Konversation From The Klondike

Konversation From The Klondike-3/28/01

by Ty "Soilent Green" Medema

Well, as most of you already know, this past weekend was quite an interesting one. I suppose the best way I can make sense of it all is to spill it all out here on this forum. Also, this will probably be used as the official explanation for all of the events for the page, and I will link here from the main page. (It will save me the trouble of doing it twice!) As much as I would like to put certain things behind me, I feel that it’s fair for all DWF fans out there to receive the full story. And, from some research I’ve done through the host server of our counter, I know we have quite a decent handful of regular visitors who aren’t members of the DWF, pF, or AWF. So hey, I can say “fans” and it actually applies!! Heh

Ok, let’s get straight to the real deal. The CHM weekend and the actions of JJ. Fortunately now I can laugh about the whole damn ordeal. So, let’s see, first of all let me address the CHM show itself.

I want to right off thank all of the guys from both the pF and the AWF for the show. Every single match was superb, and you all were a great group of guys. It was fun seeing some old faces again, and putting faces to names for the first time for the rest of you. Also thanks goes out to James not only for his hospitality, but also for picking up the ball and running with it in the midst of people not showing up and Rob’s first absence ever.

Unfortunately, there were complications, and also once again Mother Nature made things as difficult as she possibly could by making the day very cold and windy. This resulted in excitement and overall backstage participation being dulled for almost everyone. Commentary was down and many wrestlers left after their matches. I don’t blame any of them one bit, however, for I spent my fair share in my car warming up myself!

Despite these, however I had a great time at the show, and am glad I FINALLY made it up to Oshkosh! Props to every competitor! Nugget and Tha Joo were excellent, as were Slick and Smooth. Louis gave a great promo as Lord Fairington, and Shane was a good sport to let the totally silly antics of the Congregation give him a beat down. Doug and Ricky put on a hardcore fiesta, AJ and Nightmare worked great together! (can’t wait to see the rematch down here in April). JJ’s and Bishop’s match was good, as well. As for Rich and Shane, all I can say is wow! I have to admit, ever since Rob and I thought of that as a good back-up match I was almost hoping it would happen…and it did!! Shane showed no signs of missing the last 3 months, and Rich worked great with him. Certainly a great title defense for Rich. Also major props to Steve and John for their match. Steve looked awesome in his return, and I must say it’s always good to have someone with the talent of John as your opponent to help with that! They literally tore each other up, and will certainly be on Greatest Hits tapes for a while to come.

Now, on to my match with Louis. Simply enough, I’m happy with it! It was the 2^nd to last match, and therefore a lot of guys were gone by that time, so unfortunately there wasn’t the crowd there I was hoping for. Also I hate the cold, and unfortunately lowers the fun factor for me. However, we did everything we set out to do w/ the match, and put in everything that should be for the 4 year build-up of the match! Between one last hurrah for our infamous “carbon metal” crates to going from all out brawling to a bit technical to unleashing the power moves, we put in as much as we could. Hitting Greener Pastures early, being sidewalk-slammed through a bookshelf, catching Pitfighter in the air and turning it into a super-spinebuster, reversing the Tombstone, then to the big finish where he Pitfalled me from the top of the ladder!!! Quite a nice assortment, if I say so myself. (feel free to slap me for egocentrism). Seeing as how I’m rooming with Louis next year, it will be a great tape to have to pop in and show our neighbors. I’m also glad everyone else was impressed w/ Louis, and liked his Lord Fairington gimmick so much. It felt great to put him over, and the soreness I’m having now from the match (mainly the 2x4’s that didn’t break the way they were supposed to) was worth it to showcase his talent.

Aside from the show, the majority of the weekend was fun, as well. Saturday night after the show Louis, Luke (Ultimo Movie Man...who came along to watch and didn’t compete due to the fact that he was sick) and Rich stayed in a hotel up in Appleton, home of the AWF boys. I was a bit worried beforehand that Rich would feel left out, but fortunately it didn’t happen. It’s no secret that Louis, Luke, and I are all old friends, and are quite the trio when we are together. Rich, however, fit right in, and I hope he had a good time hanging out w/ us. We got up to Appleton and actually sat down for dinner at Pizza Hut (How come there’s no good sit-down Pizza Huts around here anymore?) then made our way to the hotel. Unfortunately between it being already late and Luke not feeling well and exhaustion starting to sink in, we didn’t head back down to Rob’s as was planned. However, instead we had the much deserved opportunity to relax, and spent a nice amount of time sitting in a whirlpool and feeling like Kings. From there on out we had a nice nights sleep, a nice breakfast at Machine Shed (yeah, they have one in Wisconsin!!), picked up several copies of the new Dimmu Borgir CD and had a hilarious ride home…including a drive through the heart of Madison, seeing the famous “Mound”, and an endless number of graveyards! What’s up with that anyway? I’ve never seen dead people flaunted so blatantly in the open than as what I saw in Wisconsin!!! Heh, strange folk, they are! :o)

However, now to the major downfall of this weekend, that being the immature actions of JJ that almost sent me to jail on federal charges!!!

It’s now Wednesday (sorry for the delay), and I’ve had the time to get a bit more perspective out of the situation, so let me run through it in order:

The original plan was for JJ and Patrick to go up with John on Friday night, and Louis and Rich and I to go up on Saturday morning. Of course, as all things we try to plan this didn’t work out. After Rob wasn’t going to make it home by Friday John was going to wait and leave Saturday morning, as well, which was fine.

JJ, however, informed me earlier in the week that he wanted to go to a party Friday night, and didn’t want to go home that night or leave with John. He asked to spend the night at my house. I hesitated, due to the fact that I had other family that was going be in town as well that night. Also, JJ’s alternative plan was to meet me Sat. morning at some bus stop…which I think we all would agree has “no show” written all over it, whether it would be his fault or not. The fact of the matter there is that I wouldn’t have the time (nor the patience) to pick him up at some random location, and due to the fact that Louis is always notoriously late I also ran the risk of not being there to get JJ. The possibility of something going wrong w/ that was a big deal, ‘cuz (even though the booking ended up getting changed) JJ’s match was to be one of the most important on the card, and it was imperative to have him there so we could finally give back pF’s belt that we have had for over a year.

So I agreed that he could stay at my house, just so that way he was with me and I could make sure he got up there. Even after John was leaving Saturday I was hoping we could stick to the original plan and have him stay at John’s, but John’s dad vetoed that idea. Friday night came, and after JJ got off work from Happy Joe’s at 8:30 and went to a party somewhere in Rock Island with a girl named Jenny (I think). He called and left a message on my cell phone with her number and told me to call him. I got out of work, called him, and agreed where and when we would meet. Went home, packed and showered, went and picked him up at midnight. No problem. As promised he wasn’t drunk or messed up in any way for when he came my house w/ my family there, and we had a good time. Stayed up talking and playing No Mercy, etc etc. The next morning was fine, as well, as we met Patrick and (after a while) John and Rich at Village Inn for breakfast, then went and picked up Louis and Luke and Luke’s and hit the road. The trip was fun, and JJ fit right in ,etc. He did eat almost all the donuts, though!

It was when we got to the show that another side of JJ began to emerge, one the James has coined as calling simply “the Bastard.” I understand everyone being a little cranky due to the weather, but JJ started walking around and was visibly pissed. After asking him what was up, he stated that it was B.S. that he had to come up to Oshkosh and do the J.O.B. twice, since his new tag team w/ Patrick (NC-17) was thrown onto the card due to the fact that they both wanted to do a match w/ the gimmick. Although I know some people complain about losing (I am proud to say I have never been one of them… just ask John) I didn’t understand his reasoning at all. First off, both John and myself had spent a good amount of time last week informing him how not only is it not our place to book the match as that the belt belongs to pF, but that we had controlled that belt for close to a year, and it was about time they got it back. I understand that it was only a week-long reign, but we have known for quite a while that the belt would be going back to pF at CHM, and the fact that we gave the belt to JJ for that last little bit should be considered a bit on an honor, for that way he had the chance to actually say that he WAS their cruiserweight champ. Better than having around and never being able to hold it at all, I would think. As for the NC-17 match, C’mon!!! The gimmick was created by JJ and Patrick themselves as a joke gimmick. They wanted a match at CHM, and they got it, and it was even a title shot after only their second appearance. JJ can’t really believe there was any chance they were going win that one. Or even make it through one team, for that matter, since both of the other teams were the champs of their promotion. If the characters had been Main Event and Nightmare it would a been a bit of a different story, but not w/ NC-17. Anyways, JJ’s singles match went well, and I give him props for that. No one will doubt that JJ has talent, and is fun to watch him put on a match.

The show ended and I headed up to Appleton where my hotel was, taking Louis, Luke, and Rich up w/ me, and leaving JJ w/ John. From this point on we went with the original plan, as Rich had already put a claim on the room and was helping to pay for it, etc., and JJ was originally supposed to be w/ John all along. Around 10:00 that night, John calls me from James’ house, asking us if we were going to make it back down to Oshkosh. (I had already tried calling Robs’ but he wasn’t there) John also informed me that JJ and Patrick were currently MISSING!! Supposedly they were at Rob’s while John had to take Rich (Sontag) to the E.R. for his back. While John was gone, JJ was supposedly very disrespectful to Rob’s mom and her hospitality. He was jumping on the bed, and turned up the music him and Patrick were listening to to drown out Rob’s sister, which ended up waking up Chris, Rob’s son. I guess when Rob’s mom asked him what he was doing he said something to the effect of “the music in there sucks, and I want to listen to this.” Something like that, anyway. Then, they got directions to the nearest fast food restaurant from Rob’s sister, and headed that way. But when John drove by they weren’t there. This all took my by surprise a bit, for JJ had been on really good behavior all the other time I had spent w/ him. I called John back later that night around midnight, and they had returned and were partying.

The next morning is when the shit hit the fan, to use a cliché. While trying to enjoy my breakfast at Village Inn, my cell phone began ringing off the hook. First off was the girl Jenny, who had JJ Friday night. She informed me that his parents didn’t know where he was and she called me looking for him. I told her to call me back in about ½ hour when I was done w/ breakfast and would find Rob’s number for her. 5 minutes later my mom called, after having talked to JJ’s mom. She was freaking out at me, and warned me that I could be in trouble w/ the law when I got home!!! Since JJ is only 16, and we were out of Iowa, I could be charged for friggin KIDNAPPING JJ on federal offenses due to the fact that we were out of state! She was pretty distraught, but I told her I was ATTEMPTING to enjoy breakfast and got off the phone with her, as well. Then 5 minutes later JJ’s mom called me, and at that point I had to give up all hopes of breakfast and walk outside to talk to her. After a few minutes of conversation, it became evident that JJ hadn’t said a WORD about where he was going for the weekend. Not only that, but she didn’t know who I was, was upset to find out we were in Wisconsin, and that JJ was no longer with me! I felt really sorry for her, and could understand her situation completely. JJ didn’t even take the time to LIE to her, and weave a story about where he would be. If he had done that at least he wouldn’t have put the rest of us in jeopardy, and therefore should something go wrong the consequences would fall soley on him ..which is of course the way it should be!!!

Now, this means that as of when JJ left for work Friday night his parents had NO IDEA where he was!! They didn’t even know about the party that night, or that he was staying at my house. This also means that JJ bluntly lied to ME!! Earlier in the week when I was doing my best to make sure that everyone was a for sure “OK” for the weekend, I asked JJ if his parents were cool with it all, and I distinctly remember him saying “Oh yeah, my parents are fine, it’s work that I have yet to get taken care of” I told JJ’s mom this, and apologized for the fact that I didn’t know they were in the dark on his where-a-bouts. Give me credit, here, I know the consequences of having a minor in your custody, and if I had known JJ wasn’t telling his parents ANYTHING I would never had picked him up Friday Night. Obviously JJ either isn’t quite so smart, or he simply didn’t care. JJ’s mom also informed me that he hadn’t even gotten work taken care of, and they ended up being short Saturday night because he wasn’t there.

I talked to JJ’s mom for close to a ½ hour outside in the snowy Appleton weather (boy, I can’t wait to get my next cell phone bill!!!!). At this point of course I had abandoned any intention of helping to cover for his ass, since he had already f*cked me over and lied to me. Is anyone gonna argue w/ me there that I should have covered for him?? I think not. I also want to praise JJ’s mom, for she was under the circumstances very calm, and a very nice lady. She was very understanding and agreeable when I told her the whole story, all the way up to why he was no longer with me and what all he had told me about being ok for the weekend, etc. It’s a bit of a shame that JJ doesn’t see just how cool of a mom he actually has. I think John and Rob will both agree w/ me on that, since they talked to her, as well.

Anyway, I gave her Rob’s number, told her that he should be there, and if they weren’t they were on the way home. She thanked me for telling her everything, and warned me what the consequences could have been from this whole situation. I told her I understood completely, and thanked her for understanding.

All of that being over, I was able to get a little chance to eat, although most of my appetite was gone. Fortunately I had the guys there with me, and they helped to calm me down a bit and actually get me laughing about the whole idea of me being a FEDERAL KIDNAPPER of all things!

On the way home, the phone rang again and it was the Jenny girl again. Although I’m not totally sure if this next part is true, she told me that Saturday night 5 guys were arrested in Davenport that had my description!!! This shocked me, for it meant that the night before JJ’s parents had actually followed through with what she had warned me about on the phone, and how serious the situation was. I’m not quite sure how the scenario might have played out, but I have a pretty good idea: After getting worried on Saturday that JJ hadn’t come home, they contacted Happy Joe’s about where he went after work… they told him that he had been picked up by Jenny. Since Jenny is also an employee at Happy Joe’s, they must have contacted her, who gave them my cell phone number, my home phone number, and my description. She would have had both of my numbers on her caller ID from her cell phone Friday night, and she saw me when I met JJ at Miller Time. This must also be how JJ’s mom contacted my mom. When Jenny called me Sunday morning she was probably looking for JJ to warn him of the situation be4 his mom could get to him, and I’m guessing JJ’s mom had tried calling my number several times during the night, but I had turned it off to save the battery. Fortunately I had already talked to JJ’s mom by the time I heard that 5 guys had been arrested thinking they were ME, otherwise I would be worried that I would be arrested the minute I got back home! Instead I was fairly confident that she would have contacted the police and informed them that everything was all right and dropped any charges or APB’s out there on me.

By the time it was all over I had spent probably another hour on the phone w/ JJ’s mom while I was trying to watch the Oscars Sunday night, and also talked to John about the situation. From John I learned that even after JJ’s mom called him at Rob’s, JJ didn’t say a word about what had happened to ANYBODY, and spent the car ride home acting like nothing was wrong. John didn’t know what was going on until JJ’s mom called him when he got home after dropping JJ off at Happy Joes. (of course, why should John think anything weird about dropping him off at work, ‘cuz he didn’t know what was happening). So John also had to spend a ½ hour or so talking to JJ’s mom, explaining who he was, how he and JJ met, etc etc etc. John was also pissed at this point, as he discovered that the other TWO TIMES JJ had been up to Oshkosh he had pulled the same deal with not telling his parents about it, and the same thing could have very well happened to John!!! So John didn’t waste any effort covering for JJ, either, and told her about the other two instances JJ was in Oshkosh, and other things he thought she should know. After that Rob received a call from her, as well. When it was all said and done, though, I think the 3 of us would agree that she was a very nice lady, and handled the situation really well.

So, that’s about the story!! Of course, though, things didn’t end there. When cleaning out his car John discovered pF’s role of barbed wire in his car!! It turns out JJ had stolen it from them, but then FORGOT to take it out of John’s car with him!!! I had to laugh at that one. Since then, all that has really happened is that James confronted JJ online about the barbed wire, and JJ copped an attitude with him. Patrick also confronted JJ, and I must say I feel sorry for Patrick on this one, for he was JJ’s friend and was being held in the dark about this just like the rest of us were. However, to Patrick all he got from JJ could be summed up as simply that he didn’t CARE that he almost got all of us in a LOT of trouble!!!! Basically, he was remorseless about the whole damn thing, and was only upset that he got caught. I don’t quite know how he thought he was gonna get away with it, though!! As an afterthought, I think I finally understand why JJ was so upset to be jobbing at CHM. Simply, he knew he was in trouble when he got home for his immature antics, and basically he had just sealed his own fate, and then he didn’t even get to win. Not saying it’s a plausible reason at all, I’m just guessing that it contributed to the fit he threw.

WHEW!!! Ok…. (needed to take a breather). The only other thing that has really happened is that last night JJ IM’ed me (after avoiding being online the same time I was for a couple of days) with an apology. He explained that he was sorry for the trouble the he almost got us in, and his only real reasoning was that he was willing to risk anything to get up there. He also stated that he knew he could very well be fired from the DWF, and he understood if he was, and the he was sorry. I did thank JJ for his apology, and told him we could talk about it later. I know some people may be stunned by that, for what most people think I should be doing right now is beating the crap out of him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m tremendously pissed about the situation he put me in, and am appalled at his utter stupidity. However, I’m content to let his parents take care of the matter from this point on, and I basically have nothing to him. Besides, I happen to have a close friend who made a lot of similar mistakes as JJ did in his younger years ( I don’t think I need to say who), so I guess I’m a little bit more sympathetic that way.

As for his apology, even though I thanked him for it and would like to believe he meant it, I am fairly sure he was bullshitting me, for the most part. For one, if he was truly sorry then why did he go off on James and Patrick, and why did he tell Patrick that he “didn’t care” that he almost got me busted on FEDERAL FRIGGIN CHARGES!!! Furthermore, he said he was willing to “risk anything” to get up there? Really, JJ? That must be really easy for you to say when it’s OTHER PEOPLE’S asses on the line.

So now the official decision. After talking with both John and Rich, I want to address you personally here, JJ. Throughout this whole situation, there are several things that remained constant and true. 1) You disrespected the DWF as a whole toward the guys of pF and AWF. This is evidenced by the fact that not only did you complain about booking during the show, you disrespected the hospitality of Rob’s mother and made all of us look bad by stealing the barbed wire, pF’s property. 2) You have disrespected all of us. Not only did you do about the most stupid thing I believe I ever heard of by skipping town without saying a WORD to your parents, by doing so you not only assured getting yourself into trouble, you risked getting the rest of us into trouble, too. I don’t quite know if you understand the severity of the situation, but due to the fact that we left the state, the charges they would have arrested me on where FEDERAL. This means that if I had been arrested, the FBI would forever have my name on their “shit list.” And if I hadn’t had the chance to tell your mom the truth before you saw her, you could have lied yet again and the case could have gone to court. And if it had gone to court, even though I would have won (and trust me, I would have won) it would still be on my permanent record for the rest of my LIFE!!

So, saying that maybe saying that you “disrespected” us is a bit of an understatement. I truly hope you learn from this incident, JJ, and make an effort to change yourself. However, for the problems you have caused due to your utter stupidity and lack of concern for others in this situation, you are hereby FIRED from the DWF. We do appreciate the time and effort you put into the DWF, and the situation was made harder due to the fact that you are truly an amazing talent. We also had hopes for your role in the DWF power structure in the future. However, your actions override these facts predominately, and after some re-discussion on the issue we have decided there is simply no other option.

So…with all of that being said… there is only one more thing to be addressed quickly…. Where does the DWF go from here? Assuredly, there is much rebooking to be done, and a meeting between the 3 remaining members of power rich, John, and myself will be conducting a meeting here soon. Unfortunately Rich is having some personal issues that will need to be attended to in full before I would ask him to concentrate on DWF matters, but hopefully the meeting won’t be prolonged too long. On that note I’d like to wish Rich the best of luck, and that I’m here for ya, buddy. Sorry I can’t disclose any details, but it’s not my story to tell.

Among the issues of rebooking and making up for JJ’s absence, another topic that will be brought up at the next meeting is Ben. Ben doesn’t know much about the whole JJ incident, and honestly I told him to wait till this column to find out about it b/c I didn’t want to listen to any “I told you so” ‘s. It’s no secret that Ben and JJ didn’t get along to well, and Ben’s blowing up at JJ is what lead to other incidents that lead to the decision we reached concerning him a few weeks back. Ben’s main complaint w/ JJ was that he was too irresponsible for the power we were entrusting him with. Well, I have to admit it looks like that in the end Ben was right, yet his reason’s for not liking JJ and mine are quite a bit different in terms of the scale of events, and how big of a deal they were. I don’t quite know what happened to JJ, for the longest time he was very promising, and I truly thought he’d be able to handle being a major player in the DWF. Anyways, I hope Ben will spare me and John all the “I told you so” ‘s, and is receptive to the idea of how promising JJ looked be4 all of the shit this weekend, and realizes how caught off guard we were.

Basically, my point with this is that Ben has approached Rich, John, and myself and told each of us that he would like us to reevaluate our decision to never let him back into the DWF again. This being before he had the slightest idea what went down this weekend, and he is merely requesting that the 3 of us discuss it at the next meeting. I told him that we would, but was careful not to get his hopes going either way until that meeting takes place.

So, what should we do? There will be quite a lot of issues to go over concerning Ben. On the negative side of having him back, even though he’s told me he knows how out of line he was for the things he said about me and to me (as well what he said to Rich and John) and that he’s sorry, the simple fact of the matter is that I’ve heard it before. And Ben will be the first one to admit that, as well. Ben and I have since then patched things up concerning our friendship, but the DWF could prove to be a different matter.

On the plus side of having him back, the simple fact of the matter is that w/ JJ gone Rich will now be the sole man to take up the DWF when the summer is through and John and I (among others) leave for college. Not that Rich couldn’t handle it by himself, but having Ben around could help, and him and Rich could be quite the team. Between recruiting to booking to getting shows together, Ben could contribute to all of these things.

The simple fact of the matter is that there are a LOT more aspects to be discussed concerning this issue, and Rich and John and I will have to sit down and take a long, hard look at it, weighing the pro’s and con’s.

Until then, we’re going to let you help us!! I’ll be placing a poll on the main page that you all can vote on, expressing your feelings about Ben’s possible return. Be warned, the results won’t necessarily coincide with our decision…but it can’t hurt for us to have the perspective of all of our fellow fans and affiliates!! His decision will most likely come down to what is best for the future of the DWF, so take that into consideration when making your vote.

Now, before I end I would like to address some non-related topics for a minute if I could (I think I have deserved the right...and please don’t just stop reading.). First off, a HUGE round of applause please for Benicio Del Toro for winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Sunday night. He is undoubtedly one of the finest actors out there today, and it’s about time everyone is taking notice. Thankfully he DID win, for if I had to come home after my day Sunday to relax and watch the Oscars and watch him lose, I kid you not when I say I would’ve killed someone! (anyone want to take a stab at who for the way I was feeling that day?)

Fortunately, his closest competition was Albert Finney for Erin Brockovich, and although I won’t take away from Finney’s performance, this was the old bastards 5^th Oscar nomination and he’s appeared at the show for exactly ZERO of them. How’s that for disrespecting your peers?? (Remind you of anyone??) Anyways, the only person who could have won other than Del Toro w/out me going on a rampage would’ve been Willem Dafoe, for his role as 1920’s actor Max Schreck in “Shadow of the Vampire”. I haven’t even had the chance to see that film yet, however I feel confident in that statement.

Anyways, I’m off the subject a bit here. If any of you haven’t yet seen “Traffic”, then rush your sorry excuse for movie fan asses to the theater while it’s still there (otherwise it will be out on video and DVD at the end of May). Del Toro’s performance is nothing short of brilliance in his subtlety, and his emotions leap into you’re heart without him saying a single word. I’ve heard several complaints about Del Toro’s victory, however, and personally they have all been complete bullshit. The main complaint was that he spoke Spanish in the film, and he rode that to victory, as that Academy members can’t tell if his acting was good or not while speaking another language. Then that fat-ass critic from aintitcool.com stated on Politically Incorrect that he “won for a role that he read.” These idiots call themselves film critics?!?!?!?!?!?

I have 2 statements to make on that. On it being a role he “read”, maybe Mr. Fat F*ck should read into how Del Toro convinced the director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan to CUT the number of lines he had in the film, so he could focus his character on physical acting. As for the fact that he spoke Spanish meaning he didn’t have to act...if the Academy voters couldn’t distinguish acting despite the language, you think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would have receive 10 nominations!?!!?!? (a great film, by the way, deserved all of its nom’s, and deserved it’s wins, as well) Also, 2 weeks ago the SAG awards were held (Screen Actors Guild) and Del Toro won BEST ACTOR as voted on by his peers in Hollywood. Not best SUPPORTING actor…but best ACTOR!! And guess who wasn’t even nominated?? That’s right, Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks, and Ed Harris !!(not that they didn’t deserve it) None of them!! So you tell me, was he using the Spanish to mask his lack of talent? I’ve been a fan of Del Toro’s ever since his indy breakout role as Freddy Fenster in “The Usual Suspects,” being the first guy to make it cool to sound unintelligible in a film. (later used by Brad Pitt in “Snatch”, who had help from Del Toro.) Since then his roles as Dr. Gonzo in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and Longbow in “Way of the Gun” have showcased his talent and versatility. Not since James Dean has an actor had a squint so cool, and never has this gift that he has been so evident than as his role in “Traffic”.

Ok, wow, that was really a long rant. That’s Ok, though, it’s all true and he deserves the attention, so I hope you enjoyed it. The only other off-topic I would like to address is that while writing this article I’m watching wrestling history unfold, as I watch the replay of Nitro, then I’ll watch the tape of Raw. It is quite an intense couple hours of television, I must say. So far Nitro has been great (minus the McMahon/Trish porn segments), the matches have been world class (although I wish for one night Steiner remembered he once knew how to wrestle) and I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly…let’s hope Raw can do the same thing! I will most likely have more on this later, for at this point I’m undecided on whether this merger is a good or bad thing. Will it fulfill all of our dreams of matches that be4 were unthinkable? Hopefully yes. But will it destroy any sense of competition, and will they 2 products become so alike that they are undistinguishable? Hopefully not, but very likely, even though the Shane/Vince thing should work for a while. Never the less, it’s a historic night, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Well, that’s FINALLY It!! Damn, this thing reached 7 pages on Microsoft Word!! WOW!! Well, I do apologize for the delay in typing it up, but due to its length and content I hope it was all worth it!

Until next time, and the next big earth-shaking incident...

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Past "Konversation from the Klondike" Installments

2/28- Wiping the Slate Clean and Looking ahead

12/5- DWF's hot streak, upcoming TV show, marketing plans, etc

11/2-Blunt opinion of Ben/Rob fallout

10/20-Backstage Issue, Thoughts on October Xplosion

10/4-Debut column, many topics, match with Rich