Kyrie Eleison

- Music

Rich night for inspiration.
"Misery Business" by Paramore - A pop(ish) band that is surprisingly well accepted by the sorts of people who often sneer at other more mainstream pop acts. The Penguins message board at Hockey Future loves them (and the lead singer Hayley Williams), and my brother likes the band as well which is noteworthy from my perspective because his tastes typically run toward stuff he calls 'Black Metal' and bands that I've never even heard of.
It has a decent little rock groove and a little bit of Grrr but at it's heart it's just another girl antagonizing about a boy. I guess the 'twist' is that she's already got the guy?
But the part that I like best is when she sings "I've watched his wildest dreams come true, not one of them involving you..."
The 'dream' presumably involves him and her doing something naughty.... at least that's how I read it. It's got a note of cockiness to it that is at odds with her 'one of the guys' persona. If Gwen Stefani had sung that line I would've known she was winking at her supreme status as the 'attainable beauty', but Hayley Williams is not Gwen Stefani.

"Kyrie" by Mr. Mister - I was chatting at work with electrician extraordinaire Ed Bocz, he was telling a story about going to church when he was young and he mentioned that he'd never forget one particular chant from the service which went 'Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison'.
"Wait what did you say?" (is what I said)
Turns out Kyrie isn't just a girl's name and I had the meaning of the song's lyrics all wrong. It literally means "Oh Lord have mercy"
Ya learn something new everyday.

- Penguins

Talbot and Gonchar are both playing tonight. I think it's pretty interesting how the attitude of the team changes when Max Talbot is in the lineup. He's the kind of guy you can replace easily on a short term basis since his skillset is so modest, but I wouldn't want to go through a playoff series without him. Gonchar looks terrific so far. We always miss him when he's out.

- Ball and Chain

She seems to be pretty happy. She got a new purse that she was excited to show me and she seems to have gained some confidence in taking care of our little girl. Her pregnancy belly is almost entirely gone and she fits into her old clothes again.
And her happiness is contagious. It makes me feel good too.

Ridiculous injury bug

- Penguins

Well the Pens started the season with 6 defensemen and a seventh in the press box.
Orpik - Gonchar
Letang - Eaton
Goligoski - Mckee
Skoula in the press box.
Now the Pens have five of the starting six on the disabled list and Skoula is suddenly on the top pairing.

It's not ALL bad.... Every one of them is due back within a few weeks.... but it's still pretty incredible to see such a run of injuries.
Thank god GM Ray Shero is a firm believer in depth on the blueline. Most of the guys we called up are capable defenders who might be starting on a weaker team.

Best 15$ I've spent in weeks

-Beer

Went to Troegs and had my growler filled with the Mad Elf. The beer is a high alcohol content holiday beer in the style of a barleywine. It's brewed with honey, cherries, and chocolate. Delicious I tell you. Delicious.
If you're interested in trying some you're gonna have to be local to Pennsylvania, as I believe the distribution area is limited to only about 10 states. Definitely worth it if you can find some. Just watch out cause it'll knock the shit out of you if you drink too much. Don't wait too long to seek it out since it's a Christmas seasonal.

-Hockey

The Penguins look like a completely different team now that Malkin is back, but they're about two and half minutes from losing to Boston. That's not so bad since the backup goaltender is playing tonight, but still as a fan you want to believe that the losing will end.

*incredible update - Billy G. scored off a feed from Malkin with 0.4 seconds left in the game to tie it, and Staal fed Dupuis to win it in overtime.

First Post.

-Music
I struggled to find good tunes tonight. The Miley Cyrus song 'Party in the U.S.A.' killed the mood early. I'm tired of hearing it and it just happened to be playing on two stations at once. I didn't mind the song at first. It's a teenager singing a song for teenagers and no one is making it out to be something it's not. I't's just a basic disposable pop song. But it's a little bit too cute for it's own good.
The situation got a little bit better when I found Lady Gaga's 'Paparazzi'. I like the way the song uses a rolling synth to create tension, suggestive of the potentially serious consequences of fan obsession. That's followed by a pretty vocal part from the perspective of the obsessed person. "Chase you down until you love me."
It's dischordant, strangely beautiful and probably meant to reveal the twisted mindset of a mentally ill fan.
Then there's three sharp shouts which seem to signify violence, like the crack of gun, and then the voice of the obsessed fan again.
Lady Gaga makes for an easy target for the casual music critic. She wears strange clothes, doesn't have a  noteworthy voice and her sound seems a little bit too tailored to the airwaves, but I think a closer examination reveals some depth in her creative process.
Then Kings of Leon 'Use Somebody'. Still a decent song. I think the appeal for me is primarily in the lead singer. He's got a pretty good voice, a good sound for rock I should say.

-Fantasy Music Draft
That reminds me. Freddie Mercury is my pick for greatest vocalist of all time. If I could draft an 'ultimate rock band' he'd be my #1 pick.
Interesting mental exercise. Pretend you're doing a fantasy football draft, but you're picking band members instead. Do you start with a vocalist and hope that the guitarist you want is still available in the second round? Or maybe you're gonna start with the rhythm section? You gotta have a great drummer if you want to be a legendary rock band.And then you gotta have the best songwriter you can get your hands on, so maybe McCartney on bass?
So many choices.....

-Sports
The Penguins lost again. Too many injuries right now.

-Daughter
My daughter was a pretty big P.I.T.A. tonight. Couldn't figure out why she was screaming. At least she's sleeping now.

-Idiots
Paul Krugman embarrassed himself pretty bad in the Op-eds. He blamed California's problems on the Republican party. Yeah I know.... Democrats run the state but apparently it's the Republicans' fault the state is broke.
But my favorite part was (and I apologize that I can't find the article online yet so I'll have to paraphrase...) he said 'The most qualified person isn't always the one who gets elected, voters are often just reacting to current events."
He was attempting to explain away the losses the Democrats took in the election last week, but that statement is also a pretty fair description of the circumstances about Obama's election.
I laughed out loud at him.

-Politics
Obama at least has finally made the tough decision to increase troop levels in Afghanistan. Withdrawing troops entirely would also have been acceptable. Gold star to you Barry.