Blah-ness
Buffcon 1
January 19, 2012 | 
Author As previously mentioned, I’m a hockey fan. Specifically, I bleed blue and gold. Lately, I’ve been bleeding a LOT of blue and gold, as has most of SabreNation cuz the team, as a general whole, sucks. There’s no heart. There’s no grit. There’s no scoring. There’s no defense. There’s no good goaltending. And it’s getting really, really old. So old that talk show hosts are actually excited to see them lose tonight in Winnipeg JUST to see if change will actually happen.
Lots want to blame Darcy Regier, the GM. And that’s fine. I get wanting to pin this on him. He’s the one who assembled this team; he should be held accountable for the on-ice performance. Right?
Except here’s what pisses me off the most. This same team, from Februrary 22, 2011, until the end of the season, were THE BEST team in the NHL. They went on a rampage and got themselves into the playoffs as a 7th place seed, then took Philly to 7 games in the first round.
Off season brought in some great acquisitions in Ville Leino, Christian Ehrhoff, and Robyn Regehr. Our defense AND offense was supposed to be upgraded. And it seemed like everything was going great.
Until November 11th.
Since November 11th, the Sabres have lost 22 games, 4of which were in OT/SO. They now sit in 11th place, 9 points out of 8th, and 3 points from the bottom of the conference. If they had won even half of those games instead of losing, they’d be vying for the top of the conference. Even if they had won just 5 more games, they’d at least be in 6th or 7th. But no … they haven’t. They’ve just about hit rock bottom, and if they lose tonight in Winnipeg, there very well might be some major shake-ups, from the front office down to the janitor (cuz he’s obviously not taking out ALL of the trash). \
So we of SabreNation watch nightly as the team collapses. I’m kind of on the side of WGR’s early morning hosts. There is nothing about this team worth watching right now, OTHER than to see what happens if they end up losing again.
I will wear my jersey with pride, and I will continue to hope that they’ll win and start climbing out of this funk. I don’t expect a miracle, but it starts with one game. Might tonight be that game? Could be. The optimist in me hopes that it is. The realist in me wonders if they can win another game before the All-Star break.
Posted in Blah-ness, Hockey, Opinion, rantings | 
Tags: Christian Ehrhoff, Robyn Regehr, SabreNation, Sabres, Ville Leino | 
No Comments »
Confessions of a Sabres Hockey Addict
Hi, my name is chris, and i’m a sabres fan. This is my 25th year of following them, and there’s no end in sight. Sometimes … sometimes, I feel like I *need* to walk away. you know … for my sanity, right? And I’ve tried. i tell myself every year, “i will *not* re-order the CI package this time. NO. I will save that money and put it towards a family vacation. Or my girls’ college fund. Or … or SOMEthing!” But no. Every year, I get recharged the $170 to follow a team I literally have dyed in my blood. If you cut me open, I bleed blue and gold. For a period, I bled red and black, but not anymore.
And really, isn’t every game like a little mini-vacation? A very stressful, anxiety-ridden vacation, where the kids are in the back seat beating on each other and screaming “MOM! SHE TOUCHED ME!” “DAD!! I WANT A CHEESEBURGER!!!” “ARE WE THERE YET?!” I want to tell them that yes–we’re there! we’ve reached the promised land! we have arrived at nirvana. But the reality is so much colder and darker than anything I want to tell them. They’re young. They do not need to be subjected to this ….. THIS!
The part that worries me the most is that they’re already there. They already have little jerseys. they already know Miller, Roy, Stafford, Vanek, Pominville … all by number. My daughter wants a picture of Roy, bless her gargantuan heart. They get exicted when the Sabres are ahead, and they know daddy is “sad” when they lose.
I mean … it’s just a game, right? It’s just a bunch of people getting paid to play with sticks and a puck. In the end, it doesn’t *really* matter … right?
Right …?
My name is Chris, and I’m a Sabres addict.
So Long, 2011
In all honesty, I’m glad to be leaving this one behind. It’s been a pretty bummer year–especially the last couple of months. But that horse is dead, so I’m not going to beat it anymore. I am MOST EXCITEDLY looking forward to 2012 for any number of reasons. Some great music coming out this year–most notably Rush’s “Clockwork Angels” is due to come out at some point. The first single (Caravan) was released forever ago, along with the “B” track “BU2B.” Cannot wait for the new music.
Also, we’re taking a cross-country trip that’s going to last for 3 weeks. THAT is going to be a lot of fun. Lots of pics, lots of blogging. WHOO!!
But most of all, I’m just excited to be where I am–loving family, great friends, excellent job. I cannot ask for more.
Happy new year, everyone. May your 2012 be the most excellent as possible!
Posted in Blah-ness, Opinion, rantings | Tags: BU2B, Caravan, Clockwork Angels, cross-country, road trip, Rush | No Comments »
Happy Almost New Year!
Well, December was an incredibly disappointing blogging month. Actually, November and December were incredibly depressing months in general–holidays notwithstanding. I’ll say this much: without the love of family and friends, we would have never survived the ordeal we’ve been put through for the last 2 years. However, we’ve emerged somewhat victorious (depending on your definition), and we are *really* ready to get to 2012 and move on with our collective life.
I think the same could be said for this blog. It’s ready to evolve. Don’t get me wrong–the blog will remain and I will be posting a lot more frequently (“Right. Famous last words there, Hoss.”) Yes, I know I’ve been off for a while now. I apologize. Truth be told, I … just couldn’t. Not from a lack of time, or a lack of desire. I wanted to write! I just … there’s been this huge block, and I couldn’t shake it.
I write this blog for me to share with you. Initially, I thought it would only be about music. And for the most part, that will remain true. There are too many good artists out there making a LOT of great music to ignore. There are also great music apps that are simply mind-bending in their capacity. The Animoog for iPhone is a perfect example. I picked this up the other day, and I’ve been playing with it off and on ever since. More on than off, at that. Anyway, my point is that there are a lot of great things about music that I enjoy and like writing about … but that’s just one part of me.
Posted in Blah-ness, Opinion, rantings | Tags: Animoog, Animoog iPhone App, new start | No Comments »
A Test Post Using WP App
So now I’m in physical therapy for a severely sprained ankle that I sustained 4 weeks ago. While waiting, I thought I’d test drive some of the new functionality in the WordPress iPhone app. Feel free to ignore this post.
There should be a pic of my ankle wrapped in a heaty thing. That’s right … “heaty.”
italics.
bold. lovely.
And Once Again …
I’m happy to report that I’m back. The mother of all technical glitches with WordPress software and Godaddy hosting kept me from being able to access my own admin side of things, but thanks to some serious help from a sweet gal at Godaddy, the Phoenix has risen from the ashes and is ready to fly once again.
At least until the next crash. However, even if my WordPress software does go belly up again, this time I’m better prepared to know how to handle it. Learned a lot about database backup, Godaddy navigation/tips/tricks,
So, yah. I have about 5 dozen things I could write on, all of which I hope to address over the coming month. November looks to be a promising blogging month. Learned some new writing techniques that I think are going to help take this blog to the next level, but hey, if not, really I just do this for fun and self-entertainment. If others along the way are entertained, all the better. But for now, I’m content to write about music for the sheer love of it.
Weekend Music Ripping, Part 2
To be fair, I’m just glad I posted something. I totally miss writing on a daily basis. I wish this were my full-time job, but alas–actual work gets in the way. However, actual work pays pretty damn well, so I’m not complaining. Especially when I’m working overtime.
Anyway, to continue the last post’s theme, I still have a stack of CDs to rip. So, backing up, I believe I mentioned that I had won a few eBay auctions a couple of months ago. The one auction “only” had about 50 CDs in it. The list read like a who’s who of current straight-up rock bands: AFI, Panic! at the Disco, Good Charlotte … bands that I’m familiar with in name, but not really musically. Seem like a lot of radio bands. Guess we’ll find out.
Here’s what I plan on working through today and tomorrow:
- Unwritten Law – Self Titled
- Panic! at the Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out
- The Zutons – WHoo Killed … The Zutons
- Converge – You Fail Me
- Emme Packer – Dirty Street
- Emme Packer – Better Luck Next Time
- Liz Janes – Poison and Snakes
- Todd Stedman – Burn
- Liars Academy – No News Is Good News
- Jennifer Gentle – Valende
- Good Charlotte – Good Morning Revival
And of course, wife wants to watch “Psyche.” I can support that! More ripping later.
Posted in Blah-ness, New Music, Opinion, rantings | Tags: Converge, Emme Packer, Good Charlotte, Jennifer Gentle, Liars Academy, Liz Janes, Panic at the Disco, The Zutons, Todd Stedman, Unwritten Law | No Comments »
Alive and Kicking
I swear, I’m not dead … thought I’ve felt rather not alive for the last several weeks. Work, you know … 12-13 hour days, working weekends … it’s been unpleasant as far as being able to write here, but things happen. Like when our hardware doesn’t show up forever, so then I get to practice the fine art of “theory writing” as opposed to actual technical writing. There’s a big, big difference. Notebook in hand, watching and/or participating in the set-up and tear-down of equipment, documenting each step … yah. Haven’t gotten to do that, so I’ve had to literally guess what the procedures were. Could not have been more wrong. And it’s frustrating to me for a ton of reasons, but whatever. The good news is that the project is out the door, and I’m semi-relatively-sort of free of that project (until a revision comes along, which I’m sure will be Monday or Tuesday).
Anyway, I’m here, and sort of alive. Much to discuss as far as concerts, new music, Kickstarter projects … lots to write about. Just need to not work 13 hour days.
Speaking of concerts, as one very close to my heart put it on Monday, “A Perfect Circle hasn’t put out new material in 7+ years, yet they still manage to sell out everywhere they play.” Good point. Granted, Kingsbury hall holds just over 1900, but for that matter, APC could have easily played a 19000 seat arena and sold it out. So I guess we were two of the lucky few who got to see the show. And what a show it was. Stand by for the review (FINALLY).
Posted in Blah-ness, rantings | Tags: not dead, okay maybe partially dead, probably just mentally dead | No Comments »
4th of July Festivities
Yesterday was just … wow. We had so much fun. Parade with some good friends, bbq and pool party at our house, then fireworks from a location where we could see about 30 *miles* worth of fireworks. THAT was incredible. No lie, from our vantage point, we could see 10 miles north and 25 miles south. Not to mention everything between Salt Lake and the Wasatch mountains. Little colorful explosions for as far as the eyes could see.
I hope everyone had a fun, safe, awesome 4th.
I have something that I want to write about tomorrow, but it’s going to take me a day to make sure I have a predominantly cool head on my shoulders before I spout off. Otherwise, I’m going to rant and rave like a lunatic, and that won’t accomplish anything.
Posted in Blah-ness, Opinion, rantings | Tags: 4th of July, Boondocks, Bountiful, Clearfield, Farmington, Fireworks, Independence Day, Kaysville, Kearns, Lagoon, Layton, Magna, Utah | No Comments »
Stayin’ Alive
My wife and I had back-to-back meetings. Mine was at 7, hers at 7:30. I went out and swapped vehicles with her and took our girls home. She always has her car radio on … something I tend to avoid at all cost unless it’s the local college station. On the way home, The Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive” came on. For whatever reason, I automatically started swerving the wheel to the beat. Mind you, this wasn’t some super busy road at 75 MPH … we were going down some little residential road at 25. Very easy to control the car. The girls absolutely loved it.
As we approached our street, I realized that I was *right* in front of the police station. Anyone looking out their window would have seen us be-boppin’ down the road as we turned down our road. Oops. Thankfully, no one noticed. Ha ha!!
So of course the girls demanded to listen to it again. “Sorry girls. Radio!” That was met with a chorus of “AWWWWW”s and “WAAAAAAH”s.
Guess what I just bought on iTunes.
And with the goodness of Audiogalaxy, I can play it pretty much any time I want for them. Or … me. Come on … who amongst us doesn’t have that occasional guilty pleasure?
Bee Gees FTGP!