Spotlight on: Winnipeg

First off, I'd like to apologize for my absence. I went on a road trip to San Jose for some playoff action, seeing as there wasn't anything going on here in Edmonton. Thanks to Don E. Coyote for stepping in and posting a video about horses. And I'd also like to apologize to him again for my being a sleeping turd. Anywho...

Today's city of interest is Winnipeg. Winnipeg is located in Manitoba oblast and was once home to the Winnipeg Jets, before the team moved to Phoenix, never to be heard from again. The first thing I think of when I think about Winnipeg is the Jets. The second is that Fountain Tire commercial that most TV-owning Canadians have been watching for the past two years (at least). You know the one I'm talking about. The Fountain Tire spokesman is excited about going to Hawaii, but then figures that somehow he boarded the wrong plane and is "gooooooiiiiinnnggg to Winnipeg." How he managed to board the wrong plane is beyond me. Isn't security fairly tight in airports these days?

Manitoba can be found in central Canada, nestled snuggly between Saskatchewan and Ontario. It is the Easternmost prairie province, and people driving across Canada from West to East are very thankful of that, I'm sure. Winnipeg is known as the Gateway to the West. According to Wikipedia, it is strong in the fields of agriculture, finance, education, transportation, and manufacturing. Winnipeg is the largest city in Manitoba, and it's home to Manitoba's second largest public university, the appropriately named University of Winnipeg. Winnipeg is also located near Lake Winnipeg, which is Canada's fifth largest lake and the world's eleventh. I think that's where they filmed the now-defunct Canadian teen drama, Falcon Beach. I once saw five minutes of it. It wasn't very good. Winnipeg hosted the Pan-Am Games twice, the only other city besides Mexico City to have received that honour. According to the 2006 census, Winnipeg's population is 633 451. I once worked with a guy who moved from Winnipeg to Edmonton after he had been stabbed three times. I cannot explain why he moved to Edmonton to avoid getting stabbed, but maybe that's a story for another day. On the front page of the Edmonton Journal.

Winnipeg has a rich history. It was established in 1738 as Fort Rouge, and later underwent a name change in 1822 as Fort Garry. It became Winnipeg in 1873. Winnipeg was the site of the Red River Rebellion, led by Riel, in 1869. The post World War 1 strike, The Winnipeg General Strike, occurred in 1919. 35 000 people walked off the job. The government responded with violence, and two people were killed and another thirty were injured. The strike made way for the creation of the social democratic party, the CCF.

Igor Ulanov was drafted 203rd overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1991 NHL entry draft. He went on to play in four NHL seasons with the Jets before being traded to the Washington Caps. Ulanov scored his first NHL goal while playing for Winnipeg on 17 February 1992 against the Islanders.

And last but not least, Saturday is a day that will belong to Russia and to Canada, IIHF semi-final style.

Spotlight on: Nothing to do with hockey....

So, here's a funny story. I have absolutely nothing to write about, especially seeing as the lokomotiv season is over, and I'm not following any of the playoffs. So here's a completely unrelated post, but I think it is worth a look. And by worth a look, I mean I made the video, so Watch it! Love you all.