Steve Yzerman turns 43 today. Now that the Canadiens are out of the playoffs, I’m hoping that in a few weeks here we’ll see Stevie Y. hoist his fourth cup, although it will be weird to see him do so in a suit and tie. Maybe he can slip on the number 19 again just before he gets down to ice level, who knows. On that note, let’s play the friday5.org Friday Five.

1. When was the last time you had a needle stuck into you?
If we’re counting pine needles, last January before Mom vacuumed up the remnants of the Christmas tree. If we’re only talking about doctor’s needles, then it was at my last physical, which was too long ago for me to feel comfortable mentioning here.

2. Who among your friends is the easiest target for needling?
Probably Jeff, but I rarely engage in that sort of stuff these days unless it’s self-depreciating humour. I’ve gotten really sensitive and scared about these sorts of things, what can I say.

3. What’s something you can confidently do with a needle and thread?
Poke my fingertip. Actually, I used to cross-stitch back when I was in junior high, but I haven’t done that in forever, and, well, video games have advanced a long ways since then.

4. About how many phonograph records do you have in your home, and when’s the last time you dropped a needle on one?
Were it not for the fire, we’d have several hundred here; as it is, I only have the three that were in my room at the time of the fire, an unopened copy of Tori Amos’ Under the Pink on pink vinyl, and two copies of a picture-disc interview with the Sugarcubes, one of which has a clock mechanism jammed through it (it came that way). The last time I played an LP would have had to have been in the mid-80s, and I don’t have any equipment to do so now.

5. Someone told us the other day about someone at a party using a flavor injector to spike a watermelon with vodka. Is this brilliant or is this stupid?
I’d say stupid, but then again I’m a teetotaler so that’s kind of a given.