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Yep, I’ve been neglecting my blog, the Slammin’ Stan Podcast, and my writing! Truth is, I’ve been compelled to run on a nearly daily basis. This compulsion was sparked by two sources: the book “Born To Run,” which my big bro Erich sent me for my birthday, and my recent trip to San Francisco.

“Born To Run” is a huge bestseller by Christopher McDougall that spotlights the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico, who are an elite group of distance runners, their participation in American long distance races, and American runners’ participation in a race on The Tarahumara’s turf. The book also focuses on and lauds the current trend of barefoot running.

Ironically, the key focuses of the book are not what has me revved up. I’m not sold on running barefoot, and while The Tarahumara sound like amazing runners and a fascinating group of folks, neither of those topics are what held my attention. Rather, it’s McDougall’s brief but dynamic profiles of each individual participant in the book; and there are plenty of key players in this book, so doing each person individualized justice could not have been an easy feat. Intriguing people like Manuel Luna, Scott Jurek, Ann Trason, and two hard-drinking crazy-ass-cats named Jenn Shelton and Billy Barnett (picture Dr. Jerry Graham turned from an individual to a hot looking young couple) are what juiced the passion in this book for me.

No, I’m not becoming an ultra-runner, hell, I’m not even gunning to do a marathon. This book simply reminded me how fucking good running feels. I totally recommend this book, whether you’re a cat like me who runs just for the rush of it, or a runner setting high goals. In fact, I would say check this book out even if you have no desire to run— the essence of this book could inspire you to throw yourself into any project you’re into, be it athletic, artisan, or sheer couch-potato based goals (that last description not sardomic. Love what you do, and if you love couch-potatoing, be proud of it!).

My highest goal as a runner? After trekking up to San Francisco to see the March 6 Roller Derby at Kezar Pavilion, I just gazed upon a few of those steep San Francisco streets and decided “I wanna run up a few of those!” So— there ya go!

Speaking of the Roller Derby at Kezar, I want to thank Broadway Danny Wolf (the coolest play-by-play Roller Derby has had since Dick Lane) for being an awesome host, supplying the transportation complete with Sirius radio. Yep, Sirious; I’m that far behind current technology that I was blown away by the vast kingdom of playlists and station on its system. Danny has great taste in music, and we heard scores of 70s hits (Wolfie’s fave decade for music) from Chic to The Detroit Spinners to The Doobie Brothers to ABBA to Mungo Jerry. Too cool!

Old-school Roller Derby drew a 3,300 crowd that evening at Kezar. Not shabby at all! The classic Americana sport will likely never thrive like it did in the past, but it still has life in it!

Breasts bigger than Pamela’s
Yet Jon Anderson.
Baywatch Jon Strongman!

WHAT A BITCHIN’ TIME WE HAD CREATING EPISODE #27 OF SLAMMIN’ STAN, WHICH YOU CAN ACCESS BY CLICKING THIS LINK!

And we hope it’s as much fun to listen to Los Cuatro Rudos (Alfredo Esparza, Vandal Drummond, Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and “Bixie Demon” Bixenspan) as we discuss perhaps the most varietal array of topics we have ever discussed on one show including:

The Debut of WWE NXT
Pokey The Cow-Horse
The legacy of Chris Colt
The Brilliance of Negro Casas, Jimmy Hart, and Miguel Alonso
Current Lucha Libre news and possible Hair vs Mask bouts up the road
The “Love And Rockets” graphic novels by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez
The legacy and future of Sumo’s greatest Yokozuna, Asashoryu
The winner of our first trivia contest
Mildred Burke’s unusual school of pro wrestling during the 1970s
Broadway Danny Wolf’s “Picture of Dorian Gray” presence
1970s journeyman Beauregarde and the LP he released with Greg Sage
More Judo Gene LaBell memories! WOOOOOOOOOW!

PLUS! Jon Strongman Haiku AND a Jon Strongman poem by Dave Musgrave!

It don’t get more bitchin’ than that!

SLAMMIN’ STAN RESUMES WITH EPISODE #27 TOMORROW!

Join us at the ABOVE LINK tomorrow at 7:00 PM Pacific Time for fun, frills, and fascinating subjects like:

WWE NXT!
Lucha Libre!
70s SoCal Wrestling Women!
Gumby!
Jon Strongman Haiku by Vandal Drummond AND a wicked cool Jon Strongman poem by Dave Musgrave!

Vandal fireman-carries Danny Wolf and will carry him to San Francisco!

More Jon Strongman Haiku
Jon Strongman totally bitchin’ poetry
Jon Strongman iambic pentameter

Raves about Mistico “El Rudo!”
Raves about Pimpinela Escarlata!
Raves about Faby Apache!

Stan Can Slam! He will bring forth discussion about “Confessions of a Psycho Cat,” Mildred Burkre’s 70s students into the radio station of Fredo Esparza and Vandal “The Love Handle” Drummond.

Everything is warm in this blue template that is , in actuality, a swimming pool. Reverend A.T. Ripper took his youth group swimming there. When they cleared out, we cleaned the pool will powerful bleaching agents. I want to touch the pool and let it know that I loved it, and ask if it stayed in that backyard in Studio City, just waiting for me all these years.

Ghosts in the house by the pool? I don’t believe in them., Sorry. Love to all (well, at least the nicer folks).

I see Pepino The Clown riding Don Quxote’s horse to the ringside area. He will wrestle, yea but he wants to go bellyboarding at Seal Beach. His opponent is Hormiga Atomica. Does Pepino have Super Pibe ready to come to his aid? STAY TUNED!

Greetings, Compadres! Just a quick note to let our Slammin’ Stan devotees that Vandal Drummond and Alfredo Esparza will stray from the podcasting pulpit tomorrow night, but we will return next Thursday night for more interesting tales and analogies!

So— how long has it been since I posted a running playlist? Way overdue? Yeah!

I ran near The Coyote Hills, whose nuclear magnetic magical fields were made illustrious by brilliant folks like Dr. RJS Brown!

It was a quick run with fast tunes:

1. K-39 by The Challengers - I started the shuffle with this tune which -along with Mr. Moto- is my favorite song by The Challengers. An appropriate Southern California salute to Richard Delvy, who was the drummer and Alpha-Cat of this great surf guitar group. Of all the old-school surf instrumental groups and musicians, I enjoy The Challengers and The Shadows above the rest. While The Ventures may reign as the most famous of the old school surf groups, I always felt The Challengers delivered a slightly rawer product while still shining that peppy-pop feel that makes surf guitar so enjoyable.

Richard Delvy passed away on February 6 at the age of 67. Thank you, Mr. Delvy, for The Bel-Airs, thank you for The Challengers, and thank you for making the drums shine every bit as much as the guitars in a surf instrumental group!

2. Fiddlin’ Joe - The Mills Brothers - Yes, I’ve raved about The Mills Brothers before, men whose early vocals both sang the lyrics and mimicked the sounds of instruments. I was elated to find out that one of my brothers in rasslin’, Riki Ataki, the second greatest wrestler to hail from The Isle of Malta, is a total fans of Los Hermanos Mills. Awesome!

3. Santo Antonio, Santo Francisco - Mungo Jerry - Okay, I’ve posted the video to this song several times, but I must do it again. If you haven’t seen this before, watch it now! Yes, it is thoroughly bitchin’, ultra feelgood, and beautifully retro-TV enough that you will elevate to a naturally Astral-Planetic-Opiate realm, if only momentarily, yet obtaining a small bundle of Nirvanic comfort that will warm your soul sometime in the distant future. On top of that, the TV studio is kitschy-kool, and the wacky audience applause is infectious!

4. She’s The One - The Ramones - I love the way The Ramones could pen twisted lyrics in one song, and then hammer home syrupy lyrics that sound genuinely sweet in another song. The Ramones were an act that will never be duplicated.

5. The New Dimensions - Cat On a Hot Foam Board - Sheer adrenaline reminiscent of Miserlou! Another old school surf classic!

Okay. Dr. Lucha! What diabolical plans do you have to thwart my musical euphoria?

Above: Lola Kiss makes the cover of the June 1974 issue of Wrestling Monthly!

We at Slammin’ Stan salute Brad Smith of Windsor, Ontario for answering the first Slammin’ Stan trivia question: Which woman wrestler -one of Mildred Burke’s students- appeared as a contestant on Match Game ‘75. He correctly identified LOLA KISS as the woman who appeared on the wacky “fill in the blank” TV show. She won one out of two games.

Little is known about Lola. About the only Lola Kiss matches I could find anywhere were two available on DVD on various sites on the Internet: Lola vs the late great Vivian Vachon, and Lola vs Juan Velez in an Intergender match (Johnny Legend would be proud!). These matches, along with her game show appearance and some wrestling magazine layouts, appear to be her fifteen minutes of fame. I can’t help but wondering where the divine Ms. Kiss has gone!