Mixed Emotions...

 "You're not the only one, with mixed emotions..."--The Rolling Stones, 1989.

Good morning, everyone. This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for most everyone between the ages of 45-60, or the GenX generation. I mean life in and of itself is a rollercoaster, but this week, man. 

For me personally, I've experienced the highest of highs on a personal level; when the youngest child of your love interest (who you've never met before) runs up and gives you a hug, you know that you are a hero in someone's life. That made me week, especially since my own daughter when she was younger didn't give me a hug when I left Virginia to go back to Florida. So, I felt rather special.

And I've felt the lowest of lows along with everyone else, and man was it low. Three legends we grew up with gone in one week. As Ginger the GenX DJ (go give her a follow on TikTok) so duly pointed out in her latest post on Facebook, we (GenX) are not okay, but we will be. She also mentioned in said post that these (deaths) come in threes. However, there were more than three, because in addition to Malcolm Jamal Warner, Ozzy Osbourne, and Hulk Hogan, who are the focus of this blog entry, we also lost Chuck Mangione, Connie Francis, Anne Burrel, and one of the founding members of the band Golden Earring ("Radar Love", "Twilight Zone"). 

This gives me flashbacks to 2016, when it seemed like everybody that we grew up admiring back then died as well. Prince, David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, just to name a few. But this week really hit home, especially as a fan of rock music and pro wrestling.

First, we start off with Malcolm Jamal Warner, who many of us remember from his role as Theo Huxtable on "The Cosby Show." Warner tragically drowned in Costa Rica early this week at the age of 54. I didn't regularly watch Cosby, but I remember two scenes that stick out. One being the argument that Theo had with Cliff Huxtable in which Cliff told Theo, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!" and the one scene where Cliff gets pelted with snowballs as he's about the enter his house much to the delight of Theo and his friend (I don't remember his name).

Then there's Ozzy. We all know he was on his last legs to begin with, but it doesn't make the pain of his loss any less. His actual goodbye to us was his charity concert in his hometown of Birmingham, England at the stadium of his favorite soccer club (Aston Villa) and was that ever emotional. I've had "Mama, I'm Coming Home" playing in my head all week. Growing up in the predominantly Christian south (at the time), I originally thought as a kid that Ozzy's music was for the devil, and I avoided it at all costs, but as I grew older and much less naive, I started to appreciate his music more and more. His TV show "The Osbournes" showed his as a family man and launched him into the mainstream in my mind. There isn't enough that can be said about Ozzy, because words alone would not do him any justice. His death is about as hard-hitting to the music industry as those of Elvis, Michael Jackson, and John Lennon, and it leaves a gaping hole in pop culture.

Speaking of leaving a gaping hole in pop culture, let me tell ya something brother! Hulk Hogan suddenly passed yesterday in Clearwater at the age of 71. It was he more than anything that helped put Tampa Bay on the map being that he called this area home for most of his life. Much like Ozzy, words cannot merely express how important he was in his particular field of work. Ozzy helped shape heavy metal, Hulk helped shape professional wrestling. He helped launch wrestling into the mainstream of American society. From WWE to his role as Thunderlips in Rocky III to his reality show "Hogan Knows Best," Hogan was a consummate professional. Plus, he was a huge fan of the Bucs, Rays, and Lightning. The last decade of his life however was shrouded in controversy and a fall from grace of sorts. However, he turned his life around in the past 12 months and, polarizing as he may have been recently, will leave an indelible mark in the realm of sports entertainment.

Two other things happened this week that sort of tie in together, and that's Paramount's sudden cancellation of Stephen Colbert and the premier of South Park. I'm going to have to write a separate post concerning those two, but oh is the right going cuckoo for cocoa puffs about it. In short, make it make sense, CBS.

But that's for my next entry. I may also do a flashback entry as well sometime over the weekend since I'm not going anywhere. Until then, take care.

Bonyscribe

Total Eclipse Of The Scribe...

 Hello, hope you're all having a good week. A lot has happened so far this week, most notably the total solar eclipse that occurred on Monday. I missed the one in 2017; I was in the hospital because I had suffered my stroke just days beforehand. This one I had the privilege of sitting outside for, and I got a "picture" of the sun just as the moon passed over it:

I caught it off a reflection off my camera phone through the sunroof of the kitchen in my house. I wanted to try to get a better shot during the peak of the eclipse, which just shy of 60% here in the northern reaches of Tampa Bay, but my elder sister (who can be somewhat overprotective like my late oldest sister, just less annoying and petty) decided to hang out to smoke, so I couldn't really do that. But, I did notice the sky get a little darker, and the surroundings not as bright as they normally would on a clear spring day down here. And no, nothing monumental happened, like a rapture or the Apocolypse. I swear some people take things like an eclipse and overthink it, or what I called it in the Navy, "nuke it out." What's that? You mean "the rapture" will allegedly take place in a couple of weeks? Okay (makes cuckoo gesture).

I Like It When I'm Right...Sometimes.

Also on Monday, the college basketball national championship took place, and as I told you on this very blog a couple of weeks ago, Connecticut took it all, dominating every game they played in the tournament. They're the first to repeat since Florida in 2006-07 and have solidified themselves as one of college basketball's bluebloods. Now if only the ACC allowed them in several years ago. Speaking of the ACC, what a run by the NC State Wolfpack! They came up short against Purdue, but still, a magical run for what some college basketball fans as the third wheel in the three-team rivalry in the Raleigh-Durham area. Speaking of which, Duke appears to be the way too early favorite for next year, but don't be too surprised if UConn pulls off the threepeat, which I believe has only been done by UCLA.

Pro Wrestling Is Back!

For those of us who love the "sport" known as professional wrestling (like me), that particular term is back in the WWE. In the past generation, such a term was taboo in the powers that be (Vince McMahon) of the WWE, but since he's gone (and there's more beer for us) the term "Sports entertainment" has been put on indefinite hiatus, and "professional wrestling" is back. And did it come back with flair (WHOOOOOOO)! WrestleMania 40 this past weekend from Philadelphia was arguably the best WM of all time, carried by an outstanding program on Sunday. Cody Rhodes finished the story, ending Roman Reigns' 1,316-day reign as WWE Undisputed Champion. It was an emotional victory, heck I even cried after he won; Dusty Rhodes (his late father) was my favorite wrestler as a kid. In fact, the last two times I shed tears was over wrestling; Sting's final match a month ago being the other. You could hear the emotion in ring announcer Samantha Irvin's (who by the way, shot to superstardom) voice. All the babyfaces celebrated in the ring. It was quite the moment. 

The same cannot be said about the company he helped found, All Elite Wrestling. Last night on their weekly Dynamite program, footage aired of an incident involving former talents CM Punk (who was promptly scooped up by WWE after his ouster) and Jack Perry (who's working in New Japan Pro Wrestling) at 2023's All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, in which the latter goaded the former into a brawl. Punk on a podcast had some not-so-flattering things to say about his former employer, or his boss, Tony Khan. Turns out, Punk was speaking the truth, and in doing so, made Khan look like an idiot. There's one GIF that encapsulates the decision by Khan to air the footage, if you know, you know:

Tuesday Was A Good Day

Tuesday was my first day out since the disaster of last month, and it went well. I only drank water, but did have one shot of Fireball, and it didn't taste well. So, I promptly abandoned that idea, even though I made a toast to myself saying, "here's to someone else's bad decision with one of my own." I think you may know who I'm referring to there. I won't get into what was discussed, but I left 1) sober and 2) feeling much better about things. Afterwards, I went to Cracker Barrel to have lunch, and on the way there, I noticed a siren coming down US 19. However, it wasn't an ambulance, police, or sheriff's deputy. It was a truck for the US Forestry Service. I've never known Forest Trucks to carry sirens on them, but I guess they're allowed to, even though there wasn't a forest fire in the area; it was a hauler carrying two trucks. I have no clue as to why they were travelling on US 19 either, as Ocala National Forest is nowhere near that road, unless it was coming from the Panhandle (Apalachicola Forest). Rather curious to me. Anyway, I had a nice dinner a Cracker Barrel and an even nicer rest afterwards. Now, I'm back to burning the midnight oil again. I guess I'll never learn.

Coming Up

Tomorrow, I should have my flashback feature for y'all, even though I haven't rolled my D20 die to determine which year I will choose. This weekend is also The Masters golf tournament (yawn), and at the beginning of next week, my one sister turns (gasp) 70. Plenty to look forward to this weekend and beyond. So, until tomorrow, I hope, take care.

Bony Scribe 

Some Things I'm Thankful For, Some Things I'm Not, Plus Other Stuff...

 Hello again, everyone. With the Thanksgiving holiday now behind us, it's always a good time to celebrate what we're thankful for. In my case, there are many things, like having two loving sisters, living where it doesn't get too cold, still having working fingers to type this with, as well as having someone special in my life (love you, Sammy). That reminds me, I have to figure out what I'm getting her for Christmas... 

Other things I'm thankful for include McDonald's fries, Jardiance, Prozac, NFL RedZone, and I guess Fireball, although I limit that to once a month, and NEVER with medication. Oh, and CM Punk returning to WWE...more on that in a jiffy...

However, there are other things that I (and I imagine many others) aren't as thankful for. So, I thought I would write what I'm not thankful for in this entry.

One is Elon Musk, who turned my favorite social media application into more of a cesspool of hate and division than it was before he took over as boss. Free speech on that platform? Pfft. More like hate speech full of antisemitic trolls and election deniers. Oh, and photos on X (that's another thing he did, he killed the bird and destroyed Twitter!) now show him as a guest of Benjamin Netanyahu, who in my opinion, isn't helping the current situation in the Middle East right now: hell, he's probably making it worse. But that's an entirely different topic that I may or may not discuss in a future entry. I never thought that we'd be living amongst a real-life version of Lex Luthor, but here we are.

"It's still Twitter to me, dammit!"

Another thing I'm not very thankful for is the mainstream media. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. All three are doing or have done their part in sowing the seeds of misinformation and sometimes downright propaganda here in the United States. It's ridiculous. CNN wants to watch the world burn it seems. MSNBC wants to push an extreme left-wing narrative, and Fox wants to push an extreme right-wing narrative. And you wonder why more young people get their news from frigging TikTok? What happened to "just the facts, ma'am (man)?" 

My distrust in the media began when I would listen to the local "news" station in Tampa (WFLA-AM). I quickly noticed that all their programming was decidedly right-leaning. Maybe I should have listened to NPR more often as I grew older. But when Sean Hannity is openly calling for voters to vote Republican, that's where I draw the line, because my philosophy was that news media should be unbiased and impartial. Oh, was I wrong (and probably naive). After 2016, I basically swore off terrestrial radio as result, and after now, I should swear off all news media.

Another thing, the fact that pretty much everything is a damned advertisement nowadays. You go watch a video on YouTube? You have to watch umpteen ads before you can watch, and during the video. Play a game on your phone? It's interrupted by an ad while you're playing the game, most likely for games that promise a huge payout but don't really do squat. Twixxer and Facebook? Ads intertwined between posts. Seriously, could we give it a rest? I'm now seeing those annoying car insurance ads on my phone. What's next, an ad for Rinvoc (CHECK!) or Skrizi (and that stupid jingle)?

Okay, enough ranting, let's talk about things I saw or observed over the weekend. First off, hell froze over. Honestly, I didn't really see it coming, but I kinda did because of where Survivor Series took place (Rosemont, IL). And man, some of the talent was not happy about it. In fact, I don't have footage obviously, but here is what I imagine Seth Rollins' reaction to the return of CM Punk was like. 

Can't wait for Raw tonight from Nashville, 8ET on USA Network.

Oh, and how about the insane ending to the Iron Bowl on Saturday night? I guess you could say that made up for the Kick Six from Chris Davis a decade earlier. But I thought for sure Alabama was going to fall short and create potential chaos in the CFB playoff. 

Then on Sunday, Jalen Hurts pulled a similar play to give Philadelphia the lead in their game against Buffalo, which he Eagles won it overtime. 

By the way, is it just me, or do the Eagles Kelly green helmets and uniforms look lighter than the ones they wore from the 70s to the mid 90s?

I mean, it just looks a lot lighter nowadays than in years past, but then again, maybe kelly green wasn't available as a helmet color option even a quarter of a century ago...

Well, I may as well wrap this entry up. I have some errands to go run for my sisters. I'll be back with more later this week. Until then take care and stay warm back home!

Bony Scribe

A Big Loss For Gen X, Plus Other Stuff...

 Good early morning, everyone. As most everyone knows by now, Generation X lost a true icon this week. Paul Reubens, the man behind Pee-Wee Herman, lost a private battle with cancer this week at the age of 70. I never truly realized he was that old, but then again, the character's childlike, playful demeanor really hid that well. All over Facebook this week, tributes for Pee-Wee have been pouring in from all over. From fellow actors, to writes, and other contributors to the acting profession. Most of who were born in the latter part of our generation virtually grew up with him, and although he was disgraced after a police raid on an adult movie theater (thanks a lot, Sarasota, Florida PD 😒) and hid from the public spotlight for awhile, we'll always have Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Oh, one other thing, fuck cancer. We'll miss you, Mr. Reubens.

Photo by: Gage Skidmore

Really, WWE? 

Summerslam comes this weekend from Detroit, but it will be without one feature match. Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus, despite months of buildup, will not take place at Summerslam but on the ensuing episode of Raw instead. The article also states that the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is saying another Women's title match (Rhea Ripley vs. Racquel Rodriguez) may not happen for the same reason; not enough time. Really, WWE? What's that time being used for exactly, Roman Reigns unusually long ring intro for the main event of the show?  Something tells me this wreaks of Vince McMahon getting his grubby hands on it as usual, but allegedly he's on bed rest for back surgery, even though that isn't the worst of his problems right now.

McMahon doing his best Snidely Whiplash cosplay.

Why Don't (You) Get Drunk And Screw (Yourself)?

As some of you know, my early years were spent in the Pine Hills area of Orlando, which is now an incorporated community. As of writing of this blog, residents there are not happy. Pine Hills is a predominantly black community, although it wasn't so much back in the early 80's. So why the need for so damn many liquor stores there? FOURTEEN?! I mean, the community is still reeling from a fatal shooting back in February, and someone wants to put up another business that will only bring Pine Hills further down the spiral of despair. I don't blame these residents at all, when is enough going to be enough?

That's all I have for early this morning. I hopefully will be back later on with a Flashback. Until then, take care. 

BS