Nirdu is The House

TOKYO RYOGOKU KOKUGAIKAN

TOKYO RYOGOKU KOKUGAIKAN

TOKYO RYOGOKU KOKUGAIKAN

I really like the name...
Say it out LOUD! It's fun!

Today was good. Today was very good. When you hear something and then something just clicks in you, something resonates so strongly that it changes you almost immediately. A message that will stay with you forever. Hell yeah.


Sometimes you just need a moment like this.

Last Saturday in New York City...


I was supposed to be there...
But I wait...
For Kobashi...
Kobashi...
Kobashi...

ANTONIO INOKI'S SHRINE, IN PICTURE FORM
Here Antonio Inoki is seen at the opening of his shrine several months back.



Yeah, I'm posting just to post.

"Yar, I don't know what I'm doing..." - The Sea Captain

23 May 1999

"Here at Kansas City, tragedy befell the World Wrestling Federation and all of us.

Owen Hart was set to make an entrance from the ceiling, and uh he fell from the ceiling.

And I have the unfortunate responsibility to let everyone know that Owen Hart has died.

Owen Hart has tragically died from that accident here tonight," - Jim Ross


I watched this some 30 times.
... sigh
I really, really am a bad person.

Read this, it is a translated statement from Hiroshi Tanahashi, the future of New Japan...

Tanahashi's is using his RPG fandom to guide his own career. He is treating his career like an RPG, with every positive result getting him experience points, meaning over time he levels up. Tanahashi said the big boss he has to defeat is Brock Lesnar, and New Japan's Cloud Strife has New Japan's Sephiroth in sight..."

...
...
...
WHAT THE FUCK! This is wrestling! Although... gotta love Tanahashi ten times more now. Knowing Japan, they'll actually make a game about this.

Funking Japanese storylines are so goofy.

Let me just tell you something straight up, I love international sports competitions. To me there is nothing better than the all star teams breaking up and going to play for their respective nations. Sometimes this leads to the star player from some pissass country being the only star on a terrible team, or to super-powered teams of gods. But there is nothing better in sports than representing your nation.


This lead me to watch much of the World Baseball Classic. This is the brand new, MLB run international tournament in baseball. I don't care about domestic baseball too much. I follow the Red Sox somewhat, but there are too many games and too much means too little. And the Yankees are a vile sin. But this Classic was very fun to watch. With four opening round robin brackets with some rather unique matchups, to some second round surprises and ultimately a deserving winner beating a baseball superpower. I enjoyed watching South Africa vs Canada in the first round, as it was rather obscure. But you could see professionals from a developing nation that has no pro leagues taking on MLB superstars and actually giving them a run for their money. Watching the underdog Korean team go undefeated into the semis was cool. Nobody expected anything from them. And in the end it was Team Japan vs Team Cuba in a great final.

This is the real baseball, this is playing with passion. The people knew it as they sold out many games. Every Puerto Rico game was a sellout, which shows the Puerto Rican commitment to this sport. You don't see the sort of passion displayed here from the players that often. Sure the USA team was pretty much a bunch of Yankees who couldn't care less, but that's why they lost. They lacked passion. They beat jobber teams that didn't matter (and Japan), but they didn't have the passion to compete against teams who really had their hearts in it. Mexico had nothing to gain from beating the US team, but they had their pride on the line. They played as if it were the championship game and crushed the US. Good. We needed that little bit of humbling. International sports are about passion and pride, not money.

By all estimates this was a major success, despite what those damn Yankees thought. The Yankees tried to stop the internationalizing of baseball (I mean this literally), but they clearly failed. Merchandise sales exceeded total expectations in a matter of days. Certain games had three times projected viewers despite being taped and put on in terrible time slots. Crowds were much larger than expected, with a number of sellouts. There will be more Classics, and they will be bigger. This is the sporting event of baseball's future, a true world tournament.

Congratulations to Team Japan on becoming the real world champions of baseball.

Returning to my favorite subject, one in which I could talk for hours upon hours (and often do)... wrestling!

This time I examine the Japanese front. New Japan ran their so called "big" show at the Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (damn I love that name, first son will be named Satoshi Kojima; second son will be Ryogoku Kokugikan) and what a crappenfest it seems to be. The main event was the DREADFUL Akebono vs Brock Lesnar. Honestly, how can anyone be excited by this match? A former yokuzuna with an inability to move for more than 5 consecutive minutes, and a lazy, unmovtivated 'E' reject. This ended in 10 minutes. Akebono was to fat to do anything, Lesnar was to damaged to do anything and the fans yawned in "excitement". The most pathetic thing, the big news is "rulebreaking" being used in a NJPW ring. I like the legitimate flavor of New Japan if nothing else about the company. The contests are considered as close to real as anything in the wrestling world, and now we get some bland "ref is knocked out and misses a three count and heel hits a low blow" sort of shit. Just please don't go the Dusty Finish route, PLEASE.

The undercard was equally unimpressive sounding. I know I shouldn't judge until I see the matches and I often complain about people who do just that. But I'm a hippocrate in every sense, and what's bad for them is good for me. So I'll badmouth these yawners. Excepting the possible MOTN in Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazushi Miyamoto. While Katsuyori Shibata would've been a better opponent for Tanahashi, I have a feeling Miyamoto did fine.

The tag title match seems blah with a non-killer Nagata and a still young Naofumi Yamamoto losing to a stale Chono and unlucky Tenzan. The junior tag title match might be worth a watch, as Kanemoto and Inoue were great as champions.

A-Train vs Scott Norton, oh god kill me. Togi Makabe vs Toru Yano, and the two openers are throwaway. The junior tag elimination match could pack some energy, but seems like it would be too clustered.

Anyway, hail to NOAH. Their big card was better top-to-bottom than this one.

I was reading the news that was on the front page of most of the news sites on the internet today, which is the creators of South Park speaking on the recent departure of Isaac Hayes. Apparently Hayes quit the show because it was "insensitive" towards Scientology. To me, this is just ridiculous. They poke fun at every acutal religion, why the hell does this one feel "damaged" by a South Park episode. It's clear that Hayes was told by higher authorities to quit the show, on his own he probably wouldn't have left.

Now that's the situation. What do Trey Parker and Matt Stone do to reply? They strike back with great hilarity. I quote, "Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!" HOW FUCKING BRILLIANT IS THAT! Play into their childlike fantasy and continue to poke fun. This is from the official press release. "So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" is another one.

I don't usually belittle religious beliefs, just the way people are about religion. Now I have NO problem belittling Scientology. There was NO creativity involoved in the creation of this "religion". I won't get into it now, but a retarded child could come up with something more creative than what this failed science fiction author created.

Anyway, cheers to Parker and Stone the barons of satire.

Mr. Garrison: And who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Hmm... let's see... I know, let's ask the new kid, Timmy.
Timmy: Timmy!
Mr. Garrison: No Timmy, it wasn't you.

IT'S ST. PADDY'S DAY!

Wear some green you bastards. I'm part Irish and damn proud of it. My people were almost wiped out due to a lack of potatoes (and the political upheavals of the revolutions of 1848 and an oppresive British occupation, but those don't matter now do they?) and now they celebrate by getting drunk and wearing green.

Plans? Watch Boondock Saints, THE definitive St. Patrick's Day movie. Then, later, hang out with a bunch of drunks and perhaps be forced into giving them rides as the "permanent designated driver". That's what straight edge gets ya folks.

Anyway, celebrate your asses off, because the Irish only get one day. After that it's back to drunk jokes and potato jokes.

One of these days I'm going to see the Chicago River dyed green or go to the parade in Boston.

For the last two nights (including the very moment I am writing this) I have been watching old episodes of Iron Chef on the Food Network. I'm not talking about the new "Iron Chef America", I'm talking about the old school Japanese episodes. It's been so long since I've really watched this show that all the excitement and feeling I had when I first watched it is coming back. The sights, the sounds, the rock star chefs, the over-the-top commentary. It takes me years back. Nostalgia. Tis truly a wonderful feeling. I am sitting here cheering on Iron Chef Kenichi to beat that 70 year-old man.

I get that old feeling of being closer to Japan by watching Iron Chef. How long has this been on the air in America?
Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.


Chairman Kaga: If my memory serves me correctly... (insert long speech)

Sometimes the most interesting people you meet are the ones you never mean to meet. Strangers are more interesting than people you know. I make it a point to try and engage any stranger that talks to me, because you never know what they have to say. If a person sits next to me on a bench and starts talking, I let them talk. The simplest, most boring looking person usually has the most to say. You don't know them, they don't know you. Nobody judges you.

I've been thinking about doing a sort of "picture of the day" type of thing to reinvigorate my interest in photography. I think I'm too lazy to be into photography. I think out of all the pictures I've taken, 4 or 5 are any good. But if I force myself to get out and take a picture a day, I can get motivated. Motivation has been a problem so far over vacation. I really have almost no reason to wake up every day. That's when you know things suck. When I have school, that's the reason to get up. If I had a job, that'd be the reason. If I had photography, that'd be the reason. Think about where to go, where to get the picture. Anyway, I'm gonna think about this and maybe start doing the updates here. I like other peoples pictures and check certain sites often (including one of my 5 readers site), and wish I could do something similar. We'll see how far along my lazy ass gets with this project.

Mr. Garrison: Who knows what a can food drive is?
Eric Cartman: Isn't that where they cut open a chick's stomach to get the baby out?
Mr. Garrison: No that's a caesarian section, Eric, but remember there are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

"Hey man, you need to kill your enemies."
"What?"
"You gotta kill your enemies."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why do I have to do that?"
"Well... I mean, they're your enemies. You gotta kill them."
"But I like my enemies, some of them are pretty cool."
"Well then why the hell are they your enemies?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you like them why are they your enemies? That makes no sense."
"I don't know. What difference does it make?"
"Forget it. If you won't kill your enemies, kill your friends."
"What? Why the hell would I do that, I like my friends. They're cool shit."
"Jesus christ, then kill everyone you hate."
"But I hate, like, everyone. Seriously. I don't think I could handle that."
"Oh my god, just go and kill the first three people you hate."
"Well... why do I have to be killing them?"
"Because you hate them."
"But, that's no reason to kill them, y'know?"
"Look dude, you just have to."
"I don't see why I can't just send them a letter."
"What?!"
"Strongly worded of course. Not a mean letter or anything, but one that gets my point accross."
"What the hell will that accomplish?"
"They'll know how I feel towards them, and noone will get hurt."
"But the point IS to hurt them."
"I don't want to hurt anybody, I don't really want to be mean."
"You're a total asshole damn near all the time."
"Well, like, I'm joking y'know. Everybody gets it."
"Man... Just fucking kill the next person that pisses you off, damn."
"That's totally mean."
"Oh shut the hell up you pussy. Look, I'll half kill them. All you gotta do is finish the job."
"Hey, stop that. There'll be no killing."
"Seriously, just smack them with a bottle. That would be enough."
"No way man, I don't even want to kill the people I hate."
"Sure you do."
"No."
"Oh my god you're boring. I'm fucking outta here."
"Hey, no need for that vulgar language."
"...DAMN man, I am so done with you."

It's getting that time of year again... the annual big night of wrestling. Wrestlemania. The name itself connotates row upon row of mullet-wearing, beer-drinking, overweight rednecks screaming for the "rasslers" to win. At least that's the image for "regular" people. Sure, maybe that's part of the crowd, but there are those of us who are interested in the fate of the titles and the big, well performed classic matches.


Anyway, each year I usually look forward to Wrestlemania because it guarantees at least one classic match. I used to look forward to the event in general, drooling over the prospect of Austin vs Rock or somesuch. Nowadays, I look to the undercard for one good match. I haven't watched a live Wrestlemania in years, and I definately don't care to see this one live. There's little of any value on this card. The matches are sort of blah, and there doesn't look like there will be a big "Wrestlemania moment" like in the past. Maybe, MAYBE, if Rey Mysterio wins the title in the main event. If he deosn't, it will be double heels walking out with both the titles. Not good business.

There are no big matches to look forward to this year. The best prospects are Angle vs Rey vs Orton and Edge vs Foley. I don't think the three way will live up to expectations. It may be cool if Rey wins the title, but it won't be a quality wrestling match by any means. Edge vs Foley has potential, but they really have to throw caution to the wind and try and put on a top level match if they want to steal the show. Edge really needs to prove that he is THE guy in the company, and that's what I think he'll do. Edge is going to go all out, and Foley will always be able to keep up. Look for this to be match of the night.

That's all though... Cena vs HHH will be wretched, Trips can't get a good match out of "Mr. Crowd Boo". The money-in-the-bank match might be good, depending on which Smackdown guys are included. The tag title matches look bad, Benoit vs JBL might have a very small amount of potential, as long as they don't add the Boogeyman. HBK vs Vince will be a cookie cutter "Vince vs disgruntled employee" match. So, blah to the show.

Viva la Ring of Honor. Viva Pro Wrestling NOAH. Viva Pro Wrestling SHEM (which is what I will always call it, because it's a better name then SEM).

"We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are." ~ Anais Nin

So I was in a bit of a daze earlier and, having recently watched Back to the Future part III, I started thinking about what time period I would most like to travel back into. Obviously time travel isn't that simple. Still, I put much thought into this. I decided I wouldn't want to travel forward in time except for a few select reasons. Anyway, a short list.

- 1940s Germany/Europe. I'd like to traipse around Nazi Germany and then fight in WWII against ze Germans.

- 1189, the Third Crusade. I would want to be part of the Third Crusade, see the great kings of Europe fight against the Arabs in defense of Jerusalem. I would so want to meet Saladin. Perhaps go up to Constantinople and check out the Byzantine Empire.

- 1580s-1600, Fuedal Japan. Watch the battles of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Tokugawa. See the last real samurai vs samurai combat. Chill with Miyamoto Musashi.

- 200, Three Kingdoms. Seriously, who didn't see this coming from me. I imagine I'd live almost 30 minutes, but how much fun would this be for real? Meet all the principle people of the period, then laugh as they all die.

- 1770s, America. Join the revolution, bitches. I'd bring style to those colonials. Plus I'd get to kill some Brits and fight old school imperialism. Besides, this is one of only two interesting periods in American history. Meet the founding fathers and go mano-a-mano with some of the great thinkers and patriots. Then scamper around "injun" lands.

There's the list, don't know which one would win out. Probably fuedal Japan or WWII. Plenty of other time periods I like, but these I see as the most interesting to try and experience.

Now bugger off you scamps.

Shingen Takeda: I am wicked, as you believe. I am a scoundrel. I banished my father and I killed my own son. I will do anything to rule this country. War is everywhere. Unless somebody unifies the nation and reigns over us, we will see more rivers of blood and more mountains of the dead.

I realize that I live pretty much half of my life in a daze. I am usually tuned out to what's going on around me and I'm off somewhere else in my head. Hell, I could be talking to someone and I'm really in a daze. Not when I'm serious. When I'm serious I'm there. But if I'm just messing around or being "Cap'n Comedy" I'm just sort of out in a daze thinking about other things. When I'm going mano-a-mano in insult fests I'm off in a daze. That's what helps me be as completely random and funny as I (sometimes) am. Though I should realize that Hitler isn't the comedy gold that I think... oh who am I kidding, Hitler=comedy. It's so easy to pick on him. It's like when I drive to school, I sort of go into a daze and come out of it in the parking lot. I look around and am like "Now how the fuck did I get here?" I've come out of a daze talking to someone and was like "When did I start talking to you?" I got an odd stare. It's not really as bad as I'm making it out to be, but it sure does make life fun. I laugh and smile to myself every time it happens.

Anyway, when I'm off in a daze I think about off the wall and irrelevant shit. Look at my myspace blog to get an idea. I've spent at least 3 days of my life thinking about what I would wish for if I was granted 3 wishes by a genie. The thing about that is, I still don't fucking know!

I like drum & bass music, which is like rap without the shitty rapping. Discovered it on one of those winamp channels. It's just sound, beats and rythem. I like it, it helps me get into a daze. Like trance music. When I listen to trance music it's like I'm high without being high.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Then tell me, "Future Boy", who's President in the United States in 1985?
Marty McFly: Ronald Reagan.
Dr. Emmett Brown: Ronald Reagan? The actor?

A lot of snow fell earlier today, which made getting to school hell in a handbasket. I wasn't even going to go, but I remembered I had my midterm. So I got into my car and made the exciting journey I make every day up to UMO. I've never had any trouble driving in a little snow. Everyone's like "be careful," but I've never even been close to being in any trouble. I watched a truck behind me spin out, which made me laugh. It didn't crash, which would've been sweet. Hey, don't give me that look. I've never seen an accident. I want to see one. Everyone else has, and I'm kind of jealous.

Tomorrow I'm going to a class and a half and bolting. It's Spring Break, bitches. I'll be home early, get some sleep, and probably go right back out. Hell, everyone's running off to seperate corners of the globe and we should all be like "See you in two weeks," or whatever. For me it'll be two weeks of... pretty much nothing. Pretty much. I get to sleep much more than I have been, which will be tip top.

Ah, the snow illuminates the night. It's not doing that tonight, which angers me greatly. I love that about the snow, though. It holds in all the light from the day and makes nights so very, very bright. I want to go for a walk when it's like that. But it's cold, and I'm lazy. And Brewer sucks.

I want this "action" figure of Antonio Inoki... because it's INOKI!



Carl: Look, I don't work my ass off for twenty hours a week to throw my money away. That's wasteful. These bills are strictly for me to kiss... and put in some stripper's underwear.