Reblogged from my Goodreads list:
“Now – I’m not down on wrestling fans, but fans don’t know what they want. They shouldn’t know. That’s not their job. Their job is to come and be entertained – and hopefully be tricked – so they’re elated with adrenaline rushing through their body.”
Now there’s a distinct whiff of bullshit from many of Gary Hart’s words in this memoir of his life and times as a wrestling manager in the territory days, and later in the Crockett/Turner NWA. It’s impossible to escape the notion that the reader is constantly being worked, as he contradicts himself from page to page as the circumstances demand.
But every now and then there’s a glimpse of wisdom that stands out for its crystal clarity. And it’s those, as well as the general entertainment value of reading Hart tell his stories no matter how much he might be kayfabing you, that make this worth seeking out for any dyed-in-the-wool wrestling fan.
###
Up early, accounting for the fact that I’ll be on coaches and trains for Easter tomorrow, here’s Enlarged Heart Radio number seven, featuring Racebannon, Guerilla Toss, Charalambides and no metal for a change.
More…
###
Modern 'American' comedy, as the compilers make clear in their intro, which is a shame because British comedy of a certain era has been just as influential on American humour than their own legacy. #link
###
This is an important blog post, on how even web natives (individuals and services alike) aren't keeping up with the shifting manifestations of harassment online. #link
###
David Bixenspan on The Big Show's ill-fated foray into boxing, one that appears to have come at a serious cost to his health. (And Hulk Hogan's involved? Why does that not surprise me?) #link
###
But are they really? I could make a decent-sized list off the top of my head of active roster talent who'd likely find themselves in the 'at risk' group if they were tested to the same rigorous degree. And that's the real problem. WWE needs an off-season, but achieving that will be difficult, requiring significant changes to its live touring business. #link
###
Alright! This is great stuff, even if it's permissive of misheard word-manglings that annoy me so. But perhaps the bigger takeaway is that so much grammar pedantry seems to revolve around a general misapprehension of the concept of metaphors, or satire (take 'guesstimate', which I've always taken to be poking fun at the puffed-up, self-delusional business-world redefinition of a 'guess', whether educated or not, as an 'estimate', with all the mental labour rigour that implies.) #link
###
The Simpsons screencap search engine (and image macro maker) we've all been waiting for. #link
###
Despite dwindling TV ratings and PPV buy rates, wrestling -- or to be more specific, WWE -- has never been more popular. It's simply suffering from the same changes affecting all media: the surplus of choice and the shifting of platforms. #link
###
Kind of a loaded interview, and I can see why Punk got upset: would any other fighter be asked about being intimidated in the octagon? Most likely not, because the default assumption is that they're serious athletes who are only there because they're tough enough. But a pro wrestler? That shit's fake, right? #link
###
Getting worse because the history is becoming more visible, yes. I don't think Vince gives a shit one way or the other, though; he just goes along with Kevin Dunn's (alleged) misogyny. #link
###
Because, in short, some calories are different from others; our bodies are more discerning about how they break down the things we eat than food science long gave them credit for. Anecdotally, it makes sense to me: I've been eating more protein and even more (brown) carbs since the start of the year, but less sugar. Same amount of calories as before, give or take a few, but my weight loss has been much easier. #link
###
Amid what's an engrossing dissection of the Gracie clan's history and hubris, containing lots of remarkable trivia (did you know the family can trace itself to the New York mayor's official residence?), this choice insight into the minds of elite MMA athletes: "The experience of raw, knee-trembling, paralyzing fear is not what separates great champions from average competitors. Rather, what distinguishes the best fighters is the ability to recognize the exact size and texture of every grain of fear and feel it fully and discretely, while also functioning physically at an elite level. Because fighters are obliged to live with a maximal amount of crippling fear to gain an advantage over their opponents, they rarely seem heroic in the lead-up to a fight." #link
###
Never thought about this before, but there's a lot of truth to it! Even down to the slang terminology like 'work'. #link
###
The noise musician's page for his prolific self-release catalogue. Bit expensive for digital vanity projects, mind. #link
###
Tony Visconti goes back to the original master tape to talk the elements that make up the classic Bowie number. #link
###
Poor Josh and Donna. #link
###
Yep. I find it hard to stomach even the obvious black humorous 'EC Comics gone extreme' vibe of early Cannibal Corpse, for instance. But that pales in comparison with some of the rubbish out there now. #link
###
Because sometimes that's you need. See also: The Last Second Of Every AC/DC Song Ever Recorded #link
###
Interviews about jazz and heavy metal by Hank Shteamer, the man behind the recent Craw reissues (which are fabulous, by the way, and I'd have a physical copy if I could afford one). #link
###
This is a film I need to see. #link
###
A show I need to revisit; it was an occasional late-night treat over here (for some inexplicable reason, UTV put it on after the News at Ten). #link
###
But hey, wrestling wouldn't be the same without them. #link
###
Lots of homework here. I wish there was an English-Language Dragon Gate show along the same lines as NJPW on AXS TV. #link
###
"We do tend to have this unexamined assumption that the individual is a huge fucking deal. Because it feels to use that we are. Because our neurological equipment seems to demonstrate to each of us that we are quite obviously the exact center of the universe. Just as we are all, subjectively, politically quite sensibly centrist. The key to racism is that racists literally don’t know they are. They think it’s a specious category invented to shame them for simply being sensible." [c/o LinkMachineGo] #link
###
How MSG Got A Bad Rap: Flawed Science And Xenophobia
More…
###
Sometimes I'm still waiting for that shoe to drop. #link
###
They're getting pretty big, for sure. #link
###
Filing this for future reference. I've got a lot to learn about HTML5. #link
###
Hot dog! 100 years of Nathan’s Famous at Coney Island – in pictures
More…
###
D Boon's fiancée shares her story of that fateful night 30 years ago. This is from over a year ago but I only saw it via a tweet recently; some relief that no individual was to blame for what happened, though that was never what mattered. #link
###
Justin Snow's a good man for heavy recommendations. (Even if I don't see what the big deal is about Bell Witch, sorry!) See also his similar lists for solo drone, collaborative drone and non-drone/metal. And there's Black Metal & Brews' The 25 Best Electronic, Experimental, and Post-Punk Albums of 2015. #link
###
The Hallow, reblogged from my Letterboxd list:
Alas, The Hallow. Yet again we have a film where the germ of a good idea – in this case a uniquely frightening take on Irish folklore – is rendered sterile by uninspired execution. Apart from a couple of delightfully gruesome set-pieces, this arboreal horror does little new with the mish-mash of tropes it so liberally employs, nor the scares it so brazenly steals.
More…
###
The Guardian runs the data on our national holiday. But I do have to point out, about the Irish language thing: that's most likely a case of unreliable reporting based on wishful thinking, as there is no way 40% of the country can speak Irish with any fluency. I know I certainly can't. The language is taught so badly in schools that unless you grow up in an Irish-speaking environment (and I do have friends who speak as Gaeilge at home and elsewhere) it simply won't stick. #link
###
Oh I could lose a day or two to this, I think. #link
###
I'm constantly amazed by the lack of self-awareness or self-reflection among the so-called 'geek' communities. Which is to say, I'm not sure the message of this article would get through to those who need it most. #link
###
There's no good reason for it, other than the usual institutional biases. (Although, from personal experience I think things are more balanced on this side of the pond; often plenty of women at the press screenings I attend, for instance, though not exactly gender parity, I'll grant.) #link
###
Something to dig through when I'm at a loose end. #link
###
I'd actually want to see a few of these. Bubbles is not one of them. #link
###
At last a replacement for iTunes! But it's $20 so it'd have to be a whole lot better. #link
###
And bringing some life to rigid figures from dusty history books. #link
###
I agree: DS9 is indeed the best incarnation of Star Trek. And this is a wonderful introduction, with plenty of deep background even for those of us already in the know. #link
###
Real-time mapping of aurora activity, which may give a heads up if it stretches down to Ireland as it did a couple of times recently (and which I missed, boo). #link
###
For the avoidance of mass panic, etc. #link
###
On the 'Dark Enlightenment' political philosophy of Nick Land. Which is a contraction in terms, so you know the rest will make a whole lot of sense, eh? (File under 'ubermensch bullshit'.) #link
###
Another fine list by Matthew Baldwin, and the bulk of them two-player options too. I'm looking at Patchwork and Lanterns in particular. And while I'm at it, there's Tiffin, Rael Dornfest's upcoming collect-and-deliver game; I hope it's a good one for two players. #link
###
Decent advice here. See also: Plotto; A New Method of Plot Suggestion for Writers of Creative Fiction (from 1928!) #link
###
It's not just Trinity, of course; it extends to every Irish institution. It's all-talk, no-action milquetoast liberalism, best (worst?) exemplified in this country's political circles. #link
###
Is anyone surprised? Ireland needs a fundamental rethink: priority investment both in homebuilding and supportive infrastructure to secure long-term 'growth' (I hate that term so much). Doesn't even have to be in Dublin: plenty of depressed or depressive satellite towns and secondary cities that could do with the investment. Ireland is growing, and we need somewhere for our people to live. Can we stop hiding from this fact, please? #link
###
This is pretty close to what's happening in Dublin, too: lots of handwringing about the capital's housing crisis, zero action in terms of protection for tenants (from rent hikes, eviction) or building to feed demand (because of backwards notions of urban growth 'killing' pastoral Ireland or whatever). #link
###