Category: Musings

I Am Not ALL IN… But Would Watch It On TV

So the big story as of late is that ALL IN, the independent wrestling show thing that is organized by Cody (Rhodes) and the Young Fucks… er, I mean, Bucks (sorry; slip of the tongue and all that jazz) that’s being held at the Sears Arena in Chicago, has sold out in roughly half an hour. And without the benefit of television promotion, hyper hyperbole through the “usual” media circuits, or that WWE machine that people claim to hate but still support. For the record, I don’t hate the machine; just the shitty shows they’ve been putting out in the past few years.

As for ALL IN selling out, that’s pretty impressive. I’m sure we all had our doubts as to whether they could pull it off with what little in terms of promotion they had at their disposal, but the fact that they were able to pull it off shows that there is some genuine interest in what Cody and the Fucks (sorry, I mean Bucks… GODDAMIT WOO!) have in store for this show.

Think about it… there was nothing in terms of big-scale promotion; only lots of social media stuff and even then, not all that much. And on top of that, they didn’t have a card on there. It’s just three guys with a vision of sorts who wanted to put a big indy wrestling show at a rather big arena… and for the most part, their vision paid off in half an hour. There’s an interest in this show and now that there’s an audience, the real work begins.

Whatever the case may be come September – whether it ends up being a card for the ages or the proverbial drizzling shits – this is a good sign for the indy circuit and I wish Cody and the Bucks (got it right this time) all the best in their upcoming show.

Now if only they find themselves a nice streaming deal so that the rest of us can watch this thing…

About The Hasbro Deal…

So I suppose I should offer my five-cents on the news regarding Hasbro’s acquisition of the entire Power Rangers brand from Saban and what my thoughts are on the matter. I could offer my thoughts on the matter, but the only thought that comes to mind is… meh.

I suppose there are concerns going forward. After all, the brand has changed hands twice before and the change in leadership has somehow degraded the overall product even further down. The Disney-era stuff started off well enough despite early misgivings before falling somewhat off the rails and while I haven’t seen enough of the current “Neo-Saban” line of products to form a solid opinion, what little I have seen hasn’t given me much hope.

I guess there is something of a cautious optimism and perhaps even hope for the best in that Hasbro will bring the brand to bigger heights. I’d like to think that, given the numerous properties under their belt, they’ll treat the brand as well as they did those, for whatever that’s worth, of course. I mean, they got a new logo that looks current yet slick. They’ve got a new season based on a somewhat ancient Super Sentai series that has something of a unique look. It’s a promising start, if nothing else.

In any event, I shall wait and see where this leads. And then I either praise them to the heavens or damn them to hell.

Or, you know, I’ll just shrug my shoulders and move on with my life.

Slowly But Surely Getting There

So… good news on the leg front. I’ve been walking around a bit more and was able to squeeze in a session of SFB with my brother. If all goes well, I should be back on my feet in a week or so and business can return to normal.

Just a quick post this time around. But I’ll be back later on with news on the future of the blog. (Good news, I hope.)

Later,
Dave.

Leg

Hello, everyone.

So I guess an update is in order since the somewhat cryptic posts that I left this past Friday. And that update is that I had a brief stay at the hospital due to a blood clot in my leg that has been causing me some rather sufficient pain. And because pain and me go hand in hand like a Roman Reigns Wrestlemania Main Event and an approving audience, I spent the better part of a Thursday at the emergency ward and another trip on Friday morning to get the necessary treatments, which includes a year’s worth of anticoagulants and some light activities.
Since part of that prescription means spending most of my time in bed and nowhere closing to a seating position, I spent the better part of the weekend bed-ridden while making minute efforts in trying to walk under my own power. The good news in this regard is that I’m slowly but surely starting to get enough strength in my leg that I can walk around (with some difficulty, but not too much) on my power for about fifteen minutes several times a day.
The bad news is that I’m still a long ways to go before I can comfortably sit at a desk to get shit done. And that means the period of inactivity here on the blog – save for the few text posts I have in reserve – continues and may very well continue until the end of the month. In fact, I’m sort of sneaking this one post in and my leg isn’t holding up very well. So I guess I’ll be doing more walking and lying on my back.
On the bright side, however, being incapacitated means I’m able to relax and brainstorm a few ideas. Possibly even getting stuff ready to go when I’m ready to get stuff done. I’m aiming for May to get back to work (both online and in real life) and a week or so later should see videos return in a big way. I’ve lost a lot of time because of this clot and I want to catch up as much as possible.
So I bid you adieu for now and would like to give a piece of advice; if something seems off, don’t wait until the last possible moment before it gets serious. Get it checked out before it becomes something bad.
Anyway, got to go.
Later,
Dave

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection Coming To Nintendo Switch Fall 2018

Source article:
https://nintendoeverything.com/snk-40th-anniversary-collection-will-only-be-on-switch-official-announcement/

Now this is a nice addition to the Switch library and a fairly unique one as well, as it will feature SNK’s games catalogue pre-Neo Geo. So among other games that will be announced along the way, you’re getting all three Ikari Warrior games, Athena, Psycho Soldier, and even the NES classic, Chrysalis! Not only that, but certain arcade titles will also include their NES ports as well, so you can compare and contrast between the two versions, which is a nice little feature.

Spoiler: Some of the NES versions are total garbage. I’m looking at you, Athena.

Yes, there was that SNK Arcade Classics Zero that came out for PSP years ago, but that was a Japan-only release. The closest we got were the scant number of SNK titles released as digital-only PSP mini releases for a couple bucks a pop. This collection seems to be the better value and it’s also exclusive to Switch, so folks who are into SNK and like their old classics will have a reason to jump on Nintendo’s hybrid console thing.

See? Lots of good stuff on Switch and something for me to look forward to when I eventually pick one up.

No Edge To Be Had With This “Super” Gamepad

$25.19 CDN is way too much for hot garbage.

So I went to Best Buy the other day and noticed something that was still on sale; the “Edge” Super Gamepad for the SNES Classic Edition plug-n-play console.

This is kinda funny when you consider that Best Buy hasn’t sold an SNES Classic Edition console in months, while one or two may be spotted at a Walmart around these parts. Not only that, but Walmart has Hori-produced wireless gamepads while Best Buy was shilling their own long-wired NES/SNES Classic controllers under their Insignia brand.

And then there’s the Edge Super Gamepad.

I picked up one of these months ago and I do believe it was even featured in a Pick-Ups video. The package isn’t too bad; in addition to the gamepad, it also came with a USB-adaptor cable thing so that you can use the gamepad (or any other SNES/NES/Wii Classic Controller gimmick) on your PC with this cable. It also came with a specially made guide that covered the games featured on said SNES Classic Edition, as well as featuring some rather crude artwork.

The editor of the guide is a man named Mike Kennedy… and suddenly, Pat Contri is shaking his head in disappointment.

But back to the Edge Super Gamepad… it’s not all that great.

On the one hand, the controller feels good in the hands, the buttons work great, the turbo fire switches are a nice addition, and the 10 feet of cable that the controller comes with is a nice little offering for those who would prefer to keep a fare amount of distance from their mini-console of choice.

On the other hand, the D-Pad is stiff as shit. It may look the part, but it sure as hell doesn’t feel it. If nothing else, it feels a hell of a lot like those cheap aftermarket controllers for the NES or SNES; a D-Pad that not only has a tendency to response only MOST of the time, but will sometimes not give you precise movement. Want to go left? Press left, but don’t inch your thumb downwards or else you’ll crouch.

I was going to make a video on this thing, but at the end of the day, it simply isn’t worth the effort. If you have an SNES Classic Edition and need extra cord, just buy extensions and be done with it. Those will serve you way more than the Edge ever would. I’m grateful for the USB adaptor cable thing, but I’m fairly sure I could’ve gotten one cheaper online if I wanted to.

MMA Fighter Guy Chael Sonnen Roasts Former MMA Diva Ronda Rousey

The context: Former UFC Diva Ronda Rousey did a couple interviews with ESPN where they asked about her future in the MMA circuit and Rousey dodged the questions. While this might seem like a dickish move on the part of the hosts to touch on a part of her life that she doesn’t want to touch, there’s also another side of the story, as MMA fight guy Chael Sonnen explains in the video.

My take? I really have none since I haven’t seen the interviews in question. I have seen Ronda in other interviews and… well, vapid charisma vacuum is perhaps the most generous statement I can levy her way. So, I don’t know. I can’t agree or disagree.

This Chael fellow? Hell of a promo in this video. Why isn’t he signed to an acting gig? He’s got talent.