I tried to back out of this blog tonight.  I really did.  But Eva talked me down off the ceiling and convinced me to get back on the team.  Here’s how she did it …

B: [whining] “I just don’t feel like baking tonight”

Eva: “I know how you feel honey …”

B: [whining more] “But then I know I will feel guilty if I don’t do it.”

Eva: “Yeah, probably.  It’s not like it’s that bad – what does it take in prep time anyway?  Like 15 minutes right? That’s nothing!”

B: [cheerier] “You’re right!  I’m just being a whiner.  Besides, it’s not like I’m making fruit cake or anything – though fruitcake has booze in it – I guess there’s nothing to stop me from putting booze in it.”

Eva:  ”Nope, nothing at all!”

B: “And date nut bread is so much better than fruitcake …”

Eva: [says the magic words] “Oh! You have to say that – it will be a total throwdown for Della – she’s got fruitcake coming up and she’s been soaking it in booze for ages.”

B:  [A competition?  Brilliant!] “Perfect – I’ll do it!”

So I did it  I used the recipe from the Joy of Cooking.  I followed it exactly.  Well … almost exactly.  That is to say, I meant to follow it exactly but I lost my attention for just the merest of moments (P and N were decorating the Christmas tree and P was trying to figure out if the ornaments were glass or plastic so I went to assist and in the course of gently flicking the little golden globe managed to discover it was glass on account of it breaking and spraying little glass shards everywhere.  Oops.) so I forgot to add the melted butter to the other liquid ingredients and had to add it later.  Didn’t seem to hurt it any.

I will paraphrase the recipe.  Goes like this:

1.  Sift together 2 c. flour, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 2 tsp. double-acting baking powder, 1 tsp. salt.  Set aside.

2. Melt 2 tbsp. butter and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Beat one egg until light and frothy.  Add 1 c. milk and 1/2(ish) tsp. vanilla extract and beat together.  Add butter (this is the step I forgot).

4. Beat wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

5. Fold in chopped dates and nut meats.  I don’t remember what the recipe said exactly.  I used about 1 1/2 c. fresh chopped Medjool Dates and about 1/3 c. each of pecan and walnut pieces.  Then when I was trying to “beat” it, I decided it was awfully dry and wondered why, which is about the point that I remembered the butter was still sitting in the microwave cooling slightly.  Frantically added butter and beat some more.

6. Pour (or shovel) batter into greased loaf pan and put in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

When I pulled it out of the oven, it was decidedly pale on top and I was a little concerned that it was undercooked.  But I decided that I was going to stick with this whole “follow the recipe exactly” thing and put my faith in Irma Rombauer.  I’m glad I did.  It was nice and moist and tasty.  I think if I had tried to brown it on top, I woulda dried it out for sure.  It sliced up nicely and will make an excellent breakfast for my wee one.  In future, I think I might dress it with a little milk or egg white or butter or something before putting it in the oven.  I think I would also add more dates and nuts just for good measure.

I did not end up adding booze because the recipe didn’t call for it and I was trying to be good (which, btw, I was not entirely since the ingredients were all supposed to be at room temperature and my eggs and milk definitely were not).  But I still think it was better than fruit cake. Why?  Well, for starters, who actually likes fruitcake?  And did I mention that I used fresh Medjool dates?  Really, how can a piece of candied green maraschino cherry ever compare?  The dried fruit in fruitcake is the over-painted, tarty, used-up whore to the Medjool date’s sophisticated, saucy yet regal dame.  It’s true.  Really.  Check out the history of the Medjool date here. I betcha no piece of candied unidentified fruit has a history like that.  And I could have made a boozy sauce (see below) which would have done nicely, but this bread also lends itself nicely to a savoury pairing, matching well with some Applewood Smoked Cheddar. And I quote (from N): “I don’t like fruitcake, so this is better for me.”

So, Della, consider this my throwdown.  This is good.  This is versatile.  This was ridiculously easy to make.  This did not involve fruit of unnatural colour, or the stigma of being that dried up, bitter hunk o’lead that people “gift” to one another at Christmas.  I would make and eat it again.  Fruitcake?  You’ll have to convince me (and N).

As with most things, my date nut bread was much improved by the generous application of fresh whipped cream.  Probably some rum caramel sauce would’ve finished it perfectly.  Too bad I didn’t think to make any until after I ate all this and got full.

xoxo B

ECW on SyFy – December 15, 2009

After a very long and boring episode of Monday Night RAW it’s going to be nice to have a good show, doesn’t matter what the main event is, anything is better than Orton v. Cena. I’m amazed I had over 100 views on my page on Tuesday, guess everyone wanted to see what happened on TLC and RAW, wish RAW was better but TLC was good. I am curious to see where they go with Christian next, as he beat Shelton Benjamin, and now he needs a new challenger. Let’s get to show and see what ECW has in store for us this week.

We open this week’s ECW with the announcement that Tiffany has invited Kane back to ECW tonight, as we see Kane backstage, who says “I’m back” and then laughs maniacally. We go to our opening video as we’re coming from Laredo, TX. Tonight we get Maria on Abraham Washington Show along with Kane’s appearance.

1. We open with Tiffany in the ring, as she says she is proud of the participants who represented ECW on Sunday night. She then asks for Shelton Benjamin & Christian to come to ring, Shelton comes out limping and holding his ribs, and Christian comes out limping as well as having a black eye where he got stitches. Both men shake Tiffany’s hand and each other’s hand, as the crowd gives them the respect they deserve. Tiffany says the match was awesome, I agree, one of the best matches in WWE. Shelton takes the mic and says he wants to thank the crowd for inspiring them to take the risks they took. Shelton says he didn’t know if he was going to punch Christian or shake his hand, he then says thank you for the greatest match of his career. Shelton tells Christian, let’s do it again, he wants a rematch. As Tiffany says he can get the opportunity, we’re joined by the Ruthless Roundtable. William Regal says enough of this poppycock, as he asks Tiffany what is up with her voice. Regal says there is a larger issue tonight, Kane. Tiffany says she is going to explain, and Regal cuts her off again and asks Tiffany is she’s mental for letting Kane back on ECW. Tiffany says she is introducing a new concept, as several past ECW stars will come in to face the current ECW stars, the winner will face Christian at the Royal Rumble, sounds interesting. Tonight we get two matches, Zack Ryder v. Kane, Zack’s a dead man damn it, and Vladimir Kozlov v. Ezekiel Jackson. Shelton is laughing at this as Regal looks panicked, although Zeke looks pretty excited.

2. Hurricane v. The Ripper. Nice to the Savannah, Angela Fong, doing the ring intros tonight, she looks great! This is annoying as Burchill is such a great athlete, and deserves so much better than this garbage. Burchill starts with a go behind and tries to pull off the mask, Burchill whips in Hurricane and no one budges. Hurricane tossed out of the ring by Ripper, who follows and drops Hurricane on the barricade. Ripper Suplexes Hurricane back in and gets a two count, Paul continues to stomp on Hurricane as we get a look at Katie Lea, now Beautiful Nightmare. Ripper with a clothesline on Hurricane and stomps Hurricane for a near fall. Ripper slams him and climbs the ropes, but Hurricane catches him with a fist and then a nice clothesline. Hurricane whipped in, but catches Ripper with an elbow followed by a Hurricanrana for a near fall. Hurricane sets up for shining wizard, countered to a back breaker for another near fall. Ripper whips Hurricane in and gets a big boot followed by the tornado DDT as Hurricane tries to pull off the mask, and gets it off. Burchill then hit with a shining wizard for a three count. 3.5/5 great match, as both guys put on a great show and I hope this means Burchill moves to Smackdown and maybe gets a push. We now get a RAW rebound, it was bad enough the first time, and no one needs to see it again. From there we go backstage to Paul & Katie Lea with Gregory Helms, as Paul looks like he’s going to cry. Paul then screams and walks away from a smiling, laughing Gregory who’s in a suit, but wearing his Hurricane cape underneath.

3. Tony Atlas welcomes us to the Abraham Washington Show, and brings out the host with the most, Abraham! Abraham thanks the crowd for coming out tonight, as he calls himself the most entertaining man in sports entertainment! Abraham says he wants to report a crime, he says he got robbed and should’ve won breakout star of the year. Abraham says he should’ve won all the award, Tony says he should’ve won Diva of the Year. This brings out Diva of the Year, Maria, who looks great in a silver dress!! Abe says it must have been embarrassing last night when Batista interrupted her award speech; I think Batista should be embarrassed for wearing pink! Maria says as embarrassing as it was, at least she won a Slammy! Maria says Abe didn’t get robbed, as Tony says the show stinks, Maria asks Abe if he’s eying her Slammy. Abe says it’s not a real Slammy, as she can’t press anyone over her head, she says she wasn’t talking to Abe, she was talking to Tony. Tony runs over to hold the Slammy, Abe goes to reach for it, and she pulls it back. Maria says maybe next year you’ll win one, Tony says I doubt it. Abe says he voted for Michelle McCool, probably was forced by Undertaker to vote for her, he says Batista needs to come out and interrupt this show. Abe tells Tony end the show now, as Maria holds her Slammy over her head proudly and dances!!! How can you not like Maria, she just looks so cute?

4. Vladimir Kozlov v. Ezekiel Jackson. Here’s our first match of the ECW Homecoming Qualifiers that Tiffany mentioned in the beginning of the show. Vladimir comes out with William Regal, as Jackson comes out alone, but with a huge smile. Jackson is like the new Ahmed Johnson, but with talent. The bell rings and both men circle each other, Jackson pushes Vladimir back, and Vladimir comes back with a knee lift, Jackson with a series of punches and a trio of slams. Jackson screams at Regal, and gets caught from behind by Kozlov who drops a series of elbows for a two count. Kozlov with the head butts, and goes off the ropes, but Regal grabs the leg? Jackson with the urunage and scores the win. 2.5/5 Quick match, more storyline then match as Regal joins up with Jackson. Jackson leaves and Kozlov gets a hold of Regal, Jackson from behind and they whip Kozlov into the announce table. Regal says there is no one in this country smart enough to take him on, as Kozlov is left down and out. So does this mean Kozlov is the good guy now that just doesn’t sound right to me? We go backstage to Croft & Barreta playing Smackdown v. RAW and beating DX.

5. Caylen Croft & Trent Barreta v. Julio Cruz & Jorge Arias. This is going to be another quick squash for the team of Croft & Barreta, so no need to recap a squash. 1/5 Barreta & Croft score another quick and easy win, and go to Savannah and says they can announce themselves as winners. They announce themselves as next year’s tag team of the year, maybe if they get some real competition and we see what they can do. I do like the finishing move they do, but need to see some real matches with these two. We go backstage to Yoshi & Goldust, as Goldust congratulates Yoshi on his win last night. Yoshi turns around right into Kane and says something in Japanese; Kane asks Goldust what Yoshi said. Goldust stutters and Kane says “They say I’m the freak”. That was funny actually, Kane is entertaining sometimes and Goldust is always funny.

6. Kane v. Zack Ryder. I’m a huge fan of Zack Ryder, but he’s doomed. They announce next week, Yoshi Tatsu v. Jack Swagger, which should be awesome. Zack comes out with Rosa and her amazing swaying hips. With less than five minutes left, this isn’t going to be good. Kane opens up on Zack right away and snap mares him down, followed by the low dropkick for a near fall. Kane whips Zack in, but eats a big boot, Zack off the top but Kane catches him into a big slam. Kane misses the elbow; Zack hits a dropkick of his own, then pounds on Kane. Zack with a headlock, which Kane powers out with a Suplex, and whips Zack in again and hits the clothesline. Zack counters the side slam, but Kane goes for a Chokeslam, Ryder grabs the ropes. Kane tries for a big boot, and Zack moves and Kane crotches himself; Zack wisely works on the leg of Kane. Ryder pounds Kane in the corner, but steps back and Kane catches him, Ryder hits a chop block on Kane and continues the work on the knee. Kane misses a clothesline and Zack with a dropkick to the knee, followed by the Fame-Asser for a near fall. Zack readies for the Rough Rider, Kane counters into a powerbomb, but Zack slides out. Kane hits the Chokeslam for the win on Zack as Rosa looks on in horror. 3/5 surprisingly a good match, at least Zack hit some offense and didn’t just get squished. Would’ve liked to see Zack score the upset, but still a good match.

Match Recap

1. Hurricane pinned the Ripper 3.5/5
2. Ezekiel Jackson pinned Vladimir Kozlov 2.5/5
3. Caylen Croft & Trent Barreta beat Julio Cruz & Jorge Arias 1/5
4. Zack Ryder pinned by Kane 3/5

Not a great episode of ECW but still way better then Monday Night RAW, at least there were no DUDs here. I’m intrigued as to where they are going with this tournament thing and who is going to face Christian at the Rumble. Well tomorrow should be either TNA Impact or Superstars, depending which I find posted online first.

For the last few weeks we’ve had Dave from PVW Magazine’s MK5 Gti with us for a number of gearbox, chassis, engine and interior modifications!

The work is now complete on the car, but we’ll leave it to the guys to do what they do best. In the meanwhile here’s a couple of spy shots:

Read all about the project in the magazine throughout 2010 or see general information on the magazine, maybe even grab a subscription, at their own website:

http://www.performancevwmag.com/

WWE Monday Night RAW: December 14, 2009

After a very impressive PPV last night, and some new stars at the top, tonight should be a very interesting Monday Night Raw. Tonight is the Slammy Awards hosted by one of my favorite comedians, Dennis Miller, and the preview says there is a 4 man tournament tonight, which I assume the finals will be Cena v. Undertaker since there is no way Vince can wait till Wrestlemania for that. So let’s get on with the show.

We open the show with a preview of tonight’s Slammy Awards, and surprisingly no recap of the PPV. I assume that’ll come later, unless they plan to overturn the Sheamus win, which I can see happening. RAW is live and we have Undertaker v. Orton & Cena v. Punk, winners face each other for the Superstar of the year. Like CM Punk has a chance in hell of winning that.

1. Justin Roberts introduces our host for tonight, the great Dennis Miller. This guy is so cool and funny; when he left SNL is when I pretty much stopped watching. Dennis says after the pyro went off he’s deaf and incontinent. Dennis makes some jokes about the awards, Vickie Guerrero and D-X jokes. I think some of Dennis’ jokes are a little over the head of the crowd and especially Michael Cole. They show a picture of Cena & Obama and the crowd boos, and Dennis says one went thru a table, and one has brought nothing to a table. Dennis plugs the Tribute to the Troops show and his organization, which was pretty classy and cool. Dennis introduces our first presenters Jillian Hall, who looks amazing tonight, and R-Truth. Jillian is in a very nice black dress, and has a nice pair…of Slammy Awards! They are presenting the tag team of the year, I vote for Jillian for best tag team!!! Jillian tries to sing, and R-Truth cuts her off and tells her to shut up, what a jerk. Nominees for Tag Team, D-X (who probably wins), Legacy, Hart Dynasty (who I’d like to see win) & Jerishow (who should win). Jillian announces the winner is Jerishow! Nice to see the team who deserves it most wins, maybe this isn’t all kayfabed, sucks they lost the titles last night. Jericho is the most entertaining part of the WWE right now. Jericho says were you expecting someone else? He continues by saying he could feign surprise, but why bother. Jericho says he wants to thank two people, the cowardly Edge for getting injured, and himself, for choosing Big Show as his partner. Big Show says the microphone is made for shorter people as he has to lean over to talk. Show says he will retain, Jericho corrects him with regain, the tag titles in the near future. Chris says he is invoking their rematch clause tonight. We get the same three man team from last night, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole and Matt Striker. The go over the recap of last night’s PPV and Sheamus’ shocking win. Matt Striker says Tiffany and Teddy Long will present an award later tonight. We get the vote for diva of the year promo, I voted for Mickie of course!

2. Ruthless Roundtable v. Christian, Kane & Great Khali. William Regal, Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov in the ring and Regal has the microphone. Regal says despite what happened last week, they are on the same team tonight and he challenges Christian and two others for a match tonight. Christian comes out limping and introduces his tag team partners, let me guess Kane & Knox, and I was half right! I’m in the minority but I’m glad to see Khali back, I’m his only fan but I think he’s awesome. We start with Kozlov & Khali, Kozlov goes for a kick and Khali pushes him back, Kozlov goes for a takedown and a series of head butts, Khali catches him with a big boot. Kozlov takes in Zeke, who gets taken down and Christian comes in from the top rope with a crossbody. Christian nails Regal, but gets caught by Zeke with a backbreaker; Regal gets tagged in and gets pounded by William. Christian hits a forearm to make the tag to Kane, who destroys Regal with the side slam. Kane up top and hits the flying lariat for a near fall, as Kozlov break the pin and Zeke in, clotheslining Kane down and Kozlov tags himself in and eats a boot. Khali tagged in, hits the chop for the win. 3.25/5 I enjoyed the match, but I like 5 out of 6 of these guys, so I’m biased. Still a nice opening match. We go back to Dennis Miller who introduces Tiffany & Teddy Long for Breakout Star of the year. Tiffany looking good in a red dress, very hot! Nominees are Drew McIntyre, Sheamus (who should/will win), and Yoshi Tatsu & Abraham Washington. The winner is the new WWE champion, Sheamus! Sheamus comes out to a chorus of boos, and says now people should take him seriously. Sheamus says he beat Cena and put him through the table, as the crowd starts the stupid “What” chant, as Sheamus goes over the Hall of Famers who never won a title. Sheamus proudly holds the title high as the fans chant “you suck”; he says Cena will never get the title back. We go to commercial and come back to Cole & Lawler kissing John Cena’s ass, as Striker tells them to put on an orange shirt and shut up. We get a promo of the other 3 in the running for Superstar of the year, which Punk should win.

3. Cody Rhodes v. Kofi Kingston. This should be a good match, as Cody has improved so much since his teaming with Hardcore Holly. I love that Kofi lost night and still has that big grin, does have any idea he lost? Kofi has his shoulder heavily bandaged after blocking the punt; the crowd is chanting Cody which is surprising. They start out in the ropes and Cody goes for the arm, but Kofi gets out of the way. Kofi with a shoulderblock, which hurt him, Kofi hits a nice dropkick and the jumping lariat, then the boom drop as DiBiase makes the run in and out comes Evan Bourne, as we probably get a tag match now, otherwise this is a DUD. Dennis Miller comes out and says he got a Slammy for best Guest Host for restarting the match as a tag match, just like I figured. Kofi & Bourne dive on Legacy as we go to commercial; we come back to DiBiase with an arm bar on Kingston. DiBiase works over the arm, and tags in Rhodes who nails the arm and tags Ted back in. Kofi tries to fight back with one arm and gets taken down again. Striker makes a Marine joke about DiBiase as Cole plugs the Marine 2. Legacy continues to work over the arm over Kofi Kingston with a series of quick tags. Kofi finally makes the tag to Evan Bourne who hits a nice Hurricanrana and spin kick on Rhodes, followed by the knee drop in mid air. Kofi and DiBiase on the floor as Evan then kicked Cody Rhodes to the ropes. Rhodes counters and hits Cross Rhodes for the win. 2.75/5 quick paced tag match, glad they made it a tag match instead of just ending there. Dennis Miller apologizes for the show open and says he should just come out and yell suck it! He introduces the presenters of Santino Marella & Vickie Guerrero; this should be comedy gold as they present the Shocker of the Year. Nominees are Randy Orton DDTs Stephanie (should win), Batista’s heel turn (will win), CM Punk retires Jeff Hardy & Sheamus putting Cubin throw the table. CM Punk wins; I’m surprised as I thought Batista would get it. CM Punk comes out proudly and gets cut off for commercial. We come back to CM Punk’s speech as he insults the crowd, and says he wants to thank himself for having a great year as he goes over his accomplishments for this year. He forgets to mention, he’s made Festus entertaining!

4. CM Punk v. John Cena. Yeah, like Punk has chance of winning this match! John Cena comes out and the crowd cheers, I can’t for the life of me figure out why. We start out as Cena knocks down Punk, Punk returns with a series of knee lifts. Punk hits the knee to the corner/bulldog combo for a near fall. Punk locks in the arm bar, and Cena powers out, kicking Punk, Punk counters to the GTS, Cena reverses to the STF. Punk almost makes the ropes, and Cena pulls him back and locks it back in for a quick win. DUD way to squash Punk, what a waste of time that was. Way to not even give Punk a chance in this match, why he’s in the dog is beyond me. Someone please gag the idiot that keeps screaming, she’s driving me nuts. Cena does the usual crying after losing the title as he apologizes for failing last night. I think Cena fails as a wrestler, he’s overrated and undertalented, he doesn’t deserve to be where he is in the business while guys like Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas & William Regal get no respect. Cena says people may have lost faith in him, but he says that’s ok, and to those who still believes he says he won’t give up. Cena says his road to Wrestlemania starts tonight, and he can’t be stopped. Cena steals Swagger’s gimmick by saying he won’t lose another match, of course you won’t, because you’re Vince’s cash cow. We go back to Dennis Miller, who thanks the WWE for the Tribute to the Troops. Dennis introduces Triple H to present the Match of the Year. Triple gets Dennis Miller’s name wrong and says D-X will defend the titles tonight. Nominees are Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels (will win), John Cena v. Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy v. Edge (should win), Raw v. Smackdown 14 man tag match. Shawn v. Undertaker wins, of course, and Shawn comes out. It was only a good match because the rest of the show sucked. I say Edge/Hardy was ten times better then that match and truly deserves it. Triple H says he had to follow the match, and didn’t stand a chance. That’s because Triple H/Orton at Mania was horrible, as was the rest of Wrestlemania. Shawn is out to brag about the match, but why not Undertaker? Shawn grabs the award, and starts to leave as the fans chant “HBK”; Shawn challenges Undertaker to a rematch. Shawn says he can beat Undertaker and wants a rematch at Wrestlemania 26, let’s hope not.

5. Undertaker v. Randy Orton. I still say Undertaker wins this match, to set up Cena/Undertaker main event tonight. Don’t know if that will be better then Orton v. Cena match number 2753, but at least it’s fresh. Undertaker starts out with a shoulderblock and goes for Old School, which is countered by Orton. Cole & Lawler ignore Striker who says Batista should be the champ, and I agree, and I hate Batista as much as I hate Cena. Both men slug it out and Taker with an advantage, as he hits Snake Eyes and Big Boot combo, as Cole yells out vintage. Taker gets a near fall and goes for the Chokeslam, Orton counters and clotheslines Taker over the top rope, both men outside the ring. Undertaker hits the apron leg drop on Randy Orton, who gets distracted by Legacy. Orton hits an RKO on Undertaker outside the ring and Orton slides in the ring for the win. DUD another complete waste of time, these matches have sucked so far. Legacy roll Undertaker back in and start yelling at him, Undertaker takes Legacy out and chokeslams Orton. Undertaker stands over Orton, as we get Orton v. Cena tonight, yawn. We come back from commercial to Dennis Miller, who says we’re two hours into a seventeen hour show, it feels like it. Miller introduces Vince McMahon, whose music cuts off Dennis Miller’s jokes. Vince McMahon presents the Guest Host of the Year Award. Vince asks if the crowd is dead as he says the audience is lousy, no Vince the show has sucked so far. Nominees include Bob Barker (should win), Seth Green, Shaq (will win) & Osbournes. Vince announces Bob Barker wins the award, and he’s shown on the big screen. Bob says thanks to the RAW audience and he’s proud to have won the award and he had a great time being on RAW. He looked like he had a lot of fun when he was hosting, so I’m glad he won that, may have been the highlight of RAW. Vince asks Dennis who he’d name as Guest Host and Dennis replies with Bret “Hitman” Hart and the place erupts!!! Vince mentions the Montreal Screwjob and says he would not do it, Dennis asks the crowd and we get a hell yeah! Vince just walks off the stage, looking pretty pissed off. Wonder if we will ever get Bret as guest host, it’s been rumored for a while. After the commercial we get Dennis Miller backstage with Chris Jericho, who thanks Dennis for showing him respect. Dennis starts one of his legendary rants!!! I love it!!! Dennis calls Jericho a black hole and makes a Kayne/Taylor Swift joke. I hope Jerishow wins the belts back tonight, because RAW is going to suck without him.

6. D-X v. Jerishow. Jericho has his arm and leg both bandaged as Lawler mentions Little People Court, so we’re not letting that die? Jericho and Triple H start the match, and Triple H does a school boy push over on the ref, and that’s the match. DUD seriously, that’s the match. What the @%#^ was that, what a load of garbage if they don’t have the match. Triple H says that was your one rematch you get, so Jericho is done and needs to leave RAW now. This is the most ridiculous pile of crap I’ve ever seen, this show is failing fast. D-X calls out the D-X army of R-Truth, Hurricane, Finlay, Cryme Tyme, Christian and Shelton Benjamin. Jericho turns around to yell at the army and eats Sweet Chin Music, as he rolls out of the ring the D-X army pushes his up the ramp and out of the arena. We may have a new contender for worst episode of RAW ever, as we see Jericho being pushed out of the arena. Carlito, Chris Masters & Eve come out to present the Extreme Moment of the Year award, as Masters does his boob bounce move, I’d rather see Eve do that!!! Carlito says he can do it too as he asks Eve if she can do it, he says he’ll never know. Nominees are Kofi’s Boom Drop on Orton through the table (will win), Big Show throwing Cena through the light (should win), and Jeff Hardy dives on CM Punk & Triple H’s home invasion. Jeff Hardy wins in tonight’s WTF moment, as Matt accepts the award. Matt Hardy says Jeff is honored to have won the award, Carlito says he won, why Matt is accepting. Carlito clobbers Matt Hardy and accepts the award for him, as Carlito does a great acceptance speech as Eve takes the award. Masters locks Carlito in the Masterlock and throws him to Matt who knocks Carlito out. They then play the trailer for Marine 2, who cares?

7. The Miz, Zack Ryder & Drew McIntyre v. John Morrison, Yoshi Tatsu & Mark Henry. Well, I guess this is a way to get six guys on the show, as you know the matches have been so long tonight, yeah that’s sarcasm! Nice to see the young guys get some camera time; let’s hope for a good long match. Striker points out the mistake he made last night about the title changes in Texas, which I pointed out in my TLC recap!!! John Morrison lost his fur coat, looks strange without it. It looked well, until the introduced Mark Henry, the talent level took a huge drop just then. It’s cool seeing the IC and US champs on the same team. Mark Henry and Miz start up, as Mark Henry powers Miz up overhead and drops Miz. Henry tags in John Morrison who hits a side leg sweep on his former partner. John with the standing shooting star for a two count, Miz tags in Drew, John pulls him down and misses the run kick as Drew tags out to Ryder. Yoshi begs to be tagged in and John obliges. Zack whips Yoshi in and Tatsu with a shoulderblock, nice little sequence there, Tatsu with the kick for the three! 2/5 way to quick a match should’ve been a lot more time for this match, whatever, let’s just end this damn show now.

8. Mickie James, Melina, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, and Maria & Bella Twins v. Michelle McCool, Layla, Rosa Mendes, Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Maryse & Alicia Fox. I give this less than five minutes for this match, as the divas get no respect ever. All the girls are in evening gowns, so this means it won’t be long, Michelle has pick up Layla and help her in as her dress is too tight. I really don’t care anymore, as this is going to be quick but still painful. The bell rings and Rosa kicks Mickie to start and pulls her down, wonder if we get a slip like on TNA two weeks ago, Lawler hopes for a slip too. Mickie hits a Hurricanrana on Rosa and the DDT for the win. DUD what was the point of introducing 14 divas when only two were in the ring. This show is a complete and utter waste of ^$@#^ time. Goldust and MVP come out to introduce Diva of the Year, which Michelle probably wins. MVP announces the Slammy goes to Maria, what the hell, why? She’s been gone for months and done nothing, sure she’s hot, but she’s useless, might as well have been Rosa winning. To quote Bart Simpson, “I didn’t think it was possible to suck and blow at the same time”. Batista comes out and does a Kayne West thing to Maria, whatever. Dennis Miller introduces the next trainwreck, his words not mine, Abraham Washington, Tony Atlas and Big Dick Johnson, who announce the Oh My moment of the Year. Tony Atlas can’t stop laughing, which is making the show, which shows how bad this crap has been. Nominees are Chris Masters’ dancing pecs, Shawn superkicks a little girl (will win), Michael Cole puking & Santino gets pied (should win). Michael Cole win, and he jumps on Lawler and runs up the ramp, like the tool he is. Cole gives a stupid speech about JR, and Dennis Miller comes back out. Dennis says he has to take his eyes out with a power drill after seeing Bick Dick Johnson, got to agree. Eighteen minutes to go, I think I can, I think I can. We get some more D-X crap, which I fast forward, thankfully as I see Hornswoggle involved that saved me 5 minutes.

9. John Cena v. Randy Orton. Eleven minutes left, and I still see Sheamus losing the belt before we end. Cena starts out quick pounding Orton and hits a poor fisherman Suplex for a near count. Cena with a big slam and elbow drop, Cena misses a bulldog and Orton throws his out of the ring. John Cena rammed into the ring post by Orton and thrown back in the ring for a near fall. Orton stomps on Cena, as the announcers care as much as I do as they recap the Slammy winners and talk about Shawn challenging Undertaker. I’d love to see Orton score an upset, but so not happening. I can see why as Orton is still stomping on John and doing his facial expressions he does so well. Orton goes for a slam, Cena reverses into a bulldog, and Cena climbs the ropes and drops the leg for a near fall. Vintage Orton, as Cole says, with the backbreaker for another near fall. Cena tries to pull himself up and Orton punches him down, then a quick clothesline for a two count. Orton with a Garvin Stomp, can there be a stupid move in wrestling? Orton misses the knee drop and Cena with a pair of shoulderblocks, followed by the fistdrop. Cena goes for FU, countered to RKO, countered to STFU, countered again; Cena hits FU for a near fall. Orton rolls out of the ring, catching Cena with the DDT on the floor. Orton rolls Cena in and Cena of course kicks out as Orton continues the facial expressions. Orton readies for the punt kick and misses, Cena with the FU for the win. 2.5/5 well, was better than expected, but ended as expected. Sheamus appears on the ramp showing the title to John Cena as the show mercifully ends.

Match Recap

1. Christian, Kane & Great Khali beat Ruthless Roundtable 3.25/5
2. Legacy beat Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne 2.75/5
3. John Cena squashed CM Punk DUD
4. Randy Orton win via countout over Undertaker DUD
5. Jerishow beat D-X by disqualification DUD
6. Yoshi Tatsu, John Morrison & Mark Henry beat Miz, Drew McIntyre & Zack Ryder 2/5
7. Team Mickie beats Team Michelle in about a minute DUD
8. John Cena beats Randy Orton 2.5/5

Slammy recap

1. Tag Team presented by Jillian Hall & R-Truth, won by Jerishow
2. Teddy Long & Tiffany present Breakout Star of the year, won by Sheamus
3. Santino & Vickie present the Shocker of the Year, won by CM Punk
4. Triple H presents the Match of Year, which is won by Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels
5. Vince McMahon presents Guest Host of the Year, won by Bob Barker
6. Carlito, Chris Masters & Eve present the Extreme Moment of the Year, won by Jeff Hardy
7. Goldust & MVP announce Maria wins Diva of the Year
8. Abraham Washington, Tony Atlas & Big Dick present Oh My, won by Michael Cole
9. John Cena wins Superstar of the Year

What a horrible excuse for a show that was, it’s bad when Khali has match of the night. It was just three hours of crap and the matches were rushed, especially the diva match. I’m too fed to talk anymore about this show, bring on the good show, ECW. I give this show an F, worse than last week’s Impact, which sucked. Only good things were Dennis Miller and Bob Barker.

Une terrible tornade a mis le royaume sens dessus dessous ! La belle princesse Hélène doit se rendre au chevet de son père le roi Olgert, mais les routes sont en ruines, les villages détruits et un dragon affamé sillonne le ciel. Rebâtissez l’empire ravagé et réparez les villes détruites. Aidez le brave et noble chevalier Arthur à restaurer le royaume grâce à vos talents en gestion du temps dans My Kingdom for the Princess !

De superbes graphismes.

Un système de jeu captivant.

Aidez la princesse !

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OS : Windows XP/Vista

CPU : 600 Mhz

RAM : 512 MB

DirectX : 8.1

Espace libre disque dur : 102 MB

My Kingdom For The Princess

St. Petersburg, FL - Boat show faced blustery weather, windy, cool and rainy. Thursday was cool with light attendance.  At the Quality Boats in-water exhibit we experienced light traffic, but interested boaters and potential boaters. Yours truly was aboard the Regal 4060 Commodore express yacht cruiser with twin Volvo Penta IPS diesels and joystick docking controls. This innovative feature is becoming well accepted by the buying public. It makes docking a pleasure. . . . . . Friday brought cooler temperatures and driving rains. Few chose to brave the docks. Those that did were certainly serious about their outing, showing strong interest in the boats and yachts displayed – it gave us a chance to show off the heating system on the 4060 and the Pursuit 375 Offshore and the Regal 3360 Express; but most of the cowd was driven inside the tents, where vendors reported brisk business and solid opportunities. . . . . Saturday’s early rains kept the morning crowds down. Fair weather in the PM brought some serious boat buyers to the docks. . . . . Sunday was more seasonable and a much better day for boaters to walk the docks.
Saturday, Dec. 12 Quality Boats had a Regal express entered in the Clearwater Christmas lighted boat parade. The crew was festive. All the boats were decorated. The landside Christmas party goers were well entertained. . . . .
Had the opportunity to attend a portion of the sales boot camp given by leading trainer, Jeffrey Gitomer. . . . . This guy is good!  Jeff, thanks for the invite. . . . . We now turn towards the second half of December, Christmas and preparing for the New Year.  Merry Christmas to all; and to all a good night.

Please support Disney’s The Princess & The Frog!!!!!!

The Nutrition Action Health Letter from the Center for Science in the Public Interest did a study of movie theater popcorn from three different theaters: Regal, AMC, and Cinemark. Here’s what they found about the calorie and fat content of the popcorn.

Regal and AMC pop their corn in coconut oil, while Cinemark uses non-hydrogenated canola oil, which is one of the healthiest oils you can use and has a much lower saturated fat content.

At Regal a small popcorn is 11 cups, 670 calories, has 34 grams of saturated fat (that’s ridiculous!) and 550 mg of sodium. And this is the small.

AMC’s small is 6 cups, has 370 calories, and 20 grams of saturated fat (still very very bad). It is lowest in sodium with 210 mg.

Cinemark’s small is 8 cups, has 420 calories, only 2 grams of saturated fat (awesome!) and 690 mg of sodium.

Now for the “butter” topping that Benny loves so much. For 1 tablespoon of “buttery” topping (which is a small amount) you add around 130 calories and 2 g of sat fat. This is going to add up fast. Most of the time you end up with 2 or 3 tbsp, I’m guessing, which is more like 260 to 390 extra calories. What a waste of calories!

I’m going to skip the medium size and go right to large. Regal’s is 20 cups, 1.200 calories (That’s all your calories for the entire day if you are a small woman like me!) and 60 g of sat fat! I’m pretty sure that’s more than any one person should have in a year. Also, 980 mg of sodium. Ouch.

Again, AMC has a smaller size, 16 cups, but still way too much sat fat at 57 g. Their medium has 1,030 calories and 580 mg of sodium.

Cinemark’s is 17 cups with 910 calories, the highest sodium with 1,500 mg, and the lowest sat fat with only 4 g. Luckily we mostly go to Cinemark theaters…

Now imagine you add a soda to the mix.

Cinemark’s small is 16 fl. oz (larger then a can of coke), has 150 calories and 10 tsp of sugar. Okay, we can survive that. But who wants a 16 oz soda at a movie? You want a big one, right? Get a 32 oz (small at Regal, medium at AMC, and Cinemark) and you’ll get 300 calories and 19 tsp of sugar. If that’s not enough, try the large at Regal. It’s got 500 calories and 33 tsp of sugar. That’s the same calories as a nice dinner, and it’s just the drink! Our Cinemark offers un-sweetened ice tea, so now we usually get that instead. It has no calories and the health benefits of tea!

And forget about the candy. One 8 oz bag of Reeses’s Pieces (yummy!) has around 1,200 calories, or the same as a 16 oz steak with a buttered baked potato! It also has 122 g of sugar and 35 g of sat fat! By the time you’re done with all this, you’ll be ready for a heart attack!

I have one friend who gets a medium popcorn with butter, a large soda, and two candies (Reese’s Pieces and Hot Tamales). That’s around 2,550 calories, which is more then even a grown man needs in a whole day! He shares with his wife, but she doesn’t eat that much. And then he gets dinner after the movie! No wonder we are so fat, America.

ECW on SyFy: December 8, 2009

After another lackluster episode of RAW I’m looking forward to this week’s ECW.  I don’t even know what the matches are, but ECW never fails to entertain. I just read the match listings for this week’s TNA Impact and wow does it ever look bad. This may not be a good week for TNA Impact, but for now let’s focus on the soon to be extinct ECW.

1. We open the show with Josh Matthews in the ring talking about the Christian and Shelton ladder match in 5 days. Suddenly Vladimir Kozlov’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Kozlov grabs the mic and calls out Ezekiel Jackson, and Jackson comes down the aisle. Both men start slugging it out and Regal comes out to break it up. Regal struggling to keep his team together as he is on his knees begging them to not fight it out, when suddenly Shelton’s music hits. Shelton asks Regal what he’s doing, and starts a chant of “Let Them Fight”, William Regal responds by saying this has nothing to do with Shelton and there are three of them and one of him, which brings out Captain Charisma and Yoshi Tatsu. I smell a six man tag tonight, good thing this happened or we wouldn’t have a main event tonight. Kozlov says something in Russian and Christian responds with “That’s what she said”. Shelton throws out the challenge for the six man tag and Regal says none of you have any authority, which of course brings out Tiffany who says she has authority. She offers a choice; either a six man tag or Kozlov & Jackson can fight each other. Regal responds that tonight will be a six man tag; Jackson grabs the mic and says he wants Kozlov tonight, which leaves Kozlov who decides he wants the six man match. Thus giving us the six man tag main event tonight, should be a good match.
2. Vance Archer v. Tommy Dreamer. We’re finally going to see Lance Hoyt in a real match tonight, let’s hope he does better then Braden Walker, he’s been here longer! Tommy with a go behind, Archer with an elbow, followed by the shoulder block. Vance misses and elbow but backs Tommy in the corner.  Tommy able to counter a backdrop but gets caught in a full nelson bomb, Archer with a near fall. Vance chokes Tommy in the corner by placing a knee in the back of the head of Tommy, impressive looking. Vance whips Tommy in the corner and then stands on Dreamer’s head. Dreamer tries for a back slide and gets hit with a short arm clothesline; Archer then hits a nice vertical Suplex. Tommy tries to fight back and gets a nice elbow and a flying clothesline, followed up with a neck breaker and a cross body for a two count. Tommy on the ropes and Archer runs at him and misses, tumbling to the floor, Tommy follows up with a baseball slide and the running somersault off the apron. Archer rolled back in and Dreamer to the top rope, but gets caught by Vance who goes for a superplex, but Archer knocked down and Tommy hits a frog splash for a near fall. Dreamer readies for the DDT, but Archer counters with the big boot. Archer then hits the reverse DDT for the win. 3/5 Impressive actually, Tommy helped pull a good match out of Archer. Very good opening match and I have to admit, I’m slowly being impressed by Vance. We get a recap of the masked Burchill attacking Hurricane last week. Paul and Katie backstage in masks with Tiffany. Burchill says he is the Ripper and never lost to the Hurricane. Gregory Helms comes in and Tiffany says great, the Justice League is here. Tiffany says Ripper can earn his contract by beating Hurricane. Now over to Rosa & Ryder who are arguing who’s sweeter. Zack introduces Dreamer as a dinosaur, he says he used to be a fan of Dreamer and his time is over. Zack says he wants to be the guy who ends Dreamer’s career and then walks away.
3. Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft v. Mark Franks & Danny Vaughn. No recap needed as this is obviously a squash match for the two newcomers. 2.5/5 quick and easy victory for the team of Barreta & Croft.
4. Christian, Yoshi Tatsu & Shelton Benjamin v. The Ruthless Roundtable. This should be a good match, four talents and two powerhouses. We start with Christian and Jackson, Christian with a go behind and Jackson powers Christian to the corner. Christian uses his quickness to avoid the big man, but Jackson catches him and slams Christian down twice and then makes the tag to Regal who comes in and gets backslide. Christian tags in Yoshi who then tags in Shelton. Quick series of tag with Christian’s team as they hold Regal in the corner.  Regal finally gets some offense and tags in the big Russian, Christian then brings in Tatsu. Yoshi with a series of kicks on Kozlov and then tags in Benjamin. Benjamin gets lifted on the shoulder of Kozlov, but slides down and hits the spin kick. Kozlov powers Shelton to the corner and throws Benjamin over the top as we go to commercial. We come back and Regal has Benjamin in the Stretch, Shelton fights out but gets taken down as Jackson tagged in. Jackson with a big clothesline in the corner for a near fall, Jackson continues to pound Shelton down and tags in Regal. Regal drops the knee on Shelton, and brings in the Moscow Mauler who kicks Shelton in the ribs. Kozlov with the head butts followed by the belly to belly Suplex. Kozlov with a reverse bear hug as Benjamin fighting his way out, but gets powered into the corner. Shelton gets the knee up on the charging Kozlov, but Kozlov continues to pound on Benjamin. Shelton tries to crawl his way to his corner while Kozlov still squeezing Benjamin, Kozlov goes to a chin lock as Shelton fights his way up. Benjamin with a nice forearm from the top rope, but Vladimir able to get a hold of Benjamin again and tags in Regal who continues the pounding on Shelton. Shelton makes the tag, but the ref did not see it and Shelton back in the Roundtable’s corner. Jackson continues to make Benjamin play the Ricky Morton role in this match, as Shelton really needs a tag. Regal goes for a clothesline but Shelton counters and tags in Tatsu as Regal tags in Jackson. Yoshi with the buzzsaw kicks on Ezekiel but goes after Kozlov and gets clotheslined. Jackson goes for the tag and Kozlov drops down and walks away. Jackson goes after his and knocks Kozlov down. Regal tries to slow down Jackson and Jackson counted out. 4/5 excellent main event, great match between six excellent athletes.  Shelton flies over the top rope on Regal and Jackson after the bell. Christian & Yoshi grab a ladder and Christian sets it up in the ring. Christian climbs the ladder and Benjamin springboards off the top rope to the ladder and both men at the top of the ladder as the show fades out. That is going to be a great match.

Match recap

1. Vance Archer over Tommy Dreamer 3/5
2. Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft beat Mark Franks & Danny Vaughn 2.5/5
3. Shelton Benjamin, Yoshi Tatsu & Christian beat Ruthless Roundtable 4/5

Yet another great show from ECW, three good matches on tonight’s show. Nothing else to say, but very enjoyable episode.

It’s been a helluva week!!  There are plenty of new cars to discuss thanks to the L.A Autoshow and there’s something for everyone. Keep in mind this show goes until the 13th I think and this isn’t even all the cars that have appeared thus far! Stay tuned!

2011 Ford Fiesta: The U.S spec 2010 Ford Fiesta debuted with a new front grill and bumper, but  remains mostly the same as the Euro spec version. Only one powerplant thus far, the 1.6liter 119hp inline 4 pot hooked to either 5 speed manual or 6 speed autobox.  It’s not going to win you and stop light drag races, but it will net you about 40mpg.  Base price should be around $13k and top out somewhere around $19k Look for a full test drive review of the car from me in the near future.

2011 Hyundai Sonata: The mid-sized sedan gets a total do-over and is it ever drastic! This sucker is all new and I’m actually excited about.  The exterior looks part Passat CC, mostly CLS 55, and I’m not sure I’m lovin’ yet.  But power sounds promising. The shiny new Accord fighter packs a 2.4liter direct injection , naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine that outputs around 200hp! Transmissions come in two flavors: 6 speed manual and 6 speed auto. With a slightly lengthened wheelbase and a reduction in weight, the new Sonata should give the competition a good fight. Look for a turbocharged version of this engine in the future as Hyundai nixes the V6 to keep with  future CAFE standards.  I haven’t seen pricing yet, but expect a base price around $18k and with a ceiling of about $30k.  Bah dup bop bah bah..

2010 Hyundai Tuscon: More news from Korea!!  The all new crossover ute makes its way to stateside with eye-catching styling and practicality. Even though the new Tuscon is only slightly bigger than the model it replaces, it gives 3 more cubic feet of cargo room and weighs 85lbs less.  In the same fashion as the new Sonata, Hyundai trades the V6 for a flat 4.  This not only aids in weight reduction, but nets the CUV 3 extra horses for 176hp and provides nearly the same torque rating 168 ft-lbs, all routed through a 6 speed manual or automatic tranny.

2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe: Umm..well..it’s like the CTS, but..it’s a coupe. So..it’s got like 2 doors and um…the roof slopes….yeah…

2010 Jaguar XJ: Holy Mother!!!!  What a gorgeous thing!!  It’s a car we’ve seen before, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. When this big cat hits the streets, it’ll be bigger, more luxurious, and packing 3 snarling V8 engines: a direct injection 5.0liter V8 putting out 385hp, the same engine being force fed by a supercharger making 470hp, and a full blown version of that engine making 510hp.

2011 Buick Regal:  Buick has been re-imagining itself in the marketplace by putting out modern, fresh designs like the Enclave and Lacrosse.  Now comes a European import rebadged for America’s mid-sized sedan segment.  The Regal shares many of its parts with the Opel Insignia, but gets retuned suspension, a different front fascia, and 2 engine picks: 2.4 liter and 2.0 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engines, making 183 hp and 220 hp respectively. Both automatic and manual transmissions come with 6 forward gears. Hopefully, if the car sells well, Buick will also import the high performance wagon variant of the Insignia.

2011 Mazda 2:  The Mazda 2 is already sold in Europe and beyond, but they’ve seen fit to bring it to the states now. The weird thing is that it’s a Ford Fiesta underneath. That said, not much is different, but Mazda does promise that Zoom-Zoom stuff in this smaller package. And I will admit, it looks great in white with black wheels.

2009 Mini Coupe Concept:  Again, this is one we’ve seen before, but, with this second showing, I do like it more than I did the first go ’round. I’ve never had an issue with the Mini, but I thought these coupe concepts were a bit lazy.  I think part of me would like to see more of a fastback shape and with a hatch for rear access, but I do still like this car. I’m particularly found of Cooper Works performance package. 211hp makes me happy.

2011 Lexus LF-A: Lexus jumps into the deep and prestigious waters of luxury supercars with their LF-A.  I’m still not sure if I’m in love with this car, but it is…what’s the word? Impressive? Yes, that’s the word.  Let me just name a few figures for you: 4.2 liter V10 engine, 552 hp, heavy use of carbon fiber, 3200lbs, 0-60 in last than 3.5 seconds.  Make no mistake, this $420,000 offering is slotted to murder Nissan GT-Rs, Ferraris, McClarens, Porsches and the like.   Only about 500 will be made, so marry someone old with tons of liquid cash.

2010 Aston Martin Rapide:  Aston Martin makes a sports sedan to take on the not-so-pretty Porsche Panamera.  Where Porsche botched the overall styling of their car, the Rapide holds fast to the silky, oozy sex appeal that Aston Martin has been known for bringing to the market.  It looks like a stretch DB9, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Power comes from the same V12 in the DB9, but horsepower has been increased to nearly 50o as opposed to 450. The question is, however, is it worth it’s $233k price tag when you measure it against the $133k Panamera Turbo…or even against the DB9?

2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder:  As you’ll hear me say from time to time, I’m not brand fanboy.  So when I say, “I want that car!!”, I bloody mean it.  The Porsche Boxster is the sort of car that driving purists dream of.  The Boxster has been around for some time now, but this version is stripped down and focused.  It’s 3.4 liter straight 6 puts out 320 hp. Yes, it’s  only 10 more ponies than the standard engine, but this car is lighter.  With better brakes, retuned sport suspension, a limited slip differential, and the brand’s impressive dual clutch transmission, none of that power is going to get wasted.  If you love a true sportcars, don’t care for air conditioning or radio, and have $61,000USD burning a hole in your golfing pants, you might want to bother your nearest Porsche dealer.

ECW on Syfy – December 1, 2009
Welcome to my second ECW recap. Two weeks ago on ECW we saw Hurricane defeat one of my favorites, Paul Burchill, sending Burchill out of ECW. I am not happy about losing the Burchills; I think Katie is one of the most underused Divas in WWE along with Natalya. Paul is one of the best wrestlers in the company along with Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin and Jack Swagger and none of those four seem to be poised to get anywhere, albeit we do have Shelton v. Christian coming up at the PPV. So, online rumors are saying WWE wants to kill ECW; well ECW has truly been dead since 2001. WWE’s bastardized version of ECW is only ECW in name, but does not have the heart or soul of the original. I am curious to see what WWE is planning to do with the show, as Vince still wants a Tuesday show. Last week saw the end of Regal’s Roundtable, or did it? We’ll have to wait and see as ECW is about to begin.
We open with the great opening theme and video, Shelton & Christian v. Vladimir & Ezekiel for the main event, well, that should be odd.
1. Tony Atlas welcomes us to The Abraham Washington Show with our guests Zack Ryder & the always stunning Rosa Mendes. This should be interesting to say the least; Zack is impressive on the microphone. Abraham Washington, the poor man’s Rock, ask Tony how his Thanksgiving was. Tony begins rambling, as only Tony can do while Abe tries to stop him, to the loud boos of the crowd. Tony asks Abe about his holiday, Abe says everyone wanted his autograph. Tony starts his legendary laugh, which just makes the show. Abe starts knocking Virginia, isn’t that where Atlas is from? Abe starts with the lame ass redneck jokes, which Atlas continues to laugh at. Abe asks Tony, where you from, Tony answers “Virginia” to a loud pop. Abe then welcomes his guest for this evening, Rosa looking very hot in black and red, yummy! Abe asks what is the story of Zack and Rosa, Zack says he wrote a poem. Zack tested and Ryder approved, that was legendary, Zack spills out his heart to Mendes. Rosa responds by saying she has a poem for him too, this isn’t just too funny. Zack pulls a Tom Cruise and jumps on the couch, a little outdated, but hilarious. Abe says that’s a wrap, the show is over. Abe & Tony leave to Zack still jumping on couch. We get a recap of last week’s roundtable collapse, so what are the odds of either Zeke or Vladimir being in the main event one day? Regal backstage with Zeke and apologizes to Jackson, Zeke says his temper got the best of him and he’s sorry, but he won’t apologize to Kozlov. Regal has to get in between his two charges; I guess the Round Table has been repaired. Darn, I was looking forward to Jackson v. Kozlov!

2. William Regal v. Goldust. I just watched a watch between this two from old WCW 90s, kind of funny to see it now, some 16 years later. Goldust was such an innovative character back in 95, what a heat getter he was. The whole Razor/Goldust feud was amazing for its time. Should be a good match, as Regal is out there with both member of the Round Table. Goldust starts with Regal in the corner and pounds Regal before hitting a nice vertical Suplex. Regal rolls out side and staggers into a Goldust punch, Goldust throws Regal back in and continues the offense. Goldust sets up Regal for Shattered Dreams, Regal begs off as Jackson gets up on the apron, distracted the golden one for Regal to get the advantage. Regal beating on Goldust like a government mule, and then to a rest hold. At least it didn’t last long; Goldust goes for sunset flip and eats a pair of knees to the back of the head from Regal. Goldust powers out of Regal’s rest hold and hits some offense, Regal whips Goldust in and Kozlov goes to hook the leg and Jackson pulls him back. Kozlov and Jackson argue outside distracting Regal who gets rolled up and Goldust wins. 3.25/5 excellent little match, even the rest holds weren’t bad. Looks like dissention in the troops still, as both guys continue to blame the other. We go backstage to Tiffany with the Burchills, Tiffany says you lost and you both are gone. Katie tries to interject and Tiffany says there is nothing I can do. As they leave two new guys come in, one mentions Paul as a pirate, ok, he’s my new favorite guy for bring that up. They keep cutting of Tiffany as they say they’re going to make Tiffany look like a genius!

3. Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft v. Tyler Hilton & Bobby Shields. Ok, so that’s who the two guys were backstage with Tiffany, well new blood is always nice; even if they have the worst sounding music I’ve ever heard. Never heard of any of these four guys, so no idea what to expect here. We start with Hilton & Barreta, with Trent getting the cheap advantage. Trent makes the tag to C2, who’s got Hilton down and pounds on him before another quick tag. Trent hits a nice jumping knee drop to the head of Tyler. Hilton hasn’t got a single move in yet, as Croft misses a blind charge and Hilton makes the tag. As Shields does about as well and gets pummeled and quickly pinned. 2.5/5 it was a squash match to debut two new kids, what more could we expect. Some nice moves and a really cool double team from B&C. These kids remind me of Mercury & Nitro, hope they have a career like Nitro not like Mercury. Savannah backstage with Vance Archer, as we get clips of his run of jobber matches. Vance says he’s not like most superstars, he says he’s destined to be on top. Well, he’s big, muscular and slow moving, so he’s probably right. Says Vance is the one you need to worry about, picture it Vance v. Undertaker at Mania, just kidding, I hope. We get the Smackdown recap, I guess since RAW sucked so bad why remind us of that. Maybe it was all a nightmare and that RAW never happened, oh it did, I recapped it.

4. Christian & Shelton Benjamin v. Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson. This is a Vince Russo classic idea, two guys who hate each other as tag partners. Cool, Hurricane v. Zack on Superstars that should be an excellent match. I look forward to Superstars so much, at least there’s no garbage on there with GM, guest hosts, etc. Just some good solid matches with the midcard guys who deserve the airtime. Jackson and Christian start the match with Jackson easily overpowering the Canadian star. Christian relies on his speed to get behind the big guy; Christian comes off the ropes and gets nailed. Christian moves out of the way and Jackson to the floor, back in and a huge slam from Jackson. Christian makes the tag, and Benjamin whipped in, counter and off the top catching Kozlov. The distracting costs Shelton as he hits the floor hard. Commercial break, we come back to Jackson with a reverse bear hug on Benjamin. Christian fights out and makes the tag, Christian enters with a cross body for two. Jackson presses Christian who slides out and nails Kozlov. Christian gets caught though and then slammed twice. Kozlov wants in and Jackson obliges. Kozlov chokes Christian in the corner, Kozlov caught running in but then just tosses Capt. Charisma across the ring. Kozlov tags in Jackson who continues the beat down on Christian, Christian tries to fight back and just gets knocked down with ease. Christian outside the ring and gets posted by Regal, Jackson comes over and drags Christian to his feet and rolls him in. Kozlov makes the tag in, and works over the shoulder and arm of Christian. For a World Champion, Christian is getting massacred tonight. Christian finally hits some offense with a nice tornado DDT, Shelton anxious to get in. As Kozlov goes for the Jackson drops down and leaves, Kozlov turns around to a fresh Benjamin who hits a big splash and Paydirt for the win. 4/5 Great match with a nice mix of styles, Christian and Benjamin’s high risk v. Roundtable’s ground and pound offense. I really enjoyed the match and just making me more excited for the Christian v. Benjamin match at TLC.

Match Recap

1. William Regal pinned by Goldust 3.25/5
2. Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft beat Tyler Hilton & Bobby Shields 2.5/5
3. Christian & Shelton Benjamin over Ruthless Roundtable 4/5

Yet another great show from ECW after a pathetically sad RAW. ECW improves by leaps and bounds each week and it seems a shame to kill the brand, but hopefully whatever they put on continues to have great matches like we get here. Is it just me or is Tiffany just improving on her abilities each week too, she doesn’t get much camera time, but I don’t think the GM/host should. The show should be about the in ring action, which is what ECW and Superstars does, even the Abe Washington show is usually funny and Tony Atlas is so over top that he makes it enjoyable. Well, I’m working on my first non recap column and I think it’s going to be a good one. Stay tuned true believers as hopefully tomorrow I should be able to get Superstars.

I was determined to watch Ninja Assassin. I knew this 2-3 months ago, and I didn’t care what kind of poor reviews it might get from Rottentomatoes.com. It might be my most trusted site for deciding whether or not to go see a movie, but it’s never deterred me if my mind was already made up. It was getting destroyed by critics last time I looked, I believe I saw something around the 28% mark. My take, I LOVED it. Don’t judge me. =) If you go in with no expectations for a great story, dialogue, and unforgettable performances, you’re money! I turned off my brain and took in a movie for pure entertainment. The action was great and the fight sequences were pretty damn good. As for the story itself, it was okay, and the acting was subpar. Now, if I had to grade this movie by “normal” standards, I still find the 28% mark still a little harsh, so I’d say I’d have to give it a solid 7 out of 10. I’ll tell you this, I’m going to watch it again this weekend. Another movie I saw was Boondock Saints II. There’s no way to compare the first movie to this sequel. It wasn’t very good, and I’ll just leave it at that. I should have opted to wait for it to hit Redbox or Hollywood Video. If you’re bored do yourself a favor and save a couple bucks by watching the matinee if you really wanna see it. And finally, the last movie I watched was 2012. I’m not one for disaster movies or  interpretations of the apocalypse, but I was killing time and had been rewarded a free ticket from being a member of the Regal Crown Club. It’s a great card if you’re a movie junkie like me. 2012 wasn’t all that bad, but GOD was it long. I went in, like I mentioned, with the notion of killing a bit of time, but I didn’t notice that the running time was 2:38. This thing was nothing but action, good thing I didn’t have to pee. It kept me entertained, but overall the movie wasn’t all that good. I don’t really know how this compares to other end of the world movies, but I’d have to guess that it’s on par with the rest, which is why I don’t bother sitting through the 2 or 3 that come out every year. I don’t think I rated Boondock Saints II, 5.5 out of 10. 2012 gets a 6 out of 10.

Zumindest dieser hier, München, ist ein luxuriöser Ort: Auf dem Weg von der Universität zur Straßenbahnhaltestelle komme ich an fünf Antiquariaten vorbei, die ihren Auswurf oder aber auch ihre Teaser draußen in Papp- oder Obstkisten auf die Straße stellen: Bücher, in denen vorne mit Bleistift neben den alten Eigentümernamen in Kugelschreiberschrift “1 €” oder “2 €” steht. Manchmal bleibe ich dort stehen. Ich kann nicht genau beschreiben, warum, oder in welcher Stimmung, obwohl es eine bestimmte Stimmung ist. Ein bißchen vielleicht Kindheitserinnerungen an Flohmarktbesuche an der Straße des 17. Juni, die Antiquariate am Nollendorfplatz, die Langeweile im Haus meiner Großeltern in Westdeutschland, wenn ich mich nachts heimlich in die gute Stube schlich, die ich eigentlich nicht betreten durfte, um aus der verglasten Mahagonivitrine Schiller oder zu Shakespeare auszuleihen, Prunksammelbände, die ich nicht anrühren durfte, die ich aber als Zwölfjährige trotzdem als Bücher betrachtete, Erinnerungen an den Bücherwagen im Krankenhaus in dem ich zwei Monate lag als ich neun war, an Bücherregalen in fremden Wohnungen vor denen ich stehe und versuche, mir vorzustellen, was die Erfahrungen des Bewohnenden waren, die seine Phantasie geprägt haben.

Ich stehe vor diesen Kisten und gucke auf die aneinandergereihten Buchrücken wie auf ein Regal von oben. Die billigen Bücher sind: Klassiker, Bücher die jeder hat, Utta Danella, Verschwörungstheorien, Naturphilosophieesoterik aus den 70ern wie Teillard de Jardin.

Mein Weg von diesen Bücherläden zur Tram sind noch zwei Blöcke, ich muß dann nicht mehr umsteigen, sondern kann den Bücherstapel auf meinem Schoß ausbalancieren, darum komme ich manchmal mit zehn Büchern aus diesen Läden. Es sind Bücher, die ich aus der Bücherei ausgeliehen hatte als ich sie gelesen hatte und gut fand und darum gerne hätte wie Marías’ Mein Herz so weiß, Bücher, die ich in Auszügen kopiert im Seminar gelesen habe und weiterlesen wollte wie Foucaults Sexualität und Wahrheit und Autorennamen, die ich irgendwo in meinem Gedächtnis gespeichert habe unter: Sie haben Menschen interessiert, die ich schätze: Turgenjew, Fitzgerald.

Diese Bücher liegen dann in Stapeln auf meinem Fensterbrett. Oder Nachttisch. Ein Stapel liegt auch manchmal in meinem Bett, am Holz des Kopfendes entlang aufgestapelt. Dafür nützt ein breites Bett. Fitzgeralds Zärtlich ist die Nacht lag über zwei Jahre im Unterteil meines Nachttisches.

Dieser Nachttisch stand vor einem Antiquariat in der Eisenacher Straße. Er ist ein alter Telefontisch. Das heißt, er hat eine Oberfläche, die eine kleine Reling aus Holz hat, mit kleinen gedrechselten Säulchen die sie halten, darunter eine Schublade mit Messinggriff, und darunter vier lange gedrechselte Säulen, die zu einer Unterfläche führen, von allen Seiten dieses Fach oder vielmehr dieser Raum eingreifbar, perfekt für einen Bücherstapel. Ich wußte damals schon, daß mein Nachttisch Kapazität für einen Bücherstapel braucht, und vielleicht erinnerte mich das Mahagoni auch an die gute Stube meiner Großeltern, sodaß ich die 16 € im Laden bezahlte, den Tisch unter den Arm klemmte und mit nach Hause nahm.

Dort lag nun der Roman von Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald war für mich ein Name, er hieß: Berühmt. Zwanziger. Weltliteratur aber nicht unvermeidlich. Great Gatsby war das Einzige was ich von ihm kannte.

Aktuell sind dem Prinzip Stapel noch unterworfen Bücher von Kenzaburo Oe, Antje Ravic Strubel, Gesine Schwan, Goethe, Daniel Alarcon, Tucholsky, Walser, Lenz, Jurek Becker, D. H Lawrence, noch ein Fitzgerald, Andreas Maier, J. P. Jacobson, Pamuk, David Mitchell.

Die meisten dieser Bücher sind auf dem Stapel überhaupt erst gelandet, weil ich mehrere Werke des Autors/der Autorin mochte. Ein paar sind auch Geschenke, die ich selbst nicht erworben hätte.

Damit spreche ich eigentlich gegen meine These, die mir durch den Kopf ging und mich zu diesem Titel gebracht hat: Der Gedanke entspann sich folgendermaßen (während ich mit einer Tasse Tee auf meinem Boden saß, daß ZEIT-Literaturmagazin aus dem Papiermüll zog in das ich es unbesehen verfrachtet hatte und doch einen guten Artikel (über Irène Némirovsky) fand und meinen Nachttisch betrachtete): Ich erinnerte mich an den letzten Winter in dem ich einsam war und darum, nur wegen dieses Gefühls und des Titels, anfing, Zärtlich ist die Nacht zu lesen. In der Einsamkeit und Verzweiflung des letzten Winters gab es plötzlich eine Tür die in ein anderes Zimmer ging. In diesem Zimmer, das dem ähnlich war, in dem ich las, war ich Teil einer Welt die beschreibbar war. In dieser Welt hatte ich Gefühle. Die Luft über der Landschaft war farbig. Ich litt unter den Fehlern, der Oberflächlichkeit, den Schmerzen, den inneren Zwängen der Charaktere. Diese Welt war nicht anders als unsere, aber sie war versehen mit Gefühlen. Das Erlebnis einer bestimmten Landschaft in einem bestimmten Licht, einer Stimmung auf einer Reisestrecke, einer gemeinsam verbrachten Zeit kennt jeder, und dieser Autor weckt und beschwört und erzeugt diese Gefühle, und zwar aneinandergereiht, während sie, zumindest in meinem Leben, unterbrochen sind von anderen Dingen. Von anderen Dingen, die im Nachhinein oft Nahrung für diese Gefühle sind aber sie nicht unmittelbar mit sich führen.

Mir kam nun, eben, auf dem Boden, der Gedanke, wie es früher war, an Bücher zu kommen: Sehr viel früher. Ganz früher war es fast unmöglich. Früher, im 18. Jahrhundert – im 19., im Krieg, in der Nachkriegszeit, und all die Beschreibungen von Autoren, wie sie Bücher suchten, stibitzten, sich mit ihnen in den Falten von Vorhängen versteckten (Brontë) kamen mir in den Sinn.

In unseren Zeiten liegen diese Bücher, die uns auf etwas stoßen, einfach so in Kisten aus. Auf dieses eine Buch folgte ein Dutzend weiterer Fitzgeraldbücher, ich hörte einfach nicht mehr auf.

Wie einfach, ein Buch, von dem man gehört hat, aufzulesen und in einem Stapel zu versenken, und dann, welch eine Tür die man aufstoßen kann, wenn man Zeit hat, indem man in diesen Stapel greift. Wie unendlich unverstellt diese Welt. Welcher Luxus, ausgezeichnet mit 1- und 2-€-Bleistiftvermerken.

Here’s a musical I’ve been waiting to see for a while!  We couldn’t go in New York because we had the kids with us, I think we just missed out when we took our last trip to Melbourne, and Wifey raved about it when she saw it in London earlier this year and then progressed to show me all these YouTube videos when she came back.

Well, I finally had my turn to see it on the weekend here in Perth – and even going in with high expectations I loved it!  It’s just so… wrong and funny!  The songs and story were rude, naughty and hilarious!  Just think – Sesame Street for adults.  Do not go if you get offended easily!

The performers were really top notch, the sets and puppetry were excellent, the band was tight.. and the sound, which I usually have problems with at the Regal, was clear!  The Regal, even though old, suits this musical perfectly – as my Wifey says, it is not a “mega musical” – Avenue Q requires a small intimate venue like an off Broadway theatre. 

There was a mini drama on Saturday night – the girl playing Kate Monster and Lucy T Slut, Michala Banas, started playing the role, but within 15 minutes or so, Natalie Alexopoulos, the understudy took over and other people took over her role.  It was so seemless I wondered whether people were actually just going to change playing characters all throughout the show!   A real credit to the performers who could change parts during a show that easily.  

I was really impressed with Luke Joslin who plays Nicky and Trekkie monster – he has that Sesame Street Ernie voice down so well!  And I just loved how Josie Lane, who was involved with some puppets that required 2 operators at once, was so into the acting even though she might have just been operating one hand only.  Actually, with all the performers, who acted it so much in their body and face.  And then were able to make their puppets mimic them.   Great work!

Good news is that Wifey was definitely impressed, rating some of the performers even better than the West End show she saw.

And we enjoyed it so much that we’ve bought tickets to see it again!

More info here:  http://avenueqthemusical.com.au/

mal etwas in nicht politischer sache.

ich liebe das gefühl, wenn man ein neu erstandenes buch in den händen hält und es dann in sein bücherregal schieben kann. ich möchte bitte, wenn ich einmal alt und grau bin ein ganzes zimmer haben, mit bücherregalen die bis zur decke gehen. man soll kein anfang und kein ende sehen. der geruch der bücher soll überall vorhanden sein und das wunderbare gefühl geborgen zu sein. hachja. aber bis dahin muss ich wohl noch weiter sammeln und lesen und lernen.

dieses blöde facebook-restaurantspiel macht übrigens süchtig. dafür hasse ich es. es raubt mir meine kostbare zeit.

irgendwann, da ziehen R und ich in einen bauwagen. ganz weit weg von der unterdrückung, dem konsum und  der  repression der gegenwart und zukunft. dann werden, wir seelenverwandte, glücklich und zufrieden irgendwo im nirgendwo ganz abseits leben und auf alles unnötige und zerstörende scheißen! w o r d.

Recently I had bought a Nissin Di622 for strobing purpose from Mitmivec – Eric. To summarize it, the flash has a rather slow recharge speed. It is good to use for strobe, but not really for event covering. As usual, I still prefer to have the own party flashes to stay on the camera’s hot shoe. Else, it is fine to trigger via Radio Trigger or Optical trigger.

Other than that, to fullfill my needs, I had DIY some color film that can work as gel and to be used on the flash. That was how I create these two photos. By using the color films on the top of stofen. The ingredients are listed in the DIY GEL for flashes.

As usual, the setup will be shared. This time I had draw it into a pcs of paper and scan into computer. First it is easier to keep track on what I had did before, and also I may need similar setup in future. Here the setup for this round and please forgive my ugly drawing:

Note: Both flash doesn’t really direct flash to the Chivas. To avoid reflection, it is somehow the feather light hit on the chivas.

Since the gel is on top of stofen, there are still some white color flash to be produced. The reflector is to reflect some of these lights to fill some lights on the Chivas.

Please feel free to comment on the setup. You may have better idea and help me to do better. Thanks in advanced

WWE ECW on SYFY November 24, 2009

Well, here we go with my first ECW recap. The show affectionately referred to as the D-Show. I personally find ECW to be the more exciting show, after all they do have the better talent base, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, William Regal, and Vance Archer…well maybe not Vance but at least there is no D-X, Batista or Undertaker to ruin the show. With this show I’m going to start using my own star ratings, I rate matches based on how much I like the guys/girls involved, crown reaction and if it can keep my interest. Curious who they have to replace Lauren as the ring announcer, to bad she left I was just starting to like her. On with the show as they say.

ECW still has the better opening theme song, I don’t care for either Smackdown or RAW’s new songs. Abraham Washington Show with Matt Hardy is the main event, really? Cool, we open with one of my favorites Zack Ryder and the always hot Rosa Mendes. So, Tony Chimel is doing the ring announcing for ECW, at least it’s not the Bella Twins. Recap time as they cover one of the better feuds right now Shelton Benjamin, the most underrated man in wrestling, and Zack. Which obviously brings out Shelton Benjamin, this should be a great match.

1. Shelton Benjamin v. Zack Ryder. Shelton really starting out strong here, as Rosa is sitting ringside. You have to love Shelton pulling Zack in front of Rosa to pound on him, but that costs Shelton as Zack now has an advantage. Shelton counters an Irish whip with one of the best belly to belly suplexes since the days of Magnum T.A. If Shelton wins, he’s the number one contender, well better than Regal v. Christian again. Come back from commercial and Zach has the advantage thanks to Rosa’s distraction. I love when the announcers talk about Twitter, that’s great. Zack gets a two count of a second rope splash, so far a great match. Damn, Zach slows it down with a leg scissor; at least it was only for about 30 seconds. Zack goes up top, gives the LI sign, and hits a nice Superfly Splash, but once again only a two count. Impressed with the crowd getting into the match. Shelton does his own version of Hulking up, and hits the corner splash, followed by a picture perfect German Suplex for two. Shelton hits the Paydirt for the finish, much to the dismay of Rosa. Shelton is now the number one contender that should be a great match. **** stars, was a great match between two of the most underrated stars in the WWE right now. Christian’s music hits, and out comes the champion.
2. Christian in the ring after the commercial, Shelton is still there as well. Christian hypes up the PPV in 3 weeks, TLC. Can ECW actually get on the PPV for once, just as I type it Christian says the ECW title has been overlooked? No really! Christian challenges Shelton to a ladder match now that is going to be awesome. Much better then Sheamus v. John Cena in a table match. Christian says they’re going to steal the show, and Shelton agrees as do I.
3. Vance Archer v. Alex Reynolds. Alright vintage 80’s squash match! Vance quickly just powers the kid down and is laying a beating on him. Vance hits a rest hold only in minute in; the man has stamina like Scott Steiner. I still say Vance should’ve come out dressed as Robin Hood with bow and arrow and merry men. Vance with a flip over reverse DDT and the win. Well that was quick and painless at least and it gave Archer another chance to show what he has, not a lot. * star, what more can you give a squash that included a rest hold? I still look forward to seeing Archer in there with a name.
4. Time for the man with the greatest laugh in wrestling Tony Atlas, who introduces Abraham Washington or Abe as he called him. Tony is the true star of these segments; he just looks like he’s having so much fun. You got to love all the shrill shrieks for the mention of Twilight! Well, that was a long way to go to get to a really lame joke. The crowd pops, as always, for Matt Hardy, the better half of the Hardy team. Abraham Washington mentions he wishes Matt was Jeff, Matt says I wish you were Conan, Tony agrees! Matt is on here to hype up he’s on some show called Scare Tactics, not a clue what that is, but whatever. Oh, well here comes the clip, well that looked stupid, about as lame as Punk’d. Abraham says nothing scares him as Tony sneaks up behind him and now Abraham needs a Laundromat. That may have been the best part of the skit; sadly Matt says the same thing. Sometimes I swear I should be booking this stuff. Abraham says we’re out of time and leaves, Matt shows Tony how to do the Version One.
5. Yoshi Tatsu v. William Regal. William Regal comes out with Ezekiel and Vladimir. Should be an interesting match between the young up and comer and the veteran. Both men exchange European Uppercuts, with Yoshi getting the advantage, kicking Regal to the corner. Regal reverses an Irish whip with a vicious clothesline. Vladimir pushes Yoshi off the ropes; Yoshi hits the roundhouse kick and scores the upset victory! Yoshi gets out the ring quickly as the Roundtable enter the ring. Regal gets up slowly as Ezekiel and Vladimir stand over him. Regal gets in the face of Ezekiel and Vladimir, big mistake. Vladimir blames Ezekiel, who pushes Kozlov’s hand down and hits the uranague. Regal tries to calm down Jackson, who’s not having any of that. Regal turns away from the big man, who just calmly steps over Kozlov, and hits an uranague on Regal now. I guess we can call that Jackson’s face turn now? Great does this mean Jackson v. Kozlov next week; I don’t want to see that? As for the match itself, **½ stars, was a little too quick but what we got was good. The end superseded the match itself though.

All in all not a bad show tonight. Zack and Shelton just tore up the show and nothing else was going to compare but the stuff involving Matt and Tony was hilarious. I’m looking forward to Shelton and Christian at The TLC PPV coming up, that is going to be a great match.

Everyone knows that nearly every shopping center in the United States relies on “anchor stores,” or large department stores or “big box” stores to bring in the interest sufficient for generated foot traffic to the small stores situated between each anchor. Without these anchors, most malls would close down quickly.

My question is this: Why can that same principle not be applied to Downtown in general? For example, I think a Macy’s would make a great fit into Downtown’s plan and clientele. I don’t think, however, that it should be part of MacArthur Center. Instead, I think that Macy’s would be a good fit somewhere outside, such as the building on Market between Granby and Monticello (used to be TCC offices and Targeted Publications). This location would be in good proximity to MacArthur. Shoppers would shop at Macy’s and cross the street to MacArthur Center. In fact, compared to standard malls like Greenbriers, with four anchors, this location would be a de-facto fourth anchor to MacArthur.  However, because it is outside, the patrons would be inclined to shop around on Granby Street, leading to an increase in demand for Granby Street storefronts. As for the Center’s elusive third anchor, I think that something like a Best Buy (or better yet, their new competition in the region, hhgregg) would be good. A Target would be another good store to have, but since Norfolk has no full electronics store, the hhgregg might be a better option. This third anchor would be included in the current plan, of course. If you are unfamiliar, Norfolk’s vision of the third anchor lot is a high rise, mixed-use building, including an anchor, perimeter storefront shops, and apartments/condos and/or offices upstairs. This plan would do wonders for the Center, due to its residential population.

Norfolk 2020 Plan

Norfolk needs to start looking at Downtown as an area with faded boundaries. They have spent that past 30 years trying to divide it. We have office space on Main St., Commercial Retail on Granby St., etc. We need to mix this up a bit. Stores won’t move in by themselves unless there is sufficient foot traffic. You can’t get foot traffic without having residential towers. Norfolk needs to try to get these stores to work with developers to build mixed use, high-rise residential buildings with plenty of storefront shops. Additionally, they need to attract larger retailers as “anchors” Downtown. A full-time residential population, combined with jobs and retail, is the key to a successful, viable Downtown.

Cambie St & W 7th Ave., Vancouver - Note the Urban Home Depot. Across the street is an Urban Best Buy. There are condos on top of each of these buildings

Exciting news of a new product that we just couldn’t wait to bring to you!

Building on our already successful relation with master German tuners EDS Motorsport we have produced a cast inlet manifold for the Z20 series of engines, utilising stock throttle body placement and a revised top-hat to match.

After a number of beta test prototypes, here is a sneak peak at the final design:

Pricing will be:
£499+ vat for the manifold
£68.70+ vat for the top hat
£550+ vat for the two when bought together!

Further details will be announced by EDS at the Essen Motorshow on the 28th of November.

The first production versions should be landing in time for Christmas. We are taking deposits on the first batch of 25 already. Call 02380 558636 to reserve yours!

From autoblog.com comes this story:

“While we were talking about the Escalade EXT launch with Susan Docherty (don’t ask) during the Regal reveal at the Hollywood Palladium last week, Car & Driver’s Steve Siler was pushing Maximum Bob about sportier versions of the newest Buick. Now, we heard mumblings about a new Buick Regal GS last month, but that was just dealer hearsay. Siler’s report is straight from Lutz’s mouth, and while he’s not exactly the most reliable GM exec we’ve ever talked with, he does seem to have his finger on the General’s performance pulse.

To summarize a bit, a 335-hp, all-wheel-drive manny-tranny version of the Regal might be coming, labeled with the legendary GS badge. There might even be a wagon version of the top of the line Regal – maybe even one with GM’s eLSD torque vectoring. In fact, Lutz made it sound like GM might just import the 325-hp turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer, crank up the boost a smidge and slap a Regal GS badge on it – which is more than totally fine with us. In fact, Siler suggests that what GM ought to do is make the tip top Regal wagon-only – sort of like the MazdaSpeed3 or WRX STI. Maybe call it the Buick Regal GSX? But like most such things involving GM these days, we’ll believe it when we see it.”

Wow…just wow. Now, if you read my other blog post about the 2011 Buick Regal then you already know that I am not sure about the direction Buick is going. Of course, I will blindly follow (like Apple followers – just had to sneak that in), but I guess I am happy to hear that Buick will make a very powerful Regal available, and even call it the GS. With almost 100 hp more than the last Regal GS, and in a smaller package, this Regal should not have any problem getting up and going – if they end up doing it…

2011 Buick Regal vs 2011 Volvo S60

Sedans

www.autorivals.net

Are you sitting down? Because this news may knock you over. According to a report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, theater popcorn is very bad for you. Who knew?

Those killjoy scientists equate eating a Regal medium popcorn/soda combo to eating three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders topped with twelve pats of butter. That’s 1,610 calories and 60 grams of saturated fat (three days worth the suggested daily intake of saturated fat).

I’m not sure movie patrons would exactly be clamoring for a healthy popcorn alternative, but if more reports come out like this, theater chains (and especially Regal) may feel bullied pressured into offering a healthier option.