Friends! Blog Readers! Random people on the internet! Welcome!
This is my 2nd post in less than a month! I feel like if I keep this pace up, this might become a regular thing again! Today I want to talk about DDPYoga, and also ask for your help, oh friends of mine.
So, really short summary. DDPYoga has changed my life in only 35 days, and basically I'm trying to get in touch with the man behind it all, Diamond Dallas Page to thank him, and also to talk to him about my condition and limitations, and see if he has any any advice for me, or if he's interested in my condition and my story at all. I'm having trouble with this though. I found an email address and sent the email that I will copy into this post, but it's been a week and I haven't heard back, so it's time for plan B. So please friends, tweet this, or facebook share, or whatever else the kids do these days, send this blog post to DDP for me, and let's see if we can't get his attention!
DDP's twitter: https://twitter.com/RealDDP & https://twitter.com/DDPYoga
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DDPYOGA/
Thanks so much, and if you have any interest, definitely check out DDPYoga. It will change your life.
The rest of this post is the email I sent to DDP.
----------------------------------------------------
Hi,
My name is David Grimson. I'm 30, a musician, and I live in Ballarat, Victoria, in Australia. I'm trying to get in contact with Diamond Dallas Page. I apologise if this isn't the right place to write to, but I couldn't find any other email addresses for DDP himself. If there's any way whoever receives this could pass it along to him, I would be hugely grateful, because I feel like I have a unique story and would love Dallas to hear it.
So, here's a little background about myself. I've been a larger guy my whole life. I played sport as a kid, but I always had issues with fitness. I went to a small country-town high school, where there was a lot of emphasis placed on sports, and by that time, I had found myself less and less able to play any of the sports I enjoyed as a kid. I was told by teachers I was lazy, yelled at for only being able to run two laps of a basketball court without stopping, and left behind during running events. After high school, I gained weight. I had more issues with people thinking I was lazy, and after a heated argument with a member of a band I was in, I went to a doctor to see if something was wrong. After about a year, I was given a blanket diagnosis.
I have a Glycogen Storage Disease. I'm 99% sure you won't have heard of it. My body can't process carbohydrates, and in turn cannot store the glycogen that comes from processing carbs. I tell people that I'm always "running on empty", because my body has no fuel reserves. I rely on a high protein/high fat/low carb diet. I also have to be careful of "overdoing it", over-exerting myself when I've run out of anything for my muscles to use as energy. They begin to use themselves, "eat" themselves if you will, and that can lead to all kinds of complications, the most dangerous being Rhabdomyolysis, which can leave me hospitalised, or worse, with kidney failure.
I tire out extremely quickly unless it's something I've conditioned my body to do. Some days, I can't walk the 10 metres from my bedroom to my bathroom without being in severe pain. I walk on a treadmill ok, but if i'm out in the world, I tire out within a few hundred metres. When I play live shows (as I said, I'm a musician) it takes me two days to recover, even if it's just a sit down, acoustic show. The standing up for hours and long car trips don't help either. I'm constantly in pain, and I have to rely on other people to help me with so many things. I also rely a lot on pain medication, but unfortunately even the strongest thing we have available in australia doesn't stop my pain. And it's far too addictive for me to use it regularly. Codiene and Ibuprofen are my friends, but even that isn't something I like taking often. Even as I sit here now typing this to you, it would be quicker to tell you what doesn't hurt, rather than everything that's screaming at me in pain right now.
There are at least 12 different "strains" of Glycogen Storage Disease (the most common being McArdles, and Pompeii's diseaases), but after 10 years of testing, re-testing, muscle biopsies, even genetic testing, no one can tell me which of these strains I have. I like to think I have my own strain, and that I should be allowed to name it. It's important to have goals.
I've been seeing specialists for 12 years to try and figure this out. And I've heard it all. I've been told to eat "the right carbs". I've been told to drink sugary drinks before exercise. I've been told to "get the double quarter pounder when I go to McDonalds". Funnily enough, that last one works. I've seen doctors in my hometown, and Melbourne, and in 2006, I flew to New York to see a specialist, who basically saved my life. He got me on the right diet for my body, and started me on an exercise program, which was designed only to condition my body so that it could function somewhat normally. He told me that I should only walk on a treadmill every second or third day, and no faster than about 1 mph. He also told me that was the only exercise I'd ever be able to do.
And I believed him. Even after I decided to challenge myself to walk every day, and gradually get faster. I believed him. Even up until recently. I'm closing in on 1700 days walking on my treadmill in a row. And I still believed I would never be able to do anything else. Whenever I tried to do anything else, I failed. Spectacularly. Dangerously.
The first time I tried DDP Yoga was last year. I did it for 5 minutes, and I just about passed out. And I thought I would never be able to do it. I would find myself drawn back to people's stories. I watched Arthur's video regularly. I'm subscribed to Boogie2988 on youtube, and watched the videos you did with him. And then I saw Jared's video. It was yet another jolt of motivation, but I still wasn't ready. See, since october last year I've lost about 10 kilos (22 pounds), and I feel like hitting that 10 kilo mark got me to where I needed to be, to know I could do that, made me feel like maybe I could give this yoga thing another go. I'd been talking about starting it all last year to friends and family, but never actually took that step.
35 days ago, I tried DDP Yoga for the 2nd time. It was so hard. That first day, I just went through the diamond dozen, to see what I could do, and see what would be too hard. Similar to what Jared said in his video, I also had a huge problem getting down to, and up from the ground. I'm right around 6ft 3, so it's a ways down for me! But I did every move. And then I passed out. But I promised myself I would do this every day, as long as it didn't affect my health.
And now, 35 days later, I haven't broken my promise yet. I do either Energy, or Stand Up, every night. Even when I have a gig. I've gone from resting and pausing the videos, and collapsing unable to move afterwards, to, over the last few days, going through the entire energy workout without stopping. I'm modifying most positions, especially the broken tables and lunges, but I'm doing everything. I'm doing everything my doctors told me I wouldn't be able to do. I feel stronger than I ever have, and my scales might not be moving because i'm building muscle, but I see a difference in my body already. Last week I was even able to lift the speaker cabinet section of my guitar amp out of the trunk of my car and up to my house, something that I've never been able to do. That was huge for me.
I feel like I need to say, I haven't bought DDPyoga. Yet. I got copies of the videos so that I could try it, because I was almost convinced my body wouldn't be able to handle it. I also don't work because of my condition, so money is fairly tight, and exchange rates are brutal at the moment. But, I'm saving up. And I will be buying everything as soon as I can, because now I know it works.
But, why am I writing this? Why are you reading this? Or hopefully reading this i guess! Well, I thought you would be interested in my story for one. It's definitely unique. But I would also be hugely grateful for any advice, both with diet (I have to eat "animal" protein because of the amino acids) and exercise, because I want to keep losing weight. I'm at around 133kg right now, or 293 pounds. I also want to lose the pain meds, if I can.
I saw your announcements that you'll be coming to Melbourne in April. I would LOVE to come and meet you, but, as I said, I don't work, and I can't afford it. I also am incredibly shy (even though I'm a musician and play shows), and have a lot of social anxiety, so the idea of a public yoga workout terrifies me. I know you're also doing a screening of The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts as well, but it's another thing I'm not sure I could get to. I live about 90 minutes away from Melbourne, and driving that far by myself, along with being out for a night, and then having to drive home again, it could be too much.
Again though, it's something I would love to do, and wish so badly that I could. I haven't mentioned this, but I am a massive wrestling fan. I started watching WCW in the 90's, and since then, have watched as much as I can of everything. Jake is one of my all time favourites, and to know, and to see how far he's come, is incredible, as it is with Scott Hall too.
So I'm writing to tell you my story and see if there's any advice you have, or any way I might be able to meet you while you're in Australia, if only to say thank you for showing me that I could be more than I believed for so long. I may only be about a month in, but I'm committed, and I'm not stopping. I shared a video of you doing a psycho push up on my instagram. My goal is to eventually be able to do that. For now I'd settle for one regular push up though.
But, just in case, I'll say it now. Thank you DDP for inspiring me to try, even when I'd failed previously, and for giving me hope. I really hope you get this email, and that you're interested in my story. Also I apologise again for sending this to the wrong place if I did!
Hopefully I'll hear from you soon,
Thank you again. And also thank you in advance to whoever passed this along!
David Grimson
*Edit* I forgot to add my contact information. DDP if you do read this, and do want to get in touch with me (even if it's just to say you read this) my twitter is @davidgrimson37 and my email address is dgrimson37@gmail.com
I would love to hear from you.
Thank you again.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
2016: Who'd have thunk it!?
2016.
Who would've thought we'd ever make it this far without Skynet blowing us all up, right?
So, looking back at this old blog, it's been something like 3 years since I published anything. I was talking about how excited I was to have found a drummer for my band, then called The Savages. Fast forward 3 years, we have a drummer and bass player, and in the time that's passed since that last blog post, we've changed our name to Agent 37, released a full length album, a "proper" music video, and have played shows with, and become mates with some amazing bands. The absolute highlight for myself has been supporting Frenzal Rhomb, one of the bands that, without them, I may not be into Punk Rock at all. So, being lucky enough to play a show with them, in our hometown no less, and to meet these guys that were myself and Curt's heroes when we were 15-16 years old, was quite definitely a dream come true.
What's more, they're a fine, upstanding bunch of gentlemen.
But, as we in Agent 37 grow older, family life begins to take shape, and two of our members are now either new fathers, or soon to be a new father. This has meant that we're on somewhat of a break at the moment, unless something major pops up that we can't say no to.
Every cloud has a silver lining however. This break gives me the opportunity to focus on my solo music this year, something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but have never really followed through on. That changes this year.
My solo music has been a bit of a challenge. In the past 5 years my songwriting style has varied hugely, but I'm at the point now where I feel like I'm the most honest version of myself in my songs that I've ever been. I struggle with putting a wall up to not let people in too deep, and that also comes through in my lyrics at times. I listen to my friends songs and to me it sounds like they're taking their heart out of their chest, slapping you in the face with it and saying "THESE ARE MY FEELINGS", and I can't do that. I'm working on it though.
My goal this year is to put as much effort into my own music as I have with the band for the last couple of years, and see what comes of it. I would rather be someone who tried, and didn't get anywhere, than a jaded asshole sitting somewhere complaining that he could have made it if he'd just gotten a chance. Make chances in life people, they don't always come to you.
3 years. What else has changed in 3 years. Well, I was in a relationship for about a year, up until December 2015. It was great, but in the end, it wasn't right for either of us. We're still friends, and I think both happier that way. It was a good experience. If you've followed my blog since the beginning, I probably talked a hell of a lot about a certain previous relationship that didn't end so well. This was my first experience of a positive, healthy, serious relationship. And I'm glad I have that to remember.
This year, just recently in fact, I started DDP yoga. I may have acquired some of the workouts from someone, but my reasoning is this: As you all (should) know, I have a muscle disorder. I didn't want to lay out a hefty sum of cash (once you factor in currency conversion), if the DDP yoga program wasn't something I would be able to physically do. But.... turns out, I CAN do it. I will talk more in-depth about that in another post. But just know, DDP, if SOMEHOW you read this, I'm buying your stuff, just as soon as I get the money together. I'm into it.
Oh yeah, I MOVED.
I'd lived in the same place for 12 years. 12 years. Can you imagine that? I certainly never could. I moved over a dozen times before I finished high school. I moved state when I was 10. But, since the age of 18, I had lived in the same place, up until November 2015.
Now, I'll admit, I'm not good with change. But this was on a completely different level. Not to mention my new place was aptly dubbed "Spider Manor" by my ex-girlfriend. Little did I know I was moving in to a share-house, already occupied by a family of Huntsman spiders. If you're from anywhere but Australia, those are the ones that are as big as your hand. YES THAT BIG.
But, jump ahead a few months, after evicting the spider family.. well.. I say evicting.. I mean exorcising and cleansing the house of them really, I feel pretty good here. It's still different, but I'm comfortable, it's newer, the roof isn't mouldy (something that began to cause me some pretty bad health issues), and myself, and my awesome 9 year old Garfield-esque tabby Rupert both love it here. Now if I could just find the time to sort out my spare room, that would be great.
I also, in september 2015, was about 4 metres away from Kevin Smith, listening to him talk for over 3 hours about life and taking chances and using your experiences to create something unique. It was amazing. That man. I could listen to him speak forever.
So, 3 years. I'm sure I'm forgetting some important events, which I will try and cover if and when I remember, but, dear reader, I feel like I'm back! I've got some more ideas I want to start to write about, and I feel like, if I can keep my motivation up, this, plus my youtube channel, could become a creative outlet of a different kind, so please tell me what you think, what you'd like to read/hear/see, and leave comments and share and all the things everybody tells you to do when they want you to pimp their shit. Do it for me!
Oh yes, my youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/c/davidgrimsonmusic Please, go check it out and subscribe if you haven't already!
Smell you later,
Dave
Who would've thought we'd ever make it this far without Skynet blowing us all up, right?
So, looking back at this old blog, it's been something like 3 years since I published anything. I was talking about how excited I was to have found a drummer for my band, then called The Savages. Fast forward 3 years, we have a drummer and bass player, and in the time that's passed since that last blog post, we've changed our name to Agent 37, released a full length album, a "proper" music video, and have played shows with, and become mates with some amazing bands. The absolute highlight for myself has been supporting Frenzal Rhomb, one of the bands that, without them, I may not be into Punk Rock at all. So, being lucky enough to play a show with them, in our hometown no less, and to meet these guys that were myself and Curt's heroes when we were 15-16 years old, was quite definitely a dream come true.
What's more, they're a fine, upstanding bunch of gentlemen.
But, as we in Agent 37 grow older, family life begins to take shape, and two of our members are now either new fathers, or soon to be a new father. This has meant that we're on somewhat of a break at the moment, unless something major pops up that we can't say no to.
Every cloud has a silver lining however. This break gives me the opportunity to focus on my solo music this year, something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but have never really followed through on. That changes this year.
My solo music has been a bit of a challenge. In the past 5 years my songwriting style has varied hugely, but I'm at the point now where I feel like I'm the most honest version of myself in my songs that I've ever been. I struggle with putting a wall up to not let people in too deep, and that also comes through in my lyrics at times. I listen to my friends songs and to me it sounds like they're taking their heart out of their chest, slapping you in the face with it and saying "THESE ARE MY FEELINGS", and I can't do that. I'm working on it though.
My goal this year is to put as much effort into my own music as I have with the band for the last couple of years, and see what comes of it. I would rather be someone who tried, and didn't get anywhere, than a jaded asshole sitting somewhere complaining that he could have made it if he'd just gotten a chance. Make chances in life people, they don't always come to you.
3 years. What else has changed in 3 years. Well, I was in a relationship for about a year, up until December 2015. It was great, but in the end, it wasn't right for either of us. We're still friends, and I think both happier that way. It was a good experience. If you've followed my blog since the beginning, I probably talked a hell of a lot about a certain previous relationship that didn't end so well. This was my first experience of a positive, healthy, serious relationship. And I'm glad I have that to remember.
This year, just recently in fact, I started DDP yoga. I may have acquired some of the workouts from someone, but my reasoning is this: As you all (should) know, I have a muscle disorder. I didn't want to lay out a hefty sum of cash (once you factor in currency conversion), if the DDP yoga program wasn't something I would be able to physically do. But.... turns out, I CAN do it. I will talk more in-depth about that in another post. But just know, DDP, if SOMEHOW you read this, I'm buying your stuff, just as soon as I get the money together. I'm into it.
Oh yeah, I MOVED.
I'd lived in the same place for 12 years. 12 years. Can you imagine that? I certainly never could. I moved over a dozen times before I finished high school. I moved state when I was 10. But, since the age of 18, I had lived in the same place, up until November 2015.
Now, I'll admit, I'm not good with change. But this was on a completely different level. Not to mention my new place was aptly dubbed "Spider Manor" by my ex-girlfriend. Little did I know I was moving in to a share-house, already occupied by a family of Huntsman spiders. If you're from anywhere but Australia, those are the ones that are as big as your hand. YES THAT BIG.
But, jump ahead a few months, after evicting the spider family.. well.. I say evicting.. I mean exorcising and cleansing the house of them really, I feel pretty good here. It's still different, but I'm comfortable, it's newer, the roof isn't mouldy (something that began to cause me some pretty bad health issues), and myself, and my awesome 9 year old Garfield-esque tabby Rupert both love it here. Now if I could just find the time to sort out my spare room, that would be great.
I also, in september 2015, was about 4 metres away from Kevin Smith, listening to him talk for over 3 hours about life and taking chances and using your experiences to create something unique. It was amazing. That man. I could listen to him speak forever.
So, 3 years. I'm sure I'm forgetting some important events, which I will try and cover if and when I remember, but, dear reader, I feel like I'm back! I've got some more ideas I want to start to write about, and I feel like, if I can keep my motivation up, this, plus my youtube channel, could become a creative outlet of a different kind, so please tell me what you think, what you'd like to read/hear/see, and leave comments and share and all the things everybody tells you to do when they want you to pimp their shit. Do it for me!
Oh yes, my youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/c/davidgrimsonmusic Please, go check it out and subscribe if you haven't already!
Smell you later,
Dave
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Wrestlemania Eve, Paranoia and Music Galore!
Hey folks, it's certainly been a little while since I've written a proper blog post. So here's a quick catch up on what's been happening in the last few months.
I made some new friends, one in particular that I get along with so well, I played some gigs, The Savages even got to play a "full band show" with our old drummer who flew in from Perth especially for something else, and just happened to have the time to play a show, I have kept my diet up and am down a little over 8 kilos now (I've still got a long way to go, but it's a pretty decent start I think) And I've cut way back on my facebook usage.
That last one leads me into the subject of this here blog entry.
Once again, that whole confidence thing that I talked about a few months ago is something that I'm still having problems with. So much so that I'm worried that I may have screwed up a budding friendship with a really great person.
I should tell a bit of back story here right? Well, without naming any names or getting too specific, I made a new friend in the last couple of months, and we get along amazingly well. We bonded over some similar circumstances and just clicked. You know what I mean.. you meet someone and you just click instantly? That. That's what happened.
The problem is, this new friend of mine is a much busier person than me, and frequently goes on trips to melbourne, along with working, and doing all the things most people do. So sometimes it can be hard to get in contact with them. Which, I totally understand and I'm not complaining about it at all. People lead busy lives. I tend not to, but that doesn't give me the right to be like "hey.. why didn't you message me back straight away?"
So, here's my problem. My new friend, let's call her Alice because I'm sick of using pronouns, and plus, Milla Jovovich plays Alice in Resident Evil and she kicks ass. Anyway, Alice has had some hard times lately from what I can gather, but I think because our friendship is still new, she hasn't felt comfortable really talking to me about it, which again, I totally understand. I had some rough times last year, and there was only one friend I felt comfortable talking to candidly about it all, and really, there's still not many people I'll totally open up to when it comes to hard times.
But of course, that didn't stop me from acting like a moron.
Now, when I say moron, I don't mean I said something really dumb, or went totally crazy, and honestly, this could all just be in my head, and I could just be somehow picking the worst time to text Alice lately. Bad timing seems to be the theme with me lately. I met a girl one week too late and she met someone else in between our two dates, a girl told me she thinks I'm great but she'd just gotten out of a relationship with a guy called David, who even LOOKED like me... I even started talking to a girl who was leaving like 2 days later to go on holiday for a month. Just bad timing.
On the plus side, I have a hell of a lot of new songs written.
But back to the story. Really all that's happened is that I haven't heard from Alice in about two weeks. The problem is, I've sent her half a dozen messages in that time, and haven't got a response. Now like I said, my logical brain tells me that's most likely because A: she's not comfortable talking to me at the moment because of what's going on in her life (which, as I said, I completely relate to), and B: I'm picking bad times to text.
But the problem is, and this is the real thing for me, I would text her, get no response, and start this cycle of thinking that goes something like "Oh, she probably hasn't read it/wait, she must have read it, I just saw her online on facebook/she mustn't want to reply to me/oh I'll just say hi on facebook now/ok now I know she saw that message, facebook tells me so/why didn't she reply?/oh man I've screwed this up, I should text her and say sorry/wait no I can't do that, it's too soon/but if I don't talk to her she'll forget about me and we won't be friends/I have to keep in touch otherwise the friendship won't last.
And there is the problem. Last year I felt like I'd lost a really good friend who I have known for about 15 years, because I decided to stop putting all the effort into my friendship with her, and we lost touch. I think that's part of it at least. I feel like, especially with new friendships, I need to keep in regular contact or I'll lose the friend.
But, it's more than that, because I'm not like that with every person I meet. Something's different with Alice. It may be that because I really feel that great connection that I really want us to be friends, and I don't want to lose what we were building. It may be that I feel like I don't have many close friends these days, and want to hold on to those friendships that feel close and good.
I really can't put my finger on what it is, but I know that it definitely has to do with my complete lack of self confidence. I feel like I'm not good enough for Alice, that I have to prove myself worthy to be her friend, and I find myself thinking "why would she want to be friends with me?". And yes, I know that way of thinking is not great, but I can't seem to get away from it. I'm sure she doesn't think like that, and I don't really know why I do.
Well, I mean that's not totally true, I do know where it stems from. But I feel like I should be past all that stuff by now. It's almost been three full years since then.
And a totally separate part of me thinks that I'm just being an idiot and paranoid and that I shouldn't worry about it, and I should do what feels right.
I just don't know which side of me is winning right now.
What I do know is that I really hope I haven't made Alice feel like she doesn't want to be my friend any more. She's a pretty great person, and it makes me sad to know she's having a hard time at the moment. We may have only met a couple of months ago, but my life is better for her being in it, and if that changes, it will most definitely suck.
So that's it, I just needed a place to get all this stuff off of my chest without it being too specific or anything.
Wait, some positive news to end this. That's a good idea right?
I have my first solo gig for 9 months coming up this Thursday night! I'm really excited about it, as well as a bit nervous, but I feel like it's going to go well. As I said earlier, I've been writing a lot of new stuff, so it'll be fun to show off some new material. Let's just hope I have a somewhat decent crowd there to listen to me.
Here's the promo video I made for the show:
Also today I bought, for the first time in a long time, some new music DVDS. I'd gone into JB Hifi to pre-order a new xbox game, but walked out with 4 new DVDS. Nirvana Live at Reading, Iron Maiden: Maiden England 88, Johnny Cash live in Denmark, and End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (which is an amazing documentary).
Oh and I forgot to pre-order the game. Smart stuff huh?
Also I've recently purchased a new video camera and Tablet, so from now on, I'll be able to play Angry Birds on a bigger screen and then make a full HD video blog about it.
Good times!
That's it folks, thanks for reading, sorry it was mostly a downer.
There's really only one thing left to say.
WRESTLEMANIA TOMORROW BABY! 21-0
And I'm done.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Rest In Peace Paul Bearer.
Hi folks,
Now I normally don't post stuff about wrestling, and I especially try to keep posts that I've written for other blogs separate from this page, but one of my favourite wrestling personalities passed away today, and I've written a blog about it, so I decided to share it on here as well.
Hello folks, it's me, it's me, it's ... Dave. Also known as the Aussie Mouthpiece, and I'm back with my weekly blog.
Apologies for missing last week, my internet connection was screwy and I couldn't write or post anything.
This week I had intended to talk about Old School Raw. However, given the news we all recieved today, this blog is going to be quite different. This week, is my way of saying goodbye to one of my favourite characters, and more importantly, one of my favourite people in wrestling, William Moody (AKA Paul Bearer & Percy Pringle III)
As we all now know, William unfortunately passed away today, at only 58. This news seemed so shocking to me, and completely out of the blue. I found out probably the same as most people, through a status update on facebook. It really is the age of social media.
So I thought today that I would write about what Paul Bearer meant to me, and some of my favourite memories involving him, both on, and off TV.
When I first started watching WWE wrestling, it was 2003. Undertaker was coming to the ring on a bike, and had short hair. Regardless, something drew me to his character, and I started renting old VHS tapes from my local video store. I remember clearly, the first one that I rented was Wrestlemania XII. Undertaker vs Diesel. (Incidentally I was drawn to Wrestlemania XII because of Kevin Nash being a part of it, and me being a big WCW fan when I was a kid).
This was the first time I'd seen the "Deadman" Undertaker, and of course, his manager Paul Bearer. And what a match it was. And, what a pair they made. Over the next few years, as I completely fell in love with pro wrestling, I started watching as much as I could, and more specifically, learned all I could about the history of The Undertaker. I read all about Paul Bearer and Undertaker, from Ted DiBiase introducing Paul as Undertaker's manager after Brother Love wasn't working out, through to the Undertaker vs Undertaker, and of course, Paul Bearer betraying Undertaker and aligning himself with Mankind, and Vader among others.
And of course, how could I forget, Kane.
So fast forward a few months, and it's March 2004. It's Wrestlemania XX. The Undertaker is returning, and more importantly, The "Deadman" is returning.
Now, this was before I had Cable TV. I had to read about the results of Wrestlemania 20, but I do definitely remember downloading two very small, very bad quality clips of Undertaker's match. One being his entrance, and the other being the finish of the match. (I also remember them taking forever to download.. ahh, the days of dial up internet). But the first video began with Paul Bearer holding his urn up, and that familiar tolling of the bell. I must have watched them at least 50 times.
In the ensuing years, I picked up a lot of dvds, including the Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble Anthologies, so I got to see a lot of Undertaker matches, along with the Undertaker dvds that were released by the WWE.
I think the thing that drew me to The Undertaker and Paul Bearer was that they were completely unique characters. Everything about them was totally different to everything else going on in the WWF, even after the introduction of Kane. They were much darker, a great contrast to the over the top, cartoon like characters, and the Hulk Hogans and Ultimate Warriors of the early 90's. Paul Bearer's eerie voice, cutting through all the yelling and over the top shouting most characters would do, became iconic to me. And it complemented Undertaker's seemingly "death rattle" like voice, when he chose to utter a sentence or two.
I think something that we need to remember though, is that William Moody has been involved in wrestling for a lot longer than the Paul Bearer character has been in existence for. Before coming to the WWF in 1991, William was known as Percy Pringle III, and worked in the NWA territories, managing Rick Rude, Steve Austin, and even a certain wrestler who later on became The Undertaker. Also prior to arriving in the WWF, he did in fact complete a degree in mortuary science, and was certified as a funeral director and embalmer, something which would be instrumental in devising the Paul Bearer character. So, while a lot of us younger fans may know this man simply as Paul Bearer, we have to remember that William Moody put 44 years of his life into wrestling, and he should be remembered as such.
Now let's fast forward to June 2011, which is when I started writing my first wrestling blogs. I also started using twitter around the same time. After getting used to how things work on twitter and gaining a few followers, I decided to try my luck and tweet Paul Bearer. And to my delight, I got a reply back. This was, at least in recent years, my favourite thing about him. Just about every single time I would send him a tweet, be it something as simple as "have a nice day" or a specific question about some match I was watching at the time, or a general question, he always took the time to reply to me. Now I know that it really only takes a couple of seconds to reply to a tweet, but it's something I will never forget, and am greatly appreciative of.
It reminds me of a quote from Rob Zombie (which I will completely paraphrase). He was telling a story about people asking for autographs, and he said basically that he, as the celebrity won't remember the kid asking for him to sign something a week later, but that kid will remember the time he met Rob Zombie forever. So if he was a jerk, the kid would never forget that. And in the end it takes no time really to be a nice guy, and sign something.
And it's the same with tweeting. Every time I've ever gotten a tweet back from someone I look up to, or even just a favourite or a re-tweet, it makes me feel amazing, as I'm sure it does you too. I feel lucky that some of my favourite wrestlers have given a little piece of their time to respond to something I had to say. Wrestlers like Raven, and Road Dogg, even Dolph Ziggler. But my favourite replies always came from Paul Bearer. Like the one time I told him watching his shoot interview DVD's had really made me want to be a wrestling manager, and he replied with a witty "all that glitters, is not always gold". Or the time I said that the Undertaker/Kane program in 1998 would not have had the same impact if Paul wasn't a part of it, and he replied with a very humble "I disagree, but thank you", the man always took the time.
And Paul, I have to disagree with your "disagree", you sir, did make that program what it was. After now having watched the episodes of raw in their entirety, and seeing all the promos Paul cut after the burn incident, I can say that without a shadow of a doubt, it was Paul Bearer that made that story amazing, and epic, and wonderful to watch.
Now, one last thing. I've already seen some talk today on the interwebs about whether WWE will, should, or can incorporate this tragic news into the current story with Undertaker and CM Punk.
My thoughts are this: Firstly, Undertaker would have to sign off, and I'm sure he wouldn't go near it without Paul Bearer's family's permission. Secondly, if anyone can do it, it's CM Punk. Look at how well he did with the touchy subject of Jerry Lawler's heart attack. It could push the storyline into something a little more epic, but I do think it would completely 100% guarantee an Undertaker win (not that it's not already guaranteed, but still).
However... I don't know that it's the right way to go, but having said that, I'd like to think Paul Bearer would be ok with it if they do go down that road.
My theory on what should happen, and I really hope this is the way they go, or at least something like this. They should let The Undertaker come out to the ring next week on Raw, and talk. He doesn't necessarily need to break character, but at this point it really doesn't matter if he does. I feel like he should be given the opportunity, and Paul Bearer should be given the respect he deserves, and a proper send off.
Maybe they do that and then Punk interrupts (think of the heat!). Maybe they just let Undertaker speak, maybe even a tribute video. I think Paul Bearer should be acknowledged, and time should be allocated to give him a small, public goodbye.
Whatever happens, this Wrestlemania will be just a little less bright, knowing that Paul Bearer isn't around to see it.
So thank you Paul, thank you for all the memories, for all the amazing promos, for taking the time to reply to a no-name wrestling blogger, and for giving us so many years of your life, just to entertain us. Thank you for everything. You will be missed.
RIP.
Now I normally don't post stuff about wrestling, and I especially try to keep posts that I've written for other blogs separate from this page, but one of my favourite wrestling personalities passed away today, and I've written a blog about it, so I decided to share it on here as well.
Hello folks, it's me, it's me, it's ... Dave. Also known as the Aussie Mouthpiece, and I'm back with my weekly blog.
Apologies for missing last week, my internet connection was screwy and I couldn't write or post anything.
This week I had intended to talk about Old School Raw. However, given the news we all recieved today, this blog is going to be quite different. This week, is my way of saying goodbye to one of my favourite characters, and more importantly, one of my favourite people in wrestling, William Moody (AKA Paul Bearer & Percy Pringle III)
As we all now know, William unfortunately passed away today, at only 58. This news seemed so shocking to me, and completely out of the blue. I found out probably the same as most people, through a status update on facebook. It really is the age of social media.
So I thought today that I would write about what Paul Bearer meant to me, and some of my favourite memories involving him, both on, and off TV.
When I first started watching WWE wrestling, it was 2003. Undertaker was coming to the ring on a bike, and had short hair. Regardless, something drew me to his character, and I started renting old VHS tapes from my local video store. I remember clearly, the first one that I rented was Wrestlemania XII. Undertaker vs Diesel. (Incidentally I was drawn to Wrestlemania XII because of Kevin Nash being a part of it, and me being a big WCW fan when I was a kid).
This was the first time I'd seen the "Deadman" Undertaker, and of course, his manager Paul Bearer. And what a match it was. And, what a pair they made. Over the next few years, as I completely fell in love with pro wrestling, I started watching as much as I could, and more specifically, learned all I could about the history of The Undertaker. I read all about Paul Bearer and Undertaker, from Ted DiBiase introducing Paul as Undertaker's manager after Brother Love wasn't working out, through to the Undertaker vs Undertaker, and of course, Paul Bearer betraying Undertaker and aligning himself with Mankind, and Vader among others.
And of course, how could I forget, Kane.
So fast forward a few months, and it's March 2004. It's Wrestlemania XX. The Undertaker is returning, and more importantly, The "Deadman" is returning.
Now, this was before I had Cable TV. I had to read about the results of Wrestlemania 20, but I do definitely remember downloading two very small, very bad quality clips of Undertaker's match. One being his entrance, and the other being the finish of the match. (I also remember them taking forever to download.. ahh, the days of dial up internet). But the first video began with Paul Bearer holding his urn up, and that familiar tolling of the bell. I must have watched them at least 50 times.
In the ensuing years, I picked up a lot of dvds, including the Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble Anthologies, so I got to see a lot of Undertaker matches, along with the Undertaker dvds that were released by the WWE.
I think the thing that drew me to The Undertaker and Paul Bearer was that they were completely unique characters. Everything about them was totally different to everything else going on in the WWF, even after the introduction of Kane. They were much darker, a great contrast to the over the top, cartoon like characters, and the Hulk Hogans and Ultimate Warriors of the early 90's. Paul Bearer's eerie voice, cutting through all the yelling and over the top shouting most characters would do, became iconic to me. And it complemented Undertaker's seemingly "death rattle" like voice, when he chose to utter a sentence or two.
I think something that we need to remember though, is that William Moody has been involved in wrestling for a lot longer than the Paul Bearer character has been in existence for. Before coming to the WWF in 1991, William was known as Percy Pringle III, and worked in the NWA territories, managing Rick Rude, Steve Austin, and even a certain wrestler who later on became The Undertaker. Also prior to arriving in the WWF, he did in fact complete a degree in mortuary science, and was certified as a funeral director and embalmer, something which would be instrumental in devising the Paul Bearer character. So, while a lot of us younger fans may know this man simply as Paul Bearer, we have to remember that William Moody put 44 years of his life into wrestling, and he should be remembered as such.
Now let's fast forward to June 2011, which is when I started writing my first wrestling blogs. I also started using twitter around the same time. After getting used to how things work on twitter and gaining a few followers, I decided to try my luck and tweet Paul Bearer. And to my delight, I got a reply back. This was, at least in recent years, my favourite thing about him. Just about every single time I would send him a tweet, be it something as simple as "have a nice day" or a specific question about some match I was watching at the time, or a general question, he always took the time to reply to me. Now I know that it really only takes a couple of seconds to reply to a tweet, but it's something I will never forget, and am greatly appreciative of.
It reminds me of a quote from Rob Zombie (which I will completely paraphrase). He was telling a story about people asking for autographs, and he said basically that he, as the celebrity won't remember the kid asking for him to sign something a week later, but that kid will remember the time he met Rob Zombie forever. So if he was a jerk, the kid would never forget that. And in the end it takes no time really to be a nice guy, and sign something.
And it's the same with tweeting. Every time I've ever gotten a tweet back from someone I look up to, or even just a favourite or a re-tweet, it makes me feel amazing, as I'm sure it does you too. I feel lucky that some of my favourite wrestlers have given a little piece of their time to respond to something I had to say. Wrestlers like Raven, and Road Dogg, even Dolph Ziggler. But my favourite replies always came from Paul Bearer. Like the one time I told him watching his shoot interview DVD's had really made me want to be a wrestling manager, and he replied with a witty "all that glitters, is not always gold". Or the time I said that the Undertaker/Kane program in 1998 would not have had the same impact if Paul wasn't a part of it, and he replied with a very humble "I disagree, but thank you", the man always took the time.
And Paul, I have to disagree with your "disagree", you sir, did make that program what it was. After now having watched the episodes of raw in their entirety, and seeing all the promos Paul cut after the burn incident, I can say that without a shadow of a doubt, it was Paul Bearer that made that story amazing, and epic, and wonderful to watch.
Now, one last thing. I've already seen some talk today on the interwebs about whether WWE will, should, or can incorporate this tragic news into the current story with Undertaker and CM Punk.
My thoughts are this: Firstly, Undertaker would have to sign off, and I'm sure he wouldn't go near it without Paul Bearer's family's permission. Secondly, if anyone can do it, it's CM Punk. Look at how well he did with the touchy subject of Jerry Lawler's heart attack. It could push the storyline into something a little more epic, but I do think it would completely 100% guarantee an Undertaker win (not that it's not already guaranteed, but still).
However... I don't know that it's the right way to go, but having said that, I'd like to think Paul Bearer would be ok with it if they do go down that road.
My theory on what should happen, and I really hope this is the way they go, or at least something like this. They should let The Undertaker come out to the ring next week on Raw, and talk. He doesn't necessarily need to break character, but at this point it really doesn't matter if he does. I feel like he should be given the opportunity, and Paul Bearer should be given the respect he deserves, and a proper send off.
Maybe they do that and then Punk interrupts (think of the heat!). Maybe they just let Undertaker speak, maybe even a tribute video. I think Paul Bearer should be acknowledged, and time should be allocated to give him a small, public goodbye.
Whatever happens, this Wrestlemania will be just a little less bright, knowing that Paul Bearer isn't around to see it.
So thank you Paul, thank you for all the memories, for all the amazing promos, for taking the time to reply to a no-name wrestling blogger, and for giving us so many years of your life, just to entertain us. Thank you for everything. You will be missed.
RIP.
Friday, February 8, 2013
The second weigh in!
Hey folks,
I'm back with another blog! This time it's just a short update on how my diet is going.. or "meat-tox". I'm sure some of you have seen the videos I've put up and therefore know that it is in fact going well. And some of you would also have seen the last post I wrote with some of those videos in it as well.
Today is day 11. As of today, Day 11, I have lost approximately 3.5 kilos. So it's fair to say, it's working.
My diet has mainly been the same each day, at least the lunch portion:
1 Roll, with Ham (or other sandwich meat), and then some other protein-rich foods on the side, like kabana, or cheese, or salami sticks (or "twiggy sticks"), and a small amount of 70% cocoa dark chocolate.
No snacks.
Dinner has been one of two things; either something that I have in my freezer, mainly chicken, mainly about 400g in total weight, with no sides, which means no chips, no hash browns, wedges, or vegetables, or anything like that.
The other option for dinner has been take-away. Being either McDonalds, or KFC. My choices from McDonalds have been the Triple Cheeseburger, The Double Quarter Pounder and a McDouble.
And from KFC, 10 "wicked wings", or (on tuesdays because they have a deal at the moment) 9 pieces of original recipe chicken.
To drink I have had water. And occasionally, some soft drink, but not much. And one or two small chocolate milk cartons. Oh and regular milk too.
So I've cut out snacking on things like regular chocolates, or maltesers, or pretzels, or anything at all really. I've cut out buying meals from take away places, so that I don't get chips, or potato and gravy, or drinks. And while you may look at what I buy from McDonalds and say "that's too much" ... just remember that while it's too much for you, and it's bad for you, I've lost 3.5 kilos in 11 days while eating that. It's about the protein, and to a lesser extent, the fat. Yes, there are carbs in the rolls, and the buns, but that is basically the only carbs I'm eating, or .. at least the only "high carb" foods.
Remember, my condition is such that my body can't process carbs into energy, and therefore has to use other energy sources, like protein and fat. When I do eat carbs, they are turned into fats and stored that way (hence the struggle to lose weight), or at least the part that would normally be used for energy is, as I can't "make" it, or store it.
So my body finds alternate ways of fuelling itself. This is where the protein and fat comes into it. Fat is used as energy when exercising slowly (i can't remember where i heard that, but it was somewhere that I trust), and as I only walk on my treadmill at an average of about 2.4 km/h, I'm pretty sure that counts as slow. And Protein is basically instant energy. It can't be stored up for later use though. And if fats are stored.. well.. you get fat obviously.
So, while you may think I'm eating unhealthily, or I'm not getting enough nutrients, or vitamins, or any of that stuff, before you start telling me (because believe me, people tell me how to eat a lot), just remember I'm not like you. And more importantly, this diet is working for me. So don't try to fix something that isn't broken.
Oh, and last time my cholesterol was checked, it was 3.5. The LOW end of normal.
Facts.
Also remember one can take vitamin supplements.
Thanks for reading folks, stay tuned for more updates, both here, and on my youtube channel.
www.youtube.com/davidgrimsonmusic
P.s I do NOT recommend anyone who does not have my condition to try this diet. You will get fat. And you will blame me, and I don't need that!
P.P.s I'm not gloating about being able to eat Take-away. It's simply an easy way for me to get what I need for my body to work.
I'm back with another blog! This time it's just a short update on how my diet is going.. or "meat-tox". I'm sure some of you have seen the videos I've put up and therefore know that it is in fact going well. And some of you would also have seen the last post I wrote with some of those videos in it as well.
Today is day 11. As of today, Day 11, I have lost approximately 3.5 kilos. So it's fair to say, it's working.
My diet has mainly been the same each day, at least the lunch portion:
1 Roll, with Ham (or other sandwich meat), and then some other protein-rich foods on the side, like kabana, or cheese, or salami sticks (or "twiggy sticks"), and a small amount of 70% cocoa dark chocolate.
No snacks.
Dinner has been one of two things; either something that I have in my freezer, mainly chicken, mainly about 400g in total weight, with no sides, which means no chips, no hash browns, wedges, or vegetables, or anything like that.
The other option for dinner has been take-away. Being either McDonalds, or KFC. My choices from McDonalds have been the Triple Cheeseburger, The Double Quarter Pounder and a McDouble.
And from KFC, 10 "wicked wings", or (on tuesdays because they have a deal at the moment) 9 pieces of original recipe chicken.
To drink I have had water. And occasionally, some soft drink, but not much. And one or two small chocolate milk cartons. Oh and regular milk too.
So I've cut out snacking on things like regular chocolates, or maltesers, or pretzels, or anything at all really. I've cut out buying meals from take away places, so that I don't get chips, or potato and gravy, or drinks. And while you may look at what I buy from McDonalds and say "that's too much" ... just remember that while it's too much for you, and it's bad for you, I've lost 3.5 kilos in 11 days while eating that. It's about the protein, and to a lesser extent, the fat. Yes, there are carbs in the rolls, and the buns, but that is basically the only carbs I'm eating, or .. at least the only "high carb" foods.
Remember, my condition is such that my body can't process carbs into energy, and therefore has to use other energy sources, like protein and fat. When I do eat carbs, they are turned into fats and stored that way (hence the struggle to lose weight), or at least the part that would normally be used for energy is, as I can't "make" it, or store it.
So my body finds alternate ways of fuelling itself. This is where the protein and fat comes into it. Fat is used as energy when exercising slowly (i can't remember where i heard that, but it was somewhere that I trust), and as I only walk on my treadmill at an average of about 2.4 km/h, I'm pretty sure that counts as slow. And Protein is basically instant energy. It can't be stored up for later use though. And if fats are stored.. well.. you get fat obviously.
So, while you may think I'm eating unhealthily, or I'm not getting enough nutrients, or vitamins, or any of that stuff, before you start telling me (because believe me, people tell me how to eat a lot), just remember I'm not like you. And more importantly, this diet is working for me. So don't try to fix something that isn't broken.
Oh, and last time my cholesterol was checked, it was 3.5. The LOW end of normal.
Facts.
Also remember one can take vitamin supplements.
Thanks for reading folks, stay tuned for more updates, both here, and on my youtube channel.
www.youtube.com/davidgrimsonmusic
P.s I do NOT recommend anyone who does not have my condition to try this diet. You will get fat. And you will blame me, and I don't need that!
P.P.s I'm not gloating about being able to eat Take-away. It's simply an easy way for me to get what I need for my body to work.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
The weigh in!
Hey folks,
Really quick post today, but I just wanted to give you all an update on my new dieting and meat-tox and what not. I decided to weigh myself this morning (Saturday morning), just to see if there'd been any improvement since starting this new diet on Tuesday. I was expecting maybe to lose a couple hundred grams, but to my surprise, the numbers had changed quite a bit more than that.
Here's a quick video in which I talk about just what that change was.
Take a look, and like, share, comment, subscribe, tweet, post, pin, add and all the usual social media stuff!
Follow me @D_Grimson on twitter, and like my facebook pages!
www.facebook.com/DavidGrimsonMusic
www.facebook.com/TheSavages37
Also just quickly, if anyone is interested in music lessons, I'm starting up skype music lessons as soon as I get some interest, so let me know on here, or go to www.facebook.com/DavidGrimsonOnlineMusicLessons
Really quick post today, but I just wanted to give you all an update on my new dieting and meat-tox and what not. I decided to weigh myself this morning (Saturday morning), just to see if there'd been any improvement since starting this new diet on Tuesday. I was expecting maybe to lose a couple hundred grams, but to my surprise, the numbers had changed quite a bit more than that.
Here's a quick video in which I talk about just what that change was.
Take a look, and like, share, comment, subscribe, tweet, post, pin, add and all the usual social media stuff!
Follow me @D_Grimson on twitter, and like my facebook pages!
www.facebook.com/DavidGrimsonMusic
www.facebook.com/TheSavages37
Also just quickly, if anyone is interested in music lessons, I'm starting up skype music lessons as soon as I get some interest, so let me know on here, or go to www.facebook.com/DavidGrimsonOnlineMusicLessons
Friday, February 1, 2013
The first three days,
Hi folks,
So I thought I'd give you all a bit of an update to let you know how the first few days of this "meat-tox" that I'm trying is working out. I've already lost some weight, which is good news, and I'm feeling good in general about what I'm eating. I bought some 70% cocoa dark chocolate, which is what was recommended to me to eat if I wanted chocolate way back in 2006, and I haven't touched any of the regular chocolate in my fridge since Monday.
I've made a video each day for the first three days, and here they are!
So I thought I'd give you all a bit of an update to let you know how the first few days of this "meat-tox" that I'm trying is working out. I've already lost some weight, which is good news, and I'm feeling good in general about what I'm eating. I bought some 70% cocoa dark chocolate, which is what was recommended to me to eat if I wanted chocolate way back in 2006, and I haven't touched any of the regular chocolate in my fridge since Monday.
I've made a video each day for the first three days, and here they are!
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
If you haven't checked them out, please do. I don't think they'll be daily videos for the entire month, because, quite frankly, I don't think that would be very interesting. But I am going to do at least weekly videos.
I really want some feedback (unless you're vegetarian, and you're just going to tell me meat is murder), so please watch them, and leave me a comment on here, or on the videos themselves.
I really want some feedback (unless you're vegetarian, and you're just going to tell me meat is murder), so please watch them, and leave me a comment on here, or on the videos themselves.
Thanks!
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