Wrestling in MMA

Just a thought:

Tried and true wrestlers have a really interesting advantage in MMA that I'd never really thought about before this fight. When a wrestler gets rocked by a strike, their first instinct is to go for a takedown of some sort. Assuming they aren't fighting another, equally skilled wrestler, they will at the very least get some sort of positional advantage that keeps them out of danger, allowing them to recover from the strike that initially damaged them.

Nifty.

Get Angry!

Get Angry!

Do I have anything to say about Gears of War 3?

It’s fucking awesome, that’s for sure.

It delivers on everything that I wanted it too: non-stop action led by giant action hero caricatures who get angry instead of feeling real emotion.

Hell, I even got to experience pain and loss, which isn’t exactly something you expect to feel from a mess of bullets and blood in an action/entertainment setting. Dammit I was moved. It was cheap emotion too, but damn was it well done. Does that mean it’s still cheap? Maybe not. I think that term, cheap, is meant to describe something without subtlety, when, well, what the fuck is subtlety worth? I’m not playing Gears of War for subtlety. I’m not living my life to be subtle! I’m living my life to be all up in everywhere! I want to make impacts like nuclear bombs, lasting. I want to get real real with everything, stand up and take all kinds of stands.

Fuck yea! Stand up, get angry, get in the moment!

Boo Adventures

Some gym musings

What exactly am I trying to accomplish in the gym? Good question. I’m not entirely sure.

I want to be stronger. I want to be smaller. I want to have some bigger guns. I want to be able to sprint for distance. I want to be able to jump higher.

There are several sports that I admire greatly, which have helped fueled this desire. Combat sports, be they BJJ, wrestling, muay thai, boxing, or MMA; I’d like to have the physical capacity to perform in this area. More recently I’ve been interested in parkour, freerunning, and Ninja Warrior.

Shit, when you lay it out on paper like that, it looks like I’m really going to have to rock a lot of cardio and endurance based activities. Obviously I’ll have to keep up with my general strength training, but I’ll have to find some time to build up that endurance.

I’m curious as to whether or not I should add pure cardio days. I seem to be pretty worn out from either squatting or deadlifting, and that ends up with me doing some pretty shitty cardio, and that’s no good.

Woo!

Now that was fucking inspiring!

I’m playing Gears of War 2 right now. It’s a video game where I run around as a hulking badass action film caricature in a war town mid-apocalyptic future-esque landscape fighting off humanoid monsters that come from below. Yea, it’s pretty much exactly what you would want if you enjoy ridiculous displays of gratuitous machismo wrapped up in a science fiction package. The game, I’ve found after beating Gears of War and playing through the bit of Gears of War 2 that I have, is my favorite display of war in a video game. I’m a big fan. It really gets the blood pumping and the adrenaline rushing.

So the little bastards from underneath have somehow managed to sink human cities under the ground. It seems an efficient way of crippling the opposition, so you can’t really blame them. The wonderful part is the scene that comes immediately after you witness HOW that’s done first hand, as the pale fuckers drop a city in front of you, and you have the amazing task of running into the once-a-city and rescuing anyone you can find.
The enemy is out in full force. Your three person team moves from position to position fighting off wave after wave of the enemy. Massive buildings fall from hundreds of feet in the air and destruction surrounds you. It’s one of the most intense ten to fifteen minutes of game play I’ve had the joy of experiencing. The shit doesn’t let up. You kill ten monsters, gain a few yards, and kill ten more. They come at you from the air, they come at you from underneath the ground, everywhere you look, you can expect to see the enemy waiting to murder you.

Finally, you find yourself trapped in a burnt out husk of a building in the middle of what might have been the first floor. The enemy is on the second floor. You’re surrounded. They have the elevation, they have the numbers, and no matter where you go you’re receiving fire. Your character screams may day, demands assistance. Right when it looks like you won’t receive any quarter and will be indeed making your final stand, at the last, breathtaking moment, you’re saved, in a gratuitous action scene by this guy:

People watching at the mall

I like to make fun of people that I see in the mall. Would it be horrible to take pictures and post them here? I kind of think so.

But holy hell do some people deserve it!

I'm a CONSUMER!!!

My apologies to my brain, I've been a consumer first, a producer second as of late.

It's a real shame, because I have things that I want to write, I have things that I want to create, I WANT to give back to the world that is giving me so many wonderful things. I just don't have the time. I'm busy consuming. I'm a big fat, gluttonous entertainment junkie.

Did I write about how awesome I think the comic book Lucifer is? No.

Did I write about how entertaining and fucking manly Gears of War is? No.

Have I written about MMA lately? No.

What about my adventures making chili!

A shame. I'm sure the world is missing out on so much.

I suppose I did produce a little bit today. I thought of a post-modern proletariat superhero team whose sole existence is to combat the spiritual evil of giant soulless companies. That's something to toss in the win column!

I'm reading X-Statix right now. I can see where this little bit of brain explosion came from. Will I write about that?

Tropes and Gods

Steam punk Jesus can power his own personal rotocopter through his powers of science magic. Steam punk Jesus has all of the coolest energy weapons: the concentrated lightning blasts he fires have less initial energy discharge than other peoples blaster guns.

Deep future Buddha is fat and mostly naked. His science fiction underpants can change the electrical pulses in your brain: he will literally force nirvana upon you. In the far future that Deep future Buddha is from all food is in pill form and is engineered to give you everything you need and nothing more. Deep future Buddha eats people to maintain his girth.

Chibi Cthulhu forces everyone who gazes upon him to be filled with the love and joy of an over excited tweenage fangirl. He does not understand the concept of sadness, because he literally cannot feel it and nobody in his presence can feel it. Chink Cthulhu has never used a cellular phone because he doesn't have ears, he listens to noises by converting sound waves into ambient energy that only his brain can process.

I have an iPad

I have an iPad.

Yes, I still think that’s a stupid name. I hate the “i” bit. Seems a smidgen selfish, ya know? Why can’t there be an usPad that everyone can love? Why the focus on the individual, like we’re all unique snowflakes or something. I’m not saying I dislike individuality, but let’s be real here, we’re talking about a netbook, most people are going to want and enjoy a netbook.

This is the first time in a while that I’ve sat down and typed up something on the old laptop. No touch screen here, just keys in a fairly ergonomic space. I don’t need to cramp my hands together in order to write, and I barely have enough time to let my brain process what my figures are ripping out. That’s the way I like it. I might not write as well, but I certainly write how I think, which feels better to me. Which is all that matters, really, as writing is a very, very selfish thing for me. It helps to clear my soul a little bit, and we know that thing can always use a bit of spring cleaning.

The problem with my laptop is that it’s not as convenient as my iPad. My laptop is, relatively speaking, quite large. It takes up at least three times the space of that my new toy does. But, I think I like writing on it more. A lot more, actually. There’s no word document on the iPad, none that I’ve found (not that I’ve been searching, mind), and even if there is it won’t have the same feel. Even opening up notepad feels like I’m opening up a new place in my mind. I think it’s because of the window, the appearance of a blank page. Not that the toy doesn’t have a blank page, it just doesn’t feel as inviting. It doesn’t give me a distraction to look at while I type.

I do like to read comic books on the thing though. Wow, are comic books on the iPad amazing to read.

I’m going to go search for some kind of word app.

Cotto vs. Mayorga

Cotto vs. Mayorga

I'm a relative new comer to boxing, so when I saw that I'm excited for this fight, I saw it because it's been hyped well.

I think, typing this during round two of the fight, that the hype is warranted! It's been a solid firefight thus far. Both fighters are going at it, not terribly technical, but it's certainly entertaining.

Ha, Mayorga just talked smack to Cotto. Man might not be as good of a boxer, if I'm to believe the announce team, but he knows how to put on a show. Right now I've got to say I'm favoring Mayorga right now, he seems to be really going for it.

Start of round three the announce crew says Cotto is taking it. I'll believe them. They know more than I do.

Wow, Mayorga is trying to get Cotto to brawl. Like, legit just standing in the corner and shouting at the guy. I think he's frustrated, Cotto is pretty clearly more skilled. Mayorga is making a good show of the fight, but I think he's been getting beaten to the punch more often than not. Cotto had a lovely combo in there.

Round four. A lot of dancing so far. Cotto is evading most attacks and really picking his shots. I don't want to say Cotto is putting on a clinic, but... He did just slam Mayorga with a nice hook. Mayorga just went for a wild flurry, but, Cotto just smiled at it, and for good reason I think. Mayorga needs to pick his wild flurries better I think.

Round five. Mayorga with more corner showmanship, but Cotto just lit him up with an uppercut or two. I can't say I get the showmanship if you aren't going to do anything with it. Cotto is coming out real aggressive here, and I think it's working. I think Cotto is winning the fight Mayorga wants now. Conditioning issue? He doesn't look tired, but, he isn't going for it like he was in the first two rounds. Maybe he's just tired of getting punched?

Round six. Slow start, Mayorga just threw some wild shots at the air. Cotto has some solid dancing skills! He just slipped a lot of power shots while throwing some stingers back.

Mike Tyson is commenting! He just called both fighters past their prime. Brutal comments.

Round seven. Mayorga is sticking to his wild shots, I think I few found their mark! Now Cotto is missing, bit of a Bizzaro round here. Cotto spent most of that round running. So it certainly isn't a card issue for Mayorga.

Round eight. The announcers really know how to hype the fight as it goes on. Good for them, I like it. Cotto is making the fight his again, careful game. Mayorga feels slow again this round. Coming out strong for the last ten, but it doesn't seem like he had the juice. Maybe he is picking his flurry?

Round nine. Looks like the start of another Cotto round. Mayorga with some brutality! Dance, flurry, dance Mayorga! The one thing that's really confusing me is the weird hammer fists that Mayorga is throwing. I think Mayorga just took this one, he looks like he's in round one again.

Round ten. Slow start, it's like they're starting the feeling out process. Cotto seems to be on defense this round. Neither fighter seems to be landing much, but... did Mayorga do more? I don't know.

Round eleven. Cotto is excellent defensively. Mayorga still showboating comes off a bit desperate. Cotto's round for sure.

Round twelve. Mayorga's corner knows what's up. I like the good advice. Holy shit! Mayorga came out wild and was caught hard! Fight is still on! Cotto rallies again, Mayorga calls the fight off! Speculation that Mayorga broke his hand, wow!

Fun fight!

A little bit about 100 Bullets, with iPad typos!

Everyone dies in the end. This is my favorite rule in crime fiction. When done properly, it's always shocking even if I know that the rule exists and that it will very likely come into play, I still find myself caring about these brilliant doomed sons of bitches.

That was the lead, do you feel complied to read further?

I just finished reading 100 bullets by Brian Azzralleo and Eduardo Rizzo, which is still blowing me away. I read the entirety of it in a little over a week, which, in my mind is the perfect way to read a book like that. I can't imagine what the monthly crawl was like for people. Though, I suppose I must apologize to Mrs. Azzarello and Rizzo for not supporting them in a monthly format, but, I knew I wouldn't be able to do that to myself.

I'm not ready to go into the details of the story right now, I'm pretty sure I need to reread all 100 issues first to fully absorb the work, I feel like I owe it that. I just want to comment on how beautiful the plot is, and how wonderfully developed the characters are, and how I love how some of the most important parts of the story happen between the panels. This book won't work for you if you're not paying attention. But don't worry, it demands that you respect and admire it.

There aren't, to my knowledge, any lazy issues. There is one that I don't believe is fully plot related, but I could be wrong about that. There's also a plot point that I'm not entirely sure I understand, but I'm confident that if I was paying better attention to a particular scene I would get it (note: I do know what scene that I think I need to go back to).

This book is rich and enriching. It's about betrayal and secrecy. Their are wheels within wheels and I'm confident that getting to know these characters again and revisiting their world will be a terrifying delight.

Partial on Dead Space 2

I haven't been doing much blogging lately. There are some things I would have liked to review, a few 360 demos, maybe a movie or two, but I've only been thinking about one thing: Dead Space 2. I'm a big fan, so it's kind of been consuming me. Not even in a healthy way.

I purchased the Collector's Edition of Dead Space 2 when it was released last Tuesday. I played around with my replica Plasma Cutter (it now serves as a chair for my Isaac Clarke action figure [the old one, I don't have the new one, yet]), and checked out the contents; soundtrack, DLC, advertising material, instruction booklet.

Then I sat down to play the game. By Friday morning I had finished my first play through on Normal.

Thursday was the most intense bit of my play through. I had a full day to myself. I spent 8 hours, pretty much straight, playing Dead Space 2.

This is a horror game. It will make you jump, it will make you paranoid, and it will set off a massive adrenaline dump in when the action kicks in.

By Friday afternoon I was exhausted. I really, legitimately was exhausted, and it was all from putting myself in Dead Space 2. A fantastic experience, that the game was engaging enough to wear on me a person both physically and emotionally makes me very appreciative of the work that the design team put into it.

I might actually review the game at some point.

Bones 1/27/2011

I'm a big fan of the show Bones. It has great characters and good enough writers to consistently put them into interesting situations.

Tonight's episode of Bones was masterful. I'm nearly at a loss for words. I'm searching for an adequate way to try and describe how moved I was, both by the mastery of the plot and it's impact on the characters.

What did we have tonight? We had my favorite character going through something of an uncharacteristic crisis of self, we had others discussing tricky morality questions, we had an exploding head (which was awesome), and we had the first glimpse of what will likely be a recurring villain.

And I'm missing things, of course. Tonight was crammed with good. So much so that I might actually watch this episode again, which is something I've never really done with television outside of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes.

Kudos to the whole team on Bones.

Why I Love Dead Space

WHY I LOVE DEAD SPACE

I love everything Dead Space. I love the comic books, I love the movie, I even love the averagely written but wonderfully plotted book. Most of all, and really, c’mon, you knew this was coming; I love the two video games the series has produced.

Dead Space, the video game, is remarkable in every way. It tells an engaging story using the video game medium in a way that I find revolutionary and it creates a universe that is fairly fleshed out and incredibly interesting. We get to deal with all of the great horror tropes: slashers, zombies, psychology and freaky religion.

The slashers and zombies are mashed into one excellent creature: the necromorph. Created from the dead, these bastards transform into living weapons. Instead of arms, the base necromorph have limbs that transform into bone scythes. Instead of a headshot taking care of business, you have tear the limbs off of them; increasing the gore and brutality level than what a mere decapitation can deliver. It also takes a few shots to get rid of: taking off its head just means that the creature will charge at you blindly, take off an arm it has another, take off a leg and it will crawl at you. Fantastic. And that’s just the base type of Necromorph, there are a handful more, including little monster babies! Who doesn’t love a little monster baby?

In each Dead Space tale you’re guaranteed to see someone go insane, in many instance, you’ll get to see several people go insane. In some very special parts of the games, you get to be the one going insane. Most noticeably, in an early part of Dead Space you find yourself walking around the space ship that the game spends most of its in time. As you walk you start to hear a thud repeating itself over and over again like one of those annoying tocking clocks. Then you find the source of the noise, it’s a person bashing their head into the wall. You don’t get a chance to save the person; they end up dying in a splatter of brain and blood. It’s creepy every time. There’s also a noticeable point in Dead Space: Extraction when you play as an insane person hallucinating. That was one of the few moments I’ve really gone from tense to terrified since I watched the Alien trilogy as a child.

I’m not going to talk about the religion. Not because I’m lazy, but because I think it might deserve its own space. I think there’s a lot I want to say when it comes to religion as it relates to insanity, paranoia and fear in fiction.

Sounds like fun!

Comic Books 1/5/10

COMIC BOOKS 1/5/10

Ultimate Captain America #1
I’m never sure how to feel about issues like this. See, there was nothing surprising in this issue for me, I knew the punchline before I heard the joke. Was it a good issue? Yes. I enjoyed it, I like the characterization of the major players in the story, and I like the general direction that the plot is going to head in. But I knew the gist of all of this beforehand, because I really like reading interviews by Jason Aaron. It was good, and I’m excited for #2, but the setup issue seems like it has lost its oomph with writers giving the setup in interviews.

Steel #1
A good comic. It was nice in that it had a few ups and downs, but when you pit Steel against Superman’s murderer you know the end result of the plot. Not that this issue was all about the plot, it was pretty character driven in terms of setting up Steel’s fall, constantly referring to him as a normal man who surpassed his means. It was good, not great, but it doesn’t really serve to get me interested in the Reign of Doomsday event, though, I’m not really sure what could serve to get me interested.

Superboy #3

This series moves! I love this book, I really do. A fantastic mix of character development (and a lot of it) and a nifty and interesting plot that involves time travel. And this is just the third issue! If the books keeps moving like this it will easily have had more actual content than entire trades worth of other comics. I’m a fan.

Batman Beyond #1
Another set up issue. We meet the antagonist; we learn the situation that our hero will have to deal with in future issues. There really needs to be a way to do these issues in such a way that the plot really moves beyond the very opening stages so that they feel like more than an opening paragraph. Good issue overall, I’ll check out #2, but it felt like there was something missing.

Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #4
An action packed issue with plot development! YES! We learn the reason for the mutant babies in Africa, and it’s appropriately sci-fi. We learn of a new threat based around, I believe, some old Alan Moore stories. We get to see a number of the X-Men actually put into some kind of realistic danger that had me worried that they might get injured in some capacity. Good time.

American Vampire #10
I’m probably biased, because I love this series and I love the art and I think all of the characters are quite fantastic, but this was a setup issue done right. We’re introduced to several elements that our protagonists are going to be dealing with in upcoming issues and we get a good sense of where some of the main characters are now. I think part of what really helps this issue is that we get a full plot thread open, get to a middle, and close, yes, we get a full story, and then we get to see that plot open up again into something new. There’s also the slight hope that my favorite character will appear, but I’m thinking that this short 2 issue story arc might happen without them.

Millionaire Matchmaker: The Best Episode Yet

Yesterday I watched the best episode of Millionaire Matchmaker I have ever seen. Considering that I've seen all of them, and find the show to be generally entertaining, I'd like to think that says something.

To start, if you're unfamiliar with the show, Millionaire Matchmaker airs on Bravo and features the struggles of an extremely energetic (and loud and opinionated) professional matchmaker named Patty. Patty is not someone you would want to fuck with, to put it lightly. Anywho, what she does is find love for her clients, clients who have to have a net-worth of at least one million dollars. I can imagine finding perspective matches for such clientele is easy, cast a wide enough net and you're bound to find a handful of prospects just waiting for the chance to marry into money.

It's the finer points that make the show really interesting. Most of the time the millionaire or millionairess (which is apparently a real word, I was expecting my spell check to red-line that one) has a reason they have yet to find love: work, generally anti-social, not sure what they're looking for, etc... So Patty grooms them and coaches them and sends them on their merry way. Being very successful people, they butt heads with the person they're paying, I can only assume, decent bank to provide them a service and Patty explodes all over them. It's fantastic television and it can happen several times an episode. Love it.

Onto what made me happy!



And there's more! I strongly recommend you seek out the full episode, which is probably located on the Bravo page.

Now, I've seen superficial, hell, I thought I was fairly superficial myself, but DAMN, that woman makes me feel humble and modest. If you note, there is not one thing that she brings up on her own that does not have to do with that man's body or wanting to give him money, or wanting to bang him. He makes no bones about finding her unattractive and not much more than a pretty pink piggy bank, and she makes no bones about him being nothing other than a piece of meat. It's fantastic! In a perverse way they are made for each other. God can only hope that they don't procreate like she promised him. It's amazing that they're honest with each other about being horrid people looking for nothing more than status symbols to make them feel better about life. Just shocking in a way I don't think I've ever been shocked before.

Wow.

On the flip side the other couple featured on the show (every show has two millionaires looking for love) were perfect for each other and adorable. The juxtaposition was brilliant, it's almost like it was planned.

Get Your Babies Off My TV!

I have had absolutely enough of this horrid awful trend of using babies and their idiot parents as a form of entertainment on my television. My television is meant for one thing and one thing only: interesting and thoughtful entertainment. I accept procedural dramas, because those have been stepping up their game with interesting characters as a means to distinguish themselves from other procedural dramas. I accept reality television even, reality television is a group of consenting adults who have opened themselves up to be exposed as either slack jawed idiots or scheming bastards who will do anything to win a competition or some notoriety. Right now I’m watching Professional Wrestling that I had to DVR because I was busy reading comic books when I could have been watching athletic body builders risk serious harm to every part of their bodies in a cheesy soap opera. Putting barely aware, practically fetal tiny humans on my TV and expecting me to be anything but outraged (in the wrong way, there is an art to making me feel outraged in a way that I can respect you for doing it) and disgusted in these “parents” for a) exploiting their children and b) for being crazy enough to go to extreme measures to have kids as if kids were some kind of status symbol.

And that is all I feel like saying on the matter. I wanted to write about the terrible shows in some detail, but there is no need to. They can all be summed up in one filthy sentence, and I think I’ve written than one filthy sentence.