2002-05-14 - 2:58

No-one takes the fort

Well, I guess I can shave off the playoff beard now. That could be just as well, since I started it in the middle of March and I'm probably scruffy enough by now.

Bah. Well, now it's "Go Carolina" in the East and "Go whoever plays Detroit" in the West. It was still a solid season from the Habs; and I got to see my first playoff series live (all three Montreal home games in the opening round). Not bad.

Oh, I never did mention my favourite moment of the three games I saw. Near the end of Game 4, during the stoppage in play that followed the infamous McLaren take-down, one of the fans walked by me to mouth off to the Bruins in the penalty box.

Him: [to me, with strong French accent] What's de names of de players in da penalty box?
Me: Uh . . . there's Brian Rolston and Sergei Samsonov.
Him: Samsonov . . . okay. [Slight pause as he walks by me] Hey, Samsonov . . . how 'bout your wife, huh?!

So, even with the collapse that ended the Carolina series, it was still an enjoyable ride. If not for that stupid unsportsmanlike call in Game 4, though . . .

Oh yes, since I'm catching up on old news, one thing that I forgot to mention about the Nick Cave concerts was that I finally managed to track down the Vanity Set CD, which is essentially a James Sclavunos album. (Thomas Wylder also plays on it; and Sally Norvell and Kid Congo Powers show up for a couple of songs. Actually, there are quite a few other people on there, too; but none of them were names that I recognized, so they didn't factor in to my purchase.)

Anyway, I had been searching for that album down for more than a year, so it was a great find. The first couple of listens had me thrown somewhat, simply for the mash of styles; but I've recently gotten it and now I love it. It's more proof that the Bad Seeds are the best band in the world, since the Set are yet another amazing Seed-fronted band.

So, there ya go. That's as positive as you could have expected my entry to be tonight. Montreal in 2003!

J.