#202
Just a quick note on another project, the ongoing Conformists comic book effort. Recently I came up with the big idea behind the team, and have decided it'd be worth to try and put a package together that could be submitted to publishers who're willing to take such things from writers (thank you, Caleb Monroe). I've got twelve characters now, and a tie-in with my book, Cloak of Shrouded Men, just as Finnegan: Line of the Dead incorporates Oliver Row, who was featured in a number of projects from the time the Conformists were first dreamed up at Digital Webbing...
Friday, May 22, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
#201. WrestleMania 25 Thoughts
#201
So I got my WrestleMania 25 DVD a few days ago, so I guess I'll do my part in the possible conspiracy to drum up positive hype for the real release date tomorrow.
In a word, I still don't know why people were so down on this card. Okay, not a "word." But still a very good WrestleMania, with the only real downside a possible side-effect of the decision to delete Kid Rock from the event, which neutered the divas match. Most of the deivas, because of how poorly the match was caught on camera (which is atypical for WWE), went by pretty anonymously, which seemed to work against bringing back familiar faces from the past. I just assume with the ring entrances, it would have helped, whether or not Kid Rock was at his best (I personally like him).
The Money in the Bank Ladder Match was exceptional this year mostly to the efforts of Kofi Kingston, who blunted Shelton Benjamin's usual heroics for shear exuberance. Because of how I currently experience WWE product, I'd heard that Kingston is typically like that, but haven't seen it myself. I hope CM Punk can work this win better than the last one.
Ricky Steamboat definitely deserved the hype, too, in his action against Chris Jericho. Makes me want to get Backlash, too.
Rey Mysterio's match against JBL (the Joker was awesome! nice nod to the Daredevil and Flash of past Manias) worked, too, nothing for people to complain over JBL about (he did only his power moves), and all the highlights for Rey-Rey, an actual dominant Mania win for a change, plus JBL banter, which deserves a Mania engraving.
Matt and Jeff put on a good one, too, which was a nice change for Matt, because since my live show last year I'd become convinced that he's not up to par for impact match (read: non-television-based action, which allows him to hide his general immobility) action.
HBK-Undertaker was HBK-Undertaker. What else needs to be said?
The transition to Cena-Big Show-Edge worked, too, because it was a completely different kind of energy, a different match. By the time Cena picked up both opponents for an Attitude Adjustment, it really shouldn't have mattered what match took place before this one. Good to see Show back in a title match at Mania, and I was more engaged in Edge's here than with his main event last year with Undertaker. His chemistry with John Cena just works better.
Then I watched the Morrison/Miz-Carlito/Primo match, and was surprised to see Primo steal the show out from Carlito.
Finally, the much-debated (or, generally disliked) Orton-Triple H. As with the World Title Match, this one had yet another energy to it, a more gritty, "real" intensity to it, a WWE response to an increasingly MMA world, where personal stakes really matter, but are cleverly "constrained" by rules that prevent the match from degenerating into the same bloodbath we've seen a million times before. Triple H was actually going to have to outwrestle Randy Orton. Imagine that!
So as I said, WrestleMania 25 was a winner for me, a tremendous card that carried through, arguably the strongest one-two punch we've seen from the World and WWE title matches (most distinctive, anyway), another strong match beyond that (HBK-Undertaker), a thrilling MitB Ladder Match (adding power figures really worked this time, too, and WWE had to notice the cheers that emerged every time Christian appeared - hey, Vince, I'm not sold on the guy, either, but the fans really like him, and he's easier to root for than RVD, who after all had no mic skills), a celebrity moment that worked (the whole Mickey Rourke saga seemed to finally work itself out) and a bunch of supporting matches with milestone touches.
It ranks as one of the best all-around Manias, unarguably.
So I got my WrestleMania 25 DVD a few days ago, so I guess I'll do my part in the possible conspiracy to drum up positive hype for the real release date tomorrow.
In a word, I still don't know why people were so down on this card. Okay, not a "word." But still a very good WrestleMania, with the only real downside a possible side-effect of the decision to delete Kid Rock from the event, which neutered the divas match. Most of the deivas, because of how poorly the match was caught on camera (which is atypical for WWE), went by pretty anonymously, which seemed to work against bringing back familiar faces from the past. I just assume with the ring entrances, it would have helped, whether or not Kid Rock was at his best (I personally like him).
The Money in the Bank Ladder Match was exceptional this year mostly to the efforts of Kofi Kingston, who blunted Shelton Benjamin's usual heroics for shear exuberance. Because of how I currently experience WWE product, I'd heard that Kingston is typically like that, but haven't seen it myself. I hope CM Punk can work this win better than the last one.
Ricky Steamboat definitely deserved the hype, too, in his action against Chris Jericho. Makes me want to get Backlash, too.
Rey Mysterio's match against JBL (the Joker was awesome! nice nod to the Daredevil and Flash of past Manias) worked, too, nothing for people to complain over JBL about (he did only his power moves), and all the highlights for Rey-Rey, an actual dominant Mania win for a change, plus JBL banter, which deserves a Mania engraving.
Matt and Jeff put on a good one, too, which was a nice change for Matt, because since my live show last year I'd become convinced that he's not up to par for impact match (read: non-television-based action, which allows him to hide his general immobility) action.
HBK-Undertaker was HBK-Undertaker. What else needs to be said?
The transition to Cena-Big Show-Edge worked, too, because it was a completely different kind of energy, a different match. By the time Cena picked up both opponents for an Attitude Adjustment, it really shouldn't have mattered what match took place before this one. Good to see Show back in a title match at Mania, and I was more engaged in Edge's here than with his main event last year with Undertaker. His chemistry with John Cena just works better.
Then I watched the Morrison/Miz-Carlito/Primo match, and was surprised to see Primo steal the show out from Carlito.
Finally, the much-debated (or, generally disliked) Orton-Triple H. As with the World Title Match, this one had yet another energy to it, a more gritty, "real" intensity to it, a WWE response to an increasingly MMA world, where personal stakes really matter, but are cleverly "constrained" by rules that prevent the match from degenerating into the same bloodbath we've seen a million times before. Triple H was actually going to have to outwrestle Randy Orton. Imagine that!
So as I said, WrestleMania 25 was a winner for me, a tremendous card that carried through, arguably the strongest one-two punch we've seen from the World and WWE title matches (most distinctive, anyway), another strong match beyond that (HBK-Undertaker), a thrilling MitB Ladder Match (adding power figures really worked this time, too, and WWE had to notice the cheers that emerged every time Christian appeared - hey, Vince, I'm not sold on the guy, either, but the fans really like him, and he's easier to root for than RVD, who after all had no mic skills), a celebrity moment that worked (the whole Mickey Rourke saga seemed to finally work itself out) and a bunch of supporting matches with milestone touches.
It ranks as one of the best all-around Manias, unarguably.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
#200. Finnegan, Cloak of Shrouded Men, Poetry
#200
In the very special 200th post here at Scouring Monk (funny, because I'm approaching 300 entries in my poetry blogs in far less time), I've got an update for the Theoretical Reader on my book-in-progress Finnegan - The Line of the Dead. I've had the framework ready for months, chapter titles stolen from the lyrics of U2 songs and a general idea of the story, but today, I sketched out all 72 chapters, which is a huge step forward, one that flowed out relatively quickly. From this point, I may expand the sketches further, or simply wait for inspiration to strike on actually writing it. I have the inspiration of Shadow from Lower Decks and his 100 days 100 100-word stories project he's been working on as a kick in the pants.
Also, because I still like to think of Cloak of Shrouded Men as my baby (and having recently recovered the Paperback Reader revision -which never saw publication, Bart *ahem* - that hopefully cleaned up all the ridiculous typographical mistakes from the iUniverse print), it was amusing to here today that Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants also began life as a NaNoWriMo project.
Anyway, other news includes the end destination of the current poetry blog, Fall In Ther Place will hopefully be publication, if I can just track down that contest...Seriously, this stuff couldn't lose if it was Vogon poetry. Then again...
WrestleMania 25 the DVD is on its way from WWEShop, or it isn't. I got conflicting reports. That'll be the subject of #201...
In the very special 200th post here at Scouring Monk (funny, because I'm approaching 300 entries in my poetry blogs in far less time), I've got an update for the Theoretical Reader on my book-in-progress Finnegan - The Line of the Dead. I've had the framework ready for months, chapter titles stolen from the lyrics of U2 songs and a general idea of the story, but today, I sketched out all 72 chapters, which is a huge step forward, one that flowed out relatively quickly. From this point, I may expand the sketches further, or simply wait for inspiration to strike on actually writing it. I have the inspiration of Shadow from Lower Decks and his 100 days 100 100-word stories project he's been working on as a kick in the pants.
Also, because I still like to think of Cloak of Shrouded Men as my baby (and having recently recovered the Paperback Reader revision -which never saw publication, Bart *ahem* - that hopefully cleaned up all the ridiculous typographical mistakes from the iUniverse print), it was amusing to here today that Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants also began life as a NaNoWriMo project.
Anyway, other news includes the end destination of the current poetry blog, Fall In Ther Place will hopefully be publication, if I can just track down that contest...Seriously, this stuff couldn't lose if it was Vogon poetry. Then again...
WrestleMania 25 the DVD is on its way from WWEShop, or it isn't. I got conflicting reports. That'll be the subject of #201...
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