Fandom things

I am not sure I understand fandom.

I like a lot of things. Nerdy things, sci-ency things, arty things, weird things, scary things, lovely things, pretty things, ugly things... you get the point.

More and more, I keep hearing and reading about how fans of things aggressively admonish the supposed thing they love. They focus so much time and effort in loving a thing, that whenever something is done with their fandom, it is seen almost as an attack.

I understand preferring one thing over another. I can understand someone who says that the prequel Star Wars films are better than the original trilogy. I think they are wrong, but that is my opinion. Maybe they fell in love with Jarjar Binks when they were a kid and it triggers that right sense of nostalgia. It can bring them back to a better part of their life, or and easier part. Maybe Jarjar makes them smile.

People are allowed to like things. There truly is something for everyone out there. Grabbing hold of a thing and making it your life can be troubling. Like or love a thing but don't let that thing govern and define who you are as a person. It is merely a part.

I like wresting. It seems silly to some people, but I like it. I have actively watched wresting for nearly 25 years, but it has always been in the periphery my entire life. At first it was something to do. Then, it turned out my friends got into it as well. When college and young adulthood happened, I started to be slightly ashamed of it. I would still watch, but I had no one to share it with. Still, I liked it and didn't really retreat into it. It was just entertainment. Now, I am a little less guarded by my love of wrestling. I still watch, but I will engage in conversations if someone wants one. I wear the t-shits like a badge.

Still, it isn't my everything. If I don't like it, I can watch something else. There are plenty of things that can fill that void. Hell, I can fill that void of bad things with other wrestling. I can give new things a chance if the current thing I like isn't going the way I would prefer it to.

I like things. I never call myself a fan of them. It feels like that word had an almost negative connotation these days. It seems that "fans" are the first ones to adversely react to the thing they supposedly love. If the thing I like suddenly does something I am not happy with, I can always just go find something new. Some day, I may even come back to the old thing. It is my choice.

With Music And Knowledge

I am starting to believe that I won't do some things in my life. One of those things is actually play World of Warcraft. To the people that know what that is, they are probably breathing a sigh of relief. There is a high addiction curve to the game. It creates a new social environment that combines all the positive and negative aspects of online anonymity. Maybe there may be more negative aspects than positive. Still, I seem to be keeping the damn thing on the periphery.

The way I have been accomplishing not having my life sucked into the internet world is through exposure to other hobbies. I have been buying and downloading a lot of music both lately and in general. As with many of my entertainment purchases, I tend to get the impulse buy out of my system when I get home from the store. I still have loads of DVDs that are still shrink wrapped, usually horror movies that are accrued near Halloween. I even have seasons... seasons of shows that I still figure I will get around to watching. All of this also goes for video games and music.

In the past week, I have loaded onto my computer well over 200 songs of various artists and genres. Granted, some of this is done for work reasons. I just like listening to background scores while working. It gives me mood that sometimes music with words just can't accomplish. Also, words are sometimes inappropriate for the family store environment of work. The problem I have whenever I get into music mode is that I get horde mentality. I want as much of it as possible. I need the variety. The problem is I never really give all the new music it's fair share. So, I have spent the last two nights reading stuff on the internet while listening to new music.

It's definitely opening up some stuff to me. While watching wrestling, I realized that the WWE apparently has the rights to use the Civil Twilight catalog. At first, the radio played song, Letters From The Sky, was used for one of the video packages back in October. I rewatched it on YouTube after it was considered well done according to one of the articles I read. I took note of the band and album and proceeded to acquire it. I gave the whole thing a listen, and noticed one of the other songs was used tonight for another video package. This time Human was used to highlight the coming match between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania.

I mentioned in the last blog post, I grabbed the new Gorillaz: Plastic Beach. At the same time I also snagged Slayer: World Painted Blood. I was so tired from work, that I fell asleep listening to Slayer. It seems almost wrong. Currently playing in my car is High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine. All of this and I still have to listen to the RZA albums I downloaded, The Servant, Dan Black, and a few other things here and there that need preview before I can turn them on in the store.

So, what comes of me listening to music is that I still need something to do with my eyes. Since I am in front of the computer most of the time while listening, I tend to just surf the web. Problem is I need direction whenever I web-surf. I can't just click aimlessly. I know plenty of people that find all sorts of crap on YouTube or whatever, but I need words. Usually, I can just run through my normal sites for comics and wrestling, but lately they have been slow news days. I have needed to fill that visual void with other stimuli. Tonight, that was how to get started in World of Warcraft. I have done more reading on this topic than I probably should have. I still haven't decided to play the game or not. I have a better idea on the terminology now though.

Who knows? Maybe all this could be considered research for a story or something.

Videowrestling

Someone said I don't post here often. I would have to agree.

I need some time away from moving pictures at the moment. So, for the moment, I am listening to a gaming podcast while attempting to write something. I was playing Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360. It's a lot of fun. Probably the best $30 I spent recently. I finished up a game called Beyond Oasis, which I started just to grab an achievement. It's sort of like Zelda in that it is an action adventure game with a fantasy theme. Parts of it were frustrating in that they didn't really show you where to go. I did a lot of backtracking and roaming around. It was fun, but easy at the end.

I have been in a wrestling mood lately. It started a couple weeks ago leading up the Wrestlemania. My friend, Ken, came down from NYC to go to a wrestling show here in Philly. Granted, Ken is originally from Philly, but a live show with a respectable price at the old ECW Arena is rather enticing. Ken and I were joined by a third, John. Ring of Honor snagged a recent television deal, and we just happened to be on the second night of a two part TV taping. Lot of action and a lot of fun. No slow points.

Other than that, I really want to pick up Samckdown vs. Raw 2009, to link both the videogame stuff with the wrestling stuff. They just released more downloadable content for it too. Before the extra content was a couple current "superstars". The current addition is more retro. When the list of new wrestlers includes Doink the Clown, it's almost a must buy.

I really didn't do much this Saturday. I played some games, watched friday's Samckdown because I missed it do to "Out Drinking", and generally just sat around. I didn't really have anywhere to go that wouldn't suck the money from my wallet. I had enough sucked out today due to car insurance.

WWE Scramble

I am not sure what to write about at the moment, and I have no desire to attempt serious talk. I'll resort to wrestling. I can usually get some words of complaint or admiration for that. I like wrestling, and have watched it pretty consistently for about 10 years.

So, the WWE has set it upon themselves to create a new type of match, the Championship Scramble. Originally revealed on RAW, the Monday night program, it is now a concept embraced by all three brands of the WWE. The concept is this: With a 20-minute time limit, 4 challengers and the current champion face one another. It is every man for themselves. 2 men start the match, with another entering every 5 minutes. During that 20-minutes, whenever there is a pin fall or submission, the championship changes hands to in interim champion. Who ever is the interim champion at the end of the time-limit is the new respected champion for that brand.

For me, the idea seems sort-of congested and too restrictive, creative-wise. The upcoming Pay-per-view, Unforgiven, will host all three matches from the 3 brands: Raw, Samckdown, and ECW. Having the same type of match multiple times in one night is a bit of a killer. After the first one, which will likely be ECW, the new taste will wear-off. Sure, the match concept allows for the use of many wrestlers on the card, but the rest of the card will likely be filler. (One match won't and that is the Jericho-Shawn Micheals match that will probably be great.)

The RAW match consists of, the current champ, CM Punk, JBL, Batista, Kane, and substituting for the injured John Cena, Rey Mysterio. This match could be good. Personally, I think it would be best to keep the title on CM Punk to further establish him as a credible champion. It could also be used to promote someone else as a belt contender, like Kane. Kane needs a good push. While I don't enjoy the new angle with him supposedly breaking Mysterio's spirit, he is a good monster character that has some good potential and has been with the company for almost as long as I have been actively watching. I still remember his first appearance in '97. Batista doesn't really need the rub. If he wins, it won't seem that significant. He can put on a good one-on-one match with many of the heavy-hitters. There is already a pseudo-feud with Kane at the moment. Personally, I would want him to challenge Punk at a later PPV and win, with some sort of JBL complication. JBL and Punk have a weird, good chemistry together, but a continued feud will make their program repetitive. Mysterio is a fill-in, and will probably put on some good spots. He'll definitely be the interim champ at some point in the match to have the crowd pop. Depending on who he pins will determine the feud he will start the next night on RAW. It will probably be a Rey over Kane thing, with Batista help. JBL shouldn't get the belt. He would make a good heel-champ with Punk chasing it, but I think it would be better to solidify Punk as champ with a win. The only way I will take a JBL champ is if if gets his ass-kick initially by Punk, only for JBL to pin a hurt Mysterio. Overall, the RAW championship scramble will be the main event. It has the more big stars in the match.

Smackdown, on the other hand, looks to be the worst one, in my opinion. Granted, I don't watch Smackdown with any regularity. The fact that it is on Friday nights at 8 doesn't exactly motivate me to sit in front of the television. I would like to think that I have better things to do on a Friday night, I usually don't, but I still don't watch Smackdown. I read the results and the like whenever I can because I like to keep updated on it. The Smackdown championship scramble includes, the champ, Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin (the US Champ), MVP, and The Brian Kendrick. Triple H will probably win because most of the other contenders don't really seem to be at that level yet. Of course, like RAW, this could be a good chance to allow someone to step-up and make a name for themselves. MVP seems most likely, with Hardy chasing. Hardy is a top performer, but he tends to get punished by the backstage for his recreational drug use, which he was suspended for before. He does perform well and make matches interesting. The Brian Kendrick is relatively new to the title scene. He would make a good challenger to the US championship, but a world title would be too big for him. He is only now getting recognized as a single competitor, after teaming with Paul London for so long as a great tag-team. Like Shawn Micheals, who Kendrick emulates, he stands a chance to be a great performer and WWE superstar. He is great in the rig and puts on phenomenal matches. I just don't see him taking it. Shelton Benjamin already has the US title. He really doesn't seem the type to hold two championships. His microphone skills have been improving, and his in-ring work is great. He just hasn't really established that he is a main contender. MVP is my choice if the title is to change hands. He has already been US champ for a length. He is a great performer, and educates himself with the wrestling business and has a great respect for it. He is an ex-convict, but that shouldn't be held against him as a performer. The only problem I see is that he would miss any over-seas trips if he was champ because of all the legal problems that can come up with him working in a foreign country. From an interview I read, he even has some troubles working in Canada. For Smackdown, the match seems weak. If Triple H doesn't win, I will be greatly surprised. The match has one beast, strong-man in Triple H while the others are a little more acrobatic. Could be fun to watch, but not as definitive as RAW.

ECW is bound to be a shocker. The whole ECW brand has me feeling that because all the superstars on it aren't that well known, that just about anyone could be champion. Honestly, the biggest stars on ECW are Matt Hardy, Mark Henry (former bronze medalist at the '96 Olympics), and Tommy Dreamer (only because if he goes, it's not really ECW anymore). On ECW tonight (it plays on Tuesdays), they announced their Championship Scramble. All the matches were qualifiers for it. In my opinion, that's a great way to fill up time on a show and progress story. Every match had a reason for happening. Everyone in the qualifiers, I thought, could be in the scramble, except Mike Knox. It was good to see Evan Bourne get a shot, but come up short to put over The Miz. I might not be a big fan of The Miz, who used to be on MTV's Real World, but him being in the scramble helps develop him as a single wrestler, and almost on par with John Morrison, who is a former ECW champ. Miz and Morrison were, and are, a great team, but Morrison established himself as a single wrestler first, and the two developed a great heel team. With the Tag titles not around their waists, it's good to see Miz getting a chance to see what he can do alone. It is also to separate Miz from Morrison by having Morrison lose to Matt Hardy. Matt is the big good-guy, face of ECW. He kind of needs to be in probably the only ECW match on the PPV. Along with Miz, Matt Hardy, and the champ Mark Henry, the other two are Finlay and Chavo Guerrero. I feel just about anyone could win this match. Chavo is the only former ECW champ. I don't see him pulling it off. Hardy shouldn't win like this, because a Championship for the big face should have meaning. A thrown together mix screams for Miz to win. Finlay is also a good proponent of the match because he is just a great wrestler and brings loads of experience. All in all, I think the ECW scramble could be really good.

While I may think the matches could be good, having them all on the same bill is a bit much. I can see something like this a a gimmick PPV, like Royal Rumble has its' named match and Survivor Series tends to have an elimination tag match. Something like the Championship Scramble could be a an idea for Survivor Series, if the Series didn't already have a gimmick attached to it.