NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Edition

As of Sunday night, my Round 1 predictions were actually going very well. I had all but one correct, with two series remaining. Then two disastrous Game Sevens happened and I came crashing back down to Earth like the supposed Balloon Boy (if, you know, he had actually been up in that balloon).

Still, I went 5-3, and got two of the rounds exactly correct! I picked Vancouver in six games and San Jose in six games. Not too bad for somebody who doesn't know what he's talking about (no, I'm not talking about Barry Melrose).

So on to Round 2! Let's see if I can stink the joint out any more than I did last time. When I say that I suck, I really shouldn't lie like that. That's what my drill sergeant always said.

"Damn it, man! If you're going to say you suck, you damned well better back it up and suck, goddammit!"

What was I saying?

Oh yeah, round 2!

Here we go.

As before, all rounds are best of 7 games. All seedings are the original seedings for round one (the top 3 Eastern seeds all went down, so their highest is 4th)

Western Conference

#1 San Jose vs #5 Detroit

Ho hum. Another NHL postseason, another virtual no-show by Joe Thornton and his crew. If it wasn't for the 3rd line pluggers on the team showing up, like Joe Pavelski (8 points in 6 games), the Sharks would have lost to the Avalanche. Craig Anderson stood on his head for the Avalanche, but when you're facing these guys, that's not too hard. The top Sharks line had a combined 10 points in 17 combined games. I made the milk carton joke in my Round 1 post, but I think we have to escalate to putting their faces on the Goodyear blimp as it flies over the city. "Have you seen these men? If so, please call 1-800-IVANISH."

Meanwhile, the red hot Red Wings blew Phoenix off home ice in Game 7 of their series, but it did take them 7 games to take the Coyotes out. They have very suspect goaltending. They also have a high-powered offense with some great skill players. It seems they can score at the drop of a hat. Hopefully they don't waste that ability on a snazzy hat, like this:

I think the Red Wings shut down the red-hot Pavelski line and the Thornton line looks as talented as it usually does in the playoffs.

Red Wings in 6

#2 Chicago vs #3 Vancouver

This is it! Revenge will be sweet for the Canucks in this rematch of last year's 2nd round playoff matchup. Last year, Blackhawk forward Dustin BigButtlin (or something like that) crashed Roberto Luongo's crease with impunity, getting him off his game and agitated. There were also lots of other little stories in the series as well. These two teams don't like each other, and if this weren't happening on the hockey rink, it would result in a really nasty game of Red Rover, Red Rover on the school playground.

The Canucks are faster than last year, and they have much more offensive confidence. I can't see them sitting back like they did before. Also, Luongo appears to be finding his game at just the right time. Who can forget this save from their 1st round series with the Kings?



I don't think he'll allow the distraction to bother him this year.

The penalty kill was the main story in the Canucks-Kings series, with the Canucks PK floundering early.  It almost seemed like if the Canucks took a penalty, they should just give the Kings a goal and go back to 5-on-5 play.  But it picked up later in the series.  That's the PK they need to show the Hawks.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have weaker goaltending this year (while Niemi did shut out the Predators twice, he also allowed four goals in three other games, and when you say "Predators," you don't really think "offense"). They also have Marian Hossa, which means they suffer from the "Marian Hossa Curse." However, since that only affects the Stanley Cup Final, it doesn't mean much in this series.

Don't think this will get you to the Finals, Hawks fans. This year, the curse doesn't apply, as it will end early.

Canucks in 7

Eastern Conference

#4 Pittsburgh vs #8 Montreal

Wow, what a comeback for Montreal! Down 3-1 in the series against the high-powered Washington Capitals team led by Alexander (Why Can't I Score Making the Same Move All the Time?) Ovechkin, they knuckled down and stymied them for 3 games, coming back to win it. That took a lot of gumption! Halak, their goalie, stood on his head in a remarkable performance. His ability to stop rubber was reminiscent of Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, or any girl I tried to date in high school. I was in awe, especially in Game 6, where he faced over 50 shots and allowed one goal.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is not as one-dimensional as Washington was, as they don't have Alexander Semin on their team (how can you be a goal-scorer and not score on almost 50 shots over a series????) I really don't like Sidney Crosby. He's super-talented, but he's cocky, with this smug expression that reminds me of most of the women I tried to date in college (are you recognizing a theme here?).

Halak is good, but he has to be god-like to beat the Penguins this year. Can he do it? Is he the Moses the Canadiens need to lead them to the promised land? And most importantly, will there be any stone tablets in the locker room when they get to Pittsburgh?

"The Fourth Commandment is: Thou Shalt Not Apply Thy Elbow to Thy Opponent's Head, Unless Thy Opponent is Matt Cooke. Then Thou May Use Both Elbows if Available."

I just don't think it will happen (though I wouldn't mind seeing that happen to Cooke).

Penguins in 6

#6 Boston vs #7 Philadelphia

Two more big surprises coming out of the East. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that either the Bruins or the Flyers would be in the Eastern Finals? But it's true! One of these teams will make it.

Philly shut down a surprisingly mediocre Devils team in 5 games (I thought it would take 7 for them to do it), but they've lost their two leading scorers (or two of them, anyway....research? Is that a Greek word?). Both Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter are out for a long while. That didn't seem to bother them against the Devils, but can the Bruins defense hold the rest of the team off? Meanwhile, asshole-defenseman Chris Pronger has yet to elbow somebody in the head in this year's playoffs (or at least he hasn't been caught for it). Is this the series where he snaps and does it? Or does he elbow himself and knock himself out for 4-6 weeks? One can only hope.

Meanwhile, I still haven't watched Boston much (I followed my vow to watch the highlights diligently, though!), so I really don't know how well they're doing. Did Buffalo just suck or were the Bruins that good? I did see them knock out the Sabers' top scorer, Vanek, with a vicious slash that didn't get called. Do they do the same thing to Daniel Carcillo's face? And will it improve his looks?

I just have a hunch that this is going to be a hard-fought series, where neither team gives an inch, there are lots of battles, some heated play after the whistle, that sort of thing. Also, I predict that the anthem singer will get booed by the Philly crowd in Game 3, and then get speared by Pronger as he skates by.

What a nasty thing to do to a talented 12-year-old girl.

Flyers in 7

There wasn't much response to my first round picks, but I decided I would do Round 2 anyway. Come on, my hockey-loving friends. Get in here and trash talk! Tell me I'm full of shit!

You know you want to.

Mashable's "Free Music Mondays" - Great Stuff!

Long-time readers of this blog know I'm a big Mashable fan (one of the great social media and tech blogs out there, I think).

For some reason, one of the regular posts that I had generally ignored is the "Free Music Monday" posts. I don't know whether I was just too busy to really check them out or what, but I usually ignored them. They always sounded interesting, but I never took the time.

Basically musical artists offer up free tracks (sometimes whole CDs!) that Mashable then links to. This gives the artists great exposure (Mashable's audience is freakin' huge!) and it gives the listener a chance to try some new artists out and see if they can find somebody they really like.

I finally decided to go ahead and see what I was missing with this week's post, however. Not because any of the bands in particular looked attractive to me, but just because I was going to be sitting at my desk at work for an extended period of time and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try this stuff out.

Am I glad I did.

The cool thing about Mashable's article is that it gives you a good description of not just the type of music (Indie, Hard Rock, Pop, etc), but also a little bit about the band itself and what style they have.

In doing so, I got to listen to some really great music. I'm only going to link to the Mashable article in order to give them some (ok, not much) traffic, but you can find the download links on their site.

The first one I downloaded was a New York band called "The Seams." Mashable classifies them as "Indie" (I'm not even sure what that means), but I decided to go ahead and download the whole album, because they're offering it for free on their site.

I am not a music critic, and I really don't know that much about the current music scene. Their sound is really familiar, though my knowledge of the music scene precludes me actually naming what bands they sound like (I wouldn't want to tar them with a bad brush if I got the comparison wrong). They are songs that you could easily hear on the radio, though. The CD (if you can even call it that when you download all the songs) is called "Spanish American," and it is truly excellent. Since it's a free download, why don't you give them a try?

The next one I tried was a "Glorious Noise" compilation from the Exploding Sound label. This compilation has rock songs from twenty different artists, and they all have different sounds. Some are softer while others are harder with some great guitar riffs. If you like modern rock at all, there's going to be something on this CD to like.

I also tried the one track Mashable had from a band called Pretty Mighty Mighty, classified as Alternative Rock. The song is "Ten Minutes". This one was pretty good, too. They're from Columbus, Ohio, which piqued my interest for familial reasons.

Finally, I tried InAshton, and their CD called "Red." They're another New York-based modern rock group and most of the songs on the CD were excellent.

Obviously, this isn't a music review, as I know nothing about music and how to critique it, which is why these descriptions aren't that detailed. But I do know what I liked, and these were all great downloads. Since they're free, if you like that type of music, why don't you go check them out? There are other genres on there that you might like.

And maybe there will be something on Mashable's future (or past, even) Free Music Mondays that you want to check out too?

How can you go wrong with "free?"

Kick-Ass: Movie Review

Monday nights are good movie nights, because the crowds are rarely large for even the most successful films. Last Monday, we took advantage of that to go see Kick-Ass, the new movie from director Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake). It's based on the comic book of the same name, and it's a really great movie.

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a high school student who's the typical nerd: likes comic books, hangs out with a couple of similar friends, girls pretty much ignore him and he gets bullied by the tougher guys at school too. (Hey, without the bullying part, that's basically me in high school, and he's got my name, too!) Dave suddenly starts wondering why nobody's ever tried to become a superhero before, and he decides to do it himself. He buys a green wetsuit and mask and calls himself "Kick-Ass."

He becomes a sensation, but is soon made to look completely ordinary when Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) show up to defend him from getting his ass kicked. Unfortunately, Kick-Ass has stumbled into the middle of a war between these two vigilantes and a mob kingpin named Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong). Does he have what it takes to be a true hero?

Sadly, there wasn't enough Big Daddy and Hit Girl in the movie, as they steal the show every time they come on screen. Moretz is an 11-year-old actress, and the character she plays is a foul-mouthed dynamo of violence and acrobatics. Taught well by her father to deal death and take revenge on their enemies, she hasn't had any real childhood to speak of. This is the relationship that was worth examining, and it sometimes gets lost in the high school antics of Dave and his compatriots. It's never totally off the radar screen, though.

There has been some controversy about Hit Girl's extreme violence and vulgarity, but I think that says something about the characters upbringing. As for corrupting the actress herself, I love her take on the whole thing in Macleans magazine:

"It's a role—it's not meant to be taken as real life. I was raised to think cursing makes you look unintelligent. As Chloë, I can honestly say I've never uttered a syllable of a curse word, not even behind closed doors."

I love the quirkiness behind Kick-Ass, with good little asides about the comics genre ("With no power comes no responsibility...though that's not true"). It's a funny movie with some great dialogue, but there's also a wonderful comment on society behind the whole thing too, and it hits both sides. On one side, you have Big Daddy and Hit Girl, extremely violent (the blood flows liberally when they're around). Some might say they are psychopaths who exemplify the "law and order" types taken to the extreme.

On the other hand, they also represent a statement that true evil does exist in the world, and that it must be fought without any hand-wringing or trying to understand it. They just must be dealt with.  While Kick-Ass feels the same, it's obvious that idealism alone won't work, without a little muscle and willingness to get dirty behind it.

Personally, I think both sides are valid.

How does it work as a movie, though? I think it works wonderfully, though again Cage and Moretz steal the movie. Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca), the girl Dave has the hots for, is totally undeveloped and her change in attitude really doesn't have the greatest foundation. The same goes for the other high school characters. While they're funny, they just don't seem three-dimensional. They're even less than sidekicks sometimes.

Frank D'Amico is fairly one-dimensional too, though Strong does play him very well, giving him much more depth than the script does.  He gets to snarl a lot, which Strong is definitely good at.  I feel bad for him, though, as the shooting of the confrontation between D'Amico and Hit Girl had to have been hard.  How do you fight an 11-year-old girl?  Kudos to both actors as well as the rest of the behind the scenes crew for making that fight look *very* realistic.

All that being said about the characters, the movie is just fun to watch, and you might take away something as well.  Kick-Ass himself is the perfect foil for the other two heroes, as he is the crusader who wants nothing more than to stand up for the little guy and against the bullies of the world.  The script is funny, there are a few in-jokes that are hilarious if you catch them, and the rest of the dialogue is top-notch as well.

It is very violent and there is a lot of bad language (not just from Hit Girl), so be warned.  It's rated R for a reason.  But if you are old enough, or if you think your teenager can handle it, it's a great movie to see.

Formspring - Ask me a question!

I had never heard of "Formspring" before Dan Americh started talking about it on Twitter and his podcast. Basically, it's a place where you can ask anybody anything. You won't necessarily get an answer, but you never know.

Just as an example, here's Dan's Formspring page. I think he'll answer pretty much anything, though obviously not the extremely personal stuff.

I looked around the site, and it's kind of intriguing. Not for the extremely private people who don't want *anything* about themselves to get out there, but if you don't mind publicizing yourself a little bit, it's great. Anyway, I thought I would give it a try.

Basically, all you do is sign up for an account (you can log in via Facebook and Twitter, too). Once you've completed your profile, they spring three easy questions on you. I don't know if it's the same three for everybody or not, but mine were:

"What do you think about formspring.me so far?"
"If you could be on the cover of any magazine, which would you choose?"
"When was the last time you received flowers?"

It's that easy! I think you don't need an account to ask people questions, though users can set it so somebody has to be logged in to ask them a question. Others may have theirs set up so *anybody* can do it. Even logged in, you can ask the question anonymously if you wish.

Formspring is just another way for people to engage with others online. How successful will it be? I don't know, but it is an interesting concept. The amount of participation you give it is completely up to you. You can say "I'm not going to answer that" or you can ignore a question, or you can give an honest answer. It's actually pretty cool.

Here's my new Formspring page, if you're interested in asking me anything. I'm kind of private, so I won't necessarily answer anything. But if it's something I would blog about, I'll be happy to answer things there. I did answer those three questions.

Hit me up!

Edit #1 (6/22/10): A few people have found this blog by searching for something like "different ways to say 'ask me a question'". You can do that just by going into your profile settings. It's right there, about 2/3 of the way down.

Doctor Who - Time of the Angels

"You lot, you're like rabbits! I'll never be done saving you." - The Doctor

Now that's more like it! After the really poor (and falling even more in my graces as I think about it) "Victory of the Daleks," producer Stephen Moffat brings us a brilliant story (at least so far) to make up for it. "Time of the Angels" has it all: awesome dialogue, great acting, creepy thrills, and a cliffhanger that doesn't feel forced. If Part 2 is anything like Part 1, this one is going to be considered one of the greats.

Professor River Song (Alex Kingston) is back! After an impromptu rescue by the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan), the TARDIS lands on a planet, the site of a ship crash that River Song and the Church soldiers are investigating. The cargo of the ship was apparently a Weeping Angel, stone statue-like beings full of malevolence, who can only move when you're not looking at them. If you do look, they appear like statutes. They are looking for the Angel, but they stumble upon more than they bargained for. The Catacombs of Death may be very well-named, as the Doctor realizes why the Byzantium really crashed, and what it could mean for him and his companions.

Moffat introduced River Song during David Tennant's era, in "The Silence in the Library", and she is truly an interesting character. She and the Doctor keep meeting but in different sections of their timeline. We've already seen River Song's fate in "Library," but it's now later in the Doctor's life and earlier in hers. It can all be very confusing, but Moffat makes the most of the confusion with some wonderfully classic dialogue as Amy tries to figure out just how River Song knows the Doctor, and just who she is.

Kingston gives a great performance, too, though the opening sequence left a little to be desired. I was hoping that it would improve, and thankfully it did.

Moffat once again shows he's the master of dialogue, as there are some brilliant lines in the episode. The quote at the beginning of this post is when the Doctor finds out just how many humans are out their in the universe, colonizing worlds and basically making pests of themselves.  There's also his pouting when River Song ends up flying the TARDIS better than he can. Amy's reaction to all of this is wonderful, also putting to rest my worries from the "Victory of the Daleks" review about the "unrequited love" that episode hinted at Amy having for the Doctor. In this episode, she has a lot of fun with the guessing games. "Is she Mrs. Doctor?" or " Aw, you're all Mr. Grumpy Face today." She doesn't act jealous in the slightest, which was a breath of fresh air.

While I'm going on about the acting, Smith and Gillan are phenomenal in this one, ironic since this is the first episode they filmed. There was not an off-note this week, unlike last week where the characters were almost ciphers. They did a great job with the light-hearted scenes, but when the terror starts, they do that well too. Amy being trapped in a ship with the Angel, fear pouring out of her eyes as the Doctor tries desperately to save her? The Doctor getting on the High Priest's nerves, stealing his radio to talk to one of the Priest's men? Wonderfully Doctorish.

Which brings me to the really scary stuff. "Blink," (the Moffat episode that introduced the Angels) was a totally claustrophobic scare-fest, all taking place in one house. This time, Moffat brings them back and makes the claustrophobia bigger by setting it all in a massive stone catacomb. In the dark, with flashlights flickering.

It's a wonderful atmosphere, and when things start going wrong, Moffat turns up the chills!  While Doctor Who has often scared the kiddies and made them run behind the couch, I've never really found it that nerve-wracking.  I guess it helps that I'm an adult, and I came to the show when I was in junior high school.  Yet the Angels, and the way they present them, just spook the shit out of me.

Finally, it was nice to see a cliffhanger that didn't seem forced.  Too many times during Russell T. Davies' era of the show, there were multiple cliffhangers involving all of the characters.  Granted, this time all of the characters are in the same place, but it still could have seemed contrived, and it didn't.  Instead of seeing the looming danger coming right before the credits roll, we see the Doctor beginning to execute his plan to escape and then it cuts to the credits without revealing what that plan does.

This is only Part 1, so the story could certainly go downhill from here.  But just like the High Priest says, I have faith in the Doctor.  And I have faith in Moffat.

More like this, please. I can't wait for Part 2!

One Hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 11)

Hello, dear reader. I have a favour to ask you. The original post begins after all of the asterisks, if you want to skip this.

Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.

Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.

Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!

Thank you.

**************************

You know what this world needs? No, besides an enema (Jack Nicholson, call your agent!). This world needs more one-hit wonders! One-hit wonders bring lightness to the world, food to the starving people of West Hollywood, and some more acknowledgment to some people who were forgotten long ago. I think it's fitting that in all of these posts, in all this time that I've been doing them, only a few times has anybody found them doing a search on a specific artist.

And I am here to scratch that itch! To heal that wound! To rub ointment on that rash! Ewwww, scratch that last one. But I am here for you in your time of need. Don't ask me for money, but I can give you one-hit wonders! Because I am your friend. You know what they say. Friends will help you move. Good friends will help you move bodies. Dear friends will sit back and watch the cops arrest you while videotaping the whole thing, putting it on Youtube and making you an Internet celebrity.

I'm none of those types of friends, but I do give you the gift of laughter! And stupidity. Can't forget that one.

It's time for this week's One-Hit Wonders post! I hope you're as happy as this guy:



Though I seriously doubt that's possible.

As usual, you can find the entire list here. But no peeking. If you do, I will have to get angry. And you wouldn't like it when I'm angry.

Here we go!

1) Sir Mix-a-Lot: "Baby Got Back" (#1)



You know, I have no idea what Mix-a-Lot is talking about. I think he needs to spell it out for us.

At least he's speaking out against the fake people! But how this made it to #1, I have no clue. As blunt as he's being, it's nice to see somebody speaking out against the anorexic, yet full of implants models that our media pushes in our faces. Sadly, nobody listened to him. Ok, he made it to #1, but they obviously didn't listen to him, as we still get these types of models today.

Maybe it's because nobody takes a rapper seriously?

2) Rozalla: "Everybody's Free (to Feel Good)" (#37)



Oh, boy, dance music!!!! Get the foot tapping, the head grooving, and the motion-sickness pills ready. Seriously, those strobe lights are making me feel ill. Are they trying to hypnotize us to actually like this song? Because that's what it would take. We can laugh at her dancing, though, so there's at least something pleasant about this song.

And they even produced two videos for this song! What, they thought one was against the Geneva Convention?

(edit: the second video doesn't exist on Youtube or Dailymotion anymore, but I *did* post originally!)

3) Tom Cochrane: "Life is a Highway" (#6)



Hey, lyrics! I provide this one for those who have complained of not being able to understand the songs. That, and because I love Tom Cochrane and won't make fun of him. Just enjoy the song. Cochrane may have been a one-hit wonder in the States, but he's still big up here in Canada.

Luc Bourdon, a young defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks, was killed in a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago. The first game of the next season, the Canucks had a really moving ceremony in tribute to him, and Cochrane sang at it. It was totally beautiful.

I also remember loving this song when it came out. So no laughing at this one.

4) N2Deep: "Back to the Hotel" (#14)



Thankfully, N2Deep comes along to bring us back on the humour track! If there's anything worse than Rap, it's Rap by white people trying to be cool. This song is just horrible, even by Rap standards.

You know what happens when N2Deep shows up on the scene, don't you?



That would be my reaction too.

5) Shakespear's Sister: "Stay" (#4)



Wow, that was...maudlin, wasn't it? Definitely don't listen to this song if you're depressed. Or, you know, have a pulse.

Whoa, what's that! Total change in tone! And it goes from maudlin to extremely silly. Catfight, catfight!!! Wow, this is just getting so surreal, and even sillier. It moves from a song that seems to be about a guy dying and the lament of the woman he loves trying to hold on to him to a song about a woman trying to keep the Elf Queen from stealing her man.

Was I supposed to laugh or cry at this song? Or maybe both?

6) The Soup Dragons: "Divine Thing" (#35)



A #35 song that I remember vividly! Yes, I remember loving this song when it came out. I really do need that guy to get out of my face, though. Hey, haven't you heard of personal space??

It's still a pretty cool song, keeping my toe tapping and me kind of singing along (as best as I can when I'm trying to be quiet, anyway). I know where the guy's coming from, though.

My Divine Things usually end up being devils too. I just have no luck.

7) House of Pain: "Jump Around" (#3)



That's good. Let's end this list with another group of white rappers! This song has become a part of the national consciousness, though, which does add it a little bit of credence. That, or it says something about the society we live in, which I think is more appropriate. Then again, the *song* hasn't become ingrained in our heads. It's the music and chorus ("Jump, jump, jump, jump!")

So maybe that's ok. That part is catchy, like a bad cold.

Though really. Naming yourself "House of Pain" and then putting out bad music just leaves too many easy openings.

So there you have it! The latest installment of my one-hit wonders posts that take their inspiration from Lamb Chop.



I promise, they will end one day, though! Just not in the foreseeable future and before I go completely mental.

And you know what happens when I go completely mental, don't you?

They just don't make superheroes like they used to.



One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40

iPad Thoughts

Our iPad arrived last week, and after a week of using it off and on, I have to say that it's a pretty impressive beast. I really like it, at least enough to enjoy the one we have. I certainly don't need one of my own, but it's a nice gadget to use once in a while.

Since I haven't used it THAT much, I can't really give a review of it, but I do have some thoughts about it that I would like to share.

1) Battery Life

Comparing the battery life of the iPad to the iPhone is like comparing a steak from The Keg to a steak you found while dumpster-diving (I will wait for all of you to get that image out of your head before continuing).

My iPhone is lucky to get 24 hours of moderate use out of it before it desperately needs a recharge. The iPad, on the other hand, made it through a night of game-playing and live-tweeting without missing a beat. Yes, it could use a recharge, but it didn't *need* it. That's the most important difference.

2) Keypad

The iPad is big enough that key-tapping is a breeze, especially so if you turn it and put it in landscape mode. You can almost touch-type on it in that mode, though that can be pretty uncomfortable when you're sitting on a couch or something. Still, typing is so easy on it that you're more likely to do things that require it than you would be on your iPhone.

A couple of days ago, I posted about live-tweeting events and TV shows (like a hockey game). I used to do it on my phone, but didn't do it *that* much because typing on it for long stretches can be a pain. Not on the iPad. I was tweeting away during Game 4 of the Kings-Canucks playoff series because it was just so easy. Much to some of my followers' chagrin.

3) Thin, light, and yet big screen

The iPad is very thin, very much like a tablet (which I guess is why they call it a "tablet"...you don't often get something by me!). The screen is large enough, however, that almost everything looks quite good on it, whether it's a movie, video, or just a game. Games and other apps look good too, though it does depend on whether the app/game has been optimized for the iPad.

Tweetie 2, for example, hasn't been (at least not to my knowledge). It defaults to a small view, pretty much the size of an iPhone. You can double the size which brings it to full screen, but it looks really fuzzy. Still usable, and I use it that way. But fuzzy.

On the other hand, Marvel Comics (they have their own app) look awesome on it. Unlike the iPhone app, which has one comic frame at a time and often shifts the viewpoint from one side of the panel to another, you get the full page on the iPad. And it is marvelous. Too bad you can't get your new comics in that format, but maybe someday.

4) Web browsing

You can browse the web using Safari on the iPhone, but it's small and you have to move the screen around a lot. It's doable and it's fine, but it's not "fun." On the iPad, it all looks great. And with the keyboard the way it is, typing URLs and stuff is really good too.

There are a couple things wrong, though it's an Apple thing (in other words, it's the same problem as the iPhone).

1) No Flash!

For some strange reason, the people at Apple just *hate* Flash and Adobe. They refuse to allow Flash on their products (I assume it's ok on a Mac, but their other devices don't allow it). So much of the video on the web is in Flash, which means you can't access it on your iThingamajig! It's really frustrating.

2) No camera

Unlike the iPhone, there is no camera on the iPad. That's too bad, because it would be really cool to video chat with somebody on MSN or Skype or whatever. I guess it would look weird to have people holding their iPads in front of them to take a picture (it's weird enough how people do it with their phones!), but it's still something that's missing.

Overall, the iPad is definitely a cool gadget to have, though it's certainly not *mandatory*. Is it a Kindle-Killer? I don't know. We have one book installed and it looks really cool, but I haven't tried to read it yet, so I don't know how easy it is to read on it. And I have no experience with the Kindle, either, so I can't provide you with that answer.