4444get about it!

The Sabres lost 4-1 last night to the Ducks and the two guys I slammed in my last blog post were the first (Todd Bertuzzi) and third (Chris Pronger) stars of the game. Ooops...

The first shutout in Sabres history happened on this very date in 1970. Thank you Roger Crozier! It was a 1-0 win against the Minnesota North Stars. One of his partners in the net that year was Dave Dryden. His brother, Ken Dryden, was a future Hall of Fame goalie with the Montreal Canadiens. I have a nephew named Dryden turning three this month. His Dad played a lot of goal "back in the day" so that's how he got his name.

My youngest son is Jordan Michael - and yes, he loves basketball right now. Had a grade seven b-ball practice this morning at 7 am. I'll be on the hardwood in the men's league at 9:15 tonight.

My three stars of the day...ladies first:)

• Liz de Nesnera - sending a lovely Christmas greeting to all her voiceover colleagues. Liz has inspired us all this year!
• Tom Dheere - of Rognog Productions. Founder of the Good Karma Network. He graciously shares marketing tips and links and encourages us with his weekly newsletter, which goes on his blog too. Rognog eggnog? Sounds like a great idea Tom!
• Glen Dufresne - National Sales Coordinator, Shaw Advertising

Rock 'n' Roll Celebrity sighting!

Last time out I mentioned my daughter, Ashley (below, top right), was in Reno for a huge volleyball tournament. One of those days, Coach Leslie spotted Gene Simmons at the volleyball festival. She had a keen eye because he wasn't wearing sunglasses or the extreme makeup associated with his famous group, KISS. Gene was there supporting his daughter, Sophie, an avid volleyball player. OUR girls got Gene's attention BUT he wasn't interested in posing for a photo - until they yelled out they were from Canada! Well, that sealed the deal as Gene's life partner of close to 25 years, Shannon Tweed, was born in Canada.
The volleyball angle was even featured on this week's episode of the popular reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels:
Gene is hurt to learn that Sophie never informed him of a Father/Daughter Volleyball game, not realizing that she just didn't want to bother him and his busy schedule.

Gene Simmons was born in Haifa, Israel (last week I completed the English version voiceover for the AWACS 2.0 system for this Israeli Production company) in 1949 and is the only child of his mother, a German Nazi Concentration Camp survivor. He is a shrewd businessman. KISS continues to be the juggernaut of licensing/merchandising, with over 2,500 licenses. Unfortunately, much of that involves behavior that is:

rude, crude, lewd and screwed

Sorry Mr. Simmons. I cannot allow you to spend any more time with my daughter!

“May Day! May Day!”...Moving day

Welcome to May!

Rick Jeanneret's famous “May Day! May Day!” call from 1993 can be listened to here.

It's actually my fault the Sabres lost Sunday in double overtime:)
I was emceeing the local kickoff to the minor baseball league season in town and did not have a chance to watch one second of the game. Sabres still lead the Rangers 2 games to 1 with Game 4 tonight in the Big Apple. I will be glued to the tube...

The first pitch was thrown out by Brent Gilchrist, who had a long NHL career and won the Cup with Detroit in '98. The current coach in Detroit, Mike Babcock, played junior hockey in Kelowna just like Brent. The Red Wings are the #1 seed in the West but currently trail San Jose 2 games to 1. One of the coaches for a young baseball team I introduced was another former NHL'er, Dixon Ward, who had his best years in Buffalo.

Our family has enjoyed 15 great years in our current home but last month we sold it and found a new one that has a better set up for my home studio. Other positives include the kids' rooms all being downstairs, a more central location, Grandma close by and we are not too far from my brother-in-law Darren and his family. Darren is turning 40 in a few days. Happy Birthday Darren!
You'll be pleased to know I'm renewing my Sports Illustrated subscription and you can borrow them any time...

"Wheel Of Fortune"

The Sabres clinched the 2007 Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the league with their 2-0 shutout victory over the Washington Capitals two days ago. The Presidents' Trophy guarantees the Sabres home-ice advantage throughout the entirety of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That is good fortune I hope:)

The Buffalo jumble of letters offers some unique words, like FLUB, which I hope is not going to happen against their first round opponent, the New York Islanders. I am hoping those guys will play more like Gilligan's Islanders...FLOB is British slang for spitting, FLAB is not FAB if you are dieting...LOAF means to loiter or lounge around in an idle way. Our cat (camouflaged on the bed covers) is a perfect illustration of that, wouldn't you agree?

If we get another cat, I would want to call her Sabre Cat. But the one we have is named Bunzo. She makes us LAFF a lot...

Congrats to my sister-in-law, Sandra, and hubby Lewis Johnson. They recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. This Easter weekend they got a new car: a Toyota FJ Cruiser.

By the way, I am now listed at: CarDealerSpots.com. Last month I finished second in the running to become the branding voice of this trucking firm in Texas.

You can't win 'em all but it is fun to be in the game...I think I'll start my own car company: HASSER

Happy Birthday Son!

Our youngest, Jordan, turned 12 yesterday! We'll start preparing for the teen years now:)
13...along with 14, those are my 2 favorite numbers. Jordan's 13-year-old brother, Justin, was born on a 13 - in June. Darlene and I were married on August 13th.

I was born on March 14 and I appreciate the well wishes from my voiceover colleagues two weeks ago. Stephanie of Voices.com, Bob Souer and Liz de Nesnera are all having a great time at a voiceover conference in Las Vegas right now. To quote Liz: "This has truly been a life & career altering experience for me. Yeah, I know, sounds a bit dramatic, but you know sometimes you participate in something that you just KNOW is going to have a lasting effect on you...THIS is one of those times for me." Read more of Liz's comments here.

Happy birthday today to Nathan Paetsch of the Buffalo Sabres! He is 24 today and has 24 points in 60 games played this year. His best birthday present will have to wait for a while: the Stanley Cup! Just 6 games left in the regular season and then the NHL playoffs begin. GO Sabres! Go ALL the way! Just over an hour until game time versus the New York Islanders and here is how my opening (thanks to the pen of Matt Gould) on MSG-TV reads for tonight:
The end of the season is just over a week away...
But playoff excitement is already here to stay!
Wednesday was a major leap towards top spot in the East for Buffalo....
And tonight...the Sabres could be there for good!
The Islanders limp to town grasping for rare playoff air...
But are without their guy in goal.
The Island visits Western New York...NEXT on MSG!

Super Bowl!

You are thinking football after seeing my headline, right? Yesterday the 2 finalists were determined: Indy and Windy. Will be a great game in 2 Sundays!

It was VERY windy at our place December 13. Can you believe the skylight was ripped off our roof after a powerful wind gust? The restoration crew will finally be here tomorrow morning to replace it. Last Thursday and Friday were out because it was snowing too much. A lovely green room, isn't it?

LOOK UP! WAY UP! THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

"Ralph On The Roof" will not be happening anymore:) I've climbed out my bathroom window about four times to clear snow off our green tarp and reposition bricks to keep the tarp in place.

Saturday I had a super bowl when I rolled a 292 5-pin bowling - including 5 straight strikes! Beat my 13-year old by only 5 in the first game of the day before gettin' on a roll in the second game. We'll be going at it again next weekend and hopefully include some other family members.

Soup in the slow cooker is pretty awesome too so that equalled another
super bowl for dinner yesterday. Thanks dear!

Perfect 10!

As I logged in to write on my blog, Blogger.com plugged some other blogs to visit. One was Intensities in Ten Cities: A construct of rants, musings & life travel info. I thought that was ironic as I had already picked my headline of Perfect 10!

• My wife, Darlene, is a Perfect 10! Despite the fact she had a challenging night at work last night as a Support Care worker, she snuck in to support me at "old guys" basketball. She said she saw me nail a 3-pointer:) She has been a huge support and encouragement in my voiceover business. In fact, she scores a 100 in my books there!
• My 11-year-old son, Jordan. Played in his first rugby game yesterday. Receiving and dishing out his first tackles were quite memorable! But after the game at home he began his homework right away while eating dinner. World Series game 4 was an attraction for me but Jordan was focussed on the job at hand: science, math & more. "A" for effort Jordan! Perfect 10!
• Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Islanders 3-0 last night. 10-0 to start the season! Only the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs got out of the gate this quickly.
• My 13-year-old son, Justin. Last Friday night he took part in his first ever Hockey Pool at his uncle's house. He was up to the challenge and didn't need my help at all. He knows his stats and is a math whiz! He drafted in lucky position #10 last week and currently sits at #12 overall. 21 guys took part! It was fun to just hang out with Justin at his brother's rugby game yesterday too.
• My 15-year-old daughter, Ashley. Volleyball is her passion and her Grade 10 team finished second in a tournament last weekend in Vernon. The week before they won it all in Revelstoke. This week she received news at one of her practices that she will be part of a region-wide elite Club volleyball team. Keep it up Ash! Watch out for her $10 million dollar smile soon when her braces come off:)