Opinion
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 | 
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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 »
iTunes Match and SongKick Awesomeness
Discovered something wicked awesome about the iPhone SongKick app the other day. After I updated iTunes to the newest version and got iTunes Match up and running, I checked out SongKick to see if one of my favorite artists would be stopping by any time soon. Sadly, no–she is not, but that’s okay. A new CD is in the works, and that’s even better news!
However, I started playing around with some of SongKick’s options. As you’ll recall, along the bottom, there are 4 options:
- Concerts
- Locations
- Artists
- Settings
I tapped Artists, thinking that it would only pull up a list of the artists that actually had a digital presence on my iPhone. Not so! The list is comprised OF EVERY ARTIST I HAVE IN THE CLOUD. 25000+ mp3s, probably at least 2500 artists … and I can find out if/when any of them are coming at any given time from the SongKick app. THAT is wicked awesome.
Just from scrolling through the list, I can see that Abigail Washburn, Alela Diane, Ani DiFranco, Apocalyptica, ATB, and Azam Ali are all on tour, and that’s just a sampling of the As! Very, very, VERY cool!
Posted in iPhone Apps, Opinion, rantings | Tags: app, cloud, iCloud, iPhone, iTunes Match, SongKick | No Comments »
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.
iPhone 4S IS OFFICIAL
First and foremost, it shoots 1080p video. For me, that is absolutely HUGE. For all the concerts my wife and I attend, this is big. BIG. BIIIIIG! Not to mention the overall quality of the camera is vastly improved over the 4. This might be a good enough reason to buy the 4S instead of waiting for the 5. i’m still trying to justify a reason. If it comes in a 64GB model, i’m almost definitely in.
Looks like data speeds have gotten a big bump as well. The “theoretical maximum” is 14.4MBPs, as opposed to the 4′s 7.2MBPs. Hmm. Not sure that’s exactly a deal-swinger for me.
Still holding my breath to see if the 5 is announced in any way. Doesn’t have to be released today, or even this month or year, but it has to be soon.
iCloud Goes Live 12 October
THIS is the news I’ve been waiting for! I can’t wait to implement this little ditty. Even at $25 a year for iTunes to match my library and upload the list to its cloud server … that’s just awesome.
Photos, videos, music … everything can be pushed to all your iOS devices. If I take a picture on my camera, it can be cloud-pushed to my wife’s phone, or our iPod Touch, or any other iOS device we use under the same username. That’s awesome. If my wife downloads the new They Might Be Giants CD, it will automatically be cloud-pushed to my phone and iPod Touch.
I can’t wait for this service to go live. WHOO!
They Day of Reckoning is Upon Us
For months, we’ve heard the rumors. “2 phones?” “World phone?” “Upgrades?” In about 4+ hours, we’ll have answers. At 10 am Pacific time, Apple is holding a media event to discuss their future products. Supposedly up on the docket:
- Announcement of at least 1 new phone, or as many as 3: 4S, 5, and possible low-cost iPhone.
- Demonstration of iOS 5
- The way ahead for ipods and other hardware
- Possibly more iCloud discussion
That is in no particular order, but those are the major discussion points for today, unless I’m mis-reading about 5 different sites.
I’ve already made up my mind that I will not buy the iPhone 4S. I’m waiting for the 5. If they announce that today, fantastic. I’ll be excited to get my hands all over it. If they only announce the 4S, I will happily bide my time with my 4 until such time that the 5 is released.
Problem: One of the latest rumors I’ve seen circulating is that the 5 is going to be exclusive to Sprint. Currently, I’m with AT&T. This is not an issue because, quite frankly, I’m not at all an AT&T fan and will gladly jump ship when the 5 sets sail.
If you’ve been living under a rock and are not familiar with the reasons to upgrade to even the 4S, allow me to list them here for you. These are culled from sites like tuaw.com, cultofmac.com, and 9to5mac.com.
- A5 dual processor (by comparison, the 4 uses the A4 processor, and the 3GS uses a 600 MHZ processor).
- 8 MP camera with larger lens and sensor (should greatly improve low-light images so they don’t look so grainy and crappy)
- POSSIBLE larger screen. Could be as large as 4.44″. Considering the 4 sports a 3.5″ screen, that is a HUGE upgrade!
- iOS 5. The list for the upgrades on this is long and ridiculous, but they are AWESOME. My favorite is the iOS wireless updating. No longer do I have to
tether my device to my desktoptake my device to an Apple or AT&T store to be upgraded! It will all be done over the air. THAT is fantastic news. - 16GB, 32GB AND *dum da da DUUUUM!* 64GB models!!
That’s the short of it. I can’t wait to see what Apple has up their sleeve today. I couldn’t sleep from anticipation.
Happy Apple Day everyone.
Google Music vs. Apple iCloud
So, you were asking about what the benefit is to using Apple’s match vs. Google Music. I think I have a pretty good list of pros and cons. Being the pseudo-Apple-Fanboi that I’ve been accused of being in the past, I’ll list the pros and cons of Apple first.
PROS
- Cost. At $25 a year for unlimited cloud storage, I’ll take that.
- Match. Doesn’t matter what low bit-rate your file is in: if Apple finds a match, your song is automatically converted to 44Khz/256kbps. Now … if your file is 320Kbps/48000Khz, I don’t know what they do. I imagine your song would be down-converted on their server, but then again, it’s just a match—it’s not like your file on your computer is going to be downgraded, just whatever Apple can match.
- Unlimited storage. Seriously. I guess they can do that because they’re really just maintaining a database of what songs you “own.” One song can be proliferated to thousands of users since it’s just matching the actual song file to what’s loaded in your database.
CONS
- User experience. This, in my mind, is THE BIGGEST drawback. You don’t stream your tunes to any device. In order to use them, you have to have them physically on your device. In my mind, that’s not actual cloud service. Cloud storage, sure, but not actual use. If I’m in the middle of Yellowstone, and I have a real jones-on to listen to Cranes’ Loved CD and I don’t have it on my phone already, I have to open iTunes and download it. Free to do so, sure, but it’s still not playing FROM the cloud.
- Device storage size still does matter. If your collection is 500GB (which isn’t surprising by any stretch), and your phone/device holds a maximum of 64-160GB, HOW can you have access to your entire collection at any one time? Simple answer: you can’t. You get to pick and choose what you want to listen to. Even then, if you grow bored with what’s on your phone, you have to delete what you currently have to make way for the new material you want to download. Currently, in iOS iTunes, you CANNOT delete songs from your device without connecting to desktop iTunes. Lame. Very, very lame. This will change when iOS 5 is released, though as of whatever iOS 5 beta release was current as of June 2011, you could only delete one track at a time. Boo. I would hope that the option to delete an album at a time will be integrated in future betas or the final release.
Okay, those are my major hypes/gripes about Apple’s cloud system for now. To date, I haven’t really had a chance to test drive Google’s music system much, but at a cap of 20,000 songs, I really don’t see where I *need* to test drive it much beyond that. Like I said, I have close to 40,000 songs. At a 20,000 song cap, I’d need multiple accounts just to store all my music. That’s retarded. However, to Google’s credit and Apple’s discredit, Google’s service is actual streaming. Fair enough.
Anyway, I’m sold on the Apple option, if for no other reason than I have ALL my music in one cloud-based storage. And yah—truthfully, I’m not going to be interetsed in listening to all 500GB at once, so … whatever. ‘sides, I have a feeling that Apple will be offering a stremaing service soon enough.
Posted in Opinion, rantings | Tags: Apple, Google, Google Music, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iTunes | No Comments »