JohnF

Ask around your buddies and family. Odds are someone has an old cell phone that will work for you. If you were close by I'd give you a great working unit that I've had for years on both a Bell Mobility plan and a Solo prepaid plan. It seems to be bulletproof. My wife no longer has any use for it though. A few years ago I gave away a box full of all my old phones (all working) going back to my first bag phone. Most of cell phones were analog so not much use to anyone. Our area was fairly late in getting on the digital highway. Just be careful of getting on a plan that requires regular top-ups. At one point my wife was up to over $300 on her prepaid plan - never again. JF

Left side for spinning for sure. I thought I needed left side for casting too so I bought a lefty. I liked it and I got along fine with it. Then I tried a righty caster and liked it too. So I guess I don't care. I can't jump back and forth easily. It takes a little warmup, but it's ok. JF

Some folks are too sensitive for Dawg's sense of humour. Sometimes thick hide is handy on the net. The anonymity coupled with the familiarity ( I know, I know, it sounds like a contradiction, but think about it) leads to more blunt expression than we usually expect at a casual get together in real life, especially us oh so polite Canucks. Those of you who find Dawg too caustic really need to toughen up, or ignore him. I don't know him other than from on here and a few private messages, but he seems like a good guy to me. It isn't always the folks who tell me only what I want to hear that are necessarily the only kind I want to be around. We all need a little honesty and/or caustic humour in our diet. JF

I always hated one sided games like that. If I was coaching the losing team I hated to see my kids get discouraged. If I was coaching the winning team I hated what it did to their egos and discipline. It's almost a sure thing that the winner in a lousy game like that will come out soft against the next tough opponent they meet. I'd rather they'd had the game the US boys had. As for running the score, they had no choice. One thing, the score may matter later on. Second, they need to keep playing their game or their system will break down for later games. Third, Latvia knows the rules of the tournament going in and they know the score will get run up. It's the only way to learn what they need to do to be competitive. If they can't handle the embarrassment they don't belong at that level obviously. They'll be on their toes for the next game. I just hope the Canucks forget the 1st game before New Years Eve. JF

Lotsa mediocre going around the NHL these days. Too many teams whose records by your standard would seem to indicate they're pretty hot are having to struggle to beat the Leafs. Way too many ties and strong comebacks by the Leafs for many of the other teams to get too cocky. Besides, we've got the Juniors to cheer for for a few days. I wish they hadn't had such an easy time against the Latvians. The Americans had to work hard for a good part of their game against the Czechs. It was a good pace setter. Brutal checking game but hopefully the one Latvian won't be out of the whole show. That would suck for him. Be fun to see the kids whose NHL team can't spare them (which in itself says a lot about the calibre of the NHL today) playing with the Canucks. Our juniors may not even need those pros but it would be fun to see what they'd be like with them. Go Canucks. JF

Gotta get the flyrod under control. Got a bunch of bass flies that SingingDog sent down here and what little water time they had was spoiled by my ineptitude. So that's my target this year - bass on the fly. The other thing I need to deal with is getting something living (other than me) attached to one end of whatever line et al I put on my brand spankin' new 13 footer. Be fun to experience some of those big silver critters the rest of you catch. Mebbe I'll have to settle for some big ole carp to break it in. JF

And I'll say it yet again - Merry Christmas, y'all. Dayum! It's a nice thing to say, isn't it? This really is the best season of all. JF

Stajan kinda defended the hit last night in an interview. He admitted he had his head down, sort of a mea culpa. Part of the problem is that the size of the players is growing every year. They're starting to look more like husky basketball teams than hockey teams, and unfortunately some of the niftiest players are still little 6' pipsqueaks and unless they start jumping (and get charging penalties) their little heads are gonna be right about shoulder/elbow level for the Charas of the hockey world. Dunno what the solution is to that fact of hockey life. Guys taking mid-ice passes have to learn to trust the passing ability of their team mates and just keep their stick on the ice and have soft hands. If they look for the puck they're gonna get smoked. All that being said I really relish those moments when one of the ginormous players gets his bell rung by one of the little squirts, not that it happens often. Chara may well be a gentle giant but I get sick of seeing him "gently" take guys off the puck with an elbow in the ear. All I want for Christmas is to see him get some of that back in spades from someone. anyone. Same goes for Chris Pronger, except in his case I wouldn't mind seeing someone mebbe take a few extra minutes penalty. He's a dirty checker who knows exactly where his elbows are gonna make contact. As tough as it is for the league to qualify headshots, I wish they could find a way to give the refs some leeway in interpreting what was intent to injure and what was just collateral damage. JF

Take them out (when they're old enuf to understand - your daughter is probably ready, sort of, but she'll like being told about it years from now) and look for a Christmas tree decoration to give Mom, in memory of grandma or something, and years from now they'll remember and treasure the ornaments for the memories and have them hanging on their own trees. My Mom still hangs the different ornaments that remind her of each of us kids as we grew up - hockey stuff for me, guitar stuff for my brother, etc Back when my wife still liked Christmas with the kids she really enjoyed the ornaments we got. I still have the Santa that has stood under our tree since I was a little kid. It now stands under my son's tree and hopefully will one day move to his kid's tree. It's a nice personal Christmas tradition that's easy to sustain. Merry Christmas Ryan. JF

A Christmas Story - cuz it reminds me of Christmas as a kid, except for sticking my tongue to a post. It's a Wonderful Life - a real feel good story Going My Way - for the great music Not sure of the order but they're my staples. JF

Hey, just so y'all know my life isn't completely bereft of Christmas music and spirit, here's my little brother playing guitar with the singer he does production work for. I think this was on 100 Huntley St. Rick doesn't spend much time in church but he's hell on christian type music. This is one of my favourites. It isn't Rick's best guitar work but this one is all about the voice and lyrics. Some of you from North Bay (or is it Sudbury?) might recognize Don Reed, the fiddle player. Rick says he's a helluva session guy. Hope you enjoy. JF

Actually, you're a little bit right. Christmas will always hold a special place in my heart, but I do wish I could get a little more into the whole Christmas spirit thang the way I did through my own childhood and my boys'. Mebbe it's enuf just wanting everyone's Christmas to be merry. Merry Christmas JF

We have some Jewish friends and they make the most of Christmas and Hannukah (whichever way you spell it). They love it. It's a long holiday for them. Happy Hannukah JF

That's what I'm talking about. Thanks. Merry Christmas to you and yours JF

Man, we sure did come from the same era. You described it better than me. The rest of this post is maudlin and schmaltzy, about losing kids, and should be ignored by folks who hate that stuff. And I know what you're saying about the loss of loved ones over the years having an affect on our perception of Christmas. You and I (and the others here who've lost kids) may have a special awareness of that. I know losing a parent or grandparent isn't easy, but it's more the natural way of things than losing your kid, or your sibling. Our son was 18 and loving his life. And why not? He was a heck of an athlete with promises from a university and a better than average shot at a look from the national team. He was a good looking kid with a beautiful girlfriend. Best of all was the story I heard a year or so after he died from the mother of a teenaged girl who lived near us. Now, at the risk of sounding like a proud pop, Steve was a 6'1 handsome kid. Girls loved him judging from the phone calls. He was pretty popular at school because he was kind of a hero on the school teams etc. But also he was something of a hero to the kids who weren't popular. I found this out in stories after he died. He was the cool kid who'd always take the time to hang with the less than cool kids and stick up for them when some of the hotshots got a little pushy. I liked that a lot. But the mother's story really said it all. Her daughter was a nice chubby girl. In fact she was kinda fat, more than just chubby, and suffered the ostracism fat kids always seemed to suffer from the cool kids. This mother told me that her daughter, who seemed to have a pretty realisitic view of her own popularity, loved Steve because he was the only cool buy who would walk home from school with her, talk to her at school, treat her like a regular teenager, just generally treat her in a regular way, not like a tubby outcast. She knew he had a regular girlfriend, and that he wasn't going to be dating her, but she just really liked that he included her in his life. I heard these stories from other people about how he would sit down in the cafeteria and talk to kids who weren't exactly mainstreamers and just make them feel included. THere were stories about him talking to the younger kids in high school about their problems with drugs and stuff. I like to think it was in part because he was a nice well-adjusted kid himself. One of his friends once told me they teased him about his "my body is a temple and no drugs or booze go into it" athlete attitude. I liked to hear that he felt that way. I think every parent worries about their kid being into drugs and booze. And all that paves the way for me to tell you about Christmas and my family today. I hope I've painted an accurate picture of what a great kid he was, so you might understand how losing him suddenly at 18 in a car accident (I was driving but in no way responsible) had a huge traumatic effect on the family. For my wife it meant that Christmas became a sadder than normal time for her. I'm not sure what the connection was other than the accident was just a few weeks after Christmas. The only other thing that makes sense is that she enjoyed Christmas with our boys best of all times of the year. Whatever happened for her, she now hates Christmas. It's a time of year she suffers thru and can't wait for it to end. As a result decorations are kept to a minimum, Christmas functions are something to be endured, and the only good part of it all is that we leave for Mexico right after the Christmas cleanup. I don't blame her for how she feels. My problem is that I still really like Christmas, or at least I like what it used to be and I'd like to have it back. I'm not about to force Christmas down her throat just so I can relive my childhood but I hope that everyone else has a Merrier Christmas. I'm actually getting used to it but I can't help having little twinges of Christmas spirit every now and then. All I'm really looking for in this thread is some kind of assurance that kids are still having the chance to experience Christmas the way we did as kids. How well they perpetuate the enjoyment is up to them when they grow to adulthood. /End maudlin rant. So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Merry Christmas, Lew, all the best to you and yours JF

Ya know, as maudlin (if that's the right word) as this sounds, this thread and your responses are as close as I've gotten to experiencing the Christmas spirit this year, and I thank you all for that. Perhaps it's really meant to be for the kids, and it's up to us to provide the right environment for it to happen. We had our turn. Merry Christmas kiddo JF

I think you're right, and I wish every kid in the world could have Christmases as wonderful as all mine were. I guess it's asking too much to wish for them to be as great all through our lives. Kids are just so much better believers. JF

So here we are easing into the home stretch of Christmas. I hope the rest of you feel readier than I. It's not that I don't want to be ready, but I just can't find that little hook of Christmas spirit that we all need to get into the Yule groove. Indulge me here, and I'll try to explain. Then I have some questions for those inclined to answer. Back in my younger years I lived for Christmas. It was without question the very best time of the year. We had night after night of Christmas related events - Sunday School concerts (all I remember is wearing my dressing gown and a towel around my head and putting a hockey puck in the manger with Baby Jesus. I don't think the hockey puck was in the script), Christmas shopping with the savings from my allowance (58 years later my mom still has the Ivy plant I bought her), the lighting of the Christmas tree at the town hall, , the Santa Claus parade, going Christmas caroling around your town, the Christmas related things at school, and then best of all decorating the tree at home and setting out all the personal Christmas decorations that we'd had since we were first aware of Christmas. My favourite, and something I just passed on to my 33 year old son was my plastic Santa. My Mom tells me it was a gift when I was just a little baby. Then we got to high school and were too cool for Yule, but I think most of us remained closet Christmas fans. Boxing Day remained a sad sad day, certainly for me at least, cuz it meant Christmas was as far away as it could possibly be. It was a time we anticipated all year, and then we shared with all those we loved. It was special. But something happened to it as we grew up. The Santa myth exploded, there were no more Sunday School concerts, TV brought us dozens of new unbelievable santas and a much more commercial aspect to the whole holiday. It stopped being about Jesus and Santa Claus, nicely compartmentalized so we could be reverent and giddy in equal parts, and became all about toys and department stores. I miss all that stuff, and the joy of a little kid caught up in the mixed spirit of Christmas and christmas. So now for the questions: What is the best Christmas movie of all time? What is the best Christmas tv show of all time? What is your favourite Christmas tune? Do you go to your kids or grandkids Christmas concerts? Do you go to a Christmas church service or a carol sing? Do you decorate your home? Do you wish everyone you meet a Merry Christmas for weeks before Christmas? I don't expect many answers to these questions as this touchy feely stuff makes many folks uncomfortable. I just can't help wondering how many other folks feel a little let down at Christmas nowadays. But just so you don't think I'm completely grinched out, I really do still get a little buzz from it. Thanks to those who get even a little bit of Christmas spirit happening because this makes you think about it and take the time to answer. Merry Christmas everyone. JF

You have no idea how difficult it is being on the boat with Buck, seeing the sheer unmitigated terror in the beady red eyes of the little bass as you hoist them into the boat past Buck's slavering jaws. You can actually see their tiny little butts pucker. Then you go through the contortions of unhooking them as you hold them to the sky, safe from gnashing doggy teeth, while Buck slobbers and drools on yer feet. Then you toss the unhooked fishy, hopefully clear of Buck's dive range, and quickly duck to avoid the splash as Buck goes overboard in hot hairy pursuit. Then you try not to hook yerself as you stand there laffing at Buck dogpaddling around the boat with his doggy face down in the water looking for the lost fishy. When he finally tires of the fruitless search you then have to find some distant point, which is hard to do on a relatively small bass boat, where you'll be safe from the tsunami that cascades off Buck's great hairy body when he shakes off the lake water. Other than that fishing with Buck is fun. All ya gotta do is remember to stay upwind if he's suffering from flatulence. I have gone so far as to hang outboard off the Minnkota bracket when Garry moves the boat. That's all well and good until the spirit moves him to start jumping wakes. I swear if I'd been female I'd be the proud momma of little baby Minnkotas more than a few times. But that being said I wouldn't miss a moment of fishing with Buck. It's a hoot. And Garry's ok too. He drives cuz Buck hasn't figgered that one out yet. Wish Buck a Merry Christmas for me, Garry, and one to you, too, bud. JF

When the ice is thick enuf silly. JF

There was a young Mexican fella shorefishing on the beach at our place in Cancun. He didn't speak any English and I speak little Spanish so we didn't communicate well but he was using red/maroon plastic minnows on a weighted jig. He did tell me me he'd caught a couple of fish about 18-20" long. Where are you going? I'll be in Cancun on the second of Jan. JF

Dunno what more you could have asked from Gustafson last night. He didn't get that shutout because his dmen were all stellar. How does one tell which are the number one goalies? Seems to me they all have their ups and downs. Boston's sitting the Vezina winner right now. Brodeur sucked in the much touted battle of the goalies for the number one start spot on the Canadian team a while back. Ottawa gets a near shutout from a first gamer last night. Luongo's had some problems but he may be the closest thing to a solid number one at the moment. As I look around the league there are a lot of backups playing pretty regularly. Perhaps even the coaching staffs aren't sure what to expect from a number one any more? JF

Did the tracks come back off the ice? JF

Oops! Sorry boss. JF

Gives the boat a low centre of gravity without even laying down? JF