Every game of the Stanley Cup Finals I've seen now has been sponsored by the new Coldplay album.

Coldplay is about as un-hockey a band as I can think of. ABBA is more hockey than Coldplay.

Stupid asshats.

On Universal HD starting next Saturday April 5th.

Shiny.

I strap Erin into her high chair and force her to watch Signing Time while she has breakfast. On the episode we watched today the host, Rachel Coleman, introduced some mnemonics for remembering some of the letters of the alphabet.

F: "Look, it looks like a bird; with feathers." Yes, 'F' is for 'bird'....

O: "It looks like the opening of a bottle. Remember, 'o' is for 'opening-of-a-bottle'."

X: "It looks like a hook that a pirate would have. And pirates follow their treasure maps to the 'X'." Yes, 'X' is for 'hook'...no, 'pirate'.

S: "It looks like a smiling snake." Words kind of fail me on this one.

Why is it that my interest in "The Sopranos" on Netflix has prompted them to recommend "Touched By An Angel"?

Do people get whacked in that show?

In honour of Disney releasing "101 Dalmations" on a 2-disc DVD, you are being encouraged to also buy spaghetti sauce.

I think I'm a little dumber for having seen that commercial.

I was reminded tonight of Polkaroo and the Polka Dot Door. Living along the St. Lawrence River valley most of my life I had confused access to television programming from TV Ontario, CTV, CBC, local stations and also major networks and PBS from the States, just across the river. It didn't occur to me until I was older that Canada has its own version of Sesame Street, with French segments instead of Spanish segments. It also didn't occur to me until I was older that just because I grew up with both Mr. Dressup and Mr. Rogers did not mean that my American counterparts did likewise.

I've tried explaining Mr. Dressup to Emily: his Tickle Trunk. His live-in boy Casey and dog Finnegan. The costume games. I just can't make it sound innocent to her, or even really attempt an explanation that doesn't degenerate into some nervous laughter, even though in my memory the show is pure and untarnished.

The same thing happened tonight when I tried to explain Polkaroo and the Polka Dot Door. All I could remember off the cuff was that he was dressed in bright yellow and would visit the set and somehow be involved in mischief. I remembered the first few lines of the theme song out of the blue, and Emily quickly came to the conclusion that the show was Canadian.

"How do you know it's Canadian?" I asked her.

"Because all Canadian children's programming is a little bit gay," she replied.

Well, if a little German Shepherd looking for his owners and helping people all over the country while looking fabulous is gay, then yes, it's all gay.

If a huge man living in a castle with a set of doll furniture and many puppet friends is gay, then yes, it's all gay.

But come on. If it were really gay, then someone in the 80's would have said "You can't do that on television" and the shows would have been pulled.

I don't know. I just don't know.

The spring quarter begins today at school. While I'm TA'ing a time-intensive class, it's one that I've done before so I shouldn't have to do much extra reading. I'm also taking a second-year seminar, which will be reading and writing intensive. But that's it. Just one class for credit, really.

I've managed to get credit for work I did earlier in the year assigned to this quarter, so I can spend more time at home when the baby comes at the end of the month. This is great, especially since my wife is now on maternity leave and gets to be at home as much as she wants; I can spend extra time with her in this last, most uncomfortable month of pregnancy.

I'm also thinking about going back East for a little while when the quarter ends in June so I can introduce the baby to my dad and any old friends who happen to be around Montreal-Kingston-Toronto during that time. Maybe another trip around Christmas.

In other news: the house progresses. That's about all I can say. It's not progressing well, but we're not moving backward at all on it. Maybe we'll be able to move in a month or so.

I'm also going to increase my fencing and general working-out activity, since I don't know that I'll have much free time for it once the baby comes. Time to knock off a few pounds before I put it back on over the summer. One thing that's good is that I can apparently drop weight very quickly (25 lbs in 4 weeks last June and July), and I put it on at a much slower rate, even when I'm not being careful (15 lbs in 8 months.) We'll see how it goes.

Buffy, Season 4, is almost finished. I love Netflix.