Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Mini Olympic Sized State of the Union

I was going to comment on the "new" Mini-Stanley the Panthers introduced a couple of weeks ago. To give a bit of background, Mini-Stanley was originally introduced to help the younger kids feel more comfortable around the mascots. The character was (and still is) played by a little person. The original actress has moved on, and a new person is in the costume. At a game a couple of weeks ago, the Panthers had a video set-up of Mini-Stanley being sucked into the engine of a Zamboni, then needing reconstructive surgery to repair the face. They unveiled the new mask, and it looked like it had zombie eyes and very bad botox. I'm not sure if it was because of the mascot or the comments from friends that we sit next to, but my son had nightmares that night because of the new mask. I e-mailed the Panthers, and got a typical response of how it was not their intention to freak out the kids, and they hoped that my son would come to love the new Mini-Stanley just as much.

Moving on, but staying on a hockey subject. I have been trying to get my son to go skating more for public skating sessions, and he doesn't like doing that. He says it's boring just going around in circles. So, when we get a chance, we do "stick and puck" together. This is basically ice time where fathers and sons can get out on the ice and play hockey, practice different things, or whatever, without figure skaters, or random other people getting in the way. This past weekend, we went to a new rink in West Palm Beach called Palm Beach Ice Works. This rink only has hockey and figure skating with no public sessions. The rink is also Olympic sized which means it is bigger than a typical hockey rink. When we arrived at the rink, the person in charge didn't know they had stick and puck scheduled. As we were paying, one other person showed up with his son, and one of his son's friends came as well. So, after the Zamboni cleaned the ice, we were the only five people out there. After about an hour, nobody else showed up, and the guy and two kids left. Therefore, Shane and I had a full Olympic sized hockey rink all to ourselves. I think that is the most fun I had skating, it is just so cool having a rink to yourself.

I just finished watching the State of the Union speech. My first impression is that I'm glad he basically challenged both parties to get things done, especially the Republicans. I'll have to let it sink in a bit more to give more of an opinion, and wait for Fact Check to say what's true and false. I'm also glad he made a point to call out the Supreme Court for the decision last week to overturn centuries old laws and essentially stating the corporations have the same rights as people. That's all for now.

2 comments:

  1. I'm intrigued at the thought that kids have to "get comfortable" around the mascots. Aren't mascots supposed to be lovable doofuses? If they're unnerving, then someone seems to be doing something wrong.

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  2. This is coming from someone who does not have kids. Yes, the mascots are supposed to be lovable doofuses. However, you need to look at it from the perspective of someone who is 3-4 years old, and there is a 6+ foot thing trying to hug you, it could be a bit scary.

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