"Voyage of the Damned"

"Partners in Crime"
"The Fires of Pompeii"
"Planet of the Ood"
"The Sontaran Stratagem" Pt. 1
(cont'd)

Believe: Stars 3-1 Red Wings
Eleven down, five to go. Best of seven: Detroit 3-1 Dallas.

Well, that sucked. Once again, the rampant corruption within the N.H.L. is exposed. And yes, I mean corruption. There are only two ways the call against Holmstrom could have disallowed a clean goal while a genuine violation of the crease by the Stars was ignored and the resultant goal allowed to stand: the referee is corrupt, taking a bride from the Stars or throwing the game in their favor not for money but because of either a personal bias or pressure from the league to prevent a series sweep; or he is incompetent, in which case he has been allowed to officiate playoff games only because of rot within the N.H.L. (And the N.H.L is clearly rotten from top to bottom, the persistence of Gary Bettman's inept leadership alone is proof of that.) This corruption didn't cost us the game, but the League's silence is this matter is inexcusable.

All that said, the Stars earned the win, dash it all. For the first time this series, I can understand how they overcame the Ducks and Sharks. That said, even a repetition of Wednesday's effort will be insufficient to deny the Red Wings their berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. We lost Game 4, but the Red Wings will prevail in Game 5. Victory!

Flyers 4-2 Penguins. Best of seven: Pittsburgh 3-1 Philadelphia.

Well done, you Philly bastards. Make Sidney Crosby and his ludicrous "playoff beard" work for it! (I know the Sid the Kid is, well, a kid, but if you can't grow a proper playoff beard, kid, just shave. Chelios has been clean-shaven throughout the playoffs, and he's Greek; so, you know he has to be shaving twice or thrice a day.)

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
The House Band, "Pharaoh" from Green Linnet Records: The Twentieth Anniversary Collection (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I cannot help but be reminded of Tobias Wolff's memoir of his service in the Vietnam War, In Pharaoh's Army.

"A thousand eyes, a thousand years,
He feeds us all, he feeds our fears.
Don't stir in your sleep tonight, my dears,
We're all working for the Pharaoh."

And, no, I'm not name-dropping Wolff to foster a veneer of erudition, because I'm certain there are layers of meaning in each of his short stories that I have entirely missed. "Pharaoh" really does remind me of In Pharaoh's Army, which you all should read.

Donnerstag, 15 Mai
The Impossibles, "Plan B" from Mailorder is Fun! (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I sang this song under my breath all day yesterday, but for the life of me I could remember neither the title nor the band. I searched fruitlessly, but then today I stumbled upon it by blind luck just a few songs after "Pharaoh." Woot!