Introducing RASSLIN' WITH REDBEARD

I watch a lot of random stuff on YouTube. If you want verification of this, you need ask no one other than my lovely wife. She oftentimes shakes her head at me when she sees me with my tablet or smart phone in hand, my head drooping downward in the "don't bother me, I'm watching something online" position (don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about), and my mind so consumed by whatever content I happen to be watching that I'm totally oblivious to the rest of the world. It's a state that's closely related to the video game stare, perhaps the only difference being that there's no input required with this version.

I have a few video genres, if you can call them that, which I prefer. Fail videos are always great - if you don't know what that is, think something that would be suitable for America's Funniest Home Videos but with less editing requirements for things like vulgarity. I enjoy movie trailers, of course, and there's usually a tremendous amount of fresh material along those lines being published this time of year. Believe it or not, there's a wealth of educational information on YouTube as you can find tutorials on anything from how to make toast to how to configure a VPN on a Cisco network security appliance. Vlogs are essentially video diaries (they're like a blog but in video format, hence the term "vlog") and I follow a handful of YouTube channels maintained by folks who do a great job of documenting their lives, although how certain of them have so much free time as to shoot, edit, and consistently publish so many videos is beyond me quite frankly.

All that having been said, I've had a YouTube account for a while (I think the hip thing is to refer to your account as a "channel", because the line that separates how we consume content needs to be blurred even more so than it is) but I never tried to do much with it. I wasn't sure if the clips I'd assemble would be interesting enough for anyone to actually want to watch. Most of what I've uploaded, ironically enough, are videos of or relating to professional wrestling (there's some in there from our trips to Medieval Times and Walt Disney World as well).

It goes without saying that there's tons of wrestling videos online as is but not necessarily that much from around the Carolinas. Additionally, I've noticed that it seems like when it comes to material online you get either matches or behind-the-scenes commentary but no real focus on the experience of attending shows. I'm not talking about the jaded ramblings of some fan who feels like he knows better than Vince McMahon when it comes to how World Wrestling Entertainment should do business (Pot, meet Kettle!) - gosh knows there are plenty of armchair bookers out there. Rather, what I'm talking about is the experience of traveling to an event, getting around in the town hosting the card, thoughts on venues, perhaps reflections on restaurants and hotels, and that sort of thing.

If anyone else is doing videos along those lines, I haven't seen it. That being the case, let me introduce you to a brand new YouTube series dedicated to the life and times of wrestling fans - RASSLIN' WITH REDBEARD!

I do love alliteration, if you couldn't tell - Redbeard's Rambling, Rasslin' with Redbeard, you get the idea.

At any rate, if you would be so inclined, please partake in the debut episode, posted below for your convenience, which was recorded around UNLEASHED, the March event for WrestleForce that took place at The Hangar in Cayce, South Carolina.

I don't have a timetable for how frequently Rasslin' with Redbeard will be updated but I hope to add at least one video per month, possibly more if I'm fortunate enough to make it to as many shows. I hope you enjoy it because I enjoyed putting it together. We'll see you down the road!

Breaking the Seal

A few years ago, there was a point in time when I thought I would do something cool by purchasing a domain name and running my own website.  I'd gotten into web development and enjoyed killing time by writing massive op-ed style pieces about things in which I was interested.  My grandiose delusions had gotten so broad that I even reached out to a few people I knew who had similar interests to my own in an effort to get them to write columns for the site.  This endeavor would wind up with me paying $20 a month in perpetuity for the hosting service and renewal of the domain with nothing much to actually show for it all - except a pretty cool looking site that yours beardly put together from scratch, obviously, and a whole bunch of email addresses.

This blog is something of an evolution of that effort.  I've given up the domain and hosting package because there are enough freebie tools on the web now (not that there weren't then; Mr. Big Shot over here had to have something more) that trying to maintain a service plan of that nature is very much overboard for an average Joe like myself who primarily wants to use a chunk of e-space to rattle on about whatever randomness happens to be occupying my brain.

Speaking of my brain...It gets a little crowded in there.  I find my thoughts wandering, not to the point of my needing medication or anything but definitely to a circumstance where letting things loose is beneficial.  That said, here are my plans for this blog condensed into useful bullet-point format.

• Embrace Brevity
  When I write, I tend to get long-winded.  What can I say, I enjoy detail and telling stories.  Be that as it may, I'm going to make an effort to keep most of my comments herein to within a couple paragraphs, not only because I don't want to alienate readers but also because my own free time isn't what it used to be.
• Increased Content Levels
  Part of embracing brevity is the hope that doing so will also allow me to churn out content on a more frequent basis.  With my old site, there were extended periods of time (as in almost a year) where I wouldn't touch it for a combination of reasons but usually because I didn't want to go through the hassle of updating it.  This site doesn't have the encumbrances I had previously, which again brings into question why I bothered paying for the service for as long as I did.
• Variety
  I like professional wrestling, heavy metal, and movies and that's mostly what I have written about in the past when trying to make interesting commentary.  Problem is, that's a pretty narrow set of topics in the grand scheme of things.  I'm not saying I'm going to take on the biggest news of the day, however I do want to branch out beyond just my own interests and experiences.

That's about the long and short of it.  I look forward to seeing where this goes and, hopefully, I can wind up making something that gets read and enjoyed by people other than just myself.

Yours Beardly,

- Rob