Now I never want to play poker again.

I am LOVING my schedule this semester. Yeah, I have a night class on Tuesday and Wednesday, but they're just educational tech classes, no big deal. But that means after 12:20 on Thursday, I am done with classes until 2:30 Monday. Nothing on Fridays... so awesome. If I was the kind to drink and party, look at the time I could have! But what this all relates to, it's probably when I'll be updating the most now besides when I try for game days. Who knows.

Anyway... the list idea Dani had today looked good so I imitated a good idea :)

1) I'm going to a preseason game! It's the 28 against Minnesota and I'm excited. I know it's just preseason, but I've never been to one before. Let's hope my record of winning every Sabres game I've been to still holds... the 7-0 is still intact.

2) The Sabres are now giving everyone the chance to have a player related MySpace! If I still cared/didn't just go on to check band updates and contests, Goose would TOTALLY be my layout.
Related is the postings on the Sabres Facebook page about internships. How I would love to get involved with that, but infortunately I'm not a communications or business or anything related major. Plus I'm not home. One of my friends from Mount who actually goes to school with me now gets to do it and I'm super jealous.

3) I know I'm way late on this, but Mats Sundin signs... with PokerStars. I LOL'ed for a while after being frightened by his slightly uneven looking face.

4) I'm so excited to see Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. It's their 5th anniversary as a band tour and they are going full out with things. A magazine all about their time together, chances to win all these personal meet and greets, video blogs about behind the scenes things... so awesome. They're gonna be in Rockchester on Halloween (awesome), then I'm roadtripping with my friend to Northampton, MA to see a hometown show the next day. Then they play in Buffalo on November 18. The best part is that it's acoustic and at Ashbury Hall, Ani DiFranco's redone church. It's gorgeous inside and I love it there.
And then before that, I'm working the merch table/get in free for Matt Nathanson on October 14. If you haven't heard of Matt, definitely check him out. He's getting much bigger with his music on TV shows and all this other wonderful nonsense. If you're going come visit me! October is going to be so awesome.

5) The David Archuleta song "Crush" is so catchy. It's been in my head alllllllll week.

6) The Penguins hand delivered some of their season tickets again, and I have to say I love this picture the most.

I bet you that cat has awesome seats.

7) We may be behind here at school, but I will never get sick of this video. All of my friends have resorted to quoting this almost 24/7. Can I have your numba? Can I have it?

8) There are only 29 days until Sabres season. And only 9 days until camp and the like. Thank god.

And the third jersey has been confirmed as the one leaked on message boards/TBN. Besides the weird piping near the arms, I'm a fan. 9 more days, for serious.

It's a hard knock life for this blog.

Poor little BAGMG. I've neglected you so much, I'm surprised I haven't been contacted by social workers or something.

My concert weekend was AMAZING. Jack's Mannequin was so great (and $5 great bands for $25!), OneRepublic is awesome live and John Mayer is a guitar god, seeing Jon Peter Lewis again was good, and Jon McLaughlin is even higher on my favorites list. Plus, he's also one of the sweetest people ever. I'm so glad I finally got to see him live. I have a bunch of videos on my YouTube account and pictures here if you're interested. It was seriously one of the best weeks ever.
Then my family and I went camping in Watkins Glen. I haven't gone camping in forever, so that was fun... but my sunburn was AWFUL. Still fun.

I'm finally back at Fisher. If there's something else besides the hockey season that seemed like it was 80 million light years away, it was going back to school. Not to say that I'm ready for classes (because I'm not!), but it's great to see people again, and move into my room (HUGE upgrade from my freshman dorm). And our food service changed, which is exciting. Yeah, I'm sorry that food is such a big part of my life. I'm Lebanese and a Mountie, which means food is huge, hah.

Speaking of college, I think I have seen about 15 rooms so far with Sabres things, 6 on my floor alone. I'm really hoping there'll be some good game watching parties... I know the girls above us are big fans and if we can't watch together, there will be communication through stomping. I CAN'T WAIT!

But seriously. My phone has a "d-day counter", and according to that, there are only 38 days until the season opener. It seems more like 138, but whatever. At least preseason is in 2ish weeks. And then we have some Bills to hold us over, kinda.

And in closing, still no Pommers news. We know it's happening, I just wish it was sooner. Right now, all I can think of him is in Kayne glasses or Boats 'N Hoes. (If my Photoshop wasn't acting up, there would be some pictures all up in here.) Thanks, Summer Mail Bag. Thanks.

Help!

WANTED: A sport called hockey. Played on ice using skates, sticks and a rubber puck. Involves a number of men from various different backgrounds playing on 30 different teams. Has been missing since June 5. If anyone has any information, please call 1-800-WEHATEVERSUS.

I feel like that little fake wanted ad could be true. This summer/offseason feels like it has been the longest time without hockey in a while. ...Yeah, okay, so it is, but this is like torture. So much so that I even forget about it! I know, what a tragedy! No one should have to go through this.

Seriously though, it feels like the season is still so far away. Even the start of training camp aka Puck Drop or whatever seems like it's months away, when it really only is a month-ish. Throughout this remaining time left before it all starts up again, we have these things to ponder:

• Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Jason Pominville and his shiny new contract?
• How awesome would it be if the World Juniors were held here in 2011? (I think it would be such a perfect event for us: extra hockey, $$$, seeing future players... awesome.)
• What is Max going to do this season? (After the injuries, talk of trading, etc, I'm pretty interested to see how things go. My opinion is that he'll be back towards his normal self, seeing as that he's not with the all crazy lines like last year.)
  
• What world saving event is Paul Gaustad planning now? (He's single handily helping Russia and Georgia stop their fighting, then uniting them with... something environmently friendly and useful.)
  
• Why is John Mayer so amazing? (Actually, I'll get that answer tonight, woooooooo!)
  

And how have 83 people (or maybe 1 person 83 times?!?) searched for "patrick kane nhl awards sister"? I only have one little post that barely mentions it... I know people want to know what he was talking about but it's also slightly weird, haha.

Okay, September 20, or even better, October 10, you can come anyyyy time now.

Cameras are the best invention ever.

Lists seems like they are "in" right now. And to present my feelings on how excited I am about Millsy's new contract and feelings about Buffalo, a list.

1. 
   
   I personally love T-Vans' face.
   
2. 
   
   
3. 
   
   
4. 
   
   
5. 
   

Well, maybe not my exact feelings, but... These pictures are pure GOLD. It's like Millsy's alter ego or something. I felt too creepy posting the crooked pinky/rockstar picture with the girl in the picture, hence the bar, haha. But you have to get the full effect, the face isn't enough!
So hopefully he's as happy about the contract and the whole situation as he is in these pictures. Either way, they're never going to get old. (There you go, Anne!)

Anywayyy. Since it's hockey offseason, that means football training camp is in full swing. While I'm a football fan, it's not as strong of a love as I have for hockey.
For the Bills, the training camp is and has been held at St. John Fisher aka my lovely little school. I remember when moving in last year, all the trainers and other high up officials stayed in the main freshman dorm where I was. (They got screwed!) My internet didn't work for a week because whoever was in my room messed up the settings. Thanks, Bills trainer!

But looking at the pictures, it seems like the players stay in the 2nd best dorm on campus, Keough. It kind of boggles my mind, since there is a building called Founders that is closer to the field and much nicer, yet they aren't there. Founders is apartment style, with bigger rooms and a common area, not to mention that the floor kitchens and lounges are pretty awesome if I do say so myself. (You basically only get in there when your a senior/have a certain amount of credits, and that is my goal.)

I'm also wondering what happened food wise. We had BIG drama over the food service changing for next year. Our old service had been there for 10 years and the students were never informed that everything could be switching. Not to mention that our food was locally famous. Soooo good. The Bills players, though, are the first to try the new food service. I hope they're enjoying the cookie baskets or food delivery to your room that we're supposed to get this year!

I think it's pretty cool that my school is the place for all this attention. Yeah, there's not much when the Bills are gone, but it's fun nonetheless.

have fun at Fishy, guys!

Oh, and while I'm really behind on this, The Dark Knight? AWESOME. I saw it at the midnight IMAX screening (my friends are borderline obsessive in the craziest way, and not just for Christian Bale either), and it was really great. There were times where you didn't even remember that Heath Ledger was playing the Joker, he was just that good. I would definitely see it again.

And eventually I'm posting my music playlist. I have the files all zipped and ready for download, but I've been too lazy busy to set it all up. Summer really drains you, you know.

Time flies when you're doing nothing.

I've been MIA for a while, mainly because of being away and working and then losing track of time and all those other commonly used excuses. I care about everyone, I really do!
So my trip to New Jersey/Philly/NY was wicked awesome.

I encountered real life non-Buffalo traffic (like a 30+ mile long line of cars),

went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty,

Where's Soupy and Veins Veins Veins when you need them?

and saw my favorite band play on the 4th of July in the pouring rain.




Yes, there were tubas, keytars played with teeth, stuffed peppers, makeshift tents and tarps and one small light, and all that other stuff.

We were wet, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers were wet, the stage was wet, but it didn't matter. Even though everyone was dripping from the rain at the end, they still played and we still watched. And everyone had a blast.

- Sportsy related, we had to travel back and forth to all the places we were going to see. Driving on the Walt Whitman Bridge into New Jersey, you would always see the sports complex... the Wachovia Center - home of the Flyers/76ers/etc, Citizens Bank Park - home of the Phillies, and the Lincoln Financial Field - the home of the Eagles. It was kind of cool to see with everything in that one location, unlike ours with the Ralph out in Orchard Park and then HSBC and Dunn Tire downtown.

NOW. Clarkie, Pumpkin Pie-eh, and Mancari have all been resigned! I had no doubt in Paille, and maybe a little in Clarkie and Mancari's case. What can I say, I get sucked into the rumors sometimes. Don't judge! But this is obviously another great step forward.

And the schedule is up! Is it me, or does it seem that the season is starting later this year? I think last year started October 5th, and this year the 10th. Not a huge difference, but whatever.

I'm not sure if I like the new schedule format completely, but I do know that I like that Vancouver and LA come to HSBC throughout the season. Playing each Western Conference team once, with exception to our "at large" opponents (Anaheim, Detroit, Phoenix), is great so we can see other teams that didn't we see much of before. No seeing Pat Kane or Soupy at home though. Darn. I wanted to hear the booing.
Scanning through, there are no more back-to-back, home and home series with any teams. There are still back-to-back games, but none with the same team both times. If there are, they are more spaced out.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the schedule, I think. Besides the only 3 home games in January.

Oh, and in closing random news, Stephen Page was arrested on drug charges. That makes me a little sad. I love the crazy Canadian fools otherwise known as the Barenaked Ladies, and this happening when they're on a children's tour no less. Sad!