Welcome to the new Tuesday tradition here on Inside Pulse. My name is Jonathan Widro and I’m the site’s party host. Or something like that.
The whole idea behind these Daily Pulse columns is to give you, the Inside Pulse reader, a starting point on the vast wonderland that is the site’s update each day. By starting out with the Daily Pulse, the idea is that you get a good dose of your favorite writers, and get a broad overview of whats going on that day in the world and on the site.
I hope you have been enjoying the new site in its first few months. I can’t be happier with how the site has been going, and each week we seem to be adding more and more features, sections and We are working out the kinks of scheduling and features, and always want to hear from the readers! We have many great ways to reach us, including comments on each article, the forum and of course email on our profile page.
Before I get to today’s festivities, I also wanted to point out the new 411mania design and give kudos to Ashish and the crew over there. It’s only been a few months, but it’s great to see both sites thriving so well after the summer festivities.
On to the Pulse!
Despite the fact that I am a New York Mets fan, I have gotten behind the New York Yankees in their bid to vanquish the Boston Red Sox. And I have watched pretty much all of the games.
Sunday night the game seemed to never end, and then the Red Sox pulled it out and it was disappointing. A sweep would have been so funny! Fast forward to last night, when I got home around 7:15pm and put on the game (which began at 5pm), I never would have guess I would still be watching after 11pm. I basically missed all of Raw, and for what, a bloop hit!?
The other series has been really good too, with the Astros taking the lead in last night 3-2 with an incredible walk-off game winning blast by Jeff Kent. The Astros were down 2-0 and now are in the driver’s seat headed into Game 6. It’s incredible to think where the Astros were as late as July in the race and how they stepped up.
One fantastic side effect of this playoff baseball fever is that the main topic of conversation in my office is no longer politics! The Major League Baseball playoffs have officially trumped the upcoming US Presidential election, and I for one couldn’t be happier.
Tonight is the big Taboo Tuesday PPV and it’s an experiment on a number of fronts. The most obvious change is that it is being held on a Tuesday rather than on a Sunday. This fact alone will likely cut into buys considerably.
The card itself isn’t that bad, but there isn’t really a strong selling point on it either. The World title match, while novel in concept, has a feeling that whoever wins still has no chance of beating HHH, so why bother? The biggest selling point to me on this card is Randy Orton vs. Ric Flair, a test for Orton to step up and have a great match. Flair might be old, but he can still go as well as almost anybody in WWE. A great showing by Orton designed to actually g et him over could be the jump start the Orton push needs.
Anyway, here is the full card with my quick predictions:
World Title Match
Triple H vs. Edge OR Shawn Michaels OR Chris Benoit
Voting: Benoit wins the vote
Winner: I think Benoit will win the vote, and then lose to HHH.
World Tag Team Titles Match
La Resistance vs. The Two Guys Who Don’t Get Picked For The World Title Match
Voting: Edge and HBK
Winner: I think the challengers win and set up the tried and true “Wacky Tag Champs Who Cant Get Along”
WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Chris Jericho vs. To Be Selected By Fan Voting
Voting: Batista
Winner: Jericho comes out on top
Loser Must ______ Match (To Be Determined By Fan Voting)
Eugene vs. Eric Bischoff
Voting: Hair shaved
Winner: Eugene
To Be Determined By Fans Stipulation Match
Randy Orton vs. Ric Flair
Voting: Cage Match
Winner: Orton
To Be Determined By Fan Voting Stipulation Match
Christy vs. Carmella
Voting: Lingerie
Winner: Christy
Weapon of Choice Match (To Be Determined By Fan Voting)
Kane vs. Gene Snitsky
Voting: Pipe
Winner: Kane
Fan Voting Determines What Divas Wear
WWE Divas Battle Royal
Voting: School Girl
Winner: The Fans (HAR!)
In today’s edition of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Vince McMahon talks about a few topics including Taboo Tuesday:
“We wanted to get out of our Sunday rut. . . . This event is all about newness and its revolutionary status.”
I sure hope it doesn’t suck at least.
It’s the best time of year for games, with tons of big releases every week. Last week I picked up Paper Mario for Gamecube, which has really great graphics but I havent played it enough to comment on the gameplay. It is very similar to the N64 version so far, not that it’s necessarily a bad thing.
This week it is like a hardcore old school gamer’s week come true.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus – the game itself is getting lukewarm reviews, but the key is the hidden extras. That’s right, the original arcade game is a unlockable extra in this game, and that alone is worth the price of admission. Plus it’s never too obvious to sneak in a Fox Box plug, which airs every Saturday morning.
Alien Hominid is a great story of a web game making it to the big time. It’s basically a flash game that is being made into a full console game. It’s only going to be $29.99 but I recommend checking it out. If it does well, this kind of cheaply made 2D game could find a niche among hardcore gamers looking for a break from the polygon monotomy. Of course I’m saying this sight-unseen and the game could be crap.
Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed seemingly came out of no where but I cant be happier. The Ape Escape is one of the most underrated platforming series around, with the first one on PS1 being one of that console’s classic gems. The sequel came out on PS2 a couple years ago, and it was a nice expansion of the original’s concept. Now comes a bit of a deviation from the series, as Pumped and Primed seems more like
Neo Contra has me a bit weary because of past attempts by Konami to bring the series into 3D. I wasn’t as thrilled with some other people at Shattered Solider, and the same kind of mentality seems to be in place here, but this time in 3D.
Otogi 2 is another one in the Sega Fanboy Collection that I’ll be picking up to put next to Blood Will Tell and Gunvalkyrie among all the others.
Of course next week is the thrilling third installment of the Grand Theft Auto series, San Andreas. Eh I can be all high and mighty on my hardcore gamer’s pedestal, but you have to give credit for the GTA series for its revolutionary gameplay. The “all encompassing city” that can be explored is THE gameplay innovation of this generation, and you can see it in so many games.
I got an advanced copy of the new Collection Soul CD Youth and while its not super, it’s pretty solid. I have listened about 10 times, and nothing is jumping out yet as a huge hit, but there could be some nice radio hits in there. It’s sad to see a quality band like CS dropped with the only reason being ‘they are getting older’. Or at least that’s the only public reason
Jimmy Eat World – Futures comes out today, and I highly recommend it. They have really made a great album, building off the last CD and hits like “The Middle” with a very strong followup.
Riddlin’ Kids – Stop The World
I remember seeing the Riddlin Kids at CBGB’s as a support band for From Autumn to Ashes like 2 years ago, and thought they were a little cheesy, but I really liked the new single. The new CD comes out today, and I think I will pick it up.
We are in the midst of hiring a staff for Inside Pulse movies, and applications are still being taken so if you want to write movie or DVD reviews, Apply Now!. Coogan and myself will be sifting through the applications all week, so you could still be on the Movies team!
Just to expand on Matthew Michael’s talk about Team America in the Friday Daily Pulse , I thought the movie was hilarious! I was really disappointed to see that it only pulled in $12.3 million in its first weekend. Maybe the puppets were too niche? Maybe people are sick of politics? It wasn’t even too much of a political movie as much as a parody of summer blockbusters.
For the exciting return of the Hot Seat, we have Inside Pulse co-webmaster Murtz Jaffer! Murtz has a long and storied internet career, starting out on TSN in Canada and Scoops in the late 90s, manning some independing wrestling sites with Widro (prowrestlingsucks? Realwrestlingshow? Good times…) before settling into a new world – the Internet Survivor Community (ISC). He has never been in the hot seat before, and can he stand up to the heat? Let’s find out, shall we?
1. We always start with geometry – we are the measurements you need to know in order to calculate the volume of a right circular cone?
Murtz: I will go with volume, diameter, and Lindsay Lohan
Judges: That is sadly wrong. How can you calculate volume using VOLUME? 0 out of 1
2. People might know you from your days as a feature columnist at Scoops during its heyday. Then perhaps you can shed some light on something everyone has been wondering about for years – why exactly would Yokozuna EVER have joined the Hart Foundation?
Murtz: Who says he won’t? I heard he has a kid. There’s also Teddy Hart. Al is never wrong. Why would he join? Because Al said so.
Judges: Teddy Hart? Kid? Huh? 0 out of 2
3. If there was a 10 man over the top battle royal with only former guests of Real Wrestling w/Murtz and Widro, what would be the order of elimination? The battle royal can not include wrestling news segment hosts.
1. CW Anderson
2. April Hunter
3. Crowbar
4. Did I say CW Anderson already?
5. Teri ‘Fyre’ Byrne
6. Rob Van Dam
7. Vampiro
Judges note after long delay: this is weak if this is all you remember
Murtz: off the top of my head? I think 7 is good… I am still thinking
8. Shakira
Judges: really 5
Murtz: Yeah, I guess. It’s way harder than I thought.
Judges: Well no one ever said the Hot Seat was a walk in the park. This was a terrible performance. Other guests included Steve Corino, Daffney, Sonny Onoo and the Z-Man Tom Zenk. 0 out of 3
4. If you had your pick, which of the following would you choose to drink – a) a bottle of Coca Cola b) a can of Coca Cola c) a fountain Coca Cola d) Cherry Coke
Fountain. No doubt. If it gets Alecon’s seal of approval, it’s good enough for me.
Judges: Unfortunately the judges don’t go by the Alecon Scale and the correct answer was (d). 0 out of 4
5. In 40 words or less, describe your ultimate survivor all star final four, how it plays out, and why the winner deserved the million.
Murtz: Richard, Brian, Rob Mariano, Lex. It would be a tie vote, broken by Rob’s IC wins. Rob would take Lex to the F2 after Brian and Rich are taken out for winning (previously) and he would win unanimously.
Then we would go drinking with him after to celebrate and he’d bring Amber (that doesn’t count in my 40 words).
Judges: We’ll give it to you out of pity 1 out of 5
Wow the hot seat is a SCORCHER in its redebut, sending Murtz home with a dismal 1 out of 5, some fiery hatred for the judges, and a mission to come back to the hot seat in 2005 and redeem his tarnished name.
The site is always jam packed with incredible links and articles, and Tuesdays are one of our strongest days.
In music, it’s a double shot of Gloomchen, as she checks in with a review of the new No Doubt B Sides CD and checks in with the Pulse Music Tuesday traidion, Totally True Tales.
Bebito and Lucard are steering the games section in the right direction, and it is loaded with reviews and previews. Today we have new reviewer Aaron Hicks’ take on MK: Deception and I must say I think he’s 100% wrong. Then we have ALucard’s surprisingly glowing King of Fighters: Maximum Impact review, which has made me even consider picking it up despite my disdain for SNK fighters.
I should really email him, but I have been really agreeding with Liquid lately. His latest Angry Gamer talks about the horrendously disappointing Nintendo DS launch lineup. Outside of Mario 64, is there even a game anyone wants on that list? What the hell happened?
This might be the first time I’m ever in a column-writing position to plug Eric! also check out Matthew Michaels News Barrage as well as the Rasslin Roundtable for Taboo Tuesday, which PK will have full coverage of tonight.
Mike Hulse does a fine job of recounting the experience of watching some of these ALCS games in the NY Sports Rant
I am running short on time so I’ll get to TV, Figures and Comics plugs later or next week.
It returns!
The top matches thusfar for Wrestlemania 21 are rumored to be Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker and Triple H vs. Randy Orton. I guess the plan will be to hold Orton/HHH off for as long as possible, and face off the two biggest veteran stars on Smackdown.
The Undertaker is, of course, 11-0 at Wrestlemania, but the large majority of these matches have been duds. This includes the matches with Giant Gonzalez, Sid for the title, Big Bossman, etc. A match with Angle would go a long way to solidifying Taker’s WM legacy with a strong in ring match, and a match he is likely to win.
As for Orton/HHH, I wonder why they rushed and wasted it in September only to have it penciled in for WM. With all the long term planning and waiting that went into Orton and Evolution, the saddest thing about 2004 is how quickly WWE pulled the trigger on the storyling and angle.
Honestly, neither of those matches seems like a major draw to me. Both have been done before, and neither have a special feeling that last year’s matches had. I wonder how WWE can make Wrestlemania feel special with the talent currently under contract.
Our first Inside Pulse concert series event was a big success, and we’re coming right back at you with another event in a few weeks!
Tuesday, November 9th in the The Continental in New York City, InsidePulse once again teams up with Alecon to bring a full night of rock! This time we will have some giveaways!
The bands scheduled to appear:
Voo Doo Blue
Fascination Autumn
Rathbone
Almost Violet
Others TBA
We should have profiles with info and MP3s of many or all of these bands in the coming weeks.
Closing Time
That will do it for me. I’m still getting into a writing routine, but I think this is a nice step forward from my Friday column a few weeks ago. Not to say that was a bad column, but it showed some rust. I think I’m working through it. Send me some feedback, check out my profile, let me know what you think of the pulse so far!
