Depending on whom you are and how you know me, my name is Dan, Danny, Spencer, Spence, Spotlight, Rebel Heat, Pixel Dan, Mandalorian30, or Bob. Ok, not really that last one, but the others are all names or nick names that I go by. Why do I have so many different names? Well, it’s because I am involved in so much. But you can read about all of that in the About Me section. This section is for general info. So here we go.
I’m currently 26 years old and still living in the same city I was born in: Springfield, IL. But I’m ok with that. I have a wonderful family and several fantastic friends living all around me, so why should I leave? I work two jobs because I like having extra money. I’ve become a bit of a work-a-holic it seems, even though if I had the option to not have a job and still have money, I’d jump at the offer.
My full time job is at Horace Mann, an insurance company for teachers. I’ve been with the company for 4 years now. I also work part time at Toys R Us, working in the R Zone (aka the electronics department.)
I have a few pets that I really love. Jasmine is my dog that I have had since she was 6 weeks old. She’s a 6 year old Shih Tzu, and has been a fantastic companion to me. I have never loved an animal as much as I love her. I also have a kitten named Harley Quinn who is the most insane animal I have ever owned. Cats are crazy. And then, of course there are my fish. They don’t have names or anything. Fish are just cool.
Last, but certainly not least is the best thing in my life. Christina Poock…whose name will soon be different. I have been with Christina for over 2 years now, and have never been happier in all my life. In May 2008, I asked her to be my wife in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland. The wedding is set for April 2009, and I couldn’t be more excited. The thought of spending my life with the woman I love is an amazing feeling. Christina is the reason I believe in soul mates.
Music
I love music. All music. I will listen to practically anything. From video game soundtracks to rock; from musicals to country. I like it all.
Some of my favorite bands include The Foo Fighters, The Offspring, Huey Lewis and the News, Weird Al Yankovic, Phil Collins, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Linkin Park, Rascal Flatts, The Beatles, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. But that certainly is not all. That’s just a small list of what I like.
Movies
If I listed all of the movies I liked, this page would be too long and you would get bored of reading it. Then you’d leave and look at some other page instead. And I don’t want that. I want you here, looking at my page. Because I’m awesome. So, in order to keep you on my page, here is just a taste of what I like:
The Star Wars Saga, The Indiana Jones Saga, Back to the Future Trilogy, Clerks 1 & 2, Iron Man, Batman Begins, Batman: The Dark Knight, Ghostbusters 1 & 2, Hellboy 1 & 2, The Mummy Trilogy, Moulin Rouge, Grease, Masters of the Universe, TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 &2, A Christmas Story, Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, Spider-Man Trilogy, and that’s where I’ll stop. I could go on and on.
Television
DVR rules. If it weren’t for DVR, I wouldn’t ever watch TV, because I’m never home when the shows I like are on. TV seasons on DVD are also a great invention. Here are some of my favorite TV shows to watch, on DVR or DVD.
House, Pushing Daisies, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, WWE Monday Night Raw, Smallville, Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Gilmore Girls, Friends, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dead Like Me, Weeds, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Frisky Dingo, to name a few.
Books
I read comics. I also read Wrestling Biographies. Those are my favorite things to read. Here are a few that I really enjoy:
The Watchmen, Shawn Michaels: Heartbreak & Triumph, ‘Classy’ Freddie Blassy: Listen You Pencil Neck Geeks!, Steve Austin: The Stone Cold Truth, and Cheating Death and Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story.
Heroes
There are many people who I admire, for many different reasons. Among them are the following:
Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Weird Al Yankovic, Dave Grohl, and He-Man.
I lead a very busy life, but I love it. I have so many interests, but I find a way to pursue them all. I work two jobs to earn a living, but on my free time is when I do everything else. The stuff that I really, truly enjoy. The stuff that…God Willing…will eventually become the way I earn my living. With the loving support of my wonderful fiancé, I take part in many fantastic hobbies that could all be considered jobs in their own right.
Pro Wrestling: Pro Wrestling was something I was interested in very early on in my life. My father never really liked it or approved of it, so I often times would only get the chance to watch it while at friends’ homes. But every time I watched, I was always drawn to it. I knew it’s something I wanted to try myself one day.
I got involved in pro wrestling since 2000, and have been involved ever since. I joined up with a local, very small wrestling organization called Midwest Wrestling Alliance, which later became known as New Midwest Wrestling. I started out as a referee in their shows, but was also training to become a wrestler at the same time. Soon, I debuted under a shiny silver mask, and wrestled under the name El Diablo Silverado.
I wore that mask for a few years, but it wasn’t until the mask came off that I really broke out onto my own. Spencer Powers was soon born, and is the name many in the wrestling world know me as today. I have gone by many monikers: The Spotlight, The Prima Donna, The End Boss of Wrestling, The Master of the Abdominal Stretch, and Rebel Heat.
I still work for New Midwest Wrestling, but also travel and work at several other wrestling promotions. In my years in the independent wrestling business, I have worked for New Midwest Wrestling, Fire Pro Wrestling, Next Generation Wrestling, Great American Wrestling, Hammerlock Pro Wrestling, and several other events in various cities.
In my "career," I have had the honor of winning several titles and awards. Included in this are the following: NMW Heavyweight Championship, NMW Central Illinois Championship, NMW Tag Team Championship, GAW Heavyweight Championship, A.H. Memorial Tournament Champion, Brawltoberst Winner 2006 and 2007, Nosebleed Seats “Best Feud of 2007” Award, NMW Best Heel 2005 and 2006, NMW Match of the Year 2006 and 2007, and the NMW Hall of Fame.
I have worked with many great people and have had many great partners throughout my “career” thus far. And I’m still going strong. Currently, I am excepting bookings as a tag team with my partner Guy Smith. If you wish to book Attitude Inc., you may contact me by sending me an e-mail. MySpace is not always the best way to contact me, so send me an e-mail with all of your information to: mandalorian30@gamil.com.
Film: This is actually what you’ll find me spending a lot of my free time doing these days. Movie making is just so much fun for me. Writing, filming, and editing videos is a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding when the project is finished. It’s even better when people enjoy your work.
Currently I do a mixture of working on my own video projects, and creating videos for various websites whom I now work for. Here is a list of everything I am currently doing.
•RetrowareTV.com:RetrowareTV.com is a website all about the video gaming community. They focus a lot of their attention on classic games and arcades, but there is certainly love for the current gen of gaming as well. The site features several great video series’ on video games. I was lucky enough to be asked to do a series for the site. The show is called From Pixels to Plastic. It’s a series that takes a look at toys and collectibles that are based off of video games. The show is what gave me my start, really, as I knew I wanted to do something after seeing so many great gaming shows on the web. But I wanted to do something different; something that no one else was doing. Thus, P2P was born.
I also do various other videos for RetrowareTV.com, such as helping out with some of their other staple shows such as Sold Separately. You can see all of my videos, as well as several other great shows at www.RetrowareTV.com.
•He-Man.org:He-man.org is the largest Masters of the universe fan community on the internet. It is the source for all things He-man and She-Ra. So, imagine my surprised when I was contact by the head of the site and asked to produce video reviews of the new Masters of the universe Classics figures exclusively for the site! This was an opportunity I could not pass up.
About once a month, you will find one of my videos posted on the front page of the www.He-Man.org , where I will review one of the brand new Masters of the Universe Classics action figures as they are released!
•Figures.com: Another opportunity that I could not pass up. I currently have a gig working for Figures.com as a toy reviewer. Aside from written reviews complete with lots of photos of the item being reviewed, you will also find videos reviews of the item by yours truly.
Every week or so, you should see a brand new toy review by me posted on the front page of www.Figures.com!
•VGLosers.com: This is my buddy Doug’s website that I help him out with. You’ll often times find movie reviews and the like written by me and posted on the front page of the site. Aside from that, you may find other videos on video game reviews or just random nonsense posted on the site! So head on over to VGLosers.com and check us out!
•The New Toy Smell:TNTS is an independent project that I am working on, co-created with Jason Devall. Together we are creating an internet video series that is all about the world of toy collecting. This is a big project, and a large undertaking. So far, it’s been a lot of fun, though.
We hope to launch the series in September. Visit www.ThatnewToySmell.com to keep up to date with the latest episodes, as well as check out the photo archive!
Aside from all of that, I’m also constantly working on my own short films, as well as helping out with filming and/or editing on other short films.
I’d love to have your support! The best way to support me is to visit each of the individual sites I have listed above and watch my videos! Watching them on the sites is better for me and for the host sites.
Photography: Photography is another hobby of mine. I love taking photos of all kinds. Nature photos, posed photos, and photos of toys and such for reviews are a few kinds that I enjoy doing. As of right now, it’s not something I’m completely looking to pursue professionally, but I love it as an “on the side” job.
I have taken many types of photos of the outdoors and of friends. You can see examples of my work in the photos section of my page.
Hey Danny, I just decided to check out your profile since I hadn't communicated with you in a while. I had no idea that your wedding already took place. Congratulations to you and Christina!
I checked out the honeymoon pics you posted, and I received a Facebook notification from when Alyssa commented on wedding pics that Christina posted, so I looked at those, too. Wrestlers as groomsmen (I'm guessing the guy I didn't recognize was your brother) and bridesmaids in purple dresses... I would have expected nothing less. ;)
Anyway, I hope married life is treating you well. Hopefully sometime we can actually play a game on Xbox Live. I haven't been on Live much since I got my Wii, though. I have Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros. as far as online Wii games go, if you play that system online.
Get back to me when you get a chance and let me know how things are going. Take care.
Congratulations on getting married! When was the wedding date? Derek and I just celebrated our 9th year last Weds! Married life is great congratulations to you and your new bride!
What's up, Danny? I hope you are doing well. It was good seeing you while I was in Illinois. Hard to believe it's been over a month and a half already.
heyy stina told me you guys forgot to give me something from the trip sooo i should see you soon soo i can get that lol* no but seriously ;) hope to see you soon!! love you
