#223
So I watched the Victory Road DVD, obviously, and it was exactly what I thought it was, TNA's step in the right direction, integrating people who really know what they're doing with those who haven't (except Daniels/Matt Morgan, if which case it was two people who don't -- I'm the rare observer who thinks the Fallen Angel is technically proficient, but who can't strange a decent match to save his life, and certainly not with someone like the Blueprint, but we'll get back to him). A.J. Styles really needed a step in a new direction, and Kevin Nash was exactly what he needed, and that's what the card was all about, getting the Main Event Mafia to not just dominate but work for the company. Samoa Joe never looked better than when he was fighting Sting (until Taz came out, then he completely fell apart, which was, er, ironic). This past Sunday's Bound for Glory was all about getting everything past that point. Styles is champion, and for the first time, TNA is handling it right. Bobby Lashley, not having to worry about "saving" the company, did a submission match with Joe. Kurt Angle took Morgan under his wing, which was exactly what got Styles the big belt (and hopefully, Morgan finally begins to pay off for someone). Eric Young and Hernandez, meanwhile, get the Nash treatment.
WWE, meanwhile, is working its younger players, too. I just watched Breaking Point, and it looks like Kofi Kingston and MVP have elevated their game to the point where they can be compared to their counterparts on Smackdown, John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler, whose match at Hell in a Cell is the reason I'll be picking up that DVD, too. The problem is the wrestling community failing to embrace these guys (I'm looking at you, Wrestleview). They're the future. Hey, it looks bright.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Friday, October 02, 2009
#222. Reading List: 2666
#222
2666 by Robert Bolano finally came to plate, and I couldn't be more pleased. I chose the Spanish version because I think I would actually want to learn Spanish to read it as he wrote it, and I've only read about thirty pages so far (you'd get the urge, too, if you read those pages, on a number of levels). He's a dream writer for the great literature/writer set, and I'm glad this book came out of him before he died. It's going to be a pleasure however long it takes me to read it.
2666 by Robert Bolano finally came to plate, and I couldn't be more pleased. I chose the Spanish version because I think I would actually want to learn Spanish to read it as he wrote it, and I've only read about thirty pages so far (you'd get the urge, too, if you read those pages, on a number of levels). He's a dream writer for the great literature/writer set, and I'm glad this book came out of him before he died. It's going to be a pleasure however long it takes me to read it.
#221. WWE 2003 DVD Collection
#221
Last week I accomplished what probably no one else did in 2009: I completed my collection of the WWE 2003 PPVs. It didn't begin on purpose, and continued on just as accidentally, but over time, it just seemed like something that was not only possible, but almost necessary, honoring one of the least appreciated years in wrestling, whether it was Evolution's first year, Brock Lesnar's last full run, or Goldberg's only tenure in WWE, and any number of other things, it became inevitable. There was a pretty big push earlier this year, scooping up four additional titles a month ago, and then the chance came to finally get Armaggedon, the one I kept avoiding because Goldberg finally fell to Triple H (but it was a good match all the same, probably the best either one competed in all year).
I, er, don't anticipate ever repeating that accomplishment. But, I will be getting TNA's much-deplored Victory Road from this year. I know, I know, I pick all the popular ones. Have you read my column at Lower Decks?
Last week I accomplished what probably no one else did in 2009: I completed my collection of the WWE 2003 PPVs. It didn't begin on purpose, and continued on just as accidentally, but over time, it just seemed like something that was not only possible, but almost necessary, honoring one of the least appreciated years in wrestling, whether it was Evolution's first year, Brock Lesnar's last full run, or Goldberg's only tenure in WWE, and any number of other things, it became inevitable. There was a pretty big push earlier this year, scooping up four additional titles a month ago, and then the chance came to finally get Armaggedon, the one I kept avoiding because Goldberg finally fell to Triple H (but it was a good match all the same, probably the best either one competed in all year).
I, er, don't anticipate ever repeating that accomplishment. But, I will be getting TNA's much-deplored Victory Road from this year. I know, I know, I pick all the popular ones. Have you read my column at Lower Decks?
Thursday, September 17, 2009
#220. Reading List: A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
#220
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes. The first chapter finally got me back in Noah fiction (as seen in Not Wanted On the Voyage by Timothy Findley, or The Preservationist by David Maine, which I haven't read, but later in the Reading List are a bunch of other books by Maine). The book itself is kind of funny, because I think I must have been thinking of another book, or perhaps another edition, when I bought it. All the same, good stuff.
I'm also reading Flashforward from Robert J. Sawyer as one of my longer term reading materials, thanks to the show, which apparently only takes so much from the book. Still, should be interesting.
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes. The first chapter finally got me back in Noah fiction (as seen in Not Wanted On the Voyage by Timothy Findley, or The Preservationist by David Maine, which I haven't read, but later in the Reading List are a bunch of other books by Maine). The book itself is kind of funny, because I think I must have been thinking of another book, or perhaps another edition, when I bought it. All the same, good stuff.I'm also reading Flashforward from Robert J. Sawyer as one of my longer term reading materials, thanks to the show, which apparently only takes so much from the book. Still, should be interesting.
Friday, September 04, 2009
#219. Conformists in the Mail
#219
Wow, so I shipped the Conformists pitch off to Dark Horse yesterday. It's a good feeling just to have done that...
Wow, so I shipped the Conformists pitch off to Dark Horse yesterday. It's a good feeling just to have done that...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
#218. Conformists Scripting
#218
In purely personal news, I'm thrilled to announce that I've finally finished the script for Conformists#1, and I clocked it in at what was my Digital Webbing pace of two days for a 22 page script. Couldn't be happier.
Oh, and now I get to be a parent and try and see it succeed in the world. If it does, I've got eleven other babies to rear...
In purely personal news, I'm thrilled to announce that I've finally finished the script for Conformists#1, and I clocked it in at what was my Digital Webbing pace of two days for a 22 page script. Couldn't be happier.
Oh, and now I get to be a parent and try and see it succeed in the world. If it does, I've got eleven other babies to rear...
#217. PWI 500 2009
#217
It's time for our annual Scouring Monk review of the PWI 500!
First, a prelude. I don't know why I never really realized this before, but Pro Wrestling Illustrated's ranking period, roughly summer (A) to summer (B) has probably always been meant to skewer whoever WWE has chosen for the WrestleMania push. A second glance will make this obvious, and the moreso when WWE, for one reason or other, has failed to make a solid commitment in that role. The two most controversial selections in the PWI 500's history for the number one slot were Dean Malenko (1997) and Rob Van Dam (2002). No please, let me elaborate.
In 1997, WWE's WrestleMania plans were thwarted, by whom exactly the tales often vary. Shawn Michaels is the popular selection, and all the more by the events of that year's Survivor Series. By Bret Hart's reckoning, it was Shawn's refusal to exchange the favor he'd made the previous year (in, oh, the greatest main event championship match in the card's history; he never has a problem sharing the glory of 1992's Summer Slam match with Davey Boy Smith, possibly because fortune certainly smiled on him a bit more). Others have it that the Ultimate Warrior foiled the plans by failing to remain a viable employee for longer than a few months following his 1996 comeback. In any event, WWE scrambled to put together a Sid-Undertaker program. Clearly this had never been the plan (other than the fact that Sid had been engaged in a long-term program with Michaels at that point, and Undertaker enjoyed a lengthy reign after it).
At the same time, the nWo had completely overtaken WCW, and hey, the wrestling scene. PWI had listed HBK atop its 1996 500, but his reign wasn't all that popular with the fans (possibly because of the breaking nWo arc that coincided with the hottest months of his reign). Consequently, WCW was forced into the "controversial" position of pushing a star, Hulk Hogan, who was past his wrestling prime (or at least, initial popularity; whatever). This is crucial because PWI prides itself as an objective, even academic exercise, and the PWI 500 is its yearly crowning achievement in that regard. Yet, quite patently, there's nothing really scientific about it. PWI is a fan venture through and through, and it's only for the fact that it is about as close to academic as the wrestling community gets that it can assume to be an authority, even when at the most important moments, it's anything but. Hence the queer association between that WrestleMania push and the top ranking in almost every PWI 500.
Now, the only way a fan is different from whatever wrestling organization he chooses to follow (because for most fans, it's impossible to cover more than a small handful of the wrestling scene, something PWI has the luxury of doing, but routinely squanders in anything but the PWI 500, except in the meaningless reportage it does) is that he does not have to make the decisions that cast the fortunes of the wrestlers. He only has to observe and cheer or boo as he chooses. Simply put, he has the advantage, if he chooses, to make a completely objective stance. Any wrestler who garners any real reaction from that or any other fan, will automatically know it. That's the nature of wrestling.
Therefore, I submit that the only "scientific" way to judge the year of any wrestler is whether or not they've put on a consistently excellent performance, regardless of titles or matches won, how the company they happen to work for actually treats them. The only way to judge a wrestler is how the audience accepts him.
In that regard, PWI is often pretty good, otherwise it would never have chosen Malenko or Van Dam to represent its ranking, regardless of whether or not they actually earned it.
So this is to say, at the very least, given the way PWI's rankings went that year, one would assume that the nWo was in fact a miserable failure from the start, because Hogan's ranking was dismal indeed. In fact, he ought to have been #1.
In 2002, Triple H got the WrestleMania push, but not the top PWI 500 ranking, because his overall year wasn't impressive. He missed half the grading period rehabbing his quad, and his championship reign lasted only one month. Fair enough, PWI.
But RVD? Hardly. Only fans who were invested in the wrestler and not his actual performance would ever have thought so ridiculously highly of him for so long (it's the same reason Chris Benoit got the 2004 PWI 500 top slot over Eddie Guerrero - if you overlook the need for the big WrestleMania push to be the determining factor; it's also why Batista got the 2005 PWI 500 spot over John Cena, even though Guerrero and Cena had consistently better years, over the grading periods, than Benoit or Batista). (And hey, the 2004 question doesn't even mention the fact that Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Kurt Angle, or Triple H would have made more credible selections than fan favorites Benoit or Guerrero.)
Chris Jericho had just spent a significant portion of the grading period headlining WWE's most important PPVs, wearing the unprecedented unified world championship (one of PWI's writers even tried to defend his ranking once again in this year's issue). If he wasn't good enough, there was Steve Austin, who had just completed his last great run with WWE (but was knocked for cutting out the last few months, which are about as significant when they need to be for PWI writers as the entire first half of the period, which is to say not very). He'd hijacked the Invasion angle, just as Hogan had dominated the nWo angle, despite the fact that technically, it was Hall and Nash's story, had a tremendous series of matches with Kurt Angle over the WWE title, and had still been in the title scene as late as February, when a resurrected nWo, Triple H, and Jericho had taken over the title scene. By nWo I count Hogan, who had his last run with the big belt right after Triple H's big comeback. Oh, and by referencing Hogan, I also mean to bring up The Rock, who deserved a ton of credit for making the defining wrestling match of the modern era with Hogan at WrestleMania.
Jericho, Austin, Angle, or The Rock would have been fine selections. RVD should never even have been in the running.
Speaking of The Rock, he might as well have had the 2000 PWI 500 spot as well. But if not him, then certainly Triple H.
All of this a prelude for Triple H's win in the 2009 PWI 500 lottery. Truth be told, I was somewhat surprised by it. Earlier this week, I had scribbled in my notebook the following names I expected to find in the top ten: Randy Orton (deservedly last year's selection), Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Kurt Angle, and Sting.
I expected Orton to repeat, easily. He had developed himself into the most exciting performer at the start of the year by annihilating the entire McMahon clan, which led into the first legitimate war he's had in his career, with Triple H, who of course, by some twist of PWI logic, ended up with the default WrestleMania push (because he won, which itself was not a problem by any means).
Jeff Hardy I was somewhat pleasantly surprised, didn't make the top ten, because in truth, he didn't have the year to truly merit it. He fumbled around a little too much. Jericho could easily have been #1, if Orton hadn't been. There was nobody hotter than he was last fall, and he's turned dynamic turn after dynamic turn since then. Who else could have helped carry that terrific Ricky Steamboat comeback? Punk had been punked by PWI's reasoning last year, so it was nice to see he made it. Angle was TNA's Jericho, easily, but no respect for that. No respect, in fact, for TNA at all this year, even though, for me, it was a breakout period for the company. Sting got on the list, too.
A.J. Styles made a tremendous comeback from an admittedly lackluster 2008 PWI 500 year, but was hardly thanked for it. PWI sees the Main Event Mafia as a mistake. I see it as increasingly genius. Maybe it's because I hve the inevitable advantage of following developments that just missed the grading period, such as Samoa Joe being elevated to MEM status, or Styles elevating Matt Morgan. Even Hernandez, however, wasn't given any credit, even though he was on the cusp of his own elevation until injury temporarily put it on hold (it'll be the story of the second half of 2009). Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, didn't get any love, even though they had breakout periods.
Oh, and Brian Kendrick. In is write-up, PWI didn't even bother to acknowledge how hot his fall was. It doesn't matter where he's ended up. A fan would know this, and acknowledge it.
Still, it was a fairly good edition, even if PWI itself failed to appreciate it.
Let's say it's the Monk's ambition to make a truly satisying 500 list.
It's time for our annual Scouring Monk review of the PWI 500!
First, a prelude. I don't know why I never really realized this before, but Pro Wrestling Illustrated's ranking period, roughly summer (A) to summer (B) has probably always been meant to skewer whoever WWE has chosen for the WrestleMania push. A second glance will make this obvious, and the moreso when WWE, for one reason or other, has failed to make a solid commitment in that role. The two most controversial selections in the PWI 500's history for the number one slot were Dean Malenko (1997) and Rob Van Dam (2002). No please, let me elaborate.
In 1997, WWE's WrestleMania plans were thwarted, by whom exactly the tales often vary. Shawn Michaels is the popular selection, and all the more by the events of that year's Survivor Series. By Bret Hart's reckoning, it was Shawn's refusal to exchange the favor he'd made the previous year (in, oh, the greatest main event championship match in the card's history; he never has a problem sharing the glory of 1992's Summer Slam match with Davey Boy Smith, possibly because fortune certainly smiled on him a bit more). Others have it that the Ultimate Warrior foiled the plans by failing to remain a viable employee for longer than a few months following his 1996 comeback. In any event, WWE scrambled to put together a Sid-Undertaker program. Clearly this had never been the plan (other than the fact that Sid had been engaged in a long-term program with Michaels at that point, and Undertaker enjoyed a lengthy reign after it).
At the same time, the nWo had completely overtaken WCW, and hey, the wrestling scene. PWI had listed HBK atop its 1996 500, but his reign wasn't all that popular with the fans (possibly because of the breaking nWo arc that coincided with the hottest months of his reign). Consequently, WCW was forced into the "controversial" position of pushing a star, Hulk Hogan, who was past his wrestling prime (or at least, initial popularity; whatever). This is crucial because PWI prides itself as an objective, even academic exercise, and the PWI 500 is its yearly crowning achievement in that regard. Yet, quite patently, there's nothing really scientific about it. PWI is a fan venture through and through, and it's only for the fact that it is about as close to academic as the wrestling community gets that it can assume to be an authority, even when at the most important moments, it's anything but. Hence the queer association between that WrestleMania push and the top ranking in almost every PWI 500.
Now, the only way a fan is different from whatever wrestling organization he chooses to follow (because for most fans, it's impossible to cover more than a small handful of the wrestling scene, something PWI has the luxury of doing, but routinely squanders in anything but the PWI 500, except in the meaningless reportage it does) is that he does not have to make the decisions that cast the fortunes of the wrestlers. He only has to observe and cheer or boo as he chooses. Simply put, he has the advantage, if he chooses, to make a completely objective stance. Any wrestler who garners any real reaction from that or any other fan, will automatically know it. That's the nature of wrestling.
Therefore, I submit that the only "scientific" way to judge the year of any wrestler is whether or not they've put on a consistently excellent performance, regardless of titles or matches won, how the company they happen to work for actually treats them. The only way to judge a wrestler is how the audience accepts him.
In that regard, PWI is often pretty good, otherwise it would never have chosen Malenko or Van Dam to represent its ranking, regardless of whether or not they actually earned it.
So this is to say, at the very least, given the way PWI's rankings went that year, one would assume that the nWo was in fact a miserable failure from the start, because Hogan's ranking was dismal indeed. In fact, he ought to have been #1.
In 2002, Triple H got the WrestleMania push, but not the top PWI 500 ranking, because his overall year wasn't impressive. He missed half the grading period rehabbing his quad, and his championship reign lasted only one month. Fair enough, PWI.
But RVD? Hardly. Only fans who were invested in the wrestler and not his actual performance would ever have thought so ridiculously highly of him for so long (it's the same reason Chris Benoit got the 2004 PWI 500 top slot over Eddie Guerrero - if you overlook the need for the big WrestleMania push to be the determining factor; it's also why Batista got the 2005 PWI 500 spot over John Cena, even though Guerrero and Cena had consistently better years, over the grading periods, than Benoit or Batista). (And hey, the 2004 question doesn't even mention the fact that Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Kurt Angle, or Triple H would have made more credible selections than fan favorites Benoit or Guerrero.)
Chris Jericho had just spent a significant portion of the grading period headlining WWE's most important PPVs, wearing the unprecedented unified world championship (one of PWI's writers even tried to defend his ranking once again in this year's issue). If he wasn't good enough, there was Steve Austin, who had just completed his last great run with WWE (but was knocked for cutting out the last few months, which are about as significant when they need to be for PWI writers as the entire first half of the period, which is to say not very). He'd hijacked the Invasion angle, just as Hogan had dominated the nWo angle, despite the fact that technically, it was Hall and Nash's story, had a tremendous series of matches with Kurt Angle over the WWE title, and had still been in the title scene as late as February, when a resurrected nWo, Triple H, and Jericho had taken over the title scene. By nWo I count Hogan, who had his last run with the big belt right after Triple H's big comeback. Oh, and by referencing Hogan, I also mean to bring up The Rock, who deserved a ton of credit for making the defining wrestling match of the modern era with Hogan at WrestleMania.
Jericho, Austin, Angle, or The Rock would have been fine selections. RVD should never even have been in the running.
Speaking of The Rock, he might as well have had the 2000 PWI 500 spot as well. But if not him, then certainly Triple H.
All of this a prelude for Triple H's win in the 2009 PWI 500 lottery. Truth be told, I was somewhat surprised by it. Earlier this week, I had scribbled in my notebook the following names I expected to find in the top ten: Randy Orton (deservedly last year's selection), Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Kurt Angle, and Sting.
I expected Orton to repeat, easily. He had developed himself into the most exciting performer at the start of the year by annihilating the entire McMahon clan, which led into the first legitimate war he's had in his career, with Triple H, who of course, by some twist of PWI logic, ended up with the default WrestleMania push (because he won, which itself was not a problem by any means).
Jeff Hardy I was somewhat pleasantly surprised, didn't make the top ten, because in truth, he didn't have the year to truly merit it. He fumbled around a little too much. Jericho could easily have been #1, if Orton hadn't been. There was nobody hotter than he was last fall, and he's turned dynamic turn after dynamic turn since then. Who else could have helped carry that terrific Ricky Steamboat comeback? Punk had been punked by PWI's reasoning last year, so it was nice to see he made it. Angle was TNA's Jericho, easily, but no respect for that. No respect, in fact, for TNA at all this year, even though, for me, it was a breakout period for the company. Sting got on the list, too.
A.J. Styles made a tremendous comeback from an admittedly lackluster 2008 PWI 500 year, but was hardly thanked for it. PWI sees the Main Event Mafia as a mistake. I see it as increasingly genius. Maybe it's because I hve the inevitable advantage of following developments that just missed the grading period, such as Samoa Joe being elevated to MEM status, or Styles elevating Matt Morgan. Even Hernandez, however, wasn't given any credit, even though he was on the cusp of his own elevation until injury temporarily put it on hold (it'll be the story of the second half of 2009). Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, didn't get any love, even though they had breakout periods.
Oh, and Brian Kendrick. In is write-up, PWI didn't even bother to acknowledge how hot his fall was. It doesn't matter where he's ended up. A fan would know this, and acknowledge it.
Still, it was a fairly good edition, even if PWI itself failed to appreciate it.
Let's say it's the Monk's ambition to make a truly satisying 500 list.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
#216. Reading List: Good Omens
#216
Good Omens is absolutely the last Neil Gaiman (with Terry Pratchett this time) on the reading list. I love the mass market scheme for this one, so it's a pleasure to spotlight the dueling covers for it from ol' Amazon. From this point, we'll be moving into ridiculously heavy literary territory, but Neil is the kind of English writer that should probably be the poster boy of that country's modern output, even if he's "genre."
I've been on vacation, so that made Fragile Things pretty easy to read through quickly.
Good Omens is absolutely the last Neil Gaiman (with Terry Pratchett this time) on the reading list. I love the mass market scheme for this one, so it's a pleasure to spotlight the dueling covers for it from ol' Amazon. From this point, we'll be moving into ridiculously heavy literary territory, but Neil is the kind of English writer that should probably be the poster boy of that country's modern output, even if he's "genre."I've been on vacation, so that made Fragile Things pretty easy to read through quickly.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
#215. Reading List: Fragile Things
#215
Fragile Things continues my reading list's fascination with Neil Gaiman. It's a short story collection, which is always a nice change of pace, and will help prepare me for a number of longer works not so much farther down the list, so I'll be ready to tackle them. The only problem? Like the Gaimans, they're one-after-another. Still! The list is long and varied, and my dear Theoretical Readers get to share it with me!
Fragile Things continues my reading list's fascination with Neil Gaiman. It's a short story collection, which is always a nice change of pace, and will help prepare me for a number of longer works not so much farther down the list, so I'll be ready to tackle them. The only problem? Like the Gaimans, they're one-after-another. Still! The list is long and varied, and my dear Theoretical Readers get to share it with me!
Monday, August 17, 2009
#214. Conformists
#214
Last week I finished up the revised synopsis for The Conformists...and then took another look at the Dark Horse submission guidelines in the midst of realizing that I wasn't going to have quite as much time on Friday as I'd had on Wednesday, when I really should have started on the script for the first issue. So I still haven't started, but I did begin vacation yesterday so I'll have all the time I need. I mentioned the guidelines because I'd been under the impression (hope?) that I could electronically submit the project, as I had with the poetry contest entry, and that isn't the case, so that necessitates yet another of the upgrades I'll be needing in the near future:
ink!
I guess that about does it, unless someone allows digital recording for us folks still receiving basic TV (y'know, the suckers who got those digital converters).
...Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about being on vacation. Really good! I'll check back in at some point within the two weeks for an update...
Last week I finished up the revised synopsis for The Conformists...and then took another look at the Dark Horse submission guidelines in the midst of realizing that I wasn't going to have quite as much time on Friday as I'd had on Wednesday, when I really should have started on the script for the first issue. So I still haven't started, but I did begin vacation yesterday so I'll have all the time I need. I mentioned the guidelines because I'd been under the impression (hope?) that I could electronically submit the project, as I had with the poetry contest entry, and that isn't the case, so that necessitates yet another of the upgrades I'll be needing in the near future:
ink!
I guess that about does it, unless someone allows digital recording for us folks still receiving basic TV (y'know, the suckers who got those digital converters).
...Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about being on vacation. Really good! I'll check back in at some point within the two weeks for an update...
Saturday, August 01, 2009
#213. Reading List: Anansi Boys
#213
Now to Gaiman:
Anansi Boys, the sequel to American Gods, the first thing I read from Neil. I've since read a handful of the legendary Sandman comics, but Anansi Boys, as I've said, kicks off a series in this Reading List from Gaiman.
Now to Gaiman:
Anansi Boys, the sequel to American Gods, the first thing I read from Neil. I've since read a handful of the legendary Sandman comics, but Anansi Boys, as I've said, kicks off a series in this Reading List from Gaiman.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
#212. Social Media Whore
#212
Updated the links listed on the right, since I just started a Twitter, where I'm going to be writing a new story. Two down, two million to go?
And I've also got a Facebook, which I started in January but didn't really get behind until about a month or so ago, plus MySpace, which I've been on for a couple years now.
But, Blogger's the oldest!
Updated the links listed on the right, since I just started a Twitter, where I'm going to be writing a new story. Two down, two million to go?
And I've also got a Facebook, which I started in January but didn't really get behind until about a month or so ago, plus MySpace, which I've been on for a couple years now.
But, Blogger's the oldest!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
#211. Hearing Issues
#211
Okay, so here's a bit more personal:
If you want to come off like an asshole about it, you can feel free to use negative connotations when referring to the fact that you can't hear me. I don't care how much I like you, you're basically saying that whatever else you might think, you think it's my problem and that it's a stupid problem. Well, it's stupid of you to think that way, and it's never pleasant to find out that someone who seems nice isn't always so nice, and more than not nice, can't help but conversationally being, well, an asshole. And I'm talking about an otherwise nice person. It sucks to know they really think I'm just a nuisance, whether they realize it or not, because they can't possibly see, for the smallest part of it, that constantly being told they you can't be heard isn't pleasant.
And that's just a rough idea of it...
Okay, so here's a bit more personal:
If you want to come off like an asshole about it, you can feel free to use negative connotations when referring to the fact that you can't hear me. I don't care how much I like you, you're basically saying that whatever else you might think, you think it's my problem and that it's a stupid problem. Well, it's stupid of you to think that way, and it's never pleasant to find out that someone who seems nice isn't always so nice, and more than not nice, can't help but conversationally being, well, an asshole. And I'm talking about an otherwise nice person. It sucks to know they really think I'm just a nuisance, whether they realize it or not, because they can't possibly see, for the smallest part of it, that constantly being told they you can't be heard isn't pleasant.
And that's just a rough idea of it...
Saturday, July 18, 2009
#210. Conformists, Fall In Their Place, Finnegan, Lance Nolan, Smackdown, Main Event Mafia, Ken Anderson
#210
It's funny, the more I prepare the outline for The Conformists, the more detail I find myself wanting to fill in. Normally, I'm pretty happy with far less than what I've done already, but this is the first time I think I might actually have a chance at getting a comic book published.
It's had the effect of blocking up a lot of writing projects. I've been doing a lot of reviews and my regular weekly column, HYGOTS, at Lower Decks, but have been unable to motivate myself to get back on the Fall in their Place edit/entry due in a few weeks, or work on the script for the first Conformists, or for that matter, Finnegan (which I've decided I might just skip out on "Line of the Dead" as part of the title).
But I did make a pretty big decision recently, and that was that my long-gestating Lance Nolan project, which I really don't talk about very often, might be a single book, in the form of Cloak of Shrouded Men (or The Stand, to use a slightly more famous example), rather than a trilogy, which it only really ever was conceived as because that's what sci-fi epics typically come as, at least in film. I'm liking that idea more and more...
To get back to wrestling talk (yay!), I'm pretty glad that I ended up with My Network TV after the converter conversion, because it's helped me familiarize myself with the latest Smackdown roster, which is the most cohesive it's been since around 2003. CM Punk, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio...They've been working so well together in recent weeks that it's like they're reinventing the wheel. Exciting to follow!
TNA, meanwhile, finally advanced Sting past the Main Event Mafia, which is just perfect. The promotion finally seems to be running on all cylinders. Tomorrow's PPV, Victory Road, ought to be a good one.
All that and Ken Anderson counting the days to once again making history? Couldn't be a better time to be a wrestling fan.
It's funny, the more I prepare the outline for The Conformists, the more detail I find myself wanting to fill in. Normally, I'm pretty happy with far less than what I've done already, but this is the first time I think I might actually have a chance at getting a comic book published.
It's had the effect of blocking up a lot of writing projects. I've been doing a lot of reviews and my regular weekly column, HYGOTS, at Lower Decks, but have been unable to motivate myself to get back on the Fall in their Place edit/entry due in a few weeks, or work on the script for the first Conformists, or for that matter, Finnegan (which I've decided I might just skip out on "Line of the Dead" as part of the title).
But I did make a pretty big decision recently, and that was that my long-gestating Lance Nolan project, which I really don't talk about very often, might be a single book, in the form of Cloak of Shrouded Men (or The Stand, to use a slightly more famous example), rather than a trilogy, which it only really ever was conceived as because that's what sci-fi epics typically come as, at least in film. I'm liking that idea more and more...
To get back to wrestling talk (yay!), I'm pretty glad that I ended up with My Network TV after the converter conversion, because it's helped me familiarize myself with the latest Smackdown roster, which is the most cohesive it's been since around 2003. CM Punk, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio...They've been working so well together in recent weeks that it's like they're reinventing the wheel. Exciting to follow!
TNA, meanwhile, finally advanced Sting past the Main Event Mafia, which is just perfect. The promotion finally seems to be running on all cylinders. Tomorrow's PPV, Victory Road, ought to be a good one.
All that and Ken Anderson counting the days to once again making history? Couldn't be a better time to be a wrestling fan.
Friday, July 17, 2009
#209. Reading List: The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid
#209
The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid by Pat Garrett, not the edition I'm currently reading, but there you are with an equivalent one all the same. I guess I could also recommend the two Young Guns films as supplemental material. But yeah, after these outlaw books (two books ago, it was "ecoterrorism" A Friend of the Earth from T.C. Boyle), I'll be finally moving on to a new topic, three books from Neil Gaiman. Should be fun!
The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid by Pat Garrett, not the edition I'm currently reading, but there you are with an equivalent one all the same. I guess I could also recommend the two Young Guns films as supplemental material. But yeah, after these outlaw books (two books ago, it was "ecoterrorism" A Friend of the Earth from T.C. Boyle), I'll be finally moving on to a new topic, three books from Neil Gaiman. Should be fun!
Thursday, July 09, 2009
#208. Reading List: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
#208
Currently reading:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Having seen the movie (and loved it), I was eager to read the Ron Hansen novel, and it has been an absolute pleasure. This is the first of many updates concerning that reading list I mentioned before.
Currently reading:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.Having seen the movie (and loved it), I was eager to read the Ron Hansen novel, and it has been an absolute pleasure. This is the first of many updates concerning that reading list I mentioned before.
#207. Randy Savage, Edge
#207
In addition to those other DVDs, I've also recently gotten the Randy Savage and Edge sets. I can't help it. I'm a nut for those things, so I'm looking forward to the WCW and Smackdown ones as well.
In addition to those other DVDs, I've also recently gotten the Randy Savage and Edge sets. I can't help it. I'm a nut for those things, so I'm looking forward to the WCW and Smackdown ones as well.
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!
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...
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.
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.
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