Book Friday: Rage

School shootings.

When events like this happen, you can't turn a blind eye to it. Why? Because it's everywhere. It's unavoidable. I believe in almost all school shootings (and I'm no expert, folks), the shooter rarely survives the ordeal - so, we're left with the question: why did so-and-so commit these atrocities? Unfortunately, investigative reporters and police have to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of these people's lives to try and see the bigger picture. It involves a lot of guess work and interviews with those who claim to truly know these people.

In "Rage", King (under the pen name, Richard Bachmann) crafts a scenario in which high school student Charlie Decker holds his class hostage. Throughout the novel, Charlie recounts his life and the events that led up to that fateful morning. We are also treated to a glimpse into the lives of those held at gunpoint, the students.

In the years following the book's release, there would be at least two events that occurred copying the books plot. On both occasions, the book was found in the possession of the shooters. After it happened, King strongly urged that the book be pulled from publication.

After finishing "Rage", I can see why King no longer wishes to have the book published. He basically turns Decker into somewhat of an anti-hero as the reader is subjected to sympathizing with him. He generally seems like a likable kid who just happened to have a hard upbringing. All the signs were there; abusive father, strict mother, unpopular at school and repeated sexual frustration - they can make someone jaded towards the world. I found myself confused as to how I actually felt for him, despite the fact that he had no regard for human life - I guess that's why it was pulled from the shelves.

Overall, this book blew me away. It was kept so tight that all the drama wasn't wasted. I flew through this so quickly as I had a hard time putting it down. It's probably a good thing that it's not longer published based on the two incidents involving real life school shootings, but I think that if you have a chance to read it - maybe you should give it a chance. That is, if you can find it.

Book Friday: The WrestleCrap Book of Lists!

This is easily the most fun I've had reading anything about pro wrestling.

I've been a fan of the sport for the better part of 21 years. During that time, I've sat through some of the most painful garbage that has ever been given the opportunity to be on television. However, that's part of being a fan of this ridiculous form of entertainment. It's just as much fun to watch the stuff that actually "works" as it is to bitch about the stuff that sucks.

That's probably why the guys that run Wrestlecrap.com are so successful. They've managed to build a popular website that is dedicated to poking fun at the "sport". Not only have they created a substantial internet presence, they've written 3 books about the industry. The Book of Lists is the 3rd entry and is just as excellent as the first two.

R.D. Reynolds and Blade Braxton cover such important topics as the "Most Pointless Additions to the nWo", "The Worst Gimmicks of all time", "The Most Non-Sensical Celebrities To Appear At WrestleMania", "The Most Filthy Sounding Wrestling Names of All Time", and my personal favorite "The Most Ridiculous Wrestling Moves of All Time". For anyone who knows anything about pro-wrestling, Reynolds and Braxton's description of Scotty 2 Hotty's "Worm" finisher is flat out hilarious.

I do the bulk of my reading an hour or two before I hit the hay each night and 9 times out of 10, my wife is laying sleeping beside me. This is by far, the hardest book I've ever had to read and at the same time, remain totally silent. I can't tell you how often I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from laughing; it was just that good.

Pro Wrestling Wednesday: The Best of RAW: Seasons 1 & 2

I started watching pro-wrestling around the age of 6 and at the time, I believe my weekly exposure to the WWE had been Superstars. That was until 1993 and WWE began a weekly TV show named "Monday Night RAW". To the best of my knowledge, we here in Canada did not get to watch it on Monday nights until sometime in late 1997. For the first few years, it was shown on various channels and was usually delayed a week or two. So, my knowledge of the first two "seasons" (and I use seasons lightly because the show never really ends) is pretty limited. Therefore, when I picked up "Monday Night RAW: Best of Seasons 1 & 2", I was treated with something that inspired both nostalgia and excitement.

In other words, I remember very little of this. In a way, it made this box set that much more enjoyable. It takes a lifelong wrestling fan to appreciate a compilation that contained no less than 6 Doink The Clown matches, so you can see how this wouldn't really appeal to the modern day WWE fan. Never mind the fact that the majority of it was "evil" Doink, it's still a hell of a lot of Doink. DOINK!

The box set covers the first two years of the program (93/94). That being said, you've got a lot of classic encounters on here. There's the build-up to WrestleMania X featured pretty prominently including the Razor Ramon v. Shawn Michaels stuff and the '94 Royal Rumble debacle. There's also a lot featuring the Hart family including Owen and Bret as well as extended family members, Bulldog and Neidhart.

There's even some unexpected great encounters including a 2 out of 3 falls match between Marty Jannetty and Doink the Clown; who would have EVER expected that! Also, you've got the classic WWE Championship match with Bret Hart defending against 1,2,3 Kid. A match that prompted a standing ovation from the announce team.

Speaking of the announce team, it varies from any number of combination involving Bobby Heenan, Vince McMahon, Curt Hennig, Gorilla Monsoon, Rod Bartlett (just terrible), Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and of course, Randy Savage. Savage is just incredible - his commentary is just as good as his in ring abilities. Imagine the man responsible for some of the best and most non-sensical promos in WWE history with a microphone constantly attached to his head! You cannot get much better than that.

All in all, it's a solid box-set that truly took the best of what those first two years had to offer. It's easy for me to say how much I enjoyed it considering I was brought into the company as a fan during these years. I can associate this with my childhood. If you ask a younger fan to watch this today, it may be cool for them to see guys like Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Bret Hart..but they're not going to care about 99% of the roster.

Movie Monday: The Fighter

A few years ago, over the course of several days, myself and my buddy Ryan watched the entire Rocky series. Since then, I've maintained a small appreciation for boxing movies. Granted, I haven't seen all that many, but I love the drama associated with a big fight feel. When I heard about all the hype that had been surrounding David O. Russell's biopic for boxer Micky Ward, I knew I had to see it.

I can say with complete confidence that if Christian Bale does not take the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, then something is amiss. Bale knocked it out of the park with his performance stealing the show from all involved. That's not too say that I didn't enjoy Whalberg and Adams - both were solid but were overshadowed by Bale. With the way things are going, Bale has already won 3 awards and is currently waiting the outcome of another two, so, I think he's got a good shot.

According to my sources (i.e. wikipedia and random articles online), Whalberg trained for the better part of 5 years for this role. The movie was consistently delayed over and over again but Whalberg toughed it out. It's unfortunate where he did such a great job - that he was snubbed by the Academy. Whatever, the Oscar's aren't everything anyway. On another note, Bale only picked up this role when both Brad Pitt and then Matt Damon dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Nothing wrong with either of those actors, but I have a hard time believing that they would have put so much dedication into the role - especially the weight loss factor that Bale is known for; having lost 63 pounds the past for his role in The Machinist.

In closing, I have to say that Lowell, Massachusetts looks an awful lot like Sydney, Nova Scotia. Even Ward's sisters looked like anyone from around here - which is not a compliment. It's even sadder that it's the 1980s and people still look like this today! I couldn't shake that.

New Cousin, Upcoming Reviews & some other stuff.

Yeah, I forgot to post on Thursday. Actually, that's a lie. I didn't forget, I just couldn't find the time. So, I'm going to go ahead and post it now.

So, I have a new cousin! Behold the photo below:



Her name is Miku (am I spelling that correctly?) I have no idea, I guess it's correct. She's doing really well, which is fantastic. I love my Uncle and his family so much, I wish him nothing but the best.

* A few things are coming up that I'm fairly interested in. Chris Jericho's new book is due to hit the shelves in the coming weeks and I couldn't be more excited. His original is one of the best wrestling biographies ever written and ended with 11 years to spare. Also, there is a documentary being released all about WrestleMania and it's 27 year history - gotta get my hands on that one.

* I've really been enjoying writing this blog the past few weeks. It may surprise you, I'm really lazy so by posting these entries, it's a lot less work what with the complete lack of code writing. I'm very pleased. I've got a few specialty reviews coming up next weekend. That being a video game review and a "product" review.

Book Friday: Hardcase by Dan Simmons

Over the past 2 years, I’ve discovered that my favorite books to read are crime fiction. I fell for the genre when I picked up my first Charlie Parker novel and have never looked back – reading stuff by Stieg Larsson, Connolly, Koontz and Jeff Lindsay. With those authors, I have yet to even crack open the proverbial briefcase of crime fiction but hey, you got to start somewhere.

When perusing good reads one evening, I noticed a few reviews for the Dan Simmon’s series about hard boiled ex-PI, Joe Kurtz. In his debut novel, Kurtz is freshly released from prison following the murder of a no-good-nik (can I still use that phrase). It should be noted that Kurtz spent 11 of those hard years protecting both himself and the son of a prominent mob boss. Upon release, Kurtz is granted a meeting with said boss and finds himself in employment once again. This time, Kurtz is working for the mob in an effort to track down the family accountant who recently went missing.

This book was really fun. Unlike a lot of crime fiction I read, they delve into extensive back stories and character development. That’s not too say that Simmons writes simple one dimensional characters, it’s just that that’s not really his focus here. I don’t want to speak directory for the author but it reads like a Hollywood blockbuster. I mean, you’ve got the vengeful anti-hero, the conspicuous plot and an array of enemies that mirror your average big budget action film. You’ve even got the unstoppable monster who rarely speaks! C’mon! What else can you ask for?

The writing is pretty straightforward; there are a lot of one liners and violent action scenes but you can’t really find fault in that as it works really well. There’s one particular “fight” scene that had me laughing out loud. Anyone who literally kicks someone’s ass can always get a chuckle out of me.

I’m game for the next in the series and the only reason that this received anything less than 5 stars is just personal preference. While I did enjoy it, it’s not up there with the more intricately plotted novels and characters I’m used to. If I could give it 4 and a ½ stars, I would. Either way, it’s a sold outing in my book.

Pro Wrestling Wednesday: Batista: Unleashed

I hated this book.

It now has the distinction of being the first book that I've ever started, that I could not bring myself to finish. Oh GOD, I hated this. If I had anything else on my shelf that I could have picked up to read before my next splurge of reading material, I would have. I probably should have read the phone book.

This man is a grade-A douchebag. He is such an asshole in the first 75 pages that I wanted to punch this book in the face. I've never, EVER, read anything so self-centered and offensive in my life. I am a massive, MASSIVE fan of the "sport" of pro-wrestling reading my fair share of autobiographies over the years and I can't say that anything comes CLOSE to being this terrible.

Awful. Just awful.

TV Tuesday: House - Season 6

6 years later and it's STILL by far my favorite show on television.

That being said, it's strange that the show rarely ever disappoints me. You would think that I would be somewhat critical of each episode or each minor change or the progression of the characters..but I'm not. I don't know if that's because I'm biased or turn a blind eye to things I don't like and embrace the familiar elements. I'm not sure. I just love these characters so much. Some of them are awful yet they're always heroic - when it comes down to it, they save lives. I will commence with the briefest of brief summaries:

Season 6 picks up with House already in voluntary rehab. We know that he needs to kick his drug habit and has to find a way to avoid the hallucinations that brought him down to that dark place at the end of season 5. The 2 hour season premiere is just fantastic - probably the 2nd best episode in the show's 6 year run (the finest belongs season 4's 2-part season finale). As the season progresses, House battles with his psychiatrist while going through the motions of his drug free life. We see a lot more interaction with Wilson as House and his buddy move into their own apartment and hilarity ensues. House finally stops trying to hide his feelings for Cuddy as the season draws to a close with another suspenseful season finale. What happens? I guess you'll have to watch it.

There are some quality special features on this set. Before Broken is a digital short detailing the time between House's arrival at Mayfield Hospital right up until the season opener. There was no prepared script, no schedule, no plan - it was just sequences of Hugh Laurie appearing to pass the time set to the song, "In Repair" by John Mayer. It's understandable that they couldn't make this part of any episode but it's so fantastic that it would have been a shame for it not too see the light of day. There's also a short behind the scenes featurette dealing with Hugh Laurie's directorial debut. It's pretty laid back as they mix some behind the scenes shots with cast and crew interviews. They also throw in two featurette's detailing the incredible amount of work it had taken to build Mayfield and staff the place. They said that there were close to 30 new actors needed for the psychiatric hospital so, I'm guessing it took some time to learn the names. Then, of course, you have the 3 obligatory commentary tracks.

All in all, as far as content goes, it's pretty par for the course when you consider past season collections but as an overall collection of episodes, it's pretty solid. I really hope this show is no where near it's end - I'm hoping for a few more years of content.

Plus - this season had this episode ending. I LOVE that song.