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Jay-Z ft. Cam'ron - Welcome to New York City #hiphopfriday

(download)

Have you seen this cat?

Golden coat, big eyed, wearing jade coloured bib and red collar, much loved.

Has a penchant for fish bones.

Last seen in autumn 2008 at MyKnowledgeMap, York, England.

Possible sightings in France, Japan and Brazil.

Any information please mail post@jimsluckycat.posterous.com (attach an image and include a message and title).

NYC on 9/11/9 with red, white & blue light

It seemed like the weather was reflecting the somber mood carried by people visiting both Ground Zero and The Sphere that day. Cloudy, dark, but quiet. This angle I liked because of the colors. Seemed appropriate on a few different levels.

NYC on 9/11/9 upward angle

It seemed like the weather was reflecting the somber mood carried by people visiting both Ground Zero and The Sphere that day. Cloudy, dark, but quiet. I liked this agle because of the multiple layers--the Church in the foreground and each building adding a new layer.

Save Our Plant Harley Davidson Ride & Ralley August 2nd, 2009

A great turn out for the Ride & Rally this past Sunday. Over 2k
registered riders - whoa-hoo! State and local dignitaries and even, yours truly
in attendance (what?).
Seriously, Save Our Plant!!

Copmanthorpe Carnival '09

Every year my village hosts a carnival for the city - and this seems to be a pretty big thing. Though I find it hard to believe, people really do come from all over York for this thing.

This year we had bands such as Elliot Minor, Club Smith and The Sneakypeeks. The music... well it's not to my tastes, but everyone seems to have a pretty good time. I actually went along this year, to document the event on behalf of the internet.

How does John Tortorella's hiring affect the Rangers?

Interesting things are afoot, I say!

Well, not really. Tom Renney was officially relieved of his duties as the New York Rangers's bench boss earlier today, only to have John Tortorella announced as the new head coach of the team several hours later (apparently there was some legal issues regarding whether the Rangers could actually hire Torts, but once that was settled, it was made official).
Renney was let go after the Rangers had lost 10 of their last 12 games, the backbreaker being a 3-2 overtime loss to Toronto. Tortorella brings a pretty good track record into the Rangers locker room. He's a tough coach who expects a lot from his players and usually gets results. He won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 after beating the Calgary Flames in seven games.
Do I think Renney got shafted a bit? Yes, I do. He's a good coach and I don't think that he should be blamed for the Rangers' collapse this season.
That aside, John Tortorella is exactly what the Rangers need right now. They have a locker room full of guys that haven't been working nearly as hard as they need to be. Their powerplay is a mess, they aren't scoring goals, and their defense is underachieving. With guys like Chris Drury, Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez on your team, neither scoring nor your powerplay should really be a problem, and with as decent of a defensive core as the Rangers have, they should be a lot more solid. John Tortorella may very well be able to turn this team around.

Now onto the big point of this little schpeal. Rumor has it that the Rangers are big on bringing Sean Avery back (which is absurd, if you ask me), despite the fact that they didn't want to pay him anymore money last season, and they're apparently willing to pick up his bloated salary now. However, John Tortorella has made his feelings about Mr. Avery very clear during his time on the NHL on TSN Panel. This makes me wonder, if the Rangers do bring Avery back, will Torts even play him? It's a known fact that if you're in Tortorella's doghouse, it can be very difficult to get out. Avery's there already and he's not even a part of the team yet. I wonder if, perhaps, the hiring of John Tortorella will have an impact on the Rangers decision towards Avery?

I guess we'll find out, huh?

 

On the rumor front, I have a few quick things to report.
-Calgary is apparently leading the race for Chris Neil. However, Ottawa's asking price is a little high.
-Colorado Avalanche winger Ian Laperriere may be approaching the end of his tenure in the Mile High City. Adrian Dater of the Denver Post reported recently that there wasn't much going on between Lappy and the Avs about a possible contract extension. He'll be an Unrestricted Free Agent on July 1st and could very well be traded for a draft pick or a prospect come March 4th.
-Sticking with the Avs, Ryan Smyth has denied reports that he would waive his No-Trade-Clause to be moved to a contending team (or to any team for that matter).
-News out of Anaheim has it that veteran D-man Bret Hedican is also available. Though I haven't heard much of anything about who might be interested.
-For anybody who might have heard something about the Oilers signing Jaromir Jagr for the remainder of the season, don't believe it.
-Filip Kuba's stock is rising. A lot of interest is building around the Sens blueliner. The Senators want a first round pick in return.

 

Listening to Ty Oliver. He's awesome. Check him out. (www.myspace.com/tyoliver)

Zetterburg signs "life-long extension"

Twelve years. Twelve years for Zetterburg at about $6 mill. a year.
I'm posting this rather late today, so no doubt that anybody reading this will have known this by now.
The question this brings to mind is what does this mean for their other UFAs this upcoming offseason (particularly Hossa and Franzen)?
As a colleague of mine stated, Hossa's deal was a one-year thing for a reason. He expects Hossa to sign with the Oilers more than anybody else, but I for some reason don't see that happening. Franzen, however, is still up in the air. He's making less than $2 million right now, and could easily be making $3-4 million by next season, possibly even more depending on how good his agent is. It will be interesting to see how that all works out.

Filip Kuba is becoming increasingly popular as we get closer to the March 4th Trade Deadline. Minnesota, Calgary, Washington, Boston, and Phoenix are all interested.
(On a somewhat similar note, the Bruins are also said to be interested in Bouwmeester (but who isn't?) and Kaberle as possible alternatives).


Chris Higgins continues to have trade rumors involving him swirl around the league, not that that's anything new.


The next two are stuff that is "possible" but I seriously, seriously doubt to happen...
First, the Canucks and Ducks are talking about a deal that would bring Scott Niedermayer to Vancouver. Don't know for what. I personally think the Ducks value and respect Scott too much to trade him at this current time. However, should they fall out of the playoff picture, the deal starts to make some more sense.
Secondly, I'm hearing that the Rangers are in on the Lecavalier sweepstakes. The biggest thing I'm hearing about this would be Dubinsky, Prucha, Staal and more for Vinny. I find myself asking what the Rangers would do with 3 elite centers like Drury, Gomez, and Lecavalier all with enormous paychecks and demanding decent ice time. Enough said.

Speaking of the Rangers, they've placed Dan Fritsche on Waivers. He could be back in Columbus in the next few days.


The Devils could have Gionta on the move by March 4th. After he signed that extension a couple of summers ago, he hasn't really lived up to their expectations. Edmonton, Columbus, and Vancouver are interested.


There seems to be quite the ruckus stirring up around Mike Cammelleri. He'll be an unrestricted free-agent at season's end, and from what I hear, could be getting "Iginla money" from some teams. Toronto's been at the forefront since their attempted acquisition of the winger at last year's Deadline, but one must remember that the Leafs were a different team with a different coach and a different GM last season. A GM that wasn't watching Cammalleri from across town and had no interest in him, I might add.
While I doubt Cammalleri could demand that kind of cash (even though he is a tremendous player) and that he would end up in Toronto of all places, hey, I could easily be wrong.

That's all for now.

 

Tunes...
Bill Majoros "Sleepless In Pompeii"
Thought Chamber "Angular Perception"
3 Inches of Blood "Trial of Champions" EP

I've also been listening to "Love Bites" by Def Leppard and "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire at an almost unhealthy level.