Live from Anaheim – It’s Hockey Night….

Tonight’s game was Awesome!

The Ducks now have a two game lead on the Ottawa Senators and are only two wins away from hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup. For those of you who couldn’t make it to the game, I submit the following pictures for your viewing pleasure (and so the fans in Ottawa can cry).

Oh, and one more thing, my seats were way better then Snoop Dogg’s seats.

More pictures and video after the jump…
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As we enjoy the extra day off most of us receive today, we should take a moment to remember those members of the armed forces who have served and sacrificed their lives for our country.

We will never forget you, or the high price that you and your families have paid.

With the OS in the CA thinking that they can beat the AD in the OC, We here at the OC Metroblog take the challenge from the Toronto, ON Metroblog.

The Anaheim Ducks are the first team from the West Coast (and not from the CA, that would be Canada) to make the Stanley Cup twice in the history of the NHL, we are prepared to see this bet through to the end.

Toronto has proposed the following bet:

If the Ducks Win: The captain of the Toronto metroblog will have to suffer the same fate that has befallen on Minnesota, Vancouver, and Detroit – they will wear an Anaheim Ducks jersey in front of a famous Ontario landmark (i.e. the CN Tower or Parliament)

If the Senators win: I as captain will wear a Senators jersey (or something with the Ottawa Senator logo) in front of a famous OC/Anaheim landmark (i.e. Disneyland or Anaheim City Hall)

We accept the following ground rules:

Ground rules:
-The losing city will have to acquire the jersey themselves (Wal-mart imitations are okay. Really? I don’t think the Wal-Mart’s in California carry Senators jerseys.)
-Photo has to be good quality as humiliation looks best in high res
-The winning city gets to write an entry and totally humiliate the losing city
-The losing city must write an entry detailing their loss, and praising the winning city for their pure awesomeness (picture must be included)
-winning city has bragging rights till the start of the next season (I don’t see any Kings fans having this right anytime soon…)

“Et tu Brutas…” – Just like Rome, watch your back Senators the Ducks are going to take you down.

Ok, so tonight we ate at the Outback in Buena Park. Not the closest one to us, but there was a reason for going there, trust me. And, I don’t want to hear anything from vegetarians about me wanting a steak, either!

Anyhoo, a waitress came and took our order, simple enough, no appetizers or weird drinks. We waited, and waited. A waiter came out and said he was taking over for waitress chick and how were we doing? I said we hadn’t even gotten our salads and we had been wating quite a while.

We wait some more. Then, a guy comes out with our food. Our waiter, in view and hearing of us, tells him that we can’t get our entrees yet as we haven’t even gotten our salads. Guy with food beats a quick exit stage left. Nobobdy has directly said a word to us at this point.

Manager comes out and finally serves us our salads. Since we have been waiting twenty minutes plus, I ask if my son’s food was ready yet, as it had been a while and he was hungry. Most restaurants actually try to serve the kids meal with the parents’ first course because they don’t have the patience and they generally take longer to eat. He said he would go check. And of course, his food was ready because it had been ready five minutes before. I waited for him to say something, some sort of explanation. Nothing. So as he turned to leave, I asked if there had been a problem with our food, as the people seated after us (the exact same number) were now almost finished.

He started in on the mixup between our original waitress and the order and the taking over by the other guy, even though I had explicitly told new guy that we needed our salads. He said, “I am going to be completely honest with you,” and I thought, you have no choice because we clearly saw you come out with our food and then take it back into the kitchen without saying anything to us and perhaps hoping that we hadn’t seen or heard anything.

To be fair, he tried to make it right by offering us drinks or desserts or whatever we wanted.

But, I was angry at the idea that if we hadn’t spoken up, the hell if they were going say anything first.

I don’t think I’ll be going back to that one.

Would you have done anything different?

And yeah, my title is a bit overdramatic, but it sounded kinda catchy.

This guy fails at parking. Taken at the Irvine Spectrum 5/26/07.

The city of Fountain Valley was incorporated in 1957.

It used to be called “Gospel Swamps” because the area was inundated with swampland. I get the swamp part, but I’m not sure how they arrived at the “gospel” part.

The name “Fountain Valley” was adopted later due to artisanal wells, which were abundant due to the high water table.

Up until the 1930’s, the main crops grown were beans and sugar beets.

And, late breaking news, if you are a Fountain Valley resident, show proof at the Orange County Marketplace this weekend only and get free admission. This is courtesy of the city celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary this year.

It’s best known park is Mile Square Park, which is 640 acres. It’s Friday and I’m too lazy to figure out if the park is indeed a square mile. I’m guessing it is, else why the name?

Last but not least, the city motto is “A nice place to live.” It’s lacking a bit in imagination, but it’s not too bad.

This article in the OC Register reports that due to resident concern over recent coyote attacks on pets, the city of Los Alamitos will begin trapping and killing coyotes.

Why do they need to kill them?

Urban sprawl has created fewer and fewer places for wildlife, and then we get all pissed off when they come into our neighborhoods and act like, well, wildlife.

In my neighborhood, it is actually a recommendation in our HOA guidelines that pets be kept inside overnight. Anyone who lets their pet roam around (mainly cats) has unfortunately learned the hard way that it isn’t a good idea. Everyone exists just fine with this knowledge, and no one feels the need to go around trapping and killing the coyotes.

It isn’t a constitutional right to have a pet or to be able to leave it outdoors alone at night, so I am not understanding why such drastic measures are being taken. Shame on Los Alamitos for not at least trying first a less harsh manner in dealing with the animals that coexist with us in SoCal. And with this type of approach, they won’t be existing for long.

What the heck is going on out here in Anaheim Hills?

Two nights ago a series of small explosions rocked a home on Comino Correr near Eucalyptus Park. The mother is beatened and left bleeding in the driveway.

The next day a small brushfire is reported in Irvine at Mason Regional Park near Concordia University. After the fire is extinguished, fire fighters find the charred remains of two adults: A daughter and possibly the father.

As the Register is reporting the Father has a history of legal troubles. He was convicted of mail fraud, served 2 1/2 years in prison, and the company that he worked for repaid 3 million dollars to the US Postal Service due to a mail fraud scheme.

What makes this story all the more odd is that it happened out in Anaheim Hills. Normally a pretty safe area to live. There is the occasional break in and the Wells Fargo bank has had a few attempted hold-ups (it’s right next to a freeway on/off ramp) but this is the biggest mystery to come out of here for a while.

Any one with information should contact the Anaheim Police Department and/or the Irvine Police Department.

Teemu Selanne’s goal in the eight minute of overtime kept the Ducks alive and allowed them to return to the Pond to fight off Detroit in a game six that is going to be brutal.

With the Ducks in the lead 3-2 over Detroit, winning game six for Anaheim will not be easy. The defense has seemed too relaxed at times, with the only thing saving them from a complete blow out is the wizardry by Giguere between the pipes. If the Ducks can keep the pressure up on Hasek they can control the momentum and keep Detroit from getting free shots on Giguere.

Anaheim can do it, they can take game six, but with the missed chances in game five by Detroit, Anaheim will have to play smart physical hockey, avoiding silly penalties and making sure to clear the zone to prevent Detroit from setting up shots to Giguere’s gloved side, to clinch the Western Conference.

Go Ducks!

According to an article in the OC Register, Irvine tops the list of safest large cities in California. This year saw a decrease in reported violent crimes.

Meanwhile, cities like Huntington Beach, Fullerton, and Orange saw an increase in certain types of crimes, such as property and violent crime.

So, what exactly is Irvine doing right? Is it the people that live there? Is it the police presence? Is it a combination of those things and more?

Is there a city or area in OC that you avoid because you feel it is unsafe?