Currently Reading: Episode 6

On The Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac

This might be my favorite book ever. I read the original my senior year of high school, and it was huge for me. Kerouac's style is so unique and brilliant, it's hard to do it justice in a review. All the praise for this book is well earned. This unedited, uncensored version is even better. There are 4 very insightful essays for the first 100 pages that dissect the creation of the original version, and how Kerouac had to modify it many times due to publishers being stingy, or because he couldn't use a person's real name in fear they might sue. It's really interesting. Then the scroll itself begins, and it is more or less a 300 page continuous paragraph. A glorious paragraph. Unfiltered Kerouac is just really inspiring and his mastery of depicting his world is pretty amazing. The way he describes everything, and he's mostly describing people drinking and being wild and looking for kicks, is poetic. His attention to the minor characters and details is what really makes him a special writer. One such character was some bum they met on the road, who claimed he was going to "Canady." This made me laugh. You get the sense that Kerouac is just absorbing so much. I can't do this book justice in a review, it's something you have to experience. It's just amazing. A great and true story. 

Of note, when I  started reading this during the summer, I somehow came to the knowledge that they are making a movie, which is coming out next year. Could be interesting.....the cast looks okay...Viggo Mortensen as Old Bull Lee is going to be fantastic, though. Hopefully it's good and it brings more attention to the book.I'll be seeing it. Here's the imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337692/

When Wrestlers Make Music: Part 1

When wrestlers make music.....it's usually a bad thing. I'm going to run down the top 5 best and therefore worst forays into music by professional wrestlers, starting with Chris Jericho's metal band, Fozzy. Now, I believe Fozzy started as a cover band featuring members of Stuck Mojo. It seemed to start off as a semi-serious project for Jericho, but over the last couple years, they've released albums of original material....and it just ain't so hot. Jericho is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, but I can't say i'm a fan of his singing. Fozzy has some decent musical chops, but they just...aren't that great. I'm sure they work hard, and they seem to be getting more buzz, but just listen to the track posted, and judge for yourself. Lyrics are not their strong suit, and that's a theme that we'll run into quite a bit......When wrestlers make music.

Rating: 3/5

The next twelve months are going to be quite interesting.

As you may know, i'm a HUGE MMA and Pro-Wrestling fan. They are both cut from the same cloth in my mind and there are many parallel threads. Going into next year, they both look to continue to evolve and get bigger, in different ways. Two of the biggest developments are as follows:

This is going to be insane. An entire channel dedicated to Vince McMahon's Empire? WWE 24/7? I've heard there's going to be a reality show starring WWE Legends, which is a terrible idea, but if it gets some broken down old men some paydays, i'm down. WWE needs to evolve next year otherwise UFC is going to continue to beat them in the PPV arena. That brings me to my second development, which everyone has heard by now :

As big as the WWE Network could be, UFC on FOX is even bigger. This is taking the sport to the next level and a guaranteed increase of eyeballs for the UFC. The most brilliant move for Dana White in what has been a banner year for them. This ensures they will get even bigger and do great business this year. Giving away a Heavyweight title fight on free T.V. doesn't hurt either. They could reach an over saturation point with too many events next year, but we'll have to wait and see. 

It's going to be an interesting year.