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A few of  you may recall my cousin Adam Jackson and his wife Melony?  He wrestled for a little while as Ethan Cage.  They had their baby today a little before noon, a little girl – Laura Mae, eight pounds, thirteen ounces. 

Finished the pictures from CWF last night, you can visit them here.  The trip to Burlington was as fun as ever.  We drove the newest addition to the Arledge Fleet – the Chrysler van.  It was myself, Thomas, Ostgard, TJ, Kirby and Stoney. 

The trip down went by without incident.  We discussed some medically related objects – which Kirby displayed in his normal frenzied manner.  We missed ER’s driving…I mean his presence on the trip. 

Glad to see the Mid Atlantic Mafia in attendance at the show.  Miss Peggy got into a confrontation with Thomas during the match, and ended in a picture that I cannot display on the website.

Good to see Johnny Weaver and the Kernodles.  We ate at Hooters after the show. Lots of people there, it was UFC night.  We packed up and headed home.  In Lexington, Ostgard showed us a way to use a car vacuum that I had only read about and never witnessed.

Mark your calendars for October 13th – this is the release date for the second movie this year about my favorite author – Truman Capote.  The movie is called “Infamous” and from what I have read and seen, it goes more into the relationship between Tru and Perry Smith.  Tobey Jones plays Capote, and physically looks more like him than Hoffman did.  For pictures, etc you can click here.

Here’s the trailer.

Went to Burlington, NC Saturday night with Thomas, Ostgard, Kirby, TJ and Stoney…great time.  I’m at work today and tomorrow so I’ll write more when I have time…pictures are ready for posting, I may start that tonight. 

Yesterday I had two of those “moments” where you sort of reflect on your life.  The first was a friend of our family showing my mother and I a picture.  The picture was her, her two sisters and their father.  She said that it was one of the few pictures she had of all of them together and their dad was smiling.  She choked up just telling us about the picture.  The father had passed away recently.  It made feel a little guilty about those “another family photo” time and I didn’t really want to do it.  One simple picture can be a powerful thing.

The second moment was when my cousin’s girlfriend came into a local greasy spoon I was in.  She had his two kids and some others with her.  My cousin’s oldest son came over to our table to speak to us, and it just struck me how much older he had become.  I remember when this kid was born and here he is, a smaller version of his father.  It made me feel old. 

I may only be going to Burlington, NC for CWF this weekend.  Friday I am considering taking off.  I’m not sure yet.  Maybe I’ll go see a movie.

I have already sent congratulations to two friends who received some great news today, that is all I’m going to say for now.  They know who they are, and I’m happy for them.

At work, nothing going on….

You all know what I’m reading.  There is nothing on TV right now that I want to watch….go ahead, look it up – it’s Charter Cable in Tryon, 2pm…nothing.

The William Shatner roast is on Comedy Central tonight at 10pm.  I may TiVo it. 

I had to help a friend of mine with some directions today.  I sympathize with people who need directions and try to be as accurate as I possibly can be with them.  If I am driving somewhere new or unfamiliar, If I even think that I am getting sidetracked or lost, I immediately get a “twisted gut” feeling, like I’m going to be sick.  It is literally a physical reaction with me when this happens, that is why I always try to have as accurate directions as possible.  Even when I am on a road trip with someone who knows how to get to the show, I have printed off directions stashed somewhere.

I have not had a chance to look at the pictures from last night yet.  Next week I may be going to CWF in Burlington with Thomas et al.

Good luck to some friends of mine who have started college in the past week or so. 

The show last night at HVW was Ok.  Good sized crowd, better than average.  Match of the night was Derek Ryze and Stoney Hooker.  They had the “Wheel of Destiny” aka “Wheel of Thrills” matches last night.  Dirty faced Bryce Bryant in the “Undies” match….Dirty lost and paint brushed the entire front row….a joke of course. 

Bull Dykes looks awful after his fall.  You have got to be more careful. 

The more this stuff with John Mark Karr goes on, I wonder more and more if he really killed JonBenet. 

I’m bored out of my skull….maybe I’ll pick up some crinkle cuts for supper…..time for a nap…….

I have started reading The Jasons by Ann Finkbeiner , it’s about a secret government group.  I thought it would be interesting because I know someone who was involved with the Manhattan Project.  Interested?  Click the link.

Is interested in my take on what happened last night at Ground Zero? 

I arrived at Ground Zero at 7.30pm.  Before entering the building, I was informed that the inspector from the Athletic Commission was already inside laying down the law. 

Ground Zero is a great little club – it’s nice and dark inside, plenty of random seating and big horse statue.  Hot as hell, but what isn’t right now?  Spoke to a few of the familiars, a few of which were already taking advantage of the bar in the basement.  The ring was just getting finished being set up.

HVW’s new announcer, Brett Wolverton said that he had been grounded and had to apply for a license on the spot.  Everyone was comparing notes on who had a license and who didn’t.  Eight o’clock came and went, and there was still speculation in the air about whether we would be having a show or not. 

I suppose we got started about nine o’clock or so.  There were two matches, the first Bryan Austin against Bryce Bryant, then the T Dawg HG vs. Neil Nitro match.  ER came to ringside to do the special introduction for HG.  About 5 minutes into it, the inspector walks up behind him and asks him for his license and gives him the “cut it” sign (the hand across the throat).  ER gallantly keeps reading, and receives another cut it.  It lasted one more, until the inspector reaches for the microphone.  ER swings high and smashes the mic into the inspector….of course, that’s a joke – ER relents and hands it to HG. 

The people who are familiar with HG and what he says can imagine what came out next.  The inspector apparently took much offense to what was being said, because he walked out on his mobile phone.  After the match, which saw HG spraying Neil in the face to win, I walked up to the dressing area where the inspector was telling them that the show was being shut down.  There was of course much protest, with little effect.

This was close to 10pm.  The show was going to be wrestling matches, band, wrestling, band.  A few folks left, and I decided that it was getting late; I needed to head home to be at work on time this morning. 

When I walked out, the Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office was pulling up.  In the end, there were six county cars and about eight deputies at the club.  Mick and Viper were trying to explain to the officers about the situation.  The inspector told them he was just doing his job.

I listened for a little while and then bid everyone farewell.  I did go over to the inspector and told him that I didn’t envy his job a bit. 

I am not the biggest fan of the Athletic Commission, and I have never really heard anything good about them.  I’m sure the men and women who work for them are good people and are just trying to do their jobs.  From my experience though, they only seem to be used by promoters to get one over on another promoter.  The fact is though, if you are going to run in South Carolina, you need to have all of your “ducks in a row”.  That means a promoters license, an event permit, and all of your talent property licensed.

In the future I do want to try and run some shows, perhaps even my own promotion.  As long as the commission is in operation, I see no reason to run in South Carolina. 

In my opinion calling the commission in or ratting out another promoter just hurts the entire sport in South Carolina.  Bringing in an inspector sends ripples through everybody who is running.  To be truly fair, wouldn’t an inspector coming into an area have to check everybody who is running a show?

It doesn’t really effect me, but that’s my opinion. 

The quickie rundown of the past few days.

Friday – Off work and no wrestling. My friend Eric and I spent the evening with Lyle and Sabrina. It began at Ichiban’s Japanese Steakhouse in Asheville, with great food and an impressive trick with an egg by the cook. Went to the RootBar – played RootBall. Look it up. Went to the Fun Depot, where I blew a good bit of money on video games. Also raced the go-carts and brought up the rear with them. We walked around the mean streets of Asheville, stopping in here, going in there – ended the night close to 2am at…well, in Asheville. I had a great time guys, looking forward to the next trip.

Saturday – I went to APW in Spartanburg. This was my second Saturday back at APW, and it feels like I never left. Thanks to everyone for making me feel welcome back. Afterwards I was going to head up to HVW and head to Denny’s to eat, but HVW was over at 10pm! Kudos to HVW for getting done at an early time.

Sunday – What can I say about Sunday? If you have read ER’s blog, you know some of what happened. I told Ostgard after the fact that I wasn’t even going to blog it.

I had cat shit on the front of my buggy Sunday morning when I walked out. Real nice, I feed and water these feral pussies and this is how they repay me.

This week I’ll be heading to Ground Zero for HVW’s hardcore show. I’m working all weekend, so I may or may not go to HVW Saturday night. It depends on how tired I am.

ER – Quit eating cashews at your computer!

Yes, stuck at work…of course every second is blessed overtime money….whahaaaahaha…..Why is Blake still at work past 7pm?  Well it involves flames (not the kind you are thinking of ER).

For those of you in the Spartanburg area or who like a large beer menu, check this place out:  www.terrystaproom.com 

It’s run by a friend of mine, Terry Knight.  I will soon be making my first trek there to watch people drink. 

You can tell it’s election time!  Look at Chuck!  Visiting a government assited home!  Hoorah for him, wonder how long he washed his hands afterwards?  Heath Shuler for Congress!

Going out tomorrow night for a little Asheville night life, than a little wrestling on Saturday night….looking forward to the weekend.