Hey, readerland! How we doin, my friends? Doing well, I hope. Without further ado, let's get this started.
First off, let me say thanks to those people who contacted The Watcher about his blog. I know he appreciates it and so do I. Anything to help a fellow blogger and wrestling fan out. Speaking of which, The Watcher has a new blog up called the 5-Five-5, where he looks at the top 5 wrestlers, moments, and matches of the week. The first part is up at The Watcher's 5-Five-5 Part 1. The other two parts should be up between now and Sunday, so go check 'em out. And now, on to the good stuff.
So, it's Wrestlemania season and Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Trish Stratus, Diesel, and Booker T have all made returns to the WWE since the Royal Rumble. A lot of people are enjoying it because of the nostalgia factor. My own personal opinions aside, this whole nostalgic feeling got me thinking about what my first memories were or wrestling, gaming and music.
As far as wrestling goes, I can remember Verne Gagne taking on someone who may or may not have been Nick Bockwinkel in what may or may not have been the AWA, but I remember Verne specifically. I was around four or five at the time and I remember wrestling a stuffed panda bear (a doll, not a REAL stuffed panda) in our family room. I was a veritable Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, jumping off of that yellow chair and deliver a splash.
I can remember watching Andre the Giant bodyslam Big John Studd and watching Hulk Hogan bodyslam Andre the Giant. Andre was always one of my favorites, even if (in retrospect) he wasn't a great wrestler, he was an attraction and he always had my attention.
As far as gaming goes, my first recollection was going with my brother-in-law (my sister's husband...I THINK they were married then) to his game and hating it because I had no idea what was going on. However, I had the bug. Since then, I've been in seven gaming groups and played 2nd Edition AD&D, D&D 3rd/3.5 Edtion, GURPS, Shadowrun and now Pathfinder.
One thing I remember is from playing in college with my friends Chad and Steve. Chad was the DM and Steve and I were making our way through...something Chad had put together and Chad said that my character had to answer a riddle in order for us to keep going. Just joking around, as Chad was looking for his paper with the riddle on it, I answered with the answer to the Sphinx's Riddle. I was right and Chad was SO upset. It was hilarious. Chad and Steve kicked me out of the room so that they could come up with another riddle. I guess I was awesome before I knew it. Heh.
Music is something that I remember listening to when I was little, but I didn't really "get into" it until I was a teenager. My earliest memory of listening to the radio was listening to the Dr. Demento show with my sister. Since I was probably 6 or 7, I didn't get a lot of the songs, but they were fun to listen to. It was awesome when I worked overnight and we found a local station playing Dr. Demento. That was THE Saturday night thing.
I've never been a big concert goer. The last concert I went to was in 2001 (I think) and it was The Brian Setzer Orchestra and the show was opened by the Brethren Fast Racing Team. The show was awesome, no doubt, but the funniest thing about the show was that the BFRT was sponsored by Budweiser and the whole show was sponsored by some other beer brand that I can't remember off the top of my head. The BFRT get up on stage and one of the songs they perform is called "Budweiser." So, they're singing this song about Budweiser while the other beer's logo is being projected on the dance floor and the curtain behind the band.
While I'm on this nostalgic kick, there are a few things I miss, as well I things I remember.
The first one is the USA Network's Kung Fu Theater. I remember trying to get my mum to stop for McDonald's drive-through or something similar so that we could race home after church Sunday afternoons so that I could watch bad kung fu movies. The only time of year when there was a break from Kung Fu Theater was during Wimbeldon.
Check out the commercial for the show here: USA Network's Kung Fu Theater
I also miss the TV show Roller Games. I seem to be one of the few people who actually remember this show. It was sort of like roller derby's answer to pro wrestling. Everything was scripted and highly dramatized, but it was still good fun.
Honestly, there are lots of things that I miss and I realize more of them the older I get. Ah, well. At least there's always nostalgia.
Anyway, thanks for reading, everyone. Until next time, take care.
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