Basic updates 1

Been a busy week, which has kept me from writing here much... or at all. On the other hand, I have written about twenty pages for my first classes as a graduate student, and am waiting for the grades on the first of those essays that I have turned in. Hopefully they won't turn out too badly; I did work pretty hard on them, after all. Some news and notes, though, just in general:

1: I love writing for my hermeneutics and New Testament historiography class. The work is fascinating and I absolutely love learning more about Jewish culture and religion.

2: I am excited for TNA picking up two new women, Kat Waters and Christina Von Eerie. Hopefully this means we'll see these two ladies and my favorite wrestler, Daffney, in a program , and that TNA has realized that dark, pale and tattooed is just as beautiful as tall, tanned and blond.

3: I am pissed off all over the place about Serena Deeb getting released form WWE. She seemed like a nice lady and is a greally great wrestler, and has seemingly been released for basically NOTHING. It just makes me wonder who she refused to sleep with, especially since Batista isn't there anymore. They used to treat the whole Divas division like his personal brothel.

WWE NXT 2: Go Kaval!

So, Kaval got a chance to show off his freestyle rap skill tonight. He doesn't have quite the "flow" that Lord William Regal has (who does?) but he managed to rip everyone else on the NXT roster to shreds and to subtly plug TNA, the company which gave him his first big break back in 2002/2003. A little bit later, in a match against Husky Harris, Kaval amazed again with some of the stiffest kicks that I've ever seen in a wrestling match and a really, really brutal looking Warrior's Way off the top rope, and when Layla closes her eyes she hears his voice (!). I was disappointed to see the old school brute Husky cast aside in favor of Miz Jr., but it's good to see Kaval getting the recognition he deserves.

In other news, given Linda McMahon's recent remarks on Lance Cade I will not be purchasing anymore WWE pay per views or financially supporting them in any ways. I will give my support to Ring of Honor and TNA, companies which at least sort of treat their workers like human beings.

WWE Summerslam

Heck of a Pay per view tonight! I'm normally not a huge fan of WWE, especially since the release of Mickie James and the necktie debacle which lead to the (temporary) release of Bryan Danielson, but the show as a whole was pretty good tonight. Melina looked like an absolute dream of an Aztec sun goddess, and her absolutely wonderful shriek (I adore lady wrestlers that scream) echoed throughout the arena. I was afraid that her knee had buckled during the match, and she may end up needing to work a slower, more methodical style, but she in general looked great and dominated Alicia Fox totally.

The night's big story, however, was the American Dragon's return. Here is your proof, naysayers, that a small man without an obvious gimmick (like a luchador) can 1) get pops in a big arena and 2) absolutely, totally and completely dominate the ring with his pure intensity. Okay, I'll admit it... I kind of giggled when Danielson stomped to the ring looking like this very, very angry Hobbit, but then he got in there and absolutely kicked the crap out of Darren Young and tangled him up in a seriously vicious looking submission hold. The whole match looked good (even grandpa Marvin Marsh, aka Bret Hart) but the highlights were Danielson's total mastery of the ring and Skip's total domination of Morrison and Truth. I may write more later when I am not so 'wow!' but, well, this is just proof that WWE can still surprise me and make me excited, and I'm glad about that.

Joshi 11: TNA Xplosion, Daffney vs. Hamada

This match makes me, along with many other fans of women's wrestling, wonder why TNA Xplosion is a B-show, relegated to the United Kingdom and the internet and why, oh why, we only ever get matches involving the Beautiful People and Angelina Love on TNA Impact on Thursday nights. A short list of things I noted about the match:

1. They need to turn Taylor Wilde heel, like, yesterday. The girl cannot cut a face promo to save her life, and continually comes off as an unlikable little drip anytime she gets near a microphone and opens her mouth. From mocking Daffney a few weeks ago before their match, to her little 'talk to the hand' moments when discussing her feud with Sarita tonight, this girl was made to be a jerk. Funny thing is, too, that she doesn't really come off like that at all, in other venues like her twitter, but she seems like such a naturally snarky little machine on camera that I can't believe they don't run with that a little bit.

2. Daffney is hilarious. Her character work is almost perfect... the slurry voice, the sort of vague expression and the sense of 'wow, I really am a total psychopath... and I'm really happy with it!' make her totally engaging. I've been a fan of hers for years, since WCW, and don't even mind when I don't get a tweet back cause she gets so many and has had so many knocks on the head, and just don't understand why TNA won't push this girl to the moon as a manager, mouthpiece, wrestler... something. Her new teeny top hat and dress combo was nice, too... the blue, black, her very pale skin and her eye make-up mesh together and give her a sort of ethereal, unearthly look.

3. The match itself was good. Hamada looks as stiff as heck--how can somebody that adorable be that vicious?!?!--and Daffney sells like a champion. I really don't get why some reviewers said this was a terrible match, and am convinced that they are just somewhat prejudiced against women's wrestling or, perhaps, just don't watch the matches and grumble about them anyway.

4. Taz sounded drunk, like he usually does. He does a good job of selling the girls like they're made out of gold, but some of his lines are real groaners (and/or oinkers... I mean, jeez, dude). Although I will always love him for giving us the 'Zombie Hot' moniker, he often just sounds dumb. Don West wasn't much better, though, and either is miles better than most of what we get in WWE, so I won't complain too much.

5. Post match brawl was a little weak, due to time constraints, but I'd love it if this set up a little feud.

American Joshi 11: Why Daffney is more awesome than awesome.

1. She's one of the two best screamers in wrestling, and is the original Scream Queen. MsChif has a rawer, throatier shriek, but Daffney can go higher and has better vocal control.

2. Her finishers, the Lobotomy and the Daff-knees, look legitimately painful but she never botches them and makes me think she's killed some poor girl.

3. She may fall down, go boom and hit her head, but in a couple of week's Daff always struts back to the ring and shrieks her little lungs out.

4. I'm not normally into girls with tattoos--the blue tends to look dingy--but Daff's green, red and yellow ink is incredibly vibrant against that lovely, porcelain pale skin.

5. One of her newest tattoos, in fact, is a little Ganesha.

6. She's a Southern home girl, from Atlanta, GA (and Cybil,TX), got her start in WCW and currently works in TNA, both of them Southern promotions.

7. She was something interesting to watch in WCW in 1999 and 2000.

8. She seems like a sweet, genuine, funny, goofy chick and has a good creative mind for wrestling character development.

9. She wears tiny top hats.

10. She took the drop onto the tacks and had to get twenty tacks dug out of her head.

11. She can have convincing chemistry with anyone, including the delightfully large-headed blond Canadian midget Taylor Wilde and a hibachi grill.

12. "I'm a boogeeeeeeeeer!"

13. She's a better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin.

14. Pale, quirky brunettes have got it going on.

15. She has the most wonderful, underrated promos in wrestling.

16. She's zombie hot and/or a pale, sadistic tomato what screams a lot.

17. She makes a creepy, pink shark mask kinda cute.

18. "Santa's gonna knock you out! Santa's gonna knock you out! Santa's gonna knock you out! Santa's gonna knock you out! Huh!"

School Stuff 2: Began reading today

Today I started reading on the history of the early church and on the historiography of the New Testament, as part of my first semester as a seminarian. I am very excited about both of these subjects and am already learning a lot. The most interesting aspect I have learned from the church history book is about the three different strands of early Christianity... a heavily Jewish sect centered itself in Jerusalem (which followed circumcision of the flesh), a strand which blended Jewish prophecy/law and Greek moral philosophy arose under Paul in Antioch in Syria (which followed circumcision of the spirit) and a third, more mystical strand arose in Ephesus, dedicated to the beautiful, esoteric Johannine writings (and which, like the Antiochan school, followed the circumcision of the spirit). This area, in Ephesus, was also where it is believed that Mary (mother of Jesus) died, and is where the first Marian cults arose and gained prominent in AD 600 or so. The Council of Ephesus, held in this area, is where it was promulgated that Mary was the 'Mother of God,' a decision which both promoted the divinity of Jesus and their own particular patron. Ephesus was also an area associated with Artemis, a pagan goddess associated with virginity and childbirth, and this could help to explain why a Marian emphasis arose in this area.

I also did a great deal of reading, tonight, on how the New Tesament developed as a canon over the years. Most interesting, probably, were the rigidly defined, medieval "levels of interpretation." One was supposed to read the book first literally, then tropologically, then morally and then analogically. In direct opposition to this was the Renaissance interpretation, which came from the Northern European Christian humanists like Erasmus, which held that the the other interpretations would flow out of the literal interpretation rather than existing as discrete entities. This reading also revealed a long tradition of critical theological reading which belies the notional that critical readings of the New Testament are a recent phenomenon. I look forward to reading more tomorrow!

WWE NXT 2: I'm beginning to think this thing is rigged O.o

Okay, WWE NXT, could we at least pretend that what we're doing is on the level, here? We know that you have a strange, sick fascination with Joe Hennig... my sister does too, even though he is about as interesting as an episode of Wrestlicious: Takedown. Your fascination with Alex "Reggie" Riley is more understandable--I like the guy, too... he's entertaining--but your dedication to denigrating men who've already proven themselves as wrestlers and gotten pretty darned over in spite of your attempts to bury them is grating. There is no way that Low-Ki's kick would have been weaker than Alex Riley's punch... the quadriceps and posterior chain are so much more powerful than the arms and shoulders, even with added torque from the lats, that it makes the whole thing look vaguely ridiculous.

Anyway, it's good to watch Kaval and Husky Harris fighting each other here... again... tonight. Maybe Kaval will finally get a pin against this big boob, as this interactions have become a little bit tepid considering the poor little Dragon Ball Z character hasn't gotten to win a match in almost forever, and I can't really get excited over him getting clobbered again and again and again and again. Oh well... he got to kiss Layla, my precious little English muffin, last week, and that makes him a winner in an entirely different and more impressive arena!

American Joshi 10: Melina is back! Yay!

Melina Perez has returned to the ring tonight, against the little toasted white girl Alicia Fox, and had the California crowd pretty much eating out of her little hand. Me too, as a matter of fact. With her inky black hair, fiery Latin temper, and the fact that she can be best described by the word "bendy," Melina is one of my favorite ladies in WWE, and I'm overjoyed that she has returned from her injury whole and better than ever.

The match was intense and stiff. The crowed was fully on Melina's side, even rudely chanting "you can't wrestle," at Alicia Fox a few times. I mean it's probably true... she doesn't really have any talent, but it's just not the kind of thing a polite person would point out, you know? Anyway, after exchanging lots of very rough spots, Melina won with her weird looking, flippy, sunset power bomb, the Primal Scream. After a nice loud shriek--the third best in wrestling, behind Your Soul's Tormentor and the Scream Queen herself--the match was over and the RAW women's division was one step closer to respectable... which is one step closer than Wrestlicious wil ever be.

Wrestlicious TakeDown Episode 3: I. Cannot. Watch. This.

Okay, so I finally decided to give the little upstart wrestling promotion, Wrestlicious, a chance. This project, started by lottery winner Jon Vargas, is an all women's promotion with a less violent outlook than the ChickFight tournament, less serious than SHIMMER Women Athletes and less, well, frankly insane (and awesome!) than Women Superstars Uncensored. Wrestlicious is a light hearted mixture of wrestling and sketch comedy. Now, after hearing this, I go in already a little bit nervous, but it could be cute and the episode I'm watching features Daffney, so I figure, what the hell, right? It can't actually be physically painful to watch, right?

I was wrong.

After the first couple of sketches (involving some woman named Leyla Milani, Jimmy Hart, of all people, and Madison Rayne), I decided to not totally ignore the building pain in my head and fast forward to the main event, a tag team match between Ghouls Gone Wild and Lacey von Erich and Madison Rayne. I mean, it's got Daffney in it, playing the role of 'Draculetta.' I mean, I've loved Daffney since she was bouncing around, giggling and screaming on WCW. The girl can act, and she brings a weird dignity to the silliest roles, like Shark Girl and a fake Sarah Palin. Heck, the original Daffney character was pretty ludicrous (anyone marking for David Flair is), and she has only recently developed the kind of complex, multifacted character you can really sink your teeth into (and boy howdy has she) in TNA. But, here nor there, this chick can make hopping up and down and chanting, 'Santa's gonna knock you out!' somewhat compelling, so I figure that this match can't be too bad.

I was wrong.

Not even the astoundingly awesome Daffney, who plays Draculetta to the absolute hilt (and the pretty cool Madison Rayne and the... well, she's trying, Lacey von Erich), can salvage this match. It's a mistimed disaster and poor Daffney/Draculetta--who is usually very athletic, for a pure brawler--seems to keep getting tangled up in the long, maroon dress in which they've inexplicably mired her. I fast forward to the end, watch Lacey go over, and say goodnight. Far from not causing me physical pain, this episode has caused me to have a heart attack, three strokes, diabetes and cancer of the kneecaps, all in twenty minutes. Since this episode was such an epic fail, in my opinion, and is the only one featuring my goofy, slightly countrified Gothic Goddess, I probably won't watch another. Maybe it'll improve?

Men and Ladies on the Internet 3: Good Advice from a smart fellow

As a big fan of SHIMMER Women Athletes I was, yesterday, spending some time at the website of fellow SHIMMER fan, John Hyperion. His blog is really good, and he dedicates a lot of time to reviewing SHIMMER matches, feuds and angles in depth, so I'd suggest hopping over to check it out, if you ever get the chance, and if you like what he says (and if you trust me about what is downright awesome) then mosey right on over to the SHIMMER site and buy yourself a couple of DVDs. John is also a fellow commenter on the awesome Sara Del Rey blog and offers some really great advice on his blog for fellow fans of American joshi.

His advice, basically, boils down to his first point: don't be weird and perverted. When you look at Taylor Wilde, do you just see a hot chick, or do you see a slightly large-headed, rather nerdy Canadian with awesome technical wrestling skills? When you see Daffney, is it just a hot, somewhat Goth chick, or is it a goofy, funny, genuinely nice (and insanely profane) girl from Atlanta (as an ODF gotta holler at a GA home girl, there), with some of the best promo skills in the business today? Is Sara just a statuesque Amazon, or is she the dreaded Death Rey, master of the Royal Butterfly Suplex (that move looks badass)? I'm not trying to say that these women are not completely beautiful, because all three of them are, but you lose so much when you look at a woman--any woman, famous-ish or not--as a prop instead of a person. I know that the Internet's dominant philosophy, Objectivism, which proclaims that Ayn Rand is God and Rorschach is her prophet, sort of lends itself to this kind of thing, but you should feel some kind of moral compass inside telling you that it's not right, whether you're interacting with one of these young workers or with Rebekah the Pretty Barista from Barnes and Nobles. Don't be that guy.

I was also going to include a ramble (another ramble) about the posters at a particular message board and their treatment of Amy "Lita" Dumas, but it seems that the thread in question has disappeared. It had plenty of great examples of the kind of stuff that Mr. Hyperion is talking about--and also some great, if misguided, snaps back by the original poster who is getting to work with Miss Dumas in a professional sense, right now. Such a great opportunity to make a point and all wasted, now! Alas!

Injury 2 and Class Schedule: Another thing I cannot do...

Okay, so tonight, after having sat still for a good portion of the day (I was doing my best, honestly... I want this knee to heal up!) I decided to go out and exercise a little bit. I did bench press yesterday, topping out at a 405 pound triple, and incline bench press topping out at 345, and so I thought that punching a freaking punching bag, which mostly just involves swinging your little fists, would be okay, too, and maybe give me some nice cardio work. It turns out, though, that there's a certain amount of torsion in your legs, when you punch, and now my hamstring is absolutely screaming at me. Looks like I'm just going to go back to bench pressing/incline benching and doing chest supported rows on alternating days, for a while, until this thing sorts itself out completely.

On the other hand, I'm super happy that I've got my class schedule worked out for my first two quarters! I'm taking Church History I and II, New Testament Literary Orientation I and II and hermeneutics (my absolute favorite subjects). I ordered my books today, for a whopping (not really) 426 dollars, and can't wait for them to get here next week so I can get into them. Hopefully I haven't lost all of my ability to write, since I've a good bit of that to do!

ETA: I'm also planning on doing another lengthy ramble about masculinity, epic failures and (God help us all) Mark Madden in the next couple of days.

Joshi 9: Go Hamada! Go Taylor!

After a long-ish (for Impact, anyway) , hard fought match, Hamada-san and Taylor Wilde are the new TNA Knockouts tag-team champions! This match was excellent and Hamada-san's in ring skills are just as good as they were the last time I saw her on TNA TV what... six months ago? Seven? Gosh, it's been a while. I've really missed that fierce little apple cheeked Japanese queen of the ring. My only complaint tonight is that we didn't see her vicious Michinoku driver variation, the Hama-chan driver, but Taylor's German suplex always looks pretty good, and I'm glad to see new and different things happening in the Knockouts division. The only thing really missing is Daffney... I haven't seen her on Impact in several weeks! We need a tiny top hat infusion, STAT!

The Beautiful People segment tonight was good, too. Poor Lacey! She's just trying to be sweet and helpful, but forgot the important lesson that you should never, never, never get between two girls having a cat-fight over 1) a man or 2) a piece of jewelry. Considering TBP view the KO belts as big, shiny hunks of gold jewelry... well... you can see where the might lead to tragedy. I did like seeing Vel Vel run over to aid/comfort her after she got flattened, though, and am looking forward to seeing where this storyline might go in the near future.

School Stuff 1: What am I going to do?

Okay, as of this morning, I had planned to return to my alma mater to obtain a teaching certification... actually two of them, in history and physical education. Unfortunately, without telling me, things have changed, and now alumni have to reapply before taking more classes. Because, obviously, my qualifications have changed since LAST FREAKING NIGHT, and they won't be able to let me in until January. Which, dumb blond on the phone, is winter, not spring. Sigh.

Anyway, I now have to decide if I'm going to go to the Southern Theological Seminary, which I could register to right now, or American Public University, which I would have to wait a couple of days to register to, if they let me back in. I'm probably going to go with the seminary option, as it's a slightly more prestigious school and a more focused, professional degree. The whole situation is downright irritating, though!

Strength and Deconditioning 10: Oh God my freaking leg...

Okay, last night I got injured in a fairly embarrassing way. As I was walking out to the gym to do my squat workout--which was gonna be big and huge and epic, like, you know, around 455 at the end! maybe 475!--I slipped on a wet patch of grass and went arse over heels. My left leg was thrown out and hyper-extended pretty awfully. I heard a kind of a ripping noise, and found myself unable to pull myself to my feet for a few moments.

Hoping that it was just a little twinge, or something, I hobbled to the gym, after I had gotten to my feet, and tried to squat my warm-up, to see if I could handle it. Only 225, basically little baby weight. I mean, ladies and gents, I do my high rep rows with 225. It was so heavy, as I was going down, that I couldn't imagine all the forces of gravity pulling on me any harder. I rolled the weight over my head and dumped it. After managing to put my glasses back together, and to somehow dead lift the 225 one handed and one legged back onto my rack, I crawled to the house and collapsed. Not the most pleasant night, you understand.

So, now, for a couple of weeks it looks like I'm going to be a 'bench press only' athlete. As my hamstring, which I think is torn a little bit, heals, I'll work dead lifts and, eventually, squats back into my programming. Hopefully it won't take too long... I hate sitting still!

Joshi 8: What a hell of a match!

I feel weird and uncomfortable saying this, but WWE RAW actually featured quite an excellent match tonight on the ladies side of things! The only problem with it came near the end, but that'll come after all the good stuff that I have to say.

Between Gail Kim, Nattie Neidhart and Jillian, I'd say that these Diva chicks need to get on out of the ring before they get hurt. Nattie showed a lot of great, dominant strength and--even though she tragically had to take the pin fall from Alicia Fox--she looked like a queen among women. Gail Kim took the sickest bump of the week against a ring post, and I hope she's okay, but that said something about the absolutely toughness of that young lady. Of course, I shouldn't be too surprised... she was able to hang with freaking Christian Cage back during their days in TNA, together.

The segments best moment, though, came at the very end. While Alicia was bragging about how she dominated everyone, and could beat everyone (although... she doesn't seem to have beaten Michelle McCool or my English muffin, Layla, yet, but whatever), Melina returned to a gigantic pop, disproving the idea that no woman can get over these days, and flattened Alicia with a Primal Scream. We've missed you Meilna, and we're so happy that you're whole and healthy!

Strength and deconditioning 9: To gear or not to gear

Something that I have wondered about for a few months now is the place of gear in power lifting competition. I began by thinking that the use of gear--any gear!--was cheating and that no lift accomplished with the aid of anything more supportive than a particularly tight pair of gym shorts should count for towards your personal record. These opinions were held before I started doing any serious max work, this summer. The first time I squatted 525, benched 405 and pulled 455 on the same day... I felt all my joints just crinkle up, like off brand french fries, and my central nervous system sizzle like a cheap steak. I had to go home and lie for basically three days to recover. I was suffering from a great level of deep muscle fatigue and nervous exhaustion. I can only imagine how awful it is for men who are attempting to pull, push or squat twice that amount. If that was attempted without some supportive gear, even just wraps, I can imagine that exhaustion and missing the lift would be a best case scenario; total joint failure and a loud ripping noise seems more likely.

I am still not a fan of the more elaborate set ups. One does not seem to need a suit of armor made out of vulcanized rubber for squatting and dead lifting, and one certainly doesn't need an extra layer or two of pectoral muscle for bench pressing. This is sort of sneaky and gives an unfair advantage over lifters who don't use that kind of equipment; there are many power lifting federations which don't even allow double-ply equipment. I am a strong believer in taking care of your joints, however, and may even buy a Z-suit, elbow wraps and knee wraps in the future, to make sure that I don't suffer any injury to body parts where I am prone to it.