PAXeast & Wrestlemania: Weekend Geekdom!

A quick review of PAXeast from my Saturday venture in the Boston.  I liked the set up, the vendors great freebies and the live dungeon delve was a blast.  I did have to wait nearly 4hrs in lines to get into certain events, so that was not fun, but I would suggest either more tables/events or quicker times.  Next time I will do a 3 days pass for sure.  There is just WAY too much to try and see in one day...

Wrestlemania 26 was a pretty good show, but they again missed some great opportunities to book the show better.  Yay: Cena/Batista being watchable, Punk/Mysterio and Undertaker/Michaels.  Boo: The booking.  Here's how I would have booked it;  Money in the Bank: Instead of Jack Swagger the winner is Christian.  Later after Edge beats Jericho to win the World title, Christian comes down to praise his old tag team partner and inform him that he will be challenging him at the next PPV.  Shameus should have beat HHH to rebuild his momentum and put him back as a legit threat.  Where does he go now?  Batista should have beat Cena in order to cement him as a legit heel champ, instead we get Hulk Cena crushing the win and killing the heel's heat.  This gives you a series of matches where Cena 'just can't beat Batista' which leads to a Summer Slam match where he finally topples Batista.  I often hear people tell me how wrestling fans don't have the attention span to follow a storyline, really? Is that why EVERY wrestling fan I know tells me how they long for the old days when story lines were worth paying attention to?  maybe if they writers at WWE and TNA could string together a storyline worth paying attention to, the fans would watch.  Hell the main event was a rematch from ONE YEAR AGO!  Speaking of, lets say HHH had lost to Shameus and was pissed, so later on during the Undertaker - Shawn Micheals match, say after the Tombstone piledriver outside the ring, HHH comes to the ring and tells Shawn to get up and win the match.  "You've got to win this match!"  Shawn gets up and shoves HHH aside telling him he doesn't need him to win this match.  The match goes on, minor ref bump, long enough for HHH to conk Shawn in the head and 1-2-3, Taker wins.  HHH is now THE  most hated man in wrestling (again) Shawn has to retire.  Eh, whatever.  Overall a fun show, but I was little bewildered why Comcast ran a promo for a series of adult PPV films sandwiched between the end of the first show and the repeat.  Kudos to Cena for not dying after the spike-DDT... 

Comedians hit the stage in Quincy - Quincy, MA - The Patriot Ledger

Comedians hit the stage in Quincy - Quincy, MA - The Patriot Ledger

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2010 Draft result: Sexual Napalm!

In honor of the ugliness of the draft I have put one of the least fortunate pictures in baseball card history, Don Mossi.  I was impressed that the girl at Hong Kong Express lit up when I mentioned the order was for the draft and she said 'ohhh baseball draft!' excitedly.  I'd guess they get this a lot or perhaps she is the secret oracle that I may have to consult all season long in order to win. I have updated my roster to the right, but my biggest change was my team name.  Yes the Super Soakers were great, but when a name comes up that is both topical and sweet, you have to make the change to Sexual Napalm.   This is year, I take my title back...

Tonight You! The Varsity Club Comedy Showcase

The first Varsity Club Comedy Showcase was a big hit, so tonight we roll out the sequel.  I'm heading down at 6ish to set up the stage, stool and sound check then at 7pm Ian Cohen will begin a one hour set of live music.  At 8pm the Comics begin and we have a lot of talent at this show starting with Jay Geary, Kelly Tabbut, Will Smalley, Brian Henchey, Brian Clark, Rob Welch, Matt DeVasto and more as well as our headliner, Bigg Nez.  There will be prizes to give away via the Bingo-like RILEY game on the back of every flyer.  Rather than B-4 or I-69, you have topics the comics may touch on like work, family or sports. If an audience member gets five in a row, they will win a prize that will promoted the St. Patty's Eve Varsity Club Comedy Showcase on March 16th.

No Limits Pro Wrestling: Solid Show

I took in the No Limits Pro Wrestling Show at the McCarthy Elementary school in Peabody,MA (I grew up a couple of miles from there) and it was a really solid show.  The sound in there was great for the ring, but holy SUPER LOUD speakers.  The entrance music was so loud that no one could hear who the wrestlers were, but for the most part they were very good.  It opened with the anthem and a six-man match as B.A. Tatum, Cameron Blaze and The Vampire Sethoran d. "The Guido Torpedo" Dominic Simone, Justin "The Hammer" Tunis, and Joey Rockstar...   NLP Heavyweight Championship Match "The Strut" Sonny Goodspeed upset "Brutal" Bob Evans...  Maverick Wild (w/ "Tough Talk" Tony Spencer) d. Billy King... "Fabulous" Johnny Vegas d. Steve "The Turtle" Weiner in a sloppy match that may have been due to the mask giving the Turtle trouble...  "The Sports Illustrated Legend" Robbie Ellis d. Julian Starr in the high light of the night as then 67 year old wrestler rocked.  Check out his website, the picture to the left is his finisher...  "The Doom Crew" (Rocco Abruzzi and Slash Sullivan) vs. "The Granite State Destroyers" (Cpl. Gunz and Chuck Nugent)...  The Main Event was for the Vacant NLP New England Championship as "The Unequaled One" Todd Sople was finally defeated by "The Instant Star" Matt Taven in a match with a lot of 2 counts.  The crowd was pretty hot for a small show and the matches reflected the energy.  They will return in February and I will be there...  Before the show I spoke to the Booker about the show and my own mission with wrestling, so cross fingers.  Super Exploder 3 is coming...

Conan vs. Leno inside the Steel Cage!

I want recognize the greatest screwjob since the Montreal Screwjob as NBC Executives and Jay Leno conspire to usurp Conan O'Brien as the host of The Tonight Show.  I have watched Conan from the beginning in 1993 when I was living in Georgia with Scott and trying to make it as a pro wrestler.  The beginning was awkward and full of trial and error and numerous mistakes, but I'm not writing this to talk about my wrestling career.  No I'm here to say how much I have enjoyed the process and watching Conan, Andy and Max over the years and that it really pisses me off that some arrogant a-holes who panic and pull a power play that gives the shaft to the nice guy.  If Leno had any class, he would have stepped aside as he promised, but what I look forward to isn't just when Conan emerges on FOX or Comedy Central, I'm looking forward to Jay flopping and whithering in his return.  What I wonder is if we fast forward 5-10 years and Leno really is ready to retire, who would ever take the offer to replace him?  Eat a dick NBC and worst of Luck Leno...  I'm with Coco! 

2009: The Year of 2nd Place!

Perhaps I should have seen this coming. I lost the Basketball finals to Johnny in the summer, then I lost in the Baseball finals to Bill in the Fall and now I have lost to Scott in the Football finals in the Winter... UGH!
Things are not all as bleak as they seem though as the magical season of Fantasy Baseball magazines has started up and as usual the first one out '2010 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Fantasy Sports. the official magazine for the high-stakes fantasy player' is full of player previews but lacks the hardcore stats junk of say ESPN or TSN's fantasy magazines. So now I make the vain stops at Barnes & Noble to check for the latest magazines but alas they are not there. I know the problem with any info that comes from a magazine is that is it already out of date, but there is just a comfortable feeling that comes from reading them. Now I get to spend some time and figure out who my keepers for next season are... bitter...

My team has scored the most points, but I'm 1-3?

I have always been a slow starter in Fantasy Football, so why should this season be any different? I'll post my roster on the right column so you can see who I'm dealing with. I've already been eliminated from both of the Survivor pools I entered thanks for the Packers tossing their cookies against the Bengals. Ugh... The Red Sox will take on the Angels who haven't beaten the Sox in the playoffs since 1986 in the ALDS and the Twins took a grueling one-game playoff from the Tigers so they get to face the Yankees who they haven't beaten all season. I'd like to see a Sox-Dodgers World Series, but I think a NYY-LAD series would also be fun to watch as it means a really good chance that we will see Joe Torre get his finger stuck up his nose... My Fantasy Nascar team (yes I play that too) is mired in 4th place even though the team in 3rd hasn't been active in a month. Who knows... I just finished listening to the Penny Arcade D&D Podcast Pt 6 and I need to talk to these guys on how they play so fast. Our sessions run 2-3 hours easy and that means I have a lot of editing to do. I should have the 4th Podcast posted over the weekend and then I can get to work on the 5th. I think the 5th has been the best yet as far as action and plot movement, but the next one will be someting to, BEHOLD! Bwah ha ha ahem... I'm co-hosting the Asylum radio show on Weds & Sat Nights 9-11pm so be sure to check it out by going to UNregularRadio.com. There are replays throughout the day too, so give a listen and let me know what you think...

Rain Delay prevents my Fantasy Baseball 3-Peat!

Controversy!!! In the first season that the baseball league went from a 2 week final game to a 1 week final game, my Super Soakers were defeated by by brother-in-law's team the Bro's Sox. Worse? I talked him into playing Fantasy baseball for the first time. Even Worse? I told him nearly all of my tricks to win. DOH! Even worse than that? If it was a 2 week final I would have won... Ugh... In other news, at the moment my Fantasy Football team, The German Cupcakes are on the verge of going 0-3, yuck... In D&D news, the 3rd Podcast is finally up and the 4th will be up within the week. If you would like to listen to it now, click here. The next session of the Poker Podcast will go off on Thursday and now that the back-to-school rush has passed we can resume our sessions. We have been joined by two woman who are first time players, so this should make the campaign all the most interesting. Mayhaps a TPK (total party kill) is in order... bwah ha ha...

2009 Fantasy Football Draft results

I have been playing Fantasy Football since the mid 90's and sadly seemed to have peaked in 1998 when I cruised to a smooth $1,500.00 bucks in The Sporting News Fantasy Football challenge. The trick with National contests is simple, if you are in the top 5 of the 25 team league you have a shot, if not, better luck next year. I used that money for my first trip to Vegas and sadly have not had the same luck since. I have been in two leagues of note, one was out of Exit42 which became Fanball and I was the Buffalo Bills of our league and the other league I started through Yahoo with my close friends. This is our fourth season, 10 teams and 13 games, with starters of QB, 2 WR, 2 RB, TE, K and DEF and playoffs in weeks 14-15-16. We don't play for money, just the pride of winning...
My teams have finished 7th, 6th and 5th so I'm due to finish 4th, but if I can swing some of my Fantasy baseball mojo over there, maybe it will finally change. We do 5 keepers (marked with a K) and allow trading of picks. Here is my team: QB: Matt Ryan-k & David Garrard... WR: R Moss-k, L Evans, T. Holt, B. Edwards... RB: M Forte, L Tomlinson, S Slaton-k, L White, L Johnson... TE: T. Gonzalez-k... K: Akers... DEF: PHI... (I traded my #1 pick for Tomlinson and I tradded L. Fitzgerald for M. Forte & a 4th rd pick)
I will update this page weekly with my picks for sleepers and duds as well as who my starters are. The pre-season games just started so now we sit back and ride out the exhibition games and hope our guys come through okay. My plan? Use my RB depth to secure a solid WR or another impact player.

Podcast 2 - The Pier 12 Brawl at Red Shore

Why did Lord Wyndham order a new fleet of ships and what is the cargo? In this episode, Akmenos, Lo-Kag and Huru discover some new allies, a new foe and the evil that lurks in the hearts of the people of Red Shore. Tempers ran high at Red Shore's most filthy tavern, the Crow's Nest and the arrival of the oderous Sheriff Tunil made it clear the PC's were not welcome there. Akmenos the Bard decided to break the tension in a very un-Bard-like manner (you have to listen to find out how) that earned him a bad reputation with the locals. A secret mission to the pier in order to discover the true mission of the new ships Lord Wyndham ordered was discovered, but not before they found themselves surrounded by angry sailors. What happens next? Click here to listen now...

Inside the Game: Above you can see a shot of the PCs and our custom made 'battle board' which is a a plexi-glass board from The Home Depot with lines drawn in and then painted white. This board has lasted for years now and since it is plexi-glass, you can use dry-erase markers to draw the battle field as needed. While we do swtich to the fancy printed boards and the pre-fabricated tabs that can be laid out as needed, this board has endured...

Coming soon: Two women who have wanted to play D&D, but never had the chance will join the party. This will be a first for the guys too as they play with women for the first time. As for me, well as the Dungeon Master I am looking forward to having two more PC's to kill... uhm, play with...

Coming Sooner: Podcast 3: Escape from Red Shore!

PC Focus: Akmenos the Tiefling Bard

Akmenos was raised on the streets of the Bah-ree with parents that didn't have much but noticed an innate magical talent in his character at an early age. Akmenos was apprenticed to the school of wizards in Dracomal but was quickly ousted for his less than sage attitude. After bumping job to job becoming a jack of all trades, he learned to harness his arcane talents in conjunction with musical ability. Finding work with a traveling band of storytellers known as the Band of Jenkins, he traveled most of the civilized lands to learn about other cultures and enhance his own storytelling. While in Cauldron city, he used his musical talent to aid in an attack of ghouls on the town, gaining favor with a local cleric of Pelor, Raistlan. Unfortunately, his travels also led him to alienate several influential nobles, often through romantic trysts with noble princesses. King Aegon of Waterdeep in particular swore to place him in chains and castrate him if he ever appeared in the gates of the city again!

Podcast 1 - Lord Wyndham's Feast - Parade Mayhem

The first podcast is probably our worst in terms of quality so bear with us as we strive to improve. The next one will have the official title and better sound quality, promise! These posts will also features updates on the contacts the PC's (the player's characters; Akmenos the Bard, Lo-Kag the Goliath Barbarian and Huru the half-Ord Avenger) have met so far in the campaign as well as a mini-recap. While the PC's came to Bah-ree for Lord Wyndham's Feast they took in a parade when mayhem broke out that only they could deal with. (its in the podcast!) Their actions caught the eye of Aliass, the mayor of Halfing Town in Bah-ree who blamed the local menace Grakul the Rogue for the trouble and gave them invites to the special table. During the fray, Akmenos has his long bow stolen in the streets of Half-town and went to Bed-Bows & Beyond to buy a new one from Kagos. At the table of honor where they met; Von Fuehrr (smelly Druid who is trying to catch Grakul), GrueKen (bitter Dragonborn who suspects Wyndham of slavery), Ayhrodd (snobby Teifling concerned about the sudden loss of communication with the magic kingdom of Dracomal), Ellco (quiet Elven shipping merchant from red Shore that is building special vessel to find Vaytheon), Hammer Landers (Dwarf who noticed a spike in Wyndham's weapon orders), Lady Fenwick (elderly cleric who is concerned that the bodies of the dead are being stolen) and Cyder (bookworrm Eladrin ranger who feels Wyndham is ignoring the drug problems created by the Vampires who control the Spice trade). During the feast, an event of epic porportion (listen to the podcast) lead the PC's to apprehend the traitorous bard, Patches who insisted upon his innocence when they tossed him out a window onto the wagon driven by Cyder. At the city prison the PC's met Rochester (nearly retired veteran prison guard) where they were ordered to escort Patches to the dreaded, Three Falls prison. Lord Wyndham sent them the PC's the visit his personal armorer, Jenn Hahruss who gave them potions of healing for their journey and gifted them each with a magic item for their bravery. At the city stable they met Jott (tween human, who wants to go with them) who informed them about an elf who paid him a gold piece to have their steed ready to go immediately following the Feast and head for Red Shore. On the way to Three Falls prison they stopped to allow Rochester to relieve himself when they were attacked by a gang of rogues who tried to spring Patches. During the battle Rochester limped out of the woods to defend the wagon and turned on Akmenos! A green cloaked human claiming to be Grakul joined the fray, but when the tide turned against them, both Rochester and Grakul surrendered. Later at the Three Falls prison the guard revealed Grakul to be an imposter and the PC's feeling merciful, gave in to Rochesters pleas for mercy and did not inform anyone else about Rochester's turning. The captain of the guard, Abus, welcomed them to stay, but they decided to ride off to Red Shore. Rochester revealed that he was offered 500gps to spring Patches and bring him to a pub in Red Shore called the Golden Seal and ask for Ellco. When the PC's arrived in Red Shore, the soon found out from Ellco that Patches wanted to get into Three Falls in order to spring the infamous Gnome assassin Cole the Murderous and now there is no way to stop him... More podcasts to come...