In a game of musical chairs, Hershey Bears defenseman Karl Alzner has been recalled by the Washington Capitals, while fellow first round pick John Carlson will be sent down. (CSN Washington)

Thomas Hickey, selected one pick before Alzner in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft (fourth overall for those scoring at home), is out of commission for the next four months. Hickey suffered a shoulder injury that will require surgery, keeping the current Manchester Monarch out of the lineup until Mid-March. (LA Kings Insider)

Like John Tavares, Evander Kane and Ryan Ellis before him and Steven Stamkos before them, Taylor Hall will attempt to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Championships as an underager. Hall seems like a lock, while Tyler Seguin and Brandon Gormley have a shot as well. So who does that leave on the outside looking in for this year’s draft class? (Coming Down The Pipe)

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward James Livingston has been held out of the lineup with what doctors are describing as an increased heart rate. Livingston, who has 18 points in 21 games this season, is evidently being monitored closely. (Andy Strickland – Hockey Buzz)

If you know me well, or indeed know me vaguely, you will probably know that I utterly despise Hallowe’en. I mean seriously. That said, it is odd being a country that hasn’t had half of it’s shops crammed full of Hallowe’en crap for the past 3 months. France don’t seem to do Hallowe’en in the same way. The most I saw was in Carrefour, who put up some decorations on the 29th. It’s difficult to go trick-or-treating around here, what with everyone living in appartment blocks. Can you imagine the logistics involved in buzzing everyone’s buzzer saying “bonbons ou bâton” (I looked it up, are you proud?)? It just wouldn’t work.

Anyway, for the first time in my life, I actually dressed up for Hallowe’en. I have been informed that I was the Ace of Spades. I remember making the costume, and then opening the wine. Here is a list of things that I vaguely remember/there is photo evidence of:

• Motorboating AC – Actually do not remember this
• Getting my hair straightened
• Totally loving my hair being straight
• Getting eyeshadow put on me – vaguely remember this
• Painting the Ace of Spades on a perfectly clean white t-shirt.
• Drinking a bottle of wine
• Having the second one hid half way through the night
• Laying on Liz’s bed
• Having all the women sit on me in the corridor
• Hi-fiving Nick several times cos they were shit
• Getting a huge hickey off Sinead, cos I asked for it – I have proof, so I remember this
• Thinking “What the fuck is this?” as Sinead gave me the vile hickey. Ugh.
• Having “I want penis” written on my head
• Thinking “I want penis” was a bit grammatically unsound.

I seriously am unsure what else happened.

I like to think this image sums up my night...

Hickey Striped Rugby

They call it a “Heavy Jersey Striped Polo,” we call it a rugby. Whatever it is, it’s great for layering this fall. The rugby just may be the most versatile piece in your entire wardrobe. It’s heavy enough to wear by itself or under a blazer, but it’s also light enough to throw on over an oxford shirt. A lot of times when guys layer, they end up looking fat and bulky because it’s hard to pull off multiple items and still keep it slim. The rugby is the best way to preserve your figure while still being able to put some interesting pieces together. This one by Hickey has the perfect weight and the red and blue stripes will go with nearly everything. So get one and wear it daily–just make sure to mix up what you’re wearing it with. You can get yours for $125 at Hickey.

There is an old adage in hockey that sings a tune similar to ‘defense wins championships’.

If that’s the case, both the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings should start clearing space in their trophy cases (well, the Kings’ case is pretty bare, but you get the idea). Both organizations have done an excellent job in stockpiling their young defensemen, whether it is through the NHL Entry Draft or via trade.

The Los Angeles Kings have added their impressive defensive depth primarily through the first round of the draft, selecting the likes of Drew Doughty (2nd overall in 2008), Thomas Hickey (4th overall in 2007), and Colten Teubert (13th overall in 2008), while adding Vyacheslav Voinov 32nd overall in 2008. Perhaps one of their biggest pieces, Jack Johnson, was acquired via trade three seasons ago.

The New York Rangers have accumulated a stockpile of bluechip defensemen that are starting to provide immediate dividends on Broadway. Marc Staal (12th overall in 2005) has already developed into a top-flight defenseman, while Michael Del Zotto (20th overall in 2008) currently leads all rookies in points through the first five games of the 2009/10 season. Matt Gilroy, signed after winning the Hobey Baker last season, is seeing more minutes than his rookie counterpart, while Bobby Sanguinetti (21st overall in 2006) and Ryan McDonaugh (12th overall in 2007) – acquired from the Montreal Canadiens – knocking on the NHL’s door.

First, lets look at NHL readiness.

For the sake of argument, we’re going to include NHL regulars – but still youngsters – Marc Staal, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. All three have been regular contributors for their respective clubs beyond this season. Doughty is entering his second season after making the jump directly from junior last year, while Johnson is in his third full season. Both are 1-2 in terms of icetime for the Kings.

The Rangers’ Staal is also entering his third NHL season and leading his club in icetime, but has added some help in the form of Del Zotto and Gilroy, both of which are quickly becoming key players on Broadway. Del Zotto leads both the New York Rangers defense and NHL rookies in points with five, while Gilroy is logging top-4 minutes.

Though the Los Angeles Kings have more experience out of their youngsters who are playing bigger minutes, the New York Rangers have more contributing in valuable roles as well.That is not to downgrade the impact Kings rookie Davis Drewskie has had, but his skills and potential doesn’t translate into a top defender.

As well, the readiness of Voinov, who is knocking on the NHL’s door, is canceled out by Sanguinetti’s inevitable jump this season.

EDGE: New York Rangers

Next, lets look at overall potential.

It’s no secret the Los Angeles Kings have had a lot of high draft picks in the last half dozen years and have spent them primarily on acquiring defensemen. Apparently Kings general manager Dean Lombardi & Co. believe in the defense wins championships adage.

Doughty 2nd overall, Hickey 4th overall, Teubert 12th overall and the acquired Johnson 3rd overall all scream top-end potential. Though Doughty will become the only Norris candidate of the group (and he can expect at least several nominations by the end of his career), each Kings prospect has the potential to develop into a top-3 defenseman, which bodes well for Jonathan Quick or Jonathan Bernier, whomever lays claim to the future between the pipes for Los Angeles.

The Rangers do not have the luxury of selecting as high as the Kings have in recent memory. Still, they’ve managed to make the most of their picks. Staal is already a full-fledged franchise defenseman with Olympic aspirations. He’s got the potential to be a game-changer, though does he have a Norris calibre offensive game?

Del Zotto may have, but does not project to be as stingy on defense as Staal. Gilroy has the offensive potential of Del Zotto, but brings a more rounded game. McDonaugh may be the most complete defenseman the Rangers will develop, but has a boom-or-bust aura around him, while Sanguinetti is kept out of the NHL only because of the emergence of Del Zotto and should the blueshirts manage to move Michal Roszival, it’s Sanguinetti’s spot.

EDGE: Los Angeles Kings

Finally, lets look at the depth beyond these prospects.

The New York Rangers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to project defensemen who have a legitimate chance to carve out an NHL career. The first of which is 2nd round pick Michael Sauer. Sauer, the brother of Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Kurt Sauer. Sauer was reassigned early in camp to the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers AHL affiliate, but brings a defensive presence that will make him one of the first up in case of injury.

Ikka Heikkinen was signed this offseason by the Rangers and, while he was expected to start with the Rangers, has begun his North American career in the minors. Still, if Heikkinen can raise his defensive awareness, he’ll surely develop into an NHL regular based solely on his offensive game.

The Los Angeles Kings do not quite have the defensive depth the Rangers are able to boast.

Alec Martinez, a fourth round pick from 2007, and Nicolas Deslauries (84th in 2009) is what the organization has to boast about after Voinov on the depth chart. Neither project to be an impact defenseman, and both would be a pleasant surprise to the team should they emerge as NHL regulars.

EDGE: New York Rangers

So is a bird in hand worth two in the bush? The Los Angeles Kings have the top end talent to eventually become the best blueline in the NHL, while the New York Rangers are getting more out of their prospects now and have a much deeper pool.

Which organization has the brighter future on the blueline? Have your say by posting your comments below.

Versus is a weekly feature at Future Considerations that takes two prospect comparables and puts them up against each other. Have a suggestion? Email us!

Thanks to Paul for pointing this out: the Pragmatic Programmers training series is offering a 3-day training course in Reston, VA next year (date TBD). Clojure’s creator Rich Hickey and Stuart Halloway will be instructing. More information is at the Pragmatic Programmers site.

It looks like the course will assume you know something about Lisp or Java and functional programming, and possibly concurrency, but nothing about Clojure. It’s going to go well beyond basics, though, and it’s a chance to ask Rick Hickey questions directly.

It’s going to be expensive, with the alumni/group discount rate still a hefty $1195. The early bird price is $1495. I’ve been to the Advanced Ruby course of the same dimensions and cost, and it was worth it. If you all want to join up, 3 or more of us can get the group rate and save a few hundred dollars each.

Todo parece indicar que en Noviembre, si no antes, me enviarán una temporada a Tampere. Tras todo septiembre tonteando con Oulu -desde hoy nevado, por cierto- y Boston las cosas no parecían arrancar (una vez tras otra me quedaba en tierra).

Desde que volví de vacaciones me he sentido en un stand by contínuo y necesito algo de marcha, por lo que me alegro de la necesidad de desplazarme (aunque vaya a ser sólo durante un par de meses).

Actualizado: El proyecto se canceló y no necesito ir a ningún lado, al menos de momento.

Cambiando de tema, y nunca mejor dicho, he aquí Blond Fire de los desconocidos y belgas The Hickey Underworld. El video es de matrícula de honor, y la música crece enormemente tras la primera escucha, me han dado muy buen impresión y la web oficial no desentona. Me parecen una curiosa mezcla de The Strokes con Deftones y las paranoias místicas de Tool.

Stuff (NOT the website) has taken over my life. I am feeling a bit like the Junk Lady from the film Labyrinth, overwhelmed by things. Which has led to a reduction in blogging – and other writing projects.

Several interesting things have come my way though. Firstly I was sent a great MP3 of Dave Hickey speaking (audio file here - its big!) He made some excellent points and I felt they were very relevant to the New Zealand institutional art scene. [Hatip MC for the link]. One take away message though for me was that art is an elective, not a compulsory course, so to speak. Art is a luxury. As my twitter followers will know, I can be a bit whiney about my relatively comfortable middle-class existence. Art (in its broad sense) is my luxury and I should probably appreciate that more instead of moaning that I can’t get to see more exhibitions or buy more books. Deviating a bit from Hickey’s view, and whatever their state, I am very appreciative of public galleries (and libraries!) as I get to see so much at very little cost.

I have also been very lucky to meet with some extremely interesting people of late and to read some great poetry. It’s been awesome to be able to help out a little by scrounging for knitting needles for the binding of my good friend Helen Heath’s forthcoming chapbook Watching for Smoke. This is being published by another wonderful Helen (Rickerby), at Seraph Press. Its very energising to be around people who are passionate about what they are doing and how they are doing it. In this vein, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Dean Havard at Kilmog Press, who produces beautiful handcrafted books and have had great discussions with poet Michael Steven. Kilmog has just published his chapbook Centreville Springs and its a good one!

All the literary talk prompted me to have a hunt for Fernado Pessoa books in Dunedin’s excellent 2nd hand book shops (reuse!). I had a great conversation with one ‘bookshop guy’ which went something like this:

“I am looking for anything by Pessoa”
“Oh, the Portugese chap? No sorry not at the moment”

I was so impressed that ‘bookshop guy’ knew Pessoa (and on my last visit taught me how to pronounce ‘Camus’ properly) that I ended up walking away with Rimbaud’s prose poems which was at the top limit of my budget. As this flying bookshop visit was on the way to a family outing to the Botanical Gardens I also ended up carrying Rimbaud and a copy of Edmund White’s ‘The Flaneur’  with me around the park which felt a tiny bit surreal.

The park has some interesting Peter Pan statuary. Apparently you can find these all over NZ but I found the detail in the base of this one a tad creepy. The statue is of Peter standing on a tree stump. In the tree roots are all sorts of creatures – and babies. It hadn’t occurred to me that the ‘lost boys’ were once ‘lost babies’ which I find a little disturbing and reminiscent of The Importance of Being Earnest where a baby was left in a capacious handbag “in the cloak-room of one of the larger railway stations in London.”

This baby looks quite forlorn in it’s tree root ‘cage’

On the recycle front so much has been happening but probably only of interest to me. But in the spirit of ‘recycle’ , here is a cover of Word Up – played on the ukulele. Yes, I have also been neglecting my ukulele fetish even though I am actually taking some lessons. WORD

When you’re kickin around town this fall you want something that will show you know what you’re doing, but you want it to be subtle. Here’s a look that’ll help you blend in and stand out just the way you want.

Hickey Down Vest

Shipley and Halmost Plaid Shirt

3Sixteen Black Straight Leg

Saint James Striped Socks

Band of Outsiders x Sperry Boat Shoe

We’ve been doing a lot of thinking about fall even though it’s still a solid 80 degrees and sunny. You want to have a little bit of fun when you’re tooling around the city because as much as you peacock, you know there will be 20 guys that are going more aggressive. A fun plaid shirt is ideal for fall and Shipley and Halmos has quitely been making great shirts for the last couple seasons. Put a good vest on top of it and you’ll have a winning combo–we suggest this guy by Hickey that happens to be on sale for half price. Black jeans can be really good when done properly, and we trust the guys at 3Sixteen when it comes to making a solid pair of jeans. Put on those new felt boat shoes by Band of Outsiders x Sperry and you’ve got a good fall look in the works. You don’t want to be running around sockless when it gets cold so we suggest these fun socks by Saint James.

Hickey Nylon Vest, $158 at Hickey
Shipley & Halmos Bogota Shirt, $170 at Tobi
3Sixteen Black Selvage Jeans, $180 at Self Edge
Saint James Socks, $18 at Lark
Band of Outsiders x Sperry Felt Boat Shoe, $195 at Opening Ceremony

Hello friends. If you have been wondering where I’ve been the past few days, the answer is: recovering. As cpottie has briefly noted in her blog, Tuesday night’s spontaneous adventure with her and E was a “Pandora’s box of epic bad life choices.” CP states:

“Long story short, I stayed at a stranger’s house and partied like I was seventeen again. Despite all of the frosh-esque partying, we still managed to make like 5 cars signal off the road so we could pass them, received zero speeding tickets, obtained a delicious McDonald’s breakfast, and I even rolled into my hair appointment on time this afternoon.” (Quoted in Love Blogs to Johannes, “Sir, Don’t You See We’re In A Sports Car?”)

Although cpottie’s account (which, as it was written in a state of Wednesday-morning hangover and partial still-drunkeness, is extremely impressive) wonderfully summarizes the event, today, after 2 much-needed days of recovery, I will attempt to paint for you the colorful mess that is the long version of her “long story short.” First, however, I must beg you to suspend your moral judgement — I am well aware of my moral-deficiency on this particular night, and how bad those choices were that will be confessed to you here.

Alright, so it all started Tuesday afternoon when I received a text message from E (who may or may not be Satan in one of his many mutable forms) asking if I wanted to go on a road trip in her father’s, as she described it, “soopa fast car.” A box of wine would accompany us, and we would find someone’s floor to sleep on after we arrived. Perhaps her reckless confidence was wearing off on me, because my usually-nervous self hastily accepted the invitation, adding only that we would have to leave after CP’s Goodbye Supper (“Goodbye” because she is moving away on Saturday). As we had no actual plans for this road trip and what would transpire once we reached our destination, this small condition was accepted without complication.

It was at this dinner that I picked up our third party, CP. Although she vehemently refused prior to the dinner, one glass of wine with her meal quickly changed her mind, and before long we were both throwing makeup and a change of clothes in our bags as E was on her way to pick us up. One glass of wine does not work miracles though, and she did insist that I call a motel to find out the rates before we leave, in case we had no place to sleep after we got there (my solution to sleep in the car did not meet with much enthusiasm). I was not willing to lose her from this adventure, so I agreed to call the number that she provided and ask them the questions that she dictated. The conversation with the motel receptionist went like this:

Me: Hello? Are you the motel across from Subway?

Receptionist: [Slight laugh] Yes, that’s us.

Me: Oh ok. Can you tell me the cheapest rate for a 2-person room?

Receptionist: $94 plus tax.

Me: Ok great. [Hangs up]

Now, if any prostitute-client pair showed up at that motel Tuesday night, I am certain the receptionist would think that prostitute was none other than your humble narrator, the earlier caller. But to continue…

E shows up, a little late, because she forgot the boxed wine and had to go back for it. A legitimate excuse — the boxed wine being essential to this adventure — and anyway, we have a Super Fast Car. We pick up CP and drive away, leaving her mother watching nervously after us, as if she knows this will be the last time she will ever see her daughter.

On to the highway. We make up for lost time by driving 160 km/h. Of course, this is problematic because not everyone is driving what I call a “sports car” (it is in fact a Honda Accord) and evidently not everyone has a death wish like we seem to have. E corrects this either by passing, or by tailgating so badly that we actually make the other cars pull over to let us by, as I yell through the window at them: “Excuse me, sir! Can’t you see that we are in a sports car?!” (Side note: My sincerest apologies to all whom we have terrorized in this fashion while I was rather tipsy on the wine).

After causing several cars to move aside, and, as CP notes, miraculously without receiving a speeding ticket, we arrive at our destination in record time — and 5 minutes before the liquor store closes, where we pick up an extra bottle of wine, a bottle of Sauza, and a Rockstar for chasing (as we had no lemons or salt). CP asks if the liquor store does Cash-Back, so she can get, as she puts it, “some chedda dollas”, and E gives me an “allowance” because I’ve lost my bank card. We get changed in the car and head to a mostly-frosh party right beside the police station, where we make the cheap boxed wine look even cheaper by pouring it into a Dasani bottle, in true underage, freshmen fashion.

I have gone into significant detail about these pre-drinking events, because I unfortunately forget much of what happened after the tequila ran dry (we managed to drink the whole bottle even though it was absolutely disgusting when chased with Rockstar) and the Dasani and Yellow Tail bottles of wine were emptied. I do, however, remember discussing movies with one fellow, and becoming seriously offended when he responded to my question, “With which Watchmen character do you think I related the most when I saw the movie?” with “Silk Spectre” — the sexy, pleather-suited female character who probably has the least depth of all the characters. Although, to be fair, my outfit that night wasn’t much more respectable than hers.

CP was much more successful in analyzing the freshman boys based on their clothing. Here is a piece of what I can remember of one such conversation:

CP: You are a Business student.

Boy 1: Yes, I am. How did you know?

CP: You are wearing plaid shorts. All the boys in my business classes wore plaid shorts.

[Boy 1 looks confused and offended; Boy 2 walks in from getting high outside]

Boy 2: [Excitedly] What do you think I am?!

CP: You were in Business, and now you are in Arts.

Boy 2: Wow! How did you know that?

CP: Because you are a stoner.

I will note here that I am in Arts, and so mean no offence to Arts students — though I cannot speak for cpottie’s meaning or intentions. Later, on the walk to the bar, about an hour after the conversation has been dropped:

Boy 1 [to me]: …What did she mean about the shorts?

The poor boy will probably never wear plaid shorts again. Other victims of CP’s drunken cruelty were the third-year girls who showed up later, whom she kept referring to as “young ones”:

CP: I don’t dance. I don’t have the youth of you young ones anymore.

Girl 1: I am only one year younger than you.

CP: Yeah but you seem young.

[Girls, all of whom are much bigger and tougher than us, look angry]

Me: [Nervous laugh] What she means is… well, that she is like an old woman. She is envious of how… ah… fun you guys are.

How we avoided getting punched in the face, I’m really not sure. Anyway, we made it to the bar without getting into a fight. I bought another drink despite the fact that everyone I looked at had two heads. The drink was $2.50. I tipped the bartender $7.50 because I liked her blue pants. An old man beside me initiated a conversation with me by commenting on the “loudness” of those same pants.

…A large gap in my memory here…

E has gone missing. CP wants to leave. Watchmen boy and Stoner boy (whose nickname, we are told, is KY. Yes, like the lube) offer to “walk us home”, and we are apparently drunk enough to accept what we feel in that state to be a chivalrous offer. On the way out, I find on a table E’s wallet with over $100, her cell phone, and all her credit and bank cards in it. We rescue it from the strangers who are now sitting around the table and walk back to the Party House, where we have decided to sleep on the floor rather than in the car or at the motel.

Still no sign of E, nor her keys that would allow us to get our things from her car. CP makes two beds, one from a mattress that she finds, and the other just a blanket on the floor. The boys leave, but we invite them back so that they might “protect us” from other, perhaps less-trustworthy boys (CP’s logic, not mine). The sounds of kissing from CP and KY on the floor bring me back to when she and I were roommates in our freshman year, and she would do such amorous things in the bed just 2 feet away from me while I tried to sleep innocently beside some boy whom she elected to be my date (and who, I am sure, must have felt like he got the worse end of the deal). I tell the boy on my mattress that I am very impressed with him for keeping all his clothes on, but that is about the extent of my kindness towards him as I turn over and go to sleep. He eventually leaves, but not before spilling water all over the mattress and blanket that I am sleeping on, and awkwardly giving me his phone number. Several wet and sleepless hours later, CP and I also decide it is time to leave. We gather up our things that are strewn about the room, one of which is her purse, which she had previously thought lost. Upon finding it, she declares: ”Here it is! [Hugs it tightly] Oh you are like Jesus and Christmas all rolled into one!” I found this comment amusing, but not as much as the departing conversation between her and KY:

CP: [Starts towards the door, then, apparently remembering him, turns] Ah.. well… see you later.

KY: [Looking both confused and in love] Ok… bye.

Me (trying to make it less awkward, and only making it infinitely more so): Have a nice day.

And with those final words, “Have a nice day“, we leave and go upstairs, feeling like prostitutes in last night’s bar clothes now that it is daytime. We find E in bed with the person who owns the house, which makes us both feel a bit better that he got something for his troubles of housing us last-minute. While we wait for her, CP lowers her voice and says to me:

“W, I have an EPIC hickey. [Pause] And I don’t even know the guy’s name. [Pause, and resume with tone of horror] All I know is that is nickname is KY!”

I thought all this was extremely funny (the hickey was indeed “epic”), until E called out from the bedroom that she did not, as we had assumed, have the car keys. Neither were they in her abandoned and rescued wallet. Some panicked searching did eventually reveal them to us, but not before intense fear of being trapped, sober, in this place so reflective of our own reckless freshman days, took hold of CP and I. Just a few days before her departure for Montreal, I think CP closed the University chapter of her life appropriately — by alluding to the chapter’s opening, showing how she has not forgotten that history, but also showing how she has grown and moved on. I feel as though this was the perfect finale, and I am glad I was a part of it — despite how awful I felt for the next two days.

I will wrap this up quickly, my good and devoted readers, because I have already taken so much of your time. The drive back, even with all of us severely hungover and partially still drunk, was just as fun and humorous as the drive there. We picked up McDonald’s Breakfast — a hangover essential — and hit the road, leaving a great many bad choices and embarrassments behind us. Even though we were a bit more cautious in our daytime driving, we still managed to make another 2 cars pull over to let us by, and raced a Sentra. This was occasioned by the personal slight I felt when that little Nissan dared to pass us:

“Did we just get passed by a Sentra? We are in a sports car and we just got passed by a SENTRA.”

We eventually left the Sentra in our dust, but only after it earned our intimidation by reaching speeds of over 160 km/h that we were too afraid ourselves to exceed in broad daylight. We somehow managed, as CP also noted, to make it home safely, without any speeding tickets or accidents, and in time for CP’s 1:00 hair appointment. LP got her daughter back in one piece, however hickey-ed up that one piece might be, and CP, E and I got to forget about responsibility for a little while before having to get back to Real Life — school, work, and all the other Big Kid things that September brings.

And, we got a whole slew of quotes that, as I never failed to acknowledge, “would make great Facebook photo album titles” Too bad none of us had a camera.

Here are a few of these quotes that have not been included above, and which are taken from the insightful introspect and retrospect of the drive home:

E: I don’t know what it is about me, that men just want to throw me around a room. I always come out with bruises. It makes me feel like a cheap whore. And my breasts — Some girls say they go through the whole thing and never even take their shirts off. My shirt is always the first thing to come off. Sometimes even before I kiss a boy my shirt comes off.

CP: Someone rocked an epic puke in the bathroom.

E (in a lowered, introspective voice): There is nothing worse than an eager lover…

CP (after I’ve commented on her vulgar language): I do occasionally enjoy the salty ***k. (I’ve put the stars in, because although she actually said “talk”, I heard something much different…)

E: I feel as though I have an intimate relationship with that Sentra now. Do you think he feels it too?

Me: Perhaps… perhaps it’s time to take a break from the tequila.

And it is. Tonight I drink coolers. And stay away from sports cars.

Until next time, I remain,

Your most humble, still-hungover, miraculously alive, potential-alcoholic,

-W-

Who’s playing? – Steve Aoki, A1 Bassline, support from Hickey, Bad Weather, Jus Haus
Who’s idea was this? triple j and Knowledge Music
Where? – Villa
It all starts at… – 10pm
How much? – $39+bf, early bird tickets $35 from www.shapebar.com.au
How do you get in on this? – door sales, presale from Setptember 4th www.shapebar.com.au, general release on sale Sept 11th – moshtix.com.au, Planet Video, Mills Records, Moshtix Outlets.
Who’s going to be there? - the young and energetic, who enjoy a sweaty dance to loud electro music
You’d like it if you were… drunk, high

Heads Will Roll says…

Steve Aoki, famous for running the Dim Mak record label, his ultra cool club night in Hollywood at Cinespace, and screaming over the top of the Bloody Beetroots hit radio single Warp, is returning to Perth to play Villa. Aoki played a pretty impressive set at this year’s Summadayze. In between each song he would run to the front of the stage to throw down some dance moves, doing his best to amp up the crowd who were baking in the already intense heat of the day. The set was all very respectable until he dropped Distributed Get Down With The Sickness. After that cringe worthy moment his set went downhill. Hopefully Steve leaves those clangers out of his CD bag, or deletes them from his lap top hard drive, before he makes the journey to Perth.

Another Guy says… Whoop, Whoop!

http://www.knowledgemusic.com.au/
http://www.shapebar.com.au/
http://moshtix.com.au/
http://www.myspace.com/steveaoki
http://www.dimmak.com
http://steveaoki.dimmak.com/blog/posts/

Buying bleach
Cashier: Laundry day, huh?
Channing: No, just really thirsty.

Janae: The word “let’s” is contracted, so reliably it seems like a big affectation to use “let us” as separate words. “Let us talk about sex!” “Let us gobble these sausages!” Are we kings and princes?
David: We should time travel back to medieval days and start dropping “let’s” all over the towns and villages. Then we can sit back and watch the madness we created.
Janae: Fire up the Delorean and come get me.

Elise: When is it acceptable to wear jean shorts?
Mason: When you’re on a rope swing by a secluded lake.
Elise: Wrong. The correct answer is “never.”
Mason: But nylon cuts! You need something thicker on rope swings.

Dan: For six years, this guy runs a magazine that sent him on trips to places like Asia and Vegas. Now he’s writing about sewage in Cleveland.

Hickey: One night I met this insane genius at the bar – think Doc Brown – who has made a fortune in oil or something but was telling me all about these theories he had with numbers and how he was starting to make “the next big movie trilogy.” The first one was called “The Power of 7,” the second “The Power of 3″ and the final one was “The Power of 1.” I can’t remember exactly what they were about, other than terrorists blowing shit up and the world ending. Also, he busted out this huge 80s-style calculator and kept hitting the square root button to prove that every number comes back down to one. Because he was so concerned that someone else might have come up with this idea, he even had it notarized. He was also carrying a personalized letter from the former governor of Louisiana, who is currently in prison. (Imagine, a governor in prison). It even had whatever penitentiary that governor is in as the return address. Oh, and he also wore two watches. One set on Louisiana time, the other set on Baghdad time. Even though he was 61 years old and clearly hadn’t been serving in Baghdad. Also, he gave me his business card and wrote both of his cell phone numbers on the back, so we could hang out and he could show me where to pick up
chicks in town. Still have not made that call.

Jess: Sundays are bittersweet because they are inherently relaxing, but inevitably lead to Mondays.

Meredith: Why is that guy wearing high waters?
Elise: You laugh now, but just wait til there’s a flash flood.
Meredith: …and then I’d roll my pants.
Elise: Manual Hemming. I like it.

Joel: I didn’t go to my 10-year reunion. They were charging people to show up and just stand around on the grass; I don’t pay to stand on earth.

Hickey, on the Red Dawn remake: Really? Does no one have an original idea anymore? Can we start shipping some more cocaine to Hollywood to get the idea train moving again? Jesus.

Rob, on first date group outing: If either of you think it’s a bad idea to go to a bar where your friends are ‘hanging out’ for the first time, you can just place that right out of your mind. When I’m in Indianapolis, it’s inevitable that I’ll meet somebody I know; and I’d prefer it’s you two rather than a girl I met off Match.com that recognizes me. So, I figure, if you guys are there, the probability that someone else that knows me will be there.  It’s statistics.  The same reason I always carry a suitcase bomb when I fly. There’s virtually no chance of there being two bombs on a plane.

We got a quick word from Lisa Wells, Director of PR over at Hickey Freeman and hickey, concerning what the loss of the store meant for the brand. Here’s what she told us:

Never fear hickey is not gone for good. It will reside temporarily in our Hickey Freeman stores until it finds a new home. Until then the collection is also available at www.hickeystyle.com

Great news for us.

Yesterday we gave you the heads up on Jack Spade’s fall collection and today we wanted to let you know about another great collection from a quirky American brand. Hickey Freeman’s quirky offshoot, Hickey, has been killing it since they stepped onto the scene as they offer relatively affordable stuff with awesome design and great detailing. They like to play with the line between traditional tailoring and modern sportswear, and do it with success. The Fall/Winter collection looks like more of the fun and very wearable stuff Hickey has been known for. Slick suits and sport coats, solid outerwear, and very respectable shirts. We’re looking forward to this dropping in stores and online in the near future, we’ll give you the heads up when you can snag this gear.

ps- One of the best models we’ve seen in a while
pps- Photos from Hypebeast

On Bingo
Mason: The numbers only go up in increments of 15.
Elise: You are such a dork. How do you even know that?
Mason: About a million people over the age of 65.

Jackie: Do you remember starting clubs in elementary school, and only certain people could be in them? I had sign-up sheets and everything.
Elise: …who brings paperwork to a playground?

Channing: Sadly, the knock-off perfume/cologne place at the State Fair doesn’t have Star Trek Red Shirt, the scent for those who feel expendable.

Tim: So have you guys set a wedding date?
Elise: July 31st.
Jackie: What?! I can’t believe you told Tim before me!
Elise: You’re sitting right there! You found out at the exact same time.
Tim: Actually, I did hear it first. I was sitting closest, so it was only by microseconds, but still. Me first.
Elise: Thanks for sandbagging me.

Hickey: Patrick Kane now has an entire omelette on his face after getting arrested for allegedly attacking a cab driver over 20 cents change. Yes. Two dimes. For a guy making $875,000 a year. I thought of doing something clever with this post, like a list of the things that Patrick Kane could get with the 20 cents that he wanted back from the cabbie.  But the fact of the matter is, there isn’t a fucking thing you could do with 20 cents.  The cost of building a time machine to go to a year where 20 cents had any value would far outweigh the usefulness of having the 20 cents.

Hickey: Why don’t these people understand that the whole reason I ordered popcorn chicken was to have a sauce to dip it in? So then put some damn sauce in the bag. It’s not that hard. JFC.
Andrew: JFC, KFC – WTF!

Vicki, on Eric Clapton: I want to have your children but don’t have a uterus.

On Ratatouille
Elise: A crepe? Broke the window? Really?
Jim: …a rat? That can cook? Really?

Dan: Jenna got married. Did you go to the wedding?
Julien: No.
Dan: Why?
Julien: Cause I slept with her.

Elise: I wonder if when you’re a man of a certain size, it’s just assumed you’ll be a jockey.
Mom: Or a dictator.

Alex, on Chicago Cubs sucking: When the ever-volatile Milton Bradley came aboard, he promised “pretty much ain’t nothing Milt can’t do.” And boy, has he ever delivered on that double negative.

On the lighter app
Dan: So wait—there’s lighter fluid in the iPhone?
Frank: It’s a picture, Dan. Of a flame.

Mason: So you’re telling me that in San Antonio I would actually be getting paid to not use any water?
Elise: You’d also be getting not laid.

Jackie: It doesn’t taste like pink.

Camila: I’ve been a noncontributing member of life.