Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Book Review: books by Brock Lesnar & Linda Hogan

During the Christmas break I had a chance to plow through some more books.   I actually finished reading both of these books within 48 hours. Brock Lesnar's "Death Clutch" and Linda Hogan's "Wrestling with the Hulk".
Here is my opinion on each of them.

Brock Lesnar's "Death Clutch".


I never knew much about Brock Lesnar.  I don't really watch UFC fighting and when he was in the WWE I was living in Chicago and not watching it that often. (Don't worry, I watch it every week now, in fact I have some killer Wrestlemania parties)  I had heard of Brock though from his dominance in the amateur wrestling world back in the late 90's.  The book was a new release at the library so I thought I'd check it out.
This book is a quick read. With Brock and Paul Heyman (a pro wrestling manager) being the authors, you don't have to worry about lame "over descriptive" sentences or the use of too many big words so the author can prove that he went to college.
My main interest was in finding out some new "behind the scenes" stories from the WWE. With all the backstabbing and politics involved in Pro Wrestling, most wrestlers autobiographies are great.  Brock covers his time in the WWE pretty well, his stories aren't too crazy but he seems to reiterate that life in the WWE is lucrative, but the financial reward may not be worth the pain on your body and mental anguish it involves.  One quote that stood out to me was that for Pro Wrestling you have to "Get in to Get out" which means, that you never want to become a "lifer" and be one of those worn out has-beens in the locker room.  Save your money, take care of your body, get plenty of sleep, don't party and get the hell out.  Brock admits to not taking a lot of his own advice, which let to his burnout and eventual shift to MMA fighting.  He does though, have a major persistence to be the best, which paid off because he was a NCAA, WWE and UFC champion. Another common theme in the book is that Brock always looks for a way to make a big score financially. He believes in taking care of his family first, which is good, but he brings it up a lot in the book and can come across as someone who is ruled by the dollar a little too much. I wouldn't be surprised if someday Brock offered his services out as a male prostitute. I know my roommate Steve would be excited about that.
Anyway's, it's worth reading, and won't take too long, so I recommend checking it out.

Linda Hogan "Wrestling with the Hulk"
Another quick read, this is Linda Hogan's side of the story when it comes to her divorce from wrestler, actor, "rent a center" spokesman, Hulk Hogan.  I've also read Hulk's book and was kind of curious to get her side of story.
Most autobiographies are very one-sided. The person will find way's to justify all sorts of behavior and tell their stories from their very warped point of view.  Not too often will the author be humble and try to be somewhat objective about their life.  (although Rob Lowe's book is the exception, he actually seems pretty cool)

The book is pretty fun, it has a lot of sex stories of all the places her and Hulk used to "do it". It follows her ride through the peek of "Hulkamania" and their reality show "Hogan Knows best".  There isn't too much behind the scenes WWE stories, the book mainly focuses on their relationship and Hulks cheating and financial scheming. In Hulk's book he accuses her of being "a partier" and drinking too much, in her book, she says she was just trying to have fun and Hulk was being controlling. She thought he was jealous that the spotlight wasn't always on him now that their VH1 reality show was a hit.  I'm sure they are both too blame.  They both love their kids very much and I'm sure they are both good people that just let the temptations of the world get the best of them. I see both of their points.
The book has a lot of advice for women who think their man is cheating. So you may want to read it if your dating the lead in "Two and a Half Men".
If your a fan of Linda's reality show personality, I'm sure she will be showing up on "Celebrity Apprentice" or another similar show soon.
Probably any show, except "Wife Swap."

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Monday Night Football - Niners vs Steelers "Blackout Game"

The Forty Niners are finally back in action this year.  I may have grown up in the Green Bay area, but I've always been a Niners fan since I jumped on the bandwagon in the late 80's.
Here are some photo's from the Monday Night Football game me and Nighthawk (Chris Wivell) went to this past week.  It was the infamous "Blackout Game" where the power went out twice.



(above)  On the train from downtown San Francisco to Candlestick Park.

(above) outside the MNF production truck. At first glance it may appear that Nighthawk had smeared shit all over himself but that is actually a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey.

(above) pre game warm ups.

(above) a view from the stands when the lights were out.

(above) the girl behind us took a picture of me and the Birdman, the Niners dominated, winning 20 to 3.



(above)  some shots of Candlestick Park as we were leaving the game.
*a special thanks to the chick at ESPN that got us the tickets!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Book Review "I Want My MTV"

I was at Barnes & Noble and noticed a new book called "I Want My MTV".  It came in 2 different covers, one with Madonna on the front and one with Nirvana.  After asking on of the employees if they had a special "Guns N Roses" version, (they didnt) I had to settle for the Nirvana one.  The book was like 34 bucks and at first I was hesitant to buy it.  I thought about just getting it at the library, but after reading through it in the store I had to own it. 

Thank God I bought it.  This book rules! What a trip down memory lane.  I couldn't put this sucker down.  It's got a ton of cool stories about Guns N Roses, Van Halen, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Springsteen, you name it.  It covers the rise and fall of the music video era, the transition of music videos to the controversial program design of today and has a ton of cool stories.   Any one born before 1985 will love this book.  Check it out.