You've Earned It

This photo came up at work while I was tagging mentions of Nestle Crunch bars across social media.  It's a small tribute to Harold Ramis on the sidewalk outside of the Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8, which was the filming location of the Ghostbusters headquarters.

My Favorite Ghostbuster

Harold Ramis
1944 - 2014

Guarding Vintage Pepsi

I've been going to Ring Of Honor shows at the National Guard Armory in Philadelphia since 2005, and I'm always amazed by the Pepsi machine near the restrooms.  It's a vintage machine from the 80's that is still in operation, and it's in pristine condition.  It looks like it was just installed yesterday.

I wonder if C.M. Punk ever took a selfie with it.

ROH TV Taping

Ring of Honor TV Taping: Episodes 130 - 132
Pennsylvania National Guard Armory - February 22, 2014
Philadelphia, PA
We brought our friends Roberto and Jeanette to this show.  It was their first ROH event, and my first in seven years since the taping of The Wrestler in Dover, NJ.  They taped three weeks worth of programming that will air from March 15th through the 29th.

The card was a mix of familiar faces that I remember from back in the day and newer talent that I learned about tonight.  Of those, I was especially impressed with Michael Elgin and Tommaso Ciampa.  The Briscoes have reinvented themselves since I last saw them at a live show, and they're still one of the best tag teams I've ever seen.

	Episode #130 Results air date: March 15, 2014
	Tag Team Match Hanson and Raymond Rowe defeated Team Benchmark (Bill Delay and Will Ferrera)
	Singles Match Kevin Steen defeated Homicide via disqualification *Eddie Kingston interfered in the match which caused Homicide be disqualified.
	ROH Television Championship Match Tommaso Ciampa defeated Jay Lethal to retain the title
	Episode #131 Results air date: March 22, 2014
	Six Man Tag Team Match The Decade (Roderick Strong, BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs) defeated Adrenaline Rush (ACH and TaDarius Thomas) and Andrew Everett
	Singles Match RD Evans defeated The Romantic Touch via countout *The Romantic Touch is Rhett Titus under a mask.
	Singles Match Cedric Alexander defeated Adam Page
	Tag Team Match The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) defeated Adam Cole and Mike Bennett
	Episode #132 Results air date: March 29, 2014
	Four Corners Survival Match Silas Young defeated Caprice Coleman, Matt Taven and Takaaki Watanabe
	ROH Tag Team Championship Match reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) defeated The Brutal Burgers ("Brutal" Bob Evans and Cheeseburger) to retain the titles
	Singles Match "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles vs. Michael Elgin went to a 30 minute time limit draw *Adam Cole did commentary with Steve Corino during the match.  After it was over, he ran to the ring and used the ROH World Heavyweight Championship as a weapon to knock out both men.  Kevin Steen and Jay Briscoe ran to the ring to run Adam Cole off.

Ice Ice Baby

Welcome to Northeast Pennsylvania, where the icicles start on the roof and end halfway down the living room window.

Big Prediction From The Big Piece

I'd be satisfied if he could learn to stop hitting into the shift.

Is He Talking About His Pickle

Big Mac Valentine

McDonald's (1974)

Try getting the visual out of your head of a giant humanoid cheeseburger policeman eating his own heart.  Happy Valentines Day!

Flappy Bird Watching

Artwork by Yves Bourgelas
Bourgy.net

Building With Burnett

If Cole is healthy before the end of April (as the reports indicate), I think that adding AJ Burnett to the rotation could make the Phillies legitimate playoff contenders.

Snow Day In Yokohama

Cup Noodles Museum

Yokohama, Japan
This Cup Noodle may have chicken, but its mascot isn't too chicken to brave the winter sidewalk with a snow shovel  [source: CopyRanter].

Flying Off Into The Sunset

The Chase #12 cover art
Hiroshi Nagai
A series of twelve spoken word records for a story called The Chase were released in Japan during the early 1980's.  The stories that are told on these records were written by novelist Sidney Sheldon, who is also the man responsible for creating The Patty Duke Show and I Dream Of Jeannie among other television projects.  The albums are narrated by Orson Welles, and they were created as a tool to help Japanese speakers learn the English language.

I haven't had an opportunity to listen to any of these records, but I'm fascinated by the pop art on the cover.  Each of the albums features the work of artist Hiroshi Nagai.  The cover of the 12th and final album in the series is my favorite, but they're all very good.  You can see the rest of them (except for volume #5) on Flickr courtesy of David Faulhaber.

70's Television

Vintage RCA Television
Nathan's Furniture in Hazleton is set up like a series of mini bedrooms and living rooms to show you how their furniture will look in your home.  Some of the items aren't for sale, including this television, which appears to have been at the store since the 70's.

My Favorite Cartoon Termite

The Tough Little Termite
Huckleberry Hound (1959)

Monsters Are Real

Bray Wyatt
Artwork by DaceDestiny
I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling since I was four years old.  I still remember sitting on my father’s lap and watching Brutus Beefcake wrestle Hulk Hogan.  From 2005 through 2007, I attended a ridiculous number of WWE, Ring of Honor, Chikara events as well as other indy promotions whose names I’ve forgotten.  In recent years, I’ve spent much less time watching wrestling.  This wasn’t really due to a lack of interest, but a lack of time and money.  I dedicated a lot of time to my studies, earning a degree in psychology, I’ve moved forward in my career, I’ve gotten married, bought a house and a puppy, and the money that I do have budgeted for entertainment has gone toward vacations with my wife and Phillies games.

One event I make it a point to never miss is the WWE Royal Rumble.  It’s almost always an incredible show.  This year’s event was pretty good (despite fans displeasure with the battle royal itself), but it peaked at the opening match.  Anyone whose been to a show with me will tell you that I’ve been a fan of “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson for many years, and I am extremely happy that he’s gotten as over as he has in the WWE as Daniel Bryan.  It truly couldn’t happen to a nicer or more talented guy.  However, Bryan wasn’t the inspiration behind this long and wordy post.

Bryan’s opponent was Bray Wyatt.  I’ve only heard about this guy from other people, and the impression that I took away was that WWE Creative was going for a gimmick where Duck Dynasty meets Deliverance.  While this is a fairly accurate description on the surface, it doesn’t do this man or his gimmick justice.

From start to finish, the Bray Wyatt character is pure brilliance.  From the intense music to the ominous lights-out entrance that surpasses even The Undertaker in its creepiness to his absolutely flawless verbiage and ring psychology, his work is tremendous.  His style reminds me a bit of Bam Bam Bigelow, and this is meant as a very high complement.  Bigelow was one of the most physically impressive big men in the business, and Bray absolutely is deserving of the same distinction.  I honestly can’t find enough good things to say about his work.

I did a little research on the guy and found that he is the son of Mike Rotunda, better known to many as I.R.S. (and answer to the trivia question of “Who is the only man to have wrestled in Wrestlemania 1 and 10”).  He’s also the grandson of Blackjack Mulligan and the nephew of Barry and Kendall Windham.

Ok, I’m done marking out, but if you’ve ever been a wrestling fan and you’ve gotten away from it over the years, check out the career thus far of Bray Wyatt.  You will not be disappointed.  Also, if you're bored when you're done with that, come check out my Tumblr.  It's mildly amusing!