POACHERS see this rhino as their way to get rich quick – for its horn is now worth more than gold for the first time in a decade.

Cyberslam 1996
02.16.96
Queens, New York
Your Host: Joey Styles

Opening Match: Bad Crew, Don E. Allen, the Dirt Bike Kid and Dino Sendoff.

This match basically is nothing and ends with Bad news crew hitting a chokeslam on Don E. Allen. Sandman hits the ring, and canes everyone as the crowd goes wild. Sandman grabs a mic, and says, “Let’s get extreme!”

Pablo Marquez v. Spiros Greco.

I looked up Spiros Greco online to see if there was any information about him, but they only thing mentioned is this match. Pablo hits a vertical dropkick, but Spiros gets the advantage, and stomps Pablo. Spiro hits a flying closeline, but only gets a two. Spiros hits a double chop that looked very weak, and I do not know if their giving him X-Pac heat or heel heat. “Who are you” chant breaks out. However, Spiros dominates the match. Hey, hat guy is there. Spiros hits a shoulder block followed by a side stretch, and with that, he gets the win @ 4:06. Nothing much to say about this one; it was just an extended squash.

Taz vs.  Joel Hartgood

“Taz is going to kill you” chants break out.  Taz does a beat down on this jobber. Taz hits a vicious closeline, and then a belly-to-belly Tazplex. Joel gets a sunset flip, but can’t remain on offense. The head drop tazplex, and then the tazmission ends it. Taz beat everyone down as they try to help this guy.Whipreck hits the ring and nails Fonzie. Mikey then beats down Taz, but goes to the top rope, and Taz hits a taxsuplex. Mikey gets put in the Tazmission. @ 2:30. Another match that makes Taz look strong for his year a waited match with Sabu at Barely Legal 1997 ½*

Joey is doing the TV intro, when the lights go out, and we are re-introduced to.Brian Pillman! He complains about being fired from WCW. He says that Eric Bischoff is each one of these smart marks rolled up into one. Pillman then says “smart marks”. He says what is a smart mark…A mark with a high IQ? He says a mark is a guy that believes that OJ didn’t do it, and a mark is each and one of you sorry bitches. Pillman says he is going yank out his Johnson and piss this entire place. Pillman goes to, but everyone hits the ring. He calls Heyman the “booker man”. They then say, “He’s shooting, he’s shooting. Pillman spits on a fan, and the fan goes for a punch, but Pillman duck, and then beats the shit out of him. Shane Douglas hits the ring, but Pillman runs. Douglas gets on the mic—and says, “Get that blonde piece of shit out of WCW—or I will beat his ass tonight”. One of the best promos I have ever seen. Pillman delivered that promo better than anyone ever could. They also did a great job of making this really look real as possible. Pillman got some great heat—and they did an excellent job with the beat down on the “fan”. Awesome delivery and truly one of the best segments I have ever seen.

Mr. Hughes vs. Buh Buh Ray Dudley.

This was the stuttering gimmick of Dudley in ECW. The match was very short, and ends with Big Dick jumping Hughes—and Ray hitting a top splash from the top @ 0:30. DUD

The Headhunters vs. The Bruise Brothers

They announced before the match that New Jack would not be here. They fight outside for a bit, then we head into the ring as a Headhunter hits a moonsault on  Bruise Brother while the other Bruise Brother does something to the other Headhunter that the camera misses. Bruise Brothers are announced as the winners at 4:15. DUD

Tommy Dreamer and Beulah come out. Tommy says that Raven hurt his shoulder. Raven and his flock hit the ring. Raven says Dreamer should prepare to die. The bruiser Brothers come out to help Dreamer, but end up turning on him by joining Raven’s flock. They crotch Dreamer a few times on the ring post; then they leave.

JT Smith v. Axl Rotten

They brawl to the outside; Axl nails him with some weapons in the head. Axl chokes JT with a rope. Axl is nailing him with wood and other objects. JT smith recovers and hits Axl with a blind-sided chair shot. JT attacks hat-guy. Axl gets back on the offense, but misses with a big splash in the corner. Axl comes back, but JT fires back. JT hits a scoop slam, and struts around. He grabs a chair, and goes up to the top. He trips, but it is on purpose. Axl turns his back—and JT Smith nails him with the chair. JT then does a beatdown after the match—and hits the moonsault with the chair perfectly. Hack Myers makes the save. @ 8:30. Garbage brawl as you expect. Axl dominated most of the match by using weapons. I loved the finish, and it showed how much of a genius Heyman was. *3/4

Dog Collar Match: The Eliminators/Stevie Richards vs. Pitbulls/Francine.

Richards takes the chain off, and attacks Pitbulls. Richards hangs Pitbull II.  Elim. hit a superplex followed by a big splash from the top. Richards goes for a cover, but doesn’t get it.  Double leg sweep on Pitbull by Eliminators.  Pitbull  tries coming back, but Stevie Kick to the back of Pitbull’s head. Pitbull tries to establish another comeback, but Stevie-kick to the head. On the outside, Pitbulls take control of the match Pitbull II. They do some more garbage brawling on the outside. They go out in the crowd. Later on,  the Eliminators get the pin @ 12:00. Not a bad brawl. They did a good job of letting the heels get some heat by beating up women, and getting a 3-2 advantage on it. I really thought Stevie Richards gimmick was great at this time. The Eliminators were a good tag team, and in my opinion one of the best overall tag-teams in ECW. They had a great character—being these sick-os, psychotic, do not give a crap heels—that got them good heat with a hard crowd to get over. **

TV Title: Sabu vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Sabu tries to get an advantage, but 2 cold kicks him in the face. Sabu then gets a chair, and uses it to hurt 2 Cold. Sabu sets up the chair as 2 Cold is on the outside, and Sabu uses the chair to jump out of the ring. Back in the ring, Sabu goes for a cover, but only gets two. Scoop slam by Sabu followed by springshot knee-drop. 2 Cold escapes a powerbomb; then hits one of his own. Scoop Slam followed by a big top rope leg drop. 2 Cold talks some crap to the fans, and gets a chair. Back in the ring, 2 Cold beats down Sabu, and sets up a chair. 2 Cold hits a bulldog onto the chair. Both men exchange blows, but 2 Cold gets the advantage. 2 Cold goes for a bulldog, but Sabu counters. Sabu then uses the chair, jumps off and closelines 2 cold over. Back to their feet, Sabu hits a senton off the ring. Sabu grabs a chair, and clocks him with it. Back in the ring, Sabu hits a springboard kick to the face, but only gets two. 2 cold recovers, and hits a super kick. 2 cold grabs the chair, and runs into Sabu with it. 2 Cold works over Sabu, but Sabu counters a Rockbottom. Sabu hits a victory road. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO.  Sabu puts in the camel-clutch. 2 Cold battles back, but Sabu hangs on. 2 Cold drops him, but Sabu puts in a sleeper hold. 2 Cold gets out and kicks him in the nuts. 2 Cold hits him in the nuts, again. 2 Cold hits him with a pizza pan, and then smashes him with a set up table. 2 Cold sets up for a superplex, and delivers, but only for 2. Sabu makes a comeback, and hits a splingshot moonsault. 2 Cold goes up and hits moonsault, but Sabu got his knees up. 2 Cold still makes a pin, but gets two.  Sabu hits him with a chair; then puts the chair under his but. 2 Cold recovers, and drills him with the chair. 2 Cold calls for a TS Piledriver, but plants him forward. 2 Cold then hits a run in rebound of the top rope splash. 2 Cold pulls Sabu’s nuts into the rope. 2 Cold plaints Sabu with two boots to the face. 2 Cold misses a splash from the top. Both wrestlers are down. Sabu tries going up, but 2 Cold hits a sunset flip. ONE-TWO-NO. 2 Cold goes up to the top rope—but Sabu cuts him off. Sabu is going and hits a victory roll from the top. ONE-TWO-THR-NO. 2 Cold still remains on the offense. Irish whip, but Sabu holds on. Sabu throws 2 Cold over.  Suicide-dive to the out side. Sabu hits a couple closelines, and then puts in an armbar. 2 Cold then gets another advantage, and starts working over Sabu.  Sabu hangs on from the F-5 and both go to the floor. Sabu hits a moonsault, but Sabu catches the guardrail. Sabu gets the table and puts 2 Cold on it. Sabu goes in the ring, sets up the chair, jumps on the chair, and then jumps on 2 Cold. Huge ECW chant breaks out. 2 Cold is back up, and hits Sabu with a chair. 2 Cold goes for cover, but only gets 2. 2 Cold brings him back up, and sets up for a powerbomb. Sabu tries to block it, and flips in Franken Steiner. Sabu hits a moonsault press, but only gets two. Sabu goes for a moonsault, but misses. 2 Cold is back on offense and hits a powerbomb. 2 Cold goes for a moonsault into a leg drop, and gets it. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO. 2 Cold goes for a top rope leg drop and hits it with the chair on his face. ONE-TWO-THRE-NOOOO!  2 Cold goes up but catches a chair to the face. Sabu hits a Frankensteiner, but only gets another nearfall. Double closeline. 2 Cold gets up, and hits a 450 splash, but doesn’t go for a cover.  He goes back up to the top with the chair, but misses. Sabu goes for a springboard with the chair on the face, and nails it. 30 seconds remain. Slingshot summersault. Sabu sells the left leg. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO. 2 Cold hits out, and there is the bell @ 30:00. When I saw this match, I was very little so I did not remember how great it was, but I heard tons of praise of it on the Internet. At first, the match was slow—and the pacing felt like it was going nowhere. 2 Cold was just hitting a couple moves; then Sabu would get some offense, but 2 Cold would get back on the offense and hit a move pause hit a move pause and so on. But once they got in the groove it was all smooth sailing from there. So many great spots in this match, that it would be hard to name them all. Sabu was excellent in the role he played, and he did not botch once. Sabu sold the knee effectively all the way through the course of the match. I did not really like how 2 Cold sold, though; all he did was get hit by Sabu’s moves, and get up before him. I do not think that selling is that believable. However, 2 Cold and Sabu clicked at the end, and put a good string of dramatic near-falls and counters at the end to get you on the edge of your seat. ****

Shane Douglas vs. Cactus Jack.

We start with Shane attacking Jack right of the bat. Shane Douglas hits a closeline with the necktie. Shane Douglas keeps beating down Foley. Foley tries to walk it off, and grabs a crutch and nails Douglas with it. Douglas beats down Douglas some more.  Foley is reppin’ the cowboy boots tonight. Shane Douglas then goes up and flies Macho Man style with the double-axe-handle. Douglas is taking it to Jack. Shane Irish whips Jack into the corner and beats the crap out of him.  Douglas hits a leg drag on Foley. The crowd wants Foley to die. Douglas blocks a suplex; then hits one, and crashes Foley into the guardrail. Douglas goes high and over the guardrail. OH MY GOD!!!!!  Back in the ring, Douglas is a snapmare take over, and traps the chair in his foot. Off the top the rope, and onto the chair. Douglas works over the right knee, and hits elbow to the head. Foley comes back elbow to the chin, boot to the face and a chair to the back. Foley walks around, but then attacks Douglas. Slingshot into the ropes. Foley drives an elbow to the throat to Douglas, followed by another. Foley is working him over with boots to the temple. Styles says you can smell that hatred these two have for each other. Foley is driving some forearms to the end. Finger nails across Douglas’ back. Foley works over Douglas some more with some forearms. Douglas falls outside. Foley uses the table to trap Douglas, and drives an elbow. Foley hits drop toehold into the chair, but only gets a dos.  Foley hits a Piledriver. ONE-TWO-NO. Douglas hits Foley with handcuffs, and Douglas set up his Best Friend not for Life. Douglas uses the chair to kill Douglas. He gets on the stick, and tells Foley to get up, so he can kick his ass. They ask if he wants to quit, and he says no. Foley tells Whipreck to get his ass out here. Douglas puts in the figure four. Mikey comes in—and knocks Foley out with the chair. Douglas gets the pinfall @ 15:45. This would end up setting up Whipreck-Foley for his farewell match. Not the best technically sound match, but they got the point of the match over well. This match just proves that Foley can put a good match on with just about anyone. Foley really did a good job of adding some drama in the match; he also took some really brutal chair shots at the end, which would be later copied by WWF in Rumble 1999.*** ¼

ECW Championship: Raven vs. Sandman.

Raven attacks Sandman off the bat. Raven knocks Sandman over, and jumps on him. Raven hits him with a chair, but Sandman reverses and Irish whip into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Sandman hits a delayed vertical brain buster.  The whole flock comes in the match; they bump the ref twice. Richards hits a Stevie kick, but only for two. Raven botches a move, but pushes Sandman into the chair. Raven DDT on the chair. ONE-TWO-THREE. @ 8:30.Post match beatdown occurs. Heyman knew he needed to overbook this one because there was no way Sandman and Raven could have put off anything other than a DUD. However, this was not much better than a DUD. They tried the bag-of-tricks to add drama, but it really did not add much drama into the match. It was just excessively sloppy to get into at all. Too bad these two never clicked in the ring because the rivalry was booked great, but when it came time to deliver in the ring, it failed badly. 1/4*

Going Home: A huge mix bag tonight, but the good was remembered more in my head than the bad. I loved and thought the Pillman worked-shoot was done perfectly. I really enjoyed the Sabu-2 Cold match, and thought the Foley-Douglas match was great also. Their was some crappy stuff in the midcard, which is an easy pass, and  the mainevent was an epic fail, but I still think there is enough good stuff to give this a  solid thumbs up.

Lewa Wilderness

Who They Are

Lewa Wilderness is situated within one of Kenya’s major private conservation successes, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (previously known as Lewa Downs), at the foot of Mt. Kenya. Lewa Wilderness is the original family home of the Craigs, who came from England and settled here in 1924 to raise cattle, and is still home to hosts Will and Emma Craig. There are 9 wonderful en-suite cottages, each with a sitting room area with bar and open log fireplace. On offer is a wide range of activities, including game drives, walks, horse and camel riding, scenic flights and bush camping.

What They Are Doing

Grevy's Zebra at Lewa

Wildlife

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy has become a major conservation beacon in Africa, with tourism at the very heart of wilderness and community survival.  In addition to many research projects, the conservancy formed the Anna Merz Rhino Sanctuary, which became very successful with both black and white rhino breeding, as well as a grevy’s zebra breeding program, with one-fifth of the world’s grevy’s zebra now resident at Lewa.

Community

Camels with Staff, Lewa

Lewa Wilderness only recruits from local communities and the management team is Kenyan.  Lewa is one of the biggest employers in the Eastern Province, and the staff undergo annual training in job-specific fields, including medicine and bush craft. In addition to the conservancy’s 200 full-time staff and up to 100 part-time staff, an additional 150 people are employed in tourism enterprises, furniture- and carpet-making workshops, and farms within Lewa’s boundaries.  The conservancy also provides financial and managerial assistance to schools, clinics, and water projects along its boundaries and beyond, into the remote northern districts.

Making Furniture at Lewa

There are five target primary schools close to Lewa’s boundary. One – the Lewa School - was built by the conservancy, which continues to provide educational materials and other support. Four other schools receive material support and participate in the conservancy bursary program, whereby the best-performing children from each of the schools is supported through secondary school.

The conservancy has built and maintains a clinic, which provides medical care to its employees for free, and to its neighbors at cost.  It also supports a variety of local self-help groups, including farm development groups and a women’s group initiative, for which it helps raise funds for microfinancing. It has also built a meeting hall. More than 200 women benefit from this program, which was started in 2003.

Safaricom Plus Rhino

The Safaricom Lewa Marathon, which began in 2000, aims to raise funds for conservation and community projects around the Samburu, Isiolo, Laikipia, and Meru areas.  The marathon has attracted more than 750 runners from all over the world to take part in the full and half marathons, with an additional 100 children competing in the five-kilometer fun run.  Over one million dollars has been raised through the runs and various fund-raising events. This money is distributed to a range of projects in northern Kenya, including  conservation, education, healthcare, and community development.

View from a Lewa Cottage

In Their Own Words

“The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy works as a catalyst for the conservation of wildlife and its habitat. It does this through the protection and management of species, the initiation and support of community conservation and development programmes, and the education of neighbouring areas in the value of wildlife.”

Here is a collection of grasshopper (for Rhino) videos. I know some of you exploring the wonders of parametric design who are playing with this plug-in, hope these help you out.

Intro part 1

Intro part 2

grasshopper tutorial: surface

making a twisting tower using grasshopper part 1
making a twisting tower using grasshopper part 2

I apologize that we are taking so long to update/add to the tutorials on this site, time is my enemy, as i am sure it is for all of you. To placate the masses I am posting some links to 3rd party Rhino tutorials that are quite good and full of great information.

This is a great video with MANY tips for rhino (I know it takes some time to load, but it is a really good video). http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/movies/rhino1_tut.wmv

From the above site, how to do the railing from the video: Rhino Railing

From the above site, how to do a sci-fi chair: Rhino Chair Tutorial

Television — Marquee Moon (Elektra, 1977)

New York’s Television came up with the Talking Heads, Blondie, and other familiars from the burgeoning CBGB’s (may it rest in peace) punk and new wave scene of the late Seventies. This band proves just as great an influence on the recent garage rock revivalists (remember the Hives? The Strokes? Radio 4?) as the Velvet Underground, and bears the marks of having honed their chops in the midst of such mainstream legends as the above (as well as bands like The Feelies), while avoiding most of their peers’ excesses and fates. What does surprise and disappoint is that the group unfortunately didn’t get very much of those huge acts’ sales numbers.

On the one hand, you have Tom Verlain’s urgent, quirky vocal delivery, reminiscent of David Byrne, taking the image of the rock frontman head-on. On the other: a sinewy, multi-layered, and often counter-rhythmic guitar attack courtesy of Richard Lloyd and Verlain; the quick-change, driving drums of Billy Ficca paired with the (bong-rattling?) nimble bass of once-and-future Blondie Fred Smith.

For a guitar-based outfit, they were also especially careful to avoid any of the histrionic sloppiness of the punks or distortion-heavy bombast of “dinosaur acts” like Led Zeppelin, while keen to keep the visceral impact provided by a properly-wielded electric guitar. In fact, they even strong-armed producer Andy Johns to prevent him from using any of his trademark Zeppelin recording techniques on their debut album!

These refreshing approaches and modern production techniques make this album a fantastic listen; it’s enduring popularity and yearly appearance on best-album lists make it no wonder that Rhino gussied up and rereleased it in 2004. This is truly at the nexus of jazz-inflected punk and new wave, balanced with a thorough understanding if the perks and pitfalls of cerebral hard rock.

I understand all destructive urges; they seem so perfect. I see no evil. I see Television trivia:

• Guitarist Richard Lloyd guested on an toured in support of Matthew Sweet’s excellent Girlfriend album in 1991.
• These are some of the coolest, most idiosyncratic nerds with guitars this side of The Feelies.

Una raccolta imprescindibile per addentrarsi in uno di quei meandri musicali che viaggiano sui binari paralleli a quelli del grande carrozzone del rock. Il surf è da sempre un genere di culto, con le sue regole e le sue eccezioni. In questo cofanetto incredibilmente curato ci si può perdere tra le grezze scale cariche di fuzz delle chitarre che anticiparono in qualche modo le sonorità del garage e del punk. In Cowabunga! si trova tutto quello che c’è da sapere per partire a esplorare le rotte di questi suoni che hanno del miracoloso. Un viaggio che dal 1960 arriva, attraverso quattro dischi, al 1995, in 82 canzoni (!) e 66 pagine di booklet.
Si parte con i Fireballs e si chiude, giustamente con Dick Dale. L’interesse del box si concentra principalmente sul versante strumentale tranne che per qualche doverosa incursione in casa Beach Boys e Jan & Dean. Accanto alle più famose Miserlou, Pipeline e Surfin’ Bird si possono finalmente ascoltare perle dimenticate come Jezebel o Moment of Truth. I primi tre dischi sono quelli di maggior interesse anche se nell’ultimo fanno bella mostra i soliti Man or astro-man? e i favolosi Aqua Velvet (di cui in Italia non si trova nulla ma che ogni surfista dovrebbe fare carte false per avere) con le loro sinuose trame estive, notturne, tra surf, western e mood latino.
La Rhino ci ha regalato un’opera immensa dal valore unico che potrebbe aprire porte uditive sorprendenti. Dopo aver incontrato questa musica potreste buttare tutti gli altri dischi, comprarvi una tavola e aspettare l’onda in ci scomparire per sempre.

The pooping Rhino show may be MTV's swan song as the aging network fades deeper into obscurity.

The National Reporter
Faced with its inevitable demise because of failed programming and fierce competition from other teen oriented networks, fading star MTV seems to be on its last legs with its most ambitious flop to date, The pooping Rhino show.
“I mean,..it was a Rhino,..it took a dump on the set,..and that was the whole show.” Angry MTV stock holder Wayne Stevens said after seeing the pilot.
“They brought this big Rhino into the studio and turned him around so that his rear end was facing the cameras.” Susan Dickerson said. “Then for the next fifteen minutes they just video taped his rear end as two handlers kept him from moving out-of-place. Finally he let loose with a big disgusting gush of,..well,..you know,..poop. It went all over the place and it stunk awful. And that was it, that was the show.”
Wayne Stevens shook his head in disgust.
“The producer and the director were both jumping up and down all excited and stuff. They thought that this was the greatest thing that has ever been televised.  Then they asked us what we thought about the new show.”
“I told them I was going to be sick.” Susan Dickerson said. ” I left the studio after that.  I am not happy about any of this. I sunk my life savings into MTV stock and this is the best idea they can come up with?”

The pooping Rhino show isn’t MTV’s only recent flop.
Last month they aired one episode of Celebrity pee.
Celebrity pee was supposed to be a candid camera type format where they would take hidden video’s of female celebrities relieving themselves in out of the ordinary locations.
The first episode featured what was allegedly a video of actress Megan Fox squatting down in the rear parking lot of MTV studios urinating in broad daylight with people walking past.

Alleged video footage of Megan Fox urinating in the rear parking lot of MTV studios

Celebrity pee was canceled during the first commercial break and replaced with a repeat episode of The Lesbian dating game.
It was later revealed that the woman urinating in the parking lot was a local prostitute that the producers had hired for ten dollars.
When The National Reporter contacted Miss Fox and asked her what she thought of the incident, she said that she did not see the episode and that she did not know what an MTV was.

Una raccolta imprescindibile per addentrarsi in uno di quei meandri musicali che viaggiano da sempre su binari paralleli a quelli del grande carrozzone del rock. Il surf è da sempre un genere di culto, con le sue regole e le sue eccezioni. In questo cofanetto incredibilmente curato ci si può facilmente perdere tra le grezze scale cariche di fuzz delle chitarre che anticiparono in qualche modo, almeno idealmente, le sonorità del garage e del punk. In Cowabunga! si trova tutto quello che c’è da sapere per partire a esplorare le rotte di questi suoni che hanno del miracoloso. Un viaggio che dal 1960 arriva attraverso quattro dischi al 1995 in 82 canzoni (!) e 66 pagine di booklet.
Si parte con i Fireballs e si chiude, giustamente con Dick Dale. L’interesse del box si concentra principalmente sul versante strumentale tranne che per qualche doverosa incursione in casa Beach Boys o Jan & Dean.Nascoste tra le più famose Miserlou, Pipeline e Surfin’ Bird si possono finalmente ammirare perle dimenticate come Jezebel o Moment of Truth. I primi tre dischi sono quelli di maggior interesse anche se nell’ultimo fanno bella mostra i soliti Man or astro-man? e i favolosi Aqua Velvet (di cui in Italia non si trova nulla ma che ogni surfista dovrebbe fare carte false per avere) con le loro sinuose trame estive, notturne, tra surf, western e mood latino.
La Rhino ci ha regalato un’opera immensa dal valore unico che potrebbe aprire porte uditive sorprendenti. Dopo aver incontrato questa musica potreste buttare tutti gli altri dischi, comprarvi una tavola e aspettare l’onda in ci scomparire per sempre.

Greystoke Mahale

Who They Are

Nomad Tanzania is a small owner-run safari company, based just outside Arusha. It has an eclectic mix of luxury camps spread across the country. Greystoke Mahale, at the foot of the Mahale Mountains and on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, is a fantastic base from which to view chimpanzees and enjoy the clear blue waters of the lake.  Chada Katavi is miles from anywhere in wildest Tanzania.  Nduara Loliondo is a mobile camp that moves its African-style yurts across the Loliondo area of the Serengeti Eco-system to wherever the best game viewing can be found.  The Serengeti Safari Camp moves around another part of the Serengeti.

Ndura Loliondo Under the Stars

Sand Rivers Selous

Accommodation at Sand Rivers Selous is in spacious open-fronted cottages made of stone and thatch, raised up on the banks of the Rufiji with amazing views out across the river. The new Kiba Point camp, four cottages  above the river, is for exclusive use. Nomad also manages Vamizi Island in Mozambique.

In Mahale National Park

What They Are Doing

When Nomad Tanzania was created in 2003, bringing the above camps under one umbrella, it committed to support three trusts that had already been established by the founders of the companies that made up the new Nomad Tanzania. These trusts related to the areas in which the individual companies were operating and were all born organically as a result of continual contact with the issues in the different areas. The Nomad Trust now provides administrative and fund raising-support for the following affiliated trusts, and is a totally non-profit making organization. Nomad Tanzania contributes $3 per camp bednight to the trust. Any funds given to the individual projects are entirely committed to them.

Conservation

The Selous Rhino Trust works to secure the safety of the handful of endangered rhino left in this area (down from 3,000  in the 1970s).  A team of 12 rangers and a rhino specialist are based here working together with the Wildlife Division of the Tanzanian government.

Community

Nomad Tanzania also works closely with communities in the Loliondo area, specifically Ololosokwan and Piyaya, two villages it has had close ties with for a number of years. Through donations and company contributions, it has targeted education as one of the prime areas where a difference can be made. In addition, in partnership with Piyaya village, it has contributed fifty percent of the Women’s Home Industry Fund, which loans money to women to help them start up a self-sufficient home industry of their choice. It helps the MIMAMPI honey-gathering project, which has helped reduce hunting in the Katavi and Rukwa areas. In Ololosokwan, it has purchased over $1,000 worth of school books and kept the school Landcruiser rolling with mechanical input and spares. Along with other stakeholders who operate in the area, the camping fees that guests at Nomad’s safari camps pay go to the fund, which so far has helped to send over 70 children to secondary school.

Black Rhino, Endangered Especially in the Selous

The Tongwe Trust, founded officially in 2006, supports community-based projects throughout Tongwe land, from Village Forest Reserves of extraordinary biodiversity in western Tanzania, to boat building and eco-tourism, to schools, dispensaries and village microenterprise. The trust is also collecting an invaluable archive of Tongwe folklore, herbal medicine, and music.

In 2008, Nomad became the first company in the country to have a complete carbon footprint audit done on all its camps and offices.

Animals from the jungle trying to catch up with the truck with the last trees on

Running for life

Download free print version here

cartoon illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt - hikingartist.com

Let’s go with people named Nick…

Nick Brandt

Nicolas de Staël

Vor dem Hintergrund knapper werdender Land-Ressourcen und der Notwendigkeit zu deren effizienter Nutzung, der Suche nach und der Entwicklung von neuen individuellen Wohnformen in „naturnaher“ Atmosphäre sollten entwurfliche und konstruktive Möglichkeiten des Wohnens und des Lebens auf dem Wasser erforscht werden.

Ein konstruktiver Entwurf, der von Prof. H. Hoffmann zusammen mit Prof. Eckhardt im Wintersemester 2008/09 angeboten wurde. Der Schwerpunkt dieses Seminars lag neben der Entwicklung konzeptionell und ästhetisch überzeugender Entwürfe auf der technischen Bewältigung der spezifischen Probleme schwimmender Architekturen. Weiterhin war der Entwurf präziser digitaler Modelle notwendig, um die zum Teil komplexen Volumen geometrisch bewältigen und damit baukonstruktiv darstellen zu können.

The NEW Rhino 5200 is here, just in time to save valuable time, save headaches and make/save you money! This new labeler is Industry Specific and perfect for all labeling applications on Electrical (Including Panel Schedules), Datacom, Security and Pro A/V installations.

• Now through the end of November, get a $50 off mail-in rebate on the Rhino 5200.

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This male rhino had his horn cut off because he killed the female elephant in the safari park. The male elephant was angry at this and killed the female rhino as retaliation. Who says humans are bad? The safari park got the rhino another female. The elephant has not got a new female yet because he is gone really bad tempered. His favorite past time now is shredding tractor tires. Those are some seriously big tires to shred. You don’t want to get on his bad side!!

Whew!  What a day!  We left here at 8 a.m., Stanley, my other trusty taxi driver-cum-tourguide and I, and headed out through early morning traffic to go to Lake Nakuru and see the flamingos.

The drive was really interesting, since we went up and down the mountain foothills a couple times, enough change in elevation so that you had to pop your ears several times.

The change in temperature was quite drastic, I’d say 10  – 15 degrees F between Nairobi and Highpoint, which was, logically enough, the highest point on our route.  Also passed through some wonderful farming districts, and the fresh fruit and veg being sold at the roadside made my mouth water.  Stanley suggested that I could better pick them up on my way back, so they wouldn’t cook in the car while we toured the park.  Unfortunately, the park tour took so much longer than expected that we didn’t get back until after dark (and that’s a trip I never want to do again!) so missed the chance to sample the really fresh wares as everyone had gone home.

We passed a couple other lakes and also some places where there were spectacular views of the Rift Valley – along with the craft sellers I mentioned before.  For a small country, Kenya has quite a variety of landscapes to pass through, so it wasn’t a boring drive.

The park was so much more than the guide books had indicated.  We saw a lot of  different kinds of antelope, two rhino families, baboon tribes, vervet monkies, many different kinds of birds, zebra – and a real pleasure, thanks to Stanley’s sharp eyes, two Suni, which you can actually see in the photos this time.  They are really small antelope, about the size of Paddington the poodle, for those of you who know him.  Maybe twice as tall as your average house cat – and 10 times as cute!

The photos I took of those I saw in SA turned out to not show them, they were camouflaged so well.  People don’t often see them, and they are a fairly rare sighting, so I’m really happy.

Had lunch at one of the lodges inside the park, and sat on the terrace watching the baboons play and groom in the field across the fence.  There were also some birds to watch, and it was very peaceful and pleasant.

But, the big thrill I was looking forward to wasn’t to be.  The flamingoes were barely dots on the horizon, and not the huge masses of them as in the photo at the beginning of the blog.  The lake has receded enormously, and even though this is the season of ’small rains’ has not recovered to anything like its former size.

We drove as close as we could, which meant as far as the firm sand would allow, but had to stop where the edge of the lake had been as the salt pan the receding water had left was not good for cars.  Nor for people.

The wind was blowing slightly, and raising huge storm clouds of white dust.  It got in everywhere.  The car had a good covering all over the floor, seats, armrests etc even though we kept the windows closed tight.  Breathing was difficult, and in order to walk out to get a better view of the flamingos I would have needed a really good mask and goggles.  When I got home, it was even in my belly button, though that had been well covered with several layers. (Yes, my Britney Spears days are over, gang)

All the animals near the salt pan or downwind of it were greyish white, which caused some confusion at first when we saw strange ‘white’ buffalo, and really ‘white’ rhinos (all rhinos are grey – the white and black designations don’t refer to their colour) until we realised they were coated with this mineral salt dust.

As we left to continue around the lake, looking and hoping for a better vantage point, the wheels and brakes started to squeal, and when we got back to a good distance, when we opened the windows, they squealed too!  That dust is some wicked!  I expect too that it has a high alkaline content, so really hope it didn’t permanently damage anything.

I was just so disappointed that I couldn’t get closer to the flamingos and see them close up, since I think they are really beautiful, and they were, after all, the reason I went there in the first place.  And it was devastating to see the extent of the lake’s recession first hand.  It was so much more ‘real’ than seeing it in a photo.

And the drive home – Oh, Lordy!  In the dark, through windy, up-and-down, narrow highways, with trucks and people passing them and everyone else in typical Kenyan fashion., which means blind curves, solid lines be hanged.  An probably 70 % of the cars in the country had no tailights, almost as many had one or no brakes lights, and some had no headlights, or one.  Along with this was the homeward-bound highway-side vendors, on their bicycles, no lights, no reflectors, wobbling along with their loads, and you might see them about 3 feet before you passed them.  And lots of drivers just leave their turn signals permanaently on to indicate that the moment they get insane enough they are going to pass everything in sight, so don’t get in their way!  Mountain driving and I just don’t seem to have any natural affinity – especially after dark!

On the upside, yesterday at the craft markets, I did find two really cute dolls for Diana and Natasha, African mamas, in African-lady clothes, with little African babies slung on their backs.  They are just so cute.  And I found some pretty nice collages made from banana leaves.  Interesting stuff.

And today I FOUND SOME MUSIC!!  Bought a couple interesting CDs, some benga and some older stuff, and a female singer whose music I like, and who is apparently a big seller in Europe right now.  AND I found out that there is a Kenyan written and acted musical in town, so I’m going to try and get to see that too.  Things are looking up in the culture department.

Anyway, someone else is waiting their turn here, so best scoot for now.
ttfn

Apparently Metamorpher had a party, but didn’t invite me

Live from: Orlando, Florida
November 15, 2009
Your Host: Mike Tenay and Taz

• The show opens up with a well put together video package of the build up over the month. It is mostly clips of the feuds and matches; and also Hulk Hogan’s signing. There is some “epic” music playing in the background blended in Dixie Carter’s shoot motivation speech for the wrestlers on Impact.

Amazing Red (w/Don West) vs. Homicide for the X Division Title.

Don West comes out screaming and being the Mike Dicka of wrestling by coaching Red on. Homicide hits a closeline that flips Red in half. West was doing a great job of playing coach and cheerleader. Homicide gets heat on Red for a while. Red comes back with some babyface moves and a wild spinning DDT, which broke out the “He’s Amazing” chant. Homicide comes back with the Bronx Bomber. ONE-TWO-NO. West tells Amazing Red to fight through the pain. Don West really needs one of those Jimmy Hart microphones. Red goes for a moonsault off the top, but Homicide catches him with a Cutter on the way down. Homicide goes for a Franken Steiner, but Red pushes him off and nails the Code Red (not the drink) for the win @ 10:05. After the match, Don West comes in the ring and West gets the Gatorade bath for his amazing coaching performance. Just kidding, all they did was celebrate. Very effective opener; I much rather see a match like this than people almost dying in an Ultimate X. They both hid their flaws in this match nicely by complementing each other. Despite what people might say about Don West, I think he was a great manager because he fits the role well. When you are a manager you should be like a coach; you should not be like someone like Bam Neely who does nothing at all—expect pretending you are an intimidating bodyguard. It will be interesting to see where Amazing Red will go from here. ** ½

Women’s titles: ODB, Sarita, and Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, and Lacey Von Erich with Ugly Stick.

The announcers talk about what Erich does with the ugly stick, and kids around with Tenay. Tenay breaks out with a pedophile laugh followed by three more scary laughs. The laugh kind of reminded me of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. Tenay explains that the women who pins ODB will be the TNA Knockouts Champ, and if one of the tag champs was pinned they would lose their titles. The faces hit some flashy moves early. Rayne starts beating down ODB. Tenay talks about Rayne finger on “fire” because she is hot, which leads to a creepy laugh. The Tag Champs hit some flashy moves. Von Erich comes in and closelines Wilde. Rayne works over Taylor and hits her with a neckbreaker.  Sky comes in and they hit a Russian leg sweep.  Sky does a beats up Wilde.  Von Erich gets tagged in and gets a “you can’t wrestle” chant. Sky puts in the octopus submission, but Taylor comes back and hits a spinning kick. Odb gets the hot tag and cleans house.  Odb chant breaks out. Odb hits the follow way slam. They all get in the ring. ODB is out numbered, but comes back.  ODB hits an F-5 into a cutter for the pinfall. Not much to say about this one; it was very short and had no botches, but didn’t have really have much going on. ODB gets the win and BP are chasing for the title, again. *

• Jeremy Borash interviews Desmond Wolfe—who said the wolf would devour every scrap that remains. He says that he just don’t know Angle; he knows Angle more than Angle knows himself. And Angle doesn’t know much about Wolfe (Angle never watched ROH).

TNA Tag Team Titles: Beer Money vs. British Invasion vs. Motor City Machine Guns.

Machine Guns got a title opportunity by defeating Creed and Lethal in an Ultimate X. While on the other hand British Invasion screwed Beer Money out of their *so called* last title shot when they nailed a ref in a cage match. Yeah, I know stupid, but anyways they get the title shot always. Big Terry isn’t there tonight.  Shelley and Roode go move for move. Roode hits a tilt a world backbreaker.  On the outside, Shelley holds Roode and Sabin stiffs him with a kick. Williams gets a blind tag on Roode, but is distracted by Roode, and Shelley rolls him up, but only for 2. MCMG does some poetry in motion moves on Invasion.  Storm tags himself in and cleans house. Storm hits a rock bottom on Williams, but gets broken up. They hit a double team suplex. The match is starting to break down with everyone in. Shelley goes for slice bread, but misses and BI hits a super kick then suplex combination.  Beer Money hits some innovated tag moves. Eric Young comes in and helps Invasion. Roode rolls Doug up with a hand full of tights, but only gets two. Eric Young gets thrown out, but won’t leave. Nash comes down and takes the belt. Roode attacks EY, but Nash clocks him with the belt. Nash leaves with the belt, and EY looks puzzled. Back in the ring, British Invasion hit the heart attack, but with a European uppercut for the win @ 9:10. The action was fine at first, but then it broke down and became a spot-fest where the moves had no meaning. I really hate TNA tag matches lately because it’s basically a tag match with no rules. I mean if you want more than two people to be in the ring, make it a tornado tag match. I thought MCMG were just added to the match to eat the pin, and give Beer Money an “out”, but instead they went with the Nash swerve. Maybe on the next PPV they can give us British Invasion-MCMG straight up; one can only hope. * ¾

• JB interviews Nash in the back, and JB says a bad word. Nash tells some mom jokes because he’s awesome, but then he says he did it for Hulk. NWO 2.0 maybe? He says he will explain more on Thursday if Hulk would let him.

Six Sides of Almost Every Week You Can See on Impact Steel: Tara vs. Awesome Kong.

Why is this even happening in a cage? Do they know they have a cage match PPV for the reasoning seeing the vicious, violent and other things in the cell?  So why tamper one of your biggest PPV’S by giving away all the gimmicks on the PPV? Sometimes, I think there are morons writing this show; oh yeah that’s right—there are.  Kong starts off the match by using the cage to distrust Tara.  Kong goes for a suplex, but Tara counters with one of her own. Tara comes back and gets Kong off her feet. Tara hits a standing moonsault for two. Tara and Kong slug it out on the cage. They both knock each other down and crotch each other, but they both no sell it since Tara has no balls and Kong can take pain. Kong gets the advantage on the ropes. Tara hits a powerbombs Kong off the top rope. Tara climbs up the cage looking to escape, but then decides she wants to kill Kong, so she hits a Thez Press off the top of the cage. ONE-TWO-THREE! Tara wins @ 8:00. The build wasn’t great heading into the match, but everyone wanted to see it so it wasn’t irrelevant. The match was solid, but idiotically short. I also think the wrong person went over here; Kong should have won and became a dominate monster heel of the Women’s Division since that was the peak of it. I do hope these ladies work together again, but with more time so they can have a Women’s match of the year as they are more than likely capable of.  ** ¼

Rhino and Team 3D vs. Matt Morgan, Hernadez, and D’Angelo Dinero.

The Veterans are paranoid that the young guys are taking their spot in TNA. Bubba ribs up Popes money. Ray pushes Pope, but Pope comes back with a double leg take down. Bubba leaves. Bubba does his punch combo but misses his elbow. Pope does his own combo.  Pope goes for a closeline, but Bubba hits a Bubba Bomb. Morgan goes to work on Rhino, but misses on a splash. Morgan gets back on offense and goes for a cover. 3D breaks the cover up.  The heels beat down Pope. Devon puts in a sleeper hold, but Pope fights out. Pope hits a school boy, but only for 2.  Rhino beats up Pope.  Bubba hits an elbow drop to the outside, and talks about being a pimp to the camera. Bubba goes high risk and misses with a back first senton. Morgan gets the hot tag and goes after 3d but they drop down. Morgan hits a side slam on Rhino, but 3d break it up. Super Mex gets the tag and slingshot closelines 3d.  Super Mex powers Bubba and Rhino down, and gets a 2 count on Rhino. Super Mex does his vintage superman jump; big Splash on Rhino for two.  Morgan nails a chokeslam on Bubba, but Rhino throws him over and Morgan tweaked his knee. Pope powerbombs Rhino, but isn’t the legal man so the ref kicks him out since that rules applies in TNA now, I guess. Pope goes for the Express, but Bubba crotches him with the ring post. Ref is distracted, so Devon hits Mex with a chair. Rhino takes advantage and Rhino nails the GORE GORE GORE for the three @ 14:00. Good, solid formula tag match. The heels did a good job with getting heat on the beat down, and the faces did a good job at the hot tag comebacks. Everything worked well in a formula way. One thing I can say about 3D is that they can always have good structure to a match when they are heels. The finish was done well, also. I liked how they used the ref distraction and the chair shot realistically—instead of their usual ref distractions. Hernadez gets an “out” and this feud will most likely carry on. **  1/4

• In the back, Lauren is with Steiner and she says he’s a stocker and the match will be FCA. Steiner flips out and says that he is trying to be Lashley’s friend and tell him that she is in love with another man. He talks about Lashley’s muscles are oh show, and he tells some more sex jokes. He says they will be both covered, but Lashley’s wife will be the winner.

Falls Count Anywhere: Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley.

Steiner has been stalking Lashley’s wife on Impact. Lashley was getting very irate at the whole situation. Steiner then started attacking Lashley, but Steiner got the uperhand. They start brawling right away. Lashley gets the advantage. Back in the ring, Lashley is bringing it to Steiner. Lashley gets a two with a Snap Suplex. Duel chants start breaking out. Lashley closelines Steiner over the top. Steiner hits some low blows on Lashley. Back in, Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex into a pin but only for two. Steiner hits more suplexes, but still gets a two. They got to the top rope, and Steiner nails the Franken Steiner. ONE-TWO-NO.  Steiner goes to the top, but gets caught, and press slams him gut first on the rope; Steiner tumbles to the floor. Lashley rages on Steiner on the outside. They go to the back, and they have a horrible camera angle in place. Ugh.  You miss a blade job because of the camera angle. Ashley goes for the spear, but misses and goes through some wood, but not Steiner’s wood.  They brawl towards the Spanish announce table. Steiner hits Lashley with a pipe. ONE-TWO-THREE? Steiner wins @ 12:00. They took a shortcut by making this a FCA, and not giving these two that much time wrestling straight up. Steiner was pretty interesting in this feud and match, but still the match was too sluggish at times and the match they worked was out of date by a decade.  The finish was pretty out of no where, also. It will be interesting to see where Lashley goes after this. *

Name For a Name: Kurt Angle vs. Nigel Mcguniess Desmond Wolfe.

Angle admits he thought of the new talent wrongly, but he is insulted that Wolfe is trying to make a name off of Kurt Angle; but despite Angle’s anti-beliefs, Wolfe has beaten up Angle on several occasions. Angle has the old attire on and is reminding me of the old Angle back in 2006; the more serious Angle. Early on, they just do a feeling out each other process that leads to a “this is wrestling” chant. Tenay and Taz are impressed by Wolfe holding his own so far. Nigel works on the lower hand of Angle. Angle comes back and hits a snap suplex followed by a backbreaker. Angle starts to work over Wolfe. Another “this is wrestling” chant breaks out.  Nigel focuses on the arm again, as Angle sells it. Angle goes for a sunset flip, but Nigel counters by working on the arm.  Nigel does his vintage arm breaker move.  Angle counters into an ankle lock, but Wolfe counters. Wolfe gets a little cocky, and Angle takes advantage with a belly-to-belly suplex. Angle comes back with a flurry of closelines and a flying forearm. Angle ducks a closeline and hits one, two, three, four, five, six German suplexes! Angle pulls the straps down and means business; he goes for the Angle slam, but Nigel counters and hits the lariat. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO! Nigel goes for the Tower of London, but Angle counters into an Angleslam. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO! Wolfe goes to work on the arm, and puts a sitting arm-bar on Angle. Angle counters into an angle slam, but Nigel counters into a figure four arm lock. Angle counters again with an ankle lock! Wolfe gets to the ropes. “This is awesome” chant. Angle goes for an Angleslam, but yet again Wolfe counters into a ddt. Wolfe is going for the Tower of London and hits it. ONE-TWO-THR-NO! Nigel is setting up for the closeline, but Angle hits one of his own. Angle is going for a moonsault misses, and Nigel goes for that key-lock armbar with a knee in the back. Angle sells the tap out, but makes it to the topes by going backyards into the ropes.  Nigel puts Angle on the top, but Angle breaks out.  Angle hits a frogsplash. ONE-TWO-NO!  Angle goes for a Tombstone Piledriver; Nigel counters, but then Angle counters into the ankle lock. Angle out of desperation puts a triangle choke on Nigel and gets the win @ 17:00. I really didn’t think TNA could put a scientific classic match like this, but boy was I wrong. Everything was phenomenal in this match. Taz and Tenay did a great job of getting everything over calling this. Tenay almost went back to his old days of WCW calling and putting over move and situations over; and Taz showed a new side to his match calling. Nigel and Angle were just simply on tonight; everything they did was at the right time—and perfectly placed. Even though this wasn’t a “perfect” match, I can not find one flaw about the match expect maybe the quick finish. I also think Nigel needed this win more than Angle, but something tells me this rivalry isn’t over, and I hope I am right. Angle proved that he still could go and Nigel showed that he still could bring it no matter what company he is in; I can honestly say now I am happy he didn’t go to WWE. ****

TNA World Heavyweight Title: AJ Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe.

It didn’t make too much sense why Daniels and Joe got the title shot; it was more so just for the internet fans to shut them up, or watch the show. AJ Styles was attacked outside of the Impact Zone, so that lead to finger pointing. Styles pointed fingers at people including Daniels. Daniels didn’t take the news that well, and started to turn on Styles while Joe was loving it. Daniels sucker punches AJ and goes after Joe. AJ recuperates and goes after both of them. Joe brings out the offense, but Daniels catches him with a spinning kick to the face.  Daniels out smarts AJ, but gets caught by a dropkick.  Joe hooks the leg of AJ and that gives Daniels time to plaint AJ down on the canvas. “This is wrestling” chant breaks out. I wonder what the exact definition is to these fans what “wrestling” is because when you watch wrestling— you usually see wrestling; so I suppose they are just reminding us that we are watching wrestling. Thank you Impact Zone; now shut up. Daniels scoop slams AJ onto Joe; then puts in a camel clutch and a Boston Crab on AJ. Joe bites Daniels, which leads to Daniels letting go.  Joe recovers and then hits face washes on both Aj and Daniels.  Joe does vintage stuff on both of them.  AJ goes slingshot, but Joe kicks the feet out on the jump over, but Daniels goes head first out of the ring on Joe. Daniels goes for a Moonsault, but AJ catches him—and Joe chops him. Joe puts in the choke, but AJ goes on the top with an over the top backflip.  AJ hits a head scissors on Joe.   AJ does some more flashy awesome moves.  AJ maintains on the offense, but Daniels stacks them up in the corners. Daniels monkey flips him into a powerbomb of Joe’s into Daniels. Joe hits his Powerbomb/Boston crap/stf combination, but AJ makes it to the ropes. Joe hits a powerslam on AJ for two. Daniels tries to hit Joe but he counters. Daniels hits a Rock bottom while he has Joe in a dragon sleeperhold.  Daniels tries to get a count on Joe but gets two. Daniels takes AJ up and hits a DVD for only two. Daniels goes for a suplex, but Aj counters into a suplex into a neckbreaker. Ref starts the count.  Joe comes inside—and cleans house until Daniels knocks him down. AJ then hits a PELE on Daniels!  AJ cleans house with flashy and power moves. AJ springboards and hits a flying forearm. ONE-TWO-NO.  AJ hit a spring board backwards DDT on Joe, but can’t hit it on Daniels. Daniels hits a German suplex on Joe.  Joe crotches Daniels and nails the Muscle Buster!!!!! ONE-TWO-THRE-NO! AJ broke it up.  Joe does a rolling pin on AJ, but only gets a two. Joe goes off the rope, but AJ hits a spinkick. AJ attempts for a Clash, but Daniels hits a step up kick. Daniels and AJ counter both of their finishers.  AJ and Daniels go high-low on Joe. They look at each other, and go after each other. On the turnbuckle, AJ gets chopped off, and Joe goes for a Muscle Buster, but Daniels counters. Daniels goes for BME, but AJ hits a Spring Board onto both of them. ONE-TWO-THREE!!! AJ retains at 22:00. I never thought this match could ever out do Nigel-Angle, but it actually did; just an awesome show of how a triple threat ought to be. The pacing, structure, psychology, and the innovative spots were a work of art. I never thought they could put anything on par with their 2005 match, but this was easily on par if not better. There is just so much to say about this match that you can’t even spit it all out. I will put it simple as simple can be; this match is awesome and should be watched by all wrestling fans around the world. MOTYC **** ½

Going Home: Did I take a time machine back to 2005? Seriously, the matches and the booking were actually both very good. I never thought I would ever say that about TNA, but it is really true. We saw good structured matches—that didn’t rely on spots and they also told a believable, well thought out story. The matches also had clean and finishes that made sense; with little to none Russo/Ferrera shenanigans.

While the undercard was solid, the last two matches were just the one-two punch that put this show on a new level. I can’t even recall the last PPV I gave back to back matches **** + stars; even Dragon Gate USA couldn’t even do it in both of their PPVS. While I can’t say this was better than the DGUSA PPV; however, I can easily say this is by far the most outstanding Mainstream PPV this year—and the best TNA PPV in four years.

Thumbs Way Up.

I used hypershot to render these.