Owning a pet is a great thing. Coexisting with animals is awesome. But there is such a thing as Pet Conduct. And by that I mean, you can be courteous to other people and not use the “it’s just an animal” excuse. I give you my situation: Next door there is a nice couple who own two yorkies. One’s name is Daisy. I know this because I hear it at least 3 times a day on the weekend. Not because I play with it, but because of the normal hodge podge that goes on with that thing. See Daisy barks at anything and everything. RELENTLESSLY. It’s about 2 years old I think, and hasn’t changed it’s habits at all. You can’t go outside and enjoy fresh air or work on anything in peace because it yaps at you nonstop. And when I say nonstop, I mean it doesn’t take a breath in between barking. It barks so much that for about 3 weeks during the summer it lost it’s voice. A dog managed to actually lose it’s voice. Unbelievable…. Anyway, the reason it doesn’t stop it’s bad habits is because the gentleman next door will stand at the Backdoor and say “Daisy….daisy…..daisy….” over and over and over again until it finally comes inside, and then he gives it a treat! Rewarding it for being the most annoying little shit in the state of Michigan! So it doesn’t change and just keeps barking away. Normally I don’t mind it. Is it annoying? Yes. But I just let it go normally. This brings us to today. I go to bed late. Usually around 2-3 AM because I work late and like to play xbox when Michelle goes to bed. Because I can afford to get up at 10 am and be at work on time. Today, at 7:30 AM, the barking started. And it DID NOT STOP. Not for ten minutes, not for a half hour, but an hour and a half. From 7:30-9:00 I was kept awake by this thing, because nobody came outside to call it in and reward it for being an a-hole. They just….left it outside. Currently, at 10:12 am on the same day, it’s still out there. Hasn’t gone away at all. So that means for almost 3 hours, they have left their dog outside to bark away and ruin my peaceful morning. It blows my mind. I mean, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t like it if I went outside at 3am before bed every night and fired a couple rounds of my shotgun off. But I don’t do that because I have more courtesy. I don’t do that to people and I don’t let my animals intrude on people’s lives. Especially at 7:30 am. So if you own a pet, I urge you to think of other people when handling your animal. Don’t be “that guy” as my neighbors have turned into “those people.” Have some courtesy, have some respect.

Why do you hate me? Well not specifically you, but society. I’m hated because I’m flocked into that word: “Christians.” I was raised to believe that being a Christian is to be Christ-like. For those of you who didn’t know much about Chris Jesus, He was a great man. He preached the good word of His and our Father. He was the only man to ever live without sin. He performed miracles all over the land. But you know one thing he didn’t do? Judge. Jesus didn’t judge anyone around Him. The word “judge” didn’t even exist in His vocabulary. Because He knew that He was on a mission. To do what was previously mentioned. Spread the good word and be a living, breathing example of God. And to show the world that God truly does exist. So why now is there more people turning away from God than ever before? Because of the word JUDGE. Being a Christian, or a follower of Jesus Christ (I hate the word Christian), is all about, like I said, being Christ-like. So if Christ never judged, then why are Christians judging now more than ever? I’ll tell you why. Because of people like the flock of scum over at www.christwire.org and more organizations like them. Now, calling them a flock of scum, that seems like judging right? Well, I am. Because of what I see. They like to touch on hot topics in today’s religious world. Gays, music, movies, etc. But what they represent is much different than the God that truly exists. Ask any right minded follower of Christ, and they’ll tell you that no one sin is greater than another (well, except for one). So, these christwire folks are spreading lies about people, condemning gays and those who have sex, drink alcohol, do drugs, and so on and so forth. But where does the true sin lie? Well, actually everywhere. But here’s where we can draw the line. I’ll caps lock it this time. NO ONE SIN IS GREATER THAN ANOTHER. So the guy that swears is no more guilty than the girl who has sex who is no more guilty than the man who is gay who is no more guilty than the woman who cheats on her husband. Are they all guilty? Yes. Are they all deserving of a judgement? No. A good friend once told me that “The number one cause of atheism and hate in this world is Christians.” And he couldn’t have been more right. The God that exists, The Son that exists, The Spirit that exists, is not a judgemental God, is not a judgemental Son, is not a judgemental Spirit. But a loving, forgiving, consuming entity. The life that we live is not meant to be riddled with war. But we all know that it very much is. However, we’re fighting the wrong wars. We’re fighting against those who CLAIM to know the one true God, rather than uniting under Him and fighting Hell. Too many days have been spent judging and not nearly enough have been spent loving. I’m a Christian. And you Hate Me. But I’m a Christian, and I’m a Sinner. And I’m a Christian, But I Love you. I love you because you are the way God made you. I will not judge you because of your sin. I will help lead a more fulfilling life because I NEED YOU to help ME lead a more fulfilling life. If you smoke, drink, have sex, are gay, are godless, I will Love You because that is my call. To love you, to love God. You cannot love God if you do not love His creations. Do not view my Christ as a judging, hateful, spiteful Lord. But see the love that exists in Him and because of Him. I am and I’ve been: a smoker, a drinker, sexually active, a potty-mouth, and above all: a SINNER. But not once have I ever doubted the love that my God shows me. I encourage you to seek the true God if you’re yearning for Him. Please seek out Ignite church and it’s pastor Cory Waugaman. You will see the true God with them and other like organizations. To see those who claim to know the true God but are under a delusion, visit christwire and it’s hateful author Tyson Bowers III at http://christwire.org/author/tyson/

Love and Be Loved.

I’ve been neglecting this. For those of you that actually care and read it, I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

It’s almost time folks. The NHL Playoffs are right around the corner. Literally, they’re pretty much right there. Last year ended as I had hoped, with the Blackhawks coming out on top over my least favorite team in the NHL (possibly the world), the Philadelphia Flyers. I like the Hawks. Always have, probably always will. As an avid Penguins supporter, I usually pick a team in the West to support as well. For the past couple seasons it’s been the Hawks, because I’m a big Patrick Kane fan. But I don’t see a bright future for the Blackhawks. In a crucial state, they’re not playing like they might not make the playoffs. Which is a reality all too real.

The Western Conference is extremely temperamental right now. Teams shift places at the bat of an eyelash. And as I type this, the Blackhawks are in seventh place with 84 points. 365 days ago, they were near the top of the league. And with only 3 points seperating them and 10th place Anaheim, they’re barely hanging on that number 7. In fact, there’s only a total of 5 points seperating 5th and 10th. FIVE POINTS. This is the time of the year when teams will usually beginning making their clear cut drives to the playoffs. But not this year. Not for the West. I mean, there’s 7 points seperating 6th place Montreal and 7th place New York Rangers in the East. So, you can see how it usually is in the East, and how tight it is in the West. The Hawks aren’t making a very good case for themselves. Last year they had the benefit of having a pretty stacked roster, and many players who were sreaking into the post season. Not to mention a hot goaltender. But after last year, as we all know, they pretty much dumped almost 40% of their Stanley Cup winning team, including champion goaltender Anti Niemi. And this has been easily the most apparent struggle for Chi-town. They signed veteran net minder, Marty Turco, in an effort to fill the gap Niemi left. Thinking that maybe his experience and miles would be enough to fill that void. Unfortunately it wasn’t, and they eventually turned to Corey Crawford to stack the pads. Luckily he caught fire, but it didn’t last for long. If memory serves, the lowest they sunk was 13th place, and have been up and down from the top 8 ever since. I’m not one to blame one thing, as hockey is a team sport, so I don’t want to give you the idea that I’m pointing the finger at the goaltending alone. The big guns are stepping up for sure. Toews leads the team in points with 71 (30 G 41 A) and is certainly proving that he’s a Hell of a leader. Kane is creeping up on 30 G for the season, and Sharp has passed it with 34 G. But aside from that, the offense just isn’t getting it done. Honestly, I thought the stat column for Hossa would look a little more like Sharp’s and vice versa. With Hossa’s numbers not meeting expectations, the team has got to be feeling lucky that Sharp has done what he has. Hossa and Sharp were neck and neck with goals last year (neither of them exceeded 30) but let’s face it, Hossa should be scoring 30+ a season. He spent some time injured, sure, but there’s got to be more of an effort. I’m not saying I could do it any better, but Hossa’s skill warrants an expectation like that. And speaking of expectations, Duncan Keith was second in Points last year with an impressive 55 As contributing to his final total of 69 points. Where’s this guy been? He’s still putting up numbers this season but there’s got to be more. With the state of the conference and how often the placings change, these bigger players need to ramp it up. There are far too many droughts between the players, and not enough urgency in their play. The streaky teams are going to be the ones who make the playoffs from here on out. The Hawks need to find some fire. There’s no other way around it. They absolutely can not be dropping 5-0 games to a team like Dallas, who is fighting just as hard, if not harder, for their right to compete for Lord Stanley. These are precious points nobody can afford to give up. With Vancouver leading the pack, The Red Wings remaining a strong 2nd place, San Jose finding their game again, and an INSANELY hot Phoenix team, there is absolutely no room for error. Something has got to spark the defending champs. Or else they run the risk of being unseated before the playoffs even begin. 

As an outsider to the Red Wing nation, and an avid Penguins fan, you might think my opinion of the highly storied original 6 NHL club to be tainted. I assure you right now, it is not. I’ve always looked at the Red Wings and their fans to be some of, if not THE, most die hard hockey community. I respect any club in the NHL and their fans (yes, even the Flyers) because I hold the same passion for my Penguins. While rivalries interfere with that, just like the players, I leave everything on the ice and rarely take any aggro to public forums. Unless anyone challenges me to a trash-talking battle. But that’s for another day. I had the chance to see the Wings play the Nashville Predators tonight live. It was my first time at the Joe Louis Arena, and since I’m a hockey fanatic, I was very excited to be there regardless of the teams playing. I’ll watch any hockey, so being at an NHL arena I’ve never been to was a big thing for me. It was a good game, totally dominated by the Predators, and I enjoyed the experience very much….Until the end.

I take a lot of pride in my knowledge of the game and am always looking for new ways to let it grow. But one thing that I figured even the most basic fan had a concept of is supporting your team no matter what. I supported the Penguins during the “dark period” as if they were a Stanley Cup contender. The fact that they were struggling wasn’t something I ignored, but it didn’t matter to me. It’s the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’re MY TEAM. Any Pens fans remember when Ryan Malone was our best player? Or when Milan Kraft was “the next Lemieux”? I do. It sucked. Empty arenas, a playoff drought, no support from the majority of the city. It was a sorry sight. Even with Mario’s second return, it wasn’t all that often the Igloo was sold out. Crazy to think that, now that Pittsburgh is close to 200 consecutive sell-outs. And how can we forget about the Kansas City scare? But no matter what, I was always there. As frustrating as it was.

But Pittsburgh isn’t one of the big hockey cities. It’s not portrayed by the media to be this crazy die-hard-do-anything town that I know it can be, and sometimes is. You always hear about Montreal, Calgary, Chicago, Edmonton, Toronto, and (yep, you guessed it), Detroit. When the Wings played the Pens in the Finals two straight years in a row, I feared for my boys everytime they were in Detroit. It looked terrifying on television. The fans looked ruthless, and the atmosphere of the Detroit home games looked even worse. I understand the playoffs are a whole different ball game than the regular season, but for a city that calls itself “Hockey Town,” what I saw tonight was absolutely PATHETIC.

I don’t mean to piss anyone off here. That’s not my intent. But you have to understand that I came into the Joe thinking that I was about to witness one of THE best hockey fan groups in the world. But what I saw was the exact opposite. I’ve been to plenty of hockey games in my day. All sorts. Penguin games top this list. Ask anyone that knows me in real life, and they’ll tell you one of my bigest pet peaves is unsupportive fans. At the beginning of the game it’s, “WOOO GO PENS YEAH SIDNEY!!!” Or in this case, “YEAH GO WINGS WOOOO!!!!” And when it’s clear the team is going to fall, they leave the game. Why? Why would you not stay and cheer your team off the ice? I know how I feel about the game, and I would never leave a game just because my team is going to lose. I have more pride in my boys than that. I have more pride in myself. Ten minutes left in the third period tonight. It was pretty clear the Red Wings were going to lose, being down 4-1. And in the blink of an eye, 17,000+ turned into a few hundred. I thought Pens fans were bad. I have no shame in heckling my own fan-kind at Pens games when they leave early, because it’s disrespectful to the players and the organization. What you’re saying here is, “You’re losing, I’ve lost interest in this game, I only want to see you win and I’d rather get a jump on the traffic I’m going to hit than see you lose.” Does it suck to have your team lose? Absolutely. But look at it this way. The fans are what make the players proud. Ask any professional hockey player how it feels to have thousands of people cheer when they score or make a good play, and I doubt you’ll get anything short of, “Overwhelming.” So how do you think it feels to look up from the bench and see the arena near empty with half a period left just because your team is losing? Guaranteed terrible. Disheartening. Discouraging. They’re already beating themselves up over the loss, who are you to make them feel worse? Not even on the player’s level, on the principle. I look at the Penguins like my own family. They’ve brought me unparalelled joy, heartbreaking disbelief, and some powerful hope. I couldn’t live with myself if I turned my back on them before they were done performing just because they were losing. Through Hell or high water, I support my team. I don’t care if they’re down 15-0, I’m going to stay in my seat and cheer when they skate off the ice. Because they deserve it. I assumed Wings fans would be the same way, if not better than that. I am so sorry to say that they are not.

My mind is blown. The game of hockey means so much to me that I felt embarassed for Detroit. I had tears in my eyes as I watched 80% of the crowd leave with half a period left because the Wings were going to lose. For the small number of you who will read this, I urge you not to fall into this category. No matter how big or small, or good or bad your team is, you owe it to the players and the organization to tough it out with them. I like to think that the Penguins walk side by side with their fans all the way to the end. So I do the same for them. I’m sure every single club is the same way. Whether professional or amateur. For the sake of your team, for the sake of yourself, give 100% every game. Even if no one else does.

For the second straight year in a row, I am officially snowed in. Not so bad as last year though, the wonderful city of Pittsburgh managed to pull in over 25 inches of the white almost exactly 365 days ago. No, this time it’s about a foot or snow. But there’s something to be said about being snowed in. It really kind of brings the thought to mind, “what if this was my life everyday?” Where everything just…stops. I was just outside checking the status of the storm while taking a break from my nightly NHL romp, and there’s literally nothing going on. Nothing. No cars up and down the street, no lights on anywhere, just the world in a desolate state. Don’t take this the wrong way. I actually hate snow. It’s my least favorite kind of weather. I’d even take ice over snow. But still, when the conditions get so heavy that the whole world around you comes to a halt, you’re kind of left to your own devices. Thankfully we still have power and I’m able to entertain myself, but knowing that you can’t go anywhere or do anything kind of gives life that “in the wild” sense of being. If I wanted or needed to go somewhere for supplies of any sort right at this very second, I would have to walk. Because the road crews of MI haven’t touched a single thing yet. The weather channel describes the forecasted driving conditions for tomorrow morning as “life threatening.” Personally, I feel you’re putting your life in danger anytime you set foot in a car, so I take this as “more life threatening than usual.” But it’s kind of cool. To go outside and feel like you’re the only person outside at that very moment. The only thing seperating you from God is, well, you. How crazy is that though. That it takes having outside life taken away from you in order to get that feeling. It shouldn’t be that way really. God should be just a thought away at all times, but it’s easy to get so distracted by other things. So I took the time while I was observing the relentless snow to take that all in. It’s the little things.

The NHL franchise by EA Sports has been an absolute must-own ever since I can remember. My first game was NHL ‘93 for Sega Genesis. The game has undergone so many changes in adapting to the next gen consoles (as well as changing developers for a bit there) and it’s always been a blast. You can easily say that the current franchise run has been the most realistic adaption to the game that has ever been seen. However, there are some very minor details that, being a super fan of hockey, I’d like to see.

This is in no way, shape, or form me complaining about NHL 11. In fact it’s my favorite game, and I play it religiously. First and foremost, realism tweaks. I love, LOVE, when video games bring a sense of reality to the table. I’m not just talking about how the game plays and feels. I mean how it’s presented. Things like accurate goalie masks, player “styles,” and correct sticks. These are all things that are easily added. I’m not saying they need to take every single goalie in every single league and put his mask design in, but the big names would be a great addition (i.e. Fleury, Thomas, Ward, Miller etc.). Safe to say that if they took the starters of each team that my appetite would be satisfied. For those of you that watched the playoffs last year, you may have noticed that some of the Blackhawks (and others in the league) taped stripes all the way down the shaft of their sticks. Why? Who cares. But I would like to see things like that be added. Ovechkin’s yellow laces would be pretty sweet to see. Also, for the most part, they have the equipment assigned to each NHL player down pretty well, except for sticks. For instance, 2 years ago Crosby started using a Sherwood one piece stick. The game still has him using his old RBK custom. It wouldn’t be necessary at all to make these changes, but like I said, It would be nice to see. They’ve gotten the gameplay down to a science, it’d be nice to see EAS start paying more attention to these player specific details.

On to the GM mode. To sum it up in one word, GM mode is nothing short of ADDICTING. NHL 10’s was very repetitive, but a huge step in the right direction from years previous installments. NHL 11 took the basis of 10’s GM mode and cranked it up to (no pun intended) 11. With addition of RFA/UFA, it’s much much harder to make the team you’ve chosen to helm remain a competitive entity in the league. They did a pretty good job explaining it in the little tutorial when you start it, but there were some points that were left out that may have seriously confused some people who aren’t on the up and up with how the collective bargaining agreement works. For instance, Taylor Hall was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers this year, but when I played them in the Reg Season, he wasn’t starting, and wasn’t in the AHL. If you’ve got little to no idea how the CBA works, but you want to win some Stanley Cups so you start a GM mode, and this happens to you, you’re going to be very confused. Truth is if a player is under 20 years of age and you don’t want him in the NHL for the time being, he is unable to be sent down to the AHL from the NHL, so he’ll go back to his junior team. In real life, there’s a way to get around that, but in the game these little sneaky moves aren’t available (i.e. the Red Wings recently “loaned” Tatar to Grand Rapids). An explanation of how that works would be nice. But again, I’m going to bring up very fine and minor changes I’d like to see. Scouting/drafting is fun and gets better every year, but it would be nice to see them make more of an event out of it. I’d be happy with showing the first round, first overall pick getting up, meeting with the owner and GM of the team he was drafted to, putting on or holding up a jersey, and putting the hat on. Why would I want this? Because it would look cool, and if they can put President Obama meeting with the Super Bowl winning team in Madden, I do believe this is possible for NHL. I would also like to see that for your respective Be A Pro player. Ah, Be A Pro. This is still a new and young mode that gets slightly better every year. Three things I’d like to see for that. The draft thing (already mentioned), a Hall Of Fame induction cut scene if you make it there, and the ability to REQUEST A TRADE. I got drafted to the Blues. No matter how hard I tried, I could never make it to the playoffs with them, but they wouldn’t trade me. They were eager to dump TJ Oshie off to the Kings though. Lame. The Ultimate Hockey League is just about perfect though. So much fun. The trading card system they developed for this is horribly, HORRIBLY addicting. Although, I wish they wouldn’t make it possible to actually buy card packs with Microsoft points. That just takes the challenge out of getting better and being competitive. You’re pretty much letting everybody go New York Yankees and buy their team. Oh, and one more thing for GM mode. With the new All Star game format, I’m expecting, no, DEMANDING that EAS overhaul the way All Star games are presented. The addition of Super Skills competition as well as the new Fantasy Draft style would be amazingly fun. Another thing that’s extremely possible. If you look at all the mini-games Madden has had over the past few years, there’s no excuse for the Super Skills to be included. Now, I understand that the trick shot would be a little difficult, but surely things like fastest skater, hardest shot, and accuracy would be easy to pull off. In fact, they’ve got 90% of that already completed, but for whatever reason you can only find that in Practice Mode.

Now for what I’ve been wanting to see for YEARS. CLASSIC TEAMS. I used to LOVE when sports games would have classic, storied teams become available for free play. In NHL 09 and NHL 10 they had the 100 year anniversary Montreal Canadiens team with all sorts of classic players from the many many years of Montreal domination (Richard, Dryden, Roy etc.). That was a step in the right direction and got me excited for maybe more classic teams. Who wouldn’t want to be the ‘91, ‘92, or ‘93 Pittsburgh Penguins? Or the Gretzky-era Oilers? It would be an absolute blast. And it’s POSSIBLE. NBA 2K11 has about 10 or 15 classic teams. There’s no excuse for this not being in the NHL games. Again, not necessary at all, but it would be a very welcomed addition.

In conclustion, I’d like to explain one more time that in no way am I unsatisfied with the way the NHL games are presently. These are just a few things that I’ve thought of while relentlessly playing the games to death. Hopefully any of you that read this will agree with me, or better yet, give me your ideas if I didn’t mention them. If anyone wants to try their luck with me, my XBL gamertag is DeathGrip777. Hit me up. Play on.

My good friend Blake Martin just recently started recording some solo work. You may or may not know him, but he’s a member of a metal outfit A Plea For Purging. This music is a far departure from his normal material, but I assure you it’s to be taken seriously. Check out his very first original track, “Fragile.” If you love it as much as I do, give him a shout at www.twitter.com/apleaforblake and if you don’t have twitter, go out to a PLEA show and give him a hug. You can check out all of his stuff at www.soundcloud.com/ryanblakemartin. Be blessed people.

<object height=”81” width=”100%”> <param name=”movie” value=”http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F9652757“></param> <param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param> <embed allowscriptaccess=”always” height=”81” src=”http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F9652757” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”100%”></embed> </object>  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/ryanblakemartin/fragile“>Fragile</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/ryanblakemartin“>ryanblakemartin</a></span>

If you’re a fan of lesser known bands and artists in the current state of the world, right now is a great time for you and your obsessions. With social networking hitting it’s biggest push yet, it is very attainable to contact your favorite artists on a personal level. MySpace has taken a back seat, mainly being used now as a place to put up new music and videos and updates that go on within the realm of the band. Now that twitter has blown up, it is a very good time to be a fan of music. Thousands of band dudes have twitter accounts, and post and reply very personally. I can remember when I was a youngster and MySpace was the big thing, I’d message bands on MySpace and hardy ever get a response. The only person to ever respond to me was JR from Less Than Jake, which was pretty awesome. But nowadays, you can tweet at any musician with a twitter and have a good shot at getting a reply. For fans, this is an excellent thing. You’re able to communicate with people you really look up to. I’m not a fan of placing musicians on a pedestal, but if It’s somebody that has influenced you or someone that has touched your life with their music, that can be very impacting. Even if it is just a “hey.” That can make your day. Heck, I had a pretty good conversation with Keith Buckley of ETID and The Damned Things. And we didn’t even talk about music or anything. Just stuff. I’m used to dealing with musicians because of the work I used to do, but to a fan boy or girl that hangs on every lyric from a certain band, this is a big thing. I just think its a fantastic thing that’s happening within the music world and can really impact a lot of kids in a very positive way. If you agree with me, awesome. If not, don’t read my blog.

The Spill Canvas is easily one of my all time favorite bands. It’s so crazy to think that Nick Thomas started out playing guitar in Nodes of Ranvier before taking The Spill Canvas full time. And with good reason. He’s one of my favorite songwriters and lyricists and The Spill Canvas is way more popular than Nodes ever was. Enjoy this song for all it’s worth. “I want you staplegunned right to my side all of the time…..” Gets me every single time.