Mexi Bat Wrestler Mask

Check out this bat-themed Mexican wrestler mask I picked up a couple weeks ago:

Sandra & RLB - Venice Beach, Nov. 2008.
I like that the bat is smiling. A guy was selling them on Venice Beach for no more than what you'd pay for a t-shirt.

I was going to try wearing it into Jay Leno, but we thought it might not pass security.

I'm keeping it in the trunk of my car in case I ever need it.

My Former Chinese Wrestler Fan

I picked this fan up a few years ago in L.A.'s Chinatown. It features, like, 250 famous Chinese wrestlers and has been on display more or less constantly since 2003.

[ Click to view larger image.]

I began using it as a grill fan a couple of weeks ago, which led to its rapid deterioration. Here is how it looks as of Monday's Columbus Day feast -

R.I.P.

I just wanted to report it's demise.

Our Columbus Day feast came out perfectly ok though, due to the fan capabilities of an old magazine.

Columbus Day Dinner.

Introducing J.H. Detweiler

Dick the Bruiser - Disenfranchised in the '80s

As far as professional wrestling is concerned, the '80s meant the birth of the WWF - in which the various regional wrestling districts across the nation were all brought under one single ownership. Wrestling became big business and Hulk Hogan was everywhere.

An unfortunate side effect was that a lot of the great old timers were basically jobless. Which led to this moment of glory in 1987:

Jonnie, Todd, & Chad Fry meet Dick the Bruiser in 1987.

Dick the Bruiser was a huge deal in the midwest and it was a mixed blessing/tragedy to see him wrestle in a small Indiana high school after the WWF basically left him jobless.

Cousin Nick over on the Gville messageboard> offers this Dick the Bruiser anecdote:
"[Dick the Bruiser] lived in a pretty nice neighborhood and liked to stir things up. Sometimes when he came home drunk, he liked to put on one of his wife's dresses and wigs and get on his motorcycle and tear through people's yards in the middle of the night. Supposedly, no one ever complained or called the police. Maybe the skid marks Dick left on people's sidewalks added to the value of their property."