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Everything posted by Matt D
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I saw that the other night and had to skip ahead to key moments. I like long random matches twice as much as the next guy. but I just wanted to get to the main event already.
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\Yyou and Johnny Sorrow should put on a play for us.
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DVDVRBC THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes
Matt D replied to jaedmc's topic in READING & WRITING
I'm done, and I think I'm going to jot down some thoughts before I think better of it. Maybe I'll edit out this whole thing later. I don't read novels often. I'm fairly pretentious, in my own way, at least as much so as someone who posts on an internet wrestling board might be. I've got my Masters' degrees. I work for my big international agency, even if it's doing work that's nothing to write home about. I look down on all the key things to look down on, religion and high school football and the Kardashians and those who know anything about them. I don't read novels though, not unless I have a damn good reason, and I suppose I saw this as a good reason. I gravitate towards escapism, be it comics or sci fi or fantasy or old mystery or Wodehouse or period yarns or what not. I'm exceptionally good at falling towards the avoidance of conflict and the path of least resistance. I think a lot of the reason I don't read novels is that elements of my life don't always hold up well to scrutiny and things that outright make me think and examine, tend to be ultimately unpleasant. This book, then, was a kick in the crotch, and then a slow back and forth digging of said foot. The lessons learned here are that while going through life, we hide behind self-delusion, can never fully understand ourselves, mainly because we choose not to, and of course, never choose to understand those around us, who are likely doing the same, The narratives we create in our head both in the immediate and the long term are sloppy and facile, that just surviving life isn't enough but were we try to accomplish something higher, we'd just make a mess of it. At least, I think that's it. I read this book and think that if Tony did things differently over the years, nothing good would have come to it because the inherent nature of life, as this book puts forth, would still be true. I actually think, where things are at the end, aren't the real truth. He STILL doesn't get it and he still probably never will. There are three or four layers left to peel back and maybe having the diary would help and maybe not. Veronica could tell him her story and that'd be full of her own misunderstandings and untrustworthy narratives and coping devices that any sort of real truth would simply be unattainable. It literally could not exist and if it somehow could, it wouldn't matter, because it would be so far away from the perceptions that had shaped her life. Maybe that's just me being overly sympathetic to Tony, too. Maybe the problem isn't every person but is mainly him and those like him. Maybe that's because I relate on some level. I think, ultimately, though, we're all untrustworthy narrators in our own life and an effort is all we can make, and it's never going to be a truly honest one. I believe in the power of intention but accept that at the end of the day actions are what matter. The book seems to have a mentality of "do as little harm as possible" while fully admitting that you're probably going to do harm through action and inaction and through removing yourself from a situation entirely. As for the book itself, it was well written. It taps into a lot of very normal and everyday emotions and activities and makes them visceral. I think that there's a lot of underlying churning in life that we cover up with the minutia of the moment and overwhelm with the long expanse of years. I'm not entirely sure, even after reading the book, that any real good can be done by digging into that. I probably enjoyed part one the best, though there's a wrongness to that, as the little bits of adolescent wit and warmth to be found in the recollections were all proven to be so empty by the end of the book. You're supposed to enjoy it and then pay for it later. I found it funny, and telling, how they knocked autobiographical literature in a section that was basically just that, but there were a ton of little such touches throughout. I found the end of part 1 to be jarring, with the time jump and how matter-of-fact it was of unsettling contrast to the detail of what came before. Part 2 was all about the anticipation of answers. The end was unsatisfying, but it wasn't supposed to be. It's a rabbit hole, and you're about far enough down it that climbing back up seems like a fairly good idea. I think, maybe, the luckiest thing that could have happened to Tony in all of this is that he never got that diary. Maybe for the readers as well. It reminded me a bit of the last book I read for the club, All the Names by Jose Saramago. since that too was about the near-obsessed search for the truth and story of a life. It was as impersonal as this book was personal though, but it was very much in the main character's head a well. That one stung a bit less. It raised the mundane to the mythical, while this yanked our own personal mythos into the mundane. -
God dammit Steve. You just spoke with Eric Bischoff for 35 minutes about Beer, Hunting, and Flight 315. No, I will not use Legalzoom.
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No, they should have introduced him in the battle royal, with all of his people on the outside crowdsurfing him back in when he got eliminated.
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I don't think Littlefinger necessarily had a particular plan in mind so much as he wanted to keep getting people to fuck themselves over any way he could. Remember the "chaos is a ladder" speech from last season. He could be reasonably assured of a few things when he started--that Ned Stark would be the new Hand, that he would try to play the game in King's Landing the way he plays it in the North and get himself killed, and that since everyone already expected the Lannisters to scheme, Robert would eventually drink himself to death in one way or another and things would go absolutely bonkers. He couldn't have anticipated the War of Five Kings, but he didn't really need to. All he needed to do was to start the shit rolling downhill and be ready to throw in the occasional new wrinkle from within his own influence to keep the most powerful people in Westeros busy destroying themselves while he consolidates his own power. By the time he and Sansa reach the Eyrie, he probably DOES have a specific plan in mind, but I think his long game was "wreck things behind the scenes until a path emerges, then be ready to seize it." The entire point to Littlefinger is that he's an opportunist with a bunch of really petty first world problems and also generally full of shit relative to someone like the Spider who REALLY suffered to get where he is. Just picture Edge. He kind of did come from nothing though. His father was the smallest of the small lords of the smallest island of the fingers. He is now the Lord of Harrenhall, Lord Protector of The Vale, and rich as a bitch. He wanted to marry Catelyn, but her father basically said, "Fuck Off!, peasant." He really made himself one of the most powerful men in Westeros, after almost getting killed for overstepping his place in life. I'm not saying he doesn't have a point (everyone in the show has a point), but it's a hell of a lot less of a point that lots of peasants.
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I am pretty sure their was a Diva's match scheduled because I seem to remember them tweeting out something before the show (of course I am way too lazy to look) hyping a match. It seemed like the show was running way long and they had to cut something and they couldn't cut Adam Rose since they had promoted it so much. ( Well they could have cut Adam Rose and it would have made me laugh and laugh and laugh but yeah. I think Paige beat Alicia Fox on Superstars, which makes me think that it was part of the planning maybe? Didn't they delay and delay on the Brodus Clay debut? Or was that part of the build up to the dancing surprise?
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DVDVRBC THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes
Matt D replied to jaedmc's topic in READING & WRITING
I was able to get this online through my library on a two week loan right to my tablet, so that's pretty cool. About 30% in from this morning. -
I don't think Littlefinger necessarily had a particular plan in mind so much as he wanted to keep getting people to fuck themselves over any way he could. Remember the "chaos is a ladder" speech from last season. He could be reasonably assured of a few things when he started--that Ned Stark would be the new Hand, that he would try to play the game in King's Landing the way he plays it in the North and get himself killed, and that since everyone already expected the Lannisters to scheme, Robert would eventually drink himself to death in one way or another and things would go absolutely bonkers. He couldn't have anticipated the War of Five Kings, but he didn't really need to. All he needed to do was to start the shit rolling downhill and be ready to throw in the occasional new wrinkle from within his own influence to keep the most powerful people in Westeros busy destroying themselves while he consolidates his own power. By the time he and Sansa reach the Eyrie, he probably DOES have a specific plan in mind, but I think his long game was "wreck things behind the scenes until a path emerges, then be ready to seize it." The entire point to Littlefinger is that he's an opportunist with a bunch of really petty first world problems and also generally full of shit relative to someone like the Spider who REALLY suffered to get where he is. Just picture Edge.
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There's this MSG show on youtube where Slaughter bumps like crazy for Andre from 81 or so. Also, I saw the first half of a pretty good HTM vs Tito match from 89. There was some promise of Heenan playing the guitar the next week. I really like hearing Tony S paired with Lord Alfred. From what I saw, Bryan vs ADR was pretty good too. I love how much character Del Rio has in his matches. The pissed off Si Si Si before the cross armbreaker attempt was great.
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Long resthold heat segments are fine so long as Ambrose and his goofy facial expressions are in the Orton chinlock.
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I would have to do it on my phone and anyway my rushed (pun!) Segunda Caida post today was half about how I did not understand CMLL's revenue sources, so i am not yet ready.
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He just won the belt. All he had was good news for everyone tonight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKn3JjI77GQ
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The whole point is whether or not the kids, the last bastion of the people who still care for cena, might turn on him. It's like cutting sampson's hair. It's cutting his power. It's okay if you don't like it, but Cena's all about Hustle Loyalty Respect, etc. It's like cracking the Three Demandments on Hogan and introducing doubt. Can Cena be Cena if the other half of the crowd turns on him, etc. Ideally, he cracks on Raw and tries to do one of his "let me make fun of my opponent" promo and then sells this, being unable to. That'd make what happened over the last few weeks when he just shrugged shit off worth it. we'll see though.
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I think MAYBE, just MAYBE the ending doesn't work if Cena didn't comeback and overcome all odds like that first.
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I'm not going to DEFEND the cage match and how it was worked, but it does sort of show how the Wyatt family is one mind, one unit. There's no distance between Bray and his followers, so the fact that they were basically extensions of his will worked for me. Also, the fact that the fans voted against Cena a few weeks ago seemed to open the door for this, to me. I don't know that Wyatt looked weak so much as the Wyatt family looked strong. Yeah, Cena overcame the odds at the end, but that's what he does. He's Cena. It's part of his narrative. The whole match they basically dominated him and then they broke the Cena narrative with a cunning plan. Works for me.
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Yeah, they really needed to give that table spot another moment to settle in.
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Sure, but it was in 2000. EDIT: also all of his youtube stuff for WWE and some OVW when he had he two girls. They made him stop singing due to English, which hurt.
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I was going to tell everyone that I watched Clash IV last night but then I remembered that I watched that on youtube. The network still crashes my tablet after a few minutes.
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Did they cast anyone as Eric O'Grady for the ant man movie? If they really wanted to do all three generations, or even just old Pym, they should do it like this: start with O'Grady as a Fed (or SHIELD agent if they're back by then), and with Lang as a con. Introduce Pym/Jan's daughter (With Jan's personality basically, but more capable) as a love interest for O'Grady and establish that Lang is a smart ex-con with a sick daughter and an ex-wive. Play up that O'Grady is the cocky hotshot protagonist and that Lang is the tragic bad guy. Have them meet up at the end of the first act and both of them end up with the Ant Man tech. O'Grady shows his true colors and sells out. Pym gives Lang a key pep talk about the mistakes he made in life and that it's not too late to turn things around and Lang ends up saving Pym's daughter or something and with a big size changing battle with O'Grady. It ends with them as Ant Man and Wasp and poised to join the Avengers. The double switch would surprise people, etc. Granted, I would have used a younger Pym but if they want Douglas as Pym, that's the way to go I think.
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The Powerplex is the best finisher in wrestling history.
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Oh, DVDVR, this is why I love you. Talking about a guy's fake punches not looking realistic enough. Hey! I've never seen this Ned guy in my life.
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Obviously, the matches from his prime are the ones to watch, but I did look at a lot of his second WWF/E run recently, if only to show Parv that he was probably better than Dibiase in the WWF, or at least that this shouldn't be immediately dismissed. And here's what OJ said about Bossman vs Dibiase Output in WWF: I finished off my Boss Man viewing with matches against Duggan, Hercules, Patera and Razor Ramon. Only the 1990 Royal Rumble match against Duggan was anything of note, though the first Hercules match was pretty decent for its length. The Duggan match was shocking good for a Duggan match, though it had its weaknesses. Now onto the comparison: When Matt first dropped the idea that Boss Man was better in the WWF than Dibiase my gut reaction was that Dibiase was the better pure worker and that the only way Boss Man could have been better was if he'd done more with less or put together generic match structures or some other backhanded compliment like that, but the more I watched the more I swayed in Boss Man's favour. I have quite a few caveats, however: * Neither man had a tremendously high number of good matches. That's good matches by my definition, which others have said is stricter than most people, but personally I don't consider "good for what it was" or "smart work" to be enough when judging matches. The fact there weren't a tremendous amount of good matches from either men isn't a surprise since it was the same conclusion I came to with Tito Santana and is indicative of WWF wrestling more than anything else. Overall, I thought both men were equal when it came to high-end matches, memorable angles and feuds, as well as promo ability. * Boss Man had the advantage of having strong heel and face runs. It's to his credit that he was an even better face than he was a heel, but Dibiase didn't have the opportunity to show off the same range of skills. * From my point of view, a good big man is more interesting than a good hand. That's just a personal bias. * Dibiase was always saddled with a body guard or manager. I got really sick of seeing the same spots with Virgil and Sherri. Boss Man had a bit of schtick with Slick during his initial heel run, but his original gimmick with the cuffs and nightstick was often so surprising in its brutality that Slick was quickly forgotten and of course as a face he went it alone. * Dibiase vs. Savage is *probably* a higher high point than anything Boss Man did. I say "probably" because I didn't want to revisit those Boss Man/Hogan matches, which did very little for me when I watched every single one of them during my recent Hogan phase. What swayed me in Boss Man's favour was the fact that despite the limitations of the WWF format, I thought he gave better performances than Dibiase. Early on in his run, I felt he tried harder to adapt to each match situation, whether it was against a jobber, a JTTS, a mid card worker, a tag match or his program against Hogan. You got the feeling that he tried to make each match unique or as memorable as possible given the various constraints. Dibiase was more about getting his gimmick over, which was okay but there was a lot of repeated pre-match mic work, stooging, bumping and selling and schtick. Boss Man tended to sell in a more realistic way than Dibiase, though again he had the advantage of working face, and there wasn't the same problems with the lack of a middle to his matches. Dibiase had the better execution and sometimes Boss Man looked a bit ungainly, but Boss Man wrestled "in character" better both as a heel and face. It helped that he was a big man with big man offence and the odd surprise move, but Dibiase didn't bust out his offence enough despite having a sweet moveset. On the other hand, slow Boss Man matches with too much selling tended to be worse than bad Dibiase matches with too much stooging, nevertheless I would still take Boss Man over Dibiase at this point for general output.
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DVDVRBC THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes
Matt D replied to jaedmc's topic in READING & WRITING
Man, this thing is popular. My library branch only has 1 out of 27 copies right now and that's all the way in Elkridge.