Ok - I know I'm not gonna be popular....but I HAVE to say this.

Ray Emery is not a $3.0 Million dollar a year goalie.

Don't get me wrong - he's got a lot of promise. Technically, he knows where to be on the ice and he's got a fast glove. Other than that, I think its been pure hype that has most fans convinced he is the "new hope".

Every guy I know who plays nets is saying the same thing. In a few years, he'll be a cornerstone, but not right now. He didn't "take" the team to the cup, he was along for the ride. He never stole a game. The Sens defense was so strong most nights, I think Philips and Volchenkov were blocking more shots than he was.

I still believe Gerber is a better goalie that had a slump. Emery was up, and they started to win (keep in mind some of the Shots On Net didn't get over 20 against for some games). A couple of buddies of mine saw Gerber during an open practice and told me how he dominated over Emery.

I think Emery's flamboyance, style and character is what people are in love with. I'm looking at his technique - he has no lateral movement and locks up too long when going into the butterfly.

Well, I guess we'll see where this goes next year.

My Big Fat Greek Dinner

In our tradition of celebrating the grape harvest up at the lake, we have a traditional greek dinner and open a bottle of the previous years product. And more food than Dionysus would have at a feast.

And I have to tell you...not too bad.

The sugar content had to be boosted a bit because the vines got a bit of a late start. That may have led to legs that may have been a bit heavy, but not outrageous- hints of scents from port or sherry, but still a good table wine with dinner.

Decent legs, deep muddy cherry nose (no Rudolph puns please), slightly acidic but smooth.

All in all, I was quite impressed. We had opened a bottle New Years (which tasted quite young) and you can tell how it has mellowed.

This year is going to be a little tight for time. Hopefully, September will bring some hot weather to give the grapes the final push. I'm a seriously thinking of investing in a small oak barrel for the vineyard. That should help lengthen the fermentation time and take care of the acidic nature.

Last year we got about 8 or 9 bottles from the plants......that probably puts our wine at some of the most expensive you'll ever see.

Animals from the cottage

At the risk of redundancy, I'm going to post a link to a couple of videos Deb and I shot at the cottage. Deb is much more adept at the editing and the final artistic output - I'm just a cameraman to her "Spielberg".

There were a couple of pretty neat sightings this week - one was a Dock Spider....not the biggest I've seen around the place, but sizeable. The other was a young moose (which is fairly rare for our area).

Despite the dreary weather, it was good to get away. I'm still sorry I didn't get to film Deb on her rant on mining rights (Rick Mercer would've been proud).

Baby Turtle

Moose on the loose

Bug Hunting

Weekend in the Vineyard

Part of this weekend was spent in our vineyard at the cottage. Boy - that does sound posh and romantic doesn't it. Maybe I should stop there.

By "spending time" I mean to say I was stooped over for hours digging through sand, fending off deerflies with no shade to be found, pruning over grown shrubs so the raccoons will have something to eat this fall.

But at the end of it all, we can get a few bottles of wine out of it.

"Tastes good to me"
-Thomas Hayden Church's character in "Sideways"

Recap of June

Although June started out well (with our anniversary holiday) - it proceeded to go downhill quickly from there.

Most of the month revolved around work and the large layoffs we were making. First time I've been on this side of the fence for something like this - not pleasant to say the absolute least and I'll spare the details about knocking heads with senior management.

Dave Robertson is staying on (I don't know whether folks know he works with me at "The Zoo") but he's been a big asset since he joined. A lot of other folks we had to let go, so the mood is a little bleak.

So, I'll be trying to concentrate on some more positive things this month. Hope to get posting more often.