Garden parties

It's always a hoot to watch MSG Classics on MSG Network, which is basically a bunch of old WWF matches from the Garden over the years. There's a huge sense of nostalgia -- for the old announcers, the old bad lighting, the evolution of TV graphics and of course the wrestling. Sure, there have been plenty of changes in the action over time. That's just how things have changed.

But it's pretty sad to watch some of these matches (in tonight's case, the first SummerSlam in 1988) and realize that many of the participants have already passed on. And it's not even the older participants like Gorilla Monsoon or Lord Alfred Hayes. It's often the wrestling talent who was at the prime of their careers when these cards originally took place (for instance, there was a Rick Rude-Junkyard Dog match). So many guys are dying relatively early that you almost can't blame guys like Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter to occasionally put on the boots just to prove that they've stayed alive. Even stranger is that it seems like the guys from those 1970s Bruno Sammartino cards have a better survival rate than the those mid-'80s, early '90s cards.

Holy cow!

Just when I do a little obit scouring, now comes the passing of Phil Rizzuto, a fixture of my youth watching Yankees games and just New York area TV in general. His folksy way of calling games made him a beloved figure for Yankees fans for a number of years, and his Italian Catholic background made him a popular figure around my church and grammar school growing up. In fact, I remember signing a petition in second or third grade trying to get the Scooter into the Hall of Fame -- which would happen a number of years later (in 1994).

In a way, I knew the end was near soon when he wasn't at Old Timers Day, but instead sent a letter that was read near the end of the introductions. But while he hadn't been part of the Yankees broadcast crew for about a decade, his aura still loomed large over games.

To say goodbye, here's one of his Money Store ads, as well as an in-game promo for a mid-'80s Yankees game:

Dead pooling

Here's an interesting set of three celebrity deaths:
-- Merv Griffin. I still remember his talk show from long ago, not to mention Kramer turning his apartment into the old Merv Griffin Show set in one episode of Seinfeld. But his lasting legacy in the game show world is creating Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Of course, only by adding those two factors together do you get the current outpouring of coverage of his death. (For instance, Mike Douglas didn't get nearly the coverage when he passed on recently, although everyone did trot out the Tiger Woods clip from his show when he was just a little kid.)

-- Brooke Astor. That she made it to 105 is amazing enough. It was just weird, though, that she made the news a couple of years ago not because she died but because of in-family squabbling over her care. But as a New York legend, she'll be missed.

-- Brian Adams. No, not this guy, but rather the latest pro wrestler to die somewhat prematurely. He had a rather interesting career with Demolition, although his Kona Crush days are the ones I remember most, even if they seemed to be the dorkiest of his gimmicks. But once again, it hardly registers now when a pro wrestler passes in his 30s and 40s -- unless it's a really extreme case like Chris Benoit. It almost makes you feel good for some of the old-time guys to suit up from time to time just to bring back the old days because many of their peers and many of the people who grew up watching them are no longer around.

Down with the geekness

Despite the fact that I grew up in central New Jersey, it was only last night that I actually saw a concert at the PNC (nee Garden State) Arts Center -- the reasonably-sized outdoor-ish musical venue in the middle of the Garden State Parkway. In this case, I took in yet another Weird Al performance, fully embracing my nerd cred, knowing full well I'd fit in pretty well in this crowd. (It's hard to feel you're "too cool for school" here, mainly because you've spent decent money and had to trek down the Parkway to get to this concert in the first place.)

And having seen a couple of his shows in Atlanta, I pretty much got what I expected -- a ton of costume changes (marked by his faux interviews of celebrities), accompanying videos to most of his songs and one really long parody medley set. Also got some Storm Troopers and Darth Vader for "The Saga Begins" -- to ratchet up the geek factor even more -- and the requisite Segway for "White and Nerdy." Despite the relatively fun set, I'm still a bit thrown that his encore song was "Albuquerque" -- but at least he'll actually be playing there at the tail end of the tour.

He's actually returning to the area to play at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan next month (probably a better venue for his act), but I'm amused at the venues he's playing right around the New York City gig:

Sept 19 New Bedford, MA Zeiterion Performing Arts Center
Sept 20 New York City Beacon Theater
Sept 21 Ledyard, CT Foxwoods Casino

Grand Slammed

In the midst of last week's conventions, I was able to catch the first couple of episodes of GSN's Grand Slam -- a pretty interesting show featuring a number of game show legends plus a few other random names. I'm intrigued by the fact that the game tests all sorts of knowledge skills beyond just trivia. It's been fun to watch, although I will admit that having Dennis Miller as a smarmy studio host-type is a very acquired taste. On the other hand, more than one person has said that Pat Kiernan has become the "voice" of game shows thanks to his work on the World Series of Pop Culture and as the disembodies "questioner" on Grand Slam.

If you want to see a little bit of the show, YouTube has much of the first game between Ken Jennings and Victor Lee. Here's one clip. The show continues on Saturday and Sunday for the next few weeks. (Also worth noting -- I've played against four of the contestants in the field -- Ken, Victor, Ed and Dave -- in assorted quiz bowl tournaments, plus Kevin has moderated a ton of my matches.)

Conventional wisdom

I guess I could consider my Vegas/Miami conference doubleheader a success. I got some business done in Vegas for FSTA with limited gambling damage (although I didn't get a chance to play a poker tournament while in town), and did a fair share of both networking and sightseeing in Miami for AAJA. Plus, it was good to reconnect with all sorts of people at AAJA after missing the past couple of conventions as well as finding even more of my fellow Wildcats.

I got a couple of trips to South Beach in, including a great dinner at The Setai on Friday night with an awesome deal for Miami Spice Restaurant month. But unlike most of my friends' dinner trips around the area, we got some amazing service, which I never really considered a whole lot until now.

The Miami leg of the trip also involved catching a preview of Finishing the Game, the latest Justin Lin film. It was a pretty funny movie in the vein of This Is Spinal Tap, but it was uneven and oddly paced. Still, I'd be interested in seeing it again when it comes out in the fall. However, I don't think it will generate the same buzz as Better Luck Tomorrow did after it was screened at the 2002 convention in Dallas.

Some pictures should be posted up sooner or later -- or they'll just be on Facebook, my newest form of Web crack.