Congratulations, Music Choice.

If you've been trying to give me nightmares, I think you may have finally succeeded.

So I'm sitting here, getting my nighty Adventure Quest dose, and listening to the MC's Smooth Jazz station...when all of a sudden, I glance up at the TV to see what song is playing, and THIS embraces my eyes and mind. o_O

Between that, and "Thelonious Moog's" interesting rendition of Focus' "Hocus Pocus" somehow passing for Smooth Jazz*, AND Talking Book being considered Smooth Jazz**, it's a freakin' miracle that I have not totally quit on Music Choice, period. ESPECIALLY ever since I've made Stanley, my Gigabeat digital music player, a practical radio station on my stereo, thanks to my discovery of RockBox a couple of months ago.

But alas, I have to have a source for discovering new tunes to like...especially since I'm not enamoured with XM/Sirius' fees currently, AND VH1 Classic has become VH1 Crap. I mean, seriously, where have all the videos gone? If I wanted lists, artist/band bios, etcetera, I'd watch the "normal" VH1 instead...that is, whenever they're not showing "Celeb-Reality" and/or "I Love New York". *sighs and rolls her eyes*

Current Music: "Feeling Good" by Randy Crawford and Joe Sample

* - It's not necessarily Thelonious Moog themselves and their material I have a problem with...just the fact that Music Choice has the damned gall to consider said material "Smooth Jazz". Heck, it's not even regular Jazz for that matter. BUT overall, other than that, it's really hard to complain about two guys who have an obvious delightful sense of humor, as demonstrated by their American Standard album's cover sporting the two drawn as cartoons holding toilet implements. Just like why Dave Barry excluded The Rivingtons (makers of such fine, classic, booty-shakin' tunes like "Papa Oom Mow Mow" and "The Bird Is The Word") from his infamous Bad Song Survey: Thelonious Moog's concept is so bad, it's good.

** - I do like two songs by Talking Book..."Your Soul Baby" and "Now (Instrumental)". The latter is easily the only thing by them that passes for Smooth Jazz. The former is a *very good* song, but is definitely more of a 70's Pop/Soul throwback than Smooth Jazz.

Not to mention that "Story of Life" seriously needs to go...did the world *really* need another bad O-Jays soundalike song? Ugh. Come to think of it, the only O-Jays songs I like are "Love Train", "Back Stabbers", and "For The Love of Money" (a.k.a. the 'Money, Money, Money' song), and those are guilty pleasures at best. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I think I like "FtLoM" because I think I could plink out the first few notes of that song the next time I happen upon a Casio/Yamaha keyboard set up for people to goof around on at a Sam's Warehouse or Wal-Mart. Hey, if I could/can plink out the legendary keyboard sequence backing up Greg Lake's vocals in the first couple of verses of ELP's "Knife Edge", then why not the opening to "$,$,$"?

No Pictures, Please!

Fighting pictures, that is...as addressed by a fellow reader to the Raleigh News and Observer...

"Jerry Barker of Raleigh wrote a letter to the sports editor, published Sunday, that urged The N&O to not publish photographs of NHL players fighting. Barker wrote: “Do everything you can to help promote good sportsmanship, positive fan behavior, civility and good, clean competition.”..."

I will admit that when I first got into hockey in 2002, I was very mixed about fighting...but that all changed rather rapidly when I noticed how much of a necessary evil it is. Without fighting, you would have crap like what Pronger did to McAmmond in Saturday's game, what Scott Stevens has done to quite a few players in his career, etc. happen way more often than such events have overall. I have been AND still am of complete belief that there is no better way of telling a team and/or certain members on it to "cut the crap" than fighting.

If there is anything in that sentence from Barker's letter that throws me for a loop, it's that bit about "...positive fan behavior...". Bzuh? Has the N&O published pictures of fans fighting that I have somehow missed?! Last time I checked, it's pictures of PLAYERS fighting, NOT FANS.

But overall, Mr. Barky Von Schnauzer needs to get a muz...er, grip. And the following goes for not only him, but also a lot of those trying to soften up hockey by having the fisticuffs removed: It ain't gonna happen, OK?! I have lost count of how many times I have laughed at the nuts who say one of the most beautiful things about "the new NHL" is the "the lack of fighting"...I don't know what games these people are looking at, but I am noticing just as many fights now as when the NHL was "old".

And speaking of "the old NHL"...in closing, here is a moment from then that proves that even the most sportsman-like of players found/find themselves in a situation where they had/have to put up their dukes...and were/are not afraid to do so.



Current Music: "Don't Forget Those Forgotten" by Nelson Rangell

Odds and Sods

- With this year's NHL awards nominees announced, Rod Brind'Amour finds himself a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for a second year in a row.

Brindy may or may not win this thing again...what I am factoring regarding both aspects of that:

May Not Win:

Not on a playoff team.

Not on the media darling New Joysey Devils.

May Win:

Has the highest +/- of all the Selke nominees, the other two being Samuel Pahlsson and Jay Pandolfo (hence my Devs comment).

Of the three nominees, has the most goals scored.

Interestingly enough, even though the Selke is for defensive play, it more often than not goes to the man with the most goals scored. That said, Brindy should have this thing in spades. But that remains to be seen...especially if (does her best Putty from Seinfeld) THE DEVILS(!!) and Jay Pandolfo continue with their usual playoff reign of terror.

- On the other side of the player spectrum...Anton Babchuk has most likely signed with a Russian club, Avangard OMSK, to be precise.

No surprise at all to me there...Anton was not the Canes' greatest defenseman this past season. AND, there were (thanks to this revelation, I highly suspect more than) rumors that Babs was not thrilled with his use on the team. Not to mention all the talk of him being potential trade bait...at the risk of showing off how un-savvy I am about contracts and such mess, I wonder if the Canes can still trade Anton's butt for either a (hopefully) better defenseman or at least a prospect of sorts, should Anton ever return to the NHL...

- In better Canes news, the Canes announced that 2007-08 season ticket prices will remain unchanged from the 2006-07 season's STH prices. After all the speculation from PLENTY of fans, including myself despite not getting to attend at least one game this past season, about the Canes having the audacity to increase prices after such a rugged season, three cheers and a tiger for the Canes' brass for not doing what would have been a stupid move. Of course, I suppose setting an attendance average record (17,387 fans per game) AND a season sellout game record (NINETEEN!!) *really* helped. Who *still* dares to say hockey doesn't belong in NC? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

- For anyone consuming mass quantities while reading this, I highly recommend that you skip the following couple of paragraphs...

As I was enjoying my lovely breakfast of a Kashi TLC bar, milk, and coffee; the most unnecessarily disgusting ad embraced my television set. It was for the umpteenth new pregnancy test...no big deal, right? Oh, wrong...SO. VERY. WRONG. After the ad got through closing in on the pregnancy test device, it backed away to show URINE SPLASHING ONTO THE DEVICE!!! It's a freakin' miracle that I did not do a spit take with my coffee as my eyes went as wide as dinner plates in a "Did I just see THAT?!" manner. BUT, I did end up having a flashback to when I went and saw Apollo 13 at a theatre, and right when I took my very first bite out of a Reese's cup (Back then, I had a habit of not eating my candy until the movie "started getting *really* good"...in this instance, it was when the astronauts shot up into space.), a nicely sized glob of vomit floated across the movie screen. Um, yeah. o_O

As I've had to make clear here before, I am not a prude. BUT, I like to maintain a sense of decency. I'd love to think that people know what pee is AND how you make such a substance. But then again, such a statement more than likely underestimates the stupidity of this nation. o_O

- And I feel very safe saying that last sentence after reading the following this morning...

"Britney Spears just played live, for the first time in three years, at the House of Blues in San Diego. She performed for about 10 minutes.

SOURCE: It was the top story on the Fox 6 News tonight. And they've had continuing coverage throughout the newscast. *sigh*"

That blurb does not even mention how people actually paid $200 for that "performance". O_O

I don't know what melts my brain more...that, or the fact that the said "performance" was actually considered news to the point that they had CONTINUING COVERAGE OF IT. I would say "Only in California.", but what (almost prevented) me from doing that is keeping in mind that if Clay Aiken were to ever perform in Raleigh for the first time in three, five, ten, whatever years; there is no doubt that WRAL and/or other local TV news outlets down there would have continuing coverage of such an "event".

Between all of that, and Anna Nicole's baby's daddy (say that five times fast), it really, REALLY scares me what counts for actual news, locally AND nationally, these days...

Current Music: "Electric Clouds" - Chrono Trigger OverClocked Remix

Answering the Call

I.E. Yours truly somewhat goes Patti Smith on the Caniac Nation (or at least the members who happen to hang out at the Score Boards)...film at eleven.

I woke up to seeing the following posted at my most frequented Canes MB this morning...

OK, perhaps I'm missing something here--why does it seem that Debi and I are about the only ones here who wouldn't mind the Sens winning the Cup?

Did we suddenly develop a group hate-on for the Sens when I wasn't looking or something?

Naturally, everyone posted "Nope." and "Me too." or something of similar clique-like ilk...making me state that the following has been my opinion for sometime, without the need or want of being different from everyone else:

I don't want Ottawa winning the Cup.

And before I proceed with the following, I've met and I know nice Ottawa fans. But, I have my reasons and/or observations...

*insert canned Beatlemaniac and Elvis fan screams here* - In a phenomenon I have yet to be able to fully grasp in all five years thus far of being a Caniac/NHL fan/etcetera, the Ottawa Senators seem to be THE one opposing NHL team that bring out the inner puckbunny in the Caniac Nation. While I do have my tendencies in that vein (I *am* a female AND only human, afterall), I have just never found the Sens to be all that and a bag of a chips in those regards.

I can only imagine how much louder the swoons would get if Jose Theodore joined the Sens, be it as their star or just a mere backup (most likely behind Emery)... o_O

I Pity the Fools Who Pull For Dany Heatley - Well, maybe I'm being a little extreme in calling his fans "fools", but I just cannot pull for the dude who used to be such a thorn in the side of the Canes during his tenure with the Thrashers. Not to mention a certain accident I'm not supposed to mention again...and even though I know Heater highly regretted what he did, I still think he should have been penalized one way or another instead of simply being let go to play another day.

I Don't Like Daniel Alfredsson, Sam I Am - I won't go into elaborate detail on this...I just do not care for the guy. He tends to grate on my nerves as much as another so-called great captain in the Sabres' Daniel Briere. And just like the Sabres, the only thing Danny-Boy (Batman's butler-sson) is good for, besides crying a river at certain times, is Fantasy Hockey...

Actually, when one thinks about it, the Senators are basically Canada's Buffalo Sabres. Just without the mouthy coach and hoardes of drunks invading the opposing team's arena in addition to their own team's.

Anyways...with the Penguins out (no thanks to the Senators...as mentioned, I *am* only human), I am very hardpressed to find someone I *really* want to pull for in this year's playoffs. Between Ottawa and New Jersey, and Buffalo and the Rangers*, there is really no lesser of four evils in the East...leaving the West to look to. And therefore, only two teams I can really care for...Anaheim and Vancouver. The Canucks I'm willing to back up a little more thanks to knowing at least one friend in British Columbia's hub. The Ducks are appealing too, especially with my fond memories of backing them up in 2003...if only they didn't have that pukey and minor league-ish logo and uniforms... *sighs*

Despite fashion taste differences, I still say that this should be the Ducks' anthem.

Current Music: "Gates of Babylon" by Rainbow

* - The only good thing about that particular playoff series is that it constantly makes me think of one of Billy Joel's finer songs in "New York State of Mind"...

"He's Broken."

A fair warning in advance to my male readers: The following is probably more of a ladies' kind of thing...but if you wanna chime in, it's all good.

After cruising around various Heroes forums and communities, I cannot help but ponder...

Am I the only one who does not find Sylar "hot"?

For those of you who do not watch Heroes, click here.

Apparently, the thug look is what *really* appeals to quite a few women (presumably). Yes, I think Sylar looks like a thug, as he should, considering he's a SADISTIC villain...that capitalized word being another turn-off, among other things.

As for real life, even out of character, I don't think Zachary Quinto is all that and a bag of chips...but, to quoteth Dennis Miller, that's just my opinion.

On that note, an almost belated Happy Valentine's Day. :D

Current Music: "No More, No More" by Aerosmith

"Fix the Canes"

The Raleigh News and Observer has come up with a new contest, where they want you to...well, "Fix the Canes".

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when the N&Oers start going through and reading the entries for this thing. I will be more than willing to bet that most, if not all of the responses will be no different from a lot of the prattling I've already read at various message boards. At those places, everybody and their cousin has blamed everyone from David Tanabe, to Andrew Hutchinson, to Jim Rutherford, to Peter Laviolette, to even Rod Brind'Amour for the Canes' Stanley Cup hangover and overall woes this season.

I would LOVE to be proven wrong, and that the winning entries in the contest end up proving that we have some decent and different thinkers (and writers) in the Caniac Nation, as I know we do. But as it stands, I would not be surprised if this contest ends up coming across as if the N&O does not pay attention to the MBs and/or blogs around them.

Current Music: "Sea of Love" by The Honeydrippers

Turner/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/Williams Street Pooted*

After thinking WAY TOO MUCH about the infamous Aqua Teen Hunger Force "bomb scare" this morning AND reading the various Adult Swim communities about it, I decided to share my two cents about the matter.

For those of you who have somehow not heard about the now infamous incident: Click here first.

And for those of you too lazy to click on the link: Someone in Boston found an electronic "device" that looked like Err, a literally 8-bit character from ATHF, giving the finger. Turns out that such "devices" were scattered all over the city AND nine other cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland (OR), Austin (TX), San Francisco, and Philadelphia) AND are as harmless as your pinky AND were a mere guerilla marketing ploy by Turner/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/Williams Street to get people to see their (more than likely horrible) ATHF movie coming to theatres in March. Two of the people hired by Turner to put out said "devices" have been arrested and are being held on bond.

Now for my two cents...and I warn you now that you are more than likely going to have to brace yourself...

While I do think they are going a bit far in arresting the people merely hired by Turner/Cartoon Network...for sure, I could not be the only one to have had the brains to see the "bomb scare" coming from a mile away.

Think about it, something a lot of people in the Adult Swim groups I read need to do: You place a lot of random electronics throughout a city, and NOT expect a bomb scare of some proportion whenever they're discovered, be it immediately OR two-three weeks like this instance? I'm sorry, but THAT is dumb, especially in this day and age.

Don't get me wrong, I was AND still am one of those who found the bomb scare involving the homage to the Super Mario Bros. question blocks a few years ago stupid. But, those boxes did not have anything involving electronics. They were just cardboard and holographic paper in most instances.

Now, to make something clear: Yes, I do think Boston and the government are overreacting. BUT, at the same time, I really am not at all surprised by the turn of events AND think that Turner/CN should have known better.

So, in the end, I don't know what scares me more: The fact that I seem to be the only one of the opinion that Turner/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/Williams Street did not think about every aspect of their campaign to realize that it *could* have been perceived the wrong way. OR, the fact that Aqua Teen Hunger Force has sucked since the folks at Williams Street decided to get rid of the Dr. Weird intros, and apparently, it has not dawned upon Turner/CN/AS/WS that they *really* need to quit beating what is getting to be a dead horse. But, because of this mess, you watch the movie that was(still is) being promoted become #1 at the box office when it's released. Afterall, as that saying goes..."There's no such thing as bad publicity."

Current Music: "Nikki Learns A Song" - Chrono Cross OverClocked Remix

* - If you don't get the title, it comes from a series of billboards advertising Cartoon Network that said "I Pooted." and "I Have A Meat Beard.", and were up over last summer in at least Greensboro, Atlanta, and Rhode Island. After seeing pictures of them in a couple of LJ communities and the UNC Tar Heels board I occasionally read, I finally saw the Greensboro one in person passing through on I-40 when going down for my great aunt's funeral.