Friday LinkFrogging – 4/1/11

Welcome back kids.

Now that most of the Gonzo Compadres have recovered from their varietal trips to SXSW, we’re back and getting down to it.  Well most of us anyway.  John is in Hotlanta this weekend for Wrestlemania.  Its his first trip to the big event despite a lifelong obsession with the squared circle.

Sure, the Final Four is this weekend, and we’ll be keeping an eye on that, but we’re Geeks.  We still enjoy the glory of the squared circle too.

Well, maybe not as much as we did before the McMahonopoly homogenized the product to the point of monotony, but still, its the biggest weekend of the year for fans of rasslin’ and/or sports entertainment.

So, in honor of ‘Mania (and at the suggestion of frequent hand model David Cantu), we’re pleased to present this week’s cheesecake.  Say hello to Trish Stratus.

Ms. Stratus began her career  as a fitness model (whatever that means) in Canada before making the move to the WWF/E.  There she donned a trench coat, cowboy hat and the managerial reins of the infamous tag team T&A (subtle Vince).  In the anything goes Attitude Era, Trish often found herself in the middle of very sexually oriented storylines.  I would imagine an entire generation of American boys hit puberty when she debuted the Stratusfaction.

After a very successful WWE career, Trish retired, sort of.  She’s making a return to the “E” next week as one of the coaches on Tough Enough, the WWE’s answer to The Ultimate Fighter.  Watch as Trish, Steve Austin, Booker T and Hugh Morrus (really??) train the next generation of WWE talent.

No word yet on who will give them their buzzcuts and tribal tats.

On to the links.

Friday LinkFrogging – 2/18/11

Welcome to Friday kids.

I don’t know about you, but this weekend couldn’t have come any sooner.

If life is a juggling act, I’ve been struggling to keep all my balls in the air this week.

I’ll pause here whilst you make your own jokes.

(pause)

Okay, moving on.

Our ongoing cold snap has passed and left us with days in the 70s.  Perfect weather to bring out the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

I have to honest here.  I didn’t realize this thing was still such a big deal.  Of course, I’m the same guy who used last year’s covergirl as cheesecake last week so maybe I’m not quite as clueless as I’d like to pretend.

All that having been said, its time to introduce you to this week’s cheesecake, even though she really needs no introduction.

Say hello to “the Body,” Elle MacPherson.

That picture right up there is my first real memory of the Swimsuit Issue.

It was the Day of the Supermodel.  Cindy Crawford was everywhere.  So were Kathey Ireland, Linda Evangelista and Rachel Hunter.  Everyone had their favorites.  Elle was mine.

She tried her hand at acting in movies like Sirens, If Lucy Fell and the underrated, The Edge.  She was also in Batman and Robin, but I think we can all agree that the less said about that the better.  She even appeared for a few episodes as Joey’s roommate/girlfriend on Friends.

These days she is the face and body of Elle MacPherson Intimates.  You can thank me for THAT link later.

On to the links.

Friday LinkFrogging – 9/10/10

First things first, thanks, once again to Chris for filling in for me so ably on our weekly jaunt around the web.  Well done sir.  Well done!

Can you feel it?  Summer is fading and fall is in the air.

Football, of every kind, is back underway.

The Boys of Summer are heading into the home stretch and looking for the next Mr. October (or is it November now?).

The networks are blasting us with promos for new fall shows.

As we roll toward the holidays and the inevitable Black Friday that is to come, let’s sit back and enjoy this week’s cheesecake, shall we?

Say hello to Milla Jojovich star of today’s new cinematic release, Resident Evil:  Afterlife.

Ms. Jojovich’s geek cred is strong.  In addition to the Resident Evil franchise, she has starred in such other geek fare as The Fifth Element, Ultraviolet, Zoolander and the seminal 70s high school stoner flick, Dazed and Confused.

VH1 referred to her as “the reigning queen of kick-butt.”  Hard to argue.

On to the links.

It’s a Work – Anvil: The Story of Pro Wrestling

This past Tuesday night, I went to Charlotte’s newest live-music venue- the Fillmore. Anvil was performing and this past year’s documentary, ‘Anvil: The Story of Anvil’, depicting their history and struggles to achieve rock stardom had won me over; not with their music, but because these men have marched thanklessly to their own thrash metal drum for more than a quarter-century.

I got into heavy metal music when I was eleven or twelve years old. It was loud and aggressive and was one of three things in those tender years that captured my imagination; the others being comic books and professional wrestling. These interests shaped me and, in some ways, have never stopped being influences, but as I got older they changed- and so did I.

Wrestling evolved into sports-entertainment, and in its effort to appeal to multitudes of mainstream masses and marketing moneymen, it moved in a direction that left me in the weeds.

Comic books turned on me as well. Prices climbed and climbed, but creativity waned. Even the look and the feel of a comic in my hands felt foreign as we neared the 90s, with slick pages and computerized colors with digital dialogue. ‘Alternative’ and ‘variant’ cover-art filled the book racks- hoping to get avid collectors to buy the same book twice, while stories started arcing and looping from title-to-title- stretching thin my teenage dollar. Now and then I would bite, buying into a separate title just to get to the end of the story I was reading, and most times it left me feeling cheated, and with a comic I’d never look at again.

It’s a Work – Storytelling

 

Before I get to the meat of things, a thought on Vince Russo. If I had to guess, I would that when he was a schoolboy, he was the smartass kid gigglng as he did his homework assignment while sitting on the floor outside the classroom door with the schoolbell blaring above him, moments before it was due. 

This is how he now writes TNA.

 I really do love storytelling. I think it may have been the strongest factor in getting me to drop my inks and brushes and step into the ring when I was a barrel-chested lad.

They said I was too old for Drama Club. 

Storytelling, when its done well, sparks imagination. I get shit from friends about not watching current wrestling, and to answer all of them- its because there’s no story keeping my interest. 

I’m trying though. 

Wrestling’s internet presence makes this effort seem futile, because its among the sport/business/industry’s biggest proponents that imagination becomes impossible. 

I used to love watching those early pay-per-views with my friends, but watched them alone if I had to. For weeks as they’d let the stories unfold, my mind would race with the thought of who might face who at that next big event, or who would be next in line for a shot at the title. Like great books, they didn’t tell me EVERYTHING, but left something to my imagination.

Without getting into all the ugly details of what happened, I will say- those days are gone. 

Wrestlemania 25 – the Review

WHY? JUST WHY?

 

So our belated and beleagured journey through Wrestlemania weekend comes to a conclusion with the big one…Wrestlemania 25.

We arrived at Reliant Stadium not knowing that the tag team unification match had been moved to a dark match.  Just further proof as to how far tag team wrestling has fallen in the eye of the “E” since X7.

At that event, the Dudleys, Hardys and Edge & Christian fairly stole the show with their TLC match.

Here we had the Colon taking on Morrison and the Miz in a lumberjack match in which the ring was surrounded by a bunch of guys who wouldn’t have otherwise made the broadcast.  The match was already underway when we arrived.  I was rooting for Morrison and the Miz, since I still think Morrison is the next big thing.  They lost the match, but all four guys put on a solid performance.

Then we had the obligatory introductions, countdowns and pyrotechnics.

Then we went straight into the action.

Wrestlemania Weekend – Axxess

I'm the man in the box...

 

The next stop on our much belated trip to Wrestlemania weekend finds us taking in Axxess.

Despite numerous attempts to procure press credentials for the WWF/E Hall of Fame failed, we opted to hit Axxess instead.  We knew a vast majority of the fans AND the workers would be downtown and hopefully our wait times wouldn’t be too bad.

Let me start by saying, I would LOVE to be the lightbulb salesman to the WWE.  Flashing lights of every color and brigthness greeted us as we walked through the door to see what the “E” had lined up for fans whose chose not to go to the Hall of Fame ceremony.

That’s right, we slummed it.

With Kid Rock screamed about being a warrior (I’m pretty sure “destructicity” was in the lyrics), and Kane mumbling his way through a series of fan questions, things got off to a slow start.

Then we discovered the interactive portion of the event.

Wrestlemania Weekend – Ring of Honor “Take No Prisoners”

NecroButcher v. Jimmy Jacobs

 

“Wrong Mexican!” – Stephe to the kid sitting behind us calling for the 619 during the Blue Demon match

It’s no longer timely or even especially relevant, but I promised Wrestlemania weekend coverage and I’m going to provide it.

After a flight delay, I picked Stephe up at the airport and we hauled ass downtown to the Ring of Honor “Take No Prisoners” pay-per-view taping.  This was the maiden ROH show for both of us and we were anxious to see if ROH lived up to the hype.

We apparently missed a couple of dark matches, but arrived in time to scan the merch table and find our seats before the taping began.

Here’s my take on the night’s matches.

Wrestlemania Weekend – The Booker T. Legends of Wrestling FanFest

Welcome to the show

Coverage of GonzoGeek’s Wrestlemania weekend begins right here loyal reader(s).

Friday brought us the first ever Booker T. Legends of Wrestling Fan Fest.  Since Stephe wasn’t due in until Saturday, I took this one in by myself.  I drove downtown and parked with no problem.  Then I walked to the GRB.  What I found most amusing during my stroll was the occupants of the Convention Center.  First, the Texas Library Association was having a convention.  In the next hall it was the Gun Show.  Finally, it was Booker T and Ring of Honor.  Diversity?

Stood in line, picked up my tickets and went inside.  I was greeted with the picture above.  Pretty slim pickings.

There was one line of tables on the left side of the hall and another row of vendors on the right.  Otherwise there was a lot of empty space.  This surprised me.  I thought for sure Booker would put up a ring and give some of his students some time.  Guess I was wrong.

I had four photo ops in the first session.  I got in line and took my pictures.  Enjoy.

Wrestlemania 25 is upon us!

Its been a while loyal reader(s).

Sorry for the absence, but sometimes real life interferes with the fun that is GonzoGeek.

However, we’re going to make up for our inactivity in spades this weekend.

Why?

It’s Wrestlemania weekend (or Wrestlepalooza as John keeps calling it) and the big event is being held right around the corner from the home office.

What does that mean to you?

It means full coverage of not only Wrestlemania, but also of a host of other rasslin’ related events this weekend.

Tomorrow I’m heading out to Booker T’s FanFest.  I’ve got some photo ops with some legends and I’m hoping to run into friend of GonzoGeek, Daffney.

Stephe hits town on Saturday and we’re heading out to the Ring of Honor pay-per-view.  Its a first for both Stephe and I, but we’ve been assured by John tha we’ll dig it.

Following ROH, we’re heading for Axxess.  Again, we’ll be covering it in our own GonzoGeeky style.  We’ll have lots of pictures and maybe even some video when we return.

Then Sunday its the big one.  Wrestlemania 25 at Reliant Stadium.  Its supposed to be a really nice day so maybe they’ll open the roof.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Stay tuned dear reader(s)…we’re back.