I wasn’t happy with the previous wallpaper I made for the Sens schedule, as it was a rush job. I’m definitely happier with this new one. This is a wallpaper that includes the October schedule only. I’ll be releasing one for every month of the 2008-2009 hockey season (with time permitting). Doubleclick on the thumbnails below, then right-click and select save as.
We’re down to 2 games left for the Ottawa Senators, and we still haven’t cinched a playoff spot. I’m a concerned and a little worried, but I’m not ready to panic yet (as much as one can panic when it comes to cheering for a sports team). As of this post, the Sens are in 6th place in the conference, tied with Boston at 92 points (but we have more wins, hence the 6th position). The Flyers are in 8th with 91 points, and close behind are the Capitals with 90. If we lose the last 2 games, and all those teams win at least 1, it will be the first time in 11 years that the Sens wouldn’t make the playoffs.
2 days, 2 games, that’s all there’s left to determine the Sens spring destiny. As a fan, one can hope that they can flick the switch and win at least one of those games. As cliche as it sounds, their destiny is truly in their hands right now, only they can insure a spot in this year’s playoffs. I’ve heard different rumours as to why the team is in this situation, and all we can hope for is that they put aside their individual differences, egos and issues and start playing as a team. Something happened earlier this year to fracture the team and their confidence, and both are not easy things to overcome.
At this point, the way the Sens have been playing, even if they do make the playoffs they won’t go far unless they can put aside overcome the internal issues that exist. I know the playoffs is a completely different beast compared to the regular season, and often we’ve seen teams that barely make the playoffs completely dominate come springtime. I fear that this isn’t going to be one of those times. Regardless of how much longer the Sens are on the ice instead of the golf course, I’ll be cheering my team on for as far as they go.
Man o man, do weekends go buy way too quickly. You blink and boom, there they went. 3 day weekends every week? I could go for that! On Saturday we went and saw my nieces perform their yearly skating recital. Due to some very crappy parking (or lack of), we ended up missing their part of the show. There’s always next year! 😛 We had to endure watching 3 to 10 year olds put on a skating show loosely based around High School Musical. [sarcasm] There’s 2 of my favorite things in the world. Ice Skating and High School Musical. [/sarcasm] It made for a very long afternoon. This means that I missed the Sens vs Penguins game. I did manage to catch part of the 3rd period on the radio, and from what I could gather they were playing with a lot more energy and resolve compared to the last few weeks. There were still a few too many giveaways and defensive mistakes, yet things are getting better. There are only 16 or so more games left until the playoffs, so we fans can only hope things will keep on improving, or else it will be a quick exit out of this year’s playoffs.
Nine Inch Nails has released a new instrumental album, but this time you won’t find it on store shelves (at least not yet). Being released from the shackles of recording companies, Trent Reznor was able to release his new album entitled “Ghosts I-IV” online. There are 36 tracks to this album, the first 9 which are available as a free download. All tracks are being released under the Creative Commons NonCommercial-Share Alike license, which means legally the files can be shared and used in any non-commercial way. Yup, you can share these mp3s with everyone as long as you don’t make a penny from it. For 5$, you can download all 36 songs in DRM free format, which also include some wallpapers, a 40 page PDF booklet, some graphic artwork, icons, etc..). For 10$ you can order a 2 CD set with all 36 songs. Doing this will also allow you to download all the songs immediately and get all the files you’d get with the 5$ only download. You can also wait to buy the 2CD set in stores on April 8th, but you won’t get the downloads. There’s a couple of other Deluxe packages that can be ordered as well. All this can be done at ghosts.nin.com. I’ve ordered the 10$ 2CD set myself, and once the servers aren’t as overloaded, I’ll be downloading it. I did get the 9 free tracks and this is pure unadulterated Nine Inch Nails at its finest.
This method is how albums should be released. Instead of suing your listeners for distributing music on the Internet and following an antiquated and dying business model, record companies should adopt new models such as this to help bring life back into the music industry. Heck, with the hundreds of millions gathered from lawsuits and settlements that the RIAA has won, not one dime from those lawsuits has made it into the pockets of the artists. Thankfully the RIAA has suffered a massive blow to their lawsuit campaign, with a federal US judge denying a lawsuit on the basis of copyright misuse and excessive damages.
So back to the album. The 9 tracks that I’ve listened to so far are very good. These are pure instrumental tracks with no vocals. They show how much of a creative and genius composer that Trent Reznor is. The background on this album is also pretty interesting. This is from the website.
“This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as… something.
The team: Atticus Ross, Alan Moulder and myself with some help from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew and Brian Viglione. Rob Sheridan collaborated with Artist in Residence (A+R) to create the accompanying visual and physical aesthetic.
We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing. What we thought could be a five song EP became much more. I invited some friends over to join in and we all enjoyed the process of collaborating on this.
The end result is a wildly varied body of music that we’re able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed – from a 100% DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we’ve ever created.
More volumes of Ghosts are likely to appear in the future.
– Trent Reznor, March 2, 2008″
Luc "Sandman" G.