Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Old Man Robb's Top Twenty

Hello bloggeronies, peeps and assorted wormslime, what we have here is not a failure to communicate, dictate or anything else, but rather a greatest hits, one not brought to you by K-Tel, but by Old Man Robb himself...what we have are, according to Blogger, the twenty most babbled about things by Old Man Robert Reid Hawley...drumroll..hey ho..here we go...

(20) MSW- Mainstream Wrestling


Well i first went to an MSW (Mainstream Wrestling) card in i believe either the summer of 2001 or 2002 and it was actually in the Kingston Arena of all places. I've gone to MSW shows every summer since, i really like the shows that they have done at the War Memorial in Windsor, i wish they would come back to Middleton, they haven't been here since the summer of 2006.

(19) The Halifax Forum


Ahhh the good ol Forum...many an AHL game as a kid, junior and college hockey and of course Grand Prix Wrestling and WWF shows. I was recently there watching the Bruins Oldtimers. Good memories of sitting behind a post and watching a game, getting told off by all the bad guy wrestlers..good times.

(18) Keiths

Ahhh...my favorite all time beer...its too bad that it seems to be only an Eastern Canada thing...like donairs and garlic fingers.. oh man all those times i was overseas in Japan and in S Korea and craving a Keiths...i remember going to the Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon which is an hour or so away from Seoul and walking in, not a Korean in sight except for the waitresses and Hockey Night in Canada on the tv and all these North Americans in the place...i felt at home..poutine on the menu, Canadians like the Trailer Park Boys and Bob and Doug on the walls...only thing missing was a nice cold Keiths...

(17) KISS


I actually had a friend said that he does not understand Kiss...i think he was born 20 yrs too late to understand the cultural phenomenon that this band was when i was a kid growing up in the 70s... dolls..pinball machines..lunch boxes, Kiss knew how to market themselves and still do to this day..its too bad it took some 19 yrs for them to come back to Halifax after cancelling in 1990... the above pic is with Dressed2Kill and they do an excellent recreation of the Kiss concert experience.

(16) Guns N' Roses


The above pic is of the recent GnR concert in Hfx... many refer to them as Axl's Roses now, but i guess i was one of the few who enjoyed Chinese Democracy..well it did take some 7 or 8 times listening to it for me to full enjoy it. Back in grade nine in the Passage there was no bigger band in the land than GnR and their debut Appitite For Destruction..they were such a mix of metal, glam metal and punk rock attitude.. as funny as it sounds there were no ballads on their debut at all..they were young, snotty and pissed off at the world...yet years later they are known for slow songs and zillion dollar recording budgets and Axl's flip outs...wonder how much $$$ is needed for a reunion?

(15) Alice Cooper


Two of my favorite people- Alice and Jason pictured above...i remember getting Alice's comeback album Constrictor in the 8th grade.. poor Alice had boozed so bad that he could not remember recoding Zipper Catches Skin and the excellent DaDa.. plus he contributed to the Friday The 13th Part VI soundtrack and that made him even cooler in my young eyes, doing a music video with Jason!!! Then he came to Halifax some five times in the past twenty-five yrs or so...whatta show!!! Glad to see Alice still has the snake and the gullotine going strong in 2010...

(14) West Kings


Yeah...that school i went to starting in 1990... moved here and i was fed up..wanted out and into the world..well twenty years later and im still spouting off about the world and everything in it... it was a much needed change for young Robert Hawley and there were some good times...some bad times especially my second year where i went through this childish rebellion, skipping all the time and thinking what am i doing here? Thank god i graduated the next year is all that i can say...

(13) NOVA


The late NOVA was to be the start of Robb's teaching career and it was...for about six months, now i will admit that i wasn't ready, but man i got behind the eight ball there, was sick as a dog during my teacher training and i felt for six months all i was doing was playing catch-up...students would complain about me talking too fast and i would get the memo from staff...one month or so later...i was never so happy to come home...and never so happy to hear some four months later that NOVA was gone and no more...felt bad for the teachers that were stranded and left behind, but glad my NOVA days were over...

(12) The Beach Boys


Always been a Beach Boys fan...went though a phase where i bought most of their back catalogue...some good stuff like Pet Sounds, Sunflower and Surf's Up...some real duds like Summer in Paradise.. it is so weird to see them on stage today with just Mike Lover and Bruce Johnston and knowing that Carl and Dennis Wilson are gone and Al Jardine and Brian Wilson are not participating..next year is the 50th anniversary of the Beach Boys...i think it would be nice if the surviving Beach Boys buried the hatchet and did a few shows..Wouldn't it Be Nice?


(11) STFX


An entry like a few coming up...by default, enemy of Robb's Axemen... i remember going to see the above mentioned Beach Boys at STFX in the summer of 2005 and i went to the box office to pick up my ticket and the dude working had no idea that the Beach Boys were coming to town...some people eh?

(10) Dad


My here and idol...god only knows i could sit here all night and write a book about my Father, but i like to think of what things would be like if Dad was here and healthy today.. would some people be the way that they are? Would i have taken that sabbatical from Acadia for almost four years? What would our lives be like today with Dad as a part of it? I'll never know, but it would be sweet just to see it.. Always missing you bud...

(9) Passage


My home for most of my young life was in Eastern Passage and i went to Eastern Passage Junior High from grade 6-9... like later schools there were good times and bad times, but it was a time of innocence...an innocence that was robbed for some people.. me? I was lucky and perhaps too happy go-lucky as it was ...it was at the Passage that i first discovered my love of metal and females as well.. played lacrosse and was on the wrestling team, student council in grade 8 and the trip to Quebec in grade 9... other than that, hanging with friends, hockey games in the tennis court..causing havoc whereever we went...a world where we used our imagination and we didn't text or have internet and or babble on cell phones all day and video games were the Atari 2600 and it was played on rainy days... simpler times...

(8) Tower


I'll tell anyone that will listen that the best five years of my life was spent living in that building right there... my family arrived in the Valley in 1990-91 and i remember walking across the campus and thinking i would like to go here someday, too bad i never will... and off i went...then during 1997-98..years later i would take a course at Acadia just to see if i would like it and lo and behold i did...come Sept of 1998 i was a frosh and living in Tower...lots of friends and crazy nights ...and i graduated too...something MANY people didn't think would happen...and it did.. :)

(7) SMU
Another sworn enemy of Robb's Axemen... how i long for wins over SMU... football, hockey...any sport..but especially those two..i mean they have been so powerful for so long and it is hard to forget and forgive i will remember last years beating of my Axemen in the hockey playoffs for awhile..mind you SMU got themselves an NHL player in the middle of the season..i think the Axemen should have been allowed to add an NHL player to their roster as well...all is fair in love and war and sports..is it not? Oh well a new season be starting in the Fall...can't wait...

(6) Habs


I've been a Habs fan since an early age.. look at those royal red and blue uniforms...the history, the Stanley Cup..the blue rouge et blue.. the last Cup in 1992-93 was one of my favorites...why? Because everyone was on the Maple Leafs bandwagon, Wendel, Dougie and the great Pat Burns (Who should have gone to the Hall of Fame this year) was all people at WK could talk about and go on about...and what happened? The HABS won the cup against Gretzky and the Kings...it kinda makes me wish that Gretzky and the Kings had decided not to get hot in game 7 against the Leafs and that the Maple Laughs would have won.....why? Because that would have made the Habs Cup win that much frickin sweeter..esp if they had beaten Toronto...ahhhh well...

(5) Ramones



I remember seeing the Ramones as a kid in record stores and in pictures and thinking now there is a strange looking bunch...then in 1989 for some odd reason that summer Much Music when they used to play music had a Ramones spotlight and i watched and taped it and i was hooked! Off to the ol Sam The Record Man in Halifax (RIP) and i was home with End of the Century, then the next week the Rock and Roll High School Soundtrack...then every week turned into buy another Ramones tape (Yes i said TAPES!!!) until over time i had them all and NONE of my friends or anyone else wanted to hear them...to them it was just noise...now the group is no more and Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee are gone (RIP) and now there are Ramones t-shirts all over the place... i couldn't even find a Ramones t-shirt as a kid!!! Is something deemed cool once something else is gone away...i think so... i just wish the band was around to enjoy the fruits of their labour...

(4) Japan


To be honest i would love to go back to Japan again, if i was to teach ESL at a decent school. There were many things and attractions that i did not make it out to due to me being a hermit like my first three months there and so when i went to S Korea in 2008 i made a promise to myself to see as much as possible since i did not do so in Japan...so Japan still piques my interest to this day and would jump at the chance to go back under different circumstances.

(3) Mount A


Another enemy of the Axemen but with a twist! Old Man Robb actually went there in 2003-04...i was graduating and wondering where to go...one look inside MacLeans Magazine and there it was! Well i went and while the academics were not what i was used to...at all...i made quite a few friendships while living there in residence at Harper Hall and Assume The Position was back on the airwaves on CHMA and it made Friday and Saturday nights fun as heck!!! Let me just say that  if the classes had been more up to par with what i had at Acadia U, there is no doubt that i would have stayed another year at Mount A...and on a side note i gave someone a chance for a great story comparing an Acadia students year away at another university but the dumbass turned it down saying it would be just tearing another school apart...whatta fricking hack eh? However hacks are those who always get those positions kids...cause they know how to kiss ass...something Old Man Robb don't like to do and i thinks it costs him sometimes...oh well got to be real and have some morals i guess.

(2) Acadia


What can i say? My home away from home for many moons and it was again this past year...oh yes i hear the naysayers everytime and my god it feels great to prove people wrong...not only did i come back to Acadia U...but my average for 2009 was also a 4.0!!?!?!?!??!!? When are people going to learn that there is more to Old Man Robb than his funny looks and his knack for doing silly things? I had to prove to myself back in 1998 that i was no dummy and i graduated...now this year i had to prove that the education department had made a mistake by not admitting me to the program in 2008-09 and lo and behold i think without a shadow of a doubt i proved that i could hang and make those marks... the naysayers are always going to chuck crap at me...feels good to chuck some of that back though...hehehe

(1) Axemen


#1 and it is easy to see why...at least for me that is... one of my favorite times of year is Fall and that is because Axemen football is starting up.. ever since 1990 when we moved here and i went to Raymond Field to catch a game i was hooked and along with another walk around the campus convinced me i should be at Acadia U...mind you that dream did not happen for another 7 and a half years, but it did and even when i was attending other academic institutions, my heart was at Acadia U.. why am i attending here? I should be there...mind you i bitch about little things like wishing there was tailgating outside, wishing the beer tent sold Keiths and that more people went to the hockey games..esp the kids who can go to the games for free with their ID... oh well i know another 70 some days and it is football season again at Acadia U....can't wait...

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Wrestler punches Fan...



La Parka punches an over-zealous fan in the face...LOL!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

New Confessions...


Hello bloggeronies! What is new with Old Man Robb? Well recently i had another interview and volia! After eons of trying (Well since like ummmmmmmmmm...May) i was given an offer of employment and this week i am to be phoned and told when training is to start. Yes...training, oh and it shall be EIGHT weeks of training and then they will tell me if i am to stay or to hit the road... so hopefully it shall be stay and so for the rest of the summer after they tell me when training starts in July i shall be living again in the Kentville area for the first time since 2004-05 and if all goes according to plan, then i shall be moving into an apartment in the Kentville/ New Minas area...pictured below are some of my previous apartments in Japan and South Korea...small is the word to describe those...


The best news about all of this? With the extra $$$ i can start the second part of my TESOL course at Acadia U! Just think about it...Robert Reid Hawley is just TWO credits short of being a licensed ESL teacher...Robert Reid Hawley with a teaching certificate?!?!?!?!!?!? The mind boggles doesn't it true believers? And it is enough to put some crow in the mush of some of my biggest critics...some close, some not so close...i've been beating the odds and rising from the grave for so long now after various wormslime have been writing me off? Why? Jealousy? What do i have that you do not possess? Guts? Testicular Fortitude? Maybe if people think outside of the box once in awhile they would not have those petty jealousies....


Went to see the A-Team the other night...good flick as long as you didn't think about it too much.. so many remakes and stuff, went to see the A-Team over Karate Kid...should have called it the Kung-Fu Kid...im convinced Jackie Chan can only do overseas movies...his North American flicks stink... i guess the A-Team had a couple of cameos, too bad they flung them in after the credits...Hollyweird weirdos...its going to have a hard time making back the $100 million the flick cost them...funny how much $$$ Hollyweird spends on this stuff, but like many say Hollyweird is out of ideas, this is an example of that.


Why did my Habs trade Halak?!?!?!?! What does Carey Price have in his possession that keeps in Montreal?!?!?! This has to go down as one of the biggest boners in Habs history, i mean just as bad as giving Leclair and company to the Flyers in 94 and Roy to the Avalanche in 95... they better have something good up their sleeve over the summer or lots of fans are gonna be ticked off...wait...they already are ticked off...This is more proof that team owners are not very strong in the hiring GM department...i hope to god this does not come back to bite the Habs in the ass...

Saw a couple of pics the other day, reminded me of my time in Japan back in 2007-08..i taught at the NOVA located in Kita-Senju and this was basically my route from NOVA to the train station where i would catch the train to Yatsuka where i lived...what i also found neat is that alot of people seem to have found the Sunny Diner which was located on a back alley in Kita-Senju, i remember the workers were very talkative and the platters were huge..let's just say you never left the Sunny Diner hungry, that is for sure..



Wish all these people would stop referring to soccer as football...jeesh...what's next?


Middleton is getting a Robin's Donuts/ Greco Express...this will be a five minute walk over the hill from my place...what does Old Man Robb think? Well this morning i went down to Tim Horny's and the line-up was all the way out to Eisner's!?!?!!? I parked the car, went in and got my Tims within 4 to 5 minutes, went out and the same people were waiting in their cars/ trucks whathavveyou... if anything i hope it is a sit-in and has a drive-thru so that Timmy's will stop looking like an afternoon at the stock-exchange...


Went to UCW wrestling at the Gloosecap Arena in Canning last night...was sweet to see Raven, Charlie Haas and Bushwacker Luke in action, the only thing i didn't care for was that Hacksaw Jim Duggan was advirtised and wasn't going to be joining the tour until tonight in Tinginish, PEI...other than that it was fun...they did dress one wrestler up as the Ultimate Warrior..calling him OWN- One Warrior Nation...just wondering if all kinds of Warrior clones are going to pop up all over the independent wrestling scene just like how there are like 1001 Doink The Clowns...


Well its national news by now that the entire University of Waterloo Football team has been suspended for the 2010-00 Football season..mixed reaction..sure suspend the nine or so players that were caught, but what about the rest of the team? Supporters? Fans? Is this really fair to them? Many are going to bail out on Waterloo and go to other universities..i must ponder..how much steroid usage in going on at the university level? Not fair that many are being punished for the sins of a few...

Anyways folks that is enough Robb ranting for awhile...have a good one!

PS..take the Rooster's advice...




Monday, June 07, 2010

The Wrestler Grindhouse Trailer



The trailer for "The Wrestler" re-done as a Grindhouse flick...brilliant!

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Paths to Choose...


Hello again bloggeronies! Old Man Robb here... what is a happening? Well life is happening at the moment i must say, i've come down with a June cold since Thursday and well it was a weekend wash-out so to speak.. been stuck in the house, watching the Chicago- Philly Finals and taking meds, drinking Neo-Citrin, Ginger Ale, OJ and resting up, watching some old flicks like Smokey and The Bandit, computin, chatting to old friends and Ugh...IM BORED!!!


Well i do have a formal job interview coming up on Wednesday, first thing i needed was to get two letter of recommendations from two former supervisors or managers, one is done and the other is hopefully on the way, i had an interview on Tuesday so this will make it my third interview at this same place in the last three weeks...this place is like joining the CIA, FBI and Hogan's Heroes! Very tough its been, esp with things coming up that Old Man Robb wants to do... what do i want to do? Well in case you have not been keeping score lately...Old Man Robb did score an A on his course: Educ 4673- Teaching English as a Second Language and there are two courses left which are EDUC 4683: Linguistics for Teachers and EDUC 4863: Acquisition of Language...if Old Man Robb does these two courses and passes them, then he will have recieved TESOL Certification from Acadia U......

It all hinges on Wednesday's outcome...actually i do have a back-up plan so to speak, but let me just say i am more curious about Wednesday at 10:30...why? Well i can actually do something that is long overdue...i can be on my own...perhaps after one month and the decision has been made at that time, then i can have my own place...sure i've left the nest before...but i always came back...1998-2003 was spent at the Leaning Tower of Wolfville, but every weekend i was Working for The Weekend back at the Store Formerly Known as Andew's...spend 2003-04 at Mount A, but came back...2004-05 at Acadia but was back every weekend...the most i was away from home was seven months in Japan and nine months in S Korea... im not getting younger and i just feel that it is something that i HAVE to do....

What else is happening? Well i did make a couple of little trips before being laid up so to speak with this damn flu...me and Sir Justin took a road trip one day up to Harbourville which is past Berwick (BERK!) and lo and behold....Russia Road?!?!?!?! Rocket to Russia?!?!?! Well folks the Cold War is not over near Harbourville!!!!


Actually this is one in Harbourville im curious about...i mean does Jason live up that way or something? Or maybe the Axemen's mascot is now the size of the Unfriendly Giant or something like that...



Something i have been wondering aboot is what is with all the celebrity death's lately? Another one of the Golden Girls is gone..one left..Dennis Hopper passed away from that frickin cancer and Gary Coleman..Arnold from Different Strokes passing away..im just wondering if there is such a thing as a Different Strokes Curse...WTF Old Man Robb? All of the child stars of that series had terrible adult lives..Dana Plato OD'd after a turbulent life including drugs, alcohol...Todd Bridges was into dope and was arrested for attempted murder and Coleman had several brushes with the law himself....its really too bad as they were young people who had been exploited by greedy Hollyweird where you can be a child star or a star, but when you have outgrown your usefulness you are chucked out and forgotten and then you become cannon fodder for the paparazzi, gossup mags and other wormslime...
Last Saturday after my dear Habs were eliminated by the prick Pronger and the Flyers me and Blair decided to head down to the Capital and drown our sorrows...of course it had totally slipped my mind that "A Call For Submission" was playing (No cover either!) and it was fun...they were giving away free pitchers for the loudest scream (Neither i or Blair won... ) and well they were playing some good stuff like Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" Kiss "Rock & Roll All Nite" and my fav of the evening was hearing Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" where i got to duet with the lead singer on the lines, "You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools, But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever,.....And don't forget the joker!" Was a good night...Blair wrecked the bush in front of the house...but a good night nonetheless...i saw some tourdates for "A Call For Submission" and they should be checked out...

19 Jun 2010 22:00 -"The Top Hat Bar and Lounge" Greenwood, Nova Scoti, CA
3 Jul 2010 22:00 - "Westside Charlie’s Sports Bar" New Minas, CA
24 Jul 2010 20:00 - "Chester Billiards" (DOOLY’S) Chester, CA
8 Aug 2010 12:00 - "Upper Clements Amusement Park" Upper Clements, CA
4 Sep 2010 22:00 - "Westside Charlies Sports Bar" New Minas, Nova Scoti, CA
25 Sep 2010 22:00 - "The Top Hat Bar and Lounge" Greenwood, CA




My other trip recently was my yearly trip to the South Shore, it was a beautiful day and had some unexpected suprises! My big one would be on the way down past Cookesville lo and behold the rumours were true and i saw the reserection of the famous Turkey Burger right in front of my eyes! Did a major u-turn and went back to check it out...had to see...talked to one of the new owners and she said that the TB will be re-opening soon, that they are putting the old booths back in and it should be up and running ASAP...which is good to hear...also favs like the FORK-LIFT Burger will also be part of the menu along with some new selections...the other re-opening that i was told about recently with a good review from a trusted source is here in Middleton where Eisner's is now known as the "Maritime Cookhouse"...will have to check it out...


Also visited a few landmarks like the Lunenburg Academy where my Dad went and the giant lawnchair which could probably seat a good 5-10 people just outside of Bridgewater... its too bad that the Academy is closed to the public, i heard it was closing as a school and personally i think instead of using it for office space it would make a nice museum, lots of history at the Academy even though some people say that Lunenburg does not need any more tourism stuff (Personally i think Middleton needs that...but that is another story) well its just my two cents that's all...



Oh yeah...UCW Wrestling is coming back to Canning on June 19th! Lots of guest stars again like Charlie Haas, Bushwacker Luke, RAVEN and Hacksaw Jim Duggan! That last card was pretty wild and it was fun to see the legends last time out like Honkytonk Man, Marty Jannetty, Highlanders and Bushwacker Luke...i would love to know what happened to Grand Prix??!?!?! They haven't done a tour since the summer of 2008 and i would hate to see that tradition come to a close... was hoping UCW was coming to the Berk Arena but Canning is good enough, was a hell of a crowd there last time as well! The dates for the UCW tour are:

June 17- Trenton, NS
June 18th- Springhill, NS
June 19th- Canning, NS
June 20th- Tignish, PEI
June 21st- Barrington Passage, NS
June 22nd- Bridgewater, NS
June 23rd- Halifax, NS


Well what do i think of the Finals? Well unless the Hawks get their ass in gear i think they can kiss it goodbye...im serious, they let the Flyers back in it and that is not good...Hacksaw Hartnell (He looks like Jim Duggan now) and Pricky Pronger (Cmon...don't ya wanna see him get his ass whopped? Just once?) are in gear and the Hawks are retreating like a pack of scalded dogs...personally i think it is time for the Hawks to fight fire with fire...why not get dirty? Wouldn't it be the ultimate insult to have the Hawks in Chi-Town play "God Bless America?!?!" The Flyers would flip and you know what? It would probably throw them off...either that or how's about this... a fight...do you remember those? No? Set the pace... it would be nice 5 minutes in...or to see someone...anyone...the waterboy...the penaut vendor...anyone level Chris Pronger...ugh he annoys me...


Well i've ranted enough for one afternoon folks..have a good one!