Lost In Transmission

I just finished book 2 of the Collapsium series by Wil McCarthy



As expected it is much better than the previous book, The Collapsium.

We are once again in the middle of immorbids who have to colonize a planet because they once were bad kids.

But things are REALLY not going as planned.

The economy is breaking down, some people have DIED, and there is almost no hope for the future (of course there has to be SOME hope because there is a third book in the series).

At the same time there is prologue and an epilogue where we see glimpes of a war against home aplliances.

This book is a real page turner, a lot of things happen and most of them come as a surprise.

Of course there is the usual hard science not always easy to understand: "(...) even impervium breaks down at thirty megawats per square meter (...) a fraction of a fraction of that energy slips in between the pseudoatoms and the heat kicks the electrons right out of their quantum wells. the whole thing reverts to sillicon (...)" but McCarthy is showing off far less often than he did in the 2 previous books I've read.


The main characters are still there, bascal (now a king), xmary and conrad and there are very funny moments such as when the one-hour old princess tries to seduce conrad (yes she is one-hour old, as births are quite special on the planet Sorrow ... hint: a lot of kids are named Mary Faxborne).

A fun read: 8/10


PS Why the hell do they create such stupid covers ????? I look like a dumbass every time someone picks up a book on my desk

The life of Regar the Ruthless

Regar the Ruthless is an old man, for its time period. The medieval times were dangerous, and gray hair was seldom seen. Regar had long and white hair, a white beard, eyebrows that showed both determination, strenght of character, but also a little sadness from deeds done in the past.



There are no accounts of Regar's youth, of how he landed in Calradia, or of how he earned the acronym ''Ruthless''. The first sightings of this historical character were registered in the land of the Nords, where he, alone, approached many villages, recruiting individuals. Promesses of loot, battles, glory, travelling, rewards were made to the men fit to fight. A few farmers, bored young men and villagers with nothing to lose, chose to follow him.


The Ruthless characteristic of Regar soon became apparent. When his group grew in size, so did his aggressivity. At first happy with fighting looters and bandits, he then started looting villages, often right after asking the people of that village if they wanted to join him! Some saw it as the first trial of their journey with Regar... to cut down your own wife and steal your brother's riches.

The travels of this group took them everywhere around Calradia, from the snowy steps of mountains to the nordic seaside. Trading and looting seemed to be the way Regar made his fortune, slowly. He started recruiting experienced troops and individuals in taverns of many towns, until he was finally captured by an army of Nords, happy to bring his pillaging rampage to a stop. Regar however, escaped a few days later, only to be recaptured right away. His fighting spirit still intact and a testimony to his survival instincts, Regard escaped from the Nords' claws numerous times in the following days, until he could reach the safety of Vaegirs lands.


His renown got him a request from a Vaegir lord: to follow, with his personal army, the army of the Lord and join in the sieges of many keeps, wich Regar happily did. He played an instrumental role in many of these battles, one time almost taking over the keep in a single wave of pure aggressivity.


And this is where Regar stands, for now. Happy to be of service to the lord, wich gives him plenty of missions and shows him plenty of action over enemy walls and fields.
Patiently bidding his time, proving his worth to the lord, until he can finally prove his allegiance and obtain his own little piece of land to defend.

He was asked many times to do deeds that would result in declarations of war from the Khergits. However, he has refused to partake in those actions. Not for the sake of peace, but because he loves to recruit Khergits in his group. With time and experience, they can become dangerous horse archers, essential to his cavalry-heavy army.

He has started looting and attacking Swadians also, when times are hard or when he needs money. Adept at trading and training, Regar is a seasoned traveler and war-monger. Much has yet to be discovered about the history of this timely individual from our archeologists, especially about the rest of his life.


A little is known about his battle skills, however. It seems Regar preffered to fight by his men's side, very rarely not joining them in battle. Favoring a fast, unarmored horse, a jousting pole for taking down the enemy cavalry, he rides at the helm of his formation. He was also deemed very dangerous with his Halberd. One of his favorite plans of actions was to select a hill, post his archers and footmen on top, and sneak behind enemy lines with his cavalry to exercise a pre-emptive strike against unlucky archers and soldiers in the back of the line. One swoop of his blade was often enough to cut off a man's head.
He would then return to his designated hill to come to the aid of this fellow men against cavalry, slowed down by the ascension. Always keeping in movement, he would cut through archers and crossbowmen when they came into shooting range of his foot soldiers.
He was also know to carry a beautifully adorned metal shield and a morningstar for 1 on 1 fights. He would give the honor of a dual to the last survivor of an army, stepping down from his trusty steed to deliver the final blow, cracking the head of the remaining individual.
His mace was also used to knock soldiers unconscious instead of killing them, for the sake of taking them prisoner, later selling them into slavery.

He proved his bravery many times over during sieges, climbing over a keep wall, only to face down a dozen enemies with his shield. He would charge at archers with his shield high and bring them down with his morningstar. Known to fight up to 3 men at a time, he was also an accomplished archer. He is seldom seen taking down an enemy horseman's mount with a bow when the coward would not give up and was hard to catch, and then delivering the final blow from his horse.

-The Calradia vault of artifacts and history.

Chicken

The best chicken in Montreal?????


Ramados, on Rachel, a couple of blocks east of St-Laurent


You get a charcoaled chicken (take the spicy sauce, it's not that spicy), with a MOUNTAIN of succulent fries, rice and salad, bread, a small portuguese pie, an a soft drink for less than 10$.

And it's amazingly good.

There is often a long line but you can call in advance (514-849-1803), there is a line for orders and one for people who did not order, the whole thing served with a smile by Maria who calls everyone mon chéri.

Now, instead of waiting 15 TO 30 minutes for your order (I've seen the line go outside once) it might still be 15 to 30 minutes if you call, but so what, you feel like an habitué when you are in the quick(?) line.

Every time I go there (once a week) I first of all want to go on vacation in Portugal and second I buy an extra dozen of those great little custard pies that Beurre's brother, Decal, wolfs down like there is no tomorrow.

Please don't give me that dry St-Hubert crap or those animals that once were chicken that they serve at KFC ... I want my Ramados!

Mount & Blade Review

People of the gaming community!
Addicts of RPGs!
Fans of the Total War franchise!
I have good news!
Good news indeed!

Recently, my prospector friend Goran has unearthed a gem of multiple facets, of untold value! Previously unknown to me, this little piece of treasury has already been discovered by gamers and labeled a cult classic.

Populace of the internet, i give thee... Mount & Blade!

First introduced to me as ''A very cheesy, fun little addictive game'' by Goran, as he was striding on a green and open field on his black horse, 7 peasants running to his side.
''It looks like Oblivion'' I said.
''What?'' Replied Goran... He was concentrating on the computer screen and barely paying any attention to me. Males of the human species, you see, are not adept at multi-tasking.
A few warcries made me turn back to the screen. In the distance, 6 or 7 footmen were charging. My friend's hero picked up the pace, the horse going in a gallop. The warcries were getting louder. As he swoops by the enemy, he takes out his sword and swings at his left left side, delivering a killing blow to his hated enemy.
''Wait... much more cooler than Oblivion. You can't do anything when you're on a horse, you have to step down to fight''
''Oh.. Yeah, look. Very cheezy, like i said''
I watched as Goran moved some distance away from the group of footmen, got down from his horse, and proceeded to continue the fight on foot. The rest of his group were following right behind, some of them throwing javelins and rocks. He rushed in with his shield high, blocking the first shots and replying with his sabre, cutting down a few enemies.

Before long, the sounds of battle were changed to... hard throat yells of victory from his comrades, celebrating their victory, arms in the air. Sweet!

The graphics were not that great, actually a little bit older than Oblivion, but they felt right. The gameplay was smooth, and the collision recognition perfect.

After that, a screen appeared, showing us what loot he had aquired, how many prisoners he could capture (to later sell into slavery), and how much experience him and his comrades received. A character screen showed us what Goran looked like with his present armor, wich stats did he want to improve as well as his abilities. (Stuff ranging from power strike to horse archery to looting). After leveling up his character, we were transported to the map of the world.

A bird's view showed Goran and the number of his troops (8 + 5 prisoners), traveling around the country side. These soldiers were actually recruited from nearby villages. There are 4 factions in the world, and your actions decide if they will become allies or enemies. Loot the village or escort a caravan?

There are also tracks left by your horse, shown as arrows pointing in the direction you are going. Colors also show how long ago you passed there. The size of the arrows show how large the group was. This is all influenced by your tracking skill. I learned later during my own gameplay that you can recruit heroes in taverns (cheezy, yes) that have party skills. I have a monk good at healing, a tracker and kind of archer wh0 doesn't really do anything.
Since I had a good tracker on board, i was able to find giant yellow arrows on the ground, telling me that a large army was there not too long ago. By following the tracks i was able to catch up to an army actually laying siege on another town, and i was able to lend my hand in.

And let me tell you, it's even cooler. We started charging the wall, going up a ladder, my friends falling to the ground in cries of agony as archers were picking us out. Shields, my friends, where are yours?

When we finally took the wall and the courtyard, we took the castle. The allegiance of the keep actually changed to the color of the lord that took it! The lord was pleased with my effort and offered to give me a quest. I have now been following his army around and going on recon missions for his campaign, helping in taking 2 keeps! The Nords now HATE me.

Altogether, a great game. Character evolution is always important, and in this case you can see it first-hand, you are completely responsible for it! I went from being a looter and pillager to being a trader, to now being a mercenary at the command of a force of almost 40 men. You get to pick if you want your villagers to become archers, footmen, horsemen, although a good mix of the 3 is recommended. I started as a scruffy-looking guy with a ''Lame Horse'', no helmet and just a leather shirt and rusty axe, to a knight with fur armor, a speedy horse, metal greaves. I just bought a huge pole, jousting-style, and a helmet with those cool flat tops. I want to buy one with huge wings but they are too expensive.

I'm also told you can even capture towns and castles yourself and become a faction, receiving taxes and defending your properties. I think you can also try to seduce ladies, more on that as i discover the game more and more!

I strongly, strongly recommend this game!

Here's a few screenshots. The Map, the party meny, and my knight.

From Montréal Comics

From Montréal Comics

From Montréal Comics

From Montréal Comics

From Montréal Comics

la crise frappe l'industrie du jeu vidéo

Midway, les créateurs de Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe et autres jeux populaires vient de se placer sous la loi de protection de faillite.

Quand même surprenant quand on sait que l'industrie du jeu vidéo surpasse celle du cinéma en terme de revenus annuels

Soembody somewhere has made a lot of monnnnnnney

Dark Avengers revealed!

Spoilers ahead! But that's why you're here, right?

Dark Avengers # 1---------------- 5/5

I was like... Hmm. ANOTHER Avengers title by Bendis. This guy really likes to make teams. I mean... this guy LOVES to make teams! It all started in the good old Avengers title. Then they were disassembled. The book was rightfully named Avengers: Dissasembled (Cap used to shout Avengers Assemble! when going in battle, remember? It's been so long. We miss you Cap.)
Then it became New Avengers. Then THOSE guys broke up during Civil War. Then the Mighty Avengers AND the New Avengers were created.
ALL of those titles were written by Bendis.
I wanted to pick up the title though, to know what that super-american-Iron-Man was all about.

What a pleasant surprise! This title is awesome! Well, all it does pretty much is showcase the new roster for yet another Avengers team, classic Bendis Avengers recipe.
First we are shown a double-splash page of all the new members. I like splash pages, people.

My first reaction was exactly this: Mkay... Quicksilver in a new suit, Sentry, Ms Marvel in her old costume, some dude in an Iron-Man armor, Ares, Wolverine... but he looks taller and less hairy than usual, Hawkeye and Spider-Man wearing his black costume.

Woa!
Waitaminute!
Isn't Quicksilver completely off the map with all the mutant crap AND Inhuman crap he's involved with?
Isn't Sentry a good guy?
Isn't Miss Marvel with the Mighty Avengers?
Isn't Iron Man now an enemy of the state, War Machine... at war? Who's this guy?
Ares i can understand...
Isn't Wolverine in more titles than marvel-y possible? Why's he standing like he's got something up his ass? Why's he so tall? Why des he have a tattoo?
Isn't Hawkeye... Ronin? (Sometimes I really really hate you Bendis)
Isn't Spider-Man in the New Avengers? Is he still wearing his black suit? Because in his own title he's got the red n blue thights on...
Mister Bendis, you have some explaining to do!

Allright, so the issue starts with Norman Osborn contemplating his new new S.H.I.E.L.D. heli-carrier. He doesn't like the red n gold colors of Tony Stark so he's getting it repainted. Oh yeah, and he's remaining the organisation H.A.M.M.E.R....
Then he fires Miss Hill.
Then he talks with Bullseye... Tells him they are moving to Avengers tower.
Ms. Marvel is invited to Avengers tower. She is drawn standing like a slut. I know she's wearing a thong but nobody stands like that. She is basically told to get the fuck off the team, and that Ares and Sentry are staying with the Avengers. So if she's off the team, who's the babe on the cover?
Moonstone! Norman Osborn's other team leader. She was field leader in the Thunderbolts but was recently decomissioned. Osborn shows up at Thunderbolts Mountain with a costume of Ms. Marvel. OOoooh! I like where this is going!
We are then shown Venom, absolutely HUGE, being fed Skrulls. Yeah. Then he receives a pill from Osborn, goes into shock, and then reappears looking quite normal... So this is actually Venom on the cover, NOT Spider-man! I like where this is going more and more! And he's shown in the classic pose when Spider-Man first discovers the black suit, back in Secret Wars... Nice little touch there.
After that, we see Daken Akihiro. Who? Haven't you been reading Wolverine Origins, that really baddly written and poorly drawn (for a Marvel comic anyways)? He's Wolverine's son. He's got 2 claws, healing factor, a tattoo, and Teenage Angster. Only he looks more like he's in his mid-twenties though. Bad temper and mutant genes run in the family i guess... He is recruited for his fighting abilities, and also to ''tick off his dad''. Hehe!
Then, we meet Noh-Varr. Who? The guy that looks like Quicksilver? Well, a quick research on wikipedia lets me know he used to be Marvel Boy. Weird. Then i remember that he was that asshole during Civil War that declared war on earth. During Secret Invasion he changed his mind. Osborn is actually giving him what he needs: a second chance. As the new Captain Marvel.
We are also shown how Osborn gets to open the Iron Man armor vault, so that means that the American Iron Man is actually Osborn! Sick!
And from what I gather, Bullseye is the new Hawkeye. Makes sense.

So this issue is actually quite enteraining because of all the changes it offers. And you get to see Norman Osborn's plan unfold. He's going for something big. He's in power, and he wants to piss off some people...
We are also shown Dr.Doom battling Morgan Le Fey, so i gather he's going to be playing a big role soon.

All in all, a cool read, a perfect introduction point. Not as cool if you are not too familiar with all the characters showcased in the issue.

One thing leads to another...

Well, i'm a big fan of lolcats, and i'm a big fan of random cat videos from the interweb. Some people find it funny, some people find it gay, others will think it's weird. I just think it's distracting. I like being distracted. So here goes! An innocent search and a mind desperate for cheap entertainment can lead to all kinds of interesting videos on Youtube.

So first, The Real Garfield. Look at how he is sitting. Look at his facial expression and eyebrows from the side shot. My favorite part is when he turns around and uninterested, turns back to the tv.






The next one is Ninja Cat. I chose Hitchcock's Ninja Cat because i like the soundtrack. More dramatic.






The third one, shown below, is Talking Cat. Although he is not really talking... It kinds of makes me think about those crazy christian zealots talking in tongues...






And so, the next video doesn't bring us to Sarah Palin, but to this weird young lady: Crazy Screaming Christian at some jesus camp.





Now THIS was pretty entertaining. It also makes me think about Crazy lady screaming at skateboarders?





Lastly, this woman makes me think about Coach Hines, here's my favorite video of him.

January 2009 Marvel Comics Reviewed

Before we start, cool stuff to check out:

Iron Man Armored Adventures



Looks okay. Kinda sick of The Mandarin though... What about the Living Laser or Spymaster?

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2



I hope it's better than the first one... wich sucked balls dry. Civil War though? And i think i saw Cable? Nice!

And now, on to the comics.

Avengers: The Initiative #20 ----------------2/5

An alright issue if you've been following the book, not really worth anything if you haven't, except maybe for Hank Pym fans (are there any?) or for a little follow-up on Secret Invasion repercussions. Not really anything to say here.

Captain America #45 -------------------------------3.5/5

A good read as always, not a good point to join if you are interested in starting to read this series. A lot of action, good writing, okay art that fits well. Sadly, not a lot of background info is offered on the current villain Bucky is facing. The writer makes us feel like we should know him though, an we are salivating for details as we read on and on. A cool little venture into the past of Captain America is opening up. I do feel like it's taking more and more time for things to happen in this book however.

Incredible Hercules #124--------------------3/5

I've been following this book since Herc took over the Hulk title during World War Hulk, and have been finding myself going back for more every month. The Hercules/Amedeus Cho combo is working great. The present arc showed signs of slowing down for the writer, but a good amount of action and mythology saves the day. A surprise ending makes me buy the next issue!

War Machine #1-----------------3.5/5

A perfect place to jump in on a new series, just as I did! You don't need to be familiar with War Machine's past, nor did you have to be reading Secret Invasion to know what's going on here. A good recap is offered anyways.
Basically Rhodes as had a good power-up lately, and is back in action. Think Iron Man without the shiny armor. The issued deals with his new power level, what he's about, and in wich direction the title's going.
Fighting injustice like all heroes, except War Machine goes in war-zones and fucking shreds to pieces terrorists, war-mongers and mercenaries. We also learn that his power-ups is probably going to be temporary.
In the recent past, our ''hero'' received a hard hit that cut off his arms and legs and tore half of his face off, but Iron Man was there to offer him something different to save his life. Now more machine than man, Rhodes is using his new abilities to the fullest while waiting for a new body to be grown for him. But... he manages to exchange words with Norman Osborn, who happens to be one of the most powerful man in the world right now, and for retribution, steals Rhodes' new and waiting body! What a dick!

What If? Secret Wars--------------------4.5/5

I don't know why, but i love What If?s. That, and i loved Secret Wars. That, and i love Dr. Doom. That, and i love the Celestials. Wich makes for a pretty fun read. Pick it up! What if Dr. Doom retained The Beyonder's powers? Not saying anything more!

Wolverine #70 ''Old Man Logan'' --------------4/5

Great, great run right now. Great writer, great idea, great penciler, inker and colorist! Kind of a What If... A good peek in a possible timeline, yet another one where the heroes lose. Not as desastrous as Age of Apocalypse, but close. We finally learn why Wolverine won't pop his claws in this gritty future, and i'm happy to tell you why.
During the night where all the villains launched their massive cooperative attack on the heroes, everyone was asking where Wolverine was. Turns out, Wolverine thought he was fighting all his most dangerous villains, as shown on the cover.
Wrong!
Mephisto, of all assholes, was manipulating Wolverine with his illusions, and so Logan killed ALL of the X-Men. All the teams, all the members, all his friends. That's pretty BIG. And also pretty far-fetched. First of all, wouldn't logan be able to ''smell'' his enemies a little bit better? I guess that if Mephisto can fool Spider-Man's spider-sense (tm), he can fool Wolverine's Logan-sense (not TMed). But to say that all of the present mutants wouldn't be able to defeat him?
He looks severly beat up, granted.
After he realises what happened, a sad Logan walks in the woods alone, looking for a way to end his misery. He sees a railroad track with a train coming. He puts his neck on the track, and the train hits him dead on! Since he has an adamantium skull, it doesn't decapitate him... But you can imagine that being dragged by a train, from the spinal cord, against metal and red-hot metal wheels for several hundred yards is enough to put you through serious pain... Sick! I love it!



Well, due to my short attention span, i'm kind of tired of writting this blog. I will finish later this week however.

And also, from February and on, will write my reviews when i just read the issue and details are still fresh in my mind. Quality should rise! I will also offer spoilers for people who want to know what's happening but don't feel like reading the comics.

Hulk Vs. Reviewed

I've been buying Marvel Animation features ever since they been putting a lot of efforts in 'em, starting with Ultimate Avengers.
I was pretty pleased with U.A. The second one sucked though. Big time. And then the Iron Man one was pretty bad too. I was going to buy the Doctor Strange one also, but then i saw a cover showing him with a mystical two-handed sword and knew i wouldn't like the movie.

Then i saw this trailer:

And i thought... hey, looks like they might get the characters right for once! And it's not drawn like the faggy X-Men Evolution! I'm definetly checking this one out.

And so i did. A good double feature, packed with action, cool scenes, and winks at comics.

Hulk vs Wolverine was the one i liked the most. First of all, Logan's attitude and voice is perfect. How he moves, his body stance, makes me think of the good old x-men tv series (can't wait for them to go on dvd, see video at bottom of post!).

Hulk is also well portrayed, and finally they leave Bruce Banner almost completely aside. I know he plays a big role in Hulk's existence, but the real-life movies sucked because too much attention was put on Dr. Banner.

The bad guys are also well drawn and sound right, except maybe for Deadpool. I'm a big fan, and so more judgmental i guess. I think that his voice should be more gritty, but his attitude is just right. Except that he doesn't do anything useful in the movie, wich is a huge letdown. But still, a very funny character in general. I don't really understand why Omega Red is there though... i thought he was Russian?

Hulk vs Thor is also really cool, lots of characters from Asgard are shown, and character portrayal is very well done also. My favorite scene is when Hulk punches Thor through a mountain, but not with one single hit. No, Thor's back is to the rock, and Hulk keeps punching, punching, until it digs a tunnel all the way through hehe.

You also don't really have to be well-versed in Marvel lore but it helps. Some stuff you will ''get'' only if you read the comics. I was surprised to see blood and that level of violence. In both movies you watch Hulk pummel the unconscious bodies of both Wolvie and Thor without them trying to defend themselves. If i was a kid i'd be slightly disturbed. Then again, i didn't grow up with the internet since i was born.

All in all, a good pick and a worthy addition to your collection!

90s X-Men tv series:

Spider-Man 90s tv series just for fun!

NHL 09 Nordiques update!

Well well well, here we are once again, to Bassam's pleasure.

Another 15 games later, now 30 in the season. What has changed for the driven and newborn Nordiques? Much!

We are first in the league with 52 points for 30 games played.


Washington is second with 42 points in 33 games played.

Team record is now at 25 wins - 3 losses - 2 overtime losses. I would have had 2 more losses, but NHL lets you restart games without any consequence, so there are 2 games that i did because i lost both 0 to 1. First game, with more than 40 shots on goal on my side, and the other team had 2 shots on goal and 1 puck got in at 15 seconds from the end.

The other game, same story, except for some reason one of my players stole the puck from my goalie and put it in the net at 20 seconds from the end, instead of letting the goalie freeze the puck! Weird! But i will talk about retarded NHL 09 situations a little bit later. Now, on with the stats!

First of all, not happy with my team and instead of playing around with the lines (i do that a lot), i decided to switch the team completely around. Some of you might ask why i am not happy with my team when i am leading the league by far. I am simply not happy with the fact that none of my players are even close to being in the 1st spot for goals!

First, i thought that i was playing pretty good defense wise and didn't need a player like Dion Phaneuf gobbing up so much of my allowed salary (he was something like 6 millions a year). So i traded him for Roberto Luongo. I thought that a strong and constant goalie would help the team a lot instead of 2 rookies. I kept the two rookiers mind you, and sent the one with the lesser potential to the minors.

Then i went to the free agents and got myself Vincent Lecavalier and another big winger (Gougeon). Since i do a lot of checks, i thought that a big center would be more productive. I also traded Malkin and Backstrom for rookie defense players to lower my salary cap so i would get more profits. All these changes were done right after the last blog.

Gougeon is another one of my friends i made into a player. To be fair i had them all built with a stat of 81, and some of them have more of a weakness or strenght rather than be all around. Gougeon is a 6'4, 200 pounds center who is not really agile but excells in checks and accuracy.

I also finally found how to get in fights, and 5 fights later found out how to punch!

So the new lines are presented in this order: LW-C-RW.

Not much has happened in defense except that my rookies are faring pretty well.

I also just changed the lines prior to writing this because 3 of my players were on a cold streak.

Gougeon-Koivu-Lecavalier (3 centers on line 1!!!)

Michalek-Turris-Ryan (Turris has been producing steadily)

Dufort-Fraser-Kotalik (Dufort was on the first line but recently got a cold streak)

Sterling-Craig-Okposo (Okposo scored within 20 seconds of being on the team, and has been rather quiet ever since)

Koivu is my Captain, Lecavalier and Komisarek my Assists.

Lecavalier, who had no points before i recruited him, is now in 3rd place with 32 points in the NHL. He is in 8th place for goals with 15, and has 17 assists.

Koivu has had somewhat of a slowdown lately, that's why i sent him back on the 1st line.

He's still first in the NHL for assists with 21 but Malkin and many others are right behind him. He's the second for +/- with a +22.

Gougeon is leading the NHL in Short-Handed Goals with 5 and has an accuracy of 21.57%, the best in the team. Lecavalier has 4 SHG and leads the team in shots on net with 91.

My 2 star defenses, Fistric and Komisarek, have 113 and 102 hits respectively.

And finally, for my goalies, Luongo (who has been very disapointing considering the goals he gave away) has an save percentage of 90.59% and 2 Shut-Outs. The rookie goalie Johnson has a SP of 92.37%!

All and all i've been having much fun with NHL 09, but i realised something about the difficulty levels.

They are not about the level of difficulty your opponents will have. Hard just means it's going to be harder to cope with the stupid A.I. of the players.

The most frustrating thing would be - by far - when an opposing player comes flying to the net, stops right between the two face-off circles, and just sits there. Your players will start trying to pry the puck away from him, tackle him, pokestick him. These, very very very very often, result in an elbowing or charge penalty, and a pokestick gets you a slashing or tripping penalty. Or sometimes 4 players will be on him trying to get the damn puck and all of a sudden he will wristshot your ass into oblivion!

Another annoying thing that happens, partly due to my own stupidity, would be when i get the puck with one of my wingers but i'm in center position, and the center player will skate to his position right in front of me or exactly where i am standing at that time, stopping me in my tracks!

Well, enough bitching for now. I will have some Marvel comics reviewed by next week!

To my defense

To answer my dad's last post, i will be perfectly honest.
I reacted slowly and poorly to his shot.
I suck at breakaways and get nervous.

Now for my defense, here are a few stats:

My father is in his 50s, has been playing hockey for most of his life, has also been in leagues for most of his life playing at least once a week and is a cherry picker (granted he plays with people half his age so i get it that he doesn't want to sprint everywhere like a mad man).

I'm 24, been playing street hockey since i'm 22, been ice goalie and skating altogether since... well... around the start of January.

So you might understand that i did not have a really good chance at stopping this puck from hitting the back of the net.

You might think that i did not cover my angles right, was not watching the right part of the body, was not mentally prepared nor confident enough to make the save.
And you would be absolutely right!

In the meanwhile, let me just say this:

Hockey's friggin' great. I've been watching it more and more seriously for the past few years, been playing it more and more regularly also.
The few times a month i get to play, is also the few times a month i get to see many of my friends, do some outdoors activity, and downright have some good, manly fun.
Oh, and also enjoy nature.

Here's a few pictures of where we play:






And i know the name of this blog is Montréal Comics but we don't talk a lot about comics, but my reading habits have changed a lot since 2006 where i was most active. I do however plan on going back to my monthly reviews of as many titles as i can afford, so watch out for January reviews anytime soon.

See you on the ice!

HUM

I noticed that

my son

the goalie

with the fancy equipment

has not reported

on how I fared on a breakaway

against him

last Friday

Hint: the old man still has great MOVES!