Black “Stallone” Friday

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The poster above was created by my buddy, John Beatty to announce our second annual Black “Stallone” Friday. As most of you are probably aware, the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of shopping. For many businesses it’s their biggest day of the year. For those of us who don’t like crowds and traffic, it’s a pain. So last year Big Beatty decided to create a new piece for my Stallone art collection live on U-Stream. This allowed Stallone fans as well as fans of John’s art to watch and interact with us live as John created the piece.

We called it “Black Stallone Friday” and had a blast. We had so much fun that we decided to make it an annual event. So this Friday, we’re going to do it again. John and I will post the specifics later this week, but our hope is that we can get a lot of folks to tune in, even if only for a bit. The more fans that pop in with questions and comments, the more fun it becomes. So check back here or at John’s site later this week for full details. Oh, and I posted the art from last year’s event to give you an idea of what we can expect this year.

UFC 123 Results

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UFC 123 was last night. Let’s look at my predictions and the results:

Matt Hughes vs BJ Penn.
Prediction: Penn by decision.
Result: Penn KO’d Hughes in 21 seconds of the first round.

Rampage Jackson vs Lyoto Machida.
Prediction: Machida by decision.
Result: Jackson via split decision.

Final thoughts:

  • It would have made for much more interesting scenarios had Matt Hughes won.  Would he have been in line for a title shot?  With Penn winning in such a decisive manner, the question is now, “Is Matt Hughes finished in MMA?”  Funny how the tides can turn so quickly.
  • Jackson won via split decision, getting the victory that I thought would go to Machida.  I’m glad for Jackson and hope it leads to bigger and better things.
  • Karo Parisyan fought on the undercard.  At one time Karo was in line for a title shot.  His fight against Diego Sanchez remains one of my all-time favorites.  Last night he was KO’d in 1:47 of the first round.  Karo looked terrible.  I had hoped that he’d overcome his anxiety/panic attacks and was ready to resume his quest for the title.  According to Dana White, Karo has fought his last fight in the UFC which, if true, is a sad end to a once promising career.

UFC 123 Predictions

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UFC 123 is tonight on PPV.  The prelims will be free on SPIKE.  This is the first card in a long time that doesn’t excite me.  In fact, the two main fights are the only ones that really interest me… so here are my predictions:

Matt Hughes vs BJ Penn. While I’d love to see Hughes win, I think that BJ will probably win via decision.  It’s a three round fight and although Hughes will probably try to press the action, Penn should  have enough gas in the tank to hang for three rounds.  I hope I’m wrong.
Prediction: Penn by decision.

Rampage Jackson vs Lyoto Machida. These seems a match perfect for Machida’s style,  He will stay outside and pick apart Jackson with kicks and strikes.  I see Jackson’s only real chance is throwing caution to the wind and throwing homerun shots.
Prediction: Machida by decision.

Judging Dredd

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The first still of Karl Urban as Judge Dredd from the upcoming movie “Dredd” has arrived.  I like the fact that this adaptation is supposed to be grittier and more in line with the comic, but man, I still think that Sly Stallone made a great Judge Dredd. [Via CBR.com]

60 Years of TV Catchphrases

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Want to see 60 years of tv catchphrases in a little over 2 minutes?  Sure you do.  They did a great job of hitting most of the major ones.  Perhaps, “Denny Crane. Denny Crane.” should have been included.  Although they weren’t from tv shows, they were tv catchphrases: “Where’s the beef?” and “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” could have also made the cut.

Who Needs a New Mechanic?

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I like this poster.  Shows a bit more creativity than a couple of photoshopped heads, right?

Although I’m looking forward to seeing this updated “The Mechanic”, the original which starred Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent is going to be hard to top.  This remake, at one point, was touted to star Sylvester Stallone in the Bronson role and Statham as the J-M Vincent character.  I think THAT would have worked.  Statham is a bit young to be the “older” hitman… then again, maybe he was to old to be the younger one.   [Poster via IMPAwards.com]

Star Trek Beams Down to Mayberry

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Is Captain Kirk about to get a shave from Floyd the barber in Mayberry?

As unlikely as it sounds, that is actually the building used for Floyd’s Barber Shop in the hit series The Andy Griffith Show!  And, no, William Shatner didn’t make a guest appearance as Captain Kirk on The Andy Griffith Show.

But the buildings of Mayberry did!

You see, they were used in two episodes [“Miri” and “The City on the Edge of Forever”] of the original Star Trek series.

Beatty: World’s Most Dangerous Sketch Artist / Bellathon

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Since you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance that you know my buddy, John Beatty.  That’s not really John in the photo above.  John’s actually a little more intimidating.  Ah, but I kid.  I kid because I care.  The truth is I do care.  John is my oldest and closest friend [outside of my wife who is actually a little older and much closer], but I think you get the idea. Anyway…

John’s cat, Peepers got sick not too long ago.  The medical bills were unexpected and fairly expensive.  The good news is Peepers got better.  The bad news is that John and Bella [John’s wife for those keeping score] had to dip into money that they’d been saving for Bella to take a trip back to the Philippines to see her family.  They did it without second thoughts and figured that they’d both work a little longer/harder to make up the money spent.  And that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.

From time to time, I join John when he’s sketching for fans on U-Stream.  John always likes when I show up to “co-host” because it allows him to spend more time looking at what he’s drawing since I moderate the typed in questions and can interact with the fans.  There’s always a lot of laughter, convention stories, trivia, movie, tv and pop culture talk.  And it’s always interesting to see who pops in to join the fun — other artists, friends, and strangers… not to mention [but I’m going to] John’s regulars aka The Corduroy Mafia.

So I suggested to John that we do a “Bellathon”. “What?” was John’s response and probably yours too.  I explained.  We’d do a U-Stream sketch session to help raise money for Bella’s trip to see her family.  At first John was hesitant.  Some fans had already purchased sketches [and even donated some bucks] when they first heard about Peepers being sick.  I countered that the Bellathon would simply be another U-Stream session with me, but the proceeds would go towards Bella’s trip.  Fans would still get great deals on art and they’d know the money was going to a specific cause.  I felt it was a win-win for all involved.  John thought about it and agreed.

So here’s the broad strokes – John and I will be U-Streaming our BELLATHON this Saturday.  John will be offering a variety of sketches.  All the details can be found at John’s site.  I hope you can attend, even if you don’t plan to get a sketch.  It’s going to be a blast… and for a great cause!