This is such a weird thing

I'm only logging in to make sure I have a record of this in an easy to find place, but today, at this moment, I feel no dizziness. I can't explain it. I had a test yesterday that involved electrical current being run through the right side of my body. That's the only thing I can think of that I've done differently the past few days. Anyway, it feels good. I want to remember this moment forever.

Leave the Memories Alone

I'm pretty sure that Facebook has killed what was left of my blog. It's sad, but kind of an inevitability I suppose. Maybe one last picture party when I get back from the Cleve. Also, pseudo-Draw is War revival?



Perhaps the most adorable thing ever.

The Day Has Come

I caved and joined Facebook. I half hate it and am half intrigued by it. I don't know what this means for the blog yet. I may see if I can just use Facebook to streamline the whole process. I do love my blog though. We shall see.

I hope it's not Chris's blood

I can watch horrible action movies anytime. Almost literally. Netflix Instant makes it quite possible. To a lesser degree, I can watch horrible zombie movies almost anytime. There are fewer of them in general, so it makes it a little harder to find ones I haven't seen. Point is, the Resident Evil series wraps both categories up in a tidy little bow. I mention this because I'm watching the fourth film, Afterlife, as I type this. Sucks. That's about as succinctly as I can put it. Not a lot of zombies so far either. Granted, I'm nineteen minutes in, so we'll see. But not a promising start.

This should cover your drink, Nikki! See you NEVER!

I'm not sure if this will be funny without the context, but here is my favorite moment from my favorite show right now, WWE NXT Season 4!



Watching episode 10 right now. Gonna wrap it up this week! GOOOOOOO BATEMAN!

Short Takes

I've been in Mason since Sunday, staying with Jenny, and while it's been fun, it doesn't really lend itself to big blog entry fodder. But there are a couple of things worth mentioning that I've been getting into.

E3! I love E3. And this year did not disappoint. Wii U looks pretty awesome, Playstation Vita specs are pretty mindblowing, new Assassin's Creed game looks like every other Assassin's Creed game but I will buy it because I love the series. Let's see, what else? Microsoft isn't going next-gen until 2013, and Sony even longer, giving Nintendo a big leg up. With actual third-party support this time in addition to Link and Mario, it looks pretty promising for them.

Tough Enough finale sucked, RAW sucked. Moving on.

I watched Morning Glory, starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, and Diane Keaton. LOVVVVVED IT.

Heading out to see Woody Allen's newest, Midnight in Paris, tomorrow. I haven't seen one of his movies since Small Time Crooks eleven years ago, and I'm really looking forward to this one.

UFC 131 is Saturday, and for the record, I'm predicting that Junior dos Santos will be too elusive for Shane Carwin to hit the big shot he needs to put it away, and once Carwin tires, JDS will tag him at will with big shots and TKO him in the second round.

That's all from Mason, see you in Columbus!

What a jerk

I just got an E-mail from my Wii. It told me that I watched Netflix for 5 hours and 31 minutes yesterday. I really don't want my consoles to quantify how little of a life I have. Be a pal, Wii.

I almost forgot - SCI FI NERDERY!

In all the Randy Savage/Nunchukless Wii/Smackdown rebranding craziness of the past couple weeks, I've neglected to talk at all about my experiences at the world famous 28th Annual Ohio 24 Hour Science Fiction Marathon!

This was the ninth such marathon for me and my good buddy Jason Sharp, and we've decided that we're going to try to go every year from now on. Nine marathons between 1995 and 2011 sounds pretty good, but think of all the great geek opportunities we've missed out on. Friend of the Blog Megan joined us this year and she's already gearing up for 2012.

As the first six hours or so of the marathon took place in the lead up to THE RAPTURE, we were treated so a great series of End of the World movie trailers to get everyone in the spirit. I don't want to go film by film or anything, because my memory is already starting to fade, but here are some highlights.



OH MY GODZ. Bollywood Sci-Fi, replete with fantastic costumes and big production numbers! This was actually the first Indian cinema I've ever seen, to my knowledge, and I was unprepared for how frequently English was spoken. Jason pointed out that it was very disorienting to read the English translation of Tamil at the bottom of the screen, only for an English sentence to be uttered as your brain readjusted. Fantastic movie though, and I think Franz is planning on getting ahold of this for a movie night in the near future.



It was my second time watching this, but my first on a big screen. It made all the difference in the world, truly. I came away disappointing from the first viewing, having heard so much about the movie for so many years. Redemption, thy name is Perfect Tommy!



The film I was actually most looking forward to going in, this documentary was a late addition to the lineup. I was worried I'd built it up too much in my head, but it actually delivered in spades (save for the abysmal closing song montage). They used a courtroom setting with actors to give the doc a narrative structure but this was wholly unnecessary and just ended up distracting. That aside, a very entertaining movie with lots of great interviews and perspectives on a man whose career has left many shaking their heads over the past fifteen years.



I was trying to sleep through this, but I think it was actually too stupid for my brain to not pay attention to it. Like it needed to be witnessed somehow. Abhorrent faux documentary about a time travelling moon colony. Yep.

They can't all be winners, but I've never had anything less than a great time at the marathon, and hopefully I can convince someone else to take the journey next year.

PEACE!

New So We Were Told

This sort of ties into the the last entry (which inspired an avalanche of feedback, obviously), as Jason and I discuss the plans for the WWE video game series. Aside from that, LISTS. Yes. Check it out here

Smackdown versus RAW is dead, and from its ashes rises... WWE' 12!!!!!!

This was the earth shattering announcement THQ had been teasing for their long in the tooth series. Color me underwhelmed. There's a hands on preview linked below that lists some big changes in the engine. Sounds promising, but I feel like we've been promised that it's a whole new game for years now, only for it to fall well short every time.

I actually bought SvR 2011 and it's really just another coat of paint slapped on a shoddy product.

I read somebody's post on the Figure Four message board, summing up the IWC's attitude about any new wrestling game that comes out. He said: "Why don't they just use the AKI engine. It's not as good as Fire Pro or KOC II. They've all sucked since Here Comes The Pain. I'll just keep playing WWF No Mercy.

AKA, Every wrestling video games thread on the internet."

It's funny because it's true. Most discussions about wrestling video games do boil down to that on the Internet, but it's because these people are right. 

The No Mercy example is perfect. Never have I seen such resistance to popular opinion. AKI built this beautiful engine that instead of refining and bringing into the next generation, everyone is running away from it. I actually heard an interview with the SvR 2011 programmers last year where they buried No Mercy as being "good for its time" but not up to par now, while their new game was the best ever. And now here we are, seven months later and THQ is scrapping the whole thing in favor of starting from scratch. Telling.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this? Time for a change? Happy with the series as it's been? Not giving up on the prospect of No Mercy for Xbox Live Arcade? Tell me about it!



Actually, realistically, I don't think anyone who reads this plays many wrestling games. Amanda and Lucas have both played SvR 2009 and Fire Pro Returns as far as I know. Megan has played only SVR 2011, and Lee may not have played anything since WWF Raw for the Super Nintendo. Pretty sure Kehn played WWF RAW for XBox with me a couple of times back in 2002. Keith has kept up to 2008. I think Franz's last wrestling game foray would be Fire Pro Wrestling D back in 2001. So yeah, sorry if I forgot anybody, blog nation, but basically, this is an entry for me to cry about wanting my wrestling game youth back!

E3 2011: WWE '12 Rises

For those of you have(n't) been wondering...

So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio is not dead. My co-host went out of town to Alabama, where there is no Internet or telephones. So we had to take a brief hiatus. We'll be recording the next episode tomorrow afternoon and it will be available at the official site shortly after. I hope we didn't stall out our no momentum!

Chucked

I am buying Megan's Nintendo Wii entertainment gaming console from her. I had toyed with the idea of purchasing a Roku, which retail for $59.99 and are really remarkable little streaming media devices. Megan mentioned that she was thinking of trading her Wii to Gamestop. We talked price, settled on $75 bucks and I figured that for just a few dollars more than I was planning to play, I was not only getting a Netflix streamer but also a full fledged console and an opportunity catch up on all of the big first party Nintendo releases of the past five years. A very easy decision to make.

I've yet to pay her, but Megan showed a lot of confidence in me by bringing me the console all the same. I now have it set up in my bedroom and actually, as I type this, I'm watching an episode of one-season sitcom Out of Practice. It's pleasant and features The Fonz in a supporting role. He's incredibly short.

Anyway, I was out at Gamestop this afternoon and for pretty much the first time ever, in the Wii section. This was quite an experience. First off, every game is about ten dollars cheaper than comparable 360 and PS3 titles. Also, it had been so long since I actually got to consider buying a game starring Mario that I had forgotten how much I love him. I added a lot of Mario games to my mental checklist but actually went with No More Heroes for $12.99. I remembered reading and hearing just loads of good things about this game several years back and now I finally had the opportunity to play it for myself. I got it home, popped in the disc... ejected the disc and turned it around the correct way, popped it in again, and prepared myself for a swashbuckling good time.

CONNECT NUNCHUK CONTROLLER.

Yes. Something that I had overlooked/forgotten existed when setting up my little white box, is that many games require the Nunchuk gimmick.



I, in fact, do not have one. Round one to you, Wii.

Sporcle Returns to the Blog! Get Ready, Amanda!

http://www.sporcle.com/games/RoaringElbow/100WWEchamps

I used to post Sporcle quizzes fairly often, and just had to bring it back for the bragging purposes. 103 of 103! HELLS TO THE YEAH!

The Cult of Madness (If you can get through this, God bless you)

When I was six years old, I hated Randy Savage.

I didn't know what wrestling was until that year, and most of what I knew was from the covers of VHS boxes labeled Hulkamania at my local grocery store down in lovely Thurston, Ohio. I didn't know about the Wrestlemania IV championship tournament that Randy had won, or the Mega Powers tag team, or even how much he adored the lovely Miss Elizabeth. I knew that there was this guy, who had crazy eyes and a gravelly voice, who did not like my hero, Hulk Hogan. UNACCEPTABLE.



Looking back, at that age, I'm not sure if I would have been comfortable with Randy Savage even if he had been a babyface at the time. Hulk Hogan was/is a cartoon character, but he can speak like a human being when he wants to, and can choose to not have his eyes bugged out of his skull like he's on Stupid Human Tricks.

Add to that, after the Mega Powers exploded and the Hulkster vanquished the Macho Man at Wrestlemania V, he started wearing a crown and hooked up with the scariest rebound girl imaginable in Sensational Queen Sherri. A power couple to be sure, but one that I was very wary of.



We never had the option of cable living out in the country, so when my family moved to Columbus in the summer of 1990, my wrestling fandom was really able to flourish. No longer forced to wait for and rely on videotapes for my fix, I was now tuning into the USA Network each and every week to watch WWF Superstars of Wrestling. And every now and then, when I could sneak past my bedtime, Monday night's flagship, Primetime Wrestling. Most of my VHS rentals had been very Hogan-centric, so while I saw other wrestlers and characters, they were generally on the periphery. And if they were featured, it meant they were Hogan opponents who were quickly dispatched of. My exposure to Randy Savage had largely fallen into that latter category.

So here I was, seeing all of these new wrestlers I'd never seen before, realizing that I'd really been missing out. I still loved the Hulkster, but there was so much more. The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, The Texas Tornado, The Ultimate Warrior, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, pretty much anybody who was a good guy. I began to love them all, began buying their action figures, and Wrestling Buddies, and begging my parents to let me watch them on these mysterious "pay per view" events that Gene Okerlund was always telling me about.


I still have this figure. The good guys had to have somebody to vanquish, after all.


So I still hated Randy Savage. I may have been subconsciously entertained by him, because I do remember being much more interested in his feud with The Ultimate Warrior than I was with Hulk Hogan's feud against Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter at Wrestlemania VII. I recall being desperate to learn the results of the show the next day at school (lol pre-web) and being blatantly LIED TO. I spent almost a week believing that somebody named Ric Flair had shown up and beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF title after he had wrested it from Slaughter. So while this person was a liar, they did in fact predict both Ric Flair's coming to the WWF later on in the year, and the Wrestlemania IX finish with Yokozuna in the Ric Flair role. Regardless, the career match between Warrior and Savage was what I cared about most, and this person had been honest about that one. I don't remember my initial reaction to hearing that Randy Savage was forced to retire, but it was probably, "GOOD. I HATE HIM." What I didn't hear about, and wouldn't see for a few weeks on TV (WWF notoriously gave almost nothing away after pay per views until they had drained the well on pay per view replay buys) was that after Savage lost, his Queen attacked him brutally with shoes and he was rescued by his former paramour, Miss Elizabeth.



This was, by far, the most exciting thing that had ever happened in wrestling as far as I was concerned. I immediately loved Randy Savage, and was heartbroken that he would NEVER WRESTLE AGAIN. He took his place as a talking head on the aforementioned Primetime Wrestling and was a tremendous foil for Bobby Heenan, but he never stopped seeming like a wrestler. So I suppose in retrospect, it was not at all surprising when he came back from retirement after his wedding reception was CRASHED by Jake Roberts and The Undertaker, the scariest man ever on earth. I don't want to do play by play on the man's career, but the point is, I was thrilled to finally see him in action as a good guy and someone I felt comfortable rooting for.

Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage left the WWF in 1993 and 1994 respectively, and so did I. I don't think it ever occurred to me to follow them to WCW and watch their exploits there. I wasn't comfortable with the idea of WCW. It seemed subversive somehow. Like any wrestling that happened outside of the WWF was illegitimate. So I just stopped watching wrestling after Wrestlemania X, and didn't really give it any thought until August of 1997, when my cousin Lee asked if he and his roommate, Franz, could watch Monday Night RAW at my house. This moment is pretty much responsible for my personality as it is today. Thanks, Lee!

Anyway, the Monday Night Wars thing between WWF and WCW was going on, so we would flip to WCW Monday Nitro on the commercial breaks of RAW. And lo and behold, all of these guys I remembered from a few years ago were now over THERE. Hulk Hogan, Mr. Perfect, Ric Flair, Razor Ramon, Roddy Piper, and yes, Randy "Macho Man" Savage. I don't know exactly what it was that happened at this point, but I was riveted by him. I was doing all of my wrestling watching with a couple of sarcastic malcontents in their early 20s, so the heel/face divide no longer existed. It was okay to cheer for bad guys and I LOVED Randy Savage. It was around this time that I began really seriously studying the history of wrestling and ordering videotapes. All Japan Pro Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and yes, a lot of older World Wrestling Federation content. I was inundated with and intoxicated by pro wrestling, and the more I reached back to the past, the more I fell in love with Randy Savage.

I've not seen much of Savage pre-WWF, but apparently he was hell on wheels and I'm really going to work on seeing more of that period soon. But if you watch Randy Savage, especially from about 1985-1991, and you also watch the matches that surround his matches, you really start to see how special he was.This guy was literally years ahead of his time in terms of high flying and the pacing of his matches. He never stopped moving, and it stands out in such stark contrast from the rest of the largely lumbering WWF style of the era. Not to mention his promo work, which I was pretty much aware of just from seeing his stuff in 1997 and also remembering from when I was younger. It's still worth noting, because you cant watch a bunch of Randy Savage promos from 1986 and then a bunch of CM Punk promos from 2011 and not feel like you're getting a greatly inferior product today. Nothing against the guy, he's just in a bad environment for fostering creativity, and even if he wasn't, he's no Randy Savage.

I don't really know what I wanted this entry to be when I started it. It's feeling very fractured, and I think that's because I'm still processing Randy's death. He was absolutely my favorite wrestler in the world for a while there in 1997 and 1998, well past his prime but still captivating to watch. He's gone and it really sucks. I knew that he was a famous guy, and one of the bigger stars ever in wrestling, but until the news stories started trickling in, I didn't realize just how big a deal he was. The place I noticed it the most was actually from the Twitter feeds of UFC fighters, many mourning his passing. You had a few, like Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson, who are both essentially pro wrestling characters anyway, that you would expect to be saddened by his passing. But then BJ Penn of all people completely blew my mind when he wrote that Savage was his inspiration to become a fighter.

As of this writing, a story on his death, by Bill Simmons, is the front page featured article on ESPN.com. Four days after his death. He was a cultural icon, and I think that most of us had kind of forgotten about him until he was gone.

I think I'm going to pop in the Savage DVD set that WWE released a couple of years ago later tonight and enjoy the master at work.



I'll be back, probably tomorrow afternoon, with a recap of the Science Fiction Marathon. There are definitely some choice films in that mix that I want to write about.

Until then, keep living life on the edge of a lightning bolt! DIG IT!

Rapture Averted

Thanks to our inside man.



Dig it, brother.

More to come, both on the marathon and on my love of Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

One Step Beyond

I can't wrap my head around the Randy Savage thing yet. I tried to write about it yesterday afternoon and no words came out. There WILL be talk of this, just not today.

In fact, I probably won't get to do much reflecting at all until Sunday, as I'm heading out in less than half an hour with Jason (Sharp, not Dull, er, Spencer), for the 28th Annual Ohio 24 Hour Science Fiction Marathon! I used to say that aside from e-fedding, the Marathon was the geekiest thing I did. I don't e-fed anymore, so... WE HAVE A WINNER!



Maybe Buckaroo Banzai will win me over on the glorious big screen, Lucas. I hope so.

I'm also going to try to stop thinking about how Megan has L.A. Noire and it's apparently amazing. Don't need to spend sixty bucks on a game right now, or ever, really. But SO TEMPTED.

What else? Jenny got her CPA certification notice! Very big news for her as she's worked her tail off over the past nine months for it.

Rock on the Range is happening in my backyard this weekend, which I wasn't aware of until they started doing sound checks yesterday. Never a better time to be across town in Bexley!

Okay, now I really have to run. I wish I could bow out of this more gracefully, but I'm just crunched for time. OH! Here's a cartoon!

House Business!

As you've probably noticed if you're reading this, there are a couple of new features here on the ol' Blog That Wouldn't Die.... For one, I added a gadget to let you follow me via e-mail. Hopefully people will use this because I know that a lot of former readers/commenters have gotten out of the habit of checking this space on a regular basis. I'm hoping that it sparks comments, which are truly the ego boosts that fuel the fire of this here blog.

Also new is a feature called "Popular Posts". I think it's based on page views, but regardless, a neat window to the past seven years of blogging.

I had thought about going with a completely different template and color scheme but I actually still quite like the look of things.

I also found out that I've had more page views from iOS than Linux. Ha! Suck it, Linux!

What do you think?

Alienating my readership, such as it is

I watched Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's DDT4 2011 tonight. IT WAS AWESOME. Steen and Tozawa 4-EVA. They totes rocked this tournament. They have to be the greatest Canadian and Japanese combination of all time. I can't even think of any others. Wait. Maybe I can. Wolverine and Mariko Yoshida. Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka? Whatever. Dudes were robbed by the hated Young Bucks/Generation Me. My absolute favorite act in pro wrestling right now has to be The Kings of Wrestling, though. If WWE had a clue about anything here in May of 2011, Hero and Castagnoli would be on RAW with a major push. That disappointment aside, I highly recommend this show! Briscoes are also in it! THE BRISCOES!

On a sadder note, my awesome phone is broken. I loved it so much. Not as much as I loved my Dreamcast, but probably more than Zack loved Tori the biker chick. So I had to switch service to my first cell phone. The one without a keyboard. I actually really liked this phone when I had it initially. It took crappy pictures and I had a bunch of ringtones on it, from Shaq to Europe. But after nearly seventeen months of the awesome Samsung Intensity, it's been hard going back. No wonder I had texting turned off for years. It's so difficult! My upgrade isn't due until September, and I don't know if I can handle this for another four months. I'm going to walk into my nearest Verizon store on Thursday before work and see if there's anything that can be done. Long story short, if you text me and I either don't reply or do so tersely, don't take it personally. I'm just at war with 2006 Andy.

The Six Pack

I tried to blog yesterday. I was going to blog you SO HARD. But Blogger was down, in "read only" mode. So I'm here now, a day late and a dollar short, blogging you with far less gusto.

I didn't know that Columbus had become a sweltering jungle when I left my house yesterday. I headed off to work in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Should have turned back the second I walked out the door, lateness be damned. I think I sweat my body weight while sitting at work. Just a miserable shift, praying for a new Ice Age. That's actually when I discovered the Blogger outage. I had all kind of piping hot vitriol to spew and no forum. I even briefly considered venting my spleen on Google Buzz (lol) but quickly came to my senses. When I finally got out of there, I stopped by Habib's for a sixer of Bud Light and a bag of chips. The next part of my plan would require as much satly, drunken distraction as humanly possible.

You see, I'd resolved to watch TNA Impact on Spike TV. Somehow, on the newest episode of So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio I had gotten it into my head that I was going to give TNA a shot this week. I'm still not 100% certain as to why I came to this conclusion, but if I had to venture a guess, it would be because TNA has a habit of building to big shows every now and then. And not just big shows. GAME CHANGING SHOWS. It's not quite as hyperbolic as when Tony Schiavone used to declare every Nitro main event to be "the biggest main event in the history of wrestling!" but what can be? It's just that sometimes, the President of TNA, a lovely young woman named Dixie Carter (not that Dixie Carter, RIP) goes on Twitter and talks up an upcoming show as being something that will change TNA forever. Maybe I have an unresolved crush on Mrs. Carter. Maybe hope springs eternal. Maybe a third thing. I don't know, but it seems like I always get sucked into watching that week's Impact, and then despising myself afterwards. It's like a walk of shame from my TV room to my bedroom where I pray for the company's swift demise.

I've done this dance many times. And as I mentioned earlier, with chips and beer at the ready, I was prepared.

One hour and thirty-five minutes later (thanks a million, DVR!) and I had only killed two beers. If ever there is a barometer for how much a particular television program sucks, it's dead soldiers with their caps strewn all about the room. Two is pretty much right around where you'd expect for a ninety minute block of viewing, really. And for an episode of Impact, shockingly low. What had happened? Was the show... good?

LOL, no. It wasn't.

But it wasn't bad either. Impact managed to slide into that area of "good enough for government work" that often seems far too lofty a goal for them to reach or even aspire to. Will I watch again next week? Will I bother to illegally stream their pay per view on Sunday? So many questions. But the fact that I'm even asking them can only be taken as a positive for TNA as a whole.

In other news...

I drank the rest of my six pack watching no less than eight sitcoms. Hear, hear, Beer, beer.

Why? WHY NOT!?

Outage? More like OUTRAGE

Hi! As many of you are probably well aware, the Playstation Network has been pwn3d by 1337 haxorz. And then as Sony fumbled around trying to stop screwing the pooch, their website got hacked! Upshot? I haven't been able to watch Hulu Plus via the convenience of television for about two weeks! Nor download any demos, peruse the Playstation Store, play anything online, etc. The most recent news I'm reading is indicating that we may not have full service restored until the last of May. There is a limit to my sympathy for an entertainment giant whose products I support. Unless the Playstation 4 has a time machine packed in, I'm going elsewhere next generation.

EDIT: Also, on the newest episode (12) of So We Were Told, after a little current WWE talk, I take over the show and talk for about 90 minutes about the history of wrestling video games. If that sounds like something you'd like to hear, check it out!

Crying here!

I just watched Niagara (Part Two) on Netflix, and it's so emotional! Just as much as it was every other time I watched it. I love Netflix! I love The Office!

This Day

Once again, no plans for Cinco De Mayo as I am not a Mexican! I am a white guy!

Also I have to work.

Hasta.

UFC 129 thoughts, Extreme RULES, and Osama gets taken downtown to Chinatown

So, pretty boring night, huh?

Make sure to check out the Podcast section of So We Were Told for the two most recent editions of that show I co-host.

I won't give any spoilers because I know a couple of faithful blog readers are waiting to watch Extreme Rules a little later on, but I caught the show live and absolutely loved it. Much better top to bottom than Wrestlemania, and featured some real star-making performances. It's a shame that almost nobody bought it, coming the night after such a huge UFC show.

Speaking of, I went with Franz to catch said event, UFC 129: St-Pierre versus Shields at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Bethel Road, just a few storefronts down from Ashley's work. She joined us a couple of fights into the show, and Keith made it right before the destruction of Randy Couture.

Briefly, this was a fine show. And if you had asked me right after the fact, even considering a lackluster main event in Georges St-Pierre versus Jake Shields, I would have said there was no way WWE could top it the next night. Financially, they may do 1/10 the pay per view business. Artistically, Extreme Rules absolutely surpassed the Saturday show. Which is not to say anything particularly bad about UFC. WWE just happened to hit a home run.

Sorry, got side tracked by the current greatness of WWE that may well wash away by tomorrow night. UFC 129 had great atmosphere, a huge, raucous crowd, and some very memorable performances. The featherweight title fight between champ Jose Aldo Jr. and Ontarian challenger Mark Hominick, was an awesome war. Going in, I had only seen Hominick fight a couple of times and really gave him little chance to beat the seemingly nigh invulnerable Aldo. But he brought it for 25 minutes and actually, by the end of the fight was the much fresher and stronger of the two. He just ran out of time and lost a decision.

Lyoto Machida got back on track, scoring a second-round knockout of Randy Couture, ending the latter's amazing career hopefully once and for all. I'm a big fan of Lyoto. This is mostly down to me being an unapologetic Nipponophile when it comes to sports. He also won with a jumping front kick that he learned from STEVEN SEAGAL! I watched Steven being interviewed about it post-fight and it was pretty awesome. He spent half the interview answering a phone call from his wife and speaking Mandarin. Anyway, hopefully this puts Lyoto one big win away from a title shot. I don't think I would pick him over Jon Jones, but I do believe that stylistically he has the best chance of anyone in the division.

As for Georges, what can I say? He apparently couldn't see out of one eye, which does explain why Shields seemed to be a match for him standing in the later rounds. I'll let him off the hook here, maybe because I'm a big fan. But hey, even blind, he still went the distance with, and out-pointed, a very tough opponent. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Finally, OSAMA. Yup. Dude's dead. President Obama put a hit out and that shit got handled! That's how they do in the IL, ya heard!?

Yeah, seriously, not much to say about this. Good symbolic victory, I guess?

Anyway, until next time, check out the podcasts, leave a comment, and spike your hair.

EDIT: I just went to ESPN.com to check headlines, and their lead story is as follows: "Al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden is dead". Given the headline is coming from ESPN, it's very to take that in a sports context, like "Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente is dead". Now it's all I'm going to be able to think about.

Goodbye, Michael

I don't post about The Office much anymore, and it's not at the soaring heights of its second and third seasons, but I've still never missed an episode, and it was still hard to see Steve Carell leave the show last night.

Indeed.

PANDERING

So here are my thoughts on the 2011 WWE Draft (Lottery) as requested by Ontario's own Amanda.

On the RAW babyface side...

Teasing John Cena going to Smackdown, talking it up for nearly two hours, and then pulling it back at the last minute reeks of "Haha, you smart marks, that'll show you" booking. It doesn't make me angry, but it's a prime example of WWE focusing on stupid things that seem to be on the show to amuse themselves rather than to get someone over or sell a pay per view. I actually really would have liked to see Cena on Smackdown, interacting with a lot of new characters.

Rey Mysterio to RAW I actually really like, especially swapping him for Sin Cara. Rey as the number two babyface on the brand is a great spot for him considering his injuries, and if they want to do an occasional super-team with he and Cena I think that would be a lot of fun. One thing I was hoping for was, after he was "drafted", to have he and Sin Cara team up to take on Slater and Gabriel, or really any two heels. The masked men would do their big spots, win impressively, then IMMEDIATELY have Sin Cara drafted to Smackdown, which was the end result anyway. This way you tease a great new team and have people actually wanting to see them together, which you give them down the line. And Sin Cara on Smackdown, given that it's a taped show, just makes sense while he's still getting the hang of the size of the WWE ring and working with real ropes as opposed to cables.

Big Show is a lateral move, and he's allowed to be on both brands right now as half of the tag team champions.

Kofi over to RAW is tough, because he already wasn't getting pushed on Smackdown, where there's less depth. I don't know what he did or who doesn't like him, but he's woefully underutilized.

Chris Masters to RAW is meaningless.

JTG to RAW is meaningless.

Beth Phoenix seems to be coming over to RAW to set up whatever they're going to do with the incoming Kharma (Amazing/Awesome Kong), so they seem to at least have an idea behind it, which is a positive.

Kelly Kelly moving over is probably good for her, as she's very likable and seems to have star potential in some capacity.

On the RAW heel side...

Alberto Del Rio coming over is a big deal for him and possibly disastrous for The Miz, as he seems poised to take the top spot. He's just more impressive than The Miz in almost every way, and a big part of it is that I believe that he's a bad ass who can back up his talk. Miz is not very imposing, nor does he ever do anything particularly clever, and to be an effective heel, you kind of need at least one of the two. ADR versus Cena is a program I can actually get myself revved up to watch, whereas I'm begging for Cena versus Miz to end already.

Jack Swagger to RAW seems kind of pointless as he's mostly been utilized as Michael Cole's stooge and thus was often on RAW to begin with. Add to that, Cole commentates on both shows. Will we continue to see Swagger on both brands? If so, why move him in the first place?

Drew McIntyre's switch to RAW I see as the heel version of Kofi Kington. He wasn't doing all that well on Smackdown and RAW is a bigger league. He did have a budding romance story going with Kelly Kelly on the old brand, so perhaps they'll follow up on it here and give them both something to do. Probably not.

Tyler Reks to RAW. Didn't even know what brand he was on to begin with as he never appears on TV. Meaningless.

On the Smackdown babyface side...

Randy Orton joins the brand and is immediately in the top spot, something he really couldn't lay claim to while sharing a show with John Cena. Maybe this will light a fire under Randy as he's been killing me lately with his promos and his matches. It does immediately marginalize Christian, but hopefully it will just lead to him going heel and feuding with Orton on top.

I covered Sin Cara in the Rey paragraph above, but I'll reiterate that I think he can really flourish on this show.

Daniel Bryan moving over to Smackdown is, next to the Rey for Cara trade, my favorite move of this year's festivities. Smackdown is a lower pressure environment, and also features longer average matches. Daniel Bryan may actually get a chance to improve his lot and make something of himself on Friday nights. Here's hopin'.

Great Khali is generally only around part time anyway, and pretty much a non-factor at this point.

Yoshi Tatsu is sadly another one that is probably meaningless, but he's very underrated by WWE.

Natalya making the switch might be good for her, but it's hard to say. They seemed to be pushing her fairly well on RAW last year before suddenly giving up.

Tamina moves, nobody cares, her romance with Santino appears to be over. Boo hoo.

And finally, on the Smackdown heel side...

Sheamus moves over as the United States champion in a bit of a surprise, if only because it puts both secondary titles on the same brand. Maybe they'll unify them into one belt soon, though Sheamus versus Wade Barrett would be an odd feud indeed. Generally, I think Sheamus will do well if only because Smackdown really needs good heels and he can be, and has been, a top guy before.

Mark Henry comes to Smackdown on the heels (no pun intended) of a turn Monday night. I like Mark Henry as a heel, actually. I think he can be very effective in that role, but he's been around since1996, and never really gotten over at a high level. I just think he's too associated with being a midcard act to really break through as a main event guy now. Though I'm sure they'll give it a try for a few weeks.

Alex Riley has been moved over, separated from The Miz, his safety net. They'll probably try something with him short-term, it won't work, and he'll be wrestling prelims until being sent back down to developmental for seasoning.

Ted DiBiase, non-factor. He's been buried for months.

Tyson Kidd, ditto that for him. At least Ted's usually on TV.

William Regal being drafted I was surprised by, just because I don't think he actually wrestles anymore, even on Superstars. He's the color commentator for the NXT program. Now, him being drafted may mean someone saw him on an official roster list and just decided to move him, or it could be that someone came up with an idea for him on Smackdown. I'm badly hoping it's the latter as I think there's still plenty of life in Regal as a useful, contributing member of the roster.

Jimmy and Jey Uso: WWE doesn't care about tag teams. They are a tag team. May not be a bright future for them.

And finally, Alicia Fox comes over on the Diva side. Probably better, Smackdown is thin on heel women, especially with LayCool splitting up and one of them presumably coming out on the wrong side of a Loser Leaves Smackdown match at Extreme Rules.

PHEW. There it is, my analysis of every roster member moving around Monday and Tuesday in the 2011 WWE Draft. I hope that's what you were looking for, Amanda.

And for Paul... I'm very sorry, but I just couldn't find a good beauty shot of Mr. Perfect in Wrestlefest. Or in any video game, sadly. This is the best I can do today, my friend.

Limbo King

Awake at 2:52, reading back issues of RetroGamer in pdf format. Can I go any lower?

EDIT: Still at it at 4:30. What is wrong with me? It's a British magazine, and the constant use of the word "Megadrive" is off-putting. I swear to God, not a single mention of "Genesis" in any of the 16 issues I've gone through.

Happy Birthday, Jenny! And other matters

I want to send Blog That Wouldn't Die, etc etc wishes to my girlfriend Jenny, who won't ever read this! She turns 26 today, and has just adopted a six week old puppy.

This is Rory, I think. Jenny's got a list of BBC-inspired names she's sorting through. A fine birthday present to herself, to be sure!

I haven't given a Reds update since they began their season on a record-shattering pace. They have since... regressed, shall we say? They sit at 11-11 as I type. I guess they want to give all of the other teams a chance. They're very sporting.

I'm on my fifth season of Road to the Show in MLB '10. 2 American League MVP Awards and one trip to the World Series later... I can't wait until I"m an unrestricted free agent and can get the heck out of Anaheim. I wish there was a feature where the hometown fan would boo you once you've made it clear that you hate your team and them.

The RAW Draft show is tonight. Which actually hasn't been a draft since 2002. It was sped up to tonight on about one week's notice, originally scheduled for June. So it's had pretty much no promotion, and comes along one week before a pay per view that's going to die from disinterest. Yet... it's a gimmick that appeals to me, so I'll watch very intently starting in about twenty minutes.

I'm buying a Wii from Megan. She's selling me hers for $75, which I figure is about fifteen more than I'd pay for a Roku to do pretty much the same thing AND it plays games. Hard to pass up at that price. Thanks, Megan! You are a pal!

Peace out from Washington Beach, playas!

A Road Trip Proposal

I'm very much wanting to go see Chikara in Lakewood, Ohio on Sunday, June 26th. Anybody have any interest in that? No lineup posted yet or anything, but tickets are 20 bucks. It's an afternoon show so we could get back to Columbus that night without much trouble.

Also, new episode of So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio is up at the corresponding website, link located to your left. We talk about the hottest guys in WWE. And lucha libre. And Angry Birds. And Zack Ryder. It's good times as usual!

Playing catch up

I thought about writing an entry yesterday titled "Raw is Poor" but found that I couldn't even muster the enthusiasm to bury the show. It was pretty bad though.

Nothing much going on in real life. I'm caring for my grandmother this week, so little excitement to be had here on North 4th Street.

I did secure a Jeff Fernengel original painting for Jenny's 26th birthday. She doesn't read my blog so I can give away here that it's a panda and a penguin being friends. Cutest thing ever.

Jason and I are recording another So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio tonight, covering the news of the week as well as Megan's WWE Hot List. Pretty excited about this new feature, as it may effectively out either Jason, myself, or both of us!

Close, Colonel, but no cigar

I picked up MLB 10: The Show this afternoon, badly jonesing for some video baseball action. I had the PS2 version of MLB 08 before being Christ-like in giving away my console to someone who needed it more than I, and it was high time I dove into the next generation of baseballery. This brings us to a few months ago, when I learned of the existence of a UConn basketball player named Shabazz Napier. Seriously. He's not my nephew either.

Anyway, this excited me because it meant that the name "Napier" would now be in the announcer database for this season's college basketball video games. For the first time in my sixteen year history of playing sports games featuring commentary, I would be able to hear my name called as I performed various feats of daring-do on the hardwood. I excitedly looked up where I could procure the 2011 edition of either the March Madness or College Hoops series, only to find that they had both been discontinued due to low sales. I think a blood vessel burst. Not in my brain or anything. It wasn't that dire. Probably my leg.

The sad fact is, I had resigned myself to never hearing those six letters strung together in a video game. N-A-P-I-E-R. Until today, when I created my character in MLB 10's "Road to the Show" mode. A decade and a half of hopes, dreams, and controller callouses had built up to this moment as I typed in my last name and the game informed me that it had an audio match.

A match! For MY name. There was no one to high five, and I daren't tell any of my friends because having fresh material for my blog is more important to me than human interaction. So I kept my celebration brief and subdued, anxious to get to the business of making Andy Napier the greatest first baseman on dirt.

Here it was, batting third, the first baseman, Andy... Nap-ier? That's right. Nap-ier. As in "his hair is nappier than mine."

I HATE YOU, BOB. But at least that spelling would reasonably produce the corresponding sound. Unlike Tantalus, I reached and tasted the grapes that had always been just out of my grasp. AND THEY WERE SOUR.

Game's great though. Peace.

Oh, almost forgot. Episode Seven of So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio is up. Click the link over on the left side.

All the good ones are taken

There goes my dream of a gay wedding under the cherry blossoms. Kenta Kobashi, you break my heart.

Seriously though, I've never seen that man happier. Not even when he's chopping somebody into ground chuck.

For Paul

I wanted to make sure that I took a moment to acknowledge my friend Paul Collins, who graduated from the Police Academy on Tuesday afternoon. I remember when he started six months ago he was very nervous and they piled on the homework, but he made it all the way through and I'm really proud of him. Paul, we've known each other for thirteen years and liked each other for at least nine, right? Congratulations, sincerely. "Big ups" as Tazz would say. Big ups indeed, Paul.

In less important news, episode six of So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio is up at the corresponding website! It's a heck of a show this time around, with talk of Edge, Larry Sweeney and zombies! Don't ya dare miss it!

Au revoir, Edge

Monday was just a bummer all around in the wrestling world, as following the Sweeney news, RAW occurred. That's actually not a dig on the WWE product in general, but the sudden and legitimate retirement of Edge in particular. I'm sorry, Amanda. I truly am.

I was talking to my good friend Jason of So We Were Told (cheap plug) about this, and realized that Edge is the first big time star whose entire major league career I've seen. I missed the beginnings of Owen Hart, Eddy Guerrero, and Chris Jericho. I wasn't watching when Bill Goldberg made his WCW debut. But I remember vividly, watching RAW the night after Wrestlemania 14 and seeing the first vignette for a soon to be debuting Edge. Thirteen years later, and it's all over due to spinal stenosis, the same ailment that eventually ended Steve Austin's career.

It's difficult to put Edge's career into context right now, so soon after the news has broken. He is without question one of the biggest wrestling stars of the past five years, perhaps trumped only by John Cena on a worldwide basis. I would actually argue that he was WWE's MVP during that time period, almost like Bret Hart in the mid '90s or Ric Flair in the late '80s. The guy the company didn't really want to be the number one guy but kept going back to because there was nobody better for the job. A work horse who could have a great match almost any time he was called upon to do so. A killer promo in an era of men reading badly scripted tripe.

I have no doubt that Edge will be back at some point in time. Probably never on a full time schedule, but he's only 37 years old and unless he's the rarest of birds in the wrestling business, he'll itch to come back. Trish Stratus, Lita, The Rock, Chris Jericho, all people who left WWE on their own terms and all have been back in some capacity since. Edge's case is of course a little different with the injury, but even Steve Austin is hinting here and there about a comeback. I just don't believe that Edge is done for good.

In short, as his full time career comes to a close, I have almost all fond memories of Edge. A top talent through and through, and I just hope that the voters for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame see things from my perspective this summer.

Sweet n' Sour

Very sad news to spread here on the blog this afternoon as one of the best pro wrestling managers I've ever had the pleasure to watch, Larry Sweeney, committed suicide today. A mainstay of Chikara and Ring of Honor in the last decade, Sweeney was an amazing manager. A complete throwback to the likes of Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart, Larry was probably born a generation too late as WWE got away from using managers. He did have one appearance on WWE TV, playing the role of Nick Hogan in a Hogan Knows Best parody segment in the summer of 2006. The fact that he was able to essentially play a relevant, up to date character while still maintaining a 1970s/1980s wrestling mentality is probably what was most impressive about Sweeney to me.

I first came across Larry Sweeney as a member of the Figure Four Online website, hearing him being interviewed by Bryan Alvarez. It was through his appearances on the Figure Four Daily show that he and Bryan actually built up a feud, leading to a series of matches for Larry's coveted "ICW-ICWA Texarkana Television Championship" in 2007. Larry was hilarious without exception in all of his appearances on the radio show, just another aspect of the wrestling business where he excelled.

Few details are known about the circumstances of his death right now, but he was troubled by depression for many years, and was diagnosed bi-polar.

I'm truly, deeply sorry for the loss to his family, friends, and fans, and I will never grow tired of re-listening to those Figure Four Daily episodes.

Plugs and regrets

Another new Wrestling Radio show with Jason and I up at So We Were Told!

Now the bad news. Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict regarding Jenny's birthday, I'm going to be in Mason all week. This means, that for the first time in nearly four years... I will be missing Broin' Down. And the worst part is, I'm literally putting a ho before bros! I'm very ashamed of myself. Keep the home fires burning, lads. The streak begins anew on May 10th!

The Last Word on Wrestlemania

Not the event itself, but the party we had. My house became unavailable at the last minute, which initially led to me cancelling plans. Thankfully, cousin Lee came through in the clutch, offering his finished basement/cave up for the viewing. We had as many as nine people down there watching the show at one point and it was a really great, fun experience. We didn't make our Toronto Skype hookup but Lucas hated the show anyway!

In short, I just want to thank Lee for making it all possible, as I'm pretty sure everyone in attendance had a really nice time.

Wrestlemania Revisited in long winded and succinct forms

Check out episode four of So We Were Told - Wrestling Radio! Jason and I run down Wrestlemania 27 in full! Try reloading the page if it doesn't pop up right away. I'm trying to work with Jason on him not just completely cutting me off mid-sentence.

If you don't want to listen to a two hour show just to hear my thoughts on the pay per view, I'll sum it up briefly in text:

Undertaker and Triple H are really awesome professional wrestlers, Miz and John Cena are not good at it, the booking of Alberto Del Rio and Edge baffled me, and WWE had the best production values ever on Sunday night.

That's the gist.

Wrestlemania Predictions!

I ran through these on So We Were Told the other day, but I just thought I'd get them down day of the show here on the blog, for posterity. Lineup stolen from Wrestling Observer's Saturday update.

The Miz vs. John Cena for WWE title - Cena wins the title, especially if this is going on last.

Undertaker vs. HHH No Holds Barred - Undertaker runs his streak to 19-0. No brainer.

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio World title - ADR with his first world title win here.

Randy Orton vs. C.M. Punk - This could really go either way, and I'll pick the babyface in that case. Orton.

John Morrison & Trish Stratus & Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler & Layla & Michelle McCool - Celebrity team has to win, you'd think.

Big Show & Kane & Santino Marella & Kofi Kingston (not announced yet but most likely) vs. Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson & Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel - I think I initially picked the babyfaces in this one, but the Corre could use some steam, so I'm officially switching sides.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes - Rey to win here, but to ultimately lose the feud.

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the U.S. title - Sheamus in what should be a great match, but may actually be relegated to the pre-show.

Battle Royal (not announced but wrestlers were getting ready for it yesterday, likely a preshow match) - Yoshi Tatsu to make it two in a row!

Enjoy the Wrestlemaniaing!

1 down, 161 to go

Walk off homerun for a 7-6 win! Ramon Hernandez for Governor! Go Reds!

Counting down and another plug

Three days until 'Mania, brothers!

Also, check out episode three of So We Were Told Wrestling Radio! It's chock full of awkward pauses and Skype lag! Not to mention a passionate debate over the drawing card at Wrestlemania 23! Not to mention, Jason has added POLLS to the front page. POLLS!

Fast Times at Podcast High

It's been fun doing the shows with Jason this past week, but I've noticed something that I need to work on. I've listened to both podcasts back (largely because I'm a huge mark for hearing my own voice), and I say "like" way too much. It's as if (almost typed it again right there) I'm a fifteen year old girl in an Amy Heckerling movie.

Understanding Technology

Jenny's apartment has a washing machine but no dryer. The convenience/laziness of washing my clothes without having to walk across the complex to the laundry room, however, won out over my desire to use a professional dryer. People have clotheslines for a reason, right? Not the Stan Hansen kind either, but wires running across backyards all over the world, presumably for centuries. So I took my wet gladrags, hung them up over the shower rod, and left them out overnight to dry. AND DRY THEY DID. I have now learned proof positive why dryers and fabric softener were invented.

My shirts are crunchy.

Horrible

Last post was my 911th. I never forgot.

ALSO, Jason and I recorded another episode of So We Were Told Wrestling Radio and the audio issues plaguing the first are gone, so check it out! I'm in Mason/Newport until Thursday, but then back with a vengeance for Wrestlemania weekend.

I just watched Sin Cara's WWE debut on a handheld camera from over the weekend, and I've noticed something about technology and how it's apparently changed the bootlegging of professional wrestling. Everyone's cell phone now has a powerful, near-professional quality HD camera built right into it. This is great, in theory. Problem is, nobody knows how to use them. I used to watch grainy, but very steadily shot footage of house show matches from the late '80s and early '90s. Now I'm watching a crystal clear image, but the purveyor apparently has Parkinson's . Sorry, that wasn't right. Purveyor isn't exactly the correct word there.

But yeah, Sin Cara, he's pretty good at it.

A Shameless Plug

Do you ever think to yourself, "Geez, I love Andy's blog, I just wish I knew what he thought about the pro wrestling?" That close guarded secret is under lock and key no more, as I join my friend Jason Spencer on his new podcast over at So We Were Told. Click the Podcasts tab and download or stream the goodness!

EDIT: Also, if you do in fact listen, please forgive the poor audio quality on Jason's end. Lots of crackling that's making me cringe as I listen back. Hopefully will be cleared up by the next episode.

I Totes Dig It!

I'm well aware that I've arrived late to the party on this, but Where's Randy Savage? has to be the best website I've seen in at least four grips. Enjoy!

Wrestlemania 27: A Higher Number Than Any Past Wrestlemania!

Just wanted to note that I sent out a Google Invite for the annual Wrestlemania party at my house. Some of you blog readers did not get one as you live in Canada or will be visiting Canada when the event is taking place. Hopefully some lapsed fans (Lee) will head over to watch wrestling on this most holy day. Also, I don't have Jacob's e-mail address, so if someone reads this who does have it, pass it along to him, could you? Thanks a bunch!

Insensitive enough to bring it up, too sensitive to specify

I thought of a Nate Dogg being dead joke. I won't tell it here because I'm not a monster.

Also Much Love For Davekwon!

Had fun last night, dude! VICTOR CROWLEY LIVES!

Much Love For Lucas!

Happy birthday, buddy! We really miss you down here

Also, if you have Netflix Instant, definitely watch The True Story of Wrestlemania. It's got some of the usual WWE fantasy (93,173 at Wrestlemania III, Hogan being afraid that Andre wouldn't "do business") but if you can get through that aspect, it's a really fun, nostalgic two hours.

EDIT: I was just looking at that cake again, and is that t-shirt actually a giant fruit roll-up? That is AWESOME.

The Rock is Awesome. Also, salt is salty

Screencap sort of gives away some of it, unfortunately, but still an excellent promo on Cena by The Rock. Ch-ch-ch-check it out! There was actually an angle on the show last night even better than The Rock's promo, but WWE haven't posted it to Youtube yet. I'm getting hyped for Mania for sure though.

What?

No, seriously. What? Andrew, any insight?

Dana White is the King of the World

Dana White announced today that UFC's parent company, Zuffa, finalized the purchase of rival organization Strikeforce. With both "major" fighting groups in Japan on life support, this effectively gives UFC the entire sport's world market. There was a time, back when I didn't think Dana White had any idea what he was doing, where I would have thought this was terrible. Now, in 2011, with a track record for unparalleled success extending over the past almost six years, I think that he and his team are the perfect people to be the MMA authorities of planet Earth. I may be proven to be a fool in retrospect, but I'm very excited about this new era going forward. All Hail Dana!

Angering the Gaming Gods

Whirry's having issues again. I'm well aware that I've had a couple of false starts talking about his demise in the past so I'm not ready to eulogize him just yet. The reason is, I think I missed an offering or forgot to include Shigeru Miyamoto in my nightly prayers or something, because I seem to be CURSED right now by the prankster gods of video gaming. First off, Whirry won't whir. Seriously. The system powers on, I get the Dreamcast welcome screen, but the disc motor seems to be having issues.

Secondly, my original XBox's power cord has disappeared. Just vanished. No MAME emulation for this guy in the near future.

And finally, and most distressingly, my PS3 will no longer display a picture. I'm really hoping that this is an issue with a cord that can be much more easily replaced than a 300 dollar console. Because I don't have 300 dollars right now, much less 300 dollars to spend on a Playstation. So right now I've got a very expensive paper weight and some DVD-shaped coasters.

Do I need to find a Pikachu to sacrifice?

Firth's Inevitable Victory

Miller Lite is the 2011 Oscar Juice of choice, y'all! I'm not going to do any stream of consciousness recapping like I did back in 2007 for the Emmys, but I'm sure as Hell gonna watch Colin Firth be all charming and whatnot. Watching in Maineville at Jenny's new place on her brand new 46" plasma TV. So damn jealous. She's going cable-free for the foreseeable future as an act of rebellion and hatred towards Time Warner Cable. Tomorrow, she gets Hulu Plus and I'm super excited to see if it's viable to just have that, Netflix Instant and no cable. May be the wave of the future. FUCK CABLE.

You're telling me that about MY wife?

Bas on Joe Rogan's podcast!

I could seriously listen to Bas Rutten talk about anything forever.

I'm watching the previous episode now, with Dave Foley as the guest. I may be addicted, which is bad, because it's a two-hour habit.

A boring recap of my week thus far and a startling, real-time revelation

People who watched the show with me will have to let me know, but was Elimination Chamber any good? I fell asleep twice on Monday night, and not due to boredom or anything. Those kids, man. They take it out of you.

I'm also actually on a fairly normal sleep schedule right now, so I'm trying to acclimate to that. I was at 4th Street Bar and Grill with Funky D and a couple of other friends last night watching the Ohio State/Illinois game and was nearly face down in my Bloody Mary. Speaking of, five beers and one cocktail totaled an $8.33 bill. Greatest happy hour ever.

Also, does anyone remember Columbus musician Marvin the Robot? I do. And I just put 2 and 2 together and realized that I received job training from him last night. MWAHAHAHAHA! No wonder that guy looked familiar!

A day with the ankle biters

Watching the kids right now, and I have to say, now that they're all of video game playing age, it's so much easier. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a major theme today. Katherine's all about Little Big Planet so that's up next. Glen showed me his copy of the new Bionic Commando game, but it was terrible. Sorry, Glen. I waxed Glen, Roger, and Katherine with Frank Mir on UFC Undisputed 2010. Kneebars for all!

No big plans for the weekend, but I watched Buffy and Angel with Annie and Megan last night.

Jenny's moving into her new apartment which I was able to bow out of thanks to the Aubery quartet vegging out with me right now. It's a nice place and it's about twenty miles closer to Columbus than her old one, so that's not bad.

Elimination Chamber on Monday for those who want to gather. We're going to Skype with Lucas and Amanda who will be watching from Toronto! I know wrestling is lame nowadays, but it's Wrestlemania season, and it rarely disappoints. So let me know, folks.

For those who didn't see it

YAY HE'S GREAT!

An understatement

The Rock is on RAW right now. That's pretty cool.

Who am I kidding?

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

SIGH. Called it

Haters, man.

Way too much about Fedor's loss. Talk about fanboyism

It was a bad day for my rooting interests in sports as the mighty Buckeyes of Ohio State tasted bitter defeat on the basketball court for the first time this season, losing a close one at Wisconsin.

Many hours later, in the main event of Strikeforce's big Showtime event, in the first round of their much-hyped heavyweight tournament, Fedor Emelianenko suffered just the third loss of his storied career, to Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Fedor, the man who I still truly believe is the greatest fighter to ever live, met his size match here, as Silva came into the cage fifty pounds heavier than "The Last Emperor". In modern mixed martial arts, that is an almost criminal advantage. This isn't an Akebono, Zuluhino, or even Bob Sapp type freak show with huge size but little in the way of skill we're talking about here. It is 2011, and the sport has evolved to the point that everyone competing at this level can be a dangerous opponent, and a 235 pound man has no business fighting in a 265 pound weight class. I can just see the MMA message boards going crazy right now, with knee-jerk posts about how Fedor is all washed up or, even more laughably, was never any good to begin with. It happens with every loss Randy Couture suffers, and it's even more preposterous in the case of Emelianenko. Could a move down a weight class to 205 pounds be the answer for the legend? Perhaps. The true answer is that there is a ridiculous gap from 205 to 265 and a new weight class badly needs to be instituted. The current and incoming generations of huge world class amateur wrestlers that cut weight to 265 pounds has made it impossible for a man of Fedor's (or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, and Randy Couture) size to be competitive. None of those men will last long enough in the sport to reap the benefits of such a weight class, but hopefully the latter stages of their careers will spur change in that direction and lead to a more equitable future in the sport.

Phew. Okay, I also saw The King's Speech tonight. Best movie I've seen in forever. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter totally killed it. Go see this film. Trust me!

Overall, a sad day indeed! How best to cheer me up?

Ahhhhh

Broken

Installing Little Big Planet: Game of the Year Edition requires no less than eleven updates before actual installation. In the age of broadband connectivity for all consoles, do developers care less about getting it right the first time in terms of bugs and such? Why perfect now what you can slap a bandage on two weeks after release? Even so, really looking forward to this gaming experience!

Another Love Letter to Netflix

Netflix has added 3rd Rock from the Sun to their Instant service. I approve. Starting episode six of season three right now!

Oh, and Broin' Down was, as usual, a rousing success. Eight men in attendance, each one gentle.

Heading to the Queen City for a few days as Jenny and I celebrate one year of being a couple. So look forward to some road trip entries as the rest of the week rolls by. Peace, Columbus!

Netflix or DVR?

It is the great question of our times, more pressing even than Team Jacob versus Team Edward (that's a thing, right?) Of the two greatest television advances of this young century, which could you more readily live without... DVR or Netflix Instant!? This is of course more a question for people who have both because until you experience Netflix Instant, you can't possibly appreciate it. Not even theoretically. My love for Netflix Instant burns so brightly!

Anyway, I've posed this question to five qualified people now, and Netflix is more important to four of them so far. Anyone else out there with both who would like to chime in?

Also, I had a dream I went to a Disney theme park with Kevin Nash.

Broin' Down Business

I just realized that Broin' Down 45 is taking place in the same month as Super Bowl 45. I hereby declare February 2011's event to be Broin' Down XLV: SuperBROwl Tuesday! Come one, come all! If you're a dude.

The last few days

Skype is awesome. Davekwon and (Sorry) Keith Jackson were at my place Tuesday night for a tape-delayed screening of the Royal Rumble, and in accordance with Lucas' suggestion, we Skype conferenced with he and Amanda during. I had downloaded Skype several years ago and not been terribly impressed with it, so I kind of anticipated disaster. But things have changed! This ain't your daddy's Skype! Or something. Anyway, everything went smoothly, we managed to sync up our videos of the event fairly well, and everyone had a great time. Probably going to try for this again after the Elimination Chamber pay per view, and then perhaps live for Wrestlemania XXVII.

As for the show itself, a really great pay per view overall. Edge and Dolph Ziggler got a ton of time, and Dolph looked like he totally belonged in there with a main eventer the caliber of Edge. Unfortunately, he was saddled with a horrible gimmicky name that is going to keep him from ever fulfilling his potential. That said, the crowd in Boston was biting on some of his near falls on Edge late in the match, so they definitely did something right.

Orton and Miz took a while to get going, mostly because Randy Orton is the most boring babyface in years. Actually, probably since the last time he was a babyface in 2004/2005. Eventually things started clicking and heating up, and once Miz pinned him, it was pretty good.

Women's match was nothing. Sorry.

The Rumble itself was awesome. I was against the idea of increasing the number of entrants from 30 to 40 just on principle, but it actually worked out really well. I won't go over the match in detail, but suffice to say there was tons of great comedy, mostly featuring Santino Marella. Also a couple of nice surprises with the returns of Booker T and DIESEL. Seriously, Diesel. Great show, and I'm excited for the rest of the road to Wrestlemania.

Franz and Ashley lost power for a couple of nights, which meant QUALITY TIME WITH FRA-DIGGITY for me. We watched Moon and determined that while it was entertaining and never dragged or anything, it had been over-hyped to us both. No spoilers here, but there was an obvious direction to take the movie in, and a less obvious one. They chose the latter, and the movie probably suffered for it. We also played (well, I played, Franz watched) Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands for a while. Which brings me to a larger point.

I had forgotten how awesome platform gaming can be. Everything I play nowadays is either an RPG, a sports game, or mission-based, and the platforming genre has completely fallen by the wayside for me. Most likely because most of the platform gaming these days takes place on the Wii or on handheld consoles. In short, I miss Mario. Very much. I probably should just bite the bullet and finally buy Little Big Planet though.

I had another topic I wanted to write about, but it's completely escaped me at the moment. Oh well, if I remember, there's a good excuse for another blog entry over the weekend. Until then, be good to each other, readers!

A direct appeal

My dad is now officially retired from Kraft Foods USA. He has to turn in his company car and his company laptop on Monday. So today, he told me that he bought a truck in the most nonchalant manner possible. It's a used Dodge, so it's not as if he went out and bought a brand new, fully loaded model or anything, but still, big changes afoot. I wonder how he'll adjust to paying for gasoline for the first time in about 30 years.

I watched Poltergeist last night for the first time since probably the '90s, and there's a movie that holds up. Somehow I had never noticed/picked up on Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams being stoners in any previous viewings. The movie makes much more sense now, as I feel this explains why they were targeted by supernatural forces much better than disturbed graves under the house. Especially when you tie in the Reagan bio that Coach is reading while smoking a joint.

As alluded to in the comments section of the below entry, mainstream wrestling sucks right now. The Royal Rumble is tomorrow, and unless something major changes between then and now, I won't be watching it live for just the second time since 1998. I missed it in 2007 for reasons I really can't fathom, especially because WWE was very good at that point. Anyhow, looking two months down the road, I think there's an excellent chance that I also won't order Wrestlemania, which would be the first time since 1998. As it draws closer, I may waver on that just because Wrestlemania Sunday does seem to be the one day of the year I can still get a good group of people over at the house for a viewing party, so we'll see. Still, not encouraging. DO A BETTER JOB OF ENGAGING ME, WWE.

A Questionable Remake

As I was reading the Observer this evening, something caught my eye. Something I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard about prior to learning it from Dave Meltzer.

"Maria Kanellis and Gene Snitsky shot an independent movie called “Manos” about a family lost on country roads and stumbles upon an underground cult of devil worshippers."

Yes. I know. This rasies a lot of questions, clearly. First and foremost, is Gene Snitsky going to play Torgo? Because in some ways he's perfect casting, but in most ways he's absolutely not.

Second, are Riff Trax going to be built into the DVD release or do we actually have to wait?

Third, REALLY?

Fourth, no, REALLY? You get a little bit of money, and then, of all the movies in the ENTIRE WORLD to remake, you pick Manos: The Hands of Fate? What is wrong with you?

Fifth, the news item was written past tense, as if the film has already been completed. Again, how did I not know about this!?

Sixth, we need to watch this soon, obviously.

Peace, Connecticut!