Send in the Clowns...

i admit it. i'm angry. i'm angry about these people coming into this city, i'm angry about the way our government treats people, and i'm angry that there are plenty of people who can't see the forest for the trees.

This will be the ninth presidential election of my lifetime. admittedly, i was waaay too young for the first few of them, but i do have memories of some of the political news of the day. I remember Nixon resigning, i remember Carter's amazing inaugural walk, and i remember Reagan being shot a relatively short time after being elected. Actually, most of my memories of the Reagan presidency are bad.

George Herbert Walker Bush came along, and brought us to out first war with former ally Iraq. being in college at the time, it was my first real brush with war. i thought there was a chance i could end up drafted.

from 1992-2000, i remember a golden period. When Bill Clinton was president, i earned less money then i make now, but that dollar went further. people were happier. no one hated Americans for simply being from America. the only bile spewed came from the right, jealous that a man from meager roots could eventually make his way to the white house and be president.

It was a time of prosperity and peace for this nation, but the right wingers of this country simply couldn't stand that happiness with a Democrat in office.

This people were so maniacal in their hatred for Clinton, that they attempted to use the fact he lied about a blow job in failed attempt to run him out of office.

Then, came GW Bush. a man who swore to bring people together, but has divided this nation like no man before him, not even Abe Lincoln, who was president during the Civil War.

People are angry, and rightfully so. He has betrayed the trust we put in our president. This is a great country. It is probably the best place in the world to live, as far as educational and financial advantages. we should have a great president.

Instead we have a joke who panders to the rich and the religious.

And this week, my fine city gets to play host to this wonderful man and the clowns who believe his everyword.

Well folks, welcome to New York Fuckin' City. Now get the hell out.

Get Off of My Cloud...

the Republicans are coming! the Republicans are coming!

and i, for one, am not too goddamned enthused about it.

get the fuck out of my city. you are not welcome. you are using a horrible tragedy this city endured not even 3 years ago as a political tool.

why is it these people come here to NYC, and suddenly our mayor masturbates feverishly to do some upkeep, but can't do that for us regular New Yorkers who live, work, and play here every day.

why are the subways cleaned in the area of Madison Square Garden, where the Republicans are holding their national convention, but no where else in the city? Has anyone looked at the number 7 trains lately???

why is an elevated sidewalk built for them, over 8th avenue, when the rest of us have had to dodge traffic for eons there?

why are potholes suddenly filled on streets i can't drive on next week, and why are sidewalks suddenly swept on streets i'm not even allowed to walk on for the next week?

Hopefully, the interloping delegates and the leadership of the Republican Party, right up to Cheney, Rove, Ashcroft, and President Bush himself, will see just how much people simply don't like them, and will finally realize that come November, they are FIRED.

Hanging on the Telephone...

Cel phone conversation overheard while walking to the subway...

Man on phone: yea, baby. i know. yea. but i don't want the kids watching TV all day. that's not good honey. yea, so don't let them. at around noon, take out the PlayStation2 and have them play on that awhile...

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting...

alright. finally getting to the second part of this awe-inspiring two-parter about last weekend's wrestling madness. my last entry was one tiny moment of last weekend...here's more...weird though. it feels like last weekend happened a month ago, not last weekend.

just some snapshots i guess, since in my mind that's what a large part of the weekend was.

went to Tony Luke's again for cheesesteaks. i'm pretty sure it was the first cheesesteak my friend Christine ever had. that's weird to me. a good cheesesteak is up there with a good cheeseburger as perhaps the greatest food i consider to be "American food"...well, and bacon too...

I mentioned Roderick Strong and Nigel McGuiness in my previous entry. part of the reason we were all hanging around outside is that while waiting to be seated, Nigel and Roderick got into a minor, playful wrestling match in the waiting area of the place. The manager of the place was a apparently a humourless, uncaring, moron of a man with a small penis who feels sorry for himself and doesn't have an understanding or caring bone in his body, and enjoys being on a power trip, and he tossed the two of them out. i especially feel bad for Nigel, because while we were all hanging out in a hotel room before we went to eat, Nigel was dying to go to Denny's.

Speaking of hanging out in the hotel room. It was myself, Nigel, another wrestler named Ace Steel, and a few other fans, sitting there talking about wrestling. I have a feeling Ace is a lot younger than I think he is, because he seems like an old grizzled vet, and he trained several of the better young wrestlers i like, but man, you could tell he did not like sitting in a hotel room with fans, talking about wrestling.

no offense to Ace, because i can totally appreciate his sentiment - i mean back in the day, wrestlers and fans just didn't mingle. it was that simple. and man, in some territories, faces and heels (that's good guys and bad guys) weren't allowed to be seem together in public. even if they were travelling partners. That's what made the arrest several years back of Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Iron Sheik rather funny - these guys were feuding like no one's business, but got arrested on the New Jersey Turnpike for drinking, smoking pot, and doing coke together in the car. EXCELLENT!

anyway, it was just kind of surreal, sitting there talking to Ace, because he just didn't look comfortable.

the hotel bar itself was crazy too. fans and wrestlers drinking, shouting, laughing, carrying on, and just having a great time. the liquor was flowing like water, and man, there definitely were not a lot of sober people at the bar. and oh yea, as long as i'm giving grief to managers (like the Denny's chump), let me give a big "screw you" to the manager at the hotel bar.

keep in mind - there was ONE bartender, busily serving AT LEAST 50 people. at about 1 a.m, the manager comes in, and yells out "Last Call!!!" despite the fact it really was close to an hour until last call.

i looked at him and said "are you gonna help serve, since there are so many people here and you just called last call?"

and he said "nope. not my job," and walked off. screw. you.

anyway, the bar was fun. at one point, i found myself outside of the bar, in the hotel lobby, talking to Becky Bayless, who is one of the managers/valets in Ring of Honor. i honestly don't remember what we were talking about, but i remember HC Loc of the Carnage Crew coming over and talking to us, and saying something about being a veteran of 10 years before my mind wandered off. No offense to Loc, but I was drunk, and well, Becky was there too.

oh yea, and Becky. you dropped the pour handle from the bar's draught selection of Yuengling beer. i found it on the floor, and i'll return it to you at the next RoH show. i didn't realize it was yours until someone told me the next day.

Back to Denny's - man, when were sitting outside, it was just a laugh a minute. aside from the convo mentioned in the previous entry, there was an exchange between a Deadhead boy and a Deadhead girl that happened that made me wish i had a video camera...

so, the boy is sitting there eatting some kind of drenched-in-sauce buffalo style chicken wing, and the girl comes over and starts making out with him. he puts his arms around her, and the dripping-in-sauce wing is getting all tangled up in her hair and it's getting messy and two minutes later they stop, and she pulls away and doesn't even realize she has all this sauce in her hair, and then says "wow. thanks. um, what was your name again?"

then, 30 seconds later, as she's walking away, she starts spitting, and brushing her tongue with her hand and going "blech! what are you eatting! blech! blech! that's nasty! blech!"

anyway, *I* thought it was funny.

One More Saturday Night...

Twelve weeks. Seven shows. Five towns. Approximately 1184 miles.

A brief conversation at 3 a.m. on a Saturday night outside of a Denny's restaurant in Essington, PA, got me thinking. The frequency in which I've been seeing pro wrestling shows, particularly Ring of Honor shows, isn't all that different then a Deadhead on tour with The Dead.

My epiphany came as I was sitting outside the restaurant with pro wrestlers Nigel McGuiness and Roderick Strong, when we start talking to this kid with dreadlocks - one of probably 250 in and around Denny's that night. Apparently The Dead had played in nearby Philadelphia earlier that night.

Me: "You on Tour?"
Him: "Yea. It was a great show!"
Me: "Cool. You going to Vermont in a couple weeks for the last Phish show?"
Him: "Yea. Of Course. You?"
Me: "Nah. I didn't get tickets. As soon as they announced they were breaking up, it sold out fast! My brother's coming in from British Columbia though, and I was at the Clifford Ball back in '96."
Him: "Wow. That musta been amazing! I've heard stories about it and read a ton about it. What are y'all doing here?"
Me: "Oh - they're pro wrestlers. Me and a bunch of friends go to as many of the shows we can that these guys, and a few others are on."
Him: "WOW!!! It's like you guys are On Tour too!! i've always wondered if people did that for wrestling. And baseball. I bet people go On Tour with baseball teams too!"
Me: "Yeah. I guess we are On Tour too. Kinda like baseball..."

And I chuckled to myself, thinking that this kid was right on...

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, Part II...

About six weeks ago, i lamented what seemed to be the loss of the protest singer and the protest song.

Finally, artists are starting to speak up and out in droves, in their words, their lyrics, and their actions.

The new hit single from rapper Jadakiss "Why", contains the lyric "Why did Bush knock down the Towers," a hyperbollic way of condemning Bush for not being there for the people of the U.S. as much as he should have been.

John Mellencamp recently showcased a new song called "Texas Bandito", poses the lyrically question "What's a life to him if he can get some oil dug?"

And to show that punk rock hasn't lost it's angry sneer, Green Day's upcoming album is called "American Idiot," and the song "Holiday" contains the biting "Sieg Heil to the president gasman/Bombs away is your punishment."

Indeed, I'm feeling a bit more encouraged today. Yes, Virginia, the protest singer seems to be alive and well.

Details were announced today for the Vote for Change Tour, and with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band leading the charge, this is a heavyweight thing. this is not chump change.

it's encouraging to see artists finally taking a chance. From legends like Springsteen, R.E.M. James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty, and Jackson Browne to contemporary superstars like Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, John Mellencamp, and the Dixie Chicks, to up-and-coming artists like My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Jurassic 5, not to mention several other acts, you have a collection of musicians that run the gamut both stylistics and generationally.

The tour is unique. You won't see L.A. or New York City or Boston or Dallas on the tour schedule. But you will see Dayton and Ames and Kissimmee and Ann Arbor and Wilkes-Barre and other cities and towns in so-called battleground states in the schedule.

Places like California and New York and Massachusetts and Texas have already pretty much decided which way they'll be leaning in Election '04. But Ohio and Iowa and Michigan and Pennsylvania and even Florida are up for grabs, and the musicians involved in Vote for Change want to make a difference in the states where it matters.

The Artist Declaration from those involved for the tour speaks volumes - "Vote for Change is a loose coalition of musicians brought together by a single idea — the need to make a change in the direction of our country. We share a belief that this is the most important election of our lifetime. We are fighting for a government that is open, rational, just, and progressive," it begins. (you can read the entire thing in the accompanying link)

The words from the artists also help to encourage my feelings that we will make a difference in 2004, and that GW Bush and his minions can be defeated. The musicians are open and honest, their words are pointed and bold. By speaking their minds, they have a lot to lose. Ask the Dixie Chicks - they found their music boycotted and banned from the largest radio conglomerate in the country (no surprise here, as Clear Channel has pretty tight links with the Bush people) when they spoke critically of Bush during a concert overseas.

This potential backlash has not put fear into these musicians:

"A vote for change is a vote for a stronger, safer, healthier America. A vote for Bush is a vote for a divided, unstable, paranoid America. It is our duty to this beautiful land to let our voices be heard. That's the reason for the tour. That's why I'm doing it."
---Dave Matthews

"R.E.M. is very happy to be a part of the Vote for Change Tour. This unprecedented coming together of musicians underscores the depth of the desire for change in our country's direction, and it feels right to use some of the freedoms granted to us in a democracy to try and effect that change."
---Mike Mills of R.E.M.

""This is the fourth presidential election which Pearl Jam has engaged in as a band, and we feel it's the most important one of our life time. We believe in the power of the first amendment, and have always exercised our right to free speech in every aspect of our lives and music. This year there is no more powerful way for all Americans to exercise that right than by voting. Given the extreme political climate of a country at war, we are proud to stand among the many artists involved in this tour and to encourage Americans not only to vote for a president this November 2nd, but to vote for the change they wish to see in the world."
---Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

It is indeed time for a change, and finally, our artists are coming together and helping us to make it so.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Revolution Starts Now," from Steve Earle's new CD of the same name, due on 8/24.

The Revolution Starts Now

I was walkin’ down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin’ to a beat
That I’d never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written ‘cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin’ standin’ around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered ‘round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now

Heroes...

Ok. i've mentioned a few wrestlers here. most notably Bruiser Brody and Dusty Rhodes. I suppose if there's a Holy Trinity of Wrestlers for me, Brody, Rhodes, and Ric Flair would comprise it.

Ric Flair embodies what it is to be a champion. Cocky. Cool. Will do whatever it takes to hold onto his championship, be it lying, cheating, or stealing. Ric Flair is money. Ric Flair is Gold.



To many people, including myself, Ric Flair is probably the greatest wrestler to have ever lived. So why do i bring him up now?

Because last week I spoke to Flair on his celly, and i felt like i'd gone back in time 25 years and was just a little kid meeting his hero and not having a clue of what to say.

I know a few wrestlers. i've hung out with them. drank beer with them. gone on cheesesteak runs to Tony Luke's in Philadelphia at 2 am with them. a couple i'd even call friends. so i don't get starstruck often.

But this was Ric Flair. No disrespect to the guys i know, but dude, Ric Flair. In fact, in talking to Roderick Strong, who i think is one of the fastest rising stars on the indy wrestling scene, he said HE'D mark out if he talked to Ric Flair on the phone. lol.



Anyway. So I talked to Ric Flair. The Convo Went kinda like this -

RF: How's it going?
Me: Um. Ok. I'm marking out pretty big right here.
RF: HAHA
Me: So. um. yea.
RF: What's up?
Me: Um. So. Um. Are you gonna be at the Legends Convention in North Carolina in November?
RF: I dunno. Not sure what work has in store for me that weekend. (even though he's in his 50s, Flair still wrestles regularly for the WWE)
Me: Um. Ok. Well. If you're there, I'll say Hi! and if you're not, I won't!

and it went downhill from there...

Still, while I might have come across as a moron, there probably aren't too many wrestling fans out there who can say they spoke to Ric Flair on the phone.

And ya know, what, it was kinda cool feeling 10 years old again, when i just cheered the good guys and booed the bad guys and didn't know any of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. I'm a mark, and I'm damned proud to be one.