Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me About The 21 Convention?

You should all be ashamed of yourselves. How could notify me that not only does something called The 21 Convention exist, but that it was less than two hours away from me in Orlando. At least one of you must have known about it, because it is simply too hilarious for me to not be exposed to it.

For those of you that were not withholding this information from me, you're probably asking what The 21 Convention is. Well, as the top of their website states, it is, "The Best Event For Life On Earth As A Man." This is why I am so disappointed that I did not know about it. I mean, for the low low price of $1499 (less than $1500), I could have gone to the best event for life on Earth as a man. As a man, this event would have been especially relevant to me.

So, I am doing something that is painful but needed. I'm going to go through the five speakers that I was most bummed to not be able to see in person. And trust me, if you go to their website, you'll understand that it was incredibly difficult to keep the list at just five.

5. Ross Jefferies - Master-Hypnotist
I'm almost positive they mentioned this guy in The Game by Neil Strauss. I really love their introductory paragraph for him as it states, "Ross Jeffries has been described as someone who not only knows more than any one in the world about how persuasion and seduction works, but more than anyone ever SHOULD know about these topics." Can you imagine seeing this guy in a club trying to seduce women? Instead of dangling a watch, he probably dangles his dentures. Seriously, in that picture above, there is no way he has teeth in his mouth. Probably the most impressive thing about Ross is that, judging by his picture, he has been dead for at least 15 years. I'd love to hear about what he has to say about seduction in the afterlife.

4. Tanner Guzy - Founder, Masculine Style
This man should never be able to describe anything he does as masculine. Look at this string beans he has hanging from those deflated shoulders. Pathetic. He's wearing a mustard yellow jacket, but he did not make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You've got to earn your jacket, you beta.

3. Zan Perrion - Founder, Ars Amorata
This guy's entire look is poor man's Johnny Depp. The only thing that you really need to know about him is that he is one of the founding members of today's "burgeoning community of international pickup artists." Why is there not a Netflix documentary on the burgeoning community of international pickup artists? That is something I could seriously get behind.

2. Eric Von Sydow aka Hypnotica - Author and Coach For Men
Oh hell yeah, it's the unknown third member of The Ascension. He's an expert in female-male interaction, but I think that just means that he knows how to club his woman without killing her. This brohemoth earned the title of, "Inner Game Guru" by killing the man who had it before him. I honestly can't believe he's not number one on this list.

1. Socrates - Relationship Philosopher
Oh, hell yeah. If I want to learn about picking up chicks, it is definitely from a guy who looks like this. Also, his name is Socrates, I'm sure he philosophizes what it would be like to see a woman naked. Honestly, judging by that gut, he may just be wondering what it would be like to see Mr. Winky again. The original Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." Well, this Socrates must believe that an unexamined penis is not worth using.

The thing that put Socrates over the top was that with your $1499 ticket, you also got admission to an "Intellectual Party at Socrates' House." Fu-huck, that sounds so ridiculously incredibly ridiculous that I cannot find the words to properly explain its importance. Oh, but The 21 Convention did.

Can't argue with that. I'm so sad I missed out on this.

Should I Post Topless Photos of Myself?

Sometimes, I wish I was more of a douchebag. Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking, "How could you be a bigger douchebag? Your in your 30s and still refer to yourself as 'Hott Joe.'" Well, first off, damn, that was hurtful, hypothetical person that I created. But second, there are many, many ways that I could be a bigger douchebag.

The way that has most prominently entered my head is showing off my body. I am now 31 years old, but I have a body that would make 21 year-old me very jealous (partly because I'm in very good shape now, partly because I was in very poor shape then). But it's not like anybody (outside of my wife) ever really gets to enjoy it. So I work my ass off, and then cover up all of my hard work. I'm basically the guy who spends all of his money on a beautiful sports car, but then never takes it out of the garage.

But I can't be the guy who takes a shirtless picture of himself, can I? That guy is such a tool. But am I a tool by just considering this action? Probably. And then the question becomes, am I a bigger tool by not doing what I want to do, or doing something that I know is sad and super needy of outside people's approval? But shit, I work hard, and I deserve adulation for all of that hard work.

Aw shit, just realized something. I would have to manscape if I was going to take this picture, because if I'm going to do this, I have to do it right. But I don't even manscape for my wife, and it seems that putting in that sort of effort into my own narcissism is troubling, even for someone like me.

So it's settled. I will stay at my current level of douchebaggery and not post topless photos of my bodacious bod.

Thanks for helping me make the right decision, imaginary friend.

I've Become a Snobby Book Person

You know who sucks? The type of person where after you say you enjoyed something, they respond that the movie is not as good as the book. Ugh, that person is the worst.

I am that person.

Now, I will admit that I try to downplay it by saying, "I just couldn't get into it," but inevitably I reveal my true feelings. Moneyball is a great example as people really liked that movie, and at best, I thought it was okay. It doesn't help that I read non-fiction, so I feel offended that they are changing events that actually happened to make a more appealing movie. Case in point: Unless Billy Beane's daughter taught Barry Zito a curveball, I don't need to know about her.

What makes me bring this up is the movie, Unbroken. Basically anybody who reads non-fiction read Unbroken sometime over the last few years. It's an incredible story, and there is no excuse for it to not be a really good movie. Still, there is no chance that I will watch. There will be weird alterations, and I will get angry at the movie for it, so it is best that I just stay away. I loved The Blind Side as a book, but I refused to watch movie, and I feel like that is the best decision I can make.

I can't help but turn up my nose at movies where I have already read the book, but just don't be like that. If you enjoy those movies, enjoy the hell out of them. Movies are pretty great in that you get the basics of the story in two hours instead of six. And the people that brag about how the book is so much better are just annoying douches.

Okay, now I'm going to watch some original television that is not based off books like Game of Thrones...wait, what?

Breaking Down the Pepsi Soccer Commercial

I do not want to go into great details like I did on the Verizon NFL Mobile commercial last week, but I still need to point out a few irritating aspects of the Pepsi Soccer/Concert commercial, because the lack of logic shown in it really bothers me. Here is the commercial, in its extended entirety:

I'm not going to stress much about how these guys come to a concert/rave/I don't know what the hell is going on later than everyone else, because they gots to have their space. I'm also not going to stress how illogical it is that this event has no alcohol being served, and not even pop served, just a single pop machine. Luckily, that did not sell out in 15 minutes, because nobody needed anything to drink with the techno beats quenching their thirst.

What really bothers me is that these guys are a bunch of dicks. They just decide to get up on the crowd and run around like a bunch of jackasses. Now, obviously this is impossible, because they would immediately plummet to the ground and get stomped on by the crowd, but there are some specifically egregious things that really bother me.

What really bothers me is that a guy slides across people's hands.

He probably broke like 16 people's wrists by doing this, and this is only so he can kick a glow-in-the-dark soccer ball. Seriously dude, grow the fuck up.

Finally, this ending really irritated me.

This asshole not only conned these innocent people into carrying a god damned Pepsi machine, which is a total dick move on its own. He tops it off by sitting on top of it as he smugly drinks his Pepsi. Somehow, he adds a third level to his douchery by having the Pepsi machine on its side, meaning that nobody else could get a Pepsi, even if they wanted to. Gravity has to bring the can down the chute. What a dick.

So, yeah, those are the big reasons why I hate this commercial.

Why Do People Hate Toe Shoes?

I love my Vibram Five Finger shoes. I just want to be up front about that. If you do not know what those are, they are the toe shoes. I have never started a conversation about my shoes with someone, but many people have asked me about them, and I tell them how comfortable they are and how I enjoy running in them and basically doing anything in them. Most people who talk to me seem very interested in the shoes.

But then I go on the internet. And the internet fucking hates toe shoes. I have seen otherwise reasonably people rant and rave about how only douchebags wear the toe shoes, and how they are even bigger assholes if they wear them when they are just out and about, because, god forbid, you find a comfortable pair of shoes and use them for everyday activities.

I remember seeing Crocs for the first time and thinking, "Wow, those are some really stupid looking shoes. I will never buy those." I never thought that anybody who wears them is automatically a douche, and I never really gave it a second thought, because I really don't care what people wear on their feet. Yet, I constantly see people ranting and raving like a bunch of lunatics on how anyone who wears Toe Shoes should go kill themselves, and at some point, it becomes a little much.

I love my Vibram Five Fingers. Maybe you're one of those people that hate my shoes, but you know who else hated toe shoes? Hitler. That's why the Nazis wore boots. So, if you want to be a Hitler loving, toe shoe hating, Nazi, be my guest. But they're super comfortable, I go running in them all the time, and most importantly, when kids see my shoes, they think I am a super hero. This means they won't care if I try to sleep with their Mommy, and that's pretty badass.

The Five Dumbest Groups On Facebook

There are some questions that should never be asked.  One of those questions is why I thought of this post and how I found these groups.  Once you get over that question, you can then enjoy what I am going to present to you, because these groups are awe-inspiring.  To be eligible for this list, I must first have no idea how someone could come up with the concept.  After that, I have to be completely baffled on how people would actually find this group.

5.  girls get periods,pregnancy and pain & boys get food,football and females.
At first I thought this was anti-females, but it turns out that this is actually supposed to support the cause of females.  Look at their logo:

I'm baffled by this.  How is this supposed to be good for females?  And why would anyone join this group?  Yet, I look at this group and see nearly 500,000 likes for this group.  I already feel like driving my head through a wall.  Let's move on.

4.  Guns don't kill people. Dads with pretty daughters do
Um, ah, what?  I really thought that this group was dedicated to some news story that I never heard or cared about where a jealous father killed her daughter's boyfriend for fingerblasting her in the back of his Mom's Civic.  I have seen no evidence of this.  I'm pretty sure that this group was just started, because some loser started dating a girl who he thought was pretty (Due to the stupidity of this group, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that instead of describing her as pretty, I would describe her as beastly), and her Dad broke up the relationship.   Slowly but surely, this group gained momentum, and it is now over a HALF MILLION likes.  This has no basis in reality, and yet we are still over halfway to a million likes on this group.  God damnit, we are devolving as a society, and it seems to be happening at a rapid pace.

3.  ANY DICK CAN MAKE A BABY BUT IT TAKES A MAN TO BE A DADDY
Good God, is this really a necessary group to make?  I realize it's trying to be clever, but it doesn't make any logical sense.   You need balls to make a baby, as balls are a key component in making a baby.  Another key component to baby making:  A female.  I have never heard of any dick being able to produce a baby out of the blue.  The closest was the hit documentary, Junior, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I never actually saw this movie, but I'm assuming it's comedy gold.  But it really bothers me that people actually find this group and feel it necessary to join it.  Oh well, I'm sure not that many people would feel the urge to join this group, oh fuck me, over 1.1 MILLION people like this group.

2.  ONLY JOIN if your name starts with A, C, D, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, S, T
More than any other group on this list, this is the one that makes me scream, "WHY?"  Why would you create this group?  What is this group's goal?  I have looked at this group, studies it, comprehended every possible meaning, and I cannot come up with any meaning to this group.  Why are the last six letters of the alphabet completely banned from this group?  I thought I had something when I started with skip a consonant, then skip a vowel, and go back and forth, but it falls apart when P, Q, and R are all skipped.  Don't try to figure out this group; it will only give you a headache.  But do you know how many people wanted to Like this headache?  Society is completely fucked as this group has nearly 1.3 MILLION likes on Facebook.  I seriously have no clue what motivates people these days. 


1.  I Believe That a Strong Relationship Is Not Based Only on Sex Life but That a Strong Relationship Builds a Strong Love Life That Leads to a Strong and Great Sex Life and Can Only Happen With Open Communication
Wow, this is truly the humdinger of all groups.  It is so ultra specific that there is no way possible for more than person to have this specific of a thought.  I mean, this specificity is literally blowing me away with its uncanny effort to be completely fucking pointless.  Looking at this group, there are two types of people that would come up with this group:
1.  A Virgin - He's never had sex and feels like he needs emotional love before he can give his flower up to someone.
2.  Guy With A Small Penis - This guy may have gotten laid, but let's just say, she wasn't impressed.  The person who created this group seems like he'd be into massively obese women, and he's just got to learn that you don't bring a paddleboat to the ocean bro.  His ultimate revenge was the creation of this group.  Nice job bud, you totally owned her.
With how ultra specific this group is, there is really no way that it isn't the least popular, but since I found it, you must figure that it must have at least 100 people in it.  It does have 100, it even has 1000, in fact, it has somehow managed to be at nearly 200,000 likes.  Maybe it's time I perform a self-lobotomy just so I am able to communicate through unintelligble sounds and drooling like the rest of society.


-Joe


P.S.  MC Vagina has a new song, it's incredibly lewd, which makes it amazing as always.  I'm still not sure if WMD or HIV is my favorite acronym:

The Grappling Tournament

I got to the tournament, and it is really a lot of sitting around. My division was the last division to go, so I got to sit back, relax and watch other people get all grapply with each other. Finally, after hours of watching grappling, my division was finally called upon. The only problem was that they forgot to put me in the bracket, so I became a last second replacement for some guy named Bye.

When my match was coming up, I'll admit the anticipation got to me, and I peed a little bit before the matches started. For me, it's not so much nerves as it is more than I just get really anxious for things to start. I hope no rich ladies who want to support me financially read this and are turned off by it, but hell, a little pee never hurt anybody. I could keep it in if I focused, but I like to stay relaxed so if a little squirts out, it ain’t gonna phase me.

Before I get into the matches, I just want to apologize. When I was grappling, I was not thinking about the blog, and that was inconsiderate of me. My matches were boring. Super boring. Basically, imagine the most boring MMA fight you have ever seen, and then take away all the strikes. These were my grappling matches, and I’m sorry for that. Hence, I’ll only go over the highlights of my matches.

Match One – I shot in on a single, held there for about two minutes, finally finished my takedown, and nothing else happened. Hence, I won the match.

This is when I learned how tiring grappling really is. After that first match, my entire upper body was burning. My arms were shaking so badly that I could barely drink water without spilling on myself. I just took deep breaths and tried to recover as much as I could in the time between matches.

Match Two – I took on a guy who got a bye in the first round. I took the lead early with a takedown, he tied it up, and then scored with fifteen seconds left. If he wouldn’t have had a bye, I probably would have won, but that’s just a weak ass excuse. I didn’t do what I needed to do.

Match Three – Douchebag kid takes a lead on me late. He had me in his guard, so I picked him up and slammed him. It looked something like this.
Except not really since I only slammed him from my knees, but the kid reacted like that is what happened. I almost got disqualified for it, but there were only like twenty seconds left, and he took two minutes to recover and then just held onto me for the win. The good news from this match is he was unable to continue in the tournament. So basically, I’m a rule-breaking monster who hurts people. Yes, this was definitely the highlight of my tournament. And honestly, I had a ton of people come up to me and say that my slam was great and that the kid I was facing was just a whiny little bitch, so that was nice.

Afterwards, I ended up talking with my coach for about half an hour. He told me that I was the person that they were least worried about coming into the tournament, because I looked so dominant in practice. This is good that I looked dominant, but it’s also a way of saying that I was kind of a disappointment in the tournament. Still, my coach suggested that I start going to the 10:30 class which is the invite-only class that all the pros go to. Am I going to go to that class? God no. That class would interfere with my pretty, and ain’t nothing gonna interfere with my pretty.

The tournament was a really good experience. I learned a ton, and I realized my biggest mistake was that I just didn’t have enough swagger going into it. If I would have gone in with the attitude that nobody was going to submit me no matter what I did, I could have ran through people and made it to the finals, but instead I played it safe. I was facing guys who had somewhere between two and six times as much experience as me, yet I was never in any danger. My problem was that I made minor mistakes that cost me matches. A wild pace with lots of scrambles can lead to bad things, but it’s also when I’m at my best because I almost always end up in a better position when a scramble is involved. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

Also, did I mention that I injured a guy? Yeah, that was awesome.

-Joe

P.S. If anybody is interested, I'm not sure what my body weight was on the day of the tournament, but I was back up to 148 by Monday, and I'm at 150 right now.

P.P.S. I’ve got a lot of pop culture coming next week, so if you thought my life was boring to read about, don’t worry, I’ve got some good social commentary already planned out.

I Should Be An Ultimate Fighter

Just kidding. That title was only to get people’s attention. I am far too big of a wuss to ever consider competing in MMA. I currently have very little desire to get punched in the face; I’ve heard that you need to do that to be a fighter, so it’s probably not for me.

On the other hand, since moving to Albuquerque, I have started taking submission grappling (submission grappling is best summed up by saying that it is basically MMA (UFC) without any of the striking) classes at Jackson’s MMA. For those of you who are fans of MMA, you’ve probably heard the name Greg Jackson as he’s one of the most well-regarded trainers in the sport. For those of you that don’t know much about the sport, just know, my gym is pretty legit as it is considered one of the best in the world.

One thing I do know is that this gym is a fantastic place for me. When people think MMA training facility, they assume it is nothing but meatheads working to hurt people to show who is the toughest. It’s nearly the complete opposite down here. Yes, there are some meatheads, but they usually don’t last long, as the gym really stresses looking out for training partners and nearly everyone is working to help get everybody better.

Now, I could lie and say that I immediately went in there and started tapping out black belts, but even though really naïve people might believe me, it’s not worth lying about it. When I started out, I got my ass kicked. Early on, I bruised my sternum so bad that I had to lay perfectly still in bed to have any hope for sleep, because rolling over would cause me excruciating pain. I had a rib contusion that took about six weeks to fully heal. And my favorite injury, the one that proves that I’m a grappler is that I developed cauliflower ear that made my ear literally double in size (yet did not give me more advanced hearing). But honestly, shit happens, and my injuries are extremely tame (and my ear eventually reverted back to its normal size).

So, after four months, am I a badass? No, I’m not, but I’m a hell of a lot better than I used to be. Every bit of my grappling has improved. Despite losing weight, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, and I’m, without question, in the best shape of my life. Maybe the craziest thing that I learned is that my experience of wrestling in 7th and 8th grade actually made me better than at least 80% of the people in my class at wrestling, so thanks Mr. Medema and Mr. Verdon.

Although I know that I have gotten better, I still wanted to test myself. So I entered the Southwest Grappling Championship this past weekend to see how far I have come. These next few days, I’ll be going over the weight cut (just as fun as it sounds), and how I did in the actual grappling tournament. If you think I’m a loveable asshole, this week will be informative and at least mildly entertaining. If you think I’m an unbearable asshole, stay tuned, because unless I win a championship, this story ends with me getting my ass kicked. Everybody wins (except for probably me).

Tomorrow: Week One of Weight Cutting

-Joe

P.S. In case anybody was looking for it, I found the epitome of a douchebag on the Internet over the weekend, and lo and behold, he actually showed up on my Facebook news feed:
Most people would just notice the disturbingly large and outrageously flamboyant sunglasses and determine a high level of doucheness for this person, but there is plenty of douche-gold in this picture. Another huge factor is that he dresses like that and he can't even find a person to take a picture of him in his ridiculous outfit so he is forced to hold out the camera and take the picture himself while partially blocking the lens with his thumb. Notice the incredibly small polo that he is still unable to fill the sleeves in. He's also wearing what appear to be pro-America beads, but seeing this representation of America would bring a tear to Ricky Stanzi's eye. My favorite part is the girl in the background who this clown clearly has a crush on but is afraid to talk to. He definitely took this picture so he could add this to his spank bank for later on. What a douche.