Friday digest

- As a resident of Canada's capital city - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - there are three things that annoy the hell out of me. First is the winter that lasts from the Canadian Thanksgiving (second weekend in October) through to the Victoria Day weekend (Memorial Day in the States). Second is the hypersensitivity about minority language rights, on both sides of the Ottawa River. And finally, it's this town's half assed approach to getting the job done.

Take, for example, the headline in today's Ottawa Citizen, which says that NHL wunderkind Sidney Crosby ought not to be booed by Ottawa Senators fans during their Round 1 playoff series against Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins. This is the frickin' Stanley Cup playoffs. We should be applauding anything that advances our local team towards the goal of victory including throwing the opposing team's best player off his game. Perhaps it's because this is a bloated government town which exists alongside a high-tech sector where you can show up with ripped jeans, a ball cap and four-day old growth on your face for a 10 AM Monday morning ping-pong game at the office, but good enough is always good enough.

Have you ever seen overrated pretty boy Wade Redden get mad about losing? I haven't. Have you ever seen any Senator, for that matter, break their stick on the bench after screwing up a play or refuse to talk to the media because he was too torn up about coming out on the wrong end of a crucial contest? Me neither. Now, we have the leading media outlet in the capital urging fans to sit on their hands instead of razzing the NHL's Art Ross Trophy winner because it's not nice or something.

If you want to know why I remain a staunch New Jersey Devils fan after having lived here for almost fifteen years instead of rooting for the Sens, here's your answer:

This team, like the town it plays in, embraces a second-place culture far too often.

- Neo-con svengali Paul Wolfowitz is in a heap of trouble for pulling a Valerie Plame and elevating his romantic partner to a high-profile gig at the World Bank.

A Vanity Fair spread is sure to follow.

-The old Gloria Steinem saying that "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" is frighteningly closer to reality as far as conception goes, as scientists are looking at ways to develop female sperm production.

Personally, I think that is really, really screwed up.