Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Joe Bluhm is going to be at MegaCon this weekend. So is Keelan Parham. Life is good.
If Anderson Silva isn’t the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, then maybe Jon Fitch is. Yeah, I know. I’ll explain in a minute, but first let’s take a look at last night’s UFC highlights.
The main event had Anderson Silva going up against former PRIDE and two time Olympic wrestler, Dan Henderson. Henderson dropped 20 pounds to take on Silva, who has totally dominated his division. To Henderson’s credit, he won the first round. Silva came on strong to win by submission in the second after scoring on big knees and punches. I don’t see anyone out there who can beat Silva at this point. Unless he decides to go up a weight class [and why would he], he could be in for a long title run.
The upset of the night was Heath Herring over Cheick Kongo. Nobody expected [well, outside of Herring] the fight to go all three rounds or for Herring to win. The guys I watch the fights with usually bet a buck on each match. Someone is usually willing to take the underdog since it’s just a buck and once in a while you can even get 2-1 if you take the dog. Last night NO ONE wanted Herring. I ended up taking him on a 2-1 bet where I won if he lasted through the first round [Whoooo-hooo, I won 2 bucks] and a 5-1 bet for a win [Yipppeee-ki-yaaa, five more came into the till]. Herring won a split decision and actually looked better than ever doing it.
Jon Fitch won a tough match against Chris Wilson and extended his winning streak in the UFC to 8. Believe it or not, that ties the longest winning streak ever in the UFC, putting Fitch in the same strata as Royce Gracie. Who’d a thunk it? Ask anyone who the best UFC fighter is and you’ll hear: Anderson Silva, George St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, Rampage Jackson, Randy Couture, and many others before you’d hear Fitch’s name called out. Well, Jon Fitch needs to be in there because if he wins his next fight he owns the record.
See the today’s header? That is part of a poster that rocked my morning. I love everything about it. You can read more about it HERE. Let’s hope that whatever it was made for gets made.
I gotta admit that the Stepbrothers trailer made me chuckle even though you can see the jokes coming from a mile away. Maybe it’s because I can imagine Beatty and I playing the lead roles. And Big John knows which of the brothers that I’d be.
ZONErs have heard me repeatedly talk up my love for Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Check out Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker’s award-winning series Coward, Lawless, Second Chance in Hell.
Congrats to my brother, John Beatty and Bella who are one step closer!
Yesterday, the February Sketch Society meeting was held. Although I’m not an artist, I enjoy hanging out with friends who are. Big John Beatty [in the corner] was there working on a really nice Doctor Strange commission. He also showed me progress on a Modok piece for a fan that really rocks. Rob Smith drove over and brought work with him. Rob travels the state, seems to know everyone and is always fun to hang with. 
Sean Shaw [left] and Mark Dail [right] made the meeting. Both guys live in Daytona. It was a blast hanging out with everyone. There were a lot of laughs as the discussion ranged from art to politics to movies to… well, just about everything. The next meeting is scheduled for March 29th. More details will be posted as we get closer to the date. Hope you can make it!
1. Brian’s Song (1971) – Yes.
2. Rudy (1993) – Nope.
3. Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Yep
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – Kind of.
5. The Natural (1984) – Never saw it.
6. Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Nope.
7. Shindler’s List (1993) – Nope.
8. Old Yeller (1957) – Yes.
9. The Pride of the Yankees (1942) – Nope.
10. Terms of Endearment (1983) – Never saw it.
11. The Iron Giant (1999) – Close…
12. Philadelphia (1993) – Nope.
13. Big Fish (2003) – Nope.
14. Million Dollar Baby (2004) – Yeah.
15. Life is Beautiful (1997) – Never saw it.
16. Love Actually (2003) – Never saw it.
17. Rocky (1976) – No, but when Mick dies in “Rocky III”…
18. The Pianist (2002) – Never saw it.
19. Mystic River (2003) – No.
20. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – No.
So, you’ve read the list. Who’s the bigger crybaby?
If you can make it to Orlando, March 7th through the 9th, you might want to check out MegaCon. There will be a bunch of media guests on hand signing autographs. A ton of artists will be there sketching and selling their originals. And there will be panels, gaming and much, much more.
If you can make it, swing by John Beatty’s table and say, “Hi.” I’ll be the guy not drawing.
The Pitch: “Blade Runner” meets “The Dirty Dozen”
The Overview: In the near future the two most powerful organizations on the planet are the United Federation of Nations and The Electric Church. The United Federation of Nations controls the population through the use of their brutal and corrupt System Security Force [think elite military police]. The Electric Church is a new religion growing at an exponential rate due to its promise of salvation through eternal life [as a cyborg]. Avery Cates is a “gunner” – hired muscle available for a price – trying to stay under the radar of both groups. When he mistakenly kills one of the SS cops he finds himself given one option for survival: break in to the stronghold of the Electric Church and assassinate it’s leader.
The Good: Jeff Somers‘ writing. Avery Cates and his band of outlaws. The story moves. The cover illustration by Jae Lee.
The Bad: What happens to converts to The Electric Church.
The Ugly: The way most of the population lives.
The Summary: My guess is the The Electric Church will make my list of Best Books of 2008. I can’t wait to read its sequel, “The Digital Plague.”
On Monday, Mark Evanier posted the video below on his site. I haven’t been able to get the song out of my head. Maybe now it’ll leave me and head over to you.
The official site for “The Happening” is now open.
Kimbo Slice knocked out Tank Abbott last night in about 43 seconds of the very first round. You can see the fight on Youtube for free. I don’t think that anyone was surprised by the outcome. Not even Tank.
It probably would have ended sooner, but the ref pulled Kimbo off Tank after Kimbo repeatedly punched Tank in the back of the head after the first knockdown. The ref walked Kimbo to the other side of the cage and allowed Tank to stand up and regain some composure. Then when the ref started to allow them to fight again, Kimbo’s mouthpiece was found in the center of the ring and the ref once again held up the action. Kimbo threw his mouthpiece into the crowd and the fight was again started. Three more quick knockdowns followed and the fight was stopped.
So what did this fight prove? Not much. Maybe two things: 1] Kimbo can put fans in the seats. The 7,000 seat arena was sold out and the place went crazy when Kimbo entered. 2] When Rick Flair retires from professional wrestling Tank Abbott can take his place because he definitely has Flair’s patented “front fall” down pat.
Until Kimbo fights a ranked fighter, we’re really not going to know how good he is or how good he can be. My guess is that Ken Shamrock [as old as he is] would have given him a much better fight. I’d really like to see
Kimbo enter the cage with Brock Lesner. I’d even pay money to see that.
