... so, as per Greg's idea, the official announcement is HERE

Sunday is Foxy Night Luau/Canucks vs. Wild Game 2/Greg's B-day observance/BYOBB (Bring Your Own BBQ) at Ryutaro and Lemurs pad in Kent, WA -- unless Dragons and Lemurs object, and it will just be HERE, at The House. Feel free to use comment boxes below...

and maybe I need to let you know where their apartment is... uhh, Mike?! I know how to get there, but it ccurs to me I don't even know the adress

We also maybe need to get DanG's handy little propane grill down there, I'll be happy to chip in for a new gas cylinder

oh yes, and there should be plenty of Bock for everyone...

use comment boxes for any further correspondence purposes

So, at some point in the not-too-distant future, I need to tie the ropes up the side of the house for the hop plants, which are growing steadily. It's not particularly urgent, its just that I've been more or less putting it off for a couple weeks now... putting off what is a relatively simple, 1 hour job, I can do quite easliy after work. Sure, I need to get the ladder out, but so what. I don't know why I haven't just Done it yet, but today my "excuse" was I wanted to come home, get some groceries, watch the ManU-Real Madrid UEFA Champs. League Quarterfinal second leg match I had taped today, and then go play indoor soccer tonight at 9. Right now, its rainy and quite nasty, so that is why I'm not doing it at this exact moment, or in the last hour, when I've had ample time...

Speaking of which, that Man U-Real Madrid match was.. interesting. I know no one cares, so I'll just say Ronaldo is a stud, and leave it at that...

The Canucks pulled it out last night, winning Game 7 in convincing fashion, 4-1, after trailing in the series 3 games to 1. I managed to see the last two periods, rushing home after my mediocre performance in my "Tuesday Night" team's 2-2 draw. Its funny, because the Canucks had 4-1 leads entering the 3rd periods of games 5 and 6, and nearly blew them both, winning 5-3 and 4-3. Last night, they entered the 3rd with a 3-1 lead, extended it to 4-1 when Trevor Linden -- my favorite Canuck from back in the day -- scored short-handed -- on a brilliant shot -- less than 2 minutes in.

And that reminds me of Trevor, and my halcyon days of Canucks fandom, back in the B-ham years of 93-97, including the Finals run of '94. Trevor was my MAN back then, scoring both tallies in the 3-2 Game 7 loss to the Rangers, and even making the Canadian team for the '96 "World Cup" (an odd tournament that used to be the Canada Cup, and hasn't been held since). He was a solid, 1st or 2nd-line winger/center/power forward type, like a Todd Bertuzzi, but without as much scoring prowess. Then, about the time I moved back to Seattle, the Canucks started to Fade, and so did Linden. The Canucks started to seriously suck, my interest in them waned (having more to do with the complete lack of NHL coverage in Seattle) and they traded Linden to the Islanders for... Todd Bertuzzi. I have no idea what happened to Linden for a few years, although I think he was in Montreal for a while, then the Canucks re-acquired him and couple years back, and they've -- coincidentaly perhaps -- become winners again... hmmmm....

The Weekend started early, at about noon, when I got home from work on Friday -- yeah, that's right, there wasn't a whole lot to do. I took care of re-upping my auto insurance, then headed to Kent to hang out with Mike and Mary for a couple hours before heading to Tyler's to watch hockey and play poker.

For part A, the Canucks won, to stave off elimination, and for part B, Ihad a poor night, distributing a large part of my change bucket to my friends -- but I didn't have as bad a night as Rich, it must be said.

Saturday morning I showed up at Lower Woodland for the 10:30 start of the Score-O event. Tyler and Parents were already there, and I got myself registered and warmed up and then, three minutes before the start, we got our maps and a brief chance to come up with our strategy. In "Score-O" you can do the course in any order, and you have a time limit -- although it was obvious the time limit wouldn't be a factor in this event. About 30 seconds before the start, I casually asked Tyler what control he was headed for first.

"I'm going to six, then I'm heading up this way," Tyler said as his hand traced out the exact route I had decided upon just seconds before. I uttered a bemused "oh yeah," and off we went. It occurred to me briefly that Tyler might think I was "following" him, as only one other person was heading off in our direction, but I think he figured I had just come up with the same strategy. Although, because he was a bit quicker than me, i didn in fact more or less followed him for the first 6 or 7 controls, then we split off on slightly different courses.

I ended up doing pretty well, finishing 10th with a decent time. Tyler finished behind me, which is a rarity, because he had mis-punched and missed a control. But, I'm pretty pleased with how I did, so I don't think it was much of a fluke.

Saturday afternoon/evening I mixed some compost to get an area ready for planting tomatoes, and brewed some Beer -- Honey-Raspberry Wheat, to be exact. About the time I was finishing up with that, Jon came over, and we met up with Jon's friend, te ther Jon, and went to the (relatively) new Tangletown Pub, run by the Elysian brewing company, for some tasty, tasty beer. Their Belgian Golden Ale was, well, Belgian, their Maibock was spectacular, and Pandora's Bock was good, and the ESB is always a solid selection. That quartet had me feelign pretty good, and we stopped by Dick's for some burgers (gee, that's the First time I've Ever had a few beers and suddenly decided I needed to go to Dick's!).

I slpet like crap Saturday night -- a night I Really needed to just sleep like I rock -- and got up feeling groggy Easter morning and watched part of the San Marino Grand Prix I had taped (it started at 4:30 am local time) before heading to the 'Rents, to jump in their van, for Easter festivities in Chehalis. I drank about a gallon of coffee, and got myself feeling perky enough to plow through the Family shindig. It actual wasn't bad at all, the food was great and it was a good enough time hanging out and shooting the shit with people like Cousin Andy, and seeing the very pregnant Jody, and not as pregnant Cousin Katie.

I didn't return to the 'Rents SeaTac homestead until after 8:30 because of traffic (!!!) through Tacoma, so that meant I missed the Foxy Night Luau, so the weekend didn't come full circle with Mike and Mary. But the Canucks did win to force a game 7 tomorrow night.

Now, I'm going to watch the 6:30 Simpsons and then lift weights. The Roommates are currently making beer, it's a...uhhh... I'm not sure what it is, but they're using a LOT of grain, and it seems like it will be very near Barley Wine strength.