Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Oh no... the latest NBC Super Hero BOMB is coming...

Link

Aside from a GREAT looking Wonder Woman, This looks TERRIBLE! The Costume looks bad!!! (Granted, it'd be tough to make Wonder Woman's costume to look any better given it's pornstar like coverage). Hopefully, the stories will make the show work. After the absolutely abysmal "The Cape" and the loss of Heroes, a third strike to NBC might actually killthe super hero genre for the network. :S

C
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The first promotional image from NBC's live-action Wonder Woman TV series offered the first look at actress Adrianne Palicki, suited up as the Amazon Princess. And with that first look being despised, the latest batch of set images unveil a few alterations to the costume. Via AceShowBiz, the images depict of an action sequence involving the crime-fighter running through busy streets, [stunt-double] jumping on car hoods in pursuit of two "bad guys" in white, one of which is actor/stuntman Joseph Gatt, also spotted. Anyhow,, check out the images below, and see if you can spot the changes.

[Click Images To Enlarge]








"Wonder Woman" began its three day shoot in Hollywood that day, Navigate Hollywood reported. Hollywood Boulevard between Orange Drive and Highland Avenue were closed overnight and Eastbound lanes were closed at 4 P.M. Three hours later, Westbound lanes were closed and all lanes were re-opened at 7 A.M. Wednesday.

A new twitter image for @isleschick


I like making Twitter pics. :)

C

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Don't Know Who to Vote For? Use The Vote Compass



Apparently, I'm Liberal, which I think is a shock to me. Think... :S

Check it out. It's quite eye opening. I always voted NDP (ie: wasted my vote).

Link

C

Monday, March 28, 2011

Harper = The Evil Emperor


Thanks to good friend Lori for this interesting tidbit. :)

C

Friday, March 25, 2011

Great Mortal Kombat Preorder Commercial

Here are a couple of fantastic commercials promoing the new Mortal Kombat and the preorder bonus from Gamestop. Check it out.


I love classic styled commercials. Sometimes old is fantastically new. Go Gamestop for being creative. I've preordered my copy for Xbox 360. It'll harken me back to the days of Ultimate MK3 and MK2, and will allow my wife and I to tear each other to pieces, and still love one another. :D


C

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Iceberg Hunters... be ready!

This just crossed my twitter feed, and it excites me greatly.

Icebergs are COMING! Check the satellite shot!


Click for a super large version. Also, if the image disappears, I have it downloaded so just ask for it! I can't wait for these to come along, one of my favorite subjects for pictures is icebergs.

C

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Def Leppard Strip Down For Acoustic Versions of 'Hysteria' and 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'

Link

Love seeing new Leppard stuff, even if it's more versions of the same songs. Can't get Embed tags for this, so click the link, head to Rolling Stone, and enjoy two acoustic songs and a short interview about upcoming projects and some musical inspirations.


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Joe Elliott and Phil Collen of Def Leppard stopped by the Rolling Stone office recently to play stripped-down acoustic versions of two of their band's biggest hits, "Hysteria" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me." After the performance, David Fricke talked to the guys about their intense love of glam rock, why they waited so long to release a live album and the positivity in the band's latest tunes.

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C

Defending Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner

Gary Bettman has been a lightning rod for criticism since the day he took over in the NHL back in 1993. From lockouts to bad tv deals, he has taken the brunt of it. In some people's eyes, he's the reason why there are only 5 Canadian NHL teams now. He's the reason why there were two lockouts. He's the reason why players are getting hurt. Let's turn this around on the nay sayers now.

Now, before I hear the hounds screaming "HOW STUPID ARE YOU", take a read before you cast judgement. First and foremost, Gary Bettman is a businessman who was thrown into a hugely disorganized mess of a professional league back in 1993.

First and FOREMOST, Gary Bettman is the reason there are at LEAST 5 Canadian Cities that host NHL games these days. I remember seeing the Cartoons in the paper, with 3 bums leaving town, with each one carrying a flag of a Canadian team (Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa) that just couldn't keep up because of overspending in larger markets. Before the lockouts, there was no cost certainty in a league where players were demanding more and more money. Now, BECAUSE there were two lockouts, the landscape has changed and even though there are teams that spend more than others, there is far greater parity in the league because players.


As for the bad TV deal, when they signed with Versus, they did so BECAUSE NOBODY WANTED THEM, so he took the only deal he had in front of him. As it turns out, it was like a stepping stone as:

(Quoted from hockeybuzz.com)

Here is how one connected source says it will break down.

ESPN:

The new deal will consist of a Game of the Week on ESPN2 early in the season (most likely on Fridays) , ESPN will take over the Saturday and Sunday Afternoon schedules from NBC after the Pro Bowl, as well as the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. The source went onto say, "There is a lot of ego in this world and ESPN wants a MAJOR trophy to be won on their channel. That may be the overall driving force here."

Versus:

Versus will continue its solid coverage with Games on Monday and Tuesday and the All-Star Weekend. ESPN back on the scene will be good for Versus in many ways. I hate the flack that Versus always gets for their hockey coverage. Maybe it's just because I remember a time before there was ANY hockey on in the states, but I firmly appreciate the work that Versus does in getting me extra coverage. The production value is really fine for me and most hockey fans who don't require all the bells and whistles.

In my opinion had ESPN kept their deal and Versus come on board as a network that just televised MORE games and not been a replacement for ESPN everyone would have just praised the Network's coverage. Instead we spent two years complaining about the millions of Americans who apparently go on vacation in order to watch hockey from their hotel rooms. Does it really matter if the local Holiday Inn has Versus? All we do know is that Versus is in millions of homes now.

NBC:

When NBC gave the NHL a National deal in which they essentially were paid to put on the sport there was no Winter Classic. Now NBC was rumored to have only kept the NHL deal going this year BECAUSE of the Winter Classic. I am told that NBC and the NHL are working a deal that will separate the Winter Classic out of the National Package and that NBC will televise ONLY the New Years Game which has become known in the industry as one of the best and fastest success stories in sports TV History..."The fastest a sport's event has become a tradition ever."

Without Bettman, there's no Winter Classic, a hugely successful and profitable game on the schedule for the NHL.

Quoted from wikipedia:

Under Bettman, the NHL has seen rapid growth of league revenues, from $400 million when he was hired to over $2.2 billion in 2006–07.[1][2] He also oversaw the expansion the NHL's footprint across the United States, with six new teams added during his tenure, bringing the NHL to 30.

In the end, as passionate as the leagues fans are, as great a game it is, from start to finish it is still all about the dollars and cents. If people want their teams to win cups, they at least have to make money doing it. This is an industry, a business before a sport, money is what makes it work. Bettman has done this. He has made the game profitable for most of his owners. Yes, some of the southern belt teams are struggling, but those teams are about growth of the game more than individual businesses. (Although it looks more and more like the Coyotes are going home to Winnipeg)

The latest monster to show it's ugly head during his reign is the debate over violence and headshots in the game.

I know this statement will not make me popular. But here we go.

I feel, given that the players in the game are bigger and faster than ever before, that much of this violence, including headshots and injuries, are a growing pain for a league not quite ready to deal with it yet. Just in my short time watching the game grow, you see a player like Alex Ovechkin, who goes a mile a minute while he's on the ice, and compare that to the near methodical approach to the game that players like Gretzky and Lemieux had, and you've got to expect some sort of physical issues to come up. Ovechkin is not the only guy who goes faster, the gronks and the bullies do too.

Let's put this in simpler terms. Take a box, put some Reese Peanut Butter Cups in it. Gently shake it. Open it. Yes, a corner here and there will have cracked off, maybe one will have broken into pieces. Now, take the box, put 10 times as many Peanut Butter Cups in it, then put it in a paint shaker. What do you get now? Chocolate and Peanut Butter mush. How do we prevent the mush? Well, this is what the league is trying to do with it's issues of violence. This process is a marathon, not a sprint.

As for the major hits of this past year, Chara on Pacioretty, Gillies on Clutterbuck, Matt Cooke on the entire league, these are things that are happening while a solution is figured out. Should Chara have been suspended? Yes. Based on today's rules, 2 games. An illegal play causing injury to a player warrants 2 games. Was the league right in saying "it was a hockey play gone bad"? Absolutely. Chara did make a mistake, but it was out of playing hockey, not out of head hunting. This guy hasn't had 1 single suspension in 13 years of playing. 

Let's also put it in better perspective again.

What the HELL are the players thinking? It's not like Gary Bettman has them on strings and is smashing them into one another. The players need to be more responsible. They are screaming around the rink, wearing the equivalent to knives on their feet, holding a spear in their hands, and for the most part aren't even protecting their faces. THEY ARE ALL GROWN MEN. They need to be responsible and watch out for one another. The "brotherhood" of players needs to start again.

In the graphic attached, you see "Bettman is the NHL's George Bush" or whatever. George Bush bankrupted his country. Bettman saved his league.

I personally feel the protest that these people put off (before the Washington/ Montreal game last night), while genuine in purpose, wasn't genuine in character. (Boy, people are going to hate me after this one). These people haven't protested for any other team's players being hit, hurt, or whatever. But the moment a Canadien's player takes a smack, look out. Honestly though, I do appreciate the passion these people display. It's amazing what hockey fans will do to protect their game, even from itself. Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said it well here:

"I don't want to get into a controversy, but what if that was Hal Gill (Habs player) that hit David Krejci (Bruins Player)?" he asked. "I don't think there would be a protest going on here today."

While I agree that this may be a little harsh, the intent is right. There would not have been a protest to protect players in Montreal if they were the hitters, not the victims. I'm having a great debate with two VERY passionate fans on another site about this very thing. They are both right. Even more than I am. The protest is genuine and important. But my thought on it was what I have said here. It is very genuine, but I doubt the people protesting are.

Gary Bettman didn't make this accident happen. But he is dealing with it, and doing it properly, hand in hand with the GM's and owners of each team of the league.

More people know about hockey now, more people talk about hockey than ever before. Is Bettman perfect? No. He's made mistakes like everyone else. But because of Bettman, at least we have a league to complain about.

C

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

My Xbox Gamercard

CAPS' COACH BOUDREAU SLAMS HEAD SHOT PROTESTORS

Link

Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau has a message for the group of protestors who are headed to the Bell Centre for Tuesday night's Capitals game against the Canadiens to protest head shots in the NHL.

"You don't like it, don't come to the games," Boudreau told the assembled media at the Capitals' pre-game skate on Tuesday morning.

The protest began on Mar. 9 when Canadiens fans - irate at the lack of a suspension for Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara after he drove forward Max Pacioretty's head into a stanchion - launched a Facebook campaign to gather outside the arena. The online petition had over 1,500 signatures as of Tuesday morning.
Boudreau - who has demonstrated that he has no fear on speaking his mind - also said that if situations were reversed, that the incident would have already been forgotten.

"Listen, I don't want to get into any controversy," he said. "But if that was Hal Gill that hit David Krejci, I don't think there'd be a protest going on here tonight."

Several key NHL sponsors such as Air Canada and VIA Rail have voiced their displeasure with the league following the incident, but Boudreau believes that the players themselves understand the risk that they take by choosing to play a full-contact sport.

"I think the players realize that they could get hurt," said Boudreau. "They don't want to do it, but unless you've played and see what goes on and at the speed of the game, you're not going to be able to argue with it."

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Fully agree with Boudreau here. If it wasn't a Habs player, would these people be so pronounced as to have a demostration? Think about it for a minute. Dubinsky from the Rangers gets leveled by Kessler out of Vancouver. Do you think fans in Montreal would care? I don't think so. Their goal, while valid, is made disingenuous by things like this. We all want to see a safer game. Fans with double standards like this we can all do without.

C

Jon Bon Jovi: Steve Jobs killed the music business

Link

Jon Bon Jovi: Steve Jobs killed the music business


It's always dangerous to have an emotional relationship with a business. Businesses change, often driven by innovation. Or merely the desperate desire to make more money.
So there is something rather touching in the notion that Jon Bon Jovi--he who named a band after himself--still feels emotional about the very process of buying music. A process he believes that Steve Jobs has ruined, nay, destroyed, nay, killed.
In comments to the Sunday Times magazine (actual story is subscription only), he offered this nostalgic version of what the music business truly is: "Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album."
Now, I know that many people did precisely this on holding their first ever Floyd album, their first ever Sabbath album. Some even did it with Madonna.
Still, Bon Jovi, who generally seems like a very nice man, feels very deeply about jackets. For he believes people today miss "The beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it."
Bon Jovi doesn't think Steve Jobs is magical.
(Credit: CC Zana Stardust/Flickr)
Beauty may well be in the eye of the jacket-beholder. However, I know that many bought one particular Scorpions album--"Lovedrive"--whose jacket featured a man, a lovely girl, and some chewing gum, and imagined rather more than the record delivered. But that, I suppose, is the risk one takes when one judges an album by its cover.
Bon Jovi, though, reportedly described this period of music history in very Jobsian terms: "Magical."
And yet he accuses Steve Jobs of being the scorpion in the decline of jacket-based music purchases: "I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am, and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: 'What happened?' Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business."
There will be some who feel his pain. There will, however, be many who will feel less sympathy. They are the people who have donated countless albums to Goodwill, albums that they bought just because the jacket looked cool--though the music turned out to be a touch rancid.
To blame Jobs for introducing the quaint idea that you can listen to a piece of music before you buy it seems a little like blaming a shoe store for inventing the ridiculous notion of trying on a size 10, just in case it's really a size 11.
As businesses change, we all lose something along the way. I fear, for example, that when The Beatles came along, there were many classical musicians who railed at those who had invented such dreadful technologies as amps and electric guitars.
Gone, for them, was the magical time when you put on a tux, went to a chilly concert hall, and listened to something miserable from 17th century Germany. Yet the practice still survives, in some form or another. Just as some people will, no doubt, still care about album covers more than albums.
But business gets us all in the end. One minute Blockbuster has you paying late fees, the next minute it's the late Blockbuster. One minute Bon Jovi is a rock band, the next it's recording something blessedly close to country music.
To give Steve Jobs a bad name because of that seems a little sad.

As @drunkhulk said: BON JOVI BLAME STEVE JOBS FOR KILL MUSIC INDUSTRY! DRUNK HULK THINK SINGER OF "I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU" GOT NO ROOM TO TALK!
 
Couldn't have put it better myself. :)
C

Phoenix Coyotes sale... why not just sell to someone who can afford it?

From the fantastic new Dreger Report on TSN:

The NHL's visit to Glendale last week and wave of publicity generated by a sense of urgency the Phoenix Coyotes remain on the cusp of either being sold or relocated, sparked the type of financial interest the National Hockey League was hoping for.

Multiple reports suggest there is growing interest among bond buyers to buy-in and salvage the sale of the team to Chicago businessman, Matt Hulsizer, but sources say while the possibility exists the bonds could be sold this week, there's a reluctance to say either the league or the city of Glendale is optimistic a deal is imminent.

Time is of the essence and this story could change on an hour-by-hour basis depending on whether the interested bond buyers formally make their move. But the fact the NHL has not set a deadline or pulled the plug on this sale, suggests the league is hopeful a deal to keep the Coyotes in Glendale can still be reached.

In the meantime, True North, the group keenly interested in bringing an NHL team back to Winnipeg, maintains its patience and remains supportive of the NHL's fight for the Coyotes survival. But each day that passes without resolution creeps closer to an unofficial, soft mid-April deadline True North may have to be fair to its existing AHL partners, as well as renovate and prepare if the relocation dream is realized.

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My question is... why not sell it to someone who can simply afford it? Seriously... bonds?

I'm not saying sell to Balsillie  either. Let's just find someone who can just pay for the team and let him do what he wants with it. Phoenix just isn't working.

C

Tuesday: 12:20pm, trapped at work, A REAL BLOG POST!

So this week I'll be going it old school a little and spending some extra time at work on my lunches. Steph needs the car, thus I am deskbound. Not necessarily a bad thing, as it will allow me to do some trivial little things done that I likely wouldn't otherwise do, such as:

1. Blog a proper blog. You are reading this now.
2. Work on my submissions to Camera Club this week, which I shall post this coming Friday.

I've decided to actually try a few submissions this week with Camera Club. While taking the photos was a lot of fun, and feeling that "itch" to shoot again was wonderful, the thought of going into that room with the group is far less appealing to me. I have two really great friends who I go with, but the rest of the photog's are a lot older than me and I am truly starting to feel like I'm having trouble relating to them. This year in particular, I just haven't been as interested in seeing the "this was my summer vacation" photos that have been coming up a lot.

Now don't get me wrong, some of the shots are great. I initially went to Camera Club because I wanted to learn and be inspired. So far this year, I've missed half of the meetings and lost interest in some really dull presentations and be nearly completely uninspired by shots of camping. For the people who go on the trips, this is a fun walk down memory lane. For the people not involved, it's like going to the aunt's for a slideshow of old family photos. You know, the kind that they make fun of in movies.


Like I said though, some have been great. There was a shoot of Scotland that was brilliant, and a shoot of eagles that was really interesting to see and to recognize the skill required to get some of those daring shots.

I haven't been fond of the competitions. While I am generally a fan of friendly competition, I do not agree with the judging of the photos and it discourages me. I'm not even speaking up for my shots, as most of what I have put out this year has been rushed and really not that great. But when I see something for say... street photography. I go and look it up and see a great definition and some great sample ideas and then one of the winning shots is of a posing and smiling sign person doing construction, why should I have bothered to go through all the trouble of learning what it was and trying to actually go with the theme when I could have gotten my wife to stand in the street with a hard hat and holding a stop sign?


What really discouraged me about that competition in particular was there were two absolutely fantastic street shots that didn't even place. They fit the description of Street Photography to the letter and were actually great photos. there was actual THOUGHT put into these pictures and yet the sign turner scores better. It was after this competition that I missed 2 months of meetings.

I don't think that I am the only one discouraged either, as the last competition had 5 photos entered, and 3 were from the same guy. So 3 people out of approximately 35 submitted. Are we seeing a trend?

Now, the shots that I have taken for this upcoming competition I don't feel will score well, but to me they were interesting enough and were fun to take. I'll throw them in and see how it goes. They were from the shoot where I got this picture that I posted on Flickr recently.


The ice down on the Southside Hills in St. John's forms every year, and I've always said I wanted to take pictures of this or similar ice. Well, this year I had some time and managed to get a decent shoot out of it.

To clue up the thoughts from Camera Club... maybe it's just me. But if there is a problem, how will we know what is going on if nobody speaks up to fix it? If it is just me and my frustrating photog block, then I do apologize.

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Onto a little gaming talk. Over the past few weeks, I've managed to get myself a PS3. So, in the house now, we currently have:

1.Super Nintendo
2. N64
3. Gamecube
4. Nintendo DS
5. PSP
6. Wii
7. PS2
8. PS3
9. TWO (count 'em 2) Xbox 360's
10. PC
11. Mac

Lots of gaming opportunities. :D Anyway, I've been feeling a little game burnout recently, with fantastic games like Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Dragon Age 2 feeling stale to me. (Heh, wonder why) But, I pick up this absolutely unique and wonderful game called Heavy Rain, a PS3 exclusive title from a year or two ago. Well, my interest in this game has re-invigorated my joy in gaming. It's a story about a serial killer and 4 people from different walks of life. Their stories intertwine with one another as they come try to stop the killer. It's not a typical game, as you don't do the typical run around find clues and kill baddies. The story is progressed through a series of button pushes that correspond with the on screen movements. Sounds lame, but is actually quite engaging.Watch the trailer from E3.





Also, here is some gameplay footage of a sequence I played last night.



As you can see, the button pushing isn't completely random.

The one thing that truly sells this game is that it is so completely engaging that even though the button pushing isn't that exciting, the story hooks you so well and the visuals are so strong, that you want to see what happens next. The first part of the game is dull, this is most certainly a buyer and not a renter title. You'll be a good 4 or 5 hours in character and story development, with a little action like this scene sandwiched in to keep you going.

I haven't been the most ardent of PS3 fans. I had one and sold it, and got one again moreso because I could, not because I really wanted or needed it. There are so few titles coming out these days that are system exclusives, and to be honest, with my 360 gamerscore, I'm going to play a cross-console title on the 360. But this title really makes me want to say "you should at LEAST check it out". It's so rare to find a game that, in truth, has started to inspire me. Not with a visual sense, I'm not going to go out and take pictures of rain or anything, but just that little level of excitement you get when you experience something new.

With that, I will call it a day. It's been a while since I superblogged like this.

Later!

C

Funny Fail Blog: Guitar Hero







go to failblog.org for this one and many similar. :)

C

Monday, March 14, 2011

Artist interpretiation on the year 2000, circa 1910.

Link

Caught this fun link this morning and thought I'd pass it on. There's a couple there that are interestingly close, and others, such as  batman fighting fires, which aren't so close. :P

C

Thursday, March 10, 2011

A great bench for an afternoon delight.



Sky Rockets in Flight! :D

c

Righting the Ship: Why Garth Snow’s New York Islanders Are the NHL’s Next Great Team

 This is a great article on the Islanders by






In hockey, a rebuilding process generally follows one of two possible directions:

It can be successful, and the team will get better with each passing game, as we have seen in Pittsburgh, Washington and Chicago.

The alternative, of course, is that the rebuild fails, with confidence-shattering results, which is exactly what the New York Islanders experienced in the 1990′s, when Mike Milbury was in charge.

The initial stages of the process held much promise, as the team drafted the likes of Zigmund Palffy, Bryan McCabe, Zdeno Chara and Roberto Luongo, to name a few. The Isles also traded for young talents such as Kenny Jonsson, Oli Jokinen, Eric Fichaud and Bryan Berard, and everything seemed to be going according to plan.

Of course, that future was never to be, as “Mad Mike” shipped several of those players out of town, showing little patience with the team’s rookies and getting unequal returns on those trades.

For all intents and purposes, the rebuild was over faster than you could say “Bryan Smolinski.”

That was over a decade ago, and since that time, things have changed for the better on Long Island.

Many of the decisions Milbury made were met with raised eyebrows, and with Garth Snow now at the helm, our eyebrows remain raised. That sense of skepticism comes with the territory.

When Snow was originally hired, the move was criticized and ridiculed by just about anyone with a working brain and some hockey knowledge. The Islanders looked incredibly foolish, having hired Neil Smith, the architect of the 1994 Stanley Cup Champion- New York Rangers, that summer.

Smith even made an immediate impact, drafting Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (Okposo and MacDonald are two of the biggest pieces to the team’s new-found success). Unsatisfied, he then shifted his focus to free agency, bringing aboard veterans Mike Sillinger, Tom Poti and Brendan Witt.

Citing philosophical differences between Smith and Charles Wang, the team owner, the Islanders fired him and then shocked the hockey world, announcing that ex-backup Garth Snow would become the GM of the organization.

The move was not as unfathomable as some might have thought. Snow does have a Masters Degree in Business Administration, which he obtained from the University of Maine.

There is however another side to Mr. Snow, which I was quick to point out at the time, though I have rarely seen it mentioned by others. I’ve always felt that being a former goaltender, Garth has seen the game better than most, and therefore recognizes talent when he sees it.

That type of vantage point gives him an edge, a luxury that positional players simply don’t have. It’s the same thing with catchers in baseball. Think about how many MLB managers are former catchers and you’ll notice a trend.

The Isles made the postseason in Snow’s first season at the helm, largely due to a blockbuster deal he orchestrated, landing Ryan Smyth while hardly putting a dent into New York’s farm system.

The move put Snow on the map, and he was named Sports Illustrated’s 2007 NHL Executive of the Year shortly thereafter. However, his early accolades did little to quiet the naysayers, and the following season proved to be a disappointing one, with the Islanders missing the playoffs.

It was at that point, that Snow and Wang announced that the New York Islanders would be committing to a full-scale rebuild. In the last few seasons, the team has drafted well, adding Josh Bailey, John Tavares, Travis Hamonic and Kevin Poulin, all of whom have contributed on the NHL level this season.

There are more top prospects in the wings, such as Nino Niederreiter, Calvin de Haan, Kirill Petrov and Kirill Kabanov, and the Isles are likely to get another top-five pick at the upcoming Entry Draft.

Not only has he drafted well, but Snow has made some savvy moves when it comes to free agency. He signed Mark Streit for an absolute bargain, making Rangers GM Glen Sather look rather silly for vastly overpaying Wade Redden, and he found Matt Moulson, seemingly out of nowhere.

The additions of Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron last year helped solidify the team’s goaltending, and plucking Michael Grabner off the waiver wire ended up being a stroke of genius.

Snow has also become rather effective when it comes to amassing draft picks, and he’s often been able to trade players for more than he acquired them for (see James Wisniewski).

As the 2010-2011 NHL season winds down, the pieces are finally interlocking and the results produced have been striking. The Isles have won 11 of their last 19 games, and are among the best teams in the league since the All-Star break. They’ve beaten playoff teams, knocking off Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Anaheim and Montreal.

New York has three players with 24-plus goals, in Matt Moulson, Michael Grabner and John Tavares.

Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald have emerged as quality shutdown defensemen, and there’s probably a Selke Trophy with Frans Nielsen’s name on it for the splendidly versatile Danish forward, sometime in the future.

This team has bought in to head coach Jack Capuano’s system, they’re firing on all cylinders at just the right time, and no matter how you slice it, the terms “Islanders” and “pushovers” suddenly don’t seem very synonymous. The future is bright, and at their current pace, the Isles might actually be playing meaningful games, come next March.

In the meantime, they’ll finish the season as strong as possible, but regardless of what happens, the New York Islanders and their fans can count on one thing:

That long-promised future begins now.

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Yay! People are starting to believe!

C

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I'd hate to be Todd.


C/O Steve @ work from failblog. :D

C

Top Five Coleco Table Top Hockey Printable Players for February

Honourable Mentions: Pittsburgh Penguins

#5. NEW! Edmonton Oilers


#4. Calgary Flames


#3. NEW! Detroit Red Wings


#2.  Los Angeles Kings



#1. By a landslide... Quebec Nordiques!



C

XBox 360 Kinect: I've been BAMBOOZLED!

So here we are, a good couple of months past my purchase of the Microsoft Kinect, and I feel pretty stupid. Where are the games? Body and Brain Connection (metacritic score of a very mediocre 60)? Where are the "hardcore" games promised? They are displaying the kinect at Paxeast with launch titles from last fall for god's sake.

I don't like to consider myself "hardcore", I do play a lot of games but not to the point of where my eyes bleed. But I do like more than just mini games and dance games (currently 3 on the kinect already!) I bought into the rage and got bamboozled. Now that the sugar coating is gone, all that is left is the stupid kinect show where a bubbly chick points her fingers at me CONSTANTLY. (Seriously, check that out).

Anyway, to end this short post... if anyone at Microsoft is reading, your userbase for Kinect is starting to erode already. You've pretty much lost my wife and I... pick up the pace or you will lose us all. :S

C

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Whoops! Coleco Player Decals: The Buffalo Sabres - The Forgotten Team

No photoshop yet, so whoever wants the sabres has to take the whole sheet. Big download, but who cares. Enjoy! Sorry for fergettin' them.

C

Defining Poor Customer Service: Issues with EB Games/ Gamestop

Now, we've all come across bad customer service in our days. Be it at a restaurant, a store, or even in passing, we see a service agent or sales associate who just couldn't care less about their job and are more concerned about their 10 bucks an hour rather than the job itself. given the bulk of these jobs are occupied by folks 18-27 who are going through school or just earning a living, it's something that most people have come to expect.

I do not want to shoot down every person in a job like this. In many instances, dealing with the public can be a trying exercise at best. For every guy or girl who is polite and says thank you, there are a dozen dickheads who think they are entitled and in turn take it out on young staffers when not given their way. I do my best each and every time I am provided good customer service that I at the very least say "thank you". Maybe they appreciate it, maybe they don't. But in the very least they get some sort of minimal gratification for their daily duty. (I do get weird looks when I say thank you to a checkout girl or guy, but who cares. They did their job checking me through fast and were pleasant, why not?)

Anyway, I received a call from my local EB Games this past weekend. Apparently, my copy of Dragon Age 2 had been damaged in shipping and they wanted to let me know and I could come down and check it out so I could not worry about any issues that may arise from it. "Great" I said. Andrew, the assistant manager of the store thought enough of me and my patronage that he gave me a pleasant call to let me know there was an issue wanted to make sure I was aware of it so if I had a problem with it, it could be taken care of. This, people, is what good customer service is all about.

I would say in the last 2 years I spent literally thousands of dollars in that store from purchasing, and generated thousands upon thousands more from trading and taking advantage of their trade specials. I would define this as a regular customer and a good customer. I won't be so bold as to say I'm their best customer, but to my own fault I think I spend more time in that store than most of their staff. :S (scheduling thing with my wife, it just works out that way). Anyway, when I get to the store to check on the product, the manager Sarah says "I can't show you that, I'm not allowed."

What.

The.

Fuck.

First off, the major wrong thing here is that the store called ME and said I could check this out. Secondly, you can't shit a shitter. This was the biggest bullshit line ANYONE in retail has ever pulled on me. I've worked in gaming retail for 8+ years, and been a major buyer for that plus 5 more years, so I know the rules of what one can and cannot do. SERIOUSLY. Thirdly, and most importantly, referencing the previous paragraph, I was a regular, GOOD customer who had a concern and wanted it dealt with. It wasn't even asking for a favor, it was a valid concern that someone in their store had brought up to me and suddenly they cannot help me?

What.

The.

Fuck.


I stayed calm and didn't yell. No matter what the issue is, nobody deserves being yelled at. It's common courtesy. So, I took my only course of action and found a valid way of dealing with this.

"You can't show me, but... you can refund the purchase, yes?"

I said this with the straightest face possible to show I was serious. The manager was immediately on her heels and said:

"but, you have the special edition pre-ordered".

I responded "well, someone else will be able to get it then. I'll just go pick it up somewhere else. No worries." She tickered away on her computer for a second and then looked up and said "Chris, you know I love you, but I just can't do it when someone else is in the store."


Issue number two. Lying sucks. This was bigger bullshit than the first wad.


So she pulled out the game and showed me the issue and it took all of 2 minutes. Seriously people, that's all it took. The whole ordeal lasted 15 minutes.

Now, if I had been asking a favor, or for privileged information, she'd have every right to say "Chris, I'm just not allowed to do this." But this is information that someone in their own store had said "Come down and see this". I'd even have understood it if they were actually busy and couldn't do this because servicing other consumers and making money would take precedence. But, the manager and the staffer were standing behind the counter chatting about something non work related. They can get out of their own ways to serve a customer, especially a good, regular customer.

There are literally more than a dozen places in St. John's where I can purchase games. I always brought my business there for new releases, for the most part. From now one, someone else will get the business. Poor customer service with NO EXCUSE is unacceptable.



C

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Ultimate Trade Swindle, and it was completely LEGAL. :)

It's been quite a year for deals, with EB Games putting off a regular daily deal. In many ways, they are taking advantage of it to lessen stock on games that they have a lot of, either by over purchasing or what not. Anyway, these deals are incredible, with most titles selling for a meager $4.89, essentially cheaper than your average rental.

So anyway, I've purchased most of these games. There have been some amazing titles, like Blur, Split Second, and Metroid: Other M. Likewise, there has been some absolute shit, like Blood Drive, Quantum Theory, and MorphX. My collection was spilling out off of my shelf!

I actually had the plan to buy all the $5 games, have a yard sale in the spring, and sell them all for $8 to $10, make a few dollars. It's a sound plan, really. BUT... I decide to do a little games belt run (see previous posts on this) tonight, and my first stop was Blockbuster. Oh my... I saw Quantum Theory and Blood Drive selling USED for a sickly $54.99! You know what THAT means! Higher than usual trade values because they had no idea that these games were worth less than your average egg! Anyway, I run home, and out of interest, grab ALL my daily deal titles save for Split Second and Blur (amazingly fun racers) plus a couple of titles I had finished up with. I ran to the closest Blockbuster and start trading.

Here is a chart of titles that I traded:
Blood Drive - X360, purchased at $4.89, traded at $30.
Quantum Theory - X360, purchased at $4.89, traded at $30.
MorphX - X360, purchased at $4.89, traded at $30.
Metroid Other M - Wii, purchased at $9.89, traded at $30.
Sin and Punishment - Wii, purchased at $4.89, traded at $30.
Iron Man - X360, purchased at $4.89, traded at $30.
Wolverine - X360, purchased for $4.89, traded for $15.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Two Worlds 2, Kinect Joy Ride: Previously owned titles, all traded for titles I spent $15 total (love trade 3 at EB) and each nets 25 to 30 dollars.

I won't get into my purchase, but needless to say: It was big, and I only spent a grand total of $85 for nearly $300 worth of goods. OH MY GOD. Buy low,trade HIGH! Look around. These things are amazing and can save you HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS!

OH MY GOD!

:D

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Greg Wyshynski on the Gillies Hit

I LOVE this.

"One last thing on the Islanders: Their fans feel like there's a pile on from media, the League and opposing fans to the point of suffocation. Some feel Gillies is being singled out because of the sweater he wears.
The Islanders aren't treated well now. They're considered a laughingstock by some, a circus by others. But know this: They're the next Chicago Blackhawks. There's a mountain of buoyant nostalgia under this team and it's going to erupt like Vesuvius when this team is back in playoff contention. Count on it."

Comments from Greg "Hard to spell last name" Wyshynski.

Link






Go Greg Wyshynski!

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Trevor Gillies Hit on Cal Clutterbuck... is this the real problem?



Now, I know I am going to sound like a deluded fan of the Islanders, but is the Trevor Gillies hit the real problem?

So far this year, the Islanders have lost well over 400 man games to injuries. The year before, much the same. Cheap hits to players like Blake Comeau, Frans Neilsen and John Tavares have contributed to this heavily.  So, the Islanders go out and get protection for these guys in Zenon Konopka, Matt Martin, and Trevor Gillies. The do what they are supposed to do, take care of the skilled players and take it on the chin when it comes to things like this.

If the calls were actually made for all the hits towards the Islanders, or if they were avoided all together, do you think that Garth Snow would have gone out and gotten players like these? (in fairness to Matt Martin, he was in the Islanders system to begin with, a 5th round pick from a couple years back).

I'm not saying what Trevor Gillies did was right. I'm just saying that if the Islanders had done nothing, they'd likely be playing half their ECHL team right now instead of what little they are able to put on the ice now.

What I'm saying is Trevor Gillies is is a product of the culture bred in the NHL these days, not a product of Trevor Gillies.


C

PS: Look at the replay. Clutterbuck saw it coming, you see he is looking directly at Gillies before he gets his. Gillies hands DID go up, which is wrong, but this wasn't a hit from behind.

Can the Leafs ACTUALLY make the playoffs????

I thought it quite laughable that the typically deluded Leaf Nation was clammering about a playoff shot, but after last night, the Leafs are suddenly only 4 points and 2 teams out of a spot. On top of that, they are smoking white hot right now riding the tails of their Goalie Diamond in the Rough, James Reimer.

What the hell.


If they are this hot going into the playoffs, look out! There's a strong chance we'll see a major upset. With the Leafs, it really WOULD be a major upset.



C

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Bully Doesn't Always Win, and... PORN! :D

Forgive the word porn in the title, it's just a little google experiment to see if it affects the hits on this post.

Now, onto yesterday. In my Facebook status, I posted this:

"...is in space. Something big and wonderful happened today, but for some reason I'm spaced instead of ecstatic. Weird."


As some of you now know, I was in court yesterday for a case where I was rear ended by a young fellow who apparently was a real bully. He had no license, no insurance, and a general bad attitude. (this "attitude and bully thing is according to someone who went to school with him and refused to speak against him out of fear). 



Anyway, he was young then, he may have likely have changed now. IT'S BEEN NEARLY 5 YEARS!!! But when you show up to something like this dressed as a gangster and everyone else is in shirts and ties, it makes you wonder. Anyway, I won't say names (I am actually unsure of his name at this point) so his identity is safe. Also, this is all hear-say, so it may very not well be true. For the sake of this blog title, it works.



After 4 years, 5 months and 27 days (give or take a day), I am finally able to close this chapter on my life as my lawsuit was settled. I won't get into the gory details or any dollar figures, but it is something that has hung over my head for all this time, and now it's over, and I am very pleased. Yesterday, I was a little overwhelmed by it all and was in a fog throughout most of it. 


Might I speak to the beauty of the Supreme Court Building downtown. It's classical architecture is just as nice as the outside "castle-like" appearance.


This is a story that says that sometimes, just SOMETIMES the little guy wins. It's not very often, but when it does, it is sweet.


Good day all. :)


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