Free cinematic treats, anyone?

Studio 35

A Christmas Story
Dec. 22 & 23 Movie Starts at 4:00 & 6:45
Dec. 25 through 28 Movie Starts at 6:00

Bad Santa
Dec. 22 & 23 Movie Starts at 11:30
Dec. 25 through 28 Movie Starts at 10:45

Anyone interested? I could do it more or less any night with some advance planning.

Please, please, don't everybody comment at once

This blog is on its last legs.

So is my holiday movie marathon. Seems like there's no interest in it, and Dave has to work, so I don't even have a place to host it now. BAD WEEK.


That's me. A sad puppy.

360 degrees... or posts

I'm in beautiful, crisp Charleston, West Virginia this weekend, visiting family friends and my old pal Ben's wife Amy as she throws a housewarming bash for her new crib. There is a palpable positivity in the air coming off Rich Rodriguez's decision to stay put as head football coach of WVU, and after losing to SOUTH FLORIDA, that's exactly what the program needs.

Speaking of football programs, tune into ESPN tonight to see THE Ohio State University's own Troy Smith crowned the winner of this year's Heisman Trophy. And also to see the dejected look on that traitor Brady Quinn's mug. Fuckin' Dublin.

So, it looks like Monday Night RAW is the winner of the New Wrestling Night Sweepstakes, clocking an impressive THREE VOTES OUT OF THREE. Oh yes. It was one Hell of a battle. January 8th, it all begins again. It's too bad January 1st is... you know, a holiday and stuff, because that night, John Cena is fighting... KEVIN FEDERLINE. Yeah. That Kevin Federline. Anyway, even though we're officially starting on the 8th, I'll definitely be watching that episode as it occurs, so feel free.

Dave and I are co-hosting a wacky Christmas themed movie marathon next Saturday, the 16th. It's pretty low key. Just six films, three horror, three otherwise. Contact me for details if you're interested.

I'll be back in Columbus on Sunday, so get a grip on yourselves until then.

Wrestling Night

You know what I miss? Watching RAW with everybody every Monday night. That was a fun era, stretching from late 1997 pretty much into mid-2003, and I've been thinking lately that I'd like to resuscitate it for 2007 if there's any interest in such a thing.

There are four primetime wrestling shows on TV nowadays. If you have any desire to join me on a wrestling night renaissance, leave a comment about your preference. I'll run them down quickly.

WWE Monday Night RAW (Mondays, 9:00 pm-11:05 pm) - The venerable warhorse, the standard bearer. Featured stars include John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton.

ECW (Tuesdays, 10:00 pm - 11:00 pm) - Take everything you remember about ECW and throw it out the window, though it's actually a pretty well booked show, going at a logical, methodical pace. Top stars include Rob Van Dam, Sabu, The Big Show, CM Punk, and Bobby Lashley.

TNA Impact (Thursdays, 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm) - TNA's finally got primetime, and it's sort of a mess of a show at the moment, but hopefully it'll settle down. Main stars include Kurt Angle, Christian, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels.

WWE Friday Night Smackdown! (Fridays, 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm) - The best wrestling in WWE tends to end up on this show, mainly based on Vince McMahon not paying much attention to it. Top stars include Batista, King Booker, Finlay, The Undertaker, and Kane.

So, if you want to restore the sense of community~!, cast your vote!

But You're Not All Stars of Commenting

Nope, you mostly suck at that.

Anyway, I was watching "Taking the Stone" again last night, and while last time it merely didn't annoy me as much as usual, this time around I actively enjoyed it. Weird. Regardless, it was pretty good, and Farscape is the best science fiction show ever. "I would be remiss in not bringing to light the undeniable charm of Red Dwarf!" Fuck you, Brain Damage/Jet Set Radio guy. Fuck you in the ear.

How are other nerds feeling about HBO doing the Preacher series? In my mind, serializing it is really the only way to do it justice. As for fantasy casting, who ya got? I'm thinking Bill Nighy as the Saint of Killers. Nathan Fillion has to eat. He could make a Hell of a Jesse Custer. He's well versed in genre stuff, too. I don't know. I'm excited about this. The only possible damper is the involvement of the guy who wrote and directed Daredevil is writing the pilot script. HOWEVER, I actually like the director's cut of that film, so there ya go.

Regardless, good news, son!

You're All Stars!

Thanks to everyone who showed up on Saturday night to make MOVIE NIGHT a success. We watched a bunch of films, had a great time, and it was generally good night.

I want to make a mention to Lucas that on ESPN.com this morning (it's gone now), the headline above a picture of a moment from the Baltimore Ravens shutting out the Pittsburgh Steelers was "That's So Raven-ous" Oh yes.

Almost literally nothing to say

I've melded this wacky blog with Google. This is the second post of the new era, and I don't notice a single difference. What a waste.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, but is ready to ROCK on Saturday night. And by ROCK I mean of course, watch movies.

Sci-fi is doing a six hour Wizard of Oz miniseries. Fuck a Sci-fi.

Bits and Pieces

What happened to video game graphics being measured in bits? When I was growing up, that was the kind of thing we knew. Nintendo had 8 bit graphics. Genesis had 16 bit graphics. Then there was the 32x add on. It told you right in the name! Ditto the Nintendo 64. These were important matters. Do they even have bits anymore? Or is it more complex than that now? These are the kind of matters that weigh heavily on my mind once we're out of an election cycle.

I LOVE Indy Wrestling

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9P9qgbT1YwY&mode=related&search=

I've never seen anything quite this wacky. EVER. Please watch it. Even if you hate wrestling. You'll be better for it.

Prepare Your Excuses Now!

Saturday, November 25th. Movie night. My crib. Horror stuff. You know the drill. 8 pm (or thereabouts)-??? Come for as few or as many movies as you'd like. I reckon I'll just start playing them and keep it up until I run out, or people are all gone, whichever comes first. I'll probably actually figure out some kind of film list a little later in the week. Until then, I'd like people to come.

One Year to the Day

It was on this day in 2005, a Sunday, that Eddy Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room. I posted something on the blog two days later that his wife, Vickie wrote. In response to it I said,

"I miss Eddy Guerrero. But to read this, it really puts it into perspective. This isn't just my television hero that's gone away. It's a husband, and a father, a brother, an uncle, and a friend to many. I'll get used to him not being on Smackdown eventually. I don't think his family will get used to him not being home, though."

Little did I know what the next year would turn into, as Eddy's name and memory were prostituted at every opportunity to make money, at diminishing returns as it turned off many fans. I hung in longer than I should have, I admit, and it wasn't until Vickie Guerrero herself became a villain in the twisted play that I gave up on WWE for the time being.

I find myself ready to begin watching their programming full time again in the near future, but this day has given me pause. Have I honored Eddy this year by patronizing the company that exploited he and his family for personal gain? Would it be a slap in the face to my favorite wrestler to absolve WWE of their past sins and go about business at usual? It's something consider. I take professional wrestling more seriously than most, but I can also separate fantasy from reality. Eddy Guerrero is dead, and that's very real. And the fact that I know casual fans who asked me months after the fact if he was really gone tells me that WWE are the ones who can't separate the truth from fiction.

Eddy Guerrero isn't coming back. I can't change that, so does it matter one way or another if I don't watch? The only thing I can think of is that if I'm unitiated, maybe at least I won't feel like an enabler the next time something like this happens.

-Andy

I Hate Pro Wrestling For Making Me Think Like This

I was just thinking about Joe Lieberman's "Independent status", and realized that it would be a great strategic move for him to show up in Washington in January, and right before casting his first vote on something, he rips off his suit jacket to reveal a Bush/Cheney '04 campaign t-shirt, hit Chafee with a chair for being weak willed, and then caucus with the Republicans for his entire term.

Joe did say that we should call him a Democrat today, but it could be just to throw us off the scent. Damn you, pro wrestling.

Better Off Playin' With Yourself

About fifteen minutes ago I was leaving class and there was this dude beboppin' around, listening to his headphones with a Walkman hooked up to it. We were both walking in the same general direction, so I asked him, completely kidding, "Is that that new K-Fed hotness?" He didn't hear me, so he removed his headphones and said, "What?" I said, "Are you listening to Playing With Fire?" And he fuckin' WAS. I didn't know how to respond to this. I was ill prepared. So I just said, "Sucks to be him after the whole Britney thing." Ol' dude seemed to think K-Fed was going to be okay, though. So I guess that's good.

Anyway, slice o' life.

Hate Hate Hate

I need a phone to PC connector dealy bob, so you can all see the awesome photo montage of Dave at Campus Traditions on CHAMPION'S Lane Avenue, buying his favorite new Ohio State hat. I'm guessing I could just E-mail them from the phone to my Gmail account, but that sounds suspiciously like something that would cost money.

I hope everyone is planning to go out and vote tomorrow. I know one or two readers of this blog have specifically told me they weren't going to, and I urge them to reconsider. Your responsibility isn't a once every four years deal, like the Olympics. In fact, on a local level, you have just as much of an opportunity to effect change in a mid-term election.

Kenneth Blackwell is a scary black man, apparently, so he has no hope in Hell of besting Strickland. Feel free to cast your vote for Bill Peirce in the gubernatorial race.

Ric Flair and Roddy Piper won the WWE Tag Team Titles last night. That's right. I said "WWE" and "last night". Not "NWA" and "1978". They didn't win them then, but I would have thought it more likely. Gotta love the youth movement in New York. You go, you young bucks!

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip returns to NBC's lineup tonight after a hiatus in which Friday Night Lights was tried out in the timeslot. I urge everyone to give this show a chance, as it's on its last legs, and could use the support. 10 pm, NBC. You know, after Heroes, that show that people actually watch.

Don't you hate it when people borrow your Dawn of the Dead DVD and then have their phone disconnected? It's very, very disconcerting.

Anyway... until next time, GO VOTE. And also continue not watching WWE programming. Or TNA, for that matter. Come to think of it, wrestling is stupid.

Happy November!

OUTLANDER!!!! I HAVE YOUR WOMAN, OUTLANDER!

-Hi, folks. This is Andy Napier, comin' to you straight from the computer lab, rip rip rippin' it up while I wait for the bus to holla on by. But while I'm here, I'll catch you up.

-HMM IX was a fantastic success, as I stayed awake through seven of the eight films. Funky D took home the title of Most Imroved Marathoner, although I think he had that title in mind all along when he purposefully and maliciously fell asleep during Halloween 4 last year.

Jason fell asleep somewhere along the way and there was much jubilation. Especially from Ashley.

-Ohio State put a mollywhoppin' on Minnesota the next day, running up their record to 9-0, and bringing near the culmination of my WAGER~! with Davekwon. For those that don't know, at the beginning of the season, Dave and I made a bet over Ohio State's upcoming season. Should the Buckeyes win 10 games, Dave will have to wear an Ohio State baseball cap starting right then, going through the entirety of the off-season. Should Ohio State fail to win 10 games, I will have to wear a Michigan baseball cap for the same period of time. Ohio State has four contests left, including whatever bowl game they end up at. This means that they would have to lose all four of these upcoming games. So yes, Davekwon is a GREAT FOOL.

-The KOV + 1-1 went to see Pleeaseasaur (sp?) last night at Carabar, and he, as you may recall from THIS BLOG, rules. There were a couple of no-goodniks in the crowd from the band slated to play next that were upset about it getting late and his set not ending, but FUCK THOSE FUCKERS. That's right, The Hills Have Eyes. You are shitty. And I hate you. If DOUG~! ever found out such a horrendously shitty band was using this movie's name, he would DOUG~! up on you, no-selling all of your awful riffs and lyrics, then kill you with the power of SHOTGUNS.

On a positive tip, Dave and I went back to my place and stayed up until 6:30 this morning watching the live Ghost Hunters six hour investigation of that Shining hotel. CM Punk was a special guest, and he cracked wise all night long. It was fantastic. They didn't experience too much paranormal phenomena, but it was still fine programming, even if I did fall asleep at about six different points. Needless to say, I slept a very long time, pretty much right up until I had to leave for Italian class.

-So, this was a good blog, right? I'm going to try to get back to three or four times a week, but it's sometimes hard thinking of things to talk about. I'll TRY HARDER.

-Peace, Connecticut!

HMM IX

I don't know why Andrew asked me to write up hype for this thing, since everyone who's going to go is already going. Anyway, Dave has a Halloween Movie Marathon every year (this being the ninth straight), where we all watch every Halloween movie from start to finish (even III, though that's more an excuse for a Balderdash break). It will be a grand ol' time. Happy, Patton? Happy? HAPPY?

DeBarge.

A posthumous request

I've decided that when I die, if I'm still keeping this blog reasonably up to date, someone who knows me for realz should probably make a comment on the last entry to let people who don't know me for realz that I am in fact deceased. Thanks a lot. That is all.

Game Day

It's a Saturday in October, and that means the Buckeyes are getting ready to whoop up on somebody. In 1998, a then Number One ranked Ohio State squad was bewildered by a fourth quarter Spartan comeback, spoiling our chances at a national championship. This year we face a similar situation, except we're actually on Michigan State's turf this time. Jim Tressel is better at coaching up his squad for the big games than John Cooper ever was, so I have a lot of confidence that this won't mark the '06 squad's downfall. If I write a drunken, pissed off entry this evening, you'll know that my confidence was misplaced.

Tonight is the UFC ppv, and I believe that I'm going with Keith and April. Anyone else care to watch men hit one another at 10 pm? Middleweight title in the main event, with Rich "Ace" Franklin and Anderson "Spider" Silva. Should be raaaaaaaaad.

The KOV+1-1 (me, Davekwon, and Funky D) saw The Grudge 2 last night, and unlike the wretched Ring 2, this lived up to its predecessor. Saras Michelle Gellar's role isn't as big as I would have liked, but Amber Tamblyn picks up the slack just fine. I won't get into specifics because Keith will have a stroke if he reads a spoiler, but suffice to say, this was a perfectly fine horror movie. I love October.

Anyway, until next time, you... that's right, you there, have been blogged.

***********UPDATE*************
So, Ohio State rolled to an easy 38-7 victory.

Also, I'm not going to UFC because COTA hates me. Wack.

Lazy Wednesday (Oh Christ a Samberg pun)

I'm sitting here at the library (that'd be the learnin' one, not the drinkin' one), and I have an Italian class in two hours and fifty minutes. I should probably give myself a thirty minute cushion to get over to the building and get settled in and all, which makes it two hours and twenty minutes. Plus I have a little bit of last minute homework to get to, and that'll take twenty minutes or so. All right, I have two hours to sit here and bullshit. How long can I talk about nothing? I ask you! Let's find out!

Grudge 2 is still a 'go' as far as I'm concerned, though I have confirmation from only one other person. I'm very disappointed by this response. Part of it is my fault, as I was supposed to get a copy of Grudge-Gu to Keith and April on Saturday and utterly failed, so that's their excuse. The rest of you, two days away. Come on now. I saw Sarah Michelle Gellar on Live with Regis and Kelly this morning, and holy cow is she ever unengaging and vapid whilst doing the press gauntlet. I had planned on taping her Conan appearance tonight, but I may have to reconsider. I love her on Buffy and especially in The Grudge, but god damn, a bubble was burst.

Television is back, in case you didn't know. I'm watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Class as far as new stuff goes. I'm trying to get into Ugly Betty and Help Me Help You, but they may be lost causes. Speaking of, I'm about three weeks behind on Bones, which breaks my heart as I love David Boreanaz and Emily DeSchanel, and it's not that the shows aren't engaging (eventually), but it really takes a good fifteen or twenty minutes for it to hook me, and I struggle. On the positive tip, Masterpiece Theater's presentation of Casanova is flippin' awesome so far. Part 1 should be replaying throughout this week, and Part 2 debuts on Sunday night, also with replays throughout the week of the 15th.

This is sort of the same topic, but I feel like it deserves its own paragraph, so that's what we'll do. Flavor of Love 2 is gearing up for its second season finale, and I am heartbroken. I have a feeling that this is the end for the Flavor Flav branded entertainment monolith that began a few years back on The Surreal Life, continued on into Strange Love, and finally morphed into the world's greatest dating show, Flavor of Love. Last season, the Jezebel HOOPS (or Hoopz, I don't remember), was the victor, beating out the world's greatest heel, New York. Hoopz turned out to be in it for the FAME, and left Flav after achieving a modeling contract or something. But this year, we're down to the final two, and it's Deelishis (or D.A.G. as Andrew likes to call her, for her resemblance to comedic actor David Allen Grier) up against the villainous New York, who returned mid-season in a shocking turn of events right out of a telenovela... or RAW. The problem with this is, neither of them are drop dead gorgeous enough to be a model, and they both seem to actually care about Flav (New York obsessively so), so I see either of these potential relationships lasting long enough to at least forestall production of a third season. This is very sad. VH1 has got to figure out something to feature Flav in if he actually finds true love here. If I don't have Flavor of Love, I ain't got no love at all.

You know what I listened to last night after getting home from the Ultimate Fighting dealy? Purple, by Stone Temple Pilots. I hadn't ever listened to any of their albums intently, and you know what? I'm never going to again. Fuck that album. It has that song from The Crow on it, and after I heard that I had a little flicker of recognition, but by that point I had been killed dead by Pretty Penny a couple tracks back, and there was no hope. I did it for you, Patton. And it was wack. I'm sure I'll get some rap about how Core and Tiny Music bookend this one shitty album, but I'm not buyin' into that hoodwink. I now know the REAL truth about STP. I haven't felt so enlightened since the most recent Chick Tract dropped. Come to think of it...

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1032/1032_01.asp?wpc=1032_01.asp&wpp=a

Oh yes. It's season appropriate, too. This is what happens when you celebrate Halloween, evil ones!

Okay, I killed forty-five minutes. That's not bad. I might just go ahead and get that homework out of the way right now. Peace, Connecticut.

"I just love these cocktail weiners!"

I had a dream that I was pregnant, and my gym wasn't going to let me work out anymore because of it. This has nothing to do with anything, but it was total bullshit.

Do You Have a Grudge?

This is Kayako. And she's motherfucking coming for you!

Next Friday, October 13th, the greatest cinematic event of the year takes place as The Grudge 2 opens in a theater near you. For those who may not remember, The Grudge, or Grudge-Gu as it's become affectionately known in some circles, is a 2004 horror film about a cursed house. It was based on a much more confusing Japanese movie called Ju-On: The Curse. Davekwon and I watched the original, and indeed, we were not floored. The Grudge is however, near the top of both of our respective favorite horror movies lists. Just below Dawn of the Dead for me, just below Halloween for young David. This is lofty company to be in, I assure you.


An artist's rendering of a scene from The Grudge. The actual photograph would be far too terrifying to display here.

So basically... ante up, cool kids. Who's in?

It's all nuts!

I'm sittin' here at my computer, and Funky D is about a foot to my left, slumped over onto a table, arms crossed, and head resting atop them. He is sleeping. I am listening to De La Soul and Mos Def's remix of Stakes is High, and it's fantastic.

We went to Adriatico's for some dinner at about 9, and that was great, as we chatted and half-watched Celebrity Duets on the TV there. I thought Alfonso Riberio had gotten really fat, but it turns out that we were just watching on a widescreen TV while the show wasn't shot in that format, so he was all stretched out. It's kind of the opposite of my DVD of Friday. Everybody looks super skinny because it's in wack ass full-screen. So much hate. Uh oh. Dirt Off Your Shoulder just came on, and somewhere, Adam is freaking out and partying.

Anyway, we went to Carabar tonight to see the Lindsay's CD release show. They're sane so they chose to play second, and they were done by 1:30. Oh yes. It was a long night. Psychedelic Horseshit opened and they are very average. I love Rolo, but his band isn't super. Mors Ontologica played last, supposedly. We didn't see them. After the Lindsay ripped shit and Andrew politicked his way into a free CD, we dropped by Dick's Den for a carry-out 12 pack of Black Label, and returned to the crib for Teen Girl Squad and Youtube music videos. Now, he's unconscious as I type this. Suffice it to say that I'm also drunk, but not diabetic, thus not out cold. WOOOOOOOOOOO! TI just came on, so I'm gonna party and freak out, much like Adam. POICE!

EDIT: Before I forget, I want to mention that we watched the videos for both New Edition's Mr. Telephone Man AND Europe's Final Countdown. This is significant because many months ago Funky D and I watched an episode of We Are the '80s on VH1 Classic featuring both of these fantastic videos, and felt the need to recreate this. I believe we were actually drinking Black Label that time as well, so it's come full circle. Five star night, to be sure.

Idealistically Depleted

I was watching some commercial today and some old song (can't remember what it was now, but that's not important) is playing and I like this song, so I'm kind of jammin' along. It was probably a jeans ad or somebody trying to sell me a Mac. At any rate, I have this moment of realization, like "OMGZ they're using this beautiful piece of music to sell a product that's not the album it first appeared on!" So I sat there with that thought in my head for a couple of seconds, rolled it around, and realized something: fuck that noise. If artists want to license their music to make some extra dough, why should I care one bit? How does it affect me, or for that matter, 99% of the people who complain about such things? We all need to stop being such little bitches about this. At the end of the day, music is an industry.

That is all.

No death for me

I guess I should make this public. Most people know, but I'm sure there are a few who are still expecting me to go out and pummel a man on Friday. Or, conversely, be humiliated. Anyway, the basic story is that nobody has talked to Jay (the fight promoter) in about two weeks, and the last person I talked to said that he never had a license to run the show and was trying to do it completely under the radar, but then someone from the state athletic commission found out, and now he's disappeared. So from what I've been told, the show is off, or at the very least rescheduled. I guess I'll know more if/when he resurfaces, but the fact that he VANISHED isn't very encouraging.

Some of you, like Franz and Cody, are probably very happy that I'm not going to be competing. I AM SAD. Not super-sad, but a little bit melancholy. I wasn't trying to make a career out of this or anything. I just wanted to have one fight. Hopefully I can still do it at some point. My sister has suggested that I go to the Fairfield County Fairgrounds and sign up for one of those shows. She seems to be incapable of grasping the whole spirit of my fighting adventure: I was going to fight because I was guaranteed an opponent who was a complete geek like me who had no idea what he was doing. I would be HUMBLED by fair folk, of this I am sure.

Friday the 15th

Zach Braff's new movie opens next Friday, and as I love him dearly, I'm planning on checking it out opening night. Sadly, it is not Dr. Acula, but it looks pretty interesting anyway.


Alas. Maybe someday.

Anyway, it's called The Last Kiss. It's written by Paul Haggis, who of course wrote both of the previous two Best Picture Academy Award winners, Crash, and Million Dollar Baby. So I have high hopes for this. Anyway, anybody interested?


I am so morose. Please come see my movie. So I can make Dr. Acula.

LotR Haiku

Arwen, one hot elf
Want to grab her pointy ears
And bust both nuts. YEAH~!

January Seems So Far Away

HOLY GOD DAMN FUCKING SHIT.

TRIPLE THREAT

Holy shit My Super Ex-Girlfriend (6:00), Clerks II (7:50), and Strangers With Candy (9:50) are all at Studio 35 this week. I'M GOIN'. Who's in? WHO'S IN?

The Future, Nappy?

I'm going to spend the next couple of days at Amy's house in Thurston.


Positively smashing idea, lovey.

Thankfully for you gentle readers, there's not much to do down there when the nieces and nephews are tranquilized, and Amy recently made the jump to the year 1999 (landscape seen below) by getting the mysterious and wonderful CABLE INTERNET. So more than likely I'll end up doing a blog entry tomorrow evening. I might even finish up Adjunct of the Dead if you're good. See, now you're intrigued.


All right, who went back in time and stepped on a bug? I won't be mad. Just own up.

UFC 62

Adjunct of the Dead recap/analysis is on its way, but right now I just wanted to clear something up. So far, three people have dipped out of UFC for this Saturday. Is ANYONE going to go with me, or am I heading to Out-R-Inn all by my lonely?

One For Daymon

The King of Columbus

I was in bed last night, fitfully trying to fall asleep. I looked at the clock every so often. Three am, four-thirty, five. My stomach was churning slightly all night long, and I kept forgetting, or maybe blocking out, what was bothering me. But every time I would look at that clock and think to myself, "Why on Earth can't I fall asleep?" it would come rushing back: Daymon is gone.


Daymon with the product of his obsession

Daymon is a fellow CAHS graduate, but I didn't know him in high school. Several years older and not exactly traveling in the same social circles, it was a while before we crossed paths. I remember the first time I ever saw Daymon, though. At least, the first time I can recall. I was with Andrew at some hip hop show or another, and I saw this huge black man seated in a wheelchair. If you've ever seen Daymon, he's not easy to forget.


This picture is... indescribable. Actually, it's not. It's Daymon with a black luchadore. There, I described it.

The first few times I saw Daymon, over what seemed like three or four months, he was always in that wheelchair, to the point where I just assumed he was crippled. I was actually shocked the first time I saw him standing on his own. He was always someone who amused me from afar, though. Even though Andrew knew some of the people Daymon ran around with, he wasn't tight with them, so I was even further from that.


Rockin' the 'stache phenomenally.

It all kind of came together just in the past few months. Daymon and Andrew began hanging out a lot, and that benefited me because a lot of the time where Andrew goes, there go I. So I got to spend time with Daymon. And today I feel so blessed that I was able to get to know him a little bit before he left us. Daymon knew so many people, was friends with so many people, it must have been overwhelming to fit it all in. We weren't really close. I won't front on that. But we were friends, and Daymon always had a kind word and a handshake for me whenever I saw him. I can't ask for much more.


An artist's rendering of a five-star man.

It's really staggering when you think of what Columbus is losing in Daymon. A music fan, a DJ, a movie goer, a mascot for the local rock scene. Daymon seemed to be at all the shows, sometimes as if he was bi-locating. He just loved being there for live music. I talked to him about this one time a couple of months ago. I wondered aloud if he went to as many shows as Andrew does. I think the answer is yes, but he didn't touch on it. Instead, he just said something to the effect of, "Shit can happen anywhere, and I like to be there when it does." Forgive me if it's not an exact quote, but that's certainly the gist. And it may be the best way I can sum Daymon up, as well.


Celebrity.

If I could live my life half as happily as Daymon seemed to and have half the fun that he packed into his short time here, I'll consider that a life well spent. Death is never easy to cope with, especially the death of those so young. All you can do is promise yourself that you'll live your own life a little better.

That Fucking Pussy

My sure to be rocksome mixed martial arts career may not be getting started on September 22nd after all. Due to "non-specific injries", JOE MMA has pulled out of the fight.


Joe MMA, in his natural setting.

A replacement opponent is being searched for, hopefully another geek and not someone with forty fights under his belt. Or as Andrew fearfully suggested, Randy Couture.


"Your skull makes my knuckles a little sore, Andy."

I'm at the point where I've lost about fifteen pounds, am starting to notice definition I haven't seen in years, and just generally want to fight a man, so if this ends up not happening in September, I'm going to make it take place somehow. I'll pick a fight with a bum. I don't give a fuck! Basically, I've come too far to walk away and never have a fight. So that's what I'm going to do.

Fuck Joe MMA. I knew he was a bitch.

AD JUNK... OF THE DEAD

Thrill to three modern horror classics... THRILL I SAY!



"They're not zombies!" screamed Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, A Life Less Ordinary) from every rooftop he could find. And I guess technically they're not, but only insomuch as the villagers in Resident Evil 4 weren't zombies. The infected people in the movie may still be alive, but they just don't give a fuck!



Linnea Quigley gets completely nude. COMPLETELY. Full frontal. The girl right below this text. Only picture her twenty years younger. And there's zombies, too. What more does one need?



Finally, there's the most fantastic Dawn of the Dead 2K4.



I actually did a big blog entry about this when it came out, which you can find right about... meah, but it's another fast movin' zombie opus, this time with God damn Ving Rhames.

PLUS PROBABLY OTHER STUFF. I'm going to eat MAD CARBS, TOO. It's gonna be the fuckin' bomb.

My Solemn Vow

I became aware of the results of the Smackdown! tapings from last night and to say I am feeling trepidation about watching the show on Friday is an understatement. Chavo Guerrero Jr. is now feuding with Rey Mysterio Jr. This is fine. I think it's sort of a waste to turn Chavo heel since he's the last remaining Guerrero and probably could have gotten over huge if pushed correctly, but whatever, it's just a wrestling angle. However, they decided to bring Vickie Guerrero (Eddy's widow, for those not aware) into the proceedings and piss away all my good will.

I will not watch Smackdown! this week just because dragging this poor woman out onto TV to participate in a fake wrestling storyline is in very poor taste. Further, and this is the big one, if she turns heel on Rey Mysterio at any point, I'm through with WWE for at least the rest of this year. I love professional wrestling. I enjoy the WWE product, by and large. So this would indeed be a personal sacrifice of IMMEASURABLE DEPTH.

Oh well, I've still got TNA.




Aw Christ. I'm boned.

Eyes on the Prize

This was a fairly nothing week, as I stuck to my diet (I've cut out carbs completely), had a boxing session (it's coming together a little bit), and wrote about twenty pages of a new screenplay. My brain doesn't function very well without sugar, I've learned, so by the time September 22nd rolls around, I may just be a grunting, 183 pound caveman. That could actually work greatly to my advantage, though.

Let's hit some upcoming events. Next Friday is WAR/Average White Band at the fairgrounds, the Friday following that, August 11th, is Adunct of the Dead night, and Saturday the 26th is UFC 62 at Out-R-Inn with Chuck Liddell defending his Light Heavyweight Championship against Babalu, and a rematch of the first Ultimate Fighter finals, with Forrest Griffin versus Stephan Bonnar. Those are my big plans for August.

That's all I got for today. Just felt like I needed to keep the blog chugging along.

Miles To Go Before I Cave His Head In

It's been over a week now. Jogging every morning at 8:30 (I turned off my alarm this morning, I'm sad to say. Didn't get out intil 9:45), only one boxing session so far (I am NOT a boxer, some of you may be stunned to learn), but most of all, I'm done five pounds and well on my way to my target of 183. My original plan was just to cut out sugar and starches all together for the next two months, but I already know that plan is doomed to failure. So I decided to go with a weekly cheat day plan. For instance, on Tuesday I drank three beers and had some Taco Bell for dinner. I figure this kind of gameplan will keep me sane.

Anyway... good stuff... lets see, I went to See No Evil on Tuesday night with Davekwon, Funky D, and Ashley. That was the second time I'd seen it and it held up quite well. Unlike The Hills Have Eyes, apparently. Dave and I watched this the other night and good lord was the remake a huge improvement. I don't know if it was ever any good, but it certainly isn't upon a first viewing in the year 2006. Fuck a Wes Craven.

Beyond that, Adjunct of the Dead Night is the next goal in sight, and the next scheduled cheat day. I envision lots of bad food and alcohol. My my, it will be glorious.


FEAR ME, BLARG

Crashing

I haven't had sugar in almost four days, and I hate everyone. That is all.

Ultimate Fighting Nappyonship

So... wacky news. I'm going to be in a fight on September 22nd. And no, I'm not going to go to a bar and just pick one. I'm going into a ring instead.

A friend of mine who used to promote wrestling in Columbus and then moved away to Chicago for a while, is back in town with the idea to promote MMA shows. He asked me if I wanted to do it on the undercard of his first show.

And I said yes.

Now, I've told five people up till this point. The first three responses were all negative, and I was doubting it, but thankfully, Davekwon and Ad-Rock (just trying it out, Adam) think it's an awesome idea. There's been talk of promotional t-shirts!

Now, before any of y'all get scairt for my safety and such, my opponent is some dork (apologies if he's reading this) right out of high school with no fighting or athletic background to speak of. I actually broached this subject with Cody earlier on (he was one of the non-supporters).

Andy: He just started watching The Ultimate Fighter this year and I guess he's Joe MMA all of a sudden.

Cody: HIS NAME IS JOE MMA? Dude, he sounds awesome. Just call it off already.

I love Cody.

My promoter friend has pledged to work with me on boxing, and Adam is going to help me with takedown defense and improving my sprawl, and I've just go to be disciplined and get into the best shape of my life.

As I told Adam, I'm actually looking more forward to the training than the fight itself. I haven't had a reason to be in shape in years, and now I have a real goal and such.

This is not going to become a full time gig for me or anything. It's just something I want to try, so I'm going to.

Expect updates on how training and such is going over the next nine weeks or so, right up until the fight itself. I'm pretty excited. I think it's going to be a blast.


Hopefully me in two months. On the top, not the bottom. God willing.

You Will Believe A Man Can Fly

Go see Superman Returns right god damn now.

I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but if you paid attention to the first line of this entry, that wouldn't be a concern.

I went with the 'rents to check it out this morning, and sweet Christ on a crutch, what an awesome movie. I wouldn't put it quite on the level of Batman Begins, but definitely my favorite comic movie of the year thus far, way above X3 and V For Vendetta. And I don't even LIKE Superman. I think he's boring on account of him being way too powerful with far too few weaknesses. Bryan Singer and company totally overcame this, though. Halloween party boy was really god damn great as SuperClark, and Spacey was the most entertaining I've seen him in ages, clearly having a blast with the Luthor role. The usage of the Brando dialogue was really well done, too. Weaved in perfectly.



Anyway, I can't say enough good things about this movie. Just get out and see it, pronto. If you can, hit an IMAX and see the 3-D version. Absolutely mindblowing.

N-O-T-O-R-I-O, U-S You Just, Lay Down, Slow

I think it's about time for an update.

Last night, under the heaven'ly cover of ear'ly evening, I rode my trusty bicycle to Studio 35, where a fine double bill of Thank You For Smoking, and The Notorious Bettie Page were featured. Having seen Thank You For Smoking previously, this time I was really able to focus on how miscast Katie Holmes was as the scheming reporter, and how it really brought down an otherwise classic satire.

Bettie Page however, was something I had no real expectations of going in. It wasn't a great movie by any means. I might not even go so far as to call it good. But it was fascinating.


Gretchen Mol in the role

Prior to seeing the film, I really knew next to nothing of Bettie Page, only being aware of her through calendar reproductions and such, and now I feel like I have some sort of appreciation to how big she really was in her time. It was also helpful of Gretchen Mol to take her top off several times. I feel I got to know the character much better that way.


Bettie for realsies

Andrew and I opened a dialogue yesterday about going to see Puffy AmiYumi when they hit Cincinnati on Friday, July 14th. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. Any outside interest from the blog nation?


Wild Girls On The Circuit

Hit me back, just to chat, your biggest fan, sincerely yours, this is... Napz.

Vengeance Is Mine

RAW's Vengeance pay per view is coming up tomorrow. I'll be hosting, so I thought it might be nice to do a preview of sorts to fill in those attending on just what they'll be seeing. The undercard is actually fairly deep on this show, but there are a couple of throwaway matches. Such as...

Umaga versus Eugene!



The retard has been doomed since summer of 2004, and they're pushing Samoa Jim pretty hard right now. Umaga has been a lot of fun to watch lately, but mostly because he's been throwing around 160 pound jobbers. I don't expect much out of this one.

Kane versus... IMPOSTOR KANE~!

Oh yes, you read that correctly. Believe it or not, this was a feud that was originally planned to extend all the way to Wrestlemania, but then someone actually saw it in action and they're going ot blow it off after three weeks instead. Thank God.


An easy ***** encounter.


And here begins the good stuff.

Intercontinental Championship: Shelton Benjamin (c) versus Carlito versus Johnny Nitro



This should be alright. Shelton is really miscast as a heel, because his strength is his ridiculous athleticism which lends itself more to babyface highspots, but I'm sure this will just be more or less a spotfest anyway, so it'll work out for him.



Ol' Tough Enough III John should be able to keep up in the athleticism department, and he and Melina have one of the finest wrestling entrances ever, so that's good.



As for Carlito... well, he can't really do much of anything. He throws shitty punches and does wacky springboards for no reason. Still, it's going to be a spotfest, so I'm sure the other two will force him to up the ante a little bit.

Best of Three Falls: Ric Flair versus Mick Foley



This match is apparently based on Foley being a shitty technical wrestler and wanting to prove something to Ric Flair. It's one of those worked shoot deals that always drew so much money for Vince Russo and WCW. That said, I think Foley really is paranoid about how Flair regards him as a worker, and he'll be motivated to tear the house down.



Flair would never sandbag a match, so he'll keep up his end. I hope they do a long one. I hate 2/3 matches where they race through the first two falls and then do an extended third fall. It just shits all over the stipulation.

Sabu versus John Cena



People on the writing team and in management who want the ECW project to fail keep on putting Sabu out there on live TV and having him do crazy shit, hoping like Hell that he'll blow a spot. Well, he hasn't yet, and it's just getting him over.



These two had an expectation exceeding match at the WWE/ECW supershow in Dayton, and on pay per view, I have every reason to believe that they'll do even better.

Randy Orton versus Kurt Angle



Ever since Randy got suspended, he's been working harder than anyone in the company to make himself indispensable. He was on the cusp of being downsized, and he knows it. He's one of the top 10 workers in the company right now, and his opponent is no slouch either.



Kurt had a bit of an adjustment period in January when he started working a safer, less bump heavy style, and his matches suffered for a little while. Fortunately, he's a mutant, so he adapted very quickly and is pretty much back to his old self. He's even using a much more amateur-influenced style, with half nelson takeovers and constant double leg shoots. These two had a good match at the Hammerstein Ballroom before a tough crowd. They should steal the show in front of a bunch of North Carolinians who grew up on Flair and Steamboat.

WWE Championship: Rob Van Dam (c) versus Edge



If you haven't been watching or paying attention to wrestling lately, it may shock you that Rob Van Dam did in fact finally win the WWE Championship. It will however, NOT shock you that the title immediately became the secondary issue of the very first ppv he defends on. No matter, because Rob has looked more fired up and motivated than he has since he was first squashed by Hunter almost four years ago.



And lucky for him, he's in there with the guy who may just be the finest heel of this generation. Much edgier (no pun intended) than Hunter, and with more varied offense than Orton, Edge is THE man right now, and may his second reign be longer lived than his first.

MAIN EVENT: Degeneration X versus THE SPIRIT SQUAD~!

If you had told me a year ago that a RAW ppv would be headlined by two forty year old teenagers against five cheerleaders I would have said, "Yeah, that sounds about right."


They're no Dudes With Attitudes. Shawn needs to lay off his wife's tanktops, too.


I was just starting to watch wrestling again when DX first formed, back in the fall of 1997. Triple H was in his late 20s, Shawn Michaels in his mid early 30s, and it was SO GAY. But they were awesome. I was a huge Shawn Michaels fan at that point. In fact, at my 15th birthday party, I was so excited by a Shawn Michaels victory over the Undertaker that I did crotch chops until I bruised my pelvis. Lee and Dave were there. They know. But it's 2006. Shawn is a 40 year old born again Christian, and Hunter has spent so much time on the gas that he resembles an unfrozen caveman more than a Greenwich Blueblood. It doesn't matter. These men are still damn entertaining in these roles, and will probably continue to be for a few more weeks at least. It is, after all, a nostalgia act. Even Keith will tire of it at some point. Cody has already had it, and he's as gay for Shawn as anyone I know.

Their opponents...



Do I really need to sell anybody on the Spirit Squad? REALLY!? Okay, if you haven't seen them, or aren't really familiar with them... they're EVIL cheerleaders. They cheat a lot, and they dance when things go well for them. They are FANTASTIC. It's the five of them versus just the two DX members, so look for wacky team up spots.

I am VERY excited, and I haven't been excited about many ppvs lately.

Anyhow, 8 o'clock, be there or be square.

VENGEANCE IS MINE~!

Fake Hippie Weekend

I've got a ton of writing to get done this weekend (specifically on Saturday) so that gives me a good reason to skip out on ComFest once more this year. In truth, I'd probably find a million other reasons to not go, regardless of my writing schedule. It just isn't my thing.

Anybody got anything fun and non-ComFesty going on this weekend? My money would be on the negative, since Andrew is the most prolific poster and he enjoys that nonsense, as do most of the rest of the in-staters who post. God bless Cody.

The Ultimate

Michael Bisping is my new dad. The night before he absolutely molly-whopped Ross Pointon in the light heavyweight semifinals on The Ultimate Fighter, he totally quoted The Princess Bride; "Goodnight, Ross. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." My new dad is the MOTHERFUCKING DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS, Y'ALL! The fact that he's British helps this theory along as well. I hope he gets me some Micronauts for Christmas.


Michael Bisping: five-star man and my brand new daddy.


There will be NO survivors!


If this dork thinks he's standing between me and my Micronauts, my dad has a flying knee for him.

Dead Wrestling Companies and Other Huzzahs

Don't forget; give the new ECW show a shot tonight at 10 on the Sci-Fi Channel. Could be good, could be shitty, but with Paul Heyman's pacing, it won't be boring.

Hey, Kool Aid! OH YEAH!

Season One of Coach is out today, and holy shit are me and Davekwon gonna watch the Hell outta some of that. FINE show, FINE show.

Gonna Dress You Up in My Blog

That may be the first Madonna pun I've ever made. I guess we can ask Andrew. I imagine he has some manner of internal statistics about all the puns ever made in the history of speech.

So... what's doin'?

Spring quarter is over (it felt longer than usual), RAW was dumb last night, Jonathan disappeared for hours, and... dear God, nothing is going on in my life. You just got the highlights.

I caught up with The Walking Dead over the past few weeks... so that's something. Still a decent series, but honestly, if it weren't about zombies, there's no way I would have lasted beyond the first paperback.


I hope Keith doesn't read this entry. He'll probably complain about having zombies spoiled for him.

I still need to watch the Sting: Moment of Truth DVD. Like, soon. I feel like the Jesus is leading me to it.



When I become born again (and it will happen; it happens to everyone), I just hope that I'm as cool as Sting. Or at least I hope to have his facepaint.

Rob Zombie is writing and directing the new Halloween movie. That should be... something.

I need a new life.