Sheryl Underwood and WWE Clash in Italy

My wife went to see comedian, Sheryl Underwood, live at the Standup Comedy Club in Bellflower, CA. She was one of the guests on the Kevin Hart Roast and thought that she was one of the better guests on there. The venue itself was a smaller, intimate venue where there weren’t any bad seats in the house. The audience was primarily black, and the performance catered to that particularly audience. Sheryl Underwood actually started the set. A lot of her initial set was political, with some things I agreed with, and other things I did not agree with. She then left and comedian, Kyle Erby, took the stage. He was pretty good, talking about being a former teacher and talking about relationships. Sheryl Underwood then came back on the stage and did a set with Erby. Her shtick was a mix of political commentary, gospel, and comedy. There was some “inside baseball” as she used terms and phrases that only the black community would be familiar with. There was a lot of attitude and personality in the room, and she said that she enjoyed doing more of these club-type shows. Overall, it was fine and definitely a much different experience than what my wife and I were used to.

I also watch the WWE Clash in Italy PLE, and I thought it was a fun event. Roman Reigns defeated Jacob Fatu in the main event, and there looks to have an interesting fallout to that for everyone involved that seems to include Sola Sikoa and the MFTs. Sol Ruca winning the Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch was a good win for Ruca early on her main roster run. Brock Lesnar defeated Oba Femi to tie their series of matches, and a third one will most likely happen sooner rather than later. There weren’t any surprises on the card, but the in-ring action was solid, and storylines were advanced. The WWE product in general has been more on a downturn, but solid shows and some things to look forward to like King/Queen of the Ring should help the product get back on its feet.

Circus Vargas and The Next Story

My wife and I went to Circus Vargas in Laguna Hills. We usually go to Cirque de Soleil at this time of year in Laguna Hills, but it was not in town this year, and Circus Vargas was. My expectations were moderate for Circus Vargas, as I thought that it would be a fun show, as it is the circus, after all. Cirque de Soleil feels more like a play or theater with the circus-like acrobatics, stunts, big set pieces and whatnot, but Circus Vargas felt more like an old-school big top circus. There are the acrobatics, stunts and all that, but there was more of a fun, family-friendly vibe to it. There were segments in-between the bigger performances that were more lighthearted, and at times, they will get audience members to participate. At one point, one of the performers was going around the audience and choosing people, and I was picked. My wife figured that I would, as she saw the guy looking at me. There were six of us audience members on the stage along with one performer, and we had to ring a bell at certain times. They were a few comical moments, and overall, it was a good experience. The performances were also fun, with the main highlight being the globe of death where stunt riders ride motorcycles inside a mesh sphere ball. There were four riders, and it was quite a sight to see. One thing that surprised me was seeing the same performers doing different routines or stunts. For example, one person doing the tightrope walk also was a rider in the globe of death. Also, many performances were done by a family, showing that the circus life really is a family affair, and from what I’ve read, these are families that have been circus performers for generations.

I’ve been really progressing on editing The Land of the Wooden Statues and am planning to finish it this summer. Having a standing desk really changed the speed and efficiency of my writing and editing. With it being near completion, I am thinking about my next book. I have already done some brainstorming and wrote down some ideas, and there is a general idea of what the story is about. I have been watching some fantasy anime lately and have been noticing that some of the more well-known and highly rated fantasy anime will have a little bit of mystery to it. My books so far have been relatively straightforward, but I want this new one to be a bit more mature and have a little bit of that mystery to it that’ll help carry the story. I am actually looking forward to writing this new work, and with new skills to implement and wanting this to be a bit more mature, I am looking forward to this challenge.

I am glad to have done something different like go to Circus Vargas this Memorial Day weekend. My wife and I could have gone to watch standup comedy or a movie, but those are things that we can do anytime. The circus was in town for just a few weeks, so I figured that this was the best time to go.

Mortal Kombat II and MVP MMA 1: Rousey vs. Carano

My wife and I watched Mortal Kombat II, and it was a fun movie. There were excessive violence, blood and gore, but that is a trademark of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise. Fatalities, great fight scenes, and a lot of them, and just the right amount of humor really made the movie just breeze by. The plot is nothing special, but it works, and while some background knowledge of Mortal Kombat lore would help understand what is going on, it is not necessary. It is not entirely necessary to watch the Mortal Kombat I movie from 2021, or the classic back in the 90’s, but it does give some context as to what is happening and who some of the characters are. Nonetheless, it is fairly easy to follow who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys. Karl Urban was well-cast as main protagonist Johnny Cage, playing a former action star, whose star has faded a long time ago, gets picked to be in the Mortal Kombat tournament to battle for the fate of Earthrealm. He was funny, cocky, arrogant, but can fight and eventually “finds himself” as the movie goes along. Everyone else played their roles well and has their own special abilities and fighting styles. The choreography was really well-done, and there were multiple set pieces where battles took place. Overall, I thought that this was just a lot of fun, and it looks like a third one will get made, which I will watch.

The first MVP MMA fight card happened, and the event was shown on Netflix. The main event has Ronda Rousey fight Gina Carano, in a fight that lasted seventeen seconds with Rousey winning by armbar. For me and many others, this was the predicted result, and it looks like both are retiring from MMA after this, which they probably should. For Carano, this was definitely a disappointing result, but I think that she is finding victory in just making that walk to the cage. Carano was fired from The Mandalorian not too long ago while being seemingly blacklisted from Hollywood, but she lost over one-hundred pounds and seemed to be in a good place in her life, so I think making that walk was the actual goal with the fight just being extra. Rousey gets to leave MMA off of a win after two KO losses in the UFC from Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. They both got paid as well. Some fighters though did not have great nights on the card such as: Nate Diaz, Junior Dos Santos and Philipe Lins. Nate Diaz was a bloody mess fighting Mike Perry, and Lins and Dos Santos got knocked out in brutal fashion. Dos Santos especially needs to stop fighting in any combat sport. The production was really good, but the pacing was not that good. I would imagine that this got a good rating, but I do have to wonder about its sustainability. The card was fun overall though, and having a bunch of finishes does not hurt.

The Roast of Kevin Hart and UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland

My wife and I went to see The Roast of Kevin Hart live in the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA. Our seats were to the side closer to the top, and there was a spotlight that was hard to avoid. Also, there were some people in front of us vaping, which did not sit well with my wife. The event though was a mixed, with some guest stars like Tom Brady, Lizzo, and The Rock. The announced stars included Pete Davidson, Tony Hinchcliffe, Chelsea Handler, Sheryl Underwood, Draymond Green, Jeff Ross, and Regina Hall with Shane Gillis as the host. Some of these jokes were funny, but others just were not particularly funny. My wife and I watch a good amount of standup comedy these days, and one thing that we are cautious about is political jokes. The ones that do not land for us tend to be ones that are just mean-spirited insults or pure political commentary. Also, there was a good amount of dark humor here that was hit or miss. Some of the stars had tragedy strike their loved ones. One problem that I found is that, regardless of if one feels it is tasteful or not, the tragedy itself is the joke or punchline, which is just not funny to me. If they are to go that direction, then at least make comedy derived from the tragedy and not make the tragedy itself the comedy. It was neat though seeing stars like Kevin Hart live.

I also watched UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland over the weekend. Admittedly, there was a good amount of hype for this UFC card. Strickland and Chimaev were getting pretty heated during the buildup to the fight. Then, the fight happens, and they start fist-bumping and just being friendlier than what many thought they would be. The outcome of the fight itself was an upset with Sean Strickland defeating Khamzat Chimaev to regain the UFC Middleweight Title. Chimaev did some unusual things like pull guard in the second round and not shoot for a takedown in some rounds after having a vintage performance in the first round. In the co-main event, Joshua Van defeated Tatsuro Taira to retain the UFC Flyweight Title in a very fun fight. Taira got beat up badly by Van but kept pushing forward. However, he ate one-too-many shots and eventually lost by TKO. Many were doubting Van, but he really showed why he is champion with that fight. Other fights were good with a good amount of submission victories from the likes of Bobby Green, Jim Miller, Yaroslav Amosov and others. Overall, it was a very good night of fights.

Project Hail Mary and Writing Posture

My wife and I watched Project Hail Mary, and it was fantastic. It first appeared to be about a middle school teacher, Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, tasked with saving the world from an alien microorganism, astrophage, that infected the Sun and other stars. We go through his time in space and how her got into the situation that he was in. As the movie progresses though, the real meat of the movie comes when Grace meets an alien, which he names Rocky. They learn to communicate with each other and learn about each other. Eventually, they form a friendship, and Rocky even finds a way for them to live together on Grace’s spaceship. Rocky though is a difficult roommate. The movie presents various ideas about life, purpose, friendship and loneliness. There is also a bigger concept of what is “home” to various beings, and what is it that the protagonists are coming back to. With a combination of comedy, drama and action with an understanding of the human condition, Project Hail Mary was just a very good movie. To top it all off, it does have a happy ending.

I was also thinking about how to improve my writing this week. While I do not have a problem with discipline or procrastination at this point, as I write every day to the point that it is just habitual. However, I noticed that my progress was very slow. I then realized that I was not in an optimal physical position to write in a focused way. Sitting on the chair, I would slouch, and when it was later at night or after Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practice, I would start nodding off on the chair or just sleep sometimes. We have a standing desk, and my wife recommended that I start using it. It has greatly helped me focus better and be in a better posture to write. I am completing more writing and/or editing as well per writing session. This was definitely the component that I needed to write better and more efficiently.

There have actually been some good movies coming out as of late such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Michael and Project Hail Mary. It is good to see as movies lately have felt like they are more misses than hits. It could just be this season, but I’d much rather there be good movies out than bad ones.

Michael Jackson and Michael

My wife and I watched the movie, Michael, and we loved it. I was always a Michael Jackson fan since I was young. As a kid, when MTV was still primarily playing music videos, they would still play the Thriller music video, which is just iconic. I was born in the 80’s, but my formative years were primarily in the 90’s, so while I knew his songs like Billie Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Bad, and others, it was his song, Black or White, that was new material to me. There was also Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker video game on the Sega Genesis that me, my brothers and friends would play. Special attacks in the video game had Michael throw his hat at enemies and even do a choreographed dance routine together with everyone on screen. Outside of all that, I used to break dance in high school up until my mid-to-late-twenties, and some Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 songs were break beats.

The movie itself was great. Jaafar Jackson just played Michael Jackson beautifully, and him being Michael’s real-life nephew just adds to the movie. There were so many times in the movie where I thought that it was really Michael Jackson on screen. Especially from breakdancing, I knew the lyrics to a few of his songs and would sing along with them when they played. Michael’s father, Joseph, was definitely a villain in the movie. However, he seemed to have authentically wanted his sons not to have his life working in a steel mill in Gary, Indiana, so he made sure to use their musical talents. However, he was very abusive, manipulative and controlling with them. Michael Jackson was depicted as something of a brilliant, tortured artist, having no real friends and having animals as his friends along with having trauma from his abusive father. Another thing of interest with this movie is that critics generally gave this movie a bad score, while audiences have seemingly loved this movie. The box office has been great, and I expect that it will just keep growing. It does leave one to question why there is such a disparity, and some have concluded that the critics are just so out-of-touch with what general audiences want and enjoy. Others have pointed out that the critics do not like that Michael Jackson was depicted in such a positive light, especially with his later life being riddled with scandals.

Michael Jackson was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime talent that will never be replicated. His artistry and creativity are still being emulated by artists today. It is 2026 with his popularity starting in the late 70’s, and he is still seen as iconic to this day.

WrestleMania 42 and From Season 4

WrestleMania 42 was the tale of two WrestleMania’s. WrestleMania Night 1, in my opinion, was below par with a terrible booked main event along with short and meaningless matches. The general reaction to Night 1 was also mostly negative. The main event between Randy Orton versus Cody Rhodes had a lot of shenanigans involving Pat McAfee, who inexplicably aligned with Orton a few weeks ago. It looked like the fans wanted Orton to win, and had a baffled reaction when Cody won. The pacing and psychology of the match also did not make a lot of sense with Cody acting the heel, and then ending with Orton being the heel while Cody ended up being the babyface. There were a few highlights of Night 1 such as the return of Paige, the return of Bron Breaker, and a few matches that were solid. Night 2, on the other hand, was very good. Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar in the opening match clean, and Femi looks poised to be a main event talent and champion in the near future. Lesnar seemingly retired after his loss. The ladder match for the IC Title was also a standout match with Penta retaining. The main event between Roman Reigns versus CM Punk was very good with no interference. Reigns won and is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

My wife and I watched the season four premiere of the television show, From. It started out right where season three left off and really did not relent. The episode went very quickly, introducing new characters and even ending in a twist involving the man in the yellow jacket introduced at the end of season three. The twist brings new theories and possibilities for the future of the series. Many of the characters such as Boyd and Fatima are increasingly falling into despair, especially after the events of season three. However, their emotions and reactions are totally understandable, as the place that they are in is seemingly there to just break these people. It also does a good job of allowing the audience to know key pieces of information while leaving the characters in the dark or in denial. We are very much looking forward to what happens next in From, and Sundays cannot come fast enough.

WrestleMania is something of the season finale for WWE, and the events of WrestleMania tend to shape the rest of the year. “From” just had its season four premiere, and the events of this first episode already look like it will shape the rest of the season.

UFC 327: Procházka vs. Ulberg and The Story of Yanxi Palace

UFC 327: Procházka vs. Ulberg happened, and it was just a great fight card. With the exception of one or two fights, this UFC event had a Fight of the Year contender, a Knockout of the Year contender, a retirement, some good finishes, and good fights overall. The name that many are talking about coming from this event is Josh Hokit. He has a professional wrestling gimmick and persona that some people like, and some people absolutely abhor. In his fight against Curtis Blaydes though, they had a fight of the year contender that was something of a heavyweight barroom brawl in the cage. Hokit gained some fans from that and is going to fight Derrick Lewis on the White House card. In the main event, Carlos Ulberg knocked out Jiri Procházka, but Ulberg clearly injured his leg early in the fight. Ulberg was on his way to lose had Prochazka just kicked the leg one of two times more, but he threw a punch, and Ulberg threw a left hook that dropped him. Procházka was eventually finished, and Carlos Ulberg became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. However, with that injury, it is up in the air what happens with hi and the title. Other standouts on the card were Paulo Costa, who got a big win moving up to Light Heavyweight beating an undefeated contender, Aaron Pico, who showed why he was a top prospect and Cub Swanson, who retired after a TKO victory.

My wife and I started to watch the “Story of Yanxi Palace” on Amazon Prime, a 70-episode Chinese historical drama. It greatly reminds me of the two anime, The Apothecary Diaries and The Raven of the Inner Palace. The main character, Wei Yingluo, is a clever maid not dissimilar to Mao Mao of Apothecary Diaries. The palace intrigue and politics is also similar to those anime with harems, concubines, pecking orders, treachery, palace intrigue, political maneuvering, and other things. Reading some wuxia novels and watching Asian Inner Palace anime, I have always been into this sort of inner palace genre and dynamic. There is a lot going on with so many different characters, so it can get difficult to follow along, but what is presented has been very interesting and intriguing. We are still at the beginning of the series, so there is obviously a lot that we are going to witness with this series, and we cannot wait.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and The Spring 2026 Anime Season

My wife and I watched the Super Mario Galaxy movie, and we enjoyed it very much. The pacing is fast-paced throughout the movie, and it never really slows down. The colors were extremely vibrant, the action was well choreographed and nonstop, and the characters were fun. There were also a good number of cameos and Easter eggs in this movie. Villains from the Super Mario 2 video game made an appearance. I was surprised that they spoiled the fact that Star Fox is in this movie, and he was, in my opinion, the best character of the movie with how cool and laidback he was. With Star Fox, I have to think that they are planning a Star Fox movie. Also, with all the cameos from different Nintendo characters, they could easily make a Super Smash Bros movie. The end credits scene also sets up the future a bit, and I am guessing that the appearance of this one character may lead to Wario being a villain in a future Mario movie. There was also a good amount of criticism with the movie, in that it really had a plot that was all over the place. They did skip Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine to get to Mario Galaxy. Many were not fond of Princess Peach being something of the main character of the movie while Mario and Luigi felt like side characters to some people. They also greatly changed the story from the video games. I find the criticisms valid, as someone who has played most Mario games, Nintendo games and knows the lore. However, it did not really bug me. I just found this movie to be a turn off your brain and have fun type of movie.

This latest season of anime has a lot of titles coming out, many of them being sequels. It Is quite honestly an overwhelming number of titles. It is not just Crunchyroll either, as HiDive, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and even YouTube have various anime on their platforms. Sequels this season include: Dr. Stone, Wistoria, Iruma-kun, Classroom of the Elite, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Ace of the Diamond, Farming Life in Another World, The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen, Mission: Yozakura Family, and others. The new anime coming out this season that many are talking about are: Witch Hat Atelier, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Mao, Akane-banashi and others. These are the more popular anime coming out, but there are so many others that are also good. I will not be able to watch all the ones that interest me, and I am particularly focused on watching the sequels and the talked about anime.

While there are still many shows, movies and other entertainment being made in Hollywood, intellectual properties like Super Mario Bros and anime are showing that entertainment made in the East have been gaining traction over the years. The “Nintendoverse” looks like it is going to take over The MCU and superhero movies, which have been trending downwards as of late. Anime looks to be the go-to source of entertainment for Gen-Z audiences. A lot of my own stories are strongly influenced from anime, and I think of the characters and the worlds of my stories in anime form.

UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs. Pyfer and Getting Back to BJJ Training

UFC Figh Night: Adesanya vs. Pyfer happened, and it was quite honestly the best UFC fight card that I have seen this year. Six finishes, some extremely violent and one downright scary, no truly boring fights, and prospects and up-and-comers getting wins made this one of the most exciting and relevant cards of the year. Joe Pyfer defeated former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya in the main event by TKO. It was a statement win for Pyfer and sets him up for big fights in the future. In the co-main event, former UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Alexa Grasso defeated Maycee Barber by a KO punch/rear naked choke combination. The scene though was grim as Barber was just lying on the floor with her eyes open unresponsive for a while after the fight. She, thankfully, got up and walked out on her own power. Former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa defeated Niko Price by submission, rear naked choke, in his retirement fight, where Price also retired. Lerryan Douglas, Yousri Belgaroui, Terrance McKinney, Tofiq Musayev, Lance Gibson Jr., Tyrell Fortune, Casey O’Neill, Navajo Stirling, and Alexia Thainara got wins in their bouts, with many getting finishes. Most of these fighters are prospects, and some of them look like they could really get up in the rankings in their respective weight divisions.

I also got back into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training this week after being gone from it for three weeks due to sickness. Getting back into after that long of a layoff brings a little anxiety, as cardio becomes an issue. Thankfully, I did not feel that out of shape, and my cardio held up. One thing that probably helped is that my wife and I changed our diet while we were sick. Admittedly, I have been feeling a lot less heavy since we have started eating healthier. During my time away though, I would occasionally think about BJJ, and one thing that I thought about was being more offensive. My coach, before the sickness, mentioned that I needed to work on my cardio, but I was skeptical that it was an issue with my physical fitness. After thinking about it and finding things out in practice (this was before I got sick), I realized that I allowed my sparring partners to establish grips or positions, and I would have to fight out of it. I fought really defensively, and if what I am doing is mainly defense and fighting opponents off, sometimes bigger and stronger than me, then I am using a lot of energy mainly to defend, sapping my cardio. Just because I am aware of it does not mean that I have already fixed my problems though. However, I have caught myself in positions where I rested when I should have moved.

Progress is an interesting thing. Seeing it in real-time in combat sports in the UFC is eye-opening as we watch progress happen at the highest levels. Personally, progress in my BJJ has been happening lately when the mental meets the physical. In the UFC, the ultimate upcoming are championships, and in BJJ, it will be a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt.

Matthew Morrison and Chuck Norris

My wife and I went to a Matthew Morrison concert at the Samueli Theater within the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA. My wife is a huge fan of Glee, and she really wanted to go. I watched the first season of Glee and some of the second, so I had enough familiarity with the characters. We had seats on the loft, but I liked it a lot as we got a full view of the stage along with each table having a lit candle, which added to the visual ambiance. The venue was smaller and more intimate. The performance was very artistic with Morrison going through his whole Broadway and television history in-between performing various songs. He said that he wanted to do a tour that was more of a cabaret style, and it works with venues like this. He definitely has dance moves, and his Broadway background really showed. Morrison revealed a lot about himself during the performance, and I have to think that he is more at home at Broadway or shows like this than on television.

The news that hit hard for me this week though was the death of Chuck Norris at the age of 86. It is rumored though that the Grim Reaper was simply afraid to take Chuck Norris until he was ready. “Chuck Norris Facts” became a cultural phenomenon that carries on today, and Norris has always been in the spotlight in some way, shape or form. His fight against Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon is the stuff of legends at this point. His martial arts is legitimate with black belts in multiple disciplines including judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He was actually a pioneer as far as promoting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into the U.S. and brought a lot of awareness to it. His accomplishes and contributions to martial arts in general are hugely extensive. Many ordinary people along with celebrities have been sharing stories of meeting Chuck Norris or working with him, and pretty much all of them say that he was a humble, down-to-earth, gentleman. He was also a military veteran, a family man and a man of faith and was very open about all of it. Chuck Norris will truly be missed.

Lumpia Eating Contest and Rewatching “From”

My wife and are I currently recovering from our sickness, with it just lingering about. I feel that I am above ninety percent recovered, but a lingering cough and just slight weakness are still there. We aren’t so sick that we cannot go out, so we went to a lumpia eating contest in Lake Forest, CA, the other day. There was a food truck and some Filipino street food there along with a few live performances. We only got to see a little bit of the contest itself, and it was pretty much what was to be expected. Overall, it was fun, different and something to do.

We are also re-watching the television series, From. With season four coming out on April 19, we definitely need a refresher. It is still just as good as we remembered it, and while we know what is going to happen, it is still difficult not to feel the tension and anxiety from the show. There are little things here and there that we missed the first time. I forgot just how ‘human’ everything is from just how everyone behaves in this impossible situation to the feeling of hopelessness at times. While the plot is excellent with so much horror and mystery, it is the characters that really carry everything.

Unfortunately, we are still limited in what we should do. I would like to go back to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and working out regularly, but it is not smart to do so. This time has offered us to rewatch From, which has been a lot of fun, and we cannot wait for season four to come out.

UFC 326 and Sickness

My friends and I watched UFC 326: Holloway versus Oliveira II, and it was a mixed bag. Max Holloway fought Charles Oliveira for the BMF Title. UFC events live and die on the entertainment of the main event, and while it was a dominant performance from Oliveira, it was not the most aesthetically pleasing. Nonetheless, Oliveira dominating was not what I expected. The rest of the card has a few cool finishes from the likes of Gregory Rodrigues and Drew Dober. Caio Barralho got a good win over Reiner de Ridder. They also announced the White House card, and reactions to it have been more negative than positive. Topuria vs. Gaethje and Gane vs Perreira are great fights for the main event and co-main event, but I think that expectations had it where audiences thought that Conor McGregor or Jon Jones would be on this card. While it is a very good event, it did not live up to the hype or expectations that some people wanted.

This week also was just so hectic. Work was incredibly busy, having to take overtime almost every day, and my Church had its Holy Supper worship service. My wife got sick during the week, and I could feel congestion. Also, there is a sickness going around as people in my church, work and other places were sick and wearing masks. I did not feel outright sick though until the weekend when everything was all said and done. I definitely overexerted myself this week, and the consequences for that most likely resulted in sickness.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 and Self-Awareness in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I watched a replay of WWE Elimination Chamber, as I has a birthday dinner to go to when it was on. Overall, I thought that it was pretty good but not a PLE that particularly stood out. Randy Orton winning the Men’s Elimination Chamber was a nice surprise, as Cody Rhodes in my opinion was the frontrunner to win. I suspect that Randy Orton versus Drew McIntyre will not be the match at WrestleMania though, as I can see a multi-man match for the World Title or Cody beating Drew on Smackdown. On the Women’s side, Rhea Ripley won it, and she was the favorite to do so. Her versus Jade Cargill, while not having any history or storyline, is at least a fresh matchup. CM Punk vs. Finn Balor was a good match with Punk retaining. AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch was good with a couple shenanigans, but AJ Lee ended up winning that one. I can see a rematch happening at WrestleMania.

I said to some confidants that my journey to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt will involve strengthening my mental game. I was told by my coach to have more movement in my game, and it was a difficult thing to comprehend and utilize as I do not want to waste energy. I rolled the other day really contemplating what my coach was telling me. I then discovered a few things about my game. For one, I really do just allow my partner to establish their grips and position, leaving me in a position where I am constantly defending. That in turn really kills my cardio, as I am having to constantly defend, especially against bigger guys. I might as well be on the attack more, if I am just going to waste energy defending anyways. The other thing is that I just kind of stop and stall in mid-motion, allowing my partner to recover or establish grips and positions. It is definitely a mental thing that I have to get over, but building self-awareness that I’m doing that in the moment should help with this.

WWE is heading to WrestleMania in a few months, and I am slowly heading to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in a few years. The buildup takes a while with many twists, turns and bumps in the road, but hopefully, everything will turn out alright in the end.

Castle Impossible and Melania

My wife and I finished watching season one of Castle Impossible on Discovery Plus. We have been finding a lot of reality shows on Discovery Plus, and many of them we just like. The general synopsis is that there is a married couple, Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira, and Daphne inherited a chateau along with hundreds of acres of land that contains lakes, forests, cabins, a hunter’s lodge, stables and other places from her deceased grandfather. The couple goes about renovating the estate, usually one room at a time. Projects include: turning an area of the stables into a workshop, turning a room into an office, turning a room into a living room/waiting room, making a bedroom suite, and renovating the kitchen, living room, and master suite in the hunter’s lodge. The selling points of the show come from the sheer size of the project that they’re working on, the history of the place, Daphne’s connection with her grandfather, and the energy and enthusiasm from the couple themselves. Ian is a jack-of-all-trades type, and Daphne is a really good designer. I am glad to hear that this show has been renewed for a second season.

My wife, a friend and I also watched the Melania movie. It started out slow with First Lady Melania Trump picking out an outfit, and she was very meticulous about its length and look on her. Her fashion designer though was definitely a small highlight of the movie. I thought that it might be about style and fashion, but as the movie went on, it got better. The movie showed her relationship with her parents and how seriously she takes the office of First Lady. The first interaction with her husband, President Donald Trump, was actually a bit comical as it was a phone call after he won the election in 2024. He was excited almost like a child, and she responded like a mother would. Honestly, that was relatable though as husbands can be childlike at times, and wives can be like mothers at times. Most of the movie from then on was about her relationship with her husband, and it was endearing, for the most part. She seems to take the office seriously, and that meticulousness that she puts into style and fashion is a trait that she puts into being the First Lady.

Appearance matters whether it comes from a chateau or from people. Certain design choices can change something mundane into something much better.

James Van Der Beek and Expedition X

Actor James Van Der Beek passed away at the age of 48 this week due to cancer, and it was news that made me sad. For one thing, I am in my forties, and 48 these days is a young age to pass away. Also, like many, I was introduced to him through the show, Dawson’s Creek, where he played Dawson Leery. That show was the starting point for the four main leads, who all went on to do big things in the acting/entertainment space. I admittedly watched Dawson’s Creek, but fell out of the show as it went on and everyone seemingly had a relationship with each other. However, Van Der Beek was a small part of my childhood, and he was also in movies like Rules of Attraction, where he played an unhinged young drug dealer, and Varsity Blues, among many other movies and television roles. From all accounts and testimonies, Van Der Beek seemed like a good, values-driven person. He moved out of Hollywood and onto acres of land in Texas to get away from the Hollywood scene. He was married with six children and became very religious. In interviews with him talking about his cancer diagnosis, he seemingly took the path of optimism.

My wife and I have started to watch the show, Expedition X, on Discovery Plus. I have seen Expedition Unknown starring Josh Gates, and I really like the show as it is educational, adventurous and entertaining. Going to different parts of the world, many times in dangerous areas, and exploring and researching will always be fun for me with that sense of adventure. Expedition X is a spinoff of Expedition Unknown with the differences being that the ones doing the research and investigation are scientist, Phil Torres, and paranormal expert, Jessica Chobot, with Josh Gates just being someone that gives out the mission and someone that they report to. I was already familiar with Jessica Chobot from the show, Attack of the show, so I was surprised to see her here. The investigations are interesting as they pertain to unusual activity and cases in certain regions of the world. Torres is the more fact-based researcher and more of a skeptic. Chobot is much more open to paranormal and extraterrestrial activity so they have a good dynamic going on. We go to Discovery Plus to watch 90 Day Fiancée and Suddenly Amish, and Expedition X popped up. Having already seen and liked Expedition Unknown, I put it on and got my wife to watch it with me. Now, we have just marathoned through much of season 1 during this three-day weekend.

The news of James Van Der Beek’s passing is a good reminder of one’s own mortality. Good things can happen and suddenly, bad things can occur unknowingly. I suppose that is just how life can be, and we can only keep moving forward despite everything.

Shelter and Physical: Welcome to Mongolia

My wife and I watched the move, Shelter, the other day, and I liked it. It’s a Jason Statham movie, and there is a certain expectation as far as what type of movie the audience will get with his movies. His movies seem to come out in January, which is something of the movie dump month, but there are usually fun action movies out in January. I remember watching The Meg 2 and The Beekeeper, which he starred in, and they were just such silly, fun action movies. I was not as fond of The Working Man, as it had some detective work that Statham isn’t so great at, so I was worried that this could be a miss. It was not so silly, just in some parts, and the movie played this more seriously, but it had all the action scenes that one would expect from a Jason Statham movie. The story actually was not too bad, and the movie does not tell us everything outright, but certain things are assumed.

My wife and I also watched Physical: Welcome to Mongolia on Netflix. It was actually a lot of fun and endearing. We were big fans of Physical: Asia, and seeing Amotti and Dong Hyun Kim from the winning team, Team South Korea, visit Mongolia to see the culture and hang out with members of the runner-up team, Team Mongolia, was more entertaining than I thought that it would be. By the end of Physical: Asia, my wife and I were cheering for Team Mongolia to win as they were such underdogs. While they didn’t win, they left a lasting impression. Once Amotti and Kim landed on Mongolia, they were met by Orkhonbayar, the captain of Team Mongolia. Then, they met with Ochir, the Cirque de Soleil performer of Team Mongolia, and Eddie Williams, the strongman from Team Australia. It was nice just seeing them be friends and act goofy with each other at times. Ochir and his whole family did a performance which was just incredible, and they also did archery, horseback riding and Bokh, which is traditional Mongolian wrestling. Apparently, Physical: Asia raised the country of Mongolia’s profile with people wanting to travel there and having their President meeting with all of Team Mongolia. It was pretty much the epilogue to Physical: Asia that I did not know that we needed but am glad that they made.

WWE Royal Rumble 2026 and Baby Shower

My friends and I watched the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble, and I thought that it was a fun show. I would not qualify it under a top ten Royal Rumble, but entertaining nonetheless. One thing that helped it was the pacing, in that the entries into the Rumble matches went quickly, and there was not a lot of downtime. There was a relative lack of surprise entrants though. The outcomes of the two Rumble matches had Liz Morgan winning the women’s, and Roman Reigns winning the men’s. Another notable thing that happened was that AJ Styles lost against Gunther, forcing AJ Styles to retire. As far as the Rumble winners are concerned, I have no problem with Liz Morgan winning and predicted that she would do so. Many seemed to have a problem with Reigns winning, questioning if he needed the win over someone else who could use the rub.

My wife attended our first baby shower together as a married couple. Friends of ours are having a baby, and this will be the first of many baby showers that we will attend. There were food, games, and friends there, so we had a good time. We bought a bag for our present, but it somehow got ripped. However, my wife was able to convert it into a type of gift wrap that honestly made the presentation better. Of course, we hope to one day have a baby shower for us, but that will be in God’s time.

The WWE Royal Rumble, like having a baby, is the start of something. For the WWE, it is the start of Wrestlemania season. For our friends, it is the start of a lifelong journey as parents.

UFC 324 and Writing Progress So Far

My friends and I watched UFC 324: Gaethje vs. Pimblett on Paramount+, and while I would not say it was an “A” grade event, I’d give it a “B” especially with that main event. While sloppy, the main event, Justin Gaethje versus Paddy Pimblett, was a lot of fun that was akin to a bar fight. I would think that the UFC would have wanted Pimblett to win, but Gaethje just used high-pressure and seemingly hit harder. Pimblett, despite losing, showed a lot of heart and resilience, which was not something we have not seen from him until now. The two fights before the main event were just okay with O’Malley vs. Song and Silva vs. Namajunas, and it didn’t help that the results for those two fights were controversial. With the main event being a barnburner, it really put a positive cap on the event as a whole, and I would think that UFC brass was happy that the main event was as entertaining as it was for their first event of the Paramount era. Gaethje gets Ilia Topuria next, and I would strongly favor Topuria to win that one.

I am more than halfway done with editing The Land of the Wooden Statues. I am planning to self-publish this book as well, and with knowledge and lessons learned from The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom, I now know the importance of marketing and book promotion. The editing process so far is always something of a slog, but that is what perfects the book. I do; however, have an idea for the next book, and I am greatly looking forward to writing it. Like The Land of the Wooden Statues, it will be a dark fantasy focusing on the theme of redemption. I just have a basic idea for it right now, but once I can sink my teeth into it, I will draw it out more.

UFC 324 was the start of something new to the UFC with the Paramount era, and the ideas for the start of a new book are beginning as well. While not perfect, I think that the UFC is off to a good start with Paramount. Things do not always start out optimally, but that is just how things are.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and Suddenly Amish

My wife and I watched 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. My wife thought that it was just okay, and I thought that it was good. The movie starts out very fast paced with a lot of action, but it slowly cools down as it progresses. It is very unsettling with scenes of torture and brutality. It is also very loud at times, with loud music playing along with loud screaming, but it fits the aesthetic of the movie. The strength of the movie lies with the acting, particularly from Jack O’ Connell playing Jimmy Crystal and Ralph Fiennes playing Dr. Ian Kelson. Jimmy Crystal was deranged and unhinged, at times calm and introspective, and at other times, sadistic and chaotic. This movie does continue directly after 28 Years Later, and not having seen the prequel is not a requirement, but it does add further context to the story. It looks like there will have a sequel to this movie, as the ending sets it up.

My wife and I also started to watch the reality television show, Suddenly Amish. It is amazing to us how unprepared the newcomers were to the Amish community, especially considering that they went there on their own volition. They supposedly did research and looked into the Amish community, but once they got there, they did not seem to know or understand anything. The way that they dressed was entirely inappropriate for the Amish community, and they did not seem to understand what was the problem. I understand that they are not used to that simple lifestyle and that there will have a clash of cultures. I don’t know who will stay and who will go, but we are going to keep watching to find out.

It is interesting that we watched a horror movie that is full of torture, blood and gore, and watching a show about the Amish. Entertaining entails all types of genres, and they are entertaining in their own ways.