Bits and Pieces

Tommy and I actually recorded our first Judas Priest cover, "Hellion/Electric Eye".  His guitar work on it is incredible and his backing vocals make the tune scream.  Of course, I've only heard the first rough mix at this point.  We're looking at another couple of covers to tackle, Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and the Beatles' "I Will" seem to be on deck next.  I'll know for sure when the raw music files arrive!  #RoxX  Fingers crossed for new originals, too!

Seems like it's monsoon season around here the past few weeks, raining daily.  Frog-strangler rains and such.  I did see the sunshine yesterday a bit and for minutes today, but only long enough to make it stifling hot.  Yeah.  June 1.  Way too early for unable to breathe just because you're outside, North Carolina, it's time you fix that mess.  

Speaking of summer, are these young Braves a real thing?  I'm finding myself watching daily, almost like 1995 all over again.  The pitcher I've been told is going to be great, Teheran, scares me to death on the mound, but in his defense, I've seen him put on some REAL quality starts of late.  Fingers crossed he pans out and turns the corner.  Really excited about the wave of youth that is showing out daily.  #ThisIsWhyWeChop

Date added to the rasslin' schedule with the Rising Generation League this Saturday, June 2 at the Mid Atlantic Sportatorium in Gibsonville NC.  June 9th is the Summer Spectacular, CWF ABSOLUTE JUSTICE 2018!  Tickets at cwftickets.com.  Then the July schedule begins on June 30th when CWF returns to the Sportatorium.  See what I did there?

Insurance: A Gamble Or A Rip-Off?

After 3 estimates (actually 4) the Fit was taken to the body shop for repair last Monday morning.  It made it home the following Monday since the original completion date of Thursday was the day the rear bumper cover arrived.  I don't like talking to the "other guy's" insurance company and had words with the gentleman that came here and spent 3 hours looking, measuring and photographing my car.  He calls to inform me "one of the dents" on the back wasn't his guy's responsibility.  I went full master fabricator on him and demanded he show me in what book it tells you that formed steel will not bend, roll or crease away from an actual impact and he began to stutter.  The car is fixed to our satisfaction, from the back the car looks new.  The clean up they did inside and out was worth the 7 days in a rental, which was a monster gas hog.  (Toyota, ya'll!)

Pip got us last Saturday.  In the rush of renting a SECOND car for Karen to take to work, I dumped some stuff she was carrying to work on the kitchen cabinet.  When she was ready for work, she grabbed the bag, her lunch and her handbag and left.  She arrived at work wondering what the H was all over the seat, the bags and her blouse.  

I called her about an hour after she left to ask if there was a reason there were 3 Arby's Sauce packets busted open and smeared all over the kitchen cabinet.  Pip did it.  He has a thing about biting bananas and apples, not eating them, but biting them.  He went vampire on the Arby's sauce and it made it's way from here to Belk and back.  Sadly, Pip probably bit the things the night before, prior to me bringing in the groceries...

Double-shot weekend for me with the return of CWF's Rising Generation League Saturday May 19th at the Sportatorium for THE WORLD IS YOURS!  Doors open at 7:00pm and belltime is 7:30pm!  Sunday afternoon Benefit Championship Wrestling returns to the Positive Attitude Youth Center in Burlington NC at 3:00pm Sunday May 20th for a stacked afternoon matinee!  See you at BCW's STARS AND STRIKES!

No more rasslin' for this guy until June 9th and then June 30th, both CWF Mid Atlantic events (Absolute Justice 2018 on the 9th!) at the Sportatorium in Gibsonville NC.  Plan on watching extra Braves baseball and more NASCAR than usual during off-time.  Seems like a plan to me!

Invisibility Rocks

Invisibility?  Yeah.  I'm guessing that maybe 2 folks a month find this "blog site".  Certainly never had any interaction.  Such is life.  I write for myself frequently as it is.  I'm good!

We put CWF Worldwide on "hiatus" for a few weeks while we change up production companies and allow the new folks the opportunity to get up to speed.  I don't envy whoever takes on the task, you get nit-picked to death by the folks that watch it.  Currently we air on Twitch, which provides a chatroom on the side of the screen for instant interaction.  Or we will when we return.  You know what I mean!

IndyInsiders on Facebook seems to be a popular destination after years of "meh" response.  Not sure if it's because I've kept on doing it or that a new group of fans and wrestlers are coming along and catching on to what we do.  Having a core of people around me referring to the site as "spoilers" wasn't helping my numbers, looking back with 20-20 hindsight.  Happy to see new faces and love seeing the reposts from our page.  I've been focusing on a one-man campaign on behalf of our home base which seems to be catching on.  "See You At The Sportatorium!"  

Tommy and I have finished recording vocals on everything we had in the loop and currently have NOTHING set to record, either original or cover.  We've discussed a few cover ideas (from old Grand Funk Railroad medley to a Judas Priest staple) and for some reason last night I got to thinking I'd like to cover Epic by Faith No More.  I have no idea why, but I did work on that song years ago and it's got a lot of places Tommy could REALLY shine on guitar and piano on it.  You want it all but you can't have it...

Tore up the Fit Saturday night, was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Interstate 85 around 11 pm.  In 5mph construction zone traffic, merging from 3 lanes down to 1.  I pulled over, he didn't, I got back on the highway and called 911.  After a minute or two on the phone with the NC Highway Patrol, the dispatcher asks "are you back on the road" and I told him I was.  He informed me I needed to pull over immediately or they couldn't do an accident report, so I complied.  About 10 minutes later blue lights approach up the median behind me and pulls off the road to the right.  Trooper asked if I was OK, I am, and tells me to "sit tight" and sped off after the guy that hit me.

About 10-15 minutes later he  pulls in front of me and instructs me to follow him at the speed he's driving exactly where he's driving.  Then he DIMS the rear strobes and emergency lights on his cruiser and tells me "I'm getting you past this construction, follow me" and down the median we went like a flash.  Pulled up on another trooper a couple of miles down the road and they stop traffic to allow me to pull in front of the car that hit me.  They did their report, took photos and had me fill out a statement.  They told me "we'll get you home as quickly as we possibly can" and delivered.  I was on the road back home in less than an hour after the actual accident.  Lucky for the backed up traffic, the trooper was in traffic behind me and KNEW he could catch the guy that hit me.  I assume he got a hit-and-run in a construction zone, so I can't imagine him having any auto insurance after this fiasco.

You have no idea how mad I was when the joker hit me.  You really have no idea how furious I became when he drove past me after I pulled off of the highway.  The Jack Hedrick in me is still strong, ya'll.  And I won't apologize for it, ever.  Have a good-un!

Dateline: January 107, 2018

Oh the weather outside is psychotic...No joke.  Tornado close to home (well in the same county) freezing cold and early summer heat all in the same day or two.  It would probably be 85 outside right now if the wind wasn't howling.  I'm beginning to think that Mother Nature has been on a bender for real.  

The one-day KERNODLE BROTHERS TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT came off smooth as glass, and history was made in an incredible day and night of action.  Congrats to Trevor Lee & Chet Sterling on the ultimate win over Chikara Tag Champions the Closers' Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice.  Touched on everyone involved on a special Insiders' Soapbox on the Insiders' Facebook gimmick earlier in the week, Monday I think.  We're returning to the Sportatorium Saturday for the Rising Generation League's THE NEXT EPISODE!  Tickets at cwftickets.com, ya'll!  And #Neckbone and stuff.

Also, PWI International Ultra-J Crown Champion Andrew Everett will be on hand to defend his title NEXT Saturday April 28th at the Sportatorium against the incredible Cam Carter!  cwf247.com

On the music front, I've heard two mixes of No Matter What, the second being incredible.  Still nothing on the "R&B" tune, but that may come at any time.  Tommy did throw me another curve ball by shooting me another upbeat rock original for me to throw some lyrics at yesterday.  An hour or so with it today, and I'm one line from being done with the "pre-chorus" and choruses and that leaves only a couple of verses.  Yeah, I write some of my stuff backwards, just like I edit my photos for the Insiders.  I may explain that someday.  Or maybe not.

Sinuses, Singing & Suplexes

I'm almost human again and after actually MISSING WORK (GASP!) Karen's nearing feeling human again.  She's still not eating much, but it seems the heating pad I bought her did wonders for her when she felt her worse.  Odd, she's only drinking Coca-Cola now after years of Diet Dr. Pepper and says everything has a strange taste to it.  The other day she said everything smelled like stale coffee to her.  Different the next day, but the same level of repulsiveness.  Hope she continues to get over this mess, her stress level at work is at an all-time high.

Back into the studio tomorrow with Tommy to record our, get this, BEACH tune "I'll Be True".  Totally expected another original before we returned to the studio, and kind of figured when it never arrived he was going to record another cover for us to tackle.  That is EXACTLY what he did and after going through the song tonight, I am JACKED at the opportunity to cover Badfinger's classic "No Matter What".  Jacked is an understatement.  We are re-creating the music we grew up on between original projects.  And yes, I still listen to our cover of "Limelight" expecting to find a flaw.  Still haven't.  Still makes the hair on my arms stand up when I hear it.  Not sure what we'll release next, but we do have almost a half dozen originals still unreleased.  

After several weekends off, we kick back into gear Saturday at the Sportatorium with TWO huge events comprising the 2018 KERNODLE BROTHERS TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT.  First round action kicks off at 3:30pm and the Finals begin at 7:30pm.  Tickets to BOTH sessions are available now at cwftickets.com.  

In non CWF Mid Atlantic headlines, I'm so jacked to see our old buddy Cedric Alexander win the WWE Cruiserweight Title at Wrestlemania 34.  Even more jacked to see our old buddy No Way Jose (who was Manny Garcia in CWF) make his debut on WWE Raw the following night, taking on recent Trevor Lee challenger "Southern Savior" John Skyler.  And to think, people used to make fun of me for working in pro wrestling, and now a lot of guys I have worked with are stepping into the big spotlight.  No, I'm not taking credit (although "Jose" IS a CWF Dojo trained wrestler) for these guys, but seeing them making headlines makes me feel damn good, like a personal accomplishment.

Misery

The past two weeks have been pure allergy misery.  Yes, even with snow on the ground, my sometimes spring allergies have hit me like a sledgehammer and don't seem to be easing up anytime soon.  And now it's warm enough today that I had to turn on the AC in the car to keep from appearing to be crying like a baby while driving in the sickening green fuzz covering the world.  

My next door neighbor locked her keys in her car this morning and couldn't get into her apartment.  I called the emergency number for her and opened the living room window to see if they called back.  Big mistake.  I probably look like I've spent the last half hour crying like a baby at this point.  Everything inside is now glowing an eerie green like a cheesy sci-fi movie.  Invasion of the sinus monsters is in full effect today.  Even my face hurts at this point.

Which television series produced the most spin-offs?  Always figured it was All In the Family, with a huge family tree of spin-off shows.  All in The Family begat Maude which begat Good Times. All In The Family also begat the Jeffersons and we all moved on up.  Then came Gloria, Checking In, 704 Hauser Street and Archie Bunker's Place.  But wait!  The Mary Tyler Moore program actually spun off three series as themselves!  Rhoda, Phyllis and the one-hour drama Lou Grant ran between 1974 and 1982, which is what Yahoo claims to be the series with the most spin-offs.  Good thing we're not also talking animated spin-offs, because Happy Days would probably wipe them all out considering that Happy Days was a flipping spin-off from the Love Boat.  BOOM!  Minds blown.

And yeah, I never even mentioned Three's Company, Star Trek, Bugs Bunny or Scooby Doo!

Stretching out...

After four consecutive weekends of CWF Mid Atlantic live events, I'm looking at a couple of weekends off.  Enterprise Car Rental won't like that, but hey, what can I say?  They'll see me by mid-April I'm certain.  The Sportatorium is hot.  Not physically, mind you, but literally.  Queens of Combat have the stage this Saturday, which I'm no longer associated with, so weekend off!  Funny how that works...

Tommy's throwing me files that I can't even keep up with.  Since buying a new Marshall Combo, he's been going back and re-recording old recordings and sending me the new versions.  He started with our first outing, Ashes To Ashes and today I discover a new mix of I Come Tumblin'.  That's after he drops a BEAUTIFUL second mix of the Beatles' If I Fell, which includes the sound of a stylus making contact with the record before the song begins.  That's a great memory and feeling all by itself right there, kids.  Yeah, there are more, but at this point I'll have to get into my music files to see which ones he's sent. 

Marshall 14 - Computer 0  F

I really hope some inspiration hits him and he sends me some new original stuff soon, I'm itching to tell some more stories.  Of course, it also requires him to physically have the time to take on these chores too, so I totally understand.  I get it.  It just gives me time to harass my crazy cat, who spent the bulk of the day today under my desk popping me on the leg asking for attention.  It took a new catnip mouse and a half-hour of playing fetch before he decided it was nap time.  Yes, Pip plays fetch.  He's fond of chasing down hair bands, he'll catch Wasp and Poison...No.  The elastic-fabric covered rubber bands you buy for ponytails, silly.  So basically, you know now why it took me until after dark to get IndyInsiders.Com updated.  I kid you not.

Also, have I mentioned how much I enjoy when Pig Daddy Cool, the Proletariat Boar of Moldova or Ol' Juke Joint Lucas Calhoun appear on our events?  Guys brought a huge gentleman, half of the current Chikara Tag Team Champions Rick Roland with them and they were all three involved in a great six-man tag.  Aiight, I'm outta here.  Here's Roland catching the Boar out of midair and Lucas Calhoun stopping time with a single chop!  Night kids.

Mo Better Update?

Wrestling is rocking along with a new life again, RoxX is rolling along with a couple of more songs recorded since my last post here and things are looking good all around for a change.  Even Pip is living the life, eating, sleeping and sleeping some more.  Karen's actually talking retirement, says she's not going through another Christmas season in retail, but if I know her she'll be looking for a part-time job within a week of retiring.  I'd bet on that.

Happy as a clam to have our old buddy Shane "Hurricane" Helms with us again, heck, he's holding our Worldwide Television Championship currently!  We're running the Sportatorium Saturday for a CWF Rising Generation League event called THINGS DONE CHANGED!  Saturday the 10th CWF Mid Atlantic returns to Hargrave Rec Center in Chapel Hill NC for CWF THE BIG PAYBACK!  Saturday March 17th the "Hurricane" Shane Helms returns to the Sportatorium for CWF Mid Atlantic's GREEN WITH ENVY!  Tickets available at cwftickets.com.

Tommy and I hit the studio on Monday (yes Monday) of last week and recorded a surprise song he sent me only Sunday.  Backstory is that he discovered the drum track, which he had did maybe 15 years ago for a one-off one-man performance at his company's Christmas Party.  So he built the song around it, sends it to me on Sunday and calls Sunday night inviting me over Monday to record.  Long story short, we finished Rush's Limelight, I doubled my parts and we moved on to our newest original "It's Gonna Be Alright".  I've called this a "Tom Petty" song because it was written very similar to a Petty song, but I feel it came out a little closer to a Traveling Willbury's tune.  Still haven't heard the first mix of it yet, but I'm driving around in the car just to listen to Limelight...

I Feel Good.

You know, I feel good about a lot more today than I have felt good about for years.  I feel good about continuing to record with Tommy (RoxX), I feel good about the direction and mood of our niche in pro wrestling and I feel like I've been set free.  Free from something I can't touch, can't see, but have felt off and on for years it seems.  Even Karen has told me my whole mood has changed and that I'm much more "bearable" to be around.  That's good, right?  Gotta be, she's still living here.

I'm really excited about the future of CWF and the new attitude from top to bottom that is bouying everyone involved.  The cooperation is at an all-time high and everyone is helping everyone else.  Volunteer isn't a word that's avoided right now, either.  The core group has got some of the younger guys involved and they're taking care of their end of the deal.  A few friends have stepped in to help smooth out any bumps along the road and give us options for visual expansion of our product (talking my buddy John Moses here, ya'll!).  

We hit the studio last week and put down vocals for And Your Bird Can Sing, an old Beatles favorite and, not kidding here, the Monkees' Pleasant Valley Sunday.  I'm digging the early mixes of both and can't wait for the next original that I've still yet to hear.  Sure it's in the pipeline and I'll see and hear it shortly.  

Working currently on less than six hours of sleep (went to bed around 3:15am and was out of bed at 8:45am) and things are looking fuzzy, but in a good way.  I stumbled through the day, finished editing photos and publishing the websites before hitting the shower.  While showering, it hits me that I had totally forgot to update one of my usual 3 pages following each live event.  Handled that in about five minutes and I'm good until next Sunday for updates after CWF-RGL RISIN' TO THE TOP!  See You At The Sportatorium!

Out With The Old...

Our wrestling company had a bit of an upheaval early in January when we parted company with our main booker for the past few years.  The waves of cause and effect rolled my direction, too, and I had to make the decision to replace my long-time partners on my wrestling website, IndyInsiders.Com.  One of the fellows that left was the center of the company issue and the other is a very close friend of his, who has decided to take some time off to reconsider what he wants to do.

Two trusted friends have stepped up to join the madness that is IndyInsiders, the Artist Formerly Known as CWF Fancam, Steve Zeban and the critical eye of graphics guru Scott Neese, a.k.a. IWC Fancam on the interwebs.  Two guys that I have nothing but admiration for have helped insure that the website continues forward.  I'm also throwing this one out there, with the addition of Steve, our frequent contributor Taylor Zeban is firmly on deck for a spot in the show too!

The "new" Insiders crew will present the 2017 IndyInsiders Awards on Saturday February 10th at Gibsonville NC's Mid Atlantic Sportatorium during CWF STRONG!  Tickets, directions and everything CWF can be found at CWF247.COM!

The day after my last update here, I did receive the first mix of "If I Fell" from Tommy and it brought back another wave of warm and fuzzy feelings.  We had discussed moving forward with more originals, but this morning I awake to an email with the finished music track for another Beatles classic, "And Your Bird Can Sing".  I'm jacked.  This is one of my absolute favorites, which I always thought was the highlight of the 25+ minute long Beatles Medley by Stars on 45.  Can't wait to tackle it.  I can see us doing this until we have enough tracks to release a "Beatles" album before it's over.  

So, my current mood has elevated into the "zone" again for the first time in years.  I'm excited about CWF Mid Atlantic and our plans for the future ensure many more years of high-impact pro wrestling fun and action for the fans.  My thoughts of retirement are officially on the back burner and I'm ready for whatever CWF requests.  Tommy must be seeing a weekend off in his near future or he wouldn't be sending new tunes, and I'm extremely honored that he continues to want to record with me on our various musical projects.  The future looks bright for both CWF and RoxX and I'm wired by the prospects offered to me by both.  Excuse my grin, but I'm feeling great.

A Damn Cold Beginning

2018 kicks off with record cold temperatures here in God's Country and I guess it's ok to say that Mr. Trump has fixed Global Warming in his first year in office.  First time my water here has frozen up in 17 years.  At least it was stupid.  Yeah, stupid.  Water frozen solid, maintenance puts in an electric heater in the utility room and tells me to call them when the water starts running.  It didn't.  Got a hotel room at the Marriott next door and wore out their huge Euro-style shower.  Checked out, came home and maintenance comes back asking if I have water yet.  Nope.  Well, let's go take a look!

Out to the utility room, he opens it.  The heater is running and the light is on.  It's cold as &@^# in there!  He walks around the building to the vacant apartment next door's side and the door is standing wide open.  Which explains why my water froze up in the first place.  Ten to twelve minutes later my water returned with a roar.  Kept it dripping since, but I'm hearing frozen water stories everywhere.

Very successful weekend in the studio.  Finished Beatles tracks "If I Fell", "Anytime At All" and "Yes It Is" as well as new original "Unwavering Light".  I've got demos and rough mixes of all of these except "If I Fell" and am freaking out kind of hard.  The new original shows off a lot of what we've learned learning and performing these complex Beatles tunes.  Wait until Tommy releases "Yes It Is".  I still can't believe that is US singing these songs!  We still #RoxX!

I imagine we'll focus on new originals as soon as we have more to concentrate on, Tommy's still on mad overtime working six days a week.  Figures he won't have another week-long break until April.  We've knocked around doing some other covers down the road and the next one may be "I Got The Fire" by Montrose.  Or it may even be a Judas Priest tune.  I dunno, with the release of "It Won't Be Long", we still have three Beatles tunes unreleased as well as five originals.