So while I find my smile, I'll leave you with some of my favourite things of right now:
NUMBER ONE
FOOTNOTES OF WRESTLING
This recommendation (a truly sincere one - definitely check this out) comes via the Drop Toehold Tumblr, which I just added to the sidebar. It also deserves it's own exclusive post, but since I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff in here at once, this will have to do.
Reading this blog/tumblr/whatever I should call it fills me with the same elated relief and simultaneous jealous rage that I was be filled with (to the absolute brim) when I discovered FanHouse's Brandon Stroud's wrestling recaps. I was both relieved that there was another wrestling fan on the internet writing about wrestling in the exact same way I felt, and jealous that this writer is so good and I could never capture that same profound style.
While I admired Stroud for his ability to write about wrestling in a hilarious AND positive way (I find it so impossibly difficult to be funny without being negative when it comes to wrestling, it's literally what I strive for), I admire Paul for his knowledge, grace, honesty and focus. Those aren't words you hear in describing a wrestling blog almost EVER. And I mean that.
Nothing makes me happier than finding a blog/writer/tumblr/twitter/ANYTHING that talks about wrestling in a way that speaks to me. Nothing makes me angrier than a blog that is constantly reprimanding wrestlers or companies like a fucking parent, or being overly, gimmickly (not a word) negative in constant failed attempts at being funny for people who don't know what funny is when it comes to wrestling, or anyone that places themselves above wrestling or being a wrestling fan or being an indy wrestling fan or not liking what they see on TV.
This guy does none of that. He offers observations and solutions and just general thoughts about wrestling that never feel like he's turning his nose up at it, or even upset with it. I can't stress this enough. Another one of my goals when I started my blog was to be as positive as possible, because the IWC/wrestling blogosphere is running rampant with unjust negativity, snarkiness and cynicism that drives me up the wall.
This post has turned into quite the virtual BJ, but I can't help it. Just go there and read everything he's written and promise to come back to my blog and don't leave me forever. That's all I ask.
NUMBER TWO
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
As sung by Michael P.S. Hayes - Watch now on YouTube
Between this video, the Freebirds' montage from the WWE Allied Powers DVD and the "I'm A Freebird, What Was Your Excuse" video/story from the Rise and Fall of WCW DVD (or maybe it was from a Legends' Rountable, can't remember), I've discovered that Michael P.S. Hayes may be the world's most accidentally hilarious man. Watch all of these things if you can find them.
NUMBER THREE
THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS & JIM CORNETTE'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY SCRAPBOOK
Available at Cornette's Collectables
I've had this book for a quite a while now, but I've only been able to really dig into it while I'm travelling, since there's tons of downtime. It's the perfect book for that, since it's a book that essentially documents the Midnight Express' life on the road, with thorough (almost entirely complete) results of their entire career together. From the gates they were pulling in, to pictures of paystubs and authentic show posters and newspaper clippings to stories of riots and ribs and all that you could want in a wrestling book, it's like readable crack cocaine. It's incredible to see that these guys were on the road pretty much every day out of the year, wrestling every night of the week (twice a night some nights) and driving from city to city in between that. Just insane. It's hard enough travelling that much period, so add in getting the shit kicked out of you daily and you've got a rough life on the road.
Those are some things I'm digging right now. I'll be back in full effect soon - but first, I'ma get the Prediction Game post up for Hell In A Cell tomorrow night.
