02/15/05 As The Moody Blues sang, Tuesday, Afternoon.... (1:15 PM)

OK, word today is that the NHLPA actually made an offer caving into the salary cap demand, but League ownership rejected the cap amount proposed of $52 Million (US) per team (they are seeking a cap of $40 Million). Christ, what idiots! If this offer would have been made a week ago, how many of you would think they couldn't have been able to bridge that $12 Mil gap? See what brinkmanship gets everyone involved? It appears that the season will be officially cancelled tomorrow, and with that, professional hockey will again be marginalized, at least in American fans' eyes. It took baseball a while to regain fan interest after their labor dispute, and that is supposed to be 'America's pastime'. Face it, hockey is Canada's pastime, and I fear it may well be seen in the same light as the CFL, that is to say, irrelevant. I hope I am wrong here (I suppose there could be an 11th hour, 59th minute, 59th second, pull it out of your collective asses agreement tonight, but I expect that Bigfoot would be the one to deliver the contract).

Anyway, enough of that soapbox. I am glad to be hearing back from you peeps who were alerted to my blog, either directly or indirectly. Please keep the e-mails and comments here coming!

Congrats to my colleague, the BOF, for getting his marriage proposal accepted by his eHarmony gf. They have been together for a little over a year now, and they will be moving in together soon. I guess that site works for some. Of course, after taking their test, they tell me I am in their 20th percentile that they can't match. So I say screw 'em!

I am going to a preview screening of Constantine tonight. Casting Neo/Ted/Johnny Utah in lead is in the running for worst casting of the year. Maybe with low expectations I might come out enjoying the film. I am looking forward to seeing Peter Stormare as Satan!

Being Tuesday, that means new cd and DVD release day! Will Jim pick up #800 for the list (truth be told, that is an actual disc count not a title count. I prefer to measure the per disc cost over per title, because I believe that more discs should equal more content, and more content justifies more $$'s. My title count right now is 634)? I am leaning towards picking up a copy of Saw on DVD. I saw the film originally last September, as the last film on the last night of the Toronto Film Festival, closing out the Midnight Madness series there. I saw it again in October when the promotional tour came through DC. That was a great night, as I got to hang with director James Wan for a couple of hours, drinking and trading opinions about film and horror. I'll probably pull that trigger.

Isn't it great to be contemplating horror the day after Valentines Day? Glory be!