The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, minus the Sharks, Red Wings, Avalanche, Maple Leafs, and Blues. As I write this, the second round has started with the Stars and Mighty Ducks in triple overtime on the verge of a fourth one. The Ducks looked like they won Game 1 but their overtime goal was disallowed when a Ducks player slightly tipped the net upward as the puck entered the net. Geez, unless the net is knocked out of the way, that goal should have been counted. That rule is ridiculous. Remember that rule if you had your skate in any part of the crease, a goal would be disallowed even if you were away from the play? At least they fixed that. Hopefully, they'll fix this one.

I will say that the Ducks' goalie Giguere is a machine out there. He stops almost everything shot at him.

Even more amazing than the Ducks' run in the playoffs? The Orioles are one game above 500. Now that's shock and awe.

Speaking of the war, I guess it's pretty much over. What have we learned? Iraq gave up way too easily. None of the apocalyptic predictions of chemical weapons everywhere and oil wells burning. Instead, everything happened exactly how the Bush administration predicted, minus the discovery of weapons of mass destruction. Without that smoking gun, Americans will never figure out why we started this war except for the removal of Saddam Hussein, where evidence finally suggests he may have been killed. Now the President can focus on other problems, like the economy.

No wonder France and Germany were afraid of war. We've fought in Iraq twice. We may be going to Korea again. We're just going backwards in war history.

SARS is scaring the hell out of people. Masks are being worn. Obsessive hand-washing has temporarily become a sane activity. Just the mere talk of it scares people. We had a good discussion about it in Econ class (uh, it was about the economic effects) and right after, some student had a coughing attack. The looks on the other students' faces were just priceless. A bit of good news: one of CNN's anchors asked what countries were doing a good job in controlling the virus. First country out of the expert's mouth: Vietnam.

Berkeley mayor Tom Bates spent a night as a homeless guy, sleeping in the park down the street from where I live. Sure, the conditions were better than what a normal homeless guy would go through, but maybe it will be a wake-up call to provide more funding for the homeless, estimated at about 1,000 in the city.

My smart cousin has chosen Berkeley as her school of choice for the coming year. Okay, maybe not the smartest of moves but hey, whatever suits her. She'll be welcomed here and her parents will probably mention it every chance they get like my parents have, to great humiliation for the student.

Okay, that's it. Now, I'm off, $25 richer. My rent was actually lowered. I guess that's what I get for just getting a doormat from the landlord this year.