2012 My Year in Review

So I'm just going to post month to month some highlights and maybe a few low lights from this past year.

January

I started a new podcast with my brother. Alien Nation The Newcomer Podcast. Alien Nation was/is a show that my brother and I loved when we were younger and I have been wanting to do a podcast with my brother for sometime so this seemed a perfect fit. We have the best time getting together and recording a few episodes at a time. It's not my most successful podcast but we're having a great time doing them and really that is all that matters.

Starting working out again, I tend to do this at the beginning of each year. I'm pumped up to lose some weight and start eating better. And as usual things don't always go as planned, it's a constant battle that I refuse to give up on.

Had one of my movie marathon weekends, this time we watched Back to the Future Trilogy. And as always it was epic.

February

My bestie Chris always drove three hours down to see me for my movie marathon so this weekend I decided to drive up to see them. I asked a few friends and Anthony, Rupert and Aaron joined me in this adventure. It was a ton of fun, the ride up and back was a blast but it was great seeing Chris and where he worked. It was a very memorable trip.

Did a trip to Disneyland with some Guildies. It's always fun getting together with them and to add in more fun throw in Disneyland.. the happiest place on Earth.

During this latest trip to Disneyland I finally got to meet Robert. Robert was an extra for Season 5 of The Guild. I really don't remember seeing him there but we became Facebook friends and one day I had tickets for a Hammer improv show that I couldn't attend so I posted on facebook that I had them and if anyone wanted them. Well Robert respond and got the tickets. I had checked out his profile and thought he was extremely cute so a week later I messaged him over Facebook and asked about the show. That started regular conversations between us and him joining us at Disneyland. He was only with us for a short time at Disneyland but the little time I hung out with him we really clicked. I was bummed to find out that he was straight but hey I don't mind having nice looking friends. Robert joined us for my next movie marathon and that was it. We were BFF's.  He has become one of my very best friends. We bonded quickly and I really got to know Robert. I talked to him via facebook everyday and when I was working in Santa Monica I saw him two to three times a week. We're even doing TV nights once a week.. started with Firefly and are not currently in the middle of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Meeting Robert is truly one of the best highlights of 2012.

Another good friend of mine came to visit me this month. My buddy Thomas from Ireland was doing tournament in Las Vegas and extended his stay a few days so he could come and hang with me... how awesome is that. We hung out for several days, did movies, dinners, Vasquez Rocks and Disneyland while he was here. I don't get to see Thomas often but when I do I cherish every minute.

At the end of the month I had another epic movie marathon weekend, this time we did 80's Scifi and Fantasy movies. It was a huge turnout for this one and most of use dressed up as our favorite 80's movie/tv character. Many greats times were had that weekend.

March

Started off great with another trip to Disneyland, this time I went with three of my best friends, Chris, Jen and Robert. I have to say that I love Disneyland and I enjoy myself everytime I go but this was by far the most fun I have every had at the happiest place on Earth. The four of us just clicked, every conversation was hilarious, we all just had the best of time. I hold that day as one of the best days of my life.

Went and saw a very cool musical written by an ex of mine, Tom. He's so talented and I'm so happy that he's getting some truly deserved success. The musical was called Geeks! The Musical! and it was FANTASTIC!!!

Had what I said would be one of my last movie marathon. This time it was Jurassic Park. I have highs and lows with it come to these marathons. It's alot of work on my part to put something like this together so there are times during each one of these weekends were I get low or upset or frustrated. It happens at everyone but in the end I always wind up having a great time.

I did Wondercon this year because it was in Anaheim this year. It's normally in San Fransisco. It was a mini version of Comic Con but still a blast and I got to hang out with some of my most favorite people in the world.. not to mention that I went dressed at a Hobbit and anytime I can dress up like a Hobbit I'm going to take it.

The month ended one something that I would hope would never happen. My best friend Chris was relocated to Montana and was leaving California for years. I put on the biggest and best going away party I could pull off. There were picnics, fancy restaurants, painting balling, movies, great food and most of all the best group of friends. I think Chris really enjoyed his send off. I was very happy with how everything turned out.

April

Since my best friend Chris was moving to Montana I wasn't going to let him do this all by himself. So he packed up his place in a U-haul and I joined him for the 1000 mile trip. We went to Vegas the first night and then pretty much drove through another four states and made it to Montana in three days. We stayed on base while we looked for a new place for him to live. We found a perfect apartment, moved everything in and during my final days he introduced me to Minecraft which I quickly became addicted to. I spent two wonderful weeks up in Montana with a person that has truly changed my life. I don't even know if he is aware at how much I adore him.

End of the month there were two top secret shoots done at my house. First was Felicia's Country music video with Jason Charles Miller. I'm even in it. The second was a 5 Minute Comedy Hour episode (which has yet to air so I can't say much about it). Both were tons of fun and I'm glad they were able to shoot on my property.

May

Started taking a picture of me everyday in May

Finally got to meet an online friend who I have been friends with for years.. Sebastian. He was awesome and we have become really good friends. There is something about Sebastian that I can tell him pretty much anything and feel comfortable about it.. I love that about our relationship.

My friend Teal started her webseries My Gimpy Life, which I was happy to be a part of. Extraing and podcasting.

President Obama came out on gave his support for Gay Marriage.. this was a huge moment in not only "gay" history but history in general.

Had another movie marathon, this time we went with 80's Teen Movies. This was the first movie marathon without Chris, but I did invite two new friends, Justin (who it Josh's brother and Brett, who extra'd on The Guild). Both have become part of The Geek Mob.

I got to go to my first Renaissance Faire, can't wait for my next one.

And the end the month I got to watch The Avengers with a group of Guildies and then we went out for Shwarma afterwards.. it was pretty epic.

June

I got a job.. after being out of work since October (9 months) I finally got a new job working as a Post Production Supervisor for High Noon Entertainment. Unfortunately it only lasted until September when the show I was working on got pulled for re-tooling.

I got to see an Lord of the Rings musical that I've been wanting to see for years "Fellowship: The Musical". It was awesome and I can't wait to see it again.

July

Attended my 9th San Diego Comic Con, again was surround by friend, best bud Chris even came down. I dressed up at my Hobbit alter ego as well in my Star Trek outfit. Had a blast as usual.. lots of great memories.

On the ride home Chris and I came up with a great idea that we are calling our "Secret Project" We have been working on it all year and hope to announce something in the near future.

I released the first episode of my newest podcast (5th one) My Gimpy Life Podcast

August

The Guild season six started filming and once again I was on set, but this time I only could do weekends.. so I was there for 6 of the 15 shoot days.

Everyone seemed to like my pic a day in May so I did a picture a day until my 42nd birthday.. so day one I posted a picture of me at age 1, day 2 age 2 and so on. It was a lot of fun seeing how much I changed over the years.

September

Attended Comickaze Con in Los Angeles.. again anytime i have an opportunity to dress up as a Hobbit I'm going to take it.

Got to watch the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over my work place.. it was pretty amazing to see.

Had a great 42nd Birthday party weekend. There were few bumps that weekend and saw a few cracks in my Geek Mob. But you know everything can't stay the same.. change is inevitable.

Lost my job due to the show being pulled for re-tooling.

October

Started preparing my house to be sold. Harry and I purchased this house three years ago and since we are no longer together and I am able to sell it now I'm taking steps in starting that process.

Starting getting my PGA screeners.. this year I got some fantastic movies.

Did a Geek-A-Thon for my friend America.. that was a ton of fun.

Disney purchased Lucas film and made one of the biggest announcements in recent history. Star Wars Episode 7 is in pre-production with plans to make a new Star Wars movie every few years.

Watched Downton Abbey and fell in love with it. One of my favorite TV series on right now.

November

Got my 3rd Tattoo.. this time Lord of the Rings themed. I think it turned out great. So far I've gotten one a year since turning 40. Harry Potter at 40, Star Wars at 41 and now LOTR at 42.. next will be Star Trek

December

Did a Lord of the Rings extended edition movie marathon at the Arclight with my buddy Robert.. had an awesome time.

Watched the first installment of The Hobbit movies An Unexpected Journey and loved it. Saw it in the new 48 fps as well as traditional 24 fps.

Got a new job that will be starting in January 2013

Did a Christmas movie marathon but this time with a much smaller group of friends and it was AWESOME.

Ended my year with spending the holidays with one of my most favorite people in the world.. yep you guessed it Chris. Had my very first White Christmas. Was introduced to Lord of the Rings Online and become addicted. Had a fantastic two weeks just hanging.

Overview of 2012

So 2012 is over and I have to say that I've had a really great year. Of course there are always ups and downs but after going over all 500 of my blogs this year to prep for this blog post, I can say that I am truly a lucky guy. I have the best family and a group of the most incredible friends that I have ever had. I have five great podcasts and the best listeners anyone could ask for. There are some cool projects on the horizon that I can't wait to get started with.

Of course not everything has been great.. I'm alone and lonely. I haven't dated or been with anyone since Harry (going on a year and a half) . I'm fighting bouts of depression from time to time but they don't last too long. I'm still struggling with my weight and food consumption. It was a rough year for work, as I only worked about 3 months this year and my savings if at $0 now.

But you know what.. even with all those "downs" their have been far more "ups" making 2012 a pretty great year for me.

Let's hope some of the "downs" turn into "ups" for 2013

Montana Vacation - Day 14

So this is the last day of 2012. It started with breakfast and watching the Downton Abbey 2012 Christmas special. I didn't even know they were doing one until I saw a few tweets about it a few days ago. I won't spoil anything on this blog since we won't be seeing it here in the U.S. for a few months, but if I were you and you watch Downton then move on to the next paragraph and skip the rest of this one. Because from the tweets that I saw I knew something big was going to happen (which kind of spoiled it for me) as Chris and I were waiting for the ball to drop with every event that was happening. We kept saying.. OMG they better not do this or they better not do that.. it kept us on edge the entire time but also when it finally happened the shock wasn't there.. but that still didn't take away the OMG moment and Chris and I just stared at each other. Have to wait a year before we get season 4 and it can't get here soon enough.

Afterwards we played a bit of Lord of the Rings Online... I know shocker...

We then went to lunch at Chili's before heading to the theater to see Les Miserables . If you don't know about this book turned play turned movie here is a brief synopsis. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables' travels with prisoner-on-parole, 24601, Jean Valjeun, as he runs from the ruthless Inspector Javert on a journey beyond the barricades, at the center of the June Rebellion. Meanwhile, the life of a working class girl with a child is at turning point as she turns to prostitution to pay money to the evil innkeeper and his wife who look after her child, Cosette. Valjean promise to take care of the child, eventually leads to a love triangle between Cosette, Marius who is a student of the rebellion, and Eponine, a girl of the streets. The people sing of their anger and Enjolras leads the students to fight upon the barricades.

My review... First of all I have seen the play when it was here in LA about 15 years ago but I really didn't remember much.. I mean I remembered the general storyline so going into this movie it was like watching it for the first time. One thing that caught me off guard and I don't know why because I knew it was based off the stage play, is that they are singing from beginning to end. They sing their conversations to each other..  I think there are like 10 words that are actually spoken. The other interesting thing the director did for this version of Les Mis was make everyone sing live while they were filming. Most movie that have people singing do ADR (that's when they go into the studio and re-record the audio and clean it up). But this director didn't and you can tell. Don't get me wrong these actors could sing (well most of them) but it's odd hearing someone sing on film and it not be sweetened and cleaned up to sound perfect.

I'm a huge Hugh Jackson fan and knew he can sing. I am not a fan of Russel Crowe at all and his singing was fine but you could tell he's not a singer. Anne Hathaway is getting praises from critics and friends for her performance and I have to say they are justified. She shined in this. Her performance as Fantine was incredible and heartbreaking. But the person who stole my heart was Samantha Barks who played the love lorne Eponine. She sings my favorite song from that play "On My Own". If you don't know the song you can hear it HERE. I can really identify with that song. I have loved male straight friends so much that it hurts but of course I know they can't return the love the way I need it. So when this part came on the tears started to flow for the first time. I mean I weld up and my chest tighten on several parts prior to this but this one got the tears rolling down my cheeks. Speaking of crying, the end almost killed me. You know how you get to a point where you are crying and you can't stop even if you wanted to.. yeah that was me. I had a hard time seeing the screen through the tears... it was that bad.

The movie is long and I don't know if I could watch it over and over again but I really enjoyed it and plan to see it again at least a few times (I got a DVD screener). I give this movie a solid B

When we got home we jumped back on LOTRO for a bit before making dinner. After dinner we had a glass on wine and went outside to smoke some cigars. Now I don't smoke.. never have but I did have a few puffs on a cigar about 20 years ago to celebrate a friends accomplishment and Chris asked if I wanted to have one to celebrate the new year and I said sure. Again I had a few puffs before putting it out, not a fan of the taste that it leaves in the mouth. We then went back to LOTRO and played until around 11:30. We then started a google hang out with friends Jen, Steve and Scott to bring in the new year. Steven already brought it in an hour prior with the east coast and Jen and Scott still had another hour. But Chris and I got Champagne and as the clocked struck midnight and the ball dropped we cheered along with everyone online and toasted 2013. Afterwards we hung out for another hour to bring in the new year with our west coast friends. At 1am the ball dropped again for them and we cheered for Jen and Scott.. it was loads of fun. Around 1:30am we called it a night and headed to bed.

It was a very emotional up and down kind of day. Sadness from Downton Abbey then fun with Lord of the Rings Online, then heart wrenching sadness with Les Mis but we ended the day with friends and LOTRO. I couldn't have asked for a better New Years Eve gathering.

Montana Vacation - Day 13

Well this is going to be an very easy blog today.. Chris and I played Lord of the Rings online all day long. Got up at 8am, showered and ate breakfast. Started LOTRO at 9am and played none stop until 1ish and took a half hour for lunch. Then started again at 1:30 and played until 7pm and once again took a half hour dinner break and started back up at 7:30 and played until midnight. By the end of my night my left hand was killing me and my fingers were so tired of hitting A,S,F,W on the keyboard. Yeah I know.. I'm addicted and I love it. I really hope my internet is fast enough to run this when I get home.. if not I will be bummed.

Montana Vacation - Day 12

So I'm addicted to Lord of the Rings Online... got up early, showered, ate and jumped online to play. We played for a straight six hours before taking a break to eat some lunch.

Now it's time for Downton Abbey season three, this is why I shared Downton with Chris during this vacation as I had not seen season three yet and have been dying to watch it. We watched all eight episodes back to back to back for eight hour straight. Now onto my season three review, I know it doesn't start in the US until early January so I won't put any major spoilers only my thoughts on the season overall.

I felt this season overall wasn't as dramatic as previous seasons, I remember with I watched seasons 1 & 2 I was yelling and screaming at my TV and I was angry/frustrated at characters. I mean there is one HUGE event that takes place (which I was spoiled on) but other then that it's just some minor ups and downs. I mean I was still angry and frustrated with these characters... so that's good. It was great watching my favorite characters continue to live their "oh so dramatic" early 1900's lives.

For dinner Chris made a leg of Lamb and brussel sprouts, neither of those have I had before. I enjoyed the Lamb it had some good flavor. And the brussel sprouts weren't bad. I wouldn't eat them on a regular bases but I had three tonight and they weren't horrible.

Montana Vacation - Day 11

So here I am at Day 11 of my Montana Vacation... the day started like the previous 10 days. Got up, showered, did dishes and ate breakfast.

We started our day with watching Downton Abbey, we finished season two. For lunch we went to Cafe Rio again for some very tasty burritos. Then we played Lord of the Rings Online for about six hours before making some leftovers for dinner and watching a screener of Silver Lining Playbook to end the night.

Here's a brief synopsis for Silver Lining Playbook: After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

My review... I have to say when the movie started I was not enjoying it. It was hard to watch this person try to deal with "real life". About halfway through the movie I actually started to enjoy it and by the end it was a fun entertaining ride. Would I want to watch it again? No, I think once is fine. Am I'm disappointed that I watch it in the first place? No, thought it was rough at the beginning the ending defiantly made the movie for me. I give this movie a solid C

Montana Vacation - Day 10

Day ten of my trip to Montana to spend the holidays with my best friend Chris. Today like every morning we had breakfast, this time instead of making it ourselves we went out to a local "hole in the wall" Looked like a house converted into a diner.. the prices for breakfast were about $8 to $10, but man they gave you a ton of food and it was so yummy.

After breakfast we came home and Chris surprised me by downloading an MMO that I've always wanted to play but because of my crappy internet I haven't been able to. It's the Lord of the Rings MMO online game. We spent the next two hours setting up our characters. I of course went with a Hobbit and since Chris is awesome and wanted to play in a fellowship with me he also created a Hobbit character. We went through various names but I wound up with Drialdo and Chris went with Perugrin. It was fun going through all the different looks and making him look exactly as I wanted. Chris has done LOTRO before so he showed me around and went over some of the instructions on how to do things. It was everything I was hoping for and more. I was instantly addicted to the game as I expected and will be bummed when I get home and not be able to play with my slow internet connection. Guess that means I'll have to get in as much play time with the game as I can before I leave.

We pulled ourselves away from the game just long enough to make some lunch before jumping back on and playing until Chris had to go into work. So in all we played about seven hours total for my first day.

Chris went into work but only had to work an hour so he came home fairly early so we got in a few more episodes of Season two of Downton Abbey. Hopefully we can finish off this season tomorrow.

Called it a night around 11ish ...  Chris and I talked about going up to Canada since we're only a few hours away and I've never been. Calgary is the closet big city so that's where we plan to go. Gonna leave early on Sunday and spend Sunday and Monday there, then come home on Tuesday and I fly out on Wednesday.  Hope those plans pan out... I'll keep you posted.

Montana Vacation - Day 9

Up, showered and breakfast eaten. Headed to a local bank. I have a check I need to deposit but they don't have Bank of America up here. I wasn't sure if I would be able to deposit a check into another bank for my BofA bank account. I didn't think it would work and sure enough it didn't. Luckily I have just enough money to cover my mortgage and bills for January. But Chris mentioned online depositing. I knew Chase did it (saw the commercials) but didn't know BofA did and sure enough they do. So I deposited by check by taking a picture of the front and back.. will see how that works out.

After the bank we went to a few pawn shops and thrift stores. There are quite a few of them out here and Chris like visiting them every once in a while. Didn't really find much, Chris did find another Disney cassette tape for his car collection, this one is the soundtrack for The Little Mermaid. And during our last stop at the Salvation Army I managed to find this really cool coat. I wasn't sure I wanted to get it because living in SoCal I wouldn't really get much use out of it but I kept going back to it and finally tried it on and other then the arms being a bit too long it fit perfectly so I asked how much and when they said $4.95 I couldn't pass it up and had to purchased it. I love it.

Chris and I then came home and started working on our "Special" project. I was hoping to get work done on it while I was visiting him but the motivation just isn't there. We did get a fair amount of work done on it and I hope to still get more done before I leave next week.

We had lunch and watched some TV... a few hours before Chris had to go to work we watched a few more episodes of Downton Abbey (we are currently halfway through Season two).

For dinner Chris drove me to Taco Bell, he went through the drive thru and I went inside to order. Chris headed off to work and I walked back to his place. It's only a few blocks but in the freezing cold and snow it was a interesting trek back to his place.. upside I got to wear my new coat and man does that keep you warm.

Chris texted me and said he wouldn't be home when planned and expected to be home in the wee hours so I called it a night and went to bed around midnight.

Montana Vacation - Day 8 - Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Got up at our regular time and made breakfast. The first thing we had to do as you always do on Christmas morning.. we opened presents. I got Chris the picture of "The Geek Mob" and several Star Wars items. Chris on the other hand went a bit over board and got me several Lego sets (2 Star Wars & 1 Hobbit mini set), a joke shirt, a awesome Kermit beanie cap, some candy and three very cool Hobbit items. One is a companion book for the movie, another is a small pocket size leather bound book of The Hobbit (and it's AWESOME!!!) and the third is a Bilbo action figure (which I already have) but this one I get to open... yay!!

After opening gifts we wanted to get the turkey in the oven as it's going to take several hours to cook. While the turkey was cooking we watched one of my new favorite Christmas movies "Rise of the Guardians" I've lost count how many times I have seen it in the past month but I love it every time and Chris seemed to like it as well.

Next we played Star Wars Kinect, this time around we played Star Wars Dance Studio (or whatever it's called). That was a blast and a great workout. Afterwards we played Rancor Rampage which is so much fun because all you do is run around, break buildings and eat people.. lots of physical movement and again another great workout.

Once we were thoroughly exhausted it was time for our Christmas lunch/dinner. We had turkey, ham, corn, rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole, mash potato and gravy. It was all very tasty. While digested the food we watched a bit of TV.. there were marathons of Doctor Who and Indiana Jones that we switched back and forth between.

Since it snowed the night before Chris really wanted to go out and see if we could make a Dalek snowman. We tried a few times but the snow was too flaky and was like sand and didn't stick together... so no Dalek snowman. Instead Chris threw some snow at me which began a snowball war. That lasted about 10 minutes before we called it quits since it was so cold outside.

One thing I look forward to on Christmas day is Doctor Who. (SPOILERS) For the past eight years they have released Christmas specials on Christmas day. This year I get to share the event with Chris. The title of this one is The Snowmen and it introduced a new companion, well kind of.  We got to see the new interior of the TARDIS, which I'm not sure if I like it or not.. it's very modern and scifi looking. There was also a new opening graphic and music for this episode. This episode is different from other Christmas specials as this one dealt more with emo Doctor when the threat to Earth. I mean there is still a threat and the Doctor does save the Earth again but in the end the Doctor gets his mojo back.

As for the new companion... we saw this actress in the very first episode of this season but she was actually a Dalek and dies at the end. And again in this episode she dies at the end, but we know she is the new Doctor's companion in the upcoming season... so the question is what's is the deal with Clara Oswin Oswald.. can't wait to find out.

Watched some more TV before putting in another one of my screeners, The Impossible. This is a movie I wanted to see and when I got the screener  but Chris immediately contacted me and asked if I would wait to watch this movie with him since he is a huge Ewan McGregor fan. Of course I said yes so I've been looking forward to seeing this.

Here's a short synopsis of the movie: The film tells the true story of a Spanish family, played by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, and their three children. It starts as the family begins their Christmas vacation in Thailand, with the intention of spending a few days at a tropical paradise resort. However, their idyllic vacation is interrupted on the morning of December 26, 2004, when a devastating tsunami interrupts their relaxation and destroys the coastal zone. The family is separated in surviving the apocalypse, and they begin a desperate search to reunite.

I enjoyed the movie.. the first half the movie there isn't a single piece of music which makes it so creepy and eerie. It's hard to watch when the tidal wave hits and you follow the story of the mom and older son. Honestly I didn't feel like there was a really strong story.. You really don't get to know the family before the wave hits and then you spend the rest of the movie watching them struggle to find each other. I guess it doesn't really matter that there isn't much of a story as it's really about the event and what this family goes through... I mean it's based off a true story. Some of it is painful to watch and it defiantly tugs at the heart a few times. The movie felt like it just flew by. Once the movie was over you understand why it's called The Impossible. I give this movie a B-

After the movie I was tired and only stayed up another half hour and watched a few episodes of Robot Chicken before calling it a night and going to bed.

This is the first time in my entire life that I haven't spent Christmas day with my family. But in a sense I did spend it with family as Chris and several of my other friends are very much like family to me.

Montana Vacation - Day 7

Well I'm halfway through my visit with my best bud Chris. Can't believe it's halfway over already but man what a blast we've been having.

Merry Christmas Eve....

Today started with me checking outside and seeing a few inches of snow on the ground and still falling. Looks like I'm going to be getting my White Christmas after all. In all my 42 years I've never celebrated a White Christmas. I mean I live in SoCal all my life so I was hoping for snow on Christmas and until this morning I didn't think it was going to happen. It's suppose to continue through Christmas Day.. yay!!!

So we got up, made some breakfast and turned on the TV to find that The Science Channel is having a Firefly marathon all day. We watched for a bit before we went outside to play in the snow... well that lasted all of ten minutes. Chris did manage to convince me to do a snow angel. I haven't been around snow much so I've never made a real snow angel. It was freezing cold but still fun and I think it turned out pretty good.

Came in and Chris wanted to share with me another one of his favorite teas. A few days ago I had hot tea for the very first time. Yes I know, but I don't like ice tea so I never tried hot tea.. but wow did I love it. It was English breakfast tea and today Chris made me Chai tea. Didn't like it as much as English breakfast tea but it was still good. Next up is Earl Grey tea. I've always wanted to try that ever since I saw Star Trek The Next Generation as it's Picard's choice of drink.

We opted to turn away from Firefly and watch one of the screeners that I brought. Our choice is Lincoln. I've been wanting to see this since I saw previews. First of all it's directed by Steven Spielberg, who I love and second it has Sally Fields who I've always adored since her Gidget days.

I don't know much about the history of Lincoln, other then his larger deeds and I really didn't know what this movie was going to cover.  Here's a brief synopsis: As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.

First let me say that I enjoyed the movie, it's incredible acted, the costume are wonderful, since I don't know much about this history I found the story very compelling and interesting. It amazed me at how horrible human beings were back then (not that they are much better now). This is a very slow movie. This movie is less about the war and more about politics.  It covers the final months of Lincoln's life. I see why it's up for all kinds of awards. I give this movie a solid A

After the movie we we out to lunch to a place called Montana Club, I got a very tasty steak sandwich. It was a bit pricey but some very yummy food.

We then went to Walmart to pick up some stocking stuffers for each other. Things didn't go as planned which bummed me out. But I did manage to find a few things for Chris as he did as well for me.

Decided we were going to make gingerbread men but we needed butter so we bundled up and walked to the local liquor store. Chris began a mini battle by throwing a snow ball at my back. I chased him to the store before taking a tumble in the middle of the street. On our way back Chris manage to take an even harder tumble in the street.. both of us were okay. I did manage to catch up to him and throw him into a snow bank.. ahhh good time.. cold times.. but good.

We got back and made our gingerbread men but they wound up being more like gingerbread blobs. We decorated some and wrote friends names on some. They may not look like gingerbread men but they sure are tasty.

We watched another screener and this time it was Skyfall. Now I'm not a huge James Bond fan. I mean I've seen alot of the earlier ones but only a few of the newer ones and never seen Danial Craig as Bong. Here's a brief synopsis: Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her, bringing MI6 under attack.

Not being a huge Bond fan I can't compare it to the others but as an action movie I really enjoyed it. I liked the story and the action was awesome. It had your typical Bond moments, at least the ones I remember from the Connery and Moore eras. I liked Danial Craig as James Bond and I look forward to going back and watching his other two movies. I'd give Skyfall a solid B

After the movie we watched a bit more of Firefly before calling it an night. Another fun filled day has come to a close..

Up next... CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Geek Love Returns

Last year in December TLC aired a really cool special called Geek Love. Well I fell in love with the show and was hoping it would be picked up as a regular TV series. You can read my original blog post about Geek Love HERE

Well TLC never picked it up but now it looks like You Tube channel START (IGN) has picked up the series for their online TV channel... it premieres this January and I can't wait. Here's the new trailer.

Montana Vacation - Day 6

Breakfast, this time Chris made french toast, I made some coffee and since I don't make coffee I made it about 3 times as strong as it should be... still very tasty.

We played Star Wars Kinect for about an hour.. wow what a fun game and a workout.
 
Watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this is my fourth time watching it in a month but I love it so much and want to share it with everyone I know. Chris really enjoyed it as well.

Chris introduced me to Dexter. I never really had the urge to watch this as I can't see how you can enjoy watching a show about a serial killer but after watching episode one of season one, I really can't wait to watch more. I like how they deal with the main character and what he does.

Chris had to go into work for a few hours and I wanted to get some blogging done but instead my stomach issue which started earlier in the day was still bothering me, but I did manage to finish my geeky Christmas stocking.

Once Chris was home we started to watch season two of Downton Abbey. We only watched the first episode before calling it a night.

This was a more relaxing day of just hanging around the house, playing games, watching TV and enjoying ones company.