Review - Dusty Rhodes: Reflections of an American Dream

Of all the wrestling biographies I've read, I didn't like this one as much as the others.

For a man as traveled as Dusty Rhodes, I thought he still left a lot to be desired.

There were a lot of things that I thought he could have elaborated on for somebody who wasn't alive during the time period in which he was at the top of his game.  He would mention that he made a lot of money with so-and-so because he was the biggest babyface and they were the biggest heel, but he didn't talk about the stories leading into the matches.

Dusty isn't a writer, so he can't take all the blame, but ghostwriter Howard Brody should've been able to do a better job. 

The writing and the absence of depth aside, imagining, if you weeeell, Dusty reading this word for word it is pretty entertaining.  He does get into a few stories.  Two notable things that made me laugh were him walking around the locker room naked and analogizing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the Dusty Finish.

To put it into one sentence really, Dusty has seen and done a lot, but the images in his mind didn't make it to paper very well.

My suggestion would be to watch the DVD that WWE produced when he came to work for them as an agent.  It misses a few of the more colorful Dusty stories, but makes up for it with the footage WWE owns.


Dusty: Reflections of an American Dream at Amazon

PS - After I get through most of the matches and the promos, I'll review the Dusty Rhodes DVD.

ECW? No Thanks.

PWinsider is reporting that changes are coming for ECW.

According to sources in the company, SyFy has noticed the fading ratings for the series since its debut and with the current TV deal expiring shortly, WWE is making moves to "freshen" the show up and work with the network to improve the ratings.  There was talk of a magazine style show that went nowhere and the most recent pitch I've heard is taking the entire hour and focusing it all on brand new talents exclusively.   

Honestly, I'm just fine with how ECW is now.  In my mind, it already does focus on new talents.  Except it's doing a good job of having the older guys show the newbies the ropes.

Let's be real honest - guys like William Regal and Goldust are past the prime of their careers.  But they're both solid workers.  And they've done a pretty decent job of helping elevate guys like Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel Jackson, and Sheamus. 

I think rebranding ECW with a new name would be a great idea.  Especially in the PG era of WWE, ECW is a shell of what it was when Paul Heyman ran the actual company.  It serves a completely different audience than the original.  I was hesitant when WWE brought ECW back as a third brand, but at least it had some decent ECW style matches - it kept Hardcore Rules (now Extreme Rules) around for awhile, and it had the Big Show, who had he not been wrestling for the WCW and the WWF, could have been a great addition to the original ECW roster. 

Now, ECW is just like RAW and SmackDown, except an hour shorter, without the guest hosts, and allowing new guys to get over.  Actually, SmackDown has been doing it for several months, and RAW just started, so that's not entirely fair. 

I think rebranding it as a separate show is the best way they could do it.  Forget ECW entirely.  It hasn't existed since the 2005 reunion shows.  Fans that have watched longer than a few years won't link current ECW title lineage to the original.  Keep the original ECW buried and just release some DVD compilations. 

And keep pushing the new guys.  I don't watch ECW because I'm usually out, but I enjoy hearing about new talents getting the chance to work in front of a crowd. 

The best WWE-ECW product to come out so far by a longshot has been CM Punk.  He's a solid worker anywhere on the card.  I think he spent the right amount of time working on that show before getting called up to the main roster, and I hope the trend continues with whatever the WWE does with its ECW brand.

November Top 5

My top 5 returns!  Mainly because the past couple months apparently haven't produced 5 sweet happenings...

Here's the quick preview, in no particular order - actually, yes, in order.

5. getting to karate (for one night only)
4. finishing some crucial homework
3. Megadeth
2. seeing old friends
1. Thanksgiving

5. Getting to karate (for one night only)

I decided to show up relatively unannounced since I wasn't entirely sure I'd be available.  It was fun working with Mr. Hawkey and thinking about different interpretations for Naihanchi San, but at the same time, my passion and drive are still nowhere near the level they've been before.  I wonder if I just still need more time out or if I've grown out of that stage of my life.  I'm hoping the former is true, because thinking I'm done with karate is a scary thought.


Regardless, I need to find some energy for it before January when I substitute at Riverview for two months.

4.  Homework

I'll be the first to admit this sounds lame.  But I finished a web design that I'm actually pretty happy with (http://www.adambockler.com/web/blog/index.html), and got a paper done way ahead of time for my communication law class that I'm proud of.  It's due Thursday, but I finished it awhile ago and have been proofing it for about a week now.

3.  Megadeth

I've missed several opportunities to see Megadeth in Chicago in the past.  I probably could've seen better opening bands, but I'm glad I didn't have to make the drive.  Instead, they played the Exhibition Hall at the Peoria Civic Center.  We caught the tail end of Machine Head who sounded pretty nu-metal.  This is the first concert I'd been to in about 2 months, so I'm excited I got to see another sweet band.

2.  Seeing old friends

Dog the Bounty Hunter was playing Wednesday night at 9 as I was half-comatose in front of the TV in my room when one mustachioed Joe Maubach sent a text saying he was at Old Chicago.  My body was telling me no, but I hadn't seen Joe for a long time and was curious to see who was with him.  Joe's party crew included former MMA alums Russel Boulton and the Ruder brothers, Aaron and Andy - none of whom I'd seen within the last year or so, I'd guess.

As they wound the Winter Tour, we got the chance to catch up.  It's weird to know Rusty is out of college and has a job as a teacher.  Man, are my friends getting old?  I still felt like a youngin' when he was talking about his job.

But it was great seeing them.  I hope we can all catch up over winter break, too, as that's a group that I don't see often enough and would love to chill with more in the future.

1.  Thanksgiving

Can I just say I freakin' love this holiday?

My cousin got married in September so my family was in town, but I didn't really get to hang out with any of them, so I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving.

After work, I went over to my aunt's in Washington to down 3 solid plates of food, played some poker, got tagged in 100+ pics on Facebook taken on my uncle's Macbook Pro, played Wii with a few cousins, and briefly saw some friends.  A+ day

If parts look weird on this...

I'm converting over to a new layout that I made. It's not spectacular, but I want to be able to say I designed a blog theme and had a legitimate use for it.

I'll have it finished by Tuesday.

Spring 2010 Schedule

My spring schedule was finalized this morning. Woo!

All my classes are on Tuesday and Thursday.

RLS 200-01 Contemporary Religion in the United States
Fuller
9-10:15

COM 360-01 Digital Journalism
Netzley
10:30-11:45

IM 313 Intermediate IM Authoring
McGill
1:30-2:45

COM 302 Computer-Assisted Reporting
Netzley
3-4:15

IM 465 Advanced Web Design
Mr. Staff
6:30-7:45

It'll be a long day on campus. Once again, web design did battle with teaching karate at Metamora and Germantown, and won.

Let me know if we have any classes together.

It's nice out today

So I thought I'd post about things I'm stoked about...

I'm going to Ireland in May. I don't think that made the blog yet. I should probably shave sometime soon so I look like I normally do for my passport picture.

The Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis is less than a month away. Our team is titled, "The Return of the Holiday Heroes: The Team Formerly Known as Team Slayer." This is my first race, and I'll be dressed as The Punisher, apparently. So I've put karate on the back burner, so to speak, and I've been running more lately. And the best part of that day will be going to Bloomington afterwards to celebrate Festivus.

I've got some papers/projects due. I'm looking forward to the end results, but finding the time to squeeze them all in won't be so fun.

I'll tentatively be the substitute karate instructor at Riverview Grade School on Wednesday nights. It will be good to teach for awhile, and apparently it's only six or 8 weeks.

The Men Who Stare at Goats was pretty good. I went with Aaron, Sara, Natalie, and Billy. I haven't seen Bill or Natalie since August, so it was a different experience hanging out with them again. Something other than the usual dudes I hang with.

I helped one of my bosses, Scot, set up roof trusses on a garage this morning. My arms are pretty sore already and I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked to, so working at the store tonight should be interesting.

Doing side jobs is sweet. It pays, it's something different, and it's been relatively fun so far.

I'm going to try and start blogging more so posts are more detailed and less random. One of my goals is to write reviews of wrestling DVDs when I get done watching them, because I noticed on TNA's Ultimate Matches flick, I had a lot of random thoughts and questions that I wanted to get out. So, whenever I watch a new one, I'll be sure to collect all my opinions and post them. Currently I'm watching season 8 of Scrubs, so it may be awhile.

Being unique rules

A lot of us had a good laugh in my reporting class about the fact that something like this would make it into a textbook. We all laughed about "the Celtic Lord of the Dead" line and a few people wanted to include it in their stories. When asked if anybody actually did, I was the only one to raise my hand.

Comparing American breweries, distilleries, and vineyards to Samhain, the Celtic Lord of the Dead, in summoning evil spirits, Galson admonished alcohol companies for targeting their products toward youth.

I like that I can do something like that for a grade.

This Day in History

Three years ago today was my official promotion to black belt.

In looking back, it seems like it's been a lot longer than that.

Three years ago I was a senior in high school. Three years ago I was still working at Didley's. Three years ago I was watching wrestling. Well, that part didn't really change.

I've had the opportunity to do a lot of things because of my promotion since then, like lead seminars and demonstrations, go on trips to see and compete in a variety of tournaments, and have the chance to lead my own program for an entire school year. I've even been promoted again.

For those of you who haven't known me all that long, the test itself took almost seven hours. I started at noon, knowing neither me nor my instructor would be thrilled about doing it much earlier. If memory serves me correct, Neil's started at 8 or 9 in the morning, and that was too early (especially when I got kicked in the nuts sans cup). We ended at about 6:45, after which I went home and showered, then had a mini celebratory meal at McDonald's, of all places.

I was really sore that Sunday (the 22nd), but I wasn't feeling too terrible yet. We had the party, and I proceeded to bouncy box the crap out of anybody within range (I'm pretty sure I popped BFD right in the face).

Monday was the worst I've ever felt in my life. What was a pretty awesome day otherwise with people patting me on the back, shaking my hand and congratulating me as I walked around MTHS with the belt traditionally tied around my waist, my body felt absolutely horrible. Not only was I tired (it was a Monday) and sore, but apparently my immune system gave out too because I had this awful cold.

I had my mom take lots of notes and had her write to the minute when I finished doing all of my stuff - katas, ippons, taezus, kihons, self-defenses, etc. Eventually I might post those notes, or I might not. Time-wise, some of the things don't seem to long. I think it took somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes to do all 500 front kicks, which doesn't sound like much, but that's a lot of moving.

Eventually I might make a post detailing that day and try to remember what I was going through at particular times. I tried to have as many notes as possible taken. Maybe now is a good time to go back and analyze some things about the day itself, as I've corrected many errors from Oct. 22, 2006.

Now into my second degree, a lot has come to light, but there are still more questions left to be answered. I'm hoping that, even though getting to any class is hard with my current schedule, I can still be successful and nitpick myself and find things to improve upon.

I wouldn't want to drive a funny car

I took an MMA class for the first time ever with Justin on Saturday. My right butt cheek still hurts from all the falling we did during takedowns. I'm glad I've taken 6 years of karate and watched just enough UFC to know kind of what's happening.

Despite the techniques I did recognize, putting them to use in an entirely different way was fun and challenging. For example, utilizing a rear naked choke from the mount position. In karate/judo, we are always taught to keep the chin in the crease of the arm so as not to cause major damage to our partner. I kept this in mind, but one of the instructors said to use the forearm. Sure, it causes a definite increase in danger, but when working with partners, I'm not all certain it's the best idea.

We did several takedowns defending against a jab, cross, and a hook. Much of these, again, were moves I've learned before but applied very differently. Justin and I were also given the basics of the mount and guard positions.

Because I'm a fervent note-taker, I came home from work Saturday night and wrote four pages of notes on what we learned - three for the actual techniques, and one for my thoughts and analysis. I mentioned to a friend of mine that I feel like we're back in our field research class. Am I the only nerd who actually enjoys taking a class and applying the knowledge gained to something else?

Hopefully over time, I can post more detailed information on this club.

August Top...2? 3?

August was pretty uneventful, so there's no Top 5.

Here's what happened...

I went to Chicago on the Amtrak early on with Gabby and Jackie. Jackie had family passes to Shedd Aquarium where I got to be her brother and Gabby was our little sister. We got those suckers good. Only stayed about an hour before walking up to and around Navy Pier before eventually strolling alllll the way back to Union Station.

The only other really cool event was Swingram's 21st Birthday as hosted by "Cigarettes" Jon Costello. I liked it because it's one of the few events of the year anymore where the whole gang gets together to chill. I was also honored to be a part of the house rules: "No Adam Bocklers."

School starting again was nice, as I found I've already watched a decent amount from my wrestling DVD library.

Game Over

With a week left until I start classes again, I thought it's time to take a look back at the summer that was 2009. I looked back on an old blog post to see what I'd kept up with.

Take 2 classes

Done. Computers & Society, as well as Foundations of Interactive Digital Entertainment. Got an A in both.

Continue working at the IGA and mow to make some scrilllllllllllllllaaaaaaa.

Scrilla made. My checks have been decent. Mowing has brought in some extra dough, and I've worked for Scot twice.

Teach myself to play something on the guitar...I'm thinking the intro to "Seek and Destroy"

The first thing I didn't get done. I'll give myself credit, as I did actually pick up a guitar and start playing around. I looked through an old book of my brother's. Then I got lazy.


Teach the little kids and help out with the high schoolers. Plus keep up with my own training - refining old stuff and learning new stuff while staying in tip-top shape.

I figured out after I wrote this that I was burnt out. I skipped over the kids classes and only went to stuff where I knew I'd get new information. I guess that sounds selfish. Luckily for me (unluckily for others), I'm unable to teach kids for a semester. I'm glad I get a break because I'm still worn out from it.

I did help out the high schoolers a lot, and Justin and I went to Mr. Hawkey's for training that has been covered in previous posts. I've also done a decent amount of running and biking, so I think I'm in pretty good shape.

Take up boxing (and potentially Brazilian jiu-jitsu) at the Peoria Athletic Club in Morton

I've even e-mailed the people in charge of this place to tell them I'm coming (partially to get myself motivated to live up to my word) but I never went. I've also heard some negative things about this place. But as the school year starts and I'm unavailable for karate in Metamora, I may give this another shot.

Watch all episodes of South Park in chronological order (currently almost done with Season 1)

Mission accomplished, almost. I'm on the second disc of season 12. Nice.

Compose a large set of notes on various kata I practice from different books and sources for an all-in-one digital reference.

Check, kind of. I didn't make anything ready for publication but I was able to scramble for many more notes through my own training and reading.


Re-edit a video to change some things

I'm pretty sure the GCC was closed, but I never checked. I plan to do it when the building opens for school and hopefully get it done before other homework bogs me down.

Shoot/produce a video for green belt requirements (this was supposed to be started last fall but timing was never right)

Yeah, this didn't even get talked about. So long, requirements.

Redesign the Metamora Martial Arts website. Currently waiting for Invision to release IP.Board v3.0.0.

Project started; still incomplete. Actually I had to wait for IPB to release something that just came out a little while ago, and I didn't start messing with it until today. I'm having a few problems with it at the moment, but hopefully it will be ready soon so I can make edits and go to town.

Head to sweet concerts and shows - Dead to Fall on May 24 and no others currently in line yet.

Dead to Fall was sweet (as described in a previous post), but I didn't end up going to any other major shows besides local ones. Looking forward to two concerts at Pop's - Gaslight Anthem and Murder By Death, and then Down, both in September.

July - Top 5

Another month, another top 5!

Finishing summer classes

I finished my second class early on in July, leaving me free to spend my summer doing whatever I want.

This class was fun for me - Foundations of Interactive Digital Entertainment. It was essentially 5 weeks to produce the biggest research project I've ever completely, and the book was intriguing.

Good class...would take again.

Defeating the Harvester of Sorrow

Last year's main event pitting Stone Cold Steve Adam against the Harvester of Sorrow was put together on a whim, somewhat, and 30 people showed up. We hyped it for a month this year and barely got anybody besides the people wrestling to show up.

It didn't turn out to be the real production I was shooting for, but we all ended up having lots of fun and that suits me just fine. The matches themselves were probably pretty awful, so I ended up just putting clips together.



Thanks, Jackie.

As it stands right now, this blogger doesn't anticipate a rematch for the Harvester to settle the score, and may just retire as the Champ.

Working in Pontiac

Most people aren't jonesing to sit under a tent next to a stable of pigs to work the Livingston County 4H Fair. Truth be told, I don't either. But 3 days working the infield of a remotely controlled racetrack gave me some extra cash to blow on DVDs and a case for my kamas.

Vacation in St. Louis

Despite the typical family bickering, I really liked St. Louis. Usually when people want to get out of this area, they want to go to Chicago. Well, you can all have the Windy City, because my new favorite city (that's close to Peoria, anyway) is the Gateway to the West.

We hit the Lincoln Museum on the way down in Springfield, then went to the Arch, zoo, Anheuser-Busch brewery, and historic St. Charles.

St. Louis pictures

The Welcome Home Party

Upon my return from St. Louis, I met the karate crew at Kartville and had fun cruising in go-karts, getting driven by (first) Deshi Adam for the first (and last?) time ever, and playing mini-golf. After a short snack at Emo's, Gabby and Jackie called to say they were throwing Adam Bockler a welcome home party.

Needless to say, I was thrilled. For some reason, my mind painted the picture that I would parade down Noel with my boss and another coworker cheering my return home and Gabby's house would be decorated to the max. This image was further solidified with the fact that the ladies were at Wal-mart, likely getting streamers, hats, cake, and other party necessities.

Hey, a guy can dream.

Reality hit pulling into a dark, dimly lit Noel, seeing their cars parked by the fire hydrant. I walked in and the dogs barked, and Jackie and Gabby were busy diving into watermelon. I joined in and regaled them of St. Louis, then we proceeded to chill until about 12:30.

What a random night and tiring day.

----

I'm really looking forward to an August Top 5, featuring a day trip to Chicago via Amtrak train, school starting up again, and some other potential things I'll be keeping hush on for the time being.

Review - The Twisted and Disturbed Life of Kane

Short of The Undertaker, Kane is, in my estimation, one of the more unique attractions that currently decorates the WWE roster. Despite a less-than-thrilling push over the past year, Kane has an interesting history.

The backstory is quite possibly the best. As a child, Kane was burned badly in a fire started by his brother, The Undertaker. From what was presented on the DVD, The Undertaker's manager-turned-tormentor Paul Bearer made it sound like everyone was to believe that Kane was dead. However, after months of build, Kane finally re-appeared after 20 years, wearing a mask and covering most of his body from the supposed scars.

Yet The Undertaker refused to fight his brother. Finally, after being burned inside a casket, The Undertaker returned and agreed to fight his brother one-on-one at WrestleMania XIV, where Kane would be defeated and become one of many victims of the Undertaker.

It sounds ridiculous, but of all the stories concocted within professional wrestling lore, the history of Kane and The Undertaker is probably my favorite.

The DVD includes their first encounter, but also features several matches where the Brothers of Destruction team up to take on the likes of the Dudleyz, Edge & Christian, and King Booker & Finlay.

Other important matches from early on are showcased, like his in-ring debut against Mankind. The arena was lit in red, as JR supposed, because of Kane's powers.

His only WWF title win is on here, where he beat Stone Cold Steve Austin (but then lost the title the next night). Two Triple H matches appear, one in 2000 where Kane wins Intercontinental title, and the other condensing that same title with Triple H's World title. Yes, JR and the King referenced the car crash that Kane apparently was in as a teenager, killing Katie Vick. Luckily they didn't refer to her by name, or they just edited it out because it was so stupid.

Kane & Rob Van Dam against Christian and Chris Jericho was pretty good, featuring a young Randy Orton and a still-somewhat-returning Shawn Michaels. Luckily Kane's cage match with RVD was selected for this DVD instead of their first match together at SummerSlam 2003, which was pretty bad, if memory serves correct.

While Shane McMahon has never been an active wrestler, I'll give credit where credit is due and say the two matches with him on this DVD were pretty entertaining, including a wicked fall by Shane from the top of the entrance way.

Both Edge matches on this are also solid efforts, as is the Monster vs. Monster match with Umaga.

As interesting as the Kane character is, he has taken some weird turns over the years, and the segments in between matches try to explain it. For example, Kane impregnates Lita, and no reason was given on this DVD. After a "wedding from Hell," Lita seems to finally give in to Kane until turning on him to align with Edge, which was really a catalyst for Edge's career at that point, in my opinion.

Also, the car crash defies logic, as I've always been under the impression that Kane didn't have a normal life growing up, being shunned from society from the scars The Undertaker caused.

And if THAT'S the case, Kane's unmasking revealed no scars; instead, it was decided that Kane has emotional scarring and that he saw himself and the world differently than they saw him.

But the unmasking didn't come about until AFTER the Katie Vick / car crash angle.

Like with most wrestling storylines, it's best to not try and critically analyze it.


Extras on disc 1 feature full Undertaker/Kane history, as well as Kane vs. Pete Rose at 3 WrestleMania events. Disc 2 features promos with Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, and the Rock. Disc 3 is Kane's battle royal win at WrestleMania 24, followed by what is billed as the quickest match in WM history with Chavo for the ECW title.

---

There are a few things I can think of that I wish would've highlighted Kane more. For instance, this DVD never mentioned the revelation that Paul Bearer was Kane's father, having had sex with The Undertaker's mother in the funeral home (I think that's how it went. It sounds ludicrous so let's go with that explanation).

It also didn't mention Kane's 2001 Royal Rumble record of 11 eliminations. The full match wasn't necessary, but a highlight package would've been nice with that and other impressive Rumble moments throughout the years.

I really wish they would've had at least promos for the build to the WrestleMania 20 rematch with The Undertaker, featuring some of my favorite spots like the ring moving and other craziness.

Finally, there was no mention of Kane teaming with the Hurricane (short of Triple H giving him a Pedigree in the 2002 IC vs. World title match), who I'm sure had at least one DVD-worthy match in their run.

---

Kane's debut into the WWF didn't start out the typical way. He wasn't a monster heel coming in to take over anything or win a title. Kane came into the WWF to beat his brother The Undertaker. Apparently, somewhere along the way, the character decided to wreak havoc on the WWF roster while he was there, and Kane has been a mainstay ever since.

I don't think this DVD is a must-have because Kane has never been at the heart and soul of WWE storylines, but for anybody who isn't familiar with the character or who just enjoys Kane, it's pretty good.

Because I want a free t-shirt...

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Review - Edge: A Decade of Decadence

This DVD is a must-have for WWE fans of the last ten years.

The Edge character was new when I first started watching wrestling in the late 90s. For me, I've been a fan since I saw him, and I remember my first Edge action figure was really simple with black pants (the decor on his tights probably wore off; I think there was gold designs).

I won't waste the time talking about every single match, but Disc 1 was pretty enjoyable.

Matches against Owen Hart, Lance Storm, Mr. Perfect, and both Kurt Angle bouts are probably the best on it, in terms of singles competition. All had time to tell stories. It never seemed to me like Lance Storm or Perfect (during his last WWE run) had long matches, so this was a nice surprise.

All of the tag team matches are fun too. This collection features the Ladder match that solidified Edge, Christian, Matt and Jeff Hardy as Superstars, as well as the Triangle Ladder match at WrestleMania 2000. The Hogan/Edge tag title win over Billy & Chuck is a forgettable match featuring a bunch of typical Hogan spots, but it has some fun moments.

Disc 1 only has 1 extra, a 5-minute condensed version of the best of Edge & Christian. Too bad this wasn't longer.

Disc 2 features more cool matches, including street fights with Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy, a hardcore match with Mick Foley, and the Lita swerve that formed their on-screen relationship for the remainder of Lita's career. It is interesting to see that Edge's rise to stardom involved in a female at his side, be it Lita or Vickie Guerrero.

The Orton match was snoozeville. It went almost 30 minutes and was mostly Orton with Edge in a headlock. I skipped their match on the third disc.

My favorite Edge moment on this disc was his first WWE title win over Cena. It showed the end of the Elimination Chamber with Cena, Chris Masters, and Carlito (really, they made the final 3?). The story went that Cena had just survived the Chamber, and Edge came down to cash in his Money in the Bank title opportunity. I was uncertain about this move at the time, having a WWE title change hands like this, but it makes perfect sense for the Edge character to sneak in a win like this.

Extras on here include a WWE tryout match with Christian from 1997, which was awesome since they really had the crowd going, and Edge's first IC title win over Jeff Jarrett in 1999 at a house show in Edge's home of Toronto. I had never known that this title win was a fluke, since apparently the Godfather couldn't make the match, and Edge didn't know he'd be in the match until just before. He says he didn't know he was going to be the actual champ until they made the official announcement.

I skipped Edge/Cena from SummerSlam 06 and Edge/Batista from Vengeance 07, but Edge/RVD from RAW was cool and featured some cool spots, like Edge countering the Rolling Thunder by standing up and delivering a sweet powerslam.

Edge cashed in Money in the Bank once again (after defeating Mr. Kennedy) by nailing the Undertaker after a cage match with Batista. Excellent, excellent.

The last three matches are spectacular. Edge/Mysterio from the 2008 Royal Rumble was great, showcasing how versatile these guys are.

The two matches with the Undertaker are also works of art. Edge wins his trademark TLC match by sending Undertaker off a ladder into 4 tables, while Undertaker comes back to in his trademark Hell in a Cell match. I thought 'Taker "sending Edge to Hell" was a little cheesy, especially if they did it exactly on the way the DVD shows, but the match was really cool.

Overall, a fantastic DVD for anybody who's ever liked one match they've seen from Edge.

Top 5 Matches from this set (in no order)

1. vs. The Undertaker - TLC
2. vs. The Undertaker - Hell in a Cell
3. vs. Rey Mysterio
4. vs. Owen Hart
5. vs. Rob Van Dam
   

June - Top 5

Promotion

Relay For Life made it official. June 5, 2009, is the day I was officially promoted to 2nd degree black belt and received the title of "Deshi," though nobody calls me that.

In all actuality, the Relay was boring this year. I opted not to participate for so long this year, showing up around 1 and leaving around 5:30 or 6. It was mostly an afternoon of deciding I was officially burnt out with karate.

Be that as it may, I decided to suck it up and not get behind on my training. I was rewarded for my efforts.

This day (and week) was also sweet because David was home from the Army.

Learning New Stuff

June wasn't all together an extremely exciting month, though looking back I got excited about learning a new kata (Naihanchi San). This is the third and final installment of what is really O Naihanchi. Black belt classes at Mr. Hawkey's began again, and luckily he had Justin and I work the interpretation for it.

I feel I've gotten a better understanding of this new form than Naihanchi Ni, which I've known for almost 2 years. For some reason, some katas get taught to me real well, and others seem to fall by the wayside and I don't have a great understanding of them.

Plus we've learned two new ippons, and Mr. Hawkey has worked with us on advanced interpretation for different kata and applications that, at this point in time, would never have revealed themselves to me otherwise.

Learning a new weapon (kama) is fun, too.

Finishing a Class

I got an A in my May term. This is exciting. As I write this, we're in the final week of another class. Since the end of last August, I have gotten 2 weeks of break between terms at most. So finishing CIS 300 was a nice milestone - racking up gen ed points and an A.

In other news, Bradley finally switched us over to Interactive Media. Except I have no degree audit, currently, so I don't have anything to look at right now in regards to what classes I've knocked out.

Continuing this stream of consciousness, bollocks to IM 313 not being offered in the fall. Bollocks, I say!

Focusing on the Positive

It has never been my intention to use this blog as a LiveJournal or talk about emotions. I don't think it is right (or necessary) for people to air grievances on public spaces when the issue is personal.

Instead, all I'll say is that I have decided to cut off contact to negative people and negative situations. Initially I was worried this wouldn't work out, but I'm still having fun this summer.

Working Out

I'm working my way up to run some races. I'm not there yet, but close. I've also recently taken up riding my bike, in the hopes to ride to Germantown and back next week without completely feeling like crap afterwards.

Eventually one day, I think it would be sweet to run a marathon, but that is a loooong way away.

Other Notable June Moments

-Leading the Metamora Martial Arts crew in the Old Settler's parade for the fourth year in a row.
-Invision Power Board 3.0 coming out finally.
-Helping out at this arts conference deal at Bradley
-Splashdown with Sarah and her cousins

Death

I asked a few friends what would happen if they were to die tomorrow. They were pretty much horrified about this grave thought. None of them said they were ready.

Oddly enough, while I don't wish that these are my last moments and this isn't my last blog, I would be content with going. I feel I've done a lot in 20 years (especially the past six). I've seen most of the US, been part of an award-winning karate program, headbanged at so, so many shows and concerts, and excelled in school.

Not that I wish death. I've still got plenty left to do here, one day at a time.

Note that this post isn't a suicidal post only for people to discover later. I know nobody reads this so if I was going to want a cry for attention, I'd post it on Facebook or something.

Rather, I just finished reading "Broken Harts," Martha's narrative of her husband Owen Hart's stunt gone wrong. As I went along I got kind of bummed out at the fact that dying, though inevitable, still sucks. But then I thought that I've actually been privileged enough with a score of good friends, a nice place to live, and a few passions peppered in along the way.

Life rules.

Throughout the week I haven't been able to stop listening to "The Balance Theory" by Dead to Fall.

There is a balance: Negativity needs to exist. Pain needs to persist. Otherwise, the moments of joy we experience would lose their relevance.

A Thousand Open Ears and Still Not a Word To Say

The scene boards have posted a Top 5 of May, so I thought I'd take the concept and put some more detail into it.

1. Final Shows / End of an Era

Black the Sky and Devil's Pie's final Peoria shows. May 9 was an awesome headbangin' time at Johnny's Coffee House with them, Black Teeth, and the Serpent Son.

End of an Era in Chicago with DP and Dead to Fall's final shows...the other bands I'd heard of but never really listened to, so I wasn't as into them. DP and DTF played awesome sets, and my throat was super sore the next day from singing along.

Somewhat bittersweet though, because BTS and DP (+TSS) were the reasons I got into local music in the first place. Oh well, life goes on.

2. 20th birthday

Did nothing that day, went to karate, Aztekita, opened some presents and got a bunch of wrestling DVDs, played ultimate frisbee with tons of my best friends, then did our usual BWW run. So much fun.

3. Finishing sophomore year.

This year seemed super long, but I finished school nonetheless. Another successful year, bringing my GPA to 3.75. :)

4. 2nd degree test

I'd hoped to test way sooner than I did, but I still ended up passing my test with "precision" on May 16. Thanks to those who came out and took a beating.

5. WWE in Bloomington

The night I tested, I wanted to see WWE in Bloomington, so I went with Wes, Vince, and Ryan. Nothing super special, but still a fun show. Afterwards Vince and Ryan hit each other with posters of seductive college girls.

So far, so good

Summer so far has been awesome.

In the past week alone...

-passed my nidan test

-saw WWE in Bloomington (these were done the same day...how awesome)

-played frisbee back-to-back nights and I'm improving my game.

-much time spent enjoying swing sets

-chilled in Byram's pool for 3 hours

-getting homework done at my own pace

I'll be in Chicago on Sunday for Dead to Fall / Devil's Pie's final shows...haven't been up there in about 3 years.

My Summer List

So I've seen a few Facebook posts about summer lists, and I wanted to make a list of my own.

-take 2 classes (1 has already started)

-continue working at the IGA and mow to make some scrilllllllllllllllaaaaaaa.

-teach myself to play something on the guitar...I'm thinking the intro to "Seek and Destroy"

-Teach the little kids and help out with the high schoolers. Plus keep up with my own training - refining old stuff and learning new stuff while staying in tip-top shape.

-take up boxing (and potentially Brazilian jiu-jitsu) at the Peoria Athletic Club in Morton

-watch all episodes of South Park in chronological order (currently almost done with Season 1)

-compose a large set of notes on various kata I practice from different books and sources for an all-in-one digital reference.

-re-edit a video to change some things

-shoot/produce a video for green belt requirements (this was supposed to be started last fall but timing was never right)

-redesign the Metamora Martial Arts website. Currently waiting for Invision to release IP.Board v3.0.0.

-head to sweet concerts and shows - Dead to Fall on May 24 and no others currently in line yet.

WWE Supershow - 5/16/09

P5160280
Originally uploaded by abockler

Overall, I'd say this show was enjoyable. The main complaint that my friends and I had is that there were a lot of restholds in most of the matches. The best explanation I could give is that there is a PPV tomorrow and they were trying to lessen the chances of injury.

This was WWE's first show at the US Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, IL.

1. CM Punk d. Shelton Benjamin by pinfall after the Go To Sleep.

Punk was way over and everybody seemed thrilled he was starting the night.

2. Tyson Kidd (w/ Natalya) d. Evan Bourne by pinfall after interference from David Harry Smith.

After the match, the future New Hart Foundation celebrated. No attempt by Evan Bourne for the Shooting Star Press.

3. Sheamus d. Jimmy Wang Yang by pinfall.

Sheamus cut a promo beforehand explaining who he is and the crowd wasn't behind it. We got the cool usual spots of Yang, but Sheamus won. Not sure what the maneuver was because I was trying to snap a picture as it was happening.

4. R Truth d. Dolph Ziggler by pinfall after hitting his spinning shoulder tackle.

Truth did his usual cool entrance through the crowd somewhat close to where we were. Dolph didn't get much heat coming out, but he grabbed a mic and got to, "My name..." before everybody booed him. He never even got it out after trying for a few minutes, getting angry and throwing a tantrum. I thought it was hilarious.

Truth grabbed the mic and said nobody cares his name is Dolph Ziggler. Then he said the soles on Dolph's boots are so thin, he could stand on bubble gum and tell what flavor it is.

Yeah, I didn't get it either.

5. Primo and Carlito d. Priceless by DQ to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles after DiBiase smacked one of them with a chair.

Priceless laid out the champs. The match was pretty much just holding down Carlito until Primo made the hot tag and took control for a few minutes. DiBiase smacked one of them with a chair (can't remember which) and the fans went nuts with the boos.

Intermission.

6. The Bella Twins d. Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes after interference from Hornswoggle, who came from under the ring.

Phoenix chased Hornswoggle halfway down the aisle, but was too late to run back to the ring to save Rosa.

7. ECW Champion Christian retained the title after defeating Jack Swagger with the Killswitch.

Swagger cut a promo before the match...nothing memorable, though.

8. John Cena, Jeff Hardy, and Batista d. Big Show, Edge, and Randy Orton when Cena pinned Show.

Nobody talked before this one. Edge and Show hugged as Orton was coming out.

Who's telling Orton to take 5 minutes to walk to the ring anyway?

Triple H was advertised for this match, but was replaced by Jeff Hardy.

Jeff Hardy got beat up for most of the match. It ended up with Show getting the Swanton Bomb from Jeff Hardy followed by the Attitude Adjustment from Cena for the pin.

Paper

http://chikarayokosuka.blogspot.com/2009/05/paper.html

That is the link to a semester-long field research project I did with somebody else.

Essentially, we found how a sense of community is achieved through a virtual world.

Oprah gets Pwned by Shaq on Twitter

Your first day on Twitter can be rough. Twittering's still a brand new thing to a lot of people, and a lot of people have Twitterfails. Nobody on Twitter on Friday, though, got as much attention as Oprah, who tweeted for the first time.

read more | digg story

Technology & Journalism, Pt 3

There are good and bad futures of journalism, and we’ll likely see a mix. Going the bad route first, let’s talk about ownership. Only three out of the top ten media giants in the world own newspapers – Cox Enterprises, Bertelsmann, and News Corp.

They own papers outside the United States, where the death of print isn’t quite so forthcoming. The majority are entertainment companies and may not understand the public interest to which newspapers serve. All ten companies are publicly owned and have a business-oriented bottom line, and the criticism is drawn that they may allow newspapers to die.

So what does lay in store for print? Time Inc. is unveiling a new publication called mine. The magazine tries to mimic a personalized news feed, drawing content from eight publications. It is a five-issue, ten-week experiment limited to 31,000 print copies and 200,000 online editions, featuring 36 total pages and four full pages of personalized ads for the Lexus 2010 RX sport utility vehicle.

“A sample ad tag line for a respondent named Dave, who lives in Los Angeles and eats sushi, might read: ‘Hey Dave, your friends will be really impressed when you drive down Van Ness Avenue on your way to get sushi.’” The cost of the personalized ads in mine doesn’t cost more than regular ads, but may be worth the effort if it means greater action from the consumer, said David Nordstrom, Lexus' vice president of marketing.

But who says journalism’s future lies in print? The Daily News in LA, put out by MediaNews Group, will be a personalized, newspaper look-a-like PDF file available for download on computers and mobile phones where readers can choose specific stories, authors, keywords, or subjects to read about. The News features personalized advertisements like Time’s mine.

Joshua Benton of the Nieman Journalism Lab is skeptical that print media can keep up with the Internet in terms of customization, but that they are worth trying out. He likened the MediaNews innovation to a radio gadget that sent out a facsimile newspaper in 1939…and flopped.

E-readers are also pegged as the potential future. These devices have been around for nearly a decade, says Josh Quittner, but nobody really took notice until Amazon released its Kindle over a year ago. The devices need a high-speed network to download text of any kind – print, magazine and the like. The Kindle 2, priced at $359, is still not as good as cheap paper. But just as the automobile replaced the horse and the PC replaced the typewriter, Quittner says nobody got it right on the first try and that these updates took time.

“Any new technology must be ten times as good as the thing it seeks to replace.” He says everybody wants the iPod of e-readers, saying that Apple has done well with their MP3 player and its symbiotic relationship with iTunes, as well as its iPhone App Store.

Isaacson would agree with this, saying that he thinks micropayments should be what people use to purchase content, like they were when the Web was new the to the public. He says a simple interface would allow impromptu purchases, with the revenue helping out traditional newspapers and struggling citizen journalists and bloggers.

Currently, e-readers (specifically the Kindle) aren’t being adopted well. Benton says as a technology guy who loves books, he hasn’t seen a Kindle in the flesh, so to speak, in its fifteen months of existence.

Spending time at the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference, hosting technology-geared people who sought to learn the fundamentals of e-publishing, only 1 in 8 of those he surveyed had a Kindle. One in two had an iPhone, and maybe 1 in 3 had a Twitter account. No sales numbers for the Kindle have been announced.

Certainly, journalism and technology have meshed in places and clashed in others. This presentation seemed easy enough at the start, but was a real eye-opener to me in terms of depth when I think about the fact that gobs of people write about this kind of stuff everyday, information and sources that I didn’t want to include because of the proverbial bag of worms it would open.

Journalism has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Where it goes from here is anybody’s guess as one can’t predict the future. But it has a lot of creativity to include facets from several areas discussed here and coming down the pipe in the future. Journalism survived radio, and it survived television, and will find a way to survive amidst the technology presently reaching for its affection.

Technology & Journalism, Pt 2

So what is technology currently doing with, for, or to journalism? It depends on how you look at it. Some think print’s death is inevitable, and others think that old and new media should work together. This first topic of citizen journalism could be and probably already is the topic of a plethora of books. Citizen journalism can be a multitude of things, but for this presentation I will mainly refer to it as blogs – a Weblog – where people essentially write down whatever they want, fact or fiction.

Andrew Keen describes his problems with the advent of Web 2.0 and its use of amateur voices throughout his book, The Cult of the Amateur. Specifically, Keen calls citizen journalism “journalism by nonjournalists” because of its creators’ lack of formal education and expertise. “The simple ownership of a computer and an Internet connection doesn't transform one into a serious journalist any more than having access to a kitchen makes one into a serious cook,” he says.

Besides that, we can’t be sure if what we see or read on a blog (among other things) is the truth. When Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, initial reports came through on blogs and helped spread rumors. Keen argues that citizen journalists don’t have the resources professionals do.

On the flipside, he quotes Dan Gillmor, a champion of citizen journalism, who says that if a blogger reports the wrong info, other users will jump to comment telling him or her that the information is incorrect. Cori Faklaris of the Indianapolis Star provided very useful starting points for this entire project. Of blogs, she said:

“People complain quite rightly that most blogs are partisan, poorly sourced and unprofessional. Really though, it's not any different from what journalism was back in the 1700s… Thomas Paine and Ben Franklin were publishing rags so full of innuendo and non-truths that the New York Post and the National Enquirer would have been horrified, if they had existed at the same time.”

Keen quoted a Pew study, saying that 34% of bloggers – over four million people – considered their work a form of journalism. He argues that website owners aren’t held liable for their content like newspaper editors are. “In America, bloggers don't go to jail for their work. That's the difference between professionals and amateurs. It's as if libel law has taken a brief vacation so that citizen journalists can get their feet wet,” said Al Saracevic, deputy business editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, in an interview with Keen.

Henry Jenkins, MIT professor and author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, is behind blogs. Jenkins likes the fact that content producers can pool information and grassroots expertise. People can debate evidence and challenge one another’s assumptions. Jenkins also argues that bloggers make no claim to objectivity and that some are even “unapologetically partisan,” an argument Keen leaves out.

Bloggers say mainstream journalism is unreliable because it trivializes politics and makes issues sound easier than they really are. Jenkins credits both traditional media and new media with a trade of information – the professionals get ideas from bloggers, and bloggers link to professional reports. But why? “The old media are becoming faster, more transparent, more interactive - not because they want to be, but because they have to be,” says Jenkins.

Blogs aren’t the only trend sweeping through journalism today. Twitter is a microblogging system, allowing users to “tweet” a thought or idea for 140 characters or less. Often times, Twitter users post a link to another site for users to visit. When people ask me what Twitter is, I tell them it is essentially Facebook’s status feature. One might ask, “well, how can a journalist use Twitter?”

A site called ReadWriteWeb talked about the positives and the hurdles Twitter has to offer. First, Twitter is fast. With the aid of a laptop or mobile phone, reporters can tweet in near real-time to what is happening at the scene. Twitter was the first place users posted about the earthquakes in Japan and China, and users tweeted about one in Mexico even before the USGS registered it.

Like blogs, Twitter allows for two-way communication. In the scope of time, Twitter updates can occur in minutes or seconds because of its character limit. Blogs, a little more thought out, can take hours. And traditional media, like TV and newspapers, can take a whole day.

Twitter also has played host to interviews – a form of reporting called a Twitterview or a Twinterview. ABC’s George Stephanpoulos conducted an interview with John McCain solely through Twitter on Tuesday, March 17. The exchanges weren’t as long-winded as they were in front of a live audience on the campaign trail because of Twitter’s 140-character limit, but McCain got his points across in an easy-to-read format. On March 19, the Chicago Tribune changed its masthead names to Twitter usernames. For example, @twhunter was listed as the publisher, @GerryKern was the editor, and so on.

Twitter is not without its faults. Anybody following more than a few users can see how many tweets come in at once. Third-party software filters these a little better, but I have yet to experiment with one. So many tweets at once can become muddled and out of context as there are no threads.

Plus, it’s just plain hard to find people. There is no unified search method like there is on MySpace and Facebook. A lot has been talked about with a Twitter search, but nothing has come about as of this writing. In the last week or so, there has been some buzz about Twitter adding paid accounts, but there is no official word on that either.

The focus here is on blogs and Twitter instead of general news websites because not everybody has adopted them yet. But totally leaving news sites out of this presentation is hiding part of the story. The American Journalism Review at one time had reported nearly 5,000 newspaper sites, a number that has surely risen. In 2002 almost half of the top 20 news sites were newspaper sites. By going online, newspaper sites found themselves in direct competition for the first time with broadcast and cable news. But, newspapers now have the opportunity for their website to scoop their print edition. In 1999, 58% of papers said they wouldn’t let this happen. As of a few years ago, only 45% said they wouldn’t.

Those who start a news site have reduced the amount of capital in starting a newspaper – no printing press, no distribution, no real estate, and so on. While the cost is low to start, Pavlik and McIntosh make sure to note that the cost of producing quality content is still high. And many online media outlets have a backer, like MSNBC. Regardless, the online audience is much more active and has many more choices for content than in previous years.

Technology & Journalism, Pt 1

I wrote this paper for my journalistic writing class. I actually had fun doing it and am proud of my work. I will post in three installments.

“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate, and yes, it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is nothing but wires and lights in a box.” Edward R. Murrow said this of the television, but as pointed out in Bradley’s Communication 101 textbook, it can just as easily be used for the computer today. Journalism is in the midst of a metamorphosis, with old media colliding head to head with new media. Technology is proving once again that the craft needs to stay on its toes and not fall behind. Throughout this presentation, I hope to create an accurate sense of what technology has done, is doing, and may continue to do to journalism in the future. It has been a rocky road to get to today, but even rockier times may be ahead.

What we now consider old or traditional media was at one time new media. Radio became a form of mass communication in the 1920s. It was free, and it could scoop the newspaper. As Bradley audio engineer Dave Lennie put it in his production class I took last fall, radio survives largely because of cars. Television came along in the 1940s and 1950s, causing a steep decline in newspapers. It could scoop the newspaper, like the radio, but had the distinct advantage over radio in that you could actually see what was happening.

One of my favorite examples of radio versus television is the 1960 election, pitting Richard Nixon versus John F. Kennedy. During the debates, those that listened to the radio thought Nixon performed better. But those who actually watched on television saw Nixon didn’t look too great in front of a screen, as opposed to the tanned, handsome senator from Massachusetts. Since then, television has dominated culture here in the United States.

Neither radio nor television killed print journalism. But now, newspapers are threatened once again by emerging new media technology, this time in the form of blogs, Twitter, e-readers, and personalized news, all largely due to the ubiquity of the Internet.

This notion of newspapers going online isn’t an entirely new occurrence. As early as the 1970s, the Toronto Globe and Mail allowed public access to its news database. The idea was close to a generation ahead of its time because it didn’t adapt well. In 2001, the New York Times launched its first online edition. It was an exact replica of the print version. Its cost: 65 cents.

Wait, content online hasn’t always been free? Contrary to what one might believe, it hasn’t. In fact, free content wasn’t the intended goal at all. Newspapers and magazines were charging for their content in paper, so why buck tradition?

Web sites originally charged micropayments to consumers in the early 1990s by how many minutes they spent online. The longer content providers could keep a user on the page, the more money they made. This was the original goal of hypertext. Walter Isaacson, a former Time editor, helped invent banner advertisements to bring magazine content online for Wired and Time. The ads generated so much money that they allowed users to view content for free.

Newspapers have more readers than ever, but few of these readers are paying. According to a study from the Pew Foundation, more people in the US get their news for free online rather than paying for it. Traditionally, newspapers have had three modes of revenue – newsstand sales, subscription, and advertising. The web technically produces two of those, but Isaacson only recognizes advertising. “This makes for a wobbly stool even when the one leg is strong,” says Isaacson. But it’s not as strong as it once was. In the fourth quarter of 2008, ad revenue took a dip. The stool just got a bit wobblier.

Similarly, there are three main revenue models for online media. The first is advertising. It seems like a good idea. Banner ads can reach a more vast audience – potentially worldwide – than classified ads that exist in just a particular region where a newspaper is distributed. According to the Pavlik and McIntosh text, this is a disappointing revenue for all but the largest portal sites. Start factoring in sites like Craigslist, eBay, and more, and the slump in advertising makes sense.

Next is subscription, which is used by The Wall Street Journal Interactive and Consumer Reports Online. The latter, as of the last update to Pavlik and McIntosh’s COM 101 text, was charging upwards of $50 per year and gained $30 million in revenue. Currently, subscriptions for Consumer Reports Online cost about $26 per year, but no revenue data was found for that. Both companies use partial subscription methods in order to find out what content people will pay for.

The last revenue model is syndication, in which content providers license their material to content distributors. In 2005, this brought in $6 billion. Pavlik and McIntosh believe this will be a fundamental component in the future.

A reasonable argument would be that content providers should never have stopped charging for their material in the first place. But then again, hindsight is always 20/20 and things were looking good for an ad-supported Web.

New Content Added!

The music video we did with Brent Brannon has been added, and so has the Horizon Wireless commercial.

Head to See -> Videos on the main page.

AdamBockler.com is Finito

New content! This site should run okay now.

Projects to come soon - Horizon Wireless commercial, Back to the Future remake (maybe)

Projects probably coming in April - Second Life field research blog (more content / assignments to be added), stimulus news story, essay on the Internet and its effects of journalism

New Webpage

THERE IS NO CONTENT RIGHT NOW, so hang tight.

Henry Rollins hates dating

hahahaha

Bockler throwin down

David After Dentist

Hilarious

Nidan

It's been on my mind since probably October 23, 2006. I've trained a pretty decent amount here at home and I've been at the school at nearly every achievable opportunity. But yesterday I finally got a timeframe for testing for my 2nd degree black belt. Early May 2009.

It's been a long time coming. My two year minimum was up in October 2008, and because of my weak class schedule at Bradley I could never hit the high school, with my only formal karate coming from my teaching at MGS. This semester was originally going to let me go all four days, but I had a last-minute scramble and I get the conditioning days now. And those are really hit and miss, but I'm hoping now that we've worked into a decent schedule we can get around that.

So what do I do now? First are form approvals. Mr. C is looking at passing about one a week which takes us through March, then doing new stuff and reviewing wazas. The pressure is on for me, having seen the three prior nidans go up and do their thing. I think I'm at a slight disadvantage in not being able to work with Mr. Hawkey...I really wish I could make his classes or at least get some private training with him like Amanda did. Oh well, I'll make it.

It's interesting to hear the quote, "the journey only starts with black belt." I figured that was the case but when I was still a kyu it was just kind of like, "yeah, whatever." Now it's real. I look at this crew we have at the high school. Some are really into it, which is cool, and some are there because it's fun to socialize and whatever. I wish I could remember what it was like at every rank. When I do stuff it feels like I've been doing it ever since freshman year but sometimes this stuff I've just picked up in the past month, so I lose that relation now. But having lived and continued on my journey since earning my shodan, it's an entirely different story.

My perspective on the martial arts has changed. I've read more, I've given speeches, I've led demos, I've taken first place in a black belt forms division, I've been a judge at two other tournaments and I've been a head judge in a ring in our first open tournament, I've become the chief instructor for some kids and adults, and I've honed my skills. I haven't learned as much technique-wise as I did in my first 37 months of karate training, but overall knowledge learned was probably more.

I realize as I've been watching The Daily Show and typing this, I've been rambling and it's probably not all that coherent, so I'm going to head out.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

2008: A Look Back (The Rest)

-Jon's cookout at his grandparents' in May

-Seeing At the Gates, Municipal Waste, The Sword, Down, and Metallica

-Bob's and Jon's 4th of July parties, including leaving Jon's at 2:30 and subsequently getting pulled over as the only car on the road.

-seeing Lewis Black with Matt and two other dudes whose names I forget.

-working for Scot - always a blast.

Goodbye, 2008.