#and the octopus beaten against the stone

[aemondtargeryen]

oh dear, oh heavens, BLESS MY SOUL... it WAS murder then? he tried to scramble the wrong italian chick i fear...

[literarygoon]

So,

Falling in love is a lot like going insane.

Since I have firsthand experience of what it's like to lose your mind — in both ways — Shakespeare's assertion that "love is merely a madness" resonates like a Chinese gong in my brainspace. If it wasn't so common, I think the idea of devoting yourself to someone lifelong would be viewed as akin to joining a doomsday cult, or maybe getting a full face tattoo. It's like handing over control of a guillotine, climbing into position, then hoping that your partner won't chop off your head. 

In a few weeks here we're going to hit the Summer Solstice, which marks four years since I began dating my Filipino octopus. The first picture she took of me was on a rocky beach just down the road from Beacon Hill Park, getting ready to sling a rope of bull kelp that I'd fashioned into a lasso. At the time I liked to imagine myself as a cattle wrangler, ready to snare my desired future into submission. It didn't occur to me until later that my lasso could've just as easily been a noose.

Within three weeks, Kristina and I were living on a remote acreage in the Shuswap and pregnant with our first daughter. I would return sunburned and stinking from my days rafting the Adams River, and we would sit out on the unfinished deck overlooking a rustic property with waist-high grass and weather-beaten structures that looked like they belonged in the wild west. We barely knew each other and found ourselves tasked with shepherding a new soul into the universe. At the time it felt simultaneously like a cosmic joke and a divine blessing, and I knew many people in my life would view our decision as a sort of a kamikaze maneuver. I may have been crazy, but I had a matching cyclone of creative energy sitting next to me, dreaming the world into existence before my very eyes.

When she came to visit me at the Royal Jubilee Hospital months later, in the depths of a manic episode in which I became convinced that the television was sending me custom-designed messages through the closed captioning, I lashed out at her for refusing to admit I'd figured out this sublime secret. I thought my recently departed friend Spencer was still alive, and I wouldn't accept it when she told me he wasn't. Despite my vitriol, she was there pumpkin-bellied and beautiful every day until I gradually returned to my senses.

It was only four months later that we pulled off our haphazard roadside wedding near Mile Zero in Victoria, just a stone's throw from the memorial statue of Terry Fox. She was already in labour, and expected at the hospital later that evening, but we found the time to make things official amidst the paranoia and fear of the newly declared pandemic. We approached our makeshift altar in the grass through a cluster of daffodils, the birth flower for March, while the waves of the Pacific crashed against the rocky beach lining Dallas Road. For a moment I thought I was caught again in a delusion, like all my wishes had culminated in a cinematic scene too deliciously perfect to be real.

As it turned out, my mind wasn't finished wrenching our family around like a Go-Kart tumbling down Rainbow Road, teetering on the edge of the great black oblivion. When my psychotic delusions came on it felt like my brain had grown throbbing tentacles that swirled around us to some subsonic rave beat. She watched me throw a Christmas tree like a javelin across a hotel lobby, grieving the loss of my sister and enraged enough at reality to leave it behind forever. She sat holding my hand while we watched Six Feet Under in the pysch ward, and laid spooning me in bed while the meds slowly brought me around. I'd barrelled deep into the jungle without a guide, and she was the one who came bush-whacking through the ferns to find me.

Since we moved to Duncan in 2021, we've slowly established the nest where we'll shelter our children through their vulnerable years and created one of those routinely scheduled lives I've feared since I was a teenager. Working with a psychiatrist, I've taken the steps necessary to get my consciousness back on a stable plane while watching my black-haired kindred give birth to our second child. The fact that he's as reckless and accident-prone as I am has given me some of the motivation I need to become a non-lunatic capable of keeping him safe. Every day I marvel at these twin manifestations of our love, seeing pieces of our spirits walking around in separate bodies. Calling them a miracle doesn't seem hyperbolic enough. They are my rapture, my salvation.

Which brings me back to my wife, the only person on Earth capable of making me feel all my emotions at once. I didn't anticipate that love would be so intense, that it would require so much self-sacrifice and pain. Falling in love in the Shuswap was no big deal, it was all bathrobes, wild horses and lackadaisical lake paddles, just a non-stop swirl of giddy adventure. Settling into a life of doing dishes, keeping the laundry running and taking hefty loads of diaper-crammed garbage bags to the dump, is a different sort of escapade. Sometimes it feels like the universe is purposefully challenging me, molding me into the sort of person that society trusts to be a parent. And the only thing that motivates me is the bonkers, fairy tale-style love I have for her. It scalds my chest cavity and thrums in my jugular.

At least once a day I marvel at the fact this woman married me, that a derelict human like me could somehow find acceptance and peace in her arms. By now I've witnessed some of her frailties too, and we've grieved in tandem, plumbing the depths of each other's darkness and finding solidarity in our pain. It's not an exaggeration to say that I would run into traffic for her, that I would sacrifice everything about myself just to make her happy. That's where the craziness comes in, because it isn't logical to love someone the way that I love her. It's like scuba diving into the ocean and trying to embrace a thrashing octopus ready to douse you in ink and wrestle you to death with its suckers. Eventually your crushed corpse sinks into the depths, but with a crack-toothed smile on your face.

If you've read this far, then it means you can tolerate my maudlin and histrionic rhetoric. A friend recently encouraged me to "fuck the narrative" and pump some of the raw sewage of real human existence on to my timeline amidst all the carefully curated content meant to prop up the image of my blissfully happy family. To practice radical honesty would mean acknowledging the heartbreak and insanity of marriage, but to celebrate it regardless of that. It doesn't cheapen our love story to say that some days we struggle, and that relationships go through ebbs and flows similar to the ocean beating against the beach. It's a natural rhythm, like a heart beat or a war drum, that drives us onwards even when it feels like the next wave will never come.

The next wave will always come. Trust me.

The Literary Goon

[shlabam]

TOP TEN COMICS BOOK VILLAINS WE PROBABLY WON’T SEE IN THE MOVIES

Superhero media is the hottest thing going right now. It was true ten years ago when the MCU was in its adolescence, and it’s even truer now. Even with film production on lockdown, Marvel and DC are still planning on literally dozens of their characters entering their respective cinematic universes. However, for the fans of the source material, things can be contentious. For every memorable Tony Stark quip, there’s Superman destroying an entire city because he’s, frankly, kind of dumb now. A major point of contention is how the various popular villains are utilized. Making an intimidating and potent villain in a comic book is very different than in a film. In comics, you have months to establish motive, powers, and backstory before the villain even makes their first move. In films, that all has to be compressed and spilled out in the scarce few minutes when Captain America and Bucky aren’t making bambi eyes at each other. To be concise, some villains adapt perfectly, and some, no matter how good they are in the comics, just don’t. And to be clear, this list is of popular villains who have the possibility of appearing in a big-budget film, so no, you won’t be seeing Ten Eyed Man or Big Wheel in there. Their powers are, respectively, having ten eyes, and being very good in business. (That’s a lie, he’s just a huge wheel who chases Spider-Man.)

10: Mr. Mxyzptlk:

Cool, let’s get this one out of the way. Despite being one of Superman’s oldest, longest-lasting, and most popular enemies from all the way back in the Golden Age, there’s no way in hell he will be in a movie. For the uninformed. Mr. Mxyzptlk is a 5th dimensional wizard-genie who appears every ninety days to torment Superman with his reality-altering antics, and can only be sent back to his home dimension if Superman tricks him into saying his own name backwards. Yes, it would be very dazzling, as Mr. Mxyzptlk’s powers in a movie would basically look like if Christopher Nolan directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but he’s a little too silly to fit in with the current “everything is gloomy and also a bummer” tone of the Superman films. This silly tone has lent itself perfectly to the Supergirl series, where he’s made a handful of appearances. Besides, if we get Mxyzptlk in a Superman movie before Brainiac, I’ll lose my entire freaking mind.

9: Hobgoblin:

There have been eight Spider-Man movies so far, and of those eight, four of them have, in some capacity, featured the Green Goblin. And that makes sense, right? The Green Goblin is easily Spider-Man’s most memorable and reoccurring nemesis, with Doctor Octopus and Venom close behind, and Peter Parker’s link with Norman and Harry Osbourn makes their tragic story perfect for film adaptation. On the other hand, we have the Hobgoblin, who is essentially Green Goblin with all the gimmicks, none of the Parker-adjacent backstory, and an orange and blue color scheme, likely tying him to the Denver Broncos [citation needed]. Still, in those four cinematic attempts at tackling the Goblin, none of them have quite gotten him right, and I can’t imagine this character, who is, even in canon, an intentional Green Goblin rip-off, would fare any better.

8: Starro:

Brave and the Bold #28 from 1960 featured the first story with the Justice League, and this story put them up against a very unique new villain: Starro the Conqueror, a giant telepathic starfish who can release tiny versions of himself. If these tiny starfish latch onto your head, you’re under his control and obey his commands. The Justice League have battled him fairly regularly over the last fifty years, and he’s a distinct and powerful enemy that the fans generally appreciate, leading to him being referenced occasionally in Smallville, Arrow, and Flash. Why won’t he ever be in a movie? Because if you’re a Hollywood producer, you stopped paying attention at “giant telepathic starfish”. Sorry. Maybe Shuma-Gorath will pop up in the next Doctor Strange movie, and he’ll set off a Twilight-esque wave of starfish monster movies! Then again, almost absolutely not.

7: Puppet Master:

Speaking of mind control, what’s scarier than that? For my money, nothing. Having your body and will taken away from you by an unseen force is a terror greater than death. How could you possibly make a villain based around such a chilling concept and have him not be scary? Well, maybe if it’s an old bald man in an apron playing with dolls. The Puppet Master is an ongoing threat for the Fantastic Four who is just that: he makes models of his foes out of radioactive clay, and makes them punch themselves and dance around and kiss each other, because he’s, y’know, a weird old man. Why is he such a consistent threat who hasn’t fallen into obscurity like other dumb gimmick-based villains? His stepdaughter, Alicia Masters, is the Thing’s longtime girlfriend. As long as she keeps appearing in movies (including being played by… Kerry Washington? That can’t be right), there’s always a chance he’ll pop up, but I don’t think any movie studio is that stupid, despite the quality of every Fantastic Four movie blatantly defying that prediction.

6: Bizarro:

Superman has always suffered in the villains department. When you’re essentially a god, what can they throw at you? As it turns out, Lex Luthor, almost always. But why not another Superman? Bizarro is essentially that, an imperfect clone of Superman who speaks in opposite speak - “Bizarro am good! Me not punch you until you live!” - and features the same abilities as the Man of Steel. Sounds great, right? Putting a hero against a villain with their same powers has worked for nearly every Marvel movie (shots fired). So why won’t we see him grace our silver screens any time soon? Because they’ve never really figured him out. Is he funny? Is he lethal? Does Kryptonite work on him? If he does everything the opposite of Superman, why does he wear clothes? Isn’t being naked the opposite of being clothed? Bizarro is a major Superman side-character and has made appearances in Smallville and Supergirl, but the idea of him being the Big Bad going toe-to-toe with Henry Cavill doesn’t sound like it would generate a lot of views.

5: Impossible Man:

You remember what I said about Mr. Mxyzptlk? Remember? So take that bit, but everywhere I say Superman, have it say Fantastic Four instead… yeah, that should do it.

4: The Wrecking Crew:

Thor has a unique quirk of having a very cinematic rogues gallery. Sure, most of the movies have pitted him against Loki, but if they were to run him up against the Enchantress, or the Absorbing Man, or Ulik the Troll, or Kurse, or even the Stone Men from Saturn, that’s not a bad movie! However, in one of the attempts to give Thor more of a mortal nemesis, they put him up against the Wrecker, who has an… enchanted… indestructible… crowbar. Yeah. Incredibly, the Wrecker and his Wrecking Crew have become very present characters throughout the Marvel Universe, essentially serving as “jobbers”, being rolled out to get beaten up by the new top hero or villain, but that may not work in a movie, where villains have to be seen as having some level of potency before being struck down. That means we’d need at least a short scene where it seems like Thor might lose to a guy whose power is “crowbar”, and that’s about as likely as an Edward Norton cameo in the next Avengers. Ho boy, they did NOT part on good terms!

3: Clayface:

When the movie-going public goes to see a Batman movie, they generally want something a bit more grounded than your typical superhero fare. After all, Batman has no powers, and therefore the most supernatural thing that should happen in these movies is a gas that makes you smile, or a different gas that makes you think your dead parents are back and disappointed in you. Might wanna put a mouth covering on that mask, Bruce! The one and only they’ve made a movie where Batman fights people with real, off-the-wall super powers (Batman and Robin), it did not go great. And those guys pale in comparison to Clayface, who is, yes, made of clay. In the comics and cartoons, Clayface looks awesome, turning his limbs into weapons and being very challenging to incapacitate, but in a live-action, realistic Batman adventure, we wouldn’t want to see the Dark Knight fight a poop-colored version of the T-1000, especially if it’s got the same chemical composition of a little dreidel that I made.

2: Red Hood:

A relative newcomer to the Batman universe, Red Hood is the revived body of Jason Todd, the second Robin, who was brutally killed by the Joker in one of the most controversial storylines DC Comics ever produced. Literally, fans called a 900 number to tell the writers to kill him off. A 900 number. That’s how much they hated the little turd. Anyway, Jason Todd, whom Batman and the rest of the world believed was dead, was revived by Ra’s al Ghul and became a ruthless villain. Since then, he’s gravitated more to the side of the hero, though one a bit more willing to spill blood than his mentors. Why won’t we see him in the darker, edgier Batman films? Because… that’s Bucky. It’s the same thing that happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Teen sidekick killed in controversial manner, revived by super villain to be a thorn in said hero’s side, later changes his mind and becomes a good guy again, though with enough PTSD to fill a PTSD super store. The two storylines even occurred in the comics in the same year, 2005, to much fanfare and across-the-board declarations of one company ripping off the other, reminding the world of the great Aquaman-Namor debates of the 1940s. Considering that DC’s films have criminally underperformed compared to Marvel’s, the last thing they want to do is be accused of lazy plagiarism, so Jason Todd will likely remain a permanent fixture in the afterlife, hanging out with Batman’s parents and, at the rate that people are coming back from the dead, literally no one else. (Plus, if they can’t even get Robin right, how are they gonna do this?)

1: Mister Sinister:

Yes, he was teased at the end of X-Men Apocalypse, but ignoring that the film underperformed both critically and commercially, Mister Sinister is never going to be in a movie. It would make sense for him to appear, though, right? He’s one of the most present and potent X-Men villains, he’s played crucial roles in many memorable storylines, he’s got a sick cape, but… something a lot of comic book fans tend to overlook is his murky backstory, powers, and motivations. He was a biologist in Victorian London who did genetic experiments on homeless people in the hopes of finding clues about the oncoming threat of mutants. In this time, he unearthed the long-dormant En Sabah Nur, whom you plebeians may know as Apocalypse, and Apocalypse gifted him with great abilities. What abilities you ask? HA HA, good question! At various times, Sinister has displayed: telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection, shape-shifting, regeneration, and teleportation, but these powers will mysteriously disappear whenever they want him to get sliced up real good by Wolverine. Additionally, it has never been made very clear what Sinister wants. Does he seek perfect mastery of the human genome? Does he live to torment Cyclops? Is he a blind follower of Apocalypse? Is he just running through all the different kinds of goatee? Of course, in adaptation, the writers would pick and choose the aspects they’d want to use, but I doubt they’d want to untangle the Christmas lights mess that is Mister Sinister, especially when they’ve got a perfectly good villain whose power is just “magnets”.

[mst3kproject]

423: Bride of the Monster

 My favourite part of this episode is the ‘Favourites from Hired!’ skit Joel and the bots do in between the short and the movie.  It’s so perfect in its parody of musicals, and the songs are better than almost any of the music featured in MST3K’s movies. When I got my current job, back in 2012, I actually extemporized a career-appropriate version of I Just Got Hired to sing on the way home.

I enjoy the movie, too, though.  The ‘Old Willows Place’ is a house by a lake in the middle of some very spooky woods, with a reputation for being a home to monsters – which include the hulking Lobo and the gargantuan octopus that lives in the lake.  The monsters, however, are just the appetizer: mad Dr. Vornoff has built an evil laboratory in the basement and is trying to create a race of giants by experimenting on random passers-by.  So far all his attempts have been failures, but enough rumor about this has leaked out to get the attention of zealous reporter Janet Lawton.  She heads out to the Old Willows Place to see for herself, only to be captured by Vornoff and Lobo.  Is Janet doomed to become Vornoff’s first successful giant?

This movie is famously cheap, to the point where it becomes kind of charming.  The walls of Vornoff’s laboratory are plywood painted with big dark squares to try to look like stone.  When the monster octopus isn’t footage shot through the side of an aquarium, it’s a few immobile rubber tentacles off a prop from the 1948 movie Wake of the Red Witch (it is not true that Wood stole the octopus, by the way – Tim Burton appears to have made that up).  Vornoff growing to gigantic size is represented by him raising his arms into the air, and later by the stuntman wearing platform heels.  A scene with ‘quicksand’ is just actor Tony McCoy standing in a hole in the ground.

Also rather entertaining is the fact that while nobody in the movie is very good, they all look like they’re having a great time.  Loretta King relishes every word of her dialogue and Harvey B. Dunn as the police chief seems to enjoy the banter scenes and the interactions with his little parrot – I wonder if it were Dunn’s real-life pet.  Bela Lugosi as Vornoff chews the scenery with evident enjoyment and a surprising amount of dignity for such a silly film.

The plot mostly resembles a coherent story, and the cast’s actual dedication is enough to move Bride of the Monster past ‘bad’ and into ‘so bad it’s good’.  What really interests me about it, though, is the question of whose movie it actually is. There’s only one character who can properly be said to have an arc, to start off as one thing and evolve into another. It’s not Janet or Dick, our apparent heroes, nor is it Dr. Vornoff – it’s actually Lobo!

Lobo begins the movie as Vornoff’s unquestioning servant, doing his master’s dirty work and being beaten into submission when he refuses – which isn’t often.  We’re meant to believe he’s mentally handicapped, but he’s smarter than he lets on, and something about Janet (or perhaps her furry hat) awakens some rebellion in him.  At the climax he takes charge of his own destiny, saving Janet from Vornoff’s clutches and strapping Vornoff into his own machine.  He has become somebody capable of standing up for himself against his abuser, only for the very instrument of his revenge – the giant-making machine – to turn against him!

Think about it: who else is gonna be the hero of this movie?  Not Janet – once she reaches the Old Willows Place, Vornoff places her in his hypnotic thrall and she’s incapable of doing anything useful until Lobo unties her.  Not Dick – he’s chained up while Vornoff prepares to experiment on Janet and can’t get out until she’s free to undo his shackles! Then he tries to fight Lobo, gets his ass kicked and his shirt mostly torn off, and just lies on the floor during the climax.  Certainly not the chief of police – his bird shows more initiative than he does!  It’s Lobo all the way!  He oughtta team up with Eulabelle from The Horror of Party Beach.  There’s a pair of unappreciated heroes who could totally save the world!

On the other hand, Lobo also gets a death suitable for the villain of this movie!  Like any halfway-respectable mad scientist, Lobo is killed by his own creation, the giant Dr. Vornoff!  It’s a bit of an open question what Lobo thought the embiggening machine would do to Vornoff… he clearly fears it’ll kill Janet, since he takes the trouble to rescue her from it, and it’s likely he puts Vornoff into it hoping to see him fried.  Why he didn’t just break the man’s neck or feed him to the octopus, as he did with Dr. Strowski, I don’t know.  Perhaps he’s merely falling back on his training, although there are clearly some higher thought processes at work, since he must have learned to operate Dr. Vornoff’s machine by watching, and since this is evidently something he hasn’t done before he must have made a conscious decision to do it.

Vornoff is in turn killed by his creation, the monster octopus.  Such is the fate of all who Tamper in God’s Domain.

Another argument that this is actually Lobo’s movie is that he might be the monster referenced in the title.  Janet is clearly the bride, since she’s wearing a wedding dress at the climax – though the movie never tells us why, and the last guy Vornoff experimented on appeared to just have a sheet over him.  It’s true that Vornoff tells the two hunters Lobo is not the legendary Lake Marsh Monster, and implies that it is actually the giant octopus – but nobody comes near marrying the octopus.  Instead, it’s Lobo who appears to consider Janet a potential bride, and rescues her in the hope of winning her heart.  Then again, perhaps Vornoff is the monster.  He carries Janet off, probably intending to rebuild his laboratory and make her his giant bride, and his acts throughout the movie certainly qualify as monstrous.

I know, I know.  It’s an Ed Wood movie.  I’m thinking too hard.

Unique in Ed Wood's filmography, Bride of the Monster is rather mysterious about its message.  I’ve observed before that Wood wanted to make important movies, movies that would teach people to be better human beings, and usually this ‘moral’ is pretty obvious.  The Sinister Urge is about the horrors of pornography, Jail Bait and The Violent Years are about being involved with your children’s lives, and Plan Nine from Outer Space is about the arms race, as the aliens are determined to destroy us before we can discover the ultimate weapon.  What the heck is Bride of the Monster about?

Perhaps it, too, is about humanity’s warlike tendencies: Dr. Vornoff’s home country wants to use his work to rule the world, while Vornoff, like Dr. Zorka of The Phantom Creeps, would rather rule the world himself.  The final line, the infamous he tampered in God’s domain, suggest that the theme is scientific over-reach, which is also echoed in Plan Nine – Vornoff discovered something man wasn’t mean to know and it destroyed him, just as the Solarmanite is likely to do to all humanity in the other movie. But there’s also yet a third theme from Wood’s other works that creeps in here, and that’s the uselessness of the police.

I’m not sure if this is something Wood actually thought about, like he did his other themes, but it is a motif that runs through multiple films: the police don’t try very hard and are, ultimately, irrelevant.  It was true in Plan Nine, as well as in Jail Bait and The Sinister Urge – policemen are fairly major characters without doing anything much to further the plot.  This seems to be at the forefront of Bride of the Monster even more than the other films, as we get to know at least three of the cops fairly well and one of them, Dick, has an intimate connection with the actual plot in that he’s engaged to Janet.

As well as Dick, who tries to be a hero and fails, spectacularly, over and over, we get to know two other policemen: Kelton is eager to please but incompetent and cowardly, and Captain Robbins is far more interested in playing with his pet bird than with solving crimes.  They’re all spectators for the climax, while Lobo does interesting things and giant Vornoff fights his octopus.  Did Wood have some kind of grudge against the constabulary?  Or was all this just a side effect of bad writing and attempts to add character?

Finally, Bride of the Monster is particular fun for MSTies because it’s so full of opportunities to play The Movies Are All Coming Together.  If you feel like it, for example, you can wonder if Tor Johnson is playing the same Lobo as in The Unearthly – perhaps he came to, escaped the fire, and went to go work for Dr. Conway!  Heck, maybe he’s also the same character as in The Beast of Yucca Flats… maybe he got his scars from that nuclear test, and is able to work Vornoff’s machinery because somewhere in there is some vestige of Joseph Javorski, Noted Scientist!

You can also ponder whether this might be a sequel to The Corpse Vanishes.  In both movies, Bela Lugosi plays an evil scientist who keeps deformed henchmen and works alone in an isolated house… in The Corpse Vanishes he was interested in young brides and hormone secretions.  Maybe in Bride of the Monster he dresses Janet up in a wedding gown because he’s used to working on young brides, and any attempt to turn people into giants would probably involve human growth hormone.

Wood did make a sequel of sorts to Bride of the Monster, called Night of the Ghouls – I’ll have to find that and watch it as an Episode that Never Was.  I will not, however, be reviewing Plan Nine.  So many other internet reviewers have done so that I doubt I have anything new to say about it, and besides, I honestly don’t think MST3K would ever have featured it. As supposedly ‘the worst movie ever made’ (though we MSTies have seen way worse), it was simply too obvious.

[radenkan]

PART II Glorification

For Vienna

In the middle of the roof appears was a raised platform [1]

A semicircular stage with three paths rising gently from it in the form of a star, and in each of these [2]

Shallow pools of water [were forming all over the roof and the stage.] [3]

I took this piece of water for a piece of sky. [4]

An invisible clatter of thousands of feet and tongues, [...] [above which] the chimes from church towers elevate. [5]

I smile and hold my breath. [6]

My heart was racing. [7]

Eventhought the still expanse of water was reflecting [...] nobody but closed windows, of this most “disinterested” quarter. [9]

Imagining the move, on earth, through air or in water, I shut my eyes, [10] languish to let myself go. [11] 

Like  fish playing in and out of smooth water, dashing about in circles, [12]

The body caught in eddies, whirling in circles; it would vanish into the water, then rise briefly to the surface. [13]

This air therefore after having been pushed pushes and drives the other, and generates revolving movements in its wake. [14]

My foot stumbled upon something. [15]

Two metal rods closed in before me in luminous air, [16]

forming a kind of ladder. [17]

I shall take another step, 

the second followed by a third, 

the third by a fourth, [18]

Then comes another, and another, and they strike as [I] circle Widely and swiftly around. [19]

remove hesitation and reconsideration.

The metal was cold and hard to the touch. [20] 

Your fingers were gripped in mine, my foot was now touching yours, my body was thrust well forward, and our foreheads were forced together. [21] Mixture of poured or beaten bars and rods. [22]

I bear the measurments in mind. For often we make figures that bend, rise, or turn, in which attitudes the arms are now stretched out and now contracted, [...] to give them gracefulness, we extend the measurements in some part and to shorten them  in others. [23]

We reckon with how our bodies are 

bounded and entangled, 

precarious and enmeshed, 

infinite and ephemeral. [24]

How interesting [...] to link chance with rigid order.

the peaceable inhabitants of the surrounding houses awoke, several windows opened, and surprised heads approached [26]

watched by a thousand eyes penetrating every detail of our movement. [27]

They enter into our souls through entirely different ways than through the aid of words; they move our entire being in a wondrous manner, and they press their way into every nerve and every drop of blood which belongs to us. [28]

We look at them through colored glasses.

some [...] twist the faces 

some [...] enormously increase them. [29]

My own reflection in the glass filled me with unreasonable satisfaction: the arms were enormously increased, while the appearance of the whole body was enlarged to superhuman proportions. [31]

It is difficult for such disproportionate power to act with a sense of proportion. [32]

The sky was pure opal now, and the roofs of the houses glistened like silver against it. [33]

Step by step, [we] left behind, [....] the westward facing terraces [...] jagged like hemicycles of an [...] amphitheater. [34] Even 50m above ground

I am always seeing the sky from some place underneath, and this is so even when I am situated much higher up myself, on top of a building or on a mountain; only if I were to leave the earth’s atmosphere altogether would the sky cease to present itself as above me. [35]

Consciences, restless, uncertain, and almost quenched like yours, require to be strengthened and aroused; to set the feet again upon the foundation of eternal truth, we must remove the trembling supports on which they think they rest. [36]

I do look down, [...] black metal tentacle like that of an octopus are now reaching towards me. [37]

Cold and brutally hard, [metal] does not give comfort. [38]

Strong wind [39], 

Lightning flashes, 

sudden flames play all around 

whirlwind,

and

thunder 

mist!. [40]

!and!together overtake!those who move!through [total]!darkness with!slow,!uncertain!steps. [41]

I lost balance as the ground tilted towards south. [42]

[1] Gothein, A History of Garden Art

[2]Gothein, A History of Garden Art

[3] KLeatherbarrow Eisenschmidt, Twentieth Century Architecture

[4] Ruskin, The Stones of Venice

[5] Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 181

[6] Harris, The Queer Life of Things

[7] Sei, The Pillow Book

[8] Woods, Letters of an Architect from France Italy and Greece 2

[9] Hugo, Les Miserables

[10] Grimm, Teutonic Mythology The Complete Work

[11] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

[12] Seneca, Complete Works

[13] Eco, Baudolino

[14] da Vinci, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

[15] The Book of the Thousand and One Nights

[16] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[17] Eco, The Name of the Rose

[18] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

[19] Virgil, Aeneid

[20] Asimov, Complete Robot Antholog

[21] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[22] Ovid, Metamorphose

[23] Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris

[24] Seneca, Complete Works

[25] Hovestadt Buehlmann, Quantum City

[26] Seneca, Complete Works

[27] Koolhaas, Elements of Architecture

[28]Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 1815

[29] Borges, Collected Fictions

[30] a Vinci, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

[31] Homer, The Odyssey

[32] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

[33] Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

[34] Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

[35] The Book of the Thousand and One Nights

[36] Rousseau, Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[37] Proust, In Search of Lost Time Vol IV Sodom and Gomorrah

[38] Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books

[39] Benton Sharp, Form and Function

[40] Panofsky, Idea A Concept in Art Theory

[41] Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 1815

[42] Harris, The Queer Life of Things

[seibertron-outdoor-blog]

Travel season is coming, know you have the passion for travel now. Seibertron will offer you the travel advice and tips, if you like it please follow and like our page, thus we see the increased number then have more passion for finding the material for you. Theme 1:  10 great Greek islands: readers’ travel tips Whether they choose deserted beaches, fabulous local food, walking or ferry-hopping itineraries, our readers have the Greek Islands well and truly sorted Place 1:Winning tip: Hiking in Amorgos, Cyclades As well as the azure bays and its role in Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, Amorgos is also renowned for its hiking trails, which not only connect the island’s villages but also provide access to ecclesiastical and natural landmarks. Start at Hora, the capital of the island, and walk towards the landmark of Amorgos, the Greek-Orthodox monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa. Built by Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus I in the 11th century, this whitewashed monastery is wedged into a cliff face 300 metres above the sea. Climb the nearly 300 steps, walk through the low marble doorway and take the staircase that leads to the chapel where treasures and icons are kept. You will be rewarded with a vertiginous yet panoramic view of the Mediterranean, complimentary rose-flavoured loukoumi (Greek Turkish delight) and psimeni raki (raki with honey and spices) offered by the monks. From there, descend towards the pebble beach of Agia Anna. Here the waves splash against a rock which a chapel of the same name is built on. It’s then time to dive into the deep blue Aegean. Place 2:Karpathos, Dodecanese The largest Dodecanese island is largely unknown to Brits. You can fly there but not directly from the UK. Better to take the ferry from Rhodes or Crete as we did and head for Diafani, where getting around is mostly by boat or on foot. We were enchanted by the lack of tourist trappings as local life carried on around us. As visitors we found ourselves welcomed with gifts of pomegranates, just-caught whitebait and freshly baked bread. While we were drinking coffee at a cafe on the water’s edge, a local fisherman invited us onto his caïque and took us on a spectacular journey to a beach where we found ourselves alone and surrounded by undisturbed centuries-old ruins. As we swam, our boatman fished for octopus, then barbecued it for us, having first shooed the goat from the stone table. Inland we visited Olympos, courtesy of the free loan of our hotel owner’s car. The remotest village on the island, and only recently accessible by road, it’s a place where traditional costumes and customs still persist, and time seemed, like its iconic windmills, to stand still.  Place 3: Kastellorizo Kastellorizo, a mile off the Turkish coast, is a colourful and picturesque island with a tumultuous past. Originally colonised by the Dorian Greeks, the island was later occupied by Egypt, Italy and the Ottoman empire, all of which is evident in the capital’s rich architectural legacy. Pastel-coloured Anatolian-style houses are arranged around a small fishing harbour lined with tavernas. Dotted on the hillside are a church and a cathedral, an Ottoman mosque, monasteries and castles. The ruins of an ancient acropolis lies on the western outskirts of town. A promenade on the steep streets and lanes provides abundant delight and surprise as well as breathtaking views of the Mediterranean. A small family-friendly beach west of the harbour is excellent for swimming. The island’s remote location on the fringes of the Dodecanese has left it relatively undisturbed by tourists, making it an ideal getaway centred on food, recuperation and culture. The island is easily reached by boat from Rhodes or Kas.  Place 4: Lipsi, Dodecanese I first met Rena in 1992. I was a teenager then, reluctantly dragged by my mother on holiday to a then off-the-beaten track island. With its low hills, unspoiled beaches and welcoming people, Lipsi was the hidden gem of the Dodecanese. Rena Rooms is at the edge of the small “town” of Lipsi, the only settlement on the island, and the rooms overlook Liendou beach. The views are so calming, and waking up to the sea just below your balcony with only the singing of birds, the bells of goats and sweet wild thyme and oregano fragrance in the air is just breathtaking. I have visited the island and Rena on and off for 26 years, and she has slowly planted the most beautiful succulent garden of grasses, cactuses, herbs and olive trees, which spills from the grounds to the edge of the beach. Rena is one of the warmest people I have met, and her husband and one of her sons run boat trips.  • Rooms €30 in low season and €55 in high, renasrooms.com Place 5:Abandoned sulphur mines of Milos, Cyclades There can be no more breathtaking backdrop to a dip in the Aegean than the abandoned sulphur mine of Milos. The stunning bay of Paliorema can be accessed via a dirt road, although the scramble down the cliff to the golden shingle is not for the faint-hearted. Hire a 4x4 to get as close as possible. Once at the beach, you can wander freely around the abandoned buildings, where it appears the miners may be back at any moment to start work. Follow up your visit at the Mining Museum in Adamas, which includes a video about workers in the sulphur mine before it was permanently closed in 1978. Milos’s charms are only enhanced by the fact that it has not relied on tourism for survival like some of its better-known neighbours.  • We stayed at Argo Milos Studios in Parasporos Place 6: Aegean island hopping The Aegean island grouping of (among others) Mykonos, Naxos, Syros, Tinos and Andros are a great starter pack for Greek island newbies, yet no less attractive to those already won over by the sun, sea, fabulous views and wonderful food and hospitality that the islands are known for. They are easily accessible direct by air from a number of UK airports – fly to Mykonos in around four hours for the full-on luxury, cocktail-sipping whitewash experience. Or make a Greek island cruise of it by taking the ferry from Athens. With the choice of two ports close to Athens and both fast and slow ferry options, the added option of island hopping is irresistible. In around 4½ hours (two hours on a faster Seajet) you can be in Tinos, savouring the local produce it is known for. Time your visit with the artichoke festival in May or the raki festival in September and enjoy a locally brewed beer listening to jazz by the waterfront. Or you could be in Andros, hiking the well-maintained ancient paths, or spectacular Syros, with its elegant architecture – sitting among it if you’re there during the intimate annual film festival in July. They are so closely grouped, you can even base yourself on one island and do day trips, say to Mykonos when you tire of the fabulous sandy beaches on Naxos. The ferries are modern, safe, frequent and relatively cheap. For the most economical journey, leave from the port of Rafina and take a conventional ferry. Place 7:Donoussa, Cyclades Donoussa is the quietest of the smaller Cyclades islands, hidden behind much larger Naxos. Traditionally described as off the beaten track, it has reinvigorated itself in recent years as younger people move back from Athens to work in family businesses. There are some great new restaurants, such as To Auli in the main (small) village and an organic beach bar at nearby Kedros bay. An excellent new walking guide (in Greek and English) opens up the hills, while a minibus service will carry you back from the other side of the island on the only road. There are regular ferries from Athens but arrive on the local Express Skopelitis from Naxos for the best experience – this ferry also offers lots of short-journey, island-hopping options. Place 8:Hydra, Saronic Islands Hydra, retreat for chic Athenians, as well as families with children, is just a half-hour ferry hop from the capital. It’s car-free, so you can meander through winding streets or take a donkey ride. Breakfast on mellow coffee with walnut cake or cheesecake while overlooking the marina packed with yachts. Hop on a ferry to whisk you to close-by islands or bob on a dingy up the coast. Next, window shop local painting and silverwork on your way to lunch. Lunch! Try spit-roast lamb with garlicky greens, soft flat breads and feta salad, which comes without the asking. Nap on a sandy beach. If you do stay the night, breakfast on fried eggs in fruity olive oil. Place 9:Kefalonia, Ionian Kefalonia is the loveliest of islands: pristine blue-flag beaches, the vibrant greens of sacred, pine-clad Mount Enos, the constant cerulean sky. It is the largest of the Ionian Islands and exploring the mountain roads of its lush interior can provide glorious solitude, even in peak season. We stayed in the friendly, low-key resort of Skala. Ten minutes north is Kaminia beach, a nesting site for loggerhead turtles – the nests marked with tiny wooden barricades by volunteers. Perfect swimming, views of misty Zante and a very Greek kantina serving homemade burgers and feta- garnished salads.  Place 10:Cretan treats for veggies and vegans Western Crete is an awesome place to visit with magnificent mountains, beautiful beaches and loads of history. Away from the gulf of Chania, tourism is relatively low key. In addition there are at least two excellent veggie eating places. We discovered Third Eye in Paleochora in 1999 after many years of island hopping and surviving on Greek salad! We’ve returned each year since to enjoy its eclectic mix of dishes. As well as traditional Cretan dishes (such as boureki and moussaka) other dishes are inspired by the owners’ travels in Asia and they use much locally grown produce. The town is lovely, with two beaches and the remains of a Venetian castle. The bus journey from Chania Town provides extraordinary panoramas, as the route crosses the island and climbs into the mountains. Last year we lunched in Chania Town in another long-established family-run vegetarian restaurant To Stachi, a wonderful place to escape from the crowds around the harbour. Advocating Slow Food, this gem is close to the sea and the eastern city walls. Again, it does delicious veggie versions of traditional dishes using local organic produce. If you need any outdoor travel products, go https://www.facebook.com/seibertronoutdoor/

[dusudaunord]

Things to do in Montréal April 14 to 20

Montréal celebrates the return of spring with Easter brunches, Cirque du Soleil’s newest show, musical swings and butterflies, NHL playoffs and pro soccer, martial arts merged with dance, and live music by the Dixie Chicks, Jackson Brown, PJ Harvey and more.

Easter weekend activities

Montréal makes the most of the Easter long weekend, from staying active to religiously reflecting, whether you’re here with friends, family or that special someone – see our guide to Easter weekend 2017 for some ideas. Swing like you’re a kid again – and make music at the same time! – at 21 Swings outside Place des Arts in the Quartier des Spectacles, part of this year’s Digital Spring art-meets-tech explorations. Observe butterflies up close and in the hundreds at the Botanical Garden greenhouse’s Butterflies Go Free event, part of the Montréal Space for Life‘s manyactivities. The NHL playoffs have hockey fans at the edge of their seats: the Montréal Canadiens face off against the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre on April 14. For soccer fans: Minor League Soccer team Montréal Impact plays Atlanta United FC in the season home opener on April 15 at Saputo Stadium. Take a walk off the beaten path to discover welcoming and wonderful quirky spots in Montréal, from urban caves to arcade bars to Montréal’s best karaoke bars. And have fun for free with free things to do this Spring in Montréal.

Food and drink

Weekend brunch is an Easter must, but weekday brunch was truly made for leisurely vacationing: satisfy your mid-morning (or early afternoon) cravings with some of Montréal’s best brunches, from Old Montréal excellence to quaint neighbourhood café creations and worldly delights to classics with a gourmet twist. Discover the city sights and eat well along the way on Montréal’s best food tours. Have some fun this week friends and Montréalers alike with our guide to restaurants, bars and parties for spring break in Montréal. Catch the yearly end of a Québécois tradition: cabane à sucre sugar shack season – fill up on tourtière, sugar pie, sausages, maple syrup candy and so much more. Add more sweetness to your day at the city’s best candy shops. Explore great places to eat in the HOMA neighbourhood or the menus of new Montréal restaurants. Relax with a cup of tea at Montréal’s tea houses, or try a signature cocktail at one of Montréal’s hidden bars. And plan your next visit around Montréal’s fabulous food festivals!

On stage

Tony-award winning musical-comedy The Book of Mormon, featuring music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, returns to Montréal April 18-23 at Place des Arts, while the wonders of Cirque du Soleil’s VOLTA thrill all ages starting April 20 under the big top in the Old Port of Montréal. Also in theatre: Centaur Theatre‘s Clybourne Park, a neighbourhood drama tracing racial tensions in Chicago, and family comedy-drama The Shadow Box at Mainline Theatre. As part of Montréal’s winter-spring dance program: Danse Danse presents the hybrid dance, martial arts and theatre of Shay Kuebler Radical System Art, April 18-22 at Place des Arts;  dancer-choreographer Isabelle Van Grimde questions identity, the perception of the body and its evolution at Agora de la Danse April 19-21; Brazil-born, Amsterdam-based Fernando Belfiore premiers Agglomérat at the MAI April 14-15; and contempoarary-hybrid performance ensemble WIVES collective presents WIVES, ASSEMBLÉE at Studio 303 April 15-16.

On screen

Film festival Vues d’Afrique screens African and Créole films and hosts social events April 14-23 at the Cinémathèque québécoise – while there, also see portraits of 20 Québécois directors in 10 + 10 Visages du cinéma québécois. Virtual reality work by Felix & Paul Studios stuns at the Phi Centre‘s Virtual Reality Garden – the Phi Centre also screens dance documentary Rain on April 19 and Ken Loach’s newest film I, Daniel Blake on April 20. Immerse yourself in the high-tech visuals and live piano performance by Roman Zavada in Résonances Boréales, plus the global Music Legacy Project, April 11-29, in the Satosphere dome. Learn more about Montréal history in documentary The Last Breath: at the Heart of the Hotel-Dieu de Montreal, a hospital as old as the city and soon to be out of commission, and peek into one of the world’s foremost private gardens, Frank Cabot’s 20-acre English garden Les Quatre Vents, in doc The Gardener, both playing at Cinéma du Parc.

Museums and galleries

Experience one of the city’s most stunning churches in a whole new way: immersive high-tech light show Aura adds another level of beauty to Notre-Dame Basilica this year. Nearby, see the city in photographs at Le Centre d’histoire de Montréal’s Ça c’est Montréal. Later, walk through Old Montréal at night to see Québéc history unfold in the beautifully bright tableaux projections of Cité Memoire. Witness mastery of colour and light in CHAGALL: COLOUR AND MUSIC at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, featuring not only 340 pieces by the Russian-French artist but musical accompaniment. Also at the museum, the exhibition Mnemosyne constrasts works by contemporary Quebec and Canadian artists with Old Master paintings. The ’60s make a comeback at the McCord Museum‘s Fashioning Expo 67, featuring colourful outfits and products created by Québec designers for Expo 67. The Musée d’art contemporain shows work by foremost Mexican artist Teresa Margolles, as well as Québec artist Emanuel Licha’s Now Have a Look at This Machine documentary installation. And questions of human bodies, digital creation and perceived reality come up in the computer-generated multi-channel video work of Berlin-based British artist Ed Atkins‘s exhibition Modern Piano Music at DHC-ART, opening April 20.

Live music

On Friday night, PJ Harvey plays the first of two nights at Metropolis, while L.A. hardcore punk band The Bronx rolls into Foufounes Electriques, synth-pop team Co/ntry host a fun-times album launch show at Théâtre Fairmount, Texan indie-electronic group The Octopus Project comes to Bar Le Ritz P.D.B., and electro artist Jacques Greene brings the beats to Newspeak. See big-stage hommage to the Fab Four Orchestra! With the Beatles Story Band, featuring 16 musicians and a whole lot of energy, April 14-15 at Place des Arts’ Maison symphonique. On Saturday, sing along to your favourites with singer-songwriter Jackson Browne at Place des Arts or with the ever-fab Dixie Chicks at the Bell Centre. Or dance for hours with Mustard Factory with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and 4B at New City Gas. If shouting along to punk rock hits in the vein of Lagwagon, Bad Religion and Face to Face is more your style, make your way to Club Soda on Sunday for punk super group Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Monday night brings the classic British indie rock of The Wedding Present to Bar Le Ritz P.D.B. Simon Leclerc conducts the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s OSM Pop concert featuring Québécois singers Bïa, Bruno Pelletier, Paul Piché, Marc Hervieux, Catherine Major and more, April 18-20 at Place des Arts. Bask in the noise of Wolf Eyes and Drainolith on Tuesday at Casa del Popolo or in the chill vibes of R&B soul singer Allan Rayman with opener Mariachi Figueroa on Wednesday at La Sala Rossa. And if you’re looking for a musical experience en français, go to Damien Robitaille‘s show on April 20 at Club Soda.

Up next:Your Montréal Digital Spring Survival Guide

The post Things to do in Montréal April 14 to 20 appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

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[wrestlingwiththoughts]

Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Evolve 77, January 28, 2017

One of the highlights of Chris Hero’s magnificent 2016 was his feud with Zack Sabre Jr. that stretched across continents. We had previously looked at their match from Mercury Rising 2016 and their rematch at Evolve 60. To build his momentum to challenge (and beat) Timothy Thatcher at Evolve 79 for the Evolve championship, Zack Sabre Jr. needed to beat Hero before Hero left the independent wrestling circuit to return to WWE to play Kassius Ohno. Thus, they faced off one last time at Evolve 77: A Hero’s Exit in January 2017.

Sabre comes to the ring with more emotion than usual, but he’s stone-faced by the time Hero has absorbed every decibel of adulation from the crowd during his entrance. He goes around the ring to encourage the signature “Chris Hero ain’t nothin’ to fuck wit’” chant from the crowd to get into Sabre’s head and makes Sabre wait while he ties his hair into a bun. 

For all of Hero’s shenanigans with the crowd, he is still surprised when Sabre jumps him for the armbar when Hero offers a mocking handshake. Sabre is able to get a couple of European uppercuts in early, but Hero lays out Sabre with a slap to the face. The strike exchange on the floor goes poorly for Sabre, and Hero escapes a Sabre standing armbar attempt by falling backwards on a first row chair. 

Inside the ring, Hero brutalizes Sabre with powerful stomps and chops. Sabre tries to respond with European uppercuts, but Hero has the power advantage. Hero grinds Sabre’s neck as Lenny Leonard goes through Hero’s many accomplishments in wrestling, from his early length match in IWA-MS against CM Punk to his run in Pro Wrestling NOAH to his involvement in the ROH vs. CZW feud. As in matches past, Sabre catches Hero’s arm in a cross armbreaker during Hero’s senton, but Hero escapes. The match goes back outside to Sabre’s dismay as Hero hits Sabre with a headbutt to the shoulder and a couple of sentons. Sabre tries to climb back in, but Hero knocks Sabre off the apron with a bicycle kick tells him to take the countout. Twice more Hero knocks Sabre to the floor with bicycle kicks. Sabre eats an elbow to set Hero up for another bicycle kick, which he then blocks to take Hero to the mat. Hero rolls through, so Sabre leaps up for another standing armbar, which is not working for him. Thus, Sabre transitions to the crucifix bomb and the penalty kick to buy himself a breather. 

Sabre begins to focus on Hero’s arm by kicking his wrist, but Hero slaps a Pele kick to his wrist away and hits another senton. By this point, both men are very familiar with each other’s offensive instincts, and Sabre will have to change his game plan to catch Hero off guard. Sabre blocks Hero’s attempt to trap him in the corner by hitting Hero with a tornado DDT, which is something he hasn’t done in his previous matches with Hero. Sabre attempts to press the advantage with a running uppercut, but a right straight to Sabre’s face cuts him off. With Sabre seated on the top rope, Hero hits a big boot and teases a piledriver from the top. A series of rights knocks Hero back to the mat, but a Chris Hero right punch stops Sabre. Sabre catches Hero in an octopus hold on the top turnbuckle and tries to hit Hero with a sunset bomb, but Hero is too strong to budge. Sabre then kicks Hero’s legs out from under him, depositing him on the mat and positioning him for the penalty kick. Hero again cuts off Sabre with a devastating rolling elbow, and both men are on the mat.

With Sabre against the ropes, Hero blasts Sabre with elbows, a boot, and a knee strike. Sabre still has enough of his wherewithal to counter the ripcord elbow into a backslide, but he can’t hold Hero and eats a Shining Wizard for his effort. Sabre attempts to trade strikes with Hero in desperation, but Hero scoffs at Sabre’s weak slaps and chops. Sabre rolls through a piledriver attempt for a try at a pin, but Hero kicks out at two and crumples Sabre with a Tombstone piledriver. It’s still not enough to finish Sabre, so Hero looks for the deathblow elbow. Sabre counters it with a cradle pin, but Hero is not worn out enough to be pinned. He hits the deathblow, but Sabre is too determined to be beaten by Hero. Lenny Leonard points out that Hero beat Drew Gulak with the deathblow, and Hero looks stunned that Sabre kicked out. 

On his final night in the independent circuit, Hero wore gear inspired by the New York Knicks (because he’s “going to New York,” after all). To finish Sabre and to rub his success in Sabre’s face for daring to claim that he’s the best in the world, Hero teases the Pedigree, Triple H’s finisher and the go-to move for any independent wrestler who has ties with WWE in 2017. Pete Dunne teases the Pedigree in his matches to get heel heat; here, Hero realizes that he needs to crush Sabre’s spirit more than he needs to wreck Sabre’s body to beat Sabre. Because Hero is a master, he milks the Pedigree attempt for every second that he can. Sabre kicks out at one because he is now one of the defenders of independent wrestling and throws rapid elbows at Hero. Though caught off guard, Hero recovers to boot Sabre in the face and hit him with a short piledriver and the reverse style piledriver. However, Sabre counters the Gotch style piledriver into the guillotine, from which he kicks Hero in the head to open him up for the double armbar/stump puller submission to finally force Hero to submit to him. 

Physically exhausted, Sabre can only roll around to celebrate his victory over Hero after a lengthy feud while Hero can only listen to Sabre’s music as he laid on his back. Did Hero submit to save himself so he won’t be injured as he moves on from independent wrestling to the WWE? With both arms and one leg trapped, could he have even countered Sabre’s hold or reached the ropes to force Sabre to break the hold? There’s enough doubt there that they could revisit this one day when Hero’s career in the WWE ends, and Sabre will likely have to confront those questions himself. However, his victory over Hero is official, and it cannot be taken away from him, and his resolve was proven in this match. 

After the match, Sabre bowed to Hero on the mat, shuffled himself next to Hero, and waited along with the crowd for Hero’s parting words. In the end, there was no doubt that Hero would lose to Sabre before he moved on, but Sabre had to prove to the fans and himself that he was worthy of the victory as they put on a masterpiece of a match one more time.