Podcast Review: The Art of Wrestling Episode 167 - The Genius Lanny Poffo

The Art of Wrestling hosted by Colt Cabana is my favorite wrestling Podcast. It's usually a cool, relaxed conversation with his wrestler buddies. He's had Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Jake the Snake Roberts and many other wrestlers from several generations. Even if you aren't a wrestling fan, I would recommend trying at least one out. Try the Miz! Everyone knows who the Miz is.

This week's episode (at least the one I listened to this week) stars The Genius Lanny Poffo. The Genius comes from the prestigious Poffo wrestling family. Originally from Downers Grove, IL his father Angelo Poffo was a promoter in the Memphis area rivaling Jerry Lawler. Lanny's brother is no other than Randy Macho Man Savage. All and all a very talented and important family when it came to wrestling.

This was an interesting interview for a couple of reasons. A lot of wrestlers struggle in their later years because of drug addiction, depression or past injuries catching up with them. Poffo is a nice change of pace where he is a positive thinker and happy to be retired from the wrestling world. He never reached the heights of his brother Macho Man, but he is thankful for every opportunity he had. His highest level of popularity was when he entered a program with the then champion Hulk Hogan. He faced Hogan at a Saturday Night Main Event in 1989 and actually beat him. He won by count out, so he didn't win the title, but that's still pretty impressive. Hulk Hogan beat everybody in the 80's.

Poffo touches on his brothers death, as the two were very close. Cabana is a great interviewer and actually doesn't ask about the Macho Man, but Poffo insists that Randy was the only reason that he achieved anything in his wrestling career. It was a solid conversation with The Genius breaking into poems every so often, it was his gimmick for years, and I enjoyed every moment.

I give the AOW with The Genius 4 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

You can subscribe to the Art of Wrestling Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio or you can stream all of the episodes from Colt's site http://tsmradio.com/coltcabana/

Building a solid heavy metal collection Part 2 of 25

I could have picked any H.I.M. album from their catalog and put it in this list, but there can be only one! Love Metal is the most important album because it was their first big American release. The native Finns released several albums before Love Metal but struggled to crossover into the American music scene. Fortunately, after a guest spot on MTV's Jackass their exposure went through the roof. Bam Margera's greatest contribution to this planet is bring H.I.M. to the american masses. Thanks Bam!

H.I.M. has a very unique sound and really adds some depth to any music collection. Love Metal was so influential that it spawned its own metal genre aptly named love metal. They are the only band that truly fits into this genre. Their logo is a mixture of a heart and a pentagram, truly blending two vastly different themes. They mix groovy rock and roll riffs with heart wrenching lyrics about love. The lyrics on this album are what really make Love Metal so darn good. The hooks are so catchy, you won't be able to get them out of your head. I guarantee you will find yourself reciting the chorus of Soul on Fire and wishing you had a microphone in your hand. Love Metal is so easy to fall in love with, and you will. Eventually you'll become that needy boyfriend and ask for more, luckily they have a very deep catalog and hours of love metal to go around.

Key tracks include: No.1 - Buried Alive by Love, No.2 - Funeral of Hearts, No.7 - Fortress of Tears.

If I were you, I would get everything H.I.M. has to offer and realize the pure loveliness that is love metal.

If you just started reading this series, check out the first entry Finntroll - Nattfodd

Album Review - Fortress by Alter Bridge

Wow! Wowy wowy wow wow is what I need to say first. This is by far Alter Bridge's heaviest offering and of course you know that gets me going. I've loved Alter Bridge since their inception and they've always been enjoyable, but my God this is the album I've been waiting for. They took my perception of them as a band, ripped it out of my hands, smashed it and spit on it burying it forever.

The opening track Cry of Achilles is the perfect opener. It starts with a sweet acoustic guitar piece and rips this album right open. I feel that Mark Tremonti has finally become the guitarist that I always knew he could be. He leaves everything on table in each tune and has become an A class lead. The riffs from Peace is Broken and Bleed it Dry remind me of former Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis and in no way is that a bad thing. Well done sir, I appreciate every lick you have written for Fortress.

Enough of my worship of Tremonti, and on to Myles Kennedy. I didn't know it was possible, but I feel that Kennedy has gotten better and better with each album. His voice is almost angelic in the beginning of Calm the Fire. With all this metalesque hard rock goodness going on, it says something that number 4 - Lover is one of my favorite tunes on this album. The dynamics of this album are out of sight and I am so glad that I have a chance to listen to it. I know this is a bold statement, but this has to be the greatest hard rock album off all time. Grip and rip this album over and over, you will not regret it.

I give Fortress by Alter Bridge 5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Album cover provided by amazon.com.

Movie Review: Zombie Hunter

I am a huge zombie fan. I've seen all of Romero's and O'Bannon's zombie flicks, I've read all of the issues of the Walking Dead and have collected all of Marvel's zombie comics. I guess I have high expectations when it comes to new zombie movies. I've been reluctant to watch World War Z because I loved Max Brooks' book and I'm afraid what Hollywood would do to it. I will watch World War Z sometime soon and give you the review on that one.

But in the meantime let's focus on Zombie Hunter. This was a straight to Blu-Ray release "starring" Danny Trejo. I put starring in quotes because he is the main draw for this movie. I love the guy but he was only on screen for about 10 minutes total. Trejo's parts were definitely the best part of this movie and I wish there was more Trejo action.

Here's a quick synopsis of the movie. There is a drug going around called "Natas" which is Satan backwards. Pretty clever there. This drug looks like Pepto Bismo and is supposedly the most addictive drug in the world. Somehow is turns people into killer zombies. The movie starts after the drug and zombies have ravaged the world. I really enjoyed the concept and easily over saw the cheesiness of the opening sequence because I was ready for Trejo tear apart zombies left and right. Instead we meet Hunter, who is the zombie hunter. He lost his family and was a former user of the drug. His only goal in life is to hunt and kill zombies. I'm assuming every actor/ actress was told to cheese it up for their roles. At least I hope so because I've seen way better acting on SyFy original movies.

With all the zombie options out there, I would definitely skip Zombie Hunter. The story is decent, the acting is miserable, the CGI is pretty horrendous, and the amount of Danny Trejo on-screen time really disappointed me. The only saving grace was the sequence with the "Funnyman." He is a killer with a chainsaw in a clown mask. Not sure why they included him since it's a zombie movie, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. By the time you reach this scene it's too little, too late.

I give Zombie Hunter 1 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Rated: Not-rated
Run-time: 93 Minutes

Movie poster provided by amazon.com.

Building a solid heavy metal collection Part 1 of 25

So here we go! As my first pick of this series, I definitely chose an album that's pretty out there by normal standards.

Finntroll is a viking/ folk/ black metal band from, you guessed it, Finland. Nattfodd is their third album released in 2004. When I first heard this album, I couldn't believe my ears. I couldn't understand a word they were saying and that's not because of the death metal growl, but because the entire CD is in Finnish. The best part of this album is that it doesn't need to be in English to be enjoyed. The music and especially the tone do all the talking.

Every time I listen to Nattfodd I am carried away into a land similar to Tolkien's Middle Earth and imagine a great battle ensuing between the Dwarves and nasty Orcs. Before I start listening to Nattfodd I make sure that I have 45 minutes to spare because once it begins, I can't stop listening to it. You will be instantly swept away by the chants, screams, and the xylophone/ accordion accompaniment.

Some key tracks are No. 2 - Eliytres, No. 6 - Ursvamp (Ancient Mushroom) and No. 10 Rok (Smoke)

Nattfodd is essential to any metal collection because of it's uniqueness. Its an album that fans of fantasy can really get behind and its just plain out awesome. How sweet is a band that features a song about a Troll Hammer?

Finntroll's earlier albums (Midnattens Widunder & Jaktens Tid) are less accessible and are more focused on the Finnish folk aspect of their style, but every CD after Nattfodd (Ur Jordens Djup, Nifelvind and Blodsvept) follows the same style and you should definitely check those out if you dig Nattfodd.

Hope you dug the first entry and the concept of this series. Part 2 will be coming soon!

Album art provided by Amazon.com

Building the most solid heavy metal collection: 25 albums that never leave my iPod.

I mentioned this series in my introduction the other day and Taa-Daa here it is! I promised and I delivered. You're welcome. So I'm going to lay down some ground rules for this list so there may seem to be some sort of order going on.

As you may know or not know (probably not) but I am a big heavy metal fan. I know not everyone is, I listen to other music besides metal like classical, jazz, rock, some pop and rap. Mainly metal though. There a ton of sub-genres that exist within the metal community. I'll try to explain that genre if an album I pick within it, because there are so many I can probably dedicate an entire series to metal genres. Anyways, the purpose of this list is to introduce everyone to the music I enjoy but hopefully it lets people explore some other music out there and maybe become a fan. It also doubles as list for someone who is trying to build a solid metal collection. Perhaps you're a librarian (like me!) and you are purchasing music and want to get some new music in your collection. Or you're a 15 version of myself trying to find my metal niche (mine is thrash).

So here are some of the rules I put forth while creating this list::

The albums I include are not ranked in any way. Number one is not my favorite, number twenty-five is not my least favorite, etc.

There will be no repeats when it comes to a band. If one Pantera album makes the list, I will limit them to one. There are so many bands I want to suggest so I want to give everyone a fair shot.

I won't be putting a rating on any of the albums because they all get 5 out of 5 Burning Lariats since they are on this list.

I am in no way an expert in the ways of music. I listen to a lot of music and try new artists/ bands out all the time. Quick recommendations The Winery Dogs and the new Civil Wars albums are quite tasty! These are all my opinions so you may agree/ disagree/ hell not even care/ nor read this Blog. But I hope you do!

I will try to put up an entry every day, but sometimes work and life keep me way too busy so bear with me on this one. Look for the first entry soon!

So long and thrash on!

Dad is Fat

I've been a Jim Gaffigan fan since I saw his stand up special on Comedy Central in the early 2000's. I really appreciate his clean comedy act and never feel bored while listening/ watching/ reading him. I listened to this book, which was read by Gaffigan himself, and it felt like a five hour stand up routine. Each chapter or section was broken up into a short essay about parenting and each had their own lesson to be learned. I am not a parent myself and hearing how Jim and his wife Jeannie can raise 5 kids in a New York City apartment makes me feel like I can do anything. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't listen to it. If you have read the book, do yourself a favor and listened to it. It's a perfect combination of hilarious parenting tales and comedic timing.

I give Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan 5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Welcome, my lords, to Isengard!

Hello internet! I know we've known each other for a very long time. It's been a wild fourteen years and I always appreciate the humor and happiness you bring me every time I open a web browser. It's about time I did something to contribute to the wackiness. As I mentioned in the introduction of my Blog, it won't be about anything specific. I have a varying range of hobbies/ interests. I will try to avoid social issues and such for the most part, because I don't want to rant about something that I clearly haven't done enough research about.

I should probably explain the name of my Blog. Burning Lariat 101. The burning lariat is a professional wrestling move performed by legendary Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi. Take a look here and admire the shear intensity of this move. My Blog won't be that intense, but it will be awesome just like that move. I am a huge wrestling fan along with many other of the finer things in life. This Blog is not solely based on wrestling, but sometimes I will make stupid wrestling references.

I have a few ideas in the old noggin and hope they translate well into the Blog format.

Here's a little taste of what to look forward too.
"Building the proper heavy metal collection: The 25 albums that are always on my iPod" series
Weekly excerpts from my zombie book. (This one will take a little time to get going, I'm not finished with the book itself.)
Movie reviews, book reviews, beer reviews, wrestling reviews, and whatever catches my fancy that day.

I hope you enjoy the ride!

P.S. if you have any movie, book, music or anything suggestions, hit me up and I will put it up on the Blog!