the laudable blog

Easter Is Here

2011-04-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

How better to celebrate it than with a song about JESUS THE CHRIST, OUR LORD OF LORDS, KING OF KINGS, SAVIOUR AND REDEEMER, THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE AND SON OF GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF... hmm?

We had many possible choices here, of course - but since this is the blog that it is (note the "... but still..." in the URL) we could not go with legitimate Christian music that sings praise to THE MESSIAH.

Rather, we had to select something that is -still- "okay" but that raises some doubts on the true intentions of the authors of this music here, a classic though it may be... So here we have, from 1973 the main theme of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR...

Andrew Llyod Webber and Carl Anderson may yet burn in hell for this one - or they have nothing to fear at all! It can really go either way; and we're not even mentioning all those showgirls either...!

It is really not up to any of us to pass judgment on that anyways - JESUS, the Real JESUS (not Ted Neeley) shall do just that. And, actually, there are far greater sins to be judged and condemned than these, ultimately, facetious transgressions...
AND JESUS WILL GET TO THOSE FIRST. Believe that!

On that note...
Remember that He Died For you.

Happy Easter, brethren!

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A Bruin's Growl

2010-12-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

So many videos out there to spur on my team to *just do it* - but, perhaps, it is not the proper motivation at all... Let's just have a look right now and judge by ourselves, shall we...

Just a coincidence, I am sure, that that last guy just happens to bear (pun truly, fully, absolutely intended) an uncanny resemblance to former Bruin and former Oiler Craig MacTavish...
But that is another story...

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What Exactly Equals Three Again...?!?

2010-11-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

This rather disarmingly simplistic equation makes one think, right off the bat, of the cutest beauty contest of all that just awarded a deserving winner: the M.A.M.'s "Most Beautiful Mathematical Equation" contest! (Such a beauty pageant should have always been, I say...!) And the lucky winner was... E i/pi +1 = 0 or e^{i \pi} +1 = 0 \

(Okay - to be truthful, tis not the "M.A.M." at all but the "M.A.A" - but you can understand why we'd much rather prefer to go with "MAMs" here; a man can go gaga over mammaries all his life but one who cries "MAaaaaaaa" all the time, well, that's a different problem...! But that is another story entirely... A Mathematical American Monthly magazine does exist - although it is really called the American Mathematical Monthly; A.M.M. thus. See: "M.A.M." remains always the better choice! We may also precise, since we've gotten to this point already, that it was really the M.I. - the Mathematical Intelligencer - that conceived of such a pageantry and voted the above formula as "the most beautiful ever" - way back in 1988. The lucky equation -though not a luminous equation; that is my own creation and mine alone! ;)- is found to be a logical progression of previous algorithms found in the works of such illuminaries as Leonhard Euler and was called "the most remarkable formula in mathematics" by one Richard Feynman, "for its single uses of the notions of addition, multiplication, exponentiation, and equality, and the single uses of the important constants 0, 1, e, i and π". Me, I am still thinking of the word "intelligencer" here; who are these mathematical minds who think that they can make up such words using what should be anathema to them, eh: letters! The nerve... But I am digressing once more, eh...)

Anyway... All this to say that the inane, insipid (not to mention incomplete - hey, THE THREE "I"S!) non-equation (antiequation?) "=3" reminded me so much of the winning, remarkable and oh-so "beautiful" E i/pi +1 = 0 - as its extreme, diametrically opposed... er... opposite, yeah! Such luminous connections can only be made on the TLB Prime Network - you know it, dudes!

And so - what is that "=3" thing, anyway - you ask?

Well, let us put this way: it will never win approval from the A.M.A. or M.M.A. or M.A.M. or M.A.A. or even M.I. myself and I! It may have gained an endorsement of sorts from the old A.W.A. mind you - but it does not exist anymore, so forget that! In short, "=3" is something meant for the masses and made by some proud representative(s) of the masses in question - and as such, it will never raise the bar above anything other than basic addition, really! Far from being on the level of our own *luminous connections* (see TLB Prime aka The Luminous Blog for more of those!) "=3" contents itself to tickle the funny bone of its viewers by showcasing and commenting on three different videos uploaded by third parties (how à propos is that...!) and trying, tant bien que mal, to find something that ties it all up together, somehow...! And oftentimes -frighteningly so- in a very, very crude way (especially those comments he publishes to a dancing cat coolcat tune - ugh!)

Here are three (!) examples of that:

RayWilliamJohnson, KushaNdRosaydotcom or RayWJ - three times a news pimp, we say..!

And, just like the beautiful equation issued by a beautiful mind -we're sure- and that equals, in the end, ZERO; "=3" reflects absolutely nothing, ultimately...

Nothing but fluff - in a reputedly cool package, sure.

Laudable effort, but...

;)

2010-07-10T03:08:00.000-07:00

Celtic Magic...!

2010-05-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

Orlando, Florida thugs came into Mr. Robinson's neighborhood -
Mr. Nate Robinson; a friend of Superman Rajon Rondo, Pierce, Garnett and Allen - and they were rightfully... trounced!

Let's watch:

Bye Bye Magic -
just as it was so long Lebron
and...
I forget who it was in the first round
for the mighty Boston Celtics!
Bravo, Celts -
Bravissimo, C's!
But in this particular greenery,
we all know that it isn't quite enough
if BANNER 18 is not added as well!

+++

The Goal - Bronzed At Last!

2010-05-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

On May 10th, 2010, the Boston Bruins organization (one of the classiest in all of professional sports) honored their greatest player ever (sorry, Eddie Shore fans - or Cam Neely fans!) when they unveiled a magnificent statue depicting him in his famous "Orr Soars" pose of May 1970, when he clinched the Stanley Cup for Boston after a 29-year drought. Yes, the player is Bobby Orr - of course. And yes - the piece of art depicting him is a tremendous tour de force of craftsmanship, succeeding in rendering the dynamics of a superb athlete as he is in fact celebrating his accomplishment in mid-air. In comparison, all the pieces of art depicting Montreal Canadiens are boring, run-of-the-mill humdrum pieces of granite merely delineating a humanoid in apair of skates - nothing dynamic about it, nothing kinetic, nothing extraordinary. The Hub of Hockey's legendary number 4, Bobby Orr, in that defining moment of his career is, also, the single most defining moment in all of hockey's history - and it isn't just me saying it either! "Hockey's most famous image," stated Wayne Scanlan of Canwest News service renown. Harry Weber's bronze art is a masterpiece defying the laws of gravity themselves - and that nobody can deny! Bobby Orr is also a jolly good fellow too - but that is another story... (Only a jolly good-natured fellow would brush off the seeming annoyance of goaltender Glenn Hall at being always associated to "The Goal" as, evidently, the guy who let it into his net! But let us not digress at this time, here...!)

Aye - number 4's moment of glory is THE defining moment in all of hockey's fabled imagery - and no amounts of titles, records or other achievements by various "great ones" could ever match it, in this or any other era!

All the more cruel, indeed, that on the very same day that they honored their number 4, the Boston Bruins did not win by four but instead lost by four in a game that could have seen them clinch their berth in the Eastern Conference Finals - and possibly be on their way to another drought-snapping Stanley Cup Championship!

Alas, that is exactly what happened: the Boston Bruins reverted back to a punchless formation for that one game which could have honored Orr like not even Harry Weber's bronzed moment in time does; alas, they could not score a single goal that night. They were met by a desperate opponent that did not want to be eliminated - that is why...

Fact is, throughout the 2009-2010 season, the Boston Bruins had somewhat been labeled as a team that lacked offensive power. They had scored less goals than many of the top contenders - and even less than some pretenders too! This was attributed to the loss of offensive star Phil Kessel in the off-season; that and many injuries had turned the offensive juggernaut Bruins into a more defensive-minded team, perhaps... But then the playoffs started and the Bruins started scoring like the previous season, when they were indeed the best team in the East - and likely in the league (sorry Sharks!)

This continued in the series versus Philadelphia - with the return of Marc Savard and resurgence of David Krejci and Michael Ryder, to name but two. But then Krejci got injured, Marco Sturm as well, Ryder got into another cold streak... just as Philadelphia got two offensive stars back. All was set for that debacle on May 10th - what terrible timing, for Orr's sake!

Still - defense is what wins games and series; and Tuukka Rask is the one who can make the difference in a deciding game six!

Plus: let's not forget that, in this year of being deemed to have a lacklustre offense, again, the Boston Bruins actually accomplished what no offensive-minded club could EVER do: not the mighty Oilers of the 80's, not the Penguins of the 90's, not the league-leading Washington Capitals of this year (that went nowhere fast - but that is another story also) not the Bruins of the glory years either and not even the Canadiens of serial cups ever did THIS:

And to think that the Boston Bruins who scored three shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill were Daniel Paillé... Blake Wheeler... and Steve Bégin! (In a "redemption game" if you will - for it was a postseason berth clinching victory against the team that ruined their high aspirations of last year's playoff run - only to go absolutely nowhere after that and miss the playoffs entirely this year! Now why didn't the pathetic Hurricanes give up three goals in the span of two minutes in game seven of their series against Boston last year, instead - huh?!? Another digression - mea culpa!)

The Boston Bruins have plenty of secret weapons that can strike at any given time and that is what has to be retained here and now - they just didn't do it for Bobby Orr and Harry Weber, that's all!

"Angel Love" - HA!

2010-02-10T22:24:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't you agree that the way this so-called "angel" grabs this damsel in obvious emotional distress is eeriely similar to the way famed Universal Monsters' own Gillman (aka the Creature from the Black Lagoon) was all over Julia Adams way back then... huh?!?
I mean - what's the diff, eh?!?
Aside from the fact that the ho enjoys it, that is...

Whether this piece of j... art
is supposed to represent crappy Cupid
putting on the moves on yet another dumb Roman broad;
EROS, doing the same damned thing
to some dumb Greek broad;
OR any of the other bozos of the same ilk
(Adonis, Apollo, Orpheus, Perseus, ETC...)

ONE THING IS FOR DAMN SURE:
this ain't Saint Valentine -
the saint actually named Valentine
and after whom this whole mess is named!
It might be Rudolf Valentino by proxy, though...
;)

I'm right,
right, Gilly?
Like - where's the love, eh?
Where's the justice?
Heck - where's the logic;
angels DON'T behave like that!
Unless they've fallen...

+++

2009-12-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

What Did The PSBs Do To Deserve This...?!?

2009-11-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

The Pet Shop Boys got honored recently, at the Brits, for the ensemble of their career... As a prolific duo that, somehow, lasted much longer than Simon & Garfunkel, Sonny & Cher and Cheech & Chong COMBINED - even though that last one got back together recently too; but it is just out of tiresomeness and maybe a hint of hopelessness as well... But that is another story...

Pet Shop Boys have churned out catchy tunes for a very long time now - alas, all of them get tiresome indeed after the fifth listening - why? A variety of possible explanations could be brought forth here, but we will restrain from getting into that right now...

Let us just say that the PSBs got to pay their dues and the only viable explanation why they might deserve the lengthy career salute now is that they did so in a respectful manner - respectful of their elders, respectful of the business, respectful of the art of creating music. And, ultimately, respectful of the fanbase that they targeted in the first place - which is distinct and *special* - but we will not be getting into that either at this time...! It is so very telling though that they thank their fans with such meticulous precision at the Brits show... But anyway!

Personally, THE reason why they *deserve* this - this being kudos of any kind - is the following example of good business acumen, class and all-together practical common sense: back when they were indeed but BOYS, they collaborated with the late, great Dusty Springfield, giving her a chance to get back in the spotlight one final time as they were also giving themselves a chance to make a name for themselves as well! This single event remains one of the best examples of mutually beneficial partnerships: something that should be the norm in ANY business - but is not. It makes sense in the world of arts as well, especially in this day and age of *multi-media* - but it is not the norm there either, not with all the egos in that field... But that is another story as well...

In short, the Pet Shop Boys *deserve* this, because Dusty Springfield deserved that:

And the boys were smart enough to give it to her.

What is it that they say again: give now, it will be given to you later...?
Exactly!

+++

Aw - How Nice... Ha!

2009-01-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

La mode estivale sera romantique !
Nanette Lepore dévoile sa collection fleurie.

A new collection for the coming summer has been issued.
And it sells rags while riding high
on the pheromonal high of romance -
otherwise known as that fluff
and imaginary thing called romance, yes.

Barf bag included with each purchase?
THAT is the question... FOR...
To market romanticism, these days,
is utterly SICKENING now.
Not only has it been done to death,
IT IS THE WORST LIE OF ALL
for none, NONE, ever truly find
that which is sought after -
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
For nothing is ever devoid of those pesky things
called CONDITIONS - nope, not in this world, pal!
And as far as ROMANTICISM goes -
it is long gone, DEAD AND BURIED
and it probably never really was, ever,
in the first damn place!
Tainted as it has always been
by those pesky conditions, goals, ambitions,
other desires that are not born out of love
and 1001 various constraints
brought about by the constant struggle that is
just maintaining a daily existence in this life,
courtship has NEVER truly been "romantic"
as it has been portrayed in countless works of fiction
throughout the ages, really!
And the only mere semblance of romanticism
ever attained, at any given time,
was truly and in fact...
role-playing.
Perhaps veiled in wishful thinking,
hoping it could be real,
longing for possible total abandon,
never able to truly achieve it...
Disappointment after disillusionment,
continuously trying to find that spark,
again and again,
ever more conscious
of the hopelessness of the quest
as years go by...
Still, with each new relationship,
with each new attempt,
the role-playing starts anew...
Tainted love indeed.

Play that tainted song
all of this forthcoming summer long,
as you parade around in Nanette clothes!

And as for the role-playing
it sure is laudable role-playing...
but still!

_=_
:::
_=_

2008-12-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

Jeudi 25 Décembre 2008 -
Aujourd'hui, c'est la Saint Emmanuel...!

Does anyone know what that truly MEANS anymore, though?!?

Not judging by this GIF:

They don't!

Granted, the story of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER is a heartwarming tale or acceptance, maybe even redemption (in the raising of self-esteem area) in the otherwise cold season...!
Like many an addition to the now vast Christmas lore (Frosty the Snowman; Jack Frost - I do mean the Michael Keaton movie, mostly here; a 1001 other Christmas time tales in writ and in movie form - and the myriad of tales told through song as well...) RUDOLPH is meant to be a lesson in GOODNESS and the merits thereof...

But really now - all those critters DON'T EXIST.

Only a saint by the name of Nicholas ever truly did - and even if he was the generous type, he never established the impossible record of giving at least one gift to EVERYONE ON THE PLANET within ONE SINGLE NIGHT...

I hope you're not learning anything new here...!!!

What truly did happen is that a great prophet (according to Islam) and a Redeemer, the Messiah (according to us, Christians!) was born sometime around this date - He Did Live, He Did Come to this world and there were astral signs when He Did. That is all FACT. Moreso, further down the line, there is evidence that He Was Crucified... And He Did Resurrect - but that is best saved for around Easter Time!
(Hey - I'm tackling Rudolph and Frosty right now; the Easter Bunny can wait its turn, like every other year!)

JESUS WAS BORN.
And we choose to celebrate His Coming... today!

So forget about Rudolph!

(And if the GIF image above ever blinks out of existence - I am not replacing it! I'd sooner say "good riddance" - *lol*)

So, really, folks - WAKE UP!

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!
And that is The Truth!

+++

Another All-Hallows' Eve come and gone again...!

2008-10-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Whether you've pulled off the stunning effect

of looking both stunning and repulsive

all at the same damn time -

I DON'T GIVE A DAMN...!

I'll just carry on MISSING

the good old days

when you could simply go ahead and

BURN THEM AT THE STAKE

- same as I do every Halloween, really!

;)

Thanks but no thanks, celebs...!

2008-06-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Click above
for all the razzle-dazzle and fluff galore
attached to a ton of "celebrities"
that breathe, talk too much and poop
just like *YOU* - yeah!!!
Yet, you place them on such a pedestal
that elevates each and every single one
of their simplest and silliest moves
to the level of "entertainment" in and by itself
if not also the level of RELEVANT *FAIT ACCOMPLI*...!
I've got news for you all -
nothing that these "celebrities" do,
will ever do or have ever done
will EVER truly affect *YOU* -
you only IMAGINE the effects on your lives!
Yes - it's true, it's true!
The BEST that they can EVER do for you
is make you forget, for a infinitely short time,
your personal woes and troubles...
Aside from that -
there is NOTHING *ANY* CELEBRITY
WILL EVER DO FOR YOU...

Unless the celebrity takes "precious time
out of their precious busy schedule"
to speak out for you or your cause
and raise awareness and/or funds for you
and/or it...!
And THAT is a tremendous
LONG SHOT...

None of you really need that anyway -
right?

Some celebs used to sang
that "all you need is LOVE..."
- but that was THEN...!

What did THEY know about ANYTHING - huh?

That goes
probably a HUNDRED-FOLD
for the current crop
of celebs here...!
:!

Trust me -
you don't even need a celeb
to tell you what fashion wear to go with,
what to do with your week-end
-much less your life-
or how to choose
your entertainment fare...!

Trust me on THAT...!
;)

Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye... Ashlee, Ayoye, What Is THAT?

2008-04-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Ashlee Simpson : Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya) - Remix

A CD release titled "Bittersweet Life"...

A single excerpted from it that has a catchy beat, an off-the-wall video chock-full of weird and extravagant imagery, special effects galore, I tell you (just click on the link at the top of this post and you'll see...) and what an eccentric "story" to tell, too...

A hip blonde hair dye job (to go with the nose job...?)

Extravagance all-around all right...

And all that on a parallel with settling down, tying the knot, throwing caution to the wind and pronouncing those vows with the "mate apparent"...!

But mostly she appears to be finally not only bypassing that inner malaise, the accursed inferiority complex she seemed to have in relation to her prettier, perkier, peskier sister Jessica (darn, I forgot to add "much blonder too" to the short-list there...!) - but beating the tar out of the (un)fair competition as well!

Heck, she's truly surpassing her big sis now: she's just gotten married while big sis Jess is divorced, very much single and looking. Still looking. Looking desperately - if not desperate?

Ashlee - like a phoenix reborn out of its ashes(-lee?)

Laudable, but still...

She acted "as a good minister (would)" - not in good faith!

2008-04-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Agir en bonne ministre

Agir en bonne ministre - népotisme nonobstant!
Répliquant à la demande de démission de Mario Dumont, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay affirme avoir bien agi en taisant les allégations de plaintes pour harcèlement psychologique à l'endroit de l'ex-délégué du Québec à New York.

Ahh - politics! Such a high-stake game for the hypocritical and the rich and blase!

I seem to always pick on the Quebec examples, true - but what can I say; I am closer to those sad examples geographically-speaking, so...

It is all the same everywhere else though; you know so much already!

Only differences, from spot to spot, are what is at stake; and what shape the casualties take...!

Aqua Di Lara... cool, but is it drinkable?

2008-04-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

'Tis catwalking time in Toronto, city renowned for that (or desperately trying to be renowned in that field - too) and one of the Haute Couture "griffes" (i.e. labels) that is attracting the lion's share of the attention is one Aqua Di Lara! Now, the fact that this stuff is cool is not in question - for if outright mutant get-ups like those things Gaultier and other designers have their models parade in are "cool", then so is this!
But is "this" digestable in any way, though...?

Semaine de la mode de Toronto : Aqua di Lara
Découvrez les créations de Aqua di Lara à la Semaine de la mode de Toronto version Printemps/Été 2008 presenté par fashionWATCH.

Semaine de la mode de Toronto : Aqua di Lara

As with everything else deemed to be "HOT" - there are imitators, never quite so "duplicators" though, no...

Semaine de mode de Montréal : de grands noms foulent le tapis rouge…

Semaine de mode de Montréal : M Siamo par Marisa Minicucci

Ampleur, volumes contrôlés, retour du court, blousons, bustiers, ambiance coquine, « french kiss »!

Semaine de mode de Montréal : Muse par Christian Chenail

« Glamour » pour la cause : Mitsou Gélinas

« Glamour » pour la cause : le défilé
Athêlia et Andy Thê-Anh présentent un défilé dans le cadre de la soirée « Glamour » pour la cause, un événement au profit de la Fondation du cancer du sein du Québec.

« Glamour » pour la cause : le défilé (partie 1)

« Glamour » pour la cause : le défilé (partie 2)

Perhaps there is truly more than meets the eye here, indeed - perhaps. Me, I tend to immediately think of an Alain Souchon song whenever I see all these zombified catwalkers parading around; and I start singing it in my head too, reciting the chorus line with gusto - "On voit le vide à travers les planches"...!

;)

Wooooooooooo - cough-cough

2008-04-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Life will go on, without Flair...
The show MUST go on...
And they're already setting up BIG things, see:
THE GREAT KHALI VERSUS THE BIG SHOW
Y2J... uh, doing something...
ECW CHAMPION - KANE! The Big Red Machine!
But no more Flair in there - no more "wooooooo"

Ric Flair finally retired last night
(no, this is no April's Fool Joke -
or rather "joke" yes; no need to capitalize here!)
No joke, indeed -
we know this had to happen, sooner or later
All the other Horsemen are retired!
So, now, Flair retired too and here is an excerpt of what I think about the way that it all came to transpire - and more
(you know me; there's always MORE with me!)
Read on:

36 years, 16 world championships and several incarnations of the 4 Horsemen later, Ric Flair finally delivered the speech he had meant to deliver months earlier - but I suspect someone suggested to him to go with the "career-threat from Vinnie Mac" plotline instead, at least until the alleged "grandest stage of them all" that is reputed to be Wrestlemania.

And so he did. And, after playing out scenario after scenario of "narrowingly escaping with his career intact" against the likes of "Umaga" (ugh), William Regal, Mr. Kennedy and Vince McMahon (sic) himself (none of which would have EVER been deemed worthy of being "the one" to put the legendary Nature Boy Ric Flair into retirement) SLICK RIC finally did choose the opponent to whom he would "pass the torch" so to speak - Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. HBK. The guy who idolized Ric Flair and whose only true heartbreaking has always been victimizing his own heart. This is just another example of it - though an allegorical one as it truly doesn't mean a thing to whom Flair lost his final match - he just needed to be pinned for three seconds in order to call it a career. In order to be allowed to walk away from the squared circle; something several fans of his never wanted to see happen. But every other member of the Four Horsemen is GONE already (save one - Sting aka Steve Borden, and he wasn't a Horsemen long. Double J, Jeff Jarrett, was also a Horseman but, according to Arn, he "doesn't count") and so, every other member being GONE already; Flair had to ride into the sunset too. *Space Mountain* had to close down.

The final farewell, the last speech, left something to be desired though.
(...)

THIRTY-SIX YEARS...
Man - and most of that AFTER a plane crash accident that had doctors telling him that he'd NEVER WRESTLE AGAIN...

Thirty-six years is also almost as long as I have been on this EARTH!

No wonder I am a lifelong Flair fan;
as long as I have been aware of him, anyway
and it it definitely possible that I was a Flair fan BEFORE I even became aware of the guy's accomplishments...!

Accomplishments that are all in the realm of make-believe and showmanship though; but that's okay since I myself am but a dream weaver, a scribesman, and, besides, NONE of our deeds, no matter WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH ON THIS PLANET AND IN THIS LIFE, will remain - what will remain, are our SOULS and their worthiness is for Someone Else to pass judgment upon...

But I am digressing again...
Back to wrestling!

Now that Ric Flair is gone - we have, for a few years at the very least, Ric Drasin to turn to! "The other Ric" aka "The Equalizer" is awesome, I tell you: as much as Flair is an improved Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, Drasin is an improved Superstar Billy Graham (and no, Ric D is not to be confused with Dave Sullivan, WCW's wrestler once known as the Equalizer too - just as Superstar B.G. is not to be confused with the televangelist!)
Plus, when Ric Drasin makes a film (the projected "The Midnight Bell" pitting vampires against wrestlers) it will be closer to cult classic material like masked luchadore Santo used to make - not 'Baywatch' crap as Ric Flair participated in (the highlight of which was when he told Kevin Sullivan to lay off Macho Man Randy Savage on the beach, after a sneak attack by the man Flair calls (affectionately?) "the devil"...
(No, folks, that's not quite "classic fare" - not in my book...!
In all fairness to Flair and all that; he wasn't a Shakespearian actor! He played the crowd well (can still do it, in a managerial role, à la Classie Freddie Blassie - if he so chooses) but that is not actual "acting"... But I digress yet again...)

I am proud to count Ric The Equalizer Drasin among my top 40 MySpace friends!
Couldn't find Flair on there though; apparently, "Flair don't do MySpace"...
Well, maybe he will now that he's retired...?

Flair eluded a forced retirement (forced by DEFEAT! Storyline-wise, anyway...) against the likes of Mr. Kennedy, soon-to-be crowned King of the Ring William Regal, Umaga, self-proclaimed legend-killer/reigning world heavyweight champion Randy Orton, Triple H, MVP and everyone's boss himself, Vince McMahon and handpicked the one that he would allow to put him in the retirement home/Hall of Fame - HBK Shawn Michaels.

His 36 years in the business gave him that right - at least.

Still, he was put away by a superkick to the JAW.
Ugh.

Such a business that treats its longest-standing and constantly proven and performing model employees like THAT may not be the "ideal business" at all...

Nice send-off they gave "Naitch", sure...
complete with chants of "thank you Ric"
and clapping aplenty -
but still...

McMahon is happy now: he put away WCW and now Flair too.
Next up: tarnish Rey Mysterio, humiliate Paul Wight and crush every last bit of WCW's legacy and nostalgia amongst the fans the same way they are so "brilliantly" making use of old NWA/WCW footage on WWE 24/7 and Eddie Guerrero's widow on their second-rate brand, Smackdown...
Oh, and old WCW titles and the Cruiserweight division as well.

Again, to read more about how I feel about it,
check out the Lukewarm Blog.

2008-03-10T00:31:00.001-07:00

Your Minis, My Minis, Our Time Wasted?

2008-02-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

YourMinis.Com enables YOU
(and 1001 corporate entities) to create widgets that will "spread the word" on whatever it is that "rocks your world"... sort of!
Great promotional tool, I am sure...
But it is also a grandiose waste of time -
when one realizes that all that these widgets do, when they finally do download fully and start functioning properly, is, no more no less what we can readily see on any specialty cable channel with a simple flick of the remote!
Case in point: the Rolling Stone widget below...

True, we are in the I.A. (Information Age)
and all the fuss here is justified for THIS sure is INFORMATION!
Indeed, data is flying high and low all over the web here...
But perhaps it is a tad excessive
to create a widget just to countdown to the release of an umpteenth unnecessary (aye, OBSOLETE) video game based upon AMERICAN FOOTBALL... (ugh)

I mean, who needs this stuff
And who needs to buy another MADDEN game - keep the cash
or donate it to the millions upon millions who are dying of HUNGER all around the world! John Madden doesn't need the dough - over there, they sure do.
Maybe they'll make a widget about REAL NEWS - news that MATTER.
Until they do, news that Madden watches and other sports trivialities are the object of (another) 1001 widgets - like the scoreboard widget below...
(How many scoreboards do you NEED - sheesh!)

More entertaining and educative, they also have the AOL VIDEOS widget on their extended menu... Far more entertaining and IMMENSELY more informative than other widgets that they sure do have in spades, all over the place...
(such as the WWE variety I made fun of here!)
At first glance, it is NEWS... hence, it should MATTER.
But then, upon closer inspection, we notice that those
are clearly not world-shaping events there, in these
much-vaunted and lauded AOL videos...

Well, at least I also found a CLIMATE CRISIS widget
Now here is something useful, about what really MATTERS out there, in the REAL WORLD, and that is affecting us all...
Oh wait; it's another promotional tool, is what it is!
For Al Gore's flick - An Inconvenient Truth!
We were had, again! Ugh!

All in all, it is such a pity;
such fine "widgetry" - and it is all wasted
on such trivial, worthless subjects!

WCW's Revenge At Royal Rumble 2002 - 6th Anniversary

2008-01-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Flair defeated McMahon in 2002
but this came just a tad too late
as WCW had lost to the WWE in 2001.

:(

Anyhow - celebrating the anniversary
of this decisive victory over the enemy
seems a trifle devoid of meaning now
as Ric Flair remains in the WWE
(in the EMPLOY of one V.K. McMahon)
and has even been faced with
an ULTIMATUM coming from McMahon;
the retirement ultimatum, no less!
Flair has to win every single match he's in
(now - as he nears 60 - he has to be
really, REALLY like an Ubermensch
as his entrance music,
Thus Spake Zarathustra,
infers him to have always been...)
otherwise - he has to retire
the next time he loses one single match!
(Luckily, that does not apply
to any tag-team matches or
battle royales he might participate in!)

Flair just defeated MVP on P-P-V
(this year's Royal Rumble, yes)
just to keep his career going!
He's avoided retirement so far
half-a-dozen times
(and that is the way they want it
to feel and look like too; Flair
narrowingly avoiding "the end"!)
against such opponents as
Randy Orton, Umaga, Triple H,
William Regal and MVP
(It is a nice gimmick -
I wish it hadn't been used though!
While it generates interest in Flair
-with every match his possible last-
it makes it appear to be that
a legend like him does not get
to choose when he walks away?
That should never be the case!
It isn't the case either -
but that Flair agreed to this
storyline, makes it seem as it is
if only within the context
of "the storyline"...)

Next up will be... Mr. Kennedy -
ironically the guy that I saw as
the heir apparent to both
Ric Flair and fellow Horseman
Tully Blanchard!

And he could instead turn out to be
the man who "puts away" Ric Flair...?!?

Maybe Flair will choose WHEN he retires yet
- and pass the torch to Kennedy, as I'd hoped?

Not quite the way I was hoping to see it happen though.

We shall see!

2007: Truly A Laudable Year ('A-' for effort) But Still...

2007-12-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

(Just add two...)

2007 saw all of the following take place:

- Dubya repeating the same mistakes, ad nauseam
- California Burning...
- Buddhists Bashing becoming a trend... (almost)
- Britney frowning...
- Pretty much all of her competitors in jail,
at one time or another...
- While the "Ninja Burglar" carried out his business
without a care in the world...!
- Miscarriages of justice continued, worldwide...
- Luciano (Pavarotti, not me!) and Evel quitting on us
- Several other irreplaceable stalwarts depart as well;
way too many of them to list here...
(If you really want a summary list, check out
the Lugubrious one - not the Laudable one!)
- The U.S. Dollar taking a tumble...
- The Loser's Loonie (aka the Canadian currency)
rising to parity with the U.S.'s, as a result...
- The high cost of living (and dying) rising too...
- Oil prices soaring as well (yeah, they're burning hot!)
- Australians electing a new leader man...
- Canadians still losing the odd soldier in Afghanistan
- Americans losing them twice as fast in Irak
- Venezuelans cried over trivial things, really,
due to Chavez (bottom picture)
- Kenyans re-enacting Rwandan actions (almost)
- Iran and North Korea bracing for a fight...
- Russia choosing sides...
- China too...
- Islamist radicals calling for the beheading
of most everybody who ticks them off...!
- And the Pope speaking of "peace"...
- While Luminous Luciano makes more enemies!
*LOL*

Yeah - all in all, a very laudable, productive year!

But, at the end of it, we have very LITTLE
to show for it!

:!

Last Year's Mistakes Are Still Fresh To The Memory, Eh?

2007-12-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

What makes her think she can find someone "special" this year
When she made such a poor judgment call just a mere 12 months ago?
So people never learn... indeed!

2007-12-25T01:08:00.000-08:00

That's a very laudable attempt
at having a jolly, happy, merry one...

Yup!

Nice Try!

:!

2007-09-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Ahh - PUMPKIN LUMINARIES!
You gotta love those...
And these are FIRE DEPARTMENT
APPROVED!!!
No wonder it was SPAM
in my INBOX...
:!

One month in advance too - wow
The Miracles Spam Works!

To Every ONE Who's Stopped By My Latest Blog Site (To Admire The Banner I Made For It...?)

2007-07-13T14:28:00.001-07:00

WOW - Seven New Wonders Of The World!!! (WTH?)

2007-07-08T23:52:00.000-07:00

...
The New 7 Wonders of the World
were finally announced during
the Official Declaration ceremony
in Lisbon, Portugal
on Saturday, July 7, 2007
- 07.07.07.

Verily, for the announcement and unveiling,
they couldn't have picked a better
place than A Vila Branca...! ;)
Not in a million years -
nope!

The following sites always will remain
Official New7Wonders Finalists,
- a batch which was nominated
from hundreds of sites
around the world:

The Acropolis, Greece

Alhambra, Spain

Angkor, Cambodia

Statues of Easter Island, Chile

Eiffel Tower, France

Hagia Sophia, Turkey

Kiyomizu Temple, Japan

Kremlin/St. Basil, Russia

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Statue of Liberty, USA

Stonehenge, United Kingdom

Sydney Opera House, Australia

Timbuktu, Mali

HOWEVER...

The New7Wonders organization
was happy to announce
the following 7 candidates
are the ones to have been OFFICIALLY
elected to represent global heritage
throughout history:

Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Christ Redeemer, Brazil

The Great Wall, China

Machu Picchu, Peru

Petra, Jordan

The Roman Colloseum, Italy

The Taj Mahal, India

Hmm...
Seems to me that
those are
pretty ancient in their own right...!

Not as ancient as the Colossus of Rhodes,
but still...!!!

(And speaking of which -
the Colossus having been in the 7,
I am sure that sparked the fire
for Americana to dream of
seeing their Lady Liberty
in there as well...!
Be content to make the finals,
and keep carrying that torch, eh?)

Maybe the good ol'USofA
will score some big points there
come the next ballot
scheduled to deliver
the Seven Wonders
of the World of Nature -
on o8.o8.o8.

Then again -
maybe not!
;)

75th Anniversary DVD releases... Yay! Yawn!

2006-09-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

I left a comment about this (more or less) celebrated event too, yes, on the review site linked above (click on this post's title or the picture to go there):

Poor Universal Monsters - they are so poorly treated that one is tempted to see them as the paupers, with the princes being their funny versions in the Munsters and Addams Family! :!

I guess Universal thought a 75th anniversary is really no big deal at all... And that makes me wonder if they will not simply omit to celebrate the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Phantom of the Opera and my favorite, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, once THEIR turn comes...! :(

But then it hit me: I know what Universal will do when the time comes to celebrate the "next batch"...
They'll do it with REMAKES! A flurry of BAD REMAKES starring the most bankable stars they can find TODAY!
I can see it: Brad Pitt fending off the Gillman...
Brad Pitt - singing at the opera!
Brad Pitt - all wrapped up in band-aids and stuck in a sarcophagus!
AND Brad Pitt growing HAIR - as he gets WOLFY! *LOL*

Brad can sport fangs too: t-shirts could be made out of his return to vampiric folklore, t-shirts that read "BRAD BITES"... *lol*

Angelina Jolie could be such a pretty Bride too - if they made an umpteenth Franky remake and if she wasn't so dykey too!
*LMBO*

(Angelina is no Julie Adams - ok?)