FMK: The Cubs, Stephen, John Wayne

 *Blog post was started on April 26, 2021.

Is it because I am a Cubs fan? I do not believe in a god, but you cannot help but wonder why the world always taunted the Northside ball club for at least 71 years. This statement just shows I am an optimist since I do not really think their fortunes were that bad from 1908 to 1945. They were in the world series at least once a decade during that stretch. How many ball clubs get to claim that?

Do not bring up that there were only eight-teams in each league until 1967. No one picks of the Blackhawks not hoisting the cup from 1961 to 2010. For the first eight years in that stretch, there were only six teams total.

It has kind of been a down/up kind of day. That may expand to the past weekend, but I do not know how much content I have to joke around with in the past four days. This may require a movie review to be attached for it to be ready to publish on the 29th. If that had not just pushed me down again, I got a podcast to produce tonight. To realize that I have to stay up and watch a flick, where is the fun?

The worst part is realizing that I need to publish a blog post to promote the next episode of the podcast. At least it is the art that is keeping away from driving on the wrong side of the road when I am playing "Watch Dogs: Legion". What is the advantage of the concept of left-hand side driving?

But in the meantime, I better not let this slip. We all know someone was either not too bright or too lazy when it came to the name of Stephen, but did those that they named also need to be assholes as well. And why are they mocking me?

Two weeks ago, a gentleman that I waited on in the near lane of the bank's drive thru clipped one of its pillars on his way out with the machinery that his truck was hauling. The damage is all cosmetic, but the building shook. I should not call him an asshole, but the other two Stephens are bad company.

My next customer was paying off a home equity loan and expected to and was trying to insist that he only owed the remaining balance. This gentleman did not understand that the loan is the same as a second mortgage and that the county had taken out a lien on the house. Thus we needed to pay the county to release him from the loan. Hence, he needed to pay an additional $61.

Why was I not made aware of this when I signed the loan?

Unfortunately, I cannot speak for the lending officer.

How would you react to this ridiculous charge?

Unfortunately, I have never been in a position to buy a home.

I fear for Champaign because this Stephen was a detective with the municipal police (He was wearing his badge like Ice T.). It may have been permissible if he worked for the campus pigs, but I digress.

And today, a Stephen who did not know how to officially cash his wife's check also failed to realize why there is a bar on our drive up drawer (It is there to hold items in place.). The wind led me to dashing out of the bank to search for the missus's payroll check.

That is a signed pay check.

I know sir.

It's your responsibility. It through off of your drawer.

You did not put it under the bar sir.

Fortunately for him, he found the check. I am just bitter because I advised him that the deposit slip for his first transaction had flown off as he was placing the check down. It is so tempting to let Twitter know that all of his bank account info is blowing about Champaign and how much was in the account. And all these thoughts came up before I found out...he was a Stephen.

Then there is/was the wrestler in Springfield who everyone knew as Hernandez but wrestled under the name Bradley Stephens. Thus the birth of Russ Staley and the end of the wrestler Russ Stevens. I have a conclusion that may excuse the rest of the Stephens of the world, but that is giving away too much information about the bank.

 

 

Bunch of John Waynes out there. - 9gag

 

Today (April 27) presented me with less Stephens. There were still some. The first call I picked up that was not from our regular home-bound senior citizen was from a Stephen, but he kept it simple. With boomers, you cannot expect them all to be able to online bank.

Our only tricky customer had a more ridiculous name, Jon Wayne. The customer was younger than I. Why would anyone born after me have that name regardless of how it was spelled? Please tell me woke culture is going to cancel that.

My coworker who also dealt with this customer said they did not get where my rant was going. There was only one evil John Wayne. I told her that the point was, you do not hear about anyone with the middle name Harvey.

Does anyone know anybody with the middle name Wilkes? Do we prefer serial killers over political assassins?

I wanted to obtain a little more knowledge to support my argument, thus Google was turned to. This is where I rediscovered John Wayne was a stage name for the actor. He could have beaten Stallone to Marion, so there is another reason to be disappointed in that actor. Another discovery were the numerous article about the middle name Wayne being associated with violent criminals. Of course John is still the most common male name in this country, so you know a lot of these murderers are going to be John Waynes.

And it was not too much longer before I learned about Australia's Granny Killer, John Wayne Glover. Any other John Wayne that immediately comes up on Wikipedia, they are all involved in combat sports.

What is in name? I think a degree of violence or brilliance. If it is to be associated with violence, there is a lack of brilliance. If it is to be a misspelling, at least double down on it. I am looking at you Stephen Colbert.

 

NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast - Episode 15: When in Doubt, Take It To the Outer Space (Opera)

  

NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast

Episode 15: When in Doubt, Take It To the Outer Space (Opera) (Just Press Play)

Read more: https://html.com/media/#ixzz6jIeBsAn5

After communicating with a girl for two weeks via online dating apps only to come out to a bar to meet her on a whim and then be ghosted as if 20 minutes in person showed that I am not meant for three dimensions, it is great to know I have family. I made it to the bar safely. There is no way that I reeked of the Midnight Moon Strawberry Moonshine that I was consuming as I recorded this week's podcast.

Was it that I was not impressed by her Chase "Darth Vader" debit card she paid for her meal with? I work in retail. There have been hundreds of those cards that I have seen. It is perplexing to develop a connection online only to not hear anything from her because of a per chance meeting did not go fantastic. Girls who have shot me down are more considerate.

This is just an indicator that I need my friends to step on and go beyond expressing interest in recording podcasts and actually commit to it. If free evenings were not a commodity, then I would not have to deal with bar meetings and actually get to know a person on a date. Consider my love life folks like I am considering your vacations.

With that said, the idea of a Danny Elfman and Tim Burton themed episode has been expressed on the Internet. I will not mention who I worked the concept out with, but I know others who are tempted to volunteer for it. Email me at russthebus07@gmail.com to find out more.

One of those who expressed interest was this week's guest, ThePoeticCritic. Like all of us sophisticated cinephiles, she dug all of their early collaborations from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" to "Batman (and perhaps "Returns")". The closest thing to this concept that we really discuss in this episode is how I think "Mars Attacks" being released so soon after "Independence Day" perhaps prevented an early revival of the Space Opera that Stuart Gordon's "Space Truckers" could not jump on its own.

Letterboxd's The Poetic Critic and I examine the who/what/why/how the late 70's and early 80's fell in love with the concept of Jack Sparrow in space. Okay, the answer is "Star Wars" but lets give Stanley Kubrick some credit for "2001: A Space Odyssey" and more importantly "Silent Running" for setting the stage.

The biggest question we address is how did anyone think that creating galaxies could be done in 90 minutes. How much raping and pillaging can the "Ice Pirates" commit? Do all of Roger Corman's knock off count as a cinematic universe? How many space TV shows did the 70's have to offer? Should this genre have disappeared?

TPC and I share some debate on what constitutes a Space Opera and some of the features. She also points you in the direction of the best knock offs...or at least the most interesting ones that the world has to offer. 

As a bonus, I return to the "Ally's Accessories Shop of Etsy" trash features and look at the time between "Remington Steele" and "007 Goldeneye" by viewing the Pierce Brosnan starring feature, "The Heist" from 1989. It is good to see him playing Irish, but he might not be meant for 90 minutes (see "Survivor").

10 Best Gonzo Science Fiction Movies in the Whole - Gizmodo

Raising the Minimum Wage: Two Jobs Means Too Many Douche To Deal With

*Blog post was started at 4:55 pm CDT, April 20, 2021.

Despite the snowfall, hell has not frozen over. In other words, my date tonight had just got cancelled. I really need to get out of this two job, 13-day work week life style to allow my source more time to be rejected.

But the world is larger than I, so who am I to say that Hades has been hit with a frost? Derek Chauvin, an asshole who only wanted to abuse those he was employed and swore to serve, was convicted of murder. How I typed that statement, it seems I am stating that he had no intention of killing George Floyd. Let me clarify that with the cocksucker knew full well that his actions could kill his victim. It is the same reason why I do not support handgun ownership.

My apartment requires I have renters insurance. I am not in the bank's lending department (If my selling as a wrestler was questionable [I was just ahead of the curve Jim Cornette.], do you think I should try to convince someone to sign their life away to me?), but I believe home owner insurance is a requirement in getting a mortgage (I think that is involved with the concept of escrow.). You are paying to protect everything that you own. Is the handgun to protect those family heirlooms and photos that you will run back into a raging fire to take with you?

I proposed in a @catbusruss tweet the following:

There are more #guns in the #USA than citizens. The least we could do for #guncontrol is stop the manufacturing of these murder devices for #cowards.

It was also shared on my Facebook page where it got a reaction from a follower who said, "That would just make it tougher for good guys to get guns." I replied with that it is currently easy for everyone to obtain a gun and that is why gun violence is so high.

Recalling how many exchanges we had before I realize I that their Facebook argument was based on feelings instead of a fact (Mine was that there are more than enough guns in this country.). There was a response from them where they stated that it is safer to have a gun when you only have seconds and it will take the police minutes. This was obviously challenged by, "What if you assailant has a gun?"

The point is facts do not care about your feelings. Too bad if you express the facts, feeling are going to be hurt. This is leaving me in the position of how do I request my manager to tell the righteous vegan next to me to quit watching talking heads from Fox News at the job. Life was so much easier when my coworker was watching Twitch streams of Team Rocket Pokemon Card unboxings, "Rick and Morty" episodes, or "Marvel Strike Force" tutorials.

The conservative talking head discussing why the Chauvin verdict will not change a thing and how black culture is profiting from alleged police misconduct. This gentleman was black, so he must know what he is talking about and further justifies white peoples' opinion that there is nothing we can do to help those who will not help themselves. After the verdict was read, they were quick to express their opinions about how it may be right, but black Americans are victimizing themselves.

I know my selling of excessive physical pain was not a strength of mine in terms of being a performer, but when one is seething naturally, I would think it would be noticeable to a "libertarian". Do they not thrive of owning left libs?

Needless to say that I wanted to shout about why there is so much outrage about cops killing black people while there is a supposed lack of outcry about those who are killed by other blacks. I wanted to put them in their place by saying that white people in power do not provide the resources to stop these crime or enact laws to prevent guns from being used in these acts. It seems that blacks are upset that not only do they have to worry about the poverty they are forced to live in, the people who protect them are more than willing to murder them because this country does not care about them.

Because expressing an opinion about something you do not personally experience can be well meaning, but out of my realm, let me make it clear, the person I wanted to educate was white. I am sorry if any of my readers are offended that I have decided to take a stance that is not based on my own experience.

Of course, I would be seen as being the aggressor for trying to silence their ignorance and lack of compassion. Who is going to be considered the intolerant party? I have had the reviews at work, so I know it would be me. This makes me glad that I moved out to Champaign or Mom would have had Dad cut me off years ago for telling her to quit expressing her racism.

Now I am wondering. Do I give them the Hulk Hogan treatment? Phones have recorders. Are they worse than the Hulkster? At least with him, we watched for the coitus.

I guess this really just speaks to reading the room or appreciating that religion and politics are something that should not be taken seriously in a professional environment.  Unless it is the politics of the management bodies. The politics of the rich would give me a reason to no longer work for them. A coworker's lack of knowledge, does not seem worth the career change.

But again, how do I tell the manager that the opinion they are expressing is going to cause a lot of shit when I will be framed the shitstirrer.

18 Things That — I Kid You Not — Famous People Actually Tweeted

NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast - Episode 14: Rocky and His Cinematic Liver Shots

 

 

NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast

Episode 14: Rocky and His Cinematic Liver Shots (Just Press Play)

Read more: https://html.com/media/#ixzz6jIeBsAn5

It does not seem like I could have made it as a wrestling promoter. I appreciate that people are inquiring about coming on the podcast, but none have committed to finalizing an appearance. My problem is, how do you be the right kind of pushy?

This is something that I need to figure out because Sylvester Stallone is no David Cronenberg or Stuart Gordon. There may be some weaker features in those two's filmography, but none feel like the gut punchess that are bad Sly films.

To his credit, Stallone has a greater deal of features that fit into the NinetyForChill.com parameters. He is very aware of what films he is doing for a paycheck, and which one he is trying to be an artist with. When it comes to the art, he is usually involved with the script or is helmming the feature. Of the movies I watched, "Cobra" was the only one which he penned, but it was produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. In other words, it is a Cannon feature and you need to listen to the Screen Drafts CANNON podcast to find the art they offered.

 

 

I will acknowledge that I did not get to binge as much as I intended. "Over the Top" may have been too much for me to handle. When I visited my dad yesterday (Three hours in a car after 13 days of working may have depleted my energy to rewatch "Judge Dredd".), the apology I offered him for taking us to see Nintendo's "The Wizard" was rescinded. He was no longer a martyr, but a hero. He did the right thing by taking the hit that was taking us to see theflick about bonding over 8-bit video games instead of introducing us to a "misguided" arm wrestling feature about coming together as a family.

My selling of this idea may have been off. A thanks was definitely deserved for putting up with "Super Mario Bros" and perhaps reiterated. When the week started with his birthday that I missed, he deserved so much more.

All of the Stallone films I watched with the exception of me closing the "Escape Plan" Universe are from the 1980's. When the 90's came along, action movies got bloated. This really makes me regret not rewatching "Judge Dredd". It was a comic book movie from the 90's that did not try to push the two-hour mark. All rarities are gems, right?

What we get this week is my visceral takes on the following Sylvester Stallone features:

• "Nighthawks" from 1981: This is Rutger Hauer's introduction to the podcast.
• "Cobra" from 1986: This was originally suppose to be "Beverly Hills Cop", and you can kind of tell, if you look pass the subtle fascism.
  
• "Over the Top" from 1987: Menahem Golan gets behind the camera to make you ponder the trauma of his childhood and how arm wrestling is suppose to fix it.
• "Escape Plan: The Extractors" from 2019: Stallone probably did it with an assurance that everyone would keep their voices' volume down to his level.

This is being typed up at the day job before I finalized the audio, so there may be an additional feature thrown in their. I am looking at "Judge Dredd" or the letter H addition to Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Review.

I hope you enjoy this briefer episode. More importantly, I hope that you would like to become part of the podcast. If you want to "Be Our Guest" (Oh when Disney kept the cartoons brief.), send your theme, director or actor that you want to discuss to russthebus07@gmail.com. Just keep the movies between 74 and 99 minutes. Thanks.

 

Do Not Listen to @RosenbergRadio. Listen To the Internet's Premier CM.

 *Blog post was started on April 13, 2020

WrestleMania 37:  Do Not Listen to @RosenbergRadio. Listen To the Internet's Premier CM.

Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling needs a wrestling blog, so I guess it was timely for this need to come during the week after WrestleMania. This means I might have to catch up on NJPW's Road to Wrestling Dontaku before I go to bed tonight. It will be mostly tag team affairs, but it should amuse me more than Night Two of The Show of Shows did.

If you complain about the failure of AEW's Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, then you should be bitching about the entirety of the second night. Having shat the bed during my first dark match when I was training under Danny Daniels, I know that impressing the crowd to kick off a show is almost as important as the main event.

There maybe a bit of hyperbole there, but the lesson I gathered from this bout was that failing out there just made the entire sport look fake. That failure resulted in everyone else on the card needing to disprove what I had just executed. It is not as hard to win the crowd back when the audience is not just going to get up and leave after spending their cash, but in the age of television, if the first match pisses off the viewer, they can just change the channel. Xfinity is my cable TV provider. Thus, I did not pay for WrestleMania because Peacock Premium with Xfinity is included. There is a PlayStation 5 in my house, you know what that means.

Is this why Tucker Carlson has great ratings? Was part of the Fox deal for Smackdown ensuring that WWE would not cut into Fox News's prime-time of hate? Is Fox encouraging WWE to suck to get disenchanted viewers searching for simple, racist solutions to their life? At least I got a tweet for next Monday out of this blog post.

We were all hoping for "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt to return to form. The Undertaker has retired and it is obvious that we want another supernatural character. All you have to do is not book him into the title scenes, and it should work. Granted, you have to let him win those bouts for that to work. When the two guys running the company were the same guys doing it back when they created Taker who are notorious for not changing with the times, why do they think this is the one think they should try and reinvent the wheel with? Chat me up Bruce.

This bout was followed up by the Women's Tag Team Championship title defense which is the result of bad booking dating back to at least 2016. If you were not part of the Four Horse Women of Wrestling, being in the actual title pictures is an after thought. It is a shame because the crowd was behind the efforts of the match's grizzled veterans, and I think they would rather have seen them get a WrestleMania moment than to see the reign of powerhouses Vince McMahon does not understand continue to be the face of a fledgling division.

No person with taste likes Logan Paul, so he took away from the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn bout. Without the strong indie show presence around Tampa this year, I think we could have saved the United States title change till Monday Night Raw. A Brogue Kick to the face of a moonsaulting opponent may have saved the show that WrestleTalk deemed a zero out of five.

Big E and Apollo Crews had a good bout, but it seemed like it was only to put over a new character instead of the new champion. If Big E does not get to run at the WWE Champion, he will be stuck further putting over a guy with limited range. AEW exists because we do not want to see the 80's and 90's WWF style. Dabba Kato better have a moonsault that floats or he will lead to many a channel being changed or simply overshadowing the talent in Crews.

If Rhea Ripley and Asuka had the same producer as Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks, I would feel like I was cheated if I was one of the participants. They had a fun match, but there was no sense of storytelling there. It should have been an indie slobberknocker, but you know WWE will not let that happen.

As for the Main Event, I think WrestleMania has a sour taste if a babyface or the most over guy does not leave the winner. WrestleMania 2000 with Triple H was disappointed as they made it about how evil the McMahons could be instead of the wrestlers. WrestleMania X-7 worked because we thought we were going to love heel Austin. WrestleMania 31 worked because we did not want to see Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar walk away as champion, so Seth Rollins was the best alternative. This was why WrestleMania 34 was a failure.

When it comes to WrestleMania 37, I know Reigns is the most over character, but he is a heel and this is the night where they are to get the comeuppance. The final pop would have been huge if either Edge or Bryan would have won and definitely be a greater reaction than what Reigns got. What makes this the wrong call. We now know we are going to have to just accept that it would be stupid for anything to change over the next year. Reigns is just going to destroy his challengers until someone gets over organically, except WWE will not allow anyone to get over organically.

After a successful first night of WrestleMania, many said that the groundwork for the future of WWE was being laid out. The second night showed us that the performers may be different, but the thought process is going to be the same. I said at the beginning of this blog that I should watch Wrestling Dontaku tonight. This means AEW has successfully gotten me to overlook NXT.

Why would I want to tease myself when you have the NHL (AEW) playing like the grittier AHL (NXT)? If you know the the guys will have to abandon the preferred style of play when they are at the top level, why support them? WrestleMania Sunday just showed me that tribalism is more important than ever for the wrestling business. We have to get further behind All Elite Wrestling in hopes it will make Vince McMahon want...no, need to one up his competitors.

No amount of schilling from Peter Rosenberg is going to fix this. Listen to Dave Meltzer and all will be well.

 

Current Disgruntled's Real Champions in Wrestling:

The 90th Disgruntled's Real World Heavyweight Champion:

AEW's World Champion Kenny Omega (2)

The 47th Disgruntled's Real World Women's Champion:

AEW's Hikaru Shida

The 148th Disgruntled's Real World Tag Team Champions:

AEW's Matt and Nick Jackson, "The Young Bucks" (3)

The 48th Disgruntled's Modern Poser Champion:

WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns (3)

The 152nd Disgruntled's OCHO Champion
(WWE US, IWGP US, Television, Intercontinental,
North American, X Division, TNT, National) 

WWE United States Champion Sheamus (2)

Darby Allin has had only five title defenses in his 150-plus day range. If you are going to put your champion in a feud where the belt does not matter, does it really matter?

Apollo Crews's IC championship victory came via assistance while Sheamus and Riddle stole the undercard. Sheamus is also the more established champion.

When it comes to Ring of Honor, there just is not enough established talent to book the Television Championship well. Impact's X Division is too cruiserweight centric right now. The pandemic still hinders the NWA's National Championship scene. 

@thewrestlingpurist - instagram

 

NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast - Episode 13: Flashdance Off with Ally, Alex, and Alice

 

NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast

Episode 13: Flashdance Off: Alice, Alex and Ally vs. The Killer Klowns and the Lycan (Just Press Play)

Read more: https://html.com/media/#ixzz6jIeBsAn5

NinetyForChill - The Podcast has entered a whole new world. My successful New Years Resolution (We will some day succeed with my annual goal of eating a Buffalo-themed meal everyday.) is now on the three major podcast platforms. So if you have been a fan, just type "ninetyforchill" in your search bar on the apps.

Podbean has offered me a chance to put my podcast on Amazon Music/Audible, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and Amazon Echo/TuneIn, but I am not sure anyone uses them to listen to podcasts. After a quick poll of the millennials at the bank, the Amazon Music application is being processed right now. They claim they will have it done in minutes, so the complete roll out may start with this podcast (And it will be. My thanks to the platform that allows any hateful douche-bag to self publish).

My presumption was, "If MMA on Point did not use anything besides the big three, why do I have to?" Well, this week's guest use to listen to podcasts on the second generation Amazon Echo that I bought her. If I want to encourage her to make her life easier and figure out the WiFi in her boyfriend's anti-chord cutting condo, I better continue accommodating to her.

I should not pick on her too harshly. She does her best to make sure this podcast thrives, and she was doing me a favor returning for her first full episode...since the first episode.

This week, we get to pick the brain of entrepreneur and this podcast's co-producer (Every Sunday, she finds me to give me at least three low brow movies to watch for the podcast.) Ally of Ally's Accessories Shop. Her return lets me pick her brain when it comes to her feature preferences. She was intimidated by the idea of coming up with a theme to chat about, but was eventually able to we resolved on discussing the dominant franchises of Sony's Screen Gems, "Resident Evil" and "Underworld".

Before she arrived at this, she mentioned the immediate sub 100-minute movies that left an enduring impact on her, "Flashdance" and "Killer Klowns from Outer Space". To ensure I could get the most content from her, I did my research, and now have one of these DVDs that I best try to drop back upon her.

We discuss the feminism concerns over Jennifer Beals most memorable feature, how the Klowns hold up in terms of other horror comedies like "Gremlins", and why zombies, werewolves, and vampires intrigue her so much. Is she on Team Edward or Team Jacob? The answer will surprise you.

As the podcast grows, so does the need for contributors. I can no longer play DJ and use eight second loops from any licensed songs, so if you have some tunes that you want to get out there, I would love to use them. Send me the info about them to russthebus07@gmail.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @maineventzombie.

And of course, I need guests to chat to. If you have a topic/theme, director or actor that you want to chat about from 30 minutes to 90 minutes, I would love to hear your pitch. Just send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com or a direct message @maineventzombie on Twitter.

Thanks for coming back to the NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast. I hope you enjoy.

And just because this came up on my YouTube feed: Let me introduce you to the real Hanson Brothers. Mmm Bop MotherF&^8'as.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space: Are English Subtitles For Nerds?

*Blog post was started on April 8, 2021.

 

It is really cool that Podbean and its promotion options required "NinetyForChill dot Com - The Podcast - The Facebook Page". At least bugging 20 people a day shows there is degree of support with every like and accepted invitation. Still, securing guests for the podcast is a challenge, so that Facebook page's success is driving me a little batty.

Or it may just be jealousy. I asked a coworker today about doing the podcast. He stated his interest, but he is the father of a four-month old. This means time is not really a luxury. It means he has a life. Too bad cats do a great job of taking care of themselves. My furball(s) need to be needier.

If you are able to get a lot of bookings, expecting my friends in the wrestling business to be available is silly. But I have not heard from any of them looking to promote themselves since the podcast started at the end of the third wave of COVID-19 perplexes me. They are aware Colt Cabana is not recording "The Art of Wrestling", right?

A half asleep Ally from Ally's Accessories Shop accepted my invite to the podcast this week. Upon realizing that, she has been pulling for me to come up with someone else. Of course I have the intrigued, but noncommittal and me checking out all the possible DVD retailers on the Northside of Champaign looking for a copy of "Coraline" because surely if I found that, it would make the universe will another hesitant prospective guest into asking when we were going to record.

Of course Movies Anywhere is not selling "Coraline" through their site, thus I cannot buy a copy of that and get a free movie from Universal...most likely "Happy Gilmore". I do not know what I should be more upset at NBC/Universal for. No "Coraline" on their service (Every streaming app needs Neil Gaiman.) or how Peacock is handling the WWE Network migration. No, Vince McMahon should not use the N-Word or be shown using it, but if you are keeping the matches of Chris Benoit on the service, maybe keep Roddy Piper versus Bad News Brown. It was racist, but it was not a double-murder suicide. That is what context warnings are for.

Truth be told, I am not overly upset about the lack of a complete WrestleMania VI card. The match was part of WWE's retrospective on Piper, "Born Into Controversy". If they do delete Benoit's matches however, Peacock and Xfinity may be out a customer.

I am suppose to record the podcast tonight during both NXT Takeover Stand & Deliver: Night 2 and Kenny Omega's first match on Impact on AXS TV. Hopefully Ally will not back down so that I do not have to make a decision on which show to watch (She requested a delay, so I cannot win).

My only fear is that with the lack of 90-minute movies that we shared together (If you look at the highest grossing movies of all time, once your ass is in the seat, you will watch whatever they put on the big screen no matter the length.) my suggestion was for her to come over to watch "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" and then chat about it. Doubting that would be the case, I entered the Trash Feature library she has supplied me with to watch that feature. With my luck, she chooses that instead of faking it over Zoom for a half hour.

Why do I make these decision? My decision making skills are not that good. Or perhaps my loyalty is what gets me. Keeping an ex in my life and betting on Newcastle United and the Chicago Cubs. The wise thing to do would be to quit counting on people, but then I would not have a podcast. I guess it is a catch 45, because 22 is not the number of LOSERS.

 

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988; 1 hour 28 minues)

Crescent Cove is a typical small college town. You have farms on the outskirts, overly aggressive police veterans, a make out point, etc. At the make out point, after the goofy ice cream truck operators failed to make any sales or get their dates in the mood, Mike and Debbie see a shooting star pass closely overhead. Debbie believes that it has to have landed close by and convinces Mike to go and investigate. 

When they arrive where it landed, they find a circus tent. Despite Debbie's apprehension, the two go inside to find a big top TARDIS. The interior is massive with what seems to be a fusion reactor while the design aesthetic matches the carnival exterior. As they explore and avoid any being that seems to be heading their direction, they find what Mike believes is a cotton candy factory while the rational Debbie believe UFOs must be the only reasonable explanation. When Mike tries to prove it is fluffy sugar, he discovers a human body cocooned inside of it.

Before they can settle into their panic, a seven-foot tall clown enters the room. It soon notices them and chases them away with a popcorn cannon. Debbie decides the city must be warned and is certain that her ex-boyfriend on the police force, Dave, will believe them. This proves more of a challenge than they expected. The senior officer, Mooney, believes this to be a prank since Mike is friends with the ice cream truck driving jokesters, the Terenzi Brothers. Dave does not want Mike to involve his ex in these shenanigans. While Mooney refuses to entertain the concept of killer clowns from outer space, Dave is willing to entertain the concept to appease Debbie, provided she stays at home.

These two approaches end up leaving the town to fall into shambles. Even as Dave finds evidence supporting Mike and Debbie stories and starts to witness clown attacks, Mooney refuses to act once the calls start coming in. He believes it all to be a conspiracy to drive him mad and off the force. With no means of communicating with the state police, it is up to Debbie, Dave, Mike, and the Terenzis to save the day. With all the strength and alien technology the clowns have, will these five young adults be enough to save the city and possibly the world.

I think my description of "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" may be overly wordy. The DVD box art probably says something like, "After a giant circus tent arrives in Crescent Cove, townsfolk start disappearing with only popcorn and cotton candy left in their place. It is up to Mike, Dave, Debbie and the local ice cream salesmen to solve the mystery and defeat the evil "Killer Klowns from Outer Space." Maybe I am just showing this feature too much respect. That makes my efforts to find subtitles on this MGM/UA DVD seem futile.

"Killer Klowns from Outer Space" seems to be a satire in the vein of "Gremlins" but lacks any worthwhile characters to get behind to hold the feature together. "Gremlins" also had 15 more minutes to work with to establish lore and get to know the players, but with totally unrealistic characters, there is no cohesion and fails to establish lore until some throw away dialogue in the third act. This is a shame because most of the comedic violence can get a chuckle or two.

An upside to a focus on the mischief and mayhem is that it moves a long pretty quickly. The special effects have their moments and even the bad effects, like when a clown explodes, are played for laughs. John "Dean Wormer" Vernon as the long-in-the-tooth cop refusal to take the threat seriously is also amusing, so the comedy is there, just none of it is involves our handful of heroes.

I am on the fence on how to make this Troma-budget feature better. The satire could have been darker if we did not make the klowns so warped to look at. On the surface, it is easy to deem that they are scary, but clowns are scary enough to begin with. A greater commitment to gore effects may have cost the film its PG-13 rating, but if you want to entertain a horror audience, that would be the direction to take it.

In the end, "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" works as an idea, but not as a picture that you should provide much attention to. You will end up thinking too much and which results in a four-paragraph plot summary. All it needed to do was to make us care about the leads, but focusing on random klown attacks gets a more immediate reaction.

This could have been a great NES video game and it is good content for meme and YouTube content creators. For that, I understand the cult classic status. But if you are not looking to integrate these painted buggers as click bait, one watch is enough.

 

FMK: Podcasts, Wounded Toddlers, Passive Aggressive Coworkers

 *Blog post was started on April 7, 2021.

I can now see why David Shoemaker a.k.a. The Masked Man does not write much these days. With two podcasts and and The Ringer website to maintain, how can he find the time? Is "NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast" worth the time if the written word is lost? The podcast was a New Year resolution.

Obviously the answer is to resolve to write more in 2022. Will I have the energy to do so is the question. I have been winding down my nights at around midnight. This does not sound like a bad idea since I am in the midst of a 13-day work week, but I got a podcast to record. Currently, a guest has not been officially scheduled, but I have some leads. The latter portion of the prior sentence indicates that I have some research to do. Which in turn means, there should have been opportunities to have some content to review if I stay up a couple more hours.

Without that, the only thing I have to inspire me to write today is a comment that would not fly with my very Central Illinois employees who sit to both the available sides of me.

Did you hear about the two year-old who got shot last night?

That's horrible?

My Desired Response:

Yeah. To accidentally shoot a toddler is awful. They are such easy targets, there is no reason to accidentally hit one. To sentence someone for doing that is to sentence them for their incompetence, not their intentions.

That is the type of morning mood I was in after getting ratted out for forgetting some of the closing duties one day when the openers have not been doing their duties for the past two days. I try to avoid tension with these folks (hence the need to avoid my satire from being considered anti-children), so to see that they will not reciprocate irks me a little. Curse this passive aggressive stuff. Tell me I screwed up, I can take it. To refer me to the manager, here is too hoping you did that because you feared you would forget to advise me of my mistakes.

And do not be pissy about it. That is my life at the retailer. The primary customer service specialist (With restructuring, I have become the most senior specialist.) vents to me every weekend about she is the only one to do the opening/closing duties. She does not want to upset her "subordinates", so she tries to leave things to imply that they have to do them or tries to delegate the work by arranging meetings. If she was a manager, that would be fine, but she is not.

I suppose you can blame the restructuring to ensure that we all get the "livable wage" (despite no one being allowed to work 40 hours) leading to a lack of management roles resulting in her attitude. My problem is, the stuff needs to get done. If you know that, make sure it gets done. If this means you have to do it yourself, fine. Perhaps I am just a masochist when it comes to all aspects of my life, but I would rather everything be done right, so I am fine with taking on extra responsibilities. Or I rather that than deal with the bitching of coworkers.

Working two 13-day stints a month is enough of a headache. Why make it worse? Let me beat myself up. I can at least do that right. Why would I let someone who does not know what they are doing have a chance at that? (See: Feeling Like Punk: CM Darth versus the Order of Saint Francis)

This is all probably just an indication that I need to quit the retail gig. I am trying to stick it out until the pandemic ends. Without an improv/wrestling scene to focus on, what else am I going to do with my time? Maintain my sanity I suppose.

I guess I worry about how I would use that time. With all the video games that I own, it would be like Burgess Meredith after the nuclear apocalypse.

"There was time!!!"

But time has to be dedicated to my creative outlets. Once there is a sense of normalcy, my creativity was to be the focus of that time. It almost makes me regret any narrative video game, but I should have realized that when I purchased a dome chair to sit and play games from. This chair quickly became the throne of Eva the Queen Kitty. And with Skimble, if you sit down that mean you want to be sat on. 

 

Classic Video Game Character Woodblock Artist Presents "Edo Superstar" Kickstarter

 

NinetyForChill dot Com: The Podcast Episode 12: @Disney's Damnation and 80's Animation (Just Press Play)

NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast

Episode 12: Disney's Damnation and Eighties Animation  (Just Press Play)

Read more: https://html.com/media/#ixzz6jIeBsAn5

ThePoeticCritic (TPC) returns to the podcast for our most comprehensive and hence longest episode too date. If there was ever an episode for the later members of Generation X (like TPC and I), this is the episode.

I mean, this is the episode about content instead of the disconnect between the woke generations. If your halfway through life, "Episode 7: Gen X and Scorsese V. Millenials and Marvel" would be the installment for you.

TPC guides us through a year-by-year breakdown of the most important/notable animated features of each year from the 1980s. This was a time where independent studios were looking to fill the void left by a Disney company that was in the middle of restructuring. As a result, we go in depth about the rise and eventual fall of Don Bluth (An American Tail) that even bleeds into his 90's catalog. We discuss the evolution of adult animation pioneer Ralph Bakshi (Fire and Ice), the end of Rankin/Bass's forays in to cinema (The Last Unicorn), I throw in a little anime from the Streamline Pictures era, and we mention all of the blink and you missed their airings on Disney Channel and HBO features.

 

 

 

This all occurs before the Disney Renascence, and as a heads up, we do not show much attention to "The Little Mermaid". My guest attempts to reframe the rise of Disney back to gold standard of animation while essentially poo-pooing on their mid-80's offerings as Eisner and Katzenberg lay the foundation for their most critically and financially successful decade (before their focus became solely on commercial). I decide to go Michael Jordan "The Last Dance" meme when it came to defending "The Black Cauldron" and "The Great Mouse Detective".

 

@ylieksmada - Pinterest

If you want news about the podcast, you can now subscribe to it on Spotify and Google Podcasts. I am still uploading the previous episodes up to Podbean for the appropriate distribution, so hopefully we will be all caught up in time for next week's episode, and perhaps Apple Podcast will let us join their service as well. Let me warn you, the begging for five-star ratings will be coming soon.

As this podcast grows, so does its need for contributors. I can no longer play DJ and use eight second loops from licensed songs, so if you have some tunes that you want to get out there, I would love to use them. Send me the info about them to russthebus07@gmail.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @maineventzombie.

And of course, I need guests to chat to. If you have a topic/theme, director or actor that you want to chat about from 30 minutes to 90 minutes, I would love to hear your pitch. Just send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com or a direct message @maineventzombie on Twitter.

Thanks for coming back to the NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast. I hope you enjoy.

 

 *Blog post was started on April 5, 2021.

Daniel Bryan, Will Ospreay, and Why Every Heel Should Be John Lithgow

Watching NJPW's Sakura Genensis at Ryokogu was probably the best way to start off this WrestleMania week. It was a solid card with great upcoming bookings lined up. And perhaps it will line up Kota Ibushi to appear at AEW Double or Nothing. With Cesaro versus Rollins and Zayn versus Owens this weekend, I think it is okay to be optimistic.

Thankfully for me, "Being the Elite" will be my Monday night wrestling fix, so Vince McMahon cannot screw the vibe up. It sucks for AEW that they cannot use Impact Wrestling as a lead in any further. This does make booking the first Impact after WrestleMania interesting. We know that AXS TV will never beat USA in the ratings, but if they book Kenny Omega, can he keep NXT under one million viewers.

Two paragraphs, both of them either hint or state Kenny Omega's influence on the business. He is obviously the heel with the most power. Sorry Roman Reigns. If only you did not have to share it with Paul Heyman.

Perhaps if Reigns would do some weaselly stuff. I know that is what Heyman is for, but the biggest news not directly involving the IWGP Cody-versal Championship (should I have called it the Tattooniversal) is Will Ospreay delivering an Os-cutter to his real life girlfriend Bea Priestley to show that the IWGP World Championship is worth more than his lover.

 

 

 

A lot of fans feel that this is New Japan promoting domestic violence. With Ospreay barely surviving #SpeakingOut fall out when it came to his influence blacklisted Pollyanna (I know the promotion, IWL, said it was their call to remove her from their card, but it was probably done with the intent to appease Ospreay.), these fans were claiming that this move went from bad to worse taste. If you have read my blog, "Bad Taste: Peter Jackson, The WWE Intercontinental Championship, and Billy Corgan", you will know that I am all about not half-assing efforts to disgust.

If you look at the first video posted in this blog, you know that a move like this is suppose to indicate that pure evil can only serve itself. It can be argued that Lithgow's character from "Cliffhanger" was stuck in a scenario where all his efforts were for not if he did not make that move, but if Qualen was as smart as he thought he was, surely he could have not murdered his girlfriend. The point of the scene is to show that he only cares how things turn out for him, and he will take the most brutal actions to demonstrate that.

Will Ospreay is now the top heel, and he has to demonstrate it. The only way around this would to make The Great O-Khan a cowardly hype man due to the language barrier. If your translator wrestles with a mouth guard that feature the image of razor sharp teach, to turn all scaredy cat on us would not serve him well.

For all the fans clamoring for Attitude Era angles, but when they get something that you would see from back then, the response is "Not Like That!" There were similar complaints about TNA building towards the top heel villain, Dixie Carter, being powerbombed by Bully Ray. No one complained about Judge Dredd dropping Ma-Ma from 95 stories after making her inhale a drug that slows down one's perception of time.

Once we let the marks know the term kayfabe, they should have been conditioned to accept that what a character does in the ring does not represent the performer's real life. I am all about disclaimers and context warnings. Putting one that indicates the events portrayed are fiction and do not reflect the performer's values is something I am not opposed to. If we had those back during the Monday Night Wars, it would have served as a great notice of when to hit record on the VCR.

As for the title of this blog, have the best villains not been comparable to the great John Lithgow? Daniel Bryan seems to take from him. The planet's hero was as righteous as the minister in "Footloose". Lord Farquaad from "Shrek" has never been matched when it comes to that franchise. Bryan may not have used him as a heel, but you know he wrestles with that small/short guy chip on his shoulder.

Any authority figure can act like John Lithgow. If only Vince McMahon actually watched movies, his onscreen authorities figures would be so much better. Lithgow's performances should have given us a clue that Donald Trump was always the villain. There was a straight up B.Z. from "Santa Claus: The Movie" vibe around that asshole.

What I am getting at is, if you can see Lithgow doing something that a wrestler is doing, it is okay for the narrative. If you want to see genuine bad taste, think about this.

The Bella Twins did absolutely nothing for women's wrestling, but they get to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. They represent a low point in wrestling, but their portion of the narrative is deemed important. Chris Benoit at least treated the wrestling business a hell of a lot better. I can appreciate that Benoit's inclusion would mean a lot of difficult questions to explain, but the inclusion of the Bellas is nothing but questions.

So does a body count allow you to ignore a part of history? I suppose that is why Hulk Hogan is hosting WrestleMania.

 

Feeling Like Punk: CM Darth versus the Order of Saint Francis

When I look at my blog publishing schedule, I wept for there were no more topics to be discussed.

No, I am not as great as Alexander. My screw up is do to either a lack of planning or exhaustion. To conquer the known world by 23, you cannot afford to have such lapses. Imagine where my life would be without my slips.

I decided to take the plunge and signed up with Podbean. "NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast" is now on Spotify, so things are looking up for that project. Too bad that took up my Tuesday night as I was doing all the busy work to get it associated with all my social media. Monday was a long night because I had to produce my copy and paste David Cronenberg tribute, "Do You Want To Scan a Skimble?".

Having guests on the podcast makes it so much easier. Four or five edits at the most. If you want to do me a favor, come be on my podcast. It is free promotion for you and an easier production for me. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com with a topic/theme, director, or actor. Just be sure to focus on their sub 100-minute movie offerings.

The russthebus07@gmail.com email address is also where you can inquire about my Z-Movie script "Main Event of the Dead", a horror comedy about indie pro-wrestling having to take on 80's throwback gimmick zombies. Feel free to ask for a script treatment or offer advice on how to get the 10-year old project out of development hell. Help for either option will be greatly appreciated.

I wonder how often Alexander asked for assistance. Being King of Macedon probably means he did not have to ask for anything. It makes me wonder if he deserves all that credit since he did not have to build his fortune up first. Turns out Adrian Veidt has no one that he can relate to.

With my sense of alienation, perhaps I am on the right path. Maybe my calling is killing three million people in the name of humanity. Nah. No one deserves to die, and if you leave three million people limping the rest of their lives, you have to face off against 1.5 million enemies.

Aside from creating dilemmas for himself, Ozymandias did not have any genuine problems. Now I love unnecessary drama in my life (Love might not be the right verve. It maybe yearn.), but being broke means there are real problems in my life. They have been occupying my mind and probably leading to further exhaustion.