Round Two of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Begins Tonight

What, tonight? But the first round only just finished last night! Man, life's busy, these days.

My humble prognostications for the first round went three-for-eight, which, honestly, I can't even pretend to feel bad about. For three reasons:

1) I was a couple of Game Seven overtime bounces away from going five-for-eight, which is just as close to even as three-for-eight is and reinforces that the whole thing is just a coin toss at that point;
2) I was still more accurate than anybody who was busy predicting the Alberta election; and
3) Nobody guessed what the hell happened this round. If you know anybody who successfully predicted all eight, don't even bother telling them to go pick up some lottery tickets, because they're as aware as everyone else that luck like that only hits once a lifetime.

So, yeah, thus far, three for eight. Not bad! Not bad. Round Two kicks off tonight, and I started with the East last time, so let's jump into the:

Western Conference

Manitoba Links Weekly: Where There's Smoke, There's Grentrifiers (ManLinkWeek 28)

"Yeah, no, I don't know. I just... when they said 'world-class', I kind of thought it'd be bigger."

After last week's bit of alternate format dalliance, we return this week to the standard ManLinkWeek layout. Which is not to say I couldn't produce another seven brand new waterpark-related links, if that was my thing again this week; it's... been that kind of a news week. And Council meets to vote on it tomorrow, so if you're tired of this story now you may just want to turn off your computer and go outside for the rest of next week.

As I'd said, plenty more waterpark links have popped up since we last checked in, but I'll limit myself to just one this time around:

Good News, Everyone!

I don't write altogether often about myself, at least not for any extended length of time; it's not a topic that people are terribly interested in reading about, and I can say that with a certain confidence, as I still have the comically low site statistics from back when I wrote more frequently on said topic. (Oh, geez, I started the site in 2006? Oh my god I'm old. Oh, man. Oh, geez.)

So, to avoid burning us both out, I'll keep tonight's post nice and brief. Two things! Two quick bits of personal good news, and then I'll get back to my more interesting regular routines.

Manitoba Links Weekly: I Bet I Can Blame This on the Internet (ManLinkWeek 27)

You all know how much I enjoy trying new things and playing around with formats, so humour me as I toy with the routine a bit this week.

Yes, tonight's installment of ManLinkWeek will be a little different; instead of me giving you individual local links and then popping pertinent postscripts behind each one, this time around I'm going to give you a series of links uninterrupted and then task you with detecting the shared characteristic that unites them.

Are you ready? Here we go:

The 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Begin Tonight

Augh, okay, I'm here, I'm late, I know, I just got home, I need to get this wrapped up, nobody tell me the scores, I'm going to do this right--

Ahem. Beg pardon. I've been a bit discombobulated, today. Let me start over.

Hey, it's playoff time! The beginning of the NHL postseason is an annual rite, heralding both the arrival of spring and a rare few weeks' worth of television that I actually want to watch. So, just as I do every year, I'll make guesses between rounds on how each series will play out; I'm usually, oh, half right? Let's go with half.

Since everyone in the city is more familiar with the East this year, for some entirely unknown reason, let's just go ahead and start there:

Manitoba Links Weekly: Transit Buses and Typewriters (ManLinkWeek 26)

Another week, my goodness, I don't even know where that went. Whatever! ManLinkWeek it is, then.

Avast!

[the cold cold ground: rapid transit]
Tomorrow's very special Winnipeg Internet Pundits episode will be live from a Rapid Transit bus, including live impressions of the experience and lively discussions on the city's transit systems and strategies. So if you'd also like to know what the pre-launch free-ride testing experience was like, the link above has got you well covered.

Manitoba Links Weekly: Strife, Bludgeon, Claws, and Meeps (ManLinkWeek 25)

ManLinkWeek, you know it! A tad delayed, but ready to rock. I've got a bit of personal good news to share, which is something of a rarity for me, but I'll hold off on it for now; that'll be a post for later. Right now, it's time to bust out some local linkage!

Let's open up with a good-news story on a grander scale: