diff --git a/src/LifeMeterBar.cpp b/src/LifeMeterBar.cpp
index aae025e737..c4e720cb9f 100644
--- a/src/LifeMeterBar.cpp
+++ b/src/LifeMeterBar.cpp
@@ -27,12 +27,8 @@ LifeMeterBar::LifeMeterBar()
 	MIN_STAY_ALIVE.Load	("LifeMeterBar","MinStayAlive");
 	m_fLifePercentChange.Load( "LifeMeterBar", LIFE_PERCENT_CHANGE_NAME, NUM_ScoreEvent );
 
-	FLASH_HOT_ON_NOTE_HIT.Load("LifeMeterBar","FlashHotOnNoteHit");
-	MIN_SCORE_TO_FLASH.Load("LifeMeterBar","MinScoreToFlash");
-
 	m_pPlayerState = NULL;
 
-
 	switch( GAMESTATE->m_SongOptions.GetStage().m_DrainType )
 	{
 	case SongOptions::DRAIN_NORMAL:
@@ -130,10 +126,6 @@ void LifeMeterBar::ChangeLife( TapNoteScore score )
 	case TNS_CheckpointMiss:fDeltaLife = m_fLifePercentChange.GetValue(SE_CheckpointMiss);	break;
 	}
 
-	if(FLASH_HOT_ON_NOTE_HIT)
-		if(score >= MIN_SCORE_TO_FLASH)
-			m_fHotAlpha = 1.0f; // flash the hot temporarily
-
 	if( IsHot()  &&  fDeltaLife < 0 )
 		fDeltaLife = min( fDeltaLife, -0.10f );		// make it take a while to get back to "hot"
 
diff --git a/src/LifeMeterBar.h b/src/LifeMeterBar.h
index bdfcdad50f..acac433875 100644
--- a/src/LifeMeterBar.h
+++ b/src/LifeMeterBar.h
@@ -59,9 +59,6 @@ private:
 	int			m_iMissCombo;			// current number of progressive W5/miss
 
 	int			m_iComboToRegainLife;		// combo needed before lifebar starts filling up after fail
-
-	ThemeMetric<TapNoteScore>   MIN_SCORE_TO_FLASH;
-	ThemeMetric<bool> FLASH_HOT_ON_NOTE_HIT;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/NoteSkinManager.cpp b/src/NoteSkinManager.cpp
index 24088c8d8f..309f558df0 100644
--- a/src/NoteSkinManager.cpp
+++ b/src/NoteSkinManager.cpp
@@ -242,21 +242,6 @@ void NoteSkinManager::GetAllNoteSkinNamesForGame( const Game *pGame, vector<RStr
 
 RString NoteSkinManager::GetMetric( const RString &sButtonName, const RString &sValue )
 {
-	// if no noteskin has loaded by now, something seriously went wrong!
-	if( m_sCurrentNoteSkin.empty() ) 
-	{
-		// try selecting the default noteskin
- 		if( DoesNoteSkinExist( "default" ) )
-		{
-			m_sCurrentNoteSkin = "default";
-			LOG->Warn("A noteskin was not loaded before NoteSkinManager::GetMetric() so the default noteskin was forced."); 
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			LOG->Warn("A noteskin was not loaded before NoteSkinManager::GetMetric() and none could be loaded."); 
-		}
-	}
-
 	ASSERT( !m_sCurrentNoteSkin.empty() );
 	RString sNoteSkinName = m_sCurrentNoteSkin;
 	sNoteSkinName.MakeLower();