Contact me…
Reading List
"The Godfather of Grappling" by Gene LeBell
"Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling" by Heath McCoy
"Preacher" Graphic Novel series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
Anything written by Tim Dorsey
Anything written by Andrew Vachss
The John Rain series by Barry Eisler
"The Road to Hell" and "Angels of Death" by William Marsden and Julian Sher
"Rust and Bone" by Craig Davidson
Anything written by Joe R. Lansdale
"Dog Eat Dog" by Edward Bunker
"Dead Famous" by Ben Elton
"The Big Books of Combat" by Bas Rutten
In this corner…
August 27, 2008
KENNY VS. KIMBO
As you probably know by now, Elite XC's next CBS event will be headlined by a bout between Kimbo Slice and "The World's Most Dangerous Man", Ken Shamrock. While this bout will undoubtedly have many hardcore fans howling for the matchmaker's head on a pike, I think that it's a prime example of how Elite XC has managed to at least book Kimbo properly in the midst of the colossal goatfuck that that company has become.
While he's certainly not top-ten material yet (and who is, after only 3 pro fights?), Kimbo has proven to be a magnet for the casual fans who should be the primary target of any promoter. Putting Kimbo against Ken Shamrock, who has tremendous mainstream recognition due to his dominance in the early UFCs and his tenure in WWF, is a masterstroke that has the potential to post ratings rivaling the 6.5 million viewer peak during Kimbo's last fight against Englishman James "The Colossus" Thompson.
Hardcores be damned, this fight is a FANTASTIC idea for the struggling EXC, and it leads me to believe that Bas Rutten must be taking an extremely active role in the selection of opponents for his protege. Top marks to you for making this fight, EXC--you've been retards in many other ways, but where Kimbo's concerned you continue to get it right.
August 24, 2008
THE RETARDATION CONTINUES
I just checked out an article on MMAJunkie.com about trouble in the Elite XC promotion, centering around a war of words between EXC vice-president Jared Shaw and manager of EXC lightweight champion KJ Noons, Mark Dion.
The gist of the problem is that Shaw wants to promote a second meeting between Noons and UFC vet Nick Diaz on CBS with Noons' world title at stake. As much as I regard Shaw as a guy who only got his job because his daddy ran the company, I have to agree with him here as, thanks to the prior antics of Diaz and his brother Nate (footage of which EXC is stupefyingly refusing to air because it's "bad for the sport"), the Diaz/Noons matchup is easily the most marketable one that EXC could make that doesn't involve its top stars Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano.
However, Dion thinks otherwise, apparently stating that since Diaz has fallen to Noons once already, it is not in Noons' best interest to fight Diaz again. Instead, Dion feels that former bodogFIGHT champion Eddie Alvarez is the true #1 contender, and that Eddie should be KJ's next opponent. I spoke with Eddie himself about this development, and even he seemed baffled about why he'd be considered a #1 contender when he's only fought once in EXC, beating lower-tier fighter Ross Ebanez.
This is a prime example of the brain-damaged logic that led to the demise of Bodog, IFL, and scores of other MMA promotions. I have all but given up hope that promoters will eventually learn that it's NOT about "making the best fights", it's about showcasing the most marketable fighters and matchups. You would have thought that EXC would already know this since they've correctly built their company around Kimbo Slice even though his career is still in its infancy. But just like TNA wrestling, they take one step forward and then five steps back, taking the attitude that they'd rather please a handful of internet-dwelling purists as opposed to millions and millions of neophyte fans.
It still amazes me that so much money can be controlled by people this stupid, and this unwilling to learn from the mistakes of others. I am seriously running out of hope that there will be a North American promotion outside of UFC that consistently gets it right.
August 23, 2008
UGH...
I just awoke from a semi-comatose state after a fourteen-hour stretch on the wire team of the Ben Stiller movie "A Night at the Museum 2". NATM has quite a sizable budget and a large crew of performers, so I got to work with a lot of people whom I had not seen since before my surgery in 2007.
During the past month I've been lucky enough to be picking up a little work here and a little work there, but this job made me feel like I was officially back in the game, and it felt pretty damn good. One of the wire gags required me to jump off a ladder a couple of dozen times from about six feet up, and although my knee is aching a little it held up beautifully under the strain. Many thanks go out to Dr. Thomas Lu of Richmond, BC for his masterful work, as well as to Colin Decker, Dean Choe, JJ Makaro, Dustin Brooks, Darryl Quon and anybody else who had a hand in my being brought in yesterday.
I also bagged a couple of stunt days for next week on the same show, playing a member of Attila the Hun's army, so for now, the streak continues!
August 20, 2008
TNA STAR LEAVES PROMOTION
In a completely unexpected development, TNA wrestling's top female star Gail Kim has left the promotion, and her name has been taken off the TNA website. Details are hard to come by at present, but with Kim's departure coming so closely on the heels of the resignation of fellow star Tomko, and of Kevin Nash stomping out of a recent TV taping, it leaves one to wonder just how much tumult is going on behind the scenes at TNA.
MORE EA, TIESTO, THEN I DUNNO WHAT ELSE
My month-long hot streak of work looks like it may be coming to a close, as I just finished a two-day stint at Electronic Arts after working as a wire technician on Sanctuary on Monday night. Tomorrow are auditions for another EA game that I'll be both performing on and coordinating. After that, the only thing I have booked is a two-day personal protection job for Tiesto as he passes through Vancouver, and then it's back to hustling for more work. I've got a lot of resumes out, so hopefully it won't be long before I get a hit on one of them so I can keep this streak alive!
August 17, 2008
CONGRATULATIONS, SHONIE!!!
I just got off the phone with MMA superstar "Mr. International" Shonie Carter and am happy to announce that his two sons, Samearion Andreas and Kavion Osiris (Shonie does know how to hang a name on a kid!) will be returning to their rightful home in Illinois within the next few days.
As was mentioned here a few months back, the boys' mother took them to Florida without Shonie's consent, and he's been fighting to have them returned ever since then. Now it looks like he's finally got his wish.
Congrats, Shonie!
August 16, 2008
SANCTUARY AND EA
While exhausting, the day on "Sanctuary" went great, which was pretty much a given seeing as I was doing most of my work with the ridiculously talented Don Lew. I have been suspecting for years that that little bastard is the reincarnation of Bruce Lee, and during our fight scene he did nothing to disabuse me of that notion. One of the very best in the business, for sure.
It was cool to bump into series producer/star and former Stargate SG-1 cast member Amanda Tapping as well, who is one of the nicest, friendliest people on the damn planet. In fact, the whole crew was a blast to work with and if I ever get another offer to perform on that show, I won't have to be asked twice. Top marks to the FX team for their masterful prosthetic work (their work on the gigantic John DeSantis was particularly disturbing) and to actors Byron Lawson and Robin Dunne for their well-above-average physical skills and work ethic (especially Robin, who spent the day labouring within a horribly cumbersome full-body prosthetic outfit that was essentially a mobile sauna).
Many thanks to stunt coordinator Marshall Virtue for generously sending the work my way, and best wishes for a quick recovery to stuntman Paul Wu, who suffered a severe knee injury during shooting on Wednesday.
Next week it's one final night on Sanctuary, this time on the pull team, then three days at Electronic Arts before hitting the much-anticipated Def Con 5 Talent Agency anniversary party over the weekend.
August 13, 2008
HOLY SHEEIT!
THESE are some talented sumbitches!!!!
August 12, 2008
FILES ARTICLE: "THIS ONE'S FOR THE CHALLENGERS"
I can't believe that I forgot to post this until now, but here's an article I wrote for FILES magazine on the night of UFC 87. You can also check out an excellent related commentary about Brock Lesnar on Lance Storm's website by clicking HERE.
As I write this the last drops of blood and sweat have now soaked into the canvas of the Octagon, and the dust of UFC 87: Seek and Destroy is finally settling. As many pundits predicted, Georges St. Pierre still stands atop the welterweight mountain, and as a few less pundits predicted, Brock Lesnar scored his first win in the Octagon via a brutal three-round domination of "The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring.
Over the next few weeks, much will be said and written about Lesnar and St. Pierre. Their considerable abilities will be lauded, their best punches, kicks and takedowns replayed over and over again, and their vast potential in the sport of MMA trumpeted to the high heavens.
But instead of joining the ranks of journalists heaping justifiable praise onto the muscular shoulders of St. Pierre and Lesnar, I'd like to instead address the tragic fact that "win or else you suck" mentality of North American fans is going to prevent the losers from getting their due.
In the semi-main event, Herring endured unbelievable punishment from the very start of the bout, absorbing brutal strike after brutal strike without ever seeming to even consider waving the white flag. What many will fail to realize is that Herring was also doing a lot of things correctly on the ground, and that many of his sweep attempts and takedown blocks would have worked against 99% of the fighters out there. Sadly for him, Lesnar belongs to the 1% of fighters whose strength is nearly beyond measure, and to whom the laws of physics seem to fail to apply. I can pretty much guarantee that Herring suffered serious rib damage from the knees of Lesnar in addition to having both eyes swollen shut, but still he lasted until the bitter, painful end.
As for Jon Fitch, what can you say about a guy who is beaten from pillar to post in the very first round and promptly comes off his stool to work himself right back into the fight? In the early going, I feared that my predictions of Fitch posing the greatest challenge to GSP's title to date would be proven ridiculously false. But Fitch showed himself to be made of sterner stuff than most, and through sheer force of will he came back to temporarily rock the champion and force GSP to earn every second of his victory. For five grueling rounds Fitch endured, persevered, and battled back, and in doing so he demonstrated a type of warrior spirit with which only a handful of men in every generation are gifted.
So when you gather around the water cooler to relive the battles of UFC 87, by all means give the winners their due. But don't forget to raise a cup in honour of the men who helped to make those fights so exciting, destroying their bodies in the name of making MMA is truly the most exciting combat sport in history.
THINGS ARE PICKIN' UP
My recent run of good business luck has continued, as I just completed my day on "Messages Deleted" and will be working three days this week on "Sanctuary". That will be followed next week by three days at Electronic Arts in both a performing and coordinating capacity. I'm not sure how much the notoriously secretive EA wants said about those games, but I don't think I'm stepping out of line by saying that they're both about combat sports and one of them in particular is right up my alley. It will be my first time in charge of both coordinating and talent acquisition for a project and I'm very much looking forward to it.
August 10, 2008
TOP MARKS, MSNBC
I just finished watching a documentary entitled "Hooked" on MSNBC, which examined the phenomenon of female bodybuilding with special attention given to professional competitors Colette Nelson and Christy Hawkins. I've had the immense pleasure of meeting both women, and I was initially concerned that they wouldn't be depicted fairly (which is sadly often the case in media stories of this nature).
However, my concerns proved to be unfounded as MSNBC put forth a story that was completely fair, unbiased and devoid of sensationalism. It was the first time I can recall seeing a story about pro bodybuilders that was free of hyperbole and inaccurately researched pseudo-facts, and I very much enjoyed every minute of it. I urge anyone who has even the slightest interest in finding out why female bodybuilders do what they do to consult their listings for a rebroadcast and check it out.
On a side note, I am compelled to give mention to the fact that in 2004, during a time when I was required to be in Vancouver during my late wife Marianna's Mexico-based cancer treatment, Ms. Hawkins went well out of her way to spend a day with Marianna in my absence. I don't know whether Christy realizes it or not, but that day had a tremendous impact on Marianna and I will always appreciate it. Christy's definitely one of the good ones, and I'm pleased to see her doing so well.
