- As most of you know or can tell by the subtitle, I celebrated my 41st birthday recently. I can't believe I'm actually 41 years old because mentally and in my mind's eye I don't feel like I'm that old, but alas I am. Unlike last year I wanted to celebrate it this year. It was a pretty good celebration. On the Sunday before my actual birthday I got to go see G.I. Joe: Retaliation with my best friend Bob and then later on that evening watched Wrestlemania 29 with him and his family (more on Wrestlemania a little later). I got a really nice surprise on my birthday itself...outdoor temperatures in the 70's and sunny. After the winter we just had here in northeast Ohio, having that on my birthday was a blessing. I got to go out to one of my usual walking areas and actually enjoy the weather on my birthday. Now, a lot of you have probably noticed in the past...oh, 4 years or so that I hadn't shaved my head as much as I used to. Part of it was due to laziness on my part but most of it was because the razor I used to shave it was dying a very slow death and I couldn't find the right one to suit my head-shaving needs (I'm picky about that). On my birthday this year I finally got a razor that fit the bill for me. I'm surprised it took me this long to get another one but I finally did as a gift. More importantly, I know where to get another one in case I need another in the future. I had a good birthday this year.
- Before I move on, I want to note a few changes I'm made recently on the site. You may have noticed a few site pics changed or modified like the social media icons and the header pic but several changes are more than cosmetic. In the right column I have re-added the Paypal donation link so that anyone who wants to can help me take DJRT into the future through that. Any help I can get through that will be appreciated. I have also added searching capability to the site through the search box on the right. I have to admit it's not the most optimal but I will be searching for a better way to be able to find stuff on DJRT through that search engine and make the search box more useful for visitors to the site. The biggest change has to do with the older editions of DJRT. I cleaned some of the entries up formatting and layout-wise and changed the titles of all the editions of Random Thoughts before the 100th one from the date to the edition number like I've been doing with all of them since number 100. I've also added subtitles to those very early editions that did not have one previously. I did this to make something work on DJRT that I could not previously. It is now possible to find any particular edition of DJRT by just typing the web address (http://djsrandomthoughts.com/) in the address bar and then enter either the edition number or the subtitle of a particular edition. For example, if you wanted to find a particular numbered edition...say, the 4th one or the 54th one, for example...all you would have to do is put the number "4" after the address if you want the 4th one (http://djsrandomthoughts.com/4) or "54" if you wanted the 54th one (http://djsrandomthoughts.com/54). Let's say you wanted to find a particular subtitled edition. All you would have to do is make each subtitle one word after the address, removing any capitalizations, punctuations, and spaces in between in the subtitle. Let's use some random examples here...the "single" edition would be "http://djsrandomthoughts.com/single", the "whoa!" edition would be "http://djsrandomthoughts.com/whoa"...take note the exclamation point was removed in the address...and the "Tree Hill" edition would be "http://djsrandomthoughts.com/treehill"...note the decapitalization and removal of the space between the two words. It should be easier for you all to find any particular edition now using that method to take you to whatever you might be looking for here.
- Wrestlemania 29 for me was a two-match show, those matches being the Triple H-Brock Lesnar match and the Undertaker-CM Punk match. The rest of the card seemed to be thrown together somewhat haphazardly and the Rock-Cena title match didn't have the same magic it had for WM 28. It didn't feel as special as some of the good WMs from back in the day. The Monday Night Raw the night after was much better with Dolph Ziggler (a NE Ohio native) cashing in Money in the Bank to win the World Heavyweight Championship and the introduction of "Fandangoing" by the Jersey crowd in attendance (do a Google search to find out what that's about).
- I want to talk about an affinity I have for something that is pro wrestling-related yet not outright exclusive to pro wrestling. That affinity is for the entrances of the performers for either a match, a segment, or whatever. If you are a fan of pro wrestling you probably already know what I'm talking about. For example, when you're at a WWE event and you hear glass shattering over the loudspeakers, you know Stone Cold Steve Austin is about to come out. If you hear "If you smell...what the Rock...is cookin'!" then you know the Rock is coming out. If you hear "Are you ready?" then some version of Degeneration X is coming out. The idea of using entrance music in pro wrestling was popularized by Gorgeous George back in the old days of pro wrestling with him coming out to "Pomp & Circumstance." In the years since then, unless a wrestler was "enhancement talent" or a "jobber" (or even if they were) entrance music has been a staple for any wrestler making an entrance to do something in the arena area. Starting around the 90's, WWE and WCW started using accompanying video, pyrotechnic fireworks commonly known as "pyro" and different forms of lighting in association with particular entrances. In the early 2000's, WWE started using TV effects for entrances like those for DX and the WWE version of the NWO. On top of that, in many instances performers play to the crowd with gestures or doing something that brings attention to them or makes them appear larger than life. I've seen gymnastics, dancing, flipping people off, crotch chops, slapping hands with fans...there's a lot I've seen with entrances. In the old ECW, when the tag team the Gangstas hit the ring their entrance music "Natural Born Killas" would continue into the first part of their matches and confrontations. Like I implied earlier, it's not limited to pro wrestling. I once saw a boxer use a "Phantom of the Opera" motif, playing a piano and wearing a Phantom-inspired outfit complete with mask before taking that stuff off and coming to the ring. I thought that was a pretty ingenious entrance. Ever since I started following pro wrestling I've always been intrigued and drawn to the aspects involved with performers' entrances and wish I would see some of those types of entrances elsewhere...say an MTV award show or something along those line. If you watched the Dolph Ziggler "Money in the Bank" cash-in, when his music hit the crowd absolutely erupted. That's the kind of impression that the anticipation and the surprise that comes with such entrances can make and it always has the potential to amaze me. It's one of the things that keeps me hooked on pro wrestling especially at times when the wresting or storylines themselves bored the heck out of me (I think of some of WCW's last couple years as an example of that). This type of stuff has inspired me in ways I cannot describe right now as it might for some of you out there, but maybe someday you all will be able to see some of my own creativity inspired by my interest in flashy and splashy entrances...I'm not going to say where or when, but maybe someday...
- 2013 is the year for big-time coaching changes in Cleveland. The longest current tenure of any coach is the MLB Cleveland Indians' Terry Francona who's coaching tenure is all of three weeks old. The Browns now have their old offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski as the head coach and the Cavaliers fired Byron Scott last week (he was a good individual players' coach but never seemed to be able to put the pieces together to make a passible team out of those players). Cleveland is no stranger to such changes but it's rare when they happen all at one time.
- Speaking of the Browns, the NFL is coming up in a few days. In terms of the Browns' draft needs, I think one of them regarding new owner Jimmy Haslem would for lawyers for the defense, if you know what I mean. On a serious note, I don't have any idea who they are going to draft or what they will be doing during the draft, the first time since the old team moved to Baltimore that I don't have any expectations on what to expect at this point. I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see what happens this year. The only thing I've got a feeling about is that I'm going to be surprised one way or another.
- Song on Repeat: "Breakdown" by Fu Schnickens. You may have heard of this group through their association with Shaquille O'Neal back in the day. It's an old song that if I ever did anything that required entrance music, there are two versions of this song that I've thought about using. Maybe I can import it for a future wrestling game...hmmmm...
- Shoutouts: Debbie, Stacey, Dave, Cheryl, Bob, Lynn, Jenny K., Art, George, Carl, Maggie, Griff, Tony C., Kristin, Diane, Aunt Sue, Terry, Tom R., Cory, James P., Ron, Teresa, Ernest, Heather H., and everybody who wished me a Happy Birthday (there's just too many people to list for that alone)
That's it for this edition. Before I go, I want to say a prayer for fellow alt football enthusiast and former UFL online guru Nation Hahn and his wife Jamie. They were both brutally attacked last night apparently by someone they were close to and Jamie is currently in critical condition. I think they would appreciate any prayers and/or thoughts sent their way as they deal with all this. It's just sad to even contemplate something like that and I feel for them. Until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
