Blog Archives
San Fran Arena with DIY Speakers Ends the Power, SERIOUSLY! – WIRed #24
…also, Pearl Harbor Day, “Man of Steel,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” and ALL THE THINGS!!
This week on WIRed, a new community arena for the Golden State Warriors and San Fran, build you own speakers, the end and final issue of Nintendo Power, and celebrating the WWE’s most awkward lowlights. Read the rest of this entry
New Arena for Golden State Warriors Services Community
See it? It’s Right There. In the middle…
San Francisco’s NBA franchise, the Golden State Warriors, recently made the announcement that they’ve selected Snøhetta and AECOM as the architecture team to design the new sports and entertainment complex for the Warriors. While the terms of the agreement are currently in the final stages, the new stadium, to be located along the San Francisco waterfront, will act as a main destination in hosting home games for the Bay Area’s NBA team, provide a great venue for live concerts, local cultural events and conventions, as San Francisco has had difficulty accommodating for these types of prominent events. This caters well for a city characterized by its numerous culturally rich streetscapes featuring mixed-use neighborhoods anchored around central commercial corridors to which residents and visitors alike can walk. Read the rest of this entry
This Musical Olympic Structure Looks Like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude
However, this building also looks like bloody shards of glass, as possibly Gulliver himself my have died after he fell directly on top of it. Also, this makes this the fourth building erected for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London that has been covered on The PractitioNERD (exhibits A, B, & C). The Coca-Cola Beatbox, designed by Asif Khan and Pernilla Ohrstedt, is a crystalline structure that is more than meets the eye (like Optimus Prime), as it can be played like a musical instrument. Read the rest of this entry
Daily Top 5 of the 2012 E3/Electronic Entertainment Expo (Day 4/4)
DAY 4 (June 7th, 2012)
And another E3 is in the books, ladies and gentlemen! This is the time of year that we all look forward to on the yearly gaming calendar (next to the dates of certain game releases we are looking forward to) is the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as “E3.” This year, the conference takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. Now that the fourth and FINAL day of E3 2012 is complete, I wish to provide a few briefs about my five favorite stories made today at the show.
Daily Top 5 of the 2012 E3/Electronic Entertainment Expo (Day 3/4)
DAY 3 (June 6th, 2012)
Aloha, fellow gamers!! This is the time of year that we all look forward to on the yearly gaming calendar (next to the dates of certain game releases we are looking forward to) is the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as “E3.” This year, the conference takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. As with CES 2012 and the AIA 2012 Convention, I will be doing this for the rest of E3, and now that day three of E3 2012 is complete, I wish to provide a few briefs about my five favorite stories made today at the show.
You Can Play Some 1-on-1 at NBA Legend Walter “Clyde” Frazier’s Restaurant in NYC
What would you do after retiring form an epic, decorated and legendary career in the National Basketball Association? How about getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987, become a color commentator for the NBA’s New York Knicks, and then get into the restaurant business? That’s exactly what Walt “Clyde” Frazier did, now with the opening of his restaurant, Fraizer’s Wine and Dine in New York City, designed by Morphosis Architects. Frazier, now 67, famous in his day not only as an athlete, but as a flamboyant dresser, earned the nickname “Clyde” after the snazzy-dressed protagonist of the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde (a personal favorite film of mine), and the restaurant seems to really fit his style. It even has a foul-shooting basketball court at one end of the bar. I was immediately sold!
WWE.com’s Most Underrated Superstars
After one of Joey Styles’ Twitter followers suggested that WWE Classics should do a list on some of the most underrated superstars in WWE history over a month ago, the Classics’ department dabbled in the idea of a roundtable discussion with several editors and in-house Hall-of-Famer Howard Finkel. Ultimately, the decision was made to ask a group of people would would understand professional wrestling nowadays more than anyone else would — the current WWE superstars.
Celebrating 10 Years of “Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice.”
Just to be sure, we ARE talking about practice, right?
Do you remember where you were when former NBA player and Philadelphia 76er star Allen Iverson enlightened us with his philosophy on the practice of…well…practice? Read the rest of this entry
PUNK vs. BRYAN for the WWE Title at WWE Over The Limit
Indeed, on Sunday May 20th, Christmas will be coming early this year.
To the involved and dedicated wrestling fans, or “smart marks” (a.k.a. “smarks”),we felt that a championship match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan (or “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson) was destined to happen; it would just be a matter of time. Both wrestlers had made names for themselves on the hard-knock independent wrestling circuit (including stints in Ring of Honor) all over the world. Punk and Bryan both have old-school wrestling backgrounds and styles, making them among the purest of athletes and finest technicians in the business (something that not as common nowadays). Both of their world title reigns were possibly the most dominant and popular in late-2011 to early-2012. Finally, in three short weeks at WWE Over the Limit, they will both meet again, but this time a world title will be on the line. Read the rest of this entry
The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, WrestleMania X8 (2002)
This Sunday in Miami, The Rock and John Cena will face off at WrestleMania XXVIII (28); a match that was over one year in the making (reminiscent of old 70′s & 80′s storylines), and is being dubbed and promoted as an Icon vs. Icon-style of match given both stars’ pop culture popularity. However, this isn’t The Rock’s first time being promoted in this type of match.
Team USA’s Basketball Jerseys Are Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles; Our Recyclable Litter at Work.
Nike has announced the the 2012 iteration of Team USA’s basketball jerseys for the Olympic Games in London would be made of 96% recycled polyester, making them the lightest jerseys Nike ever made. Additionally, the shorts will be 100% recycled polyester and only weight 5 ounces. Nike verifies that each jersey is made from 22 recycled plastic bottles to create the breathable polyester fabric the jerseys are made of. Pretty snazzy-looking, don’t you think? It may be more successful than the NBA experiment with the synthetic basketball.
[Thanks to Nike via Twitter "@NikeBasketball" & the press release]
Grantland’s David Shoemaker on the 2012 WWE Royal Rumble & The State of the WWE
With the WWE Royal Rumble coming up tomorrow, the WWE finds itself in a very interesting and very successful situation (if played correctly). Grantland writer David Shoemaker (also known as “The Masked Man”) takes a look back at the history and the legacy of the Royal Rumble, as well as the current intriguing storylines that are leading up to the event.
Shoemaker starts by discussing the inception and evolution of the Royal Rumble event, conceived by Pat Patterson, which was inspired by the tradition of the battle royale-type match being a match of “controlled-chaos.” He continues with the insanely-clever return of WWE mainstay Chris Jericho, who had just returned to action after a lengthy absence, seeming to play and exploit the fans’ knowledge and expectations of the typical “hyped-up returning good-guy wrestler” story to become a top heel (or bad guy). Next is the continuation of the CM Punk storyline from this past summer (which I also blogged about), in which he broke the fourth-wall to take the company into an “Reality Era” (a play of the WWE’s “Attitude Era” of the late 1990′s), followed by the complete bait-and-switch of the persona of another returning wrestler, Broadus Clay, hyped as the unstoppable and violent monster, yet returning as a dancing machine (“what him get down, watch him get down“).
I strongly recommend reading the entire article (linked below), as it is a very interesting and fun read. At the end of reading it and reflecting of the state of the WWE in the last year or so, I think the answer to Showmaker’s question of whether or not the WWE was “trolling their own audience” is a huge, emphatic YES; YES they are. To tell the truth, it’s probably working; I’ve been glued to the TV every Monday and Friday Night (or at least Hulu) to catch up on the madness.
[Thanks Grantland]
Grantland’s Shane Ryan on Ric Flair’s Personal Struggles…
| WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—-uh-oh!!! |
Man, it really sucks to hear anything negative about someone you respect and admire. When it comes to professional wrestling, one of the names that gets tossed out among a discussion of “the best ever” is Ric Flair, the “Nature Boy” himself. We’re talking about a man who legitimately broke his back in a plane crash and managed to come back to have on of the most decorated and prolific careers in the history of professional wrestling.
Back in late-August of this year, Grantland’s Shane Ryan wrote a very lengthy article focusing on the personal struggles Ric Flair is currently dealing with, and has been dealing with for the last 20+ years, including (but not limited to) physical health issues, lawsuits, allegedly questionable investments, multiple divorces, arrests, alleged acts of physical violence, and much more. Though much of the research done for the article is based on actual reports and even Flair’s own 2004 autobiography “To Be The Man,” Ric Flair has threatened to sue Grantland over the particular falsehoods of the story.
Check the links below to read the article from Grantland (which is QUITE a long, yet interesting read) and the story on Deadspin about the threatened lawsuit. Go ahead and take a gander for yourselves.
ESPN’s Bill Simmons on WWE Entrance Music
Bill Simmons (you know, “The Sports Guy” from ESPN & ESPN.com, the editor-in-chief from Grantland) wrote this awesome article on entrance music in professional wrestling, and why it matters in creating a true superstar, as well as its effect on crowd reaction and connection. Simmons also provides a great example of this claim by using the recent controversies surrounding professional wrestler CM Punk (the guy with the briefcase), his connection to the fans, and the current status and storyline surrounding the status of the WWE Championship.
At the end of the article, he provides a Top 12 list (with some Honorable Mentions) of pro wrestling entrance songs that he deems to be the most effective in both creating a superstar and connecting with fans. Much of the list I agree with, especially with Edge’s theme (“Metallingus” by Alter Bridge, though incorrectly named as “On This Day”) and it’s placement on the list. This is an excellent read for pro wrestling fans (of course) and music fans alike.
“Good Lord, That’s His Music” – Bill Simmons on WWE music – Grantland
