Tuesday, June 30, 2009

#206. Wrestling DVDs

#206

Recently, as I suggested, I picked up a couple of good deals on wrestling DVDs. The first was TNA's second "Cross the Line" collection, featuring Turning Point, Final Resolution (both from the tail-end of 2008), and Genesis (January 2009). It was a good way to catch up visually with what the company has been up to, which by and large has been a huge improvement, and I'm not just saying that because it seems to be the last best hope for one Mr. Ken Anderson. I was originally going to go into detail about what I saw on the discs, but I'll leave the highlight as Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin from the last card (and what a pity it is that TNA fans still don't realize that the "X division" is only really an update of the late cruiserweight divisions of last decade.

Secondly was a WWE two-pack featuring the 2008 and 2009 Royal Rumbles, which was a real treat, because on these cards you can get an unbiased look at the progress the company's superstars from each brand are making in establishing themselves.

Anyway, time is short. Next time I'll labor over the latest WWE trades, maybe. Anyway, they were probably even better than the last draft in getting the right people in the right places with the right momentum. Last note, with my digital converter all hooked up as of last week, I've found that I have Smackdown back. Yay!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

#205. Fall in Their Place, Finnegan, Cloak of Shrouded Men

#205

Well, I did it. I finished up Fall in Their Place last Friday (yeah, I'd been hoping to trick the last one out in the wee hours of Saturday, but because I'm lazy with my time zones here at Scouring Monk, I was thwarted, dear reader), and compiled the initial edit of the collection later that same night. It ended up being the longest of the three blog collections to date, which was kind of frightening, because the thing I hope to submit it to wanted up to 100 pages, not past it. Maybe they'll compromise in the face of greatness...

Anyway, yesterday I accomplished another writing milestone by completing the first draft of the Conformists outline. That company wants five pages, so I'll need to trick out some more words.

It's funny, because I've got my older sister all excited about Finnegan, and The Cloak of Shrouded Men seems to be picking up an inch of steam, pimped as it is by said sister at work and by another friend recently as well.

I picked up some great deals on WWE and TNA collections recently, and that'll be the subject of the next post...

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

#204. Chronicle of Reading List Begins

#204

This is how obsessive I am. I've got a 40-odd title reading list, which I may begin posting the titles here, which isn't an entirely concept for the blog. Several years ago I hatched a scheme to start posting a recommended list here once I started working at Borders and taking notice of the wide range of interesting new and old books out there.

Anyhoo! Still working on my own writing projects. My latest poetry blog will be done by the end of the week, so I'll get to compile and edit the newest collection, which I'll be submitting to a contest.

Monday, June 01, 2009

#203. Mr. Kennedy No More

#203

Really sucked to hear that "Mr. Kennedy" Ken Anderson was released from WWE on Friday, which is kind of funny considering the company recently decided to actively develop "new superstars." Dudes, Kennedy was the new superstar dating back to his debut, and you totally, consistently, dropped the ball. The problem kept being, you could never find a feud worthy of catapulting him. (It was never his wrestling ability, smark marks.) Time and time again, all you thought would work was putting him in feuds against super-established talent. You never let audiences see him as an active, leading member of a newer generation! You can't promote someone like this by assuming the audience will just accept him. If it didn't work for HBK in 1996, what would make you think it would with someone who had far less experience behind him?

Best of luck, Ken. If TNA snatches you up, I instantly become a fan of TNA. If WWE realizes its mistake, perhaps all the better, because the company finally might realize what it's been doing wrong...

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