Visiting Hogsmeade With Friends!!!

Thanks for the collage Leo

After working out I headed once again to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood. Like last weekend they were having another soft opening (technical rehearsal). Joining me for this adventure were friends and fellow NerdStronger Lauren and Leo, this would be both of their first time. Lauren and I arrived first and Leo joined us a short time later.

We started at the beginning and went through everything, all the shops, both rides, Olivanders and enjoyed some tasty vittles at The Three Broomsticks. I love experiencing anything with a first timers. I remember the first time I stepped foot in the Florida Wizarding World and it was so magical.. but I was alone so I didn't get to share the experience with anyone. So I was so happy to be there with these ladies and experience Hogsmeade for the first time through their eyes. Both are huge Potter fans so we had a blast.

Both Leo and Lauren purchased interactive wands and then went around and worked their magic with the interactive windows. That was pretty fun. I still have to pick up an interactive wand on a future visit. I mean I have like nine or ten wands at home but none of them are interactive and when I visited Wizarding World in Florida they didn't have these interactive windows and wands.

We ended our day with the ladies trying Butterbeer for the first time. Lauren with the frozen (which is my favorite) and Leo went with cold (which is also very tasty).

The Real O'Neals

Tonight I watched the first two episode of the a new comedy called The Real O'Neils, if you've never heard of it.. here's a quick synopsis: The close-knit, Chicago-based O'Neals seem to be the perfect Catholic family, but when surprising truths come to light, some lives take an unexpected turn. Eileen, Pat, Kenny, Jimmy, Shannon and Jodi decide to let the honesty ring in a new, less tidy chapter of their story, where they all drop their carefully honed facades and discover the unexpected freedom that accompanies just acting real. Instead of being torn apart, the O'Neals find that their newfound way of life actually brings them closer together.

I enjoyed the commercials so I figured I'd give this show a shot and I'm glad I did. Yes there are some stereotypical "gay" troupes in it,  but what I really liked about these first two episodes is how funny they were. I actually liked episode two better then one. There were several laugh out loud moments but it also had so much heart. I like that the main actor who plays Kenny (great name btw) is actually gay in real life. I'm loving the older brother and his relationship with Kenny.

I don't watch many sitcoms these days but I'm glad I added this one to my weekly viewing. Aside from some lame stereotypical jokes this series has potential of becoming something very special. 

NerdStrong Gym - The Past Week

I got a full week of workout in this week, Saturday CON, Sunday TEAM, Tuesday DEX, Wednesday CON and Thursday STG.

For Saturdays class we continued our Night of the Zombie King DnD campaign. I missed chapter three last week (see blog) so I was looking forward to chapter four and I have to say it didn't disappoint. We did 5 rounds of 25x Air Squats, 20x 1-Arm Club Swing to Guard, 20x Push Ups and then 460 Meter Run with Club (that's two times around the parking lot).

Every five minutes Darkmoon (Resurrected Dragon) would attack, if her tail hit us (rolled 1-6) we had to do 20x Glute Bridge, if we were racked by her claw (7-12) we had to do 40 Bicycles. If she bite us (13-18) we did 30 Mountain Climbers and if she used her Necrotic Breath (19-20) we had to do 10 Burpees.

When we finished the five rounds you then had to attack Darkmoon, we knew our weapons were useless so we had to do shield bashers (weighted lunge) and crush her bones. As a group we had to do 360 of these to defeat her. It was a tough workout but in the end we defeated her and move on to our final battle (which will happen next week).

For Sunday's TEAM workout Ultron was resurrected, this has to be the toughest workout that the coaches have ever come up with.. if it's not the toughest its the longest one so that nobody will ever be able to complete it in the time allotted.

It starts off easy.. 10x High Knees and then a mandatory :30 second break.. piece of cake.. Ultron Prime is defeated.  Next was version 1, 15x High Knees and 5x Squats. Again not to bad, feeling good and defeated version 1 and moved on to version 2, 20x High Knees, 10x Squats and 5x Lunges. Version 2 went down pretty easily and I'm thinking.... this isn't so bad I should be able to get to version 14. Well version 3 attacked with 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges and 5x Push Ups. Okay I'm starting to feel it but still going strong and move on to version 4. Version 4 is a bit worse with 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups and 5x Sit Ups. Still feeling good so I move on to version 5 ready for the fight.. version 5 had 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups and a :10 second Plank. Yeah now I'm defiantly feeling it, I struggle a bit but still defeat version 5. Next up version 6, 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups, :20 second Plank and 10x Bicycles.

It's tough but I manage to defeat version 6 and move on to version 7, 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups, :30 second Plank, 15x Bicycles and a 70 meter run. The run was actually nice as it was cool outside and felt great on my face. Once back from the run version 8 attacked with 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups, :30 second Plank, 20x Bicycles, a 140 meter run and 5x Dumbbell Presses. At this point you're on auto pilot hoping not to crash.. so I moved on to version 9, which was 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups, :30 second Plank, 30x Bicycles, a 140 meter run, 10x Dumbbell Presses and 5x Pull Ups. Once I defeated version 9 and moved on to battle version 10, 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups, :30 second Plank, 30x Bicycles, a 140 meter run, 15x Dumbbell Presses and 10x Pull Ups and 5x Kettlebell High Pulls. I then moved on to version 11 which was 20x High Knees, 15x Squats, 10x Lunges, 10x Push Ups, 10x Sit Ups, :30 second Plank, 30x Bicycles, a 140 meter run, 15x Dumbbell Presses and 10x Pull Ups, 10x Kettlebell High Pulls and 5x Slamballs.

I only got through half of version 11 before time ran out on me.. but I am happy to say this is the furthest I've gotten on this workout.. so I'm very happy with my performance today. As you can see this is a very tough workout.. it's what they call a chipper.. you just keep going until time runs out or you die.. which ever one comes first.

For Tuesday DEX day it started off with the Agility Ladder, now I like this ladder though some of the movement make me few very uncoordinated. After that we moved on to 5 rounds of 10x Cossack Squat and 14x Kettlebell Deadlift. We then did 5 rounds of Team Sprint Relays, were we had to sprint 140 meters and back over and over again. The first few I sprinted hard but the last few I just ran. We finished the workout with a 12 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) 10x Sprawl, 10x Jump Squats and 10x Diamond Push Ups. It was a tough workout but fun.

Wednesday's CON day started with a nice warm up before moving onto a team workout. We groups up into teams of 2 and 3, we had to do 15 rounds of a 20 second Row at 100 meters per second, then 15x Kettlebell Swings, 10 Strict Push Ups, and finally 10x Split Lunge with Sandbell before doing it all over again. So person one would start with the row while the others waited, once the first rower was done they moved on to the kettlebell swings and the 2nd person rowed and so on until we just kept rotating trying to get the 15 rounds done. It was a good workout, though I hate rowing. I feel like I have such a disadvantage in rowing since I don't have long legs so I have to pull harder and faster to met my goals.

Thursday's Strength day started with alot of hip stretching. We then moved on to Dual Kettlebell Clean and Press. We had to do a 10 EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) within in that minute we had to do 2x KB Clean and Press. Most of use were partnered up so you'd go on the minute while your partner would go on the :30 mark. It doesn't look like much before doing this every minute for 10 minutes straight can be tough.

Next we did 10x10 Front Squats, we had to pick a weight that we could do 10 times in a row for 10 reps. I don't recall my weight but it wasn't to heavy, probably 50% of my one rep max.

We ended this workout with a new floor stretch work on our legs and hips.

It was a nice work of workouts, now if I could only eat as well as I workout.. I'd be golden.

Drunk Tweeting!!!

So I woke up this morning with a slight headache.. luckily for me I don't get bad hangovers after a night of spirits... I then checked my twitter and facebook as I do after waking up and sure enough I had many people responding to my tweets and facebook posts last night. I remember tweeting (which are also posted to my Facebook) and I also remember asking people to spell check them to make sure they looked good. Well this is what was tweeted...

As you can see they lied when they said the tweets looked good :) I didn't care as everyone got a good laugh out of trying to decipher my gibberish.  I can actually read most of them. Regardless what I learned from last nights shenanigans is to never trust my friends to proofread my tweets ;)

Ghostbuster Trailer, SHIELD Renewed & A Friends Birthday

Today they released the first trailer for the new Ghostbuster movie. I'm not sure if this is a sequel or a reboot or what and after watching the trailer (which I enjoyed) I still don't have a clue.

Woohooo!!! Just got word that ABC has picked up Agents of SHIELD for a 4th season. I'm so excited for this news. I'm loving SHIELD and can't wait for it's return after it's midseason break. You can read more about he renewal HERE.

In the evening after work I went out to celebrate my friend Liz's birthday. She was having friends gather at a local bar called Idle Hour. Lucky for me it's close to my apartment so I was able to drink.. and you can say I got a bit smashed. I had a fantastic time and by the end of the night my friend Jes had to drive me home, though I believe I could have walked they wanted to make sure I got home safely... Thanks guys

Star Wars The Force Awakens Blu-Ray Release Date

Today they announced the release dates and details of Star Wars The Force Awakens DVD and Blu-Ray. It will be released on April 5th.

I can't wait for this.. there looks to be some nice extras.

- Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey – For the first time, discover the complete story behind the making of The Force Awakens, revealed through in-depth footage and exclusive interviews with the actors and filmmakers in this feature documentary

- The Story Awakens: The Table Read – Cast members familiar and new reflect on the memorable day they all first came together to read the movie’s script.

- Building BB-8 – See how the filmmakers brought the newest droid to the screen, creating an instant fan favorite in the Star Wars universe.

- Crafting Creatures – Watch movie magic as the filmmakers bring a cast of new creatures to life.

- Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight – Go deeper into the epic, climactic lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren.

- John Williams: The Seventh Symphony – The legendary composer shares personal insights of his work on Star Wars and The Force Awakens.

- ILM: The Visual Magic of The Force – An insider’s look into the remarkable digital artistry of the movie’s visual effects.

- Force For Change – Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. See how the Star Wars: Force for Change initiative has united Star Wars fans all over the globe to help others.

- Plus Deleted Scenes

They are also released a few store exclusives,

TARGET – The Target Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with exclusive packaging and an added 20 minutes of bonus content, including never-before-seen interviews with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega and a deeper look at the movie’s costumes and weaponry.

WALMART – The Walmart Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with exclusive BB-8 packaging and an exclusive Star Wars Galactic Connexions trading disc.

BEST BUY – The Best Buy Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack features exclusive SteelBook Packaging.

DISNEY STORE – The Disney Store Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with an exclusive lithograph set while supplies last.

So many awesome exclusives but for me I'm huge into all the behind the scenes stuff so I'm going to get the Target exclusive with the extra 20 minutes of behind the scenes. 

Finding Dory Trailer & A New IPhone

I can't wait for this movie..

Today I got my new iPhone 6s Plus. It's been over three years since I had a new phone and my last phone was an iPhone 5. The past six or so month it's been acting up and with the new updated IOS systems I had to stop downloading them as it made my phone very sluggish. So it was time to bit the bullet and get a new phone.

ATT no longer has their two year contacts and are instead letting you make payments on your phone over the coarse of 24 to 36 months. I hate this idea and rather do a two year contract and get a discount or free iphone (though a few models behind). But with this new systems I opted to get the best of the best iphone. The difference between the phone I got 6s Plus and the regular 6 is only a few dollars a month and the 6s has a camera that is leaps and bound over the regular 6 camera. I knew that I wanted a plus as I do alot on my phone and I like the look of the larger screen. I also went with the largest amount of space 128gb. My old 5 had 16gb and I was constantly having to download pictures and remove apps every week to ensure that it ran properly. So I went the largest.. again the price difference between this one and a step down was only a few dollars a week. I haven't really done much with it so far as I'm charging it up but I hope to get a more indepth checking out tomorrow when I head to work.

New MASH Podcast & Finishing Agent Carter

Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast. This is episode 123/124, covering Season 6, Episode 1 & 2 - Fade Out, Fade In

While Margaret is away on her honeymoon, Frank Burns is sent on R&R where he shows signs of having a nervous breakdown. Colonel Potter puts in a request for a replacement surgeon from Tokyo where they are sent a stuffy cutter named Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester. His first day at the 4077th rubs Hawkeye the wrong way as he is pushed aside for the new guy.

You can Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or listen and get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

Tonight I watched the final three episodes of Agent Carter. I was killing me having to wait but sometime life/work gets in the way. First up was S2 Ep 8 "The Edge of Mystery", then S2 Ep 9 "A Little Song and Dance" and then finally S2 Ep 10 "Hollywood Ending"

Let's start with "The Edge of Mystery", Frost tells Wilkes that if he accepts the power of the Zero Matter within him then he will be able to control it. Carter and Sousa meet with Frost, giving her fake uranium in exchange for Wilkes. Frost soon realizes the ruse, and pursues them. Wilkes, learning to control his abilities and change between corporeal and non-corporeal states, turns on Carter, demanding that Sousa reveal the location of the real uranium. Sousa directs him to a vault at the SSR. Ana survives surgery, but loses the ability to have children. Thompson overhears Frost telling Masters to retrieve the uranium, but is incapacitated by Masters. Carter and Sousa join Thompson, and, along with Jarvis and a new gamma cannon courtesy of Stark, travel to the Isodyne atomic testing area. Wilkes is sucked into a rift created by the now armed atomic bomb, but the cannon closes the rift and returns Wilkes, now full of Zero Matter. A revenge-seeking Jarvis shoots Frost, but she survives due to her Zero Matter. Jarvis and Carter are taken hostage by Manfredi's men.

The story is really starting to ramp up.. Ana survives the gun shot but can no longer have children. This shows us a side of Jarvis that we've never seen. He's out for pure revenge. He doesn't care what Peggy says he want's to kill Frost. And when the time comes he doesn't hesitate, pulls out a guy and shots her. Of course she's not human anymore so the bullets don't effect her. You can tell Peggy is in shock and so disappointed in him. Another shocker was Dr. Wilkes turning against Peggy and Sousa, I have to admit that this kind of made me happy since I want Carter to wind up with Sousa and then pretty much sealed the deal.

Then I watched "A Little Song and Dance" Carter and Jarvis escape capture while Thompson and Sousa return to the SSR. Manfredi sets up a new lab for Frost in an abandoned facility, where she begins trying to take all of Wilkes' Zero Matter for herself. Thompson convinces Masters to use the gamma cannon against Frost, then visits Frost, warning her of Masters' treachery and offering to turn on him in exchange for a seat on the Council. Thompson then turns on Carter and Sousa, delaying them, as he actually intends to remote detonate the cannon to kill Frost, Masters, and Wilkes. Thompson turns Masters over to Frost, but the SSR manage to jam his detonator signal before he can detonate the cannon. Carter tries to get Wilkes out of the building, but he refuses to leave knowing what he has become. Thompson holds the others at gunpoint until his signal is un-jammed, though Carter is still unwilling for Wilkes to die. As Frost begins killing Masters, he notices that the cannon is being activated. However, Wilkes finds them then, and unleashes all the Zero Matter from within himself.

This episode had one of the greatest openings of any episode of Carter. It started with a musical number and everyone including Angie from season one was in it. Of course it's revealed to be a dream of Peggy's but it was still pretty awesome. There is this amazing scene between Peggy Carter and Jarvis and you know their friendship is over. She is so upset that he "tried" to kill Whitney. But then he reveals to Peggy that Ana can't have children and Peggy soften, Jarvis explains how he is a coward because he hasn't told his wife that she can't have children yet. The acting is amazing and I say this with ever Agent Carter review.. these two have amazing chemistry. Then we have Thompson who seemed to be going down a dark path but looked to be turning away from it but then does another 180 and looks like he's the bad guy again. And of course we have the end with Wolkes blowing up.. so happy I don't have to wait a week for the finale.

And finally I watched the season finale live "Hollywood Ending" Frost absorbs the Zero Matter released from Wilkes, who is rescued by Carter, as Stark returns and aids in their escape. Thompson finds in Masters' possession a supposedly incriminating file on Carter and a secret Council key. Manfredi becomes concerned with Frost's behavior, and her new obsession with opening another rift, this time with a machine of her own design. He meets with Stark—an old friend of his—and the others, and agrees to distract Frost while Carter and Sousa photograph the blueprints for Frost's machine, which Stark and Wilkes build themselves. They open a new rift, and Frost is drawn to it. They use the gamma cannon to knock the Zero Matter from her, into the other dimension; Frost is left insane from her time controlled by the Zero Matter, and is placed in a mental asylum. Thompson gives the secret key to Carter, who is convinced to stay in Los Angeles to be with Sousa. Thompson prepares to return to New York, but is shot in his hotel room; the shooter takes the file on Carter.

We find out that Thompson isn't such a bad guy after all. He gives Carter the "secret Hydra key" that kind of seals the deal that's he's a good guy. Unfortunately at the end he is shot and the shooter takes the file on Peggy. We are left not knowing if he's alive but from the amount of blood I'd say he's not long for this world. I think it was a little to easy to take down Frost but that didn't take away the enjoyment of everyone teaming up to help fight her. And my favorite part of the episode.. Carter and Sousa finally kissing and I mean kissing hard.. it was amazing.

Overall I loved this season, was it better then season one.. no but I can say it was just as good. Season one was super special and kind of had many different stories but season two was just one huge crazy adventure that ran the entire season. I know the rating haven't been that great for Carter so it's doubtful that we will see a season three but my fingers are crossed. If this is it, if this is the last of Carter I can say that I'm happy with the conclusion. I mean we don't know about Thompson and there are plenty of mysteries still to solve but I felt this finale was satisfying on so many levels.

If you haven't seen any Agent Carter you are really missing out on some very special TV. Definitely check it out.

Wondercon Badges

Wondercon is coming up at the end of March and I've been checking their website every day to see if the "Pro" badge were released. Day after day nothing.. but I figured it had to be soon since the con is coming up. I got busy this week and wasn't able to check like I usually do. Well today I checked and sure enough they were available so I signed up to get my free badge, but when I went to get my two free guest badges they were completely sold out. I found out that they were available the day after I last checked. So it's been a week and though I was able to get a free Professional pass,  all of the guest badges were gone. Also Saturday badges were sold out, which is the only day my brother was able to go this year (he usually gets one of my free guest badges) so I wasn't sure what I was going to do for him but luckily my friend Jes had gotten an extra guest badge and was kind enough to give it to my brother... so we are both covered for Wondercon. It's away and I still have so much work to do on my Jedi Twi lek cosplay. I hope to get it all done before Wondercon but it's looking more and more doubtful as the days pass. Regardless I'm looking forward to the beginning of the con season!!

Visiting Hogsmeade Again!!

After my NerdStrong workout today I cancelled all my plans for so could attend The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood again. I had such an amazing time yesterday I couldn't resist going again today. I put a call out for friends to join me and my buddy Dallas took me up on my offer. I got to the park around noon and made my way to the entrance. Since it's a soft opening "aka technical rehearsal" you never know when they will open or close it. When I checked #Potterwatch at 11am after my workout they said it was open so I was hoping it still was when I approached it and sure enough it was. I entered and once again I got chills, I don't think I'll ever stop getting chills when I enter Hogsmeade. I hung around the entrance as my buddy Dallas was making his way into the park. It was fun to watch people's face's light up when they entered through the Hogsmeade gate. Adults and Children alike it didn't matter, you could tell it was a magical moment.

Dallas got past me somehow but I managed to find him over by Zonkos. The first thing we did was walk the entire park so he could see everything.. as I mentioned in my last blog this only takes a few minutes. We walked through the various shops, experienced Olivanders (neither of us were chosen).  We enjoyed some lunch at The Three Broomsticks where Dallas got the Butterbeer Potted Cream. He allowed me to have a spoonful and  have to say my taste buds went crazy. Now I love all thing Butterbeer but I have to say this was the best Butterbeer flavor thing I had tasted so far. The Frozen Butterbeer is still my favorite drink but this potter cream was AMAZING!!! It took all my will power to only have two bites.

After we ate we headed over to The Forbidden Journey ride, we decided to do the single rider line first just so he could experience the ride and then we'd do the regular line and enjoy the inside of Hogwarts Castle. As we approached the final section of line an employee asked both Dallas and I to sit in the "test" chairs to see if we could fit. There is a harness that comes over you and if you're to large they will not allow you to ride. I told the guy that I had already rode it yesterday and to be honest I was kind of insulted that he though I was to large for the ride. Unfortunately Dallas is not only a tall but large as well and he couldn't fit in the car so we had to exit the ride. I'm sure it was humiliating to Dallas but if you know Dallas he joked it off. When we got back down to the entrance to the ride we saw that they had two chairs there to test and see if you could fit on the ride. When you pull the overhead bar down you have to get a green light.. As much as we pulled and push he was just shy of getting a green light.

We headed over to the other ride "Flight of the Hippogriff" And again Dallas was asked to go over and sit in the their "test" chair to see if he would fit and again he was too large so we weren't able to enjoy that ride as well. I felt bad that he wasn't able to ride either of the two rides in that section of the park. But we did have a great time hanging out at Hogsmeade.