End of June

Yo!

I really can't believe the last day of June is tomorrow.  The first half of 2021 has just rocketed right by, whereas it seems 2020 dragged endlessly.  We are still feeling the effects of the pandemic, in different ways now.  Maine will end it's State of Emergency tomorrow, June 30th, the US/Canada Border is still closed to non essential travel, and my AEW Dynamite show has been pushed back fourth time to October 27, 2021 more than 18 months after it was originally supposed to happen!

I had a busy week last week, they've all been busy with my new position at work.  I'm not complaining, mind you, because this is what I wanted I'm just still adjusting to everything.  I went to two live wrestling shows last week, Friday & Saturday and they were both excellent.  Friday was the Limitless Dojo Student Showcase and Saturday was the return of a full Limitless show.  I shed tears twice Saturday night because of the rasslins.

My buddy Brandon started a new short from podcast Break Time With Brandon which you can find on Spotify and soon other platforms.  The episodes are short, about 10 minutes each, and it's him reflecting on his thoughts.  A recent episode he talks about the time he was driving over the mountains through the night and lost cell reception so his stream stopped.  He turn on the radio and discovered Coast to Coast, and not to my surprise, he loved it.  

It got me thinking back to my early days of dispatching at the city of Augusta in 2001 - 2003.  At that time we didn't have cell phones, tablets, or any electronic devices, hell we didn't have a TV or even internet on the computers in the center, it wasn't secure.  I was assigned to the midnight shift and from midnight to 630am I was all alone in the center.  All I had was a radio and used to listen to Coast to Coast every night.

I first discovered Coast to Coast in 1996 when I was in high school and worked the overnight at the gas station in the travel plaza on the Maine Turnpike.  I listened to it occasionally over the years after that but it was while working those early dispatch years that I became a regular.

For those that don't know, Coast to Coast is a late night talk show style format with guests and listeners calling in, but the topics are paranormal and conspiracy based.  Another cool aspect about the show that I dug for another reason was the opening theme was the song "The Chase" from the soundtrack to the movie Midnight Express, which also was the theme song used by one of the greatest wrestling tag teams of all time, The Midnight Express.

I have listened to Coast to Coast occasionally since then, they have a podcast version of the show, but it's not complete episodes unless you want to pay a monthly subscription fee.  

Until Next Time!

I've Been Busy

 Holy cow what a busy month it has been for me.  I've had so much going on at work with busy days, working overtime on the floor, driving 200 miles one way to conduct interviews for an operations manager at the Houlton center.  Driving back the next day after interviews, getting home late, and then driving back up to Medway, about an hour south of Houlton, for a weekend of camping.

We had an awesome weekend with our friends The Brown's, and their daughter who is 5 months younger than Wesley.  We went to Pine Grove Campground and each rented a cottage.  We had some great pizza, lots of camp fires, and lots of relaxation.  The weather was perfect!!

I haven't had much time to watch TV, but then again there is really nothing on that I want to watch.  I was really enjoying Jupiter's Legacy, but then it was cancelled.  I know they are doing another Millarworld show on Netflix, Supervillians, it annoys me that they cancelled this especially as they had a dick move cliffhanger ending. Other than the new Loki show I'm not enjoying a whole lot right now.

Next month I'm taking my son to  New Hampshire for the Cup race, he's all about NASCAR right now and this will be his first big race.  I've gone to about a half dozen in the past myself.   My dad is going as well, so it'll be a fun day at the racetrack. 

I bought my wife and I front row center tickets to "Friends: The Musical Parody" for this November at the State Theatre in Portland.  Should be a fun time, my wife loves her some Friends. I need to find something to do with my daughter this summer. 

I've got two concerts in August and AEW in Boston in September from last year that were rescheduled for this year.  Guns n' Roses at Fenway and Kiss in Bangor!

Well I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed, later.

Until Next Time!

May Movies

It wasn't a great month for movies for me.  Not only didn't I only watch a few, but what I did watch, for the most part, wasn't that great. 

Possessor - Brandon Cronenberg flick that is just as odd and peculiar as his fathers movies can be.  I really can't recommend this movie. 

Afflicted - Found footage style flick from 2014 that I can give a strong recommend for.  Don't read the spoilers or the Wikipedia, just go watch the flick. 

Greyhound - This is an Apple plus original film. I've wanted to watch since I heard about it but we didn't have the service, however my wife recently bought a new Macbook and got a free year of Apple plus.  Fantastic flick that is legit nonstop from beginning to end.

Tom Clancy Without Remorse - Amazon original starring Michael B. Jordan as John Clark.  It was a solid movie but nothing spectacular.  A sequel "Rainbow Six" was announced at the same time as this film. 

Desperado - Robert Rodriguez flick that I loved in my younger years, but doesn't hold up for me. 

The Marksmen - Liam Neeson flick that isn't very good.  

The Goonies - Family movie night, always solid, always awesome!!

Those Who Wish Me Dead - HBOMax release starring Angelina Jolie, I'm not much of a fan of hers, but I really liked this movie even though I wasn't expecting too. 

Rambo: Last Blood uncut - Watched this on Prime, I've seen it before, heck I own, it.  It wasn't really a Rambo movie to me as he's in Arizona and Mexico, not the Jungles we are used to seeing Rambo in.  Part 4 was better. 

Spiral - The latest movie in the Saw franchise.  I saw this in the theater, my first movie in a theater since February 2020.  Chris Rock is a comedic actor, his voice is made for it, not a serious role.  I didn't hate the movie, but I didn't love it.  

Army of the Dead - Long ass Zack Snyder Netflix original.  I actually really enjoyed it, but it's not one I care to watch again. 

Until Next Time!

Friday Night Paralysis

Another Friday night and another bout of paralysis of choice.  It's getting really old, the day goes well and then when the evening rolls around I just can't decide what I want to watch.  Tonight I was going to throw on the new Army of The Dead flick and then go to bed, but it's 2.5 hours long!  I was thinking maybe 90 minutes, but I just can't do longer than that. 

This has been happening more and more lately and I just can't seem to overcome it no matter what I try to do to prevent it from happening.

I put on the first episode of Solos, the Amazon Original series when I started this post and it's actually quite interesting.  It's also only 30 minutes long, which is a nice digestible size.  I would give this first episode a hard sell to watch. 

It was good week, I love being the Operations Manager at the dispatch center.  It's really providing me was some amazing opportunities and I excited for what the future brings.  So my mornings start at 5 am when I get up and head into work, and my day ends between 3 & 4, and most nights I have things to do.  Monday, podcast, Wednesday AEW, Thursday Baseball practice.  So Friday I look forward to staying up later and watching a movie, then paralysis of choice kicks in. 

One some nights when this happened I would turn on the WWE Network and search for one of my favorite wrestlers and watch selected matches.  Well now I can't do that because the Peacock version of the WWE Network sucks so friggin bad!  It's just terrible.

I might go to the movie theater for the first time in over a year because I want to see Spiral and none of the drive ins are showing it.  I've seen every Saw franchise movie in the theaters and I really want to see this one. 

I guess I should head off to bed for the night. 

Until Next Time!

Mid May

It's a 11pm on Saturday night and I'm watching that new flick Those Who Wish Me Dead On HBO Max and it's really good.  I'm actually very surprised because I'm not a big Angelina Jolie fan and she is the lead actress in the film.

It's been an interesting first half of a May, I officially announced my book Limitless Wrestling: The First Five Years available on Amazon and at one point it was ranked number 3 in Wrestling books and was listed as an Amazon best seller.  As of right now it ranks 261, but it was a good couple of days.  I never in my life thought I'd have a book that accomplished this.   

We have managed to go on a couple nice walks the last couple of weekends, including taking the family to New Hampshire on Mother's Day to get my wife La Festa Pizza.  

Work has been going exceptionally well.  I've learned a lot about my new job, and I've had to deal with a lot of stressful things, but it's going well.

Wesley had his first baseball game of the season today, we have only had two practices to date.  It's rookie ball so it's a step above t-ball, but it's mostly just the kids going through the motions of playing until they get to the minors when they play an actual game with outs and runs.  

I've been enjoying season 1 of Grimm in Amazon Prime.  I really liked the seasons 1 - 3, I wasn't a big fan of 4 & 5, but they finished strong with season 6.  

Until Next Time!

It's Just A Haircut But It's Not

For the last 19 years I have gotten my haircut by Julie at Dom's Barber Shop in Hallowell, Maine.  My oldest son Canaan, 15, and youngest son Wesley, 6, have only had their haircut there by Julie.  She has changed her working hours to Monday - Friday 830 am - 3 pm and my work hours being the same days and 7 am to 3 or 4 pm I simply can't go.  Not to mention the boys get out of school at 2 and 3 pm.

When I was a kid my Dad always took me to the same place for years and then as I got older I went to a few different places until I found Julie at Dom's.  She does an awesome job, she has always been great to me and the boys and I hate the fact that I have to find someone new.

So I did a google search for barber shops in the area and there are several but not many reviews or websites with information on them.  Penny's Barber Shop in Augusta with specializes in men's haircuts touts themselves as an old school Barber shop.  They have four barbers and take appointments only, I'm not sure if that's because of covid or their normal routine.

I made an appointment for today, May 4th, and it was with Penny.  The place was very nice, very clean and everyone was very friendly.  I told her what I normally get and she said no problem and got to cutting.  I think it looks real nice, my wife does as well.  After she was done she used hot lather on my neck, above my ears, in my hard part and near my hairline and cleaned everything up with a straight razor.  After she took a hot towel to my head with a quick scalp massage with the towel, I liked this because it helped clean up a lot of the little hairs that would otherwise be all over your head. 

Dom's has never done the hot lather on me, but I remember it seeing it when my Dad was getting his haircut when I was a kid.   

It cost $18 for a haircut, other services were extra, like a beard trim was $6 I believe.  They also do shaves, a beard trim with shave and more.  

I'm definitely not crossing Penney's off the list but in a few weeks I'll get my haircut at another place and keep going until I find who I'm looking for.

Until Next Time!  

April Movies

April Movies

Godzilla vs. Kong - An HBOMax and theater same day release.  I thought it was a decent flick, they definitely painted Kong as the babyface and Godzilla as the heel.  It seems like this is going to be the last of the Monsterverse flicks. 

Unhinged - I saw this movie in the Redbox for the last couple months and was tempted several times to rent it, even though I had never seen the trailer.  My buddy Brandon watched this and loved it, then it became available as part of Amazon Prime.  I watched it and holy cow what an amazing and intense film! 

Death Wish (1974) - The original Fatherly revenge flick starring Charles Bronson.  I'd never seen this before, I have no interest in watching it or any of it's sequels. 

The Orange Years - Documentary on Hulu about the rise of Nickelodeon.  Full post about it here.

Nobody - Paul and I got this on VUDU home theater release.  Really fun, really violent comedy about a guy trying to live a normal life but his past sneaks up on him to, again violent and hilarious consequences.

Downtown - Released in 1990 my brother and I taped this off of HBO and watched it numerous times. I haven't seen it in well over 20 years and got the urge recently to watch it.  I was surprised to find that although it was released on DVD in the early 2000's it was short run and copies are going for over $40.  So I bought it on VHS for $2 and really enjoyed the hell out of the movie!

The Raid: Redemption - Iko Uwais vehicle written & directed by Gareth Evans, in Indonesian it is a spectacular Martial Arts flick that is quite violent and I love it!

The Raid 2 - Also written and directed by Evans and starring Uwais, I know I've watched this when it came out but I had almost no memory of it. This is an amazing Martial Arts film, perhaps even the one of the best all time.  After watching the kitchen fight scene near the end, there is no way I watched this movie before.  I don't know why I thought I had.     

Captain America: Winter Soldier - my daughter wanted to watch this, so we did, it's still an amazing movie, one of the best in the MCU

Mortal Kombat - didn't live up to the hype to me.  Yes there are some gory kills and catch phrases from the movie.  But the story was basic and the action scenes were just okay.  

Until Next Time!