Michael Rickard's Blog, page 9
July 1, 2019
Book Review: "Jim Crockett Promotions’ United States Championship" by Dick Bourne
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard II
The United States Heavyweight Championship, a prestigious title that served as a stepping stone to the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship and the premier belt in Jim Crockett Promotions from 1975 until the promotion’s sale to Ted Turner in 1988. The U.S. title would continue in World Championship Wrestling and eventually the WWE would revive it, making it the only title from JCP and WCW still being defended in the WWE.For full rev...
The United States Heavyweight Championship, a prestigious title that served as a stepping stone to the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship and the premier belt in Jim Crockett Promotions from 1975 until the promotion’s sale to Ted Turner in 1988. The U.S. title would continue in World Championship Wrestling and eventually the WWE would revive it, making it the only title from JCP and WCW still being defended in the WWE.For full rev...
June 26, 2019
Classic Review: "The History of the Intercontinental Championship DVD: Second to None."
Copyright 2009 by Mike Rickard Editor's Note: It's hard to believe it's been over 10 years since I penned this review of a WWE DVD. I was writing for World Wrestling Insanity at the time. Here it is in its original form (except for formatting changes). By "Mr. Old School" Mike Rickard Feb 2, 2009 - 8:05 AMAvis Rent-a-Car once had a slogan "We're number two-we try harder". The same slogan could apply to the WWE's Intercontinental Championship. The belt was often seen as a spotlight on good wor...
Form and Fiction: Geraldine Brooks’ “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock”
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard
Editor's Note: I took a master's poetry class this spring and gained a better appreciation for poetry. While my poetry knowledge is still limited, the class was great. Here's a mid-term essay I wrote for the class about Geraldine Brooks's poem "The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock.”Geraldine Brooks’ “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock” (“Chicago Defender”) exemplifies Brooks’ use of poetic form and free verse to express her concerns...
Editor's Note: I took a master's poetry class this spring and gained a better appreciation for poetry. While my poetry knowledge is still limited, the class was great. Here's a mid-term essay I wrote for the class about Geraldine Brooks's poem "The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock.”Geraldine Brooks’ “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock” (“Chicago Defender”) exemplifies Brooks’ use of poetic form and free verse to express her concerns...
June 19, 2019
Wrestling's Forgotten Monday Night War
The good folks over at WrestleLamia recently released a video on the second Monday Night War, this time with wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling's attempt to go head-to-head with the WWE's RAW. As you might expect, things didn't work out for TNA. However, was this war as one-sided as some pundits claim? Check the videoout for more details.
June 16, 2019
1989: The Year of the Blockbuster
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard IIWhile there have been some great years for films, I still have trouble recalling a blockbuster season as epic as the summer of 1989. Whether it was newcomers such as Batman or the latest sequels such as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Ghostbusters II, Indiana Jone and the Last Crusade, or Back to the Future II, people who liked summer blockbusters had a lot to look forward to. While the films didn’t always deliver, it seemed like a great time to be a mo...
June 13, 2019
Check out my video for "Flunky: Pawns and Kings."
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard II
I just released a promotional videofor my book, Flunky: Pawns and Kings. Let me know what you think about it.
I just released a promotional videofor my book, Flunky: Pawns and Kings. Let me know what you think about it.
June 6, 2019
Capitalism and the Poor: Rhetorical Criticism and "London Labour and the London Poor."
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard II
Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor (London Labour) looks at the lives of London’s impoverished citizens and the reasons behind their poverty, suggesting an ideology based on capitalism. Rhetorical criticism is an ideal way to examine the rhetorical devices Mayhew uses in his work to determine the ideological underpinnings used in discourse wherein he creates sympathy between the reader and the discourse’s subjects. Ideological criticism wil...
Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor (London Labour) looks at the lives of London’s impoverished citizens and the reasons behind their poverty, suggesting an ideology based on capitalism. Rhetorical criticism is an ideal way to examine the rhetorical devices Mayhew uses in his work to determine the ideological underpinnings used in discourse wherein he creates sympathy between the reader and the discourse’s subjects. Ideological criticism wil...
June 3, 2019
Tag Team Appreciation Month: The Moondogs. Rex, Spot, King, and a Whole Litter of Crazy Canines.
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard II
Some dogs are known for having a bark that’s worse than their bite, but not the tag team known as The Moondogs, three of the roughest and toughest competitors to step into a WWF ring during the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Originally comprised of the stars Rex and King, an unlikely event would see a Moondog replaced by a new and equally ferocious one. In one of wrestling’s most interesting character changes, one of The Moondogs would take on a new role but be...
Some dogs are known for having a bark that’s worse than their bite, but not the tag team known as The Moondogs, three of the roughest and toughest competitors to step into a WWF ring during the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Originally comprised of the stars Rex and King, an unlikely event would see a Moondog replaced by a new and equally ferocious one. In one of wrestling’s most interesting character changes, one of The Moondogs would take on a new role but be...
May 30, 2019
Pushed by the Patriarchy: Examining Charles Dickens' "Hard Times" through a Feminist Lens
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard II
Charles Dickens’ Hard Times provides many opportunities to explore the text using feminist criticism, particularly with the Louisa Gradgrind (later Louisa Bounderby) character and Stephen Blackpool’s wife. In Gradgrind’s case, she is mistreated by her father, brother, and husband. Louisa’s character suffers throughout the novel because she is unable to resist the strong patriarchal forces at play in the narrative. In Mrs. Blackpool’s case, she resists th...
Charles Dickens’ Hard Times provides many opportunities to explore the text using feminist criticism, particularly with the Louisa Gradgrind (later Louisa Bounderby) character and Stephen Blackpool’s wife. In Gradgrind’s case, she is mistreated by her father, brother, and husband. Louisa’s character suffers throughout the novel because she is unable to resist the strong patriarchal forces at play in the narrative. In Mrs. Blackpool’s case, she resists th...
May 24, 2019
"Victorian Cities" and a New Historicism Critique of "Mary Barton"
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard II
Asa Briggs’ Victorian Cities illustrates the power of new historicism in evaluating literary texts as Briggs’ chapter on Manchester helps to show the historical background depicted in Mary Barton. Briggs provides useful information to help a critic analyze Gaskell’s Mary Barton using new historicism criticism. New Historicism attends, “…primarily to the historical and cultural conditions of its production, its meanings, its effects, and also of its later...
Asa Briggs’ Victorian Cities illustrates the power of new historicism in evaluating literary texts as Briggs’ chapter on Manchester helps to show the historical background depicted in Mary Barton. Briggs provides useful information to help a critic analyze Gaskell’s Mary Barton using new historicism criticism. New Historicism attends, “…primarily to the historical and cultural conditions of its production, its meanings, its effects, and also of its later...
