STAND UP

Greetings everybody!

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather as much as we are here in Cali! It’s been gorgeous! Sonya is doing great. She’s just about half way through with the treatments and, as you can imagine, we are both very anxious for her to be finished! She felt so good that we went to Las Vegas to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary this week. In case you don’t know Sonya and myself, let me assure you that we are the happiest couple you would know.

Ten years ago I predicted that we could be this happy and I know that it will be the same in another 10 years.. By the way, anyone going to Sin City should plan on checking out my friend GerryMcCambridge at Hooter’s Casino. He is the mentalist, and his show is phenomenal! We are still amazed at what we experienced during his show- even though we’ve seen him before- and we decided this will be a tradition every time we’re there. You’re learning how much I am into synchronicities, and this guy takes it to a whole new level! I’ll be watching the new television series titled The Mentalist” because it’s actually based on Gerry! How cool is that? While in Vegas, we also stopped in and checked out the Bodies exhibition. Yes, you are looking at real human bodies sliced open every which way for you to see- from the insides out, but it’s not that gross, and it’s extremely educational.

Did you know that every drop of blood in your body passes through your heart once every minute? Did you know that while adults have 206 bones, babies have 300?Here’s something I want everyone to read. You’ve heard of stem cell research, right?A stem cell can become any kind of cell and therefore, we can replace body parts, fix diseased organs and even alter glitches in genetic codes. Do you know why many, if not most of the stem cell research haters are so against us utilizing it? Because they are misinformed and mistakenly believe that you have to=2 0abort an infant to get the stem cells. This is absolutely not true. I’ve know this for some time and have had arguments with nay-sayers about it, but the truth is that we should be utilizing the ability to take care of our kind in this fashion. The stem cells can come from a few places, but there is no harm done to anyone to obtain them. Not researching this is counter-productive to our survival. So, the government is trying to put cloned animals on the approved list of grocery products. Do you want to eat cloned chickens? I understand that a lot of people are not found of having it sneaked into their diets, but you have to just-for one second- think of all the starving communities around the world. I bet we wouldn’t find too many under-privileged third world countries turning down a chance to grub on some McClone burgers if we offered it. It’s worth looking into, isn’t it? I’d much rather they put energy into that rather than trying to destroy our universe. Have you been keeping up with these fuckers in Switzerland that have the world’s biggest atom smasher? They want to conduct an “experiment” whereby they crash two protons( hey, is whereby a real word? Hmmm.) into each other in an attempt to r ecreate the Big Bang experience, in hopes of learning more about how we came into existence. The downside, as they fear, is that it could create a black hole that could SUCK IN THE FUCKING PLANET THAT WE LIVE ON! First off, if that did happen, I doubt it would stop t here and second-what if it does work? Where the fuck are you going to put another universe? Haven’t they ever heard that two masses can’t take up the same space at the same time? Somebody please tell them, because they’re trying to do this very soon, as in the next few months! They had some giant gasket blow this week, which I hope slows the process down. I am extremely interested in our creation but I don’t think recreating the Big Bang is the way to do it.

OK, just to inspire some thought to you-I’ll share this. The Big Bang theory never has made sense to me, and I don’t think that I am an advanced form of a single cell. Well, other than the first ten hours or so after conception- in which we are all single cells-thank Bodies! Yes, that makes me a creationist, rather than an evolutionist, if you want to use labels. Before you hit me with “But Rob, there’s proof of human beings from 100,000 years ago”, I don’t buy that either. However, if you want to ridicule my theory that we were created as humans, I look forward to=2 0reading your comments, but I ask in advance-what happened to the missing link? Alien’s fucking took them away? Congrats to Stew in Australia, who won the auctio n of my ring-worn outfit at ROB VAN DAM EVENT WORN GREEN WRESTLING SINGLET RVD WWF - eBay (item 330271164536 end time Sep-21-08 19:29:05 PDT).
Stew, you get to own the outfit that I’ve wrested in many times- all over the world- and your money will be sent to Killer Kowalski’s Memorial Fund. In recent years, when Killer would bring his students to the WWE arenas, he’d tell me “You’re great!” and instruct his students to watch my performances in the ring. He’d tell them that I’m the best on the show and it really made me feel proud. I used to wonder-and still do- if he remembered the skinny 18 year-old kid from Michigan that visited his wrestling school with aspiration back in 1989. It probably wasn’t that rememberable of an experience, and you’ve seen my old pics on my myspace page so you know I’ve changed a bit.

This week we’re auctioning another outfit off eBay Store - RVD 5STAR STORE: to raise proceeds for City of Hope-the cancer research center where Sonya receives treatment. Did some of you guys catch “Stand up for Cancer” last week? It’s not the kind of show that I would have gravitated to before, but we no longer have the luxury of looking the other way. Guess how many women in this country will get cancer...1 out of 3. For men it’s 1 out of 2. Yes, you read that correctly. 1 out of 2 men, and 1 out of every 3 women will get cancer! That’s every one of us, or our family and friends. One American dies every minute of every day from it. Sorry to bum you out, but these are some amazing facts that everyone should know. If I knew more about cancer before, I could have somehow forced a colonoscopy check earlier and caught Sonya’s cancer at an earlier stage. Maybe she wouldn’t even need the chemo. I didn’t fucking know. She didn’t fucking know. You should know. Our sympathy is with original ECW’s Francine , who very recently lost her father and her sister to the big “C”. Send her energy. So, the country is in the worst financial shape it’s been in for a long time.Still, we blow 7 billion dollars each year to fight marijuana, based on bull shit. OK, don’t want to read about that? How many billions did we spend for 4th of July fireworks? What do we spend for New Year’s Eve celebrations? Let’s go straight to the top of celebrations. How much money do you think the 2008 Olympic closing ceremony costs in American dollars? Over 300 million as I understand it. Couldn’t those funds be put towards better survival necessities?You could argue that it brings positive energy and I get that, but really- is it necessary when our country is so broke that “homeless” is the new “chi llin”? Do we really need to know if an African runs faster than a German, for that matter? There are so many ways we piss money away, as a country. We suck at recycling and we don’t utilize alternative fuels and you know why? So the rich can get richer all the way til the end. They might be counting their money soon .

Weeds is over for the season and that sucks... but Heroes is coming! Entourage is awesome and we’ve also been enjoying True Blood. You checking that one out Scotty Riggs? He recommended Dexter which I love, and which will also be here next week.. It sucks big time that we lost Evan Tanner. Every time that guy was in the octagon, he sported a different look-from long hair, to short hair, from clean shaven to full beard. He was very interesting and a hell of a great fighter. I felt his spirituality and he will be missed by the fight industry and a lot of fans. Congratulations to Rashad Evans for that ....BRUTAL... knock out punch he delivered to Chuck Lidell, earning a title match with UFC light-heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin in December. That will be an incredible fight, and it’s20extremely hard to predict a winner on that one! Can you believe that we have almost 40 RVD TV episodes up at robvandam.com?T hat’s a lot of RVD! Remember, if you’re thinking of joining, you will get to view every single episode since the very first one- in any order and any time you want. I’m glad to share with you the real person that I am. All right everyone. You know how little kids need your praise and encouragement and kindness to develop in a positive way? So do adults.

Try being nice to people. That’s my blog.

Late,
RVD

AUCTION

After graduating high school in 1989, I researched wrestling schools all over the country. I called any that I could get the phone numbers for and wrote those that I had addresses for. Some responded, some did not but I knew that I was going to follow my dreams and make it happen, no matter how much work it took. Saving up money from a list of crappy jobs, I booked my very first trip to visit a wrestling school near Boston. I had been talking with Walter “Killer” Kowalski on the phone and he had assured me that if I could get my way from Battle Creek, Michigan to Massachusetts, he’d give me a good “tour” of his school. This would be my first lone experience traveling anywhere, but I saved three hundred and some odd dollars for the flight and I went to pursue my dreams. I knew that Walter had trained Big John Studd, who was a big WWF Superstar, and that impressed me. Thinking back, Walter could not have been more hospitable to me. He picked me up from the airport, took me to my hotel, to the wrestling school, gave me a workout, and even drove me back to the airport. All this for some skinny 18 year old kid with zero to offer the business, or so it seemed. I’ll always remember how I wanted to wear my white tank top to the airport on my way home- you know- to show off my huge 180 pound frame! Walter had me change because he said it looked like I was wearing my underwear and I should dress nicer! After the visit, I went back to Michigan with big plans of saving my money and returning to Boston to pursue my career. It was while I was bagging groceries to earn money that I discovered the Shiek’s school 45 minutes from home. Shiek and Killer Kowalski both had great credentials, which is what I was looking for. Shiek would later tell me that both he and Walter were trained by the same guy- a man named Burt Ruby. The Shiek passed away a few years ago, and Walter has now joined him. These legends are not replaceable and their passing is a great loss to the entire industry.

This week I am auctioning off one of my wrestling outfits and the money raised while go to:

WALTER KILLER KOWALSKI MEMORIAL FUND

C/O CITIZENS BANK

876 MAIN STREET

MALDEN, MA 02148

ROB VAN DAM EVENT WORN WRESTLING DRAGON SINGLET RVD WWF - eBay (item 230289229716 end time Sep-14-08 16:40:10 PDT)



The auction site is new at 5 Star Comics and will continue with a new outfit for charity every week for awhile, and many other items too-including personally owned items and stuff from our old store. eBay Store - RVD 5STAR STORE:


We’re also rotating different items in the store so keep checking back and notice the sale on 8x10’s while you’re there!7

This year at the Comic Con in San Diego, I grabbed a comic called HEADLOCKED that I really enjoyed about the world of Pro Wrestling from the inside. I’ll have to get the follow up books to number one. Here’s a special incentive- Jerry Lawler draws the cover! Here’s some promotional information on the book:



Jerry Lawler To Paint Comic Book Cover For Dramatic Wrestling Series!



WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry “The King” Lawler has signed on to provide a cover for the critically acclaimed comic book series, Headlocked: The Tryout from AAM/Markosia and Visionary Comics Studio. Lawler’s fully painted cover will grace the first issue of the new mini-series, available now for pre-order in Diamond’s Previews and shipping in October. (Diamond Order Code: AUG083662)


Read the press release here:



www. visionarycomics. com



The book is available for pre-order from July 30th to August 27th. Because Headlocked is an independent comic book, it is recommended that you pre-order a copy as not all retailers order indy comics. And being that this issue features Jerry Lawler’s first published comic book work, this will definitely be a highly sought after comic once it hits the shelves. Reserve your copy today at you your local comic book store (www. comicshoplocator. com) or online (www. mailordercomics. com).



As a special promotion to help get people on board with the story, AAM/Markosia is putting the first issue, Headlocked: Work of Art online for people to read absolutely free.



http://www. wowio. com/users/searchresults. asp?nGroupId=[408]



For more information, please visit:

markosia

mike_kingston

Headlocked



So, I’m not sure if everyone understood the incredible occurrence I wrote about last week- how I read Necro Butcher’s blog, felt compelled to help him, wanted to meet and talk to him, and then ended up wrestling him before I made the call? That, friends, is the Law of Attraction and we use it every day, all day long. Sonya and I are both real good at pointing out small and huge “coincidences” that guide us through our lives. I’m often asked about my spiritual studies, and because of this, I am going to share some personal experiences, and this week, you get another big one. Ready?

With the RVD TV hard drive-filled with footage- lost in the mail, we had a situation last week regarding getting our episode up on Friday. Late Wednesday night, the thought hit me to look for this DVD that I had somewhere, of a speech I had given to some kids at a local park. The speech was filmed May 19, 2006 and I had never watched the DVD, but I remembered that someone had given me a copy of it after the event. Following my guidance, I was able to locate the DVD and was very pleased to see that the quality was excellent and would make a great episode for Friday. Thursday, I sent the DVD over night, and Friday my editor Michael Spatola calls to tell me he’s got the DVD and everything’s fine. An hour or two later, a television repair man knocks on my door- I had called him- and comes in to see what’s happening with our tv. The repair man introduces himself, and his assistant Anthony. “Anthony” he goes on to say” was at the Lomita Park when you gave that speech. Do you remember that?”

Unfuckingbelieveable!

The more you pay attention to life’s patterns, such as this, the more this will happen to you. Everyone knows this from experience and it’s the way the energy is shared and the way we grow from it. Having every day full of connections as the world gets smaller and smaller is amazing. The guidance becomes more obvious, and this is what I call living in the magic of life!

Sonya is still doing great! I’m always impressed with her strength and positivity. Week by week we get closer to putting these treatments behind us.

Check out all the RVD TV episode previews on YouTube at YouTube - RVDTV420's Channel

It’s really,really late and I’m signing off.

I leave you with a further attempt to teach you about the society we live in.

Enjoy the following from M.P.P’s( MPP Homepage )official newsletter:



Twenty years ago today, the Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge issued a landmark ruling on marijuana — but our government has ignored this historic decision since the day it was issued.

"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care ... The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."
— DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, September 6, 1988

Judge Young had just finished holding extensive hearings, in response to a petition asking for marijuana to be moved from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bars medical use, to a lower schedule that would permit physician prescriptions. He heard from an array of expert witnesses, generating thousands of pages of documentation.

Young — the chief administrative law judge in the top federal agency responsible for enforcing our drug laws — laid out his findings in a detailed, 69-page ruling, walking readers through the scientific evidence in detail. He concluded that the law didn't just permit moving marijuana to Schedule II, but required it.

The response? Six years after top DEA officials rejected Judge Young's recommendation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the agency did had the right to ignore its own administrative law judge.

And as a result, seriously ill medical marijuana patients continue to be arrested, terrorized, and even have their children taken away — cancer patients living in fear of arrest for using marijuana to quell their nausea and help them keep food down ... AIDS patients using medical marijuana to ease the pain and nausea that too often are side effects of the drugs that keep them alive, terrified of losing their homes if caught ... tens of thousands of people turned into criminals simply for following their own doctors' advice.

Will you help? MPP is systematically working to end this war — state by state, vote by vote. We are making progress every day, but we need your help.