Lists, Kenobi, The Cost of Gas, & the Ukraine

Issue #10: Where to begin...

So here we are! Back with another issue of the Otter Limits newsletter. And here you are again back for more. I’d really like to take the time to say that I appreciate those of you that actually read this thing. I’d like to say that this week’s newsletter will be brief but it won’t.

This week has been mostly uneventful. I have seen The Batman in the theater twice so that is probably the most exciting thing my week. Other than that I have (still) been playing Cyberpunk.

Also this past Sunday, there was an AEW Pay-Per-View so I watched that. It was AEW Revolution. There were some really good matches on there. Specifically, the CM Punk-MJF dog collar match, the match between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson and the AEW Championship match between Hangman Adam Page and Adam Cole. There was also a ladder match to determine the #1 contender for the TNT Championship. While that match was a good one, I had already guessed beforehand who was going to win that one so it was kind of hard for me to get excited about it.

I also decided to start posting lists on these newsletters like I used to do on the old Otter Limits blog. I am a list junkie. I’m always doing some sort of list or another. So since lists are in the spirit of who I am and in the spirit of nostalgia, here is an updated version of one of the first lists that I posted over on that blog: Top 5 Punk Rock Bands. That is, the 5 punk rock bands that are my favorites:

1. Descendents - I have been listening to these guys ever since I was in high school. The first album of theirs I ever heard was the live album Liveage that a friend of mine had and let me listen. I was hooked from then on.

2. Bad Religion - Also have been listening to them since high school. The first album I heard was their debut LP How Could Hell Be Any Worse. The album that really got me into them and why I became a big fan was No Control.

3. Smoking Popes - I’ve been listening to these guys ever since their debut LP from 1993 titled Get Fired.

4. Pennywise - I don’t remember when I started listening to Pennywise but I remember the first time I heard them was from an Epitaph Records compilation album. Very likely one of the Punk-O-Rama albums.

5. Ramones - Can’t really beat the legends. The band that, in my humble opinion, is the first true punk rock band.

Stay tuned for more fun-filled lists. And if you have any ideas for lists that you would like to see me do on a future newsletter, just shoot me a comment and I’ll get on top of it!

Another thing I wanted to talk about was my band Get Fired. A couple of friends and I started Get Fired in 2016. It was me, Jeremy Hall, and Dave Yanchick (along with a rotating bass player position). After a few year and a couple of EP releases, we called it quits. After a while, I put together a new lineup that lasted a couple of years but we also decided to call it quits, mostly because of my upcoming relocation. We played a lot of shows but never got around to recording anything with this lineup. However, the original lineup and I have decided that we are going to get together to record a couple of new tunes before I leave for Michigan. We have already written two new songs and we are going to release those songs along with re-mastered versions of some previously unreleased material that we recorded before we split up. Anyway, I think it will be cool to get some new music put out from this original lineup. I will get you up to date on all of that.

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So……why is Russia invading the Ukraine? Let me start off by saying that I used to be extremely active politically. I was active in local and national politics on many levels and kept up with current events and the like. Lately, however, all that has fallen aback quite a bit. So much so that I keep seeing tweets and other social media posts about Russian and the Ukraine and I have no idea what is going on. So, because I don’t want to be left out of the loop, I decided to look into it a bit. So to answer my question as to why Russia is invading, I still have no clue as to Russia’s real motivation behind the attacks. According to the BBC, Mr. Putin feels that the Ukraine is under “threat from modern Ukraine.” I read one article that stated Putin is invading them because he doesn’t want them to join NATO. Based on other articles that I have read, and based on conversations that I have had with those that have been paying attention to this more than I have, it all boils down to oil. Putin wants it and doesn’t want to pay for it anymore. If you ask me, this world is far too dependent on oil and we desperately need more and more less expensive, dependent, alternative energy sources. I feel like that would eliminate a large portion of our global problems. But that’s just my opinion of course.

Another thing I wanted to mention that I am seeing a lot of people on social media talking about is the price of gas. Before I get into this however, just because I was politically active for a while, by no means do I consider myself an expert in politics and there is a lot of stuff that I don’t know. There are plenty of poeple out there more educated than me about all of this stuff and anything I’m talking about here is purely opinion so don’t take it as the gospel truth. It’s just me talking about my ass on here.

Okay, so gas. The price is going up. Yeah that sucks. Whose fault is it? I have no idea. I will say, however, that I think this is another situation of politics being in bed with corporations. In this instance, the energy industry. I feel like a lot of the problems in this world, the cost of fuel included, would be alleviated if there were more options for inexpensive, alternative energy sources. I think there are are more options for alternative fuel out there. The problem is that the energy industry has such a tight grip on the energy game that they are not allowed the alternative energy “industry” to thrive. So until our politicians decide to quit taking “donations” from the energy corporations and get off their ass and do something about releasing the stranglehold those corporations have on energy sources, then the cost of oil will continue to rise (because it can) and we will continue to see rising prices at the gas pump. Unfortunately, we are all beholden to the oil industry. What can we do about it? Who the hell knows. We can write and call our elected officials until we are blue in the face but until they stop taking money from the energy lobbyists, they have us by the proverbial balls. Okay enough of me complaining about the price of gas…

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After that I think we could use a little Star Wars talk. Yesterday (Wednesday, March 9) we got a teaser trailer for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show from Disney+. I don’t know about you but I am super excited about this show. I was excited about the Book of Boba Fett but we won’t talk about how that turned out. Obi-Wan Kenobi (as well as Mr. Fett) is one of my favorite Star Wars characters and I am really looking forward to seeing Ewan McGregor in the role again. From what I have read, the show is set 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith and will consist of 6 episodes. I was already exicted about the show coming out of course but the trailer has me even more excited. It looks really good. It looks cinematic. It is set to premiere on May 25. May 25, by the way, is an important day in Star Wars history as it was the day that the first Star Wars film hit the theaters back in 1977. Anyway, I’m excited about it. How about you? Here is a link to the trailer on YouTube.

Rogue One Radio

This week, we were joined by Chantal, the co-host of the Scarif Scuttlebutt Podcast to talk about The Batman with us. This episode kicked off our Batman series. In addition to doing a review of the new Batman movie, we revealed the winner of the favorite live action Batman movie listener poll and played some tunes from Elway and Simon and the Astronauts. Check out the episode on Spotify here:

Also, since we play a lot of music on the podcast, I created a Spotify playlist a while back called the Rogue One Radio soundtrack. You can listen to that here:

A podcast that I would like to give a shout out to (and I’m surprised that I haven’t done this sooner) is Mable Syndrome. Kristen and Jessica are the hosts. Mable Syndrome is a punk rock podcast where Kristen and Jessica provide a female perspective on life in the punk rock scene. It is a really great podcast. You can buy merch from them on their website. Check out their podcast on Apple Podcasts here:

This week’s pull list consisted of two comics: Star Wars: Crimson Reign #3 (of 5) and Little Monsters #1 (of 3). Crimson Reign is written by Charles Soule and continues the adventures of Qi’ra and the Crimson Dawn. This limited series is a follow up to the giant crossover event from last year called War of the Bounty Hunters. Little Monsters is a new limited series written by Jeff Lemire.

Of these two, Little Monsters was the only one I have read so far. It is interesting. Interesting enough to make me want to read #2 when it comes out. Based on the first issue, it is reminiscent in some ways to the What’s the Furthest Place From Here series that I’ve been working on. Reminiscent in the way that it is focuses on kids that are in a post apocalyptic environment.

Also, Nocterra #8 came out last week so it was not on this week’s pull list but it also was not on last week’s pull list because the new Comixology/Amazon thing hasn’t gotten its crap together. So just in case you were wondering, I am still not happy with the changes that Amazon made to Comixology. #bringbackcomixology

This week’s track comes from Portland, Oregon-based post-punk band Nyx Division. The name of the track is “Reckless Dark” and comes from their new EP Dark Star, which was released on March 4th. I found out about this song from the New Release Friday edition from the Punk Lotto Pod podcast. This is a special weekly podcast that Justin does to recommend new music that he has listened to. This is, however, a patron only edition so if you want to listen to it you will have to donate to their cause.