Thank you readers! (Coleco Printable Devils, Penguins, Capitals, Jets, Canucks, Blues)

Well, it's basically been a year since I started blogging. (Give or take a week or so)

So let's say the anniversary is today. :)

Thanks to you, the reader, I now am more confident in my speech. I may not have grown as a writer in anyway, but I have grown as a person. This is all because of you. I'm not afraid to share my thoughts, either here or out in the real world. I now have friends spanning the continent. I have somewhere to complain about the ISLANDERS! :D

In checking my stats, I notice this blog is getting 1000+ hits a month on average since October of last year. Not bad, given I only advertise it to my 50 facebook friends and 35 or so followers on Twitter. Apparently, I have something worth looking for. :) Yay me.

As a thank you, I'll be posting the remainder of the Coleco decals here. To make sure people find them, I'll put team names in the key words and the title. I just now notice the blues team I have isn't a good scan. I'll skip that one until I find a better one.

With those, that's it for printable players. Anything else available is simply a custom jobby or a real old team from the time of tin players (Pre 1972 I believe) That's a little out of my era. If you want them though, I'll galdly make them upon request. Anytime you see a newer era expansion team like Tampa or Columbus, it is not genuine and a custom job only.

Until next time, laters!

C

Mortal Kombat Banned in Australia

The upcoming Mortal Kombat game is brutal as hell. Meaning, and this shouldn't come as too great a shock to most of you, it's been "banned" in Australia.
I say "banned" because, like all other recent cases of a commercial title being barred from release Down Under, it's actually been "refused classification" (as Australia lacks an adults-only rating, and this was deemed too violent for an MA15+ badge), which isn't technically the same as a ban.
Though as the game is now unable to be sold at retail in Australia, it's pretty much the same thing. Semantics!
The bad news for Aussies is that they'll now have to import the game, which is also technically illegal. The good news is, with the Australian dollar at an all-time high, it's a good 20-30% cheaper to buy from overseas anyway.
It's expected/hoped that, at a meeting of State Attorneys-General later this year, an adults-only rating for video games in Australia will be introduced. Which will of course come too late for Mortal Kombat and its publisher, Warner Bros.
Mortal Kombat Banned In Australia [Kotaku AU]

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Just passing this one along. Interested in the title myself, thank GOD Canada isn't stuck in the 60's like the Aussies. :S

C

Top 10 Songs That Will Restore Your Faith in Rock 'n' Roll

You know, most modern rock acts are pretty terrible. You look at the Simple Plan clan (them and their clones), the Theory of a Deadman and Nickelback clones (Nickelback isn't THAT BAD but still aren't that great, but I HATE Theory of a Deadman). With major acts that we grew up with like Van Halen and Aerosmith all but dead now, what do we have to look forward to in good driving music and fist pumping action anymore? Well, these 10 songs will restore your faith in the land of ripped denim jeans. No, Lenny Kravitz. Rock and Roll is NOT dead.

10. C'Mon C'Mon - Def Leppard
To Star our countdown, we have the rebirth of one of our favorite late 70's- 80's acts, Def Leppard. Through much of the 2000's, this band toiled in bad CD/ Greatest Hits hell. In 2009, they released "Songs From the Sparkle Lounge", a hugely popular and well put together disk filled with great guitar licks. This is the second song released from the album. Check it out.



9. Misery Business - Paramore
Coming in at 9 in our countdown is the only female led act with Paramore.



8. 100 in a 55 - Pop Evil
At. Number 8 we have the slowest tune in our countdown, 100 in a 55 by Pop Evil. Labelled the best thing to come out of Michigan since the automobile and Kid Rock. Well, Kid Rock... not so good. These guys, they are AWESOME. The entire album that this came from, Lipstick on the Mirror is fantastic.



7. Full of Regret - Danko Jones
At number seven, we get the first of our solo acts, the heart attack rock of Danko Jones. Full of Regret appeared in the soundtrack of this year's #1 hockey video game, NHL11.



6. Ghost - Slash
The newest track of our countdown, this song comes from ex Guns 'n' Roses, ex- Velvet Revolver guitarist virtuouso Slash. On vocals for this tune we get Ian Astbury of the newly reformed Cult. Great tune and getting heavy radio play here in Newfoundland.



5. Sugar - Les Respectables
Here we have the first and only Canadian act of our countdown. This band is out of Montreal and has a strong "bluesy, southern" style of music. Others to check out from these guys include "Sweet Mama", "Got more than I wanted" and "Devil in the Launderette".



4. Airborne - Runnin' Wild
The heir apparents to ACDC out of Australia, you'll definately hear their #1 influence of ACDC in their music. This tune is an amazing driving tune. Loud and strangely good for sing along.



3. Hell Yeah - Rev Theory
Easily one of my favorite tunes to come out of 2010, Hell Yeah, featured in WWE PPV commercials in mid 2010 has a fast pace, and fits right in next to Airborne as one of the BEST driving tunes to come out in years.  Take a listen, you won't regret it.



2. Wheels - Foo Fighters
Who doesn't have a great memory of a Foo Fighters song? This song in particular means a lot to me, with it's meaning to me being recovery, finding success after a great failure in life. "When ya feel like it's all over, here's another round for you, when the wheels come round". Soak in the fantastic lyrics, and amazing guitars. Just a perfectly created rock tune. A favorite of mine on Rock Band as well.



El Numero UNO: Push Push Lady Lightning - Bang Camaro
This song dates back a little bit to 2007, but it still rocks the world with it's sheer amazing guitar prowess. There is little in the way of lyrics, but it's really the guitars that do the singing here. I first heard this tune as a secret track back in Guitar Hero 2.
This song lives up to it's billing as THE song to restore your faith in Rock 'n' Roll, and goes further. It's unique, and even interesting to listen to. This is a song like no other, hence it's claiming the number one spot.



Hope you liked the countdown. A non hockey post, strange these days. :) Sucks to your rap and country, LONG LIVE ROCK!

C

A site everyone should visit, daily. :)

Linkage

On the main page, my personal favorite headline:

"Maxim Magazine LOVE Chocolate Bacon."

C

Islanders, Playoffs, one conscious thought... who went mad?

Quoted from CBS Sports:


"Though making the playoffs still seems like a stretch for the New York Islanders, they are certainly playing like a postseason contender.
The Islanders look for a third straight victory Tuesday night when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs, also desperate to move into playoff position."

So... who else thought that this phrase might never have been spoken again? Personally, I simply don't care. They are my team, I'll watch no matter what. If they make it, and win, great! WOO! Suck it blue. If they don't, there'll be next year. But it sure is getting to be fun to watch hockey again.

As I noted last post: Please, Al Montoya work out. So far, he has. 4 games, GAA of 1.23-ish, 1 shutout, 1 single goal game, and something unknown to Islanders fans in a while, stability.

I mentioned to @mattclasuen over twitter the other day, "Boy it's fun to be a fan again". Man, isn't it. Averaging 5 goals a game, a goalie playing for it all, and the comfort of knowing that the team has gelled into something exciting and fun to watch. Nay sayers, I got two words for ya:

Al Montoya, please work out. :)

I've heard the name Al Montoya since 2004, when he participated in the World Junior Championships of Hockey for Team USA. That year, they won the gold medal, beating out a STACKED Team Canada in the final. I watched him play then and said "this guy is something special". Low and behold, he gets chosen 6th overall in the NHL Entry Draft that year and seemingly was on his way to NHL stardom.

Now, I think many of us are a little spoiled with first round draft picks. We see the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin (loved that Ovechtrick commercial), Evgeni Malkin, John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, and so on, and we see guys who come right out of junior hockey and make an immediate impact. Well, not every player can pull that off. For every Stamkos, there's a Patrick Stefan, or an Alexandre Daigle, who in reality don't even make it to their potential, or as in this blogs case, Al Montoya, a fella with talent who doesn't get it correct right out of the gate.


The first thing that riddled this young feller's chance at the big time was that in general, Goalies do not develop into prime time players as fast as other positional players. The second was a fella by the name of Hendrick Lunquist. They came around the same time and he just developed a little quicker. Given that there was no room in the Rangers depth chart, Montoya was expendable and was traded to Phoenix. He toiled in the minors save for 5 games with Phoenix, where he had a respectable 3 win and 1 shutout in 5 games. Then, back to the minors.

Along came the Islanders with their Med squad of goalies (championed by Glass Jaw/ Hard Luck Rick Dipietro) and they find themselves needing a goalie so they wouldn't ruin the development of some of their younger players. Step in Garth Snow and a throw away 6th round draft pick and now Al Montoya gets the opportunity to step into the big time. He came in and finished up a game last week vs. Buffalo and seemed dependable enough, save for some rebound control issues (seemingly a common issue with the Islanders men in pads this year) and then Saturday night, came in and shut out a VERY hot Los Angeles Kings team.

Now, I dislike it when bloggers speak "directly" to players. But this is more wishful thinking than speaking to the player.

**Ahem**

Please work out Mr. Montoya. I've been pulling for you for years now and my beloved sad sack Islanders are now giving you the chance you may have deserved a few years ago now. You got it in ya. I've seen you play. You got the goods, now go get em.

**apologies**

Best of luck in this tryout that Evgeni Nabokov has passed on. Show him and the rest of the world what you got in you.

C

Update on Footwear Photography, Fighting the Block, and more music.

I was able to start fresh with this photo and get it to work a little better (thanks for the tips Geoff!). I call it "Pop Took Me Skating". I duotoned over top of a HDR processing and it gives me a feeling of a very old, high contrast photo. I wanted to add dust and scratches, but in the end felt that may have been a little too much, so  skipped it.

This will be a little more like a personal journal entry next, feel free to skip.

The block is still there, photography feels like work to me. I have to work hard just to force out one or two shots that look good to me. But I do feel better about shooting these days. I just need a little inspiration.

Journal entry ended.

I've been listening to that song I mentioned a few posts back, Being Here by The Stills, and it really isn't an uplifting song. It's masked with wonderful guitar hooks but the lyrics are very very dark. Skip the rest of the album, too. It just isn't very good. In many instances, it tries to be good, channeling Steve Miller as best as it can. However, the songs sound "independent", and will only appeal to a real niche audience.

So, I moved onto the next "found" band. Danko Jones. (is he a solo? Or is it a band? Not sure) Take a listen to Active Volcanoes and Full of Regret. Great tunes.
 

Very HYPER. As well, a couple of bands I started listening to recently, Rev Theory and Pop Evil warrant listening to as well. Rev Theory's HELL YEAH and Pop Evils 100 in a 55 are particularly good.

See ya next time.

C