Iron Fisted rebellion

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:24:24 GMT

The centennial season has proven to be extremely disappointing for the franchise and its fan base.

1. Missing out on a Vinny trade at the deadline.

2. Barely making the playoffs after being 4th in the conference just before the all star break.

3. Being swept by the Bruins in round 1.

4. Again a narrow miss on St. Vinny at the Draft.

5. Now almost ruining the franchise for years to come via UFA/trade decisions.

It has become apparent Bob Gainey has gone certifiable. Higgins, a young, promising winger is gone. Our best prospect has been traded. In return we get a 16 goal scorer with an albatross of a contract. Better yet--He has no one to play with.

Current line up as of today:

Kostitsyn-Gomez-____

_____-Plekanec-Paccioretty

Latendresse-Lapierre-S. Kotsitsyn

Laraque-Metropolit-_____

Dreadful. This can be salvaged if somehow Bob Gainey can sign one of three first liners: Hossa (not a 1 guy), Gaborik (glass man 1) and Havlat (glass man 2). Gomez needs a trigger man to be effective...one of those said players would be ideal. But based on UFA prescident with the Habs, it is unlikely one signs.

Clearly, Bob has decided to change the very core of this team...With Higgins gone, and Koivu, Tanguay and Komisarek likely gone, this could be a dreadful year for the Habs.

Tomorrow will tell though. If a big time winger is signed, and Kovalev is brought back, the lineup becomes much better. If not, it will be Gomez, Markov and a buch of kids and a clear rebuild will be needed.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:28:33 GMT

Mon- Interview at Hall-brooke.

Tue-Report 5 KABC-II...language delay? Bilingual home?

Weds-Whole class lesson sheet and reflection; counseling process notes.

Thur-Weekend- Neuropsych paper on musical instrument training and brain plasticity.

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:55:30 GMT

Eastern Conference Quarters
1. Boston
8. Montreal

Boston in 5: Sans Markov for any games means Montreal doesn't have a shot.

2. Washington
7. New York Rangers

Wash in 7: Hank steals a game or two, but eventually the Rags can't keep up the scoring pace.

3. New Jersey
6. Carolina

NJ in 6: Marrrtttttyyyyyyyy

4. Pittsburgh
5. Philadelphia

Pittsburgh in 5: Pitts playing very well. MAF playing well.

Semis

1. Boston
4. Pitts

Boston in 6: Too big for the whiner

2. Wash
6. NJ:

Wash in 7: Ovechkin's coming.

1. Boston
2. Wash

Wash in 6: Wash forces Boston into a finesse game and Thomas hasn't won a playoff series in his life...now he's going to suddenly win 3 or 4?

Western Conference Quarters

1. San Jose
8. Anaheim

San Jose in 5: Ducks suck

2. Detroit
7. Columbus

Detroit in 6: Columbus MAY pull this upset...I don't have enough guts to say it though

3. Vancouver
6. St. Louis

Vancouver in 5

4. Chicago
5. Calgary

Calgary in 6

1. San Jose
5. Calgary

Calgary in 7

2. Detroit
3. Vancouver

Detroit in 5

2. Detroit
5. Calgary

Calgary in 7

Calgary vs. Wash

Calgary in 6

Bring the CUP home to Canada! Theo isn't winning a Stanley Cup.

Montreal Boston can be the best series because it's the only deep seeded rivalry in round one. Markov needs to play for the Habs to have a shot. Rangers pulled a bad match up for them IMO. They can't score and they get the team that does nothing but score. Somehow they'll make t 7 games though because on Lundqvist. I just want the cup to go to Canada so I'm picking Calgary.

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:56:43 GMT

Ultimate list of shit to do....

Find Internship placement for next year.

Find field work II placement for summer.

Neuro psych paper.

3 more evaluations plus reports.

8 session counseling plan.

Individual class lesson.

Counseling process notes.

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:12:29 GMT

Things to get done this week: Request inter library loans on article for my neuro psych paper 6-10 sources...

Things to possible start: 8 session counseling plan for group therapy on students experiencing parental divorce.

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:24:35 GMT

Im quickly discovering that counseling kids, especially the first session, is the most awkward part of my job. Specifically kids who view me as punishment rather than help.

So..to get around the tension, I've decided me and my two individual counselees will be doing 'Me Collages' next week. Basically cutting out shit from a magazine that defines you and then saying why.

I think I went in too deep, too quick with each of them. Time to take a step back and build more rapport.

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:10:53 GMT

http://www.corussports.com/canadiens/ch_stade_projet-20090106-1353103.html

That says the Habs will be celebrating their true 100th birthday on Nov 28th 2009 with a game at the Big O! It's an indoor facility. But 80,000 crazy Hab fans? Are you serious? The Bell Centre is already ridiculous. Should be fun. I think I may have to go.

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:04:06 GMT

Tomorrow I'm going to MSG for the Rangers/Habs game. Habs are going to lose. They always lose at MSG. I always get pissed off. And I always say I'm never going back.

Montreal will be playing without: Koivu, Tanguay, Higgins, Price and of course Big George Laraque. Very little chance at victory. So I should go and just have a good time. A bunch of people are going..a mixture of fans...Jenn, her brother, her brother's friend, Yvon, Pierre, Eric (this dude who played in the AHL and could totally own AJ's gay out-in move in adult league hockey) and me. 3 Ranger fans, 3 Habs fans, and a QUebec Nordiques fan (eric-he'll cheer for the rangers out of hab hatred).

I still have nightmares over that 4-1 debacle last time I went.

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:19:41 GMT

My guitar decision has reached another speed bump.

Both guitars are schecters.

Blackjack ATX w/ Floyd Rose

Hellraiser C-1 FR

Here's the main differences: Blackjack has an ebony finger board, and the new Seymour Duncan Blackout pups, cool Black satin finish and cream binding...that's all good..the one bad is it only has ONE inlay on the 12th fret and its kinda retarded looking.

Hellraiser is rosewood finger board and EMG 81/89 tw...

Both have original floyd rose trem systems and mahogany body. EVERYONE is saying the Seymour Duncan Blackout PUPS are the future of metal and the EMG 81s are the past. I haven't tried the blackouts yet. But they sound amazing in video demos. They supposedly pick up more of an original sound than the emgs which all sound the same. So basically the blackouts act like passive pickups but actually have more output than the emgs...Doesnt make sense to me, but all reviews say this. Listening to videos of each the blackouts sound chunkier with more mid and much better cleans. I think it makes sense to go with the newer, better metal pick ups.

But that dumb looking inlay on the blackjack is msssing me up. It's a little homoerotic lightning bolt. But the pickups are just better. I wish I could try them out.

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:52:42 GMT

All crap aside--I'm in a pretty good mood! My internship starts in a week. I'll be able to take my chosen career out on a test ride. I can do anything a school psychologist does under clinical supervision by my advisor and my field work supervisor and be able to fuck up without any real consequences. I bought basically a new 'professional' wardrobe today. Or, welll...A part of a professional wardrobe. I kinda look like an 'education professional'...Sweater vests...dockers...polos...dress shoes....matching my shoes and belt. Hopefully I wont hate it too much since I did put a lot of time, money and future plans on being a school psychologist.

This is weighing much more on my mind than the other shit going on. Deservely so. One step closer to a career and a life.

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:03:33 GMT

or This

or This

Any opinions out there? Even if you don't have a clue about guitars feel free to opine! I'm not good at making decisions. I've narrowed it down to two.

"They only won cups because of the french rule, wahhh!"

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:59:50 GMT

Quebec Territorial Rule Fallacy.

I was confronted with that nonsense argument again that everyone's daddy and granddaddy who is a hockey fan passed down to their son/daughter.

Made up reasons to explain away why everyone else's team couldn't come close to winning a cup even in a 6 team league.

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:22:52 GMT

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_29596.aspx

wow.

Mecca of Hockey

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:44:57 GMT

I'm making my second pilgrimage of my life to the Mecca of Hockey, Montreal, Quebec Canada...the Bell Center. If you claim to be a true hockey fan, your duty as a fan of the game is not complete until you see a game there. The Garden is fantastic. Hockeytown USA is probably superb. Toronto is historic. But Montreal is better. Winning a Stanley Cup in Montreal is like winning a World Series in New York; it's one of the greatest feelings a professional athlete can possibly feel. And I'm going. Not just sitting in the rafters, but because my Aunt has a husband who is blinged out, I'm sitting in the Prestige section $200 loaded seats.

First, I will tour the Bell Center hours before the doors open and gaze at the amazing banners that eclipse the roof of the arena. Then I will proceed to drink copious amounts of Molson Export on Crescent St.. Then I have dinner reservations at a Montreal restaurant that I could never afford and is far too classy for me to ever be there again. Then finally, I will sing and chant, and OLE OLE OLE until I lose my voice. And after the game I will gaze up at St. Patrick Roy's #33 in the rafters and realize that no other goalie can match his greatness.

After the game I might have one of these ahhhhhmmmaahhhzing Smoked Meat sandwiches from Schwartz'

Or the famous Poutine (god it's so good) from La Banquise

And I'll certainly wash it all down with one of these

And I'll do all this more happily if this guy plays like he did tonight!

Finally, I'll come home and try to explain to my friends who have yet to make their pilgrimage how it is like no other experience...Saturday night in Montreal..Hockey Night In Canada. And they will not understand because they have yet to have 'the experience'.

Go Habs Go. We have the best hockey city. The best hockey fans in the world. And the best atmosphere for a hockey game in the NHL. And it's not even close.

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:00:20 GMT

Remember to vote no tomorrow on question 1 to all the CT residents out there.

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:02:52 GMT

As the cold draws near, I grow increasingly excited about hockey.....Especially since Montreal is easily top 3; maybe they even have the best, forward core in the east from top to bottom. Maybe they don't have an Ovechkin or a Eric Staal..but they have insane wing depth and now a solid center core.

A. Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev

Tanguay-Koivu-Higgins

Latendresse-Lang-S.Kostitsyn

Laraque-Lapierre-Kostopolous

Very nice in my opinion. What's great about it is that 7 of the 12 are homegrown talents. Something is working in terms of drafting and scouting. And with the big left winger, Max Paccioretty on his way in a season or two, The Habs should be solid for a while if they can lock up most of their talent after this season. Long live the Kostitsyn brothers as well. Who WILL be more talented and productive than the Sedins.

Defence:

Markov-Komisarek

Hamrlik-O'byrne

Gorges-Bouillion

Good enough for the east. Not good enough to compete against Western teams.

Price and Halak in nets. Probably the best young goalie 1-2 tandem. But only one goalie at a time can play so it really amounts to how well Price can continue to develop. We've seen flashes of top 5 goalie in the league, we've seen flashes of mediocrity.

For the first time in a while I come into an NHL season with excitement. Hopefully I wont be disappointed. Happy 100th Le Tricolore!

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:26:37 GMT

Stole this from Mark. Basically you start with the year you were born and for each subsequent year to present, you write in your favorite album for that year. Depending on your music tastes, some eras will be much more difficult than others. As you will notice, the mid 90's to late 90's are pretty miserable for myself.

1985- Slayer: Hell Awaits

1986- Iron Maiden: Somewhere back in time (HM: Master of Puppets, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?) These are possibly 3 of my favorite albums ever in one year.

1987- Guns N' Roses: Appetite For Destruction (I'd be remiss not having this influential metal album)

1988- Metallica: ...And Justice For All

1989- Skid Row: Skid Row

1990- Megadeth: Rust In Peace

1991- Nirvana: Nevermind (I chose this over Metallica's Black Album. I think you can easily argue these are two of the most influential albums ever)

1992- Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power

1993- Nirvana: In Utero (Terrible year. Plus Bruce leaves Maiden)

1994- Soundgraden: Superunknown

1995- Iced Earth: Burnt Offerings

1996- Iced Earth: The Dark Saga

1997- Hammerfall: Glory to the Brave

1998- System of a Down: System of a Down

1999- RHCP: Californiacation

2000- Iron Maiden: Brave New World

2001- System of a Down: Toxicity

2002- Lacuna Coil: Comalies

2003- DragonForce: Valley of the Damned

2004- Mastodon: Leviathan

2005- Black Label Society: MAFIA

2006- Iron Maiden: A Matter of Life and Death

2007- Megadeth: United Abominations

2008- Judas Priest: Nostradamus

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:15:41 GMT

The worst feeling in the world is to care so deeply about another person on so many different levels, and never experience anything that approaches reciprocity of those feelings from that person.

If I didn't talk to you for a week, or two, or even three, would you even care? It seems like you wouldn't.

Sun, 18 May 2008 20:27:58 GMT

I suck at life.

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:16:37 GMT

This is my counseling/professional philosophy I developed. Read on if you're interested, which you probably are not!

State Your Chosen Counseling Approach: Child/Client-Centered Approach

Rationale for Choice?
   I chose a humanist theory as my counseling approach because of my fundamental belief that every person that enters a therapeutic relationship with me has the ability to achieve a greater height of living through his or her own prowess. I am simply a mediator that helps a person find the path to happiness. I refuse to label myself as dominant in a therapeutic relationship. I would much rather create a milieu of love, empathy, respect and trust for a client and I, than an environment of dominance by a therapist who merely dictates to a client. I would much rather empower people to create change in themselves than diagnose a person with a disorder from a handbook. The counseling paradigm that allows me to achieve these personal mandates is client-centered therapy.

My View of Human Behavior
   Human behavior is a direct result of their inherent potentialities combined with the environment in which they are surrounded. People are born with a certain, specific, genetic blueprint that inherently guides this person in their behavior. However, a therapist can also not deny that the environment a person is engulfed within plays a major role in whether one moves toward or against their inherent potentialities. If a person is placed in an environment of love, trust and unconditional positive regard, that person has the potential to reach the pinnacle of their being. However, if one’s environment is of hate, mistrust and conditional positive regard, than that person’s life will be marked by conformity and an unfulfilled sense of self. Critically, a human beings behavior will reflect whether one received conditional or unconditional positive regard.

View of the Counselor’s Role
   I reject the traditional role of the counselor has a diagnostician, expert and dominant figure in treatment, and instead replace it with a role that seeks to empower the client and believes in his or her ability to solve problems. My role is not to observe a child as a manifestation of some disorder, but rather as a human being, capable of great achievements. My utmost goal is to create an environment that nurture the child and conjures development within the child.

View of the Counselee’s Role
   The child is the most critical aspect of the therapeutic relationship. The child possesses the ability to become his or her own panacea; yet, the counselee may not yet recognize this fact. The child sets the direction for therapy. What they feel and what they choose to express will be the course for treatment. As therapy with a child evolves, the child will begin to recognize and experience the strong therapeutic relationship the therapist has created. When a child feels the unconditional positive regard from the therapist, the child will begin to trust their organism, live existentially, experience experiential freedom, feel open to experiences, and develop creativity. According to this humanistic therapy, the children have the main role of exploring him or herself as well has revising their own misconceptions of themselves.

The Goals of the Counseling Process
   As described, the utmost goal of the counseling process will to present the child with an environment that enables them to grow and heal on a psychological level. Considering mental health often affects physical health, the child will also heal on a physiological level. The child or client will feel empowered because of their therapeutic relationship, and will have the strength to overcome an environment that seeks to inhibit them.

The Nature of the Counseling Relationship
   If there is a dominant player in the counseling relationship, it is the client, not the therapist. It is important that I never attempt to ascend myself above the client, as this will hinder the counseling relationship. Unless given no other choice, I will not act omnipotent and diagnose a child with some disorder—this is not the goal of therapy. The counseling relationship will hopefully be one of love, reciprocity and empathy as to create growth in the client. I am not there to bestow psychological knowledge on the child; rather, I am there to create a loving therapeutic relationship that will eventually enable to child to rid his or her conditions of worth.

Techniques and Methods I Will Use
   The main technique I will use is traditional talk-therapy and specifically the active-listening skills that Carl Rogers perfected. These skills include: minimal encourages, closed questions, open questions, reflection of feeling, paraphrase, summarization, confrontation, self-disclosure and silence. These skills will allow me to a careful listener of children’s thoughts. I also must be a careful observer of children’s behavior. For this reason, I will also use the technique of play therapy to allow children to communicate to me through play rather than direct speech. Despite advocating client-centered therapy, I will also use techniques from other models, such as: live/covert/symbolic modeling, sandplay, serial drawings and other various psychodrama techniques. Finally, the child cannot always be in a therapeutic environment, and it is important that the child’s loved ones and family are capable of providing an environment that encourages growth and unconditional positive regard. For this reason, I will use filial therapy to teach a child’s family the techniques of child-centered therapy.

My Perspective of Technical vs. Theoretical Eclecticism
   I find it critical for a counselor to use one theoretical perspective, or lens, when attempting to understand and bring a client into focus. After years of counseling from a single perspective, that counselor will become well skilled and advanced in the theory that underlies their practice. Looking through a child from multiple lenses leads to an amalgamation of information that becomes completed entangled, where even the most skilled therapist would find it difficult to truly understand a client. However, despite using own lens to observe a child, I have no issues in using multiple techniques from multiple counseling perspectives in ameliorating a child’s issues. My goal is to help a child’s life, not to remain loyal to a fault to any specific theoretical techniques. If I feel psychodrama can benefit a child, than I will use that technique despite its origins in psychodynamic therapy. In summation, I will always attempt to understand a child from a child-centered approach, but I will use any technique that I feel will aid a child in development, no matter its theoretical orientation.

Appropriateness of My Philosophy for Schools
   A criticism of traditional Rogerian and Child-centered therapy is that it may appear aimless and can usurp much of the client’s time. When practicing in a school, this criticism becomes paramount and discernable. Often, a child can only see a school psychologist for a few hours a week at most. Moreover, school systems, parents, administration and the child him or herself may be seeking efficiency in therapy that is often based on results and how quickly the results emerge. Therefore, I must deviate from traditional child-centered therapy, and provide some aim and direction to the counseling sessions. However, I must be careful to navigate between finding time efficiency and still allowing the counselee to own the therapeutic climate.

Mon, 12 May 2008 05:23:44 GMT

Summer goals:

1. Lose weight

2. Practice acoustic guitar and bass

3. Read a lot of books about Rogerian therapy.

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:50:19 GMT

The NHL Playoffs turn me into a wild beast.

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:34:12 GMT

Hey...time for a real post!

Life is stressful. Graduate school is fine except for the fact my comprehensive exam (March 28th) is coming up soon. I've pretty much spent my entire Spring Break studying for it. I would have liked to put it off a little longer, but I can't see how I could find the time to study for it later on this month while also doing my work for classes. I have no choice but to torture myself while everyone else is in Cancun having sex and drinking....

My test has three portions: Personality/Development, Research and Assessment and Everyday School Psychology. Each section has three essays and I have to do one of them. The test is three hours. If I don't pass I can take it again in the Fall. If I fail a second time then I get the boot from my program. Needless to say, I am extremely stressed out. I've pretty much planned out to study a specific topic for each day this week. Thus far I've studied: Sandoval's Models of School Psychology, the Scientist-Practitioner Model, NASP's 10 Domains of School Psychology, Ethics, Special Education Law. From tomorrow through Sunday I'll be devoting my time to studying Personality theory..Freud, Erikson, Rank, Jung, Rogers, Maslow, Costa & McCrae, Adler, Fromm, ExistentialIsts, McClelland, Kelly, Horney, Relational Theorists...and that only covers two portions of the test...I still need to go over therapeutic models of Family Systems, Psychodynamics, Client-Centered approaches and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, plus case formulations...

In recognition of the great Aaron Beck, I need to start creating better internal monologues. I just need to tell myself I can do this.

Then I worry about whether or not I want/need a P.HD in School Psychology or Education Administration..and whether or not I could get in or devote more time of my life to schooling.

Ugh...

Here's the kids.

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:32:46 GMT

According to good sources, ATL did not act in good faith in a trade with Montreal. Meaning, they agreed, and backed out without speaking to Gainey and took another offer.

Here's Gainey's press conference- the quick and dirty...

You were trying for an impact player. Is this a disappointing day?

We tried to put a package together to obtain this player but unfortunately Atlanta chose a different package. We're disappointed, but we're also confident we're a playoff team that will continue on our path.

Huet traded. Why?

Very clear and distinct decision to allow our goaltending net to be filled by two premiere young goalies. There's a risk there - not experienced - but they're quality players and there's only one net, only so much time to give. Similiar decision to Hamilton last year, similar risk/reward that they decided to take.

Price and Huet were together for a while. Halak wasn't even there. Confidence issue with Huet?

We had a lot of time this year to evaluate Huet. Didn't talk about contract extension. Thought about whether he would be long-term. During the last few weeks the assesment is reflected in the trade.

A lot of teams prepared to obtain Huet? Or just Washington?

A number of teams before today but it was the only real offer that he had early. We made their decision yesterday that if they had a chance to get something for Huet and make the net avaialble for Halak and Price, we'd do it.

If you had waited, wouldn't Huet have been worth more?

For sure value changes during the day, but for us it was a decision of the org that was made and if there had been another offer with a 5th or 6th maybe but no real diff.

Atlanta felt Pittsburgh had offered more?

I think so. Just to explain, we spoke to Atlanta and they asked for four elements. Three of them are playing for us tonight. When we added it up and did a plus/minus eval and our playoff drive we could not, we offered less than what they asked for at noon and they considered it but then at the end made their decision.

Bob, during the season objective is to make playoffs. But WSH and PGH better, we're not?

We are better. Grabovski is here now, has done well recently. Halak is the best AHL goalie stats wise for the 2nd year in a row. Last few years emphasis has been on internal development, drafting players etc.

Give us your assessment of Price's play and comparing to Huet, especially decision to start Price tonight before the trade?

Well, Guy doesn't explain all decisions daily but we both felt that the future was one or two of these young goalies and any team would have taken either one of these prospects and they will develop just like the other young guys on this team, that's the risk we have.

Michael Ryder is still here. Is it because of bad offers or decision to keep?

We had a chance to trade him for the last couple of months but in my view it was a side-stepping move, similar players offered, and we decided to keep all of our assets to go after an impact player instead, like Hossa.

We're ending the season with two young goalies. For us, is our year next year?

I don't know how anyone can say this in the NHL today. Who is the best team, who won today, who lost today... four weeks from now it will be the games that matter only. We have a young team, I think we have a good team, works well together, towards the Cup.

But more for next year for the Cup, no?

Well, in the off season we can get an impact player.

Bob, two teams at the end were going for Hossa?

Ask Waddell.

Other impact players gone after?

Yeah, but not today. We were in a discussion for someone else in the last 45 hours though.

What happened around Ryder and other impact players?

Ryder is a guy we drafted, been a very good player, hard year for him but excellent offensive player, hard to find skills, game changer, and to trade him is hard when it's hard to find those skills. Try to get him working to his level instead.

Other than Impact players - did you look at 3rd/4th line players as well?

Well, our 3rd/4th lines with out 5/6/7 d-men we evaluated that we're confident with them and the roles they play and we weren't there to make small changes just to make changes, we didn't ID any weaknesses important enough to make that kind of trade.

Penguins/Thrashers transaction, too much for Hossa?

We know it was good for Atlanta, but it's for Pitts to know. For sure Hossa is remarkable, and will help their team, and we will all see how the rest of the season will go.

Just to clarify, did you ask for the permission to talk to Hossa's agent?

Atlanta didn't give us permission to talk to him.

Very technical, but the choice of draft, why 2009 instead of 2008?

Because Caps had 2 2nd rounders that year. Easier to give that up.

Are you sad for the fans, who wanted a big trade?

No, not really. If we had made the trade Atlanta wanted, I'd have a bigger problem tonight. Fans are smart and understand the diff, and in the end it's teamwork. For me, when I look at East, 13 teams going after 6 playoff spots... finally, it was important to get a guy at that level, but it did not happen.

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:52:07 GMT

Congrats Big Bob. Now Bring us a cup as a GM!