Em's instead, delicious fajita dinner. Watched the game on a delay again, something about Pittsburgh games. Two favorite moments. 1) Fleury throwing a FIT after being pulled. 2) Ovie scoring the last open net goal to tie back up with Crosby for goals scored this season and make the final score 6-3. SWEET VICTORY. Feels so good. Like a million little feel goodies, feeling good. Read earlier in the day that Alzner and Beagle had been called up, so I knew there would be some more resting happening. Surprisingly, it was Greeny again. I was also slightly surprised to see Varly in goal, but he had an amazing night.

In the conference tonight, the Rangers lost to Buffalo, Philly won, Montreal lost to the Isles, NJ beat Atlanta, Ottawa beat FL, and Carolina beat Tampa Bay. Boston is in 8th, points ahead of the Rangers and 1 point behind Philly, with the Sabres, Canes, and Caps left to play in the regular season. Not sure who we'll be playing, it's looking like it will be Montreal, Philly, or Boston. I'd prefer it not be Montreal... They ended our winning streak and they just don't sit well with me.

When You Flash That Sexy Smi-i-i-i-i-le

Remember this?

HTC Droid Eris

Obsessed. Favorite feature? Emoticons show up as little droids.

Crocs, You Always Amaze Me

Crocs newest marketing campaign involves a character named Croslite. Endearing. It appears to be some sort of Croc shoe with eyeholes, hands, and croc laden feet. Did NO ONE at the Crocs company stop and say...this is potentially really creepy and alienating for our brand which is already borderline not socially acceptable?

Croslite has made its television debut. The animated version manages to make the still picture character look pleasant. Whole new creep factor level.

Also, I was looking for a phone case on the interwebs, and I sadly came across this. Enjoy, my blogging public. Enjoy. Please feel free to leave me croc related gems in the comments section.