rykejace

...goes to Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell for benching his offensive starters in the third quarter of yesterday's game against the New York Jets, while holding a five-point lead. The Jets went on to score 19 unanswered points and end the Colts' undefeated season, 29-15.

This gets a Not Cool award for one simple, easy-to-understand, undebatable reason: tens of thousands of Colts fans paid hundreds--thousands--of dollars to watch their home team, the Colts, win a football game. They did not pay hundreds--thousands--of dollars to watch their team roll over like cell phone minutes in the third quarter of a close game. The Colts threw the game. Period. I won't even mention the impact this had on the thousands of sports fans that wagered money on the Colts to win the game, to go undefeated, to become the first team to finish a season 19-0, etc. Or the millions of sports fans that wanted to see history made this year.

If I were a Colts fan, and I had spent hundreds--thousands--of dollars to watch my beloved team intentionally lose that game, I would be writing the team ownership and demanding a 50% refund of the cost of my ticket. My team only played half the game; I should only pay half the price of the ticket. Bottom line. tigjah and all other Colts fans had every right to boo their team yesterday, and the Lead Shopwrecker approves of any and all punitive actions taken by Colts fans with regards to it.

Let me make one thing clear: this Shop supports the New Orleans Saints 100% to win the Super Bowl this year, but an undefeated Colts season would still be an historic event that I would have been happy to see.

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And yes, I know there were other more Not Cool--indeed, Really F***ed Up--incidents that happened in the past two days, but I will not fulfill the desires of those Really F***ed Up people by blogging about it here.

I had a great Christmas. Lots of quality family time. Everyone seemed to love their gifts, as did I. I got a custom tiger pool stick, as well as a poker tabletop that was well-used this weekend. We had our families over at the Shop, including the lioness's sister and nephews from Shreveport who stayed with us all weekend, as well as my brother and sister who stayed over on Christmas night.

How have your holidays been? Hopefully really good! *snugs*

It was one KICK ASS year for music.

I'll start this as I do every year, my fav new release of 2009:

Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School Of Medicine - The Audacity Of Hype.

He's baaaaaaack! Packing his own damn band and not doing fill-in singing for another band, out comes a very Dead Kennedys sounding album that I couldn't stop listening to.

It's a slower album than typical Dead Kennedys, but has a lot more depth. Sounds exactly how it would if the DK's got back together with Jello and recorded all new material. Jello's right on beat as usual, blowing up both party lines instead of taking sides and blasting them all to hell to some catchy as hell, punk as hell rock.

Seriously, if you're a punk fan? Get this album. You won't be dissapointed.

And the rest of what I liked in 2009:

Street Sweeper Social Club - (Self titled album)

Hey there Tom Morello! So this is what you've been up to, making a band that sounds just like Rage Against The Machine with a lead singer who can rap his ass off instead of singing hooks. THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! It's freaking awesome as living hell. This was another that I couldn't stop listening to. Definitely the album's highlight is the song The Oath. Songs don't come this good this often.

Peelander-Z - P-Pop-High-School

The freaking loud as hell Japanese comic-punk band releases another kick ass album. This one's their most professional sounding album they've released so far, the loud as hell distortion is gone which kinda sucks, but also makes this one pretty enjoyable. Their songs have a hell of a lot more depth than just something silly done really quick, making this one the best album they've released so far. This was one of the albums I had in my car all week after I got it.

If you really want to check these guys out, you can get this album for like $3 used off Amazon.

NOFX - Coaster (or Frisbee if you bought it on vinyl)

Hey there NOFX, you got pretty deep on this album. I was happy with this one 'cause it was a throwback to their Punk In Drublic - So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes era. My Orphan Year is probably the most deep song I've ever heard from NOFX, a song about how both his dad and mom died. Just daaaaaaamn. Another pro-gay song on this one, Eddie Bruce & Paul, about 3 gay guys stuck in the middle of relationship issues, and just happens to be one of the best rocking songs on the album too.

Flipper - Love/Hate

Flipper's first release in 16 years with a recovered Bruce Loose after an accident back in '93 that crippled and almost killed him. This one has Krist Novosellic from Nirvana fame playing the bass for 'em, banging out their slow and evil as hell sounding songs that punk fans grew to love. The biggest downfall on this album was their attempt at the 7-10 min droned out songs. None of them are good on this one, just annoying. The 2-4 min songs? Some of the best songs I've heard from them, making it worth the money to me.

Their live album that was released with it, "Fight", really didn't hold much weight with me. I listened to Love like crazy, Fight just wasn't really put together that well. The only real novelty of Fight is hearing Krist playing with them live.

Big D & The Kids Table - Fluent In Stroll

My fav Boston ska band throws another one out there! This one is a really toned down, laid back album. Pretty weird hearing it from these guys, but it worked out well for 'em. Fun as hell to listen to and was another album I couldn't stop listening to for a week.

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another

Oh man, this album kicks some ass! Still has the Mclusky sound (it's the two from Mclusky with a new guitar player so kinda hard to avoid that), has one of my all time fav from Mclusky/Future Of The Left, "Chin Music". There's one song I can't listen to on this one 'cause it's ANNOYING AS ALL HELL. Rest of the album? Love it. Good rocking album to throw on and listen to just about anytime.

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Had to throw a mention in on this one. Feel like they really took a lot from The Who for this one, I didn't like it on the first listen, but had a few songs catch me, and ended up listening to the rest of it, really enjoying it eventually. Fav song on this one is "Christian's Inferno", and really happy to hear they chose "East Jesus Nowhere" and "21 Guns" for singles.

Anti-Flag - The People Or The Gun

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING LIKE YOU USED TO BEFORE THE MAINSTREAM SHIT! Total 180 from the boring as hell stuff they released before this one and kicking ass again. Typical sounding driving punk that Anti-Flag was good at, and went back to. Couldn't have been a better decision for them to make with their direction.

And probably the freaking best release this year, EVERY FREAKING BEATLES ALBUM REMASTERED AND RELEASED IN BOTH STEREO AND MONO. Ooooh man, the mono copies sound absolutely amazing. I can't bring myself to listen to the stereo copies anymore. Just too bad that the only way to get the mono copies is through a $230 box set. The only good side to that is having the mono box set become such a high demand that it's back in print and no longer limited edition.

Yes, I just retracted my own retraction. And the apology that accompanied it. Yeah, the company may have had reasons to not offend any non-Christians or whatever. Well, ya know what, if they don't want to observe Christmas, then they shouldn't observe Christmas. They should just stay business as usual on December 24 and December 25.

And you know what: I'm not about to get into religious flamewars with any of you. I've said my piece, and I will defend my piece, but beyond that, I'm not hearing it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

I hereby drop any protests and/or dissent and/or name calling and/or argumentation, etc. regarding the store that I visited yesterday. chance_furlong yetanotherbob (sorry for the errant crediting there) made an excellent comment pointing out something that I didn't even consider: by calling it the Christmas holiday, the establishment would be seen as endorsing a particular religion/faith over others. Precisely because the store did not close on Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or Solstice, or Festivus, etc. Christmas, in such a sense, cannot be seen in the same light as Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, both squarely nondenominational and nonreligious holidays.

There could be many different reasons--financial, legal, or otherwise--why that store had to avoid endorsing a particular religion over others, and I did not consider these possibilities. As such, I am dropping the "Not Cool" tag from the previous post about the "Winter Holiday" closing. I also would like to apologize to my readers and commenters, especially my civilly dissenting readers and commenters, regarding my lack of insight which led to what can easily and rightfully be construed as a post laden with excessive Christian fervor. (See next most-recent entry.)

I will also note that I heavily altered the setting of the previous post, as well as the sign saying where the store was closed, to protect the not-so-innocent (namely, myself.) No further details will be given here.

And in closing, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season.

I was out doing some last minute shopping yesterday, and one of the stores I stopped at had a sign reminding customers of the days it would be closed this year. They had all their late end-of-year closings listed on the sign. They were closed on November 26 and 27 for the "Thanksgiving holiday." They will also be closed from December 31 through January 1, 2010, for the "New Year holiday." And, this store is also closed today and tomorrow for...

...the "WINTER holiday." WTF?????

It's not the "Winter Holiday," dammit. It's Christmas! CHRISTMAS! No matter how pagan the holiday's origins really are, or how secular the day has become, dammit, December 25 is still Christmas! And I, and billions of others, celebrate Jesus' birth on this day, and even those billions who don't celebrate Jesus' birth on this day still recognize it as CHRISTMAS!!! It's CHRISTMAS, dammit! And I'm rightly pissed off that you wish to call it the damn "Winter Holiday!" Like it's not politically correct to say CHRISTMAS anymore!

You know what? If you don't want to call it Christmas -- if it's not a holiday worth recognizing by name -- if it's just not that bleeping important that you just call it the "Winter Holiday" -- then don't f***ing close on those days. Treat those days as "business as usual". You're not closed on Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or Solstice, or Festivus. No. You're closed on December 24 and 25 -- CHRISTMAS Eve and CHRISTMAS Day. And you call it the f***ing "winter holiday closing."

F***ers.

In related news, this store also had a Hanukkah table and a Kwanzaa table set up by the front door. There was a Christmas tree, too -- tucked back in the corner away from everything else. Or should I call it a "holiday tree"?

1. Twitter allows you to pursue your passion
2. Twitter distracts you if you’re feeling blue
3. Twitter can get you laughing.
4. Twitter helps you maintain loose relationships and strengthen strong relationships.
5. Twitter lets you help other people
6. Twitter gives you a bully pulpit.
7. Twitter lets you conquer a device
8. Twitter lets you feel like you’re in on the current thing
9. Twitter lets you share those funny little observations that float through your head
10. Twitter makes gathering information easier.

Read entire article here
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/newyear/10-reasons-why-using-twitter-will-boost-your-happiness-554877/

Thank you lupinesilvertai for sharing this with us!

...goes jointly to Mark Sanford and Tiger Woods because I haven't given either of them one yet because I've been asleep at the wheel here, and I apologize for that. For those of you who hadn't heard about either, the tl;dr:

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford went missing in 2009, and later admitted to have flown to Argentina multiple times to see a mistress, cheating on his wife, with public funds. Sanford resigned as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer to ever have lived, admitted to cheating on his wife with what has discovered to be more than a dozen waitresses, escorts, and other women, and has taken an indefinite leave from golf (while his wife, Elin, has taken an indefinite leave from him.)

This brings the number of various people and/or organizations that have received Not Cool awards or Really F***ed Up awards in 2009 to twenty-three. Feel free to review them all at http://bucktowntiger.livejournal.com/tag/not+cool for we will be voting on which is the Most Not Cool of 2009 starting on Tuesday.

------------

Also, there were nine Not Cool awards given in 2009, but there will not be a poll for what was 2009's Most Not Cool. That award goes to U.S. Airways pilot Chelsey B. "Sully" Sullenberger, who saved 155 passengers and crew by making a spectacular emergency landing in the Hudson River. Congratulations, Sully!

...goes to the author of the Stop Avatar blog, who wants everyone to protest the movie Avatar because it does not depict any non-heterosexual relationships. The author of the blog suggested that protesters go to the movie, but remain standing for its entire duration. The author also suggested that protesters buy all the tickets to the movie in bulk, and then refuse to attend, because "an empty theater sends a message." Lastly, the author warned those of us living in "Middle America" in states that voted for John McCain in 2008 to be extra careful because there may be "incidents."

The full title of the blog is "Stop Avatar: The Future is Transgender NOT Straight," implying that in the future, everyone will be transgender. One transgender Shopwrecker has already stated that the blog does not speak for the T community. Hopefully this blogger doesn't speak for anyone reading this. The blogger definitely doesn't speak for the queerty.com staff.

You know 2009 has been an awful to an all right rocky start to dealing with good things. But also realized that this move into Baraboo, WI. Will be the better shot for me. I just got a better job and I honestly see me bringing up my end on the bargain for rent and also electric and also see that i can actually bring in some positive things for this otter. Now the biggest things is fucking holidays.

*takes a big breath* As much as i like to say it... moving up here will save me the trouble of dealing with the social and emotional bull shit of my family. I mean very emotional bull shit that my family has brought me through. I have fought now for one year to get back on my feet and it has now brought up to me that this will be the finished part of my schooling. I know i have flaws that i need to work on but with the skills that Blaze, Frost, and Falcon gave me really helped.

But onto the nitty gritty...I seriously doubt that my nervousness would come out it's more like... Choices will be better thought out. Of course i hope my mouth doesn't turn into a complaining bitch fest that i turn into a very bad roommate Which i doubt that thing will happen again. I hope to take this a lot slower then my whole choices as someone that was on my LJ said... "That i have made some piss poor decisions... and you need to go home and deal with your family." But those piss poor decisions that i made just made me a lot stronger and not to go back to my old choices. Hell... I am turning into the person i want to be and that is a successful student and also a person that can take care of stuff.

Now this might turn into one post that might turn public... you know what i don't care cause it's time for some people to figure out why i am writing like this. I might have to say.... to a certain list that has caused me pain and struggle... "FU" but I have friends on that list. So it's more like to the people that treated me like shit. Thanks for absolutely nothing here....

But for the people that are going to take care of me and help me out while i am busy paying bills and stuff... Thank you.

Now onto working on my newly found sleep cycle.... 1:00 or 2:00 at night... oh boy here we go... 2nd shift.... and 8 hrs. But it's money ;).

Later,

Jaxson Otter

Yes, we're on iTunes now. Check it out! :)

Shop Music is at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sh.....ic/id345299079

the Furst Album is at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/or.....um/id345275709

Also check out the latest top Nerdcore albums and songs on CDBaby:

http://www.cdbaby.com/style/633/60

"Rolling Up Coins" is #2 Nerdcore song overall and four other songs are in the top 10. Also, both albums are on the "Top Albums" list :)

*happykitteh* and it's thanks to all of you!

2 Skinnee J's:



Andy Action is on Ebay selling a 5 disc set of everything they've ever recorded and a book, called The Big Green Bus (their old touring vehicle that died at the NJ tollbooths).

Yeah, it's mine as soon as my car stops breaking. I always end up listening to 'em again, fun as hell group.

darkwolfie passed away today after a long battle with H1N1. His wife tashabear posted it on his journal this morning here: http://darkwolfie.livejournal.com/259589.html

This guy I've never forgotten for what he did for me at FC'06. Had a pretty shitty argument with the people I was rooming with, was pissed and frustrated, standing on the balcony of my room half in tears from being so frustrated, to have him come out on the balcony next to mine saying "You look like you could use a SoCo conversation" and offered me the bottle.

That turned into a couple of hours of passing the bottle back and forth, shooting the shit, and leading into explaining why it's a "SoCo conversation", you'll say shit you won't normally say. Cheered me right the hell up, and he didn't even know who I was.

That's about as good of a person as it gets right there. That holds as one of the best con memories I ever had, and was happy to still keep in contact with him after, even if it was just e-mail and LJ. Hell, even just dropping a sketch on me when I did a post asking to pay people to sketch something up.

We just lost someone who was genuinely a really good guy. I'll miss the hell out of him, and I'll be sure to sip on a bottle of SoCo at the next FC I attend in his memory.

Please give tashabear support. She stuck with him all the way through it.

...goes to Democrats in Congress for being neo-Republican Joe Lieberman's metaphorical female dogs.

Reports are that Democrats in Congress, to save Senator Lieberman's crucial vote, is scrapping the Medicare buy-in for Americans age 55 to 64. This, after Democrats scrapped the "public option."

So, what the hell does this gutted health care reform bill actually do? Nothing. Nothing, except force 30 million Americans who couldn't afford private insurance previously, to buy private insurance they still can't afford.

My girlfriend said it best: "Change You Can Believe In My Ass."