Podcasting Mania

Many have asked how I got into podcasting.. so I decided to sit down and blog about it.

Back in 2004/2005 itunes added this new function called Podcasts. I had heard about these a little bit prior to that but didn't really pay them much attention until itunes added them to their site. I remember doing searches for my favorite topics, Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, Facscape, Harry Potter and so and found so many great podcasts.

When I first started off I was listening to about 50+ podcasts but that only lasted a few months as my "free" time became less available I started to scale down my list. Soon there were good solid 15 shows including Treks in Sci Fi, The Signal and Pottercast.

Treks in Sci Fi was special because they had just started a forum and I was one of the first to join and frequent it quite a bit that I was made a moderator. Also because Treksf was all about the shows I love I use to send in listener feedback all the time and Rico would play my comments and it was kind of cool to hear myself on the podcast. So I started sending in listener comments to my other podcasts and soon it became a regular thing and the podcasting bug got me.

I started RPG (role playing game) on the Treks in Sci fi forums and soon it spawned into The Ready Room podcast which covered the happens of the RPG. I loved doing this podcast with fellow forum members Jen and Rick. It was almost like doing my own podcast but the topic was restricted to the Trek SF RPG game and I wanted to do more. Eventually the RPG ended and the three of us moved on to our own podcasts. Jen started the Anomaly podcast with her friend Angela while Rick started Take Him With You Podcast with his wife Amy... both are EXCELLENT podcasts.

So that left me to think of a topic I could do my podcast on. At the time there were thousands of podcasts and so many topics that if you didn't find your niche you could get lost in the crowd. At the time I was volunteering for a webseries called The Guild doing all their behind the scenes DVD stuff when it hit me. I should do a podcast about The Guild. There isn't one out there and since I "work" for them I'm sure I can get inside info and interviews with the cast and such... so Knights of the Guild Podcast was born. It's a huge undertaking to produce 2 to 5 podcasts a month but I love it. KOTG has really open some doors for me and has been a great experience. We're currently working on our third year and The Guild is about to start it's fifth season. I don't know how much longer I'll be doing KOTG but I'll keep doing it as long as the listeners keep downloading it.

Like The Ready Room Podcast, Knights of the Guild podcast is very specific in it's topic and I really wanted to do a variety geek show since I love many things geek. So in October of 2010 I came up with an idea for Epic Geek Out. I purchased the URL, created an email account, made a podbean website and twitter name. Got a logo made and a theme song. Then life got busy, my co-host (Jen) as unable to continue with this project for the time being so it took a back seat. I've tried several times this year to revive it but because of the show format it's making it very difficult to get things off the ground. I know eventually will get it going and it's going to be great.. but until I can devote a good chunk of time to it, it will just to have wait.

I've wanted to do a MASH podcast for several years now, I mentioned this to my partner at the time Harry (who's a huge MASH fan) but again it never went anywhere until earlier this year I was talking to a few friends and fellow podcasters (Meds & Al) and found out that both of them are huge MASH fans and suddenly this podcast was on the fast track and come February we released the first episode of MASH 4077 Podcast and it's been steadily growing in listeners since.

So now I'm doing two podcasts, I produce, edit, co-host, promote and manage both of these podcasts. Both podcasts put out at least 2 to 5 episodes a month and I spend roughly 40+ hours a week working on them. But my head it still churning up ideas for more podcasts. I have several idea for other podcasts based on some of my favorite TV shows, but at the moment they are just ideas. I have reached out to several "groups" and/or people whom I'd love to do a podcast on/for. I'm just waiting to hear their thoughts on the topic. One is definitely a go, just need to come up with a good format. I'll keep everyone posted.

But this morning while driving into work this great podcast idea came over me and I couldn't get it out of my head. So when I got to work I started to research the URL and with a little tweaking I got what I wanted, also opened a gmail account, twitter and podbean account for my new podcast...  Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast. (more details to follow in future blogs)

So I have 2 podcasts up and running, 2 podcasts prepping to go,  2 podcasts in the wings so many more ideas just waiting to be revealed. 

If you can't tell I love podcasting, just wish I could make a living at it. That's my next step, to sustain of living at podcasting.

Knights of the Guild Ep 32

Download from itunes - http://bit.ly/KotGCast or listen/download directly http://bit.ly/2CrYxk

Today’s show features:

• * Knights of the Guild theme song by Matthew Gehrett http://www.matthewgehrett.com/
• * Guild News
• * Crew Interview with Wardrobe Krystyn Ingrim
• * Guild Something with Sean & Brian
• * Fan Interview with the very talented Adam Levermore
• * What the Cast is Up too
• * 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

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 10

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

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 hosts Harry Dauz & Joyce Kessel discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Episode #10 - I Hate a Mystery

Directed by Hy Averback
Written by Hal Dressner
Production code J306
Original air date November 26, 1972

Plot Summary: A rash of thefts breaks out in the camp. Missing pieces include Frank's silver picture frame, Margaret's hair brush, and Trapper's watch. The camp is searched and everything is found in Hawkeye's locker, leaving the other MASH personnel suspicious of and, worse, disappointed in Hawkeye. Hawkeye manages to let it be known to the camp where the recovered items have been stored (they have been locked in Col. Blake's desk). When the items disappear yet again, Hawkeye summons many of the MASH personnel to the mess tent in the middle of the night in order to reveal the identity of the criminal. After parodying countless detective stories by revealing possible motives others might have to frame him (jealousy, resentment, etc.), he tells the assembled staff that he has treated the items with a chemical which, when it comes into contact with a human being, turns that person's fingernails blue. When Ho-Jon hides his hands, Hawkeye knows he has found the criminal. (The chemical treatment story was merely a bluff.) Ho-Jon is not punished, however, as he has stolen the items only to raise money to bribe border guards to bring his family from the north to the south.

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

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

© Geekyfanboy Productions

Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt

JK Rowling loves to make announcements in style. Today various Harry Potter sites posted this...

Following the completion of the seven Harry Potter books and eight films, J.K. Rowling has something new to announce. Even though this is not a new book, we have been informed it is something equally exciting.

As a teaser before the official announcement, ten letters have been hidden on the website below for you to find. To locate them you need to find ten sets of coordinates, enter them into the search box at www.secretstreetview.com one set at a time, and take a look around (meaning zoom all the way in).

Over the next two hours All Ten Coordinates showed up each revealing a letter and a little tidbit about the Harry Potter World and that particular location.

42.523356,-70.890698 - The letter E was revealed and Salem: The Salem Witches' Institute visited the Quidditch World Cup.

51.530377,-0.123259 - The letter T was revealed and King’s Cross: The Hogwarts Express leaves from platform nine and three-quarters.

-34.410362,150.900671 - The letter O was revealed and Australia: The Woollongong Warriors are a Quidditch team referenced in the book ‘Quidditch through the Ages.’

43.640408,-79.388795 - The letter R was revealed and Toronto (Skydome): Where J.K. Rowling achieved the world record for a public reading event.

29.952313,-90.067849 - The letter P was revealed and New Orleans: The Phoenix Rising Convention in New Orleans. One of the largest Harry Potter fan conventions.

-23.547149,-46.520266 - The letter E was revealed and Brazil: The location of an eagle-eyed fan site which spotted a recent trademark registration.

-29.239004,24.507602 - The letter T was revealed and Africa: The Erumpent - whose horn contains a deadly fluid that can make objects explode at the slightest touch (one of which destroyed the Lovegood house) - is originally from Africa.

34.730748,137.383786 - The letter O was revealed and Toyohashi: Toyohashi Tengu is a Quidditch team referenced in the book ‘Quidditch through the Ages.’

51.781383,-2.56844 - The letter R was revealed and Forest of Dean: The beautiful forest where Harry & Ron reunite in the Deathly Hallows.

53.476311, -2.22971 - The letter M was revealed and Manchester station: The train line between Manchester and London is where J.K. Rowling first conceived the idea of Harry Potter.

So this left us with: E T O R P E T O R M and if you rearrange the letters you get MORE POTTER

Well just a few moments ago it was official announced that POTTERMORE is a new JK Rowling website. You can follow them @pottermore and the url of the website is www.pottermore.com It's just a front page saying coming soon.. so all us Potter fans are on pens and needles waiting to hear what JK Rowling is up too.. .let the speculation fly.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition Screening

Tonight I went to see this in the theater. It's a promotional thing for the LOTR Blu-ray DVD's coming out soon. AMC is showing the Extended Edition of each film on Tuesday for the next three weeks. Fellowship of the Rings 6/14, The Two Towers 6/21 and Return of the King 6/28.

Went with my friends Harry, Andrew, Adam and Aaron. The room was pretty packed but not full. First to come on screen with Peter Jackson who explained that these releases are the first and only showing of the new REMASTERED Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Editions. I guess they remastered the video and audio for the Blu-Rays.. so in essence we were watching the Blu-ray version of the movie on the big screen. We watched it on a AMC's E.X.T. screen.. not sure what that means but I know it’s supposed to be the best digital video and sound they have.

The crowd was great, some dressed up but all very extremely excited. Every time a new character would come on screen folks would hoot and holler. The video was exceptional, but I have to admit that seeing it in HD you can tell when it's not the main actors and it's one of the little people with a mask on. I don't think I noticed it that much before but watching it in HD on a huge screen you kind of notices now. Still didn't take any of the joy away from watching it again. This is actually my second time watching FOTR EE on the bring screen. I saw it many years ago when they were releasing the final movie The Return of the King they did a marathon with FOTR and TT both Extended Editions and then premiered ROTK. But this was my first time seeing in glorious Digital HD. Like the video the sounds was amazing, some scenes would shake the chairs it was so powerful. I know some folks in my party got a headache from the sound but I thought it was AWESOME.

It was a great experience, I cried like a baby as I always do with certain parts of this movie. This is my favorite of the Trilogy. I'm still debating on going next Tuesday to see The Two Towers. For this one I had to leave work two hours early and it took me a little over an hour and a half in traffic to get there... but it was so worth it.

Dad Update

So it's been a few weeks since I have updated you guys on my Dad's on going battle with cancer. He got his first chemo treatment a few weeks ago and was sick for a few days but then felt fine. I saw him a week ago for my nephews birthday party and he looks in good spirits, the swelling in his face had gone down and his appetite had returned. He also said that the tumors were shrinking (just by his observation).

Well I talked to him today and he's not feeling so hot, though the chemo was a few weeks ago it's started to take a toll on his body and he's extremely sick and he's eating very little, which is bad news since he's diabetic and needs to control his blood sugar levels.

He has several doctor appointments towards the end of this week and the doctors will determined if they will start radiation as well as chemo to give it the 1 2 punch or if they are happy with the results of just the chemo they may opt not to do radiation. So will know more at the end of this week. His next chemo treatment isn't for another few weeks. I just hope we get good news and this treatment is actually shrinking the tumors and preventing the cancer from spreading... only time will tell.

Hanging with Greg Aronowitz

After recording my Doctor Who podcast I headed down to the Barnyard to hangout with my buddy Greg Aronowitz. If you don't know who Greg is, he's a special effects artist and design specialist who has contributed to over two hundred films and television projects. He's made action figures, busts and so much more. He's now directing and writing his own movies. You can check out his IMDB page HERE

Various Props Greg has made for The Guild

We meet a few years back while working on The Guild together and became fast friends as we are both very big geeks. Anyways I actually went over to interview him for The Guild season five companioncasts and he is also going to be making my hobbit ears and feet so I was going to have my ears casted.

Greg's house/ The Barnyard is such an AWESOME place to visit. Everytime I go there something new to see. So I always have fun checking out his place when I visit. We started interviewing around 3:30pm and discussed episodes 1 through 5 before we realized it was 7:30pm and that we were both hungry. So we took a break and went to El Pollo Loco for some crazy chicken and had a really good

Full size Jabba in his living room

conversation during dinner. Got back to his place around 8:45pm and talked about episodes 6 and 7 then realized it was 10pm and we hadn't done my ear casting and I had to get going as seven hours of interviewing was my limit. Greg was also not feeling well so we called it a night. We made plans to finish up talking about episodes 8 through 12 and do my ear casting at a later date. I did give him some old shoes in which he will create my hobbit feet around.

Doctor Who Podcast Recording

Well after my false start yesterday thinking that it was Sunday, today at noon I jumped on skype to chat with Meds (my co-host on MASH 4077 Podcast) and KC (a member of the Treksf forums) to discuss the latest season of Doctor Who for an episode of the Treks in Sci Fi Podcast. The three of us have kind of been the resident Who fans on the forums and have done previous podcasts covering previous seasons of Who.

We had planned to have both Meds and I record the skype call with pamela and each person would individually record their own audio as back ups. First Meds couldn't get his pamela to work so we relied on mine. Which I tested and it worked fine. Then I had issues with my audacity audio levels and finally just gave up on that. We started recording and got about 15 minutes in and my skype died, which caused pamela to crash and we lost everything. We regrouped and started again and it looked like all the gremlins in the systems were gone. An hour and a fifteen minutes later we recorded a fun and entertaining podcast about season 6A of Doctor Who.

I went to stop pamela and yep.. it didn't work, nothing was recorded. So now all we have are our individual audio recordings. I told Meds to send them all to me as it's easy for me to link them all together with my Avid and then I would send him back the full audio that he could add clips and edit.

Well I got all three audio files and imported them into the system. I laid out Meds audio first and then KC's and noticed that Meds was about half as long as KC's. I then laid mine out and mine was the same length as KC's.. For some reason Meds only recorded 30 minutes of his recording.. so now panic has started to set in. It was looking like we would have to re-record the entire thing and the problem is that this episode is due to air this coming Sunday. But when I listened to KC's recording it had all of our voices on it.. not just hers like it was suppose to be. This would have been a major issue if we were trying to sync up all our individual audio but the fact that Meds only had half and we lost pamela this actually saved the entire show. Seems KC recorded everything (by accident, I assume) but that is the audio that we are going to use for our show. KC sounds the best and Meds and I sound kind of hollow.. but at least we have a full recording of the show and don't have to do it again. So what started out as a mistake turned in to a live saver.... Thanks KC

Doctor Who Season 6 part 1

WARNING!!!! Spoilers ahead!!! Spoilers ahead!!! Do not read if you haven't seen this season.

So they decided to split the Doctor Who season into two parts, 7 episodes for the first half and 6 episodes for the second half. Which I don't mind and kind of understand why. Normally they run all 13 episodes during spring and then we have to wait until Christmas for a special and then again a few months until spring for the next season. So this way there is less waiting for new Who.. every few months we get a little Who instead.

Today I got to see the mid season finale (7th episode of the 1st half). And it was AWESOME!!! I can't say that this season has been my favorite but it has had some of the best Who episodes ever (Doctor's Wife).

This season started off with a bang..literally with the death of The Doctor and continued to have OMG moments in this and it's second episode. The third episode was more of a one off / fun episode. Then the big Neil Gaiman episode The Doctors Wife which was very emotional and so well written and acted. Next was another two parter that set up the mid season finale with an OMG moment of Amy not really being Amy this entire time but  a duplicate fleshy thing. Didn't see that coming. And of course we had the midseason finale which I really enjoyed and had a lot of big OMG moments but the biggest was the pay off at the very end when we find out who River Song is.

I actually called this at the beginning of the season and was happy to see that I was right. Amy and Rory's daughter has timelord genes because she was conceived in the TARDIS while in the time vortex, but the biggest bomb shell was that their daughters name is Melody Pond and when translated to on the planet she was raised she was called River Song!!! River is Amy and Rory's daughter.. I LOVE IT!!!! Can't wait to see where the second half of this series goes.

Overall this season had some high points and some low points. The Doctor was angry alot during this season and we don't see that often. I'm sure it's leading up to something so I'll be patient but I miss the fun whimsical doctor. Also I was a HUGE fan of Amy Pond in season five but I haven't liked her much this season. But then again it wasn't the real Amy and she was pregnant so that might explain some of it. I look forward to seeing where she goes in the second half. I've always been a fan of Rory but he has really come into his own during this season.. and I like that. And of course River Song, who I loved in season four and her return in five and finally some answers in six.. great character and great actress.. looking forward to seeing where she goes next.

Season 6 part 2 starts in the fall.

Power Outages and Podcasts

Well my morning didn't start off so hot. Around 5:30am the power went out and the reason I know the time is because I use a fan to help me sleep. I'm an extremely light sleeper and any noise will wake me up. Harry stays up late watching TV while I'm trying to sleep and I can hear the TV. So many years ago I started turning on a fan to drown out the noise of the TV. I know it sounds crazy to create noise to get rid of noise.. but the fan is like white noise and I found I slept better with it. So I've been using the fan for years. So when the power went out and the fan turned off I immediately woke up. Not that there was any sounds but now because of the lack of the fan I couldn't sleep. So I laid there for a few hours and finally dozed off around 7:30am but again was woken up when the power came back on and the fan started up again around 9:30am. I figured it was no use that I might as well get up and reset all the clocks and start my day.

First thing that popped into my head was that I was doing a Doctor Who podcast for the first half of season six with my friends Meds and KC for the Treks in Sci Fi podcast. Only problem was that I hadn't seen the mid season finale. It aired in the UK last weekend but because of Memorial day we in the US were pushed back a week. So I went to my DVR and noticed that it didn't record and couldn't figure out why... but I had "found" it online and had it on my computer. Now I hate watching shows on my computer but it was almost 10am and the skype chat was at noon. So I watched the episode (review to come) and then suddenly realized that it was Saturday and the episode doesn't air here until 6pm and for that matter the Doctor Who skype chat is set for Sunday at Noon.. so I'm off an entire day.
 
So after that crazy morning and me realizing it was Saturday I had a ton of things I had to get done this weekend, and actually Saturday since I'm extremely busy on Sunday. So around 10:30am I got started on editing my next Knights of the Guild Podcast episode 32. Got done with that around 3pm and then started on my next MASH 4077 Podcast episode 10. I had worked on this a few days ago and only had to add audio clips and do one final polish pass. Three hours later and a few technical issues this podcast was also done.

I built both show notes pages on the website and uploaded both podcasts to podbean and set them to be released at Midnight on Wednesday June 15th.

So my busy day ended around 8pm, Harry and I had dinner and watched the midseason Doctor Who finale (for me again) and called it a night.

The Guild S5 Wrap Party

Tonight I got off of work around 5pm so I could make my way over to Universal City walk for The Guild's season five wrap party. This year it was being held at a fun arcade/bowling alley called Jillian's. Traffic was as I expected and it took me about an hour to get across town. Once there I paid to park, as I didn't feel like driving around trying to find a spot. The great thing was where I parked was right to Jillan's.

My plus one was my buddy Chris, who I met during season five of The Guild. He drove down from the Santa Barbara area to join in the festivities. As I was waiting outside for Chris I saw Greg Aronowitz looking down at me from a window on the second floor. He waved me up so I joined him upstairs where the party was taking place. I happen to be the first guest so I hung out in the lobby area with Greg and waited for others to arrive. Rebecca showed up second, then Brian, Kim and my buddy Chris. We all went inside and started to enjoy the party. There were chips and salsa, pizza and chicken wings to eat and all you can drink soda (diet for me), there was also alcoholic drinks which I did not partake in. I'm not a big drinker but I also never drink and drive.

About ten minutes in we all decided to get a game of bowling in before the crowds started to show up. This place was alot of fun. There were about ten lanes of bowling. And huge TV screens above the lanes where they were showing sport games and 80's music video.

So the night progressed and more and more people started showing up. My bowling team changed a bit and Adam and Scott joined Chris and I for the remainder of the night. We must have bowled about six or seven games, from 6pm to 10pm... It was tons of fun. In between turns I would head out and try and say hi to folks, take pictures and mingle a bit. At 10pm the bowling was open to the general public but we had a side room that was reserved for us and it had a Wii system projected on the wall and some mimic dancing game. So about 1/3 of the party wound up in there and various folks (including myself) had some fun dancing like crazy people.

It was a great night. I didn't get to take as many picture as I would have liked or get to visit with everyone but I did have an AWESOME time hanging with the small group in our bowling section.  And the dancing was a blast.

You can see over 100 pictures that I took of the night HERE

Planning a Trip

So I'm starting to plan for my trip to Orlando Florida to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I have been wanting to go there since it opened last June and for whatever reason (job) I haven't been able to make it over there. So I decided no matter what I was going to take a week off at the end of my current job and go. So I started to make plans. This job was to end in the middle of July, was going to go to San Diego Comic Con and then the week after go to WWofHP. Well those plans fell through as my job was extended to the end of July, then middle of August, then first week of September. So I kept pushing back my plans waiting to hear if this was my actual out date. I was this close to purchasing a plane ticket for Sept. 12th to the 16th but something in me said to hold off and luckily I did as they extended me another two weeks to the end of September.

Now I now for budget reasons I will not be extended any more and actually still might be able to get out of here mid September but I'm not taking any chances I'm going to book my room and plan for the first or second week in October. And since I'm going to be out of a job and never been to Orlando before I'm hoping to stay an extra week to do Disney world and all the surrounding parks beside my 3 days of heaven at The Wizarding World.

So that's my plan.. I'll be going to Orlando Florida sometime in early October and partaking in the wonder that is Disney world (for the first time) and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

My MTV Gig

Well we started back in November of 2010 but we finally finished our very first episode of the new show that I am post production supervisor on for MTV. Today we were in online and reviewed final video and final audio. There were a few tweaks but for the most part it sounded and looked great. This show is going to be pretty good.. the more I see of it the more excited I am to be part of it. Of course it's not officially done until the executive producer views it in New York and gives her final thumbs up (which should happen by weeks end). This is been a long, long process to get to this point but it finally feels like we are accomplishing something. So 1 down and 11 more episodes to go. Let's hope finishing up the rest of these episodes go as smoothly as the first.

I did manage to squeeze in some edit time during my lunch to work on the next Knights of the Guild Podcast. Got all of our intros and outros done for episode 32.

Podcasts

Today was pretty much devoted to my podcasts. Got up around 9 am to start to prep for my Knights of the Guild podcast recording. Jenni was coming over at 11am and we were to record our next two episodes. I got everything ready and Jenni arrived at 11am and we got started. Episode 32 had quite a bit of pre-recorded stuff that we are going to use, ie interviews, guild something and so on. So we got done recording our part in about 45 minutes. We then continued to record episode 33 which had a bit more of us so it took a bit longer to record that episode.. maybe an hour or so. Both shows were lots of fun. We tried to do more of the Kenny Jenni banter that everyone loves. Also when I go to edit I'm going to leave in more of the mistakes and fun that we have behind the scenes. Episode 32 will be out on June 15th and Episode 33 will be out on June 29th.

After we record we hung out and chatted for a few hours catching up on each other lives. When she left Harry and I went out to lunch and then grocery shopping.

When we got back I went back to podcasting and decided to start editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast episode 10.  This edit went much smoother then the last episode. All the audio was intact and laid together very nicely. I did my first pass, which is just taking out all unusable audio, like when the hosts talk to each other or I explain what section we are doing. That can take an hour or so. My second pass I clean up the audio and make sure it sounds as good as possible. This too can take an hour to complete. By this time I was tired and just wanted to go watch some TV before heading to bed. Still got two more passes to do for episode 10 but they are much easier. Pass three is where I add audio clips from the episode and pass four is where I smooth out the transitions and do my final polish pass. Both of those combined should take about an hour... but that will have to wait for a later day. I have until June 15th to get this one done.

Star Wars in Concert

I had missed this last time it was in the Los Angeles area so when I heard a few months ago that it was coming back to Los Angeles for two days only I jumped at the opportunity to see it. I was attending the event with my friend Sean. I left my brother's house around 5:30pm expecting to get to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles around 6:30pm, which I did.. but I wasn't expecting the chaos surrounding the place. I was first going to try and find parking on the street and just walk but thought better of it so instead I parked across the street from the Bowl and paid $21. It was also stacked parking which means you can't leave once you're in as they just pack the cars in. Of course I'm in the very back of the parking lot and figured it would take me hours to get out.

I followed the crowds to the entrance, having never been. I got to the entrance around 7pm. The event started at 7:30pm so I opted to grab a hot dog and some water. That took about 20 minutes in line to accomplish that. I headed over to will call to leave Sean's ticket as he was filming all day and expect to be a bit late. After leaving his ticket I made the trek up to my seat. I manage to sit down and settle in around 7:22pm.

I was very happy with my seat selection. I didn't need to be near the stage as you're really listening to the music and watching the huge screen. I choose seats about 2/3's up but directly in the middle.  I was bummed that I didn't get there earlier and go through the museum with Star Wars memorabilia, costumes and such. I knew that they opened 2 hours before the concert started but really miss judged as how crazy they place would be. Also they said no cameras or video devices but there security was nothing and I could have easily brought my camera or flip cam.. so I was stuck with the camera on my iPhone.

Anyways the program finally got started around 8pm and Sean showed up about 20 minutes in. The event itself was FANTASTIC!! Anthony Daniels who plays C3PO hosted the event and was so charming and charismatic.. he was the prefect host. They started with the beginning of the story and the orchestra would play famous Star Wars music to accompany the movie clips. Each clip segment was title.. Here's a list of the titles and who the main focus was in the clips.

Of course they started off with "Star Wars Main Title", then "Dark Forces Conspire" ("Duel of the Fates"), which was pretty epic!!! "A Hero Rises" (Anakin) was a very cool segment. They showed clips from the first three movies. Next was "Droids!" (C-3PO, R2-D2, and other droids), R2D2 is my favorite Star Wars character so I really enjoyed this segment. "A Race with Destiny" (Pod Race Flag Parade) was next and then "A Fateful Love" ("Padma and Anakin"). "A Hero Falls" (turning to the Dark Side) and this is when the crowds started to go crazy "An Empire is Forged" (Darth Vader). We then had a 20 minutes Intermission and the second half of the concert started. This of course was my favorite part because it was pretty much all from the first trilogy. It started with "A Narrow Escape" (Han Solo), then "A Defender Emerges" (Princess Leia). There was some video issues here and the video started about a minute into the piece. Next was "An Unlikely Alliance" (Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cantina Theme), this was a fun piece, though my only complaint is they used the scene where Greedo shots first and Han does that stupid jump move. After that came "A Jedi is Trained" (Yoda & Luke) and  "A Strike for Freedom". Another segment that I really liked was "A Bond Unbroken" (Luke & Leia). Then then did "Sanctuary Moon" (Endor and Ewoks) and "A Life Redeemed" (Vader) and finally "A New Day Dawns" (Throne Room and End Titles).

It was an incredible night and event. Oh and I totally forgot to mention after intermission many of the original segments included awesome laser shows that were timed with the music and/or scenes... it was truly amazing.

photo courtesy of @amy_geek

And if the night couldn't get any better. After everyone said goodbye and some folks were standing to leave, Anthony Daniels came back out to announce a special guest who wanted to come out and say hi.. and then went on to say.. Please welcome JOHN WILLIAMS!!!! The crowd went CRAZY!!!! Everyone was on their feet screaming and cheering. Mr. Williams looked surprised and very appreciative of all the noise. He then went on to conduct the orchestra for a special encore of

"The Imperial March". I had tears in my eyes listening to this magical piece being conducted by the man or created it so many years ago. Sean and I couldn't stop smiling at each other.

The night was already fantastic but this made it incredible and a night that I will never forget. On our way out I stopped by one of dealer booths and purchased a cool T-shirt and Program of the event. They were expensive but I couldn't pass it up. This is an event that I want to remember and cherish.

After the event I was on a high and didn't care that it took me almost an hour to walk from my seat to my car and then another half hour to get out of the parking lot and to the freeway. Nothing was going to spoil this evening.

IT WAS TRULY MAGICAL!!!!!

Kenobi's 2nd Birthday Party

So my little guy is now two years old and let me tell ya they don't exaggerate when the call them the terrible twos. But he got better as the party went on. They went with the baseball ballpark theme/ various sports theme. As always it was great to see the family. I got to hang out with my Dad for a bit which is great. The chemo is working and started to shrink the tumors and the left side of his face is started to go back to normal.. so those results put my Dad in a really good mood.. which is nice to see. Got to spend a good few hours talking to my aunt Joyce who I miss very much. We caught up on each other lives. Some of Mike's friends are really great.. some.. not so much. Got to visit with Lora's family which is always nice. And got to see Cindy and her youngest daughter who I remember when they brought her home from the hospital... she new just graduated High School.. man I feel old... but all in all it was a pretty good visit.

Dating Again

You know I haven't really thought about dating since Harry and I broke up back in January as we still live together (until August) but I guess I'm going to have to start doing that again. It been over eight years since I've dated and so many things have changed.. including myself.

I saw myself in the mirror this morning and it just hit me.. I'm a short balding middle aged fat man. Last time I dated I was still short, but less bald and 30 pounds lighter and very much hated dating. I didn't like all the BS that went along with it. I guess one good thing now is I'm much wiser, I know what I'm looking for and won't put up with any BS. If I see "red flags" I know it's best not to ignore them. I have a better understanding of who I am now and I've learned to accept and love the way I look for good or bad. I know I'm a nice guy, maybe too nice on the verge of being naive... but that's just me. I have a good heart and I'm a hopeless romantic.

Folks have asked me are you going to play the field or settle back down and I don't really know. I've never been one to play the field but I don't want to get into a serious relationship unless I know it will be for the rest of my life. So I guess all I can say is will see. It's scary dating again after all these years but I think now that I'm older and wiser I'll have a better experience at it.. and who knows maybe I'll find Mr. Right this time.

Quidditch Practice

Well it's been a few weeks since I've been to Quidditch practice so I was very excited to be attending a practice tonight. Practice was at 7pm at Pan Pacific Park. I normally get out of work at 7 but left a little early at 6:30pm. Even though it's only 8 miles it's all surface streets in the middle of rush hour traffic, so I arrived at the park around 7:30pm.. yep.. an hour to go 8 miles.. gotta love Los Angeles.

Got to the park and after walking around for a few minute I saw the familiar hoops and made my way over to them. Luckily they just started so I didn't miss much. We actually had 8 people show up today which is the most we've ever had. We also had two bystanders who were just walking in the part stop and watch and then actually join us for two games.. it was pretty awesome.

We played around eight games total, most of the time it was 3 on 3 while two people rested, until the last two games when we had 4 on 4, which was fantastic.

I got poked by a broom handle right in the gut, I took a dive trying to make a goal and while hitting my face on the ground I realizing that it was concrete. I ran full force into a team mate as I was unable to move around her, that lead to my left side of my face tingling as if I got smacked hard. After a few games I somehow twisted my ankle and was in so much pain that it made me nauseous and I thought I was going to throw up.

But even with all that it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Just being there with these people who are all HUGE Harry Potter fans made all the pain worth it. Unbeknown to me my teammates gave me a nick name "Cannonball" because when I have the Quaffle I'll run like a bullet to the hoops to score. So that made my night.

I'm extremely out of shape and can only last a few minutes at a time but I'm hoping in time my stamina and athleticism will improve. I'm the oldest person on the team but that won't stop me from having a great time.

GO HOLLYWOOD HARPIES!!!!

New MASH T-shirts

Today when I got home from work I had a delivery.. I've been excitedly waiting for this package as it contained our new MASH 4077 Podcast T-shirts that I plan on giving away as prize gifts and to help promote the podcast.

I only ordered a small amount to start out with, besides the fact that I used money out of my own pocket to pay for these, I wasn't sure how they would turn out.... but I think they turned out GREAT!!

Dad Update 6

Just got off the phone with my Dad.. he had his first chemo today. I guess he's been taking several chemo pills the past few days, and though they made him sick the first few days he is feeling better today and it's starting to take down the swelling in his face. Today he went in to the hospital and they gave him another chemo pill and 3 different chemo liquid solutions. He said he was in there for about three hours while they pumped the chemo in. He seemed in good spirits. He goes back to the hospital Thursday and Friday for hydration, one of the side effect of the chemo. Then next week they will decide if they will do radiation as well as chemo to get rid of these tumors faster.

Yesterday he sounded horrible and sick.. today he sounded much better and happy with the results of the chemo so far. Will find out in a few weeks if the chemo is actually shrinking the tumors or not. Here's hoping for the best.

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 9

Download from itunes http://t.co/N69yPdi or listen/direct download http://t.co/G4g8Mcn

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 hosts Harry Dauz & Joyce Kessel discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Episode #9 - Henry, Please Come Home

Directed by William Wiard
Written by Laurence Marks
Production code J302
Original air date November 19, 1972

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: The 4077th is commended for achieving a 90% success rate. General Hammond reassigns Henry to an outpost in Tokyo leaving the second in-command, Major Frank Burns, in charge of camp. Right away Frank goes gung-ho, making everybody follow his rules, and he even takes away the captain’s still. Hawkeye, Trapper, Spearchucker and Radar plot together on how to bring back Henry and get rid of Frank. But will Henry leave his cushy new job with cushy new geishas?

Hope you enjoy it,

Kenny, Meds, Al, Harry & Joyce

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

12 Hour Work Day

I was off for Memorial Day Monday so Tuesday was the start of my work week. I had to get up at 5:30am this morning because I had to be at work by 8am which means I had to leave my house by 6am. So it wasn't the best way to start my week. We are finally "onlining" our first episode of Chelsea Settles (the new MTV show I'm working on). And I had to get the media/hard drive to the facility by 8:30am. 

So I dropped off the media and waited to hear back. Just for those who don't know what onlining is, here's a very brief description; "offline" are when editors take the footage (at a low resolution) and cut the show together. Once that's done it goes to another place and is called "online".. meaning they uprez all the footage and do all the final color correction and blurs and finish the show so it's ready to air.

So our 1st episode went to online and about mid day I heard nothing but good news. Everything looked great, there were no major video or audio issues and the show was on it's way to being finished. And just so you know that rarely happens so I was feeling great. I worked about 12 hours but didn't mind because it was all good.. wish I had more work days like this one.

On my way home I talked with my Dad and he has been having a few rough days. He's diabetic and since the cancer is making him not want to eat it's throwing off his blood sugar so he's been trying to find a balance with everything. Luckily my brother and sister-in-law are there to help him out. He goes in for his first Chemo treatment tomorrow... I hope all goes well.

Star Trek Marathon

Came across this video on a forum that I regular and I thought it was well done and lots of fun. I don't agree with their assessment of some of the Star Trek Movies but everyone has their opinion.

Here are my ratings as I remember the movies.. it's been a while since I have scene some of the original ones.. so rating may change if I watch them again... but for here here's how I number them.

Star Trek 1 (Motion Picture) - 5
Star Trek 2 (Wraith of Khan) - 8
Star Trek 3 (Search for Spock) - 6
Star Trek 4 (Voyage Home) - 9
Star Trek 5 (The Final Frontier) - 5
Star Trek 6 (Undiscovered Country) - 8
Star Trek 7 (Generations) - 7
Star Trek 8 (First Contact) - 10
Star Trek 9 (Insurrection) - 7
Star Trek 10 (Nemesis) - 7
Star Trek 11 (Star Trek) - 8

My Sunday!!

So day two of my three day weekend was busy.. The day started with Harry and I doing our never ending yard work. Feels like we take down a ton of weeds and two weeks later they are back again and have doubled. This is the worst part of living in this house.

After yard work we had some lunch and watched the last 6 episodes of Cougar Town. We have so much TV saved up in our DVR it's nice that we are finally able to watch some of it.

Worked on building the show notes and such for the next MASH 4077 Podcast.. so that's ready to be released on June 1st.

It was great just hanging out and doing nothing for a few hours.. it seems like I have fewer and fewer days were I can just do nothing.

In the evening I headed out to meet up with my friend Adam who is moving down from the Bay Area. I meet Adam a few months back through my friend Ray and we hit it off. We also worked together on season six of The Guild.  Adam is a graphic designer and has done some well know work among the Firefly and BSG fans. And is currently working on some other big projects with other geeky folks. Anyways he quit his job and is moving down here to start his graphic design career full time. He had a small get together to celebrate his unemployment and the start of his new adventure. Got to see some mutual friends as well as meet some folks who I only know from Twitter.. which is always fun. It was a really fun night.

Knights of the Guild Ep 31

Listen on itunes - http://bit.ly/KotGCast, Listen or download directly http://bit.ly/2CrYxk

Show Notes:
MEET
Today's episode is a very special joint podcast with Knights of the Guild Podcast and Tech Barbarians Podcast.

We had a little welcome party at Teal's (Venom) place.

This is PART TWO. This part includes interviews with Chris and Mark, Sean Becker (Director), and Teddy Garces (Bruiser).

We also have a special Song written and preformed by Gabriel Hager for his I Hearth Geek's podcast

You can also watch the video over on our Ustream channel.. you can find the link below.

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny

Knights of the Guild Podcast has a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

© Geekyfanboy Productions

My Saturday

The first day of my 3 day weekend started with me getting up at 7am in the morning to working on next MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 9. Which I did and around 10am was finished with.. woo hooo. Still have to create the show notes and upload the file but the editing it all done and it turned out really good, if I do say so myself :)

Around 11:30ish Harry and I headed out to visit my Dad. Traffic was horrible and it took us a little over 2 hours to get there. While we were there visiting my family, we wanted my brother to look at Harry's truck bumper as there is a dent in it and Harry wanted to see if Mike could get it out (my brother does body work). Unfortunately he can't and the bumper needs to be replaced.

We visited with my Dad, who isn't do so well. His face has swollen up on the left side and he's not eating. He says he feels fine but he's not. He spent maybe a half hour downstairs with us before going back up stairs to sleep.. which is pretty much all he does these days. We did eat lunch with him and we had to almost force him to have a few bites.

After my Dad went up to sleep I played with my Nephew for an hour or so.. he's a ball of energy and ran me ragged. I don't know how his parents keep up with him. But I loved every minute of it and wish I could see him more often.

Around 4pm he decided to head home and arrived around 5:30pm. I wasn't feeling so hot so I took it easy the rest of the night. We watched last weeks Doctor Who and really enjoyed it. Sucks that's it's a two parter and we don't get to see the second part until 2 weeks even though it aired in the UK tonight. So I could find it online but I think I'll wait until it airs next week. We also caught up on How I Met Your Mother, we had the last 5 episodes to watch. Really like that series, it's one of the most consistently funny shows on TV. Can't wait for Season Seven.

So all in all a good day, it's hard to see my Dad so sick and I know he'll get worse with the Chemo before he hopefully gets better... but I want to spend as much time with him as I can.

Dad Update 5 - Good News???

So my Dad had an appointment with his doctors next Tuesday to find out the results of his biopsy and bone marrow test. And is suppose to start Chemo in two weeks on June 9th. Of course this drove me crazy as two weeks is way to long.. it's only been a little over a month and the cancer has gone from nothing to four huge tumors.. .

Well I just got off the phone with my Dad, and we got some encouraging yet cautious news. One of his doctors called him today and asked for him to coming to their office at 3pm. My Dad went and was told that the biopsy showed that he has Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and it's more aggressive then they would like (not good news). But there is some good news, we got the results of his bone marrow tests and they are negative for cancer... so it's not in his bone marrow, meaning it's not terminal. So right now it's just located in the lymph nodes in he neck and chest area. Because it's so aggressive they are starting Chemo this Wednesday.. which makes me happy.

So it's not terminal but we really can't celebrate as my Dad is in for a battle. Non-Hodgkin's is not a good cancer to get and it's even worse when it's aggressive like his. But we are hopeful.. they already removed one tumor, which the doctor said looked to be the worse and with Chemo they hope to shrink down the others.

My Dad seemed happy on the phone so that's good.. glad he's keeping a positive attitude.. that will help with the battle he's about to face.

Thanks again everyone for your continued support... hugs

Harry Potter Video - AMAZING!!!!

Born This Way!!!

A new Gallup poll came out today and a gay website did a story on it "Homosexuality: Born This Way? Only 40% of Americans Think So" You can see the original story HERE

They use the word "Only" like it's a negative thing, but I see it as a positive sign. I mean if you look at the chart below in 1978 only 13% of Americans believe you were born gay while 56% believe it was upbringing.

Now in 2011 40% believe you are born gay up 27% and 42% believe it's upbringing down by 14%. Times are changing, it may not be at lightening speed but it's moving in the right direction.

And if you look at the chart there was a pretty big gap for 15 years ('78 to '96) and then you look at the last 15 years ('96 to '11) and the gap closes and the two thoughts go back and forth... I see this as progress.