"It's like the Olympics plus the World Series plus the birth of your first child all multiplied by X, where X equals awesome"

-- John Hodgman, the Daily Show's resident expert

The World Cup starts today. (And our team isn't without a goalie and down 2-0.)

you got the stuff? i got the money

yeah man, I got the shit.

Then perhaps hell actually is the furnace-like burning place, created in desperation by the people whose blood is being sucked by the insects?

funny, Par. it was an example of what I would've done if it'd promised to stop the biting. I would've committed mass (human) murder if I'd been guaranteed that no more insects would bite me. I could've strangled my field partner, because it was his work that had us out there in the evening. but somehow the last vestiges of my conscience won out over my desperation.


I'd still say that, for me at least, no heat I've ever experienced has been as horrible as the incessant biting of all those nasty bugs. I've willfully donned more heavy layers on unbearably hot days just to ensure that fewer mosquitoes would be successful in biting me, even at 40 C. And, the burning would've abated the bugs, so it would've been less hellish. ha! or, at least, I could've jumped into the fire for a different sensation than the constant crawling, biting and sucking credited to the myriad insects we encountered.

taylor i left some shit in ur van on tues, just to let u know dont know if u found it or not

Your non-Oilers news, first. Militant leader Abu Musab "White New Balance Shoes" al-Zarqawi has been killed.

just wanted to send out a big shout out to my homie, GLEN ANDERSON!

hell is not a furnace-like burning place. hell is full of blood-sucking insects that leave you itching and on the verge of insanity but no closer to actual death.
...

I was ready to commit mass murder last night, and/or burn the forest to the ground... if it would've slowed the mosquitoes, noseeums and other biters...

I'm not sure what to make of all this superstition stuff

noseeums are really tiny biting bugs that you can't really see. they're slightly larger than, um, the head of a pin. but they leave you itchy all the same. and crawl around on you a lot more than mosquitoes... since they can fit under your sleeves etc. quite a lot easier.

yeah, I know what you mean about the superstitions and rituals... I'm sure it is simply a fan's way of keeping the faith and getting involved, 'cause they sure can't climb onto the ice. my brother's rather more superstitious than I am, and he's the one who really insisted on the photo removal, as well as our family's pseudo-tradition of watching the games together. but whatever happens happens. obviously what I do has no bearing on the success of the Edmonton Oilers.


though, i am bound to superstition when it comes to things like talking about bears before heading into the field for the day... because that stuff usually does come true. we saw tracks, likely fresh, but no furry creatures while out walking. So, hopefully that'll be the trend for the rest of the summer. High Level's about as close as we got to the bears, and we were on quads.

What's a noseeum?

I'm not sure what to make of all this superstition stuff (ie the Shawn Horcoff picture) - is it a way that fans can feel like they are contributing to the team effort? A way to validate the "we" in "We won!" when the fan had nothing to do with it? I can better understand the superstitious rituals of the players - whatever gives you that little extra boost of confidence, right? I have a pair of lucky socks I wear only to shows. When I got to move up a division at the latest show (yay!) I was very nervous so I wore them the first day, took them home and washed them, and wore them the second day too. Maybe I am just not a big enough fan.

And congratulations Mary!