Installment #5

12:41 PM, Monday 21 February 2005

Well, Klopp, as Hunter would say, ‘Mahalo’. I don’t know how into HST you were (always seemed to be more of a Joe/Bernie thing) but that’s just nuts. Mind you, knowing his love of guns, it’s strangely appropriate that he used his beloved .44 to take himself out. No matter how much of a self-parody he was at times, his influnece has been felt throughout the entire journalistic field and he was always very entertaining.

A quick question on how you think Burton hockey will turn out this year. Or do you feel so out of the loop that you just don’t have any idea? Lee seemed to take pretty good care of it whi;e I was gone and I hope he’ll do the same. I assume there are no plans to start any games in Vancouver, ha ha ha.

A fun link for you: www.illmitch.com.

Do you even care about those silly Bush tapes? ‘Oh, no, he smoked pot!’ Yeah, and he did a truckload of blow, too. Who cares anymore?

You can check out this week’s Valley Voice and read all about Nakusp council’s stupid, petty, pathetic plan to change the name of the town to ‘Nakusp Hot Springs’ in a pathetic bid to cash in on 2010 hype. Nothing says ‘small-town ignorance’ like a plan like this. First, let’s ignore the 115-year history of the town and change the name for some stupid marketing scheme. Hey, just because there was a town called Nakusp years before white people even KNEW there were any springs doesn’t mean anything! And, hey, we’re trying to diversify our economy, so let’s just change the name to highlight one tiny facet of the town so that one day tourists can look at a road map and say, “Ugh, another trendy resort town. Pass.” Yeah, let’s just stereotype our town even further with a dumb name. The only reasons you have towns with names like Radium HS and Fairmont HS is because the springs came first and towns grew up around them. Also, those places are entirely dependent on tourism and have no industry otherwise. As a moderate regional centre I should hope Nakusp should be trying to aspire to something bigger than that. And they all think that somehow 2010 is going to be this big huge cash cow, totally swallowing the Campbell Kool-Aid. His wonderful ‘Heartland’ strategy. Because two weeks of perhaps-break-even sporting events in Vancouver is really going the economy in Houston or Golden or 100 Mile House. Fuck, whatever. The worse thing about it is apparently the council can arbitraility change the name themselves without any consultation from the public.

Stefan, I tell you this right now. If those fucks change the name of my hometown, then my hometown no longer exists. It’s one thing to change the name of the town when you merge with another one or when the people vote on it or it happens naturally within the culture. But to do it just because you might draw a couple dozen more tourists for a couple of weeks five years from now? Lame. I don’t want want to even be associatwed with a town that would do that. Here me now, if that ever happens, then I will become Kyle Kusch from Glenbank, and trendy little NHS can fuck itself.

Kyle

9:44 PM, Monday 21 February 2005

I can’t say I was a huge Hunter S Thompson fan, I tried reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail but I think eventually just gave it to Bernie. I did know he was a big gun buff, and found the movie quite awesome. I wonder actually if he left a note for his family or his fans.

I have no idea about Burton hockey, I have been so out of the loop it isn’t even funny. All I know is that Robert seems to be the dominant one these days, and that Lee just keeps on getting better and better. I really wish I could come back and play a full summer one last time, or at least a few months. I think we really need to get Vancouver hockey going, even if it is 2 on 2. I mean I don’t give a shit about the stats but just to keep my skating and skills up. Skating around the seawall really does nothing for hockey skating. Speaking of Burton hockey I really need to get back into redoing the site. It looks pretty dated now and the code (especially the admin) could use some rewriting. Plus I have a whole bunch of new ideas for the site to make it that much better!

That is a pretty stupid idea of changing the village name to Nakusp Hotsprings. You seem really passionate about it Kusch, I guess I would be to if I was actually from Nakusp. I think you should write a letter to the editor actually of both the Arrow Lakes News and the Valley Voice voicing your opinion and telling them exactly why it would be such a bonehead mistake to change the name. I think people would listen to you, I mean you carry a lot of clout when it comes to history, facts, and town pride. If you want write two letters, I will send one in, that way there is double the exposure in the papers! HA

Stefan

10:17 AM, Tuesday 22 February 2005

No note from Hunter that we know of. I do know that Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro are reprising their roles from ‘Fear And Loathing’ in the movie version of ‘The Rum Diaries’. It was just such a weird way for it all to end, especially when you read news stories where they interview his friends and half of them say, “Yeah, that’s exactly the way I would have expected him to go” and the other half say, “I would never have expected him to kill himself.”

So, what did you think of ILL Mitch? He’s very ‘fast and danger’. I sure don’t want to sit on his ‘anger sword’, that’s for sure.

The stats are secondary, it’s the camaraderie and tradition that are important (although stats are really fun!). Hopefully you can get it going back in Vancouver or maybe next time you’re back in Fauquier. What would you like to do with the site? Maybe a little snazzing up of the graphics are in order, the features are great but the background’s a bit bland. Also remember that the official title is ‘Burton Socialist Hockey’ now. I still can’t believe people actually voted for it but, hey, cool with me! A real awards section is what’s most needed. Assuming a healthy dose of sessions this year, he could set some records, I think.

Actually, I was talking about the whole Nakusp name change thing with my mom last night. We’re going to send a letter as a family to both papers talking about what a stupid idea it is. Seeing as how one of our extended family memebrs is the mayor, it should hopefully have a lot of impact. I hope a lot more people voice their opposition to it as well.

When do you think you’ll be back home next? I hope to make it there April sometime after the semester finishes for a week or two. A couple of my friends up here are actually doing field work in and around the area so I’d like to show them around and give them the real West Kootenay experience.

Kyle

10:43 PM, Tuesday 22 February 2005

ILL Mitch was kind of funny, but I think I have probably seen a hundred of sites like just with different people pretending to be something funny.

Yeah I don’t think hockey will ever be a go in Vancouver, the best I can hope for is to play a bit of 2 on 2, or maybe shots on a goalie, or possibly playing the dicks down by English bay. The have a little rink down close to English Bay by the aquatics center downtown (right under burrard bridge). The rink has mini nets and is meant for street hockey. I went down there a few times (once with Isaac) and played. Basically they would play one goal, winning team stays on losing teams rotate. The guys that played down there were the biggest assholes I have ever met. Actually I would enjoy going down there now with Lorne, cause I know we would likely roast them. A friend of mine wants me to go out to UBC and play sticks, skates and helmets. I think I might actually give that a go. I have never really played hockey on ice before (other than the shinny games we would play in the winter in Fauquier) so I think it would be a real hoot to try it out.

As for the hockey site it needs a lot of work. One I would like to rewrite the code, make it more portable and possibly give it away for free for other people who want to setup league sites. Two I want to do a redesign, the site looks kind of like poop these days, and no site of mine is allowed to look like poop! Third I want to add a bunch of new features, like charts and graphs, goalie compare, better records handling, pictures and videos, personal bests, and awards. These are just some of the ideas but I am sure I will come up with more as I start work on it again. Also if you have any ideas (I mean ANY) you think would be cool, I can probably make it happen. Actually what we should do is start a wish-list so to say of all the stuff we would want this site to do. Then I will have something to go on!

Hey do you have email addresses of the news papers and the council members in Nakusp? if so you should send them all emails, also send me their addresses and I will write to them as well. You seem very passionate about this and I want to help out. “Change don’t come at once it’s a wave, building till it breaks.”

Did you read our new ambASSador today? “Canada already is a part of the missile defense program”. I hope the cocky fucking Liberals loss power over this issue. Latest polls show they are slipping and NDP has gained a bit. Sooner or later the Liberals will be forced to show their true colours.

When will I be home next? that is a good question. I get bugged at work as well for when I am going to take time off, but I don’t really know. I would imagine probably for one of the long weekends. Maybe May long if hockey could happen? or Easter? I don’t know yet. Actually I have been kind of thinking of touring again this summer if Pearl Jam does another tour, but we will see about that. Last time it worked out so well as I had a wonder young lady who I could stay with and who chauffeur me around to all the shows. This time around I am not so sure that would work again. I do have a buddy here in Vancouver who has voiced some interest in doing some touring though, so maybe… Anyway if I don’t do a week or so like I did last year I will just pick like 3 or 4 good weekend shows and fly out and do them, that would work well too I think. Plus I could likely get cheap cars in any major city I visited! HA

Stefan

11:40 AM, Wednesday 23 February 2005

As far as fake rap artists go, I think I prefer MC Hawking. Just the idea of Stephen Hawking bragging about drive-bys and shouting ‘Fuck the creationists!’ is pretty funny.

You have to try and find a place to play where no one’s going to be (I know, it’s hard in Vancouver!). Playing to one fucking goal? That’s incredibly lame. You could just take a slapper from centre and score and suddenly it’s over and the other team’s fucked. Yeah, sounds like tons of fun. Just like the asshole holding the table at a pool hall. At least you can get some shinny in. I’m assuming this will be on artificial ice as it’s Vancouver!

Yeah, that poopy site. I know I just think ‘stinky dookie’ every time I look at it. In all seriousness, that list you have of things you want to do sounds pretty good. I wouls just advise you to not automate rookie records unless you can figure out a way to separate rookie goaltending sessions from rookie skating sessions, which can be hard in cases when they’re the same things or when they’re five years apart.

Alright, Stef (and for anyone else reading this, this is VERY important!), here is a list of all the councillors’ and newspapers’ email addresses. Just remember that newspapers like letters 500 words or less (but you can let the council have it!)
Mayor Bill Cowan (cowan@nakusp.com)
Councillor Wally Curran (curran@nakusp.com)
Councillor Janis Dahlen (dahlen@nakusp.com)
Councillor Karen Hamling (hamling@nakusp.com)
Councillor Len Heppner (heppner@nakusp.com)
Arrow Lakes News (newsroom@arrowlakesnews.com)
The Valley Voice (valleyvoice@netidea.com)

I’m happy that the government looks to be staying out of the missile defence clusterfuck. This just makes McKenna look that much stupider. His role as ambassador is represent the Canadian government in Washington, not the other way around! Hopefully he’ll fuck up and couple of more times and be fired. You say you hope the Liberals would lose power, but think about the consequences of that. Who is the only other party even close to a position to govern. God forbid Harper ever becomes PM. Let’s get the NDP some more seats first. Right now if we had another election, we’ve have another minority government and be right back where started. As long as the NDP and BQ hold the government to check, we’ll be decent. Not great, but at least decent.

Come home earlier! I’ll be long back in PG by May long (and fuck May long, by the way. Burton May Days is such a complete waste of time at this point it isn’t even funny). Try for April sometime. But whenever you go back, get some hockey going! Of course, PJ is also an important priority. Anything to get out of the office, really. One things I would like to do is get some of my UNBC friends down to Nakusp. Two of them are doing field research in the area this summer so I’d like to show them around. If I can get them to bring their blades and sticks with them, so much the better!

Kyle

11:18 PM, Wednesday 23 February 2005

Well the one goal is because there are usually so many people who want to play and the surface is only big enough for at most 3 on 3. Also taking a slapper from center is hard to score as the nets are small, like real small, the size of a milk crate. I think the rink is designed after traditional street hockey where people would use a milk crate or a garbage can as the goal because they had no goalies. Anyway I don’t mind the structure of that hockey just the people who play.

Rookie stats I can leave if you want me to, however I have the stats all separated in the database, player from goalie. The only thing that they share common is their player id. So I can tell from the database when the player played his first game as a forward, and when he played his first game as a goalie…

Yeah I am glad to hear the government is staying out of missile defense. Even if it is because the Conservatives waffled on the issue and that the Liberals have lost all their support in Quebec. I just hope it isn’t like Bernie said and that there is some hidden agenda where we are sucked into the program without the public knowing it. However I think it would come to light if that ever happened, I mean this is becoming a big issue here in Canada. In the US on the other hand nobody knows about it, other than the government is soon to be able to stop missiles dead in the sky, like shooting a bullet with another bullet… The American girl in the office said she was in Seattle the other weekend and was talking with her friends about how Canada just adopted Kyoto, and she said her friends (who were all quite liberal minded and somewhat on top of the news and social issues) had no idea what Kyoto even was. Goes to show you how different things really are in the US, and how much Media can play a part in shaping a nation.

I guess your right though, if the Liberals lost their wouldn’t really be much alternative… What do you think about Justin Trudeau Kyle? He seems to be as passionate as his father, and has been very socially active in Canada. There always seems to be little whispers that when he gets older he will run for Prime Minister. Think he ever will, and would it be a good thing?

Once I get a bit of free time I am going to email everyone on that list. As well I will considering coming home in April. Granted there aren’t any long weekends in April which makes it kind of tough. Maybe I will work Easter, but I think that would be a little sacrilegious…

Stefan

11:58 AM, Thursday 24 February 2005

If you can separate rookie stats, then by all means do it. Just make sure that some of the bugs that are afflicting the current site like leaving out entire years when calculating session highs and glitches like that are done away with! Exclamation point!

The US doesn’t have media, it has corporate propaganda agencies working for the government- the ultimate private- public partnership! And what a great defence system it is. Testing reveals it works 62.5% of the time, meaning there’s only a 37.5% chance you’re going to die anyway! Brilliant. Hopefully the government just doesn’t go in through the backdoor via NORAD or something. That would be mucho lame. We pretty much are ‘involved’ via NORAD even if it is just the US doing what it wants to anyway. The important thing is the maintenance of sovereignty we exert when we stand up to Washington, and even a simple ‘No’ can help that.

Justin Trudeau would be an interesting choice for a politician. He is certainly a leftist but his family ties might obligate him to the Liberals, a party which he certainly doesn’t fit in with (his dad left the tiny NDP of Quebec to join the federal Libs). If he was to enter politics, he would certainly represent a much-needed progressive element within the Liberals. he seems to be content with private life but if he ever entered politics I’d be all for it. Plus he’d be representing BC!

If you come home in April we should try to coordinate our arrivals so that we can be there at the same time to get hockey going or just to hang out. Maybe some hiking or something rather than just watching TV at my house like at Christmas.

Kyle

10:16 PM, Thurdsay 24 February 2005

62.5% against one incomming missile. Granted it hasn’t had a successful test in over 2 years, and even then it had a gps installed in the missile and it knew it’s exact flight path. So that 62.5% is heavily skewed. Also to note that is one single missile, guess what happens to that number when lets say 20 missiles are sent (some real, some decoy). You end up with one fucked country. Anyway the missile defense isn’t about defense, the only countries capable of actually attempting anything against the US would be Russia and possibly China. This Korea and Iran talk is such bullshit. If Korea ever considered launching their one nuclear weapon at the US there would not be a Korea anymore, it would be suicide of an entire nation. They would be whipped off of Asia. Just look what happened to Japan after they bombed Pearl Harbour. Aparantly by the time the US dropped the bomb something like 50% of cities were burned to the ground due to their firebombs. Now times that by 100, and you would have the present day reaction. Anyway good that Canada is staying out, and with the new money in the budget going to defense maybe we can finally upgrade our forces to be somewhat respectable on the global stage.

What do you think of the budget anyway? At first I thought it was a good budget, but then realized it didn’t nothing for students, nothing for affordable housing, and worse of all allows you to now invest in foreign RRSP. Nothing like supporting your OWN country for once. I think the only thing that is truely worthy in the budget is the money to the military (granted if they didn’t receive that I doubt they would even have enough duct tape to keep on going) and the money for daycare, however it is still very unclear whether we will actually see a national daycare program or not. Not that it matters because by the time the kid hits 17 the parents won’t be able to put him through university anyway.

Sorry for my ignorance but why would Justin represent BC? does he live here? I read an article yesterday saying he was a at Cap College recently as they are now giving credits for a program Pierre started and that Justin is on the board of. It is a program that was suppose to build unity in Canada (Trudeau didn’t fuck around with golf balls), by bringing Canadians from across Canada together and making them live in a house together in a city or town they have never been to. They get a their living expenses paid but have to do 35 hours of community work a week towards a project or goal. It actually sounds like a pretty cool program.

Ta Ta for now…

Stefan

9:36 AM, Friday 25 February 2005

Ah, the politics of deterrence. Remember how well that worked in the sixties? Oh, wait a minute…

The budget is very inconclusive. It’s a compromise between the Conservative and NDP agendas basically as a ploy to not be defeated in a confidence vote over the budget. They sill don’t have any conclusive direction or anything. The daycare program looks about as well thought out as the gun registry at this point. ‘We have a bunch of money we’re going to throw at it but haven’t actually thought about what we’re going to do with it.’ Also, it helps when your social minister is a lawyer and sports executive on the right-wing of the party (Dryden).

You didn’t know Justin Trudeau was a teacher in Vancouver? Trudeau’s wife was from North Van so the kids spent a lot of their childhoods there and Justin and Michel stayed permanently (Michel was working as a ski patroller in Rossland when he died in an avalanche in Kokanee Glacier). I cannot wait until Trudeau makes a run for office, although he may have too much of a social conscience to ever do so!

Don’t know if you ever listen to Sports Talk with Dan Russell but, fuck, that got really heated between him and Brian Burke last night (Burke standing behind Bettman with Russell assailing him). Almost painful to listen to at times with the two of them arguing like that so vehemently, especially knowing they have a pretty good relationship personally and to hear them absolutely assualting each other like that, good radio!

Kyle