UTC Mocs Inline Hockey Jerseys

I hope to expand on this post in the future after interviewing my semi-stepbrother and founder of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga inline hockey team.  2010 is the club's first year in existence and from what I've heard they are off to a great a start.  In the next couple of weeks I'd like to provide some more in-depth information about the club's origins, goals, and players.  Until that happens I wanted to post a couple pictures of the official team jerseys.  I apologize for the poor image quality because all I have to take photos with is my phone's crappy camera.

The front of the jersey uses UTC's newer version Scrappy the mocking bird (UTC's mascot).  The shoulders are home to the ever popular UTC "C" that can also be found on the UTC football team's helmets.  Many have probably noticed that the base for the jersey is the Nashville Predators current away uniforms.  Its nice when your school's colors match perfectly with a product already being sold.

Here's a shot of the back where you can see the screen printed name and number.

These sweaters look pretty sharp, and the UTC team is going to look good out there this season.  Here's a link to a blog written by an individual involved in the recent rebranding of the UTC Mocs:

http://www.uncommontaries.com/?m=201002

Amazing Amounts of Pointless Effort

I openly admit to being obsessed with music consumption.  I also admit to fanatically loving anything that has to do with the whole Scott Pilgrim franchise.  Due to bad timing and my distaste for going to movie theaters alone I didn't get to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World until the home video release of the film.  Since then I've been rapidly consuming the deliciously deep contents of the Blu-Ray version of the movie.  But that's more of an aside than anything else, so I'll head back on topic.

Before I was able to see the film I'd already beaten the Scott Pilgrim video game and listened through the soundtrack for the film and the video game and I had of course been buying up the books since just before the sixth book was published.  The movie soundtrack featured a fantastic song by the Canadian indie pop band Metric.  I'd loved Metric's first release Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? but have completely failed to follow the group since that album way back in 2003.  It was great to be pulled back in and I already ran out (to iTunes) to get their most recent release Fantasies, which went platinum in Canada. Now, we've established my love of the song, but what I'm working towards is the song's placement in the film.

The soundtrack is a mixture of original compositions for the bands within the film, songs repurposed for the film, and original music for the soundtrack... pretty typical stuff there.  Metric's sole contribution was the previously unreleased "Black Sheep."  Interestingly enough, the singer of Metric Emily Haines was actually the inspiration upon which creator Brian Lee O'Malley drew to create Envy Adams  As it turns out when I heard the song being played I had the answer to two questions. 

 The only band in the Scott Pilgrim world that I didn't have a handle on was The Clash at Demonhead.  From the book art, you can tell that the band is made up of a bassist, drummer and vocalist/keyboardist.  But still, I couldn't get a real feel for the sound they would make.  I'm sure at this point you can clearly see where I'm going with all of this endless typing; Black Sheep is the song preformed by The Clash at Demonhead in the film.  Marrying the real and fictional band was perfect and I felt like my mental construct of the Scott Pilgrim world was complete, yet there was still a problem.

The version of Black Sheep on the official soundtrack was quite different from the film version.  Metric performs the album version whereas in the film the song is preformed by the folks we see up on stage, Brie Larson (vocals, keys), Tennessee Thomas (drums), and former Clark Kent Brandon Routh (bass).   Well, I'm me so I have to both versions of the song.  My immediate thought was the rip the song straight off the DVD using the wonderful Audio Hijack pro from the wonderful folks at Rogue Amoeba, but that didn't have the complete song.  Next, I found an official music video that features the complete performance, hurrah!  Still, the audio quality was crap and there were jumps in the audio tracks.  Failure seemed imminent, until....

I discovered, while scouring all the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World audio tracks on iTunes, a band called The Evil Exes.  The band only had one song titled Black Sheep (from "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World").  Bam!  All that time I spent running around and I had the track just sitting metaphorical inches away from fingers.

Anyways, that's that.  I'm going to do the best I can to post audio/video for both song versions so you can know that it was totally worth it all.

First here is Metric's version:

And now the film version

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - 'Black Sheep' Music Video from Louis S on Vimeo.

The Misunderstood Nature of the Common Cannibals, And Caramel

I don't have anything hockey or music related that I would publish at the moment, so here's just some humor.

I admit that I would try human meat given the right set of circumstances; I wouldn't want to harm someone or have someone harmed nor would I be likely to actively seek out the opportunity.  Still, its an intriguing thought.  Ultimately its not something that one gets a chance to do all that often.

But I honestly think most people have the wrong idea about cannibals.  Its not like you grab a coat out of your closet, throw on a hat, and take a walk down the street so that you can slaughter some nice person every time you feel like grilling up a few burgers.  No, see, you slaughter that person and eat them to absorb their virility and soul so that you can impregnate your wife with the male child that the gods have denied you ever since the village shaman caught you telling lewd jokes about his mother to your friends.

I'd also like to share what I consider to be one of the best Internet based insults of all time.  While involved, it is easily adaptable to situations outside of Internet forums and comment sections.

When you speak I often find myself waiting in an extra beat or two for the gravity of what you said to sink into my brain. Often during this period I maintain a listless expression that is tinged with a flicker of crackling whimsy. My eyes narrow and then soften while I lean in towards the screen on my computer. With my head resting against the back of my hand I read and re-read your post, sorting the words and punctuation in much the same way one attempts to tie a cherry stem in his or her mouth. I feel a pressure in my chest because I want to write something and express how I feel but the apprehension at the often ineffectual nature of words posted on the Internet prevents me even publishing that which I have written.

Sitting on the desk I have a box of Japanese milk caramels given to me by a friend. They are delicious little candies that have a pleasant flavor and texture. In fact I find that just holding and unwrapping each little cube is a simple experience that only further enhances my enjoyment of the candy. Each element of the milk caramels lend to a wholly pleasurable experience with I can find no true flaw. Even when there are no more caramels remaining I feel satisfied and pleased with the quantity and the stack of silver papers that I've tossed back into the small yellow box.

You are not caramel.

Determination

It seems that every three to four months I decide that it is once again time to start up the blog that I've always wanted. As always the primary subjects would be music, hockey, and then whatever happens to catch my interest at the time. Maybe at some point I'll have formatting with pictures and stuff... maybe I'll learn something about all of this blog formatting. Ok, probably not but it could happen.

I'm currently gearing up for my Best Music of 2010 list, but that won't get publish until 2011.

I'd like to take images of all the current third and alternate jerseys in the NHL and poke fun at the surprising similarities between all of them.  Granted its something that's been done before, but I'd like to take a crack at it and put my personal touch on the thing.

I'm also looking forward to posting my knee-jerk reactions to things going on in the hockey world.  Often you get a really bad read on what happened and are thinking clearly, but the results can certainly be amusing and some people can get really worked up.

Finally I think it'll be nice when I post another blog in three to four months about how much I really want to write a blog on a fairly regular basis.  But, ah ha!  I already have a short something to post on here tomorrow, so that is a single step in the right direction.

Otherwise here is a animated .gif from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Video Game