Raw Is Fozzie

Okay, once again I'm at home, and without something meaningful or interesting to write about. So I may as well write a blog entry on something that I have an on-off interest with; wrestling. I can't remember when exactly I stopped watching it regularly, but I think it's around the time Hulk Hogan came into TNA and changed the ring from six sides to four, WWE was starting to push one of the Spirit Squad, in the form of Dolph Ziggler, and the rest of the ECW originals were being put to pasture. After that, I only get updated on current wrestling events from friends who still watch it, and the odd PPV, especially Royal Rumble.

I can't remember the last time I watched an entire episode of Raw, now that I'm not living at home, and have no access to Sky Sports. And it had gotten to a point that wrestling was starting to bore me to the point that I wasn't even interested in the computer games anymore, which I bought on a yearly basis, except for the last one. I started asking myself who half the the roster was nowadays, along with questioning why certain wrestlers still have a job (Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, That Little Bastard Hornswaggle), and there was nothing to bring me back to watching wrestling on a regular basis.

But considering that it was the 1000th episode of Raw, and it was the first of its 3 hour long runtime, I was intrigued as to what the episode had to offer. As I'm in no way going to write an indepth review of the episode, considering it's almost one week old, and I have don't have the current knowledge of the programming anymore, I'm just gonna summarize what thoughts were going through my head while watching it.

D-X Reunion

The segment was the usual nostalgia mixed with self referential injokes, and I have no idea who the hell Damien Sandow is, but he seems to be good on the mike, so I have no problem with his character, even though it's been seen many times before (see Chris Nowinski, The Genius, and strangely enough, Hunter Hearst Helmsley).

I just thought it was funny that they brought everyone from D-X except Chyna. Then again, I don't think they can bring her in to promote the Avengers XXX movie.

And I thought the Playboy shoots were disturbing.

1st Match/JR cameo

I must say, I did not miss the constant plugs for BBQ sauce, or references to "slobberknockers", although I dig his goatee. And while I understand Y2J's role as enhancement talent these days, what with his commitments to Fozzy, I just wish it wasn't to push Dolph Ziggler. I'm sorry, but he will always be that guy from the male cheerleading squad.

WWE Tout

Ugh.....moving on.....

Charlie Sheen

Really? I don't know who is more desperate for publicity, Charlie Sheen or the WWE. Sure he's one step above Kevin Federline, but.....jeez.

2nd Match/Brodus Clay's Theme Tune

I'm sorry, but everytime I hear that tune, my mind goes back to Ernest "The Cat" Miller's unfortunate spell in WWE (see video below). But on the plus side, it's good to know that Jack Swagger has been reduced to jobber status. Now if only Dolph Ziggler would suffer the same fate.

The Wedding/The Rock

Okay the whole wedding angle has been done to death, but I guess it's something to end a current storyline, and I do get a kick out of seeing American Dragon.....I MEAN, Bryan Danielson.....I MEAN, Daniel Bryan, getting decent screen time, considering that match he had at Wrestlemania with Sheamus. I still don't know who he pissed off backstage to be reduced to a joke.

And I like the interaction between him, CM Punk and The Rock, and is a nice teaser for the Royal Rumble next year. As for AJ being the Raw general manager.....well, considering that the general manager thing has become a joke at this stage, I have no real opinion of it. Although I wish I saw the episode where The Muppets were the general managers.

3rd Match/Bret Hart cameo

Nice to see Bret Hart at the show, even if it was a bit pointless. As for The Miz being the Intercontinental Champion, well, I suppose they've always wanted to push him whenever possible, ever since his attempts at winning Tough Enough. Other than that, he doesn't bother me that much, but I think that's more to do with my lack of interest in the current wrestling product.

ANOTHER Triple H promo

This brought me back to the Evolution days, where Triple H would shite on for 20-30 minutes on Raw. I guess when you're the son in law of the owner of WWE, it's one of the perks. I do have some respect for Brock Lesnar, but he still looks like a baby in a sumo suit. But it was great to see Paul Heyman onscreen, as I always enjoyed his persona and his mic skills, along with respect for his writing not just with ECW, but when he was the writer on Smackdown.

Stone Cold vs McMahon segment

Hmm, maybe there's a reason why Steve Austin was not present, but I'm too lazy to do a Google Search to find out why.

Hornswaggle

Seriously, WHY is he still there?

4th Match/Legends

I only know of Heath Slater through watching one episode of NXT, and I guess he's doing the Randy Orton way of going against the "legends". But unsuccessfully from the looks of it. Whether he's supposed to be a joke, I'm not sure. But I do get a kick of seeing former wrestlers from the past throughout the show, and how could you not love Faarooq/Ron Simmons' contribution at the end?

As for Lita.....yeah, I still would.

Wocka Wocka Wocka!

And yes, I "popped" for the appearance of Fozzie Bear. Of all the wrestlers, new and old, along with the celebrity cameos, that have appeared so far, the one that brought a smile to my face, that filled my little heart with joy, was Fozzie. What can I say? I love the Muppets.

The Mini Edges

It's funny how one is still being pushed as a main character on the show (Zack Ryder), while the other (Curt Hawkins) seems to have been reduced to a lackey for Muhammad Hassan.....or whoever that guy in the turban was. Sweet jebus, have they not learned that this 80s stereotype doesn't work anymore? Especially after that attack on the Undertaker, which coincided with London bombings years ago? Speaking of the Undertaker.....

Brothers Of Destruction

Damned if I know if this was meant to be a match, but I've always liked The Undertaker and Kane, even if they did face off against a bunch of "jabronies".

Charlie Sheen vs Daniel Bryan?

.....REALLY?????

6th Match/Finale

Admittedly, I skipped towards the end of the match, as I didn't feel there was any point to watching a match where anyone could easily predict the outcome. So I skipped to the point where CM Punk attacked The Rock. Well, at least I know who will be squaring off then come Royal Rumble.

Verdict

I wondered how Raw would pull off a 3 hour show. So from what I gather, what they need to fill 3 hours is as follows:

• 30 minutes of actual wrestling
• 30 minutes of ads
• 2 hours of constant talking

Which is why I've never been a fan of the TV shows that WWE produce. If I wanted to watch actual wrestling, I'll just stick to the PPVs. But if the show is 3 hours long, how long will the PPVs be? And I'm also surprised Smackdown hasn't been scrapped as of yet, considering the constant interchanging of talent between the two shows.

And on a final note.....

Well, this has admittedly become a rubbish blog entry, but I'm tired and a little pissy, so I needed to do something to occupy my time. I was going to find a clip of what made me laugh during the show (as I need something to cheer me up at the moment), but I stumbled upon this advertisment for the 1000th episode. This should do the trick:

Midlife, Quarter-Life; crisis of definition

I felt this was going to happen.  I start off a blog with the intention of updating it every now and then, and now it has prematurely come to a halt. Well, since I'm stuck at home on a Saturday night, and I've completed "X-Men: Destiny" twice in the space of three days, I may as well write about something that I was meaning to write about. Despite the fact that I was meant to read up more on this topic, and I'm in danger of speaking from a personal standpoint, but I may as well type in a half "stream of consciousness" style, half posting referential links.

Around the time I hit 30, I had, for want of a better term, a midlife crisis. When I say "for want of a better term", after I told family, friends, people I cut out of my life (using the "midlife crisis" angle to reinforce my reasons for doing so), I had looked up the term "Midlife Crisis". Apparently I'm "too young" to be having one, and reading some articles on dealing with it always came up with the usual stereotypes, such as buying the fancy car, dressing differently, trying to recapture youth, and so forth. And these articles are directed at those with the family, kids, mortgage, career etc.

But I don't fall into that category at all. I feel old, now that I'm no longer in my twenties. I've been told by everyone (by which I mean family, friends, work colleagues) that I'm not old, that I'm making a big deal of being 30 ("it's only a number", "you're still young"). Do I feel old because I'm dissatisfied with my life? I guess so. But I'm sure those people who are in the 40s and 50s feel the same way, hence why they are permitted to suffer a "midlife crisis".

Image taken from "The Sun" website.
If they can "copy & paste" then so can I.

And before you ask "why don't you do something about it", in reference to my dissatisfaction with my life? Long story short: I made a plan around the time I hit 30, I hoped to make great strides by the end of this year, but I hit a few snags (relating to personal and health issues, along with some unfortunate circumstances), and now I've gone down not to square "1", but square "-100". So I'm just gonna leave it at that.

It was during this shitstorm that life, for whatever reason, loves to throw at me, that I read an article in the Metro Herald that people my age are now experiencing midlife crisis. So that gave me some sort of validation in my self prognosis in what I was currently experiencing. I began to find the article on the internet, but when I saw the article replicated on Fox News and The Irish Sun, I began to become skeptical. Especially with the last article, when the Sun just replaced "Australian" with "Irish" in the text.

It was during this time that I was introduced to the concept of Quarter-Life Crisis. I had never heard of the term before, but it seemed to be around for quite a while. So now I am comparing and contrasting these two depressing stages one may suffer in their lifetime, and I'm thinking to myself; do these even exist after all? Now, I'm not one of these people who would lambast a type of mental illness or disorder such as depression or seasonal affective disorder, saying that they don't exist. It's easy for people to criticise something that they have not experienced, or have no knowledge of. While I have never suffered from Coulrophobia, I would never give out about people who say they do.

And if I was to make fun of the subject, I would put it down to the titles themselves. If what I am going through is a midlife crisis, would that mean I'll die when I'm 60? But if it's a quarter-life crisis, does that mean I''ll die when I'm 120? Yes I'm being pedantic, but hey, I'm trying to inject a little bit of my sense of humour at this point, even if may be a little sarcastic. Maybe I should leave the jokes to this guy.

Apologies to those who suffer from Coulrophobia.

My reason for questioning the existence of these life crises, is that both of them are pretty similar, yet both are divided by age groups. I feel like I'm going through a midlife crisis, but if this is actually a quarter-life crisis, then I fucking dread to think what would happen when the actual midlife crisis happens. Call me skeptical, but the term "quarter-life crisis" sounds like it was invented by a hypochondriac who is making an excuse as to how their life has turned out. But the same can be said for those who are in the "proper" age group for the midlife crisis. 

Sure we all suffer setbacks, hardships and regrets in our lifetimes, to which the most critical of people would the cliched phrase, "that's life". But these can also result in a crisis of faith in ones self. Life is hard enough as it is, so much that it can be hard to put into words. Which is why I was comfortable with the term "midlife crisis", which gave me an understanding as to what I'm going through, which could develop the mindset that if I am unhappy with the first half of my life, then maybe I should do something about the second. But if I am actually going through a quarter-life crisis, then in my mind, I've a long way to go before the real pain in life begins.

So whatever it is that I'm going through, call it midlife crisis, call it quarter-life crisis; but I have a more fitting title for it.....a pain in the ass.

And on a final note.....

In an another attempt to inject some humour into this piece, even at this late stage, I'm gonna post my favourite Faith No More song. The title of this track is fitting after all.

Ten All American Videos!

Image found here:  http://thesocialgreen.com/2011/09/13/united-nonprofits-of-america/

Just thought I'd have a bit of fun, because it's July 4th. Which is.....

FUCK YEAH!

Gotta get me of of them.....or any nationality for that matter.....

Nothing more American than this guy.....well, except maybe The Punisher.....

No wait, I take that back.....

Here's something from America.....

I saw this in the cinema two days ago. I wonder if it's historically accurate.....

This guy is so American, even his name is Mr. America.....hmm, there's something oddly familiar about him.....

If that guy was Mr. America, then I say this woman should be Mrs. America. She may have turned 45 last Sunday, but I still would.....wait a minute, isn't she Canadian.....

And now, please rise for our National Anthem.....even though I'm not American.....

Wiki Chosen Album Review: "Ki-Oku" by DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo

In an effort to keep this blog going, I am going to attempt to write an album review. I currently have an idea that originated from something I touched upon in my last blog entry. While I do have a record of some source material and references from the net (which brought me back to doing essays during my college years), it's something I would need a bit of time to write during a weekend, especially as I need to figure out how to go about it without giving too much away in terms of my private life. Also, I've been busy with work, birthdays, meeting old friends, weekend plans hospital visits and my ongoing battle with insomnia and disturbed sleep patterns. So, I decided to do something that came into my head a while back, but seems like a good idea for an article theme.

.....jeez, I hope to do away with these elongated intros once I have this blog up and running to some type of structure. Anyways, here is an explanation to the title of this blog entry.

A while back, I was thinking of how disillusioned by music nowadays, and how hard it is to find something that would interest me, whether it be newly released, or something from the past that I was never exposed to for some reason. In this day and age where the internet can provide you with music at the click of a button, legal or illegal, sometimes it's hard to know where to start. MTV has turned into a bunch of pointless reality shows that it's lost all meaning of its acronym (with it's only saving grace being re-runs of "Fresh Prince Of Bel Air".....yeah, go figure), and the music industry peddles out brainless, reality based talent shows knock-offs at an alarming rate. But I'm most likely telling you what you already know.

I know it's because I'm getting older, but for me, gone are the days of buying music magazines (which you could just read over the net), going to pubs and clubs (which play the same music every week), and taking recommendations from friends, when they either just end up either sticking with their old reliable tastes (people my age or older), or if their current taste just sounds like a load of crap (people younger than me). And I'm sure some of you may know what I'm talking about, so I won't elaborate any further.

That's all well and good, but get to the point already.....

A few days ago, I had an idea. While I was on Wikipedia, I hit the "random article" button, just to see what articles came up, which ranged from the lunar eclipse of January 1973, the Silver Age of comic books, and the plot of a Tom & Jerry cartoon. It gave me an idea that if I happen to stumble upon a Wikipedia page of a music album, no matter what artist or genre, I will (ahem) temporarily acquire the album through illegal means, with the intention of listening to it out of curiosity, with the possibility of purchasing said album if I deem it worthy enough to part ways with my hard earned euros. And so I clicked away, until finally, the first album page that came up was.....

No really, this album came up

.....yyyeeeaaahhh, I'm just gonna say that was a test run. So the first "proper" choice that came up was "Ki-Oku", a collaboration between two Japanese recording artists, DJ Krush and Toshinori Kondo.

What do I know of the artist(s)?

Absolutely nothing. I have never heard of the artists in questions, never mind their musical output, nor am I well versed in hip-hop (DJ Krush) nor jazz fusion (Toshinori Kondo).

And what did I think of the album?

With my initial reaction to stumbling upon this album's Wiki page, along with my lack of knowledge when it came to the artist and the genre, I must say I was surprised by the fact that I actually liked the album. The first few tracks, in particular "Toh-Sui", "Hah-Do" and "Mu-Chu", really caught my attention. Most of the tracks include a hyphen in the middle, with the exception of three interludes which include the word "Tobira" and their respective number after it, and "Sun Is Shining", which is a Bob Marley cover. The inclusion of this song is a tad bit confusing, while it is remade to fit the style of the album, it seems to be out of place when compared to the other tracks. I got the impression that this was to be released as a single, if this album was to have one.

While I did find the first half of the album listenable up to "Tobira-2", the second half left my mind wandering every now and them, with the tracks sounding directionless, therefore not grabbing my attention. Then again, I have only listened to the album a handful of times, one of which while I was on a bus on the way to work, and this is the only album of its kind that I have listened to, so I would say after a few more listens, maybe they would grow on me. But for now, I am writing purely on first impressions. The beats on this album are more in line with the "trip-hop" style of music, which bring up comparisons with Massive Attack and Wu-Tang Clan, if I was to think of similar artistic styles. The jazz trumpet sounds bring an interesting layer to a genre I would never think would mesh together properly, but I feel it does here.

What track would I recommend?

The opening track "Toh-Sui".

Would I buy this album?

The weird thing is, I would buy this album, even if possessing it would make me look like a pretentious music critic. Calling this album "a mixture of trip hop beats laced with jazz fusion sensibilities" sounds a bit snobbish while reading it out. The album also reminds me of something I would hear in either an arty coffee shop, or a high class trendy bar (well, if I can get past the bouncers who would not accept "my type" in that establishment). But I do think that I would play this album again, whether it be in the background while relaxing at home, or during another bus journey.

One slight problem though. It was hard enough to find this album to download, it seems even harder to actually buy a physical copy. I very much doubt that this album was released anywhere outside of Japan. According to Amazon, a new copy would cost me £35. There are second hand copies for sale, but for some reason, second hand goods cannot be sent to my home country. So I will have to make do with what I acquired from the internet. But for you folks reading this, you can check out the whole album below (courtesy of YouTube).

Brief Exodus From Facebook

For this blog entry, I shall be using the Blogger App for my phone, as part of my experiment for this site. This could be handy for situations where I may not have access to an actual PC (where I predict I may need to do further editing, such as spell checks and inserting YouTube videos). Or in this case, at times where I can't be bothered leaving my bed.

Not posted via mobile technology (see last paragraph)

I found this article on Google+ where the author talks about her reasons for deleting her Facebook account. There were a few interesting points, not all of them negative (considering the fact that I found this piece on an (unfortunately) unpopular alternative to Facebook.

It states how social network sites can enhance current relationships with friends, acquaintances and family members, but at the same time, gives other people a passive view into your own world through what you post. It also makes references to annoying functions of the site such as the timeline and the ever changing privacy settings. Even some of the comments at the end make interesting points about the reluctance of some people to add or delete people they don't really have much in common with

This article was of some interest to me, because sometime towards the end of May, I deleted all my friends off Facebook and deactivated my account.  My original plan was to periodically delete two groups of people from my friends list before I went away, and I will give the rest of my friends fair warning that I would deactivate my account. I planned to spend a year in a new country, giving me a fresh start in life, so I didn't want to waste time looking to what was going on in the country I was leaving. I am sick of home, so I don't to make myself homesick also.

Unfortunately my first choice of country hit a snag, coupled with a few stressful events which include personal, work and health issues, along with a disasterous trip to London, in which I finally snapped, and let loose some drunken tirade on Facebook.

Now I have done this quite a few times throughout the years on every social networking site I've ever been on. As for the nature of what I wrote, I genuinely can't remember, as I deleted the posts right away, without even looking at who commented on those status updates.

One of my closest friends said it wasn't really that bad, it's just something incoherent while drunk. But I was very embarrassed, because not only can friends and casual acquaintances read it, but so can family members and work colleagues. So as soon as I got to an internet kiosk in London Gatwick, I deleted everybody.
Ever since I got rid of my Facebook account, it made me notice a few things, especially what FB can mean to others.

Less than half an hour of cutting the online chord, I get a text message from one of my closest friends who was angry about my choice to delete her, wondering what exactly she did that made me come to that decision. I was very shocked, and had to text her, along with another friend who informed her of other things in my life that she may not have heard about, just so she knew what the whole story was. I admit I never gave full warning to everybody, especially my close friends. But in that state of mind, it was hard to think straight, and I was actually in tears as I didn't want to hurt one of my closest, dearest friends. Thankfully, while she may not have agreed with my actions, she understood why.

I was taken aback by this exchange in a way, because I always felt that friendship was more than an online profile. I had friends telling me about some video they saw on YouTube, or about some photos of a festival they were at. They were telling me to check them out, but then they followed this up with "oh wait, I forgot, you're not on Facebook anymore". Last night, someone sent me a text asked me when I was coming back to Facebook, because his birthday was coming up, and he couldn't invite me to an event page he created for it. Sincd he was texting me at the time, why didn't it occur to him to just TEXT me the details for his birthday?

Some people can really get offended once they find out someone hit the "unfriend" button on their profile. Which I can relate to, because I too once felt that way. I remember the feeling of rejection and sudden dismissal, the questions you ask yourself as to what you actually did to them, if anything, which made it harder to speak to these people if you ran into them in public.

Over the years, I try not to take it to heart, if it's some casual acquaintance you rarely talk to in the first place. But it is also hard when you thought you were on good terms with the person to begin with. And when it was someone who you thought you were good friends with, you do feel bitter. Like one person who I was friends with for years, but who I find out was making fun of me behind my back, complaining about a certain personality trait of mine that he also had (pot kettle black), maybe its best that I'm not connected to that two faced dumb fat fuck, and not waste my time writing an angry message to him.

But it was when I started deleting people that I got the full brunt from those who I deleted. I mentioned earlier that I planned to periodically deleted two groups of people before I went away. I got through one group at the turn of the new year. While there were some people who I never wanted to speak to again, there were others who were, bitterness aside, nice enough people, especially two who I still had regular contact with through Facebook.

In an effort to keep my private life away from this blog, I won't divulge any details as to who those individuals are. I'm sure most them noticed that I deleted them, whether they were offended or if they even gave a crap, I don't know. But I will assume that they won't talk to me ever again, which I can understand. Infact, I'd be confused if they did.

But I did get some personal messages asking why I deleted them, and I did try to explain to one of the two people I felt guilty for deleting (unfortunately it was after a gig and I was inebriated at the time). So I sent those people an email explaining my reasons as to why I deleted them, which I admitted were a bit brash, but I'd prefer to be honest and straight with them, and I genuinely wished them well in the future. And I apologised that, at this stage in my life, I didn't know I could have these people in my life at this time.

It's funny that over a month since I deleted my account, I don't really miss Facebook. It is annoying that I am not informed of any upcoming events (birthdays, gigs, etc), know what else is going on in other people's lives, and I feel bad for cutting off those who I rarely see nowadays, from old college colleagues to people I met while abroad. Hopefully there will be a time that I will be able to patch things up, but I will also have to accept rejection if that is not the case (y'know, the whole "made your bed" analogy).

I also noticed that I don't waste enough time on the internet, whether on PC or mobile, going through Facebook. Maybe this has become a blessing in disguise, which has lead me to concentrate on other things, whether it be work, exercise, film, or even this blog. If I do return to the evils of that particular social networking site, I hope I will not fall back into those old habits. In the meantime, if I get the urge to share something pointless over the net, I'll use Google+. Nobody else will read it, but if I was to imagine a comparision, it would be an alcoholic drinking a non-alcoholic beer.

Speaking of alcohol, no matter how many times I did it in the past, especially during that hellish London trip, I'm still surprised that, no matter how shitfaced I get, to the point that I can barely walk, let alone speak, I can still manage to log into Facebook, and all the others before that. How the fuck is that even possible? I will never know. Well thanks to my time away from Facebook, no drunken bollocks will be posted anytime soon. Even though I'm taking a break from it for a while, for a variety of reasons. One of which for health reasons, to see if I am able to lose weight. I'm actually seeing some improvement, so who knows, I might actually get rid of this beer belly after all.

But I'm starting to go off topic, so I better wrap this up. After I deleted my Facebook account, I did get some texts from people who noticed I was gone and wondered how I was. I appreciated those texts, along with the support from my close friends. So when I'm ready to go back to Facebook, I'll be sure to add them as a friend, if they'll have me. And hopefully I won't be in a position to go through this whole mess again.

For this last paragraph, I got out of bed, and logged onto my computer to see how writing on the app worked out.

On a final note, the Blogger App is okay, but you are not given any freedom to post images anywhere you want, the paragraphs are not even spaced out, and there is no function to post YouTube videos. Speaking of which, the selection from YouTube via the "insert a video" function is limited, compared to the actual YouTube site. Hence why I'm posting a live version of the song below, as opposed to the studio version. Lame.