It's Hockey Night Tonight

Well, here I am, all settled in in Westlock.  It's kind of nice to be back at a radio station the broadcasts the Oilers games.  See, whenever a radio station broadcasts a live event, there has to be some poor guy stuck back at the station pushing the buttons, manning the controls, and making sure the event is broadcast live to the world.  That person is the operator.  And at a station that broadcasts Oilers games, I frequently have to operate the Oilers games.  And I don't mind doing it one bit, because it's about the only part of my job where I get paid overtime.  In days gone by, when the Oilers were on in Athabasca, I'd pass the time by writing long, rambling blog entries.  So it looks to be time for that tradition to continue!

While the overtime is nice, such evenings usually result in me spending that overtime pay, because I eventually find myself browsing online shops and buying things I don't need.  Well, I've already started, actually.  Just got the latest e-mail that my latest shipment from Amazon.ca has shipped.  I'm kind of disappointed.  A few years ago, during the postal strike, Amazon.ca switched from Canada Post to Puralator as their courier of choice.  So, when I placed this order a few days ago, here I was making all the necessary preperations for the package to be delivered to a place where I can sign for it and all that.  And now, as I read the fine print on the notice that my order has shipped, I see they've gone back to using Canada Post.

Maybe all this is a sign that I should sign up for Amazon Prime.  It was with some hype back in January that Amazon announced they were finally introducing this program to Amazon.ca.  Essentially, for the flat rate of $79 per year, you get unlimited 2-day shipping.  It's just one of those things where I wonder if I'd get my money's worth for that $79 per year.

Anyway, what did I buy in this particular shipment?  Well, I bought Disney's latest animated epic Wreck-It Ralph.  As I said in my original review when I went to see it in theatres back in November, I was pleasantly surprised with this movie.  I went in expecting Video Game Nostalgia: The Movie, but instead got a very sweet tale about a guy trying to rediscover his spark for what he does.  And I also got the James Bond movie From Russia With Love, still considered by many to be the greatest Bond film ever made.  I don't know if you've noticed, but with the release and hype of Skyfall, James Bond Blu-Rays are dirt cheap right now.

And speaking of browsing online shops, I was starting to fret that I may not have a chance to buy these.  As you know, I collect Star Wars action figures.  And, a few years ago, they created some exclusive Star Wars action figures of the Star Tours characters, and you could only get them at Disneyland.  I had a cousin go to Disneyland, and humbly requested that he bring me back a couple for my collection...and here they are!

Well, a couple years ago, Disney decided it was time to update Star Tours, and along with that came new characters for Star Tours.  And, about a month ago, Disney announced that there's a new batch of Disneyland exclusive Star Tours figures, starting to show up at Disneyland and Walt Disney World gift shops right now.  I was wondering if it would be cheaper to buy them on eBay, or go to Disneyland and buy them in person.  (My mother was all for me going to Disneyland...until I decided to hit up my folks for the money for such a trip.)

But then, I was perusing one of my Star Wars action figure databases, and they revealed that they are now available at the online Disney Store!  I was all eager to see this, but after I went there, and calculated the shipping, and converted it to Canadian money, it came up to $75.  That's the kind of price that always makes me think twice.  When I started this hobby of collecting action figures all those  years ago, I swore I would never spend more than $20 on a figure.  But, you know, this is a 5-pack of figures, and $75 / 5 = $15.  That's within my principles....

But let's take a break from online shopping, shall we?  It's been almost a week, and I haven't sat down to blog about the new Iron Man 3 trailer yet.



They keep assuring us that it's not, but this sequel sure looks darker and grittier than the first two.  After very subtly referencing him in the first two films, we finally get a look at Iron Man's arch-enemy, the Mandarin, as played by Ben Kingsley.  And right now, I'm totally digging that final shot in the trailer of all the different Iron Man armors.  Dude...is that a Hulkbuster?  I swear I saw a Hulkbuster.  All I know is I will be there on opening day,  May 3. 

And it appears that I'm about all rambled out on this Tuesday night.  It's back to the game, and the Oilers are currently leading 2-0.  Go Oil.