I've got to run

Tommy Gunn and the Lineup - I've Got to Run (pops)

Hey, a band even Google knows next to nothing about! Seriously, all I can figure out is that they were a local Detroit band and they had at least two singles that they made videos for. This page is all I can find on them. They're not horrible, but something must have happened for them to not have at least some presence on the internet.

By the way, professional wrestling's version of the Anti-Christ was born a few hours ago, in the form of Aurora Rose McMahon-Levesque. Pray for the soul of wrestling, folks. In ten years time, it very well may be relegated back to the carnivals and fairs from whence it came. This will be one of the reasons.

Hulk Hogan can only come back from semi-retirement so many times before his comeback pop fades away permanently. His reality show may have bought him a few years extra, but it's borrowed time to be sure.

The Diva Search is the epitome of staleness in wrestling. In the boom years, they could afford extravagant salaries to non-wrestlers (Sable, Chyna, etc.). Now, all they're doing is wasting money, because they're scared to either (1) try something completely radical or (2) go back to the absolute basics of promotion, worried that either will offend the few mainstream fans that they've managed to keep. So, they keep rehashing ideas that worked in the boom periods (D-X, edgy tweeners, ECW), not realizing the once-in-a-lifetime confluences of events that allowed those maverick ideas to work. The only problem is that by doing this, they alienate the die-hards (i.e., me and people like me) who keep them alive during the bust periods.

UFC, for all their claims that they're going after boxing's audience instead of wrestlings, is doing a hell of a job using back-to-basics wrestling promotion. GIve two people a reason to fight, and let them fight (Tito/Ken). Introduce newer contenders slowly by building their rep, beating lower-level opposition and graduating to former top-level stars, so that they actually mean something when they go to the upper card (Rich Franklin). Build feuds over a belt to bring value to both the fighters and the title (Couture/Liddell, Sylvia/Arlovski).

UFC is a relative new dog in "sports-entertainment". (God, I hate that term. "Promoting fights" is so much more to-the-point.) Maybe it's time for the old dog to re-learn a few of its old tricks? There's a reason basics work, and the WWE needs to examine why.

Anyway, rant over. See you sometime soon, unless we're all blown to bits in a nuclear holocaust. It's more likely than you think!

random

Lady Sovereign - Random (pops)

Well, it's been a week.

It's about time for another post, innit?

I've been watching the Georgia primary debates, and once again I've come to the conclusion that all politicians suck, especially the old white male versions. I've been arguing with myself over which primary ballot to pick, and I think that I'm going with the Dems just because there's more "third-party style" people to pick from, those who don't really stick to the Approved Party Platform. I like the weird ones, what can I say?

And yes, if I lived in Texas, I'd vote Kinky. How can you not like Kinky Friedman? He's pro-teachers, pro-gay marriage, anti-death penalty, and has supporters like Willie Nelson and Mojo Nixon.

I've been trying to get the kittens transitioned over to solid food for the past few days. They'll nibble at the soft cat food, but only if I hold it in my hand for them.

No, they're not spoiled. Of course not.

I think every chewable item in the living room has been chewed, and every spare piece of cloth or fabric has been scratched on. Now if we could just get someone to claim three of them, we'd be in business. Two are spoken for, so if we can get that last order in, we'll be done.

Also, they signed Griffin/Bonnar for August 26th, so I'm happy. Hopefully that combined with Liddell/Babalu will make for a good card, and not the relative stinker that the last PPV turned out to be.

So, yeah, that's it, I think. Vote early, vote often, and vote weird.

steady as she goes

The Raconteurs - Steady as She Goes (pops)

It's the Pixies doing a cover of "Hey Bulldog". What's not to like?

Or at least that's what I hear. Your mileage may vary.

So how's everybody been?

I've actually done stuff in the past few days (explaining my absence).

I've been messing with my GBA all week long, because leveling up is long and tedious.

I've been trying to wrangle kittens for most of the week, because they've reached the point where they like climbing on things, and have the energy to do so nearly non-stop. I don't have the energy to chase them non-stop, so there you go.

On Saturday, I went over to my metaphorical big sister's house and watched UFC 61. Disappointing overall. I hoped I'd get more than 1:18 of action out of that feud, and I sort of hope it's not over. I'm one of the few that agrees with Herb's decision to stop it there, though, since I'd rather the fight end a few strikes before permanent damage is incurred than a few after. Arlovski/Sylvia was just text-book UFC heavyweight plodding, and the reason American promotions get slammed about the quality of their big guys. The Axe-Murderer announcement was nice, but I'm afraid that Dana may have killed off a sizable portion of the audience with the two non-events on that card. In other news, Yves/Joe was okay for what it was, Frank Mir is officially washed up, and the Joshes put on a nice show, and too bad neither could finish the other off.

I slept over there Saturday night. It's really hard for me to sleep in an unfamiliar room to begin with, but without a TV or radio in the room it's even harder. At home, I go to sleep with my TV on, at low volume, and a fan on for white noise. So pitch black and silent is hard for me to adjust to, much less with a different bed and a weird room layout.

I also have tried to start playing bass again, since I really do enjoy it, but it seems like I never make the time to do it. My bass is comparatively hard to get to, in contrast to my mando or my acoustic, which are right in front of me.

So that's my week, sort of. Leave comments, hate-mail , and death threats at the usual address.