A Slacker Uprising? I’m In!
By Adam Firestorm | September 4, 2008
As a creative person and one who takes pride in producing a tangible product, I have always been looking for ways to “fake it til ya make it,” as they say. Sometimes that means using samples of a real drum kit instead of a live drummer for a song. Sometimes it means you just break down and use a drum machine.
Love him or hate him, Michael Moore is a person who has a voice that people listen to. Sure, he’s out for his own benefit, but aren’t we all? At the very least, Michael Moore’s films have forced us to take a step back and think.
I find it very interesting that his latest offering Slacker Uprising will be made available via a free web download. How cool it that? To my knowledge this wil be the first “big name” movie mogul to directly release his work to the internet first.
That I find interesting. Interesting enough to sign up to get the download link.
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Back
By Adam Firestorm | August 28, 2008
Once again, as per usual, I apologize for my recent silence (if you can call posting a video of a preacher farting “silence”).
I have spent way too much spare time watching 1985 episodes of WWF Championship Wrestling. Hillbilly Jim in the house!
Anyhow, I’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern the last couple of weeks (thus the spare time) while waiting for a few projects I am involved in to progress to the next level. Needless to say, the other day I received a massive sack of tapes in the mail to get to work on. This particualr project is one that have been in the works for a while, and I’m quite excited about it. I get to work with and for some great people, and if all goes to plan, all of you will be able to enjoy the finished product.
Sorry to be cryptic, but that’s about all I’m mention on that topic for now. I don’t want to risk jeopardizing taking this thing to where it has to go to take it to the masses by spoiling the deal by saying too much, too soon. That said, I’ll try to post some clips as soon as I am able to, so stay tuned.
And for all the rumour-mongers out there, no, it has nothing to do with the British Columbia wrestling scene. Sorry.
Anyway, just had to share my excitement with the world. Sadly, I am stuck chomping at the bit to get going, but have to wait until this weekend when I can go pick up more storage space for the old computer workhorse for all the footage.
Also, just as a bit of an aside, and this may not even apply to anyone that reads my site… If you are in a band that creates some awesome tunes, I am in need of some music for this project. I would make my own, but that’s just one more delay. I have access to production libraries, but sometimes those are just so drab, even the best stuff. Any musical genre will do, especially if it feels/sounds inspired and has good energy to it.
Anyway, that’s all for now, I’m going back to watching “Bell to Bell 2 With Jamie Dundee and Iron Sheik.”
Adam
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Something Devine. Heavenly, Even.
By Adam Firestorm | August 21, 2008
Yeah, it’s an oldie, but it’s still a goodie.
You’ll have to excuse me, I’m in a silly mood tonight.
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More Random Stuff…
By Adam Firestorm | July 31, 2008
NOTE:I found this sitting around as an unpublished draft, so I posted it. It is slightly out of date, and was probably writted about a month ago. I posted it because it mentions Pocky.
Yay…more random randomocity!
Yes, I am aware that I posted that TV commercial a whole day or two after I already posted it. Obviously, it didn;t occur to me at the time. I’m getting old, you see. Nothing to be concerned about until I start getting absent-minded when it comes to underwear.
There are four batteries sitting in front of me right now. They all seem to have no juice left in them. Not really sure why they’re sitting here and not in the garbage.
Read some stuff on the F4W board about strawberry Pocky. Yes, that stuff is great.
I’m supposed to be doing something else right now, but I’m having a momentary lapse in creative motivation. I had to grab some food. Sadly, I didn’t have any strawberry Pocky.
Sticking with the food theme (can you tell I’m hungry and my food isn’t ready yet?), I had some really good Thai food the other day. I was never one for Thai food, but I might have to change my mind.
There is a large Thomas the Tank Engine tent sitting in the middle of my living room. Every few moments, it moves. Creepy.
One of the projects I am working on…all the materials were suplied to me on a 4GB thumbdrive. Remember when floppy disks held about 1.2MB? Stupid disks. I still have a million of them from years ago, all with random stuff that I can;t get rid of on them.
I started watching a Best of Eric Idle/Monty Python DVD the other day. It had some of my favorite Python sketches on it, like the goofy Olympic Games that included marathons for incontinent people, swimming competitions for non-swimmers and the like. Pure gold. I paid $2.99 for it brand new, and it may be the best deal in the history of deals.
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A Random Post About Wrestling
By Adam Firestorm | July 31, 2008
I’m sitting here with my computer now set up in the new place catching up on a few things from the past week. Somewhere during the move, I lost a filling that I had put in in April. The nerve is exposed and the tooth is hypersentive to everything from temperature to when the wind changes direction to when the phone rings. I called my dentist and he can’t fit me in until Saturday, which will be about a week from the time I decided the pain was unbearable.
So I’m sitting here checking out some Torrent sites for old school wrestling action (haven’t unpacked any DVDs yet) trying to distract myself until the pain meds kick in.
I have decided that people who abbreviate the word “versus” (as in “Ricky Steamboat vs. Don Muraco”) as “VRS” are idiots. I can’t tell you how often I come across that error. I also hate it when people say “coming up, C.M. Punk VERSE John Morrison.” It’s VERSUS, you dummy. I’m pretty sure Mike Adamle has been guilty of that, but he gets a free pass because he’s Mike Adamle.
While unpacking, I came across my three or four boxes of old wrestling magazines (sorry, more wrestling talk). There’s some real gems in there, mostly 1984-1995 or so, when I totally gave up on newsstand magazines in favour of newsletters, hotlines, and the internet. The ficticious stories from the PWI family of magazines are so ridiculous to read now that they are entertaining on a whole new level. It would seem every article talks of going back to the subject’s home town and interviewing his long lost childhood friends and teachers.
What’s sad, is that thumbing through any random issue, you’ll likely find five main stories, all discussing something going on in a completely different promotion or territory. Even though I laughed at some of the companies back then, it would be so nice to have more choices nowadays. Sadly, that ship has sailed.
I find TNA iMPACT! hard to watch due to pacing issues, dumb WWE-wannabe skits, and the fact that Mike Tenay and Don West don’t shut up. “He’s walking up the ring steps, Mike!” Um, no kidding, Don, this isn’t radio, I can see very well what he’s doing. “He’s taking off his robe!” Now you’re getting annoying. “Look at the chyron on the screen displaying his name!” Now you’re getting overbearing. “Hey look! The ring has turnbuckles.” it never ends.
Sadly, their house shows get rave reviews, and I would hesitate in going to one if they were to present one in my home town.
I don’t really follow the Japanese product these days at all, although for a long time I did. I very much enjoyed the early to late 1990’s Japanese stuff when it seemed to have a lot more magic to it. Especially when New Japan was on fire and had some great Juniors to complement the main event action.
I see the odd bit of Lucha when I can. I have a soft spot for lucha, having begun my wrestling career as a fake luchadore. This wasn’t quite by accident, as I closely followed AAA when they were on fire in the 1990’s (which pretty much came to an end after the “When World’s Collide” PPV, as the Mexican economy fell apart). When Telelatino showed CMLL and AAA tapes on Friday nights for about a year…well, that ruled.
It’s great fun to explain to people the rich history of lucha, show them the incredible acrobatics and colourful characters.
Lately I have been watching a ton of the old, sometimes boring, heavilly formulaic WWF TV shows from the 1980’s and loving them. I wish squash matches would return, but it won’t happen. WWE seem too afraid someone will change the channel if something big isn’t happening. They need to bring back the PPV updates, but probably never will for the same reason. These were all done away with when RAW was going head-to-head with Nitro. It was an understandable switch, but it you educate your viewers that this info is important, they shouldn’t tune out.
I miss real promos, too. Like back when guys would have a minute or two to just talk. I remember when I was a kid in high school, booking out video equipment from my Film and Video Production class, and taping the local West Coast Championship Wrestling shows in Cloverdale, BC. You’d go up to a Buddy Wayne or Michelle Starr and ask them to do a promo and as soon as the red light went on, they went off on a great rant. The line back then was “just turn the camera on, they know what they are doing, it’s part of their job.”
I find the fact that in most cases, WWE promos are heavily scripted to be a tad insulting as a performer myself. It should be my job to get over and get across what needs to be, and I consider it part of my skillset as a wrestler (sorry, “sports entertainer”) to be able to deliver the goods. Give me bullet points, and I’ll hit them all for you. Scripted promos seems so fake and unorganic, and allow little room to get your personality across. One of my major peeves about my own wrestling career is I didn’t get to talk as much as I would have liked to, because I feel I can talk better than I can wrestle. In hindsight, maybe it was a good thing, though, because the real problem is getting me to shut up.
Anyhow, I can’t feel my tooth now. Thanks for bearing with me through this trying time. Hope my inane ramblings were at least a little though provoking or something.
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Non-wrestling related. French Vanilla Raspberry yogurt rules.
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Here I Am!
By Adam Firestorm | July 26, 2008
Well, kids, I’m in my new abode as I type this. Still a LOT of organizing to do, and I temporarily consider my new address the “Land of the Boxes.”
This place is actually in a pretty nice area, and just right across the street from the ocean, which reminds me of when I lived a stones-throw from the beach as a kid in Paraparaumu, New Zealand.
Unfortunately, I am suffering from my usual moving curse. I don’t know what it is, but I always get a million creative ideas for things I want to do while I have no way to do them. My computer is still all packed up (I need to get it up ASAP to do some work, however - both video related and updating a couple websites I help maintain). The upside is this place is nice and quiet, bright, and probably the type of environment where I’ll be able to get a lot of work done.
I’ll also be able to set up my home gym again, which is of prime importance to me. I can’t wait to get back in fighting form, as I’ve found it really helps with some of those little annoying aches and pains from foolish bumps in the ring.
If you need to get in touch with me via email, I have access to all my accounts, as I’ve been checking in on a laptop and have full internet access here already. My phone numbers remain the same this time around, so I have a minimum of new things to memorize (I only have to burn the new postal code into my brain - the rest has been easy enough to memorize already).
I’ve had so much stuff packed away for a couple (in some cases, more) years that finding it again has been like Christmas. Did you know I own a set of Bushwhackers action figures? I didn’t. Actually, one of the Bushwhackers, Luke Williams, will be wrestling on the Wrestling Supershows coming up in Ontario in about a week or so. The other cousin, Butch Miller, helps run wrestling in New Zealand these days alongside Rip Morgan of New Zealand Militia/Royal Family fame in the NWA/WCW.
I’ve been passing a good chunk of the last few days watching the new “Definitive Ric Flair Collection” DVD set. It’s eight kinds of awesome. You should really go buy it. I saw the local Wal-Mart had one copy left, but I didn’t have my wallet on me. I asked Mrs. Firestorm to buy it for me, but after interest, I will be paying her back to the tune of $250. Actually, the way the situation really went, is I told her “buy this for me now, and in exchange I’ll give you $250.” I wanted to see it that bad. Trust me, it’s worth at least $249.75 of that.
It’s also a bit of a tradition. When I moved from BC to Calgary, AB, the first Ric Flair DVD set came out. So I wouldn’t have to wait for the Canadian release date, I ordered it from Highspots.com. Sadly, WWE underestimated the demand for the “Ultimate Ric Flair Collection” and it went on backorder. It ended up arriving after all my furniture was already in Calgary as I sat in an empty house with no way to watch it.
Anyhow, I need to go take something for this searing toothache. Somewhere in the move I lost a filling and the dentist won’t see me for a whole week. Arrgh. It’s bad enough that if I don’t take something before bed, it keeps me up at night.
Later,
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Goin’ Off Da Grid On the DL, Yo
By Adam Firestorm | July 18, 2008
If you need to contact me urgently, please do so in the next five or six minutes.
I’ll be generally unreachable for the next few days while moving.
That’s right, the Firestorm Family Compound is relocating to its best facility yet.
Doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy the actual moving process any more than usual, though.
Of course, you are all more than welcome to come help me move and carry boxes, lift entertainment centres, and transport my huge box of spandex pants with flames on the side.
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Yum, Yum, Yuck!
By Adam Firestorm | July 14, 2008
This has inspired me to start preserving half of every meal I eat to help future generations of Firestorms.
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This Could Get Dangerous
By Adam Firestorm | July 9, 2008
Okay, this may not be news for some of you out there, and for that I apologize. It’s new to me, and this is my blog, so you get to hear about it. Why? Because I say so!
I was looking up some completely unrelated information and came across a blog post about the Hasbro web site. You know…Hasbro the toy company. The same toy company that brought the world TransFormers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars figures, the Easy Bake Oven, and other staples of many people’s childhood.
One of the main things that changed in the television world in the 1980’s was new laws regarding long-form advertising. That would lead to wonderful things like infomercials, and even better, cartoons based on popular toy lines.
While I’m not a total nerd for these cartoons as some, I do go through phases when I enjoy looking back on them. They’re a little extra special to me, because due to broadcasters opinions in New Zealand that they were too violent, they never aired there when I was a kid. I didn’t see He-Man, Thundercats, G.I. Joe, or TransFormers until one fateful day in a hotel in Hawaii.
Long post short, the fine people at Hasbro have posted full-length, some even director’s cut versions of cartoon from past and present.
You can check it all out HERE.
I’m going to have to get me a good snack. This could take a while!
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Now THAT is “Scoring!”
By Adam Firestorm | July 7, 2008
Ian, who I do Ringside Live with every Friday, passed along this little gem from the BBC News website.
The direct link is http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/also_in_the_news/7493256.stm . I’ve pasted it below. Read it, and then I’ll be back with some fantastic related stories from my life.
Porn appears on rugby programme |
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New Zealand rugby fans watching a regular sports programme found themselves viewing hardcore pornography instead on Sunday afternoon. Four minutes of pornography interrupted sports coverage on the Prime Television channel, after what a spokesman described as a distribution mix up. The pornographic footage was meant for an adult pay-per-view channel. Instead, it found its way onto a regular free-to-air programme called “Grassroots Rugby”. Rival television channels reported that some viewers were angry about the broadcast, which may have been seen by children. |
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Now, being New Zealand-born, I can tell you that rugby in general, and the All-Blacks specifically, are an institution. I even have relatives who work or have worked in various capacities in that industry. Likely, this was a big deal. I’d ask my parents over there, who write for a newspaper, but given the time change, I’d likely be getting them out of bed.
Now, I promised you stories, and here they come. In an effort to not have one sprawling big post on this page, you can find all the juiciness by clicking the below link for more… Read the rest of this entry »
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