[wickabee]

Love this thread.
Ok, first: Music:
#1 Modest Mouse: Good News For People Who Love Bad News

When I first heard this album, I did not like it. It took a solid 6 months of hearing bits and pieces to even get me to listen to the whole thing. When I was faced with a bus ride from Calgary to Kelowna and a friend lent it to me, I figured what the hey. By the time we pulled into Kelowna it was one of my favourites. Has been ever since.

#2 CKY: Infiltrate-Destroy-Rebuild

One night I hung out with some people from a fairly new job. It was either a large get-together or a small party. Anyway, we were having some pops and whatnot when the CD changer went to a new disc. The first song started and I was hypnotized. I walked away (quite rudely, to be honest) from the conversation I was having to stand in front of the stereo. It wasn't until about the fourth song in when I had to go to the bathroom that the trance was broken. That first song, though, it punched me in the face. That song was 'Escape From Hellview' and I made sure to buy Infiltrate-Destroy-Rebuild. It's been within arms reach for going on 10 years now.

#3 Buck 65: Talkin' Honkey Blues

There was a time I thought all hip hop was guns, money and loose women. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of it, but to hear a rap song with some real meaning and musicianship behind it was rare. One day I was watching MuchMusic and they played a brand new video by a guy I had never heard of; Buck 65 doing a song called 'Pants on Fire'.
I don't know if it was the weird, trippy bassline, his unorthodox rhyming style, the fact the lyrical content seemed to have real substance or his impossibly gravelly voice that caught me, but something did. I forgot about it soon afterwards though. Fast Forward a couple years and I see another video by this guy called 'Wicked and Weird'. This one caught me too. Whether it was the ridiculously odd video (complete with a puppet version of the man himself) or the fact that the only thing I could compare it to was, very oddly, Johnny Cash. I bought this album and was given a lesson that yes, a hip hop artist can create a truly good concept album.

Ok, cards:
#1 1991-92 Pro Set #531 Niklas Lidstrom RC
The single first "hit" I ever pulled from a pack. This card has stayed with me since I was about 7, even when I didn't collect for 15+ years, just because it made me so happy to pull a rookie card back then. If I ever have/decide to sell my entire collection, this is the one card that will stay with me. It's not about my collection, it's about my childhood. 1 owner and it always will be.


#2 2005-06 ITG Heroes and Prospects Emblems Silver #GUE-43 Kristofer Westblom (#/30)
This card represents my first:
Kelowna Rockets mem card (have 3 autos but only this one mem)
Non-all-white patch
It was actually a tough decision whether to include this one or my Barry Brust JSY/AUTO #/10. I made my choice, I stand by it.



#3 2011 Crown Royale #123 Danny Watkins RC
First day of grade 10 and it's time for acting class. I walk in and immediately notice the giant guy I've seen but never met before. I mean immediately and I mean huge. I'd seen him at the rink (he went to another school the year before) and had actually met his sister once or twice I later found out. He was a really nice guy and we got along right away. For the next few years I would see him at school and the arena all the time. We reffed together a little bit. After we graduated, he was offered a spot on a junior B team but turned it down because they only wanted him as a fighter. He would rather fight fires than hockey players.
He went to college and someone convinced him to try out for the football team. He decided what the heck and made it. At age 22 he played his first game of organized football as an offensive lineman. Fast forward a bit and suddenly I hear he's playing for Baylor. FF a little more and my favourite CFL team drafts him first round, fourth overall and publicly says they know full well he'll never play for them, but on the off chance he might, they wanted his CFL rights.
He didn't. Instead he was drafted first round, twenty-third overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. I haven't spoken to him in years but seeing him in the interviews, he hasn't changed a bit. Still the nice kid I met in grade 10. Still always with a smile and never a complaint. It took me a little longer than I wanted, but I finally got one of his Rookie Cards a couple weeks ago.