Cake-struck and Canuck-struck

Happy Birthday to our amazing daughter, Ashley!
She is 20 today!

The goofy guy below celebrated his 30th birthday in the spring of 1994 - the year the Canucks went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, only to be disappointed by a game seven loss to the New York Rangers. That is a hockey shirt from the Las Vegas Thunder.

The Vancouver Canucks will be in their third Stanley Cup final beginning at home Wednesday, June 1. The Boston Bruins are the only team who can stop us from winning the Cup for the first time ever!

I have been involved this week in the imminent launch of http://www.canuckstruck.com/, one of the most creative projects I have ever been a part of. More details will appear on this blog soon.

Rocks, sticks & donuts?

Kid Rock did a concert in Kelowna last Wednesday!

It looks like he has family here at the development by Benvoulin and Mayer:

Meanwhile, our provincial government is using stick people (not the Vancouver Canucks) in a $5 million ad campaign presenting arguments for or against the harmonized sales tax. TV, radio, print and online ads began appearing last week and continue until early July, when ballots will be mailed out to every household in BC in a referendum to decide the fate of the HST.

Canucks 4, San Jose 2 yesterday! And the Canucks' donut beats the new S'mores any time at British Columbia Tim Hortons too. To quote my friend, Jim Scanlon: "He shoots, he S'mores!"

SO what? SUN - that's what!

Today in 1986, Peter Gabriel released the album "So" - his first studio album to bear an official title instead of his name. Thanks for that @ThatEricAlper.

Ndamukong SUH - SO good as an NFL rookie last season in Detroit!
 
Ralph and Karina were eliminated from "Dancing With The Stars" this week.
 
This Ralph guarantees Katrina and the Waves are going to make your feet tap with this 1985 classic:

Bono's 50th birthday / Canucks continue Cup quest!

This is my 35th blog post of the year. The number 35 was in the spotlight last night in Tennessee.

• Nashville goalie, #35 Pekka Rinne, stopped 17/19 shots but was outplayed for a change by Vancouver's Roberto Luongo (23 saves). The Canucks beat the Predators, 2-1, to move into the Western Conference Finals starting Sunday by winning the series four games to two.
• In Memphis, a classic triple overtime playoff game between the hometown Grizzlies and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder. NBA scoring champ, #35 Kevin Durant, had 35 points in the game and six in the third overtime period to lead Oklahoma City to a 133-123 win and knot the series at two games each.

DJ Dave, aka Dave Levinson, makes the music come alive at Canucks' games. Here is an interview with him. The Canucks come onto the ice with U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name." DJ Dave says, “Using U2, for me, became a Vancouver original. It was copied around the sporting world and as far as I know we were the first to use it. There was some concern that it was the old days, West Coast Express time, and it would remind people of Bertuzzi and Naslund and all that stuff, but fans of the team know it’s a Vancouver thing. And quite honestly we’ve tried a lot of other things and they never quite reached the mark."

Happy 50th birthday today to U2's Bono! His voice comes in at #1 on this list of 50 Things to Love About Bono on His 50th Birthday. The list has a lot of humor but some amazing qualities are pointed out like:
11. His heart
12. His faith
16. His successful marriage
25. His never-ending ambition
26. His never-ending loyalty to friends

When the U2360° tour wraps up at Magnetic Hill in Moncton, New Brunswick on July 30, they will have grossed $700 million dollars and had 7 million fans in attendance. U2 are in Mexico City for their next three shows. They will be in Canada again on May 29 in Winnipeg.

Football & Hockey Dreams Becoming Reality

This is my 34th blog post of the year - putting me on pace for a hundred in 2011! With the lucky 34th overall pick in last weekend's NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills selected cornerback Aaron Williams from Texas. The most famous #34 that played for the Buffalo Bills was Thurman Thomas. His number was retired as he went into the Hall of Fame four years ago. Can't believe I will be heading into my fourth season voicing segments on the "Thurman Thomas Show" this fall! Feel free to check out the football footage on my YouTube channel.

I wrapped up my fourth season of voicing the Shaw-TV hockey promos for the Western Hockey League today. The league championship series starts in two days between the Portland Winterhawks and the Kootenay Ice.
If they stay calm, cool and collected, the Kootenay Ice can conquer Portland! The team is based in Cranbrook, BC - where Steve Yzerman
was born and the Niedermayer brothers (Scott and Rob) were raised.
Get your tickets now! I mean it...

With the lucky 23rd overall pick in last weekend's NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles picked a Kelowna kid: Danny Watkins!
He is an offensive guard who will help protect quarterback Michael Vick, who was sacked 34 times last season. To quote Don Cherry, "Way to go Danny Boy!"

Here is Danny's amazing video moment that most can only dream about...

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
Live the life you have imagined. ~ Henry David Thoreau