It's been a chaotic week.
I made it back in Florida just in time to get out of town - or so it felt. As I arrived in Florida, I became aware of a potential tropical storm that could hit Tampa Bay. It was looking like a direct-hit! The more that I listened and learned about the storm the more concerned I became. I decided that I should at least get out of town, so a few days prior I had made plans to ride it out northeast of Tampa at my buddies house.
Things seemed to be getting worse and worse, but my neighbors didn't seem to be getting overly prepared, until Monday came. That's when I saw them begin to put up some plywood over their windows and a few had sandbags. If you don't know, Florida is a really flat, low lying state and I live near a Flood Zone. Realizing how bad the Storm Surge could be and how much rain was expected. So with lots of help from my neighbor, we set up some plywood over a few windows and I got headed out to Orlando.
Wow! That seemed to be a mistake. The path looked to be on a direct course for Orlando, so after only one night staying near Universal & Disney, I packed up to risk the drive along the northern route back to the west coast. As I was arriving at my buddies (about 30 miles away), the wind and rain picked up A LOT! What had been a mild day of wet weather and light rain was now showing the signs of the Category 4 Hurricane that was about to make landfall.
HOLY SHIT! What an INTENSE set of images to see broadcast as the storm made its way onto shore in Fort Myers. Only 90 miles from my house.
We were feeling the effects of the storm north of Tampa, I couldn't imagine what it would've been like being on that devastating path so close to the center of the storm.
I'm an idiot sometimes and I have a tough time resting or getting proper sleep anywhere but my own bed, so I decided to trek the 40 or so miles back home in the dark. The wind was whipping. As I traveled the south I noticed there wasn't any power and the street lights were out. Hell, I noticed one street light flying back-and-forth across the intersection and hoped it didn't pick my vehicle to ding up.
I got home to no power and only a slightly flooded front door of my house. Nothing but a minor inconvenience. Well, somewhere in the howling of the night, I heard a neighbor outside. I thought "this dude is crazy!" being outside in this weather. I slept terribly for the next few hours. When I woke up in the morning to a slightly gusty and sunny day I began to check outside to see if any damage could be noticed.
Well, there was some, but VERY MINIMAL and I hope my insurance takes care of it. If not, I guess I'm gonna live without an extra panel on the lanai.
Life is mostly back to normal now and I plan to be getting up-to-speed on some projects I've wanted to do.
Like a long Hero Hunks video. I'm thinking something like 60-90 minutes with a plot. I've been digging the old Batman stuff and watching some other comic book things on YouTube, so I think it'd be fun to take 6 or 7 characters to make a story. Something basic to start - the bad guy wants to blow up the city, but the hero's main sidekick (or maybe even the hero himself) comes to stop his evil plan. A battle ensues for 5-10 minutes before something dastardly happens and some evil henchmen show up to do their own damage. After that it'd be a series of battles with the hero, the sidekick, the villain, his goons and maybe another one or two characters.
Definitely open to ideas or basic outlines/scripts (and even some "sponsors" if you've got an idea for a segment or 2 in the overall scheme of the film).
I think it's neat to do these 20 minute videos, but I like to challenge myself and hopefully interest you a bit more in a series or multi-part or mini-series or something unique or at least less common than what I've been offering.
Put some new lights up at my studio and did some cleaning up around there. I expect to do this in the upcoming weeks or right after Halloween.
Some pro wrestling stuff coming up. The last even I helped put on did better than expected for the fundraiser. It's a little early but we raised about $1000 for Christmas for the Kids in a small town, which is HUGE! Thanks for those who donated. We'll be doing another one November 4th. Free Admission. Donations Welcome. All the wrestlers are donating their time and bodies for the cause. I know some good people.
This Friday, I return to the wrestling scene in Florida as I have a big opportunity to impress the folks at a known indy wrestling company. Hopefully that's a springboard into some stuff with AEW and Impact Wrestling to end the year. Maybe even an invite to do extra work at WWE. Anyone got an in?
Anyway, if you're floating around Clearwater or St. Pete come check out the live event. It should be a fun night out and a way to take your mind of the stress of this storm we were lucky to come out of mostly unscathed.
Lastly, or maybe almost lastly, I revealed some big news. I started ANOTHER website. It was actually started back in March, but I figured why keep it a secret (unless you don't like me - in that case, I definitely do not run the website that I'm about to share with you).
Drum roll...........
WRESTLEFRAT.COM - it's a site where I let the wrestlers decide and direct their own videos. It's their ideas. Their gear. Their mats or ring or mattress or floor in their apartment. I've never been at these shoots as I don't want to influence them, so it's all up to the individuals in the videos. It's been a fun project and I think it's going great. Some new faces and some old faces, but definitely something I'd suggest giving a try.
Let me know if you dig it or not.
It's funny, I always start these with loads of excitement and plans to just keep them short. I always feel like I make them too long and by the time I'm near the end I'm ready for a nap. Maybe because I tend to write after dark. But isn't that the best time to think?
I'm still planning to interview some wrestlers for the site. I'm still getting videos ready to load on the site so you can enjoy them (just did 20 last night and have 40 more to do). I've got a couple matches planned for next week that'll be on top of what I've already filmed. It's hard to stop filming. I need to get a therapist haha.
Let's end this with a fun little poll. Something to get the next blog post brewing in my mind.
5 comments
Ray
I don’t feel like these blogs are too lengthy. It’s interesting to hear your thoughts and to get a look at what you are doing.
But you never mentioned the name of the charity event or the indy one you were looking forward to.
Ellis M
So sorry to read about your misadventures, but happy that you came out relatively okay.
Love the idea of a Batman ’66 style video. The Riddler would be a natural villain, he already wears wrestling gear. And he boxed Batman in the episode “Ring Around the Riddler.”
Billy
Glad you are OK after that storm. Like you idea about the hero, sidekick, villain, and his henchmen.
Mike
Glad you’re okay man. As a resident of the Gulf Coast, I’ve dealt with a few terrifying storms too. They never get easier so I just get far away now if it even looks like it’s headed my way.
I think the superhero idea with multiple parts and wrestlers sounds like a fantastic idea! Naturally, you should be in it too. I still remember how well you acted in that Can Am Vulture video.
Patrick
Love your blog. Glad to know you are ok. I have cousins in Tampa and they rode it out as well. Ever make it out to the Midwest? Just curious.