Monday, June 27, 2011

The JAPW Women's Championship & Women's Division

Two years ago to the day we saw Sara Del Ray defeat ODB to become the first JAPW Women's Champion.  With JAPW seemingly expanding the women's division, it looked like it could be something good for the promotion.  I had no doubt that she would hold the title for sometime and have many successful defenses.  But as time wore on, Del Ray went one year into her reign.  Not a big deal.  She continued to turn away opponents with a few more successful defenses.  But now with her last defense being well over six months ago on December 11, 2010, we see her as the two year champion. With three other women in the division, is it worth it to keep the belt around if we know more than likely that Del Ray will retain?  It doesn't even seem like the women in JAPW who are mainstays are being put in situations to make it look like they really want a shot at the title and want to take the belt off Del Ray.  That is through no fault of their own.  Maybe you can say it's the booking which is the issue.  Or you can say that since JAPW is running less shows that, you'll see the JAPW Women's Championship on a very limited basis.

Is that something you want?  I sure don't.  Sure I live in another part of the world and can't come to any shows, but I follow JAPW via the Internet and know what's happening because I follow this promotion on Twitter, go on their forum, and whatnot.  It's travesty that something that looked good from the onset with their JAPW Women's Division shows, that it comes has come to this.  There is still great potential to have a good women's division, but more talent needs to be brought in and the title should be defended more than it has.

I look to the indys for great women's wrestling because the WWE isn't delivering and TNA has had flashes of brilliance the last couple years.  I would like to see JAPW return to a full-time schedule because this way it would give the women's division the opportunity to expand and become the division I know it can be.  But if JAPW is only going to have the amount of shows it's now having, than the women's division will either have die a death before it really got the chance to shine or it will have such growing pains that it will be difficult to watch.

Now, don't get me wrong, Del Ray is a great talent and has been a great JAPW Women's Champion.  But there comes a time when change needs to happen.  A change in champions is just what this division needs.  That and bringing in more talent to baluster the roster so actual feuds for the title can happen and not just one off matches.  Having programs for the title would also be beneficial for not only Del Ray but the division as a whole.  Either feuds for the title need to happen or a new champion needs to be crowned.  Truthfully, how much longer will Del Ray's title reign go before people start calling it stale?

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Strike, Strike, Strike

Saskatchewan has become accustomed to hearing about strike this year.  With the strikes centered in the province of Saskatchewan, there are more to come.  It just so happens that they are conveniently striking when a provincial election is set for this fall.  I guess you can look at this as they want to really disrupt the current government that they might see the fall of it so that the NDP will get back into power.  As you may or may not know, the NDP are rooted in unions and the unions would like to see the NDP back in power.

Now the strikes happening or that will happen are in the public sector or within crown corporations.  Being that Saskatchewan is a socialist province, a lot of people depend on the programs and if they are on strike, it will screw everything up and cause more headaches and an unnecessary backlog of work.  But that probably doesn't even factor into it.  They don't care about that.  If they have to work some overtime to get caught up, that's more money for them.  They are striking because they want a better rate of pay, don't like the working conditions, or some other item.  Mostly it's about the money.  Non-unionized workers have the option to either suck it up or find another job.  It's that simple.  But to bad these public sector and crown corporation employees are too good to look for another job if they don't like their current rate of pay.  Let's just strike to waste time and money because we are greedy.  To the people that feel they need to strike, I say boo hoo because people in the private sector or the non-unionized workers can't just walk off the job.  It was to walk off the job, I would be told to "have a nice day" and told to look for other work.  Have it too good in a sense.

The only time they don't have it good is when they strike goes to the length that they start getting strike pay.  Strike pay can't afford you to pay bills.  That's one reason why resolving disputes is in the best interest of everybody, especially those supporting a family.  Also, strikes cost money and can hurt the economy if it's already fragile and unstable.  Maybe hurting the economy is what some union leaders want because they want to make the particular current government look bad.

Most of the strikes, as I said, are based upon money.  That's what the teacher's strike is about.  They want to be paid the same as other teachers in Western Canada.  If what EducationCanada.com says is up-to-date, than a person with a six years of education, than you can make at the most is $66,103 and four years of education is $59,500.  I might not see $50,000 a year.  People who make $50,000 to $60,000 are so hard done by.  They want an extra ten to twenty thousand dollars a year.  Suck it up buttercup, you could be making $20,000 or less a year like a lot of people.  We wouldn't want to have them face reality and make a wage like a lot of people make.  If you don't like the money you're making or that it's not good enough than go find another job.

There are two evils to unions that I see.  Now this is a non-unionized workers view bare in mind.  Some people union members don't to have to pay into unions because they are seemingly paying into something they don't want to be a part, but seemingly have no choice.  Than the other side of it is is that they are basically paying into something that allows them to basically hold their employer hostage because they are selfish in a round about way.  If a union has 500 member and only 100 show up to meetings and strike votes, than why force people to pay into something they don't care about?  Unions would be better served by having people who want to be in unions pay into them.  But it seems like you have no choice but to pay into them.

Certain union leaders like Bob Bymoen like to pull these stupid tactics.  For instance, Bymeon took the snow plows off the highway in 2007 when they were needed.  Earlier this week because of Bymeon, the crop insurance sector walked off the job during a time of need.  Sure crop insurance strike was quickly ended as a deal was reached.  I'm sure Bymeon does this for his own amusement.

This summer in Saskatchewan, we are expected to have more strikes by more public sector and  crown corporations.   I'm just so sick of these strikes.  The sooner they are over the better.  If I hear about another strike, it will be too soon...

Friday, June 17, 2011

Stupid Fans and Stupid Morons

I find it funny and sad how people are ripping on the Vancouver Canucks when they don't win especially some Canucks fans. The better team won, so people need to deal with it...


With that being said, people need to stop being such poor losers and take it in stride.  Some fans are quick to be a fan when they are winning and doing well, but when they are not, people are quick to lose hope and even turn their back.  If you are a fan, than you should be a fan through thick and thin.  I've been a fan of my favourite teams through some of their worst times.  That's the mark of a loyal fan.  But I guess it's only good to be a fan when a team or athlete does well...  We would want you to be loyal or anything.

What's wrong with giving Vancouver Canucks or any team or athlete for that matter your loyalty not matter how they are perceived by others?  I guess being loyal is not a good thing...

The American media needs to get their heads out of their asses because generalizing the Vancouver Canucks as Canada's team is pretty stupid.  Not all Canadians like the Canucks.  But I guess since it's a Canadian team they assume all Canadians will cheer for them, but that is oh so not the case.



But what's worse is the black eye we thought healed up from 1994 and during the G20 Summit when they had the Olympics.  But this made it comeback with this riot.  It shows how stupid people can get when they drink and get in big crowds of people.  What's worse, middle aged men and women were laughing and cheering on their behaviour before it really got started.  That gets the people started and they don't nothing of  it.  It than escalates from there.

The mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson tried to dumb down the incident saying it was a group of a few people causing problems.  No it wasn't just a few people.  He is trying to downplay the magnitude of it.  He also it was a few anarchists.  No it wasn't a few anarchists.  People were saying it was a black bloc because there were people seen wearing masks, but it wasn't.  It was a large group of people.  They came prepared for this.  They came ready to cause some damage and destruction.  They didn't care what they did.  It wasn't their property, so why give a damn.  If it was their property, than they would have cared.  The sad fact is that some of the instigators came from Seattle.  The fact they got over the border is baffling.

Not only that, but the police presence was very minimal.  They obviously didn't learn from 1994 or the G8 Summit.  I heard that in Times Square, they have a shit load of police that you can't do anything without a police officer being there.  Now if Vancouver had a huge police presence, than this may not have happened.


This all could have been avoided, but no, Vancouver wanted to be oblivious to it all.  This has made international headlines and has made Vancouver and the province of British Columbia look bad.  Vancouver seems to have a great cultural presence and whatnot, but this stupid shit that is pulled again makes them look bad.  Vancouver needs to a hard look at this and make some serious changes so this doesn't happen again.  This didn't happen in Calgary, Edmonton, or Ottawa.  So why Vancouver?  Do they continually want to give themselves a bad name?  I guess so.

Go to VancouverRiot.com, VanCityRioitCriminals.tumblr.com, or any other website and submit pictures and videos.  Let's bring these bastards to justice.  So far at least one has been charged due to posting stuff online bragging about it.  Let's keep it going!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Song of the Day #19 - Tom Waits

Here is a song I heard on CBC Radio 2 while driving to work.  My friend had a blog titled the same as the song.  That's how he came up with the name.

"The Piano Has Been Drinking" by Tom Waits
YouTube link

Monday, June 13, 2011

Noisetrade.com - Artists I've Downloaded So Far

Noisetrade.com is website created by Mark Nicholas, David McCollum, Brannon McAllister, and most notably Derek Webb of the Christian rock band Cademon's Call in May 2007.  It was created because of the response to Webb's 2005 album "Mockingbird" and the success it had in it's free distribution.  Webb got the idea after he noticed the sales of his albums and attendance at his shows increased.  So that's a bit of a condensed history of the website.  Basically Noisetrade.com is way to get free trade music.

So lately I've been browsing that site and looking around at some artists.  There are a lot of Christian artists, folk/folk rock artists, jazz artists, rock artists, etc.. You can search based on top downloads, what's new, artist name, album, for fans of (meaning if you like U2 for example, than anyone who has them as for fans of, they will show up), and finally genre.  To get the album or song you are listening to you, you just enter in your email and postal or zip code.  Than you will get emailed your download link which is good for five days.  If you so choose, you can leave the artist as tip as a show of your gratitude for making some of their music available for download on NoiseTrade.com.  Just use the slider to set how much you want to tip.  So far I've downloaded 18 solo artists, duos, groups, and bands, etc..  When I download more, I will share them with you!


The Vespers
"Eyes Wide Open" off the album "Tell Your Mama"
YouTube link



The Local Strangers
"Haunted Ghost" off their debut EP "The Local Strangers"
YouTube link



John Thomas Oaks & Grand Central
"Journey to the Center of Your Heart" off the album "Blue York"
YouTube link



Tim Pepper
"Are You Coming Home" acoustic version
YouTube link



Jas Patrick
"Best I Can Be" off the album "Working on My Soul"
YouTube link



The Dirt Daubers
"The Devil Gets His Due"
YouTube link



I couldn't find a good quality version of the song entitled "Wayfaring Stranger" by The Dirt Daubers I wanted to post.

Red Mountain Church
"Help My Unbelief" off the album "Help My Unbelief"
YouTube link



Eric Baker
"The Chair" off the album "Hope & Thin Space"
Bandcamp link



Courrier
"Paper Ghost" off the album "A Violent Flame"
YouTube link



The Walla Recovery
"She Said" off their debut EP "With Trembling..."
YouTube link



Cary Brothers
"Under Control"
YouTube link



Luke Brawner
"A Rock in a Wilderness" off the album "Flannelgraph Sessions"
 Bandcamp link



Poor Rick Folk
"Grace" off the album "No More Than a Window"
Bandcamp link



The Fiction Writers
"Mile a Minute"
Bandcamp link



two seconds away
"Freakin Me Out"
Reverbation link




Chase Foster
"He Won't Miss You Like I Do?"
YouTube link



I couldn't find his cover of Billy Joel' "Vienna" which is the song I did download.

Justin Caldwell
"Please Don't Go" off the album "Hill Studio Sessions"
YouTube link



Ohio Avenue
"Shine Through" off the album "The Sound"
YouTube link



I hope you enjoyed these artists I've downloaded. Go to NoiseTrade.com and discover some new artists today.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Aaron Rome's Hit On Nathan Horton

Adam Rome's hit Nathan Horton has received major reaction.  People are for the suspension handed down and some people are against it.  I am against the suspension handed down.  Here is the video


YouTube link



Some people say including the commentators said that it was a late hit.  The hit occurred late.  That's is a plausible argument.  But people are making it seem that Horton is the victim here which can be.  Here is the problem with that.  Horton made the pass and kept looking and admiring his pass.  He had his head down not looking ahead to get out of the way and it looked as though Rome wasn't looking where he was going.  Sure it's unfortunate that Horton got injured, but part of the responsibility lies on him.

Here is a good point, that when Zdeno Chara hit Max Pacioretty nothing happened.  One of the league's top guys and of course nothing will happen.  Sure you can make the argument that Chara was just finishing the play.  But if you look at the following video, you can clearly see that Chara pushed Pacioretty into the boards.  The league did nothing about it.

YouTube link



If you are going to start handing down suspensions now in the playoffs, than you should do it throughout the whole playoffs and not just the Stanley Cup playoffs.  It shows that the NHL is losing integrity.  You can't pick and choose when you want to hand down suspensions.  You can't turn a blind on one thing and not to another.  If you want to eliminate all these types of hits that cause head injuries, that is fine, but it's not going to deter some people from making these type of hits if they know they could possibly get off without anything happening to them.  The league needs to be firm.  Even a one game suspension is better than nothing.

Sometimes the sentence handed down is too lenient.  After Claude Lemieux broke Kris Draper's face with a which needed reconstruction to fix his broken jaw (which was wired shut for a month) and broken cheekbone and a broken nose, as well as gave him a concussion.  Lemieux was suspended one game and only fined $1000.  The league needs to look over how they handle such hits and see if the punishment is appropriate.  If you look at the hits in the 90s, guys would take huge hits and get up after it.  Sure the hit Lemieux laid out Draper with was a serious one, but if someone was hit like Horton was in the 90s, people wouldn't think twice and if there was a sentence it would seem like a slap on the wrist.  Now people expect a sentence to be handed down for such hits.  I just think people are blowing the Rome hit on Horton out of proportion when if you look at Chara's hit on Pacioretty, it was worse and the league turned a blind eye.  If you want to do something about head shots and the like, than you have to hand down sentences on everything and not just somethings.  Until such a time when that happens, the NHL will continually lose integrity.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Should Be Able To

I have a friend who is finishing up her schooling and her schooling was funded through student loans.  She also had to stretch out the money she was given to live off of.  She was told that it would last her the whole school year.  That in fact turned out to be false.  I know that she will be fine once she gets a job in her field of choice.  But until then she doesn't know how she will manage to pay the important stuff.  I asked her if she can get some assistance while she is finishing up school.  But she said that she can't because she is still finishing up school.  I find that to be stupid that she is not allowed to apply for some temporary assistance.

I pose this question to you: If someone who is living on their own and trying to put themselves through school be able to apply for assistance to live?  Now I know that you can ask for a living allowance when applying for a student loan.  But if that living allowance doesn't give you enough to live off of, than yes they should be allowed for assistance while in school if they so need it.  There has to be some criteria so it restricts it to people who TRULY need it.

It's bad enough that there is such a cost associated with getting a post secondary education.  But the cost of living on top of that isn't cheap overall.  You can try and live as cheaply as possible like my friend was trying to do, but unexpected expenses can come up.  So getting some sort of assistance while going to school when you need it needs to be there.  Life is going to go on whether you have the money or not.   Maybe this is the socialist in me, but if someone is trying to better themselves by going back to school or getting some sort of training, than they need to be allowed to apply for the assistance.  I understand that you have may have objections for that fact that it may cost a lot.  I will admit that socialism isn't necessarily cheap.  But if it's structured in a way that helps those are trying to better themselves than it can work for the most part.

The point of I'm trying to make that being a student isn't cheap.  I should know as I went back to school in 2006-007.  So it is crucial that they are allowed to apply for assistance when they need it so it helps with living expenses if they are living on their own and whatnot.  Going to school will put you in debt and you shouldn't, if you can help it, go into debt because of basic life expenses.  I understand that will happen, but worrying about how you will survive day to day when you are worrying about school shouldn't have to be an issue if you were allowed to apply for assistance.  If my friend was able to apply for extra assistance while going to school than shouldn't wouldn't necessarily be in the situation.  But such as life goes.