The place to read Tim Norris' commentarys on what he deems relevant.

10-10-03 WWE House Show Broadbent Arena,Rancid Indestructible.

Like the title says I went to the Broadbent Arena House Show in Louisaville this past Friday.For the first and probably last time I got to sit ring side at a WWE event and even got a little closer,and all for free.You see my borther has been looking into joining the Army,one day while he was meeting with his recruiter the subject of wrestling came up and his recruiter said he could get him a pair of tickets to the house show.So for about a month his recruiter jerked him around about when he would get him the tickets and we began to think we wouldn't even be getting them and that we were victims of an overzealous recruiter. Well about a week before the show the recruiter called and said not only could he get us tickets but that he could do one better,he could get my brother in as the special guest bell ringer for the night.My brother like the good soul he is passed the privilige on to me.That's right internet wrestling geeks I got somewhere all of us dream about,the inside of the WWE ring.I was given the dutie of bell ringing for one match only though Spike vs. Val Venis.A couple matches before one of the organizers came to are seats and instructed me to come across the barrier as soon as the Hurrican/Rosey vs. Jindrak/Cade vs. Mark Henry/Rodney Mack Tag Team Elimination match ended.By sheer luck when they came to get me Hurricane and Rosey hadn't left the ring yet and I got to stand face to face with Hurricane who shook me hand and congratulated me.Anyways,they announced me as special guest bell ringer and I got to roll into the ring,wave,and roll back out.
One thing of note is that during Spike and Val's match the crowd began the table chant.So as Val is stretching Spike I hear him say to Val "They'll just have to wait until the next match."
I was puzzled for a minute as to what he said but after I rang the ending bell and returned to my seat the Dudleyz music hit again and of course they had a table match with Renee Dupre and Rob Conway.
The show was nothing mind blowing but you've got to love front row seats.My brother and I looked back to see all the signs behind us and truly appreciated what the front row had to offer.Honestly the match that shined out the most was the OVW Southern Tag Team Title Match between Nova and his partner versus the Hitman and Cage.There was honestly no real bad matches the entire night and the only thing I was left wanting was a Widowmaker from Victoria during her and Steven Richards match against Trish Stratus and Maven.
The funniest thing of the night cam after the Spike vs. Val match.Val allowed Spike to hand his towel out to the "prettiest lady" in the audience.Spike,of course as a good gesture,gave the towel to a little girl named Christian.Afterward the crowd started to heel Spike yelling child molester,one guy yelled out "Het R. Kelly" as Spike was leaving.During the Dudley Boyz table match Spike had done a run in and was to hand out a piece of the table which he gave to a little boy this time,again the crowd got started up with the child molester stuff after some guy yelled out "Look now Spike's at it again."Classic stuff.Poor Spike I guess that'll teach him for being a nice guy.Anyways I took a camera and hope to put up some shots of course I say that every time I got to see wrestling live and it seems like my shots never turn out good enough for the site.Maybe this time I'll get lucky.
It's been out about a month and a half now but I got Rancid's new album Indestructible on the day of release and I must say I'm impressed.Rancid has certainly toned down slowly over the years.I would say this album is a combination of "Life Won't Wait" and "rancid 2000".There's a good mixture of the classic Rancid sound and the more Reggae style they went for on "Life Won't Wait".The album hops along smoothly and in my opinion doesn't have a single bad track.Punk rock is an easy genre to produce and an even easier one to screw up but Rancid's been around long enough to know how to do it right.If you're a long time Rancid fan you won't be disappointed and if you've never listened to Rancid,this is probably the best album for you to pick up as it's not as heavy as the others and it definitely has a more mainstream sound.Songs recommended as downloads for sampling are "Start Now" and "Ivory Coast".
Until next time.

Latest Thoughts

NWATNA:
I've watched the last two episodes of NWATNA,mainly for a Raven fix but I wanted something different.After watching it pretty much nonstop since 1999 it's gotten to be really same ol same ol.The only difference are newer wrestlers doing the same ol same ol.The matches are terribly predictable.In almost every match whoever is getting the beat down in the start are going to win,most likely by DQ or by some other means of assistance.Clean finishes barely exist anymore in the WWE.While I love the work of a lot of individuals the overall product is not enticing.Since I have an alternative I gave it another try.
Like I said the main reason I watched was to see what was going on with Raven.Nothing really new or exciting same old Raven getting killed and loving every minute but one thing did stand out.None of the other entrances Raven had in WWE or WCW even compares to the one TNA has done.That 10 second entrance clip basically sums up the character like no other entrance has.On the opposite side of the coin the whole Clockwork Orange House of Fun is way overhyped.It's a hardcore match with metal chains strung along above the top rope.At least throw in some handcuffs or something,give the chains some sort of purpose.
Overall I enjoyed NWATNA but they use way too many stipulation matches.It's nice because it's different but at the same time the few matches that don't have stipulations come off as meaningless.
It's a shame Mike Tenay isn't in the WWE,surely he's a better replacement for JR.TNA can keep Don West.He's way over the top but what's insane is that he actually seems lucid compared to when he's trying to hock sports cards.
NWATNA was a welcome change for someone like me but I don't see them going mainstream anytime soon.
Other than TNA I haven't watched wrestling the last couple of weeks(other than Y2J vs. Shawn Micheals).

The Elder Scrolls III:Morrowind
I just bought Morrowind for my Xbox and I am thoroughly addicted,as is my girlfriend.I have never had a more enjoyable gaming experience.The open ended freedom of this game is incredible.For once I feel like I'm actually creating the legend of my hero than just participating with a hero who's building his own legend.At the same time this game's freedom might be a curse to some.A friend picked up the game after I recommended it and hated it.The lack of a completely linear story killed it for him.
The graphics are nice,each area in the game has it's own personality,with different plants,animals,and habitats.Also each has it's own weather patterns.The world comes across as really living and breathing.Different cultures are plainly seen as you travel from town to town.Books are provided to give a complete history of the world of Vvardenfell.
Gameplay is basic hack n slash,which may be a negative for those that prefer their RPGs turn based.Their are several different abilities that can be built upon,with 10 of them contributing the the overall betterment of your character.
The sounds are pretty dead on though the music can get repetitive once you've played quite a few hours.
Explaining the storyline would be impossible since I haven't even touched it yet,and I'm a good 60 hours into this game.Explaining the appeal of this game is difficult but just to make a simple point.Other than the first mission of delivering a note to Balmora my girlfriend's and my game have not reflected each other,nor do our characters reflect each other,in fact they're almost opposite in every way.Her character is more of the kill everything in your way bezerker type,mine is more of the harm none variety.She's out killing some Ashlander tribe leader,I'm on a pilgrimmage across the entire world,with the condition being that I can speak to no one along the way.
If you've got a lot of creative impulses this game is for you,easily,if you're the type that would rather watch the movie than direct it this might not be your cup of tea.
Best $20 I've spent in my entire lifetime,without a doubt.

Now for the best $5 I've ever spent in my life:Against Me!

It's not real often in my life that I hear a band and that's all I want to hear.Up until now that list included three bands:Sonic Youth,Fifteen/Chrimpshrine, and Propaghandi.That was until I heard Against Me!. I was randomly downloading bands that were reviewed or interviewed in Maximum Rock N Roll,most were the same old thing,not bad but not anything I hadn't heard before,and ususally better,from someone else.
Anyways I get to against me! and listen to the two songs I downloaded,"burn" and "What we worked for".After two songs I was hooked I started downloading like mad.I had it all.After a week I knew that if any band one this earth deserved my hard earned cash this one was it.So I search out how to order this CD.To my surprise one of the best albums I've ever had the pleasure to listen to was only $5.In fact you can order it here
They also have MP3s on the songs page,which you can find here

That's it for me for now.

Checking In.

First off,I want to shamelessly plug Jared and I's newest endeavor,Misanthropic Tees.We thought of starting a shirt company where we just laid out the sarcasm against anything we felt like,we figured if we'd wear it than there must be a market.That was at least three years ago but we've finally gotten it started thanks to Cafepress.com so check it out.
Rented Brute Force for the Xbox last weekend.It's a decent game for a rental but hardly a buy.It was just simply to easy,my brother,fiance,and I finished about half of it in just under 3 hours by basically running and gunning.I prefer at least some strategy in a game like this,especially when cooperation should be the key to a multi-player game like this.Microsoft really needs to start cranking out some first-party hits.It seems like everything other than Halo always has some promise but seems to just come a little short of the goal.
While I'm on the topic,if any of you out there haven't checked out Pirates of the Caribbean,you should give it another look.You probably thought lame movie tie-in but it looks like it could become anything but that.It's created by the designers of Morrowind and was originally intended to be Sea Dogs II,the sequel to what else butSea Dogs.Gameplay has remained the same only a few character and story changes were made to incorporate the disney movie.It looks like this game could be THE pirate game to own.I believe it will eventually be realeased on all consoles with the Xbox being the first to get it.
On to wrestling(this is a wrestling website still isn't it?):
I love the fact that Jericho seems to be getting all the heat in his feud with Goldberg.There's no doubt I'm a Jericho mark but Goldberg could be facing Hugh Morris and I would still want Hugh to get all the heat.Goldberg will always be just a spear and a jackhammer.nothing more.And as little as he cares about the business itself I'm hoping he'll just run out his contract and leave.Of course,when all of your wishes are granted many of your dreams will be destroyed.
What's happened to Smackdown?
Seriously,once Matt Hardyz segments end I'm usually done watching.I'm glad Kurt's back though I don't think he's a cure all for Smackdown's problems.Why is Benoit so misused in the WWE,I'd much rather see him vs. Brock than either Big Show or Kurt Angle,especially Big Show.Their continued push of Big Show illustrates how out of touch the WWE is with the mainstream right now.The people I know who watch wrestling watch it for guys who can go in that ring.The truth is the time of the slow big man is gone.These days you better have half an inkling on how to get around in the ring or you're just not going to make it.It's the John Cena's and Matt Hardyz that are the future of wrestling,not the A-train's and Rodney Mack's.
I'm glad Matt dropped the cruiserweight title,I just hoped they don't destroy his momentum now.I pray to God that one of these days I'll get to see Edge vs. Matt Hardy for the World Title.It may be a pipe dream,but their's so much history that can be worked into that match.Maybe Smackdown will get their own version of the IC title and I'll at least get to see that.
There's two main reasons I watch RAW,Jericho and the Women's division.The title needs to come off of Jazz.There's something that just isn't there with Jazz,she's decent in the ring maybe her character needs to be reworked or something.I don't see the point in having Jazz as the #1 female heel when Victoria is better at it.I'm glad they're moving Trish away from the title for now.She's done everything she can in that ring and has nothing to prove and I think should be used that way for now.Spend more time in building people like Victoria,Lita,Ivory,Jazz,Gail Kim,Jackie, and please start using Molly Holly again.Build a superheel amongst those women,and then put them in the ring with Trish,or even make a superface out of one of them and turn Trish.It's been a long long time since I've seen a heel Trish.I'd like to see if she can pull it off.I have a lot of faith that she can.
I gotta say that lately RAW has been really good compared to Smackdown.It makes me wonder if the WWE will always be working harder on one show than the other.With the PPV split upon us I'd say this trend will probably continue,at least until both shows start running their own monthly PPVs.
I'm going to miss Bad Blood this Sunday which is unfortunate since I think it'll be a pretty decent PPV,a real good start for brand specific PPVs.I'm getting married Saturday so I won't get to watch another PPV until next month.This is the third PPV in a row that I missed the last one I watched was Wrestlemania.I really don't think I've missed much but I've got a feeling I'll end up renting this PPV somewhere down the line.This will be only the second time I've missed a PPV and felt the need to watch it later.I hope everyone else enjoys it.