June 11, 2006 - Time for a Change
I was badgered into it, so I broke down and got a MySpace page. So for anyone who is interested, here is the link:
J. McKee's MySpace
January 8, 2004 - Throw Away that 2003 Calendar
It's 8 days into the New Year, so it's about time I update my commentary.
I was thinking that I could go month by month and tell you something
awesome about all of the months of 2003...but frankly, after attending 50
shows and photographing nearly all of them, it's all kinda fuzzy. So
instead...how about a few Thank You's and words of wisdom for the New Year!
First, a thanks goes out to Carmine DeSpirito, Ian Rotten, Jason Jerry, Ed Chuman,
Andy Schmit and Mike Schuknect for allowing me to do what I do best for you
respective organizations. I have enjoyed all of the time I spent with ya
all.
Second, thanks to all of the "boys" that have made what I do so rewarding in the last year: Punk, Ace, Cabana, Silas, Brad, Ken, Aries, ODB, Prazak, Daivari, Corp., Horace, Scotty, Skull, Dys, Pearce, Priest, Chandler, Kage, Tony and the many others that I know I've forgotten to meantion. You have all made me smile in the past year and I hope I've done the same for you.
Finally, a big thanks to my two best friends...Ana and Liz. Thanks for sticking by me while I go off and do this crazy wrestling thing. Thanks for being my partners in crime when I feel like making trouble and my shoulder when I need one to cry on. I don't know what I would do without the both of you. And dammit eventually we will meet awesome men to compliment our stunning personalites! We all deserve that! I love you girls!
Now the big finisher...words of wisdom for the new year!
"True wrestling is performed in second-rate halls, where the public spontaneously attunes itself to the spectacular nature of the contest." A quote from the 1957 essay "The World of Wrestling" (BTW, if anyone finds a copy of this essay...e-mail me...I'd love to read it.) That quote sums up what pro wrestling really should be and what I hope it will always stay.
Pick up the book, "One Ring Circus: Extreme Wrestling in the Minor Leagues", by Brian Howell. The photographs are amazing, black and white, and absolutely beautiful. It's a book I hope will inspire me to reach higher and progress in my photography.
Support Your Local Indy Wrestlers! Come out the the Indy shows! Today's Indy wrestler could be tommorrows TNA, ROH, or WWE star or maybe the next star in Japan or Mexico.
Finally, show respect to those who came before you.
August
25, 2003 - THANKS PUNK!
You know I said that once to ya, but I don't know if you really heard me. I decieded to try something new with my life after I spent a lousy New Years Eve in 1999 at a table in the Hyatt crying. I don't know if it was because my life was going absolutely no where or if I just felt as if I was the only lonely person in the world. I was going to move out to Las Vegas and go to UNLV and get a degree in Hotel Science. I was accepted and had already sent in money to reserve a dorm room. Then at the last minute I backed out and decieded to pursue something I had loved since junior high...photography.
My first semester when pretty well and my second was going strong when I started to take more and more photos at MAW. I rarely shared my photos with anyone...kinda embarrassed of my wrestling hobby. Around July of 2000, I began to share a few of my photos. One of those nights was at Cocktails and Dreams, the bar everyone one went to after MAW at the Knights of Columbus. I had gone up to promoter, Carmine DeSpirito with a handfull of prints. Both you and Dave Prazak were at the table. The prints went around the table. And fisnished up in your hands. You pulled out about 3 or 4 of yourself and asked whose these were. I told you they were mine and you asked if you could put them on your website. I said sure. You asked me who you should credit and I said J. McKee. From then on, I considered you a friend.
Over the years, you have always been a big supporter of my work and made me feel as if I did have a purpose in indy wrestling. And for that I thank you. I want you to know that I wish you the best on the East Coast and all the success in the world. You are one of the most hard working people I know and when you get what you really want in life and wrestling, you will have truly earned it. You will be missed.
Past Commentaries
Commentary for May 14,2003
Commentary for June 26,2003
