Sorgatron.com

First off all, I offer no apologies, like WWE did, about my tribute posting about Chris Benoit. Based on the moment when I wrote the blog, all I knew was of a death, and wrote about the entertainer I enjoyed for years that would be tremendously missed.

Tuesday night, I sat with all three of my friends on the Wrestling Mayhem Show, trying to choke out the hardest two hours of recording I think I’d ever done to this point. Just the range of emotions, from the initial loss of this great talent, to the shock of the supposed “Double Murder-Suicide” findings. We couldn’t joke about it. We didn’t want to ignore it. We really couldn’t. It’s obvious this is the “next big thing” for the media to spend their 24 hours on tv punditing about to replace whatever Paris Hilton fucked lately, and it will change things for pro wreslting, for WWE, for fans looking at the sport. Steroids have come into question, seemingly by default. I won’t defend, speculate, or otherwise contribute to the unfounded theories and ideas and hopes of what really happened, there’s enough of that out there.

But as a performer, Chris Benoit will still be missed by any wrestling fan with respect for this business.

And I hope that everything we hear is wrong everytime I find new information on the matter.

Thank you to all of the Wrestling Mayhem Show fans. I really felt we were all leaning on eachother regarding dealing with all of this. Vim, Mad Mike, and others left plenty of messages, both for the show, and personal in nature. All are appreciated, and why we carried on last night.

Thank you all…

That’s right, ninjas, we’re doing our best to keep this a weekly thing! I have to sit on my recent interview with Jered of hed pe until a couple weeks from now, but in the meantime, our mention on Faygoluvers (thanks guys!) got us a line of underground artists to talk to.

So scope out Psykotik’s music on their Myspace page, www.myspace.com/psykotikkillaz. Their some West Coast wicked shit worth checking out!

This evening, I received the news a half hour before RAW, that the world had lost Chris Benoit. Now, some may think it insane to be emotionally touched and hurt at the loss of a professional wrestler, but those that have a genuine love for this “sport entertainment” hearkening back to childhood memories, you would understand. You can liken it to how many react to Elvis upon his death, perhaps.

Chris Benoit was always a bright spot in professional wrestling since I’d discovered him. My first recollection of Chris was somwhere around the Dean Milenko match from WCW’s Hog Wild in 1996. I had gotten satellite after years of no cable, and had finally been reopened to the world of wrestling and this other fed. I enjoyed the cruiserweights of the day, but Benoit had something else. In a league of masked Mexicans, and small high flyers, he had the moves of Milenko, and the intensity I never recalled seeing in wrestling. I recall several classic matches with Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Booker T, and later, Kurt Angle, and others.

Benoit had a good series lately with the US title on Smackdown, fighting MVP in a remarkable series of matches, which made the newer star, in many’s opinion. And he was sure on a run at the ECW title, and maybe show some of those guys how they should be working, showing the professional he was and that he could make anyone he wanted to.

Now, we can find pleasure in the thought that we just may have plenty more classics taking place upstairs between the Pegasus Kid and Black Tiger…

So to Chris Benoit, I continue to drink this Canadian beer…

Thursday night, I had the pleasure of being invited along with Dr. Espling to scope out a show he had assisted in setting up featuring MOD and hardcore metal legend, Billy Milano headlining out at The Garage in Oakland. Now, the last time I was at this place, it was called the Oakland Cafe, and it was a hip hop night.

So we get there and hang for a bit. First group was Stick Palm Death. They’re your typical hardcore. About a minute long songs with inventive song titles.

Next up was Crown the Lost. These guys were some classic Thrash metal. The whole time I watched these guys, I kept thinking how much Kyle needed to see them.

Then there was Gutrench. These guys were more akin to some oldschool Biohazard and started to get the crowd moving in this small club.

Finally, MOD popped up. And I was introduced to some old school metal. So here’s this big dude, dropped jokes, messing with the crowd, talking about blowing up the Mideast. Y’know, real hardcore politics. And the crowd knows every damn word. There were plenty of power and band mess ups. We stuck around, and Doc wanted to get an interview. He was pretty psyched to talk to Billy. Said he’d been into this group for years. So we end up having to wait a bit though. It seems they had driven from a show the night before in Little Rock, and then the van broke down in front of this place in Pittsburgh. And Billy brings his dogs on tour with him. Some shadiness on their hotel room and what was happening with the dogs led to us being invited to their hotel room to conduct the interview. So I got on the camera, and we got a few minutes with Billy, talking about the album and the tour, before he got a call about the van and had to leave. But the rest of the guys were able to fill in on the “real” stories of MOD. Learned how the two new guys got in the group just this past April, it seems. And the guitarist, Scott had all this experience in touring in several bands over the past 15 years. It was a great discussion, on and off camera. Just a little rough to get up for work the next day after getting home at 3 AM.

So I went into this having no idea who Billy Milano was. Now I learned another piece of music history.

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Also had a pleasure Friday evening to interview Jered of (hed) pe. I’d become a little jaded with the band after the last album, but I’ve been a fan for a long time. Jered was pretty nuts on the phone for this one. But I was asked to put it up closer to the release date of the next CD July 17. So you’ll be hearing that in a couple of weeks.

But that’s alright. I had posted witht he G-Child interview on Faygoluvers that I was looking for more undergroung talent that needed to get their names out there to hit me up. I have at least 4 other acts interested in interviews. Two with CDs coming out in July. Good stuff.

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The big meeting is tomorrow. Big things.

After MUCH deliberation, and many questions asked, the powers that be have determined…Fuck it! We ain’t afraid of no Gathering. There’s no reason the Pittsburgh ninjas too broke/busy/job minded to not be able to travel to the Gathering have to sit at home and sulk for the weekend.

And for the few of you that will be missing the festivities due to the Gathering of the Juggalos, we will be putting full force into doing a second Juggalo Day for Phantom Fright Nights. Keep an eye on the WPAJ Board, and direct your questions at Painkyller, holder of the Juggalo Day keys, so to speak.

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Well, I guess I’ll write on this topic. Above is what I’ve thrown out to the usual newsletter/myspace outlets to let people know (and get them off my back, relieving my mailbox). I’m sure we would have had a date up sooner, but some unfortunate technology blackouts led to break downs in some of the planning discussion.

This marks the 7th straight Juggalo Day. An event where anywhere from 50-200 Juggalos gather and just hang out at the local Kennywood Amusement Park for the day. Of course, the fine folks at the long gone PittsburghJuggalos.com/.net were the originators of this event. And Painkyller, now helping with duties around WPAJ, has helped keep it alive. I’m honored to still be helping get the word out on this event. Mad props to those old guys from PJ, NedenSpredin, Khaos, and Kryptik that started this shit, and hell, inspired WPAJ in the first place.

Every year, I swear I’ve hung out with a fairly different group of people. Most of the time with a whole group of people I’ve never met before. Some ask why I still wave the Juggalo colors and support this site, that frankly, maybe had seen better days. But it’s days like Juggalo Day. When ninjas from teenagers just getting into the ICP thing, to old head Juggalos that have kids and careers now, can all get together and just shoot the shit and have a good time.

For those curious about what something so crazy looks like, hit up WesternPAJuggalos.com’s Juggalo Day pictures section.

Got word today that this Saturday’s, and all future, Hkan Hip Hop & Hookah nights, have been canceled until further notice.

Here’s the official word on what’s going down:

“i just want to let everyone know that this past saturday was the last night of the hip hop series until further notice. something happened with the bar and their permits to do live music, so due to nobodys fault, they had to cancel all of their live music. i just want to say thank you verymuch to all the artists and fans that have come out to support. on june 9th, i had my one year anniversary hosting and the series in general had gone on for over 2 years. PITTSBURGH HIP HOP STAND UP! so if you know anyone that is booked for shows on our calender, please let them know that all shows are canceled as of now until i can either find a new venue, or the hookah lounge gets the rights permits. if you have any friends that are scheduled, please let them know!” ~Basick

Basick Sickness and those ninjas at the hkan had a great thing going in a city where there’s little to do and fewer places to do our thing. Props to all of them, especially Basick and his crew, for holding it down for so long. We hope to be rocking with you guys real soon.

It’s another week, and shit, it’s another interview! This time, we dig into the underground and dig up G-Child. Now, some of you may recall her from VH1’s White Rapper Show, but she’s been keeping busy ever since. Tune in and find out! And scope out her Myspace page.

And now that the interviews are coming full steam ahead, it’s time to extend a hand to all you local and underground artists out there. If you got some shit going down you want to talk about, hit us up and tell us about it, and we’ll see about getting you on the WPAJ Podcast interviews!

So I find myself with several endeavors on the table. So what do I do…

First of all, I do have a day job, and budding career via that. That’s a no brainer. I’ll always have to expend the energy needed to maintain that and grow where needed. So that’s out of the equation. This writeup entails what to do with all of that “spare” energy.

Do I want to be a hip hop crap star? Or a new media personality?

“What?” you say? Those are some interesting aspirations. Well it goes like this. I’ve determined a little bit ago, I’m not going to go through this life without making a real shot at building something great for myself. I’d never really knew what, but I’d had ideas. Start a business. Maybe a venue. Maybe a computer/design company. Lots of ideas over the years. Maybe most half baked, as they are.

So option 1: I love this New Media thing going on. Or Web 2.0. Hell, here I am writing this blog. So I’m there. I wrote blogs before they had a name like that. The Wrestling Mayhem Show, of course, exploded out of left field, built new friends, and continues on the fast track. We’ve met, interviewed, and hung out with real professional wrestlers we look up to. We’ve had chances to get into rings and wrestle in front of respectable crowds. and who knows where that, and other endeavors, like the WPAJ interviews, can take us all. I love the vibe from the Podcamps and Bootcamps. I love participating and the new ideas.

And option 2: Of course, is CRAP. We’ve done live shows for over a year. The group’s been “real” for almost 2 years. And we have the most shows on the horizon the next 3 months than we ever had in our history. The creative juices are still flowing, and we’re learning and growing. I feel like I’m getting a comfort zone in writing new material, like I’ve had with performing live for a while. NES and emcee lb are on the horizon, and we’ll have a built in support group for shows and promotion together, as a stronger entity. Dr. Espling has some things on the horizon that are just going to bring all of this to a whole new level. We’re building something here. We have potential to build a force, and perhaps even a scene, for our type of music. The audience is there. We just have to let them know we’re here.

Yeh, it’s going to be a lot of hard work. But pass or fail, I’ll be able to look back on my life and realize I didn’t sit on my ass and let shit pass me by. My energy is going to be spent throughout the next several months, hell, maybe years should things actually pan out.

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Some random notes:

Chad the Shad has the beginnings of a new RWF page up. It’s early, but keep checking back, I’m sure it’ll keep growing. There’s a lot of backyard wrestling history there.

Chachi has a .com for his group, Nerdz Eating Shroomz. Bookmark it. It’ll be more than a myspace page soon enough…

If I had a “writing while tired” icon, it would go here…

I had the pleasure of bouncing around the T system here in town Saturday with some friends, and hit up the Arts Festival downtown Pittsburgh. On the way back, I get up to get off of the train, and hear a little girl ask “Mommy, is he a Pirate?” I had not heard the whole thing, but when I looked back in confusion, the mother assured me it was a compliment, such as I remind her of Johnny Depp. Hm, ok.

But what if I was a pirate? That would be intriguing. Well, I would have a ship, and call it the Flying Ger-man. My pirate name would be “Sorg the Sugar Pirate”, for we would be known for pirating of the sugarcane shipments(I think I have my trade route history right). Because dammit, I have a sweet tooth. I would have a crew of familiar faces.

My old friend Chachi would be first mate. And he would probably end up with a peg leg, because they didn’t have MRI’s back then. So his injury would have been deemed black magic and removed.

Will/emcee lb would be there. And he would have a parrot on his shoulder. Whenever he made a crack about someone, the parrot would say “Ding”, and somehow learned to give a thumbs up.

Kyle would be the over the top Pirate. He’d somehow be the cleanest of the crew. His hair would still be blonde. But the parrot would tend to try to steal his hair off of his head for his nest we was building in the crow’s nest. For no one realized “Peirre the Parrot” was a female parrot.

Mulango would be there as a Rastafarian-member of the crew. His laughter echoing beyond the seas.

Jeff/Big Daddy Shit would be the ships drunkard. And his strange, drunken rhyming of words into song to interesting beats would make him a hit in entertaining the crowd.

Yes, a pirate life for me. Now what if I was a ninja…Man, I wish I could be a ninja…