Band

But seriously, let's do this.

http://store.theonion.com/i-think-we-should-start-talking-about-starting-a-band-p-207.html

Guys?

In Political News

I mailed in my voter registration today. From now on I officially belong to the No Party, at least that is what I wrote on the registration. Good-bye Republicans hello fellow No's (on a side note: what is the plural of No? nos? noes? noahs? no-ads?)

As a member of the No Party, I thought I would thank all those who made this possible.

George Bush, I don't hate you as much as everyone else, I actually think you're an okay guy. You made some bad decisions, and Iraq kind of screws you, but I wanted to thank you for teaching me what Neo-Conservative means, and why I don't want to be one, and why Republicans have become them.

John McCain, I also have you to thank. While you aren't George Bush, your neo-conservative rhetoric scares me and I won't support it. Thank you for being so clear in your views, it made my decision much easier.

Barack Obama, thank you for being so vague and self-righteous. Your speeches make me feel like I am watching an episode of Heroes, and you are Peter Petrelli out to save the world...only your super power is giving convincing speeches and smoking cigarettes (your lungs know what you did to them).

Joe Biden, thank you for joining John McCain in being the overly judgmental, condescending grandfathers I never had, but always dreamed of. You two make me feel so inadequate in so many ways; especially the ways you tell me about in your sentences starting with "look." Thank you for repeating yourself so often and so clearly...next time you should spell the words you are saying, I bet that will make it even more effective.

Sarah Palin, you hold a special place in my heart. I hope you become the next president so everyone will get really, really angry. I mean really angry, they will be pissed. Thank you for being the next great hope of the Republican voting base. It showed me that I don't want to be part of the Republican voting base.

If you want to know what the No Party stands for...well, nothing, we stand for nothing. That is all.

Busted!!

I, like many others, get little news updates on my Facebook feed when people add stuff. Well, this morning, I was minding my own business; looking at my facebook, when I saw this picture pop up as newly added. I thought I would take a look and see what it was all about. The caption said it all, "Taste of Newport."

Why busted? Well, just a day prior Brian told me what a single man who does whatever he wants he is...there is no way he is going to taste of Newport. In our many discussions over the next several days he failed to mention this at all. Hoping that it would pass without any of his friends knowing what a little girl he is. Gotcha bitch!!

Beer League Personas

Saw this posted somewhere else and thought it was perfect as the book closed on our complete 2nd season of hockey. This was written, I believe, by a Canadian and you can see by the definitions even their beer leagues are at a higher level. Regardless it was a funny read.

*The Ringer - Some teams wait until the playoffs to unveil this option. Others go with it right from the opening face-off. Either way, without a ringer, your team is done. The challenge for managers is convincing a good player to suit up for a bad side. This can be accomplished a number of ways, including promises of goal-scoring glory and awe-inspired teammates. Most effective, however, is let him play for free. It’s simple math, really. Everyone else pays an extra $50 and everyone else gets a shot at the “DD” Division title.
*The Young Guy - At first glance, he can easily be mistaken for a ringer, since the young guy still wears the shorts and socks of his junior or college team. But it’s time for the next phase of life now, and that means an office job. The young guy stays in shape for the first half of the year. Sadly, an increasingly sedentary existence and late night partying catches up to him by Christmas. 15 to 20 pounds later, he’s just another player, huffing and puffing with the rest. Welcome aboard, kid.
*The Old Guy - Forget the 50-and-over league; that’s not for him…even though his gloves reach up to his armpits, and he still uses a wood stick. To be fair, the old guy can be an effective player, especially if he’s a wily old guy — a hook here and a chop there, because that’s how they did it when professional athletes were real men. “Eddie Shore — now there was a hockey player! Lost an ear against the Maroons. Sewed it back on himself. Never missed a shift.”
*The Tardy Goalie - Hey, thanks for showing up. Only five minutes gone in the first. Not like you play a crucial position or anything. Take your time, dickhead.
*The Beginner - Required only for cheap laughs. On the one hand, you have to admire the beginner. It takes a lot of courage to buy all brand new equipment, and take up hockey in your 40’s. On the other hand, learn to take a pass, man. It’s right on your stick, for Christ’s sake. How does that knock you over? And now you’re friggin offside! Not to mention the Beginner shows up at every game, no matter what time or what day. Sunday night playoff game at 11PM - no worries, Mr Beginner will be there.
*The Complete Psycho - Also good for a few giggles . . . from afar. Most likely a cop or fireman. The complete psycho is capable of anything: running the goalie, challenging an entire bench, a tomahawk chop — all in the repertoire. Do not feed the complete psycho. He doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt. And, look to him to carry on his act in the bar after the game.
*The Naked Guy - Bane of the dressing room. Most players have the courtesy to stretch their hamstrings while sporting, at the very least, a bit of underwear. Not the naked guy. He’ll carry on full conversations, and you had better maintain eye contact like your life depended on it….or come face to face with the swinging sausage.
*The Guy with the New Girlfriend - An excellent way to lower everyone else’s fees is to load up on a few of these. The guy with the new girlfriend will show up to three games, tops, so his payment will contribute to everyone else’s and it’s not like you’ll lose ice time by putting him on the roster. That said, beware that the guy with the new girlfriend might very well turn into the guy with the new wife…at which point he’ll never miss another game.
*The Organizer - This guy is absolutely brutal but since nobody else could be bothered to do all the paperwork and collect the money he gets to play. Is frustrating to play with because they can barely skate let alone take a pass but nobody gets mad at him cuz he’s a really nice guy. Is often heard in the dressing room saying ‘Sorry guys, that one was my fault’ and if he’s lucky somebody will chip in something like ‘No worries Donny, it’s a team effort.’ What everybody is really thinking is ‘Hey Donny, my grandmother is a better player than you and yes you are right, that was your fault.’ If you are lucky the Organizer is usually smart enough to take himself off the ice in critical situations.
*The Minor Hockey Allstar - Looks promising at a glance as they fool you with reasonably good skills but after you get zero passes you’ll get the picture. This guy topped out at ‘AA’ Midget and can be spotted by the huge blinders attached to his helmet. Play is characterized by energetic rushes down the wing, (no passing), then into the corner (still no pass), behind the net (hey dickhead I’ve been open for the past 5 minutes),then into the next corner (everybody has gone back to the bench to watch) followed by a blind give away pass to the high slot / break out pass for the other team. Cut this guy.
*The Johnny Try Hard - Great to have on your team but they suck to play against because they have somehow managed to keep themselves in ridiculously good shape. They were probably the star on their high school hockey team and won athlete of the year because they played hockey, volleyball and track all in the same year. Guaranteed they have a membership at the ‘Running Room’. Play is characterized by constant hustle which if caught off guard can embarrass the more talented yet fatter player.
*The Stanley Cup Champion - This player will raise their hands and cheer when they score. If this is an opposing player you must nip this behaviour in the bud by catching him off guard with a sickening open ice hit that causes him to blow snot bubbles. If this player is on your team quickly chastise him in front of the other team to let them know that this is not how the rest of your team rolls. Remind him how much of a loser he is by retrieving the puck from the net the next time he scores and presenting it to him in front of the other team.
*The Tough Guy - This guy maxed out at the house-league level, has never been in a fight and is characterized by antagonizing behaviour on the ice. In extreme cases he will ‘cheap shot’ another player. The fact that your beer league does not allow fighting has given this guy a false sense of courage. What this guy does not realize is that this will not prevent someone from knocking his teeth out if he cheap shots the wrong guy. There is a number of fun ways to handle this player which all end with him lying on the ice bleeding, looking for his teeth and crying.
*The Wrong Guy - Not to be confused with ‘The Complete Psycho’. This guy shows up, doesn’t say much and pretty much flies under the radar screen. The kid that gave him the cheap shot him will eventually look his name up on Hockey DB after his facial surgery and realize he had 355 PIMs in the East Coast 3 years ago.
*The Gary Roberts - Can be described as being way too intense. This guy is one of your better players but is unable to adjust to the lower level of play. At the best of times he will try to coach players on the fly and at the worst of times he will snap and call his entire team a bunch of house-leaguers. He believes the game should be played a certain way and despises ‘pond hockey’ style play with no back checking or positional assignments. Most likely is suffering from a complex of ‘unfinished business’ from his previous hockey career and is looking to capture some shred of glory via the rec-league championship. This guy is probably better off playing with his own kind in a senior-A league.

Meet My New Hero

Hello my name is Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, PhD; I am an economics professor at San Jose State University, and I am awesome.

Why might I be awesome? Well you should read some of my stuff.

I have a really good opinion about the current financial crisis that everyone should read and consider:

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/53544.html

It is a long entry, but really sheds some light on why our country is heading down the wrong path with their bail-out plan, heading straight for a mixed socialized democracy. This will inevitably collapse at some point as all socialist countries do, but don't worry, life goes on. Plus this isn't what makes me extra awesome. If you were reading my article about our crisis and thought to yourself, hey I wonder who this guy is and if he has written anything else?

Well, google me, really, google my name: Jeffrey Rogers Hummel.

Ready for the awesome part, check out link number 6 or so on google. Go ahead, I'll wait. You'll know which one I am talking about when you see it.

Let me read you a few favorite quotes of mine:

"In the United States, regular users of opiates at the turn of the century numbered somewhere between 200,000 and 1 million, out of a population of 76 million, leading to a general recognition that excessive opiate use was peculiarly American. The majority of these users were white, middle or upper-class women, with an average age over forty."

"Throughout history, some very prominent and successful individuals have been regular opiate users. Dr. William Halsted, the father of American surgery and founder of Johns Hopkins Medical Center, was a morphine user all of his adult life, yet none but his closest friends knew. He died at the age of seventy, having performed some of his most brilliant operations while an addict. "

"In short, all of the supposed evils of heroin are either (1) total fabrications or (2) consequences of the anti-heroin laws themselves"

"The solution to the heroin problem is complete legalization"

I rule

Self-Titled Albums

Nearly every band has a self-titled album. In an attempt to keep these albums straight or because the albums became so successful, certain albums have gained other names. Here are the top four self-titled albums in order according to the unlikelihood people will refer to that album as self-titled instead of the de facto name.

1. Weezer (The Blue Album) - This is number one because of how many people know this album and how few would actually refer to it as their self-titled debut rather than as the Blue Album.

2. Metallica (The Black Album) - Note: Jay-Z actually had to name his album the Black Album, Metallica just put out a record with an all black cover. Jay-Z was trying to latch onto a "big" name like the Black Album but didn't have the balls or the acumen to put out an otherwise unnamed album and let his fans figure it out. Spinal Tap also deserves some credit here.

3. The Beatles (The White Album) - Technically unnamed and not self-titled, but still authoritatively referred to as the White Album.


4. Led Zeppelin (IV) - Unlike Led Zeppelin I, II, and III, Led Zeppelin IV wasn't actually called anything. It's this far down the list because people referred to it as a few different things other than IV including Zoso and Runes.

The Day I Came Up With Bustamante

I can remember it like yesterday. I was new to hockey, and my good friend Brian Kazarian had invited me to see the Ducks play against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It was not a good game. The Ducks were getting crushed, down 4 goals or so. Naturally, to avoid boredom and make the game more interesting, I began to annoyingly heckle everything and everyone. I would yell random penalties I believed should be called...like Hooking or Tripping.

One player caught my eye, he was especially terrible that day, and has been since, though the Ducks love to play him. I tried to read his jersey, as I was new to the sport and didn't know any player's names or numbers. It started with a B and ran on and on.

Being heavily influenced by a recent SNL skit involving Justin Timberlake and the recent CA gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante, I quickly began referring to this terrible defenceman with the long last name as Bustamante.

I am such a quick witted genius.

The end.