Frank Delaney's Re: Joyce Podcast

I saw a link to Frank Delaney's Re: Joyce podcast yesterday and listened to the episodes today. Delaney is working his way through James Joyce's Ulysses five minutes per week and it's wonderful listening. So far, he's done an introduction episode and four more dealing with, so far, only the opening page of the novel. If you've never read Ulysses and want to get an introduction, this is a good place. If you're a fan of the novel and want to hear a fantastic podcast on the subject full of information and analysis, this is also a good place. Delaney is a wonderful speaker and his reading of the novel makes it come alive.

Nip/Tuck

So, we just finished watching Babylon 5 (this has to do with one of the questions that Chad asked me) and started watching Nip/Tuck which is a show that I started watching when it first came out and have only seen random episodes since season 1. As absurd of a show as it is, I became hooked on it immediately. Perhaps sensory overload? Perhaps my tendancy to latch onto characters easily? Perhaps for the only reason that it's hard to look away from something that's so twisted? In any case, I loved it and so I recently bought season 1 on DVD. We've only watched the first two episodes, but it's not quite what I remembered it to be. I still like it, but I think I've become more sensitive to things because I find it a lot more intense and not as much enjoyable/mindless as I remember it being. In any case, I'm looking forward to watching more episodes and seeing whether it just takes a little more time to get in to it, or whether I may be putting buying other seasons on hold.

Question #3!!

Wow, so I didn't actually realise how long it's been since I've written anything on here until I looked on here and saw how many posts Chad had made! So, now that I again have some time, I thought that I would continue to answer Chad's questions to me!

So, here is question number 3: Thinking back, what movie that we saw together in the theatre have you liked the best?

Hmmmmm, well, have gone to see a number of movies, I think more so closer to when we first got together, and with my awful awful memory I'm sure that I'm missing movies that we saw together (yes, even if I loved them, there's a really good chance I forgot about them!) but one for sure that I liked a lot was the Batman movie. I don't have to say why, everyone pretty much knows why it was really good. I would say that Batman is tied with Inglorious Bastards. I loved this movie quite a bit and even just recently bought it at Blockbuster. I love Blockbuster sales.

There have also been some movies that I was suprised that I liked/didn't like. I was really holding out for The X-Files movies... I am a crazy fan, or at least use to be crazy and now I just know stuff about it, and I tried really hard to like this movie, I really did. It was simply just aweful. It was like a really badly organised episode that was trying to cram in every aspect of Mulder and Scully's character they could and a lot of aspects from the show as well, in a way that was really obvious and just really bad. Perhaps my excitement for this movie hyped it up a little, but it's one that I don't have any interest in owning because I know I may watch it once and then probably never again.

On the other hand, I am totally not a fan of the what I call 'stupid comedy' movies (a.k.a. comedies). I'm not sure why. I think it's because I have a really dry sense of humour and more vulgar/slapstick stuff just really doesn't work for me. But, I found that I actually liked the majority of Pineapple Express. It was pretty funny and cute at times, but then the plot went all weird and crazy at and it lost some of it's appeal. I think Chad has similar views about this movie, too.

So, ya! There we have it! Thanks for reading and enjoy your day!

Link Roundup

What I wrote (or contributed to) online this past week:

411mania
* Wrestling Top 5 -- Best and Worst Raw Guest Hosts
* High Road/Low Road on Kane Seeking Retribution For The Undertaker's Demise
* Wrestling 4Rs including my review of the 07.01.10 TNA Impact
* Wrestler of the Week Year 6 Week 14
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 3 -- Rounds Eight through Eleven
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 4 -- Rounds Twelve through Fourteen
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 5 -- Fantasy Cards & Show Hype
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 6 -- Results and Show 2 Preview
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 7 -- Results and Show 2 Preview Continued (I didn't contribute to this one, but it provides a complete picture of the event)
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 8 -- Post-Draft Q&A Roundtable

GraphiContent
* Quickie Reviews (June 30 2010)
* Blogathon 2010

Comic Book Resources Reviews
* Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island #2
* Thor #611
* Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #1
* Deadpool Team-Up #892
* Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: Dust to Dust #2

Comics Should be Good
* Guess the Real Spoiler! (July 7, 2010)

The Splash Page Podcast
* The Splash Page Podcast episode 23

Smarkass Comments: WWE Raw 07.05.10

I wasn't sure what to expect heading into tonight's episode of Raw, but it was a pretty good show overall. There were some low lows, but, for the most part, I enjoyed it.

* I love how the heels attacked the faces when they went to attack the Nexus. You know what's more interesting than two forces fighting one another? Three forces fighting one another, particularly when one of those forces would be outnumbered by quite a bit and obviously don't have the strength/talent to stand on equal ground yet. The Nexus versus the entire Raw roster wouldn't work, because there's no way the Nexus would have a chance. Plus, this is more interesting. I never bought that united front bullshit.

* The red herrings that Stone Cold Steve Austin is the anonymous Raw GM are fun, but pointless.

* Maryse works so much better in a valet role than as a wrestler. Her in-ring talent is marginal, while her real appeal is in her personality and looks. Sticking her with Ted DiBiase works well. I kind of wish she kept Morrison's robe and had Ted toss a few bucks onto Morrison's body as payment.

* The Miz taking out R-Truth was good in its execution, but it does make me think we'll just have to have more of these two and, well, I'd rather see the Miz move on to bigger and better things.

* Chris Jericho and Edge in the ring talking? Always good. Though, their little discussion of Nexus makes it seem highly unlikely that Jericho is behind it all. I thought that might be the case and that, as a part of his plan, he's the one that got in Sheamus's ear that maybe the heels shouldn't play nice with the faces. Ah well.

* The tag match was pretty good.

* The Kozlov & Santino/Regal & Khali match was shit from beginning to end. Regal deserves better. But, he does work well as a pompous foil to the comedy duo of Santino and Kozlov. They just need to write it better.

* The Usos and Alicia Fox interviews both did the same thing: pointed out to me that no one actually cares about any of those people yet. Not exactly the goal, I imagine. The Usos are intriguing, but haven't done anything to make me care beyond teasing the idea of a decent match with the Harts. Alicia Fox asked the questions no Diva should ever ask: if anyone cares about her or the Divas Championship... she doesn't want to know the answer.

* The final segment with Cena and Barrett was good with Darren Young acting as the first Nexus casualty (aside from a guy whose name escapes me right now...). I was a little confused when we saw that the Nexus guys and the faces with Cena disappeared -- where did they go? But, Cena unleashed is good.

All in all, an enjoyable episode that advanced the Nexus story and continued to build to the PPV.

Smarkass Reviews: Batista: I Walk Alone (Disc 2)

The second and third discs are just matches, so let's dive in...

Match #1: OVW Heavyweight Championship Match -- "The Machine" Doug Basham (C) vs. Leviathan (Ohio Valley Wrestling -- November 28, 2001)
Before he was Batista, he was Leviathan, a mythical monster of a man raised from the Ohio River by a witch or something. This match isn't really anything special. It doesn't flow too well, but it does have Jim Cornette on commentary making it seem like the biggest thing to ever happen. Batista does most of the stuff that he would do in the WWE: powerbomb, spear, maybe a spinebuster thrown in... He did use the chokeslam at the time, too, which I don't remember ever seeing him use in the WWE. The match was no dq, so there was plenty of interference and even the use of two refs. You really get the sense of watching two guys still learning and improving, trying to make the basics work before doing anything too complicated. All of which is fine, just nothing too amazing.
Winner and NEW OVW Heavyweight Champion: Leviathan [*1/2]

Match #2: Batista vs. Kane (Armageddon -- December 15, 2002)
Jumping ahead a year, Evolution hasn't begun yet, but Ric Flair is mentoring Batista, so things are moving in that direction (the group would form officially a month later). This was Batista's first PPV match and it's a fine outting where the point is to make him look like a force against Kane. It's a good way to put over Batista since Kane is also a big man and beating him puts you at a certain level immediately. Flair interferes quite a bit, which helps Batista gain the win. It's a solid little match, nothing special. Batista is still pretty dull in the ring and an agile Kane can't drag him to a good match yet.
Winner: Batista [*1/2]

Match #3: Batista vs. Shawn Michaels (Armageddon -- December 14, 2003
Jumping ahead another year, Evolution is on its way to dominance with Randy Orton winning the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the evening and Batista and Flair to win the World Tag Team Championship later in the evening. But, in between, we've got Batista versus Shawn Michaels. In the documentary, Batista mentions this as the first match that felt like a success for him, the first one where he showed that he can make it in the WWE, and put on a good show. I don't know if I would go that far, but it's definitely a step up from the first two. Batista is more fluid in the ring, more in command of his character, and is carried somewhat by Michaels. Flair interferes again, but Michaels does well against him, including on of my favourite things to see: a guy running at another only to be put down with a single punch. Michaels is one of the best sellers in the business, so he makes Batista look great by selling how beat up he is by the end of the match. Things end with Michaels getting out of the Batista Bomb and hitting Sweet Chin Music, which allows Michaels to not lose to a relative newbie while still making Batista look like he was close to victory. Pretty much all you could ask for.
Winner: Shawn Michaels [**]

Match #4: Tables Match for the World Tag Team Championship -- Batista & Ric Flair (C) vs. the Dudley Boyz (Royal Rumble -- January 25, 2004)
I'm kind of surprised they went with this instead of Batista and Flair winning the belts at Armageddon since that would be a nice follow-up to the Michaels match. Anyway, this is pretty short and nothing too impressive. The Dudleys dominant at the beginning, taking advantage of Batista's inexperience to take him out and, then, double-teaming Flair until Batista can power he and Flair to victory rather quickly. Kind of a pointless inclusion and lame even by tables match standards.
Winners and STILL World Tag Team Champions: Batista and Ric Flair [1/2*]

Match #5: Batista vs. Chris Jericho (Vengeance -- July 11, 2004)
This was a nice little match with a typical big man/little man dynamic. Batista dominated with a few outbursts of quickness and strategy by Jericho thrown in. It was built around the idea that Jericho couldn't take Big Dave off his feet, so when he did, the crowd went wild. Batista showed some good ring intelligence by countering a few Jericho moves in ways that he wouldn't have earlier in his career. Not advanced stuff or anything, but more subtle ways that don't rely on simply overpowering Jericho. Batista got the win as he continued his rise to the top. A solid match all around.
Winner: Batista [**1/2]

Match #6: Except from the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble -- January 30, 2005)
We begin this moments before Batista came out at #28. He came in with some presence by delivering a Batistabomb on Kane and taking out some other guys. The next two guys were Christian and Ric Flair with Flair providing the best moment of this short bit when he attempted to grab Batista by the back of the head to pull him to the ropes and eliminate him, but Batista didn't move and Flair just fell down. Flair turned on Batista pretty quickly, which contributed to his turn against Trips and Flair. It eventually came down to Batista and John Cena (I loved how the final four were all guys who had never won a world belt -- remember when the Rumble was about elevating someone new to the main event?) with a botched finish where both men went over and Batista clearly hit first a little bit. I liked the whole story with the Raw refs saying Batista won and the Smackdown refs saying it was Cena, with Batista then throwing Cena out again -- followed by Cena throwing Batista out, too... until McMahon ordered the match restarted and Batista won. That wouldn't stop Cena from winning the WWE Championship off JBL at WrestleMania 21, but it did set up Batista going after Trips's World Heavyweight Championship.
Winner: Batista [N/A] (since I didn't see the whole thing)

Match #7: World Heavyweight Championship Match -- Triple H (C) vs. Batista (WrestleMania 21 -- April 3, 2005)
I wasn't expecting to like this match as much as I did since neither one of these guys blow me away in the ring anymore. As well, the story to this match is so key with Batista's slow turn against Triple H -- and while I know the story, that's not the same thing as experiencing it. But, the storytelling was strong with Batista as the clear underdog while Triple H uses his experience and ring-savy (and cheating) to make up for Batista's superior power. Batista is tenacious, but Triple H controlled the first half to two-thirds of the match pretty much until Batista hit the slingshot off the steps on the outside, sending Trips flying into the ringpost. That was the turning point with Triple H doing a good blade job. Michelle doesn't like blood, but she admitted that it worked here. I'm not the biggest fan of blood either -- but, like any storytelling tool, when it's used well, it works. The problem is that it isn't used well far too often. Here, it was a tangible sign that Batista has struck a meaningful blow against Triple H, that maybe he could win despite the odds being against him. After that, Batista was in control a lot more and even kicked out of a pin attempt after Triple H hit him with the belt behind the ref's back. Cheating wasn't enough to beat the Animal here as he eventually overpowered Triple H to win the title. It felt earned and was a great victory, partly because of the storytelling where Batista slowly gained the upper hand, culminating in that one move that turned the tide and put momentum on his side.
Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: Batista [****]

Match #8: Hell in a Cell Match for the World Heavyweight Championship -- Batista (C) vs. Triple H (Vengeance -- June 26, 2005)
I've seen this match a couple of times already since it's on the Triple H DVD set I have. But, I liked it more this time having seen the WrestleMania match. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't include the match at Backlash just to give us all three of these matches. I know why they didn't obviously, but it would have been cool to see the whole story from the Royal Rumble through all three matches against Triple H. There were a few things that I found interesting here. First off, it was very back and forth from the get-go. Batista was on more equal footing with Triple H, leading into Triple H always being the guy who brought in a weapon. He was the first to use the chain, the barbed wire chair, and the sledgehammer. Batista was confident and knew he could beat Triple H, so Trips was more likely to look for something to give him the edge. They still played up Trips's experience edge, especially since he'd been in numerous Hell in a Cell matches. After two losses, the match stipulation gave him back his edge, but it wasn't enough. They also played up the idea that there was no way that Batista was going to beat Triple H for a third time in a row by giving Triple H a lot of pincovers after finisher-quality moves only for Batista to kick out. People expected the match to end at those times, especially near the end. Batista won the match by finally using the ring steps as weapons, but the sort where it was to work with his power moves. By the way, Batista can't blade for shit. Though, his back acne worked well with Trips's use of the chain and barbed wire chair. I really liked the small touch of Triple H sucking in some blood from his face, so when he came off the top rope and Batista raised the sledgehammer to hit him in the chin, he could spit blood out. The finish was good with Triple H trying to use the sledgehammer only for Batista to hit the Batistabomb and retain the belt. I'm surprised how well this worked right after the WrestleMania match.
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Batista [****]

Match #9: No Holds Barred Match for the World Heavyweight Championship -- Batista (C) vs. JBL (Summerslam -- August 21, 2005)
I have no idea why this match is on the DVD. I really don't. The next match provides a good enough account of Batista being a fairly dominant world champ. I guess they needed two. Listen, if you read the participants in this match along with the stipulation and immediately thought of what the match would be like, you'd be right. It's exactly what you'd expect from a no holds barred match between Batista and JBL: they brawl, they use a weapon or two, Batista eventually overpowers JBL. The only interesting thing was Batista hitting the Batistabomb and, then, instead of going for the cover, noticing the steel steps that had been brought into the ring and then Batistabombing JBL onto the steps. I'm fairly certain that spot happens only because either Batista or Triple H realised after their Hell in a Cell match that that spot would have been awesome and were pissed off that they didn't think to do it then. This isn't a bad match, it's just mediocre.
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Batista [**]

Match #10: World Heavyweight Championship Match -- Batista (C) vs. Eddie Guerrero (No Mercy -- October 9, 2005)
The final match of the disc and it's pretty good. The story (from what I can piece together) is that Eddie Guerrero is trying to be a good guy, to no longer lie, cheat, and steal in order to win, and he wants to earn the respect of Batista by winning or losing cleanly. That aspect of the match isn't used much at the beginning where it's Guerrero using speed and skill against Batista's power and... er, power. But, as the match progresses, Guerrero goes outside to get a chair, but then stops and throws it away. Later, he unties the tag rope in the corner, but stops and throws it away. Even later, the ref is down, Batista is down, and it's the perfect chance to use the chair: Guerrero gets it, brings it in the ring, and hesitates, almost uses it a couple of times, but throws it away. Throughout this part of the match Guerrero was dominant through various holds and submissions, just beating Batista down with skill. There's a funny moment where Batista counters a Texas Cloverleaf attempt by rolling Guerrero up and Michael Cole comments on the rare finesse move from the Animals, calling it an act of desperation -- this, friends, is a small example of Cole not doing his job right. You want to sell it as Batista seeing that his regular strategy doesn't work, so he manages to dig deep and pull off a move beyond his normal skillset in order to stay alive -- he's not desperate, he's determined, and improving mid-match. The final use of the chair bothers me a little, because Batista sees him throw it away, but still acts like he was going to use it and gets pissed off. I hate shit like that. It's like when Wrestler A goes to hit Wrestler C with a chair, but Wrestler C ducks, so Wrestler A winds up hitting his buddy Wrestler B who was standing behind Wrestler C and Wrestler B gets pissed off and attacks Wrestler A assuming he did it on purpose. It's lame and tries to sell us on the idea that these guys are idiots. I would have preferred Batista seem happy and then kill Guerrero anyway, because they're still in a match. But, Batista goes full force on Guerrero, but Guerrero manages to gain the upperhand only to miss a Frog Splash (more like see Batista getting ready to move, so he rolled through it) and get hit with a Spinebuster (his second in pretty short order). After the match, Batista pulled up Guerrero and Guerrero offered his hand, which Batista accepted. A great moment when Batista turned his back and Guerrero got his shiteating, evil grin on only to lose it immediately when Batista turned around. A solid, fun match all around even if I didn't like the odd thing.
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Batista [***1/4]

While the first few matches of this disc were what you expect from an early Batista, I was really impressed with his two matches against Triple H. Give Batista and quality opponent and a decent in-ring story to tell and he can work that match. Here's hoping the second disc has some great ones.

Smarkass Reviews: Batista: I Walk Alone (Disc 1)

Not exactly high on my list of WWE DVD sets to get, but Michelle and I were in Blockbuster today and they had this three-disc set for $10 used plus 30% off as part of a sale. It's hard to pass up this sort of set for seven bucks. I don't have anything against Batista really. I liked him when I got back into wrestling in 2007, but he's the sort of the guy who you tire of quickly in the ring. He's pretty limited in what he does and it gets a little stale after a while despite it being exciting/entertaning when you first see it. He's definitely got that special quality and the ability to work with different guys. Even after I grew tired with him, he would still get me interested in seeing him wrestle from time to time like his short feud with Rey Mysterio at the end of 2009. This set was done at the beginning of the fall in 2009, which kind of sucks only because it's less than a year later and he's no longer with the WWE.

The first disc of the set is devoted to a documentary feature on Batista and I always enjoy these. The first 20-30 minutes are about his life before he got into wrestling with the rest detailing his career with some personal stuff thrown in. It's well done for the most part. They do go a bit overboard in trying to cover up Batista's negatives, even when detailing his personal problems with his ex-wife and the mother of his two daughters. They all gloss over some of the backstage problems he had that I know of and whatever I don't know about. It's very much about making him look like a great guy -- and you can't blame them for that. You're not going to get a documentary full of negative interviews about a guy still working for the company as Batista was at the time. That wouldn't make any sense. Still, I would have liked something to round things out a little more.

I don't have a lot of detailed thoughts on the first disc, so I'll just throw out some random stuff:

* I was really surprised when Batista's mom showed up on the screen. I don't know what I expected when I thought about what his mom would look like, but that wasn't it. Nothing negative meant by that, it was just surprising.

* Triple H is right in noting that, at that time, Batista was the success story of Evolution. Randy Orton may have gotten a world belt before big Dave, but Batista's time post-Evolution had him as a bigger star. Though, I think, on the whole, Orton will have the bigger career. It's a short-term vs. long-term thing.

* You'd think they couldn't discuss the break-up of his marriage without discussing Batista's rampant cheating on his wife, but they did.

* Everyone says 'wrestling' and 'wrestlers' except for Batista who, being a good company man, says 'sports entertainment' and 'sports entertainers.' That amused me.

* Dammit, I want an Evolution DVD set. I really wish the WWE had done one around the time that Randy Orton, Triple H, and Batista were all mixed up in the same feud. That would have been fantastic.

* The stuff about Batista having a hard time when he got drafted to Smackdown while world champ was interesting since I never thought about that: the two brands were separate, almost like two different camps of guys, so a new guy coming in as the top guy right away would cause some problems.

* Fuck, I wanted to see Booker T present his views of Batista. Obviously wasn't going to happen, but it would have been fun.

* The WWE made Batista buy a suit for his on-screen character as Deacon Batista? That surprises me for some reason.

Despite the bias, this, like most of the WWE documentary discs, is worth watching. You get a decent look at a guy's career in 90 minutes with some fun interviews. Since the documentary is only 90 minutes and the bonus interview segments only like 10-15 minutes, I would have liked to see some matches on this disc, too, to allow for some more on the last two. The first match on the second disc, an OVW match, would have worked better here, acting more as a bonus feature than part of his official career. But that's not a big deal. The next two discs will get write-ups after I finish each of them.

Link Roundup

What I wrote (or contributed to) online this past week:

411mania
* Wrestling Top 5 -- Finisher Names
* High Road/Low Road on Rey Mysterio as World Heavyweight Champion
* Wrestling 4Rs including my review of the 06.24.10 TNA Impact
* Wrestler of the Week Year 6 Week 13
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 1 -- Intro, Keepers, Rounds One and Two
* Independent Draft 2010 Part 2 -- Rounds Three through Seven

GraphiContent
* Best of 2010: Halfway Mark
* Quickie Reviews (June 16/23 2010)

Comic Book Resources Reviews
* Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3
* Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #4
* Incorruptible #7
* Secret Warriors #17
* Joe the Barbarian #6
* Bullet to the Head #1

Comics Should be Good
* Random Thoughts! (June 29, 2010)

The Splash Page Podcast
* The Splash Page Podcast episode 22

Smarkass Comments: WWE Raw 06.28.10

I'll keep this brief since I didn't think much of tonight's Raw. Aside from the Nexus beatdown and the final match, the show was pretty forgettable. The opening delayed the ongoing story in a way that made me wonder what the rest of the episode would be like and if it could be good. The John Cena/Sheamus stuff was pretty bad with Cena overacting and being stuck with some really bad 'jokes.' The booking of their match at Money in the Bank came out of nowhere. I do think that Sheamus has really improved on the mic. He's really solid there.

The Ricky Steamboat appreciation segment/Nexuas beatdown was well done. The collection of legends was pretty random, but the attack was handled well. I do think that there wasn't much point in creating the stipulation that any Nexus member who attacks a WWE superstar will be fired/any WWE superstar who attacks a Nexus member will be suspended without pulling the trigger. It could have worked well if a few guys came out to defend the legends and got big pops for risking suspension to do so.

The final match was a solid build to the Raw Money in the Bank match. I imagine we'll get some variations on the men involved over the next couple of weeks leading to the PPV.

Really, though, I found the episode largely forgettable. I did like Rob Zombie's Lou Reed t-shirt, though.

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Post 004)

Two weeks later, I've finally finished the third part of The Idiot. I was delayed a little because of Imperial Bedrooms and another weekend away where I didn't read a whole lot. Also, like the second part of this book, the third wasn't that great -- or that interesting. I'm really disappointed given the strength of the first part of the novel. Part I had a strong focus and worked as a whole, while the second and third parts have been meandering and don't work by themselves. They seem like Dostoevsky hit a certain page/word count and said "Okay, that does it for this part," much like he does with chapters. More than that, it seems like he only really had plans for the first part and just kept on going. There are some really strong moments here and there, but it's so plodding in other places as characters talk and talk and talk and say nothing. Yes, it's meant to be a bit of a satire of this level of society, but, fuck, I get it already.

In this part... nothing really happens. There are some small scandals that go nowhere and Ippolit, an 18-year old dying of consumption, spends three or four chapters reading this long preface to a suicide attempt that is really just a lot of blather. I did like the idea of Dostoevsky having a character say he's going to kill himself rather than die of a terminal illness and have almost everyone scoff and mock him for it, not believing he'll go through with it.

Prince Myshkin continues to be an interesting character, but still quite passive. He is alternatively loved and scorned by characters as some see him for the kind, Christ-like person he is, while others dismiss him as an 'idiot' (most do both at one point or another). There's some dancing around his relationship with Nastasya and also with Aglaia, the youngest daughter of a family he's acquainted with... except she's not quite right, much like Nastasya, changing moods midsentence. She goes from hating to loving to tolerating to liking to praising to scorning Myshkin and he goes along with it all because he's that kind of guy.

I honestly have no idea where this book is going. I don't know what it's about really. This book is definitely bloated and requires some editing down into a manageable form. Then again, maybe the fourth part will bring it all together and cause me to reassess what's come already. Though, god help me if Lebedyev shows up much more, because he is such an annoying character. The manner in which he speaks is so meaningless and filled with empty blather.

Normally, I don't get so caught up in characters, preferring to examine style and structure, but I can't see much of the latter. That's my big problem with what's here. Stylistically, it's typical Dostoevsky and it works better in some parts than others. He introduces some potential plotlines only to discard them -- his characters show little consistency in their actions at times -- Myshkin can barely speak at times...

Despite not loving the past, oh, 300 pages, I am looking forward to the last 150 to see what Dostoevsky does with this cast of characters and how it all comes together.

Watching in the Moment: Damages Season Two

Yesterday and today, Michelle and I watched all of Damages season two on DVD (except for the first two episodes, which we watched last weekend at her parents'). This is one of Michelle's shows and we watched the first season in a weekend on DVD last year at her urging. I enjoyed the first season. I didn't think the writing ever cohered, more focused on keeping you guessing and surprising you than logical storytelling or consistent characters, but it was interesting. I'll always take interesting and flawed over boring and perfectly executed. I like ambition and Damages has it. Or, had it in the first season. The second season wasn't bad, but it was definitely missing something with me... not bored, but not exactly caring either by the end of the final episode of the season. (I should warn anyone that I will spoil anything I feel like. Because what's the point of discussing it if I tiptoe around the payoff?)

Part of the problem stems from one of the show's signature features: throughout the season, it shows you glimpses of what happens in the future. For this season, it was six months from the start of the season. Little snippets, often with repeating bits that leave out essential parts to give these glimpses some drama. In this season, we saw Ellen (Rose Byrne) shooting someone (apparently). We eventually gained more information about other characters and, when it was all revealed, nothing was quite what it appeared given context and scenes not being edited to be suggestive. It's a risky gambit that structuring a show this way will pay off since you need these fragments of scenes to all add up into a coherent conclusion that would make sense if we hadn't seen the flashforwards. In this season, they don't. They make sense, but they don't cohere into a good scene. The resulting scene is just awful as they try to piece the fragments together from short little bite-size pieces into something larger and it's just Byrne delivering one suggestive line dramatically after another, things never coming together.

The show is about a law firm run by Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and, unlike the first season, the central case for this season doesn't dominate as much. Last season, it was an Enron-esque case with Ted Danson as the bad guy. This season, it's a corporate polluter, so things are bigger. And, yet, much less dramatic and interesting as the season meanders its way through the various subplots and little pieces of intrigue until there are so many twists and turns that you just don't care anymore.

After the first series of swerves, you just don't believe anything anymore, because you know that nothing is true until the end of the season. Anything can be changed, undone, made to be a work by some character on another. That doesn't mean it's bad or not entertaining, it just means that it's hard to get too wrapped up in any of it. You only get small little moments to latch onto. A character being arrested by the FBI just after his wife goes into labour, or Glenn Close being amazing, or William Hurt playing a monster that you know is a monster even when everything says he isn't, or Timothy Olyphant charming you even after you see that he's a bad guy, except not really. It amounts to a bunch of moments that never add up, that don't flow from one to the next, that can only be appreciated in the moment with no thought to the past or the future.

It's Vince Russo writing. "Nothing is true; everything is permitted." Make it up on the fly and keep 'em guessing.

I had planned to write a longer post, but there isn't much to the show beyond that. Some great acting by some, some mediocre acting by others, a lot of irrelevent subplots that lead nowhere, and a series of swerves that lose their power each time. It's a mystery show that doesn't play fair, so the mystery aspect is lost and you're left wondering what remains except watching in the moment... maybe I'll come back to this.

Smarkass Reviews: WWE Judgment Day 2006

Another $5 WWE pay-per-view on DVD from Wal-Mart. Since the last one I got was Judgment Day 2007, I thought I'd go with Judgment Day 2006 just for fun. Why not go back a year and see what the PPV was like then? Well, this one is from when the brand extension in the WWE resulted in brand-specific PPVs. Judgment Day was a Smackdown-only PPV. I kind of regret that I missed this period in the WWE since it sounds like fun and a way to keep PPVs interesting since you wouldn't get burned out on the same guys every three or four weeks. It's also a good way to give more midcard talent a chance to shine. There are a few matches here that I don't think would make it onto a WWE PPV right now (some for good reason), but it's nice to see them giving certain guys a spot on the PPV. I'm not sure they have the depth of talent to pull it off now -- but it would be interesting if they gave it a try again. Anyway, let's get onto Judgment Day 2006.

Match #1: WWE Tag Team Championship Match -- MNM (C) vs. Brian Kendrick & Paul London
The story going into this match was that London and Kendrick had beaten MNM five times already, just not for the belts. This was a great match to kick things off with Kendrick and London going at top speed whenever on offence, but Mercury and Nitro played the classic tag team heels perfectly. They worked the ref, cheated as much as possible, and even got Melina into the act a few times. There was some good back and forth in spots along with double-teaming by MNM that ultimately backfired. What annoyed me about this match was how much young, raw talent there was here and, now, only one of these guys is still with the WWE (well, I guess Mercury has signed with them again, but hasn't been seen officially, so...). This match kicked off a yearlong reign as tag champs by London and Kendrick, too. Really, just some really good tag team wrestling. I also liked the stuff after the match where Melina and Nitro turned on Mercury. It made sense given the story and gave the PPV a sense of importance beyond just the title change.
Winners and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: Brian Kendrick & Paul London [***1/2]

Match #2: Chris Benoit vs. Finlay
Later in the PPV is the finals of the King of the Ring tournament and these two met in the first round where Finlay won by cheating. So, it's a bit of a grudge match between two of the stiffest workers in the business. This was just a class in fantastic mat-based wrestling mixed with hard-hitting, smashmouth action. The match began with the two locked up, trying to overpower the other, even rolling outside the ring (still locked up) until it broke. Then, it was a series of holds before it got into just brutal action. Both men just beat the other down, Finlay trying to cheat a few times to no avail -- until Finlay made the mistake of taunting Benoit a bit too much. Benoit won via the Crossface, but both men looked fantastic. I turned to Michelle and said that, in a better world, this would have been the main event. Instead, it was just the best match of the night. At this point in the show, I was really impressed with what I was seeing. That wouldn't last entirely.
Winner: Chris Benoit [****]

Match #3: Jillian Hall vs. Melina
After the break-up of MNM, Melina went into this match distracted. It was a fine enough Divas match. Leagues ahead of the shit we usually see now, but nothing too special either. Jillian won despite Melina grabbing the rope (the ref didn't see). After the match, there was a run-in between Melina and Kristal that was... well, lame. This was a nice breather match after the first two, both of which were great and were also decent lengths.
Winner: Jillian Hall [*1/2]

Match #4: WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match -- Gregory Helmes (C) vs. Super Crazy
I didn't know what to expect of this match since I haven't seen a lot of either man. Bits and pieces here and there, never at a PPV. Helms is the heel champ, while Super Crazy the face that jumps around a lot. The story of this match is somewhat similar to the current one involving Douglas Williams as X-Division Champion in TNA where Williams wrestles a mat-based style against the high-flyers. Now, Helms does high-flying stuff, too, but stuck to the ground mostly here, because he's the heel. Honestly, this didn't impress me really. Neither man ever really got things going. It just puttered along in 2nd gear, never rising above a certain level. Helms won via cheating and I didn't care. The first match that felt like a let down of the show.
Winner and STILL WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Gregory Helms [*3/4]

Interlude
Between the matches here, there was a great backstage segment where Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long (hey, he's still got that job despite being demoted/fired in story at least once) had a run-in with Johnny Nitro and Melina that resulted in both being fired. Good stuff and built on the two matches involving them well. This PPV had a solid little MNM story running through it for the first half.

Match #5: Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry
I wasn't expecting a lot from this. Kurt Angle is one of the best in the business and Mark Henry is a great big man, but that doesn't mean it would be a great match necessarily. The story here was simple: Mark Henry keeps jumping on Kurt Angle while Angle is laid out on tables, and Angle would like Kenry to stop. The storytelling here was really strong where Henry tried to wrestle his usual 'big man squash little man' match, while Angle outsmarted him, countering any power moves until making a mistake of his own. I love it when a wrestler of a certain skill level wrestles at that level with intelligence in the ring. Angle does so here. Eventually, the match resulted in Henry winning via countout, but, after the match, Angle got revenge by laying him out, sticking the ankle lock on, and, then, hitting him with the Angle Slam on the announce table. While Angle lost the match technically, he came away on top. Not an amazing match, but great storytelling. Better than I expected.
Winner: Mark Henry [***]

Match #6: King of the Ring Finals -- Booker T vs. Bobby Lashley
The pre-match segment here with Booker T was gold. The more I see of Booker T, the more I realise how underrated he is when considering the best wrestlers of the past 20 years. That he was the only guy to really see any lasting success from the WCW guys after the WWE bought that company speaks volumes. Sharmell running through the list of kings Booker will be better than was great, especially when she said Martin Luther King and Booker responded with "What?!?" before being won over. This match was also better than I expected. Lashley was limited in the ring to some pretty basic power moves, nothing flashy -- but Booker T brought the flash. Lots of agility and overacting to make things look better. I wasn't a big fan of the finish with Finlay coming down, but since Lashley beat him to earn a spot in the finals and Finlay later became a member of King Booker's royal court, it works. A bonus on the DVD is the coronation of Booker on the next Smackdown, which is worth it for William Regal doing the ceremony and ending things by repeating "Long live King Booker" over and over again.
Winner and the 2006 King of the Ring: Booker T King Booker [**1/2]

Match #7: The Undertaker vs. The Great Khali
This was just after Khali first entered the WWE (he's been there for over four years? shit...) and took out the Undertaker immediately. The sole goal was to make Khali seem like a big threat, which happens. 'Taker puts him over big time, while doing his best to carry the match despite Khali knowing all of three moves. It doesn't really work, but it sells Khali as a threat for the way he just destroys the Undertaker at the end.
Winner: The Great Khali [*]

Match #8: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match -- Rey Mysterio (C) vs. JBL
Hmm, with Rey Rey becoming a two-time world champ this past Sunday, this match suddenly gains new meaning as we get to see what sort of champion he was the first time around. Well, in the weeks leading up to this match, he lost to Mark Henry, the Great Khali, and Kane. Just crushed by all of them. The entire match is JBL kicking the shit out of Mysterio, just beating him down again and again with brutal, punishing moves. Tossing him from one side of the ring to the other like a rag doll. Taunting him with allusions to Eddie Guerrero. Basically, JBL makes Rey Mysterio his bitch in this match and Rey wins anyway. Rey is the underdog even when champion, which doesn't work at all. I hope they do things better this time around, because this was a good match until the finish where we learn two things: 1) Rey Mysterio can take a superhuman amount of punishment; 2) JBL can be beaten with, like, three moves.
Winner and STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Rey Mysterio [**1/2]

Overall, this was better than I thought it would be -- and better than the Judgment Day that would follow it. Only a few matches were letdowns, while the show began quite strong. Granted, the matches that bested my expectations weren't fantastic, I wasn't disappointed with this show at all.

Show Rating: 7.0 (out of 10)

Smarkass Comments: WWE Smackdown 06.25.10

I missed Smackdown two weeks ago and was doing online things while watching last week's episode, so I didn't pay close enough attention to warrant any comments (even my brief, cursory sort). So, it's been a while since I talked Smackdown. This episode was solid overall. Lots of focus on in-ring action with the right amount of promo work mixed in.

* Teddy Long one-upping Drew McIntyre at the beginning of the show was great.

* The opening match was pretty good. I liked Jack Swagger's promo before it began. During it, Michelle and I got into our first Swagger-related debate: his win/loss record while champ. I thought he should have been booked stronger against the midcard talent he faced like John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, and MVP, while she thought that him winning all of those matches wouldn't make as much sense. I had no problem with Swagger dropping matches to guys like the Undertaker or Randy Orton since they're established main eventers and he was new to that level. However, his losses to the midcard guys were unnecessary. They shouldn't have been easy victories or anything, but I think Swagger should have won all of those matches. Show that the confidence he's gotten from being champ has made him better in the ring -- more determined and focused.

* The other argument was over the ankle lock finish. Michelle hated it and how the Big Show reacted, thinking that he needed to do more to get out of it, while I argued in favour of what happened. Michelle and I don't really argue, we're not one of those couples, but this was one of those rare times where it almost devolved into angry shouting. Because we have a good sense of perspective on matters... Some people will no doubt criticise them for having Swagger become more of a Kurt Angle copy, but I like that. Someone from Swagger's background would look to Angle as a person to emulate, so it makes sense. I just wish they would have gone in that direction sooner a bit more. Besides, I love the ankle lock. It's probably the submission move I see as the most effective given the mobility of the applyer, the pain it inflicts, and the difficulty in getting out of it.

* The six-man tag match was pretty typical stuff. Still not a fan of Hawkings and Archer. I like how they had the senior team win with the youngest guy taking more of the punishment, pushing the idea of experience winning out.

* The McIntyre/Hardy match didn't impress me as much as it did others. I found it to be a great argument for why more time doesn't necessarily equal better quality. Until it came back from its last commercial break, it was pretty slow and plodding. Shit we'd seen before. I also didn't like the placement of the Michinoku Driver variation from the top rope. That looked like a match-ending move and it was done very early into the match. I didn't buy Hardy kicking out. At all. It was a just the wrong place for that move and that kind of soured me on the rest of the match. The post-match visa shit with McIntyre made me wish that he had won only for Teddy Long to then inform him that he will be able to celebrate this victory with his family... IN SCOTLAND. It would have been a nice twist on the Powers That Be helping Drew after he loses.

* The Cody Rhodes promo was awesome. Dashing Cody Rhodes finally has character. It was great arrogant heel work, especially lines like "I can literally hear you getting fatter" and his mocking of Husky Harris. He even worked in his entrance of coming out backwards looking over his shoulder. It was really good and has me thinking that Rhodes is going places. I've liked his ring work for a while, but thought his character was lacking. This may be what he needs to get a decent midcard push.

* The more I see of Team LayCool, the more I love them. They're funny -- and the addition of Kaval as their NXT rookie just adds visual comedy anytime all three are together on screen.

* The final brawl between Kane and the Straight Edge Society was well done. The three-on-one bit kept things moving smoothly while making Kane seem unstoppable. CM Punk running away into the night was goofy as fuck, but whatever.

* I do have to question the decision to give Rey Rey the belt when he was going to miss the first TV taping after Fatal 4-Way because of a vacation. I'm a big believer that your world champion should be the focus of your show unless there's a good for otherwise. I criticised TNA heavily for not having RVD on last week's Impact (this week wasn't much better for him showing up very briefly). The world champ is the face of the company/brand/show and his absence should come with a good reason. But, that's me.

As I said, a solid episode. Not entirely sure where everything is going as we build to Money in the Bank, though. Probably the Swagger/Mysterio match, Kane/CM Punk, and the Smackdown MitB match? Seems solid enough. We'll see.

Top Five -- Lou Reed Songs

I love lists and always enjoy doing the wrestling top five at 411mania when I can, so why not bring that here? Whenever I get in the mood, I'll do a top five list of some kind. No honourable mentions, just the top five. Since I've been in a Lou Reed mood lately, I'll do my top five favourite Lou Reed songs. This includes his stuff with the Velvet Underground, obviously. I'm including links to youtube videos featuring the songs as well so you can hear them in some form or another -- if there's the original (audio with a static picture), I'll use that.

5. "Coney Island Baby" (Coney Island Baby): I love the guitar work in this song, but also the odd shift where it goes from Lou Reed talking about wanting to play football in high school to ideas of love... I've never really figured this song out, but it's just a beautiful song. It builds well from the slow, quiet beginning. There's a lot of passion in it. The guitar playing is by Bob Kulick, I believe, and is really different from standard Lou Reed songs. Very intricate work. I can just listen to this song over and over.

4. "New Age" (Loaded): While I've heard demos or live versions of most of these other songs that have variations, "New Age" is the only one with two radically different sets of lyrics. They both share a chorus (albeit with some slightly altered lines), but the verses are very different. The studio version involves the "fat, blonde actress" and wanting her autograph. It's a song about finding a new life as you reach a certain age -- hitting that point in your life where you're not young anymore and need to change. The other version, which you can hear on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live vol. 1 (and Tori Amos covered on Strange Little Girls) is more about going out to bars and clubs in New York. Something about the lines "I'll come running to ya / Hey, baby, if you want me" strikes me. More than any other song on this list, I can't point to what about it touches me. I just dig it.

3. "Perfect Day" (Transformer): A little cliche to stick this song on the list since it's one of those songs everyone knows, but... it's really fucking good. Sad and self-aware at the same time. The lines that always stick with me are "You made me forget myself / I thought I was someone else / Someone good." A nice little hint at the meaning of love, but in a different context. This also just has one of Reed's better vocal performances. I also really like the demo for the song where he sings about a 'sumer's day' most of the time. I kind of like that version of the lyrics more, because it makes the times when he calls it a perfect day stand out more. It was just a summer's day, but it became a perfect day... something cool about that.

2. "Caroline Says II" (Berlin): The saddest, most heartbreaking song I've ever heard. This song is the culmination of Reed's various "(girl's name) Says" songs, building on "Stephanie Says." This song shares some lyrics with "Stephanie Says," but takes things even further by detailing the abuse Caroline suffers from her boyfriend/husband. It's slow and sad, this song. To make things worse (sort of), on Berlin, this song is followed by "The Kids," which is probably the second saddest song I've ever heard. The opening lyrics to this song are the worst -- just a kick to the gut. My heart sinks every time I hear them.

1. "Rock & Roll" (Loaded): A song about how fantastic music is. How it can change your life, save your life. Life can awful, but if you put on the right music, suddenly, it's all right. I'm always amused at how aware the five-year old girl is in this song, though. What a depressed little kid. If she's already rolling her eyes at her parents' commercialism, I can't imagine she'd make it past the age of twelve without killing herself, rock music or no rock music. Also, this song contains a very important message that everyone of my generation seems to have forgotten: YOU CAN DANCE TO ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC! Still, the core message here isn't about rock music, it's just about the glory of music. How powerful it is and what it can do. The song also has a great little imperfection where after the first line of the lyrics, the sound of the recording gets louder. I love little things like that.

If you haven't before, check out the songs. They're all fantastic.

Hell's Kitchen Episodes 07.05 & 07.06

These episodes were just brutal to watch as the Blue Team just kicked the shit out of the Red Team until the Red Team decided to just kill itself. The fourth episode ended with Scott and Autumn switching teams and, wow, did that work out for the Blue Team as Scott continued to suck despite having a giant ego. I know that the producers use footage to tell a specific story, but Scott just provided so many soundbytes about how great he is and, then, screwed up so many times in the kitchen. Was there anyone who wanted him on the show by the end of the sixth episode? It was the kind of obnoxious bullshit that gets you dumped by your girlfriend when she sees it. (I am genuinely curious how many relationships have been ruined because of reality TV shows. Also, how many suicides? There's got to be some...)

* In the sixth episode, Ramsay kicked the Red Team out of the kitchen and had his TWO sous chefs finish the service. The Blue Team then seemingly stopped making any mistakes, almost as the capper to the two-episode arc of 'Hey, the Blue Team owns the Red Team.'

* Hey, wouldn't the people making the show know about Siobhan's allergies to cleaning products ahead of time? If so, what the fuck was that shit? Because it wasn't good TV, it was just stupid.

* There's something very uncomfortable about watching this show devote 30-60 seconds on the guys on the Blue Team ogling the one girl on their team at a spa.

* Later in that episode, we got an odd piece of the chefs hanging out where one revealed that she has a giant porn collection and another revealed that she used to work in S&M... completely pointless beyond just having those conversations in the middle of the show. Oddly set up with Salvatore, the Italian (who's lived in America for nearly twenty years, but speaks with an accent and doesn't actually seem to know English) coaxing the women into sharing stories like that. You wouldn't be wrong to think that they'd accidentally stuck footage from another show in...

* I was oddly disappointed that the challenge involving the pigs didn't involve the chefs personally killing the pigs they'd then cook. In the teaser last week, I immediately came up with a scenerio where Siobhan was crying, holding a knife while Ramsay yelled at her to kill the pig and she sobbed that she doesn't want to kill the pig. I'd watch that.

* This show makes me afraid to eat out...

* A little girl drawing Ramsay saying "You donkey!"? Priceless.

* Ramsay yelling at Jason had me thinking that we were two seconds away from Jason shoving Ramsay's head into the deep fryer. I'm always surprised at the lack of violence in the show. You got some angry British guy yelling at you for an unnecessarily long time after you've admitted your wrongdoing and promised to do better... yeah, I'm thinking you may want to punch that fucker. Then again, Ramsay would destroy anyone who tried.

* This show brings out more violent impulses in me than wrestling. Why?

* Judging from the teaser, Benjamin getting moved to the Red Team doesn't help one bit. In fact, he seems ready to kill himself and everyone else. I kind of want to know why.

I definitely like having two episodes in a single night. I'd rather breeze through this than have it dragged out. Also, these people suck so much that I kind of need to see two of them kicked off each time I watch it. Until next week.

Smarkass Comments: WWE NXT 06.22.10

Because of the NBA draft tomorrow night, the Score aired NXT a day early this week. Because of watching some Babylon 5 with Michelle, I came in fifteen minutes late. And, because of writing a comic review, I only payed attention to the matches really -- and the final segment since I finished the review. Something about NXT just doesn't capture my interest. Maybe it's knowing for sure that at least half of these guys will go nowhere. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Some brief random thoughts:

* Man, watching the Kaval/Eli Cottonwood match was like watching an argument for everything that's wrong with the WWE style of booking matches and wrestlers. On one hand, we have Kaval who fills matches with stunning offence that's innovative and fun to watch. On the other, we have a slow, plodding big man who doesn't do much except not fall down and do simplistic power moves like punches, chops, and slams. Kaval carried the match and gets the loss. I know, I know, wins and losses don't matter really, but, fuck, would it kill them to push the guy who can actually fucking wrestle? Is that too much to ask?

* Joe Hennig is solid in the ring. Not as good as Kaval, but definitely someone to keep an eye on.

* Cody Rhodes going over Luck Cannon made total sense. Cannon didn't look that good in there at all.

* The final segment was pretty solid with each rookie given 45 seconds to sell themselves to the fans and pros. Alex Riley was good. Kaval was okay. Titus O'Neil had some good passion. Hennig was short and sweet. Cottonwood seems genuinely creepy. Showtime was just funny. Cannon was dull. Husky Harris's attack on Striker worked with what Rhodes did last week.

It's odd to see rookie types wrestle WWE style in successive matches, because, fuck, that's a boring style when done by lesser talents. Kaval stood out this week. Hennig is solid. The rest, I don't know. As I said to Michelle tonight, I could really take or leave this show.

Link Roundup

What I wrote (or contributed to) online this past week:

411mania
* High Road/Low Road on the NXT Angle
* PPV Roundtable on WWE Fatal 4-Way
* Wrestling 4Rs including my review of the 06.17.10 TNA Impact
* Wrestler of the Week Year 6 Week 12

Comic Book Resources Reviews
* New Avengers #1
* The Boys #43
* Joker's Asylum II: Mad Hatter #1
* Dark Wolverine #87
* Azrael #9

Comics Should be Good
* Random Thoughts! (June 22, 2010)

The Splash Page Podcast
* The Splash Page Podcast episode 21

Smarkass Comments: WWE Raw 06.21.10

I'm torn on tonight's episode of Raw as it did some things very well, others not as well, and the rest was just typical Raw bullshit. As always, any lack of a guest host is a good thing.

* The opening with Vince, Sheamus, and John Cena was strong. Vince is always good on the mic, but Sheamus really won me over. Michelle wasn't in the living room for the first bit of the show and came in asking what I was laughing at so hard. The answer: Sheamus and his little 'I don't want to win the title like that' fake-out. His delivery was very strong and shows he's really growing. I don't mind him as WWE Champion right now at all.

* I oddly hope that the anonymous General Manager is Triple H. For some reason, I'm very keen on the idea of Trips as GM to play up his McMahon connection (why not since it's common knowledge since that feud with Orton last year...), allow him to stay out of the ring somewhat, and keep him out of the title picture for the most part. That made me think that Vice was going to screw Sheamus out of the belt in the main event as payback for what he did to Trips back at Extreme Rules. But, this story is intriguing. I wonder if this is the last we'll see of Bret Hart. Probably not, but it would be weird if it were.

* Chris Jericho and Evan Bourne put on the best Raw match in a long time. The added stipulation that Jericho would leave the WWE if he lost had me genuinely worried since there are rumours of issues between Jericho and Vince backstage over Jericho hosting that Downfall gameshow (despite Jericho getting permission ahead of time). But, he and Bourne really put on a good show. Jericho won in a very Jericho fashion (outsmarting his opponent), while Bourne looked good in the process. After the match, Jericho helping Bourne up only to shove him back down was fantastic -- Bourne's reaction was great; he looked like he was about to cry. Raw was off to a very good start.

* Then, we got a taste of Natalya and Tamina in the ring and FINALLY some Divas that can actually wrestle. It's been far too long since we saw Natalya in the ring. I don't mind it too much when I think of the matches she's had with other Divas where she's obviously moving in slow motion so they can keep up. Sadly, we only got a taste of this before the NXT (or, it looks like, Nexus) guys came out.

* That Nexus promo was weak. The apologies were just awful, especially the over-the-top apology to the kids and parents. Wade Barrett's bit was the only good part.

* The Miz getting involved with the Edge/Randy Orton feud is interesting. Are Edge and Miz allies or did it just work out that way?

* Zack Ryder is a little mystifying regarding any push, but, as I told Michelle, he's easy to remember -- and standing out at all is half the battle. In the ring, his match with Morrison was average.

* The Cena/Sheamus match was solid. Not sure about Cena being so knocked about because of being thrown into the steps. That didn't fit exactly with what we've seen. The Nexus beatdown was just odd and tame compared to what we've seen. They teased Vince as the man behind it and, thankfully, didn't go in that direction. That final bit was a little too drawn out for me. It wasn't tense, it was boring.

All in all, the show started well, dragged in the middle, and had a small recovery at the end. Hopefully, we'll see more matches of the Jericho/Bourne calibre on Raw in the future, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Smarkass Comments: TNA Top Ten Rankings #2

Last night, the second round of Top Ten Rankings in TNA was revealed and some of the choices seem questionable to me. So, out of curiosity, I thought I would go over the guys listed in the first top ten and the guys in the new top ten to see what they actually accomplished in the ring over the past month. The first number (or UR for unraked) is the current ranking, while the number in parenthesis is their previous ranking. (Also, the top three contenders haven't been determined. They had a threeway last night to determine the #1 contender, but the match ended in a countout. Somehow.)

UR. Kazarian (#10)
* May 21 Impact: Won eight-man battle royal to earn the #10 spot after Kurt Angle gave up his spot.
* May 28 Impact: Defeated Jay Lethal.
* June 3 Impact: Lost in a threeway match against Jay Lethal (winner) and AJ Styles (#2). Styles was pinned.
* June 10 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* Slammiversary VIII: Lost to Kurt Angle.
Record: 2-2 (singles).
Thoughts: His only victories were early ones, including one against a guy who won a threeway featuring Kaz the following week and he lost at a PPV against Kurt Angle. He deserved to drop out of the top ten.

UR. Rob Terry (#8)
* May 21 Impact: Lost to Orlando Jordan.
* May 28 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 3 Impact: Beat Desmond Wolfe (#7) and Orlando Jordan with Abyss (#5) in a tag team match.
* June 10 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* Slammiversary VIII: Did not wrestle.
Record: 0-1 (singles); 1-0 (tag).
Thoughts: No big wins, lots of missed action because of an injury, he deserved to drop out of the top ten.

10. Kurt Angle (UR)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 3 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 10 Impact: Defeated Amazing Red.
* Slammiversary VIII: Defeated Kazarian (#10)
Record: 2-0 (singles).
Thoughts: Mostly nothing, but two wins including beating the #10 contender, so taking his spot makes sense.

9. Desmond Wolfe (#7)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Defeated Jeff Hardy (#3).
* June 3 Impact: Lost to Abyss (#5) and Rob Terry (#8) in a tag match with Orlando Jordan.
* June 10 Impact: Defeated Jay Lethal, Jeff Hardy (#3), Mr. Anderson (#4), and Abyss (#5) in an eight-man tag match with AJ Styles (#2) and Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm).
* Slammiversary VIII: Lost to Abyss (#5) in a Monster's Ball match.
Record: 1-1 (singles); 1-1 (tag).
Thoughts: Not sure Wolfe deserved to drop these two spots. He was split in tag matches, which aren't as important as singles matches. His singles win was over the #3 contender, while his loss was against the #5 contender at a PPV. This seems like a wash to me. No improvement, but no falling in the stats either.

8. "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero (#6)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 3 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 10 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* Slammiversary VIII: Did not wrestle.
Record: None (injured).
Thoughts: Being injured sucks, but he should have been dropped until he could come back and prove himself worthy of a spot.

7. Jay Lethal (UR)
* May 21 Impact: Defeated Beer Money, Inc. in a tag match with Rob Van Dam (C)
* May 28 Impact: Lost to Kazarian (#10).
* June 3 Impact: Defeated AJ Styles (#2) and Kazarian (#10) in a threeway match by pinning Styles.
* June 10 Impact: Lost to AJ Styles (#2), Desmond Wolfe (#7), and Beer Money in an eight-man tag match with Jeff Hardy (#3), Mr. Anderson (#4), and Abyss (#5).
* Slammiversary VIII: Defeated AJ Styles (#2).
Record: 2-1 (singles); 1-1 (tag).
Thoughts: Two wins over the #2 contender means jumping into the top ten. I might have placed him even higher, maybe #6.

6. Samoa Joe (#9)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 3 Impact: Lost to Rob Van Dam (C) in a fourway match with Sting (#1) and Matt Morgan.
* June 10 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* Slammiversary VIII: Did not wrestle.
Record: 0-1 (singles).
Thoughts: Not much action except for a loss in a fourway. He didn't take the pin, though. He should have fallen or, at minimum, stayed where he was, not jumped three spots.

5. Sting (#1)
* May 21 Impact: Lost to Jeff Hardy (#3).
* May 28 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* June 3 Impact: Lost to Rob Van Dam (C) in a fourway with Samoa Joe (#9) and Matt Morgan.
* June 10 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* Slammiversary VIII: Lost to Rob Van Dam (C)
Record: 0-3 (singles).
Thoughts: He should have fallen further after three losses, including a shot at the title.

4. AJ Styles (#2)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Defeated Mr. Anderson (#4).
* June 3 Impact: Lost to Jay Lethal in a threeway match with Kazarian (#10). He was pinned.
* June 10 Impact: Defeated Jay Lethal, Jeff Hardy (#3), Mr. Anderson (#4), and Abyss (#5) in an eight-match tag match with Desmond Wolfe (#7) and Beer Money.
* Slammiversary VIII: Lost to Jay Lethal.
Record: 1-2 (singles); 1-0 (tag).
Thoughts: Two losses to Lethal, but one over Anderson along with the tag win. Dropping a couple of spots makes sense.

#3/2/1? Abyss (#5)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Defeated Orlando Jordan.
* June 3 Impact: Defeated Desmond Wolfe (#7) and Orlando Jordan in a tag match with Rob Terry (#8).
* June 10 Impact: Lost to AJ Styles (#2), Desmond Wolfe (#7), and Beer Money in an eight-man tag match with Jay Lethal, Jeff Hardy (#3), and Mr. Anderson (#4)
* Slammiversary VIII: Defeated Desmond Wolfe (#7) in a Monster's Ball match.
Record: 2-0 (singles); 1-1 (tag).
Thoughts: A winning record, including a PPV win means advancement.

#3/2/1? Mr. Anderson (#4)
* May 21 Impact: Did not wrestle.
* May 28 Impact: Lost to AJ Styles (#2).
* June 3 Impact: Lost to Robert Roode.
* June 10 Impact: Lost to AJ Styles (#2), Desmond Wolfe (#7), and Beer Money in an eight-man tag match with Jay Lethal, Jeff Hardy (#3), and Abyss (#5).
* Slammiversary VIII: Defeated Beer Money in a tag match with Jeff Hardy (#3).
Record: 0-2 (singles); 1-1 (tag).
Thoughts: Wow, two losses including one to an unranked guy with his sole victory being a tag match -- albeit a PPV one. He deserved to drop some spots, not possibly be the number one contender. What the fuck is this shit?

#3/2/1? Jeff Hardy (#3)
* May 21 Impact: Defeated Sting (#1).
* May 28 Impact: Lost to Desmond Wolfe (#7).
* June 3 Impact: Defeated James Storm.
* June 10 Impact: Lost to AJ Styles (#2), Desmond Wolfe (#7), and Beer Money in an eight-man tag match with Jay Lethal, Mr. Anderson (#4), and Abyss (#5).
* Slammiversary VIII: Defeated Beer Money with Mr. Anderson (#4).
Record: 2-1 (singles); 1-1 (tag).
Thoughts: A win over the number one contender is always a plus, but he did lose to Desmond Wolfe. Throw in a victory over James Storm and a PPV tag victory to overmatch the eight-man match, Hardy came out a winner this month.

Based on these numbers, about half of this list is right. Samoa Joe, Mr. Anderson, and the Pope stand out as the three guys who are ranked higher than they deserve, while Jay Lethal and Desmond Wolfe are ranked a little low. Were I to do the rankings, mine would probably look like this:

10. Rob Terry
9. Kurt Angle
8. Samoa Joe
7. Mr. Anderson
6. Desmond Wolfe
5. Sting
4. Jay Lethal
3. AJ Styles
2. Jeff Hardy
1. Abyss

Just a little different...

Smarkass Comments: WWE NXT 06.15.10

Actually caught all of NXT this week with its 8 pm Thursday airing on the Score here in Canada. Some thoughts:

* MVP's delivery of the explanation to the rookies for last week's beatdown was quite strong. Sometimes, I forget how good MVP is on the mic and, then, he's given a chance to speak. Not as bombastic or jokey as he usually does, this was just straight talk. The beatdown was a lesson/warning/initiation/challenge.

* The Kaval/Alex Riley match was alright, but lacking. Considering Kaval's skill level and Riley being FCW champion, I expected a lot from this one. Kaval wasn't moving too quick, while Riley never got past the most basic of 'I'm bigger than my opponent so I'll just hit him a lot' moves. LayCool on commentary was funny. Not sure about the decision to give Riley the win. Like Danielson last 'season,' Kaval has been paired with pros that make us wonder what the fuck is going on and he's made to lose despite his obvious accomplishments in the ring. There's a theory that since he's so good/respected, he can put others over -- but I'd rather just see a guy who is built up as great in the ring just be great in the ring and win. Kaval's personality isn't as likable as Danielson's -- it lends itself better to the violent heel that dominates his opponents. Plus, this match had the awful finish of Guy A beats the shit out of Guy B until Guy B hits finishing move out of nowhere for the win. I'd rather just a fluke roll-up or small package. Guys just hitting finishers out of nowhere makes you wonder why they waited so long.

* The pros comments after that first match where awful. Morrison seems to be losing his mic skills as he goes, while Ryder was... meh. I don't get the love for him.

* The mixed pro/rookie tag match was alright, but the difference between "Lucky" Cannon and Joe Hennig in the ring is so obvious that it made this hard to take too seriously. Cody Rhodes's tear down of Cannon after the match was spot-on. Though, I did like Mark Henry sticking up for his rookie even if he did use the word 'lucky' about two hundred times.

I like the format of the show, especially with the pros watching matches and taking notes. Kaval and Riley underwhelmed a bit, but the stuff with LayCool was funny. Joe Hennig looked strong, while Cannon was forgettable. A solid show.