Friday, October 21, 2005

After watching the Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior and realizing how stupid of a fan I was when I was a little kid, I came to the realization that there were three great travesties in the wrestling world due to the Warrior's career:

1) Hulk Hogan jobbed cleanly for the first time to the Warrior. Remember that Hogan's only other loss came at the hands of Andre when he sold the belt to DiBiase afterwards. That match was officiated by Dave Hebner, the evil twin of Earl.

2) Honky Tonk Man, though I hated that character with a passion (which means Wayne Ferris was doing a damn good job selling the heel), had one of the greatest Intercontinental Championship reigns and it was all delegitimized by a 35 second defeat at the hands of the Warrior.

3) Andre the Giant had to spend some months during his final years in the business/alive JOBBING to the Warrior.

As Joey Tribbiani, gangsta 19-year-old would say (see season 7, ep. 1), "The Ultimate Warrior huh? That's wack. Ultimate Warrior is wack. Sup with the wack Ultimate Warrior, sup?!"

Ulam cooked @ 1:27 AM

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Wednesday, October 19, 2005

I can't say that I've followed his career nor been a long time fan. I only really started my deep relationship with A's radio this past year, but for the brief time that I have had to enjoy Bill King, it was worth it and his passing still makes a legitimate hit.

Thank you Bill King for all your hardwork, passion, humility, greatness, and dedication to the Bay Area sports community. It was an honor to have listened to your broadcasts.

The KNBR.com Tribute site: HERE

Ulam cooked @ 11:55 PM

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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Wedding in Vegas 2005 Vol. 3
Not sure if I posted about the trip a few weeks ago, but my homegirl Estee got married to a very nice man and I'm quite happy for them. I ended that weekend short because of work. Stupid me. Anyway, I also knew that I'd have a full long weekend with carloads of friends to hang out with. And, damn it was crazy.

Thursday, Night 1: At the airport, because the peeps' flight was delayed, I was playing poker and hanging out for a bit. I was trying to convince Mon to do her reading like our local Padre would. Pretty funny. Then we played a game of Dos and then they were off. My flight was delayed too. When i got to Vegas, some people were waiting for me at the airport and we went immediately to the rental place and picked up the car. It was a nice car - Camry.

Instead of heading straight to the Karaoke place, we passed by The Orleans to get some food and our timing just happened to be perfect enough to get there and order the $3 steak and eggs. Solid.

We headed to the Karaoke place and had crazy fun. I didn't really drink since I had to drive but it didn't matter. All i needed was some Bon Jovi and some Journey and I was off the hook. We ended the night with some Bohemian Raphsody and a nice little Mosh pit. Oh, actually, we went to Gold Coast to eat. I got the Hot cakes. $2 hot cakes.

Then Thy got a comp SUITE at the Rio. The suite is a pickup line in itself. Unfortunately, we got there at 4:30, so there was no one to really invite up.

Friday, Day 1: I got up at 10:00 because I had to pick Nik up at the airport. We returned to the Rio and checked out then headed to the renowned Rio buffet. It cost $15 plus tip, but the food was pretty damn good. What made it worth it though was our server Addie. This woman, who was probably in her 60s had the greatest energy and sincerest niceness about her. Everyone who left handed her a tip - not just left it on the table. Plus, she gave everyone a hug and a kiss goodbye. She was great. We couldn't return to show her pics from the wedding though - I really wanted to though.

The wedding rehearsal was next in line - and mr. priest over there was being quite pissy. I've never seen a priest quite as pissy as he was. He was frustrated by the Filipino time I guess. He still was rude and I don't tend to think of Padres as rude. He softened up eventually.

I went to the Halloween store(s) after the rehearsal to find a red boa for my wedding reception introduction. I was actually looking for a yellow one, but red was the only color that I could find that related. We then headed over to the groom's parents' place to have dinner. Dinner, again, was good ass food.

After dinner, we headed to Albertson's to stock up on the room supply of alcohol. (A supply we hardly touched, sadly enough.) Then, we went back to Gold Coast. We got a free ticket to not helping because Nik had NEvER been to Vegas before so we hit the strip for a very brief sightseeing trip. We watched two water shows at the Belagio and walked through Paris and Aladdin.

Shady older folks #1: We landed a prime spot at the railing around the water show for show #2. We were taking pictures and after we took one final shot and were no more than 2 feet away from the spot JUST because we were clearing the space for the couple picture, this couple (probably in their 60s) swooped in on our spot. No "excuse me's" or "can we stand here". Just walked right in like they were slick. I was tired and sleepy and wasn't amused. Anyway.

After the strip trip and after the guys were trying to decide on making a detour to.. somewhere other than the bar, we headed back to Gold Coast and got ice cream where we met up with the couple from Vegas Wedding 2005 #1 (Joel and Marie). Eventually I met up with the bride from Vegas Wedding 2005 #2 (Estee). We just all kicked it at the bar next to the Poker Room and talked bullshit and that was where we encountered one of the best conversations of the weekend: Lombardis, Elephant shits, and the Big High 5 for the Big Elephant Penises. That was a great conversation that only got better every time we brought it up.

We went up because the wedding was really early and I was hitching a ride with the groomsmen since I was a secondary sponsor.

Saturday, Day 2: The wedding was nice. It was traditional but there was a lot of fun to it. It was nice seeing the couple smiling a lot and enjoying themselves. They're both really close and longtime friends and I'm very very happy for them even though they were already married (civilly for over a year).

We rolled through in a limo. We all rolled out in a party bus with two stripper poles. Yes! We headed to the Belagio to take pics and when the wedded couple took their solo couple pics, most of the entourage headed over to a bar and got drinks. We were straight Regal. The Belagio's crazy.

THEN, we headed to Gold Coast for the reception. The special treatment continued in our Salon H (or G) side room. We had laughs there and then the reception was going to begin. Chel and I were walking in to: Real American aka Hulk Hogan's 80s theme. We did our Hogan-esque entrance with our rambunctious red boas and had a good ass time doing it.

The reception was fun. Eric's best man speech was really good and his video presentation NOT slide show was dope!! Open bar was dope. I don't know how many drinks I drank, but I didn't get buzzed at all - maybe just a bit warm or a bit more, but nothing else. Maybe I was having too much fun dancing. I think I danced for 70% of the dance time. It was a good time and being there with SO many friends was ridiculous. After the wedding, we fooled ourselves into thinking we could clean up and rest up before we went out again. Didn't happen. We all got too tired and just ended up eating at the damn Monterey Room again. Then I slept.

Sunday, Day 3: Sleep was short. I had to drop Nik off at the airport at 5:30 and we wasted time trying to find the car since my friend parked it and I wasn't around when he parked it. Got back to the hotel and went back to sleep. We woke up, cleaned up, and headed out of the hotel. I went to lunch with Mon and Estee and a bunch of folks at Sushi Factory - All You Can Eat - gourmet sushi. It was so good. Estee remembered the "jacked up lyrics". Lots of jokes and laughs during that time.

We headed to Leah's place to rest up and watched some Arrested Development before we went to Leatherby's. Here, like at Monterey Room the night before we further discussed the lombardi and the elephant shits. Again, gloriously funny. After Leatherby's we hit up Westward Ho to get the 3/4 pound HUGE hot dogs. Crazy hot dogs.

Back at the house, the guys settled down with some port and some stoges. They shared stories about troublesome girls and bratty girls - and overall it was just a good way to wind down - only to go back in the house to play a shooter game called Screw Your Neighbor aka KING BIAATCH. Then, I got initiated in the PYOB game. Too bad artie wasn't there. He would've been all up in that shit too. Hahah.

Then I crashed.

Monday, Day 4: We all left early because the van crew had to get back to the bay early. I killed time afterwards at Fry's and was distracted enough not to feel that end of Ocean's 11 feeling of loneliness (you know, after the shenanigans and everyone slowly peeled away from each other.)

So, quickly after Fry's I found myself at the Auntie/Uncle's place to meet up with Ange and the kids. That was nice catching up with Ange - and eventually I conked out. SO tired. I had so many mouth-gaping-open naps. I was exhausted. I started to get scared that my flight would be really really delayed because of the lightning and thunder storms. The lightning was crazy and being in a huge valley gave good views of the bolts.

Eventually, I headed to the airport by myself - dropped off the car - and sat at the airport hoping that the On Time for the flight wouldn't be changed. Luckily for me (and hella SUCKING for everyone else), my flight came and I got home in time. I got picked up by 3 of the 4 van crew so it was like the weekend didn't really end til I got to my car and drove home from Hum's place.

Crazy weekend.

Jobear Avenue.
Lombardi.
King Bitch.
Karaoke.
It was a great weekend and everyone got home safely. Solid.

Being there by myself the last day though made me feel a bit lonely - and it would be nice to share these fun and poignant moments with somebody special. Fortunately, the most recent trouble girl is out of my radar because as everyone including myself has said: "I'm better off." Drama, yo. She's straight drama. No need.

Ahh, great weekend.

Ulam cooked @ 11:52 PM

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Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Man, it's like wrestling central over here at the breakfast spot.

I tivoed the premier of Total Nonstop Action (NWA) Wrestling on Spike. This is the only hope for wrestling fans to compete with the WWE conglomeration. I watched TNA once before on FOX Sports Net and wasn't all that impressed. Maybe I was just not paying attention. Today, though, I was exhilirated.

The rough part about TNA is that the environment reminds me very much of WCW Saturday Night. Otherwise, though, I can only see plusses and potential. There really are no frills in this show. Most of the names if gimicky have been transferred over from WCW or WWE. Otherwise, most of the guys have "regular" names - no gimmicks - probably their indy names.

So, what was great? The action. AJ Styles and the other "X" division guys are great. The energy and the improvisation was like how it was during the glory days of the WCW cruiserweight division or the luchas and the Japanese wrestlers in ECW. The choreography was taxing and beautiful. Campy at times, but even better because of it. What else was great? There was ECW - "us against the world" energy. Wrestling fans who enjoyed the wrestling and the show and were proud of being un-WWE.

Even more plusses: Sabu and Jeff Hardy and the Dudley Boyz aka the Team 3D. Just realizing I can see Sabu wrestle once a week is exciting.

My initial thoughts compared it to a more polished, more athletic, and more family friendly ECW. It has indy energy. The four matches I watched in one hour have been better than most of the matches I've seen in WWE for years. It's not only the action, but the matches just seem more fun versus the methodical, go through the motions shit you see on Smackdown or RAW. And though, as much as I love the entertaining interview or occassional gimmick match, this was all about wrestling.

The only REAL bad thing? The Alpha Male's Serengeti line is just plain wrong (on a racial level) and his Pounce finishing move is tacky (with no ounce of campy).

It would be great to see the Mexicools go to TNA where their style of wrestling can fully be celebrated.

OTHER THANGS
Law and Order: SVU was the dopest shit tonight.

My 15yo cousin wrote me back from the Philippines. She, like many of my cousins in the PI, is basically a complete stranger to me who I share blood with. I played with her a bit when we were there last - she was 8. She looks like she's 12. She's so cute.

I worked out on an Eliptical machine today for the first time. I was having so much trouble getting used to it for the first 5 - 10 minutes.. and then all of a sudden I was in a groove. Very low impact. 45 minutes on it only burned 300 something calories. Maybe it was near 400. I burned another 100 on the bike. 450-500 calories isn't bad. Gym in the morning since I'm coming in late. Hell yes.

Ulam cooked @ 10:44 PM

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Monday Night TV Thoughts

I watched my first episode of Firefly ever. That is.. Joss Whedon's Firefly. As netflix says, the "short live but much-loved" sci-fi show. It feels to me like a futuristic/sci-fi western and maybe some of you who know the show already are like, "duh, you stupid ass". I'm a Joss Whedon fan primarily through Astonishing X-men first - despite him getting that gig as a TV-show writer and director (Buffy, Angel). Anyway, the characters have already been built in one show - for that matter, they were built strongly enough through 65% of the show. And, while other characters are building themselves they are simultaneously building Mal, the Captain and the main character of the show. I want to watch the whole season this week so I can watch Serenity, the movie, soon. Anyway, I'm glad I enjoyed it. Extra plus for Gina Torres being a main character. In Alias, she played Anna Espinosa, Sydney's main rival during the first 2 season. She was part of K Directorate - a terrorist group rivaling the CIA, or SD-6.

I Tivo-ed Surface. I'm still not loving the show, but the whirlpool entrance to the episode was quite dramatic. I'm giving this show a few more weeks. I also Tivo-ed Medium. Never seen an episode of it, but I thought, might as well try it.

A quite poignant moment of the night actually came in Monday Night Raw - it's return to USA Network. The Legends were back for their token usage as a ratings ploy. The usual suspects were there plus some surprises including Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and Billy Jack Haynes. The BIG suprise was Kevin Von Erich of the legendary Von Erich family who defined WCCW/USWA/Texas NWA wrestling in the 80s. The Von Erich brother who gained the most mainstream success was Kerry who made it to WWF as the Texas Tornado (who had that weak ass tornado punch finisher). He eventually played the Ultimate Warrior after the original left. Kerry eventually killed himself. And sadly, that type of tragedy in the Von Erich family was not unique. I don't know the full history, but the Von Erich brothers suffered early deaths. Kevin, I think, suffered a car or motorcycle accident.

Anyway, the Von Erich's inherited, trademark move is the Claw. It's just holding the opponent's head at the forehead/temple area. Anyway, that was their thing. So when Rob Conway, a young guy, came in to disrespect the older guys (like they usually do in these situations) they beat him up - and then Kevin came in and gave him the Von Erich Claw! The show, btw, was in Austin last night. Anyway, I almost teared just thinking of what the family has gone through - and at this late stage of the night, how the family was honored. It was a nice thing for the writers and WWE to do. So that was nice. The rest of RAW, I missed most of it.

What an honor, btw, for Rob Conway to get the Von Erich claw placed on him by Kevin. This is wrestling culture, baby. It's like a rookie catching Roger Clemens or a rookie center snapping to Bret Favre. We miss these things, at times, but they are great moments.

Ulam cooked @ 10:49 AM

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