An Unexpected Surprise

So my buddy Andrew Seely joined us for D&D today but I didn't think anything of it as Dallas has had guest players come in now and then. Before we started he said that Andrew had something to say. Then Andrew turned to me and said with a straight face.. Kenny this is an intervention. I had no idea what was going on, suddenly everyone was looking at me. I started to wonder, what do I need an intervention for. It only lasted a second as a smile crossed his face and others started to laugh. He then handed me his iPad. He told me to swipe to open and read the front page. This is what I saw....

Yes a group of my friends got to together and purchased me 2 months of unlimited classes to NerdStrong. If you don't know what NerdStrong is you can check out their website HERE. In short it's a gym for Geeks and Nerds. My buddy Andrew has been trying to get me to go for months now but since funds are low I haven't been able to join him. But my awesome friends care about me and my health so much that they figured this would be a great way to support me in reaching my goals.

Along with this was another page filled with warm wishes and caring words of encouragement from those to contributed. 

I couldn't believe they did this for me. Never in a million years did I think this was going to happen. I know I have bragged about my amazing friends but I can't say it enough, I have some truly wonderful friends.

I want to thank the following who contributed to this amazing gift. I will do you all proud!!!

Thanks to: Aaron Trahan, Robert F. Ludwick,  Dallas Bloom, Erik Nelson, Matthew Kuhns, Thomas Needham, Hayley Smith, Will Gatlin, Adam Levermore, Brett Trusler, Elea Freidman, Jes Reaves, Scott Meisner, Steven Bustamante, Tamar Curry, Jennifer & Matt Luchsinger, and Andrew Seely.

A New Adventure in Pathfinder Begins

Today we started our fifth adventure for our D&D/Pathfinder game. It's been several months since we finished our last adventure and everyone was really looking forward to coming back (well maybe not our DM Dallas :) Unfortunately we were missing several key players who couldn't join us for this session but we did our best to survive.

Will's character Ginnion went missing (he was one who couldn't join us) and we went off to find him. Of course we start looking in a red light district, as Ginnion is very much a player. Our DM Dallas purchased some new game mats that were pretty epic. Of course my character Dash tries to be helpful and sneak around a building by himself to flank an enemy but is attacked by a goblin who stabs him in the back from 18 points of damage. Of course Dash yells out in pain and alerts the quiet town that we are there and suddenly we are in battle. Luckily I have a new spell called Dimension Portal that allows me to transport a short distance as my yell drew several "bad guys" to my position and since I was alone there was no around to help me.

Dash spent most of the battle on top of a roof casting some new and exciting fire spells. I love that my character is now level 7 as it gives me access to some very powerful spells that if I roll right can do some major damage.

After we defeated all the bad guys we found Ginnion and headed to met up with the Elfs. When we got to their camp we found nothing but dead bodies. Across the bridge we see two orcs on their mounts and then suddenly four giant bridge trolls come from under the bridge and attack.

It was a tough battle as these trolls could take a beating. I managed to put one of the trolls under a spell that prevented him from attacking us. Unfortunately one of my traveling companions casted a spell that kind of backfired and caused my little pony Bill to be enchanted and start attacking a troll. This would be certain doom for my pony. Which sent me Kenny into a little fit as the last time, when we were being attacked by giant bears my little pony was the only one killed and again it looked like Dallas was going to kill my little pony again. I was not a happy camper and a bit whiny so Dallas relented and spared my pony. I do feel bad for acting like a douche but it did bummed me out that my pony was going to die twice while everyone else horses and ponies were fine.

Anyways as I said it was a tough battle and when we finally defeated the trolls we were quite done as we didn't realize that trolls regenerate and several of them came back to life and we had to fight time again and this time we burned the bodies.

We debated on if we should camp which Dash desperately needed to do as he was out of spells, but our second in commend Phlig decided to move forward and look for a safer spot which we never found and instead came upon a hoard of giants and the orc army who were flinging men/dwarves to their death and one of those Dwarves was our companion Borin (the other person who was unable to join us). And this is how the session ended...dun dun dun....

Good stuff... Thanks Dallas once again for going through all this work and for continuing to DM our games. I look forward to each one every few weeks and I'm glad we are back again.. can't wait to see what happens next.

Happy Birthday Thomas

Today is the birthday of my favorite Irishman Thomas. We met while I was working The Guild booth at San Diego Comic Con many years ago. We kind of just hit it off, there are those rare occasions when you meet another human being and it feels like you've known them you're entire life, the friendship is just meant to be.

So ever year when he would return to California for SDCC he'd do a few weeks here in LA before or after the con and our friendship continued to grow. I've enjoyed our long hikes when we would talk everything from our favorite TV shows to our unfortunate love lives.  He's also one of those rare friends that I can sit in a room and not say a word to for hours, with no awkwardness and just enjoy each others company.

Last year I was fortunate enough to travel to Ireland and hang out with him for 10 days while we (including my best bud Robert) traveled around the entire island seeing so many amazing sites. While I was there Thomas and I started to do a rewatch of Xena (my first time, but a rewatch for him), and we promised to only watch it together so when he came for a visit for SDCC last year we watch a few more episodes... at the rate were going it's going to take ten years to finish the series but it's fun to experience this series with him. Anyways I've babbled on long enough. I wanna wish him a very Happy Birthday and I can't wait for our next visit, be it here in the US (which is more likely) or there in Ireland (which I would love). HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!

Below 200

So I'm going to start blogging about my weight lose again. I think it actually helps me to stay on track when I publicly put it out there about how much I weight. I know that if I gain weight everyone (well my blog readers) will know and in a way that stops me from eating that extra piece of "insert carb filled tasty food here".

I'm going to officially weight myself every Saturday after my morning jog. Today I weighted in at 197.5 I have finally fell below 200, which I did as well during this time last year (came in at 199) but then went on my dream vacation and gained 6 pounds, got back from that and had a hard time finding work and put on another 14 lbs before hitting my heaviest weight ever coming in at a whopping 219.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know three months ago I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic. I have worked hard those past three months to lose weight and I have to say that all my effort has paid off. I went from 219 to 197.5 in 95 days, that's a lose of 21.5 pounds.

I've set my next goal for the end of February and I want to get below 195, If I keep up with my half a pound lose every few days I shouldn't have a problem hitting that goal. My ultimate goal is to get down to a solid 160. I know it won't happen over night as I still have 37.5 pounds to lose but I'm more motivate then I have ever been.

I'm still struggling with my eating but my morning jog has become habit, so half the battle if won.. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and continued support.

Uplifting Videos, Powder, Who Rings & Portal Tattoos

I've been kind of down the past few days from all the negative in the world, from you tube comments to anti-gay attacks on marriage to so much hatein the news.. My soul needed a boost so I spent some time watching mostly Ellen clips on You Tube. Ellen loves surprising people with gifts or money or other things that just make your heart smile. You watch one video and it leads to another which leads to another and the next you know you it's been three hours, but I was feeling better.

While I was spring cleaning today I popped in a movie that just lifts my spirits no matter how down I am.. it also makes me ball like a baby every time I watch it.. the movie is called Powder. I blogged about this movie last year, it's one of my all time favorites and you can read my thoughts on it HERE.

I came across this picture on Facebook and wanted to share it with you guys. These are custom made Doctor Who wedding rings. I wasn't sure who made them so I did a bit a digging and came across the Etsy store who sells them. The male ring is only $55, if I had the funds I'd snap one of these up in a heartbeat. Even the wedding rings(pictured) are cheap costing only $150 for the set.

The other picture that I wanted to share with you is this cool tattoo, actually two cool tattoos. My buddy Robert and I have been talking about getting a "joint" tattoo. Something that we both love that could represent our friendship. When I saw this tattoo I thought it would be a cool "joint" tattoo, but neither of us are huge Portal fans so it won't work for us but I still think it's pretty cool.

Baby Groot & Supergirl

Today I got a surprise in the mail. My buddy Erik knows that I collect certain Pop! figures and he found one that I have been looking forward to getting since I heard they were going to release it. It's part of the Guardians of the Galaxy series, it's baby Groot in a pot. I have the "regular" Groot (thanks to my friend Aaron) so now I have both of them.

In geek news they announced the actress who will be playing Supergirl in the upcoming CBS TV series. Her name is Melissa Benoist, this series will be telling the story of Kara Zor-el, who escaped the destruction of her home planet before arriving on Earth, the show will deal with the 24-year-old Supergirl as she begins to embrace the powers our yellow sun provides her and gradually becomes the hero she’s destined to be.  

I'm unaware of this actress but she played Marley Rose on Glee and currently is in the movie Whiplash. This series is still in the early development stage but I'm hoping for good things.

Babylon 5 In The Beginning

Almost forgot about TV night with my buddy Robert. We are continuing our first time viewing of Babylon 5. We finished the series off last week but there are still several TV movies and a spin off series that we plan to watch. So tonight we watched the TV movie "In the Beginning" Emperor Londo Mollari tells the story of the Earth-Minbari war that almost destroyed Humanity and later inspired its last best hope for peace.

I enjoyed this "sort of" prequel to the series. We got to see quite a few of the "regular" characters from the series. It was fun to see the Minbari Delenn that we only saw in the first season. I found it odd that Sheridan, The Doctor and G'Kar met before Babylon 5 but it didn't bother me much. It was cool seeing stuff that we had only heard about throughout the seasons. I liked how they tied the entire story into an episode from season 4 with an older Londo telling the story to some kids. As we know from the episodes he is going to be killed by G'Kar later that day.

I look forward to seeing more of the TV movies, I hope they are all just as fun and interesting as this one.

Looking, Rebels & Call the Midwife

First thing I did after my job this morning shave, not only my beard but my head. I didn't go completely bald but left a very short stubble. I just felt like I needed a change and that's one great thing about beards is that when you shave them off it really does give you a completely different look. Now I don't know if I'm going to keep the beard off, but for now I'll enjoy the look.

Watched some TV today, I started with HBO's Looking S2 Ep2, "Looking for Results" After reminiscing over their childhood obsessions, Patrick and Kevin decide to develop a gay game app on the side, but Patrick soon descends into a panic spiral when he discovers a small rash. Dom scopes out a location in the Tenderloin for a peri peri chicken take-out window; Doris is chatted up by a cute political aide; and Agustin makes plans to meet up with Eddie, the "bear" he met at Russian River, but gets sidetracked by an old co-worker.

I wasn't a fan of last weeks episode and again I have to say there is something that I'm just not liking about this season so far. I feel as though they have fallen into the "gay" stereotype stories and I don't like it. I mean season one had some storylines but I felt the stories were everyday life in San Fransisco. Now it feels forced and it making me not like the characters. This happen with Queer as Folk (the US version). I watched the first few seasons and then it got way over the top and so unrealistic that I lost interest. Hopefully things will change with future episodes.

Then I watched Star Wars Rebels S1 Ep10 "Idiot's Array" The wrong gamble with a new acquaintance forces the crew into transporting some unusual cargo.

I enjoyed this episode, they introduced a younger Lando Calrissian who is just as much of a con artist as he was in Empire. I keep comparing this series to Clone Wars and I really need to stop doing that. I enjoy Rebels, but not as much as Clone Wars, at least not at this moment. I mean they are only 10 episodes in but it's still fun to watch new Star Wars on TV every week (or when there is a new episode).

And then I watched the return of Call the Midwife S4 Ep1. Whilst Sister Evangelina has health problems she grudgingly comes to admire Barbara Gilbert, replacement for Cynthia, for her tireless work with a new mother. Tom proposes to Trixie whilst the other nurses are concerned for the Teemans, a family of young children living in squalor, whose mother appears to have abandoned them and who are being raised by ten-year old Gary. When Gary is arrested for shop-lifting the nurses swing into action.

I can't tell you how much I love this series. This is the first season without the main character Jenny, though this isn't the first episode as we had gotten the Christmas special last year. But it works, they are focusing on the other nurses and giving them more screen time. The story with the young boy Gary just tugged at my heartstrings. I felt so bad for him as he was doing the best he could with what life had given him. We learn a bit more of Trixie's backstory and we are introduced to a new nurse. I do hope that we see Cynthia again (as she's off becoming a Nun) and then Chummy left at the beginning of this episode and I don't know if she'll be returning anytime soon. If you're not watching this then you're missing out on a really good series (btw the first three seasons are on Netflix). 

Gotham, Flash & FaceOff

Gotham S1 Ep12 "What the Little Bird Told Him" Jack Gruber and Aaron Helzinger escape from Arkham Asylum and are on a rampage through Gotham. James Gordon promises the Commissioner he will arrest Gruber within 24 hours and he is reinstated as a detective for that time. Fish Mooney makes her move against Falcone and "abducts" Liza. Falcone confronts Mooney and Liza at the former's club, and strangles Liza to death. Victor Zsaz and several mercenaries working for Falcone then take both Mooney and Butch Gilzean prisoner, while the Don gives Cobblepot a chance to mock his former boss, as he has inherited her nightclub as well as what is left of her gang.

Another good episode of Gotham, I'm really surprised at how much I'm enjoying this series. When it first started I didn't see how I was going to like any of these characters other then Gordan but they have proven me wrong. My favorite character by far is Penguin, he's playing every side and winning. And then there is Harvey Bullock who I HATED with a passion at the beginning but man the past three or four episodes his character is really starting to grow on me. I'm liking his friendship with Gordan more and more. And I'm happy to say that Gotham was picked up for a second season.. so we have plenty of more Gotham to enjoy... woot!! 

Flash S1 Ep10 "Revenge of the Rogues" As Barry works on improving his speed through various training exercises, Leonard Snart returns to Central City with the freeze gun and a new partner, Mick Rory, to set a trap for the Flash. Cisco and Barry realize that if they can get Snart and Rory to cross the streams of their respective weapons it will cancel out the effects. The Flash meets Snart and Rory in the middle of a city for a showdown, exposing himself to the media. While in transport to Iron Heights Prison, Snart and Rory are broken out by Snart's sister.

This was a very "comic bookish" type of episode. I was watching this with my buddy Erik and he kept saying that it felt like the old 60's Batman series, he felt the dialogue and acting were over the top. I agree that the dialogue was a bit comic bookish, especially by the bad guys and all their freeze and fire puns. But I enjoyed the episode overall. The Flash is now known to the public. This is going to change the series (or at least it better).

FaceOff S8 Eps 1&2 If you don't know what FaceOff is here's a brief description; Face Off is a competition/elimination series exploring the world of special-effects make-up artists and the unlimited imagination which allows them to create amazing works of living art.

Last week season eight of FaceOff premiered but it was a two-parter so tonight we (Erik and I ) watched the second half. This season is different then the previous seven. They brought back three former champions and each champion has a five person team. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like this since the champions help their team out but the way they have done it works and it's extremely entertaining. I'm looking forward to this season of FaceOff.

American Sniper, Dragon 2 & Unbroken - My Thoughts

After my doctors appointment my buddy Brett came over to hang out and watch some PGA screeners with me. We started with American Sniper. Here's a quick synopsis: Chris Kyle was nothing more than a Texan man who wanted to become a cowboy, but in his thirties he found out that maybe his life needed something different, something where he could express his real talent, something that could help America in its fight against terrorism. So he joined the SEALs in order to become a sniper. After marrying, Kyle and the other members of the team are called for their first tour of Iraq. Kyle's struggle isn't with his missions, but about his relationship with the reality of the war and, once returned at home, how he manages to handle it with his urban life, his wife and kids.

I enjoyed this movie but I did have a hard time identifying with the main character. Though I would never consider joining the military I do understand the reasoning behind those who do and appreciate each and every one of them. What I don't understand with this character and others like him, is continuing to do tours. The first one I get, but after his first tour he has a wife and child and he goes back again and again and again while his family is left alone and his wife is left to raise their two kids as a single mother. This is different then a person who's in the Military for life as their family moves around with them from base to base. This guy claims he was protecting his family by doing these tours and I think that's the part I don't get. How can you protect your family when you are gone nine months out of the year, thousands of miles away. Anyways it was a very tense and suspenseful movie. ::spoilers:: I didn't know the real story so when the title card came up at the end of the movie and informed the viewers that Chris was killed by a vet he was trying to help, it kind of put a dampener on the movie for me. But I give American Sniper an B

Next we watched How to Train Your Dragon 2. Here's a quick synopsis: It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

I really enjoyed the first Dragon movie so I was looking forward to seeing this. I even was hoping to see it in the theaters but never found the time to go. The second one was just as good as the first. I liked the story and the character growth over the five years. There's really not much to say.. if you enjoyed the first movie then you'll enjoy this movie. I give How to Train Your Dragon 2 a solid B+

And our final movie of the day was Unbroken. Here's a quick synopsis: After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

I've been looking forward to seeing this one and it did not disappoint. You watch this movie and keep asking yourself.. is this really based on a true story, man this guy went through hell and survived. Some of the scenes are so hard to watch and you feel so much hatred and anger towards his captures (well the main "bad" guy) that you just want someone to kill him. This movie is all about the human sprint. The main character had some much of it, you could beat him down and take everything away from him but he wasn't going to let them win.. he persevered and won in the end. It's an pretty amazing movie.. I give Unbroken a solid A

My 90 Day Check Up

It's been 90 days since I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic. My doctor gave me 90 days to try and bring my sugar (A1C) levels down. I took this seriously as I don't want to be "labeled" diabetic for the rest of my life. I took up walking/jogging 30 to 45 minutes everyday, which I'm proud to say that I stuck with and it's now become a routine/habit to get up every morning and do my cardio.

The food on the other hand has been extremely tough for me. Overall I have cut back on calories and carbs but I still struggle with eating "fast" food. I have my good days and bad. I try not to let my bad days discourage me to much. I know this is a process and it will take a while to change my eating habits. This isn't just for a short time, it's for the rest of my life.

I am happy to say that three months ago I weighted in at the most I have ever weight 219 lbs. Today while at the doctors I came in at 200 lbs. I have lost a total of 19 lbs in 90 days. I set a goal of being below 200 lbs when I went back to the doctors and I barely missed that goal by a pound but I can't be upset with myself as I did lose 19 pounds. And what is even better was that the nurses and my doctor were very impressed with my weight lose, which of course made me feel good.

So I gave blood and will find out in a week or so if my numbers have gone down. But this battle is far from over. My cardio work outs are habit but I continue to fight my addiction to fast foods. It's a process and I know it's not going to change over night. I want to thank my friends and family for their continued support in this endeavor.

My next goal is for the end of February and that's for me to be down to 195. That's six pounds in about six weeks. It's going to be tough but I'm going to push myself to achieve this goal.. wish me luck.

Friends, Potter, Love and Minecraft

I got to spend some times with friend Nicki and Anne. They live down in San Diego and we haven't seen each other in quite a while so it was nice to get to hang out for a few hours. We got to catch up on each others lives and grabbed some lunch before they headed off to see more friends.

The Treks in Sci Fi guest podcast on the first Harry Potter book and movie that I did with co-host Rico was released today. You can take a listen HERE. We plan to continue with the series and talk about all seven books and eight movies.

Freedom to Marry released this amazing video about four months ago but this is the first I'm seeing it and it's pretty awesome. So I figured I'd share it with you all.

I also played some Minecraft with my buddies Brett and Chris. I only planned to play for an hour or so and the next thing I knew was 3 hours. It's funny how games can just suck you in and you don't feel the passage of time.

Molly's 3rd Birthday Party

Today I went and visited family. We were celebrating my niece Molly's 3rd birthday today. Her actual birthday is in December but the first part had to be cancelled because poor little Molly was sick, and then we had the holidays which pushed it back even more.

I was getting there early as I always do so I could help my sister-in-law Lora set up. My brother wasn't feeling well so I helped him out with a few errands before heading over to their place. Once there I helped set up, blowing up balloons, decorating and things.

Lora goes all out for these parties, besides the bouncer/slide, there was a pinata, themed candy (it was a Doc McStuffins party) and she also got "stuff your own animal". This is where each kids picks an animal and then stuffs it with cotton. This sounds like a fun activity for the kids but it wound up being the adults who did all the stuffing as it was a very tiring activity. Soon it was just the adults in the room stuff animals while the kids went off to play. I actually stuffed two of them, one for a neighbor kid and the other for my niece Molly.

It was a fun party, Molly got cranky when another little girl wanted to play with her and her new toys but other then that meltdown all went very smoothly.

Looking, PGA Awards, Gay Marriage & Voyager Turns 20

So I finally finished editing up a Harry Potter podcasts that I co-hosted with my buddy Rico for his Treks in Sci Fi podcast. If you had read my blog earlier this week you'd have read that I was having issues with Rico's audio, well I manage to fix it a bit but I pretty much just had to get over it. It was as good as it was going to get and I needed to get the podcast done as it's due to be released in two days. I'm very happy with the podcast, it was a blast talking Potter. Can't wait until we do the next movie Chamber of Secrets.

I watched season 2 episode 1 of HBO's Looking. I really enjoyed season one of Looking and was looking forward to starting season two but I wasn't thrilled with this first episode. One thing I liked about season one of Looking was lack of drugs and alcohol. They were good stories that happen to be about gay characters. This first episode had all three main characters doing drugs, drinking alcohol and having random sex.. these things are sterotypes of the gay lifestyle and for the most represent a small portion of the gay community. I'm hoping they get back to the good stories with episode two.

I voted for the Producer's Guild of America (PGA) Awards today. That's always fun choosing my favorite TV and Movies of last year.

The US Supreme Court made a HUGE announcement. They are going to listen to arguments on a recent 6th Circuit decision to uphold the ban on gay marriage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. This could be what we have all be waiting for. The Supreme Court could make a Federal ruling on gay marriage which would mean it would supersede all State rulings. Now if it goes our way gay marriage will be legal in all of the United States, if it goes against us then it could be back to fighting state by state for marriage equality. I'm cautiously optimistic.

And one last thing.. Happy 20th Anniversary to one of my favorite Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager. It premiered 20 years ago today. I remember watching that first episode and falling in love with this new Captain, crew and especially the ship. I've seen every episode of this series multiple times. We finally got a female Captain and she kicked ass. I was said when Kes left but was so happy with the addition of Seven of Nine, who turned out to be one of my favorite characters. I think it's time to do a rewatch of this amazing tv series.

You Tube Comments

Why do I read You tube comments and for that matter why do I ready any comments on hot topic articles. Most of the time I end up being disgusted with the human race and so sick to my stomach. I just don't understand how human being (and I use that term loosely) can be so hateful. We're not born to hate, it's something that is taught to us. I guess I'm lucky as I've never felt the urge to tear down someone just because I disagree with them or to make me feel better with my choices. I just can't grasp that concept.

I'd like to say that it's getting better but I can't. It's been around for as long as humans have roamed this Earth. I think it feels more prevalent now, because of social media and the internet. It's easy to comment anonymously. I can guarantee you that 95% of the trolls/haters out there wouldn't say what they say to the person's face. Will it ever change.. I hope so but I'm not holding my breath. All I can do is be a good example for my niece and nephew and teach them how to treat their fellow human beings.

It's All About Podcasts

Spent a good part of today trying to "fix" the audio for an upcoming Harry Potter podcast that I co-hosted with my buddy Rico. I made the mistake of not informing Rico on how I usually record podcasts so he wasn't ready and didn't really prep his microphone properly so his audio is over modulated. It's usable but me being me, it needs to be as perfect as possible. So I spent a good three to four hours trying to fix it but in the end got frustrated as I couldn't really change anything so I gave up and figured I'd come back to you at a later date. It's due to be released in five days.

Speaking of podcasts I put out a request for audio bumpers for my podcasts. Here is what I asked for:

To my fellow podcasters.. I'm looking for "bumpers" for my podcasts. Please record the following with no effects, no music, no processing (feel free to adlib) "Hey, this is (your name) with (your podcast). And you're listening to (MASH 4077 Podcast) (Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast) (The Geek Roundtable). And when you're done enjoying this podcast check out mine at (your website), Email them to GeekyfanboyProductions@gmail.com ... Thanks

I haven't gotten any yet but if you have a podcast, videocast, blog or any other project that you want to promote please do a recording and email it to me.

Screeners, Spring Cleaning and Loving Agent Carter

So I thought the screening season was over but low and behold I got a another screener in the mail today. This time it's The Book of Life. It's an animated movie and to be honest it didn't peak my interest but now that I have it on DVD I'll give it a watch.

Spent most of the day "spring cleaning". I'm really trying to decrease my clutter, not only do I have alot of old receipts and bills but I have boxes of things that I haven't even looked at in over a year. I have a hard time getting rid of things so I know this will be a struggle, especially when it comes to my collections as I'm planning on thinning out my collection as well (hopefully a by a third). I did pretty good today as I got about half of my guest closet emptied, that doesn't mean it's gone, it's just thrown about my living room and guest room as I go through box after box and see what can be tossed, donated or sold.

During the evening my buddy Erik and I watched the latest Agent Carter. Man I love this series, I can't praise it enough. Tonight's episode had a OMG moment. Both Erik and I were shocked at what happen. ::Spoilers:: I mean I think the agent that was killed was a pig but I didn't want him to die, especially that way. :: End Spoilers:: Carter and Jarvis's chemistry continues to be my favorite part of the show. We get a bit more info about Jarvis which was very interesting. These was a nice moment between Peggy and Angie at the end. This like Scorpion is one series that I just can't wait to see every week. I'll be sad when it goes as it's only eight episodes long. And unfortunately it's not doing great in the ratings but you never know what will happen.. all I can do is hope for the best.

Goodbye Adam, Scorpion Renewed & TV Watch

Today I got to have lunch with my buddy Adam. He's heading up north at the end of the week for his job. And when I say up north I mean Seattle so we're not going to be seeing each other on a regular bases. Adam has been setting up "get togethers" to say goodbye to friends but I haven't been able to make any of them so I asked if he wanted to do lunch and he said yes. I actually like this better then a group thing as I get to have some one on one time to hang. We went to Islands for some burgers and come to find out that Adam had never been there before. It was a nice visit. He'll be missed but he'll be back down for the Star Wars con in April and hopefully will get to see him at San Diego Comic Con.

One of my favorite new TV series this Scorpion was picked up for a second season. This made my day. I knew it was doing well in the ratings but you never know what the network is going to do. So not only do we get the last half of this season but will be getting an whole new season in the fall... can't wait!!

I watched a few shows that I had recorded yesterday.. the first one was "My Husband is Not Gay" It was a TLC special and has caused an uproar in the gay community. I watch alot of these TLC specials and this one intrigued me. This special was about Morman men who live in Utah, are married to women but are attracted to men. I watched it and I have to say it wasn't horrible. As a gay man I wasn't offended by it. If anything I felt bad for these guys as they are obviously gay but not accepting it because of their religion. They don't call themselves gay, instead they call it SSA (Same Sex Attraction) and these four guys that we meet in the episode are part of an SSA group. Some of the men were gayer then some and you know that some of them cheat on their wife with men. I don't support what these guys are doing but I do understand why they are doing it. I didn't come out until I was 27/28. I considered getting married, having kids and living my ideal life. But I decided not to do that as I knew that in the end I would only hurt my wife and kids when I finally couldn't take it anymore and came out as gay in my 40's or 50's. If this was a TV series I think I'd give it a watch. 

Next I watched two more episodes of Galavant. I think the novelty is starting to ware off. I enjoyed the episodes but not as much as I did with the first two episodes. Best part of tonight's episode was the recap of what happen in the previous episodes. I'm still enjoying it and I'll continue to watch but I hope the next two episodes brings back some of the whimsy from the first two.

And the final thing I watched was a new episode of Star Wars Rebels. It finally returned after the holidays and I'm happy it did. I've enjoyed this series and this latest episode was one of my favorites. I'm still debating which Star Wars cartoon I like better.. Clone Wars or Rebels. Right now it's Clone Wars but I think that's because there are six seasons of Clone Wars and so far there have only been nine episodes of Rebels. They are two very different series but both have their good and bad things. But for now I'm just happy to be able to watch new Star Wars on a weekly bases.

Podcasts, Websites and Golden Globes

I spent a good chunk of today editing some upcoming MASH 4077 Podcasts. One great thing about this podcast is that we normally record six episodes every few months. My goal every time is to edit all of them at once and then I don't have to worry about editing episodes for a few months (since we release two a month) but in reality I'm normally editing days before an episode is due to be released. But this time I managed to edit the upcoming episode for Jan 15th, also Feb 1st and got about half of Feb 15th's episode done. Thing is now just because those are done I need to force myself to continue to edit additional MASH casts and try and get the rest of the episodes that we already recorded in the can as well.

I also spent a good amount of time working on my new website. I have a website at Geekyfanboy.com but I've never been happy with it, but since I'm not a web master it takes me a while to figure out how things work and normally I get frustrated or bored and give up. Well I really want to get a page set up for my production company Geekyfanboy Productions so I started working on a new page before going back and trying to revamp my entire website. Of course it would be so much easier to just pay someone to do this but seeing that I have no money I have to do this all myself and it may take a while but I'm determined to get it done this time around.

The Golden Globes were on tonight and I was actually excited to watch them. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were hosting again and they did a pretty good job, I loved most of their jokes but the North Korean Foreign press person (aka Margaret Cho) joke went on way to long, but other then that it was fun. I loved that a lot of first timers won. I hate seeing the same person win year after year after year. Some of my favorite wins were Joanne Froggatt from Downton Abbey, Eddie Redmayne from The Theory of Everything and Gina Rodriquez from Jane the Virgin. Here's a list of all the winners.

Best Picture, Comedy: The Grand Budapest Hotel, Best Picture, Drama: Boyhood, Best TV Comedy: Transparent, Best TV Drama: The Affair, Best Miniseries: Fargo, Best Actress, Motion Picture Drama: Julianne Moore, Still Alice, Best Actor, Motion Picture Drama: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything, Best Actress, Motion Picture Comedy: Amy Adams, Big Eyes, Best Actor, Motion Picture Comedy: Michael Keaton, Birdman, Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash, Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood, Best Actor, TV Comedy: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent, Best Actress, TV Comedy: Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin, Best Actor, TV Drama: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards, Best Actress, TV Drama: Ruth Wilson, The Affair, Best Actor, Miniseries: Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo, Best Actress, Miniseries: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honourable Woman, Best Supporting Actress, Miniseries: Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey, Best Supporting Actor, Miniseries: Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart, Best Screenplay: Birdman, Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood, Best Foreign Language Film: Leviathan, Best Animated Film: How to Train Your Dragon 2, Best Original Score: The Theory of Everything, Best Original Song: John Legend and Common's "Glory," Selma

Alien Nation Podcast & More Movies

Today I released episode 31 of my Alien Nation podcast, were my brother and I cover the second part of the fourth TV movie The Enemy Within. My brother and I are still having a fantastic time recording these podcasts. We got one more TV movie and then the actual film they series is based on before we move to comic book and novels.

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/itunesAlienNation Listen on Stitcher Radio http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/32281/episodes or Listen/ Get Direct Download http://Aliennationpodcast.com  

 

I continued my watch of Netflix "Gay" Themed movies... first I watch "East is East". George Khan, proud Pakistani and chip shop owner -- Ghengis to his kids -- rules his family with a rod of iron. He thinks he's raising his seven children to be respectable Pakistanis. But this is Salford in the North of England, in 1971. Much as George's English wife, Ella, loves and tries to honor her husband, she also wants her kids to be happy. The children, caught between bell-bottoms and arranged marriages, simply want to be citizens of the modern world.

 

This was labeled on Netflix as a Gay Comedy... well it's neither gay themed or a comedy. It wasn't a bad movie and one of the kids winds up being gay but it's not the focus of the movie. This a super dramatic movie, this father hits his kids and wife. He's horrible to his family and so set in his ways that he almost tears his family apart. I also wasn't happy with ending as his battered wife takes him back and they act like nothing happened.. back to their happy life in England. I give East is East a C, I enjoyed the movie until the end when I feel like it just wimped out and took the easy route.

 

The next movie I watched was called "In The Name Of...". Adam, a Roman Catholic priest in rural Poland, knows that he desires men and his embrace of the priesthood has been a flight from his sexuality. When he meets a particular young man, self-imposed abstinence becomes a heavy burden. 

 

I knew when I started this film that it was going to be heavy and it was. It's a Polish film and subtitled in English. I found this movie a bit odd as there wasn't really much dialogue, just these long scenes of people doing things. They would say something and then the camera would stay on them for a good extra 30 seconds and then move on. The acting was great, especially the main guy. Towards the end of the film he breaks down to his sister over Skype (about being gay and liking the young men.. but she's just horrible to him). He's so distraught that it looked as if he killed himself. They even open up the next scene with what looks like a funeral procession, but soon you find out it's some sort of church ceremony and the priest is at the end of the procession. I enjoyed the film, it's not a happy one but not all of them can be. I give In The Name Of... a pretty solid B