Saturday, April 2, 2011

Quidditch Western Cup Regionals - Day 1

I had the honor of attending the International Quidditch Association Western Cup Regionals today. This is a two day event and I plan to attend both days. I knew that there were folks out there playing Quidditch but hadn't heard about the IQA organization until late last year when I heard about the Quidditch World Cup in New York. It was too late to make plans to attend so when I heard they were doing smaller cups through out the country and that one was going to be in Los Angeles this weekend I had to attend.

If you know me at all you know I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan and to have an opportunity to watch an actual Quidditch game being played live was extremely special to me.

So I got to the park at 10:08am, figuring that I missed some of the opening ceremony as it was suppose to began at 10am. Well when I got there they were behind and the actually opening ceremonies didn't start until around 11:15am. So I got to watch the various teams practice and warm up.

For those who are unfamiliar with Quidditch, it's the fictional game played in the Harry Potter world. But this is Muggle Quidditch of course. There are seven people on a team. 3 Catchers who take the Quaffel (largest ball) and throw it through hoops on either side of the field. There are 2 Beaters who throw dodge balls at the opposing team, knocking them out and making them have to run back to their goal post and touch it before they can get back in the game. 1 Keeper, they are the ones that guard the three hoops and 1 Seeker, there job is to catch the snitch and once the snitch is caught the game ends. Now the snitch is a small gold ball in the books and movies but in Muggle Quidditch it's actually a person who runs all over the place with a tennis ball hanging from their backside. Oh and though in the books and movies they do all this while flying on brooms, with Muggle Quidditch it's done on the ground but they still carry the brooms between their legs. 

They had two "pitches" set up, one right next to the other and had seats on both sides, so in theory you could watch both games at the same time. I had watched various videos of Quidditch on YouTube but that doesn't prepare you for the physical aspect of the game.  These men and woman have no pads and run with brooms between their legs. They tackle, grab and jump all over each other and the throw dodge balls at each other. Luckily other then scraps, bruises and sprains there were only two major incidents where members of the same team collided head first and one of them cracked his head open and was taken to the hospital for stitches.

The first two games I watched was just crazy. There was so much going on it was just chaos but once I figured out that you really should only watch the game right in front of you then it got better. They had four games before lunch, during lunch I went to the booths to check out what merchandise they had. I purchased two IQA shirts, one with the IQA logo and one for the event I was watching Western Cup. I also made a donation/raffle for the Harry Potter Alliance.

After lunch I sat on the opposite side of the field, watched four more games before they took a break and had Kid Quidditch and all they kids attending got to play a game of Quidditch. That was alot of fun and these little kids had one of the closest scoring games of the night. As they set up for the final game I went over to the booths again and purchased a homemade brownie and some licorice wands.

Watched four more games and then the Harry Potter Alliance had their raffle and I won, could have gotten an Elder Wand but I was third to win and the first winner picked the wand but I did get a really cool Harry Potter T-shirt.

After that there were two more games and as the sun set day one was over.

I LOVED every minute it. The person who was suppose to join me couldn't make it so I was there by myself but I still didn't damper my excitement for the day. I debated on leaving half way through because I do have a lot of things to do at home but I asked myself, how often do I get to attend Quidditch matches.. so I stayed the entire time 10am to 7pm. The crowds were light in the morning (mostly family members or collage students), but as the day went on the crowds got bigger and then again started to thin out as the day ended.

The collages participating in this even were Arizona State University, Emerson Collage, Moorpark Collage, Occidental College, San Jose State Collage, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC and Utah's Rocky Mountain Ridgebacks. And there was one team that wasn't from a collage Silicon Valley Skrewts. And about mid day through the event a team from San Diego showed up but I couldn't tell if they were from San Diego State or San Diego community collage.

You can check out all my picture (130) HERE on  on my Facebook page (you don't have to have facebook to view) and I took about four hours of video and will edited it up a bit and post it here on my blog in the coming days.

Friday, April 1, 2011

The Aurors (Harry Potter TV Series)

One thing I do love about April Fools Day are the very cool but not real stories that pop up on the internet.

This one is my favorite.. I would so love to see a TV series about the world of Harry Potter.


MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 5

Download from itunes http://tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes or listen /direct download http://bit.ly/eXCRxT

Show Notes

Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House Podcast and special guest host Harry Dauz discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Here it is... Episode #5 - The Moose


Directed by Hy Averback
Written by Laurence Marks Production code J305
Original air date October 15, 1972


Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s


Sergeant Baker stops by the 4077th with his "moose"; a Korean girl named Young-Hi, whom he "bought" from her family for $500.00. Hawkeye Pierce is outraged and tries to convince Baker to let the girl go free. Eventually, he plays poker with Baker (and cheats with a little help from Radar.) Baker agrees to trade Young-Hi for the debt he runs up. However, he explains to Young-Hi that she now belongs to Hawkeye, rather than that she is free (as was Pierce's intent). Pierce first attempts to get rid of Young-Hi by sending her on a truck to Seoul, but she gets off when the truck stops for gas and hitchhikes back to the 4077th.


Eventually Pierce, Jones and McIntyre decide to "demoosify" Young-Hi and teach her how to be a normal person. They soon meet the head of Young-Hi's family, and discover that he is Young-Hi's little brother Benny and that he immediately plans to sell her again. Initially, Young-Hi agrees with Benny out of loyalty to her family but then returns, having told Benny to "shove off". In the end, Young-Hi is enrolled in convent school in Seoul. In the last scene of the episode, Pierce, McIntyre and Spearchucker Jones receive a letter from her.


Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds, Al & Harry


Find Us on the Web:


Main website - http://MASH4077Podcast.com
Twitter - @MASH4077Podcast
Facebook Fan Page - http://www.facebook.com/MASH4077Podcast
MASH 4077 Podcast Blog - http://www.MASH4077Podcast.blogspot.com
Email Us - MASH4077Podcast@Gmail.com

Thursday, March 31, 2011

This Weekends Quidditch Details

Here's more info about this weekends upcoming Quidditch Western Cup Championship.

I plan on attending both days Saturday and Sunday.. so if you stop on by give me a ring (if you don't have my number email me Geekyfanboy@gmail.com and I'll give it to you.)

April 2-3, 2011 • Cheviot Hills Park - Los Angeles, CA

Transportation: Parking is free at the park, the areas surrounding the park have meters. Limited ferry service may be available.
   


Merchandise: Shirts and posters will be sold (images coming soon). Whimsic Alley will also sell merchandise at the event. 

Gourmet food: trucks will be present on site offering a wide range of food for sale.
   
Entertainers: The Remus Lupins will be the headlining show.
   
Western Cup Map Schedule

Saturday

10-10:30 Opening Ceremony
10:30-12:15 Quidditch Play
12:15-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:30 Entertainment Break
1:30-2:50 Quidditch Play
2:50-3:20 Entertainment Break
3:20-5:05 Quidditch Play
5:05-5:50 Dinner
5:50-7:00 Quidditch Play
7:30 Wizard Rock Concert

Sunday

10:00-11:10 Quidditch Play
11:10-11:40 Entertainment
11:40-12:25 Quidditch Play
12:25-1:10 Lunch
1:10-2:10 Quidditch Play
2:10-2:40 Entertainment
3:05-4:40 Elimination Bracket
4:20-4:50 Final
4:50-5:20 Awards Ceremony

Attending Teams

Arizona State University
Emerson College
Moorpark College
Occidental College
San Jose State University
Silicon Valley Skrewts
UC Berkeley
UCLA
USC
Utah's Rocky Mountain Ridgebacks

International Quidditch Association http://www.internationalquidditch.org/index.html

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

"Real" Quidditch this Weekend

I found out today that the Western Division of the IQA (International Quidditch Association)  is playing this weekend in Los Angeles. USC, UCLA, San Jose State, Arizona State University,and UC Berkeley are going to be participating in this two day event..  I was bummed when I missed the Quidditch World Cup in New York last year so there is no way I'm not going to make this.. not sure if I'll go both days but I will be spending some of my time this weekend watching a live Quidditch match.. I can't wait!!!

Here's a video of the UCLA Quidditch team


Stay tuned for additional blogs, pictures and video of this event this weekend.


Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Working from Home

Today my job allowed me to work from home. It hit me last week that most of my work, at least for the time being, happens via the internet, or creating calendars or graphs but it's thing that can be done from home so I asked if it was possible for me to work from home a few days a week. That way it would save my 8 hours of commute (2 hours up and back x2) and about $60 dollars in gas as I'm filling up my tank every third day and spending about $180 a week in gas alone.

Well they agreed and I opted to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday and telecommute (work from home) Tuesday and Thursdays. And today was my first day doing so and I think it was a success. I got up around 8:30am (normally at 7am), starting checking emails and such at 10am and had a very prosperous day. Also when worked ended at 7pm I was home already (normally get in around 8:30/9pm) With the extra time I got some work down around the house.. it was a win win for everyone.

Now I'll go in to work tomorrow and see how everyone handled me not being there.. I think everything will be fine since I got no calls today.  And what is cool is I get to do this all over again on Thursday. :)

Knights of the Guild Ep. 27

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/KotGCast, or get a direct download / listen http://bit.ly/2CrYxk
 
Today’s show features:
  • * Knights of the Guild theme song by Matthew Gehrett http://www.matthewgehrett.com/
  • * What the Crew is up too.
  • * Listener Feedback
  • * Trivia (new segment)
  • * Donations
  • * Fan Interview with Aaron Trahan
  • * Guild Something with Sean and Brian
  • * How to find us on the Web.. aka Business Time
Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Monday, March 28, 2011

100 Facts About Me 51 - 60

Took the weekend off but here are more of my 100 Facts about me.

51. I'm a very empathic person.
52.Would rather be poor & happy then rich & unhappy.
53. I'm an HGTV junkie, can't get enough of those shows.
54. I've been blogging for almost 10 years.
55. I love to dance, not saying I'm good, but it's tons of fun.
56. I'd rather live in the country/woods/mountains then in a big city.
57. I have a difficult time accepting compliments.
58. I'm a nice guy and normally finish last.
59. Loved the Star Wars prequels, not as much as the original trilogy but still very enjoyable.
60. In High School I had a Pompadour-Mullet.. yeah I was that cool :)

Photo proof..

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Podcasts and TV

Today Harry and I along with our friends Al, Joyce and Simon (Meds) recorded the next four episodes in our MASH 4077 Podcast. We recorded comments on Season 1 Episodes 9 - 12. Had a great time, as we always do. This was Harry's second time recording and Joyce's first. I really liked getting Joyce's perspective on MASH as I've always felt it was geared more towards a male demographics.  We had a few technical issues which will make editing these a bit more challenging but over all I think these four episodes were lots of fun.

After that I caught up on some TV, had a bunch of TV from the past few weeks that I haven't had time to watch.

Then finished editing my next Knights of the Guild podcast. I had been waiting for the Guild Something segment from Sean and Brian and they emailed to me this morning. So I did my final touches on that episode, outputted, converted and uploaded. Also built the show note page and doubled checked on my next MASH 4077 Podcast coming out in a few days as well.

After getting both podcasts ready to be released I went and caught up on V. I'm four episodes behind and managed to watch 2 of them. I know there are folks out there how hate this new version of V but I for one am not one of them. I've enjoyed every episode and I can't wait to see how season two ends and hope they are picked up for a season 3.

So that was basically my Sunday.. podcasts and TV.. good times.