Vacation Plans

Today Harry and I sat down and finalized our revised vacation plans. Since we can't take Lora's trailer, we'll be staying in hotels, it's not ideal but it's cheaper then renting an RV. We will be taking Daisy (our dog) with us so that limits us on what we can do. This is more of a road trip to see some of the country.

Our first day we will be driving all the way up to Mt. Shasta in NorCal. Day two we will be driving to Hood River in Oregon and stay there for a couple of days to enjoy the Columbia River Gorge. Then we will drive west to Aberdeen in Washington to spend a couple of days with my good friends Rick and Amy .From there we will be heading to Columbia Falls in Montana and spend a couple of days at Glacier National Park. Then we'll be head down south into Wyoming and spend a couple of days in Yellowstone. From there we will head to Arches National Park in Utah and spend a few of days there. Then on to Zion National Park also in Utah. From there we will be heading back home, purposely avoiding Arizona (which adds about 150 miles to our trip). All in all we'll be on the road for about 3700 miles and we think that it will take us somewhere between 16 - 18 days.

I'll be blogging, tweetering and facebooking from the road. I'm also going to try and do video blogs along the way.. should be lots of fun.

Browncoat Interview

Tonight I had a fantastic interview with the creator, director, writer and producer of the upcoming Firefly/Serenity "fan" made movie Browncoats: Redemption, Michael Dougherty. I interviewed him for a "fan" interview for my Knights of the Guild podcast, because not only is he a huge Browncoat but also a Guildie. Be sure to check out his movie website http://browncoatsmovie.com Also his interview will be on Knights of the Guild Episode 17 part 2, which will be released on June 29th http://knightsoftheguild.com

Harry Potter Final Shoot Day

Today is the final shoot day of principal photography on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is the last movie in that series. As you all know I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I LOVED the books and really enjoy the movies. The book series ended a few years ago and now the movie series is coming to an end as well with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 in July of 2011.

I don't think the movies series ending will be as traumatic as the book series ending. The books ending that was it, no more Harry Potter. I remember wanting to read the final book as quickly as possible as I wanted to know what happen next but then I wanted to go slow because I didn't want it to end.

The movies have been a good adaptation of the books. Some folks complain that they cut out a lot of stuff from the books and I agree.. but I also know they are "adaptations" of the books and are not word for word. Some things you just can't visual show on screen like it's written on the page.

On a bright side once the movies are over next year they will be around for years to come to enjoy.. just like when I re-listen to the audio books over and over and over and never get tired of them. To me Harry Potter is right up there with Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and Firefly. It's some of the best Sci-fi / Fantasy stuff around.

New Look

Today Blogger finally added a bunch of new templates for my blog. Before they were very limited, but now there are so many it's making it hard to choose. I have been playing with the colors and set up and background for both of my blog accounts (My Life as a Geek and Knights of the Guild Podcast) for the past two hours. I just can't find the right combination that I like. I did finally settle on two very different looking blog styles. Now will see how long they last.. I'm constantly tweaking it.. Let me know what you think!!

The Guild Season 4 Wrap Party

Today was The Guild's Season 4 wrap party. It was being held at a restaurant/bar called Barbarella Bar in Sliverlake. It started at 7pm.

Harry was sick and not really into parties, so I invited my friend Christopher to go with me. I picked him up around 6:30 and got to the party at 7pm. The place was very cool, kind of trendy/industrial. Soon the place was packed. It was fun mingling with the cast and crew. I got tons of pictures which you can see on Facebook or on my Flickr Account . Everyone chatted for a few hour and about 9:15 they gathered everyone in the main room, were there was a large TV screen. There were 3 things listed on the screen, PSA, Guild S3 Recap and Episode 1 of Season 4. I knew they were going to preview episode 1 of season 4 and I was very excited for that. I was excited to see the Recap again but I didn't have a clue what the PSA was.

Felicia and Kim got up and gave a nice speech and thanked everyone for all their hard work. Then they started the DVD. First was the PSA, come to find out that it involves me and Wil Wheaton.. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen and it totally made this great night unforgettable.

Afterward people kept asking me if I knew about it, and I could honestly say that I didn't have a clue. I mean Brian mentioned something to me when I arrived but I never expected this. People also asked how it made me feel to know they went through all this work for me. It's hard to put into word how I felt. I love my Guild family and have enjoyed working on the past three seasons with them all. I have dedicated/volunteered alot of my free time to The Guild. I started the official podcast just to get the word out about The Guild and to bridge the cast and crew with the fans, who are some of the best fans around. So I was honored that they appreciated me so much that they went through the trouble to produce this piece. BTW this will be on the season 4 DVD as an Easter Egg.

After that shock they played the Auto-Tuned Guild Recap of Season 3 which was lot of fun to watch on a big screen and with a group of friends.

Then they aired the first episode of Season 4, Of course I can't give any details but it was AWESOME. A great way to start the season.. can't wait to see the rest.

After the screening they had one more video to show.. it was a gag reel for the entire season and it was hilarious.

After the video it was dance time. Everyone danced until midnight, then when the final song came on "Don't Stop Believing" the remaining party goers got into a circle on the dance floor with arms around shoulders and sang along with the song. It was the perfect way to end a unforgettable night.

Highlights from the night for me were, of course, the PSA with Wil Wheaton. Dancing with Felicia Day, Sandeep grinding me, hanging out with Maurissa Tancharoen (Whedon) (I've only met her a few times but she remembers me and my personal life, she asked about my new house.. I love that woman). Watching my friend Christopher mingle and blend right in to the Guild family. Just hanging with my friends, that is one great thing about The Guild cast and crew, they are not co-workers.. they are friends. And some of them will be life long friends.

The Guild Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned

Check it out.. they just released The Guild Recap for Season 3. I knew about this and just got a sneak peek of it yesterday.. so glad the released it so everyone can enjoy it.

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-guild-season-3-recap-auto-tuned/y0d7ilb3?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="'The Guild' Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned">Video: 'The Guild' Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned</a>

Final Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day 15

After a few weeks off the Guild gang get's back together for one final shoot day. I was there with my trusty netbook and microphone getting some very cool interviews. Once again I can't say much about this shoot.. but it was a ton of fun and very interesting on how it was shot. Got to meet someone I didn't expect and it was great. I'll talk more about this day on the Knights of the Guild podcast.. so stay tuned.

The Goonies 25th Anniversary

25 years ago today I sat in a theater and watch in awe this wonderful movie about kids who were just like me. I was 15 at the time and identified with being a Goonie... I wanted to be part of their group so bad.. I saw this movie several times in the theater, bought books, CD and everything else I could find about The Goonies.

Five years ago the DVD release for the 20th anniversary had the entire cast do a cool video commentary so you got to see them all grown up which was great. They are now going to be releasing a special 25th anniversary blu-ray version, which I'm very excited for. It's going to have updated interviews and some more cool BTS stuff.

There have been rumors of a sequel going around for years and years. I would love to see these kids as adults with their own kids who are now the goonies but if we never see it I'll be content with watching one of my most favorite childhood movie.. The Goonies

Goonies Never Say Die!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Official Trailer)

This looks AWESOME!!!! I am so excited for this movie or should I say movies as these are clips from both parts. November can't get here soon enough.

When You're Down

I'm sure you all have these things.. you know a song, TV show, or movie that you can watch/listen and it instantly lifts your spirits. Of course anything Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter can put a smile on my face but I want to share a few specific things that just make me happy.

First of all the Harry Potter novels on CD read by Jim Dale. I have all seven books on CD (I also have all seven British version ready by Stephen Fry) and I have listened to them so many times I have lost count. I recently just started over again with book 1 The Sorcerer's Stone. I don't know what it is about those books or Jim Dale reading them but man I listen for five minutes and it can turn any bad day good. It lifts my spirits and puts a smile on my face. I used these alot at work during the my final few weeks when things were really bad. I would take a lunch and my ipod and get lost in the world of Harry Potter. I would come back refreshed and ready for rest of the day.

There are so several movies that just make me happy. I watched two of them today.. They aren't part of my core groups of genre things I love but I love them just the same. I don't want to call them "Gay" movies as they are just movies that happen to have gay characters as the main characters. First one is Big Eden about Henry Hart, a successful gay artist from New York City who returns to his Montana hometown to care for his ailing grandfather. While at home, Henry is forced to confront his unresolved feelings for high school friend Dean Stewart, while simultaneously beginning to fall in love with Pike Dexter, the shy Native American owner of the town's general store. It's a sweet movie set in a very unrealistic world where everyone in this small town has no issue with homosexuals, they all encourage it and accept it. It's a fantasy world but man I would love to live in that world. That's one of the appeals of this movie for me. It's a sweet love story and always leaves me feeling happy.

The other movie I watched today was Guys and Balls, this is a German film that Harry and I watched in the theater and loved it. It's about Ecki a young man who works in a bakery in Dortmund and plays soccer on his local team. Already under pressure for playing badly, his homophobic team-members find out that he is gay and throw him off the team. With the help of his sister and a cranky former soccer star, he forms an all-gay soccer team to challenge his old team in a grudge match. Besides the main actor being adorable the story is fun and sweet and the supporting cast are funny and endearing. This is a little guy beating the big homophobic guys and it just makes me happy.

Life can be difficult at times I'm just happy I have stuff like this that can pull me up when I'm feeling low.. What makes you happy?