Betwixt and between

Transition time. Last night, June 9, the Stanley Cup playoffs ended when the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime to win the big mug for the first time since 1961.

Tomorrow, June 11, the World Cup opens in South Africa. The world-wide soccer competition lasts for a month and will hold much of the world in thrall. The sports-obsessed, non-American part of it, at least.

I may not exactly be in thrall, but I will be watching the action whenever I can. Where I live (Central Daylight Time, which is UCT-5), the games will be broadcast live in the morning and afternoon. South Africa is seven hours ahead of us.

That's what I told my wife. We just completed the annual Stanley Cup marathon, which is two months of hockey nearly every night--two games a night during the early stages. I watch as much as I can. Once in a while, she joins me for a little while. Otherwise, it's Hallmark movies or the History Channel--she was delighted to see that a new season of "Ice Road Truckers" is starting.

I told her the bad news first: As soon as the Stanley Cup ends, the World Cup starts.

Then I told her the good news: The games will be played in the morning and afternoon where we live. So there won't be live games played during the evening, when we often to sit together and watch TV.

But, in the name of full disclosure, I guess I have to tell her sooner or later the bad news: CBC will broadcast a "game of the day" in prime time. during the evening, and then another game at 11 p.m. (Don't know if it's the same game as at 7 p.m.)

ESPN is broadcasting the games live in the States but won't be having any prime-time replays. A few games will be repeated during late night or overnight hours, as it suits their needs for "content."

Of course, I will pay special attention to the U.S. team, especially its Saturday game against the U.K.--their most important game of the group stage. The thinking is that the U.S. will get out its group and make it as far as the group of 16 before the water gets too deep.

But once they are eliminated, I will keep watching it to the end. It should be a good show. South Africa is a beautiful country.

****

Betwixt and between, I got out of town two days this week to visit S and her girlfriend. I drove down on Tuesday and returned Wednesday. It wasn't a long visit, and I went by myself.

We had planned to all go down to visit a wildlife park/farm south of Oshkosh, but it was raining too hard, so we spent Tuesday afternoon at their place, watching several recorded episodes of the "Angel" TV series, about this vampire with a human soul. It's by Joss Whedon, who made the "Firefly" series--I really liked that. Several hours passed by. Maybe I dozed off. An "Angel" marathon isn't what I had expected--but I didn't expect rain, either.

Then it was time to get some supper. We went to Golden Corral for their buffet. While eating, we talked about some plans. I am going to take them to the neopagan camp this year; we are going to stuff everything into my little car and go there during the first days of July. (Last year, B flew down from Alaska to go there with me--but she can't get away this year.)

S has been there just once--five years ago, which is when I first met her. She has been wanting to go back ever since, but circumstances (her husband) didn't permit it until now. Her GF, of course, just moved up to Wisconsin this year, so she hasn't been there. This year's theme is "deep friendship," which is a topic that resonates with all of us.

While eating, we also talked about other stuff. They hadn't yet seen "Alice in Wonderland" with Johnny Depp, which just came out on DVD. So we stopped at Target to get it, went home, popped it on the DVD player and enjoyed that. Then, off to a bar, about two blocks away. It had been S's birthday the day before, and we had a couple drinks to mark the occasion. I had a rum and cola, which was, eh, OK, and a Smirnoff pomegranate cooler, which I liked much better.

From there, I drove us all home. They saved me some money by putting me up for the night, and the accommodations were very soft and warm and pleasant.

The GF slept in Wednesday morning, so S and I got up and talked for a while before I hit the road for home. I got back about 3 p.m., and my wife and I quickly went out for some shopping.

I made a mistake during the trip, though. I had wanted to call her late that night. I did call after I arrived there (while watching "Angel"). She wanted me to call again between 8 and 10--we were watching the movie then, and I had turned the phone off. Alas, I forgot to turn it back on before leaving for the bar. By the time I remembered, it was nearly 11, and she is usually in bed by then. So I called her in the morning to make sure all was well.

So it goes.

****

Get out the ark! We may need it.

The weather forecast is talking about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain tonight ... 3/4 to an inch on Friday ... and 1/2 to 3/4 inches Friday night. Don't think I will be driving very far on Friday. (Earlier, they had talked about 1 to 2 inches Friday, but that's been cut back. One inch is plenty enough.)

Better round up the ice cream buckets. We have a leak in one corner of the attic roof, and the ice cream buckets come in handy.