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Joe Exotic Tiger King!

So I give my wife a hard time for watching trash TV on the TLC Trash Learning Channel or whatever it is all the time. But this time was me, Covid and Tiger King weekend. I had another blog started but I gotta do this one first. While Joe Exotic is still all over peoples timelines on social media! I am not going to talk about the ENTIRE show, just the people......... And this is a quick one, sorry if the editing is rough. Also a ton of disjointed thoughts....

Joe Exotic, wow. I was going to save him for last but maybe he is crazy enough to get 2 paragraphs. Nice hair, he did steal the mullet Hulk Hogan should have to have a complete head of hair? But lets not be mean. I think some of the final clips, the archival footage show WAY back in the day he did want to do this for the right reason. Hell he even said they belong in the wild on other continents. Then the $$$ starts rolling in. IMO two things happened there, first he realized he could be a showman. One look at him and you know that's deep down the guys true dream. Two there is money in big cats. Slap that together and you create one Joe Exotic. (Thinking about it I know how I want to write this so we are going to cut off Joe and get back to him. Needed to put out my very basic thoughts on him to start!) The only thing was he was not nearly as smart as he thought, bad ass as he thought or rich as he thought. I guess what I mean is his own arrogance brings him down.

Something to keep in mind I am writing this blind. I am not googling them, to see where they are now or what the REAL past was, just going off the shows portrayal. Keep in mind the last one (NEtflix Doc.) Making a Murderer, had me thinking Avery was maybe innocent. Reading more after I realized how the show made that seem true when everything else doesn't. I think he did it and should rot. So on this who knows if they really are like the show makes them look. I did hear a rumor they are making one more episode that will add, so maybe some of my rant will be proven right... Or very wrong!

Tim Stark looks normal compared to most of them. Clearly everyone in this world is fucked so maybe he just looks that way because he had the least screen time.... I mean he comes off as a crazy hillbilly but blunt and straight forward. SO honestly I don't have much to say about him but how dumb can he be getting into business with Jeff Lowe...?

Kevin Antle or Doc Bhagavan as he would like to be known is SO greasy. Literally from the first time you see him I was thinking, hey creepy cult leader how you doing? I think I am just gonna keep calling him big Kev. You pay any attention to the "zoo" and clearly there is a "type" of woman working there and did you notice mainly women? Like any attention to what is going on there and you can see the guy is a slim ball. So when they started interviewing that other chick that got out, her stories did not surprise me at all. But hey all the power to him, he seemed like he was running a nice, higher end zoo, he seems to be the showman Joe wanted to be and if he is getting some on the side good for him. I am sorry I don't mean that, dude is running a cult. I am always torn between are these people his "Followers" really that dumb that they stay? I am torn do they deserve it for being that dumb and going there? Do they actually enjoy being there and I shouldn't judge them? I am not going to get into cults, that is a whole blog on its own but this dude is running one. The ending though that's painful, awful. If he is actually gassing baby cats..... Just cause the guy is greasy does not mean he would go that far, does it. On the other hand, if he is that greasy it doesn't surprise me at all. Cult leaders do some fucked up shit. As much as I hate PETA I was glad to see they raided him and hope his world crumbles.

Then you get "scarface" Mario Tabraue. I should google it but I won't, he had to rat. NO ONE gets 100 years, serves on a few and then gets out to start a zoo. Okay fuck it I did a quick google and yes he did inform. I guess that will be a reoccurring thing in this blog but huh? You can traffic drugs and kill cops and still be free? Joe is going to serve more time than he did for possibly trying to kill someone. All I will say is I hope his informing nailed down some big ass kingpins. Also FYI Scarface came out years before he was convicted. He actually seems like a well adjusted guy. Yes the filming does make him seem shady, the private zoo with booking times and stuff BUT they don't really pursue that. Making me think it could really be nothing but the filming and calling him Scarface does seem to give it a dark edge.....

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum or the hubbies......That wasn't nice, sorry. They may have been legit in love and it isn't for others to decide that but it sure paints like they were just there for the party. Both 19, both heavy into the drugs and both banging females? They don't sound super. I heard a rumor there are more than those 2? (And the latest) Either way 1 testified against Joe and the other blew his brains out, in front of someone no less. Meth mouth and the fact all the vids of Travis seem to indicate that ya it was basically a big party and once that dried up they were ready to move on. Also a last comment on Travis, Joe was "shook up" but managed to get remarried in 2 months? I don't see that, at all. Having Travis' mother there to for a pic and never talking to her again is totally him just hoping to show the world she was good with it so we shouldn't all judge him..... So to that new young kid with him WTF dude give your head a shake!!!

Lets move forward to Rick Kirkham. Dude you look rough, I assume addiction will do that and I hope he has moved on from it. Had the reality show happened I think it could have been as big as he thought. All the networks seem to love trash these days, this guy might have had a gold mine. Look at this series and its explosion! I thought at first he was the guy who made the Netflix doc, but clearly not. So we get to the mysterious fire.... I am looking at Joe for that. Rick was dumb for not backing hours of shit up BUT Joe had the most to gain. He didn't want Rick to have him by the balls anymore. He wanted control and this did give it back to him. Rick left. Plus how many times did we see Joe blowing shit up, burning it. I guess it could be someone doing it like that so it looks like Joe, but I think Joe might have been dumb enough to do it in the way he would anyways.

Then you get the Motley Crew. John Reinke, Kelci Saffery, Erik Crowe, (Josh Dial. He didn't look nearly as rough) Bruce David.... I gotta say this, they are freaky looking!!! BUT Joe somehow did right by them. Maybe not by the end but for many years they are stupid loyal to him. There is something to be said for that. Today you can barely get employees to stay at one job and they figure the new generation will have a few full careers. He had these guys loyal and seemed to be an asshole. Not sure if that speaks to their desperation or that fact it could have been left out that he had some redeeming qualities as a boss!

James Garrretson, what can I say here.... You ever watch that Margot Robbie I, Tonya show? Remember that character Shawn, ya that's this guy to a tee. He would give his left and right nut to be a gangster BUT doesn't have a nut enough to be a gangster. You see these people all over. He had a Lemur and rolled over that fast? You think Gotti would roll for that? El Chapo? Your local drug dealer? So either A) He has something WAY bigger and they let him pass or B) He cracked under the slightest pressure ever. I flat out admit his various business could give him the mystique of being "connected" He has or had bars and strip clubs. Some really bad people do to. Some pretty damn straight arrow "Civilians" do as well. I could be wrong BUT unless something does come down later on him, I am gonna say I am right in saying he quickly got in over his head, playing gangster.

Jeff Lowe..... Someone buy this man some fucking clothes. You look like the typical 50 year old trapped in his early 20s. Had he looked like that and had a Kutte that said Hells Angels I might say okay this dudes might be a bad mofo. No, man you just look like every other douche in their 50s dressing like that in a mall food court. I WILL give him he is a great conman though. You have to admit he played Joe perfect, shows up in a beauty car. Takes him partying in a mansion out West seems to have it all going on. He must have a bit of cash to do that, but the reality is not much. Or not as much as Joe thought. Jeff came as a warm soothing balm that Joe really needed. Put his trust in him and the second he said that, even I knew what was about to happen. Joe did not learn from the tapes and who controlled them and this time lost his whole zoo! Lets not jump that far ahead though. This guy takes the word dirtbag and ups it. He had a wife but started fucking his mistress? He put cubs in bags and dragged them into hotels to party and try and fuck young women? Even Hitler was nice to animals, this wannabe seems to have no redeeming value.

He doesn't need as much space but Allen Glover sure don't come off as the brightest bulb in the box. I think that's why Jeff uses him. He seems fairly loyal and dumb. Literally the perfect qualities for a plant at  the zoo or a would be hit man. Let's clarify, yes a tear drop tattoo can be a sign of a murderer, it doesn't always mean it is. My theory, Jeff said get him to ask you to kill her. Get whatever money you can and leave. Now Allen gets paid and Jeff knows once it comes out Joe is gone and the zoo is his. I fully believe that Jeff had him come and said hey watch the zoo, I am your boss not Joe just report to me. Just Allen wasn't smart enough to understand he wasn't supposed to flat out tell Joe that.....

The one  that gets the most hate, Carole Baskin. I am guessing the hate is because she killed her husband and fed him to a tiger. Other than that I am going go out and say among a cast of odd balls she is actually the most likable. I gotta say her "mission" is by no means a bad one. Lets be honest it is actually disgusting there are more tiger in captivity in the States than the entire rest of the world. They don't fucking belong there, they belong free. Pretty sure George Washington wasn't like "Hey let's start a free country, with guns for all! Oh and tigers let's get a lot of fucking tigers" I won't lie, its cool petting a baby tiger, getting a pic with one also super cool THAT doesn't make it right. Its like the SPCA ads that a dog is a family member and you cant just get rid of it. Well a tiger is a way fucking bigger version of that. So ya maybe they need to slow / stop the breeding especially if the whole killing cubs when they are no longer pet-able is true. Like if there is any truth to it I hate Big Kev Antle more than anyone on this show. Get over her quirkiness Carole is well a decent human, trying to do good things. Then we get to the whole murdered her husband issue. I have crapped all over everyone else and not given them benefit of the doubt so I guess same should go for her. I pride myself on common sense and common sense points to her killing him. Before we get into that I need to talk about Don Lewis' family. I get them hating Carole, it seems like she stole from them. My question is, is how was the series edited for that? It seems like he planned on cutting them off, from both what they say and what Carole says. What else do we need to know about that feud? Did Don actually want them to get anything? I would assume if he was a decent man and father he would want his children to get something but his wife or ex I guess.... Harder to say. If he is willing to openly leave her for a young girl something was really off there way before she fed him to tigers. Anyways everything points to her doing something. Breaking into the job shack to get those documents in my mind is a massive one. Why the desperation unless something was shifty. The wording of the document in the event of my dissapreance…. Who words shit like that. My will wont say if I vanish, it will say fucking find me! Him filing for a restraining order.... People don't just randomly do that. I can believe his kids when they say that was totally out of the norm. Self made millionaire, I can see him being a "Mans" man and not wanting to need one. However the show even states it is all circumstantial, I am sure if they had any sort of real evidence they would try and move on her. Honestly I think it is the spin of the show. I think she did some scummy shit after, screwing his family around but I am having a hard time fingering her as his killer. SO to me that's what fucked, she is a screwball that's for sure but one I could almost cheer on if she hadn't fed her hubby to tigers....

Lets talk for a minute about the whole murder for hire. I think Joe was falling apart and yes he wanted it. Had Jeff and Allen not been there though I doubt he would have moved toward it. He had spent years threatening her, broadcasting his hate but never moved on it. He admitted being high on meth, coke and who knows what else but never acted on it. My opinion that is when he would have acted on it! I fully believe Jeff told Allen next time he says anything go along with it. Get the money and keep it. PATSY, that I feel is what Joe actually was. I don't think Allen was ever going to Florida. I don't think he "chickened out" I think he just planned on going on a bender to get the feds worked up and moving. My bottom line a con man conned a con man. Got his zoo and removed him actually quite brilliantly.

Joe Fucking Exotic, the Tiger King himself. What more can you say, his life is kinda told by this show. He is one I am giving the benefit of the doubt to, to start. Those closing clips and they may just be clips of him trying to be good BUT he seemed at one point to realize where big cats belong. Then you get ALL the other BS. The beef with Carole, the money. Keep in mind they had to make money. Maybe not a ton and likely a good amount was wasted away into parties, drugs, toys for the hubbies and gawd knows what else. The fame or notoriety. He was a showman, never doubt that. Anyone who puts is face on a condom, releases albums (Think that was him singing?) run for two different political offices and whose main job title is entertainment director, well that would be a showman. So before all this maybe he was a good man with a good goal. Truth be told I think he was an insecure little man. Best way to fight that, make yourself bigger than life so you can look at it and say ya I really am something! He is gay and was open WAY back when it was much more taboo, so what did he do, he became super flamboyant. He wanted to be a big man, carry a gun. He even says its not for the cats and you can see him constantly doing stupid shit that really should have had his gun permits revoked. Had he actually just tried to run a big cat rescue and not been insecure, not hit the drugs he may have actually had a damn good zoo. Same with his Carole beef. You can go so far and it seems like that line is constantly getting further but shooting dummies, constantly threatening shit online that will blow back. It MIGHT work for MEGA celebrities which Joe was not and they stop at a point. Lets not say Carole didn't go overboard as well. She won the case and would have stripped him of everything. At some point she could have stopped or tried to get the judgement to hurt the business she "hates" rather than just try to ruin the man. So you had what could have been a decent guy just go so wrong. That WalMart meat truck made me gag. Literally. Even if the tigers could handle it, the employees as well??? WTF? The 4 tiger corpses. When my dog is ready it will be at the vet and it will be an crazy sad / hard day. All the years he had those tigers more than 4 had to die I would assume. So how could he just take them out and boom. I would assume there is some sort of right way to do it and clearly he didn't do it. Clearly it became a lot less about the cats. Running for prez? First off I support this. Remember the shit show the last presidential election was? Just imagine if Joe had actually gotten popular. Those 3 clowns going at it! Trump and him. oh man that woulda been fun. Then governor? I mean to me this is the beginning of the end. This is were he starts illegally using zoo funds and gives Jeff the chip he needs to take over. I still say it stems from that insecurity, that desire to be seen and heard. I do ALMOST feel bad for his parents, Carole coming for their house is a low blow. Keep in mind though had they not tried to help Joe out and do dumb shit with deeds and titles they wouldn't have that issue.

I have ranted enough, I am sure there is shit I missed and I am sure this is very disjointed reading! I believe this show got so popular because of the Covid crisis. Which isn't bad, I mean some good shows and some bad shows that would never got as much recognition will get recognized as we are all supposed to be at home. If nothing else this was entertaining and did show somethings most of us would have no ideas about. I do feel Joe got fucked in the end by Jeff clearly and the police. Jeff and Allen at LEAST should have been charged with something. My only hope is that they are actually working on something bigger for them, though I doubt it..... Also I am happy Joe has no loyalty anymore and is whistle blowing on all he can. Glad Big Kev was raided that dude is just to greasy.....

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