Sabres Skid!

Wow, the Sabres have lost seven games in a row (including three overtime losses). They are having a heck of a time this year and I'm starting to worry that they won't make the playoffs. If they do make the playoffs they probably won't win a series, but, for some reason, it still feels a heck of a lot better to lose in the playoffs than to not even make them.


...I'm really getting sucked into the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign. Usually I'm a casual observer, but the lack of a quality* Republican candidate (other than Ron Paul, who has no chance of winning the nomination) has me following the primaries and caucuses. I'm paying attention to find out which candidate the Grand Old Party will send against Barack Obama or...shudder...The Alternative. I don't have a problem with Barack Obama. My impression of him is that he is a decent and honest human being. While I disagree with many of his political stances, I'd much rather have an honorable left-of-center president than a dishonorable right-of-center president.

*I like the political stances of Fred Thompson, which are primarily based on his strict constructionist interpretation of the United States Constitution. However, Thompson has the charisma of a frog (which, unfortunately for him, he resembles) and he has no chance of being elected. Therefore, he does not qualify as a "quality" Republican candidate.

I briefly mentioned Ron Paul. His libertarian tendencies fit very well with my own views, but he's a little bit of an odd duck. I don't see him pulling a Ross Perot and making an impact in the 2008 election.

I'm discouraged by the fact that no Republican OR Democratic candidate seems to have any interest in the environment. I had hoped that global climate change would become an important topic in this election, but it appears that that will not happen.


...I'm really on an ecovillage kick right now. Often I find myself daydreaming about getting out of the rat race, moving to a low-impact community, and spending the rest of my days gardening and raising small animals with my family. Subsistence agriculture has always attracted me, but I imagine it would be quite different from how I picture it...


...I'm also getting on a pre-Cromwell Ireland kick. Like many Americans, my wife has a lot of Irish blood and I thoroughly enjoy piggy-backing off of her heritage. I especially love Gaelic-Irish culture, Norman-Irish culture, and "traditional" Irish music. I can't get enough of it!


...To come full circle...it appears that our extremely warm weather [20 degrees C. today - 20 degrees C. (35 degrees F.) above normal] is coming to an end. Though I love the cold weather, I must admit that it was beautiful today. Nonetheless, more seasonal temperatures are scheduled to return this weekend. It looks like next weekend (Jan. 19-20) would be the earliest that I could get some pond hockey in. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!