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Ok, I must admit, although I really can’t stand Jimmy Fallon (he’s actually growing on me- gasp!) I gotta give him props for featuring my man Geoff Johns in a skit taped at the San Diego Comic Con. Johns is the former writer of “JSA” (more on that later) and “Action Comics” and is currently doing some of the best comic book writing ever with “Green Lantern,” “Flash: Rebirth,” and “Blackest Night” (more on that later as well.)

It’s a stupid skit, but if it’s got Geoff, I’m for it. You can watch it here and read about it here.

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Last night I went to see The Wallflowers at the Pageant in St. Louis. It was a really fun show. I’m a sucker for straight-up rock and roll, something there just isn’t enough of anymore. It’s around, but you have to look hard to find it.

Of course I’m a big fan of his daddy, but I’ve really liked Jakob’s stuff, which I probably would whether or not I loved the big D so much. I bought the Wallflowers’ debut album in 1992 (which, contrary to popular belief, was not “Bringing Down the Horse”) after reading about an article about Bobby’s son fronting his own band. The Wallflowers’ self-titled debut is a great album and is unjustly overlooked in the band’s history.

Of course “Horse” is a classic. Just a fantastic record from top to bottom. The rest of their catalog has had good and bad moments, but they’re consistent in good singer-songwriter quality. Unfortunately they can just never seem to get outside the box. Last year, Jakob released a solo acoustic album, and while it was a step in the right direction, I think he could do quite a bit more with a band if he didn’t keep going back to the well to try to get a hit.

The show last night was a good example of the talent that is there. Jakob is the only original member left of the band, although bassist Greg Richling has been around for almost 15 years. It’s fairly clear the band is about him. And the songs hold up in spite of that. Jakob took a few pages from papa’s playbook by messing with his vocal delivery and completely re-arranging several of the songs.

All in all it was a great night, a lot of fun. There was a wildly diverse crowd of all ages, which made for a mixed response of sitting and listening and dancing in front (noted by Jakob from the stage,) but part of that was the band. They chose to mellow out quite a bit of the time instead of putting it into high gear. One of the best parts of the show was revisiting songs from “Red Letter Days” and “Rebel, Sweetheart” that I had just given a cursory listen to, which now stood out in a live setting. In particular, “Rebel’s” “Nearly Beloved” and “Red’s” “Everything I Need.”

Here’s a good review of the show from the Riverfront Times, with set list.

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A friend of mine posted a link on her Facebook page of a guy who’s completely “tweeting” his first novel online.

I think he’s pretty much just doing this for publicity, which has worked. There are a couple of articles about it here and here and a column by the author, Matt Stewart, here on why he is doing it.

I admire the exposure angle of it, since it’s become increasingly hard for the printed word to get noticed in our new electronic world. What I’ve read of the “tweets” looks pretty good, but I would only buy it or read the entire thing the good old fashioned way.

Personally, I hate Twitter. I like texting, because it’s quick, easy convenient interaction. And it’s a two way street. Twittering is just a statement. I don’t care if Ashton Kutcher is going to the bathroom or whatever he happens to be doing or wants to say at the moment. Really, there’s nobody important enough to make statements on a whim that I will care about. It’s a lot like blogging.

It’s kind of a commentary on interaction in our culture. Although technology has allowed us all these different ways of communication, it’s enabled us to become more isolated. You can sit at home and never have to leave- talking to people through cams, even ordering your food online.

We’ve gone from written letters and postcards to e-mails, texting, twittering and Facebook statuses. All the while the number of words we use to express ourselves is less and less and we’re more and more losing our ability to communicate with more than just 140 characters.

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On my vacation earlier this month, I went to San Diego. Unfortunately, I missed the San Diego Comic-Con by about three weeks. Those of us who are not fortunate enough to get in on the action in person can still keep up with it online at some great comic book sites. Here are links to their dedicated pages covering all the scoops and cool stuff from the con:

Newsarama

IGN

Comic Book Resources

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Ok, ok. By “pop”ular demand, I’m back posting again. So expect much much goodness soon. Thanks for all of you (well, just one person) who wondered what’s been going on in this tiny corner of the web.

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One of my favorite blogs is USA Today’s “Pop Candy.” I steal my best stuff from there. Anyways, I saw this video in a post on there and thought it was hysterical, so I had to post it here.

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Judith Evans of The Southern’s sister paper, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, just posted this on their website:

“Here’s an update for ‘Top Chef’ fans from Sandra Zak, Soulard Market master:

Bravo’s “Top Chef: The Tour 2,” a nationwide 21-city promotional tour featuring a brand new state-of-the-art customized traveling 18-wheeler semi-truck, with an expansive space to accommodate more fans for each on-site demonstration, will visit St. Louis, MO on May 27. Bravo and Charter will bring “Top Chef” passionate fans the ultimate culinary experience, complete with cooking demonstrations and food tastings hosted by former Season Four Top Chef Stephanie Izard and Season Three chef’testant Dale Levitski. The event will take place at the Soulard Farmers Market Plaza at Lafayette Street from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. “Top Chef: The Tour 2″ is sponsored by Quaker. To learn more about “Top Chef: The Tour 2″ visit www.bravotv.com/thetour.

The St. Louis stop is not yet listed on the website, but keep checking. Tickets are free, and once they are available, they will go quickly.”

Sounds awesome, although I haven’t see those seasons. It’s be more fun if these guys were there:

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While we’re all waiting for awesomeness that will be “The Hobbit” to start filming (c’mon, Guillermo Del Toro will make Peter Jackson look like George Lucas,) those of you who are fans of “Lord of the Rings,” will get something that may or may not whet your appetite.

I read about this on “Pop Candy,” and I watched the trailers, and it actually looks really cool. Heck, for a homemade “fan” movie, it makes Kevin Smith look like George Lucas. “The Hunt for Gollum” is an “unofficial” fan film shot not for profit and will debut May 3 here.

To read more about the production, visit their official website here.

Here are the trailers:

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Anyone who regularly reads this blog knows I am a wrestling fan. As a bonding experience, my father and I regularly sit down on Monday nights to watch WWE’s Raw and he and my cousins and I went in together last Sunday to watch Wrestlemania.

One of my co-workers, The Southern’s Adam Testa is also a wrestling fan, and out of his nerdiness and propensity to frequent wrestling blogs and shill for TNA, he received an advance copy of their new DVD on Jeff Jarrett.

I will refrain from giving my commentary on the TNA product and present his review in its entirety:

“Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain”

Documentary: 4/5
Match Selection: 4.5/5
Organization: 3.5/5
Appeal: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

From his attack on country music star Toby Keith at the company’s inaugural pay-per-view to the first match of a blood feud with Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett has had one of the most storied careers in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

And it’s a story captured on TNA’s first major biographical DVD release, “Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain,” set for release Tuesday.

The four-disc set tells the story of Jarrett’s pro wrestling career, covering his early days in regional territories, the rise and fall of World Championship Wrestling and his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Documentary

An in-depth interview with Jarrett allows viewers to also learn about the history of TNA Wrestling, the struggles of launching a new company and blending family life with running a wrestling company.

Jarrett and other TNA stars and officials pay tribute to Jarrett’s wife Jill, who died of cancer in May 2007, eight years to the day after the death of wrestler Owen Hart, a close friend of Jarrett.

Listening to Jarrett’s accounts of losing his loved wife and a dear friend, viewers feel a personal connection to the King of the Mountain one would never expect to feel through watching an televised wrestling show.

Watching Jarrett tell these stories, especially those dealing with Jill, who it’s clear he loved dearly, it’s hard to hold back emotions, leaving even grown men susceptible to tears.

Jarrett also uses the interview as a way to set the record straight on certain issues, including his departure from WWE (WWF at the time) and the famous “fishing trip” story of how TNA came to be.

And while one may expect Jarrett to take the opportunity to bash his competition, he actually has high praise for several members of the WWE roster and staff.

He tells it like it is, putting over those he finds worthy and putting down those he finds not, for example saying Chyna “didn’t know her a** from a hole in the ground” when he lost the Intercontinental Title to her in his departure match from WWF.

Match Selection

“King of the Mountain” offers a tremendous collection of nearly 30 matches, including five matches from 1986-1988.

Viewers get to see Jarrett’s first television appearance, as a referee; his second match, against Tony Falk; and bouts with Hector Guerrero, Jerry Lawler, Gary Young, and Cactus Jack.

These classic matches add a nice touch of nostalgia to the collection, but the heart and soul of the DVD comes in the matches from TNA between 2002-2008.

It all starts with a championship gauntlet to crown the NWA World Champion (a match involving Toby Keith) and ends with Jarrett’s return match against Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory IV.

But the real glory is contained in between. Matches involving A.J. Styles and Ron “The Truth” Killings top the pack, while countless other matches against the likes of Raven, Rhino, Jeff Hardy, Sting round out a nice selection of well-picked matches.

Only one match, featuring Jarrett wrestling Hacksaw Jim Duggan, seemed out of place among the quality-packed collection.

While it may seem Jarrett’s DVD would be filled with matches he won, this is not the case. There is a mixture of Jarrett wins and losses, but Jarrett looks good even in the losses.

As someone, possibly Jim Cornette, said in the documentary, Jarrett has the ability to make anyone in the ring with him look good, and this shows through in the selected matches.

Organization

TNA has adopted a organizational style for its DVDs that feature the documentary segments broken up by matches and segments.

This same system was used on the “Knocked Out” DVD, and possibly others as well.

This system has mixed advantages and disadvantages. It allows for breaks in the interview segments, which can keep the audience entertained for a more extended period.

But it also makes it difficult to quickly find a match if one just wants to watch it or show it to a friend.

The other option would be to put individual matches as separate scenes on some of the DVDs and the documentary as its own disc. Under this system, though, many people may not enjoy the entire documentary feature.

Early on, this organizational system can seem odd and even annoying, but by the end, it makes sense and is a welcome change.

If TNA can continue to tweak this system and make for more smooth transitions, they’ll be well positioned for future DVD releases.

Appeal

One of this DVD’s biggest advantages is its mass appeal, possessing the ability to attract hardcore TNA fans, casual wrestling fans yet to really discover the product, and those new to wrestling altogether.

TNA fans will appreciate the collection of great matches featuring current and past TNA superstars and learning the history of the company, if they didn’t already know or hadn’t seen “The History of TNA: Year One.”

For casual fans, this could be the attracting factor to TNA. The DVD provides a snapshot of what the company has to offer, including two of its signature matches, Lethal Lockdown and King of the Mountain.

Fans of the WWE will also see where some of their favorite superstars grew their careers or thrived in a different environment. Ron Killings dominated in TNA before heading back to the WWE and being saddled in the lower midcard as R-Truth.

New fans interested in learning wrestling have the chance to learn about TNA’s history and its product. The DVD will introduce them to many of the new (and familiar) faces they would see in TNA.

Overall

This four-disc collection has a retail price of $30, but Amazon has it discounted for $21.50. At either price, the DVD is worth a buy for casual or hardcore wrestling fans.

New fans really wanting to dive in head first would also do well to dish out the money for this collection.

The DVD provides a great story, quality matches and a sense of personal connection to Jarrett and the struggles he’s gone through in his life. Many people know the name Jeff Jarrett, but this is really a chance to meet the man himself.

Anyone who watches this DVD in its entirety will almost assuredly walk away with new-found respect for Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain, founder of TNA and 10-time world champion.

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