Things I Decided

Because I am the decider, I will now mention several decisions I made lately. I'll try to make this a weekly thing. Topics will range from things you love to things you couldn't care less about, so feel free to peruse and only read select sections.

1. The song "Hurt".

The Johnny Cash cover of Nine Inch Nails's "Hurt" is pretty good, but conveys the emotions in a different way. The original sounds more desolate: Trent Reznor's vocals are sound more subdued, and the guitar itself sounds faint and far off. Furthermore, the way his vocals go from a whisper to full singing in the chorus gives the song a tone of desperation as well.

(Most of that holds true for the studio version; this live version, not as much, but I still put it here for reference)



Meanwhile, Cash's version sounds fuller. It primarily contains just his voice and his guitar, but everything sounds stronger. The music is clear and focused, and his vocals actually make it possible to hear what he is saying. Cash made the song his own; his version is a far cry from NIN's, and it sounds like a different song.



Keep in mind, however, NIN's version was released as a single when Reznor was around 30. Cash covered the song when he was 71. It comes as no surprise that, while my opinion may be affected by my knowledge of their ages, Reznor's version sounds like the depressed teenager/young adult sitting alone in his room, while Cash's sounds like a man in his later years, lonely because most of his family and friends are starting to leave him. Perhaps this is because, at the time, most of Reznor's life had yet to happen, while most of Cash's had already happened.

2. Serengeti's ode to Chicago "Dennehy" is pretty cool.



Which brings me to my next point...

3. Tom Berenger was awesome in Major League.

For those of us who didn't know, the movie also features a young Wesley Snipes. While I wasn't alive at the time, I think it was his breakout role.



Dennis Haysbert played slugger Pedro Cerrano.

It also featured Corbin Bernsen, who currently plays Henry Spencer (Shawn's father) on the show Psych.

4. Psych is a very funny show.

However, in order to truly enjoy it, you have to understand that it is not funny in the way most movies/shows today are funny. Rather, it has a gentler type of humor: you won't be falling out of your seat at its jokes, but its a clever show. Main character Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his best friend Burton "Gus" Guster (Dulé Hill) run a detective agency, and Spencer uses his hyper-observative (some word like that) senses to solve crimes, while passing his discoveries off as psychic visions. Shawn and Gus make a charming duo, with their witty banter and pop culture references. The word I think may describe the show's comedy is "light-hearted".



5. My fantasy hockey team would suck if not for Zach Parise.


Parise will probably finish with about 95 points this year, split almost evenly between goals and assists. Given the loss of 4th round pick Brenden Morrow to injury and 2nd round pick Jean-Sebastien Giguere's inability to stop the puck (.900 Sv%, 3.13 GAA, and loss of the starting job to backup Jonas Hiller), my snagging of Parise in the 7th round was a steal.

Not that I planned it. I expected 60-80 points.

But let's face it, I'm gloating. This was a 14 team league. My other steals were defenseman Ryan Suter (12th round) and Ray Whitney (17th round). I really shouldn't brag, though. I'm in the finals, but I'm losing almost every goalie category. My team is relying completely on my skaters.

6. The Hold Steady is a great band to sing along to.
"Massive Nights" is just one example.



7. I regret not seeing Watchmen while it was in theaters, and I must now wait to rent it on DVD.



8. Shea Weber deserves to win the Norris Trophy for the "top defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability at the position."

The trophy will probably go to Mike Green, and the arguement in favor of him is fair as well. Green leads all defensemen with 73 points, 31 of which are goals. That's pretty impressive, especially when you consider he's missed time due to injury (only 67 games so far).

So why does Weber deserve it?

a) Green is on a better team. The Capitals are division champions, and they boast a better group of forwards than Weber's Predators. Sure, Green helps make the team so good, but Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin are more likely to finish a play than Jason Arnott and David Legwand. I'm not taking away anything from Green's offensive ability; I'm just saying his teammates are probably more helpful than Weber's.

b) Weber ranks 8th in the league in hits with 192. Keep in mind that counting hits isn't an exact science. However, that's still a significant difference from Green's 85 hits, good enough for 78th in the league. Weber is the better player in his own zone: he has a difference between giveaways and takeaways of -14 (33 and 19), while Green's is -46 (95 and 49). Okay, so Green has more takeaways, but he's turning the puck over almost 3 times as much. Essentially, Weber is the tougher of the two, and is a far more intimidating player defensively.

(Point b is a little sketchy: I haven't seen Green play a whole lot. The turnover/giveaway thing isn't exact, and Green is also far more adventurous on offense. The main point, though, is that if I am skating down the ice with the puck, I'm more afraid of Weber than Green.)



c) While this is similar to my first point, Weber deserves the trophy if the Predators make the playoffs. If you look at the team's roster, you shouldn't be impressed. His 22 goals rank 2nd on the team, and they need each and every one desperately (24th in the league with 2.51 goals for per game), while the Capitals have an abundance of scoring (3rd in the league with 3.26 goals per game). I recognize Green contributes to that team stat, but don't forget his teammate Alex Ovechkin also leads the league in goals.

Okay, so I ignored incumbent Nicklas Lidstrom and left Andrei Markov out of the talks, but Green is the leading candidate. However, if nothing else, Weber deserves the award if (and it's still an "if") the Nashville Predators make the playoffs. He made huge strides this year, and his development, along with that of frequent defensive partner Ryan Suter, has been a major factor in the team's success. If they make it in, this will be the second season in a row they've made it in when nobody expected it.

So for 5 seconds, NHL, focus on more than offensive numbers, and give Shea Weber the trophy!

9. Pibb is delicious, and possibly better than Dr. Pepper.


Okay, so it's called "Pibb Xtra".

10. Jonathan Broxton looks cool.


Especially on my fantasy baseball team.

11. Brian Regan is very funny.

If you needed any further proof, here it is:

http://www.truveo.com/Brian-Regan-Flight-Delays/id/4225020689



Thank you for reading.

-brett