Starting today, if you head over to Fox Sports NHL, you'll see selected posts from my blog included in their feature content. The first piece they've grabbed covers unassisted goal scoring...

Whoohooo!!!

Man, the holidays just seem to fly by so quickly, it seems like it's been ages since I've kept up with things here. Really quickly, then (as I've got some CD-based training to get through in the last couple hours here at work):

1. Weight loss has hit a (predictable) plateau around 188, mostly due to a 4-day excursion to my in-laws, where the good cookin' just keeps on coming. I'm back in the saddle now, though, but will have to work hard to get to my goal of 175 by early March.
2. The media tie-in for my blog is signed, sealed, and delivered, now I just have to wait for them to post my first piece sometime in the next couple days. It's been quite a rush, really - I started dedicating more effort to the blog about 3 months ago, and I'm already about to be featured on a big-time site.
3. Bethanie's getting divorced? I missed that one, until browsing through the JE's just now. My oldest brother divorced earlier this year with 2 kids in the middle, and while it was as amicable as any divorce can be (he lives in a new place just blocks away and everyone gets along), you can tell it's going to be a work in progress for quite a while. Best of luck to all parties there...
4. The Xmas haul was less than in previous years, which is perfectly OK, as we're climbing out of a debt hole and have better things to spend money on, but my wife got me a nice jacket, and I pooled monetary gifts to get an LCD monitor for the home PC and pay part of my dues for the upcoming hockey season, which starts in two weeks.

Also pertaining to Christmas, we had our "Worst Online Shopping Experience Ever" this year, with Lillian Vernon. First, they got our credit card number wrong, but since their system doesn't run the credit check right away (strange), we didn't find out until an email arrived hours later saying "call customer service". We got on the phone, corrected the mistake, and a few hours later, got another email. We called again, corrected the mistake AGAIN (someone mistyped our expiration date), and were told everything would be OK. After a couple days, however, my wife checked the order status online, and shortly thereafter, got another email saying "call customer service". She calls, and finds out that someone had cancelled our order, but their system didn't have any notes or tracking information to suggest who or why (this at a time when she was at a spa, and I was at work, so it wasn't us). By this point, we're just a couple days from the holiday, so she gets a manager on the phone, who apologizes profusely, and offers to "manually override" the order and give us expedited shipping for free, in order to get our gifts on time. The packages are being sent to her parents' house in Indiana, since that's where we went for the weekend.

So we get to Indiana, and the goods aren't there yet. Saturday morning comes and goes, still no delivery. We call them yet again, and this time, the manager says the packages are currently in West Virginia. Evidently, the previous manager we spoke to gave us the "expedited shipping discount", but didn't actually flag the order for expedited shipping, so instead it went regular USPS, and was due to arrive on the 30th!

Fortunately, the kids still had a great holiday without those particular gifts, so we're refusing delivery and will get a full refund of our money. I imagine Lillian Vernon must have had terrible problems this season (perhaps a new ordering system?), as it seems we hit so many different bumps along the way, that I doubt ours was an isolated case.

Over at the blog, I've posted our holiday card for this year. Head on over and check out the Little Forecheckers.

OK, /. - help my marriage make it through the holidays. The wife is ready for a new phone (Sprint network), and is looking for something that can integrate easily with a calendar & task list application. She's currently using Hotmail for her main email, and she's open to switching to Gmail instead, but when looking through the cell phones that are available, the choices are many and the detailed information on how they interact with PIM's is slim. So what do you folks recommend? Help me, nerdy Slashdot readers, you're my only hope...

Oh, and Treo's are right out - there's only so much money to spend, after all.

The last couple weeks have been very busy, and as far as weight loss goes, I've hit a bit of a plateau - still making progress, but it's definitely slowed down. Mostly it's because we've been so busy that we've not gotten to the Y quite as often as we should (although I went before work this morning, and we'll go tomorrow). Hopefully I'll get back on track and drop a couple more pounds before the next session of our hockey season picks up January 8th.

As far as hockey goes, our team finished dead last, and I'm hoping for some major roster turnover. Basically, I'd keep a core from our current group, our captain, our goalie, two forwards who actually hustle, and one of our two female players. Hint: one of the two is in that picture, and she's the one to keep.

On the blog front, I'm still waiting for the media company to send over their content sharing agreement. Supposedly it's still working its way through their legal department...

Progress So Far
9/8/06: 209
9/15/06: 204.5
9/22/06: 206
9/29/06: 201
10/6/06: 197
10/13/06: 195
10/20/06: 194
10/27/06: 193
11/3/06: 193
11/10/06: 191
11/17/06: 192
11/22/06: 189
12/1/06: 188
12/15/06: 187

I'm just a lemming, aren't I?

1. What is your occupation?
Director of ERP Systems at a wholesale distribution company.

2. What color are you socks right now?
Black, like my shoes and belt.

3. What are you listening to right now?
The clack, clack, clack of my keyboard and the constant whirring of the HVAC...

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Burger, fries and a lemonade at Sonic with the wife and kids...

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Absolutely - it's been 3 years, and I miss it so!

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Orange. It's always been my favorite color.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
My wife, reminding me of something I need to do this afternoon.

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yup!

9. How old are you today?
36... 37 in March. My brother turns 42 today (gotta call him, doh!).

10. Favorite drinks?
Pepsi, beer, lemonade, whiskey sours, orange juice, white-chocolate mochas...

11. What is your favorite sport to watch?
On TV - football, because it has been so optimized for that experience. Live, hockey.

12. Have you ever dyed your hair?
No.

13. Pets?
Ozzy the Dog, a corgy-mix. I think my wife preemptively named him Ozzy before any of our kids came along....

14. Favorite food?
Coney Islands, as found nearly everywhere throughout the Detroit area. Damn, it sucks that I live in Tennessee...

15. What was the last movie you watched?
Crash.

16. Favorite holiday?
Christmas. With the kids being 4, 4, and 3, they're in the sweet spot for that kind of stuff.

17. What do you do to vent anger?
Save it for my hockey games. There, if I screw up, I can just break a $20 stick in a kathartic spasm of rage.

18. What were your favorite toys as a kid?
My Atari 400.

19. What is your favorite: fall or spring?
Fall - it's all about the leaves, the chill in the air, and knowing that winter (my favorite) is right around the corner.

20. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs.

21. Cherry or blueberry?
Cherry...

22. Do you want your friends to send this back?
Just keep it pinging around /.

23. Who is the most likely to respond?
Good Q, there have been dozens already so it's hard to say.

24. Who is least likely to respond?
Osama Bin Ladin - he never seems to reply to my messages.

25. Living arrangements?
Rented house with the wife and 3 kids. Hopefully we'll buy it in a year or so.

26. When was the last time you cried?
Dunno - perhaps on my wedding day.

27. What is on the floor of your closet?
Lots of laundry to do.

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you're sending this to?
N/A, JE on /.

29. What did you do last night?
Put up lights outside, decorated the house, put the tree up, etc.

Progress is still being made on the weight front, despite the Thanksgiving weekend. I didn't record my food intake for about 4 days, but managed not just to avoid trouble, but enjoy some awesome food in the meantime. Green bean casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy, chicken & noodles, French Silk pie... my mother-in-law even had a tin of chocolate-peanut clusters waiting for me.

Normally I track everything I eat over at Sparkpeople.com (which makes it quite easy), but I kept things under control and still managed to keep the downward momentum rolling.

On the hockey front, our team got smacked again Tuesday, with another game coming up tonight. While we've got a nice bunch of folks, there is simply no organization. We haven't kept a consistent line or pairing together for more than a period, so there is often confusion as to who's playing where, and what they should be doing. Pretty sad, really, as we could probably do OK if we just got our act together. I'll try to push for that when the new season gets started in January...

And on the blog front, the big media company's legal eagles are forwarding over a Content Partnership Agreement, so once that's taken care of they'll start hosting some of my work. As soon as that happens, I'll sound the trumpets!

Progress So Far
9/8/06: 209
9/15/06: 204.5
9/22/06: 206
9/29/06: 201
10/6/06: 197
10/13/06: 195
10/20/06: 194
10/27/06: 193
11/3/06: 193
11/10/06: 191
11/17/06: 192
11/22/06: 189
12/1/06: 188

I had been to the James J. Hill House previously, in high school. I wasn't too excited about it because "Woohoo! Big house. BTDT."

Our visit was so much better than I remember it being, which I'm sure was largely due to our guide. I don't think the guided tours are supposed to be 1.5 hours long.

We learned about the Hill family (of Great Northern Railway fame) through each of the rooms that we visited. Apparently Mrs. Hill sported a (warning: hyperbole ahead) 12-inch waist before having 10 kids. At their engagement party, Mary was given the gift of the finest finishing school education in all of Milwaukee.

We were led through the entertaining and dining ares, the youngest boy's bedroom, the Hills' bedrooms (they were separate, of course!), and the servants' working and living quarters. Despite being built in 1891, the house had electrical lighting, indoor plumbing, central heating, and a shower for the man of the house (because only men take showers). The house didn't have much of the original furniture because the Hill family gave it to the Church after James and Mary died. The house was used as office space for 50 years before the historical society acquired it.

Regular Admission: $8
Overall Grade: A
Re-visit?: Yes. During December, they put up the holiday decorations that the Hills would have had.

I tend to find most bumper stickers hopelessly trite, but this one caught my attention while driving back to Tennessee from Indiana yesterday:

Frodo Failed.
Bush Has The Ring.

In anticipation of being mostly off the grid over the weekend (heading up to Indiana to stay with the in-laws), I thought I'd post my update today rather than Friday.

On the blog front, an agreement is being drawn up and I hope to see my stuff published on the "big media" site within a couple weeks. It's fun to be part of a real awakening in terms of hockey fans using statistics to a greater degree. Another resource that's making waves is Hockey Recap.

As for weight, things are going pretty well, really, having hit the "20 lbs. lost" milestone. I'm not too worried about the holiday feasting, as I'm really not a Thanksgiving-food type of person. I don't particularly care for turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. Besides, it'll be more of a binge-and-purge type of day watching Joey Harrington and the Miami Dolphins ridicule my beloved Lions before a national audience.

Progress So Far
9/8/06: 209
9/15/06: 204.5
9/22/06: 206
9/29/06: 201
10/6/06: 197
10/13/06: 195
10/20/06: 194
10/27/06: 193
11/3/06: 193
11/10/06: 191
11/17/06: 192
11/22/06: 189

What an up-and-down couple of days. Our hockey team got whacked again, a 6-1 affair that was actually a lot closer than it sounds. We had a substitute goalie and got off to a bad start, so after 6 minutes we were down 4-0. From there on, we got outscored in the 2nd period 2-1, and played a scoreless 3rd in which we got plenty of good chances but just couldn't cash in. I was stuck back on D for the night, so didn't get the chance to contribute much offensively - at this point, people aren't used to playing with each other, so when I would jump up into the play, they weren't looking to take advantage of it.

As far as weight goes, I went back up a pound this week. I'm not concerned, as my workout schedule has been disrupted and I ate a little extra the last couple days after giving blood. I'll get back on track today.

But best of all, I got an email from a producer at one of the main sports websites (think big media), asking if I'd be interested in a "content partnership agreement" related to my hockey blog. Hopefully I'll talk to him today to gauge the level of interest. Does anyone out there have any experience with content sharing agreements like this? Any details would be appreciated...

Progress So Far
9/8/06: 209
9/15/06: 204.5
9/22/06: 206
9/29/06: 201
10/6/06: 197
10/13/06: 195
10/20/06: 194
10/27/06: 193
11/3/06: 193
11/10/06: 191
11/17/06: 192

Okay, now that it's November 12, I can feel free to hate on the veterans in public again.

Dear Veterans,
I don't much care for you
Love,
Some Woman

First I tried to go to the library to check out a museum pass, but they were closed for Veterans' Day, even though it seems like a holiday upon which they could really capitalize by having a huge display of recommended veterans reading, and maybe Soldier Story Time for the kids, and hell, a big party with books and cake to celebrate the learning.

Luckily, Janeowit's library observed Veterans' Day on Friday, so they were open. There was a committee meeting involved in deciding whether or not she should be allowed to have a pass because her old one wasn't checked in yet, because, wait for it... they were closed for Veterans' Day and things that should have been checked in on Friday were not. After all the heated discussion, the votes were tallied and she was allowed to check out another pass.

Phew. We get to see history! So we meander over the Sibley House grounds, insomuch as my Honda Civic meanders. We saw a sign for an Historic Monument, so we made a quick diversion, because I am not one to miss out on anything marked with a brown highway sign. It turns out that we had already stopped by this monument once before, but it was nice to revisit the plaque. My poor directional sense then lead us into a Ye Olde cemetary, which was, in retrospect, a good thing. The sitting buck and standing doe in the cemetary were to be the highlight of our excursion.

Having visited Ye Olde dead people, we were off once again to visit the home of Minnesota's first governor. We get to the Sibley site, but observe that no other cars were present. We get out of the car and walk up to the vistitors' center/DuPuis house (incidentally, made from brick from Milwaukee).

CLOSED

For Veterans' Day, presumably. This makes no sense to us. What could possibly be more celebratory of Veterans than learning about history?! Note: the closure of this property means that Historic Fort Snelling was also closed. That makes the least sense of all. If you visited HFS on November 11 and can verify that it was open, please do tell. Anybody? No? No.

So the janeowit (I think her name is 'naners now) and I settled for climbing on history and peering into Ye Olde windows. There was a cat hanging around that will have to battle the deer for Best Exhibit.

Regular Admission: Peering in windows is free all day, every day. I don't recommend doing so after dark, due to Ye Olde no lighting and Ye Olde tresspassing charges.
Overall Grade: D+ The cat saved the day.
Re-visit?: Maybe if they were actually open.

Dropped another 2 pounds this week, and actually wore some 36-inch jeans to work today, which I haven't worn in at least 3 years. w00t!

On the hockey front, it turned out that we had to forfeit last week's 6-3 victory due to the use of unapproved subs, which includes striking my 2 goals from the stats sheet (grrrr...). Last night we went up against a decent team, but instead of having 10 skaters (enough for 5 on the ice, and a replacement for each on the bench), we only had 8, and 1 left halfway through the game to puke his guts out in the locker room.

He says it was a stomach virus, but I think he just watched our play too closely. We got smoked 9-1 (I got the assist on our only goal, a feed to a guy in the corner who shot from a steep angle and caught the 5-hole), although I played pretty well. I usually play wing or D, but with the lack of skaters I played a lot of center, which meant taking faceoffs, which I rarely do. On one shift, I must have won 6 straight draws in the offensive zone, generating shot after shot and keeping the play in their end, which was nice (for a minute or so). In the end, however, we just couldn't keep up with the opposition, and we took too many penalties to boot. After a particularly cheap tripping call that I received, I got an extra 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, merely for informing the ref that he surely must have left his glasses at home.

Ah, well - it's still a fun bunch to play with, and there is a personal goal to play for. We'll have an All-Star game at the end of the season (just before Xmas), and if I play well over the next few weeks I could earn a spot from our team. The kicker is that the game is played at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in downtown Nashville, after a Predators NHL game. That would be a nice treat....

Progress So Far
9/8/06: 209
9/15/06: 204.5
9/22/06: 206
9/29/06: 201
10/6/06: 197
10/13/06: 195
10/20/06: 194
10/27/06: 193
11/3/06: 193
11/10/06: 191

Over the last 6 weeks or so I've been using my blog as a forum to dig around within NHL statistical data for information that hasn't been studied or made available before. Basically, I've taken detailed game information and provided some structure to it, so links between various events can be identified, and hopefully, some meaningful conclusions can be drawn about the nature of the game. Unlike baseball, which is awash in statistical data that seems to be quite useful in the management of rosters and strategy, hockey has always limped along with statistics that haven't changed much since the Original Six days.

Yesterday, I had one of those "Aha!" moments where something came up that's truly surprising. In the last few years, the NHL has been counting Hits (when a player checks an opposing puck carrier). This stat has been pretty much neglected, as the applicability to game performance is hard to state. A hit in and of itself doesn't lead a team to victory, but the after-effects of the hit could; a team's defensive stance could be comprimised, a vital turnover could result, the "hittee" might be rattled for a short time, etc.

What I did was take the accumulated Hit data by team, and went through individual game information to figure out not just which teams were doing the hitting, but which teams were getting hit. Some teams, like the Boston Bruins, gave out many more hits than they took, while others like the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning were on the receiving end more often than not.

Then I ran some correlation studies on things like Goals For, Goals Against, etc. to see if the level of hitting had anything to do with team achievement. Taking Hits For and running it up against Goals For and Goals Against, the figures came up so close to 0 as to imply no significant relation there. What I then found was that the level of hitting wasn't important, but that when comparing the ratio of Hits For/Hits Against to the ratio of Goals For/Goals Against, there was a correlation factor of -0.40.

In other words, there was a mild, negative correlation between outhitting an opponent, and outscoring them. The Bruins, for example, had a Hitting Ratio of 1.44 (dishing out 44% more than they took), but a Goals Ratio of 0.86. On the other end of the scale, the Rangers had a Hitting Ratio of 0.76, but a Goals Ratio of 1.20. Clearly, there's more work to be done here to dig into the details, but it's an interesting finding that's causing some stir out there. I got a nice link from Eric McErlain's Off Wing Opinion, which is probably the #1 hockey blog out there today.

Now if only I could monetize this stuff so I could dedicate more time to it. I really think there's a lot of potential here...

Run by the University of Minnesota, the Landscape Arboretum features a lot of plants. Trees, shrubbery, roses, mums, and bulbs. And a bunch of other stuff, too.

The first thing we did was to take the 3-mile drive around the grounds. The drive takes you through the many varieties of trees and around a few gardens.

In addition to the drive, they have many nature paths, again with the trees and gardens, and sometimes chipmunks. The weather was just about perfect for a nature walk. We walked past the mum garden, which was the last garden to bloom and was in the process of dying out when we went. They have a lot of mums. They have a lot of everything, really. The Arboretum would be a very nice place to go in the spring or early summer when there are actually blooming plants.

You can hold weddings at the Arboretum, but I don't know if they'll let you do it Kazakh-style. You may want to call ahead about that.

We went to the Apple House afterwards, which is affiliated with the Arboretum, but free to enter. Apple Season is pretty much over now, so they only had a few varieties of apples. (By the way, Janeowit tried a Honeycrisp and admits that they are like one of those bands that you have to like even though everybody else likes them and they play their songs on the radio.) We bought some Cortland apples, because they're pretty good for eating. I may make apple sauce with mine.

Regular Admission: $7
Overall Grade: B+
Re-visit?: High revisit value, but not necessarily for full admission price.