Random Thoughts: August 10th, 2017

• I haven't written one of these in nearly three years.
• I'm tired as fuck. Dissatisfaction with my professional life doesn't properly cover what I'm going through.
• Summer's fading fast. As I get older, I find I miss it a little more. This is coming from a winter guy. Not sure what all of that means.
• Now's the best possible time to be a wrestling fan. Never in our lifetime has so much been available to everyone. Everywhere you turn, there's a streaming service. And if you're not satisfied with that, YouTube fills in pretty much every gap in your wrestling interests.
  And that's the problem: there's too much.
  I guess that's a good problem to have.
  New Japan Pro Wrestling is near the end of their annual G1 Climax tournament. There are 19 events this year. I only made through to night four. Each event has a packed undercard with shit that might affect future matchups. These things are 2-5 hours long! I don't have the time or the fucking attention span. I just wanna watch YouTube. Easily digestible YouTube moments.
• An additionally depressing thing about pro wrestling: there's a divide between the folks that prefer the days of kayfabe ("kayfabe" being the illusion that everything in wrestling is real and not a pre-determined athletic contest) – even as goofy as things could get back then – and those that laud the antics of Kenny Omega*, Chuck Taylor, and the Internet famous Joey Ryan. Loyalties are gettin' divided. It saddens me a lil' bit. I love pro wrestling, but what Joey does is the type of shit that makes me embarrassed to be a fan. It kinda makes me wanna just...quit.
• I don't do drugs, but if you see me with a bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms, things ain't goin' well.
• I feel a little better having written this out. I'm gonna like, do something else. Maybe go to bed early (Yeah, right, asshole.).

*Disclosure: I'm a Kenny Omega fan, and he's from my hometown. I love what he's doing right now and can overlook the wrestling-a-child thing, but he's one of the dudes that comes up in conversation in regard to ridiculous spots.

Let's Take a Break

I love you pro wrestling, but I think we need some time apart. I've been down with you since 1985, and you've been there for me through everything. I gotta say though...I've that 28 year itch right now. You're boring me.

Let's cut to the chase: it's WWE. Raw is three hours. That's too fucking long. I don't have the time or PVR space to sift through wackness.
Also, money is (eternally) short, so I can't buy all the New Japan Pro Wrestling iPPVs I want. And believe me, I want to. I SO fucking want to.

So, until I get some more free time, more cash, or until Kassius Ohno makes his WWE debut, we've gotta go our separate ways. I'll keep tabs on you via Slam! and through Ring of Honor and NJPW's YouTube channels, but no hanging out for a while. No coffee dates, no booty calls.

My Reaction to the News of Three Hour Raw Episodes...

...via embedded tweets.

Shit. “@JohnCena: STARTING Monday Night July 23 @USA_NETWORK WILL BE ADDING A 3RD HOUR TO @WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW - PERMANENTLY. #3hourRaw”

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 17, 2012

As a wrestling fan, I should be happy about a #3hourRaw, but anyone that's sat through one is aware that they can be a grind.

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 17, 2012

I just have a feeling that we're gonna be sitting through a lot of #3hourRaw episodes before they get any good.

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 17, 2012

#3hourRaw I watch the current-length Raw in one hour via PVR. Hate to be a naysayer...

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 17, 2012

I'm just gonna sift through it to get to the good stuff, as always. @wwe doesn't handle nuance well, so I won't miss much. #3hourRaw

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 17, 2012

@JensenClan88 As a former WWE writer, how would you have handled the news that Raw is going to three hours?

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 18, 2012

@ENMagnifico killed myself.

— Jensen Karp (@JensenClan88) May 18, 2012

@JensenClan88 I totally saw that coming.

— Allan Lorde (@ENMagnifico) May 18, 2012

'Nuff said.

Tecmo World Wrestling...

...as reviewed by internet wrestling pundit Joe Gagne for Mike and Tom Present...
I'm all too familiar with this game. I never had my own NES, so I rented one (with Mom's permission) from a nearby pawn shop to play this specific game. I never finished the game, but I had a blast trying to. This may have been the first time I stayed up until sunrise due to a frivolous pursuit. Mom was pretty pissed.

Random Thoughts: October 20th, 2010

The Wrestling Ring, by fellow Flickr user Podknox. Used under a CC Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

• Three ropes, fool. I can't tell you how pissed off I get when I see illustrated depictions of wrestling rings with two or four ropes, and I do believe I saw two examples recently.* It really speaks to the importance of having reference around, and a simple Google image search should kill any doubts you may have. Now, having said this, you now have free reign to call me out on the next thing I fuck up graphically. However, there's a chance I actually did my research, so the error can be chalked up to ineptitude.
  So, get it straight, chump: three ropes = wrestling ring, four ropes = boxing ring.
  Two ropes? I seriously don't know what the hell that is.
  
  
• Lack of Francais. I was listening to A Propos on Saturday, remembering the time I made my elementary school French teacher cry.
  No, I'm not boasting. It's one of the many regrets I have.
  She overheard me expressing my frustrations with learning the language, and how I didn't plan on taking it in high school. She lost it. My imposing sixth grade teacher (he's the tall Belgian in the photo Jeope is holding) made damn sure I apologized to her in front of everybody the following day. If I remember correctly, I did take French in junior high, but didn't for the latter years.
  Years later, I can say searching for female nudity on CBWFT during my youth cultivated an appreciation of French cinema**, even though I have to read the subtitles, which I don't really mind. It'd be cool to understand it a little more beyond the handful of words I know, though. Sometimes, I think it'd be dope to try and re-learn it, but I'm still trying to remember all of the Japanese stuff I've forgotten.
  
  
• Don't sleep on Winnipeg. There's a lot of good shit coming through before the end of the year, rap-wise. You already know mcenroe dropped a tight EP. You should also be aware that Yy's new full-length will be coming in December. And via the good folks at Marathon of Dope:
  
  
  • The Gumshoe Strut's Too Long In The Tooth will be available November 2nd. He had a release show on the 15th of this month, compete with physical copies of the EP, and I can tell you that it's very good. It's about being broke down and ragged, so I can totally relate. For the moment, check out this dope video he shot for "On The Move". Man, I love that beat!
  • Birdapres' got some raw shit for ya. This sounds serious, y'all. Of course, I'd expect nothing else from Bird. I'm stoked!
  • John Smith's collab with producer Murdock, It's True Because It Rhymes, is finally seeing the light of day. I've been bugging both of them for so long about this album's release date, that the interlude I appeared on ended up being a cruel joke, so it got dropped.*** All of that doesn't matter, because people need to hear this shit. For the moment, read homie's bio and stay tuned.
  
  That's a tidy, jam-packed list that'll keep tongues wagging throughout 2011. Don't front.
   
• Covered/Repaneled. Covered: Classic/not-so-classic comic covers re-imagined. Repaneled: Same concept as Covered, except individual panels get the treatment. Both rule very hard.

*I won't link to them, because I'm classy. And, uh...I can't remember where I saw them.
**Playtime is one of my favorite films. There's no nudity in it.

The Briscoes vs. Sterling Keenan & Jason Blade

I just listened to a great interview with Jay Briscoe, the elder Briscoe Brother, so I was inspired to post a match of theirs. This was probably the first Briscoe match I had seen in entirety, and was happy I did, because they're fun to watch. I think you'll agree.
Jay is older than Mark, but it's kinda hard to tell 'em apart at first. Look a little closer, and you'll see that Jay has more teeth.

Off the Wagon

Here comes trouble.

My wife and I were offered two months of free cable by the good folks at Shaw – no strings. We said, "sure." As I had mentioned in a previous post, I kicked TV out of my life three years ago, or at least TV in my own home.

Now it's back. And I'm somewhat uneasy. I shouldn't be. I mean, I'm able to exhibit a certain amount of self-control...for the past three or so weeks, I've quit energy drinks and excessive snacking. So far, so good. Procrastination, however, has quite a hold on me and I'd hate for TV to be an additional agent of distraction.

Even though I'm chained to the internet, I've gotten way more done over the past little bit without TV around, and I aim to keep it that way. Personally, I'm sticking to three things TV-wise:

1. Wrestling. Well, duh. Thanks to Figure Four Weekly, I realized I missed all of the good shit WWE was doing via RAW in 2005, and I often cursed myself for cutting my TV service. Time to play catch-up and see how horrible some of these newer folks on the roster are. Hell, I'm even going to watch the continuity-challenged TNA! I'm that committed to "the sport".
2. Food Network. Utopian TV. Unless Ramsay is yelling at some hapless fucker, or Jamie is reaching out to troubled youth via cuisine, there's nothing wrong in the Food Network universe. Famine, war, racism – non-existent. Who needs drugs with type of action? Plus, any excuse to watch Nigella cook is a good one.
3. Discovery Channel. Mythbusters (Oh, Kari...), Daily Planet, and Cash Cab. 'Nuff said.

Time to dust off the VCR (shut up).

Random Thoughts: October 5th, 2009 – Wedding Anniversary Edition

Taken in the RRC Downtown Campus Atrium, October 4th, 2008.
Photo by the superawesometerrific luckygirl.ca.

• October 4th, 2008: I married the love of my life on this day, and I'm still the happiest man on earth. I seriously couldn't have found a better lady to spend my life with. I'd like to give a shout-out to all of our family and friends that shared that our wonderful day (and kick-ass weather). Our slightly-delayed thank you cards are comin'!
• TV-less existence: Over three years ago, I canceled the television portion of my cable service. Truthfully, I'm surprised I didn't write anything substantial about that at the time – believe me, I searched – as it was a hard decision to make, as I was the dude that put TV above everything growing up.
  I was obsessed. I made myself a new Saturday morning viewing schedule every Fall. Remember when the major networks aired specials to announce the new cartoon series? I'd be right there, glued to the screen. And as a wrestling fan, there was a glut of programming available for me, and I watched it all; UWF, WWF, AWA, Stampede, etc. Hell, I even watched Memphis and WCW stuff via scrambled signal, as there was no way Mom was gonna shell the bucks out for more channels.
  Fast forward to September of 2006. TV was boring me, and I was broke. So, I gave it some thought...and gave Shaw a call. The day after, I listened to the first day of the Ring Cycle on CBC and never looked back. Actually, that's a lie...if I'm watching TV, it's at Sarah's parents, or if we're away (like Japan, eh?). I do kind of miss it, really. However, I get a lot more done now, even though the internet has taken up the distraction slack. Curse you, Google Reader. And Twitter. And other web-based distractions.
  
• Overhaul. Some changes need to come to this here blog. Mainly cosmetic. I've been experimenting, so we'll see what happens.
• Technological Update: Yes, I haven't posted any Japan photos, but I will...as soon as I get my iMac repaired (audible sigh). Things have been acting up, so I'm taking it to my man Brian at Powerland for a look-see. On the flipside, I recently purchased a 2 TB Western Digital MyBook for essential back-ups. Peace of mind means me putting up pictures soon. We'll see what develops. In the meantime, here's something I did manage to upload: the logo for UWSA's Freestyle III.

I loved doing this. The kids involved in the program were terrific. Shout-out to Ted Turner and Pip Skid for getting me involved. Here's the non-dated color and grayscale versions.

R.I.P. Mitsuharu Misawa

Photo by Adam Etheridge.

This is devastating. What can be said, really? He was one of the greatest. I bought an All-Japan match comp on tape from RF Video several years ago, and it had a number of his epic matches with Toshiaki Kawada and Kenta Kobashi. Watching one of those was like listening to jazz: often a slow burn with some amazing highs and lows. Pro wrestling in Japan will never be the same after this.

Journalizing Japan: Vancouver Layover

• Managed to kill an hour of our over 4-hour layover by eating and wandering. Thanks, Pizza Hut.
• Sarah is off stretching her legs and buying something from Starbucks.
• Watched The Wrestler during the flight over here. Air Canada tried their best to keep me from enjoying it by cutting out most of the violence and all of Marisa Tomei's nudity. Despite that, I thought it was great. The spot planning scene with Necro Butcher was hilarious.
• Nap time.

Some wrestling vids. For the hell of it.

The late Bruiser Brody talks about the evolution of a wrestler.


Abdullah the Butcher (Canada's own!) displays the famous scars.


Owen Hart vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger


Muta vs. Hase (the infamous "Muta Scale" match. Much blood.)


New Japan wrestlers tear down a house.

R.I.P. Chris Benoit...

...and Nancy & Daniel.



Well, if you were to ask me how I thought Chris Benoit was gonna go out, "double murder-suicide" wouldn't have been on my list, goddammit.

I've been watching Chris do his thing for over 20 years. Although it was Hogan that made me a fan, Chris and the late Owen Hart made me appreciate skill and agility.

I, like a number of you, wonder what drove Chris to do such a thing. It truly doesn't add up. Of course, there's really no logical equation, either.

This has been a dark couple of weeks, as we also lost Sherri Martel and Benoit's one-time tag partner Shane "Biff Wellington" Bower.

My heart goes out to the rest of the Benoit family during this tragic time.

Scott Keith has somewhat summed up my feelings, although they fluctuate by the minute.

Y'all take care of each other, okay?