Scene Report: UFC on FX Live at the Target Center

UFC on FX live, Target Center, Mpls, MN, 10/5/12

There were a couple reasons I didn't want to go to this show tonight. First of all, it was a total waste of a card. Perhaps I"m spoiled because last time the UFC came through town we had GSP and Brock Lesnar on the card. Even so, I can't imagine anyone would really want to watch this on TV either. That, and I would no doubt end up being seated in front of some arm chair MMA fans (most likely from rural Wisconsin) that feel its their duty to call the fights move-for-move ("Oh half guard...oh, back the full guard...and back to the half guard...oh, almost got full mount.") and announce how they would have scored each round. ("Dude, I had that at a 10-8, bro." "Bro, are you kidding me, dude? That was totally a 10-9 round. He had cage control--come on, bro dude.") Well, I said fuck it and went for it anyway...

I grabbed an $80 ticket from a scalper for $20 and entered just before the main show on FX started. Upper deck was blocked off. Lower deck was three quarters full at best, but probably more like half full. I sat in a section where there were no idiots in front of me or behind me for several rows. They couldn't have made a lot of money on the gate. Dana was papering the show the day before at the weigh-ins, and in the days leading up to it, there were several opportunities to get free tickets around town. Lackluster enthusiasm in general. Lots and lots of booing. Say what you will about booing, but tonight I must admit--and I'm not a fan of booing fights--it seemed totally warranted. Dudes would not engage.  Even with the quick tapout in the first fight and the two knockouts later it's a more or less a shit show--shit card to begin with, followed by shit fights, equals shit show. This is something anyone could have predicted by simply reading the lineup. Lots of grumbling in audience during the whole thing, and especially on the way out. Sounded like people are pretty pissed about paying full price for it.  I would have been too. As unfortunate as it is, really the most exciting fight of the night happened in the crowd during the Ellenberger match in the section I was in. Aside from the fact that a poor gentleman of small stature got beaten bloody by two Jersey Shore-esque steroid monsters--seemingly unprovoked, I might add (wrong place, wrong time for him)--it was more action than anything on the main card. To his credit, Dana White did his best throughout the breaks (which were very, very long) to take photos and shake hands with as many fans as possible. Although it looked at times like he was more interested in chatting with Vikings defensive end Jared Allen than he was watching the fights. Who could blame him? Ronda Rousey was there too.  I'm fairly certain she and Dana are fucking.  You can tell by body language and the way the look at each other.  (If this news breaks, you heard it here first.) Overall, it was a completely underwhelming experience. Even the spectacle of live UFC couldn't save this one. It's really too bad that the UFC is so over-saturated and/or watered down that people don't get excited--even at a live event--for fights that don't feature big names.  Shit was totally lame.

-Nathan

This Is A Love Letter~The Best Of 2008!

Two and half weeks into the new year and I'm finally getting around to this. Personally, 2008 was a pretty good year. I'm not going to rehash it here; it's all in previous posts. One thing I've learned from reading other blogs (and taking advice from my own readers) is to keep it brief. Catering to short attention spans is crucial to maintaining an Internet audience. So with that, I'll just get started. By no means is this meant to be a comprehensive list. I didn't see a lot of movies this year and most of the music I bought wasn't from '08. Hell I didn't even read a book that I hadn't started the year before. Still, don't you dare, for even a second, think this is a weak list...

Best of 2008
Films
Pineapple Express...007: Quantum of Solace...In Bruges...Rambo (Panic-attack inducing gore. I suggest seeing it with a group of your buddies. And who doesn't love mercenaries?)...Slumdog Millionaire...Tell No One (US release)...The Dark Knight...Forgetting Sarah Marshall...Gran Torino (A little heavy on the racial slurs at times but all in the name of character developement.)...Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...Iron Man...Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist...The Wrestler (Best movie of the year, hands down. Rourke is back, and breaking your heart in nearly every scene.)

Pro Wrestling and MMA
The Figure Four Weekly/Wrestling Observer merger...attending the UFC live @ the Target Center...Edge & Vickie Guerrero...Faber vs. Pulver...Ric Flair retirement: match vs. Shawn Michaels @ Wrestlemania and subsequent ceremony on Raw...Knockout of the year: Rashad Evans over Chuck Liddell (Scary!)...Chris Jericho...George St. Pierre...BJ Penn...Frank Mir...Gina Carrano...Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda.

Music
Baby Guts-The Kissing Disease CD...El-P & Dizzee Rascal @ Triple Rock...Doomtree-self titled CD...Cecil Otter-Yellow Rebel CD...Jay Reatard-Singles '06-'07 ('08 release) CD...Suicidal Tendencies @ Station 4 (There was a time in my life I thought I'd never see ST. Went with my uncle. Jason, Josh, Matty and Jack were all there, as was everyone in the TC you'd expect to be there. It was like a TC punk metal scenester reunion, spanning 3 decades.)...Big Business w/Melvins encore @ Triple Rock...Jake One-White Van Music CD...Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death-Old Jail EP and Bird Songs LP (Everything they put out is just amazingly great.)...Jaguar Love-Take Me to the Sea...The Streets-Everything is Borrowed...Atmosphere-Sad Clown Bad Spring EP and When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold CD (In all actuality, probably my least favorite Atmosphere albums. One of the best albums of the year, regardless.)...Chicago Apacolypticrust Fest II...Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire-Thatcher's Children CD...Dillinger Four-C I V I L W A R CD (The D4 is the kind of punk I don't really like anymore BUT I'll never not like the D4. This album makes it easy to skip all the Midwestern copycats and stick with the real thing.)...Against Me! & Ted Leo & the Pharmacists @ First Ave...Dillinger Four's D4th of July show @ Triple Rock...The Cool Kids-That's Stupid Mixtape...Desobediencia Civil-No Hay Libertad Sin Desobediencia CD (Actually an '07 release but I didn't get it until this year. It's so good, it would be a shame not to make the list.)...Beastie Boys @ Roy Wilkin's Auditorium (Greatest band in the world. Period.)

Miscellaneous
Art: Sword & Gnome show @ the Back Alley Gallery, No Easy Explanation: Dave Witt @ First Amendment, Mud On Your Face: Peter Jadoonath & Jason Trebs @ the Back Alley Gallery, ...Day Old: May Day Cafe, Moose & Sadie's...Breakfast: Seward Cafe...Latte'-St. Paul: Brewberry, Cafe Benne'...Latte'-Minneapolis: One on One Bicycle Studio, Anodyne...Appearance by a famous person at my work: T.I. (Charismatic, soft spoken, honest, knowledgeable and gracious. A real gentleman.)...Girlfreind: Courtney...Website: Street Boners & TV Carnage.com (Addicting.)..Shit story: Fleet Farm, as told by Matty...Coverage of The Fest 7: Loren from scenepointblank...Late Night Alley Party: behind One on One bikes on closing night of the Bicycle Film Fest...Graffiti: Danger, UC, TKG, CSE, Isaj, Yayo...Post game promo: Kevin Garnett following the Celtics championship win over the Lakers...Place to find great road-kill: Wisconsin highways...Bar: The Hexagon (Good bands, no cover, cheap drinks and great people-watching.)...President Elect: Obama...Fashion comeback: Flannel.

So that's about it...for now. I'll play catch-up on some of the stuff I missed and throw out an updated list later. As always, I'm gracious for anyone that has visited this silly little site. I always appreciate the feedback, even if you hate it. With the arrival of 2009 I've officially moved into a different marketing demographic. Apparently I'm not supposed to like wrestling or cool shoes anymore??? Whatever. I imagine you'll still be able to count on me when you need a fix of self-indulgent arrogant ramblings, punctuation misuse, pictures of me with food, or the world's shittiest advice column. And now the official unveiling of my newest moniker...

XOXO,

~King of Punk (Hey, I've earned it.)


Here's lookin' at you "kid."

At home he feels like a tourist: Best Of 2007~Part 3

...continued...Movie-Ian Curtis and Joy Division come back to life in the bio-pic Control. The film probably doesn't appeal beyond a small circle of people that are/were fans of the band, but it's pretty deec nonetheless...Concert-Apocolypticrust Festival. Karlos from Shamen Records organized 2 nights of crusty, thrashy, hardcore punk at the Black Hole in Chicago. My personal favorites were Appalachian Terror Unit, Riotous, Catheter, Protestant, Tierra De Nadie, and Coaccion...Movie-Superbad. Hi to the larious! Seth Rogan was hot this year. Knocked Up was good, but Superbad was outrageously funny. I laughed just as hard the second time, as I did the first. "McLovin!" And of course, how could you not love the awkward, nerdy, former George Michael, Michael Cera? He also does a great job in...Movie-Juno. Although it was really funny, what I really liked was the underlying story of a family that bonds together to make the best of an otherwise undesirable situation. And Ellen Page was fabulous too...Concert-The third annual installment of the Doomtree Blowout took over the main room at First Avenue. I personally could have used a little less Mictlan and Dessa and little more Cecil Otter and Paper Tiger. I was pleasantly surprised to see Jesse Greene (and her legs) make an appearance, as well as Crescent Moon. Unfortunately there only seemed to be one good mic working and POS had some technical difficulties that slowed down momentum. Overall though, it was still a hype night of local Hip Hop...Sport-Mixed Martial Arts have been steadily gaining popularity over the last few years, but the sport blew up in 2007. Pride FC bit the dust but numerous other promotions have popped up since then and MMA is all over television. IFL, Bodog Fight, EliteXC, K1, WEC and of course, UFC, all had TV this year...MMA Fights-Bisping vs. Hamil (UFC 75), Dan Henderson vs. Quinton Jackson (UFC 75), Randy Couture vs. Tim Silva (UFC 68), Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Ganzaga (UFC 74), Chris Horodecki vs. Shad Lierley (IFL 6/1) and Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva (UFC 79)..Fighters-Quinten Jackson, Anderson Silva, Roger Huerta, Thales Lietes, Chris Horodecki, and Urijah Faber....Fighter of the Year- is a tie between George St. Pierre and Randy Couture. Even though GSP started the year with a surprise loss to Matt Sera, he still proved what a dominant fighter he is, in his wins over Josh Koshcheck and Matt Hughes. Plus I loved his pro wrestling style promo he delivered following his submission of Hughes for the interim welterweight title at UFC 79; saying he doesn't accept the title until he beats the real champion Serra. Couture gets it just because he is simply the best. He retires after a second knockout loss to Liddell in 06. A year and a month later, at 44 years old, he comes out of retirement, moves back up the heavyweight division and challenges Sylvia. Not only does he beat the taller, heavier, younger man, but he does so in a dominating fashion. Five months later, Couture does the same thing again, against Gonzaga (another larger, younger man) and retains his championship. He has since vacated the title because UFC is unable to sign Fedor Emilienko, quitting UFC while he's on top...CD-Against Me! released New Wave this year amidst crys of sellout from former fans. Having not really been a fan of them before, I was totally able enjoy this album. I had seen them once before, but didn't really familiarize myself with them until my brother burned me a copy of this. I have since checked out all of their old albums from the library. I don't listen to much "pop-punk" these days, and New Wave is a fairly polished album, compared to their previous releases. However, it is my introduction to the band and I like it...CD-Bad Brains~To Build A Nation. What can I say? I'm a Bad Brains fan. The reggae parts are superb. MCA, from the Beasties produced it...OK, that's enough for now. I need a break. This is exhausting. Stay tuned; the fourth and final installment is on the way...