ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
I heard that the Kane vs. Gene Snitsky match at our next WWE card in January 2005, the first one at the MTS Centre, will be a pinfalls count anywhere in the building match. I guess the referee will have to stop them from wrestling into the skywalks, into either Portage Place or Cityplace, 'cause once they go into those skywalks, they're not in the building anymore. If they did wrestle through the skywalks into Portage Place and the food court, I guess it would look like just another day at Portage Place. Maybe the Indian Posse and the Manitoba Warriors can join in the fun.
Let's go back to July when Raw and Smackdown were both held at Winnipeg Arena for two days in a row. My thoughts at the time were: Maybe Chris Jericho can wrestle someone into Polo Park while it's still open before 9:30 p.m. at the July 5 Raw at the arena. Remember that WCW PPV where he and his opponent (forgot who) wrestled across the street and into an office building? Gee, not many office buildings are open Sunday nights, either. Better yet, If Chris wrestles someone into Polo Park, WWE shouldn't tell anyone at Polo Park, they should just go ahead and do it. It'll be a battle royal of Polo Park security guards vs. Winnipeg Arena security guards! Geez, the arena guards will actually get cheered for the first time in their lives! And all live on Spike TV and TSN!!! Here's also what should have happened: Remember how Chris did a Fozzy gig at Cowboys after Raw was over? How about if Christian and Trish Stratus sneak attack Chris onstage at the Fozzy gig and WWE cameras capture it? Travis Tomko will still be backstage as Tony Condello will be asking him if he's related to Al Tomko. Then Christian and Trish can lay out the rest of the band and security guards as they try to make the save and sing their own songs on stage for a while. The smart marks in the crowd would be furiously typing e-mails to Dave Meltzer on their cell phones. It would have been tremendous.
Remember when Eric Bischoff told William Regal on Raw if he doesn't look after Eugene he'll "never work in this business again?" Not just WWE, but the entire business. Joe Aiello said he was scheduled to tape an interview with Bischoff the following Wednesday - the famous NHB interview Bischoff did. Hey, Joe should have told Bischoff if it happens that Regal is dismissed from WWE that he & Cyrus have every intention of booking him for a NHB show whether Bischoff likes it or not and see what he says.
Regarding Big Show throwing Kurt Angle off that platform: Someone should tell Big Show that just because Hulk Hogan can throw him off the roof of Cobo Hall and he can survive doesn't mean Kurt Angle can survive anything similiar, too.
Me during the broadcast of "Much On Demand" outside in front of the Muchmusic building in Toronto, ON on September 25, 2003.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Rock And Roll (Sort Of)
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
Hilary Duff in January at the MTS Centre.....Wonder if she'll tell us the Winnipeg Arena is "so yesterday, so yesterday.....?"
Hilary Duff in January at the MTS Centre.....Wonder if she'll tell us the Winnipeg Arena is "so yesterday, so yesterday.....?"
Las Vegas Nightclub & Nightlife Stuff
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
According to a recent Us Magazine report, The Alladin Hotel in Vegas will be opening a Club Paris nightclub in 2005 after Paris Hilton, as part of their new Planet Hollywood Casino. Hey, how about this for the ad campaign: "Now, you too can spend a night in Paris....." Get it?
According to a recent Us Magazine report, The Alladin Hotel in Vegas will be opening a Club Paris nightclub in 2005 after Paris Hilton, as part of their new Planet Hollywood Casino. Hey, how about this for the ad campaign: "Now, you too can spend a night in Paris....." Get it?
Television
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
Can casting be both eerie and cornball at the same time? On Hope And Faith, we've seen two flashbacks now to when Hope & Faith's mother was still alive and she's played by Cheryl Ladd. In the present day, their father, played by Robert Wagner, is going out with Hope's gynocologist played by Jaclyn Smith. Both Charlie's Angels from the 70s TV show!!! So we can never see a scene with both of them in it meeting each other where one of them says, "You look familiar. Don't I know you from somewhere?" Unless Hope & Faith bring their mother back from the dead in a seance or something. On top of all that, Cheryl Ladd also plays James Caan's wife on Las Vegas now, and she's with former Beverly Hills 90210-er Vanessa Marcil there. Well, on one of her Hope And Faith flashback appearances, she's there with fellow 90210-er Brian Austin Green, playing himself, as the flashback takes place when 90210 was still on the air! And going back to Las Vegas, even Lindsay Price stopped by Las Vegas for a guest shot working with her fellow former 90210 castmate Marcil a few weeks ago for a late period 90210 reunion! Talk about boggling the mind on so many levels! EYE-YEYE-YEYE-YEYE-YEYE!!!!!!
Hey, here's a task Donald Trump should have given to his candidates on The Apprentice: Develop a winning restaurant in the middle of Winnipeg's new Provencher Bridge! Think they can do it? Maybe Kwame can sign autographs there, too.
I thought it was hilarious in a different way on Newlyweds when Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were talking about Sting and his wife being advocates of tantric sex and she said, "Sting, the singer?" and the way the moment was presented to us on air, we were supposed to think it was another "dumb blonde" moment for Jessica. Hey, that was a legitimate query! Nick could have been talking about Sting, the wrestler!
Can casting be both eerie and cornball at the same time? On Hope And Faith, we've seen two flashbacks now to when Hope & Faith's mother was still alive and she's played by Cheryl Ladd. In the present day, their father, played by Robert Wagner, is going out with Hope's gynocologist played by Jaclyn Smith. Both Charlie's Angels from the 70s TV show!!! So we can never see a scene with both of them in it meeting each other where one of them says, "You look familiar. Don't I know you from somewhere?" Unless Hope & Faith bring their mother back from the dead in a seance or something. On top of all that, Cheryl Ladd also plays James Caan's wife on Las Vegas now, and she's with former Beverly Hills 90210-er Vanessa Marcil there. Well, on one of her Hope And Faith flashback appearances, she's there with fellow 90210-er Brian Austin Green, playing himself, as the flashback takes place when 90210 was still on the air! And going back to Las Vegas, even Lindsay Price stopped by Las Vegas for a guest shot working with her fellow former 90210 castmate Marcil a few weeks ago for a late period 90210 reunion! Talk about boggling the mind on so many levels! EYE-YEYE-YEYE-YEYE-YEYE!!!!!!
Hey, here's a task Donald Trump should have given to his candidates on The Apprentice: Develop a winning restaurant in the middle of Winnipeg's new Provencher Bridge! Think they can do it? Maybe Kwame can sign autographs there, too.
I thought it was hilarious in a different way on Newlyweds when Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were talking about Sting and his wife being advocates of tantric sex and she said, "Sting, the singer?" and the way the moment was presented to us on air, we were supposed to think it was another "dumb blonde" moment for Jessica. Hey, that was a legitimate query! Nick could have been talking about Sting, the wrestler!
Danny Bonaduce And Me In Las Vegas
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
Here's a scoop:
I was on vacation in Las Vegas the first week of October when the marquee at the Palms Hotel & Casino advertised a one hour comedy TV taping tomorrow (Friday, October 8) at 7:30 p.m. in their lounge with free admission to see none other than Danny Bonaduce of Partridge Family fame.
So I went, and it turned out to be a taping of stand-up comedy to somehow be inserted into a new VH1 reality show starring Danny.
As both the host and Danny himself said, though, Danny's not a stand-up comedian. What he did was a talk in stand-up comedian form about things that have happened in his life. Two stand-up comedians opened for him. The host was a guy who works with Danny on his current morning radio show.
Danny was hilarious. It was the highlight of my trip. Never did I think when I was 10 years old watching The Partridge Family on ABC in 1972 would I someday be in the same room as Danny Partridge, LIVE. Even if I had to wait over 30 years for that moment to occur.
Afterward, the camera crew shot Danny walking around the casino. I walked around behind him, so look for me: I'm wearing a blue New York t-shirt and jeans. Danny rocks! Now let's wait for the air date!
Here's a scoop:
I was on vacation in Las Vegas the first week of October when the marquee at the Palms Hotel & Casino advertised a one hour comedy TV taping tomorrow (Friday, October 8) at 7:30 p.m. in their lounge with free admission to see none other than Danny Bonaduce of Partridge Family fame.
So I went, and it turned out to be a taping of stand-up comedy to somehow be inserted into a new VH1 reality show starring Danny.
As both the host and Danny himself said, though, Danny's not a stand-up comedian. What he did was a talk in stand-up comedian form about things that have happened in his life. Two stand-up comedians opened for him. The host was a guy who works with Danny on his current morning radio show.
Danny was hilarious. It was the highlight of my trip. Never did I think when I was 10 years old watching The Partridge Family on ABC in 1972 would I someday be in the same room as Danny Partridge, LIVE. Even if I had to wait over 30 years for that moment to occur.
Afterward, the camera crew shot Danny walking around the casino. I walked around behind him, so look for me: I'm wearing a blue New York t-shirt and jeans. Danny rocks! Now let's wait for the air date!
Canadian Musicians Moving To The U.S.
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
Rob Williams did a writeup in The Winnipeg Sun recently on famous Winnipeg drummer Brent Fitz, who played with ex-Kiss member Bruce Kulick in Union (meeting Bruce through Lenita Erickson) and has since gone on to play with everyone from Vince Neil of Motley Crue to ex-Ratt lead singer Stephen Pearcy. That writeup inspired me to send Rob an e-mail and to post a version of that e-mail here on something I've always wondered about - just how do unknown Canadian musicians like Brent manage to cross the border legally (or illegally) to join rock bands in the United States?
In Rob's article on Brent, he interviews him and quotes him as saying, ".....so I did the old illegal alien thing....."
That sounds intriguing. Canadian musicians like Brent, who at the time he first crossed the border, are not stars with H1 visas, but are basically just working Canadian musicians. How do they avoid crossing the border illegally as a visitor to play gigs or live in the U.S. without being deported permanently?
I read somewhere Neil Young went through the same situation. When he left Thunder Bay to go to California where he eventually hooked up with Buffalo Springfield, he told Customs at the border he was a visitor.
Obviously the ruse caught up with him at some point, and I can't find any mention of how he got out of it in any of his biographies. (That's just me skimming in the store, in case it's there and it's just me missing it.) His situation at the time he crossed the border would be roughly comparable to the point in Brent Fitz's career when he did it, i.e. no one knew who either of these guys were at their respective times. Remember, Neil Young was not anywhere near a star when he crossed the border, just a working Canadian musician.
So how do Canadian musicians, if they choose not to do things legally from the get go in this regard and just cross the border as a visitor illegally to work as a musician in the U.S., get out of it? Obviously lawyers are involved, but laws are laws, and they have been broken. Have Neil Young, Brent Fitz, or any other names we can think of paid hefty prices for what they've done? How do they get to the point where they can cross the border as a working musician legally without any hassles, as I assume Neil Young does today?
That was my story idea for Rob to tackle for The Winnipeg Sun. Maybe he could even do a MARIA seminar on it. But nothing yet. Hopefully in the future.....
Rob Williams did a writeup in The Winnipeg Sun recently on famous Winnipeg drummer Brent Fitz, who played with ex-Kiss member Bruce Kulick in Union (meeting Bruce through Lenita Erickson) and has since gone on to play with everyone from Vince Neil of Motley Crue to ex-Ratt lead singer Stephen Pearcy. That writeup inspired me to send Rob an e-mail and to post a version of that e-mail here on something I've always wondered about - just how do unknown Canadian musicians like Brent manage to cross the border legally (or illegally) to join rock bands in the United States?
In Rob's article on Brent, he interviews him and quotes him as saying, ".....so I did the old illegal alien thing....."
That sounds intriguing. Canadian musicians like Brent, who at the time he first crossed the border, are not stars with H1 visas, but are basically just working Canadian musicians. How do they avoid crossing the border illegally as a visitor to play gigs or live in the U.S. without being deported permanently?
I read somewhere Neil Young went through the same situation. When he left Thunder Bay to go to California where he eventually hooked up with Buffalo Springfield, he told Customs at the border he was a visitor.
Obviously the ruse caught up with him at some point, and I can't find any mention of how he got out of it in any of his biographies. (That's just me skimming in the store, in case it's there and it's just me missing it.) His situation at the time he crossed the border would be roughly comparable to the point in Brent Fitz's career when he did it, i.e. no one knew who either of these guys were at their respective times. Remember, Neil Young was not anywhere near a star when he crossed the border, just a working Canadian musician.
So how do Canadian musicians, if they choose not to do things legally from the get go in this regard and just cross the border as a visitor illegally to work as a musician in the U.S., get out of it? Obviously lawyers are involved, but laws are laws, and they have been broken. Have Neil Young, Brent Fitz, or any other names we can think of paid hefty prices for what they've done? How do they get to the point where they can cross the border as a working musician legally without any hassles, as I assume Neil Young does today?
That was my story idea for Rob to tackle for The Winnipeg Sun. Maybe he could even do a MARIA seminar on it. But nothing yet. Hopefully in the future.....
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Pro Wrestling Comments
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
Here's something I keep forgetting about: WWE did a Chris Jericho home video awhile back called "Chris Jericho: Break Down The Walls." In it is a brief clip of a Club Taboo match here in Winnipeg in 1990 or 1991 which was one of Chris' first pro matches. In the video he talked about wrestling at this bar, but he mistakenly identified the bar as "Georgie's." Why? Surely Chris hasn't forgotten the name "Club Taboo," even though today that bar is called Mardi Gras. We do have a bar called Georgie's in Winnipeg (or by now that place has changed names, too), and since that time Georgie's has held wrestling events, most notably Joe & Cyrus' No Hold Barred wrestling cards, but they didn't have wrestling back in the early 90s. Or if Chris did wrestle at Georgie's back then and I didn't know about it, well, on the video first we see him talking about how he was going to wrestle somewhere in Winnipeg but not knowing quite where yet, then talking about how he drove past the marquee at "Georgie's" that said "wrestling" and how he thought at the time that wrestling in a bar was cheesy and how he didn't realize that's the very card he was on. Then we go to a Club Taboo match from promotor Tony Condello's TV show he had on CKY at the time, which would indicate that when he mentions Georgie's, that that is what we should then be seeing - Chris at Georgie's, which is not correct. Plus I always thought that the Club Taboo matches were definitely the first time Chris wrestled professionally in Winnipeg. So does anyone know the deal on that flub? I tried e-mailing Chris through his website as well as slapping a version of this on his message board, but no response. Anyone know?
No one ever points out Kane's beginnings when they write or talk about him, as to why they kept him in the mask, why keep his gimmick, etc. (This was when he was still in the mask.) When WWF/E made the decision to go to "Attitude," they had just created Kane and his storyline with the Undertaker. To pull the plug on that would have been disastrous, since that was a major angle. WWF/E saw what changing things like that does without telling the fans a word about it before (Shawn Michaels and his "knights," anyone?). So someone said, "Okay, this angle will be our last vestibule from our former 'cartoon wrestling' stance. We'll keep this one running, and this will be that style's only hangover nto the current product." That's why Kane existed all these years in the first place. Too bad WWE couldn't come up with a reason why Kane didn't need a voice box any more. I'll be looking for how they write about that in any Kane career synopsis I read in the future. Hopefully Kane's "marriage" to Lita doesn't overshadow that little detail in the writeups.
I was disappointed both WWE and Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter said piss-all about Miss Elizabeth's tenure in WCW in her death coverage. Liz became a heel in WCW, and showed us a "good girl gone bad" routine I thoroughly enjoyed. Her peak was when she was in the NWO, paired up with Savage again, but this time both as heels, making them the Bonnie and Clyde of the NWO. Who can forget Liz spray painting "NWO" on Kimberly's back, placing her foot on a prone Disco Inferno while Savage counted the 1-2-3, or slamming a steel chair over Sting's head? Plus her leather outfits. I was in ecstasy at that - Liz as a bad girl - YEAH!!! All she was missing was the four-letter words and the cigarettes. Her crowning moment was in that Savage/DDP match at Halloween Havoc (forgot what year) when she smashed a "glass" candy tray over referee Mickey Jay's head and then strangled a prone DDP with the television cord before Kimberly ran out and grabbed Liz and ran her to the back. And in the description of that match, Meltzer LEFT THAT OUT!!!!! I never got around to writing him about that one. That's the Observer's figgest faux-pas. Then later on when the roles were sort of reversed and Kimberly was a heel and Liz was kidnapped and Kimberly was making Liz her slave, the stuff between the two of them was FUCKING HILARIOUS!!!!! Well, mainly because of Kim, but she was just hilarious as the hot babe that's full of herself. I miss that character so much and it's too bad Kim didn't come back as a heel with DDP when DDP went to WWE. Kim could still come back now as Bischoff's assistant. She was also hilarious in that role in WCW when Bischoff (in the gray hair) and Russo would talk about their matters and Kim would interrupt to talk about her career or her nails or whatever. HILARIOUS!!!
Here's something I keep forgetting about: WWE did a Chris Jericho home video awhile back called "Chris Jericho: Break Down The Walls." In it is a brief clip of a Club Taboo match here in Winnipeg in 1990 or 1991 which was one of Chris' first pro matches. In the video he talked about wrestling at this bar, but he mistakenly identified the bar as "Georgie's." Why? Surely Chris hasn't forgotten the name "Club Taboo," even though today that bar is called Mardi Gras. We do have a bar called Georgie's in Winnipeg (or by now that place has changed names, too), and since that time Georgie's has held wrestling events, most notably Joe & Cyrus' No Hold Barred wrestling cards, but they didn't have wrestling back in the early 90s. Or if Chris did wrestle at Georgie's back then and I didn't know about it, well, on the video first we see him talking about how he was going to wrestle somewhere in Winnipeg but not knowing quite where yet, then talking about how he drove past the marquee at "Georgie's" that said "wrestling" and how he thought at the time that wrestling in a bar was cheesy and how he didn't realize that's the very card he was on. Then we go to a Club Taboo match from promotor Tony Condello's TV show he had on CKY at the time, which would indicate that when he mentions Georgie's, that that is what we should then be seeing - Chris at Georgie's, which is not correct. Plus I always thought that the Club Taboo matches were definitely the first time Chris wrestled professionally in Winnipeg. So does anyone know the deal on that flub? I tried e-mailing Chris through his website as well as slapping a version of this on his message board, but no response. Anyone know?
No one ever points out Kane's beginnings when they write or talk about him, as to why they kept him in the mask, why keep his gimmick, etc. (This was when he was still in the mask.) When WWF/E made the decision to go to "Attitude," they had just created Kane and his storyline with the Undertaker. To pull the plug on that would have been disastrous, since that was a major angle. WWF/E saw what changing things like that does without telling the fans a word about it before (Shawn Michaels and his "knights," anyone?). So someone said, "Okay, this angle will be our last vestibule from our former 'cartoon wrestling' stance. We'll keep this one running, and this will be that style's only hangover nto the current product." That's why Kane existed all these years in the first place. Too bad WWE couldn't come up with a reason why Kane didn't need a voice box any more. I'll be looking for how they write about that in any Kane career synopsis I read in the future. Hopefully Kane's "marriage" to Lita doesn't overshadow that little detail in the writeups.
I was disappointed both WWE and Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter said piss-all about Miss Elizabeth's tenure in WCW in her death coverage. Liz became a heel in WCW, and showed us a "good girl gone bad" routine I thoroughly enjoyed. Her peak was when she was in the NWO, paired up with Savage again, but this time both as heels, making them the Bonnie and Clyde of the NWO. Who can forget Liz spray painting "NWO" on Kimberly's back, placing her foot on a prone Disco Inferno while Savage counted the 1-2-3, or slamming a steel chair over Sting's head? Plus her leather outfits. I was in ecstasy at that - Liz as a bad girl - YEAH!!! All she was missing was the four-letter words and the cigarettes. Her crowning moment was in that Savage/DDP match at Halloween Havoc (forgot what year) when she smashed a "glass" candy tray over referee Mickey Jay's head and then strangled a prone DDP with the television cord before Kimberly ran out and grabbed Liz and ran her to the back. And in the description of that match, Meltzer LEFT THAT OUT!!!!! I never got around to writing him about that one. That's the Observer's figgest faux-pas. Then later on when the roles were sort of reversed and Kimberly was a heel and Liz was kidnapped and Kimberly was making Liz her slave, the stuff between the two of them was FUCKING HILARIOUS!!!!! Well, mainly because of Kim, but she was just hilarious as the hot babe that's full of herself. I miss that character so much and it's too bad Kim didn't come back as a heel with DDP when DDP went to WWE. Kim could still come back now as Bischoff's assistant. She was also hilarious in that role in WCW when Bischoff (in the gray hair) and Russo would talk about their matters and Kim would interrupt to talk about her career or her nails or whatever. HILARIOUS!!!
Portage And Main
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
Agencies have been looking for ideas on what to do with the corner of Portage & Main recently. I wrote in, and here's what I suggested:
Perhaps one component of the corner could be provided by Global, now that they own the TD Centre.
Muchmusic has been doing live TV in their ground floor "environment", or outside it, with people on the street being part of the scenery, for 20 years now. NBC and ABC have copied this approach, unbeknownst to Americans without Much, for their morning shows Today and Good Morning America, respectively, making them more vibrant and exciting shows. ABC even gave Good Morning America their own studio in Times Square for this purpose.
Maybe Global can do the same thing: Move their suppertime news broadcast from St. Vital to a new studio at the ground floor of the TD Centre in front of the windows and the street, where we would see all the passers-by. It would make for fun TV, and would open up new possibilities for Global to add more local broadcasts to the day shot from this location, like perhaps a competing show to A-Channel's The Big Breakfast, or even a late night weekend entertainment and music video show. Perhaps, as the former host of VPW's Hard Rock Heroes, Global would let me host it, too. We could get a steady stream of people from the nearby nightclubs late at night for audience interaction.
All of this would definitely add people traffic to Portage & Main, along with excitement over being in the background on TV. People could set their VCR's and watch themselves later.
Agencies have been looking for ideas on what to do with the corner of Portage & Main recently. I wrote in, and here's what I suggested:
Perhaps one component of the corner could be provided by Global, now that they own the TD Centre.
Muchmusic has been doing live TV in their ground floor "environment", or outside it, with people on the street being part of the scenery, for 20 years now. NBC and ABC have copied this approach, unbeknownst to Americans without Much, for their morning shows Today and Good Morning America, respectively, making them more vibrant and exciting shows. ABC even gave Good Morning America their own studio in Times Square for this purpose.
Maybe Global can do the same thing: Move their suppertime news broadcast from St. Vital to a new studio at the ground floor of the TD Centre in front of the windows and the street, where we would see all the passers-by. It would make for fun TV, and would open up new possibilities for Global to add more local broadcasts to the day shot from this location, like perhaps a competing show to A-Channel's The Big Breakfast, or even a late night weekend entertainment and music video show. Perhaps, as the former host of VPW's Hard Rock Heroes, Global would let me host it, too. We could get a steady stream of people from the nearby nightclubs late at night for audience interaction.
All of this would definitely add people traffic to Portage & Main, along with excitement over being in the background on TV. People could set their VCR's and watch themselves later.
Television
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
I hope in the new and final season of That '70s Show we'll finally get to see the gang, horror of horrors, ENTER 1980!!! You see, they have been in a time warp since Christmas. Let me explain: They did the talking yearbook photos gag at the end of the 2001/02 season with the heading "1978," they graduated high school at the end of the 2002/03 season, so that was 1979, and at the end of 2003 (part of the 2003/04 season) they did the Christmas show. So they must be stuck somewhere between Christmas and New Year's of 1979. 1980 is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!! They do seem to be playing songs from 1979, and the license plate reads 1979 now, too. I was hoping they would graduate high school in 1980, 'cause that's the year I graduated, but at least Jackie will! Did you see the episode this past season where they accompany her to a high school dance? I had forgotten that she's actually a grade behind the rest of the gang. I remember someone brought it up in the first season. As she's preparing to graduate, someone's gotta burst in shouting, "OH MY GOD!!! PETER CRISS HAS LEFT KISS!!!" I remember that news coming out in May 1980. Americans finish school in May, right? In Canada we finish in June. I would also like to see one of those dream sequences with the four guys doing a parody of Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" video, wearing those Dream Police outfits Cheap Trick also wears on the cover of the DP album. Wouldn't that be nifty?
I hope in the new and final season of That '70s Show we'll finally get to see the gang, horror of horrors, ENTER 1980!!! You see, they have been in a time warp since Christmas. Let me explain: They did the talking yearbook photos gag at the end of the 2001/02 season with the heading "1978," they graduated high school at the end of the 2002/03 season, so that was 1979, and at the end of 2003 (part of the 2003/04 season) they did the Christmas show. So they must be stuck somewhere between Christmas and New Year's of 1979. 1980 is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!! They do seem to be playing songs from 1979, and the license plate reads 1979 now, too. I was hoping they would graduate high school in 1980, 'cause that's the year I graduated, but at least Jackie will! Did you see the episode this past season where they accompany her to a high school dance? I had forgotten that she's actually a grade behind the rest of the gang. I remember someone brought it up in the first season. As she's preparing to graduate, someone's gotta burst in shouting, "OH MY GOD!!! PETER CRISS HAS LEFT KISS!!!" I remember that news coming out in May 1980. Americans finish school in May, right? In Canada we finish in June. I would also like to see one of those dream sequences with the four guys doing a parody of Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" video, wearing those Dream Police outfits Cheap Trick also wears on the cover of the DP album. Wouldn't that be nifty?
Rock And Roll
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
How about some Alex Lifeson jokes? (You do recall Alex Lifeson from Rush was helping his son beat up cops at a club on New Year's Eve, don't you?) He's old enough to know what's right, but young enough not to choose it. He's wise enough to win the world, but fool enough to lose it. (Get it?) Hey, good thing Rush has those washing machines on stage now - maybe they can use them to wash Alex Lifeson's shirt! HA HA HA HA HA!!!
How about some Alex Lifeson jokes? (You do recall Alex Lifeson from Rush was helping his son beat up cops at a club on New Year's Eve, don't you?) He's old enough to know what's right, but young enough not to choose it. He's wise enough to win the world, but fool enough to lose it. (Get it?) Hey, good thing Rush has those washing machines on stage now - maybe they can use them to wash Alex Lifeson's shirt! HA HA HA HA HA!!!
Kiss
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
Since Kiss is my favorite band, people ask me what my opinions are these days of the band "changing their minds" and carrying on with touring after the farewell tour and without Ace or Peter, but with "imposters" Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer wearing Ace and Peter's makeup. Here's the reason this is happening: This fits in with Gene's natural inclination for entrepreneurship and its' resulting extension towards today's phenomenon known as "branding." (Personally, I think branding is nothing new, it's just a fancy new name for the same old thing.) Kiss is no longer a band, Kiss is now a brand. Gene Simmons understands the concept of branding now, and he recognizes that Kiss had painted themselves into a corner with the reunion and now that they've done the farewell tour, and also with the various Peter and Ace contract problems, probably won't release any more albums of original music and will definitely have temporary or permanent replacement "members" in the original members' makeup and costumes. On the subject of the current tour, Paul said, "Consider this the first in a series of encores." I don't think one-off appearances should be counted, especially TV shows where they're only doing one or two songs. Plus I think Paul & Gene recognize original music from Kiss in makeup and costumes has run its' course. Psycho Circus was a deliberate attempt to construct "A Kiss Album." But they can't do that twice, and they know it. After their 70's albums, what's left? Changes in direction have proven to not work for the makeup version of this band. Personally, I would like to have seen Kiss call the farewell tour the "farewell to the makeup and costumes" tour, and then continue with the orignal lineup but wear whatever they want on stage and play whatever kind of music they wanted to on original albums. If Peter or Ace can't be there, whatever. The albums may remind us of The Beatles' White Album, but whatever. It would honestly be where these men's minds and hearts lie in 2004. But Gene would probably say, "But that's not Kiss." So Kiss becomes a brand; those four makeup designs, those particular songs, that particular show, and it's all reflected on the merchandise Gene puts out. As Gene says, one day there will be no original members in the band and it will really be like a carnival attraction. That would be so many years away, though, it's hard to connect that in the mind with the tribute bands. I can see the carnival attraction attracting, say, the teenagers and 20-somethings of 2043. But the tribute bands today play bars to dwindling audiences. They've burned themselves out. Gene would simply have to order them to cease and desist before Kiss (the corporation called Kiss) does their own "tribute band," that's all. The evolution of all that would certainly be interesting to those of us who live that long, that's for sure.
Since Kiss is my favorite band, people ask me what my opinions are these days of the band "changing their minds" and carrying on with touring after the farewell tour and without Ace or Peter, but with "imposters" Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer wearing Ace and Peter's makeup. Here's the reason this is happening: This fits in with Gene's natural inclination for entrepreneurship and its' resulting extension towards today's phenomenon known as "branding." (Personally, I think branding is nothing new, it's just a fancy new name for the same old thing.) Kiss is no longer a band, Kiss is now a brand. Gene Simmons understands the concept of branding now, and he recognizes that Kiss had painted themselves into a corner with the reunion and now that they've done the farewell tour, and also with the various Peter and Ace contract problems, probably won't release any more albums of original music and will definitely have temporary or permanent replacement "members" in the original members' makeup and costumes. On the subject of the current tour, Paul said, "Consider this the first in a series of encores." I don't think one-off appearances should be counted, especially TV shows where they're only doing one or two songs. Plus I think Paul & Gene recognize original music from Kiss in makeup and costumes has run its' course. Psycho Circus was a deliberate attempt to construct "A Kiss Album." But they can't do that twice, and they know it. After their 70's albums, what's left? Changes in direction have proven to not work for the makeup version of this band. Personally, I would like to have seen Kiss call the farewell tour the "farewell to the makeup and costumes" tour, and then continue with the orignal lineup but wear whatever they want on stage and play whatever kind of music they wanted to on original albums. If Peter or Ace can't be there, whatever. The albums may remind us of The Beatles' White Album, but whatever. It would honestly be where these men's minds and hearts lie in 2004. But Gene would probably say, "But that's not Kiss." So Kiss becomes a brand; those four makeup designs, those particular songs, that particular show, and it's all reflected on the merchandise Gene puts out. As Gene says, one day there will be no original members in the band and it will really be like a carnival attraction. That would be so many years away, though, it's hard to connect that in the mind with the tribute bands. I can see the carnival attraction attracting, say, the teenagers and 20-somethings of 2043. But the tribute bands today play bars to dwindling audiences. They've burned themselves out. Gene would simply have to order them to cease and desist before Kiss (the corporation called Kiss) does their own "tribute band," that's all. The evolution of all that would certainly be interesting to those of us who live that long, that's for sure.
Pro Wrestling Comments
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SECOND EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2004.
Speaking of The Apprentice, as I was above, here's my idea for a new reality show: It's kind of like The Apprentice, only instead of Donald Trump, you have The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, and he makes the teams do all the Fear Factor stuff. When someone asks what these things have to do with running a business, he tells them to shut up and has Virgil beat them up and belittle them. At the end, everyone goes to the board room. The door opens and Ted walks in. Already sitting on his side of the table is Virgil on one side of him and IRS on the other side. Ted then proceeds to fire everyone. It'll be tremendous.
Before Trish Stratus turned heel, I had this idea for how she should turn: Picture a tag team match: Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus vs. Christian and a mystery female partner, who will turn out to be.....Chris' wife Jessica!!! Trish will scream, "You have a WIFE?" and the three of them will triple team Chris. Chris should now be the heel and the other three the faces, but in WWE logic, since you can't have three faces ganging up on someone, the announcers will feel sorry for Jericho, saying he doesn't deserve this kind of triple-team treatment, and will sway Chris into being the face and the other three the heels. Trish will start swearing and smoking in addition to wearing more stilettos to reflect her new heel character. It'll all also be tremendous.
Speaking of Chris Jericho, how about that week on Raw where he comes out and talks about how excited the crowd is to see Canada's greatest athlete - you mean Angelo Mosca was there? And don't say Gene Kiniski - Mosca's the one who won that feud with Kiniski in 1977 at the Winnipeg Arena to determine who Canada's greatest athlete is.
Before this gets too old, as if it isn't already, remember the NHB card Joe and Cyrus put on at The Colesseum (now Cowboys)? If you were there, you'll remember the ring entrance music was awful. I hope they get that fixed for next time. What does Cyrus' entrance have to do with Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills?" Usually it's the TNN ECW theme that's played for him. And the DJ didn't have that Deep Purple song (forgot the name of it, but I believe it's from the Perfect Strangers album) for Shane Douglas' entrance, either. By the way, playing that song was a nice touch at the previous show at Coyote's when Shane was there, as Joe & Cyrus apparently figured out Shane's WCW music sounded exactly like that song. Maybe if they get DDP here they can play Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for his music.
Someone should start a new indie wrestling league called MFW - Middle Finger Wrestling. Nice ring to it, eh?
Hey, how about a battle royal where the winner gets to be called "The Coach?" The participants will be John Tolos, Johnathan Coachman, Scott Taylor, and Jeff Allan (whatever happened to him?). I always thought it was funny, but frustrating, that here are two guys opposite each other on the radio calling themselves "The Coach" and no one ever commented on air how funny (as in funny/weird) that was. Of course, the competition doesn't exist, so neither CITI FM (Taylor) nor whatever 97 called themselves at the time (Allan) would acknowledge it. But no one in the Winnipeg press made those comments, either. It could be because of rock radio's low reputation, but that's another story for another day.
Speaking of The Apprentice, as I was above, here's my idea for a new reality show: It's kind of like The Apprentice, only instead of Donald Trump, you have The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, and he makes the teams do all the Fear Factor stuff. When someone asks what these things have to do with running a business, he tells them to shut up and has Virgil beat them up and belittle them. At the end, everyone goes to the board room. The door opens and Ted walks in. Already sitting on his side of the table is Virgil on one side of him and IRS on the other side. Ted then proceeds to fire everyone. It'll be tremendous.
Before Trish Stratus turned heel, I had this idea for how she should turn: Picture a tag team match: Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus vs. Christian and a mystery female partner, who will turn out to be.....Chris' wife Jessica!!! Trish will scream, "You have a WIFE?" and the three of them will triple team Chris. Chris should now be the heel and the other three the faces, but in WWE logic, since you can't have three faces ganging up on someone, the announcers will feel sorry for Jericho, saying he doesn't deserve this kind of triple-team treatment, and will sway Chris into being the face and the other three the heels. Trish will start swearing and smoking in addition to wearing more stilettos to reflect her new heel character. It'll all also be tremendous.
Speaking of Chris Jericho, how about that week on Raw where he comes out and talks about how excited the crowd is to see Canada's greatest athlete - you mean Angelo Mosca was there? And don't say Gene Kiniski - Mosca's the one who won that feud with Kiniski in 1977 at the Winnipeg Arena to determine who Canada's greatest athlete is.
Before this gets too old, as if it isn't already, remember the NHB card Joe and Cyrus put on at The Colesseum (now Cowboys)? If you were there, you'll remember the ring entrance music was awful. I hope they get that fixed for next time. What does Cyrus' entrance have to do with Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills?" Usually it's the TNN ECW theme that's played for him. And the DJ didn't have that Deep Purple song (forgot the name of it, but I believe it's from the Perfect Strangers album) for Shane Douglas' entrance, either. By the way, playing that song was a nice touch at the previous show at Coyote's when Shane was there, as Joe & Cyrus apparently figured out Shane's WCW music sounded exactly like that song. Maybe if they get DDP here they can play Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for his music.
Someone should start a new indie wrestling league called MFW - Middle Finger Wrestling. Nice ring to it, eh?
Hey, how about a battle royal where the winner gets to be called "The Coach?" The participants will be John Tolos, Johnathan Coachman, Scott Taylor, and Jeff Allan (whatever happened to him?). I always thought it was funny, but frustrating, that here are two guys opposite each other on the radio calling themselves "The Coach" and no one ever commented on air how funny (as in funny/weird) that was. Of course, the competition doesn't exist, so neither CITI FM (Taylor) nor whatever 97 called themselves at the time (Allan) would acknowledge it. But no one in the Winnipeg press made those comments, either. It could be because of rock radio's low reputation, but that's another story for another day.
Radio Ranting
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SECOND EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2004.
Talk about self-serving and arrogant!
Twice in a day on Power 97 on the weekend of the Grand Rock festival, announcers tell us that "The Studio 97 with I Mother Earth is postponed because of a death in the family." Okay.....so, uh, what about I Mother Earth's actual performance at Grand Rock? Is THAT still on? I mean, that IS what I Mother Earth is coming to town to do, right? All media stuff is just on the side, while they're in town, right?
I finally read that yes, their Grand Rock performance is cancelled, in the Free Press. So why can't Power 97 tell us that? Is their stupid little Studio 97 piece that important that anything having nothing directly to do with Power 97, like I Mother Earth's actual performance at Grand Rock, doesn't exist? I don't care if that's what the announcers were given to read, if it was me I would add in that their performance is cancelled, too. Actually, I would tell the fans the performance is cancelled, and, oh yeah, by the way, that means our little Studio 97 is cancelled, too.
Perhaps was it someone else other than Power 97 presenting the show? (I didn't check.) That asinine situation used to happen - if you have two radio stations playing Helix and Helix comes to town, if one of the stations is presenting it, the other station pretends it doesn't exist. Oh, but they'll still play Helix's music. If an announcer is cornered on the air about it by a caller, or an on-air guest, he'll just casually say, "Yeah, I hear they're coming to town." BULLSHIT!!!
Rock radio should exist as a be-all-end-all Winnipeg clearing house for rock and roll and all rock bands in Winnipeg and in rock magazines and on Muchmusic and MTV FOR THE FANS. News, bands, gigs, interactive stuff - TELL US ALL. KEEP US IN THE LOOP AND PART OF THE MACHINE. After all, it's the fans who listen to the commercials and pay the bills, right? So why WOULD a radio station treat them like shit like that?
Someone in Winnipeg print media needs to write about this crap. And I don't mean me, because newspapers reach a wider audience than this does. (This may reach appropriate individuals outside of Winnipeg.) Someone needs to expose some hidden attitudes among stations like Power 97 here. Why does this uppity exist? Why can't rock radio stations strive to constantly do whatever it takes to please the fans? Actually, Power 97 playing those Winnipeg bands is a positive step - now, if they could just play some exciting stuff, like The Unband, The Donnas, Nashville Pussy, and Maximum R & R, and forget all the boring warmed-over grunge bands Chad Kroeger discovers. But I guess they need their CanCon. But I digress.
Talk about self-serving and arrogant!
Twice in a day on Power 97 on the weekend of the Grand Rock festival, announcers tell us that "The Studio 97 with I Mother Earth is postponed because of a death in the family." Okay.....so, uh, what about I Mother Earth's actual performance at Grand Rock? Is THAT still on? I mean, that IS what I Mother Earth is coming to town to do, right? All media stuff is just on the side, while they're in town, right?
I finally read that yes, their Grand Rock performance is cancelled, in the Free Press. So why can't Power 97 tell us that? Is their stupid little Studio 97 piece that important that anything having nothing directly to do with Power 97, like I Mother Earth's actual performance at Grand Rock, doesn't exist? I don't care if that's what the announcers were given to read, if it was me I would add in that their performance is cancelled, too. Actually, I would tell the fans the performance is cancelled, and, oh yeah, by the way, that means our little Studio 97 is cancelled, too.
Perhaps was it someone else other than Power 97 presenting the show? (I didn't check.) That asinine situation used to happen - if you have two radio stations playing Helix and Helix comes to town, if one of the stations is presenting it, the other station pretends it doesn't exist. Oh, but they'll still play Helix's music. If an announcer is cornered on the air about it by a caller, or an on-air guest, he'll just casually say, "Yeah, I hear they're coming to town." BULLSHIT!!!
Rock radio should exist as a be-all-end-all Winnipeg clearing house for rock and roll and all rock bands in Winnipeg and in rock magazines and on Muchmusic and MTV FOR THE FANS. News, bands, gigs, interactive stuff - TELL US ALL. KEEP US IN THE LOOP AND PART OF THE MACHINE. After all, it's the fans who listen to the commercials and pay the bills, right? So why WOULD a radio station treat them like shit like that?
Someone in Winnipeg print media needs to write about this crap. And I don't mean me, because newspapers reach a wider audience than this does. (This may reach appropriate individuals outside of Winnipeg.) Someone needs to expose some hidden attitudes among stations like Power 97 here. Why does this uppity exist? Why can't rock radio stations strive to constantly do whatever it takes to please the fans? Actually, Power 97 playing those Winnipeg bands is a positive step - now, if they could just play some exciting stuff, like The Unband, The Donnas, Nashville Pussy, and Maximum R & R, and forget all the boring warmed-over grunge bands Chad Kroeger discovers. But I guess they need their CanCon. But I digress.
Winnipeg Nightclub & Nightlife Stuff
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SECOND EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2004.
Hey, no wonder those students picked the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd to do the boycott of all the Canad Inn nightclubs - that was the weekend of the time change! We set our clocks one hour ahead that weekend - one hour less partying to do on the Saturday. Those students were smart.
Hey, no wonder those students picked the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd to do the boycott of all the Canad Inn nightclubs - that was the weekend of the time change! We set our clocks one hour ahead that weekend - one hour less partying to do on the Saturday. Those students were smart.
Television
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SECOND EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2004.
Let's see if we can start a new catch phrase here. You know how Bill won The Apprentice so now he's going to be the guy in charge of building Donald Trump's new Chicago 90-story tower? Well, let's see if we here at The Beau Zone can give that building an unofficial name. How about.....The BILL-ding! Get it? Bill? Building? BILL-ding? Has a nice ring to it, huh? (Especially with the "ding" in BILL-ding!!)
This was my prediction for the last episode of Friends: Rachel will fly to Paris. Afterward, Ross decides to make one more last-ditch attempt to get her back. He flies to Paris and rents a car. He's sitting in the car in front of her new home. She comes out. But she doesn't see Ross. She looks at the car parked in front of Ross and gives a wide smile to the driver. It's Mr. Big! Rachel
gets in the car and drives off with Mr. Big to Ross' utter dismay. Later, Rachel breaks up with Big when she finds out he's two-timing her with Carrie Bradshaw. Really? Abso-fucking-lutely!!
Let's see if we can start a new catch phrase here. You know how Bill won The Apprentice so now he's going to be the guy in charge of building Donald Trump's new Chicago 90-story tower? Well, let's see if we here at The Beau Zone can give that building an unofficial name. How about.....The BILL-ding! Get it? Bill? Building? BILL-ding? Has a nice ring to it, huh? (Especially with the "ding" in BILL-ding!!)
This was my prediction for the last episode of Friends: Rachel will fly to Paris. Afterward, Ross decides to make one more last-ditch attempt to get her back. He flies to Paris and rents a car. He's sitting in the car in front of her new home. She comes out. But she doesn't see Ross. She looks at the car parked in front of Ross and gives a wide smile to the driver. It's Mr. Big! Rachel
gets in the car and drives off with Mr. Big to Ross' utter dismay. Later, Rachel breaks up with Big when she finds out he's two-timing her with Carrie Bradshaw. Really? Abso-fucking-lutely!!
Rock And Roll
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SECOND EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2004.
In regard to Sam Roberts' "Brother Down," how come nobody points out that the portion of the song in the chorus where Sam sings, ".....I think my life is passing me by....." sounds reminiscent of The Beatles? With all the album reviews out there in Canadian media about this album and Sam himself, you'd think SOMEONE would say that. But no. So I'll say it!
In regard to Sam Roberts' "Brother Down," how come nobody points out that the portion of the song in the chorus where Sam sings, ".....I think my life is passing me by....." sounds reminiscent of The Beatles? With all the album reviews out there in Canadian media about this album and Sam himself, you'd think SOMEONE would say that. But no. So I'll say it!
Paying Your Bill At Restaurants
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SECOND EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2004.
Why is it like pulling teeth trying to pay your bill at most restaurants?
Once your meal is served, the server comes back right away to ask how your meal is, and that's the last you ever see of them.
Once you're close to finishing eating, they're never around to ask them for the check. You have to walk around the restaurant to find them, or ask one of the other servers.
Then as you've finished your meal and are waiting for the check, you finally get it. But you have to pay the server, too. And you better have it understood clearly by the server in advance that you're going to pay right then and there once you receive the check, or the server will just quickly take off and leave you waiting AGAIN to pay him or her.
One time at the old Grapes Pembina location, I had already made it clear to the server that I could pay my bill right when he gave me the bill, but sure enough, he gives me the bill and starts to walk away. I'm calling after him, "Stop! Don't run away! I can pay right now!" But he just looked at me with a scared look on his face as he ran away from me.
For God's sake, if these people are too busy serving other customers to take my payment, then why don't all restaurants install a cashier like Perkins does, so I only have to wait for my bill, and once I get my bill, the waiting is done and I can simply take my bill up to the cashier to pay it?
Or maybe if these people don't want my money, maybe I'll just start leaving the restaurant without paying anybody. It sure seems like they'll never notice.
Your thoughts?
Why is it like pulling teeth trying to pay your bill at most restaurants?
Once your meal is served, the server comes back right away to ask how your meal is, and that's the last you ever see of them.
Once you're close to finishing eating, they're never around to ask them for the check. You have to walk around the restaurant to find them, or ask one of the other servers.
Then as you've finished your meal and are waiting for the check, you finally get it. But you have to pay the server, too. And you better have it understood clearly by the server in advance that you're going to pay right then and there once you receive the check, or the server will just quickly take off and leave you waiting AGAIN to pay him or her.
One time at the old Grapes Pembina location, I had already made it clear to the server that I could pay my bill right when he gave me the bill, but sure enough, he gives me the bill and starts to walk away. I'm calling after him, "Stop! Don't run away! I can pay right now!" But he just looked at me with a scared look on his face as he ran away from me.
For God's sake, if these people are too busy serving other customers to take my payment, then why don't all restaurants install a cashier like Perkins does, so I only have to wait for my bill, and once I get my bill, the waiting is done and I can simply take my bill up to the cashier to pay it?
Or maybe if these people don't want my money, maybe I'll just start leaving the restaurant without paying anybody. It sure seems like they'll never notice.
Your thoughts?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Pro Wrestling Comments
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
If Hulk Hogan didn't walk away from WWE, I'd say Vince should have proved Hogan and Mr. America were the same person by signing a match between the two at the next PPV. Of couse, that would be too easy, and how does WWE get out of that one? I'll tell you how - by putting Dave "The Equalizer" Sullivan in the Mr. America costume. Hogan unmasks him, and they celebrate in the ring together to Dave's WCW "I want to be a Hulkamaniac" music. WWE could also have Vince call Hogan on his cell phone while Mr. America is in the ring in a match, but there's too many things wrong with that scenerio, both in reality and in storyline, that you can just guess.
If I were a WWE superstar and I were asked to intro a "From The Vault" match on WWE Confidential, I'd pick a WCW match that originally aired opposite a Wrestlemania on a Clash Of the Champions, and I'd identify it as such, especially if it got higher viewership than the Wrestlemania (I have a feeling that happened, which is why I say that). How well do you think that would go over with the office? Too bad Confidential isn't live.
Remember the 2003 Backlash PPV? A big reason Goldberg got no heat at Backlash is because WWE changed his music that night. I still believe to this day WWE should never have changed his music at all. Sometimes changing music works, and other times it's so disastrous they just have to go back to the old music, as in the cases of Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. There is really no good time to change a wrestler's music, unless you tell the fans you're doing it first. Fans feel helpless when they hear new music, because it smacks of the product not belonging to the fans, that it belongs to the office, and to management personnel backstage, where the fans cannot go because the security guards won't let them. Wrestling fans like to believe this is "their" product and "their" world. Actually, WWE could make a decent effort at telling fans now in the computer age. On their website, or in their e-mail newsletter, if they have one, they could say something like, "Watch for new Goldberg music in coming weeks....." Then fans would at least expect it. Don't know if that would still result in less heat or not.
So let me get this straight - Eric Bischoff says he can't wrestle Shane McMahon because Linda McMahon's rule that both he and Austin can't lay a hand on a WWE superstar unless physically provoked means Bischoff and Austin can't wrestle in an actual match as well. Austin asks Shane in the ring if he's a contracted WWE superstar. Shane says no. So the match is on. Then next week Bischoff is forced into a match against Kane. Huh? I thought Kane IS a contracted WWE superstar?!?! Huh? What?
If Hulk Hogan didn't walk away from WWE, I'd say Vince should have proved Hogan and Mr. America were the same person by signing a match between the two at the next PPV. Of couse, that would be too easy, and how does WWE get out of that one? I'll tell you how - by putting Dave "The Equalizer" Sullivan in the Mr. America costume. Hogan unmasks him, and they celebrate in the ring together to Dave's WCW "I want to be a Hulkamaniac" music. WWE could also have Vince call Hogan on his cell phone while Mr. America is in the ring in a match, but there's too many things wrong with that scenerio, both in reality and in storyline, that you can just guess.
If I were a WWE superstar and I were asked to intro a "From The Vault" match on WWE Confidential, I'd pick a WCW match that originally aired opposite a Wrestlemania on a Clash Of the Champions, and I'd identify it as such, especially if it got higher viewership than the Wrestlemania (I have a feeling that happened, which is why I say that). How well do you think that would go over with the office? Too bad Confidential isn't live.
Remember the 2003 Backlash PPV? A big reason Goldberg got no heat at Backlash is because WWE changed his music that night. I still believe to this day WWE should never have changed his music at all. Sometimes changing music works, and other times it's so disastrous they just have to go back to the old music, as in the cases of Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. There is really no good time to change a wrestler's music, unless you tell the fans you're doing it first. Fans feel helpless when they hear new music, because it smacks of the product not belonging to the fans, that it belongs to the office, and to management personnel backstage, where the fans cannot go because the security guards won't let them. Wrestling fans like to believe this is "their" product and "their" world. Actually, WWE could make a decent effort at telling fans now in the computer age. On their website, or in their e-mail newsletter, if they have one, they could say something like, "Watch for new Goldberg music in coming weeks....." Then fans would at least expect it. Don't know if that would still result in less heat or not.
So let me get this straight - Eric Bischoff says he can't wrestle Shane McMahon because Linda McMahon's rule that both he and Austin can't lay a hand on a WWE superstar unless physically provoked means Bischoff and Austin can't wrestle in an actual match as well. Austin asks Shane in the ring if he's a contracted WWE superstar. Shane says no. So the match is on. Then next week Bischoff is forced into a match against Kane. Huh? I thought Kane IS a contracted WWE superstar?!?! Huh? What?
Mad Cow Disease
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
In the paper it said regarding that mad cow found in the United States, "DNA tests are being performed in Nebraska and Saskatchewan to determine whether the U.S. cow was actually born in Canada." Apparently Gordon Pinsent and Pierre Berton are requesting those same tests be performed on Pamela Anderson to determine if she's really Canadian.
In the paper it said regarding that mad cow found in the United States, "DNA tests are being performed in Nebraska and Saskatchewan to determine whether the U.S. cow was actually born in Canada." Apparently Gordon Pinsent and Pierre Berton are requesting those same tests be performed on Pamela Anderson to determine if she's really Canadian.
Terra Footwear
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
Regarding the Terra Footwear billboards with the hot babes on them that those lousy protesters got taken down: Gee, I wonder what they think of the Tool Time girl on Home Improvement. Maybe they'll get those reruns banned, too. Heaven forbid if there was ever an actual TV show called Tool Time that utilized such a girl. Hey, maybe Terra Footwear should open their own stores and get their salespeople to be hot sexy babes that look and dress like that. It works for bars and bartenders. Nowadays, if you see a girl dressed like a slut, you don't say, "You look like a hooker," you say, "You look like a bartender." Hookers wear jeans now. Maybe Terra Footwear can take a cue from the bars. But the protests would probably continue, because the people doing the protesting over "hiring practices" or "employment conditions" would never become aware of the hot babe bartenders because the protesters are in bed fast asleep by the time bar culture takes over in the wee hours. Hooters has gotten just some protests, but that's logical, as that kind of business falls somewhere down the middle.
Regarding the Terra Footwear billboards with the hot babes on them that those lousy protesters got taken down: Gee, I wonder what they think of the Tool Time girl on Home Improvement. Maybe they'll get those reruns banned, too. Heaven forbid if there was ever an actual TV show called Tool Time that utilized such a girl. Hey, maybe Terra Footwear should open their own stores and get their salespeople to be hot sexy babes that look and dress like that. It works for bars and bartenders. Nowadays, if you see a girl dressed like a slut, you don't say, "You look like a hooker," you say, "You look like a bartender." Hookers wear jeans now. Maybe Terra Footwear can take a cue from the bars. But the protests would probably continue, because the people doing the protesting over "hiring practices" or "employment conditions" would never become aware of the hot babe bartenders because the protesters are in bed fast asleep by the time bar culture takes over in the wee hours. Hooters has gotten just some protests, but that's logical, as that kind of business falls somewhere down the middle.
Winnipeg Nightclub & Nightlife Stuff
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
I didn't go to see the oldies acts at Oktoberfest in 2003, although I would have liked to. What time do they come on? I called the office to ask and they refused to tell me. I left my name and number for a manager to call me and he never called. Look, if they can't be bothered to tell me what time the acts go on, I guess I can't be bothered to show up. I really have no idea. If it's The Zoo or the Royal Albert, they close at 2:00 a.m., so I know what time the last band will go on. You just backtrack everything from 2:00 a.m. Plus bands at The Zoo generally go right up to 2:00 a.m. as well, and maybe a few minutes past. At the Arena, the first band is at 7:30 p.m. and that's on your ticket and in the advertising. You can predict when the headlining band comes on. But what about Oktoberfest? How do you know what time the bands come on? And what time does it close? 2:00 a.m.? 1:00 a.m.? The office couldn't tell me that, either. What if I go to see Paul Revere and the Raiders and they're doing their last song as I'm showing up? Bullshit. So I didn't go. Clean up your act for 2004, Oktoberfest.
I didn't go to see the oldies acts at Oktoberfest in 2003, although I would have liked to. What time do they come on? I called the office to ask and they refused to tell me. I left my name and number for a manager to call me and he never called. Look, if they can't be bothered to tell me what time the acts go on, I guess I can't be bothered to show up. I really have no idea. If it's The Zoo or the Royal Albert, they close at 2:00 a.m., so I know what time the last band will go on. You just backtrack everything from 2:00 a.m. Plus bands at The Zoo generally go right up to 2:00 a.m. as well, and maybe a few minutes past. At the Arena, the first band is at 7:30 p.m. and that's on your ticket and in the advertising. You can predict when the headlining band comes on. But what about Oktoberfest? How do you know what time the bands come on? And what time does it close? 2:00 a.m.? 1:00 a.m.? The office couldn't tell me that, either. What if I go to see Paul Revere and the Raiders and they're doing their last song as I'm showing up? Bullshit. So I didn't go. Clean up your act for 2004, Oktoberfest.
Television
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
An open letter to Muchmusic VJ Amanda Walsh: Amanda, I almost died when I saw your dress and those shoes you were wearing at the MMVAs in 2003. Those kind of stilettos that lace up the girls' legs just drive me wild when I see them in magazines, but I never thought I'd see YOU wearing them. NEVER, EVER take those shoes off, especially when you have sex with the man of your dreams. You should put those shoes on, get your hair done up all sexy, get your makeup done all sexy with red lipstick, take off your clothes, light up a smoke and stand in front of a full-length mirror and admire yourself. Ever do that? Maybe fantasize about doing porn while you're looking at yourself? Just a thought.
Instead of CTV here in Canada not bleeping out the swearing during The Osbournes, how about doing that for Punk'd? I'd much rather hear Jessica Alba or Mandy Moore uttering "fuck" and "shit" on TV than The Osbournes. It would be more exciting, too, if you get my drift, heh, heh, heh. Maybe Mandy Moore saying "fuck" on TV will help her to sell more records, too. As Gene Simmons says, "Good girls may go to heaven, but bad girls go anywhere they want."
An open letter to Muchmusic VJ Amanda Walsh: Amanda, I almost died when I saw your dress and those shoes you were wearing at the MMVAs in 2003. Those kind of stilettos that lace up the girls' legs just drive me wild when I see them in magazines, but I never thought I'd see YOU wearing them. NEVER, EVER take those shoes off, especially when you have sex with the man of your dreams. You should put those shoes on, get your hair done up all sexy, get your makeup done all sexy with red lipstick, take off your clothes, light up a smoke and stand in front of a full-length mirror and admire yourself. Ever do that? Maybe fantasize about doing porn while you're looking at yourself? Just a thought.
Instead of CTV here in Canada not bleeping out the swearing during The Osbournes, how about doing that for Punk'd? I'd much rather hear Jessica Alba or Mandy Moore uttering "fuck" and "shit" on TV than The Osbournes. It would be more exciting, too, if you get my drift, heh, heh, heh. Maybe Mandy Moore saying "fuck" on TV will help her to sell more records, too. As Gene Simmons says, "Good girls may go to heaven, but bad girls go anywhere they want."
Rock And Roll
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
Did you know Bif Naked and Matthew Good live in the same apartment building in Vancouver? She's on the 15th floor, he's on the 6th floor. IT'S TRUE!!! Said by Bif herself on "The Buzz" on 92 CITI FM in Winnipeg June 27, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.
Did you know Bif Naked and Matthew Good live in the same apartment building in Vancouver? She's on the 15th floor, he's on the 6th floor. IT'S TRUE!!! Said by Bif herself on "The Buzz" on 92 CITI FM in Winnipeg June 27, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.
The New Arena, The MTS Centre
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2004.
The new arena in Winnipeg, the MTS Centre, will be opening up this fall. Let's talk about parking and other issues surrounding it, shall we?
My main concern regarding parking would be in the winter, I guess, when it's -30 out and you park your car outdoors somewhere and you go from the arena event to a nearby bar or lounge and stay there until 2:00 a.m. Then you've left your car outside unplugged for 6 hours, which means you may need a boost. (Well, my car won't, but cars I used to own would.) At least with Winnipeg Arena, you're definitely starting your car after the event is over.
Plus if you do that, you have to be aware of when you can and can't retreive your car from indoor parking garages (year-round). If they're closed by the time you leave the nightclub you're at in the wee hours, then you're out of luck until next morning. That means those garages are off limits to you and your plans. You'll have to do your legwork ahead of time to learn which places aren't an option for you to park in.
Personally, I'm in Osborne Village, so it may be easy for me to take a quick bus home and get in my car there (i.e. free parking) and head off to a club afterward. Or just walk, if a great rock show is at The Zoo. So I'm a bit prejudiced.
I think the Eaton's site is a great site for a new arena - it's right across the street from Winnipeg's rock corner, consisting of O Calcutta and Wild Planet (rock t-shirts) and A & B Sound (the CD's themselves). Maybe those places will stay open late after the MTS Centre concerts so you can buy the band's t-shirts there at reduced prices instead of paying the inflated arena t-shirt prices.
As far as downtown revitalization goes, we do need people living downtown - how about tearing down most buildings bounded by Portage, Garry, Graham, and Smith, plus the empty buildings on the north side of Portage just north of that block (where Records on Wheels and the first Musiplex used to be) and putting up highrises and condos there? It's mostly old junk in that block. And get rid of the St. Regis Hotel and the derilicts that hang out there, too.
That's a perfect block for people to live in - everything's within walking distance. Shopping to the left (Portage Place), the arena to the left, and nightclubs and the Exchange District to the north (and the walk isn't long). Plus financial stuff to the right at Portage & Main. Why doesn't anyone think of that?
The new arena in Winnipeg, the MTS Centre, will be opening up this fall. Let's talk about parking and other issues surrounding it, shall we?
My main concern regarding parking would be in the winter, I guess, when it's -30 out and you park your car outdoors somewhere and you go from the arena event to a nearby bar or lounge and stay there until 2:00 a.m. Then you've left your car outside unplugged for 6 hours, which means you may need a boost. (Well, my car won't, but cars I used to own would.) At least with Winnipeg Arena, you're definitely starting your car after the event is over.
Plus if you do that, you have to be aware of when you can and can't retreive your car from indoor parking garages (year-round). If they're closed by the time you leave the nightclub you're at in the wee hours, then you're out of luck until next morning. That means those garages are off limits to you and your plans. You'll have to do your legwork ahead of time to learn which places aren't an option for you to park in.
Personally, I'm in Osborne Village, so it may be easy for me to take a quick bus home and get in my car there (i.e. free parking) and head off to a club afterward. Or just walk, if a great rock show is at The Zoo. So I'm a bit prejudiced.
I think the Eaton's site is a great site for a new arena - it's right across the street from Winnipeg's rock corner, consisting of O Calcutta and Wild Planet (rock t-shirts) and A & B Sound (the CD's themselves). Maybe those places will stay open late after the MTS Centre concerts so you can buy the band's t-shirts there at reduced prices instead of paying the inflated arena t-shirt prices.
As far as downtown revitalization goes, we do need people living downtown - how about tearing down most buildings bounded by Portage, Garry, Graham, and Smith, plus the empty buildings on the north side of Portage just north of that block (where Records on Wheels and the first Musiplex used to be) and putting up highrises and condos there? It's mostly old junk in that block. And get rid of the St. Regis Hotel and the derilicts that hang out there, too.
That's a perfect block for people to live in - everything's within walking distance. Shopping to the left (Portage Place), the arena to the left, and nightclubs and the Exchange District to the north (and the walk isn't long). Plus financial stuff to the right at Portage & Main. Why doesn't anyone think of that?
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