I have a flickr album that has over 1,000 photos of Drake. Every now and again I like to flip through some of the older ones and remind myself of when he used to fit on my chest while sleeping.
I also put together two short shows of our trip to the John Ball Zoo and the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum.
I am very excited for Art Prize. Living in the downtown area is going to be great come September. A free random art show around the city. Not too bad that the winner pulls down $250,000.
This movie is right up my alley but I didn’t know Echelon Conspiracy even existed until I saw it attached to an article about the phone in my RSS feeds.
This weekend was filled with one thing: Hockey. The Griffins were playing three games in three nights. The Red Wings played Saturday and Sunday as well.
After a boring and mildly uneventful day at work we had some dinner and took off for the arena. There wasn’t a large promotion or anything going on, but the Griffins played very well and put the hurt on Peoria.
griffinshockey.com – Returning from a five-game absence due to a concussion, Jimmy Howard made 24 saves to best former Detroit Red Wings netminder Manny Legace and guide the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-1 win over the Peoria Rivermen on Friday at Van Andel Arena.
Darren McCarty and Garrett Stafford each had a goal and an assist while Ryan Oulahen had a pair of assists to help the Griffins claim their fourth win in five games and stay within five points of first-place Manitoba in the North Division race.
Saturday started with some shopping and a bathroom project. The valve that controls the shower nozzle failed last week. By Friday taking a shower was not an option due to very little water actually going up instead of down the spout. This situation was a very easy fix. I just replaced the spout with one that has a gate diverter on it. Total Cost: $11.23 & 5 minutes.
I then watched the Red Wings game on TV. They were able to get past the Blues. Then it was off to the arena for day two of Griffins vs. Peoria. This time it didn’t turn out so well for the Griffins.
griffinshockey.com – The game was scoreless until a flurry of goals in the final six minutes of the second period saw Peoria go to the locker room with a 2-1 lead. The Rivermen (34-30-1-1) scored the first two, with Ryan Reaves cleaning up a loose puck in the crease at 14:22 and Nicholas Drazenovic splitting two defenders before beating Jimmy Howard at 17:09.
The Griffins would answer before intermission, as Francis Pare potted his 21st goal from just outside the crease, putting a rebound past Holt. Pare now stands as one of only five rookies in franchise history to score more than 20 goals in a season.
An unfortunate bounce for Grand Rapids resulted in a gift goal for former Griffin Carl Corazzini and a 3-1 Peoria lead just 1:11 into the third period. As Howard skated behind his net to stop a dump-in, the puck took an odd deflection off the end glass and caromed out in front of the vacated net, allowing the charging Corazzini an uncontested goal.
Sunday came and it was promising to be a long day of everything Hockey. The annual Season Ticket Holder Event was going on before and after the afternoon game. After lunch we arrived at the arena around 1pm. We collected our Jiri Hudler jersey cards and headed in. Our first stop was waiting for the next tour of the press box and control room. During this time Drake took a bunch of pictures with my camera. He must really like the flash and screen because he laughed after almost every picture he took.
We all headed up to the press box where we were told that Drake could not be for safety and security reasons. It was basically because there is no barrier keeping him from jumping from the table up there. I call BS, it’s not like I would have set him down up there. From there we were treated to the control room to see the sound and video boards. I even got to press the air horn button!
Down on the ice we were treated to the penalty box, and the chance to shoot some pucks. Drake was so cute and adorable playing with a full size stick. Yes, there are pictures below. After some fun down there we headed up to our seats, where Drake did take a short nap.
The game proved to be as tough as I thought it was going to be. They had to play three games in three nights, and the Admirals are a good team.
griffinshockey.com – The Grand Rapids Griffins suffered the season’s sixth one-goal loss at the hands of the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday, dropping a frustrating 2-1 decision in their third game in three nights at Van Andel Arena.
The game was scoreless for nearly 58 minutes until a controversial interference call on Darren McCarty resulted in a power play goal by Milwaukee’s Cody Franson with 2:04 remaining, and the Admirals held on as the Griffins suffered consecutive regulation losses at home for the first time this season.
After the game we all seperated a little to gather some autographs. I sent Theresa to wait for Jimmy Howard. My dad was second in line for Justin Abdelkader, as I waited for Darren McCarty. Once those were completed we headed to the basement where the Griffins locker room is at. Yes, it is a locker room. Yes, it smells like a locker room wehre plenty of hockey players just changed out of game equipment.
Okay, on to the pictures. There are 77 pictures in thumbnail form below the cut. There are also two videos from the locker room. Enjoy!
Tags: Carl Corazzini, Chris Holt, Darren McCarty, Detroit Red Wings, Drake, Flickr, Francis Pare, Garrett Stafford, Grand Rapids Griffins, Hockey, Jimmy Howard, Justin Abdelkader, Manny Legace, Milwaukee Admirals, Nicholas Drazenovic, Peoria Rivermen, Ryan Oulahen, Ryan Reaves, Theresa, Van Andel ArenaLast night Theresa and I watched Baby Mamma. I’m not sure I would ever watch it again, but thanks to Redbox, TiVo, and a large hard rive I can pull it to the TV again. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who does not have a profile page on IMDb, are funny. The only cast member that bothered me was Steve Martin. I just can’t put my finger on it, but for some reason I just don’t like him very much. Maybe it is all of those stupid Pink Panther promos that he did.
Yesterday for Free Movie Monday I ripped rented Sex Drive. Theresa had made the recommendation. We’ll probably watch that one later this week or next. I still have the X Files movie on the TiVo waiting to be watched. Once there is a night with no TV on I’ll watch that.
Today I am going to pick up Transporter 3 and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I feel kind of bad for getting all of these free rentals from Redbox, so I am going to pay for a couple, plus the are only $1. On top of that I should be getting a fresh disk since these were released today. The potential of scratches should be zero.
I’m not sure what I will get for Free Movie March Wednesday yet. Maybe Body of Lies.
