House Guests from Austria

Sorry I haven't blogged the past few days it's been kind of crazy at my house. On Sunday Harry and I went to LAX to pick up his family who are visiting from Austria. It's his mother, sister, brother-in-law and 2 nephews (7 1/2 and 1 1/2). They're visiting CA for three weeks but are unsure on how long they will be staying with us, maybe 10 days maybe longer. We do know that Harry's mom will be staying with us the entire time.

So we picked them up and then headed back to our place. On the drive home Bernd (Harry's bro-in-law) was sitting in the passenger seat as I drove and came out and asked how awkward this was or will be since Harry and I are no longer together. They have been planning this trip well before we broke up and I told him that it's not a issue. That Harry and I are still friends and that he owns half of our house. We continued to talk a bit more and I think I assured them that all was well and that they are truly welcomed into our house.

The next few days are a blur.. Monday AM I was up early due to a very boisterous little boy who got up at 5:30am so we all got up at 5:30am, but I managed to lay in bed until 7am in which Bernd and I went to Enterprise Rent a Car to add him to the rental since he'll be driving it the most. After that I went to work and they hung around the house with Harry. I got home around 9pm and everyone except Bernd were asleep. We chatted for a bit and then he went to bed as Harry and I tried to watch a bit a TV (he's family doesn't watch any TV).

Tuesday was my "work from home" day and thank goodness it was as I didn't get much sleep the past few days.. though this time I didn't get waken up until around 6:30am and didn't get out of bed until 8:30am, in which then started my work day.

While I had some downtime from work I would edit my next Knights of the Guild podcast episode 28, which I did finish by the end of the day.

Work was kind of crazy as there were lots of issue going on in the office, so much so that I almost had to drive in. But I manage to get things under control view email and phone and avoided having to drive the 2 hour commute.

Later in the day I did join the family as they visited Vasquez Rocks and of course they LOVED it, as I knew they would. There entire family are mountaineers and rock climbers... even the 7 year old was scaling rocks. It was some good times. Got back home, finished up some work and my podcasts and had a tasty dinner that Harry had made.

We have this air vent above our door to our bedroom (it's from circulation) but it also allows all the noise from the kitchen, living room area to reach us in the bedroom.. so I stuffed a sheet in there hoping to deaden the sound so I don't get an early wake up call. I also sleep with a fan and cracked that puppy up to high to drown out any other noise. If you haven't guessed I'm a very light sleeper. Well this morning I only heard one peep and slept pretty sound the entire night... woo hoo

All in all it's been a good few days. What's funny is that you don't realize what kind of routine you fall into until someone comes along and throws a wrench in it.  And I'm not saying that's a bad thing.. just need to learn to be flexible and adjust... plus I know Harry is enjoying his family visit and really that's all that matters.

PS.. they brought me about 10 lbs of German Chocolate :) Yum!!

My Toy Room

My toy collection is being featured at CBR.com in their Robot 6 Blog "Shelf Porn" Segment. Check it out, give me a "like" and leave a comment. Thanks

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/04/saturday-shelf-porn-8/comment-page-1/#comment-57244

SwampCast #2 - Listener Feedback

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

Here is another SwampCast... #2, a SwampCast is a non-regular show.. meaning we will not be reviewing an episode in this podcast. These SwampCasts will come out now and then and cover "cast" interview, or listener feedback or anything else that we want to share with the listeners that doesn't fit into our regular show review episodes.

Our second SwampCast once again covers Listener Feedback.

Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds, & Al

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

Podcasting and Cleaning

Busy busy day today.. at 10am Jenni came over so we could record the next two episode of Knights of the Guild podcast. My new streamlined effort is really working out. What would take us 2 or 2 1/2 hours to record we get done at most in an hour and a half. Of course we sit around and chat for another hour but at least the podcasts are recorded.. now I just have to edited at least one of them before April 15th.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the house from top to bottom. Harry's family is flying in from Austria tomorrow and staying with us for a few weeks and this will be the first time they are seeing the house... so it has to sparkle.

It was a long day of cleaning but in between the cleaning we had to go to Enterprise and rent a van for the family.. that took a bit longer then expected so we were cleaning until around 8pm when I only had a few more things to do but had to stop because I had a MASH Swampcast due to be released at midnight and I hadn't even started editing it. So I opted to finishing cleaning tomorrow morning (his family fly into LAX at 12:30pm) so there should be plenty of time.

So this SwampCast is a special MASH 4077 Podcast, it's were the three hosts (Meds, Al and I ) read comments that our listeners have left for us. Luckily it's pretty straight forward and not to difficult to edit. I got down around 11:30pm and waited until midnight to post it.

Like I said.. busy busy Saturday.

(Singing) It's Friday.. Friday...

Had a few tense moments this morning but I am 100% better.. must have been a 24 hour stomach flu or something I ate didn't agree with me.. but I'm doing better.

Work was busy.. getting close to onlining (finishing) some episodes and MTV has so many little details you have to follow it's crazy. I'm created charts just to keep track of everything.

I finished editing my next MASH podcast episode #6. Harry's family is coming into town this weekend and going to be staying with us for a few weeks so I'm trying to get as much done as I can before they get here.

Work, Sickness & Podcasts

Today I got to work from home, I'm really enjoying this and so thankful for my job for allowing me to do this twice a week. Not only does it save me the stress of being in traffic for my 4 hour commute (round trip) and spending an additional $50 in gas a week but it also allows me to relax when I'm not feeling so good.

It started the night before when I went to bed and I couldn't relax.. my muscles kept tensing up and I was having mini anxiety attacks.. I finally fell asleep around 1am but woke up around 3am with some stomach pains and really didn't go back to sleep. Finally got up around 8:30am and started my day, was still having stomach issues but I was determined not to be sick so I logged into work and everything was moving along until around lunch time when the nausea really started to hit me. I told Harry I was not going to eat lunch as the though of eating made me more nauseated... so there was no choice but to accept that I had some kind of bug because if I'm not eating or feeling the urge to eat then there has to be something wrong with me.

For the next few hours I laid in my recliner not doing much (keeping my iPhone next to me) as I was still working and answering emails and such. I did eat a bit around 3 but that didn't go over to well so I opted to stop and just drink some water.

Around 8pm I started to feel a bit better but still had no appetite, so I took a chance to sit at my computer and finish editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast episode 6, which I finished around 10pm. I created the show notes and uploaded the podcast to podbean and it is now ready for it's release on April 15th.

I was getting hungry now but was afraid to eat anything that would upset my stomach so I opted for crackers and then went to bed... hoping to fee better tomorrow.

This Crazy Ride Called Life...

Lately my life has felt like it's been careening out of control. My MASH 4077 podcast is doing great, we've gotten over 3100 downloads in a matter of two months. I'm currently producing two episodes a month, but I'm hoping to do 3 or even 4 a month, if I can get a jump on them, since we record 4 episodes about ever three weeks, currently we've record up to Ep16 .. if we continue to release 2 a month it will take us 20 years to get through the entire series.

My Knights of the Guild Podcast is still going strong and I'm getting ready for CompanionCasts for Season 5 of The Guild and that's going to be a nice juggle between my actual work (were I make money) and being on set to do the podcast recordings.

I'm still trying to get my 3rd Geeky podcast going called Epic Geek Out, I had hoped to get it up and running by the end of April but with everything on my plate I'm not sure that's even going to happen.

With all the rain and snow we've gotten up at our place the weeds have gone crazy and we have 2 1/2 acres of them. So on my weekends I try and take at least an hour or two to do some weeding. Though it seems like an endless task.

Also Harry's family is coming into town this Sunday from Austria.. and though we are not longer together I still want to hang out with them because they will always be part of my family. And they are staying for a few weeks with us at our house. So we've been trying to clean an organize everything for their arrival.

I'm still researching my internet radio idea and working on a podcast/online media hub, though both of those are very slow going, but still in the works

And I really want to get back into volunteering with children.. I have volunteered in the past being a "Big Brother" working with HIV/Aids adults and children. I really miss the joy that those experiences brought me and would love to get back into it at some level.

So there is just so much going on in my life at the moment and I think I'm spreading myself a bit too thin. I was sick for almost three months and finally feel a bit better. I have so many great ideas for more podcasts I want to start. I want to get back into writing.. I use to write poetry and have several movie script idea halfway written..  but I just don't seem to have any free time. I want to hang out with friends more but that's not working out..  I've started to keep a list of things I want to do in the near future and the list gets bigger and bigger every week. I also want to start traveling as I haven't seen much of the world and now that I'm single I figure this is the best time...

Life is crazy at the moment.. but my issues are good issues to have. I'm extremely happy at what I've accomplished so far and am very fortunate for the people I have met along the way.

Life is good.. though a bit hectic. :)

Tron on Blu-Ray

Well today Harry and I drove around trying to find both of the Tron blu-ray movies that I was looking for.. I wanted to get the Tron: Original 2 disc blu-ray and the Tron: Legacy 4 disc blu-ray.  We drove to two targets and a best buy and none of them had exactly what I wanted. The first Target had nothing.. completely sold out of all the blu-ray editions of both movies. The second Target had 3 of the Original Tron 2 disc blu-ray but only the 2 disc Tron Legacy blu-ray. I then went to best buy and they finally had the 4 Disc Tron Legacy blu-ray, but was out of the Original Tron. And Target had a deal where you purchased both movies Tron and Tron Legacy and get $8 off, Best Buy did not. Both Best Buy and Target had a deal for an additional $5 off if you got the 4 or 5 disc edition. So I didn't want to come home empty handed after traveling all over the place so I went back to the 2nd Target and got the original Tron 2 disc blu-ray and Tron Legacy 2 disc, got 8 dollars off because I bought both of them, but not the $5 dollars off because I didn't get the 4 or 5 disc. So I wound up paying $31.98 which isn't bad for 2 blu-rays and 2 DVD of each movie. The 4 disc one had a 3D disc but I don't have a 3D Blu-ray player and it also came with a digital copy but again I can make my own if I really want a digital copy. So in the end it's not exactly what I was looking for but it's what I need to enjoy both of these movies.

100 Facts About Me 61 - 70

Well it's been a few weeks or so since I started this and I have to say it's hard to think of 100 facts about me.. not only facts about me but interesting facts.. I mean I can tell you 100 things about me and most wouldn't not be interesting.. that's the tough part. Anyways here is my next batch.

61. My middle name is Harvey, named after my grandfather.
62. I can't spell to save my life, thank goodness for spellcheckers.
63. My childhood nickname was KenKen, as my dad went by Kenny.
64. Use to have a speech impediment when I was younger, took many years to over come, still have it slightly.
65. For those who haven't met me in person I'm short, standing at a proud 5 foot 3 1/2 inches.
66. Favorite book series would be a toss up between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
67. Favorite Star Trek Series, TNG, followed closely by Voyager & DS9, also enjoy Enterprise and TOS.
68. Though I work on The Guild I've never played WoW, nor played alot of video games.
69. As I get older I try and enjoy my life more as there is less of it.
70. I'm a 1st time Uncle & his name is Kenobi (22months). 

Quidditch Western Cup Regionals - Day 2

Day two of the Quidditch Western Cup Regionals. Since I had stuff to actual do this weekend I didn't get to the pitch until after lunch time. I knew I would miss a few play off games but I really wanted to be there for the semi-finals and finals. So I got to the park around 2:30pm, just in time for the kid quidditch games. I also met up with my friend Bruce who was actually just about to leave and then again with my other friend Aaron who was also leaving... Both had been there since the AM.

After the kids quidditch they made just one pitch for the start of the semi-final. I wish they would have done just one pitch the entire time. The field was larger and there wasn't any distraction of other players crossing into each other pitches. Anyways everyone moved their seats ten feet in to be closer to the action (at our own risk, of course). There were two semi-finals and then the winners from those semi-finals would play in the final.

The first semi-final was between UCLA and ASU (Arizona State) and ASU won. The second semi-final was between USC and Cal. Berkeley and USC won. So the final match was between USC Trojans and ASU Sun Devils and the ASU ran away with the match and took the championship.. Congratulations Arizona State University.

I have to say that these final three games were the best of the weekend. They were action packed, the quaffle changed from hand to hand so fast. Bludgers were nailing people left and right. This was Quidditch at it's best.

Something I didn't mention in my previous blog but all the announcers were funny and entertaining. Some tried to bring you further into the world of Harry Potter by mention players moves and saying something like.. "we haven't seen a move like that since the 1853 World cup" and then they would go into a story about that. Other announcers would give really funny play by play of the game calling the players by their own "special' names.. we had sweet foot, sholeggings, curly, and so on... so much fun.

I sit here Sunday evening just having spent the entire weekend watching this very magical event and I still can't believe it. I was at a Quidditch match not only did I watch live Quidditch I watched about 20 games of Quidditch spanning a weekend. It was great surrounding myself with other die hard Harry Potter fans. And theses guys are not just die hard fans they are extremely talented athletes.

They are doing more of these regional events through out the country and in Canada. And I would suggest if you are a Harry Potter fan to attend and show your support. You can check out the schedule at their official website http://www.internationalquidditch.org

And in November they are having the Quidditch World Cup with over 60 teams participating over a 2 days of action packed fun. I'm going to start making plans to attend this year. And I'm going to see if I can find local teams that play.. not only to watch but to see if I can join in on one

I now understand why the Wizarding world loves their Quidditch.

Be sure to check out the 305 pictures that I took during the two days.. Album 1  http://ow.ly/4skMx & Album 2  http://ow.ly/4skNM Also I'll be posting video of the event as well in the near future.

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.

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

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

"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.

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

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..

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.

Happy Birthday Harry

Today is Harry's 40th Birthday and as we have done the past seven years we gather with friends and family and have a birthday dinner at one of Harry's favorite Resturant, Outback Steakhouse. This will be the last of these events as Harry is heading back to Austria in the late summer.

We had friends Bruce, Moises and John join us as well my my brother Michael, sister-in-law Lora and nephew Kenobi join us. It was good dinner.. great food and fun company.

Happy 40th Birthday Harry

Fought Some Scissors & Lost

I use to grow my hair long to hide the top of my head which is starting to thin out. But then found out that the longer my hair got the balder I looked because the long hair would hang down from the middle showing more of the top of my head.. so I started to buzz cut it and it seemed the shorter I cut my hair the thinning top was less notable.

But the past few years I have accepted that my hair is thinning and it is part of me so I like my hair grow long and then blond the tips for fun and a few weeks later buzz it back down to nothing and do it all over again. Well we reached the stage were it was time to start over again so I buzzed (with Harry's assistants) all my hair off again.

I like both look.. the wild crazy hair and the nice clean cut.. which do you prefer??

100 Facts About Me 41 - 50

Wow.. only halfway done and struggling to find interesting facts about me. The next 50 should be interesting or not :)

41. Christmas is my favorite holiday.
42. Would rather be in the company of a handful of close friends then a room full of acquaintances. 
43. I've only been out of the United States once in my life (Mexico) Planning a Europe trip very soon.
44. Though I do 3 podcasts I've always disliked the sound of my voice.
45. I've always been mature for my age.. at 16 I was ready to marry and settle down.
46. At the age of 37 I dressed up in my Hogwarts Robes and stood in line for the release of the final Harry Potter book.
47. I'm one of those people who always looks on the bright side of things.
48. I'm addicted to the internet, can't go more then a few hours without checking my email, facebook, or twitter.
49. Don't eat salads, not a big veggie eater.
50. Call me a Geek, Dork, Dweeb, Nerd, or Loser.. I don't care.. I love who I am and wouldn't change for anything. 

100 Facts About Me 31 - 40

Once again it was as struggle to find 10 more interesting facts about me. It is fun doing this as it makes you think really hard about your life and what you've done (or lack there of). Not sure if I'm going to make it to 100.. but I'm going to give it a try.

31. I have an infectious laugh, friends use to call me The Giggler
32. Had an anxiety/panic attack in High School that was so bad that I made myself go temporally blind
33. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars and Firefly our my top 5 favorite worlds to visit.
34. If I went to Hogwarts I'd be sorted into Hufflepuff, which values Loyalty, Dedication and Hard Work.. sounds like me
35. I am a proud member of the Producer's Guild of America
36. I am teaching myself American Sign Language 
37. Found my Dad's biological family after 58 years
38. I am half Puerto Rican & half German
39. I am allergic to Dairy (Lactose intolerant)
40. Graduated from High School with a 3.89 GPA and in the top 10% of my class

100 Facts About Me 21 - 30

Wow this is getting toughier, it's not that I can't think of 100 facts about me but it's coming up with interesting things or things that folk don't already know about me. Anyways.. here are my next 10 Facts about Kenny

21. I've worked in the TV/Film industry for over 16 years
22. I was born and raised in Southern California
23. Saw Star Wars when I was 7 & it made me the Geekyfanboy I am today.
24. Pets I've had, Dogs, Cats, Chickens, Ducks, Turtle, Rabbits, Mice, Rats, Fish & a Chinchilla
25. I bungee jumped from 150 feet up.
26. I had a Star Trek "Borg" Themed wedding cake http://geekyfanboy.com/WeddingPage_17.jpg
27. Rode my bike from San Fransisco to Los Angeles (600+ miles) in seven days for the California Aids Ride in 2001
28. I'm a roller coaster enthusiast
29. I have a large round birth mark the size of a sliver dollar on my lower back.
30. I've appeared in 8 episodes of the webseries The Guild

More to come!!!!

100 Facts About Me 1 - 20

There is a new hashtag going around Twitter and I thought I would participate in it. You tweet 100 facts about yourself. I thought it would be tough but it's really not that hard.. of course I've only done 20 so far.. that's a far cry from 100. Figure it will take me a week or so to tweet all 100.. here are my first 20.

1. I'll be 41 years old come September.
2. I've broken two bones so far... .my right arm (fell off monkey bars) and left wrist (rolled down a hill with an ATV)
3. I currently have 2 tattoos, Hogwarts crest on my left shoulder & R2D2 on my right calf, with plans to get 3 more
4. When I was younger I wanted to be a veterinarian.
5. I struggled with being gay and didn't come out of the closet until I was 27 years old.
6. My favorite type of music is Country Music.
7. I am extremely shy & quiet (on the verge of socially awkward) in person
8. Favorite color is Green
9. I don't cuss.. EVER!!!
10. I've been collecting action figures for 34 years.
11. I've always wanted a biological child of my own. There is still hope of have one
12. My hair has been purple, red, orange, black, blond and it's natural brown.
13. My very first geeky convention that I attended was in LA for the series Alien Nation, 2 days of awesomeness.
14. I was Donny and Marie Osmond's personal assistant back in the summer 97
15. I graduated from California State University Fullerton w/ a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication - TV/Radio/Film
16. I don't drink (once a year maybe), never smoked, never done drugs of any kind.
17. Saved my brother from drowning when he was 3 and I was 8
18. I'm a Hopeless Romantic
19. I love singing along with the radio while driving in the car
20. Because of Jaws I'm still afraid to go into deep water / ocean

Stay tuned.. I'll be tweeting more facts about me.

Podcasting in the Rain

Well today it rained all day.. and when I say all day I mean.. every minute of the day. We had small ponds through out our property. I had planned to do some major yard work but of course wouldn't do that in the down pour.. so instead I opted to edited my next two podcasts MASH 4077 Podcast #5 and Knights of the Guild Podcast #27. Spent the day on and off working on both podcasts. I did manage to finish my MASH 4077 Podcast and I'm almost done with my next Knights of the Guild podcast, I just need to add one more segment (waiting for Guild Something). Was very happy with the amount of work I got done today.. really want to get my other 3 MASH podcasts done in the next week or so. Also going to start working on getting my third podcast Epic Geek Out up and running.

Podcast Interview & Parties

This morning I did an interview for the Blog site One Cleric Short, We talked about podcasting, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Guild and various other geeky things. I'm not be fan of being interviewed and I much rather be the interviewer. You can check out part one HERE and part two HERE and part three is still to come. It was a lot of fun.. thanks Brian.

Later in the day I went to my brother's place to visit with my Dad and to hang out with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew. They also had a party and I hung around there for a few hours and chatted with my brother's friends. But man did I feel old, I mean most of his friends are  in their late 20's, early 30's and enjoy drinking and being loud.. I was never into the loud drinking party scene.. and I felt really out of place there.

Win Win is very much a win win

I got to see a screening of Win Win tonight on the Fox Studio Lot in the Zanuck Theater.

This was a PGA (Producer's Guild of America) screening and I was able to bring along my friend Aaron. We got there got good seats and waited for the film to start. If you don't know what Win Win is about here's a synopsis: Struggling attorney Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti), who volunteers as a high-school wrestling coach, takes on the guardianship of an elderly client in a desperate attempt to keep his practice afloat. When the client's teenage grandson runs away from home and shows up on his grandfather's doorstepmore », Mike's life is turned upside down as his win-win proposition turns into something much more complicated than he ever bargained for.

I really enjoyed this movie, after watching so many action packed and ultra dramatic movies it was nice to see something that was very sweet and a warm slice of life story. It was funny, sad and heartfelt. The acting was great and it had a solid yet simple story. This is Alex Shaffer's (the main kid) first movie, and I found out that he has been wrestling since he was 5. He did a fantastic job of playing this kid just trying to survive the life that was given to him. Giamatti was of course fantastic as always and Amy Ryan who played Giamatti's wife was  my second favorite character just behind Alex.

I hope to see this again before it leaves theaters and it will be a blu-ray purchase when it comes out.

As a side note.. I love going to Fox as it's one of the coolest studio around and just to walk through the stages on think back to all the wonderful movies that were and are still being made there. They have this awesome and huge Star Wars mural as you drive in.. it always makes me smile when I see it.

Doctor Who - Comic Relief

Doctor Who did a two part mini episode for Red Nose Day 2011 - BBC Comic Relief Night

It's pretty awesome and it makes me miss Doctor Who even more (if that was possible). Really looking forward to the new season. Here are the two parts.

I LOVE... LOVE... LOVE IT!!!!!

Spring WipeOut & Editing Podcasts

Today when I got home from work I made some dinner (burritos) and then sat down to watch the all new Spring WipeOut. Both Harry and I are huge WipeOut fans and have watched every episode produced. a few weeks ago they had Winter WipeOut and today started Spring WipeOut with an entirely new course. If you don't know what WipeOut is here's a brief description: It's a reality show series in which contestants compete in what is billed as the "world's largest obstacle course". And it's hilarious... So I was excited for another season of WipeOut.

After WipeOut I wanted to get some audio comments done for Tuning into Sci fi podcast. So I did that and sent that off and figured I'd get a head start on editing my next Knights of the Guild Podcast #27 (due March 29th) and MASH 4077 Podcast #5 (due April 1st). There is no reason why I should wait until a few days before to get these done. So I did some work on my Knights of the Guild and now I just need to assemble the entire piece and do some audio passes.. as for my MASH podcast, I strung all the host audio together.. synced it up and started editing. Got 2/3's of the way through it before hitting midnight. I could have stayed up an few more hours if needed but decided it would be better to get some rest so I went to bed. I hope to finish both of those podcast this weekend and get started on MASH 4077 Podcast episodes 6, 7 and 8 (great thing about recording four at a time.. plenty to edit).

Face Off Finale

Tonight was the finale of Syfy's reality show Face Off. I've been addicted to this show since it started airing seven weeks ago. If you don't know what it is here's a quick synopsis:

Twelve contestants compete in special effects makeup challenges. Actress McKenzie Westmore, a member of the pioneering Westmore family of makeup artists, serves as host. Judges are multiple Academy Award-winning makeup artist Ve Neill (Ed Wood, Beetlejuice), television makeup artist Glenn Hetrick (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5) and creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos (I Am Legend, Resident Evil: Extinction).

Each week the artists will face a "Spotlight Challenge" and in some weeks a "Foundation Challenge" where the Foundation Challenge winner receives an advantage in the Spotlight Challenge. The Face Off winner will receive $100,000 and a year's supply of makeup,a "grand prize that will launch a career".

The first few episodes they got rid of the those folks who can do make up and effects but weren't that great. As it got down to fewer and fewer people it made it harder and harder to choose your favorites.

The final four were Conner, Tate, Gage and Sam. I really liked Sam as she was the underdog, never falling into the bottom and up to the last weeks task, never getting into the top spot.  Conner is the oldest and most experienced in SFX, he constantly had fantastic looking pieces, Tate is extremely talented and could make anything come to life. Gage was a hit and miss, he had talent but some of his concepts didn't go over too well with the judges.

For the finale each had to take two characters from a classic fairy tale and re-imagine them with a given theme. Sam choose Little Mermaid with the theme of Phycodelic. Conner got The Frog Prince with a Hunted theme. Tate had Little Red Riding Hood with a Post-Apocalyptic theme and Gage had Hansel and Gretel with a Industrial theme.

All four knocked it out of the park, but Sam's was the weakest and was first to be cut. So it was down to the top 3, Conner, Tate and Gage. And though Gage by far (in my opinion) had the best one (things of nightmares), Conner won the competition as he had the more consistent top looking stuff through out the series.

Also today we heard that Syfy picked up FaceOff for a season two.. wooo hooo.. can't wait for that. You can watch full episodes at Syfy

Allergies or Virus

I've been sick or not feeling 100% since January 13th. I don't even remember what it feels like to be well. After seven weeks I finally went and saw a doctor and he gave me some antibiotics but said these would only work if it's a bacteria. I took those pills for a week and it's not been another week and I still don't feel 100%. But now I'm thinking it's allergies rather then a flu/cold that I had those few months.. but there really isn't any way of knowing if it's a virus and not a bacteria that I had and it's still lingering around or it's a sever reaction to allergies (which seem to be getting worse as I get older). I'm afraid to take any medicine as the last time I did that I caused my blood pressure to rise to unhealthy status.

Do I wait it out and see what happens.. I mean it's not horrible.. I feel about 90% well.. I can live with that.. I mean if it's allergies there really isn't anything I can do about it. Or do I make another appointment with the doctor and see if it's a virus and pay more money that I don't have, when in the end it could be nothing.

Uggg.. I hate not feeling well.

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 4

 

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 and Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Here it is... Episode #4 - Chief Surgeon Who?

Directed by E.W. Swackhamer
Written by Larry Gelbart
Production code J307
Original air date October 8, 1972

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Henry has appointed Hawkeye chief surgeon, much to Frank's disdain. Frank and Margaret summon General Barker, who enters the insane world of the 4077th and tries to bring about some order. In the end, Hawkeye and Trapper prove themselves to be excellent surgeons to General Barker, and he agrees with Blake's decision to appoint Hawkeye as Chief Surgeon.

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

Knights of the Guild Ep 26

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/KotGCast or direct download / listen at http://bit.ly/2CrYxk

Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 26, because we're going into our third year of podcasting we thought we should change the show up a bit. It's not a drastic change as we know folks enjoyed the style of the show already. We went more streamlined. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Today’s show features:

• * Knights of the Guild theme song by Matthew Gehrett http://www.matthewgehrett.com/
• * Guild and Knights of the Guild News
• * What the Hosts are up too
• * Listener Feedback
• * Contests, we announce winners of Jan/Feb RT contest, Jan/Feb Itunes Review contest, Business Time contest and finally talk about finishing up our Essay Contest.
• * Crew Interview with Brian Kameoka
• * 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

A Great Story

This is such a great video.. what an adventure this guy went on... great story.

Just noticed that there are three parts to this story.. here's parts 1 & 2

Daniel Radcliffe Interview

Came across this really cool Daniel Radcliffe interview with Katie Couric. It's about a 45 minute interview but it's really good. Dan seems like a very down to earth guy. Only issue I had is he's one of those people how doesn't look you in the eye when talking to you. He glances from time to time to Katie but for the most part it's not looking at her and for some reason that bugged me and seemed very impersonal.

Lazy Day... I Wish!!!

I was so not in the mood to do anything today. I just wanted to sit around today and catch up on some TV. And thought I did do some of that my main goal was to get Knights of the Guild Podcast episode 26 edited and complete.  I did get some much needed sleep as I slept in until 11am (9 hours) so I already felt like I lost a few hours of edit time. I got up, walked the dog and checked my emails. Harry got up around noon and we left around 1pm to go grocery shopping. Got home around 3pm, had lunch and then I went to tackle the podcast and for the next 9 hours I worked on the podcast, watched some TV when I needed a break, and had some dinner. But finally around midnight I finished the KOTG #26.

The reason I had to get it done today was the fact that it's to be released on Tuesday 3/15 and I didn't want to the last minute to do it (meaning Monday night after a long day at work). But man I was tempted to put if off until then. And to be honest once I got into it and found how smoothly everything was cutting together it made the job a bit easier. 

So both my MASH 4077 Podcast episode 4 and Knights of the Guild Podcast episode 26 are done and waiting to be published on itunes this Tuesday.  All I have to do tomorrow morning when I get up is build the blog posts and done one final pass to make sure everything is good to go..

Tech Barbarians Interview

Well the interview I did for Tech Barbarians this past Wednesday is up on their website http://techjives.net/tech_barbarians/?p=361 take a listen there or you can download it from itunes (just search Tech Barbarians episode #043)

New Glasses

So Harry and I headed out to Santa Clarita to our local LensCrafters to get new glasses. I haven't gotten new glasses in over four years and Harry hasn't gotten new ones in over three years.  I've also noticed that I was having a tough time reading small print in low light and recently have been getting headaches so it was long over due for new glasses.

So we got to LensCrafters around 3:30pm and they were packed and I also noticed that they Eye Exam place took their last appointment at 4:20 so I figured we'd have to make appointment for tomorrow but when I asked if there was any chance of getting two appointments today they said yes and booked us for 4pm and 4:20pm. So as we waited we walked around and looked at different frames. It's crazy how expensive frames can be, but we stayed in the $99 area, but were frames there for over $200. A few minutes later a Carlos came up to us and took us both into a back room to do the pre-exam. We answered questions, filled out a form and then he proceeded to do some eye test.. ie. read letters, take pictures of the back of our eye, blow puffs of air in our eyes... not sure how all that works but they are suppose to be able to tell how blind we are by all those tests.

Next was the doctor visit, he puts that thing over your eyes and says.. #1 or #2 over and over and you tell him what's best. That test only take a few minutes and then he tells you what's wrong. Mine eyesight or lack there of is nothing but age. My eyes look fine, nothing in the back of my eyes... everything looked great. So I have typical "old man" eyes and he said it was get progressively worse in the next 15 years (yay me).

Up to this point I have always used single layer glasses, but he said he wanted to change that to progressive glasses (and honestly I didn't have a clue what he meant) I said.. sure. So he wrote up the prescription and the visit was over. Harry came out a few minutes later and said that they wanted to take additional pictures of the back of his eyes as they saw something. They dilated his eyes and we went out to find some frames. After picking out a few we asked Sarah (another associate) which ones she liked on our face and she picked out the two that we liked for ourselves.

We paid the bill, I was expecting a $1000 but it was only $600, which isn't bad for two pairs of glasses and the exams. Harry went back in to get the second set of pictures, a few minutes later he came out and said that in one of his eyes is the very early stages of a cataract, which he'll have to get taken care of when he is back in Austria. We then had to wait an hour so we walked around the mall. Around 6pm we headed back and picked up our glasses. Here is when I found out what progressive lenses meant. Progressive lenses are tri-focal. So the top third is from distance, the middle third is for a few feet and the lower third is for reading.  And wow talk about getting use to this. I very much dislike it at the moment but I'm sure I'll get use to it and remember what third to look through at the appropriate time. But man what a difference it makes in reading small print..just have to get use to these tri-focal lenses.

Skype Chats and Interviews

This morning was a busy one. Got up had some breakfast then jumped on my computer to join in on a Treks in Sci Fi Skype chat Podcast. Rico (host of Trek SF) will have skype calls a few times a year where he gets listeners together to chat about geeky things, TV, movies, tech.. bunch of different topics. I haven't been able to join the past few so I was going to make sure I made this one. This one started at 10am my time and it went on until about Noon and then we continued to chat about half hour or so. It's always fun talking to my friends that I hang out with on the Treksf forums.

After the skype chat I had to do an interview for Podcast Squared. It's podcast about podcast and podcasters. I did an interview for them last year about Knights of the Guild but this year we were talking about  my new MASH 4077 Podcast. Also joining me for the interview were my co-hosts Al and Meds. We had a great time talking about our love of MASH and why we started the podcast. The interview lasted about 45 minutes and will be released soon.

Finally got done around 1pm, got ready and headed out with Harry to have lunch and see if we could get new glasses.