Chuck Norris Passes Away

On Thursday night, I read a report which stated that Chuck Norris had taken ill and was then hit with yesterday's news that he had passed away.

I can remember exactly when - and where - I was when I first came across Mr. Norris.

It was late summer of 1986. I was staying at a hotel in Greece. My father and I went to the film room at the complex and watched Delta Force.

I loved it.

Upon my return home, and for a chunk of years which followed, I went on a mission of my own. I caught other movies like the Delta Force sequel and the Missing in Action. 

Oh, and Firewalker. I liked that one a lot.

I even had a signed autograph from him around those few years of my childhood.

I would later be surprised when I noticed him as the bad guy in Bruce Lee's Way of the Dragon. As I wrote back in July of 2023, that's my top Lee flick.

It was cool to see Chuck Norris involved with one of my other favourite things when he was shown in the audience of WrestleMania VII. However, his most famous WWF involvement was when he worked as a special enforcer for the Yokozuna versus The Undertaker casket match which was the main attraction of the WWF Survivor Series in 1994.

As a fan of The Expendables movies, it was also fun to see him pop up in the second movie in the franchise. It would turn out to be a farewell because I cannot remember seeing him in anything since.

Frank And Spidey

I am not as all-in on Marvel TV and movies as I could be. I had no idea there is a new Spider-Man movie on the horizon, so I was like 'oh, okay' when I read that the trailer was set to come out earlier this week.

I didn't go out of my way to watch it. My nephew asked if I had seen it and I responded with a 'not yet'. 

'Well, I'm surprised seeing as one of your favourite Marvel characters is in it.' was his reply.

'Who?!'

'The Punisher.'

Okay. Business has picked up.

The best thing about Spidey and The Punisher being together in a movie is this: my first-ever introduction to Frank Castle was through an association with Spider-Man in a series of comic books.

Back in 1988, when I was staying with my American relatives, I would be treated to a bunch of Marvel publications whenever we'd visit the bookstore on the air force base. This bookshop was where residents would buy newspapers and there were rows-and-rows of American publications.

One of the series of comics was called Marvel Tales. In the storyline run I found myself reading, Spider-Man and The Punisher teamed up to take on the villains. I believe I have at least three issues of that particular title. I've added an image of two covers from a Google search. 

I've written about the base's bookshop many times in the past. I most recently mentioned the store when I pointed out I had bought a magazine with a feature about the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie in it. 

As I finished that last paragraph, I thought to myself 'how funny' considering Dolph Lundgren played He-Man in Masters of the Universe (1987) and would later go on to be Frank Castle in a not well received Punisher movie from 1989 (you might not be surprised to know I loved that film!). 

The Punisher we have in 2026 is the same one we've witnessed in the Netflix Marvel TV Universe and has also appeared in Daredevil: Born Again on Disney Plus.

I like John Berthnal's version of Frank Castle. I very much am looking forward to seeing Frank Castle teaming up with Spidey almost thirty-eight years after I first saw them do so in ink.

My younger self would have loved the idea of those two in a movie. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to be released in the USA on July 31st 2026.

The Visitor

I had a visit from an old friend this morning.

While I was out the backyard, a cat I've known since the pandemic came by. They used to show up and cautiously sit near me during those crappy summer days of 2020. It took  a while, but it eventually came closer and allowed me to pet it.

Nowadays, it pops up out of nowhere, has a chat with me, takes some treats and then vanishes. 

I rarely see this cat across the winter months. I look out for it, though. But, often to no avail. Now that the simmer is on its way (it's quite warm outside as I write this), I am sure I'll see a lot more.

The cat has aged quite a lot since 2020. Has gained a lot of weight and now owns a bit of a tear in one of it's ears. 

They've seen better days. But - haven't we all!?

At The Pace...

I have been working some things out in regards to how Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual 2026 is coming along.

The main content of the book is getting there. At the pace I'm keeping, that part should be complete by March 25th. 

I then have a few other ideas I want to cover. New ideas at that. I obviously don't know how long those will take because I haven't delved into the subjects I plan to write about.

Anyway, I aim to have everything ready for the week the NFL releases the 2026 schedules. That's when everything will pick back up and I'll have to put everything in order.

The bottom line is this - it's getting there.  

And it will be out sometime over the summer. 

I Try A McDonald's McGriddle For The First Time

It's late on Monday March 16th '26 as I start this post. By tomorrow, which will be today (or later!) when you read this, I would have finally tried something I've wanted to tick off my fast food bucket list.

I first became aware of McDonald's McGriddles in one of the chats I had with my friend, Vicki, a long time ago. I'd make a guess it was around the time when McDonald's brought back the Breakfast Wrap after the lockdowns. Vick asked me something along the lines of 'have you ever tried a McGriddle?'

I had no clue what they were. Vick explained they're a breakfast sandwich with the food contained between 'maple cakes'. I don't know why I quoted 'maple cakes' (there, I did it again!). I cannot recall if that's how Vick worded it. However, upon doing my own research, I concluded they sounded very intriguing. Kind of like hard pancakes (scones? biscuits?) Whatever it was, I wanted to try one!

A few weeks back, I came across a video on YouTube. The man in front of the camera ran through a handful of new products set to be a part of the new McDonald's menu.

McGriddles are set to debut here in the UK for a limited time. Starting in a few hours from when this post sees the light of day, in fact. 

I'm ordering one on DAY ONE. I have to.

It has been a long time since I ordered McDonald's for breakfast. It looks like June, so would have been when Vick was still with us. I would have loved to have been able to break the news as soon as I found out these items are finally making their way here. 

What I'm going to do is let this post go live at midnight and then update it once I've had the breakfast.

If all goes to plan, you'll witness my initial thoughts immediately below the timecard.

I woke up earlier than I would have liked. The first thing I did was wonder which day of the week it was. I initially thought it was the weekend and then realised it was Tuesday. It then dawned on me 'Ahh, it's the McGriddle today.'

After figuring out the day, I checked both the UberEats and Just Eats apps to see if the new product was available on the menu. 

The good news - it is.

My ordered arrived a little after 8:30am.

We ordered three Sausage and Egg McGriddle meals. I noticed a strong whiff of coffee when the courier handed over the bags. I thought it had spilled. Anyway, I wanted to mention the coffee because - as soon as I put that bag aside (it hadn't spilled) - I was left with the one containing the food. The aroma of maple was strong before I had even opened up the bag. It would have been the first sensation I experienced at the handoff had one of us not ordered coffee today.

The maple scent was even more empowering once I unwrapped the product. As you can see above, it has the M stamped into it.

Before I continue, I'd like to draw attention to something I wrote in the first part of today's post.

I mentioned the word 'maple cakes' because, when Vicki described them to me, I had a vision of the sandwich holding items between two pancakes. That imagination was thrown off a few days ago when I was talking about McGriddles in a chatroom. One of the users stated that they were 'like a biscuit', so I began to explore the thought they were more like scones rather than the pancakes I had assumed them to be for the past six plus years.

It turns out my initial guess, prompted by Vick's explanation, was spot on. They lean heavily more to being a thick pancake rather than a biscuit (scone!).

So - I suppose - that's what it felt like to eat one. Two maple-flavoured thick pancakes with sausage, egg and a slice of cheese.

Over the years, one of my favourite McDonald's breakfast meals has been sausages and pancakes. I never really went for the McMuffin. Only when I felt like a change. It has either  been the sausages and pancakes or a breakfast wrap/roll.

The McGriddle seems like a collision between the sausages and pancakes meal and some of the contents of the other breakfast meals I go for.

A nice collision. Sweet and savoury.

I will surely have a McDonald's McGriddle again. Maybe not during this current run, but when - or if - the company brings it back in the future.

Vick was right to point the McGriddle out to me. I did enjoy it. 

The product took its time to get here. Apparently, the McGriddle has been around for twenty-three years.

I can now officially tick a McDonald's McGriddle off the list of things Vick shone a spotlight on during our many chats over the years. I still have a lot of other things I'd like to try out. Such as a Little Caesar's pizza or one of those Frosty drinks from Wendy's.  I hold out hope those franchises branch out local to me. They're apparently on the rise in England, so I hope they eventually find their way across the bridge.

I bought a 'fountain Coke', as Vick called them, with today's breakfast. I've left it in the fridge to have later. When I do, I'll toast her.

Hogan And The Academy Awards

I had the Academy Awards on for a couple of hours before I fell asleep last night.

One of the things I made sure to watch was the In Memoriam tributes where the ceremony honours those who passed away within the past year.

I thought it was splendidly done. I must have dropped off shortly after that, but woke up to find out who won the remaining Oscars.

Upon searching through news, it stumbled across something I should have actually been on the ball about.

There are a few wrestling news sites covering the fact that Hulk Hogan wasn't mentioned in last night's tribute.

The fact I hadn't even noticed it should speak volumes. It's not something I was looking out for, but - with all that said - I find myself in two minds about the exclusion, whether it was intentional or not.

Yes, I state this knowing fully well how Hogan's star fell late in his life due to things he was caught saying on a hidden video. 

I've gone back-and-forth on this today. Hogan should have been included.

He was likely going to be a major star in professional wrestling. However, Hulk Hogan's first step into being a cultural emblem of the 1980s (and beyond, but let's just argue for the 80s only) was through his appearance as Thunderlips in Rocky III.

Rocky III - the second sequel to a film which won a trio of Oscars including Best Picture, from ten nominations, in 1977.

There are other Hulk Hogan films that followed. I'd be a fool to argue he should have been mentioned based off those titles, but - the one that makes the case the most is the one which drove him to the mainstream dance.

Hogan's wasn't the only name missing from the list, however. Other prominent exclusions were Robert Carradine, Richard Chamberlain, James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane and Brigette Bardot.

John Alford Dies

As a Grange Hill and London's Burning fan, I was obviously intrigued to see John Alford back in the news over the past few years following allegations of him sexually assaulting teen girls. 

The former actor was found guilty of those crimes and was jailed earlier this year. That, I thought, would be the last I'd read about him for some time.

Well - it didn't turn out like that.

Last night's news announced that Alford was found dead in his cell on Friday. 

I don't have much to say. I was obviously stunned to read it. 

It's hard to write anything positive about John Alford knowing how his life turned out. And the lives his actions affected. 

What I will say is this: his character of Robbie Wright was always there as the sidekick to my all-time favourite: Ziggy Greaves. So, it's somewhat difficult for me to think of Alford but not remind myself of all the shenanigans Ziggy would get up to during that era of the high school drama.