Straight Up John Watanabe

Thank God that my wife April & I have enjoyed exciting adventures in the Biblical land of Jordan...Israel's next door neighbor has been called "the other Holy Land" (where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ walked). The photo above shows us in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, in the land of the ancient Ammonites in the Bible. Amman's modern city life is quite different from life in the vast desert areas of southern Jordan (I plan to write more on that part of Jordan in a future post), but Amman still displays treasures of antiquity. While in Amman, it was interesting to see the Citadel and the Temple of Hercules (not the pro wrestler Hercules Hernandez), and April & I enjoyed a delicious meal at Amman's very own Quick Meal Broasted Chicken, the first fast food restaurant in Amman, Jordan. Since I've worked as a pro wrestling announcer (and I am a connoisseur of old school pro wrestling), it's interesting to note that during the early 1980s, the Van...

The photo above features me backstage with another one of my old colleagues from my professional wrestling announcing career--Brent Albright. During his pro wrestling career, along with his own name, Brent worked under different names (as people do in other forms of show business), including the names Vinnie Valentino (not to be confused with the 1980s wrestler), Slater Vain, Smoke, and Gunner Scott. No matter what name you call him, Brent Albright was a good in-ring talent and is a good guy overall.  Brent has spent much of his life in the state of Oklahoma (Brent started out with a small independent group called Oklahoma Pro Wrestling, and for several years now, he has been working as an aircraft fueler in Tulsa, Oklahoma). Once when I mentioned the town of Miami, Oklahoma to him, Brent informed me that the correct pronunciation of this Oklahoma town is "My-am-uh" (not "My-am-me", as in Florida or Vice). While vacationing in Missouri, my wife April & I learned...