I was trying to get a picture of a barn swallow in my backyard, and right as I released the shutter, he took off! Turned out to be quite a picture. I still haven't gotten a good one of him sitting still.

More dog pictures

I had some cute, sleepy dogs this morning and took advantage of the opportunity.

Googe? (even Google makes mistakes)

Has anyone else noticed that Google's Valentine's Day image is missing the 'l'? The second 'g' is replaced with a chocolate-covered strawberry, and then, 'e'. It just says 'Googe'! That's hilarious. Do the images not go through QA?! It just goes to show that even a huge company like Google is not immune to the simplest of errors. Happy Valentine's Day, GOOGE!

Snow in Texas

Well, it happens once in awhile. This is about as good a snow as we get, and I got a couple of photos of my favorite subjects.

Photography

I recently purchased a new digital SLR camera, so I decided to add a photgraphy page to my website. I originally became interested in photography when I shot virtual tours for DallasVRTours. Now I finally have a nice camera again, and hope to get some nice pictures out of it. My first picture there is of one of my dogs, Shiner. Eventually, I will make a better page with thumbnails, originals, and EXIF data. Until then, go by and say hello to Shiner.

New Site! New Game!

I have just uploaded a new site: biggoldstar.com! It is still under construction, so not all of the links are updated, but this will be my new place for java games, and my blog. And speaking of games, I have finished my latest game, Four Square Blues. Check it out, and leave some comments here to tell me what you think.

I wasn't completely wrong

One sweep in the East. One 7-gamer in the West. What can I say?

Just a quick comment on one series. I am going against probably most of the Western Hemisphere on this one, but I was not surprised by the Red Wings' early exit. They just did not have the experience playing hard games this season. Detroit played nearly a third of their games against sub-.500, non-playoff-caliber teams in the Central Division, while the Oilers had to contend in the competitive Northwest Division, where ALL teams were above .500. Detroit earned the best record in the NHL against teams with the worst records in the NHL, and that just doesn't count for much in the playoffs.

I'll Watch the West

I haven't posted in awhile, but it's springtime now, and that means one thing:

Stanley Cup Playoffs

The teams are set for the NHL playoffs, and there is a big difference between the matchups in the Eastern and Western Conferences. If you look at the regular-season series between the teams, you will see that three of four in the West were tied, while two of four in the East were sweeps, and only one series tied (Rangers/Devils...that should be good). Out of 16 games in the West, 11 were decided by a single goal, 7 of those in overtime (almost half). Only 3 of 20 games in the East went to the extra frame. In the East, 13 games were won by two or more goals, 6 by three or more. But there were only two games in the West with a differential of 3 or more goals.

Of course, anything can happen in the quest for the Stanley Cup, but I see sweeps in the East, and 7-game series in the West for the first round. We'll check on my predictions in a week or so.

New Game!

I have a new game posted on my games site. It is not yet complete, but playable, and very addictive. It's amazing how something with no real objective can keep you entertained for so long. Check it out at http://games.dallasvrtours.com/squaredgame.htm. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I appreciate any suggestions to make it better.

Goaltending clinic

One of the many hats I wear is as an Off-Ice Official for the NAHL Texas Tornado. The Tornado are the NAHL champions two years running, and have been in first place for most of this year. Last night, they played the Texarkana Bandits, who were just one point behind in the standings. And Bandits goalie Riley Gill decided to hold a goaltending clinic. 47 shots. 46 saves. 2-1 victory. First place over the Tornado. And these were not 47 shots from the blueline, from bad angles, harmless wristers and the like. These were quality scoring chances - hard slap shots, tips in front, second chances on the few rebounds he put out there. Troy Redmann was equally impressive at the other end. While he did not face as many shots (just 21), he made some incredible stops to keep it close.

My father-in-law was at the game, and remarked, "I haven't seen a peppering like this since Dick Cheney went hunting!" [aside]

The comedians have really had a field day with this. It just doesn't take much of anything to get a joke out of it. It doesn't even need anything extra. It's just plain funny! [/aside]

It was, for me, the most entertaining game of the season. This is why I volunteer to work the games. It was 60 minutes of end-to-end action. Different goalies, and the score might have been 7-4, but last night belonged to Gill.

Posting

I am going to try to post here a couple of times a week. You will find a little of everything here, including hockey, java programming, woodworking, politics, religion (or lack thereof), mathematics, business, current events, and other random and unrelated ramblings. Feel free to post a comment on anything. If I don't agree with it, I'll just delete it anyway.