It is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just
"Something That Happened." This cannot be "One of Those Things... "
This, please, cannot be that.
In 2005 I discovered two musicians, one, Matt Nathanson, was a singer song-writer who was kind of a lower-key Jason Mraz (and less up his own ass John Mayer), and the other was a little band you may have heard of called Dire Straits.
That Christmas I received a gift card to my local FYE, and promptly bought Nathanson's live album, and Dire Straits' greatest hits. I listen to The Live Album first and dig this song called "Romeo and Juliet", only to discover it was a cover song by none-other than Dire Straits after listening to their greatest hits album the follow day on the ride to school.
Mind.Blown.
What are the weirdest, in-what-strange-way-is-our-world-connected-I'm-freaking-out-man coincidences you've ever experienced?
I'm sure there are countless others I can reference, but I'd like to keep this pithy for once, and I got use the much-request incest topic in a unique and non-actionable way. Everybody wins!
PS - I'm *back*. I counted up the number of QOTD's since I left and added them to the total we had, so we're at a nice, totally not round, 97.
I now only have one full time job and assorted hobbies, so it looks like you're gonna be Otters just a while longer. Thank me later.
In 2005 I discovered two musicians, one, Matt Nathanson, was a singer song-writer who was kind of a lower-key Jason Mraz (and less up his own ass John Mayer), and the other was a little band you may have heard of called Dire Straits.
That Christmas I received a gift card to my local FYE, and promptly bought Nathanson's live album, and Dire Straits' greatest hits. I listen to The Live Album first and dig this song called "Romeo and Juliet", only to discover it was a cover song by none-other than Dire Straits after listening to their greatest hits album the follow day on the ride to school.
Mind.Blown.
What are the weirdest, in-what-strange-way-is-our-world-connected-I'm-freaking-out-man coincidences you've ever experienced?
I'm sure there are countless others I can reference, but I'd like to keep this pithy for once, and I got use the much-request incest topic in a unique and non-actionable way. Everybody wins!
PS - I'm *back*. I counted up the number of QOTD's since I left and added them to the total we had, so we're at a nice, totally not round, 97.
I now only have one full time job and assorted hobbies, so it looks like you're gonna be Otters just a while longer. Thank me later.
I have a good wrestling related one:
ReplyDeletePaul searches for "Free Wrestling PC Games"
Paul discovers "Extreme Warfare 9000"
Paul discovers "Extreme Warfare Revenge"
Paul Discovers "Scott Keith" and "The Scotsman"
Paul reads "Scotsman" reviews of EWR and Promotion Wars.
Paul discovers 411mania.
Paul discovers Scott Keith
Paul discovers that the people that post on Scott Keith's blog have an entire thread dedicated to them over at another forum....owned by Scotsman.
Exactly. I feel the same way about Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
ReplyDeleteWho is Colt Cabana? In all seriousness
ReplyDeleteYou are now my favorite bod'er. Thank u.
ReplyDeleteOne of the smaller organizations I can see him fucking with. NOT the bigger ones.
ReplyDeleteJesus, Evolution was 10 years ago already? Fucking A. How long are these same people gonna be main eventing.
ReplyDeleteThat's the way it was. When Savage was IC champ he headlined the B shows while Hogan ran the A show. The roster is big enough that champs can run their ow "kingdoms".
ReplyDeleteHere's a (scholarly) comparison to make sense of it:
ReplyDelete'80s WWF and NWA/WCW was sort of the Golden and Silver Age of comic books mashed together, while mid to late '90s ECW, WCW, & WWF was the mid to late '80s post-modern deconstructionist era of comic books where heroes started acted like villains and everything became about being gritty. CHIKARA and the rise of other similar indies in the early to mid '00s is akin to what happened in the mid '90s in comics where it was a sort of neo-modernist approach in writers like Kurt Busiek who went beyond the simple deconstructionist slant, using the language of both previous eras to reconstruct super heroes in a more complex way so they weren't fully good or bad -- they were flawed figures that represented the dual nature of man as hero and villain, but ultimately reaffirmed the notion that even the worst of us is still capable of immense good (no seriously, Astro City is the greatest thing ever).
Similarly, CHIKARA is a bunch of losers, outcasts and nobodies that will never make it anywhere else (excluding, of course, Claudio). But that's precisely what makes them exciting. They're not bound by wrestling as tradition in the same way bigger organizations like ROH are, so they can fuck with the idea of what it is and can be. ROH is still very much late '90s wrestling in the sense that all the heroes must act like massive douchebags (insert Fat Steen reference); same with TNA and WWE. CHIKARA kind of started there, and a few characters lean towards that (Ultramantis), but they push so far into the theatricality and suspension of disbelief that it almost becomes performance art. One of the best things the company did was to play everything straight. People snicker when they see the fake grenade spot, or Player Dos freezing like a Nintendo cartridge, but those spots openly acknowledge that wrestling is fake and then go one step further to ask, "Why should you care?" The people who mock that miss the point; the company is using the fake nature of wrestling as a way to rebuild suspension of disbelief. If I see something that's openly fake, then see the performers continue on as if it it was a normal occurrence, who am I to argue what's real and what's fake? The company has basically built an internal logic and fantasy structure that its performers and audience takes deathly serious. I love that. And the company will acknowledge when fans call them out on inconsistencies. I love that, too.
Basically, CHIKARA's the closest wrestling will ever get to becoming a live-action comic book.
The irony of watching Randy Orton BECAUSE you're bored is not lost on me.
ReplyDeleteI like how he danced around the Booker T incident.
ReplyDeleteI thought Dynamite Kid was a fucking asshole after I read his book.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of a "chicken or the egg" thing. Was he a draw, so he was kept in that spot? Or was he kept in that spot, so he ended up being a "draw"?
ReplyDeleteExactly. He's still a major player I'm sure, just not forced into the conversation with the actual Legends like he is today
ReplyDeletePerhaps
ReplyDeleteIf I had to guess, I imagine that HHH was making the company more money circa 2000 as the #2 guy (in Austin's absence) than he was as arguably the #1 guy in 2003/2004, so I'd say he was a draw (a bigger one) before his marriage to Steph.
ReplyDelete'Officerfarva: the poster you can trust'
ReplyDeletelast time i trusted you, i ended up wit' a baby!
I don't take them for the most part, and I've had some pretty serious injuries. Not only do I know too many pillheads, but I just don't like the way they make me feel, to me it's a bad high. Plus they tear up my stomach (which isn't in great shape to begin with), I don't see the point of taking something that will make one part of my body stop hurting but make another part hurt worse.
ReplyDeleteHe WAS a pretty nice guy, until his brain turned to jelly.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. Wasn't really an issue for me, I don't sleep well anyway.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's hard for the doctors (and you, really) to tell the difference between "He's tired and wants to sleep" and "He's passing out from the concussion".
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good point. My brother used to take tons of painkillers (he's had a totally fucked up back from birth), and he told me about doing exactly what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteI'd absolutely think the same about RD if he 2 walked out on a movie filming.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, what did they give you? Because it sounds like strong stuff. The few times I've taken painkillers I've always asked for the weaker ones.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you're serious but would rather find out from you guys than from wikipedia
ReplyDeleteI always found hardcore fans love colt. I never got the appeal at all and always felt on the outside of that perspective. Your comment made me legit happy.
ReplyDeleteAs with most things in real life, there is no clear-cut right or wrong answer to the questions that the CM Punk/WWE debacle raises; most of the rhetoric used on both sides is lost in this pseudo-intellectual pursuit of the moral high ground between personal choice of the employee and the responsibility of the employer. Would a moral, upstanding corporate entity release for profit a product designed to smear a former employee with which they had an axe to grind? Of course not, but there is enough tangible evidence to solidly conclude World Wrestling Entertainment is as sleazy as the old-time wrestling promotions that they ran out of business two decades hence, only on a much larger (and visible) scale.
ReplyDeleteShould the WWE provide better care for its employers? Morally, yes—the risks that the athletes take more than warrants better working conditions, especially under the current imperative of the 'independent contractor' guise. By the same token, the WWE is not a moral bastion or idyllic enterprise; it exists to make profit—nothing more, nothing less. The professional wrestlers they employ choose to work for Vince McMahon in order to make the most money, as there is no other game in town that offers the most potential reward.
You could then argue that wrestlers in a perfect world should have access to healthcare and other benefits commiserate with that which other corporations in similarly-hazardous fields offer. Should they walk around with a sense of entitlement over the issue? No; they knew the rules to the game when they agreed to play; let them lie in the bed that they made.
I like the multiple belts as a nod to boxing/Japanese champions in the 90s.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he's less in the "Rock/Austin" tier and more in the "Foley/Jericho" tier.
ReplyDeleteDid he? I thought he was honest and open and didn't try to blame his misdemeanours on anyone else.
ReplyDeletePart of what made Hogan Warrior so big was the champion vs champion aspect, now that's just a squash match on Raw.
ReplyDeleteOh yes - he does NOT come over well in that book. But then based on what everyone else says he appears to have been a complete asshole.
ReplyDeleteThey really don't mention Chyna that much either.
ReplyDeleteMVP continues to speak well of Benoit.
ReplyDeleteHe was going to be there by default because all of his peers retired or died. Even after the quad tears he was active behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteHe's "Scotting" up!!
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%. Working in an office environment, I know of plenty of people who have made it clear they don't see themselves as managers, and would turn down such a promotion even if it came with a pay raise. Main reasons being that they don't want to deal with the BS or the added responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI respect Punk and his attitude. I never subscribed to the idea that public figures should act pandering and fake. He comes off like I'd expect him to in real life, someone who isn't afraid to voice out his opinion and doesn't care what kind of hatred comes in his way.
ReplyDeleteAs so they should, he's not my friend nor do i ever plan to be his friend, so why should I care how much of a dick he is, I'm sure tons of people would say the same about me outside of my friends. All I care about is how well he entertained me, and frankly he did so far more than 99% of the people on the roster.
ReplyDeleteIn Benoits case it's different, he was a murderer, it's not comparable at all.