Northern Reflections – A Bunch of Quick Hits 2: The Winter Soldier

I’ve decided to try to blog more frequently. The one I wrote about my night out with Stella Ella Ola got 175 reads. Thanks to everyone who read it. I hope you enjoyed it, and more importantly, I hope you downloaded and enjoyed the music and will support these bands by buying their music when it’s available.

I’ll probably wind up doing mainly “Quick Hits” blogs, as I rarely have a lot to say about any single thing. Let’s get started on this one.

The Bane/Bain Capital Thing

For those who haven’t heard, there’s a conspiracy theory out there that the makers of the new Batman movie chose Bane as the villain to make Mitt Romney’s company Bain Capital look bad. First off, in this type of economy, financial companies don’t need help looking like the bad guy. Secondly, the character was chosen for the movie well over a year ago – long before Romney was the Republican candidate. Third, this conspiracy’s loudest supporter is Rush Limbaugh, so you can pretty much dismiss it out of hand as an attention-whoring move. (And if that's not enough to convince you, the two guys who created Bane are conservatives, and they're saying this is ridiculous.)

It’s ludicrous. I’m sure you know that, but I figured I’d say it anyway.

The Newsroom

Aaron Sorkin’s new show. It’s really really good. I mean, it has its problems – it’s a bit heavy-handed in its anti-FOX News, most notably – but the banter is what you’d expect, the characters are likeable when they should be and detestable when they should be, and Jack McCoy says “fuck” a lot. What more can you ask for?

Well, if you’re Michael Wilbon from ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, apparently, you can ask for more black characters. For some reason, Wilbon is pissed that Sorkin “couldn’t find one black actor” for his show. There’s a very prominent Indian character and three very strong female characters (which is great, if you’re keeping score on this sort of thing), but no black characters. There are also no Native Americans, no Chinese, no Koreans, no Japanese, no handicapped, no Jewish, no Muslim, no Inuit, no Brazilian, no canine, no Norwegian – you know what? Fuck Sorkin and his non-inclusive show. I’m boycotting it until he has every race, religion, gender, and species represented. (No I’m not.) It’s ridiculous that he doesn’t. (No it’s not.) I’m outraged. (No I’m not.)

Hey Wilbon: stick to sports. Leave the social commentary to social commentators.

Chick-Fil-A

Something that I am actually pissed about is the Chick-Fil-A news. I had heard maybe six months ago that the company was donating vast sums of money to anti-gay institutions. I was disgusted. Today, there’s an article on the Huffington Post wherein the owner of Chick-Fil-A comes right out (not that way) and says that he believes in the Biblical definition of marriage and that people have no right to redefine it for themselves.

What he doesn’t say is what marriage (gay or otherwise) has to do with chicken sandwiches. I mean, he’s as entitled to his opinion as I am to mine, but what he’s basically doing is turning his business into “Bigot Burger.” He’ll definitely lose sales from people who find his stance morally reprehensable, but he’ll likely gain twice as many sales from those who share his belief.

I realize I’m generalizing and speculating and that I have no data to back any of this up, but that’s what I see as the game plan here: hate speech = money. It’s sickening.

Fantasy Football

On a muuuch lighter note, it’s almost draft time. My Canada RoughRiders are preparing to defend the Cupcakes & Bananas title with keeper options such as Fred Jackson, Mike Wallace, and the 49ers Defense. Seriously.

After looking at my final roster from last year, I have no idea how I won. In fairness, I had Brady (not keepable, sadly) and Jackson (who played way above his pay grade), but that shouldn’t have been enough. I remember a couple of weeks where my opponent tanked or I got big numbers from unexpected places, but what an amazing perfect storm for me to win a league with these guys.

Congrats, me.

ComiCon News

ComiCon happened last weekend in San Diego. I haven’t heard anything bad about the event that wasn’t related to waiting in lines, but that’s just part of the deal. Here are some of the Marvel highlights:

•    Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier – This is exactly what I was hoping for. The Winter Soldier is an awesome character, and they’ve already set the scene for this movie to take place.
•    Thor 2: The Dark World – No idea what this one’s going to be about, but I’ll be there opening night.
•    Guardians of the Galaxy – I’m really excited about this one, too. I’ve seen the teaser art, so I know it’s the most recent iteration of the team, which is great. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a talking raccoon and the king of the tree people on the team. No, seriously. And it’s going to be awesome.
•    Deadpool video game – there’s an adults-only teaser trailer here. You’re either excited or you’re not. I think it’s going to kick all of the different kinds of ass.

But DC had the announcement of the weekend: Neil Gaiman is going to write more Sandman. There are no words to describe how awesome a thing that is. I’ve been thinking about it for almost a week, and I still can’t describe it. If you haven’t read Sandman, you should. I can’t give it a higher recommendation. It’s literature with pictures. Read it.

Huge NHL News

In absolutely huge NHL news, I’ll be doing a hockey podcast with Fred “Solly” Solomon, likely starting in late August or early September. What qualifies us to host a hockey podcast? Absolutely nothing. Really.

That said, it should be a lot of fun, and I expect that it will deviate quite a bit from the core subject (hockey), so even if you’re American, you might enjoy it.

And that’s all I’ve got for now.

As always, I’m open to “Blog-on-demand.” If you’ve got something you want me to spout off on, just let me know.

Have fun. Play safe.

Your pal,

~Hodgey

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Northern Reflections – A Night on the Town

I’ve got a daughter who turned three in April. She’s great. My wife just gave birth a month ago to a second daughter. Also a great kid. What they aren’t is conducive to going out. I’m not complaining here – I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything in the world – just pointing out that my leisure time is severely limited these days.

So, when I heard that Stella Ella Ola (the band that I blogged about here a couple of months ago) was playing a bar that’s a 15-minute walk from my house, I asked my wife to call her mother in for babysitting duty, and we were all set for a night on the town. But here’s the thing about kids: they rarely cooperate.

My three-year-old woke up the morning of the show saying she didn’t feel well. Then she wouldn’t eat much breakfast. Then she spewed what little she’d eaten. Fuck. So, my wife called her mother and cancelled. Not that she’s not a capable babysitter, just that we didn’t feel comfortable saddling her with a newborn and a sick kid.

And then it was decision time. Do I go it alone? Do I cancel? Fuck canceling. I went. What made that decision pretty easy for me happened a couple of days before. I’m bouncing all over the place here, but bear with me. I’m in my mid-30s, and, like I mentioned, I’ve got the two kids. Add the job on top of that, and you know what? I’m tired. All the time, I’m tired.

So I decided to send the band a Tweet to find out how late a night we were in for. (The Facebook event page said it was a 9:00 start.) The response? They’re probably going onstage around midnight. Dear lord, I can’t handle that shit. I Tweeted back, sending my regrets, and…you know what? I’ll just quote the actual exchange here:

Me: @_StellaEllaOla_ What time are you guys taking the stage on Saturday? Have you got an opener going on at 9?

SEO: @psychofish77 because of dinner crowd, first band - Dangerband - on around 11. We go on around midnight. Hope to see you there!

ME: @_StellaEllaOla_ Might have to revisit the idea. We're very old, you see. I was hoping you'd be on by 10 or so.

SEO: @psychofish77 shoot! That be a shame. But you young at heart and it weekend - so maybe?

Me: @_StellaEllaOla_ Definitely maybe.

At this point, I was resigning myself to just skipping the show and dealing with the disappointment. Then the next day, out of nowhere, unsolicited, unasked for, unexpected, this happened:

SEO: @psychofish77 got an idea- we're going to do first set around 10. Then Dangerband around 11. Then us again! Works right?!!!

So yeah. The headliners decided to go on two hours early to accommodate one fan bitching about being old. How phenomenally cool is that? (Very.) Of course, that’s the kind of offer you don’t pass up, so I committed, then the kid got sick, then I decided I was going alone. I think that puts the story back on track.

At about 9:00, I head out. Get to the Merchant Ale House at 9:15 or so. Order a beer, find a free WiFi connection, fuck around on the Net for a bit as the band’s milling about at the front of the bar. Then one of the band guys makes his way over, calls me by name, sits down next to me at the bar, orders a beer, and starts shooting the shit. Really nice move. This is Jake. He mentions being in another band from Montreal, and I’m immediately excited, because I know that two members of Hollerado – the Montreal-based band whose debut album I reviewed here – are in Stella Ella Ola. When Jake confirmed that was indeed the case, I was blown away. Hollerado has become one of my favourite bands over the past year, and here I am sitting in a bar down the street from my house with their drummer, just having a casual conversation (wherein I probably came off like a total fanboy).

Jake plays bass in Stella. He introduced me to Stella’s drummer, Vince, and I later met Jake’s brother (and Holleradian), Nick, as well as the band’s lead singer, Anne, when I was buying a t-shirt from them. All really friendly people, and all really happy to talk to a fan about their music.

I also learned that the opening act, Dangerband, were on the same label as Stella* and Hollerado (Royal Mountain Records), as is Topanga – the band that sound guy for this gig (whose name escapes me because I’m a terrible human being) is in. Jake called it nepotistic, but it struck me more as an incredible network of support. It really reminded me of the stories I’ve heard about the Seattle scene in the early 90s, where bands like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden helped each other out and supported each other instead of going the usual route of tearing each other down. It’s the mentality that everyone can succeed with some help, rather than one band succeeding by stepping on the others. Seeing the network made me respect what these guys are doing even more.

So, at about 10:30, Stella goes on. And you know what? They were every bit as good as I expected. I was beaming the entire time they played, and I was disappointed when they were done. I don’t know what else you can ask of a band.

Not long after Stella finished, Dangerband took the stage. After Stella’s set was over, both Jake and Vince had recommended that I stick around to watch them, and since my kids were in my wife’s more than capable hands, I was happy to oblige.

I’d seen Dangerband come into the bar earlier in the night. They were pretty hard to miss. They were by far the youngest people in the place. To me, they looked like teenagers, but I’m a terrible judge of such things. They’re more likely in their early 20s. In any event, the people in Stella had treated me like gold that night and requested that I stick around, so I did. Out of respect. I figured maybe I’d sneak out halfway through what was sure to be a noisy, sloppy set.

Then HOLY FUCK ARE THESE GUYS GOOD happened. Apart from the high level of talent, which is clearly evident, these guys are consummate professionals. They worked the cramped stage in perfect unison. Every move, every note – just incredible. Obviously, I was impressed. Not to take anything away from Stella, who were awesome, but I expected them to be awesome. They haven’t been playing together for a long time, but they’ve all been musicians for a long time. No reason they shouldn’t be good. But these “kids”? They absolutely blew me away.

Dangerband played a tight set, then Stella came back on and played their set again. And you know what? It was every bit as good the second time around. Oh, and by the way, the cover charge for this performance: $0.00. Name me a place where you can get entertainment this good for free.

And that’s the story of my night on the town. Stella and Hollerado cemented me as a fan for life, and I plan to do everything I can to promote them, Dangerband, Topanga, and the rest of the Royal Mountain Records ensemble. It’s great people making great music. There’s no reason in the world not to support that.

Hollerado has free tracks available here: http://www.hollerado.com/

Stella Ella Ola has free tracks available here: http://stellaellaola.bandcamp.com/

Topanga has free tracks available here: http://musicoftopanga.bandcamp.com

Dangerband has free tracks available here: http://dangerband.bandcamp.com/

Download them. Listen to them. Follow these guys on the Twitters and the Facebook. Keep an eye out for local shows and upcoming album releases. There are a lot of big things coming from this extended group in the near future. Don’t miss out.

*I've been informed that Dangerband is not with Royal Mountain Records. There's a possibility that I made that error because I did no research whatsoever to write this blog. I apologize if anyone was put off by the misinformation.

---

As always, I’m still very open to “Blog-on-demand.” If you’ve got something you want me to spout off on, just let me know.

Have fun. Play safe.

Your pal,

~Hodgey

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Eternal Sunshine of the Southern Poor Girl

We have a special treat for you guys, today.  We have been graced with a special blog from Courtney Smith, longtime (but currently on a long hiatus) message board member both Pun's House and Online Onslaught.  She was one of only TWO women to make regular contributions to the Pun's House message board, the other being the one and only Firewoman.  Make sure you let her know how much you like it.  We might be lucky enough to have her stick around a little longer.  Courtney's new blog can be found here.

Things to Know if You’re Going to Faithfully Commit Yourself to Me (Yes, You)

1) I’m a 25-year-old single white female from Nashville. Not that this is really important, but if you read something and think to yourself, “Damn, what is this whippersnapper talking about?” or “Damn, she’s doing a music list that is 90% pre-1980!” or “Damn, why does she talk about the south so much?,” you’ll have your answer.

2) I have an unhealthy obsession with music. I know that probably a lot of you do too. And that’s amazing. Most of the things I write about will be music-related. And I’ll always post what song I’m listening to at the time. For instance, Now Playing: Sonic Youth- Poison Arrow. I’m always listening to music especially when I write.

3) I Heart Nashville. When I was growing up, I always told everyone that I would never spend my life in the south. I was going to move away, preferably to New York City. I think that’s where all little girls growing up here dream about moving away to. However, that did not and probably (never say never) will not happen seeing as how I’m in love with my fair city. I’ll do a lot of posts on Nashville and specific things that make this city great. And maybe one of them will have to do with country music. I like to show people the things that aren’t obvious.

4) I moved into a new apartment recently and this is the first time I’ve ever lived by myself. It’s wonderful, terrifying and boring all at once. Wonderful because…well, I‘ll get to that later. Terrifying because paying rent on my own is the single-most headache-inducing thing I’ve ever had to do. And boring because I need people around me or ten projects to do all at once. My mind is usually in hyperactive mode and since I don’t like talking on the phone, I need to be out of the apartment or have something to attack with my glue gun.

5) I just got a dog, in part to alleviate some of the boredom. His name is Riff and he’s 11 weeks old. He is so ridiculously adorable that I am overlooking a lot. But once he’s trained, he’ll be spectacular.

6) I watch a lot of television and movies. I’ll be doing reviews on here and talking about tv…a lot. And considering that in order to pay rent, I haven’t had cable or proper internet for three months now, I need some place to express my absolute loooove for the box in my living room.

7) I can’t cook anything except for lasagna and desserts. There is a reason Garfield is my favorite comic strip character. So you don’t have to worry about me posting tons of recipes except for all these desserts that I have yet to try out in a new book I got called Booze Cakes. Speaking of…

8) I like alcohol. That may not be the classiest thing to write on the internet, but I don’t care. I’m not an alcoholic but I like to think my alcohol knowledge is pretty sound. One of my dreams (on that vague list in my head) is to own a bar one day. This will not happen soon (unless I win the lottery) seeing as I am horrible with money. But still, it’s there. I’m getting off-topic. Anyways, I probably will talk about some of my favorite drinks. And while going on and on about Nashville, you might notice most of my favorite places are within walking distance of a bar. Yay booze!

9) I love feedback. Especially if I’m talking about booze and you have a drink that I’ve never heard of. This also applies to crafts, bands, songs and dessert recipes. If I post something and you’re all, “Oh, I wonder if she knows about this…”, by all means, tell me about it. Tanks. (Not a misprint)

10) I love fashion. Even though I can’t afford it. I peruse fashion blogs like it’s going out of style (see what I did there) and I will talk about any great deals I see because I feel like this is necessary for girls like me. My closet just got a major overhaul and is slowly being built back up with clothes that I actually like instead of cheap, crappy stuff. Notice I didn’t say “instead of stuff from Goodwill.” Because I love that place. It’s like my third favorite place in the world. Especially on the first Saturday of every month.

11) I am a yard sale addict. This time of year is my favorite for many reasons, but mostly because people start doing yard sales. Seriously, it’s like crack. Not that I’ve ever done crack, but you get it. Yes? I will probably post a lot about what I get and find at sales. Because for real, crack.

12) For all you dudes out there, feel free to skip any post containing the words “Dude, Look at This Dude” or “Future Husband” because that’s just me talking about a hot guy. Like Future Husband #1 Ryan Gosling, FH #2 Joseph Gordon-Levitt and FH #3 Andrew Garfield. Yes, I will be married three times and have the most adorable children ever. Deal with it.

13) I go on these little rants (example: #12) where I sound crazy, but really, I’m pretty down-to-earth. Unless you get me talking about something I really love to talk about. Like Future Husbands. Like how Adam Levine’s tattoos make up for the fact that he’s probably a douchebag. Cakes with booze in them. How my favorite place in the world is Grimey’s on 8th Ave South, a mere ten minutes from my house. Things like that.

14) I have guilty pleasures that are considered not cool to talk about. Everyone does. But I will be bold and talk about them and try to convince you to like them. Some of these I know will be fruitless. Like the Jersey Shore post I already have planned. But some of them will take hold with someone and hopefully make a positive change. Wow, I’m kinda making myself sound a lot more important than I am and thinking that hundreds of people will read this instead of maybe 10. Hmm…oh well. Let’s dance and everything will be better.

15) I love to talk about politics and religion. And my opinions are not that of your stereotypical person born in Georgia and raised in Tennessee. I think the political system we have is ridiculous and I’ll feature bonehead politicians on here a lot. Because it needs to be done. I have conservative view points (I mean real conservative points, not this crazy thing Republicans are calling conservatism), especially on fiscal issues, but my social meter swings wildly to the liberal side of things. And since that’s where politicians (both left and right) tend to say the dumbest things, I’ll probably feature most of those.

Alright, that should be enough. Hopefully, y’all will like it and continue reading. Till next time…

Now Playing: Spice Girls- 2 Become 1 (Shh, I said I had guilty pleasures.)

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Flawedcast XXXI: Heart of Stone

Andy and Tyler pebble through the emails, discuss the Teboulder of a trade in the NFL, and sift through the rubble of the Whitney Houston autopsy.

Discuss here!

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Flawedcast XXVIII: Manada

Tyler and Andy give you a recap of the week in news including the juggalo social network, Justin Beiber's birthday, Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens' troubled weeks, the drunk zamboni driver, and Rick Santorums new campaign against homosexuals. Plus, visits from Jesse Ventura and the drunk statistician.




























Discuss here!

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The View From Down Here - Blatantly Stolen From Failbook

No, this isn't weird or creepy at all....

Courtesy of Failbook.com

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