A Sunday Show > NS Bows Out > Hampton Pics

Another fine Sunday here in the T-dot. So, what shall we discuss...

First a wonderful Grateful Dead show courtesy of the archive. This is a March 15, 1990 show from the Capital Center in Landover, MD. The spring tour of 1990 will always make deadheads wonder what might have been if Brent wouldn't have OD'd that August taking away the finest singing voice that band has ever had. Highlights from this show include the Jack Straw, Sugaree opening combo, Althea and a superb Terrapin Station. The link above will take you where you need to be. Spark one up and enjoy!

This whole tour raged with highlights being the Copps Coliseum back-to-backs from Hamilton, ON (one of the best Scarlet/Fire's), but the real gem happened on this writer's birthday, March 29, 1990 @ the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island where Brantford Marsalis joined the Dead for the first time adding his improvisational saxophone skills that worked magically on Bird Song, Dark Star and Eyes of the World (Without a Net version).

The Brier - The final is set. Kevin Martin and his Alberta rink will be playing at home tonight vs Jeff Stoughton's Manitoba rink. Manitoba got by Ontario last night and Stoughton probably managed to give them all a cold in turn. If a bunch of you Ontarians come down with something this week, just look left to Manitoba and give 'em one of these:




As for Kris Granchelli, Lead stone thrower for next year's host province Nova Scotia, well let's just say that we're awfully proud of him. I don't curl, but I do know some things. First, Canada is the best at this sport. Period. The Brier is filled with past champions, World Champions and Olympic Champions, some of them multiple winners of these titles. I know Kris and his teammates were looking for a better record than the 2-9 they finished at, but we/they should keep things in perspective. It's been a great experience for the entire team to play on this stage. If you haven't done it before it can be tough with the crowd sizes, TV cameras & lights, expectations from back home, etc. Now I know Dacey has been there and done that, but this is a team game and successful teams need to grow. Besides, curlers seem to age gracefully. This isn't the NBA. I think we'll see Mr. Granchelli on TV again.

Kris Granchelli Tim Horton's Brier Final Stats:

Overall: 83% (Ranked 10/12 for Leads)
Best Game: 91%
Worst Game: 76%
Positional +/-: -1 (Ranked 7/12 for Leads)



The teams is pictured from left to right: Mark Dacey, Bruce Lohnes, Andrew Gibson, and Kris Granchelli. You wouldn't know it, but Kris probably shaved less than 2 hours before that photo was taken.

All kidding aside this has been a great accomplishment for Kris. He has talked about this for a long time and to be honest, I was never sure if he was serious or just full of shit. I couldn't be happier that he was able to straighten me out on that. Will I now have to hear about this forever? It's a Shore Thing!!

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I just entered a poker tourney of Party. The results have just not been there for me lately. I've been able to build some nice stacks early, but the wheels seem to fall off as I approach the money or just get into it. It has actually happened a lot with AQ lately and I think I need to take a harder look at how I play this hand, especially vs someone that can bounce me. Last night I called a re-raise with AQ sooooted right before the money bubble. I had between 15-20 BBs left at the time and didn't have to go it's just that the raise came from a steal spot and I was SB. I really didn't want to play the hand out of position. The thing is there are not many hands besides a bluff that I am ahead of. No pairs. Versus AK & AA I am was dominated.

Just got bounced. I'm in BB with 20+ BBs in my stack. I got QQ. There are 3 callers before it gets back to me so I pop it to $600 hoping to get it 1-on-1. This happens when I get re-popped and now have to call an all-in for my stack. I don't put him on AA or KK or even AK because at this level I think he would have bumped it up first time around. I call pretty confident I'm ahead, hoping to see JJ or TT. He flips over KJo (what?) and of course spikes a K on the turn. GG mrjackstraw. See ya next time. Fuck.

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In case you don't know what Phish does, here's a peek into that wonderful little world:




Skills to Pay the Bills

Happiness is...

You Enjoy Myself

Mothership Command Center

Blast off!

Trey is a Jedi


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Looks like I'm going into my fantasy hockey playoffs with the #1 or #2 seed which gets me a 1st round bye and directly into the top 4 where 3/4 get paid. I like it. I've also just got Brodeur and Vanek back from injury so I enter the playoffs with a fairly healthy team front to back. Not turning my goaltending depth into a top flight centre may come back to haunt me. I tried. Finding a dance partner is hard sometimes. Deadhead Express is gonna roll!!!!!!!


Althea just came on. Love that tune. This space is getting hot!!!

JJ's coming by today for a little Tiger Woods golf on the Wii. Should be a blast. Fuck I love Sunday's!

-mrjackstraw

Chico @ The Brier > Fantasy Hip

My main man playing in The Brier, Kris Granchelli, along with his team from Nova Scotia just finished their 5th game and now sit at 2-3. They are around the middle of the table, but what has to concern them is the fact that their schedule is heavily back-loaded with the top teams. One way to look at it is they should be able to gain ground on those ahead of them with victories, however, they will be tough.

Sunday afternoon saw Nova Scotia in the feature match on TSN. I gotta tell you, it was pretty neat seeing my buddy's ugly mug up on the screen with all his data. Age, place of birth and job. That's 36, Sydney, NS & Allstate Insurance agent respectively. They didn't mention "Allstate" on the air though so I'm doing it here. If you need some insurance and live in Nova Scotia Kris is your guy.

The feature match-up was a debacle for the NS team. They were playing NWT/Yukon (I like how our third territory doesn't even get a mention). I personally was already counting this one in the standings which I guess is not recommended. Kris curled 82% which from what I can tell is OK for a lead, but not outstanding. Their 3rd, Bruce Lohnes chucked a 67% which I know really sucks. Long story short, they lost to the perennial door mats and fell to 1-2. On TSN. HD. Live. Plus Nova Scotia hosts the Brier next year. I might go.

Monday morning they were matched up against Russ Howard and New Brunswick. Now I know Russ has won the Brier with Ontario I think. I'm not sure if he has playing out of New Brunswick. He may even be a world champion. I'm not going to look it up because it seems to me like he pussied out by leaving Ontario where the competition HAS to be stiffer than NB. You do what you gotta do, eh? Anyway, NB won 10-7 with Granchelli throwing a sparkling 91% for 73pts. (I went to Wikipedia to try to figure this out. Nothing. I'm going to have to make a phone call.) Once again the NS 3rd chucked bricks like was Dontrelle Willis in a Tiger's uniform for 68% & 54pts. That dropped the team to 1-3.

They had to go right back out there in Draw 7 to play Northern Ontario. They should merge these guys with the territories. Seriously. They got the boot from Ontario because no one from the south wanted to travel that far just to lay the boots down on them. It always happened. We have Northern Ontario and Ontario. No Southern Ontario. Good stuff. Granchelli continues his torrid pace by putting up 90% & 61pts. NS wins as Lohnes finally puts his glasses back on and jumps up to 76%. Basically from what I can tell, if you curl in the 60's your team will loose. It's a Shore Thing!

So the team now stands at 2-3 and are probably sucking back a few Keith's/Alpines right now. Kris' stats put him just shy of middle of the pack for Leads with an overall 85% accuracy rate. I think his numbers today are a truer reflection of his abilities and hopefully the entire team can get hot as they begin to go up against what most would agree are the better teams.

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I just wrote one of my bigger articles over at my Tragically Hip Blog entitled 2009 Hip Tour > Song Selection > NOIS > Fantasy . Check it out if you get a chance and are a fan.

Cheers,
-mrjackstraw

Hampton Phish > Granchelli > Plastics

Friday March 6, 2009 saw the return of Phish in Hampton, VA and holy shit what a first show. I listened to it today as Live Phish is giving away free downloads of all three shows from this weekend. If your music collection needs a boost, it's all right there for you. I urge any and all to TAKE ADVANTAGE of this generous offer from the Phish.

I am seriously considering making a run down to Burgettstown, PA to catch at least one show this tour. Between the Dead and The Hip it all seems to come at once. The prices for Phish are just off the charts and I hate to pay a scalper for anything, but fuck, they were smoking!

Here's the setlist:

Set I: Fluffhead, Divided Sky, Chalkdust Torture, Sample in a Jar, Stash, I Didn't Know*, Oh Kee Pa > Suzy Greenberg, Farmhouse, NICU, Horn, Rift, Train Song, Water in the Sky, Squirming Coil, David Bowie

Set II: Backwards Down The Number Line, Tweezer, Taste, Possum, Theme from the Bottom, First Tube, Harry Hood, Waste, You Enjoy Myself (with a false start/joke)

Encore: Grind (acapella), Bouncin**, Loving Cup

* with Fishman vac solo and Trey on drums
** with balloon drop

Here's a link to a great review with some amazing photos and video...Hampton

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I caught my first glimpse of Mr. Kris Granchelli in HD on TSN and let me say, he cleans up well. His Nova Scotia rink lost 8-3 to Manitoba. There's some nice team pictures on the Tim Horton's Brier website if you are interested. He's currently on the ice as I type now verses PEI so I'll let ya know how the second draw goes.

UPDATE 11:59PM March 7, 2009

Nova Scotia is on the board after kicking the shit out of PEI 8-5. This reminds me of a little road trip Kris and I took to PEI...another story for another time. He threw for 79% and 60 PTS. Earlier today during Draw 1 he threw 82% for 59 PTS. I'm not sure what these numbers mean or if they are good, bad or average, but I am looking into it. The vicious beating handed down to the islanders improves Nova Scotia's record to 1-1 and puts them middle of the pack. Congrats on your first Brier win Chico!

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Random sports news...Hello Buffalo!!! Terrell Owens is a Bill. I guess sports radio in western New York has something to talk about.

Canada lost to the US 6-5 in its first game at the World Baseball Classic. The game was played right here at the Skydome in Toronto. I would have liked to have gone, but had to drop the little lady at the airport. She's off to San Francisco for a couple of weeks and I left to live as a bachelor.

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Public Service Announcement: Remove any plastics before preheating the oven. Just saying...

Kris Granchelli to the Tim Horton's Brier

Kris Granchelli, a very good friend of mine and partner in crimes (that hurt no one) is going to the Tim Horton's Brier taking place from March 7-15, 2009 in Calgary, AB. Here's the press release as it appears on the Brier website:

2004 Brier winner Mark Dacey takes Nova Scotia Title

February 15...Mark Dacey, who won the 2004 Nokia Brier in Saskatoon, captured the Molson's Championship in Chester on Sunday by hammering Ian Fitzner-LeBlanc, 8-1 in the final, to complete a perfect 6-0 record.

Dacey had won the A side of the 16-team competition, before defeating Fitzner-LeBlanc, also by an 8-1 score, in the A vs B game, to advance to the final.

Brookfield's Fitzner-LeBlanc then beat Doug MacKenzie of Halifax, 7-6 in the semi-final to set up a rematch with Dacey. But once again, it was no contest, as Dacey opened with three in the first end, took two in the third, then stole a single in the fourth and two more in the fifth for the win.

Joining Dacey on his Halifax Mayflower Curling Club team are third Bruce Lohnes, second Andrew Gibson and lead Kris Granchelli.

Dacey, of course, ended Alberta's Randy Ferbey's attempt to win four straight Briers, capturing the 2004 final in Saskatoon when taking three in the 10th end for an improbable 10-9 win. His team would go on to finish third at the Ford Worlds in Gävle, Sweden, losing a semi-final to Germany's Sebastian Stock, his only loss of the week, before earning a bronze medal by defeating Norway's Pål Trulsen, while finishing 10-1.

It will be the sixth Brier appearance for the Saskatoon-born Dacey. He played third for Saskatchewan skip Brad Heidt in 1995, finishing the runner-up in Halifax to Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk, then skipped Nova Scotia in 2001, 2003 (runner-up), 2004 (won) and 2006 (third place).

For Lohnes, it will be his seventh trip to the Brier. In addition to playing with Dacey in 2003, 2004 and 2006, he skipped in 1995 and played third for skip Ragnar Kamp in 1989 and for skip Dave Jones in 1992. Gibson will be making his fourth Brier appearance, while Granchelli is making his Brier debut.

Nova Scotia has won three Briers, the inaugural one in 1927 (Murray Macneill), followed in 1951 (Don Oyler) and in 2004 by Dacey.

That's Kris in action above ^^^. Google rules. The blog I found that picture on described that particular moment as "graceful". Nice.

I am hoping to do a little Q&A with Kris for the blog. I want to talk to him about the little known fact that it is in fact the Leads who control the fate of a team and how solid sweeping ability can overcome some shitty throwing or sliding. Maybe some we can do a "Live from the Brier Patch" podcast type of thing. That's when lips are looser ya know. Haha!

Being serious though, I am really excited for my friend. Good luck Kris!