Download Episode 4  (right click and choose Save Link As…)

A terrifying Lon Chaney from the 1927 horror classic London After Midnight

Another month, another bunch of junk for the Scholars to pontificate on. This time, scaaaaaary junk. Heh heh heh heh.

In this episode, Mr. Scheurkogel and Mr. Nelson are joined by horror expert extraordinaire, Mr. Davis Doersam, to discuss all things macabre. Well, just three things. And the wrestling part isn’t scary at all. Anyway…

Firstly, Mr Scheurkogel takes a in-depth look at the 1984 adventure gamebook, House of Hell. Just attempting to make the correct choices to end the adventure in a manner that does not result in the death of the reader’s character has been said to drive one mad. Mad. MAD!!!!

Next, Mr. Nelson once again mines the vast amount of wrestling knowledge inside his cranium (which is scary), digging up the rotting corpse of WCW to lead the others on an examination of the much derided (even by wrestling standards), but still charmingly silly, Chamber of Horrors match from 1991. Bellow is an image from the match. Yes, that is Abdullah the Butcher in an electric chair.

Lastly, Mr. Doersam brings a shread of dignity to the proceedings and provides us with a thoughtful analysis of the renowned horror film from 1978, John Carpenter’s Halloween. Perhaps Mr. Doersam’s most frightening insight is that sequals to good horror movies are almost always dreadful.

So get comfortable, dim the lights, pretend it is much, much closer to Halloween than it is (next time on the Fringe Scholars: we welcome Summer with a look at underappreciated Christmas movies!), and enjoy the latest and, because we haven’t set the bar too high yet, likely the greatest episode yet.

Supplemental Materials:

For those interested, here is a link to the Chamber of Horrors match discussed in the episode. For extra fun, you can sync it up with the portion of the episode where the match is discussed and watch along with Mr. Scheurkogel!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5xokm_wcw-chambers-of-horrors-match-stupi_sport#.UZMnRMruyWN

For those interested in exploring the world of horror cinema, here’s a link from the fine folks at IMDB to a very good list of the all-time greatest horror films. Halloween comes in at #22. Not too shabby.

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?genres=horror&title_type=feature&num_votes=1000,&sort=user_rating,desc

And for those interested in some hardcore (and I’m talking F’N HARDCORE) analysis of the fundemental structure of an adventure gamebook, specifically the Choose Your Own Adventure series, this is the website for you. Seriously, this is thesis-level stuff.

http://samizdat.cc/cyoa/

Download Episode 3 (right click and choose Save Link As…)

The legendary B-I Cannon: Shohei “Giant” Baba (left) and Antonio Inoki

In this exciting new episode, Mr. Nelson takes his ever-willing colleague, Mr. Scheurkogel, on another wild ride through the fantastic, but often maligned, world of professional wrestling. Rather than being predictable and myopic, the Scholars dare to travel around the globe to uncover the rich history of professional wrestling from the wonderful nation of Japan. To begin, Mr. Nelson looks at how professional wrestling (puroresu to the Japanese) developed in the country and how it differs from its North American counterpart. From there, the Scholars take an in depth look at two seminal matches from Japan, eventually running out of superlatives while attempting to describe the greatness of these encounters.

So sit back and enjoy. Everything you thought you knew about wrestling (which may be very little anyway, but humour me) is about to be turned upside down and inside out!

(Mr. Nelson would like to thank the love of his life, Julia, for her help with the editing of this episode. Moss helped a lot too.)

Supplemental Bits for Episode 3

Firstly, here are links to the two matches we discussed in this episode:

Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen, AJPW 4/14/1983

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9W-io5xUJE&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW 6/3/1994

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqftofXcukE

The following are links to matches alluded to in this episode:

Rikidozan and Masahiko Kimura vs Mike and Ben Sharpe, 2/21/1954

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n5xAQ6sQ30&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Misawa unmasking, AJPW 5/14/1990

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Z-QiV6Gr8&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp&index=1

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4DZzOsbAE&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCy0FaB6nUA&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

John Cena vs Brock Lesnar, WWE 4/29/2012

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwvb42_john-cena-vs-brock-lesnar-extreme-rules-2012_sport?search_algo=2

Lastly, here is some bonus material. I would be remiss if I did not include footage of Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki in action. Even better is rare footage of the B-I Cannon in action. In fact, this would be the last time they would team together, for a special All Japan/New Japan “Dream Card” in 1979.

Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh and Abdullah the Butcher, 8/26/1979

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tclVpMdhT7c

The next link is to something cool I found on YouTube and wanted to share. It is footage from the debut show of Antonio Inoki’s New Japan promotion from 1972:

NJPW Debut Show, 3/6/1972:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlO9EpVr_nc&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

And for fans of the Misawa vs Kawada match, here is the perfect complement. Held approximately one year after the epic encounter discussed in this episode, here Misawa and Kawada are on opposing sides in what is often considered one of the greatest tag team matches of all time.

Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs Tokiashi Kawada/Akira Taue, AJPW 6/9/1995

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALyg-EhxbgI&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Of course, no post would be complete without a link to a Wiki page, so here’s one for those interested in the further study of Japanese wrestling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_Japan

Last but not least, this site is awesome, devoted to all things puroresu: http://www.puroresu.com/

Enjoy

Kelly

Download Episode 2 (right click and choose Save Link As…)

Behold! The riveting conclusion of our two-part introductory series to the degenerate, blacklisted academics who have dedicated their lives to the study of all things probably-not-worth-studying.

Last episode, we met Mr. Kelly Nelson, an elderly man trapped in the failing husk of a thirty-something nostalgic. With open arms, Kelly welcomed us into his beleaguered psyche and taught us all a little bit about professional wrestling.

And ourselves.

Today, we meet Kelly’s counterpart: the interminable rake, Moss Scheurkogel. (For definition of “rake,” see moustache in Fig. 1, below)

Fig. 1: Moss’ ill-fated attempt to best Kelly’s facial hair. This photo taken moments before his girlfriend just shaved the hell out of him.

In defiance of Kelly’s affection for testosterone (anabolic or otherwise,) Moss delivers us a more civilized sort of warfare. The sort that is played in the arena of the mind, with only some pencils and preposterous dice to ground the whole fiasco to reality.

It is the realm of Fantasy Roleplaying, and you are seriously in for a treat.

With a general focus on games like Dungeons and Dragons, Moss gives an overview of the genre in an accessible way for all to understand. No prior gaming knowledge is required to enjoy this episode; in fact, the previously uninitiated may just find something redeeming in this discussion of one of the most belittled activities in popular culture.

To know more about why tabletop RPG’s have received such a bad rap in the past, and why said rap is completely unjustified, listen on!

Download Episode 1 (right click and choose Save Link As…)

At last! Behold the grand entrance of the Fringe Scholars, the academics of the abandoned, the disciples of drivel, litterateurs of the low-brow, sages of the scorned, the virtuosos of the vilipended.

And thaumaturges of the thesaurus, evidently.

In this first episode, we kick off our campaign to bring all of the sorriest and most neglected forms of cultural entertainment to the forefront, beginning with one of the most derided art forms in the history of modern media.

This pariah “sport” also happens to be the chief concern of Fringe Scholar Kelly Nelson, who has dedicated his life to its study and analysis. This introductory episode serves as a spotlight on the man who will be co-hosting this show, as well as a primer to this blackguard activity.

A face that inspires confidence, is it not?

Anxious to hear what this spurned diversion is? So persistent and plucky, and yet so completely abused by popular culture? Well considering I’ve already given it away a half-dozen times just around this very website, I’ll tell you.

It’s Professional Wrestling.

That’s right, wrestling. Derided for being “fake,” dismissed for its conservative tendencies, criticized for alternately being either too cartoonish or too extreme, wrestling is perhaps the single most chastised form of entertainment we know, given its relative permanence in our lives for almost half a century.

In this episode, Mr. Nelson explains some of the finer points of wrestling, explaining its format and structure so that future listeners can appreciate his rambling, disconnected rants about how nobody can write a decent feud anymore.

Please enjoy.

If you like this episode (or don’t,) please let us know at either fringescholars@gmail.com or by posting a comment here or on our Facebook page. Your support is appreciated.