The Birthday Massacre Meet and Greet

We arrived at about 1:30 PM for the meet and greet scheduled for 2 PM. We got a good place in line and headed on in. It was cute to see some fans so excited. There was a nice intimate setting, so one could actually have a dialogue with the band and not feel rushed. We got in, I told Chibi I was the guy that freaked last year and told her the album was Thriller caliber, she remembered! She signed my CD, signed Ana’s iPod, we took some pics, and I told her to visit Trash and Vaudeville. Finally, being a geek, told them I’d be honored if they’d follow me on Twitter. It was really awesome! The other band members liked my shirt, we chatted about wrestling for a moment. Only M2J would talk to The Birthday Massacre about wrestling, I know.

My Trip to Texas for WrestleMania

So, after the previous mentioned debacle getting to Texas, we finally arrived the morning of April 3rd. After getting our rental car, a PT Cruiser, we headed out to Stafford to check in to our room. Doing some research led me to select the La Quinta. It was a nice little place, 2 star hotel, but received exceptional reviews. The lady at the desk greeted us, “How ya’ll doin’?” Oh yeah, we had arrived. Surrounding us was an IHOP, Hooters and some Konichiwa place. We checked in and I almost immediately crashed. I stayed awake the entire night in Atlanta and had to take a break. It was roughly noon and we had planned to attend a charity event with wrestlers appearing, one of which was Jake Roberts. We discovered that there were two events taking place back to back, and Jake’s portion would take place from  4-7 PM, giving me a chance to sleep a little while longer. First, we ordered pizza. It was horrible. See the picture below for a glimpse of what a horror that was. Then I crashed finally. Sean managed to revive me at about 5:30. I quickly showered and we headed out to catch the tail end of the event. We got to the convention right as the wrestlers were packing up. We ran to meet Jake, and meet him we did. I apologized for holding him up and he told me (playfully) to take my shirt and stick it up my ass. Then we posed for the picture Jake requested that we not grab his ass. Then Sean showed him his Halloween costume to see his response. Jake quickly responded “You’re a sick bastard.” After walking away, I was overjoyed with how unique of an experience it was to have your childhood hero tell you off. I called my dad and told him immediately. Then we went back to the hotel, chilled a little bit more and tried to make dinner plans with Dennis (who was also in Houston). We told him we wanted to try Hooters, which was near an IHOP off of whatever the highway was, I think 59. Chance would have it that he would end up at another Hooters right next to a different IHOP right down the road. We just ate at our respective Hooters. It was decent food, everyone was cheering watching a basketball game. The waitresses were all super hot. My waitress touched my shoulder and I fainted. Then, I ventured somewhere that I never thought I would be again, to Austin. Why was I venturing there? I was going to see someone whom I never thought I would see again, Holly.

We arrived at Holly’s at about 1 AM. She started a barbecue as a small shindig for us and it snowballed into a huge party. I met a ton of people and saw a few people who I hadn’t seen in 9 years. I couldn’t believe how much time passed. Sean and I took over the music and Holly, Logan (her boyfriend), Sean and myself all caught up and chatted for a long time. Holly was an awesome host, she even got a six pack of Becks, since everyone else in Texas drinks Bud Light. We had a blast talking again. It was really a trip, I really never thought I’d be crossing paths with Holly ever again realistically. Thankfully, the WWE held Wrestlemania at a venue geographically desirable to do so. Sean and I hung out till around 6 AM or so and headed back to Houston. We arrived back at the hotel around 9 AM or so, I was ready for bed.

I woke up mid-day and just wanted to lounge and catch my breath. We really hadn’t taken a break since we got there. We ordered more pizza. We know, we know… we wanted to go out and get like, meat, steak, hamburgers, but it was Texas and we were lazy. We wanted to order and all we could find were more pizza places and Chinese. We opted to try pizza from a different place one more time… This is what resulted…

We watched the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on USA and then coordinated an evening out with Dennis and his friend Kevin. We got started at about 12:30 on our way out, and Kevin informed us that in Texas, last call was 2 AM. For a group of NY boys, this wasn’t cool. We then hit traffic and discovered that Texans don’t handle accidents like NYers. The whole highway was shut down. People just got out of their car, talked and hung out with each other. We got to downtown Houston at about 1:30. We didn’t really have time to do anything so we just drove around and just scope out the city. It was a quaint little place, felt like Tribeca. We then got some grub from Whataburger and called it a night.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Waffle House. On the menu, under hash browns, it gave the options of “smothered” or “covered.” Dennis remarked that the lyrics of that Bloodhound Gang song now made more sense. What a catch! I had grits for the first time. They were good. I told the server that I didn’t want pulp in my orange juice, he replied, “What’s that?” We had a long conversation about wrestling with most of the employees and some customers. We grabbed some beer at a gas station. I sensed Moon Pies when I walked in, and found them, and Sean got me the entire thing. Then it was time for Wrestlemania.

Although it was hard to see the ring from out seats, despite them being close, being there is just amazing. The production is second to none. There were quite a few surprises, some were good, some were bad. The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats for Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels. The Hardy match was excellent. John Cena having Edge and Big Show on his back, if even for just a second, was a great sight. I think everyone in the arena was expecting Randy Orton to win the title, but he didn’t. The only let down of the night (other than Mickey Rourke not doing the Ram Jam) was Triple H winning.

We bounced, got back to our hotel and Sean and I hit up a diner. I had a huge burger which was excellent and a carmel cheesecake dessert which was outstanding. We got some sleep and sadly, the next morning was the time for us to depart. We checked out got on the plane and got back to Atlanta. After a slight delay, we got to NY, took a cab home, and IMMEDIATELY WENT TO ROSA’S. Seriously, we didn’t wait, we went to the car and got real pizza. We returned to my apartment and watched Raw. This traveling thing is fun, I want to do it more.

Friday the 13th Review

Let me start by saying, “best intro to a movie ever.” Now, this movie had one personal taint for me, which most of you won’t be bothered by. As a fan of the TV series Supernatural, seeing one of the Winchester brothers a) by himself and 2) not actually as one of the Winchester brothers, but facing a supernatural opponent, made me sad. Seeing Sam Winchester on the screen without Dean and having to accept that he was just “Clay” was rough on me. At least he was the main protagonist. I’ll tip-toe around the story to avoid any spoilers, but basically I was very happy with the movie. I think it brought Jason triumphantly into the 21st century, unlike that other movie that was released earlier this decade and shall remain nameless.

The interesting dynamic here is the audience. I’m willing to bet some people probably are too young to even give the Friday the 13th series of yesteryear a second thought. On the flip side, the rest are here to not only embark on a new Jason adventure, but compare it to the original.

Wisely, we get right to Jason and skip the Pamela Voorhees massacre of the first movie from 1980. It is summed up and mentioned, but we tag that as taking place in 1980 and move on. It was interesting to me, that in the original series, Jason drowns sometime in 1957 (if memory serves)  and his mother returns to the camp in 1979 to end those trying to open it again (the movie was released in 1980, but took place in 1979). The next movies with Jason as the killer take place all throughout the 1980s, which at the time is the present day. Although this movie appears to be a new take on the story overall, the original massacre from Jason’s mother seeking vengeance takes place in 1980. The movie, however, takes place in the present day. This may have been done on purpose to allow the audience to accept both the movie as a continuation or as a fresh start.

To make sure we understand that this is indeed the present day, they beat it into us from the get-go. Everyone has iPods, GPS, cellphones, just about anything that can establish we are up to date. There is actually some dialog about the technology and how important it is. Anyway, the way Jason is portrayed is different than before. Although Jason was always aggressive, he really seems clever and sometimes methodical in this movie. Jason is definitely very different than the mindless zombie killing machine we once knew. The movie also has a “back to basics” feel to it, the opposite direction of how gimmicky the later part of the original series became. Although watching someone in a sleeping back beaten against a tree to death is fun, the movie becomes less serious and more humorous, which is fine if that’s what you’re in the mood for. Think back to the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Most of the time, Freddy was simply trying to kill his victims, while having a little bit of fun messing with them. By the third movie, he was playing with stuff and had faces in his torso, turning into TVs, it was just a mess. There is nothing wrong with Jason grabbing a blunt object and bashing someone in the head with it, nothing!

I do wish I could experience this movie with virgin Friday the 13th eyes and see what I thought of it. If I had to compare it to the rest of the Friday the 13th movies, it would definitely be in my top 3 (following part 2 and part 6). So do you like horror movies? Do you like Jason movies? Do you like movies? Do you like pie? If you said yes to any of these, go see this movie in a theater and try to sit next to someone that scares easily, it makes the experience just that much better.

All things considered, I give this movie:

8 out of 10 Jason masks.

WWE The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event DVD Set

This DVD set is absolutely amazing to watch as an old school wrestling fan. For those of you who do not know, WWE (formerly “WWF”) used to have a late night show which ran on NBC when Saturday Night Live was in rerun. There were no monthly pay per view events in those days and most of time, this show served as the main story progressing medium. This show ran through the era which Mean Gene Okerlund referred to as “the glory days.” For the most part, The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event covers 1985-1992. In 2006, NBC and WWE restarted the Saturday Night’s Main Event program, although quite different and not nearly as crucial to progression as before. Luckily, there’s minimal 21st century covered on this set.

For me personally, I started watching wrestling in 1991. I back tracked heavily, renting all the videos I could leading up to the present. I watched all the ppvs I could get my hands on, but a lot of the events leading up to matches would take place on SNME, I could only get a glimpse of this action. I did not have cable in the sticks I used to live in, so seeing WWE on my TV at home was awesome. I only got to see a handful of them before they ended. The need for SNME was filled with the new, weekly, Monday Night Raw and Main Event vanished.

Now for this DVD set, hours and hours of big matches from Main Event, in full, with wrestler interviews about the action. Too keep it relevant to today, some of the active roster are on the DVD. The cast of characters is simply awesome. Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Jake Roberts, Junk Yard Dog, Roddy Piper, Big Boss Man, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. T, Honky Tonk Man, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ultimate Warrior, and of course, Andre the Giant are just some of the superstars you see throughout the set. Yeah sure, John Cena is there too, but again, that’s the 21st century stuff that may appeal to you, but I’m content with the “glory days.”

Anyway, if you couldn’t tell, I’m high on this DVD set. I have yet to tell you just how high, however. BUY THIS SET. Seriously, buy it now! This DVD set is by far the best collection the WWE has released, period. They have captured a great deal of action for the era that I grew up on and loved. I’m unbelievably happy with this set and it put a huge smile on my face multiple times. Wrestling was so colorful and larger than life back then and drinking it all in was quite an experience. All I have to say about this DVD collection is: 10

Christian Returns to WWE

To my fellow wrestling fans, we knew this was coming. The WWE swerved us big time with Christian’s roster placement, however. Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and Edge are all on Smackdown. They make a pretty explosive trio as it is, adding Christian to the mix would practically make it nuclear. On the surface, placing Christian on ECW seems like a bad move, but maybe it isn’t.

Consider this, now you’re probably going to watch ECW a little bit more. Now we already have Christian back, but now the anticipation will continue a little bit longer for him to rejoin his comrades over on Smackdown. We all know it’s coming sooner or later, we just did not get an instant payoff. We now will keep our eye on this situation even more closely. We were holding our breath awaiting Christian’s return. Now we aren’t breathing just yet, but have been allow to take one more nice and deep breath to hold out a little longer. Sooner or later, Christian will cross paths with Matt, Jeff, or Edge. This will give Matt and Jeff some time to soak up the lime light before we detonate this whole thing. Christian is probably expected to pay some dues for his time in TNA anyway. Hopefully we won’t be looking at this in a few months saying “WWE ruined something else.”

Hess Truck

Father has informed me that he has purchased the Hess truck. That makes me happy.

My Favorite Wrestlers

My Favorite MK Fatality

This is still my favorite Mortal Kombat fatality, even after all of these years. It was so simple and yet, so much fun!

Hats off to Twinkle

Although I sound like a snoot, I need to blow off some steam. The new iPhone (and new firmware) was released on July 11th, and with it some changes to the iPhone realm. If you were one of the people who couldn’t resist messing with the iPhone and “jailbreaking” it in order to install applications other than what came with it, well then you may have an idea of what I’m talking about. Apple now has an official “App Store” with software made using Apple’s on SDK (software developer’s kit) in order to release endorsed applications. One of the applications which I grew extremely fond of, was a Twitter application, called “Twinkle.” At this time, the software running on the iPhone for the “unofficial” applications can not coexist with the software enabling official applications. Sadly, Twinkle is nowhere to be found in this new territory. Instead we are forced to try our luck with faceless immitators, such as Twitterrific (which I’ll accept as a name if you are going with the less popular definition of terrific: “causing terror; terrifying”), Twittelator (which is what, a Twitter-Terminator?), and Twittervision (more like “Lack-of-Vision). I won’t waste my time with why I hate all of these. In a nutshell, the three above-mentioned applications are garbage, they feel clunky and are somewhat counter-intuitive.

Thanks to the ability to capture screen shots on the old iPhone (something that requires an app which isn’t official either) I can show you a glimpse of Twinkle.

As you can see, with the old applications, one could also change the appearance of the interface, but that’s another rant.

This is the Twinkle Home screen. It shows myself and all the people I’m following. I would like to point out that in the second tweet, I am agreeing with Stressmint that one of the official Twitter applications is sub-standard.

A fun feature, is the “Near Me.” You can easily set the range of how near or far you want to be able to see. Again, in my Tweet on this particular screen, I am complaining about how much I miss Twinkle.

I selected a Tweet just to show what they look like. The options are simple and to the point.

If you notice above, “marry” has taken a photo for her Tweet. Here is what you see as a result of clicking the convenient thumbnail. I would also like to note that hyperlinks will open up in the Safari browser with ease. When browsed to these Tweets on the web, the link to the uploaded pic is automatically placed within the Tweet.

I’m not a huge fan of this feature, but the “Public” tab which browses (what seems to be) the entire world is fun if you’re bored and just want to gander. I won’t bother showing Settings, basically you provide your login/pass and toggle location.

…finally, the Tweet screen. When you are ready, you click the pencil up in the top-right and type away.

There you have it, simple picture button, it located me, and of course you can toggle that check-mark depending on if you want that information public.

Twinkle is supposed to have been released in the iTunes App store the day it opened. I hope we see it soon! I’ve been Tweeting less with the lousy apps that they have to offer.

“Ode to the Nice Guys” (About Time)

I found this on the website linked to below. it’s a good read, especially for you girls, although the guys who can relate will nod in agreement.

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003

http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~jenf/writing/rant04.html