The Lost Art of Consideration

Sad Sack Journal

2011-04-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

I started writing a baseball smart ass thing and ended up having to write an email of the heavy nature. My zest cooled down to finish it but should be able to post soon. Found these false starts to high art journal and just felt like what they hey post em'.

3-4-11 (Friday): Most days it is the same, I run a tight ship in the morning getting the wee man ready and at some point feel my face get flush as I have to remind once again to either shut off the bathroom light or put on socks. “Hey pal I don’t need a gripping suspenseful story of why you have not brushed your teeth I just need those fuckers clean.” Today was typical, overloaded with work and the double standard was in play as usual. Every victory seems tainted these days, feel good about something but there is always a catch. A rusty door springs on it hinges and may not make solid contact it at least grazes me to make me stumble.

I stumbled into the hall and smelled the baby powdered perfume smell that I think she be known as the official going out smell. I realized what a gap there is between me walking to pick up Thai take out and hoping the library is open so I can pick up a movie on reserve to dousing yourself in perfume, putting on your fuck me heels and spending time checking you angles in a mirror. The poor boyish gal at the Thai place talked a bit with me about allergies and I realized later she may have been flirting just a tad. She is an oddly attractive girl, kind of like a stretched out elongated version of an Asian baby doll you buy at a dollar store. My racist ass was shocked when she spoke more this time and had somewhat of a deep Connie Chung Americanized voice.

3-10-11
I have been feeling burned out with life, nothing dramatic or too earth shattering. I have been confused as to why I am so tired and why my motivation to do anything involving walking or gym work. Even now just sitting here at the computer missing my A key now I feel my back tighten and my irritation growing about the key and how I have been missing out by falling asleep early. At work I have been keeping a blank piece of paper by my desk and have been jotting down ideas for projects and how I want to make short little Flip camera films to secretly upload somewhere and maybe cherish a comment or two. As for work there is no help in sight, only more cases and more suggested volunteering. But I tell you work is good in that it helps this boy day dream of all the great work and project he would be getting done if it wasn’t for holding down the steady J.

But I do not want to be a ole negative ninny, gotta have a hope spot now and then no matter what the size. Lately I have been immersed in the fine card board art of cards again. I often worry about this blog just becoming all about cards and I constantly worry about being too much of a Cardboard Gods rip off. Honestly I thought a long time about writing about the cards I loved when I was a kid. What I have found is that like most of my interests my uh hmm fellow collectors seem to be into complaining and more complaining.

A week late of End of Age... It is over

2011-03-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Note: I was writing a rapid fire a day kind of pome for my last year on this rock at the ripe old age of 36. I am not sure why i feel somewhat let down with myself that i did not stay the course and crank out one a day, but hey that is life sadly in this day and age. The Friday one i have combined with a recall writing from this Sat. AM and part of one i scribbled down at work while in between being putting on hold and being yelled at by doctors and pathologists. I carried this scrap around for most of this week so i might as well use some of it. Saturday the last official day i could fire something up but instead i think i will leave the one line i started and then was drawn away from my computer for something probably important as scooping cat litter or switching laundry. It seems to sum up the day in its own way. My pre birthday was some of the good and the bad, good cheesecake, a few good cards, the usual. So now i am a year older and a few steps closer to head long sliding into the big dirt nap. End of note (thank God):

The Last Friday of my 36th Year:

The last good time feel good day of the week for a sad could have been guy
A week later to scroll this and I cannot recall the details, some…
A night out not realized, an excuse run to the store for cheese for dinner and a side of treat yourself baseball cards
Beforehand check my balances…well raise my rent
Pretty sure I dozed the sleep of dozers and slept in shifts
Who cares says Fonzie… “You ain’t cool you’re chili”
This morning had potential
It started with a song and ended with a snore

The Last Saturday of my 36th Year:

I’m your kid sister receiving your laser beam eyes

Alas... End of the Age Pome

2011-02-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

The Last Thursday of my 36th Year:
I worked my day as usual with clock management
Rush, hurry up rush, “I’m not gonna make it” sung to the tune of Twisted Sister

Talked across cables to my Pops and remembered earlier in the day he refuses to stand in lines that are too big
“I spent enough time in the Army in line”

Life out west is all about lines and queues and ones and zeroes
My life is a no huddle offense
And I am no Peyton Manning in this huddle

Bonus Drivel as I did not make my self imposed dead line that no one in the universe cares about but me:

Freds:
My fielding is more Freddy Fender
Than Freddy Sanchez

More End of the Age Pomes... please bare with me the week is almost done and i can put this nonsense behind me

2011-02-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

The Last Wednesday of my 36th Year:

Jotted down some notes on some scratch paper with messy work hair before 7AM
This one is going to be a doozy, a throw back of greatest hits and poop and pop reference of mein history
Nope and a nada left it face down on my office plank

I see smoke on the horizon, the after burn of what I hope would be a hot fuss for this one small section of a loophole year
Moved thru traffic, a work day and 2 pieces of cold pizza

My best ghost days still ahead of me I shuffle off to the garbage shoot and remember I do my part by throwing the recycling down the garbage on my testy days
Requested to not grace the office with my presence for one measly day next week and was met in the middle…typical fargin’ typical
Today needs a nap

The End of an Age Pomes

2011-02-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

The Last Monday of my 36th Year:
Doomed sunny weather be gone this holiday
Gloomy day indeed I need you as an excuse in my back pocket to stay in sort baseball cards and eyeball everything but the eyeballs on my computer “Don’t blame me it was overcast and sprinklin’”

The apartment takes on the bachelor life as well
Well manicured and scrubbed counters grow a milk and sugar cereal spoon
Deep fiber cleaned carpet sprouts a toupee of dirty clothes
The walls surrounding have a slow pulse of naps and well preserved sweet items
Dining room table housing the casualties, flattened heroes of the diamond as the flicker box replays the greatness from last year

I enjoy a bed for the last time as a 36 year old boy man, soon banished back to a bag, that may be comfortable but only as a spur of the moment sleep, not a hearty lumberjack sleep needed

Shuffle and clean and put the best foot forward after the game and stretch out with the satisfaction that I got to watch my kind of game
Oh Rohlinger, Downs and good ole Eli you are not lost on me I think as I try to drift off knowing the shot clock for an eye opener work day will be sounding soon.

The Last Tuesday of my 36th Year:
I sputter on the muddy coffee and yet marvel that I was tricked by 3 day old coffee passing itself off as fresh and hot due to a good insulating pot

Pick up on the stories of the younger, better looking co workers

They may be more exciting but I am one weekend away from my Hermit badge

Ring, dial, ring, soda, piss, lunch and called in to “talk”
On last check I was a grown man who had paid dues in the form of taxes, student loans, credit card debt and broken hearted antics
But alas I am a predator of an extra ten minutes many a day for lunch- I be better me be good me sorry

Head back to base and quickly outlive my usefulness, answer some questions, answers are argued, get ignored, rinse and repeat
My thinning hair and damp brain need some cool air and a book store trip
No muttering and muttering on the walk as a solo artist becomes a trio

In the home stretch being invisible is not that bad, my wind wonders and I make the decision to collect a utility player card due to his awkward autograph
Life is just… uhhhh …. Can I get back to you on that?

The 330 Relay Throw as it Relates to a Yelling Stripper Face

2011-01-31T22:09:00.000-08:00

Even in the dark limo van the company hired to cart us around I could see this one coming. She kind of half stood as her eyes rolled around and she started yelling a flurry of fuck this and yous to me. For me, remarkably I kind of blew it off as I was enjoying talking with the only other sober person on the bus about how this is the set up of a lot of horror movies and we loosely came up with a beginning and a batting order for the death toll. A certain young lady (using the term loosely, my Ma used to get angry when I would refer to a stripper as a lady, “those aren’t ladies John”) just got bumped to lead off in our murder film. I had to ask myself why in the hell was I riding on the drunk bus back home when I had only had a beer?

Why in the fuck was this drunk girl who was only on her second day as I am heading into my second year telling me I am a mother fucking joke (an exact quote and one that I will remember). Why was I not home enjoying sorting baseball cards and drinking Coke Zero listening to tunes back from the day and the day being Hays circa 1997?

I feel like the world is passing by me and I am becoming more and more okay with that by the day. I have had a lot of time this week to be by myself and read, sort cards and daydream. A good bit of my Wednesday night in the moving drunk tank was spent pining for being back in the warm confines of the overpriced unit where I live, alone and at peace. The image for some reason that stuck in my head as I was hoping we would soon arrive back at work so various fellow employees could drunk drive their way home was the Topps 2010 Gabe Kapler Rays card.

I have this rule of trying not to research too much about a topic. I can have the tendency to learn I am interested in something and the next thing you know it is off to the races and I am researching on line and asking around. Recently I have re discovered my love of baseball cards. For years on an odd whim I would pick up a pack at Target over the last full years. Usually I would grab the Topps 206 as the beautiful portraits make even the most mediocre player seem majestic and important (as evident with my Todd Wellemeyer mini card that has been deemed top loader worthy). I would make an occasional stop in the local shop and I knew the value of cards had taken a hit. But the sage like wisdom of Terrence made me realize I could collect in my own way, “Just collect who you like and don’t worry about the get rich guys or hard core guys, just have fun”.

I often times have favorite cards because of the photo which leads me to being a fan of the player. I am not sure when I first pulled the Gabe Kapler card but I am happy to say I have multiples and I have bid on the rare silk backing one but decided my madness needed to stay under $25. So the 330 mark looms so large in this card, like a banner was unrolled for the 330th something… but what? The 330th save? Relay throw? Or maybe the 330th misplayed bloop hit? You can see the blurry outstretched hands of I think Aybar and Kapler does not seem to be that rushed or worried about the throw.

I wonder why Topps chose this picture out of all of the photos that were snapped during the year. Did a group of interns or indy rock type graphic designers get assigned a lower tiered group of players and wanted to put an arty spin on their cards? Did Gabe in his younger days seduce a Topps executive’s second wife after a Sox win and was being punished? Why would you hide a handsome ball player who has done some uhh male modeling (you may want to just trust me on this Google image search) with a 330 mark? I don’t want to know the back story I just enjoy the art of this card and hell it is more fun to speculate.

Looking at the back of his card you see Gabe pretty good numbers and a whole lot of teams. So many teams there isn’t a spot for the positive spin paragraph. So I partially broke my rule and did a Google search just to see where he was going for 2011 and hoping he would stick with the Rays who I am starting to enjoy. Well the sad news is he is heading to the dreaded Dodgers or at least their minor league system (even sadder to see was the banana hammock photos). The funny thing is on my bowling team at company loaded night on my team was a die hard Dodgers fan and I realized rational fans of any team even heated rivals can be fun to talk with about their respective clubs. So I am ok with Gabe going there, hell a guy has to work and because of this unique card I will probably get a small tinge of excitement when Gabe comes to the plate.

As I was exiting the bus I was looking forward to getting home and sorting my cards and placing my own values into top loaders to protect my 15 cent values and maybe looking for some other artistic gems like the Kapler card and I saw the gal swaying and half heartedly trying to get my attention again. I was told later she informed a friend she was waiting to apologize but the attention span of a drunk 24 year old is not too good, as opposed to a on the tail end of 30 his 30s German man child and I never received it.

I went on home to relax and congratulate myself for blowing it off and to wake up early feeling rested and ready. Several people asked me if I received an apology or what it was all about, I was told her being an ass sobered a few up but still no apology via IM, text or stripper like face to double chin face chat, but 2 days later I got a friend request on Facebook… let me off world I don’t understand you at all.

The Crater, The Run Around, Brian Harper and a Pledge

2011-01-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

Well it was about 24 hours ago that I hit what should be a tourist attraction for Northern California, either it was a pot hole or it could have been a gateway to hell opening up finally trying to swallow up the area’s Twittering speeding assholes. Either way it needs to be fixed or featured as a roadside attraction (as in you may never travel down the road again if you drive into this bad boy). I can now look back with a sense of relief of the last day and by morning I will be back to crackin’ wise and going over such important things in my head as baseball dice, Green Lantern story lines and wondering when Scrappers season two starts.

Now the picture may be misleading, but this post is not a strictly baseball one. I am wanting to rant, harangue and ramble about people. I would say humanity but I think that is a term we need to earn back much like when we were younger and had to earn toys back. If I do this right I may be able to tie up all my ideas of the past 24 hours that came to me.

Wednesday night I was driving home from picking up comics and groceries and was looking forward to getting home and reading the pilfered USA Sports Wed. Section and Doom Patrol. For some reason I strayed off my usual route and hit the freeway to get home a little bit sooner and as I was enjoying the chilly cracked window air I hit a crater and it felt like I was broadsided by a tank and my car immediately powered down.

And here is where my faith in people begins to be shot to shit. I am on a busy street close to the cop shop and at least 4 police officers drove past me and I had up my hood up and hazards flashing away. This was just the beginning of the journey in frustrations. I don’t want to get into the long boring details but maybe I should make a sort of flow chart for the incident and the frustration and close with my point, a quote and explanation of why Brian Harper is the accompanying picture.

1. Hit small crater, volcano or canyon= Strike 1 due to this broke ass rat bastard state not fixing a major problem that is in a well travelled location. I filed a report via Cal Trans and think it was well worded considering they give you a small amount of space.

2. Called home and relayed I am stuck and was asked if I needed a ride? Do you really need to ask? Strike 2 indeed. Seemingly kind of concerned but more annoyed by angry and frustrated with my doofus overreacting self on the line, the concerned party was asleep once I got back.

3. Call insurance which worked out well and fairly smooth… but tow truck driver takes forever and a day getting there and his English is not good. Strike 3= he has trouble finding me even with me giving him the exact address and other landmarks He gets there hooks up car and just nods when I ask questions and then watches me arms full of groceries start walking home.

4. Not a strike but a foul tip that dings someone, a weird old lady stops in a van to see if I am ok. I am finally relieved that someone has some compassion and I start feeling my getting out and helping people push stalled cars and opening the doors will pay off. She then hands me a tow truck card and tells me her boss is a mechanic. So the only person to give a shit is giving a shit about drumming up business?

5. A whole double header’s worth of outs between 3 companies and at least 4 people= Walked to work in the AM and got a single as sweet co worker and husband see me walking and pick me up. That was the last positive occurrence for some time. Tried calling my one man Click and Clack also known as my Dad and he was not home, called auto shop and was told they were going to look at the car and would call me, called auto shop back they could look at it at noon, called back they could not find the key, called insurance to get number for towing service I was on hold too long and hung up when I found it on line, called towing place who told me location of key, called auto and here is where it gets fucking deep. I was then told I needed to come in to talk to the owner…huh? They did not know me and I needed to sign papers before they could look at it. The 3 people I had talked to that day never told me this.

I kept feeling these waves of frustration and I could tell my face was getting flush and it was nothing personal but I found myself muttering under my breath as I was on hold that ‘why won’t anyone help me, I just need some help.’ I thought about just leveling with the guy at the auto shop on the phone and just saying look since this has happened I have had one disaster after another, I am not some rich white kid as you can tell by my car, I am in a bind and could you please just be decent and cut me a break? I am totally frustrated and just about to lose my shit. I vent to one of my co workers and she is listening and then starts checking her phone. Good lord I can’t even get an ear to bend for a minute? But…

6. Here is where the homer comes in= Dad calls and tells me of a fuel line switch to re set that may be the problem. The car hit so hard it registered that I was in an accident and shut off the fuel so I would not burn up (at this point that would have been preferred). A co worker takes me to the incompetent and shady auto place (when I asked if I could just talk to the owner as I had no way to get there I was told that he does not like to talk on phones) I sneak over to car find the switch pump it and my car comes to life and I instantly felt like pumping birds to the world and driving off to In and Out Burger with my old war damaged maroon buddy. Money of mine in their pocket= $0 I called pops on the way back to work and he was as thrilled as I was and even though he was almost 2,000 miles away and can be a grumpy guy I felt close to him. For all of my history and heat at times with him he was there to help out his son who often feels over his head in this world and very lonely. My Dad was Edgar Renteria on this day.

7. Conclusion, wrap, explanation and who am I kidding maybe there is no fargin’ point to all of this: After the relief of having a working car I started thinking about how we as people are so self centered and don’t do anything out of our wheel house to help someone. As I was walking to work this morning I had cars rushing up on me as I walked across the cross walk, they were in such a hurry. Wait a minute how about being considerate and at the same time appreciative that you are in a warm vehicle and will get to where you are going faster and let the person walk in peace.

Almost no one wanted to be put out to help me. I wasn’t asking for anyone to chauffeur me all around town I just wanted someone to help me get my car back on the road so I could go about my daily life. I am making a vow to be more aware of my surroundings and fellow man and to not be afraid to lend a hand. It is a simple rule that we learn on day one of school but just treat others as you would like to be treated. Several people in this whole ordeal just passed the buck on to someone else and no one really seemed too concerned.

So the picture is of Brian Harper the manager for the San Jose Giants Advanced A team. I normally don’t watch managers too much in a game but he was out there with a batting helmet on (one great thing about minor leagues the managers where helmets and usually stand by 1st base) he carried himself with class and I like how he always shook the hands and looked the pitcher in the eye when he came out of a game. But the capper was after they won the CA League in a classic four and half hour game he was interviewed and I am not one to be inspired often by quotes of the sporting nature but this is his quote:

"It was a great group of players from day one," said manager Brian Harper. "Our motto all year was to work hard, have fun and pick each other up. It was a special group of young men."

He also talked about how they made some errors and some guys hit slumps but they stayed positive and took care of one another. And in my own Hallmark moment this afternoon I thought about how impressed I was with his comment all the way back in September and I thought of how I wish the world operated the way Harp runs the Giants. I hear all the time at work how we are a team but really everyone just wants to get paid and out on time. You think about ideas like America patriotism and shouldn’t the philosophy of picking each other up and helping be in the bi laws? I am going to try to be better, in the grand scheme of things it will not be a ripple on a puddle but I feel it is something I need to be aware of. So tomorrow I am taping my Brian Harper manager baseball card to the dash of my car and every car from here on out to remind of the day when no one would help pick me up in so many ways and how that felt and vow to not do that to others.

Too Mew Pomes by some Jack Ass

2010-12-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

A Honky, a Caballero and a Wilted Violet are in a Sub Shop and…
We try not to smirk as the elderly putter about the room
Rattling on about sam wich fixins’, It will most probably be our only we
Your rodeo man lingers about, one eye on you and the other on the free bottled sodas that he will take home along with you tonight

Working with food is a bad enough job indeed
But this, this is a worst case scenario giving people far too much democracy in their waist line fuel

Guys like me with starry eyes and an over inflated sense of romanticism to everyday struggles are not the answers, hell we are not even suggestions or flares of advice
If I could I would,
Knight you or queen you with an office job in the sun
Where you will never have to perch upon a milk crate to sort the cool items …sleep tight

The Nonsense or The Brief Art of a Kind of Fuck You
You or they or them won’t be happy until I am a better me
I won’t rest resisting until I at least have fleas
Told you it was brief

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the Twenty First and the evening of the Twenty Second of November Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two

2010-11-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the Twenty First and the evening of the Twenty Second of November Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two:

It is odd when I think about these odd rules I have for these writing projects that maybe 3 people see. Well I guess there could be more due to the randomness of the internet, which I experienced some of as I kept hitting next blog late Saturday early Sunday morning. Seems there are a lot of blogs about people’s children and social issues with way better designs then mine. Oh well, I saw Len Wein’s blog earlier this year and he uses the same standard generic Blog layout and if it is good enough for him then…

But this weekend I have been homebound due to a good old fashioned cold. It has been some time since I have had one at this level, maybe even years. For the most part it has passed but I am still looking forward to a good hot shower and earlier than usual bedtime (right after Walking Dead). But as much as it the idea of a positive mental attitude pisses those off around me (don’t ask) I try to keep upbeat and look at it as a time to not feel bad about being active and to catch up on some reading and watch a ton of programming on the NLB Network.

But these rules… argh on a Sunday night do I do a Tickled Fancy and put more than 2 things that I enjoy or do less and or post another thing, can I post more than once in a single day? I am for sure over thinking it all, I learned from my random scanning most blogs are short and self indulgent and on the fly. I guess I want to be the opposite Twitter and put content and really I am not doing this for that much attention, I would do it regardless.

**Note: I ran out of steam I suppose, it is now Monday night and I have had moments of illness both physically and mentally, super frustrated with funding and the cost of being an idiot in the modern world, maybe some ramblings will clear me up for a night’s rest to start over again tomorrow.**

**Another Note: Hey it did cheer me up!**

The Arizona Fall Baseball League: As the 2010 season went on I started finding myself being more drawn into the minor league baseball system. I think I went to San Jose almost as many times to see advanced A ball as I did to see the eventual World Champions. And as I am prone to do once my interest gets peaked I do my at an arms research where I walk the fine line of research but not too much so it does not go into the realm of fandom. I found myself following the San Jose Giants on line and started to enjoy and marvel at all the different teams and how great a lot of their mascots and uniforms were. I plan on writing a lot more about some of the mascots and some of the great promotions in the future. David Lynch night at Municipal Stadium will stick with me for the rest of my life and I am not sure I have anywhere near the skills to put it into words.

So after coming down from the high of the Giants winning the big one I felt lost. I was thrilled about the win but in some ways it turned me bitter with so many people becoming fans. So maybe my infatuation with the minors came about as a grumbly protest and part of not wanting to belong to a group anymore. This year I have been fortunate not only for the SF Giants to win but also the San Jose Giants in an amazing four and half hour affair that had me jumping up and down and going for a victory walk.

Somehow I found out about the Rising Stars game in the Arizona Fall league and that it would be on the MLB Network. I am not going to get into the details of the Arizona League and taxi squads and such but I will include a link, but in a nutshell many teams send players to play in this finishing school of sorts. The teams have great names (I just found out today a Javelina is also known as a skunk pig) and really cool logos. I instantly fell in love with the Surprise Rafters logo and decided I had to have that hat, once I found out the Royals, Brewers, Rangers, Tigers and Cardinals send players there I was sold daddy (not one team that I hate, yes Rangers all is forgiven). It was great as well because they wore the pro team jerseys but the Fall League hat.

On a sidebar I contacted MILB and thought my chances would be slim to hunt down a hat. I had no luck on line but a day later not only did they contact the league but put me in touch with someone in the office. She went way beyond by going to a different stadium and tracking down a Rafter hat for me and a amazing long sleeve shirt. To sidebar once again it was odd as when I called her I truly enjoyed talking to her and thought she was an older semi retired lady and she sent me some programs and her pic was in the front office section and wow was I wrong (girls who like baseball get graded higher on the cute curve).

But this is a small example of how great the minors can be and how they are truly fan friendly. Sure I went to the Giants Fan Fest at AT and T park and saw from a long way away most of the players, but at Municipal I almost caught a victory ball thrown into the stands and saw a fan ask Franciso Peguero “You got this?” when they had two men on base late and he was on deck and he replied “Oh yeah.”

So I was super jonesing for some baseball and the Arizona Rising Stars game did not disappoint. There are several things that I took out of the Rising Stars game but the two big ones that made me feel good are that the year of the pitcher is going to continue for several more at least as there were some great pitchers coming up among the ranks. Not all of them throw heaters, well Jefress did throw 101, but in what has been labeled as a hitter’s league there was some good stuff. And number 2 I really think the Royals are going to be pretty damn good in a couple of years. Eric Hosmer looked really sharp and Montgomery I think will be a good fourth starter as soon as the 2011 season.

The game was great with a walk off homer to win and it was nice to see Charlie Culberson doing so well, every time I saw him at San Jose he struggled (I just watched him in the Championship Game and he struck out thrice and had 2 errors, sorry Charlie I must jinx you 75% of the time). I plan on writing more about baseball in the future and how I am on the fence about Bryce Harper but another day.

I am already trying to figure out how to go next year to some games or weasel my way into working for Minor League Baseball. Now if I can just figure out how to get to see Lotte Giants games in South Korea and Dominican Republic Winter league I will be set for the year…yup I gotta a problem.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/league.jsp?league=afl

Gustav Hasford: It seems like every few months I go to my favorite library in this area in San Carlos and spend some time reading magazines that I am too cheap to buy. I have been burned waaay too many times by purchasing Wizard magazine. I mean there is hardly any content some months but I end up making an impulse buy for one article. So it is nice to be able to check them out there.

I recently picked up some and there was an article on Jason Aaron the comic writer and they talked about the influence of his cousin Gustav Hasford. My interest was peaked and in his office he had a shell casing on a little trophy stand that said Gustav Hasford “The Short Timers” next to some worn paper backs. So I jotted the name down in my beat up pocket notebook and a few days later searched thru a Barnes and Noble with no luck at all (funny how once you research something you feel silly for thinking that at one time you could just go out and buy it as easily as a Subway foot long).

I ended up finding a copy thru inter library loan and finally got it in. It was a beat up book and the image on the cover looked sort of like a high school Iron Maiden like drawing. As I waited in line to check it out I flipped thru and right there I saw the name that set off the light bulb… Animal Mother. Holy shit this is Full Metal Jacket, do I really need to read this as I have seen the movie 300 times?

Then I started thinking how great this will be to find out more details and maybe more background, to say the least I was thrilled. I read the book really quickly and went to see if I could buy a copy for my shelf and saw how out of print it was. Amazing to live in a world where we are in the millionth printing of Chicken Soup for the Corn Shoot and this book is not readily available.

Maybe it a conspiracy or part of the punishment for Hasford for stealing all of those books (read the web site for the bizarre true story), but this book should be in print. Hasford was a troubled man and died alone in Greece but the good news is he lives on thru his cousin’s work. On this web site you can read the Short Timers and the follow up The Phantom Blooper (I would prefer to have the actual book but hey the point is to read it and I think if I keep watch and time it right I can find a reasonably priced copy).

I am half way through the Phantom Blooper and it is just as unique and terrifying as the Short Timers. The site is chocked full of information about Hasford and his work and troubles and sign the petition already!

http://www.gustavhasford.com/

Christmas Coupons

2010-11-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

Christmas Coupons

November 5, 2010 at 8:50PM Christmas quietly and officially started
It occurred at a McDonald’s on Chestnut in Redwood City, State of California, the northern part, across from the vacant lot, in the Latitude: 37.48 N, Longitude: 122.24 W.

In attendance was an old man with nowhere to go so his order was for here

A child approaching middle age with a diet on the run with somewhere to go but nowhere delightful so his was for here as well

A Hispanic family celebrating a first birthday ala poolside to the ball pit with the guest of honor bobbing more puppet like than curious baby like

Christmas started with Dreaming of a White Christmas and is survived by Frosty the Snowman who’s deceptively sad cousin Silver and Gold encored the opening holiday season

Eye contact was not made and sweeping and tray wiping started the shopping season with but a whimper of how many hours to go until falling asleep with the TV on…happy holidays indeed

A Rant, a rave and big plans walk into a bar and …..

2010-11-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

A Rant, a rave and big plans walk into a bar and …..

Ahh the peaceful sounds of a mega ton train screaming by right outside the window… I feel like it has been in my head a good bit of tonight. It is 11:11 and the inside pounding my brain has been getting has finally lightened up. Could just now be the adrenaline wearing off from the Giants game or something as un sexy and boring as a head cold.

Anyhow, tonight is election night and I freed myself of my civic duty. I have a lot of people I love and respect and care dearly about who are passionate voters and I respect that. I just don’t want to play the game anymore. I really got behind the Kerry and Edwards ticket and maybe I am being a baby but I felt duped later…years later by Edwards. I guess we shouldn’t put anyone on that pedestal we are all flawed the question is to what degree. I am not sure where I heard the phrase “If voting mattered they wouldn’t let you do it” but it has stuck with me and just this year I fully committed to it.

I am now in California and just recently have I started feeling comfortable with my new home and my choices for Governor are a gravelly voice guy who has probably gone down on Linda Ronstadt and a billionaire with a forehead you could show a drive in movie on? OK cheap shots aside voting and backing a politician is like picking a favorite baseball player or hoops star, they have more money than you do and they will probably always will and they know of your existence and say what they do is for the people or for the fans but ultimately as long as they still get paid and have their higher quality creature comforts they don’t care much about you.

I have been following some of the elections tonight but in the same way I follow my Fantasy Football team or On line village site (shit I just realized I have not checked in I am sure it has been raped and pillaged har har). It is kind of interesting to look at the stats and project. Maybe it is the sports manager in me or possibly I am trying to substitute the soon to be lack of baseball stats with this race (the season is barely a day over for the love of Pete).

I had a feeling Prop 19 would not pass, it would have brought in a lot of money for the state but let’s just keep our no white shoes after Labor Day archaic ideas people. A vote on weed didn’t pass because of either 2 lame jokes:

A. Those in favor all wanted to vote at 4:20 and the polling location could not handle the onslaught

B. They forgot

So I have some plans on deck for writing and now that baseball is done I should have more time to write this and that and bad poetry with odd photos. I am still planning on writing up some stuff about this baseball season from the Giants winning to Matt Downs and why I wish he was still here to my fascination and odd affection to the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as my run down and musings on the team I am creating in Sim League Baseball. It is a team that is selected by my heart and not my head or top picks. I am teasing the idea of having my whole pitching staff being Knuckleballers and submarine/sidearm throwers. A team with the Niekro brothers and Johnny Bench…one word AWESOME. I am thinking of naming the team something homesick and thoughtful:

Maybe...
A. The Topeka Heart
B. The Dodge City Deliveries
C. The Ransom Rascals
D. The Lawrence Layaway Plans

The other project I was hoping to start tonight is sadly another men in panties grappling one. I was pretty jazzed to find the PWI 500 at a Barnes and Noble (of course I went back later and bought it when I was alone so as not to get teased and made fun of) and I know a lot of people hate the rankings and argue them but I enjoy it. I have a soft spot in my heart for it as it hipped me to some wrestlers many years ago and I remember buying it with some groceries at a Dillons when I was almost dead broke and my car was in the shop.

At times with wrestling it is more fun to read about it and talk about it than actually watch it. Maybe this will be case for the bottom of the barrell of the 500. I am not interested in watching and discussing the higher guys like AJ but am more interested in the guy in the South who wrestles in an armory and his biggest match has been with an old veteran. I am going to use the

wonder of Youtube and start at the end of the 500 and see if I can find clips and matches and watch the matches of ranked grappler. I have a good PMA (positive mental attitude) and am sure I will find some gems. So I am signing off to hopefully watch this week’s old NWA episode before Comcast deletes it before the stroke of midnight.

Wow...

2010-11-01T23:16:00.001-07:00

I think this says it all. I liked the Rangers before this but i could not take anymore of seeing W behind the on deck circle. I am stunned and have been planning on writing a season wrap up about baseball and all the little things that i have enjoyed it about it this year. I have some new ideas for writing projects and now i am a one sport fan (Foosball) at this time of the year i will do more. Right now i am just stunned about the Giants winning it all...feels good. Shut up a lot of folks. More later much more and more updates. Goodnight.

20 Minute or So Fiction: "The Content Kid"

2010-10-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

**Note: I bought a used McSweeny's book some time ago and the main reason i picked it up was for this section of stories that were done in about 20 minutes. Some are great and many blew me away with how much depth and story was told in such a short time. I have done some in the past and decided to try one again. The idea of this character in minor league baseball has been bouncing around in my head for some time and i would like to write more with the idea/ character. It touches on a theme that is in my head a lot. Is it bad to be content, should we be grabbing for the brass ring??? Is there more soul in the minors??? Both important questions in my small universe. ****

The Content Kid 10:10-10:33PM October 18, 2010

Conrad “Content” McDoogal was an anomaly in baseball. He had many nicknames, The Single A Kid, The Double A Kid …Junior. But Content seemed to stick.

The TV Reporter interviewing him after the Rivets victory asked him how it feels to be on the championship team for the second year with a smirk. We all know what he was implying and by all I mean the 100 people in the stadium and the 15 or so watching on the local cable channel. What cut thru his words were I know what would feel better than winning again with bums and that would be losing with winners in the bigs.”

But ole McDoogal didn’t blink he just looked at him and told him it felt great and there wasn’t a place on earth or a team around that he would rather be on. And depending on who you asked it was either a great moment in hometown pride or the catch phrase of a chronic underachiever.

Now don’t get me wrong McDoogal had been in the bigs and he really didn’t care much for it. He had even been on some of those teams that had been “close” and it just didn’t feel right. No heart, nothing to strive for, no soul. He often found himself on the big clubs with guys he saw when he was in the minors and often the spark was gone or they were afraid of being traded or worse, sent back down.

The ole Content Kid (actually a full fledge man winding it down) never intentionally played bad, never got himself sent back on purpose. He played hard and had some moments in the big time sun. But it just never suited him. Fans were spoiled expecting perfection while wearing their $300 jerseys. Calling into radio programs and ripping apart the same men who were heroes the night before.

He had to ask himself what was the point, the higher the game the higher the preservation. McDoogal could seem himself eventually making more than he could ever spend, getting more attention than he ever wanted and he simply said no thanks.

The way that he called his own shots to save his sanity in baseball was tricky. He believed it wouldn’t be fair to tank games, no he respected the game and there were many men and boys who wanted to take the yellow brick road. He simply volunteered to learn positions that were brand new to him. He could pick up the skill eventually but never as rapid or as masterful as a pro.

His true home was left field and that was fine with him, he respected the position and was a master at getting a jump on bloopers and reading fair or foul. Managers in the show would sometimes call him up for a solid pinch hitter with a good eye for walks and one of the best swinging bunts ever in the game.

Often they were shocked when they called him in to give him the news he was going back to the Rivets or was traded down south to the Tanners and he grinned and said “Well all right” as if he was receiving a promotion.

He was a content man enjoying the game in the fashion that he wanted to play it. He enjoyed taking pictures with the fans, going to local grade schools and signing his card and riding the bumpy bus to the next town. Life was content and content was good for him.

2010-10-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

And why do I do this to myself as well? 1 a.
I would like to say these bare images only see life in the reflections of night but I would be lying

They have seen the early morning of a sick day and an afternoon after a dentist visit

Excitement in tingles of situations if were under my nose or belt buckle I would be repulsed by

But how repulsed? Finish the task and as soon as the face is flush the act sets in? Regret?

Or would the toll fare be set in play…

With some thought count me out the distance is fine

Return to faggotry Pt. 2
Really a prize? A medal?

You tell me people really spend their parent’s money on this shit?

There is probably a guy named Frank in accounting at your Dad’s office that could be a poo poo poet scholar if he ever tried

What is more fucked up Confucius? A pant load making $10,000 an inning or a pant load who spend as much a semester for poems?

**(or me sitting here at 10:03 Tuesday night in a sense banging his head against a wall and being the tree that falls and no one hears or cares)**

2010-10-10T02:04:00.000-07:00

Return to faggotry

Thru the course of several jobs and minutes added up to hours

I would jot down on sticky notes and scraps the poetic musings of that particular hour

Always knew when pressed or asked by some little goof in my head I could just jib jab jib jab

Spill out a poem with at least one or two phrases that did not upset the soup in my stomach too much

I knew I would be back… but what for?

Why do I do this to myself? 1

Usually a Saturday night after a pre nap before bed
I prowl the internet streets at night near wee morning looking upon the faces of ex loves with new loves

Those damn blaster self portrait shots of their new loves

And I assign a value to their douch baggery that is usually quiet high and maybe a bit insulting to a functioning douche bag

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the Fifteenth Day of September Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two

2010-09-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

I am at work by the time I usually get up for the next week and a half, I am dieting and have felt at times out of sorts this week. I went for a walk tonight and it seemed like every 100 feet there was someone who was shady in their own way. So with my face flush and fighting the grump I figured it is a good time for a Tickled Fancies entry, you have to have that PMA (positive mental attitude) that the Bad Brains always sang about. And hey I am worried that someday I will fully lose my lid and only write about obscure mid card matches or grown men with painted faces or both so let’s light this candle.

Tuesday Nights TV is the Tits: For a short spell (see blog posting from a few years ago) Tuesday was ECW night and they had a nice short run of some good shows or at shows with at least one good match. I followed a little of the NXT and was not too blown away, especially after they killed the best heat in years on a Tuesday with the follow up. So Tuesday was often a night where I would catch up on some comics or tinker with this here writing. Well Tuesday has become the night to look forward to due to 2 shows, Louie and Scrappers. The only problem is they come on fairly late so I am often in fear I will doze at commercial break (I have and thank god for On Demand).

For a long time I have been a fan of Louis CK. His HBO show was hilarious and insightful all at the same time. It was one of the more relatable comedies I have seen. Yeah there was a time when Roseanne was somewhat on the level but then they did all that horseshit with new babies and winning the fucking lottery and by then it had lost all charm. I was thrilled when I knew Louis was going to have a new show and was sort of bummed it was on FX but then I was reminded that FX pushes the limits quiet a bit. I am sure if I gave a damp shit I would have read what the critics are saying and I am sure the Curb Your Enthusiasm are aplenty. Curb is ok but I find myself only being able to watch maybe 2 episodes in a row. It makes me uncomfortable and I find myself cringing a lot and it gets a little overdone for my taste.

Do you cringe watching Louie? Oh yeah but it is not every other scene and where I find Larry David somewhat mean spirited I find Louie in a sense a hopeful man who knows that life can really suck and take it out of you. The show really captures a lot of those odd happenings in life that haunt us forever. I liked how some shows would be heavier on the comedy and then the next episode (the Religion one) would not make you laugh at all but show you a accurate portrait of a kid and what religion can do to him. The season is over and you kind of got the feeling that was the end of this show as well. The ending was beautiful in a real life realization way.

Batting lead on Tuesdays is Scrappers and it runs on Spike. I am not sure how I came across this show, it was probably a show they ran after TNA one night. And I have to say Spike has a few entertaining shows. Not that 1000 to Die one that show is repugnant and fucked up. I think the creator, writer director has some weird fetish of watching near naked women being killed.

So this show follows 3 crews in New York as they hustle trying to makes some cash on metal and recycling. I have watched every episode and just love it and the odd thing is I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it is romanticizing about the days when I got to do similar work, you know tearing shit up and loading dumpsters. You kind of hate it at the time but trust me when you live in an area with no space and you sit at a desk for the most part, throwing giant metal shelves in a dumpster at the library sounds pretty sweet. The characters have that stereotypical tough guy attitude but you really get the feeling they all like each other. They truly capture some of the silly and bizarre conversations you have with co workers as you are riding around in a shit box.

This season is almost done and I am not sure if there will be another one. After watching the show I often have a smile on my face. Sure a good bit of this show is a work but who cares? I have to wonder if this show would ever blow up would Sal the Barber actually get to fight in the UFC? Some nice cross promotion there I tell ya’.

Soundtrack thus far for the week:

The Jesus Lizard “Destroy Before Reading"
Pedro the Lion “Indian Summer”
Hot Snakes “Unlisted”
Scratch Acid “Cannibal”
Shellac “The Dog and Pony Show”

Mid Card Mania Pt. 1

2010-09-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why I am writing so many words on a match that happened nine years ago and really was not that great. I have been wanting to do a section called Held Up where I re watch matches etc. of the past. Not just the wrestling mind you but other films as well. My problem is I have so many ideas for projects but also other responsibilities and excuses that keep me from doing it. Case in point last night I planned on doing a second watching of this match with a notebook at hand and fell asleep watching Platoon on Spike (why I still watch movies that I own on edited TV I have no idea).

So I guess why I wanted to write about this match is I wanted to find something positive. The whole world, especially the internet fans of wrestling are so negative about pretty much everything. And they are especially hard on CZW. CZW holds a special place in my heart and I still check out some of their stuff now and then. It was around 2000 or so I guess when I started getting into the Indys and CZW and RF video are to blame and although both have huge glaring flaws I guess they hold a place in my stinky heart. So I guess I could call this the first write up of Mid Card Mania or Accentuate the Positive, probably should just call this JB has awful taste in wrestling and not in the hip contrarian way but the too dumb to even be called a mark way.
CZW A Higher Level of Pain April 13, 2002: 4 Way Match with Some Barb Wire Ladder Deal

The Cast of Characters:

The Messiah: Owww Billy. Later in his career the Messiah got gear and for some reason he lost some of his appeal to me. I liked his black pants and tee look, kind of like your friend’s older brother who was the best skateboarder in town and would stick up for you when he wasn’t hassling you. I am not sure what happened to the Messiah, I remember the story of him getting his thumb hacked off and somewhere in a box of unmarked tapes I have the America’s Most Wanted episode that has the interview and reenactment, I could go more into the thumb story and all but is Lizzy Borden a woman worth getting your thumb lopped off for? Sadly there would have a time when I would have said uhh maybe. I remember a fond time in my life living a medium sized hermit life when I would order a CZW show as soon as it was available on Smart Mark and it would show up like clockwork on Saturday and I would spend most of the day watching it and kicking back…good times. I bring this up because I recall having the death match tournament one when Mondo wrestles the Messiah who was a surprise participant and I actually was really pulling for the guy. I would be interested to see if my memory serves correct that on those super early XPW tapes that the Messiah matches were the best things on there.

Adam Flash: I always wonder if Adam Flash’s gear worked against him in the long run. I for some reason kind of dug it and I hope he scored Slipknot tickets for life. He usually had nice khaki shorts with a tucked in Slipknot shirt and odd printed boots. One time when I was visiting my parents I flipped on TNA when it was still on FSN and lo and behold there was Flash in a squash against Monty Brown and he took that pounce almost better than anyone had at that time. I am sure I have the match somewhere on one of my odd TV tapes at the time. Flash is a pretty good wrestler who has been around for a long time and never got a big break. When I was really starting to get into the East Coast Indys around 2000 I used to read Eric Gargulo’s columns and he talked about how a show about Adam Flash would have been way more interesting than MTVs Tough Enough. Or at least they should have had Al Snow’s students meet Flash to see the other side. It is funny looking back that in some regards Flash came out ahead, sure he was not on MTV but he is still working. What happened to the Tough Enough kids? Excluding Nitro and Josh the others did a few indy bookings here and there and that was it. Adam Flash >Tough Enough. I think some of the biggest leg drops in history have been done by Flash and to my knowledge he has never broken his tail bone. Long ago I must have re wound the leg drop from the ladder to the floor on Justice Pain a million times.

John Kronus: I was fairly late to the ECW party and came aboard when I finally had unlimited PPV while working for a cable company. And mind you not like the high falutin’ On Demand we have now but 2 channels that showed movies most of the time and on Sundays would show the PPVs. The Eliminators were gone and Kronus was teaming with New Jack which was an ok team. With Kronus as The Eliminators they were a fantastic team. I know a lot of folklore spins it where Heymans marketing and hype is what got them this title. But I tell you maybe it is just my messed up way of thinking but I would much rather watch an Eliminators match than a British Bull Dogs one. Now Kronus is gone and I was kind of sad when I heard about it. I heard that he was a really goofy bastard and Saturn was his handler. I just imagine how sad and puppy dog he looked when he found out that Saturn was heading to the WCW. It is interesting I think of him being gentle and Lenny from Mice and Men when he looked so crazy with nutty tattoos and all. Maybe it was the printed letter from his son in the Observer where he talked about his dad teaching him flips that makes me think of him as maybe not such a bad dude. Kronus’ weight would often fluctuate, one show I would see him and he looked jacked and then he would look super doughy. But no matter what size man was he graceful. The vampire in me always knew you could count on him for a massive blade job, although often it was not called for but I guess that is part of what made Kronus Kronus.

Chris Hamrick: He is sort of an internet darling, and no I am not talking about the Facebook posting but the positive posting and sections of podcast like on Segunda Caida. Hamrick is the movie you watch some late night when you can’t sleep that turns out to be great and better than the movie that you spent $20 to see a few nights ago. I used to do a lot of my tape collecting via Ebay and for some reason picked up a Best of New Jack and if I recall it was a Hamrick and Julio Dienro match that turned into a New Jack raping match. Watching it you kind of felt like you were watching a initiation for the new guys and it was rough. Hamrick wears odd gear and his face looks older than what he is. He takes some of the nuttiest bumps and has broken his tail bone and he probably did it in front of thirty fans in a tiny gym. His team with Smothers as Southern Commodity is fantastic and makes me think I need to get some of my old IWA tapes sent to me. He is one of those wrestlers that if I know he is in a match I know that it has a pretty good chance of being entertaining. Give me Hamrick over any smooth skinned flippity floppy or fake ass Dynamite Davey Richards any day.

The Match Itself: So I am not sure when I first watched this match but I finally gave it a second viewing this festive Labor Day Ultra Chill Weekend. A nice night of baseball and I broke the lose while I am there live curse of the San Jose Giants and felt good after my work out but knew I was living on borrowed time so I popped this in before I took a snooze. It starts with some profane promos and maybe I am old fashioned and I am not sure where I learned about promos (I guess from Strider who learned from Dory Funk Jr.) but I agree with the idea that when you curse in a promo it looks low class and comes off unintelligent (again yes I see the humor in using intelligence with wrestling). I do have to chuckle when Flash does the whole “Hey I will be right back let me go get my barb wire ladder.” Hamrick comes out then and gets into a debate with Messiah and says some cringe worthy stuff and at this point I just want the match to start before anyone else talks about Rob Black’s female friends.

So Hamrick and Messiah start throwing mediocre punches and Flash comes in for a double team and suddenly Kronus runs in making it maybe a tag match or a four way who knows CZW was never good about explain stipulations and rulings. This turns into what the kids call these days a Hot Mess. Garguilo’s commentary is sort of annoying but at least he didn’t go into one of his outrage rants with the cursing and I have to give him some credit as he tried to give some back story about Kristi Myst being Hamrick’s ex wife and the current beau of the Messiah (a work by the way and Hamrick and her only have matching tattoos and probably some memories of a Motel 6).

So nothing extraordinary is happening just some brawling and the crowd starts to turn on Kronus who looks really heavy and is wearing warm up pants and a t-shirt and is super slow and looks winded. Unfortunately the signature Hamrick bump I was looking forward to does not get filmed as the camera is on a ladder neck tie into the post ARGH!! So Messiah gets decent color and at some point to no one’s surprise Kronus gets color as well. Flash hits a pretty hard chair shot on Messiah to the back of his head and they go up top after Flash hit a pretty good Cactus Clothesline.

Now here is where there is a nice small detail in the match. Flash puts Messiah face down on a table and Messiah does a great job at looking dazed and around trying to figure out where Flash is and what is going on. Flash goes up to hit his leg drop and Messiah moves and I am not sure if I am impressed with the dedication to your art form to do a dangerous good shot at my tail bone being shattered leg drop from about twenty feet or wondering what the hell is he thinking. CZW isn’t going to pay your medical bills, maybe throw you a benefit but I am pretty sure they do not offer a decent health plan. After a small amount of selling they end up on even higher ground and Flash hits a great looking DDT on the wooden stage and wallops Messiah with about 7 light tubes that are bundled together. It makes a great sound but I think it was a foul tip which is fine as I am sure Messiah would not be happy to lose an ear in the mid card.

Hamrick did a good job bumping around for Kronus and Kronus hit a pretty nice moonsault and his girth actually made it look even cooler. Then the blown cost you a job spot happens as Hamrick climbs up Flash’s shoulders and attempts a elevated leg drop and Kronus is way too far out but Hamrick already committed. I have to say amongst the “You fucked up” chants Hamrick does a good job selling the tail bone. Then all of a sudden inside the ring Flash drills Hardtop the ref and that is the end, so I guess barbed wire ladders and brawling with absolutely no ten or even twenty counts is fine but they draw the line at putting your hands on the ref. Flash and Hamrick high tail it out of there and Messiah gets on the stick and gets in some more profanity and they chase after the heels (I guess Hamrick and Flash are heels oh CZW you can be so confusing). The crowd seems kind of let down and confused and ready to move on to the next match. So we had some big spots, double blade jobs and no finish and not that much advancement of the angle. I would have dug a Flash and Hamrick regular team but alas it never happened.

The following is a snippet of a great interview with Chris Hamrick regarding the match:
QUESTION: You worked with The Messiah one time when you and Adam Flash wrestled he and John at CZW A Higher Level of Pain. What was your opinion on the quality of that match? Is the Internet rumor true John Zandig was angry that you botched a flying leg drop during that match and therefore he refused to invite you back to CZW?

ANSWER: I thought the match was the drizzling shits. It wasn't even a match. It was just four guys doing nothing. If it had been a regular match, it would have been better.I never even got to do anything with Messiah except for the promo. I hate to say it, but Kronus fucked everything up. I did it as a favor to John Zandig, since he couldn't get Kaos. The leg drop spot was fucked up because when I went up to get on Adam's shoulders, when I looked down, Kronus had rolled out too far for me to hit him from where I was. I had no other choice but to jump. I had never heard that rumor, but thanks for letting me in on it. All those nights I sat at home and wondered why Zandig never called me back, wouldn't take any other bookings, just hoping he would call and book me. Well - damn - that explains it. Zandig, if you are reading this, I did you the one favor and this is how you repay me. Now, you can't afford me.

In Closing: So I guess it is odd that I wrote a couple of thousand words on this match but hey gotta stay sharp I guess. As for hot messes it was somewhat enjoyable and was more about the potential than the execution. I have a few ideas on how to continue this project and have a few subject ideas that I want to go more in depth. Maybe through writing about these mid card, insignificant matches in the grand scheme of wrestling I will be able to put a finger on why these matches appeal to me. And as a wise man who was in the mid card on a show once said to me “The world can’t end every day.”

The Ongoing List of my Favorite Painted Face Wrestlers:

2010-09-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

The Ongoing List of my Favorite Painted Face Wrestlers:

Ax of Demolition:

Some time back I got an invite to do a list of favorite wrestlers for a project. The project ended up not happening which was good because I hemmed and hawed about my list. First of all the irony and silliness in rating wrestlers, hell even writing about wrestling in lofty Da Da stream of consciousness is not lost on me. I realize how many others my age are finishing their masters or out right now having sophisticated wine to cap off their organic dinners and I sit here debating the ranking of big sweaty cartoons come to life. So with the list project I was not sure whether to be totally honest, somewhat honest or take the smark route. I have never had main stream tastes for anything even as a kid and personally I enjoy Dennis Condrey more than Ric Flair and still to this day Justice Pain is one of my favorite guys to watch.

So I kind of met in the middle and started thinking about how much I dig a good face painted wrestler, especially face paint that stays on and does not clump. I am pretty sure this will not be a ranking system but just every once in awhile (maybe weekly) I will do a write up on a face painter. And don’t be surprised if Nate Hatred gets more love than Sting it doesn’t mean anyone is wrong or right, it just means I may be a tad touched.

Demolition Ax: I think part of my love for Bill Eadie is there is some resemblance to my Grandpa John. When I was younger I remember a rare occurrence of watching wrestling with my Dad and when Ax took his S&M mask off my Dard said “Holy Shit it is your Grandpa… Kathy come and look at this!!!” I think what helps further drive home the Grandpa vibe is the clip I watched on Youtube of their Kayfabe Commentaries video and he is wearing a nice golf shirt just like good ole’ Grandpa John.

Ax is another one of those team members where I love him and could really not care much about the other. I mean Smash and Crush were OK but I always kind of new under their paint they were younger mullet head gym rats. I have to say the matching of silver and gold with the slicked back hair is a bad ass look for him. Demolition looked a bit scarier with their pain then the Road Warriors. I think part of that was I never cared much for the Road Warriors mo hawks, you know the perfect square patched that look like porno star pubic grooming circa 1997. Eadie worked pretty snug too and a lot of his forearms to the back must have felt like a four by four on your back.

While looking up some pictures of Ax I was amazed at what a diverse and long career Bill Eadie had/has. He was a Mongol, a Masked Superstar and a uhhh S&M guy??? There was a Blog reviewing Demolition matches but I think it is shut down. However, there are some clips and discussion here: http://board.deathvalleydriver.com/index.php?showtopic=51663&hl=demolition

I am planning on spending some of this Labor Day weekend watching stuff randomly and may do some research to watch some of the older WWF stuff. There is a definitive set made about Demolition that has a ton of discs but honestly I cannot see myself watching all the wrestling I have now, so I cannot see watching every disc of that set. I am hoping I can get the guy to sell me just the Japan disc as it has peaked my curiosity. There are some interesting looking matches and I would like to see more of Eadie in the Ax garb in singles competition.

I have not seen any of the recent Chikara stuff Demolition did and I have heard beyond the novelty it is not bad. I always say even at an old age if you can walk and throw a good worked punch and bleed you can have a pretty good match. I hope that Eadie is doing shows because he misses it and not because he needs money. He was a teacher at one time and his web site said he helps at risk kids. In a perfect world his help would consist of putting a bunch of bad kids who can’t be reached in a room and he comes in dressed in full leather man gear and paint and proceeds to whomp the shit out of kids.

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the Second Day of September Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two

2010-09-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the Second Day of September Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two:

Thursdays have the potential to eat the big one or a big one. Not too bad of a day, work went at a good clip. Not too fast and hectic but busy enough where the day went quickly. I was able to listen to 2 podcasts while working done by like minded wrestling fans. The three day weekend looms and so does my ever increasing once again neurotic diet. I somehow wrapped my brain about it and I almost think you have to get a touch high and mighty and full of shit to make it work. I think the after work hour commute made me a touch grumpy but I am working out of it. I have to remind myself this is about digging things and being positive.

Grandys: Maybe it is being on a diet, maybe it is a super power akin to us husky lads but it has been years and yet when I did a Google search for Grandy’s and saw the image of the Okra and chicken fried steak I could instantly remembered what it tasted like. I don’t know what sparked this memory, maybe it appeared from the other night when I could not sleep (I often think of fond memories or locations I am fond of to relax me). From age 5 to 12ish I grew up in Wichita KS. and we hardly ever went out to dinner and when we did it was usually McDonald’s. It is funny that a kid who went from looking forward all week to a Happy Meal has now had a steak in the tallest building in San Francisco (hope I do not sound boastful I am just as shocked as anyone how this happened). Up a little higher on the chain was Grandy’s and I think I have asked my folks if there are any around. I thought maybe my recollection was incorrect at it was called Granny’s but it was Grandy’s and there are a few around. Of course they are nowhere close to where I live. Grandy’s is kind of a symbol of growing up in the 80’s in Wichita, life was a little more simple. My job was to get good grades, my love was G.I. Joe. It is funny to think my parents then were about the age I am now, and I appreciate the job they did with 2 odd kids in a unfamiliar city.

Sure I have had more home spun truck stop kind of chicken fried steak in my day but Grandy’s had something in it, maybe sugar? Crack? Was crack even around then? Wow pre crack and pre texting sounds like heaven to me. I say fuck Italy, Rome and Paris take me on a cross country drive with a buddy or two hitting up small towns and or baseball parks and let me stock up on Grandy’s.

Ventura featuring David Yow: The Jesus Lizard played a reunion show a year or two ago and I am glad I didn’t go. Not that they would have been awful, but I am often in my head dealing with the odd nature of how these artists of my past were so great and noble and underappreciated are getting old and in some ways hanging on. I hang on to it as well but in smaller ways such as going to Rasputin’s and buying a lot of CDs of my college and on hipster days (by the way it hurts a little that my selections are usually in the under $5 bin). I started to get on a Jesus Lizard kick again and really re sparked my interest in David Yow as a singer and writer and person.

Long ago I read an interview where David Yow said his wife (sadly I think he is divorced, I liked the idea of him having a sweet wife, well now he does have a girlfriend) would not come watch him play because he just got too drunk and out of control. And believe me I saw The Jesus Lizard and it was an intense show, I kind of hid in the back and was just in awe of how out of control Yow was. Recently it clicked and I finally figured out why I like Yow’s vocals. You know how when you like a song and you do not the lyrics and you just kind of mumble and hum? Well that is why I like his vocals they are not always words often sounds or gasps. That being said some of the Jesus Lizard lyrics are good.

So as I often do when I am on hold or pause at work a person, idea, movie etc. will pop into my head and I will have to Google it for an update. So I looked up Yow and found out he was an artist and did touch up work and graphic design. With further Youtubing I found the clips below and really like the song. Ventura is a French band that I am sure was blown away playing with one of their heroes. I have no idea if they are a decent sized band but it is odd to see the guitarist with a Sonic Youth sticker on his guitar, come on man you are not a Lookout pop band be professional. The video is good and simple and the song is not too bad. The other 2 clips are a small documentary that was filmed about Yow and his visit to play with the band. I think Yow would make a great subject for a full on documentary, and I say this because sure there is the crazy shows and violence but I think there is a lot of depth to him. The film has a touch of sadness and the last scene when he talks about aging and not liking mirrors really stuck with me. We are all getting older and some are still putting out work and I wonder why and the only thing I can come up with is because that is who you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzj4FVJq_V8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzm2pwTR9KY&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu3H5X7hxg

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the First Day of September Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two:

2010-09-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

Journal of Tickled Fancies for the First Day of September Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two:

Darren Ford: Called up to run bases for Gigantes, a need for speed on the base paths. Guillen moves in the outfield and on the base paths like he has been flying all day in cramped corners and has pins and needles deluxe. Burrell who I dig for being the king of game winning sac flys is slow as well. Imagine being called up in a pennant race not for your defense or batting but just brought in to pinch run. Hell if by some miracle the Gigantes win (yes I know good and proper it is Giants but I am paying homage to the best mascot I have seen in some time) he will get a ring as well and I am pretty sure you do not get a smaller less impressive ring if you simply ran the bases in the series. Tonight he aggressively ran the bases and scored the winning run in a tight game with the Rockies (sorry Todd Helton I still dig ya). Ford doing that is one of the those small little things that endears a player to me forever, like a good sleeper film or a band that had one good EP.

Wednesdays:
Certain weeks this day can edge out a good Saturday with sleeping in and hearty breakfasts. The WWE channel changes the programming and depending on the month etc. it can be gold. And as I am letting my geek flag fly a little more around people they know Wednesday is golden due to it being new comic day. Light week, heavy week I at times hate myself for knowing what is coming out of interest to me but forgetting when my student loan is due. No matter how shitty a day is going there is always a little something to look forward to.

So I think I will make this a shorty and just put in 2 things that I am appreciative of. It is late and i still need to hose off and read a few comics. There are many more things that i dig and am grateful for. One being having air conditioning, it is stuffy here in RWC and I took the dog on a walk thru the rougher area and there are not many ACs. It is interesting the difference between a downtown full of organic eating, Prius driving enlightened snoots and beat down bike riding, pit bull having tough looking customers is as simple as left turn or right turn at Middlefield. The goal is to be positive and appreciative and to try to write those million or so words of crap to get to the good stuff. How many blogs and shit poems until you get to the center of good writing… let’s find out.

The circle of life thru bad sound quality and newsprinty hands

2010-07-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

My hair is thinner than it used to be, i don't like to be drunk in public, i am amazed kids get signed before playing live and i appreciate a good nights sleep. But yet i perked up a few months ago when i saw the Gilman exit, wow that famous club we used to read about as young idealistic lads in Dodge City, no way am i going to a show there i mean i gotta work early and that is a bit of a drive and blah blah. I have been checked out of music for some time now, well if you do not count the recent trip to Rasputin's where i bought a lot of old hits from my college DJ days. There is a definite time drop off line around 2001. Wow 9 years out of the loop. They lost me at skinny leg jeans and the dark parade and all. Much too pretty and tech savvy most of these guys are.

So on a Sunday after a nice nap i walked over to the brand spankin' new library to maybe pick up a movie or some discs. I happened to pick up the book about Bay Area Punk "Give Me Something Better. So un punk, in a brand new library, safe out in the burbs with the city in the book close by but hey i was curious and it was an oral history book which i am a sucker for. The book has been great and i cannot put it down but something even more odd came of it.

It got me thinking of Maximum Rock n Roll and how i used to pick them up, how their touring Bible Book Your Own Fucking Life caused my phone bill to jump in college. My roommate booked a tour using that book, nothing like getting an automated voice mail warning you of your bill spiking like your dumb ass roommate's glued hair. I enjoyed the columns but a lot of the music seemed to sound the same and felt kind of sophomoric. Yeah we all hate the cops, we are all poor and hate the system and most of our bands start with The. As far as politics and outlook it reminded me of painting, they were painting wide sections with a big ole brush where i was seeing that not every thing was so broad and sweeping. I would still pick it up from time to time and picked up a few free copies at Love Garden.

So as i thought they have gone partially into the world of the Internet. On a lark i decided to check out some of their podcasts and for the last few days that is pretty much all i have been listening to, especially at work. The DJing is casual and at times i cringe at some of the statements, which i think is a combination of my age and the big ole paint brush is still active in punk music. The boundaries of what they play seem a little loser which is nice and i would say on an average hour podcast i hear about 4 to 5 songs that really appeal to me. Sure some of the songs are not my thing but it is a fun adventure to go thru especially when you are at work surround by Drake and Kanye fans and you are churning out work.

It has been great to now add researching music to my already geeky research of wrestling rarities and comic book finds but i want to keep the punk world at a distance. Granted some of these songs are wonderful but a whole album may not be good, a live show may be awful and uncomfortable. So i am going to love this recent find in my life in this little universe all of its own. These small perfect moments that make me feel a joy that i thought was long gone.

One of my favorite songs is Golden Staph "Dr. Tony", one of the finest 2 minutes songs i have ever heard. They only have a cassette release, ha who is laughing now my 97 Escort once again proves it loves me with its cassette player. Sadly i have not been able to get it thru the links but may send an email to the band.

http://goldenstaph.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/two-heads-better-than-one/

But you can download the song: http://maximumrocknroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/01-Dr-Tony.mp3

Top part has a review: http://maximumrocknroll.com/page/2/

The MRR podcasts: http://maximumrocknroll.com/cat/mrr-radio/

On the Fly, coming soon to the back of a toilet soon

2010-04-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Note: I have not had a chance to print this zine one out, it is four pages and i am going to send it to the usual three people or so. I feel like a traitor posting it here on the internet but oh well. I am going to try and post more here, maybe once a day no matter how boring and self centered. I have several zines i am working on but i hate to admit when i work more i am less creative. More soon....

OTF #2 or maybe three, I am not sure. OK so I used to try to make little zines at work. I think I did the first one when I was shilling insurance for State Farm, what a fucking joke. I am still angry with myself for how much time and some effort I put in. I was just working to be working like eating when you are not that hungry. At least being fat you get to enjoy the flavor, the only flavor there was of dishonest bullshit. Anyhow, this should be a joyous on the fly publication and not a hostile work environment. So it is 6:39 and I am trying to get a zine in a evening done (sourness may arrive in any form this evening). My plan get some writing in, maybe sneak out for some nachos and revel in the 13 inning opening home win for the Giants… Rowan who woulda thunk it?
Randumb: What an odd hit single “Under the Milky Way” for some reason I associate it with Gibson’s parking lot in Dodge City. I have been thinking about western Kansas lately as a old friend told me one of our popular head cheer leader girls died this week. 36 and I thought by now she would have a big family and a fat aging jock. Nope young 24 year old fella and lots of drugs and degrees. I had a weird thought if you would have put me head to head with her in circa 92 and asked which one will die from drugs and the party life I would have won in a landslide. Odd how things turn out and I have a feeling they will get odder as the years go by.
2 Wrestlers I am into Now:

Jon Moxley: A fairly good interview around the time of last year’s Peterson Cup http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2009/11/09/jpc2009-profile-jon-moxley/
I am trying to write a tournament style deal blog of the ECWA Super 8 vs. the Peterson Cup of 2009 and it is slow going with baseball season in swing and work and just having to do things like laundry and sleep but one of the highlights so far was watching Mox have a melt down during the opening series calling bullshit on sportsmanship. I could easily see him becoming this decade’s Homicide or Samoa Joe (which it is weird to see how much everyone dislikes them now). The above link for the interview he talks about just wanting to smash someone in the face and forget all this shaking hands crap. I guess he is now the CZW champ and I need to go back and watch some of his stuff I have on shows I picked up for the Callihan/ Havoc feud. His chain match with Thumbtack Jack was great, I mean come on he came out to L7 how can you not dig him. He has this interesting gravel like voice and I cracked up when he said the ref “ Come on asshole hurry up we’re losing day light.” This match also has a funny finish but a sensible one. I am not sure if the big boys would ever call him up but they should, well I guess I hope they don’t because god knows what kind of a gimmick they would saddle him with. It is always a catch 22 with great guys on the indys as you hope they get to live their dream but really is it worth it?

Ryota Hama: I totally forgot about this big old lard lad that makes me feel a little better about myself. I need to do more research and plan on writing more about him and Mox, Hama just won the Triple Crown which is shocking. I plan on finishing watching that tonight. Fat boys rejoice!

Music Sucks:
I went thru this awful break up that was in itself not that bad but what made it bad was the still smarting wounds from the previous and a mid life crisis too early in life (I am in a full blown one now) and I remembered listening on a whim to American Music Club (for some reason I always go t those sad bastards) and finding the song Elbow Deep that was on a CD single I stole from the college radio station I worked at and just marveled at how great it was. Here are a few gems I have re discovered (I’ll burn em’ for you if ya like):
Fireside “Headacher”: somehow more poignant now.
Replacements: “ Birthday Gal” Studio Demo: so what if I am late to the party
Sleater Kinney “Oh!”: Oh Carrie you sing like a goat in heat and so am I. Oddly hot.
Silkworm “(I Hope U) Don’t Survive”: Ladies and gentlemen the best band no one likes.

Hell a Wheeze Tip: Listen to Sherwin Sleeves
The Very High Brow Journals of Weenus P. Wussman
Dated around 7-16-9
I should have watched more of Raw tonight but I did not feel up to the heckling. I played some ball tonight with a neighborhood kid and am worried that I am on the 10 year old skill level. My sidearm is better than my regular throwing arm. I think I have the K. Greene problem where I over think my throw. It was humbling to play ball Friday with a great college player. OK maybe he was a has been in his late twenties but he effortlessly threw way across the field and my pitches were pretty weak when he was kind enough to catch. I got to learn to throw a knuckleball. That way I can throw slow and not feel like a simp. My arm is not that strong but maybe it will get better. I love playing some catch and just chatting and thinking about the day. **Note: I remember making some decent catches etc. but struggling throwing the long ball and this guy was talking on his phone as he was throwing lasers to me.. eek, humbled indeed.
Jesus Christ this new word program sucks, I am trying again to write at 10:01 what I enjoy about life:
That swimmy heady feeling of the beginning of a drunk spell. It reminds me of slowly easing yourself into a hot tub for a soak. That beautiful feeling is the death of brain cells in this case. People say if you drink alone you have a problem, I think if you need to be in public showing off while paying inflated prices you have a problem. I prefer to write, draw, laugh or even walk around. All of these things are free, at least in the dollar and cents sense. When I was unemployed I once walked to the grocery store and bought a pencil container and a Sharpie and drank an energy beer on the walk home because it looked like an energy drink. I had a nice heady buzz when I got home.
Random thoughts
I was just thinking while listening to a Touch n Go sampler, there is a good Yeah Yeah Yeahs song “Bang” and Karen O strikes me as one of those girls who talks and writes about sex and put out this dirty vibe but was in reality probably a late bloomer and is all talk. I bet when she and Angus of the Liars broke up she was bummed as she was worried that from now on out she was going to have to live up to a image of debauchery and big ole tall untalented Angus knew the truth and was fine with it. Poor Karen.
Wow this Touch and Go Sampler is jarring a lot of memories, Enon is playing and well I thought it was Blonde Redhead. I saw them once and the girl had a dress gown on where you could see her side boobs and many young man was dazzled. My super record buddy asked me what I thought about the show and I mentioned a couple songs etc. and he was impressed because everyone else made a comment about the boobs. I was pleased but secretly that was the first thing that came to mind was side boob.
The first version of this exercise got erased as my computer without warning decided to run out of battery, maybe it is karma and I should not make word sport out of other people’s misery. I thought about this but fuck them for having a loud screaming fight in such a cramped area at night, have some mother fucking discretion please. Maybe it is appropriate that Move to the Country by Smog is playing right now, damn I was on a role on take one oh well.

An imagined conversation between the two new Russian neighbors who never smile or say hi when you see them, often their house is dark and somehow they have made allies with our nemesis the old smoking bag who has nothing to do with her life. I find it interesting that this lady hates us for little things and yet befriends people that would have violent screaming matches at night. The first line is accurate as I could hear it the rest I made up imagining him trying to assemble Ikea furniture.
“What are you doing smashing things? You are a fucking animal!”
“Oh what the fuck. This fucking paper instructions with no words, stupid cheap American shit. Maybe I should leave you to do it since you are so calm and never yell. Cool fucking customer you are!”
“I swear if you wake the baby with your screaming like mad dog I will gut you!”
“Ah big talk do you think you have strength. Oh I forget you sleep with baby all day watching television and occasionally shuffling round in your house slippers. Some mother, walk to park some mothers do you just watch shit shit shit all god damn day. “
“Oh I am problem? Don’t think I do not know you stay later at work so you don’t have to come home… overt times or what they call it. You just not want to come home.”
“I work too hard for this shit… ahh my thumb god damn mother fuckers shit fuck ass, I am going to smash this god damn thing to bits.”
“Stop you crazy fuck. Why don’t you just stop and quit raving like a maniac. Do not wake the baby, she has had long day.”
“Oh and fuck if I don’t. Get treated like shit from dumb 23 year old American fuck ass out of school to come home to god dam ungrate wife who spends money on shit furniture and call cards to call her back fat mother telling her what useless fuck I am.”
“She already know what you are no news. Fuck baby is stirrings.”
“No no please go take care of baby do somethings if you have energy, I just do everything I will finish putting cheap shit cabinet together. Baby comes first well no not firsts but after stupid fucking television!”
Hell a Wheeze Tip: Make Eli Whiteside your favorite ball player

Wednesdays and Weekends #2

2010-03-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

#2 Issue

I thought this was going to be a small pull week for me this week and it turned out kind of middle ground. For once my karma worked for me as this is a in between payday Wednesday, well I treated myself with a variant cover for Green Lantern, usually the variants are gone by the time I get there. Which is too bad because Lee’s is one of the coolest shops not only for the great people that work there but the fact that they do not corn hole you on variant prices and usually just charge a couple bucks more. I love going to this store and mentioned this to Ryan and MP and they said to call in the morning on Wednesdays and they can put one in my file. Part of what I look forward to about picking up comics is chatting with the guys as I mentioned before.

It is good MP is a wrestling fan as well and we got to talking about the new bullshit rule of no chair shots to the head and no blading. We began talking about the joke of a Wellness Policy and such when Ryan asked what we were talking about and I responded with shame and hushed tones of “wrestling.” It got big chuckles and he said we looked embarrassed and we had the look of being caught. As I was thumbing through my pulls I noticed sure enough there was the illusive #6 issue of Anchor. I was kind of bummed as I just purchased it off Ebay for a good deal but hey I will just have both covers of this fine comic.

Anchor #6: I am not sure what it is about this comic but it is in the same vein as the Great Ten for me as in I am not totally wild about the art but the story is fantastic. Actually I like the Anchor’s art work a little bit better as it has a certain charm to it. The covers for the Anchor have been phenomenal and that is part of what drew me to this book. I love how the story progresses giving you a little more each issue and this issue and #5 had huge events happening at the end. Clem is one of the most interesting characters to come along in some time, sure people keep comparing him to Hellboy but I imagine someday he will be as big. This issue gives us the most extensive look into Clem’s past and I loved seeing him as a young lad and how even with people using him for his strengths to do their bidding he still had a good heart that only needed some guidance.

One thing that I really like about this comic and all credit to Boom! Studios is their really is a punk rock community feel to this title. I can honestly say I enjoy the letter section as much as the rest of the book. Phil Hester’s passion about this character comes through, and not too sound too hokey but it makes me want to work harder on my writing and characters. There is a letter when he says he knows $4 is a lot to spend for a book and he will try to make it worth your time and money.

Believe me this is a fine book and you can get caught up with the previous 4 issues in trade at a super reasonable price. Oh and my second copy showed up today and the cover makes me think I may need to buy each cover each month…wow.

Favorite Part: Page 13 After the raiders have killed Isemay they are fleeing by boat and Clem chases them down and the dipshit raiders think he is wanting to be on their ship and one actually tells him to keep the anchor they tied to him to drown him. Clem throws the anchor and it all turns bad for the raiders from there.

Green Lantern #52: I think White Lantern Sinestro may be my new favorite looking character, he just looks great in the uniform (whew I sound like I have some Sinestro sugar in the tank). That being said I liked this issue but was not wild about it. I really do want to try to be positive when writing about comics because I think there is more than enough shit talking in the world. The last few Green Lantern issues have been good but not blow me away good.

The return of Parallax was not really that much of a welcome one with me as I felt like it was a case of déjà vu. But oh brother did I get even more than I ever wanted with Ion, Parallax and the other ring colors power animal, what the hell is this a Chinese take out menu? The Nekron parts were good and man alive I love how he is drawn, especially after picking up his early (maybe first?) appearances in Captain Atom. Not a bad issue and I think I will get more out of it after a re read after reading tomorrow’s conclusion to Blackest Night.

Favorite Part: Page 12 Nekron literally slices Sinestro down the middle and is splashed and an odd purple blood.

The Rise of Arsenal #1: I think I have only read one Green Arrow trade and enjoyed it. On a whim I have picked up the Green Arrow Rise and Falls and have loved it. Several people I have talked to have marveled (no pun) that these issues have actually really piqued their interest in the Green Arrow character. Now keep in mind I am no expert on comics and just a fan who does not feel the need to know every single fact by heart so as a semi newbie I will write about this one. This book hits the ground running, really there is only about one page of peace when Arsenal is talking to his kid. I do not know a lot about Prometheus but what I can gather he is sort of a minor villain and that is what I love about this story. A minor guy commits a heinous act that sets so many things in the DC universe into action.

The scenes with Roy in the hospital are pretty intense and maybe it is just me but there is a little bit of acceptance in Roy about his arm and then her presses further about things to find out what must be his worst nightmare came true why he was out cold. And enter Ollie who is one of the most real characters currently in comics. He has finally had his limit and does not give a fuck about the hero’s way of justice and only cares about the satisfaction of making Prometheus and others involved pay. It is really gripping and emotional towards the end as Roy talks to a junky ghost of a friend and shuns everyone and kicks some muggers asses and pops pills. The scene in the morgue is powerful and I believe I have heard a variation of it from a movie, but the idea of a child crying out for a parent to save them and they don’t is a nightmare for sure. I will for sure be picking up the rest of this series.
Favorite Part (feels weird writing favorite with such a heavy book): Pages 12 and 13 that have no words and just show the Justice League’s reactions.

Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way #2: The first issue just came out a week or so ago, yeah I could look it up but am lazy, and I loved it. I am a big fan when Marvel does a short story collection. For awhile I was picking up Amazing Stories or something or another. It had the Arno Stark stuff and a great short of Spiderwoman as a private detective and stopped due to lack of a job last summer and never got back on track (have a feeling I can pick the missing ones via cheap o bin) but enjoyed it.

Last month’s had that certain intangible quality where I was still thinking about it that night as I went to bed and thinking that was way better than I expected. This second issue had some heft to it and I for once did not roll my eyes at the price… $3.99 seems fair. I wish this concept book had more to do with unknown writers more than artists though but that is just me being selfish in hoping for tips and advice for writing as my drawing has barely improved from the 3rd grade. The Fantastic Four story was pretty good but pretty standard although I liked the part with the Thing strapped to the teeth rushing the monster. The Thor story was a nice fable but I was not too fond of the art work as for some reason I cannot get into that odd blocky Magma art. My favorite was the Hulk which told a dream story mixed with reality with no words (wait a minute wasn’t I just complaining about this being an art centric book, walking contradiction I am). I liked the dream sequences of gladiator Hulk fighting his enemies while a hot chick is being chased in the woods in reality. The two X Men tales were ok, I didn’t like the art work for either and for different reasons.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I am pissing on it as I respect anyone who can draw and do this kind of work it is just not my favorite. The Dead Pool short that closes out is really entertaining and has a nice twist. I have friends who say that Dead Pool is the best comic going but I there are several reasons that keep me from picking it up (call me petty, no not Tom), such as I hated the ad where he is saying “X X Baby!” yuck and I hated the spoof on the Blackest Night with Dead Pools Corps. Yeah I may just be a communist for not liking this and Kick Ass comrades.

Favorite Part: Page 21: In the Hulk dream story the hooded killer is chasing the girl and she does the classic horror trip, well to be honest they draw her super hot. Oh and I guess she spits up at the killer and the splatter on his cheek looks like chew, what is she from the cast of Hee Haw?

Secret Warriors #14: I was kind of shocked that we are already on issue 14. I have really enjoyed this title, it is not a blow away title that I come away from just shaking my head in awe but it has been a good consistent title that has covered a lot of ground, commandoes, children of gods etc. This title has really made me a fan of Daisy and I enjoy the banter between her and Fury, I just wish there was more Dum Dum Duggan. One of these days I need to pull out all the back issues and re read them, at times I get confused with the different organizations (excuse me again all powerful and mighty comic fans). At times it feels a little like a G.I. Joe title with the secret organizations and military ops but then they add some great work with the gods. This issue started out with some great banter between Daisy and Fury and switched into a different gear with Viper pleading, the Viper scene did a great classic set up of suspense and the trail off dialogue into a shocking full page reveal. This is another issue that I think is part of a larger story puzzle. It may not seem like a lot on its own but full realized it will all make sense with Orion, Leviathon and Hydra.

Favorite Part: pages 13-14 When J.T. and Daisy have a drink and J.T. tells Daisy the only reason he is sticks around is to be around her. Hey look at that the romantic in me is just on life support, what a great line of dialogue “Whatever it is that a woman doest to a man … you do that to me."

If I had to put the Wednesday list in order (wow this is a tough one except for the #1 slot):

1.Anchor #6:
2.The Rise of Arsenal #1
3.Secret Warriors #14
4.Green Lantern #52:
5.Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way #2

I ended up doing my usual perhaps compulsive second go around pick up Sunday. I had a little cash in my pocket as the guys paid me for the UFC fight tickets so I figured I could maybe pick up a few things I was on the fence about on Wednesday. I really needed to get some air as I saw my opening for some short relief from yet another marathon play date. This one involved an egg drop at the bridge which should have been fun but I tell you 8 to 9 year olds can argue and ruin almost anything. Times have changed for youth in so many ways, the scheduling of playing is just the beginning. One of the ones that bothers me is the bargaining factor and the toy/ rewarding for no reason other than being on a plane of existence. Remember when you only got toys on your birthday and Christmas and maybe for a good report card? Anyhow, I need to shut my Dr. Phil cake hole and write about the Sunday pick ups. I only picked up 3 books and thought about doing the random pull from the cheap o bin and reviewing it but I think I have some from a random $3 bag from Rasputins which will work perfectly for that, now if I can just find those. So here be some mo’ ramblings on comics:

Hellblazer: #265 Part 1 No Future: Hellblazer is something I pick up now and then, usually if I am aware of a new story arch I will pick it up or if I see a collection like the Christmas one. I have the first trade and really liked it but have not followed up due to time constraints and having to work for 8 hours at least a day rather than read comics and day dream… drat. The Sid cover was pretty interesting and I remembered enjoying the issues about Constantine’s old punk band days and thought this may tie in nicely. It is odd that this arch is only 2 issues. This seems like a story that could be fleshed out a little more, I mean come on the Chas spin off was what 4 issues. The art work does a great job at showing the aging Constantine, if I recall he is one of the few characters that ages in real time hence the pot belly and wrinkles.

Constantine’s old buddy Faeces calls him up for some help with Sid Vicious which is a creepy doll/ statue and he warns him that the conservatives are coming. The Faeces character is one I am too familiar with the aging punk, and the section where Constantine gives him some tough love is interesting as suddenly something comes out of the nasty statue. His relationship with Epiphany is interesting as you are not sure if he actually likes her or if he simply sees some use in her, is he really jealous or is he the same grumpy walled off person. Something is in the Sid idol puppet and it made Constantine feel young but what is it? Since it will only cost me $2.99 you bet I will find out the answer.

Favorite Part: Page 10 When Faeces reveals the Sid shrine and Constantine says he feels a little quesey. The shrine has some nice small touches and one of my favorites is the child hood picture of Sid.

Nemesis: #1 OK so I am waaayyy beyond burned out about Kick Ass. It is not the fault of the comic, but I feel like a communist saying this but the comic just didn’t appeal to me. I think I got on board around issue 1 but just kind of got tired of it and hell how else was I going to afford those tasty upcoming Blackest Night issues? I skipped over this on Wednesday and almost picked it up. I am not sure why I do this. Maybe my sub conscious is trying to create an out or something to look forward to on the weekend. The way this was explained is what if Batman was a bad guy? I read mostly positive reviews but a lot of them said it was too short or it was like coming into a movie that had been going for 15 minutes or so.

I found this to be a great first issue. I love the look of the Nemesis, I think I just dig all white costumes such as the new Sinestro White Lantern. But it was fairly true to its description, yup evil Batman rules. The Bizzaro world opening is fantastic, where Nemesis talks with the police chief that even resembles Jim Gordon. I always forget how violent comics can be sometimes and how harsh the language can be. I seem to get a lot of DC comics so it is nice to get that shock factor of vivid violence and blue language. The baby face Chief of Police is kind of a cool Sam Elliot customer (maybe Tom Berringer in his prime?) that I am afraid is doomed. I like how you think Nemesis is going to go straight for him but he zig zags and goes up even higher on the hit list to prove a point. I am not sure how many issues this is going to be but I am in even with the lame statement on the front that says Makes Kick Ass Look Like Shit.

Favorite Part: Page 17 Where Nemesis is running around on top of Air Force One and we see the shot from the barrel of a gun and the words “Don’t even think about it, fuck-head”. Classic and it made me laugh at loud.

Vengeance of Moon Knight: Marvel Must Have Collecting issues 1-3: Now this is more like it, if Marvel is going to bend me over for $3.99 an issue then let me enjoy the girth, ugh I just made myself a tad ill. I was unsure about picking this issue up as I was disappointed with up the Moon Knight Down South story arch with the Punisher, ok not disappointed but at times disgusted with the Bro talk between the luchadores and pissed with the bait and switch of the Punisher. And really to be honest I only know one guy who reads Moon Night and he likes it but is by no means a champion for it.

So what pushed this into the weekend compulsive buy stack is they had a great creepy scare crow guy (ok if any comic guy is reading this yeah yeah I apologize for not knowing everything from his name to his favorite smoothie flavor I just like scary scare crow men) giving lobotomies and creating an army of brain dead zombies. For the most part this was a good read, I did get a little tired of them continuously brining up the concept of Moon Knight did not murder the bad guys. OK we get it he is fighting the urge or compulsion to skin and maim his foes.

I was really excited to see the Sentry while flipping through the issue but upon further read I felt like that angle kind of went nowhere. Sure it was interesting to see him pulling Moon Knight along with him while running his super hero errands but where is the action? At least the parts with The Hood paid off, I love the Hood and am glad he is involved with the task of building a gang and going after someone. The last issue with the Bushman resurrection was the best of them but I found the Spidey part odd and out of place, he is making jokes about Facebook and then once again we are reminded how amazing it is Moon Knight didn’t eat their skin and drop kick their entrails. I saw issue 4 out but passed… well for now. In these rough times I am going to take my changes in the fifty cent bin.

Favorite Part: Page 61 Where the scare crow climbs into the asylum through the gates and says soon the inmates will be running the asylum.

Sunday’s pick- ups in order:
1.Nemesis #1
2.Hellblazer #265
3.Vengeance of Moon Knight: Marvel Must Have

First and Ten... The Journey Begins... again

2010-03-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

When I am on my deathbed, or shall I say if I am lucky enough to have some time to reflect my life before I die I wonder if I will regret all the time I sat at the keyboard or with notebook writing about silly things like wrestling or comics. Will in those last moments will I wonder what possessed my mid 30s self to watch all 80 episodes of the HBO series 1st and Ten.

I had been on the fence about picking this up and then one day at a Walmart in Mountain View I said what the fuck. I am not sure but it might have been one of the first days that I found the Wal Mart. And I know that sounds bizarre in many ways as they are everywhere but out here it is a little harder to find one. A good Saturday that makes me homesick out here is if I go to the Wal Mart and then have Chiles for lunch. Many enlightened ones in my general vicinity would look at this as hill billyish and the epitome of what is wrong with this dumpy German kids from Western Kansas but hey I say it is the chunks of sausage in the mother fucking gravy. So I braved the people circling the five dollar DVD bin and glanced at the shelf to see for $5 1st and Ten the full show.

I have fond memories of this show and many times when I see certain actors I still associate them with their 1st and Ten characters. Donald Gibb will always be Dr. Death and Delta Burke will never be a Sugar Baker to me but the owner of the Bulls. I have scanned the disc and think I finished most of the first season but I decided I needed to go back and watch with notes. An interesting thing I noticed is around the third or fourth episode they got rid of the laugh track and added nudity. I dare you to find a better trade off in the history of television, canned laughter or beautiful natural eighties boobies?

I also hate how everyone was always so on Delta Burke in later years for being so big. Hey she was always somewhat of a thicker gal but who cares. When I was a young lad in Haysville I remember thinking she was dreamy and I realized I preferred black or brunette hair over the blondes. In one of the early episodes she said “You want some chicken Bob?” and I just thought wow that sounds dirty, so I guess that was the beginning of me reading into things. But then again I recall on an episode of Cheers when Sam and Diane were trying to figure out whose house they would go do it in Diane says about her place “It’s dirty” and Sam says “not if we care about each other”. What my young mind thought Diane was talking about at first was her vagina. So yes the seeds of my depravity began at an early age, thanks Ma and Da for not being so uptight about movies and such, Animal House at 6 a little iffy but it helped warp me to who I am today.

So without further ado I present the 1st and Ten Run downs. I am not sure how I will format this so it is an easy read, it will be a journey back in time. This is the run down of episode one and I should have the notes for 2 done soon. I have a long way to go, about 79 more episodes to be exact.

Episode 1: The Pilot

I saw the name Leslie Easterbrook in the opening credits, is that the blonde sex cop in Police Academy? I should go and look it up on IMDB but I had to unplug the internet cable doo hickey to set at the table. You gotta write about important shit like this at a table, oh and I have a big glass of water and a tumbler of Kamikaze shot mix as I try and make sense of my notes. Holy shit strike that from the record, Delta looks pretty slim and good in the first episode, but sadly episode 2 she starts wearing frumpier outfits. Delta Burke was Kristie Alley before their was A and E and all to do shows about her.

Now I broke one of my rules and did research a little bit about the show. This pilot I guess was for HBO which was trying to appeal to people making television to come over so they could be edgier and not have to worry about FCC regulations. That being said I was shocked at the beginning when Diane catches her husband greasing up tight end Todd Taylor. That is pretty risqué for the eighties I would say. Now days no one would blink an eye. I remember being at my grandma Minnie’s house and HBO had some movie on with Harry Hamlin questioning his straightness and he starts making out with a man and my Grandma jumps up and says “No not in front of the children!” It didn’t really startle me and no not because I have sugar in the tank but I would like to think I was an enlightened young lad. I wish they would have expanded a little more on the story, was Diane being neglected, did her husband still hump her? Did they fire Todd Taylor?

There are a lot of similarities to North Dallas Forty in this episode. The pool party, the new younger QB who is super religious (“Why do I smell like strawberries? Is one of the greatest movie lines, maybe not top ten but top 50) and the aging superstar. Which in this pilot it looked like the new QB star was played by Kent from Real Genius. They seemed to make the Bob Dorsey character a mesh between Nolte and Mac Davis and you sir are no Mac Davis. By the way Mac Davis should have been Burt Reynolds huge in my mind.

This show has that weird 80s thing where it is a comedy but suddenly the music is somber and there is a serious moment. Now it is not as bad as say Family Ties with Alex Keaton and the diet pills but it seems a little out of place when Dian is talking to Roger about how afraid he really is of the Arcolas. The plan is to plant coke and give it to the Bulls and tell them it was from Diane disgracing her and making her sell the Bulls back to her oily filter cigarette smoking butt pirate of a husband (not that there is anything wrong with that matey). So they get a greasy guy that looks like a cross between Taylor Negron and that Gremlins spin off Critter coming out of the toilet to plant coke. But Ernie the disgraced coach that Diane fired comes to the party, keep in mind the wild party with the typical generic keyboard music and no boob showing, and finds the coke saving Diane and his job. All is well with the world and Diane and Ernie are going to take the Bulls to a 500 season ha ha. I am not sure how Ernie getting a tip negates how the whole show they were building up how shitty a job he was doing falling asleep and not knowing players. But hey what did I expect from a pilot.

Laugh out louds for episode: 0

Cringe Worthy moments for episode: lower scale 2-4

Laugh Track: not on for first half of episode, then appears

Observations:
1. All the white guys on the team are good ole country boys, the only difference is slim country white boy or fat lineman country hick deluxe

2. The star wide receiver Witherspoon is in negotiation for 1 million a year and his agent is very Johnny Cochron. Maybe a young Johnny Cockroach was a fan of this show and after a long night of disco dancing took of his platforms and saw this show and thought hey I should base my whole legal persona on this guy.

3. One of the country boys who I think is a tight end named Mason runs a route to impress Diane and after he runs off she is told how he is a flasher and likes to expose himself. It got me thinking how you almost never hear about that crime anymore. I mean I know it happens but when have you ever heard of a pro athlete doing that, and no I don’t think Big Ben counts. Very original to have that be his celebrity weirdness. Wouldn’t it be funny if instead of pro football players welding guns and punching strippers they had a problem where they mooned people and played the unsuspecting game of is that gum on my pants?

Quotable Bulls:
Diane: “How are your knees?”
Bob Dorsey: “Not as pretty as yours”

Wesley Mania this past weekend...

2010-03-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

The following is from my journal dealy i keep, it was done late at night and tends to ramble and all about Davey Richards and my thoughts on him. Bottom line the Evolve show was pretty friggin dope. Not sure how i am writing about all my troubles and turmoil leads to a Davey Wesley Mr. Belvedere kid rant but hey i just steer this husky German kid's brain.

I should think of some positive things, uhhh the Evolve is good. I started watching a bit of the main event with Davey Richards. I wonder if he is still married to Miss Natural or what the hell her name is from Missouri. He just seems so much like a little jerk, who knows maybe he is a good guy with a good sense of humor but he seems a little too Benoit for me. I mean before Benoit did his thing I dug his matches but from what I could see and hear they guy had no personality besides wrestling. Just bland, which when you think about it is so odd. You have a wife and kids and really wrestling was more powerful than them. I am not sure if I have anything in my life that would over rule loved ones or even friends. It is odd thinking of how fake fighting and drama can consume everything, but I guess any hobby could get their claws in the right or wrong minded fella. Somewhere there is a guy obsessing over shuffle board to the point where he ignores everything else. But I wonder if Davey knows about Natural’s past which I guess is somewhat shady. But maybe he just really dug her and thought hell the past is the past and on my first NOAH tour I went to that bath house and got a tug.

So I have a feeling I may nod off a tad tonight and then do the wake up and be up until two or so. The show had a fresh new feel and lo and behold Gabe did it again with Evolve. I actually found myself giving a shit about the roster. The Evolve show has been great as I started to say, it reminds me of one of my favorite days with Tiesel. I want to say it was a Monday holiday but I am not sure. He was working at the Krispy Kreme in a grocery store and had a box of about a million of them. I brought over some wrestling, more in particular the first ROH show. We watched it as a PPV and dug it. I remember a lot of cracks of Bryan Danielson’s tights how they were all white and he looked like the bigger asshole brother in most 80’s movies who does a lot of curls and swings numb nut chucks and drinks a lot of protein shakes.. Granted some of the shoot interview in character segments were a tad cheesy but I have to say at least they are taking a somewhat new approach. It really makes me miss booking and who knows maybe I can still get my foot in the door somewhere or help with the Metro company that is starting. I need to order last year’s Super 8 which I finally got a lead on. I want to watch and review and try and find some good indy stuff.

So to continue on the Davey Wesley Richards issues in a free form way I did watch the main event with him last night and it was ok. Not a blow away and I thought there were several matches that were better. Not everything has to be a long strong style macho dick docking fest. Early going ons included Davey having psycho eyes and yelling come on and harder, wait come on me harder? I do have to say he was more animated then I remember. I often thought of him as a bland create a wrestler with no emotions on his face. I did semi watch his match with Drake Younger in the Peterson Cup and remarked to Tim on the phone (what don’t we all watch TV and discuss with our friends who live far away?) how Richards was doing the sell of checking his teeth with the ref after he got hit by a strike.

I am big enough or husky enough to admit that if someone else would have done that I would have thought it was great selling, IE Dick Murdoch often did a similar act getting miles out of a simple jab. But for some reason I thought I bet this is schtick he does often, well sure enough he did it in the main for Evolve. But he did have a busted lip and there was a little bit of blood so that gave it some weight. It is weird how my brain works because I started thinking about Dynamite and how I guess he often would saw his head off for good color and I thought to the more recent pics of him in his book and how gigged up his forehead looked and I got to thinking does Davey do that? I guess he almost has to if he is falling in the line of the Benoits and such where wrestling is everything to them and that is just part of the job.

I am going to rewatch the match with Drake Younger who I do enjoy for the most part. In the hot days of Facebook I remember him posting about breaking up with a girl who he cared about because he just wanted to wrestle and I imagine the death match look bothered her. Who knows what kind of a cat Drake is, but in that short nano burst in the internet I thought of him as a pretty classy guy. A guy who probably works a day job and is slowly gaining weight and knows Vinny will not come a knocking but still continues to do what he enjoys. I guess he is coming to Evolve which should be interesting, I am sure it has happened but Drake vs. Arik Cannon or Brad Allen could be good.

Ibushi took a beating for sure and did some great stuff. In an odd coincident I happened to randomly watch a DDT show I had on VHS and he was in a match against Ryuji Ito. Ito for some reason I really hate, well not for some reason I can list three off the top of my head:

1. Mortal Combat theme he comes out to. Come on what are we in middle school?
2. The slow motion involved in his kicks. His spin kicks look just slow and awkward and make me think of a guy in black dress socks throwing kicks at his younger cousins trying not to slip and fall on Grandma’s hard wood floor.
3. Those damn jean shorts with the 7th grade art club sharpie doodles of dragons, come on maybe if it was an acid washed jean jacked but they are shorts, buy some gear you look silly.

Ibushi did look pretty good in that match, a little green and I understand the idea of a pecking order and paying your dues I hated to see him do it to Ito. He looked a little more bulked up in this match and I started thinking about his pay for this show. You come to the US and do a really physical match you should get some scratch but I have to wonder with this being a new promotion and all.

One thing I find odd about Davey and the fandom thing is he was trained by Tony Kozina who I enjoy a lot more. He has a more unique look, kind of like a cross between Deniro and Carmichael from Laverne and Shirley but keep in mind he is a mini. One of my complaints about wrestling is most shows especially indies do the head lock drop down spots to start a match. Tim and I watched this old from the 50s black and white match and fuck if those headlocks didn’t look painful. Well Kozina is one of the only guys I have seem slap on a headlock and think fuck that looks all kinds of nasty. Kozina did a show for CSW and it was before I worked for them. But I romanticized the story, he was moving across country and was picking up shows on the way. Imagine that life, out on the road wrestling, meeting new guys eating late at Applebee’s or Old C’s. Believe me the after dinners are some of my fondest memories of my short time in the biz. Oh Eddie Money your song is so true I wanna go back and do it all over again (yeah I hate me now too but you mix about 5 Kamikaze shots from a bottle with Sprite into a tumbler after taking care of 2 sick people and you tell me you don’t get a little memory happy).

Kozina just does not get the love, I think ROH might use him a little here and there but the guy is good. Really early on we had an offer to use Davey and he was billed to us as Kozina’s guy and we said sure, not sure but it didn’t pan out. Years later after I had moved to this poop state they were set to use him but he no showed saying he heard the guy he was wrestling was reckless and hurt somebody. No I am not naming names but that is and was not true. I think he maybe just wanted to stay home and give Ms. Natural the ole’ DH driver. Which I imagine being close to home it would be easy to call in sick and stay home and watch TV with your gal.

But I felt good about actually buying the disc from Evolve and it was money well spent and I can say I will get the second show as well. Davey is gone and I feel like Gaber was getting a little dig in on him by calling him Wesley, and that name always makes me think of the ugly little boy in Mr. Belvedere. Gaber was hurt by Wesley not finishing the dates and responded by leg slap kicking Bob Eucker. So I will order the second show even if I am in a weekly hotel or sleeping in the car and showering at work because sometimes a guy needs a little screen to watch little guys in little pants wrestler in a little building in New Jersey.

Weekends and Wednesdays

2010-03-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if it was Geoff Johns that said no matter how bad his week was going he always looked forward to Wednesdays. Lately it seems like I have been testing this theory to the hilt. A few summers ago I was having a rough go (which these days seems kind of like a cake walk, red velvet cake if you please) and thought well at least I have my new titles to pick up. Comics for some reason can center me and I can actually focus on the content. Television is trickier, I just flip thru and my mind wonders. So lately I have been enjoying that small relief that I get for oh say an hour or so. I was thinking about how there must be a million and a half comic blogs and reviews so why not one more! No I just wanted to write as I am home from work and had to do something to combat the stir crazies of taking care of a sick kid on a sunny day. Don’t get me wrong there is a chance left to my own devices I would be inside reading and such but this way I can feel like I am making the best of being stuck inside, yeah I would probably just read outside.

I seem to have this weird pattern of behavior pertaining to comics. I have my weekly pull list and once a week I look up the week’s list on Deathvalleydriver.com and copy it into a word program at work. I then while on hold or on break I high light what I am getting and my maybes. In my old age I often forget to print my list but more times than not I pick up my titles and end up back in the store on the weekend to pick up one or two things. Usually this second trip either involves a recommendation from my buddy Tim (who I partially blame for my Green Lantern fandom), a good review or sigh… the column the Buy Pile. The guy who writes that is a bit of a snot but I have to admit he has pointed me in the right direction on a few titles such as Dingo and a few one offs or one and dones. So usually after reading some reviews I end up making some excuse to run an “errand”. Comics are not very popular in our house and I am glad I have a storage space to store the long boxes that are native to my move here, it is hard to answer and skirt the question of “Did you read comics in Kansas?” Well uh yeah but I wasn’t obsessed with Blackest Night then.

So this week I ended up making not one but two trips for uh errands. I have my weekly pull at the delightful Lee’s Comics in San Mateo, where two really great guys work MP and Ryan. It also helps they are both football fans, one for the Saints and one for the Redskins, sorry MP about your team ending up with Larry Johnson. But they are good with the recommendations and are also not too into the realm where they cannot talk about anything else. This week I got my lighter than usual list and almost used up my $100 gift certificate. I am not sure if I am proud or ashamed that it lasted about 3 weeks for my pull list plus one new box and in the midst of talking I forgot to pick up the Siege and they were all out of Booster Gold #30. So MP got them transferred for me and put a Siege in the folder.

Saturday after a waaay too early wake up and a ton of house cleaning and a trip to Home Depot I made my escape to buy groceries and pick up the 2 issues I missed. It was a rough busy day and picking up these two issues and a steak rice bowl with extra rice from Chipotle were about the only good things in a long night.

Siege #3: I groaned and complained to Tim when I saw the check list for the Siege. I read the Secret Invasion and a few of the spin offs and really only one issue of Secret Invasion was great, the rest were very blah. I do have to say I have been enjoying all the Norman Osborne drama and really love the Dark Avengers title, although I heard it will not be around much longer. I really like the Sentry character as he is one of my favorites in the Marvel universe, one of the others being Bob from Agents of Atlas (I guess I enjoy your more troubled heroes). So a few times Tim and I talked about the Siege stuff and we both decided to take a pass. Late one evening I called him and had to say damn it I think I am going to have to get the Siege due to the preview in the back of a Marvel title. I refused to get the million other titles but I thought I could do a 4 book series, and I do not feel too lost in the going ons. So issue 3 is pretty good, it may sound funny but it is a bit of a slowed down issue. It sounds crazy to say that while there is so much action in this issue, Norman gets hit with Cap’s shield, Thor and the Sentry fighting, but I tell you I was absolutely floored and shocked with the Ares ending in #2. I was surprised it was not discussed at all in this issue but I am sure it will be or maybe it is in one of the cross overs. I enjoyed how many story lines are going on. It was cool to see Fury materialize and I enjoyed how the president is hedging his bets on the outcome of the battle. I am looking forward to seeing how they wrap this one up but I am also dreading that Marvel will probably just spin it into another series and truth be told I do not make that much money and well Brightest Day is on the horizon.
Favorite Part: Page 22 Norman showing his Goblin face and several panels of “Toldja.”

Booster Gold #30: This has been a nice little story arch and I am a big fan of Cyborg Superman. I loved the one off origin in the Sinestro Corps. Wars and feel he is one of those characters you really feel bad for and understand why he is pissed off to some degree. Booster Gold has become a big favorite of mine (damn you again Tim) and I often find his stories filled with a lot of heart and they are often bittersweet. The dilemmas he faces are great not wanting to alter history but not wanting to have horrible things happen. There is some pretty gripping stuff in issue 30 and the Sonora and Gracey interactions with both Booster and Skeets are great. The only problem I have and sorry not to sound Comic Book Store Guy nit picky but towards the end after Michelle and Booster leave and Drew is left behind to perish Michelle seems fairly calm about it. Maybe she is not melting down because she thinks they can go back in the time stream and fix it so he does not die but I would think your immediate reaction would be to as they say scientifically to lose your shit. The end had a nice twist that I read several times, damn the time travelling and all can get complicated. Not sure if everyone would dig this but I am glad to be on board.
Favorite Part: Page 7 When Sonora Crain is holding Gracey Greene and Skeets scans their names in the records of the dead from the Cost City disaster and Sonora says “My god how sick can you be?” She is angry and just appalled but then he helps save them.

So on Sunday I woke up early with even less sleep than the night before. I was up a good bit of the night playing nurse maid and felt like an old time man sitting in a chair beside the bed to keep an eye on any odd breathing or requests for water. The house was being shown from 2 to 4 so I had my window of opportunity to make a trip down south to another comic shop. I never remember the name of it but I want to say it is called R and K or something and it is in Sunnyvale. I am not sure when I came across it in the phone book but I spent a long long Sunday trying to find it. I even had my trusty co hort Tim on the phone in KC giving me directions and Google earthing the location, “Ok it is buy a car lot and a Burger King.”

This is a pretty good shop as they have a lot of good cheap back issues and they are super close to an In and Out Burger. I love having a day of fat man decadence when I scour through back issues and then have a gut bomb. I even planned my last birthday around one of these stops, however that Saturday I had a super shit morning and when I got there one of the clerks was so damn annoying. He just kept talking and talking and had this high pitched voice and kept talking about how he worked in the iron industry and blah blah. Now keep in mind he did not say one word to me but it was enough to drop a giant stink bomb on the usually pleasant event.

It made me realize how much I loved Lee’s and would only go to this place when it was really really warranted. Well I had a reason to go, Lee’s did not get Anchor #6 and they were out of Scalped #35 which I had read rave reviews about. So I figured I would hope bad tattoo iron man weasel would have the day off to organize his Molly Hatchet records and made the journey. I was pleased that the Giants cactus league was on and actually enjoyed the drive over. Sadly they did not have the latest Anchor (had to go on Ebay damn) but I picked up a few things. Iron Weasel was not there and I actually heard what I think is the owner complain about the mess he left. By the way the owner has a giant grey pompadour and big glasses, he is straight out of a Crumb comic. The guy who rang me up was super nice and said good choices on the 3 issues I picked up. He even recommended another shop that may have the Anchor. So I picked up a few things and picked up some Arby’s on the way to a short work session, by the way if I was more tech savy or had a better phone camera I would have taken a pic of the Arby’s bag that said never greasy that had… you guessed it a big grease stain on it.

Spirit #1:back issue for 3 bucks: They had quiet a few issues of the 2007 Spirit. I was hoping for more dollar issues but oh well. I have weird feelings towards the Spirit. I saw the movie and thought it was ok (gotta love Red Box) although I did like that Samuel Jackson kept talking about eggs. I always thought of it as pretty old timey and was not that into it. However, First Wave has really piqued my interest and I really enjoyed the first issue of that so I figured I would check out some Spirit, the more recent mind you. I do really like the look of the character and I have added the re launch of this series to my pull list. This issue was pretty decent, probably the lesser of the five weekend pick ups but it was not bad. You gotta love the heavy duty cover that is on a thicker stock. I was not too fond of the art work but it was not to the degree where I would not buy it because of that. I try not to be too snobby but really certain styles will make me just not want to buy a book. The art in this looks more like a Johnny Test style cartoon which kind of makes it look slap sticky and takes away from what could be a really great gross piece of work of a villain like the Pill. I do have to say I was shocked at some of the language used as well, I guess this is not the old Spirit. This was a nice one and done and it sets up a lot of characters and I imagine I may look into picking up some more.
Favorite Part: Page 7 where the Spirit digs out of the back seat of the Pill’s limo.

Justice Society of America #36: I have recently picked up some cheap used trades of Geoff John’s work on the JSA and loved it. I haven’t added this to my pull list as of yet because to be honest there are just way to many damn titles to pick up. I remembered thumbing through this at Lee’s and thinking I could pick up right in this arc and hey Nazis, I love heroes fighting Nazis. I made a Saturday second run and they were fresh out. I always kick myself when I do that as I know I will be making a longer drive or hitting up Ebay. The cover of this issue is just fantastic, you can see the age lines in Jay and Alan and the bloody flag is just incredible. The start of the story with the interview process and retelling is great, it leaves some mystery and I was wondering what the hell happened? I am sure it will all unfold and we will know why Mr. Terrific is being held and possibly about to be executed. I forgot how much I liked the odd little twist with Liberty Bell where she says an equation to get her speed and loved even more the crafty nasty use of rubber bouncing balls used to stop her. Damn I always knew those things were dangerous. When the Nazis swoop in I kind of rolled my eyes, some of the names seemed a little forced and obvious but once they get rolling they are kind of scary and I think the Shadow of War character was genius. The scene with Flash losing his mind and going off was just tremendous. I have to say I was tired and worn out and dreading a 5:15 AM alarm but this issue just made me go out on a high note for the day. I really enjoyed this and am glad I did not let this one slip through the cracks.
Favorite Part: Page 12 Where Alan finds the crate and Jay is in tears. The narration explains why it did what it did and I had to think wow what a clever way and evil way to do that (sorry trying to be somewhat vague so not to be a spoiler, yeah probably Tim is only reading this).

Scalped #35: I hate to admit but I heard about this one and done story in the Buy Pile column. Glad it exists but I hate to see the butt kicking he gives almost everything Green Lantern related. That guy I think his name is Hannibal described this issue as life affirming and damn if he was not right. I have only read a sample issue of Scalped and it is on my ever increasing things I need to check out list. First off the cover is fantastic and after reading the story it is both fitting and haunting. I am not a big fan of how most stories these days end up in happily ever after but I was really pulling and hoping for it with this story. I didn’t really dig the art that much, it had that odd jagged line look but the story is what really carries this issue. It tells the tale of Mance and Hazel and how they are struggling with life. It was interesting for me to read this on this day as we had our first open house and there was just this sense of sadness around here about selling the house and how tough the economy is. But you read something powerful like this and it puts things into perspective and hell I know it is just a comic and many people look down on them but this had some great storytelling in it. So many issues are dealt with in this book, true love, guilt, environment, social issues. I don’t want to give away too much but I would say this is one of the best things I have read recently.
Favorite Part: So much to choose from, I guess page 11 when Mance is driving home and he turns his guilty thoughts into appreciative thoughts.

So I would say a pretty good weekend pick up, it was kind of nice to actually spend a day writing and re examining the comics I bought. To tell you the truth I got more enjoyment out of them by doing this, so stick that negative comic book dudes. If I had to rank them it would be:
1. Scalped #35
2. JSA #36
3. Siege #3
4. Booster Gold #20
5. Spirit #1

Gut Loaded and properly procrastinated

2009-07-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

7-24-9

So I am sitting here in Citrine and feeling bad about myself, I keep thinking about how I read this funny list on a site where they talked about what white people like and on the list was expensive sandwiches. I just wanted some cheap fuel before i headed over to the gym but the Quizno's's is gone and in its place some fucking wine tasting shit bar. Fuck you could get Diet Mt. Dew there too. So I am eating a little pizza and feel very sterile and white but the pizza is not too bad. However, they just played the Pet Shop Boys so now I have to listen to straight metal as i try and burn some calorie abuse off.

It is sad i have been meaning to write and post for a few weeks but never finished. Then a thought occurred to me. Who reads this shit? Maybe one person by accident and why do i think i am so god damn entertaining that i need to share everything? All of these new gadgets to keep you in touch are lame. We need to update the world and everyone about how interesting and unique we are. It reminds me of a musician friend of mine who thought he shit gold (hold on now we are talking they are playing The Boss "Dancing in the Dark" hell yeah, this song has depths that no one ever talks about. All anyone talks about is that Courtney Cock is in it and hell i have the video of Boss videos and she is off the chart cutes but this song is amazing. Listen to it sometime when you are driving after one of those long discussions with your other when your whole being is brought into question and then the Boss light will go off for you) and all his songs were great and worth recording and sharing. Guess what? Some were fantastic some were not. Some days as people we are insightful, profound and maybe humorous, but mostly we are inconsiderate, self absorbed and horny. So anyhow, here are a couple of things I jotted down, journal entries and blog starts. I have a new puter now and love it at times and other times want to hit grounder practice with it.

Gut Loaded for July 7th: First I guess I should explain what the term gut loaded means, but first let me just say that when I heard the term my eyes bugged and I chicken scratched as soon as I got to my car in my little notebook. It was comparable to when I was heart broken over a girl and found out that her name was the title of the saddest sounding song in TV, the theme to Taxi. Many nights I would be dozing off listening to the show and my parent’s laughter and then the credits would roll and that song would come in. But I bugged out when I found out the title and I bugged out (no future pun intended) when I heard the term gut loaded. I was buying crickets for the wee one’s gecko and the lady said they should be good as they were gut loaded which means they just ate and would provide lots of nutrients for Gecky (I have no idea why kids are so shitty at naming pets, the gecko is named Gecky, the fish is named Fishy or Swimmy, but hey I nursed him back to health so he is named Saint Walker). I for sure had a gut loaded day for sure, I feel fat, bloated and my self hate is boiling over. I made chit chat and smiled in the pet store and inside I was yelling at myself to shut the fuck up. Stop trying to be everyone’s friend, stop trying to win an election that no one cares about, just pay and hit the streets and be an inconsiderate asshole and just shut the fuck up.

Part of my mood today was having flash backs to earlier in life, people teasing and just piling on me. Now don’t get me wrong I can take a good teasing and ribbing but I prefer it to be at least funny, rhyming my name with fairie might have passed in grades 1-3 but at 35 it is hard not to just unleash on someone and tell them how fucking unoriginal they are. In a sense it is akin to school where in a sense you are being tested, if you take your heckling maybe give a bit back and not blow your stack you are fine and things continue. I guess in a sense it is hazing and a test indeed.

So I am writing this a day later, actually two days later. Things have been fine at work. I mean do not get me wrong I dig my job and I cannot put into words how wonderful it is to be in a good mood on the drive to work. Hell it is a testament to the place that I was smiling and profiling on the freeway at 6:30 to get in early to bust out some work involving the East coast. I graduated my hazing in a sense and thinking about it I look at it as a junior varsity jail system. I was glad I kept my cool and rolled with the punches and I couldn't help to smirk just a tad when one of the wise asses had his apartment broken into the next day.

Wednesday for some time has been one of my favorite days of the week, it is geek update heaven to me. Not only does the new programming for WWE 24-7 start but also the new comics come out. I blaze out of work at 4:30 and enjoy some 680 Sports radio and look forward to chatting with Andrew and I think his name is Brian. They are both guys that I would like to hang out with but I still have not figured out how to approach the topic and not seem like I am asking them out. On top of that the media has latched onto all this Bromance and man crush shit so two guys who like some of the same shit can’t go have a beer and become buddies. It is hard to make friends in most places but out here where people are so full of shit and inconsiderate it is near impossible.

Here is a back to basics pome i did, I joking wrote it about my family which is under fire often with someone in my life. I love those crazy farming background fuckers, imagine the following slowed down over weird beats:

Good deals are like sore dicks you just can’t beat them
Momma has a potty mouth
Says shit when she ping pongs
Said home team slept on defense to beat their meat
Report came in one Granny was a dirty leg
Who served her country for several tours of duties
But Gramps the Marine didn’t know or didn’t care
He might have had too many blanket parties thrown by his peers
Mom and Dad declared that they waited
But knowing what I know at least with 12 ladies
The conduct edges are blurry around some orifices.

7-17-09 I believe, I am still getting used to typing on a lap top. I type and call, call and type all day and I am not burned out on it. It is a great feeling to look forward to what a work day brings you. It is even greater as I am starting to feel that closeness and family bond with a few of my co workers. I like that they refer to several of my co workers as my sisters. I still can’t stand Joel the jackass and maybe because he is the man I want to be. When he told me about his weekend and rock climbing I just wanted to tell him to blow it out his ass.

7-18-9

Jesus Christ this new word sucks, I am trying again to write at 10:01 what I enjoy about life:
That swimmy heady feeling of the beginning of a drunk spell. It reminds me of slowly easing yourself into a hot tub for a soak. That beautiful feeling is the death of brain cells in this case. People say if you drink alone you have a problem, I think if you need to be in public showing off while paying inflated prices you have a problem. I prefer to write, draw, laugh or even walk around. All of these things are free, at least in the dollar and cents sense. When I was unemployed I once walked to the grocery store and bought a pencil container and a Sharpie and drank an energy beer on the walk home because it looked like an energy drink. I had a nice heady buzz when I got home.
I love the knuckleball and want to learn to perfect it. I want to be 36 and a knuckleball pitcher, I would only play for the Royals or the Giants, ok maybe the Reds or Pirates or where Kahlil ends up because I think we would be buddies. After road games we would talk about how we worry about doing well in games and life in general at an IHOP or Denny’s late into the morning. I am not sure why I want to learn pitching or even why I am enjoying baseball so much these days. I just know I am, hell the Pirates beat the Giants tonight in the 14th inning and I wasn’t upset, sure we could use the game as the Dodgers were losing last I heard, but hey that many pitchers and I have a soft spot in my heart for the Pirates. Kellogs 3D baseball cards are my favorite cards ever I think.
Blackest Night- not only am I enjoying the story and all of the new lanterns but at the core of it Tim and I have once again bonded over a common interest. Last week’s Green Lantern was one of the best single issues I have ever read of something and then this week’s Blackest Night comes along and is just as good. Dead super heroes and new colors and characters man it is good stuff. Tomorrow I am heading to Lee’s for the big sale and may pick up a lantern shirt. I am really wanting to read the Mesmo Delivery stuff but I think it is all out of print. I wonder if tomorrow it will be super crowded? I plan on spending some time on the computer at the library and I need to get on the stick about my tasks but that is negative and we are not focusing on that.

Another Friday Love and Hate

2009-05-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

It is still the 28th for about an hour or so but it is Friday somewhere so a Love and Hate is OK.

Love:
Walking: I am writing this pissed I guess but I do feel a little better after going for a walk and walking the balance beam. Here Walking is what has kept me somewhat sane these past months and hell even before. I have had the pull up your hood and cry walk, the inspired idea generator walk and even the eccentric pickup sticks walk that is either Zen or a smidge of OCD. I have been thinking about keeping this my dirty secret and not because I am doing anything wrong but I do not want to portray myself as someone deep or philosophical. Lately when I go for the walk I will gather sticks as I go. Not just any old stick, I have some weird criteria that I am unsure of but I just know what I want when I see the stick. I have even looked at it walked a few steps and turned around and collected it I imagine I look pretty nuts, a husky fellow in a Cincinnati hat with a handful of stick in this manicured self centered neighborhood. It’s odd as there is some natural beauty here with the marshes but most of the great water ways say no fishing or swimming or private property, what a waste. I guess we just talk about the new Prius and sip wine and look at the water from our over priced town homes rather than jumping ogg the dock trying to catch a football.

So when I get home if I am alone I start or I wait until it is late and I am the only one up I get some pliers to snip with and I arrange the sticks in various patterns and ladders and cabins. I started doing it during commercials but soon was tuned out from the TV all together. Maybe I am just a bigger junior varsity version of a kid, still playing with sticks 30 years later. It totally relaxes me and I am tempted at times to glue pieces into place but fight the urge. And I would probably have to kick my own ass if I tried to make it into sculpture like the shit mobile I saw at the Golden Gate Museum. I worry that someone will wake up and find me sitting on the floor in the living room with my primitive Lincoln Logs. Soon I will be back to the real working world and there will be no more three mile morning walks with sticks, hissing geese and the occasional good idea (maybe I should drop this last part to hate).

Khalil Greene and baseball in general: OK I am a sucker for interesting backgrounds or stories. Kurt Warner is one of those stories, working at a grocery store one year and after that a Super Bowl ring. Warner I can see believing in God. I am sure he wished a better job and more scratch for his family and my God did God pay out. I imagine if there is a God in the bible sense he rewards those guys who never bitch about overtime and reward them like a Ned Flanders. Anyhow, I was watching the Brewers and Cardinals game earlier and was really enjoying it.

I scratched a note down earlier in the season with the name Rasmus to research him after I saw he was on a hitting streak and hit a huge homer a few weeks ago. So Greene comes up and I think Owen Wilson but I guess his fans refer to him as Spoccoli. The announcers were talking about his anxiety and how hard he is on himself. He looked troubled and me of being of the need of transfusion heart really got behind him and wanted him to do well. He committed an error and looked heartbroken but shortly after redeemed himself by almost an exact replay of the grounder hit. So I did a search and read about his trade and how he is a Bahai. Now another admission but when I was around 17 or 18 I researched religion. I wanted to find something to have faith in and believe in. But I am a picky guy, I kind of took an all or nothing approach.

My parents had some friends who were Bahai’ and they said it was about the only religion they could get into. I looked into it and liked some of it but got spooked by some of the people or hell maybe just with the idea of attaching myself to a group in a public setting. Well Kaleel is Bahai and his name translated means friend. I have a tendency when I get into something to research a lot and I think doing that takes away some of that new interest magic. I am going to follow Greene but not to the point where I want to watch his interviews and know every stat. It is a tough call for me because the Cardinals are coming to town this weekend and yes I want the Giants to win in a perfect world Greene would have a good game as well. *Note: While i was driving around this afternoon hunting down Pepsi Throwback and Green Lantern comics for Tim the Cards put Greene on the 15 day disabled list due to anxiety, hope he feels better.***

So it is odd that I have the baseball bug again. I am going to go into it more in my next zine. But I am watching a lot of games and have really gotten into the Giants. The Royals will always be home team but damn if these Giants are not a fun club. They just need some frickin’ bats. The trade is coming up and there are rumor about Matt Cain being part of the trade. I like Cain OK, but he is pretty erratic and at times will walk people in the first inning. I hate to say it but maybe trade Sanchez who is super erratic. I mean he is tough as hell as he took that line drive to the melon but he varies so much from inning to inning. Of course I would like to see the Giants come up with Greene or Rasmus but don’t see that happening. I am speaking from a fantasy league beginner fan with an idea or a hope. Manny is suspended and his replacement Juan Pierre is just killing the ball and does not suck as much in the outfield. In 50 games Manny is back and what do you do with Juan? How about bring him to the Giants and build the offense around him and have a Fuck Manny hat give away at the stadium. There are some fun teams out there and all I am asking for my babies (KC, Giants) is a .500 season.

Chipotle Steak Bowl with extra rice: at least once a week I head over to Industrial Road for this treat. God I am such a pig. Chipotle has the most amazing lime and cilantro rice and I used to always skip the steak and opted with chicken. I feel like I wasted some calories and chins and will now make up for them. Part of what I like about this treat is I usually go to the same location. The manager is a cool guy and he has a great crew of people. There is a big lug of a guy who usually says something nice like “hey it’s good to see you again.” He came over to my table and gave me a free coupon and we chatted and in a way it bummed me out because that was the nicest thing that happened to me that day. It is amazing to see people so nice when you know it has to be annoying with everyone having their own little quirks and amounts when it comes to salsas and cheeses. I have toyed with the idea of applying there but I am not sure if I want to ruin the magic by joining the cast.

Creating Dice Games and my Chipz: On a whim at Target I picked up a package of WWE Chipz which are poker chips with a photo on one side and an autograph on the other. They had chip values so I thought oh these are game pieces. I was surprised reading the insert with the lameness of the games they came up with. Most of them involved throwing the chips or flipping them which really just scratches them to hell so you have to buy more. I put them away and didn’t think much about them but picked up two more sets. The chips are unique and pretty cool. In a way I feel like Michael Keaton’s character in Night Shift, the idea man, feed mayo to tuna fish etc. I had been itching and dying to play Farkle and started to by myself (almost nothing sadder than a jobless chunk butt rolling dice and drinking Coke Zero at 2AM) and decided I could make a game with the Chipz. I have a singles match, a barbwire one (you lose points rolling into the wire) and am working out the kinks for the tag and rumble. It has been fun and I have a lot of pages of notes and notes and I am hoping to type them all out and make a manual. The wee man likes the game and it inspired him to help create a racing game which we made a track for and it is pretty fun. I am trying to figure out a simple baseball game and am almost there. On tonight’s walk I came up with a dice/ card game concept called Hollywood Dipshit. I need to jot down some notes but HD is coming.

Oh and on the Chipz front, I am starting to collect more and more as you need a big roster to randomly draw your player. I winced but winced with joy when I won the all yellow 10 chip of Rey Mysterio from Australia for $11 bucks. I guess there is something sadder than late night Coke Zero dice rolling.

Hate:
Rollercoasters: No I do not mean the real ones. Although I used to get a little nervous on family trips as I was scared of them. No I am talking the rollercoaster of a day and some people’s moods. I am not naming names but if we could even just cut it to 3 drops like the Fire in the Hole ride at Silver Dollar City that would be great. And if someone could actually holler out “Fire in the Hole!” I could scramble and get my shoes and back pack together and scoot.

End of my early retirement: Don’t get me wrong I am thrilled to be rejoining society but I will miss the Sopranos at 9, Married with Children, staying up super late, drawing comics and writing until the wee hours of the morning, wearing baseball caps and shorts and having lunch with Amer. When I am working fries at McDonald’s in my 60s I will look back at these times fondly. Oh hell who am I kidding they won’t trust me on the fries and I will over think it and make to much out of the process. OK who am I kidding me in my 60s?

Not being able to see a Giants game during my time off. I had a day game set and that fell through. I may go this weekend but I liked the idea of sitting in the sun watching a game. Oh well at least I got to see a lot of movies in the morning. But this is supposed to be the hate section. Well I have a lot of hate but want to be more positive. Let’s just say I hate my weight and the fact that ice cream is calling me so late at night.

A Late Report of the SJ Comic Con

2009-05-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Note: I swear i am not just waking up from the food coma hibernation of In and Out Burger. I have not had a lot of time to play on the Internet. My summer vacation/reverse retirement is over. I am starting a new job June 1st and am really looking forward to it. Sure i will miss all of the writing i was doing, the long morning walks but I am a worker and hell they took Still Standing and the Sopranos off the morning schedule so maybe it is for the best. I am hoping to keep rolling on my projects and am happy to have finished 1 zine and created several dice games and I have done some comics that i do not totally hate. I will make a post about my zine Heel to Face and hopefully will have my short attention span zine done and one sketch book. Who am i kidding who reads this? ******

I believe this was my third trip to the San Jose Comic Con. Comic cons are interesting places, not unlike being around wrestling fans (yes I have been to a wrestling convention as well and kicked myself for missing one last week). The giant convention in San Francisco is nice and I have been twice but it is sensory overload. It is very comparable to when I was young and a music fanatic I was living in a small town where you could hardly find any music, so when we went to a good record store such as Love Garden in Lawrence (my future favorite hometown of 9 years) you had to take a list so you would not go blank and try to recall what and who you liked. San Jose’s con is smaller but just the right size where you forget where the booth was that had the $1 comics.

I gave myself a per Diem of $40 to spend. I had it in cash, which is rare for me. It was the same money I had set aside for the Giants game Wed. that I was unable to attend. I feel guilty about spending money while looking for work but I also wanted to have some fun to keep the void (what I call my blues) from fully engulfing me. I had a rough end to my week with my job search log having to be sent in again (which means no check this week) and having my flat German ass chewed to sawdust in the kitchen Friday night. So after a short dog walk I hopped in my trusty Escort and boogied on down to San Jose. I had an extra helping of guilt that Habitat for Humanity was having a turn in meeting today and I was going to try to make it. I did one Tuesday night (which was fantastic and a great experience, another blog another time) so I had met my commitments but was going to try and hit the second one.

I decided to do one lap around figuring totals in my head and maybe even make a second pass just to make sure. I take my per Diem serious and often dream of being rich and not rich in the sense of tailored suits and houses on the hills but of being able to buy my dad both of the Wonder Warthog comics I found and telling the guy to also bag up the whole collection of Tijuana Bibles. Yep nerd status full achieved.

Lately the household issue of space has been discussed once again, as in I need to box up a lot of my book and comics and rent a storage space. It is bad enough a lot of my tapes are in the garage but now I have to drive a mile or two if I decide I want to watch an old Starrcade? So sadly no figure buying or if I do I need to make them small so hopefully someday I can put them on a work desk.

Eye of the Gods by Gerimi Burleigh, $5: What a nice guy, very friendly and warm. I think of how it must kind of suck to spend so much time on your personal project that you are passionate about and have to sell it to people. Granted it is not as bad as selling insurance and for the most part I bet the people are pretty cool, but still it makes me want to buy something from every table to show the appreciation of what they are doing. Gerimi explained the book back and told me he would give me a good deal, they book is a small glossy black and white and I am on chapter 3 and it is pretty damn good. I also like how the main character looks a lot like him. It is a very well thought out story so far with characters getting a form of Lasik due to the UV rays being so bad. After the surgery the main character starts having visions. The cover is what drew me over as it is a fantastic color cover. You can get it at: http://www.optichouse.com/

I picked up Eyes of Gods on my way out as that was my final run, I had ten bones left and thought I will pick up that nice fella’s book and that great Punisher art print for $5 and then to In and Out Burger! I saw so many fantastic artists this visit. I am working out comic ideas even with very little art talent and this trip was inspiring. The SF one was sort of disheartening somehow, there were so many people selling I remember thinking why bother there are way too many indy comics as is. I purchased the Punisher print and felt sort of guilty as I should have picked up something for my nephews or for Justin as a wedding gift. I did take a card so maybe I will appease my guilt by the power of the Internet. I love seeing different art work of popular characters. The Punisher was done by Justin C. Orr and you can go to his web site http://www.jusscope.com/. I am not sure what I will do with the print as I live with someone who is very serious and grown up, but it was just too cool to pass up.

ECW House Party 98 $10: I was going to pick up a comp DVD from I believe it was called Darkside, run by a movie fanatic. We talked a little about wrestling and how Bruiser Brody was his favorite and he talked about seeing Brody when he was known as King Kong Brody and how he and his group still cheered “Bruiser”. He had one comp that had a few things I did not have but between 24-7 and my collection I had most. I ended up picking up an ECW show for a good price, it had a nice cover color and all. I had most of the other shows but picked this one up due to the Justin Credible vs. Great Sasuke match. I believe they had 2 matches and I remember Credible coming out wearing the mask. I am still shocked Sasuke put him over due to reading about him being kind of a dick. The brawling at the beginning felt a little forced but it was not a bad match. This was yet another booth I could have dropped a ton of cash on various DVDs such as the full runs of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and Get a Life with Chris Elliot. I did not pick up a card but the guy running it was cool and was shaking his head in amazement as a costumed Green Lantern went by with a hot girlfriend and we both just pondered the hows and whys.

One of the guys I was hoping to talk to was Mike Hampton who does some great comics. I went to an self publishing panel the year before and came away feeling very inspired. Sadly I have just now gotten around to attempting comics and a zine again but hey getting laid off does that to you. I took a small sketch he did of Iron Man and kept it in my folder (I am so 7 I have a folder I keep of news clippings, drawing, comics that cheer me up or that I find interesting). Sadly I had run out of money the year before but I was for sure picking up some of his books. I picked up the “How to Do Comics” and “Zodiac Killers.” The How to is great and super funny and it really has helped me with my attempt at comics. The Zodiac Killers is a great project where he takes each of the zodiac signs and illustrates the sign and tells a story of someone dying dealing with the sign. Some great and disturbing stories and a fun read. Mike was super cool and I hope I did not come across as a geek fan and I gave him a copy of my zine. He is working a new project about the weirdest people in the US such as the lady who fell in love with the Golden Gate Bridge, I offered up a few and hope I can find some information about the rancher in Jetmore.He does a comic called Capt. Asshole and I am planning on picking up some more soon. You can see some of his art and pick up a CD at www.916halo.com

Lots o’ Punisher: I go through phases. Currently I am in a Punisher one. I am not very original but I love the Ennis ones, especially the Widowmaker run. I found a lot of good deals but had decided I wanted to spend most of my hard stolen cash on indy comics. I picked up a Daredevil and Punisher trade and the Punisher Holiday trade for $2 a pop. I also found a stack of $1 Punisher 2099 and just got the first one to check it out. I recently picked up a one shot 2099 (I think that was the year) about a mother trying to teach her son to take over the Punisher job that was great so I decided to look into this.

It would have been easy to pick up a ton of trades and I got a few but one I was happy to get was the America’s Best Comics Presents Vol. 1. I like these collections and am a walking cliché as Alan Moore’s work got me back into comics. This collection has a great short Grey Shirt comic and the first Tom Strong (which I have had trouble getting into). I love the America’s Best Comics logo and have always said that when I finally go around the bin I am going to get that logo on my wrist sentencing myself to a lifetime of long sleeves.

I went to a booth that had a nice girl running it and it was called the HERO Initiative. They are a non profit that helps out artists who have no health insurance or residence. Now I am a bleeding heart deluxe, I am talking Abdullah the Butcher blood, so I was intrigued. Many artists do not own the rights to their own characters and have fallen on hard times. This just seems crazy to me but I can see it happening. HERO had some good deals on some books and the money went to the organization. The one I picked up was great and what I have read has been good and varied. Just as with my music tastes and my wrestling I love a good comp with lots of variety. You can donate or become a member at http://www.heroinitiative.com/

As I have been saying over and over ala broken record I could have easily dropped a ton of money at the con. I left with that good positive feeling and once again inspired to make yet another attempt at comics. I stopped at the madhouse of In and Out Burger and just enjoyed that weird glowing feeling and was chatty (flirty) with an attractive business lady who for some reason set down right next to me on the waiting bench. I hate how I look and my confidence has taken a shellacking but I can still bullshit pretty well. There was an older guy in great shape but shirtless and I remember making her laugh with a line about not enjoying eating my food while looking at old man tan nipples. I drove home listening to my new frustration the SF Giants and I think I passed out within 20 minutes of the final bite of burger.

Need nap getting sleepy... write more later

2009-05-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

It is a rather warm Saturday and I am enjoying the air conditioning at the RWC Shores Library. I am not enjoying the noise all the kids make and the peering eyes of people. The crusty old man who lives in me wishes these kids would have more respect for the library. Well after a night of apparent narcolepsy I woke up to walk the dog and head to the San Jose Comic Con. It is a smaller convention and I like it more than the giant miles and miles of the San Francisco one. I will have a more detailed report of how it was and what i spent my $40 per diem I allowed myself. I am amazed at what I got with it. Write now I am slipping into a food coma due to the In and Out Burger I hit on the way home. Fantastic hamburgers and I decided to go for it and order the Animal Fries which are a secret menu item, fries with cheese, onions and thousand island dressing. So good and I am so fat so, so what. I even found myself flirting a little bit with the lady who sat a little too close while i was waiting for my food. I should go take a dip at the old apartment to make it officially a Best Day Ever (sung to the Spong Bob song of the same name). I needed a good day after not hearing from the place i interviewed at and finding out I had to refill my unemployment claim for this week. I have access to a puter so tonight I will write the long over due comic blog. Good night Irene even though it is the afternoon.

A quick one while my mind is away

2009-05-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get a blog in about comics I purchased last week and also a couple I picked up from Free Comic Book Day. It may have to wait until tomorrow. This week has had its ups and downs. I am still waiting on pins and needles to see if I got the job I interviewed for last week. Maybe I was not as dynamic as I thought. I was unable to go to the Giants game which is OK since they did lose. I have been feeling good and anxiety free but that was changed pretty quickly with one conversation. I knew I would be up late worrying but instead I created a dice and WWE Chipz game that I am pretty happy with. This morning I made a barb wire version of the game. I just need to write out the rules. So I am out of here. I have to pick up the wee man, off to soccer and hopefully later some job searching. Thank a higher power for my new found interest in baseball, Chipz game and my Cover the Earth hat I just found. More tomorrow.

Friday Love and Hate and big sports news

2009-05-08T17:11:00.001-07:00

So everyone is talking about the big story in baseball. Yup someone wants to pay top dollar for a Doug Frobel Pirates game worn jersey. Tee hee. Frobel was one of my favorite baseball cards as a kid. He looked like Funky Winkerbean (80's cartoon strip) and a little like Mike Deck who in the village of Haysville was like a Von Erich. I am for some reason baseball crazy and Thursday morning I was giddy with Manny's suspension. I hated him when he was with Boston and now the Dodgers. This year I am finally on board with the Giants, I think mainly due to the pitching staff but I am becoming a Benji Molina fan. This has been a hot sports week with Farve and now Manny (I guess A Fraud as well, although i would prefer he move into a wing of Madonna's giant vagina). I may expand a little later, but truthfully I am afraid of becoming a sports junkie who writes about it. So here is some love and hate for this week:

Love:

One of my best friends in the world getting married and being able to see it via the world wide web.

My long walk, the morning is nice but the night has its charm as well. I seem to come up with a lot of ideas and projects i want to do, IE the baseball game with dice and short attention span zine. I am not allowing myself to take the I Touch on these walks.

Benjamin Buttons: I sometimes pee on a movie due to hype (OK i do that often) but i Red Box rented this and loved it. I could watch a whole movie of Pitt as the old man the size of a boy. A very beautiful film that I am glad i put aside my notions of it. It is a very sentimental film that made me think a lot about the characters and family i have had in my life, yup I cried.

WWE 24-7: Really about the only thing that the E does correctly. I am overloaded on goodness this month with the Lucha stuff. They also have a Film Vault episode of Bill Watts. I am really getting into Billy Jack Haynes for some reason. The previous episode of Prime Time had some great matches, Sika vs. Muraco (Muraco did a driving front knee face crusher from the top) and a Broadway of Harley Race vs. Ko Ko. I like a dumb ass did not tape it. Great channel worth the $10 or so.

Farkel: I love this dice game more than cards I think. I just wish my mom was in the area so we could play and drink some cheap wine. I am hoping to teach it to the wee man as he is enjoying playing 21 or as he calls it Flapjack.

Hate:

Not a lot at this moment. Had a great interview, I guess I hate how fat I feel but on the other hand I love eating. I am a little under the gun to get my Momma Day project done but as 5:27 I am feeling full but good. Oh I hate I was not at Strider's wedding, I hate myself for that one. Well maybe my old employer for firing me so I would not be able to afford the trip.

Tomorrow I will maybe write a little more. I am planning on reviewing the comics i picked up this week as well as more randumb thoughts.

Color me crabby...

2009-05-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

So I have further proof that our computer age where we have lots of things that we cannot hold in our hands sucks. Yesterday I discover on my way too nice for me Itouch that somehow all of my purchased songs are gone and since i last used my girlfriend's lap top it is logged in as her. So I guess i will trudge to the mall this week and be made to feel like a hick by asking where my songs are. OK that is example 1, I am in the process of doing a zine and am doing it the old cut and paste way because that was how I learned and often I work on it at the new fangled screaming kids library and they have a new Word program that is hard to use. Well i went to open my template and file corrupt and it is the only one that will not open. In my own little world a zine put together with scissors and glue stick is needed now more than ever.

I really wasn't planning on being negative as of 3PM. I just wanted to flesh out a couple of reviews and blog here about the amazing character I ran into today. I had a phone interview which went OK in some ways (i made it to the second round) but the lady was short with me and cut me off several times. The home front was not to enthused about the prospect of data entry but at this point I just want to work. So I was semi grumpy and earlier when driving to a spot where i could actually get reception on my phone i saw this bearded, homeless looking guy i see walking around a lot (what makes this odd is I am currently living in a snooty town home area) rocking out on an electric guitar while crossing the street. I can't hear it but he is going off on it Ala Sonic Youth. I chuckled and laughed just thinking about all the BMW and Mercedes drivers being offended.

Well after my interview I saw him crossing and let him pass and he seemed really happy. I stopped and rolled my window down and said hello. He showed me his guitar which kind of looked like a Fender Jaguar but was covered in tons of white paint. I asked him what kind of guitar it was and he said he wasn't sure but he painted it and it was great for when he played it behind his head because people could see his name. And near the tuning pegs it said Jimi and he had painted the US flag on the back as well. He really didn't seem crazy really, more like an excited child showing an art project he had worked really hard on. If i wasn't beaming enough from this encounter in such a pretentious neighborhood he then says "I tried to get my girlfriend to come walk with me and she said no. So i brought my guitar with me so I would have someone to talk to." And really when I think about being mad about MP3 players and computers and looking for a job I think maybe I should just take a long walk and maybe something to talk to.

On the Fly bare bones Issue 0

2009-05-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

I am about to go and print up some full color covers etc. for my re entry into the dead concept of zines at Kinko's. I am taking it back to 1996 (wow what a great year) and producing a zine that you can send in the mail as well as read on the toilet. I am not sure of the title but I did a little one for a quick poop for a good shit of a friend Tim. I named it On the Fly as I was putting it together while working a crap job (wow that is a lot of toilet references) on a slow afternoon.

The insurance world is awful and not for me, but the I did get some writing done when I was often abandonned with little training. So here is the, I guess prototype to my zine which should be done this week. The official first issue has a lot of wrestling writing but also some comics and journal stuff. Enjoy and let me know if by some weird chance someone is reading this and even weirder that they would like a zine mailed to them or emailed as a word document. I also just realized that the photos I used are not transferring over, so I will just post a mug shot of a great wrestler Dick Slater who I hope is doing better.

On the Fly(I should be working) Issue: 1 Circulation:1
INTRO OUTRO

This zine is a one time special issue. What will it contain? The findings of a foolish boy from Kansas who should be working his butt off trying to make his sales quota but the boy is tired and alone in the office. Possibly not alone due to big brother’s computer eye. Is he safe from State Farm’s brown eye that blocks hotmails and you tubes and my wife Ashleys? Oops a friend told me. Is word safe from prying eyes? I am at least here. Right? All done on the fly.

Things I wish I could do better: draw, lose weight and smooth talk. I am a comfortable talker but by no means a smooth one. I often wish I had a choice of super powers. One would be that simply by opening my mouth and speaking people would fall in love with me. OK yeah that was a shitty movie called Love Potion #9. Now that I think of it if I had that power shouldn’t I use it for something other than selling insurance?

How did I end up almost 35 and in California which is so full of itself, that South Park episode was right it is amazing between the over indulged kids, hypenated names and Green cars that I have not ended up in a tower with a rifle.
No more ranting and moaning. Here are some choice cuts from the Diary of a Madman, wait scratch that Ozzy reference. Diary of a I am going to snap someday guy:
DIARY OF A POOP BUTT (excerpts the negative)

What I like as of 9-9-8: I got yelled at last night. I looked up flights home for Christmas. I read some of the new Sedaris book. I feel alone. I feel like 2 employees. I finished the Wire, I cried when Michael left Bug at the aunt’s house. I watched a horrible wrestling program XPW TV, Onita’s press conference made me laugh. Palin speaks like Pickles and looks like Tina Fey’s wise aunt. I think I look ok today. I wish I could take the day off and eat pizza and catch up on AAA. I miss the boys all of them nephews and friends alike. I have not done a lot yet today, just day to day stuff. I am thinking about looking into a part time job at a homeless shelter. I was proud that I shaved, showered etc. last night so I could sleep a little more this morning.

Hey kid this is not a library, is seldom heard. Now discouraging words…Had Subway in the park and hated myself, homeless laughing man in the gazebo, I should have given him half instead of waiting for the empty belch to finish… I am a prick. After lunch my peeing increases. I should be making phone calls. I will hang information on doors later and hope no one sticks angry dogs on my butt.
I am a false front, I walked into the parking lot and realized that no one really sees the dark cloud I have inside. Ancient Chinese Secret. Afternoon upswing, coffee breath and a crazy man from Bulgaria in the office, wealthy garbage man was he. Could I hang off those trucks and lose my sense of smell? Here yes in Kansas no with the cold and the ice storms, but it would be nice after a long cold day to warm up your feet and watch the weather girl and take a nap. I miss the seasons, I should be charged rent at Safeway. Good night.

The bump in the night/day of Sept. 10: Houston I had a problem, you know the shirt I liked? Within 5 minutes of preparing a dinner it was assaulted and thrown across the room by a lumpy guy who had Safeway chicken salad breath mixed with feta cheese and apple chips. OK OK it was me.
Hi here is my card for Sept. 11, 2008 not so lucky #7, maybe it is a death dealer card. Damn shirt does not want to stay tucked in today, smells like fresh laundry though. Had some wine and cheese and won a bottle of wine. Knee deep in the Skrull invasion and felt like one. Embrace change, change into more comfortable clothes. Digging up business as I think about elbow drop beat down and how I want to go to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and read comics in peace.

A demand list was given for the one hostage of the true me; a sports car, bigger house, nanny and a new baby. In too deep should take up soccer and block a shot every period with my testicles. Rich white and business like I do not believe is me. Not too bad a mood, some jokes but I was told I need to get thicker skin. Hey guess what you need to have a nicer mouth. The responsibility I guess is on the person who has hurt feelings.

AND A RANDOM ONE FOR THE ROAD:
Sometimes I think it would be nice to just leave everything all behind. Go back to Hays and work at Hastings and have a small apartment. I would be 3 hours from my friends and 1 and a half from my family. Or maybe move to New Jersey and get a shit job and go to wrestling shows. Or maybe I should grown up and quit being interested in comics, characters and toys. I am lost and it is bad as being lost on highways in the mountains late at night. Maybe I could go to Japan and work and go to BJW shows and enjoy the consideration and quiet of a full country. Maybe I could move to Canton and get a good house for a decent price, open a video store and live the rest of my days in a lonely peace. I know what I am supposed to want; big house and a nice car. I want a house where I can have my stuff out.

Top Ten Wrestlers My favorite 2 that are tickling my fancy as of 10-3-8 when I should be elbow deep in sales (this is on the fly god damnit):

1. Chessman I side with him in his feud with Cibernetico. Cibernetico is the HHH of AAA (clever huh?) A couple of weeks ago they had their first big one on one and he wore this odd orange doll mask with hair and removed it to have smudged black face paint. He looked deranged so it was great. He also in the same match took a nutty as a squirrel turd bump from a stunner off the apron onto a table. He lost but I hope they give him his own group with a certain gladiator I like. Yeah right. His throw away match with Ricky Marvin as his partner was so great, especially the spearing of Jack Evans through the ropes and a table. Chessman is a big caveman who bumps like crazy and has his mental good days and bad. I guess I relate.
Shadow WX: This pic is from his hot sauce board death match that I have not seen yet. It is getting mixed reviews. But hey I was excited to hear he won the belt again. He looks different now, slimmed down and tan. I wonder why guys go back to death matches after leaving it? I was just watching one last night and Shadow had tubes stuck in the front of his shirt and then got a knee splash. His death match finish is nutty as it is a light tube lariat. He is one passionate fella and hey Winger is back too. Will they team them up or have them kill each other? Knowing BJW they will do both. Heated singles match one day meaningless 6 man the next day.

The good:
Halloween type TV

Too many DVDs to watch

Burger King by the San Carlos airport

Skaar Son of Hulk

I had coffee today and a random girl smiled at me on Laurel St.

Sweet Brown Sugar aka Stagger Lee aka Koko B. Ware

10-30-8 is an overcast day with rain (finally)

The bad:
Baseball is over

No time to watch too many DVDs

Eyes watching over for State Farm

Bagging your weasel

Green, green politics- flamethrower this state

The ugly:
Said bagged weasel

The 4AM poop that died 10-29-8 onion
blossom covered in wet sand

Trying to sell something that you cannot touch, taster or fart on

*This quickly produced zine should be read on the toilet, but not for a big get a pillow poop but a quick one. For bigger and longer poops I recommend the following:
Planet Hulk
Joke Books
Wii manuals

Taking bites out of a 6 foot poop hoagie

2009-03-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Well I just looked at my previous post and the poop smeared writing was on the wall. But did i have to read it the day before my birthday? Come on! Yep I was let go from the insurance world the day before i turned 35. In some ways it was a relief, but in one big way it is not. Yep money. Sure i was not making a ton but better than now!

I have filed for unemployment and had to send more documents to prove that I am what I am. Who the hell would want to be me? If by some chance my ID was stolen it would be returned in a matter of days. But I have been writing more and plan on updating this more often. I was paid a high compliment by she who cannot be named that my writing was well written. Never mind the content but you take what you can get.

The job market is really awful and even worse where I am living (if you can call it living). In the past when I was in crisis the nights were the toughest times. Now it is bad in the morning when i am puttering around and cannot sit still, trying to plan out how to be productive and not feel like a loser.

So on top of my relationship slowly tanking and losing a job i was not sold on (sold out maybe?) my Uncle passed away as well. For some reason it has really bothered me. I had not seen him for some time but I really liked him. I look around here and see these inconsiderate rude guys and think they are not half the man my uncle was. He didn't make a ton of money, but he enjoyed what he did, doing handyman work. He loved my aunt and I do not mean in the flowery overpriced vacation way. He understood the day to day things that show that you are tuned in and care. He drove her to work every morning, made her meals and would get up before her to turn on the space heater in the bathroom so she would not have to walk on cold tiles. I miss my family more than i ever thought i would. I miss the gathering and ball busting that goes on. My uncle was there with a smile and would often shake his head at our salty family. He was a Cowboys fan and I truly think that is the reason why i no longer hate that franchise.

Tomorrow is another day of searching for jobs and trying to not feel so damn down in the AM. I think of how George Carlin said in an interview about how dying would suck because he didn't want to miss anything that was going on. He loved sitting down and writing and just being around. I may never do this for a living but it does cheer me up... most of the times.

Good Lord are you kidding?

2009-02-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

OK so I so Gol Eesh and Whoa Nelly but has it really been a year since I have put something down in this here blog? I am planning on writing more not that anyone cares. Valentine's still sucks a year later, but the photo of the real Loverboy Dennis Condrey says it ain't so. I got an I Tunes gift card, some candy and stomach cramps and the brown water runs for 09. The best memory I have of Vday is not flowers and romance but cropdusting a couple with a heinous thai food fart in 07. Smell the love.

What has happened in a year:

Almost broke up, almost moved out, almost almost.

I saw AAA live in San Jose. My love for Chessman is > most

I still resemble a water balloon with a ruber band tied around it (at least not a grape on tooth picks.... yet)

Much more but I am doing this on the fly at my job. Who knows how long this will last? Will the earth hurry up and end soon so I do not have to go through the trouble and being fake for interviews etc.

Happy Valentine's My ass...

2008-02-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Today was really just a Thursday in February. Huge blow up last night that was totally uncalled for, half assed apology, rinse repeat, same as it ever was. Too much company around no chance of any love, even self loving. Tomorrow we drink, tomorrow we watch more Mid South, tomorrow we eat too much cereal and fart in the cat's face while getting ready for the Chessman vs. Halloween match in AAA.

ECW 2-5-8

2008-02-10T11:30:00.001-08:00

Tuesday seems almost like a dream now. I worked a long day and everyone was in a better mood. I have come to look forward to Tuesdays due to ECW. I got out of the habit of watching it for a little while but I am back in full swing. But if I soon end up on the street hopefully the guys and gals at the drop center will let me watch. Maybe I will work a double shift ladling soup to earn it.

For the second week in a row I really enjoyed the hell out of the show. I was wondering why it was so good and than I read that Big Dust has the book. Things made sense and it did not feel rushed. Note: I am now writing this on a Sunday morning, slept on the couch due to a visiting mom (not mine they she doesn’t fly) and just need to be away from everyone. I have a sore throat and a lot of work to do but I wanted to get this out before next Tuesday.

I was dreading the Gulf of Mexico match and to be truthful I dozed off but saw the finish. I youtubed it Wednesday morning and it was a nice little brawl. I was worried it would be totally cheesy. Not cheesy Rock being pinned by a forklift but more cheesy Bob Holly and Al Snow fighting in the water. But it wasn’t the brawling was fine and I liked the go to sleep into the water. I have finally gotten into the Chavo vs. Punk. But I have a feeling Punk will be getting that belt back soon. It would be nice if they let him look strong for awhile, they have him take too many beatings.

So I guess the sun can shine on a Diva’s ass more than once (I mean real sun not the tanning bed variety). Kelly Kelly is becoming quite a little wrestler. I laughed called her the hottest Ricky Morton. This kind of reminds me of the time when Finlay was in charge of the ladies and they started having decent matches and Trish starts looking like a million bucks. I am not sure if they Victoria working with them all but this match was pretty good. It was short and they were smart keeping Layla in there for just a short time. Michelle McCool hit a great looking kick from the ground and Kelly Kelly’s arm drags and selling were top notch. I know I sound like a broken record but Victoria, Layla and Nise Gail Kim (who doesn’t add a whole lot to me) make a great women in prison faction. Supposedly the match next week is good as well.

Holy shitake! They aired a Jim Ross style interview with Stevie Richards! This was great and I like how Stevie came across sympathetic and yet crazy at the same time. I have always said if I was booking ECW Stevie would be my champ. The guy is a great worker and can be a great heel or face and he can do the silly things as well. I hope they are giving him a shot at Punk because they have had some good matches.

My god the Miz is like the biggest Old Navy in shape prick in the world. He comes out with Morrison wearing a coat and scarf. I am not totally sold on their team but man do I love Morrison’s intro music the Hendrix sounding music. Also the wavy slowing down thing when he comes out is just gold. I was hoping for a Delaney/Dreamer vs. Miz/ Morrison but this singles match is fine. I like how Dreamer is still around and I think helping out as a road agent. I am sure he had to work like hell to get any respect. I am sure some of the other guys think of him as ole’ cheese greater head in warm up pants in a bingo hall. I really hope they put the belts on Delaney and Dreamer. If it was just ECW tag belts they would but I think they may be hesitant considering they are Smackdown belts as well. Good short match and Delaney takes a beating and flies into the barricade. I really still want to see a brawl thru the building big bumps thru tables with these two teams with the good guys winning one.

I was glad they skipped the Kane and Shelton this week. The week before it was not that bad but I am glad they gave it a rest. Kofi had his best outing yet. Not that much different than the other ones but more arm work. I guess a program with Stevie would be good for him. I have been watching a lot of Ernie Ladd and although Kofi is not near as big as the Big Cat it makes me happy to see the double leg drop.

I am keeping my fingers crossed to see this Tuesdays but it is tough with guests etc. It is on at 10 my time and I guess that is one of the benefits of sleeping on the couch, sell being tired and fire up the Big Dust approved ECW.

The Ultimate Frustration

2008-02-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

I love how frustrations creep up on you and hit you in the back of the head with an iron skillet as you recline. I am so frustrated right now I want to kick, cry, laugh and eat Jack in the Box tacos. I am working a lot of hours and than I have to come home and defend why I am working a lot of hours and why I am not making more $$$. I just want to do a good job and enjoy life. It looks like I have about 3 unpleasant conversations ahead of me. I must be an idiot I always thought trying to treat others well and being myself would be enough in life.

It was a super nice morning and I almost just drove past work and right on out of this state. I thought about my upstairs neighbor who is moving and how lucky he is that today he will be cruising the open road listening to talk radio and pushing how many miles he can do in one day. Life is odd in the fact I was thinking of my drive out here and all of the hope and promise I had.

Friday Love and Hate

2008-02-01T11:17:00.001-08:00

This used to be one of my favorite gimmicks over at DVDR, I guess they do not do it anymore. I always enjoyed it. I have always tried with these to have more positives than negatives.

Love:
1. Swamp Thing- I am on the 3rd graphic novel and am trying to fight the urge to go buy the 4th this weekend. I dig him because he is gentle and for the most part is pretty mellow. Constantine just showed up in this one and it is awesome how he looks like Sting. How they decided to have that choad Keanu play him in a movie is beyond me. This novel was so great with the woman werewolf and the underwater vampires.

2. The Bash and Build WWE figures- These little fellers are small, i think even smaller than the G.I. Joes i played with as a kid. They are extremely detailed and it looks like they used the real scan program. I just bought the Edge one. The rest of the series are guys that i am not totally crazy about but i sort of want to buy them to build the ring (each figure comes with a ring piece). I keep Baby Edge as i call him on my pullout shelf under my keyboard.

3. This upcoming weekend- This has many good parts. I am home alone this weekend so it will be quiet and i have a lot of time for the Watts discs. On top of that it is Super Bowl Weekend. I plan on sleeping in Saturday, having some breakfast and watching a lot of wrestling. I am also looking forward to watching The Best of Buddy Landell in Puerto Rico, which so far has been great.

4. Writing- The boss is gone today and i am out of it so it feels good to just write. I wish it was my job. I still want to someday have a printed zine to send out. I really like this blogging deal.

5. Opie & Anthony (w/ Little Jimmy Norton)- God i wish i could hear it every day. When i first started listening to Free FM i really did not like their show much, i was more of a Carolla guy. I have to do a bank run every day and this is the high spot of my afternoon, getting maybe 10minutes of the show. It really does sound like some friends of mine sitting down and just having fun.

HATE:

1. This job at times. More precise a certain rudo sales person. She treats everyone like trash but since she brings in the numbers we have been told to just deal with it. All of the drama and anger have taken up a huge part of the last two days and i could see me leaving. Not smart during a recession but it is either that or jail time.

2. Me and food- i feel fat and bloated and i just had some onions for lunch. I really need to get on to the gym tonight. When i get stressed I eat or when i do a good job i eat. I am not 6,000 lbs. but i am also not 40 yet. Har har.

3. Can't get going today. Not that big of a deal but i feel guilty and feel like i will feel the wrath of slacking next week. I have been working far too many hours and need to detach myself and enjoy my life.

4. Eli Manning and the Giants- God, Allah, Buddha and Jimmy Swaggert please do not let these ass clowns win. Eli is such a wiener always bitching to the ref about calls and yelling at his receivers. We will never hear the end of it if Eli and his boys snap the streak.

Words cannot describe the hate

2008-01-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I started this and had to end it. Once again writing on the sly is tough. I was angry yesterday but today i am just out of it. I guess there is some anger. I work with a lady who is a living arrogant scrap of cancer. Our office is in turmoil and I can imagine shutting off my computer for good and going home to watch the Watts set. It has been a long time since i have been around someone that i cannot find one positive trait about them. Anyhow, i was thinking of characters and villians in life and movies and i thought of one that i hate almost as much as my co-worker. Paul Reiser in Aliens. Such a money hungry sniveling bastard just like my co worker. I imagine my co worker getting ready for an appointment with her hat and makeup looking great and backing into the alien's jaws and him splitting her in half with the tail like he did to the nice robo man (Lance Henrickson). As i think about this i smile and think i can make it through today.

ECW 1-29-8

2008-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

I guess I should do an introduction but not today time is a tickin'. I am one of those rare guys that does not have a computer at home so I do all my surfing, posting etc. on the fly at work. When it is slow it is great but now I am in the trenches working long days for well not a lot of anything. Maybe I will do a proper one over the weekend when I come in to ... you guessed it work. So currently I am working on the Watts Mid South Ballot from Death Valley Driver. It is a great project where you rank 150 matches. I am about 12 in right now. The first night of viewing was great but last night's was mediocre. Part of it may have been I was tired from a long day at work and some if it may have been just not in the mood.

*note this has been added to 2-1-8
I did watch ECW which was a fine little night of TV. I was shocked that i didn't totally hate the Diva section which was Victoria squashing Kelly Kelly. Kelly actually didn't totally stink it up and did a nice rope assisted flip into an arm drag. I wish they would have Victoria be the head prison bitch and Layla and Nise Gail Kim could be her lover/cronies. I have this movie I taped off of Showtime that for one is really hot but does a really good job in showing the prison girl dynamic. The great thing is they turn face at the end oh and did i mention the boobs. Sorry wrestling wrestling angles. I think Layla is probably my favorite of the ladies (i hate the term Diva) either way curly hair or straight she is a nice looking woman. There is a huge part of me that just hates the fact that WWE gets rid of or cannot think of anything to do with enter name here but they hire and focus on bikini models. It never fails if i turn on WWE in the gym or am watching at home with the girlfriend some awful Diva shit comes on. Who knows maybe i am just gay that i want to see a Dick Murdoch more than a Torie Wilson. But I could get into a prison women clique and my dream would be for Balls to rescue Kelly Kelly and all 3 gals taking chair shots. Imagine that!

I liked the Mikey Whipwreck idea with the Colin kid. I could enjoy a Dreamer/Colin tag team. WWE must have just figured out about the underdog loser angle as they are also doing it in OVW with Ted the Trailer AKA Manbeast. They showed the clips which show what a great bumper the kid is. I guess next week they are having a tag match. It would be great to see a great old brawl with Dreamer and Colin against someone.

Punk vs. Burke was short but pretty good. They have done this match a lot and i wonder why Burke is not being as featured these days. I loved the New Breed angle last year and those were some of my favorite matches. A rag tag bunch of misfits, a vampire, school teacher and two brothers. This weeks match was short and I loved that when Burke had the chin lock, rear nake hold that he wrapped his legs around Punk. The finish really kind of came out of nowhere.

So the main reason I tuned in was to see the 2nd match of Kofi Kingston. I saw his debut and was pretty jazzed. He actually had some really unique offense. This week he had Rob Eckos who i think is from the Philly Indies. It was decent but i am not so sold on his spin kick finisher. It seems that sometimes the E has troubles coming up with finishers. But Kofi has IT and i really look for him to be a big deal this year.

ECW was fun this week and i did not feel like i wasted precious Watts time watching it. I am hoping to someday do a good old fashioned zine and one thing i want to do is a fantasty booking part and my first project is the ECW roster. Yup Stevie Richards would be my champion. Maybe i will post it here instead.

So i guess i should get back to work. I have a ton to do today and not a lot of zip. But as i drink a Slim Fast and think of the Watts viewing tonight i will smile. I may write more later.