Voting and blood and stuff

Oh, don't be morbid!

Used to be, you got a little sticker with a flag on it after you voted, didn't you? I didn't notice flag stickers this morning at my voting place. I'm not a morning person (stop laughing, Mum), so I could have missed them, but does anyone know if they still give those out? They always reminded me of the stickers the Red Cross used to give out when you donated blood, that said "be nice to me, I gave blood today", or more pathetically, "be nice to me, I tried".

I say used to, though they may still, because I got blacklisted by the Red Cross years ago, for having spent a year in England: mad cow! Stay back, we don't want your blood anymore! My feelings are still hurt by that, actually. I sneer a bit when I hear about blood shortages. I understand they have to have standards, but it's a little random, if you ask me. No, I never said I was a particularly nice person.

I guess this makes it official: the Bruins are doing so badly (of course they lost last night, what did you expect?) that ESPN.com has written an article about it. Quotes to note:

"the NHL's poster team for disarray"

"Imagine Groundhog Day meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre"

Whew, tell it!

Our new GM says that he'd already decided to give the team a quarter of the season to assess the situation and progress. If he means that, then they have a few more games before heads start rolling. They changed so much in the off-season, practically everything is new except for a few players and Rene Rancourt* (unfortunately). I wonder where they'd start? I mean, for all the changes that were made, the team looks amazingly like it has the past 10-15 years. That is not a compliment.

*He 'performs' the anthems at the Garden. He's an odd duck. I just found an interview with him during the lockout, when he said of singing the anthem, "I very rarely get it right, and that's why I like it. The challenge is very stimulating. There have been maybe 10 times in my career when I think I sang it really well." Isn't that interesting? I can't argue with his number, either.

They did send Hannu Toivonen down to Providence today (poor P-Bruins, hope it's his luck that changes and not theirs). We'll see how Brian Finley fills the net in Boston, assuming he plays (and since Tim Thomas has only been better than Hannu, not all that good, he probably will). From his stats, he's been fairly successful at the AHL level. A whole two games in the NHL doesn't mean much, so we won't hold those numbers against him.

They get younger every year, don't they? He was born in 1981. I remember 1981.

One more hockey-related peeve, that is honestly not really sour grapes, or at least not completely. I noticed this in Atlanta last night, but it's happening at more and more arenas around the NHL. The home team scores, and one of those godawful loud horns blares and blares. Really, it isn't just because it means my team gave up a goal that I hate them. It's obnoxious! It's rude and sneering and obnoxious. Atlanta also flashes a strobe light over the goal (and the goalie, just in case he didn't notice that he gave up a goal). Horrible.

At least we don't do that in Boston. What I dislike there is that, after the announcer has, in a relatively serious or at least controlled fashion, announced the stats about the goal, he concludes with a sudden and really weird cry of "Wooo!" Which the crowd (or most of it) then echoes. Why? Can anyone explain that to me? Why did the golden-voiced Joel Perlmutter have to leave? He never did strange stuff like that.

I just googled him and found that he died a few years ago, which is sad to learn. He had a beautiful rich voice.

Now, I have better things to do tonight than stay here blathering about the can't-win kids. I'm moving in two weeks. Must dash!